Greetings to all of you! I'd just like to thank you all for the overwhelming support! 6 chapters and 87 reviews and an overflowing inbox? You guys are amazing!
First off, a shout out to LonquShipper for remembering and finding Kellam in the fanfic! Yes, he in fact ALREADY made an appearance in this fic;) See if you can find him. There is always a special place in my heart for Kellam. Poor baby.
I'd love to thank ELDYLO, passwordrawr, The Zubatman, Tigglecake, EVmeatdrummer98, LonquShipper, RandomificationChaotic, Flik98, ThatGirlWithAShako, and to Pup-Ashbless(Thank you so much for your wonderfully long review! It gives me so much inspiration to keep writing) for your WONDERFUL COMMENTS TO GO ALONG WITH YOUR VOTES! LOLLIPOPS FOR ALL OF YOU!
To all those who private messaged me their wonderful feedback, I am in love with ALL of you. You have no idea how much your feedback means to me. COOKIES FOR ALL OF YOU!
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And with that, we move on to our story;)
Chapter 7
Cordelia felt a shadow over her and she looked up.
"Hey." Grinned Robin. "I see you're doing better with your equations."
Cordelia glanced down at her work and quickly tried to hide it. "Thanks." She said. "But I'm still rusty. Thank you for your input…yesterday."
"No problem." Said Robin, sitting next to her. Cordelia moved away slightly. Robin noticed of course, but it didn't bother him in the least. "Thank you for the other day too."
Cordelia smiled politely. "It was no problem. Most people get lost on their first day too." She put her books and papers aside. "Did my map help?"
"Map?" Robin asked. When he noticed Cordelia's expression his eyes widened when he remembered. "Oh! Right, yeah your map. Really helpful."
Cordelia's expression softened. "That's good. I've often had quite trouble drawing maps and things like that."
"You don't say." Robin briefly recalled a paper filled with random lines and arrows put together in a rough mess. Had he been someone else, he just might have gotten lost.
"It's just that…" began Cordelia shyly. "I've been trying to be of more use to Chrom and The Ylissean Army, you know? Trying to draw up strategies and such…trying being the key word."
"Chrom?" asked Robin.
Cordelia began to blush and she had quite a faraway look in her eyes. "Yeah. The captain of The Ylissean Army."
Robin wanted to burst into laughter when she realized she had the hots for Chrom. Instead, he nodded politely.
"He's the bravest person I know." Cordelia found herself saying. "And really determined too. I really admire him."
To keep himself from, how Robyn would put it, 'pulling a Robin', he changed the subject. "So, you're part of the Ylissean Army too."
"Huh?" stuttered Cordelia, being pulled out of her daydream. She returned to her default straight face. "Oh. Yes. I'm a rider."
"Rider?" asked Robin, eyes sparkling with interest. "What do you do?"
"Uhm, well," said Cordelia, noticing Robin's huge interest. "I'm on a horse and I fight with a lance or a sword. But I prefer lances."
Robin couldn't help it. "That is almost too cool. But how is it different from a knight?"
Cordelia hadn't met someone so interested before. "Well," she found herself explaining. "I'm more on rescue and scouting and such. Knights go on the offense. Players who are scouts and rescuers have more range than the ones who go on foot. But there are other classes that go on foot with wide range too, but I won't bore you with those, since, well, we don't have players for those classes."
"Range?"
"Well," Cordelia began getting her math notebook and showing it to him. "what do you see here?"
"It's a graphing notebook." Answered Robin. "So I see…gridlines."
"Correct." Nodded Cordelia. "In the games, we are given special viewing equipment that enable us to see the grid and scope of the terrain. In other words, lines like these. When it is our team's turn to make a move, we can see how many squares we are allowed to move forward. You will be able to see if you are in a danger zone or not, too. Some players, depending on class, will be able to move to certain terrains where other players cannot reach."
"It really is a game of strategy." Commented Robin, wide eyed.
"Well, strategy, teamwork, and strength." Added Cordelia. "You can't rely on one strategy alone because the terrain always changes. Each terrain has its own tricks. Which is why it's been really tough on our home team." Cordelia sighed. "Chrom's been so stressed. What we need is a tactitian. Chrom can't be expected to make all the decisions all the time, he needs someone to lean on, he needs…" Cordelia realized she'd been rambling. She cleared her throat. "Anyway. That's it."
Robin nodded. "I understand it a bit more now. Still, I'd like to know more!" he grinned.
Cordelia had to laugh softly at that. "Well, you'll know when you watch it. We have a match on Saturday. It's televised."
"I'll be watching closely." Smirked Robin.
The second bell rang and Cordelia panicked and quickly stood, knocking her books in the process. Before she could shriek, Robin swiftly caught them before they could fall into the water of the fountain. The papers were still tightly pressed between the covers. The pencil wasn't spared though.
"Careful." Grinned Robin, handing the books to a frozen Cordelia. He reached into the pool and took the pencil, shook the water off it and handed it to Cordelia. "Sorry I couldn't save the pencil."
"No, it's okay." Said Cordelia, taking the pencil. "Thank you."
"No sweat." Said Robin. He looked around. "I'll be going ahead, if you don't mind."
"Of course."
Robin waved her goodbye and left. Cordelia stared after him.
"Cordelia?"
Cordelia turned in surprise. Lucina. She must have been sitting on the other side of the fountain, as usual.
"Good morning, Lucina." Smiled Cordelia politely. "Heading to class?"
Lucina shook her head. "It's my free period. I think I'll catch up on my summer reading list in one of the study halls."
Cordelia nodded.
"Hey by the way," said Lucina, looking ahead, "who was it you were talking to? I've never seen him around before."
"Oh." Said Cordelia. "He's…well…" Cordelia smiled to herself. "someone who happened to pass by."
OoOoOoO
"What did I miss?" asked Robin as he sat down next to his sister. Miriel hadn't arrived yet. Being an Honors Class, the class didn't have that many students. There were only about twenty, and they seemed to be a serious and competitive bunch.
"Not much." Said Robyn. "Everyone's pretty much just working on Miriel's paper."
"I have ours." Grinned Robin, holding up a clear L folder with their paper in it. Robyn's eyes widened. "You're done?! I haven't had time to proofread it yet!"
"Oh please, Sis." Robin rolled his eyes. "Kindly remind the both of us just whose paper on genetic study it was that was sent to a research facility in Germany?"
Robyn shook her head. "I can't believe you didn't even let me proofread."
"Hey, I didn't wanna stress you out. You were out like a light last night, I thought you may have accidentally taken a bite of that trap muffin of yours." Robin looked around and lowered his voice to a whisper. "Which is where, might I ask?"
"Safely in my locker." Assured Robyn.
"Excuse me."
The twins looked up to see a student with red hair and glasses. He had a serious expression.
"My name is Laurent Sagely. Honors Class president, Student Council president two years running, captain of the scholastic decathlon team. Pleased to welcome you not only to our class, but to our Academy as well."
"Uh, wow." Grinned Robin. "That's a lot of creds. OW! Robyn!" His sister had elbowed him.
"Don't be rude, Robin!" she turned to Laurent and smiled. "I'm Robyn Tact, and this is my twin brother, Robin."
Laurent nodded. "A difference in in pronunciation. I understand."
Robyn beamed. "You're the first one to notice."
"I notice many things, Miss Tact." Laurent adjusted his glasses. "I approached the two of you because I have heard many things about the two of you and have been very much looking forward to finally meeting you."
"Uh, thanks." Robin replied.
"Now," said Laurent, pulling up a chair next to them, "I have heard that only last year one of you has written a paper on genetic study that was sent to Germany?"
"That'd be me." Said Robin, after shooting his sister a triumphant look. Laurent's eyes brightened.
"Would it be entirely too much trouble if I were to ask—"
Laurent was cut short when the door was heard opening. Miriel entered and Laurent's eyes glazed in admiration. He returned to his seat.
Robin whispered to his sister. "There's no shortage of attractive women here in F. Emblem, huh? Just an observation."
Robyn had to focus on the board to keep from rolling her eyes.
OoOoOoO
As soon as the bell for morning break rang, Robin stood excitedly, as the rest of the class was getting up to leave as well.
"I'm going to pick out some books from the library!" grinned Robin. "Seeing as we'll be lunching with The Ylissean Army and all and I won't have time to visit."
Robyn stood as well, no less excited. "And I'm going to go catch my thief!"
"You two seem busy."
The twins turned to see Laurent approach them.
"Yeah," said Robin. "We've kind of been planning some stuff."
"I was hoping to introduce you to the scholastic decathlon team." Said Laurent. "As a matter of fact, have any of you decided which club to join? Applications are until next Monday."
"It's only our second day here." Said Robyn apologetically. "We're still going to think things through and maybe look around."
Laurent nodded. "A wise decision. People often end up quitting their chosen clubs because they oft choose too quickly."
"And with that, we're going to go." Smiled Robin politely. He took his sister's shoulders and led her out the door. "See you later, Laurent!"
When they safely reached the hallway, the twins gave a sigh of relief.
"So I'm off to the library." Said Robin.
"And I'm off to catch the muffin thief." Replied Robyn. They both nodded curtly at each other and turned for their separate ways.
OoOoOoO
Robyn entered the locker area.
She grinned when she saw her locker. It was exciting, to see whether your victim has caught the bait or not. She felt excitement bubbling up inside of her as she was about to make her way to her locker, when suddenly…
"Robyn!"
Robyn jumped. As she turned, and she noticed the locker room's noisy chatter dropped its volume and girls were giggling and staring and sharing excited whispers. Finally she faced her caller.
"Good morning Chrom." Robyn greeted politely.
"Good morning." Chrom gave her a shy smile. "I just saw you, and thought I had to—er, that is, where's your brother?"
"I think he's in one of the libraries here." Said Robyn. "I think he wanted to borrow a couple of books."
"Oh." Chrom swallowed, not quite knowing what to say. "I see."
Robyn nodded. "Well, I'm gonna go to my locker now…"
"I got your text last night!" Chrom suddenly said. "At least, my sister did. I'm glad you're watching."
Robyn smiled. "Yeah, I know. I received your message last night." Robyn slowly made her way to her locker, still slightly turned to him, an invitation allowing Chrom to follow. Thankfully, he got the message.
"So," said Chrom, "how were your first two classes?"
"It was alright." Robyn nodded. "I met our student council president."
"Oh, Laurent? Yeah." Chrom said, leaning against the locker next to hers as she put in her combination.
"He seems to admire Miriel a lot." Robyn said, slowly opening her locker and her face breaking into a grin. The entire paper bag was completely gone. She glanced at the recycling bins. No paper bag. Looks like he learned his lesson and took the whole thing with him.
"I guess he should," shrugged Chrom, "with Miss Miriel being his cousin and all."
Robyn forgot all about the thief and closed her locker in surprise. "Really?"
Chrom nodded. "Miss Miriel's actually quite young, since she skipped a lot of grades. I'm guessing Laurent wants to follow in her footsteps."
"Wow." Said Robyn, turning and leaning her back against her locker. "That's…tough."
"I completely understand him though." Said Chrom. "Trying to follow the footsteps of someone great."
Robyn shrugged. "As long as we just don't forget what's important." When Chrom gave her a confused look, she turned to face him. "I mean, it's not bad to follow someone you completely admire. Just don't lose yourself along the way." She turned to the recycling bin. She still had a job to do. "Anyway," she said, turning back to Chrom, who was staring at her in surprise. "I've got to go."
Chrom straightened and shook his head. "Of course." He said, reverting to his gentlemanly manner. "Don't let me keep you." Robyn nodded and was about to turn to leave when he called her again. "Robyn!"
Robyn turned.
"You're coming later, right? Your brother and you?"
Robyn nodded thoughtfully. "The lunch? Yeah, Lissa and Cherche told me this morning."
"I'll meet you guys by the elevators." Grinned Chrom. And with that, he gave her one last wave and left.
Robyn turned. Now, to catch a thief.
OoOoOoO
Robin entered Library C, the literature library. He would have skipped it because Library D was his real destination, but he had to enter because it was even bigger then Library D, and this he had to see.
It was impressive because there were carpeted areas with big pillows on the floor, along with beanbags for relaxing reading. There were also chairs and tables, and sofas too. The library seemed to be divided into genre, like the Shakespearean section had an old English vibe to it, with darker mahogany bookshelves and even a skull in one of the end tables. Robin went through the books of the Shakespearean section. Complete plays, books, study guides, it was all arranged so neatly, and he was so engrossed he failed to see in front of him and he collided into someone who couldn't see clearly due to all the books they were holding. Robin thought fast, and before the someone could yelp, he grabbed that someone by the waist before they could fall, and the books fell to the carpeted floor with a quiet thud.
He now realized that that someone was a girl. She had long light brown hair that curled at the front. She had a surprised look on her face.
"A-are you okay?" asked Robin, wide eyed.
The girl swallowed before she could speak. "Y-yes, I am."
Robin pulled her to a proper standing position before letting go. She looked flustered as she smoothed down her skirt. Robin bent down to pick up her books.
"I'm really sorry." He looked up to give her an apologetic smile. "I wasn't looking where I was going."
"N-no, that's okay!" said the girl, bending down to help him. "I shouldn't have gotten this much books anyway. They updated the library again this year, and I got excited, and I took the Shakespeare route because no one really ever goes to the Shakespeare route, and—"
"Calm down." Smiled Robin, handing her a bunch of her books. "It's fine."
The girl sighed and gave him a thankful smile. "Thank you for helping me. I'm sorry, I've always been clumsy."
"Stop apologizing." Grinned Robin, helping her up. "Everything's fine. I'm Robin by the way."
"Sumia." Replied the girl. She smiled and tucked her hair behind her ear. "Thank you…for helping me."
"It's no problem." Said Robin.
"Are you new here?" asked Sumia shyly. "It's just that…well…I spend most of my time here in the library when I'm not busy, so I don't really know many people…and I don't ever recall seeing you around here before…"
"As a matter of fact, I am." Smiled Robin. Sensing her difficulty with the books, he gently took them from her despite her soft protest and he neatly laid them down on the end table next to the skull. "Don't worry," He said. "Skully could take care of them for a while." Sumia laughed shyly.
"Anyway," said Robin, looking around, "the libraries here are the best I've seen. I'd spend all day in them too if I could."
Sumia widened her eyes. "Me too!" she said. She looked to the side and smiled to herself. "It's where I spent all day yesterday, in fact. I kind of forgot I had an important meeting, so I attended it late."
"Well," shrugged Robin, "I skipped the welcoming ceremony and my homeroom cause I was totally engrossed in one of your libraries."
Sumia widened her eyes. "You didn't."
"I did." Nodded Robin.
"Well…" Sumia bit her thumb. "…have you seen the science library? Someone could really spend all day there."
"Well," said Robin, taking Sumia's books from the end table, "we've got twenty minutes left for morning break. Why not?"
OoOoOoO
Robyn was about to climb the staircase when she glanced to the trash bin next to her. A crumpled up paper bag. She grinned. She loved it when a plan went well. She looked back up to the staircase, took a deep breath, and climbed.
There were a lot of steps, but Robyn didn't care. Finally she opened the door that led to the roof. Robyn looked around. It seemed empty…
Until she heard a groan. She turned, and went behind the elevation where the staircase ended and the door stood. She just realized now that in the center of the roof was what looked like a cemented box, which is the door she came from. She closed the door behind her and went around to find someone waking up, a half-eaten chocolate muffin on the floor.
"You!" she said, enraged.
It was the guy from detention. Under the sunlight, his hair looked orange, and he glanced up at her.
"Oh. Dollface. Morning."
Robyn glared. "So it was you who stole my muffin! No wonder you were in detention this morning, you skipped homeroom too!"
The guy stretched and stood. He had a lean figure, and reached into his pocket, unwrapped a lollipop, and put it in his mouth.
"So, Dollface, mind telling me how you found me?"
Robyn was about to reply when he leaned in and whispered to her with a mischievous grin. "'Cause no one's ever found me before. I'm a clean thief. No one suspects. No evidence. Ka-poof."
Robyn took a step back. "Well, they're not as observant as me. I traced your steps easily."
"Oh, I saw you yesterday." Said the guy, leaning against the door box. "You were looking around for me." He winked flirtatiously at her. "Then again, a lot of chicks do."
Robyn rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Point is, I found you." Then she looked confused. "Wait. You saw me yesterday? How?"
The guy looked above him. Robyn followed his eyes.
Of course. He was on top of the door box.
"I gotta say," said the guy, "like I said, no one's even come close to finding me before." He approached her slowly. "So what do you say we keep this thing a little secret, eh?"
Robyn raised an eyebrow. "Look, I'm not going to report you to Cynthia—"
The guy visibly shook. "The crazy hall monitor girl? Jeez she drives me insane." He looked at Robyn. "I see. You will report me to Yappy?"
"What?" Robyn shook her head. "No. I just said—"
"Ah." Said Gaius, crossing his arms. "So that's how we're going to play this." He held up his hands. "No problem. I completely understand."
"What are you talking about?" demanded Robyn. "I just said that I wasn't going to report you!"
"The name's Gaius, by the way." Said the guy. "If we're going to have this arrangement for a while I may as well tell you my name."
"Robyn." Robyn said curtly. "But that's not the point. All I'm saying is—"
"Say no more." Winked Gaius.
"Look," said Robyn. "This is…" her cell beeped. She looked at her phone and saw a text from an unknown number.
Lissa gave me your number earlier, by the way. Wanna come meet Minerva? –Cherche
Robyn looked up again and saw that Gaius had disappeared. She groaned.
Should she go after Gaius to stop whatever he was planning, or just agree to meet up with Cherche?
