The Valmese Theater

The alleyways were thin, just as her mother said. One, maybe two people at most could fit in between, but for soldiers in armor it was a different story. Combined with the rubble from other houses and junk in between, Lucina was glad that she had forgone the additional armor that was offered to her.

Nearing what was supposed to be their last corner before the main road, she paused and motioned for Owain to stop behind her. A moment later, footsteps from up top ceased as well, meaning Noire was still with her.

"Did we catch up to them?" her cousin whispered to her. The pounding of war was just a little distant, and Lucina could still hear the sound of greaves upon cobblestone – it was hard to tell whose footsteps they were. There was some yelling, but unless she could sit and concentrate it seemed to be coming from all sides.

"Only one way to find out." Drawing out the silver sword from her side, she gently placed the blade flat along the ground and slid it past the corner. Making sure that it was within the shadows of the buildings, she tilted it upwards and gazed into the reflection.

Red suits of armor running east greeted her vision.

"Looks like we're just behind the Valmese regiment Lady Cordelia spoke of." Looking upward, she raised her voice just a little bit. "Noire, can you see how many there are? And can you see who they are pursuing?"

Light footsteps padded away and Lucina continued to watch the reflections, waiting for the last of soldiers to pass by. The footfalls returned and Noire poked her head over the roof. "Eighteen. Most are carrying spears, though two of them have a bow. As for who they're after, I… I think it's Lady Say'ri."

"Lady Say'ri? Here?" Owain said, surprised at the fact. "But she didn't enter the Valmese conflict until about halfway. And didn't she escape to Ylisse first?"

"Things have changed, it would seem." The princess said grimly, putting her sword away. With the road clear, she slowly made her way to the path, stepping quietly and carefully. "The fact that we're up against that many means this is going to be difficult. But we're not looking to fight through them all, not unless we are sure in our victory."

Turning her head past the bend and looking down the street, she saw that many of them were starting to congregate near a dead end, where she assumed the Chon'sin princess was being held. Across from her were some more alleys. It was painfully obvious that a full-on encounter was out of the picture. But if they could sneak around to the other side and have Noire lure some of them away…

"Noire, my mother said that the regiment was chasing a group of soldiers. How many of them are with Lady Say'ri, and are they armed?"

"I see four swordsmen among them," Noire said after a quick pause.

Taking a one last breath, Lucina started to think of a plan. The two archers would be the initial targets. If Noire could remove those two first, then they would be able to maintain a range advantage. Then Noire could retreat towards their departure point, where Ylissean troops were located and could take care of anyone that tried to follow her.

But there was no way to account for how many would go after her. If they only sent one or two, it would only be a minor improvement to the numbers game. Owain could help her in trying to stealthily remove a soldier or two before the actual confrontation, but that would depend on enemy placement and a bit of luck. And if they made noise by dropping their weapon and they were forced to fight, that would be a mess waiting to happen.

What would be best is confusion.

"… Noire, is there a captain among them? Or someone that is clearly leading them?"

"It's a little hard to tell, but… yes, I think one of them is a captain of sorts."

"Good." The plan she had might not have been on the same level as Morgan's, but damned if she didn't at least learn something from her mother's lessons. "Make that your first target, and then focus on the archers. Owain and I will try to sneak further up and get as close as possible to Lady Say'ri. Once I give the signal, take out the captain and archers, and then anyone else you can. We will cut down those near us and create an immediate opening for Lady Say'ri. We will then retreat back through the alleyways to the south. Any questions?"

Owain closed his eyes for a moment before speaking. "We run the risk of being cut off by the regiment. By positioning ourselves too closely to Lady Say'ri, then they can use the parallel alleyways and cut us off on both ends."

"… What if we fought?" Lucina gave in response. "It may be against what our original intention was, but look at the enemy placement. They may have a surround on Lady Say'ri, but if we approach from behind, we can start a two-front skirmish. Once Noire takes out the captain and the archers, Owain and I can take advantage of the confusion and take down at least two of them. Once the real fighting begins, we become more defensive and Noire picks them off. And if Lady Say'ri's group can make use of the chaos, we can take away their number advantage."

"That would be easier for me to keep shooting as well," Noire added. "Alleys are too narrow and I would risk hitting you. And if it becomes clear that it's not working out, I can pin them down for Say'ri and us to retreat west before heading into the alleys again."

"Then it's settled," Owain spoke up, nodding in agreement. "We disrupt their chain of command and goad them into a losing battle." A quick smile lit up his face. "I like the sound of that."

Laurent cursed his thinner clothes as Sumia's steed put itself under the cover of the lower clouds in the sky. It wasn't the perfect camouflage, and the blue colors they flew obviously stood out, but apparently it was enough to slip by unnoticed, giving the pair a better view of the pursuit. Cynthia could have easily matched pace with the other riders, maybe even outrun them, but Gerome's larger wyvern meant that she had to move at his pace or leave him behind. More than once did the pair have to dodge or roll out of the way of one of the Valmese riders.

"Can you pick out the head of the group?" Laurent yelled over the biting winds.

"I see her!" Sumia shouted back, "And I'm ready to go in!"

Laurent wasn't sure if the fierceness in her voice came from the adrenaline or the fact that her daughter was down there.

"Right," he clutched his tome closer to him, his other hand doing his best to keep his hat on. "I'm ready when you are, Lady Sumia."

"You're going to want to hold onto me, Laurent."

"Excuse me?"

"Have you ever studied aerial combat before?" She quickly looked over her shoulder, "A clash strictly between pegasus knights or wyvern riders?"

"I admit that I have not," he leaned forward, suddenly just a little unsure of what he was about to get into. "There were very few riders towards the end of our time in the future. We were lucky to have one of each with us."

"Well," Sumia looked downward again, "simply put, it's usually fast and brutal. We don't aim for the riders, but rather the mounts. We kill the mounts and we let the riders fall. Pegasii without riders have been known to ram opposing knights, and while wyverns are usually better suited to combat ground forces with their thick scales, they can be uncontrollable and dangerous without a rider."

This could be rough.

"So let me guess – when it comes down to it, it's more about protecting your mount than it is keeping yourself safe?"

"To an extent, and there are a lot of maneuvers I might have to pull. Because of how open our plane of battle is, a group of riders will sometimes try to separate a lone target and pick them off. They'll herd them onto a predictable path and then try to have a designated killer land the blow. A numerically superior force will often hold a vast advantage if they are able to force an engagement because they can form more kill squads and use their mobility to surround the enemy. The smaller team must often stay together and fight defensively while doing their best to not be separated. And in a straight-out air battle, a pegasus' airspeed puts the wyvern at a disadvantage as they can more easily approach them for an attack run."

"Then we're at a disadvantage then…" he growled. "Even if we take out the head, we're still one short, and Gerome won't be able to contribute much."

"If you can spot for me, we'll be fine," Sumia said, sounding more confident than he recalled her to be. Perhaps she was more assured of herself when she was up in the air. "And a wyvern's scales are thick, so they're tougher to kill. It's my daughter I'm concerned about, as she's forced into a handicap in this battle."

In a smooth, practiced motion, she picked up a javelin and held it to her right. "Are you ready?"

"Should I hold onto my hat or my lunch?" he lamely joked.

"Your tome, please."

Laurent shook his head, letting his left arm slip around her waist. "Let us begin the interception, then."

Sumia didn't waste a second. "Down, girl."

The steed's wings folded in and a little back before tilting forward. The wind turned from a whistle into a howl, the air rushing by and stinging his eyes as his vision changed from the horizon in the sky to the blue waters of the ocean. They were soon coming down upon their target at a sharp angle, and much like Sumia had said his hat was long gone. She was doing a good job of staying on the enemy captain, who had failed to notice their approach. Cynthia and Gerome were doing their own set of sharp banks and turns, attempting to build distance between the two parties, though she was forced to maintain speed with him as he would otherwise be overwhelmed.

He could begin to see the strategy Sumia had described earlier. Gerome had banked right and Cynthia had tried to follow him. She was too slow to react, however, and one of the Valmese riders began to position herself just between the two. She tried to regroup with Gerome, but a second rider approached from above, forming a column and preventing her from following the wyvern.

"Once we're down there," Sumia yelled, "aim for the upper rider! Try to get her off course so she can cross over and get to Gerome."

One rider separated from the group to force Gerome from turning back. Another flew over to Cynthia's left, and the captain floated upward before taking a similar nose dive.

Sumia's steed pulled its wings in even closer and Laurent felt his eyes water. The body in front of him shifted a little, the cold armor turning backwards just a tiny bit.

The spell. They needed the spell now. Thunder was a spell he had first cast when he was nine, under the tutelage of his mother, and he had cast it hundreds of times after. He knew the spell by heart, and yet here, where he was having trouble focusing, it was suddenly difficult to recall the spell. He could feel bits of magic beginning to form within him, but the challenge would be aiming it. With one hand holding onto dear life and the other making sure his spell book didn't fall, all he could bring himself to do was prepare the spell and be ready to shoot it out as soon as he could.

Focus and breathe. Focus and breath. Ignore the pain.

Sumia's body shifted in front of him as she let out a yell, hurling her javelin at her target. There was a crunch of metal and a scream paired with neighing, followed by what sounded like the flutter of canvas. Their angle changed, taking their downward momentum and driving it forward and below Cynthia before pitching up in front of her. The drop in speed made things clearer for Laurent, and suddenly the battle was coming to him in clear colors and full vision as his heart rushed to pump blood through his body.

Loosening his grip on Sumia, he turned downward and saw the image of the tumbling Valmese captain, pinned through her chest to the dead pegasus. Fast and brutal indeed.

"LAURENT?"

Looking back up, he saw Cynthia with the most bewildered expression and the enemy rider coming in from her right.

The spell. With his hands finally freed, he switched the tome to his left hand and aimed with his right. "Cynthia, dive!"

She did so immediately and the lightning arced out of his hands. The Valmese rider was forced to slow down to avoid it, no longer a threat to the girl for the time being.

"Are they still on us?" Sumia yelled back at him.

"They're moving back to regroup!" he said as his eyes scanned around them. The three riders turned to the left and he traced their path towards Gerome as Cynthia pulled up to their side.

"Gods, Laurent! It's really you!" A quick smile broke out on her face until she recognized who he was riding with. "And… is… is that-"

"You're mother, yes!" he cut her short. "But we need to stay focused. They're heading towards Gerome and we need to support him!"

She gave a quick nod back to him. "Then let's get going!"

With a quick bank to the right, they began to pursue the three knights. "We're on their tail," Sumia yelled over the wind. "Because they have the number advantage, they're going to want to break off and try to separate us before attacking from behind. Laurent, let me know if they start an attack run and keep them off if you can."

"And what about me?" Cynthia chimed in. "What do I get to do?"

Sumia looked over to her daughter and gave a warm smile "You get to be my wing. Help Laurent spot for and follow my lead."

Gerome and Minerva came into view, and not long after two of the knights broke away and began to slow down and circle around them. "They're moving behind us from our sides!" He let the magic gather in his fingers again, holding it close and waiting for the best moment to strike.

"That's our cue to pull up! Follow me, Cynthia, but do it slowly!" With heavy flaps of their wings, the steeds steadily rose to the air. The Valmese knights pursuing them attempted to follow them higher, but the distance between them remained the same. Soon though, they had come to a point where the enemy at the front had shrunk. The rider must have seen them coming in because she was now beginning to dive down to try and build distance between them.

"Cynthia, are you right-handed or left?"

"Right!" the young girl yelled back to her mother.

"Then approach from her left!" Sumia grabbed a second javelin and moved it to her left hand, taking the reins with her right. "I'll approach from her right! And Laurent?"

"Holding on already!" She didn't need to tell him again.

"Good. Part way through, try to stop the one following my daughter. And then when I tell you to, hold on as tight as you can."

"Understood!"

"Then it's time to start. This one's all yours, Cynthia!"

"Got it!" Cynthia's steed tucked its wings in and she began to nosedive hard.

"Down, girl."

The ocean came into view once more. Laurent tightly wrapped his arm around Sumia's waist, doing his best to look back and keep an eye on the rider following Cynthia. But she was plummeting quickly, able to conserve her speed as their target attempted to dive towards the sides to throw her off. In a last ditch effort, the rider spread its wings, attempting to alter its course more drastically, but it veered to the left and put itself right into the girl's path.

Taking quick aim with his left hand, Laurent did his best to focus and throw a spell at the one trailing behind her. He overshot, passing harmlessly in front of the rider, but it was enough to startle and force them off. Cynthia let her javelin go before her mount spread its wings and continued towards Gerome's position. It flew true, nearly cutting off the pegasus' wing at its base and causing it to spiral downward out of control into the ocean below.

"Is she still behind me?" Sumia yelled

"Y-Yes!" he struggled to say, turning back towards the Valmese rider as she raised her javelin.

"Hold on tight. Keep an eye on her and get ready to fire!"

With a sudden lurch, Sumia's steed spun in its nosedive to turn them almost upside down before pulling up and opening its wings, crossing under their pursuer and slowing down. Readying his own spell, he watched as the enemy tried to follow after them. But as soon as she leveled out, her own momentum brought her too close to Laurent while being forced to aim upward.

With a quick throw of his arm, his spell flew and struck the rider in the chest. Electricity coursed through both rider and beast for a moment and he watched as they stiffly banked to the side. "They're veering left! It looks like they've lost some control, but alive."

"Let's finish this then!" Sumia swerved left and brought them parallel with the Valmese rider. She tried spur her mount on but the pegasus could only whiny in distraught. One of its wings was not flapping, perhaps paralyzed, and it made for an easy target. With one more flick of his hand, he cast his spell one again, striking the steed this time. There was a brief neigh of pain before the two of them fell from the sky.

"Where are the others now?"

Looking back over his shoulders and upwards, he spotted the two enemy riders moving away from Gerome and Cynthia. "It looks like they're retreating! They've lost the numbers advantage and don't want to contest us any further!"

Suddenly a third pegasus, this time one with bright red hair, streaked downwards past the lagging one. The target gave a quick jerk before both started to plummet into the ocean. "It would appear that Lady Cordelia has seen our engagement."

"Yeah, and that means Robin probably knows we've left our post," compared to the voice she used in combat, Sumia's voice dropped most of its confidence. "Let's get back to the others."

"It was not without good reason, though," he replied, gently placing his arm over her waist. "I believe Lady Robin would understand the circumstances."

"Maybe if we're lucky."

As the group drew together, Laurent was able to hear the animated yelling coming from Cynthia, who was describing how he and her mother had come to her rescue in the most amazing way possible.

"-and then Laurent was all 'Dive!' and so I did and he shoots out this giant bolt of lightning that goes right by my face and-"

"Please, Cynthia," he felt a smile tug at his lips with from her exaggeration. "It wasn't that close to you, was it?"

"Mother! Laurent!" her attention suddenly snapped to them and she had the widest smile he had seen on her in years. "That was so cool! Teach me how to fly like that!"

"We're still in a battle, Cynthia," Sumia softly chided. "We can catch up later," Laurent couldn't see it, but he was sure that Sumia was smiling back.

Gerome, however, was more straightforward.

"Laurent, where's Lucina?"

He hadn't changed a bit, and if it wasn't for Gerome's sharp stare through his mask, he was sure that he would have at given the rider at least a smile.

"She's on the battlefield."

"And you're not there with her?" he quickly replied, perhaps even irritated.

Typical Gerome. Had they not just met again after so long, he was sure he might have sent a scowl of his own to him. "Orders, Gerome. I'd be there if I could."

"Speaking of orders," Cordelia cut in, moving closer to the two of them and passing them a piece of rolled parchment, "new coordinates. Get back to firing position as soon as you can, and bring these two with you."

"I'm not going back. Not until I see Lucina first."

Cordelia was about to speak, a sharp frown on her face, but Laurent cut in on his behalf. "Please, Lady Cordelia, allow him to see his charge. It would do well for him to know she is still alive."

"I wanna go to!" Cynthia chimed in. "I've got to see everyone! Can't I go too, mother?"

Sumia turned to her friend and gave a sympathetic smile, "Please, Cordelia, just this once? And would you be able to watch over them?"

After a brief moment, the redhead sighed. "Fine, then. But I can only spot you until we reach the city. I need to return to recon duty." With that, she climbed higher and began to head into the lower clouds.

"Stay safe, you two," Sumia called out to the departing riders. Cynthia gave a wide smile and waved in return before following after Gerome, who had quickly departed as soon as he was given the all-clear from Cordelia.

"He's a bit gruff."

"I do not blame him," he reached for his hat, only to remember that it had gone away on its own journey. "I can relate, after all."

While he was glad to see that Gerome was alive and well, a part of him could not fight the uncertainty Gerome brought with his presence, especially since he was on the path to see Lucina. But they were here to win back their future. He could contemplate on the thought later.

Fighting against spears was always a bit difficult. While the raw heft of the Falchion and its mythical sharpness allowed any errant strike to lead to a life-ending cleave, the range of a spear meant Lucina had to navigate around that distance before she could strike. The small shield on her arm was also less effective – it was more difficult to block a stab as it might slide past and still strike her.

Still, their strategy proved to be very effective. While Lucina and Owain were forced to backpedal and give ground in the beginning, Noire had done more than her fair share of damage to the troops. And with Say'ri's forces taking the initiative to turn on their pursuers, the Valmese forces were soon faced with a pincer move and were quickly being cut down.

And now from eighteen, only three remained. Their eyes were warily watched around them, knowing that they were surrounded.

"Throw down your weapons and surrender," Lucina said, taking a heavier breath than she expected. Still, she leveled her Falchion at them and kept a straight eye. "I'd rather this confrontation end without further bloodshed."

Her request fell on deaf ears. In what was perhaps a mad bid for one to escape, one soldier went to lunge towards Lucina while the other dashed in at her cousin. The third escaped through the opening before narrowly dodging an arrow from Noire. It was reckless and ultimately cost the two their lives – Owain gave a quick dodge and counter while she batted the strike away and brought the blade back into his stomach and out his side.

Turning to watch the retreating figure, a quick shadow passed over her and a jet-black wyvern flew by, the rider driving his axe through the man. It was messy and she did not particularly like the image of running the retreating soldier down. The thought, however, was quickly pushed aside.

"By Saint Elimine, is that-"

Looping back and down into the alley to face them, she spotted a familiar mask that she had only dare dream of for the past three years. She was already running over to him before she knew it.

"Gerome!"

He did not dismount, but she saw that he visually stiffened as she drew to a stop. "What happened to your mask?"

Taking a hint from when she first met Laurent in this timeline, she removed her eye patch and looked at him with her clear blue eyes, the Mark of the Exalt fully bared and unmistakable. "It was damaged," she couldn't help but smile, "But with some help we were able to repurpose it for something just as useful."

A small and content smirk made its way across his features. Minerva lowered her head, and Lucina slowly pat its muzzle. "It's good to see you, too."

A second shadow flew overhead and touched down beside them. "Lucina!"

"Cynthia? Is that you?"

The orange-haired girl leapt off of her steed and gave her a tight embrace and mirthful laugh. "Gods, it's really you! I saw your eye patch while you were fighting and I got so worried, but you're okay!"

"Truly a great day, that may see two of our dearest allies join us!" Owain shouted.

As he hurried over to greet them, though, a capstone was put on any further revelry. "Forgive me for interrupting your joyous reunion, but I believe I have the pleasure of thanking you for coming to our aid."

"Ah, forgive me," Lucina quickly turned around and did her best to keep a straight face, though that smile kept threatening to return. "I am Lucina, from the Ylissean forces. A recon of ours spotted your group being pursued and I received orders to intervene."

The woman bowed in return. Her clothes were quite different from what she was used to seeing on the battlefield. She wore scale armor, its many plates and rivulets tied to a central body around her abdomen. Where there was no armor there was instead thick pieces of plain cloth that could have been cut from one giant piece of material. "I am Lady Say'ri, Princess of Chon'sin. I was only passing through the area to reach my informants, but it would appear that fortune has smiled upon me. I did not expect the Ylissean forces to land while I was here."

"However, I had thought that it was a king who wielded the Falchion, not a queen?"

The four of them gave each other a quick, uncertain glance. With a sigh, Lucina once again donned her eye patch. "It's a long story. We can explain once we're in private."

"I shall lead the entourage to the Ylissean camp!" Owain quickly volunteered. "For our VIPs, though," her cousin shot her a knowing smirk, "I would suggest that Gerome and Cynthia fly you and Lady Say'ri back."

Good intentions. She wanted to believe that he simply had good intentions and that he wasn't doing this to fluster the two.

"And you?" she attempted to counter. "Will you be able to safely return?"

"Noire is more than capable of spotting for us while we retreat," he clapped her on the shoulder. "Besides, I would imagine we should not delay. You know how much our commander values intelligence in battle."

It would appear that outsmarting her cousin would have to wait for another day. He always seemed to have a way of being a step ahead of her. "Very well then, let us depart." Gerome made a motion for Minerva to lower herself, allowing Lucina to climb aboard. Say'ri moved to climb onto Cynthia's steed, who was already beginning to pepper the Chon'sin princess with questions. With one last wave and what she believed to be Owain giving his best attempt at a sharp glance at Gerome, the two took off.

Tightening her hold on his waist, she spoke once she was sure Cynthia was outside of earshot, "How long ago did you arrive in this time?"

"About fourteen months. Aside from a few times when I needed to visit a town, I mostly kept to the wilds and avoiding the Valmese."

"Was such a life of hardship truly necessary?" she responded. It would seem that only she was truly blessed with arriving anywhere near the desired time and place. "Surely there must have been something you could have done to ease your troubles."

She saw his shoulders rise, as if taking in a deep breath. "How could I let myself be at ease? I was an ocean away from where I was needed. I did not even know if you were still alive. All I knew was that sooner or later Ylisse would invade, and I had to hope that you would be a part of it."

His voice was sharp and the words stung, as if chiding her for failing to realize such a simple fact. Even after all this time, he sounded the same – worried underneath a forceful tone.

It reminded her of how awful the trip back treated them, and it was especially bad for her brother and the three men trying to play at being suitors. Perhaps Nah had made it so that at the very least Lucina was guaranteed to arrive at the correct time and place at the cost of everyone else. Her mind flashed to Morgan for a moment, wondering if that was a side effect of the manakete's choice, but she pushed it aside. She could speak with her friend later.

For now, Gerome had returned to her, and she let her arms tighten around him just a little bit, though she kept some distance between their bodies. "I'm sorry," she apologized, "While it was a necessary decision, it is clear that many of us suffered. It was my mistake to make, and you simply followed."

From her grip she felt his body rise and stomach swell with breath, but he held it briefly before releasing and staying silent. Before long, they were descending to the ground and she had to let go of him, climbing off of Minerva. It was hardly the best of meetings, but she knew that she was still glad to see him.

Before she realized it, Gerome blocked her way before enveloping his arms around her. Surprised, she hesitated before moving to embrace him once more. A smile threatened to take her lips again as a blush began to run rampant, but she paused as she saw someone from over his shoulder.

Of all things possible, Robin was looking their way and her eyes were right upon them. Slowly, an arm crossed over her chest and her other fist balled to the side of her chin. She seemed more deliberative as opposed to angered or concerned, as if pondering what to say or ask as she drew closer.

"Gerome…" Lucina found it a little difficult to speak, the color draining from her face a little, "m-my mother is watching."

There was a something odd about the smile on Robin's face. It certainly wasn't one of anger, nor was it entirely composed of joy. There was a curiosity in it and something else.

"… It has been a long time, and I have my own goal to worry about," the rider said, though the princess was unsure if he meant to remind her about the game she had almost forgotten, "I do not care."

And with that, he let go and Cynthia touched down next to them with the Chon'sin princess in tow. As Robin approached, Lucina could feel her gaze moving over the blood on her outfit. "I thought I suggested you to avoid combat."

"A good opportunity presented itself," Lucina stated. "We were able to stage an ambush and turn the skirmish into a two-side engagement."

"And what of your cousin and Noire?"

"Alive and well. They advised us to go ahead with Gerome and Cynthia while they led the other group back through the alleyways."

"Very well then. Good job out there," the tactician stated after some small thoughts. Turning to the Say'ri, she spoke. "I do not believe we have met. My name is Robin, the commanding officer on this field." Lucina noticed that her mother did not use her full title or position, instead settling for a more ambiguous designation. "I am the one who ordered the interception."

The Chon'sin princess took this as her time to bow. "I humbly thank you for your decision. No doubt you must have taken quite the risk to secure us. My name is Say'ri, Princess of Chon'sin." Lucina noticed that she did not draw the connection between her mother's name and that of the Queen of Ylisse. Chrom was certainly well known, but perhaps the people here knew little about Robin's feats.

"Well now, a princess." She watched her mother bow in return, apparently successful at hiding her identity. "I was not expecting to find such royalty on the battlefield. All the more fortunate that our scouts spotted your party."

If there was a reason why Robin was purposely avoiding the use of her position, it was not immediately clear to Lucina, and any further pondering of it was pushed away. "Now then, as we are preparing to engage in battle, I must ask that you allow us to escort you to safety." Her mother looked at the two riders. "Gerome and Cynthia, please escort Princess Say'ri back to the main ship. For now we need to keep her whereabouts hidden from the Valmese. Please make sure that her needs are seen to."

"Got it!" Cynthia seemed more than happy to take orders from her mother, while Gerome merely gave a small nod. With one last glance at her from over his shoulder, Lucina watched as the pair took to the sky again and soared out towards the ocean.

Unfortunately, for all the success and happiness that came earlier, she was now left alone with her mother, whose stare was beginning to unnerve her.

Lucina decided that her fear was one of utter nonsense, and yet still her voice shook when she tried to speak. "I-I can explain, mother."

Her words, however, were partially drowned out. A meteor spell screamed overhead and crashed into what should have been a hasty defensive rampart the Valmese attempted to build. Cordelia had been specifically spotting for them and relaying the coordinates to Robin and Laurent, and so far the mage hit every single one of them.

"Well, whatever it is, it looks like it will have to wait." Robin's voice was surprisingly upbeat, and she felt some of her concerns melt away. With a quick turn, her mother began to move towards the front lines. "Come now, it's time to begin our victory. And keep your Falchion sheathed for now. When we get to the thick of it, then you may use it."

Following after her, she watched as Robin barked an order and immediately the forces started to give her a wide berth, leaving a clear path to Chrom and Morgan, who were maintaining the front line against the small scouting parties that attempted to harass them.

"Finally," her father spoke, perhaps a little more gruffly than he intended. "I was beginning to worry that we would never take the initiative."

"We've hit much of their defensive lines," Robin said to them. "Many of their heavily armored knights have been killed in the strikes and their morale should be smashed with all of the walls we've hit. It's time to move in with our horsemen and clean up."

Once again, Chrom's strong voice echoed over the soldiers. "All cavalry, up front!" Hooves clopped into place, with Frederick, Sully, and Stahl leading the pack, their armors glinting in the sunlight. Across the long street, Lucina could see the Valmese forces scrambling into place, putting what few knights they could at the front lines to cushion the charge.

For the first time in this battle, Robin drew her own blade from her sheathe and planted the tip down into the ground in front of her. It was longer and heftier than the standard sword Ylissean and Feroxi soldiers had come to expect. Upon news of the upcoming Valmese conflict, her mother had challenged the royal blacksmiths to forge a weapon "that only the Falchion could defeat", and this was their answer. Made from an alloy of silver and steel, its full length reached up to her navel, often requiring the strength of both of her arms to wield it. It had a long, upward cross guard and the blade itself had a wide base, tapering down as it extended before coming together at an even sharper angle. It looked plain, but its sheer reach and the force behind each swing and stab more than made up for it. Flair was reserved for the courts, as her mother put it, and she called it the Vogel, ancient Ylissean for "bird".

With both blades magnificent blades drawn, Lucina took ahold of her own silver sword, watching as her father pointed the Falchion forward unto the enemy. The horsemen needed no further command, stampeding down the street in full force as the rest of the soldiers followed after Chrom and Robin into battle, Lucina and Morgan trailing closely behind them.

And in a clash of fire and metal, Ylisse swiftly and decisively secured its foothold on Valmese soil.

A/N: I think if I had to give this chapter a nickname, it would be research. I spent a good amount of time looking up not just fighter plane combat and applying it to pegasus riders, but also clouds, g-force, sword types, and even some time with Google's translation powers to find a good name for Robin's sword. This was all on top of needing to come up with two strategies for this fight, one for Laurent and one for Lucina. Still, I think it came out pretty well.

And then I took a closer look at what exactly a g-force is and realized I had to rewrite a bit of the pegasus combat stuff. Objects in free fall do not experience an increase of g-force, as it is a measurement of acceleration and not pure speed. Once the body stops accelerating and hits terminal velocity net forces equate to zero, so that means Laurent has no reason to start blacking out in the dive. Alas, Laurent, you are still epic in here, but not as epic as you can be.

But let's not talk physics in a fantasy-based video game where a horseman can leap fifteen feet at you from a complete standstill.

Regardless, a lot of research was done, and I feel that it was worth it. I was looking forward to this chapter for a bit, since it was really fleshing out an aspect of combat that we don't really see much of. We know what the role of a pegasus knight is, but we don't really see one in actual combat against others. So for me it was just a place where I could try to imagine what was the most effective weapon and how they would use it to engage on an aerial target.

Then it's about how maneuvers would work, orientations, and drawing clear lines of effectiveness between wyvern riders and pegasus knights. I'd imagine that the wyvern rider is more of a shock trooper of sorts - able to fly over most defensive infantry lines and attempt to break them by causing disruption (or just eating them) on the ground for a follow-up group, not unlike an aerial cavalry charge. And with their scales, they would be able to withstand most small hits before taking off and another approach. Pegasus knights on the other hand, with their superior speed, would probably be a more defensive force. Naturally more fragile, flying over enemy troops exposes them in a dangerous manner. So they're their to ward off wyvern riders from breaking ground lines or escorting their own wyverns from other riders so that they can safely approach. While they can chip away at ground forces with a javelin, it amounts to little for the risk they are taking. The other role they can play is to create a surround in a particular area to enclose it and cut off retreating forces.

You can tell I spent a good amount of time just sitting and thinking how they would actually fight. Hopefully I'll get to revisit this concept more. This is also the longest chapter in this fic so far, at around 6,324 words, not including author notes.

Also, I had to sit and pause on how to write Gerome. I really need to get a copy of the game again. Oh, and I need to stop giving Robin a sword. I don't know why but it seems to be a choice I can't leave behind. Next time I'm going to just make Robin a brigand and wield an axe.

Reviews! I must say that while I would have continued to write, these reviews really came at the right time.

I Have Gone Away: I'm glad your enjoying this portrayal of Robin. And with you calling your loyalties into question, I will take that as a sign that I am doing a good job! I think you will enjoy this chapter, at the very least though, as Gerome and Lucina meet.

The Reborn Honeybee: Yes, I do want to see Inigo win, too. No, I can neither confirm nor deny Inigo will win. Nope. Nuh-uh.

Asquar: I know you didn't really review, but I don't care! And yes, you may certainly go ahead and make that comic.

That's all I have for now though. On a fun note, I've gone ahead and updated the poll on my account again. The results won't affect the outcome of the story, but I kinda wanna see what everyone is rooting for. I'm under the impression that Laurent will most likely lose, but here's a fact: ingame, Laurent has the lowest support threshold with Lucina compared to the other two, meaning that he has to do less supporting actions to unlock the next rank with Lucina. Intelligent Systems has previously used the mechanic that for many of their canon pairings, such as EliwoodxNinian, they are noted as requiring less turns compared to most other support options. While FE:A does not use turns to measure support progress, let that sit in your mind for a moment (and let your inner LucinaxLaurent fan come out).

Next up, we can expect to see Robin grilling Lucina a little bit in regards to her relationship with Laurent and Gerome. Good times!

I do not own Fire Emblem, and I appreciate all comments and criticism.

See you all soon!