It was with a start that Robin woke.

Papers were stuck to the side of his face after a night of sleeping on the desk, and the insistent tolling of the bells outside made Robin irritable. What was the noise all about?

"Robin!" Lissa burst into Robin's room. He was startled, but Lissa didn't really seem to care as she caught sight of him. "There you are! C'mon, Chrom wanted me to get you! Let's go!" She took him by his coatsleeve and began dragging him to the door, ignoring his bewildered shouts. "What the- Lissa, what in the name of Ylisstol are you doing? Hey! Answer me, damn it!"

Lissa ignored him, and continued dragging the confused tactician all the way to a large set of doors located some length away from the tactician's quarters. Robin had just enough time to register that they were in Regna Ferox and had arrived there the night before, but before Robin could begin complaining, she said quickly, "There's been a visitor from Valm. I have no idea why or what, but my brother, Flavia and Basilio want you, so just get in there and listen to what's going on!"

Without further ado, she shoved the irate tactician into the throne room.

Robin shook his head blearily, and looked up to see Chrom, next to two other people, staring at him in confusion. The young Exalt seemed no worse for wear, considering that his child, Lucina, had just been born a few weeks ago. The tactician had never seen his friend so happy when the midwife had told Chrom the good news. In fact, Robin would have had to say that Chrom looked more invigorated than ever, especially considering that Sumia and Lucina both were in Regna Ferox to accompany the Sheperds.

"Robin, was my sister just-" Robin waved a hand impatiently, saying, "Never mind that for the moment. She said I was wanted?" Chrom's befuddled expression changed, and his face set itself grimly. "Precisely. There was a reason we're here in Regna Ferox, you know."

"Right," said a man wearing an eyepatch, trousers, and little else. His name was Basilio, and he was the West Khan of Regna Ferox, the country that had helped the Ylisseans secure their victory in the Plegian War. With a grim set about his face, the West Khan said gravely, "There's a problem." Robin's face was the very picture of disbelief. "Again?" He asked, disbelief in every syllable.

A woman cut in; blonde-haired and dark-skinned. "It has to do with Valm," Flavia, East and reigning Khan of Regna Ferox said with dissatisfaction. Regna Ferox had a monarchy that was contested over by the two Khans of Regna Ferox, East and West. Whichever Khan won the tournament that they held to determine their leadership would hold sway over the entirety of the country till the next championship.

Ordinarily, they would hand-pick champions to fight for them (blood-feuds and whatnot), and Robin and Chrom had actually fought on behalf of Flavia in the most recent championship, leading the East Khan to victory, but that had been a very long time ago. What bothered Robin the most at the moment, however, was what both Khans meant. "What? Where's Valm?" He cried, bewildered. "I've never heard of it!" Chrom seemed unbothered, and as all four present in the room turned their heads towards the sound of approaching footsteps, he said, "Well, the situation would be best explained by the people themselves."

"No doubt, Lord Chrom!" A familiar man with a familiar cravat came in from a side door. He was followed by someone not so familiar. "I, the very picture of an archer, shall relieve your tactician of his confusion!" Virion bowed with a flourish. "Accompanied by my trusty vassal Cherche, of course." The woman behind the blue-headed archer nodded.

Robin interrupted, "Hold on." He held up a hand to indicate Virion stop talking. "How can you have a vassal? Only noblemen have vassals. Aren't you just an archer?" Virion lifted a finger at this. "Alas, dear Robin, I must prove you incorrect. You see, there has been something that I have been hiding from you. Of course, it is with the deepest regret that I say this-"

The woman, Cherche, proceeded to finish Virion's sentence. It seemed that she sensed or was aware of Virion's capabilities to go on forever, and knew when to cut him short. "And he gives his deepest apologies. But for now, allow us to reintroduce ourselves." She bowed. "This man is of the House Virion, and was the former Duke of Rosanne. I am Cherche, his vassal." Robin, having had the chance to calm down sufficiently, scratched his head. "Rosanne...? I'm not sure I've heard of such a country before."

Virion sighed heavily. "It is with my deepest sorrow that I inform you that Rosanne is no longer a country." Robin wrinkled his brow, now more confused than ever. "What? What happened to it?"

The Duke of Rosanne shook his head with regret. "A man name Walhart and his hordes happened." Cherche nodded, no mirth present at all in her expression. "Indeed. To provide you with a larger picture, Valm and Rosanne, along with smaller countries such as Chon'sin, all occupy the large continent to Ylisse's west." Virion adjusted his cravat and frowned, unnaturally sombre for a man of his degree of dandiness. "Truly, I had thought Rosanne and our neighbours to be at peace. Alas, it was... Not meant to be."

Ignoring the incredibly cliché line her liege had just uttered, Cherche gently coughed in order to bring the room's attention back to her, and said, "Valm, our northerly neighbour, had just come under the rule of a man named Walhart the Conqueror, when Duke Virion first became aware of the threat of Valm." The archer looked disgruntled as he said, "I would never have thought that Valm would be capable of starting a war."

Chrom stifled a noise of disbelief. "You mean to tell me you didn't realise the Valmese were a threat to peace the entire time?" Virion shrugged, and got straight to the point - again another unnatural act for him. Robin felt like the day would just be anomalies after anomalies, the way things had been going. "It was a foolish act on my part. And in leaving the country with my tail between my legs, I feel that I may have exacerbated the crisis beyond peaceful resolution." He looked at his vassal, and the rose-haired woman gave the attending people a small bow of the head.

"So we come to you, Lord Chrom and Khans Flavia and Basilio, to ask for aid in defeating the Valmese," Cherche eventually said. "With the knowledge of the Valmese that we possess, it would be most helpful if you could help us suppress them back to Valm," Virion murmured gravely. "It is only a matter of time until they set their sights on Ylisse and Regna Ferox, and I fear that when that day comes, nothing will oppose them."

"And that, boy," Basilio announced, "Is what Flavia asked you to come to the Feroxi capital for." Flavia nodded. "The oaf speaks the truth. Duke Virion here has told us that the Valmese intend to invade... Starting with Ylisse."

Chrom furrowed his brow, thinking hard. "So what do you suggest we do?" There was a silence, until Robin cleared his throat. "I may have the solution... But I'll forewarn you, Chrom, you won't like it." Chrom's resolute expression did not waver. "I don't care. Whatever it takes, I'll make sure Ylisse is safe."

Robin sighed. "I was afraid you'd say that..."

A few weeks later, the Sheperds were on the march. Where to?

"Plegia," Robin had told Sumia and the rest grimly. "Chrom says pack as little as possible. He wants to be in there and out as quickly as possible." The reason for as to Chrom's willingness to not stay in Plegia was understandable, and the sheperds had dispersed without a word. Why Plegia? Lissa had just asked Robin that.

Robin scratched his head, saying, "We need assistance to fight Valm, and the Plegians can do that by contributing ships. Valm has a great navy, and Ylisse... Not so much. So we need their help, y'see?" Lissa shrugged from atop her horse. "I guess."

The Sheperds had just come back from an almighty fight at Port Feroxi between the first Valmese troops and the Feroxians. Virion's vassal, Cherche, and her wyvern, Minerva, had been a great help in ensuring victory for the Ylissean force. Now, Cherche rode far above the main train in the sky, accompanied by the ever curious Nowi. Admittedly, a dragon riding a dragon was a weird thought, but Robin preferred not to think about it too closely. In any case, at the moment, Nowi had tome, not dragonstone, in hand, so there was no technical dragon atop the wyvern. Robin was sure that Miriel would disagree.

The reason for the sudden change in arms was that a while ago, Robin had been overlooking the Sheperds' training schedules when he had realised that many of them had only trained in one field, meaning that when the time came to it, it would be extremely hard for them to wield different weapons if there ever was a shortage or more men were needed to do a specific job.

So, Robin had devised a solution that he liked to call 'reclassing'. It mainly involved training fighters skilled in an area to fight in another, and Robin had to say, it was working extremely well. Vaike had kept his axe, but had been given bows and arrows to see how he would fare. At first, Robin had been terrified that Vaike would snap the arrows in half with his fearsome strength he had garnered as a warrior, but Vaike had impressed all with his remarkable aim. Robin assumed it stemmed from all the hand axe practice.

As for Lissa, Robin had noticed that the Exalt's sister was, for some reason, rather unsteady on her feet. Of course, Robin had been worried for her, and so he had procured a horse for her. Lissa had called it Fluffy. Robin hadn't had the heart to disagree.

Now, they rode to Plegia, immediately after they had trounced the opening Valmese troops. According to Frederick, they were less than a day's march away with the sun setting soon. Robin made a mental note to ensure that they had a proper plan when they reached the Plegian capital as he walked beside Fluffy. Undoubtedly something would be afoot, knowing the Plegians, and Robin preferred to know what he would he do if things went awry.

"Heeey!" Someone yelled, and Robin looked up. Ahead, whom Frederick had sent to scout ahead, was waving his hand in the air. "Chrom, Robin!" Robin barely had time to think What, so fast? before he heard Stahl calling for him and Chrom. He hastily made his way past horses and people in armour to were the green knight was, and breathlessly asked, "We're here already?"

Stahl seemed conflicted, and pointed down the hill that the Sheperds were currently on top of. "Not quite. I think that their King sent us a... welcoming party...?" Chrom frowned. "We'll see what this 'welcoming party' has to offer. Robin, come with me!" Wordlessly, the Exalt and his tactician made their way down the hill.

Chrom and Robin made their way into the large empty hall without saying much. They had left the remainder of their party outside the doors, and were anything to go wrong, Robin's first course of action would be to guard Chrom at all costs and get him to the Sheperds, and seeing as how he could spy bowmen hiding in the shadows all around the room, the tactician was sure that something would go awry.

The welcoming party had offered the Sheperds only the slightest of hostility, and instead welcomed them with full hospitality. Or so Robin had thought at first, until he had seen the stiffness of their actions and the shifty way they looked about. From those tiny hints, Robin had immediately started planning. Once they had been shown to the Plegian castle's main hall, Robin had darted about, looking at fortifications, getting a brief idea of the castle layout and so on and so forth.

Now, he and Chrom made their way to the middle of the new King's throne room. "What's his name again?" Robin muttered to Chrom, and Chrom murmured back, "Validar. We don't know how or why he came to power, but-" Robin nodded swiftly, cutting the Exalt off. "No more needs to be said. Let's just do this quickly." Chrom raised his eyes and stared resolutely forward. "Agreed."

As they drew closer to the two figures in the middle of the room, Robin's eyes widened in recognition. "You!"

Aversa grinned and chuckled maliciously. "Why, it's the Ylissean tactician. So nice to see you again. Have you been well?" Chrom ignored this, and glared at Validar. "King Validar! Why is this... woman, an aid to the dead Mad King, accompanying you?"

The dark-skinned ruler did not reply to that, and smiled with all the grease of a block of butter. "Lord Chrom... It is indeed excellent to see you. I hope our welcoming party was civil?" Direct and to the point, Chrom wasted no words. "It was."

Validar gave them another smile that did not quite reflect what his eyes gave away. "Excellent, yes... Ah, now to the point of our discussion. You are in need of ships, yes?" Chrom nodded. "Yes. We were told you could provide us with some?"

"Absolutely!" Again with the smile that didn't reach his eyes, Robin thought. This man, Validar... Something about him seemed strange. Untrustworthy. He couldn't put his finger on it, but Robin could tell that something was amiss with the Plegian King. When Validar laid eyes on him, Robin suppressed a his inclination to stare. He knew Validar.

"Chrom," Robin whispered, and the Lord dipped his head slightly to show Robin he was listening. "Do you feel like... we've seen Validar before? Somewhere, a long time ago?" His friend's eyes widened, but before he could speak, the Plegian king laughed. "Now, now," he crowed, "We've just started and already the whispering! I would let you continue, but... There is somebody I would like you to meet."

A shadowy figure came out from the gloom, and Robin stared. That coat was awfully familiar.

"This," Validar announced, "Is the Grimleal's - our - hierophant. He accompanies me on my, ah, kingly duties." Robin blinked, and asked, "You have a successor to your faith following you?" The king's smile grew wide, and for once Robin saw real mirth in his eyes. "Take off your hood," he told the hierophant, and they slowly obliged.

A flash of silver being drawn, and a raising of a tome. Chrom stared at the hierophant, ordering Validar, "What is the meaning of this?" Validar laughed. "It is exactly what it seems!"

Robin found himself staring at... Robin. The hierophant had the same white hair as him, the same build... Everything down to the coat they wore was an uncanny parallel. The tactician didn't know what to believe. This was the first time since joining the Sheperds that he had ever been so outmanoeuvred, and it showed in his eyes.

Validar spied the confused look on the Ylissean tactician's face and did something that could be called a close approximation of a evil laugh. "This is Robin. He is my hierophant. Hm, now that you mention it, doesn't he look awfully similar to your tactician?"

Aversa chuckled softly. "Yes, one could even mistake them for one another!" The other Robin - the one that stood next to Validar - gave Robin the tactician a cruel grin. "Oh, you say your name is Robin? What are the odds that we could be so similar?"

"Hold on!" Chrom shouted. He seemed at his wits end, a feeling that Robin could relate to. "What does this mean? Why do your hierophant and Robin-"

The smile vanished from Validar's face. "Enough! Lord Chrom, it is late and we have many preparations to make. We'll, ah, give you some room to ponder this night's events. If you will excuse us, I have some conference with me and my aides. Good night, Lord Chrom and... Robin."

With that, Validar whirled around and left, closely followed by the smirking hierophant and a smug Aversa, leaving a bewildered tactician and a confused Exalt in their wake.

A/N

CLIFFHANGER.

So. Hiatus. Hiatii? Does hiatus have a plural?

Anyway, there was one, and it was long, and I am a horrible person. Yes, I know that.

The reason? Life, I guess. It's very hard to avoid, especially when you're me. Life kind of happened, and I lost motivation to write, yadda yadda yadda, etc etc etc, I know. The point is, though, I'm back!

So in this thingy, I may have gotten the timeline really outta whack, I'm not too sure why. In any case, forgive me for not being too accurate to the game's storyline, but I have only taken tiny liberties in this, I think. In any case, I am sorry, but what fun would a story be without some made-up bits, eh? I AM PROUD OF MYSELF FOR USING BIG WORDS YAY.

Also, I'm really sorry for the copious amount of cuts I did. I was thinking of writing more, but I felt like we needed to get to the meat of the story rather than stay on the opening scenes. Apologies ^^; Does Validar remind you of Jafar from Aladdin by any chance? The resemblance is uncanny.

So that's it. I've been thinking that I might update more regularly and in the form of uploading half a chapter and working on it there bit by bit, so it won't be such a long wait until I update. What do you guys think? Thoughts and comments are greatly appreciated and belong below :D

Disclaimers: I don't Chrom or Robin but Lon'qu is mine. Everything belongs to Nintendo, ja?