As Lucina slipped through the streets, hunched down and slipping through alleyways, she sensed a nervousness in the air. People who passed her spoke in hushed tones, and some shot glances at the walls as if they expected them to come crumbling down at any second.

The guards surely most have told the townspeople they had little to worry about–a panicked town was an unpredictable town–but people had a knack for picking up on if something was wrong, and right now, they would all die if she didn't get out of here and led the bandits away.

"Someone said she went that way!"

Lucina froze. Just outside the alley, she heard a few soldiers approach, their armor clanking loudly as they ran. Lucina ducked behind a nearby crate, and she poked her head out just in time to see them sprint past. She caught the sight of the captain among them, frustrated and angry, and his words repeated in her head.

"Civil war."

A civil war she had caused. A civil war that was entirely her fault.

Killing her grandfather wasn't enough. Killing Tomas wasn't enough. The blood of countless Ylisseans could be on her hands because she had been so stupid and caused an all-out war.

No. I can't think like that. Lucina groaned and clutched her head, sitting down in the alley as she tried to calm the rush of thoughts in her head. Maybe... maybe it's not as bad as I assume. The war could be over before it has time to claim too many lives.

Ylisse would survive it. If there was anything she could count on, it was that ferocious Pegasus Knight captain. She was loyal to Emmeryn to a fault, and if she was with Emmeryn, the rest of the Pegasus Knights would follow suit. With the Pegasus Knights at her side, then victory was assured for Emmeryn on the front line. Lucina had nothing to worry about.

Then, a realization hit her. One so obvious, she was stupid for not thinking it, but... what had she been here to stop?

Emmeryn's assassination. If they can't beat the Pegasus Knights, what's to stop them from sending a killer after her? And if Emmeryn is in danger, what would stop them from going after father?

She had to get back. She had to save Emmeryn. A voice in her head screamed that it could break the timeline, but she crushed it and let it bleed out into the cobblestone below her.

To hell with that. If she had caused a civil war, of all things, then how much worse could it get?

The only thing that stopped her from throwing herself out and breaking into a sprint back toward Ylisstol was the painful reminder of her own failures–Because, she realized, as she came to a stop just before the end of the alley, if she couldn't win against a bunch of bandits, what hope did she have against Ylissean soldiers? Against people who had more training than what little she could piece together, fighting for her life? Against people who could actually beat her, who would kill her?

What could she do? What could she do? Everything was falling apart so fast and so horribly, she wanted to clutch her head and scream.

"Marth?" a familiar voice called out to her, small but firm.

Lucina looked up. Standing before her, one of Anna's daughters looked up at her, a concerned frown on her face.

It took her a moment to remember which one this was. They all looked the same to her–same face, same ponytail, same annoying smile–but Lucina looked her up and down all the same.

No worn out boots. No scarf. No teddy bear clutched to her chest.

This one is the sleepy one.

Lucina huffed. "Do you need something?"

"Why did you have to leave again?" the girl replied, frowning.

"I told you, I have duties I must fulfill."

Sleepy Anna scowled and shook her head. "Not that. I meant today! You came back, and you're leaving again?"

"Oh. That. Your mother and I had a disagreement. I simply decided I didn't want to work for her anymore." Then, Lucina frowned. "Say, why are you here?"

"I thought you didn't work for mama anymore. You don't have to worry about that."

"But you're still a child. Anyone would be worried if they saw you out here on your own."

Humming, Sleepy Anna kicked the floor and nodded ahead. "It's market day. Mama told me to go out and buy some rope before we go out to sell some things."

Market day? Lucina pinched the bridge of her nose. Of course. That was just like Anna. Bandits were about to invade the village, and the woman would still drag her wagon outside to make a quick buck.

But she didn't know, did she?

What difference did it make, if she knew? She would likely be too stubborn to listen.

And if she dies because you brought the bandits to her, what will you do?

What would she do? Why should she care? She hated the woman. She'd betrayed her friends and left them to die.

Then her eyes fell on Sleepy Anna, already walking away. Her eyes widened.

Oh. Right.

Before she could disappear into the crowd, Lucina raised her hand to stop her.

"Wait!" she said.

The girl turned around, confused. "Huh?"

"Where's your mother?"

"She should be down the street. Why?"

Lucina sighed. "You need to get out of here. There are bandits about to attack the town, and you'll be in grave danger if you stay."


"Okay."

Lucina blinked. "Pardon?"

Anna shrugged, and she raised the bag of goods over her shoulder. "I said okay. I'll go."

All the air came out of Lucina in a rush. Her shoulders slackened, and she said, "Oh. You will?"

"What, you think I'd risk my life over a sale? Come on, I'm not that stupid."

Maybe she really wouldn't. Lucina would bet gold her Anna would, but this Anna wasn't her Anna–at least, she assumed it wasn't her Anna–so she might have had more common sense. At the very least, she knew Anna was taking her concerns safe, so Lucina could leave knowing that Anna's daughters would be safe.

As the woman and her four daughters began to walk down the road, Lucina asked, "What are you going to do?"

"Well, first, I'm going to let Gregor and the other guy know where we're going. Then, we'll pack our bags and head off to the town hall. Fingers crossed, it'll probably be the safest building in town."

"You tell Gregor what?"

Lucina stopped in her tracks and looked ahead. Anna did too, and she frowned.

"Gregor? Didn't I tell you to watch the other guy?" she said, waggling her finger.

Gregor rolled his eyes. "Gregor tied bandit to bed. He is fine."

Lucina would bet that he'd already escaped; but that didn't matter now, because Geralt was the last thing on her mind. "That's not important right now," she hissed. "You two need to get the children into the town hall as soon as possible."

"And what about you, hon?"

Blinking, Lucina turned to give Anna a look. "What about me?"

"Don't think I didn't notice you kept yourself out of the group. What're you planning to do, huh? You planning to play the hero and fight them off?"

"They're here because of me," Lucina said. "I'm going to lead them away from the village."

"You're leaving already?"

Lucina looked down, and when Sleepy Anna looked back at her with pleading eyes, she winced. "I'm sorry," she replied, "But I must go."

Boot Anna gripped her sleeve before she could pull it away. "But why?"

"Because this is my fault. I have a responsibility to fix it."

"Please don't go!" Scarf Anna said. "You just came back!"

"No!" Lucina said, and she yanked her arm away. Boot Anna stumbled back, and Scarf Anna flinched. Lucina's face softened, and she said, softer, "No. I cannot stay. This is my problem. I must fix it."

Beside her, Anna sighed. "Come on, girls. You heard her. Let's get to city hall."

The woman's daughters looked reluctant to follow. Lucina opened her mouth to tell them to listen, but before she could, Gregor spoke.

"Please," he said, "if girls want Marth to stay, Gregor does not know why she should not stay. Gregor will go."

Lucina's wide eyes snapped to him. "What?"

"Gregor will go. He is must stronger than Marth, no? He can lead bandits away. He helped Marth fight bandits, so they must hate him as much."

And he might just die for it. "You can't," Lucina said, frowning.

Gregor glared at her. "Gregor must. If he cannot avenge Gregor, then he will fight bandits in Gregor's name."

Lucina tried to ask him what that meant, but Gregor had already turned and began to walk the other way. To the bandits. The bandits she had brought.

"Stop!" she said. Gregor didn't listen.

"Come on," Anna said, and she placed a hand on Lucina's shoulder. "If he wants to be like that, it's his choice."

Lucina didn't know how she'd kept it in for so long. How, with everything else falling apart around her, she had convinced herself that it was okay, that she could put everything back together, but in that moment, she snapped.

"No, it's not!" she screamed, slapping Anna's hand away. The woman backed down, shocked. Lucina didn't care, clutching her head.

"None of this was supposed to happen!" Lucina pointed at Gregor, who had froze. "You're not supposed to be this stupid!" She pointed to the walls. "They're not supposed to be here." Then she pointed to the forest beyond. "And there's not supposed to be a civil war in Ylisse! All of this happened because of me, because of my mistakes."

Anna laughed, but expression was strained. "Come on. It's not like you killed the Exalt."

"But I did!" The admission stunned Anna. It stunned the few people passing them on the street. If Lucina were thinking straight, maybe she would be too, but all she could see right now was red.

"Everything is going wrong because I killed him. The blood of everyone in this stupid war, everyone in those villages, are on my hands." She stormed up to Gregor, and before he could protest, she grabbed him by the collar and hurled him back into Anna. Startled, Anna yelped and pushed him back. He staggered, then looked at her with a scowl. He opened his mouth. Lucina pressed her finger against his nose with a snarl.

"You're staying right here."

"Gregor says he can decide for himself," he said.

"And I say, you don't have a choice in this! This is my responsibility, and I am not going to let you be another mistake I have to fix!"

Gregor opened his mouth to reply, but any word he had been about to say was cut off by a scream. Everyone turned toward the sound, only to find the nearby town walls engulfed in a bright red blaze.


Originally, this chapter was supposed to be part of the previous chapter, but then I added a few more things that would've made it too long for that, so I decided to cut it off. Hopefully that explains why the chapter's a tad short this week.

Anyway, it's the climactic fight to the arc! Everything's finally coming together, and there's going to be one last action scene to cap it all off. Might take a little more time than usual to plan it out because of all the things it's going to have to do, but I'll make sure it's fun.

I'll still try to get it done with a week, though. Until then, feel free to review, it helps motivate me to keep the story on my mind. Remember to take care of yourselves out there, and stay safe!