A Never Ending Story

Vincent bolted upright.

He gasped for air, as if he had just been underwater for a long time. Vincent looked around himself wildly, taking in that unforgettable field. That was where he had entered the story after all.

The Spymaster's head felt empty. He glanced a few feet away from him and found a black hat with a red feather. He was wearing a black trench coat as well. Snazzy.

I guess Gaius wasn't lying, I don't remember being Three at all.

"How long…?" Vincent murmured to himself.

He had to see his family.

"Geronimo," the Spymaster's lips curled into a smile.

Vincent walked into Ylisse with worry. What if Anna had moved on and found someone else? Was the rest of his family even alive? None of them had what most would call safe jobs.

The Spymaster made his way to the castle. Tracking down his family was going to be difficult without help. He'd need to see Chrom.

But first, a detour to his room to see what he looked like.

Vincent got past the guards with ease. He knew how systems like that worked, a few well-placed lies and he was in.

The Spymaster navigated the castle to the best of his memory. Which wasn't that well at all. He finally managed to find his room.

It's a start at least.

He tried the handle. When he found it locked, he pulled out his lockpicks. He set to work on the door. He was rusty though, he wasn't fast and he was quite loud. Vincent heard footsteps from inside the room.

Idiot! What if Chrom gave this room to someone else? You're breaking into another person's room!

He stood up and waited while he heard the door unbolt. Vincent sighed, knowing he'd face the wrath of the person inside.

The door opened. A red haired woman emerged.

A familiar red haired woman.

"What…?" Anna said as dumbfounded as Vincent was surprised.

Vincent knelt, as he would before a king. "Anna, I am eternally sorry for what I did. I know you probably won't forgive me but-"

"Stand up," Anna interjected.

Vincent did as he was told. Anna slapped him, "That's for dying." She slapped him again, "That's for taking so long to come back." And then she grabbed him and kissed him passionately, "And that's for coming back."

Inside, Vincent let out a huge sigh of relief. He deserved those slaps though. "I am sorry, but look at it this way, I one upped Grima!" Vincent winked.

Anna laughed, and that was when the tears began to fall," I can't believe you're back! How is it possible!?"

Vincent chuckled as he thought about what to say. She wouldn't believe him about meeting Gaius again. So instead he said, "I don't know. I just wound up in a field a few miles away from here."

Anna wiped away her tears, "That is so like you. And stopped for a new outfit."

Vincent shrugged, "What can I say? I didn't have my purple cloak or stetson anymore. Now, where's Remy, Jessie and Morgan?"

Anna paused, "Morgan and Jessie are here. Remy is in a mercenary squad patrolling around. Morgan will be ready, her and Inigo are preparing."

"Preparing for what?" Vincent cocked his head to the side.

"Their wedding. It's a day from tomorrow," Anna explained.

A small smile crept onto Vincent's face. "I'll see Jessie and Remy first. I'm going to surprise Morgan at her wedding."

Anna chuckled, "How will you find Remy?"

Vincent grinned, "I'm Vincent, Tactician of Insanity. I can do it."

Anna laughed, bringing a huge smile to her face, "You'll find Jessie in your old office. She's the Spymaster of Ylisse now."

"Really?" Vincent chuckled. "I'll be back once I've seen the two of them. Won't be long!" Vincent kissed his wife and ran off.

"Wait!" Anna yelled.

Vincent stopped short, he turned back and walked back to Anna.

"There's someone you need to meet," Anna said with a smile.

Vincent cocked his head to the side in puzzlement. Anna lead him into his, well probably hers now, room. Inside, sleeping in a crib, was a red headed baby. "Meet Anna, your daughter."

Vincent's mouth fell open, then he closed it. He smiled and laughed, "Does the family resemblance run strong enough for her to be an Anna?" Vincent quirked his smile to show he was joking, but he didn't take his eyes off his daughter.

Jessie ran a hand through her hair. Truthfully, she was bored. There was next to nothing to do. The only mission had her operatives out stopping a corrupt noble. She stayed behind to do paperwork.

Agh! This is so boring! How did father even manage this!?

Jessie thought about her father for the first time in a while. She'd tried not to think about him, but today was the day he died two years ago though.

Jessie sighed. She took out her knives, preparing to sharpen them. She might as well, paperwork barely meant anything when she had so few members of the agency.

There was a knock at her door. The Assassin perked up, no one ever knocked. Her operatives, always just came right in.

Who could it be? Let's find out!

Using this event to interrupt her think about her father, she stood up and walked over to the door. Holding a knife of course, peace time didn't mean Jessie could be careless. She opened the door.

A man wearing a black trench coat with a hat obscuring his face stood there, "Are you the Spymaster?" His voice was deep and gravely, like when someone wanted to hide their identity.

"Well, yes, that's me," she shifted to her other foot and gripped her knife harder.

"Let's see how you have improved then!" he shouted and attacked her with a knife. The man was quick, but moved like someone who hadn't fought for a while. She was surprised, but ready. Living the life of an assassin keeps one on their toes.

The two of them fought each other for about a minute when Jessie began to press the man up against a wall. She disarmed him, "Now, who are you?" She whipped off his hat.

It was Vincent.

She gasped, and Vincent laughed, "Good to see you haven't been slacking. Go talk to your mother, I need to go track down Remy."

And Vincent left the room just like that.

What just happened?

Remy drank a mouthful of water from his flask. He, Owain and few various mercenaries had just cleaned up some bandits.

None of them were in the mood to talk, there had been a lot of bandits and they were all tired. Well, except for Remy. He was the leader after all.

A twig broke in the trees near them. Remy and Owain were instantly on alert, soon followed by the other members.

A man walked out of the trees, dressed in black with a hat obscuring his face. He could obviously still see from the fact he hadn't tripped yet.

"Who're you?" Remy said boldly.

The man chuckled, "I'm here to challenge Remiel. Where is he?"

Remy involuntarily stiffened, he didn't get called by his real name often, "I am he. I'll ask again, who're you?"

The man said nothing, but drew a long thin knife.

A knife? Who does he think I am?

Remy picked up his silver axe, and seeing no way to avoid the fight, he ran at the man. The two fought briefly, but the man was able to disarm Remy with his knife. It was actually quite unbelievable, a man disarming someone with an axe using a knife.

How…did he do that?

"You're not as adept as you used to be," the man chuckled. He lifted his hat off his face.

Vincent grinned, "Guess who?"

A day from tomorrow…

Vincent stood in the back row of the church. He smiled as he saw his daughter and Inigo walked up to the alter. He chuckled at their awkwardness as they said their vows. But after all the traditional stuff, Morgan and Inigo began to walk back down the aisle. Everyone was clapping, Vincent could see many familiar faces.

But he had chosen to sit in the last row so that no one would notice him since he couldn't wear his hat. He kept his head down until the last moment. When Morgan was walking by, she was looking in each direction at all the people and waving to them. When Inigo and Morgan got to the last rows, she looked Vincent's way. She looked away and then stopped walking. She turned her head towards him.

Vincent grinned and Morgan yelled, "Father!" She ran to him and jumped into his arms, crying and saying how much she had missed him.

Inigo had a similar look of disbelief on his face. Vincent winked at Inigo and the dancer nodded slowly, not really understanding what the wink was for.

It was one of the best days of Vincent's life.

A lone figure walked through the deserted streets. Everyone was dead, so of course it was deserted and quiet. The man ran a hand through his hair, pulling his tan scarf up closer to his face to block the wind.

He walked into an empty inn. The man stopped at the entrance, pausing before entering. He made his way down the stairs to the basement.

When he got to his destination, he gazed at the two graves in the center of the room. A single window in the room gave a beam of sunlight on them.

The man chuckled and reached into his pocket and pulled out a pipe and laid it on the grave that was Astar's. He then looked over at the grave that was Calista's. He stared at it for a long time, and then sighed. It was time for him to move on.

The assassin walked back to the stairs, sparing one final glance at the graves. They were from a different life, a different man. The Valmese assassin chuckled and whispered, "Good bye Calista, Astar, Zael and father."

He walked away without turning back.

It was all over anyway.

Everything was resolved.

Vincent will return in:

The Anger of a Good Man