"Hold on," Morgan blinked as she spoke over the phone, "You let Owain do what?!" 

"Well it's not like I could stop him!" Inigo replied, sighing, "Just… where are you?!" 

"I'm almost at the school. Please tell me you at least didn't let him fight them alone…"

"What?! Of course not!" 

"Good. How bad are the injuries?" 

"Mostly bruises but… he's on the ground being dramatic." 

She heard a faint yell, something along the lines of 'I'm dying!'

"Lucina is going to kill you," the girl muttered, sighing, "Alright. I'm coming. Is Brady with you?" 

"Severa is calling him," her friend responded, "Please don't tell Lucina…"

"Good luck keeping it from her." 

"Thanks." 

Morgan sighed, "I'm almost there Inigo, hold on." 

"Will do, thanks Morgan." 

"No problem." 

She hung up, sighing as she stuck her phone into her pocket and shifted her left arm uncomfortably. The broken arm act was going to last for at least another week, and she wasn't happy about it. 

The tactician's daughter sighed as she approached the school, and went to the field. It wasn't hard to find her friends, as Owain's dramatically pained groans could be heard almost across the school. Students were gathered around, a mix of confusion and amusement with them. 

"Excuse me," Morgan muttered, slipping past the students until she was with her friends. Severa had her arms crossed, and she was scowling. Brady was kneeling next to Owain, also scowling. Inigo ran a hand through his hair, sighing. Owain himself, was laying on the ground and being dramatic. 

"This is my final breath!" He gasped out, "Please… leave me…" 

A couple students snickered and giggled. 

"You're fine Odin," Brady sighed. 

"Fair maiden!" He reached out to Severa, "A kiss before I pass?" 

"No," Severa scowled, clearly unimpressed. Morgan snickered, and a few kids burst into laughter, while others let out an 'ooh!'

"Fair maiden," he looked to Morgan, reaching out, "Will you allow me to pass all alone?" 

They looked to Morgan. Inigo raised an eyebrow, practically waiting for her inevitably snarky response.

"Depends," she crouched down, "Buy me lunch and I'll think about it." 

More laughter. 

"I'm dying, how can I buy you lunch if I'm dead?" He raised an eyebrow. 

"Good question," she shrugged, "Guess that means no kiss for you." 

She stood up, and Owain groaned, "Okay! I'll buy you lunch! Dammit…" 

"Great!" She crouched back down, grinning as she pecked his cheek. An unmistakable crimson blush spread across his cheeks. 

"The power of the maiden's kiss has revived me!" He sat up, "Thank you fair maiden! I will repay you with lunch." 

"That's going in the group chat," Hinoka snickered, typing on her phone. Morgan and Owain's buzzed, and they opened the message. 

Class Group Chat
FiestyRed: Guess who just got Odin to buy her lunch (1 attachment)

Purpleboobs: Smooth

Odin_the_Dark: Worth it.

MorgyMorgan: I'm getting the most expensive thing there just for you.

Purpleboobs: Hold on, who changed my name?

Odin_the_Dark: 1. I have to afford it. 2. Not me

FiestyRed: Funny, but not me.

MorgyMorgan: Probably Rowan.

Knightboy: Haha, get pranked ;)

Purpleboobs has changed their name to Camilla.

Camilla: Watch your back.

Knightboy: shit

Morgan snickered, standing up and offering a hand to Owain. He took and stood up. The gathered students began clapping, and he bowed. They left after that.

"Nice show," Inigo muttered. 

"I can't believe you actually kissed him," Severa sighed. 

The ravenette laughed, "Hey, I'll kiss anyone if food is involved." 

"Your dad says he's proud to have raised such a crafty girl," Inigo said, snickering. 

"Since when did you have Papa's phone number?" I asked, frowning. 

"Probably got it from Chrom," Brady grunted, "Let's go, class is starting." 

The five of them separated, as Morgan and Owain walked to class. 

"Okay, but seriously, that was smooth," Rowan was speaking when they entered the classroom. Camilla glowered at him. 

"Camilla is glaring at you," his twin, Lianna, nudged him, "What did you do?" 

"Changed her name in the group chat as a prank," he shrugged, and grinned when he saw the two, "Odin! Dude, that was smooth!" 

"Thanks," Owain laughed as they high fived. 

"He does realize you're only after food, right?" Lianna raised an eyebrow as Morgan sat down.

"He's probably too wrapped up in the fact that a girl actually kissed him," she replied with a laugh. 

"How's your arm?" Hinoka asked. 

"A lot better, the doctor says I should be out of the cast by the end of the month," the ravenette told her. 

"That's wonderful," Camilla cooed, smiling. 

"Oh yeah, Camilla? As annoying as Rowan is, please don't actually kill him." 

"I wouldn't do that!" The violet haired girl gasped, offended, "Severely injure him perhaps, but I wouldn't kill him." 

"As long as he isn't dead or incapacitated, I really don't care," Lianna sighed, "He'll recover." 

"Awfully uncaring for an older sister," Hinoka muttered. 

"3 minutes doesn't make me older than him," she sighed, "Don't you have 3 siblings? How can you not want to strangle them?" 

"I kick Takumi sometimes when he's being a shithead, but I couldn't bear the thought of him, Sakura, or Ryoma being hurt," the redhead replied. 

"If anyone ever hurt my precious siblings, I'd kill them without a second thought," Camilla muttered, her expression darkening. 

"You can't seriously plan on taking on the Shepherds, even if after what they did," Lianna frowned. The other three tensed up. 

"Not all of them of course," the violet haired girl mused, "I'll just wheedle out the one who hurt him and kill them!" 

"How would you even do that? They barely even show themselves in the first place, especially compared to the Grimleal." 

"Y'know, speaking of the Shepherds and Grimleal," Rowan joined them, "The town has been awfully quiet recently, hasn't it?" 

Owain and Morgan stiffened. 

"Actually, I have noticed that," Lianna frowned, "You don't think they're planning something, do you?" 

"Maybe," her twin shrugged. 

"Anyway," Morgan butted in quickly, "Owain, for the record, don't pick fights with the school gang. Laslow sounded like he was on the verge of a panic attack when he called me." 

"Whoops," the blond sighed, "Yeah, okay… sorry." 

"Don't apologize to me." 

The teacher walked in, and called for attention. They quickly returned to their seats, turning attention to the front of the classroom.

◇◇◇

The tactician sighed, walking out of the office. His shift ended early today, and so had the others. The four of them were walking around town, wondering how to spend their time. 

It's not like he could strategize, the Shepherds had nothing planned since they were kicked from their own base. They were too on edge.

He was concerned about the framing, but nothing had happened since then. 

"There's a crowd up ahead," Tharja grumbled. 

"Ooh!" Henry chuckled, "Let's go see what's happening!" 

"A convention of some sort perhaps?" Lucina suggested, frowning.

Robin shrugged, and they walked towards the crowd. They were quickly squished together, and finally got to the front. 

"Definitely not a convention," Tharja sighed. They were taped off by police. 

"Shepherd!" The chief stepped forward, "Let go of the woman!" 

"Shepherd?" Lucina frowned. The 4 of them peered at the scene. 

Two women were behind the tape with the police. One of them, an old lady being held hostage. The other, a masked woman with the Shepherds logo printed on the front of her tunic. The supposed Shepherd pressed the knife tighter against the old lady's throat. 

"Not until you give me what I want!" 

"Who?..." Robin trailed off, confused. Henry snapped a picture, and began typing. He turned to them a moment later. 

"Chrom says he doesn't recognize them," the white haired man shrugged, "You guys?"

"Nope," Tharka shrugged. 

"Two can play the mask game," Lucina muttered. She reached into her bag, pulling out a cobalt blue butterfly mask and attaching it to her face quickly. 

"What are you doing?…" the tactician frowned, as she leaped over the police tape. 

"Stop!" 

Everyone turned to her. 

"Ma'am, please return behind the tape-" 

The bluenette ignored the officer, walking up to the masked Shepherd. 

"What are you doing Shepherd?" She demanded, staring right at the masked woman. 

The woman didn't respond, gritting her teeth. 

The police aimed their guns at Lucina, and she turned to them. 

"I am Marth," the bluenette told them, "A captain of the Shepherds. Please, excuse this misunderstanding. It seems one of us has yet to learn better." 

She turned back to the masked woman, and the others could practically feel the glare she was wearing. 

The two had a staring contest. Lucina won, as the stranger slowly released her grip on the old woman. She crumpled to the floor, and police rushed forward to help her. 

The bluenette and the stranger stared at each other. 

"Stop!" The chief pointed his gun at them, and a few other officers followed. 

"You answer for multiple crimes, Shepherd," the chief stated, "Come quietly." 

She faltered, unsure of what to do. Robin's mind raced, thinking fast. 

"Henry, swap hoodies with me," he said. 

"Huh? Why?" Henry blinked. 

"Just do it," he replied, already removing his own. The smaller man frowned, but did as he was told, holding Robin's hoodie as he slipped Henry's on. The oversized hoodie fit him fairly well, and he took a deep breath. 

"This might go horribly wrong," he warned them, pulling the hood up. It covered his face well, and content with his disguise, he slipped past the police lines. 

"Hey," he put his hand on the chief's shoulder, "Don't make this mistake Chief. Captain just defused the situation for you, show a little gratitude." 

"Who are you?" The officer demanded, turning their gun. 

"Nobody of consequence," the tactician replied, keeping his head lowered so the hood shadowed his face, "But trust me when I say that shooting the person who just saved you a casualty isn't a good idea." 

"One good act means nothing when faced with multiple crimes," the chief retorted, as the other officers turned to point their guns at Robin. 

"Really? Well then, I suppose you'd have rathered let the trainee slit that lady's throat," he kept his tone light, almost mocking, as the chief of police scowled. 

"I didn't say that, stranger. I demand to know your identity!" 

"Get used to disappointment. By the way, the Captain and trainee are gone." 

The tactician smirked as the officers turned. Now all he had to do was escape. 

Luck was on his side, as a riot suddenly broke out in the crowd. People were arguing, and the officers panicked, rushing to try and calm the citizens down. 

He slipped into the turned crowd again, and quickly swapped hoodies with Henry. 

"Nice thinking," Tharja told him as he slid his own hoodie back on. Henry did the same, laughing. They began to leave. 

"Hold it!" Henry turned, smiling at the chief. 

"Oh, hello Mr. Officer! Can I help you?" 

The officer blinked, "Uh… no, my apologies. I thought you were someone else." 

"Oh, okay! Bye!" The smaller man waved, running to catch up with Tharja and Robin. 

"Let's go find Lucina," the ravenette sighed. 

This didn't take them long. Lucina was in the alleyway. The mask had been torn from the strangers face, and she was pressed against the wall by the bluenette's elbow. 

"Oh look, my friends have arrived," she hissed to the woman, "Now start talking Grimleal." 

"Okay! Okay!" The woman held her hands up, "I'll talk! Don't hurt me!" 

"Why are you pretending to be a Shepherd?" The bluenette demanded. 

"I was ordered too, okay?! He told me too, he- ack!" 

Lucina pressed harder, obviously not satisfied with the answer. 

"Who is he?" Tharja asked. 

"Somebody's angry," Henry sang. 

"Don't do that," Robin sighed, "She'll fight you next."

"The boss! The Grimleal leader, he told me too! He hates the Shepherds, a lot, okay?! He gave me the mask and told me to pretend I was one of you so that society would think you're bad…!" 

The woman began rambling about how much the Grimleal's leader hated the Shepherds and how he had given her the mask with orders. 

"Shut up," Lucina scowled, "Robin?" 

"Hm?" The tactician looked up. 

"Should we take her hostage for information?"

"We take hostages?" Henry blinked. 

"Occasionally." 

Robin frowned, "It would be wise, yes." 

The bluenette let go, backing away from the Grimleal woman, who fell to the ground coughing, "Then I leave her to you. I'll call Father." 

"Did you know about that?" Tharja frowned, turning to Robin. 

"The occasionally taking hostages thing?" He shook his head, "Nope. This is news to me too." 

"So… so you'll let me go, right?" The woman gulped, "Because you're the Shepherds, you're the good guys. You don't do things like… like taking hostages."

"I'm a little more concerned about dealing with an angry Lucina," the tactician sighed. 

"That's a no, if you were wondering," Henry smiled, "Come on, up you go!" 

She squeaked as he pulled to her feet, patting her down. He removed a knife and gun, tossing them to Tharja. The ravenette jumped away from the knife, and Robin caught the gun. 

"Don't throw knives, dolt!" The ravenette scowled at him, as she picked up the blade. 

Lucina reentered the alleyway, her mask removed and hair down. Chrom followed, frowning. 

"...When Henry sent me the picture, a Grimleal pretending to be one of us is the last thing I would've considered," the commander sighed, "Props for creativity I guess." 

"Th-they'll come for me!" She retorted, backing up, "The Grimleal won't let you do this!" 

"They aren't stopping us," Tharja shrugged. 

"They should've known we would catch you," Robin sighed, "Nobody here wears a mask, aside from Lucina apparently." 

"Besides, Chrom is the only dumb enough to prance around with our logo on him!" Henry laughed. Tharja whacked him, sighing in irritation. 

"Ouch," the commander gave Henry a side glance, "Alright, come on." 

The woman stiffened as Tharja grabbed her, refusing to move.

"Don't think I won't carry you there," the ravenette scowled, pushing her. The woman flinched, reluctantly following. 

A bus was parked outside the alleyway. Tiki sat in the driver's seat, humming as she leaned out the open window. 

She smiled and waved when she saw them, and with a loud click, the doors unlocked. Chrom opened it, stepping inside. The others followed one by one, until everyone was on the bus. 

Frederick, Lissa, and Nowi were already sitting in the front seats. The Grimleal woman was deposited next to Frederick, who just glared at her. She gulped. 

"Papa!" Morgan jumped out from behind a seat, tackling her father. Robin yelped, falling back onto a seat. 

"Morgan!" 

"I assume Chrom didn't tell you that we were picking the kids up from school," Tiki snorted from the front seat. 

"It slipped my mind," the blue haired man admitted, and the others laughed, as everyone sat down. The manakete in the front began driving.

"H...hello mother," Noire greeted Tharja quietly. 

"Hello Noire," Tharja responded, sitting down. 

"Who's the stranger?" Inigo asked. 

"A Grimleal," Henry replied. 

"Wait, what?" He blinked. 

"A hostage?" Laurent frowned. 

"I don't remember the last time we took one of those," Tiki sighed. 

"It's been a long time," Chrom nodded. 

"So, Owain bought you lunch?" Robin grinned at his daughter. Cynthia burst out laughing, as a crimson blush crossed Owain's face. 

"Yep!" Morgan grinned proudly. 

"Well, I hope you thanked him at least. I hope I didn't raise a rude negotiator." 

"Of course," she smiled. 

"Owain bought Morgan lunch," Lissa turned in her seat, raising an eyebrow at her son.

"Oh boy, have we got a story for you," Brady snickered. 

"Here, Hinoka uploaded a video," Morgan pulled her phone out, fumbling for the group chat. She pulled the video up, and passed her phone to Lissa. 

"Wait, Mother, no-!" 

But it was too late. Lissa had started the video. 

Morgan's phone ended up being passed to Chrom, then to Tharja and Henry. Soon enough, everyone was giggling and joking about Owain's dramatic fall, and how the tactician's daughter had got him to buy her lunch. 

"I'm so proud," Lissa giggled, "You're an amazing actor Owain!" 

"The students certainly loved it," Severa snorted. 

"What a harsh rejection Severa," Nowi giggled. 

"You actually kissed him for food?" Chrom raised an eyebrow at Morgan, grinning. 

"Hey, I'll kiss anyone if it means I get food!" The girl laughed, and everyone else did too. 

The Grimleal woman frowned. It seemed so wrong. Here she was, in a bus with the Shepherds, a hostage.

And they were practically ignoring her, joking around and laughing like nothing was wrong. 

"Whoa, you guys are blowing up online!" Kjelle exclaimed, scrolling on her phone, "Every news site is covering you and the hostage incident." 

"Mysterious masked man called Marth?" Gerome raised an eyebrow at Lucina, "I thought you only used the name in public." 

"It was the first alias that came to mind," she sighed, "I may not be able to go out for a while…" 

"I'm sure you can find an excuse to be Lucina now," Gerome said, "Just keep your hair down." 

"Haha, very funny." 

A couple of them snickered. 

"We could call Emm, and ask her to say that Marth was fired," Lissa said, "That would give you an excuse to go to work." 

"What about people you previously knew as Marth?" Severa frowned. 

"I'll find an excuse," the bluenette sighed. 

"With all due respect Ma'am, there's a reason you introduced yourself as Marth, correct?" Frederick sighed. 

"Yes, the majority of the Grimleal know me as Lucina. I'll just have to be more careful when I'm out is all," Lucina nodded. 

He nodded. 

The bus stopped finally, and they climbed out. Tharja and Henry took the woman, and Tiki guided them to where they kept hostages in the rare times they had one. 

"Oh god," Yarne sighed, "Are you guys seeing this?" 

"The news site?" Morgan asked, "Yeah." 

"The discussion forums for the gangs are absolutely blowing up," Inigo gaped at his phone. Noire took out her laptop, opening it. 

"The school page is active as well," she said quietly, "Everyone is arguing…" 

"That can't be good," Nah mumbled, peering over Morgan's shoulder. 

"What's wrong?" Robin frowned. 

"Check the headlines," Severa grumbled, scowling as she pocketed her phone, "Idiots…" 

Chrom opened his laptop, going to the news site. 

"Oh, gods," he groaned when he saw the headlines, "Really?" 

Robin stood from his seat, walking over. 

"You've got to be kidding me," he sighed. 

"Well, it looks like the Grimleal succeeded in one thing," Lucina sighed. 

"What's that?" Owain asked, frowning. 

And with a sigh, Robin answered him.

"Making society hate us."