Note: Well, Crocodile Tears is now out. It will cover events leading up to the point where Tharja first encounters Robin and Ghiaccio. Along the way, I'll be including a lot of cut areas and ideas from Jade. So if seeing more of Ghiaccio's ruthlessness or scraped content that never made it into Jade appeals to you, then this is your chance to see it.

Breakthrough

The sight of the river was a welcome one. Lucina limped her way along the lonely banks while remaining ever watchful of her surroundings.

Anything that moved garnered her attention. At the merest hint of rustling in the brush, she would bolt to cover. Anything at all could be another potential threat.

Her condition was not exactly ideal. She could barely move her left arm without feeling a severe stinging from her burns. Her head was throbbing and the pain only got worse with each step forward.

While she was unaware of it, the swelling around her eyes had gotten worse. The only thing to hide it was her mask. Lucina felt her forehead several times only to learn that she had a fever for some reason. She was tempted to remove her mask and check her eyes for any sign of infection, but she could not build up the courage to look at herself.

Lucina's surroundings were starting to look familiar again. She recognized certain trees and shape of the river that ran through the forest. Once she realized how close she was to the last place she had encountered Ghiaccio, she forced herself to come to a stop.

"What am I doing," she thought to herself. "Why did I even bother coming back here?"

Before she had a chance to search her brain for an answer, she heard an odd sound coming from the tree line to her left. She immediately drew her sword and ducked down.

Lucina crept toward the nearest tree and peeked around the trunk. Once more, she was met with a horrific sight that tested her fight or flight response.

The corpse of a horse laid on the ground. She could only see the bottom half of it, as most of its body was hidden behind a row of tall bushes. Blood coated the ground around it, indicating a rather brutal death had taken place.

She did not have to search for very long to find the culprit. Looming over the corpse stood what she assumed to be a man until she took a closer look at it. This creature was at least more humanoid than the last few she had faced, but it was still obvious to Lucina that this thing was anything but human.

Straps of black leather bonds were practically infused to its pale flesh. Some of them even appeared to have been melted onto its body along with living vines and other small plants that intertwined with his flesh. It had obscenely long claws reaching upwards of to six or so inches. In its right arm, Lucina saw an intimidating cleaver that was covered in blood.

The creature had the head of a horse, or at least, that was what Lucina had assumed at first glance. Suddenly, the horse's head slid off of the monster's actual head and fell to the ground. She winced at the thought of how long it must have been wearing that decapitated head as a mask.

It had the head of a human, albeit, an incredibly deformed human. Its eyes were shrunken into its skull and its face appeared to have been severely burnt.

Lucina prepared to back away slowly. She wanted absolutely nothing to do with this abomination, but just as she was about to turn around and escape to the riverbank, she felt something give way under her right foot. What followed was a loud snapping sound.

She hissed under her breath as she looked down to the broken twig in front of her.

"Did that 'have' to be lying right here!?"

The forest had shown no mercy to her as of yet and it was clearly not going to start anytime soon. When Lucina glanced over her shoulder to make sure the monster was not disturbed. She was not at all surprised to find the thing staring directly at her.

Lucina stood up and readied her sword. She charged forth without hesitation, hoping that she would be able to kill it quickly. All the while, the monster stood there staring at her, watching as she entered its range.

Long after Robin and his friends departed, the Shepherd's remained scattered along the hill. Chrom sat next to a tree while he watched passively as Frederick and Vaike attempted to get Flavia under control in order for Lissa to begin healing her.

It eventually took their efforts combined with Gregor's strength just to keep her still. She kept on screaming for the long dead Basilio to wake up regardless of what was happening around her.

Chrom tuned out her grieving cries as best as he could. Falchion was impaled into the ground in front of him. It still dripped with Anna's blood.

He occasionally looked down the hill only to see that Lon'qu was still paralyzed and mute. This did not mean Lon'qu could not communicate, however. It was fairly obvious to Chrom that Lon'qu was angry enough to kill the first living creature he could get his hands on if he were just able to move.

When Virion and Cherche approached, Chrom averted his eyes to the ground shamefully and ran his fingers through his hair. It was rare to see the archest of archers so upset, but from the glimpse Chrom got of his face, he looked positively furious. Despite his obvious frustration, he kept a cool and relaxed tone.

"Well, this is a right and proper mess now isn't it?"

Chrom did not answer him. Virion took this lack of a response as a reason to continue.

"How many more of our comrades have to die before you stop listening to everything Robin says? Every time we have the misfortune of being around him, tragedy strikes. That peasant who was eaten by maggots for no apparent reason should have been enough of a hint, but we allowed this to happen when it could have been avoided. Had you only have exercised even a small amount of caution and three lives could have been spared today."

Cherche quickly stepped up before Virion ended up getting himself into trouble. She moved in front of him and put on a pleasant smile.

"I believe what Virion is trying to say is that..."

"Do not interrupt me, it is neither the time nor the place," Virion snapped.

Cherche promptly backed off after that unexpected outburst. Caught completely off guard, she quieted down and allowed Virion to go on without further interruption.

"My point is that if we keep taking Robin's word for everything, we will all end up like Anna. I shouldn't be having this discussion with you in the first place, but alas, three people are dead and as I said previously, had you have only used a bit of common sense this all could have been avoided."

"If I may remind you," Cherche chimed in. "Ghiaccio and his friends only showed up after Anna disappeared. It could be that she was rounding up a large number of people so that it would ensure the death of that girl Lon'qu was traveling with. Perhaps she did not need us at all. Maybe we were only reinforcements to ensure that she would not be able to escape."

The archer let out a long sigh. He placed his thumb and index finger to his forehead and attempted to rub the frustrated look from his eyes. "That only proves my point, Cherche. Why was Anna so desperate to kill her. Ghiaccio claims it was all a trap, but that does not make sense to me because they were all too eager to destroy that poor woman. Nobody aside from us was even remotely disturbed to find that Basilio had been killed by accident or so the elves say. I find that especially hard to believe."

Virion pointed to Basilio's lifeless corpse. Blood still poured from the small wound in his chest. He shuttered at the sight of Basilio's blank expression and glazed eyes.

"I was thinking about what happened earlier today," Virion continued. "Finally, I believe I've reached a logical conclusion. Would you like to hear it, sire?"

Chrom's shrug was enough of an answer, although, it was not as if Virion was waiting for confirmation. He was going to offer up his opinion whether it was welcome or not.

"Anna shows up out of nowhere when our morale is at an all time low," the archer stated harshly. "She expresses a plan to subdue the woman responsible for your daughter's disappearance so that we may interrogate her. Suddenly, those sadists from across the river and Robin's little gang show up out of nowhere and the whole operation is forever lost into the pits of Hell. We lose our information and three others lose their lives. Ghiaccio convinced you to murder Anna and they all went back to their cozy little home without even bothering to say goodbye. All of this leads me to believe that Robin and Ghiaccio were using us as pawns so that they could silence that poor maiden. They used Anna all the same, probably with promises to pay her and when it came time to fulfill that end of the bargain, Ghiaccio tricked you into murdering her."

Chrom slightly perked up as an idea came to him. He could no longer deny what Virion was saying, but he still found hope in the thrall of this giant conspiracy.

"Perhaps Robin and Tharja are pawns too," he stated, only voicing his wishful thinking. "We should go back to the mansion right now and expose Ghiaccio's cruelty!"

Virion nearly cracked up at Chrom's idea. He had to think about it for a moment as he assumed at first that his ears were playing tricks on him.

"Do you even hear yourself, sire," Virion sarcastically questioned. "Robin is no pawn. He's Ghiaccio's greatest ally. When I look into that serpent's eyes, I see nothing but malice. When I look into Robin's eyes, I see that same malice doubled! Why do you feel the need to 'expose' Ghiaccio? Robin is already fully aware of the snake's brutality, partially because he's the one who carried out these ruthless wrongdoings. And as far as Tharja is concerned, well, you can forget about the idea of her joining us so long as Robin is on Ghiaccio's side. In fact, I remained convinced that she was the one who murdered that peasant before he had time to give us crucial information about your daughter's whereabouts."

The archer glinted towards Frederick. The knight was working hard on keeping the still grieving Flavia from attacking Lissa. While they struggled, Virion continued his efforts to get his points through to Chrom.

"There was one thing I disagreed with Frederick on until now," he informed in a whisper as if he were worried that the wrong ears might hear what he had to say. "I thought it was a bit paranoid to assume Robin and Ghiaccio were responsible for Lucina's disappearance but now I see it as the only true explanation. Why else would they work so hard to destroy all of our leads?"

Chrom did not argue against Virion's point. Instead, he took the opposite approach to what had got them into this position. All it took was a brief glance around the area to remind Chrom that listening to his fellow Shepherds was probably a good idea.

Virion's tone became more melancholic as he spoke. "Whether you want to believe it or not, there is no denying that Robin had betrayed us."

Tharja and Rhajat peeked around the corner of the entrance hall and peered into the living room where Robin was quietly reading a book. Most of the activity in the manor was going on in the dining room behind them. Cheerful voices and laughter echoed throughout the decrepit manor. While Ghiaccio and the elves celebrated a job well done, life for the other residents of the mansion went on without interruption.

The fact that Robin had yet to go to sleep was unsettling for Tharja. She watched with great interest every time he picked up his glass of wine and took a sip. Despite the hex she placed on it, he still had not yet gone upstairs.

"Come on, pass out already," she demanded in a whisper. Tharja clawed at the walls and gritted her teeth. "I've done this before and you always fell asleep within thirty minutes. It's been forty already!"

"Are you sure this is a good idea," asked Rhajat. "I can only imagine what would happen if Ghiaccio found out about this."

"I could care less about that snake," Tharja snapped coldly. "He's the one who's responsible for killing Robin's soul. I'm just reviving it. If Ghiaccio has a problem with it then he can take it up with me. The only thing I find worrying is if this hex will even work or not. If it does, then Robin will want to be asleep as the spell goes to work. I cannot imagine this being a painless process but if he's out cold, it won't matter."

The sight of Robin stretching his arms and letting out an abrupt yawn put Tharja at ease for the time being. Something caught Tharja's eye as Robin stretched his arms up into the air. She spotted a glimmering ring on his hand. While she had no idea he bothered wearing it, she decided not to linger on the thought. Soon enough, he would be a completely different person which was all she cared about at the moment.

After observing Robin's behavior, Tharja retreated back into the depths of the cellar. She had a clear vision in mind for her next hex, but that was interrupted when they abruptly had to head north to the river and deal with one of Ghiaccio's problems.

With more time to herself, she could focus on something she decided to continue working on in secret. Not even Rhajat was aware she was down here. She made sure of that.

In front of her was the wine glass Robin left behind before heading upstairs for the night. Tharja emptied out and brought it with her. It now sat in the middle of the floor with no sigils around it whatsoever. None of the usual symbols she utilized for her everyday rituals were present. Now, there was only herself, the glass, and a few manuscripts she had seized from the now deceased occupants of the manor.

Everyone else had given up on the idea of turning something into nothing, but Tharja would not be deterred so easily after her interest had been so thoroughly peaked. She read over the contents of one particular passage of the essay.

"Gravity is mentioned constantly," she told herself. Her voice echoed throughout the cellar and acted as a reminder of just how lonely she felt in this room. Not that it bothered her at all.

"The woman who wrote this paper, if correct, has implied that gravity is the reason behind an object being destroyed. Robin, you adorable fool. You misread this. They aren't referring to a disappearing act. It's a force of unrelenting gravity that tears an object down to its barest essentials, equating it to nothing when looked upon by the naked eye, but in reality, it has merely been disassembled."

She discarded the now useless pages onto the ground and stared harshly at the glass. "It's far too difficult to concentrate the surrounding forces of gravity into a single area. However, conjuring ice, fire, and thunder from seemingly nothing has been a weapon in the arsenals of mages for a long time. Who's to say gravity cannot be added to the lineup?"

And just like that, her soliloquy was over. There was nothing left to stop her from bringing this idea to fruition. She took a deep breath and cleared her thoughts. The time for research and debating with herself was over and now the experimentation phase could begin.

Hours passed and Tharja found herself quite pleased with the results. The glass had not been destroyed yet, and in that regard, she was becoming very impatient. Most of her time was spent actually conjuring gravitational forces in place of the magical norm.

There were no incantations or recommended setups for this ritual as it was completely uncharted ground. This fact inspired Tharja far more than it deterred her. Once she figured out a means of conjuring gravity, the process suddenly became much more difficult than she initially expected.

The question remained, how much was too much and how much was too little? She wanted to destroy the glass but she did not want to kill herself or bring down the entire mansion in the process.

However, she decided to throw caution to the wind after her last attempt. She almost created a sort of tornado that sucked in nearby objects but it was not enough to outright destroy the glass in its entirety. The only thing she achieved was making a mess and creating a few more cracks in the wine glass.

Her frustration and impatience got the better of her so she came back with a force far greater than she would have utilized had she been thinking clearly. She flung her arm out in front of her as if she were about to cast a spell. While normally a purple aura would accumulate around her hand, this time there was no such thing to be seen.

The results were instantaneous. The glass and other pieces of junk that now littered the ritual area suddenly shot up into the air. It happened far faster than Tharja's eyes could process what they were beholding.

The items began swirling around in a circular motion as if orbiting around a small area. Tharja had seen this countless times already and she presumed it to be the location where gravity was at its strongest.

However, within an instant, the items were completely shredded. They did not disappear but were instead twisted and ruined. They swirled around each other at an alarming rate. All the while, they were blended as if they were made of rubber and promptly torn into pieces.

Shocked by what was happening, Tharja lowered her hand, ending this summoning. As soon as she did this, those tiny bits of glass and other materials were suddenly thrown all across the room. Had Tharja not have ducked when she did, she would have been impaled by the various clusters of shrapnel that had been launched toward her.

She hit the ground and covered her head with her arms. By some miracle, she was not hit by anything. When she came too, all that was left were the pieces of decimated objects. Random junk such as books, bottles, and boxes were all utterly demolished.

Tharja considered herself lucky that she herself was not sucked into that violent vortex of gravity. She looked onto the damage she had caused with pride. It was not the same destructive power Robin had envisioned. The ability to simply erase objects was indeed the original goal of their research, but Tharja saw no reason for that anymore.

In an instant, so much destruction was caused. It was far more brutal and demoralizing than simply erasing objects or better yet, people out of existence when she could simply blend them together and tear them apart with little to no effort. It was a spell that required no prior ritual to cast and could be utilized on the spot. She could not think of a better alternative.

With a cruel smile, she thought of what it would look like if she did the same to a human being. Her laughter filled the cellar. She began thinking of all the things she could use to experiment on. From more wine glasses to cats and other animals.

After just a few hours of working and the night was already looking up for Tharja. Her worries were about the effects her last hex will have on Robin were temporarily replaced with the irresistible desire to destroy.

Note: If there are any fans of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure reading this then you've probably noticed something familiar about Tharja's newly acquired power. I had a bit of trouble figuring out what sort of devastating ability that Tharja would learn to utilize throughout the story in the same way that Robin gains a preference for conjuring ice.

Spoilers ahead for Stardust Crusaders.

I was inspired by one of my favorite characters in JoJo, Vanilla Ice. (Yes, that's his actual name.) A villain who can essentially erase objects from existence. I decided to give Tharja a similar ability that would slowly develop on-screen as opposed to Robin's presumed practice with ice off-screen. One of the earliest stages I had come up with when developing her ability was exactly what you saw in this chapter. It was only until after I had introduced Lyn to the story that I decided this was far more brutal than her end goal.

I even briefly considered letting Tharja demonstrate it on Lyn, but I cut that after I decided to hold off on showing the scenes featuring her experimentation.