Sorry for the late update guys! I just got off school and finals seriously got in the way of the progress of the script. Did not expect this to take a month... This is my longest chapter yet, so I wanted to type it up as soon as I finished writing it myself. Since I'm on summer break now, I'll try to update more often. I still have to write up the fourth and potential fifth chapter so stay tuned for that! Until then, enjoy!

"Who… Who are you?" Lucina asked as she stepped forward, examining the strange swordsman. The man, or rather young man, wore very similar clothes to her own, those of a lord's, in homage of the Hero-King Marth. In fact, every small detail was the exact same as hers, captured to every small seam.

The young man turned to face everyone. The most noticeable feature was the dark blue and gold butterfly mask he wore on his face. Although they were used to Gerome's mask-wearing tendencies, it was uncommon for someone to come off as mysterious, especially in dark times such as these.

"I suggest examining the wounded before starting any introductions," the man deadpanned. His voice rang with a near monotone save for some genuine worry hidden in his tone. However, Severa herself remained unconvinced.

"And why should we listen to you? You suddenly come from the sky, think you can command us, and- and-!" Inigo struggled to keep the twin-tailed girl back from killing the swordsman that just saved their lives. The man arched his eyebrow in amusement and let out a small chuckle. "What's so funny?!"

"Oh nothing," he replied. "You just remind me of someone." He slowly crept towards Lucina, each step seemingly slowing down time. He firmly placed his hand on her shoulder. Lucina barely reacted due to her fatigue. "You need some rest," he whispered. "I'm sure your fellow soldiers would also enjoy seeing their leader alive and well, right, princess?"

Lucina's face turned a slight pink at his mocking comment. "Of course," she muttered as she shrugged his hand off and sheathed Falchion. Only then did she notice something peculiar about the man's blade. It had a familiar glow to it. The lustrous silver edge, the gold lining, there was no mistaking it. She would never not recognize that specific sword "Is that… Falchion?"

Any prior conversations and commotion halted as all eyes shifted to the masked man. Many eyes widened at the all too familiar sword and comments were made.

Owain wrapped his arm around the mysterious figure's neck. "You managed to replicate Ylisse's sacred treasure? I know not whether to praise you for your superb forging skills or to scorn you for developing a holy replica!"

Laurent examined the second Falchion. "Fascinating… I see no difference! If it were possible, I would say that the two Falchions are one and the same." Owain agreed because his own weapon expertise led him to the conclusion that they were made out of the same material: Naga's fang.

"Just… who are you?" Gerome questioned. "Not only did you appear out of nowhere, but you also carry the sacred blade of Naga. Explain."

The man cleared his throat to capture the attention away from his sword. "My name is Luke. Unfortunately, I cannot divulge in more information until I meet with the one whom you dub 'the Voice'."

Luke's voice somewhat strained while speaking and he slightly blushed. It was apparent that he wasn't used to talking so formally. He was similar to their friend Brady who was ironically the son of a rather uptight noble.

"You must mean Lady Tiki…" Lucina surmised attentively. "But what makes you think we would trust you so easily with our oracle?"

That caught Luke off guard. "Uh… I honestly haven't thought that far ahead." Luke nervously laughed as he scratched his head in embarrassment. Everyone else fell in a comedic fashion.

"Nothing…? Nothing at all?" Severa asked with a pissed-off tone.

"Hmm…" Luke went deep in thought. His head then shot up with an idea. "May I speak with any of your parents?"

Not knowing where he was getting at, the children stared down at the ground with a sorrowful expression.

"Most of our parents are dead." Nah replied coldly.

"That implies that a few still live."

Owain reluctantly raised his hand. "My mother is still well," he said quietly.

"Excellent, May I see her?"

"What are you up to?" Gerome sneered.

"I want to prove that I'm worthy of your trust. If it makes you comfortable, you may take my sword and restrain. I will do whatever it takes!"

"Wow… I didn't think you'd actually go through with it…" Luke said, sitting on a wooden chair with his entire body tied with rope.

He was inside the main tent which was filled with scattered books, messy maps, and an unorganized desk. Without a tactician or a use for strategy in a apocalyptic world, it would make sense that only sporadic planning can be done against the Risen. In front of him were the resistance's young leaders as well as two other additions in the form of Brady and Noire.

"Shut yer yap!" Brady snapped. "And what's with the mask?!"

"C-Calm down, Brady!" Noire squeaked. "He only just got here…"

"Tsk… Fine… But why exactly should we trust you?"

"That's what we're waiting for!" Inigo's patience was thinning, something very uncharacteristic for the flirt. Meeting a stranger who looked almost exactly like his leader and wielded the same weapon took a lot out of him and the fact that said stranger wanted to meet the only remaining parent and the oracle of Naga certainly did not help lift his mood. Neither was Brady's interrogation of the stranger.

Lucina walked out of the tent. The rest of the children were outside, tending to wounded soldiers and supervising supplies. The only ones who weren't around were Owain and Yarne, who were just coming back with Lissa, Owain's mother.

"Aunt Lissa!" Lucina called.

"Ah, Lucina," Lissa smiled. "How's the 'prisoner' doing?"

Lucina smiled back. It was amazing how she managed to maintain a smile in a time where all of her loved ones were dead, including her brother and husband.

"He's fine, but do you think he's trustworthy? Most people don't appear out of the blue unless they're Risen."

"I think it'll be fine. Most Risen can't speak properly anyway and if he's willing to be restrained to a chair just to talk to me, I'm sure he's innocent."

Lucina and Owain's eyes widened. "H-How did you know that-"

"First of all, Yarne told me." Lissa said bringing up her first finger.

"Yarne, you blabbermouth!" Owain slightly smacked the humanoid bunny who winced in pain.

"Second of all, you left the tent flap open." Lissa pointed behind Lucina ignoring her son's previous gesture.

Lucina turned her head slowly in embarrassment. To put it simply, the sight was not pretty. Brady rolled up in a corner as Noire went split personality on Luke and said masked swordsman was held back by a certain womanizer so he wouldn't run- waddle?- off in fear. The young lord chuckled nervously. "Hehe… I can explain…"

"No need," Lucina sighed in relief, but she was taken aback from Lissa's oncoming grin. "But I'm ashamed of you, young lady. I didn't know you were into that kinda thing!"

"What kinda…" The princess then realized what she meant and blushed a deep scarlet as her aunt laughed. "I-It's not like that, I swear!" They knew it was far from the truth, but Owain and Yarne snuck in a snicker.

Lissa wiped a tear from her eye. "I'm kidding! I'm kidding, Lucina! Geez, you get so worked up from the smallest things!" She composed herself and walked towards the tent. "Now let's meet our 'prisoner' shall we?"

Upon entry, the commotion immediately died down. Inigo let Luke go as Noire and Brady settled down. Luke glanced around at the other children and shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"C-Can we do this alone?" he asked. "It would be easier to establish my trustworthiness before explaining myself." Before anyone could object, he continued. "And the fact that I'm still strapped to a chair isn't exactly helping with my sanity."

Lissa sighed. "Alright. Everybody out."

"B-But mother…"

"Out, Owain." The young scion of legend backed away slowly along with his cousin and his bunny friend along with the womanizer, wimpy ruffian, and the girl who possessed the multiple egos out of the tent.

The aged cleric turned around to face the masked swordsman. "So how exactly are we gonna to do this? Do you have any proof that you aren't against us?"

"I do." Luke replied frankly. "Take off my mask."

"Are you sure? You're a rather secretive man. Naga forbids I see your face."

"Just take it off." Luke said irritably. Lissa decided to give in and did as instructed. "Now look carefully."

"What am I supposed to be looking- huh?" She gasped. "How is that even possible?!"

"You see now? I have no reason to fight for Grima nor does he have a reason to recruit me."

Lissa composed herself from the surprise she just witnessed and apologized as she untied the young swordsman. As soon as Luke put his mask back on, he heard the other children sprawl into the tent. He raised his eyebrow. "Were you guys listening to us?"

"N-No! Why would we want to do that?" Most of the children tried coming up with clever excuses such as Cynthia, Severa, Nah, Inigo, Yarne, Brady, and Noire while the rest remained silent.

Luke looked at each of them curiously and decided to shrug it off. "Now for what I came here for: Where is Tiki?"

"I'd assume she's on Mount Prism." Lissa replied, ignoring his informality. "We have guards surrounding the mountain, so we can assure her safety."

"Thank you, but I have to meet her myself personally." Luke turned back to face the children "and I want all to come with me."

Everybody's eyes, even Gerome's they were assuming, widened. "Why do you need our help?" Severa asked.

"Well, I more so want to explain my situation and plus, how am I supposed to get through those guards?"

"This is ridiculous." Gerome scowled. "Why in our right mind should we follow you?"

"You can trust him, everyone." Lissa stepped in defense of the young man. "He bears proof that he's on our side."

"Are you sure, Aunt Lissa?"

She nodded. "Let's just say he has a quality that only you and your father possess, Lucina."

"Thank you, Lissa. Now if you would, may you escort me?" Luke smirked as if he was proud of saying something fancy sounding. He walked out of the tent with the children, but Lucina stood up with a question.

"If we go, who will defend camp?"

Luke froze. "Whoops… I forgot about that…" An all too familiar comedic fashioned fall took place.

"This kid's a little on the ditzy side, ain't he?" Brady whispered.

"Yup… He's worse than Cynthia…" Kjelle mumbled as the young pegasus knight shot the armored knight a piercing glare.

"Don't worry! I got a plan!" Luke held out his arm and started to focus. His concentration materialized into five cards that floated down individually. He crushed each by closing his palm and the remains formed into a blue energy. The energies went to form a figure each.

The first figure was a rather large muscular man with dark blue hair wearing a headband and cape as well as a heavily plated left arm and gauntlet along with metal boots. His right arm was entirely free of armor.

The second figure was a young girl with long silver hair in white garb with a red robe over it embroidered with gold lining and adorned with jewels.

The third figure was a man blazing red hair and regal blue armor with a cape. The fourth figure donned a very similar appearance but had plain black armor and short blue hair and was much larger.

The fifth and final figure was dressed less formally, having the appearance of a nomad. She had a long brunette ponytail and many long fabrics wrapped around her stomach.

All of the figures had a strange blue aura as if they were giving off excess energy. They all bowed in front of Luke and stood up waiting for orders.

The children stared in amazement. They wondered what sort of sorcery was this and looked back in awe.

Luke smiled and faced the five people he had just summoned. "Ike, Micaiah, Eliwood, Hector, and Lyndis. Good, you're all here. I'm about to leave with camp's finest and you will defend it in their places," he commanded. "Understand?"

"Very well, milord," they replied.

Luke scratched his head and blushed a little. "Show some emotion, will ya? I know you're Einherjar and all, but jeez!"

The Einherjar looked at each other, and simultaneously laughed. "I'm sorry Lord Luke, but we cannot help ourselves." Micaiah said. "It's how we're made."

Luke sighed. "I thought I told you not to call me that… I'm no Lord…"

The man known as Ike wrapped his arm over Luke's shoulders and put him in a friendly chokehold. "Oh, quit with the teenage angst, kid! If that was true, you would owe a ton of gold!"

Lucina tapped Luke's shoulder and glared at him. "You mind introducing us to your friends?"

Luke sensed Lucina's cold demeanor and decided to comply. "These are Einherjar, phantoms of heroes from other worlds and times."

"Other worlds? Fascinating…" Laurent marveled at the amazing sight before him.

"This is Ike. He's the leader of the Greil Mercenaries of Tellius and known as the Radiant Hero."

"Yo," he said frankly.

"This is Micaiah. She was once the leader of the Dawn Brigade, as based in Tellius, and had the titles of 'Maiden of Dawn' and 'Silver-haired Maiden'. She is also part of a species called the Branded, possessing both beorc and laguz blood, from the Heron tribe. Laguz are similar to your manaketes and taguels."

"It's a pleasure to meet you." Micaiah responded in a serene tone.

"And lastly, these three are from the land of Ellibe. The red-haired one is Eliwood. He's the son of the marquess of Pherae and wields the legendary sword Durandal."

"The honor is all mine," he bowed.

"This is Hector. Brother of the marquess of Ostia and wielder of the legendary axe Armads. He's a bit of a knucklehead sometimes, but don't mind him."

"Nice to meet- Hey!"

Ignoring Hector's comment, Luke introduced the last remaining person. "And this is Lyndis. She's a plainswoman from Sacae and excellent with a sword I might add. She was a close friend of an ancestor of mine"

She bowed. "Just call me Lyn."

"Now that introductions are out of the way, let's get down to business." Luke turned to the phantom heroes. "You guys will stay here to defend camp from any Risen attacks. Considering I summoned five of you at once, your strength isn't up to snuff." He turned back to the children. "You guys come with me and I'll explain everything on the way."

After pardoning the guards on Mount Prism, the young soldiers climbed their way up the steep mountain trail. Its toponym was well-earned as the cliffs were glistening in colors only exclusive to a prism.

The walk was silent, and Laurent was deep in thought. "Luke, may you inform me more of those 'Einherjar'?" the young man spoke up. "I must know more about them."

"Well, from the looks of it, we have a long way till we reach the top. It'll be better than walking in silence."

"Oh gawds… 'Nerd Talk'…" Severa muttered. "Wake me up when it's over."

Ignoring the rude comment (and Kjelle's smack), Laurent smiled. "It is greatly appreciated."

"No problem." Luke smiled. "So as I said before, Einherjar are phantoms of heroes of previous times and other worlds. Of course, it's dependent on the artist's perspective of the person, so some villains were added to the mix as well."

"Fascinating… Perhaps we can become such legendary heroes ourselves! Does it strike your fancy, Cynthia?" Owain asked.

"Sounds fun!" the pegasus knight replied.

Luke then continued his explanation. "Einherjar can only be summoned by an individual with a degree of mastery in the arts of magic. I'm not very adept with magic myself and tire myself quickly from summoning. I can only channel magic in small bursts, usually through a medium. It's something I inherited from my father, but never completely mastered. However, knowing you, Laurent, you may be able to do it yourself with ease and with no exhaustion."

"I suppose that sounds logical." Laurent believed. "I must test your hypothesis for myself."

"The Einherjar themselves come from a man named Old Hubba. He's not your… average elder, but he knows his stuff about sorcery. Unfortunately, his elderly hormones, for whatever reason, are still active so he tends to accidentally let them out. I help him collect them back and I keep a few for myself."

"What does his hormones hafta do with-" Brady began, but Luke interrupted, simply stating that he'd rather not talk about it.

A/N: An internet cookie to whoever can find the reference! So that's it for now! I have some volunteer work until the end of the week and I'm applying for a job soon. I'll write whatever I can during my free time. Until then, please review!