Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Many things about Kiran's expedition into the Tempest did not go as planned.

For one, when she asked Lyn if she would mind allowing Kiran to ride with her, Lyn instead took the opportunity to give Kiran a very quick course in horseback riding - something Kiran had expressed negative interest in as a girl, because she did not dare mark herself one of Those Girls, regardless of how majestic Fire Emblem cavalry sorts could make themselves seem. The lesson turned out well in spite of Kiran's misgivings; Lyn was infectiously pleasant company, and even downright adorable when Kiran asked her about Sacae - only partially because it was their next destination in the Tempest.

Kiran was getting a lot of practice keeping her cool around very pretty women, but even she wasn't strong enough to avoid a sense of dazed awe at the way Lyn's natural beauty was enhanced by her childlike enthusiasm - rather than contrasting against it. When Lyn caught her spacing out, though, she managed to avoid making things awkward by claiming she was just tired from a day's exercise (not entirely a lie), and she supposed in hindsight that trying to share a saddle with... Lyndis, of all people... was probably not going to be very good for her sense of focus.

The castle at Belhalla, on the Tempest's far side, had cleaned up nicely enough at least - enough that it looked like an ordinary castle, if destitute and ruined, when they finally left it. With that settled, all that remained was to determine who would be joining them on their expedition to find Veronica's foothold in the Tempest; though Leo's experience with the Tempest thus far made him a tempting inclusion, Kiran made a point to ensure that all of the Heroes assigned to the preliminary mission were given ample opportunity to rest and made sure they intended to use it. If she could use her 'powers' as the Summoner to protect her Heroes from fatigue and overwork, then she would be a fool not to make good use of that opportunity.

Besides, she was quite happy with the team she did assemble: Lyn as their navigator, as they seemed to be riding into Elibe; Lyon as an advisor, since he clearly knew as much about the Tempest as anyone among the heroes. Anna and Sharena shared leadership of the Order with her, and were capable fighters besides; admittedly, Kiran just didn't like to be far apart from Sharena, who she couldn't help but see as her closest friend in this whole ordeal, particularly after their 'girl talk' in Daein.

Alfonse, too, was joining them. This was Kiran's decision. Lyn did not deign to comment on it, nor did Anna. Sharena tried not to make too much of a point about it, but she was obviously relieved. She cared a lot about her brother, and she cared what Kiran thought of him. But Kiran's mind lingered on the night after the trial concluded - on Alfonse's heartfelt apology. He had done wrong by her, but he didn't seem to want to convince her otherwise. He just wanted to do his best with whatever goodwill Kiran was willing to afford him. It was... refreshing, even surprising, even here, to encounter someone with the humility to accept fault like that.

"You've been awfully quiet the last few weeks," Kiran had said, when first approaching him in the days before they set out. She did her best not to sound too pointed, but there was no escaping that this was going to be a tense conversation. She and Alfonse had spoken little about business since the trial, after all.

"Sorry," Alfonse said tersely. She'd caught him apart from the others in the castle courtyard, looking for all the world as though he had no business being here; he offered a tired, strained smile in response to Kiran's query, and little else. "Maybe you can understand that I've not had much to say."

"I can understand that you might prefer not to raise your voice," Kiran said carefully. "But I'd like to ask you your thoughts anyway."

Alfonse sighed, straightening. "My thoughts on...?"

"A few things. Lyon, for one."

His eyes narrowed; he chewed his lower lip. "I would not have handled him as well as you have," he murmured, his voice low and deliberate. "I hope that nothing comes of it."

"Me too," Kiran agreed, showing a tentative smile. "I'll be counting on your good sense, as much as everyone else."

Alfonse nodded slowly, folding his arms. "Alright, I'll remember that, then. Anything else?"

"You seem to have done your homework on the Tempest and the worlds beyond the Gates," Kiran continued, nodding vaguely towards the north, where their ride would take them. "Do you have any guesses what we'll run into?"

"None that I have any confidence in," he admitted, glancing over his shoulder before looking back at her. "If I did, I would have said so in our briefing."

"You were very quiet during the briefing," Kiran said softly, with an apologetic smile. "I'm not trying to patronize you or anything, I just..."

...She trailed off as Alfonse pursed his lips. But, as she fell quiet, he looked away too, sighing heavily again.

"Thank you for this chance," he said softly, after a moment. "And... I know what you're trying to do. I appreciate it."

It wasn't as though Kiran was necessarily trying to be subtle. Alfonse had once taken a very direct role in managing the Order, both in a practical and political sense; the trial, and Kiran's insistence on restructure in its aftermath, had ousted him almost entirely. Kiran wanted the Order to remain politically separate from Askr. The more she allowed herself to grow comfortable with her presence here, the more seriously she began to consider the Order's future, and subservience to any kingdom - no matter how benevolent its cause - ill fit a gathering of kings and emperors. Sharena hadn't minded the change at all; Alfonse wasn't given much of a chance to protest, but seemed not to take any umbrage either.

However, that meant Kiran was now the sole leader of the Order, with Anna and Sharena serving only as advisors; it was a lot of pressure to be under, but... Kiran was discovering - or perhaps rediscovering - that she handled pressure better than she seemed to think. All she had to do was act natural, offer her insight, and remember that being in charge didn't mean doing everything herself.

But, just as Kiran had come to appreciate Sharena's companionship and Anna's insightful commentary into their surroundings, she also appreciated Alfonse's knowledge of the worlds and their mechanics, and his level-headedness in... most circumstances. If only she could trust entirely in that level-headedness anymore, but... she had to start somewhere, and this conversation had been a very deliberate attempt to extend an olive branch. One that Alfonse had seen through, but accepted all the same.

So that made one thing that went the way it was meant to, at least.

Not more than two days into their ride north into what seemed like Sacae, however, the light began to fail them early, as though the sunset had been accelerated; as they proceeded further, however, the darkness grew deeper in every direction, until they were immersed in the Tempest's starless night. Sharena's spear Fensalir could cast light for them, but there was nothing else for them to see by; its light was harsh and cast long beams around the rolling hills - which in turn cast incredibly vivid shadows.

"The aspect of this Tempest is changing," Lyon had observed. "Wind reigns unchecked in the lands behind us, but ahead, that doesn't seem to be the case."

"Kiran." Alfonse addressed her quietly, though in the dead silence, all could hear him and turned to them nonetheless. "Forgive me for saying so, but given your education in magic - relative to ours... I wonder what you make of this."

Kiran squinted at him. It took her a moment to process what he meant. "You think the Tempest is aligned with the different elements of magic," she said slowly. "That - then behind us would have been wind, or thunder, or something; and this would be... Darkness."

"A reasonable deduction," Lyon agreed. "You've no reason to doubt it, then?"

...Kiran flushed. Alfonse had managed to turn her lack of 'education' in magic, something she was wholly ignorant to save as a game mechanic when she arrived, into a source of intrigue. Propping her up somewhat for Lyon. He smiled faintly as the realization dawned on her; she drew herself up, restraining an urge to clear her throat. "No," she agreed, turning back to Lyon. "Much of what I know about the Tempest is... um, theoretical. Abstract, might be better. There's a lot I am learning for the first time, as you may have gathered."

"You would be forgiven for not having sought out a chance to study it more directly, as I have had," Lyon replied, with a wry smile. He turned his eyes to the dark again, his smile swiftly fading. "If Lady Ishtar held the power to manipulate the Tempest by her tome, however... one wonders what a powerful dark mage might do in a place such as this."

"You'll forgive me as well if I'd prefer we not experiment with that on a whim," Kiran said lowly. A ghost of a smile touched Lyon's lips; he didn't turn.

"Of course not, Summoner," he said, but Kiran found herself unsure of his sincerity.

In the end, though, it was her own recklessness that caused problems first. No one seemed sure how to proceed through the blackness, but Kiran refused to be deterred; driven both by aimless frustration at the obstacle and her own morbid curiosity, she couldn't resist dragging everyone to the Tempest's edge to see what the border was like. By the accounts from Eirika's team, the Wind Tempest had been surrounded by a storm that increased in intensity, at first slowly, then suddenly - you could approach it, but there came a point where a wall of rain and wind separated you from something beyond, and Eirika had even managed to pierce through that wall from outside to save herself. She wondered - if there were such a border here, could they somehow use it to navigate?

As they ventured towards the Dark Tempest's edge, however, the land became slowly wetter as though they were advancing into a marsh, until the horizon began to creep closer towards them, the terrain itself fading from sight even well within their range of vision; Sharena's light couldn't pierce the shadow that spread out ahead of them, giving the sense that shadows were literally consuming the earth, rendering it weak and immaterial. Like if they took too many steps they might just be swallowed by it.

Kiran was the only one willing to approach it enough to test her theory, and she did so amid several urgent protests from her company. Two steps into the sinking "mud", still several yards from the shadow's edge, was enough for her to feel satisfied. It was also two steps too many: as though actually trapped in mud, she suddenly found that her legs would not move.

"Um," she said, adrenaline spiking as she looked down at the sludgy mass that had now closed around her calves. Behind her she heard Sharena cry out, heard her wet advancing footsteps - but then the princess took one step too deep and found her own leg sinking in, and yelped with plain shock; Kiran snapped back to watch her scramble away and lose her balance. Alfonse and Lyn both started forward, too, but they were intercepted by Lyon - or rather, by a hulking figure that materialized in front of Lyon, reaching out with two massive hands to pluck Kiran and Sharena both by their collars and drag them roughly to safety. Not a second too soon, either, because the shadowy sea before them snaked forward all at once and engulfed the area where they had been standing. One moment it had simply been the immaterial darkness beyond their range of vision - and in the next it had lunged for them like a hungry predator, and Kiran found herself staring in breathless terror, the danger of this situation suddenly seeming orders of magnitude greater than before. She was more than happy to agree to Alfonse's insistence that they retreat as swiftly as they could.

"So that was primordial darkness, then," Lyon mused, once they had resumed their course. "Fascinating. Not quite what I might have guessed." Sharena and Alfonse were ahead, the former huddled close to the latter, still plainly shaken; Lyn was further ahead still, holding aloft the borrowed Fensalir that its light might help her gauge their current position. That left Kiran alone with the Prince, and with Anna, who seemed the least bothered of anyone, but then she never seemed all that bothered by anything.

For a moment, Kiran didn't process his words; she was still watching Sharena with pointed concern. It was a startling experience, certainly - but far from Kiran's first brush with mortal danger. She wasn't sure anything would terrorize her the way seeing Veronica's heroes bearing down on her had, in the final stand in the World of Radiance. Maybe Sharena was less desensitized? But Kiran couldn't really believe that; she was a fighter, after all - and there was a particular memory that came to mind of Sharena leaping to her defense against Zephiel... she hadn't hesitated to get herself badly wounded in battle. But then, that didn't mean that she hadn't been afraid...

"She'll be alright," Anna offered.

"Bold of you to assume," Lyon huffed - his voice unexpectedly coarse; Kiran's hair stood on end, but she accepted the change silently nonetheless, even as in her periphery she saw the corners of Anna's lips tighten. "The mortal mind is not prepared to process the primordial dark. It is the unknown, the unknowable, made manifest."

"Kiran seemed fine," Anna observed. Kiran squinted at her.

"The summoner displays uncommon strength of spirit," 'Lyon' agreed lowly, as if reluctant to acknowledge her, which Kiran absolutely understood in a way that was probably wrong. "So long as we keep our distance, we need not test its limits."

Kiran felt her jaw clench. Was he negging her - ? Of course he was, trying to get a rise out of her. Why wouldn't he? And thinking that, she smirked. "You must be so disappointed," she offered.

"If you'd like to follow its shores more closely," Fomortiis growled, "be my guest."

Kiran's smile grew. "What, you're not coming?"

"Hmmmmm." The demon curled Lyon's arm to rest his chin in his hand, stroking it thoughtfully, leering down at Kiran with an eye faintly glowing crimson. "It would be delightful to watch your mind slowly buckle inward upon itself as we advance. But I suspect you won't be fulfilling your end of the deal, in that case, and I'm rather less interested in serving as your guardian as you ride the edge of madness for cheap thrills."

"Darn," Kiran sighed theatrically.

When she turned her eyes forward, she spotted Sharena glancing back at her - the girl's eyes widened when she realized she was caught, and she hastily turned forward again. She hoped that her 'banter' with Fomortiis hadn't unsettled her further. Though... thinking about that, why had she even gone along with it?

Nothing for it. She quietly urged her horse ahead to catch up with them. Alfonse turned and adjusted his posture to make it easier for the three of them to speak as they rode side-by-side, but he was quiet, and aside from a sheepish look Sharena was, too. It occurred to Kiran belatedly she hadn't actually come up with anything to say here.

"You okay?" was all she could really find. It felt ineffectual, but Sharena smiled warmly and sincerely, and nodded.

"Not that I'm keen to do that again or anything," the princess admitted.

"We'd do well to stay far from the border," Alfonse agreed warily. Kiran nodded her own emphatic agreement.

"Sorry for putting you in a tough spot," she offered. Sharena smiled and shook her head. "I mean really - I'll be honest, I was being pretty reckless..."

"It's good that we learned the nature of the Tempest barrier, regardless of how," Alfonse said softly. "Had we not known what to expect, we may have found ourselves marching blindly into the world's end without realizing something was amiss until it was too late."

"Well, I'm glad my insane tactics are appreciated by someone, at least," Kiran admitted. Sharena giggled, and they both turned to smile with her. They fell quiet for a moment after that, but the mood seemed to have lifted again, and it wasn't long before Sharena had them all chatting about something else to while the time away.

And good lord did they have time. Advancing through the Tempest with only a few dozen yards of clear visibility was obviously near impossible. They had to regularly climb hills to allow Fensalir's light to blaze out at a greater range - a move which preturbed Lyn every time, as she loudly protested advertising their position to anyone that might be watching... though she also quietly conceded that she didn't have any better ideas, herself. Seeing Sacae in such a state, its grasses thinning and withered from lack of sunlight, its plains utterly devoid of life, was surely a difficult thing for her to process.

Kiran remembered thinking how bad she felt asking Celica and Lachesis to commit themselves to a life-threatening defense of Tellius' gate "for her", a sentiment she now regarded as being rather vain; being in places like this - seeing Lyn here, and talking to Eirika about Lyon - it reminded her of the humbling truth. Although she oft spoke aloud of it to the others, it seemed that she was still coming to terms with it herself. They were just fighting for their worlds. Showing the same devotion and love for others' worlds, that they wished would be shown to their own. The Order itself was a sort of communal agreement to protect that which was beloved by all Heroes.

They happened upon a village at one point in what they were pretty sure was the outskirts of Bern, which Kiran was glad for in a cold, pragmatic sense. It, too, was devoid of life, but safe enough to investigate; after a cursory review that revealed little except for the ongoing sense that something was very obviously wrong here, Kiran consulted with Alfonse for ideas. He knew immediately what she meant to do, and admitted he had been considering options himself.

"I believe Camilla of Nohr may be your best choice," he said, in short order. Kiran's eyes widened.

"Not where I would have expected to start," she admitted.

"The Nohrians live in an inhospitable climate, and particularly in the northern holds, sunlight is scarce." He showed a faint, tired smile. He looked tired often lately. "Leo is well-known for his academic intelligence, but I think you'll agree with me that of the two of them, Camilla is the more observant. If there's a resemblance to Nohrian culture or customs here, no matter how superficial, that might tell us something very important about the Tempest and the people who used to live here."

"Like..." Kiran frowned - but then gasped. "Like how they fed themselves! The plants haven't all died out entirely here, but they're clearly struggling to grow - but if Nohrians can grow food for themselves..." Alfonse's smile grew a little and he nodded with the slightest sense of pride; Kiran smiled back, as though to affirm him. "Of the Nohrian heroes... Corrin wouldn't have the background to tell us much, neither would Selena or the other retainers..."

"It's a place to start, at least," Alfonse offered, and Kiran conceded again with another nod. So, they found an open space in the village's center to summon her.

She arrived with her wyvern as usual - which prompted Kiran, for the hundredth time at least, to wonder how exactly this summoning relic worked. It really did feel like they somehow received notice that she meant to summon them with ample time to prepare themselves, even though to her, it happened instantly. Pushing that aside for the moment, though, she explained their situation to Camilla - who had greeted them with a flourishing smile that had already been lost to their dour surroundings - and after a bit of encouragement, she agreed to look around, though she seemed quite a bit less confident in her ability to find anything.

She scoured the village along with them for several minutes, even taking long tours around its perimeter; she made some soft, thoughtful sounds here and there, still wearing her usual pouty frown as she examined their surroundings, but said very little for quite a while. Her first report of insight came after she and Lyn went to examine the farmland to the east: by their measure, the fields must have been barren, not merely empty but incapable of growing anything. "They must have exhausted the soil," she sighed, casting an eye over her shoulder towards the fields.

"How do you mean?" Alfonse squinted at her.

"Most likely," she hummed, "they must have continued trying to plant the same crops as usual for quite some time after the darkness fell, but of course very little will grow under these conditions. In their desperation they must have run the fields dry."

"That's assuming that they spent very long here, after the darkness fell," Lyon pointed out. Camilla blinked at him.

"Well, they certainly spent some months here, at the least," she countered.

Lyon squinted at her. "How can you tell?" offered Kiran.

Camilla blinked at her, too. "Did you not see the lanterns?"

"Lanterns aren't much out of the ordinary," Lyn said slowly, perplexed. "They're common in Bern, at least, to illuminate their streets..."

"Certainly, I would expect no less," Camilla agreed, "but the lanterns there were clearly meant for long-term use. Have you not seen - ?" But then she laughed to herself, turning a little pink. "No, of course not. Now I see! Different lanterns are used in places where sunlight is scarce - such that it is easier to refuel them without extinguishing them, to my understanding."

"Oh, I should have known," Lyon scoffed. "I didn't even think to check their form of lighting. It's completely obvious in hindsight."

With this discovery for context - and Camilla none too pleased to have been helpful, even if a bit surprised - they re-examined the village's center, and found a number of small details that shed more light on the history of this place, even if only barely. There were dry and feeble vines and grass growing through the stonework and at the foundations of the buildings, suggesting that they had been abandoned for some time - so the darkness must have come several years ago, at least relative to this region of the Tempest. (Most of the others seemed confused when Kiran said that, but she didn't try to explain. Alfonse understood; they'd explain when it was necessary.)

"Had they all died out," Alfonse mused once they had gathered again, "we would see remains, most likely. There would be some evidence, at least, even something subtle, but I've not seen any such indication."

"Unless they were reanimated," Kiran murmured. "As Julius was able to do in the last Tempest."

Alfonse's expression darkened, but Lyon shook his head swiftly. "There would be signs of such here, as well," he asserted. "Subtle things, but a Demon-King well versed in necromancy would spot them with ease."

"And I suppose I will take that as said Demon-King's assurance that such signs are not present," Kiran said slowly. Lyon smirked in a way that made it hard to tell which of them was responding to her.

"Well," Lyn said thoughtfully, "if they didn't die out, and they clearly didn't stay, then they must have moved, or at least... tried to. That'd make sense, if they survived long enough to wear out their fields but couldn't figure out how to grow anything - maybe... someone else did?"

"What sorts of crops could one grow in a place like this?" Alfonse asked, to Camilla. The princess seemed to restrain herself from shrugging.

"That's not something I thought to learn," she said tactfully. "I would expect it to differ, region to region. Though there's no light here, the soil may be in better condition - or they may have gone somewhere with better conditions still."

"For all we know," Lyon added cheerfully, "the dark may end a league from here."

"I'm not sure if that's better," Kiran murmured. For how miserable it was to traverse, this Tempest made a great place to lose potential pursuers; she wasn't sure she was ready to give it up.

The group was quiet for a moment, but before it could grow heavy Sharena hopped to the center of their circle, lightly clapping her hands over her spear's handle.

"So," she announced. "The Tempest started, things got dark, people figured out how to stay alive, but they couldn't keep crops growing. But before things could get too dire, somebody figured out another answer, and people started moving in that direction. Is that right?"

"That represents our current best guess," Lyon agreed, with a slow nod. Sharena caught Kiran's gaze and beamed at her.

"Then we haven't seen the last of civilization here," she said cheerfully. "So, Grand Summoner - and Lyn." She added a bashful look at Lyndis, who smiled warmly enough back at her. "If there was anywhere in Elibe that could support the survivors of the end of the world, where would that be?"

"Not Lycia," Lyn hummed. "Not enough space. And not Sacae - we must take care not to exhaust its resources even with how few of us ride the plains."

"Definitely not Ilia," Kiran continued quietly. "Definitely not Nabata. Bern has the infrastructure, but the quality of the land isn't going to get any better going further south from here. If this wasn't good enough, it's hard to imagine anywhere in Bern could be."

She turned to Lyn, her lips tight, and Lyn nodded confidently back. "It has to be Etruria."

They forged on, now with Camilla in tow, as she insisted on the basis that leaving Kiran alone in 'such a dark place' was too much for her to bear.

They were moving north relative to the Wind Tempest, but what they were guessing now was roughly west-south-west on a traditional Elibean map; after another day or so ('length of riding', perhaps?) the hills grew steeper and rockier, and it became harder to maintain their course without diverting to their right, which would mean going slightly further north. Lyn was as confident as she could be that they were still in Sacae given the conditions, and soon announced that they had entered the region of Tapas which separated Sacae from Etruria. But she was also quite outspoken that this didn't make any sense. If they had just been in Bern just two days prior, then there was no way they could have crossed the entire length of Lycia and then some in such short time, even with all of them on horseback (or riding a wyvern, as it were). Answers were not forthcoming.

They continued to ascend, steeper and steeper as they went. Towards the end of that first section in Tapas they bid Camilla fly as high as she could bear to, in search of any distant lights - and Camilla found them: a whole city lit up "as though it were day", which Camilla herself guessed was approximately a day's ride away at this point. She described a long line of lights that illuminated what seemed to be some kind of outer wall, a grid-like pattern stretching to the right of them that struck her as appearing like farmland, and a great expanse of darkness beyond the city even more featureless than the land before, which at least had enough silhouettes to make out shapes against the harsh light. Supposing that this dark patch must be the ocean - hopefully a normal one - then that would mean that they were within range of Aquleia, the capitol of Etruria.

"The lights themselves were not as hanging lamps nor bonfires," Camilla added. "Their outer wall was ringed with beams of them - like great hooded lanterns, but far brighter than any I have ever seen. The forest at the city's feet was flooded with light."

"It's established already that the humans of this place survived long enough to adapt to the Tempest," Lyon hummed. "Inventing more powerful forms of illumination would be a given. Human ingenuity is remarkable even under circumstances such as these." No one else seemed to flinch, but his use of the word 'human' gave Kiran pause - who exactly was speaking here? Either way the prince continued: "What strikes me is what such a form of lighting might be used for. Scanning for survivors might be the most favorable interpretation."

"Hmm." Camilla frowned at that. "Would it not be enough to create a beacon to draw survivors to you? You only need to see what comes if you wish to repel it."

"Perhaps there are, or were, relevant dangers to sort from refugees," Lyon proposed.

"Or perhaps this is an Emblian presence," Alfonse added darkly, "meant to keep watch for us."

"Also possible," Lyon admitted. "However, to have come this far with no further sign of civilization puts us at all but a dead end. We must at least investigate their presence further before turning away from them."

"I don't disagree," Alfonse sighed, looking away. He stayed quiet; the others watched him fruitlessly, then looked back to Lyon for guidance, and finally followed his own gaze as it turned back to Kiran. She was in charge here, after all, and she appreciated his deferral, even if... it surprised her, somewhat...

"Let's continue up the path," Kiran suggested. "It narrows to a single pass through to Etruria, right?" Lyn nodded. "We'll stop there, behind its crest, and have Camilla scout the city for signs of Emblian presence at a closer range if it's safe. If they're keeping their eyes on the forest, then they might be more inclined to miss a single flier."

"That sounds a bit dangerous," Lyn hummed, turning to Camilla - who flashed her a brilliant smile in return. They seemed to have gotten along remarkably well during the journey so far, so much so that Kiran almost wondered if they had been friends beforehand somehow, and she'd missed it.

"Hardly the most dangerous task I've been given for the Order," Camilla cooed, turning a confident smile Kiran's way, too, reaching forward to stroke her wyvern's crest. "We've got plenty in us - why don't we fly ahead, and rejoin you once you make your stop? I'll be able to spot you on the return so long as you've got Sharena's light."

"It won't matter much whether we've stopped or are moving," Kiran hummed. "We'll need that light for you to see by either way. Just be safe."

They pressed on for another hour or so after that, at Kiran's best guess; the ascent grew steeper still, but then suddenly levelled out to a faint incline, almost inperceptible. The faintest brush of light now filled the sky ahead of them, just enough to differentiate shades of black, enough to paint the silhouettes of the mountains on either side; suddenly they had a sense of place that had been missing for the better part of a week. Looking behind them, the world they'd come from seemed even more forboding - streaks of distant terrain, seemingly miles away, only barely illuminated by the glow of Sharena's lance and cut with shadows so deep it was as though the 'primordial darkness' had been following them all along.

It was easier to advance like this, with some sense of their surroundings beyond the halo of Sharena's light, and it wasn't long before they reached the crest of the pass itself. Lyn's horse trotted idly ahead a few steps before she silently halted it, giving them all room to crowd onto the path at the peak. Before them lay a vast expanse of pure shadow, surrounding an oasis of vibrant white light. A massive wall spanned dozens of miles across the land, and behind lay that a great city, taller and grander than Kiran had ever expected to find in Elibe; lights ringed the towers, spanned the walls, shone down on distant patches of earth that managed to glow in sickly, pale colors - like the world was struggling to remember how to be vibrant.

Kiran also traced the movement of the spotlights Camilla had described the night before, sweeping back and forth in the lands in front of the wall; it looked like there were trees in the valley below them that limited their sightlines. Her mind fell back to Lyon's speculation earlier - seeing it like this, she couldn't help but wonder, too. It felt like they were searching for something.

Eager not to let themselves be spotted against the hillside, they returned to the dark side of the pass. There were enough flat spaces left for them to begin assembling something like a campsite, a place for them to rest after hours of an arduous climb. Camilla returned from her flight as they finished, having overshot their camp some distance to ensure she was not spotted descending and instead approaching them from the way they came; they gathered around Sharena's light again to hear her findings. It was too dark for her to make out much more than they could from a distance, save one critical detail: she described a number of banners being flown from the wall and the high towers of Aquleia - none bearing Embla's crest, as one might expect of the 'Emblian Empire' Arvis had alluded to - but rather a dragon's head, split upon a blade with a tear-shaped split pommel.

Lyn's face paled at the description. "Not the Etrurian emblem you remember, I take it," Camilla remarked idly.

"A blade with a tear-shaped pommel," Kiran repeated slowly. "When you say tear-shaped - are you describing the Ylissean standard?"

"The Exalted Falchion," Alfonse said softly. "The people of Ylisse populate this Tempest, then."

"Ylisse," Camilla repeated, her tone darkening as she cast her gaze back over the horizon. "But these are not ordinarily their lands? Could the geography have changed?"

"No, I recognized that city," Lyn said quietly. "That was definitely Aquleia. I've only been once, but it was an unforgettable sight."

"So the people of Ylisse are living in the wrong city...?" Sharena looked between Alfonse and Kiran with increasing confusion and distress. "Did they... just come move in after the place was abandoned? Did the villagers from before go somewhere else?"

"It's a grim thought to consider," Lyn murmured, "but perhaps they died out along the way. I would expect the journey to impossible in this darkness without a Sacaean guide, but... with it shortened as it was, it's hard to tell."

"Even with the darkness," Lyon hummed, tapping his chin, "I doubt such a trail of death would have escaped our notice. Based on the evidence we have seen thus far, the most likely explanation to my mind is some sort of occupation, instead. Two worlds' populations coexisting in one place."

"An occupation?" Sharena's eyes widened.

"That'd be impressive," Lyn replied lowly. "Etrurian politicians and nobility are one thing, but their military leaders are proud and tough people. I'd be surprised if they let themselves get beat by just anybody. The Ylisseans must be formidable fighters, if that's the case."

Sharena shook her head slowly. "But - that doesn't - the people of Ylisse are very peaceful ordinarily, aren't they?"

"Are they?" Lyon repeated this with surprise, and turned to face Kiran. "Are you familiar with Ylisse, Summoner? Would you know whether their people are the sort that would be capable of surviving in a Dark Tempest?"

Kiran frowned, crossing her arms. "I don't know," she admitted. "In terms of climate, theirs was an environment nothing like this one - they would've been used to having very fertile soil to work with, with plenty of rainfall and sun. It'd be easy to imagine them completely failing to adapt if the change was sudden."

"From what I've learned from Princess Hinoka," Camilla added, "our approaches to agriculture are quite totally different - though I cannot claim to be an expert, I would guess that having to rapidly adapt between one and the other would be monumentally difficult."

"Maybe we're overthinking this," Sharena offered. "Like Lyon said earlier, humans are ingenius!" She faltered as if immediately realizing that was not the proper way to say that - but no one pointed it out, and she hastily continued: "Maybe there's something we're missing about the way this place works, or maybe there's some alternate history we don't know about that helped the Ylisseans know what to do?"

"Their ingenuity, hmmm..." Lyon nodded slowly, his eyes narrowing, gaze turning to fix on Kiran's. "A word aside, perhaps?" he said lowly.

...but Kiran shivered with prescience, shaking her head. "Camilla," she said, "the dragon's head on the banners. Elongated and flat, with two curved horns angled forward?"

"How remarkable," Camilla gasped. "A specific dragon, then?" Lyon grimaced; Kiran nodded, her fingers clenching into her arms.

"Oh," Alfonse exclaimed, a horrific understanding dawning on his face, too. "An alternate history indeed. If Ishtar were capable of invoking and manipulating the Wind Tempest, then surely the Fell Dragon would have similar power over this one. But if their emblem portrays Grima's destruction...?"

"Grima," Camilla repeated slowly. "I'm... not familiar. The Fell Dragon, you called it...? A powerful foe, one must assume, if it's capable of warping an entire world to such a degree."

"That is information enough for now," Lyon agreed darkly. Kiran frowned at him, wondering if she should pretend to believe that he should not know that - but when dealing with Fomortiis, how surprised really could she bring herself to be?

"Well, now I'm torn," Lyn sighed, looking into the darkness behind them, her arms tightly folded. "On the one hand, anybody capable of defeating an enemy like that would be a great ally to have against Embla. At the very least you'd imagine that they'd help us find our way out of their lands if we asked them. But on the other..." She hesitated, her eyes narrowing before she turned back to Kiran. "If this really is some kind of occupation, then... that can't be good, can it? I don't know, it puts me on edge. Even if they're not working for Veronica, that doesn't mean they're definitely our friends, either..."

Kiran nodded thoughtfully, scanning the faces of her assembled company; most were trained on hers in return, waiting on her conclusion, though Lyon remained deep in thought, and Alfonse seemed... wary. But he often did, and some reservation lingering in his gaze as it met Kiran's suggested that even he knew that his instincts were not necessarily the most trustworthy in cases like this.

"Lyon is right," Kiran said firmly. "The fact of the matter is, we need another lead. If there are other factions in the Tempest, then establishing ourselves as allies and ensuring their safety - at least from Veronica's machinations - is our first responsibility. If all they want is us out of their lands, then all the better; that's what we want, too." The Heroes nodded in agreement, and Kiran smiled faintly with relief. "If that's agreed, then let's break for the night, and we'll prepare to make contact in the morning."

She wasn't exactly in a rush to sleep, though. The ride thus far had been hell on her legs and hips; she hoped, in vain, that the others couldn't tell how unsteady on her feet she was - not necessarily injured, despite the aching, but just exhausted. She paced away some distance from the others, towards the outer rim of the ring of light cast by Fensalir as it rose from the ground like a torch (which, unfortunately, was its best use right now); even with only just the scantest illusion of privacy it still felt a little safer to sit down, stretch out her legs, and gingerly massage her aching thighs.

It really was only an illusion of privacy after all, though; Lyn was the first to drop by, kneeling beside her with a kind and knowing smile. "You holdin' up okay?"

"Been better," Kiran admitted with a grunt, midway through digging her fingers into a persistent knot in her outer thigh. "I'll be fine."

"I know." Lyn's voice was warm and certain. Kiran felt her cheeks flush a little; she wasn't used to being addressed like this, even still. There was always something about the heroes that got to her. "Not to say you don't have it under control, but I was going to offer to help, if you want."

...Ugh. Kiran's face grew hotter still. "That's very kind of you," she said slowly. But she wasn't really sure how she wanted to follow that up; the rhythm in her sentence was disrupted, and in her awkward pause she heard the quietest little sigh of disappointment from Lyn.

"Don't mind me," the plainswoman chirped, as if immediately aware of how she sounded. "Like I said - I'm sure you're fine. I just - I remember what it was like on my first few rides, and I didn't have to ride for most of the day several days in a row. Honestly, I'm kind of impressed you can stand at all."

Kiran was quiet for a moment. How was she supposed to respond to this? When she steeled herself to turn to look at Lyn, though, she found to her shock that Lyn was the one looking away from her.

"Sorry," Lyn mumbled, and she laughed sheepishly as she looked back at Kiran, her cheeks a bit flush now. "I'll - give you some space. Just wanted to offer, that was all."

"I really appreciate it," Kiran said seriously, almost hoping it would convince her to say. Now she was horrified she'd come across as rude somehow! That wasn't at all what she wanted! She was just awkward and gay and didn't know how to react to people being... what, was it wrong to call this intimate? That was kind of how it felt, but that surely wasn't how it was intended, right? Either way, though, Lyn absorbed her words with a little smile and nod, and then took her leave anyway. Kiran watched her pace around the outer edge of the light herself a bit - feeling restless? - before finally approaching Camilla, some yards away. They settled into a cheerful conversation within a moment more, and Kiran let out a breath she hadn't meant to hold. No permanent damage, it seemed.

Her moment of solace was disrupted, however, and it took her a moment of staring out into the darkness away from camp to reclaim a sense of it. She did need a bit of space to think; the problem in front of her was complex, and she wasn't going to have a lot of time to adjust if something turned out to be... not what she expected. Though really, she could expect very little. There was way too much she didn't know. How many Etrurians were left? How many Ylisseans were left? How much of the continent had evacuated here? It was technically possible that Grima and the Falchion just wound up here by themselves with no one else from Ylisse to join them, after all. But even if she assumed the most 'likely' case, there were other troubling unknowns; who exactly from Ylisse was here? Was it the first generation or second? Or a mix?

Scuffs against the gravel behind her cut across her thoughts, each one slow and deliberate. She could recognize the faint clinking of armor and sword, too, enough that she almost didn't feel the need to turn around - but she'd been rude enough by accident for one evening already. When she did turn back to look at him, Alfonse's expression was morose, as though just as unhappy to be here as Kiran thought she looked. For a moment she wondered why everyone seemed so miserable - as if the darkness all around them was not a perfectly plausible explanation by itself.

And thinking that, she wondered why it wasn't affecting her so much. But then, she kind of had an idea about that, if she was being honest.

Maybe it was just that she felt bad about the lowered mood that made her smile so cheerfully at him, then. "Come to help me think?"

"If you think I can help," Alfonse replied quietly. She happily patted the spot beside her, and watched his lips curl ever so faintly upward; he settled down a bit closer to the ledge nearest them, dangling his legs over, and Kiran thought - now that she'd stretched - that posture looked much more comfortable, and scooted over to follow suit. For a moment they stared out into the alien shadowscape ahead of them in silence.

"I'm going to say this and it's going to sound weird," Kiran warned. She heard Alfonse hum acknowledgement. "This place reminds me of home."

"That is pretty weird," Alfonse agreed quietly, dimly impressed.

"Enormous parts of our world are paved," she continued. "We build cities that make the Askran Castle look small in some places. All the terrain has to be leveled out, paved over with stone or concrete or gravel. Asphalt, which I assume is some mixture of all of that stuff. We light it all up as best we can, too. But every now and then you find a place that just wasn't lit very well, maybe even on purpose, and it's just... so dark compared to everywhere else."

"That doesn't sound like the fondest resemblance."

"I dunno," Kiran admitted, "I always liked the look of places like that. The sense of desolation and loneliness was kind of comforting."

"I thought you were only going to say one weird thing."

"Well, you know," Kiran laughed, "when you're frustrated or disappointed, sometimes it feels nice to find someone or something that makes you kinda feel like they're in the same situation you're in, right? So - you grow up in a huge world full of people that are just too busy with themselves to worry about you, and you get really lonely. And there's something about places that look as lonely as you feel that starts to make it make sense." Alfonse was momentarily quiet; Kiran sighed, shaking her head. "Sorry - very weird tangent. We can, uh... we can talk about..."

"No, it's fine," Alfonse promised, his voice soft, almost reverent. "The way you described that feeling... that makes sense. I think it helps me understand you a lot better, to be honest." Kiran felt herself flushing again; he sighed, squaring his shoulders and straightening up a bit to look at her. "I did have some thoughts about tomorrow I wanted to share, if you... didn't mind more of my unwarranted and terrible advice."

"I invited you over here, so it's literally warranted," Kiran mumbled, pouting. "If I were to guess, you've got some of the same reservations Lyn did, about whether or not we can assume that they're trustworthy just because they're not sided with Embla."

"That's a significant part of my worry, yes," Alfonse agreed slowly. "Please forgive my bluntness, Kiran, but for your many strengths, you aren't a negotiator. You - what?"

Kiran hadn't meant to interrupt him, but the derisive laughter in her heart was too sudden to fully stifle; she at least managed to only scoff, but it was still enough. She sighed, turning over to him with a sad smile. "I feel like that's the first time anyone's ever genuinely criticized me since I got here."

"Well..." Alfonse reeled, clearly looking for some way to soften the blow, but Kiran laughed again and shook her head.

"It's good," she promised. "Sometimes I feel like you're the only person here who sees me for what I am. To everybody else, even Sharena, even Lyon, I'm - you know, I'm this Great Hero. The Summoner, head of the Order of Heroes, all of these... ridiculous titles that just absolutely don't belong to me. And here you are just telling me, 'hey, you don't know shit about negotiating,' and yeah! I really don't, man. Help me out here."

Alfonse was momentarily quiet. Kiran pursed her lips and turned away again. She hadn't meant to come out so bitter, but... well, how couldn't she be, with Lyn's unexpected anxiety so fresh in her mind? She wasn't supposed to be that kind of person, someone that made others nervous to upset or say the wrong thing to. She would have so much rather had Lyn understand her feelings, no matter how embarrassing - I'm so sorry, Lady Lyndis, it's just that the prospect of having you touch my thighs makes me into a gay mess, and I feel like you would lose all respect for me if you knew that, so let's just not, okay? Maybe it was just hindsight, but part of her thought that would be better than what actually happened.

"It's strange you say that," Alfonse murmured, at length. "You of all people would know better than anyone that all Heroes are just people, too."

"Yeah." Kiran smiled bitterly. "Yeah, they are. But they were people that got lifted up by their subjects or friends or whoever. Had to put on a tough face, and in some cases that came naturally, others it didn't. But now they're doing that to me. And it doesn't belong."

"I don't think that's true," Alfonse interjected. "I think you make a natural leader for them."

"You've said as much before," Kiran agreed, sighing heavily and closing her eyes. "But the fact that you say that - and that you'll still just tell it how it is like that. I appreciate that, Alfonse. I'm glad we can still work together after what happened, because I kinda need someone like you around."

Alfonse was quiet again. Kiran smiled to herself. It felt good to just say how she felt, after all.

"I was saying," he mumbled at last, clearing his throat a little awkwardly. "With the Heroes as your frame of reference, it may be easy to assume that we'll be received well, but - there's no guarantee of that." Kiran hummed an affirmative. "The capitol's fortifications, or what little of them we could see, are clearly defensive in nature. They're afraid of outsiders."

"On the one hand, we'll have to prove we aren't a threat," Kiran murmured. "On the other, that makes us very vulnerable, and it may not even be possible. We might not be given the chance."

"How much of Ylissean history do you know?"

Kiran frowned. "I almost feel like I should ask you."

"Are you aware of timeline theory?" The summoner turned to him in surprise; he smiled a little wryly. "Is that a no, or...?"

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised you are," Kiran admitted, "since you're in charge of the gates and all - but even so, that just - So, okay, yeah. The point is, the world of Awakening has its primary history spread across multiple timelines that converge because of the conflict between Grima and Naga." Alfonse nodded. "And you mean to warn me that we don't necessarily know which timeline we're working with?"

"The Ylisseans are a peaceful people in the primary timeline," Alfonse agreed. "But the Tempest is already a place where known history can be warped and distorted. Even the smallest changes can have dramatic effects, as Lyon's survival itself demonstrates."

"Well." Kiran sighed a bit brusquely, looking out at the darkness again. "I don't mean to brush you off, but there was already so much we didn't know, and this just reinforces to me that we have to go in assuming almost nothing. But to be honest, it's not that helpful."

"No," Alfonse conceded lowly. "I know I should expect no less from you, Kiran, than to account for the many variables in a complex situation like this, but - this is a problem we haven't encountered before. We've never had to present ourselves directly to a third party, and it's obvious that trying to learn more about them is going to be nearly impossible."

"Is it." Kiran's eyes narrowed. That would be the sensible thing to do here, wouldn't it? If they're short on intel, gather more. Hearing him say it, she understood why she'd glossed it over; the absolute darkness, the defensive posturing, the fact that their goal in the first place was to pass unseen as much as possible - the odds were stacked against them. But she pondered the question all the same. "Maybe we could, if we had time. But..."

"This journey has already taken us too long," Alfonse muttered. "Veronica's strength grows every day we wait, and ours does not match it. I don't know how much longer we can justify a delay. You're right - we need another lead. But we must choose what we pay for that lead carefully. Time is not a resource we can spare unless we absolutely have to."

Kiran nodded slowly, still lost in thought. A curiosity had turned into an idea and now was slowly growing into a plan. When you don't know what you're up against, your best option is always to find out as much as you can, but sometimes that option isn't available to you; your next best bet, usually, is to try to prepare for everything without committing to a single strategy until information makes its way to you. These were habits learned over years of competitive strategy gaming experiences, where information and the lack of it were crucial elements of high-level play. But... this wasn't a game. She was not obligated to play fair. If she didn't have the time to narrow down the possibilities she was up against... what if she could counter all of them instead?

"Here's what I'm thinking," she announced.

With Alfonse's eventual blessing, she set to work preparing her many contingencies at once. She approached Lyon first - but he turned to speak to her before she could begin, and she quickly realized that the one addressing her was not Lyon at all. "Come to beg my protection against the almighty Wings of Ruin, have we?"

Kiran frowned, crossing her arms; if Fomortiis' jabs were meant to unsettle her, they had nearly the opposite effect. It almost felt like bantering with a friend. "You're already protecting me," she replied coolly. "Maybe I'll beg for you later, if you're good." Fomortiis scoffed; Kiran didn't let him interrupt. "You're familiar with Grima? Based on our introduction in Belhalla, it seems you're familiar with Loptyr as well?"

"There is a deep history to this world," Fomortiis chuckled, "that you mere mortals will never fully grasp."

"How exciting." Kiran's voice was dry. "As much as I love a good mystery, I'll leave you to your secrets. The point is, it's clear you're no stranger to dark powers puppeteering mortal vessels for their own ends. It'd be stupid to assume Grima is destroyed in any alternate history of Ylisse, but unfortunately I'm too pathetic to sense dark machinations unless they're made obvious to me."

Fomortiis made to respond, hesitated, and then chuckled again. "My vessel seems to think you ought not to sell yourself short," he said bemusedly. "And pray tell, what exactly is your plan should we discover Grima's vessel?"

"Well," Kiran sighed, "on the one hand, it'll look remarkably like the plan that I have in mind for when you inevitably decide you don't have a use for us anymore. But on the other, how picky exactly are you about your physical form? Grima is so remarkably fussy about vessels, after all."

Fomortiis laughed. "Are you trying to neg me?"

"I dunno, is it working?"

"Still your tongue." The demon's eyes glittered mirthfully in the dark. "I will be most disappointed if our deal comes down to Grima's 'sloppy seconds'. But in accordance with our arrangement, if it is what you insist of me, I will ensure no such entity will pass your notice."

"Excellent. A lifesaver as always, great one. I'd like to speak with your boyfriend now."

"Do not call him that." Fomortiis' eyes flashed; Kiran shrugged comically. Either way, he covered his eyes briefly and returned to his mortal shell; Lyon smiled tiredly as he regained focus.

"You are a dangerous woman," he remarked.

"Dangerous, or in danger?" Kiran smiled lopsidedly. "Anyway - I hope I don't have to ask, but as a fellow native of the Tempest, would you be willing to accompany me to our negotations with Etruria?"

"Of course, Summoner." He bowed. "It would be my honor."

Come the next morning (or whenever it was), she had a few more Heroes to summon. The first was Priscilla. Though she had always been skittish at the prospect of combat, she'd made a devoted cleric to the Order nonetheless, eager to do her part; when she learned that they were just over the hill from Aquleia and might need her assistance to establish contact with the locals, however, the crimson-haired maiden rose up with unexpected enthusiasm. "I will do whatever I can to help," she promised, beaming. "I can only pray that Fa-- err, that Count Caerleon has survived these awful conditions, that we may seek his aid."

The second was Lucina. Understandably, Lucina was Priscilla's opposite, and assumed she was being summoned in for combat; she seemed much more preturbed by the truth, but was similarly eager to do whatever she could to help, and she immediately grasped the value that her mere presence might have if the people of Ylisse really had occupied the city. When Kiran hesitated, however, her expression turned grim right away, as if somehow she had some idea of what Kiran trying to ask her.

"I have some knowledge of the timeline you escaped," Kiran began quietly, "but only some. Understandably, there aren't many records of it to go by."

"Understandably," Lucina murmured.

"There's no way to know for sure, but it's entirely possible that we ride to meet yet another alternate history of your world. Your family, specifically." Kiran pursed her lips. "I wouldn't be surprised at all if you were just as clueless as the rest of us, but is there any insight you can share into what we might expect to find, if so?"

Lucina's gaze slowly sank towards the bleak earth, her arms loosely crossing her stomach; a shadow passed over her eyes, her lips tight, her brow tightly furrowed. Her silence drew on long.

"I'm afraid not," she said at last, looking up with a soft and apologetic smile. Kiran had described the emblem on the banners Camilla had seen, but this by itself was hardly any information to work with. But Lucina's answer wasn't exactly devoid of value - the expression on her face said enough... even if she did not especially like what it said.

But, that meant she had her approach party taken care of, and if anything Lucina's hesitation only reaffirmed the importance of a contingency plan. She gathered Camilla, Lyn, Anna, and Sharena together, and summoned still more Heroes to join them - Beruka and Selena who stood at attention beside Camilla, and lastly Nino. The former assassin greeted Kiran with a bright and eager smile, though some reservation in her face made Kiran wonder if she felt unnerved by the assembling of Heroes she did not know. Unsurprisingly, she gravitated somewhat towards Lyn, and also unsurprisingly, Lyn looked down at her (being a full head taller and then some) with some surprise, then smiled at Kiran. "The services of the Black Fang don't come cheap, you know," she teased.

"I mean to stay well ahead of the price," Kiran promised, with a little smile of her own. Nino beamed, but chose not to interject; Kiran gave her abridged explanation of the circumstances in this Tempest, what they'd found so far, and what their current plan was. As she explained, she watched Nino's enthusiasm slowly dim, and she watched Selena's scowl grow deeper.

"Lucina, Priscilla, the princes and I will approach the gate of Aquleia to make contact," she finished, turning slowly to meet each of their gazes. "Between the five of us we should have all the political starpower we need to navigate a civil conversation. Problem is, we don't know if 'civil conversation' is what's waiting for us in the valley to begin with."

The assembled team's expressions quickly hardened. Sharena took in a deep breath. "Shouldn't we be with you in case something goes wrong?"

"Mmmmm." Anna - ever the most at ease of them - tapped her fingers against the handle of her axe, propped against the ground in front of her. "Not for strength at arms. It's safe to say you're hoping to avoid a fight at all, right?"

Kiran nodded grimly. "The first thing they're going to have to judge when they spot us," she explained, "is whether or not we pose a threat. My goal is to make that answer as obviously 'no' as possible. If we're seen as threatening, then maybe they're still willing to hear us out - but maybe they aren't, and we can't afford to be making enemies in the position we're in now."

"Interesting." Anna's eyebrows rose. "The alternative is to make yourself genuinely vulnerable. And Alfonse agreed with this plan?"

"I don't see what the problem would be," Sharena countered, looking between them with dismay. "We don't want to harm them - even if they don't want us around, we're going to try not to get in the way at least, right? So what Kiran's doing should be right!"

Kiran did not know what to say, and as she desperately searched for words, she found herself struck again with perspective for Alfonse's actions. However despicable his past deception may have seemed... how could you explain the truth of it to someone like Sharena? What kind of person did you have to be to look Sharena in the eyes and tell her that the simple, kind world she believed in didn't exist? What kind of person did it make you if you weren't trying your best to believe in it yourself?

"It's not up to us to decide how they react," she said, at last. "We want outright combat to be a total last resort. And that means we have to be ready for things to go pretty far south before we draw swords." She met Sharena's gaze with what she really hoped was an encouraging smile. "If it comes to it, I know you'll prioritize our safety and the locals' well-being, rather than sacrificing one or the other. So that's why I'm going to put you in charge, just in case. Alright?"

Sharena looked horrified. "You sound like you already know what's going to happen," she said slowly. "Why - why are you going, then?"

"I don't know what's going to happen," Kiran said firmly. "But I do know that, no matter what happens, I can position the Order to be ready."

"This is a very bold manuever," Anna hummed, her smile growing a bit ominously. "Hopefully it doesn't turn out to be necessary."

"Hopefully." Kiran nodded emphatically. "But even so. Here's what I want you all to be ready to do."

For all that she'd tried to convince Sharena to the contrary, everyone still seemed to arrive at the same conclusion that she had. This was a bad idea. She couldn't blame them; they knew too little and the warning signs they were receiving were too obviously dire.

"Everybody's tense," Alfonse murmured to her, as they were preparing for their departure. Sharena wasn't far off from them, talking anxiously with Camilla about something Kiran didn't hear. "It feels like there's a battle coming."

"Shouldn't be," Kiran muttered back, but this was an empty comment and she knew it. Even so, something about his words, and this situation, stirred a not-so distant memory. "Ah, you weren't there for the approach to Mugill, were you...? You missed the big speech Sharena made me give."

"Made you?" Alfonse's words were incredulous, but Kiran spotted the faintest sense of a bemused smile on his lips as he turned to her. "What did you tell them?"

"Oh, it was a whole production," Kiran sighed, looking into the distance, trying to outrun her pointless shame. "I just kind of stumbled through some stuff about how much I like the Heroes and all, but I remembered your advice - to focus on why I'm fighting - and I brought it back around to that. The whole point of the Order is for them and their worlds, to me, so that's what we should be focusing on. Even if we're not sure how to proceed without doing harm we can't just let the worst happen instead."

"Yes," Alfonse said softly, and he sighed. "Would that I had heard it. Perhaps we would not have... been at odds." Kiran was quiet, unsure how to respond to that, and so Alfonse changed the subject. "Perhaps it would do some good to address the Heroes again now? Tensions running high could lead to a mistake, and if anything goes wrong, especially at such a critical moment..."

"You just want to hear me give a speech," Kiran huffed. Alfonse chuckled quietly.

"You've taken after Sharena some," he hummed. "Would you be more likely to do it if I said that was what I wanted?"

Kiran flushed and reeled, and... couldn't figure out how to respond to that, either. She saw Alfonse smile to himself, but he didn't say anything else.

Regardless of that very weird moment, though, it was a good idea, and he was right; they needed to stay calm and focus on their parts in the upcoming mission. Once their advance party was ready, she had them gather near the crest of the pass, with the remaining Heroes intended to stay as vanguard collected just behind; she gingerly coaxed her horse onto a slightly higher elevation (thankfully the creature didn't put up much resistance) so that she could turn to address them all together. It was a much smaller gathering than the Mugill speech had been, and she felt more prepared for this one. There was definitely still anxiety as they all looked to her for guidance, but... well, not as much. Besides, it wasn't much of a speech to give.

"This is a difficult position to be in," she said plainly. She felt both high-strung and exhausted, but there was some solace to find in the other Heroes' faces that, in some cases, looked rather like her own. "Not knowing what we're up against and choosing to walk directly into danger anyway. Regardless of how well it goes, I'd rather not make a habit of it. But with where we're at right now, we don't have many options, and with Veronica's whereabouts and capabilities still unknown, we have even less time.

"I don't need to go over our plan again. Everyone here's heard it at least three times, and that third time was for my comfort more than yours, most likely." (She got a couple of solemn but good-natured smiles for that.) "There's just two things I want to make very clear here before we split up, in the unfortunately pretty likely event that we don't get to meet back up for a little while. Firstly - our goal here, besides finding out whatever we can about Veronica's whereabouts and plans, is to protect the locals to the best of our ability, no matter how difficult they make it for us. We want to avoid all-out conflict unless it's completely unavoidable, or the Order itself is at stake. Not because we need this world's cooperation, or because we need to be afraid of them; because protecting other worlds is what we do. That's the Order of Heroes' mission. This world may not be the one any of our members originated from, but it's just as important to them as our worlds are to us. We want to look out for their best interest wherever we can. It's important that we remember that."

"Secondly - each and every one of you is a Hero in your own right. I'm proud to know that you all trust me and my tactics with your lives, and now I'm likely going to have to do the same with you. There's a lot that we don't know, and you're probably going to learn an awful lot really quickly once things start to go south. When that happens, I'm going to be counting on you to do what you believe is right, both for the Order, and... in general. I might not have the chance to give you direction or coordinate, but don't wait for me. You're Heroes - all I ask is that do what you do best."

"My, that's a flattering way to put it," Camilla gasped. Lyn smirked, and Lyon had a slight, cryptic smile on his lips, but no one else spoke. Notably, Lucina and Priscilla were both still quite tight-lipped.

"Apparently flattery is a good skill for leaders to have, or so I'm told." Kiran shrugged, and she smiled - her gaze passing over the small assembly before coming to rest on the Heroes joining her for the ride ahead. "I appreciate your patience. We all ready to go?"

"Oh, it's no trouble," Priscilla gasped, as though only suddenly aware all at once that she had been holding her breath. "Yes, I'm ready."

"As am I," Lucina agreed quietly. "I dearly hope that all of this caution is for nothing."

"Yeah, me too," Kiran hummed. But with the way Lucina said it... it sounded almost as though she knew that hope was in vain.

They were silent as they rode into the valley. At camp, Sharena and the others were silent, too, huddled near the base of the final rise that separated their tiny camp from the sweeping lights below. Everyone ruminated on Kiran's words, not least of all Kiran herself. On this moment, this choice, this plan. No one said anything. But even so, the sense that things were going to go wrong was inescapable. Everyone knew, even if only as a gut feeling.

And Kiran was the one who had set this snowball rolling. Even long before they reached the spotlights she couldn't help but feel like this was beyond her control to stop. Maybe she could have, but she didn't - and when the lights first swept over them, the feeling of finality that came over her was... not as heavy, as she might have thought. They probably had already seen us, she reasoned; Priscilla and Lucina were both carrying lights, after all. They wouldn't have been hard to spot in the darkness, despite the bizarrely desaturated forestation around them serving as cover.

"Peace, Summoner."

She turned with a start to see Lyon smiling beside her, and stared nonplussed at him.

"You've done well," he said softly. Kiran wondered in terror for a moment if this was some kind of trap Lyon had set, of all people. "It is a rare sort of leader to place such trust in her people, but their respect for you is clear. Hold fast to them."

"And you don't count yourself among them," Alfonse observed quietly, on Kiran's other side; Kiran bristled and turned to shoot him a glare, but he did not back down, neither from her - nor from Lyon's embittered returning smile. Nevertheless, Alfonse's expression softened as it set on Kiran. "Nothing for it but to follow through," he said quietly.

Kiran nodded quietly, turning her eyes forward again. She'd been over this again and again, and surely so had Alfonse. On paper, the risk wasn't great, but even so they had both languished over that risk until they were satisfied that taking it was their only sure path forward - that they were prepared for the worst. And... he was right, they were both right. Even in the worst case, this was still the best decision. She had to remember that.

But maybe it'd be fine. Lucina and Priscilla were here, after all.

By the time the trees were thinning and the land opened up, a cluster of knights had already ridden out from the wall to meet them, and were bearing down quickly. Lucina rode to the fore as though to address them, but hesitated when it became clear their weapons were readied - Alfonse and Lyon both trotted ahead of Kiran as well, ready at her defense. But they didn't attack; they circled around in formation, their weapons still clutched in their gauntlets but the gesture otherwise clear. They were being escorted forward. There was absolutely no turning back now.

From the hillside far above and behind them Sharena and the others watched this happen, jaws and fists clenched, but ultimately powerless. All they could do was be ready in case the worst came to pass.

A greater host of riders streamed out of the gates as they drew nearer still. With the wall now casting a partial shadow over them it was somewhat harder to see, but Kiran could tell they were all heavily armored... and some of them were more ornamentally armored than others. Lucina spurred her horse forward from the group a short distance as they approached, calling out something Kiran couldn't quite hear - largely because at that same moment a wyvern crashed down from above, landing behind them; Lyon and Alfonse both yelped and tried to turn themselves at the ready, but their escorts pressed in as though to defend the wyvern - and the woman riding it.

Kiran recognized the burnt red hair streaming out of her helmet. She also recognized that wicked, golden-edged axe. Those two things were not supposed to go together. The image of this Tempest's history in her mind shifted dramatically, but it didn't get any clearer.

She turned forward again; the host of knights was now surrounding them more fully, lances braced in a circle towards them. At the front rode a man in gleaming silvery armor, glowing with reflected light from seemingly every angle. Kiran recognized his hair, too, the vibrant blue color traditionally associated with the family line of Altea... but she did not recognize the taut, emotionless expression on his aged face.

Lucina did, however. She rode to the fore of their group, confronting him directly, and his entourage drew close to her with weapons readied, but with a single raised hand their leader held them steady. Lucina was the one to speak first. "It does my heart well to see you in good health," she called. "Your eminence."

The riders bristled - not least of all the heavily armored rider just beside the silent Exalt, but before he could interject, the Exalt raised his hand yet again to steady them. His sunken eyes were fixed on Lucina's face, unflinching.

"What is the meaning of this?"

His voice was low and chilling. Armored and adorned atop the largest horse Kiran had ever seen, he seemed larger than anyone else here; Lucina at her full height seemed to barely reach his shoulder, but despite that she held her ground. "I know not what you have endured since last we spoke," she conceded. "But - "

"You," Chrom interrupted icily, "are not my daughter."

Lucina faltered, but gathered herself swiftly - though... not all of the fire was there anymore. "No," she admitted. "But..."

"But what?" His eyes flashed. "A spectre of another world, if even that much. And what do you bring before me in your flimsy guise?" His gaze snapped all at once to Kiran, who found that she could not breathe; even when he turned next to Alfonse and Lyon her throat remained frozen, and her heart jumped erratically in her chest... No, no, not now, why would she speak so easily to the Demon King only to freeze up now?!

"I come as an envoy of a world not so far removed from this one," Lyon offered. His voice contrasted sharply against their surroundings, soft and gentle in the face of unyielding darkness and glittering steel. "Would that there was much left of us."

"Refugees," Chrom snapped. Some of the riders' horses shifted uneasily at the spite in his voice. "Or so you would have me believe. Come to beg mercy in a land devoid of it?"

"Far from it," Lyon said carefully. It was obvious that his rhythm was disrupted; he had not expected such a bitter response. "Is it the interference of outsiders that inspires these defenses, your eminence?"

"Honeyed words have no standing here," Chrom intoned, frigid and heartless. With a shriek of metal he drew an immense sword from his back - only then did Kiran notice that he was not carrying Falchion; the sword he hefted was far larger, though if Kiran had not seen it many times even recently she might not have recognized it: Durandal, the blade of Roland, a relic of Elibe.

Alfonse and Lyon jumped to attention as well, as did the riders around them - but no one moved yet, and Chrom waited as though ensuring that the meaning of this action was sinking in before he spoke. Behind them, far, far behind, this one action echoed through the foothills and reached the ears of the Order's watchers. No one moved or spoke, but many gasped. There was no mistaking what was coming now.

"These lands you trespass," he boomed, "are no less than Hell itself. It belongs only to the damned." His gaze swept across the five of them as he spoke, one by one; Kiran fought with all she had to free herself from her own terror, but her heart refused to listen to her mind. "There is nothing here for you, the living who still bear purpose," snarled Chrom, as his gaze came to rest at last on Lucina. "Save only if you cast off such things, and become one with our legions. We shall see whether your bodies or spirits break first."

He turned to his side, to the armored rider closest to him, who Kiran could only imagine must have been Frederick. "Strip them of their weapons and possessions and cast them into the dungeons."

"All of them, sire," Frederick said lowly. Chrom hesitated, looking again to Lucina.

"Th-this - " Lucina urged her horse forward, though the poor creature fidgeted and whinnied in obvious fear, unable to make sense of what was happening save for the very distinct feeling of threat. "Your eminence, we mean you no harm," she pleaded. "We carry our own business, yes, but - "

"No longer," Chrom cut across. Lucina froze mid-sentence, her mouth hanging open, as though paralyzed.

"This is a dangerous choice for you to make," Alfonse called. Kiran turned to him with her horror renewed - he spoke so sternly that she almost mistook him for some other Hero, even compared to his usual stonefaced self. A dark fire burned in his eyes now, his jaw set and his hand still firmly clenched around the hilt of his sword. "To know naught of our origins or purpose and presume that there will be no repercussions for such an act of violence."

"A quaint threat from a refugee," Chrom said coolly, a glinting smile resting on the edge of his voice. Alfonse bared his teeth in a snarl but had no answer - he had to remember that not posing a threat was critical to all of this working, even in the worst case. Devoid of any better ideas he turned at last to Kiran, and Kiran recalled all at once that she was in charge.

Oh, fuck. All of this was her fault.

"And you?" Chrom turned on her now, the faintest sadistic mirth glittering in his eyes. "What would you have me believe? Choose your words wisely. Were they your last, I would consider you fortunate."

Maybe it was sheer luck that, as Kiran parsed that threat, it came across to her as so absurdly bleak that it made her laugh. Not aloud, thank the gods, but in her heart where it mattered - a surge of bewildering levity that was enough to break the spell binding her. She had a few seconds of freedom and control. Just one moment. Though her hands still shook and her voice quivered, no part of her doubted what needed to be done here. They had already committed; all that was left was to place her trust in the others.

"We'll do what you say."