Chrom never liked to wait. It was something Emmeryn and Nan always scolded him for it, but he couldn't help it. When he wanted something, he wanted it now.

Emmeryn said that she would play with them when she was done, but that was forever ago. Chrom was getting bored, and when he got bored, he needed to find something to do.

"Lissa? What do you want to do?" he asked, staring up at the sky as he laid over the stone floor of the courtyard.

Next to him, Lissa bounced her straw doll off the floor and shrugged. "I don't know."

Chrom puffed out his cheeks and blew it out. His stomach growled. Nan had said she would make them a pie, but she was also taking way too long.

"I'm hungry. Are you hungry?" He pushed off the ground and looked at Lissa. She nodded.

"Then let's go find the kitchen!"

Chrom knew almost everything about Castle Ylisstol. He, Lissa, and Em had spent so much time exploring the halls that he could go anywhere all by himself. He knew that the kitchen was just past the Great Hall, where Em would be. A small part of him wanted to take a look inside, but she had told him the meeting was important.

Whenever father had been in important meetings, he would get upset if they interrupted him. Emmeryn probably would be too, so when Chrom saw the doors to the Great Hall, he shushed Lissa and motioned for her to be quiet.

As he got closer, however, he sensed that something was wrong. First, the door was slightly open. Second, there was someone standing right next to it. Chrom couldn't tell who it was because of the dark blue hood pulled over his head, but Chrom was sure he had never seen them before.

Checking to see if Lissa was still behind him, he put his hand out to stop her, and he stepped toward the man. "Hey! Who are you?"

The man's head snapped around. Chrom caught a flash of orange hair, brown eyes, something silver and sharp.

Sword. Chrom was staring down the tip of a sword.

It took him a moment to realize that, but by the time his eyes started to widen the sword was inches from his face.

"Wha–"

Lissa yanked on his shirt and screamed. The sword sailed over his head and now Chrom was screaming too.

Someone was trying to kill him. Someone was here, and they were trying to kill him.

The man lunged and stabbed him again. This time, Chrom's feet moved on her own, throwing him to the side before the man could stab him through the heart.

"Help!" he screamed at the top of his lungs. "Someone help!"

But nobody came. The doors remained the same as they were before; slightly open and quiet.

"Em! We're here! There's someone here! Help!" he yelled. The door was open. His words had to reach her. She had to come in and save them at any moment!

But she never did.

Maybe she couldn't hear them. Maybe she was too busy. Maybe whatever stupid thing she was talking about was more important than saving them.

Right now, Chrom didn't care about that because he was going to die.

He and Lissa were all alone. So he grabbed Lissa's hand and ran, as fast as he could go. Anywhere that wasn't here.

The hallways passed by in a blur. Above them, the torches flickered and blew past him, and the long shadows twitched with his steps. Chrom could hear the man's footsteps thundering behind him. He glanced behind him.

The sword was gone. In his hands, he held a long, curved stick. One arm came back.

A bow and arrow, his brain told him the second the man let go.

"Here!" As the word tore itself from Chrom's throat, he grabbed Lissa's hand and yanked her into a nearby doorway.

An arrow ripped through where they had been a second ago.

They needed to find help. The Royal Guards, the Pegasus Knights, anyone.

Light washed over them, and then, he ran headfirst into someone.

Chrom fell back and landed on his back. Lissa yelped, and she followed him to the floor.

The sun looked down at him, clouds smeared against the clear blue sky.

Outside. They were outside again, in a different courtyard. This one had a tree in the middle, and right in front of him... there was another, older boy. Brown hair, brown eyes, and a long stick in his hands. A wood lance.

Someone who could help them.

"H-help!" Chrom sputtered out, the words sticking to the inside of his throat. "You have to help us! Someone is trying to kill us."

The boy frowned. "There is? Where?"

Chrom pointed back to where he and Lissa had come from. The boy clutched his lance, padded over, and looked around the corner.

He waited. Nothing happened.

"There's no one there," the boy said, and he folded his arms across his chest.

"But there was! He was trying to kill us!"

The boy looked like he didn't believe him one bit. He looked at him like he was trying to pretend they were in danger. But they weren't! Chrom knew what he saw. Someone had been trying to kill him.

"I'm serious!" he said.

The boy shook his head. "That's not possible. My mother would never let anyone like that inside."

Chrom clenched his fist. "But she did! She must have made a mistake!"

"No she didn't. My mother is captain of the Pegasus Knights, and she's too strong to make mistakes."

"Oh yeah? W-well your mother–your mother is a–"


Emmeryn liked to think she knew her siblings very well. As the oldest, she had been with them for their entire lives. She read them stories and kissed them goodnight while Father was away. When the wind blew storms from over the sea, she let them into her room and held them close while the storm raged overhead. Emmeryn had helped raise them, and she didn't think Chrom was a very angry person.

Which was why, when she found him in the courtyard trying to fight another boy as Lissa watched from the corner with wide eyes, she was so surprised she almost dropped the pie she was holding.

"Chrom? What are you doing?" she asked.

Immediately, Chrom froze. It probably would have been better to make sure he knew she was there first, because as soon as he looked away, the other boy hit him in the face.

Emmeryn gasped. Chrom hit the floor with a thud, but to her surprise, he pushed himself back up.

"That's not fair!" he growled.

The other boy scowled and crossed his arms. "Life isn't fair."

"Chrom, what is going on–" but before she could finish, Chrom was already charging at the boy again with an angry yell.

"Give it back! Give it back now!" Chrom swung wildly at the boy, but the taller boy just pulled back his arm and punched Chrom in the nose before he could get close.

Something cracked. Emmeryn winced as Chrom stumbled back, but Chrom just wiped at his nose and charged again, twice as angry.

Something red dripped to the floor. Blood.

This had to stop. She had to stop this. Chrom was bleeding, and he was being hurt. He could die.

Any other time, maybe she would have known that was stupid, but when she saw the blood on his face, she had no time to think.

The boy pulled back his arm. So did Chrom. They both swung.

"Stop it–"

Emmeryn cut off as Chrom's fist smashed into her face, and her head exploded into stars. The world spun up, over, and around, and suddenly, Emmeryn found herself lying on the cold stone floor, sticky pie stuffing sticking to her favorite yellow dress. A soft breeze blew over her face and made her nose itch.

That was a stupid idea, was the first thought that came to her head. Chrom is stupid. This is stupid. Something wet is running down my face, and Gods, my head hurts so much.

Then, Chrom's voice ripped them to shreds. "Em!" he screamed, and he rushed to her side. "Em! Are you okay? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to!"

Beside him, the boy appeared worried too, his brows knitted together, but one glance at Chrom and he sealed his lips.

"Chrom," Emmeryn groaned, "why were you fighting?"

Chrom looked at the boy. The boy looked back at him. Chrom pouted, and he pointed to the boy. "He started it!"

"I did not. You started it first," the boy said, crossing his arms.

Between them, Emmeryn sighed and put her arm over her eyes. She loved her brother, she really did. Chrom was such a sweet boy, but now... with strawberries running down her dress and her head still making that annoying ringing sound, she didn't know if she wanted to get up again.

But she had to eventually. A lazy sister was as good as no sister at all, so with a groan, she pushed herself off the ground. The boy stepped in to offer her a hand, and despite Chrom's glaring, she took it. The pie pan on her chest slid off and clattered to the floor.

As soon as she was on her feet, she dusted her dress, smearing her fingers with red. "Chrom, I thought Nan taught you better than this. You know fighting is bad, don't you? I don't care who started it," she said when Chrom opened his mouth, "I'm still disappointed in you."

"But I didn't–" Chrom pointed over the boy's head. "But he threw Lissa's doll up in that tree."

Emmeryn followed Chrom's finger, and sure enough, tangled in the branches of the tall tree growing in the courtyard was a small doll. She glanced back down at Lissa, who gazed up the doll sadly.

Beside her, the boy huffed. "But you broke my lance first."

"That's because you said Em was stupid!"

"That's because you said my mother was a dog!"

Emmeryn gasped. "Chrom! You didn't say that!"

"I didn't!"

"No, you called her a horse!"

"Chrom!" she said, whirling around to face him.

"No, I didn't!" Chrom stamped his foot, scowling. "He's lying!"

Emmeryn frowned, unsure. She wanted to believe Chrom, she really did. He looked so angry, but when her eyes flicked back at the other boy, glaring at Chrom, she couldn't decide.

Listen, Tomas's voice echoed in her head.

Listen to who? Chrom or the boy? She hadn't listened to Redwind, and she'd almost killed him when he hadn't done anything at all. She couldn't do it again, not here!

Emmeryn turned to the boy and smiled. "My brother, did he really say that?"

The boy scowled. "He did."

Then, she turned to Chrom. "He says that you did. Can't you apologize to him?"

"But I didn't!" Chrom said. "Why can't you believe me? Why can't anyone believe me?"

Emmeryn wanted to scream. Why did this have to be so hard?

Chrom or the boy? Who was lying? She couldn't do this alone! Where was everyone else? Why did she say she could take this stupid pie to them by herself?

Then, an idea. Emmeryn glanced over to the side, to where Lissa was still curled up in the corner. "Lissa!" she said, and she pointed at the boy. "Is he lying?"

Like Emmeryn had, her eyes flicked between Chrom and the boy. Emmeryn could see the conflict in her eyes, and for a moment, she thought maybe she hadn't seen anything. Maybe she was just as stumped as Emmeryn was, and Emmeryn was being unfair to her. Oh Gods, why did everything she say have to be so stupid?

Then Lissa looked at her. She shook her head.

Emmeryn let out a sigh of relief. She had seen it, then. That made everything easier.

Emmeryn put her hands on her hips. "Chrom, Lissa says he's not lying."

"But he is!"

"Lissa says he's not," she said, sterner this time. "Chrom, you need to say you're sorry."

"But I'm not!"

"Chrom." Emmeryn frowned. "Don't lie to me."

Chrom looked at the boy. He looked at Lissa. Then, he looked at her. Something flickered in his eyes, but before Emmeryn could see what it was, he stormed off.

Part of her wanted to run after him and ask what was wrong, ask what she had done wrong, but when she felt a tug on her skirt, she stopped to look down.

"I'm sorry," Lissa murmured, eyes glued to the floor.

Emmeryn's face softened, and she knelt down to her. "You don't need to say sorry. You didn't say anything."

"It's my fault."

"No, it's not your fault," Emmeryn said. It's Chrom's fault for lying, she almost said, but she didn't. She looked back, but Chrom had already disappeared, leaving her alone with Lissa and the boy.

Turning to the boy, Emmeryn gave him an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry for my brother's behavior. I don't know what's gotten into him."

Maybe he was a little frustrated that Emmeryn was so late. If she was Chrom, she would be too, but starting fights? She hadn't missed something, had she?

The boy shook his head. "It's nothing," he said, the frown never leaving his face. Emmeryn found that odd. Why did he always look like he was eating soggy bread?

"It's not nothing. My brother shouldn't be doing such things." Emmeryn shuffled her feet. "If there is anything I can do to make up for it, I will do my best to get it done."

The boy looked away, and his eyes became distant. That had Emmeryn worried, and for a moment, she thought he was going to ask for something ridiculous like a hundred gold worth of chocolate.

Finally, the boy turned his gaze back to her, and, staring her straight in the eye, he said, "Stop calling for my mother so much."

"Your... mother?" Emmeryn blinked. "Who is your mother?"

"She is my mother!"

Emmeryn peered closer at him, looking him up and down. She noticed the brown hair, the brown eyes, and the sharp face, and everything clicked into place. This was Captain Madeline's son. But she couldn't let Captain Madeline go. Could she?

"I–I'll try," she said, weakly.

The boy huffed again, but he didn't argue. He turned around and walked away, and the breeze blowing through the courtyard came to a gentle stop.

Emmeryn stared at the doorway he'd disappeared through for a few seconds more. Had she made the right choice? Why did she feel so bad, then?

"Where did you go?" Lissa's quiet voice snapped her out of her thoughts. Emmeryn gave Lissa a pat on the head.

"I told you. I was at the meeting," Emmeryn said with a long sigh. "The meeting was long and boring and stupid. But I brought you a pie–" She looked down at her hands, only to find them smeared with pie instead. Where had it gone?

On second thought, maybe asking where it hadn't gone was a better question. It was on her hands, on her dress, on the ground. The only place it wasn't was the pie pan, flipped over and laid by her feet, where she'd left it when she had gotten to her feet.

She turned back to Lissa, but Lissa looked away. Obviously, that wouldn't be enough. Emmeryn wouldn't have expected it to be enough. Emmeryn thought for a moment, before an idea came to her.

"Hey, why don't I get you your doll back?" she asked. "You want it back, right?"

"No," Lissa replied.

Emmeryn frowned. What a weird thing to say. "It's fine," Emmeryn said. "I don't care. My dress is already ruined. I can climb up there and–"

Then she looked up, and her eyes widened. Up in the tree branches, she could still see Lissa's doll dangling between the tree branches. Further back, however, she could also see Chrom climbing the branch, slowly inching toward the doll.

"Chrom! What are you doing?!" she shrieked. She ran over to the tree and grabbed a nearby branch, but when she tried to pull herself up, it snapped from her weight. It hadn't been that long since she'd climbed here, had it? She couldn't be too heavy now!

"Get down from there! You could get hurt!"

"Why do you care?" Chrom grumbled, his eyes still fixed on the ball. "You're not father!"

His words shot through Emmeryn's heart. She gripped the tree, and the bark dug into her hand as she clenched her teeth. "What–why would you say that? That's stupid! I'm not father!"

"Then why are you trying to pretend you are?"

"What? No I'm not!"

Chrom growled. "Yes, you are!"

"I'm not!"

"You are! Don't lie to me!"

Chrom inched forward. The branch trembled under his weight, and a few leaves shook loose and fluttered to the floor. To Emmeryn's horror, she heard the branch creak.

"Chrom! Please, come down!"

Chrom ignored her. "You can't tell me what to do. You're not father."

"You're right, I'm not father. Now, can you please–"

"If you're not, why can't you play with us?" This time, Chrom looked down and glared at her, and Emmeryn finally noticed that his eyes shone with tiny, frustrated tears. "Where were you? Why didn't you come? Why didn't you save us?"

"I was in a meeting! I couldn't come!"

Now, his tears were rolling off his face and falling to the ground. "Because you were in a stupid meeting? Father went to stupid meetings. Why do you have to? Why can't you go back to being you again?"

Emmeryn looked down. "Because father is gone. I want to be me again, but I can't. Someone has to pretend to be him."

"Why does it have to be you?"

"Do you want to be him?" she snapped.

Chrom's mouth clamped shut. He stared at her, eyes wide, and Emmeryn immediately regretted shouting at him. She was stupid. She was so stupid.

Slowly, she stepped forward, reaching out for him. "Chrom, I'm sorry–"

The branch snapped.

And Chrom was falling.

Time slowed down. Everything disappeared around her. The only thing she could see was Chrom, falling to the floor. He was going to get hurt. He was going to get hurt because she made the wrong choice.

She reached out for him. She had to catch him.

Then she tripped on the upside-down pie pan she had left on the floor, and she fell.

Chrom was going to hurt. He was going to break his bones, and it was all her fault because she was so stupid and she wasn't there to catch him. She needed to be there, she had to run, but she would never make it in time.

There was a flash of blue and silver across her vision. Weakly, Emmeryn lifted her gaze, and who else would happen to be there but Duke Verdigris, Chrom safely tucked in his arms.

The duke's brown eyes fell to her, and he smiled. "Your Grace, I do hope this wouldn't happen to be a bad time, would it?"


Conflict is fun to write. What can I say? These dialogue-driven chapters are harder for me to write than action scenes, so it's with conflict that I'm able to push through.

This is probably two to three weeks after when I'd promised to post it, which is not ideal, but at least isn't a month, which means I've actually been getting things done, and boy howdy have I. Most of my applications are out of the way, which means I should have plenty of time to write. In theory, anyway. I still have so many other writing projects that, at best, I'm only going to be able to post once every other week. It's not an awful pace, but it's still kind of slow, so I hope you all will be able to stick with it because I've poured too much into this to abandon ship.

If I'm able to keep up this writing streak, then the next chapter will be up in two weeks. Until then, take care of yourselves out there, and stay safe!