It felt good to be on her own for the first time in weeks. She could control how quickly she moved, she could decide where she wanted to stop, or if she wanted too at all.

Lucina had no plans to–not until the evening, that was. She was going to head from here straight to Ferox, and there was nothing that could deter her from her path. She had walked this road before, back in the past. It had looked different then; most of the trees had been stripped of their leaves, shriveled reduced to a sickly purple color by the Fell Dragon's foul gaze, and all the life had been sucked out of the dirt until there was nothing left but dust, but the way the road wound Westward was still unmistakably the same.

The sun beat down on her face. The warm, welcoming sun. Truly, she had taken the sun for granted before. In her future, the dark, rolling clouds choked the sky so thoroughly, the sun's rays could barely squeeze through to breathe life into the earth. Now that she was no longer dying of thirst, she truly could appreciate the warmth it brought her.

Though, maybe it was still a little too warm.

Frowning, Lucina stepped out of the sunlight and back under the shade of the forest. She peered through the leaves up at the sky, and at the sun beginning its descent from the top of the sky into the horizon.

She'd set out in the morning. Now, it was the afternoon. If her memory served her correctly, it would only take her three weeks to make it to the border by foot, and just a little more to find the nearest town. Nowhere close to the two weeks it would take her by wagon, but with Anna having to restock, waiting would have taken much longer, and Lucina was sure that with her pace, she could cut that time down by two and a half weeks.

Her stomach growled. Lucina grimaced and glanced down.

Though, perhaps it wouldn't hurt to break for a meal, would it?

I'm beginning to regret not getting lunch at the inn, Lucina thought, breaking away from the path to search for food.

There was a river nearby. In the future, it had been an empty riverbed, but now it bubbled with water so clean she could see the rocks at the bottom glittering in the sunlight like gemstones and the fish weaving through the flowing cracks in the ground.

Lucina grabbed a stick from the bank nearby, and she used her sword to sharpen the end into a fine point. From there, getting food was a simple matter of using her newly made spear to pluck the fish from the water and onto the shore.

In hindsight, it would have been wise for her to buy a fire tome before she had left. It would have saved her the time of trying to light it by hand, though Lucina was certain that, as she sat in the dirt rubbing a pair of sticks against each other, it wouldn't amount to too much time wasted.

"You need a hand there, miss?"

Lucina looked up. A mage stood a few feet away on the road. He smiled and tipped his blue pointed hat at her, and Lucina waved back.

"I do, actually," she replied. "You would not happen to have any Fire tomes on your person, would you?"

The mage shook his head. "I'm afraid not. I burned through the last one I had just last week. I do, however, have a Thunder tome with me."

"You do? That would be more than enough." Lucina motioned him over, and pointed toward a pile of sticks and leaves she had gathered a few feet away. "If you could light that, I would very much appreciate it."

The mage flicked out a hand, and a bristling ball of yellow burst from his fingertips, sizzling against the tinder she had set on the ground and setting it ablaze.

Lucina nodded her head back, and she set her fish over the fire to roast. To her surprise, the mage did not immediately leave, watching over her shoulder as the fire licked the fish's silver scales.

When he noticed her look, he laughed. "Would you mind terribly if I stayed?"

"Not at all," Lucina replied. "My father never turned down company, so neither shall I."

The mage hummed, and he took a seat next to her. As he did, Lucina noticed that his eyes were fixed upon her fish.

"Hungry?" she asked.

"Oh, no. Not for fish, anyway. I've just returned from the sea, actually." The mage smiled. "I've had nothing but fish to eat for days."

"It's freshwater," she said. "It'll taste different."

"I suppose so."

Suddenly, an idea struck Lucina. Turning to him, she asked, "You wouldn't happen to have any spare Thunder tomes with you, would you?"

"Why?"

"I'll be traveling alone for some time. It'd be nice to have something to light my fires with." Lucina nudged one of the fish she had over the fire. "I'll trade you a meal for a tome."

"I'm sure you need the food more than I do."

"True, but I could always catch another."

"I don't know. I've got a spare, but... it's not got much uses left."

"That's fine. I just need something to light my fires until I make it to the next town. As long as it can light enough fires to last me two and a half weeks. "

The mage paused. He gave her an odd look. "The nearest town is only a three day walk."

"It is?" Lucina frowned, her brows pulling down. "That's the first I've heard of it. Where is it?"

"Up ahead, there should be a crossroad. If you turn south, it should only be a one day journey from there by foot."

Lucina opened her mouth. "Ah. That would explain it." Flicking another twig into the fire, Lucina sighed. "That's not the direction I'm headed."

"Suit yourself. I'm headed there to meet my family."

"Your family?"

"Yes. I've not seen them since this whole war business started." The mage paused to take a look at his Thunder tome. "It's why I went out to the sea. A friend I knew was enlisted in the navy. Said he wanted me to join him as the ship's resident mage."

"Knew?"

"Yes. He was killed by a cannonball. We had to bury him beneath the waves, Naga rest his soul. His family likely knows already. Still, it would never hurt to make sure they're okay."

"I'm sorry to have brought it up," Lucina said.

"No, it's fine. It's been at the back of my mind since I returned to shore."

Sighing, the mage flipped through the pages in his tome. He didn't move when Lucina placed her hand on his shoulder, but she saw his gaze flick to her for a moment. Lucina hated times like these, times when her soldiers had lost so many, times when they looked like they could not go on. She never knew what to say or how she could make them feel better, but...

"Now is no place to let your thoughts weigh you down, soldier," she said. "You'll have time for that when you're safe at home."

The mage sniffled. He reached up and rubbed a sleeve over his eyes, before he murmured, "I suppose you're right."

"Too many have asked me to deliver their final words to their families. Do not let yourself share their fate. You have a family waiting for you. Make sure you get home safely for them."

Slowly, the mage looked up at her. He opened his mouth, then closed it, staring at her as if she had suddenly grown a pair of rabbit ears, before he said, softly, "I will."

"Good." Lucina shook his shoulder, then pushed herself to her feet and walked back into the woods.

When she returned with several more fish, the mage was gone. The fish she had left to cook had disappeared too, but cast in the flickering light of the fire, she saw a Thunder tome, its cover tattered and worn, laid on the dirt.


Lucina liked to think she had grown used to sleeping on the cold, hard ground. It was too often that the Risen would destroy a few of their bed rolls while they were traveling, forcing Lucina to give up her bed roll until they reached the next town to buy some more. She never complained–it was just a fact of their life–but that didn't mean it was comfortable.

When Lucina awoke the next morning, it was to twigs tangled in her hair and stones prodding into her back Her neck felt stiff, and her limbs ached from being pressed up against the dirt, but more rest would not get her any closer to Ferox, so she forced herself to her feet and plodded onward.

The dirt road sank ever so slightly with every step she took. Morning dew did not make the road this wet, so it was safe to assume it had rained last night. Not enough to get through the trees, or she might have been woken by it, but enough so that her boots stuck to the ground and sometimes refused to come out.

She was not the only one who had suffered; up ahead, she could see a group of brightly dressed minstrels standing around a wagon driven off the road, half of its wheels in the air, the other half sinking into the mud. A grey horse was tied to a tree nearby, giving her a sideways look as she passed by.

"Hello there," she said, raising her hand as she approached.

The minstrels all turned to look at her. The one at the front, the leader, she presumed, waved back with a sheepish smile. "Hello."

"Your wagon looks stuck."

The lead minstrel turned back to look at it, then back at her. "That's because it is."

Lucina frowned, confused. "Do you need help?"

"I think we'll be fine." One of the other minstrels frowned and elbowed the lead minstrel. The lead minstrel gave him a look, before he sighed. "Actually, do you think you could lend us a hand? We've been trying to get this stupid thing out of the mud for the past half hour, and we've got to get to the next town by tomorrow."

"It would be my pleasure." Lucina walked over to the wagon, placing her hand on top of it. "Have you tried pulling it out?"

"We tried that," the minstrel said, "but none of us are really all that strong, so we weren't able to move it an inch."

Lucina hummed. She walked around to the back of it, then motioned for the minstrel to follow. "You wouldn't happen to have a shovel, would you?"

"Why?"

Lucina pointed to the side of the wagon. "This half is buried in the dirt. We'll need to dig it out."

The minstrel's brows pulled down, and he leaned in for a closer look. "How did that happen?"

Were she Laurent, she might have been able to explain it in greater detail. Heck, even if she were someone like Morgan, she would probably be able to piece together an explanation with just one glance, but as it was, she just shrugged and said, "I would tell you if I could, but I'm sure you would appreciate it a lot more if I pulled your wagon out of the sand as soon as possible.'

"I don't know about that..." Another minstrel kicked him, and the lead minstrel scowled. "Or, we could just pull it out."

"Do you have a shovel or not?"

"I don't believe we do. My friends and I aren't much for hard labor, so we don't carry too many tools with us."

"What about a bucket? Or a box?"

One of the other minstrels stepped forward with a bucket in hand. "We've got that, since sometimes we need some vertical staging for our performances."

"Don't spoil the show, Ernest!" the lead minstrel hissed, and the other minstrel huffed.

"Well, it's not like it matters to her, does it?" With a smile, he handed the bucket to Lucina. "Sorry about Ludwig here. He's in a bit of a bind with this whole situation, and it's not put him in the best mood."

"It's fine. I'm sure I would be the same, were I in his shoes." Lucina took the bucket, and within a matter of minutes, she had scooped the dirt and mud out of the wagon.

"You wouldn't happen to have a spare rope?" she asked as she handed the bucket back to the minstrel.

"We do, actually." The minstrel reached for a nearby chest, and he pulled out a thick rope long enough to touch the ground.

Lucina waved him to the other side of the cart. "Tie that to the axel. It'll make it easier to pull down."

She watched as the minstrel did as she said, and as soon as the rope was wound around the axel, she motioned for him to step aside, and grabbed onto the rope. The wagon was heavier than Lucina expected. Perhaps it was water-logged enough to be heavier than it looked. The wet ground did her no favors, and her boots kept slipping on the floor.

"Would anyone mind giving me a hand?" she asked, looking over at the minstrels.

One of them exchanged a look with the lead minstrel, before he moved over to grab Lucina's shoulders. With the extra weight, Lucina was able to plant her feet into the ground, and she yanked the rope back with all her might. This time, the wagon creaked as it toppled toward her, slowly at first, before it crashed into the ground, splattering mud over her coat.

As she wiped the dirt from her clothes, one of the minstrels approached her. "Thank you for your help. Is there any way we can repay you?"

"As long as it's not money," the lead minstrel chimed in from behind him. "We barely have any left after our last show."

Lucina blinked. "Oh, don't worry about that. I'm content to just help out."

The minstrel in front of her frowned. "Are you sure? We could give you a ride to the nearest town."

"Oh, I'm not headed there. It's too far out of the way for where I'm headed."

"Are you sure? It's not safe, traveling alone in a place like this. I've heard talk of bandits in the area."

Bandits? Lucina wouldn't be surprised, considering her recent encounter with Vincent and his group. She would have expected them to try to hunt her down for payback, but that was the whole point of traveling alone, wasn't it? So she would be harder to track on her journey to Ferox.

"I'll be fine on my own," Lucina said, smiling.

"Well, we still owe you one," the minstrel said. "If you ever need anything from us, don't be afraid to ask."


The sun had finally begun to set when Lucina came across the crossroads. Like the mage had told her, a second road lay across the road she had been on, running from north to south. She had no interest in heading south, but Lucina couldn't help but be a little curious, and she took a glance down the road.

A man was laid out on the side of the road, clutching his stomach and groaning.

A crossroads. Fancy that.

A part of Lucina urged her to move onward. A part of her said that she had no time to be distracted with things like this.

But her father had raised her better than that, so Lucina gathered herself and moved to stand beside him.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

The wounded man shot her a glare. "What do you think?"

Lucina frowned. "Sorry. That was a stupid question." She knelt down, nodding at the hand over his stomach. "Mind if I take a look?"

"Are you a trained cleric?"

"I am." When the man gave her a surprised look, she smiled and said, "My mother was a skilled healer."

"Oh. Then by all means."

Carefully, Lucina pried the man's hand from his wound, wincing as soon as she gazed upon it. "I suppose there's not much use in asking if you can walk, either."

"They got me good," the man hissed.

Humming, Lucina swiftly gathered a pile of leaves and sticks to build the base for a small fire. Electricity crackled from her fingertips as Lucina flung the Thunder spell into the pile of twigs, and a small flame burst out from beneath. Lucina rubbed her hands, clearing the magical discharge from her palms before she looked around. A large backpack leaning against a nearby tree caught her eye.

Pointing toward it, she turned to the man and asked, "May I take your waterskin for a moment?"

The man's brows pulled down, and he craned his neck enough to follow her gaze. "Would you look at that," he mumbled. "They left my waterskin behind. Guess they aren't so clever after all."

"They?"

"Bandits. Came in, stabbed me, took all my stuff." He paused. "Most of my stuff," the man said, and he waved her aside. "Take it. It's not as if I'm in any shape to use it myself."

Since he didn't seem to mind, Lucina leaned over and untangled the waterskin from the backpack's straps. She popped open the cork and turned it over. To her disappointment, all she got for her effort was a few drops.

"There's a stream nearby. I'll head over there to refill this." Lucina pointed toward the small fire. "You stay here, okay?"

"Yeah, like I could go anywhere like this."

"I'm simply making sure you don't try anything foolish," Lucina said, before she turned and headed off the road.

She had fished in a nearby stream just yesterday, and those did not often disappear without warning. It just so happened that Lucina knew that stream continued for a bit past here, and when she stumbled upon it again, she was not surprised. Lucina filled the waterskin, plugged the cork back, and when she returned, she found the man had begun to doze off.

"Hey," she said, slapping him awake. "Stay with me."

"I wasn't sleeping," the man mumbled, and he shoved her away.

Unimpressed, Lucina examined his wound again. She reached back and tore a piece off her cloak, soaked it in the water, and cleaned the wound. As soon as she was done, she tore another piece, soaked it, and wrapped it tightly around his stomach.

"That will hold for now." She stood, thought for a moment, before she asked, "Do you think you can stand on your own?"

"Miss, what is it with you insisting that I stand on my own? You know I can't make it to the next town by myself."

Which was exactly what Lucina had been afraid of, because it was this that had got her into this whole mess. She had agreed to go with Anna on her way to Ferox, and that had brought nothing but trouble. Of course, it was just a simple one day walk from here, but with how poor her luck had been so far, Lucina wasn't willing to bet it would end there. She needed to get to Ferox as soon as possible. She could afford no distractions.

"The thing is," she mumbled, "I'm in a hurry, so... that is to say–"

"You're just going to leave me here?" the man shouted.

"No, not at all. I would never, it's simply..."

Then, an idea.

"No," Lucina said, slowly. "I have some acquaintances who will be passing through soon. They are headed in the same direction. I'm simply going to accompany you until they arrive."

The man instantly deflated. "Oh. Thank you."

Lucina set herself down next to the man, and began fiddling with her cloak. She watched as the shadows beneath them stretched on until they melted completely together, and the entire ground was cast in shade. The sun had completely disappeared behind the trees when Lucina finally heard the tell-tale sound of hooves clip-clopping over the road, the creaking of wheels, and the soft strumming of string instruments.

As soon as she saw the wagon of minstrels appear around the corner, Lucina jumped to her feet and waved to them.

"Hey!" she said, and to her relief, the wagon came to a stop beside them.

"Oh, it's you," the minstrel at the front said, narrowing his eyes. "What do you want?"

Another minstrel nudged him with a huff. "Ludwig! She helped us this morning. Be nice." To Lucina, he smiled and said, "Sorry. Is something the matter?"

"It's about that favor you owe me."

"Oh?"

Lucina nodded to the wounded man by her side. "This man needs medical attention at the next town. I would accompany him myself, but like I said before, I'm headed west. Could you take him with you?"

The minstrels exchanged a look. They quickly pulled together, whispering something among each other, before they turned away. The lead minstrel looked unhappy, but Lucina was beginning to suspect that was a normal occurance for him. The minstrel next to him stepped forward with a grin and said, "Of course! We'd be more than happy to help."

Turning to the wounded man, Lucina asked, "Are you fine with this arrangement?"

"As long as you don't keep me up all night with your singing," the wounded man huffed.

Helping him up onto the wagon was a quick matter for Lucina, and as soon as he was on, she saw off the minstrels with a wave and a smile. As she watched the wagon move down the road, growing smaller in the distance, her smile faltered.

Three times today had she been suggested that direction. Three times, she had turned them down. It was almost like fate wanted her to head toward the town. But why?

"Whatever fate wants with me, I could care less for," Lucina mumbled, turning to continue down the road. "I know my purpose here. I shall choose the path that shall take me there, not toward whichever road fate decides is best."


Hey, it's me again with the two-week upload after I said it'd be done in a week. Believe it or not, the chapter was going to be longer and take longer, which I didn't think it would be because my outline was only half a page long. Nowhere near the monster that was Chapter 35's outline. Not quite sure if that was the right call, but that would've meant putting off the chapter for some more time, and this might be the last you hear from me for a month or so, with fall coming around and all the baggage that carries.

If anything, I'll try to finish what I was supposed to wrap up this chapter (and maybe redo that awful cover from two years ago) before I get swamped with college stuff. Feel free to review or comment, really helps keep this story at the top of my list of things to do. Until then, remember that, even if no one tells you, the things you do matter a whole lot! Take care of yourselves out there, and stay safe!