No. What was she doing here? This bimbo was still hanging about? Was she making a mockery of the prestigious battles in Arena Ferox? Was she making fun of him? Why was she still here?!

"Lon'qu!"

There was nothing he could do to stop it. He could feel the blade shove straight into his side. Lon'qu winced as pain shot up and down his body. He looked down at the fabled sword still in him. Blood was already staining Falchion, and he was quickly losing his strength. He looked up to see a very panicked Lucina. She was saying something-Are you okay? Oh gods, no. I'm so sorry. Lon'qu, speak to me. Lon'qu?-but Lon'qu could only guess at her words. The beating of his own heart was too loud, and soon, there was only silence.

When Lon'qu opened his eyes again he was in one of Regna Ferox's main fortresses. Lissa was standing over him, her eyes wide with concern. A smile soon parted her lips and she clapped her hands. "Oh, you're awake!" she cheered. "We thought you were a goner for a second there!"

Lon'qu tried to sit up, but the action brought pain to his side. Lucina was talking to Chrom a little distance away, but when she noticed Lon'qu she ran over. "Thank the gods," she sighed. "I am so sorry. I wasn't expecting you to get so distracted. I thought for sure you would deflect or at least dodge or something. How are you feeling?"

He had a headache. Lucina's words seemed all too rushed, and he was having none of it. He forced himself to his feet, wincing at the pain that brought, and headed for the door. "Lon'qu?" Lissa called after him. "I really don't think you should be walking around yet." She pouted when she realized he wouldn't be listening to her and she ran after him. "At least take this elixir," she told him, and she shoved it into his hands. Lon'qu glanced down at it, stored it in his pocket, and set out once more.

Basilio and Flavia were in the next room, and when Basilio noticed Lon'qu he called out to him. "You doing alright?" he asked. "You took quite the beating from Falchion there. Lucina had you good."

"Leave him be, you old ox," Flavia told Basilio, waving him off. "Do you feel better, Lon'qu?"

Lon'qu looked to Basilio. "The match," he said. "Who was the victor?"

Basilio looked awkwardly to Flavia. She rolled her eyes at Basilio before turning back to Lon'qu. "After Lucina took you out of the arena, there wasn't much left. Ylisse was able to defeat the rest of our men."

"Then I lost the battle for all of Regna Ferox," Lon'qu said, his voice low. He looked away, shame clouding over his dark eyes. "I see."

"Don't worry about it," Flavia told him. "We're just glad you're alright. You had us worried about you, you fool. Don't go getting yourself killed on us. Where would we be without you?"

"A victory over Ylisse," Lon'qu supplied sourly before leaving the room.

Hours passed, and at supper Lon'qu was nowhere to be found. He had not been seen since his interaction with the khans, and as the Feroxi and Ylisseans sat over their meals they looked around worriedly. "He wouldn't have gone off somewhere by himself?" Lucina said, still feeling very guilty over his injuries. They all knew that yes, he would have, and a hush fell over them. Florina seemed even more worried than Lucina, and after a minute she pushed out of her seat. "This is all my fault," she said, and she started running.

"Florina wait!" Lissa called, running behind her.

Chrom went to chase after his sister but was stopped by a large hand on his shoulder. "Not much you can do about that," Basilio told him. "I'll go look for Lon'qu. You all start supper. Save some for me, will ya?!"

In the training room, Lon'qu was shredding to pieces his opponent, a cloth dummy. His strikes were skilled and precise, and he did not miss a single concentrated move. He did not look up when he heard footsteps and instead let Basilio walk right up to him. Just as Lon'qu was about to take another strike at the dummy Basilio brought down his axe on Lon'qu's sword, finally grabbing the swordmaster's attention.

"We're having supper, boy."

Lon'qu didn't respond, just slid his sword from underneath Basilio's axe.

"Lon'qu." He finally looked up, a look of pain and humiliation in his eyes. "Are you trying to kill yourself?" Basilio went on. "With wounds like those, I'm surprised you're able to train like this. How long have you been out here?"

Sweat beaded down Lon'qu's face, and he was panting. "I was not supposed to lose," he said curtly. "It will not happen again."

Basilio let out a very large sigh. "You can't win every battle, Lon'qu. So you lost one. Big deal. Regna Ferox loves you the same. Now get your sorry ass over there and have supper with us. I will not have my champion overexerting himself, and definitely not on an empty stomach!"

When Basilio and Lon'qu reentered the dining hall all eyes turned to them. Florina and Lissa were still missing, and in moments Kjelle was in Lon'qu's face. "You're a jerk!" she snapped.

Lon'qu paused and looked the girl over. She really was Sully's daughter. "Beg pardon?"

"Florina has run away and it's all your fault! Don't you ever think of anybody but yourself? The whole reason we had this battle was because Florina wanted to see how real warriors of this nation fight. It's a shame she spent so much time watching you, because you're a terrible fighter! You can't even stay focused long enough to not get stabbed-"

"Kjelle," came a deeper voice behind her. Stahl placed a hand on his daughter's shoulder. He cast an apologetic look towards Lon'qu.

"No, Father!" Kjelle insisted. "He ought to know what he's done! Florina didn't come all this way just to go home, crying and humiliated!"

Lon'qu stood awkwardly, trying to decide what to do. He could not respond to Kjelle without yelling, he was sure of that, so he remained silent. Kjelle knew nothing. If the bimbo had run off crying to her homeland, that was fine by him. She would no longer be around to distract him, and he would be the champion Basilio believed him to be. He could go back to living his life, and the Shepherds could go back to being an esteemed force.

"You're a pig," Kjelle spat. She had apparently been arguing with her father while Lon'qu thought. She, with Stahl, returned to their seats. Lon'qu soon followed and everyone started supper. It was clear Florina wasn't going to be coming back. Finally, Lon'qu could breathe a little easier. So what if Kjelle hated him for it? Tomorrow, Kjelle was going to return to Ylisse with her parents, and by the time she met with Lon'qu again this entire ordeal would be forgotten.

That night Lon'qu was having a difficult time falling asleep. He had set the elixir Lissa had given him by his bed. Pain was coursing through his body; his wound stung, his bones ached, and he felt terribly weak. He was beginning to think he had overdone it on the training, and he was exhausted. However, all he could do was toss and turn and think of the events of the day. Seeing Florina when he'd thought he was free of her; losing a battle in Arena Ferox; getting seriously injured by Lucina; causing a scene at supper... It certainly hadn't been a good day, not by any stretch of the word. He was ready for this day to be over, but sleep just would not come.

Suddenly, Lon'qu could feel his eyelids getting heavy, as if by some sort of spell. Soon, he would be sleeping like a baby, completely unaware of the plan being orchestrated around him.