-Vermillion Palace-

"The Dark Dragon Medeus was thwarted in ages past by that upstart Anri, and then later by his eventual descendant Marth. Duma, the first Dark Dragon to rise in this land, was slain by the hand of Alm." Grima said. He was enjoying the view before him. The Empress of Valm was standing on a balcony high above the assembled masses of Valm, giving a speech about the unification of Valm. The crowd was enormous, and there were criers who were running as the Empress spoke, bringing her speech even further throughout the city. Grima was standing inside the palace, lurking by a window so he could see, but not so anyone could see him, enjoying every moment of it, savoring the calm before the storm. "But none shall slay me, I am Grima, I am despair."

Never in the history of this land has there ever been a gathering this size. I've made the necessary steps to turn this entire city into a feast for me to devour. Once the Empress is killed, I shall cast my spell. Grima smiled. Everyone in this city will die, and their souls shall be mine. I'll gorge myself for three days – no, perhaps even four. Allow the terror to spread, but there aren't any who will be able to stop me. Lucina is imprisoned within this city, and that irritating Exalt is here as well.

"All that's needed right now is for Dant to come through the doors back there and kill the Empress." Grima licked his lips. He'd left the specifics up to the assassin, all the better to savor the anticipation. Would she decapacitate her? Toss her off the balcony to her death? Possibly detonate the whole balcony in a giant fireball? "I can't wait. This is going to be perfect."

"Robin." A soft pair of footsteps sounded behind him. "Something has come up."

"Dant?" Grima turned around and scowled to see the assassin, hood up and all, standing behind him, smack in the middle of the hallway. "You shouldn't be here. What if someone sees you?"

"Yes, I'm aware I shouldn't be here. But give me credit, no one is going to see me." Dant said dryly. "I'm supposed to kill the Empress. But there's a slight problem with that."

Grima manage to hold his temper in check for less than a second, before launching into a furious diatribe of various curses drawn from his vast vocabulary that he'd accumulated over the centuries. If he was heard by the people who had the ability to understand the language he was using, he'd have started no less than three blood feuds as well as gotten himself challenged to no less than seven duels. It was only after three minutes of running through this vocabulary that he managed to calm down, though Dant was giving him a very curious look. She probably understood some of the more colorful ones he'd used, but fortunately, she wasn't the type to react.

"No. No, no, no. There's not going to be a problem with this. She's right there." Grima hissed. "Literally, right there. Just … stab her or something. I don't know, you're the assassin. You figure it out."

"No, that isn't her. That's the problem." Dant said. "That's a body double. My shadowgift can pick up on people's magical potential, and that woman out there has none of it. Not to mention there are other distinctions that I could make out. She's not the real Pheros."

"Normally, I'd tell you to find the real one." Grima grated his teeth. "But as it happens, I don't actually care if Pheros is dead so much as I care if people think she's dead."

"Yeah, that was impression I got."

"So then kill that impersonator."

"No can do." Dant sighed. "I'd really like to help you out here, but the problem is that I'm a contract assassin. I can track down and kill the real Pheros, that's fine, but I suspected that you wanted me to kill the imposter. Thing is, that's not in my contract, and I can't kill someone that I'm not contracted for in lieu of the person I am. You understand that it's bad for business if assassins go around doing that."

"You won't be in the business after this! Do you know how much gold I'm paying you?"

"It's the principle of the thing." Dant said. "And, if literally nothing else, I am principled to be a proper assassin. So I can't kill her."

I cannot believe that Robin was able to put up with this woman. Her impressive skills aside, every time I talk to her, it's a new headache. Grima grit his teeth. "So I'll make a new contract."

"It's poor etiquette to accept two contracts at once." Dant frowned. "Especially if one of the contracts is basically a loophole to avoid performing actions that would give assassins a terrible name."

"Do you just enjoy frustrating me!?" Grima demanded. This universe just likes taunting me, doesn't it? I'm finally winning and then it just has to go and stick a thumb in my face. It's not like this actually affects my plans much, but as Dant herself said, it's really the principle of the thing.

"Not particularly, I just can't go against my code." Dant said. "Tell you what though. Pheros is currently on the warpath and heading this way, so if you want we can go confront her, kill her, and then I'll accept a contract to kill that copycat after that."

"And how much is that going to cost me?"

"…Fifty gold?" Dant considered. "Listen, I'm very sympathetic to your cause. I don't want to make trouble, it's just something my code of honor requires. But I can charge low rates for someone as meaningless as a body double, and I'll gladly to that to make it up to you. I would do it for free, but I do have to charge something, you know."

"You attacked Lucina's group for free."

"That was because felt I owed you one." Dant shrugged. "Listen, I don't pretend to make the rules or even to understand them."

"You know what? I'm tired of arguing with you. I like this idea. It's only an extra fifty gold and it seems like it's the simplest solution." Grima said. "But why couldn't you do that beforehand?"

"The contract was to kill her publicly. I needed your approval to change it."

"Of all the inane and petty reasons – you know what? Fine. We'll do it this way. You said she's heading here, let's go meet her." Grima snarled and strode down the hallway. Dant followed in step behind him. Grima didn't have a clue who was throwing wrenches into his plan this time, seeing as everyone that could stop him was dead or imprisoned. But ultimately it didn't matter at all. The day was won already, as soon as Grima cast his spell. He'd have time for one more confrontation.

Griam followed the hallway into an antechamber, and that was when he encountered Pheros. True to what Dant has said, the Empress of Valm wasn't speaking to the crowd, she was standing before him. She had a scowl on her face.

"Robin, what are you doing?"

"Nothing." Grima said, keeping his tone even. "Empress, why are you here? I thought you wanted to keep secrets to a minimum. Why aren't you talking to the people?"

"I could ask you the same. You've chosen to conceal yourself as much as possible. You haven't even made a public appearance here." Pheros countered. "You've changed since you came back. But not in a very good way."

"Empress, I'm really not sure this is the best time to be discussing this." Grima frowned. "Surely we can have this conversation at a later date."

"Can we?" Pheros said. "Or are you going to be evasive then too? Where are your friends, Robin?"

"Friends?" Grima said. "They have important jobs, of course. Security concerns, handling diplomats. Things of that nature."

"I'm not an idiot, Robin." Pheros narrowed her eyes. "I know when you're planning something. And that's right now. You're keeping secrets from me, more secrets! I know that you're up to something, right here and right now. What are you planning?"

"…All right. We can play that game, if you're so insistent. Everyone gets in my way today. Is it too much to ask that I can maybe have one evil plot without everyone deliberately or accidentally thwarting me? Apparently not." Grima shook his head. "Fine. You alone were going to be granted the privilege of dying without despair. But that isn't going to happen now. You'll die full of despair."

"You mean to kill me?" Pheros demanded, summoning forth her flames. "Have you gone mad, Robin?"

"I won't kill you." Grima said. "And I haven't gone mad. But your life isn't safe, Empress."

"Dant, restrain him." Pheros narrowed her eyes. "Something happened to him on his journey. We need to find out what."

"Apologies, Empress." Grima laughed. "But you should never rely on the loyalty of an assassin! Dant, make no movements for now. Allow me to … heh … set the table for this banquet, as it were."

I shall cast the spell now. Grima thought. If it's only one despair-laden death, then I'll have to take that. No more games. No more delay. This world shall be mine, and I'll consume all that's there.

"Veni foras, Festum autem Dracones! Profectus est in mensa, et eo tempore usque nunc dine!" Grima chanted, purple magic flaming throughout his body. Across the city, the sorcerers he'd summoned earlier that morning had made it to their respective locations, and had no doubt set the circle in place. With his chant, the table would activate, giving Grima the life energy of all those he killed in it.

"Robin, what have you done?" Pheros said, backing away, recognizing the darkness of magic, if not the kind. "What awful ritual magic is that?"

"It concerns you not, Empress." Grima laughed. And with this, I've won! Now, for the finishing touch. "Now, Dant! Betray the Empress and take her life! And with it, will come the Dragon's Feast!"

"Know that I do this betrayal with pleasure."

Before anyone else could react, the hooded assassin moved. There was a single rasp of steel being drawn, and with a single fluid motion, Dant lunged. There was a single wet sound of a blade of steel entering the body of a human, going clean through the heart. The wound caused by the assassin was fatal, there was no doubt about it. A beautiful sword, a beautiful thrust, and the assassin's job was completed.

Grima stared at the blade that went clean through his body, exiting through his chest, and he felt Dant behind him, thrusting her blade clean through. The assassin has chosen not to kill the Empress, but to kill him instead. Grima coughed once, sending a spray of blood over the front of his robes.

"Dant! Why would you kill him!" Pheros cried. Grima stared. Was the Empress really distressed over him, even after he revealed his intent to betray her? Was that even possible? "I told you to restrain him!"

"It has to be this way, Empress. You'll understand." Dant said. Her tone changed, turned a bit rougher, deeper.

"If you really feel that there was no other choice, then I suppose I must understand it." Pheros said, looking at Robin. "I'm sorry, Robin, but you've really changed, haven't you? You're not the same person who left me that night five years ago. That one isn't coming back."

"Please don't worry just yet, Empress. Save that for later." The assassin interrupted, reassuring her. "I'm afraid that this dance isn't over yet."

"So … you've betrayed me, Dant. I don't blame you, knowing that you likely would have been the next one served up, but it's still in vain nonetheless! You're not fighting Robin, either of you! You face the Dark Dragon, Grima! And with this, your Empire has come to naught!" Grima ignored the sword that should have been killing him. "Filiis hominum, morietur! Vita enum mori!"

Grima closed his eyes in preparation for the ecstasy of hundreds of thousands of souls about to be devoured by the pentagram of dark magic fueled by his own dark powers. At any moment, the colossal amount of energy would flood him and Grima would awaken to his true form, the six-winged dark dragon, a form meant for the conquest of the remainder of the globe.

Any moment…

And that was when Grima realized that despite his best efforts, he could not feel the souls of thousands flowing through him. And, to add insult to injury, he couldn't even feel his own power in his body at all. His magic was there, but beyond him. Sealed away, somehow. Sealed away…

Oh no.

"Actually, I'll need to correct just who was betraying whom." Before Grima could finish his train of thought, he was interrupted. A figure walked out of the shadows behind Pheros, stepping into the light and throwing aside her cloak, her ebony black hair clearly visible as Dant emerged, face fully exposed. "Sorry for the trickery, Empress, but you're not the only one to employ a stunt double. You see, Desert Hawk, I know exactly who you are and I was never on your side to begin with. That time I doused you in oil and lit you on fire really should have tipped you off. Heh."

"Ultimately, it seems Dant is loyal scion of Valm." Pheros said calmly. "She's on my side."

"Your side!? Dant!? No, that's one isn't on your side. She serves no one other than her father. Which is supposed to be me!" Grima stared at the woman, his face a completely mask of rage. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE, MORGAN!?"

"Ah, so you've finally realized just who I am, 'Father'." Morgan/Dant smirked. "Then you also should have realized just how thoroughly screwed over you are. I've re-killed your resurrected Risen sorcerers to prevent your little ritual. Among other things. As you may have guessed, the Future Children aren't securely locked up right now. And, for that matter, neither is you-know-who, though he's on the other side of the world right now, where your blood magic can't reach, alongside with Chrom."

"Morgan?" Pheros turned to face her. "But you're Dant, aren't you?"

"Dant is merely a title or pseudonym, Empress. Surely you should have realized that I, as a perfect assassin, would never use my own name. My true name is Morgan, tactician of the Shepherds. But more importantly, I claim a very different title today. She Who Finally Outmaneuvered Her Father." Morgan said, stepping in front of Pheros as she drew her daggers. "Besides, I haven't really done much to you, personally. If you're wondering why those snazzy Grima powers aren't working, then look behind you. See, it's really not me you should be scared of."

"Or, in other words, you've been had, you dark spawn of a demonic beast." Grima turned to see a determined face with dark blue hair as the hood fell back. "This is your last dance!"

"It's not possible! Even if Dant never killed her, Lucina's awakening was incomplete! She hasn't the means to seal my power!" Grima snarled. "And she never awakened – I checked when we met!"

"Well, then it's a good thing I'm not her." Inigo said, hefting the Falchion running through Grima's body, channeling the force of an Awakened scion of the Ylissean bloodline. "Now, be sealed away for the next thousand years."

"Impossible." Grima said. "IMPOSSIBLE! How could you do this?"

"Oh, come now." Morgan smirked, stepping forward. "You're so used to playing from the shadows. Why are you so surprised that someone was manipulating you from the shadows as well? Don't you know anything about gambling, Grima? When everyone flips their trumps, whoever holds the highest trump wins."

"There's no way that Robin could have foreseen this!" Grima snarled. "He couldn't have planned for my existence before I revealed myself."

"Correct. But a skilled tactician always expects the unexpected. And Robin is nothing but the best. Like I said, the highest trump wins. 'Dant' was known to be a skilled assassin, but incompetent at anything else. Morgan was a skilled tactician who stayed off the frontlines as long as possible." Morgan explained. "The fact that these were the same person is a secret of such magnitude that it was kept it hidden except on exceedingly rare circumstances. Robin would try his utmost to pretend we were two separate people, no matter who was or wasn't around. In fact, if not for one slip-up on your part, I wouldn't have even known something was wrong when you didn't say anything about it."

"Please. I'm sure you're dying to tell me what stupid minor slip-up I made." Grima's tone was venom and he glared daggers. "Some kind of hidden phrase I missed?"

"You literally ordered me to kill myself when you told me to kill the Future Children." Morgan said. "Inigo, is that blade in?"

"Yes! He should be dead already!" Inigo responded. "Why isn't he dead, Morgan?"

"I'm … not sure, actually. Could just be that villains like him take a bit of extra work. Or it could be worse. Anyway, one way to find out and that's why I'm here." Morgan said. "Any last words, Grima?"

"This isn't the end of it!" Grima snarled. "I'll be back someday! You haven't won! All you've done is delayed the inevitable!"

"Of course you think something like that is our loss. But to us, delaying the inevitable always was the win. The goal is to seal you away, after all. Hope you've made your peace, you false god." Morgan smirked and set her stance, drawing twin daggers made from a reforged wyrmslayer blade. "Black Astra."

In a flash, Morgan was passed Grima, with the man's body reduced to nothing more than strips of flesh and chunks that rapidly disintegrated into black smoke. Morgan twirled his dagger once and sheathed them.

"If I had to guess … the Falchion may seal the Dark Dragon, but he takes on the appearance of a mortal man, not the weaknesses of one." Morgan explained. "Then it stands to reason that once you've sealed away his powers, you still need to destroy the body. And that's checkmate."

"Told you that all's well that end's well." Inigo turned to Pheros and took a graceful bow of one who had just finished a well scripted performance. "With that out of the way, permit me to introduce myself. I am Inigo William Lowell, of the Exalted Bloodline. And you've met my tactician, Morgan, already."

"Your tactician? Sure, we'll go with that for now." Morgan shook her head. "Much as I would like to banter with you, we need to take care of this."

"So you are both Morgan and Dant. And you are Inigo, Lucina's brother. Robin once told me that Lucina's group didn't accept outsiders. I don't understand. Were you working against him from the start?" Pheros asked her, trying desperately to maintain her calm. "What's … what's going on here? You said that you're Inigo Lowell of the Exalted bloodline, but there is no Inigo Lowell. Not to mention that woul make Lucina of the Exalted bloodline as well, something's she's strenuously denied. Is this … is this some plan Robin set in motion if he ever got possessed by Grima? Or are you working for Ylisse against us?"

"The answers to your questions aren't so simple." Morgan said. "But I have good news for you, Empress. Robin is still alive."

"Oh, don't tell me she doesn't know..." Inigo said. "Morgan, I thought we agreed that you were going to tell her all this beforehand."

"I was, I was!" Morgan protested. "…and then I ran out of time helping Lucy track down those sorcerers. They'll be dead at this point, which means that even if Grima had gotten his spell off, it wouldn't have worked. Unfortunately, it means I got here way too late - it was all I could do to tell her to send in a doppelganger to give the speech. Luckily, it made no difference to the plan."

"Careful, you don't let that apathy infect you." Inigo replied. "Would hate for it to corrupt you. You know, even further."

"Can you let it go?"

"Can I let you betraying us go? No, not really. But I'll save it for later." Inigo said, sheathing Falchion.

"Ahem." Pheros coughed. "Dant."

"Yes, Empress." Morgan snapped to attention on instinct. "Ah, sorry about arguing and bickering like that with Inigo. I'm used to being in Chrom's presence and he's a bit more lenient. Sorry."

"Well, you'll have to forgive me, because I don't even know what 'all this' is." Pheros said icily. "And I don't enjoy being left out of the loop. What's been going on? What do you mean Robin is still alive? Because, from where I was standing, he was very much dead. Killed by you, in fact."

"There's a conference room this way." Morgan gestured. "Your doppelganger's speech is still going on, we can talk more in there. I'll tell you everything I know about what happened. Because this will take a while and you'll definitely want to be sitting down for most of it."

-Conference Room (Thoroughly Soundproofed)-

"…and that sums it up." Morgan finished.

"Let me see if I understand this." Pheros said. "So, this dark dragon version of Robin, from the future in which he awakened to destroy the world, showed up in order to destroy this timeline as well?"

"Actually, he followed us into the past." Inigo said, sheepily. "We thirteen went into the past to stop Grima from coming into the present. And that's the point when Grima followed us back in time. Something we never considered that he'd be able to do."

"I see." Pheros said. "So, your group went back in time, alongside Grima. You ended up in Ylisse to help stop Grima's rise. Grima attempted to possess Robin at this time, and that wiped his memories, leaving him stranded in Valm with no memories."

"For the most part, yes." Morgan said. "The Future Children were splintered by the trip back."

"It's at this point that history continues." Pheros said, slowly. "Robin eventually works his way up the ladder in Valm, and Lucina fights as the Foreseer in Ylisse. Meanwhile, Grima is manipulating things from the shadow, to ensure that history goes on track. When he figures out where Robin is, he starts helping him become the leader of Valm to overthrow Walhart."

"Yes." Morgan nodded. "He was the Gray Tactician. We only became aware of this recently, by the way."

"Grima is also responsible for the war between us and Ylisse, correct?"

"Yes." Inigo nodded. "We suspect he wanted to use it to get Robin back to Plegia or possibly to egg him on to seize control of the continent – but we're not sure which."

"Then he disappeared at the end of it. And when this whole mess of gambits started, wasn't it?" Pheros sighed and rubbed her temple. "So, let's start at the beginning. Grima decided that the best way to draw Robin out of hiding was to impersonate him, something he could easily do given that he actually was Robin. Or at least a version of him."

"That was the point that Robin showed up as the 'Bone Mask Grimleal'." Morgan said. "He had two objectives: One of them was to stir things up in the capitol, forcing Grima to respond, especially with the personal attacks. He thought he could force the impersonator into revealing himself as a fake. Of course, given that Grima was doing the impersonating, that didn't work well."

"And the second?"

"Testing Ravena." Morgan sighed. "He knew that you were intending to make her Battlemaster in his stead. He also hoped she'd figure out who was the real Robin, but given that Grima was impersonating him, I that wasn't likely. The whole 'Risen summoning' thing – he always had the means to cancel it, so no one was ever in actual danger."

"And this was all brought to a head…"

"They clashed in Excellus's old mansion. Robin defeated Grima rather easily, but unfortunately Grima used a bloodline curse." Morgan explained. "I'm free from it, as his adopted daughter, but Grima can control Father with a curse. So Robin lost, at which point Grima implemented his main plan – using his power to consume the entirety of the Vermillion City and turning back to the ol' six-wing nightmare we had from our time."

"Oh, Robin…" Pheros sighed. "Why didn't you come to me? Why do you always do this? You don't have to carry the burden alone, you know."

"That's not how he thinks." Morgan shook her head. "I know him better than anyone. He wanted to protect you, Pheros. Please don't hold it against him."

"So, this entire time 'Robin' was Grima?" Pheros shivered. "I thought that he was awfully cold. Turns out that truly was for the best."

"Thankfully, Robin himself is fine. Though he used his warping powers to travel across the world once he was freed." Morgan said. "Grima wanted him alive. And hubris like that lead to his downfall."

"You're referring to what happened today, aren't you?"

"Not exactly." Morgan said. "I – that is, as Dant – reported to Robin, thinking that it was actually him, and not, you know, someone else. Then he ordered me to go and kill myself, which raised quite a few flags. Such as the fact that maybe someone replaced Robin, but he was capable of using Ignis. And that's when we realized it."

"Morgan realized it. Much as I hate to admit it, for all her other faults, she really might be the greatest tactician alive." Inigo corrected. "She came up with the entire plan on the fly, piecing together all the information she had and came up with a plan."

"It was easy to realize what Grima's plan was once I knew his true identity." Morgan said. "If he was truly the Fell Dragon, all he needed to do was to kill a massive amount of people to regain his old strength, and all indications was exactly that. So when he ordered me to kill the Future Children, I faked their deaths."

"Not the fight itself, naturally." Inigo scowled. "She kicked the crud out of all of us. We actually beat her, which isn't saying much considering it was a twelve on one. Except she poisoned us all beforehand, so… not much of a win."

"Couldn't risk losing. I mean, even still, Lucy almost skewered me through the neck." Morgan smirked. "So, anyway, Grima's idea was I kill you to induce despair before he and his cabal of sorcerers form a ritual circle to kill everyone within. Then he forms the Dark Dragon and well – you know."

"So, that's where we came in." Inigo said. "With our presumed death the Future Children were able to act as counters. Morgan found and released Robin. She trailed Grima and sent the remainder of the Future Children after the sorcerers to stop the summoning. While Morgan and I went to deal to Grima."

"So I had Inigo pretend to be Dant." Morgan said. "Luckily, he's a dancer, so it wasn't that hard. I went to warn you – and yeah, that's when it all worked out."

"It was also easy because Dant, similar to Morgan, is, more or less, flat as a washboard." Inigo pointed out.

"…" Morgan glared at Inigo and shook her head. "You are so lucky you have a good reason to be mad at me or I'd wash out your mouth with soap for that."

"Morgan." Pheros asked. "I have an important question for you. Who are you? And whose side are you on?"

"Yeah, I'd like to know that too." Inigo coughed.

"That's actually a pretty good question." Morgan considered. "Well, let's start at the beginning. I woke up, minus all my memories, in southern Valm. Kind of like Robin. Except I knew one thing – I was looking for Robin. Wasn't sure why, but I figured that it had something to do with my missing memories. I ended up going undercover for a while and picked the name Dant while behaving as stereotypical as an assassin as I could to try and figure out who this 'Robin' was. Then … well you know the rest. Robin and I initially thought that someone had wiped both our memories as part of a conspiracy which is why we stayed quiet about it. Later on, once we found out that Robin was Fellblood, we assumed that we had done it to ourselves, in order to rid the world of it."

"Well, he assumed that." Inigo glared at her. "You knew the truth."

"Part of it, anyway." Morgan agreed. "Right, so Robin gave me an assignment when he got promoted to Battlemaster. Officially, it was a deep cover assignment to Plegia. Unofficially? It was actually to infiltrate the Shepherds. So I showed up, and it turns out that they all know me from before my amnesia. Then Lucina told me what actually happened – I was Ravena from the future, and I was one of them. Didn't explain Robin's amnesia though, but the Future Children chalked it up to some freak effect of time travel. I mean, they were right in a way. As for allegiances … I'll be honest with you, Empress. As my father's daughter, I have one person that I'm loyal to. Not Grima, but Robin. All I've done is to help him defeat Grima."

"Good glory. You genuinely served Robin then." Pheros said. "In other words, Robin was controlling the main tactician for Ylisse the entire time? "

"Yeah." Morgan agreed. "And we still couldn't stop the war. All Robin could do was rig the pieces the way he wanted them before any major events. I stopped Ylisse from reinforcing Plegia so you could invade with minimum loss of life. I ordered Ylisse's army to take a pincer approach in tandem with Regna Ferox to allow you to pull that surprise reinforcement trick against Regna Ferox, rather than have them retreat and have two massive armies scrap once reinforcements arrive. And, finally, the fight was rigged in the final battle to have Chrom and Robin meet as soon as possible so we could settle it then and there."

"We're still not happy about that betrayal, by the way."

"I'm not happy about it either." Morgan replied softly. "We don't always get the choices we want, Inigo. We have to pick the best option available to us at the time."

"You could have told us!"

"You and Lucy tried to kill him!" Morgan said. "What was I supposed to tell you – 'By the way, I'm working for him so we can puppet the entire world under his control? No, trust me, really – it'll work!' Couldn't risk it."

"Once!" Inigo protested. "We only did it once, and then we agreed that it was wrong, and we shouldn't have done it at all!"

"And it would have been so easy to justify yourself into saying that it really was right for you two to try a second time." Morgan shook her head. "Sorry, Inigo. But it was necessary."

"Ends always justify the means, huh?"

"You know I don't think like that!"

"You may not think like that, but you sure act like it. You knew that we'd find out one day. Did you give any thought to our reactions when we found out?" Inigo glared at her. "And just go ahead and say something containing the phrase 'necessary sacrifice'."

"Children." Pheros interrupted. "Please stop squabbling. You're both part of my Empire, you work for me now. Argue on your own time. And, while I have no intention of playing arbiter here, if I had to guess, it's best if you get this sorted out sooner rather than later."

"…Sorry, Empress." Morgan sighed, shooting a dirty look at Inigo.

"Grrr." Inigo grit his teeth, shaking his head. "I'm sorry you had to witness that, Empress. It did end up working out well this way, but I think that it could have been done better. But you're right, we'll have to sort this out ourselves. Ultimately, as strangers to this time, we're responsible to ourselves."

"I'm curious." Pheros said. "You don't appear to have a lot of respect for me, Inigo. You were against me back in your timeline, weren't you?"

"Not … exactly." Inigo winced. "I should tell you, Empress, that when we came back here, we quickly realized that all the meddling that was done created a new timeline, and we decided not to hold any actions against people from the previous timeline. That said… um … there's no good way of putting it…"

"You were dead before Inigo even held a sword in his hand." Morgan said, calmly. "You died in the first year of the Ylissean-Valm war in our timeline, killed defending Fort Steiger from when the Shepherds assaulted it. Most of the Valm leadership from our timeline suffered a similar fate."

"I see." Pheros chuckled darkly. "I should have expected that. It's probably better if I don't ask who killed me, isn't it?"

"Yes." Morgan said. "You aren't going to like the answer to that."

"…I'll consider it." Pheros said. "Inigo, given your status, I think it's within my prerogative as the Empress of Valm to offer you sanctuary, one ruler to another. As recognition for your actions this day, the Valm Empire will consider you to be allies with us."

"Thank you." Inigo said, much relieved. "I was worried this could be a lot worse."

"Oh, it's going to be." Morgan said. The other two looked at her. Morgan smiled, a sunny disposition which was completely out of place for the given situation. "You two haven't realized? This fight isn't over yet. Not by a longshot."

There was a faint rapping on the door to the room. Morgan only smirked. "Right on schedule. I passed on a message to someone before this happened and asked her to check on something for me. You can come in, Tiki."

The door opened to allow the green-haired manakete to enter.

"I do apologize for intruding." Tiki said. "But my mother has instructed me to pass on an important message. It appears your hunch was right, Morgan."

"…Not good." Morgan sighed. "There's always a price to pay with these things. Grima isn't dead. Or sealed, for that matter."

"I stabbed him clean through with an Awakened Falchion!" Inigo said. "He can't have survived that!"

"I'm sorry, but Grima lives, wounded but unsealed. He's fled to his refuge." Tiki said. "It grieves me to say this, but while you were able to inflict grievous wounds to him and seal away more of his essence, he still hasn't been fully sealed."

"We cheated, Inigo." Morgan said. "We used a partial Awakening to go back in time in order to stop Grima from winning. That's not something which can be done lightly. Do you really think we'd just be allowed to use that same Falchion to seal Grima away? As great and anticlimactic as it would have been to defeat Grima now, that never was going to happen. We'll have to do it the old-fashioned way – Awaken Chrom, and then storm his base."

"And that's where Robin is right now, I suppose? That's why he's not here right now?" Pheros interrupted. "He's taken Chrom to the site of the original Awakening?"

"That was the plan, yes." Morgan nodded. "The plan was for the rest of us to meet up at his castle, and from there we'll launch out final assault, assuming that we couldn't seal Grima now."

"…'rest of us'?" Pheros asked. "Dant, who is being included in that statement?"

"The Icebergs are on their way right now, trying to find Grima's island, being led by Aversa." Morgan looked down. "Robin's pretty sure that he can managed a group teleportation to get there if Aversa plants a marker. But there are … restrictions."

"Do tell."

"He can only manage so much people. As in, him plus an additional ten." Morgan said. "We tried persuading him to do it with only the Future Children, but as he pointed out, he can't work well with us because he doesn't know us well – and there are thirteen of us in total. The chosen group is him, Zulas, Argeni, Vermil, Ravena, me, Lucina, Say'ri, Aversa, Chrom, and Balt. And … that's it."

"…He's excluding me. Again." Pheros said, temper flaring. "I am not some dainty flower to be protected!"

"I'm very certain that isn't how he thinks of you." Morgan smiled mischievously. "But you are the Empress of Valm. If you ordered us to escort you to the castle, we'd hardly be in a position to refuse."

"Then consider this an order to do so." Pheros said. "I'll not be left out of this fight."

A/N: Yes, this was foreshadowed