"So, I suppose you weren't able to do it. Again." Katrina walked through an open door and glared at the man talking to her, who was sitting at a table. That bushy brown head of his looked like a dead raccoon, she thought.
"How was I supposed to know she'd have a bunch of soldiers protecting her? I followed her through the Gate, just like I've been doing. I thought I had her, but I landed in the middle of somebody else's fight and I couldn't get away long enough to catch her alone." The man smiled and took a sip of his beer.
"I see. Don't worry, Katrina. You'll have your chance to kill her. Both of her. If you're not able to do it the easy way, we'll just wait for my preparations to complete. Then no force in all the realms will be able to stop us." She put her weapons away and then sat down across from him at the table. How he could be so patient about it was beyond her; then again, he hadn't once lifted a finger to try and kill Mina himself. He had every reason to want to do it, but he always refused to join her on her attempts, saying that he couldn't run off to various realms and manage his other plans at the same time.
"How much longer is it going to take, Tyler?" He took another sip of his beer, reached into his coat, and pulled out a stack of cards, bound by a piece of string. He untied the string and laid the deck in front of Katrina, spreading out the cards in a line. Katrina saw that each of the fifty-plus cards had a portrait of someone on them.
"This is what my boys brought me on one trip. Really, it wasn't that hard at all. They said some old geezer was keeping them. He didn't realize how much power he was actually holding. Neither did my team, until they found his stash of them underneath a bunch of trashy romance novels in a drawer." Katrina was surprised at how many there were. One trip brought back all that? Tyler's men were lucky enough to find three or four of them, but this many should've easily been enough to accomplish their goals.
"Now before you yell at me for being lazy and not doing anything with this, remember what you just told me. You went into a realm and found yourself outmatched. These cards aren't exactly easy to come by. If I invoke their power and go into a realm I don't know with them, they will fight until they either win or die. They don't accept defeat; that's just how they are. So if I'm going to use them at all, I had better be sure that I don't lose. Understand?" Tyler collected the cards, tied them up, and put them back in his coat. Katrina frowned at him.
"You haven't answered my question."
"As soon as we figure out what's going on in the new realm Mina escaped to. She actually found a good set of guardians this time, so I think she'll decide to stay with them long enough for us to do some recon. I'll arrange for a team to go as soon as possible. As for me, I have a meeting with a man who tells me that I can get rid of that problem these cards have. You can do whatever you want in the meantime." Katrina took a breath and made eye contact with Tyler, brown eyes looking into brown eyes. As annoying as he could be sometimes, he made up for it by showing that he knew exactly what he was doing. Nothing fazed him. Also, she was the only one he gave that kind of freedom to. Everybody else actually had to obey him.
"I'm going to go to sleep, then. I'm tired." She got up from the table and left for her bedroom. After she was gone, Tyler decided to finish the rest of his beer all at once, gulping down the entire bottom half of it. From within his coat he produced a folded piece of paper, which he unfolded onto the table, revealing a drawing of Mina and him, kissing in front of a brilliantly orange sunset. He smiled and traced the outlines of her face.
"We had everything we ever dreamed of. Our suffering was supposed to have ended. And then you not only brought it back, but you also sentenced everyone else to join in it. You've brought a nightmare upon us all, my former beloved."
Frederick had the palm of his hand resting against his face. Why didn't Chrom ever learn not to immediately believe the stories of random folk that he found who-knows-where? Unlike Hale, these girls carried an actual, tangible threat – the assassin that everyone clearly remembered seeing. What would it take for the young ruler to be more careful about things like that?
"We cannot just leave these two unprotected. If we don't guard them from that assassin, they'll surely be killed." Yet the senior knight had no answer to that – the Shepherds were Ylisse's most elite military force. They were the best guards in the country. Considering that this assassin was capable of shielding multiple blows of powerful magic, it was very unlikely that anybody else could protect these two young women.
"Milord, I would request that these two be placed as far away from you and Lissa as possible." He finally said, removing his hand from his face. He now saw the girl called Mina with a solemn look on her face, looking directly at him. The younger girl with an identical appearance to her, called Jasmine, stood beside her looking at the floor.
"That is perfectly fine. We are truly grateful for your kindness and hospitality. In return, I'll explain why Katrina is after us." Jasmine leaned in and whispered something to Mina, making a soft whining noise.
"Ah. Where is the ladies' room?" Frederick raised an eyebrow at Jasmine's strange behavior. As wary as he was of Mina, his intuition told him that Jasmine was as innocent as they come – that kind of traumatization couldn't be faked.
"It's not too far from here. Lissa can show you where it is. "
"Thank you. We'll talk as soon as we're done." The princess walked off with the two girls, Chrom and Frederick slowly following behind. The ruler and the knight waited in a nearby lounge, where Morgan and Hale entered.
"Chrom! There you are. I've been looking for you. Do you know where Mina is?"
"She's with Lissa and Jasmine in the ladies' room. They'll be out shortly." As Chrom said this, the three women rounded the corner, Lissa giggling about something while Mina rolled her eyes. Even Jasmine, who had never been seen in a happy mood in the days it took to get back to Ylisstol, smiled a bit.
"Okay, I get it. I'm wrong. You're right. Let's just focus on why I'm here. You all should sit down. This may take a while." Everyone took a seat in a lounge chair except for Mina. She took out the rose-colored tome and appeared to gather dust from the air, the cloud coalescing into the image of a red-haired woman about as old as Frederick. She wore a set of silver, rectangular glasses, and wore a brilliant white coat decorated with violet swirls, a matching pair of pants and boots, and had a tattoo of what appeared to be an exploding sun on the back of her right hand. It would have been majestic had it been a formal garment, like a dress.
"Morgan, you were wondering why I recognized you, but not your father. I had been confused myself as to why you looked so different here, but your remark about having time traveled made sense of it. You are not the same Morgan that I know, that my people know. The woman you see here knew so much about the Outrealms, she was considered a living library on them. For that, the people that decided to leave their homeworlds to live as nomads amongst the realms until they either found a permanent home or died, those which we call Xenosouls, treated her almost as if she was a queen." Morgan got up from her seat and approached the older, wiser version of herself, who looked at her before smiling and waving, making her jump back a little bit in surprise.
"You mean, in some other timeline, I roamed the Outrealms and grew up to be… her?"
"That would explain there being two of you, yes. What does she have to do with me, though? I have recently become a Xenosoul, as have the people that are after me and Jasmine. I joined Morgan's nomads shortly after I had left my home, and as soon as I learned how to travel across realms, I came across Jasmine in my first and only attempt to try and go back home. I landed in a timeline where her power over illusions made her a prime hostage for enemy nations, so I decided to rescue her from that life of being a living tool. You see, Jasmine isn't just capable of seeing images like this one as fake. She can tell when a person is lying – and is immune to any sort of mental distortion an enemy might employ."
"How did you make the older Morgan move like that?" Lissa asked, and both Mina and the illusion turned to face her.
"When I conjure an illusion, I imbue it with as much personality I can. They can't actually touch anything, though." She dispelled the image of Morgan and in its place, crafted a shadowy figure with a set of long, serrated claws. The claws were the only thing about the strange creature with any sort of detail: clearly made of metal, rusted slightly, with sparks occasionally dancing across their surfaces. The rest of the creature's body was represented as vaguely humanoid blobs.
"Our home was invaded by these monsters. They can cloak themselves in darkness, making them invisible until they strike with terrible weapons such as these. They were incredibly intelligent, killing those of us able to see them and stopping the production of magical sources that could do it in their stead. I do not know the reasons for your own extradimensional travel, Morgan, but I feel that you might understand what I'm talking about."
"Yeah. There are actually a good number of people here that came from an alternate future where Grima, the god-like Fell Dragon, succeeded in possessing my father and destroying our world. I don't know if I was one of those – I don't remember a whole lot about my original timeline other than my father's presence." It hadn't bothered her as much now that she could be around her family, but it was still difficult to remember anything else. Nothing really seemed to jog her memory of her previous life. Morgan was beginning to think that her memory might've been permanently erased by something, that she would never reclaim that knowledge of her old life.
"Chrom! Chrom!" The voice of Ricken suddenly interrupted the discussion as the young mage ran into the lounge.
"What's the problem, Ricken?" Chrom asked, getting out of his seat. Ricken gave an uneasy look at Hale.
"Well, you know how Hale said people would come back from the Outrealm Gate that we thought were dead? Yeah, the Gate just opened right outside the city – and there's a ton of Risen coming out!" Everyone except Jasmine stood up, and Mina's illusion disappeared.
"Gods! We have to get out there and make sure they don't reach the people!" Chrom shouted. He immediately turned to Frederick.
"Frederick, get Mina and Jasmine somewhere safe. Tell everyone else that can fight to meet me at the edge of the city."
"Of course." Frederick nodded and began to escort the two away.
"You know how you mentioned a bunch of shadowy monsters attacking people your world? Well, we've got those too – reanimated corpses called Risen. Don't worry, Mina. They're not nearly as dangerous as the things you described. We'll be back soon!" Morgan said as people began to leave the castle. She looked to her father: who was going to command the army this time around?
"Morgan, do you think you can handle this?" He asked her, knowing what she was going to ask before she said anything. These were just Risen, right? Even when having someone telling them what to do, they were mindless and predictable. They didn't even leave any bodies behind, either.
"Yeah! Ricken, how many were there?" The mage gulped and tried to remember. He was this close to proposing to Maribelle right outside Ylisstol when the Gate opened. He had worked up the courage to finally do it, and then the stupid Risen had to start pouring out of it.
"Um, at least thirty. They looked pretty strong, too." Morgan nodded. They'd have to be Deadlord-class strong in order to really present a threat to the Shepherds. She hoped it wasn't going to be that difficult. She could remember her father's intense concentration the first time they had fought the Deadlords – he had to utilize chokepoints and line up the army perfectly to make sure they attacked those that could take the hits. There was never any room for error; if something went wrong, he'd beat himself up over it once the battle was over. Thankfully, no one had ever died under his command.
The Shepherds gathered outside Ylisstol, Sumia and Cordelia returning from scouting.
"How is it?" Morgan asked. Both of them looked uneasy, and they made eye contact with each other before Cordelia spoke.
"There are exactly thirty-one Risen heading towards our position. However, what Hale has foreseen has come to pass. Leading them is Gangrel, the Mad King. We were sure he was dead, but he must have come through the Outrealm Gate with the Risen to try and assault us." Sumia nodded and continued where she left off.
"He brought a lot of fliers and mages. A third of his force is wyverns and pegasi. Another third is mages, and he has a bunch of berserkers leading them. I think he really wants to get into town and hurt people as quickly as possible." Morgan quickly attempted to think of a scenario she had rehearsed that resembled this. Could she spread out everyone to try and keep Gangrel's forces from making it inside?
"Something tells me this is a repeat of our defense of Tiki. Gangrel isn't even using real people this time – he has nothing to lose from ignoring us entirely and going straight for the civilians. Morgan, I think we should fortify our defenses and make sure none of them get within the walls." Hale said, looking at the top of the city walls. Enough people could be stationed there with ranged weaponry to fend off the fliers, while the rest would block the ground forces from getting in.
"Yeah. Okay! All the mages should get up on the walls with wind magic. That'll fend off the fliers and give us a good vantage point to attack the Risen on the ground. The others can form a blockade at the gates to make sure they don't get through. And you two – you make sure that the fliers don't get through." Morgan indicated Sumia and Cordelia. For a moment, she thought that it would've been nice to have Mina up here with them, as she could use bows. Her illusions would be capable of distracting the Risen, allowing for the Shepherds to have superior positioning. But she wouldn't leave Jasmine alone, and Morgan wouldn't make her, either.
"Of course!" The pegasus knights exclaimed, taking to the air. Hale held back for a moment as the rest of the army moved towards their positions.
"Gangrel has the same skills as I do – he has the magic power of a Trickster, but he also has something I don't have yet: an enchantment called Lucky Seven. It makes him difficult to hit or to avoid early on in the battle. Watch out for that." Hale advised before moving to his position towards the back of the blockade. Morgan herself would be behind one of the melee fighters.
'This is your chance. You've been given a challenge, and now you have to overcome it. All of that practice with Father will find its real worth right now.' She thought, watching the purple aura of the Risen get closer by the second.
A/N: I spent the last few days working on some backstories for the OCs, hence this chapter's delay compared to the previous ones. As before, if you've got an opinion you want to share with me about the story, type it out and send it in. Many thanks to Temporary Permanent for the first review. Yes, I do like the way those two speak.