Chapter 13

The next day, the shepherds packed their things, heading to Port Ferox. On the way, Nathan sat in his usual section of the convoy, looking over maps of the sea that separated Valm from Ylisse. He also had a large text on warships and sea travel open next to him, which he looked over, scribbling notes inside. As usual, Chrom looked on, lounging nearby, resting his back on a stack of books.

"So, what happens when we get back to the port? Flavia's reports have already told us that the warships haven't made it there yet…" Chrom inquired.

The tactician turned to the man. "Did you have something in mind?"

Chrom frowned. "Not exactly, that's why I asked."

Nathan thought for a moment before motioning to the stack of books behind Chrom. The Prince sat up, turning around.

"There should be a book in that pile on the Feroxi country, and it's history. Hand it over." The tactician told the man. Chrom scanned the stack before carefully pulling out a book from the stack, tossing it to Nathan. The tactician caught it, stretching out and lying down on top of his map, resting his head on the text he was previously reading.

"You can come ask me that question again when we get to Port Ferox, I should have a good idea by then on where we're going." The tactician muttered in reply.

Chrom smirked. "I'll leave you to it, then."

Once the group had arrived at Port Ferox, Chrom made his way back to finding Nathan. The tactician was packing his things from the caravan, looking for what he needed to bring overseas.

"Want some help?" The Great Lord offered. Nathan nodded as he folded up another map, putting it down next to a small stack of books.

"These (Nathan pointed to another stack, much larger than the other, filled with books and maps) need to go back on the caravan, if you wouldn't mind."

Chrom nodded, taking some of the books from the pile and lazily tossing them back into the wagon. "So…what are we doing with our afternoon? Apparently the warships won't be arriving until tomorrow."

Nathan grunted as he picked up another book, dusting it off before flinging it into the caravan. "I found a place. The ruins of time, it's called."

Chrom raised an eyebrow, picking up the handful of maps and depositing them in the caravan. "Oh yeah? Where's that?"

"Right near here. It's an older temple that's been mostly submerged in water. Legend has it that a powerful divine relic is there, known as Naga's tear. It supposedly can protect and strengthen anyone who holds it." Nathan replied.

Chrom nodded. "I suppose we should leave most of our people here for this…excursion. Let everyone else get ready for tomorrow's voyage."

Nathan grunted in agreement. "We'll take the Cabal, obviously…Gods, does that ever sound cool!" He declared with a laugh. "Anyways, Frederick and Cherche should come too, and I'll be bringing Lissa. We may need Sumia for Aerial support, something tells me this relic won't exactly be left unguarded."

Chrom rubbed his chin. "Hm…yeah, that sounds about right. I'll find Lucina as well; she'll no doubt want to come."

Nathan gained a smug grin, smiling evilly at the man. "I'd suggest bringing Cordelia as well, but I don't think she's 'recovered' yet from seeing your poster yesterday…"

The prince blushed heavily while he glared back at Nathan. "No need to remind me…" He muttered. "I had to carry her back to her tent. She fainted when she saw one. She came by just as I was getting the ones down in that area, too…"

The tactician laughed. "Anyways, meet you back here in an hour?"

"Sounds good."

Nathan and the other shepherds arrived at the Ruins of Time by the early afternoon. The beauty of the fallen Temple mesmerized them, the walls being a glistening light blue, looking almost like ice. They arrived at the entrance to the temple, stopping before entering.

"Hear that?" Nathan muttered, as when silence fell upon the group, faint growls could be heard coming from inside the ruins.

"Risen." Frederick muttered, readying his lance. "Looks like it won't be easy to get our hands on Naga's tear."

The others nodded, readying their gear. They then turned to Nathan, who quickly threw together a battle plan. After relaying it to the shepherds, they turned and started through the entrance to the ruined temple.

Inside of the structure, a young girl awoke. She sat up, rubbing her head groggily and checking out her surroundings. "Wh…where am I…what is this place…" She muttered to herself, looking around frantically as if searching for someone. She heard a loud roar nearby, shaking her alert. The young girl quickly got up, pulling a tome from her black cloak. "Risen, and from the sounds of it, more hiding on the lower floors of this temple…"

She shook her head in frustration. "Think, Morgan, think! How would Dad handle this?" The Blonde-haired girl wondered to herself.

Back at the entrance, the Shepherds quickly burst into the ruined temple. Upon a first examination of the place upon entering, Nathan could see that it was nearly completely immersed in water. Only small portions of the floor were still above the murky blue waves, and the roof of the ruins was completely gone, leaving the afternoon sun shining upon them. He was quite pleased with his idea of bringing some Aerial support, judging from the terrain. His eyes did a double take when he glanced over to the middle area of the structure, spotting the Blonde-haired young girl fighting against a group of risen. From what he could tell, she was using an Elthunder tome to fend them off.

"Over there!" He yelled, pointing in the direction of the young girl. "Let's move!"

Nathan and the others quickly clambered across the ruins, while Chrom got on Sumia's Pegasus and the two flew over, helping protect the girl from the risen who seemed to be solely targeting her. Chrom hopped off Sumia's Pegasus and jumped into the fray, but it almost seemed as though the risen didn't even recognize his presence, not even flinching as he approached, or even as he cut them down.

It was less than a minute before Nathan and Lissa scrambled onto the platform as well, with the others fending off the risen attacking from the other parts of the temple. With all five of them working together on the platform, it didn't take long for them to clear out the remaining risen. Once they had finished with those on the platform, Nathan turned to the others, nodding.

"I'll catch up with you in a bit." The tactician told them, as Chrom and Sumia flew off. Lissa stayed nearby as she and Nathan stared down the blonde-haired girl.

"You…don't look like a treasure hunter," The brown-haired tactician mused. "What brings you here?"

Morgan laughed. "Very funny. Nice to see you again too, father. I was beginning to think we got separated…"

Nathan stood, looking over at the girl. He turned to Lissa, who simply exchanged confused looks with him, and then turned back to the stranger. "…I'm sorry, I think you have me mistaken with someone else…" He replied.

The young girl rolled her eyes. "Well, no harm done," She continued, ignoring Nathan's previous statement. "Anyways, why don't you gather up your band of people here, and let's get going home! Also, who's the weird-looking lady standing behind you?"

Taking offense to this, Lissa stomped in front of Nathan, crossing her arms. "Hey, I don't know who you are, lady, but this (She angrily pointed to Nathan) is my husband, and YOU, are some strange girl we found in here! So stop acting all weird and stuff!"

Nathan put an arm on his wife's shoulder, and looked to Morgan, looking over her appearance. She wore a black cloak that was covered in purple insignia, and looked nearly identical to the one he wore, save for a few stitched up holes on his own. "All right now, let's all calm down here…" He muttered. "Did you travel back in time? And come back here with Lucina? And, I probably should have asked this much earlier, but what is your name?"

The girl rolled her eyes. "What do you mean, what's my name! It's me, Morgan! You know, your daughter? Daddy's little girl? The love of your life, and all that?"

Lissa raised an eyebrow. "So…you're from the future? Like Lucina?" She asked.

Morgan gave her a confused look. "Lucina? The future? Daddy, who is this lady?"

Nathan scratched his head. "Now I'm confused…" He confessed. "So you remember me, but not your mother?"

Morgan shook her head in frustration, and gave Nathan a look of worried panic. "What…what's going on? My mother? Daddy, come on, we need to get you home, I think you're going crazy, and so am I! At least the air here seems to agree with you, you're looking good! Like, you look at least a decade younger!"

Nathan exchanged a worried look with Lissa as Morgan continued. "Alright, let's get going home! You should probably bring all your friends you brought with you too, can't leave them here all alone. Now then…home…which way is it…" Morgan suddenly fell onto her knees, grabbing her head. "Ngh! My head! What…what's going on?"

Lissa and Nathan rushed over to their daughter, with Lissa helping her stand up again.

"Hey, take it easy there," Nathan told the girl. "This may sound crazy, but I think you came back in time."

Morgan gave him a worried look. "H-how…all I can remember is waking up here…lying on the ground in these ruins…"

Lissa gave the girl a concerned look. "Well, whether you remember me or not, I'm your Mother, Lissa. And if you're our daughter, we'll do everything we can to keep you safe."

Morgan shook her head groggily. "Lissa…yes…that sounds familiar…"

Nathan smiled warmly at her. "This really brings me back…I was found the same way as you, Morgan. With no memories and everything!" He laughed

Morgan smiled. "Ha! Like father, Like Daughter, huh?"

Nathan nodded as he turned around, pulling Mystletainn from its sheath. "Stay close, alright?"

Morgan grinned, pulling out her tome eagerly. Lissa did the same.

"Yessir, dad!"

Hey guys! Just a brief update on things. With a release date for Fates confirmed, and with it being so much sooner than I expected (Squeals), I hope to get this story done before the game comes out in North America (February 19th). With that being said, expect the chapters to come much faster. Buckle up! And as always, thanks for reading! Let me know what you think!

-Nate