I ran as fast as I could to reach my beloved prince. I needed to know that he was ok. Once again, I thanked the gods that Frederick took it upon himself to force me into doing those ridiculous training exercises because it really did pay off here.

I managed to arrive just in time to find Alfonse on the defensive against Líf. I quietly cursed to myself. Of course Líf was the assailant! Why wouldn't he be? It was almost always him! I was starting to think that Líf was the one who was stalking me earlier.

"Gordin, do you think you can hit Líf from here?"

"Not without possibly accidentally shooting Alfonse."

"Then that's a no go for launch. Cynthia, would you be able to get in close and drive Líf away from Alfonse"

"Of course I can! You can absolutely count on me!"

"Anna, I want you to team up with Phina and-"

"I know you are there, Summoner. There's no use attacking me." Líf growled.

"Right, change of plans. Cynthia, can you just pick Alfonse up and fly away?" I asked.

"Sure! I can do that too!" Cynthia began to mount Andromeda but as soon as she did that Líf turned around and walked away, disappearing into a dark corridor.

"Hey get back here Líf! I wasn't through with you yet! You'll pay for hurting my boyfriend!"

"I'm actually quite fine, Kiran. Líf did get the jump on me, but I managed. I was careless and did not anticipate that he would simply try to assassinate me. I apologize for worrying you, Kiran."

"Never mind that, I'm just glad that you are safe. If anything, I think we should get back on the road soon. Líf has proven himself capable enough of strangling me and he nearly killed Sharena. We need to keep moving."

"On that, I think we can agree. Let's stick together from now on. Commander Anna, could you pass a message along to the others that we'll be packing up for Amsvartnir? This will be effective immediately"

"Of course. I'll let them know right away." And with that, Anna used Nóatun's special teleporting capabilities to quickly deliver the message.

Alfonse turned back to me and he did a slight double take. His eyes studied me for about a few minutes.

"Like what you see, my dearest prince?" I teased.

"P-please don't tease me like that in front of the others."

"Fine, I guess I will stop teasing you this time. You were almost assassinated, after all."

"... You look nice."

"Thank you. Sharena did my hair and Mercedes did my makeup. I'm glad that you like it."

"I'll be sure to thank her for helping you to relax, even if it was only for a brief moment."

"How was your time with the guys? Anything eventful? Besides Líf, I mean."

"Er… I would rather not talk about it right now. It was embarrassing and it's not exactly the most appropriate thing to discuss in front of everyone here."

"Oooooh… I think I understand what you are referring to. And to hear it from Chrom, well I can only guess how awkward that might have been."

"I'm right here, Kiran. I can hear you." Chrom grumbled while Al sputtered and squirmed about. It was easily apparent that I had caught Al off guard.

"There's nothing wrong with that. I'm not about to pry the exact details from anybody." I shrugged as if it were no big deal to me. If Alfonse wants to take advice from Chrom and the other men in our group about certain things, then I won't badger them about it. It was enough for me just knowing that whatever they were talking about before Líf invited himself into the conversation, it was most definitely the kind of conversation that children shouldn't be allowed to listen in on. Alfonse's reaction was almost enough to confirm my suspicions. Though it wasn't a full confirmation because Alfonse gets flustered easily when you push all the right buttons. And I knew those like they were written on the back of my hand.

"W-well we need to get started on getting packed up. Amsvartnir is about a day's march away from Fort Gungnir. If Líf already suspects that we are headed there, then we need to move quickly."

"Amsvartnir?"

"That's the name of the castle the Order operates in. I'm surprised that I managed to let that detail slip through."

"I'm just surprised that the castle even has a name. I've always just referred to it as 'the Castle of the Order of Heroes' It's a real mouthful honestly. The name kinda makes sense though. It's flanked by a small lake, right?"

"Correct. The castle is named for the nearby lake there. As you are mostly aware, Askr is made up mostly of temperate fields and forests. My ancestors had to get creative with where we built our forts and castles because while the fields are great for farming, it doesn't lend itself to defensible terrain. The first king of Askr built the aether keeps to circumvent this problem, but those are extremely costly to make resource wise."

"But what happened to the rest of the Aether Keeps if we only have one of them back home?"

"Erm… the literature on that is a bit messy. Some books say that the Emblians destroyed most of them, but others seem to think that they were stuck down by the gods."

"For flying too close to the sun, I take it?"

"Something like that. There's no evidence of either, so we don't actually know what happened."

"It makes me want to raid the library for answers when we go home."

"I can help you find the records, if you want."

"I would love that very much, Al. It's a date then!"

"A d-date? But we already planned on having one in the gardens. The tea party…?"

"What, we can't plan for two different dates in advance?"

"Oh… that makes more sense."

"Am I making you uncomfortable with all the teasing? I'll stop if you ask me to."

"No, you aren't making me uncomfortable. I know that is one of the ways you show your love for the people that you care about. More importantly, you aren't afraid to speak your mind when it matters. I'm just… it's all happening so fast and we're not exactly in the best place right now."

"I know. This isn't exactly how I pictured I would be starting a romantic relationship with you. But I sorta realized that if we both had continued on not knowing what our true feelings towards each other really were, then we would've been constantly distracted. The regret of not being able to know for sure would've eaten me alive. I know that I can be a bit pushy and a bit touchy, so if you want me to slow down, I would understand."

"Sometimes, I feel like there's a part of me that's desperate for more. Everything feels so intense and overwhelming, that it scares me. I want to do this the right way, Kiran. You deserve at least that much after everything we've been through together."

"What is the right way? I'm not asking to be rude or anything. Is there a tradition that I'm not aware of or something?"

"Not quite. It's mostly a matter of being polite and proper. There are just some formalities that need to be taken care of."

"Like what? Could you explain it to me, please? I don't fully understand what this all means."

"I'd like to be able to be more open with you romantically and eventually more intimately, but well... there are certain expectations that I, as the crown prince, am expected to fulfill. Eventually, Mother will have to hand over the throne over to me and that is when everything will intensify. Everything and everyone around me will be scrutinized more than they already are and I am not ready for it. Most likely, you'll be one of the first to come under the court's scrutiny."

"I understand that you have a lot that you must deal with. As for the court, they already think you're not a proper prince just for trying to protect and fight for Askr. I think they need a swift kick in the place where the sun doesn't shine. You work hard enough as it is. Surely, a hug or kiss here and there won't hurt anyone. You get so wound up about how everyone will think of you that it hurts you. I've been your partner for two long years, Al. You can come to me for anything. I'll support you no matter what, because I love you. You can share your burdens with me."

"Thank you… I'm just afraid that we'll…"

"You're worried that we'll do something in the heat of the moment, then. I promise that I won't do anything that you aren't ready for, Al."

"Thank you, Kiran. It's just… I just can't help but think about when we first kissed. It felt so… right. I had no idea that I would like it so much. Does that sound strange to you?"

"Not at all. It's a new experience for you, so it's perfectly understandable. At first, I was surprised, but It made me happy when I saw that you were enjoying it."

"I was scared that you were going to die on me. I wanted you. No, it's even more than that... I needed you. I didn't know how else to express how much I needed you. If it weren't for Mercedes, you would've faded away."

"Hey, Al. Before we leave this fort, there's something I want to give you."

"What is it?"

"Close your eyes."

Alfonse did as I asked him to. I could feel the anticipation emanating from him. He really did want me that badly. I gently pulled his face down to be closer to my own and gave him a soft tender kiss.

"It's a good luck charm. Líf is sure to attack again soon, so I figured…"

Al let out a contented sigh. "Well I definitely feel lucky now. I will make sure to put it to good use. Let's begin making preparations for the journey to Amsvartnir. We must be swift."

"I just hope that we will be able to find what we're looking for in that library. It's still very huge."

Alfonse chuckled. "Yes, I remember when I first showed you the Order's library. Your eyes grew to the size of summoning orbs."

"I was expecting one or two floors of books. When you told me that the library was five floors high, I was shocked. I've never been in a library that massive before."

"That library is my favorite one. The one in the royal castle is much larger, however." Alfonse looked very proud of the collection of books that the royal family had.

"Oh dear Askr, how can you have that many books?"

"A good portion of them are old outdated manuscripts and records. Some of them are books that we later copied and put into the Amsvartnir library. Father helped to fund a new device that allows us to make copies of books much faster."

"Ah so your father helped to fund the invention of the printing press then?"

"How did you know?"

"It has already been invented in my world. Several centuries ago in fact. No one in my world really uses it anymore though. Better methods of printing have been invented and now we can make and write books without a single piece of paper."

"How is that even possible?"

"I don't know all of the technical stuff but you've seen my phone before, right?"

"You mean the strange device with the music and pictures inside it?"

"Yes. It doesn't work here, simply because the infrastructure needed to support it doesn't exist in Zenith, but in my world almost all of the information and misinformation can be found in it. The internet is very useful when used wisely. I could buy and store paperless copies of books on my phone too."

"That's amazing! If only… well nevermind that right now. We still need to get going. We can't keep getting distracted like this."

I sighed. As much as I would've liked to continue talking to him, our first priority was to get our asses moving to Amsvartnir and hope that we find information on how to defeat Hel. Eventually, we regrouped with the rest of our group. We were fortunate enough that we didn't have to pack much in this case. There were downsides to packing light, but in this instance, it meant that we were able to mobilize faster. We made our way out of Fort Gungnir almost immediately.

The trek was long and tiresome. I felt that I should've already been used to long marches like this. However, his one in particular was much shorter than other ones we've had to take when we fought Muspell. There was just something particularly oppressive about Hel's atmosphere in general.

"Man, a car would be nice right about now." I grumbled to myself.

"We're about halfway there already. We'll be there soon enough." Alfonse tried to reassure me. Somehow, that made me feel worse. I didn't dare vocalize it, however.

"Oooh! I know! Kiran can ride with me on Andromeda! Pleeeeaassseee???" Cynthia volunteered.

"Yes I think that's a wonderful idea." Al nodded in agreement.

"Do I even get a say in this?" I grumbled.

"I can see that you're very tired Kiran, but it won't kill you to let Cynthia give you a ride. I'm not going to force you to take her up on her offer, but I think it's a good idea."

"Fine… but only because my feet are tired"

"Hop on! This is going to be fun!" Cynthia said.

"Riding on a pegasus never gets old, that's for sure!"

I then climbed on Andromeda and sat behind Cynthia. Andromeda immediately began flapping her wings to begin the ascent towards the sky. It was as if she knew what Cynthia wanted to and where they wanted to go. I briefly wondered if I would ever share a similar bond with Slow Dancer one day.

Slow Dancer was given to me as a celebration gift only a few months ago. A few of the heroes in the Order had taught me how to ride on horseback and when they felt I was ready, they surprised me with a young mare. I, being the weeb that I was, named her Slow Dancer. It was the name of Johnny's horse in Jojo's Bizarre Adventure part seven. It confused some of the heroes who tended to name their horses more "normal" names but rest just figured it was one of my many eccentricities that led me to naming her that.

"Hey, how about we scout ahead? That way we can keep an eye out for that dastard Líf!" Cynthia suggested.

Her suggestion instantly pulled me out of my little reverie "That's… actually a great idea. While my tactician's eye does give me an idea of where everything is, it doesn't give me the whole picture. To rely only on my own abilities would be tantamount to suicide. So in other words, I agree"

"Great! This will be like when I was fighting against Grima's risen! Gerome and I would scout ahead to look for any enemies that might be coming. Andromeda and I are very good at finding things!"

"Oh that's right, you're from the World of Awakening's dark future. Then I suppose that's why you are able to fight through this even though we're in Death's realm."

"Yep. I don't really like talking about it, but it did teach me a lot about flying on a pegasus. Without Andromeda, I'm toast."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not very good on my feet. I'm always tripping on myself. When we first met, you knocked me off Andromeda, so you saw first hand how much I rely on her. Lucy has tried to get me to learn how to use a sword and stuff but I've always felt more comfortable in the air."

"Yeah, I kinda get it. I've been trying to learn how to use magic and swords but I'm not really good at it. Alfonse really wanted to teach me how to use swords but I was always overbooked on my schedule."

"You sound just like Uncle Robin!" Cynthia giggled.

"Well, he did teach me some tactics when I first started in the Order. I've learned a lot from him. Summoning him was one of the best things that's ever happened to me in the Order"

"Uncle Robin is a very hard worker but Daddy used to have to tell him to take breaks all the time."

"So is he like your uncle uncle or is Robin just a family friend that's close enough to be like an uncle to you?"

"He's my real uncle!"

"Oh… huh. So then he's married to Lissa then?"

"Yep. My family is really cool."

"I must admit I kinda feel jealous. Only a little, though."

"Because of Uncle Robin?"

"Yeah… I look up to him sorta. I try to emulate a lot of his tactics for myself. I like his approach to tackling problems and challenges. I know that he'd be embarrassed if I told him that, but I hope that I can be as good as he is one day. Maybe even better."

"Yeah! You're right. He would be embarrassed. Uncle Robin would be way too humble for that."

"Yeah. For now, I must take what I have learned from him and make it my own. I'm in charge of the tactics for better or for worse."

"Honestly if you told me that Uncle Robin was your cousin or something, I would believe you. You are a lot like him."

"Yeah Chrom said something similar to me earlier."

"Uncle Robin is cool but you are special too!"

"In what way?"

"You seem so glowy! It's like… hmm… like I'm looking at a bright light. I feel warm and fuzzy when I'm next to you!"

"I don't understand why, but lots of heroes seem to feel the same way."

"You're just so… hmm… I just can't think of the right word for it, but I like you and that's all that matters right."

"I suppose that you're right. It will not do me any good constantly thinking about the hows and why. Let's continue searching the area for now."

After that, we stayed silent for an hour or two. It wasn't as if we didn't like talking to each other, though. The both of us were just heavily focused on scanning the barren lifeless wasteland that used to be another Askr for any sign of the enemy. However, there did come a point where seeing anything that wasn't a bunch of rocks would have been a welcomed sight.

We eventually came across a small village. It was in utter shambles, and of course, completely devoid of human life. It was then that I had realized that I should have been more careful with what I had wished for. It was the village that was built by Heroes with the help of Alfonse and Sharena. The Fiana Freeblades in particular, were the ones who suggested the project after we came across an area that was cleared out for farming. Bandits were a major issue in Askr even with the Order's ever growing strength and numbers. So many new settlements had a hard time truly flourishing because the Askran forces were already spread thin enough as was. The constant threat of invasions hanging over our heads meant that our hands were tied a lot of the time.

A sense of unease grew in my stomach. The village that I had watched grow from its humble beginnings to a small yet flourishing community of people who started their lives anew after losing their homes… was the same one that is now lying crumbled beneath us. I asked Cynthia to land her pegasus so I could stay a little longer and pay my respects. It's not as if paying my respects to the dead would actually do anything. It was more that it was something I needed to do to ease the dread that was starting to weigh down on me. Afterall, funerals were more for the living than the dead.

I didn't know how long I stood there, staring at the rubble. It felt like several hours, but in reality it was probably only one hour. I heard footsteps coming in from behind me. I grabbed my dagger just in case it was someone who wanted to kill me. Cynthia tensed up as well and she readied her lance despite the fact that she had admitted to me earlier that her clumsiness makes her an ineffective fighter on foot.

"Summoner."

I turned around and I saw who else, but Líf. This other Alfonse was starting to become a real thorn in my side. Why was his pursuit of me and Alfonse so… dogged? Was he planning on stalking us until we were too tired to fight? If so it was a smart plan on his part, if not a bit dastardly.

"Here to make another attempt at killing me, Líf?"

"...Not yet. I suppose… I am still trying to wrap my head around seeing my… no. You are not her. You are the same but you aren't mine. That's why… it won't matter if I kill you. If you die then…"

"Then what? The other me comes back and you both ride off into the sunset with her? You know that's not how that's going to end."

"You don't know anything."

"The fuck I dont! If she comes back, I will absolutely guarantee that she won't be happy when she finds out that you murdered her other self, aka me. You cant just up and murder an entire kingdom in cold blood and not suffer consequences!"

"It won't matter how she feels. If my summoning and everyone comes back then my job is done. I don't need to…" Líf's voice faltered as if he was struggling to make sense of his own reasoning.

"Kiran, we should hurry! We should leave before he-"

"She will not be leaving this time! I'm tired of losing. I'm tired of failing the ones I love!" Anger, despair, and venom poured out of his voice. He looked like a cornered animal with nothing left to lose.

He had nothing left to lose.

"I'm sorry."

"There's nothing for you to apologize for. You know what I want."

"You know that I can't give that to you willingly." I instinctively tightened the grip that I had on my dagger.

"It looks like we are at an impasse, then."

"So it would seem." I responded coldly.

"I'm afraid that there's only one way that either of us will be getting out of this. Draw your weapon."

It seemed that landing here was a big mistake. Even so, I knew that if I didn't raise my weapon against him, that I would get myself killed. I wasn't about to let myself get killed by a corpse.

A/N:I'm still alive and kicking guys. Most importantly, I have not abandoned this fic and I don't plan on doing that in the near future if at all.For the record it really did take me a couple months to write this. There were a lot of things that were typed and scrapped. It was extremely frustrating for me that much is certain. I had lots of ideas but none of it felt right and some of those ideas... well I felt that it be would best to put in after Líf does the thing where he rigs the whole Order castle with explosives. Idk how Líf got ahold of explosives in the game, but it's useful for my purposes I guess.Speaking of the castle of the Order, I gave it a name and some of that dank lore about it. Just some lore about Askr in general and some explanations about the terrain and things like that.