Nighttime, Port Badon…
"... Ninian, are you feeling any better?" Lyn asked the young girl in concern.
"...Yes…" After leaving the Dread Isle, Ninian slowly began to recover from her confusion and anxiety. They had made it back to Port Badon in the late afternoon, so after dinner and a few hours of rest, the bluenette was beginning to show the signs of vitality and youthful exuberance someone her age should have. Currently, she was sitting on a bed at a local inn, facing Lyn who was sitting in a chair. Nearby, Nils was standing protectively next to his sister.
"That's good… and long time no see, Nils. You've grown, haven't you?"
"...Is it really you, Lyndis?" Nils asked, still not quite believing her. "It seems like an eternity ago since we last saw you…"
"It's been a long year, hasn't it?"
"So much has happened since Ninian and I left Caelin…" Nils explained.
"Hey, care to talk about things the rest of us can follow?" Hector asked, as he entered the room and approached the three of them with Eliwood in tow.
"Hmph… who is this?" Nils grumbled, clearly unhappy with the way Hector was talking to him.
"This is Hector, the younger brother of Marquess Ostia." Lyn explained. "Don't let his attitude fool you; although he acts mean, he's actually decent enough."
"'Acts mean', huh?" Hector frowned. "Seems like you're the mean one to me…"
"Heehee…" Lyn grinned at the Ostian lord cheekily. "Oh, and you might remember this one. He's…"
"Yep, I remember." Nils interrupted before Lyn could finish. "He's the man who helped Ninian. You're Lord Elbert's son, aren't you? Your red hair, gentle eyes… even your voice… You're just like him."
"Where did you meet my father?" Eliwood asked in confusion. If the two strange siblings had shown up in Pherae at any point and had an audience with his father, surely he would've at least heard something about it.
"At the Dragon's Gate." Nils explained. "He set us free after we had been captured. We escaped the island in a small boat… but I was thrown overboard during a storm. When I woke up, I was back on Valor. For some time, I was hiding in the ruins by myself. However, after sensing something really dangerous, I raced over to the Dragon's Gate. I saw everything…"
"Nils…" Ninian whispered, trying to imagine the hardships her younger brother had gone through.
"When we pulled Ninian from the boat, she had lost her memories." Lyn sighed with a look of remorse on her face. "I can't believe we brought her right back to her captors… I'm sorry… that was a horrible thing to do."
"Lady Lyn…" Ninian quickly waved her hands in front of her and shook her head in denial. "Lady Lyn… you did nothing wrong… When Nils fell overboard, I didn't know what to do. ...I became lost within myself. If only I'd been stronger... ...All of this could have been avoided... I am... truly... sorry…"
"Ninian's strength is greater than mine. "Nils explained. "But, it comes at the cost of her physical and emotional strength… Nergal exploited that weakness…"
"... Was he after the two of you because you have the ability to call dragons?" Eliwood asked.
"...I think it's because we can open the Dragon's Gate." Nils replied after some consideration. "Just calling dragons? Nergal can do that on his own."
"Are you serious?" Hector asked in surprise.
"Yes, but it requires a tremendous amount of quintessence."
"Quintessence?" Lyn furrowed her brows. "I think… I've heard that from somewhere before…"
"The substance of a human spirit." Nils explained. "Power. Energy. The essence of life itself. ...Nergal stole that power…"
"And what happens to someone whose quintessence is taken?" Hector asked.
"They…" Nils' voice became a low whisper. "They die…"
Lyn and Eliwood looked at each other in apprehension.
"Neither Ninian nor I have that power." Nils continued. "Lyn knows. We only have our special power... Anyway, Nergal needed to gather a large amount of quintessence. So he sent his henchman, Ephidel, to get close to Marquess Laus. He sought to plant the seeds of war in Darin's power-hungry heart."
"...to what end?" Eliwood asked.
"It seems the quintessence in each person varies in strength." Nils explained. "A person of strong mind and body has hundreds of times more energy than the average person. It sounds like there aren't many people like that, though. It took too long for Nergal to find people with enough strength. Although it would take time, Nergal said the easiest way to get that much quintessence was by starting a war."
"So he planned on substituting quality with quantity? Is that it?" Hector asked in disbelief. "Black-hearted fiend! Are men nothing but pawns to him?"
"...Ephidel brought Elbert to the Dragon's Gate." Nils kept talking, largely ignoring the Ostian lord. "He said he'd found the ideal source they had sought. Nergal's plans for war had been stopped, and yet... he was happy. He'd taken so much energy from the knights traveling with Elbert. He was sure he'd get even better quintessence from Elbert…"
"Nils!" Lyn cried in alarm and snuck a glance at Eliwood.
"Oh!" Nils blocked his own mouth with his hands. "I'm sorry… Lord Eliwood…"
"It's all right…" Eliwood sighed. "When I found my father at the Dragon's Gate, I knew that none of his knight's were alive anymore…"
"Eliwood…" Hector murmured in concern.
"...Your father told us that he had a son." Nils continued. "He said you were blessed with natural fighting ability. But he also told us you were compassionate and disdained fighting. He told us that his son would be a better ruler than he was… And he told us that he would rather sacrifice himself than see his beloved homeland embroiled in the flames of war."
"That's…" Eliwood began to tear up, listening to Nils recall his father.
"When we'd lost all hope at the Dragon's Gate, your father always spoke to us of happy things." Nils explained. " ...Well, he mainly spoke of his cherished son and his dear wife, but Ninian and I... We loved him very much. His stories about his family... ...They saved us."
"Oh… Fa...Father…" Eliwood finally lost control of himself as he began to let loose a stream of tears.
Hector quietly gestured for the rest of them to leave the room while Eliwood broke down.
"...Hector?" Lyn asked.
"We should let him be alone for a while…" He explained. "He'll be fine… but for now, let's let him be."
"Sure." Lyn agreed wholeheartedly. "Come on, Ninian, Nils."
"...As you say." Ninian and Nils followed behind the two lords and exited the room.
"..."
"Oh, there you are!" As the four of them left the room, they ran into Rebecca, who happened to be walking down the hallway. "I've been told to inform everyone that dinner's ready."
"Thank you…" Hector nodded. "We'll be there shortly."
"Well then… Ok." The young archer bowed and said her goodbyes and continued walking down the hall.
Ninian's stomach growled at the mention of food.
"Come on," Lyn giggled. "I'm feeling a bit famished myself."
Elsewhere, Port Badon…
Lucina sat in front of Robin's bed, near the sleeping tactician's head. Standing over her shoulder was Anna, who was also watching Robin's sleeping face.
"This type of thing always seems to happen, doesn't it?" Anna asked, trying to break the silence.
"Yeah… you're right about that." Lucina conceded. "I've gotten a bit more used to it by now."
"Really?" Anna smirked. "You seemed pretty worried about him earlier…"
"Of course I would be!" Lucina protested. "The shock has certainly lessened, but I'm not heartless!"
"Is that so…? Because from my perspective..."
Lucina turned and smiled at her retainer sweetly. "Did you say something?"
"Nothing…" Anna began to whistle as she avoided the bluenette's gaze.
"Fortunately, it was merely exhaustion." Lucina's expression turned serious as she turned back to her lover. "With some rest, he'll be just fine… he should be fine..."
Anna noticed but decided not to point out the trembling in her liege's hands, which had tightened into fists on her lap.
There was a quiet knock on the door, breaking the lull in their conversation.
"I'll get it…" Anna turned towards the door. "Coming!"
The redhead opened the door and peeked out. Upon seeing Lyn standing outside with a bowl of porridge in her hands, she opened the door all the way. The last time she had done so, Anna had been surprised by the sudden appearance of Canas. However, it would seem the scholar was only concerned for Robin because he wanted to chat with him about Elder magic, whatever that was.
"Hey..." Lyn poked her head into the room. "Did Robin wake up?"
"No… not yet." Lucina responded without turning her gaze away from the man in question. "We don't have any idea when he'll be up. Magic exhaustion can sometimes take someone out for an entire week, or perhaps even longer, depending on just how straining his magic was."
"Oh… I brought some porridge for him, but I guess it was a wasted effort, huh?" Lyn sighed.
"Not to worry!" Anna smiled as she took the bowl from Lyn's hands. "Lucina and I haven't eaten yet!"
"Oh… shall I go fetch another bowl then?"
"No… this'll be enough." Anna replied as she brought it over to Lucina.
"Do you… mind if I stay for a little while?" Lyn asked.
"...sure." Anna, seeing Lucina shake her head indicating that she didn't mind, vocalized her liege's stance on the matter.
Lyn walked over cautiously towards Robin, and stood next to Anna, sandwiching the redhead between her and Lucina.
"I… honestly thought he would've woken up by now." Lyn admitted. "The last time something like this happened, he woke up just fine the next day."
"Last time?" Lucina asked in concern.
"Oh… I suppose I never told you, did I?" Lyn chuckled nervously. "He passed out like this last year… when he helped me retake Caelin back from my granduncle. I guess I'm not exactly an expert in this subject, but I feel like what he did this time should have been far less exhausting than what happened a year ago."
"...Would you mind telling me that story?" Lucina asked. "From the beginning… when you first met him."
"Sure…" Lyn's gaze turned towards the ceiling as she began to recall how it all began. "Well, I was living by myself out in the Plains of Sacae, when I stumbled upon what I assumed to be an unconscious traveller, lying face down on the ground…"
"That's definitely Robin." Anna smiled.
"It looked like he might have had a nasty encounter with bandits or something, so I decided to take him back home and nurse him back to health." Lyn continued. "When he woke up…"
With nothing else to pass to the time, Lyn told Lucina and Anna her story, from meeting Robin on the plains to defeating Lundgren. Lyn conveniently left out one or two details, such as the few moments of intimacy between herself and Robin, but otherwise recounted the story as accurately as possible.
"Wow… I wasn't aware that all of that happened while Robin was gone…" Anna whistled after Lyn finished telling her side of the story.
"Yeah…" Lucina nodded in agreement, mentally hitting herself for lazing around and sulking while Robin was off doing something productive. If only she knew back then what she knew now… perhaps she really didn't have as much faith in him as she had originally thought.
"So… I was wondering if you could tell me more about dragons?" Lyn asked.
"Dragons?" Lucina looked puzzled. The question seemed to pop out from nowhere.
"Oh, uh, Robin mentioned something about having a draconic side to him." Lyn explained. "He kind of just glossed over the details, but I was thinking that you might know something more about it."
Anna and Lucina exchanged looks. Lyn noted that Lucina began to wear a scowl on her face.
'Was I not supposed to ask her that?'
"I'm sorry if my asking that has offended you in any way." Lyn decided to be upfront about apologizing.
"No, it's not that." Anna hurriedly waved her off. "It's just, it brings back some bad memories for her, is all."
"And why is that?" Lyn asked out of curiosity. Did Robin secretly have some sort of bad blood with Lucina?
"Well, for starters, I carry the bloodline of a dragon as well. Just like Robin." Lucina replied, much to Lyn's surprise. "Except that while my lineage is directly related to the Divine Dragon, Naga, Robin is linked to the Fell Dragon, Grima. I know those names probably don't mean much to you, but all you need to know is that the two of them are directly opposite of each other."
"Grima… Anna mentioned that to me before." Lyn murmured, contemplating the information that was being thrown at her. "Wait… didn't you say that was the dragon that you guys had defeated?"
"Er, yeah, more or less." Anna nodded. "Robin was the one to deal the finishing blow to Grima, and honestly, the rest of us didn't really contribute too much to actually killing the dragon."
"So that makes Robin a dragonslayer then?" Lyn gasped. "I've only ever heard of the Eight Legends killing a dragon, but if Robin did so, he must be just as strong as them!"
"Dragonslayer?" Lucina pondered the title for a moment. "I mean, I suppose killing Grima would make him one."
'Although, if the dragons she's talking about were the same as those that were summoned at the Dragon's Gate, then these Eight Legends of Elibe would still be a step below the shepherds.' Lucina internally thought.
"But wait… if he has Grima's bloodline, why would he want to kill Grima?" Lyn asked, feeling quite puzzled.
"Although he carried Grima's bloodline, that didn't mean he was a Grimleal." Lucina chuckled. "...actually, maybe he was at some point. But regardless, he was raised by his father specifically as a sacrifice towards their god. The short version of the story is, Grima is the dragon of destruction, and Robin didn't agree with his intentions. And so he helped us kill the Fell Dragon."
"I somehow feel more confused now than I was a few moments earlier…" Lyn sighed as she brought a hand to her forehead. "Who knew his past was that complicated?"
'If only you knew…' Lucina rolled her eyes. She hadn't even gotten to the part about traversing through time yet.
The three of them sat in the room in silence for some time, each pondering their own thoughts. The only noise in the room was the sound of Robin's chest rising and falling as he slept.
"...Lyn?" Surprisingly, the one to finally break the silence was Lucina.
"What's up?" The greenette responded, slightly surprised about being addressed by the Ylissean princess for seemingly no reason.
"Remember the thing we talked about before?"
Lyn nodded in response. How could she possibly forget?
"Well, I've reached the conclusion that you truly do care for Robin." Lucina explained. "And… although it's difficult for me to admit, I think he cares about you as well..."
At this, Lyn held her breath in anticipation.
"...So after he wakes up, why don't we have a conversation about it with him?" Lucina suggested.
Lyn's eyes shot open and a brilliant smile appeared on her face. "Absolutely! I would love that!"
"Hold on… don't get too excited just yet." Anna chuckled.
"If this is something you choose to do, then after we're finished here in Elibe, you'll have to come back with us to Ylisse… otherwise, there really wouldn't be any point in the whole thing." Lucina explained. "But... you already knew that, didn't you?"
"I… never ruled out that possibility." Lyn admitted. "While I'll feel bad abandoning my grandfather after only just reuniting with him, I'm sure he'll give me his blessings. No... I know he will!"
"Good…" Lucina smiled. "In that case, there's a few more things we need to talk about…"
With a new subject to talk about, the three of them began a completely new conversation. Lucina and Lyn did most of the talking, although Anna did chime in once in a while. Throughout the whole talk, Lyn's smile never disappeared from her face.
While this conversation was going on, there suddenly was a large amount of noise coming from outside, seemingly from the outskirts of town.
"What's going on!?" Lyn darted towards the door.
"Sounds like we're being attacked!" Anna was instantly alert as well.
Lucina wordlessly got up and began to double check her equipment. As she began to move towards the door, Anna grabbed her Levin Sword and began to follow closely behind her.
"No. You'll stay here." Lucina told her retainer to stand down. "If we all go, then there is no one protecting Robin. Right now, he is asleep, meaning he is more or less defenseless. I am NOT going to risk letting anything happen to him."
Anna opened her mouth, but then closed it without saying anything. She nodded and resumed her post by Robin's bed.
"Come on," Lucina gestured towards Lyn. "Let's see what's going on."
Lyn smiled. It might have been just her mind messing with her, but Lucina seemed a lot less cold to her than before, especially after they had left the Dread Isle.
"Right!"
With Ninian…
"...Lord Eliwood?" Ninian meekly poked her head into her room. Earlier when she had left to give the Pheraen lord some alone time to grieve his fallen father. She noticed that he had at least stopped crying, though there were red circles around his eyes.
"Oh, Ninian!" Eliwood turned around in surprise. "I didn't see you there… sorry about earlier… I just needed some time to think…"
"..." Ninian didn't respond to the obvious lie, and continued to stare at the young Pheraen lord with big, red eyes.
"...Should you even be up?" Eliwood began to wonder in concern. "You've had a rough time… your coloring isn't very good either… you should rest."
"..." Ninian still didn't give a verbal response.
"Uh, I guess I'm in your room, huh?" Eliwood began to scratch the back of his head sheepishly. "Sorry about that… I'll get going then."
"...Why?" Ninian asked as Eliwood passed her statue-like figure.
"Hm?" The manakete's question stopped Eliwood in his tracks.
"Why was Lord Elbert so… and you, Lord Eliwood, why are you both so kind to us?" Ninian asked as she became the one to tear up. "This is… This is all my fault, isn't it? These nightmares… all these terrible things…"
"Ninian… crying ill suits a girl of your beauty…" Eliwood sighed. "I'm fine… please don't cry."
"I'm sorry…" Ninian sobbed. "I'm so...sorry…"
Seeing Ninian break down spurred Eliwood to wrap her up in an embrace. Although a portion of his mind was screaming at him for suddenly laying hands on a girl whom he did not even know very well, Eliwood still did so anyway.
"There's something you must hear…" Eliwood whispered into the bluenette's ear. "You are not responsible for what happened to my father. You suffered just as much as he did. Please don't punish yourself any further…"
Ninian wiped her eyes with the back of one hand.
"Lord Eliwood… *sniff* I… Ah!" Ninian's body suddenly shot upright.
"Wh-what's wrong?" Eliwood asked in surprise.
"Enemies!" Ninian explained. "Enemies draw near!"
"That doesn't sound good…" Eliwood walked towards the side of the room where he had placed his rapier and picked it up. "Stay here, Ninian. I, along with the others, will handle this. Just… stay here where it is safe."
With that, the Pheraen lord walked out of the room, weapon in hand.
Ninian bit her lip as she watched Eliwood leave. Even back then, it was Eliwood and Lyn coming to her rescue, and Robin had specifically allocated resources towards protecting her and Nils. She was tired of being a burden to everyone. This time, she wasn't injured, meaning there was something that she could do to help.
With her mind made up, Ninian quietly exited the room as well.
Before she could get very far though, she was stopped in her tracks by a pull on her tunic.
"Ninian!" Nils exclaimed. "Stop! Where are you going?"
"I… I'm going to help!" Ninian replied defensively.
"No, no you're not!" Nils shook his head. "You're still recovering! You're still too weak!"
"But…" Ninian sighed. "I merely wish to help Lord Eliwood… Even if it's just a little… I… I stole his father's life from him, ...and I know this cannot possibly make up for that, but…"
"...I understand." Nils saw the conviction in her sister's eyes and knew there was nothing he could say to change her mind. "Then, give me your hands."
"Nils?" Ninian was surprised, but did as she was told.
"I'll give you some of my power." Nils held onto his sister's hands with his own. "You'll just be a burden if you go out like this... "
"Nils…" Ninian whispered with her eyes downcast. "I'm… sorry…"
Nils didn't respond, and began to concentrate on pouring his power into Ninian. After a couple minutes, he removed his hands and wiped a bead of sweat off of his brow.
"Whew! That should do it. Help them for me too…"
"Thank you…" Ninian turned back around and began to run towards the staircase leading downstairs.
Moments earlier…
"So… what do we do now?" Hector asked.
"I wonder what happened to that Nergal creep." Lissa said as she gazed at the night sky. "He looked like he had a rather grievous wound back at the Dragon's Gate."
"You could tell?" Hector sounded awfully surprised. "We were a good distance away from him."
"I'm a cleric by trade." Lissa replied. "These things just kind of come to me naturally by now. But seriously, do you think he'll kick the bucket?"
"I doubt it." Chrom shook his head. "His wounds, however bad they seem, shouldn't be enough to kill him."
"Why are you so sure?" Hector asked.
"Because his power seems extremely similar to Robin's." Chrom replied. "Even if it's a wound that is deadly to a normal person, he can just patch it up with quintessence. I've seen Robin do so many times in the past, so I'm sure Nergal is able to do the same."
"Come to think of it, he didn't seem at all concerned about his own injuries…" Lissa chimed in in agreement. "Still, it would be nice if our enemies can just die on their own once in a while…"
Their conversation was interrupted by a blast of fire in the nighttime sky.
"What the hell was that!?" Hector exclaimed in shock.
"One of Henry's signal flares." Chrom gritted his teeth as he drew his weapon. "There must be enemies approaching. Call everyone!"
"Bah." Hector shook his head. "Eliwood deserves some more time to rest…"
"And Robin's still out cold." Chrom replied. "Looks like we'll have to handle this problem on our own then…"
The fluttering of wings signaled the arrival of Sumia and the other pegasus riders. Upon landing, Chrom promptly excused himself to go converse with his wife.
"What's going on…!?" Eliwood ran up to their group, breathing heavily. Clearly, he had run over from the inn as fast as he could.
"Eliwood, shouldn't you be resting?" Hector asked in confusion.
"Why?" Eliwood asked, feeling confused. "I'm not injured in any way…"
"But your father…"
"Many of us have lost a loved one before." Eliwood countered. "I'm not special in that regard. Furthermore, everyone also has someone still alive that they would like to protect, including me. So if we're going to be attacked, there is no reason for me not to be here."
"...I can respect that."
"So, what's going on, Chrom?" Lissa asked impatiently.
"According to Cordelia, the enemy seems to only be attacking from the main entrance." Chrom explained as he returned. "Frederick and the others have already begun to engage the enemy in combat. Unfortunately, many of them have already made it past the main gate, so we won't be able to set up a choke point."
"Wow… you're beginning to sound like Robin…" Sumia jested.
"I've picked up a thing or two over time." Chrom grinned. "I think it would be enough to have our pegasi monitor the other entrances to town by air. Everyone else should begin the pushback to the main entrance. Let's drive the enemy back out of Port Baden!"
"You don't have to tell me twice!" Hector brandished his axe as he ran towards the sounds of combat.
"Lord Eliwood!" Eliwood was just about to follow after the Ostian lord, when he heard his name being called by a rather familiar voice.
"Ninian!?" Eliwood turned around. "You shouldn't be here!"
"...Please...:" The Manakete begged. "Allow me to help…"
"Help? I've no intention to make you fight."
"...I'm no dancer… my dances… they will help you." As she replied to Eliwood, Ninian began her sacred dance. Eliwood noted that the ring she seemed to be wearing began to glow as she moved her body. He felt some sort of energy envelop himself. Eliwood felt invigorated, and his whole body felt lighter.
"This is…"
"I used Nini's Grace and danced for you, Lord Eliwood." Ninian replied. "It only lasts for a short while, but while it does, you'll be protected. Lord Eliwood… please allow me to stay by your side…"
"Ninian… if this will make you feel better, then I won't stop you." Eliwood replied. "But please, don't leave my side."
"OK!" Ninian happily consented.
By the time the two of them reached the arena, Chrom and the others were already in the thick of the conflict. Eliwood hurried over to lend a hand.
"Huh?" Bartre looked confused when a rapier suddenly stabbed into the side of his opponent. Eliwood didn't even bat an eye as he moved on to assisting someone else. Seeing the young Pheraen lord work so hard, Bartre clenched his teeth and gripped his axe a little tighter. He then sought out a new target to defeat.
While he was en route, an enemy myrmidon jumped out at him from the shadows.
"Lord Eliwood!" Ninian cried out in alarm.
However, it was already too late for Eliwood to do anything about the surprise attack. The Pheraen lord flinched in preparation for the hit, but the pain he expected never arrived. He only felt something lightly brush across his arm. However, it was clear that his opponent had swung his sword.
Eliwood took advantage of the opportunity created by his opponent's shock and stabbed his rapier into the myrmidon's chest.
Immediately, he began to feel his body revitalize again. Looking behind him, he noticed Ninian completing her dance, once again.
'That must be Ninian's doing…' Eliwood surmised.
"L-lord Eliwood…" Ninian gave him a look full of determination. "Please focus on fighting… I'll be right behind, supporting you all the way."
"Then I'm counting on you!" Eliwood turned around and began to scan for another opponent.
With Chrom…
For the first time in quite a while, Chrom was feeling immense pressure while in combat. Without Robin directing the battle, a massive burden was placed on his mind, and he found himself unable to concentrate on the foe in front of him. Fortunately, he had strong allies besides him, which meant he could get away with being slightly distracted.
"Chrom!" The Ylissean Exalt turned to see Olivia gesturing towards him frantically. "The civilians!"
"Right… of course Fargus isn't here for something like this… we wouldn't want to leave a ruined town for him when he and his crew gets back..." Chrom muttered to himself. "Olivia, can I leave the task of warning the civilians to you? Take one or two people with you if you must. Make sure they stay inside and away from the combat zone."
"Leave it to me!" The pinkette turned around and dashed towards an alley.
"...It would seem I've begun to take Robin for granted…" Chrom muttered to himself as he took down another enemy with some difficulty.
"Enemies are approaching from the northside of town!" Sumia called to him from the air. Without Robin's Hekseer, they could only go back to the traditional way of keeping track of the battlefield. However, Sumia was also having some difficulty due to the darkness of night.
"Stahl, Sully, go reinforce that side." Chrom commanded. Automatically, he fell back on the advice Robin had given him in the past and utilized the cavalier duo the best he could.
"Watch out!" Cordelia's cry of alarm caused Sumia to elevate in the air as an enemy Wyvern Rider charged her position. There was a clanging of spears as Cordelia engaged the hostile airborne unit.
"Arcwind!" Chrom heard her wife's voice, and felt a sharp breeze as a powerful gust of wind tore through the Wyvern's wings. The large beast tumbled out of the sky and landed somewhere nearby, crushing its rider beneath its weight.
"...Lissa." Lon'qu hobbled past Chrom and stopped near the cleric standing slightly further behind them with a nasty looking gash on his leg.
"Wow… you got injured?" Lissa chuckled, seemingly unfazed by her husband's injury. "How unlike you."
"I was… careless." Lon'qu admitted as he winced from the healing his wife provided him.
"There… you should be good as new." Lissa put away her Mend staff and picked up her Bolt Axe again. "Be more careful out there!"
"...Of course." Lon'qu let out a rare smile, before it instantly disappeared and he refocused on combat once again.
Chrom had to smile internally. Lissa had grown up so much. She was no longer a baby complaining about every little thing that inconvenienced her… although she was still childish once in a while, the Ylissean princess had become one of the core pillars of the shepherds with her powerful healing. As long as you didn't die right away, and the limb was not completely severed from the body, she could pretty much heal any injury at this point, which was a massive morale boost to the shepherds, who always seemed to be in combat.
"Ack!" While he was slightly distracted, Chrom felt an arrow pierce his unprotected right arm. He had been struck by wayward arrows before, so Chrom couldn't comprehend why this one hurt so much.
Immediately, the Ylissean Exalt steeled himself and ripped the arrow out of his arm and called for Lissa.
Once again, Lissa wasn't too concerned about her brother as she came over with staff in hand. However, she received a slight shock upon attempting to heal the wound.
"...It's poison." Lissa explained. "There was poison on that arrow."
"What?" Chrom clenched his jaw. "Meaning…"
"I can stabilize the wound and stop the bleeding…" Lissa explained. "But I can't fully heal the wound as is… we would need to find an antitoxin. However, I would also need to know what type of poison was on that arrow as well…"
"Can you at least do something that allows me to continue fighting?"
"I told you, I can stop the bleeding." Lissa pouted. "But you're gonna need to take it a lot slower for the rest of the night. We can't have you dropping randomly while Robin is sleeping. There would be no way to explain it to him when he wakes up."
"...I got it."
"Still… at least we know what type of people we're dealing with now." Lissa grumbled. "It'd probably be a good idea to warn the others.
Elsewhere…
Fargus and his crew had set off as soon as they had returned their extra guests back to Port Badon. Their ship had sustained heavy injuries, so the pirate captain had no choice but to replenish their supplies and get their ship fixed. Although he and his crew had patched it up so that at least it wouldn't sink, the work of a group of pirates was nowhere near that of a professional.
Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately for Dart, Fargus had told him to get some rest since he was just returning from the trip to the Dread Isle. As a result, Dart was left in town and was permitted to do whatever he pleased for the time being.
Originally, it would have been a nice change of pace for Dart, but of course Port Badon would be attacked as soon as Fargus and his crew left, which meant that Dart's free time was interrupted as the pirate prepared to defend the town that he now considered his home.
As he wasn't part of the shepherd's command chain, Dart wasn't notified as early as the others, so by the time he got ready for combat, the streets were already filled with friend and foe alike.
Rushing out into the streets with axe in hand, Dart surprised an enemy cleric and savagely cleaved them in half. Seeing his ally killed so easily, an enemy Fighter roared in anger and rushed him.
Dart dodged out of the way of his opponent's swing and returned with an attack of his own, which his opponent blocked in response. Not giving his opponent an inch, Dart drew a small hatchet from his waist with his free hand and swung it into his opponent's side.
Upon being hit by a weapon he didn't know his opponent had, the Fighter lost concentration, enabling Dart to knock his opponent's axe away with his dominant weapon. Bringing both weapons down at his opponent, Dart quickly defeated his second opponent of the night.
"Impressive." Dart turned around to see a blonde axeman give him a thumbs up. "I guess you aren't Fargus's right hand man for nothing."
"Are ya toyin' with me?" Dart asked in annoyance. He clearly saw the numerous dead bodies at the man's feet. His two kills were no more than child's play compared to the dozen or so bodies that guy had laid out.
"Well, you'll always feel bad if you compare yourself to me." The man boasted. "Vaike. Remember the name!"
"Don't get arrogant, ya landlubber!" Dark grinned. "I be catchin' up in no time."
"Then let's play a game." Vaike smiled deviously. "Starting from now, let's see who can score more kills by the end of the night. Winner buys the loser a round of drinks!"
"Aye! Now yer speakin' me language!" Dart laughed in response. It seems there were a few members of the shepherds that were pretty interesting, after all.
With Robin…
Robin felt himself surrounded by darkness once again. His body felt like it was underwater, slowly sinking into a bottomless abyss. However, he could still open his eyes and breath without a problem.
Although he couldn't see it, his sixth sense told him that there were two black serpents encircling him in the 'water', and two very large ones at that. The diameter of their body should have been easily larger than his own height. It gave him a rather unsettling feeling, like he was about to be eaten by some large, unknown predator while he struggled underwater.
All of a sudden, the two serpents were chased away by five small fish, each glowing a unique color. The fish swam in a line, and circled around Robin from head to toe. He couldn't move his head, but from moving his eyeballs, he noticed that two of them glowed blue, two red, and one green. Although he didn't know what they were, Robin felt calm being surrounded by them.
All of a sudden, the head of one of the black serpents lashed out towards him, and Robin could not do anything to move out of the way. Just as it seemed there would be no escaping his fate of being eaten, a red fish dove into the open mouth of the snake, and the large serpent changed its trajectory and swam away.
Then, Robin woke up.
"Robin!" The first thing the tactician saw was Anna literally jump out of her chair, possibly in surprise, possibly in excitement. She immediately was at the side of the bed, with a hand on his forehead. "How are you? Are you all right? Are you feeling any pain?"
"No…" Robin sighed in contentment. "Sorry for making you worry."
"It's… no problem." Anna, upon realizing he was fine, sighed in relief and sat back onto the chair next to the bed.
"Where's Lucina?" Robin asked.
"She's fighting right now." Anna explained nonchalantly. "There was a surprise attack just a few moments ago."
"What!?" Robin immediately began to get out of the bed.
"Where are you going?" Anna immediately pushed him back down.
"I have to be out there!" Robin complained.
"No. You. Don't." Anna shook her head in disapproval. "They can handle it. Until you get Lissa's approval, you're not leaving the bed."
"This isn't the first time something like this has happened." Robin protested. "And if I'm not out there, someone could end up getting seriously hurt."
"They're not exactly babies, y'know…" Anna sighed. "If the shepherds can't even deal with one battle without your assistance, then Ylisse would really be in a sorry state."
"But…"
"Nope, you're staying right here."
Seeing that Anna was not giving him an out, Robin pulled out the Hekseer that was inside a pocket of his cloak, which was hanging on one of the bedposts. "At least give this to me."
Anna begrudgingly agreed to his request.
After a brief analysis of the situation, Robin let out a sigh of relief.
"Everything's fine then?" Anna asked, seeing his expression.
"It's much better than expected." Robin admitted. "The fighting's almost over."
"That's good." Anna began to take a sip of water.
"...But, there are several enemies coming my way."
"Pffft!" Anna immediately spit out the water she just drank. She leapt out of the chair and went to grab her Levin Sword. "Say that part first next time!"
"Calm down." Robin chuckled as he got up and began to get dressed. "In many ways, this is a very good thing…"
Seeing as there was no way of talking the tactician out of it, Anna sighed. Even if he were to fight, as long as she stayed by his side and made sure no one hurt him, Lucina couldn't be mad at her, right?
Nearby…
Lucina and Lyn were making their way through town towards the central area where most of the fighting was taking place. They ran into a few enemies en route, who were promptly disposed of.
'The two of us work alongside each other surprisingly well…' Lyn thought to herself as they slashed their way through the opposition. 'It's like we know exactly what the other wants to do…'
What Lyn did not realise was that Lucina had purposefully changed her rhythm to match her own. Although the Ylissean princess wasn't fighting as freely as she usually does, it was also not too constraining for her, as Lyn's style was similar to her own, albeit with a few small differences. Still, with her vast experience of fighting alongside comrades of every variety, this much was child's play.
"Watch out! They're using poisoned weapons!" Around the corner, Lucina heard her father exclaim. She frowned, knowing that someone must've gotten injured in order to gain that piece of intelligence. Thankfully, it didn't really affect Lyn or herself, as their primary method of avoiding injury was to not get hit in the first place. Still, the two of them proceeded with more caution, as a single scratch could end up being particularly devastating.
"Above!" Lucina called out in warning as a pegasus rider descended upon the two of them.
"Wait!" The rider cried in alarm as Lyn was about to slash upward with her Mani Katti. "Lady Lyndis! It's me!"
"Florina!?" Lyn asked. "What happened?"
Since she was slightly further away, Lucina noticed the young pegasus rider's injuries slightly later than Lyn. Upon moving closer, she noticed the rather deep stab wound in the side of the pegasus, as well as a vertical slash along Florina's arm.
"C-cordelia told me to stop fighting…" Florina explained as she began to tear up. "She said that Huey and I were injured by a poisoned spear… and that she isn't able to provide us with the proper treatment right now. She told me to leave the battle and find a place to hide until it's over."
"Poison?" Lyn's eyes burned in anger. "Damn these brigands!"
"Lady Lyn…" Florina whimpered. "Am I… am I useless?"
"No." Lucina stepped in for the greenette. "We just found out about the poisoned weapons as well. However, the only reason we know what we're up against is because someone had to get injured first. In a way, your injury has provided the rest of us crucial information."
"But…"
"Don't worry." Lyn insisted. "You've already done a good job. Find somewhere to rest until we're victorious."
"I… I get it." Florina nodded. "Um… Huey and I… will we be fine?"
"You… should be." Lyn hesitantly replied. "I'm sure the healers can help deal with your injuries after the battle, when everyone is safe… and even if they can't, Robin should be able to help you."
Lucina clenched her fists. She didn't correct the greenette, because Lyn was not wrong. However, considering that he was still recovering himself, Lucina knew how much strain he would have to bear in order to do so. Knowing Robin, he would definitely expend the energy to heal a wounded comrade. She silently prayed that whatever the poison was, Lissa, Maribelle or possibly even Brady would be able to take care of it.
After sending Florina off, the pair of swordswomen resumed their slaughter of their unknown assailants. Before they knew it, the two of them had reached the outer wall of the town, near the entrance to Port Baden.
"It seems we slipped past the enemy." Lyn whispered as she turned around. There was still fighting going on behind them, signaling that Chrom and the others hadn't taken care of all the enemies on that side. Sumia's magic that lit up the nighttime sky once in a while was further proof that the battle in the air was not yet won either.
"Shall we circle around them?" Lucina suggested. "Maybe we can-"
"Watch out!" Upon being warned by the greenette, Lucina immediately executed a dive and rolled out of the way. Looking back, Lucina noticed a muscular Warrior with his axe firmly planted in the ground where she had been standing a moment ago.
"...Black Fang?" Lyn asked, noticing an insignia on the man's armor.
"I am Oleg of the Black Fang." The man replied in a monotone voice. "I bring an invitation from my master, Nergal. 'Return the children to me.' If you ask me, it seems foolish to deliver this message… After all, I can take both of them myself and go!"
"In your dreams!" Lyn replied and rushed the man.
Oleg ripped his axe out of the ground and swung it at Lyn. Although he missed, Lyn had to dodge backwards to avoid the attack, and thus was unable to land a strike of her own.
"Get back!" Oleg growled. "If you do not get out of my way, I'll have to kill you."
"Then give it your best shot!" Lyn replied as she swung forward with her sword again.
Oleg, though much slower, was still able to successfully block the strike with his axe. However, by this point, Lucina had already gotten up and had snuck around behind the Warrior. She lashed out with her Parallel Falchion and clipped Oleg's back with the tip of her sword.
Flinching in pain, Oleg reflexively kicked backwards, landing a lucky hit to Lucina's stomach, causing the Ylissean princess to keel over in pain. Although she was always vigilant in combat, this was a move that Lucina had not been expecting, which resulted in her getting hit. Oleg's movement was so natural, that it seemed like he either didn't feel the pain, or was trained specifically to counterattack whenever he got injured with complete disregard for his own life. However, it was a costly maneuver as the deadlock he had with Lyn was weakened in doing so, enabling the greenette to get an extra slash across his chest. Though he was wearing light armor, the sword still met flesh and caused a further injury.
Not wanting to take the loss, Oleg punched out with his fist at Lyn's exposed flank. The heavy blow struck Lyn in the ribs as she desperately tried to dodge out of the way. Lyn hobbled backwards as Lucina slowly recovered from getting the wind knocked out of her. Oleg also took a deep breath as he tried to put the injuries he had suffered out of his mind.
All three combatants had suffered injuries by now that were slightly more than an inconvenience. Still, each of them knew that succumbing to their injuries now would mean death, and so each of them gritted through the pain as they got ready for another bout.
Unfortunately, both Lyn and Lucina had broken ribs, which caused excruciating pain for them to move, thanks to Oleg's heavy strikes. By contrast, Oleg only had a couple of light slash wounds that stung, but otherwise didn't hinder him in any other way. As a result, he was now more agile than both of them, provided that he was able to ignore the small amount of pain he felt in his chest and back.
Oleg smirked, knowing full well that he was now in the advantageous position. In contrast, both Lyn and Lucina wore grim expressions, knowing that they couldn't count on assistance provided by Robin this time.
Oleg sauntered over to Lyn and raised his axe. When the Warrior brought the weapon down, the greenette deftly rolled out of the way. However, the immense amount of pain she felt caused her to be unable to recover from the ground. She gritted her teeth trying to endure the pain, and knowing full well that Oleg's next strike was probably unavoidable.
Lucina, seeing that Lyn was in dire need of assistance, mustered up the energy to lunge forward, risking it all in an attempt to kill Oleg from behind.
However, the Warrior seemed to have eyes on the back of his head as he turned around and grabbed the Ylissean princess's wrist, twisting her sword out of her hand. Oleg used his grip strength to crush the bluenette's wrist, and Lucina roared in pain as she felt the bones in her forearm break.
Still, this bought Lyn enough time to slowly get up from the ground, though now it was Lucina's turn to be at death's door.
Oleg, who was feeling rather victorious at this point, suddenly staggered as he felt an arrow hit him in his right pectoral muscle.
"-What!?" The Warrior exclaimed in surprise, having not sensed anyone that had been hiding in the shadows. Still, the arrow didn't enter too deep into his flesh, as his chestplate and blocked most of the arrow's momentum.
What the shot did provide though, was an opportunity for Lyn. Thinking about her conversation with Lucina earlier, she didn't want, no, she refused to let this battle be her last one. Using all of her remaining strength, Lyn lunged forward with her Mani Katti, and stabbed the weapon through the back of Oleg, just under his left shoulder blade.
Oleg spat out a mouthful of blood in surprise as he noticed the tip of a sword protruding from his chest. He dropped Lucina and grabbed the blade in desperation, but there wasn't anything he could do at that point.
Lyn twisted the sword slightly, gritting her teeth in the process. Oleg let out a cry of anger as he felt his strength leaving him. While he was defenseless from dealing with Lyn's attack, Oleg was finally put out of his misery by an arrow to his forehead.
"Is it… over?" Lyn panted as the Warrior slumped over.
"Who… who was that?"
"Who else could it be?" Gaius smirked as he stepped out of the shadows.
"Gaius!?" Lucina winced. "Don't get me wrong... We're very grateful for your assistance. But… what are you doing here?"
"Bubbles's orders." Gaius replied quickly as he came over to Lucina and helped her onto her feet. "C'mon. Let's get you out of here…"
"When the hell did he… nevermind." Lyn shook her head. "Let's go."
The three of them quickly moved through a back alley to reconvene with the main group and found Lissa.
"Geez, what did you two even do!?" Lissa exclaimed as she began to mend Lucina's ribs and her wrist.
"We ran into someone strong…" Lucina winced as she replied. "Come to think of it, he did say his master was Nergal."
"Then, I'm guessing he must've been in charge of this group of brigandes." Gaius pondered out loud. "Guess we know who we've been fighting now."
"Well, the silver lining is that these injuries are all easy for me to heal." Lissa sighed. "We've got plenty of injuries that I've struggled to deal with today… I guess when we get back to Ylisse I'll need to brush up my knowledge on poisons and antitoxins…"
After she finished healing Lucina, Lissa continued onto Lyn's injuries.
"There! All finished." Lissa wiped a bead of sweat off her forehead. "Take it easy, you two. It looks like the battle shouldn't last too long anyways."
"Right." Lucina nodded, patting her stomach. Even though she's been healed so many times in the past, it still astounded her how major injuries like broken ribs could be mended in an instant with high level healing staves utilized by an expert cleric.
Sure enough, with their leader dead, the remaining Black Fang were only able to put up token resistance. Chrom and the other shepherds hunted down the brigandes that were trying to escape, while Cordelia and Fiora did the same to the airborne Wyvern Riders.
"It looks like things are done over here." Lyn sighed in relief as she looked around at the carnage that surrounded her.
"C'mon… let's go back." Lucina suggested. After talking with her father and ensuring that they weren't needed anymore, Lucina came to fetch the greenette.
"Gladly." Lyn smiled. It seemed that Lucina no longer considered her an outsider anymore. Lyn hummed a tune as she followed along, blissfully unaware of the growing concern in Lucina's mind.
"There weren't bodies here earlier right?" Lucina asked, stopping next to a dead brigande.
"Er… now that you mention it, there weren't any around here when we passed by earlier."
"This bandit was killed by lightning magic." Lucina furrowed her eyebrows after examining the corpse. "It might have been Anna's doing… which is not good!"
"You think Robin might be in danger?" Lyn asked in concern.
"If he's still unconscious, then definitely." Lucina replied. "C'mon. We have to hurry!"
The two of them broke into a run, fearing for the worst. However, once they turned the corner, they found Robin and Anna examining a pile of dead bodies that surrounded them. Upon closer examination, Lucina found that Robin was draining the dead bodies of their quintessence.
'It would seem I was worried for no reason…' The Ylissean princess sighed in relief.
"How are you feeling?" Lyn asked the tactician.
"I'm… I feel good." Robin stretched his arms a little. "Especially since it was so kind of these gentlemen to feed me."
"Robin… we have a few that are injured-" Lucina began.
"I know." Robin picked up an axe from one of the fallen brigandes. "Poison right? Lissa probably had a difficult time healing the injuries."
"So you already knew?" Lyn asked.
"I was told by a certain cleric." Robin smirked, bringing the index finger of his free hand to his temple.
"Oh right… I forgot…"
"Will it be too taxing on your body?" Lucina asked in concern.
"I think I'll be fine." Robin shrugged. "From what I hear, there are only three to four light injuries waiting for me. These guys are more than enough."
Robin nudged a dead brigande with one foot.
"Point taken." Lucina crossed her arms. "Just… don't overexert yourself… you still might be recovering from the Dread Isle…"
"I understand. I'll be careful." Robin promised. "Let's get going then…"
Some time later…
Robin, followed closely by his entourage of Lucina, Lyn and Anna, returned to the main tavern at which the shepherds were staying. In the main lobby, Eliwood, Hector and Chrom were already gathered, along with a few others standing behind them. Cleanup for the aftermath of the battle was yet to be completed, but that task could be left for the others.
"Sorry for the wait." Robin apologized as he sat down at the table with the other three leaders.
"We didn't even have to wait for that long." Hector shook his head.
"Are you sure you're all right?" Chrom asked in concern. "I know you just recovered from magic exhaustion."
"It was nothing." Robin replied. "A few small injuries like that doesn't take everything out of me."
"Good." Chrom breathed a sigh of relief.
"Right now, we need to focus on the task at hand." Robin replied. "I already heard from Gaius. The people that attacked us tonight were Nergal's henchmen, without a doubt. After seeing what happened at the Dragon's Gate, I'm convinced that Ylisse needs to do whatever we can to stop him."
"Wait a minute, shouldn't we do something about Eliwood's father?" Chrom asked. "I agree that we need to do something about Nergal, but we need to properly take care of the dead as well. He deserves a proper funeral at the very least."
"No." Surprisingly, Eliwood refused. "We'll have time for mourning when all of this is finished. And as for my father, Marcus already sent a message back home. Pherae will take responsibility for bringing my father's body back home. But in the meantime, I will do everything I can to help protect our lands."
"I see… so what did you have in mind then?"
"...we need to see Marquess Ostia."
"...Right."
"After all that we learned, it would be wrong not to tell him, right?" Eliwood argued.
"...Sure, I guess."
"What's with that expression?" Robin smirked.
"Hector doesn't want to meet Lord Uther." Eliwood explained. "He's been lax about contacting him, and is afraid to face him, isn't that right?"
"That's not fair!" Hector complained, eliciting a chuckle from everyone in the room. "How do you expect me to send messages when we're traipsing about the isles like merchants on holiday?"
"He's going to be so mad!" Eliwood laughed out loud.
The rest of the meeting went smoothly, and surprisingly, spirits were high as the joint forces of Ylisse and Elibe hashed out their next plans.
Considering the battle that they had just gone through, it was decided that they would have a day of rest before their march back to Ostia.
Author's Notes:
After around a five month hiatus, I am finally back! I expect that for the next few months, my uploading speed will not be very fast, but at the very least, I am able to begin writing once again. Hopefully, my writing capabilities have not deteriorated that much.
If you're interested in the story so far and haven't done so already, be sure to follow and favorite, and reviews are always welcome as well.