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- Ten -
One night his mother comes into his bedroom, clothed in dark robes. She carries just a single canvas bag, and even in the dark he can see the tear tracks on her face. Morgan is ten years old and there are many things he doesn't understand. But his mother's hand is stretched out to him, her eyes pleading him to be quiet and to trust her. She's his mother and he is ten years old. He takes the outstretched hand because what child wouldn't trust his own mother? Still, tears run down his face as they sneak outside of the castle that has been his home for all of his life. Mother says they are going on a short trip, but Morgan knows he'll never see the castle again.
- Six -
His parents loved each other. Even when he was barely six, he could tell. His sister would look away when they kissed, but Morgan would smile. He loved his parents, and they loved him.
But sometimes they weren’t smiling and kissing. Sometimes, when he sneaks out of his bed to crawl into his parent's bed, he halts in front of the door. His father's voice is raised, and it doesn't sound nice. He says something about a promise, but he can't hear how his mother responds to him. Her anger was always more controlled, but just as scary. Tears well up in his eyes, but he's too afraid to interrupt them. When he is back in his own too big and too silent room, he still wonders what his mother promised that made his father so upset.
- Eleven -
He used to have cake on his birthday, but they don't have that in Valm, his mother says. He doesn't believe her but doesn't want to push his luck. She's all he has now, he reminds himself daily. Memories of last year flood his mind, of a time of when he didn't have to hide his face or cover his hands even though the sun is blazing, of his sister and his father, singing a song just for him, and of his mother, her eyes trying to hide her worry. He tries to forget them like his mother told him to, but it's harder than she makes it seem like. They have been traveling all over the world for eight months now and his mother still won't tell him why they can't go home.
- Seven -
His mother put an extra desk in her private study, for his use alone. He has never been so happy in his life, and he wishes that he can be besides her always, learning new things together. His mother smiles at him when she thinks he doesn't know, and he feels warm inside because the most important person in his life loves him.
- Twelve -
When he asks his mother what they are doing on the other side of the world, she answers him that they are searching for something for his father. Gems, to be exact, but Morgan is supposed to have forgotten that. He wonders why she bothers to lie to him, it's obvious that if their father wanted his mother to find something, he would be right besides them. He wouldn't have to lie about his name and dye his hair. It's all a game, his mother tells him, and he trusts her to have a reason for all of this.
- Four -
His mother teaches him words and letters in the back of the garden. It's a warm day, and for once, she doesn't wear her gloves. He asks her what the mark on her hand means, but she refuses to give him a straight answer. He's a smart boy, and he knows when she is telling a white lie because he's young. Morgan wonders if he'll ever have that mark too, just like he has his father's on the back of his left hand. His mother pales, and her voice grows quiet, and only now does he notice the dark circles under her eyes. She tells him, quietly and frighteningly, to never ask about it again. She looks like she is about to cry, and tears well up in Morgan's own eyes. He loves her so much, and he made her cry! He quickly says he has already forgotten, and his mother's smile returns. Morgan forgets a lot of things after that, but his mother never forgets her gloves again.
- Thirteen -
He learns sword fighting in Chon'sin, but the movements they make are nothing like the ones his father showed Lucina and him in the palace gardens all those years ago. The sword in his hand is lighter, made of steel instead of holy silver. But he goes to the lessons anyway, because this isn't Falchion and he isn't Lucina. Because right now, he isn't even Morgan. Morgan is covered beneath layers of clothing, his blue hair and brands safely tucked away from sight. He knows he looks more like his father every day. He doesn't need to look in a mirror to see it, because he sees it in his mother's eyes, and the way she looks at him when she thinks he doesn't notice.
- Eight -
Their parents have gone to war in Valm, but Lucina and Morgan are too young to join. Lucina cried for days, begging their father to take her with them. She's eleven, but even Morgan knows children don't fight wars. Still, he asked his mother too, only once. She smiled and patted his hair, and told him to forget about it. He did, as always.
At night, he cuddles up to Owain and Lucina as they avoid their nanny. He makes stories up with Owain about their parent's heroics, and Lucina tries to keep them quiet lest they betray their location. Morgan isn't worried. He planned this night, and he knows his strategically chosen location is perfect. He learned from the best after all.
- Fourteen -
His mother rarely sleeps anymore. She hasn't slept peacefully in years, often waking up screaming. She tries to shake her current insomnia off like it's the same thing she's had since he was young, but he knows the true reason. He knows she met father a few days ago, although he didn't know it was her. They had found a Gem a month ago, and set their course to Ylisse straight away. He had allowed himself to hope for a few days, but before they came even close to the palace he knew he wasn't going home. Instead, he walked through Ylisstol alone while his mother had errands to run with his father.
He does some reconnaissance of his own, and finds out quickly what he had always suspected: Morgan and Robin of House Ylisse have been missing for years, and nobody knows where they are. Their father has erected statues in their likeliness, in the hope people will recognize them and help them get home. Even with the dye washed out of his hair, people don't recognize him as the lost prince.
When his mother asks him the next day what he did, he pretends he has forgotten.
- Nine -
A dark purple bruise appeared on his hand over night, growing in size every day. His father orders every healer in the castle to look at him, but even aunt Lissa says it is nothing. Morgan smiles at them, and tells them the truth: it doesn't hurt at all. He learns to cover it up, and after a while people forget about it.
Except for mother. Every night, she looks at the purple hand on his unbranded hand, and every night the circles under her eyes grow darker. One day, just before he turns ten, he starts hearing whispers from time to time. They tell him how to cast a spell without a tome, but when he tries to show his mother she isn't proud. She is angry and scared, and when she tells him to forget, he does.
- Fifteen -
They are running more than anything else. Something happened when they visited Plegia in quest of another Gemstone. They run north until the desert stops, and still people find them. They run north, over the Feroxian wall, and still people chase them. He's a man now, he tells himself, but he's afraid like a child. His mother's face has aged too, all the pain and worry of the past five years etched in her face.
- Three -
He's in his father's strong arms while he sits on his throne, 'governing the country'. Morgan doesn't know what that means, but he falls asleep to the sound of his parent's voices and forgets all about the world around him.
- Sixteen -
One day, they don't run fast enough. People in long purple cloaks, called 'Grimleal' people whisper frightened when asked, surround them. They fight, unlike anything they ever fought before. His mother is a formidable sword fighter, mage and tactician, and he has always been a good student. But not even they can outsmart these numbers. In the end, his mother goes down, screaming. They cast spells at her, making her eyes glow red but even on the ground she is still fighting them. They knock him down too, and that's when his mother starts glowing. Her eyes are red and her skin is purplish and the magic around her is the kind she always told him to forget about. People cry as the sky suddenly tears open.
"Go now, Morgan!" She cries, but her voice doesn't sound like her own. The force around her is making her seem like the risen they encounter from time to time, but he doesn't abandon her.
His sword is broken and his magic is depleted, and still he stands up to fight. "I won't leave you mother!" He bellows proudly, quite like a man he once called father.
His mother sees it too. Tears well up in her glowing eyes, and while all around them is caught up in a enormous flux of energy, she orders him one last time. "Yes you will! Forget about me!" Her voice is demanding, desperate and broken. "Now, Morgan!"
It looks like her skin is peeling off, but he can't help her. An invisible force makes him gravitate towards the portal in the sky, as if it wants to swallow him hole. He can't go to her, but this time he refuses to listen to his mother. "I'll never forget you mother! You forget about it!" He screams as he is sucked into the sky. He sees his mother fall down lifelessly the second he is in, and then the portal is gone just like everything else.
When he wakes up he is tired and lost. He only remembers one thing: Mother.