Chapter 9-Grima's Fire

After watching the heartless Regulus depart along with his brothers, I sighed to myself and wondered if Mika's so-called premonition was inaccurate. I shrugged to myself as Bhavin came up and gently touched my shoulder. I gave him a slight smile as I wearily replied, "I know, Vanny."

With her unruly sidetails bouncing Lissa waved me over, "Hey, Mimi. I'd like you to meet our new friend Robin. My brother and I found her napping in a field just outside of South Town."

Chrom beamed, "Sis literally just stumbled over her, and I am glad she did. Robin has proven herself trustworthy by coordinating our battle with flawless grace."

Fredrick, astride his charger and attired in his formal sky blue armor over his butler outfit, displayed knotted brows at his liege's mention of the strange tactician as trustworthy. Although he did not look pleased at picking up a stray, he did not vocalize his discontent. I assumed he had already made his futile appeal to leave Robin behind, and his sensible advice had been simply been ignored.

A young woman maybe a year or two my senior broke off her pleasant conversation with the royal siblings and strode over as my Scouts assembled in an uneven line behind me. Robin was tall with a pleasant face, perceptive dark brown eyes, mature figure, and straight pale platinum blond hair that was practically white tied up into twin sidetails with her bangs falling neatly over the sides of her face. She wore grey-brown boots, warm grey trousers, a matching v-necked tunic, a short brown kilt secured with a broad leather belt with brass buckles and dark gloves. Most strikingly she wore an elaborate hooded cloak that I had only seen once in my life before. It was Plegian in design, being mostly black, with plum lining on the inside, and stripes and icons of Grima's six eyes adorning the sleeves. It was secured with gold ties, and the bottom and cuffs were a washed out gold in color with triangular design elements. She extended a hand and a warm smile, "Hello again Lady Mimika."

I blinked in surprise before remembering my cue and clasping her hand with mine, "Er…h-hello Robin. I'm Mimika."

She chuckled warmly, in a soothing alto voice as she effortlessly smoothed over my verbal hiccup, "Yes, I know."

Suddenly I broke out of my trance, "Oh. Wait a moment. When did we meet before, Miss Robin?"

That seemed to perturb her as she scanned my face and then nodded with conviction, "Search me. I just remember your face and voice even though most of the rest of my memories are shapeless shadows." She perked up as she realized something, "Oh, that was what was bothering me. You don't have the scars or eyepatch anymore." She relaxed and smiled again, "Anyway, just call me Robin."

I felt a shudder deep inside, as I remembered that Kasrin's follower Mika had made exactly the same remark two days prior. "Ummm, I've never worn an eyepatch or picked up any notable scars, Robin."

"Really? Hmm, okay. I must have a faulty recollection of your face then. I swore that you lost your right eye to a risen attack some time ago. Then again, I do have amnesia, so that might be a side effect as well."

"So you claim," Frederick chimed in acidly.

"Freddy, don't be so hard on the girl," Lissa chided her brother's retainer with a cute pout on her lips. "She's awesome!"

Chrom chuckled jovially, "Well we couldn't leave an amnesiac Tactician lying alone in a meadow, as pleasant as the scenery might have been. She was brilliant at coordinating the Shepard's movements just now. She was one of the biggest keys to our victory against that Dastard brigand Garrick."

I decided to drop the whole issue over the future as I bowed slightly, "I am impressed. Despite your memory loss, you sound like you have a wonderful talent."

Siffra with an impish grin on her face glanced at me, "Lady Mimika is a great tactician too."

I flushed slightly pink in my cheeks and muttered, "No I'm not." I turned to our fearless leader, "What's the next move, milord?"

Chrom dropped the playful smile, "Emm needs to know what happened in South Town. We are heading back to Ylisstol on foot. As you have mounts, see what the Scouts can do to help the townfolk and then catch up with us on the road later tonight."

"Yes sir!" I came to attention as my team gave respectful bows. We watched our Prince, his team, and his mysterious new ally depart, and then turned our attention to helping the townfolk.

…

Hours later at dusk, my back was aching from cleaning up debris and pilling wood in the town square to burn in a crackling bonfire. The firelight made the façade of the temple to Naga glow in a soft orange light. Siff had kept nagging me to stop pushing myself, and that I could just be productive by delegating; still I wanted to help with my two hands. I strained to pick up a heavy shattered wagon wheel, but I was getting pretty winded by now.

"Can I lend you a hand, milady?"

It was my talented mage, "Oh! Iniabi. Great timing. Help me lug this to the fire."

"Your wish is my command," he replied with a smile. We had moved it about ten paces before something about the way the light from the fire illuminated his face made me stop dead. We locked eyes and he tilted his head quizzically, "Do you need a break, milady?"

I looked at his eye shape, the refined nose, the way his black hair parted, and that all too familiar worn jet black Plegian cloak that I had just seen on someone else's shoulders today. I dropped the wheel on the poor man's foot as I blurted out, "Naga's grace! You're related to the Prince and Robin, aren't you?"

He grimaced and limped for a few moments with a stern grimace before slumping on a nearby crate as he massaged his squashed foot. "Ouch. Well I guess I deserved that. Of course you were as smart as I remember, Lady Mimika. I knew you'd piece it together sooner or later."

I sank onto the rim of a smashed fountain retaining wall watching as my ally turned into a stranger before my eyes. It took nearly a minute for me to process my shock; Kasrin's and Mika's wild rants about a ruined future were correct after all. "Iniabi, if that is your name, I have a few queries. This is the past from your perspective, correct? The only way you can share both Prince Chrom and Miss Robin's facial features, if you are nearly the same age as them, is that you do not come from this time." I stared at the well worn and sturdy robe and realized it had been meticulously restitched and dyed jet black to hide its origins. Only now did I notice the faint ghostly outlines of where Grima's eyes along the sleeves and the vertical decorative stripes had been removed. "I guess it is fair to ask who gave you that cloak as well, although I believe I already know the answer."

"I'm Iniabi Willows, to be precise, milady. Yes that is my real name, not that I can prove it." He winced slightly and sighed, "I guess dissembling is worthless now. You would not believe any excuse I came up with now."

I nodded slowly.

"Yes, I possess the blood of both Chrom and Robin, and I hail from a time that is yet to be. This was Robin's cloak. Next to my family bonds, it is my most treasured possession." He gave his boot a final squeeze to verify his toes weren't broken, and then looked up at me with sad green eyes. He trimmed off a small lock of his hair, cast an incantation on it and handed over.

I turned a bit paler as I saw Chrom's exact hair color resting in my hand. I looked up and saw him remove his right glove and I could plainly see the unmistakable Brand of Naga on his palm. "Gods. This can't be."

He took the hair back and incinerated it with a flick of his wrist, "It is. I entreat you; promise that you will not tell anyone else the truth, or it will cause massive chaos in your timeline."

I nodded numbly in assent, "Of c-course, I will keep this under wraps." So one of my mages is the grown scion of the Prince and his newly recruited Tactician. It would be imprudent and reckless to blurt this out to anyone else, and I would probably be locked up as a madwoman. I gave him a shaky smile, "If you are up front with me, then I will keep this information to myself until the time is right for disclosure."

He look immensely relived and gave me a reassuring smile, "Thank you milady. Remember that I am still loyally in your service. I just wasn't born in this time that's all."

So he was Chrom and Robin's son from the future, I guess? "I can only assume that Kasrin recruited you and sent you to spy on the Shepards' doings?"

"In a certain sense. Basically my goals are in alignment with Kasrin's Irregulars, but I report to you and not to him. I am here to watch your back, not file reports about your activities. The past needs all the help it can get, or there is no future. I will give all that I have to save this world, and my beloved."

I gave him a compassionate smile, "What is her name?"

He uncharacteristically looked abashed as he rubbed the back of his head, "C-Cynthia Wi-, I mean Cynthia Mavraima, of the Pinnargentea bloodline."

I didn't recognize the first surname besides that it was a Plegian name for 'Black Blood' but the noble Pinnargentea clan was famous in Ylisse for its many generations of service as Pegasus knights to the Exalts. Their crest even featured a white Pegasus rampart facing right on a crimson background. "Oh, Matillia told me that a Pegasus Knight Plebe named Lady Sumia Pinnargentea was undergoing her trials in Ylisstol instead of the Sunstone Keep due to not having a mount. A friend of hers named Cordelia Coeurbrave said she would have used her mother's mount but he got sick and didn't recover." I rubbed my chin thoughtfully, "As far as I know Lady Sumia is an only child. Is Cynthia her half sister or cousin, perhaps?"

He chuckled awkwardly, "Daughter actually."

I blinked in incomprehension, as I knew for a fact from my genealogy lessons that Sumia was my age, single, and childless. Suddenly I felt like slapping my forehead. Iniabi was from the future. Of course it stood to reason his beloved hadn't been born yet. "Ah, me. Sorry for the boneheaded assumptions on my part." I made a feeble attempt at a smile, "She will show up as a future Irregular in due time, correct?"

He nodded decisively, "That is where I come in." He sighed deeply, "Still want to help me, milady?"

My impulse to eternally help others in need kicked in automatically, "Of course I will lend you my support."

He looked genuinely taken aback, "I misled you. Honestly, you shouldn't trust me at all."

I stood up, "If you fight for our Exalt and our future as passionately as I do, then I am happy to receive your aid. It will be okay. We'll find Cynthia, I promise."

"Thank you Lady Mimika." He cast a spell to levitate the wagon wheel into the fire causing sparks to shoot everywhere. He then looked at the roaring flames with bright-eyed determination and swore softly, "I will find you again, my heroine of justice."

…

It was well past midnight as after hours of riding, I figured that The Scouts were close to Chrom's encampment due to the distant plume of woodsmoke coming over the next hill. The sounds of animals scurrying in the shadows, and the hoots of owls in the distance was oddly comforting to my ears as it reminded me of many an hour spent riding through the moonlit Evonrue forest near my Keep.

Siffra rode by my side with a look of concern, "I saw your chat with Mister Iniabi from afar. Was everything okay?"

I gave her an appreciative nod as I knew she would never eavesdrop on the conversation, "Yes, Siff. He detailed the search for his love, and I will make sure he finds her. After all I would like nothing more that to see a happy reunion."

Siff giggled as she seemed lost in her own thoughts, "Ah, my mushy, romantic, impractical Lady. You think about everyone's welfare but your own."

I shrugged indifferently, as I did not feel I should ever be loved. Despite the restoration of my family name, I knew my blood was still cursed and my name was despised throughout the Halidom. I was content to see my retainers and allies find affection, as they all deserved all the happiness in the world. "Whatever future battles we are girding ourselves for; I wish that my allies could find someone to lean on. It helps to ease the burdens we face."

Siffra fell quiet and seemed to be chewing on something serious. She finally sighed with a bemused smile, "You know, Mimi. You are a great Tactician, a compassionate leader, and a wonderful friend…but sometimes you're just hopeless."

I snapped, "What the Grima do you mean by-"

"Shh! Quiet please!"

I indignantly glared at her cutting remark, but suddenly I realized that all the usual noises in the forest were now completely absent. All of our mounts started nervously whinnying and pawed at the stones restlessly. I turned to the Scouts behind me and I gave them a sign to prepare for an ambush.

They didn't need to be told twice. Raquelle dismounted and notched her bow, while her sister Revellia urged Serendipity to unfurl his wings and lift up into the skies to get an aerial view of the forested hills. Iniabi took out his Thunder tome, and Siff donned her Cavalier helm and readied her lance astride Butternut. Bhavin had his healing stave at the ready, and I drew out my black bladed family sword Schlangenfang that had once been my father's. All of us were taken by surprise as a sound like thunder breached the earth under our feet as the coniferous trees started shaking violently. I had to get to Chrom as I shouted, "Arrowhead Scouts, let's-"

A massive tidal surge caused the ground to violently rend itself apart causing massive fissures to cleave the paved Southroad in half and violently thrust in random directions. Luminescent lava started gushing up from underground, scattering the Scouts away from the danger. I urged Slate forwards and my terrified mare did her best to dash across crumbling rocks as the trees around us were engulfed by the deadly molten rock. I finally managed to get clear of the fissures and noticed that only Siff and Raq had managed to follow me.

With the ashen-faced archer clinging to her back, Siff turned to me her green eyes wide with shock, "Mimi, I think the worst is-"

Just as she spoke flaming rocks arced in from the skies from an unknown direction, causing massive explosions wherever they impacted the ground. Was this the end of the world? Had Grima the Fell Dragon been resurrected?

Adding to our confusion, a massive light in the sky created a giant demonic translucent green eye 100 feet across with a black slitted pupil. A golden ring with the signs of the 12 zodiac encircled the unholy portal. Immediately, dark creatures with glowing red eyes fell out of the portal. Dozens of creatures fanned out in search of prey. I knew in an instant that they were the undead Risen. The grey-skinned horrors started to shamble in our direction. I quickly counted twenty to thirty had already struck the ground, and more were undoubtedly in their way.

In quick succession, half a dozen were felled by pinppoint headshots from Raquelle, who cursed, "Dastards! I can't keep up! I'll run out of arrows before we run out of opponents."

"I need to buy time so that Chrom and Lissa to escape. You two can retreat for now."

"No way, Mimi," Siff spoke in an indignant, muffled voice underneath her helm.

"We stand and fall together, milady," Raquelle insisted as she skewered another five opponents.

Siffra charged and dispatched an archer and then an axe fighter with her lance with ease.

"Here we go," I bitterly spat out as I urged my mount to charge the burliest warrior.

Much to my shock a man in a black outfit jumped out of a tree and ran the undead fighter through from behind and called to me, "Irregulars, attack! Lady Mimika, Marth made it through already, activate your shard bomb, now!"

"I-I okay Kasrin!" I fumbled in my pouch and freed the bomb from its casing. It hummed as a massive blue-green tinted Manakete swooped in overhead from nowhere causing Raq to hit the dirt and incinerated a half dozen Risen with her blue flame breath. After my heart restarted I realized that must have been Mika. The bomb started to pulse red as it synchronized with my feelings of tumultuous rage against these foul beasts that would dare harm my Prince and my dear allies. I doubted I could throw it high enough to hit the central eye, but I had to hope a near miss would still do the trick.

A scaled hand unexpectedly plucked the crimson bomb out of my hands, "I'll take that you cutie-patootie!" I gawked as Lilith the Lamia giggled as she effortlessly hurled the bomb with unbelievable force straight into the center of the dimensional portal over 150 feet above our heads. Then she turned to see an onrushing foe, and snarled. The glands of the base of her neck pulsed, and she casually spat a shot of viscous purple fluid straight into the face of a charging Risen Myrmidon, which instantly caused his head to melt apart into dust. The headless body flopped over and disintegrated into a vile purple mist.

Yuck. Remind me never to get on a Lamia's bad side.

The spike-haired redhead wiped her mouth off with a metallic cloth and winked to me with her flirtatious brick red eyes, "Hiya gorgeous, ya might wanna duck."

"I…huh?" The next thing I know a brilliant red flash engulfed the entire area, knocking over trees with its shockwave and showing the area with razor sharp crystalline fragments. Surprisingly, using her massive crimson and black scaled tail wrapped around Slate's midsection, Lilith shielded my body and steed from the worst effects of the blast.

After the roar from the blast and the ringing in my ears died out, I was stunned that we had somehow survived. The portal was now gone and nothing remained of the once overwhelming might of our undead adversaries. The Lamia grinned and licked my cheek with her slightly pointed tongue, although I saw pain in her eyes.

Double yuck. Wouldn't a handshake do? Can't she just show affection like a normal person…well I guess that's out seeing as she's actually a Lamia. I then gaped as I saw tiny glittering spears protruding from her back. She had protected me from the bomb at her own expense. I sobbed, "Gods, I'm so sorry Lilith." I gently hugged her around the neck to convey my pathetic gratitude.

She winced at my embrace, "Ouch. Thanks sweetie." She returned the gesture with a overpowering grip that squeezed all the air out of my lungs, as tears formed in her eyes. "I really would like to bear your babies." After a minute Lilith saw that my face was turning blue and quickly released me, looking at me with adoring eyes.

Siffra groaned as she trotted over with shards jutting over the left side of her armor and Butternut's armored barding. "I'd love to see how you could be a father, Lady Mimi!"

I flushed deep red as Raquelle pulled bomb fragments out of her shoulder, "Be sure to invite me to the wedding, milady."

"Stop it with the teasing, please," I wailed. The snake girl sighed and backed off realizing that she was overdoing it.

"A pleasure to see you survive yet again, Lady Mimika, Naga bless us." I saw Kasrin confidently stride out of the still smoldering hellscape followed by the diminutive manakete in her human form.

I gently squeezed Liliy's arm to show there were no hard feelings and turned to face the leader from the ruined future. I wouldn't settle for evasions this time. Now all I wanted was the truth.