Author's Notes:

I must confess, I've never been all that good at creative writing. However, I've been creating the plot for this story for a while now, and decided that I'm actually going to write it down. The first several chapters/first arc is probably not going to be that different from a 'typical' FE Awakening story, but as the story progresses, I have plans for things to become… unique… we'll say. I'm not sure what the upload schedule will be like, because real life always takes precedence.

Edit: To those of you that may be new readers of my story, I know that the first few chapters are significantly worse than some of the later chapters. In fact, many of the later chapters are three or even four times longer than this chapter and, in my opinion, are much more interesting. I guess what I'm trying to say is, even if you dislike the first several (shorter) chapters, it is still possible for you to end up enjoying the story if you give it a chance. Thank you everyone.

Plegian Royal Palace

A tall, robed sorcerer leisurely walked through the dimly lit halls of the Plegian royal castle, slowly but surely making his way towards the throne room. In his arms lay a newborn child, completely wrapped up with purple colored cloth, stained with several patches of dark red. The baby was sound asleep, blissfully unaware of everything that had transpired that day. As the sorcerer walked by, the nearby guards all stood at attention, waiting for him to pass by before breathing a sigh of relief and resuming their more casual resting positions.

Finally, the sorcerer entered the throne room. It was a large room that was only dimly lit by the torches upon the walls. At the center of the room was a large throne that had a long set of stairs leading up to it. Upon the throne sat a trickster with reddish-brown hair. The trickster lazily leaned on the left arm of the throne, propping his head up with the palm of his left hand. His gaze focused on his right hand, and was busy examining his long nails until the sorcerer entered his field of vision.

The sorcerer knelt before the throne. "You called, your majesty?" He growled in a deep voice. "Ah, my dear brother, how did your hunt go?" came the instant reply. The sorcerer gave a menacing grin and held the child up, as if presenting it to his king. Seeing this, the trickster got up off his throne and walked over to his brother. He ripped the cloth covering the infant's head, which revealed a mop of messy, white hair underneath. This however, disturbed the child's sleep, and caused him to begin to cry.

Seeing this, the trickster smiled and took the crying child from the sorcerer. He took the baby and began to walk back towards the throne. "And what of the mother?" he asked, as he inspected the stained red areas on the cloth. "Although, I can already guess".

"You need not worry milord. She has been properly…. disposed of." came the reply. Hearing this, the trickster began to cackle as he sat back on the throne. "Oh how wonderful. You will grow up here as a Plegian prince, and you will become the savior of our people. One day, you will finish what I will begin, and raze the halidom of Ylisse and return to them tenfold what their precious Exalt has done to us. You will become the symbol of our people, and you will become our Fire Emblem. Validar, bring it to me.

Hearing this, the sorcerer got up and left the throne room. A few minutes later, he returned with a scythe in his hands. It had a black handle, and at the head of the weapon, where the blade connected to the handle was a the model of a dragon's skull. The blade was of a pure black metal, and protruded from the dragon's open mouth. A sharp spearhead made out of the same black metal protruded from the dragon's skull, on the same axis as the handle. Validar walked up to the throne and knelt before the trickster, once again, presenting the coveted item to his liege.

The trickster waved his hand, and an attendant immediately went to go retrieve the weapon. Once the weapon was brought to him, the trickster instructed the attendant to prick the child's right hand with the tip of the scythe, and when he did, the six eyes of the dragon's skull and the edges of the blade began to glow blood red. For a second, time seemed to stop as energy seeped out of the scythe and into the baby, eventually forming a purple, six eyed symbol on the back of the child's right hand. Feeling the pain of the prick, the baby began to cry once again.

Seeing this, the trickster began to cackle again. "Oh his blood indeed is pure, the weapon has chosen its future owner!" The sorcerer, Validar returned a menacing grin. "Yes, your highness."

The trickster gingerly caressed the infant's cheeks. The baby's crying never stopped.

17 years later

"Robin? Where are you Robin?" a female Plegian dark mage shouted as she ran through the castle corridors. She came to a stop right outside a room where another male dark mage with white hair was standing. "You really ought to be more quiet Tharja. The prince is in the middle of studying battle tactics. Even I'm not allowed to see him. You know how it is, he's the prince, and he's expected to be able to command our army to victory when we declare war on Ylisse, so lately, he's been studying EXTRA hard."

The female mage rolled her eyes. "He's been in there reading for the past eight hours. I tried to bring him lunch earlier and he still wouldn't let me in. It's already well into the afternoon" Tharja began to pout.

Noticing this, Henry began to laugh. "Nya ha! It's so obvious you've got a thing for him. I didn't even have to talk to my crows to figure that one out. Is Tharja upset that prince Robin is choosing his books over her?" he teased.

Tharja immediately covered her face to hide her blush. "It's not that obvious is it?" she whispered. "Nya ha, I've known for the past two years, but honestly, anyone with half a brain who paid attention would notice. The size of your crush is as big as Plegia itself!"

Henry suddenly made a serious face. "Fortunately for you, not many people in the palace fulfill both those categories. Robin is always more focused on books and politics to notice, and, well as for everyone else, methinks saying they have half a brain is a bit too generous."

Although her cheeks still contained a shade of pink, Tharja rolled her eyes again. "Everyone knows you're a child genius Henry, not everyone can be as smart as you, y'know." Henry shrugged in indifference. "I'm just sayin' it like it is."

Suddenly something occurred to her. "Wait a minute Henry, how long have you been waiting for him? Aren't you supposed to be training with the rest of the male mages?"

"Nya ha! I've been standing here for the past two hours now. But it's fine really, no one really cares if I miss a training session or two. In fact, the rest of them will really need a few extra sessions to even hope to keep up with me. And besides, they always complain that I go way too far when we spar with each other. No blood they say, but I say that takes all the fun out of it."

Suddenly, Henry furrowed his eyebrows, and his previously carefree and happy expression turned into a frown. "And who are you to judge me? You miss more training than I do!"

Tharja sighed in defeat. "Yes, I suppose you're right. But I can't help it. The training is just so… so… so easy!" The female mage shook her hands in front of her face as to make a point.

"Nya ha!" Henry giggled. "Everyone knows you're a child genius Tharja." He said in his best impression of her.

Then Henry tilted his head, as if in deep thought. Then his cheerful expression instantly came back. "Nya ha! I suppose that's why they chose us to be his retainers. We're two of the strongest mages here, so they know we will have his back if he ever is in danger."

"Maybe. But he's still stronger than the both of us combined." Tharja replied dreamily.

Henry held up a finger to interject. "Both of us combined, times ten." He corrected. "And that's if he decides not to use that scythe of his. What was it called again? Nag-ripper? Nap-reaper? Something about reaping souls… now what was it?"

Tharja sighed in defeat. She was just about to correct him, when the doors of the room suddenly opened. "Naglrath, the harvester of souls." Robin corrected. "Honestly, I can't remember how many times I've already had to tell you."

"R-robin!" Tharja squeaked in surprise, before composing herself. "Finished with your studies, Robin?" This earned a nod of agreement from the Plegian prince.

"Hooray! Now let's go play~ay!" exclaimed Henry in a sing-song voice. Robin, however, held up his hand to interject.

"I have to go visit a settlement on the border today. They were unable to pay taxes again this year, so King Gangrel wants me to go… discipline them." Henry's face fell. "Awwww…" he complained.

"So if you're going, then we should be as well right?" Tharja inquired. To her dismay, Robin shook his head. "No, Gangrel wants me to go by myself. He says if I cannot defeat the town's militia by myself, I have no chance against the armies of Ylisse."

"We could still go with you, just in case. It's not like we were doing anything otherwise." Henry offered, only to receive another head shake from Robin. "No, you two will remain here. This is something I need to do by myself. And besides, you two know better than anyone else. No ordinary militia is of any threat to me." "But-" Tharja began I'll be worried about you going by yourself she wanted to say. "No buts Tharja. I'll go by myself, and you two will be good little retainers are stay here like you're told. I'll bring you back a souvenir Henry, and Tharja… well I'll take you to dinner. If everything goes well, I should definitely be back by then." He finished his sentence with a grin. This lead to a cheer from Henry, and an embarrassed look from Tharja as she tried, unsuccessfully to hide her blush. "Promise?" she whispered. "Yeah." Robin replied, giving her a genuine smile. "I'm going to hold you accountable to that, Robin." she muttered to herself.

"So what is your plan when you get there?" Henry asked out of curiosity. Robin frowned and tilted his head. "I honestly haven't thought that far yet. What Gangrel probably wants me to do is kill a few of the settlement leaders, as well as anyone who picks up arms against me. After all, ruling with power is basically his motto."

Seeing as Henry did not seem satisfied with his answer, Robin patted him on the back. "I'll have plenty of time to figure out my strategy on the way there. Come, I must get going."

As Robin walked towards the stables with Henry and Tharja following closely behind, they ran into a large bald man with a great beard. "Ah, why if it isn't young Robin!" The general exclaimed. "Heading off for Olaenia?" "Yep" came the reply. "You know how my uncle is, he needs a steady stream of taxes in order to prepare for war. I must go make an example of them, regardless of if I like it or not." Robin shrugged his shoulders.

The general stroked his beard in thought. "Well, I don't think it'll pose much of a challenge for you. I know full well how deadly your skills with a scythe are. And that's no ordinary garden tool you have in your possession either." Robin scratched his head sheepishly. "Well, I learned everything from you, general Mustafa. You were a great teacher." All this got from Mustafa was a chuckle. The great general placed his hand on Robin's shoulder. "You don't give yourself enough credit my prince. All I did was teach you how to fight with an axe. You were the one that applied that knowledge and refined it for fighting with a scythe. Hell, I'd wager my life savings that there is no one on the continent that can match your skill with a scythe. I know you'll do great things. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go oversee the training of some new recruits."

And with that, they went their separate ways and Robin and his two retainers continued to the stable. Once there, the three saddled up and began to ride to the North-Western city gate. As they rode through the city, the citizens stopped what they were doing to gaze in wonder at the prince when he passed by. Upon arrival at the gate, Robin says a final goodbye to his retainers, before beginning to ride away.

As Robin rode off towards the border, Henry and Tharja stood near the city gate to see him off. Robin turned around, smiled and waved at them once more, a gesture that was returned by the two retainers. Henry enthusiastically cheered the prince on as he waved both his hands hecticly. Tharja, on the other hand, gets hit by a wave of nostalgia. She bites her lip, thinking back to a time nearly a decade ago.

Flashback, 10 years ago, in the capital city of Plegia

Tharja was extremely hungry. Starving even. She hadn't had anything to eat since her parents abandoned her several days ago. All she could do was wander the streets, begging for merchants to give her a bite to eat. However, giving food to a starving 7 year old reaped no benefits, and so the merchants in the area, many of which were struggling themselves, refused to spare anything for the hungry child.

Tharja was ready to give up. She found a corner and rested her head on her knees. She was ready to accept death… that is, until a startling voice interrupted her.

"One loaf of bread please." Tharja looked up. A young boy dressed in a purple cloak said as he handed the baker a coin. He then proceeded to walk in Tharja's direction. He eventually stopped right in front of her, and knelt down besides her.

"Here. I saw you begging for food earlier. You must be very hungry. This is for you." The boy declared. Tharja eyed him in disbelief, before she snatched the bread and began to wolf it down. The boy waited patiently for her to finish, before handing her a bag full of coins.

"This is a gift from me. If you use it slowly, it can last you for a few weeks." Tharja once again, was dumbfounded. "B-but, this is yours, won't your parents be angry if you gave it to m-me?" The boy smiled and stuck his thumb to his chest. "Don't worry. My name is Robin, and I'm a prince." he declared with a large smile, which earned him multiple stares as the people close enough to hear him began to whisper amongst themselves. Hearing this, Tharja began to tear up. "O-ok… Thanks-Thank you so much!" The boy, Robin, patted her head gingerly. "I must get going now, I have to go practice my tomefaire or else father and uncle will be very angry." "T-tomefaire?" Tharja asked. Robin smiled again. "Yeah! Practice magic! Just like the mages that work for uncle! I'm gonna be the best mage in all of Plegia!"

As Robin got up and walked away, he turned around to give Tharja one last smile and a wave, a memory that is forever branded into her mind. It was at that moment that Tharja began to develop a serious crush on Robin, a feeling that only got stronger as time passed.

Severely interested by Robin, young Tharja eventually bought a basic flux tome with the money he gave her. Fortunately, her parents had taught her how to read, and with Tharja's incredible intelligence, she was able to learn to cast flux effortlessly. A few days later, Tharja's talent for magic was discovered by a traveling dark mage, and she quickly found herself in an apprenticeship. After traveling and learning with that mentor for nearly 5 years, the child genius surpassed her teacher and was able to join the Plegian military at just 12 years old.

Once she began training at the castle courtyards, she made it her mission to find out more about Robin. To her delight Robin was indeed a Plegian prince, and the fact that he remembered her was more than she could ever hope for. Within a year, Tharja found herself with the job of being Robin's retainer, which meant that she could spend more time with him than almost anyone in the royal palace. In short, the past 4-5 years were the happiest ones of her life, which were only made possible by the kind actions of Robin nearly a decade ago.

End of Flashback

Settlement of Olaenia, on the border of Plegia and Ylisse

The settlement of Olaenia is located in an unfortunate place. A large group of hills separates them from the rest of Plegia, making it extraordinarily difficult for caravans to traverse. The only roads that lead into town crosses over momentarily into the halidom of Ylisse. For this reason, the area in question has been a severely heated topic in Ylissean and Plegian politics, both of them believing that the land belonged to them. Robin, believing there was no reason to be concerned about this detail, rode along this road to get to Olaenia in order to have a better chance of fulfilling his promise to Tharja.

As Robin rode on, he suddenly noticed an ominous figure standing by the rode, dressed in a robe extremely similar to the one he was currently wearing. As he got closer, he realized the figure's face was covered by his hood. The man beckoned Robin closer.

Robin approached the man warily, not knowing what to expect. "Can I help you sir?" he asked politely. The man began to laugh. "Yes, yes you can!" Robin froze. The man sounded exactly like him. "Who-?" he began. Before he could finish his sentence, the man removed his hood, revealing a face that matches Robin's, further surprising the Plegian prince.

As Robin was frozen in shock, the mysterious man pulled him off his horse. Robin hit the ground with a loud 'THUD'. Before Robin realized what had happened, the man proceeded to wrap his two hands against Robin's skull, which gave off blackish, purple electric shocks. At first, Robin felt jolts of pain through his head, but after a few seconds, fell unconscious.

The man stood up. "Hmph. So the Robin of the past is still too weak. Nevermind that. I suppose I'll lay low for a while, until the time is ripe." With that, he got on Robin's horse and began to ride towards Olaenia himself.

The real Robin was left on the side of the rode, completely unconscious.

Robin: Age: 18

Class: Warlock (scythes and tomes)

Henry: Age: 18

Class: Dark Mage

Tharja: Age: 17

Class: Dark Mage