Side note: March 19th isn't actually two weeks from Lucina's birthday. The two weeks thing was something I added in chapter 33, and I'd intended to make the appropriate edits to chapter 32 to fix that continuity error when I'd updated the story, but I forgot to. Hopefully, it should be updated now.


This town was a lot colder than the last one. Lucina could see more lanterns hanging on the street, more fires burning through the hearths in the window, and the villagers had pulled on warmer clothes. Ferox was a colder place, so it was little wonder that, as they came closer, the people warmed up accordingly.

Right now, Lucina wished she had the money to buy one of those coats for herself. It would have certainly made her a lot more comfortable, laid out in the back of Anna's wagon on a bed made of Bolganone tomes and Ylissean tapestries, a hand over her eyes as she tried to calm her racing heart after a morning of jogging on the road. She didn't think Anna would have appreciate her sweating all over her wares, but it wasn't as if there were any better places for her to rest.

Her all night shifts hadn't helped, either. Between breaking out of Ylisstol's dungeon and this, Lucina felt like a dead woman walking. As strange as it was to admit, she'd slept better back in the future.

Is this how I die? Lucina thought glumly to herself, staring at the cloudy morning sky through her fingers. Not to Risen or the forces of Grima, but from collapsing from a lack of sleep?

If she failed to stop the world's end for such a stupid reason, Lucina would never be able to forgive herself. Really, she needed to speak to Gregor about this, but Anna had kept her so busy so she'd never found the time.

Besides, right now, she had bigger problems to worry about, like the shadow that cast over her from the top of the wagon.

"Rise and shine, Caroline. We've got money to make and rules to break," Anna said, her grin so bright Lucina had to look away to keep herself from going blind.

"What do you want with me?" Lucina muttered.

"Oh c'mon, what's with that attitude? I'm not paying you to lay around all day, you know. Get up, get going, see the sun and greet the day!"

Lucina groaned. "You're not paying me."

"And that's not going to change unless you get to work!"

Which, Lucina noted, didn't really matter to her; as long as she was able to stay with Anna long enough to get into Ferox, she didn't care what she was paid. Still, having a few coins to weigh down her pockets would be nice, so with a sigh, she pushed herself off the wagon and stumbled toward Anna's already half-made tent.

Behind her, she heard Anna follow her steps. "Hey, hey! Are you okay? You look like a corpse risen outta the ground."

Lucina choked on that, nearly turning her around to ask her where the corpses were rising out of the ground, before she realized how much of a madwoman that would have made her sound.

"I'll be fine," she said, and she brushed the woman off. "You needn't worry for my health. I've been worse."

"That ain't a good thing, hun. You look like you slept like a piece of plywood in a hurricane. Have you been getting enough sleep? You should take care of yourself if you want to stay in one piece?"

Normally, Lucina would have done her best to simply ignore her prodding questions. Normally, Lucina would not feel like the Fell Dragon had seared away everything beneath her skin.

Her Anna had always been nosy. Lucina had never rebuked her because she had been useful in procuring high-quality weapons and goods.

She had no such reservations about this Anna.

"And why do you care?" Lucina snapped, and she turned to face her with a scowl. "What personal investment do you have to my well being, huh?"

"Relax," Anna replied. "Is it so wrong for me to worry about someone who works for me? I can't know if you'll do your job very well if I have to worry about you falling asleep in the middle of work."

"Well, you don't have to worry. Tired or not, I won't leave a job unfinished."

"I'll hold you to that. Don't go back on that, okay? It's bad for business."

Lucina mumbled an affirmation, waving a hand over her shoulder as she heard Anna turn around and walk away. As much as she despised the woman, she was her employer, and Lucina did have work to do.

By the road, Anna's daughters were already playing some game by themselves. What it was, Lucina hadn't the slightest clue. Boot Anna was hanging from a branch, while Scarf Anna clung to the branch above her. Bear Anna was several feet away chasing Sleepy Anna with a bronze axe that Lucina was fairly sure she wasn't supposed to have, but when Lucina asked herself if she wanted to risk losing her hand over that, she found that, surprisingly, the answer was no, so she decided to let them be.

Gregor, as always, was already up and working on the other side of the road, hauling the tent poles over to a clearing a few feet away. His arms were struggling to hold such a full load, however, and when one of the poles slipped out of his grasp, Lucina leaned over to pick it up.

A boot came down to stop her. "Gregor appreciates, but he needs no help," Gregor said.

Lucina frowned. "There's no shame in accepting it, you know."

Laughing, Gregor knelt down to pick it up and shooed her away. "No no, is fine! Marth is too kind, but she must have other things to do, no?"

Were Lucina more rested, she might have insisted. It was her duty, as a leader and a friend, to make sure those around her could complete their tasks as comfortably and safely as possible, but...

"Carry on then," Lucina sighed, returning to the wagon.

Did he not like her? She knew that they were practically strangers, but for him to reject her help so many times... she had offered to help him a few days ago. Perhaps it had been a week? Had it been a week already?

Shaking her head, Lucina dragged a table up and out of the wagon, sliding it over to where Gregor had begun to drive in the poles. She returned the wagons to bring the wares to the table, and had almost finished laying out tomes for display before she noticed that the Annas had disappeared.

"Gregor. Have you seen Anna's daughters?" she asked, setting down the last tome.

Gregor laughed. "Girls will be girls, no? They play game, they will return."

Lucina narrowed her eyes, and for the first time, she found herself grating against that carefree attitude. The same carefree, playful attitude that she had so many fond memories of–here, she would find no help from it.

"Anna!" she said, turning away and calling into the forest. "Anna! If you can hear me, please come back!"

No one replied. Lucina crossed her arms. "Your mother would be worried if she found you all missing when she returns. She might not even give you any candy."

A leaf twitched. Lucina caught it in a bush only three feet to her right. Anyone else might have dismissed it, but Lucina had learned to be careful. She approached it, stepping carefully to not make a sound. Slowly, she reached down until, like a predator, she snapped forward and dragged Scarf Anna out by her scruff.

"Hey! Put me down!" the girl hissed, flailing and kicking.

Before Lucina could ask why, Bear Anna popped out from behind her and touched Scarf Anna's boot.

"I win," she said.

Scarf Anna groaned. "That's not fair! You cheated!"

Bear Anna stuck out her tongue. "If you win, it's ain't cheating."

"Anna." Both Annas turned to Lucina, and they wilted under her narrowed gaze. "Where are you sisters?"

"In there," Bear Anna said, and she pointed inside the woods.

Lucina sighed. She put Scarf Anna down, cupped her hands, and yelled, "Anna! Return here at once, or I shall ensure that your mother does not bring you any candy!"

To her surprise, she barely had to wait two seconds before the remaining Annas stumbled out of the nearby forest like rats. Walking up to her, Boot Anna placed her hands on her hips and said, "What are we supposed to do, huh?"

Lucina motioned back to Gregor. "You can help by setting up. The sooner you finish, the sooner you will have the time to play."

Lucina knew children did not like to work. She knew she would meet resistance, but she had assumed Anna's daughters would have taken after their greedy mother to be different. When the four of them groaned, she could have groaned with them.

"What's wrong?" she asked instead.

"Do we have to?" Scarf Anna asked, and she collapsed into a boneless pile at her feet.

Lucina frowned. "It is part of your duty as a member of this family that you assist your mother in her trade. You do plan to join her in your family business, don't you? You dream of becoming as successful as her, don't you?"

Boot Anna sighed and fell back on her butt. "Why do we have to do it now? We can do it later."

"And when will later be? Tomorrow? Next week? Next year?"

"I don't know. Later, I guess."

Oh, how Lucina hated that phrase. She hated how innocent it sounded, how harmless it was. How carefree she had been until her entire world came crumbling down and almost buried her alive.

"And when it is later, what will you do then?" Lucina said. She lowered a hand to the sword at your hip. "I always told my father I would train for my duties later. Then he fell ill, and I had nothing to show for it but the dirt on the ground when the weight of his duties fell upon my shoulders."

When her gaze fell upon the Annas, it was with every struggle, every loss, every life she could have saved. Anna's daughters backed away. Lucina didn't care, not as she could feel the flames of Castle Themis' lick her skin.

Slowly, she said, "My destiny caught up with me. What will you do when yours does the same?"

Anna's daughters shared a look. One by one, they picked themselves off the ground. Like soldiers off to war, they dragged their feet over to the wagon and picked wares off from the back, before placing them on the tables as Gregor finished pulling the tarp over the tent poles.

Lucina hadn't meant to scare them. She doubted they had even the slightest clue what she was talking about, but clearly, she had been very loud, as her throat felt sore. Her legs, too. Shakily, Lucina hobbled over to a nearby stump and sat down.

The sun was much too hot. It burned against her skin, and yet Lucina found herself shivering against the cold breeze of a memory from a time that seemed just barely out of reach.

It was at that moment that Anna returned, with a basket of bread in hand. She looked around, nodding when she saw her daughters at work, and when her eyes fell on Lucina, she nodded.

"I don't think I've ever seen them put this much pep in their step," she said. "You did this, didn'tcha?"

Lucina spared a glance at Anna's daughters.

She did not like the woman. She was selfish and single minded, and she had betrayed her and her friends when it mattered most.

But she was a persistent woman, and looking back at Anna's daughters, that was exactly what they were doing. Had she been like them when she was younger, perhaps things wouldn't have turned out like this. Perhaps she wouldn't feel like she was about to collapse after a morning of jogging.

"This is their doing," she replied, after a moment of thought. "They are taking control of their destiny."

Anna hummed. "They wouldn't have done anything by themselves. They're kids. They need a hand to take to get going."

"They work harder than I ever did at their age."

"Well, I'm glad that ain't the you I picked up a week ago, huh?" Anna patted her shoulder. Lucina only gave her a sideways look. Anna returned it with a smile, and she picked a loaf out of her basket and placed it in her hands.

"Eat," she said. "We've got a busy day ahead of us. I wouldn't want one of my workers going hungry, would I?"


Lucina was not one usually for shopping, but as she stared at the dress laid out on the display table of the stall, she could not help but wonder what it would feel like to purchase something like it. The dress was a bright, purple thing with frills, something Severa probably would have liked to wear.

If Severa were here, she might have bothered Lucina to buy it for her. She could imagine it now, how the girl would lean over the table, completely entranced as she imagined what she would look like wearing it, before she would turn to Lucina and start pestering her about it. Laurent, of course, would remind her that they had more important things to budget for, and Severa would begrudgingly agree, while Inigo would say that she looked good, even without the dress.

A quiet conversation caught her attention, and Lucina's eye roamed to the left as she watched a group of four girls almost her age giggle among themselves as they walked by. One of them stopped by the stall, her eyes caught on the very same dress Lucina was eying. As soon as Lucina noticed her shooting a glance at her, she backed away and motioned for her to take the dress. It wasn't like she had the money for the damn thing anyway.

As she watched the girls pay the merchant and leave with the dress, she couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy. Shopping in the past was fun, but she missed shopping with friends. She missed listening to how they bantered with each other as they walked from stall to stall. She even missed how Cynthia, Severa, and Owain would pester her to buy the most ridiculous things, because as pointless as they could be, they were her friends.

With her birthday in only five days, barely less than a week, she missed them more than ever. In the future, they had made their birthday celebrations one of the few things Lucina could look forward to. Without them, what light could she have, stranded far in the past?

A snapping sound broke her out of her thoughts. She blinked to find Anna standing in front of her, a frown tugging at her lips. "Hey, are you sure you're okay, bub?" she said, a hand on her hip.

Lucina quickly composed herself, letting her face return to neutral as she straightened her back and tried not to seem so melancholic. "My issues are my own. You have your own business to attend to. It's why you had me escort you here, isn't it?"

When Anna had asked Lucina to escort her to town, Lucina had assumed she would be worried about attackers or thieves. She hadn't assumed that the woman would simply have her help with something as simple as shopping.

Grasped in her hands and slung over her shoulders, Lucina held a bag of goods Anna had purchased from various stalls around town. Why Anna could not have brought Gregor to help carry them,she had these too, she had no clue, but Lucina figured that asking questions would only prolong the errand, and she wanted this over with as soon as possible.

Clearly, Anna did not understand that. Or maybe she did, and was ignoring the blatant scowl on Lucina's face. "Whatever's bugging you is clearly becoming my issue. You think it's easy to make deals when you're standing over my shoulder making a face like that?"

Lucina reached up to touch her face and frowned. She didn't feel anything different, but from the look Anna gave her, she did not think the same.

"If I'm that much of a bother, you could take Gregor with you next time," Lucina said.

"C'mon. It's no fun if I have the same person run errands for me every time. Besides," Anna shrugged, "that'd ruin the whole point of bringing you out here. You and him aren't exactly the best of buds, huh?"

Only because you pitted us against each other, Lucina thought, but kept to herself. "Why did you need to speak to me, then?" she asked.

"I'm just making sure this little issue of yours–" Anna waved a finger at her with a sideways face, "–doesn't heap any more troubles onto my plate. I already got enough to eat and I'm quite full, I don't need any more of that nonsense, ya catch my drift?"

Lucina sighed. She really would have preferred if she didn't, but... Anna was a persistent woman. Fighting it would only prove more trouble than it was worth, so as she shifted the bag on her shoulder, she said, "It's my father. He's sick, you see, and–"

"And you don't know if you'll be able to find a cure in Rosanne, is that right?" When Lucina gave her a surprised look, Anna shrugged. "What? My girls talk. You knew that when you talked to them, didn't you? You didn't think they'd just keep it between you, like two peas in a pod."

Lucina did, actually. She'd been tight-lipped as a child, though she supposed Anna was probably different. Even if she hadn't, she hadn't expected Anna to actually pay attention. Her Anna had never listened to anything she said, too busy chasing profits to work with the rest of them.

Turning away to cover her blunder, Lucina said, "You're not going to tell me to worry about myself, are you? To forget about my father?"

Anna laughed. "Oh, come on. You make me sound like a cold hearted monster."

"But are you?"

Laughing again, Anna said, "Believe it or not, I know a thing or two about how much family means. My mom was a merchant, and her mom before her. We're all merchants is what I'm saying, and you think I'd follow in their footsteps if I didn't care a little?"

"I... suppose not."

"I'm not saying forget about your papa. I'm saying, if you don't take a break, you'll drop dead before you even see a Valmese port."

Lucina's lips curled down. "Why do you care so much, anyway."

At that, Anna smiled, and she patted Lucina's shoulder. "Because my girls like you. And you know what? I like you too."

Lucina blinked. "I'm sorry?"

"You're a good kid, Marth. You've got your head on straight, and that makes you good for business."

"Huh? But... I'm sorry, I'm having a little trouble grasping this. Why?"

But Anna had already turned away. "Hush!" she said, putting her hand before Lucina to stop her. "Less talking, more following. I've got something to take care of. Stay right behind me, I need to take care of something real quick."

"Huh? You need to–"

But Anna was already disappearing into the crowd, her bright red outfit the only way Lucina could keep track of her as the bustling bodies quickly moved in and out of view. Lucina cursed and adjusted her grip on the box, before she stormed after the woman.

When she caught up to her, Anna had already struck up a conversation with a fruit vendor, an arm slung over his shoulder.

"Anna, don't leave me behind. I can't keep an eye on you if you run away," Lucina said, a scowl on her lips.

Anna, of course, just waved her away. "Hey, have a little faith in me, yeah? I know what I'm doing. Now, as I was saying, how much do these apples go for, huh? Twenty gold? Thirty? Come on, name your price, I don't have all day. I've got a family to feed, you know?"

The stall owner looked like he wanted to interject, but with every price Anna named, he only shrank back. Anna could have that effect on people, especially those unused to her brash attitude.

Sighing, Lucina turned to the stall owner. "I'm sorry if we're bothering you."

"I'm not bothering him! I'm just doing business!" Anna laughed. As Lucina watched, however, she saw Anna pull away from the stall owner. "If you won't sell me the apples, what about a box of strawberries, hm? I've heard good things about your strawberries. How much for a box?"

"Anna." Lucina cleared her throat, and Anna glanced back at her. "Perhaps we should leave him alone. He doesn't seem comfortable with you." Pointing a thumb over her shoulder, she said, "I saw another fruit stand down the street, if you're so intent on buying strawberries."

Anna looked like she was going to argue. Lucina would have expected her to. After an entire day of listening to her prattle on, Lucina's patience was running thin.

Then, Anna paused, thought for a moment, and to Lucina's surprise, she nodded. "Alright. I know when I'm not getting anywhere. Where's this stall you saw?"

Before either of them could step away, the stall owner called out, "Wait!"

Lucina glanced back, confused. Anna, however, moved past her in a blur, knowing something she did not. Before she could blink, the woman had already pressed an arm to the table, looming over the stall keeper.

"You'll take it for thirty gold, then?" she said with a wide smile.

The shopkeeper glanced away. "I'll take it for a hundred?"

"Forty gold."

"Eighty?"

"Forty five. Final offer."

The stall owner frowned. "Okay. Forty five, then."

Lucina watched them exchange goods. The stall keeper had agreed to the deal, yes, but he had done so with such a downtrodden face that, as she walked away with the box of strawberries, she couldn't help but feel guilty.

"Why did you have to do that?" she said to Anna as soon as they had turned into another street.

"Do what?" Anna asked, blinking innocently.

"We should have just left him alone."

"And miss out on the strawberries?" To make a point, Anna plucked a strawberry from the box and tossed it into her mouth. "Mmm. These are good. You should really try one."

"There was another stall further down that was also selling strawberries," Lucina complained.

"Yeah, but I'm sure they wouldn't have given me them for such a low price. If you're in the business of making money, you've got to know just the right opportunities to push to get the best deals you can."

Just like she had taken the opportunity to betray them?

At that, Lucina stopped with a huff. "And would you have sold your own daughters if the opportunity arose?"

Most people would have been offended. Anna just laughed. "Concerned about my girls already? Sometimes you act more like their mom than I do. No, don't worry. I'm not heartless."

Could have fooled me, Lucina thought, keeping her words behind sealed lips.

"That's just what I like about you, though."

Lucina blinked. She tilted her head. Huh? Had she missed something?

"You're saying I'm heartless?" she asked slowly.

"No! Not at all! Quite the opposite, actually." Anna chuckled to herself, like that was a joke only she understood. Lucina regarded her with a narrowed gaze.

"You're honest, kid."

"I'm a–" Lucina frowned. "I don't follow. You're not an honest woman. No offense."

Anna shrugged, spreading her arms. "Hey. I'll admit it. I am what I am. There's no shame in it. You don't do as well in the game without keeping your words as sharp as your knives."

"Don't I know it," Lucina muttered.

"But–" Anna said, "there's a certain value to honesty. It builds trust, you know? You can't have business without trust, so trust me when I say that I know how much it can be worth than anything else. I'll admit. I ain't the best on that whole honestly front, but you–you couldn't lie your way out of an execution block. That's not a bad thing, though. You're honest, and that means I can always trust you to get the job done, can't I?"

Lucina glanced away with a narrowed look. She wanted to say no. She wanted to disagree, because the thought that Anna would come to rely on her, when she did not share the sentiment, it just felt twisted in a way. Anna had stabbed her in the back. Why couldn't she do the same?

Because her father would have turned the other cheek.

"You can," Lucina mumbled.

"That's the spirit. Hold on a second, there's somewhere I need to visit."

"Where do you need to visit?"

"Just follow me!" Anna replied helpfully, and she ran toward an apothecary stall. Lucina felt like the task would certainly be a lot easier if she wasn't trying to keep hold of all of Anna's things, but she had no choice but to swallow her complaints and try to go after her.

Anna was already deep in conversation with the stall owner when Lucina finally stumbled into view, though, perhaps conversation was the wrong word. While Anna's golden smile was still fixed to her face, the shopkeeper looked positively furious.

Can't I relate to that.

Of course, Anna would not appreciate her siding with the stall keeper, not when she looked so taken aback.

"I can assure you, that was out of my hands, hon. Nothing I could do about it."

"Maybe it wouldn't be if you hadn't been causing so much trouble for this town, huh?"

"Hey, what can I say? A girl's gotta do what she's gotta do." Anna turned around, and when she spotted Lucina, her face lit up. "Marth! Glad you could join us! Let me introduce you to my good friend, Soren, over here," she said, and she pointed to the angry man behind the stall. "He's an apothecary. Probably the best apothecary I know."

"We are not friends," the stall keeper, Soren, snarled.

Anna took the words with a grin, and she said, "Not without money, we aren't." She reached to her side for her purse, and she counted the coins inside. "Say, how much do a box of concoctions go for?"

"I'm not selling you one bottle until you pay me what you owe."

Funnily enough, that was the first time Lucina saw the smile slip from Anna's face. "Oh. That leaves us two hundred sixty short, huh? That's a shame." She threw a quick look at the stall keeper, but the man's face remained impassive.
"You have more gold back in the wagon, don't you?" Lucina piped up.

"Yeah, but I've got Gregor packing the wagon. It'll be a pain if we need to take the time to return here as we leave." Eying the shopkeeper, Anna grinned and said, "Say, you wouldn't mind if we took in now and paid you later?"

The stall keeper scowled. "Just like last time? No thank you."

Lucina looked at Anna. Then, she looked at Soren. Neither one of them seemed like they were going to back down.

The sight triggered a memory of hers–a memory of the future. Her friends, as close knit as they were, still fought from time to time. Sometimes, Owain would suggest one thing, and Gerome would suggest another, and Nah would tell them they couldn't do both. When the Shepherds were still alive, they said her father would always resolve their disputes.

With him gone, that left the task of mediator to Lucina.

"Why won't you sell to her?" she asked, stepping in.

The shopkeeper's eyes snapped to Lucina. "The last time she was here, I sold her a box of vulneraries, and she skipped town before paying me back."

When Lucina glanced to Anna for confirmation, she made no motion to disagree. For all her dirty tricks, leaving without paying was something that Lucina was not entirely surprised by it. Still, it seemed remarkably pointless, even for her, so perhaps Lucina could not fault her entirely for it.

"What about a favor, then?" she said, and she motioned to Anna. "In addition to the payment you will receive, we could also take an item off your hands that you have difficulty selling, and sell it in your place. We'd return any gold we make from it to your hands."

The stall keeper's eyes narrowed. "And how do I know you won't spend the gold yourself?"

"I'll keep the gold to myself. I've not much use for money, save for keeping myself alive. This sword is the only thing I own."

"It's true," Anna added. "She's poor and she doesn't care."

"I'll send the money by post as soon as possible. That is, assuming you have anything you'd like her to sell for you."

The shopkeeper's brows pulled down. He appeared to debate to himself for a moment. To be fair to him, it was probably a strange business arrangement. Lucina had little knowledge about how the market worked, what with most of it destroyed by the Risen. She could only hope that her reasoning was sound enough, and after a moment, the shopkeeper sighed and pulled out a box from beneath the counter.

"I have a box of stomach tonic that people have been unwilling to buy," he said. "It contains an unusual recipe, and the people are not quite willing to trust it just yet, but perhaps you lot may have better luck convincing people of it's worth."

"You have my thanks," Lucina said, but when she reached for the box, the shopkeeper pulled it away.

"Return with the payment in fifteen minutes, or I'll tell the guards to never allow you in this town again," the shopkeeper said.

It was a fair trade, Lucina supposed, so she shrugged and took the box of stomach tonic in her hands as Anna did the same with the concoctions.

"What did I say?" Anna said to her as they walked away from the stall, placing the box of concoctions in Lucina's hands. "You've got an earnest air to you, kid. People trust that. In business, that kind of trust works wonders."

When Lucina huffed, she said, "What? Don't believe me?"

"It's not that I don't believe you," Lucina said.

"Well, my girls trust you, don't they?" Anna pointed behind her, where Lucina recalled they had come from. "They wouldn't listen to Gregor telling them to get to work, would they?"

Lucina glanced away. "I suppose not."

"People like you, kid. You're a likable kid. You have any friends? I'm sure they'll tell you the same thing."

"I do," Lucina said, quietly.

It was just that she could not see any of them for who knew how long. Perhaps even for the rest of her life.

"Hey, lighten up! There's one last stop I've got to make before we go back. I know how much you've hated coming with me, but it's almost over, and isn't that a relief?"

It was much more of a relief that Anna pulled her away from her line of thought, and Lucina was more than happy to follow her to their final destination.

From the weapons laid out on the table, Lucina could tell it was a blacksmith stand. The boy standing behind the table smeared with ash certainly helped to reinforce the image. As they approached, Anna leaned over to her.

"You don't mind helping me out here one more time, do you?" she said. "It'll be much faster if you do, I promise."

Lucina shot a glare over at Anna. "You're the merchant. You know better than I do. What do you need my help for?"

"Oh, I know my way around people. They know that too, though. I have no doubt I'd be able to pry them open with enough time, but I'm sure you'd appreciate it if we got out of here in five minutes less, huh?"

Before Lucina could argue, the two of them stopped in front of the shopkeeper, Anna with her signature smile, Lucina with a frown she was beginning to realize she was wearing a little too often.

"Howdy, Felix! I haven't seen you in months, how's your mother been?" Anna said, waving him down. "My mother passed away yesterday," he replied.

"Oh."

That immediately killed any traces of smile on Anna's face. She opened her mouth, then closed it. It was the first time Lucina saw Anna nervous, and as Anna's eyes flicked to her, it was the first time she could recall the woman ever asking for her help.

She could have refused. She hated her guts.

But Anna did not seem to share the sentiment.

With a sigh, Lucina said, "I'm sorry for your loss."

"Thank you."

"Are you okay?"

"I am," the shopkeeper said, looking away.

"It must be hard."

"I'll be fine." The shopkeeper raised a hand to wipe away his tears. Clearly, he was not.

Loss was a familiar thing. Like an old sock, Lucina had seen too many people left behind by their loved ones, separated by the great curtain that hung above that was death, and like and old sock, though it was familiar, it was far from comfortable. Some people handled it well. Some could take up a spear and fight, because what choice did they have?

But too often, she would meet people like the boy before her. People who moved forward, pushed by the unstoppable grind of time, but who left a trail of tears behind.

Grief was a painful thing, and she knew that more than she liked to admit.

"Would you like to take a day off?" she said softly.

The shopkeeper shook his head. "I can't. It's market day."

"Nonsense. Everyone needs to take time to grieve."

The shopkeeper threw a glance behind him, at some other place Lucina was not familiar with. "My master would not be happy. I have things to sell."

A quick look at the table below, and Lucina could tell he had not sold any weapons that day. "Your master will understand. Please, I urge you to rest. You cannot move forward, not like this." With a smile, she said, "If you need help packing up for the day, I would be more than happy to offer my assistance."

"I don't–" The shopkeeper looked at her, and when Lucina nodded, he sagged. "Okay. I'll pack up."

Between the two of them, Lucina had the things packed within three minutes. Repacking weapons in haste had always been a part of her life as a Shepherd. As soon as she loaded the last of the weapons, as the shopkeeper turned to leave, Lucina said, "Wait!"

The shopkeeper stopped. Before he could say anything, Lucina placed the box of strawberries in his hands. "Take it," she said. "It will help."

The shopkeeper's eyes swelled with tears. Wiping them away, he muttered, "Thank you. How could I ever repay such kindness?"

"There is nothing to repay."

"Actually..."

If Lucina could stab Anna there, she would have. She turned to glare at the woman, but Anna stepped forward, undeterred.

"Sorry if this isn't the best time, but do you think you could sell us a bag of second seals? Just one last thing before we go?"

"Anna," Lucina hissed, "we can't ask for that?"

But the shopkeeper had already pushed a bag into her hands. "My master would be upset if I sold nothing today. Please take it."

To Lucina's shock, Anna accepted it with a wink, emptying her purse into the shopkeeper's hands. "I know it's not much, but I really do hope the best with you, Felix," she said.

As soon as the shopkeeper was out of earshot, Lucina whirled on Anna. "You can't take advantage of people like that!" she said.

"Why not? A business opportunity is a business opportunity. Besides, do you know how much second seals are worth?" Anna motioned toward the box of concoctions in Lucina's hands and said, "I was going to sweet talk him into giving them to us for cheap anyway."

"It still feels dirty."

"There's no such thing as dirty in the world of business. Besides, you have to admit, we make a pretty great team." Clapping her hands, Anna said, "I meant it when I said I liked you, Lucina. You know how to get a job done, and that makes you worth your weight in gold. What do you say we make this arrangement of ours a little more stable, huh? You could make a lot of money working for me."

Lucina narrowed her eye. "I'm not sure how I would feel about that."

"Well, keep your mind on it. Here, maybe this will help you decide." Anna reached into her purse and pulled out a gold coin–a coin that she had somehow avoided giving to the shopkeeper a minute ago–and flicked it at Lucina's direction.

Lucina fumbled, tossing it from hand to hand before she was able to catch it out of the air. When her gaze returned to Anna, the woman winked at her. "It's a big world out there. Whatever you're looking for, having another friend to help certainly wouldn't hurt, would it?"

Lucina watched her leave in silence. She glanced down at the gold coin with a distasteful look, before she closed her hand around it and followed after Anna.

Anna certainly wasn't wrong. She could not be alone, not when she needed to save the world. Her father had his friends by his side, and with their help, he had overcome impossible odds. Her odds were twice as impossible. She could not do this alone, even with her friends gone. She had to move on, find new bonds to forge.

But Anna would not be one of them. Not again.


Honestly, I did not think it would turn out this long. Certainly not while planning this, anyway. That's partly the reason why it took so long to come out; the other part was that I took a week off during spring break to go out to sea. It was pretty, and probably the only time I didn't actively hate going to hot places, but that was probably because it was spring.

Sometimes, I wonder if my characters sound too preachy. It's a symptom of having them speak so much, but it can be difficult to think of ways to characterize people outside of talking and fighting, especially with the rough, broad strokes planning style I use for writing fanfiction. I hear having certain character actions, like how they walk or what motions they make while talking, can help flesh them out, but trying to keep track of how they talk while keeping conversations relevant is quite the challenging task in itself.

Writing is hard, basically. One might even say: it's not that easy. But I suppose that's the point of practice, isn't it?

Anyway, the chapter took a lot longer than expected because the plans took more time to get through. I don't think I could've cut down on anything to make it come out any faster, but I don't think the next chapter will be any longer, so here's to hoping that takes less time.

Until then, thanks for sticking with me. You all are lovely people for reading, and I'm grateful you took time out of your day to read through. Remember to take care of yourselves out there, and stay safe!