Comms and Other Long FE Oneshots

Whispers

*Part of something I call the Takumi Timeline. Conquest up until Izumo, and then stuff happens. All royal siblings survive.*

"Pourquoi pensez-vous que vous devriez être libre?" A low, gravelly, echoing, broken voice.

"You know that your freedom is nothing to us. All that is left is a broken path."

"That's not it," Takumi responded to the warped sound of his own voice. He was kneeling in the dark, hands bound by a glowing purple bowstring. "I know the path has been broken, that's the point."

"Per dignationem subitae minimus omnium creaturarum." A voice like thunder this time, booming through the black.

"Un petit dragon."

"What right does she have to seal our fate?"

"The same right you had to seal mine," he replied softly, seeing a flash of blond braids and a red cloak in the dark before everything was black again. "And she was here because my sister sent her. Your daughter. Your niece."

"Elle était ma fille dans un sens, oui..."

"Et non dici de crimine lese maiestatis fetus!"

Takumi flinched at the infuriated roar, bending forward, gritting his teeth against the pain in his head. "Let me dream, curse the lot of you," he snarled.

"Normally you don't like it when we let you dream." A blue-clad knee, purple smoke swirling around it, came into his line of vision and he tensed. "Then, you've always been indeci-"

The world went dead silent, everything vanishing from his vision. The pressure on his wrists vanishing so suddenly that he almost fell on his face but caught himself just in time. Something shifted quietly in the area above him, a pinkish-red glow suddenly illuminating the blackness. He looked up, staring into a set of six glowing eyes and the maw of a dragon.

He snapped out of sleep, breathing heavily, his eyes meeting a pair of concerned dark brown eyes. "Morgan..." he muttered shakily. "What did you... did you..."

The Ylissean tilted his head, black hair falling slightly into his eyes. "I just shook you a bit, Takumi. It might have set something off regarding the resonance of the other three, though, if they were talking to you."

"What are you doing here?"

"Ruin if I know." Morgan sat back slightly, shrugging. Takumi rolled over on his futon to face him, seeing that his regular coat was missing, leaving him in only a gray shirt and brown trousers, a strange looking bag slung over one shoulder. "I think I went two steps too far to the left on one of the paths. I was falling and then I was in the halls of Shirasagi."

Takumi sat up, collecting himself. His head didn't hurt, and the echoes were almost completely gone. Probably as startled as he was right now. "You were wandering realms in the middle of the... what time is it?"

"Likely some ungodly hour of the morning."

"That can't be good for your health, Morgan." The older boy actually smiled at that, the amusement softening the sharp angles that the darkness of the room was giving his face. "Anyways..." Takumi sighed, rubbing the back of his head. "I thought you had a fairly solid grip on realm jumping? I mean, what happened in my case gave that impression."

"Eh. That was a bit of a crisis situation bent to the whim of a restless spirit, and besides, Nah has always had more of a head for this sort of stuff." Morgan shrugged again. "If the realms want something to happen, it generally happens, I've found. They wanted your path to be set to rights as much as it could, so it was. Might be part of why I'm here right now, it's been awhile since we've talked."

"The holy cosmos and the powers that be want you to be updated on how things are going here, and so they sent you here in the dead of night when no one sane is awake," Takumi deadpanned.

Morgan snorted, then bent over, stifling his laughter into his hand. Takumi couldn't help but give a faint smile at the sight. "We both know that neither of us are sane anyways," Morgan remarked, giving Takumi a sharp grin once he was finished laughing. The voices continued to stay strangely quiet, even when they were mentioned. He still wasn't quite sure how Morgan managed that, it was an effect that none of his other party members seemed to have on him. "So how are things? How's the family?"

"Negotiations between Hoshido and Nohr are continuing to go well," Takumi replied. "I still haven't met Amaranthe due to how the Nohrians view Corrin and his resulting reluctance to bring her to Castle Krakenburg."

"Ah, that's right, he rules the Ice Tribe and a nearby fiefdom."

Takumi nodded. "With the exception of his issues with both of our kingdoms, the rest of the family's doing well. Hinoka took to her position as general of the army like a fish to water and is about the only person that can draw Hinata's attention from me." Morgan arched an eyebrow, evidently picking up on the implication behind that. "Ryoma is settling into his position of king still, but our nation is gaining it's confidence back under his leadership. Sakura is Sakura, she's the one who talks to Kaden most of the time, surprisingly enough. She's doing a great job bridging the gap between our two peoples."

"I'm glad to hear that," Morgan replied softly, something flashing behind those dark eyes of his. "Humans could stand to learn more from shapeshifters."

Takumi nodded, and then they both looked over as the door to his room cautiously slid open. Oboro peered in, took one look at the two of them sitting there, and sighed softly. "Hello, Lord Morgan. I'll go make some tea."

"You don't have..." The door closed. "To." Morgan grimaced lightly.

"She'll do it anyways," Takumi told him. "More for my sake than for yours. How are things on your side of the spectrum?"

Morgan looked back toward him. "We're all alive and well. The last couple of months have been rather quiet, actually, we've been lying low in Daein. We still haven't found what we're looking for, if that's what you're asking."

Takumi filed away the unfamiliar location name, sensing that Morgan wasn't on a talkative mood when it came to his party and his mission tonight. Shame. But he wouldn't press, though he was curious. He owed the older boy, Nah, Soren and Ike his future, after all. "Did something happen to your arm during that time?"

"Oh." Morgan lifted his bandaged right forearm. "No, this is to hide my father's side of the family's Brand. Such things are dangerous in Daein, and I'm used to having it hidden under my coat anyways." He looked back to him. "Anyhow, it sounds like you were in Nohr recently. Did your relationship with the family improve at all?"

Always about us, never about himself. The thought was quiet, and it faded quickly, but he was pretty sure it had showed up because he as himself was thinking the same thing. But he turned to face Morgan fully, started telling him what happened during his time in Nohr this time, watching a pleased smile relax the older boy's guarded expression. Whispers and piecemeal details were all he could get from him, really, he shouldn't have expected anything different. He would be satisfied with being able to talk to him and with the minimal additional information he'd gotten tonight, then.