Oh, hey! Lookie what I FINALLY managed to get out! I hate writer's block so much, you guys have no idea. I was focusing so hard on trying to write out the next chapter that I ended up getting badly stumped, but I decided to write whatever came to mind instead for a bit and I managed the latter half of this chapter. From these I decided to add the beginning and make it all the next chapter, so hopefully it makes up for the disgustingly long wait you all had to suffer. You guys have no idea how sorry I feel...but I hope you all enjoy.
True fear was never something she wanted to make them feel...
Noire spent the entire day running around for the tactician, getting as much information about the capital as she could.
"I-it is over a-a thousand y-years old." She finished her report shortly before dinner, the one she was talking to unable to keep the grin from spreading over her face.
"Perfect. Thank you Noire." Robin said, though her mind was in her tactics.
"What was-" The king had been nearby, walking over once the report was done.
"I have the battle plan. Gather everyone." She explained, the second sentence aimed at her old travelling companion.
"Ok." Henry grinned, leaving quickly to do as told.
¬NF¬
"It took quite a long time to come with a plan, for you." Frederick pointed out as hand drawn maps and a few books were spread across a table.
"I made hundreds of possible plans the past few days. Without knowing anything about the capital and castle it was impossible to choose a specific one." Robin explained, seeing a few people nod in understanding. "However, I finally got the necessary information. As such the battle plan ended up far simpler than I had been expecting... there's little anyone could do to mess it up." She pulled two pieces of paper from one of the books, spreading them out for everyone to see.
"Ylisstol Castle?" Lissa questioned in confusion as she pointed to one of the papers.
"That's right." The red eyed teenager agreed, circling the area in front of the throne room. "See here, how the main doorway has a small corridor in front of it?" She asked, not looking up.
"It can only fit two people at once." Chrom stated, his voice curious. "The servants complain about it sometimes."
"It wasn't an accident, nor lack of building materials or wanting the throne room to be large. It was completely intentional." The cloaked teenager looked up, smirking. "It's for if the castle is attacked. Only a few enemy soldiers can attack the doors at once, and there isn't enough room for something like a battering ram...and much easier to barracade from the inside. It's entirely to protect the Royals inside." The Ylissians stared, amazed at the information, as she looked back down.
"What about-" The Great Knight began, cut off almost immediately.
"This opening beside the throne room is also intentional, it wasn't a mistake. It was to be used as a secret passage to get the Royals out, should those inside fear the barricade wouldn't hold. There aren't any signs of hidden doors ever being there, so it was likely hidden by floor to ceiling tabards instead but they were taken down at some point. Later castles have a mixture of hidden doors and magic for these passages."
"I didn't know you knew so much about castles." The closed eyed boy grinned, getting a soft chuckle.
"Call it a hobby." The orange haired teenager responded simply, returning her attention to the others. "More importantly, this style of castle were the people could easily get to the throne room but it was also far easier to protect has become the normal for today's standards, but it started a long time ago..." An almost vicious smirk spread across her face. "Just under 1,000 years ago."
"Valm Castle!" Virion exclaimed, causing the smirk to widen.
"Exactly." She confirmed. "Valm Castle is over 1,000 years old, meaning that it follows the older ways of building." The second paper was placed down, her helper opening the books to the needed pages with a soft command. "So, the path to their throne room from the entrance is instead...a straight line." Murmurs ran amongst the others, the vessel waiting for them to calm down.
"Your plan?" Libra asked, getting a nod once everyone had quieted.
"Chrom will fight Walhart-"
"That is madness!" The brown haired knight disagreed, almost in a panic.
"Walhart is a proud fool, none of his soldiers will interfere with their fight. He has gained an interest in the king, and will be distracted by their fight. I have been keeping a close eye on Chrom's battling, he is capable of winning against the conqueror now." The harsh words seemed to shut him up. "Frederick will stay close; Excellus is a manipulative snake, he may try and kill the both of them." A nod.
"And the rest?" Sully questioned.
"Sully, Lon'qu, Lissa, Libra, Maribelle, Nowi, Panne and Kellam. That should give us a good balance against the enemies, so your jobs are to simply take out whoever you'll do well against. Got it?" The large group all nodded. "I'll give you more specific orders during the fight." She added, though it likely wasn't necessary. "Say'ri, Virion. You both deserve to be in this fight, this is your homeland. Try your best to keep reinforcements from getting to the main battle. I'm sure a few will show up." The Valmese nodded as well.
"You aren't leaving me out, are you?" The male dark mage asked with a frown, his friend shaking her head.
"Henry, you're with me. We'll stay in the main room to take out any reinforcements that may get passed Say'ri and Virion." The fire preferred teenager explained, getting a grin. "The rest of you will protect the caravan, as always. It'll be left an hour or two from the castle, far from the combat to keep it safe." She turned upon feeling a tug on her cloak sleeve, seeing her son look at her with pleading eyes. "Morgan-"
"P-pl...lea...ea-se..." It took Morgan several seconds just to get out the single word, dragged out as it was.
"No." The voice was harsh, expected when he was in such a poor state.
¬NF¬
The night and day passed without incident, before anyone really knew it they were inside the castle. It was becoming harder to stay like this, to focus at all. The two sides were beginning to disagree, forcing a pound in her head and body to freeze...if this kept up they would split apart again, which neither side necessarily wanted right now.
"It doesn't look like Walhart intends to flee." Chrom pointed out, the small teenager beside him giving a hum.
"As I said, he is far too proud a man to do such a thing." Robin reminded him. "His men are prepared to die for him...it's certainly a feat to gain such strong loyalty from a vast amount of soldiers like this."
"I guess he inspires that sort of loyalty in people...part of the reason he's so terrifying of an enemy." He seemed startled at her sudden scoff.
"Terrifying if you didn't have me." She corrected, the battle beginning as the king walked unimpeded to his opponent.
"Morgan?!" A sharp turn of her head revealed the black eyed boy, wobbling as though barely able to stand, fighting with his magic. Her mind raced and tried to figure out how to get him to safety, or protect him, without leaving the others on their own while she moved quickly to his side. The cloaked teenager's focus was brought suddenly to the battle at the sound of an assassin trying to sneak up behind her son, shifting her body to take the blow. The sword stabbed barely below her throat, body smaller than the intended target.
"ROBIN!" Henry screamed for her, of course, but now wasn't the time to worry. With strength a human couldn't possess she pushed herself further onto the blade, grabbing the startled assassin's face. The Arcfire was ripped from the tome as the circles appeared, scorching the man to death before she made a circular barrier of fire around her son. The sword stayed as those around her stopped fighting from the sudden appearance of the flaming pillar.
"I had intended to allow the king and emperor their own fate...however, it seems my hand has been forced." The fire user walked towards the emperor and other tactician, those on both sides not daring to get in her way. Her body had purple flames snake up it, surrounding her wound and covering her back before bursting free into the familiar six flaming wings.
"GRIMA!" Walhart yelled her secret, daring to advance towards her and ignore his current opponent...another firey pillar shot up around him, keeping the conqueror in place.
"I have no care for your feeble attempts at deicide mortal." The teenager stated calmly, walking past him to the grinning hidden grimleal. Her vision tripled as two extra sets of glowing red eyes appeared on her cheeks while she approached him...it was impossible to notice without looking for it, but she was trembling.
"M-my Lord Grima! I-" Excellus looked so pleased with himself.
"Have overstepped your bounds Mutt." She snarled in a deeper human voice than normal, all eyes narrowing as his widened in fear.
"I just-"
"Dared to believe yourself higher than a god." Her voice echoed out in the loud, deep ways of the fell dragon. The hand with her glowing Mark of Grima moved to gesture at the boy still protected with flames. "You think I wouldn't notice the assassin you sent after my blood? After ME?" Fear turned to horror as the human's eyes darted towards the pillar she gestured to.
"L-Lord Grima, I never-" He backed away until he hit the wall in fear, sliding down it to appear smaller. An inhuman roar left her throat, shutting him up.
"I am the Fell Dragon, destruction itself. I am your GOD." The flame wings flared out, solidifying into black feathered ones that cast shadows upon her and her target. "Yet you intended to destroy me?"
"Never!" The man squeaked desperately, her face shifting into a sneer of disgust.
"Pathetic mutt, to bite the master that gives you power." The marked hand snapped forward, grabbing the chin of the man. "Your life is mine Mutt..." She hissed in that same echoed voice.
"O-of-" The disgusting man suddenly tried to pull away, terror in his eyes. Purple flames shot up his face and covered his body from her hand, leaving only a charred skeleton in moments.
"And it's about time I took it." The glowing eyed human took a deep breath to try and calm herself, heart pounding in her chest. She had used a great deal of her stored life energy with the pillars and killing that man, not to mention the partial transformation she currently held and keeping the sword still imbedded in her from doing anymore damage...the heartbeat was weakening but not because she was calmer.
"R-Robin?" Turning on her heel caused the pigtailed girl to see her friends, her family...all with varying looks of horror and terror. The looks made her head pound, body refusing to move from the anguish only one side felt. Libra, follower of Naga that he was, stood before his wife with his axe held out but shook with his attempt to look like he wasn't afraid. Lissa was the one who spoke, yet she looked almost petrified now. Chrom...had a look of betrayal and despair, even worse than his older sister's death. The rest...she ignored them.
"Now, Conqueror...I doubt you'll merely return to fighting the king." The pillar around the Valmese man fell, pure white eyes glaring at her when she looked.
"I won't let Grima walk freely and destroy this world!" He proclaimed, raising his axe in foolish challenge.
"I'm hardly free." Robin sighed, pulling her sword from the belt. She wanted him to die, thoughts of paying him back for making the others so scared filling her mind from the other side until both agreed. "Then you are welcome to try, Mortal." A sinister grin spread across her face as he ran at her. To be honest it was hardly a fight, the smaller body easily dodging each heavy swing as though it was in slow motion despite the wings making for a far larger target, the unfaltering grin making it clear that she was merely toying with him.
"Robin!" Her old travelling companion called as the 'fight' dragged across minutes, causing her lips to tug into a frown. He was worried about her again, blood beginning to spill from around the sword now that she didn't have the life energy left to hold it closed...probably time to finish this. Flaring her wings she jumped up slightly, seeming to appear behind her opponent in the blink of an eye. The blade cut through the armor as though it wasn't there, stabbing through his heart from behind and stopping his movement.
"It was an amusing attempt." The grin appeared again, glowing hand sending fire down the blade. The man screamed as fire burned his body from within, a humiliating death for one so strong. The Silver Sword pulled free, corpse falling without the attacker holding it up. "But only an attempt." The wings exploded into only feathers before bursting into purple flames, disintegrating before they even hit the floor. The sudden weakness hit hard, her legs collapsing under her as her sword clattered to the floor.
"Robin!" When did the boy with closed eyes get close enough to catch her from her fall?
"Just...tired..." She tried to sound as normal as she could, but the almost desperate gasps as her heart continued to slow didn't help. The extra sets of eyes had vanished, leaving her remaining sight blurred.
"Will I have enough?" Her former travelling companion pulled her closer, fear in his soft voice.
"...Yes." The vessel answered after a moment, making sure the amount she needed wouldn't kill him.
"Stay away from her!" His yell was sudden, pulling her closer and moving back...was someone trying to attack while she was weak?
"Trying to kill her now won't help!" Lucina's voice echoed through the hall, angry but almost panicked.
"Lamentably, Lucina is veridical. Grima will ensnare your continuance vivacity and convalesce itself." Laurant agreed, a look of anger in his usually calm eyes. "It is imperative that it be extirpated where the populace is absent." The glowing eyed girl didn't want to take their energy, didn't want to kill them. He carefully moved one of her hands to his chest, allowing her to take his life energy as he pulled the blade still hurting her free. It was slow, almost maddening, but the wounds healed in time with the weapon being pulled out. Her vision having returned at one point she turned her head, seeing a certain war monk far closer than he had been before and knuckles white from the grip on his axe.
"Virion. Say'ri." The tactician shifted her body to hold up her exhausted friend, his arm slung over her small shoulder as he smiled down at her. The two mentioned snapped their attention to her. "Your kingdoms are free, once more under your control. Do with them, and the rest of Valm, as you see fit." She didn't care what happened here, her expression making that clear as she slowly helped the father of her son out of the castle...no one dared to stop her, nor her son who shakily followed after.
¬NF¬
The vessel of Grima, the dark mage who defied him and a boy so broken he could no longer speak...it was odd for Noire to see them sitting and leaning against the wall outside the castle, eyes all closed while the boys leaned against the girl as though they had fallen asleep on her. They may all be shattered remains of people, but as a family they were whole. It was an almost saddening thought. A red eye snapped open, staring at the archer as if to dare an attack...the cloaked teenager knew better than to let her guard down after what happened today. That, too, was saddening.
These three are whole together, and it's something I've been wanting to add for a while now. So long as they're together they will be okay. As for the others...oh shit, it's Grima! Their tactician basically just went "I am the Fell Dragon, I am GOD" and killed two people with feathered wings from her back like it didn't mean a thing! And this...this is not okay. What are they supposed to do now?
Hope you all enjoyed, and I hope to see you soon ^^
P.S. 'Kjelle' explaining how Grima takes life energy was a placeholder until I wrote out Laurant, but I forgot to change it before I posted. It's fixed now.