Basilio seemed willing to wait until Chrom and Robin made their decision—he stayed for the next two days while they talked it over and established conditions. After reaching out to the other Mini Shepherds about the mission, they decided that—at the very least—Lucina, Morgan, Owain, and whoever else wished to come could all travel to the Shepherds' garrison, with no one being required to go if they or their parents would prefer not to. Basilio entertained more than one conversation on their way to the garrison—his stories were grander than most others, which suited the boys just fine and satisfied Lucina regardless—and some of the others actually met them on their way there.
They waited at the garrison for another two days, and by the end of the second day all of the others had come. Basilio looked at all of them while they chatted about their mission, and after a while turned to Lucina.
"This is really all of them?" Basilio asked.
"There's only seven," Lucina replied with a nod. "We work well enough together, I think, so the number is rarely an issue."
Basilio agreed with a chuckle, then personally explained what they were going to do: but unlike when he told Chrom and Robin, he specified who they'd be fighting. "You'll go up against those two mercenaries you met earlier—Marth and Malin," he said. "They visit Ferox every now and then, so I figured it would be a good opportunity for you all to sit down and talk if you're interested—that, and I want to see how you fare in battle! In addition to those two, you'll also be fighting Lon'qu as long as he doesn't back out."
"You didn't mention that when you were petitioning for us to go," Morgan noted.
"They have a tricky history with some people at the castle," Basilio explained. "I promised not to say their aliases if I ever I brought them up. You were asked to do the same, I believe."
No one disagreed, and after hearing no other protests or questions Basilio continued. They left the next day, arriving at a Feroxi arena fairly quickly all things considered. They were greeted by Flavia when they got there, and they were all guided by both the khans. When they got to the training area, those interested continued the tour while the others went to train. Suffice to say, however, that Flavia and Lucina were the only two who separated from the rest—if only because Lucina had already come here a few times prior, and Flavia was eager to train.
The two mercenaries from their last mission were in the training area when Flavia and Lucina entered—Marth and Malin, she recalled. Both looked up when they saw them, and the former even spoke her first words in Lucina's presence—albeit somewhat threatening. "Who did Basilio bring back with him?"
"Calm down," Flavia said, nonchalant. "It's just the kids."
"She's with the Mini Shepherds, then?" Marth asked, gesturing to Lucina.
"Lucina has to; she's their leader. Now, we branched off to train, so how about we entertain conversation while we that?"
Marth nor Malin audibly protested, although Marth still wore a frown. Flavia and Lucina trained for a bit before Malin spoke up. "Hey, Lucina," he said. Both of the fighting people stopped, and Lucina looked at him so he knew he could continue. "Did you have a chance to confirm that I was a friend?"
"I did," Lucina replied. "Robin believes that both of you are at least acquaintances. She gave me permission to tell of certain events, as well—why Morgan has never left the castle."
"Can you tell us now?" Malin asked, growing a bit cautious like he had the first time.
Lucina nodded, looking back at Flavia. "Khan Flavia, may we continue? It will help me focus on the event itself."
Flavia frowned. "All right—just don't cut me up too bad out of frustration."
"Thank you," Lucina said. She continued training with the khan, while explaining the situation to Marth and Malin. "It's an…odd thing to discuss, really. I firmly believe that I know as much as I do because I was old enough to remember. When Morgan and I were still young, one of our parents' friends lived at the castle; I can't recall his name. He…more-or-less watched over us when our parents couldn't—we each had our own nurses and teachers, but we essentially 'shared' him, in a way."
She frowned, dodging a blow from Flavia and returning it with her own. "He left, at some point—June or July, during the summer. My parents had lost friends before—my father occasionally tells stories of a woman who disappeared after they killed Grima—but it was different for that man. Robin spent more time in her office…I was never told exactly why, but I can only assume it was because he was close to her. My father once said that he left without warning; Lissa's murmured that Robin wasn't sure where he went."
Lucina knew that, in one or two spots, she had failed to keep Flavia from drawing blood; at the same time, the khan had loosened her own defenses enough that Lucina realized she had cut her as well. With a sigh, she continued, "It was almost eight years before she stopped—and during those years, she only spoke regularly with Morgan for tactics. Both of us were disallowed from leaving the castle, although I was quickly able to leave as long as I had company; I was allowed to start learning how to fight when I was young, but Morgan wasn't taught how to use magic until a few years ago. I can't say what caused Robin to change her mind, but I know that it was a private conversation between her, Chrom, and Lissa. About a week later, she apologized; I'd say that we're still recovering, three years later."
She lowered her sword, finally done, and glanced at Marth and Malin. Both of them were silent.
Finally, Malin sighed. "…Wow. Who knew?" He looked up at Lucina, adding, "And I'm sorry, too."
"It's not something anyone can apologize for," Lucina replied simply. "All things considered, no single person is at fault—and especially not the fault of a mercenary like yourself."
"…Right," Malin replied. "So, if not sorry for it happening, then sorry for you having to explain all that."
Lucina turned away to put her sword with the rest. "It's the burden of being seen as more responsible, I suppose—if you can't visit the castle, I'm the only one who can share more than vague details."
When she looked back at them again, Marth no longer seemed to stand in indifference. "Thank you for telling us, Lucina," Marth said, carefully saying the name. "However grim it may have been…it's assuring to know that it's on its way to correction."
"Morgan is here as proof," Lucina agreed. "Whatever it requires…everyone's doing their best to move past those events."