So in celebration of the fact that Three Houses is just around the corner (and apparently it's been just over a year since I posted the first chapter of my very first fanfic (this one)) I decided to finally get back into this and write a few small adventures involving the cast and the newly summoned heroes of the other worlds. Hope you enjoy and I will try to get back to the regular story as soon as I can.

I have not forgotten, nor am I going to abandon, this story.

()()()()()()()()()

-Interlude Chapter Six- (Belated) One Year Anniversary-

-Hero Worship can be an ugly thing (as can the anger of an ignored wife)-

"Prince Marth, please; could I have just a moment of your time!" Chrom's voice hollered over the sounds of various Feroxi rebuilding Port Ferox in the aftermath of the battle against Walhart's army.

"Roland, hide me!" the object of Chrom's obsession hissed to the older man beside him as soon as he heard the Ylissean prince.

"You're going to have to give him a 'moment of your time' eventually, kid," Roland sighed even as he shoved Marth into a nearby alley. He then stood at the mouth of the alley, keeping watch.

It wasn't long before Chrom charged through a group of Feroxi, bowling them over in his haste and making them shoot him annoyed looks. Looking around, the prince spotted Roland leaning casually against the brick wall and hurried up to him.

"Sir Roland, have you seen the good Prince Marth?" he asked, slightly out of breath.

"'The good Prince Marth'?" Roland repeated, raising an eyebrow in amusement. "You keep worshipping him like that and he's going to get an ego."

"No way, Prince Marth would never give into arrogance or the like!" Chrom protested.

"Whatever you say, Chrom, but in answer to your question no; I haven't seen our 'good' prince."

With a huff of disappointment, Chrom nodded to Roland before hurrying off once again. Checking to make sure that the prince was out of sight, Roland let out a whistle and Marth popped his head out of a convenient pile of hay that had been in the alley.

"Thank you for that, Roland," Marth grimaced, patting himself down. "I'm sorry that you had to cover for me like that."

Roland shrugged, a mischievous grin on his face. "Think nothing of it, oh mighty prince Marth! I was just honoured that I could render assistance to such a paramour of good as yourself on this fine day!" The bluenette made sure to put as much of an overbearingly simpering tone to his words as he could.

Marth rolled his eyes. "Sometimes I think that you're almost as bad as Chrom."

"Oh, cut him some slack, kid," Roland replied as they resumed their journey through the streets of Port Ferox. "He's not doing any real harm and he could use a distraction from the battle we just had and from the ones that will no doubt be in the future."

"He has a wife for that!" Marth muttered. "And at least Lady Robin can handle his…exuberance."

Roland let out a laugh and slapped Marth on the back. "I feel as if Lady Robin is almost as close to murdering Prince Chrom for ignoring her over the last few days as Walhart is!."

Indeed, much to the Shepherds' tactician's disapproval her beloved husband had made the foolish choice of completely forgetting she existed in favour of following Prince Marth around with requests for duels, autographs and generally making Marth exhausted from his unwanted company.

"Hopefully she does something to take his mind off me, and soon!"

It may have interested Marth, and then made him go red in the face out of embarrassment at what would happen in the not too distant future, to know that at that moment Robin was storming through the streets with that very intention.

()()()()()()()

Chrom yelped as his arm was suddenly grabbed and he was pushed into the nearest empty house. He heard the door lock behind him and when he turned around he was faced with the sight of his wife angrily standing there, hands on her hips and an extremely annoyed look on her face.

'Er…hey there, honey…" he gulped, backing away slightly as Robin began to advance on him with a thunderous expression on her face.

"Oh, so you remember who I am, do you?" Robin snapped, reaching forward and grabbing the front of Chrom's shirt.

"Of course I do, Robin, I'm married to you," Chrom replied nervously.

"Really? You could have fooled me!" the tactician hissed. "You've been ignoring me for Marth, you haven't come to our bedchambers since he arrived and it's been TWO months since we last had sex!"

"R…really? Two months?"

"Well…okay, more like two weeks but it feels like months!" Robin admitted sheepishly before returning her glare to Chrom's eyes. "And right now, your wife needs to feel her husband…in EVERY way!"

"Okay, okay, tonight I promise!" Chrom hurriedly cried.

A dangerous glint appeared in Robin's eyes as she let go of Chrom and stepped back a step. "No, right NOW."

With that, Robin slowly undid the bindings of her coat and let it fall from her body. Chrom's eyes widened as he beheld the fully revealed body of his beautiful wife, letting them roam up her long legs, the perfect smoothness of her skin and special space and over her flat stomach. His eyes lingered for what seemed like an age on her perfectly shaped breasts, noting the fact that her nipples were erect, before his gaze flicked up to Robin's own, light brown eyes.

"Well?" Robin asked, tapping her foot impatiently and crossing her arms under her breasts, unconsciously pushing them up and causing the stiffening Chrom had immediately felt start to happen in his lower regions as soon as he had seen his wife strip instantly become almost unbearable.

She didn't have to wait for an answer for long; Chrom, with an almost animalistic look on his face, tore his clothes off and launched himself at his wife, who let out a little squeak of surprise when she felt her back slam against the brick wall behind her before she felt Chrom's penis penetrate her roughly.

"E…easy, Chrom!' she whimpered, putting her arms around his neck, clamping her thighs around his waist and allowing him to lift her up. "But…but I'm glad…that I got through to…you…!"

Moments later, all coherent thought became impossible as Robin lost herself to the sheer ecstasy of having her husband make love to her for the first time in…well, she didn't really care at that moment how long it had been; all that mattered was her, Chrom, and the way their bodies responded to the other's.

It was safe to say that Marth no longer suffered Chrom's continued presence…for at least a few hours.

()()()()()()()()()()()

-A tea party for dragons-

If any human, or Taguel for that matter, where to happen by a destroyed plaza in the western part of Port Ferox, they may have stopped, rubbed their eyes, and done a double take.

The reason for this would have been a rather strange sight, that being several pointy eared manaketes sitting around the ruined plaza, lounging on broken pillars or even sitting on top of their fellow manaketes who were in their dragon forms. However, the strangest part of this scene would have been the long wooden table that had apparently been appropriated from a random hose and laid out with expensive looking tea sets and an array of food.

"Was this really necessary, Tiki?" Raye grumbled from where he was sitting on a piece of masonry. Nowi was in turn sitting on his lap and nibbling on a roast chicken drumstick. "And how did you manage to convince the Feroxi to allow you access to their food stores for such a pointless endeavour?"

Tiki swatted her older brother on the top of his head. "Because big brother this is the first, and probably only, time we will have the opportunity to mingle with so many of our kind, past or future, since the Scourge."

Raye grumbled under his breath about his sister having become girlish and how their mother would have disapproved of the current events. Luckily for him Tiki didn't hear him, since her attention had been taken by the two twin manaketes, Corrin and Corrina, approaching her.

"Um, excuse me ma'am," Corrina said shyly. "But…do you want to try some of this salted pork?" She held up a tray that had a pile of meat on it. "It's really good!"

"Thank you, sweetie, I shall," Tiki replied kindly, smiling gently at Corrina. Sampling the food, the graceful manakete's smile widened appreciatively. "It is indeed very good! The Feroxi know how to handle their meat it seems."

The two female manaketes looked at their respective brothers when they both snorted at Tiki's last words.

"What?" they both asked.

"It doesn't matter," Raye and Corrin quickly replied. They then paused and shared an amused look.

"Right…"

Meanwhile, Idunn found herself speaking with three manaketes named Myrrh a short purple haired girl, and two twins Nils and Ninian.

"Wow…you've definitely been through a lot Lady Idunn," Nils exclaimed, wide eyed; Idunn had finished telling the three younger dragons about her imprisonment, brainwashing and eventual freeing thanks to Roy.

Idunn nodded sadly. "Yes…I just wish that I had been stronger and was able to resist the darkness that was forced upon me. Perhaps that age would have been a nicer one."

"If I may be so bold as to say, my lady, but I doubt that it would have made much difference," Ninian spoke up quietly. "The centuries after the Scouring where rife with chaos; you may have been able to delay it, but not outright prevent it."

"I suppose…" the black cloaked manakete sighed. She then glanced over to where Raye and Tiki were conversing with Corrin and Corrina. "But if those two had been around…although Tiki would have been two young to influence anything at the time admittedly."

"Who exactly are they?" Myrrh asked, having never really been one to pay attention to past events.

Idunn looked at her with a surprised expression on her face. "You've never heard of Tiki or Raye? The children of Divine Naga?"

"Wait…they're the children of THE Lady Naga?" Nils cried in shock. "Leader of the Divine Dragon tribe and essentially the ruler of our entire race as a whole?"

"Wow, Fae thinks that the blue haired manakete is quite stupid if he does not know that simple fact!" a childish voice spoke up then, interrupting the four manaketes' conversation.

Looking around, and then down, they saw that the newcomer was the purple haired, childishly short manakete of the Divine Dragon tribe Fae.

Fae snickered at Nils' bewildered look, putting her hands on her hips and assuming a superior expression. "If the stupid manakete still does not get it, Fae shall explain in the simplest way she can think of; Lady Tiki and Lord Raye are, after their mother, the two strongest members of our race. Lady Tiki specialises in magic, and has the strongest potential for it of the both of them, while Lord Raye is the greatest physical fighter our kind has ever seen." Fae then giggled. "Although, if the two were to get into a fight, Fae would put her bets on Lady Tiki winning because she's also the smartest out of the two."

Quite unfortunately for Fae, Nowi's sharp hearing immediately picked up Fae's words and she puffed her cheeks out in annoyance. Hopping down from her father's lap, she stomped her way over to the equally short manakete glared at her.

"Hey, my papa isn't stupid!" she growled. "He just doesn't use his head all the time!"

"Fae would like to point out that that is the definition of stupid!" Fae protested.

"Nuh uh, it means he's reckless! Way different than stupid!"

"Um…actually they have meanings that are quite close to each other," Ninian spoke up, speaking in a soothing tone to try and diffuse the imminent argument. When Nowi glared at her as well, she shrank back. "I'm…I'm sorry…I'll just be quiet."

However, Fae decided to press her argument, pointing at Ninian in triumph. "See? Your papa is both stupid AND reckless!"

Nowi stamped her foot in frustration but before she could reply, every manakete in the area felt a sudden overwhelming pressure begin to radiate from where Raye had been sitting listening in on the argument his daughter had been having with Fae.

"What was that you little brat?" he growled, loud enough for Fae to realise that she had made the mistake of practically yelling out her last words. "Care to repeat that? I don't think my mother heard you!"

"Oh…Fae is going to be running now!" the purple haired manakete stuttered, turning to flee.

However, her path was blocked when Dragon's Rage came flying out of nowhere and embedded itself in the stone in front of her.

"Nowi…sic her girl," was Raye's simple command to his daughter.

With an almost maniacal grin on her face, Nowi leapt at the terrified Fae and the two manaketes began wrestling. As shrieks and growls began to echo through the air, Tiki rolled her eyes and glanced disapprovingly down at her brother.

"Seriously?" she grumbled. "You're meant to be setting a good example for Nowi, big brother."

Raye shrugged and lounged back on his piece of masonry. "What, I am; I'm setting the example that no one insults our family and gets away with it."

"But I'm sure that Fae girl didn't mean it!"

"Eh, it's also good for Nowi to play with kids her age…or height anyway."

Tiki huffed. "Fae was right' you ARE stupid!"

"Love you too, Tiki."

()()()()()()()()()()()()

-A den of thieves-

"Hey, you with the candy bag!" an angry woman's voice yelled out, causing Gaius and Yana to stop in their tracks and look over their shoulders. "Hold it right there, buster!"

"Whatever you're mad about, I didn't do it!" was Gaius's instant reply as a brown haired girl stormed through the crowd towards him.

"Oh yeah? Then care to explain why the hell MY coin pouch is on YOUR belt!" the woman snarled, pointing at the offending article.

Gaius glanced down and let out a surprised noise when he indeed saw a pouch that he knew hadn't been there before suddenly was. "Woah…okay, I have no idea how that got there."

"Sure you don't you fu…!"

"Sorry to interrupt, but I can assure you that there is no way for my husband to have been the one to rob you," Yana spoke up quickly, cutting off the curse word that was about to leave the young woman's mouth.

"And how can I believe that?" the woman snapped at the cleric.

"Well…because his left hand was buried in his sweets bag while his right…" Here, Yana's face went red with embarrassment before she continued. "H…His right hand has been on my…rear…"

The woman blinked and her eyes flicked down to see that Gaius's hand was still attached to Yana's bottom. Her own cheeks went red slightly and she quickly returned her eyes to look back up at Yana's own.

"Th…that as may be, but then how did my pouch get onto his belt, huh?"

Gaius let out an annoyed grunt and, untying the cause of his troubles from his belt, tossed it back to its owner.

"Here, if it'll stop you from annoying me then take it back," he sighed. "I'm Gaius, by the way and this is my gorgeous wife Yana."

"Cath…" the other woman mumbled after she had stowed her coin pouch back in her carry bag. She then hesitated before shaking her head in annoyance. "Listen…sorry I jumped to conclusions there, but come on; my pouch was on your belt! How else was I supposed to react?"

"Nah, I get it," Gaius assured her. "I'd be pretty mad if that had happened to me."

"Fair enough…now I've gotta find out who really did this!" Cath raged.

"Need help?"

"No, don't need anyone else getting tied to a murder, because I'm gonna kill whoever did it!"

With that Cath stormed off, leaving a bemused Gaius and Yana behind.

"Well…that was new," Gaius remarked, squeezing his wife's rear slightly and making her blush again.

"I wonder who wanted to frame you, though? And why?"

"Who cares, babe? All I care about is getting some more honey," Gaius grinned, smirking as the red in Yana's cheeks deepened. "We've used up almost all of my stock of that stuff."

"How was I to know that you hadn't closed the lid tight enough?" Yana protested. "Do you think it was fun for me to have an entire pot of honey drenched over me?"

"I definitely had fun licking it all off from your body, Yana," Gaius purred seductively in the cleric's ear.

Yana pushed her husband away, her entire face blazing like the sun and causing her to stutter. "R…right, let's just get you some more honey…idiot…"

The thief laughed to himself as he followed his wife, unaware of the mischievous look that was being sent his way from a figure seated on the edge of a nearby roof.

()()()()()()()()

"Well…that was fun," the Nohrian thief Niles sniggered to himself. "Now, how else shall I spend the time?"

()()()()()()()()()()()()()

-Some choices are not ours to make-

Tharja looked down sadly at her sister who was sleeping peacefully on a cot in the impromptu medical facility the Shepherds had set up in one of the fully intact buildings. The moment Walhart's forces had retreated back to their ships, and after she had satisfyingly punched Iduna in the face, the dark mage had begged Raye to help her get Erothea, or Thea as she had called herself, to safety. Seeing the uncharacteristically desperate look on the mage's face Raye had, despite his own injuries, silently picked up Thea and carried her into the city.

Now, Tharja was simply waiting for her sister to wake up. Thankfully, Yana had been able to pinpoint and then remove the magical leash that Walhart had put on Thea so Tharja had been allowed to stay by her sister's side without the need for a guard.

Just as she felt sleep begin to overtake her, Tharja heard her sister let out a soft moan and immediately took her sister's hand.

"Sister, are you alright?" she asked in a gentle voice. "Can you remember who I am?"

"Ergh…Tharja, is that you?" Thea mumbled, confirming that Yana had also managed to return her memories to her. Her eyes slowly fluttered open and groggily focused on the figure in front of her. "Your boobs have gotten pretty nice…"

Feeling her cheeks go warm at this comment, Tharja grimaced and replied, "I…suppose they have, yes. But what about you?"

Thea weakly smirked and brought her hands up to gently grope her own chest. "Yep, still bigger." Which was true; much to her chagrin Tharja's sister had always been, and apparently still very much was, more voluptuous and elegant.

"That's not what I meant, sister," Tharja sighed irritably. "I meant how do you FEEL?"

"Oh…fine, I guess."

"No urge to throttle me, or anyone else?"

Thea raised an eyebrow. "Why would I want to do that to my precious baby sister?" She then cocked her head. "Although I do admit that you look a little more mature than I remember."

"And what IS the last thing you remember?"

Tharja's sister frowned, thinking for several seconds, before a confused look crossed her face. "That's weird…the last thing I remember was taking a trip to the College of Sands because I had been asked to become a professor there and then…well, here we are."

"Do you know how long ago that was?" Tharja asked cautiously.

"Erm…no? But when I left you had just become part of Gangrel's army."

Tharja growled. "That was almost seven years ago; I was fifteen then."

"How old are you now?"

"Twenty-two."

Thea let out a low whistle. "Wow, I've missed out on a lot!" She then grinned playfully up at her sister, her energy clearly returning to her rapidly now that she was awake. "You managed to lock down a man yet?"

"Sister!"

The older woman chuckled before wincing and lowering herself back onto the cot. She then looked seriously at Tharja and asked, "So, how did I get here?"

Tharja fidgeted, before reaching to the side and picking up the Apocalypse tome that Thea had been using during the battle. "Do you recognise this?"

"No, but I can feel the dark energy radiating from it and it feels somewhat familiar…"

"You were wielding this when you tried to kill me," Tharja explained bluntly, deciding that the truth would be better than trying to shield her sister from the events.

"What? No, I never would have done that!" Thea protested. "Right?"

Her sister put the tome back on the table next to the cot. "Don't worry, you'd been brainwashed by a homicidal maniac to do his bidding, you weren't in your right mind." She shrugged. "But Princess Yana managed to break that bastard's hold on you, insultingly easily I'll have you know. I tried and the spell almost killed me in retaliation."

Thea was silent for a moment, absorbing this, before tears began to well in her eyes. "I…I'm so sorry, Tharja…I can't believe some jerk managed to take over my mind like that and have do such horrible things!"

"It's alright, you're free of him."

"Still…I was supposed to be the heir to the Tenebris family, the strongest dark mage our bloodline has seen in generations!" Thea mumbled. "The fact that someone managed to do all that to ME…I'm an embarrassment to our family!"

Tharja shook her head vigorously and took her sister's hands in her own. "No, you're not! You're still my sister, the strongest person I know! Walhart only managed to brainwash you because he's a damned cheater who probably used an ancient artefact on you!"

"But…" Thea's next words were cut off when Tharja let go of her hands and smiled gently at her.

"Sister, you should know by that I won't allow you to blame yourself so you may as well drop it." She patted Thea on the shoulder before standing up. "Now, get some rest and I'll be back in a few hours to check up on you."

"Wow, way to be a caring sister, Tharja, abandoning me like that!" Thea joked weakly. "But you're right; the next time I see Walhart, whoever that is, I'm gonna tear his insides out and strangle him with it before using that nifty tome he apparently gave me to consume him in utter torment."

"That's my older, scary sister; good to see you're back."

"Where are you going anyway?"

Tharja smiled mischievously. "There's a certain someone I need to…thank…for assisting me."

()()()()()()()()()()()()()

-Daughters and…daughters-

Sahria laughed at the slightly dazed look on Lucina's face as she pulled her head back after kissing the bluenette for several seconds.

"You alright?" the manakete asked, nipping at Lucina's lower lip again briefly.

"Y…yeah…I may have forgotten how to breath, though," Lucina replied ruefully. "Are you trying to break a record or something?"

"Oh trust me, if I was you'd know," Sahria smirked, taking Lucina's hand and dragging her out of the room they had been spending time alone in. "I'm able to hold my breath for quite a while."

"Maybe…maybe we should test that at some point," the future princess suggested shyly.

Sahria was pleasantly surprised by Lucina's words; in their relationship, Lucina was by far the most nervous one having never really been in any sort of intimate bond with another person, let alone another girl. So the fact that the princess had suggested it was quite exciting for the young manakete.

"Maybe we will," she replied, winking suggestively at her lover. "And I promise you that you'll enjoy it." Sahria then laughed. "But we should probably lock the door; don't want any of our parents walking in like you apparently seem to like to! Seriously, you've walked in on your mother and father doing it several times, and my own mother and Gaius last week!"

"She was covered in a lot of honey…" Lucina blushed, cringing as she recalled the sight of Yana, honey coating her from head to toe, and the way Gaius had been licking a particularly…private area of her aunt. "I'm just glad that Uncle Gaius and Aunty Yana didn't notice me; I don't think I could have survived another awkward conversation." She then huffed. "I really wish the members of our family learnt how to lock doors like we will!"

Sahria leant in and kissed the corner of Lucina's mouth. "Sorry, all I heard was you confirming the fact that we're going to sleep with each other sometime in the future," she chuckled.

Before Lucina, her face ablaze, could answer they were interrupted by someone clearing their throat. Turning around they saw Calista standing there, an inscrutable expression on her face.

"I'm sorry, but did you just say that Yana is your mother?" the other girl asked, looking at Sahria.

"Er, yes…why?" Sahria nodded, sharing a look with Lucina.

Calista studied the manakete before switching her gaze to Lucina. "And…you're from the future, right?"

The bluenette blinked before grabbing both of the other girls by their hands and dragging them back into the room she and Sahria had been in previously.

"How do you know that?" she demanded, her hand drifting down to Falchion's pommel unconsciously.

"Relax, cousin; I know because I'm also from the future," Calista replied, holding up her hands to show that she meant no harm.

"Really? Then how come I don't know you?"

"To be fair, you didn't know me," Sahria piped up. She then did a double-take. "Hang on…did you call her 'cousin'?"

"Yeah…my mother is also Yana…"

There was a brief moment of silence before both Lucina and Sahria yelped. "WHAT?"

"Who's your father?" Lucina asked quickly, while at the same time Sahria asked, "Where's your mark?"

The brunette sighed and crossed her arms. "My father, obviously, is Gaius, and as for where my mark is…" Here, and before the other two girls could react, Calista reached up and tugged her shirt up, revealing her breasts.

"Wh…what the heck are you doing?" Lucina squeaked, quickly covering up Sahria's eyes.

"Look at my left breast, you tit!"

Very reluctantly, Lucina quickly glanced at the indicated breast. She then paused, eyes narrowing leant forward to get a closer look before letting out a small gasp; there quite clearly was the mark of the Exalt.

"Woah…and here I thought that having the mark in my eye was unfortunate," Sahria remarked, once she had removed Lucina's hand from her eyes. "At least it's way easier for me and Lucy to prove that we have ours; you have to flash people to do it."

"Yeah, you have no idea how inconvenient it is to have my mark where it is," Calista agreed, smiling slightly. "So I guess by that statement that you've confirmed that Sahria has her own mark, cousin?" Lucina nodded. "Alright, guess that means she's from a different timeline to ours."

"Yep, already explained that to her," Sahria grinned. She then raised an eyebrow. "Guess that means that we're half-sisters, since Gaius isn't my father in this timeline."

This was news to Lucina. "Really? You never mentioned that…I think."

Sahria froze for just a fraction of a second before shrugging. "I will admit…I was surprised when my mother married Gaius, but since I'm not disappearing or anything, which I thought I would, I haven't really thought about it too much."

"Time travel is weird…" Calista grunted. "Since Lucina doesn't me, I can only guess that I'm from another bloody timeline. Naga, this is getting messy."

"Yeah…by the way, I don't suppose you're going to…lower your shirt now?" Lucina mumbled, still averting her eyes from looking at Calista.

"Oh, right, sorry." There was a rustle and Lucina peeked at the other girl, sighing with relief when she saw that Calista had returned her shirt to cover her chest.

"Not exactly how I imagined telling you who I was but I guess flashing you and finding out I had a half-sister from a different timeline, and finding out that this is ALSO another timeline separate from mine, is a rather memorable way to do it."

"That's for sure!" Sahria laughed. "Oh and nice chest; guess having great boobs runs in the family!"

"Can you guys not!" Lucina whined, as Calista and Sahria high-fived.

"Aw, don't be like that, Lucy!" the manakete giggled. "If it makes you feel better, I'll show you mine later!"

Lucina sighed and put her head in her hands.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()

-Taming a dragon-

Raye sighed with satisfaction as he lowered himself down onto the cot. He had spent the rest of the day dealing with all of the manaketes that had been summoned by his rather annoying grandfather and making sure that his daughter didn't hurt Fae too much.

Closing his eyes, he was about to go to sleep when he heard someone slip into his tent. Tensing for a moment, he then relaxed when he both sensed and smelt the familiar, and surprisingly pleasant, presence of Tharja.

"What do you want, Tharja?" he asked, not opening his eyes as he simply got more comfortable on his cot.

"I wanted to thank you for helping my sister and I," the dark mage purred, kneeling down next to the manakete's cot and placing a hand softly on his knee. "If you hadn't been there, I have no doubt that either she or Walhart would have ended up killing me." Tharja then slowly began running her fingers lightly up and down Raye's knee. "And also, I've never thanked you for being so kind to me before this whole mess. Ever since we've met you've never rejected my presence or been cruel."

"I've also never given you any signals that I'm interested, Tharja," Raye replied bluntly, opening his eyes then as he realised what the dark mages intentions were.

Tharja frowned for a moment but, undeterred, she reached up to unclasp the buckle that held her robes together, letting them fall to the ground and standing up so that Raye could see her naked body fully.

"Maybe, but the amount of gratitude I have for you cannot be repaid by simple words," she whispered seductively. "I will only be satisfied by physically showing you my gratitude."

"Ever heard of a handshake?" Raye sighed.

However, despite himself the manakete found his eyes wondering over Tharja's body and he had to grudgingly admit that she had one of the best he had ever seen. Long legs, silky smooth skin that was lightly tanned and long black hair that only accentuated and framed her beautiful face. Now, in the dim light of the tent and her silhouette being framed by the moonlight that managed to penetrate through the cloth of the tent, Tharja looked beautiful beyond measure.

Shaking his head slightly Raye looked up at Tharja, noting the determined look on her face. "There's no way for me to change your mind, is there?" The mage shook her head and he let out a groan. "And there's really no other way that you want to thank me?" "Again, another shake of the head from Tharja. "Fine, but just this once, and ONLY once."

"Trust me; one time will make you want more," Tharja promised, sounding happy as she slowly joined Raye on his cot.

"You're welcome to try and live up to that promise," Raye muttered as he reached up and slowly ran his hands down Tharja's hips, feeling her shiver slightly at the contact.

"Then so I shall…" Tharja whispered before leaning down and placing her lips on the manakete's.

As they kissed, Tharja moved Raye's hands so that were behind her. Knowing what she wanted, Raye quickly shuffled his pants down to his knees. Looking over her shoulder, Tharja smirked when she saw how large he was.

"Nice to see that my assumptions I had about you were right," she complimented. "And I'm certainly going to enjoy this, my love."

"Just call me Raye, Tharja," the manakete grumbled, although he felt his penis twitch slightly at her praise.

Ignoring him, Tharja instead moved backwards and up so that she was crouching just above the tip of Raye's penis. She wiggled her hips for a second rubbing the tip against her entrance, the movement quickly making moistening her vagina. Tharja smirked when an involuntary groan escaped Raye's mouth from the action. The dark mage then took a breath before lowering herself gingerly down around the manakete's shaft and after having wanted this moment for so long she felt herself become giddy with joy that it was finally happening. The dark mage let out a soft moan as the entire length of Raye's penis sent pulses of pleasure through her entire body and eventually she was sitting down fully on it.

"Ha…ha…this is better than…I thought it was going to be…" she whimpered, settling herself more comfortably and closing her eyes. "Seeing it is one thing…having it inside me is…another matter entirely…"

"You alright?" Raye asked, returning his hands to the dark mages hips.

Tharja nodded, biting her lower lip, before beginning to slowly slide her hips back and forth. She let out a dazed giggle as she felt Raye's own hips move in response.

"Seems like you're…getting more comfortable with…the idea of this," she panted, adding a few bounces to her actions that made Raye groan. "Good…I want you to enjoy this as much as I already am."

The dark mage then let out a small yelp as she felt Raye lift her bodily before dropping her back down. This unexpected action caused her to arch her back and let out a loud moan that she immediately muffled by slapping her hands to her mouth. She looked down at Raye, who smirked at her, and then let out another yelp as the manakete repeated the action.

"Just so you know, dragons mate for life," he grunted, Tharja not even having to move now that he was lifting her up and down instead.

"R…really?" Tharja mumbled, trying desperately to keep her thoughts intact as she was subjected to an overwhelming feeling of pleasure.

"Nah, just teasing," Raye laughed, though not unkindly. "If that were the case I'd still be with Nowi's mother Aurora."

"So…so why aren't you?"

"One, I'm assuming she's long dead and two…we only had sex once."

Tharja felt relief wash over her at his words. "And Flavia?" When Raye paused and raised an eyebrow at her she shrugged. "I heard rumours."

Raye shrugged and resumed lifting Tharja up and down. "That was more for fun than anything."

"And…and this…?"

"Call it both curiosity and the fact that I feel like you definitely wouldn't have left otherwise."

Putting aside the brief hurt she felt at the fact that Raye was apparently only sleeping with her to get rid of her, Tharja instead clamped her thighs around the manakete's waist when she was once again lowered down his shaft. She then began to furiously resume riding back and forth on his penis, hoping to convey to him that this was more than just her wanting to show her gratitude for his earlier kindness.

Tharja had, by this point, had well and truly fallen in love with the surly manakete who had managed to save her in more ways than one.

After what felt like an age, but in reality was only ten minutes, Tharja was brought out of her pleasure-drunk reverie when Raye suddenly flipped her over onto her back. Blinking, she looked up at the manakete, a confused look on her face when she saw that he was breathing heavily now.

"My love?" she mumbled. The dark mage's eyes widened when Raye plunged deeper into her than before, a low growl escaping coming from him. "R…Raye?"

Unbeknownst to her, at some point during their love making the manakete had slowly begun losing himself to the throes of passion. The clearly loving scent that he had smelt coming from Tharja the entire time had also not helped. It all coalesced into both confusion and rising lust finally making him throw all hesitation out of the proverbial window and allowing a primal need to mate take over.

Tharja gritted her teeth and whimpered with both pain and pleasure as Raye began thrusting into her without mercy. She felt her mind begin to go blank, but stubbornly reined in her consciousness so that she could continue to feel the full ecstasy her lover was literally pounding into her. Her fingers tightened against the skin on Raye's back and, no longer able to hold back any noises, she let out a loud, drawn out moan that only served to spur the manakete even further.

Raye lifted them both off of the bed and stood beside it, again resuming his earlier actions of personally bouncing Tharja up and down on his penis. Tharja had no choice but to lock her legs around Raye's waist and simply hung on for dear life. She buried her face into Raye's shoulder, moaning and urging Raye on as she felt herself begin to slip away into a pleasure filled haze despite her attempts not to.

"If…if I die from this, I think…I think I would be able to die happy!" Tharja giddily thought as the minutes went by, Raye's almost savage need to mate causing constant waves of pleasure to rock the dark mage's body almost constantly now.

The manakete then collapsed them both back onto the bed before manoeuvring Tharja so that she was on all fours. Now in this new position Raye incredibly picked up the pace even more, breathing heavily now as he felt himself reaching the peak of ecstasy. From the way Tharja was now letting out short, quick gasping moans and from the way her inner walls were furiously beginning to clench around his shaft he knew that she was also nearing her limit. At the back of his mind he knew that he should pull out at this point, but the primal urge had completely taken over and the manakete ignored it.

Once again flipping Tharja over, so that she was now back in her original position of grinding her hips on his lap, he growled, "Make me want more!"

Tharja took these words to heart and added bounces and circling of her hips to her grinding, causing Raye to let out an approving roar. For a moment, the dark mage could see the manakete's eyes flash golden before a sudden, overriding wave of pleasure caused her to arch her back, open her mouth wide and let loose a scream of triumph and satisfaction at the same moment that Raye snarled with the same tone.

The dark mage then collapsed onto the manakete's chest, feeling Raye's seed rush into her.

"How…how was that…?" she panted smugly. When a few seconds went by without a reply, she glanced up at Raye. "My love?"

To her immense delight, Raye's eventual reply was to flip her once again onto her back and stare down at her.

"We're not done," he announced and lifted Tharja's legs over his shoulders. "Guess you were right; once was all you needed to make me want more."

After that declaration, Tharja experienced the full, passionate fury of a dragon awakened to his base desires for the rest of the night.

It was lucky that Raye's tent was positioned on the outskirts of the camp away from the others since neither one them felt the need to be quiet about their love making any longer.

()()()()()()()()()

As the first light of day began to stream into the tent, Raye slowly blinked and opened his eyes. Feeling an arm tighten around his waist as he made to sit up, he looked down and saw Tharja staring up at him.

"Well…that kind of got out of hand, didn't it," he smirked down at her.

Yawning, Tharja sat up and smirked back. "I didn't hear you complaining about it, my love."

"That's because you were moaning so loudly that I doubt you could hear your own thoughts!" Raye replied with a laugh.

Blushing, Tharja hesitated for a few seconds before leaning forwards and tenderly kissing Raye.

"And…as promised, just this once," she murmured, trying to keep the regret out of her voice.

Far from agreeing with her words, Tharja was surprised when Raye seemed to wrestle for a moment before he said, almost in slow motion for her, "It…doesn't have to be just once…I guess."

"Really?"

Raye sighed. "I won't lie Tharja; that was possibly the best sex I've ever had. And I will freely admit that, over the last few months that we've gotten to know one another, I've developed a certain fondness for you." He then raised a finger. "BUT I'm not saying that I'm ready to marry you or anything, this is simply me acknowledging the fact that you may have…awakened…an urge I haven't felt in a long time."

"Not since Aurora, right?" Tharja mumbled bitterly.

Raye chuckled. "Yeah, but the fact that a HUMAN was able to do the same thing to me as another dragon was is something I never thought would happen."

"So…?" Tharja asked cautiously.

"I propose a deal; any time either one of us feels the urge to…release…then they can go to the other for said release, but only if the other wants to as well."

The dark mage considered the proposal before smiling. "I can agree to that." She then fixed Raye with a seductive look. "But make no mistake, my love; I will have you fall in love with me the way I've fallen for you."

The manakete smirked. "if you manage to tame this dragon, you'll be the first one to ever do so outside of my own mother." He then pulled Tharja into his lap. "Now then, about our new arrangement…"

For the next few hours, none of the Shepherds saw Raye or Tharja and those that thought to look for Raye in his tent quickly backpedalled when they heard the clear signs of a woman in the middle of ecstasy.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()

-A gathering of evil-

"Remind me again why you're so happy about the fact that that old fool Hubba has drawn heroes from all ages here?" the woman snapped to the man kneeling in front of a circle of runes he had drawn on the stone floor of her room.

"Because it gives me the perfect opportunity to cause chaos," the man smirked. "And in that chaos I will reclaim that which is mine!"

"Right…your daughter who is apparently your perfect vessel…" the woman grumbled. "Must be nice to have something like that; Robin can only get me so far, while this daughter of yours sounds as if she'll make you even stronger once you inhabit her."

"Nothing stopping you from trying to make one of your own once we defeat those accursed Shepherds and rule the world."

"True…are you done yet?" the woman replied impatiently.

With a flourish, the man stood up and squeezed the blood from the heart of a prisoner he had taken earlier onto the central rune. "NOW I'm done. I suggest we stand back."

The two figures stood back as the rune began to glow. The blood that coated it slowly began to swirl into the air, creating a portal shape above the rune. After a few seconds, the portal solidified and hung in mid-air, seeming to hum with a malevolent power.

"Now, let's see who gets summoned first," the man chuckled evilly. "I'll show that old codger that he's not the only one who can tap into the power of the Out Realms!"

The both watched in anticipation as a figure began to appear on the other side of the portal before stepping through.

Lowering his hood, the man stepped forward, blood red eyes flashing as he smoothed back his bone white hair.

"Pleasure to meet you in person, Mad King Ashnard!" he welcomed the large man. "If Gangrel were still alive, I'd introduce you; something tells me that you'd get along famously!"

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

And that's a wrap folks. This chapter was a long time coming and I hope that it helped scratch whatever itch you may have gained waiting for it.

As I said in the foreword, this was a spur of the moment thing that came about from both guilt at not updating, and excitement for Three Houses. Also the anniversary (belated) of the fanfic itself but that's less important.

Hopefully I'll be able to get more time; I've recently began getting less hours at work so that should mean that I'll be able to do more writing at more regular intervals.

Finishing with a question: Do you think that Tharja and Raye should only have Noire as result of their new deal, or should there be another new child? And if you think they need another child should it be a boy or a girl, bearing in mind that in this AU Nowi is already Raye's own daughter. Would it be amusing to have him have to deal with THREE daughters, or does he deserve a break and have a male offspring to look after? Let me know if you feel like it.

Ciao for now!