Beta Reader: DarkAngelDan98.
What is it?
The sky was dark, unnaturally dark. Black clouds stretched out across the entire expanse of the sky, the only light that was visible in the near pitch-black heavens were flashes of ominous purple lightning. The winds were strong, incredibly so, the 'roar' of the wind itself was impossible to ignore. The atmosphere was filled with a sense of dread and fear, even the simple act of breathing was a struggle since the air itself was practically choking with negativity.
Where is it?
There was no sign of life as far as eye could see, only a barren landscape… filled with what appeared to be moving corpses. Their decaying flesh was still visible, the rotting stench permeated the air, the sound of their groans and roars seemed to be competing with the wind itself over which one was louder. They were everywhere, each one wearing armor and carrying various weapons; and there were more than just humans' corpses, horses, pegasi, wyverns, they seemed almost endless.
What is this supposed to mean?
And floating at the center of the chaos was none other than a creature that only could be described as an abomination, a monster beyond human comprehension, a monster so massive that it could potentially swallow an entire island with a single bite.
A voice?
"-we share the blame! It's only right we meet our end together!
What?
"ROBIN!"
Rob-
"How is he?"
"He seems to be fine, I can't see any wounds. He might have simply passed out of exhaustion."
"What should we do? Should we bring him back? Or should we just get him to the nearest village?"
"What do you think Professor?"
Slowly but surely, he could feel his consciousness began to return. He could hear voices around him which might mean he was surrounded by people. He couldn't say why there seemed to be a bunch of strangers around him…or why he had passed out from exhaustion as one of the voices said. Soon, he started to open his eyes…only to close them when a bright light immediately greeted his eyes.
"Oh he's woken up! Thank the Goddess!"
He could hear one of the voices, obviously belonging to a female, sound rather excited and relieved at his awakening as he reopened his eyes slower this time to help them better adjust to the light. It took him a few moments before his eyes fully acclimated to the illumination, allowing him to see that he was surrounded by nine people, most if not all of them looked like to be in, or a slightly past, their teenage years.
Except the rather large dark-skinned man with silver hair, he might be an adult already.
"Are you alright Sir?" the boy with blonde hair and deep blue eyes asked as he tried to sit up. Seeing his attempt to sit upright, the boy gently helped him which earned a small nod from him.
"I'm fin- ugh!" His attempt to assure them that he was alright was interrupted by the sharp pain that assaulted his head all of a sudden, effectively cutting off his speech and caused him to hold his aching head with his left hand.
"Oh my, please allow me to help you." before he could say anything, a gentle hand was placed on the back of his head… before, to his relief, a warm sensation washed over him and dulled the intense ache. He instinctively sighed in relief at the sudden reprieve before he glanced at the girl with light cream colored hair next to him.
"Thank you." was the only thing he could offer along with a smile to show his gratitude.
The girl, or perhaps woman, simply smiled kindly at him in return while she kept her hand at the back of his head, presumably to continue 'heal' him…however she was doing it.
"Who are you?"
The soft yet slightly monotonous voice immediately drew his attention away from the kind woman to the owner of the new voice who was another woman only with blue hair and eyes. He blinked twice when he noticed what the blue haired woman wore, it was notably different compared to the other people around him, but he immediately decided to push aside any thoughts that arose from seeing the woman's clothing as he focused on answering her question.
Except…
"I…"
It wasn't until now that he realized…he didn't know who he was.
Byleth waited patiently for the man that had recently awoken to answer her question and identify himself. She admitted that she didn't expect to find an unconscious man on their way back to the Monastery after their first successful mission which involved wiping out a group of bandits but that didn't stop her from ordering her students to try to find out if the man was unconscious as a result of injuries. Fortunately, according to Mercedes, the man had simply passed out due to exhaustion…
Which brought her to question who exactly this man was…
"I… I don't know…" the man finally answered slowly with an unsure look.
Byleth admittedly was a little surprised by the answer he gave though she only raised one of her eyebrows to express her surprise.
"What do you mean you don't know?" Sylvain asked, his expression most likely mirroring her own though Byleth could see the wariness and distrust in his eyes.
The man stayed silent as he stared at the ground though it was very clear that the man wasn't paying any attention to his surroundings as he was most likely lost in his own thoughts.
Silently, Byleth glanced toward each of her students to see their expression. Predictably, Dedue, Felix, and Ingrid already looking at the man suspiciously much like Sylvain though Ingrid, at the very least, seemed to try to hide her suspicion. Ashe, Annette, and Mercedes simply stared at the man with a look of concern with no sigh of doubt in his claim of ignorance to his identity. And Dimitri, unlike his peers, simply awaited the man's respond with a neutral look. He showed neither concern nor suspicion, most likely wanting to make his judgment once he got the full story from the man.
"I don't remember…whenever I try to recall who I am or why I am here, I always come up with nothing…and then there is this headache." the man answered slowly after a few minutes of silence before he shook his head slightly and grimaced in pain, probably because of the headache he mentioned.
"Amnesia." Dimitri muttered, referring to the condition that the man was suffering from at the moment where a person loses the ability to recall their past either due to physical trauma or mental damage.
"And you're sure he isn't faking it?" Felix stated with a scoff, displaying no attempt to hide that he didn't believe the man's claim.
While what Felix said could be true, Byleth couldn't help but feel that the man was genuinely suffering amnesia and was not trying to deceive them. Though regardless of whether the man really had lost his memories or not, Byleth already made up her mind on what she would do about the man.
"Can you stand up?" Byleth asked as she offered her hand to the man. At first, he simply stared at her in confusion but eventually he gave her a small nod before he accepted her hand and allowed her to help him stand on his feet.
Now that he was standing up, the man turned out to be taller than her and most of her students with the exception of Dimitri, Dedue, and Sylvain, though he was almost as tall as Dimitri himself. He wore a heavy-looking coat and had a hair color that was similar to that of Edelgard's and Lysithea's, snow white.
"We can't leave you here. If you really do have amnesia then it's better for you to come with us, I don't know how much help our physician will be able to provide you with but it's better than staying here." Byleth explained her intention, not just to the man but also to her students.
"Are you sure about this Professor?" Ingrid asked out of concern even though part of her agreed with her professor.
"Well, it's better than leaving him here or bringing him to a nearby village with no medical facility, right?" Ashe spoke up, showing his agreement with Byleth's decision.
"That's right; I think we should bring him with us." Annette chimed in while nodding her head twice.
"What do you think Your Highness?" Dedue asked his lord softly.
"I agree with Professor Byleth. We can't just leave the man here, and even if Professor Manuela can't help him, it's better if we bring him to the village near the Monastery where proper shelter can be provided for him." Dimitri declared with a nod, deciding that he saw nothing wrong with bringing the man along with them. The man didn't look suspicious and while he wouldn't say he was the best in reading people but in his eyes, the man's amnesia seemed to be genuine.
With both the professor and the prince on the same page, none of the other students questioned the decision further.
"I…thank you…I'm sorry if my…condition inconveniences you all." the man said slowly, his expression showed that he was sorry that he, in his opinion, was causing trouble for them.
"Don't worry about it good Sir, it doesn't inconvenience us at all." Mercedes replied with a kind smile, hoping to ease the man.
"Well, if no one has any further complaints about it then that just leave us with what we should call you. Even if you don't remember your name, we still need to call you something." Sylvain said with a small sigh as he rested his hand on the back of his neck.
Byleth silently thought that the redhead raised a good point and from the way the man placed his fist under his chin, he probably also thought the same thing as her.
"How about…Robin?" the man suggested after a few seconds of consideration.
Byleth couldn't help but tilt her head slightly as she was a little curious on why the man decided to name himself after a bird. Apparently, she wasn't the only who was curious…
"Robin? As in the bird?" Mercedes asked as she blinked a few times in slight surprise, no doubt curious about why the man chose that name.
"Well…" the man, Robin, scratched his cheek as he seemed to consider his response. However, for a split second, a look of bewilderment suddenly appeared on the man's face and before Byleth could react, he suddenly lunged forward and pushed her to the ground. At first, she thought the man was trying to attack her but it was when her eyes spotted an arrow flew past above them that she realized…
The man was saving her.
He didn't exactly understand what just happened. One moment he was considering whether he should tell them about the dream he had before he woke up and how him hearing someone calling out the name Robin being the reason why he decided to pick it as his name and the next moment he was suddenly met with the gruesome sight of an arrow piercing the blue haired woman's head in front of him. And before he could properly react to the violent image, his body suddenly moved on its own and lunged forward, pushing the woman and himself onto the ground.
He was about to apologize when his eyes caught the sight of an arrow that flew past them…the arrow that supposed to hit the woman's head.
Hold on, did he just-
"Ambush!" the blonde haired boy declared as he turned around and scanned their surroundings.
Almost immediately, all the teenagers quickly formed a circle while pulling out their respective weapons. The formation also happened to trap him and the blue haired woman at the center though the woman quickly remedied this by pushing him off her, something that he should have done himself if not because of his surprise, before she calmly stood back on her feet while pulling out her sword from its sheath.
Unsure on what he supposed to do, Robin simply stood up himself to see that they were surrounded by a group of bandits, all armed with variety of weapons from axe to spear.
"Think this was all planned from the beginning?" the redhead spoke up in a tone that tried to make what he said sound innocent despite the accusatory subtone.
"Not now Sylvain." The blonde-haired girl scolded as she sent a quick firm look toward the redhead.
"Dimitri, Sylvain, and Felix, you three handle the bandits to the west; Ingrid, you're with me dealing with the bandits from east. Ashe and Annette, I want you two to take down all archers you can see and provide us with support. Dedue protect them if there are bandits that have slipped past us. Mercedes, you're on healing duty." the woman commanded as she prepared herself to attack the incoming group of bandits.
Robin tried his best to memorize the names of all the teenagers based on their reaction to the woman's command. Though now he was unsure on what he was supposed to do, just standing here while these young people and their professor, based on what they called the woman, fought off these bandits? What else he could do?
"Don't worry Sir, we'll protect you." the grey haired boy, Ashe he believed, tried to reassure him with a nod. Robin simply nodded his head, still unsure on what he supposed to do.
"Stay here, don't get in our way, and you should be fine." the professor suddenly spoke up while glancing at him, telling him exactly what he needed to do. Before Robin could give a response, the bandits already began charging at them which forced the professor to command her students to do the same.
Robin only could watch as the battle between the students and the bandits began. Despite the bandits' obvious advantage in number, the professor and the students manage to keep themselves from being fully overwhelmed by their enemies by fully utilizing what he guessed to be their skills.
Yet, somehow he couldn't help but feel that they weren't fighting in harmony…
Despite his concerns, the battle seemed to be slowly but surely turning in the favor of the ones who had found him as he could watch that some of them, their professor especially, had managed to slay some of the bandits, reducing their numbers slightly. But soon enough, the situation took a turn for the worse when he heard a roar come from the sky and when he looked up, both Robin's eyes widened in realization that the bandits had a trump card to use against them.
"Wyvern rider!" the blonde-haired girl, Ingrid he believed, shouted as a wyvern ridden by a bandit descended toward the ground at a high speed. For a moment, Robin wondered what the wyvern rider would do… but he soon got his answer but in the way he wasn't expecting.
'Again?!' was the thought that immediately crossed his mind when he witnessed the wyvern's claws tear through Ashe's body as the boy had been the rider's target and it seemed he hadn't been able to react fast enough to dodge it. However, the fact that he witnessed it all despite not even facing the boy told him that it was just a vision, like what happened just a few minutes earlier.
He still didn't properly understand how he could do it or what it was supposed to mean, but Robin pushed aside all the questions he had to immediately act by leaping toward Ashe, who seemed to be surprised by his actions, just as the wyvern almost got him.
"Th-Thank you." Ashe muttered once he realized what Robin just did. The white-haired man simply nodded his head as he stood back on his feet before he scanned the sky again to see where the wyvern went.
It took him a few seconds before he realized that the wyvern's attempt to kill Ashe had caused the formation originally set up by the professor to broke apart when the group that had been surrounding him to move in different directions to dodge the wyvern, which they might not have realized was only aiming for Ashe.
"Dedue, Annette, Ashe, Mercedes, regroup!" the professor shouted once she realized it too but she was still busy dealing with two bandits simultaneously to help the teenagers reorganize themselves.
The bandits, however, didn't want to give them a chance to do so.
Robin watched in worry as some of the bandits that had previously hid themselves among the trees start to immediately charge forward, their target was most likely him, Ashe, and the mages.
"Stay behind me Sir!" Ashe told him as he quickly straightened his posture and nocked an arrow to his bow. The big man, Dedue if he recalled correctly, also wasted no time by running toward the girl whom he believed was called Mercedes, presumably to protect her.
But that left Annette, the last girl, to deal with the incoming bandits on her own…and they weren't the only ones aiming for her.
"Annette, watch out for the wyvern!" Sylvain warned the mage just as he kicked away his opponent but when he was about to run to help her, an enemy's arrow embedded itself in his left bicep that caused him to yell in pain and halt his attempt to help his classmates.
Robin watched as Annette fired off a wind spell toward the incoming wyvern, which the beast managed to dodge, before she was forced to fire another spell toward the incoming bandit who wielded an axe. With the bandits still holding an advantage in numbers and with the addition of the wyvern rider, Robin knew they need to take away one of the bandits' advantages to win this battle…but how…and most importantly, what could he do?
Gods, he felt so useless…
'Kill it.'
'What ?'
'Kill it!'
'H-How?'
'Let it free! Let your power flow! Kill it'
First the vision and now a voice in his head, who exactly was he? Some sort of shaman?
Pushing the fact that he just heard a voice that seemingly came from his head, Robin closed his eyes as he tried to felt the so called 'power' within him. Strangely enough, he could feel it…but how he could use it?
'You're pathetic! Just for this once, I'll give you a little push.'
Robin let out a gasp as he fell to one knee because as soon as the voice said so, he could feel a surge of power flowing through his whole body. His body felt a little heavy as the result but it also…felt amazing.
"Are you alright Sir?" Ashe asked in worry as he momentarily glanced at him but Robin simply took a deep breath as he stood back on his feet.
"I am." Robin answered curtly before he scanned the sky again. For some reasons, this power within him felt familiar… and dangerous, yet at this moment he didn't want to question it. As long as he could help these people deal with the bandits then he would ignore the nagging feeling that he shouldn't use this power.
As if he had done it many times, Robin raised his hand and aimed toward the wyvern as soon as he found it. His hand crackled with power as he closed his eyes, the feeling of familiarity hitting him with full force as ancient words, all glowing in purple, surrounded him, forming a spherical formation around him. He didn't know how to explain it, it just felt both right and wrong at the same time but he willingly ignored the feeling once he could feel power start to gather in his palm.
"Now kill it!"
"Arc Thunder!" Robin shouted, the words leaving his mouth without him even realizing it as a purple magic circle formed in front of him. A crimson lightning bolt soon came out from the magic circle, hitting the wyvern before both it and its rider could react, piercing through the beast's body with ease, killing it in one blow.
'Yes! Now kill them all!'
He didn't know if he was truly listening to the voice or not, but Robin immediately fired another crimson lightning bolt toward a bandit near the blue haired professor, ignoring all the surprised looks that were directed to him. The bolt barely missed the professor and probably would have hit her if she didn't leap back in time.
'Hahaha! Another! Kill another one!'
Robin was about to do just that when a painful ache suddenly bloomed in his head, prompting him to fall to one knee as the formation of ancient words around him disappeared.
'Why did you resist?! The fun was just getting started!' he could hear the voice shout in his head, it's outrage and frustration clear to discern even through the throbbing pain but Robin ignored it as he held his head, wondering why he suddenly got a headache like this.
He didn't know how long he stayed in that position, kneeling on one knee with both his hands holding his head, but soon enough the pain started to disappear and replaced by a gentle warm sensation, just like what he felt when he woke up earlier. Eventually, Robin let out a relieved sigh before he looked up to see that it was now the blue haired professor that was touching his head instead of Mercedes.
"Thank you." Robin said softly with a nod, prompting the woman to nod back before she returned to her full height while offering her hand to him.
"So, you're a mage?" Sylvain asked after Mercedes had healed him while he watched his professor helping the man stand up once again.
"Honestly…I have no idea. Maybe I am a mage, I'm not sure how but it all just… came to me all of sudden. I barely understood what was even happening. It just…I just felt the need to help you guys." Robin admitted as he looked down toward his palm, clenching and unclenching it. He didn't feel the power from before but he knew that it was still inside him. What was that power? Was it simply his magic? Or something else?
"Hold on! What about the bandits?!" Robin realized as he quickly observed their surroundings, part of him was relieved to see no bandits in sight.
"They ran away, your spell seemed to scare them off. Though I could see why." the blonde boy, Dimitri, informed him.
"Yeah, I mean I've never seen a lightning spell like that, it just felt so powerful." Annette added with a nod, remembering how surprised she was when the man released a magic spell that strong. She didn't even know that a spell that produced crimson lightning existed.
"We should leave. The bandits might have run off for now but there is a possibility that they might return." Dedue suggested while glancing at the direction where the group of bandits ran to earlier.
"Agreed, you're coming with us, right Sir?" Dimitri nodded before he shifts his attention the white-haired man once again.
"Once again, thank you for taking me in. I'm in your debt." Robin said with a nod, feeling glad that they were still willing to take him somewhere safer despite what they just witnessed.
"You helped us fighting off those bandits; I don't think you owe us anything." Dimitri smiled slightly as he shook his head.
"Professor, are you alright?" Ingrid asked when she noticed that her professor was staring intensely at the white-haired man. Her words caused all the students, Robin included, to shift their attention toward the professor who seemed just realize what she was doing.
"I am fine." the professor said after shaking her head slightly. Robin noticed that her gaze seemed to soften slightly as she gave him a nod before muttering…
"Thank you, for saving me earlier."
Robin honestly almost forgot about that…did he end up with amnesia because he was a forgetful person…he sincerely hoped not.
"Oh, well, don't mention it. Actually, do you mind if I ask for your name?" Robin replied, realizing that while he has memorized the name of all the teenagers here, he still hasn't caught the name of the professor.
"It's Byleth…Byleth Eisner."
As they made their way back to the Monastery, now at a more hasty pace in fear of another bandit ambush, Byleth still couldn't help but be bothered by what she felt earlier.
'So I assume you also felt it, right? Just before the boy fired his spell.'
'I did.'
Byleth couldn't properly explain it but before Robin fired off his spell, for a moment, she couldn't help but feel a sense of dread in her heart. That was honestly the first time she had ever felt that afraid…yet at the same time, she couldn't help but feel…a strange feeling of familiarity, especially when she watched the white haired man fire off that crimson lightning bolt from his palm.
'While I also have no idea what it is supposed to mean, you should take care not to let your guard down around him yet…there was something off about that boy.' Byleth couldn't help but agree with Sothis. Robin was clearly not an ordinary man…she hoped that she hadn't made the wrong choice in bringing him back with them to the Monastery.
'Robin…just who are you exactly?'
How long has it been? Five months? Again, sorry for those who has been waiting for updates of my stories but life has took a very sharp turn for me. Anyway, this is my attempt to try to get back at writing, I hope you guys like it. Please enjoy.
