Lon'qu had been somewhat of a poor host after Clovis had accidentally made Olivia flee to the upper floor of the inn. Clovis, Kellam, and Gregor left Olivia's inn once they had finished drinking. Even with Lon'qu being somewhat rude to the group, he still sold them a basket of delicious smelling freshly baked bread instead of trying to hand them off older loaves of bread. Clovis could appreciate that at the very least.

Clovis was somewhat apprehensive about returning to the Brave Goat inn. Alas, he needed to return at some point. He was just worried about the entire situation with Maribelle. Drinking with Gregor didn't help him come up with any genius ideas of how to tackle that particular situation. Tossing complements at Maribelle seemed like it would just add more dried grass onto that burning bonfire.

Clovis could only count himself lucky that it was Maribelle he was dealing with, someone reasonable. She said she'd be patient at least. Clovis feared what it would have been like if Maribelle had Cordelia's wonderful personality. Poor Chrom. Clovis was still going to toss him under the wagon.

The group was roughly half-way to the inn before one of the Khan's soldiers flagged them down.

The soldier came running over, giving a slight bow of his head, "Champion Cyrille, the Khan wishes to inform you that you have a challenger this evening. The arena is going to host the battle as the last fight of the night as the sun leaves the sky. Please attend."

Clovis stood straighter, channeling the persona of Cyrille Dusk, "Of course I shall! I am no coward! A Dusk does not hide away with their tail tucked between their legs! I would have never avenged my family with such cowardice!"

The soldier slowly nodded his head, "...Right. I'll inform the Khan that you'll be there. If you'll excuse me…"

Clovis reached into his coin purse and handed the soldier a handful of gold coins, "You are excused. Some gold for your troubles. Do yourself a favor and bet some on me tonight."

The soldier tucked the coins into his coin purse as he muttered, "Something tells me I won't be winning much gold even if I do bet on you tonight. What a joke of an opponent…"

The soldier walked off, Clovis watching him retreat away from the group.

He supposed he was in for another easy match tonight based on the messenger's words. An easy match would give him a safe opportunity to bring Lissa to the arena to get her used to watching him fight.

For now, he needed to return to the inn to get Gregor settled. Peri was also supposed to come by sometime in the afternoon to get her room at the inn as well. Clovis figured he should at least be there to greet her. He'd just need to get over his hesitation at seeing Maribelle again.

Maribelle was Lissa's best friend. Maribelle was always going to be around. Lissa would notice if they started acting weird around each other. She probably already noticed something was going on when Clovis tried to avoid Maribelle after the first time she went out of her way to flirt with him.

Lissa wasn't so dense that she wouldn't notice them acting weird, right?


Lissa

She awoke to another wonderfully miserable cold day. A chill went down her back as she stretched in her bed. There would never be enough layers of fur blankets on her bed to keep the Feroxian cold away. She absolutely hated Ferox's weather.

She grumpily threw her layers of blankets off of her bed as she begrudgingly started her day, the sun shining in through the windows. She quickly tossed on something a little warmer before starting her routine. The first thing she needed to get done was her hair and the quickest way to do that was to go beg Maribelle for help.

Lissa left her room, yawning as she entered the hallway. Maribelle's room was right next to her own. She doubted Maribelle would mind too much if she woke her up now. They've probably slept in enough going by how much light was shining in through the windows at the end of the hallway.

Lissa moved to stand in front of Maribelle's door. Without really thinking, she mindlessly tried opening the door instead of knocking. Her eyes slightly widened in surprise when the door actually cracked open.

"Did Maribelle forget to lock her door? Dummy." Lissa muttered before an impish grin grew on her face.

She was totally going to scare the hell out of her best friend. It would serve as a lesson for Maribelle to never forget to lock her door again.

Lissa ever so carefully opened the door before she began to creep over to Maribelle's bed.

Lissa quietly moved to stand right at the side of the bed Maribelle was sleeping on. Maribelle was sprawled out on the bed, half of her blankets haphazardly scrunched up as if her friend had wiggled around nearly all night. Lissa carefully lowered herself down, so she wasn't immediately visible.

Ever so carefully, Lissa rose her hand from the floor. She drifted her hand towards Maribelle's long locks of hair and gently ran her hand through it before swiftly lowering her hand back down away from the bed.

Lissa could hear Maribelle fidget around on the bed, yet she could still make out the steady breaths of her sleeping.

Once more, Lissa rose her hand. She stretched it out further, the back of her hand briefly brushing against Maribelle's cheek. Lissa quickly brought her hand back down to the floor as she listened to Maribelle roll around again once more.

Her friend muttered in her sleep, "...Stop."

Lissa covered her mouth with her hand as she was nearly on the verge of laughing now. She blindly rose her hand again, searching for where Maribelle had rolled around to.

Lissa poked her hand forward, her finger touching slightly raised fabric covered flesh as the rest of her hand pressed against Maribelle's large chest. It took Lissa a moment to realize where exactly she had poked her friend, as the bump she placed her finger on grew harder.

"Oops…" Lissa quickly retracted her hand.

Maribelle moaned in her sleep, "Clovis~..."

Lissa froze.

"Huh?"

Was… was Maribelle dreaming naughty dreams about Clovis? Did Maribelle have a crush on Clovis?!

Suddenly, for no reason at all, Lissa was feeling more fiendish. She swiftly rose from the side of the bed. She hovered over Maribelle, looking directly into her sleeping face.

With fiendish delight, Lissa screamed out, "BOO!"

As she did so, she swiftly moved her head away from Maribelle in case her friend suddenly rose. The last thing she wanted was to start her day getting headbutted.

Maribelle thrashed in her bed, her crimson eyes quickly widening.

She screamed out, "Wha-!"

Maribelle's hand seemed to search by her side as if trying to reach for something not there. At the same time, she began to rise from her bed.

Lissa quietly grinned at the side of the bed, resting on her knees.

Maribelle took deep breaths as she seemed to rapidly search her surroundings. Her eyes seemed to linger on the empty pillow on the other side of the bed before her gaze eventually fell onto Lissa, "Lissa y-you absolute hellion!"

"Good morning!~" Lissa cheered, satisfied at scaring Maribelle.

Maribelle huffed, crossing her arms over her chest, "Why did you do that?"

"Why not?" Lissa innocently replied.

Maribelle deserved the scare for having naughty thoughts about Clovis. Clovis didn't need anyone to distract him right now. Not when he was finally getting close to his family again. Lissa wouldn't forgive Maribelle if she tried anything when her brother was so… so fragile.


Clovis

There were no more interruptions as the three returned to the inn. Clovis opened the entrance door, spotting the innkeeper idly reading a tome at the entrance desk. On a whim, he handed her one of the freshly baked loaves of bread. It was a good idea to keep the person they were renting rooms from happy.

She thanked him with a nod, "Smells wonderful. Your friends are eating stew in the dining room if you wish to join them. I freshly made it."

Clovis wasn't feeling particularly hungry, but he figured the girls would like fresh bread with their stew.

Clovis spoke to the innkeeper, "Thank you. My friend here would also like to rent a room if you can help him with that."

Gregor raised his head high as he confidently posed bare chested in front of the innkeeper, "Gregor would be happiest of man to rent room from such beautiful woman."

The innkeeper blushed, "Hah, stop that. Me? Beautiful? I'm an old lady~"

She leaned forward as Gregor grinned at her, "Old? You shine as bright as prettiest of gems."

She had a large smile on her face, "I shall show this gentleman here some of the rooms I have available~."

Clovis watched those two roam off in silence.

Kellam whistled, "That was effortless for him…"

Gregor was truly a veteran of his arts.

Clovis slipped his mask into his pocket as he took the basket of bread into the dining room. Lissa, Maribelle, and Cordelia were once again seated at a table together.

There seemed to be some type of tension in the air. Cordelia looked to be in some type of deep meditative state.

Lissa had a sharp grin plastered on her face as she twirled her spoon through her stew.

Maribelle looked grumpy, her gaze momentarily moving away from Lissa to settle on him.

She seemed to stiffen before sitting straighter in her seat. Clovis just barely noticed Lissa's grin falter as his sister seemed to glare suspiciously at Maribelle. In a blink, Lissa turned her head to stare at him instead, a gentle smile on her face.

"Good morning, Clovis."

Clovis hesitantly moved closer to the table to place the basket of bread on it, "It's closer to the afternoon."

Lissa shrugged, "Close enough. The bread smells good, where did you get it?"

"Olivia's tavern," Clovis answered.

Maribelle looked towards the basket of bread, her lip twitching, "Olivia. She was the Khan's daughter, a Feroxian Princess, correct?"

Clovis slowly nodded his answer a little more hesitant, "Yes…?"

"...I see… You must have woken up awfully early to go visit her…" Maribelle sipped at her tea as the tension within the room seemed to increase once more.

Following in Cordelia's footsteps, Clovis decided his best bet was to try his best to avoid getting into further conversation. With Lissa and Maribelle apparently on edge, he decided it wasn't worth grabbing either of their ire.

Was it their time of the month? They were both in awfully sour moods even if they tried to hide it.

There was no reason for Maribelle to be mad at him for visiting Olivia. He was Basilio's Champion, of course he would visit Basilio's daughter to support her business and maintain good relations with him.

He had no clue why Lissa was so grumpy.

"Enjoy the bread. I have a match tonight, so I'm going to go rest…"

Clovis hastily retreated from the mess before him. He'd rather kill time reading over facing that storm. He planned on greeting Peri when she arrived, but outside of that hiding seemed like a very attractive option.


It was oddly comforting for Clovis to be able to just slip away into his room. For as much as he hated being confined at home, it was hard to break away from old habits. When things were out of his control, it was far too easy to just hide away with a book in hand. Clovis only briefly left his room to greet Peri when she arrived before returning to his tome.

In those few brief moments he had left his room, he had noticed Maribelle's mood had improved. However, Lissa still seemed to be acting odd. He figured he could just speak with her at night if she still seemed down. Clovis knew he'd probably need to console her regardless since he did plan to bring her along to his evening match. She still didn't take well to witnessing violence.

Clovis briefly glanced towards his window. The sun was starting to grow lower in the horizon, meaning it was time for him to prepare for his match. He hoped it would be a fast match so he would be able to bring the others out to dinner once the match concluded. If the match took too long, some of the better places to eat would probably be closed. It was the downside to the match being the final fight of the night for the arena.

Clovis grabbed his staff and spear before slipping his mask on. It was going to take him a little while to gather everyone. He also wanted to go buy a few extra things from the innkeeper to give to Shadowmere as a treat. He felt bad keeping his mount in the stables, but at least Shadowmere had a few horses and Cordelia's pegasus as company if he did feel like socializing.

Eventually, Clovis managed to gather everyone to head over to the arena. The group split up as they usually did when they neared the arena entrance. Everyone except Clovis and Kellam headed towards the audience entrance.

Kellam hummed, "I'm going to go check the betting odds. Get your coins ready."

Clovis remained near the fighter's entrance, waiting patiently for Kellam to return. After a few minutes, Kellam returned with a piece of parchment in his hands. The parchment had betting odds for all the known fights occurring that day.

Kellam skimmed the sheet before pointing at the odds on the bottom of the parchment, "They're predicting a 90% chance to win in your favor with a 1/10 return. Bet 10,000G and you'll get 1,000G when you win."

Clovis frowned as he quickly determined how much he'd win if he went all in with his 87,000G, "I'd win just 8,700G going all in?"

Kellam nodded, "That and whatever small reward the arena itself provides. It seems a little risky, but I know you'll win."

Clovis nodded, "I will. Still, where do you think that 10% chance of loss is coming from?"

Kellam pointed his finger at Clovis, "You. There's some people hoping your opponent is another you. A random fighter out of nowhere with the talent to crush the rest of the competition. I'm sure there are a few people hoping to hit it big off of the low odds too. If you lost, someone who bet 1,000G on your opponent would suddenly be 10,000G richer. I'm sure some might be hedging their bets based on that."

Clovis hummed, "How much coin are you planning to bet?"

Kellam looked sheepish, "Well, I have 90,000G now after betting on you during your match with Gregor. I thought about going all in, but I don't think I could handle losing it all on the off chance you did lose. 90,000G is life changing for me. I think I'll just toss 10,000G on you just to cover the cost of purchasing some presents for the end of the year Winter Solstice."

Clovis had to think carefully about just how much he wanted to bet on his match. While he was confident in his skills, the payout for betting on himself wasn't the best for how much he would be risking. He didn't blame Kellam for being hesitant either given just how much 90,000G was for a simple knight.

Clovis rolled his eyes under his mask as he tossed Kellam his entire pouch of platinum coins. As if there was any doubt he'd go all in on himself. He supposed if it wouldn't mean selling out his country, he could have been tempted to throw the match after betting everything in his opponent's favor.

"All in. Even if it's not a lot in the end, it will be enough to cover a massive Winter Solstice celebration for all of us."

That was if he even had to cover the costs to celebrate the Winter Solstice with everyone. He assumed Basilio would likely bear that burden if Clovis won him the crown. There was no way they were going to make it home in time for celebrating it back in Ylisstol.

Kellam gave him a thumbs up as he caught the bag with his other hand, "I'll see you here after you win."

Clovis nodded as he strode past him to move towards the fighter's entrance. The arena guards nodded at him, letting him freely pass as he made his way towards the employee behind the cage.

The caged employee grunted, "Last match of the night. You're being challenged for your Champion title. It's your opponent's first match with us. Try to not make it too fast."

Oh. Going by that hint, his opponent was likely not anyone notable. Clovis was starting to feel a little disappointed. Gregor had been such a wonderful opponent. Now it sounded like whoever he would be facing would be a joke.

"Cyrille Dusk does indeed know how to put on a show!" Clovis put as much dramatic flare into his voice as he could.

The employee grimaced, "That you do. Our healers can attest to that. Anyways, since this is the last match of the night, we would appreciate it if you did at least end the night on a high note."

He'd try to make the fight entertaining, but Lissa was also watching so he couldn't exactly go all out without potentially scaring her. If his opponent truly was a joke, he'd be able to just overpower them whenever and end the match at his whim.

Clovis headed towards the gate, waiting for the announcer to announce the start of the match as he usually did.

"Good evening, people of Arena Ferox! We have a special match for you tonight! Cyrille Dusk, you know him, you might just hate him! The Champion of Khan Basilio is here tonight to defend his title against a newcomer to our arena! Facing him tonight is a very special guest!"

Clovis could easily mentally picture the crowd hanging off every word coming out of the announcer's mouth.

The announcer cleared his voice before continuing, "That's right! Today a legend has risen from the annals of history to face our dear Champion! Give a round of applause for Marth of Ylisse!"

Clovis tilted his head, immediately enveloped by confusion, "Marth?"

Did Chrom sneak out of Ylisse?

The gate before him rose, allowing Clovis to head into the circular arena.

Stood before him truly was a figure from the legends. A lithe figure with dark blue hair of the Exalted lineage, garbed in the outfit described in the old tales of Exalt Marth's adventures. Upon the figure's hip appeared to be a near identical copy of Falchion. Marth's left arm was cloaked behind a bulky blue cape. Math's eyes were hidden behind a Nohrian butterfly mask.

Clovis's blood boiled, a grin growing upon his face as his blood boiled, his hand tightening his grasp on his spear.

Marth seemed frozen, his hand stuck to the pommel of the false Falchion.

Clovis held his breath, ready to pounce as soon as the announcer gave them permission to begin.

Clovis licked his lips, his heart beating. He was excited, very excited. Someone gallivanting as Marth had to either be an incredible fool or incredibly skilled. Either way, he was going to get some entertainment out of the fight.

Clovis waited. Agonizing seconds passed him by. And then, the announcer spoke.

"Let the battle…"

"BEGIN!"

The air around him cracked as he immediately warped in front of his opponent to thrust his spear directly at the chest of the "living legend".

Yet, in the blink of an eye, Marth disappeared.

The air cracked as Clovis immediately warped away to get his bearings.

He searched around him to see Marth standing where Clovis had originally started the match. The cape that had previously hidden Marth's arm billowed in the wind.

Within Marth's left hand was an elegantly designed warp staff.

Marth drew the false Falchion from his waist, pointing the tip of the blade at Clovis, the sword shaking in his grasp. The neutral expression on Marth's face wavered, seemingly falling between a frown and a small grin. Marth's cheeks appeared to glisten, with what Clovis assumed to be sweat.

Clovis's heart began to beat even faster. His hands tingled as he tried to process what he was witnessing.

He warped. Marth warped.

The air around them cracked as they warped into the center of the arena, striking each other mid-air with a swing of their warp staffs.

Marth knew his moves.

Marth knew.

Clovis warped once, twice, three times as he retreated.

He had never been more excited for a fight in his life. He'd get answers later.


Marth

What was happening? What was happening? What was happening?

That wasn't Owain's father before her. That wasn't Owain's father at all!

She recognized that warp staff in the Champion's grasp. She only knew one person who used a spear and warp staff. Her uncle was dead. He was dead!

Her uncle wasn't supposed to be before her!

She nearly missed the announcer announcing the start of the match. Only years of constant practice prevented her from getting skewered. The second she heard the displacement of air, she warped out of habit.

She bit her lip, taking a deep breath, to try to steady her nerves. She felt as if she were on the verge of breaking down. A few tears escaped her eyes before she could squash down her feelings.

She drew Falchion, as she prepared herself. She was to fight her uncle, who wasn't and was her uncle. He shouldn't be there. It was an impossibility, one that had major ramifications. Ramifications she refused to process at that moment, out of fear she would truly lose control of her emotions.

She knew her uncle. She knew he would be trying to figure her out. To try to bait her with a half-way warp to see how she would react. She decided to meet him at the half-way point, swinging her warp staff as a bludgeon.

He did the exact same swing with his own warp staff. She hadn't expected it as she had assumed he would not be prepared for another WMD fighter. While their warp staffs met midair, she had positioned her hand slightly wrong, causing her uncle's staff to hit her pinky.

She warped, biting her lips as she did her best to ride through the wave of pain. She kept a close eye on her uncle, watching him go immediately into a defensive warp burst. A move he usually reserved for when he was really unsure about his opponent.

Her uncle was much further away from her now. He held his head high, as he laughed.

His laughter was joyous, filled with mirth, mirth that had long disappeared in the uncle she knew.

He twirled his warp staff, pointing his spear at her, "I know what you are!"

She froze, a whisper escaping her lips, "What?"

Her uncle grinned as he warped closer to her, his weapons readied.

His voice was filled with confidence as he spoke to her, "You heard me. I know who you are."

That was impossible. Her uncle was dead. He was dead. The person before her was not the uncle she knew.

"You are the key to my Naga blessed quest! An opponent sent by Naga herself to guide me towards the right path! I was right! Right all along! My sister thought I was a fool!"

How…?

How was his mad ramblings even remotely close to the truth?


Clovis

Lissa thought him a fool when he told her if she didn't come with him to Ferox, she would miss out on a grand quest granted to him by Naga herself. What greater evidence was there that Naga was seeking to send him a message than to place the Hero King before him?

It was an honor. He didn't know if his opponent was truly Marth or some sort of weakened version of his great ancestor. There was no doubt in his mind that his opponent had to be connected to Naga. Clovis was the only practitioner of the WMD, it only made sense that the person before him was connected to Naga.

Clovis turned his head to look off into the stands, searching out Lissa. Did she have the same realization as he had? That something truly divine was occurring?

He spotted her. She was seated in the stands alongside his other companions. However, there was an additional person there. An intruder. Someone he had never seen before in his life. An armored woman with pigtails had her arms draped around Lissa, pulling her into a hug.

Lissa appeared to be awkwardly patting the back of the female knight as Peri and Cordelia stood directly next to the intruder, their hands on the hilts of their weapons.

Before he could do anything, he heard the air crack. Within a second, Falchion swung towards his side. The side of Naga's fang grazed his side, digging into the fabric of his gambeson. His side stung as he warped away.

He grimaced, his attention split between the stands and his opponent.

Was Naga testing him?

He was bleeding, there was no doubt about that. The wound wasn't deep, but it certainly pierced the skin. What use was gambeson against the Fang of Naga? Illusion, false, or even real. He wasn't sure what the blade was, but if its wielder was a messenger of Naga, by her blessings it likely bites just the same.

He wanted to warp into the stands to see who that interloper was. Yet, Marth did not give him a chance to do so. Warp after warp, Marth seemed to go on a desperate assault.

The two danced in the air, their weapons striking towards previous positions they had been in mere moments before.

Marth was too familiar with his combat style. He'd need to do something different to gain an advantage. Something Marth would not expect.

Marth could predict his moves. So there was only one solution.

If he himself did not know his next move, Marth could not predict him.

Clovis warped away, he twirled his spear and tossed it into the air with all his might.

At the same time, he warped directly towards Marth, erupting into a flurry of swings with his warp staff. Clovis was doing his best to keep Marth distracted, focused on warping randomly around the arena.

The distraction paid off as Clovis managed to get Marth to warp within the trajectory of the falling spear at the last possible moment. The tip of the spear dug into Marth's right shoulder, piercing the small gap not covered by Marth's shoulder plate.

The false Falchion slipped from Marth's grasp as Marth panic warped as soon as the spear pierced him.

Clovis warped, grabbing the sword. The blade hummed in his hand. He thought he felt something brush against his shoulders as the air around him… changed. The air felt warm, comforting, within the cold arena. He felt a phantom hand press against his own as he lifted the blade.

His heart thrummed in his chest, a smile growing on his lips.

Was Naga with him?

His smile slowly fell, as his hand tightened on the hilt. He hoped it wasn't truly Falchion. If Chrom had misplaced the blade, he would have choice words for his brother.

He looked towards the stands for a split moment. Peri and Cordelia had apparently managed to pry the interloper away from Lissa. Maribelle was standing in front of Lissa, Peri and Cordelia were standing defensively in front of both Lissa and Maribelle. Kellam was holding the arm of the intruder, pulling her away from the group.

With Lissa's safety assured, he had nothing else to distract him. If Naga was testing him, he was going to do his best to impress her. After all, he could feel her at his side.

Marth had just enough time to rip the spear from his shoulder before Clovis warped and swung Falchion down, the pommel of the sword aimed at Marth's head.

Marth warped just as the pommel struck. Clovis saw Marth recoil, Marth's mask shattering as his opponent desperately reached to hold his forehead. Marth seemed unsteady on his feet or rather, her feet.

Marth stumbled for a moment as if she were drunk, blood dripping down her arm as she grimaced. Her forehead was bruised. The hair she had apparently tied behind her back, came loose as she rose her head to glare at him.

She steadied herself, picking up Clovis's spear.

Clovis's gaze locked with hers. She was branded.

Everything made sense.

The Falchion.

Marth.

Naga.

He truly knew who she was.

Naga had sent him someone from a different world to test him.

He was facing someone truly of his level, of his skill.

He spoke quietly as he gave her time to recover, "Your name, it's Lucina, isn't it?"

He could tell she was doing her best to fight through the pain, tears rolling down her face.

"H-how?"

He smiled at her, "It's obvious. Only one person could have taught you that technique. Father did always tell me that if Chrom had been born a woman, Mother would have named him Lucina…"

Clovis's smile partially fell, "Father must have taken you to Plegia instead of me in your time. Is this all you truly have to show for your time there?"

His words seemed to hurt her more than his attacks had.

She grew enraged, sloppy. She was wailing, as she warped to try to stab him with his own spear.

He blocked her thrust, kicking her in the chest.

She hit the floor, tumbling.

She remained on the cold stone floor of the arena, crying on her side, as the announcer announced her defeat.


AN: I might post an omake or two on my Ao3. On Ao3, I am Crusader_1