Welcome all! This is my first time writing a Fire Emblem story. This is based on Fire Emblem: Awakening, which is actually what got me really into Fire Emblem in the first place. People might criticize it, but I think it was a great game, though it could have gone better.
However, rather than perform a revision or AU of what happened in Awakening, this story will consist of what happened before the events of Awakening, regarding Robin's past.
Robin's gender will be male here, though the female one I did juggle with for a bit, but decided to go with the male gender.
Now then, I'm sure many of you contemplated Robin's origins, since there's so much shrouded in mystery, much like Solo from Megaman Starforce. And because it's a mystery, it's interesting to me, and thus… fanfic time!
So without further ado, let's begin.
Chapter 1: The Beginning of Hatred
"Yasmin, are you in there?" the sound of a woman called as she knocked on a door, before opening it to see a young woman with long silver hair, who was staring out of her window at the setting sun, the mixture of colors the setting sun created reaching across the horizon. The silver haired woman seemed to just stare out, almost as if she was entranced by the lights the setting sun displayed.
Hearing the door close, however, the woman was alerted of her visitor, and turned around. "Oh, it's you... " she said, giving the other woman a soft smile. "What are you here for?"
The woman smiled. "I came to give you your meal. I'm guessing that you're hungry after all," the woman said to the other one that was called Yasmin.
Yasmin laughed at that. "I have gotten rather hungry. Thank you, Sara," Yasmin thanked the woman named Sara, as Sara set the tray of food on the table, and Yasmin sat down and already started to eat.
"So how much longer before its time?" Sara asked Yasmin, who drank some water.
"Not much longer. Honestly, it could be now or tomorrow for all I know…" Yasmin said, caressing her swollen stomach, having reached the final stages of her pregnancy, ready to give birth any day now.
However, Yasmin didn't seem that happy, an unusual trait for expecting mothers, who would have a bright smile when they are near that stage. Sara knew of the reason, though. "Don't worry, Yasmin. It'll be over soon. Master Validar will allow you to be free once all this is over…"
"Sometimes… I wonder if that is true… I want to believe that I will be free when I... " Yasmin started, before closing her eyes, clenching her fist, unable to complete her sentence before. "I sometimes wonder if the words that come from his lips are the truth… will he truly let me go? Or will he keep me under his thumb? The months I have spent here made me think if I even made the right decision when I did..."
"Shh," Sara hushed the woman gently, kneeling down a little and holding Yasmin gently from behind. "It's okay… I know that it has been hard for you, being chosen, but once your child has been born, everything will be alright…"
"Sara, you don't understand…" Yasmin said, as tears started to stream down her eyes. "It isn't just my future that I worry for. I fear for my child's own future… even if this child doesn't become what Validar has been desiring, my child will instead be raised to follow in his footsteps, and to perform the same act as him… I… I don't want my child to go through such a future... but what can I do? Every time I look out the window, I wish there to be a bright future ahead, but instead I see nothing but a dark one. Everything… everything changed ever since I chose to join the Grimleal… and I regret having joined such a thing..."
It hurt Sara to see her friend in such pain, but like her friend said, there wasn't a bright future for them, especially for Yasmin.
"Even if I am given freedom… I don't think I can ever be with him again… I should have tried harder back then… I should have tried harder to listen to him and leave the Grimleal… but I was too weak…" Yasmin continued, which was followed by a deep silence, as Sara could say nothing that would merit even a small bit of comfort to her friend. All she could do was be with her until she finally relaxed and grew tired.
As the woman was laid to her bed and drifted to sleep, Sara exited the room, closing the door, but remained standing, looking at the ground.
"I pray that you do find a brighter future for yourself, Yasmin... I truly do..." Sara muttered, angry at herself for being unable to help her own friend in her time of need.
"Mama? Papa? Where are you?" a young girl cried out, running hurriedly as explosions and screams filled the air, the fire spreading within the village. The girl looked terrified and tried to avoid the fire, the air thinned due to the smoke being released. She tried very hard not to look at the corpses of the villagers that she had grown up with, who were like family to her, but were now lost from the mortal world.
Finally reaching the small house, she hurried in. "Mama! Papa!" she shouted as she entered, only to hear shouting inside one of the rooms.
Going to the kitchen, she saw her father struggling with a soldier for the spear that was in the soldier's hands. On the side was her mother, frightened and worried for her husband. The moment that she looked to see her daughter there, her eyes widened, and the father looked at the girl's direction as well.
"Run! Get away from here!" the father shouted to his wife, as he was being pushed back by the soldier, who was beginning to overpower him, pushing him against the walls, making the cabinets drop plates that shattered upon impact with the ground. "I'll hold him off. Just run now!"
"Papa!" the girl shouted, unable to heed the man's pleas, but her mother grabbed her wrist.
"We have to go, Now!" the mother declared, tears streaming down her face, and the girl knew that her mother didn't want to leave, but if she didn't run now, then the father's sacrifice would mean nothing. As they tried to run, more explosions happened outside, closer to their home that caused a fire to enter their home.
"Dammit! You won't get away, you heathens!" the soldier shouted, before pushing the other man off, making him fall on his back, hitting his head against the wall. Before he could even gather himself, the soldier thrusted the spear through his chest, making the man cough out blood, as the spear pierced through his stomach, and the light soon began to leave his eyes, his body losing strength when the soldier pulled spear out of him and turning to where the girl and woman ran off to, only to hurry back as their primary escape route had been sealed.
"PAPA!" the young girl screamed out the moment that she saw his father's body, limp against the floor.
The mother could not speak, and was just as horrified by what she was seeing. However, she already knew that they had to get away. Picking up her daughter in her arms, the woman made a break for it.
The soldier tried to follow, but the fire spread in front of him. "Dammit! You will not get away. In the name of Ylisse, you will be purged!" the soldier shouted out.
From the fire, Yasmin emerged and stepped into the scene, looking over everything, though she wasn't pregnant.
While the fire spread further, Yasmin was completely unharmed, as the fire seemed to go through her simply. She stared as the soldier escaped, only for his escape routes to be blocked out as he let out a scream with the house collapsing on him, killing him, before the flames soon consumed the two corpses.
After running out of the burning and collapsing house, filled with the memories of their life together, the mother stopped at a seemingly safe location, before setting her daughter down when she felt that they managed to get away from the soldier, though they were far from being in the clear, since the village was being razed to the ground.
"Mama…" the daughter sobbed as she looked at her mother. "Papa… he… he…"
"Shh, please do not speak. We have to run away. Your father gave his life to protect what's most important. So we cannot allow his sacrifice to be in vain…" the mother said as calmly as she could, but the daughter could hear the cracks in her voice, and the tears that she tried to fight back from spilling. She was hurt just as much, but she was fighting the grief that she had to try and escape for their safety. "Come, if we can make it outside the village, we can get away from them."
The girl, however, still thought about what she had seen moments ago, the father whom she loved murdered by that soldier, that Ylissian, and the look he gave her, as if he saw them as nothing but some disgusting creature that had to be killed.
Suddenly, the mother stopped and tugged her daughter behind some barrels and hid themselves as several soldiers began to chase after some of the villagers. Before the girl could say anything, the mother pressed her hand against the girl's mouth, preventing her from saying so much as a word.
"Purge them all. The heathens of Plegia who reject the will of the Divine Dragon, Naga, and instead serve the devil, must be wiped out," a man shouted, probably someone who was the commanding officer. "Let none survive. Show no mercy!"
The screams that now filled the air made the girl's eyes widen in horror, the sounds of flesh being cut open or punctured, the blood spilling into the ground, and the bodies falling with their lives removed.
"If only he wasn't around. If only he wasn't there, this never would have happened," the girl heard her mother mutter, and could see the anger and hatred burning inside her eyes.
As soon as they tried to sneak away, an explosion struck the barrel they were hiding behind making the eyes of some of the soldiers spot the girl and her mother.
Realizing the graveness of their situation, the mother looked at her daughter with horror, hurriedly grabbing her, her mind racing as she picked her up once more and broke into a sprint, outpacing several of the soldiers, who tried to attack with their spears by throwing them, but they missed. One of the soldiers rode his horse to catch up to them, and raised his sword to land a lethal blow. However, the girl threw something at him that she had grabbed onto before she was picked up earlier, that being a fragment of the barrel. Surprisingly enough, the fragment managed to hit the horse in the eye, making it cry out in pain as it went out of control, crashing against a house.
"Do not allow them to escape," a soldier cried out as soon several people dressed in garbs and hats, raised their hands.
"Mama!" the girl cried out, making the woman glance behind her, and saw that the soldiers brought out mages, and saw them ready their spells.
As the mages unleashed several balls of fire, the woman quickly ducked, avoiding the fire that would have likely killed her, and continued to run. However the spells continued to fire, forcing the woman to avoid it, and going behind a house, where she hurried inside another one, a destroyed one at that, to elude her attackers.
The mother glanced through the small openings to see the people that continued to slaughter their village. However, she then saw to her horror, one of the mages turn and look straight at all, and she tried to quickly hide, praying that they weren't seen. Alas, that was not the case, as a ball of lightning was fired at the house they were in, and destroyed the wall they were hiding from, making the woman scream out as she was blasted back.
"Mama! Mama!" the girl cried out as she shook her mother's body, who took hefty damage as blood soaked the clothes the woman wore, and the same blood that was now staining her hands.
The woman slowly got up, and saw the mages readying to bombard them with spells. "Listen to me, dear," the woman said to her daughter. "Whatever happens, you must survive. I will make sure of it," the woman said to her daughter, giving her a smile that made the girl question why her mother looked so sad as she said it. She then found herself being covered by her mother as the spells struck the house they were in, her mother using her own body as a shield to protect, and the walls collapsing on them, and the girl found herself passing out.
Slowly, the girl awoke with everything dark, and there was something heavy on top of her. Struggling, she tried to push whatever was on her, but couldn't, and tried to see if there was another way out, and soon found and opening, and crawled out, pushing some rubble out of the way, and emerging, only to see the charred remains of what was once her village.
"No… no…" the girl muttered, before clenching her head in pain, and looked back at the rubble she emerged from. Memories of her mother struck her mind and what happened last. "Mama!"
For almost an hour without rest, the girl pulled rocks, wood, and rubble out of the way, until finally she cleared enough to expose her mother. "Mama, wake up, we have to…" the girl stopped midway as she shook her mother, but the woman wouldn't move. Her body felt cold in fact. "Mama…?"
This couldn't be happening. The girl refused to believe that. "Mama! Mama! Wake up, mama! MAMAAAAAAAA!"
But no matter how much she shook her mother, the woman would never again open her eyes, and that was when the girl stopped, after realizing reality. Stormclouds began to bellow out as rain began to fall, the fire having caused the storm to arrive.
The girl looked up into the sky, before screaming at the top of her lungs in despair, the thunder roaring with her. Yasmin soon stepped next to her, looking at the corpse of the girl's mother with sad eyes.
"A survivor…" a voice spoke through the rain, alerting the girl and Yasmin of their presence, and both turned to see a man on a horse, as well as several others behind him. "So you managed to avoid the wrath of those Ylissians."
"Validar," Yasmin said, staring at the dark skinned man as he stepped off his horse.
"Such a shame, for someone so young to suffer such cruelty," Validar said, as he approached the girl, but the girl seemed hostile. "Do no fear. I am not here to harm you. I have come with others to search for survivors like yourself."
The girl didn't stop looking at the man with hostility.
"Tell me, child, do you know why you have been harmed in such a way?" Validar questioned. Knowing the girl won't respond, he answered for her. "It is because of those accursed Ylissians!"
"Don't listen to him!" Yasmin cried out.
"They, who worship the Divine Dragon, Naga, treat us as heathens. Their accursed Exalt is now seeking a crusade against us. We have done nothing wrong, and yet they call us heathens and attack us as if we were nothing but beasts!" Validar said. "The god they worship, Naga, has abandoned you and your family, our entire country. Naga has taken the things we hold precious to us away, all because the Divine Dragon is not who we worship!"
"... Ylissians…" the young girl muttered, her eyes clouded by anger and hatred, recalling what they did so vividly. "... They… they killed them... they killed papa… they killed mama… Naga killed mama and papa…"
"Yes. Naga and the children of Naga seek to destroy us. But we shall not yield. We shall not abandon our freedom! Come, child. Join me, find yourself comforted by the god who shall one day lead us all towards salvation," Validar said, holding his hand, making the girl stare at it.
"Our… god…?" she asked.
"Yes, we who serve the divine being that shall truly purge this world of the rotten beings that infect the world, and rebuild it anew. You can help bring about a new beginning for this world. Come, join me. Join under the might of the Fell Dragon, Grima!" Validar said, his words striking the girl's heart, as she held out her hand, reaching for Validar's.
"Stop! Don't do it!" Yasmin cried to no avail, knowing that it was truly hopeless. The girl was already consumed by hatred for Naga and the Ylissians, who had stolen everything from her, everything that she cherished, leaving her as nothing but some pebble on the road.
Finally, the girl's hand held the man's hand. Validar grinned at her. "Tell me, child. What is your name?"
The girl looked at the man in the eyes, before opening her mouth. "... Yasmin…" the girl answered in a soft whisper, with Yasmin looking at the girl that was truly herself in the past.
"This… This is where it all began…"
And there, that's done. Now I'm sure you're wondering, what the hell was all this? Only named characters here are Validar and Grima, but who are Yasmin and Sara?
Well, for the first few chapters, the story won't actually be about Robin. Shocker, I know. We will actually first explore the person who gives birth to Robin, Robin's mother, whom I named Yasmin.
The reason I chose to first go over Yasmin's background is because I feel she's an interesting character that didn't get the spotlight she deserved, and was mentioned literally just one time, and this begged the question on who she was, why did she what she did, etc.
For me, that was an interesting story that was worth writing about. Also, if you are wondering what Yasmin looks like, think of an older version of the Female Robin's default portrait.
I hope you enjoyed the first chapter. More will come soon, hopefully.
