This chapter came out later than I wanted, sorry. I was resting way more than I expected. Where's a Cure Staff when you need it?

We arrived in Ylisstol shortly after dawn the following day. The city itself is huge. Probably not as large as any of the major metropolitan centers of today in terms of population or even amount of land it covered, but certainly large enough that any city dweller could easily feel at home in it. The homes were spread as far as the eye could see, broken into neighborhoods along with markets, churches, craft halls, forges, and other buildings. There was, of course, no motor traffic, but that did not leave the roads empty by any means. There were horse driven carts, of course, but the majority of the traffic was simply pedestrians, walking about, living their lives in their beautiful city.

And Ylisstol was beautiful. The game could hardly do justice to it, even had it tried. The palace alone was a magnificent edifice, and the cathedrals and political buildings that surrounded it were all nearly as magnificent. There may have been no skyscrapers, but the architecture itself was so glorious and imposing that you couldn't help but feel impressed anyway.

This was my reaction to the grand city. I ask you then, to imagine Robin's. The poor girl was flabbergasted, and spent most of the time in the middle of the group, just gawking openly as we lead her around toward the palace.

"What's wrong, Robin? Cat got your tongue?" Lissa teased.

Robin finally pulled herself away from the sights, having seen enough that she would be processing it for a while longer, and turned to Lissa. "I can't help it. I didn't expect it to be so beautiful."

Lissa dimpled at this. "Yeah, it really is something, huh? It has to be really overwhelming for you. Ylisstol really is a wonderful city, I'm so glad the quakes and fires didn't spread this far."

Any further discussion was cut off by a clamor among the people on the street.

"It would seem that Exalt Emmeryn is already out among the people, milord." Frederick informed Chrom.

"Isn't the Exalt your ruler? Is it safe for her to walk among the common people?" Robin asked.

"The Exalt is a symbol of peace – Ylisse's most prized quality. She reminds people of the peace the first Exalt fought for when he overthrew the dark dragon at the dawn of our age."

"And with Plegia poking at our borders, she's a calming presence when others might seek war." Chrom continued.

"Then the Ylissean people are indeed lucky to have her." Robin concluded.

I said nothing during this exchange, but merely stood looking on at the Exalt, a slight frown marring my features as I thought of the troubles she has faced, and has yet to face. Her beliefs would not stop the oncoming war, nor would her sacrifice turn the people from Grima, or halt that oncoming calamity.

"She's also the best big sister anyone could ask for!"

Lissa's cheerful cry pulled me from my thoughts, and I broke into a smile as I looked up at her.

"Yes, I imagine she… Wait, what? She's your… But, wouldn't that make you and Chrom…" Robin was starting to get flustered. I did my best to hold in my chuckles, as I watched the look of consternation and embarrassment spread across Robin's face.

"The prince and princess of the realm, yes. You remember Chrom's name but not this?" Frederick replied with a good natured smile.

"You said you were "shepherds"!"

Ok, that did it. I couldn't take it anymore. Robin being embarrassed and flustered was bad enough, but cross that with her indignation at Chrom "holding out on her", and it was just too funny. I cracked up, and was laughing so hard that I nearly doubled over. Robin, though still visibly embarrassed, managed to spear me with a glare that could probably slay wyverns.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I know it's not fair to tease you about this when you lost your memory. But you looked so silly when you were processing all that."

"You don't seem so surprised though. When did you manage to figure it out?"

"Well, I recognized the Brand of the Exalt on his shoulder. Only the royal family of Ylisse bear that Brand, so I've known pretty much since I met him. But even without that, Chrom's clearly a Lord of some manner. Factor in Sir "Obvious Knight of the Realm" Frederick, and I don't think it's too much of a stretch to figure it out."

"You recognized the Brand?" Lissa interjected.

"It's not the first I've seen, milady."

By this point, Chrom had led us into the wake of the Exalt's visit, and we followed her into the palace itself. Once we were all safely inside, Emmeryn turned to face us.

"Welcome back Chrom, and Lissa. How fare you all?"

"Well, we shouldn't have any more bandit problems for a while. But we will need to continue to keep an eye on our borders. The brigands came from Plegia. We fought them off, but we then encountered the deathly creatures that we faced last night. Without our new companions, I'm not sure how well Southtown would have survived."

"Your companions than have my thanks. But these new foes are worrying. Phila tells me that they've been spotted all over Ylisse since last night. We were preparing to hold a council to discuss them, could you join us, Chrom?"

"Of course, Emm. Could Sky join us as well? He recognized the beasts, and has some information on them."

I opened my mouth to dispute this, and promptly shut it again. Chrom was correct; I did have more information on the Risen than anyone else.

And another assumption comes back to bite me on the rear. I think I need to start planning my sequence breaking a LITTLE bit in advance.

Lissa led Robin away to go look at the Shepard's HQ, while I followed Frederick and Phila to the council meeting. Various lords from Ylisse's nobility were in attendance, very few of whom I recognized. I was able to spot the Hierarch, but most of the others I didn't know until they were introduced.

The Council itself went about as well as could be expected. The words "Council of Elrond" would be too kind to describe it to anyone who was basing their opinion off the movies instead of the books. There were so many different nobles of varying rank and conflicting positions that I couldn't even try to keep them all in order.

"How are you keeping track of all this?" I whispered to Chrom. He just shrugged his shoulders and whispered back something about having a lot of practice.

While Chrom had a fairly large role throughout the Council (as might be expected of a Prince, even if he disliked it), my own role was relatively minor. The majority of the Council was a discussion on the Risen's attacks thus far, and arguments about military support for various portions of the Halidom. As important as they may seem, the Shepards turned out to only be a relatively small portion of the military might of Ylisse. Militias were commonplace, and each of the major noble lords had a direct hand in the running of their own military forces.

Of course, HAVING their own military doesn't mean that the nobles don't want others to cover their troubles for them. Of course, the Shepards can't handle all the Risen alone, we have our own missions to accomplish. I guess this is why getting Feroxi support is so important.

"In our haste to ensure our people are protected, I think we are overlooking some crucial details. What can you tell us about our new foes themselves? Do they have any weaknesses? Is there any easy way to stop them?"

I jumped up slightly as the new voice rang out through the hall. I had nearly phased out the Council entirely in my boredom. Looking toward the man who spoke, I realize that I had previously overlooked him. He was a heavyset man with a definite air of nobility. I didn't recall him saying much in the earlier parts of the Council. But now that he had spoken, it seemed clear that a great deal of the other nobles had listened to him, and were similarly looking to Chrom and myself for some reply.

Chrom, for his part, looked down at me with a bemused half grin before speaking "I think Duke Themis is correct, Sky. Whatever information we can get on these beasts would be helpful to defending the halidom."

Oh, sure, pass the buck. Don't think I'll let you get away with this so easily, Chrom. I'll get you back somehow. After I deal with the bloody politicians, I suppose.

I step up to the dais in front of me as Chrom steps down, clear my voice, and try not to pass out. Public speaking has never been one of my strong points, ok?

"Well, to start with, they're not beasts. They aren't alive in any regular sense of the word. They are animated almost solely by magic. They are, for the most part, no stronger than a man, but their weaknesses differ. Since they aren't actually alive, they won't die from loss of blood or organ trauma. That aside, however, they depend on their most important organs as much as we do. Loss of the heart or brain should eliminate one immediately."

"They are also, fortunately, almost completely mindless. They have no real goals apart from slaughter and mayhem, but they advance those goals through instinct and set behaviors. For the most part, they act incredibly predictably, and that can easily be used against them. They have a tendency to focus on the weak and vulnerable first, while ignoring more dangerous targets. They also act with a distinct lack of self-preservation or strategy. They'll rush the sick and wounded, or the women and children of a village, regardless of terrain or obstacles."

Emmeryn suddenly looked my way, a look of absolute shock on her face. "Our people will not be used as bait, no matter how expedient it may be from a military point of view!"

"Of course not, milady. Your people should be well defended, inside the strongest buildings or forts around, and the doors will be well guarded. But the Risen will go after them anyway. As they try to find the best way to get at the weaker targets, the military can pick them off on the way, or attack them en masse. The Risen will defend themselves against attackers, but won't hunt out the military units until they get close enough to attack directly. We're not using them as bait; we're merely acknowledging how the Risen will react around them."

Duke Themis contemplated this for a time, and then spoke up again. "Even if we can count on the Risen to behave predictably, dealing with them will still be a drain on our military forces. If we're to continue fighting the bandits that Plegia is sending our way, we'll need more numbers to augment our forces."

Lady Emmeryn turned to Chrom at this. "I agree. I think it wise to send an envoy to Ragna Ferox, to try to enlist their aid. An alliance with them would help secure our borders and fight off these Risen until they can be stopped for good. Can I trust you and the Shepards to secure that alliance, Chrom?"

The Hierarch objected to this. "We're beset by foes and you're going to send our best fighters away on a mission of diplomacy, milady?"

"The Feroxi respect strength and honor, Hierarch. A lesser envoy could be seen as an insult, and we may need the might of the Shepards to prove our worth to them. Don't worry, though. We'll be back as quickly as we can. We don't intend to leave Ylisse weakened any longer than we have to."

Chrom's rebuttal seemed to settle the Council, and it was only another fifteen minutes or so before we were finally excused from the chamber.

"If I never have to talk to another politician again, it will not be too soon." I grumbled, as Chrom led us out of the palace.

"Heh. You didn't handle yourself too badly, for a beginner. Gods know it took me several tries before I could attend those without making a mess of things. Don't worry about it too much; you probably won't have to show up to the next Council anyway. It's time to get you introduced to the rest of the Shepards, and get you settled into our headquarters before we leave."

Also, I feel obligated to point out that I originally had no intention of writing this chapter. I was planning to skip right to the Shepard's HQ, introducing the rest of the team, and getting some relaxation and support conversations in. Alas, when replaying the chapter to see how closely I needed to follow the script (I try not to take the script directly, as I feel it would be rather boring, both to read and write), when I noticed the "Council meeting", and realized that my character, having expressed knowledge of the Risen, would be dragged off to that whether I wanted it or not. Oh well, I had fun writing it, and it did set up some potential for future dealings with Chrom and Maribelle, so it's not a total loss. Hopefully you all enjoyed it as well.