-Excellus's Former Mansion-
"Who are you? All I'm interested in is that one answer to one simple question." Robin said, eye burning with spectral Ignis fire. "Oh. And here's another one: WHY DID YOU THINK THAT TRYING TO TAKE OVER MY LIFE WAS A GOOD IDEA!?"
"Why, what an odd question." The imposter Robin smirked. "My name is Robin, and I'm not trying to take over your life. I'm merely trying to take over mine."
"Under normal circumstances, I'm the type of person to appreciate the dedication of a doppelganger, not to mention that I do like keeping things professional myself." Robin said. "But you've alienated my girlfriend and yelled at my daughter. You've made this personal. You're not going to be getting my good side. I'm going to give you one last chance before I very painfully render your existence null and void. Who are you?"
"I suppose a straightforward answer isn't too much to ask of me." The imposter Robin shrugged. "Very well, Robin. I'll answer all your questions. After all, I foresee us getting along very well."
"My foot. Your face." Robin said through gritted teeth. "That's about all the getting along we're ever going to have."
"So uncivil!" The imposter said. "I'm going to introduce myself, could you at least have a modicum of respect or even civility?"
"You've done absolutely nothing to deserve as such." Robin said. "Honestly, the fact that you're talking is the only thing keeping you alive right now. And if you don't say something I want to hear within the next ten seconds, I'm just going to let my emotions get the better of me and violently carve you apart. Now. Give. Me. Your. Name."
"Well, I'd rather not start us off on the wrong foot, but I suppose it can't be helped under these circumstances." The imposter Robin said. "I've gone by different names and titles over the years, but my most recent name is Robin Wormtongue. At least, that's the name of the body I inhabit, which happens to be the same as yours. I've also been called Medeus, though in this time and place I am known by a different name altogether. You know me as Desert Hawk the Hierophant, however, the name I think you would know me most well by is Grima. And I am the Fell Dragon."
"The-" Robin winced as the other Robin locked eyes with him. He suddenly caught a sharp glimpse beneath his duplicate's eyes, a gargantuan six-winged dragon, a maw ready to swallow and devour and six red lights for eyes. A giant writhing mass of raw power coiled beneath the surface of the imposter, dark magic and cruel power waiting for an excuse to be allowed to roam free. "No. That's impossible! Even if you mimic my looks, you can't mimic my makeup! I'm the only Fellblood, and the Dragon's Table no longer exists."
"True." Grima said. "In this time and place. But we can discuss the details of my origin later. As for why I 'tried to take over your life', actually, that was merely a deception on my part. In truth I was merely trying to get your attention. I've been paying close attention to you for quite a while, ever since you disappeared after the Grand Treaty. I needed to talk to you at some point, and we were getting distressingly close to the time of the Victory Celebration. Normally, I can track your little warp spell, but you stopped using it about six months ago and I was getting desperate."
"What game are you playing at?" Electricity crackled around Robin.
"Calm down." Grima said. "I said that I was going to answer your questions, didn't I?"
"I should trust someone who tried to replace me!?" Robin demanded. "Besides, you just admitted that you're the Fell Dragon! Give me one good reason why I shouldn't immolate you right now!"
"I assure me, I mean you no harm. I do apologize for impersonating you: but that was just to lure you out. I really had no other choice, and I simply had to meet you." Grima said. "You must have questions. Just be aware that, despite my intentions, I'm quite aware that this will end in another clash between us. I'm more than willing to answer your question and you probably won't get another opportunity. My advice to you is to simply ask away before we clash blades, if at all."
Analysis. Robin grit his teeth. I felt the powerful aura of a dragon just now, and that was the Mark of Grima. It's possible that he's telling the truth. Not to mention that he's correct – if he's willing to give me information right now, I can save the fight for later. Delaying doesn't help either of us – he's screwed if anyone sees two Robins fighting each other and I don't have any allies in the city who can help me. Yet … if he's willing to freely give out information, there must be a reason for it. And that reason can't be good if indeed he is Grima.
So, kill him now and ignore what he has to say? Robin considered the possibility. No. That cuts against my grain as a tactician. Knowledge is power, and the more knowledge I have, the more power I have. There's nothing he could tell me that would put me in a more disadvantageous position. Alright. If he's going to answer anything I have to ask, then I'll clear up the massive contradiction here and see what that turns out.
"Fine. You claim to be Grima. But that's impossible." Robin said. "Grima is sealed away and can only be summoned using a method which doesn't exist, and that's into me. Explain that."
"Certainly." Grima said. "You'll notice that you left out another contradiction – that I claim to be you. Well, it's like this. Are you familiar with Lucina?"
"Lucina, the Foreseer? Or Chrom's daughter, Lucina?"
"Yes." Grima chuckled. "Foreseer. She's cute, that one, taking up that name. No, she's no Foreseer. A more accurate term would be 'Past-seer'. Or, come to think of it, 'Historian'. 'Lucina the Historian'! Now there's a title that you wouldn't ever think to put on that tomboy, but it is the most accurate. A historian is what you call someone who know history, after all. She doesn't know the future, Robin. She knows history."
"How could she-"
"Because she's Chrom's daughter. Surely, you've met her? The young Lucina and the elder Lucina are the same woman. One just happens to be from a good decade or so into the future, having been sent to the past. Lucina the Historian comes from the future, Robin." Grima said. "It's how she knows everything. Or, well, a lot of things."
"She comes from the future? No, not just her. That group of hers as well." Robin blinked. His mind raced, pulling various threads together. Lucina's companions, her knowledge and reluctance to use it, her distrust of him and attempted murder. It all fit together. Time travel? No one even considered it, because it was impossible. But if it was true… there were two important points. One, a lot of things he didn't understand suddenly made sense. The second-
"That means you're me. You are me." Robin realized. "You're the version of me from Lucina's future that went through the ritual and became the Fell Dragon, Grima. You're the me that Lucina was trying to stop. She didn't foresee me becoming the Fell Dragon. She came from a world where it already happened. No wonder she tried killing me when we met. I presume that means she doesn't know about you?"
"Correct. I traveled to the past under my own power." Grima agreed. "Unfortunately, the trip has left me a little weary. Lucina knows nothing of my existence in this time."
"Yeah." Robin said. "Right. I definitely sympathize with her then. But I've gotten over the whole concept of killing myself. So, you've got my attention. Now, what do you want with it, you utter fool?"
"Is that how you talk to your god?" Grima chuckled.
"Let me be clear: I collapsed a mountain because I wanted nothing to do with you. You are no god. And, even as we speak, I'm coming up with plans to kill you." Robin said. "And it's equally clear that you want something from me. What. Do. You. Want. From. Me."
"Nothing." Grima said. "I came to offer you a chance. This is a courtesy, nothing more. I wish for you and I to become one. Accept the power of Grima and Awaken alongside me. It's entirely up to you to accept or not."
"That's impossible." Robin flatly stated. "The Awakening cannot be done."
"Nothing is impossible, tactician, merely difficult." Grima said. "My early attempt to do as such is what wiped your memory clean. But, should you join me, then we'll be able to manage it, even without the Fire Emblem and the Dragon's Table. Those were only necessary for the first Awakening. But now that it's been done, it should be trivial to do it again."
"Wait." Robin blinked. "Are there two of you? There's two Lucinas. If I go through with this ritual, would you be the one possessing my body, or the Grima from my time?"
"Please don't refer to it as possession." Grima said. "The process is called Awakening, after all. Think of it as a melding of minds or an enlightening. Similarly, it makes no difference as to how many Grimas there are – the Grima from your time is not different from me, save for the knowledge I possess. And the power we possess is intrinsic connected between us. We're functionally the same entity."
"And you want me to join this entity?"
"Yes." Grima said. "We're quite alike. I don't need you, of course, but I saw what you were capable of in Valm. How could I not invite you to join me? Like I told you, I have no intention of harming you. Agree to join me, and I'll step right back out of your way."
"Join you." Robin said flatly. "As in, join you and become a dark dragon would-be god who wants to bring about the destruction of all of humanity."
"Not to put too fine of a point on it, but…" Grima considered. "No, that is more or less exactly how I would have put it."
"Why do you need to do the Awakening again if you've already done it?" Robin asked.
"Ah." Grima nodded sagely. "Looking for an insight on how to defeat me? I don't mind, it's what I would do in your place. True, the Awakening has been performed … but I'm somewhat short on power. I need more mana, so I must perform the ritual again – not to Awaken myself, certainly, but just to gain more power. That was the point of the Dragon's Table after all – a feast fit for a Fell Dragon."
"Tell me, what's the master plan if I join you?" Robin said. "I more or less understand what your plan is, but I don't what your intentions are. You turned into me to draw me out of hiding and now you want us to join together. Then what? We destroy the world, and recreate it in our image?"
"And why not?" Grima offered his hand to Robin. "Join me. I offer unlimited power to accompany the vision that you have as the Battlemaster of Valm. All your dreams can be made into reality, all you have to do is just join me."
"Let me make this as clear as possible." Robin slapped the hand away. "Rot in hell, Fell Dragon. I'm not joining you. Not today, not ever."
"Oh." Grima looked at his stricken hand and turned to Robin, looking sad. "Why not?"
"Why not? Are you joking? In case you haven't notice – we're horrible people!" Robin said. "I have a measurement system for how likely my closest friends and allies will betray me. I have people trying to assassinate me because they're assuming that I'm working towards the schemes that I just use to cover my real schemes. Every single advancement in rank I've gotten was because I've been responsible for the death of the person to hold the rank previously. I spent the last five years in self-imposed exile because I thought my very presence was a liability when Valm wasn't engaged in all-out war. And that was before any Fell-Dragon-related possessions. WE ARE NOT A GOOD PERSON!"
"…I see." Grima sighed. "I had thought … no, that was very presumptuous of me. I was hoping your time among Valm would have opened your eyes a bit more, but you still cling to your childish naivety."
"Not wanting to join forces with an evil dark dragon and destroy the word is 'childish naivety'!?"
"So we're evil." Grima shrugged. "There are many kinds of evil, Robin, just as there many kinds of good. And to equate them all to each other might as well as just draw a line in the middle of a continent and declare one side to be right and the other to be wrong. Pointless, futile, and more wrong than any kind of individual wrong any good or evil could be.
There are evils that are necessary, just as there are goods that are not. Crusaders for justice, tempered with naught a concern for the reasons behind the crimes are just as bad as those who deny all the folly of evil that they do. I do not argue that what I do is not evil – indeed, those who claim themselves 'beyond' good and evil may as well declare themselves 'beyond' right and left. Instead, I claim that while I can be labeled evil, the evil I bring is not the kind of evil that you fight.
Twisted darkness, the kind that Validar possessed. The fanatic cultic devotion, regardless of sacrifice made to achieve the zealot's ends. That is an evil that I am not. The dark passion that drove the Mad King. That was a thirst for vengeance, blood for blood. Revenge is something neither of us believe in, Robin. It's merely the emotional aspect of sunken costs."
"So what are you?" Robin demanded. "What kind of evil is that evil that wakes up and decides to annihilate a world!?"
"I am that which keeps you from your peace. I am the knowledge of the true nature of man. I am the breath of ruin that will inhabit the earth when the time of mortals have passed. I am many things, Robin, but only we can truly grasp what I truly mean." Grima smiled. "You've seen it, have you not? The nature of man. You've spent your entire life, from regaining your memories in the quest that you, Walhart, Chrom, Emmeryn, and countless others have embarked.
Yet you've wondered, haven't you? Always a nagging feeling at the back of your head. How can you do it if they can't? We're special, Robin. But not that special. Despite the efforts of the greatest people you know, and the people throughout history – Marth, Alm, Anri, to name a few – nothing has changed. All they've done is delay the inevitable."
"That isn't true!" Robin jabbed at Grima with his finger. "Just because you can name people means nothing! And you've been at the cause of most of those conflicts!"
"I haven't." Grima shook his head. "In case you haven't been paying attention to history, I haven't been able to interact with it for one thousand years. And during that period, have wars ceased? No. True, there were those who fought in the name of Medeus, but if not for Medeus, they would have fought in the name of someone else. Do not blame me for the evils within man. And where evil exists, only one outcome is certain."
"Do you expect me to believe you?"
"You already do." Grima said. "You haven't asked me what I mean by the inevitable, and I've never specified it. You understand. Say it with me. The inevitable is the…"
"Collapse of all of humanity." Robin said, gritting his teeth. "It doesn't matter how high we climb, if we fall under once – once! – then all we've done and all we've ever done will all be for naught. The ultimate game of chance. No matter how unlikely tails is, if it's flipped once, the game is over."
"And the odds of tails being flipped?" Grima asked, smiling. "The odds of the utter destruction of humanity?"
"Infinitesimally small." Robin said. "Less than a percent of a percent of a percent, and possibly smaller, but that's so small there's not point of calculating how much smaller."
"And yet, that small number may be the largest number to ever exist." Grima smiled. Robin found his heart beating. "For as long as that number exists, that means the fall of humanity is certain. I don't seek to annihilate a world. I see a world that will be annihilated, and I want to change it. That's what I am, Robin. That's what we are. The breath of ruin. The wings of despair. The certainty of the dark night. Ruin incarnate. WE. ARE. GRIMA."
"You want to change the world by destroying it. Well, I'm not going to join you." Robin said. "I'll never join you."
"Funny, that's what Say'ri said to you. And Cherche. And Aversa. And Virion." Grima laughed. "Really? I said we didn't fall for the sunk cost fallacy, Robin. Recognize it – we are the only avenue that embraces the true nature of everything."
"Well, that's utterly nihilistic-" Robin started.
"BLAME REALITY!" Grima moved incredibly fast, grabbing Robin by his throat and slamming him against the wall behind him. Robin noticed tears in the man's eyes. "Why must I be the villain when the world is to blame? You know that it's true! You know the world, you know it like I do. You can't not, with all that I've done to help you. That's why I did it! I don't want to possess you, Robin. Not when we're the same person, and all I am is the you with more knowledge! When you served the idealist Chrom, you couldn't see the truth, but now…? I want you to see what I see. I need you to see what I see."
Grima let go of him. Robin rose slowly, regaining his breathing. Grima hadn't tried choking him, but it wasn't easy to breathe, nonetheless. Grima gestured around him. "Because, after all, what do you see that I don't?"
"Nothing." Robin admitted.
"Then what do you know that I don't?" Grima asked.
"Nothing."
"Then what do you believe in that I don't?" Grima demanded.
"…Nothing."
"Thrice I asked, thrice I was answered." Grima said, looking Robin so their identical eyes met. "So, after all that, tell me. What is the difference between me and you?"
"Nothing." Robin looked away.
"That is correct. Nothing." Grima said. "You are me, and I am you."
"Is there truly no hope?" Robin asked. He had lost some of his voice. "None whatsoever?"
"We both know the answer to that." Grima said. "Without our interference the world will fall to chaos. In fact, without our interference, it already would have. A world which we never existed is one were Ylisse and Plegia bled themselves dry for the second time in a century, then Valm sweeping through the continent, before falling to inevitable civil war."
Robin didn't even need to perform his basic series of calculations to determine Grima was right. Without Robin, no time loop would occur, so Lucina wouldn't be around as a foreseer. If he didn't exist, in all likelihood, a raging war would sweep the continents. Valm's sheer numbers would win the day, before it split apart when someone (presumably Excellus) inevitably attempted to betray Walhart. Even if that failed, in the unlikely event that Valm's immense size didn't crack under its own weight during Walhart's reign, it'd do so upon his death.
The weight crashed into him. It wasn't that Robin didn't know it. It was that he'd never wanted to face the combination of facts and had locked the knowledge deep within his mind.
He dropped to his knees, gasping for breath.
"Lies are beautiful things, Robin." Grima smiled. "They are what allow the rest of humanity to survive and to block off the abyss of despair. But someone like you, Robin? You can't hide behind that shroud. Your intellect and understanding lets you see the naked truth in its raw glory. Death and ruin come for all. Why bother fighting it? Join me, Robin."
-?-
"He's right." Robin stared. He was back inside his mind, somehow. The place he wound up when he was on the verge of dying. But now it seems that he ended up there even though he'd suffered to physical injury. Was this worse? Maybe not. But at least the equivalent. "Grima is … right. I should join him. Start the whole world over, make it right this time... as if he'd actually listen to me. I don't know if I believe that. But … what other choice do I have?"
There's always a choice.
"No. There always looks like there's a choice."
So what's the false choice here, then? Surely you don't believe Grima's lies.
"He has not done so once."
He lies in his assumptions.
"What do you mean?"
One day at a time, Robin. That's the truth.
"I … don't understand…"
Infinity? Guaranteed ruin? Despair? That's not the truth. There was someone standing behind him, talking to him. The truth is that the we're pretty resilient. And the reason for that is because we're back by each other. Strength is found in numbers, but not the kind of numbers that monster is talking about. Infinity? Do you think Grima even knows what day tomorrow is?
"No."
Exactly. That dragon bastard likes talking a big game. But the thing is that he's never seen things from our perspectives. He's kind of limited that way. He's only ever looked at one as a number that makes up other numbers. The voice chuckled. Of course, I'm kind of limited, too. Now, get up.
"Are you Naga?" Robin slowly got up, finding himself back-to-back with the individual talking to him. "This isn't the first time we met, is it?"
For a tactician, you seem pretty unaware that you aren't supposed to put yourself in danger. The reply came with a chuckle. I thought I'd never have to do this, but you keep putting yourself in harm's way. The past few times I just took you here and you did the rest. But now it seems like I've got to put effort in. What a chore.
"And where is 'here'?"
Your heart of hearts, of course. Think of me as the conscious you used to have before Grima wiped away your memories, if that helps. It's close enough that it might as well be the truth. The voice told him. What's your purpose, Robin?
"It's to leave this world better than I found it."
Seems like a pretty attainable goal to me. You've already done it.
"But what if it all becomes naught in a hundred years?" Robin said. "What if it's all for nothing?"
Don't you remember what Lucina told you? The answer's there, somewhere.
"Can't you just tell me?"
Like I said, I'm limited too. What meaning would it have if I just told you the answer?
"And what meaning would we have if everything where just given to us?" Robin asked, slowly. "None, right? Everything we've taken so far, we've earned. And if we've earned it, then that is what gives it meaning. No matter what happens before, no matter what happens after, that moment. That's where you find it. Meaning."
And what meaning is that, Robin? Despair?
"No…" Robin said, softly, in the faintest of whispers. "It's hope."
-Excellus's Former Mansion-
"Honestly, you should be thanking me." Grima said. "It was I who started those proxy rebellions in Valm back while you served under Walhart. I was the one who manipulated the Archaneain war into starting, as you so realized. I've been trying to help you as much as I could, and as much as you would let me, of course. You weren't ripe enough for me to tell you the truth, and you were so paranoid at that point, you wouldn't have trusted me at all."
"Is… is that so…?" Robin asked, slowly getting up. "All those machinations were you, huh?"
"No, I wouldn't say that. I merely took advantage of the evils present within man." Grima said. "You did quite a bit of work on the rebellions in Valm yourself, so that wasn't hard. The war across continents was a bit harder to start, especially once you decided not to seize power for yourself. A few well-placed lies to the wrong ears, and the rest was history. I must admit that I was disappointed in your choice to destroy myself and the table, but at the time I chalked it up to the fact that you weren't interest in sharing powers with a rival. But now you know the truth. And once you know the truth … there's no way to unknow it."
"I understand."
"Of course you do." Grima said. "I'm not your enemy, Robin. I never have been. All this time I've been trying to help you."
"Of course ... you've been trying to help…" Robin chuckled darkly. "You … you really don't understand us humans, do you? You aren't me… No… you lie, Grima."
"I do not!" Grima snarled. "I do not lie!"
"No… of course you do." Robin laughed. Suddenly, the stark reality of Grima seemed to vanish beneath motes of shimmering life as Robin embraced the truth that he had just learned. "What you think is the truth couldn't be more wrong, and that is the basis for all your falsehoods. Tell me, Grima. Before I give you my answer, I want to know one thing. Have you ever heard of the small creature called the butterfly?"
It was clear from the look of pure outrage on his double's face that Grima was, in fact, aware of the small creature called butterflies, and he was also aware of the long speech which came along with them. No doubt he'd heard of them during the time before he'd traveled to the present, and back when he fought Lucina. Grima's face contorted as the dark dragon in mortal guise raised his voice and snarled, howling forth in a voice composed of sheer hatred. "LUUUUUUCIIIIIIIINAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
"I'll take that as a yes. Needless to say, I'm not joining you. Not now, and not ever."
"I swear, no mortal has been as much of a thorn in my side as that one has been! I would have thought you better than to be ensnared by that harlot, but I seemed to have underestimated her charms." Grima snarled. "I can't wait to see the look of despair in her face when I finally snuff her life out like the flame from a -"
A blast of lightning engulfed him, sending the Grima-possessed body flying like a ragdoll.
"You mean something like that?" Robin asked. "Do me a favor and die, would you?"
"You dare-!"
"You're still alive. Yeah, I dare. Sorry, but I'm not about to let anything you want to happen. And I don't like it when my friends are insulted and threatened." Robin said, electricity crackling along his arm. He drew his spear. "We may have been one and the same at some point, but that's not the case any longer. I refuse to give in to despair, and I refuse to stop fighting.
You're wrong, Fell Dragon! The real truth isn't despair, it isn't ruin! It's that even a single human being living for even a single heartbeat is worth fighting for, and right now I'm fighting for humanity. The scales of human worth aren't zeroed or balanced right now. They're tipped so far into humanity's direction that it'd be worth it for us all to die a thousand thousand deaths, just for what we have now. You claim that the infinite is the singular despair that's the end of humanity. You're wrong. I claim the infinite is the beauty found in a single flap of the butterfly's wings. Nothing anyone has ever done has ever been for nothing! Look ahead if you want, but I'll look at the present! And in the present – you're meaningless."
"You damned idealist." Grima spat. "You naïve fool."
"You say those words like they're insults. Oh, and by the way? I'm stronger than you are right now. I've been fighting on and off the battlefield for my entire life, and I've been trained by the greatest warriors in Valm." Robin ignited the Ignis deep within him. "I don't know what kind of training you've been through in your timeline, but you don't stand a chance against me, even without my right eye!"
"You want to fight me?" Grima got a nasty glint in his eyes.
"Fight? No, this is going to be too one-sided to be called a real fight. What I'm going to do is beat my pasty-haired self-righteous despair-inducing jackass self into the ground." Robin set his feet, borrowing a sword stance for his spear thrust. "Now, draw your blade, you would-be Robin, so I can show you the difference between the two of us."
"I see we're going to have to do this the hard way. You seem to have forgotten what happened the last two times we fought." Grima laughed. "You were forced to use the most powerful spell in your arsenal the first time we fought and that was only a draw. And, just now, you flat-out lost. The only meaningful blow you landed was stealing my eyepatch."
"No…" Robin blinked. "Don't tell me … you're limited to that body's capabilities, aren't you?"
"My strength was mostly lost from the jump back through time, but it's nothing that can't be replenished by the devouring of a few thousand souls." Grima said. "But I'm just as skillful in this body as you are."
"Just as skillful!?" Robin threw back his head and laughed. "What kind of a weakling was I in the world that you were from? Both of those fights were just me assessing your abilities. I wasn't even trying. And especially not when I went up against Morgan – all those fights were just to see if she could figure out that you were an imposter. And if you couldn't even tell that…" Black flames lit up as Robin called forth his powers. "You don't stand a chance against my full strenght, Fell Dragon. Behold, the true power of the Crimson Battlemaster. Ignis… Nox."
"Curious." Grima drew his sword. "But your power is no match for that of a dark go-"
That was when Robin landed a haymaker straight into the Fell Dragon's face. Grima's neck snapped back. He jerked his head forward and swung his sword wildly, but nothing was in front of him. Robin had already moved behind him. Robin hit him in the small of his back with a vicious side kick and he lurched forward.
No match? Stuck up bastard. Robin thought. I'm going to enjoy this. His time in the Feroxi arenas had gifted him with a superior understanding of hand-to-hand, and he was just going to use it until Grima forced him to draw a weapon. Just to prove he could.
Grima spun around, cautiously taking steps backwards, holding his sword in a guard position as he took note of Robin behind him. Oh. He's analyzing my fighting style, is he? Seems like he's fighting like a cautious tactician might. Someone who's not used to fighting from the front.
Robin feinted high, and casually avoided the chop Grima attempted, the swing almost seeming to be in slow motion to him. He socked the dragon-possessed copy of him in the face once again. This time, his fist hit something solid, and his knuckles hurt. Robin looked to see black scales covering Grima's face.
Dragonscales? Robin considered, retreating to a safe distance. Of course Grima is going to have a trick or two up his sleeves. Those defensives aren't going to be easy to get through. Of course, 'not easy' isn't 'impossible'. I have not one, but two Spectrum techniques specially designed for cracking defensives.
Grima tried attacking again, but he might as well have been attacking the air. Robin saw every one of his attacks coming far in advance. Grima might have been calling out all of his attacks for all the good that would have done him. Of course. Grima uses the same sword-fighting style I do. In fact, I probably got mine from him – somehow. Grima hissed as he missed again.
"Come now, you're embarrassing yourself." Robin conjured electricity in his right hand and thrust it forward. The electricity blasted Grima, sending him flying like a limp ragdoll. "Surely you can do better than that?"
"YOU WILL FALL!" Grima howled.
"That skin of yours is pretty tough, but it definitely seems to me like you're hurt. Magic seems to be more effective than my raw fists." Robin flexed his bare hand. He'd scraped the knuckles, but that was it. "I should see if I can learn that someday. If you haven't figured it out yet, I'll tell you. Ignis fuels magic using strength and vice versa. Decent, yes. But I figured that why couldn't I boost all my abilities using that kind of power? Speed. Stamina. Skill. Dexterity. With this turned on, I see every move you're about to make and you might as well be moving in slow motion. Not to mention that I don't tire, and I don't miss."
Grima stepped towards him, drawing his sword back in preparation for an attack. Astra, then. Robin smirked. If your opponent could see the moves you were going to make, then why not use an attack he couldn't see? That's a decent plan for a second-rate tactician. Grima attacked, intending to perform five swipes of his blade within a second. Robin drew his spear with superior speed at the same time Grima attacked with the first swipe and shattered the blade effortlessly. Robin kicked into the now-weaponless Fell Dragon and sent his possessed doppelganger flying. But that's such an obvious ploy that anyone worth their salt would realize that I've developed a counter for it. Is Grima even thinking right now, or just acting on rage?
"I think we might as well finish this." Robin said, looking at the prone Grima. "Your dragonskin is impressive. But nothing I wasn't prepared to deal with. If I can't destroy the outside, I'm going to destroy the inside."
A red tome drifted out of his robes and floated between the two combatants. The pages ruffled once as the book flipped itself open, stopping to a page and illuminating itself in red as Robin summoned forth a matrix of power from the book.
"My most powerful spell? Flare alone isn't my most powerful spell. It's only when I combine it with the power of Luna is it truly the strongest weapon in my arsenal. Now, feel the raw power of untamed magic that can never be blocked or resisted." Robin thrust his right hand forward and held his right forearm in place with his left hand as the magic began to pool around his hand. "Pact unbidden, chains unforged, summons foregone, I command the magic pure!"
Magic gathered, but it warped as it did so, as if the magic was almost present and not present at the same time. Robin's right arm warped alongside it, flickering into and out of existence, and the tactician grimaced as he kept the form of the spell stable, focusing all of the magic he'd conjured and all the magic he didn't in one spot, aiming towards Grima.
"I'd tell you to pray, but you actually think you're a god, don't you, you deluded dragon freak? Well, let me test that out for you! Forbidden Fracture of Reality!" Robin cried out. "SCHRODINGER!"
The attack burst from Robin's hand as it flew through realities and possibilities. Grima may have possessed the scales of a dragon. But that was useless against an attack that existed yet didn't exist. Fire and magic bloomed out of and into other dimensions around Grima as the spell caught him and focused all of Robin's considerable magic energy into rebounding it across all possibilities until it incinerated the pretender wearing his face.
It wasn't something anyone could survive. Robin grinned as he watched the explosion overtake Grima. The explosion blew by Robin, ruffling his cloak and singing his skin, but Robin waited it out. As quick as it began, it was over. Robin lowered his still twitching hand and went to approach Grima. He sighed in relief. The Fell Dragon was dead. Very clearly so. The spell had incinerated the doppelganger, and now its skin was burnt almost clean off, with the rest a charred and ashen ruin. Robin cracked his fingers and prepared to blast the corpse with a wind spell to scatter the ashes to the winds.
"Honestly." Robin shook his head. "The hubris I must have had in that world, thinking that I could win this fight. I am Robin Obsidian of Valm, and I fear no man or beast. And I will not give in to despair."
"Not… yet…"
"You're still alive!?"
The corpse's eyes opened and Grima stood up, rapidly regenerating from his wounds. Robin began summoning lighting. Grima shook his head. "It's pointless to try. There is no damage you can do to this body which is beyond my ability to repair."
"We'll see about that." Robin summoned forth the spell as fast as he dared. "Forbidden Call of the Dark, Shatter-"
"Marionette." Grima cast the dark spell, waving his right hand. Robin suddenly felt himself freeze in place. Grima shook his head. "Maybe if I wanted to fight you, you'd win, but you are of my blood, you cannot fight me in the slightest."
"What…?"
"Honestly." Grima shook his head. "For someone who makes sure to walk around with half a deck of aces up his sleeves at all time, did it never occur to you that I had a trump card of my own?"
"I'll kill you!" Robin tried thrashing against the invisible bonds, but he couldn't move.
"Robin." Grima shook his head disapprovingly. "You should have run. I had the advantage here, clearly. I knew things you didn't, and I was the one with the plan. I may have underestimated you, true. But that's only a small drop in the bucket compared to how much you have underestimated me."
"For all your wanderings, you have yet to cure your hubris. And you dare accuse me of having it as well. It's almost comedic." The dark dragon laughed. "I knew that posing as you would draw you out, and furthermore, you'd be incapable of admitting to people that it was actually a fake. No, you'd want to deal with it yourself, without letting anyone know. Thus you face me alone. And, while I did think I would win the fight based on the previous ones we had, you should have known that I didn't know that at the time. In fact, I thought I might lose against you. Which is why I have insurance."
"A blood curse." Robin realized grimly.
"Exactly." Grima said. "Have you studied dark magic? Well, if you had, you'd know that you can use a blood of a relative to control that person."
"And I also know something else." Robin said. He reached down into himself and prepared for an attack. He'd only have one chance. "I know that if your will is stronger than your foe's, you can reverse the effects! You may control me, but I can reverse that and control you! Now, as the Crimson Demon Tactician, I order thee-"
His tongue stopped moving. His jaw locked up. His eyelids shot up and his neck turned, of its own accord, to look at Grima. The Fell Dragon's eyes were lit up with rage.
"DOES YOUR HUBRIS TRULY KNOW NO BOUNDS!? I AM AN ELDER DRAGON, FOOLISH MORTAL! FOR ALL YOUR ABILITIES, YOU MIGHT AS WELL BE A CHILD NEXT TO MINE!" Grima howled. "DID YOU HONESTLY THINK YOU HAD A STRONGER WILL THAN I? I, WHO SPENT NEARLY A MILLENIUM PLANNING THIS, AND YOU THINK A FOOLISH TACTICIAN WOULD BE ABLE TO SEIZE MY POWER? YOU ARROGANT MORTAL!"
