Chapter 30: Noble Lineage

After staying at the village for the night, the Shepherds continue their march the next morning to their destination, Mila Tree. Elsewhere, a group of ruffians begins to attack at a ruin of a shrine.

"There's nothin' like war for the self-made ma! No, sir! The strong rise to the top while the high-borns try to keep the blue blood inside 'em." The ruffian leader, Xalbador, exclaims.

"Hold, defiler! This is sacred ground! Your wickedness will be punished!" The elder declares.

"By who? The same gods that abandoned me when I was starving as a boy? When you see the gods, tell 'em I said they can rot in hell!" Xalbador then stabs the elder, killing him.

A young priest wearing black robes and blond hair with a thin line scar going down by his eye sees this. "Dastard! I'll gut ya for that!"

But before he can attack the man, a villager stops him. "Brady, no! There's nothing you can do! Who would tend to the injured if we lost you?"

"But…"

"We'll fight as best we're able! You help from the rear lines." The man tells Bradly and leaves to go fighting.

"Ugh! Good people are dying, and I can't help! If only I could fight…"

-Meanwhile, in a forest-

"Chrom! We have to hurry!" Maribelle asks.

"What's wrong, Maribelle?" The prince asks.

"There're people fighting just over that ridge! LOTS of people!"

"They look like they need help. Let's go, Shepherds!" Chrom announces.

With that, the Shepherds quickly go to the shrine and prepare themselves to battle. Once that is done, one of the villagers come up to them.

"H-help us! Please! The temple's beset by marauding bandits!" He pleads.

"Don't you worry! We're happy to help! If there's one thing this world needs less of, it's wretched bandits…" Maribelle assures him.

Near them, Brady immediately recognizes the voice. "Wait. I know that voice. Is that...Ma?"

Soon the battle starts as the Shepherds fight off the bandits to protect the villagers as the healers are tending their wounds prior to the battle. Seeing how Maribelle heals a villager, Bradly laughs.

"Haw haw haw! Oh, that's her. That's gotta be her."

"Pardon me, you mannerless cur! I'll not stand to be laughed at by a base scoundrel of your ilk!" Maribelle retorts.

"...Yep. That clinches it. You must be Maribelle." Bradly says.

"And just how do you know that?! Do you leer at me from behind the shades of whatever den of iniquity you frequent?! Hmph! I bid you good day!" She exclaims and leaves.

"I guess you've always been like this. Still...it's good to see you again. And now that I've found ya, I'm afraid you're stuck with me."

The battle continues as Shepherds fights off the bandits while protecting the villagers. Soon, Robin and Drago face off Xalbador as he shouts, "You people can keep your gods. I'll put my faith in gold and steel!"

Just as the leader charges towards the two, Robin and Drago jump away from the charge and the tactician sends Thunder magic with Drago sending a Dragon Pulse, striking the enemy leader dead. With the bandit leader dead, the bandits immediately fall apart and an elder approaches Chrom thanking him for protecting this place and sparing the lives within. For rewarding the deed, the elder gives him a powerful staff, Fortify and offer them to stay for the night.

Meanwhile, as Maribelle gets ready to set up in the ruins, Brady comes up to her.

"Hey, Ma." He calls.

"What did you call me?" Maribelle questions.

"The name's Brady. I'm—"

Maribelle cuts him off. "I'm sorry, but I only cure physical ailments. Broken bones and the like. You're clearly a deeply troubled individual whose diseased mind is beyond my healing."

"Stop talking for a minute and look at this!" Bradly shouts and shows her his ring.

"That's...my ring! Then, that makes you…"

"Right. Like I was trying to say, I'm—"

"A thief! A rapscallion! A common lowborn cutpurse! How dare you sneak in here and steal my prized possessions!"

"Gawds! Stop interruptin' for one blessed second, and check yer ring!"

Maribelle looks down to see that her ring is still in her finger. "...Oh. It's still here."

"That clear things up any, Ma?"

"Everything save how I gave birth to a common thug!"

"Aw, come on, Ma! That's harsh! Sure, I'm not the prettiest guy around, but I'm no thug, and I AM your son! ...And it's good to see you."

"...How did I ever permit my child to grow up referring to me as 'Ma'?"

"You gave up tryin' after a decade or so."

"Well, can you at least ride? Have you read the classics? Do you play violin? Chess?!"

"Yeah, all of the above. You beat all'a that junk into me."

"Glory be! My son is salvageable after all!"

"Uh...thanks?"

"Don't look so forlorn, dear. You've come a long way, but Mother's here now. I'll take care of things from now on."

Bradly sniffs as he about to cry. "I missed you so much, Ma…"

"Do not even THINK of crying! It does not befit one of your station!" Maribelle tells him but she has her own tears. "Plus, you'll set me off as well…"

"S-sorry, I just... I... Oh, Ma!" Brady cries out.

"Oh, Brady!"

Seeing this, Chrom cringes at the 'reunion'. "Oh, brother."

Meanwhile, Reina is leaning on a wall with a pained look and has her hand on her chest breathing heavily.

"Reina, are you okay?" Meena asks, walking towards her sister.

"Yeah... It's just that it's getting harder to breathe..." Reina replies.

"Maybe we should take a rest." Kai suggests also noticing this.

"Pika-pika." Éclair agrees with a worried look.

"I'm fine. We need to head towards Mila Tree..." Reina trails off as she about to collapse.

"Reina!" Kai calls out as he catches her mid-fall.

"Mama!" Asuna calls out.

"What's going on?" Chrom asks as he comes to them hearing the commotion.

"Reina suddenly collapsed!" Meena exclaims.

"What?!" Lissa shouts as she, Maribelle, and their partners rush towards the female archer.

Lying her down on a blanket, Reina continues to breath heavily as Lissa and Maribelle check on her. Standing back up, the princess turns to her brother.

"How is she?" Chrom asks.

"She's fine, I think it's stress building up from the march." Lissa replies.

"Now that I think of it, we have been walking for a long time without stop. Don't you think we should stop for the day and rest?" Kai asks.

"Yes, you're right." Chrom agrees.

"Then I'll tell the others about this." Meena says as she runs towards where the other Shepherds are with her Riolu running after her.

"Try not to trip!" Kai tells her.

Meena stops and turns around. "I'm not a kid anymore!" She shouts before she continues running.

Kai scratches back of his head with an unsure look as Lissa turns to him.

"You sure are worrywart when comes with Reina and Meena." She says.

"Not as much as Reina, but when we were little, Meena was a clutz. She trips after a few steps and there was a time that she slipped into a river."

"No way! I can't imagine that."

"Yeah. Probably, after that incident, she changed."

"'That incident', could it be that time Reina was endangered by her fever?"

"You heard about that?"

"Meena told us."

"I see." Kai smiles.

A/N: Alright! That's it for future kids Paralogues (for now)! Look forward to the next chapter. As any or some of you knew which character is coming up, please hold that thought until then. Now then, I want all of you readers to tell me which pokemon perfect for Gerome, Cynthia, and Bradly's partner since in my head is to focus finishing these chapters that I didn't think about this so I'm sorry for doing this *putting hands together as an apology*.