The sixth of the fourth month. A day that neither Chrom, nor Ylisse, for that matter, will ever forget. The day that the former Grandmaster gave his life for his adopted nation. Chrom is not looking forward to reliving those memories again. Even after five years, the wounds have not healed properly.
Still, that isn't why Chrom is so concerned today. No, every year on this day exactly, something extremely strange happens.
The first year was that sham trail that Robin had for himself. Seriously, how did he manage to bribe Justice Sigurd into convicting himself? Of course, Chrom used that time to not only pardon Robin but also give legal protection to Robin. He would not allow his best friend to be burdened by the law of his own country without him committing a massive crime that would warrant it, even if the person trying to burden crimes onto his shoulders was the man himself.
The second year Chrom found out that Robin had created a Ylissian Navy without Chrom ever finding out. Somehow, in the confusing years between the First Plegian war and the Valm War, Robin had commissioned a full fleet of warships: 6 first rates, 12 second rates, 12 third rates, and 14 frigates. Chrom only found out when the Lord of the Navy, one August der Hiffiling, came into his room on the second year after Robin's death with a readiness report of the Ylissian Navy.
Starting from the third year, the events got weirder and weirder. That year, Morgan's brother just appeared in Ylisstol Castle's courtyard. The future children were ecstatic. The Risen had invaded Mount Prism when Lucina had attempted to do the awakening in the future past, and Marc volunteered to hold them back until the awakening could be accomplished. They had all thought he was dead. To Chrom's surprise, Marc said that Robin saved him from the grip of increasingly powerful Risen and Deadlords. This one phrase allowed Lady Tiki to get out of the depressed state that she had fallen into since her husband's death. Marc's presence comforted the ancient Manakete; Marc was much more like Robin than his younger sister.
During the fourth year, a delegation from the Outrealm Gate had made their way to Ylisstol and a young Prince by the name of Alphonse had begged for Chrom's forgiveness, though what it was for he could not make heads nor tails of. The boy had been a mess, he couldn't have been much older than the youngest of the children from the future, and yet the pain in his eyes was only matched by Lady Tiki and maybe Tharja. Before he could get answers from the young man, a blonde-haired girl dragged him off back to the Outrealm Gate. Something about fire? That event had thoroughly confused Chrom.
And this year, something was bound to happen. Chrom could feel it in his bones. Call it whatever you want, but Chrom knew an event that is going to shatter his brain was about to happen. It is only a matter of time.
"A penny for your thoughts, dear?" Chrom blinks rapidly as a voice tears him out of his thoughts. Looking up from where his thousand-yard stare had his eyes locked, he sees the face of his wonderful wife. She's looking at him with an amused expression on her face, her brown hair flowing freely down to her shoulders.
"You know what day it is, Sumia…" Chrom sighs, then chuckles. "If something outrageous doesn't happen today, I'll take Lucina out shopping for a week."
A small, thin smile spreads onto Sumia's face.
"I wish I could take that bet. I know for a fact that Robin's cooked up something strange this year again. Can't have us too bored without him, yeah?"
A bout of laughter escapes from Chrom's lips.
"Yeah. He wouldn't want us to miss him too much. Keep looking forwards, he said," Chrom shrugs.
How can I keep looking forwards when I don't have you by my side? A dark corner of his brain cries out.
"You miss him," Sumia states.
"Yes…" Chrom nods.
"It's been five years Chrom. Why are you still beating yourself over him? He wouldn't want you to do this," Sumia sighs with a frown.
"Then he can come back and tell me that himself! Are our bonds not strong enough?" Chrom slams his fist down onto the desk he's currently sitting at, causing a terrifying crack to ring out around the room.
Horrified, Chrom covers his mouth.
"I'm sorry, Sumia. I didn't mean to yell…"
"It's alright. I expected as much…" Sumia sighs. "Seriously, I swear most of the former Shepherds have depression now. We might need to hire a Royal Therapist."
Chrom winces.
"That bad?"
"Stahl and Cordelia have started to mumble in their sleep and have gone into fervent rants. Vaike is subdued, Gregor nearly died from alcohol poisoning, Frederick is ever warier, Tharja nearly blew Gaius's head off, Henry is composing poems, and Kellam was visibly crying during last year's celebration,"
This causes Chrom to sigh deeper.
"Naga's tits, that's not good. What about Lady Tiki?"
"According to Lucina: She's hogging Marc and using him as a body pillow," Chrom winces.
"I'm not even sure what to do about that. Lady Tiki was hurt the most by Robin's death. I don't think she'll take Lucina's love too well in her current mental state," This causes Sumia to wince as well.
"Well… I hope we can sort this out-" Sumia begins before the Royal couple stop their conversation as they overhear the sound of rapidly approaching footsteps.
"We need to tell them, now!"
"S-Stay your hand, O' powerful Las- Inigo! Tis not the auspicious time; there are many a star that has not fallen into its rightful place,"
"As much as I hate Owain's speech patterns, he's right, Inigo! This should stay between us and Lady Tiki,"
"O' wonderful mother, what dost we accomplish here?"
This menagerie of voices causes both Sumia and Chrom to frown.
"That's…Owain, right? Owain, Inigo, and Severa. Who's the other girl?" Chrom tilts his head in confusion.
"Yes… are they finally back from their mission in the outrealms?" Sumia raises an eyebrow.
A quick rap on the door is accompanied by a voice.
"Lord Exalt, are you present? There are issues I need to discuss with your majesty,"
"Come on in, Inigo. You don't have to be that polite with me," Inside Chrom's head, a thousand red flags suddenly popped out. Inigo doesn't speak like that. Inigo isn't like this.
"Thank you, my lord," Inigo opens the door and steps into the room with a bow. He's wearing different clothing from what he wore three years ago, but nothing too dissimilar to Ylissian clothing. Severa too, though it is much less revealing. Owain, however…
"Owain! What are you wearing!" Sumia yells, a hand shooting to cover her mouth.
"Huh?" Owain raises an eyebrow. Then, he finally realizes what he was wearing, and a fierce scarlet hue flushes his face.
"We told you this would happen, Owain," Severa sighs.
"I-I thought it was baseless slander! You did not speak of my outside after a month!"
"That's because we figured that your mind couldn't be changed," Inigo sighs.
"Alright, that's enough. Inigo, what are you here for?" Chrom sighs.
This causes Inigo to bite his lip. He weighs some words on his tongue before speaking.
"I- No, I think it's best if we could have this conversation with Lady Tiki present. It would… It wouldn't be fair to her,"
"Then why did you come to me?"
"Then why did you come to me?"
"Because it wouldn't be fair to you if I didn't tell you. It's about Robin,"
This causes Chrom to sit up.
"Where is he?"
A pained wince from Inigo causes the well of hope growing inside Chrom to deflate.
"It's…complicated…"
"Where is Lady Tiki, anyway? She wasn't at the Mila Tree," Severa cuts in.
"Lady Tiki moved into the house that Robin had built her around two years ago,"
"Robin built Lady Tiki a house?"
"Yeah. With his own money. He really wanted to settle down, huh?"
"I-I see…"
At this point, a young girl wearing… you know what, Chrom isn't going to question those choices. Not enough brainpower right now. She peeks out from behind Owain's leg and stares him in the eye.
"Blessed father, who are they?"
"They, my dear Ophelia, are your granduncle and grandaunt, Chrom and Sumia Lowell," A massive smile appears on Owain's face. Chrom looks as if he's been slapped.
"E-Excuse m-me? Granduncle?"
"Oh! You have the mark of the hero too!"
"Excuse me?"
Ophelia points at his shoulder before then pointing at her palm.
"We share the same mark! This is the brand of the hero! We are destined to become great heroes!"
"And we really have no time to explain. Lord Chrom, could you please lead us to where Lady Tiki is residing? We wish to speak with her as well,"
At this point, Chrom is too mentally exhausted to say anything and just leads them out of the room.
Robin's cottage is big. Not as big as the manors of the nobility, but certainly too big for its current occupation of three.
Chrom leads the small possession as they walk towards the large wooden cottage. Already, they can start to see the massive field of flowers that Tiki planted in Robin's name. The light spring breeze carries the sweet smell over. Inigo sneezes.
"You alright?" Sumia shoots him a concerned look.
"Y-yes, Miss Sumia. Need to get used to Ylisse again. Too much time spent in the outrealms will do this to you…" Inigo smiles.
"I see… Why Miss Sumia, though? You can just call me Sumia, or Aunt Sumia if you really want to,"
Inigo swallows loudly.
"I-I think you should listen to what I have to say before coming to that judgement,"
Chrom and Sumia both frown.
"What happened?" Chrom slows down and puts a shoulder on Inigo.
"I-" Inigo bites his lip. "It would be unfair to tell you before Lady Tiki,"
"You've been telling me that this whole trip. What does that mean?"
Chrom sighs as Inigo goes quiet.
"Severa, what's he talking about?"
"I-I don't t-think we should be talking about this here…" Severa shakes her head, depressed about something.
"I see? Owain?"
Owain just shakes his head. Ophelia is walking next to him, humming something.
"Ophelia, what is Inigo hiding?" Chrom doesn't want to resort to asking the child, but he's out of options and his curiosity is burning brightly.
"O-"
"Ophelia!" A sharp glance from Inigo and a shout from Owain startles both Chrom and Ophelia, causing the latter to jump.
"Y-Yes, Father?"
"Not a word, understood?"
"U-Understood…"
Chrom raises an eyebrow but stops asking questions.
The rest of the walk to the cottage is done in silence.
As they enter the flower gardens, Chrom sees a bob of blue hair dashing wildly towards them.
"Father!" His eldest child's voice rings out in the cool spring air.
"Lucina-!" The rest of his sentence is cut off as Lucina slams into him, enveloping him in a massive hug.
"Thank you for visiting! I've missed you!"
"Luc…ina…breathing…can't…"
"Oh! I'm sorry Father," Lucina breaks away from her hug, allowing Chrom access to his lungs once again.
"How was your journey, sweety?" Sumia smiles and wraps Lucina in a hug.
"Oh-! Mother! I didn't see you here! Marc and I visited Valm for a while. We went to the place we didn't go to last time,"
"I see! Any souvenirs?"
"N-Not on me… Marc's better at money, so he handled our finances during the trip,"
"Oho? And where is Robin Junior?"
"He's inside. Lady Tiki just woke up,"
"Well, that's perfect then. Hello, Lucina. Long time no see, yeah? Let's go, not a moment to waste," Inigo nods to the bluenette but keeps walking forwards.
Lucina narrows her eyes.
"Did something happen to Inigo? He seems… subdued?"
"We have no clue. We, as in Chrom and I. Owain, Severa, and Ophelia probably know,"
"Ophelia? Who's that? Inigo's wife?"
"Nope! I am Ophelia Dusk, daughter of the great Owain Dark!" Ophelia strikes a pose.
Lucina raises an eyebrow, not at Ophelia, but at Severa.
"You let your daughter wear that?"
"Hey! I-We- Look! I'm not the most perfect parent, unlike Mother, ok? We made some…slight oversights. But it's fine! Robin chewed us out already. Anything you can say, he already said!"
"Robin? Where?"
Severa's eyes suddenly go wide, and then she starts to look at the ground, averting her gaze from Lucina's withering stare.
"Severa?" Lucina's voice gains an edge that wasn't there before. "Are you hiding something?"
"Lucina, I can't tell you. Not without telling Lady Tiki as well…"
"You can tell me before telling Lady Tiki,"
"No, I can't,"
"Yes, you can,"
"No, she can't," Inigo shakes his head and speeds up his pace. "Look, just let us keep our last promise to Robin, ok? Stop asking questions, please." The look of sadness and resolve in Inigo's eyes surprises Lucina, and she shuts her mouth mid-sentence.
"I understand…"
They walk the rest of the way in silence.
"Well, was is it that you wanted to tell me about?" Tiki sits on one of the couches in the living room. Marc sits to her right, and Lucina his right. Chrom is standing behind Lucina and Sumia… Sumia stumbled on the doorframe and is currently in the storage room trying to find bandages. Little Marc and Morgan are helping her.
Sitting in the seat across from them are the three children from the future who went through the outrealm gate. Ophelia is sitting on her mother's lap.
Chrom had never seen Lady Tiki this way before. His eyes were sunken and slightly shallow. It looked as if she was missing sleep, but Lucina had assured him that she was sleeping well. Her hair is a mess, with strands going in any direction they pleased. She's gripping Marc hand hard enough that her knuckles are turning white.
"Firstly, I want to say that I'm sorry. For everything we did. For everything that happened in the outrealm. And for everything we failed to prevent. I'm sorry, Lady Tiki," Inigo bows his head. Owain follows suit. Severa tries and fails, getting a mouthful of Ophelia's hair and sputtering, much to the younger girl's chagrin.
"Your apology is worthless without context,"
"I understand. I just wanted to say that to get the guild off of my chest as soon as possible," Inigo winces. "As you know, we were called upon by Naga to assist an outrealm. We were tasked to protect Corrin until he came of age. So, we went to the nation of Nohr and became the retainers of the Nohrian royal family."
"It stayed this way for around three years," Severa continues. "Then, Robin appeared. Out of nowhere. We couldn't believe that it was him, but there he was… An advisor to Lord Corrin."
At the mention of her husband's name, Tiki suddenly stood up.
"That's great. Where is he-oh," Something connect in the Divine Dragon's brain and she slumped down, even more depressed than before. Her hand leaves her sons, and she puts both hands into her lap.
"Did father…die?" Marc asks after a moment of uncomfortable silence.
"Marc! Don't say that!" Tiki snaps at her son.
"Mother! If he did, we deserve to know!" Marc snaps back. "Please continue, Severa."
"Robin died a most heroic death, uniting the nations of Nohr and Hoshido under one banner to fight the abominable invisible dragon! His sacrif-"
"Odin! I mean, Owain!" Inigo shouts, cutting Owain's speech off.
"Don't worry about it, Inigo. That does sound like him… I don't think I would want him going out any way else," Tiki laughs darkly. Already, tears are streaming down her face.
Marc, however, is frowning.
"Are you sure that it was him?"
"Of course! He had every single mark of being the noble hero Robin!"
"What about me? Did he talk about me at all?"
"Hmmm? Now that you mentioned it, he talked about you a lot. Especially when we asked him about the cloak,"
This causes Marc to inhale suddenly.
"W-what did he say…?"
"He said it was weird that he still has his cloak since he gave it to you- wait a minute! Marc, how exactly did you get here? Naga said you were still stuck on the other side!" Severa's eyes narrows at the green-haired boy.
"Father saved me,"
"What?"
"Father appear in front of all of the risen, gave me his coat, and then I was here. Please, I don't want to talk about it anymore,"
"That sounds… suspicious,"
"Severa! I will not have you questioning my son like that. All of the other future children have vouched for his validity!"
"I-I see… It just… how exactly was Robin there? He was in Nohr, right?"
"I guess we can only ask Naga that question…" Chrom sighs.
"Wait, can we ask Naga that question?" Inigo suddenly perks up.
"How can we…" Chrom suddenly widens his eyes.
"You still have all of the gemstones, right?" Chrom nods to Inigo's question.
"You're going to do the awaking for this?" Lucina half screams, half mutters.
"Lucina, I think that we deserve to know what happened. If not for me, then for Mother," Marc sighs.
"S-Sorry,"
"Why are you apologizing? You did nothing wrong," Marc smiles, causing Lucina to blush.
"...Looks like we're going to have some questions later, Lucina…" Severa eyes the blue-haired girl with amusement.
"Can we please get back on topic?" Inigo sighs.
"Y-Yes…"
"So, what exactly are we going to do?" Inigo asks. "Are we going to ask Naga? I doubt we'll be able to figure this out by ourselves."
"I suppose we can just go and ask her. The trip to mount prism won't take too long," Chrom sighs.
"Great, let's go then,"
"Now?" Lucina raises an eyebrow at Inigo's suggestion.
"Yes, now. There are other things that I would rather not…"
"Morgan," Marc stares pointedly at Inigo.
"...Yes," Inigo sighs, the pain in his eyes unbearable to look at.
"Fine. You'll explain to her why you left when we get back, understand?" The edge in Marc's voice can be felt in the air.
"O-Of course, Marc…"
"Then, shall we go?" Chrom nods slowly.
AN: Sorry! I didn't want to release this so early as I am not very proud of it, but my muse died while trying to rewrite it, so here we are. Writing this was like a fever dream. Seriously, I don't remember writing any of it. Re-reading it made me cringe, but I can't rewrite it without seriously breaking the flow that I have. So, uh, here we are, I guess? I'm working on the next chapter already, which should be done in a couple of days. I think I'll rewrite this chapter after the next chapter, so keep a lookout for that, I guess?
See y'all next week and happy late All Hallow's Eve!