Thanks for the support I've received so far! I'm glad it's being well received. This one is self betad because I feel bad asking my friends who know nothing about Fire Emblem to help me out with that. The last part of this chapter was hard to get right, and I'm still not super happy with it, even after rewriting it a couple times, but it's as good as it's gonna get I think. Anyway, you know the drill, Fire Emblem is owned by Intelligent Systems and Nintendo yada, yada, yada, please enjoy part two!
(Again, for those of you looking for news on my other story, I promise I'll get a chapter out this month before I work on this smaller project any more. I'll probably start alternating between the projects.)
Chapter Two: Arrival
Morgan sobbed into Lucina's chest as they plummeted through Naga's gate in time, her sister holding her tight in turn. Beneath her anguish, she felt confusion over the falling sensation, since Naga had told them that traveling through time should have felt like walking down a hallway. The gate had clearly been destabilized somehow, likely due to the Risens magical sneak attack like Marc had theorized.
'Oh, Marc,' Morgan thought.
"I- I didn't mean it," she said aloud.
"Pardon?" Lucina asked softly. Morgan could tell she was struggling to contain her own tears.
"I didn't mean it when I-" Morgan paused and took a deep breath. "When I said I hated him." As she continued, her voice rose in pitch. "I can't believe that was the last thing I said to him! What if he doesn't make it?"
"I know, Morgan," Lucina whispered. "And so did he. We'll make sure that no matter what happens, his actions won't be in vain. But try not to worry, okay? Our brother is smart and strong. He'll figure something out. He always does."
Morgan sniffled, strengthening her grip around Lucina. As much as she wanted to cry in her big sister's arms until she ran out of tears, they were on a mission, and it needed to come first.
"When we were fighting earlier, Marc had mentioned something about how he thought that Risen Mage's spell destabilized the gate," Morgan said as evenly as she could manage. "We might not come out the other side where we were intended too. And I can't see any of the others. They might exit different places than we do."
"I'd noticed the gate was different than Naga said it would be," Lucina acknowledged. "If that's the case, then we'll have to pray Naga's ritual will at least place us as close as possible to the necessary location and time to assist our parents. I-"
Lucina was cut off by a familiar yet dreadful groan. Morgan craned her neck to look back and was shocked to see Risen Warriors falling behind them.
They had made it past Marc.
"Be prepared to fight," Lucina murmured in Morgan's ear. Morgan reached for her Arcwind tome, which was holstered in a special pouch on her hip, and readied herself to launch a spell as soon as a monster got close enough.
One of the zombified warriors rocketed past the sisters, and they watched as it disappeared into what looked like a crack in space. More of the monsters shot past, almost as if they were ignoring the two girls, and each one fell into the tear in the space below them.
"Morgan, slow us down!" Lucina called.
Acting as quickly and precisely as she could, Morgan aimed her spell hand downwards and shot a blast of Arcwind, slowing their fall into a more controlled descent as they too entered the cracked space.
Morgan immediately noticed a difference in their surroundings. All of a sudden it was like there was a floor beneath them, even though they were standing in what must've looked like a glowing hole in the sky. Below them was a forest on fire, chasms splitting the earth, and the sounds of battle.
Lucina took off, drawing Falchion as she sprinted out of the hole in the sky, jumping down to the forest floor, straight into battle, with Morgan only a step behind.
Looking ahead to where Lucina was running to, Morgan gasped and nearly stumbled when she saw a much younger version of her Aunt Lissa cowering against a tree while a Risen Warrior stalked towards her.
Managing to stay on her feet, Morgan stayed on her sisters heels as they ran past a young man currently locking blades with another Risen that Morgan didn't have time to get a good look at.
Lucina neatly slotted herself between Aunt Lissa and the attacking Risen, catching it's axe on the flat of her blade, while Morgan darted to the side, magical wind dancing on her fingertips as she shouted "Arcwind!" and let loose a blast of bladed air, tearing the monster in two and turning it to smoke.
Morgan turned to take aim at the Risen the other man had been fighting, but quickly ended the spell when she realized it had already been finished off, and that the man was walking towards them.
"Thanks for the help," he said, and Morgan's breath was stolen for the second time in as many minutes. Struggling not to gape at the man, Morgan took a couple calming breaths and attempted to act natural as the man asked for their names. Behind her, Lucina discreetly sheathed her Falchion, taking care not to slow the man to get a good look at it.
Morgan numbly noted that Lucina hiding the sword was a good thing, because the man before them was this era's wielder of the same blade, Prince Chrom of Ylisse, and their father.
Lucina moved to stand beside Morgan as Chrom came to face them. She had expected to have more time to prepare for this first meeting. Just before Lucina could say something, she was saved by the arrival of two others, and she took the opportunity to make an escape.
Grabbing Morgan's hand, Lucina dashed into the woods, dragging her sister behind her and doing her best to ignore the voices fading behind them. She had recognized the two newcomers. As if seeing a younger version of her father wasn't hard enough, Sir Frederick, who had been like an uncle to her, had just rode into the clearing on his horse, followed by a disheveled looking Robin, struggling to keep up with the mounted knight. Her mother.
"Lu, watch out!" Morgan cried, interrupting Lucina's melancholy state. She ducked just in time as another Risen Warrior appeared from the trees and swung its axe at her neck.
Morgan immediately tore it to smoky shreds with a point blank Arcwind spell, and Lucina rose back to her feet, sword drawn once more as they scanned for more enemies.
Back in the direction they had come from, Lucina could hear more voices and the sounds of fighting. The voices sounded vaguely familiar, as if she had heard them before. Lucina could only hope that they were more of her father's Shepherds, come to assist them in the battle.
"What now?" Morgan asked, tugging on Lucina's sleeve. Lucina could picture a worried look in her sister's eyes, hidden behind her simple mask.
Lucina thought for a moment before coming to a decision.
"We have to help them. These are likely the first Risen to exist in this timeline, and that means this is a foe father and the others have never encountered before."
"Right," Morgan agreed. "Then let's go!"
Morgan attempted to run back towards the battle, but Lucina grabbed her collar, halting her in her tracks.
"Please wait for just a moment, Morgan," Lucina scolded. "It's not like you to be so rash. Collect yourself first. I know it's jarring seeing our parents again, so that's why we have to make sure we're in control of ourselves."
Morgan had the decency to look ashamed. "Sorry," she muttered, and Lucina almost smiled.
"Come. We'll stay on the edge of the fighting and pick off the ones who might wander off or seek to flank the Shepherds."
Morgan nodded, face set with determination. Lucina led the way through the forest, staying clear of the burning parts. She carefully circled around the clearing to the back of a small unoccupied fort, likely an abandoned post from some conflict, centuries past. Peering around the corner, Lucina saw the rear end of the small force of undead warriors, and signaled to Morgan to launch a preemptive strike.
Lucina watched carefully as Morgan's Arcwind spell tore a Risen to shreds, catching the attention of the force's rear most fighters. Four Risen were close enough to the one Morgan had just turned to ash to notice the assault, and they immediately turned their focus on Lucina, who had planted herself in an open position that would keep their attention off of Morgan.
The monsters began to shamble towards Lucina, but she wasn't overly worried. Against the combined might of her sword and her sister's magic, four Risen were as easy to deal with as scratching an itch.
With the monster's attention on Lucina, Morgan was able to destroy another one with an Arcwind spell. Having fought and survived together for so many years while on the run, their simple strategy had been honed to perfection.
As the first Monster came within striking distance, Lucina swept her sword up, catching its weapon on her blade and pulling it to the side, while Morgan dashed from her cover and underneath Lucina's raised arm as she fired a point blank spell into the zombies face. The moment it began to dissolve, Lucina whirled around and brought her sword about in a wide arc, catching the gut of another Risen and sending it stumbling back into the path of the final monster. While they were off balance, Lucina followed up with a lunge as she jabbed Falchion's blade through both of the Risen simultaneously, before Morgan finished them off with one more spell.
Barely having broken a sweat, Lucina scanned the trees and clearings around them for more danger, but only saw the last remaining warrior being cut down by Sir Frederick not too far away.
Apparently the Shepherds had managed to close the gap between them while they had been fighting, once again placing Lucina in an awkward position of talking to versions of her parents who were barely any older than she was.
"It seems all the creatures are vanquished," the knight remarked as Chrom, Robin, Lissa and two more people Lucina recognized as more of her friends' parents all gathered together. "And that these young folks took care of the others."
Lucina said nothing, creating something of an awkward silence, until Lissa took a shy step forward.
"Um, I never got to thank you for helping me before," she said, twirling a bit of her hair between her fingers. It struck Lucina that she was about the same age as Aunt Lissa right now, which was incredibly strange.
"...so thank you." Lissa continued, shaking Lucina out of her thoughts. "You were both very brave."
"Yes," Chrom added. "You saved my sister's life." Once again Lucina found herself struggling to form words as the man who would become her father continued. "My name is Chrom. Might I ask yours?"
"You may call me Marth," She managed to choke out, purposefully lowering her voice to go along with her disguise.
"Marth?" Asked Chrom. "Like the Hero King of old?"
"Yes," Lucina agreed. "Very much like that."
Chrom turned expectantly towards Morgan, who had been staring at Robin the whole time, which would've been more obvious if not for the mask Morgan was wearing.
Lucina nudged Morgan's side with her elbow, and her sister managed to shut her jaw. "And- and I'm Mor- er. My name is Mo," she stuttered out, and Lucina had to resist the urge to sigh.
"Well," Chrom continued. "You certainly fight like heroes. Where did you two learn?"
"We're Not here to talk about us," Lucina responded coolly. "This world teeters on the edge of a horrible calamity. What you saw tonight was but a taste of what is yet to come. You have been warned."
With that, Lucina turned around and made to leave.
"What?" Lissa questioned from behind her. "What's teetering where now? Wait!"
But Lucina was already walking away.
"Not much for conversation, is he," Lucina heard Robin remark sardonically as she entered the tree line. Lucina kept walking until she couldn't hear Chrom and the Shepherds talking anymore.
After several minutes of walking, Lucina glanced back to make sure they were out of earshot, and finally stopped to lean against a tree. She let out a shaky breath.
"I can't believe it," Morgan said breathlessly, voicing Lucina's own thoughts perfectly. "We're really in the past…"
She sat down hard at the base of the same tree Lucina was leaning against and pulled her mask off, showing her watery eyes.
Lucina slid down the trunk until she was sitting next to her sister and laughed humorlessly.
"Put your mask back on Morgan," Lucina admonished without any real authority in her voice. "What if they come after us? You know the Brands in our eyes will cause questions if they notice them."
Morgan ignored Lucina and let out a huge yawn. It suddenly struck Lucina how exhausted she felt. Lucina was used to being tired, having lived the way she had for so many years, running from monsters and fighting almost daily. Perhaps it had something to do with the three days' rest they had received at Mount Prism on top of the emotional turmoil of the past hour or so.
"Lucina?" Morgan asked, breaking the silence.
"Yes?"
"Do you really think we can do this? We came back to protect them, but our being here has only put them in danger so far. Aunt Lissa was almost killed! What if we only make things worse?"
"What if-" Morgan stuttered as she tried to catch her breath, "what if Marc died for nothing?"
Morgan looked at her with tears streaming down her face, and Lucina pulled the younger girl into a tight side hug.
"We don't yet know that Marc didn't make it Morgan," she said. "None of the others are here, and we know they all made it into the portal as well. It's possible he just landed somewhere else."
Lucina paused a moment and took off her own mask, ignoring her own advice from earlier. She used her sleeve to dry Morgan's eyes, and then her own before continuing.
"I know this is hard. When we saw father and mother, I wanted to hug them so badly that it hurt, but we have to be strong. Our first order of business is stopping the assassination of Aunt Emmeryn. Once we've done that and changed the course of history, we can begin looking for Marc and the others, alright? I'm sure that wherever they are, they're working towards the same goal as we are, and we may even run into them along the way."
Morgan sniffed, but tried for a smile. "Yeah. You're right," she said. "I promise you I'll be strong. No matter what, we'll change the future! And then we can find Marc and I can apologize for what I said, right?"
Lucina was touched that even though Morgan was thirteen and that they had gone through a living hell, she still looked to her for reassurance like when they were younger. Morgan's remaining innocence was proof that not even Grima's wrath could break their spirits.
Lucina smiled and fit her mask back over her face. "That's right," she said. "Now come on. There are better places for us to rest than on the ground. Let's go and see if we can use one of those old forts or buildings for shelter tonight, ok?"
Morgan nodded, and put her mask back over her eyes as well. Lucina stood and dusted herself off before helping Morgan to her feet. Together, the sisters left the forest behind to seek shelter and plan their next move for the trials to come.
AN: while doing research for this story, (and by that I mean watching all of Morgan and Lucinas supports with the other kids on YouTube) I've realized that with the exception of sibling supports, almost all of Morgan's imply the "Morgan is from another timeline" thing, which isn't the case in this fic. Cough Brady cough. Looks like I'm going to be rewriting quite a few of the dynamics between Morgan, Marc and the others going forward, lol. I've already got lots of ideas, particularly for Nah, Owain, Severa and Cynthia, but I've still got a lot of work to do planning interactions between Morgan, Marc and the other future children. If you guys have ideas, feel free to share them with me!
Speaking of supports, is anyone else monumentally salty that female Morgan doesn't have supports with Lucina unless they're mother and daughter? So frustrating. You'd think they'd be raised like family given their fathers closeness for crying out loud! At the very least they could've made them have a generic support regardless of whether Morgan was a boy or girl.
Fun fact: in the very early planning stages of this story, it was Twin Robins, and not Twin Morgans but Cousin Morgans. Male Robin would've either married Tiki or Cordelia if that were the case. Probably cordelia, given how a relationship developed earlier in the plot line makes more narrative sense to me, even if I really like Robin X Tiki as a pairing. Robin X Cordelia is a close second though. It's a shame there aren't three Robins, otherwise I'd have a matched set of Blue, Red and Green Morgans. (Nobody say anything about Grima being a third Robin, I stg, lol)
Super long shipping and support tangents aside, I always appreciate feedback in general, so if you notice mistakes or have suggestions and critiques, I am open to them! Thanks again for reading, hope you have a wonderful day!