The assaulters had managed to break into the castle during the earlier explosion. They were led by a gangling man clad in a black robe, carrying a tome of Black Magic of his own creation in his hand. The most distinctive feature of his being, besides his dark, messy hair and long beard of the same colour would be his skin, being of an unnaturally cold, dark greyish hue. That skin was not of inheritance; he had brought it upon himself as he dwelled into research of Dark Magic as he worked towards fulfilling what he believed as the purpose of his lineage: the revival of Grima, the Fell Dragon. Of course, The Exalt, hailing from the lineage blessed by Naga, would be deemed as his greatest stumbling block of this goal. Besides, he knew he would need the Fire Emblem—now in the safeguard of Halidom of Ylisse—to revive the Fell Dragon and prevented any of the Naga's blessed ones—those bearing the Brand of Exalt—to reseal him.
"Remember, I want the Emblem in my hand and the Luminous Exalt down on the floor. Let nothing, nothing at all, distract you from this purpose."
"As you wish, sire," the assassin replied before he retreated back into the shadow.
When the explosion occurred earlier, many of the guards, following their instinct and sense of duty, quickly rushed to the place where the Exalt had last been seen: the Throne Room. They found her there, safe and sound, but they had inadvertently revealed her location to the assaulters who had been watching their movement—something that Roxanne realized a bit too late.
She told Chrom about that, and the prince grunted.
"Never mind that, milady!" Marth replied, "Our first priority is to defend the Exalt for now!"
Once they reached the Throne Room, Marth decided to stand guard in front of the door leading to the grand room itself. Even from there, they could see that several groups of shady figures—of three or four each—were making their way to the room.
Unbeknownst to them, their enemy was watching them. "Hm? Two assassins and not even an injury?" he remarked doubtfully, before noticing the third figure. "Ha! Some actors are not supposed to be here!"
He saw the pink-haired figure at the unharmed prince's side dashing to the Exalt's. He held his breath and craned his neck.
"Ha! There is no mistake! After years of searching in vain!" he exclaimed, "Today is my fortune's day!"
"Emm!"
"Chrom! Take Lissa and flee while you still have time!"
"No way! We are not leaving if you're staying!"
Roxanne scanned the surrounding. Such a big group… she thought to herself. "They should scatter if we can defeat the leader."
The sword that Marth was holding, the sword that seemed to be the exact replica of Chrom's, suddenly glowed, as if it was reacting to the increasing power of evil in the perimeter. Marth noticed this and murmured to herself, but it came to Chrom's ears as a sort of unintelligible utterance.
"What is it?" Chrom asked, again, unable to hold back his concern for the young woman for unexplainable reasons.
"This is not your concern."
"Seems like nothing ever is with you."
Marth seemed to be taken aback by Chrom's reply, "My apologies…"
"Just stay at the door. We'll handle these killers!"
"Chrom, please! Flee while you can!" The Exalt implored again, this time at the brink of tears. "You each have but one life, and I do not wish it weighed against mine!"
"And I do not wish to bear the burden of leaving my sister and liege to die while I can still hold a sword!" Chrom replied fiercely. He then turned towards Roxanne, "Come, Roxanne!"
"Yes!"
Chrom and Roxanne advanced through the ranks of their enemies in tandem, a method they had grown accustomed to. From the other side of the room, the other Shepherds also drew their weapons and resisted the advancing waves of assaulters. Frederick and Stahl, after securing Lissa together with Emmeryn, quickly joined the fray.
Roxanne relied mainly on her lightning magic to increase the range of her attack since Chrom was a short-range fighter. She used her steel sword to extend the range even further, making good use of its conductive property. Actually, the thought of killing another living being (Risen seemed to be undead, so they didn't count) terrified her, but if she had to do it to save Emmeryn's life, so be it. At least, that was what she thought as she shot yet another lightning bolt at another group of assassins, scattering them and allowing Chrom to break through their ranks.
The prince noticed that someone among that rank drawing his blade, yet didn't put it on a position that seemed to show he was ready to attack. Chrom pointed his blade at him—a redhead that betrayed his dark attire. "Drop your weapon or die where you stand!"
"Whoa, easy, blue blood—I'm not here to hurt anyone."
"Yeah, right, say that when you're coming with bands of assassins!"
"I'm a thief, okay? I'm here to make a living: breaking-ins, chests, blah blah… this lot told me they wanted to bust into a vault, nobody said anything about killing. I'd just as soon sit this one out."
Roxanne overheard the conversation and after incapacitating her opponent, she rushed towards them. However, before she could tell Chrom her opinion about the matter, Chrom had made up his mind. "Perhaps you could prove your good intentions, then?"
For once, thank the gods he's so trusting… I guess… Roxanne thought, for she was, most probably, thinking of the same thing. She quickly turned around and without the prince noticing, she fought off those aiming at him so that the negotiation could proceed smoothly. Hopefully.
"Beg pardon?"
"You travel with them, yes? So you know about them?" Chrom asked. "If you have no intention to kill the exalt, lend me your hand. You seem capable."
"Ah, that kind of good intention—of course… if you sweeten the deal."
"You want gold? Fine. Let me just…" Chrom was about to reach a pouch of gold that he had with him in his pocket when he accidentally dropped another pouch. "Whoops."
"What's inside that?" the thief asked curiously.
Chrom quickly picked it up. "This is just candies from my little sister—"
"Candies?" he interjected, "As in sweet candies?"
"Well… I assume, yes…"
"DEAL!"
"What the hell?!" Chrom replied in shock, "You'll risk your life for a bag of… candies?!"
"I said 'sweeten the deal', didn't I?" he said, snatching the satchel from Chrom and took some of the candies. "Well, of course, I accept gold too, but that can be—holy Naga! Do you have more of this? Please say yes!"
"Er… I'll ask Lissa."
"The name's Gaius," the thief said. "And I'll consider this as the front payment."
Gaius happily took some more of the candies and put the rest in his pocket. Chrom was still in the state of shocked disbelief that he had just really hired a thief with candies.
Unbelievable…
"IS THE NEGOTIATION OVER?!" Roxanne cried out—the waves of assault starting to overwhelm her.
Chrom quickly got back to his senses. He rushed to Roxanne's side and dispatched one of her attackers. "Sorry."
"Never mind that," Roxanne replied, before turning to the newest addition to their team. "What can you tell us about the leader? Where is he?" her voice came like a rushed carriage on an uneven ground. "You better give us some good info if you want your go—candies!"
"I don't know his name, but he is the creepiest of the bunch."
"DEFINE CREEPIEST!" Roxanne cried out in frustration—all the while still dispatching lightning bolt with deadly accuracy towards the seemingly endless wave of assassins.
"Hey, lady, you could be an arch—"
"TELL US QUICK OR I'LL SHOOT YOU NEXT!"
"Okay—I mean, don't shoot!" Gaius replied, "He has grey skin and dark hair. You can't miss him—he's behind those walls, the last I saw him." Gaius pointed at direction of the castle's eastern perimeter.
Chrom and Roxanne immediately set out to the direction that had been pointed out. When they were getting further away from Emmeryn's location, another unfamiliar personage appeared very near to the room—effectively distressing the Shepherds even further. Frederick immediately turned around, changing his course to directly engage the new entry: a woman with wild appearance with something like a pair of rabbit ears sticking out from her head.
"Halt, milord!" Marth exclaimed, "She is Panne, and I assure you, she is no enemy!"
"You know of her?" Chrom asked, stopping momentarily in his track.
"I… heard of her. She is an ally."
Chrom sighed heavily. "I trust you." He then turned around and raised his voice. "Shepherds, we leave this Panne character be for now!"
"Is that wise, milord?"
"Marth has earned the trust she deserved. Sure, she is full of secrets—her gender, for one—but she saved our lives… twice. That's enough for me."
Marth turned to face Chrom, her face softened for the first time ever since her mask had been discarded. "Thank you, milord…"
"Now, let's go and finish off these scoundrels!"
They ran past the wall and turned around. Surely enough, there was a man who matched Gaius' earlier description. Roxanne and Chrom wasted no time in engaging him in combat; strangely, instead of being afraid, this man seemed to be delighted to see his opponents.
He eyed Roxanne intently and laughed. His voice was cold and shrilly at the same time, and so was his laugh. "I know you, young woman,"
Roxanne held her breath. "You… know me?"
"Oh, yes! Of course!" he replied in ecstasy. "I have longed the day I could see you! Submit to me, and perhaps I shall honour you with the truth!"
Just then, a sudden bout of excruciating headache assaulted Roxanne. She clutched her head as another voice was heard, this time more distant.
Roxanne… Roxanne…
"Who is that?!"
I am you…
Me?
When she opened her eyes, there was only darkness. No Chrom, no creepy man who claimed to know her—there was nothing else but darkness.
What's going on?
"…anne… Roxanne!"
As sudden as the pain that invaded her head earlier, the scene before her changed again and she was back at the castle's yard. Her vision was not very clear, but she saw Chrom facing her, his eyes filled with concern. She could feel his arm supporting her back. Behind his back, however, their enemy raised his hand and formed a dark purple sphere. Whatever it was, it didn't look good.
"Chrom…" she gasped for breath, beads of cold sweat trailing down her head.
She tried to raise her hand so that she could push him aside, or at the very least warned him of the incoming attack. However, she couldn't command her body—as if it wasn't hers—saved for her increasingly agitated breathing as the sphere began to grow in size. Chrom mistook it as a sign of some kind of illness, and his concern and care for her had completely overruled his instinct towards incoming danger.
THUMP!
Her heart beat so strongly against her chest for one time, before the remaining strength in her was completely seeped away. Everything turned dark again for Roxanne, and the last thing that was stuck in her mind was nothing but one name:
Chrom.
A/N: how is this story so far? I'd like to hear your comments and thoughts, so please do drop a review! In any case, the game had never addressed why Marth's Falchion glowed during the assassination night (while Chrom's did not)... any opinion on that?
Once again, thanks for reading! ^^
