Finally! The long-awaited Southtown chapter! (Well, if you can call something long-awaited when it's only been out about a week. I think the term I'm looking for is "much-anticipated.") Already this fic has gotten over 1,400 views. 1,400! How crazy is that?! I'm very grateful to all the amazing readers who took the time to check out this little brainchild of mine. Y'all are a blessing!

Right, okay, Southtown. Yeah, I'm excited to get the main show on the road! Writing Awakening with a Grima-raised Chrom was the original goal of this fic, but it has evolved into something big and wonderful along the way. The difference between the plot summary I wrote out for this story and the actual story is like night and day: back then I had just two scenes in mind (Grima finding baby Chrom and adult Chrom meeting Lissa, Frederick, and Robin) and look where we are now. This is continuing to be such a fun adventure for me, and I hope it is for you, too!

"You're certainly verbose this time, worm."

Can you blame me for being excited?

"... Understandable."

And now we're getting to the point where some of the dialogue is either adapted or quoted straight from the game itself. I, of course, own nothing (otherwise Excellus would meet a far more ignominious end in-game).

"To be fair, I would probably prefer such a fate for that creep, too. It might be funnier that way."

"Long, long ago, there was a dragon. He was a big, and grand, and powerful dragon. He was so big, he could sit on an entire city and cover it all up!"

"Whoa. That's big, Daddy!"

"Yes, very big. The dragon was a magical dragon, as all dragons are, but his magic was dark, unlike his counterpart whose magic was light. The dark dragon was a… very sad and angry dragon. His creator tried to kill him when he became too powerful for the man to control, and humanity kept asking the dragon to do all sorts of terrible things. They never gave him anything in return, by the way. Eventually the dark dragon became so angry he decided to take it out on the world and on the light dragon. Unfortunately that did not end very well for the dark dragon, and he was put to sleep for a thousand years."

"A thousand?! But that's so long!"

"Well, dragons live a very long time, you see, so what might be a thousand years for humans feels like ten years to a dragon. The light dragon was hoping that the dark dragon would never wake up again, but she knew that was not to be. At the end of the thousand years, the dark dragon was revived and continued on as if nothing had happened."

"That's silly. Wasn't he scared of going to sleep again?"

"He wasn't. This time, he was going to make sure he never went back to sleep ever again! But the light dragon still had one more ace up her sleeve—"

"What's that mean?"

"… It means she had an extra trick left. The light dragon created a portal and… the dark dragon ended up going into it. He found himself in… a world that was very different from the one he had come. His world was gray and dark and dead. This world was bright and colorful and full of life. The dark dragon thought he might have a chance to do his plans over, but then… he found a lost little boy wandering in the woods. Now this boy was full of light and love, so full that he had some extra to spare for the dark dragon! The dragon was very confused. He'd never felt such a… wonderful thing in all his long life. So when he couldn't find the boy's parents, he took it upon himself to care for the little child. And he learned what it was like to love."

"Was that dragon you, Daddy?"

"Now, now. That's a secret~!"

"Hee hee! Goodnight, Daddy! I love you!"

"I love you too, little blueberry."

The early summer sun streamed in through the window and illuminated silky sapphire locks spread out on a fluffy pillow. The nineteen-year-old owner of said locks cracked open one brilliantine azure eye and yawned. He snuggled down into his mattress in an attempt to catch a few more minutes of sleep.

When the light from outside brightened, he gave up and rolled over, sitting up in bed and rubbing his eyes. He stretched his arms above his head and gave another yawn. Then he slipped out of bed, went to his dresser and gathered his clothes for the day, and padded out of his room to the empty bathroom. The young man went through the motions of getting ready for the day, sliding on his threadbare light blue tunic and light gray trousers. Around his waist he wound a wide strip of navy cloth and buckled his belt on over top. His socks, navy fingerless gloves, and gray boots went on. He buckled his tome holster to his belt, slipped Umbra in, and finally shouldered on his gold-embellished navy blue tactician's coat. He ran a comb through his fine hair and brushed his teeth before taking in his image in the mirror.

"Okay, day, let's get going," he said to his reflection.

In the kitchen his albino father-in-all-but-blood worked at the stove cooking the morning's breakfast. The older man gave him a sleepy smile as he entered the room, flipping the scrambled eggs in the skillet.

"Good morning, Chrom."

"Morning, Dad!"

As the two tucked in to their food, Chrom remembered the subject he wanted to broach for today. "I'm planning to head over to Southtown after work to see about bolstering their defenses against the raids. I probably won't be back until tomorrow morning. You won't mind?"

"Of course not, go ahead. I have business to attend to in Themis anyway. Just—be safe, will you?" Dad favored him with a worried look. "You'll take your Thoron as backup, right?"

"Dad, I love that old thing to pieces, but it's almost used up. I'm not entirely sure it'd do me much good."

"Chrom." Dad pointed his fork at him. "You're not completely weaned off of tomes yet. Just take it, I'll feel better at the very least."

The bluenette laughed. "All right, all right." He finished his food and got up, heading over to the sink to wash and dry his dishes. After putting them away, he went back into his room and grabbed his steel sword and Heal staff along with the Thoron and his book bag, buckling the blade and the staff on. Then he went back out and put the lunch his father handed him into his bag. "See you later!"

Dad grabbed him in a hug. "Don't get hurt, all right? I'll be waiting for you tomorrow morning."

"Okay. Love you!"

"Love you too!" Dad waved at him as he left the house and headed to the old bookstore where the young man worked as a full-time employee. The bell jingled as Chrom opened the door to Dusty Pages Bookstore and snapped off a casual salute to the bookseller. "Good morning, Mr. Daniel!"

"Ahhh, good morning, young Chrom," the old man returned with a smile. "And how is your father this fine morning?"

"He's doing well, thank you." The bluenette tucked his book bag into his usual cubby and took off his staff and sword, leaning them against the cubby. Mr. Daniel watched him with curious interest.

"Off on another adventure this afternoon, young man?"

"Yep! I'm going over to Southtown this time. I don't want them to be hit like Middlefield was last week."

"Hmm, that was a particularly awful raid." Mr. Daniel held his chin in contemplation. "If it hadn't been for your help and your father's… well, let's just say I'm glad you're on our side, young Chrom. You two make such a formidable team, I'd be surprised if Middlefield gained a permanent reputation among the criminal folk as 'Do not attack under any circumstances!'"

Chrom laughed. "Happy to help, sir."

"Well, thank you! Now then! We just had a shipment of Ribald Tales of the Faith War come in," Mr. Daniel led the young man out into the main store area, "and there's also a crate of the second edition of The Lost Princess of Corona. Oh! and Mrs. Ford finally left her pristine copy of Together We Ride: A Summoner's Guide to Tactics…"

As Chrom followed the bookseller and helped him set out the new stock, he grinned. He had a feeling today was going to be a great day!

Today was going to be a horrible day.

Okay, Grima might be exaggerating a bit. Just a bit. But seriously, why was it that when bandits saw him they immediately thought "Ooh! Prey!" and went after him?! This had to be the third group he'd dealt with in as many hours. It might have been funny the first couple of times it happened to him and Chrom (not the very first time, for obvious reasons), but still, being an apparent thug magnet was so old now it wasn't even funny.

He wasn't heading to Themis, by the way. Truthfully, he did have business there, but his meeting with his Grimleal informant wasn't until this afternoon, so he made no effort to rush to the city. Instead, he was playing "Clear the Road!" as Chrom called it, on his way to Southtown. Hey, if they weren't attacked today, Chrom's job would be so much easier, right? Which would mean he'd be home sooner, safe and sound. Yes, it was a little manipulative, but if it was in his darling son's best interests, so much the better, right?

Since when was he this overprotective?

Since a little boy asked you to rescue him and you complied, he reminded himself. Look how much better your life is, hmm?

"What the hell?!"

"Huh?" Grima looked up from his musings and found himself staring into a mirror. A living, breathing mirror. A living, breathing mirror with brown eyes instead of red.

Looks like he stumbled upon this timeline's Robin.

Wait, you had a plan for him!

Grima snapped out of his daze and surged forward, seizing Robin's head in his hands and pushing his memories into the man's mind. Come on! Let me fuse with you and use your blood to unlock my missing power!

The human's mind blanked and wiped, and his body slumped to the ground, unconscious. Grima blinked in confusion.

That… that did not go the way I expected it to.

Perplexed, he knelt by the young man's body and stretched out his magic, sensing for his Heart. Oh. Ohhhh. It's too weak. Oh, dear. Oops.

… Maybe I should've been a little more patient. The Fell Dragon scoffed a laugh. Am I picking that up from Chrom? I know he's patient about many things, but he's still reckless sometimes. Weird. Right, body in the road. Well, we can't have that, now, can we? Grima stared at Robin for a moment, then levitated him and set his body down in the shade of a nearby tree. Hopefully he'll wake up soon and we can try again later.

He glanced up at the sky and noted the sun's position. Oh no! It's almost time for the meeting! I took too long!

He'd have to resort to teleportation, then. Sighing, Grima vanished, leaving the Robin issue for another time.

Chrom smiled, closing his eyes and savoring the breeze on his face. The bay stallion galloped along the road on the way to Southtown, the late afternoon sun streaming down on the bluenette. Opening his eyes, Chrom beheld his destination—

That was currently on fire.

The young man gasped. Oh no, oh no, I'm too late! They're already attacking and I didn't get here in time to stop them! Well, who says I can't help now?! "Come on, Eugene! Yah!" He urged the horse onward and leapt off when the stallion reached the outskirts of the town. Drawing Umbra, he charged into the main thoroughfare, blasting bandits left and right with his personal spell. Up ahead, the smoke cleared to reveal a blond pig-tailed girl wielding a silver-and-gold sword with a teardrop-shaped hilt. An entire squad of thugs surrounded her, and even though she fought fiercely, Chrom could tell she was on the verge of being overwhelmed.

"Umbra!"

Shadows slammed into the outlaws nearest him, leaving a gap in the circle. Chrom slipped in and took his position at the girl's back. "You all right, miss?" he called out as he fended off the tide of adversaries. The girl laughed.

"I was doing pretty lousy until you showed up, Mr. Knight-in-Shining-Armor," she replied, swinging her sword around and cutting at the throng.

Chrom grinned. "Well, I'm no knight, but I'll help you as best I can! Hyah!"

In a few minutes, the two had dispatched the rest of the squad. Chrom turned to the girl and held out his hand. "Let me see to your injuries, miss… ah—"

"Lissa. You're a healer too?"

"Yes, I am! I'm Chrom, by the way." She took his hand and shook it, a look of familiarity in her eyes.

"Chrom, huh? Sounds familiar…" she mused. "Apparently I had a brother named Chrom, but he vanished before I was born."

"I-I'm so sorry."

"Don't be! You had nothing to do with it, haha! Ow…" Lissa clutched at a slice on her side, blood staining her cheery yellow uniform. Chrom raised his eyebrow and took out his staff, healing the injury. "Wow, thanks! You're pretty darn good, you know that?"

The bluenette gave a kind smile. "I try to do my best in everything I take on. I'm glad my abilities are to your satisfaction."

"No problem! Come on, we gotta get you to Robin, he'll know where to deploy you the best. Ah—that is—if you'll help us?"

"Of course! That's what I came here to do anyway."

"Awesome!" Lissa seized his free hand and dragged him through the town. The two reached a square, empty save for the two figures clashing near the bridge that led to the church. The red-decked figure moved into Chrom's line of sight, giving him a clear shot, and he threw a spell at the thug, making him slump to the ground. The other figure, dressed in a familiar coat, slumped his shoulders in weariness. "Robin!"

The man turned, and Chrom tripped in surprise. "Da—you're not—what the—" He stared in shock at the almost perfect likeness of his foster father, meeting warm brown eyes instead of brilliant ruby red. "Ah—haaaa?"

The albino human blinked in confusion. "Chrom?"

"Yeah! Robin, this is Chrom! He's an amazing mage and healer!" Lissa introduced. "Chrom, this is Robin. He's an incredible tactician—and he's also a mage too! I think you two will get along pretty well!"

Robin snapped out of his apparent daze and smiled. "Hi, there." He offered his hand, and Chrom, clearing his throat in embarrassment, shook it. "Sorry if this is a weird question, but—do I know you? You're giving me 'I recognize you' eyes, but I'm afraid I don't remember you—then again, my memory consists of everything that happened today up to the moment Lissa and Frederick found me in a field earlier."

"Wow. Really? How come you know my name, though? I'm fairly certain we've never met." The bluenette frowned. "Unless you happen to know a man named Raven? Looks uncannily like you except for red eyes?"

"Sorry." The other mage shrugged in apology. "Not ringing any bells. I'm not sure about the name either, it just came to me. Like my name did." He gave a sheepish laugh and rubbed the back of his head. "Ah, you probably already know, but we're in the middle of a skirmish here—"

"Right! Right, we can talk later. Where do you need me?"

Robin perked up. "Okay, so this is the current situation…"

"Seriously, that tome is so cool, though? I've never heard of Umbra before," Lissa chattered afterwards. "Is it Plegian magic?"

Chrom blushed at the praise. "Actually, it's something I developed myself. I had a lot of help from my father, he'd be the one to talk to about where most of his spells came from. I used his stuff for research, and he's written tomes before, so he was the perfect resource in coming up with this." He hefted the navy-bound tome.

"No way!" Robin gaped. "You wrote your own tome? How old even are you?!"

"Nineteen." Chrom laughed. Robin's eyes widened further.

"Seriously?!"

"Yep! Dad wanted to make sure I had the best in magic education. Sometimes the best way to learn is to develop your own thing."

As the three neared the square by the bridge, Robin held his chin in thought. "Huh. I'm curious about this father of yours. You say he looks almost exactly like me? Wouldn't that be a little too young to be your father?"

"Ah—" The bluenette coughed. "He's actually my foster father, for one—he rescued me when I was four and took me in. For two… well, he's… not… human. He ages much slower than you or I do. Unless you're actually related to him somehow and the amnesia made you forget?"

"I'm still surprised you immediately believed that," the albino commented as the three noticed a knight in blue-and-white armor sweeping up stragglers atop a brown horse. "Frederick—that knight there—and Lissa have been getting to know me all afternoon, and Freddy Bear still doesn't believe I lost my memory."

Chrom quirked a smile. "Unlike him, I have a little experience in that department."

"Oh! Really?"

At that point, Frederick came over and dismounted. "Robin. Milady." He peered at the newcomer with narrowed eyes. "Who is this?"

"Frederick, this is Chrom—"

"What?! Really?" The knight grabbed Chrom by the arm and scrutinized him. "How old are you?"

The young man sweat-dropped. "Nineteen?"

The brunette's eyes widened, and he released Chrom. He furrowed his brow, muttering under his breath. Chrom caught the words "… couldn't possibly be…" and "… he's the right age too…"

"Ah, everything okay there, Freddy Bear?"

Lissa sighed. "Not again. Frederick, we've looked all over—how can we be sure my brother is even alive at this point?" The bluenette mage gave her a nonplussed look. "Frederick's been canvassing every blue-haired guy we come across who's the right age since I started these patrols," she offered by way of explanation. "He's insistent that my brother is still alive and that we're going to stumble upon him at some point."

"Oh." Chrom wilted. "I'm sorry. You… you must miss him, right?"

The blonde gave him a sad smile. "Can't miss what you never really had in the first place."

Chrom nodded. That… maybe he understood, just a little bit.

After speaking with the town leader, Frederick announced that the little group (apparently called the Shepherds) was going to continue on and make camp in the woods. "And you," he addressed Chrom, "will come with us. Lady Emmeryn will wish to see you in person at the capital."

"Wait, what?" The younger mage shook his head. "No way, I can't go to the capital! I promised my father I'd be home by tomorrow morning! If I don't show up, he'll be worried sick and he'll think I was kidnapped or something and he'll—!"

"You are above the age of majority, are you not?"

"It makes no difference! Do you have any idea how protective he is of me? He'll tear through the whole country looking for me!"

"That is not my problem." Frederick dug in his satchel, looking for something.

Perplexed, Chrom sputtered. "Don't you understand?! My father is extremely powerful, you have no idea what he's capable of—"

"Found it." The knight turned around and clapped a pair of silver handcuffs onto the two mages' wrists. "This way, we will not have to worry about either of you bolting."

"Wha—?!" Chrom stared down at the handcuffs, speechless. Robin looked to be fighting down laughter while Lissa glared at her retainer, unimpressed.

"Frederick."

"Milady."

Robin lifted his free hand and stifled a snicker. He leaned over to whisper to his partner-in-predicament. "Just roll with it for the time being, okay? Freddy Bear's ridiculously stubborn from what I've seen, so there's no way we'll be able to back out of this arrangement. Maybe you can ask this 'Lady Emmeryn' if you can write your dad and explain the situation." Chrom gave him a flat look. "Hey, the Shepherds are the good guys, okay? I'm going along with them because I literally have nothing better to do and they could really use my tactics. It'll be fine, Chrom, trust me."

The bluenette sighed, then nodded. "If I die, Dad's gonna bring me back just so he can kill me, you hear me?"

At this, Robin laughed aloud. "You're really not kidding about the overprotective thing, are you."

"Nope. You have no idea how he got that way, it's crazy…"

That evening, as the four sat around their campfire eating their bear meat (well, the mages scarfed it—Robin likely because he had no idea when he'd last eaten, and Chrom because when you were this side of poor you didn't turn down free food), Robin broached the question of "So, you said you have experience with amnesia?" to his handcuff-mate. Frederick and Lissa leaned in, their interest piqued.

Chrom nodded. "I really don't remember anything until Dad rescued me when I was four. I have no idea why or how, and my father's asked me about it, but we just don't know. I do know, however, that before then I had a mother, father, and older sister… but I don't recall anything about them or my time with them. All I know is that somehow I got separated from them and went wandering into the woods."

"Wow." Robin's eyes gleamed, riveted to Chrom's story. "And it doesn't bother you that you don't remember?"

The bluenette shrugged. "Not really. As far as I'm concerned, my foster dad is my family, and that's all that matters."

Frederick narrowed his eyes in disapproval. "It seems to me this 'Raven' kidnapped you when you were—"

"No! He didn't!" Chrom's eyes blazed. "He found me when I was lost and let me follow him while he looked for my parents. He even saved me from a pack of bandits! If it weren't for him, I might be working as a slave in Valm or Plegia right about now! So don't you ever," he hissed, "disrespect him like that. He has worked too hard for too long to keep me safe and cared for, and I don't want anyone accusing him of stealing me away!" He gasped and panted, out of breath from his impromptu tirade. Frederick and Lissa stared at him in stunned shock.

Robin regarded him with sympathy. "You okay?"

Chrom's shoulders slumped. "No."

"You're really stressed about this, aren't you."

"Yep."

The blonde swordswoman smiled at him, apologetic. "I wanna say that, on Frederick's behalf, I'm sorry. I can tell you're very loyal to your dad and that you care a lot for him."

"Indeed." Frederick cleared his throat and adjusted his collar. "I am naturally suspicious almost to the point of paranoia, as my job requires of me, but now I believe I have crossed a line." He got up and strode over to Chrom's log and offered the younger mage his hand. "I apologize. That was rather insensitive of me."

Chrom took in the sincerity in the brunette man's gaze and softened, taking his hand. "I forgive you. And I understand, protecting someone means you always need to be alert for every possible threat."

"Did your father teach you that?"

"Of course! Among many other things, like 'patience is a virtue' and 'don't go too long without self-care.'" The bluenette chuckled. "There are those rare occasions when I forget to listen to those two."

Frederick nodded. "It sounds like your father is a wise man."

"He is… yes, he is."

Sleeping handcuffed to another person was an experience Chrom was not keen on repeating anytime soon. Despite their truce, Frederick didn't care that Chrom didn't know the way back—that was what moping and fretting instead of paying attention to one's surroundings cost you, and Chrom cursed himself for forgetting another piece of his father's survival training. I'm certainly in smashing form today, aren't I, he groused as he did his best to get comfortable on the spare sleep roll he had to share with Robin. "Oh, Chrom, you're doing sooooo well remembering all that stuff I taught you for a reason!" Oh, it's nothing, Dad, just stupidity as usual. Gods, I'm such an idiot! He huffed and burrowed down into the roll. Good going, Ravenson, you've officially screwed up this time. This is probably the worst you've done so far.

Although probably nothing could top Risen-Sarah. Okay, so he had some leeway here. He wasn't a complete lost cause yet.

Chrom didn't know how long he'd been asleep when footsteps woke him in what had to be the middle of the night. He glanced up and watched a petite figure get up and slip out of the camp. What the… What's she doing up? Yawning, he sat up and nudged the form beside him. "Psssst, Rob'n… wake'p."

The albino grumbled and shifted, rolling onto Chrom's handcuffed arm. "Ow! Robin!" he hissed. He jabbed at Robin's side with his trapped fingers. "Getoffgetoffgetoff!"

The other mage snorted and opened his eyes. "Whaaa… Chroooom?"

Yanking at his hand, Chrom whispered, "Get! Off!"

"Huh?" Robin's bleary eyes widened. "Oh! Sorry, sorry, sorry!" He rolled back over and massaged the younger man's sore arm. "Sorry about that, I guess I'm not very good sleeping handcuffed to another person."

The bluenette gave a quiet snort. "You can say that again. Come on, Lissa's out and about. I want to make sure she doesn't end up in any trouble."

"She's pretty capable, you know."

"Yes, I know, but if Frederick wakes up and sees she's the only one missing, what do you think he's going to think?"

"… Fair point. Lemme grab my tome just in case."

"Good idea." Chrom slipped Umbra into his holster and slipped his Heal staff on; the two then set out through the forest, tracing Lissa's steps. They soon found her in a clearing glancing around, straining to hear anything. "What's wrong?"

"You feel that?" she asked. "Something's not right here…"

"Hmm…" Chrom frowned and listened to the silent woods. "Yeah, I think I can. There's no ambient forest noise or anything. It's too quiet."

Underneath the trio's feet, the ground shuddered. The bluenette squawked and spread his feet out in an effort to keep his balance, while Lissa latched onto Robin's free hand for support. Robin scowled. "What the hell's going on here?! Is this a regular thing in this part of Ylisse?!"

"No! It isn't! There aren't any fault lines nearby!" the blonde yelled back.

"Guys, we'd better run!" Chrom tugged at Robin's arm. "We need to get out of here!"

The three set off in the forest towards the direction of their camp. The mages dodged through the trees, following the swordswoman, but the shifting ground cracked open and belched sizzling lava. Hunks of volcanic boulders rained down, narrowly missing the fleeing humans. A spark of the molten rock caught on the cuffs' links, and when the two leapt apart to avoid falling rubble, the chain snapped apart. Chrom stumbled and hurried after Robin as fast as he could. The heat at his back scorched and burned, and the young man once again thanked his father for his special coat. I'd probably be dead already if it wasn't for this old thing.

The trio made it to a safer area of the forest. Robin tore on ahead, shouting, "I'll get Frederick! You two stay put unless you're in danger!" Chrom bent over, coughing and choking on the smoke from the fires. When he glanced back up, he gasped.

"Lissa, look!"

The blonde turned. "What is that?!"

In the sky, a ball of gathering white sparks exploded into shock waves, extinguishing the forest fire in an instant. An enormous wheel of golden light depicting the zodiac shot out, and a semicircle of giant crystals opened up to form a huge, glowing aqua eye. The bluenette's eyes widened in recognition. "It's a portal! Something's coming through from another world!"

Sure enough, two dark figures dropped out of the "eye" and fell to the ground. They stood, jerky and uncoordinated, groaning, cloth masks sewn onto their faces. Their eyes shone red.

Lissa drew her blade, Falchion, and moved in front of the young man. "Stay back, Chrom, you don't have your sword." Chrom complied, lips white and staff in his trembling hands.

Risen!

The undead monsters roared, black smoke issuing from their mouths, and charged. Lissa met one head on and sliced through it… but then its head turned and locked onto her. It lashed out at her again and she blocked the deadly axe strike before slashing through its guard. The beast fell to the ground, and she leapt up into the air, Falchion glowing blue and stabbing through the body before the monster disintegrated. Chrom found his attention torn away from the display by the second Risen's advance towards him. He tripped and stumbled backwards, crying out, clutching his staff to his chest as he backed up against a tree. His heart leapt into his throat as the Risen raised its axe—then a third figure emerged from the portal and landed. Just as the Risen swung, the mysterious person appeared in front of him, catching the axe with their blade across the back of their shoulders. The mage lifted his head from his cower and glanced up, gasping at his savior. The person, who wore a blue-and-gold mask, kept the undead's axe at bay, groaning with the effort. They turned to Lissa and barked, "Help!"

Lissa unfroze and streaked towards the monster with a holler. Distracted, the Risen snapped its gaze to her, and the masked interloper swung their blade at the same moment Lissa swung hers. The Risen died in a retch and a vaporing of smoke. Chrom relaxed and breathed a sigh of relief. Thank goodness. But… where did these Risen come from?

Lissa examined the dark-haired swordsperson in the wan light from the portal. "That was a pretty cool entrance just now," she commented. "What's your name?"

Hoofbeats signaled Frederick's arrival, and Robin dismounted from behind the knight. "Milady! Milord! Are you all right?" the brunette called to the two.

Chrom ran over to them, catching his sword when Robin tossed it to him. "Frederick! Robin! You're okay!" But the sound of more Risen approaching made him freeze. He whipped around and beheld a whole company of the foul beasts. Shuddering, he wrung his hands on his staff, his nerves skyrocketing.

"Are these awful things commonplace around here?!" Robin cried in disgust.

The younger mage shook his head. "They're not! Someone has to be making them, they don't just crop up out of nowhere! You can't have a Risen without a resurrector!"

"Nobody's injured, at least?" Frederick scrutinized the party. "Thank the gods…"

"Thank the masked man who helped me out! If he hadn't showed up, Chrom would've been a goner!" Lissa glanced around. "Wait—where the heck is he? He left!"

"Worry about him later, milady, after we put these… Risen, as milord says… back into the ground where they belong," Frederick cut in, shooting a glance at Chrom that told him there would be an explanation as to how the young man knew about them. "Eyes open, now. Milord, what can you tell us about this enemy?"

Chrom gulped and switched his staff out for his tome. "Okay. Superhuman strength and durability, low sentience, and you must kill them completely in order for them to vanish. Ideally, if we can find the person controlling them and get them out of the equation, the Risen should all disappear. In the event that we can't find their puppeteer, we need to destroy every single one of them so that they won't continue to be a threat." Gods, I wish I'd learned how to cut them free, I could really use that right about now. "This group appears to have some level of organization amongst themselves. They won't be easy to fight."

Robin spotted two structures in the distance. "Huh? Are those—"

"Abandoned forts, yes," the brunette knight finished. The albino mage grinned.

"Excellent! I want all of you to take cover in them when you can. Frederick, Lissa, you two work well together, I want you in the fort to the south. Chrom, you're with me in the fort to the northeast."

"Captain Lissa!" a new voice called out nearby. "… agh, I knew I shouldn'ta left them behind!"

The party turned and beheld a red-headed cavalier arguing with a gray-haired noble-looking archer. Bemused, Chrom arched an eyebrow at them, his nerves settling. After about a minute of back-and-forthing, Robin got fed up with the new duo's antics. "Hey! If you idiots want to stay alive, shut up and get over here so we can figure out our battle plan!" The two clammed up and joined the four, and Robin staged Sully, the cavalier, and Virion, the archer, together in the forest as an ambush. "All right! To your stations! You have your orders, let's move out!"

"You're pretty good at that, you know," Chrom murmured as they made for their appointed fort. "The tactician sort of thing? Dad tried to get me into it, but I was more interested in studying magic."

Robin chuckled. "Well, maybe staying focused like that has helped you more than you know! You're an expert mage, in my opinion."

"Ah, thanks, but you don't have much of a sample to compare me to."

"Fair, but I'm pretty sure writing a tome at nineteen still isn't normal. Okay, how good are you with a sword? I didn't see you use yours much at Southtown."

"I'm relatively decent, but I'd feel more comfortable with a tome."

"Huh, same here. You know what, why don't we do this: one of us will fight with the sword in the front while the other casts from behind. We'll switch out every now and then to give each other breaks."

Chrom nodded. "Sounds good to me. Let's get to it!"

Eventually, the Shepherds, the archer, and the mages finished off the last of the Risen. At that point, the masked swordsman (swordswoman? Chrom couldn't really tell, something about his voice and body didn't add up, but that didn't seem important at the moment) rejoined them. Frederick glanced at the person and reported, "It appears all the Risen have been defeated. This young man took care of the others."

The swordsman remained silent.

Chrom stepped forward, having finished healing the last few injuries. "I didn't get to thank you for saving me before, so, um… thank you. That was very valiant of you." He held out his hand. "My name is Chrom. May I ask what yours is?"

The swordsman locked on to him and looked him over, or at least it seemed that way from what he could make out through the mask. "… You may call me Marth," the mysterious man supplied.

"Ooh! Marth? Like the Hero-King of ancient times?!" Lissa squealed in excitement. "Oh, you really fight like a true hero! Where'd you learn how to wield a sword?"

"I'm not here to talk about me," "Marth" shut her down. "This world teeters on the brink of a horrible calamity. What you saw tonight was but a prelude. You have been warned." So saying, the swordsman turned and left. Chrom blinked, bewildered.

Lissa dashed after her. "Hey, wait! What calamity? Teetering where?! Are you gonna tell us—aaaaand he's gone. Dammit!"

"Cheery," remarked Robin. "Pretty talkative guy."

"It appears his skills are needed elsewhere. I wager we'll hear his name again sometime soon," Frederick mused. "But for now, we need to continue to the capital. If we make haste, we should reach Ylisstol in the morning." He narrowed his eyes at the mages and the wrecked pair of handcuffs. Then he sighed. "I trust you both will stay with us?"

Robin shrugged with his hands up. "Again, nowhere else to go, nothing better to do. Chrom?"

"If your Lady Emmeryn will allow me to send a message to my father, then I'll come." The bluenette sighed. "I'm not keen on getting stuck with a pack of Risen all by myself."

The knight nodded. "Very well, then. Onward!"

Oh, Father, I hope you're all right…

Grima woke up in a cold sweat, shivers running down his spine. He clutched at his blanket until the ominous feeling of terror subsided, then frowned. Strange. That wasn't my fear. But then… Chrom! The blood pact must have alerted me that he was in danger! However, the sense he got from the pact now showed Chrom was safe. Huh? What happened? Is Chrom really all right?!

The albino got up and paced his room before going out into the kitchen and making a cup of tea to soothe his nerves. He sat in his chair by the embers of tonight's fire and closed his eyes in an effort to get back to sleep. Unfortunately, rest evaded him and he ended up staying awake until dawn broke.

Later, when the sun shone high, the man went out in hopes of greeting his son—but there was no sign of Chrom. It wasn't until noon that he concluded that something was wrong.

Chrom hadn't come home.

Why was he different? Why did he dress differently, why did he wield a staff and tome?! He'd never shown that he had an aptitude for magic, much less an interest! What had happened? How could this all have gone so wrong? How come Aunt Lissa, who could barely pick up the sacred sword, was wielding it without a problem?! Was she in the wrong timeline?

No, Naga wouldn't have done that, she only put me into my own past. But then how?!

Why was it all wrong?

Father, why don't you wield Falchion?!

And that's a wrap! Next up: The Road Now Taken! Grima and Chrom flounder a bit without each other after having been inseparable for so long. Grima begins to search for his missing blueberry to no avail. Chrom frets about his father's feelings and reunites with an old friend. Robin grows closer to Chrom and exchanges spellcasting notes while Frederick tries to convince Emmeryn that Chrom is her missing brother.

Feel free to review or feed me concrit!

"And your flames can go to me for bedding, worms."

Be nice, Grima. You want them to read our story, right?

"... Hmph. My apologies. The things I do for you and Chrom."