Review responses:
blankprofe- Thank you so much! I felt the same way about SAO and its characters/storyline (except for Mother's Rosario, that was pretty good) and I wanted to use that premise for a story with one of my favorite games, haha. Anyways, thank you again for your review and make sure to check back again for future chapters!
Silverbird22- Oh, I never thought of that, haha! Unfortunately I can't watch videos until I get back from my vacation, but when I do I'll definitely try to watch some playthroughs. As for the other children, that's a surprise, heehee... I'll try to update as soon as I can!
NotSoGreatGamerGirl- Haha, yet another surprise! Make sure you keep updated so you can find out! And also, thank you as well. I'm so glad you're enjoying this fic!
Chrom, in his frustration, logged out and woke up in his bed. He pounded his fist on the mattress out of anger for losing the match, and out of anger for failing to get Mirage to talk about Robin. He had let her slip away, again. The prince laid his head down upon his pillow, closing his eyes before he heard a knock on the door.
"Father?" Morgan said from outside, his voice muffled. "May I come in?"
"Of course," Chrom replied, his temper calming.
His son opened the door shyly and walked into the room.
"Are you alright? Everyone else respawned except for you," he made his way toward the bed and sat down.
His father buried his face in his hands.
"... I failed. I'm sorry, Morgan. I'm so sorry," he apologized sadly.
Morgan inched toward Chrom until he was right beside him.
"What for?" His son asked. "You didn't do anything."
Chrom shook his head.
"No, it's my fault. First, I let your mother defeat Grima. Maybe... Maybe if I had done it, she would've woken up. After that, I could have gotten Mirage to give me some information on her if I beat him," he sighed. "But I lost. Now, I don't... I don't know if we'll ever find her. I'm sorry, Morgan. You deserve better... You deserve a mother."
Morgan wrapped his arms around his father.
"... Mother knew," he said softly. "She knew, even in the game, that there was a chance she wouldn't come back. She did it to protect the world... To protect us."
Chrom embraced his son.
"I know..." He looked at Morgan's face, which resembled Robin's. The same eyes, nose, cheeks, everything. But he had his father's hair and smile.
"Are you going to log back in, Father?" Morgan asked. "It's alright if you don't want to, though. It must be harder for you than any of us... You knew her the best, after all."
His words struck a chord within Chrom.
"... Yeah," He said.
"Oh, and Father, what were you saying about Mirage having information on Mother?" The blue-haired tactician asked.
The memory of it made Chrom sick.
"He... He had a levin sword. Your mother was a master of the levin sword, and they were hard to come by. And given his ability to be able to take weapons and switch them back... He could have taken her sword and killed her. That's the only reasonable explanation I can come up with."
"Hmm..." Morgan pondered this information. "That makes sense. But if Mother was killed, why didn't she log out? Wait, no, she's still hooked up to the NerveGear! Do you think...?"
That scared Chrom.
"... No, she can't be dead," he said, trying to calm himself down. "The hospital would've called me if anything happened."
Morgan sighed in relief.
"Oh, right, sorry. I forgot about that," he breathed. "But where is she? I'm sure she would log out the first chance she got. If she really is in the game, then why can't she log out?"
That got Chrom thinking.
"I have no idea," he sighed. "Let's get back to the game."
"Alright," Morgan got up.
"Um, wait," Chrom faced his son. "Thank you, son. Having you and Lucina here with me is one of the best things that's ever happened. I only wish Robin could be here, too."
Morgan grinned.
"Of course, Father. I wish Mother was here as well. But I'm sure we'll find her. Our ties have to be stronger than some game, right?"
Chrom nodded in agreement before Morgan left and the prince logged in again, spawning in Alfaria, the last city he visited. Morgan had instructed him to meet them in the same tavern again, their temporary meeting place before they got enough money to buy a guild house.
He awkwardly sat down next to Morgan, all the others looking a bit dejected.
"... Are you doing alright, Father?" Lucina asked. "We were all worried when you didn't respawn."
Chrom shook his head.
"I'm fine, Lucina. Thank you," he told her reassuringly. "But I think I might have some more information on Robin."
They all perked up.
"What is it?" Inigo asked.
He explained the situation and all that he and Morgan talked about, including his theory. Two questions remained, though: Where was Robin and why didn't/can't she log out? Some of them offered a few other observations, but none made complete sense.
"That man, Mirage, had what looked like a weapon swap skill," Frederick said. "He switched my lance with his sword. But there are no known classes in this game that let a person use those two except for Great Knight, but he certainly wasn't on a unicorn."
"And the girl, Chimera, had some sort of warping skill," Lucina recalled, remembering her humiliating defeat. "She disappeared and reappeared behind me in the blink of an eye."
"Yeah!" Lissa agreed. "She took me out in less than a second!"
Olivia frowned slightly.
"She used that skill on me, too."
"Our opponent, Ryū, had a rare skill too," Owain observed. "He split his axe into two axes and used some sort of awesome special move on Inigo."
Inigo grimaced.
"You make it sound like it was fun, but it was really the opposite. For me, at least..."
"They all had unknown skills and classes," Chrom summarized. "We don't know where they got them or how. And each of them only used one of their unknown skills except for Mirage... He used two, the weapon swap skill and that lightning skill. That means they still have two and three skills we don't know about. If we got beaten so easily by them only using one or two of their skills, then we've got a serious problem..."
"I agree," Morgan bit his lip. "But I think we should start getting some exp. and money so we can get stronger. Those players have probably been playing since the launch of this game. We have to do some serious work if we want to stand up to them."
Lucina nodded.
"You're right, Morgan. I will not allow anyone to hurt anyone I care for, including my mother!" She exclaimed determinedly.
They went to another forest and began to hunt normally. They leveled up a level or two after defeating a few spawn camps. They had come to a particularly weak forest, so it was a good place to start. The group had just finished another camp before they heard what sounded like shouting.
"What's that?" Lissa asked. "Oh no, I hope it's not them..."
Chrom flew off towards the noise anyway, causing his sister to sigh. The rest of them opened their wings and followed until they were at the edge of the forest and saw a small girl with blue hair tied into high ponytails on both sides of her head fighting a large plant monster. Much to Chrom's surprise, she didn't look any older than eleven or maybe twelve. Despite this, she clearly was a capable fighter and fought in her armor like it was comfortable clothing. One of the vines struck her head, knocking her down and making her hairties fall off. Her long hair fell to her waist and she shook her now messy bangs onto her forehead. She quickly chopped off the plant's vines before the delivering the finishing blow with a skill Chrom couldn't see because of how fast she attacked, killing it. She sheathed her sword before glancing over at the Shepherds, who watched her in awe.
Suddenly the blue-haired girl re-equipped her sword and pointed it at them.
"What are you looking at? Were you planning on taking my drop?" She questioned them, sounding surprisingly mature.
"No, of course not," Chrom said, trying to calm her down. "We heard yelling and thought maybe someone needed help.
The girl snorted.
"Well, I assure you I need no help. Not with taking down monsters, at least. But if you truly don't mean any harm, then I have something to ask you," she lowered her sword.
"What is it?"
"... I'm looking for someone. Someone by the name of Chrom. Have you seen him?"
That caused a stunned silence for a few seconds.
"... Why are you looking for him?" Chrom asked.
"Well, I heard he had come to the game and wanted to see him. So have you seem him or not?" Her voice began to get impatient.
The prince sighed.
"You're looking at him."
The girl first looked shocked, but then narrowed her eyes.
"What proof do you have?"
"Well, if you know what this is," he equipped Falchion. "You can also check my name."
She did, and her eyes widened, seeing the name.
"Oh, gosh... I... I found you," she began to say, her eyes welling up before she ran to him, hugging him.
"Um," Chrom said uncomfortably. "Might I ask who you are?"
The girl looked up at him, her dark brown eyes staring into his, and it felt like he was looking at Robin herself.
"... Are you?" Chrom began to say.
She nodded.
"I am. I-I..." She began to sob. "I've wanted to meet you for so long, Father."
He gently hugged her before he overcame his initial shock.
"Where's Mother? I'd love to meet her," she asked curiously.
That made them all tense. She could feel it as she continued to hug her siblings.
"What's wrong? Where..." She looked around. "Where is she?"
The girl turned to Chrom.
"Where's Mother?" She asked, making his heart stop.
"... Your mother, uh- what's your name?" He asked.
"My name's Yui!" She said with a smile that looked so much like her mother's.
That made Chrom happy.
"Yui, your mother is-" his voice cracked, remembering the pain of losing her.
"Your mother, our mother, I mean, isn't here right now," Lucina said, walking up to her, Morgan close behind.
"Who are you...?" Yui stared at them curiously.
"If Mother had blue hair, I bet she looked like this when she was younger..." Morgan thought.
"We're your siblings. I'm Morgan, and that's Lucina," he introduced them. "It's nice to meet you, Yui."
Yui's eyes lit up like she saw a cookie hidden in Morgan's pocket and raced toward him, giving him a big hug, nearly tackling him.
"Whoa!" He exclaimed.
"Oh, I've always wanted a big brother!" She hugged him tightly before rushing to Lucina and doing the same.
"And I've always wanted a big sister, too!" Her silky hair flew in the wind as she ran towards her. "Oh, Hiro's gonna be so happy when he finds out!"
"Hiro?" Lucina asked. "Who's that?"
"My twin brother!" Yui explained. "He was looking for you in another town. I bet he'd want to meet you too!"
"Wait, you have a twin?" Chrom asked.
Yui nodded before hugging his arm.
"Do you want to meet him?" She asked.
"Um, sure," her father replied.
"Oh, goodie! Can I ride in your pocket?" Yui asked.
"My pocket?"
Yui suddenly began to glow and shrink, becoming as small as Chrom's finger.
"I'm a pixie, see? I can only fly in pixie form," she fixed her tiny blue dress. "But these wings don't get me very far. Can I ride in your pocket so I don't get tired?"
Her bubbly personality made Chrom laugh.
"Sure, but under one condition."
She hovered in front of his face.
"What is it?"
"You have to answer a few of my questions after we find your brother, alright?" He proposed.
"Deal!" Yui flew straight into his front pocket on his chest. "Heehee! Okay, Hiro's in Cirria right now. Let's look for him there, okay?"
"Okay," it was shocking how her personality had shifted so quickly. She had almost acted like Lucina had when she was Marth, but then she changed into a cheerful and hyper girl. It made Chrom wonder what her brother was like. "Shepherds, follow me!"
They all did and flew to Cirria, which was on the other side of the forest. They all landed and Yui changed back to her normal form.
"Hold on, please, I'll message him," she opened her menu and did just that. After a minute she closed it. "He said to meet him by the weapons smith."
Chrom nodded and took them there. His heart stopped when he saw the boy sitting on a bench next to the smith. At first he did a double take, thinking his eyes deceived him. But this boy, his apparent son, looked like him when he was a child.
"Whoa, he looks like you, Chrom!" Lissa exclaimed.
Hiro looked up and ran towards them.
"... Are you Chrom?" He asked in disbelief.
"I am," Chrom replied. "You must be Hiro."
The boy nodded.
"That's correct, I..." His eyes welled up. "I just... It's just so good to finally meet you, Father..."
Chrom embraced the boy.
"It's alright, son, I'm here now..."
Yui coughed, grabbing their attention.
"So, you wanted to ask me some questions, Father? I'm sure Hiro will help, too."
Hiro nodded.
"Alright, then," Chrom faced the Shepherds. "Everyone, feel free to shop or forge while we talk. We'll meet after I send you all a message."
They complied before Chrom stopped Lucina and Morgan.
"You both should come, too."
The two siblings did so and on the way to a café, Yui grabbed Morgan's hand.
"Can give me a piggyback ride?" She asked.
"Yeah!" Morgan replied, hoisting her up on his back.
"Yay!" Yui smiled, clinging to her older brother.
Hiro shyly walked up to Lucina before tapping her shoulder.
"Hiro? What is it?" She asked. "... Would you like me to carry you, too?"
He shook his head.
"I just wanted to hold your hand," he said quietly.
"Of course," Lucina grabbed his hand gently. Hiro smiled contentedly, swinging their hands softly.
Chrom looked back to see them, the sight heart melting. When they made it to the café, Morgan put Yui down and they all sat down, Chrom, Lucina, and Morgan on one side, while Yui and Hiro sat on the other side.
"So, would you mind explaining how you got here? In this game, I mean?" Chrom asked after ordering them drinks.
"We came from the same future as our older siblings," Hiro explained, looking at Lucina and Morgan. "Before Mother died... She was pregnant with us. But nobody knew, not even her. That was until she began to feel it when she was in-game, since time flows faster there. She was about to tell you, Father... But that was when GRIMA shut down the "Log Out" feature of all the games and no one could log out. At the time, you were inside FE:A to visit Lucina and Morgan. That was before GRIMA killed Mother to set an example... But since our consciousnesses had already been stirring within her, NAGA sent us back in time with everyone else before Mother was completely deleted. The time travel process made us age somehow, and we landed here a few days ago instead of back when Lucina and Morgan were sent back. I think NAGA knew we probably wouldn't have made it if she sent us back that far. She programmed these memories into us, but they didn't come back until just recently."
"That's why I didn't remember how Mother hasn't woken up yet..." Yui said quietly. "I never met her. Or you, Father. Or Lucina or Morgan."
"... It's makes sense," Lucina fidgeted with her sleeves. "Mother died along with all the rest of the patients in the hospital. But... I had no idea she was pregnant."
A moment of silence passed before Hiro spoke.
"Um... What does Mother look like?"
"... Perhaps you'd like to see her?" Chrom asked.
Yui shook her head.
"Of course we would. We'd love to. But we can't," she sighed sadly. "The de-virtualization machine's not working as smoothly as it used to. It could be months before they get it working safely again."
"... I can't just leave you here," he told them solemnly.
"No, it's alright, Father," Hiro said. "... Right now we need to focus on finding Mother."
"Do you have any more information on her?" Chrom asked eagerly.
Yui nodded.
"Before, we were tracking her account to see if we could find her. But recently it disappeared off the player list and we lost any traces of her we could find. We knew something wasn't right," she bit her lip. "So when we heard someone with the Lord class joined, we figured it would be you, and we could look for Mother together."
"So she didn't go offline? She just disappeared?" Chrom asked.
"That's what seems to have happened," Hiro said, deep in thought. "But that could mean one of two things: Her account was deleted, which is extremely unlikely. The last we checked, she's still in the hospital. If her account was deleted while she was in-game, she would die. But this isn't the case. The second situation could be that- No, never mind, it doesn't make sense."
"... Hey, can you two come here for a minute?" Chrom asked. They complied and sat down on either side of him before he pulled them into a hug. "Heh... twins, huh? Who knew?"
"Oh, Father..." Yui sobbed, embracing him tight. "I love you! You're just like I imagined!"
"I love you as well, Father," Hiro sniffled. "... Please don't leave."
He wiped his tears on his sleeve.
"... Wait, no, that was silly of me," he corrected himself. "You have to leave. You can't stay here forever, like us..."
"I might not be able to stay here forever, but I promise I'll come when I can. One day in the real world is forty-two days here... You must have been waiting quite some time to find me."
They nodded, trying to stifle their tears. Within the game, though, it was impossible. If the tears rose up, they fell down.
"Yui," Chrom held his daughter and wiped her face. "You look so much like your mother."
Her face lit up.
"... I do?"
"Yes. Just as beautiful as her, too."
"And Hiro," he ruffled the boy's hair. "You remind me so much of myself when I was a boy... Heh, those were the days."
"How so?" Hiro asked curiously, tying to wipe his nose. "You're so brave and confident... And strong. But I'm a scaredy cat and a wimp."
"Don't say that," Chrom said firmly but gently. "The only thing limiting you is your attitude. When I was younger, I was such a scrawny and spoiled kid. But then, when I realized that, I wanted to become better, and stronger. For myself and for those who I care about. Even now... I'm still afraid. But that's not a bad thing as long as you don't let that fear control you. You can do it, too."
"Oh... Father, thank you so much, I..." Hiro stuttered between sobs, burying his face into his father's shoulder.
After a minute or so, Yui finally broke the silence.
"What's Mother like?" She asked.
"I should let Lucina and Morgan explain," Chrom looked at the two expectantly.
"Mother's one of the kindest and smartest people I've ever known," Lucina reflected. "She always did what was best for everyone, not just herself..."
The princess remembered that evening, the red and yellow sky. The glint of Falchion as the sunlight hit it as she pointed it towards the woman who loved her most, her mother. Looking back, it was one of the worst things she had ever done, or attempted to do. Her mother's words rang in her head, like they did every night before she dreamt, even when she was asleep.
"If you hold any love for Chrom, then let this be done..." Lucina had said. Deep in her heart, she knew that Robin loved Chrom just as much as she loved her daughter. This was only confirmed even more by her response.
"... My life is yours. It always has been," Robin wore a gentle smile, a smile one would wear when seeing an adorable baby, which in Robin's eyes, was her beloved daughter in front of her. Lucina couldn't believe how even when a sword was being pointed at her, by her own child no less, she could still look at her with her gentle eyes and love her.
"Don't say that, Mother! Don't!" Lucina said beseechingly. "... That only... makes it harder."
"I would give my life for Chrom... And for you," Her mother spoke before smiling once more, the same one Lucina had seen when she first reunited with her. "I know you will be quick about it. I love you, Lucina."
"M-Mother..." Lucina began to tear up.
"... I'm ready now. Do what you must."
Robin closed her eyes, looking tranquil and at peace, as if asleep.
"..." Lucina's arms began to shake, her tears falling uncontrollably as she cried silently.
She didn't want to. She didn't want to do it. She didn't want to kill the mother who loved and cared for her unconditionally. Lucina was choosing between her father and mother. If she chose her mother, Chrom would die and the world would erupt into chaos. If she chose her father, Robin would die and Grima wouldn't be resurrected, and her father would live.
The princess hated Grima, the dragon who had ruined her life and killed her parents. When she found out Grima and her mother were one, her first instinct was to eradicate the fell dragon once and for all while she had the chance.
But now she saw that her Mother's life was too high a price to pay.
"... Oh, damn me! I can't do it!" She exclaimed, dropping Falchion on the ground and falling to her knees, sadness overwhelming her. "I'm sorry, Mother! I'm so sorry! Please forgive me!"
Robin rushed to her daughter, holding her close and stroking her back comfortingly.
"Oh, my poor girl," she brushed Lucina's hair out of her face and wiped her tears. "There's nothing to forgive."
Lucina wept into Robin's cloak, sobbing uncontrollably while her mother comforted her.
"Yeah! And she always stood up for what was right!" Morgan chimed in. "She always kept fighting for everyone she loved... And I think she still is."
The twins beamed excitedly.
"Wow! She's really my mother? Oh, I'd love to meet her!" Yui tugged on Chrom's arm. "She sounds just like what I dreamt she was like!"
"I'll have to train twice as hard now so I can finally meet her myself," Hiro said determinedly.
Chrom smiled at them before a warning popped up in front of him, signaling he only had an hour left in-game.
Yui looked over at it and her face fell.
"Oh," she said, her voice becoming weak. "You have to go soon."
Hiro remained silent, only clinging to Chrom tighter, as if pleading for him to stay.
"Hey, I'll be back tomorrow," Chrom told them. "... Which is more than a month here, I know. But I promise I'll come back for you whenever I get the chance."
"Pinky promise?" Yui asked hopefully, holding out her pinky while Hiro mirrored her.
"... Alright," he interlocked his pinkies with theirs, causing them to smile.
"Thank you, Father," Yui squeezed Chrom with all the force in her arms, which was a lot from the years of training she'd gone through. She and Hiro were actually much older than they looked. Since an avatar is either created from one's real life body or made from scratch, it never ages unless unless one set the settings for it to do so. Since Yui and Hiro were virtual children, their bodies only existed on the network and never aged because they didn't have external access to their accounts.
"Can I call you Daddy?" The younger girl asked.
"Can I, as well?" Hiro also asked, much to his surprise.
"Sure," he told them. "Why didn't you call me that before?"
"Well... At first I thought that, but then I was afraid you might mind," Hiro explained.
"Of course I wouldn't mind," Chrom informed them. "You're my children. You can call me Father, Daddy... You're family either way."
Now all the Shepherds only had about an half an hour left. Chrom instructed Lucina and Morgan to play with Yui and Hiro and gave them money to buy ice cream while he met with the rest of the guild. He called them all together to meet at the park and he told them all of the situation.
"I'll be on tomorrow," he said. "Olivia and Inigo, feel free to come if you want."
After they logged out, Lissa and Frederick got Owain to play with his cousins. He ran off and left the three alone.
"Wow, Chrom! Only almost twenty-four and the dad of five kids!" Lissa laughed.
"Techically I'm only the dad of one right now," he sighed.
"But still, it's funny," she responded. "Yui's looks like Robin, but with your hair and attitude. And Hiro looks just like you when you were that twelve, but acts like Robin when she first joined the Shepherds!"
It was true.
"But still, I can't help but feel sorry for them," Frederick commented. "Nine weeks in the real world is a year for them. And the fact that we can only be online for two days out of forty eight must be hard for them."
"I wish we could get them de-virtualized," Chrom said wishfully. "But the other children need to be de-virtualized as well. Olivia told me that they're being transferred here tomorrow in the real world."
"Finally some good news!" Lissa breathed out. "But sorry to break it, because we only have two minutes left."
Chrom nodded before seeing his children and Owain running toward them.
"Daddy!" The twins called out, jumping into his arms.
"I have to go now," Chrom said softly.
"I wish you didn't have to..." Hiro began to say. "But I know you have to. I'll become stronger while you're gone! I promise! For Mommy!"
"That's my boy," Chrom kissed his forehead.
"Hey!" Yui exclaimed in jealousy. "I'm going to train hard, too! So that we can all be a family!"
"That's my little girl," Chrom kissed her as well.
"I love you both so much," he told them. "I'll be back.""I love you too, Daddy," they both said, squeezing him tighter. He last felt their embrace before he automatically logged out, waking up and staring at the ceiling.
Author's Note: Happy New Year! I hope you all had a great time and that we can all look forward to this new year to learn from our mistakes of the past and taking our happy memories of 2014 with us. Sorry I haven't updated for a few days, I spent New Year in downtown Sydney. Long story short, it was crazy busy and tiring, I could barely breathe with all the people crowding the streets to watch the fireworks. I wrote the second half of this chapter on the plane, so hopefully this will be up when I can get wifi at the hotel. Thanks for reading and if you enjoyed, please do follow/favorite and review, it would mean a lot to me as a writer. Your feedback helps me to become a better writer and in turn, to help entertain you, the reader. Stay tuned for the next chapter!
