Author's Note: The past week has been crazy crazy crazy. A lot of stuff happened and I ended up not posting a chapter which I'm sorry for. I got my wisdom teeth out on last tuesday and that's been a blast(note the sarcasm). My youngest brother turned 15(the little shit had steak while staring at me trying to munch on mashed potatoes I'm almost proud of that amount of spite) One of my close friends just went off to college and that threw me for a loop and I've been trying to adult stuff with work and college and unemployment stuff and ugh, it just got overwhelming so I took a me break and binged some Netflix while making my room smell like berry rush. The second season of the umbrella academy was great, I can't get it off my mind. I mean I hate that things aren't really explained and you just have to try and piece things together but Jesus christ guys no spoilers but my favorite character is back at the end and I love it. Also really looking into doing a fic for that fandom. Idk why but I kind of want a fix-it with some sort of mother hen character that barges into their canon lives at the academy. I'm thinking I want Archer from Fate as some kind of cold but protective combat instructor or Shirou as a cook that doesn't respect boundaries. Also thinking of putting in Percy Jackson as one of the children cause why the fuck not. Anyways um I've also been sort of on and off watching supernatural for the first time I'm on season 3 I think and it's great if not a bit depressing cause they can never get a break. Anyways anyways here's the chapter I'll ramble on forever if I let myself and I'm not sure if it's the painkillers or just because I missed you guys.

I Get Bitch-Slapped By a Princess

If there's one good thing about this cold temperature, it's that it helps to sober me up. I could never get used to cold weather. Warm and even sweltering climates you could adjust to but there was just something about the cold that never ceased to make my body react to it. I even lived in a colder environment before coming to Fire Emblem. It was just something I could never get used to. Not to say I didn't like winter. I was partial to snow even if it decided to make my life harder for me.

I entered the Khan's residency without any problems. Thankfully the guards recognized me as one of the Shepherds and lead me to the feasting hall. Before entering I shook off the snow from my leather cloak and tunic. I breathed into my hands warming them as I looked around the rowdy room. The Khans and Chrom were lightheartedly arguing over something at the head of the large table. Robin was beside Miriel gesturing with his hands as he explained something. Frederick was dutiful as always even during a celebration and was stationed behind Chrom's chair by a few feet. Sully and Vaike were in the midst of an arm wrestling contest with Virion looking on. Stahl and Sumia were quietly talking among themselves. Huh, I'd never seen them interacting before. I'm sure Kellam was in here somewhere. Lissa was surprisingly by herself. She must feel a bit odd. The others she usually talked to were off with others and Maribelle not being present left her alone to her food that she picked at.

I sat beside her and smiled as she jumped slightly. She must've been too absorbed in poking at her food to notice me coming in. That's adorable. "You do realize that there's bear in that?" I grinned slyly.

Lissa half pouted half groaned. "Whaaat? No way. Grrrrr. So that's why Frederick wasn't eating." I smile and take her bowl ignoring her stare. "I'm sure he prefers to believe that he's performing his duty watching for assassins." Lissa raised an eyebrow. "Assassins?" I nod grimly before eating straight from the bowl by tipping it back. "Who knows how many hearts Chrom has broken without realizing. One of them might have taken it the wrong way and was driven to want Chrom's life. She giggled and I smiled triumphantly.

"What about me?" She asked playfully. "Any jilted lovers coming after me?"

I freeze and turn to Lissa in mock fear. "Oh the horror. How ever will I survive defending our cute princess from the trail of rejected men she's left behind." She laughs loudly and I put a hand to her mouth. "Shhhh. They haven't noticed me yet. If you're too loud they'll see me and call me ov-"

"Xander!" Chrom called joyfully.

"Like that." I groan lowly as I stand walking over to the rulers. I shoot a look back at Lissa. 'Save meeee!' I mouthed to her and she stifled her laugh by biting down on her hand. I saunter over to Chrom and lean on his shoulder in full view of the other rulers . "I hope you saved me some drink Captain. I could go for another couple rounds." Chrom laughed too loudly and I winced leaning away from him. I guess he's a bit too far gone right now. I look over at the Khans. Basilio was scrutinizing me and I grinned at him as he met my eyes.

"Sorry baldy, I prefer to water gardens not climb mountains." Basilio snorts. "I wouldn't fuck you even if I was gay and blind in both eyes boy." I roll my eyes. "We all know if you were gay you wouldn't be the one fucking chrome dome." The large man guffaws loudly. "You've got balls boy. I like you." I take Chrom's cup away from him when he starts shaking it upside down pouting at the lack of alcohol. "Oi, we've been over this. Not interested."

I turn to Flavia who's been oddly silent this whole time. "Where's the support Steelveins? I would think you'd like to put the oaf in his place." I pause as I examine her. Flavia is staring at me turning strangely pale for her natural skin color.

"Where'd you get that?" She whispers sounding way too serious for the statement to be leading into some kind of joke as par the course. I notice she's not directly staring at me but a bit below my face. Oh, my necklace. Odd question.

I shrug. "I've had it forever. Only reason I know my own damn name." She seemed to grow even more distressed as her lips thinned. "May I see it?" Okay, that's really weird. Even Basilio is looking at her as if she's had too much to drink.

"Sure?" I take off the necklace hesitantly. I know it's Flavia but I'm still not keen on parting with the only possession I've had my entire life. She takes it with a slightly shaking hand when I hold it out and both Basilio and I are looking at her in confusion. Just what is she trying to do? What the hell?

Flavia touched the small Ruby at the center of the pendant and turned it clockwise ignoring my gobsmacked face as I realize I had never even tried anything like that before. Flavia's clearly looking more unnerved as she turns over the necklace and freezes.

The next thing I know I'm being smothered by the East Khan in a tight embrace while she cries over my shoulder. I look at Basilio as his eye pops out in shock and his mouth hangs open. I'm looking dangerously pale as she squeezes the life out of me and I'm confident I know absolutely jackshit on how to handle this. Oh great, now the Shepherds are watching. Even Chrom seems to have sobered up some and is no longer digging his face into another cup to watch.

"Alex." I freeze before slowly prying her off of me with difficulty I'm not ashamed to admit. She's a promoted class dammit!

"Listen lady, my name is Xander and while I'm not exactly free with my hugs, I'll give you that one because you're the East Khan. Now, what're you talking about?"

She's smiling and sniffling as tears run down her face. "Alex." She croaks. "Here, look." She hands back my pendant and I examine it. I freeze once more.

There, on the backside of the necklace is another name. One that hadn't been there before. ALEX is inscribed just as XANDER is on the other side. My vision blurs.

I push her away from me and the hurt look on her face makes me flinch. My mind immediately makes the jump having seen way too many shows and read too many books to not know what this meant.

"No. I can't be your-your son." There are audible gasps from the table behind me as I say that but I'm currently occupied with wrestling my emotions.

Flavia shakes her head and wipes her tears away. "You are. I named you Alexander sixteen years ago. I and... your father had this necklace made for you. I have one like it as well." She pulls a similar medallion from beneath her armor. She smiles hopefully at me.

I blame the alcohol and the hormones for the majority of this but I do feel pretty strongly about this.

I clench my fists and grit my teeth at her. "This must be some kind of sick fucking joke." I spit venomously. "You're my mother? Don't make me laugh." Her expression drops and she looks utterly confused and sad at my reaction.

"No. My parents are dead. Their corpses are probably rotting on some battlefield. If my parents weren't dead, they wouldn't have left their only son with only half a name to go off of! They wouldn't have left me at an orphanage where I was kicked out once I could walk! They wouldn't have let me starve on the street! They wouldn't have let their son be beaten by merchants until he learned how to steal food without getting caught! They wouldn't let their son wonder if anyone had ever loved him or if he had done something wrong to be ABANDONED!" My voice drops to a harsh whisper. "And they certainly wouldn't have let their son be taken by slavers."

The silence in the hall was damning.

"So no, Khan Flavia," She flinches from my hateful tone. "You are not, my mother. If the most powerful person in the fucking country was my mother, it would be the most fucked up, cruelest joke I've ever heard of."

Khan Flavia was crying once more but my visage held no sympathy for my so called mother. "I-I tried to find you o-once I became Khan but I couldn't find you. I checked every orphanage twice. The necklace was supposed to help us find you b-but the enchantments failed."

I sneer at her. "So you gave up? Your stupid tracking device broke so you called it a day?! Oh well, he'll be fine. After all, he's three fucking years old! Practically a man!" I shouted sarcastically.

Flavia wilted. "I never stopped thinking about you. For years I looked for you." She croaked. "Eventually I did stop. I had looked everywhere I could and had no luck. I knew that if you were anywhere you wouldn't have remembered me or your father. I thought you dead or worse. Anything could have happened to make the enchantment stop working. So, I gave up and tried to move on. But I never forgot about you. I wondered if you ever missed your mother or your father; if you missed your family."

I glared at her. "You're wrong. You can't miss what you never had." I couldn't stay. Just looking at her face made my heart beat faster and my blood rush through my ears as my rage grew. I turned from her, aggravating tears and headed for the door ignoring the Shepherds who were looking at me.

"I think I'll retire early Khan Flavia. Thank you for the invite." I slammed the door shut.

Flavia cradled her face as her crying grew louder. Basilio looked oddly out of place and unsure how to act. The Shepherds had differing expressions of anger, sadness, pity and confusion at what just happened.

There was a rustle as Lissa stood. She moved to leave but paused near the door. She turned her head towards Flavia a thoughtful expression on her face. It lightened a bit as Flavia looked back at her.

"Give him time." She said softly. Lissa then left softly closing the door and leaving the hall silent save for Flavia's sniffles.

The bark of the pine tree in front of me broke off as I struck it with a fist. I needed to blow off steam. Bad. I couldn't use my weapons, they would just cut down everything in front of me too fast for me to relieve anything.

I hit the tree again making pine needles shake from its branches.

The fucking nerve of that woman. Just because I knew I also had a happy life outside of Fire Emblem didn't mean that I didn't also remember my life in this world. I remember countless nights wondering if I had a family out there somewhere. If they abandoned me because I did something wrong or if they were just dead. I clearly seemed to prefer the latter judging from that conversation.

Another punch dug into the wood of the tree.

All this time the fucking East Khan was my mother. Every time I was starving from failing a theft she was in that damn palace. Every time I struggled to stay alive during winter she was off somewhere forgetting about me.

Something cracked in my hand as I slammed the tree making it shake and crack along the trunk.

I had been forced to survive and suffer all on my own all because the woman misplaced her baby.

Hilarious.

The next blow ran my hand through the body of the tree. I growl and pull my hand out swearing mentally as I tried to manage my temper.

"Xander."

Can't she see that I don't exactly want company right now? Damn it Lissa.

"Not the time Lissa." I glared at the tree.

"If I waited for the right time all these poor trees would be gone." Lissa mocked.

I grit my teeth. "What do you want Lissa? I'm not going back there and I'm definitely not apologizing." I bite out clenching my fists. "Idiot." Lissa said coming close to me. I glare at her and she glares right back, unfazed.

"Shut up and give me your hands." I growl. "Just go-" "Now." I grumble at the determination and anger in her eyes. She takes and examines my hands insulting me under her breath.

"You're an idiot. Come on." She tugged on my arm. I resist and stare at her. "I told you I'm not going near that-" Lissa's eyes blazed. "Just, shut up and come with me. We're not going back there."

I clench my teeth and let Lissa drag me. She's infuriatingly adamant about bringing me to her room and my patience is killed as she starts to heal my hand with her staff. The magic coursing through my hand only makes my strained patience snap that much faster.

I swing my hand out of her grasp. "What the hell do you want Lissa?! I told you to leave me alone!" Her emotions seem to match mine in intensity as she marched closer to me staring up into my eyes. "What is your problem?! I'm trying to help you! This is beyond thickheaded you dumbass. Yet you persist on being such an utter-utter bastard!"

My face turns to stone and I grit my teeth. My tone drops to match, harsh as gravel. "Well I wouldn't know would I?" I reply sardonically. I swivel in place as her face turns pale as birch. "Just leave me the fuck-"

SLAP

I stumble and turn holding my reddened cheek as I stare at Lissa. This scene can't help but be slightly comical with different context. Here Lissa is, standing up only midway to my chest glaring up at me while I gape in disbelief down at her. Her visage burns itself in my eyes as she trembles in rage. My emotions reel within my mind trying to catch up to her sudden action and I can't help but think in that moment, that moment that she looks like she would kill me that she looks unbelievably beautiful and desirable. Her shaking form of rage illuminated by the light of the lanterns in the room makes her look that much more fiery and stunning in the throes of her emotions.

"You shut your mouth Xander, and you listen well! If you just spared a moment to gaze past your stifling self-pity that you've heaped upon yourself you insufferable dullard than you-"

"Self-pity?!" I cry indignantly.

SLAP

And just like that, my other cheek is stained red from a diminutive princess on the warpath.

"NOT ANOTHER WORD!" I'm stunned into silence at her violence and anger. I've never seen her so enraged nor imagined her this way before.

"As I was saying before you opened your fool mouth, if you looked past your disgusting self-pity you would see that you made your mother break down in sorrow. Your mother. The person who brought you into this world and loves you more than anyone could ever hope to. You decided in all of your wisdom at the moment to let your experiences rule you and tear her down a peg for your own sick satisfaction! You stomped on her hopes to reunite with you happily and decided that making her feel even a fraction of your pain was worth ruining any chances at a family you might have had."My face grows tight. "Yes! I know, I heard your dumbass tirade in the feast hall, we all did! So, she made mistakes. She abandoned you, leaving you to suffer to struggle to live. I don't understand why you won't even think to understand why though! Why would the East Khan of all people be forced to abandon her only child to a life of pain and strife?"

Why would a Khan, one of the most powerful individuals in Regna Ferox be forced to give up a babe? Why would they let that child face a life where any day could bring death? The only plausible reason is because if the child stayed they would face death. No uncertainty to their fate.

Her face becomes tight and her voice drops to a harsh whisper. "Don't you understand how lucky you are? There are so many orphans that will never see their parents again let alone know who they were. You were abandoned as a child and went through all those experiences to become who you are now. I don't believe that person is such a petty angry child who throws away their own happiness to tear down another's. So do you feel any better now? Are you satisfied?"

No. I wasn't. Gods she was so right it wasn't even funny. My emotions began to wane making way for shame, regret, and anger at myself. She was so happy to find me again and I just spat in her face. It was like Lissa said, so many people wouldn't get the chance I had. I winced. Lissa was one of those people. Her mother and her father, even if he was a madman, were both her family. She must have loved them. And here I am, discarding my chance of having a mother again when she would kill to have that chance. Her mother died at childbirth without any hope of ever meeting her or having that love of a mother. Her father, turned mad and killed in his own crusade. Gone without any hope of another conversation. I had that opportunity to have a parent. She didn't. Her parents were dead. Period.

I sighed in exhaustion. That one simple act couldn't begin to express how exhausted I felt. Her face still stared at me, hewn from stone as if she was waiting for my reprisal. I gave a bitter laugh. An impulse seized me and my fingers twitched.

In the next moment I was wrapped around Lissa embracing her. She gave a similar sigh her breath tickling my chest. Her head tucked under my own I closed my eyes and breathed out. "I'm sorry."

She nodded suddenly silent within my arms. "Really, I am sorry Lissa. Thank you. I- I let my emotions and what I've been through affect me too much. Kh-Flavia didn't deserve that. You didn't deserve that."

One of her hands gripped my shirt and the other pounded lightly against my abdomen. "Idiot." She whispered harshly.

After a few more moments of silence I finally let go of her with another sigh. I needed to talk with Flavia. Gods. She was so heartbroken. I knew better too. I wasn't just Xander from Regna Ferox. I was also Alex. A guy who had a full family. Both parents and even annoying younger siblings to boot. Yet in that moment I let those years of hurt affect me so much I took it out on my mother who most likely had no choice but to give me up. I couldn't help but feel some fear as I thought of the prospect of talking with her again. Would she forgive me? Would she even want me as a son? I gave all of that away when I first opened my mouth.

"Lissa." I bit my lip. She looked up at me looking as tired as I felt. Her twintails drooped on either side of her face and her cheeks seemed red from her rant. I felt so awful asking more of her but I wasn't sure if I could do this alone.

"W-Would you come with me?" Lissa blinked as she processed that before giving me a small smile. "Yeah, I can do that."

The Khan's palace was near silent. It was far past the time when everyone retired for the night and the only people still up seemed to be the guards roaming the premises. Thankfully, one of those guards was affable enough to tell us where Flavia's quarters were. At least once Lissa revealed herself as a princess of Ylisse he did. Guess it was a good move to ask her to come after all.

I slowly came to a stop as we faced the large doors to her quarters. I took a deep breath attempting to steel myself for the ordeal ahead. Once again, Lissa came to my rescue and grabbed my arm smiling up at me. "Don't worry Xander. She'll just be happy that you came back to talk." I nodded stiffly. Yeah don't worry. I only made her break down last time I spoke to her. She would forgive me wouldn't she?

I stepped forward and knocked on the door the deep sound of the wood echoing through the dark hallway. After a moment of silence I looked down at Lissa the worry in my gaze making her smile softly at me.

The sound of steps, slowly making their way to the door reached us. Lissa squeezed my arm as if to say 'told you so' before stepping back.

"What is it?" Flavia asked as she opened the door. Even before I saw her I could tell she was hurting. Her voice was flat, without emotion only betrayed by a slight shudder of her words.

My breath caught in my throat as the door opened fully and she stared at me equally frozen. Her blonde hair was unraveled around her shoulders slightly tangled in its length and her face was downcast, her eyes red, letting me know fully the consequences of my words. She was without her customary armor, clothed in only a dark loose dress that hung from her shoulders. Despite her bed attire she still held a bare sword in one hand, displaying her constant vigilance.

So still in our observation of the other, it wasn't until Lissa elbowed me that I began to move. I coughed clearing my voice and unintentionally looked to the side, not willing to see her face if she hated me.

"I-uh, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have attacked you like that, you didn't deserve it and-oof!" I was caught off guard as her sword clanged to the ground and she crushed me in a hug.

"No, I'm sorry." Flavia choked out. "I should have expected you to hate me. I'm sorry for leaving you Alex. I won't leave you again, I promise. I'm so happy that you're home. My Alex..."

The rest of the night seemed like a blur. At some point Lissa left, no doubt to give us some measure of privacy. Flavia and I spoke, haltingly at first, both of us were afraid to hurt this new relationship we had. We were similar in more ways than one. We held a great physical resemblance both of us dark skinned with blonde hair. Though mine was cur short over my forehead it shocked me that I hadn't at least thought of the possibility. We were both the very definition of what it meant to be Feroxian, bold, crass and always itching for a fight. Even our heights were similar, if we stood side by side I've no doubt that most would think us brother and sister rather than mother and son.

Our conversation started with me describing my history, what I went through growing up in the slums of Tyrus. Though the city was a magnitude better now, in the aftermath of the Blood War there were many orphans and soldiers without work that were left without prospects. To my surprise, she knew Raimi. Not personally, but she had heard of her excellent service record and well kept border guard. She felt as if she owed the woman after how she took care of me and was saddened to know of what happened to her. Of course she quickly realized that was why Harpax had asked her to let me fight to the death with Vaughan/Vincent.

I asked her how she knew Harpax and she seemed at a loss on how to respond. We sat in her quarters at a small table not far from her bedchambers. The room didn't seem like much to be honest. It was simple and almost spartan-like in its lack of decor.

"That's... complicated. It's all tied together." She eyed me nervously. "Harpax, me, why you were left at that orphanage and your father." I frowned. "My father?" Her lips thinned. "If... If it's okay, I would rather not talk about any of that right now. I will tell you eventually, but you have enough to handle right now."

I paled and gaped as my mind jumped to the worst possible conclusion. "No, he didn't- I mean, I'm not-" Flavia laughed brightly. It was almost surreal. I hadn't heard her laugh before but now it was hearty and full as she expressed her mirth. "No, of course not. You really think anyone could?" She brandished the sword she had collected off to the side. I smirked. "I wasn't sure." My smile turned up as I grew slightly mischievous. "I mean, he obviously gave me these." I flexed my arms. "You certainly didn't." I looked pointedly at her smaller arms. Her grin turned predatory.

"Wanna bet?"

"Up and at 'em Alex!" I groaned as my mother ripped my blanket from me. Needless to say, we had a long night. Eventually, once we realized that our relationship wasn't going to hell we eased up and became more familiar with each other. Which meant Flavia antics. Rather, I should say motherly antics. These may be described as urges to embarrass your child, remind them that they have taken care of you in all your newborn glory, threaten them with spanking and being proud of them for the smallest things. I think I preferred it when she was afraid of me being angry at her.

"C'mon Alex, time to seize the day!"

She's also a morning person. Clearly, I am not.

"The day can wait a few minutes to be seized." I grumbled from my spot on her sofa.

Once we grew too tired to continue our talks, I made to leave but she insisted on me staying with her. She meant in her bed. I was able to talk her down to the couch. Even then, she still dragged the sofa over to the bed. All in order to be close to her 'baby boy'.

I wanted to stab someone.

Nevertheless, I climbed off of the sofa and stretched. I winced half a second later as my right arm twinged in pain. Surprisingly, it wasn't a good idea to arm wrestle someone who's ten times stronger than you. Despite any thoughts otherwise, Flavia could kick my ass six ways from Sunday. I liked to think it was because my mom was just that badass.

"Alex, I'm to meet with Chrom before the Shepherds depart. Is there anything you need to get done in the city?" I thought for a moment thinking about Harpax and Axia. "No, not really." I shook my head. Flavia grinned at me. My mother now wore her regal wear, meaning she was equipped with her custom red armor. I should really get some armor soon now that I think about it. Especially since we'll be heading off to war soon.

"I'm sure that your favorite princess will be there as well." I sputtered and stumbled off to the side. "M-Mother!"

Flavia jerked me up to my feet, laughing. "Don't 'mother' me, brat. She's clearly good for you." She looked at me in the eyes her mouth twitching while she tried and failed to convey her seriousness. "Mother, will be very disappointed if you don't take care of her."

I nodded. "Yes, mother." I sighed mockingly and rolling my eyes.

"K-Khan Flavia!" Chrom, Frederick, Robin and even Basilio were more than a little thrown off when I entered the feast hall with my mother smiling like nothing had happened last night.

Lissa, however, was not. The cheshire grin she was shooting me seemed to be code for 'You owe me.' Basilio promptly burst out into chuckles from his seat. "I take it, you both figured things out?"

I sat down by my mom across from Basilio and the others. "So what? Why do you care old man?" I don't know why I was being so antagonistic to Basilio to be honest. I can't just chalk it up to being protective over my mom cause I did the same thing last night.

He smiled. "Call it concern for my fellow Khan." I froze as a thought hit me. I turned to Flavia who looked at me curiously. "What?"

Tears came to my eyes. "Please don't tell me that this caveman is my father." I pleaded.

Silence reigned over the hall.

Flavia burst out roaring laughter as Basilio turned red. "Hahaha, me and the baldie? That's hilarious!" Basilio looked down at his plate. "One compliment. It was more than a decade ago." He muttered forlornly.

My mother grinned at me and patted at my hair. "He tried, but I made it very clear at the time that I wasn't interested."

I sighed in relief. I dodged a bullet there. I'm not sure I could call that geezer 'dad'.

Frederick coughed into his fist gathering our attention. "As intriguing as Xander's parentage is, could we get to the reason for this meeting?" Robin gave me a small smile. "Yes, I believe you wished to discuss the men offered per our agreement?"

Basilio nodded regaining his composure. "Yes, we are prepared to offer 10,000 of Ferox's standing army for the protection of Ylissean territories from Risen." Chrom blinked in surprise. "That's 5,000 more than what we had discussed before."

Flavia nodded. "Yes, that's because we wish to put forth a stipulation along with the extra men." Chrom and Robin both stiffened in shock. "What... What would be this stipulation?" Chrom asked warily.

Flavia promptly smiled widely and wrapped an arm around me. "Alex will be responsible for the deployment and management of the troops." I paled. "What?" I croaked. She just kept smiling as if nothing was wrong. "Why?" I couldn't understand why she would want me to take control of that many men! That's ridiculous, I've never had a day of training in how to manage or plan for so many men.

Robin seemed to be thinking deeply. "I take it you would like for this to be a learning experience for him?" Chrom nodded in agreement. "I can see that. I have nothing against the idea, as long as he takes our advice."

What the hell? Nobody sees anything wrong with this?

"Xander will do his best for sure!" Lissa, why?! I've been betrayed. You're dead to me.

Basilio coughed. "Moving on," What the hell old man? I can't even count on you to argue against this? "I have a gift for the Shepherds." At a wave of his hand Lon'qu stepped forward. While the Shepherds were appraising him Basilio continued. "He's the finest swordsman I've seen in years. I was beyond stunned when Marth showed up and beat him. Nevertheless, I'm sure Xander here can attest to his skill." I nodded as I locked gazes with Lon'qu. I wanted that rematch.

"And now for my baby boy!" Flavia exclaimed. I shuddered and resisted the urge to hide under the table as the others looked at me. Why me? I really didn't want a bodyguard. Like really. That would suck. Besides, wouldn't we all end up guarding Lissa anyways? That was my job so they would end up following me after Lissa. That would be kind of weird.

A knight strode forward placing a cage on the table. I froze.

"During a raid up north I discovered an ambush of these. The full grown ones were the size of large horses!" She cried in excitement. "I found this one all by its lonesome and decided to take it home and raise it but now that I've found my darling son, it seems like the perfect gift!"

Next thing I knew I had opened the cage and was cradling the cub in my arms. I couldn't help but coo over the sleeping beast as if it were my own child. My mother is the best person on the planet! I will never be embarrassed by her again! She got me a fucking tiger! I don't know how they exist here and I don't fucking care this is beyond amazing. It's albino too!

Lissa will claim that I teared up at this moment. I plead the fifth.

It was... nice to see Xander enjoy his relationship with his mother. They must have talked a lot last night. I felt bad for intruding so I had left once they sat down to talk and started to ease up around each other.

Lon'qu seems pretty cute. He also seems to be the polar opposite of Xander. Lon'qu was pale, Xander was dark. Lon'qu was slim where Xander was built. Their hair colors were even at odds. Not even mentioning the fact that Lon'qu is completely silent and Xander is anything but. What a goof.

That tiger is sooooooo adorable! I'm so jealous! I'm totally making Xander bring him whenever he has to act as my bodyguard. I think Xander might've broken Flavia when he kissed her on the cheek in return for the tiger and called her mom. Her eyes are literally stars. Stupid Xander.

Okay so I was a little jealous when he found his mom. That might've influenced the slapping a bit. But I was really really angry when he kept on being a dense idiot. It made me feel a bit better too.

"Sooo Xander, what're you going to name him?" We were on our way to the Shepherd's temporary quarters to pack up. Our march to Ylisstol was today so we were leaving Tyrus along with Xander's mother. They didn't have a tearful goodbye but we could tell they were reluctant to leave each other. They're so alike sometimes, it's a little weird.

Xander was currently beside me pouting as he could no longer pet the tiger. It had escaped his clutches and found a safe haven up in his hair funnily enough. It was small enough to curl up there. Even funnier, whenever Xander tried to remove him, the tiger's claws came out and attached to his skull. I had giggled at that for awhile.

Xander scratched at his chin in deep thought. "It has to be something really intimidating. He's gonna be huge when he grows up after all! How about-"

"Giggles!"

Xander deadpanned as he looked at me the tigers tail swinging over his forehead. "What."

"Giggles!" I cheered again. He seemed to consider facepalming before thinking better of it. "That is so dumb Lissa. Can you imagine our enemies when they encounter him with that name? Run! It's Giggles! The giant murder tiger that looks like it can eat you whole! Imagine some poor soldier that gets buried and on his gravestone they put, Rip so and so death by Giggles."

I laughed smiling at his crazy imagination. "What was your idea?"

He smiled proudly. "Lord Murder Snowflake!" I burst out laughing, doubling over. Xander looked at me confused. "What?"

Eventually we decided to not go with anything overtly intimidating or cute and settled on the name Snow. Not just Snow though, Xander insisted on it being in the same dialect that Feroxian culture used 'latin' or something like that, i didn't understand it. He settled on Nix but then I made him change the 'i' to a 'y' because it looks cooler when spelled out. He agreed after a short dispute that ended with me threatening to snatch Nyx.

The trip back to Ylisstol was even more boring than the journey to Ferox. No battles or anything to take our minds off the mind numbing marching pace we had. It is a good though I guess. Our pegasus knights must be working hard to keep Risen from the settlements in Ylisse. The Feroxian forces were going to be a big help from what I heard too. Xander was pretty overwhelmed trying to learn how to place and manage his troops. Robin and him were usually seen side by side during the march talking about supply management and deployment. Speaking of Xander, most of the Shepherds were pretty taken aback at how normal he was acting after his blow up in the feast hall. I happily took up my role as a gossip(this time for the forces of good) and spread the news that he made up with his mother.

I smiled darkly as I approached my target silently. I had waited hours for the perfect time to strike. During the day my target was alert and unapproachable. But once we stopped for the night he was vulnerable.

I steeled myself for the conflict ahead and drew in a deep breath.

"Looooon'quuuu?"

The aforementioned myrmidon yelped and leaped to his feet eyes wide as he saw my shadowed figure. "Foul witch! Away with you!" I pouted. "But Lon'quuuu, I brought tea so we can sit and talk." I held out the tray. Lon'qu's hand twitched towards his blade, teeth grit in my direction. "I will give you one chance hag! Leave before I am forced to take action against your fell sorcery!"

"What's all the racket out here?!"

"Your cacophonous commotion is unsettling."

Lon'qu choked at the reveal of the two similarly colored haired women coming out of a nearby tent. "ACK! THEY'RE MULTIPLYING!" Lon'qu swiftly turned and ran through camp. "TO ARMS MEN! THE WITCHES HAVE COME IN FORCE!"

I giggled at the typically stoic warrior's antics before turning to a cranky and confused Sully and an unimpressed Miriel. "What the hell was that about?" I pouted. "No idea, I just wanted to talk, what a meanie."

Mirel blinked before gazing at me. "You planned this." I gasped in fake shock. "Wha- me?" Sully's face went blank as she looked between me and Miriel. "Are ya kidding me Miriel? The kid planned this?"

The bespectacled mage nodded in assent. "Lissa is infamous for her practical jokes and tricks. While she more commonly implements simple pranks, there is no reason why she couldn't have been able to plan for something bigger in scale. In fact, she was involved in the incident pertaining the cattle some time back." I laughed nervously and backed away slowly. "Whaat? That wasn't meee."

Sully gaped at me before turning red in anger. "You bitch!" I paled and dropped my tray before hiking up my skirt and booking it the other way. "I'm sooooorry! I didn't think you would care!" Sully took off after me cracking her knuckles. "You didn't think I would care?! I HAD NIGHTMARES FOR WEEKS!"

Miriel simply massaged the bridge of her nose before sighing in annoyance.

I yawned and reached up to grab Nyx. I gingerly placed the sleeping cub on my bed and ran a hand absentmindedly through his fur. Nyx had been a bit of a handful during the march. While during the day he was perched on my head either taking catnaps or rigorously grooming himself, when night fell he got into all sorts of trouble. More than once I found him rooting through our food supplies or hunting the other shepherds. Yeah, you heard that right, he was hunting the shepherds. Whenever I took my eyes off him in my tent he would leave before stalking the other shepherds. He was dedicated to it too. Apparently he tracked Sumia down during her shift on night watch and waited till she was in her tent before pouncing on her. Thankfully that's all he would do though. After successfully catching his prey he would tire himself out trying to drag them away and end up taking a nap in his prey's tent. The other shepherds didn't really mind his hunts and usually amused themselves after a long day by playing with him or feeding him. Sumia was the only Shepherd who genuinely panicked but she just ended up tripping on her face instead of acting hostile towards Nyx.

Despite the impact Nyx had on my sleeping habits I was still satisfied with the progress I made with my responsibilities. Both Robin and Chrom were more than happy to help me with the task of organizing the forces Flavia had placed under my control. Ten thousand men was not a force that anyone could take lightly at the moment. Regna Ferox's military seemed to be directly inspired by the Roman empire from my world. The largest unit in the Feroxian army was a legion which contained 5,000 men. Within the legion were ten cohorts. Cohorts two through ten consisted of 475 men each and the first cohort had 725 troops that utilized specialized units. Further divided down within each cohort were nine pillars. Each pillar possessed 50 men except for the first which had 75. Smaller military units usually coined their own teams as squads, detachments, platoons or companies.

It still astonished me every day that I was now in command of two of those monstrously large legions. It amazed me more when I was able to do such a good job of deploying those men. Don't get me wrong, Robin explained to me the dos and don'ts of commanding such a large force but I had a knack for proper logistics. Ylisse has 21 dukedoms each with their own town guard and homegrown militia. Those regions aren't a high priority for Chrom at the moment but he would still like to see them reinforced. The towns that Chrom is concerned with are places like Southtown. The towns that are big enough to house a large number of occupants but don't have a duke or town guard to keep them safe from Risen. There are around 80 confirmed settlements that have been mapped and cataloged. It was daunting trying to separate my forces into those that would be able to support themselves near those settlements and others that could be sent to the dukedoms. It wasn't until the end of our march to Ylisstol that I was able to send out the messenger riders that Flavia put under my command. I could tell they weren't the happiest to have to ride back to Tyrus when we had just arrived in Ylisstol but they followed my orders.

I laid down beside Nyx sighing in relief. Finally, it's been too long since I've been able to sleep in a nice bed with some peace and quiet. "Xander!" I groaned and sat up slowly. "What now Robin?" Robin was at my doorway clutching a small stack of papers and looking as much of a mess as I felt. "Plegia sacked Themis! King Gangrel took Maribelle!"

"Fuck."

AN: And there is the chapter people. A bit short but I hope the content was worth it. We had our reveal of Xander's parentage, good job legendary stvsrt, lots of heated and tense dialogue that I hoped came out as genuine as possible and some scattered cooldown povs from that point on. Not much content in the latter half of this chapter to be honest just some Lissa shenanigans that I thought would be nice here instead of just skipping the entire march and trying to make more content of Xander in Ylisstol before the Themis bullshit. Flavia was pretty fun to write to be honest if a bit hard to pin down on how I wanted her to act. So, I really like the whole companion thing with Nyx I put in. I was tempted to do an OC bodyguard but I held off on that for another time because it seemed to be a bit overwhelming to try and fit in an introduction with all of the drama in this chapter. The tiger seemed to be a good compromise. I might've just butchered the whole snow Nix latin thing and made it sound greek instead but I like spelling Nyx instead of Nix so there. Just imagine an albino tiger. I can't remember if I wanted him to be a sabertooth tiger or not I'll probably put that in next chapter. Speaking of next chapter, WINTER IS COMING *COUGH* WAR IS COMING. Fun times ahead indeed for our characters. Don't worry if it takes a bit for this next chapter to be about I haven't written ahead yet so there's gonna be some brainstorming, replaying of the chapter on the game and lots of writing while I struggle with school coming next week. I'm not gonna give up on this story any time soon but I might be distracted by other stories I'm writing or IRL stuff. Anyways I hope you guys have a good day and an even better week.

-Insaneauthor050701