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Who: Owain and Lucina.
Where: Libra Ward, right outside of their place, moving on from there.
When: The 17th of May.
Summary: After doing the obligatory settling in, getting their bearings straight, wondering where certain people are schtick, the two cousins settle down to discuss very important things like the fact their family tree is weird and alternate dimensions are weird and everything's weird and everything hurts.
Warnings: Awkward.

"So..." Owain said, drawing out the sound as he did so and wishing that there was some distraction to...well, distract.

But there was none. They were outside. The sun was shining as best as it could from behind a veil of clouds. (And, if circumstances were different he'd come up with a poetic descriptor for them, like how they were cursed or whatever: circumstances were not.) The others were other places. There was no Risen, and while he was happy at not having to fight them...for once...it would be nice to have something to delay this conversation.

There was none. And so he (sort of) pressed ahead. "About Morgan."

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Her eyebrows immediately furrowed together, though they cleared up after yet another pause. It made sense, didn't it? If Robin was a different gender, then the possibility of everyone else getting a gender swap was totally an option. For some, anyway. Actually, the only source of confusion seemed to be Robin and Morgan (for now. You never know, Laurent could actually be Lauren wherever Owain came from).

"... Hm. Despite what they tell us, I wouldn't blame them if they did." She figured having a stranger come up to them with that kind of announcement wasn't exactly comforting. "Though they handled it much better than us." There was a pause - not as familiar as Owain's pause, but it was one of Lucina's 'I'm searching for my words' pause, before she spoke up again. "Perhaps there's a pattern to all of this... I mean, we recognized each other, as well as Yarne - and Tharja. What else can you tell me about the Shepherds that you're familiar with?"

There were a number of options to go with. He decided to start with one of the obvious ones...that they weren't related to. (To the best of his knowledge.)

"Well...there's Frederick. Maybe he's Fredericka where you're from? Uncle Chrom's knight. Looked after him and mom a lot. As well as...you know." Aunt Em. "Has a thing for fires and training. And bear meat!"

Putting it like that made him feel unsure about Frederick.

The longer she listened, the more sure she became they were talking about the same person, down to the bear meat.

"No, he's known as Frederick." So he wasn't a victim to the genderswap. "... Is Aunt Lissa best friends with Maribelle?" Or was it... whatever the male equivalent of Maribelle would be. Marvin? Anyway. "And Gerome has a wyvern named Minerva..." It's time to play spot the difference. Only there weren't any more differences to spot.

"And Cynthia and I used to play Justice Cabal and Inigo thinks that nobody knows about his dancing."

It sounded alike. Pretty much identical, as if the only difference was if Robin was a man or woman, and, in turn, the differences that spawned in Morgan. But that was ridiculous. Why would the only change be with Robin? Maybe they were from eerily similar parallel universes with stranger ones existing elsewhere.

On the bright side, this saved them from a long recap of events from their respective universes. "What's the last thing you remember from home?"

"Brady plays the violin, and Laurent seems to be a few years older than us..." More similarities. Maybe it was about time they just accepted their worlds were the same, aside from the whole Robin and Morgan issue, as strange as it sounded. Really - was this pure chance? Or did another Outrealm exist where they were all a different gender? Then there was also the question of how many different worlds Ylisse existed in...

"We had just met Lady Tiki, by the branches of the great Mila Tree on the Valm continent. She had agreed to join us, and we were en-route to defeat Conqueror Walhart." Then one of those nights she appeared here. "What do you remember?"

"Same." He inhaled, and then let it out in long stream of breath, wishing that someone would interrupt them. Make things less awkward, if possible. (Ha, yeah, right. Still, it would be nice having the rest of them...you know, their generation, not their parents...around. It would be nice having his mom around.) "I wish I could say..."

And here he took on a dramatic tone, striking a slight pose as he did so. "Brave cousin, we have just felled the mighty dragon Grima, and with his last breath the fell beast cursed us all and consigned us to a fate beyond our ken." But no. "But nah, same as you. Just found Lady Tiki, on our way to fight Walhart."

That got a quiet laugh out of her, at least. He's the exact Owain she remembered. Which was strange, because technically, they were complete strangers; but they shared the same memories, acted the same way... So they were still cousins? This is seriously strange.

All this talk about different worlds and dopplegangers raised another question, though. "... Do you believe the others will appear in this city, in due time?"

"Of course!" No hesitation. (This was, of course, safer ground, and he ran to it with reckless abandon.) "They're heroes, right?"

Obviously. No hesitation, again. A rhetorical question, really: the heroics of their predecessors was something all of them had grown up with.

"And...if they don't show up it's only because they're trying to figure out a way to boldly find us a way back home and it's up to you and I - and the others, but you and I - to find a way back to our kin!"

There was the question of where, given the...obvious problems, but unless she pressed he was content to leave it be for the time being. Momentum was salvation, so to speak. Worry later, at leisure.

That managed to pull a small smile from her face, leaning back on the bench they were sitting on (or wall, if they were standing by a wall. If they weren't standing near anything... She let one leg carry her weight). "You're right. We'll simply try our best with what we have."

She decided against asking the obvious question; it was unlikely that anyone knew at this point, and... that would just have to be something they'll figure out in due time. When they get more adapted to the city, most of their questions should be answered.

By this point, Lucina was also going through the mini-list she put together in her head. "Have you... seen your Persona, yet?"

Owain shook his head no: ideally he would discover his Persona through some sort of...epic moment. In a perfect world it would be the penultimate moment before certain defeat in which he would roar out a word and summon something mighty and legendary to save the day.

However, Owain had a feeling which nagged at him. It was a feeling that hinted that his first summoning would just happen...at some point which wasn't particularly dramatic. It would be a thing. A casual thing. The sort of thing that would happen between chapters 12 and 13 of a continuing saga, a moment mentioned long after the fact. By the by, did you see my Persona...? Gods, I summoned it last week and it was amazing.

...but he was probably reading too much into things. He just figured it was indigestion giving him this unsettled feeling.

"Nah." He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, remembering his attempts. "I tried, but Tharja was...you know." Horrifying. Distracting. Scary. Ever present.

"Oh?" Most of her days were spent either training or learning more about the strange world she lived in. Somewhere along the line, her persona had been pushed to the back burner - it was something she never had, and she had fought perfectly well before. There was no practical reason to throw herself in harm's way, and... getting an evoker was something she still had to figure out how to do.

She could admit it though - she was curious. The small pieces of information had been interesting. Definitely something Laurent would love to study for days.

"Ah. On the day of the strange post in mother's..." She paused, searching for the right word, "... apartment." These modern terms were strange.

Mother. That caused his mouth to swing open slightly, as if he was about to say something, before it settled firmly shut once more. Owain wanted to ask a lot of things. He wanted to ask if she remembered the fort from back when they were kids or that one time with the pies with Cynthia and Morgan...the other Morgan. But at the same time - just like asking if he could try wielding Falchion - he wasn't sure what he'd do with her answers if they weren't what he wanted them to be.

"Yeah, nobody was too happy about the...you know, wall. If Robin hadn't been there I'm not sure what she would've done."

Besides curse him, but that went without saying.

Lucina caught the action - the one where someone would have said something, but decided against it in the last minute. There probably was a good reason behind it; it was best to just let it slide, Lucina thought. If the moment called upon it, she could bring it up later. For now, they still had their personas to deal with.

"I've heard that... Your persona will first appear when your life is in danger, somehow." She had been lucky to get the information from another. Though she still wasn't sure how to go about it. "It's also possible to get an 'Evoker', which is shaped like a... modern firearm. That can also summon your persona for the first time."

"... I haven't figured out what a firearm is, exactly. It's a weapon, though." In the end, all this would be helpful, if she could understand it better.

"Probably a blazing sword or something else on fire."

This was said sincerely. "Ignites with our blazing spirits."

Not that he knew, and, well...actually. "Well, maybe, but if I called something a firearm that's what I'd want it to do."

"A Levin Sword with fire properties... Or perhaps a tome that extends... from an arm?" Which didn't make any sense, Lucina realized. Maybe she should have thought a little bit more before speaking up.

... But that was a logical explanation for it, kind of. "I wonder if any of the others have figured out a way."

"Robin probably did!"

This was said with a bit less enthusiasm than he normally would. If it was his Robin he was talking about, it would be said in the tones of upmost sincerity, complete faith. As is, while he had no reason to doubt her, she's still not his Robin but rather a Robin, and he never really realized that there could be a Robin.

His enthusiasm would normally be at a nine and was instead at a seven. Still respectable but a bit subdued.

"If not Robin then...I'm not sure if I'd want Noire's mom to have figured out a weapon."

If anyone figured it out, it would be Robin - Lucina's current train of thought kept her from noticing the slight lack of enthusiasm. "We should check with her later - it would be much simpler for everyone if we knew what we were looking for."

Tharja, however, was another story entirely. "I have to admit, despite wanting to say that it would be an asset nonetheless..." It would be unsettling if she had another weapon at her disposal. Though Tharja's a mage. Mages don't really use a weapon, so that should be okay. But still.

"...you know who I wish was here? Laurent."

Even if he wasn't a dark mage, having a mage to turn to who wasn't Tharja was something he wished they had, if only because he liked the idea of having someone to turn to who could de-hex him. Them. Something told him that it was probably mainly going to be him. He wasn't sure what, except if Tharja was as fixated on Robin as his Tharja was on his Robin, then Lucina was safe.

He? He was another story.

"Hey, Lucina."

"Laurent..." It would be nice to have him. Actually, it'd be nice to have all of them here, so that the strange city would feel a little more familiar. Not that she wasn't grateful for Owain or her mother or even Tharja, but it still felt strange, not waking up to the bustle of an army camp.

Though on second thought, as much as she wished for everyone to be in the city, what would that mean for their world? And there's also the fact that they'd have to experience this strange world, too.

"... Yes, Owain?"

"Let's go look around." He sort of nodded his head towards the rest of the city and sincerely hoped that she wouldn't ask where because he wasn't sure...where, exactly. "Cousins embarking upon a noble search for answers! Or friends."

"The city?"

Lucina followed the nod, glancing at the sidewalk, nodding in mere moments. "I don't see why not." They hadn't done much but settle in, after all. Maybe some of the others had already arrived - or at least, they could find out what an evoker was.

Oh, and figure out how to get around the town. That's important too. With a grin, she took a few steps forward, then turned around to wait. "If you're ready then, cousin."

He, of course, followed. "I call this Operation...Operation...Seekers of Truth." That didn't quite sound right, but that was pretty much the state of his life at the moment: it was almost, but not quite, right. But at the same time weren't they kind of used to it by now? And just because it wasn't quite right didn't mean it was bad. "We shall scout for various important things, such as friends and knowledge. Also, I don't know about you, but I kind of want to find a good place with cakes."

"A general understanding of where everything is located would be helpful, too." There was a map somewhere on her COMP, she understood, but it definitely wasn't the same as actually walking through the city, if her walk to the Pisces ward was any indication.

"As well as the cake." She paused for a moment, then - "Do you think the bakeries here would have similar pastries? Everything seems to be very different so far."

"Probably not!" This was said cheerfully.

Brace yourself, Lucina. And...

"They probably have different pastries culled from across the myriad dimensions! Baking heroes gather to preform culinary art in an elaborate duel to the bitter end! Just as we are here to fight some evil somewhere so are they fighting upon their own battleground. Man, imagine Noire. She'd probably make cake arrows." He mimed firing a pastry missile.

He liked Noire. He didn't get why Inigo was always so touchy about her. Shooting aside.

"Hm..." She pressed her lips together, glancing at her feet at a moment. To say the change had been unsettling was an understatement, but it was even worse when they discovered the small details that had changed. Things like what her bed was like. Hard wood floors. Carefully constructed parks.

Not that she minded the whole cake battle thing. To be honest, that did sound kind of cool.

"I suppose we would find out soon enough." Whether they wanted to or not. "Cake arrows? Would we be fighting with cake swords, then?"

"And donut shields." Did they even have donuts from back when they came from? Well, if not, then he said some Ylissean pastry which was similar in composition and style to donuts. "Except with the middle filled in." He gestured, indicating where it would be strapped to their arm. "And Laurent could cast pie, elpie, and arcpie instead of his normal spells."

"Bread stick lances? Perhaps even armor made out of gingerbread..." It wasn't exactly an important conversation that would decide their future actions, but it was fun. Being away from the war - and in a much less dire setting - could allow for a bit of distraction, right?

Unfortunately, all this had them pay less attention to where they were going, and more to the actual conversation. Which ended up having them slowly enter the Cancer district.

"... Er-" Give Lucina a moment to stare the sheer amount of technology. "Have you been here yet?"

Oh, did Lucina say something? Owain was busy being distracted by the technology around them.

His wasn't the deft technical mind of Laurent or his mom, and he really didn't care a lot about how things worked beyond them working and that was fine. But still, even he could appreciate the metal thing...man...person over there. (It wasn't an elaborate robot that would fight Persona in the 13th hour, but it was still pretty cool. It moved and glowed.)

"Hey, Lucina!" Oh wait, she was over there a ways while he was being distracted by the thing. Closing the distance and...done. "Lucina, have you been here?" Because it was really relevant to ask. The natural first question. Totally on top of this. Tot-

...what, what did he say?

She waited for an answer - but none came, and she expected it was for the same reason it took her so long to ask the question in the first place. She considered calling out to Owain again, but maybe she should wait so that both of them could be paying attention. If that ever happened here.

So she took this opportunity to look at all the technology, while trying to remember that she needed to stay close to Owain so that neither of them would get lost. Mostly though, she was having a hard time guessing what half of these things were supposed to do.

"--- Yes?" Once again, it took a minute, but she did end up answering. "Er... No." She looked at him quizzically, but that soon turned to amusement. "Have you?"

"First time! After the first day I didn't really look around too much."

He wouldn't know the cultural reference, but if he had at this point he'd be overwhelmed with the urge to casually highfive Ariel the next time he saw her. He thought he had traveled the world...worlds? Multiple points in time. And saw a lot. But now? Now he was bedazzled by technology. (Sadly, this would later lead to a brief addiction with some platformer in the arcade, but that was later.) "Hey, you know who I wish was here?" Pause. "Brady."

Lucina hummed back in response, eyes still flitting around the district rather than staying in one spot. There was just so much to see - and none of it seemed to stay the same for longer than a couple of seconds, which meant that everything kept changing. How did people not stop and stare at all of this?

But. She had to focus. Even if it was just a casual conversation. It was only proper to pay attention.

"... Brady?" Another pause, then a smile. "I do, too. Although I admit that I wish everyone was here."

And 'lo, for they continued onward down their chosen path, gossiping 'pon allies of old whilst gazing upon various bits of machinery and gadgetry for which they had little name! They had many an adventure as they stomped upon arrows and ate cake, and were menaced by the vile fiend known as a roomba, an incident for which there are no words. Nay, no words but much shame.

Twas a long and epic journey, one fit for the bards to sing about in the future. NPCs would aspire to their heights. Decades hence, small children would turn to their mothers and say, "Mother, might I have a roomba so I can reenact the adventures of the scions of Naga?"

But that was hence, and not now. Now they just wandered.

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