(A/N: This is the beginning of the third arc, so it's back to the teens. This is the intermission chapter, so it won't directly hint towards what happens during this arc; that being said, I also wrote it a little while before I started writing this story, so if you're like me it won't seem to fit quite as well as the rest and it might not be completely accurate. I hope you enjoy!)

The Mini Shepherds had come back from their February mission the day before, so Morgan had decided to take it easy for a day, catch up on whatever he missed, and would continue his research tomorrow. Alas, the day of relaxing and not doing any research didn't really go as he expected—although it was a pleasant kind of unexpected, given what interrupted his plans.

It was nice out; sunny and bright, warm enough that he could train without getting too hot or cold. He had just gone into the courtyard, having finished eating breakfast not too long ago, when he heard Laurent's voice. "Morgan! I may have discovered something crucial!"
Morgan turned to him, seeing that the mage was both out of breath and had a sense of urgency about him. "Is it a good kind of crucial or a bad kind of crucial?" Morgan asked. "Because I'd only be helpful for a good kind of crucial; everyone else is still in the castle."

Laurent, once he was standing in front of Morgan, took a few seconds to catch his breath. From the looks of it, he must've been running for a while. After he gathered himself, he smiled, saying, "It relates to your research; this could provide a way, or at least a clearer path, to making a connection with the future."

"Really?" Morgan couldn't believe he was asking the question—but then again, he hadn't expected it. Laurent had been searching just as hard as Morgan, if not harder; his and Miriel's combined efforts were definitely more than Morgan alone could contribute. With the castle's plentiful library and Miriel's knack for scientific study, Morgan and Laurent were the two children with the most resources to help. Laurent was the one with actual research habits, so it made sense that he would be the one to find something. "You said earlier that you weren't sure if any of your mother's books could give any useful information."

"I had lied," Laurent replied, pushing up his glasses. He started flipping through the pages of the book he was holding, stopping near the middle and pointing to the text on top as he turned it around so Morgan could look at it better. "My mother had told me this book wasn't scientifically proven; however, I had looked through it and much of the content relates to the future children of Chrom's elite warriors. There's a short tale of something akin to Marth's arrival in this time, from what Lissa has told me of it; a blue-clad soldier with a mask, saving the princess's life, later doing the same for the prince and the exalt within that same year. Having deduced that my mother's observations were incorrect, I continued to read and found this passage."

"'Outrealms and their Gates,'" Morgan read. "'Outrealms are, essentially, different worlds. There is a Gate to such worlds on an island south of Ylisse. Drawn from eye-witness accounts of such Gates, I have made several sketches. I suspect that thirteen of Ylisse's most elite soldiers came from such a Gate, and that an Outrealm may have been their home.'" He paused for a few moments. "This is…real, right? This guy wasn't drunk, nearly dead, and delusional when he wrote this? If not, then…"

"There may be hope to reunite our parents with our counterparts yet!" Laurent excitedly finished for him. "I did all of the research; the author has written brilliant articles and made many a good thesis. We have but a few connections to make, and then I can form my own conclusions." He pointed to the sketches of what the reader called an 'Outrealm Gate.' "We must first ask Lissa and Chrom if this is what they saw the night Marth arrived in this time."

Morgan nodded, and he took the book from Laurent so he could find his aunt and father. He was just as excited as Laurent was; with what Tiki had told him earlier about establishing a connection, maybe they could use this in addition to an 'anchor,' as Tiki put it. It was impossible for him not to get his hopes up—even if it turned out to be a dead end, everyone needed a little more of this feeling. "Father! Aunt Lissa!" he called as he searched, even though reasonably there was no way they could hear him with how large the castle was. "Laurent found something!"

He found them both, as well as Robin and Lucina, still in the dining hall talking about one thing or another. They all took immediate notice to him being there, but his sudden arrival—after he had left stating he would be going outside for a while—seemed to surprise them. "Are you all right?" Lucina asked, seeming a bit concerned.

"Never better, Sis!" Morgan replied. He sat the book down on the table and opened to the right page. Without any further context, he said, "All right, just one question and I'll get Laurent. Father, Aunt Lissa—on the night Marth came here, did she come through one of these?"

The room was silent as Chrom looked and Lissa squinted at the sketches. The only noise was Laurent entering the room, and Lissa's chair being pushed back as she stood up to see it from a different direction. A few moments later, she pulled back. "Holy cow! That's what Marth and the Risen came from!"

"She's right," Chrom agreed. He looked up at Morgan. "How did you find this?"

"Laurent did, actually," Morgan replied. He gestured to the mage in question, who bowed.

"Milord and lady," Laurent said respectfully. "It's a book written by an accomplished scholar. The sketches are what he called an 'Outrealm Gate;' he believed the thirteen foreign warriors came from a place known as an 'Outrealm,' reached through these Gates. Given your reactions, his hypothesis was correct. I, then, propose my own; the future children did, indeed, use such a Gate to reach this time. Therefore, we may be able to reach their time in a similar fashion, in correlation with Lady Tiki's suggestion of using something to connect the present and future timelines. With an object with significance to at least one person in this time and the future children's, in addition to access to an Outrealm Gate, we may be able to do more than just communicate; we could effectively travel through time! With ample testing, of course; it would be unwise to send a large group of people on the chance they can't return."

Everyone in the room looked a little happier. It wasn't just a ray of hope—it was a whole beam! They could actually do this; they could actually talk to Marth and Malin again. Morgan knew that Lissa wanted the opportunity to talk with future Owain again, too. It had been treated a bit more like a pipe dream until then; they knew that it could happen, but they weren't sure how. The goal he set his sights on just a little while ago didn't seem too far off, now.