[24th of Great Tree Moon]
[Clear]
I couldn't finish yesterday's entry. Too much happened between Robin dragging me off to find Seteth and sleeping for me to write. Thankfully, not much happened today that is interesting to me, so I'll fill in what happened yesterday.
Robin rushed down the halls of the monastery. Seriously, how is he nod getting lost? He navigates the massive fortress like he's lived in it all his life.
Before I know it, we're already at Seteth's office.
Finding the door closed, Robin stops and sighs. He turns to me.
"Chances that he's in there right now?"
I scratch my chin. I did some mental math and speculation.
"I'd say 60 per cent. He seems like the stuck-up administrative type rather than the warrior secretary,"
Robin nods.
"I understand your thinking, but the two aren't mutually exclusive, you know? Cordelia cut a bloody path through Valm, and yet she is the only person capable of keeping up with me when I'm on administrative duties. I wouldn't put it past Rhea to hire a competent knight as a secretary," Robin nods to himself. "Though, I actually have a high percentage than you. 80 per cent, in fact. Care to test it?"
A mischievous smile spreads onto Robin's face.
"What do we go?"
"Knock, of course?" Robin folds his arms and gestures towards the door.
I sigh and steel myself. I put my knuckles onto the door, and tap it lightly a couple of times, with no rhyme nor rhythm.
"I don't think that was loud enough, By. Try this," Robin makes a fist and smacks the door a couple of times.
I wince. He's hit the door hard enough that there is a real risk of the wood breaking.
"By the Goddess's name, who is banging the door so loudly?" Robin jumps back towards the wall as Seteth explodes out from within the room, glaring daggers at us.
No, glaring daggers at me.
"Good afternoon, Sir Seteth. Byleth and I were just wondering where our rooms were. We believed it would be more difficult to find you once dinner finished, and preempted this conversation. It wouldn't do for us to be wandering the monastery at night because we are missing a room, would it?"
The anger on Seteth's face abates slightly, though he still looks very pissed.
"While I understand, I would like it if you did not try to break the door when you knock, Professor Eisner," The green-haired man sighs. "Give me a moment. I will have the keys to your room momentarily. Do remember, any-"
"With all due respect, Sir Seteth, we know. And please, shut the hell up. If Jeralt hears about this, I'll be skinned alive," Robin puts a hand up, his voice slipping in a soft, firm, and serious tone that is at odds with his normal light and carefree voice.
Seteth sighs and nods. He gives me a final glare before disappearing back into his office.
Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Robin barely holding back a fit of laughter. I kick him in the shin. Thankfully, it causes the giggling to stop.
"Here you two are. It's room 1001, in the lower dormitory. I hope that's fine with the two of you; the noble students would be upset if I put you with them in the upper dormitory," Seteth pops his head out of his office a short while after Robin stops laughing. He hands Robin and me a set of pristine silver keys.
Robin chuckles a bit as he's given the keys.
"Don't worry about that, Sir Seteth. I would sooner fight risen riding wolves with a twig than be lumped together with the upper classes,"
Seteth raises his eyebrows at this.
"Despite being a noble yourself?"
Robin blinks a couple of times, then smiles.
"Quite observant of you, Seteth? What gave it away?"
"Posture. When you talk to me or Rhea, your back goes straight. You stand more…regally when you are with the two of us,"
"Ah… That was all Maribelle. She seemed determined to pound noble etiquette into me. My body reflexively does that whenever I'm around people of power,"
"I see… Did your father or mother not teach you?"
Robin snorts, a dark glint appearing in his eyes.
"I never knew my mother, even if she saved my life at the cost of her own. And my father…no, he doesn't even deserve to be called that… Validar was never present in my upbringing. He didn't see me as a son, only a tool. A vessel for a god that wanted nothing but to burn the world and salt its field," The sheer, naked contempt that Robin had for his biological father stunned Seteth, but he's told me this story thousands of times now. "I'm glad that he wasn't smart enough to find Mother. That sorry excuse for a man doesn't deserve to be called a father."
Robin suddenly blinks a couple of times, seemingly being dragged back to reality.
"Ah… I'm sorry, Sir Seteth. I didn't mean to start to rant. I apologize for my lack of tact,"
"No, no, I think nothing of it. In fact, I was able to learn something quite interesting. I vessel, you say?"
"A vessel. Bred to house the Fell Dragon Grima,"
"Interesting. And where exactly is this fell dragon now?"
"Dead. That's all I can say, unfortunately. Not my secret to share," Robin apologizes.
"I see… Will this impact your ability to teach?"
"Not at all. In fact, it'll give me an edge in teaching black magic, considering I'm basically a massive battery of mana,"
"I understand. I thank you, Robin, for your honesty," Seteth nods and smiles slightly. "I'd best be heading for dinner now. Don't want the food to get cold."
"We'll go see our new room. See you later, Sir Seteth,"
Seteth scowls slightly.
"Don't call me that. Seteth will do just fine,"
"Understood, Sir Se- I mean just Seteth,"
Seteth groans, and walks past a slightly grinning Robin.
A question pops into my mind as we're walking to our new room.
"Robin, why did you share that with Seteth?"
Robin turns to look at me inquisitively.
"What do you mean?"
"About you being a vessel,"
"Ah, that," Robin nods to himself. "You see, it's better to keep his trust than to have him find out. I have a massive amount of dark energy, enough that I'm a beacon for dark mages. He'll have questions sooner rather than later. Better to preempt that and answer his question while I still have the initiative. I didn't lie, perse, but I didn't tell the objective truth either. Yes, Grima is a dragon, but he is also a god. That's the part I left out."
"I see. Won't he have questions?"
"He'll have less than any alternative. Furthermore, I've gained a tiny bit of his trust. That is more valuable than anything,"
I shrug.
This Robin man seems to be getting more and more interesting by the moment. A tired girl's voice rings out in my head.
"Who's there?" My hand immediately leaps for my sword at my waist. My eyes scan the stone hall, darting back and forth through the flickering torchlight.
"By? Are you ok?"
"Did you hear that voice?" I ask him.
He shakes his head.
"What voice?"
I suppose he's talking about me.
"You! Who are you?"
Oh phooey! I sleep for a couple of days and now you've forgotten about me? I'm Sothis, the beginning!
"Sothis…? I-I see?"
Robin then suddenly grips my shoulder.
"Can you see it?" The look in Robin's eyes is fierce, boring straight into my soul.
I blink back at him.
"You can hear her?"
"No, I can't. I have, however, heard a voice in my head before, and I know the symptoms better than anyone else. Now tell me, what does she look like?"
I frown.
"A little girl,"
This seems to calm Robin down by a considerable margin.
"We need to talk about the thing currently residing in your head, By. But not now. Not out here. Let's hurry," I nod.
Oho? Does he know what I am? Sothis hums.
"I don't know,"
"Talking to me or her, By?"
"Her,"
"What did she say?"
"Oho? Does he know what I am?" I try my best impression of the little girl inside of my head.
Phooey! I do not sound like that! She complains, sounding exactly like that.
Robin bites his lower lip and sighs.
"Can she hear me?"
"Yes,"
Of course! I am not daft!
"Where is she right now? It'll feel weird addressing her when I'm looking at you,"
I shrug.
"I can't see her. Just talk to the air, if you want,"
Robin sighs again.
"Fine then. So, Sothis, is it?"
It is indeed, purple mage.
I relay Sothis's message, causing Robin to blink at me.
"Purple mage? Really? Not tactician, not Grandmaster, not even Robin? Purple mage? Are those really the only qualities you can see, O' Great Sothis?"
While you are much more intelligent than this daft woman that I share a body with, I have not seen you in action myself. I can only assume.
I relay what Sothis says to Robin. He chuckles a little bit.
"You made a joke. That's already much better than Grima. I won't try and exorcise you at this moment, Sothis,"
Oho? You truly believe you can remove me from this body, Purple Mage.
I tell Robin that Sothis called him purple mage again. He frowns and stares at me.
"Don't call me that,"
"...no promises," I say in response, causing Sothis to giggle like a little girl and Robin to give me an unamused stare. Then again, Sothis is a little girl, so I guess it's expected.
She just screamed in my ear about knowing my place. I find this funny (Well I don't!)
It is incredibly amusing
(You are the worst)
We walked to our room in silence afterwards, though Sothis was chattering my head off. (You are the most insufferable person I have ever met)
The room seems normal enough when we reach it, though Robin mutters something about having a sliding lock door. Does he have something against sliding locks?
Unlocking the door, we come into the room. Admittedly, it is a bit small for two people, but that's to be expected. It was made for one person, and you can tell. There is a bed in one corner, and a hastily placed sleeping mat on the floor. One full-size desk is accompanied by a small one, placed at an angle to the wall and is scratched and scarred from years of use.
I flop onto the bed as Robin hums to himself. He finds one of the two chests and starts to unload items from his coat into the wooden container.
Of course, due to the sheer amount of stuff in Robin's coat, it takes some time.
How many daggers does this man have? Sothis yelled.
I relay this question to Robin, though a lot quieter. Sothis is going to break my eardrums by the end of the month, so I'd like to spare Robin the same fate. (Hmph!)
Robin looks towards me and shrugs.
"Around thirty, I think? I lose things in my coat sometimes. The last time I checked was nearly two months ago,"
Sothis finally appears in the room as a floating girl with wide green eyes and hair similar in colour to Rhea's. She's standing over Robin with an astonished and disgusted expression on her face as Robin removes the 5th elixir from his coat and places it within the chest.
"Robin, she appeared," I note.
Robin blinks at me, then turns around to stare Sothis right in the eyes. How he does this, I don't know.
Even Sothis seems to be taken aback by Robin's ability to pinpoint her location.
C-Can you see me?
I relay this question to Robin, who frowns.
"Not see, but perhaps… understand? No, nobody can understand the being who was attached to me, so perhaps estimating? Conjecture based off of experience?"
Sothis and I both nod, though Sothis still has a confused look on her face.
"Well then," Robin smiles, slamming the chest shut and sitting on it, still having his gaze lock on Sothis's eyes. No, not on her eyes anymore. It's moved down to her mouth. "I have some questions for you, miss Sothis."
The girl in question nods.
Robin stays silent. After two minutes, he turns to me.
"Did she do anything? I can't see her, remember? If she nodded her head or shook it I can't tell,"
I blink then facepalm.
"She nodded, Robin," I inform him.
He smiles and turns back to Sothis.
"So, first question. Do you like killing people for no reason?"
No!
I relay as much.
Robin nods.
"That's a good start. Do you wish to possess By's body to regain what you've lost?"
What I've lost? What, my memories? No…I-I think I enjoy being with B-Byleth too much. The girl then scrunched up her face and stared Robin in the eye. Why did I just tell you that?
I relay the answer and her question to Robin, who just laughs.
"I'm also an amnesiac. We tend to answer questions quite truthfully when we first awaken. Thankfully, you seem to have had a better awakening than I did. Naga-damned risen…" Robin's smile dissipates as he mutters the last three words under his breath.
Oh, you don't understand! This girl right here almost got me killed, you know! I had to turn back time to save her!
I tell this to Robin, though I elected to not tell him the last bit.
"Oh, tell me about it…" Robin sighs. "Guess how many arrows she managed to get stuck in her back this one time."
Six…?
I relay this to Robin.
He snorts, trying to stifle a chuckle. Suddenly, his face suddenly goes serious and he stares back at Sothis's eyes.
"Sixteen. One Six. Sixteen. I swear to Naga, she lost enough blood that day to cover the entire monastery in red,"
Sothis looks at me, horrified.
And you let her do this?
I relay that with a wince.
"You think I let her? Sothis, this is the reason I will never let her go into battle without either Jeralt or myself accompanying her. I leave her alone for a second and then she manages to almost lose an arm," Robin sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose.
I stare at Robin.
"I managed to kill the battalion," I frown.
Robin turns around towards me, annoyance turning to amusement.
"Quit pouting, By. You know I'm right,"
"I am not pouting," This is true; I do not pout.
"You're pouting,"
The tactician is right, you know?
I frown harder. I do not pout. (Yes you do!)
"We're getting off topic, Robin. You were interrogating Sothis, not me,"
Robin laughs and waves me off.
"I know, I know," He then turns back to Sothis, though this time he's looking at her arm. "Last question. How do you feel about Rhea?"
This catches both of us off guard. Sothis blinks a couple of times, and then her eyes widen.
I… think I know her… I'm not sure of it… but something definitely feels similar. It's just- I can't recall! I can't… something is there…
I relay this to Robin, even her pauses.
He gives Sothis a meek smile.
"I see… I've been there. Don't think about it too hard, Sothis. I'll look into it, but this really reinforced my distrust of the church, yeah? Well, you're not a threat, not from what I can tell. Don't break that trust, Sothis, alright? I've already killed a god, and I certainly kill someone lesser," Robin sighs. "I'm so tired… What time is it, By?"
I blink at the sudden question, but Sothis answers it for me.
It's nearly seven.
"It's nearly seven,"
Robin blinks a couple of times.
"...Fuck," Robin sighs again. "Well, the dining hall's probably closed now. Want to go to the monastery town to grab dinner?"
I nod. My stomach had been complaining, and I'd really enjoy some food right about now.
I have now learned that Robin makes incredibly good and bad choices at the same time.
Instead of choosing a diner like a normal person, he instead beelines for the closes tavern that he sees, "Anna's Drinks and Rooms".
I expected a run-down place, and perhaps one or two patrons, but not the extravagant and crammed place that it is.
"You expected this?" I ask him.
He nods.
"We had one back home in Ylisstol. Best place I've ever been to. The only place I've truly covered all our costs. We could get by on Chrom's, and later my, reputation alone in other places, but it just felt wrong to not pay the tavern literally within Ylisstol Castle,"
We started to walk to one of the tables, but something catches Robin's eye.
He covers his mouth and points over to another table where a brown-haired man and a pink-haired girl are sitting.
Quietly, go over there.
Hand signals must be something serious.
We sneak over to the table that Robin pointed at. As we get closer, I remember the brown-haired boy from earlier. Claude, I think?
They don't hear us approach, and the only signal they get of our presence is when Robin suddenly grabs both of Claude's shoulders.
Claude almost jumps out of his seat, and wheels his head around to look at Robin.
He visibly calms down at the sight of the white-haired man, though the girl next to him is giggling uncontrollably.
Robin gives me a smirk, and I do the same thing to that girl.
She jumps out of her seat. And screams. Extremely loudly.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
This causes Claude to actually laugh. A genuine one. I'm pretty sure I laughed a bit too.
"Holy shit, Hilda! Not so tough when you're on the receiving end of it, huh?"
"C-Claude, you could have told me there was another one behind us!"
"Claude," Robin lets go of the man's shoulders and crosses his arms. "What time is the curfew for students on school nights?"
Claude blinks a couple of times and mutters quietly.
"...shit,"
"Oh come on, Sir! We forgot! Honest!"
"Oh, I'm sure you did. Of course, I'm pretty sure we also did, if you'd pay for our drinks, Claude?" Robin has a sick smile on his face.
Claude sighs and gives Robin a defeated stare.
"You drive a hard bargain, Sir Robin. Oh yeah, you two haven't met her yet. Introduce yourself, Hilda,"
"Hello! I'm Hilda Goneril!"
"Ah, Holst's younger sister, yes?"
Hilda blinks a couple of times.
"Y-You know big bro?"
"He hired us a couple of times on the throat," I nod.
"O-Oh, Wait! You are the new professors?"
Claude blinks at the new information.
"Damn! You two got teaching gigs here? That's why you were so professional, huh?"
"Yup," Robin nods. "Speaking of which…ANNA!"
Robin hollers. Moments later, a red-haired girl comes over with a notepad.
"Hello! Anna here, ready to take your order," She stares at Robin and me. "You two seem new here, would you like to open a tab?"
"No need. I've already opened one in Ylisstol with Anna. I mean, if Anna in Windmire, Anna in Shirasagi, and Anna in Askr all allowed me to pay my tab with the one in Ylisstol, I'd think I can use it here,"
This makes no sense, and both Claude and Hilda look at Robin as if he'd just grown six pairs of wings. Sothis insists that all of the Annas were spoken with a different inflection, but I think that's just her imagination. (Hey!)
The girl, Anna, blinks a couple of times, and then covers her mouth.
"H-Hold on, Sir Robin. I-I'm not high enough on the Anna corporate ladder to be serving you. L-Let me get Anna from management…" The girl runs off.
Robin blinks a couple of times and sighs.
"Not what I was expecting…"
"Sir Robin… What exactly was that?" Hilda breaks the silence with a tentative question.
"That's the benefit of working with me. The Anna Foundation owes me so many favours that I can live comfortably just cashing them in. If a Anna is giving you trouble, then just give me a call. I'll sort it out fast than Stahl finishes lunch," Robin shrugs.
"Then-"
"No, Claude. You're still paying for our drinks,"
Claude visibly deflates.
Hilda is still mouthing the words 'Anna Foundation'.
"So, back on the topic, we were talking about earlier. Holst, yeah? What did y'all do on the Locket?"
"We spent more time off of the Locket than on it," I blink at Claude. He blinks back, then stares at me with a surprised expression.
"You're joking. You guys went on the Ready-to-Die raids?" Hilda is also staring at me now.
"There are eighty per cent casualties! Even Holst has lost a couple of digits there!"
"Oh, we went alright. By came back from one looking like a pincushion," Robin shakes his head. "Totally preventable, by the way, if she just listens to me tell her to wait for ten seconds."
I cringe.
"Is it really necessary to tell everyone this?"
Robin stares at me.
"No,"
"Wait, came back from one? You went on multiple?" Hilda asks.
"Yeah…Didn't Holst give us those ceremonial knives?" I nod to Robin's question, pulling out a knife with twelve notches on it.
Robin nods in response and pulls out his, also with twelve notches.
Claude and Hilda stare at them, mouths agape.
"Twelve times…"
"Holy shit…"
Claude turns towards Robin.
"You gotta teach the Deer,"
Hilda is nodding enthusiastically.
"Yep yep,"
At this moment, another Anna shows up, and a light of recognition lights up in Robin's eyes.
"Anna!" Robin smiles broadly as Anna walks up to him and gives him a toothy grin. "You tough son-of-a-bitch! How's the business going?"
"Trying to get on my good side by acting like Jake, huh? Not that you need it, we owe you something like seven life debts. That's not even counting Anna and Anna, yeah?"
I am as confused as Claude and Hilda, which is to say, very.
Robin laughs.
"I'll take that as a great. Look, By and I missed dinner at the monastery, so I decided to pay this wonderful establishment a visit. This young lass offered to pay for our food, so I'd like a Bear Steak and a Piledriver if you have any left. No alcohol for By, though. She can handle a drink, but I'd rather not risk it,"
The Anna nods, then shoots a knowing smirk at Claude.
"Hello person deceived, blackmailed, or coerced by Robin number one hundred seventy-two. Don't worry, you've been beaten by the best of the best of the best. Don't let it get to you," She then turns her head towards me. "Looks like the Grandmaster has found himself a new lass. What would Tiki say about it?"
I throw a glance at Robin. At the mention of Tiki's name, he pales. He tugs slightly at his collar and takes a sharp breath.
"Don't mention this to Tiki, please. I'm begging you. Scratch one of the life debts from Anna if you want, but please, don't tell Tiki. Please,"
Anna nods, amused.
"Just remember to show our lovely establishment some affection, alright?"
Robin nods quickly.
As Anna leaves, Robin finally lets out a deep sigh and remembers how to breathe.
Claude shoots him a curious glance.
"So…Robin. Who's this Tiki lass I've been hearing about?"
Robin takes a deep breath and faces Claude with a serious glare.
"She's my wife, and the best wife anyone could ever hope to have. The only problem is that she would misunderstand the situation here and then potentially cook me alive in blue flames. So, best not to tell her that her husband's been in exile for the past seven years, yeah?"
Claude grins.
"Didn't know you were already taken, Teach. Not what I expected,"
Robin snorts.
"Maybe if you stopped scheming and took more time to look at people you would have noticed the ring on my finger," Robin folds his arms across his chest, allowing Claude full sight of his hands.
Indeed, a bright silver ring is on his left hand.
Claude blinks a couple of times, then sighs.
"I truly don't understand you…" He shakes his head and smiles.
"Don't worry about that. Only Chrom, Tiki, Morgan, and perhaps Cordelia truly understand me," Robin smiles.
At this point, a different Anna brings over two drinks, one for Robin and another for me, along with two steaming steaks. She bows (?!) and leaves. Robin and I start devouring the food, while Claude waits for a pause in our meal to ask a question.
"So uh- Who's Chrom?"
Robin blinks and curses.
"Right, sorry, my bad. It's just that everywhere I've been so far, people know who Chrom is,"
"I don't think a single soul in Fodlan knows who Chrom is,"
"I wasn't talking about Fodlan, Claude,"
That shut Claude up.
"Chrom is the first person I've ever known. He's a brother to me, no, much more than a brother. On the battlefield, so long as we were fighting back to back, nothing could stop us. Not Grima, not Walhart, not Gangrel, and definitely not Validar. I suppose you haven't been able to trust anyone like that, huh?" Robin muses. Claude is starting to get uncomfortable. "If you don't open up your heart you won't have anyone understand you. If you want help, you need someone to be able to understand you."
Robin wags a finger at Claude.
The brown-haired man sighs.
"Geez, Teach, I dunno. It's better for the girls if I stay secretive, you know? And plus, I don't need any help with school anyhow,"
Robin sighs.
"Claude. You are the heir to the Leicester Alliance. A king rules as a general fights, through other people. I cannot singlehandedly slaughter an army of a hundred thousand, and you cannot rule over the Alliance by yourself. At the very least, you need someone to be at your side, helping you when you get tired, pointing out your oversights, and reminding you when you stray from the path that you have set for yourself,"
Claude mulls over Robin's words. He turns towards the white-haired man with a small smile still stuck on his face.
"You seem very experienced, Teach,"
Robin snorts.
"I better be. I was that man for Chrom, you know?"
"Oho? Do tell,"
Claude's eyes light up with anticipation as a sad grin appears on Robin's face.
"Well then, is it story time with Uncle Robin?" Robin folds his arms. The smile is still on his face, but it doesn't reach his ears.
"Yay! You must have a lot of stories to tell, Professor," Hilda, having finished her drink, joins in the conversation.
"Indeed I do," Robin then turns his head behind him and stares at what's seemingly a random person in the tavern. "I think the Princess over there would like to hear it too, yes? Don't worry, I won't tell Seteth. I'll Pass you back if you take off that ridiculous mask of yours."
Claude blinks a couple and Hilda giggles as a very flustered Edelgard walks up and sits next to me. Her face is flushed with a saturated shade of crimson.
"...I did not realize you noticed me, Professor Robin,"
This causes both Claude and Robin to burst into laughter.
"You were staring holes into my coat, Edelgard. Kinda hard to miss,"
"What Teach said," Claude nods.
"Don't speak as if you noticed too, Claude. I saw your face of surprise when Professor Robin outed me," Edelgard huffs.
Claude raises his hands in mock surrender.
"Got me there,"
Edelgard then turns her head toward Robin.
"I was told that you had a story to share about your past?"
Robin shoots her a pitying look.
"You want to know about me that badly? You do know I'm already taken, right?" Robin shows her his ring. This causes her to be even more flustered. I could put a strawberry next to her cheek and you'd only be able to see the seeds.
"That was not my intention! P-Please, just start with your story!"
Robin grins at her one last time before his face settles into an expression of old grief. I realize that only I know this face of Robin's. He gets this face whenever he starts reminiscing about the past.
"Is everyone ready for one of the tales of Robin the Wanderer?" Hilda and Claude nod their heads wildly and enthusiastically like little children, while Edelgard only gives a curt nod.
"This was during year 2609 of the Archanean Calendar. The Mad King of Plegia had just captured the Exalt of Ylisse, Exalt Emmeryn, and brought her to the capital to be publicly executed. We, the Shepherds, were tasked with saving her,"
I've heard this story before, but the students definitely haven't.
"So what happened?"
"The Shepherds?"
Hilda and Edelgard ask one after another.
"To answer Edelgard's question first, the Shepherds were an elite group of Ylisse's best fighters. Heroes and Legends, all of us. Chrom the Great, Sumia the Merciful, Vaike the Bold, Frederick the Wary, Lucina the Defiant, the list goes on. We became the heroes that Ylisse needed in her time of greatest need," Robin takes a deep breath before continuing. "At that time, however, we weren't the great heroes of the Valm War, nor the slayers of Grima. We were just a ragtag group. The best soldiers Ylisse had to offer, yes, but the only soldiers that Ylisse had to offer. This was the first time we had faced true opposition. And we failed. Horribly."
Robin spits out the last words and sighs deeply and angrily, stunning Hilda, Claude, and even Edelgard with his intensity.
"H-How?" Hilda carefully asks.
"We managed to sneak into the capital. We managed to surprise Gangrel with our appearance. We managed to get a flight of Pegasus Knights to rescue the Exalt. And then… and then…" Robin bites his lips. "The bitch that was my sister summoned Risen. They surrounded us, beat us back, and shot down all the Pegasus Knights, save for Sumia and Cordelia. Eve-Even Phila died. Ah… I don't Frederick ever stopped blaming me… Back on topic, they managed to summon reinforcements, and that crushed us. We move forward, and Gangrel would turn our Exalt into a pincushion. Yet, if we did nothing, she would die all the same. In the end, Exalt Emmeryn decided to sacrifice herself to save us…"
Robin sighs, the beginning of a sob starting to form. He grabs his drink and down the remainder in one go, sighing again.
"Professor, are you alright?" Hilda blinks at Robin.
"Better than I was back then, which means it's been an improvement. That's good, we need to move forward," Robin inhales deeply, and rolls his shoulder back. "Imagine the pain that Chrom felt, would you? His elder sister who he had idolized his entire life, falling to her death mere feet in front of him, while he could do nothing."
Claude bites his lip.
"He must have been devastated…"
"Devastated would be putting it mildly. He was catatonic. I had to drag him off the battlefield, you know? I still have the scar from when he stabbed Falchion into me when I tried it," Robin rolls up his sleeve revealing an arm marred by many small scratch marks and lacerations that have been healed over. He points to a large scar, a rarity on his arm.
Claude winces.
"Falchion must be one hell of a weapon for it to do that much damage,"
Robin snorts.
"He was holding back you know? He didn't actually want to cut me, and Falchion only cuts when the wielder is completely clear of mind. He made this wound by basically swinging an extra heavy stick,"
"Woah! That's cool! Is it like, a relic weapon or something?" Hilda is acting like a little girl around Robin for some reason. I don't know why, but I don't like it.
"I mean, it is, basically? It's different from a relic in some ways. Ask me about it later; this story isn't about Falchion. Anyways, Chrom, being the eldest Lowel left, has the unenviable position of trying to fight Plegia after the death of Exalt Emmeryn. The only problem being he was in a vegetative state for most of the trip back to Regna Ferox. I had to slap him multiple times to get him awake," Robin chuckles darkly. "Can you image it? Picture Dimitri being in such an emotional wreck that Dedue has to physically beat him with a stick for him to wake up. Actually, I hate how much that analogy makes sense, though I was more like Felix mixed with Annette…"
Edelgard actually has to stifle a laugh, while Claude doesn't even bother.
Robin frowns.
"I wasn't trying to be funny, Claude. I'm being serious here. If we're taking this analogy all the way, considering Dimitri lived through the Duscur Tragedy, what could have happened for him to be that way?"
That shut Claude up.
I asked Robin what the Tragedy of Duscur was and only got an "I'll tell you later," as a response.
Edelgard then asked Robin a question.
"Was this Chrom Lowell a prince? You mentioned he was the eldest Lowell left,"
Robin nods.
"Yes, he is. He's still alive unless he's managed to kill himself in seven years. He's only a year older than me, you know?"
"And they let you slap the king?" Edelgard now seems halfway between shocked and mad. "Were you that important?"
"Exalt, Edelgard. The word 'King' is usually said in relation to Valm, Plegia, and Zofia. The last 'King' of Valm was Walhart, and nobody likes him. Plegia almost caused the end of the world twice, and Zofia's a rump state, a far cry from the great kingdom led by Zofia the First. Please don't call Chrom a King, he isn't, and he will never be. He is an Exalt, for he serves the people, not the other way around. Anyhow, yes, they let me slap the Exalt. At that time, I was his tactician. Only three other people, alive or dead, knew him better than me at the time, and plus, nobody else could get him to stop being in a catatonic state, so they let me slap him," Robin shrugs and rolls his shoulders.
"You see, Claude and Edelgard if I hadn't been there for Chrom he would probably be six feet under the soil in Plegia right now. It's important for a rule to rule with someone else, to be able to share the responsibility of a nation, to be able to cry into their shoulders and to discuss their thoughts with," Robin stares at Claude pointedly, and the man slightly shrivels under his intense gaze. "So Claude, when I tell you to find someone you can trust with most of your heart, I mean that. You cannot rule alone. Don't try to. You will drown yourself in work, missing sleep and descending into paranoia-driven madness that will slowly consume you from the inside out."
The brown-haired boy gulps and nods.
"That goes for you too, Edelgard. Though, when I mean someone you can trust, I don't mean Hubert. That's a servant, not a confidant. He's an enabler; you won't be able to see your bad decisions until it stabs you in the heart, literally or figuratively. Considering this is a nation you're ruling, probably literally," Robin's amber eyes turn towards Edelgard who is able to last longer under the tactician's withering gaze. Eventually, however, Edelgard also nods meekly.
It was at this point that I realize, a bit too late for Claude and Edelgard's egos, that Robin is probably drunk, and is about to start ranting about different ruling styles. He probably was too busy staring down Claude to notice, but his cup was refilled around seventeen times. Really, the girls serving him seemed to hold him in such regard; it's weird.
I believe that was the most opportune time to insert a distraction.
Tactics are my go-to choice for distracting Robin.
"Hey Robin, you haven't given me my After-Action Report for the twentieth. Do you have it?"
After Action Reports are a document that was a debriefing and analysis along with possible improvements to our fighting capabilities.
Usually, he would hand the document to Jeralt within 24 hours of the battle happening, but with the movement to the monastery, it had been delayed. With the disbandment of the mercenary company, possibly indefinitely.
Still, I had asked partly as a distraction and partly out of an urge to get the document. It contained a lot of valuable information, and this was one of the major reasons I improved so quickly after Robin's arrival in the company.
Robin turns around and blinks at me, then his eyes light up with recognition.
"Ah, shit. I never got around to giving Jeralt the After-Action Report, did I? Hold on, it's somewhere in my coat," Robin starts digging around in his coat.
Edelgard stares at me with a vibrant curiosity.
"What's an After-Action Report?"
I explain to her what an After-Action Report is.
She stares at me with a blank expression until she nods.
"An overview of the battle, huh? That sounds like a very good idea. Looks like I have more to learn from Teach than just management, huh?" Claude chuckles as Robin brings out a massive stack of papers from Naga knows where in his coat.
He fishes through it, searching for relevant dockets. He hands me a thin packet. Odd. Usually, my packets are quite large when compared to everyone else. Then I see Robin hand a docket nearly thrice the size of mine to Edelgard, with Claude completely breaking down to the amusement of Hilda.
A similarly thick docket silences Claude yet only envigorates Hilda's laughter.
I thumb through my docket, and a couple of lines catch my eye. I'll have Robin write these down in this journal for completeness.
One primary danger of the operation at 07:31 (Your charge towards the Eastern Watchtower) was the inherent danger of facing a squad-size force with four soldiers. However, after careful consideration, I believe the dangers that you faced were ignorable considering your combat prowess. Thus, the primary deconstruction of the attack are as follows.
The primary objective should have been shifted to a reconnaissance-en-force operation, as:
Your forces would be considered a credible threat to the enemy, and
Your forces would be able to engage a disproportionately large portion of the enemy, and finally,
Your forces were not adequately trained to hold a position.
Due to A.c, due caution should have been observed
Due to A.c, a stricter chain of command should have been enforced to reduce potential casualties.
Due to C, better and a large volume of communication should have been performed.
Another concern of said operation was the necessity of said attack. Though it ended the battle with the location and subsequent elimination of enemy command structures, the dangers it posed towards the members of your squad was overwhelming.
In conclusion, the attack should have been made in concert with Lt. Zonzi's platoon and been directed with the approval of either Ltc. Salador or Cm. Eisner.
I smile. Finally, Robin isn't complaining about me charging ahead, and is now only telling me to inform him or Father whenever I do.
Meanwhile, Edelgard is sighing deeply at the docket. She probably got chewed up by Robin for her stunt. Meanwhile, Hilda is laughing while looking over Claude's shoulder.
"You did what?"
"Hey! It seemed like a good idea at the time," Claude yells, indignant.
"In the name of N- How did you think that was a good idea?" Robin yells, slamming his fist onto the table, causing it to rattle slightly.
"Hey-!"
"Uh, Professor Robin?" Edelgard interrupts Claude's words. "It's nearly 10. I believe it is for the best if we return to the monastery."
Robin blinks.
"Fuck," He bites his lip. "I think we should. I can pass back in. What about you?"
I hum to myself.
"I believe I can get back in without being seen,"
"Can you bring Edelgard along? I don't want to be passing two girls, and you know Edelgard better than Hilda," Robin folds his arms.
"I can see what I can manage," I nod. I can get back without being seen, but bringing Edelgard along might be difficult.
"Hmmm… Need my coat?" Robin's coat has hexes built into them to make the wearer harder to see. Something about using the way that Kellam moved to help? The explanation flew over my head when I asked.
"It'll help with Edelgard's concealment," I nod.
He tosses it over to me. I drape the extremely heavy coat over Edelgard, the Princess muttering a silent curse as the weight of the coat causes her to sway slightly.
I give her a warning to not touch anything in the coat, and she nods rapidly.
"Hey, do we have a say in this?" Claude blinks at us.
"Not unless you want to be caught outside the monastery after curfew," That shuts Claude up. "Furthermore, if they catch us, we will turn you in without a second thought. Actually, only Claude; I'll say something about Hilda telling me about Claude leaving."
Robin shoots Claude a slightly drunken grin. Hilda starts to giggle uncontrollably as Claude's face blanches.
"So, shall we get going?" Edelgard presses, starting to get impatient.
Robin nods, grabbing Claude and Hilda by the forearm.
"See you at our room, By!" Robin turns towards Claude and Hilda's surprised faces. "Hold in your vomit, alright? I don't know if this is going to be your first pass, but it's never pleasant for anyone involved."
Hilda tries to say something in objection but the crack of the skill activating and the three of them disappearing cuts her words off.
I wince. They are not going to have a nice day.
"Um… Professor Byleth, what exactly is passing?"
"Hmmm? Oh, you mean skill Pass?"
She blinks at me.
"It's a skill?"
"Yes. The same as Aegis or Luna,"
"Aren't skills passives though?"
I blink at her.
"Hmmm… I've never heard of them like that… When Robin decided to teach me Sol, he mentioned that it was an activated skill. I've never heard of skills as passives before…"
"Well, you still haven't explained to me what Pass is…"
"Oh, my bad. See, Pass is an ability that allows one to move through space no matter what is in the space that you occupy,"
"I see, it is like warp and rescue, then?"
"Yes, but instead of being magically taxing, it is physically taxing. It also feels…worse than warping, and definitely worse than rescuing. Don't be surprised if Claude and Hilda are confined to their beds tomorrow. You don't want your first time passing to be with Robin and his bullshit ability to pass multiple times in a row. Don't ask me how he does it, he just does,"
"His bullshit ability…?"
"Robin says that a person could usually only pass a couple of times before collapsing from exhaustion. This was after he passed through an entire battlefield to scold me for running off,"
I snort at the memory. He didn't have to do it, but he did. The smartass. He did end up saving me from multiple angry wyverns a moment later, so I can't be mad at him for too long.
"Professor Byleth, what's your...relationship with Professor Robin?"
My mental processes and trains of thought (Is this how you use the phrase, Robin? Answer here: Yes it is.) come to a crashing halt at her question.
Did she really ask that question? Did she not just hear that Robin had a wife?
"Why are you asking this, Edelgard?"
She bites her lip.
"It's just that…you seem to trust Professor Robin a lot. I-I never saw him fight during Remire, so I don't know how well he fights, but… You trust him explicitly, and I don't think that's without reason. It looks as if you could cut him down where he stands, and that he should have no right to give you orders. Yet you trust him with your life, even if you seem a little…annoyed at him. I just-I don't know why, but it seems so confusing to me. Why do you trust him?"
Seeing the Princess stumble around her words was oddly endearing. Oh, and how much she underestimated Robin, though that's more amusing than endearing.
I actually smiled. I would have laughed if the thing in my throat would allow me to, but I suppose I could never laugh.
"Come with me, Edelgard,"
"Huh-? P-Professor!" I drag the Princess by the wrist. "Ar-Aren't we trying to sneak back in? W-Won't going this way make us be seen?"
I turn towards her.
"The coat," I give the purple cloak a tug, and Edelgard goes slightly ethereal.
The Princess blinks, a soft "oh" leaving her mouth.
As we turn to leave the tavern, Anna taps me on the shoulder.
"So… when will I get the payment for this meal…?" She says with a slight smile. A smile that doesn't hide the emotions swirling underneath the surface.
"Put it onto Claude's tab,"
Anna blinks and nods with a vicious grin.
I'm starting to feel bad for the kid.
Only slightly, though.
As we walk through the monastery town, our earlier conversation starts up again.
"You see, Edelgard, Robin is a friend. A great friend, the best one I have. Jeralt is second, but he's also my father, so he gets a small negative. Mikal is a distant third if he can even be considered a friend," I nod to myself as Edelgard hangs on to my every word. "Also, you have never seen Robin fight, right?"
Edelgard nods.
"Well, let me tell you this. Jeralt has only beaten Robin once in a duel, and that was because Robin was still recovering from a sudden bout of sickness, broke his right wrist, and wasn't allowed to use his magic. Even then, Jeralt got only won due to a slip-up on Robin's side," I turn my head to witness Edelgard's eyes widen.
"R-Really? H-He did that?"
"Yes. Robin is the single-best fighter I have ever seen. He doesn't like to brag, and neither do I, but I have to inform you. That whole 'lowly tactician' thing he says? That's a lie. He… He is insanely strong. I learned most of my sword fighting from him. I learned all of my magic from him. He is my Professor, which is the reason I wanted him to help me in the first place. There is so much I haven't learned from him yet; I don't feel qualified to teach students yet…" I sigh.
Truly, if I can teach 1/10th as well as Robin can, then Naga has truly blessed me.
"H-He's that strong?"
"Yep," I nod. "You will have a lot to learn from him."
"I think I have more to learn from you, Professor Byleth,"
"I appreciate the thought, but you have not truly met Robin yet, have you?" I smile slightly. And, I do not know what drove me to do so, I put my hand on Edelgard's head.
She blinks at me. It was only then that I realized her flushed face. Incredibly flushed face. She was probably drunk beyond her mind.
Then I remember that she had drank the same thing that Robin had, and all the pieces slid into place.
"You're drunk because you ordered the same thing that Robin did, didn't you? That stuff will sneak up on you. Try not to drink it too much,"
At this point, she was leaning against me while trying to stand up properly. I sighed and carried her back to her dorm.
It took me a while and a strange look from the gatekeeper, but I managed to get back into the monastery. I found Robin waiting outside the dorms with an extremely amused look on his face.
"Hello, By," Robin chuckles when he sees the sleeping princess in my arms. "Did she drink too much?"
I nod.
Robin carefully guides me to her room. Once we get there, however, he does something weird.
"A gnat is following us, and he's kinda bad at hiding his mana signature. Lemme deal with him real quick," Robin sighs, grabbing his spellbook.
A second and a precise fire spell that could have blown clean through a person later, Robin chased away an extremely surprised Hubert.
"Should we wake her up?" He stares at the girl in my arms.
I shake my head.
"You're telling me you want her to sleep with all of that on?" Robin frowns.
I take a second to think. He's right, Edelgard will have a set of very dirty clothes if we let her sleep like this.
I go to change her before Robin slaps my hand away.
"I know what you're trying to do, By, but she's a student, and we're teachers. Don't,"
I nod.
Instead, Robin sighs and grabs something from his coat.
He places whatever it is on Edelgard's forehead, and she slowly wakes up.
"Huh…? Professors? Wh-where am I?"
She already seems not so drunk. Good, an improvement.
"Hello, Edelgard. You're back in the dorms, in front of your room. We don't have the key, and picking the lock of a student without their permission sounds like a good way to get arrested, so we woke you up instead. Plus, you need to change into your nightclothes, so there's that too. Don't worry, nobody saw us, except maybe Hubert,"
"I-I see…?" It seems Edelgard is still slightly asleep. It took her a few seconds before she flushed red. "I'm sorry, Professors… I-I will retire for the night if that's ok?"
Both of us nod.
As we head back, I ask Robin a question.
"Which house are you planning on choosing?"
He takes a few seconds to think.
"With the way that Claude is behaving, I'd say Black Eagles. Not least because Edelgard actually reminds me a bit of you when you were younger,"
I nod. I had already known that Robin liked the inquisitive young Empress, but to have my choice vindicated felt good.
When we woke up this morning, I told Rhea that I wanted to teach the Black Eagles house.
She said "Your heart has made its choice,"
I don't know what that means.
We spent the rest of today in my room coming up with curriculums with Robin.
Nothing interesting happened today.
AN: Hello everyone! I am back, and earlier than usual, yes? Now, I know what you're thinking. I understand, but remember, this is a Robin who finished Awakening, got halfway through Fates, and finished three chapters of FEH. He could probably match the Immaculate One in strength if we're being honest here. Also, I know it's a bit shorter, and I think all of the chapters from now on will be a bit shorter until we get deep into the plot. Anyhow, I think I'll be taking a break from this fic for a couple of days. Don't worry, this isn't a hiatus. It's just a small break. I'll be back on Monday and writing more. Expect the same timeframe as usual; 1.5 weeks. I might write another chapter of A Thousand Burgundy Flowers, which is on AO3, but that's only if my Muse allows me to.
Acardia out!