I've been a while from uploading eh? Being caught up in work and writing other stories does take its toll on writing.

Chapter ten: Unofficial Track Days

4/21 Saturday: After School; Amatsu Park, Marth Stadium

Anathema Road was the other major road of Iris-shi. It paralleled Ylisse Street, running on the block adjacent to Ylisse Street extended north toward the homes on the hill, past Amatsu Park, and south through the commercial district past Ignis Avenue and to the train station. In fact, Anathema Road ran through directly between Anna's and Parthia Plaza, like a natural dividing line. If there was ever a battle line drawn between them, Anathema Road was it.

On the other hand, Anathema Road also crossed Ignis Road. So it was possible to get from the school, walk the length to Ylisse Street, and then get to the next intersection.

Amatsu Park had a decent-sized lake that was situated in the city, not far from the commercial district and located at the edge of Ignis Avenue. Its entrance was situated right where Anathema Road started its incline ascent to the hills like Ylisse Street. In fact, if one were to simply hike from the park's entrance to Ylisse Street on the other side, it was possible to get to Robin's home.

And that was exactly why Robyn and Robin, after having a Saturday morning fill of lemon puffs from Morgan, had called to meet their friends at Amatsu Park after school. Aside from having a lake, there was a playground for children, a couple volleyball courts, and the landmark track and field Marth Stadium. It was at this stadium where Robyn called for a meeting.

"Why are we here?" Chrom said, having called everyone to order. They were all gathered at a part of the grandstands.

"If we're going to survive in the Halidom, we better start building our physical skills," Robyn explained. Given almost all the Shepherds had gathered already, it may have been easy to miss one other. But they were close friends and a team. Surely missing one was not easy to miss.

Robyn glanced at Vaike. "Alright, Teach. You know how it's done, right?"

Vaike didn't even know Robyn for that long but the way Robyn so casually said that reminded him of how Robin would say it. He didn't question Robyn's words and instead looked at Chrom. "Alright, let the Vaike show you how it's done. Weightlifting, track, basketball, and food. The Vaike knows all." Then Vaike reached into his pocket as if to look for something. "Dang it… Where did I put my stopwatch…?"

While Vaike went about looking for his stopwatch in the grandstands and the rest of the Shepherds waited, Chrom said, "So, Robyn-chan. What exactly is the point of coming to the track?"

"I figured that if we're going to be in the Halidom a lot, we should expect a lot of running while carrying our weapons," Robyn said. "We'll need strength and endurance, considering we'll be carrying weapons." She looked at the track before her. The sports field in the middle of the track was the same as she remembered it and so was the track. There were some parts of the track that needed maintenance but at least the inner loop was usable. "Plus…"

As if on cue, Robin opened his back to take out of plastic container full of lemon puffs. "Morgan made us a lot of lemon puffs. She knew you were all going to the track, so you could have some after we work out."

"Aw, that's so nice of her!" Lissa said.

After Robin had put away the container, he said, "Are we ready? Vaike will make start us off with a few laps after he finds his stopwatch–"

"W-wait for me!" a voice cried out, forcing many eyes to look in that direction. It was Stahl, running towards them. "Hey! W-why am I the last to hear about today's training?"

Robyn shot a glare at Vaike. "Teach? Explain."

"The Vaike never forgets! …I just don't always remember, is all…" Vaike muttered, still looking for his watch. "Alright, never mind! Listen up! Teach will lead us into a running start of eight laps! No ifs or buts. Then it's stretches before we're running with weights!" He got up and started pushing Chrom, of all people, onto the track. "Go on! The Vaike will be training you personally, Chrom-sama."

With that said, Chrom motioned for his fellow friends to follow up. First was Sumia, then Frederick, and then Robin. Vaike got onto the track and began leading his fellow friends into training and just as the sunshine was warming up the day.

As soon as the Shepherds began their running laps, Miriel had just entered the stadium and made her way onto the track. On her way there, just as she was about to join the others, she noticed a certain stopwatch laid on the stone steps near the stadium gates. She would not have thought it appropriate for the Shepherds to misplace things, considering it was only the Shepherds at the stadium this morning. So she brought the stopwatch with her as she began her run with the others. It was at some point that she had caught up with Vaike and handed the stopwatch back to him, along with a strong reprimand.

With the stopwatch in his hand, Vaike began running his drills with the team. As it happened, Chrom had brought Falchion with him and so Vaike found it good timing for Chrom to run timed laps first. That is, Chrom running laps on the track with Falchion and its sheath in his hands ("Get used to it!" Vaike shouted. "This will be nothing when we're over there!").

And since Chrom was running, Vaike timed it until the second minute – when Chrom had amazingly completed one lap in that time – that he sent Robin and Robyn together to follow Chrom. They were instructed to carry tomes in their hands as they ran, which sounded like torture on its on.

"On the plus side," Vaike said, "you'll make it to class easy everyday! The Vaike knows the long run you know. He ain't that dumb."

Grumbling together, Robyn and Robin hauled the books with them as they tried to run laps around the track. It really did feel like the school run that they usually did on mornings, carrying books to school whenever they woke up late. Thankfully they only needed to carry one or two books, even if they were the size of textbooks. Would the Halidom be worse than this? Then maybe they had to get used to it.

4/21 Saturday: Evening; Robin's Residence

There were no falling tomes to greet the pair when they returned home. But that was good enough already since Robyn and Robin were exhausted from the workout, and they had to walk home too. Sunlight was still filling parts of the sky, but it was clearly nightfall. The lemon puffs had been finished and the Shepherds had passed their thanks to Morgan via Robin.

"Um, Robin-kun, I was wondering if you had a novel I could read…" Robyn asked. "Would you happen to have a copy of Culinary Rivals?"

Hearing Robyn mention that novel brought an instant smile to Robin's lips. It seemed Robyn also had good taste in books. He even had a first edition of the book kept safely in his bag, even though it was only the first book in a multi-part series. "I do indeed," he replied, as he took off his shoes after entering the home. "Want to read it?"

"Yes!" Robyn said automatically and then realised she might have been too excited. She lowered her voice. "I mean, if you're still reading it, I can wait." She also removed her shoes, put them on the rack, and followed Robin upstairs. Robin had already gone ahead to his room, and so Robyn did the same with hers and then went to shower.

Robyn's hair was no longer in twin tails but was long and straight, as one would expect freshly washed. By the time Robyn had changed into nightclothes, Robin appeared at the bathroom door with the exact same book Robyn had given to Anna two weeks ago and presented it to her. Even the bookmark was in the same place where she had last left it.

Now it was Robyn's turn to instantly smile. "I'll definitely take that if you don't mind," she said.

"Please do. I need to shower myself," Robin said, knowing like Robyn, his head and back were sweat-covered.

Now that Robin was showering, Robyn retreated to her room with the copy of Culinary Rivals in her hand. She lowered her blinds, turned on her bedroom light, sat on her bed and began to read. It was as if her past life had just resumed after a traumatising break, like nothing happened.

Outside, there was a crescent moon in the night sky. Robyn could see it take form from the sight of her window. Now that she thought of it, there had been a new moon six days ago. After glancing at it once, she returned to her book and kept reading. To be fair to Robin, she took one of her own bookmarks she used at school as her own placeholder.

4/22 Sunday: Early Morning; Robin's Residence

A great shadow had fallen on Iris-shi, blocking out the sun. The sun itself had turned a blood red like it was dying, and flaming balls of fire began falling to the earth. The moment the fireballs crash-landed to the earth, Robyn could hear the devastation they were causing and the Chaos Dragon, that was what Naga called it, flying above and wiping out the world she knew.

All she had to do was wait for death. It didn't matter, right? She was bound to die at some point. Accepting her fate seemed easier than anything else.

Something was different, though.

Robyn had the Fire Emblem with her. Five spherical stones were encrusted on the shield and the shield radiated power that even Robyn could feel. Looking at it, she wondered what she could do. Could she possible use it against the dragon?

But it was too late. More monsters started rampaging about the city, and a fireball began to envelop her surroundings.

Robyn woke up, startled. Her breathing was short and her body was hot. From sweating, maybe?

She also tried to get back to sleep too but that wasn't happening. It took a moment for her to calm down and she even lifted her bed covers off to cool off, but the dream was stuck in her head. Unable to get back to sleep, Robyn sat up and looked out the window. The sun was very close to rising above the mountains in the horizon.

Now that she thought of her dream, Robyn glanced at the Fire Emblem leaning against her schoolbag near her closet. Reality began sinking in when Robyn thought of her experience in a different reality and encountering Naga before that. Naga had given her a task, a chance to prevent the chaos that would soon come.

And didn't she say to keep an eye out for the daylight hours? Robyn sighed. There was too much on her mind and then there was school to consider too. So Robyn got out of bed, went to her desk and turned on the lamp, and began to study. She didn't have a lot of homework yet but she might as well study a chapter or two now that she was awake.

Sunlight poured into bedroom moments later.

Thinking back to her dream, she thought about the Fire Emblem again. Over a week ago, Chrom mentioned the Hero-King had used a shield embedded with five stones that enabled him to seal the Chaos Dragon. So if that was the case, was it her mission to find the stones? How would that be done?

Why me? Robyn thought. There was no chance of living a normal life but she had a purpose to her life here. What would happen after? Wait, no. There was no time to think that. How would she find the stones? The only clue was the Fire Emblem and so far, the only thing that had unusually happened was that one instance at the Ylisse and Ignis intersection. That seemed like a start.

Robyn decided to have breakfast. Morgan should be up by now.

4/30 Monday: After School; Yllistol High School, Rooftop

Frederick had never been the best at keeping track of daylight hours. Doing whatever he could to steward Chrom was one thing, but watching for the sunrise and sunset was another. It was like a part-time job that wasn't paid! But since Frederick was in the service of the national monarch, there was no complaint. That didn't mean he couldn't ask for help from Miriel either, so that was what it became.

The past week had flown by for the Shepherds, having gone through hours of homework and study such that the Halidom was the least of their worries. Even so, at one point, Miriel had called for an urgent meeting with the Shepherds.

There was a full moon in the sky above Iris-shi even at this time of day. It had been two weeks since the new moon and the night would be considerably brighter than it had been before. Now that everyone was gathered amid an imminent sunset, Miriel made her report.

"It appears that what Robyn-san had been predicting is coming true," she said, pulling up a printed checklist that showed the day of the week, when the sun rose and when it set. "Normally, in springtime right now, we expect the days to get longer and the sun to set later. Except now the direction is in reverse. The sun…" Miriel looked the sky above. "…will set soon, but it shouldn't have by historical standards."

She tried to make sure everyone understood her words. Knowing Robin had complained once, and Vaike countless times, Miriel tried to be simple. "All I'm saying is with each passing day, the sun is rising later and setting sooner. If the trajectory continues at a linear pace, it's only a matter of time before there won't be any sunlight. It will run out at the end of May."

To any normal person, let alone high school students, it would have been unbelievable to hear. But given the Shepherds had already a share of supernatural encounters, anything seemed possible. They only nodded at Miriel for her to continue, Chrom giving the main cue.

"In that case, is there anything we can do?" Miriel looked at Robyn, as if expecting her to know the answer.

Robyn looked down. She felt like there was too much expected of her. It wasn't like Robyn was a kind of omniscient goddess who knew everything. At most, she had clues.

"All I know is that the Fire Emblem will be the solution when the time is right," Robyn replied. Turning to Chrom, she said, "Remember you said that the Hero-King, in the past, had five stones embedded in the shield he used? My guess is that those same stones will prevent the loss of daylight. We just have to find the stones."

It looked like no one doubted her words, which was some comfort to Robyn. Instead, Chrom added, "That may be the case if things are happening like the days of the Hero-King. In case if you're wondering," Chrom addressed the rest of the Shepherds. "They're called Gemstones, which kept the Chaos Dragon sealed. The first day we encountered the Halidom, Robyn-chan's shield reacted with a glow before that. Don't take my word for it, but it is possible that the Fire Emblem can detect the presence of a Gemstone."

"Like a radiation counter?" Robin said.

"Exactly," Chrom said. "It's my guess, but of course we'll have to test this theory in the Halidom itself. Next time we drop by"

Robyn grinned. "You're more of a chemist than I thought, Chrom-kun. So… Sure, let's try it on our next outing. We should have more time by then."

Everyone seemed in agreement, until Miriel said, "I need not remind you all that you have academics to attend to. The week has only started. Let's try it on Friday – we still have plenty of time before then."

Then everyone groaned.