~Chapter Twenty-Seven: Days Past~
Battle won, Chrom and Robin stood panting as they cut the last blow into Validar; lunging forward ferociously, Chrom jabbed Falchion into the evil lord and watched as the enemy fell with a gurgle of pain.
"Robin," Validar hissed as he lay on the ground, bleeding. "Why…why would you…your birthright…my daughter…"
With one final sigh, Validar's eyes closed and his hand fell limply to his side. As if an enormous weight had been lifted from her shoulders, Robin sighed too before slumping into Chrom. Catching her, Chrom smiled at her before murmuring, "Hey, we did it. It's-"
"Over now?" A high, mocking voice finished Chrom's sentence. "Is that what you were going to say?"
In a flash Robin was back on her feet and Chrom was alert; a dark figure warped in where Validar had been standing. Warily, the two watched as the dark figure assumed shape, startling everyone as they looked exactly like Robin.
Dusting off their robe carelessly, the other Robin glanced around at the army with an unimpressed look before settling her gaze back on the real Robin. Putting a hand on her hip, the other Robin growled, "Look what you've done-made a mess of everything! You may have managed to alter some of history, but you haven't stopped anything."
"Who are you?" Chrom demanded, stepping forward to shield his wife. Glaring at the doppelganger, the young lord pointed Falchion before saying, "Who are you, really?"
Smirking maliciously, the other Robin laughed, "Oh, you still haven't figured it out?" Looking past Chrom, the mysterious woman grinned at Robin and pointed, replying, "I am you. Simply put, I am the you from the future where Grima was resurrected."
While Chrom and Robin took this in, unsure of what to do, the other Robin shrugged and said, "We were SUPPOSED to be one…every nightmare, every vivid dream you've had-those were my memories, all of them."
"You-!"
"Originally I followed 'Marth' here in an attempt to find you and become one, but your heart was still too weak to contain my power. It wiped your memory and left you completely useless." The other Robin looked disgusted at the memory, before continuing, "You were supposed to choose godhood over these pathetic humans…but no matter. If you will not claim the sacrifice here, then I will!"
Before anymore could be said the other Robin warped back towards the dragon's altar; as a dark aura began to surround their body, they laughed manically and the entire building began to shake.
"What's happening?"
"What's going on?"
As the Shepherds began to panic, there was a burst of dark energy and the other Robin was lifted skyward, still cackling. Cries of confusion filled the air, and Robin and Chrom quickly looked towards the altar where the dark aura was continuing to spread.
"Traveling through time may have weakened my power, but here it shall be renewed!" the dark figure cried triumphantly.
As the building began to fall apart, Chrom covered Robin and yelled to his troops, "Retreat, retreat NOW!"
Running out of the building, the Shepherds dodged falling pieces of stone and streamed out through the exit, their leaders the last two to leave the building as it completely collapsed and a dark dragon of enormous size burst from the remains.
Two large grab horns protruded from its fearsome head, the six eyes glowing with a bloodthirsty red as it took in its surroundings. Giant black wings held the creature in the dark sky, and rearing its head back Grima let out a formidable roar that had everyone covering their ears as the entire world seemed to shake with terror.
While it floated in the air, its eyes glowing with glee at everyone's faces, Robin snapped out of her confusion and yelled, "EVERYONE QUICKLY! GET OUT OF HERE, NOW!"
Running forward, the tactician began pushing people to run before grabbing Chrom's hand and pulling him after her. As they passed Lucina and Morgan, Robin grabbed her daughter's hand and Chrom grabbed their son's before the family fled the sight.
From the entrance of the tent, Morgan watched his sister with worried eyes. Upon returning to the camp many had fallen victim to panic and despair, but those from the future had seemed to take what had happened the hardest.
While many of them had gone to their parents' tent, Lucina had made a beeline for her own, saying nothing as she breezed past both Chrom and Robin, a stoic look on her face. Morgan had followed her out of concern, but standing at the tent's opening flap the young man couldn't help but wish he knew how to proceed.
Though they may not have been from the same time, Morgan felt every bit a family with Lucina; seeing his older sister so shaken had the young man worried. At this moment, Lucina looked delicate enough to break, as if one touch would shatter her into a million pieces. It was a moment of raw pain and despair, something that had Lucina looking weak in a way that Morgan had never anticipated.
As the young tactician watched, Lucina wrapped her arms around herself and turned her back to him in silence. Neither one of them said anything, before the young woman said, "That dragon…the one that destroyed my world. I can't stop it…no matter how hard I try, Father and Mother…"
Lucina's shoulders began to shake, her whole body trembling with tears she didn't dare let out. Before she could suffer anymore though, the young woman felt something warm hit her back; looking over her shoulder, she was surprised to see that Morgan had grabbed onto her cape, burying his face in her back.
"Mor…gan?" Lucina asked, a confused tone in her voice as she looked at the top of her brother's head. "What…?"
"It'll be okay, Lucina. It'll be okay, I promise!" Morgan muttered into his sisters shoulders, before looking up at her with an earnest face, tears in the corners of his eyes. "Mother and Father will take care of it…it'll be okay, don't worry…don't worry, Lucina…"
Her expression softening, Lucina reached down to stroke her brother's hair as she replied softly, "Morgan…"
Pulling away gently, the young woman turned around before hugging her brother, wrapping her arms around him and resting her chin on his head. For a second Morgan hesitated, before returning Lucina's hug with such vigor that she nearly grunted in surprise.
The two siblings remained that way for a few moments before a slight cough interrupted them; looking up, they say their parents standing at the tent entrance together, holding hands.
Bending down slightly, Chrom let go of Robin's hand and held his arms out towards his children before saying, "Morgan, Lucina. Come here."
"Father…" Morgan said, staring with wide eyes at the young lord. "Mother…"
As Lucina and Morgan continued to stare, Robin smiled sadly at them both before murmuring, "Lucina…Morgan...I'm sorry."
The words 'I'm sorry' seemed to take a minute to register in the sibling's minds, before Morgan cried out, "Mother! Father!"
Breaking off their hug, both Lucina and Morgan rushed towards their parents; running straight into them, the two slammed into Robin, who fell with a gasp. As the three fell towards the ground, their arms wrapped around each other, Chrom joined them, slowing their fall as he caught them and they all collapsed on the ground.
Together, the family sat on the ground, holding onto each other as if they'd never let go. After a little while Lucina found herself calm once more. Looking up at her parents, the young woman murmured, "I failed. I'm sorry, Mother, Father. I came here to save you and yet-"
"No, Lucina," Chrom shook his head, holding her closer. "You haven't failed at anything."
"But Grima-"
"There is a way to stop Grima," Chrom said carefully. "With Naga's help, we may be able to do something about it. If only we hadn't lost the Fire Emblem…"
"Lost the Fire Emblem? What are you talking about?"
Untangling herself from where she had been wrapped in between Morgan and Lucina, Robin blinked up at Chrom as she continued, "We didn't lose the Fire Emblem. It's right here, tucked into my bag."
As her family stared at her in surprise, trying absorb this new bit of information, Robin rummaged in her satchel before producing the Fire Emblem. Holding it up with a bright smile, the tactician said, "I stole it once, so I figured I could do it again and get it back."
There was silence, before the three of them yelled, "WHAT? YOU GOT THE EMBLEM BACK?!"
Standing up quickly, Chrom pulled Robin to her feet and said, "Children, I'll be right back-I have to go find Frederick. He'll know what to do!"
As Chrom sprinted out of the tent dragging Robin behind him, Lucina watched after them before giggling a little. Standing up, the young woman put her hands on her hips and sighed, "Really…I can't believe our mother sometimes."
"She is pretty amazing, isn't she?" Morgan agreed as he bounced to his feet with a smile. Dusting himself off, the young tactician looked at his sister before saying, "The Awakening. That's what they're going to do, isn't it?"
Smiling back, Lucina replied, "Yes. And of course Frederick would know where to go for that ritual."
Looking back over at where their parents had exited, Lucina murmured, "We can't give up if there's a gleam of hope, right?"
"So that's the plan," Robin said emphatically, slapping her hand down on the map. As everyone began to mutter to themselves and leave the conference area, several of the Shepherds approached Chrom and Robin from where they'd been standing in the crowd.
Leaning on Robin's back, Lissa looked over the tactician's shoulder and said, "Mount Prism, huh? How'd you manage to remember that's where the rite was done, Frederick?"
"I have extensive knowledge on all things pertaining to the royal family," the knight replied seriously from Chrom's side. "Of course I would remember that much. You would too, if you paid attention in all those history lessons you've had…"
With a pout, Lissa complained, "History is so boring sometimes though…how am I supposed to remember everything?"
As everyone nearby laughed, Lon'qu patted the healer on the head before pointing out, "Without remembering things we'd never know what we were doing. It IS important."
"It's every bit as important as remembering how to fight!" Sully interjected, nodding to emphasize her point. "That's why we train so much!"
While the discussion began to diverge towards training and whether or not it would hold up in a fight against a dragon, Robin walked over to Olivia and whispered something in her ear. With a smile, Olivia nodded before announcing nervously, "So um…everyone? Would you like me to perform something tonight? It might be a good idea to calm everyone down…"
Stepping up beside her, Henry put his hand on the dancer's shoulder and said, "Great idea, Olivia! Come on everyone, let's try not to get too depressed about everything, otherwise we'll just have even more problems!"
"That's so ironic, coming from one of the most twisted people here," Gaius muttered under his breath, before sighing loudly. "Well come on then, let's all go."
Watching everyone leave and head towards the nearest fire pit, Robin smiled lightly before leaning into Chrom. Allowing herself to relax for the first time since bringing up the Awakening, the tactician released a big sigh.
Chrom looked down at her and raised an eyebrow before saying, "You okay?"
"Yeah," Robin smiled, twining her fingers with Chrom's as she looked off towards where the Shepherds were gathered together. As music began to play, Robin smiled even more before saying, "Everyone's been wonderful. I know that Grima is out there right now and that we're going into a situation that seems impossible to survive through…but it's encouraging to see them trying to keep their spirits up despite these circumstances."
"You're right," Chrom agreed, squeezing Robin's hand. "You're trying hard too, so let's not worry right now."
Turning, the young lord reached down and tilted Robin's face up, holding his hand against her cheek as he looked down at her. Slowly, delicately, Chrom leaned down and kissed her forehead. Dropping her hand and wrapping an arm around her waist, the young lord leaned into his wife before murmuring, "Just for tonight…let us have peace, if only for a moment."
