Ravena went crashing through the door and into the hallway beyond with an axe embedded in the breastplate she had under her dress. I'll have to thank Dant for that. Ravena thought. And maybe get Father to do it to? Ravena pulled the axe out and tossed it aside. "Ow."
"You're still alive?"
"Please." Ravena stood up and felt the dark gifts flowing through her bloodstream spark to life as she prepared to call upon them. "You think a demon child like me could be killed so easily?"
"I'll find out!" Cherche spat, going for another throwing axe.
The axe flew the door after her, but Ravena managed to dive to one side, avoiding it, and running down the hall. The door, already on one hinge, was bashed aside as Cherche came out of it, dressed in her recovery gown and holding a throwing axe in each hand. An empty bottle of pure water rolled behind her.
"Don't bother." Cherche aimed and hurled an axe.
Ravena skidded and fell to the floor, allowing it to sail over her head. She rolled so her chest was to the floor and pushed herself up. "Glad to see losing your wyvern hasn't drained the fight from you."
"I have strength yet." Cherche hurled another axe.
"I can see that." Ravena focused, calling forth the darkness within her soul, conjuring it into a dark pool of energy, and tapping into it. She formed it in front of her, creating a dark barrier, deflecting the axe of it. "Then I suppose it's time we stopped this. The exercise was just to get you to attack me, and I have no interest in dying."
"Grr." Cherche pulled off the axe stuck in wall, and gripped it two handed.
Cherche is a wyvern rider, so she judges distances different from a soldier on foot. In other words, she'll feel like she can engage at distances she actually can't – especially if she's enraged. Ravena reviewed the mental notes she had made for the fight. Also, she doesn't have her armor – which means that her normally great defense is now terrible. She'll be conscious of this, and be relieved to have drunken a pure water to counter my magic.
Pity for her that was just normal water in a mislabeled bottle.
"Die!" Cherche ran down the hallway, moving almost inhumanly fast.
Oh. She doesn't have armor on. No time – just go for broke! Ravena dropped the shield and instantly reformed it into a projectile. "Flux!"
"Guh!" Cherche took the dark energy, sending her reeling back.
"Flux! Flux! Flux!" Ravena cried, hurling the energy. Keep driving her back! "THIS ENDS HERE!" Dark energy surrounded her, covering her arms as Ravena raised them, forming a shadowy image behind her. "Nosferatu!"
The last bolt of energy sent Cherche flying, crashing to the ground as he life force was pulled into Ravena. Ravena breathed a sigh of relief. "That was closer than I would have liked. If you weren't injured, you might have gotten me."
"Kill me." Cherche staggered to her knees.
"Why would I do that?" Ravena sat down, cross-legged.
"I … tried killing you."
"I would have done it if I were in your shoes. Don't worry, I won't hold it against you at all." Ravena said. "But it's good. Now we know what you're really capable of. Who you are in the dark, so to speak."
"Haha." Cherche found herself laughing. "HAHAHAHAHAAAAAAA! I guess we do, don't we?"
"Are you alright?" Ravena sighed. "No, that's a stupid question, of course you aren't."
"What was your plan, here, girl?" Cherche asked, tears streaming down her face as she laughed. "You just wanted to make me crack?"
"I mean … kind of." Ravena sighed. I guess this is kind of what Father feels like when he screws up. "It's just … you seemed a but too focused on Virion, so I wanted to help you get a better look at yourself. You're nobody's pawn. Being born a vassal and expected to serve for your entire life is no difference from slavery. Not to mention that it was blinding you to his flaws."
"Well, it worked. I'm a hypocrite. Congratulations."
"We're all hypocrites, one way or the other." Ravena said. "If you know something is wrong, you can accept that what you're doing is wrong, or you can deny it. Robin knows that Walhart is wrong. He doesn't agree with his 'Survival of the Strong!' mentality – and neither do I. I've seen what happens when the strong bullies the weak – and it's not pretty. But we've got to bide our time. That's our hypocrisy. Here's what I think. You can either choose to stand your ground and die. Or, you can choose to sacrifice some of your values so that your more important ones have a chance to exist."
"And I have no other choices?"
"You used to." Ravena shrugged. "But now that you've attacked me? You've played your hand and opened your eyes. You're an idealist, Cherche, but you're the kind who's willing to play the long game, like us. You can deny that. Or you can join us."
-North of Ylissotol-
"Is this necessary?" Say'ri asked. "I do not think you should be here."
"They'll never think to look here." Robin said. "But we're here because I want to be here. Besides, we're in no rush. It'll take the ship a while to meet us by the Plegian coast."
Robin had sent a message hawk as soon as he could once they got outside the city, instructing his crew to push off and head to Plegian waters. Annoying, but he was unsure if the Ylissean tactician had sent a hawk of her own ordering his ship destroyed, or something. At his estimate, the hawk would take a day or two to get there, and another two days for the ship to get to position. It would only take three days to get there by pegasus. They had spare time.
Robin had decided to stop by the monument that had been put up for Exalt Emmeryn. Say'ri held back as he slowly approached it.
It wasn't a planned monument, not exactly. The body, if the Ylisseans had gotten it back, would be interred within Castle Ylisse, since she was one of their Exalts. But a massive white pillar had been carved with the Mark of the Exalt, with a small cairn of stones at the base. A carved statue of Emmeryn overlooked the cairn. No one was really sure who did it.
It wasn't technically a holy site of Naga, but it was fairly close to it. Robin had felt compelled to go there. He never met Emmeryn – not that he recalled, anyway – but he felt a closeness to Chrom, and a closeness to Chrom's sister by comparison. And, from what he had read from the Plegian-Ylissean war, she was willing to make the ultimate sacrifice to live up to her ideals. And it worked. Incredibly.
"I'm not sure why I'm here." Robin said. "I mean … well, I suppose it doesn't matter. Anyway, I kind of wish I were you. Maybe not the sacrifice part, but your dedication was incredible. I see why Lady Pheros was such a disciple of yours, if your act could inspire such a radical change in an entire country."
"Initially, I thought Exalt Chrom was a fool. Two massive civil wars fought within thirty years of each other. Between countries with an ancestral hatred of each other, and cultures with an ancestral hatred. That's just a recipe for never ending war. From a sense, Exalt Chrom could be said to be worse than his father. True, he won the war and didn't kill off his own people. But at what cost?"
"If the previous Exalt had won like Exalt Chrom did, I have no doubt that Plegia would not be capable of launching a second war. I don't know what he would have done under those circumstances – and frankly, it fills even me with dread. But he would have forcibly stopped the cycle of violence, by bringing it to a single shuddering halt. There would be no war. Emmeryn would not have died, nor would all the Ylisseans and even Plegians that have died this cycle. Chrom may have won today, but he might just have set a cost on his victory that would have taken it's due on his descendants."
"But the death of Emmeryn, it introduces a new variable." Robin clenched his hand. "The will of men are weak, and it takes acts of great magnitude to move them from the path they are taking. The cycle of violence has been, for all intents and purposes, brought to a halt, but not by the power of violence. Rather, through the single selfless act of Exalt Emmeryn. And it seems like a legacy that Exalt Chrom is willing to continue."
"Though, I wonder. Was your sacrifice in vain, Emmeryn? True, the majority of the Plegians chose to drop their weapons, but the Mad King still took the battlefield. Will the Plegians stop, or shall it continue next generation, for the sons and daughters of the current one to take up old struggles. And, perhaps that can be said for the halting of all conflicts – there is simply nothing that can be done to stop it."
"And if that's the case, is there really anything I can do?" Robin wondered. "What would be accomplished by painting the most beautiful work of art on a canvas that would be covered with black paint the next moment?"
"Would it not be a single most glorious moment?" A voice asked him, behind him. "Could you not say that while no painting can last, it will shine all the brighter because of it? Perhaps fragility itself is what gives meaning to art."
"How do you mean?" Robin asked. If that's who I think it is, why did Say'ri let her approach me?
"Consider the butterfly. Its life is ephemeral, nothing more than a few weeks. They must travel great distances between the summer and winter to stay in the right climate, but their lives are in fact shorter than the time it takes to make such a journey. Generations of butterflies do nothing but steadfastly fly on the course their parents have tread before them and the course their parents have tread before them. A single butterfly is a mere flicker of flame before the roaring inferno of its surrounding, yet if not for every flickering flame trying it's hardest, we would have no butterflies. And without the flicker of the flames, we would learn nothing from it."
"I see." Robin said. A simple lesson, but not one to be disregarded. Sometimes, a journey is not something that can be accomplished with a single generation, or a single action, but it most certainly cannot be accomplished without those actions. "But you would know about butterflies – wouldn't you, Lucina?"
"Yes. Though I must ask you to refrain from using that name, if you so could." The blue-haired swordswoman walked so she was standing beside him. "I see that I wasn't the only one who wanted to come here today. Dueling with unpleasant thoughts as well?"
"Odd expression. But I suppose I am indeed. And they seem to be getting the better of me, despite by best efforts." Robin said. "Are you not trying to kill me today?"
"No. I left my sword with Say'ri." Lucina said. "I was … hasty, yesterday. My apologies. I reacted without thinking, and I just wanted to reach a solution which satisfied me. I shall not attempt to kill you, not today at the very least. Possibly, and hopefully, never. Though I do not expect you to forgive me."
"If that was your problem, then I forgive you." Robin said. "For this attempt, anyway."
"Hmm." Lucina blinked in shock. "That was generous."
"It would be hypocritical of me to lay blame at your feet when I might do the exact same thing in your shoes. Clearly, you know something I do not." Robin said. "I have amnesia, so I don't know the exact reason. Can I ask you why? Nah said you wish to prevent me from doing something. Did I used to be in your group, and split off?"
"You have amnesia?" Lucina said.
"Yes." Robin nodded. "I woke up around six months ago in Valm, without a clue as to who I was. I was recruited into the Conqueror's army and fought my way up the ranks rather quickly."
"Six months… so that would mean…" Lucina blinked, counting off her fingers. "You were in Valm then! Oh, that makes so much sense! You must have gotten it as a side effect of… I see. But why would you when the rest… Ah, that'll be something Laurent figures out. But things make sense again. Or at least starting to. You don't know how much that relieves me."
"That's good, I guess." Robin said. "Mind telling me any of it?"
"I …" Lucina sighed. "I hate to say this again – but I'm sorry. I truly am. There isn't much I can tell you. I have an idea as to what gave you amnesia, but nothing concrete. And if it is what I think it is, I can't tell you that either. I can tell you your past – what I know of it, anyway, but the rest of what I know is as my role as Foreseer – and that is not something I can tell you. Nor is in relevant to your past."
"Fine." Robin said. "Tell me what you can, and I'll consider us even."
"I see." Lucina said. "Well, first and foremost, your nationality is Plegian. You are a member of the royal house, as in happens, though I do not know anything more than that. As a child, your mother ran away with you, and raised you for a while, teaching you the blade and tactics, while honing your natural gift for magic. However, she died when you were in your late teens."
"How?"
"I don't know." Lucina admitted. "It could be a Plegian curse, poison, or simply illness. Whatever the reason, at that point you decided to wander the land. You were deep in Valm when the memory loss hit you. And that's really all I know about your past."
"And my future? What do you know that made you want to kill me?" If she's truly the Foreseer, than there might be something that happens to me. Robin said. "At the least, can you give me a warning?"
"..." Lucina shook her head. "Every time I interfere, my knowledge of the future grows less. There is something I want to tell you, but I shall save it for a better time."
"I see." Robin said. "Thank you. You might not have known much, but I now know at least I have no outstanding loyalty or debts to pay for. And that relieves me greatly. I shall be on my way."
"Wait." Lucina called.
"Yes?" Robin asked, turning around.
"We are no longer enemies. But – I still cannot be friends with you." Lucina said. "I hope you understand."
"I do." Robin nodded. "I can't pretend to know what secrets you possess, Foreseer, but I understand if you hold secrets that prevent you from forming closer bonds with the people around you."
"Very well." Lucina asked. "I overhead your conversation to yourself. Where you serious? About – about Emmeryn's sacrifice, and ending the cycle?"
"Possibly." Robin said. "But I do know one thing. There are always those who are willing to take advantage of the weak, no matter what happens to the cycle. Gangrel was forcibly slain by Chrom's hand, after all. In Valm, that one is Walhart. And someone must defeat him."
"So you shall defeat him?"
"I shall crush him." Robin said. "And after that? We shall see. I am not Exalt Emmeryn, after all. I am Count Robin Obsidian, Battlemaster of Valm. If the duty of the strong is to protect the weak, then no doubt the duty of the strong is also to be able to protect the weak."
"So you will conquer the world?" Lucina asked.
"If I said yes, we would be enemies again. And while we aren't friends, I do hope we aren't enemies either." Robin shrugged. "So I will say nothing. Fare thy well, Foreseer. May your blade stay ever-sharp. I hope we meet again under better circumstances."
"Fare thy well, Battlemaster." Lucina nodded. "It's good to see you again. And, remember the butterfly. Do not fall to despair, fall to hope instead."
-Raven's Pledge, Off the coast of Ferox-
"…" Robin blinked. "Captain Dan?"
"Aye."
"Why is there a witch tied up on my mast?"
"It wasn't by choice, I assure you." Aversa said. "I don't mind attracting the eyes of men, but I prefer doing it on my terms."
Robin's eyes narrowed. "The only thing keeping you alive right now is the fact that you're tied to my mast, so burning you would light my own ship on fire."
Aversa closed her mouth.
"Wise choice." Robin crossed his arms and tapped his fingers. "Captain Dan?"
"She, uh, offered to surrender to us." Captain Dan said. "So we took it."
"Okay." Robin rolled his eyes. "Aversa, why are you here?"
"I'm switching sides, alright?" Aversa said. "He's insane."
"Who is?"
"The new king of Plegia." Aversa winced. "Validar. Suffice to say, I'm at your disposal for the time being. Honestly, I have no intention of helping him."
"Well, this is surprising. I mean, I know you swore loyalty to me." Robin frowned. "I just never thought you meant it."
"Trust me, I'm surprised to." Aversa laughed bitterly. "Master Validar raised me as a pitiful orphan. Harshly, but still raised me nonetheless. I thought my loyalty to him was strong beyond compare. I blindly followed his orders."
"Oh?" Robin raised an eyebrow. "What changed?"
"I discovered the truth." Aversa spat. "The new hierophant of the Grimleal. He told me everything. Validar found me as a child, alright – and slaughtered my village. My parents included. All for my gift, so desperate Validar was to have a shadowgifted child, especially when his own child was spirited away by his wife. The hierophant thought it was funny to tell me that and said that while I was needed at one point, I was no longer needed. Do you understand? They pulled my strings like a puppet on a stage, and now they've decided that it's a different play. And they couldn't even be bothered to kill me!"
Wow. Robin blinked as his internal monologue switched on. That … is considerably worse than what happened to Ravena. If it weren't for Plegia surrendering en masse at the end of the last war, I'd burn the country to the ground. Well … maybe just the capitol and everyone with a position of power. I mean, I'd leave the common people, but I'd move them somewhere else, where that kind of think wouldn't go unchallenged.
"And you want a way to get back at them?" Robin asked, careful to keep the anger out of his words. It's best if she doesn't know I'm sympathetic to her. For now.
"In my experience, revenge isn't best served cold, it's best served often and in large, heaping quantities." Aversa's eyes flashed. "And you seem like someone who'd be willing to help me."
"I see. You're shadowgifted?" Robin said.
"Yes." Aversa said. "Though gift isn't exactly the word I would use. I've always considered a blessing to help Master Validar, but now it's nothing more than a curse. Unless you help me."
"Help you do what?" Robin asked. "Why would I even help you to begin with?"
"Don't give me that! I'm no fool." Aversa said. "You didn't get where you are by playing nice, and you aren't one to be content with what you are now. One day, you'll crush Plegia and the Grimleal, and I want to be there for it."
"I see." Robin paused. "Why would the hierophant tell you this? Even with no use for you, to discard you like that seems like just a waste, or the hierophant being evil for the sake of being evil. And neither one sufficiently explains it."
"I don't know." Aversa said, truthfully. "Your guess is as good as mine."
"You expect me to trust you?" Robin asked. "Under these circumstances-"
"No. I expect you to torture me." Aversa said. "Go ahead. I don't care how – as long as you wreak vengeance on Validar. He took everything from me and raised me as his puppet! If there's one thing I can do with this wretched life, it'll be to kill him!"
"Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned." Robin noted. If what she's saying is true, then she'll make a fine lieutenant. Devious, and perfectly loyal, so long as I eliminate this 'Validar'. And, if what she's saying is true, I'll have reason to kill Validar anyways.
"Very well." Robin said. "Captain. Confine her to quarters. Allow her the bare minimum of water but no food. And be a gentleman about it, please."
"Aye." Captain Dan said, gesturing to the sailors.
"And see what you can do about providing her suitable clothing." Robin said, calling after him. "We have spare cloaks, right? One of those should do it."
"Are you actually going through with this?" Say'ri asked. "Torturing her, I mean."
"I don't know." Robin sighed. "She did give permission, and I have no other way."
"You are willing to torture someone in cold blood."
"I'm willing to kill someone in cold blood." Robin countered. "Is that so different?"
"Aye. Killing is necessary."
"The same could be said for anything, really." Robin said. "But I see your point. Yes, torture just for the sake of sadism is nothing short of a war crime, but it may be necessary here. Can you really disagree with it?"
"I cannot disagree with the point you have raised, but my lack of sophistry does not turn an evil into a good." Say'ri replied.
In other words, just because she can't argue with me doesn't make me right. Robin translated mentally. "That argument can be applied to any necessary evil. If you believe that, you might as well believe in platonic ideals and that things are either good or evil, with no gray in between." Robin said. "And I am far beyond that. If the evil is necessary, that makes it different from any other evil."
"How difficult would it be to argue that any evil is necessary?" Say'ri asked.
"Nope. Not going down that line of thought." Robin scowled. "You do realize that what you're saying is that I can argue anything to be necessary, but only certain things within that set are actually necessary, but no one can figure out what those are?"
"Aye."
"Then who am I supposed to be accountable to?"
"Yourself?" Say'ri said. "An intrinsic component to mastering the blade is the knowledge of when to draw it, or when not to draw it. I cannot imagine a tactician of your caliber would not know when to employ such tactics or not."
"Unless I lost them to amnesia."
"Ah." Say'ri sighed. "Then I am at a lost as well."
"Great." Robin sighed too. "I genuinely thought we'd get somewhere. Serves me right for trying to figure out something." Wait – figure out something. That's right, I thought Aversa might know about the Fire Emblem. "Actually, I have an idea..."
-Raven's Pledge, Guest Cabin-
"Come to visit me alone~?" Aversa said. "Rumors will spread..."
"Please. I have a fiancé." Robin waved his hand. "Nobody will suspect anything of the honorable Count Obsidian."
"Ah. So who is my rival?"
"Is the flirtatious nature just part of you?"
"Why not?" Aversa shrugged. "Some people are sarcastic, some are angry. Some are quiet, some are loud. I just like talking like this, I suppose."
"You mean talking in a way which has men falling over themselves to please you?"
"Well, that is how I prefer them." Aversa said. "It's really no different from how you like messing with people's minds."
"Well, I suppose that's true." Robin laughed. "Although apparently we aren't supposed to do that in normal conversations."
"Bah." Aversa chuckled. "When do people like us have normal conversations?"
"Fair point." Robin said. "Alright. So, I came to give you an ultimatum. The first option is we continue as planned. I deprive you of sustenance until we get to Valm, at which point I let the experts take over and torture you until we know for sure what side you're on. Needless to say, this is the non-pleasant option, and one we'd really like to avoid."
"We, being you and the cute Chon'sin?"
"We, being me and my barely-used conscious." Robin said. "The second option is that we accept you as a defector, cite a few obscure laws, and you get rapidly promoted to one of my aides."
"Well, that sounds substantially better."
"There's one caveat." Robin said. "I need to you tell me everything, and I mean everything about the Fire Emblem. One lie, one omission, anything, and we will go directly back to option one. And I'm the judge of the whether or not you lied."
"Understood." Aversa said. "My, you just don't waste time, do you? Very well, the Fire Emblem. How much do you know?"
"For the purpose of this conversation, absolutely nothing. But I assure you, I know enough to know if you're giving me nothing but cattle dung." Robin said, folding his arm and sat down. "Give it to me, straight. What's the Fire Emblem?"
"It is known by many names, but the two most popular are the Shield of Seals, or the Fire Emblem." Aversa said. "I've gone through both the Grimleal and Ylisseans lore on this matter. It was created by Naga for the sole purpose of sealing the dragon Medeus."
"Medeus?" Robin frowned. "Now there's a name I'm unfamiliar with."
"The progenitor to Grima." Aversa frowned. "There's some legends about a necromancer named Thabes and I'm not sure he knew what he was doing, but just consider Medeus and Grima the same, for the sake of this conversation. In addition, a terrible curse was also placed on the Fire Emblem, though I'm not quite sure how. The act of giving it inflicts the giver with a terrible curse. Emmeryn likely sealed her own fate when she gave it to Chrom – and she knew it."
"I haven't heard that." Robin frowned. "A curse?"
"Remarkably few have." Aversa said. "Also, while it is a key factor in both Awakening rituals, few also realize that it's not just a conversation piece to wave about during the ritual. It's the alternate title, the Shield of Seals, which reveals its true purpose. It can create and undo magical binding locks. It can undo the locks which prevent the true power of Naga entering the Exalts, or the true power of Grima entering the Fellblood. In fact, the Fire Emblem can unlock just about anything."
"I had an odd reaction to the red gemstone." Robin frowned. Might as well ask her. "It released memories and gave me access to skills I didn't have. I also suffer from amnesia. Do you think they're related?"
"What?" Aversa blinked. "I mean … maybe. I'm really not sure, I've never heard of that, obviously, but I supposed if someone magically locked your memories, then the power of the Fire Emblem would override it, at least to some extent. But who would do something like that?"
"…I would." Robin said. It makes sense, not from a logical perspective, but honestly, who else would have the motive or ability to do that? I don't know the motive, and I can only guess how, but for some reason, I wanted to have that happen. "I mean, there really aren't any other possibilities. Anyway, what do you mean by 'both Awakenings'?"
"Well, that's the real question, isn't it? Exalt Chrom can summon the power of Naga within him, giving him the power to seal Grima away. However, someone with the blood of Grima can summon the Fell Dragon back to the world, not merely the ability to seal Naga." Aversa said. "And, yes, that is because the Fellblood lineage literally contains the blood of Grima within it. Thabes was … overenthusiastic … with his experiments. Much to the Grimleal's delight."
"So, Validar is going to summon Grima into him."
"Of course not." Aversa said. "Validar doesn't have just the right blood for it. That responsibility is the Fellborn's, and the Fellborn's alone."
"The 'Fellborn'?"
"A messiah of the Grimleal. The downside to the Plegian's version of the ritual is that the additional power comes with an additional cost. The cost of perfect blood. The Fellborn is the perfect Fellblood, the only one able to actually accomplish the ritual." Aversa said. "His presence would mean the coming of Grima. The entirety of the Fell Dragon. And, not twenty-five years ago, he was born."
"What." Robin stared. His mind started racing. A threat of this magnitude means that any time the Plegians get the Fire Emblem gives them assured and total victory. It's a game where Plegia only needs to win once and we only win when we keep them from winning. Forever. All priorities shifted towards preventing this. "Where. Is. The. Fellborn."
"He's dead." Aversa said, bluntly. "Killed by the last Exalt at the end of his crusade. An innocent babe murdered in cold blood. Why do you think the Plegians wanted to go to war against Ylisse? And why do you think Emmeryn's death had so much impact? A life for a life, Count."
"Why haven't I heard about this?"
"Do you have any loyal followers of the Grimleal? Oh, you don't?" Aversa said. "No wonder. We don't readily share out secrets with outsiders. But, yes, the tale of murdered messiah is a large part of Plegian resentment to Ylisse, though, like I said, the death of Emmeryn helped quell the need for vengeance."
That will be easy enough to check with my agents in Plegia. Robin inhaled deeply to regain control of himself. "And the Fellborn's parents?"
"His father was Validar." Aversa said. "I was told his mother was dead before I joined the Grimleal. I do not know how she died, but it was either of natural causes or Ylissean assassins. Validar would have wanted her alive, of course, for reason I care not to enumerate. He was never a gentleman."
Of course. I'm sure they viewed the mother as nothing more than breeding stock. Validar will die. Robin shook his head. And Ylisse probably was the cause of her death as well. I do not envy the position of the previous Exalt. As it stands, with the Fellborn and his mother dead, we do not have to worry about the world being destroyed in a dragon armageddon. And all it costed was two innocent lives. It's quite easy now to castigate blame over the actions, but I suspect most of those doing so would rather an evil man perform those actions and criticize him, rather than the evil man not exist and be forced to deal with the outcome.
In other words, would even those who frown at necessary evil, and call it 'unnecessary' prefer it not exist at all? Then we would be facing a catastrophic event threatening to annihilate humanity as we know it. Robin frowned. These aren't nice questions to contemplate, but certainly necessary. But for another time.
"Thank you for telling me that." Robin asked. "Regardless. The Fire Emblem can only work with all six gemstones, correct?"
"There are five." Aversa smiled. "You think you have gotten me with a trick like that? Shame on you. Unless you do actually know about a secret, sixth one."
"No, I only know five. That was a trick." Robin said. If I believed in six, gathering five together wouldn't have been a problem. "Continue."
"They are called Gules, Sable, Vert, Argent, Azure." Aversa rolled her eyes. "Or just Red, Black, Green, Silver, Blue, if you don't feel like using fancy names. Anyway, Silver is with the actual Fire Emblem itself. I think Red, Green, and Blue are with the Valmese Empire, but you'd know better than I."
"I would, yes." Robin nodded. Slightly wrong about that one, but I won't tell her that.
"Black is with Validar." Aversa said. "Hidden within a vault."
"You couldn't steal it with you?"
"Me?" Aversa shook her head. "Validar and the Hierophant are the only two allowed in."
"Mmm." Dant won't be able to get it, then. Not without help. Robin considered. "That's … beyond my reach. But maybe I can get to the rest of them. I'll be able to get some of my memories back, at any rate. I see. Is there anything else you want to tell you?"
"Nothing." Aversa shook her head. "Nothing related to the Fire Emblem, at any rate. I can give you troop strengths, economy, intelligence, all sorts of information regarding Plegia itself."
"Why did Gangrel seek the Fire Emblem?"
"Mistaken belief." Aversa shrugged. "The legend says that it fulfills the wishes of whoever possesses it. Gangrel just wanted it to protect Plegia against Valm. The irony of course being that if he'd just said that in the first place, Emmeryn would have helped him, at least to some degree. Of course, Gangrel inherited the paranoia of his predecessors. Such a pity."
"Oh. One last thing." Robin said. "Can't believe I almost forgot. This, ah, crystal I've been using to communicate with you? Can you make more of them?"
"Certainly. But they only work if a shadowgifted is at the end of it." Aversa shrugged. "Sorry about that. And while I will help you, I have no desire to be an overglorified messenger."
"You will do what I ask, if you are to join me. I have no patience for those without discipline." Robin said, slowly. "In any event, I've come to a decision."
