Clovis slowly opened his eyes as he stirred awake. Early dawn light flooded in through the inn room windows. He awoke on his back, facing the ceiling. Clovis quietly yawned as he gathered his surroundings. He went to rub at his eyes, only to find one of his arms wouldn't follow his commands.

He turned his gaze to the side, his eyes slowly taking in the sight of Maribelle clad in her pink pajamas. She was sleeping peacefully, her head directly lying on the midpoint of his arm. She was lying on her side, one of her arms draped around his stomach.

He quietly listened to her soft breathing as his brain processed what he was witnessing. Realization struck him as memories of what occurred the previous night struck him like a raging pegasus. His face grew warmer every passing moment.

He could feel sweat running down his forehead as dizziness assaulted his senses. Last night he had visited Maribelle to speak to her about Peri. At some point Maribelle had kissed his cheek. That's when he realized her feelings and it had been too much for him to handle. She wished to court him. She was romantically interested in him.

Thus, there was only one proper move to make. He bravely decided to retreat. Clovis gently shifted his arm away from her, leaving her head on the pillow. He ever so carefully freed himself from the arm she had draped over him. She remained asleep. He could only thank Naga that he knew both Lissa and Maribelle were far from morning people.

Clovis bid a hasty retreat. He was out of his depths, so very far out of his depths. He had tried to live up to his father's motto of "Live, Laugh, Love" to the best of his abilities. However, the love aspect of the motto was something he was heavily inexperienced in. He feared handing over his heart to another by a choice of his own making.

There was a difference between the love of family and love in a romantic sense even if they were somewhat linked. Clovis would always love his family, they were his family. They would always hold his heart in their hands. To romantically love someone would mean handing that same power, that same ability to deeply hurt him, over to someone outside of his family. It was a commitment, one that terrified him. He didn't want to feel that pain again.

Clovis quietly shut the door to Maribelle's room behind him. He sighed, spending a moment to gather himself once more. It was at that moment he noticed someone else was in the hall. Kellam was in the middle of leaving his room, the giant of a man wearing some warm wool clothes.

Clovis stared at Kellam.

Kellam stared at Clovis.

Kellam grinned.

Why did he look so smug?

Clovis ignored Kellam's staring as he walked to his own bedroom. He was wide awake now. The last thing he wanted to do was spend a moment longer lingering outside of Maribelle's room. Kellam was an acceptable witness for seeing him depart from Maribelle's. He couldn't imagine what would happen if it had been Lissa.

Clovis noticed Kellam moved over to Clovis's room door as he began to open it. Kellam leaned against the wall, his arms crossed. Right before Clovis could enter his bedroom, Kellam spoke softly.

"You smell like perfume," his voice had a teasing edge to it as if he was keeping himself from laughing.

Clovis swiftly shut the door behind him. He absolutely needed to change out of his pajamas. It took him a few minutes to do so. Clovis changed back into his usual dark gambeson, strapping his spear and staff to his back. There was no way he was going to linger at the inn. He needed time away to clear his head.

Kellam was still outside of his room as Clovis exited.

Clovis kept his head held high, ignoring the giant. Yet, it was hard to ignore hearing the man following him.

"Where will we be eating our breakfast today? Maybe we should get something extra hearty. You'll need the energy if the Khan calls you in for another match today." Kellam sounded amused.

Clovis paused. That actually didn't sound like a terrible idea. The inn had been mostly serving stews. He could do with something more solid or at least go somewhere that offered more variety.

Clovis mindlessly tossed out a suggestion, "Do you think Olivia's place serves breakfasts? We have plenty of time to kill until Gregor and Peri return here anyway."

Kellam hummed, "Maybe? Are you sure you should be running off to visit Olivia right now?"

Clovis shrugged, "Why not? If Basilio needs me it would be way faster to get to me if I'm eating at Olivia's tavern."

"That's not…" Kellam shook his head.

Kellam sighed, "If you say so, Clovis. Don't forget your mask. Breakfast is on you, right?"

"I have my mask, thank you. Of course I'll pay," Clovis reached towards his belt to grab his mask from one of his pouches.

He placed his mask on his face, exiting the inn alongside Kellam.

The two walked through the market, heading towards Olivia's tavern. A few dozen people were roaming the market, pursuing the wares of market stalls that had opened early in the morning. Most goods looked to be pointless trinkets.

With nothing really catching either of their interests, the two reached Olivia's tavern. The air was warm as they entered the tavern. A fire was roaring in the fireplace, the aroma of freshly baked bread filled Clovis's nose.

Clovis looked towards the bar counter, expecting to see Olivia standing there with the freshly baked bread he could smell. Instead of Olivia standing at the counter, there was another familiar face.

Lon'qu, former champion of Khan Basilio, stood at the bar counter with a freshly cooked pan of bread. He wore a clean white apron on top of some wool clothes. He looked grumpy, a deep frown on his face as he stared towards the entrance.

"Take a seat. I have fresh bread," Lon'qu kept his tone even as he invited them over.

Clovis accepted the invitation, seeing little reason to refuse. While Lon'qu didn't seem to be in a pleasant mood, he still had a business to run. Clovis expected him to at least be reasonable if he was currently serving in Olivia's place.

Clovis and Kellam took a seat directly at the counter.

Lon'qu pushed the platter of bread in front of Clovis, "Take your fill. I know you can pay."

Clovis took one of the freshly baked breads from the plate, "Fresh bread is nice, but can we get some watered down ale? I'd appreciate something hearty too."

"Ale and eggs, give me a few minutes," he left the counter heading off somewhere else.

Lon'qu seemed to be a man of few words. Either that or he was keeping himself in control by being professional.

Kellam took one of the breads off of the platter, "Are we going to talk about it?"

Clovis stiffened as he took a bite from his bread, he slowly pulled the bread away, "I have no idea what you mean."

Kellam tapped the counter, "The Exalt did expect me to keep an eye on you. This seems like something she would be very interested in."

Kellam leaned in, lowering his voice, "Do I need to remind you that Maribelle is a daughter of a duke? It would be a very big deal for you two to marry one another. I'm not big into court life and even I know a move like that would shake things in Ylisse. I'll do what I can to help you, but you need to remember your position as a Prince of Ylisse."

Clovis held his hand up in a motion for Kellam to pause.

Clovis shook his head, "No, you're mistaken. This thing with Maribelle, it's not what you think. Listen to me in full before you make any assumptions."

The atmosphere around Kellam shifted. The teasing aura he once had shifted into something more serious, "Alright, Clovis. I'll listen carefully."

Clovis ran his hand through his hair nervously, "Right. Well, last night I visited her room to speak to her about Peri. I have concerns about her."

Kellam quietly interrupted, "I planned to keep an eye on her."

Clovis nodded, "Thank you. So, I ended up speaking with Maribelle about her for a while. I planned to leave the room after our discussion. She… she kissed my cheek on my way out. I… didn't take it well. She wanted to court me. had a panic attack of sorts after realizing it."

Kellam lightly frowned, "What was different between her kiss and Anna's kiss? I could tell you weren't comfortable with Anna's kiss but it didn't look like you had a panic attack then."

Clovis grimaced, "That was different. I could tell Anna was just teasing me, that she was just trying to get a rise out of me. It was a game to her. Maribelle was different. It was genuine… heartfelt. The way she was looking at me… it was like something out of those stupid romance books."

"And you're… afraid of that feeling?" Kellam sounded concerned.

"It's complicated…"

Kellam was quiet for a little while before speaking, "Give yourself time to think about things. Maybe you'll end up wanting to try courting her? No one says you need to get married immediately. You can see if you two work well with one another. As long as you don't do anything… permanent."

Clovis was about to speak before Lon'qu returned with ale and what looked to be a platter of freshly scrambled eggs. Beside the eggs looked to be thinly sliced potato pieces with some type of small shredded herbs resting upon them.

"I made something extra. It won't cost much more. You'll live."

Did Lon'qu just upsell him? Clovis wanted to complain but the potatoes on the plate did look good.

As Lon'qu placed the platter on the counter, a sudden commotion grabbed all of their attention. The door to the tavern was thrown open. Standing in the doorway was a very weary looking Gregor with a large pack slung over his shoulder.

His chest was bare, his top missing. Multiple fresh scratches covered his hairy chest. His neck was filled with deep red bruises. He looked exhausted as he stumbled towards the counter.

"Gregor be needing strongest of ale."

Clovis could see more scratches covering Gregor's back, "Gregor, what happened to you?"

Gregor deeply sighed, "Gregor returned to inn in the last night. To Gregor's horror two scary cougars came down from mountain to prowl into town looking for young boys to remove their hunger. For sake of Ferox, Gregor took on challenge of two mountain cougars on his own. It was a close fight."

Clovis scrunched his nose as Gregor took a seat next to him. The man stank of sweat.

Kellam whistled, "It must have been a mighty battle."

Gregor glanced around for a moment before nodding to the knight, "Gregor is sore in places Gregor did not know can be sore."

"I'm glad you're alive then, Gregor. It looks like those beasts really thrashed you about," Clovis was concerned for the old mercenary.

Lon'qu stared at both of them, "Idiot. He had sex. He's talking about older women, not animals."

Gregor laughed, "Yes! No worry. Gregor did not fight monsters in the night. Just wild woman of the mountain. Gregor is surprised Lonky knows what Gregor meant by Cougar. Gregor knows for fact Lonky has no experience with women."

Lon'qu grumbled, "I'd rather take my chances with beasts. They can be predicted."

Gregor grinned, "Lonky, with words of those the people will think you swallow swords."

Lon'qu took a step back, placing his hand on the handle of his sword, "Would you like to try swallowing mine?"

Gregor just laughed at his antics.

Emmeryn's books never spoke of women of the cougar variety. He supposed it wouldn't make sense for Emmeryn to keep around books about older women hunting younger men. It was interesting to learn Gregor and Lon'qu had something of a history together if Gregor felt comfortable enough to essentially call Lon'qu out as a possible homosexual.

"Gregor will give woman advice to all if you be needing! Gregor knows Lonky has mighty need of it."

Clovis hummed, "I'd like to hear your advice."

Gregor stood from his seat, tossing his pack from his shoulder. He stretched his arms as he happily grinned.

He struck a heroic pose, his arms at his side, "Gregor will teach you children. Listen to Gregor!"

Lon'qu muttered from behind the counter, "Kill me now."

"Girls are like pretty flower in wild. There are many! Some be more special than other. Gregor knows men who look for best flower to pluck! Those men try to find perfect woman. Gregor thinks those men are fools! Best way to find perfect flower is to gather many bundles!"

Gregor stretched his arms out as he continued his speech, "Gregor does not understand why some man gather just one flower when many can be taken at once! Gregor does not need pretty flower. Gregor will take old flowers, damaged flowers, ugly flowers! A flower is unique even if flower is not perfect! The best way to find perfect woman is to be with as many woman as possible!"

Gregor rubbed his chin, "How to be with many woman? You ask and ask and ask! Gregor has been with many ladies but for every lady Gregor has been with he has been turned away by a dozen! Lonky is too afraid to speak to any lady. Do not be Lonky!"

He pointed at Clovis and Kellam, "You two are young! It is prime time to follow Gregor's big boots. You have advantage even! Compliment every lady!"

Lon'qu spoke, "Horrible advice. Don't listen to this senile oaf."

Kellam whispered at Clovis's side, "It's not good advice, but it would work for some. I don't think we should take his words seriously."

Before Clovis could speak his mind, the tavern door opened. Olivia entered the building with a basket full of various ingredients.

Clovis understood Gregor's advice likely wasn't perfect. It went against a lot of what he had read in Emmeryn's books. However, Gregor's advice of complimenting women didn't seem particularly harmful. Olivia was a nice girl with… nice assets. He just needed to be polite.

As she strode into the tavern, looking at the group, Clovis was able to catch a glimpse of the ingredients stored away inside of the basket. There seemed to be some type of strange looking jar of sorts within the pile.

Clovis tilted his head trying to get a better view of what it was. It looked to be some type of cream.

Clovis spoke, "Good morning Olivia. Is that cream?"

He pointed towards the jar in her basket as she neared.

She awkwardly paused near him, halting her movement, "Y-yes, it's for some specialty pies."

Clovis smiled as he nodded his head in understanding, "Ah! I love cream pies! Do you love cream pies too, Olivia?"

The tavern went oddly silent at his question.

Olivia's face turned a deep crimson red.

"Wah-..." Olivia released a strange squeak of some sort before she rapidly advanced towards the stairs. The metal of her dress jingled all the while.

Clovis found it difficult to not watch her as she retreated towards the next floor.

Lon'qu placed his sword on the counter, "Do you wish to die?"

Clovis turned in confusion, "Huh? Do you not enjoy cream pies?"

Gregor laughed deeply, "Lonky does not know of cream pie. He only knows taste of metal blades!"

Kellam was cupping his face with his hands, slowly shaking his head while muttering, "Naga preserve us."

"Wait, did I say something wrong?"

No one answered his question.

Interlude: Hero

Cynthia admired her sister. They each had their own strengths, their own places in life. She knew her older sister was born to be a leader. A thinker. A planner. Cynthia didn't have those same strengths. She was fine with that.

When Lucina had a plan, Cynthia was happy to follow her. Lucina was smart, much smarter than her. There was just one tiny problem. Very rarely, Lucina would come up with an incredibly stupid plan.

Her disguised sister stood at her side. Cynthia did her best to keep herself from giggling as she took occasional side glances at her gallant companion Marth. Lucina's long hair was tucked and secured within her clothing. Her sister partially obscured her face with a Nohrian butterfly mask.

They arrived last night. The inn they had chosen was a fair distance away from the marketplace. Cynthia wished she had Eclipse with her to speed things along, but Lucina said she would draw too much attention. Cynthia had to unfortunately leave Eclipse behind in the stables of the inn. At least they had gold to pay for extra treats for Eclipse to make up for leaving her there. Lucina had enough foresight to stock up on plenty of coins before they headed into the past.

The two of them were on their way to the arena now to enact the next part of Lucina's plan. "Marth" was going to march right into the arena to find Khan Basilio and challenge his champion. They were going to kick Owain's dad's ass. Or at least Lucina was. If Lucina lost, Cynthia wasn't sure she would be able to do much better.

Eventually, they reached one of the entrances to the arena. One of the two entrance guards stopped them.

A Feroxian warrior grunted out, "Fighters or spectators?"

Lucina attempted to deepen her voice, "Fighters."

Cynthia did her best to hold back another giggle at Lucina's voice. Her sister couldn't put on an act to save her life.

The second guard had a grin on his face as he stared at Lucina, "Really? Are you sure about that? You look like a spectator to me with that mask of yours."

Lucina attempted her gruff voice again, "Stop wasting my time. I'm here to fight."

The grinning guard shook his head, "Your funeral kid. Keep to the right when you enter. You'll find your way to the cage. You can sign on there and prove your worth with a few fights."

Lucina once again spoke as gruffly as she could manage, "I'll prove my worth directly to the Khan. I intend to challenge Basilio's champion. Fighting anyone else is pointless."

The grinning guard elbowed the other guard, "You hear that?"

The more serious guard sighed, "Unfortunately. Damn it all. Khan Basilio wants direct challengers taken right to him. Kid, this better not be some type of scheme to meet your hero. The Khan is a busy man."

Lucina slightly rattled the sheathed blade on her waist, "I am no child. My blade has slain foes beyond your comprehension. It has tasted the blood of demons."

The grinning guard burst into laughter, "Sure! Sure! Ha!"

If only he knew how true Lucina's words were. Cynthia felt bad for the guard. Those poor innocent souls had no idea what was going to happen in the future if they didn't fix things.

The serious guard grumbled under his breath before motioning the two to follow him, "I'll let the Khan sort you two out. Whatever happens, happens. Not my problem."

With those words, the guard led them both further into the depths of the arena.

The guard quietly spoke to the two of them, "You're lucky the Khan is here this early. He usually doesn't show up for the morning matches. Most of them aren't worth watching."

Cynthia couldn't stop herself from speaking, "Ooh! Lucky!"

The guard sighed before falling quiet for the rest of their walk through the back areas of the arena.

The guard brought them towards a door guarded by two soldiers.

He quickly spoke, "Challengers seeking the Khan."

The two soldiers quietly allowed them to enter. The guard remained with the soldiers as the soldiers shut the door.

Lucina and Cynthia stood in what looked to be a small study space. It had the bare minimum needed to at least call it a study. A simple desk, a few chairs, and a modest bookshelf filled with haphazardly bound tomes.

The Khan sat at the desk, a quill in one of his hands. His other hand was being used to prop his chin up as he leaned on the table with his elbow. The Khan looked to be filling one of many pieces of parchment placed on the table.

He looked away from his parchment. A grin quickly grew on his face as he looked at the two of them.

"Well, well, well! What am I looking at here? Some ancient hero and his sidekick? Don't think I don't recognize what look you're going for there, boy. I know the old Ylissean sword on your hip is very eye catching. It's a convincing replica based on the hilt alone."

Lucina frowned, "I shouldn't need to introduce myself in that case."

"At a quick glance, I assumed you were Prince Chrom of Ylisse," the Khan spoke as he looked her over.

He shook his head, "That's clearly not the case. Your voice gives you away Marth. What do you want, girl?"

Lucina grimaced, she no longer attempted to deepen her voice, "You are correct. I am not Prince Chrom. I am who you say I am, Marth, and I am here to challenge your champion."

"You won't win," Khan Basilio spoke plainly as he leaned back in his chair.

Cynthia stood up for her sister, "Marth totally would win!"

"No she won't."

"Yes, she would!" Cynthia snapped back once more.

Lucina spoke up for herself, "Are you afraid I'll bring your champion to his knees? I will prove my worth. Let me fight your champion and prove I deserve to stand in his place."

"Why?" Basilio asked.

That seemed to confuse Lucina, "Why… what?"

"Why are you here, Marth? What are you trying to achieve? Why are you trying to become my champion? Flavia is scrambling to pick up the best fighters she can find for our final group battle in the arena. Why are you here before me?"

"Is testing my might not reason enough?"

Basilio nodded his head at her question, "It's reason enough to allow the fight regardless of anything else. I'd still like to know why you're trying to replace my champion."

Lucina's response was filled with conviction, "It's a means to achieve my dream."

"Fame or fortune?" Basilio questioned.

Lucina shook her head, "Peace."

Basilio hummed, "Interesting. Your sidekick, is she going to challenge my champion as well?"

Cynthia shrugged, "Dunno. If Marth loses, I don't think I'd win. Maybe if it's a reaaaaally close fight and Marth loses. I'll fight after that. If Marth wins, I won't fight."

Basilio scoffed, "You'd be better off fighting for Flavia if your drive to fight is that low. Come on! Where is your fighting spirit? If Marth here wins, why wouldn't you want to fight him? Don't you want to prove yourself?"

What was the point in doing that? There were only a few people she cared about proving herself to. The man before her was not one of those people.

Cynthia shook her head, "Nope."

"I suppose your goal isn't fame or fortune either?" He asked.

Cynthia happily smiled, "Nope! I want to be a hero!"

He didn't seem to expect that, "A… hero? Aren't you a little too old for a dream like that? You can't save everyone, girl. Trust me on that."

She was well aware of that.

Cynthia's eyes burned brightly as she burst out, "A hero doesn't need to save everyone! My dream is to be the same hero my mother was! To fight and fight to protect the ones I love! Sure, I'll help those that need help, but my family comes first!"

She'd do anything and everything to protect Lucina. To protect Uncle. To protect her parents. To protect those she grew alongside.

It was her dream to reach and eventually surpass her mother's legends. Cynthia would never forget how reverently Aunt Lissa spoke of Sumia's final battle. About how Cynthia's mother was a one woman army the day Father fell alongside so many others.

Cynthia would sacrifice everything to save those she loved. Even if she was forced to become a villain in the eyes of outsiders, it didn't matter. Just as long as one family member could speak of her as reverently as Aunt Lissa spoke of Cynthia's mother, Cynthia would be happy.

Nothing else mattered.

One day, she'd follow in her mother's footsteps.

She was fine with that.