An Preson Peepul continues to review my story, which I am very grateful for, and I gotta say the reviews hurt—but the good kind of hurt, the constructive criticism kind of hurt. So please keep them coming! I will use what I can to improve this story, but I will say that this is, in all reality, a first draft. A revision may or may not be in the future, but only once I've finished this project. Admittedly, there are things in this story that I want to focus on that might go against your tips (though thank you for pinging me about build-up and subtlety, I could definitely use more of those), so maybe that stuff might make more sense once this thing is completed. Or maybe not—again, I'm not leaving out the possibility of a revision.

"W-Why, um... why not w-write the whole th-thing first a-and then re-revise and th-then post it?"

Well, baby Inigo, I think I got overly excited about this and had to have it out NOW. To be fair, doing it this way means that the feedback I get is both helpful and inspiring, buuuut it might also mean I might end up changing stuff I don't want to change.

"Y-You haven't y-yet, I think... s-so far, an-anyway."

Yeah, there are just some things I absolutely HAVE to have in this story no matter what, stuff I need to work on notwithstanding.

Don't own, yada yada, may the Fourth be with you! (Wait, sorry, wrong franchise. :D)

Peter eyed his uncle as the bluenette clutched the railing of the ship. "You… don't take well to sailing, do you."

"N-Nope—urp—" He leaned over and vomited into the sea again. "Ughhh… this is worse th-than—last time—hrk!"

The blonde quirked an eyebrow as Chrom heaved once again. "When was the last time?"

"When I was… four…" He hung over the railing, spent. "Th-That time I had medicine to h-help."

"I see." The troubadour nodded. "Perhaps I should ask Sir Stahl if he has any of his stomach tonic to spare? Perhaps it might help."

"Maybe." The bluenette wiped his mouth on the back of his hand. "Y-Y'know… Something you said—wait, no, that was Morgan—you said Dad helped you guys get to this timeline, but when we were speaking about it with the Khans and Lucina, he said Naga did it."

"Ah. Yes, your confusion is understandable." Peter gave a small smirk. "He told all of us that, if we ever arrived at a time where we might meet the mysterious swordswoman, we must not reveal it was him who sent us here. Loath as I might be to use it, Naga is a convenient excuse."

Chrom stood up, brow furrowed in thought. "Does he really have that big of a grudge against her? The swordswoman, I mean."

The blonde shrugged as he ushered his uncle back to the mage-healer's cabin. "His reasoning about it is sound, if petty, and I would not be surprised to find that dragons can hold grudges longer than humans can."

"Yeah…"

The two made it to the bluenette's cabin, where they found Kellam standing around. The black-haired man grinned and pulled them both into a hug. "Hi, you two!" He let Peter go and slapped him on the back before turning to Chrom. "How's my favorite shortie and his nephew?"

"Oh, hi, Kellam," Chrom drawled. "Almost didn't see you there, your face is too high up." He craned his neck, pretending to look for the taller man's face. Peter chuckled, and Kellam rolled his eyes.

"Very funny. I came here because the gang decided to have a mini reunion party seeing as we're all back together again. You up for it?"

"Ooh, gee, I don't know," the mage groaned, holding his stomach. "As long as there isn't really food there, I should be good."

"Uh-huh." The paladin slipped a small bottle out of his pocket and plopped it into the younger man's hands. "Courtesy of Stahl. I mentioned to him that you've gotten seasick before, so he and Tia whipped up a whole crateful of this stuff."

Chrom gasped. "Really?! Oh, thank the gods, he's a life saver!" He uncorked the bottle and downed its contents in one gulp. "Blegh. Tastes like Dad's cough medicine."

Kellam laughed. "Ew, yeah, I remember that stuff. Worked like a charm, though." He patted the bluenette on the back. "You should feel better in about fifteen minutes, if not more. Peter, good to see you, kiddo."

"Likewise, Sir Kellam." Peter gave him a courteous nod.

"Aw, come on, call me Kellam! You're this goofball's nephew, I don't see why we can't be casual with each other."

"Gee, thanks, Kellam," the mage muttered.

Peter laughed. "Very well, then. I will keep that in mind. Have fun, Uncle Chrom." Then he was off down the corridor.

As the two old friends walked, Chrom felt his stomach began to settle, and he breathed a sigh of relief. Dad and Stahl should really hang out more often, I don't see why they wouldn't both nerd out about medicine together. They reached another cabin, and Kellam knocked on the door. It swung open to reveal a ponytailed redhead who asked, "What's the password?"

The ravenette looked her dead in the eye. "P-A-S-S-W-O-R-D."

"Nope!"

"Clink-clink, mother-gouger."

"Noooo!"

"Anna."

"Not even close!"

"Anna, come on, let them in." Chrom peered inside the room and found Cordelia sitting on the floor, working with something, probably food. Her lips were pursed and shoulders shaking. Clearly she found Anna's antics funny even if she disapproved of them. "We want to get the party started already."

Anna got up in Kellam's face. "Pay up, bucko." The man gave her a rude gesture. "Fair enough. You're in." She let him through, and Chrom stepped up. "You can go in, you've got a perpetual free ticket. And the coolest dragon dad in existence."

"… Thank you?" He went in and sat down next to Kellam, and she followed him in, closing the door. "What happened to get me a free ticket?"

"You hired me, ding-dong." She seated herself next to him and grabbed a handful of dried nuts. "So. That story you promised me earlier. Spill."

Over the next hour or so, the four swapped stories of what they had been doing in the years since they had split up, mostly for Anna's benefit as she hadn't been with them the past couple of years. The ponytailed redhead had followed in the rest of her extended family's footsteps and worked as a merchant all over the continent. She'd happened to be staying in Port Ferox the day the Valmese attacked, which Chrom couldn't help but be grateful for. The other three told her about the war with Plegia and their families, and apparently the bluenette's story did not disappoint; she was shocked when he relayed to her how he found out he was the prince, how he'd saved his older sister, and how he'd managed to broker an alliance with the desert country. "I wonder if it still holds up under Validar's rule, or if he's even aware of it," he wondered at one point. "Dad probably alerted him to it."

When he was done, Anna announced, "You and I are booking a photo session with your little kiddo and I am so definitely selling them for super-high prices."

"Noooooo, the ones my dad had me do with your mom were bad enough!" he groaned.

Cordelia frowned. "Speaking of Lucina, how is she doing? The future version, I mean. She had to be led on to the ship, last I saw her."

The bluenette sighed, shaking his head. "I keep trying to see her, but she barricades the door to her cabin every time. I'm not entirely sure why, to be honest."

"Maybe you should get Miriel on her case," Kellam suggested.

"Or you could have her go see one of my sisters! She works as a therapist," Anna put forth. "It's a field that's actually fairly old, but it's been neglected for centuries. I'm sure she'll offer a good amount of sessions at a fair price!"

"Oh. Thank you, but are you sure she can handle the things my daughter has been through? The world she came from must've been hellish, and finding out your timeline is already different may have hurt her pretty badly," Chrom mused. "This is an extremely unusual situation, and I want to proceed with sensitivity and care. One wrong move, and I feel like we might damage her permanently."

"Ooh, good point. Well, I'll see what she can do for your little girl. Might be tough with us in Valm, however."

"Yes, that's fair." The boy smiled. "Thank you all. I really appreciate you trying to help her."

After the little get-together, Chrom headed to the cabin his wife and Sumia shared with his future daughter. As he expected, the door was closed. He knocked, hoping for an answer. "Luci? Luci, it's your dad. Are you okay? I just want to make sure you're feeling well."

"Go away!" she snapped. "You're not my real father, and I won't pretend like you are!"

The bluenette stepped back in shock. "What?! Lu-Lucina, I—you told me I was your father, what changed?"

"I don't want to talk to you!"

"Please, Lucina, I'm trying to help you out here! Locking yourself up in your room is not going to make you feel better in the long run! Trust me, I've done that before, and it didn't help matters. If anything, it made me feel worse."

"I don't care." Her voice was hard, icy. "Send me back to my real past. I don't want to have anything to do with you."

Her words broke his heart, lodging a pain in his breast. How could his own daughter not want to even be with him?! To connect with him?! Was she truly in so much pain? He stepped back towards the door, resting his hand on it. "Lucina…" His voice cracked. "I can't imagine what you're going through, but even if it turns out I'm not the father from your timeline, can't you let me help you in his place? Don't you think he would want you to be happy and healthy instead of suffering alone like this?"

Silence descended for about a minute. Then the door unlocked and swung open halfway. Lucina glared at him, her expression hard and eyes faintly red-rimmed. "How is that going to work? I have no idea if you're anything like him."

"Why don't you find out?" He spread his arms open towards her. "You'll never know unless you give me a chance."

She huffed. "That'll just make it worse. I'll keep wanting to see him in you and failing when you end up being different."

"Oh, Luci." He sighed. "You were so happy to see me… to reveal yourself to me. Aren't you just glad to see me at all? To be with me? Please, do you really want to waste your free time shutting me out when you could be spending it with me?"

The girl looked at him for a long moment before biting her lip. "You… you have a point." Her shoulders slumped. "I-I'm sorry, it's just… there's so much to take in right now."

"Then let me help you, sweetheart."

She nodded and stepped into his arms, giving him a hesitant hug. He wrapped her up in a fierce embrace and felt her tense, then relax.

"It's gonna be okay, Luci. I'll help it be so."

"Okay, so the Valmese have as many ships as we do," Robin laid out, smoothing out his map, "but they have twice as many troops at their disposal. We need to exploit their relative unfamiliarity with seafaring as well as their higher numbers and their preference for cavalry."

As he began setting out markers for the two sides, Chrom, Frederick, Lissa, and the Khans watched with scrutiny. When the grandmaster finished, he addressed Flavia. "How many of your men have experience fighting mounted soldiers?"

"Not nearly enough," she replied. "We take them in a straight fight, we'll be slaughtered."

"Okay, good to know. That's not what we're going for."

"Which one?" Lissa asked. "The straight fight or the slaughter?"

"Both. Flavia, Basilio, what supplies do we have?"

The bald man hummed in thought. "Well, Plegia gave us a ton of oil. I'm sure you could find a use for that."

"Ooh, good, good. Anything else? Preferably explosive?"

Chrom's eyes lit up, an idea already in his head. "Oh! I actually know a few spells that might do the trick! Ask Tharja and Miriel too, they did some experiments a couple months ago with cocktail bombs and such."

"Wait, hang on a second." Basilio frowned. "How do you propose we get those over to the enemy fleet without setting ourselves on fire? We don't have any catapults."

Robin scratched his head as he studied the map. Then a mischievous glint entered his eyes. "That depends on what you define as a catapult."

The bluenette furrowed his brow, thinking about what his friend had said. Let's see, half-staffed ships, plenty of explosive material… what am I missing? I mean, we could put everyone onto half of the ships to make them full, but what about the empty other… half… Oh. Oh! He gasped. "Robin, you're a genius!"

His friend laughed. "Figure out what I was thinking?"

"Yeah, but…" The prince balked. "If we go through with this, they're going to get slaughtered."

Robin sighed. "Chrom, now is not the time to have an ethics crisis. It's either them or us, and personally I'd like us all to stay alive so that your dad doesn't have to resurrect me and kill me for getting you killed."

The bluenette bowed his head. Much as he didn't want to agree, his friend was telling the truth. It wasn't like the war with Plegia where the people were stuck under an oppressive leader's rule, although that could be the case here. Still, if he didn't fight with everything in his arsenal, the chance that all of them would make it home would be slim to none, and that… losing anyone was out of the question. His shoulders slumped as he realized he was going to have to kill on purpose for the first time in his life. I never wanted this… but there's simply no other way.

"You… You're right. I don't like it at all, but you're right." His eyes closed in reluctant acceptance.

Frederick laid a hand on his shoulder. "I understand you wish for as many people as possible to make it out alive—and in that, you have my respect, just like Emmeryn does. Now, you must make sure all of us live to reunite with our children and families."

Chrom nodded. "I understand. I'll do my best." He opened his eyes and looked up at the others, a ferocity in his gleaming blue orbs. "We're going to survive this. All of us. Together."

"That's what I wanna hear!" Lissa cheered.

The tactician grinned. "Excellent. Flavia, Basilio, when we're done I need you to move everybody to our strongest ships. Chrom, Lissa, Frederick, for this plan we need to disrupt the Valmese's chain of command. Taking out their general with our best fighters should cause enough chaos for them to be unable to defend against our bombing ships. I'd ask all of you to lead the charge, but," he glanced over at them, "Frederick is the king and Chrom and Lissa are the prince and princess."

"Of course we are. And as such, we shall lead the charge," the brunette justified, the ghost of a smirk twinkling in his eyes. Robin laughed.

"Very well, then. We'll need our strongest fighters for the strike team. I'm thinking Sumia and myself, Chrom and Olivia, Lissa and Vaike, Sully and Kellam, and Frederick for starters." The platinum-head cupped his chin in contemplation. "As much as I might be against Lucina joining us, she's also one of our very best. Plus, getting out and releasing pent up emotions might do her good. I think I'll put her with Frederick, in that case. Lissa, Frederick, can you alert the Shepherds?"

"Of course."

"Sure thing!"

"And tell Morgan and Peter that they're paired up for now!" he called as they left. The princess acknowledged him with a wave of her hand. Robin turned back to Chrom. "I sure wish Raven were here to help us out. Hey, do you think he'd mind showing up in the middle of battle to cause more chaos?"

The bluenette tapped his finger to his lips. "Whatever he's doing in Plegia must be important, but if things get dire out here, I'll let him know we need his help."

"Okay, fair enough. Wish we had Ciel here too, he's one of our better swordsmen," the older mage muttered.

Basilio perked up. "What's that kid doing, anyway? I'm surprised he isn't with you guys."

"He's helping Raven babysit all of the Shepherds' kids while we're away. Raven has to go to Plegia sometimes for business—he wormed his way back into the Grimleal, you see, he's the Hierophant—so Ciel's in charge of the kids during those visits."

"Wow." Flavia raised her eyebrows. "That bad, huh?"

Chrom gave her a puzzled look. "What do you mean?"

The Feroxi woman shrugged. "Oh, he just doesn't strike me as the kind of guy to have enough patience for almost a dozen babies. I mean, he did raise you, but you were older than that."

"No, no, not at all." The bluenette laughed. "Dad absolutely adores taking care of them. He'd never seen a newborn up close before Peter, so this is like paradise for him."

Basilio laughed as well, clapping the boy on the back. "Your old man's a funny guy, ain't he, kiddo. But hey, we're glad he's here! Or, not here here, but you know what I mean."

"I do, sir, thank you."

As the two left the captain's cabin, Robin added, "It's probably better he's not here anyway, he'd probably go nuts at the sight of Lucina, and that's the last thing we'd want, what with her the way she is now."

"Couldn't we just tell him she's his granddaughter? He loves present-time Luci as it is."

The older mage snorted. "You know, I don't think he'll care, and he'll probably argue that she isn't his Luci."

"Nooooo, not two of them!"

"You see my point, then?"

"… Touché." Chrom sighed. "Gods, I wish this battle was over and done with already."

"Don't we all, Chrom. Don't we all."

Everyone had been moved, the bomb ships had been primed, and the strike team briefed and prepped. As the strike ship sailed towards the Valmese flagship, Chrom tightened his hold around Olivia's waist, nerves twanging with the adrenaline and mana pouring through his veins. He breathed deep and slow, mind sharp and clear, steadying himself for what he would have to do. Then the two ships met, and the battle was on.

Umbra could leave a person knocked out for days unless he woke them up himself, which was fine for fighting at range, but the battle began to hem the Shepherds in at close quarters. Chrom slashed and stabbed at the enemy with his silver sword. He'd practiced during the peacetime with Ciel and Lon'qu until he was just barely under the younger bluenette's level, and he was grateful for his improved skill as he parried a swordsman's blade away before slamming shadows into the Valmese's face. Shame there wasn't an extra Falchion around, it would be very helpful for divesting these soldiers of their weapons, freakish calling to his blood aside. Some of their armor too, it was often a bit too thick for his sword to cut through.

As he leapt off of Avalon and whirled around, nailing a lancer in the head, the bluenette spotted a black-haired woman in a suit of heavy armor standing off to the side. The general apparently noticed her too, for he bellowed, "Girl! Fight or be fed to the fishes! Your lance belongs to the Conqueror and to him alone!"

The woman gritted her teeth. "You know, I don't agree with any of this!" she yelled back. Lucina's head whipped in her direction, and Chrom saw her eyes widen.
"Kjelle! Kjelle, is that you?!"

"Luci?!"

The bluenette boy gasped. "That's Sully's daughter?! We've gotta get her out of there! Robin! Future Kjelle is here!"

"I see her!" the tactician yelled back. "Sully, Kellam, armored lancer to your three o'clock! That's your daughter, get her out of there!"

"On it!" The two paladins barreled through the crush and stationed themselves on either side of the woman, fighting off any Valmese who tried to get near. "Get rid of that armor and get up on my horse!" Sully barked to her.

"What?!"

"Just the heaviest parts! You can get more when we get back! Luci, help her out!" The blue-haired swordswoman nodded as Frederick ferried her over, slipping off his mount and frantically working with her friend at the armor's clasps. The king-consort formed a protective triangle around the two girls with Sully and Kellam. In a few minutes, the heavy shell had been torn off, leaving the lancer in her more basic underplating. The ravenette swung up into the saddle behind her mother with her lance, and Lucina mounted back up behind her uncle. Chrom breathed a sigh of relief as he fought his way towards the now livid general, who was hollering at Kjelle about desertion and walking the plank.

"Let's take this guy down all his notches, Livvie."

"With pleasure, Rommie darling."

Robin and Sumia joined them as they rushed the general, bombarding him with spells. The irate Valmese man swung his lance at the bluenette, who dodged and pulled, teleporting to Olivia's pegasus. "Pathetic dogs! You will all fall before the Conqueror's blade! Sooner, later, it matters not—only that you submit to him in the end!"

"How about you shut up, you pompous dastard!" the tactician snarked back. "Nobody cares what you think!"

"Hey, Robin!"

"Yeah?"

"Remember how we dealt with Validar?"

Firing a bolt at the general (which the man blocked with his shield), the older mage yelled back, "You want to try blowing up the ship we're on now?! I mean, we were in a corridor last time! We have no idea how it's going to work in the open air!"

"Tell everybody to get to the bow of the ship and we should be good!"

"Right!" The grandmaster gave out the orders to the rest of the strike force, who pulled back as commanded. "Ready?"

"You know it!" Chrom conjured a massive ball of Umbra over his head and threw it at the general. As it was in the process of swallowing up the man, Robin threw a bolt of Thoron at the ball, and the bluenette shrieked, "EVERYBODY GET CLEAR!"

The deck where the general had been standing exploded, and the dark fliers streaked out of the blast zone with their passengers. On the bow, the other Shepherds raced onto the strike ship, which sailed away when everyone had boarded. An enormous ball of sparking darkness grew out of the combined spells and engulfed the entire flagship. Chrom glanced back just as the whole thing vaporized in a black flash and a vwoom of sound, a shockwave sweeping out from the epicenter of the blast and plowing through the fleeing Ylisseans. The bluenette prince held on for dear life as Avalon tumbled through the air, his wife fighting to right the pegasus. After several heart-stopping moments, the mount steadied with a whinny, and the two breathed a sigh of relief. Nearby, Bellemere hovered with Robin and Sumia looking on at the devastation in shock. When the smoke and shadows cleared, absolutely nothing was left of the flagship.

"… Whoa," the tactician breathed. "What'd you do this time to make it so powerful?"

"W-Well, last time you threw a Thunder at it, not a full-on Thoron."

"Oh. That makes sense. That's good to know for future reference."

The strike group rejoined the Archanean fleet and watched as the bomb ships drew closer to the Valmese fleet, some of them threading in between and in the middle of the warships. Robin nodded to Chrom, and the bluenette teleported to the belly of the centermost ship. He activated the explosive spells placed on the ship and teleported out just in time to see the vessel blow up, sending a chain reaction through the rest of the rigged ships. In almost no time at all, a humongous inferno blazed where the Conqueror's fleet had been. The Shepherds whooped and cheered, and the celebrating quickly spread to the rest of the Archanean ships.

"We set the sea on fire! Woo!" Lissa cried, high-fiving Vaike and Robin. "Robin, that was genius! Chrom, you were amazing getting it all set up! Never seen anything cooler in my life!"

Basilio howled with laughter. "Only you two could come up with such a crazy scheme and make it work," he said.

"Crazy yet simple." Flavia chuckled. "The Valmese never knew what hit 'em."

Chrom gave a weak smile at their praise. "The war hasn't been won yet," he pointed out. "But if we continue on like we did today…"

"We'll definitely stand a chance," Robin finished.

"We won't let Walhart win!"

"Kjelle! Oh, thank goodness you're safe!" Lucina hugged her friend tightly, and the other woman returned the gesture just as fiercely. "I've been so worried about all of you, but I'm glad to see you're okay!"

"You too, Luce!" The lancer disengaged with a boisterous grin. "I'm glad you guys found me when you did. Getting drafted into Walhart's army was no joke. Ignatius, that guy who was the general? Total slave driver. I mean, I'm all for getting stronger, but that man was insane. And he thought I was worse than the others because I'm a girl." Kjelle's expression turned sour. "You guys sure showed him."

Chrom frowned. "Why on earth would he think such a thing? Boy, girl, it doesn't matter—what does is your skill and experience."

The ravenette glanced at him. "Who's this wussy mage, and why is he here?"

"Kjelle!" the blue-haired swordswoman squawked. "That's—! He's—! Ahem." She cleared her throat. "Kjelle, this is my father. This timeline's version of him, anyway."

"And he helped kill the general, so you shush about him being wussy," Robin sassed. "He's the best mage we have here, dragons notwithstanding, and he's actually decent with a sword now. You should've seen him before we went to war with Plegia, he was pathetic with a blade."

Chrom gave him a flat look. "Thank you very much for that backhanded compliment, Robin."

"Of course!" The older mage grinned. "What are friends for?"

The bluenette rolled his eyes and cuffed his brotherly friend upside the head, making the platinum-head giggle. "Anyway, yes. I am Prince Chrom of Ylisse. I understand you and Lucina are fellow time-travelers, and we're going to help you find all of your friends."

"Hey, wait, we don't know if she's from Luci's future," the tactician pointed out. He turned to the black-haired lancer. "Does the name Peter mean anything to you?"

"… No?" she answered, giving him an odd look.

"Okay, then. Welp, that's one kid that won't recognize him."

At that point, Sully and Kellam, who had finished up taking care of their horses, joined the group in the flagship's galley. The redhead made her way over to her daughter from the future and put her hands on the girl's shoulders, looking her in the eyes. After a few minutes of scrutiny, the paladin announced, "Yeah, she's our kid, all right." A big grin spread onto the woman's face. "You got my fire and your dad's moxie, kiddo."

Kjelle smiled. "Thank you, Mom. Um, where is Dad, exactly?"

"Right here." Sully gestured to Kellam, who waved at her in delight. "I know he kind of tends to disappear with other people, but—"

"Kellam isn't my father," the lancer interrupted.

Silence.

The black-haired man gave a weak chuckle. "Uh, what?"

Lucina nodded. "It's true. Kjelle is the daughter of Sully and Vaike."

The two paladins frowned and glanced at each other. "But… Vaike is married to Lissa," Sully argued. "There's no way he's her dad."

A look of horrified confusion came over the faces of the two girls from the future. "Wait a second, Aunt Lissa is married to Vaike?! But what about Uncle Lon'qu?! And Tharja?!"

"Tharja's married to Gaius," Robin explained, "and Lon'qu is—last I heard, anyway—being pursued by Cherche."

"That's all wrong!" Lucina burst out. "Gaius should be married to Anna, and Cherche should be married to Virion! And Frederick should be married to Miriel, not Aunt Emm!"

Kjelle's eyes widened. "Wait, what?! Emmeryn is alive?!"

"Apparently! According to Frederick, my father teleported her away just before she died at her execution! And she's married to Frederick!"

A sinking feeling gnawed at the opening pit in Chrom's stomach. "Lucina, who all is married to whom in your timeline?"

The girl bit her lip. "You and Olivia, Robin and Sumia, Aunt Lissa and Lon'qu, Frederick and Miriel, Vaike and Sully, Henry and Cordelia, Ricken and Maribelle, Stahl and Panne, Donnel and Nowi, Kellam and Tharja, Virion and Cherche, and Gaius and Anna."

Robin blinked. "Okay, so except for the first two, none of those are the same here."

"What?!" Lucina and Kjelle cried. The former stammered, "B-B-But—that's completely impossible!"

"It's true. Here, it's Lissa and Vaike, Frederick and Emmeryn, Kellam and Sully, Stahl and Cordelia, Donnel and Maribelle, Ricken and Nowi, Gaius and Tharja, Virion and Panne, and Libra and Miriel. Henry and Anna seem to be a thing, and Lon'qu and Cherche are still in the making." The tactician hummed in thought.

"Are… are you telling me… that except for you and Father… nobody married the right person in this timeline?!" the swordswoman screeched. Kjelle flinched in pain, but the future princess didn't seem to take notice. "That's—! That shouldn't be—! Even if this were the wrong timeline, everyone should've married the same!"

"Maybe not," the platinum-haired man mused. "Different timelines can account for all sorts of anomalies. Although, I'm curious. Does the roster of your friends include Cynthia, Morgan, Owain, Severa, Brady, Noire, Yarne, and Laurent? Because those are the children of the current Shepherds."

"We have already established that Morgan is accounted for," Frederick finally spoke up, having watched the scene from his seat, "though in Lucina's timeline he is apparently a girl."

Kjelle whipped around to face the princess. "Morgan is a guy here?!" she hissed.

"I'm as lost as you are!" Lucina retorted. "But yes, all those names belong to our friends. Cynthia and Morgan are twins to Robin and Sumia, Owain is my cousin, Severa is Henry and Cordelia's daughter, Brady is Ricken and Maribelle's son, Noire is Kellam and Tharja's, Yarne is Stahl and Panne's, and Laurent is Frederick and Miriel's."

The tactician nodded. "I see."

"What are you thinking, Robin?" Chrom asked his friend.

"Isn't it obvious? There's a pattern here. It sounds like all of the kids from Luci and Kjelle's future share something in common with the kids from our present."

Frederick's eyes widened. "Their parents. The mothers are all the same, but the fathers are different. Furthermore, because Emmeryn is alive, Peter exists."

"So—So wait, you're telling me our mothers married the wrong fathers?!" Kjelle yelled. "How screwed up is this timeline?!"

"I don't even think we're in the right timeline, Kjelle!" Lucina lamented. "My own father wields magic instead of Falchion! My aunt wields Falchion! Clearly we are in a parallel dimension or a nightmare of Grima's making, but we are certainly not in our own past!"

The adults glanced at each other, bewildered. "But you said Naga sent you to your own past," the bluenette mage-healer pointed out. "Peter thinks one of you traveled too far into the past—"

"Peter doesn't count, and I don't care what he thinks!" his daughter shrieked. "But it's obvious to me that Grima did something to make us fall into this wrong timeline, and once I find all my friends, I'm going to fix it and go to the right timeline! You all can just forget about me helping out since you clearly have the end of the world in hand!" And with that declaration, she stormed out, slamming the door closed behind her.

The group stared after her in stunned silence for several minutes. Eventually Kjelle cleared her throat, biting her lip. "I don't know if this will help prove anything, but…" she held up a ring, "this is my mother's wedding ring. Only my true mother would have it."

Sully grinned, removing her glove and showing an identical ring on her finger. "Looks like it's a match to me, kiddo."

Kjelle stared at the two, then nodded, tears welling up in her eyes. The redhead stepped forward, and she threw her arms around her mother, sniffling. Sully hugged her back, rocking her and murmuring consolation in her ear. Kellam slipped over to their side, laying a hand on either woman's shoulder. The black-haired girl looked up at him, eyes red and watery.

"Look… Kjelle," the tall man began. "I understand that, in your future, you were born to a different guy. But… I hope that, if you want to, you would do me the honor of letting me be your father here too. I'm not ever gonna replace him, that's clear. But, I don't know, it's not like you're limited to just one dad. Look at Olivia, she's a prime example of a kid who grew up with a man who she chose to be her dad! She knows her birth father still existed and raised her to a point, but she also has her foster father! And she's not the only one in the Shepherds who was adopted or had multiple parents!" The others agreed, verbally and with nods.

Kjelle glanced at all of them before focusing back on Kellam. "Well… I didn't know Noire all that well, but she always spoke fondly of her father—when she remembered him, that is." That got a few chuckles and a smirk from Chrom. "So, I… I think I would be the one who's honored to have you as a father." Her expression steeled. "But we're going to duel first before I can accept it! Show me your strength!"

"You betcha! Atta girl, Kjelle!"

The two ravenettes grinned. "Main deck, two hours. Be there or forfeit."

"Oh, you're on, kiddo." He followed her out of the galley. Sully chuckled and went after them.

Robin and Chrom glanced at each other. "Well, correct me if I'm wrong, but Kjelle seemed to take that much better than Luci did," the white-haired mage commented.

"You're telling me. Is it just because of their personalities?"

Frederick frowned. "It is a most curious thing. One would think that both would either be somewhat accepting of the situation or denying it entirely, but perhaps their varying temperaments allow them to process and comprehend it differently, not to mention their different experiences."

The bluenette sighed. "I just hope we can help Lucina deal with this quickly. I don't like seeing her so distraught."

"Yeah, because we're gonna be coming up on Valm soon and we'll need her skill."

"Yes…"

Luci… I just hope we can sort this all out so that you can heal…

Why were things so horribly, horribly wrong?!

She'd been living for the past two years with the knowledge that her father did not, for some god-forsaken reason, wield the weapon that was by all accounts his birthright. Yes, she'd intervened during the tournament and Aunt Emm's assassination, but seeing history apparently continue to stick to the course it had followed before, even with her father altered, had been discouraging, and she'd distanced herself from the Shepherds. She'd actually been searching for her friends in Ylisse, and then Ferox, for the two years that followed the war with Plegia. Unfortunately she'd come up empty and resigned herself to joining the expedition to Valm. At that point her counterpart in this timeline would've been born anyway, so she'd traveled to Carrion Isle in the hopes of catching the Shepherds.

She'd rescued her father from that Risen assassin and entered into the dialogue she'd prepared to explain her presence. She'd told him his blade and hers were one… and he had denied that Falchion was his! Worse, he didn't want to wield it! And when she'd asked him about it later, he'd said Aunt Lissa was the only choice! Why was she the only choice?! What had happened to him to leave her aunt the sole capable wielder of the divine blade?! Why in the world had he taken up magic, dark magic of all things, in this timeline?! It just made no sense! And he should never have been able to wield it in the first place, he had absolutely no talent for it!

And finding out that Morgan had somehow switched genders and Peter existed in the first place (because her aunt had somehow survived thanks to her father, according to the others)? So many similarities and yet so many differences! It couldn't possibly be the right timeline after all. Each of the timelines that existed should follow the same course of events as each other, which would make it easier for her to save the world. So this anomaly of a past could not be anything other than a trap laid by Grima. How the Fell Dragon knew of Naga's plan, she had no idea, but it was not unreasonable to assume he had his ways. After all, Father had been betrayed and killed by someone dear to him, perhaps the foul beast had used someone in the Shepherds to carry out his dirty work.

Which meant she had to find her friends and her brother and return to the correct past as soon as possible. Of course, doing so would likely be extremely hard; Naga might not even exist, and the Outrealm Gate she'd heard about probably wouldn't lead to her world. She'd likely have to kill the Fell Dragon in order to return to the right timeline. Well, that would also probably be hard—especially if Validar was somehow alive and was planning to resurrect Grima. As much as she wanted to trust her father and the Shepherds, they were probably agents of Grima himself, and the only ones she could truly trust would be her friends and brother. Oh, how she hoped they were all safe! But if something had happened to Morgan… no, he was likely a construct of Grima as well, made to fool her. Well, she wasn't fooled one bit. She would have to continue to keep her secrets, as difficult as it might be with her fath—no! She had to stop referring to him as her father! He was Chrom, not Father!

Oh, this was going to be torture. Grima had really outdone himself. She'd just have to hope her friends were all right.

And Inigo, too. Poor, sweet Inigo, he wouldn't stand a chance unless he found out the truth of this timeline trap. For all her brother's flirtations, he was still so incredibly, painfully shy. Miriel had called it social anxiety, though the mage wasn't certain that was the correct diagnosis for her brother's social difficulties. At least he'd been trying to make an effort to improve his confidence… but then Grima had risen and they were fighting for their lives. Out of all of the Shepherds' children, he had taken their parents' death especially hard. Whenever he'd tried to talk about his fears and sorrows, his stutter would act up, which would embarrass him even though they didn't mind, which would embarrass him even more, and on and on in a positive-feedback loop. Again, he'd been getting better, at least before the end times.

If Grima found him before she did, well… all the more reason to slaughter the monster with extreme prejudice.

She was going to have to be careful to outwit the Fell Dragon at his own game.

Naga give her strength, she was scared.

"Sir! News from Archanea."

"Ooh, right on time, I see. Well, well, what do we have here? Let's see… Validar's back?! How so? Wait, this new Hierophant raised him from the dead…? Who is this 'Raven,' anyway? Oh! Right! That white-haired man who came to Valm! So he is our lord! I knew it! I knew it all along! Ha! Take that, Validar!"

"Pardon me, sir, but he wished me to tell you that he is under severe restrictions."

"Well, couldn't he have just put that in his letter?"

"He fears he might be caught by the Hierophant. Apparently he is unable to inflict harm on the Exalted family and was punished for trying to contact the tactician, Robin."

"… Why?"

"Because his contact was hurting the boy. The Hierophant stated that Robin falls under the category of the 'Exalted family.'"

"Well, now that's just absurd. Our lord must be going soft somehow. Let me finish reading this… so the Ylissean League makes its move! And I get to help Walhart fail! Excellent! I can't wait to get to pulling strings, heheheh!"

"King Validar also wished me to tell you that the Hierophant has confirmed Prince Chrom to be the Hierophant's son by adoption."

"So that was him back then… pity I couldn't get my hands on him. I wonder just how he raised the boy… but if it was revealed he was the prince… hmm. Perhaps he has… special… plans for the Exalts. Oh, it would be wonderful if he used the little princeling to destroy them from the inside out! And then perhaps he would kill the boy afterwards because he'd have no need of him… yes, yes! Ah—oh. You're dismissed, by the way."

"Thank you, sir."

"Right. Now then! Such interesting news… but I must continue to develop our failsafe. We can't have the owner of 'Raven's' vessel suppressing our lord's plans and his destiny, heheheh!"

And that's a wrap! Next up: Landing at Point Forest! The Ylissean League gets to Valm Harbor but finds the coast too fortified, so they go to a small island south of the eastern peninsula of the continent. The Shepherds run into bandits. Chrom is offended. Two more children are found, and panic ensues.

Feel free to review or feed me concrit! Anything to let me know I'm brightening your guys' day!

"T-Two more k-kids... are—are they my f-friends?"

You bet, kiddo.

"I w-wanna see Lu-Luci, but Granddad d-doesn't like h-her..."

Let's go find young Lucina then, I'm sure he wouldn't mind you playing with her. And hey, we could bring in baby Chrom, too! You like playing with him, right?

"Oh! Y-Yeah! Thank—Thank you, M-Miss Vio!"