Lucina put on a brave face as they marched. She was not fully recovered by any means, but she was at least determined to avenge Robin. Maybe she could not win, maybe it was hopeless, but she knew that he would not have wanted her to give up. He would certainly not give up so easily.
So she kept pushing herself onward until they finally reached the Valmese capital. Fortunately, Robin had laid out how they should proceed. The question had been raised that he may have been tortured and forced to reveal those plans, but they had little choice though some alterations where made to throw their enemy off if they were expecting that plan.
Chrom, addressed the army at large before he gave a much more personal speech to the Shepherds, "We're finally here. I know you've given it your all, but I still ask you to lend me your strength once more. We were never supposed to make it this far, but we did. We were not supposed to make it across the sea, but we did. We were not supposed to defeat Yen'fay, but we did. Now, join with me to bring this war to an end once and for all; to do what they said we could not! For Ylisse!" He looked out over the Shepherds. This was where he usually said their de facto battle cry of "For Emmeryn" which he did give to the troops, but this time, he felt that something else was called for-something more personal for the moment as well, "For Emmeryn! For Robin!"
The Shepherds reverberated his cry with gusto. They were ready to end this war-they were ready to avenge their friend.
After a few more meetings with the Conqueror, Robin was about ready to make his escape. He had gained little information about the castle layout-it was the capital though, of that much he was sure-but he had noticed where the guards where the most lax and he had what appeared to be the best chance of slipping away.
So he waited until the guards came for him as they were prone to do. He went along with the routine until his opening came, at which point he elbowed one of the guards in the face. When the other made to grab him, Robin played his trump card. With a small sigil appearing in the air before his hands, he cast a small spell that was enough to wound the guard before doing the same to the shackles binding his ankles and making a full sprint anywhere that was not there.
No doubt that someone had heard the commotion so he had to act quickly. After evading the guards for a while, he finally ducked into what appeared to be a storage room of some sorts. Knowing that he needed a break, he decided to hide out there for a few minutes and try to find something he could use and he also took that time to break the chain binding his wrists together.
Unfortunately, the room proved to be utterly devoid of any makeshift weapons, and he only had a few more "tricks" left. In preparation for the event that he was found weaponless, Robin had ordered a few modifications to his coat. Namely, he had some glyphs that he had written down on sheets of paper-basically homemade tome pages-sewn into the coat. Essentially, he turned his coat into a makeshift tome. Unfortunately, the energies were not kind to the old garment. There were already holes burned in it from where he had used those spells.
Just as he was preparing to leave, he heard someone coming. He quickly hid behind some old chairs near the doorway. In came a lone soldier who appeared to be searching the room-probably for him. Unfortunately for Robin, he was actually being quite thorough and was making his way around the room towards Robin.
He needed to act. When he was on the far side of the room, Robin knew that was his best opportunity. He silently slipped out from his hiding spot and crept toward the door. He was halfway there when the soldier turned around forcing Robin to rush him. In the confusion, he was able to grab his sword and turn it against him to keep him from calling out for help.
He looked far too young to be in this situation, and he was understandably terrified. "Relax," Robin took pity on the lad, "I don't want to hurt you, but I can't have you yelling for the guards."
"This is a fortress, you'll never escape."
"You let me worry about that part. I don't suppose you'd tell me how to get out?" The kid became tight-lipped, "So, you're a loyal one, huh? Tell me, where are you from?"
"Rosanne."
"Rosanne, they're and occupied territory, and yet you joined the Empire? I take it was not your first choice."
"We are working to unite humanity," he responded almost on reflex.
"Under Walhart's heel, yes, I've heard. Would you not rather your homeland be free though?"
"But…the Emperor is unstoppable. Why would anyone side against him?"
"Heh, ever wonder why Walhart retreated a while back? My friends should be marching on the capital any day now. Like I said, I don't want to hurt you, so just stay low and out of trouble." The tactician proceeded to knock him out, "Trust me, I'm doing you a favor."
Walhart was an impressive warrior, that much was certain. It was taking Chrom and Lucina's combined efforts just to keep him off balance. Fortunately, Lucina was able to distract him long enough for Chrom to knock him off of his horse through sheer force, but before they could finish him, he made an uncharacteristic retreat when his soldiers essentially dragged him into the castle.
Chrom breathed heavily as he looked to his daughter who was doing likewise, it looked like this was far from over.
Robin paused as an explosion sounded from outside, "Sounds like they finally made it." Robin had hoped that they would be here soon. It was one factor he took into account when planning his escape. They should provide a good distraction.
Now he just had to find a way out of here.
Walhart stared out of the window of his throne room. Had he really just lost to that princeling? How could he be bested by someone so much weaker than himself? Was there something to that nonsense he was spouting?
"Milord," the toad of a man approached, "If you allow it, I have a plan for defeating these rabble. All it will take is a little time and we–"
"No," perhaps the tactician was right. Perhaps he had spent too long listening to corrupt advisors, "I will face them right here and now."
"B-but sire–"
"And you will join my personal guard," his gaze dared him to question his orders.
The fat man gulped, "Yes, sire."
"You are dismissed," Walhart paid him no mind as he left his presence. Soon, soon he and the prince would settle this. If the unthinkable were to happen and he lost, then at least he would lose with honor.
The fighting stopped, and from what he saw out the window, it did not go well for the Empire. They would probably start to flood the halls in preparation for an attack soon. That meant that getting out now would be nigh impossible. He would have to wait for a rescue after all it seemed.
He did not have to wait long. The Ylisseans must have met very minimal resistance in the city as fighting soon broke out in the castle. He started to make his way to the throne room. That was almost certainly where Walhart was, and that meant that the Shepherds were headed there to end this.
It seemed that the Shepherds had been able to cut a swath straight to the throne room so he met little resistance, and as much as he did not like picking from the dead, he did pick up a high level lightning tome.
Robin snuck in to the side of the throne room and there he saw Chrom and Lucina locked into combat with the conqueror. They were holding their own, but he would rather not leave it to chance.
"Fall to the wayside!" Walhart charged for an attack, but he changed course at the last moment to avoid the bolt of electricity from in front of him.
Father and daughter both turned to see the source of the spell thinking that their spell casters had been tied up only to find Robin walking up to the site of the battle.
"R-robin…" he heard Lucina whisper in disbelief, but as much as he wanted to embrace her, he had some business to attend to first.
"So, I see you wish to face me as well," Robin did not respond with words, but with magic as he prepared his spell, "I have trained my resistance to extreme levels, do not think that you can defeat me with such a spell."
"Hmph, can you say the same about your horse?" and with that Robin launched the spell at the emperor's steed and knocking him to the floor.
Walhart growled in frustration, "I believe that I have put up with you for long enough." However, before he could approach Robin, Chrom and Lucina resumed their assault on him. Working together seamlessly, they took full advantage of his lack of a mount with Lucina attacking fast yet still hard while making openings for Chrom to deliver his own incredibly powerful blows. In unison, the two charged him with one final blow that finally pierced his armor. The conqueror, was dead.
However, Lucina seemed uninterested in that fact. She walked up to Robin almost as if she did not trust her own eyes, "Is it really you?" She was staring deep into his eyes as if he might attack her.
He smiled tiredly but sincerely, "It's me," and before he could say anything else, he was almost knocked down by Lucina as she buried her face into his shoulder. She was…sobbing, and that alone nearly broke his heart. He closed his eyes as he stroked her hair as she muttered unintelligible words into his tattered coat. In that moment, it was as if they were the only ones in the world, and he was content.
A/N: I tend to abbreviate action scenes. So, what did you think? When thinking of Robin's escape, I decided on him hiding essentially mini tomes inside the coat that he could use, but were hidden from view.
The poll is:
Tiki: 15
Cordelia: 5
Cherche: 1
So, I guess most of you really don't care for EliwoodXLyn. Shame, I wanted to write for them, but there isn't much point if hardly anyone wants to read it (At least there were two people who did).
So the next preview is for Chrom and it actually doesn't feature Sumia at all! If he wins, I think I might do a young Chrom story.
Chrom never liked these trips to visit the people. Even after the people warmed up to Emm, he still remembered how cruel they were to begin with. He knew they had a reason to distrust his family, but they had hurt her both physically and emotionally and Chrom did not like that.
Still, as the years passed, he had grown out of his resentment for the most part. He still thought that they could be ungrateful, but he also knew that it was his job to protect them. For better or for worse, they were his people too.
The prince watched as the scenery passed. They were going to visit a village which had recently been attacked by bandits or so the report had gone. Emm also decided that they could use a visit from the Exalt and prince. How he envied Lissa right now.
The carriage stopped and they left with little fanfare as Emm got right to greeting the people. They actually seemed happy to see her, or were they just happy to see the supplies? In any case, seeing Emm work with the people was quite the sight. She was so much more patient than he, and the children especially seemed to love her.
Chrom smiled as he left to wander around the village confident that he could handle any dangers that he may encounter. That was when he stumbled into the area of the town that suffered the most in the attack. Entire buildings had been reduced to rubble and some were still even smoldering. He saw people wandering around in filthy clothes with nowhere to go and nothing to do. Looking over the destruction he noticed that the area reeked of burnt wood and flesh.
How arrogant had he been? These people had nothing left. Was giving them supplies really the best they could do?
Chrom beat his fist against the wall of a burnt out store that he had been looking in. No, he knew Emm did not like it, but they had to do something preemptively. Their military was all but dismantled, but maybe there was something he could do.
Emm could be the leader, but these people needed something else in addition; they needed protectors, and he would be that muscle.
Edit: There were some problems with the upload so I deleted it and decided to repost it before I leave.
