I killed them.

Each and every single one of them.

My claws ripped them apart, my voice laughed madly, while absorbing their life force.

I tore the bodies of the tiniest children in two, and giggled, as their blood splattered and their mothers cried in desperation.

One house I especially remember. When I cast aside the splintering wood of the door, the house seemed empty, but I felt someone- some life force -up there. I went inside, not caring, if I was heard, the Grimleal were blocking all possible escape routes out of the village anyway. I strode upstairs and pushed the door out of its angles.

Determination. That was new. A villager stood in front of me, holding a weak bronce lance. He was shivering, but he didn't move an inch, when meeting my glowing red eyes. In the back of the room a woman was hunched above something, but when hearing the door crack, pushed it behind her back and lifted an even weaker knife. Both held the same expression of fierce determination, though they looked, as if they couldn't fight at all. I stood in the doorframe for a moment, thoughtful maybe. Something about this was familiar to the tiny part of my half-human heart, that was still under my own control.

But this moment lasted only a heartbeat.

The villager desperatly barged at me, trying to get a hit with his lance. The brief moment of silence was over. I ripped out his throat, before he could even start the blow. The blood soaked the sleeve of my cloak and dripped off my hands and I could feel the power flow inside my body, through the blood. At the beginning I thought, absorbing power would be something clean like casting a spell, but it only works with bloodshed. What else are my claws for?

I didn't even watch the villager's twisted corpse hit the ground, but the woman did. She still didn't move, but tears were floating down her face and she screamed something several times, the villager's name maybe? I don't remember it.

But I remember her sceaming something at me, about me being a monster and me having betrayed everyone. I slowly started walking past the body, towards her. She stood still and silent now, still crying, but without showing any sign of flinching. I granted her a quick death. One quick blow and she was able to join the villager, her husband maybe, at wherever he is now.

I wish, I could do the same.

Stepping over her sprawled out body I had a clear view of what she was trying to protect now. A small bundle, a tiny baby, that had slept through the whole slaughter. I looked at it for a moment, a human feeling almost touched my heart, but without a sound I just finished, what I came here for.

I left the house without looking back, blood still dripping off my hands.
Another village finished.
Soon it would be only a pile of ash, the first houses were already in flames.

Soon there would be no trace of a village left.

At the edge of the forest Validar is waiting for me.

„You did well. But you still have to achieve a lot more power to resurrect his real form."

He doesn't wait for a reaction and I give none. He uses a teleportation spell to get us back to the Plegian castle and escorts me back to my room himself. It is at the bottom of the basement and has incredibly thick walls. He pushes me inside and closes the door. I have to waite for his controlling spell to loosen up. I can't move, since I don't have any orders.

When it finally does, my legs give way and I collapse on the ground. My head hits the floor and I fall into sleep. Or unconciousness. I don't care.

No... another village... dead families... Chrom! I need you! Where have you gone? Chrom! CHROM!

This is.. not your fault... Promise me... you'll escape from this place... go!

Bloody hands... my hands... No... this.. can't be...

...

Waking up is always the worst part. Washing the dried blood off my hands and clothes. Choking down some unrecognizable food. But at least I can do it myself. The numbness of this routine has settled in, I don't need to think about it anymore. Everything that happened... it feels like a poisoned wound, that's slowly killing me, Grima is getting stronger every day, but I am dying.

I guess barely anyone knows, I'm still there. My character is still equally strong to Grima's, so Validar has to support Grima, for him to take over my body.

In fact, there are two different spells working on me. It's a bit complicated.

One was put on me, when I was a baby, before my mother ran away with me. This is the one, that helps Validar control me. The point is the blood connection. And since were directly related, he can control every action I make.

The other one is completely different. It's the one, that lets Grima take over me. Basically, Validar uses a portion of his power to help Grima break through my carefully built barricades in my mind. Grima has the complete control, but Validar can end the spell at any time.

Only mental strenght matters here. I'm still not completely sure, why he locks me away in this room, instead of just letting Grima control my body all the time or controlling it himself. It might be too exhausting for him. It's the most likely possibility.

I'm as clean, as possible now, though I don't think, I'll ever be able to wash off the blood completely.

Back with the Shepherds, I would have started training now. I have a different kind of training here: Remembering. One important memory a day. To remind me of the life, I once lived.

For today, I choose the day, Chrom, Lissa and Frederick found me.

With my eyes closed, I replay our first fight against the bandits, that had slaughtered my village and my mother. She had told me to run away, when the bandits arrived and I was looking out for help. And I found the Shepherds. It's not a happy memory, but it's important. I would even say, it's kind of ironic, that Chrom and I, who were born destinied to hate each other, met like that. When I returned to my village, everything was over. And the Shepherds helped me take revenge.

I cried over the people I had lived with for twenty years and Chrom didn't try to comfort me, but just sat with me in silence, till I had cried all the tears, I had.

They helped me bury them, one by one, and then asked me to join them. They were impressed by the way, I had analyzed the fight. And I did.

Tears are starting to form in my eyes. But this is, what differs me from Grima. My memories, my friends, my family. And I need to remind myself everyday, that I'm not Grima.

I must never forget that.

But I am no fool. I will never be a human being again. And if my plan works, I'll die. But Lucina will live. Lucina has to live. And she has to be the one to kill me.

She must have been going through hell. Seeing her father being killed by her own mother, that turned out to be Grima's manifestation. She must be thinking, I was evil all the time. That killing Chrom was my goal all along. That I only married him to get near him. That she herself is only a byproduct of my plans.

Crying won't do any good. I have to collect the frustration I feel at this thoughts. The strengh it gives me. Cause mental strengh is the first step to disobedience. It is my only weapon here.

Facing the others was painful. Seeing their faces as they stormed in after Chrom had slumped to the ground. Lucina screaming uncontrollably. I don't even remember, why we brought her along. She was only thirteen at that time. I think, she talked us into letting her defend Lissa, while she was busy healing someone. We knew Lissa could defend herself and protect Lucina too, if necessary and she would be safer with us, than alone in the castle of Ylisse. Or so we thought. When we set off, we wouldn't have dreamed of what would happen. And we couldn't just leave her somewhere along the way, could we?

I don't really remember, what happend then. But I don't think, Validar made me kill anyone else that day. My pain of having... having killed Chrom was already enough to break his spell for a short time. I wasn't smart enough to just commit suicide. I tried afterwards, but it was too late. The spell used to waver at the beginning. Sometimes a sword was only an inch away from my heart, when it kicked in again. But I never was strong enough to break it completely for a second time. I don't know, how many of the others are still alive. Not many, I guess. Perhaps no one. But I know, Lucina is.

Validar has always been keeping an eye on her, I noticed. She sure is fascinating. Part of the royal family of Ylisse, bearer of the brand of the exalt, wielder of Falchion, and -most importantly- the very only person, that has both Naga's and Grima's blood running through her veins. He could have killed her so easily. He could have destroyed the bloodline of Naga in a heartbeat. But he didn't. Maybe he wanted to watch her progress. Maybe he kept her alive as a possible replacement, just in case I don't succeed or die. But he let her live. That's the only thing, that matters. He left her alone long enough to become strong.

She is the only one of my loved ones left. She is this broken and dark world's last hope. Grima was defeated by Falchion and the power of Naga once, it can be done again. Lucina never was the type to give up easily and she must hate me enough to try and get strong enough to kill me - kill Grima.

I can feel the chains of the spell tighten up once again. That means, my brief time of peace and quiet is over.

Hey there!
This is my first multi-chaptered story and though I have it planned out already, I have no idea how many chapters it will be in the end. My updates will probably take ages, but I'm determined to finish this.

About the story... I had wondered, if anything of Robin remained, when Grima took over her in the first world. And how she would feel, seeing everything through Grima's eyes.

I 'll use the name Robin (I probably would have called her that, if it hadn't been the default name) instead of my own FMU's name, since I found stories using that name a lot easier to read, than getting used to all the different MU names.

Enjoy!