Author's Notes:

So it turns out, I had a lot of time over the weekend to do some writing, and so I have the next chapter done already.

I didn't really make it clear earlier, because it frankly hadn't occurred to me that the exact location of the shepherd's garrison was never mentioned. I've decided that the garrison will be located in Ylisstol, but not in the castle. However, it is located fairly close to the Ylissean Royal Castle.

At least compared to the chapters so far, there is a bit more fluff in this chapter than usual. I even briefly reveal the very first pairing of characters! (It's subtle though, so you'll have to pay attention to find it.) Also, bonus points to anyone that knows what historical text in real life that I'm referring to.

With that, enjoy chapter 10:

Robin's room

Robin awoke from his slumber feeling quite refreshed. He blinked a few times and rubbed his eyes. He looked out his window to find that the sun had already set. Feeling a rumbling in his stomach, Robin got up to go to the dining hall.

When he arrived, many of the shepherds were still there, laughing and enjoying each others' company, the morbid feeling of the war looming over them didn't seem to have any major effects. He got some food from Sumia, the cook for the evening and found an empty table to sit at.

He didn't stay alone for long. Maribelle was the first to come sit next to him. "Sir Robin, I came to offer my humble thanks for you part in my rescue." she told him. "I know I may not have been as friendly to you as many of the others when you first arrived, but now I can see that you're a good person."

Robin swallowed the food he'd been chewing. "It's no problem, really. I was just doing my job. Really, Ricken was the one that did the hard part." The boy in question had been showered with attention and praise for his ingenuity and braveness when they had returned. Maribelle nodded. "Yes, I am thankful for him, and I am thankful for you. I cannot use weapons, but I am decently skilled with a staff. It would be an honor to receive commands from you."

Robin smiled. "Thank you for your support, Maribelle." With that, the troubadour left him to finish his meal. As he ate, he was able to enjoy the scene of Vaike participating in a drinking game with Stahl. Everyone was watching and laughing as Stahl lost handily. Sully was having an arm wrestling competition with Kellam. Even the usually more serious Miriel had a smirk on her face.

Robin smiled. Even though he didn't have many memories, even though, he was happy. Happy with the ones he currently had. Happy with the friends he'd made since he awoke that day out in the field. He finished his meal, returned his dishes to the kitchen, and stepped outside for a breath of fresh air.

As he walked into the courtyard, he spotted Chrom looking off into the distance. He walked closer, and heard the prince let out a sigh.

"Chrom?" Robin asked as he approached him. "What are you doing out here?"

"Oh, hello Robin." The prince replied. "I'm just dueling with some unpleasant thoughts. About my father, and the history of Ylisse and Plegia."

Robin nodded in understanding. "I think I read about it in the books in the library. Didn't he wage a war across Plegia that left both nations in tatters?"

Chrom left out a nervous chuckle. "Yes, I suppose you could say that. As the war went on, Ylisse began to expend more and more resources, including people. Eventually, farmers who could barely fight were conscripted and sent to their deaths on the battlefield. I remember those dark times… and how they affected Emmeryn."

"Yes, I bet such an experience would change anyone." Robin agreed.

"When our father died just before her tenth year, he left her quite the legacy." Chrom continued. "Plegia's desire for vengeance, our own people's hatred of the war, Emm became the scapegoat for both sides. Our people began to hurl insults… and stones. She still bears the scars from one…. No one ever saw her pain… no one but me and Lissa."

Robin frowned. "It must have been so hard for her."

"I don't know how she does it." Chrom conceded. "I, for one, would not greet such hostility with warmth and patience. While our people mocked and vilified her, she reached out and healed them. And when Ylisse's spirit mended and the people 'forgave' her, she never resented them for it. She represents the best part of the halidom—the part most worth protecting. She IS peace. But some men would take advantage of that. Men like King Gangrel. The day he understands peace will be the day death gives it to him. ...So perhaps I must be death's agent. Emmeryn would never order him killed, nor would I wish her to…"

"Well spoken, sir." a new voice interjected. Chrom and Robin turned to face the intruder, reaching for Falchion and a thunder tome respectively. They were greeted by the masked swordsman, Marth.

"Marth…" Chrom muttered to himself. "Good evening to you," came the reply. "How did you get here?" The prince asked. "This courtyard is walled off from the rest of the city."

"The cleft behind the training facility, next to the grove." the masked swordsman revealed. This resulted in a frown from Ylisse's prince. "There? But how would you… ugh…"

"You know of it?" Robin asked. "Yes." Came the reply. "I bashed in a part of the wall while training. I thought I concealed it well, but I guess not."

Marth nodded. "Your secret is safe with me. I'm only here to give you a warning."

"Warning?" Robin wondered out loud. "Yes." Marth replied. "The exalt's life is in danger."

"But… she's protected at all hours!" Chrom protested. "That can't be right!"

"What if…" Marth continued. "That I told you I have seen the future? Would you believe me when I say that the exalt was killed? Here. Tonight."

Chrom shook his head. "Seen the future? Have you lost your wits?"

"I didn't think you'd believe me…" Marth sighed. "Then allow me to prove it to you!" he drew his blade, the one that had an uncanny resemblance to Chrom's Falchion. Chrom was about to draw his own, but Marth spoke first. "Peace, I'm about to save your life…. From HIM."

At this, a dark blur launched itself at them from a tree growing outside the courtyard walls. Marth expected this, and swung his Falchion around. He slashed the chest of the assailant, the momentum of the swing bringing him behind the assassin. Finally, he stabbed the Falchion through the assassin's back, killing him.

Marth drew back his Falchion and raised it to his side. "I trust, this prove should suffice?"

Chrom nodded, dumbstruck. "...Yeah"

However, what Marth had NOT expected was a second assassin rushing in the same way as the first. "Watch out!" Robin shouted in alarm. Marth tried to move away, but slipped on the blade of the fallen assassin. This enabled the current one to close in and slash at the masked swordsman's face. He cleaved off the mask, revealing a rather feminine face and a head of long, luscious, blue hair.

In the meantime, Chrom rushed the assailant and ran his Falchion through his target's stomach, Robin launched a bolt of thunder, killing the assassin instantly. The two turned to face Marth.

Robin lost his breath for a brief second upon seeing the face of Marth. "Wait…. You're a woman?" Chrom asked in surprise.

Marth turned to them. "And quite the actress, too. Honestly, I'm surprised you didn't figure out until just now. Perhaps we can discuss it at a later time, for now, the life of the Exalt is more important."

"Right." Chrom agreed. "Let's rally the shepherds."

Although they hadn't taken the news too well, the shepherds quickly mobilized and rushed to the castle. They had split into two groups and took a shortcut through the streets of Ylisstol and entered through two separate back entrances, reaching Emmeryn's quarters extremely quickly.

Once inside the castle, they heard the Ylissean Royal Guard already engaging in battle with the assassins. By the sound of it, Robin deduced that the Ylisseans were barely holding on. He only had a few moments to study the map before coming up with a plan.

At the Northeastern entrance, he had Marth, Lissa, Sully, Stahl, Kellam, Lon'qu, Vaike, Miriel as well as himself.

At the Northwestern entrance, there was Chrom, Sumia, Frederick, Maribelle, Donnel, Virion and Ricken.

Robin took a bit of time to get his bearings. "The assassin's should scatter if we defeat their leader…" he mused to himself.

"Chrom! Take Lissa and flee while you can!" he heard Emmeryn shout from her room. "No! We're not leaving you! Stay where it's safe!" he heard Chrom retort.

{Alright, there seems to be two entrances to the Exalt's room.} Robin spoke into the shepherd's minds. {However, it would be extremely awkward and cramped if we try to defend these entrances. Instead, we'll branch out and guard the three possible entrances to the area just outside her room. Send Donnel, Maribelle and Ricken and we'll send Kellam to guard the middle corridor, while the rest of you hold the West entrance. We'll hold them off at the Eastern stairs.}

He then addressed Marth in person, who was not registered in the Hekseer. "Stand in front of the door to the exalt's room and stop anyone from trying to get in." This earned a nod from the swordswoman and she ran off.

The shepherd's mobilized, with their general instructions in mind. They had been with Robin in enough battles to guess his overall plan.

Chrom and Frederick formed a human wall at the Western entrance, supported by Virion and Sumia. Meanwhile, Sully, Stahl and Vaike formed a similar wall at the top of the Eastern staircase, with Lon'qu, Miriel and Lissa behind them.

Kellam ran towards the middle corridor, as did Donnel, Maribelle and Ricken. Robin was surprised to see Donnel wielding a bronze sword instead of his lance. Ricken blasted the brigand already at the top of the corridor with a wind spell, and Donnel closed in, slashing the Plegian's throat and taking control of the corridor.

"Did Donnel decide to change what weapon he uses?" Robin mused out loud to himself. "Uh-huh!" Lissa responded. "He asked Lon'qu to give him a few pointers while you were asleep. Donny's actually a pretty fast learner."

"Got it." Robin said as he made a mental note to himself.

Meanwhile, Sully engaged an enemy thief running up the stairs. She stabbed her lance at the soldier's throat, but the thief tried to dodge, which caused the weapon to impale his shoulder instead. Lon'qu rushed in and slashed the thief while he was still on the end of Sully's weapon, finishing the job.

Stahl and Vaike each engaged an enemy axefighter, and with some support from Miriel, were able to take down both of them.

On the Western side, Frederick and Virion handily slew a Plegian axefighter. Chrom and Sumia were about to do the same to an enemy thief.

"W-wait!" The thief stammered just as Chrom raised his sword. This bought the thief enough time to blurt out a few more sentences. "I'm not here to hurt anyone."

Chrom frowned. "Yet you run with a band of assassins?"

The thief shrugged. "Believe it or not, I'm just trying to make a living. I'm a thief, see? Bust open doors, crack open chests, that kind of thing. This lot said they were gonna break into some sort of vault. They didn't say anything about murder. I'd just as soon sit this one out."

"Perhaps you're willing to prove your good intentions then?" Chrom suggested. "We need all the help we can get to save the exalt's life. You appear capable, and we could use all the help we can get."

"Hmm…" the thief contemplated. "Perhaps I'll be willing to do so… if you sweeten the deal."

Chrom gritted his teeth. "You want gold? Fine you scoundrel…. Let me just…." He reached for his pockets, but instead of a bag of gold, he fumbled out the bag of candies Lissa had given him earlier that day.

"Looks like you dropped it." The thief said, reaching down to pick it up. "That's not it." Chrom muttered. "They're just candies from my little sister."

The thief's eyes went wide. "Candies? As in, sugar candies?" "Well, yes… I'm assuming they would be sweet." Chrom responded.

"IT'S A DEAL!" The thief exclaimed. "GIMMEGIMMEGIMME!"

Chrom deadpanned. "You…. would risk your life…. For a bag of candies?"

The thief happily picked up the satchel, and blissfully popped one of the candies in his mouth. "Hey I said 'sweeten the deal', didn't I? And besides, these clowns don't have any sugar to share... What do you want me to do?"

Chrom facepalmed. "Go that-a-way," he said, pointing with his other hand. "Ask for Donnel to take you to Robin. He'll fill you in, and hopefully you can do the same."

"Yessir!" the orange haired thief happily replied as he ran off in the direction. Shortly after, everyone, including the Plegians, heard an ear piercing scream as a startled Maribelle began to hit the unsuspecting thief over the head with her mend staff.

"Ow ow! I'm on your side here! Blue over there told me to ask for Donnel!" the thief protested. "M-me? Whatdoya need me for?" "I'm supposed to ask you to take me to Robin." The thief responded.

The shepherds guarding the middle corridor shrugged and Donnel led him towards the Eastern side.

Robin was surprised, but happily surprised at the revelation of a new ally. He dismissed Donnel to return to defend the middle corridor after the farmboy brought the thief to him. The thief, Gaius, happily divulged all the information he knew while he snacked on Chrom's candies.

The leader of their opponents is a sorcerer named Validar. Rumors circulated that he was directly related to King Gangrel. Their only goals tonight were to kill the Exalt and to steal the Fire Emblem.

Knowing this information, Robin turned back to study his Hekseer. He found the location of the only sorcerer on his opponent's side, and assumes that that is this Validar character. He bit down on his thumb, thinking hard.

Meanwhile, Kellam impaled an enemy thief as Ricken threw spell after spell at the axemen in front of the armored knight. Donnel arrived back just in time to be able to take down an enemy mage running into position to fire at Kellam. He dodged the swing from an axeman, but got his arm grazed. Maribelle was able to rush over and heal the retreating Donnel, and he quickly recovered.

On the Western side, not a single Plegian was able to get past Chrom and Frederick. When a mage walked up to try and blast them with a wind spell, Virion and Sumia shot him with an arrow and javelin respectively. Thieves and axemen alone were no match for Frederick's heavy armor and his silver lance.

Robin's side was having an even easier time. They had the most people, and with the addition of Gaius, they held back the Plegians with ease. Sully and Stahl engaged in two enemy cavaliers as Lon'qu and Vaike moved around them to help out in a pincer attack. Miriel fired a spell at an enemy mage. The mage fired back, but did not see Gaius as he slipped in and slit his throat.

Another enemy cavalier managed to charge past the preoccupied shepherds in a desperate attempt to reach Robin and the backline. "Help!" Lissa cried out in alarm. Robin reached into the air for Naglfar.

Suddenly, a large rabbit like creature charged in and kicked the Plegian right off his horse. The soldier flew off and hit a wall with a sickening thud.

"Who-" Robin began. "That's Panne! Don't hurt her, she's an ally!" he heard Marth yell. "You know her?" Robin yelled back. "I know OF her, and that she would come tonight." Came the response. "I ask you for your trust, Panne is an ally."

"Yes, you may consider me an ally… for now." The rabbit spoke, startling everyone that heard her. "But do not consider you and I friends. I am simply repaying a debt for my warren."

"Alright then…." Robin furrowed his brow, thinking a bit harder. "I think what we need is to take the fight to THEM."

{Kellam, I need you to leave the corridor. Let Donnel, Maribelle and Ricken cover the corridor. I need you to cover the entrance to the Exalts room with Marth.} {Got it} he heard the armored knight reply.

Robin then turned to the shepherds on his side. "We're gonna make a rush for their commander." he explained. "He's a sorcerer that seems to have a fire tome. We need to move quickly, but also carefully." He received a chorus of affirmations.

Sully, Stahl and Panne led the charge, bulldozing some of the Plegians in their way. Robin, Lon'qu, Vaike, Gaius and Miriel cleaned up the ones that were left in their wake.

Eventually, they made their way to the entrance leading outside. "Alright, charge outside and take out the sorcerer." Robin instructed his group. "He seems to be by himself. Be wary of his spells, but he shouldn't be able to take you all on. If you get hurt, remember to call for Lissa. I will stay here and see how the rest of them are doing."

With that, Robin's group ran out to meet the sorcerer. He heard a shout of surprise outside as, presumably the sorcerer, didn't expect to be attacked himself.

Robin took this moment to check his Hekseer. Chrom, Sumia, Frederick and Virion were still holding strong, keeping all the Plegians on the West side at bay. Donnel, with the help of Ricken and Maribelle, was still doing OK holding the middle corridor, as it was too narrow for more than one or two Plegians to go through at once. A few of the smarter Plegians snook past his own group and tried to enter through the Eastern stairwell, but were easily cut down by Marth and Kellam. Things had been going pretty smoothly. He put it away, and walked outside.

The sorcerer been defeated. He had fallen on his knees and had several slash wounds across his body. On the shepherd's side, Lissa was busy healing burn wounds on Stahl and Lon'qu.

The sorcerer froze when he saw Robin. "Y-YOU!" he stammered, coughing up some blood. "You don't b-belong on this stage! I've finally found you, a-and… yet…." With that, the sorcerer fell over, dead.

Robin's eyes shot open when he heard what was said. "You know of my past!?" he exclaimed, but the sorcerer had already died. Robin screamed in frustration at the lost opportunity of recovering some of his memories. The nearby shepherds tried to comfort him, but to no avail.

In the meantime, the remaining Plegians realized that their leader had been defeated, and began to try and flee the castle. Unfortunately, Robin and his group stood between them and their exit.

With the others, Robin furiously cut down every Plegian that tried to escape, venting his frustration by killing more of the assailants. His scythe whirled through the air, decapitating and dismembering any opponent foolish enough to get near him. He had a feral snarl on his face. The area of the ground he stood over soon became covered in the blood of Plegians. Faint trails of quintessence rose from the corpses like steam right into the outstretched hand of Robin. A few of the shepherds (Sully and Vaike) looked at him in awe, while many of the others looked at him with an expression bordering fear.

When the dust had settled, Robin had collected enough quintessence from his kills that his eyes began to glow a reddish purple. Lissa and Stahl unconsciously backed away from him in fright. It took him a few minutes for him to calm down, and his eyes returned to normal.

"Tell me," Sully began. "What th' hell was that!?"

Lon'qu shook his head. "Robin is too modest. There is no way I am a better fighter than that."

"It's like you went into a berserk mode!" Stahl laughed nervously.

Robin scratched the back of his head. "I think I just got too angry. I lost myself in the moment."

"C'mon, let's go back to the others." Suggested the tactician. The group began to head back inside.

By the time Robin and his group got back, Chrom and the others had regrouped. As Robin walked in, Chrom was busy conversing with Emmeryn.

"Emm, Thank Naga you're safe!" he heard Chrom say. "It is you I have to thank, Chrom." came the Exalt's reply. Phila knelt down in front of Emmeryn. "I beg your forgiveness, Your Grace. I failed in my duty. They shouldn't have made it into the castle in the first place."

Robin nodded slightly, agreeing with the Falcon Knight, but Chrom was the one that spoke. "Peace, Phila. You couldn't have known they were coming. Only Marth could…"

Emmeryn frowned, clearly not familiar with the name. "Marth?" she asked.

"Yeah, I would like to speak more with- um… Robin…? Where's Marth?" Robin looked around quizzically. "Hmm… an excellent question. I saw her here just a moment ago."

Chrom facepalmed. "Not again! Come on, Robin! We have to find her!" The two ran off towards the castle courtyard.

Fortunately, the pair had the help of Robin's Hekseer, which gave away Marth's position. They were able to guess where Marth's intended exit will be based off that, and Chrom was able to contribute by showing them the quickest way there. The two cut her off right as she was about to leave.

"Going somewhere?" Chrom asked the now known to be female sword fighter. "You have a bad habit of leaving without saying goodbye."

Marth gritted her teeth. "Yes, I believe I have quite a few bad habits."

"Good ones as well." Chrom added. "You saved my life. As well as both of my sisters. Is there any way I can repay you? Some favor I can grant?" At this, Marth smiled. "Hearing you offer is reward enough." Robin, once again, lost his breath for a second, but concealed it well.

"But…" Chrom continued. "There must be something…" Marth, however, interrupted him. "I already got what I came here for. History has been rewritten."

"And what do you mean by that? What future did we avert?" Chrom pressed. "After the Exalt's assassination, the Fire Emblem was stolen, which would lead to a great war that will end all of mankind. But… I'm sure that sounds like gibberish to you." Marth replied.

Chrom smiled. "Strangely, no. It doesn't. Somehow I know I can trust you. Hopefully I can repay you someday." Marth nodded. "Someday, perhaps. Until then…." she began to walk away.

"W-wait!" Robin interjected."Hmm?" Marth looked at him in confusion.

Robin furrowed his eyebrows. "S-sorry. Nevermind." "B-but, there must have been something you were going to say." Marth replied. "Just tell me."

Robin sighed, not knowing what to do. Finally, he did some quick thinking. "Thank you for saving my friend's life. I hope that our paths cross again in the future." With that, he gave Marth a smile.

"Y-yeah, it was n-not... It was no problem." Marth stammered, before bolting for the exit.

"What a uniquely strange person…." Chrom muttered to himself.

Meanwhile, with Emmeryn…

"Brave taguel, I have no words to say that are able to express my gratitude." The Exalt said to Panne.

"What's a taguel?" Lissa wondered out loud. Panne scoffed. "I am a taguel… or rather, the last taguel. Most of your kind call us 'beasts'. I only helped because my warren owes Ylisse a debt. Do not think us friends, you and I…."

"I don't understand…." Lissa began.

This time, Panne began to laugh. "There seems to be very little that your kind understands. It was man-spawn like yourselves that invaded our warren and slaughtered my people."

Emmeryn sighed. "I'm told that, in taguel society, everyone is treated as an equal. Mankind could learn much from your warren. The words may come too late and mean too little, but I am deeply sorry. We have stolen your friends and family and made the world a lesser place."

"Your Grace!" Phila protested. "You had no fault in this!"

"You claim to be blameless, and yet you apologize?" Panne wondered out loud. "Pah! Your words are but wind."

"I know." Emmeryn closed her eyes. "But they are all I have."

Panne studied her for a moment. "You seem sincere, man-spawn. You feel my pain as your own. I've never felt that before. I will never trust mankind. But you... Perhaps you truly are not like the others."

Emmeryn nodded. "All I ask is for a chance to earn your trust."

Somewhere beyond the realm of life…

Validar had felt himself die. His consciousness was hazy as he saw himself in a dark room. "H-how? M-my purpose is too significant to be thwarted… And I was so close too!"

Suddenly, a shadowy figure approached him. "Validar." a voice stated.

"What?" the sorcerer exclaimed. "W-who are you? Where did you come from?"

The voice laughed. "I am the power that compels you. You must not die here. It is not written. You must live on to author a destiny greater than you know."

Validar's eyes bulged open in realization after he got a good look at the mystery figure. "I-impossible! It can't be you! It can't be…"

The figure to began to laugh harder. "I am the breath of ruin…. I am the wings of despair…. I am the fell dragon, Grima!"

Meanwhile, Back in Ylisstol….

Chrom and the others were blissfully unaware of the occurrences in another dimensional plane. He and Robin had met back with Emmeryn and the Shepherds after having their conversation with Marth.

Phila was busy talking with the Exalt.

"It will take some time to investigate how the assassination plot got so far. We have no leads at the present."

"It's Plegia!" Chrom interjected. "I'm sure of it." he turned to Emmeryn. "Emm, you can't stay here. Come to Ferox where it is safer."

The Exalt shook her head. "And leave the people undefended? War is at our borders, Chrom. Can you expect Ylisse to stand against Plegia without a leader? They must know their Exalt stands with them."

"But what if something happens to you?" Lissa protested. "What then? Chrom and I need you too!"

"Your Grace." Frederick interrupted. "Might I make the suggestion that you temporarily relocate to the eastern palace? The other kingdoms would know nothing of it. You would be safer without having to leave the halidom."

"Yes. That is a fantastic idea." Chrom agreed. "I can't leave to petition aid from Ferox if I won't be sure that you'll be safe."

Emmeryn frowned. "Hmm…. Very well."

Chrom smiled. "Thanks Emm. We'll escort you to the palace before we head North for Ferox."

While this was going on, Stahl and Robin approached the turncoat thief, who was sitting up against a wall, eating a sucker.

"Heya! Your name is Gaius, was it not?" Stahl asked.

"Yep. What's it to you, Greens?" the thief in question retorted.

"Chrom told me to give you this." At this, the viridian cavalier handed Gaius a pouch. "They're some hard candies we had in the kitchen back at the shepherd's garrison. Nobody really eats them, but they're still good, I'm sure."

The thief snatched the pouch and removed the sucker from his mouth temporarily. He tasted one of the candies, and, feeling quite satisfied, placed the pouch in one of his pockets. "Thanks, Greens. Pleasure working with you."

"So, what now?" Robin asked. "Beg pardon?" Came the response.

"Well, since we kinda killed your old employer, what's your plan?" Robin clarified.

The thief made a face. "Honestly, I'm not sure. I'll have to look around to see if anyone is willing to hire someone… of my profession."

"Well, why don't you join the shepherds?" Stahl suggested. "We saw how well you fought. I'm sure Chrom will allow it."

Robin smiled. "Yes. Think about it, it'll be food every day and a roof over your head. Doesn't sound too bad, does it?"

Gaius smiled. "That doesn't sound quite so bad, Bubbles." He got up. "Alright. I'll do it. Lead me to this 'Chrom' guy."

With that, the three went off to find the Ylissean prince.

In the streets of Ylisstol…

Marth slowly began to make her way out of the Ylissean capital. She'd cried for several minutes now. Whether it's from sadness or happiness she couldn't quite tell.

She'd altered history. She prevented the death of Emmeryn. She saved the Fire Emblem. She knew she had been successful that evening, but then why did she feel so… unfulfilled?

'Seeing Chrom and Robin is bringing up too many memories' she concluded to herself. 'Even though it pains me, I must be careful not to change history more than I need to.'

She stopped when she reached the city gate. She turned her tear streaked face back towards the capital with a wistful look on her face. "W-why? Why did I have to be the one…." she murmured to herself.

She tried to fight back the tears that continued to spill down her reddened cheeks. "R-robin…" she murmured one final time before drying her eyes with her sleeves and running off into the countryside.

Sometime in the distant future…

Lucina hated the rain. She hated… hated… HATED it. When it rains, she can't go play outside. She has to use her 'inside voice' or else mommy gets super mad at her. She can't even swing her toy sword around because the adults get mad at her. Well, at least all of the adults except for Robin. Mister Robin is her favorite adult, she concluded.

Right now, she was stuck in her room because mommy had sent her here. She didn't understand why. She'd been a good girl and didn't bother daddy when he was super busy. Bored of watching the raindrops fall outside her window, she decided to lean against the door to listen to what the people were saying outside her room. Although it was a little muffled, Lucina was still able to make out what they were saying.

"Lissa told me Robin went to go see her again today." she heard mommy say to someone. "He was covered in bruises again. *sigh*, that girl…."

"Lissa says that Robin doesn't blame her." said the voice that Lucina recognized to be uncle Lon'qu. "He's just happy that she's able to have fun."

"Yes, but it doesn't have to be at the expense of his own health!" her mommy responded.

"Maybe, but think about it: You're always busy with Cynthia, and Chrom is always busy leading the halidom." her uncle retorted. "It must be a terrible feeling for a six year old to feel that lonely. After all, Owain is not big enough to be able to play with her yet."

"Perhaps..." her mommy said. "But I feel like I still need to have a talk with her. She can't grow up thinking it's OK to go around swinging a sword at others. Even if it's a toy."

"Oh, hello there, is Lucina in her room?" A new voice, one that made Lucina's eyes light up in happiness, asked.

"Yeah, the little one's in there." her uncle responded. "You gonna read to her today?"

"Well, I think it's a good thing to teach children to appreciate literature, especially at a young age." Robin responded. "At least, that would be the way I would raise my children, if I ever have any."

"Oh don't be like that!" her mommy responded. "You're an extremely attractive man! You'll find the right one soon enough."

"Careful." Robin warned. "Don't let Chrom hear you say that about me!" She heard Robin and uncle Lon'qu laugh. She didn't understand why.

Then she heard a light knock on her door. "Hello? May I come in?" he heard mister Robin ask.

"Yes!" she exclaimed in joy.

As the door opened, Lucina tackled the man with a hug. "Mister Robin is here! Mister Robin is here!"

Robin laughed as he walked in the room and closed the door behind him.

"Well, I came as soon as it started to rain." he explained. "We'll have to play inside today. What would you like to do?"

Lucina brought her index finger to her chin in contemplation. "Hmm….. I don't know…." Suddenly, she had an idea. "How about we play 'house'? I'll be the mommy, and you'll be the daddy, and… and…." at this, she ran across the room and pulled out a doll. She never had a use for such a stupid toy until now. "And this will be our baby!"

Robin chuckled. "Alright." he set the book he brought on a shelf. "Let's play 'house'."

A couple hours later…

"...And dinner's ready!" Announced Lucina, matter of factly. She placed some fake food on Robin's toy plate as they sat around a miniature tea table.

"Alright!" Robin exclaimed in mock joy as he began to pretend to eat. "Mmmm! This is really delicious! You're a great cook!"

"Thank you, darling." Lucina said, using the name she'd heard her mommy call daddy. She had a slight blush on her cheeks.

Soon, their playing of 'house' seemed to reach a dead end.

"How about I read you a story?" Robin suggested as he reached for the book he had brought.

"A story?" Asked Lucina with a frown. "I don't like stories… they're so boring."

"I think you'll really like this one." Robin said with a smile. "It's about warlords and great battles."

"Oh?" Lucina wondered, her interest piqued.

"Yeah!" Robin continued. "Plus, it has pictures!"

Lucina clapped her hands together happily. "Oh yay! I love picture books! What is the story called?"

"The Waltz of the Three Kingdoms." Robin replied. "It's a really long story, so we can read it slowly, bit by bit!"

Lucian looked at the book. It WAS rather thick. But she also knew that means Robin would read to her for a long time.

"Ok!" she finally decided as she happily plopped herself into the lap of the older man.

Robin smiled, and began to read.

"Some say it was luck or good fortune, but in truth, it was fate that brought Liu'Bei, Guan'Yu and Zhang'Fei together at that peach grove in Chon'sin that day. It was this event that would shape the fate of Chon'sin, as well as the fate of all of Valm…."

Donnel:

Class Change: Mercenary

Gaius: Age: 19

Class: Thief

Panne: Age: 22

Class: Taguel