Author's note: Happy 2 year anniversary everyone. I still remember freaking out when I checked my phone the morning after I had posted this because it had already gained like 5 followers and I hadn't expected it to get so popular. Now, two years later, it's at almost 900 dang. I was trying to get out two chapters for this anniversary date since this is, well, not my absolute favorite. It's largely just an explanation of Awakening with some interruptions by Corrin and Azura. Looking back I probably should have skipped all the explanation but I didn't. There's more stuff in it than that, but that's the majority of it. So the 2 chapter thing didn't quite happen but... well the next chapter is fully outlined and my/Laslow's birthday is in 3 days so...
EDIT: I wrote Grima's backstory chapter before Fire Emblem Echoes Shadows of Valentia came out. Yes, I know that what I have in this story is incorrect considering that. But I wrote my version of it before Grima had any canon backstory apart from "he is likely a descendant of the Earth Dragons" and a few things here and there which I covered previously. When I am done with this story I'll likely go back and fix things so it aligns with the new canon. But it's been a year since I established a lot of that stuff, and it's too late to go back in the middle.
Anyway, it's been two years! So no more stalling. Without further ado, enjoy.
"Now then, I'm not entirely sure where I should start."
Robin looked to the ceiling, taking in a breath. Sure, he wanted to talk with the princesses, tell them what was going on. But what order did he go in? He'd given them an overview of the Plegia-Ylisse war, and told Azura about the Grimleal and Validar without getting into specifics. Repeating himself would be a waste of time. Then again, how much did they remember? And he hadn't told the women the same things - they'd heard different pieces of the same story. Which meant he'd backed himself into a hole of sorts.
"I'll go to the beginning later on, but for now I'll start with a few key things
"First off: I don't have amnesia. At least, not in a way that means I can't remember anything before I met you except my 'dreams.' I'm certain that everything I told you about my past life is true. Now that I've met with certain people, I have proof. We wouldn't all be sharing the same delusion, after all. I do have amnesia to an extent, but I'll cover that later.
"Next: The whole thing Izana said about me having done occult stuff or having done some sort of dark magic. I've definitely been subject to the two of them, and whether you could say that 'I' have performed dark magic is a complicated matter. But Izana was right in the end. Especially with that alter thing, which is impressively and perhaps frighteningly accurate. Again, I'll go into detail on this later.
"And then for the last thing before I really go off… What the Rainbow Sage said. Not about the 'tell your friends your secrets before it's too late' sort of stuff, but about why his illusion spell didn't work on me, and the similarity I hold to Corrin. It's related to the occult stuff, and it's the reason for my amnesia, so it's a pretty big topic. When we get to that I know it's going to be… surprising, to say the least, so I just ask that you let me finish before you ask questions. Or that you at least wait for me to pause, rather than interrupting. I don't want you to misinterpret something because you didn't give me a chance to finish what I wanted to say, alright?"
"Of course," Azura responded softly.
She had her hand folded in her lap, feet hanging off the side of the bed but not quite reaching the ground. Her hair was out of her face for once, held back by a headband Robin assumed to be Corrin's. The sight made Robin smile. It was like Azura was so curious about his situation, and so full of anticipation for what would be said that she didn't want to miss a single bit, even in terms of vision. Body language can reveal a lot about what a person's thinking, and what their true opinions on the topics they're dealing with are, so having an unhindered view of the person speaking aids greatly in being able to capture all the small movements and indicators they make.
Azura, while quiet at times, was rather observant. Both she and Corrin would look around at the world as if they were taking it all in for the first time, trying to absorb all the information their surroundings could give them in an attempt to place themselves, and to understand where in the world they were.
With Corrin, it made sense. She'd been raised in a fortress, barred from leaving for years. It really was her first time seeing everything, so her wonder was to be expected.
With Azura, it was slightly different. She'd still been a prisoner, in a way, but she'd had so much more freedom. So her habit of looking up in awe at the world around her must've been for a different reason. A genuine appreciation of the world, it seemed, or perhaps simply a love for the land and the different people and things that inhabited it.
"As I've said before, I was part of an army. One led by my best friend, a man named Chrom. We met in almost the exact same way as I met you guys - I was passed out in the middle of the field, and he was the first one I saw when I opened my eyes. He and his sister, Lissa, were standing above me when I woke up, a knight in their service named Frederick standing to the side.
"Chrom asked me my name once I'd taken in a little bit of my surroundings, but I found I could remember neither that nor any other details of my life. Lissa proposed I had amnesia, and that time I really did. When you guys found me I just said I did because I didn't know where I was and wanted an excuse to explain why I didn't know anything. Sorry about that. Now you know.
"Moving on, we saw that a nearby village was being attacked and went to help the villagers. As we began to fight I realized how familiar battle seemed, at least in concept. I definitely wasn't the strongest fighter out there, but I knew what I was doing and I knew how to wield a tome and a blade. Before long we won the battle and Chrom invited me back to Ylisstol, the capital of the halidom of Ylisse, the nation we were in.
"It was a few days' trip from the village we were in to the capital, so we ended up camping a few times along the way. It was relatively peaceful at first, but one night the sky opened up, and hell rained down. Literally. Monsters we would later name Risen poured out of the sky, falling to the ground as the ground began to fragment and fires broke out. It was like something from a horror story, to be honest. If you think the Faceless are bad, at least be happy that they don't look human for the most part. The Risen… some of them were like Faceless, though a bit smaller. Others were almost human, if not for their grey skin and glowing red eyes. They were walking corpses… I could go on, but that's not really important right now.
"The Risen had never been seen in Ylisse up until that point, and we weren't sure what to do. We fought back against them, but it was difficult. At one point Lissa was separated from Chrom, Frederick, and I, and would have been killed had it not been for a newcomer. She'd come out of the sky, falling with the Risen that attacked us, but wasn't on their side. She was their enemy, and by that account our ally, and helped us fend off the Risen. At the time she wore a mask and told us her name was Marth - the name of the hero king the royalty of Ylisse descended of. She then disappeared, leaving us confused but alive.
"We continued on to Ylisstol. There I met the Chrom and Lissa's older sister, the exalt Emmeryn, exalt being the term for the king or queen that came from the royal bloodline rather than marrying in. That was a pretty big shock, and made me freak out a little about being with them. But they were nice, and Chrom let me join the Shepherds, a band of fighters he'd assembled to help protect the countryside while the main military had other duties.
"At first the Shepherds fought inside Ylisse, defeating brigands and the like. But tensions between Ylisse and the nearby nation of Plegia were rising. We headed North toward Regna Ferox to get help from their military, where we saw Marth again. We fought against each other in a tournament or sorts. During the battle though, we noticed something odd. The sword by her side looked just like the sword Chrom held, the falchion… Two swords of which there should only have been one. We left without answers, but we did gain the help we'd gone there for.
"Not long after than there was an assassination attempt on Emmeryn's life, which would have succeeded had Marth not intervened. She appeared in Ylisstol seemingly out of the blue, warning of the attempt and the grim future it would bring. Chrom and I didn't really believe her at first, but then an assassin came for Chrom, only to be stopped by Marth. Her mask was broken by a second assassin but she was fine otherwise, the man being cut down just as easily as the first.
"Before long the castle was filled with Plegian troops. We cut them down with few casualties, and Emmeryn survived. I was the one to defeat the enemy's leader. He recognized me, which was the first time there'd been any proof I hadn't just appeared out of nowhere. But he was my opponent, and he was trying to kill Emmeryn, so I defeated him before I could ask questions. He died that day. I know it. He just didn't… stay dead.
"Marth left after that, telling us we'd averted a future of ruin by preventing the assassination. We went to war with Plegia after that.
"Even though we'd managed to stop the first assassination attempt, Emmeryn didn't survive the war. A few weeks into the fighting, she was captured and sent to be executed, placed on a… I'm not sure what you would call it. Kind of like a plank made of stone. But she was put out in public where all could see her, hundreds of feet above the ground, meant to be shot to death and let to fall to the ground. Plegia's king made an offer - give him the Fire Emblem and Emmeryn would survive, or keep it and let her die."
Robin paused to take a breath. He still felt guilty over what had taken place. He'd known something was fishy about the situation before Emmeryn was captured, but he hadn't done anything to stop it. And when Gangrel had made his proposition…
Robin told him to let Emmeryn die. Not in those words, of course. He'd said that when it came down to it, one life weighed against thousands wasn't worth it. That Ylisse could survive without Emmeryn, but it couldn't survive without the Fire Emblem, since Plegia had to have had something dark planned. Robin's decision was to sacrifice Emmeryn. Chrom didn't agree.
After Emmeryn was dead by her own choice, rather than theirs, Chrom was relatively quick to forgive him. Told Robin he understood how much pressure was on Robin's shoulders, and that he couldn't blame Robin for thinking about the people. Said that it was fine, and that Emmeryn would understand. That it was hard to think clearly in a situation like that, and that sometimes people made the wrong decision when they suddenly were put in a situation they weren't used to.
So it was fine. Emmeryn was dead, and they couldn't do anything about it. Both of them would have preferred she lived, but it was too late. They just had to move forward and win the war.
But that… that just wasn't right. 'Wrong decision?' Robin didn't believe it was the wrong decision. If he had to make it again, he would've. He wouldn't be happy with making it, but given the situation, Emmeryn or the Fire Emblem, Emmeryn was the one he would give up every time. What was one death compared to thousands? Tens of thousands. Even hundreds.
I mean, just look at what happened in Lucina's time. I never asked her the exact numbers, but I wouldn't have been at all surprised if she told me the world's population had been halved. Or even reduced to a quarter. Grima wanted total destruction. For what, I still can't see. Even if he have me his reasoning. There was no point to all the death. Yes, there's revenge I suppose, but isn't there a limit? The only real explanation is insanity.
And so, it would be the retention of sanity that would stop those deaths. Making a level headed decision would be the opposite of all that, and all those deaths.
So while neither of us liked to admit it, and you always denied it… we both knew that sacrificing Emmeryn was the right thing to do. Even when you tried to give Gangrel the Fire Emblem. You hesitated, after all. And that was enough to show you knew. Or that you at least considered it.
Your hesitation and my hesitation were different though. The hesitation to make a choice versus the hesitation to voice it. You're a kinder person than I am, Chrom. Even if you don't like when I say it. That's the reason I was behind most of the decisions, after all. Kindness doesn't usually win wars. It moves you forward at certain times, yes, but you can't rely on it and it alone to get you to the end.
There comes a point when you can no longer be kind and you have to pick up your sword. Not that you didn't understand it. You're such a hothead, after all. Naga, the amount of times Frederick or I had to stop you from running into thing bows blazing because you wanted to get on with the fight…
There lies the kindness part though. Short term, you would sometimes blow and want to go for the more violent route because the other deserved it. Or you'd say stuff without thinking, like with Flavia back when we first went to Ferox. But long term, you were better at thinking about ways around it. You'd at least try to consider more peaceful routes. I never heard you say anything along the lines of 'let's make them suffer.' When the fighting got brutal, you were never happy about it. You could never voice the final decision to do something dark.
That was my job.
Sometimes you came up with ideas that could help us, but weren't so nice. But you didn't tell your troops to go do them. You'd come to me, tell me what you had planned, and have me modify whatever it was into something more efficient. By doing that, the cruel things we did were no longer your ideas, but mine. The final execution was up to me. Perhaps you technically were the one to say the orders every once in a while, but they were my orders being given. You came up with ideas as possibilities, and I decided they were certainties we were going to perform.
We were never that brutal. We weren't Plegia, and we weren't Walhart. There are only a few things I wish I could have done differently, so that we could have been kinder, or so people could have suffered less. But I'm confident that in the end, my choices were the right ones. I don't necessarily regret what I've done. You would, I wouldn't. There lies the difference.
'What have we done?' you'd said after the sea of flames. 'Naga, this is terrible. Maybe...maybe we should've looked for another way. Done something else.'
And while I agree that watching thousands of people burn alive was no pleasant business, and that it would have been nice for them to survive, I don't believe we should have just let them go. What we did was the best option. They would have all died in the end anyway, save possibly a few. They would've fought to the end, and killed thousands of others along with them. By killing them, we saved thousands. But it's hard to think about all those you saved when all that's in front of you is the burnt corpses of those you didn't, the smell of ashes heavy in the air around you.
"Robin?" Azura's voice broke Robin out of his thoughts, and he shook his head.
"Sorry about that," he said, taking a deep breath.
"So…"
Where had he left off again? He was talking about Emmeryn that was for sure. But what had and hadn't he said? He'd thought so much about it he couldn't remember. That wasn't uncommon though. Overthinking something to the point that it's unclear if you just imagined the conversation or if it actually took place.
"...Plegia's king told you to give him the Fire Emblem or Emmeryn would die," Corrin supplied.
Azura butted in before Robin could respond. "Which I would like to ask you about."
Corrin nodded. "Yeah, me too. The Rainbow Sage mentioned the Fire Emblem when we met with him. He said that the Yato would transform into it. From what I understand, the Yato had been in Hoshido for years before I came to wield it. How is it that you had it back in your homeland? That doesn't really make sense."
Robin nodded. "Yeah, it wouldn't. If they were the same thing."
Azura's eyes narrowed. "And what do you mean by that?"
"The Fire Emblem back in my homeland was a shield, used as a seal of sorts, to seal away the dragons who had begun to go insane. It was made complete by gathering the stones that fit into its frontside. Which I suppose is similar to your Yato, made complete by gaining power or energy or whatever it is from the other divine weapons. But the Fire Emblem of my homeland wasn't the Yato, and I doubt the Yato's going to turn into a shield despite it apparently having the ability to transform, so there must be two things called the Fire Emblem. Why, I don't know," Robin explained.
"An odd coincidence," Azura commented. "Now then, back to the situation with the Fire Emblem and Emmeryn?"
"Ah yeah. That." Robin frowned. "Chrom and I were trying to figure out what to do, knowing Ylisse would be in trouble either way. Different trouble, but nothing good nonetheless.
"Emmeryn decided to take the choice away from us. She gave a moving speech, and walked to the end of the platform she was on. Rather than being shot and then pushed off as Gangrel planned, she simply leaned forward and fell. I'll never forget Lissa's scream, or the look on Chrom's face when we dragged him away from where Emmeryn's body had landed. It… wasn't a pretty sight. But we were surrounded, and we didn't have time to grieve. We left, leaving her behind. I don't think Chrom ever really got over it. Not that I could blame him.
"It turns out that Emmeryn's final words had been heard by more than just the few of us standing in the courtyard. Plegian soldiers across the country began laying down their weapons, refusing to fight any longer. If it wasn't for that, the war would've lasted much longer, and been much bloodier.
"A few weeks after that, the king of Plegia was slain, and we entered a two year long period of During this two year span, Chrom got married, and his daughter Lucina was born. Lucina's left eye bore the brand of the exalt, a mark all members of the Ylissian royal family bore, showing them to be recipients of Naga's favor. At least, that's how the common folk would phrase it. It was a little different than that, but that's not important.
"After two years of peace, war broke out again. This time the Valmese Empire, which was on a continent to the west of the one Ylisse was on, had started to take over nearby lands, moving to attack Ylisse's ally Regna Ferox. Neither Ylisse nor Ferox had the ships to make it to the Valmese continent to attack, so we went to Plegia for help. There we met with the new King, the old one having been killed by Chrom in the last war. This new king was Validar - the man I had slain almost three years prior. With him was a man who looked identical to me…
"Validar granted us permission to use his ships, though he wouldn't provide soldiers. We got no real explanation for the lookalike, other than that he was the hierophant, highest official of the Grimleal religion. Afterward, Validar appeared before me to reveal he was my father. He told me to abandon Chrom and Naga, and to join with Grima instead. That went against everything I knew from the short few years I could remember, and Chrom appeared before anything more happened. He hadn't seen Validar - it was as if the man was a figment of my imagination. But that conversation was real. He knew of it later on. It was simply his power…" Robin explained.
Corrin spoke next. "To abandon Naga and join Grima? Earlier you were talking about Ylisse having Naga's blessing, so I assume they're some kind of god, but what about Grima? Why were the two in opposition?"
"You know about the First Dragons, right? The Dawn Dragon, the Dusk Dragon, the Rainbow Sage, and so on? Dragons that once lived among us, but are now revered as gods?"
Corrin and Azura nodded.
"Grima and Naga were sort of like that. Once, there had been several dragon tribes that lived across my home realm. But they slowly descended into madness and were either killed or sealed away by humans. Naga was a member of the Divine Dragon tribe, and had offered both a 'solution' to the dragons' insanity, and aid to the humans who eventually wiped out the majority of the dragons, and as such was seen as a savior by the people. This savior status soon elevated her to godhood.
"People are always looking for someone to turn towards and someone to turn against though, so through a series of events I could explain if you really want me to but don't find too relevant, the Earth Dragon Grima became the villain to Naga's heroism. He earned the title Fell Dragon, and became an enemy of the people. Some decided to follow him rather than fight him and formed the Grimleal cult. Naga had given a human one of her teeth to be used as a weapon against an earlier Earth Dragon, that weapon being the Falchion Chrom would come to use, and it was what helped send Grima into his thousand year slumber.
"Things happened, and Naga ended up being worshipped by the people of what would become Ylisse, with Grima being worshipped by the people of what would become Plegia. I'm not sure if you could really call either gods, as they were mortal beings once upon a time, but they were treated like them. Naga got a church, and Grima got a cult. Apparently without his initial consent too. That brought conflict.
"Naga was a Divine Dragon, and Grima was the Fell Dragon - each loved by one country and demonized by the other. Though maybe I should say it was more like everyone but Plegia felt warm or neutral toward Naga while Plegians disliked her, and most of the world felt either neutrality or hatred toward Grima. There are always those people who don't care for or believe in the gods, and those who don't fit the traditional mold. But the stereotypical association known to the world was Naga-Ylisse-Good, Grima-Plegia-Evil."
"And what do you think of Grima and Naga?" Corrin asked.
Robin frowned. "What do you mean?"
Corrin took a moment to think about how to phrase her question. "Do you believe Grima was the ultimate evil, or that Naga was some sort of ultimately holy savior? Do you think one was better than the other?"
Robin, too, paused. That was a good question.
What Naga had done to Grima wasn't very kind or holy. She demonized him, and she created the leadup to his downfall. Perhaps Grima would have gone down that route even without Naga's actions, as he seemed predisposed, but… Well, Naga's actions certainly didn't help.
Not that Grima was either of those things. He was malicious, and had murdered thousands upon thousands of people. Both in his time walking around before being sealed away, and in Lucina's future. And in Robin's time to an extent. While the thought made him feel guilty, he had to admit that Grima was the worse of the two.
Naga wasn't evil. She did what she did for the greater good. What she did to Grima wasn't something Grima or Robin would forgive, it wasn't completely malicious. So Robin's semi-reluctant response was:
"Well. Both have their faults. But Grima has more. So Naga's probably the better of the tw-"
Robin suddenly stopped, hit by a wave of vertigo. He suddenly felt nauseous, and had to take deep breaths for a good fifteen seconds before the nausea even started to go away. It was almost a minute before he felt back to normal.
Both Corrin and Azura were deeply concerned. "Robin!?" Corrin practically shouted, lunging toward him when he started leaning forward. She was probably worried he would fall of the bed and hit his head or something.
Azura stood, walking off somewhere and coming back with a glass of water. Robin had dropped his head when the vertigo hit, so he hadn't seen where she'd gone.
"I'm fine, I'm fine," Robin said, waving the two off but accepting the water.
He didn't feel sick anymore. All it took was the minute of deep breaths to return to normal. So he probably wasn't ill.
But what was that? He was feeling fine until he mentioned thinking Naga was probably a better person than Gri-
"Nng!" Robin's grip on the glass slipped, but Corrin caught it before it could hit the floor.
Corrin had a worried look on her face. Azura looked a little scared.
"Maybe you should lie down," Corrin offered, trying to push Robin back toward the headboard. He pushed her away though.
He laughed bitterly. Of course he started feeling sick when he praised Naga "Oh, that bastard…"
Corrin's look of worry intensified. "Robin…?"
The tactician waved her off again, sitting up straight.
"Don't worry about it," he said, still chuckling a little. "I'm pretty sure I know what caused that little… outburst. Man I can't believe that it's been happening for months and I only just realized the cause!"
"What are you talking about?" Azura asked. She'd taken the water from Corrin and set it on the table between their beds.
"Ah, something that'll make more sense once I get further along with this story." After all, how could he properly explain the sick feeling he'd gotten every single time he'd mentioned Naga since waking up in Canta without having explained his relationship with Grima first?
'Grima the oh so benevolent and powerful and kind and lovely bodymate,' Robin added, in case the dragon was listening. He hadn't talked to Robin in a while, and he'd still been sleeping during the encounter with the Rainbow Sage, so there was the chance that the Anti-Naga-Praising sickness was some sort of unconscious effect, but Robin didn't know for certain. Maybe praising Grima would give him a power boost or something!
Grima didn't choose to respond.
...
How disappointing.
Robin cleeared his throat. "Anyway, moving on, I learned that the king of a basically-enemy country was my father, and he granted us ships to go to war in the west. We did, and we won, but at a great cost. I did some things that I'm not proud of. Do I think I was wrong in doing them? Not really. But I know you two wouldn't be very supportive of them, if that gives some indication. There were some not so pleasant things we had to do to keep our troops alive and casualties to a minimum, even though in the moment it almost seemed like we were maximizing them.
"Marth had returned to assist us during the war, and after some time together, we learned why she had a copy of the Falchion. It was because it wasn't a copy - it was the same sword. In truth, Marth was Lucina, Chrom's daughter who had journeyed back in time to tell warn us of a dark future. When we'd first met her, we figured she'd had a vision, or was allied with a fortune teller of some sort. It turned out to be neither. The horrid wasteland she'd described was the land she'd come from, destroyed by Grima and his minions. It was hard to believe, but in her left eye Marth, now known to be Lucina, had the brand of the exalt, just as her infant counterpart did back in Ylisse. There was no denying who she was."
Robin paused, considering whether or not he should include what he would next say.
"We got to see her future, actually. Or something close to it. Lucina had come from a future where Grima had won, and the Shepherds and I were long dead. She'd been sent back by Naga to prevent that future from coming to be, but that didn't mean that all futures had been fixed. At one point Naga came to us, the people of my time, and asked us to help with another land, with another future that had been ravaged by Grima's power. It was a future very similar to Lucina's, though not the one she'd come from.
"It was there that I met Selena and a few others. The details of that trip… aren't really mine to tell. If anyone should be talking about it it's Selena, so I'll leave it to her. Just know it's a sensitive topic, so she might not want to talk about it.
Robin shook his head. "I'm sorry. I keep going on tangents. Er, anyway, Lucina fought with us during the war, trying to build a future without the terrors that plagued hers. She didn't know exactly what had gone wrong, but she did know that in her time, Chrom had been murdered. By who, she wasn't sure. All she knew was that it was his best friend."
A bitter laugh. "Honestly, I should have realized it by then. Who it was. Chrom and I were stuck at the hip when he wasn't with his wife. I'd heard so many jokes about me being his second spouse that I lost count. But we didn't have any reason to suspect me. Not at first.
"After the war in the west, we returned to Plegia to collect the last gemstone needed to complete the Fire Emblem. We'd gathered the rest by that point, and the one Plegia had was all that was left. There, Validar attacked us. We fought back, and we won the battle, but things didn't go as we expected. The strange pain I'd felt that night Validar spoke to me came back, and before I knew what was happening I was moving toward Chrom, stealing the Fire Emblem from him and delivering it to Validar.
"We left, and Chrom tried to tell me everything was okay and that he forgave me, but I couldn't forgive myself. I wandered away from camp that evening to clear my head. Lucina followed.
"She spoke of the memories she had of her father, of the Chrom of her timeline, and how she couldn't let another timeline be robbed of him early by his death. I didn't get what she was talking about at first, but then she pulled out her sword.
"She knew her father had been murdered by his best friend. When she saw the two of us together, she figured Chrom and I were too close for me to ever betray him. But after seeing me manipulated by Validar… even if I would never willingly betray Chrom, we had evidence that I could be forced to do so. That it was a clear and total possibility that I could turn on him, even if everything in me screamed not to. To prevent this, she decided it would be best to kill me before anything could go wrong."
Corrin took in a deep breath. "You didn't agree, did you?"
"..." Robin looked away. "Are you kidding? Of course I did. In her future, I'd murdered my best friend and countless others. I was a monster. I didn't want to become that in my timeline. I didn't want anyone to suffer or die because I was so selfish as to value my own life over those more important than me."
Corrin looked shocked. Why, Robin didn't know. He thought she would have come to expect that sort of behavior from him by that point. "But why? Why forfeit your life for something that could only possibly happen? It wasn't guaranteed. Maybe it happened in one timeline, but you didn't know it was coming. I bet you would've been able to stop it if you knew!"
"Corrin…" Azura said softly, trying to calm the girl down.
"Azura please," she responded. "I don't like hearing about my friends throwing their lives away. Why can't people just… just live? Why are there so many people willing to die when they could think things through and survive! Look for an alternate path that doesn't require so much bloodshed? I don't get it. Are death wishes really that common!?"
Robin faced the girls once again, a grim smile on his face. Or maybe it was a smirk. He wasn't entirely sure what he was feeling, and what sort of expression that was creating.
"You're right about that, actually, but that comes just a bit later."
"Huh?" Corrin blinked a few times, confused.
"I accepted Lucina's judgment. I've told you this before, and I'll say it again. I work for the greater good. A small sacrifice is acceptable if it prevents the greatest tragedy in the future. Given what I knew was to come, I thought that my sacrifice would be a necessary 'evil,' so to speak, to happen in order for the best future to come to pass. I thought that if I died, Chrom would live and the Ylissean army and country would survive, meaning that my death would sustain the greatest amount of lives. My death would be for the best.
"Chrom didn't seem to agree though. He'd apparently followed the two of us out of the village, and had been listening to the conversation between Lucina and me for a while. So when Lucina pulled her sword back to get ready to deal the final blow, he dove in front of me before Lucina could stab me. It was a completely reckless move, because he was about an inch away from getting stabbed himself and bringing about the future Lucina was trying to avoid, but it worked at stopping Lucina. No one was killed that night.
"We continued on, knowing that there was a strong likelihood of me being used against Chrom at some point if we were to encounter Validar again. And soon enough, that day came.
"We went to Validar, to kill him and end the terror that he'd been inflicting. It might not have been on the level Grima would inflict in the future, but it was nothing small, and Grima's revival was his end goal through his actions anyway. We figured by going to him and defeating him, we could end his plans before they came to fruition."
Again, Robin took a deep breath. The further he got with this story, the more he disliked what had gone on. "It turns out that that was exactly what he wanted. Validar was waiting at the Dragon's Table, the spot where Grima would be revived once his vessel arrived."
Another deep breath. He didn't really want to say it. Azura and Corrin already knew he wasn't totally normal. Izana had called him cursed. Robin had even spoken to Grima. But knowing something and telling someone else about it were two different things.
"Robin?"
Azura's voice made Robin look up. He hadn't even realized he'd turned his head to the ground. It seemed his deep breath and pause had been a little too long.
"That vessel," Robin began, "was me."
Corrin gasped and Azura's eyes widened, but neither said anything. They were waiting for Robin to continue.
"I was Validar's son, and Validar was the head of the Grimleal. They had been trying for generations to produce a viable vessel for Grima, and hadn't had any success until I was born. That's where all the Izana stuff with the curses and so on comes in. But, their plan was thrown off course by my mother, who stole me away before they could do anything, fleeing the country and keeping me out of the Grimleal's grasp.
"But years later there I was in Plegia, having come of my own accord, and standing in the perfect spot for Grima to come down and make my body his.
"We attacked Validar, defeating him. It wasn't over though, as his influence once again came over me. I stabbed Chrom with a bolt of lightning and he fell to the floor. I betrayed my best friends, the thing I had wanted least in the world. Validar came back, ready to gloat about his victory.
"However, that victory… wasn't really real. You said earlier, Corrin, that if I knew of the future, then perhaps I could change its course. Well, you were right. I knew that I killed Chrom in Lucina's future, and I had had a vision of the fight with Validar. I knew I was going to attack him, and that if I let my full power rage, he would die. So once I began to feel someone else's power start to claw at me, I held back all the strength I could. The blow I dealt Chrom was turned from a fatal one to a bad, but not killer one. I couldn't stop myself from attacking him entirely, but I could keep myself from killing him.
"We defeated Validar that day for real, but it wasn't the end. The Hierophant I had met alongside Validar appeared before us, and went to claim Grima's power for himself. The reason we'd looked identical wasn't that we'd been twins. He was the me from Lucina's future, who'd already been possessed by Grima, and had gone back in time to prevent her from erasing his conquests. The Hierophant came to control Grima, and they became our new enemy.
"More fighting ensued, and eventually we met with Naga again, who sent us onto Grima's back to defeat him and end his reign of terror before it led to destruction and death we could not recover from.
"Naga told us there were only two ways to stop Grima. No blow from a regular soldier would do if we were to truly defeat Grima. Either Chrom could 'kill' Grima, which would send him back into another thousand year slumber until he rose again and Chrom's descendants would have to deal with him… or I could kill Grima, which would kill the Fell Dragon for good."
"And the catch?" Azura asked, eyes narrowed.
"Did I say there was one?" Robin answered with a question of his own.
"There has to be. Why even consider the option of having Chrom kill Grima and shoving the problem onto his descendants if you could permanently kill Grima with no issue?" Azura responded.
Robin let out a bitter chuckle. "Well, yeah. That's a great point. You see, I could kill Grima, and he'd be gone forever. But the thing was, if he disappeared forever… I would too."
"What?" Azura breathed, tensing.
"But… that doesn't make sense!" Corrin objected. "You said it was the Hierophant that claimed Grima's power, right? So why would killing Grima hurt you? You weren't the one possessed."
Ah. There it was. That.
"About that…" Robin trailed off a little before picking back up. "That's not entirely true."
"Huh?"
"You remember what Izana said, about me feeling like I'd been cursed, or had made some sort of spirit contract, or had some sort of generations long spell done on me?"
Two nods.
"There may have been something done to me when I was born. Some special way of passing on the bit of Grima's power that made its way through my bloodline. Or perhaps I was simply born with it, no special ceremony done. Either way, though Grima may not have possessed me in full, I carried a part of his soul within me.
"So if I were to kill him… I would be killing the part of his soul within me as well. A piece that had been there so long it had melded with my soul, and had become one in a way that meant if it died, I would die as well.
"So, there were two choices. Chrom could kill Grima and I would live, but the people of the future would have to deal with Grima's madness and destruction again. Or, I could kill Grima and spare the people of the future, but I would die."
Corrin frowned. "You chose the second option," she stated.
Robin shrugged. "And you've learned. Of course I did.
"Chrom wasn't very happy with my decision. But in the end he couldn't stop me. The battle began, and we both rushed ahead. He was caught up in a battle with several Risen. I was able to continue forward, moving until I was in front of the Hierophant. In front of Grima.
"We exchanged words. He tried to tell me I was making a bad decision. I assured him my choice was for the best.
"I cast the strongest thunder spell I could."
A pause.
"He fell."
And then…
"You're still alive though," Corrin said. But she did look a little unsure of herself, he he had to admit.
"Now isn't that something to explore," Robin replied in a cynical tone. "If Grima were to die, I would die as well. But… he didn't exactly die. Not entirely.
"You see, there were technically two Grimas on that battlefield. The Grima of the present, who was the gigantic dragon we were all standing on; and the Grima of the future, who was possessing the Hierophant. When I cast my thunder spell, I hit the Grima of the future. But for some strange reason, it was the Grima of the present that died.
"Future Grima had had a vessel for a while. He knew how to control it, he knew how to control the energy of the spells it could use, and he knew how to possess. My guess is that when his body - the body of the Hierophant - died, he transferred as much of the blow as he could into the Grima of the present, killing it as he tried desperately to find some way to survive.
"The only way for that was for him to find a new vessel. And lucky enough for him, there I was, healthy and alive and already containing enough of his soul to make the transition smooth.
"I didn't realize it at first, the blow I'd dealt Grima having not only hurt him, but me as well. I felt numb while at the same time everything ached, and the odd pain in my chest I associated with dying. With having my soul ripped away from me as Grima died. Now that I think back to that moment, I'm pretty sure that pain must've been not the pain of having a soul taken, but the pain of having one added. The Grima of the future came to possess me, weakened enough by my attack that he fell into a slumber.
"It hurt like nothing I'd felt before, and I knew that was it. Thankfully, I lasted just long enough to have one last conversation with Chrom and say my goodbyes before I fully faded away, the world blurring around me until total darkness fell.
"The next thing I knew there were three voices talking above me, in an eerie echo of a situation I'd been in before. When I finally opened my eyes and focused on the speakers… I saw you two. And Jakob. But… I was alive, when I knew I was supposed to be dead. And I was in a place I didn't recognize in the slightest. I didn't know what I was going to do if you guys started asking me questions, so I played the amnesia card. I figured, if it worked for me once, it could work twice. But it looks like I wasn't entirely right about that. There is the difference of it being legitimate the first time and a farce the second, but either way, the jig is up now.
"So. Any questions?"
Both Corrin and Azura looked shocked. Speechless.
There weren't any questions for a good three minutes. The two girls were taking time to think things over, and whispering between themselves questions they weren't sure about asking, and things they wanted to make sure of before they spoke.
Robin could hear everything they said, but he didn't want to disturb them. He supposed that was likely an effect Grima had on him. Corrin was dragon enough to transform, and her hearing was pretty great. It made sense.
Azura was the first one to ask a question "Has Grima… done anything, since you woke up here?"
"Mm, some stuff, but nothing bad necessarily," Robin responded. "When I got hurt on the ship, it was him that had healed me. He'd been gathering energy since moving to my body, and had enough to keep me from dying when I got in trouble like that. He said he didn't want to be doing that again though, so I'm not going to look for danger like that again. I'm not sure if he'd even be capable of doing something similar. We spoke for a little while while I was unconscious, but then I woke up and he went to sleep, so we haven't had many chances to get to know one another.
"He doesn't seem particularly happy about being stuck with me, but he hasn't done anything malicious. I'm not sure that he can. Or if he'd want to. It is my body he's stuck in, and hurting me would probably hurt him too. I'm pretty sure he's influenced my thoughts here and there, because there have been some times when my thoughts have turned dark in a way they never have before, or some things I've thought about doing that I know I wouldn't normally think of. Nothing intrusive or powerful enough that I've acted on it. But it has to be him in there doing it. I'm not sure whether it's intentional or just some natural result of the proximity, and I haven't been able to ask him about it.
"He's the one the Rainbow Sage and I were talking about by the way, if you haven't figured that out. He's also the reason I have red eyes. Which is the reason both Selena and Laslow were so wary when they saw me. In their timeline, the Robin they grew up with had brown eyes, as did I until the battle with Grima. When Grima possessed that Robin, his eyes turned red. So when they saw a 'Robin' with red eyes… well, the eye color was the only thing that physically distinguished me from Grima, and seeing the man who destroyed your future right in front of you certainly isn't comforting."
Corrin looked slightly reassured, but wary herself. "Do you think he could make you do the sort of stuff that brought about Lucina's future?"
Robin shook his head. "No. This Grima is saner than that one. I guess I have some sort of calming effect on him, like your dragonstone has on you. Besides, we've reached an agreement, and I don't think he'll be taking control of this body anytime soon. He's napping for the moment anyway. I'll tell you when he wakes up, if that makes you feel any better."
Corrin nodded, adding a short "Thanks."
"I promise you two," Robin vowed, "I am not the man that destroyed Lucina's future, nor will I ever be. I will not let Grima take control of me while I am still alive and awake, and I won't ever do anything to harm you. I would die before becoming your enemy. I won't allow myself to harm an ally ever again. If I ever make a move against you, don't hesitate to stop me. So long as I am able, I won't let it come to that, but if it ever does…"
"It won't," Corrin supplied.
Robin nodded in response. "So, do we have any more que-"
A pained cry cut him off.
"Ggffh!"
Azura and Corrin stood up, looking around.
"That was from outside the door...!" Corrin voiced, running over to it. Azura followed.
Meanwhile, Robin had collapse forward, some odd energy rumbling around him. It was coming from the door, alright. But what was it? It made him feel sick. And not in the Grima's-grudge-against-Naga way either. Nor was it the sickness associated with fever or regular illness. This was… Robin wasn't sure how to phrase it.
Azura glanced back at him with worry. She and Corrin had paused at the door, wanting Robin to come over before they opened it.
"Are you sure you're alright?" Azura asked. "You never did explain what it was that was bothering you earlier."
Robin got to his feet slowly, and made his way to the door. "It was Grima. He's still asleep, but he kind of freaks out when I praise his enemy. Which results in me feeling abit dizzy and nauseous. This is different though, so-"
"Kkgghhh…"
Another pained noise came from outside the door, this one sounding more like someone struggling to breathe than someone who had suddenly been hit by a surge of pain as the first did.
It made the sickly power in the air around Robin intensify for a moment, and he swayed slightly. Corrin caught him.
"Open the door," Robin told Azura.
"Are you certain you'll be okay?" she asked.
"I don't think this feeling will get worse if you let us see the cause," he responded, freeing himself from Corrin's grasp.
Corrin didn't look too happy at Robin pushing himself off her, but she nodded at Azura to get the door.
When they opened it, it was to find Takumi writhing on the ground.
"Brother!" Corrin cried, dropping to her knees and holding onto him.
Takumi didn't respond at first, though he did stop moving for the most part, with only a small twitch remaining.
Corrin tried to get his attention. "Takumi, can you hear me?"
He looked up to Corrin, making brief eye contact, before letting his head drop back to the ground and closing his eyes. He was pale, and still looked to be in some sort of pain.
"Lady Corrin?" Jakob's voice called out, the man standing at the other end of the hallway. Behind him were Oboro and Hinata.
"Lord Takumi!" the prince's retainers shouted simultaneously, running to kneel at Takumi's side.
"What happened!?" Hinata asked frantically, looking Takumi over for any sign of injury.
"We don't know," Azura responded with a frown. "Something feels… off...about him, but I'm not sure what.
Oboro didn't look convinced. "You didn't hurt him…" Her gaze turned menacing. "Did you…?"
"I don't see any reason as to why Lady Corrin would even consider hurting her brother, nor any reason why either Azura or Robin would wish to do him harm," Jakob answered for them, joining the others as he crouched at Takumi's side. "Now then, you wish for your liege to get better, do you not?"
Hinata and Oboro nodded.
"Then back away and give the prince room to breath, and me room to heal him. You lot crowding over him will do him no good."
Everyone but Jakob, who pulled his staff from his back, and Corrin, who was holding Takumi's head, stood up and took a step back. Jakob then cast a mend spell, the magic washing over Takumi. He stopped twitching a few moments later, but Robin wasn't sure whether that was the effect of the mend spell, or simply the result of enough time passing since the incident that sent him down that he'd recovered enough to be still. Takumi was still pale, his breaths uneven, so he clearly wasn't doing well.
Jakob sent Oboro and Hinata away to prepare Takumi's bed so he could have a place ready to rest once they moved him, and then cast another mend spell. Not much happened. Azura looked like she wanted to say something, but never opened her mouth.
Instead, Corrin spoke. "I don't think the spells are working. What should we do? Just take him back to his room and let him rest? Or should we try to give him water or some sort of healing potion? If he stays in this condition, I don't think I can let him march tom-"
"I...I'm...f-ine…" Takumi choked out, breathing heavily but finally speaking.
"Takumi!" Corrin cried, at the same time Jakob scolded Takumi, yelling "Don't waste your breaths on speaking! Your breathing is shallow enough as it is!"
Takumi tried to say something under his breath, but it just sounded like a bunch of gibberish to Robin.
Takumi coughed a few times, but after a minute or two, his breathing had returned to a mostly normal state.
"Do you think you can walk long enough to reach our room?" Robin asked the prince.
He, Takumi, and Jakob were rooming together (originally Hinata was supposed to stay with them too, but he were worried about causing a jealousy match between him and Oboro, so Robin decided against it), so Robin and Jakob were in the perfect position to watch over Takumi while he rested.
"We'll support you on each side," Jakob added, helping Takumi move into a sitting position.
"..." Takumi didn't appear to be particularly happy at the notion of needing to rely on others just to walk, but he ended up nodding anyway.
So, Jakob got on Takumi's right, Robin on his left, and they both slipped one of Takumi's arms over their shoulders. They carefully made their way to their room, finding Oboro and Hinata talking to each other at the door. They moved out of the way so Robin and Jakob could put Takumi down on the bed, which had the covers shifted to the side and a glass of water next to it.
"Thank you, you two. We'll take it from here. You guys go rest," Robin told Takumi's retainers.
"You sure?" Hinata asked, worried. "Because if we can do anything at all then-"
Jakob snapped at them. "Have you ever heard the phrase 'too many cooks in the kitchen?' Because that is what we will have if you two try crowding into this room offering unneeded and unwanted help. Now shoo."
Hinata looked surprised, while Oboro was downright offended, but the two left anyway. Not without some grumbling from Oboro, but it made sense.
What didn't make sense was Jakob. That was a bit quick for him to get angry. Not that Robin hadn't seen him get mad before, but usually there was something more to cause it. That, and Jakob had been getting better lately.
"Are you doing all right, Jakob?"
Jakob sighed. "Yes. Just a little… frustrated. Today has been rather taxing, and I'd like nothing more than to prepare Lady Corrin a cup of tea and to retire for the night. Yet here I am, caring for her mysteriously ill brother, whose retainers insist on making themselves present where they are not of any use. It's a bit of a cultural difference they don't quite understand."
Robin didn't get what he meant by that. "How so?"
"In Nohr, people mind their own business for the most part. Perhaps it is different in the lower parts of the city and in particular areas, but in the majority of the places I have been, people don't just randomly strike up conversations with strangers or those they barely know, and they don't force themselves into someone's business without invitation. One will ask for help and go away if they are not wanted. They don't repeatedly search for some obscure way they could be 'helpful,' nor do they follow you around like a lost puppy constantly offering to do something just because they can.
"The Hoshidans with us, and those in the towns we have been, are not so closed off. Numerous people have come up to me just to chat, or with questions I may or may not know the answers to, assuming I'll happily respond. They will impose themselves on me or try to involve themselves in my personal business in an attempt to 'help' when I would like nothing more than to be left alone and ready to cater to Lady Corrin's needs. Perhaps this is closed minded of me, but I much prefer the privacy of Nohrian life than the intrusions of Hoshidans."
Robin nodded. "I can understand that. To each their own, I guess. I like my privacy, and don't really fancy people trying to get into my business either, but I am the type to chat with someone I don't know if we're stuck waiting somewhere, and helping someone, even if they're a stranger, is something I'm inclined to do if I think they look like they need some assistance. So I'm probably somewhere in the middle of those. Different ways of life evolve in different areas, and there's nothing wrong with liking the world you grew up in. I'd just suggest you try to be a little more open minded. Yeah, what the Hoshidans are doing might not be very polite using the standards you were raised with, but they're doing their best according to the system they know. Maybe clue them in on your discomfort next time, or set some boundaries, rather than snapping."
"Mm." Jakob responded, removing the jewel from his… cravat? Robin wasn't entirely sure if that was the term for it. It was oddly twisted.
"Hah… Maybe Nohr isn't… so bad," Takumi said quietly.
Both Robin and Jakob looked down at him. His face had gone from being pale to being flushed. Robin placed a hand on Takumi's forehead. He had a fever.
"H-hey," Takumi stuttered, trying to swipe Robin's hand away. He missed. "Weren't we just talking… about personal space?"
Robin blinked. "Oh. Yeah. We were. Sorry about that."
Takumi closed his eyes. "Hmph."
A knock at the door drew Robin's attention. Jakob, meanwhile, had crouched down next to the bed Takumi was on.
"Jakob, Robin?" It was Corrin at the door. "How is he doing?"
"He's recovering quickly. I don't know what it is that has affected him so negatively, but I so believe he'll be back to normal in a short time," Jakob responded.
Corrin gave a nod.
Robin looked over Takumi once more, and then toward the door, where he saw Azura waiting behind Corrin.
"Hey," Robin started, "can I talk to you two for just a minute? Nothing especially long. Just to finish up what we were talking about."
"That's fine with me," Corrin responded.
"As with I," Azura added on.
Robin made eye contact with Jakob, who motioned toward the door.
"Should we return to the room we were in earlier to finish this up?" Azura asked once Robin had exited the room and turned toward her and Corrin.
"I don't think it's necessary. If someone hears this part I don't really mind. It's vague enough, and if that leaves someone a little puzzled but still uninformed, that's fine by me."
Corrin agreed, so Robin said what he'd been thinking about since he'd finished his story.
"Are you two really okay with all of this? With everything I've told you? Do you even believe it's true?"
Azura sighed, and Corrin broke out a smile.
"Of course we're okay with it, and of course we believe you. Or at least, I do. I think Azura's the same…?"
"One hundred percent."
"Yeah. So we're fine, and you're fine, and you don't need to worry. That's a pretty… fantastic… story. Some things seem a little crazier or unlikely than others. But with the way you tell it, I don't think it's false. I can't imagine someone constructing such a weird fake past for themselves anyway." Corrin then laughed. "Besides, it only makes sense. A fittingly weird story for an oddly weird guy."
Robin broke out into a smile. "Oddly weird? I'm not regularly weird?"
Corrin's smile faded a little, and she began to pout. "Hey! Give me a break!"
"Never!" Robin shouted back, his smile growing.
"What kind of friend are you!?"
"A fantastic and oddly weird one!"
"A terrible one!"
"A terrific one!"
"You two…"
"And what does the great Lady Azura have to add on to this conversation?"
"I don't know where to begin."
"You could begin with quieting down, for one," Jakob said, stopping their conversation. "Prince Takumi has fallen asleep, and if you keep up your shouting, you may wake him. As we don't know what is wrong with him, rest is the best medicine we can give, and you are rather close to interrupting it."
"Ah, oops." Robin felt a little guilty.
"Sorry about that, Jakob," Corrin said, a guilty expression crossing her face as well.
"I tried to warn them," Azura said, looking above the situation.
"Uh, no you didn't." Corrin shot back.
"I did," Azura responded calmly.
"No, I don't remember that happening," Robin said, backing Corrin.
Jakob let out a heavy sigh. "Whether or not Azura tried to warn you, you've received a warning for me, and I would appreciate silence. There are other guests in the vicinity that can likely hear you, and I think they would appreciate some silence as well. It isn't the middle of the night, but it is late enough for some people to have gone to bed, and shouting distracts from sleep. Besides, you need your sleep as well Lady Corrin, if you're to stay healthy. I will prepare you tea shortly, if you'll only give me a few more minutes to get situated."
"Ah, sorry about that," Corrin replied. "And thank you Jakob. I'll be in my room, so you know where to find me."
"Of course."
With that, Azura and Corrin left, and Robin and Jakob went back into their own room.
Sure enough, Takumi was sleeping. His face was relaxed too, which was a good sign.
"Say, Robin," Jakob began.
Robin looked over to the butler. "What's up?"
"You wouldn't happen to know what Takumi was doing outside your room in the first place, would you? He left our room saying he wanted to talk a while ago, but he didn't tell me why," Jakob continued.
Now that was a good question. What had Takumi been doing there? And how long had he been there? Had he heard Robin's story? Did he know everything?
Takumi was still asleep, so Robin couldn't ask him just yet. But in the morning… hopefully the prince would be well enough to answer a few questions.
Author's note:
Okay so while there's a ton of info in here you guys already know (as long as you've played Awakening... and I've read crossover stories without having read/played 1 out of 2 of the series so maybe there are some of you who are Fates only), but I felt it was important that we knew what Corrin and Azura did. And what Robin thought of some of the stuff that went on, as well as how it related to the Fates world. And while the beginning sucked to write, the middle and ending were a lot more fun. Also if anyone suddenly thought, "wait why are they in an inn when they have the astral plane" the answer is I forgot it existed. Just like I did the first time it appeared. Will I come up with an explanation next chapter? Maybe, maybe not. We'll just have to see. Hopefully soon. I fly out for classes on the 18th and after that I'll have less writing time, but since I have everything outlines I should be able to put out a chapter before then. It's a little after 5:00pm here in California so it probably isn't the 4th for some of you anymore, but it is for me so I made the deadline!
Originally posted August 4th, 2018. Word count: 10,544 not including author's notes.
Eruran (I will change my name to Mariyekos the day I post the next chapter) out.
