Tyler knocked on the door, looking at the numbers on the house and comparing them to the address on the piece of paper. 913 Martella Way, or the house with the horribly tacky door ornament.
"Whoever thought an ornament made out of old staff heads was a good idea should've gone to art school." He muttered, putting the piece of paper into his coat. The door opened to reveal a red-haired boy about thirteen years old, who closed one eye at Tyler and put an index finger on his chin.
"What are you here for?" The boy asked him, looking up at him with a mischievous smile.
"I'm looking for the person who told me that I could bring focus to the warriors of spirit." The boy cocked his head, not taking his finger off of his chin.
"I know who you're talking about. You've come to the right place. Come on in!" He turned around and led Tyler into the house, which was full of shelves lined with knickknacks and old staves. A weapons rack was next to the couch, presumably for the family to defend themselves in case of bandit attacks or the like. Most notable was the line of family portraits adorning the fireplace mantle: all red-haired, red-eyed individuals with an astonishing number of identical siblings. Tyler wondered if the Outrealms had some sort of magic that influenced such progeny.
"I'll bring you the guy you're looking for… but it's going to cost you." Tyler turned from the mantle to the boy, who was pulling out a list of some sort. He looked through the list and mumbled the names of various items to himself before focusing back on Tyler.
"What do you have to offer me?" He had expected to pay some sort of price on this trip, but this wasn't what he had in mind. Judging by the sheer amount of stuff in this house, it likely belonged to a merchant family, he deduced. Not only that, but if this boy was any indication, every member was raised to be a merchant.
"This might be redundant to you, but how about… one of these?" Tyler took out the deck of cards from his coat and undid its binding, spreading out some of them to show the boy.
"Pick whichever one you like." The boy got closer and pulled a card with the portrait of a thin, red-haired lord out. He read the description on it: Eliwood, Wielder of Durandal and Lord of Pherae. He knew exactly what these cards were – containers for the Einherjar, spiritual warriors fashioned after legends of other realms. Some were stronger than others, just as the real people would have been. He cycled through all the cards Tyler possessed, surprised that a single person could possess so many – and rare ones, at that.
"You're only getting one, so make it quick."
"Hold on." He took out one of the cards and read its description: Merlinus, Traveling Merchant Extraordinaire. He showed the card with the middle-aged, indigo-haired man to Tyler.
"Seriously? What good is this guy in battle?" Tyler shrugged.
"I've never used them before. Never really bothered to look at them all. Listen, just pick one of these so I can meet the man I came here for."
"Alright, fine. I'll take… her." His fingers moved across the cards and pulled out one with a portrait of a young woman with long, green hair, dressed in the clothing of a nomad.
"Lyndis, Wielder of the Mani Katti and Lady of Sacae. Man, she would make a killing on the market. Literally. Okay, I'll go get him. You can have a seat in the meantime." The boy walked off through another door at the back of the room, Tyler choosing to sit down on the plushy couch. The realm this house was in felt a bit more like his own, with people living in suburbs rather than villages. Cities were more organized and roads were more prevalent. An image of Mina and himself entered his mind, where they were walking down the city streets, making comments on the houses they passed by.
'She would have liked that tacky thing on the front door just because it was creative.' He shook his head and dispelled the rest of that thought.
"So, you are Tyler?" An older man's voice helped to break his focus, prompting Tyler to stand up. The first thing he noticed about him was his eyepatch, along with a nasty-looking set of scars that looked like a drill had been inserted in his eye. He also resembled the boy that had taken one of his cards, but with brown hair and brown eyes.
"Yes, sir." The man looked at the door and then back to Tyler, letting out a breath.
"Anthony made you give him something, didn't he? I'm very sorry about that; he gets that behavior from his mother and sisters. If you want, I can return it to you."
"No need, sir. I had expected there to be some kind of cost for this."
"My name is Marco. We both know why you're here: you want to control the Einherjars' single-minded fury once they're summoned. First of all, the Einherjar will listen to the commands of whoever summons them without question – and that includes any command to retreat or hold position. As far as you are concerned, their unflinching loyalty is not a bad thing, as long as you are the one who calls them. I think this should clear up your initial misunderstanding about how they function. As such, I think you are really after the ability to command them regardless of who actually brings them to life on the battlefield. Is that right?" Tyler frowned, trying to remember what little correspondence he had that led him to Marco. Someone must have gotten their information screwed up somewhere.
"That sounds nice, but it wasn't exactly what I came here for. But since you seem to be the expert on them, tell me this: where do the cards come from? How are they made?"
"You already know the basics, I believe. The magic used to create them is like that the necromancers use, but requires a relic from the person one wishes to model the spirit after. A piece of their body would be ideal: a hair, a fingernail, a piece of bone. If that is not available, then an object that has come in contact with them would also work. There is a society of wizards dedicated to their creation, who I believe travel with a nomadic group called the Xenosouls. They go around realms and collect relics from them, creating Einherjar and giving them to people who need protection. A fairly noble cause, I believe."
"So if I wanted to have exclusive command over them, would I have to learn it from them?" Tyler asked.
"If you don't mind me asking, Tyler… why is this important to you?" Marco said, his one eye looking carefully at him. It wasn't often people in this realm went looking specifically for the Einherjar. An old man calling himself Old Hubba was one of those, a collector of the cards who was reputed to have been one of the wizards capable of creating them. When Marco met him, however, he quickly figured out those rumors were false; however the old man got his collection of Einherjar, he sure couldn't make any more.
"I need their power to defeat the person responsible for destroying my home. I can't take any chances when it comes to this, so I want to be absolutely sure that these warriors will obey me when I need them to." Marco nodded and reached into his pocket, pulling out a map. He noticed that the young man's voice quivered slightly. Like Old Hubba, Tyler had collected a large amount of Einherjar – but unlike the old geezer, he was actually planning to put them to good use.
"The Xenosouls gave me this map of the realms after my recent stay with them. You may copy it down and use it for your own purposes; last I heard, they were heading back to the realm known as Kalsoba. Right here." Marco pointed out the name on the map, which was written next to a small circle. The entire map was a bunch of circles of various sizes, connected by lines telling which Gates led where.
"Well, I guess I'll get started. I appreciate the help, Marco. What do I owe you for it?" Marco laid out the map on the table in front of the couch. Tyler sat down and took out a pen and paper, drawing the circles and lines. When he had finished, he compared the maps to make sure they were correct.
"Only one thing: when you finish off whoever it is that ruined your home, you come back to me and tell me about it. I'm not moving away from here. You'll know where to find me." Tyler stood back up and nodded.
"Sure. I'm certain it'll be quite the tale."
"I'll have to stay here, Morgan. I have to take care of Ylisse. Lissa will also have to remain here." Chrom spoke from his position in front of the throne.
"Aw, really?" Lissa pouted, crossing her arms.
"If something happens to me, you may end up becoming the leader of our people. I know Lucina would help as much as she could, but as it stands, you would succeed me if I was no longer able to rule." There had been a discussion some time ago about this; the older Lucina believed that it would be better for this timeline's Ylisse if she did not succeed Chrom as exalt should something terrible befall him. She had said she would leave before the younger Lucina became aware enough to notice an older version of herself.
"Hmph. Okay. You know, we never got to ask her how many other future kids came back here. What if there are a lot more than we think?" Chrom shrugged.
"I would not be surprised if they turned up somewhere in our time. We will deal with them should they appear. Morgan, the nature of your next mission means that only a select few will be able to accompany you. Specifically, Ricken and Maribelle won't be coming – I'm sure you've heard why by now: they're planning to get married." He smiled, remembering that he had been the first one Ricken told about the engagement. The young mage had insisted countless times that this was the event that undeniably made him a man, that no one could treat him as a child ever again. Vaike sure seemed to think so, and was already beginning to plan the bachelor party.
"I've also just received word from Lucina and Kjelle that they've finished visiting Tiki. They have expressed their intention to go to Regna Ferox and train with the Khans. I'll let them know about the situation; they may know something about new Outrealm Gate openings. I don't think they'll be able to accompany you on your journey if you want to leave as soon as possible." While previous excursions to the Outrealms had only lasted a few days at most, the potential of this one lasting for much longer had put off most of the Shepherds. Miriel, Laurent, and Hale were on board, at least.
"That's fine. I think we're strong enough to handle ourselves. Even if it's just us four, I think we can make pretty good time in the Outrealms if we ask around." Morgan answered. The idea was pretty simple: go around places and see if anybody recognized her, or if anyone had seen an older version of herself guiding a bunch of nomads called Xenosouls. Simple, but no one had any clue where she was.
"Well, from our end, it should take hardly any time at all. I would suggest returning after six months if you are unable to find her. I think all of us would rather not suddenly see you all aged by decades." It was both a pleasant and disappointing surprise with Lucina for the ruler; as reassuring as it was to learn that she grew up to be a worthy leader, he also now knew exactly what the little girl sleeping down the hall would look like in about twenty years. This was also considering that Kjelle didn't quite exist yet in this timeline, which made him nervous every time he thought of it.
"Not a problem. It won't be just us four out there. Do you remember the rewards Old Hubba gave me for helping him? I still have those – the Einherjar cards. It looks like we'll finally be able to use them." Hale said, taking out the five cards he possessed. He had a copy of the legendary Marth, although fashioned from the younger Prince Marth rather than the Hero-King of legend. He didn't recognize the others and had never summoned them before, only calling upon Marth's help once to test commanding the Einherjar. His strength was about that of Lucina's before her use of the Master Seal; strong enough to hold his own alongside the Shepherds, but not so much that he could take the place of one of them.
"I see. Then I have every confidence that you will find the other Morgan and learn how to close the Gate before any more outstanding threats appear. If there is anything you need for the journey, let me know."
"Of course. Actually, we'll be needing a good amount of blank books to write in. We may be able to construct a map of the Outrealms, seeing as the Gates appear to consistently transport people from one location to another. No doubt we'll be taking a lot of notes as well."
"Yes, I imagine Mother and Laurent will be able to create an encyclopedia between them if we stay out there long enough!" Morgan imagined the two of them constantly writing things down, trying to balance being on the go with studying any peculiarities in the Outrealms. They would probably talk for days with her other self, too.
"Okay. I think we should get going. Come on, Morgan." Hale said, beginning to walk away.
"Be sure to bring me back some souvenirs!" Lissa said, waving at the tacticians as they left the throne room.
A/N: Not the best of updates, I know, but I did say weekly updates at the very least, so here we are. I'll try to get out stuff more quickly, but in case that doesn't happen, expect another update a week from now. I don't foresee this story growing incredibly long, though from this point, it's not quite close to being done. If I had to estimate, we're getting close to halfway. As before, if you have any suggestions or comments, you know what to do.