Disclaimer: I don't own Fire Emblem Awakening, all rights to the owners.

In case you're wondering, the idea for the island was entirely based on Nah's paralogue being in a manor. That's how I decided it would be an island for the rich. I also had no idea her paralogue took place on an island until maybe a month ago.

Not much happens in this chapter in terms of plot. I mean, like, literally nothing. There's quite a bit of world building though. This chapter is almost entirely Nathan and Morgan.

"Finally, it is good to be in a place befitting my massive brain and even more massive wallet." Morgan sniffs pretentiously. "How beneath me it was to be travelling in a world of filthy plebeians and to need to touch dirt with my own boots! The wonders of cobbled roads are truly innumerable."

"Indeed they are, Mistress. Would you like your tea with enormously expensive imported sugar that tastes exactly the same as regular sugar, or milk from your private farms that you claim is specially made but is actually just the same as all other milk?" I ask in a simpering, servile voice.

"I do think I'll take the sugar this time." Morgan says. "How will I remind myself of how incredibly rich I am if I do consume something hideously expensive at least once per meal? Why, I might vaguely resemble a commoner! Can you imagine the trauma that would cause my fragile ego?"

"Of course Mistress." I say. "I have also prepared numerous dress options for your outing today. How ostentatious are you feeling? We have an elegant Chon'sinese blue silk gown personally made for you by your personal Chon'sinese tailor who you can't even talk to without a translator, a dress of your own making with real platinum coins as ornamentation for extra pretension, or traditional Feroxi garb that is so heavily altered with gold and silver that it is not even recognizable as such?"

"I think I'll take my platinum gown." Morgan proclaims. "Do prepare the carriage for my departure dear boy. And remember to round up some plebeians to pull it for me. Horses are so hideously expensive."

"Of course Mistress."

"Are you two quite done?" Kjelle asks dryly.

"Feeling impatient dear? A guard must have the utmost patience! What else do I pay you for?" Morgan tuts. "Do not make me dock your pay. I am being quite generous with your five copper daily pay already."

Kjelle's eye twitches. Noire silently sips her tea, choosing not to comment. I'm the only person not having tea. I have water.

The plan today is to find information on a mage who might be willing to scry for us and who we have some cause to believe is trustworthy.

I'm fairly sure I'm not going to be useful in that endeavor, if only because of my anxiety when dealing with strangers, and this job is literally all about going up to strangers to ask for information.

At least I can be assured that Morgan will do most of the talking. I'm not exactly sure what I'm going to be able to do to help, but I suppose I don't really have to.

With our goofiness mostly out of our system and our breakfast done, we exit the inn and-

"We should probably split up. We don't all need to talk to the same person at the same time." Morgan says. "So at the very least we can split up with me and Nathan and you two, though if you two are comfortable going alone we get more info, but it's not a big deal."

"That's fine with me." Kjelle says. "Noire?"

"I-I'd rather stay with you than go alone." Noire murmurs.

"That's fine. We're in no real rush anyways." Morgan says. "Oh, and here."

She takes some gold out of her pouch, six, and hands three to each of them. Kjelle takes her money with a raised eyebrow.

"We're finally in a place that looks fun, so… take some money to have fun!" Morgan chirps. "Get lunch at a nice place, watch a play, I dunno. We've been on the move or stuck in a tavern for months on end, so let's not waste the chance, right?"

"There are better uses for this money…" Kjelle grumbles.

"Yeah, but I wanna enjoy myself." Morgan says. "If you don't want to use it, don't, but this is my money and I can choose how I use it."

"We're supposed to be searching for information, not having a day on the town." Kjelle argues.

"We can do both. We're not in a rush Kjelle." Morgan reminds her. "Nah isn't in imminent danger or anything. If you don't want to, you don't have to, but just because we're on a mission doesn't mean we can never have fun."

"You have fun all the time with your stupid roleplay." Kjelle complains under her breath. "But fine. I'll take your money if you're so insistent."

"You're welcome." Morgan says smugly. "You're lucky I'm such a generous, gracious, humble girl who doesn't mind giving money to someone so ungrateful."

"If you expect me to say thank you now, I won't." Kjelle sneers.

"Kjelle…" Noire says reproachfully. Her eyebrows are slightly furrowed and she has a frown on her face. "Morgan is being nice."

"I- fine." Kjelle says. "Thank you. There, happy?"

Noire still looks disappointed in her, and Morgan still looks supremely smug.

"Let's meet back here at dusk." Morgan says cheerfully as she pulls me away. "You can have dinner out if you want! Don't feel shy about spending the money!"

###

"They had all sorts of miniatures!" Morgan says eagerly. "I want to see if they have the game Father played! I also saw a shop with tomes and I want to get a new one, and I heard some of the sailors talking about the really nice restaurants here and how some of them aren't too unreasonably priced and I really want some good food!"

"We are going to actually accomplish our mission at some point, right?" I ask, amused. "This wasn't just an excuse to go on a shopping trip?"

"Well..." Morgan says with a smirk.

"Morgan."

"Of course it wasn't. It's also an excuse to be with you~!" Morgan smiles. "It's been awhile since we've been alone during the day, and Kjelle is kind of a killjoy."

I'm not sure I've ever had someone so eager to be around me, much less to have alone time. I don't know what I did to make you think so highly of me Morgan, but I'm glad I did it. "Well I'm not about to complain about having your genius mind all to myself."

Morgan makes an exaggerated gasp. "Is all you care about my mind? What about my winning personality? What about my body?!"

"Your personality is a convenient bonus." I joke. "And your body… no comment."

"Rude!" Morgan pouts. "I bet other men would love my mature and not at all childish or cute face!"

A smile stretches the corners of my face. "Have you been watering yourself every morning and removing bugs?"

"Oh come on!" Morgan pouts. "I am not that small!"

"Well…"

"Fine, I won't be small forever!"

I usually would carry on the joke here, but now that I consider it I have to bring this point up eventually. "Morgan, you do know that-"

"Yeah, I know, I might not get a growth spurt." She huffs. "A girl can dream though, can't she? Besides, I feel like I should have one."

"What do you mean?"

"It's a subconscious thing." Morgan says, gesturing to her stomach and head. "I just feel in my gut that I haven't had a growth spurt. I feel like I'm still waiting for it. I know my age means I shouldn't have one, but…"

"Well it's not impossible." I say slowly. "There are a few conditions that could explain it. There are some deformities like hypopituitarism where your brain might not produce certain growth hormones, or it might be something more benign like constitutional growth delay, but there's also the chance that you're just small. Actually… do you know how tall your father was? A good indicator of a child's final height is actually their parents' height."

"Father is smaller than you, but a head and a bit over me." Morgan says. "He's average from what I remember."

"I suppose then it would depend on your mother then." I muse. But the only really small women in the game are Nowi and Nah and Morgan herself. No one else is quite that short. Or, I don't think there's anyone that short. It's not like there are official heights. Maybe Olivia is actually really short. "But yeah, you probably should be taller. Maybe we can ask Miriel to look into it if science or magic has advanced far enough to detect genetic defects."

"So the only possibility is defects though?" Morgan asks worriedly. "Or else I'm just done growing?"

"Constitutional growth delay isn't really a defect, and isn't usually permanent. It might just be that." I reassure. "If you feel fine, don't worry. Something like hypopituitarism would probably have other side effects. If you feel fine, then there's nothing to worry about."

"Right." Morgan sighs. "I just… I want to grow."

"What's so wrong with being small and cute?"

"Nothing!" Morgan says in frustration. "It's not even bad or anything, but I hate feeling like I'm missing out on something I should be getting. I wouldn't mind being short and cute if it felt natural, but it doesn't. I feel like I'm in the middle of something."

That's a very specific feeling. I'm trying to remember all the mental symptoms of puberty now. Maybe I can try and determine if she's still in the middle of it. Or maybe she already knows. "Do you know if you started puberty at least?"

"Yeah." Morgan nods. "I have the usual female issues, so to speak."

Okay, so that strikes off the possibility that she just didn't start puberty at all. "Well I have no idea then. Realistically you should have hit your growth spurt by now. It's probably not an issue, but if you're really worried about it you should talk to Miriel and probably a healer when we get to Ylisstol."

"Who's Miriel again?"

"Smart lady. Mage, scientist."

"Right, right…" Morgan nods. "We got off track."

"Yeah, sorry."

"No, I'm glad you brought it up. Better than worrying about it in the back of my mind." Morgan says. "So, anyways, miniatures!"

"Right."

###

Before we even get to the store, something completely different catches my attention. I catch a flash of a familiar hairstyle and face in the crowd. Morgan has been leading me until then, but when I catch a glimpse of those I grab Morgan by the arm and tug her into the market.

"I saw something." I say quickly to explain. "Someone."

"Who?"

"An Anna."

Morgan perks up. "Anna? One of my possible mothers?"

"Uh, probably not. There are dozens, maybe hundreds of Annas. They all look alike and have the same name." I explain. I'm only half paying attention to her. I need to find Anna again. "But they know a lot and an Anna operates the outrealm gate in the game, so there's a chance I can get some useful info out of her."

"Right." Morgan's brow furrows. "What does she look like?"

"Red hair, ponytail, probably wears some red too." I recount quickly.

It doesn't actually take too long to find Anna, because despite how busy the market is Anna is very good at making herself heard and seen. She actually doesn't have her stall set up yet, and is in the process of unfolding a stand from the back of her wagon.

For once, my nervousness is forgotten in my eagerness to talk. "Anna!"

The merchant turns her head with a wide and very fake smile on her face. She's not dressed like the Shepherds' Anna, and instead has an outfit that's white and crimson rather than red and yellow. Still, she's still very obviously an Anna. "Hello! How are you hansome? And you too, cutie! Just give me a minute if you would, I just need to set up my stall before I can make a sale~!"

"Ah, we're not here to buy merchandise." I say quickly. "Just information. I know you Annas are smart."

"Oh?" That seems to catch her attention. She stops unfolding her stand, strands up straight, and turns to me with obvious curiosity. "Is that so?"

"Yes." I nod. "Uh, is that wrong…?"

"No, not at all." Anna says. "It's just unusual to hear. Mostly when people think of us Anna's they tend to think of our salesmanship. People don't usually assume we're smart as a rule."

"Well I know better." I say. From my game knowledge, I know that all Annas are familiar with information from a big family collection of knowledge that all Annas are required to know, though I obviously can't say that I know that specific piece of information. "I'll get right to the point. Does the outrealm gate exist in this world, and if so, how far can it send someone?"

Anna's eyebrows rise quickly, and she leans forward. "Well now, that's an interesting question. What interest do you have in outrealms, stranger?"

"I want to get home." I say honestly. "But to do that I'm going to need interdimensional travel, and the outrealm gate is the only way I know of doing that."

Not true actually. Anankos pulled Owain, Severa, and Inigo to the world of Fates, so he can cause interdimensional travel, but that's not something I can even start to try and use.

"You're an outrealmer, hmm?" Anna hums. Her eyes study me carefully.

"Maybe?"

"What do you mean, maybe?" Anna asks.

"I mean maybe." I shrug. "I don't know how I got here, but I come from a place without magic, so coming through an outrealm portal seems unlikely."

"Indeed." Anna frowns. "I'm not sure the outrealm portal would be able to get you back home anyways if that's the case. Breaking into a magic-less world would require an astounding amount of power."

"So the outrealm portal does exist."

"Yes, it does." Anna whispers. "Keep that to yourself though. We try not to spread the fact that interdimensional travel exists for what I hope should be obvious reasons."

"Too dangerous." I whisper in return. "Sorry."

"Is that all you wanted to know?" Anna asks.

"Well… I have a few more mundane questions too." I say.

"Fire away. Anything else sensitive will cost you though." Anna warns. "The outrealm gate was a freebie because of your circumstance, if you're going to pry into anything else I'm charging."

"I just need general news of the world." I reassure her. "Is Ylisse at war right now?"

"Oh that? Geeze, you could ask anyone that." Anna huffs.

Oh, right. I guess we're not in farming villages now, and the rich would obviously get information pretty quickly.

"But yeah, Ylisse is at war. They've got Plegia on the ropes from what my sister tells me." Anna says.

So the Ylisse-Plegia war is the one happening. We haven't even hit the timeskip yet. Interesting, and also possibly very inconvenient. If the timeskip hasn't happened yet and Valm hasn't invaded, that means Lucina probably hasn't revealed herself to the Shepherds yet, which means we're going to have a problem trying to explain the ruined future situation.

"Is Emmeryn alive?"

Anna's eyes narrow. "That's a very specific question. What makes you ask that?"

"Well Emmeryn is the ruling exalt from what I'm aware." I say. "If war started, then it makes sense she would be in danger. I just want to know the situation in Ylisse overall seeing as my group will be heading to Ylisstol."

"Mm-hmm." Anna hums, unconvinced. "Did you just expect me to ignore the fact that you for some reason thought that Ylisse would be at war? You know something."

Ah, uh, right. She doesn't know about my future knowledge. I really should have been more careful. "Well that's not wrong…" I say reluctantly.

Anna sighs. "Emmeryn is alive."

I wonder if that means she got taken but survived unlike the games, or if she hasn't gotten taken yet, but if that were the case then Plegia wouldn't be on the ropes yet. So I think, somehow, Emmeryn actually survives in this world, and I have no idea what that's going to do for the accuracy of my future knowledge.

"Okay, spill, come on, I've answered your questions." Anna huffs. "I won't charge you, so do a girl a good turn here huh?"

"Uh, well…" I mumble, suddenly feeling acutely nervous. I glance to Morgan (who has been quiet this entire time) for reassurance, and she calmly squeezes my arm. She doesn't comment one way or another, leaving it up to me how I want to handle this. "My world has stories of this world and worlds like it."

"Oho!" Anna leans way forward. "You have to tell me! Spill! I'll pay you for that info!"

"I don't have much that would be useful to you." I say honestly. "I can tell you Ylisse will eventually go to war with Valm, probably about two years after this war ends. After that war ends Grima will rise, then be killed, and a large portion of Plegia's population will be dead."

Anna stares for a long ten seconds, then murmurs. "Okay then, that is something, and it is useful indeed." She digs into her coin pouch and pulls out a full gold coin and offers it to me. "I'm not usually this generous, so for future reference settle the price before you give them the goods."

"It isn't a sale." I say, pushing the coin back. "We traded. You told me about the outrealm gate, I told you about the future."

"If you say so." Anna pockets the coin. "Well, if you have any other tidbits of information you remember while you're around, I'll still be more than happy to buy some knowledge."

"I'll keep that in mind." I say. "Oh, and one last thing…"

"Hmm?"

"Have you seen someone called Nah? She's short, looks like a child and dresses like a doll, and has pointed ears."

Anna shakes her head. "Can't say I have. I'll point her this way if I do though."

"Thanks." I nod. "Well, uh… best of luck with your sales."

"Thank you." She smiles, looking a bit more genuine this time. "Come back when I'm set up if you're interested in buying something! I promise only the best of prices!"

"Sure." I nod. "Bye."

Me and Morgan walk away from her stall and out of the market, and Morgan takes the lead again.

"So." She says once we're out of the crowd. "What does that tell you?"

"What do you mean?"

"What did you learn? I mean, what does the war between Ylisse and Plegia mean for us?"

"Oh." I take a second to compose my thoughts. "So, it means we might have some trouble convincing your father about the whole future child thing, as in the game Lucina doesn't reveal her future child status until the beginning of the Valmese war. Granted, Emmeryn is still alive in this world which doesn't happen in the game, so with that deviation in mind I really can't predict too accurately."

"Ooh, that's a problem." Morgan frowns. "What do we do if she hasn't revealed herself then?"

"Try and find her?" I suggest weakly. "Not that I know where she'd be. We could also just go find the other future kids without talking to all your parents. Alternatively, I could try to leverage the fact that I know things about them to convince them that you're future children through my future knowledge."

"We might have to rely on that." Morgan muses. "Let's hope Lucina revealed herself early then."

"Yeah, let's." I hope I'll be able to convince the Shepherds that they have future kids. It won't be as easy as convincing the future kids that I had knowledge of the world though, because unlike them I have to battle disbelief whereas the future kids are already used to some pretty weird stuff.

###

Have you ever been to a Games Workshop? This store is kinda like that, except none of the miniatures are in boxes. They're in glass display cases. I can see normal soldiers, pegasus knights, wyvern riders, dragons, and even some things that I'm pretty sure don't exist here like orcs, elves, and a number of angelic and demonic looking figures.

I don't see any Skaven though, so it's not a straight Warhammer rip off. I never really played any miniature games because they were too expensive and I was (and still am) always pretty bad at strategy anyways, but I always did have an interest in them. They were cool, but I was always too frugal (despite my decently large bank of expendable cash) and too self-conscious about how bad I was to bother getting into anything of the sort.

All the miniatures are just a bit larger than I'd expect back home. I wonder if it's because they're wood, and you can't get as detailed with wood because of… uh… the grain…? I only know basic woodworking, okay!?

"Well, what do we have here?" A stilted voice calls through the store as me and Morgan gaze about. A tall, almost emaciated old man with skin pulled tight to bones, thin but brilliantly white hair pulled into a ponytail, glasses, and a polished wooden cane with golden swirls trailing down it, emerges from behind a case with a stiff gait. Everything about him is stiff in fact. His walk, the way his head snaps between us suddenly, and even the way he talks. He spaces out every syllable evenly, leaving about a half second between them. It's a very odd way of speaking. "You are new. Are you from off the island?"

"Yep!" Morgan chirps. "I remember my Father liked things like this, but I can't remember exactly what game it was. When I saw the store I had to come in and look though!"

"Your father plays, you say? Well, perhaps I can help narrow it down." The man says, and suddenly extends a hand. "I am Keene, and you?"

"I'm Morgan!" Morgan chirps. She enthusiastically shakes his hand. "I'm a tactician! A great one!"

"Indeed? Perhaps you could play well, then." Keene smiles. "And you." He extends a hand to me. "You are?"

"Nathan." I say, shaking his hand more gently. I do have to note that his hand doesn't shake though, and his grip is rather firm. "Not a tactician, just her companion."

"Just as well." Keene nods. "Now, do tell, Morgan-" (he pronounces it "more-gahn" rather than "more-gin" despite the fact that Morgan said her name not ten seconds ago) "-what do you remember?"

"Not too much." Morgan admits reluctantly. "My memory is spotty. I remember horsemen, armor knights, trebuchets… and some lady on a multi-eyed dragon."

"Did those figures, by chance, happen to be painted blue and gold and green?"

Morgan nods. "Yeah, they were!"

"Those are likely the Knights of the Veil." Keene says, and gestures for us to follow. He leads us to the back of the store and takes a moment to open a few cabinets, apparently looking for something. He finds it within a minute, and shows us… a ten-eyed dragon with an armored lady on it. He had exactly what Morgan was talking about. "Does this seem right?"

"That's exactly it!" Morgan all but shouts. Her grin threatens to split her face. "It's just like I remember it! That's crazy!"

"I have at least one of everything." Keene says with obvious pride in his voice. "And I know it all. I have spent much of my life in this hobby. It would be a failure on my part if I could not identify such a specific description."

Yeah, but that's still crazy. It took him maybe ten seconds to figure out exactly what character and what group Morgan was talking about, even with her overall vague description.

"This is part of the most popular system in recent times." Kenne says, handing the miniature to Morgan to study. I'm surprised he's okay with her handling the merchandise without any guarantee she'll buy. "A system called "Multirealm", which, as the name would imply, is set in a series of connected but distinct worlds, or realms. A simple premise, but infinitely flexible for the creation of new factions."

"Cool…" Morgan murmurs. I'm not sure if she's talking about the system or the miniature. Maybe both, but probably the miniature if I had to bet.

"Is it a dice game?" I ask. "I'm from elsewhere and we have miniature games that use dice to determine combat and such."

"It is the same here." Keene says. He leans forward on his cane. His voice carries clear enthusiasm. "What games are you familiar with?"

Well it's not like he's going to be able to get his hands on any of the ones I know, and I feel kinda bad about it because he seems really interested. "Does the name Warhammer ring any bells?"

"It does not." Keene says. "Do tell!"

"Well, here's what I remember of it…"

I proceed to spend the better part of an hour trying to recount all I know about Warhammer. I never played, but I have looked into it several times, so even I'm surprised by how much I can recall about it.

It's only when I'm done (and have broken the news that he won't be able to get his hands on the game because I claim it's "discontinued", much to Keene's dismay) that I remember why we came here and that I just spent an hour completely shutting Morgan out of the conversation. Also, no one else actually came into the store during this time. I guess with how specialized this shop is, and considering there's no need to come here frequently, that Keene doesn't get much daily traffic.

Morgan, thankfully, doesn't look too put-out. By that I mean she's been paying just as much attention as Keene has, despite having even less context to understand what the heck I'm saying.

So not put-out at all, and I'm worrying for nothing. I suppose that's better than being worried for good reason though.

However, Morgan does want to shop for a tome before we get to lunch time, so she hands back the miniature she's been holding (as Multirealm and most miniature board games are very much games for the rich in this world and having only one unit would be almost useless anyhow) and we bid Keene farwell. Judging by his wide smile, I think we made his day despite not buying anything.

When I arrived in this world I never expected to run across a nice old man who was passionate about miniature tabletop war games, nor was I expecting those types of games to exist at all, but I suppose this world does have some pleasant surprises and isn't always archaic and disappointing.

###

"Why do you even want another tome anyhow?" I question. "Is elfire not enough for you? Want more bang for your buck?"

"Nah, I just don't want to accidentally burn a forest down." Morgan says, reminding me of our close brush with that when we were hunting back in Ferox. "I could use some variety anyways. Different tomes for different situations or different opponents."

"Like wind for fliers?"

"Yeah." She nods. "Is that something you learned from the game?"

"Yep. Not that great against pegasus knights because they have great magic resist anyhow, but lethal to wyvern riders."

"That's fairly accurate." Morgan nods. "Pegasi have incredible natural magic resistance, so what you're trying to do when attacking a pegasus knight with wind magic is either aiming for the rider or trying to cause enough disturbance in the air to make it fall out of the sky."

"I see." I say. "So, are you aiming to get a wind tome, or maybe a thunder tome?"

"I was hoping for elthunder and wind." Morgan says. "I'm confident I can pull off elthunder or learn it quick because Father taught me thunder magic even if I can't remember, but wind will be new territory."

"Not interested in dark magic?"

"I am, but I think I want some proper instruction before I try that." Morgan says. "Dark magic is different, I think."

We're passing a lot of well-to-do shops with all sorts of things on show in the windows. I can see shops for things like candles, dolls, dresses (so many dresses, half the stores are for dresses, what the hell) weapons and armor, books (not tomes, just books), and-

"Morgan!" I say suddenly, pointing at a store. "Look!"

"What is- oh man!" Morgan grins. "That's perfect!"

A store selling games. Board games! I'm so happy that something like this exists in this world, even if I'm pretty sure it only exists because of all the rich people around. I really hope there's something like it in Ylisstol. "We can't not go in there… right?"

"Definitely." Morgan says. "After I get my tomes."

"Oh, right."

"You're very easily distracted today." Morgan smirks. She loops her arm through mine. "I can't have you leaving and getting lost, what would I tell the others?"

"I won't leave. I'm not that flighty." I mumble. I would totally get lost if I left Morgan's side though. My sense of direction is terrible. I couldn't find my way back to the inn right now if I tried. "And the others wouldn't care."

"Nathan…"

"You know it's true."

"I don't think so."

"Oh really?" I raise an eyebrow. "Kjelle wouldn't prefer if I was gone?"

"Uh…" Morgan stalls, probably realizing that I'm totally right. "Yeah, okay, maybe, but she'd still help find you if you were lost. She's a knight, she helps people in trouble and all that. She wants you gone, not possibly dead or injured or in trouble."

Yeah, that's fair. Kjelle is an ass, but not that much of an ass.

"And Noire would care too. Again, you're weird to them, not an enemy. Besides, you had a direct hand in rescuing Noire. I know you don't talk to her at all now, but her opinion of you isn't that low."

"I'll take your word for it." I say.

"Good." Morgan tilts her head up and gives a haughty sniff. "Now come, servant. I wish to procure new weaponry for mineself."

"Of course my lady." I respond, dropping my voice to something sniveling. "I scouted all the best shops yesterday…"

In the end we find a suitably generic tome shop, and Morgan buys elthunder and wind for five gold total. Elthunder was four, wind was one. Tomes are expensive. Everything else she's bought in my memory has only cost copper or silver. Even if they're "cheap" because they're made to be expendable, that doesn't mean they're still not pricey, just less so than they would be otherwise.

###

Apparently, as we've been walking around the town Morgan has been taking note of any restaurants we pass by. It hadn't even occurred to me to do that. I really have to start paying more attention to stuff like that. I just assumed that since Morgan mentioned restaurants that she would handle it, and she has, but this was something I could have helped with. I know Morgan is probably always going to be more alert and active and assertive than me, but in regards to our relationship I should really start keeping track of things I can do for her, or even just with her. Better I start putting in effort now than wait for it to become a problem. I don't need to be as forward as Morgan, I just need to put in some effort rather than waiting to be led around all the time.

"Oh, hey, this one looks nice!" Morgan says, pulling me along behind her.

I mean, I'm still going to be dragged around, but I hopefully won't be a metaphorical dead weight in the relationship.

The place Morgan has found is… really normal. Normal by the standards of Earth though. The walls are painted a nice dark green, there are simple but elegant lamps above every table, the tables are darkwood and have nice blue tablecloths, and all the utensils are ready on any empty table including a folded napkin. It really does feel like a generic restaurant from Earth with the faux-riche look of a restaurant that wants to be fancy but doesn't have the cash to actually afford expensive decorations.

Morgan nudges me. We've been standing in the entryway for a solid ten seconds as I look around. "Is it really that good? Or bad?"

"It looks like Earth." I say quietly. "The napkins, the ornaments, the way the dishes and utensils are set out… it's just like Earth."

"Huh." Morgan turns her eyes to the elements I mentioned. "So on Earth, this is what a restaurant would have looked like?"

"Certain ones." I say. "Can't think of any specific ones off the top of my head, but I've certainly been to some like this before."

"Cool." Morgan says. "So this place is good?"

I mean, I don't know. Maybe the food is terrible, maybe it's super pricey, but I'm interested in eating here for the atmosphere, just so I can feel like I'm back home again. "Yeah, this place looks great."

Also, judging by the other patrons in the restaurant, I'm going to be massively out of place. I've still got my furs on, and everyone else here is at least decently dressed with overcoats or vests or fancy shirts with cravats. Morgan already looks a bit off because her coat is something out of a cult (literally) but it's fancy enough as to not draw too much attention. Me though? I don't even look close to the same class as everyone else.

"Hey, hi!" Morgan chirps when a server finally approaches. "We're looking to eat here! Quick question though, what're the prices like? We're not super cheap, but we ain't looking for something real rich."

"How… honest of you." The server says. I think he was going to say "blunt" then remembered he's supposed to be polite. "Half a gold is standard for one meal."

"That works!" Morgan says.

One gold? Tavern food is maybe half a silver for our entire group, and this is a whole gold for two people. Yikes. That's one hell of a price gouge. One meal here would take a farmer literally years to afford based on what I know about their income.

"Will your servant be standing by? Or is he eating with you?" The server asks, waving vaguely in my direction.

There we go. I knew that would happen at some point. Although you'd think with the way Morgan has her arm looped through mine that would have given him some indication that I'm not a servant. Am I supposed to speak up here? Maybe I should speak up.

"He's not a servant." Morgan says before I've finished my internal debate. She has her head held high and is looking down her nose at the server. That's an unnecessary amount of indignation in my opinion. I do look out of place. This was inevitably going to happen. "And yes, my companion will be eating with me."

The server raises an eyebrow but doesn't comment on the correction. He silently shows us to a table.

I'm mostly preoccupied staring at our surroundings and basking in the Earth-like surroundings, so much so that I kinda forget to look at the menu until the server has returned. Thankfully(?) the menu is really limited, so there isn't much for me to choose from while Morgan orders making the decision very easy.

The food isn't important. It really isn't. I'm too focused on the location, reveling in the feeling of being at home again to some degree. It's not exactly the same of course. The tablecloths are too high-quality, the lamps have actual flames in them, and the tables are too carefully detailed, but it's close enough for me.

I'm so desperate for something like home that even this poor imitation of a generic restaurant is enticing to me. That's depressing, but also very true.

Again, I have to remind myself not to ignore Morgan. She both found and is paying for this, and she's been patiently letting me look around without interruption so far.

"You said…" Morgan says quietly, catching my attention and dragging it back to her. "That this was like certain restaurants back on Earth?"

"Yeah. There were some generic ones, not cheap exactly, just standard, that looked like this. Except all the stuff would be more low-quality. This place is like what those restaurants back home wanted to be."

"So this reminds you of a generic place, huh?" Morgan grins. "Not sure they'd be happy to hear that."

"Too bad for them. I mean that as a compliment." I say. "The generic places usually weren't bad, in fact they were comfortable."

"I'm not sure that's what they're going for here." Morgan says.

"Well yeah, I know."

Morgan tilts her head slightly. "You do?"

"Sure. I noticed how the stuff here was expensive, didn't I? I figured this place wants to be sort of classy."

"Oh, good."

"Did you assume I was oblivious to it?"

"Well… yeah." Morgan admits. "You aren't exactly the most observant."

Fair. "Sorry."

"It's fine." Morgan says with a smile. "It's kinda cute sometimes actually. I don't mind explaining things."

I'm really going to have to get used to that. I can't get embarrassed every single time I get called cute. It just feels so weird to get a complement. I rarely ever used to get those. "Well good, because I imagine there's going to be a lot more of that when we actually get to Ylisstol…"

"Yeah…" Morgan murmurs. "Speaking of Ylisstol, I don't think it will happen but we should have a backup plan if we can't convince our parents of who we are. I hope it doesn't happen, but it never hurts to plan."

"Ah, right." I frown. I do remember that our current plan basically relies on me using my knowledge to convince the Shepherds that the future kids are actually future kids. No pressure or anything. "Well… I guess we'd just go find more of you future kids until Lucina reveals herself. We could go south for Laurent, though anyone else would require going to either the other continent or Plegia's west coast, both of which are dangerous for obvious reasons."

"I was expecting a plan about finding a way home for you." Morgan says honestly.

"That can be done at any point. The sooner the better, but making sure this world and all of you are going to be alright is a bit higher priority in terms of things to actively work towards."

"Aww, you do care."

"Was there ever any doubt?" I ask, genuinely curious.

Morgan waves it off. "Nah, just wanted to make a quip. Especially towards me it's super obvious. I mean, considering all that effort you spend to stop me from rolling into fires, which I only did once thank you."

"I stand by my choices. Don't want you hurt." I mumble.

"You also carried me around all the time."

"It was something I could do for you."

"So, again, you're extremely obvious." Morgan says with a wide grin. "Please don't stop. I love attention."

"I've noticed, as has literally everyone else who's ever talked to you."

"I hope so. I wouldn't want them missing out on the valuable chance to flatter me!"

"What a travesty that would be."

"Of course! After all, what could make someone happier than seeing me happy?" Morgan asks.

"Cake?"

"Well that's just unfair. How can I compare with cake?" Morgan huffs.

I mean, you're way better Morgan, but saying that would ruin the joke. "I'll have to remember that. You think you are inferior to cake."

"Let it be known! Cake is superior to the genius tactician!"

"I guess birthday cake is just an insult to you then."

"Birthday cake?"

I blink. "Is… is that not a thing here?"

"Not that I know."

I guess a lot of the poorer people here couldn't afford cake, so it makes sense that it's not an established tradition, but… "My disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined."

"Mm-hmm." Morgan hums. She digs into her coat for a moment and, to my confusion, pulls out her notebook, ink, and quill. "What kind of cake do you mean by the way?"

"Uh…" How do I describe birthday cake? "It's usually very soft, with icing."

"Icing?"

"It's… uh… sugar? A glaze sort of? The most common are vanilla flavoured and chocolate. Same goes for the cake itself."

"Right." Morgan scribbles that down in her notebook. I didn't figure that would be important enough to write down, but… maybe she's interested in trying it? "Also, while we're on the topic, what's your birthday?"

"March first."

"March?"

Shit. "This world has a different calendar, doesn't it?"

"Yeah. So, when's March? Actually, when does the calendar change to a new year?"

"Uh… early winter? December is the last month and about the start of winter, and then at the end of that month the year changes, and then there's roughly two more months of winter. March is the month after those two months."

"Okay." Morgan nods. "Actually… how many months in a year does your calendar have?"

"Twelve."

"How many days in a month?"

"Thirty or thirty one, alternating, except February which usually has twenty-eight with an additional day every four years."

"Right… so this world has sixteen months, four for each season."

"What."

"Each month is twenty five days."

"What."

"And each day is divided into fifty hours."

"WHAT."

"Okay, that last one was a joke. It's twenty four."

"Thank God that's normal." I sigh. "But sixteen months? Wow…"

"I guess that would be unusual to you, huh?" Morgan hums. "Also, for us the calendar switches over when spring starts, not during winter."

"What the fuck. I mean, that does make it a lot easier to keep track of, but…" I frown. "That's so weird. To me at least. I guess that would make my birthday some time within the first month then, or maybe at the start of the second? Spring's start was inexact back on Earth. It's starting point actually changed depending on the year."

"You think our calendar is weird, but you have seasons that change their starting point, a month that randomly has an extra day every four years and doesn't have as many otherwise, and an arbitrary starting point for the new year." Morgan points out.

"Okay, fair enough…"

"So what do we want to say your birthday is? First month? Start of the second?"

"I'm used to it being on a first day, so let's just say the start of the second month." I say. I feel like there's something I'm missing here. Is there something I'm supposed to say? To do? What is it…?

Wait, wait, this is obvious. I seriously need to start remembering these things.

"When is yours?" I ask quickly. Of course I need to ask that. It's an obvious thing that I should do. I can't just let this be about me, right? Or am I overthinking? How does this relationship thing work? How much are you supposed to think?

"Fifth of Pegasus."

"Pegasus?"

"Fourth month."

"Right." I nod. "Wait… winter ended just a bit ago, right?"

"Well it's been more than a month that's for sure." Morgan says. "I'm not sure if we're in the second or third month at the moment."

"Right." So basically, her birthday is soon. Right. Okay. Uh. Panic time? Panic later? Panic later. Don't forget. Purple then black, fifth of the fourth. Right. "I am so fucked. What is my three silver going to be able to get?"

Worry about it later. Just worry about it later. Soon, but later.

"Okay, so-" Morgan puts away her ink and quill and notebook. "If you're done, we should probably get to doing our actual mission."

"Oh, uh, yeah. That's probably a good idea." I say. "And after that, we can go look at that game shop."

"I totally forgot about that!" Morgan says eagerly. "We have to do that! Let's do our job quickly so we can do that!"

So, again, zero plot in this chapter, but a lot of worldbuilding. Also starting to lay the groundwork for Nathan's future improvement, if just with very basic things at the moment. This chapter wasn't exactly intended to be zero plot and all character interaction and worldbuilding at first, but when the idea came to mind I ran with it and it fit so well. The island was a perfect place for this all to happen too. I couldn't make the restaurant or miniature shop work again until they hit Ylisstol, so I grabbed the opportunity when I saw it.

Also, I've been doing some thinking about how this story is going to work in the future, and I've realized a few things:

First: dealing with the main plotline of Awakening will be a pain with Nathan. Not that I can't do it, I have several things planned out, but Nathan by nature of his character won't be dealing with combat all that much, and while that's very intentional it does make things difficult insofar as it would lean to having a lot of important events (battles and confrontation) happen off-screen because he simply won't be around.

Second: even if this is not supposed to be a super plot-driven story (the main point of this story was actually to have Nathan interact with the future children, but as a consequence the first two pickups being Noire, who is shy, and Kjelle, who is an ass, that hasn't really happened yet. I have a plan to fix this, but it will take time) that doesn't mean I can avoid the problems of the first point. Even if this story is more concerned with character relationships and worldbuilding than plot, plot is important enough that having major events happen offscreen is still an issue.

Third: I have an idea to deal with those issues. I already have a tool that is perfectly suited to patch those problems in the story. Her name is Morgan, maybe you've heard of her. Morgan is already established as an important character, she already has a POV chapter and you all know she's going to get more. I honestly think a good solution to some of the problems this still will have is going to be bumping up how often we get a Morgan POV. Especially when dealing with the Valm war, the fact that Morgan will actually go into combat and deal with the war firsthand is invaluable.

I had a debate before this story became its own thing about whether Morgan warranted being considered a second main protagonist and should have a POV just as often as Nathan. I mentioned this back in chapter 7. I decided against it before because this is ostensibly Nathan's story, but I'm starting to realize that, maybe just for practical reasons, I'm going to need Morgan's POV more than once every five-to-seven chapters. Not right now, the story can function as-is for a bit, but when we hit a certain point (different than the trigger I mentioned last chapter, but you'll know what this one is when you see it too) you'll be seeing a lot more of Morgan's POV.

So that's two triggers for you to watch out for now. One soon, and one a bit down the road. I don't think there will be any more major triggers to watch out for.