A Better Place

by Waywatcher

I can remember a world where I was safe, where war was a notion meant for more violent countries, and where the internet gave me unlimited entertainment and knowledge with a few keystrokes. That world is not this one, and I miss it dearly. At least I have Morgan to keep me alive and sane, and I can provide some use to this world with my knowledge of Awakening. Self-insert.

15. Chapter 15

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

Lots of plot stuff and setup here.

---

I don't exactly know what happened, but Morgan has suddenly become very intent on explaining things to me. Maybe our talk a few days ago where she said she "was living vicariously through me" sparked something in her? Either way, I'm suddenly getting a crash course in the value of things, and I'm doing terribly.

"So, wait, wood objects are worth more than metal ones?" I ask. "I thought metal was more expensive."

"No, detailed wooden objects are worth more than metal objects. It's the labour cost." Morgan explains. "And detailed metal objects are worth more than detailed wooden ones, unless they're luxury items in which case they're both absurdly expensive."

"How much is "absurdly expensive"?"

"If it's more than, like, five silver, it's probably a luxury item." Morgan says. "Unless the materials for the object are super rare or something."

"So that time we spent a gold or two on a restaurant-"

"Extremely wasteful." Morgan chirps, showing no shame at all. "You could probably buy a set or two of full plate steel armor for that. But it was fun, right?"

"Yeah, it was." I say. "And steel is a lot more costly than iron, right?"

"Yep."

"Got it." There's no way I'm going to remember all this, but hopefully I retain something. "Er… what brought this on exactly?"

"I was doing Morgan things-"

I roll my eyes. "Oh yes, Morgan things. Why didn't I think of that?"

Morgan continues as if I didn't speak. "-and it occurred to me that I was being a bad girlfriend-"

"You weren't."

"Shush! You asked, so let me finish." Morgan pouts. "So I-"

"What are Morgan things?" I interrupt, smirking.

She pouts at me. "Nathaaan."

"Sorry, sorry. Go on."

"So I was being a bad girlfriend because there were some things I could teach you pretty easily, and I wasn't doing that even though I could." Morgan says.

"Morgan… that's more my fault than yours. I've been pretty lazy."

"No you haven't."

"Morgan, I've had literal months to ask you basically anything I wanted, and I didn't. Maybe you can give the first month a pass because I was waiting to wake up from a coma, but even that's a stretch."

"You didn't know you weren't in a coma until a month and a half ago." Morgan protests. "And it's not like you didn't do anything at all. You made a crossbow and you kept up your axe training."

"Morgan, that's barely anything."

"Well…"

"I appreciate your tolerance and trying to reassure me." I say. "But you really shouldn't be making excuses for me Morgan. I know I haven't done enough."

Morgan doesn't look happy about it, which is odd because I don't see why me explaining what I've done wrong would make her upset. She's scowling at the moment.

"So, uh…" I falter. "I might ask you a lot of questions in the next few days, if that's fine. Also, when we get to Ylisstol, would you mind starting to teach me to write?"

"Fine." She huffs.

"And I've been considering getting a sword to replace my axe, because having a side-arm I can carry everywhere seems a lot more useful than an axe I can only carry when travelling or in battle." I say. From my understanding, swords are more or less the medieval equivalent of a pistol. Not a main weapon, but a backup. It would be weird to carry an axe around at all times, that would be like carrying around a rifle, but a sword isn't as out of place. I don't plan on fighting on the front lines if I can avoid it, but I still need a weapon, so a sword seems like the natural choice because I can bring it everywhere. Besides, if I'll be getting my old body back I'll need a lighter weapon. My old body is super weak. "So, uh…"

"I'll train you." She says before I can even properly ask.

"Thanks…" I cough. I'm really not making a case for being less needy at the moment. "Morgan, why are you so unhappy?"

"I don't know." She admits after a tense second. "I just feel annoyed."

"Is it because I was talking down about myself?"

"I think so? That sounds right."

A smile crosses my face. "Well thank you for wanting to protect me from myself, but in this case it's really not necessary."

"I know…"

"You're still cute when you pout."

That makes her scowl even more and cross her arms. She looks like a petulant child. I poke her in the cheek and she huffs at me, but also cracks a smile.

"Thank you for taking care of me Morgan." I say gently.

"Are you always going to be this sappy?" She says. Her arms uncross and she pokes me back. "It's not a problem. I like taking care of you honestly. I like feeling needed."

"Well unfortunately the goal is for me to not need to rely on you to survive." I remind her. Then I make a joke. "Though I promise not to throw you to the wayside when I'm no longer a needy brat."

"You better not! I've invested a lot in you. I don't want it to go to waste." She says. "Besides, if you leave, who will sing for me and roleplay with me?"

"Oh, so now the truth comes out. That's why you want me around." I tease. "You just want entertainment."

"Well…" Morgan drags out the word, smiling. "No, that's not it. But it is a nice bonus."

After that cheesy moment, Morgan goes back to trying to explain money to me… to questionable amounts of success.

Morgan dragging my outside the inn immediately after to start on the basics of swordplay with practice weapons is mildly terrifying, because I know perfectly well how skilled Morgan is and how badly she could kick my ass if she wanted to. Half the reason I'm so reluctant to spar with people in the first place is because I don't want to get injured, and also because I don't want to be constantly made a fool of. Morgan doesn't do either of those things, obviously, but now that we're using the same weapon our skill gap is even more apparent.

Hopefully I can get the basics down before too long. This weapon change should have been done well in advance of now, but better late than never I suppose.

###

In the one week it takes for us to get back to Ylisstol, I focus on trying to get to some level of competence with the sword. With meeting the Shepherds imminent I'm suddenly and painfully aware at how unimpressive I am beyond my game knowledge. I'm a writer who can't write and I can barely defend myself (well, maybe from a range I can with my crossbow). Granted, again, I don't plan on fighting on the front lines, but not being an active liability whenever I do have to enter combat would be nice.

I also spend some time trying to make a new crossbow. It's… slow. I make sure everything is perfectly symmetrical in the crossbow to eliminate my formerly crude construction as a problem affecting my aim. This means measuring every angle, cutting every piece of wood exactly the right length, and a whole bunch of other tedious bullshit. I get it done by the time we get to Ylisstol, but don't have time to test it all that much.

This is my way of saying that we arrive at Ylisstol, and I'm sort of freaking out because that means I'm going to meet the first generation Shepherds soon. The others are similarly nervous, although for much more important reasons. They're meeting their parents after years of them being dead (so to speak).

With this in mind, despite how acutely nervous I am, I smile and try to act confident for the sake of reassuring the others. This situation is not about me. I know Morgan is worried about how her father will perceive her, and Noire has anxieties about her mother because Tharja is… Tharja. I don't really know about Kjelle and Nah because I don't talk to them all that much, but I can imagine for all her tough girl attitude Kjelle is still worried, and Nah is annoyed by her mother but probably still loves her unless something major has changed.

Of course, I don't do the whole "confidence" very well, so in order to fake confidence I sing, quietly, because there are crowds.

Ylisse is big. Well, big relative to other places in this world so far. I've been to Toronto and New York and Rome and all of those are definitely bigger than Ylisstol, but once you're actually in the city and not seeing it from the outside it's easy to forget the size difference. That size also means that if you're travelling down major streets like we are then there are crowds, and having the variety of different appearances that we do, we attract attention.

I imagine it has something to do with Morgan looking Plegian, and Ylisse just finished off the Ylisse-Plegia war, so naturally people here aren't going to be too happy with a Plegian casually walking around their capital city.

If Morgan notices I've nudged her to the center of our group so the rest of us are surrounding her, she doesn't comment. My protectiveness is probably unnecessary, but if no one is complaining I'm going to do it anyways.

Kjelle is leading us at the moment. She grew up in Ylisstol, so she knows exactly where we need to go. Kjelle makes it sound like we should just be able to walk into the Shepherds' barracks unopposed, which seems dubious to me because the Shepherds' barracks is at least ostensibly a military structure and should have at least one or two guards we'll have to get by.

Ylisstol is different from Feroxi cities. The difference was noticeable in the small towns too, but more so here. Where the Feroxi used almost exclusively wood for their buildings, Ylisstol has clay structures for the poorer parts of town and brick and stone for the richer. Rich rooves even use tiling, some of which wouldn't be too out of place in modern times. Some aspects of the city remind me of when I visited Rome, what with the cobblestone roads and old-ass architectural styles. Though I wouldn't exactly say the city is Roman styled, it's just the closest comparison I can make.

There's so many things to take in. We pass through a large square, a market, a road with some huge houses and massive areas of land behind them, what looks like a sectioned-off forest right in the middle of the city, a whole area that seems devoted to restaurants and specialist shops, and many more things that I'm probably forgetting.

I also can't help but notice how empty some parts of the city are. There are entire streets, usually some lower-class neighbourhoods judging by the types of buildings, that are abandoned with only some stray cats and dogs slinking around.

So here's the thing. I'm not a history buff, but I have some minor knowledge about the effects of war, especially large wars. Oddly enough, I learned it in a class about Jane Austen novels. When there is a war, do you know who gets sent to fight? Young men. Either they're conscripted, or else they're targeted by military ads to encourage them to enlist, or for other cultural reasons or just… you get the point. Because war is a bloody thing, literally, that means any country that has a sufficiently nasty war will also lose a lot of young men, and if Ylisse is anything like most medieval countries then young men are the breadwinners of the family.

I'm saying that I suspect these abandoned streets might be a result of families suddenly losing their money-maker. With the husband and/or sons dead, it's only the women left to fend for themselves, and they're going to have a harder time getting money because of the usual medieval sexist bullshit which might necessitate them finding somewhere even cheaper to live than these already shoddy houses. I haven't seen the slums of this city yet, but I would bet gold it's a lot more crowded than it used to be… or maybe it's not, because a lot of the men that used to live there are probably dead as well.

I don't know that for sure, I'd have to ask someone more knowledgeable, but I'm fairly confident that the death of lots of men has something to do with those empty streets. If I remember correctly, Chrom's father also waged war on Plegia in the past, and who knows how bloody that war was and how many men died in it.

Not that there weren't female deaths, but I think we all know they were much less common because beside the pegasus knights and some healers, almost all of the armies are going to be made up of men. That's not me being sexist, that's just facts of the medieval era. Heck, even in modern times on Earth it's still well over 70% men for the militaries of the US or Canada… mostly because young men are still stupid enough to think that joining the military is unequivocally good thing.

Well, okay, that's being a bit unfair. There are genuinely good reasons to join the military. However, in Canada (from what I've seen, I don't go looking for this stuff) it's not too unusual to see recruitment ads that use terms like "serving your country" or "pushing boundaries in X field" (usually science) and conveniently gloss over the possibilities of death and permanent mental and physical injury, and not to mention that the training process is literally designed to strip you of your individualism and turn you into a tool for the country to use. I'd imagine this goes for most other countries too, but I don't know for sure.

So I mean… I guess you could say I hate militaries, or at least how they are operated. I respect the people who serve, but not the organizations. Militaries tend to get a pass in the public eye because they're protecting their country, but in my eyes that's all the more reason to hold them to the highest standard rather than let them use deceptive marketing to get gullible people to throw their lives away just so they can have more numbers.

At least blatant lies and false advertising are better than outright conscription.

Wait, does Ylisse have conscription? A lot of medieval countries did, right? Emmeryn is in charge though. She doesn't seem like she'd allow that, but that might be an anachronistic assumption on my part. Conscription might just be a fact of the medieval world. Just another reason in the long list of reasons why this world sucks.

Well great. I might be forced to fight one way or another. It's just a matter if I want to die alongside the Shepherds or die in an army. What a lovely choice. I'm no pacifist, but I don't want to fight. I respect a person's freedom to choose to put their life on the line or not, including my own. Forced conscription is a human rights violation after all, and even a giant death dragon's return doesn't exempt anyone from moral considerations.

Ugh… this is not what I should be thinking about right now. The last thing I want to do is work myself into a rage just before meeting the Shepherds over something mostly unrelated. Focus Nathan.

I'm totally asking someone about the empty streets later though.

It was never very clear if the Shepherds' barracks was actually within the palace or if it was just nearby. Judging by how Lissa could just drag Robin off to the barracks as Chrom went to talk to Emmeryn though, the barracks has to be nearby at the very least.

As it turns out the barracks isn't in the castle grounds… technically. There is a gate leading directly from the barracks to the castle grounds though. There also isn't a guard for the barracks necessarily, but there are some patrolling the castle walls that can see the entrance to the barracks, so it's not like the Shepherds' barracks is undefended exactly.

That explains why we can just walk in though. Technically, there's no guard.

Morgan and Noire's nervousness is obvious as we stop on the street outside the yard. My own heart is thumping in my chest, but I forcefully ignore it. I'm only responsible for convincing everyone that the others are from the future. No pressure. They're meeting their parents. Much more important.

"Morgan." I say, and put a hand on her shoulder. "You're super fucking cute, highly intelligent, and just, like, the best. If your father doesn't think you're awesome then he's a certified moron."

"Yeah." Morgan says quietly. Then, a moment later, much louder. "Yeah! I'm a genius, and I've been turning heads since we got into the city! I've got nothing to worry about!"

"And Noire." I say, much more gently. She doesn't need a pep talk so much as reassurance. "Your father is probably still alive, so your mother isn't going to be as nasty as she was in the future. Things don't have to turn out like they did then."

"R-Right." Noire murmurs. She takes a shaky breath. "Right…"

"And you two… don't really need reassurance." I say towards Kjelle and Nah. "Nah is a manakete, which is a dead giveaway, and Kjelle is way too much like Sully for there to be much uncertainty anyways."

"Yeah." Nah shrugs.

"I'm taking that as a compliment." Kjelle says haughtily.

You would think that's a compliment, wouldn't you? Granted, I haven't met Sully, so I don't actually know whether I would intend that as an insult or not.

With my sore excuse for comfort out of the way, we actually walk into the barracks. The guards on the castle wall watch us as we enter, but no one moves to stop us.

Just like how everyone actually resembles their portraits, the entryway is remarkably similar to what you see in game. There are actually crates lying randomly around, though at least they're pushed to one side, and there aren't papers scattered across the floor for Sumia to trip over.

There's also no one here, or at least not in the entryway. I don't know if that's just because it's early (it's not quite noon yet, though we're getting close, and I don't see why they wouldn't be up yet) or if it's because no one is here.

"Huh." Kjelle mutters, and shoves a crate out of the way with her foot. "More messy than I remember."

"Less so than the start of the game." I offer in return. "No papers lying around."

"Where is everyone?" Nah frowns. "The war is over. Are they not back yet?"

That's a good point. Though with carts and horses I imagine that would somewhat cut down on travel time.

"Well we can at least look around and try to find someone." Morgan says. She has no hesitation in walking around this building she doesn't know that technically belongs to other people.

We follow her into the mess room where there is… no one. There is also no one in the kitchen. We check outside in the training area, and there is no one there either. We then check every other area of the barracks aside from the bedrooms, and find them unoccupied.

"Well…" I say quietly. "Do we feel like barging into someone's room?"

"Not particularly." Morgan frowns. "Maybe no one is here? That sucks."

A voice I vaguely recognize interrupts us. The terminology she uses is even more of a giveaway. "No so, man-spawn. They are asleep. The trip back from Plegia is taxing on human minds, apparently."

Out of all the people I expected to meet first, Panne was not one of them. I really wish I knew how to pronounce her name at the moment. Is it just "pan" like the cooking item, or is it "pan-eh"? I imagine it's the former, but I don't know for sure.

"Panne." Kjelle says, and turns to face the taguel. She pronounces it like the household item. Good to have that cleared up. "Are Sully and Stahl here?"

"They are." Panne says. "What business do you have here, man-spawn? I do not recall the mention of meetings or guests yesterday."

"Our business is a bit unusual." Morgan chimes in. "Hi! I'm Morgan!"

"...hello." Panne says after a moment, then looks back to Kjelle. "How do you know my name?"

"I'm from the future." Kjelle says simply. "We all are."

Welp, I guess I'm going to have to explain this now. I would much rather explained this to Chrom, or Frederick, or just someone of the main cast, but I guess I have to try and get this through to Panne.

I can't leverage my knowledge of the break in the castle wall with Panne, because Panne probably doesn't know about that. I also can't leverage my knowledge of Chrom slipping in a bathtub when he was young, because Panne also probably doesn't know that. Those were honestly my go-to things for proving I have knowledge that I should have no way of knowing. What else do I use? Hmm…

"The future?" Panne scoffs. "If you are going to lie to me man-spawn-"

"It's no lie." I interrupt. "They're actually from the future. Or, well, an alternate dimension further down the timeline. Basically the same thing."

"They are? And you are not?" Panne asks. She looks more and more suspicious by the second.

"Yes. I'm from beyond the outrealms." I say. I bow to her from the waist. "I'm Nathan. It's an honor to meet you, Panne."

"If you think making progressively more absurd claims is going to help you, then you are mistaken."

"The Shepherds have encountered an individual who calls themselves Marth thrice. Once just after leaving Southtown, one at the Feroxi Khanship Tournament, and once at Emmeryn's attempted assassination. Marth wore a mask and pretended to be male, but was revealed to be female later." I say, keeping my voice as calm as possible. "They have knowledge of the future of some sort, which they have likely not yet revealed."

Panne scrutinizes me closely. "This… is true, as far as I am aware."

"You were informed of Emmeryn's assassination by an individual called Henry, though he has not yet joined the Shepherds." I say. I know this information from reading a translation of the Fire Emblem Awakening audio dramas, because those actually exist. Did you know Lucina and Henry have actually interacted before you meet him on Carrion Isle? Fun fact. "You also have a tactician named Robin. He was found without any memory just outside Southtown by Frederick, Lissa, and Chrom. He probably had a thunder tome and a bronze sword on him to start. Also… you like carrots and don't like potatoes."

Panne stares at me long and hard, and I fold my arms behind my back so Panne can't see how white my knuckles are. If I remember correctly Panne can actually hear heartbeats, so she can probably hear my heart pounding right now and trying to hide my nervousness is pointless.

"That is something you should not know." Panne says quietly. "You claim future knowledge?"

"I claim outside knowledge that may or may not be accurate to the future." I say carefully. "There are things that have changed, and so my knowledge will be more or less accurate depending on certain variables. In very simple terms though… yes. I claim future knowledge. And with that knowledge I will affirm that these girls are in fact from the future as they claim."

Panne stares again, then sighs and mutters. "Everything with humans is so strange."

Sorry Panne. You were unfortunate enough to be the first person to talk to us. This was really information for Robin or Chrom more than you.

"So I guess we just wait here then." Morgan says, and skips out of the kitchen back to the mess hall and drops into a chair. "Hopefully they're up by lunch. I don't want to raid the kitchen."

"You do." I call to her.

"Well yeah." Morgan shrugs unabashedly, and shoots me a grin. "But I have to pretend I don't want to, right?"

###

It's probably a good thing I brought out my chess set, because it gives us something to keep our minds off certain imminent confrontations. Kjelle and Noire and Nah aren't doing something else, so it's their first time fully paying attention to the game and I have to explain the rules all over again so they actually understand what's going on.

They think castling is weird, and that en passant is even stranger. To be fair, there are a large number of people on Earth who don't know what en passant is, or think castling is cheating (no, I'm not joking. Even in Canada where I came from, I've met adults who have played chess to some capacity that somehow never knew castling was a legal move. En passant I can understand because you almost never see it used, but castling is core to the strategy of the game).

The other Shepherds don't wake up all at once. I was expecting to see Frederick early on, but in hindsight he, Chrom, and Lissa probably sleep in the palace rather than the barracks. Instead, the first person who wakes up aside from Panne is Sully.

We don't actually see her walk into the room because we're all focused on the chessboard. We only know she's there when she opens her mouth and barks "Who the fuck are you guys?"

Morgan raises a hand without looking up. "I'm Morgan." She then points to everyone else in turn, still without looking up. "That's Nah, Noire, Nathtan, and Kjelle."

Am I going to have to go through the whole explanation with each individual person who comes down? This is going to be a pain. Also… do we know if Sully is even married at the moment? You know, that's sort of an important point we maybe should have considered before this point.

Kjelle abruptly shoves back her chair and points at her mother. "Sully! I demand a spar!"

"I have no idea who you are kid, but this is a bad time." Sully says tiredly. "We just got back-"

"What sort of knight are you if a march is all it takes to turn you into a weakling?" Kjelle interrupts with a scoff. "Don't insult yourself with that excuse. Grab a pair of practice spears, I'm waiting outside."

Without another word Kjelle marches out of the room. Sully stares after her for a few seconds, then looks at us. "Is anyone going to explain what the fuck is going on here?"

"I will, once everyone is awake." I say, also not looking at her. "I don't want to repeat it every single time someone wakes up. Panne can vouch that I actually have something to say."

"And the spar?"

I wave her off. "That's just Kjelle being Kjelle. Have fun."

Sully doesn't push the issue, thankfully, and does indeed go and get some practice weapons to indulge Kjelle. I guess Sully wasn't going to stand for being called out, no matter how tired she is.

Like mother like daughter. I can say with confidence Kjelle would do exactly the same thing if she were challenged, no matter how exhausted she was.

The next person to wake up is Stahl. I had pinned him as a later sleeper, but I guess I'm wrong. He doesn't have as loud a reaction to see strangers sitting in the dining room. He gives an awkward hello, and we wave back. He asks if we're going to be here for lunch, and we say yes, and he doesn't ask any more questions.

Nice guy. I like him.

Everyone else slowly wakes up and trickles into the dining room. Gregor doesn't bat an eye at us being here, Vaike is curious for about ten seconds before collapsing into a chair, Sumia doesn't seem to process that there is anything unusual at all and basically falls asleep at the table as soon as she sits down.

The next notable person to come in is Ricken, and before Nah can do anything I put a hand on her shoulder and whisper. "We have no idea if your parents are married yet. You're obviously Nowi's daughter, we don't want to make things awkward by making Ricken and Nowi feel obliged to get married." That goes especially because Ricken is a kid. The last thing we want to do is put parental responsibility on him before he's mature enough for it.

Nah nods unhappily, but doesn't talk to Ricken. Noire and Morgan also hear this, and make small nods of their own. Just in case though, I point at Noire and Morgan and whisper. "Tharja for you, and obviously Robin for you, got it? Kjelle is going to be Sully."

They nod again to affirm, and me and Morgan continue playing chess.

More and more Shepherds file in into the room, paying various amounts of attention to the four strangers in their midst. Cordelia, Miriel, Libra, Donnel, Vaike, Lon'qu, Virion, Anna, Gaius (Noire tenses up, and Morgan quietly reminds her not to stare), Olivia (I have to remind Morgan this time), Tharja (Noire averts her eyes all on her own), and finally Robin all eventually make their way to the dining room as the smell of food wafts over from the kitchen, and Sully and Kjelle eventually return from their spar, arguing loudly over something. Panne also slunk into the room at some point, and is leaning against the wall.

Robin looks like the default male avatar. Medium build, short white hair, peach skin, and brown-gold eyes. Standard stuff. Morgan doesn't hide her stare, and Robin is alert enough to notice. He's clearly intrigued by her coat, and he'd probably have commented if not for…

"Hey!" Nowi, who is the last to wake up and just walked through the door, is now pointing at Nah. "You're a manakete!"

"Yes, I am." Nah says dryly. It doesn't hide the tremble in her voice though. "Very astute of you Mother."

The word "mother" exiting Nah's mouth effectively silences any other conversation that was happening in the room, including Sully and Kjelle's loud argument. All eyes flick between Nah and Nowi. Sumia, who was almost asleep before, is suddenly sitting upright. Miriel, who was writing something in a book, stops her scribbling and observes the situation with interest. Even Tharja, who was clearly trying to ignore everyone and huddle in the corner of the room, is now paying attention.

I take a deep breath and stand up out of my seat. The cat is out of the bag now. It's showtime.

"What?" Vaike shouts, breaking the quiet. He's sitting right next to Nah. "Why's everyone quiet? Why're y'all looking at me?"

"It's not you Vaike." Cordelia says quietly. "It's…"

"Okay then!" I say loudly, and clap my hands to grab everyone's attention. All eyes instantly turn to me, and my throat feels dry. Morgan puts a hand on my side, and I calm myself enough to speak. "Hello Shepherds! I'm Nathan, nice to meet you! The cute one is Morgan, the shy one is Noire, the loud one is Kjelle, and the sarcastic one is Nah." I say, pointing to each of my companions in turn. "And before you ask, yes, Nah was being serious when she called Nowi her mother. Time travel and dimension hopping is weird like that."

"What?" Gaius says, a frown on his face. "Time travel? What sort of pegasus dung are you trying to sell-"

"You have a brand on your arm after getting caught doing a job favor for someone else." I interrupt. "You're responsible for framing Maribelle's father and nearly causing him to be killed, though you were threatened by others to make that happen and weren't happy about it."

Gaius' mouth clicks shut, and he stares at me with wide eyes.

"So, I'm from beyond the outrealms. It's complicated, I can explain the full details later. The point is that I have some general future knowledge and some specific knowledge of the past, hence how I knew those details about Gaius. I can also confirm that these girls are in fact from the future. Specifically, they are the children of some people in this room."

That little tidbit of information causes no small amount of nervousness among the crowd. Sumia's hands clench together tight enough that her knuckles turn white. Nowi hopping from foot to foot, barely containing her energy. Miriel is scribbling furiously in her book. Sully is staring down at Kjelle with sudden realization on her face, and Kjelle is staring right back with her arms crossed. Most of the Shepherds just look shocked though.

The person to question me, surprisingly, is Tharja. "You only proved that you know about Gaius." She says in her usual raspy voice. "You could have gotten that information by chance."

"Indeed I could have." I agree. "Incidentally, have you started sending messages to your family yet Tharja? You've also heard of a man named Henry who is guarded by a flock of crows, has incredible skill in curses, and powerful magic. All true by the way. Panne has met him, if you want to ask."

Tharja looks to Panne, and Panne nods.

"Anything else I could say about you doesn't have an exact timeframe, so I don't know exactly when it will happen or when it has happened." I say apologetically. "Or else I'd offer more."

"That's still not enough." Tharja challenges. Some other Shepherds open their mouths, presumably to stop her, but I hold up my hand to forestall comments. I don't exactly have a lack of information to work with.

"So…" I say, glancing about the room. I want a secret I can expose that isn't too cruel to talk about. "Kellam? Are you here?"

"I am." Everyone jumps when his voice softly replies. He was standing near the doorway to the kitchen in my peripheral vision. I'm not surprised I missed him.

"You were a selfish kid when you were younger, weren't you?" I say. "You always got into fights with your five brothers because you refused to share things, and your family started to ignore you because of it, right?"

"That's right." Kellam nods, then more quietly. "All of it is right. I do have five brothers…"

"I didn't know ya had brothers at all." Vaike frowns.

"And there's my point." I interrupt. "You, his companions, didn't know this, but I, a stranger, do. Not because I knew Kellam personally, but because I have outside knowledge of this world. I can keep going if you want, but I don't really want to get into people's more sensitive secrets. If it would help I can tell you about the Shepherds have done so far. Chrom, Lissa, and Frederick probably found Robin lying in a field outside of Southtown, and then the town immediately got attacked, and then on the way back to Ylisstol you got attacked by Risen and saved by someone calling themselves Marth who offered a cryptic warning-"

"True." Robin interrupts. "I'm going to say that's proof enough. You've already shown you have more highly-specific knowledge than you should reasonably be able to have. What is this about us being parents?"

"Well, like I said, these girls are from the future." I say. "Nowi, Nah here is your daughter."

Nowi was barely holding herself back before, and practically flies across the room to hug Nah. There's not a moment of consideration on Nowi's part that I might not be telling the truth, though I suppose Nah being a manakete lends credence to my words. Nah stoically accepts the hug at first, but her cold facade doesn't last all that long before she returns the gesture.

"Sully!" I call, catching her attention. "If it wasn't already obvious, Kjelle is yours!"

"Naga's ass, really?" Sully says, then more quietly. "Twenty six and I've got a full-grown kid, what the heck…"

"I hope that wasn't your best out there." Kjelle taunts. "I'd hate to surpass my own mother within hours of meeting her."

"You little shit." Sully growls, and promptly puts Kjelle into a headlock. They're both smiling though. "I can see I never taught you respect, did I?"

"I respect strength, and that was a weak showing!" Kjelle shoots back.

"And Tharja-" I call.

"Don't tell me…" The dark mage groans.

"Noire here is yours." I say, putting a hand on Noire's back. "Play nice."

Noire nervously makes her way around the table to Tharja, and the two stare silently at each other for a few seconds. Tharja is eyeing her daughter critically, and Noire has her shoulders hunched in anxiety.

"How did I ever make you?" The dark mage says after a few seconds.

"I-I- y-you-" Noire stutters. "A-A lot happened…"

"Clearly." Tharja remarks, unimpressed. "Well, I suppose I can still make something out of you, if you are in fact my daughter. Tell me you at least know how to curse."

"A-A little…" She murmurs. "B-But th-that's… that's not…"

Tharja sneers a bit. "Spit it out girl."

"INSOLENCE!" Noire snaps. "YOU FAIL TO UNDERSTAND YOUR SITUATION! IT IS NOT FOR YOU TO SHAPE ME! YOU HAVE TRIED AND FAILED ONCE BEFORE IN A POOR EXCUSE FOR MOTHERHOOD! I GIVE YOU NOW A SECOND CHANCE, BUT DO NOT PRESUME I WILL TOLERATE YOUR FAULTS A SECOND TIME!"

That sets Tharja back and she looks genuinely shocked, if only for a moment. Whether it's the words or the shouting having that effect I'm not sure. Either way, I think I should stop listening in and let them sort it out themselves. Also, good on Noire for being upfront about what she wants and making it explicit she won't tolerate Tharja's shit. In the game she doesn't mention Tharja's bad parenting except in a few other supports.

"And lastly, of course." I say, and look to Robin. "Morgan is yours Rob. She's objectively the best and won't accept being told otherwise."

"Yeah!" Morgan says proudly. "I'm going to be a better tactician than you Father! Just you wait!"

Robin looks the most shocked out of any of the parents so far, though he pulls himself together quickly. "Alright then. Morgan was it?"

"That's me!"

"Well it's nice to meet you." Robin says, clearly struggling to think of what to say. "I'm sure we have a lot to talk about."

"Yeah." Morgan starts to leave my side, but pauses to tug on my shirt and look up at me. I don't know if she wants me to follow, or if she's asking if I'll be fine on my own. Either way I nudge her to leave. As much as I'd feel more comfortable staying next to her, this isn't something I should interrupt. Let Robin get to know his daughter a bit before needing to grapple with the fact she already has a boyfriend.

Of course, with all the girls busy talking to one of their parents, that leaves me to deal with everyone else and I have no idea what I'm doing.

Thankfully, I don't actually end up having to do that. Two things happen at once. Stahl exits the kitchen, and looks very confused at the hugging and arguing people around him, and Chrom and Frederick and Lissa and Maribelle walk into the mess hall from the front entrance and show equal confusion.

I guess I have some re-explaining to do.

###

"So, yeah." I finish lamely. "Future kids, fun times. You have a kid too! Two actually. They're not here at the moment though."

"I see." Chrom says. "Gods, knowing I have children only a month before being married… These are strange times indeed."

"And I haven't even told you all of it." I say. "I gave you the abbreviated version. There's other information I need to give you, this was just the most immediately relevant. I'm afraid we bring ill tidings."

"I see." The prince frowns. He really is too trusting. He didn't bat an eye at being told the girls were from the future and that I'm from beyond the outrealms. He's also a really nice guy, which is immensely calming. I would be a lot more nervous talking to Maribelle or Frederick or even Lissa or Emmeryn. "I suppose it would be wishful thinking to hope this would be the end of the world's issues, wouldn't it?"

"Unfortunately." I agree. "If that were ever true, world peace would have been achieved a long time ago."

"True words." Chrom says. "How imminent are your ill tidings?"

"Two years, if it's accurate to the game." I say. "There have been some discrepancies in the world already, but this is major enough that I still expect it to happen."

"What game are you referring to exactly?" Chrom questions.

"Oh, right. Where I come from you guys, and this whole world, is a game." I say. "It's hard to explain. You're like… a single-player board game where the player gets to experience major events in your timeline as well as some smaller character interactions, hence why I happen to know details about each individual Shepherds."

"That's quite a game."

"It is." I agree. "It was fun, and I remember a lot from it. It's been quite useful."

"I see." Chrom says. "If you don't mind, what is there about me?"

"You smashed a hole in the castle wall, and Marth used it to get in during the attempted assassination of Emmeryn." I say. "And… has Frederick put up posters of you yet?"

Chrom visibly cringes, then deflates. "Of course that would be in your game..."

I pat him on the shoulder. "Don't worry buddy, only a million or so people on Earth probably know about it."

He sighs deeply and I smile. A tall figure then imposes itself next to us.

"Do not become too comfortable with Milord." Frederick warns me. "You may bring tidings of the future, but we have known you for all of a few hours at best."

"Yeah, yeah." I say. "Nice to meet you too Freddy."

"Do not act flippant with me." The knight scowls. "You-"

"Peace Frederick." Chrom soothes. "He has proven his good will by escorting the children here, and offers us tidings of the future free of charge. I think he is well within his right to relax among us."

"I still advise caution Milord." Frederick says stubbornly.

"I expect no less." Chrom says with a light roll of his eyes. "Thank you for the concern, and please do keep an eye out for anything suspicious, but do not pester or threaten our guests Frederick."

"As you wish Milord."

"Have you managed to eat bear meat yet?" I suddenly ask the knight. "Or is that something you've yet to overcome?"

The man's lips thin into a line. "That is none of your concern, stranger." He then turns sharply and marches away.

Chrom starts to speak. "Please for-"

"Forgiven." I interrupt. "It's fine. I expected as much. I'm hardly unsuspicious. I do hold an uncomfortable amount of power with my supposed future knowledge, it's only natural he be wary especially considering how we waltzed in here and sat ourselves around your table without introduction."

To be honest, my conversation with Chrom is a delay tactic. I'm praying that Morgan will return and get me out of having to talk with all the Shepherds, but at the same time I don't really expect that to happen any time soon. Chrom is the least threatening person to talk to, hence why I'm overjoyed he's sticking around right now.

Lunch was on the table about twenty minutes ago, courtesy of Stahl. Morgan had enough presence of mind to snatch Kjelle and warn her not to give away her who her father was unless she knew Sully and Stahl were together already. Nowi has been all over Nah since the reveal, and dragged her outside to see her dragon form after lunch. Noire and Tharja have been rather subdued all things considered. After Noire shouted at her, they settled down into an awkward-looking conversation and haven't been talking too much since lunch finished.

Morgan, of course, hasn't stopped talking with her father the entire time. She's been talking way more than him. I guess he's not a chatterbox, or he's just fascinated with his new daughter. Imagine when someone tells him that he also has a son.

"You said I have two children?" Chrom prompts. "Can you tell me about them?"

"Well…" I pause and think. Lucina is keeping her identity a secret, but I doubt Brady is. "One of them has their own agenda, and I must respect their privacy. I can tell you about the other though. You're going to be married to Maribelle right?"

Chrom looks a bit put off that I won't tell him everything, but doesn't push me."Indeed."

"Cool. Then… maybe she'll want to hear this too."

"Indeed I would!" Maribelle herself huffs. She hasn't been involved in the conversation, but she's been sitting next to Chrom the entire time.

"Right then! So here's what he's like…" I then proceed to explain Brady to them, to the best of my recollection. Chrom is fascinated, Maribelle is critical. Basically as you'd expect. I answer a few questions, but I'll spare you the details. It's basic stuff anyways.

At some point a servant comes rushing in to talk to Chrom, and he, Maribelle, and Frederick have to leave. I naively hope that no one else will try to talk with me and that I can hide away until the chaos dies down, but I have no such luck. There's no way I was going to get away with dropping future knowledge on everyone and them not wanting to talk to me.

It's no real surprise that I spend the better part of the next hour being pestered about future kids… and I mostly refuse to talk. Most of these people aren't married, and it would be cruel to tell just one person about their kid and lie or be evasive to the other. That's a necessity with the kids that are already here, but I won't inflict that cruelty without it being necessary.

You could argue refusing to say anything is also cruel, but I'd argue it is less so. Being lied to is far more hurtful than being refused information in my eyes, and better not to pick and choose who gets information arbitrarily, or else it will foster resentment.

Most of the conversations are uneventful, ending with the opposing party being mildly frustrated at my refusal to tell them anything, and sometimes confused that I ask if they're married or not.

No one besides Chrom and Maribelle are even on track to be married, so I have to keep my mouth shut. I'm not making many friends among the Shepherds right now, but all of my options are terrible. Either I tell everyone about their kids and potentially make their lives very complicated through them knowing who they're supposed to get married to, therefore making them feel obliged to get married or have some sort of relationship without the natural setup to one, or I can say nothing (like I am now) which is cruel because I'm withholding important information, but at the same time allowing relationships to foster naturally.

The girls must agree too, because they didn't argue with this idea.

The only Shepherd who doesn't seem annoyed with me is Miriel, who nods in understanding when I explain my logic. Thank Naga for Miriel's logical mind. Speaking of Miriel though, I have a question I need to ask her. Naga told me to speak with Miriel if I wanted my body back after all.

"By the way…" I say, after I've finished explaining why I can't tell her about any potential future children she may have. "I've been told that you might know a way to replace someone's body."

"Your informant was slightly inaccurate then." Miriel says. "I am aware of a spell that can do such a thing, though I have not yet been able to obtain it. Is it of interest to you?"

"Yes." I say instantly. "This body- mine, what you see right now- is not me. My actual body got replaced with this one for survival reasons by Naga, though I don't really need it anymore and want mine back."

"Naga you say?" Miriel asks. "How do you know this?"

"She told me as much."

"You have spoken with Naga?

"Yeah." She's taking this well. I was expecting to be called crazy by this point. "It was a one time thing though. She was paying me back for something."

"Can anyone else confirm this?" Miriel questions.

"Not the conversation itself, but Nah can confirm that I Naga intended to speak with me." I offer. "It's a manakete thing from what I'm aware, she can talk with Naga sometimes."

"Fascinating. I shall confirm this later." Miriel murmurs. She takes a moment to push her glasses back up on her nose, as they've slipped down her face somewhat. "If you have interest in the spell to alter your body, I will attempt to obtain it."

"Really?" I say, smiling widely. An immense feeling of relief washes over my body. "For a stranger?"

"I am a woman of science, yet, I am also a Shepherd." Miriel says. "A chance to learn the applications of a new spell and also do a good deed is something that coincides with both of those things. So yes, I will obtain this spell for both of our benefits."

"Thank you Miriel. Truly." I say. "If there's any way I can help, let me know."

"That is unlikely, but I shall remember your words nonetheless." The mage says. "Now if you will excuse me, I must be off. It seems there is little for me if I remain here."

I watch Miriel walk off. She's a lot nicer than I expected. I didn't expect her to be mean or anything, but I did expect her to be mostly indifferent to my situation and that I'd have to convince her to help me. I grossly overestimated how difficult this entire situation would be actually. You'd think convincing people that you're from another dimension and that they have kids from another dimension would be difficult, but it really wasn't in hindsight. Maybe it's because magic already exists and they're dealing with zombies and amnesiacs and whatnot already?

Whatever. I won't question good luck. It won't last forever, so I might as well enjoy it now.

###

After I alienated most of the Shepherds via me by refusing to tell them about their future kids (I still feel awful doing that. Is it the right choice? I could justify only telling the women because kids are based on the mothers in awakening, but it also feels wrong to shut some people out of that knowledge and not others so I'll stick by my choice) there's only a few people that actually want to talk to me. Miriel was one of them, and the other is…

"What a fascinating game." Virion says as I checkmate him. "And this is well known where you come from?"

"Yep. It's the most popular board game in the world, and has had extensive development of strategies over hundreds of years." I say. "I'm not versed in any of them, sadly, but at the highest level this game is incredibly complicated, requiring the ability to plan out moves a dozen terms in advance and have in mind everything the opponent might try to do."

"That is quite an undertaking." Virion agrees. He helps me reset the board. "It sounds like a true nobleman's game."

"I suppose. I think at some point used to train military commanders and generals to help them understand strategy." I recall. "Though at this point it's a household game. It's actually quite an old game, stretching back at least fourteen centuries from present day on Earth."

"That is quite a history." Virion says. "'tis a shame I shall never get to see a truly professional game. I would have quite enjoyed that, I think."

"There were a number of books written about the game too. If I had one on hand I'd offer it to you." I say. "If the game can take off here, the strategies will have to be rebuilt from scratch."

"Do you have plans to try and spread it?" Virion asks.

"I have some designs to do so, yes." I say. "Though I'm not sure how long it will be before I can start my plan, considering there are other things that need to be accomplished in the world. There are still a number of future children that need to be secured, both for their safety and because they're all quite powerful fighters."

"That bodes ill for the future, if we are in need of powerful allies." Virion muses.

"You know exactly why." I remind him. "After all, aren't you here to gather allies because of Valm?"

Virion blinks at me in shock, then shakes his head and chuckles. "My, I suppose I should have expected you to know that."

"That's one of the problems Ylisse is going to face soon." I say quietly, to make sure no one else can hear. "In the game, two years after Gangrel's fall, Valm attacks Ferox after having taken over the rest of its own continent."

"So Rosanne will fall." Virion says quietly. "As I feared."

"It will be freed afterwards." I say. "If it is any condolence."

"I suppose it is better than permanent subjugation." The duke sighs. "But that is a bitter dish to be served."

"There might be some things I can tell you that might help…" I say slowly. "First, I'll be telling Chrom about this, so hopefully they'll be inclined to help sooner rather than later, not waiting two whole years."

"That would be a help." Virion agrees.

"Additionally… are you familiar with someone called Say'ri?" I ask.

"The princess of Chon'sin? Indeed I am." Virion says. He's leaning forward on the table, clearly anticipating some important information.

"Well, Chron'sin is in an odd position when Walhart conquers it." I say. "Yen'fay, Say'ri's older brother, willingly submits to Walhart in order to keep her safe. This is under the threat of an assistant of Walhart's called Excellus."

"So you are telling me that if Say'ri can be kept safe, it might incline her brother to not submit?" Virion asks.

"Possibly." I nod. "I can't say for certain of course, but it seems likely."

"There may be some trouble in attempting to convince Say'ri to trust my words." Virion murmurs. "Do you, by chance, have some way to convince her?"

"Not directly. I don't know any of her secrets." I admit. "However… are you familiar with Tiki?"

"The Voice of Naga? Indeed I am." Virion nods.

"Well, Say'ri is close to her." I say. "And if Nah can talk to Naga, it makes sense that Naga's own daughter should be able to talk to Naga. Naga knows about my game knowledge and will probably back me up. So if you can get Tiki to verify some letter from me to Say'ri, we might be able to convince her that way."

"I see." Virion says. "It is a plan worth attempting at the very least."

We spend the better part of twenty minutes deciding what the letter should say. I just need some way for Say'ri to stay safe. Is that through keeping her with Virion? Or is just alerting them of the threat of Excellus enough? Do I need to say anything else to get them to not dismiss my letter out of hand? I am some random commoner sending a letter to a princess, albeit through Virion.

In the end we conclude the letter should be simple. I will inform Say'ri and Yen'fay of Excellus, and urge them to take steps to ensure they are protected and to not submit to his manipulations. If there is any doubt to my words, Tiki should be consulted so as to verify I am not making this all up (or at the very least confirming I do have "future" knowledge so as to be reasonable in making this suggestion).

Because Virion can't write the letter because his handwriting would be recognized, and I couldn't learn quickly enough for my handwriting to not be atrocious, we'll have to have someone else write the letter. Probably Morgan.

"There's one last thing I need to ask of you." I add once we're finished hashing out the letter. "You know how I mentioned more future kids?"

"Indeed."

"A number of them are located on your continent… what is the continent called exactly?"

"Valentia."

"There are a number of future kids located on Valentia. If you have any time or people to spare, it would be greatly helpful if you could round them up." I say. "If we can find a map, I can point out the rough locations and tell you about their general circumstances."

"I shall be busy, but I can certainly spare a few men to find these children, especially if they are as much a military asset as you seem to think." Virion agrees. "Allow me to fetch my map."

As Virion shows me the map of Valentia and explains what everything is, I learn a few things. So you know Valentia has three mini-continents separated by some water? There's the section where chapter 15 takes place with Say'ri that's vaguely rectangular, the area around chapter 20 which is Walhart that looks sort of like a circle, and then the areas where chapters 18 and 17 which looks like… uh… A distorted triangle? Something like that. Then, of course, we have the Mila Tree being in the middle of all of them at chapter 16. Three distinct land masses, and the Mila Tree. Each land mass is more or less a country. The rectangular area (where the first chapter in Valentia takes place) is Chon'sin, the lower triangle-ish area is mostly Rosanne, and the small circular area is Valm. Thank Naga, all the kids' paralogues are either in Chon'sin or Rosanne. Depending on how much Walhart has conquered, they might all still be accessible without going behind enemy lines.

"The only thing I should say is that Cherche needs to deal with this one." I say, pointing to Gerome's paralogue location. "Gerome is stubborn and won't want to come, so if anyone can convince him it's his own mother. The others shouldn't pose a problem."

"I see. I did not realize Cherche was a part of your game." Virion muses.

"Yeah, she usually joins at the beginning of the Valmese war." I say. "Sorry to put so much of a burden on your shoulders, but I still have some kids around Ylisse and Plegia to round up. Not as many as in Valm, but some."

"It is no trouble." Virion assures. "You have gifted me a potential alliance with Chon'sin through the letter you shall write, and possibly the help of Ylisse much earlier than expected. Fetching a few children is paltry compensation."

He makes it sound like I'm doing him some incredible service, but I'm just conveying information. I'm glad to help, but oddly enough I hope I don't get any great thanks for it. I haven't done anything to deserve it. I'm just a messenger.

It's a relief to have the Valmese kids covered though. I was worried about how we were going to have time to get all of them before the Valmese war, because detouring to get them during the war doesn't seem like a fantastic idea. Now we just have to worry about the Plegian kids and Laurent. Laurent is in Ylisse, which is easy, and Severa and Yarne are both close by each other… along with Dead King's Lament, Gangrel's paralogue.

I wonder if that might be worth checking too. On the other hand, with the war having finished so recently, enough time might not have passed to change his mindset. I don't even know if spotpass chapters are going to exist in this world. Gangrel might just be dead.

That's something to worry about at a later time I suppose.

"Incidentally, you were quite adamant in not revealing anyone's children, yet you revealed that Cherche had one so freely." Virion notes. "Why so?"

"Well like I said, Gerome is stubborn. If Cherche isn't going to talk to him, he's probably not going to come along. It's just a matter of practicality." I sigh. "Look, I want to tell everyone about their kids, but they're not married yet. It would be awful to make people feel like they should be in a relationship because of their kids even if they're not ready for it, and the only other option is to pick and choose who gets to know, which is equally cruel."

"Did it not occur to you to let the individuals choose if they want to hear the information or not?" Virion suggests. "We are not children, we are functional adults."

"Everyone would have to agree then, because some of the kids are very much like their parents and even if I only tell one party it might be obvious who the other is." I say. I'm mostly thinking of Yarne (taguel), Severa (because of the hair), and Laurent (studious behaviour) if I have to tell their fathers. "Look, I'm sticking by my decision. No matter what I choose there's a downside, some cruelty. I'm choosing the path that will ruin as few relationships as possible."

Virion shakes his head. "I'm afraid you will make few friends among the Shepherds then. They will not appreciate what they see as patronizing."

"So be it. I never expected to have friends among the Shepherds anyhow." I say honestly. I expect the future children to be much more open to me than the first generation. My general situation is much more similar to them than to the first generation anyhow.

"As you wish." Virion says, clearly not approving of my decision. "I wish to depart within the month, so please have the letter written as soon as possible."

"I'll do so as soon as Morgan is free." I promise. I gesture to the chessboard. "When this whole mess is over with, I'd love to play a few more rounds with you."

That gets a smile. "I would be honored, though I'm afraid I won't be much more of a challenge without being able to practice. Perhaps I can introduce you to a favoured game of mine at some point?"

"I'll look forward to it."

###

Most of the Shepherds aren't sticking around for too long apparently. I overhear various plans to visit homes by most of them, though most will also return for Chrom and Maribelle's wedding. Not everyone is leaving though. Some people like Gregor and Nowi and Gaius don't really have anywhere else to be.

The Shepherds still have work to do as well, once everyone returns. Risen run rampant across the country, and while the Shepherds need a rest their might is still required afterwards.

I learn most of this from Kellam, who I think is happy that anyone is talking to him at all. However, soon he too needs to leave, and I'm finally left without trying to get my attention. All the talking has really tired me out. I feel like I spent two hours singing with how sore my throat is.

Nowi and Nah are out somewhere, they never came inside after Nowi wanted to see her dragon form. Kjelle and Sully went out on the town. I think they would have spent more time sparring if Sully wasn't genuinely exhausted from the long trip they apparently had yesterday. Noire and Tharja are… gone. I didn't see them leave, so who knows what's up with them. Morgan and Robin are still in the barracks, though I saw them move towards the bedrooms so I assume they're holed up in Robin's room.

That leaves me alone, and with an extremely rare moment of free time. I spent so much time over the last several months on the road and next to Morgan that I never actually realized just how little time I've had to myself.

I could do anything with my free time. I could go explore the city, I could get information on current world events from the people around me, I could do any number of things… and despite my anxiety about being alone, I do go explore a bit. I have the palace as a convenient landmark, so getting lost thankfully isn't going to be a problem even if my sense of direction is terrible.

I don't have a plan as I wander around. I don't want to buy anything significant without running it by Morgan first, so my wandering is mostly just me taking note of shops and locations.

Surrounding the palace, as you might expect, are a bunch of expensive and gaudy houses. A rich neighbourhood, and one in which I look sorely out of place. I hurry though there and avoid making eye contact with anyone around me.

Just beyond the expensive houses are expensive shops (unsurprising now that I think about it), and those nab my interest. There are tailoring shops of course, fashion is a universal constant it seems, and some of the people I see going in and out of those places have truly ostentatious clothes and look more like Gangrel than Virion.

Fashion is gonna fashion, no matter how much the rest of the world raises their eyebrows.

In other news, there are restaurants, and those grab my attention. I'm aware that I maybe sorta totally owe Morgan for supporting my sorry ass for the last several months, so some sort of gift for her is on my mind. However, considering the rich clientele I see, I doubt my pathetic six silver is going to be able to afford any of these places.

I do spot a bookstore, which might be of interest once I learn to read. I need to remember that for later. It also occurs to me that if Robin was a tabletop wargamer in the future, there's probably a few shops for that here in Ylisstol. Morgan might find those of interest. A bit of searching does locate at least one of them, which is great.

I mention these minor things because I'm not finding anything too important. There are stores for a bunch of boring things like shoes or swords or what have you, but nothing that grabs my attention.

Eventually I stumble across a market square, and there I finally find things of interest. It's not the spice sellers or people hawking "exotic" items or what have you, but the simpler things. There's a man selling jewelry, from simple beads of amber to ornate and expensive gems and gold. There's another man selling tomes, from fire to thoron to some I don't recognize at all. I also locate someone selling magical curiosities. Trinkets really. A small wooden platform with a rune that will emit a small gust of air to balance a small ball on top of it, a stone that will magically heat itself, a cup that will freeze any liquid put into it, and so on. They're a bit too costly for me to actually consider buying, but I could see some actual practical use for a heating stone like that. If you're in a cold climate you can put in on top of, under, or in your bedroll to keep yourself warm. If it can make powerful heat, you could use it as a grill without needing a fire.

A heating stone… I'll try to remember that.

I'm drawn to the jewelry stand over time. Jewelry, or accessories of any sort, have never really been my thing. I'm more curious about it with Morgan in mind, I'd like to get her a gift of some sort… though I quickly realize that at no point has Morgan ever shown interest in jewelry. Impulsively I had made the connection between Morgan being a woman and jewelry, which is ridiculous when I actually consider what I know about Morgan.

What do I know about Morgan though? She likes purple and black, she's a bit dirty-minded, likes to joke around, and I know about her father and how nervous she was about meeting him, but that's a shamefully small amount of information about her general likes and dislikes. She enjoys board games, I know that, but really what else do I know?

I don't know how much to look into that. Do I know so little because I don't pay attention, or is it because Morgan herself doesn't know what she enjoys due to her amnesia, and the constant travelling hasn't allowed her to figure out anything else?

"Well no, wait, I am overlooking something." I remember. Me and Morgan did a lot of shopping, not for anything important, but just for random trinkets that caught Morgan's eye. That's… that's honestly not much to go on either.

Well fuck. This is why getting a gift is hard: a bunch of second-guessing and my own inability to pay attention to other people.

So that's why I'm going to put stock in something my mother once told me. People tend to like a gift just because they got a gift. It's better if the gift is useful or personalized, but as long as the gift isn't painfully generic like socks and the person isn't an asshole, they'll like whatever you get them.

This is my way of saying I buy the stupid heat rock. A rock. My first gift to Morgan is literally a rock. Wow. Amazing Nathan. What a moment to remember. It's a fancy magic heat rock, but it's literally a rock. As soon as I buy it I regret it. At least I managed to get the seller to drop the price a bit. This thing is not worth five silver, no matter how many theoretic applications he wants to claim it has.

Well, too late now. I have the goddamn rock. Is this better than getting her nothing? I honestly don't know.

"Calm down. This is Morgan you're talking about." I remind myself. "If tolerance was an issue, she would have gotten rid of you a long time ago. Besides, she finds just about everything fascinating. The heat rock will be no exception. It's not like the rock is useless either."

So as to not make this whole excursion feel worthless, I find a place that will sell me a simple quill and ink set for one silver. If I'm going to learn to write, I don't want to waste Morgan's supplies. I'd like a fountain pen, if just because it's more like a normal pen than a quill, but those things are expensive. I'm talking multiple gold levels of expensive for a single pen. They're a luxury item. No thank you. I also get a simple bronze sword now that I'm actually learning the weapon. Twenty copper.

I'm also running low on money now, and I suddenly remember that I'm dirt poor in this world. I'm not used to having this little money. I need to get more money, and I'd rather not mooch off Morgan more than I have to.

The sun is starting to set, and I realize I've been walking around for longer than I expected. Four hours, maybe more? How did I spend so long out here and yet find so little? It's with great reluctance that I start to make my way back to the barracks. This was supposed to be free time to myself, but I feel like I managed to waste that time somehow.

I slink through the front door and can hear voices from the mess room. Is dinner soon? I left around one o'clock, so it's got to be five or six by now.

Peering into the dining room reveals… Morgan! Also Robin, of course. It must be time for dinner if they're not still holed up in Robin's room.

I'm deciding if I should enter and risk interrupting something or come back later, but Morgan makes that decision for me by flagging me down as soon as she sees me peeking around the entrance to the room. "Naaathan!"

"Mooorgan!" I parrot. She's waving me over, so I approach and stand to her side, opposite of Robin. Morgan pats the chair, so I sit. I'll admit this makes me nervous. Robin has his eyes on me, and I have to wonder what Morgan has said about me thus far.

I'm just gonna keep this rock in my pocket for now. Bad enough I chose a rock as a gift, I'm not showing the depths of my bad gift choices in front of Morgan's father too.

"What's up?" I ask.

"You tell me! You vanished, and without saying anything!" Morgan pouts. "I came out looking for you and you were gone!"

I wonder when that was. I was talking to people for a good long while. "Well you seemed occupied and everyone else was gone, so I investigated the town a bit. It turns out rich people dress weird. I swear one of the women was dressed as a chicken with all those feathers on her outfit."

"Was it hot outside?" Morgan asks.

Very random, but okay, whatever. "I guess. It's not quite summer yet, right? But it's certainly hotter than Ferox."

"So would you say the woman was a hot chick then?" Morgan asks.

Of course Morgan would make that joke. I don't remember teaching her that exact slang, but she's sharp. I must have used it at some point and she deduced what it meant. "In a manner of speaking, yes, but not in the way you're implying."

I'm tempted to add "lewd girl" and poke her in the nose as I usually do, but Robin is right behind her so I refrain from that. I don't know Robin at all right now. I need to play it safe. I can't risk annoying Morgan's father.

I think I understand why meeting the girlfriend's parents is always considered so scary in television shows and whatnot. Even without Robin saying anything I feel pressured to perform and try and present myself in my best light.

Whatever light that is.

"Did you find anything else?" Morgan asks. "Not just a warm chicken I presume."

"I discovered that restaurants are still expensive, and that there is indeed a wargaming store in town. Bookstores too."

"That it?"

"There were a lot of generic things." I shrug. "There was a guy selling magic trinkets I guess, but really nothing too interesting beyond what I've already told you."

"Was it just that dull without me around?" Morgan teases.

"Well yeah, but that's pretty standard." I see an opportunity to do a bit, but again hold myself back because of Robin. I think Morgan was expecting me to do something else too from the awkward silence after my words rather than an instant response from her. I guess we have a mutual sense of comedic timing at this point.

Is it comedic? I don't think that's the term, but it's the closest thing I can think of. Maybe dramatic timing? No, no, not quite that… ah whatever, the term doesn't matter.

Because Morgan isn't oblivious, she obviously takes note of how strange I'm being. "Not feeling it today?" She asks quietly.

I may be tired, but I always have time for you Morgan. It's literally just because of your father that I'm not doing our normal bits. "That's one way of putting it."

Morgan squints at me for a solid five seconds, then turns to her father. "Faaather!"

"What?"

"What did you do!?"

How on Earth did Morgan figure that out so quickly? That's also very unfair to Robin. He hasn't actually done anything, I'm just paranoid.

"I swear I haven't done anything." Robin says, holding his hands up in surrender. "I listened when you said he was skittish."

I'm not sure if I'm more embarrassed that my nervousness was noticed, or that Morgan felt it necessary to warn her father that I'm always nervous. She's right of course, but it's still embarrassing. "It's fine Morgan. He didn't do anything."

"Okay." Morgan says suspiciously.

"So what did you want me for?" I ask. "You were waving me over."

"I wanted my father to meet my boyfriend of course!" Morgan huffs.

Okay, so Morgan already told him about that. Cool. No pressure. "Oh."

"So Nathan, this is Father, you already know about him. He's super smart and all that. He already has some of those Multirealm figures!"

"Really?" I ask. He started collecting early huh? "Does he have the dragon lady already?"

"Not yet." Morgan says. "But yeah, super great tactician and all that."

"Better than you?" I tease.

"Well I never said that." Morgan scoffs and smiles. "We'll figure it out soon enough. Gonna play some games when he's not super tired."

"I'm sure you'll win." I reassure.

"Wow, way to insult my father right in front of his face Nathan." Morgan teases back.

"I mean, it's either insult my girlfriend or insult her father. There's no good option." I say.

"Nathan, it was a joke."

"I know." I say, and I did know, I'm just playing it safe.

Morgan squints at me again. "Are you sure you're fine?"

"Yes Morgan."

"Totally positive?"

"Yes Morgan."

"If someone is giving you trouble I'll "deal with" them, no questions asked!"

"There's really nothing Morgan. Also, please don't do that."

"If you say so…" Morgan says reluctantly. She then turns to Robin. "So anyhow, Father, this is Nathan. He's great. I mean right now he's nervous for some reason, but he's great. Also cute."

"Subjective." I mutter.

"Subjective to me, and I'm always right!" Morgan says. "Therefore it's objective!"

"That's… that's not how that works."

"Yes it is, because I say so! Subjectively!"

"That's also not how that works."

"Shush!" Morgan pouts. "I'm the smart one here!"

I raise an eyebrow. "If you say so."

"I do!"

Robin coughs sharply, and we stop our usual back and forth. Robin is looking at me, and I'm struck by nervousness again.

"Well… I'm Robin." Robin says, and extends a hand to shake. "Apparently I have you to thank for keeping my daughter out of trouble."

"That's giving me a bit too much credit." I say, though I do cautiously shake the offered hand. We're both awkwardly leaning over Morgan who is between us to facilitate this shake. "I vaguely point the group in the right direction and let Morgan handle the rest. The only other thing I do is keep her entertained so she doesn't… I dunno, burn down a forest."

"I only set one tree on fire!" Morgan protests. "And we stopped it before anything happened!"

"My point exactly." I jest. "I've done my job well. I also stop her from rolling into fires."

"One time Nathan! That happened one time!" Morgan protests.

"Don't discount boredom as a threat to a soldier." Robin says. "The Shepherds can tell you that solid companionship is just as valuable as a good meal."

What a very power-of-friendship thing of you to say Robin. Not that I disagree, but I'm not used to people actually admitting such a thing. Apparently mental health is a concept that exists here. Good to know.

"Well, I've at least managed companionship." I say. "But Morgan has pulled most of the weight otherwise. She's been keeping my sorry self alive."

"She told me you would say that." Robin says. "And also that it's not true."

Morgan smiles smugly, and I raise an eyebrow at her. I then point a finger at her. "You shouldn't lie to your father."

"It's not a lie!"

"Doubt."

Morgan doesn't dignify that was a further response, and settles for more smug smiling.

"Well then." I sigh, looking again at Robin. "You can decide that yourself."

"I will." Robin agrees. "Incidentally, Morgan couldn't stop talking about you."

Morgan, please don't tell me you tried to make me sound amazing. I'm only going to end up disappointing your father and ruining everything. "Well, we quite literally haven't been apart for more than a few hours at a time over the last several months. So I suppose it isn't surprising that she's rather attached." And I'm rather attached to her in turn.

"By the way." Robin says, and leans forward. "I suppose I should just say this outright, Morgan has explained various things the two of you do on a regular basis. The roleplay, you carrying her, sharing a bed, and so on."

"Oh." Is that bad? He's not smiling. That might be bad.

"Father…" Morgan says in a warning tone. Her smile is gone, replaced with a thin-lipped squint of judgement. Robin ignores her.

"Firstly, while I don't exactly approve, I'm not going to be one to stop you." Robin says. "You're adults, and if you think you know what you're doing I won't complain. However, I will warn you that the upper class, especially the Ylissian upper class, is rather uptight and you may find it to your benefit to be discreet if you plan on… fooling around. Especially considering you are neither married nor formally courting."

I totally forgot how anal certain groups in medeival times could be about that sort of thing. I guess this also means that Morgan might have a semi-important position for being the daughter of the Shepherd's tactician, or else this warning would be much less relevant. Robin is probably an aristocrat by virtue of being the Shepherds' tactician and also a mind behind the Ylisse-Plegia war in general, and therefore Morgan is also technically an aristocrat now.

"Fair enough. That's more of an open mindset than I've seen in most adults where I come from." I say. I appreciate the warning in fact.

"I'm glad I have your approval." Robin says with a roll of his eyes.

"Oh, uh, sorry."

He waves it off. "If condescension, especially accidental condescension, was enough to offend me I'd have been at Miriel, Vaike, and Frederick's throats within a day of knowing them."

Point. Also Maribelle I imagine, but I doubt he wants to speak ill of the soon-to-be queen.

"And at least you apologize." Robin says under his breath. I'm sensing an itty bitty amount of resentment in our friendly neighbourhood tactician here. "But it's fine. I understand where you're coming from."

"Right."

A bit of an awkward silence settles over our trio after that, and Morgan eventually claps her hands to break it. "Okay, I'm gonna go see if dinner is going to be happening soon. You two have fun. Play nice Father."

With that, Morgan gets out of her seat and walks to the kitchen, leaving me alone with Robin.

After Morgan is out of sight, Robin sighs and says. "We're not even eating here, we're going out. We were talking about that minutes before you arrived."

"She's usually less transparent about this sort of thing." I note. "Normally I can't tell when she's manipulating me. I only learn about it because she tells me after the fact."

"And you're fine with her manipulating you?"

"It's always well-intentioned, and she never does anything serious without consulting me." I say. I'm thinking about those times where she nudged me to talk to strangers by conveniently being occupied with something else. "So yeah, I'm fine with it."

There's another small silence before Robin says "I had to talk her down from going out to find you. She seemed convinced that you might be in trouble."

"Honestly, that's probably a good impulse from her." I grimace. "I tend to stand out, and talking to people isn't my strong suit. In hindsight, I wouldn't be surprised if I'm a walking target for thieves and lowlifes. My self-defence skills aren't nearly up to par with everyone else either."

"Hmm…" Robin hums. "And yet you survived this far."

"By hiding behind Morgan." I say honestly. I'm probably not endearing myself to him, but I'd prefer honesty. Lies will only bite me in the ass later down the road. "I'm not much of a fighter, nor do I want to be. My primary contribution to the group was my sort-of future knowledge… and maybe singing a lot to make travel less monotonous."

"Morgan mentioned some of your songs. They sound… interesting."

"Yeah that's one way of putting it. They're weird by this world's standards. Actually, some of them were weird by my world's standards too." I muse.

"I see…" Robin says. "Nathan."

"Yeah?"

"May I be frank?"

"Sure." Here we go. The "I don't like you" speech. That's what I'm expecting.

"I have no idea what I'm doing, and I don't know what to think about you." He confesses. "The fact that I have a daughter now is already quite a bit to handle, and she thinks the world of you, but I think we both know there's a bit of exaggeration and ignorance of your flaws in her assessment."

"Can confirm." I agree.

"And at the same time, you seem to want me to believe the complete opposite. Morgan told me you would downplay anything positive about yourself, and so far almost everything I've seen reinforces that assessment." Robin says. "So I'm left in an odd position. I cannot say I distrust you. Morgan may think too highly of you, but at the same time she does not strike me as stupid and likely chose you for a good reason. Yet also, I see many signs of weakness in you that make me wary."

"That's a fair assessment." I say. "I'm nothing impressive, that's for sure."

"Make no mistake. I don't dislike you." Robin says. "You seem like a fine person. Speaking to you now hasn't changed that perception. It's simply a matter that I want to have high standards for people surrounding my daughter."

I mean, I can't argue with that. A parent wants the best for their child. Even if they just met their child six hours ago and that child is an adult. "Well, hopefully I'll meet some of those standards. Eventually. It's not going to be in the next month, no matter how much either of us want that to be the case."

"I wouldn't expect that." Robin says, and then smiles. "And admittedly I have only spoken to you for ten minutes at best. Any assessment on my part is admittedly light on the evidence side of things and therefore tenuous, so let's not put too much importance on it."

And yet we went through the whole routine of you analyzing my character anyways. It wasn't a threat but he did give me a warning, if indirectly, that he's watching me.

"And honestly, I'm expecting my opinion isn't going to matter very much considering how… willful… Morgan seems." Robin sighs.

"Yeah." I say, also smiling. "That's one word to describe Morgan."

"So, are we good?" Morgan says, and pokes her head around the entryway. "Or do I have to pretend to be busy for a bit longer?"

Not even trying to hide it, are we Morgan? Robin also seems rather chill, so maybe I can make a joke. "Now Morgan, the men are talking. Back in the kitchen with you."

A wide smile crosses Morgan's face. "Yes dear, sorry dear." She simpers. "Do you want stew or roast pheasant?"

"I want a whole boar woman! Are you not pulling your weight?" I bark. "Boar! I always want boar! Are you deaf as well as stupid?"

"Of course dear, sorry dear." Morgan repeats, trying to act meek but failing because of the stupid grin on her face. "I'll get right on it."

She vanishes behind the wall for a few seconds, then peeks out again. "Uh, there's nothing I can really do to keep the act up."

"Eh, I didn't really think it through anyways." I shrug.

Morgan skips over to our side again. Robin watched the whole interaction in silence with a raised eyebrow but no other reaction.

"So!" Morgan says, and grabs my arm while looking at her father. "Where are we going?"

"Morgan, I'm not coming."

"You are." Morgan says.

"Morgan…." I say gently. "I'm not going to intrude on your time with your father."

"Nathan, if you don't come with us, what exactly were you going to do for dinner? The Shepherds aren't eating here. Pretty much everyone is gone." Morgan says. "Be honest."

"Probably going to find some tavern with cheap enough food for me to afford." I say sheepishly.

"My point exactly, and you would have been nervous the entire time because you were alone." Morgan huffs. "So you're coming with us."

"I don't want to intrude…"

"Non-negotiable! Come on!" Morgan insists, pulling me up.

"Come along Nathan." Robin sighs and rises from his chair. "We both know how this will end."

Yeah, we do. Morgan will get what she wants, one way or another. That said, I'm absolutely going to make her spend a day with her father without me at some point soon. As much as I appreciate her thinking of me, this really isn't the time for that.

---

Nathan uses his game knowledge to convince the Shepherds that future kids are a thing with surprising ease… probably because between exhaustion, the undead, and transforming dragon and rabbit girls, future kids are just another item on the pile of crazy shit the Shepherds are already dealing with.