Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem.

After a long march, we finally made it to Regna Ferox. The guards were nice enough to try to kill us as soon as we arrived. They thought we were faking being Ylisseans, because apparently others had done so before we had arrived. I still don't get why Chrom couldn't have just shown the guards his brand. That seems to work in the world of Fairy Tail, so why can't it work here? I just can't get a break can I?

Oh, yeah. I also forgot to mention that I had to ride on Frederick's horse as soon as we reached snow. You want to know why? I can't walk on ice or anything of the sort. I kept falling on my face, and it was really embarrassing. I certainly didn't want that to be my first impression. Now all the shepherds are going to think of me as some cute, little, clumsy girl. Now, Vaike and everyone like him is going to baby me.

Also, the whole time I was on Frederick's horse, Frederick had to be right next to me. For some reason the horse was really uneasy around me. A lot of animals seem to react that way around me now that I think of it. They can probably sense Korosu inside me or something. So, anyway, he even had to be right next to me during the fight. Yes, I fought on the horse. I almost stabbed it a few times, accidentally...and maybe a few times on purpose. I learned from that experience that I have absolutely no idea how to fight while mounted. I kept trying to stab people, but I would always swing over their heads. And whenever I tried to use my throwing knifes, the horse would suddenly jerk, causing my aim to be off by a long shot.

The only good thing that's happened is that I'm now on solid, warm ground. I would kiss the floor, if no one was watching...maybe. Nah, I'd just hug it. How do you hug the floor? It's obviously way too big to fit your arms around it. Hmmmmm...oh, well. I guess it'll be one of the multiverse's unsolved mysteries.

The lady that tried to kill us earlier interrupts my train of thought by starting a conversation. "Prince Chrom, please wait here while I summon the khan."

"Of course."

I'm just about to ask people's opinions for how to hug the floor, but Kei talks first. "The khan is away?"

"Out training, I'd wager. The khans of Ferox prefer battle to politics. Or rather, battle IS their politics."

"A warrior ruler, eh? I can picture him now...A giant of a man of unparalleled thew, his broad chest covered in hair, heheh…"

Someone walks into the room and says, "Am I now? Please, do go on!"

Kei seems to be surprised that the khan is a girl. "Huh?"What is he sexist or something?

Chrom seems to share Kei's feelings. Please don't tell me he's sexist to. "Your're the-?! Er, that is to say..The khan, I presume?"

"One of them, yes-the east khan. My name is Flavia. I apologize for the for the troubles at the border, Prince Chrom. You are welcome in Regna Ferox."

You better be sorry for that! You know tedious and annoying it was trying to function that horse! You tell her, Chrom! "Thank you, but I'm confident we can put that misunderstanding behind us." Thats not telling her off, Chrom. "Is it true bandits posing as Ylisseans have been ransacking your border villages?"

"Yes. Those Plegian dogs! We found documents proving as much on the corpse of one of their captains. Plegia must see some benefit in raising tensions between your kingdom and ours."

"Damn them!" Really, Chrom? You can tell off the Plegians, but not these people? What the heck, man? " I...Forgive me, Your Grace. That was...indelicately put."

"Ha! Damn them and their Damn delicacy! Here in Ferox, we appreciate plain speech."

"In that case you should have a word with your damn border guards…" Took ya long enough.

"Ha ha! Now that's Feroxi diplomacy! Yes, I like you already. I know why you have come here, Prince. But regrettably, I cannot provide any Feroxi troops for Ylisse."

As soon as Lizza hears this she whines like the little ten year old she mentally is. " What?! Why not?!"

"I lack the authority."

Chrom seems puzzled by this. "Forgive me, but I don't understand. Aren't you the khan?"

"As I said, I am ONE of the khans. In Ferox, the khans of east and west hold a tournament every few years. The victor acquires total sovereignty over both kingdoms. And that means they have the final say when it comes to forging alliances. The West-Khan won the last tournament, you see, and so…"

"So we are to receive no aid at all?"

"Not if you give up that easily! The next tournament is nigh, you see, and I am in need of champions."

"What does this have to do with us?"

"The captain of my border guard informs me me you Shepherds are quite capable. Perhaps you would consider representing the East in the upcoming tournament? If you win and I become ruling khan, I will grant you your alliance."

"I would have assumed Ylisseans had no place in such Feroxi traditions."

"Ha! On the contrary. The kans themselves do not fight-they choose champions to represent them. Otherwise our land would be rife with blood feuds and dead khans! We don't involve our comrades of kin for the same reason. Over time, it was decided that the tournament should be fought by outsiders. Although the outsiders have never included foreign royalty….That I know of! Ha! Regardless it is your choice to make."

"There is no choice, East-Khan. My people are desperate. We not only face Plegia's constant attacks, but now the added threat of the Risen. If fighting for you is the quickest way to an alliance, then we will take up our steel."

"Ha ha! oh, I like you, Prince Chrom. I do hope you survive the tournament! Come, I'll show you the arena where the tournament is held. But be wary! I hear an equally able swordsman champions the West-Khan."

"He shall be defeated by Ylissean's necessity."

"Well, spoken again- I look forward to seeing if you're equally skilled with a blade!" She leads the way toward the arena in a strong and confident demeanor. She stops when she enters a very large room that is obviously the area. There's some seating lining the walls. It looks a lot like a hockey stadium. The only difference is that there's no ice on the floor and only a small wall separating the spectators from the participators. On the other side of the room someone is training. "So, what do you think, Prince Chrom?"

"It almost looks like it was especially made for the tournament."

"That's because it was."

"Do you know who those people training are?"

"Yep, he is your opponent in the tournament."

What happened to Lucina? She's supposed to be the opponent, so why isn't she here? I'm so shocked that I accidentally let that slip, "Wait, what now?"

"He is the person who Chrom will be fighting."

The person seems to notice that we're talking about him because he heads over to us. "So who is to be my opponent in the upcoming tournament?"

"I am."

"Might I ask who you are?"

"I am Chrom, Prince of Ylisse and leader of the shepherds. Might I ask who you are?"

"I am Hajime, a simple swordmaster."

"Well, Hajime, I look forward to our battle."

"As do I." Chrom and the others walk away, probably to start preparing for the tournament, but, due to how shocked I am, I stay stationary. Hajime turns as well and mutters under his breath, "With my poisoned blade, it'll only take a scratch to take you down, Chrom. I knew you would end up being the one to represent the East-Khan in this tournament, so I had to do whatever it took to be the Representative for the West-Khan. Now I'll finally be able to get revenge for my country." So wait, is he a Plegian or something? What did he do to Lucina to take her place as representative for the West-Khan? Why was Lucina even representative for the West-Khan in the first place? This is so stupid. Can't I just catch a break for once?

I turn back to the shepherds to see that they're already gone. I take this opportunity to do some investigating. I follow Hajime all the way into a spacious,stone room in the basement. It's about half the size of the arena and filled with wooden boxes here and there. I'm hiding behind one of the bigger boxes when he says, "I know you're there, Minea. You can come out."

Seeing as my cover blown, I step into the open with my sword in my hand. "Who are you? How do you know my name? What did you do to Lucina?"

"Whoah, one question at a time please?"

"Fine. Who are you?"

"You should also put away that sword of yours if you want any answers."

"Or I could just stab you until you tell me everything I want to know."

"Remember what I said about my sword, it's poisoned. One scratch and you'll be dead within a minute. Even though you are immortal, a lot could happen in the 24 hours your dead. Like, the tournament. You don't want Chrom to die do you? No, he's far too precious to the timeline to just let him die."

This convinces me to sheathe my sword. "Is that enough for you?"

"No, I'd prefer it if you'd drop all your weapons. I don't feel comfortable with them on you." I reluctantly do as I'm told. "Good. Now I'll happily answer any questions you have for me."

"Let's start with the basics. Who are you?"

"I'm Hajime."

"You know that's not what I meant."

"Maybe you should ask a different question if my answer to that one didn't satisfy you."

"You're not a simple swordsman are you?"

"Nope."

"So then what are you?"

"I am a scientist."

"Are you one of the scientists?"

"I'm not quite sure what you mean by the scientists."

"Stop playing dumb. Are you in the same organization as the people who tried to capture me in the last world I was in?"

"Yes, yes I am."

Of course he is. That explains so much. "So then why are you threatening Chrom and answering my questions instead of just trying to capture me like before?"

"Obviously that didn't work out very well for us, and who's to say that you won't run off to another world again? This new strategy will hopefully be better at getting the desired result."

"How did you find me so quickly anyway?"

"We narrowed down the possible worlds you could've gone to based on the data we had gathered from the brief time you spent with us earlier."

"You make it sound like I volunteered to be experimented on by you creeps."

"That was not my intention."

"Yeah, whatever. So you seriously had enough data to narrow down all the worlds I could be to this one?"

"Well, no. We narrowed it down a little, but not by a large margin. Everything after that point was complete luck."

Well, I guess that's good. "So, how long were you coming up with this ingenious plan of yours?"

"I don't know. I'm just the one following orders. I don't call the shots."

"Does Lucina have anything to do with this plan your carrying out?"

"Yes she does."

"What did you do to her?"

"We took her hostage."

""Why?"

"So that way we could make you a deal."

"What's the deal?"

"If you willingly and cooperatively come with us to the lab, then we'll gladly let Lucina go."

Really? That's for putting me in between a rock and a hard place. "What the heck is the purpose of your organization!? Why are you doing all of this!?"

"Only one question at a time."

"UGH! Just tell me why you want me so bad!"

"You have Korosu sealed inside of you."

"Why are you so interested in Korosu?"

"I'm sorry but I was only given permission to answer the questions that I would have to answer in order for you to understand everything about the deal that has been proposed."

"No, you will tell me the answer to that question!"

"I cannot." Anger consumes me and makes me run towards Hajime at full speed, and try to beat the answers out of him. He pulls out his poisoned sword, ready to take on whatever I throw at him. I flip over him, kicking him in the back of his head as I fly through the air. Instead of sticking the landing I end up rolling on the ground. This doesn't catch me off guard, because it was what I was intending to do.

I turn around hoping that Hajime accidentally cut himself with own sword, but instead I see he's on the ground with his clean sword a few feet away from him. I walk over to him and prepare to beat the answers out of him. When I try to punch him, he turns to face me and grabs my arm. I try to see if I can hit him with my other arm, but he grabs that one to. Surprisingly he doesn't try to harm me in anyway, he simply talks to me. "I am not here to fight you."

"If you don't want to fight me then you should answer all my questions."

"I am sorry, but I can only tell you what I have been instructed to."

"I wonder if I can change your mind." I knee him in his groin, making him release his grip on my hands and curl up in a ball. "Now tell me, What is the purpose of your little organization? What do you want to do with Korosu? What are you trying to achieve by experimenting on me?"

"Fine I'll tell."

"See it wasn't that hard now was it?" I let him stand up and recover for a bit.

"The sole purpose of the organization is to-" He quickly make a move towards me, and before I know it, I'm paralyzed from the shoulders down. He triumphantly stands above me. I should kept my guard up. How could I have let it down in the first place? "Yeah your right. Paralyzing you wasn't that hard." He squats down next to me. "Did you seriously think I would give in that easily? I'm not a weakling, if that's what you thought I was. After all I did manage to capture Lucina single handedly." I spit on his face as a response. He nonchalantly wipes it off his face and stands back up. "I gave you all the answers I was allowed to. I cannot tell you anymore, even if an all out battle had commenced. Your lucky I know the human body as well as I do or you wouldn't be getting off so easily." He pulls out a small blue orb from his pocket. "I made you a deal. If you want to take it up then just crush this orb and another member of the organization will come to escort you to the lab." He placed the orb in my hand. "I also forgot to add that if you crush the orb then I will let Chrom win, instead of killing him. So I suggest that you make up your mind before the tournament later today." He starts to walk away, but pauses at the door. "Your paralysis will go away within the hour, so you'll have lots of time to think and you won't have to worry about anyone getting worried about you."

It doesn't take very long for his footsteps to diminish as he continues to walk away. I wonder if he would actually be able to kill Chrom. He is a very talented swordsman after all. I wish I could come up with a definite answer, but I didn't really see him fight so I can't tell. Man, the offer he made really sucks. How is that really an offer? It's more like a trap. Also, why did they have to use one of the most cliche plans of all time? I thought they would come up with this huge elaborate plan that no one's ever thought of before, because they're just so unbelievingly smart. I've had enough drama for one day. Maybe I should take a nap? If I do I'll probably have another nightmare, but what else am I supposed to do for another hour? I guess I could decide if I wanted to smash this orb or not, but I really don't feel like it right now. I'll do it when I wake up.

I'm laying on an uncomfortable bed in a science lab. There are a few scientists in the room doing things here and there to prepare for the next step in their experimentation. One of them injects me with a new and improved mystery medicine. It doesn't take long for my mind to go fuzzy. Whatever that stuff was put me in a weird state where I was almost unconscious and not really able to process anything that was happening. I couldn't complete a thought and forgot a lot about a lot of things. I was too dazed to care about that, however.

A white blob moves over to me and puts something overtop my head. I can't tell if it's making contact with me or not, because my whole body is numb. Whatever that thing is begins to glow green and soon after I begin to feel an odd sensation. Something is pulling at the back of my mind, or maybe pushing, I can't recall which is which. It starts out small, but soon it gets bigger. I feel a small sense of panic, like this is somehow a threat followed by an urge to stop it. I try to figure out a way to act upon my urge as the pushing gets stronger. I can't come up with anything. I keep on going in a repeat of the same thoughts, because as soon as I think them I forget about it and start all over. Soon this feeling consumes me until the blurry images above all swirl together and fade to black.

The next thing I know I'm standing right beside a bed with someone laying in it. Closer inspection reveals that it's me. Wait, how can it be me? Suddenly, everything comes back to me as I regain all my senses. Oh, no. They succeeded this time. My concerns are proven to be true when I open my eyes. The normal dark blue that occupies it is replaced with a bright, vibrant violet. All of the scientists huddle around my body, eager to meet the person they've been trying to force out of me for who knows how long now.

They let her sit up, and fill her in on what happened. She agrees to come with them to see the leader of their operation. They all smile and lead the way to wherever they're going. They never reach their destination, because she kills every single last one of them. They don't even have time to sound the alarm.

She wanders aimlessly, killing anyone who she crosses path with. Eventually she reaches a room with the map of the lab in it. It even has a you are here dot on it that almost makes me half grin. This place must be for the newbies. She studies the map for a little before running out of the room, through plenty of confusing hallways, and out the door. The last thing I hear before I wake up is: Korosu has escaped!

I wake up on the floor in the same room as before. I try to move in hopes that it's been an hour by now. I can move, but I'm rather sluggish. It probably hasn't been that much more than an hour. As I try to find the Shepherds, I find my thoughts keep returning to my deam. It was rather short, but that's to be expected from such a short nap. Although, it was weird how I was watching myself do all those things. I wonder if that's what really happened. The part with the map was a little far-fetched, but the rest was possible. I'm just happy that none of the deaths were too terribly drawn out or gruesome.

Eventually I find the Shepherds in a training room of some sort. It has dummies, targets, a sparring ring, and a few other things that are used while training. I put the orb that I had been playing with in my pocket to prevent any questions from coming my way. Chrom walks over to me as soon as he sees me.

"Where have you been?"

"It's none of your business."

"Please, Minea. It's not going to look very good if you be all secretive. There are still some people that are a suspicious of you."

"Come on, people. If I was seriously one of those brainless Risen, I would've tried to kill you the moment I saw you. And I wouldn't be able to speak."

"I know. I personally don't think you'll do us any harm. Just make some effort at gaining the trust of people who are suspicious of you."

"How do I do that?"

"You can start by telling me where you were and what you were doing for almost two hours."

I sigh before I say, "Fine, if you want to know that badly I'll tell you. I just wanted to explore this place and stretch my legs a little. I was on Frederick's horse, like, half of the way here, after all."

"See that wasn't so hard, was it?"

"I guess not."

"I don't see why you wouldn't just tell me that in the first place if that's all that it was."

"I would've told you, but I was a little embarrassed about it."

"Why would you be embarrassed about that?"

"Well, I kinda got majorly lost, and I also accidentally walked into the boys bathroom. Luckily no one was in there at the time, but it was still embarrassing."

"I'm happy it's nothing too terribly big."

"Yeah me too." I wish that was really all that happened.

"Do you want to train with us?"

"Nah. I'm just happy I found you guys. I seriously thought I would be wondering in those halls forever."

"Ok." Chrom walks back over to where he was before I walked in. I walk over to the closest wall, and lean against it. I check to see if anyone is looking, and when it's proven that no one is, I take the orb out of my pocket. It looks like there is some sort of blue mist twisting and twirling itself in an intricate pattern. Should I crush it? Chrom may be good at fighting, but even he guts hurt. All it'll take is one scratch and he'll be dead in a minute. If he dies it's game over. This entire timeline will never be able to recover. Now, the question to ask myself is am I willing to take that risk? If I don't do it there's a huge chance that grima will kill every single human in this world. If I do it there's a huge chance that the scientists will get Korosu to come out, and have her possibly kill an entire world again that could be this one. I'm really stuck in between a rock and a hard place here. Oh yeah, I also forgot about Lucina. How is the timeline going to function properly without her? I might be able to mend that, however.

Okay, recap. If Crom dies, there's no way that things are still going to go as written, but if I go there is a small possibility that I'll be able to escape. I don't want to be relying on small possibilities here, after all, they're small for a reason. No matter which route I choose there's going to be a small possibility that something big will happen, so thinking that way doesn't really help me make a decision. Why does this have to be so hard?

It's my job to make sure the timeline of each world goes on without a hitch, but its also my job to make sure Korosu doesn't kill anyone. Which job comes first to me? definitely the Korosu one, but I feel like I have a greater chance of everything going in my favor if I crush this thing. Maybe I'm being a little too confident in my abilities here. I mean, this is a really big gamble, so I shouldn't rush to a decision or take it too lightly. I don't think I'm doing either of those, so yeah, I guess my mind's made up.

I stand up and start walking toward the door. "I'm bored of watching all of you guys prepare and I'm really hungry, so I'm going to get something to eat, K? Hopefully I won't get lost this time."

Chrom temporarily stops attacking a straw dummy. "Are you sure you don't need someone to help you find your way around?"

"Nah. If I do get lost I'll just ask someone for directions."

"Okay then. See you at the tournament."

"See ya." I walk back to the place where I talked to Hajime. I hold my hand and once again look at the orb he gave me, but before I crush it a thought surfaces in my mind: if he was so good at fighting, why didn't they send him to capture me? It seems like it would be way easier than this whole deal crap they came up with. Maybe I should ask one of the scientists that. They probably won't answer me, though.

As soon as I finish answering my own question, I prepare myself for whats to come by taking a long, deep breath. I ball my hand into a fist as hard and fast as I can. Blue dust falls onto the floor and dissipates into the air and then…..nothing. I might as well bounced a rubber ball. The room is still vacant except for me and a few boxes, it still has a musty, old smell in the air which has the same stuffy feeling as before, and nobody magically appears in front of me, as I had expected. I'm just standing here, all alone, probably looking like an idiot. I immediately start to question things. Why isn't anything happening? Did Hajime lie to me, about everything? I shouldn't have believed his words if he didn't have any proof to back it up. How could I be so stupid? Why would he lie in the first place? So that way I wouldn't be around to help Chrom or something? It still doesn't make any sense. If he was really a part of that organization then he should be trying to do everything in his power to try and capture me. Is he in the organization? As I mentioned earlier, he did seem strong enough to capture me without the shady deal. If he isn't a part of the organization then how does he know about them? How does he know about me? Whatever the case this doesn't seem good. A part of me is relieved that I don't have to go to the lab, but another part of me is worried about this new situation.

I turn around and begin to ferociously walk back to Chrom and the others, but I'm stopped in my tracks when I hear a footsteps behind me. I turn towards the noise to find a kinda-short guy wearing a lab coat. I guess that everything Hajime said was right and I am going to the lab. It's good to know that I now get to be experimented on. After all, I was really looking forward to that. Man, part of me was really hoping that he was lying.

"I see you decided to take us up on the deal."

"Yeah yeah, this doesn't mean that I hate you guys any less for…" I get choked up and can't finish my sentence. The scientist seems a little surprised that I'm so affected by what they did to me and what came shortly after. However, he doesn't voice his bewilderment.

"I didn't expect this to change your opinion about us at all. Now, before we leave I would ask that you hand over any and all weapons you may posses."

I set down my weapons on the floor and kick them over to...what's his name. "Here ya go...um…"

"My name is Tsutomu."

"Okay then, Tsutomu, what do I do now?"

"You can walk over here."

"Simple enough." I slowly and cautiously walk over to him, as part of me is expecting him to put a bag over my head or something. "Okay, that's checked off the list. So, what's next?"

My question is answered when a portal pops up in front of us. "After you."

"Of course I have to go first...whatever." I close my eyes and take another deep breath before forcing myself to walk through the purple oval.

Yay! I finally posted this chapter! Sorry about the long wait I've been busy moving from North Dakota to England. I think all of that stuff is done now, so it shouldn't be interfering with this anymore. (hopefully)Thanks for reading, being patient and reviewing! See you in the next chapter!