Robin is hunched over the War Table, as usual, while Morgan stood by his side and Severa sat on a nearby stool. "What if we move…" Morgan starts, "that Wyvern here?" Severa smiles as she can practically see the gears turning in her head.
He shakes his head, "You overlooked the Pegasus here…" He points at another piece, "She is carrying an archer with her."
She huffs, "This was all fine and easy, until troops start pairing up…" She blows some of her red and purple hair out of the way. Robin chuckles as he rubs her head.
"You'll learn in time." Robin comments… then the flap opens as both Chrom and Say'ri enter. "Yes?"
Chrom seemed to have regained some of his vigor since Olivia's death, "Say'ri has rather important news."
She nods and takes a breath, "Tiki told me to tell you, that she received a vision from Naga, informing her to perform the ritual to…"
"Where?" Robin interrupts.
Chrom sends a glare his way, yet Say'ri complies, "Here, it is called the Divine Dragon Grounds." She points at a mountain…
His face scrunches, "It is called a two day detour that will give Walhart time to crush the remaining resistance. No." Robin all but spits out.
"Robin…" Chrom pleads.
"Gods, Robin… this is Tiki. The Voice of Naga! Think of what will happen if she dies! How the people devoted to Naga will think when they found out you let her die," The swordmaster loses her temper.
"Naga won't have any followers if Walhart stomps them all out." He calmly counters, "If I'm going to be eternally damned on a decision, I will suggest for the one where we make it out alive."
Chrom still doesn't look convinced, 'The thick-headed bastard' , "Morale will rise if we save her… there are even those devoted to Naga in Walhart's army, if we save her, they are sure to join us."
Robin throws his hands up in the air, "Gods! Chrom, I told you. I am providing the plan that will save our asses from being handed to us… but at the end of the day, you are the Commander. If anything, I should be the one convincing you to change your mind." He all but slams his hands back on the table, "But by the gods are you making this difficult on me… on all of us."
The Grandmaster gestures towards the outside, "Our troops are weary, we're starting to stretch our supplies, we haven't had a proper forge or merchant to restock our weapons and armor in days. Tonics are low and the staves are wearing out… and yet still. Still you think that using up those dwindling resources will pay off. News flash. It. Won't."
"Exalt Chrom?" Say'ri starts.
The man takes a breath, "No, he's right… he always is… I'm sorry, Say'ri."
She glares at Robin, "I see… well, I refuse to let Lady Tiki do this defenseless… I will gather a force of my own." Chrom has a dejected look as she all but stomps away.
It wasn't until she was gone that Robin takes a breath, "Chrom, again, I apologize for yelling, but this war…"
He places a hand on the Tactician's shoulder, "I know… and it is a constant reminder that we aren't as well off as we were in Ylisse or even Plegia. I will…"
Lucina barges in, "Robin… why did Say'ri leave?"
'Great…' Chrom holds up a hand, "Lucina…"
She points a finger at the Grandmaster, "You went after Tiki in my timeline…" Her eyes glisten with tears, "You can't just let her die…"
"Listen here, princess," Morgan starts, "Because it seems Chrom's family has this bad habit of not understanding what is being plainly presented. Your father here? He's the Commander, if you want us to go save Tiki, convince him, and keep your damn finger from my father."
Though for once, it didn't calm her down, "And why are you so suddenly against Chrom?" She continues, "You two were inseparable in my timeline. Sure you had disagreements, but in the end, you always helped others…" She turns towards her father, "Please reconsider…"
Chrom looks away from everyone, "Robin…" He stares his Tactician straight in the eyes, "By my orders, we're saving Tiki. Let's move out." Lucina smiles while Severa and Morgan scowl, Robin has a frown on his face.
"Of course, I'll draw up formations and plans… get someone to retrieve Say'ri before she does something stupid." Robin nods. Chrom and Lucina leave.
"Father…" Severa starts.
He sighs, "It seems we have a problem." The look in his eyes became dark, disturbing.
"The future princess?" Morgan picks up.
"She has too much sway on Chrom, we're going to lose this war because of her. Every village we saved is because she keeps bringing up that same damn point..." Robin continues. "Seems like I am going to do something I never done before… stage a death." He sighs.
Severa smirks, "Nothing you can't handle though, right?"
He returns a smirk and nods, "Can't be too tough… all it takes is one lucky shot…"
Two days, it took two days to get to the Divine Dragon Grounds… two more days Walhart had to prepare. Not counting the two days to get back on track… or the time required for people to recover. 'This better be worth it.' A feeling of serenity overcomes the area as the Shepherds come across a meditating Tiki. "Alright, as planned, group around Tiki," Robin starts, "She must stay alive." He flashes Severa and Morgan a grim look.
His daughters knew what to do… as did Henry and Tharja, actually. Morgan brought up the point to tell them, since, at the end of the day, Henry is a Grimleal and Tharja will do literally anything for Robin. 'Good, it just makes getting her dead that much easier.' Severa hears an 'incoming' and she readies herself as she stands by Morgan, who is wielding a Levin Sword. Nothing is getting by them.
Though what she saw approach over the horizon caught her off-guard, 'Risen.' However they seemed off, like they were just a pack of wild wolves sent in the general direction of their target. "Severa… those aren't being controlled…" Morgan whispers, "We're actually going to have to try this time." She nods in response.
And by the gods could she tell the difference, Severa technically has no experience fighting Risen, since all the ones before now were ordered to miss her, but then didn't stop her from doing remarkably well. She fell into the rhythm of battle with ease, to her, they were simply bandits with decaying bodies… and decaying bodies were extremely easy to cut through.
However, that did not mean the battle was a cakewalk, it seems the Risen intend to win by simply overrunning the Shepherds. Severa could make out several cries of pain as some Shepherds were forced to pull back. 'Father…' She frowns as another dies by her blade, 'Please get control of these Risen.' Then by some miracle, the next Risen barely grazed her, as did the next. She internally smiles and she sees Morgan with a smirk.
"They are shifting towards the West!" Robin calls out, "Damn it, that's our weakest side." Not that it actually surprised him, since Lucina is on point for that spot. Though Lucina proves to be a tougher unit then even he accounted for, like she has been holding back the entire time. Within minutes the Risen slowly dwindled until they were gone. 'Damn it…'
Severa scowls as she turns around, "Sister!" She hears Inigo shout. 'Did father summon one?' She turns around and sees Inigo bleeding out just as a Risen fades away.'Damn it, Inigo took the blow.' "Sister…"
"Brother!" She cries out.
"Inigo… son." Chrom is by his side, "No…" He was gone before the Shepherds could even get a healer to him. 'Whatever, another Chromling dead…'
Severa glanced over at Tiki, who is just finishing the ritual and by the gods, could she feel the power radiating from her body…
A power that couldn't do crap as a Wyrmslayer found its way through her chest. A Risen gutters out a victory cry, before being decimated by Miriel's fire magic. If Severa squinted, she could barely make out a summoning Rune near the edge of the cliff, which fades a few seconds later. "Tiki!" Say'ri screams, "No, no no no. Lady Tiki!" At the end of the day, The Voice of Naga was still a Manakete… and Wyrmslayers were designed specifically to kill Manaketes. A fact that burned into everyone's mind as they see her die right before their eyes, it happened so fast that she didn't even cry out in pain.
The woman fell to the ground without a sound, even the grass seemed to stop all noise, like it was cradling Tiki to a peaceful sleep, rather than death's embrace. "Gods, Tiki…" Say'ri repeats. "This can't…" Then she suddenly turns and glares at Robin, "Is this the work of the 'World's Greatest Tactician'? How did a single Risen get by?" Her face reddens from pure anger. "You turned a blind eye, didn't you? All because you didn't want to help…"
Father somehow managed to remain calm, "I can't stop everything, Say'ri." He simply replies.
"Brother…" Lucina cries out once more, but unlike Say'ri, she chooses to remain remorseful, rather than channeling it onto Robin. "Gods, I failed you…"
"And I know of your 'vendetta' against the Exalt and his family, did you let them die, too?" The swordmaster continues.
"Say'ri…" Chrom starts.
"Don't you find it strange, that the only deaths so far have been people Robin dislikes?" She turns on him.
Chrom looks at Robin, "We still need him." He finally says.
Several moments pass, "You still need him." She all but spits out, " My part of the rebellion will not follow such a… piss-poor Tactician." And with that, she leaves.
Several others give Robin a curious look, "Okay, now that she brought that up, what the hell is going on with you?" Sully asks. "What the hell do we need to do to get you two boys to kiss and make up?"
"The percentage of the odds presented is so low, that even I wouldn't bother taking them into account," Miriel starts, "There would have to be an artificial adjustment in order to make these events true."
"Please, be quiet!" Chrom speaks up, "We still have a war to win… I will bring this up to Robin afterwards."
"I just wanna have fun with you guys again!" Nowi starts crying. "We shouldn't be hating each other…"
"Perhaps a prayer session will ease everyone's hearts?" Libra suggests.
"Yea… a prayer to Naga, right next to her deceased daughter… that will end well…" Tharja scoffs.
"We need to get moving if we're any chance of stopping Walhart." Robin finally speaks up as he walks away.
'Well, that as bad as it could have went…' Severa frowns, 'Father… please send some assistance again, I think we screwed up big time…'