-In the waiting room-

As Chrom entered their former preparation room, he found the entire group of Shepherds already assembled inside.

"Great work out there you all," Robin praised, giving each of the fighters a clap on the back before he noticed his commander's arrival. "Seems I worried for nothing, doesn't it?"

"I'm just glad I didn't mess anything up.." Sumia sighed, happy to have won. "I would have hated it if I disappointed you all.."

"You were great," the Ylissean prince commended. "I didn't have a shred of doubt you would perform well. You can be proud of yourself," the lord further explained. "That goes for the rest of you as well."

"You just missed Flavia, Chrom. She stopped by to let us know that she's already taken care of the formalities and that Ferox will send troops to our aid within the week," the tactician informed.

"That was... quick," Chrom acknowledged.

"Sooo, can we get going now?" Lissa asked, eager to reunite with her older sister.

"It's fairly late, so we should head back to the inn for the night. First thing in the morning we'll be leaving though, so make sure to go to bed in a timely manner," Chrom advised.

The rest of the group gave nods of affirmation and the prince headed towards the door. Shortly before he arrived, two men stepped into the room, stopping in front of the exit to block the Shepherd's way.

The one standing in front was a tall, dark-skinned and bald man with an eye-patch covering his right right eyeball. His clothing consisted of black pants, boots and a top ending with a fur collar that reveals his entire chest. Additionally, he wore dark yellow arm- and leg plates as well as a belt of the same color. The other was a man of fairly average height with dark hair and a stern face, clad in a blue tunic, fastened to his chest with a red piece of cloth. Finishing his look were beige pants and black boots as well as black leather gauntlets. In his hands was a long, curved blade, currently sheathed.

"And who might you be?" Chrom asked, slightly irritated by the uninvited visitor.

"I'm the man whose arse you just removed from the throne in a very unflattering manner," the man in the front answered. "Khan Basilio of the West is my name."

"I see. Is there a particular reason you've come to us?" the lord questioned, still eager to leave as soon as possible.

"Hold, boy. Is the loser not even granted the permission to congratulate the victor?" Basilio enquired overdramatically. "Now, as I wanted to say, good fighting out there, kid. You have some skill with the blade, I'm surprised the champion I chose wasn't able to defeat you."

"Thank you, Khan Basilio, but what do you mean with that?" Chrom asked, now intrigued by his opposite's statement.

"You see, one day this Marth shows up and defeats my former champion, Lon'qu, who was undefeated in his whole career of fighting up until then, mind you, in the matter of a few seconds. I've been trying to get this boy to spit out what exactly happened, but he's kept quiet until now," the Khan explained, gesturing towards the man accompanying him at the mention of his name. "The moment I came down from the stands, I saw him leave without saying a word."

"Even though I know Marth is reaaally skilled, you look rather strong yourself. I wonder how he beat you.." Lissa remarked shortly after, taking a step towards Lon'qu.

Before she can get close, the myrmidon takes a quick step back and yelled "Stay away from me, woman!"

"Eeek!" the blonde princess peeped, taking a step back herself out of shock.

"Is he alright?" Robin questioned. Pointing at the man's face, he added "He looks terrified for some reason."

"Harharhar!" Basilio cackled, voice booming through the room. "Ah, don't mind him. Let's just say he's not too comfortable with women."

The tactician's eyes go wide, a crazy-seeming thought entering his mind. 'Isn't comfortable with women? Could it be that.. No, that wouldn't make any sense'

"Anyway, the other reason I came here is to give you lot a small parting gift," the ex-reigning Khan of Ferox announced.

"Oh, is that so?" Chrom enquired. "And what might that be?"

"So that piqued your interest, eh boy?" the dark-skinned man laughed. Giving his champion a hard slap on the back that pushed him forward a bit, he said "Take him with you. The boy may not be any good when it comes to women, but his skill with the blade is second to none. I give my word, you won't be disappointed."

"That's.. Are you alright with this?" the lord asked the myrmidon whose service was being offered to the Shepherds.

"Of course," Lon'qu answered immediately. "He gives the orders, I kill. Our roles are clear, I believe."

"In that case, I gladly accept. Welcome to the Shepherds, Lon'qu," Chrom declared, offering his hand for the myrmidon to shake.

Instead of taking in, the dark-haired man only gave him a sharp look along with a low grunt.

"Harhar!" Basilio laughed once more. "You should get going now if you want to get back to Ylisse as fast as you can."

"Indeed. Thank you for your kind assistance, Khan Basilio. I shall not forget what you have done for us," the prince agreed.

"No worries, boy! I look forward to seeing you all again!" the tall man yelled after them.


-Two days later, in the castle of the Exalt-

Chrom, Robin and Lissa were currently on their way to the throne room of castle Ylisstol after seeing the rest of the groups to the barracks.

"I can't wait to finally see Emm again!" the young princess exclaimed and started skipping.

"I'd imagine so," Chrom said. "Although I believe she'll be more than relieved to hear the good news we've brought along."

Contrary to his two royal companions, Robin had a gloomy facial expression, his eyebrows furrowed. Lissa noticed this and asks "Robin? Is everything alright?"

"Huh?" the tactician stammered. "Oh, I was just thinking, like usual."

"It's true you always seem to have something on your mind, but even I can see something's up," Chrom argued.

"Well, the thing is.. Isn't it weird we haven't encountered any Risen since we crossed the border?" Robin questioned. "After appearing several times in the span of a few days, they just seemed to completely vanished when we got to Ferox. It's almost as if..."

"As if what?" the prince pressed on, now interested in what the tactician had to say.

"As if they only appeared in Ylisse. We would have noticed if there were any in Ferox, because it would have been a huge topic in the cities, but no one at all talked about it."

"Now that you point it out, that is... peculiar, to say the least," the lord admitted. "But, let's further investigate that sometime else. We're here."

The group stopped briefly in front of the massive doors of the throne room, letting the guards standing watch open the way for them. They entered the hall and were greeted by Emmeryn who rose from her throne as she saw them. Lissa broke into a sprint and tackled the Exalt to hug her.

"Oh my, Lissa," Emmeryn chuckled as she regained her balance and returned the hug with a soft smile. "It seems as though you have accustomed yourself to travelling, hasn't it?"

"Yep!" the younger blonde royal chirped. "I missed you big sister!"

"As did I, Lissa. As did I..." the blonde woman agreed.

"Sister," Chrom interrupted his sibling's reunion. "We've brought good news. Regna Ferox has agreed to assist us, their soldiers are on the way as we speak."

"That's a relief," his elder sister said. "Thank you, Chrom. I imagine your journey wasn't the easiest. I don't know what I'd do without you two.."

"Don't mention it, Emm," the blue-haired man assured. "It wasn't that bad anyways, thanks to this guy," he stated, resting his hand on Robin's shoulder.

"It seems Ylisse has indebted itself even further to you, Sir Robin," Emmeryn acknowledged, bowing slightly.

"Please, milady!" the amnesiac pleaded. "I haven't done anything remarkable, I just acted as any righteous man would have were he in my place."

"You should stop being so humble, Robin," Chrom disagreed. "Our mission wouldn't have gone nearly as smoothly as it did without you. You should have some more faith in yourself."

"Chrom, you.." Robin began, but was cut off by the entrance of Phila.

The captain of the pegasus knights rushed to the group and bowed before speaking "Milady! I fear I bring bad news."

"What is it, Phila?" the Exalt enquires.

"It's Lady Maribelle, milady. She has been captured by Plegian forces during an attack on a village in Themis.

"Maribelle?!" Lissa exclaimed after bringing a hand to her mouth and gasping. "Is she alright?"

"We are unsure, milady," Phila answered. "However, there is more. King Gangrel claims that it is Lady Maribelle who invaded their home and demands compensation for this 'insult'."

"The dastard believes anyone would believe his lies? We should end him and bring this whole thing to an end!" Chrom shouted angrily.

"Please, Chrom. Be at peace. We mustn't rush into hasty and unwise decisions. I am sure I'll be able to speak with him and find a satisfying solution for this whole situation," Emmeryn stated, trying to calm her brother's temper.

"What? Emm, you can't possibly think you can reason with that beast?" the prince demanded. "The madman won't listen to a word! This is just him abusing his power to instigate a war!"

"I must agree with Lord Chrom, your majesty," Phila agreed. "The mad king must be shown that his actions have consequences. Even if you manage to resolve the situation peacefully somehow, he will find some other excuse to 'justify' invading Ylisse!"

"My decision stands," the Exalt declared, finality in her voice. "I will travel to the South-West border and reason with the Plegian king."

"In that case milady, I insist you allow the pegasus knights to accompany you," the captain requested.

"If you can't protect yourself from you ideals, it seems us Shepherds have to," Chrom stated. "We're going with you."

Despite the situation, Emmeryn softly smiled. "Of course. I am counting on the both of you."

"If you'll excuse us then, we'll get ourselves prepared. Give us an hour or two," the blue-haired royal announced and left the room after signaling his two companions to follow him.

The three made their way back to the barracks to inform the rest of their group of the recent occurrences. When they reached the entrance to their destination, Chrom flung it open, instantly gaining the attention of everybody in the entrance room.

"Captain?" Sumia asked worriedly. "Is everything alright?"

"Get ready to leave everyone," the lord ordered, choosing to ignore the question of the pegasus knight before him.

"Leave?" Stahl now questioned. "We just got here! Did something happen?"

"Before their leader can respond, Robin intervened and answered the question himself. "We talked with the Exalt shortly and were informed by Phila that there have been turbulences at the south-western border," the tactician explained. "Apparantly, Lady Maribelle has been kidnapped during an attack on a village in Themis. The King of Plegia claims her to have invaded their territory and is now demanding that someone pay reparations for the insult brought upon him and his kingdom. Exalt Emmeryn plans to travel there to attempt reasoning with him and as such, us Shepherds and the pegasus knights will be accompanying her."

"My word.." Virion gasped. "But how very bright of you to come to me, the archest of archers, for assistance! I would expect nothing less from our magnificent leader."

"Get yourselves ready, we are to leave in about an hour. Anyone who is too late will be left behind, so make sure you're on time. Let the others know that aren't here. Meeting point is at the castle gates," the tactician instructed.

After the majority of the Shepherds left the room, Robin turned to his blue-haired partner, who had a facial expression resembling a mixture of surprise, anger and shock. "Sorry for just taking the reigns there, but I think it was for the better. Try to calm yourself as much as you can before we leave. We all need you in peak condition," the amnesiac explained.

"I understand," Chrom responded with closed eyes and a sigh. "I'll try," he said, leaving the barracks to head to his own room. Before he was even halfway there, the lord was interrupted by a short young boy wearing similiar robes to Miriel, only blue in color, as well as a tall blue hat.

"Captain!" the boy exclaimed.

"Hmm?" the prince hummed, his already bad mood worsening due to the unwanted disturbance. "Ricken? What do you want?"

"Uhh, I just.. wanted to ask what you'd like me to do!" the apprentice mage replied, unsure at first how to react to the obviously annoyed lord.

"What do you mean with that?" Chrom asked, confusion overriding his anger for a short time.

"We're leaving to save Maribelle, aren't we? I already have everything I need packed, so I wanted to ask if there's anything I could help with," Ricken explained.

The lord rubed his temples, contemplating how to answer in as polite a fashion as he could muster. "Look, Ricken. I appreciate your concern and I defintely respect the fact you wish to help, but this is too soon for you," the Ylissean prince said.

"Too soon? You know just as well as I do that I'm a very capable mage!" the young boy argued. "Besides, how is it fair that I'm not allowed but that other new person is, even though he doesn't have any experience either?"

"Donnel's circumstances are different than yours," Chrom tried to explain. "Please, just stay here and make sure nothing happens while we're out. Your time will come, I promise."

With that and a brief pat on the significantly smaller male's shoulder the blue-haired noble continues on his way to his room, leaving behind a now insulted Ricken. "Too soon for me he says.." he mumbled to himself. "I'll show him what I can do!"


-Half a day later, during the group's march-

Emmeryn and her companions consisting of both the Shepherds and Phila's squad of pegasus knights were on their way to the meeting point selected by King Gangrel. The royal family along with Robin and Phila were leading the group on their way to Themis.

"Chrom?" Robin asked, breaking the tense silence surrounding them.

"What's wrong?" the lord questioned irritated while maintaining his relatively fast walking speed.

"About what you were talking about earlier, I wanted to ask just how bad this Gangrel really is," the tactician said.

"Where do I start.." Chrom mumbled. "Well, if I had to describe him with a single word, it would be mad."

"Why's that?" the blonde amnesiac pressed on.

"I've never understood why, but Gangrel always seems to have war and suffering on his mind. After the war fifteen years ago that my father waged against Plegia, he somehow rose up the ladder there and eventually was crowned. Ever since he has tried his damnedest to start another war," the lord explained. "At first, I thought it was because he was hungry for revenge. But the one time I saw him, I immediately knew he was delusional. He seeks war simply for the reason that he can use it to bring suffering upon others."

"I see.." Robin muttered. "It makes sense he's know as 'the Mad King', then. I had no idea he was that bad of a person."

The two continue on in silence until Chrom began talking again. "We must stop him," he said, looking forward to his sister, who was engaged in friendly conversation with her bodyguard and her sister. "Emm is the only reason the people of Ylisse haven't demanded war with Plegia yet. They need her. If she were gone, we would lose everything."

"Then we won't let that happen," the tactician stated confidently.

"Huh?" stammered the Ylissean prince.

"It's easy, isn't it? All we have to do to prevent the war from happening is protect your sister, correct?" Robin asked.

"Well, yes, but that isn't a simple task. Gods know Emm wouldn't bat an eye if he told her to hand herself over to save Maribelle. She'd always put other's lives before hers, no matter if it's that of a close friend or a villager she's never seen before," Chrom said. "Sometimes, I feel as if the only thing Emm needs protection from is herself."

"She will find a way to resolve this peacefully, Chrom," the blonde man reassured. "And if not, we are here, are we not? If Gangrel wants to lay even a finger on your sister, he'll have to defeat us first. I swear on the few things that matter to me that I won't let that happen as long as I live."

Shocked by the gravity of his partner's words and the ease with which he brought them forth, Chrom struggled to find a suitable answer for a while.

"Robin.." he began. "Thank you. It means a lot to me to have someone by my side who would go to such lengths for me and those precious to me.."

"I'm not the only one," Robin claimed. "Every single one of the Shepherds would do the same as I, be it for you or for Emmeryn."

"I know, Robin," Chrom agreed. "But with you.. somehow it's different. You have no good reason to be here and yet you are. And what's more, you're willing to put your life on the line for people you've known for maybe a week. If I were in your place, my first concern would have been myself and recovering my memory."

"While it's true I haven't known any of you for long, I feel as though.. there's something connecting me with all of you. I don't really care about my past right now, all I want to be able to do is help those who reached out to me without a plausible reason to do so. You and Emmeryn are much more important to the world than the memory of a simple man like me, so I want to do my best to repay your trust," the amnesiac replied.

"I'm happy to have you here, Robin. It hasn't been long, but I'm already glad to have found you that day," Chrom concluded.

Before Robin could respond, a cackling voice sounds from the cliff above them.

"And what is this? Because of your blinding aura I nearly didn't recognize you!" a pale-skinned man wearing trickster's clothes with a long yellow cape and a crown on his dark red hair, indicating his status, hisses. Next to him stands a dark but pale-skinned woman, dressed in a revealing black dress and long white hair flowing down her back.

"I think my breakfast might come back to haunt me if I look at you any longer, bwa hahaha!"

"Shut your filthy mouth, fiend!" the Ylissean prince shouted, reaching for Falchion with his right hand.

"Oh, call back your little pet before he can harm anybody with that toothpick of his! We wouldn't want our oh so peaceful talks to end so soon, would we now?" the man cackles, his taunts clearly affecting the prince.

"Damn you!" Chrom hissed, before Emmeryn reached out to him. She put her hand on his shoulder to calm him down.

"Please, little brother. Let me handle this," the Exalt pleads.

"Fine.." the blue-haired man mumbles, acknowledging his defeat.

"King Gangrel, I am sure we can come to an agreement without resorting to violence. Is all this really necessary?" Emmeryn asked, gesturing to the Plegian troops near the king.

"Why, of course this is necessary. After all, we must protect our beloved king from that mutt by your side," the unknown woman finally said.

"And who might you be?" the Exalt requested, even her showing slight annoyance at the woman above her.

"I am the faithful adviser of Lord Gangrel, Aversa," the white-haired woman replied.

"Now to get these negotiations started," the mad king exclaims, clapping his hands to signal two of his soldiers to bring forth their hostage.

"Let go of me you filthy hounds! This is no way to treat a noble!" Maribellle cried.

"Maribelle! Are you alright?" Lissa shouts in concern, pulling the Lady's attention to her.

"Oh, dear. I am fine, of course, but you should not have come here! This is but a deceptive ruse by that barbarian to finally start the war he so desires!" the troubadour exclaimed. "Their troops invaded a nearby village, pillaging and plundering, and as I stepped in to stop them they kidnapped me and took me here!"

"Oh my, she's lying now too," Aversa commented. "This young lady injured the men simply trying to escort her back home. I fear a great price must be paid for this incident!"

"King Gangrel, I am certain we will be able to discuss this matter appropriately even without a hostage. I beg of you, let Lady Maribelle go," Emmeryn pleads once more.

"Oh no, that is not up for debate, I fear," the Plegian King stated. "My claim is as follows: hand over the Fire Emblem or the girl and everyone else die!" the mad man yelled, clearly not intent on keeping his facade upright.

"You beast! I knew this would happen! Get ready for combat, everyone!" Chrom shouted, unsheathing his Falchion and pointing it at his opposite.

"That won't do, little princeling," Gangrel warned. "You do realize you walked straight into my trap, don't you? One wrong move and that annoying brat is history." Reinforcing his threat, the two soldiers held their axes to Maribelle's head.

"Damnit.. You coward!" the prince cursed.

"Coward? I prefer cunning and smart mastermind. Now, hand the Emblem over, before I forget myself," the mad king demanded, not affected by the blue-haired Ylissean's taunts in the slightest.

"Must this be?" Emmeryn questioned. "Things do not have to be this way, your majesty. We can resolve this conflict peacefully if you just give it the chance.

"Of course, you witch! I don't care for peace or any of that sentimental nonsense!" Gangrel barked. "What I want is the downfall of the despicable Ylisse and all of their rotten royalty! I will destroy your country, enslave your people, just as your father did with mine 15 years ago! I will wreck havoc against your country, now hand over the damn Fire Emblem, or EVERYBODY dies NOW!"

Seeing his sister seriously think about giving in to the Mad King's demands, Chrom spoke out to her. "Emm, you can't possibly be thinking of listening to that mad man, can you? It won't make a difference if you do as he asks, he will try to kill us all regardless! We have to act before it's too late!"

"Chrom, I'm sorry, but.." the Exalt began, but before she could finish, a large gust of magical wind caught the two soldiers next to Maribelle and pushed them to the edge of the cliff, where they fell to the ground with a sickening thud and crack, indicating most of their bones to be broken.

'What was that?' Robin thought, looking for the source of the magic and already beginning his work on a suitable strategy to keep his allies safe.

"Maribelle!" Ricken shouts and runs to her side.

"Ricken?!" the blonde lady questioned, shocked by the sudden appearance of said young boy. "What are you doing here?"

"I came here to help rescue you! Now come on, we can't stay here!" the mage explained, pulling her with him.

"What is this?! An Ylissean attacking my men?" Gangrel demands, a mad smile taking over his features. "Finally, I get what I want! This is war!"

"Why are you doing this? You must know that a war will devastate your own people!" Robin argued.

"So what?" the mad king questioned with a bored tone. "I don't care about that. All I want is for you Ylisseans to be annihilated. Nothing else matters!"

"You disgust me.." Chrom remarked.

"So we do have something in common," the Plegian countered, sneering in anticipation of his long-awaited war. "Commander Orton! End as many lives as you can before returning for dinner!" Gangrel orders before leaving the scene, having accomplished his goal.

"I do hope we see each other again soon, Sir Robin. That is, if you survive this of course!" Aversa said with a cocky smile before departing as well.

"Wait! Who are you that-" Robin began asking, but the woman was already out of sight. 'How does she know my name?'

"Shepherds, get ready to battle! Our primary objectives are to get to Ricken and Maribelle and save them as well as protecting Emmeryn by any costs!" Chrom ordered. "Phila, get Emmeryn as far away as possible!"

"Of course, Milord!" the commander of the Ylissean pegasus knights complied. "This way, Milady!"

After trying to keep Phila from leading her away, Emmeryn gave up but called out to Chrom once more. "Chrom! You must stay safe!"

"I will, sister.. I will," he muttered silently.


And that concludes another chapter. First of all, many thanks to Blooperfiction for betaing this chapter, you brought up quite a few things and even though I wasn't able to incorporate/fix every one of them, they are very much appreciated! I look forward to future cooperation (as long as you are interested) and will try my best to improve at all the stuff you point out!

Before I get to all the weekly stuff, there is something I want to ask of you all. Since I've read this quite often now and have thought about it myself, my question is whether or not I should rework the existing chapters to change the tense to past instead of present. Some people have noted that present tense is super unusual so I'm willing to change that if enough of you would like that. It would be great if you could let me know what you think of this matter and I'll act accordingly! In the event that a majority of you vote for it, I'd also get around to finally reworking that sucky first chapter, which I've wanted to do for a while now. It'd also fit pretty well in my schedule for the week as I have some assignments and organisational work to take care of at school.

That being said, on to the reviews!

Gallian Squad 7: I'm pretty sure I haven't but that could just be me being my stupid self. Glad I did at least decently well at the dialogue and action and at the same time I apoligize for this chapter having no action again. Unfortunately for you, that's just wishful thinking. I may or may not have let it seem like that on purpose though.

Riku Uzumaki: Glad you liked it! In retrospect, I could've gotten a lot more out of that specific scene, but oh well. I hope I can make future fights interesting as well!

That all said and done, big thank you to the new followers BerryBerryBlitz, Fujiwara Yoshitoki, orangelightining and Sneakybutterman, as well as every one who found this enjoyable enough to favorite!

Before signing out for the week, just a quick update. I already mentioned my schedule this week, so you should know it's possible I won't have enough time to finish a chapter. Sorry in advance should that be the case!

This has been D4v3Hunter and I hope to see you all next weekend (or the one after)!