"Reflet? Can you come over here for a moment?"
Sitting on his throne, a blue-haired exalt called for his tactician. His throne was humble, but his security was enough to scare off anyone; two generals next to his left and right hand and another twenty-four knights facing each other across the red carpet leading to the country's leader.
His name is Chrom.
"Reflet?"
"I'm coming, I'm coming. No need to repeat yourself."
A white-haired woman appeared in front of him. To the inattentive eye, she magically appeared before him, but the truth was that she slipped in between some guards. Her movements were quick and fluid. She always claimed her suspicious movements is merely her practicing her body in order to increase its efficiency on the battlefield. She has only ever been seen using magic tomes so the authenticity of this claim is unverified, especially since she is already quicker than most thieves.
Her name is Reflet.
Chrom smiled and raised a hand. "Ah, Reflet! Good morning."
"Good morning, Chrom," she said. Calling him by his name, one might expect that she would return the smile. She did no such thing. Her bond with him was close enough that she had no impulse to act courteously to him. She merely tilted her head back and forth, waiting for her leader to continue talking.
Chrome noticed her disinterested look and mannerism and pouted. "Judging by your childish mannerism, I presume you're not too keen on what I have to say next?"
Reflet returned the pout, as well as closed her eyes. "Well, if it's like any other day of the week, you're just going to ask me for the same old, same old. There's nothing to report on Plegia, Feroxi is still taking their sweet time to give us a response to our offer, and Lucina has reported no progress on handling any of Ylisse's current problems."
"I see. Have I become so predictable, these past couple of weeks?"
"Yes, but as your master tactician, I would have known either way." She finally smiled, showing the arrogance that lied beneath. This confidence is well earned, however, so no one has ever disliked her for her cockiness.
Chrom sighed and looked at Reflet for a few moments. "So… nothing from Lucina again? It's been three weeks since she and her, uh, Justice Cabal left, hasn't it? I expected great things from her, yet she hasn't achieved anything worth noting."
"Give her some time, Chrom. She's already surround by trustworthy friends who are more than capable of handling trouble. It's only a matter of her gaining experience in leadership. Besides, the task you expect of her is far beyond what you were doing before you met me. Taking down two groups degrading our land is a big job for someone who knows little to nothing about life outside the castle and its town."
"I suppose you're right." Chrom ran out of things to talk about and he waved his hand. "Sorry for bothering you. I'm just a nervous wreck right now. So much is going on, yet nothing is moving forward."
Reflet nodded to his statement. "Yes, I know what you mean. I've resorted to taking walks outside of town in order to refresh my mind with the fresh air. There's only so many plans I can formulate before my head begins to fry."
She turned and left normally this time. Making a surprise entrance and a calm exit was her style, both on and off the battlefield. As a result, many are comfortable with calling her the Caster of the Storm.
Many miles away from Ylisse's castle was a town. Here, there was an inn where a white-haired boy, about twenty years old, sweeping the floors.
Two people watched him sweep; the innkeepers. The innkeepers were an old married couple composed of the sweet old lady and the grumpy old man.
"When are we going to kick this kid out?" the husband muttered.
Shocked, the wife frowned viciously and whispered, "Now, don't be like that. He begged for this job. He needs the money. We're not even paying him half of what we give to our regular employees."
The old man scoffed. "Feh! He would if would stop lying about his condition. Brittle bones? Weak muscles? All excuses."
"Now, now, he warned us about these conditions beforehand. He agreed to be paid little for the little work he can do."
"And yet you keep slipping him a few more gold coins than agreed at the end of each day. We still need to pay the rent, y'know?"
"…"
The young adult heard every word. He was sweeping at the end of the hall so it was natural to presume that he wasn't close enough to hear them.
He held back a tear and said, "Only six days and I'm already a burden." He didn't bother whispering because he knew he was far away enough that most people wouldn't hear him talk. "Well, at least I have enough money to beg comfortably for at least a week and four days."
For a very long time now, he's been forced to wander the land, begging for charity or work. From early experience, this person learned how fragile he was. His bones split when hit moderately hard, his muscles became sore after mere minutes of use, and his energy would disappear if he dared to walk for even more than half an hour. There were, of course, many potions and medicine to temporarily fix and alleviate these ailments, but the prices were too high for him to afford.
At a time and age where almost everything is reliant on hard labor, this young man was considered useless by almost all who have met him.
His name is Robin.
The door to the inn opened and a girl of similar age entered. She had blue hair and wore relatively light armor with the same color.
"Pardon me," she said. "My friends and I need a place to sleep tonight and-"
"Oh, let me help you!" the old woman said. "How many rooms would you be needing?"
"Preferable twelve."
"T-twelve? That's an awful lot of rooms."
The woman was visibly concerned and the blue-haired girl asked "Do you not have that many open? If so, then I'm sure some of us can share a bed so to reduce the rooms."
"No, we have plenty of space," she quietly said. "I'm just not sure how I feel about a bunch of younglings staying together all at once, making a mess and a ruckus."
Her eyes widened and a sense of embarrassment reached her cheeks. "Oh no! I promise my comrades and I will be on our best behavior. I understand the concern. We usually set up a camp, but tonight we need our rests. It's… of great importance."
The old woman slowly nodded and pulled out a sheet. After the exchange of gold and service was made, the girl left to get her friends.
Her name is Lucina.
"Puh," the old man said, "Now he's not even sweeping. The kid is just taking ganders at guests now."
It was true. From the very moment the girl entered, Robin had not taken his attention off her, but this was not out of attraction. It was something much more grim than the perverted mind of a man.
(Is this town in danger?)
A/N
Don't really know what the ultimate outline for this story is, but I've got ideas.
I originally wanted to call this thing something like "Osteoporosis" or something, but "Useless" sounds better and is less likely to have an MD student correct me on what exactly it is and how muscles and energy has nothing to do with it.
Btw, Robin/Lucina ship, just in case that wasn't obvious (it will be in a few chapters).