Chapter 2 "Flashes of Red"

By the time Fredrick regroups with the rest, he was a glad to know that neither of them hadn't met Eltri again. He cursed his master's good and forgiving nature for helping out the Plegian woman. But he had no time to think about that when both Chrom and Lissa were slowly losing to fatigue. He had suggested to go out on his own but both siblings quickly shot down the idea. Then after a second thought, he scolded himself for ever thinking of abandoning them.

Fredrick weights his options. If there were more brigands hiding, then there would be a slim chance of fighting them off and protecting the villagers. And it won't be long before both Chrom and Lissa fainted from exhaustion. Leaving them alone is out of the question, and but forsaking the safety of the villagers is also not the right choice. Oh how he wishes that there was something that he could do!

"Guys look over there!"

The two males looked over to where the Princess was pointing. Just across the bridge, a group of brigands came out of the corner. They were chasing a lone figure that was running ahead of them.

"My goodness is that Eltri?! What is she doing here!" Chrom quickly sprung into action when one of the archer's arrow had hit the woman on her shoulder. Fredrick stood in front and blocked his way. "Step aside Fredrick, she needs our help!"

"Just a minute milord."

Lissa stared at him agape and Fredrick held back the urge to remind her that its unbecoming of a lady to open her mouth like that. "Are you out of your mind Fredrick?! She had just got shot by an arrow and you're telling us to wait a minute?!" Chrom shook his head, his glare clearly directed towards the knight. The prince of Ylisse shoved his hand away and dashed over to help the young woman. Lissa followed her brother in suit, quickly leaving the knight behind. Just as the group of brigands neared the young woman, a powerful bolt of electricity came crashing down. They all but dropped dead while Eltri slowly stood up and swayed in place.

"I want to help." Her voice echoes in his mind and Fredrick shook his head. No. She's lying. She is but a witch out to get the Ylisseans. And Fredrick had sworn to himself that he would protect the Royal Blood from any harm till his dying breath, amnesiac Plegian women be damned!

Chrom was quick to catch the woman before she had fallen to the ground. It was then that her hood and slipped down- Chrom's eyes widened at the sights of the cuts and bruises on her face. "W-what happened?" Her eyes met his and the snow haired woman immediately slapped his hand away and staggered back.

"Eltri!"

Said woman quickly flipped her hood back up and leaned her back against the wall to steady herself. But the effort of standing was already too draining and she instantly slid down to a slump. Lissa quickly took out her staff and went to work on the woman's shoulder. "Did you run all the way over here? Gods that's just reckless!" Admonished Lissa.

"I- No… I just… Wanted to help…"

Lissa clicked her tongue in annoyance. "Running yourself close to exhaustion isn't going to do anyone good."

"But… I can help. I can… I can… Ugh-!" Eltri lurched forward and pushed the young sage away. She coughed, hacked and wheezed and blood splattered to where Lissa had previously been. Both siblings shared a look over Eltri's head while the young woman tried to regain her breath. "Eltri," Lissa started,

"N-no! You have to listen first please! I- I know where the rest of the brigands are hiding, t-there isn't much left… We can, we can win this…"

"Please…" Eltri murmured. "Please trust me."

Was it wrong to hope that they would trust her? Was it wrong to think that there would be someone out there that would accept her?

Chrom eyes the pattern sewn on the hem of the snow haired woman's robe. He glances at the dead bodies that had been electrocuted to death. He watches a nearby building that was still on fire continue to burn down the structure of the building. He looks down at the mark on his shoulders and the sword that was fastened to his side. He knows of Ylisse's history with Plegia. He knows all too well of their bloody history with each other.

His people had suffered. But of course, he wasn't blind to other things. He knows that Plegia suffered as well. He wishes that both countries would stop their suffering, their discrimination against each other. He knows it's a child's dream but maybe, just maybe, if someone from both side is willing to reach out and become a bridge for the two countries then… Chrom looks down to the young woman once more before kneeling beside her. He stares back into a pair of light gray orbs who stared at him back with mixed emotions. "Yes." He breathes. "I trust you."

Even from the shadow of her hood, Chrom caught Eltri smiling back at him.

/

"I will show you my resolve. I want to help them. I'm not… I'm not a villain."

Fredrick barely even spared a glance. "Your order's milord?"

Chrom could only sigh in defeat. Sometimes, Fredrick's stubbornness was far too much. "Eltri would be the one giving the commands here Fredrick, not I. You should ask her for orders."

Still, Fredrick wouldn't budge. "I take no one else's shoulders but from you milord. I apologize but-

"If that's the case," Piped Lissa, "then Chrom orders you to follow Eltri's instruction. Can you go against that?"

Fredrick gave no answer and the blonde sage grins in victory. "Go ahead Eltri." She nudges the robed Plegian and Chrom sees the hood moving in a nod. The Plegian explained her plan and the group quickly went to work. She had paired the siblings together while she uses herself and Fredrick as bait to draw out the entire brigands. Despite the lack of communications, Fredrick was mildly surprised that the snow haired woman was –at the very least- able to keep up with him.

He notices that her sword work still needs a lot of improvement; arms too wide, knees too close together- there were so many flaws in just her stance! He's surprised that she hasn't been mauled to death by the brigands. But then again, judging from the way they attack, it's clear to the knight that they didn't have any formal training either.

A myrmidon had suddenly sprung into the fray and manages to disarm the woman. Fredrick notices this of course, but pretends to be busy engaging with his opponent. He waits for her to call for help, he waits for the scream, maybe for the sound of thunder crackling- striking down her opponents. His sword lodges deep into the mage's guts and Fredrick pulls it out a second later. He's still waiting while he evades and then cuts down his next opponent.

He's still waiting while his horse stomps down on the chest of a brigand. He's still waiting while he deflects an arrow and charges over to the archer to finish him off.

Why was there no scream?

Why was there no sound?

The thought of her lying dead behind him almost made him guilty. Almost. A little bit. But not quite the whole thing. For the most part it made him felt glad.

"Watch out!"

Watch out? Watch out for what? Was that her? Did that woman-

All thoughts were cut off when a powerful force knocks him off of his horse. His head bangs against the bloodied pavement and the world becomes a blur. He feels the ground vibrating with every footsteps around him, his ears ring and he feels as if his head is going to split. He curses his carelessness as he tries to get his bearings. But something forces him down.

"Well, well, well, looks like the big and mighty knight has fallen hasn't he?" That was probably another brigand. "Not so high and mighty now are you?" He hisses. But Fredrick pays no mind to his insults. His hands reaches out for his weapon while the man was busy pressing his foot against the side of his face. Fredrick laughs inwardly; really this man must've been daft to not notice him reaching for his weapon. "Pick a god and pray." His silver lance went through the leather armor and pierces his chest. Blood sprays on to the Fredrick's neck and he finally gains the energy to stand.

A hand enters his line of vision and he chose to ignore it. He stands on his own and flicks his lance away from the corpse.

"Chrom and Lissa just finished off their leader. We should go."

Fredrick spares the snow haired woman a quick glance before walking over to the pointed direction. He sees blood on most of her person and looking from how much blood stain there was on her shoulders, he could only assume that she had injured it again.

Eltri quietly followed the man and was secretly glad that Fredrick had chosen to walk instead of riding. She smiles a little bit thinking of the small kindness that she was receiving from the wary knight. She had seen him glancing at her and she knew the reason why he was walking slower than on purpose. Despite the fact that Fredrick was ahead of her, he matches the pace of her footsteps so that she wouldn't be too far behind.

/

"Wow, using swords and wielding tomes! Not to mention that you're such a strategist! What can't you do?! I'm so glad that Chrom recruited you to be our strategist! I can finally have another girl to talk with!"

Behind the safety of her hood, Eltri smiles. "Thank you." She hums. The group is currently sitting across a fire. After dispatching all of the brigands, Fredrick had quietly spoken to Chrom about something. Before they went over to talk with the villagers, Chrom had switched his cloak with Eltri while Fredrick stood close –which actually surprised Lissa- to her.

The princess noticed that her brother was using the same polite smile that he uses when dealing with court politics. The ones where he's harped by people who think that they can do a better job than him –when in reality they don't- The polite and tense kind of smile. They then left town quickly after that. On the road, Chrom had offered her the position which –after which Lissa was convinced that it was because of her persuasive speech though Chrom begged to differ that Lissa constantly saying please actually affected Eltri's opinion- she agreed on.

"You should eat your meal as well; it won't do you good to sleep on an empty stomach."

The sage pouted and eyed the bear meat with distaste. "Ugh, you can have my share Eltri. I'm not going to... To eat this thing."

The snow haired woman laughed and lightly patted the sage's thigh. "Bear meat isn't so bad Lissa. If you close your eyes and forget it's bear meat it kind of taste like-

"Chicken?" Lissa made a face. "Yeah, now you're starting to sound like Chrom. Well hate to rain on your party but I've tried and that doesn't work. Even a boot would taste better than this!"

The men came back soon later and while Lissa passed on the thought of taking a bath, Lissa offers her cloak and towel which Eltri took before heading out to the lake. When she came back, she finds the rest asleep by the fire save for Chrom. Chrom pats on the ground beside him and the snow haired woman quietly complied.

"Listen, about what happened…"

"It's alright. Their action is… Understandable considering their opinions on Plegia."

Chrom lays his forearms on his thighs and leaned towards the fire. "I doubt pelting an innocent person with various miscellaneous things as understandable."

The snow haired woman hummed. She doesn't really understand it herself but she wasn't particularly angry for what happened. Maybe she's been through the same scenario a more than enough times prior to her amnesia. That seemed to make sense. The blue haired man sighed dejectedly before shooting her a small tired smile. "May I ask a question?"

The hood nods. "If it is within my power and knowledge I will."

Chrom sees the snow haired woman caressing the mark of Grima with her other hand and a wave of guilt nearly drowned him. Yes, he had thought of building a bridge to better Ylisse and Plegia. But he had forgotten that despite the fact that his sister had healed his people, there is still a deep rooted hate for the followers of Grima. Fredrick had told him that she hadn't fought back and Chrom himself had seen with his very own eyes what the snow haired woman was capable of.

"What do you remember besides your name?"

"Hmm, not much. Just general things I suppose. I think my amnesia only extends to personal things- I mean, I can recall things I've read which are mostly tactic books…"

"Have you gotten your injuries looked at yet?"

The hood shook its head. "There's no need for that. My wounds aren't that serious."

Chrom frowns. "All wounds should be given a proper look at even if it isn't serious. You may never know that the injury is far grave than you would have expected. Here let me," As Chrom reaches out for the snow haired woman it triggered something in the back of her mind.

Chrom reaches his hand out and is in tears. Behind him, Lissa is running towards his direction crying as well. Why are they crying?

A hand is reaching out as well but stops just before it reaches Chrom's. Lissa screams and-

His hand was slapped away almost immediately. Eltri abruptly stood up and dashed towards the woods. Chrom stares in surprise before blinking back to reality and chases after the snow haired woman.

Eltri covers her ears in an attempt to drown out the voices. But there were just so many of them! Who are they? Does she know them? Do these memories belong to her?

"Eltri! Eltri stop!"

There's thundering footsteps behind her and an image of being chased by numerous soldiers flashes before her eyes.

"Come back here you little-

"No! Stay away!"

She doesn't see the roots and trips, sending her tumbling down. Chrom picks up his pace and almost caught her before the woman scrambled up and ran again. But the instant Chrom reaches out and touches her hand; an intense surge of electricity burnt his hand. He shouts her name once more and the snow haired woman out of her trance and stays rooted to the ground.

She pauses and stares down at her free hand which was crackling with electricity. The mark of Grima glowed eerily and three pairs of eyes stared back at her. The mark of the fell dragon seemed to have smiled. Eltri seems a hooded figure from a far with striking resemblance to her. The only difference was the fact that her eyes were blood red and her smile looked more as if her mouth was cut into slits.

Just a little bit more and you would have killed him. Shame he hasn't dropped dead yet don't you think?

It's her own voice that she's hearing but it wasn't her talking. It was the other her. The one with blood red eyes and a slit mouth. And that was the last thing that she saw before the whole world was swallowed into darkness.