-Prison Cell, Undisclosed Location-
"I will kill you for this, you know."
"Please." Grima said, dismissing the threat with a wave. "How many times have you heard that said to you? Well take that number and triple it. That's the number of times someone has said that to me. Death threats to me are as refreshing as morning jog."
"Why are you here?" Robin wasn't in bad shape, but he was in a cell deep underground and that didn't improve his attitude. Even he wasn't sure of where exactly he was – the Empire kept multiple cells like the one he was in for dealing with high-level prisoners. There was also a sealing spell that kept him from accessing any hidden bit of magic or just warping out, even if he was capable of it. But he wasn't.
His weapons had been stripped from his. He couldn't summon Gungnir with the barrier in place, and the spear had been placed against the far wall so he could only gaze wistfully at it beyond the bars. His backup sword and tomes were there as well, and his gloves were on a table, along with his witch's blood amulet that let him warp. Robin was grateful that Grima hadn't destroyed it – Excellus had only had one extra and Robin didn't feel like sacrifice an innocent to make a new one.
"Well, I've come to tell you about my plan, of course." Grima said. "You know, there was a severe shortage of gloating opportunities back when I came from, and only someone like you would be able to fully appreciate my genius."
"I call smell the bull in that statement, you know. I'm not the type of person to gloat without cause. You're still trying to make me join you." Robin said defiantly, blowing a stray wisp of hair away from his face. "Why don't you just torture me until I'm insane, or something?"
"Why do you insist on fighting the inevitable?" Grima asked.
"Yeah, thought so." Robin said, leaning back in his bed. "You can't force me to join you, because that means you're wrong. You truly believe you're right and that I'll join you of my own volition given enough time."
"It is inevitable." Grima agreed.
"Going to have to disagree with you there, ya dragon dastard." Robin said. "Now, can you please leave this room so I can go back to escaping?"
"Surely you've realized that's hopeless."
"Listen." Robin got off his bed and stretched. He set a stance and let loose a powerful kick directly into the wrought bars that formed the cage. The bars sang from the impact but gave no give at all. Robin kept the stance and grinned at the Fell Dragon. "I can't very well claim to oppose you if I ever admitted to being hopeless."
"Those bars aren't made from your typical steel. Your legs will break before they do. And with your magic powers dampened, our bloodline magical abilities won't serve to help you much." Grima said. "Even I would have a problem breaking out of this cell."
"I'll take that into consideration when I break out and seal you away." Robin dropped his stance and sat back on the bed, cross-legged. "Though obviously I have no intention of sealing you. I'm going to kill you."
"Hmph. It's not like you can do either of those things. There is no being alive that can slay me against my will, and the only thing that can seal me is Chrom and that pesky sword of his." Grima said. "I should also say that the magic barrier in this room is also the only thing that's going to keep you alive, so I'd advise you against breaking it."
"Don't care." Robin replied. "You'll have to excuse my lack of interest, but I've resolved to give as little satisfaction as possible. So while I may be boiling with rage inside, I'm not going to exhibit any emotions. And you're no doubt boiling with a need to gloat, as you so put it, so why don't you make with the details?"
"Ah, yes." Grima smirked. "Let's begin with the details. The first is this – the Awakening is going right on schedule. I'll be back to my full power in no time."
"Impossible. I destroyed the Dragon's Table." Robin hissed. "The damned thing no longer exists, and even your spell power isn't strong enough to untangle that magical mess I've left behind in the spellbook explosion. At least, not this century. And you don't have the Fire Emblem or the Gemstones."
"Right, but here's the thing. I'm sure I told you this already, but I don't need either." Grima said. "I told you, they are unnecessary components once I've already been Awakened. There is still one more thing I need, but fortunately, it's not one in small supply."
"Yeah, I'm sure." Robin rolled his eyes. "What's it going to be, the blood of widows and orphans?"
"Excuse me!" Grima sounded offended. "What kind of a malicious bastard do you take me for? I'm no sadist to prey on those without any means of fighting back."
"Yeah, I'm really not sure how on earth I could have mistaken you for a heartless monster who would do that?" Robin said. "So, if it's not the blood of widows and orphans, what is it?"
"Well, it is going to be the blood of widows and orphans, but not exclusively the blood of widows and orphans." Grima explained. "There will be the blood of children that aren't orphans as well as wives who aren't widows. Also the blood of widowers, husbands, and those adults who aren't married at all."
"…Wow, how original. A blood sacrifice." Robin's tone was dry. "So, you're going for ten? Twenty? A hundred? A more original number, like maybe thirteen?"
"You'll want to think a bit bigger."
"Fine, let's cut to the quick." Robin sighed. "All of the Vermillion City. You plan to kill everyone present in the city, don't you? Sacrifice them all and use their life force as raw power. Gasp, how you could do that, you cruel, cruel villain."
"Spoil my fun, why don't you?"
"Yes, that is my intention." Robin said. "Of course, it's not like I'll let you do that sitting down, you know. I'll have busted out of this cell by them and show up, in your face, ruining all your plans. Because I'm the hero. And the hero always saves the day."
"Ha!" Grima laughed. "That was a good one, I do enjoy my sense of humor. But haven't you been paying attention, Robin? This isn't the kind of story with a noble knight and a dastardly villain. This is real life. There are no noble knights, and there are no dastardly villains. Just you and me. And you're no hero."
"Yeah. I know that. It's not something that you need to tell me. I told you the other day, I know I'm not a good person. But at the very least, I can pretend to be one – I know how to do that. And I'm not going to let you win." Robin said. "So, have you given any thought to this matter? Going to do something crazy like dig an underground giant circle of a tunnel under the capital using some mutated freak?"
"No. I don't require something of that nature." Grima shrugged. "A pentagram of capable sorcerers should do the trick."
"Good luck getting them into the city." Robin laughed. "You'll never get them past the guards."
"I already have. I did it six months ago, and they were summarily caught and executed as being collaborators against the throne." Grima "You're not the only one who can summon Risen. But I'm the only one who can control them."
"It's not going to work." Robin said. "Lucina and her friends will stop you."
"Oh?" Grima said. "Don't tell me they're your last resort."
"…No, of course not." Robin shook his head. "I'm breaking out of here, remember?"
"Well, it's a good that you're not a bad liar. Because if they were your last resort, they're not going to be on any help to you." Grima smiled. "They've run across some … unexpected trouble."
-Robin's Offices, Earlier-
"Count Robin."
"Gah!" Grima jumped. His draconic senses had alerted him to the presence of the assassin, of course, but Robin had never shown any sign of noticing the assassin, so he wasn't about to do so either. Though, come to think of it, despite the fact that he'd noticed her now, he hadn't noticed her that time in Plegia when she attacked him. She wasn't being as stealthy as she could. Was she testing him? Robin's typical reaction was to be surprised, though.
This one is dangerous. Grima thought. And, even worse, puzzling, Robin from my original time has no memories of the Shepherds fighting her during the Valmese War nor any knowledge of her in the first place. Where did she come from? And what are the true extent of her abilities?
It could be merely that she decided not to serve under Valm in my time – the war did happen several years later. But I would have very much liked to have known her on my home world. She represents the largest mystery right now.
"Dant, reporting for duty." The assassin had come in through the window, naturally. She had a hood concealing her face, and her hair was too short for Grima to see it. "I take it you weren't expecting me, then?"
"I'm not going to lecture you on sneaking up on me, because that'll probably be a waste of words." Grima sighed. "But must you conceal your face while you do so as well?"
"…It's preferable." Dant said, slowly. "I came as soon as I heard you were back, Robin. I won't say these last five years have been boring for me, and I assume they haven't been boring for you either. But it was definitely more exciting serving under you. Got any jobs for me? Assassination, spycraft, sabotage, torturing small bunnies, torturing large bunnies? You name it, I'll do it."
"I'm trying to avoid the kind of work that necessitates a full-time assassin in my employ these days, you know?" Grima had to refrain from gnashing his teeth as he said it. Pretending to be Robin had its downsides, and one of them was that he'd kept this ridiculous façade of a desire for peace up. All the while casually toppling everyone above him on the quest for power, of course, but the façade must be maintained. Grima saw the appeal to such a lie, but it wasn't his desired approach.
Still, Grima would need to copy Robin down to the letter. And he'd made enough slip-ups being overly paranoid. (Wasn't Robin that paranoid? Grima thought he was, but, apparently, he wasn't. Honestly, what was with people and trusting other people? It never ended well!)
"Does that mean you no longer require my services?" Dant asked.
"I wouldn't be so hasty as to say that."
"So you haven't changed, then." Dant said. "Does that mean you have a brace of targets for me already?"
"Yes, in fact, I do." Grima smiled. The assassin couldn't have arrived at a better time. For the longest time, Grima was sure that the one in the bone mask was actually Dant. There'd be no reason for Robin to come himself, save for confronting Grima personally, and that didn't need all the cloak-and-dagger.
Why did Robin choose to impersonate a Grimleal specifically? Grima knew Robin would come after him, but to impersonate a Grimleal like that made no sense. Grima didn't know the why Robin would choose to do that, and he suspected that Robin had no intention of telling him. It didn't matter. Robin was capture, locked away in a dungeon that no one would check. Chrom was too trusting to be remotely suspicious. But the problem wasn't Chrom. It was that pesky daughter of his.
"Lucina. Are you familiar with her?" Grima asked.
"The Crown Princess, or the Foreseer?" Dant asked.
Yes. "The Foreseer." Grima clarified.
"She's the leader of a small but elite force." Dant said. "Your files note that she's likely a descendant of a secret royal family charged with protecting the Exalt. She wields a Falchion similar to Chrom's, and can wield Chrom's as well, from eyewitness reports. There are a total of twelve fighters in her group."
"Thirteen." Grima corrected, frowning. What kind of a mistake was that?
"No, there are twelve." Knives flickered as Dant started raining knives up into the ceiling, counting them off. The knives thudded into place. "Lucina, Inigo, Severa, Owain, Gerome, Cynthia, Kjelle, Brady, Yarne, Nah, Noire, and Laurent. Which one did I leave out?"
"What did my ceiling do to offend you?" Grima scowled. "Honestly. The one you left out is Morgan."
"Morgan? The Ylissean's tactician?" Dant sounded confused. "She's not part of the group, she works for Ylisse. She wasn't part of the initial group that Lucina brought together and operated by herself for large portions of the last war. That is, she actually served as a tactician for Ylisse during the war, whereas Lucina and her team were strictly neutral."
"Strictly neutral, my icy black heart." Grima muttered. If that stupid girl hadn't interfered, Chrom would be DEAD! DEAD! DEAD! She really does enjoy just mucking about with time, doesn't she? "Anyway, yes. Morgan is a member of the Foreseer's group, even as much as they pretend otherwise."
"Hmm. A lucky number thirteen then." Dant said. Grima got the impression of a faint smirk. "So, what do you want?"
"You are an assassin, correct?"
"I can function in that capacity. Among other things."
"Kill them. All thirteen." Grima said. Dant gave no reply, nor any indication that she even heard him. Grima stared at her and frowned. "I said-"
"An assassin doesn't need to be told twice. And she doesn't question her orders. The perfect assassin is a tool, a weapon to be used. Not a person with independent thoughts." Dant said. "But, even still. I need to make sure that I'm not misunderstanding you, Robin. These aren't lives I can take with little consequence, and I don't know why you would choose to do that. Those thirteen - Lucina, Inigo, Severa, Owain, Gerome, Cynthia, Kjelle, Brady, Yarne, Nah, Noire, Laurent, and Morgan. You wish for me to kill them?"
"Lucina and Inigo first and foremost." Grima said. "If all else fails, you must kill those two, I require them dead. The rest of them aren't as important but kill them if possible and incapacitate if not. As for Morgan, I have special orders…"
"Interesting. What are your orders regarding her?"
No. She was Robin's daughter and giving her any preferential treatment may tip my hand if Dant fails to eliminate any of them. She would be a useful tool if I was allowed to reclaim her, even as she escaped my grasp back in my time. Grima shook his head. But ultimately, I can't risk tipping my hand.
"Ignore that. Actually, no special orders regarding that one. Same priority as the remainder of them. Kill or incapacitate if they can't be killed." Robin said. "Optimally, dispose of the bodies so they can't be found. They are known to go missing on occasion, after all."
"Kill above incapacitate." Dant smirked. "You know that it's always far easier to kill than incapacitate, right? These thirteen aren't going to survive. I'll be using my deadliest techniques without holding anything back."
"Make no mistake, that's exactly what I want." Grima said. "Those thirteen aren't going to be a thorn in my side again."
"I'm not sure what you mean or what your intentions are, but I do understand your orders." Dant said. Knives appeared in her hands. "Your will be done, Robin."
-Vermillion City, Private Estate-
"I still think we shouldn't have come here." Gerome said, sighing.
"Come on, lighten up." Cynthia responded. "We all know you're just saying that because you don't want to meet with your parents. We can just avoid the ceremony if you really want."
"They aren't my parents." Gerome said.
"We received special invitations and they set aside a villa especially for us." Lucina said. "It would have been impolite not to come, and we don't want to throw any wrinkles in this event, do we?"
The rest of the Future Children responded with various levels of affirmation, some enthusiastic and some reluctant. All except Laurent who had his nose buried in a tome and probably hadn't noticed the conversation. The Future Children were given a luxury mansion to occupy, something which they took advantage of. And now they were all relaxing in the mansion's opulent lounge.
"Besides, they have all this cool stuff." Inigo said. "Listen – just consider this a full vacation, okay? We'll have to go to some minor events and whatnot, but since we're kind of secretive and keep to ourselves, we can ditch events as we please. So this is just our well-earned rest and relaxation."
"In that case, I think I'll go train." Kjelle announce, surprising no one. "Lucina, do you want to spar with me?"
"Sure. I've got some stress to work off. Does this place have an arena?"
"Downstairs, I think." Inigo offered. "Well, I guess that means it's time to split this party. I've going to see if any lovely local ladies want to join me for a spot of tea. Gerome, want to be my wingman?"
"No."
"Shot down!" Cynthia cheerfully announced. "Sure to be the first of many today!"
"Ow." Inigo winced. "That was unnecessary."
"Whatever." Kjelle got up and went to open the door to the room. "Later losers."
"Ahem." Kjelle opened the door to see a hooded figure standing there. "Evening, Lucina and company. Forgive me for … dropping in unannounced."
"Morgan?" Lucina stared. "Is that you under that cloak?"
"I'm afraid your tactician isn't available right now. My name is Dant." A pair of knives flashed in the cloaked woman's hands. Kjelle, always in her armor, stepped in the way and slung forward her shield to stop them from coming further. There was a brief violent impact, and the armored knight was sent skidding backwards. A faint gust of wind drifted around the assassin as she walked into the room. "I would have fought you all together, Morgan included, but I've really no one to blame aside from myself for that being impossible. Clumsy me."
"What happened to her?" Lucina demanded, blade in her hand.
"Oh, she's not dead." Dant dropped her hood revealing a masked face framed by ebony black hair. The mask only framed the top half of her face much like Gerome's, but the bottom was black fabric wrapped around her lower face, in the style of a ninja. Lucina would have laughed if the situation wasn't so serious. "…Yet."
"Dant… wait, aren't you supposed to be on our side!?" Inigo drew his blade in a flash and went after the assassin who blocked the attack with twin knives. "You're Robin's assassin! Why are you going after us?"
"You know, that's actually a really good question. Why am I do all of this?" Dant considered. "If I had to guess, I'd say that the answer is because I want to see how I stack up against all twelve of you at once."
"Hubris, much?" Lucina's blade was in her hands, and the rest of the Future Children had their respective weapons out. "You can't take all twelve of us, assassin!"
"One hundred thousand gold says I can." With that, Dant exploded in force, sending Inigo back, and then blurred, moving fast. She leapt backwards, kicked off the wall upwards to hit the ceiling and kicked off that to head for Laurent. The mage blasted out the way on a jet of wind, allowing Gerome to set into place and went for the assassin with an axe swing.
Dant twisted in midair and used her knives to deflect herself downwards, rolling under the attack. She leapt back as she came, giving herself more space. Owain lunged for her as she did so, to which Dant deflected off a knife. Her other hand came around and hurled a knife at the approaching Severa, only for the ginger mercenary to be knocked out of the way by Kjelle. The knife deflected harmlessly off Kjelle's shield.
A purple dome and a white flower exploded into the room as both Nah and Yarne assumed their beast forms. Brady scrambled to the corner of the room and spun his staff, ready to heal. Noire was in the other corner, bow drawn and ready to fire. Laurent was to the side ready to cast spells. The rest of the team had their weapons drawn and were ready to attack Dant.
"Guess I'll really have to go all-out to beat you lot." Dant sighed. She flexed her hands. Knives fell into them, unique knives. These were thin razor blades with a small hilt at the end. "Even I've got nothing on Robin's Ignis Spectrum technique. But I can make do with my own. Assassin-style knifework: Falling Stars!"
Lucina hissed as Dant's hands started moving at a speed which defied normal human movement to the point where it looked like she had eight arms. Blades flew out from the assassin as Dant hurled, drew more, and then kept the pattern up. Too late, Lucina realizes that she'd chosen to place herself in the middle of the room deliberately.
Lucina opted for what she considered to be the best of all solutions. She spun her sword in front of her to deflect the blades away from her vital points and charged the assassin. Cuts opened on her legs and arms as the blades were deflected into them, but Lucina made her way to the assassin and slashed, attempting to cut the woman's head clean off her shoulders.
Dant disappeared and Lucina felt a vicious impact behind her, sending her skittering.
"Assassin-style movement: Pass."
"That's a familiar move." A hand helped Lucina get to her feet. Inigo pulled her up to see that Dant was using the move to make everyone's life in the room miserable. Everyone who tried to attack her only hit thin air as she just dodged around them. Shallow cuts abounded from the thrown knives, but nothing more than superficial injuries. Inigo frowned. "If we're fighting who I think we're fighting … this isn't going to end well."
"Focus on predicting where she's going to be!" Lucina lunged, ignoring the pain in her legs and arms that the shallow cuts had caused. Dant avoided a blow by Owain and showed up behind him, only to have to spin to avoid Noire's arrow. Lucina thrust went straight for her.
"Swordbreaker!" Dant dropped her daggers and clapped her hands on the blade, stopping the thrust. Dant looked towards Lucina and grinned. Lucina spun just as she disappeared, only to miss as Dant failed to appear behind her, instead the assassin retreated.
Sevara and Cynthia were on her as she did so. The mercenary went low with a sword slash, the grounded pegasus knight went high with her spear. Twin daggers appeared in Dant's hands and she blocked both attacks, straining against them. Laurent, from across the room, blasted wind at her. Dant took the blast and slammed into a wall.
Owain blitzed after her, swinging his sword. Dant got to her feet fast, avoiding the young swordsmaster's attacks as they came. Daggers came into her hands as she started deflected the sword strikes. Gerome came after her with his axe, so Dant was forced to once again disappear. She appeared in a relatively empty spot in the room, only for a massive rabbit to slam into her. Dant cartwheeled to her feet, and then was forced duck a blast from the manakete. Nah charged in, still in manakete form, but a flurry of throwing knives sent her back, blades pinging off the manakete's scales. Dant continued with them until Lucina attacked her at which point Dant blocked with a pair of full-sized daggers.
"Don't get too cocky." Lucina warned the assassin as the two locked blades. "You're not Robin. And we aren't the Shepherds. And you've only got so many knives."
"Yeah, can we discuss that?" Inigo piped up gesturing around the room. Every single surface now had some form of knife, dagger, or other small bladed weapon sticking out of it. Most had several, and several pairs of daggers were discarded all over the room. "I get that assassins have a thing for daggers, but you have all the daggers. How much of your budget do you even spend on those things? And how do you manage to wear them all? It's like you're a walking knife factory!"
"It takes me an hour and a half to get dressed in the morning." Dant dryly replied.
"Inigo, focus!" Sevara snapped. "We can beat her."
"Yeah, you're actually right about that. Guess I'll have to do something." Dant said. She fished inside her armor and pulled out an emerald teardrop necklace. It glowed, briefly, and Dant let it go for the necklace to fall back inside. "Lucky for me I have that, then."
"Take her out! It doesn't matter what she has!" Lucina howled. "We aren't going to fall to such a traitorous foe!"
"Heh, of course you'd say that. And you aren't wrong – I'll betray anyone so long as the price is right. That's what it means to be an assassin. And, as such, I could ask for no better targets than such a principled lot as you for my last ones." Knives showed up in Dant's hand. She grinned as she deflected Lucina's thrust, already in motion to avoid the remainder of magic, arrow, and steel heading her way. "Now, let us dance, Lucina!"
Dant stayed in the center of the room, whirling like a dervish as she fought the steady flow of attacks heading her way, now faster and stronger than before, moving fast enough so that her arms were a blur of motion. Sword, axe, lance, arrow, and even magic, all where handled by her with equal ease.
"She's too strong for us to fight head on." Laurent announced, conjuring a mighty blast of winds between his hands in preparation for his attack. "I don't know what that amulet was, but it seems to have energized her. We'll have to wait her out."
"Right idea." Dant vanished in a flash and showed up behind Laurent, daggers twirling. "But this will get easier with each kill I make. You first, nerd."
"Laurent!" Lucina shouldered into the mage and knocked him aside, blocking the assassin's thrust into her blade. Blue flames lit up around her. Falchion whirled as Lucina whipped the silver blade around and set into a guard position. "You won't harm a single one of my friends!"
"This is your last dance!" Inigo showed up behind Dant, sword flashing. Inigo grinned as he executed a unique set of sword strikes. "You won't escape this time."
Dant moved to dodge Inigo's attack, but for some reason, the attack pattern was too awkward for her to avoid properly. She managed to avoid the strikes, and with a defiant hiss, she disappeared past Inigo to avoid his last thrust. Dant showed up on the other side of him, and exhaled, disoriented.
"I SAY WHEN IT ENDS!" Lucina leapt forward and struck.
"Knew I was forgetting something." Dant sighed.
Dant had dodged Inigo's rapid series of blows, but against all odds, he'd managed to shift her focus away from Lucina, and the young Ylissean noble charged in, Falchion swinging a powerful blow with the full might of her rage.
Dant could only bring her daggers up to block the attack and took the brunt of it. Falchion sheared clean through her blades, shattering them, and sword itself than struck against her armor. The force of the blow sent the assassin flying back, smashing clean into the back wall, a red line drawn across her chest from the blow. The wall held, and Dant hit it hard with a loud thud. She dropped to a kneel, desperately trying to catch her breath.
"Hmm. Against all odds, it seems we didn't need to wait her out." Laurent thrust his hand forward and blasted Dant with the magic he was storing. The magic hit her full force, and, for a second time, Dant was smashed back against the wall. The assassin cried out as it happened, and dropped to the ground, collapsed. "That was impressive, Inigo."
"Well, there was a trick to it." Inigo panted. "Five-step waltz."
"Five-step … waltz?" Lucina blinked. "I thought waltz was in triplets."
"My fighting style draws heavily on my dancing." Inigo explained. "If you know that, you can read every move I make – and Dant was reading everything I did. Five-step waltz is a variant where you do quintuple meter instead of triple meter, and it throws off people who aren't used to it."
"You beat a nigh-unstoppable assassin with an obscure dance routine?" Kjelle said, shaking her head. "I want to be impressed it's just … well, that was too dumb."
"Hey. If it's crazy and it works, it's not crazy."
"No… it's still crazy." Dant interrupted the group, gasping as she tried to stand back up. She barely managed it, and yanked the black cloth covering her mouth down to spew blood from her mouth, heaving it up. She barely managed to get up using the wall to leverage herself into a sitting position. "Darn it, Inigo. And I was doing so well, too."
"Take off your mask." Lucina said, pointing her blade at Dant. "You're beaten, assassin."
"Not just yet." Dant's mouth twisted into a smile. She flexed both her hands and a dagger shot into her left hand. She frowned and flexed her right hand. Nothing happened. "Well, that's awkward. I seem to be out of right-hand daggers."
"Take off the mask!"
"In a moment!" Dant sighed and flexed her right hand again. A knife appeared in it. "No, wait, I seem to still have a few of them. Listen, can I just stall for a bit longer? This is taking longer to work than I thought it would."
Lucina blinked as a sharp pain shot through her head. Suddenly, she became aware of an acute stinging sensation. She looked over and saw the thin cuts that she'd gotten from Dant's arsenal of throwing razors. Her visions swam. "You didn't!"
"Yeah, I coated them in poison." Dant gloated. "Sorry, but I really hate losing. Night-night, Lucy. Sweet dreams, because you're in for a nightmare when you wake up."
"Then I'll kill you now." Lucina howled and went for a straight thrust, trying to kill Dant by stabbing Falchion clean through her neck. Dant reacted fast, grabbing the blade as Lucina thrust forward and jabbing her palm in between the tip of the blade and her neck. Her fingers were cut, but as soon as they grasped the blade, the enchantment kicked in and the Falchion blunted itself, the blunt tip stopping as soon as it jammed itself against Dant's other hand.
Lucina stared in shock, and then the poison finally kicked in. The Ylissean princess dropped, Falchion clattering to the ground after her. The rest of the Future Children had also suffered similar fates, dropping and collapsing with Lucina.
Dant stared at her hands for a bit, considering which one was less injured. She settled on the left hand and used it to pull out an elixir she kept stored for just such an occasion and drained the entire bottle in a single swallow, taking off the top part of her mask as she did so. Dant sat down and waited for the healing effects to kick in.
"…And that's why you don't use a blade which dulls itself in anyone else's hand." Dant sighed. "Even still, I had to cheat to beat them all. I mean, their fault for letting me get off those poisoned blades, but a win's a win. Now the question is … what to do with them now that I've knocked them out? Robin did tell me to kill them … but honestly, I think I have a better idea."
-Robin's Office-
"So you were victorious." Grima said.
"Ultimately." Dant replied. Grima noticed that, despite the fact that she'd suffered severe wounds from the fight, she was standing at attention without any indication that the wounds were slowing her down. She wasn't even hiding it either. Granted, healing magic meant that level of resilience wasn't hard to pull off, but the mental toll would have shaken most soldiers. "They were very tough opponents, but the fight was always going to be mine."
"I had heard that the fight was tough."
"From the ones you sent after me to check up on me?" Dant snorted. "Amateurs, the lot of them. Teach them how to tail someone, alright? Or, tell you what, I'll teach them once I heal up. They're just lucky none of them tried infiltrating that facility with me and they all had the good sense to hang back. I wasn't going to risk them blowing my infiltration, so you'd just have one less tail reporting in."
"You knew about it?" Grima frowned. Precautions were elementary of course, but the ones he had sent swore to him that they went completely unnoticed. He was going to kill them. Well, he was going to kill them sooner. It wasn't like they weren't going to be disposable anyway, but he didn't enjoy surprises.
"Yes. I noticed them as soon as I left." Dant said. "Your paranoia is going to new levels, you know that? But it's not like I care. Again, I'm an assassin. I just follow orders. You want people who watch me doing that, that's your waste of money. Not my problem."
"And you aren't upset in the slightest?" Grima asked. "Well. I suppose you won't pressure you further, or laden you with additional tails. Especially if you're going to end up killing them."
"I really don't mind, as long as they're competent enough to not get in my way." Dant considered. "But if those you sent after me were the best you have … well, they're completely useless."
"Noted." Grima said. "You killed them all, correct?"
"Nah."
"Dant." Grima leveled his gaze. "What do you mean you didn't kill them?"
"Well, it was like this." Dant said, shrugging. "You gave the kill order, but you also told me to hide the bodies, right? Well, that would have been hard if I killed them, so instead I decided to drag their bodies and lock them up in the dungeons. Don't worry, I made sure they can't escape, and if you want, I can go kill them now. Besides, I kind of also got the feeling that you'd rather them captured to dead, you just didn't want to take the unnecessary risk."
"…Well, perhaps you aren't entirely wrong." Grima considered. They'd be dead in a few days anyway, and the thought of them spending those days in terror and fear were nothing if not appealing to the Dark Dragon. "You are certain that they can't escape?"
"Oh yeah. Even use my creepy dark magic to set up a hex that would let me know if they escape, and in the event that happens I'll be on them in no time." Dant said. "I considered stealing a bit of their blood and using that, but I'm kind of bad at blood magic. You wouldn't happen to be better, would you?"
"Sadly, no." Grima shook his head. "I haven't really had the time to go in-depth in the finer applications of dark magic myself."
"Well, you should. Pretty darn useful, if I say so myself. And I do." Dant saluted. "Will that be all?"
"I've one more final assignment for you." Grima said. "And while I do appreciate your initiative on the last mission, I'll need you to follow the instruction on this one to perfection. Trust me, I want this person dead, and not in the 'I don't think you can safely capture her' sense."
"Oh? And just who is this lucky lady?"
"Empress Pheros." Grima smiled as he said the words. "Her life needs to be taken, in full view of all those assembled during the celebration tomorrow."
"Ah. Then this isn't my final assignment." Dant said. "I see that this break has done the opposite for your ambition. Rather than curb it, it's now unleashed. That means you plan to take control of this whole Empire, doesn't it?"
"Why, what could give you that impression?" Grima asked. That is what she's meant to think, of course. In actual fact, it's just to induce despair. There's nothing like a good hundred thousand souls laced with the stuff.
"Nothing. I'm just curious as to how many pawns you've got moving on the board right now." Dant said. "But I am an assassin. If you tell me to kill Pheros, then kill her I shall. Once I'm compensated, of course."
"…Eh?"
"Money." Dant said. "Our original contract became null and void once we parted ways five years ago. I've long since longed for the day that I could fight Lucina, so that one was a courtesy, but I'll need to charge you for this. I'm not an assassin otherwise."
"Name your price."
"One hundred million gold." Dant said. "A quarter of that in precious metals and the rest in fine jewels and other works of value. Emeralds in particular, if you can manage it. Plus fifty thousand up front for expenses. I'll understand if you choose to defer payment until after this mission is over and I'll give you twelve months for payment of the first 250,000 gold, and twelve months after that for the rest."
"Don't you think that's a little too much?"
"No. I'm handing you over an Empire the size of the known world." Dant said. "You're paying me because I guarantee results. I will take that sum, or you have no deal. And let me be clear about this – I want to be able to bathe in my emeralds. Understand?"
She'll be dead once the ritual occurs. Grima nodded. "Very well. I'll see it done."
-Prison Cell, Undisclosed Location-
"You see, Robin?" Grima asked. "Your friends are mine, and my enemies are dead. There's nothing you can do right now. You've lost. Accept it."
"No." Robin grit his teeth. "Again, see above. I refuse to give up."
"It's a brave mask, Robin. But can you at least admit that it's a mask?" Grima asked. "Well, I have to go know. See you later, Robin."
Robin watched the imposter who wore his face leave. Despite the façade he'd manage to hold up, he wasn't doing too well. Grima's plan was obvious from the start, and Robin truly had no idea how he'd manage to break out of the cell. That said, he also, like Grima has successfully predicted, hadn't told anyone about the doppelganger situation.
But that didn't mean he was entirely tapped out. Robin made a quick motion with one hand, a futile gesture as there was nothing up his sleeve. But if there had been something, say the size of a playing card, the move would have sprung the object there. Robin then mimed throwing the card away and made the same gesture again. He gazed at the nonexistent card in his hand.
"Grima's a fool if he actually believes that I'm down for the count and without a plan. But, that said, I am down to a single ace up my sleeve. My last… and my best." Robin sighed and closed his eyes. "I've never really been much for believing or prayer or even hoping for that matter but … well, no atheist beneath a murderhole, I guess. Please."
