Chapter 14 - Traces of a Raptor

The morning was pleasant, with the sun beginning to shine through the windows, and only a few clouds painting the sky. A slight chill flew through the castle windows, cooling Chrom as he ran through the hallway. He saw who he was looking for and called out. "Robin!"

Robin was walking down the hallway in the same direction that Chrom was going. He turned and waited for Chrom to catch up. "Chrom, good morning. I was going to send you a report, you know."

Chrom jogged up to Robin's side and kept his pace. "I wanted to be there myself. And it'll save time."

"Fair enough, let's go." After a few minutes of walking through the stone hallways of the castle, the two of them reached a heavy wooden door, guarded by two spearmen.

Chrom nodded to the guards, and one of them saluted, then pushed the door open. "All right, what do we got?" Chrom said, entering the room with Robin behind him.

As soon as the door opened, the change in air pressure brought a chill that made Robin shiver. The room felt cold. He looked past Chrom and thought that perhaps the cold was more psychological than physical. Tharja was near the door when Robin arrived. She crossed her arms and walked away to a corner with a, "Hmph."

"Salutations, Chrom, Robin." Miriel greeted them from behind Tharja. She was leaning on a table in the center of the room. She raised one finger to readjust her glasses. "We have gleaned little information, and much remains obscured by the unknown. It appears to be dormant, however, so I deem the risk minimal."

"Milord," Frederick said, walking between the table and Chrom. "We will maintain caution nevertheless."

"Care to explain what you know?" Robin asked. He looked at Miriel, and decided to add, "About the reeking box, that is."

"Of course." Miriel readjusted her glasses again, then gestured towards the reeking box on the center of the table. "The box is constructed by a cedar tree, common in southern Ylisse. It is sturdy and resistant to decay, as is evident by the rotting flesh leaving little effect on the box's structure."

"Wait, wait," Robin said. "A tree common in Ylisse? Is it uncommon in Plegia or Regna Ferox?"

"That is a correct inverse assumption," Miriel said. "The temperature is too hot in Plegia, and the soil does not possess the necessary nutrients for the cedar to survive. In Regna Ferox, the gelid air prevents it from propagating in large numbers. While there may be some, and moreso in western Regna Ferox, it is still uncommon and they have other alternative trees to use for construction."

"That's important to note," Robin said, rubbing his chin.

"Suspicious," Chrom agreed, "but we need more evidence. Continue with your analysis, Miriel."

"Acknowledged. Now, the contents of the box were more thoroughly investigated by Tharja, so perhaps she would care to evaluate."

Tharja remained in the corner of the room. She turned her back to all of them.

"Um, perhaps you should continue, Miriel," Robin suggested.

"Interesting," Miriel said, looking at Tharja, then at Robin. "Tharja's disposition has been known to alter depending on Robin's proximity, but the nature of disposition is different-"

"Miriel, stay focused on the box," Chrom ordered.

"Of course."

"Robin's love life is not ours to study so freely," Chrom added, somewhat jokingly.

The joke was lost on Tharja. "His love, yes," Tharja said, approaching Chrom and Robin. "Robin, even your second best friend knows the world's truth."

"Eh?" Chrom asked. "Let's try to focu- wait, who's the number one best friend?"

"You of course cannot compare to the relationship that Robin and I possess," Tharja said, reaching for Robin with her arms.

Robin extended his arm to keep Tharja at a distance. "Chrom, I guess there's important information I need to tell you."

"Go ahead and tell your number one best friend first." Chrom crossed his arms and smirked.

Robin sighed. "Miriel, please continue."

"Ahem." Miriel cleared her throat, then breathed in to continue her analysis.

Suddenly, Tharja cut her off. "The Risen are different from the sacrifices in the box."

"So… it's not a direct resurrection of the dead," Robin assumed. "Have you determined why there were so few Risen?"

"The sacrifice wasn't great enough," Tharja said. "Your guess before was correct, Robin." She reached out to touch Robin's face, but then stopped a moment before and clenched her hand into a fist. She dropped her fist to her side.

"So the number of sacrifices leads to the number of Risen."

"Not necessarily," Miriel rejoined the conversation. "We also found some valuables sacrificed as well. Coins, precious stones."

"Also, the location is important," Tharja added. "There were few Risen to be summoned in the area we were in. A field that hosted a large battle in the past, that might yield greater numbers."

"So a reeking box wouldn't be very effective here in Ylisstol?" Chrom asked.

"I don't quite know the history here, but I guess not," Robin replied. "Unless there was a famous siege back in the day."

"Unfortunately, it's not a totally direct correlation between the history of death at a location and the number of Risen. There are multiple other factors that adjust the numerical value," Miriel pointed out.

"Very well. Is there anything else we know about the reeking box?" Chrom asked.

"The magic cast on it was formed in Plegia," Tharja said. "Someone who studied as a dark mage before."

"So then the source of the reeking box is Plegian?" Chrom asked.

"Not necessarily. Remember, the wood to make the box likely came from Ylisse," Robin said. "Perhaps there's a cooperation behind the two."

"Then we can't really tell who did it?" Chrom gripped the edge of the table tightly as he looked at the reeking box.

Robin tapped his finger on his chin. "What was the box used for?"

There was a moment of silence, before Miriel decided to step forward and speak. "Could you please elaborate on your query?"

"It's for a reeking box, right?" Chrom said. "Though I gather you don't mean that."

Robin traced one of the wooden planks that formed the box. "Well, it looks like a crate used for goods. Do you think it was built specifically for a reeking box?"

"Hmm." The others were deep in thought.

"I kinda feel like it was just taken and reused as a box," Robin said. "Remember the last one? It didn't seem so specially constructed. Just any old box."

"Anna. Let's find and ask Anna," Chrom said. "With her experience in suppliers and trade, she might recognize something about the box. Frederick, could you look for her? Bring her to the afternoon meeting."

"Of course, milord," Frederick said. He bowed before exiting the room.

Chrom clapped his hands together. "Okay, is there anything else?"

"I believe we've covered the principal and critical particulars," Miriel said. "As I alluded to earlier, there is much we do not know."

"All right. Excellent work, everyone, for just a morning of study. Breakfast might be ready in a few moments. You can take a break for now." Chrom patted Robin and Miriel on the shoulder. He turned to Tharja and hesitated. "Uh, good job, Tharja," he said before turning and leaving.

Miriel followed Chrom, leaving Robin and Tharja in the room with the reeking box. They were on adjacent sides of the table. Robin looked at Tharja and found that she was staring at him intently. "Tharja," he began, scratching the back of his head.

"Robin."

"I… um…" Robin stepped closer to Tharja, who remained stationary. "I… I just…" Robin looked Tharja up and down and saw that she was clenching her fists. Her arms were extended downward. She was very tense, and obviously holding back. "Tharja, are you okay?"

"Hmph. Like you care," Tharja said, though she relaxed her arms. She folded them in front of her.

"I just… want to know… are we okay? …With each other and all."

"Do you continue to reject this world? This nature? This connection of ours?"

"I… um... I don't know what to say to that." Tharja didn't respond, leaving Robin to scratch his head again. "Eheh… How about I change the question. You're not going to harm Olivia or anything, right?"

The mention of Olivia's name made Tharja tense again briefly. "You've developed a sort of… fondness… to the creature. I can't do something to make you upset."

"Tharja, that makes me so glad!" Robin exclaimed. He exhaled in relief. "That's really good to hear."

Tharja took a step forward, now standing on the same side of the table. "Only I know how to make you happy, Robin." She reached out with her hand to touch Robin's chest, but hesitated once again.

Robin saw and cringed briefly, unsure of what to do. He took a deep breath, then took her hand and maneuvered it for a handshake. "Tharja, you are a good person and a wonderful woman. I want you to know that."

Tharja squeezed Robin's hand fanatically, almost to the point of pain. She then sighed. "Hmph. I'm wondering if I should aggressively throw my body at you and force myself on you."

"Um, Tharja, I feel like… maybe… don't do that."

"I am completely yours and you are mine. But I guess you need more time to learn that. I will devise more adaptable tactics to get you." Tharja said.

"I... guess that's fine for now. Thank you for restraining yourself." Robin smiled. Tharja saw the smile, blushed, and turned away shyly.

"I despise your… precious desirable smile on those… salivating lips."

"Tharja, you know, you can let go of my hand."

"I don't ask for much!" Tharja snapped, still gripping Robin's hand.

Robin sighed. "Well, that's true. Very well, for a few more moments."

The two of them remained with hands grasped for some time, and Tharja relishing every second of the contact.

The dining hall was a grand room in the castle. Four chandeliers provided the primary illumination, along with torches lining the walls. There were several wooden tables lined up throughout the room. For sitting, there was an assortment of benches and stools. The floors were made of smooth stone.

Several people were already sitting down in the dining hall, eagerly awaiting food. Robin walked in with Tharja following right behind. He saw Olivia sitting with Lon'qu, Basilio, and Flavia. "Olivia!" Robin called out, waving as he walked towards her.

"Robin!" Olivia smiled briefly, then saw the person behind him. "...And Tharja. Um…"

Tharja glared at Olivia with the harshest eyes she could muster. Olivia cringed under Tharja's gaze, until finally, Tharja clenched her fists. "Ugh, intolerable!" She suddenly stormed away, out of the room.

Robin smiled weakly and sat down next to Olivia. "I'm sorry, she's… trying to compromise. But she's a good person."

"I… I know."

The two of them sat next to each other on the bench. They both looked down at the ground, unsure about how to proceed.

Flavia walked over, across the table from them. "So, you two a thing now?" She leaned closer, eyeing the two of them and smiling. Her proximity made Lon'qu grunt and change seats.

"Um… er…" Olivia hesitated. She started to cringe just like when she was under Tharja's gaze. "Robin just…"

Robin took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "I like Olivia, and I want to sit next to her," he declared firmly. Olivia's blush increased, and she placed her hands on her cheeks to hide her blush.

"Oh?" Flavia's smile increased. "Strong words. Good luck with all of your sitting next to her ventures."

Flavia was pushed forward as Basilio joined her, slapping her back. "Hah! That is glorious! She is a jewel of Regna Ferox, so you'd better treat her well."

Olivia hadn't stopped blushing. "Th-thank you, Basilio."

Robin looked at Olivia for a moment, then stared straight into Basilio's eyes. "I will, of course."

"I've always wondered just how much of a jewel she can be-"

"Basilio!" Olivia whined.

This time, Flavia's fist bashed Basilio in the gut. "You have no tact. Get out of here, old man."

Basilio tried laughing through his wheezes as he tried to regain the breath he had suddenly lost. "Eheh, hah, if I were a bit younger…"

"Gods," Olivia uttered.

Robin wasn't sure if she was referring to Basilio's thoughts or just the whole situation in general. He thought for a moment, then reached his arm around her shoulder. As soon as his arm made contact with her back, she jumped forward, startled. "Ah! Sorry!" Robin said.

"No, I'm sorry!" Olivia responded quickly. "Er, well…" Olivia slowly reached behind her, took Robin's hand, and guided his arm back down around her shoulder.

They remained like that for a few moments, enjoying their company. Finally, Robin spoke.

"Hmm. Olivia, I guess we never really discussed this," Robin said.

"Hmm?" Olivia turned to look at Robin.

"Well, should we, um, should we keep it a secret? Should we go tell everyone?"

"You want it to… to be a secret?"

"It's not that! But, I don't know. It'll gain a lot of attention. Just look at Flavia and Basilio."

The two of them glanced over at the two. They were brawling and shouting curses at each other, while Lon'qu sat, observing their techniques.

"You're right. We haven't discussed this. Hmm. I don't know, Robin. This is… you know… it's kind of new to me."

Robin smiled and wrapped his arm tighter around Olivia. "It's new for me, too," he said.

Olivia smiled as well and basked under Robin's arm.

Robin looked at Olivia and continued. "I don't even know what it is. ...What is it? Or… what is this?"

"What do you mean?" Olivia asked, looking up at Robin with some concern.

"Oh. Divine. Naga."

The two of them looked up to see Lissa, her hand covering her mouth, maybe to keep from shouting out in excitement. Next to her was Maribelle, who was also surprised. She used her fan to obscure her mouth. Suddenly, Lissa ran forward and jumped towards them, capturing each with one arm around each person.

"This. Is. Amazing!" Lissa exclaimed, shaking the two of them.

Maribelle walked at a more normal pace to join them. "Why, Olivia, my dearest. So it was Robin, all along, that you were referring to?"

Olivia blushed and looked down before nodding an affirmative.

"Maribelle, sometimes I don't know how you didn't know," Lissa said, removing an arm from Olivia to gently push Maribelle.

Maribelle was supporting her chin up with her fan as she thought. "Hmm, well, I do suppose now that I think about it, everything makes sense. All the questions, the reactions."

Robin turned to Olivia. "Were you talking about me to Maribelle?"

Olivia shut her eyes and pushed Robin away. "I… I just wanted a little help!" She opened her eyes and saw that her force had shoved Robin off the bench. "Robin, I'm… I'm sorry!"

Maribelle placed a gloved hand on Olivia's shoulder. "Darling, it looks like there's still much work to do." She glanced at Robin as Lissa helped him up. "But I suppose you could do a lot worse."

"Th...thank you. Er, well, I think."

"So, then, tell us, what's the plan?" Lissa asked, sitting down across from the two of them. "You have to be doing something today, right?"

"Well, we have Myrmidon training today. And after that, I thought we'd… well… just explore the town."

"Uh huh, uh huh," Lissa nodded enthusiastically. "So where will you be going?"

"I… er… I don't quite know yet," Robin admitted, scratching the back of his neck.

Maribelle slapped her fan on the table like a riding crop on a horse. "Unacceptable." She looked at Robin harshly. "A man must take the lead with this. With confidence. With a plan! Lissa, my dear, it looks like that is what we shall be doing this morning."

"You got it, Maribelle!" Lissa turned to the other two. "Look forward to it."

"Ooooog," Olivia murmured.

Robin took Olivia's hands. "It'll be okay. I think." He shook his head. "I mean, look forward to it, Olivia! Today will be fun."

Robin collapsed onto a bench and fought the urge to throw up. He was outside, in the castle training grounds. Next to him, Stahl fell forward and caught himself before hitting the bench. He managed to flip around and sit on the bench. He took a few breaths, then brought his hand to his mouth to secure its contents.

"Today is horrible," he managed to say before suppressing his throat again. He swallowed, took a few breaths, then pushed Robin with little energy. "I thought you said training wasn't going to be difficult!"

"Sorry!" Robin said. "Frederick wanted to observe the first training. Blame him! Blame Lon'qu for letting him!"

"Blame…" Stahl fought another urge to throw up. "Blame you... You knew the risks!"

A hand was placed on each person's shoulders. "Come on, you two. It's not that hard," Sully said, pulling them back up to a standing position. "I know you can do better than me in the end."

"Yeah, well, we're far… from… the end," Stahl said between breaths.

Robin took a break from the heavy breathing. "Is… Is Gaius okay?"

They all looked at the thief, who was lying on his side on the ground. "Su...sugar…"

"He'll manage," came the gruff reply from Lon'qu, walking up to the group and blocking their vision of the thief.

Robin wobbled his way to Olivia, who was lying face-up in a patch of grass. "Olivia, are you okay?"

"...Why…"

"What… what was that?"

Olivia was breathing hard. Her chest was moving up and down somewhat noticeably to Robin. She turned her head to Robin and spoke as she exhaled after each breath. "Why… do you… hate… me?"

Robin collapsed next to Olivia. "Hate? I… I don't hate you."

Olivia straightened her head again, gazing at the sky with the grass on her back.

Robin didn't like Olivia's silence. "I'll… I'll make it up to you! Whatever you want tonight! I'll… I'll get it!"

"A shame, but she'll recover." Robin turned to see Frederick towering above the two of them. "All of you will. Don't worry, this is just a baseline. The next training session will not be so difficult."

"You… hate… me too," Olivia breathed.

Frederick remained undeterred. "If necessary, I will become a demon to raise all of your levels of success. This is all for a higher quality of fighting and survival. And it will improve your dancing, too."

Lon'qu walked up to Frederick and mumbled something. Robin was in too much pain to hear. However, Frederick relayed the message in a loud and clear voice.

"All right, the warm-up is over. Now we will begin with technique." All of the trainees in the Myrmidon project except for Sully groaned out loud.

"Just a warm-up?"

"Frederick, I don't think you know the concept of a warm-up."

"...Sugar…"

"Wow, Frederick really must have done a number," Lissa mused as she channeled energy through her healing staff. "I'm glad you never thought I had an aptitude for swordsmanship."

"Blah," Robin said, lying down on a cot. "I have no energy."

"Really? Are my efforts ineffective? How about… this!" Lissa tensed her grip, assumed a battle pose, and concentrated. "Rrrrr," she growled.

"I wonder how Olivia is doing," Robin thought aloud. He pushed himself up to look back at the other cots.

"Oh, I did it!" Lissa exclaimed, wiping her forehead from the sweatdrop that formed. "Didn't think that'd actually work. I should practice heroic poses or something!" She giggled at the thought.

Robin saw Gaius, Stahl, and Sully all resting in bed. Gaius was muttering how he was stuck with Libra. Anna was helping Stahl out. Sully was already sitting up on her own, and so Maribelle was attending to Olivia.

Olivia looked up and saw Robin looking at her. She frowned and made a pouty face. Robin cringed for a moment. Then, Lissa distracted him by hitting him in the back lightly.

"All right, get up. I don't want to waste this entire staff on you," Lissa said.

"Hey there, handsome!" Anna suddenly jumped between Lissa and Robin.

"Gah!" Lissa shouted, surprised.

"Anna? What's up?"

"I heard you were looking for little ole' me. Wanted to see me or something?"

"Oh, right, there's something I wanted you to look at. You might recognize it from your dealings."

"Hmm?" Anna frowned. "Doesn't sound very exciting. Well, whatever I can do to help."

"Thanks, Anna. We'll do it after this."

"Oooh, exciting," Anna said, trying to sound seductive. She patted Robin on the back, which made him collapse his arms and fall back to the cot. "I'll make sure to submit my extra hours to Cordelia."

"Uh, well, okay. I guess that's more Chrom's concern than mine."

"Great!"

After a few minutes, all of the new Myrmidons were re-energized. Robin walked up to Olivia, apologized, and promised again to make it up to her.

"Whatever you want, Olivia. I wanted today to be fun, anyway."

Olivia was still pouting her lips and keeping her cheeks puffed up. "Hmph. Well, okay. Fine. I forgive you." She playfully pushed Robin's shoulder. "So, where should we meet?"

"I have a meeting with Chrom and Frederick a little later. How about meeting at the castle entrance, when the castle torches are lit for the evening? Seems like a fine enough place and time to check the city out."

"Okay, fine." Olivia tried to maintain her pouting face, but then started to smile. "I… I look forward to it!"

Immediately after saying those words, she sprinted out of the healing ward and out of sight. Robin watched her go. Anna stepped up next to Robin. "Wow. She'll be a project," she said. She then linked her arm around Robin. "All right, let's check out this wonderful thing you wanted me to see."

"You know, you're quite a flirty one, too," Robin said. "I don't know if I noticed that before."

Anna giggled. "You player, do you hit on all the women? I should tell Olivia."

"Wasn't really hitting… Eh, never mind."

Robin found that Chrom and Frederick were already waiting in the room with the reeking box. They had also brought Maribelle, who was fanning the air away from her face when Robin and Anna arrived.

"Ah, Anna, good to see you," Chrom said.

"Hey there, lovely gentlemen," Anna said, winking at Chrom as she waved to Frederick. "And Maribelle, you are as stunning as always."

"Hmph. I thank you for the compliment, though I question the authenticity behind it," Maribelle said. "Though you are looking dashing and charming yourself, I do say."

"Thanks, sugar," Anna said. "I have a lovely set of tea leaves from across the ocean that I think you might be interested in."

"After spending as much time near this wretched box for so long, any tea leaves might do."

"Reeking box," Robin corrected.

Maribelle crossed her arms and closed her eyes. "Hmph. I stand by what I said." She opened one eye and looked at Anna. 'But thank you, Anna, I would be pleased to check it out."

Chrom clapped his hands together to gather their attention. "Well. So anyway, Maribelle says that this box would not have gone through Themis."

"It's such a drab box, boring and lifeless… oh, excuse me, I don't mean any disrespect to those poor souls who were gathered inside at one time."

"Of course not, please go on," Chrom said.

"That was so uncouth of me, thank you for your pardon. And I'm glad that you have… removed… the bodies. Ahem, anyway, much less the design but it lacks any stamps indicating it would have passed through Themis."

Robin walked closer to the box. "Hmm, might any stamp have been worn off?"

"That wouldn't do a lot of good, a stamp that wears off after time and weather." Maribelle stopped fanning the air and pointed with her fan at a particular point of the box. "But look here. There already are stamps."

All of the people present leaned in to see that there were some weathered but present markings on one side of the box. There were several different insignias in red. "This one is a region of southern Ylisse," Frederick noted, pointing to one at the edge of the box. "It's a ways further from where we found you, Robin."

"Actually, yeah, now that you've pointed it out, a few of these are Ylissean merchants," Chrom agreed, looking at the insignias. "They're companies, not regions, I think. Hmm. I think the order is important, because the territory keeps going further north."

"And this one I recognize from Regna Ferox," Frederick said, pointing to one of the insignias further from the side. "I don't quite recognize beyond here, though."

"Valm." Everyone turned to Anna, whose presence was forgotten as everyone else concentrated on the box. "You go to Port Ferox, then across the waters to Valm Harbor. And this one here in the middle is a merchant company in a town called Steiger."

Chrom was scratching his chin as he thought. "Okay, so this box was built in Ylisse, then shipped throughout the world to Valm and then back. If the order of stamps shows where the box moved to, it comes right back here. So… does that mean anything?"

They were quiet for a moment, unsure what meaning they could gain from where the box traveled.

"Well, I can't say what it means, but I can tell you that this last stamp is from a merchant company in western Ylisse, which happens to have a regional office here in Ylisstol," Anna said.

"Hmm." Chrom turned to Robin and Frederick. "You think we're going to get anything else out of this studying it here?"

"It's possible, and I wouldn't want to give up on learning anymore information from the box. Or any residual magic from the… sacrifices." Robin felt uncomfortable talking about it, after Maribelle reacted so negatively to herself for being disrespectful. While Robin was training for the Myrmidon project, Tharja and Miriel had determined that the magic was independent of the box, and had the sacrifices moved to another part of the castle, where the smell wouldn't permeate.

Chrom placed a hand on Robin's shoulder. "We'll pay our respects with the remains of those poor folk," he assured Robin. "But let's keep on our investigation. So, you think we should keep studying the box."

"Er, sorry, I hadn't finished. Let's not give up on the box, but I think we should check this merchant company here in Ylisstol out. The attack was only yesterday, so maybe we can catch some information today, before word gets out or something."

"Sounds good. Let's go." Chrom tapped Falchion's sheath to make sure it was still there, and started walking out the room.

"Milord!" Frederick exclaimed in a moment of brief but uncharacteristic emotion.

"Wait, wait, wait," Robin said, putting an arm in front of Chrom to stop him. "First of all, do you know where exactly this merchant company is? And second, I'm thinking you shouldn't go."

"I am responsible for Ylisse. I want to check this out myself."

Robin placed a hand on Chrom's soldier. "Look, I appreciate your passion, but if you go, well, you're kinda hard to miss. Here in Ylisstol, people will see you a hundred paces away. You'll scare them away."

Chrom looked at Robin, then drooped his head. "You're right," he admitted. "I can't just go marching off whenever I want."

"Milord, you are growing wise right before my eyes. You almost bring tears to my eyes," Frederick said, back to his neutral delivery.

"Okay, so then who goes?"

Robin was quiet for a moment. "Hmm. Well, Anna, you're a merchant. It might be good for you to join us."

"Sure thing, sugar. I wouldn't mind seeing the competition. Or partner, depending."

"Gaius would probably be good for any… um… pardoning your ears, Maribelle, but the…"

"Oh, just go on and say it. Unsavory business. Right up that thief's alley," Maribelle said, crossing her arms. "A dreary and disgusting alley."

"Who else… Some muscle, I'm thinking."

"Vaike? He's not well-known in these parts of Ylisstol," Chrom suggested. "Well, I'm not sure about the taverns."

"Gregor would be more subtle, now that I think about it," Robin said. "Vaike, he might be a bit… noisy?"

Chrom chuckled. "Can't really argue with that."

"Hey, maybe Kellam would be good, too. I mean, do you miss him a lot? I mean, miss seeing him. I overlook him all the time."

"You know, I actually do. I don't get it, his armor and stature, you'd think he'd be horrible at this stealthy stuff, but in actuality, he'd be great at it."

"Oh, and Panne. She has a great nose, and quiet feet. I think she could be a good thief if she were up to it."

"Please, Robin, don't go corrupting the souls of any poor women," Maribelle requested. "One Gaius-type person is enough. More than enough. Too much."

"Sorry. But yeah, that should be more than enough. This might just be a peaceful chat, anyway."

"All right. So, Anna, Gaius, Gregor, Kellam, and Panne. And you. That's your team?"

Robin was taken aback for a moment. "Oh, me, right. I guess I should go. I'm not that famous here, am I?"

"Hmm, I don't know, but you might want to stay back from the operation," Chrom suggested.

Robin looked around for a window but realized there was none in the room. "What time do the castle lights get lit?"

"We try to light them one hour before nightfall," Frederick said. "That's maybe six or seven hours from now."

Robin closed his eyes and thought for a moment. He then sighed audibly. "All right. Let's gather the team and meet at the castle door as soon as possible. And Chrom, I'll have a message I want you to give to Olivia."

"Oh?" Chrom asked, raising an eyebrow and cracking a smile. Anna nudged Robin, also smiling.

"We'll talk about that later, but let's get this going. We'll need to start looking and gathering everyone. Time is critical."

"All right, then, Frederick, you check the training grounds, I'll go to the barracks. Robin, you wait at the castle door and start planning your operation. Anna, if you would, please give Robin as much information as you can on the merchant company's office location and all."

"Got it, handsome."

"Maribelle, thank you for joining us and for your help."

"Of course, Lord Chrom!"

"Uh, well, ready, break!" Chrom led the exit from the room, and everyone followed.

As Robin was walking, he glanced outside one of the windows in the hallway. There was no longer a chill running through the windows. There was no gentle breeze at this time of day. The hottest part of the day would arrive later, but Robin already felt somewhat heated. 'Six or seven hours, eh? That should probably be enough time to get back... And maybe I can check out the town too. But let's not get distracted. There's still a lot we need to do. I guess peace will be a lot of work.'

A/N

Here it is! My thoughts on this chapter… uh… decided to do the date at a later time. Wanted to get into some CSI or police procedural kinda style with the reeking box. So the concerns I have for this chapter are… how Tharja's actions are, the Myrmidon training, and... maybe that's it. But of course, you can comment on anything you want. Blah, I want to get this chapter out quickly, so let's go right to review responses.

potatoman098, anime is exactly the format or style or inspiration I use for my story events or interactions or something. I don't know if you noticed, but I had hinted at Kellam's appearance in an earlier chapter, when Cordelia was talking about a voice that kept encouraging her. But yeah, I think I wanted to do a lot more with Kellam, like he had killed a bunch of wolves before Olivia arrived and secured the place. But oh well, maybe for later. Hey, more Kellam next time apparently!

KeziaVolition, don't underestimate reviews! They are probably an inspiration to many fanfiction writers here. Motivation, if not inspiration. Yes, I liked the bird motif, and I have many ideas for future chapters, but not enough for every chapter. I'm a little worried about using one and then wanting to use 'em in the future. So… yeah, those bird chapter titles might take more time.

So yeah, thanks for reading, reviewing, following, favoriting! Once again, please leave your comments or concerns, and hopefully you'll see another chapter not tooooo far in the future.