"GODS DAMN IT!"

Chrom punched a wall, only for his entire fist to go numb from the impact, pins and needles leading him to clench his hand and double over, more obscenities escaping his gritted teeth in between ragged breaths.

Emm, Robin and Phila were in there with that Plegian. Emm was in there. He was indescribably relieved that Phila had managed to leap off her alicorn and inside before the doors shut, but nonetheless anxious. No, anxiety wasn't even half of what he was feeling. Gaius had tried picking the lock, Frederick, Vaike, along with the prince, Sully, and an injured Marth, had tried to force it open with their gathered strength, using the great knight's lance and the two Falchions as crowbars. Miriel and Ricken had been studiously attempting to decode the spell, and Marth had since tried again, all to no avail.

The doors were sealed with dark magic, and the only way they would enter was if either the caster fell, or left.

Chrom prayed to every god he could think of that it would be the former, tugging Lissa towards him in a tight embrace - he wasn't sure whether it was to comfort his sister or himself.

Although, to his surprise, he had an idea of who needed it even more than them. In the light of Maribelle's Mend Staff, he could see Marth's face. She had been the most persistent in trying to open the doors, had been the first to attempt breaking them open with her Falchion, and also the most devastated at her failure.

Her expression was nothing short of utter despair.

"I can listen to what's going on inside, man-spawn," said Panne, standing shakily as the castle clergy finished treating her burns. She was still weak - understandably so, having suffered such a powerful Nosferatu spell - but walked up to him with a gait that demanded no less respect than he would receive from fellow Shepherds.

Her humanoid form was just as strange as her beastly one. She had amaranth markings along her cheeks, and her skin was tanned. Her hair was the same muddy brown as her fur, her shoulders, hands, bare feet, and hips still covered in it, a bushy tail occasionally twitching. Her purple armour had morphed with her, giving her a breastplate for modesty, pauldrons, vambraces, and shin guards, but little else. She still had her floppy, hairless ears, which had iron rings around where they sprouted from her head, and were woven into her two thick plaits.

Meeting her cool red-eyed gaze, Chrom nodded. "Yes... Please do."

She inclined her head curtly and pressed herself against the door. Chrom prayed.


"I... I've healed it!"

No... Impossible...!

Robin could only stare in horror as Emmeryn dropped her staff, her green gaze hard with determination even in her weakened state. He felt his kagune writhing in the sac, reacting to his sudden panic. It would involuntarily sprout if nothing was done, but he suppressed the urge with whatever willpower he could muster.

"The KAKUHOU!"

She knew. Emmeryn knew of what he was.

His arm snapped into place as the bones reconnected, his remaining stomach injuries closed all at once, his kakugan manifested, capillaries spreading from his red iris across his blackened eyeball and onto his porcelain skin.

Phila gasped in terror. Robin ignored her. His focus was solely on Emmeryn, and the man choking her. He felt his face contort with rage, granting strength to his battered, sore, and fast recovering body. His bloodstained teeth practically ground together. His breaths came out in throaty growls.

"LET GO OF HER!" he roared, tearing the sling from around his neck and launching himself at the sorcerer, whose eyes had widened in realisation, smashing the table in his way.

He bit into the man's right shoulder, a sickening squelch and the snapping of bone resounding as his teeth ruptured muscle and the clavicle. The sorcerer let go of his captive and screamed in agony, interrupting the chant. Blood arched from Robin's mouth and ran down his front as he tore his locked jaw out of the human's flesh. He then kicked him in the chest, slamming the Plegian into the wall with a few broken ribs, blood gushing from the ruptured flesh and soaking the Grimleal's side.

The ghoul spun and caught Emmeryn as she crumpled to the ground, curling around her protectively. He shot his enemy a warning glower over his shoulder, before he swiftly carried her to the other side of the collapsed table, being ever so careful to not let her be stained with the deep scarlet dripping from his mouth.

Phila was pale as a sheet, nearing hyperventilation, and her crimson gaze followed even the minutest movement Robin made. Supporting herself on the collapsed coffee table, she shakily raised her silver lance to his neck, her gritted teeth giving her a feral appearance in her dishevelled state.

The pungent aroma of her fear and ready-grilled flesh was thick in the air, making the ghoul's mouth water shamelessly. Robin bristled, shivered with the thrill the smells and the fresh rush of adrenaline gave him, his body tingling with the urge to attack, to sink his teeth into her. He refocused at the sound of a soft voice, just strong enough to still be perceivable above the sorcerer's moans of agony.

"It's okay, Phila... Robin, I knew all this time..."

Emmeryn, barely conscious, wrapped her fingers around the haft of the silver lance, gently tilting the spearhead away from the ghoul's neck.

"Y-Your Grace...?"

The exalt's fluttering jade eyes met the ghoul's wide argent and carmine.

"Don't worry about me... Go," she whispered.

He could only nod dumbly and carefully set her down beside Phila, behind the cover provided by the broken table and the sofa. The falcon knight immediately moved in front of the exalt, allowing Emmeryn to rest her forehead on her shoulder and providing her liege with a living, breathing shield.

Robin tilted his head away and spat out a piece of the enemy's torn black clothing, before he chewed - blood oozing out of the supple meat and making chills of delight run up his spine, energy flooding his body and kakuhou - then swallowed the chunk of flesh he had bitten off from the sorcerer. He slipped off his Grimleal coat, undid his belts, letting them fall to the floor, and untucked his shirt. Armour was useless against dark magic, and he didn't want them to get damaged. He opened his reddened mouth to ask how much Emmeryn knew, when a hiss of anger made him snap his head in the direction of the sorcerer.

The man was pushing himself up against the wall, the pale violet flames of the Vengeance spell he had used to defeat Phila rising from his body. Vengeance allowed the user to inflict half the injuries they had suffered in addition to their attack's damage onto their target. So the more the sorcerer was injured, the more dangerous the Vengeance skill became. And with a relatively low cost to the user's mana, it was not used infrequently.

Magical attacks were out of the question. Robin had determined that as soon as the sorcerer had waltzed in. With magical energy that potent, he could not hope for that man's resistance to be low enough for the spells Robin could cast to do much harm. Another thing that set dark mages apart from ordinary mages was their higher physical resistance.

Regardless, against Robin's newly aroused strength, that man stood no chance. This was no longer a battle between a sorcerer and a young mage. This was now a man versus a ghoul, whose strength was generally four to seven times superior than that of a human's, and whose ability to heal could drag this combat out for ages if there was not a decisive hit. And judging by the apprehension wafting from him and his cautious gait, the Grimleal was well aware of these facts.

"Elfire!" the man rasped, palm raised towards the exalt and her retainer.

Robin tackled them down and took the hit unto himself, gasping in pain as the flames burnt him and his right shoulder, including the collarbone, was torn asunder.

"Robin!" he heard Emmeryn exclaim breathlessly. Out of fear for him or herself, the ghoul couldn't know. Perhaps he never would. For once, he ignored her, righting himself and taking a combat stance in spite of his injuries and lack of weapons. Both could be resolved.

The sorcerer snarled in contempt as he watched Robin's irrevocably burnt skin peel and flay, the fresh pink layer beneath then heal, reinforce itself, and mesh with the untouched skin. Fleshy tendrils sprouted from the laceration across his shoulder and interlaced, pulling the wound closed, and the clavicle snapped back together.

Just as the Vengeance flames faded, Robin bent his knees and leapt, ramming his foot into the sorcerer's face from above. He heard the satisfying crunch of a broken nose, but the man tilted his head in the direction of the strike in time for Robin to continue to fall past him. His feet crashed against the floor, doubtlessly leaving cracks with the force he had exerted.

The ghoul swiftly spun up and kicked the sorcerer's still extended left forearm, another snap indicating a broken bone.

A growl of pain left the man's thin lips as he staggered back, meeting Robin's heterochromatic gaze evenly.

For some reason, the enemy grinned, wickedly and wolfishly. "Ha! You're just like her, down to the very bone..."

Robin paused, cocking his head. 'Her'? Who did he mean?

The smirk widened. The Plegian procured a strip of paper with ancient inscriptions from his robes, crumpled it in his hand and muttered a dark incantation beneath his breath. Robin prepared to dodge, eying the hand clasping the paper warily as smoke began to rise, and ashes poured out onto the floor.

A cry tore from his throat as he clutched his head and collapsed, gritting his teeth, hissing at the pain that was like knives slicing along his nerves, searing his sinews, and a lance being driven through his brain. A deafening ringing echoed in his ears and his head, disorienting him. He blinked to clear the fog obscuring his mind and vision, shook his head, but the haziness only worsened with every movement, every twitch of his muscles. He felt himself swaying unsteadily even though he was already on his knees, his vision tilting even though he was certain he was not - Or was he? - and making him feel sick to his stomach.

He heard his charges speaking, their voices only worsening his state, and the clacking of the sorcerer's shoes as he strode towards them.

No, Robin had to act. Immediately. He staggered in an attempt to find proper footing.

Emmeryn would die.

But his movements and the gears beginning to turn in his mind only increased his pain, coaxing more groans from his throat. He looked up, trying to blearily focus on the sorcerer, but it was like looking through rippling water; a distorted, shifting image that only worsened his nausea. He felt the recently ingested meat making its way back up his throat.

He heard Phila's lance scrape against the stone, grating to his ears. He whined.

To his overwhelming fear, wrath, and torment, his kagune writhed and squirmed, begging for release.


The wet, sticky sound of flesh bursting apart, followed by the electric buzzing of a great mass' movements.

Panne froze.

A scent did not lie, so how could this be?


Robin screeched in torment as his kagune tore through his lumbar, the four coarsely scaled tentacles arching and spasming with predatory intent. His mind and vision had begun to clear, enough for him to aim and slash one of the thin tendrils across the man's back before he could turn. They weren't deep, but enough to damage some vertebrae, and certainly enough to draw the enemy's attention away from his original target.

He felt himself swaying dangerously as he tried to stand, using the four rinkaku for support.

Emmeryn repressed a gasp at the sight, a hand flying to her mouth.

The air of superiority he had been maintaining seemed to leave the sorcerer all at once as he reevaluated the situation. If only the world would stop teetering before him, perhaps Robin would have been able to see clearly what the man was doing.

He seemed to mutter questioningly, with a hint of disdain. Another pulsation invaded Robin's mind, making him clutch his head and dig his nails into his hair, trying to shut out the shrieking ringing.

Robin blinked again, and he could finally see somewhat clearly. The man was standing before Emmeryn, claw-like hand raised and ready to cast the spell, though his main focus was on the ghoul, watching him cautiously, calculating.

How Robin would enjoy seeing those eyes glazed in unimaginable pain, that long body writhe in agony, the smell of blood invading his senses and stirring his hunger. He longed to kill the man for standing before her, ready to strike Emmeryn. The prospect made him feel giddy.

With his blood-red rinkaku, Robin struck his enemy down and ran him into the remains of the table, face pressed into the splintered wood. He crept up to his cussing opponent and pushed him back down when he tried to stagger to his feet. The ghoul crouched on his shoulder blades, feeling the bloodthirsty ecstasy, the thrill of the kill, laced with rage, hatred fuelled by his protectiveness of the exalt, blazing through his sinews like wildfire, burning away his inhibitions.

He didn't care about how much pain the man below him was now suffering. A sadistic part of him even relished his cries. The hedonism taking him over probably should have worried him, but he didn't have the heart to care, so long as it was taken out on the Plegian. This wretch was beyond mercy.

The ghoul leaned down towards his enemy's head, not minding the hiss in pain as he placed his weight on the bite and kagune wounds. The latter truly hadn't been as deep as he would have liked, his intention having been to slice the Plegian in two.

"Don't even think of killing those dear to me," he growled down at the man, bearing his bloodstained teeth in a viscous snarl. "You threaten their lives in any way, and I'll rip you to shreds."

The enemy struggled, but could not fight Robin's overwhelming strength, and screamed in pain when the ghoul pressed down on the shoulder. "Gargh! No! I will not be killed by you!" he sneered, then moved his right hand to once again aim at the two women. "Elf-"

Robin pressed his foot down onto the bitten shoulder, seized the man's upper arm hard enough to break the skin, then ripped it from its socket. The man shrieked in torment as the bone snapped out of the joint, his arteries tore and flesh was rent apart. The ghoul couldn't help himself from lapping up some of the carmine liquid that spilled, allowing himself to get drunk on the luscious flavour.

His kakugan blazing and kagune thrashing with pleasure akin to lust, Robin grabbed the man by his black hair and snapped his neck. Not to grant him a swift death, but the ghoul was beginning to struggle against the temptation to devour that man from head to toe, meat, organs, hair, and all. The smell of the blood was powerful and pungent, inebriating like a drug.

Robin allowed himself to take an indulgent, rapacious breath of the smell, allowing it to wash over him, before shuffling made him snap to attention. He gulped, suddenly acutely aware of the other two presences, and looked up to the exalt and her retainer.

Phila and Emmeryn sat in complete silence, expressions unreadable, but faces pale and clammy with sweat. Fear wafted from them, and Robin knew he had just wasted everything. All that effort to conceal his true strength to a level that matched his physique, all those human meals he'd choked down, only to regurgitate later, all that time lying in the infirmary, awaiting his recovery at a painstakingly slow, human rate with his kakuhou no longer functional.

All of that...for nothing.

He retracted his kagune into the kakuhou and stood, ignoring the corpse at his feet as he faced the door. He had heard the conversation outside perfectly well, and he could smell the odd woman, whose senses apparently rivalled his own. Even so, she had not revealed him...yet. Even if it would probably not be long, he hoped he could continue keeping Chrom oblivious to the truth. At least, just for a little longer. He did not want to be on the receiving end that man's wrath.

"Panne, if they ask, please say that the damage from the Plegian's curses are internal, and that I coughed up a lot of blood. Emmeryn and Phila are supposedly healing me right now," he murmured, praying for her cooperation.

He heard subtle shifting on the other side of the door as a sign she had understood, answering the questions that were being thrown at her in the manner Robin had suggested. He released a shuddering sigh of relief.

The ghoul then faced the two women on the other side of the room, not even attempting to deactivate his kakugan. They knew anyway. There was no point.

"If you're going to imprison me, turn me in, kill me, or torture me however you wish... Please just make it quick," he murmured, lowering his gaze.

"N-no, we won't do anything like that..." He heard the exalt stutter with a hint of uncertainty. He grunted in disbelief. "I have faith in you."

She had stuttered. Of all people, Emmeryn was nervous. She was afraid of him. He turned away from her, away from the corpse, away from the door, facing the wall. He was a ghoul. They knew, and before long the others would, too. They had seen him mercilessly kill, had seen him enjoy it.

He felt himself hunch forward, blink away tears. They were going to kill him, or worse, imprison him. Their trust, their companionship, their friendship. He was going to lose everything he had ever had. He could see it now.

An idea came to mind, and he turned to pick up the iron sword he had dropped when he'd been crippled, then ran the blade through the laceration across the corpse's back, coating it in crimson. He would at least have some evidence to defend his claim of humanity, ignoring the fact that the witnesses could easily become the judge and the executioner, and the fact that whoever looked closely enough would be able to tell that those wounds and some the markings on the floor had been caused by a coarse weapon.

"We should probably get out of this room, Your Grace," Phila suggested, her movements tense as she stood back up.

"Yes, we should now," Emmeryn said, surprisingly soft, and stood up shakily with her retainer's aid.

Robin picked up his belts and coat, clutching them to his chest, breathing in shakily. All he got was the smell of soap, the exalt, and himself. He could no longer find comfort in that calming female scent he had loved so much. Of a sister, mother, or ghoul caretaker...perhaps he would never know.


There was collective gasp when Panne stepped away and the doors to Emmeryn's chambers swung open. As soon as Chrom caught sight of his sister's golden curls, he wrapped her in an embrace so tight he thought she might suffocate. She reciprocated it wholeheartedly despite breathing difficulties, just as Lissa barrelled into both of them.

"Thank the gods, you're safe!" Chrom exclaimed over Lissa's tearful cries of happiness and the relieved conversations of the others.

Emm smiled tiredly, and gestured behind her. "It is Robin who you have to thank, Chrom."

He looked up in search of the tactician, only to barely restrain himself from gasping in horror at Robin's bloodied, ragged appearance.

The left shoulder of Robin's sleeveless shirt was burnt away, and the clothing was barely hanging onto his torso by the torn right shoulder and the blood-soaked material sticking to his bandaged chest. His hair stuck to his face, also caked in scarlet and sweat, and he must have coughed up more blood than Chrom had expected.

He looked exhausted, his entire body trembling as though he was struggling to stay on his feet. Chrom sympathetically clapped him on the back, earning himself an almost remorseful look. The prince ignored it in favour of grasping the boy by the shoulders and looking him square in the eyes.

"Thank you," he sighed. He couldn't think of anything else to say. No words could express his gratitude. "For saving Emm's life."

Oddly, a tear ran down Robin's cheek, and he seemed to be struggling to make it the only one. Chrom figured it was something like survivor's guilt getting to him. Or perhaps that Plegian had said something to damage the boy's self-esteem. Either way, Chrom squeezed his shoulders to comfort him, and he seemed to relax by a fraction, weakly grasping one of Chrom's wrists in return.

When the prince finally stepped back from the boy, Phila bowed to him, stiff as a board. She always was, but he noted she was slightly tenser than usual.

"I beg your forgiveness, milord! I failed in my duty - they should have never made it into the castle in the first place." Although her expression remained controlled and stoic, her voice betrayed her regret.

Chrom waved her off. "Peace, Phila. You couldn't have known what was coming, only Marth could..." he added absentmindedly.

At the name, Emmeryn looked up from Lissa, brow furrowed in confusion. "Marth?"

Chrom nodded. "Yes, I would speak more with..." He turned to where the foreseer had been, only to find no one. He looked around, but caught no sight of her deep blue armour or hair among the gathered Shepherds, pegasus knights, and clergy. "Um... Robin? Where's Marth?"

"Hmm... An excellent question. She was here a moment ago..." the boy murmured as he, too, scanned the crowd.

"Not again!" Chrom groaned, and took off into a run. Where to, he didn't know exactly. She had known about the cleft he'd created near the maple grove, so he assumed she would know the rest of the castle layout.

But no. If she left, and hadn't been seen entering, then she would be apprehended as a suspect. So she simply couldn't be seen, the same way she hadn't been as she'd entered.

Panting and gasping for breath, Chrom finally reached the castle courtyard, where he had first met her tonight, and hid in the shadows of a few trees beside the paved walkway. Sure enough, Marth was walking towards the trees that formed the grove, head lowered. Her Falchion was no longer glowing.

She paused for a moment, then slowly turned to look back at the castle. She stood stock still, and simply stared at the white palace. Did she expect him to come after her? After a few moments, during which she took a deep breath, Marth turned back around, and Chrom caught a glimpse of a bittersweet smile in the faint light of the nearby torches.

He chose that moment to come out of hiding, interrupting her path away from the castle and standing before her. She halted a couple of paces away from him and met his gaze evenly, the right side of her face lit by the candlelight, contrasted by a shadow over her left.

"Going somewhere? You have a bad habit of leaving without saying goodbye, you know," he said, attempting to sound at least a little more mirthful than he felt at her leaving again.

She seemed to lighten up a little, relaxing. "Yes, I'm afraid I have a few bad habits."

Chrom grinned. "Good ones as well - you saved my life, as well as both of my sisters. Is there some way I can repay you? Some favour I can grant?"

She lowered her gaze, a tiny smile gracing her features. "Hearing you offer is reward enough."

"But there must be something..."

She shook her head, and said with a tone of finality, "I already have what I came for - history has been rewritten."

Chrom frowned. So this was goodbye, probably for good. Perhaps now she would answer? "And what future averted?"

She seemed to pause, and Chrom waited. She had long earned her right to secrecy. He would not infringe it now.

But he needn't have, as after a moment, she spoke, as though reciting a tale, "After the exalt's untimely assassination, the Fire Emblem would be stolen. This, in turn, would lead to a great war, and soon to the end of mankind itself." She paused, and shook her head with a resigned smile. "...But I'm sure that sounds like madness to you."

Chrom allowed the words to sink in for a moment, and found, to his own surprise, that he felt absolutely no reason to question her honesty, nor the legitimacy of her claims. "...Strangely, no. It doesn't. Somehow I know I can trust you. And I hope someday to repay your favours."

She smiled, in some way knowingly. After all she had done for them, after she had revealed her knowledge of the future, of course she would. Marth always knew. "Perhaps one day you shall. Until then..."

She gave him a small, graceful bow, then drifted past him. Chrom let her, and silently watched her sapphire hair flow behind her, as the silhouette of the prophetic girl disappeared into the night.

The foreseer did not look back.

After a moment, Chrom, too, turned around and returned to find his eldest sister.

As the prince neared Emmeryn's chambers, passing by Shepherds and people who were carrying the casualties and cadavers away from the scene, he heard Phila report,

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

He rounded a corner, seeing his sister and Frederick also gathered there. Panne and Robin were sitting beside each other against the wall, the boy, now cleaned up, apparently dozing with his forehead on his knees, the rabbit-woman observing him warily. The gathered exalt and subjects turned to meet his gaze, and Chrom wasted no time in making his point.

"It was Plegia! I'm certain of it. They'd do anything for the Emblem." He looked his sister sharply in the eye. "Emm, you can't stay here. Come to Ferox where it's safe."

She met him with a stern gaze. "And leave the people undefended? War is at our borders, Chrom. Do you expect Ylisse to stand against Plegia without a leader? They must know their exalt stands with them."

Chrom sighed, resting a hand on Falchion's hilt. "But if something happens to you? What then?"

Emmeryn seemed to gather her thoughts, gaze flicking down, when Frederick spoke up,

"Your Grace, perhaps you might relocate to the eastern palace for the time being? The other kingdoms know nothing of it. You would be safer."

Chrom looked at his sister pleadingly. "Yes, please. At least that. I can't leave for Ferox with you right in harm's way."

Emmeryn hummed in thought, then gave a reluctant nod. "Very well."

Chrom felt a surge of relief wash over him, and released a breath he hadn't realised he'd been holding. "Thanks, Emm. I mean it. We'll escort you to the palace before we head north to the border."


"How?! How could they have known my plan?! My purpose is to significant to be thwarted...here... Aargh...!"

The cries of the fallen and condemned. Deafening wailing. A cacophony of screeches. Cursing in ancient tongue.

"Validar."

Our prophet. Our messiah.

"What? Who are you? ...Where did you...come from?"

Their agonised screaming shifts and distorts the plane of nihility. Dizzying and corrupting.

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

Unhand us!

The garbled cries continue,

Rest we shan't, for our fury is righteous!

"I-impossible! It can't be you! ...It can't be..."

"I am the wings of despair. I am the breath of ruin."

For our will shalt be exacted.

"I am the fell dragon, Grima."


Phila opened the door to Emmeryn's temporary chambers, eying Robin curtly. He gave her an equally solemn nod in thanks, observing the room. It was a simple studio flat, with a lavish coffee table and sofas. A guest room for visiting nobility, no doubt. Panne and Emmeryn were already seated, and Robin pointedly avoided the exalt's gaze as he sat himself across from her and beside the humanoid.

Why the exalt had asked for this meeting, with just the four of them, he had no idea. Phila was even unarmed, and had changed out of her armour, wearing only the azure sashes of her uniform.

As soon as the falcon knight had sat herself down beside the exalt, a heavy silence fell over those present. Naturally, Emmeryn was the first to speak, and faced the humanoid.

"Brave taguel, there are not words enough to express my gratitude."

Panne frowned suspiciously. "So you know our true name?"

"Sorry, what's a taguel?" Robin asked, and averted his gaze at the cold stare he received.

"I am a taguel," Panne stated simply, then faltered marginally. "The... The last taguel. We are shape-shifters. Most of your kind calls us 'beast' or 'coney' in the midst of their hunt." She looked the exalt in the eye, a stare that demanded equal respect. "I only helped because my warren owes Ylisse a debt. Do not think us friends, you and I!"

"I don't understand..." Robin murmured.

The taguel snorted, not turning her gaze away from Emmeryn. "Yes, it's precious little man-spawn and man-eaters seem to understand. It was man-spawn like you that invaded our warren and slaughtered my kin."

Emmeryn jolted in horror, eyes wide. "What?! Is this true? Who would do such a thing?"

"Ha!" Panne guffawed humourlessly. "Do not act so shocked. You are all the same. Right down to your base desire to ruin and destroy all your touch - even each other."

The exalt averted her gaze pensively, and spoke with caution. "...There is truth to your words, perhaps. I'm told that, in taguel society, everyone is treated as an equal. Mankind could learn much from your warren." To everyone's surprise, Emmeryn lowered her head in a respectful bow to Panne, whose eyes widened minutely behind her cold front. "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."

Phila stood abruptly. "Your Grace - you had no fault in this!"

"You claim to be blameless, and yet you would apologise? Pah!" Panne spat. "Your words are but wind."

Emmeryn sighed remorsefully, her shoulders slumping in defeat. "I know... But they are all I have."

The taguel observed in silence, and she softened her aggressive posture just a little. "...You seem sincere, man-spawn. You feel my pain as your own... I've never felt that before." A pause, and Panne gestured to her body. "Look at me. See what I am. I will never trust mankind. But you..." A smile tugged at her lips, her eyes gentler. "Perhaps you truly are not like the others."

The exalt let out another breath, but this time one of relief. "All I ask is a chance to earn your trust. Now..." She closed her eyes for a moment. "I'm afraid I must ask this. Would you expose Robin?"

He had truly hoped his species would not become a topic of conversation.

Panne's answer was immediate, without hesitation. "I would not. My kind and the man-eaters have generally passed each other by, them for their behaviour akin to that of man, and us for our scent, which is unappetising to them. Unless he gives me a reason to truly despise him, I will see none to reveal him. The conflict between man and man-eater is of no import to me, and I wish to remain independent from the matter."

"And that you shall, on my part," Robin swore without hesitation. She sent him a doubtful look.

"...And yet, you are different from other 'ghouls'. My nose still tells me you are human," she said slowly. Robin froze. "Even with your potent scent of distress, even while you sleep, I find any traces of a man-eater's scent hard to detect. But at the same time, I heard the exalt speak of your kakuhou, the other female accusing you of being a ghoul, and the kagune itself manifesting." She stared at him, hard. "Show me your kakugan."

There was no point in hiding it, Robin figured, as he bore his red eye to them.

Panne's eyes blew wide. "Of course..."

Emmeryn stood abruptly, staring at Robin's kakugan as though she'd seen a ghost. "One-eyed...?"

"Your Grace?" Phila almost whispered, looking between them. "Panne?"

"What's going on?" Robin could only meet their stares with apprehension. He knew his single kakugan was an anomaly, he had since the trip to Regna Ferox, but why this was the case, he had no idea. "Do you know why I only have one kakugan?"

The taguel clasped her hands together, lowering her gaze from him. Emmeryn sat back down and also looked away, at anything but him. Phila seemed ready to jump up and restrain him at any moment, even amidst her own confusion.

Eventually, the taguel began, "What do you believe happens...when a ghoul mates with a human?"

A ghoul and a human? Immediately Robin felt a sense of dread at how this could be related to him, and forced an answer out through gritted teeth.

"...A hybrid-"

"Wrong," Panne interrupted. "The chances of pregnancy are low. Yet if the mother is of man and somehow does conceive, then the ghoul foetus can't receive human flesh and starves to death in the uterus. If the mother is a ghoul, the body recognises the human part of the foetus and reabsorbs it as food."

"But in the rarest of cases," Emmeryn continued, head bowed and brow creased, "some children of mixed species might be born - half man, half man-eater. Because of heterosis, or hybrid vigour, half-ghouls are said to be far superior to either parent's race. And it is said that a half-ghoul's kakugan manifests only in one eye..." She looked up, meeting his heterochromatic eyes. "Most believe this entire theory to be nothing but a legend, yet the proof stands before us."

Robin allowed his pained head to drop. As they were speaking, the knowledge was flooding back to him, one sentence at a time. One of his parents was a ghoul, the other a human. He was a one-eyed ghoul, a crossbreed so rare, its possible birth was believed nothing but a myth.

He was half of what he devoured. He was half of what could eat him.

Somehow, that felt worse than either alone.

Panne's deep voice broke through his thoughts. "I have heard nothing positive about one-eyed ghouls. Apparently, they are more voracious than their own kind."

'Their own kind'? Did she mean the ghoul or human half? With Panne, it could have been either. Robin remembered his paradoxical thoughts the night the Risen had appeared, remembered fearing cannibalism and inhumanity at once, and could feel that same headache throbbing with a vengeance.

Emmeryn was saying something. "And Miriel's documentations describe the SSS-rated One-Eyed Owl, believed to be a half-ghoul. Not to mention the rumoured One-Eyed King... They are perhaps the most dangerous beings currently known to mankind...except for the fell dragon, of course."

Phila tensed, hand visibly twitching for a lance. "Does that mean...Robin is the Owl? Or worse, the One-Eyed King?" she asked, voice low and eyes dangerously narrowed. Robin deactivated the kakugan, and tried his best to ignore the swirling myriad of thoughts fighting to decide whether he should have been relieved and fearful at these revelations.

Emmeryn raised her arm between the halfbreed and her retainer. "No. The One-Eyed Owl has an ukaku-type kagune, whereas Robin has a rinkaku." To Robin, "Am I correct?"

He nodded stiffly, the knowledge still seeping in and his own reappearing in the blank void of before he met Chrom. "Y-yes... I'm a rinkaku."

"And the assumed age of the One-Eyed King doesn't coincide with Robin's," Panne added. "His existence, as far as I know, isn't even proven. The Owl and the King may just be the same ghoul. We just cannot know."

"That's true," Emmeryn confirmed.

"Would you try to eat the exalt and the Shepherds?" Phila continued, stern.

"The exalted bloodline is disgusting to me, it leaves me gagging..." the half-ghoul replied honestly. "I would never dare eat Chrom, or Lissa, or Emmeryn." He met the exalt's gaze, trying his best to look convincingly sincere. "I owe you and the Shepherds the life I have now. If I were to lose any of you to my own appetite, I... I would never be able to forgive myself."

Emmeryn hummed, "I see. And I'll say it as many times as I must for you to believe me, Robin - I trust you."

The falcon knight remained stoic, rising from her seat, most certainly clutching a dagger behind her back, Robin observed. She gave her charge a sideways glance, but maintained her focus on the newly revealed half-ghoul, half-human crossbreed.

"Your Grace, why insist on his trust merely because he has not yet acted on hunger? He is clearly Grimleal, a half-ghoul, and extremely dangerous. We don't know how gluttonous he could become, or has been. You cannot place your faith in him simply because he has saved your life, Your Grace, nor believe he has no predatory interest in you by his word alone. It may be a ploy to earn your trust, just as he has Prince Chrom's with his rather conveniently timed 'amnesia'."

Panne bristled, tense, ready to pounce or run from the conflict. Robin was about to retort, when Emmeryn raised her tone, and her words made him freeze up again.

"I would believe the same, had his Grimleal, ghoul mother, the S-rated Binge Eater, not saved my life once before."


A/N: Christmas update, anyone?!

You're welcome!

...Okay, so I left this chapter at a cliffhanger, AGAIN. But this chapter would otherwise exceed the kind of word limit I've set. I think this is quite enough for one chapter. The next one will immediately begin with Emmeryn's memories. I've already written a large portion of it, which is perhaps partly the reason for the delay here. I just needed to make sure the hints dropped so far match up to Emmeryn's memory before anything else.

And here's my little Christmas present to you all - the structure the first three, canonical parts of Ylisstol Ghoul:

I: Spawn of Fell

- Ylisse, Plegia, and the Shepherds.

- The tightrope.

II: Monochrome

- Aogiri Tree and the CCG.

- The birdcage.

III: Unravel

- The fate of the world.

- The truth.

For those who are hardcore readers/gamers in one...or the other...or both fandoms involved in this crossover... Well, let's just say you will be pleased! If you are unfamiliar with these fandoms...well, you'll still be pleased!

Thank you to everyone who has supported this work, amateurish original and improved rewrite! Whenever my motivation drops or I hit a wall, another like, comment, or review will spur me on. And we all want that, don't we?

You're all amazing, and don't forget it!

Thank you so very much to all of you, and I wish you all a merry Christmas!