Another update?! And so soon?! I can hardly believe it. xD

This is definitely my favourite Chapter of this story so far, I think it's incredible if I do say so myself but I'll leave it to you lovely readers to decide.

I think this sets up a lot of where this story is going to go in future and what it's going to focus upon and I really hope you like it.

*Spoilers Warning* Definite spoilers about the 'true' end of 'Awakening'. Also spoilers about other elements of the plot throughout the game.

Disclaimer: I own nothing to do with 'Fire Emblem [Awakening]', its locations, characters etc. All rights go to their respective owners.

Rated T. (*Warning* Contains 'dark' language, themes and suggestions, mentions of torture and seduction as well as violence.)

Together Again? Town in the Desert

"Ow!" Lucina muttered as quietly as she could not wanting to draw any attention to herself.

It didn't work as her father halted in his tracks and turned to face her which was exactly what she wanted to avoid as she didn't want to get him in trouble. Currently all of the Shepherds besides those her father sent away whilst the town was being attacked were chained up in two long lines (apart from poor Nowi and Panne who due to their abilities were both chained and caged) and we're being forced to cross the desert under the heavy guard of Calypso and her soldiers. "You all right?" He asked.

"Yes sorry, just got some sand in my eye is all." She murmured.

Chrom nodded in response and was about to turn around to carry on walking when one of the more muscular men came towards them. "Hey, hey, what's with the yappin'?" He asked them, a slight snarl to their voice as he grabbed the chain that linked father to daughter and gave it a sharp tug, making them wince as their already bruised and torn skin was irritated even further. The man sneered at them with delight in his eyes clearly enjoying their misery. He was incredibly tanned and wore only two ebony belts over each arm which formed a cross over his chest which was otherwise bare and hooked onto the belt of his black trousers. His long raven black hair was pulled into a pony tail and his eyes were rimmed with charcoal; it was like he'd never seen any other colour before. He was also rather young compared to the other soldiers, looking to be only about twenty-five and he wore two blades at his hips.

"Sorry." Chrom grunted, looking dishevelled and utterly broken, nothing like the man his daughter knew.

"I still hear talking!" The man bellowed which caught the attention of someone else...

"Samael!" A female voiced sounded out as she approached. Both Chrom's and Lucina's gazes shifted from the soldier to the woman and sadness filled their eyes as they rested upon her. She was dressed in her usual attire except her cloak was tied around her waist. She was the only Shepherd that wasn't chained up and that was because- because she was working with the enemy.

"Robin!" This Samael cried out with glee and as soon as she was close enough, he wrapped one of his massive arms around her small frame; he was nearly a head and a half taller than her and clearly had more physical strength but he didn't seem to hold back when it came to nudging her closer into his embrace.

Both Chrom and Lucina shared a look, it was clear they both expected the tactician to push him away or at the very least look uncomfortable with the embrace but instead she just rolled her eyes at him like this kind of thing happened all the time. "Honeslty Samael."- She shot a withering sigh at him and lowered her head but then lifted it again with a smile tugging at the corner of her lips. "What's going on here?" She asked.

Up until now, Robin had been walking at the back of both of the line whilst Chrom and Lucina were at the front meaning they hadn't had the chance to question her or to save her. She normally only had a tome and a sword with her but at the moment she was currently carrying two others- the two falchions which had been stripped off them the second Chrom surrendered to them after they threatened Robin's well-being and she'd just accepted it like a puppet whose master had pulled her strings. He hadn't just made the decision alone, all of the Shepherds agreed to it both to keep their friend safe and to protect the town that Calypso had gone to attack. They had hoped that she'd use the confiscated weapons to pull off some brilliant scheme- like she always did but after two days of walking with minimal rest, that hope had died out like a flame in a storm...

"These two don't know when to keep their mouths shut." He smirked as he answered Robin's question.

"Is that so?" For the first time since she'd revealed herself as Calypso's daughter, Robin made eye contact with the exalt who also had roles as her commander...

...And as her husband.

A husband with whom she had a child with no less! Chrom met her gaze with so much regret, pain and...love that it hurt her to look at him. Despite all she'd done to him and the people he cared about and yet, he still found it within himself to give a damn about her. Honestly it was so...so...

Pitiful.

"Robin."- He pleaded.- "Talk to me please! What's going on? Who are these people, how did you meet them? You were- you were dead." She saw him swallow as he tried to force that word out. "For two years you weren't here so how-?"

Darkness. That's all she saw when she thought back to being 'dead', it felt like there should be an image there but there wasn't and all she could recall after darkness was the torture chamber, the chains, the whips and the branding iron among others...there were screams from her, glee from her mother and from that person and then it finally stopped when they made her give in.

She shook her head to clear the memories that had invaded her mind and placed her mask of nonchalance back on as she met Chrom's gaze. "Who's to say I wasn't here?" She spat at him, loathing clear in her voice. "What? You thought that the universe was kind enough to magically plop your wife back in the exact same spot you first found her?! The universe isn't that kind especially to people like me- for nearly a year I waited, waited for you to find me, to save me and you didn't, Mother did and now...now I owe her." Her eyes cast downwards at that and her arms wrapped around herself protectively, the brand on her arm was burning and not with the heat of the blazing sun.

"Robin." Chrom cried out her name- gods he wanted to run over to her and hold her in his arms but instead he did.

"D'aww...it brings a tear to me eye." Samael wiped a finger under his left eye in mock sadness. It was only then when both Chrom and Lucina noticed that one of his eyes was a striking shade of amber and the other emerald green and they were both dancing with mischief. "Don't worry yourself Exalt we'll take excellent care of your wife. I will especially, we've hit it off quite well and I'm sure the experience will be...pleasurable."

It happened so suddenly, the man in black pretended to bow before Chrom with fake respect and Chrom saw red; despite the chains, the heat and all of his misery, he launched himself at the hulking figure of a man, wrapping the chain on his arms around his neck and squeezing as hard as he could, he's strong but lacks speed. Chrom thought as he continued to attack the man who antagonized him just by existing.

"Father!" Lucina cried trying to reach for him as best she could as the other Shepherds pulled up short and looked on in horror as their commander attacked Samael over and over again. But then a blast of magic startled both of the men and the blue-haired woman into a startled silence.

"Will you two knock it off?! We've made it!" Robin muttered with contempt.

Chrom turned to try and get a glimpse of the 'town in the desert'- turning away from his enemy, a rookie's mistake and Samael used that moment of opportunity to break himself free of the chains, forcing Chrom to stagger backwards before delivering a hard punch to the exalt's gut...

...And the world went dark.

...A couple of days previously...

"They aren't back yet!" Lissa cried out. Night was closing in around them at a rapid pace and she shuddered with the cold. She was sat on-top of Sully's horse whilst Lon'qu was on the back of Stahl's, his hand gripping the hilt of his sword in case of an emergency.

They'd hidden themselves quite far away from the town and had started to travel back about an hour ago, the journey was tiring and strange without all of their usual company to keep them entertained but eventually they saw torches in the distance. They approached cautiously until they heard a deep voice call out to them:

"Milady?" It was Frederick and as they looked again at the torches, they saw the figures that were resting under their glow. Cordelia was helping with the town's children whilst Maribelle was still healing whoever needed their help.

But they were the only Shepherds she could see hence her exclamation directed at Frederick.

Frederick shook his head. "I'm afraid not." Frederick and the other two seem to have led the townspeople to the camp they'd used the previous night which meant it would've been easy enough to track them down especially with the skills at their disposal.

"Then we should go look for 'em!" Sully muttered, pulling on the reigns of her horse to get moving.

Frederick frowned. "It's dark Sully and we can't leave these people unguarded."

"I don't care how dark it is, it's strange that they aren't back yet especially with Chrom and Robin at the helm- they should already be here! In fact, they should've been here hours ago."

"We can't all go." Stahl pointed out.

"-And Lissa is no doubt exhausted." Interjected Lon'qu.

"No I'm fine!" Lissa protested but a yawn escaped from her lips regardless.

Frederick processed what everyone had said before sighing. "Lissa, Lon'qu, Stahl- you three remain here with Maribelle and guard the villagers- apart from you Lissa, you need your rest-"

"Hmph! Lissa muttered, crossing her arms and pouting like a child having a tantrum.

Frederick ignored her. "Cordelia!" He called and the Pegasus Knight came over. "Myself, you and Sully will head back to the town to check on both its state and that of our comrades."

"Yes sir." She nodded and went to grab her Pegasus and Frederick's horse.

After they went their separate ways, Frederick could sense that they were all uneasy about what they'd find. Eventually they got to the town and...

...It was fine. Apart from a few buildings near the forest where the invaders came from, all the other buildings were intact however, whilst that was good news that they could pass on to the townspeople, the fact of the matter was that the town shouldn't be empty, if the Shepherds weren't back at the camp and Sully and the others hadn't come across them on the way back from hiding then they should in theory still be here.

But they were nowhere to be seen.

"What in damnation?!" Sully exclaimed.

Frederick jumped down from his horse and looked at the ground. "There are foot markings here that seem to point to a struggle, fighting definitely took place."

"No crap." Sully muttered whilst rolling her eyes.

"You two!-" Cordelia cried as she swooped down closer to them. "There are a few enemy bodies nearby, they look like they belonged to soldiers who were with that woman we met outside Ylisstol."

Both of them snapped their heads up at her and their eyes widened in surprise at her report.

"They must be from that town we've been hearing so much about which means we'll need to prepare to cross the desert."

"But there are so few of us." Cordelia pointed out.

"-And we have no idea which way to go." Sully added.

Frederick lowered his gaze, looking dejected. I should've never left Milord's side! He scolded himself.

"Then perhaps I can be of help." A familiar voice spoke up from amidst the trees which caused all three of them to whip their heads around to see an old lady appearing with her arms behind her back.

All of them looked black for a minute as they tried to place the voice and then Frederick gasped suddenly. "Madame Ulima!"

"My, my, anyone would think you haven't seen me in over ten years when you react like that!" She chuckled.

"Apologies it's just we seemed to have reached an impasse when you turned up and I recalled that you told us to come see you should we need your stories."

"I'm pretty sure it is I who came to you. But...no matter, down to business; the town you are looking for lies far west from here, it's nearly two days of travelling and that's only if you barely stop otherwise it takes nearly double that which no doubt sounds bearable to seasoned travellers such as yourselves but the desert is an unruly beast when approached without care." She took in their nearly empty pouches upon their steeds. "Or without the proper supplies."

"Well we'll have to try, we can't just leave our friends to those barbarians!" Snarled Sully at the old woman which caused her sly gaze to snap to hers.

"They are not as barbaric as the rumours claim them to be-" She looked down at her palm for a moment, pain glinting in her ancient eyes before she whispered. "-At least, they weren't always."

Sully scoffed. "Please, how does an old fossil like you know something like that?!"

Anger glinted in her expression. "Because this 'old fossil' used to be their queen!"

A groan of pain escaped from the man's lips as he pushed himself up from the hard ground. He still felt really weak and like he could sleep for another hundred years and still be tired but the sound of an iron gate closing nearby caught his attention.

He had no idea how long he'd already been here for but he assumed it to be a few hours at least due to the lack of light coming in through the small window he had. He sighed to himself, feeling like such a weakling due to how easily he'd been subdued (he'd fought Grima for gods' sake!) but he mainly felt anger at himself for well...everything.

He was about to bury himself back onto the hard ground when he heard footsteps behind him which made him twist in their direction as best he could considering the pain he was in and he was surprised to find out that his visitor was...

"Robin!" He gasped, his pain all but forgotten as he tried to get closer to her but she stepped back towards the gate of his cell which hurt him more than any punch could.

"I aren't here for you, I'm just giving out water and some food to all the prisoners and you happened to be the last one on the list."

His eyebrows pulled together in confusion and he took in his surroundings and true enough there were more cells lining the walls, there seemed to be an endless supply of them!

"Lucina! Where is she?!" Chrom asked, pleading with his wife to tell him.

"Which one?"

"Either- both of them! Just please, they're our children!" He felt so pathetic right now but he was still reeling from Robin's earlier words and from his run in with Samael, he'd need more rest and time to process things before he could think of a way to either escape or fight back and he was pretty sure his Shepherds would need a rest too after the long journey through the sands.

"Lucina is in a cell further down and as for baby Lucy-" Her hand went up to her heart and her eyes filled with love and warmth at those words, a slight smile grazing her lips and just that sight alone was enough to make his heart melt, she isn't completely gone. The relief at knowing that fact alone was enough to make him return her slight smile with one of his own. "She's all right and she's safe and sound so don't worry about her, I won't let anything hurt her."

"Robin." Her name came out as a sigh from his lips and he tried to stand but couldn't get his arms and legs to respond. "Ugh!" He groaned.

"Chrom!" She cried out and she fell to his knees in front of him and brought the bowl of water to his lips, gripping his hair in order to guide his lips and he gulped it down greedily not realising how parched he actually was. "W-why do this? After what you said, it almost seemed as if you hated me so why care for me now?"

"Chrom." She whispered his name this time with a certain amount of reverence in her tone and then she winced suddenly. "Ow!" She cried, her hand moving from the back of his hair towards her own head she sat like that with a pained expression for a few more seconds before shooting up away from him.

This time he managed to pull himself up from the ground and he approached her. "What is it, what's wrong? Is this like when Validar and Grima were controlling you, do you not have a say in what you're doing right now?"

He shouldn't have said that.

Fury and rage blazed in her eyes as she pulled away from him again. "Please, don't flatter me like that and don't treat me like if I choose to stand against you then it's because of forces out of my control! I do not hate you Chrom and that's the problem I should hate you and you should hate me in return; I tainted your bloodline, killed you in numerous worlds, left you alone to raise our child and have failed and hurt you time and time again! I was never meant to be loved and I was never made to love another.

"When I was found again by mother she- she treated me the way I deserved to be treated."

Confusion made him pull his eyebrows together and then realisation came over him like a wave- his jaw worked as he tried to control his rage. "That mark on your arm- did she do that to you?!"

Her hand shot up to her arm and covered where the mark would be if it was visible. "She didn't do it per se, she just helped someone else to do it. It's there to remind me that I aren't human- I am and always will be a monster and as such, my place is here amongst other monsters.

His hand moved up to her face, coaxing her to look at him and despite a subtle flinch, she didn't push him away. "You are not a monster, you saved us all. Whatever she's told you- whatever plans she has for you, you do not have to play a part in them, you are you Robin and the Shepherds, our children and of course myself see you. The mark is no longer on your hand- you and Grima are no longer related to each other. I-I'm so sorry I wasn't the one to find you but-"

"My, my, my what do we have here?" A sultry voice sounded from outside his cell.

Robin gasped in horror, pulling away from Chrom like he'd burned her and that look from earlier- that menacing, inhuman look came back like a mask snapping into place. Chrom looked past her at the owner of the voice- Samael- and was surprised to see he wasn't alone, at his side was a hooded figure. The was on a cloak but it wasn't a Plegian one like Chrom was used to seeing.

"Samael, my apologies, he was distracting me. I think it's best if someone else brings him his rations from now on, it turns out my pathetic heart still can't be trusted."

"No!" Chrom cried. Her visiting him would be his only chances to help her- if this was going to be the only time she came to see him...

A key sounded in the lock on his cell and as soon as it was open, the hooded figure gripped her arm where her brand was and she screamed in agony as she was dragged out of her cell. "I did this to you once before but there's still plenty more places on your body for me to mark with a branding iron- don't you ever forget it!" A male voiced hissed and it sounded so familiar to Chrom's ears but he couldn't place it exactly. "Now go!" He launched her towards the exit and without another word or glance in their direction, she pulled up her own hood and left.

Chrom saw no reason to hold back after what he just witnessed and he tried to make a grab for the hooded figure who had just admitted to hurting her but at the last second, the cell door crashed shut in front of him and the key turned once more. But in the process of reaching for the hidden person, his fingers brushed against the hood and knocked it away from his head and the person it revealed underneath shocked Chrom to his very core- his whole body went cold and his expression turned to one of horror rather than anger.

"Well, well, well, looks like your secret it out." Samael drawled before laughing like he'd just heard the funniest joke imaginable. "This is such a touching reunion between the two of you- am I in the way? I can always go and spend some time with Robin- we can get better acquainted whilst you two take a trip down memory lane."

Chrom knew his words should've made him lunge for the smug man again who kept hinting at the fact that he was trying to bed his wife but he was too distracted by the hair that matched his own and the eyes that matched his mother's. "Morgan?!" He whispered, taking a step back from his grown-up son from an alternate future.

"Hello father." Morgan replied, pulling his hood back up to cover his face again. "I never imagined we'd meet again like this."

Neither did Chrom.

I really like Samael- he's definitely my favourite OC thus far and also shock, gasp and horror at that last reveal am I right? =O Until next time. xXx