The Shepherds had set up camp for the night in the desert pass, a little ways away from Plegia's capital. While the desert was sweltering during the daytime, at night, it was absolutely freezing, but the chilliness kept Ilina awake as she pored over maps.

Staying focused was another thing entirely. No matter what, Ilina's mind would wander, thinking about Marth, who'd gone to Ylisstol and stayed with her mother to protect her, and about the Grimleal, who'd caused the Shepherds trouble, but also gifted them with two new recruits, Gregor and Nowi. And then, on top of everything, they were to march into Plegia the next day – the very place her mother absolutely despised. There was a vague, nagging feeling in Ilina's gut that made her want to see that woman Aversa again, though she couldn't fathom why.

Something soft fell onto her shoulders. Ilina smiled as she pulled the blanket around herself, and the shivers quickly died down. "Thank you," she said as Chrom sat down next to her.

There were dark circles under his eyes, and there was a tension in his shoulders that certainly wasn't there about a week ago. "You look like you're dueling with some unpleasant thoughts," he said. Something warm bloomed in Ilina's chest. Here he was, worrying about her when his sister's life was on the line… but then again, she did promise to find some way to save the Exalt, so of course he'd want her in optimum condition when they stormed the capital. "Are you all right?" he asked her concernedly.

She couldn't tell if he was worried about her physical health or her mental stability, though at this point, it could easily have been either one. "I'm fine," she said quietly.

She'd pulled her hair into a low ponytail because sweat made it cling annoyingly to the back of her neck, but after a long day of marching and fighting, several strands had come loose. Chrom pushed one particularly large strand behind her ear, his large hands warm and comforting. She didn't even look up at him, choosing instead to try and focus on the maps and battle plans before her. "Whatever it is that ails you, you can tell me," he said. "You can trust me."

Ilina glanced briefly at the rest of the Shepherds. Sully looked like she was trying not to fall asleep, but if the way her eyelids would droop every so often was any indication, she was failing miserably. Kellam stood almost protectively by her, ready to wake her up at a moment's notice. Anna was having a spirited discussion – at least on her part – with Panne about something or another. Sumia was ripping petals off of flowers Ilina had brought, and Ilina had to force herself to look away, or risk saying something in opposition. Cordelia was polishing her lance – Ilina didn't know why, since it looked perfect as it was – and occasionally cast surreptitious glances in Chrom's direction. Stahl and Gaius were still eating. Frederick was clearing away people's discarded bowls and utensils, and Lon'qu was off sulking in a corner. Vaike was pestering Miriel for something or another, and Lissa and Maribelle were covering a sleeping Ricken with a blanket. Flavia and Basilio had both fallen asleep entirely, Flavia's head resting on Basilio's shoulder and Basilio's head resting on top of hers. Gregor and Nowi had fallen asleep right by each other, with Nowi hugging Gregor almost possessively.

Ilina sighed. Everyone else was nervous, too; it wasn't just her. "It's not that I'm dueling with unpleasant thoughts… just that I'm dueling with too many at once." She couldn't tell him about how anxious she was, about how there was this small, negative part of her that insisted that the Exalt was doomed and that there was no possible way to save her. The spy had said she was to be executed the following morning, after all. What if I can't do this? she wanted to ask, but Chrom was, without a doubt, the wrong person to ask. After all, it was his sister's life that was on the line. She wanted her mother. She wanted Aversa.

Aversa? Where did that come from?

She must have said or done something, because Chrom now looked even more concerned. "Ilina?"

"It's—" She sighed harshly before she could finish brushing him off again. "I'm worried about… what we'll find in Plegia." Chrom sucked in a breath, and Ilina squeezed her eyes shut in frustration; of course that was the wrong thing to say. "I mean—"

"I worry, too," he said.

And then, another nagging thought surfaced to her mind. "Chrom? Can I ask you something?"

"Go ahead."

"You took Gregor and Nowi in with little argument," Ilina said. "All we know of their pasts and livelihoods is that Gregor is a mercenary who may or may not kill us all at his convenience, and that Nowi is a Manakete who may very well be over a thousand years old."

"Your point being?" Chrom asked.

"Did you ever stop to consider that it was some sort of trap?" Ilina retorted.

Chrom chuckled. "That's what I have Frederick for."

"But—"

"Ilina, if I see someone hurt or in need, I'm going to help them," Chrom said firmly. "Come to think of it, that's why you're here with us."

"Even me!" Ilina snapped. "You found me unconscious in a field near Southtown with no memory of how I ended up unconscious in said field in the first place, and yet you took me in anyway, with only some vague recognition from Lissa."

The corners of Chrom's mouth tightened, his eyes narrowing. "Would you rather I left you alone back then?" Something painful jolted in her chest. He was absolutely right, of course. Without his kindness and generosity, there was no telling where she'd be today. There was no telling whether she would have survived at all, actually. "I'm sorry. That was cruel of me."

Ilina simply shook her head. "It's fine. I… I'm grateful for what you did for me back then. I truly am, but… it scares me all the same. You're too trusting, Chrom!"

Chrom chuckled again. "I wish I had a gold time for every time I got this lecture."

"Just…" Ilina sighed. "Be careful. And tomorrow, you can't trust everything that comes out of the Mad King's mouth. Even if it sounds like he's trying to strike an honest deal, there's no way we can trust him to keep up his end."

Chrom looked mildly irritated. "So you'd rather we not seek compromise at all?"

Ilina really didn't want to fight with him now. Her eyes stung with the beginnings of tears, which only made matters worse. "I'm sorry…"

Chrom's expression softened considerably, though Ilina couldn't be sure that he knew she was on the verge of tears. "It seems that all we can do nowadays is disagree…" He wrapped one arm around her shoulders and hugged her close to him. "I'm sorry. This whole situation is turning me into a monster."

Ilina rested her head against him. "No, it's not. You have every reason to be frustrated and angry."

"But I shouldn't be unleashing all my anger and frustration on you," Chrom retorted. "I don't think I'll ever be able to change, you know. I'll always offer help to anyone who needs it. All I ask is that you watch out for me… inform me when I put my trust in the wrong person."

Ilina nodded. "Yes, of course."

Frederick walked up to them. "Milord," he said sharply. "Has Miss Ilina fallen asleep yet?"

"No, I'm still awake," Ilina said, pulling away from Chrom with no embarrassment. "Is there something you need?"

"The rest of the Shepherds have retired for the night," Frederick said. "I suggest you both do the same."

And Frederick was right – the camp was now almost completely empty. "You should get some rest, Ilina," Chrom advised, gathering her maps and battle plans. "Stressing yourself out with possibilities won't help anyone tomorrow."

"You're right…" Ilina stood and stretched her arms. "Good night…"


Ilina woke with a start the next morning, tangled in her blanket. Her heart was racing, and she was breathing too quickly. She felt awful. "Ilina? Hey, Ilina!" She pulled the blanket over her head. Her vision was so blurry that it was impossible to focus her eyes on anything at all, even though there was nothing but the blanket to see.

Lissa pried the blanket away from her, pulling it off of her gently. "Are you okay? What's wrong? Did you have a nightmare?"

Ilina sat up gingerly, not bothering to point out that the princess was asking too many questions at once. She pressed a shaking hand to her forehead, trying to make sense of what exactly had happened to her. "Is… that what it was? Y-Yes, it must have been…"

"Should I get Chrom?" Lissa asked slowly.

"N-No," Ilina answered automatically. "It's all right. I'm fine." Her whole body was drenched in sweat, making her clothes cling uncomfortably to her. "So, what brings you here? Was there something you needed?"

"Frederick says it's time to march," Lissa said, sounding uncertain. "Are you sure you're okay? You don't look well at all…"

Ilina loosened the already out of place ponytail she'd slept in and ran her hand through her hair in a vain attempt to comb it. The more she thought about it, the harder it was to remember her dream – but she wasn't about to let a nightmare stop her. The Exalt's life – Chrom's sister's – was on the line, and she owed her life to the Exalt. "I'm fine." She slapped her cheeks twice to wake herself up fully. "Shall we?"


Exalt Emmeryn stood at the top of a large pillar-like structure, her expression passive, as a Plegian warrior raised an axe threateningly behind her.

Mad King Gangrel cleared his throat, grinning. "Good people! Warriors of Plegia! Welcome! Welcome, one and all! We all remember the crimes of Ylisse… Would you have their witch-queen answer for them? Here? Today? Now? Finally, we will have justice!" The crowd below him erupted into cheers. "Executioner! If you would be so kind…"

"Flavia!" Ilina called.

"I'm on it!" the Khan replied as she flung an axe into the air. The axe met its mark, striking down the executioner before his blade could come anywhere near the Exalt.

"They have mages, soldiers, and even a couple wyvern riders," Ilina said. "Everyone! Be on your guard!"

"Take out all the soldiers!" Chrom ordered. "We'll deal with the Mad King later!"

And so, the battle commenced, and two soldiers and a wyvern rider were promptly struck down. And then, far along, striking down a mage – and that mage wasn't using any sort of Anima magic, so just what was going on? – was a woman with long, pale blonde hair. "Everyone!" Chrom yelled. "We have another ally, so please watch out for her!"

And there was that blind trust again. Ilina clenched her fists in frustration, making a mental note to tell him later that just because two people shared a common enemy, they were not necessarily allies.

But then Chrom made his way to the long-haired woman. "You there! Who are you? Why do you fight alone?"

"Good heavens!" the woman exclaimed. "You're prince Chrom, brother to her grace the Exalt!"

"You know me?" Chrom asked.

"Of course, sire! All Ylissean clergy do. I must thank the gods for uniting us! Oh, dearest and most heavenly fa—"

"With all due respect, now is not the time for prayer – it's action that's called for," Chrom cut him off.

"Of course!" the woman said. "We hurried here as soon as we received word of the Exalt's execution!"

"There are more of you?" Chrom asked.

The woman flinched. "Alas, there were. I lost many brave comrades along the way."

"In that case, I would be honored to be joined in battle by such a formidable woman of the cloth," Chrom said with a smile.

"Man, sire. Man of the cloth." Ilina almost screamed. First, spending two whole battles unaware of Kellam's existence, next, entirely mistaking the gender of an ally – what was next? "I am a priest. Well, technically a war monk, if you care to split hairs.

"Oh…" Chrom said slowly. "Yes, well, I'm… I didn't mean to imply… This is rather awkward."

"No, sire," the man said with a smile. "You realized your mistake quickly enough. It could have become much more awkward. That said, my name is Libra."

"Hey, Chrom!" Sully shouted. "Stop chatting, already! Let's get a move on!"

Ilina rushed to Chrom's side. "Libra, is it?" she asked. "Can you fight by Gaius's side?" She pointed to the orange-haired man, who was striking down a soldier as she spoke. "Him."

But Libra stiffened as he stared at her, his eyes narrowed ever so slightly. "You…"

"Please?" Ilina said impatiently. "We can talk later, if that's what you want."

"Yes, of course," Libra said a bit hesitantly as he went to join Gaius.

"There's someone else," Chrom said, pointing to a dark-haired woman clutching a black tome tightly. She simply stood there, giving no heed to all the fighting around her.

"Be on your guard," Ilina whispered.

"You there!" Chrom shouted. "Are you with the Plegians? You seem reluctant to fight.

"Death comes for all of us, eventually," the woman said cryptically. "Why invite it early, fighting for a cause I don't believe in?"

"What?" Chrom said slowly.

"Let's just say I'm keeping my options open," the woman said sharply. "I mean, long live the king and all, but I'd like to keep living as well." Upon seeing Ilina, the woman smirked. "Well, what have we here?"

"You're a mage, right?" Ilina asked. "In that case—"

"A dark mage, to be specific," the woman clarified. "I'm Tharja."

"Tharja…" Ilina repeated. "So I take it you're fighting for us?"

"It could be a ploy to plunge a dagger into your back," Tharja said simply.

"I strongly suspect that if that was your intention, you would have done so already," Ilina retorted. "Now, if you would be so kind, please join Gaius and Libra over there."

With the last of the mages and soldiers disposed of, the battle was finally over. Sumia and Cordelia swooped down on their pegasi. "Ilina!" Sumia called.

"We've dealt with the wyvern riders," Cordelia said. "The skies are clear!"

"I'm giving the signal," Chrom said to Ilina.

Just then, Phila, along with two other pegasus knights, swooped down before them. "Your grace!" Phila called. "Come, we must hurry!"

Ilina sighed in relief. "Thank you, Basilio…"

"What?" Mad King Gangrel spat from a clearing a little off to the side. "Pegasus knights. How did they…? That damned Ylissean tactician does not play fair!"

Aversa chuckled, smirking as she leaned lazily against Gangrel, and Ilina's blood ran cold. "Yes, well, neither do I." She snapped her fingers, and then, about ten Risen appeared around Phila.

This time, Ilina did scream in frustration. "Risen? Oh gods, no!" She turned to the silver-haired woman. "Aversa! Call them off, please!" She'd shouted that on impulse, even though she was well aware that pleading with Aversa like this was useless; she couldn't even imagine what had possessed her to beg to Aversa in the first place anyway.

Gangrel shrieked in laughter. "Oh, did an army of living corpses just appear out of the blue? Truly, the heavens smile upon mighty King Gangrel this day!"

And then the pegasus knights went down quickly in succession. It was only a magnificent stroke of luck that Sumia and Cordelia managed to escape unscathed.

Ilina's vision started to blur. "No, no, no…"

"I believe this is what they call a reversal of fortunes," Gangrel said with a smirk. "And the Exalt still stands upon that block! I have a dozen bows trained on her. All it would take is one word from me…"

"Emm!" Chrom shouted. "Hold on, I'm come—"

"Archers!" Gangrel roared. "If this Ylissean pup so much as twitches, let fly your arrows!"

"Chrom!" Ilina shouted, desperately trying to salvage the situation. The plan had failed spectacularly, but that didn't mean the Exalt couldn't still be saved. Asking Sumia or Cordelia to fly up and bring down the Exalt was out of the question; the archers would shoot them down before they got anywhere close. They could… her mind was working too slowly.

"Just lay down your sword and give me the Fire Emblem," Gangrel said.

"Chrom, no!" Ilina yelled. "You can't trust him!"

"But if I just say no, he'll kill her!" he shouted back.

Perhaps if they distracted the Mad King while someone brought down the Exalt… no, the Risen would be upon them within seconds. And if they went after the Risen, then the Mad King and Aversa would attack them while they were distracted. And if Chrom simply handed over the Fire Emblem, there was no guarantee that Gangrel would keep up his end of the deal.

"I will count to three," the Mad King sneered. "Throw down your weapons, or your Exalt becomes the world's largest quiver. One!"

"Damn it!" Chrom swore.

"Two!"

"Aversa, please…" Ilina begged weakly, but the woman barely even looked in her direction.

"Thr—"

"Gangrel, hold!" Chrom shouted. "You win. Everyone, lay down your—"

"Enough!" Emmeryn yelled. It was the first time Ilina had ever heard the Exalt raise her voice to such a degree, and she sincerely hoped she'd get the chance to hear it again someday. "King Gangrel, is there no hope that you will listen to reason?"

Gangrel sighed irritably. "You mean listen to more of your sanctimonious babble? I think not."

"No, all I want to hear now is the thunk of arrows, and a splat as you hit the ground. Take one long, last look from your perch. You do so enjoy looking down on people… Then prepare to meet the ground, and your maker! That is, unless someone were to give me the Emblem… now!"

"All right!" Chrom yelled. "Emm, I know you won't approve, but this is my final decision. Maybe someday we'll face a crisis where maybe the Emblem would've helped… But I know for a fact that Ylisse needs you, today! The people need their Exalt… and we need our sister. If those dark days should come, we'll face them together."

"Chrom…" Emmeryn said softly. "Thank you. I know now what I must do." She smiled faintly. "Plegians! I ask that you hear the truth of my words! War will win you nothing but sadness and pain, both inside your borders and out. Free yourselves from this hatred! From this cycle of pain and vengeance! Do what you must… as I will do. See now that one selfless act has the power to change the world!"

"Emm, no!" Chrom yelled. "No!"

"No…" Ilina raised the staff, hoping it would reach far enough to protect the Exalt. And, sure enough, a faint bluish shield formed around her. Chrom broke into a run.

And then, the Exalt stepped off her pillar, falling to the ground. Ilina barely even heard Chrom and Lissa's screams. "No…" Ilina clutched the staff tightly, willing the shield around the Exalt to strengthen. There was still hope. The Exalt would no doubt be heavily injured, but she would survive, and that was all that mattered.

And then, there was tremendous pain in her side. Ilina dropped to the ground, her staff falling from her hands. "No!" But before she could reach for her staff, Emmeryn had hit the ground. "Gods…" Tears of anger and frustration welled up in her eyes, and the Risen that had attacked her went still.

"DAMN YOU, GANGREL!" Chrom roared.

"NO!" Lissa screamed.

Gangrel shrieked in laughter. "Well now! How disgustingly noble. And so lovely a fall! Here I thought death to be an ugly thing. I've never seen one fall so gracefully, in fact… and I've seen many fall. So ends Emmeryn, Ylisse's most exalted! But can we ensure everyone remembers this beautiful moment of her sacrifice? Perhaps we should gather up her body and put it on display!"

"Gangrel…" Chrom practically growled, shaking with rage. "You die today!"

"No, boy!" Basilio shouted from somewhere behind them. "I secured an escape route! We have to flee!"

The pain disappeared from Ilina's side, which meant that Libra or Maribelle or someone must have healed her. She wrapped her arms around herself as the tears continued to fall. How could I fail so badly?

"Ilina, come on…" Before Ilina could process what was happening, she was being lifted onto Sumia's pegasus. And as they all escaped, she couldn't stop crying.


ANGST AND MORE ANGST!

So we're nearing the time skip, and things are coming to a head. I decided to gloss over the whole Gregor/Nowi recruitment thing because… well… it would have been exactly how it was in the game, and you might as well just play the game if you want to see that. And sorry for not posting this sooner. Real life ensued.

Anyway, for those of you that think Chrom's out of character for snipping at Ilina all the time nowadays… he might be. I might have taken that a little too far, but I'm not sure. Here's my reasoning: typically when you're close to someone, you tend to drop your guard around them. When you open up to someone, you can express your emotions more freely, which is what Chrom's doing here. He's angry and frustrated, and he's taking it out on Ilina, but not because he's mad at her or because he thinks it's her. Ilina's arguably egging him on as well, which doesn't exactly help things.

Also, I really like Chrom's supports with the male avatar better than his supports with the female one. One of the male supports kind of wormed its way in here, if you didn't notice.

And now, dear readers, a question (just for fun): not counting the avatar, what's your favorite romance option for Chrom? For me (again, not counting the avatar), it's Olivia. Yeah, Chrom gave Frozen a giant middle finger by marrying someone he just met, but once they are married, they're just so freaking cute together. Also, somehow, Inigo's father/son supports sound a little more legit with Chrom than with anyone else. But I also like pairing Lucina and Inigo just a tiny bit, which complicates things somewhat… (but my favorite Lucina pairing is something else which will be revealed later in this)

Anyway, please review!