Italics = Thought

I do not own Fire Emblem.

Cross published on A03

The Head Priest of the Dusk Dragon, Landon Lovett, was an old man. At eighty-three, it was not uncommon for him to leave things to his three Low-Priests, the trio from which his successor was selected.

He sat himself steadily down at his desk, and made himself comfortable in the gloom. A shadow appeared at his doorframe and Landon strained his eyes to see who it was.

"Attor?" The old man called out into the gloom, straining his eyes. "Is that you?"

"It is, Holy One." Brother Skald confirmed, using the correct form of address. There were a number of Monks at his back, their faces hidden.

"Don't be shy!" Landon greeted warmly. "Come in, come in! I'll have Claus bring us some tea…"

"That will not be necessary, Holy One." Skald said quietly. "We will not be staying for that long."

"I see." The Head Priest said carefully. "Very well, what can I do for you?"

"I apologise, Holy One." Skald began, genuine emotion in his voice. "You have served our faith well. But Nohr faces war, and it needs a Head Priest that is seen. Unfortunately, this requires you to no longer be the leader of our faith, you have my sincerest apologies."

He snapped his fingers, and the Monks that stood around Skald closed in, knives drawn. The old man managed to let out one last, strangled scream, before being silenced.

Forever.

"Let us depart." Skald commented. "I must see the King as soon as possible."

He spared the Head Priest a glance. An odd feeling was filling his gut now, regret. But like every other time he had felt it, he stamped it out immediately. Regret made him weak. He had to have no regrets.

"Someone has just assassinated our Head Priest!"

"What you are saying has massive implications, Brother Skald."

The King was beating back a torrent of cold fury after Skald and Morrison appeared in the doorway of his chambers. Grand Marshal Morrison's presence intrigued him.

"But true, my King." Morrison said calmly. Whilst she didn't yet fully believe Skald, he had never once given her any reason to think that he'd endanger Nohr.

The King raised an eyebrow. "You would vouch for him, Grand Marshal?"

"I would, My King."

Corrin, what mess have you gotten into now? Xander sighed.

"…Grand Marshal. Call my council in an hour early tomorrow. Brother Skald, go and inform the Holy One that I wish for him to attend."

Skald bowed. "It will be done, My King."

"Yes, My King." Morrison saluted.

Xander nodded, and dismissed them both, and headed back to his bedchamber.

Xander slid back into bed. The figure beside him shifting about in vague annoyance.

"..Who was that?" They asked, their voice muffled by a pillow.

"Hush, love. It's nothing that cannot wait until morning."

"If you…* She interrupted herself with a yawn. "If you say so.."

Xander smiled to himself, and placed a swift kiss onto her cheek.

"Love you, Charlotte."

Charlotte yawned. "Love you too.."

Haven had, in the last few weeks, gained a degree of organisation. Anna had, somehow, managed to get a supply chain running. Building materials were coming in, and most Havenites were settling in on rebuilding the ruined city. Those that could not help rebuild assisted in cooking, healing and looking after the small number of children that happily ran about the ruins, playing Knights and Monsters (Although none of the 'monsters' they fought were dragons. It was with typical childlike innocence that they claimed "Mister Corrin is a dragon, and he's nice! So dragons can't be monsters!").

The day was full of hard work and labour, punctuated by loud work songs, sang by many different tongues, with varying accents mixing into one. The Voice of Haven.

At night they filled their bellies with hearty stews and warm bread, all prepared by Mozu and a few people she managed to convince to help her. As they hadn't yet managed to fix up most of the city, the Havenites all remained in the palace. Many would later feel sad about leaving, but all finally had a safe haven to call home (Even if Nyx still hogged the library).

Corrin had accompanied their Anna to meet with the Head of the Red headed family, leaving Azura alone to lead the Havenites.

It was around this time, a few days before her wedding, that Azura met Morgan. The girl was a year her senior, and, like her, she had a very young child.

A young child who, right now, was sharing a crib with Shigure.

"They're adorable." Morgan cooed, stroking her daughter's cheek.

"They are." Azura agreed. "Hopefully they'll be friends later."

"Sod later, they look friends now." Morgan said, grinning. "We can tease them about how they used to sleep together as kids later."

Azura chuckled. "Good idea."

The blunette paused. "You've never mentioned her father…"

Morgan's expression soured a little. "He asked me to betray my father for him. I almost accepted. But he claimed it 'would be unwise for a Prince of Ylisse to court a Princess of a nation we are at war with'."

"He dumped you then and there?" Azura asked.

"He did." The silver haired woman allowed sorrow to seep into her voice. "We met again during the war. In the mountains of Valm. We were snowed in….a-and needed to keep warm."

Azura smirked inwardly at what Morgan was implying. "And Ophelia was the result, I take it?"

Morgan sighed softly, and when she spoke again, she sounded small. "We had always planned on having children..we were far enough down the succession that it didn't matter."

The older girls face darkened, and her voice turned to stone. "Then Mother was assassinated."

Azura kept quiet. Morgan was clearly forcing herself to tell a story, and it didn't seem right to interrupt her.

"Father….snapped. Giving into the darkness that plagues our bloodline." Morgan removed the fingerless glove from her right hand, and showed her companion the symbol, the brand, that called it home. "Grima. The Fel Dragon. Father gave into him, and burned our homeland down trying to find those responsible…"

"But by then he was too far gone?" Azura asked tentatively.

"So were we. So was the whole damn Kingdom." Morgan scowled. "My mother was beloved by the Plegian people, yet one fool of an Ylissean Lord sought to marry his daughter into royalty ruined the entire world. The worst part? Our elder sister….my fathers' heir, she sided with THEM! She sided with Ylisse! Abandoned us! Betrayed our people!"

She sighed, calming herself down. "Owain I can forgive. Severa…I don't know…"

Azura placed a hand on Morgan's shoulder. "Put them out of your mind for now, Morgan. Don't create grief or problems for yourself. Besides, look at the gift Owain gave you."

Morgan glanced at her daughter, still peacefully snoozing, oblivious to the world. "…..He doesn't know. Let that be his punishment."

"If I might interrupt." Came a voice behind them.

Walking over to them, flanked by two guards, was Marc.

"I do have a wedding gift for you." Marc said, producing a box. "Do forgive it being a little early."

Azura raised an eyebrow, and opened the box.

Inside, resting in velvet lined walls, were two bands of coiled gold and silver. One had a ruby embedded into it, the other a sapphire.

"These were my parents' crowns. The royal crowns of Plegia." Marc explained. "Since I doubt that I will be the one leading the Havenites, and since we've you and Corrin to thank for our salvation..

Azura blinked rapidly, and hurriedly shook her head. "I can't take these!"

"Take them for now then." Marc suggested. "When you have crowns of you own made, return them."

"If you're sure…"

Morgan grinned. "We are. We're also going to back Corrin if it comes to a vote on leadership. Plegia doesn't forget insults, but it also doesn't forget her friends."

"My sister is right." Marc said, cheerfully. "Whatever happens in the future, my Lady Azura, Plegia is proud to call you friend."

"I-I…..thank you." Azura stammered out. This was perhaps the first time that a foreign nation had not just thanked her, but pretty much declared her one of them, proudly. Nohr hadn't done so, neither had Hoshido. Valla may have, but she was far too young to remember.

The twins beamed.

"Don't mention it!"

Up next.. The finale arc.

Also, I've been bouncing ideas around I my head, and wondered if you guys would be interested in an 'Awakening' style story at some point? From what is implied, that world that the Awakening Trio comes from is different from both the game and the Future Past, and it might be interesting to explore that world.

Tell me what'cha think.