Reunion

"I can't even see the top of it!" Basilio said in shock.

"Most impressive indeed... So the shrine hides all the way up in its branches?" Frederick asked.

"Aye, sir. A great staircase inside the trunk leads up to it. However, the empire has closed off the only route to the steps. Or perhaps "roots" to the steps, I should say." Say'ri told.

"Let's go." Shane stated. "Unseal, Zangetsu." Zangetsu appeared in his hand.

"Chrom, Lucina, Morgan, Corrin, Shane, and I will go after their leader. The rest of you, focus on getting rid of the enemy." Robin told.

Shane vanished before reappearing in front of a fighter and ending him quickly before doing the same to a thief.

"Does Shane seem off to you?" Chrom asked.

"Father/Dad/Shane's not usually like this." His family told him.

"Usually he at least takes time to study his opponents before fighting but right now, he's just charging in." Robin told.

"It kind of reminds me of when we were captured." Morgan stated.

"Wasn't he full of rage at you possibly being hurt?" Corrin asked.

During the trip to Valm, Corrin and the New Shepherds had exchanged stories about each other's lives and events in their time.

"We'll find out later. To arms!"

The groups charged and started their plan.

Corrin caught up with Shane as he decapitated a Thief before grabbing the dropped blade and throwing it into a Fighter's chest.

"Dad! What's wrong?" Corrin asked.

Shane vanished before reappearing, showing he had slashed multiple Fighters and Thieves and killed them.

"I want to finish this quickly. Someone I know from the past could be hurt." Shane explained.

He vanished once more before appearing in front of their leader.

"Victory is inevitable against you lot!" Cervantes told.

Shane dashed at him before slicing at his chest, only for Cervantes to barely block with his Tomahawk.

"You have impressive speed and strength." He admitted.

"Thanks. You're faster than you look."

Shane swung his blade upwards, sending the Tomahawk upwards but still in Cervantes's hand. Shane then crouched down with his blade straight up and in front of him.

"Surasshu!" He slashed down at his chest and sliced through it easily and blood shot outwards.

"Gah!" He exclaimed before holding his chest with his free hand.

Shane dashed forward before Zangetsu gained a pink tint.

"It's over!" Shane exclaimed before stabbing it into his chest.

"Nngah! But...how can this be? My invincible moustache! Blasted science, you have...played me for a...fool…" Cervantes then died.

Shane swung his sword and got the blood off of Zangetsu before resealing him.

He headed back down the tree to meet up with the Shepherds.

He arrived and saw that the two groups had just gotten back together. He then dashed down before reappearing in front of them.

"Their leader is dead. Let's go." Shane then turned and started walking back up the tree.

Corrin had started running to catch up to him while everyone else started walking behind.

Corrin caught up to him. "Dad, what's wrong?"

Shane looked at her and sighed. "Like I said earlier, I knew someone who lived around this tree and I didn't want them to destroy anything of theirs."

"But you were so angry. Morgan even compared it to when you rescued them."

That caused Shane to briefly stop before continuing.

"The person is one of the few I have left from my old life." He then noticed they reached the top and waited for the group to catch up.

A few minutes of silence and the group caught up.

"Dear, are you okay?" Robin asked.

"You'll find out soon." Shane told.

"Lady Tiki! Are you here? Prithee answer!" Say'ri called.

Everyone heard a yawn before a figure appeared. The person had pale green hair in a ponytail held together by a red ribbon. She wore a pale pink cape that drapes over her shoulders. She wore a red short dress that ended halfway down her thighs. She also wore red gloves and high red boots that went up to her knees.

"Ah, my lady... I'm so relieved to see you're all right." Say'ri said.

"So you are Lady Tiki? She who speaks for the divine dragon?" Lucina asked.

"...Marth? Oh, Mar-Mar, is that you?!" Tiki exclaimed.

Both Robin's and Morgan's heads turned towards Shane, remembering him calling Marth that and seeing him shake his head with a small smile.

"...My name is Lucina, milady. Though I did go by the name Marth for a time. Might we have met?"

"...Alas, no. I'm sorry... You reminded me of someone I knew. But he is gone now. Lost during my endless sleep…" Tiki told. After a second, she continued. "You and your father are of the exalted bloodline, are you not?"

"Yes, milady." Chrom spoke up.

"Do you yet possess the Fire Emblem? It should have been passed down through your family…"

"I... Yes, I have it…" Chrom struggled to say, memories rushing back.

"Ah! What a relief to know it has not been lost. ...But where are the Gemstones? I see only Argent."

Shane knew about the gemstones but not much. After Naga's death, he didn't really get involved in those matters as much.

"Gemstones?"

"Yes, there are five of them—Argent, Sable, Gules, Azure, and Vert. Each holds a portion of Naga's power. When mounted upon the Emblem, they allow one to perform the Awakening. With the Fire Emblem's power, the exalt was able to defeat Grima. But such power was too much for men, and so the Gemstones were scattered. I kept Azure here with me." Tiki explained.

"My kingdom had safeguarded Vert for generations. But the gem was recently stolen by Walhart's men." Say'ri told.

"Milady, do you know where the other two Gemstones might be?" Chrom asked.

"The remaining Gemstones, Sable and Gules, are no longer known to me. They may have been taken long ago, at the time of the Schism." Tiki told.

"Regna Ferox was founded during the Schism. As were most all nations in the realm, I believe." Basilio thought aloud.

"Ha! As if anyone would entrust the oaf with such a thing!" Flavia jokes.

"Actually, it's true—we did keep one: Gules. ...Did I never inform you?"

"You most certainly did not." She growled.

"Hmm... Must have slipped my mind. Regardless, yes. The West-Khans once safeguarded Gules. But it was lost long before my lifetime." Basilio told.

"Here. Take Azure, exalted ones. With it, you possess two of the five Gemstones. Now you must seek out the others and perform the Awakening. Our world must be defended from Grima at all costs!" Tiki told, confusing most Shepherds.

"But I'm confused... I thought Grima's power was sealed away." Chrom stated.

"It is but not for long." Shane finally spoke up, gaining everyone's attention. "If you wondered why I've been out of character, it's because I can feel his power growing stronger by the day." Shane looked at the group with a pause. "The seal is weakening."

"Ah," Tiki started, looking at Robin. "You have power like mine."

That confused everyone.

"What?" Robin asked.

"Nevermind, sometimes words outpace my thoughts." She told. "Now then, I've told you all I can. Now…*yawn*..I need a nap."

Everyone started leaving before Shane spoke.

"You guys go ahead but I'll need my family to stay with me for a moment."

Tired and with too much new information to think about, the other Shepherds didn't object but instead started down the long steps that brought them up the tree.

"What's going on?" Morgan asked.

"You can drop the 'nap' act Tiki." Shane told before Tiki seemed wide awake, surprising the other three.

"I never could trick you, could I?"

"You're 500 years too young to do that." Shane smiled.

"Now then, why did you want to talk?"

"I wanted to introduce you to my wife and kids."

"Ah yeah, you're wife and-wait what!" Tiki exclaimed.

"Do you know how Tiki is connected to Father?" Morgan asked Corrin, only to get a shaken head.

"You're the one that kept saying 'Love is a worthless emotion that's only there to continue the species existence.'"

"Yeah, I did." Shane chuckled.

"What are you talking about Dear?" Robin asked.

Tiki is gawking at that.

"Back when Marth visited Tiki, Tiki here gained a crush on the man and at the time, I only focused on training and creating new spells. I didn't really believe in love. So, Tiki and I would sometimes butt heads and I'd always say that love is useless while she'd say it's the best thing to happen to someone. Eventually, I stopped visiting due to a break through with one of my spells and by the time I finished, an earthquake that split the lands occured and left us on two separate continents." Shane explained.

"And here he is, reappearing after so many years and not only does he have a wife but two children also!"

"Well, technically 4 now I guess?" Shane thought aloud, causing them to look at him before he felt an aura he's felt many times. "You know, with time travel." He explained quickly, knowing his wife had started getting angry before the aura slowly went away.

"I guess you've been good since I last saw you." Tiki told him while softly smiling.

"Yeah, I've been great." Shane then widened his eyes at his realization. "My bad. Kids, I'd like you to meet your Aunt."

Their eyes widened before looking back at Tiki.

"I didn't know we had an aunt." Morgan muttered.

"She likes quiet so she can take her naps." Shane turned toward Tiki. "It was nice to see you again. You still have it?"

Tiki brought out a golden orb. "Yes, I still have your golden marble." She rolled her eyes.

"Why is it golden?" Corrin asked.

"Before I perfected my Signo spell, I had no way of keeping an eye on my important people. So I made my first orb capable of sensing the distress of said person and allowing me to teleport to them. The downside is it takes a lot of my magic due to the teleportation spell being a very early prototype." He explained. "Also, I had plenty of gold to work with at the time. It used to come in abundance in the past."

"As nice as it was to meet my Sister-in-Law," Robin spoke up. "We really need to get back with the group. They're likely already down and I don't want to run to catch up."

Shane walked over to Tiki, revealing he stood a good half-foot taller than her. He then hugged her.

"Stay safe." Shane muttered.

Tiki returned the hug. "You should be the one being told that."

They then released each other. Shane then turned to the rest of his family.

"Hold on to me." They walked over and grabbed part of him. "Subvolo." He glowed a tint of green while the parts where they held him were bright green.

Shane turned to Tiki. "See ya, Sis! Propero!"

Shane and his family shot down the steps, flying over them.

"Goodbye, brother."