Lucina did not know what trickery Anna had pulled to get them such nice rooms. Even in her future, when she had been Exalt, the people were often too wary to let them stay for too long, and yet when she entered the inn with Anna's daughters just a minute after the woman herself, and the innkeeper greeted them like old friends, Lucina couldn't help but feel a bit stumped as to how one woman could have so much power.

No matter which Anna it was, she always seemed to find ways to slither her way into people's good graces.

Lucina frowned as she laid in an, admittedly comfortable, bed, and as she watched Anna raise her mend staff over her broken arm, she couldn't help but wonder what was it about her that allowed her to sway other people so easily. Perhaps she was biased because of what her Anna had done–okay, she was certainly biased because of her Anna–but surely she was not the only one who knew of the woman's slippery reputation. Secretive they may be, but Anna and her family got around a lot. How could anyone trust a word the woman said?

Slowly, the blue light faded from the mend staff, and Anna pulled away with a grin. "There we go, good as new." She pushed herself off the chair she had been sitting on beside Lucina's bed, and she beckoned for Lucina to stand up. "Well, what are you waiting for? C'mon, give it a good swing, see if it's as well as it can be or you'll get your money back guaranteed."

Lucina paused in the middle of getting up to shoot Anna a frown. "I have not paid for anything."

"I guess that saves me the trouble of paying you back."

Sighing, Lucina rolled off the bed. She flexed her arm, and sure enough, it felt as strong and healthy as it had been before.

"It truly is incredible what a little bit of white magic can do," she mumbled, watching as she moved her fingers one by one.

Anna chuckled. "You'd know more than anyone, wouldn't you? You're pretty handy with a staff if I don't say so myself. Were you trained as a troubadour before you decided to become a mercenary?"

"You overestimate my ability. I'm afraid I'm not as proficient with staves as I seem. I can barely use a mend stave once before tiring myself out."

"But you know how to use them, don't you?" Anna flicked a finger in her direction and grinned. "That's more than most people, ain't it? Look at Gregor. You think he knows how to use a stave? That's not bad, not by a long, long shot, but he's got a more specific skill set. Is it a lot more refined than yours? Sure. But having more under your belt is never a bad thing. I mean, look at me! A fighter, a traveler, and a lover all in one."

"Oh. Thank you." Lucina rapped the side of the bed, and her gaze drifted out the window. "My mother only taught me the basics."

"Hey. If the basics are enough to get you by on your own, who needs any more? The rest will come to you with lots of practice, that's what my mama always said."

On my own? Lucina hummed, glancing down at her hands. She clenched them into fists.

"Yes, I suppose that is true," she said.

The bed creaked as Anna made to leave. "There's lunch downstairs if you want it, hon," she said with a wink. "I've got to check up on the girls, make sure they're not causing a ruckus, you know? If you need me, give me a holler."

"I have nothing to buy food with," Lucina said, pushing herself up before Anna could leave. "No money, remember?"

Anna snapped her fingers. "Right, right."

A small bag of gold plopped down on the desk next to Lucina's bed. "Get yourself a bowl of soup, and maybe something nice. A bit of gold for your troubles, since you seem to attract so much," Anna said, waving a hand behind her as she turned to leave again.

Lucina watched her go, not taking her eye off her until the door closed shut behind her. As soon as she did, her eyes fell on the bag of gold. She picked it up and shook it, listening to the coins clinking inside.

On her own. What a thought.

Time. Such a precious resource. Every second that slipped through her fingers was a second she could have spent preparing herself for the day everything would come to an end. In the past, she and her friends had recognized this. If they were not in the middle of action, they were training. If they were not training, they were resting for the next fight. Not a second went by that they did not recognize the looming threat over their heads.

And how had she spent her time in the past so far?

She had not only angered a group of bandits, but she also had Emmeryn after her head. She was wandering around, completely without direction, in the company of a woman she hated, and a man she had grown to hate.

There was a part of her that wondered what Robin was up to. He was the only one she had not disturbed with her stupid decisions, and if she had stayed, perhaps him or his mother could have helped her figure out what to do.

What would Uncle Robin do, anyway? Lucina frowned into the palm of her hand, idly tapping her spoon against the side of her wooden bowl. As she watched the carrots slosh within her soup, she noticed Scarf Anna eying her soup next to her.

"Are you going to eat that?" she asked, and she reached over to tap her spoon against Lucina's bowl.

Lucina pulled her bowl away with a sigh. "Yes, I am going to eat this."

Scarf Anna made a face. "Why?"

"Why?"

"Carrots are gross."

"That may be, but they are also good for your eyes." Lucina paused, and her hidden brand pulsed. "Or, good for my eye, I suppose."

"Cool. Do you want mine?"

Lucina glanced at Scarf Anna's half full bowl. A part of her wanted to encourage her to finish it. Naga knows how much her mother might have appreciated the gesture.

Another part of her was just really hungry.

"I don't see why not," she said, and she slid Scarf Anna's bowl next to hers.

Scarf Anna grinned. Then, she reached under the table, and pulled out two more bowls. "Thanks! Mama would be really mad if we all wasted our food."

"Hold on. I never said–"

But Scarf Anna had already leaped to her feet and raced toward the door. She might have gotten away with it too, had Anna appeared from the stairs, her hands on her hips.

"There you are!" she huffed, and she grabbed Scarf Anna by the scruff. "I've been looking everywhere for you! Where'd you go after we checked into the inn, huh?"

"What are you talking about? I've been here the whole day!" Scarf Anna groaned.

Anna blinked. She raised the girl up, frowned, then said, "Oh, yeah, I remember."

"Can I go now?"

Anna's eyes flicked over to where Lucina was still sitting at the table with her four bowls of carrots. A frown pressed into her lips, and she hummed. "Marth, you're not doing anything, are you?"

"I'm eating lunch," Lucina said, and she raised her spoon.

"Great! Get over here and help me look for her."

Lucina looked at Scarf Anna, still struggling in her mother's grasp. She sighed. "As you wish."

"Hey, if you're upset about missing out on a little food, I'll get you another bowl as soon as we get back, how's that sound? It'll give this one a little more time to finish her vegetables, too," she said, lowering Scarf Anna to the ground. The girl pouted at her mother, but she still returned to the table and continued to shovel soup into her mouth.

At that point, Lucina supposed she did not have much of a choice. Running a hand through her hair, she got to her feet and followed Anna outside.

It was surprisingly busy for a Thursday afternoon. Lucina ran her gaze over the crowd to see what the fuss was about, but as far as she could tell, everyone seemed to be mostly minding their own business. Pulling her ratty hood over her head, Lucina ducked and did her best to weave through the busy crowd as she tailed after Anna.

Up ahead, the woman cupped her hands around her mouth and yelled, "Anna! Get over here right now, or you'll get no dessert tonight!"

Lucina eyed the people around them. No one seemed to notice. Personally, she thought there were more subtle ways to find the girl, but she supposed that wasn't Anna's style. As she watched the woman continue to shout her way through the crowd, she started to really wonder why she had agreed to travel with her to Ferox.

As they passed by a blacksmith shop, a poster hanging outside the doorway caught her eye; a poster with her face.

Oh. Right. I suppose that will happen if you slay an Exalt.

Lucina did not stay with Anna because she liked her. She hated Anna, least of all because she had proved untrustworthy in the future. And, it sure wasn't secrecy, because the woman was loud.

Now that I think about it, perhaps that is how that bandit managed to track me all the way here, she thought. Anna knows how to sell her face, and she can do it well. But... that also means finding information about her is not very difficult either, isn't it?

What was the point of traveling with her for safety if she announced every step they took down the road? Lucina could not imagine a worse waste of her time. Were she with her friends, she could have made it to Ferox in a week. Anna could not go that fast, and Lucina had to sit back and move at her pace.

It was frustrating. But Lucina was helpless to do anything about it.

"Mama!"

From the crowd, two of Anna's daughters, Bear Anna and Boot Anna, stumbled out, grinning ear to ear. Gregor appeared not too far behind them. Lucina barely had the time to move aside before Anna rushed past her.

"Anna! And... Anna. Where have you two been?" she asked, an expectant tap to her boots.

The two Annas exchanged looks. Bear Anna kicked the floor, while Boot Anna hummed and looked to the sky. "Shopping," she said.

"Shopping?"

"You told us to buy some fruit, remember?"

Anna frowned. She tapped her chin, before she said, "Yeah, I did, didn't I?" She paused. "What'd you get?"

Boot Anna held up a box of strawberries with a proud smile. Anna reached down to ruffle her red hair.

"That's a good girl. Can you give the leftover money back to mama?"

"Leftover?" Boot Anna reached up to scratch her head. "I... I think I left that behind."

Anna opened her mouth. She closed it. Lucina did not think she had seen the woman so flabbergasted before. It was odd, if not a little silly in its own way.

Someone tugged at Lucina's pants. She looked down, and found Bear Anna staring up at her quietly.

"What is it?" she asked.

Bear Anna thought about it for a second. Then, she said, "Do you have any gold?"

"Not much. Why?"

"Can I have it?"

Across from them, Boot Anna cried out, "Anna! What are you doing?!"

If Anna hadn't caught on before, she certainly did not. Looking between the two of them, she sighed and placed a hand on her hip. "Girls, I thought I taught you better than this. The least you could've done was try to hustle her when I ain't looking!"

Hearing this, Lucina rested her hand atop the pouch at her hip. "I do not believe you should be teaching children how to take money from others."

"Well, as my mama always said, all's fair in gold and war, hon. If you can't keep your purse in your pants, what chance do you have in the real world?"

Money. With Anna, it all came back to getting money. Lucina knew that was just how she was. It didn't mean she had to like it, and with a scowl, she stepped a bit further from the woman as she motioned for her daughters to come back to her side.

Truly, the sooner she could get to Ferox, the better.

"Anyway, glad to see you've all managed to get back, safe and sound. If I'd known the streets would be this busy today, I wouldn't have asked you to go buy things, but now that you four are back, do you think you can make it back to the inn?"

Boot Anna glanced at Bear Anna. She raised a finger, pointed at Bear Anna, Gregor, and her, then looked back at Anna. "Mama, there are only three of us.

"Really? Are you sure your sister didn't come with you?" The two girls shook their heads. "Well, that's just fantastic. Why don't you two head back, while Marth and I continue our search?"

After a series of "Yes mama"s, the two of them disappeared back in the crowd. Lucina glanced up at Gregor, who met her eyes with a narrow stare.

"Marth," he said.

Lucina nodded back. "Gregor." Her eye fell to his arm. "Are you alright?"

"Yes. He is."

And then, he turned to follow Anna's daughters back into the crowd. As he did, Lucina thought she could see an unspoken question behind his eyes, but he was gone before she could guess what it was.

The crowd had thinned by now. Pulling her hood over her head again, Lucina was able to catch up to Anna much easier this time.

"Anna?" she asked, as soon as she was by her side again.

Anna stopped to check inside a nearby building. "Hm?"

"Just for curiosity's sake, how much longer will it take for us to reach Ferox?"

Anna hummed, turning a gold coin over in her hand. "Between getting the insurance money and buying new wares... maybe three more weeks, if I'm lowballing it."

Which meant three more weeks wasted. Lucina turned to hide her scowl. "There has to be a faster way," she muttered under her breath.

"We could always split up."

Lucina looked back. "Pardon?"

Anna rolled her eyes. "If you want, we could search for her separately. We'd cover a lot more ground that way. You'd be back for lunch much more quickly."

"Oh." Of course, she would be talking about that. Shaking her head, Lucina asked, "Where should I search?"

"We've already looked through the marketplace. That was the first place that came to my mind, but she's been acting weird for a while, so she's not here." Anna tapped a finger against her chin, before her eyes lit up. "Hey, why don't I check the east gate, and you check the west one? We'll work our way back toward the town square from there. That way, we'll be sure to find her!"

Lucina shrugged. "I don't see why not."

"Of course," Anna said, pointing both fingers at her. "I'll be counting on you, yeah? I'm sure you won't let me down!"

And the woman was off like a rabbit, scurrying into the crowd before Lucina could get a word in otherwise. As she watched Anna disappear into the crowd, she couldn't stop the irritated feeling welling up in the pit of her stomach.

Three more weeks with the woman. With how poorly the woman kept track of her own children, who knows how much longer it would take?

The walk to the west side of town was longer than Lucina had thought it would be. They had come from the east side, and Lucina was sure the trek would have been the same, but the road wound and turned so many different times around houses and inns that, were it not for the afternoon sun, she would not be sure if she were still going in the right direction.

As the road bent again, Lucina had to step around a sign sticking out of a nearby tavern. As she passed it, her eye lingered on the words carved into it.

"The Stumbling Lynx Tavern." Lucina huffed. "I remember a place like this in the future."

Behind her, she heard footsteps. She looked over her shoulder, and saw a pair of pegasus knights march toward her.

Lucina turned away and cursed. She hoped that did not make her look too suspicious. Really, though, it was probably too late. Even among such a crowded street, her face was hard to miss.

The pegasus knights drew closer. Lucina pulled herself closer to the wall and braced herself.

Then, the footsteps passed her.

Confused, she looked up.

They had not even noticed her, busy talking to themselves about something. She only managed to catch the barest snippets, something about a "recall" and "the Redwind Estate", some trouble that was brewing in the capital.

The specifics went over her head. That wasn't what was important to her. Whatever it was, she was sure Emmeryn could handle it. The girl was surrounded by the Pegasus Knights, and the Royal Guard. She was a ruler loved by all, so surely she would have many loyal courtesans at her beck and call as well.

No, what had caught her ear was that the Pegasus Knights were moving, and not after her.

Perhaps the road to Ferox will be safer than I assumed, she thought, pulling her cloak closer to her face as she pressed on.

She reached the gate in a matter of minutes. She had only intended to poke her head out for a quick peek, just in case Anna's daughter had, by some chance, decided to wander out.

Lucina did not expect to find Sleepy Anna actually there. The girl had been through so much; she would have expected her to be somewhere safer, but when Lucina chanced a look outside the walls, to her surprise, she found the girl sitting on a stump next to the river outside town, a tome in her left hand.

Lucina frowned. What is she doing there?

Sleepy Anna flicked out her hand, and a fire spell danced over the water, skipped over the stones, and disappeared in a fizzle of steam.

Oh.

She approached slowly, and the foliage crunched underfoot with every step she took. Sleepy Anna turned around, and her eyes brightened the second she saw Lucina.

Lucina tried to return her smile. "I did not expect to find you so far away from the inn."

Sleepy Anna blinked. She looked around and startled, like she had just noticed she was alone. "Did everyone head to the inn without me?"

"They did."

"Oh." Sleepy Anna closed her book and frowned.

"Would you like to head back?"

Sleepy Anna hummed. Lucina followed her gaze out over the river. "Can I stay for one more minute?"

That surprised Lucina. "Why? There are bandits out there."

"I know... but I can fight them back, you know?" Sleepy Anna flicked her fingers, and a flame danced between her fingertips. "I thought it would be hard. But I beat them! Or... you beat them. But I helped!"

"You did," Lucina said, slowly nodding.

Funny how things turned out, wasn't it? Never in her life did she think she would have ever looked up to Anna, and yet right now, she couldn't help but feel a bit of admiration for her, even if she was merely a child.

She had been scared of the bandits. And yet, she had fought back. She had found courage through fighting back.

Lucina's gaze fell to her own hands. She clenched them, and as she did, she wondered if all this dancing around was for nothing. She thought she had needed to lay low until the time was right, or until her friends arrived, but really, she was just afraid she would fail.

And what if the key to overcoming that fear was staring her in the face this whole time? What if... all she had to do, was face things as they were?

Part of her felt that was too obvious to be true. But she was already headed for Ferox, wasn't she? The first stone on the path to the world's horrifying end.

Lucina gazed out into the road, and into the forest beyond. Toward the snow-white forest of Ferox.

"I've got to go," she murmured.

Sleepy Anna looked up at her, confused. "You're going back?"

"I'm going ahead," she replied. "I have spent too long here. I cannot afford to stay any longer."

She had enough to keep her alive until she reached Regna Ferox. She had a small pouch of gold Anna had paid her earlier. She had her sword. And she had the determination to see this through.

There was a tug on her sleeve. She glanced down, and Sleepy Anna gazed back with a pleading look. "Take me with you!"

"Why?"

"I want to do something! I want to help you! You helped me so much! I want to help you too! My mama won't even notice I'm gone."

Lucina lowered herself to her knees. Placing a hand on the girl's shoulder, Lucina looked her in the eye and said, "My quest is not one I may share with a child. This is where we must part ways."

Sleepy Anna looked disappointed. Lucina felt a twinge of sorrow for her.

Perhaps that was what compelled her to say, "Don't worry. If you are capable of standing up to the bandits, I have no doubt that you will go far."

"I guess."

Lucina sighed. She felt guilty leaving Anna like this. The girl had relied on her keeping her safe for quite some time now. A part of her felt responsible for that, too, no matter how much she would have liked to deny that. She didn't think she could just leave things as they were.

Lucina looked to her left, then to her right. Reaching up to her shoulder, Lucina pulled her pauldron from her shoulder, and handed it to the girl.

"If you truly feel unsafe on your own, you may keep this," she said, pressing it into the girl's hand. "It may be light, but it has served to protect me in my many battles. Wear it, and you shall feel a little safer."

Anna gazed upon the gift with wide eyes. She looked at Lucina, then back at the pauldron. Slowly, the girl slipped it on, and she swung her arm to test it. "Thanks," she mumbled.

Lucina smiled, and with on last pat on the girl's shoulder, she turned away and began her drek down the road.

It was the only right choice she could have made. And yet, as much as she hated to admit it, the girl's presence, Anna's presence, had become familiar to her. She was used to having her around.

As much as she didn't want to admit it, she would miss her when she reached Ferox.

In three weeks, I manage to produce one week's worth of content. Not ideal, but it's better than not writing anything for an entire month.

I guess one of the benefits of juggling multiple stories at once is that writing for one can sometimes get ideas for writing another. The idea for this particular chapter came to me when I was considering the pacing of another one of my stories, and here we are today.

I'd also considered rewriting it completely, because I didn't like how it flowed, and especially because I'd constantly second guess myself while writing. Part of writing is just biting the bullet and getting stuff out because you can get through the boring bits and write something better later on, so consider that your bit of writing advice of the day.

Feel free to throw words at me. It helps me organize my brain and remember to make time for the story during my day. I really appreciate all the stuff you people say to me, really makes my day a lot better. Until next time, take care of yourselves out there, and stay safe!