Cordelia's Tale: Act I

Child of Chaos

Part II

After a few weeks of working around the camp, Robin felt that he had a good grasp on Cordelia's personality. Everything she did had to be to the highest degree, be it stacking crates, sorting weapons, or making morale-boosting posters of Chrom with Frederick's assistance.

In regards to Chrom, it had taken a while for Cordelia to confess, while they were putting food in storage during the night, that she was hopelessly in love with Chrom. It was rather obvious, given how flustered she would become around his presence, but Robin grew to ignore it. He had no romantic feelings for Cordelia whatsoever, regardless of what Sumia and Gaius insisted. He still took informative notes about her, but it was more to prove a point.

Cordelia, meanwhile, had been studying the personality of this man who so obviously cared for her it was almost laughable. Every morning he would be waiting outside her tent with a big smile on his face, so eager to spend more time with her, she wasn't sure if it was all a joke or not. None of her previous comrades had displayed this eagerness to work with her; in fact, they just wanted nothing to do with her in the time they knew each other.

She appreciated someone obviously caring for her, but it still felt unnatural to her. It didn't help that this was the man who had to manage the lives of the Shepherds in battle.

On this day, in particular, Robin had to stop by Chrom's tent for a few questions, most of which involved Cordelia.

The regal-ish interior of Chrom's tent looked like one belonging to the ruler of a nation, what with the piles of documents and stamps. On the other hand, the collection of swords and other military objects thrown around looked more like the room of a teenage boy.

"Hey, Chrom. You in here?" Robin scanned the area and felt a hand touch him on the shoulder.

"Now I am. You were so focused on that journal of yours that you didn't notice me walking behind you." Chrom flashed him a warm smile as he sat down at his table while Robin seated himself on the opposite side. If there was ever someone who Robin would trust with his life, it was Chrom. Through months of companionship and help in battle, Robin and Chrom had forged a bond that would likely survive for years to come.

"So, I know we've got our hands full with the war and Gangrel, but I have a more personal question to ask," Robin spoke as he stuffed his journal into his cloak. "Are you aware of the Cordelia situation?"

"I know she's one of the most capable and emotional people we have. Anything else?" Chrom raised his eyebrow.

"She's uh… She's madly in love with you." Robin noticed the look of realization that dawned on Chrom's face. "I think she's doing all the work around camp just to get your attention."

"O-oh…" Chrom sat down and looked as though he was mulling this statement over. "You're serious?"

Robin nodded his head while Chrom mumbled to himself. He looked rather stunned. "U-unfortunately, I consider her more of a friend than anything."

"You need to tell her this. She's almost broken her back doing chores and I suspect my help is the only thing keeping her from dying of exhaustion."

"Well, then you need to keep accompanying her. I can't tell her how I feel because that would crush her."

"But not telling her will just cause her to keep following her self-destructive path," Robin argued back.

"I know, I know. It's a hard decision, but that's what we have to do sometimes." Chrom raised his hands and noticed how stressed Robin looked. "In fact, I have an idea. You clearly care for her in a romantic way, so why don't I just order you two to go explore uncharted land for a day?"

"Friends. We are friends." Robin was getting tired of the glances he would get around camp; at one point he swore he heard Vaike call him 'lover-boy' while he wasn't looking.

"That big, dopey grin you have on your face every morning while you wait outside her tent says otherwise." Chrom got up and began sorting through a pile of various supplies. He eventually dug up a flag with the Ylissean Emblem embroidered on it, then grabbed a map. "Your task is to go to this desert, find something interesting, stake a claim on them for Ylisse, then report back in about a few days or so."

"Chrom, you can't be serious." Robin placed his hand on his head and sighed. Chrom was awful when he tried to help out in matters he had no business in.

"You'll need camping supplies for the night, and be sure to bring only one blanket. That way she has no choice but to cuddle with you."

"You're sick." Robin glared at him.

"And you need to make her love you before she kills herself from exhaustion." Chrom stared directly into Robin's eyes. Robin could tell that Chrom was just trying to help, but this was not the way to go about it. "That's an order, as your superior and your friend."

"Hello? Is a-anyone in here?" A feminine voice called from the outside of the tent. Robin had no idea whose voice it was, and it sounded nothing like any of the other Shepherds.

"Come in, Olivia! Robin and I were just finishing up a discussion." Chrom stood up and smiled as a pink-haired woman wearing a white leotard shuffled her way into the tent. "Robin, this is Olivia. She's our newest reinforcement from Regna Ferox. Do you have any news from Basilio?"

"My K-khan wished to inform you that the Feroxi will stand at your side in the war against Plegia," Olivia spoke and looked as though she had spent hours preparing to say that simple sentence. She seemed to be flustered just by Chrom's presence.

"That's great to hear; any help against the Mad King is appreciated." Chrom motioned for Olivia to seat herself in the chair Robin had occupied before he stood up. "See you tomorrow, Robin." Chrom waved to his friend.

"See you then." Robin sighed as he walked out and waved to Olivia. "Don't worry about him; he's a big old teddy bear underneath those muscles." He spoke to Olivia before he exited the tent.

"Hey, do you see me going around telling everyone your secrets?" Chrom jokingly responded, then noticed the look of confused unease on Olivia's face.

The instant Robin exited Chrom's tent with the flag and map in hand, he found Cordelia seemingly waiting for him outside.

"Did you talk to Chrom about something?" She asked and noticed the flag that Robin was carrying.

"Yes. He wants us to go explore uncharted lands, and we have to leave within the hour." Robin dropped the flag on the ground and unfurled the map so Cordelia could see it.

She bent over to inspect the map and dragged her finger to a red question mark placed in the northern border between Regna Ferox and Plegia.

"Do we really have business up there? That's Plegian land." Cordelia leaned back upright as Robin furled the map back up.

"The inner machinations of Chrom's mind are a mystery to us all." Robin knew that Chrom had just randomly selected a plot of land without caring for the diplomatic ramifications of it.

"I'll get some camping supplies and meet you back here in thirty minutes." Cordelia waved and walked back into the camp, leaving Robin to stand there for a while with his fancy flag.

By the time Cordelia returned with some camping supplies and her pegasus, Sumia and Gaius were waiting to see them off.

"You two have fun now, alright?" Sumia watched as they clambered onto Cordelia's pegasus and took off into the skies.

Amidst the vast, scalding deserts of Plegia, Cordelia's pegasus soared above the ground while Robin and Cordelia scanned the ground for any landmarks. Although there was the occasional half-submerged pillar, nothing caught their attention for a few hours of relaxing flying.

Although, calling it relaxing was an overstatement considering how overheated Robin felt in his cloak.

"Are you holding up alright?" Cordelia turned around to ask as she felt Robin's hands around her waist for support. "Because your hands are getting really sweaty."

"Oh, sorry!" Robin quickly removed his hands from Cordelia and placed them at his side. Cordelia noticed that his entire face was now the shade of her hair as he attempted to smile, but ending up grimacing.

"Do you see anything worth landmarking?" Cordelia asked as she continued to stare at the desert floor.

Five minutes passed before Robin's eyes finally settled on something. It looked to be the entrance to some ruins, submerged in the sand and probably untouched for many days.

"Down there. I see some ruins." Robin tapped her on the shoulder and pointed to the buried ruins.

"Good find." Cordelia steered her pegasus towards the ground and slowed it to a stop right at the entrance. Both she and Robin dismounted the pegasus, then felt a rush of cold air breeze over them as they stood before the dark, foreboding entrance to the ruins. Robin quickly planted the flag at the side of the entrance.

"Ready?" Cordelia asked as she stood next to Robin.

"I guess." Robin felt something… Something odd emanate out of this temple. It reminded him of the cold winters of his mother's house, except it seemed to be seeping into his thoughts with its mystery.

Robin grabbed an elfire tome out of his cloak and summoned a small ball of flame in his hand. Using the light source, they both waded their feet through the floor of sand and eventually stepped into a large, decrepit room.

A single stone tablet stood amidst the yellow-tinted walls and was barely legible as Robin inspected it. "This… Thabes Labyrinth… none set foot… cursed halls." Robin took a step back and began to ponder what this meant. It certainly was an ominous warning, and Robin began to wonder if they should get out while they still could.

"I've heard stories about the ancient city of Thabes. Supposedly, it housed an ancient civilization that collapsed before even the Hero King came to power." Cordelia grabbed a nearby torch from the walls and lit it with Robin's flame. "If this belonged to the Thabians, then maybe there's treasure somewhere in here."

"Then let's keep going." Robin walked beside Cordelia as they descended further into the labyrinth. After a few minute, they found a rope tied to a hole in the ground and clambered down it.

Once Lagermil had made his way to the decrepit labyrinth, he slowly passed by stone slabs and used a coil of rope to descend further and further into the sand-covered ruins. The voice wouldn't quit talking in his thoughts, and it sounded more excited the deeper he went into the twisting tunnels of the ruins.

"You have reached the destination." The voice spoke as Lagermil stood before a pair of golden doors that had six eyes engraved on them. "Step into the chamber and receive your reward."

Lagermil stepped inside the large, circular chamber and found that same symbol of six eyes waiting for him on the floor. He felt the overpowering presence of something as he stood in the center of the floor.

"Now, this next step is no easy feat. I shall grant you my greatest gift, and use your body to conquer the world." The voice spoke back and unnerved Lagermil with how excited it sounded.

"You mean… You'll possess me?" Lagermil asked, but his question would go unanswered.

"Do you accept?" The voice asked. Lagermil was left confused but knew that if he wanted to be known in history and actually do something with his life, he must accept.

"I accept," Lagermil spoke in a squeamish tone, then immediately his hands were pushed to his front by some ghostly force.

On his right hand, there was now a purple mark of six eyes, exactly like the one on the floor he stood on.

"You've made me a very happy dragon today, Lagermil." The voice was louder now and seemed to be overpowering Lagermil's will.

But Lagermil was gone; trapped in a prison constructed in his own mind. In his place was Grima, the Fell Dragon, who had a vengeance to enact on humanity, through a conquest of blood and tears.

By the time Robin and Cordelia got to what seemed to be the bottom of the labyrinth, their feet were aching and their boots were filled with sand. Sure, Robin had made small talk with Cordelia for most of the time, but it felt like the both of them just didn't want to be in these old, empty ruins.

Their sadness would eventually turn back to curiosity when they stumbled upon a worn-down set of doors that had a faded pattern of what looked like three eyes. What made the doors stand out was that they were already pushed open, and lead to a large circular room that was lit by torches.

Cordelia threw her torch away and gained a look of fear when she noticed that someone was standing in the room. Robin noticed the person as well and dispelled the ball of flame in his hand.

"Oh, Grima… The time of your resurrection is almost complete…" A voice echoed from the chamber. It seemed to be coming from the man Cordelia had noticed.

"What should we do?" Cordelia whispered to Robin.

"Let's slowly approach them." Robin began to slowly tiptoe into the room while Cordelia followed his lead. Upon closer inspection, the character was a tall man with bushy, black hair that wore black robes.

The man raised his hands to the ceiling, which looked to have been patched up with bricks of a different material than the ones the labyrinth was made with. "That disgusting Exalt has been slain, and we have taken the Shield of Seals from the Ylisseans."

Robin's heart skipped a beat. On the night of the assassination, Chrom had discovered that the Shield of Seals, the treasure of Ylisse, had been stolen along with Emmeryn's life. Robin also remembered a tall, lanky man with gray skin who spearheaded the attack.

Cordelia seemed to have come to the same conclusion that Robin did, as she drew her lance and began to advance towards the man. As Robin advanced by her side, Cordelia felt something tickle her nose.

The bridge of her nose began to wiggle, and she felt her hands raise for a bit. Dust from the ruins must have snuck into her nostrils and tickled the inside of it.

"Ah! Ahchoo!" Cordelia covered her mouth and attempted to silence her outburst, but her sneeze echoed throughout the chamber and caused the man to quickly turn around, much to their dismay.

"You!" The man pointed at Robin, and he was indeed the man who had lead the attack on Emmeryn. "You dare defile this sacred place with your ignorance?"

"Murderer!" Robin screamed and began to charge the man. He raised his sword on high and began to slash it towards the man, but was stopped mid-slice.

"Stop." A low, growling voice spoke in his thoughts. His body froze; the man laughed.

"The Heart of Grima beats within you still!" He cackled with glee and noticed the mark on Robin's right hand, which began shining with a bright, purple light. "This sacred place is bringing out the true strength of your bloodline!"

Robin had always thought the mark on his right hand was a birthmark, not something related to his ancestry.

"Drop." The voice boomed again, and Robin's vision became blurred as his hand relaxed and dropped the sword on its own. The man lifted Robin's hand up and began to inspect it while Robin's eyes nervously darted around the room.

"Yes, yes… Your mother raised you well. A sad shame she hid you from me." The man drew his head close to Robin's and pierced through Robin with his red eyes. "Come, my son. There is much for us to do."

"Wh… What the hell?" Robin's teeth clenched as he struggled to speak. How could this murderer of a man be his father?

"Get away from him!" In the midst of the man's fascination with Robin, who currently was suffering a crisis from what was just stated, he failed to notice Cordelia sneak up behind him and drive a lance through his chest. Robin watched in terrified glee as a spear protruded from the man's chest and Cordelia appeared behind him with a glare on her face.

"Augh!" The man screamed as purple fog began to surround him. Within seconds, he was gone, leaving Cordelia to tumble directly into Robin and knock them both to the ground.

By the time Robin regained control of his body, his breathing began to accelerate rapidly and he felt Cordelia attempt to get off of him before he wrapped his hands around her back and held her against his chest. He didn't want to do this, of course, but in his panic, his hands latched onto the closest thing they could and wouldn't budge.

"How can that man be my father? How did he control me? How! How!"

"Robin, are you alright?!" Cordelia struggled to pull herself up from Robin's grip. The panic in his normally calm eyes was unnerving; like a once-unmoveable oak tree toppling from a breeze. Once she realized that his grip was tightening, she settled on calming him down. "Okay, look at me."

Robin's panicked eyes locked onto her face like a ship adrift in a storm spotting a lighthouse. "Deep breaths. Deep breaths. Focus on me. Focus. On. Me."

Robin's breathing and panicked screaming began to slow to a crawl as his eyes became less jittery. His hands still maintained their tight grip on her back, however.

"C-can we stay like this for a bit?" Robin wheezed the words out while his forehead was coated with sweat. This had to be one of the most uncomfortable situations to place Cordelia in, and he felt nobody to blame but himself.

"Um… If it will help you calm down." Cordelia sighed and remained silent as she laid atop Robin.

Growing up, Robin had a very soft spot for animals, particularly cats. He had one and treated it almost like a child. When Robin's mother informed him that the cat died of old age, Robin panicked and fell to the floor in a screaming, hyperventilating mess. It took the reassuring embrace of his mother to calm him down, but that moment always stuck with Robin. It was something he hoped he had grown out of.

Unfortunately, he had not. In fact, it seemed that Cordelia had just acted as a stand-in for Robin's mother, and given the age-old rumor that men end up marrying someone like their mother...

He was not enjoying where this situation was heading, to say the least.

"Thank you." Robin released Cordelia from his grip and she immediately got to her feet, then helped Robin up. "I'm sorry, that was really strange of me and-"

"Everyone needs some physical contact once in awhile." Cordelia echoed the very same words that Chrom told her a few weeks ago as Robin's eyes drifted to the outer wall of the room.

There was a mural on the wall, of a featureless man with a purple mark on his right hand, standing a flaming depiction of the world, and a purple dragon behind the man. Below the man was a message.

'The Ruination'. Robin looked at the painting, then at the back of his hand. Coupled with the cryptic words his supposed father said about the Heart of Grima, Robin was not in the happiest of mindsets.

He slumped over on his knees and began to cry.

"Am I… Am I going to do this?" Robin mumbled to himself while he buried his hands in his head. Cordelia overheard what he said, knelt down next to him and patted him on the shoulder.

"Everything will be fine, because we're friends, and friends look out for each other," Cordelia spoke in a soft tone into his ear. "I won't let you destroy anything on my watch."

"I'm doomed to ruin the world," Robin mumbled into his hands.

"Not while I'm around you won't. And besides, that mural probably doesn't matter to you." Cordelia remembered when she would become this stressed in training, and how some of her fellow knights would stick around her and cheer her up.

Maybe she did inherit their legacy after all.

"You're… You're right. That man probably just used magic on me or something and claimed to be my father." Robin stood up and dusted himself off. Just because he had some odd experience in some ruins he would avoid for the rest of his life didn't mean he was hopeless. "Now let's get out of here." He helped Cordelia get to her feet then walked beside her as they exited the ruins, and Robin's doubts were left to rot down there as well.