The first thing Morgan felt when she woke up was the sensation of her Pegasus chewing on her hair. She groaned and sat up, shoving the animal's head away.

"Give it a rest Guido," she mumbled as she took stock of her surroundings.

"Hey over there!" someone called out. "Are you alright?"

Morgan turned, and walking down the path towards her were five individuals. Five individuals she recognized. Uh oh.

Morgan scrambled to her feet, using Guido as support to steady her shaking legs, before waving at the group heading towards her.

"Hail, traveller!" Her Uncle Chrom said. "We saw you lying on the ground from down the road. Did you fall off your Pegasus?"

Morgan giggled to herself. "That must've been it. Clumsy me! Thanks for your concern, Your Highness!"

"So you know who I am then?"

"What self-respecting citizen of Ylisse doesn't, after everything you and your sister have done for the realm?"

Chrom laughed embarrassedly. "Please, the Shepherds might've been my idea, but we haven't done anything yet. There is no need for flattery. Now, what is your name, stranger? Are you injured? My younger sister can patch you up if need be."

Morgan glanced from her uncle to her aunt. Of course, Lissa technically wasn't related to her, but Chrom and Lissa were as close as siblings with her father, and Chrom would marry her Aunt Reflet one day anyway.

"My name is Katarina," she replied after a moment. "By the way, do you know the date? This isn't the first time I've fallen from my Pegasus here," she added, thinking quickly.

Sir Frederick raised an eyebrow, but he told her, and Morgan did her best to keep her expression neutral despite her surprise. Today was the day her father and aunt were supposed to meet Uncle Chrom for the first time, yet based on their body language and the way they carried themselves, it already seemed like they had known each other for years.

Something was off.

Morgan noticed Robin staring at her with intrigue, and she shied away from his gaze. He looked so much younger. Probably no more than five or six years older than she was now. She was also glad she'd left the family cloak with her cousin, Marc, since having it would draw questions. She was confused to see that neither her father nor aunt had it either, though. Instead, they were wearing matching cloaks that were similar in design yet were woven in Ylissean Blue.

"Anyway," Morgan said as she shook the sad thoughts from her head. "Would you be able to point me in the direction of the nearest town? I'm supposed to meet up with some friends of mine, and I don't want them to worry."

"Southtown is just down the path here," Chrom told her. "We were planning on stopping there briefly as the last stop on the inaugural tour of the Shepherds before returning home. We could escort you if you like?"

Morgan glanced at Robin again, who was murmuring quietly to his sister in the back of the group. Traveling with her father for any period of time was a poor idea. He was already examining her like a puzzle. Any more time together could be dangerous and compromise her identity.

"Thank you, but no thank you, milord," she replied. "I know the way, thanks to you. I'd like to meet my friends as soon as possible so they don't worry about me. And don't worry about me being wounded. I feel alright, and I've got vulneraries in my saddlebags."

"If you're sure," Chrom said. "Good luck finding your friends, Katarina."

Morgan pulled herself into Guido's saddle and smiled at the group. "Thanks!" She said before taking off and heading towards town.

Since two separate people asked, I'll be explaining some choices I made in this chapter, now that the point has been reached where spoilers are no longer a concern. Will Robin, Reflet or both be getting Amnesia? Possibly surprisingly, no. Grima may have travelled back in time in one of their bodies (which twin, I will not say because that's also a spoiler), but there was never any opportunity for Grima to attempt to fuse with either twin, meaning no brain frying occurred. In the normal timeline of the game, that's a good thing, because it changed Robin's fate by giving them the strength of will to fight back against Grima's control because they did not remember what they had been taught by the Grimleal, that being that Grima is absolute and inevitable. We'll just have to see how that affects this timeline instead, though the context clues should make that somewhat obvious, lol. In any case, instead of an encounter with Future Grima, who is off doing something else, we have our first look at one of the second-generation Shepherds!

I apologize if this is a disappointing development for some people. Unfortunately, I just didn't see a justifiable way for a weakened Grima to attempt anything so early in this timeline, so there won't be any sort of angstiness happening right now, just more shenanigans and plot alterations.