17. Firefighters

((Author's Note: Very lightly inspired by elements from Astral Chain.))

The building is little more than a left over husk, all blackened and ashen. The walls are torn out, completely gutted from the flame. Chrom steps through ash, his boots snuffing out a lingering tongues of fire.

"They did a number on this place." Lissa murmurs at his side… Before flinching away from a lump ahead of them. Chrom narrows his eyes, already picking out bones in the ash. Some broken apart from heat, others blackened, and a few white fragments. They're the only remains of the cultists that invoked the fire, and the demons that fueled the blaze.

"Not a ringing endorsement for joining the Grimleal." Sully strides over the bones, curling her lip. "Hells, can you imagine their slogan? 'Join our cult today, and get burned alive!' It's a wonder they get any new blood."

Chrom can only give an agreeing hum, turning his focus to the perimeter. Emmeryn stands there, working the last bits of magic to snuff out the flames. Chrom has to shift his own fire tools around, in case any blazes kick back up and he needs to fight them.

"I don't know if we'll find any survivors." He tells Sully, motioning her to break off and search elsewhere. "We'll do one more sweep, and then go back to report. Lissa, you're with me, in case we DO find anyone."

"Just as long as you touch any dead bodies." Lissa mumbles, falling into step behind him.

Chrom pushes his way deeper into the building; three stories have all collapsed inward. A cold feeling in his stomach reminds him that if they hadn't arrived on the scene, hadn't sliced into the fire demons and cast their own wards, the flames could have easily jumped to the other buildings or the structure itself could have collapsed the wrong way.

A good reminder, that he couldn't afford to go lax in his duties. Chrom eyes the tangle of collapsed beams; some wood and half crisped away, some metal… And half melted. A testament to how strong this summoning was.

"We're going to have to go through that, aren't we." Lissa mumbles. In answer, Chrom rolls his shoulders and picks out the best path through the wreckage; the easiest to cut through, and the least likely to collapse.

Falchion steams, when he draws the sword; the water and ice wards on it still are reacting to the ambient magic left in the air, ready to fight back at a moment's notice. The blade almost dances in his hands, easily scything through the wooden beams. It's fast work, until one last, half melted steel barrier stands in his way. And that's when Falchion truly shines; the ash of the area goes a stark black against the sudden glow the blade gives off. The first time it touches the steel, he can hear it crackle and go brittle. The next time, Chrom puts all the force he can manage into the swing, and the steel is like glass; shattering under his attack, and falling in shards to his feet.

"…Never get tired of seeing that." Lissa tells him, and her wide eyes don't lie.

"It might've been an empty effort; more for practice than anything else." He admits, stepping past the shattered steel. "I doubt we'll find-"

The words are snatched out of his throat, as he looks beyond the fallen structure.

Because there's a center to all this chaos; a place where the blast seems to have originated from. The beams and blast marks all lay in ripples and lines, pointing to one spot in the floor. There's nothing more than a ring of ash around the epicenter, while the ground itself has turned to shiny, obsidian glass.

The black of the survivor's robe almost blends into that, covering her like a blanket. Her face is barely visible under the hood, her long silver hair fanning around her in a halo. And somehow, despite the chaos and ruin all around her, she doesn't show so much as a bruise. Chrom lets his breath out in a shocked hiss as he takes her in, and Lissa pokes her head out from behind him.

"Y-you're kidding me." She whispers, before darting past him. She skids to a stop next to the stranger, falling down on her hands and knees and checking the woman over. "Hey, Chrom…? We've got a pulse. Which means that we should probably do something."

"You have a plan for this?" He was pretty sure training and scenarios never covered a situation like this.

"W-well, no! I don't know exactly what we're supposed to do… Just that we need to do something-!"

A groan from the stranger stops Lissa short. Her eyes blink open, and for a moment, Chrom catches an odd spark behind them. The next moment, he finds himself kneeling down, extending a hand for her to take while murmuring soft assurances that she'll be alright.

And he knows that much is truth, with strength behind her fingers when she grips his hand. Even through gloves, her skin is warm to the touch.

-o-o-o-

Her name is Robin, and she makes for an enigma. Not even Emmeryn or Miriel, their mage experts, can figure her out. There's no answer for why she was able to survive a firestorm that leveled a building. Though not for lack of trying; Miriel uses every exacting, and embarrassingly personal question she has, but the most they're able to learn is her name.

And that she's confused as the rest of them. She has no memory of anything beyond Chrom and Lissa finding her in the blast zone. And while she might have survived the explosion, there's no identifying documents on her.

"I have one theory." Miriel says at last, pinching at her nose; a sign she's found the hours of questions just as draining. "That whatever phenomena shielded this young woman from the conflagration, did so only after it burned through her mind. The others in the building had their bodies burned, in exchange for power flooding their spirits. The opposite happened to our enigma."

Chrom watches Robin stare down at her hands in the meeting room. He knows she can hear them, but she doesn't dare raise her voice.

"So… What do we do?" Lissa asks, voice timid.

"We're not just turning her out and wishing her good luck." Chrom is adamant about that much. "I'm pretty sure we all swore to protect this city from the ravages of Plegia, and their infernos. And she's been hurt by them."

Even if it isn't a physical hurt. She gives a start at that, looking up from her hands to stare at Chrom… And he wonders at that grateful look he sees flash through her eyes.

"True… And we could always use another on the force." Emmeryn murmurs in assent.

"Th… Thank you." Robin says out loud, drawing everyone's focus back to her. "I wasn't certain where to go; but if there's room in this organization, then… It gives me some sort of purpose."

-o-o-o-

Robin finds that, even though her memory has been gutted by flames, she still makes for a fast learner. Maybe it's just that her head wants to be full of information, instead of frustratingly blank. Regardless, she takes in a lot in the span of a week.

She learns about Shepherd, and the fact that they're an emergency response team dedicated to stopping disasters. She also learns of Plegia, the fire worshipers and biggest threat in the city of Ylisstol. And she learns some of the basic strategies for facing the inferno cultists.

They have a surprisingly physical response… And training regimen. Frederick, the senior member of the Shepherds, doesn't cut her any slack. She needs to learn how to extinguish flames with prepared wards, or with swords treated with those same wards; a blade thrust into the heart of a fire does the job of extinguishing them, even though it quickly tarnishes the blade. Robin also learns how to throw blankets, water, and the like over start up flames.

"If you're not a magic user like most of us, that will be your standby. We don't have many blades to go around, unfortunately." Frederick tells her. Robin nods at that, and tells her arms to stop complaining over carrying heavy supplies. It's better than the odd sparking and fever the builds in her head, whenever she has to deal with anything arcane-

A sharp alarm blares into her senses, and Frederick jolts his head up at the same time as her. Red lights flash across the rooms, while the siren flares three times, in a specific pattern. Frederick picks up on it, narrowing his eyes.

"Wh-what does it mean?" She hesitates at his scowl, especially when he turns it to her. The flashing red lights do odd things to her head as well, give her mind an odd twinge, and push a strange hot feeling behind her eyes.

"It means all hands needed. There's been a major attack." He's already walking as he speaks, hand on her sleeve and guiding her out of the training hall. The other Shepherds rush by her, past a glowing map room. On the main screens, Robin can pick out a glowing dot… Right in the middle of a packed area.

"We need everyone who can fight!" Chrom's voice cuts through the alarm, and he stands at the doorway.

"Captain, I'm ready to drive!" Shouts out a woman who introduced herself earlier as Sumia, barging into the room. A red haired woman, Cordelia follows after her. Chrom nods to them, and Robin gets the feeling there'll be a fully convoy.

Frederick nudges her forward, to follow the other fighters. Robin gives Chrom an uncertain look.

"I… Did say I needed everyone who can fight." Chrom tells her.

"She knows the basics of fighting fires." Frederick says, pushing Robin forward. "She just needs someone more seasoned to show her the ropes… Though I'm busy enough with my own students."

In answer, Chrom puts a hand on her shoulder. The fever Robin had been feeling dims in response, and she finds herself nodding.

-o-o-o-

Sumia takes the wheel, and has a surprisingly heavy foot on the gas pedal. She cuts through the streets, and takes them to the heart of the fire. Even through the windows and closed doors, Robin can feel the heat of the flames.

And when she stumbles out of the car, the inferno bites into her. It threatens to blister her skin, and boil the sudden layer of sweat coating her. But Chrom doesn't flinch from the sensation, instead charging towards the entrance.

"ROBIN! You're with me!" He shouts over his shoulder. By reflex, she chases after him. Into the doorway, and the mouth of the flames. Fire shoots out of from the doorway, streaming off it and the windows in strange, red and orange curtains with tints of white and blue. There's a hypnotic, rhythmic pulsing to the flames, almost like some great beast is breathing in and out. A part of her heart aches at the sight, finding it almost beautiful-

If not for the screams. The cries for help jolt Robin out of her reverie, and pull Chrom forward. The flames reach out for them, ready to leap from building to flesh. In answer, Chrom unsheathes his blade, brandishing it against the fire. The sword glows blue, the blaze seems to shrink from the weapon.

Robin takes that as her cue, and grabs a hose from the cumbersome backpack she's carrying. The symbols engraved around the nozzle burn bright, pale blue. Summoning water from another source and cycling it through the backpack and hose. She almost looses her grip on the thing, but it still spits out gouts of water on the fire. The flames shrink back further, almost hissing in pain. It gives them room to move forward, one step at a time.

"You remember the basics from briefing?" Chrom calls over the roar and splintering of the burning building.

"There's… A source for the fire demons." Robin calls back. "If we take that out and secure the building, we stop the inferno."

She risks a glance behind her; through the shifting veils of smoke she can see the task force already fanning around the building. Some reinforcing the supports so they won't give out, others hemming in the fire and attacking from different angles. It all leaves her and Chrom with a slightly more stable battlefield, to cut their way through.

"Got it right." Chrom tells her. "The hard part is figuring out where it is, exactly. Probably in the heart of the building…" He trails off, focusing and tilting his head. Getting a read on the magic pulsing through the building, and trying to figure out where it emits from.

"I think…" Robin forces her eyes shut for a moment, even as she fears that the fires might reach out for them. But she tries to focus past the fear, past an odd, growing fever building back up in her head-

"Third floor!" She tells him.

"Right! That's what I picked out, too!" Chrom rushes forward, through hallways. "Elevators are out. We need to take the stairs."

It's a nightmare to climb those. The smoke turns into a choking curtain, and Robin can barely breathe or see. The light from Chrom's blade is the only thing that isn't roiling shadows, or flickers of orange. She falters for a split second… Only for Chrom to grab her by the hand, pulling her upwards. Her steps stumble, and the sudden motion makes the backpack slip from her shoulders and clatter to the floor.

"Th-thanks…" She barely manages, as they burst onto the third floor.

"Don't mention it. Everyone gets spooked, the first time they have to climb stairs." He rubs soot off his face as he speaks, and Robin wonders over the fact that none of it has fallen on her… But not for long. There's a thin, plaintive cry echoing off the halls. Chrom breaks off his chase, heading for the screams instead. Robin follows close behind, trying to keep half her focus on the where the source is; a few rooms from the cry, perhaps. But splitting her focus makes her sweat harder, her thoughts feel a little more blurry-

Though they focus long enough when Chrom kicks down a door. On the other side, she can make out a woman with blonde hair half streaked with ash. She huddles on the floor near her desk, and the pink ribbons in her hair look half wilted from the heat.

"Miss, we're here to help-!" Chrom tries to shout out. But as he steps in, the fires shift around him. There's a strange, sharp hissing in the air… And Robin can almost make out figures in the flames, monstrous creatures ready to pounce on Chrom, now that he's turned his blind side to them.

Fire demons; ones crowed in twisting, burning horns, and with flickering ashen wings. They look almost draconic, a fact supported in how they exhale wisps of flame.

They lash out, not directly at Chrom, but all around him. Shrouding the room in flame and smoke, and making it impossible to get through the flames. Robin tries to bring the hose back around, before realizing it slipped off her back in the stairs. Chrom can't hack his way through back out and through the ring of flame, as a monster detaches from the flames, forming another barrier and holding him fast in place. The room is growing closer around them, and Robin finds herself trapped on the other side, forced to watch.

She can't see a way out for him or the young woman. They're going to burn…

'No.' The thought is surprisingly calm and focused, with how her heart pounds. Robin glares at the flames, puts all her focus on them… And the fires in the doorway dim for a split second, dying in a sputter of sparks and clearing the way.

"CHROM!" He picks up on the lull, and grabs the woman by the arm, yanking her forward. The monster wreathed in flames tries to give chase with a howl… Instead, Robin reaches out with her hands, index fingers extended as she guides the flames. And they answer to her, churning about, framing Chrom and the rescue and blazing brighter. Drawing air and fuel away from the monster, and leaving it diminished.

And the perfect mark for Chrom's sword. He slashes into it, felling the monster in an instant. It dies with a howl… And all around them, the flames seem to dim and die out.

"So that was the anchor…" Chrom murmurs, before turning to stare at Robin. "H-how exactly did you DO that?"

And once again, she doesn't have an answer for him.

-o-o-o-

'Pyromancer.' The word rings in Chrom's head. There's an odd, deadly ring to that word. One who can manipulate flames according to her will. Almost like a cultist, but without needing to subject herself to a burning.

It's almost like she has a dragon sealed in her; he felt waves of her power, when she challenged the fire demon, and weakened it enough for him to attack. Chrom isn't shy about detailing that, in his report… And his insistence that Robin stays with the team.

"Think about it." He pleads to Emmeryn, in the meeting room. "One of our biggest challenges is finding the monsters, and killing them fast before they do any damage. If she can pull that off, or even control the flames and weaken them…"

He knows there's an unspoken worry; a 'what if she decides to turn that power on us.' It hangs around the room, and makes Robin stare at her hands.

"I… I want her to stay on my team. As my partner, if necessary. I'll take responsibility for her, if it means she can stay." He finds himself offering, and instantly knows that's true. And looking at her again, he finds it painful to see that lost, almost fearful look on her face. "She can help people, just like the rest of us. I KNOW that's true, because I've seen it."

He transfers his gaze to Emmeryn, trying to put his sincerity into words, stare, and will… Until at last, she dips her head in a nod.

-o-o-o-

When the meeting is over, and the details of Robin's position as the team's pyromancer are worked out, Chrom finds her on the roof of the building, out near the helipad. The night air helps cool the city, and clears the mind. Something Robin must feel, with how she tilts her head up to the sky, breathing in and out.

"Well… Welcome to your first day on the job. And a good job out there, too." Chrom tells her, keeping his voice low so he doesn't jolt her too badly. She still spins around on her heel, looking at him with a mixture of surprise, respect… And now, a touch of warmth to her face.

"Y-yeah. It's going to take a lot to get used to." Robin tells him. She hesitates for a moment, before adding. "Thank you… For believing in me. That I've the potential to do something good."

"It's because that's the truth." Chrom tells her.

They don't immediately go back inside, instead staying up on the roof landing, and watching the lights of the city set the night sky aglow.