Omen
And so it was that Robin himself took to the field and commanded the coalition armies to victory. His platoon had been decimated, his bodyguard/warden Lucina, sadly, perished in the final battle. Violently.
Though all was not lost, Robin himself became High King of the World, for everyone recognized his greatness and supremacy and said things like "Robin's so great and supreme, I wish I could be more like him," but they couldn't be, because then the world would explode. There can be only-
"Robin, what is taking so long? What are you doing in there?"
"N-nothing! Don't come in!"
"...Why?"
"I'm naked!"
But Lucina was already opening the door to the cabin, half shutting it as she processed his words before realizing he was very clothed.
"Why are you taking so long?"
"Why do you want to see me naked?" Robin muttered, closing Chrom's journal and setting the expensive quill aside without cleaning it so it would be unusable later.
"Are you ready or not?" Lucina asked, scowling. "The boats are waiting. And you're still not wearing armor."
"This," Robin smirked, tapping his head, "Is all the armor I need."
She folded her arms, expression unreadable. "Any hostiles we encounter will likely demand something more… Tangible."
"Where's your armor, then?" Robin asked, reaching forward. Her gaze following his hand until it raised abruptly to tap her nose. "Boop."
Lucina blinked in alarm.
He was given a half second to realize his error before he scrambled out the door, Lucina close behind.
Ten minutes later Robin was rocking gently beside Gaius, rowboat departing from the Ghazi. Chrom stood at the edge of the ship, watching them go with a stern gaze. Their eyes met and Chrom nodded. Robin doubted he'd be so calm in this rickety rowboat, waves that broke against the Ghazi's bow rocked their little boat like a leaf in the wind.
"Nervous?" Gaius asked, grinning through a toothpick.
"Let's strap 30 kilos of steel onto you and see how far you get in the middle of an ocean," Stahl's voice echoed in his great helm as he knocked elbows with the oarsmen.
Robin glanced skyward as two scouts flew overhead, circling the silent ship. It loomed before them, much larger from their rowboat than from the Ghazi. Robin's eyes narrowed.
There were small circular indentations sporadically lining the hull, but otherwise, immaculate maintenance. Tilted, taken on water. Its days out here were numbered. Derelict. A storm? A bad one, maybe, but what crew would let their sails be ripped from the mast if the winds were so terrible...?
"What do you see?" Lucina asked quietly beside him, watching his eyes move.
"A ship."
"What about the ship?" she prompted, unfazed by his sarcasm, but he held up a hand.
"Ahoy!" an oarsman shouted when they came alongside the hull.
Water lapped quietly beside them. The deep creaking of old wood echoed from somewhere within, but all was otherwise silent.
"Ahoy!" he tried again.
Movement above them. A rope ladder rolled out, splashing into the water due to the tilt of the ship. Cordelia's head popped over the side.
"Ahoy!" she answered, disappearing with a smile.
"I see there is no crew," Robin finally answered, taking the ladder after Stahl.
"Truly, you miss nothing." Lucina's deadpan tone made discerning mockery and statement impossible.
Once aboard Robin walked around the main deck, looking for anything that looked unusual, but the weirdest thing he saw was a lack of weird things. As though the entire crew had simply decided one morning to jump overboard, leaving tasks unfinished, equipment about. Simply gone.
He gently pushed Gaius aside to examine the railing, moving him again to follow a tethered rope. It ended frayed. Smelled of… Rope.
Robin moved to the mast, running a hand over another faint circular indentation pattern that ran in spirals up and out of sight. He knocked on it. Compacted, denser than the unmarked wood. He knelt to put his ear to the deck, only half listening to Cordelia. Unblemished floorboards, no expense was spared on quality or upkeep, the crew would have been experienced sailors.
"No signs of crew, sir," she reported, standing at attention as Sumia consoled the pegai on the bridge. "Preliminary sweep indicates they abandoned ship."
Robin stood, looking to the lifeboats. They swayed silently in the wind.
He sniffed, moving to join the circle of Shepherds.
"Name of the vessel?"
"The Animus Immortalis, according to the stern," Sumia answered, arriving to fill in the circle.
"Valmese." Robin glanced to Gaius who raised an eyebrow.
"Dreadnoughts usually have an entourage," Gaius looked around pointedly at the open ocean.
"Steering could have been damaged in a storm, and they were forced to scuttle," Cordelia suggested.
Robin said nothing, but knew Walhart wasn't a man of half measures. His zealotry was reflected by his soldiers, and if they had orders to abandon ship the Shepherds would have been lucky to find a single board floating at sea.
He broke from his thoughts to direct the group.
"Alright, take the decks one at a time, I want everyone within line of sight of at least one partner. We only go down or up levels as a team; first priority is intel, including survivors. Everyone clear?"
"Yessir," Stahl, Sumia and Cordelia answered on cue, moving to the hatch.
"We're still going in?" Gaius asked.
"Mission hasn't changed."
"Anyone we find is the enemy."
"Let them decide that if we find them." Robin moved to the knights as they pulled the hatch open.
A palpable cloud of putrid air they could taste billowed out to meet them, making Gaius and Stahl reel.
"I don't think you're going to like what we find," Cordelia muttered as she held a gauntlet to her mouth, eyes watering.
Lucina stepped closer, scowl in place as she sniffed once.
"Decomposition, over a week old."
"I'll believe you," Robin passed her, slipping an arm out of his cloak and tying the empty sleeve around his mouth and nose.
He descended into the first deck, lighting a candle holder he found and handing it behind him.
When no one took it he looked back, seeing the others peering into the hatch.
"What am I, the canary?" he asked incredulously. "You don't get hazard pay unless you do hazard work, so go get… Hazarding! Watch your head though, there's a bump…" he called, extending a cautious arm as Lucina came down the steps, others following reluctantly.
"Might be faster if we split up, each pair covers a deck," Gaius suggested through tearing eyes as he tied his headband around his nose and mouth.
"But we won't do that, because it's a terrible idea. Crack a window if you need." Robin nodded towards the stern where the captain's quarters should be, "I'll be there if you need me."
"Wha- who's going with you?" Stahl asked, glancing around seeing the other groups clearly set. "You literally just said-"
"I'm fine. I have plot armor," Robin explained, disappearing through a dark doorway.
"What?" Stahl asked in bewilderment, turning to Sumia who rolled her eyes.
"He thinks he's the main character in an imaginary story following his life, and that nothing bad can happen to him because… 'Plot armor.'"
"That sounds incredibly irresponsible," Lucina stated, staring at them.
"That sounds incredibly like Robin, then," Cordelia chuckled, removing her helm for better visibility and following Sumia. "You can come with us if you don't want to be alone. I mean, n-not that you can't handle yourself, ma'am."
Lucina raised a hand, putting her at ease as she made after Robin, "Thank you, but I would prefer not to lose your tactician to a loose floorboard."
Robin made through the dark halls, pausing occasionally to listen. Nothing but the distant sounds of shuffling boots growing fainter.
It was odd, though he'd left the company of others he didn't feel alone. Which was a slight annoyance - he worked best alone.
A moan below his foot made him stop, holding his breath. Silent, stifling air filled the hall, and he turned to see the way behind him dark.
He scowled, conjuring flame over his hand and extending his arm towards the darkness. The flickering shadows dancing across the walls did little to slow his heart rate. The ship tilted slightly with a wave, and floors beneath him groaned deeply, distant cargo thudding as it hit the wall.
He exhaled, shaking his head. Imaginative minds were fear's most treasured breeding grounds.
Robin continued, intersecting with the rearmost hall barely illuminated by a pockmarked ceiling. Dust floated visible into stray beams of light before merging into shade, and Robin found the door at the back of the ship, locked.
"Shoulda brought Gaius with me," he muttered, leaning to peer into the lock. A draft came from the keyhole, and Robin spotted light from the other side.
He knelt, producing a toolkit Gaius had unknowingly lent him during their exchange after meeting Gerome, and found something that could pass for a pick as the ship slowly tilted back.
Beams of light shifted shadows, save the motionless silhouette half behind the corner at the end of the hall.
Movement slipped out of the corner of Robin's eye and he looked. The ship creaked as it finished moving, light slanting across the empty corridor. He sniffed, turning back to the door and lining up the pick.
A boot flashed past his face to kick the door wide. He exhaled, glancing up at Lucina.
"Are you following me?"
"Now is not the time to jest, Robin. None of us should be alone."
"Don't worry, I'll protect you. I have-"
"You do not have plot armor."
"Then why'd you choose me?"
"I didn't choose y-..." Lucina began, then caught his expression and pushed past him into the room, "Just get what you came for."
He grinned, enjoying the opportunity to tease. Following her into the room, their attention was drawn to the source of the air and light.
The far wall was missing, open to the ocean on the other side.
"Well… Captain wasn't safe in here either," Robin surmised, spotting the key on the floor beside the open door. The cabin was a mess, musty papers strewn about the floor, bookshelf leaning upside down against a wall.
"Look for his log, perhaps it mentions something," Lucina suggested, standing beside the door and peering down the dark hall.
He looked at her, pulling his sleeve under his chin. "I know you want to spare us the details… Or perhaps not remember them. But if you know anything about what might have happened, it could be important."
"If I knew what happened, we wouldn't be here," she replied, not taking her watchful gaze from the hall.
Robin moved to the desk and shifted aside maps until he found a single book. He opened it, thumbing to the last page of writing. He read silently as Lucina watched.
"What does it say?"
Robin shook his head. "Sudden weather, shapes on the horizon… Huh… The escort started disappearing about a week ago. No traces or calls for help, the sun would rise and a ship or two would just be… Gone."
"Anything about what happened to the Animus?"
"Whatever happened here happened fast," Robin noted, flipping back a few more pages, dropping the book and nodding to the splintered wall beside him, "I doubt he came rushing in to scribble his last words in his diary. More interesting is that the Animus had a crew two days ago, according to this."
"That smell isn't of two-day old decay," she muttered, folding her arms and looking back to the hall.
Lucina glanced to see Robin watching her. She met his gaze evenly and he cleared his throat.
"You think everyone aboard is dead."
She didn't even blink.
"You know everyone aboard is dead."
Robin looked to the missing wall, raising his eyebrows in acknowledgement. "But I don't know how, and I would like to."
Lucina shook her head. "If it's what I fear, it won't make a difference."
"Then we've nothing to lose," Robin said, pulling the captain's chair around the desk to sit. "But if we know something about it, maybe we can fight it."
She almost scoffed.
"No more than a mere fish could fight you on your stroll through a park."
Seeing his attention unwavering, Lucina took a deep breath, closing her eyes and leaning against the wall. "My father asked why we never sought refuge on the sea, do you remember? It's because only fools went within a mile of the ocean. Grima tainted everything in our world, rose undead beasts so forgotten by time none live who remember tales of them. But few abominations matched the ancient terrors he raised from the depths."
"You've seen them."
"I've seen one," Lucina muttered, staring into space.
"Come on! We've gotta pass the cliffs before nightfall!"
Dusk was settling over the mountain, distant howls of feral risen echoing from the forest at the bottom of the rocky slopes below them.
"Lucina!"
She looked up, seeing her brother kneeling to offer his hand over the small ridge. She looked back down.
"Gerome will be fine, he has an airlift. But we won't be if they catch us!"
"Let's go!" the dark haired girl with pigtails called gruffly, pushing past her. "Hey! Inigo gimme a hand! Inigo!"
Lucina winced, hurting to turn away from the forest to see what the problem was, but Inigo was slowly rising, staring into the horizon. She spun, hand on her weapon, before being stunned by the mere sight.
They were well above the treeline, dying forest extending to the far coast. But the sight in the distance was a mountain.
Silhouetted against the dying light, dwarfing even the bluffs they now climbed, a behemoth moved slowly across the sea. Serpentine heads stretched past the clouds, immense body partially obscured by distant haze and the fog bank.
"Gods…" Inigo whispered.
But Lucina knew the truth. There were no more gods. Only nightmares.
Robin leaned back in his chair, studying her. Waves sounded against the ship outside, breaking the silence as her attention returned to him.
"I admire your ardor, Robin. But you pose no greater threat to a leviathan than you do to the ocean."
Robin exhaled, running a hand through his hair before cheering up. "So it's not that, then. I mean the ship wouldn't be floating if it ran into anything like you described."
"I don't know. Perhaps Grima's influence isn't yet strong enough to raise such monstrosities, but something attacked these ships, and we should not let our guard down..."
Lucina trailed off as something creaked suddenly in the hall just beyond the door.
Robin stood slowly, eyes narrowing, but all was quiet save the waves.
"You can sense it too," Lucina muttered, not looking away from the ominously dark hall emphasized by the light in the cabin. "Something is wrong here."
He moved around the table towards her, Lucina watching him but his eyes were fixed on the ground. He kicked papers aside, kneeling beside four objects embedded in a row along a floorboard. Lucina continued to watch the door, entering guard-mode, but glanced at him.
"What is that?"
Robin pulled the small wedge back and forth, sliding it free and holding it up to the light. A whole human fingernail. He wrinkled his nose, bending the edges before dropping it.
He looked down again, following a row of dark dots along the wood towards the open wall. A protruding piece of wood bore torn fabric, below it a crimson smear stretched out beyond the floor to the open air.
Lucina stared as Robin lay on the ground, moving his head to examine the stain from differing elevations. She glanced to the door once more and approached.
"Do you know how he died?"
"Nonconsensually, by the looks of it," he suggested, holding a hand over the stain to shift the lighting. He reached over suddenly, pulling the knife from her boot sheath and scraping at the middle of the stain.
"Still red… Constant humidity and cooler temperatures can delay the color fading..." he noted, looking around the room before scowling at the edge of the knife, "But it's still congealed in the thicker parts… Can't be more than two days old."
A hand gripped his wrist as another took the knife. He felt the flat of the blade wipe against his shoulder.
"Use your own knife."
"I don't have one," Robin replied, rising and dusting the dried flakes from his shoulder.
"How can you not have a knife?"
"Knives are dangerous! I could hurt someone."
"Or you could protect yourself."
"That's what you're for," Robin explained. Lucina sniffed before they turned towards the unmistakable sound of footsteps in the hall.
She moved towards the door on intercept trajectory with the footsteps on the other side, hand on her weapon before Cordelia rounded the corner. The scout leaned back upon seeing Lucina so close, giving her a once over.
"You guys okay?"
"Not okay! Lucina is telling me ghost stories."
"Well change your pants, then you should probably see this."
The door to the crew quarters pushed open, line of flickering candlelight spreading across the floor until the door creaked to a halt.
Gaius wrinkled his nose through the headband. Smelled just as bad in here as everywhere else.
"Hello?" he called to the darkness. Heavy boots shifted behind him.
"Rescue party! If anyone's there, we're here to help!" Stahl called from behind Gaius.
The younger man looked over his shoulder. "Shouldn't you be first? You have the armor."
"You have the light."
Gaius held the candle holder further into the room, glimpsing empty hammocks swaying silently.
"No one answered, so… You should be good," Stahl muttered, pushing Gaius' back lightly.
"Yeah I haven't been with you guys long, but that's not usually how it works," Gaius replied, shrugging the hand away and standing to the side so Stahl could enter.
The knight sighed behind his great helm, inching forward. "Can barely see anything anyway…"
"Think there are some windows on the far end," Gaius said, bending to look at the square seams of light across the room.
"Just tell me if I'm about to hit something…" Stahl said, squaring his shoulders and moving forward arms outstretched.
"You look ridiculous. Take off your helmet."
"We can't remove armor on-mission," Stahl answered automatically. Gaius looked at him with raised eyebrow.
"I won't tattle."
Stahl hesitated, then unfastened the clips holding his helm in place.
The sound of bare feet pattered just out of the candelight. Stahl spun, trying to find the sound as something latched onto his back.
"D-did you hear that? What was it?!" Gaius demanded, almost climbing Stahl in an effort to merge himself with the armor.
"I can't- Gaius! Get off!"
"It's there, something on the wall!"
"I can't see anything!" Stahl exclaimed, stumbling as Gaius' added weight threatened to topple him.
"Not that way!"
"Gaius get off!"
"It's coming closer!"
"Wha're you-" Stahl lurched, tumbling with Gaius to the floor as the sounds of feet slapped towards them.
Gaius screamed, and Stahl scrambled for his sword as light fell over them. It was quiet for a moment.
"... The hell you two doing?"
The two looked up from their tangle of limbs to see Robin in the doorway, others craning their necks to peer into the room.
"Did you see it?"
Robin raised an eyebrow. "No, and I'm glad I didn't."
"The thing-!"
"I don't want to see your thing, Gaius. And by the looks of it neither does Stahl; quit playing grab-ass and get up."
"There was something right there!" Gaius exclaimed, as Stahl extracted himself and stood.
Robin felt a hand on his shoulder and stepped aside as Lucina entered the room, kneeling where Gaius had pointed. She motioned for light and Robin approached.
A wet footprint ended a pace before Gaius and Stahl, preceded by another, and a third just before the wall where the trail ended.
"This place… Is messed up," Gaius uttered, staring around them wide-eyed.
"What happened to your cool, kid?" Cordelia asked, entering the room and plucking him up as Robin examined the footprints.
"I didn't sign on for exploring haunted ships and fighting… Ghosts!"
"Don't be ridiculous," Robin sighed, "That's exactly what you signed on for."
"You're gonna see some things while you're out here," Cordelia addressed Gaius, ignoring Robin, "And we're gonna need you to keep your head, okay?"
Gaius' eyes roamed to the watery footprints again, but Cordelia brought him to face her.
"Your survivor's sense keeps you alive, but you're part of a team now. Letting that fear rule you is going to put others in danger. Are you going to put me in danger?"
"N-no."
"You're going to keep it under control, for me?"
"Y-yeah. Yeah, I can do that," Gaius agreed, meeting her eyes and reddening. He took a deep breath, regaining his composure.
"Good man," Cordelia smiled, clasping his shoulder and moving towards the door. "C'mon, let's get some air."
Lucina watched as the scouts took Gaius outside and turned to Robin who placed his bare foot beside the small puddle of water.
"W-what did you find?" Stahl asked, approaching cautiously and removing his helm.
Robin looked up, hearing his voice waver. "Not you too."
"H-hey, I saw something!"
"Ghosts aren't real, Stahl. Tell him Lucina."
"Erm…"
"Exactly. Whoever you saw might have some answers about what happened. Now go get the girls and regroup. Whoever was here could only have gone the other way, below deck. We'll head down together."
Stahl opened his mouth, closed it again, and stood at attention. "Yessir."
The moment Stahl left, Lucina turned to Robin.
"We don't need to go deeper."
"There could be-"
"There are no survivors, Robin," she interrupted, "You know that. Why are you jeopardizing the lives of your comrades?"
"Well one, it's their job. If I didn't jeopardize them you'd be asking why Shepherds are paid so much. Two, someone's here. What do we tell Chrom, 'yeah we got a lead but didn't feel like following it.' Aren't you curious who it was, how they lived when no one else did?"
"Leadership is not some… Puppet mastery, using others to satisfy your curiosity. It is a yoke, equal parts responsibility and duty. These are lives you are playing with, like toys."
"Usually my toys don't talk so much…" Robin replied, pulling his boot on and tucking the pant leg.
"Have you ever lost someone under your command?" she asked suddenly, eyes narrowed.
"No. But not for lack of trying, mind you. This one time, at bard camp-"
"I have," she stated solemnly, eyes lost in the flame of the candle the others left behind. "I've lost again. And again. And again. Do you know what I learned from that experience?"
"That you're not a very good tactician?"
Lucina's fist clenched as she closed the distance between them, and Robin stumbled back against a bunk just as heavy boots came to the door.
Cordelia leaned in, stopping as she saw Robin leaned back against the bed, Lucina bearing down arm raised to strike.
"Ready to proceed, sir, ma'am."
"Ready?" Robin asked hesitantly, eyeing Lucina's face for permission to rise.
She sniffed. He inhaled in relief just as her fist came down on his solar plexus.
"Ready." Lucina strode for the hall. Cordelia stood aside at attention as she passed, then entered the room where Robin groaned.
"I'm not even going to ask, but I'm almost positive you deserved it," Cordelia sighed, stooping to pull his arm over her shoulder.
"I deserved it," he confirmed, wincing as he stood and held his chest. He shook his head, "Women, am I right?"
"Careful, sir. Your kidney is in a highly vulnerable position for any wandering fist that happens by," Cordelia grunted, helping him through the door and down the hall.
"H-hey be nice! Lucina just hit me with her… One Point Palm Exploding Lung technique."
"I'll have to teach her the Single Strike Fist Closing Mouth technique."
Robin took a deep breath, holding his side and wincing. "You're saying I should apologize."
"You outrank me, sir. I can't say what you should or shouldn't do," Cordelia explained as they rounded a corner, seeing candlelight at the end of the hall. "But that's a very good idea."
"Clear!" Stahl's voice came up the hall.
The others were gathered in a room, peering into a square hole leading below deck. The hatch door had been ripped from the hinges, resting in a corner of the room.
Lucina was kneeling beside the hole, running fingers along the grooved indentations. She lined up her fingers to rest in the missing wood, with room to spare.
"Risen," she snarled, standing.
"How," Cordelia asked, dropping Robin off at the door and coming to examine the markings, "There's no way risen could have made it aboard."
"I know what risen marks look like," Lucina's scowl turned to the older woman.
"The door was pulled up, out. So whatever it was came from above, trying to go down," Sumia observed, looking around, "But there's no signs of fighting, or blood."
"We are talking about details while we should be burning the ship," Lucina argued, motioning the others away from the impossibly dark hole.
"Those could also be spear marks," Gaius suggested, "Door got wedged shut, they had to open it for… Something."
"Are we really doubting our lead risen expert?"
They turned as Robin pushed off the wall, having finally caught his breath. "Lucina says it's risen…" He shrugged, "So let's get out of here."
"Survivors, sir?" Sumia asked quickly, glancing to the hole.
Robin met Lucina's gaze, the first time she'd looked at him since he'd entered the room.
"Maximum risk, minimum reward. Let's get topside," he commanded, catching Lucina's subtle nod of approval as a spider-like white arm protruded from the hole.
"Lucina!"
She jerked back, head cracking on the wooden frame before she disappeared into the darkness without a word.
Stahl slammed the helmet back on, Robin and the scouts already disappearing into the hole without hesitation. The tactician's voice called up from the black, just out of sight.
"Keep this exit secure, I don't want us tripping over each other on the way out."
Stahl looked up at Gaius, who actually looked ready to follow the others, but relented. "We wait," Stahl confirmed, looking to the walls. Faint scratching could be heard from the outermost layers of wood.
Robin lit a flame, taking in the under deck. No windows. Overturned barrels, rotting contents spilled across the floor. Scuffling from deeper in.
"Stay with the light," Robin commanded, moving swiftly down the narrow corridor towards the sound.
"Robin," Cordelia muttered, right behind him, "Let the scouts take point, it could be a trap."
"Don't dream of it," Robin answered, "That's how we lose important characters in my story."
"Robin!"
But before he could answer his boot slipped on slick ground. He pushed himself up, staring at his hand. Crimson blood and black ichor, the floor was coated in it.
"A holdout," Sumia called to them, drawing their attention as Cordelia set Robin straight. She stood by a deserted cabin, discarded weapons strewn behind a pushed-in barricade of supplies. "No bodies left behind…"
"Waste not," Robin replied, raising a hand as a cry came from further in.
They moved swiftly through another hall as a warble came from around the corner.
"Lucina?" Robin called, turning with the flame to reveal a pale figure crouched in the middle of the hall facing away.
He closed his mouth, backing away with grit teeth as the figure's neck snapped entirely around to look at them. Empty eye sockets widened in the firelight and a black mouth opened to scream.
"Silence it!"
Cordelia was mid lunge as the nails-on-chalkboard screech pierced their ears. It lasted a second before her speartip drove through its mouth to the floor, but the damage was done.
A deep bellow came from below deck, followed by haunting cries as other risen woke from dormancy.
"We need to leave," Cordelia stated, pinning the creature's head with her boot to yank her spear clean, "Now!"
"Not without Lucina," Robin called, checking a side room before seeing their stares. "Chrom would chew me out if I didn't come back with her."
"I can think of worse fates," Sumia called as he disappeared around the corner. She stared after him, then to Cordelia who shook her head.
"Lucina!"
Robin moved down the hall, opening a door to reveal stairs disappearing into a meter of water, and at least two dozen pairs of glassy eyes turning to reflect the light back at him. A series of excited gasps and splashing preceded feet on the stairs and Robin slammed the door as bodies piled against it. He backed away, turning to run around the corner and into a strong arm.
He grappled with the bloody shape, spinning until his back slammed against the wall, bringing a fistful of fire up as a dagger pressed to his neck. He exhaled as blue eyes recognized him.
"Wow," Robin breathed, staring her over, "You look like shit."
Lucina panted as she released him, nursing her side. She was covered head to toe in ichor, matted hair almost unrecognizable, but the stain spreading across her side was definitely blood.
"C'mon," Robin tried to offer support but she pushed him off, making down the hall. "You're hurt."
"I'm fine," Lucina spoke calmly, voice betraying no pain, "We need to get out of here."
A call for help drew their attention down another hall. Sumia and Cordelia fought in tandem with their spears, keeping a dozen risen choked up in the narrow halls. That was the direction they needed to go for the exit, yet even more undead piled behind the rest.
Wood cracked behind Robin and he turned to see the door leading below deck bulge outwards. He ushered Lucina ahead of him, backing towards the others as the door pushed again, cracks visible in the wood.
"There's no end to them," Sumia shouted, "We need to get above deck, hold them at the stairs!"
"We're cut off, double back!" Lucina called, just as the door behind them burst outward, pile of limbs and bloated bodies spilling into the hall.
Lucina's jaw set, drawing Falchion and glaring down her enemies, glancing to Robin beside her before doing a double take. "You didn't even bring a sword?"
"It's heavy," Robin explained, glancing behind them. The scouts had thinned the horde on their side, but it only took one risen to slow them down enough for the others to catch up. And as the fresh wave clambered to their feet, water seeping across the floor towards them, Robin knew they'd only have one chance at escape.
"Useless," Lucina stated, staring incredulously at him. "How could my father rely on someone so dependent, ineffectual- arrogant."
"And yet, you still couldn't kill me." Robin muttered, removing a glove as the first risen crawled within arm's reach.
Lucina split its neck down the middle as Robin turned a plume of fire onto the corpse.
"Conserve mana, there's more coming!"
But Robin ignored her, raking the body with flames. The bloated skin bubbled and steamed, filling the air in stench and humidity.
Two more risen came within striking distance and Lucina stabbed one, wrestling for control as it fought to take her weapon. The other came around and she stepped in, bringing the pommel around to smash its jaw and stepping back to yank her weapon free. Robin bathed the bodies in fire, loud hiss drowning out the moans and gasps of risen surrounding them, steam filling the top half of the hall.
Lucina backed away, stooping. "Robin I can't see!"
"Good!" Robin replied, grabbing her and pulling towards the scouts.
Cordelia took a moment before understanding, keeping hunched and pushing down the hall. "Don't fight, just run!" she shouted, checking a risen out of the way as they rounded the corner.
Light ahead. Gaius stuck his head down the square hole in the ceiling, eyes widening when he saw their entourage.
"Move!" Cordelia braced against the wall, fingers laced to lift Sumia up. Stahl reached down to pull Lucina as Robin helped Cordelia through.
Robin leapt, catching Sumia's gauntlet as a risen caught his boot. Gaius took his other hand, pulling as another risen found his leg, teeth sinking into leather.
Cordelia stabbed down into the dark, but something grabbed her spear and almost pulled her in after it.
Claws found his stretched abdomen, sinking into the skin as miasma steamed from the wounds. Robin gasped, slipping his hand out Gaius' grasp to swipe behind himself with fire that illuminated the hall. It was packed with undead reaching for him, before the flames extinguished on the faces of those closest and the claws released his lower half.
Cordelia and Stahl pulled him up, asking something about his wellbeing before he cut them off.
"Let's go, go!" Robin panted, pointing to the door. Lucina leaned against the frame, looking away when their eyes met.
He grunted, pushing off his knee to rise and follow the others out the door towards the upper deck.
The hull creaked as shadows flickered over the open hatches as they made for the upper landing, sounds of scampering on the other side of wood accompanied by distant howls.
"What did you do?!" Stahl shouted over his shoulder at Robin as he rounded the landing behind him.
"Wha‒ I didn't do anything!"
"You did something!"
"I did nothing!"
They arrived on the upper deck, quick assessment being that the situation was bad. The pegai had flown, the cause now surrounding them from all sides. Bodies too bloated or decayed to have features clambered over the edges of the ship.
Thunder boomed overhead, drizzle beginning to fall as waves crashed against the side of the ship. Robin frowned, there hadn't been a cloud in the sky this morning.
"So we're blaming Robin for this, right?" Gaius asked nervously, drawing two daggers and backing into the formation.
"He does have a habit of escalation. Remember the time he went to Plegia to negotiate war aid but also got married?" Sumia added, readying her spear.
"Unbelievable," Robin muttered, bolting lightning into the mass of undead huddling towards them.
"Permission to speak freely?" Stahl requested.
"Denied."
"Granted," Cordelia called, lunging forward to spear a risen through the jaw before pulling back behind Stahl.
"Perhaps it was just bad luck. With all due respect, it has a way of following you. Sir."
"I'm sorry, I'm still new at this but," Robin found a moment amidst the fighting and tugged at his shoulder patch, "What rank is this? I'm not angry, just curious, because you guys seem to think it's some prize from the carnival."
"I don't know, sir, why don't you remind us?" Cordelia asked, stabbing over Stahl's shoulder as he held a risen at bay with a forearm.
Robin turned, channeling a gust of wind at the risen between them and the rowboat. The risen staggered, Gaius dashing between them to plunge daggers into the base of their skulls.
The young man ran to the edge, looking over the side. "They're safe distance away, but the rowboat won't hold all of us. This where we draw straws?"
Robin glanced to the unused lifeboats as the deck tilted heavily and he struggled for balance. At least thirty risen separated them. Stahl cut down the remaining risen between them and their entry point and Robin ran to look over the side. He waved to the oarsmen with a smile and turned back to them.
"Damn, I was really hoping they'd be gone."
"You mean dead?" Cordelia asked, raising an eyebrow at him.
"Not dead! Just… Not taking up seats."
"It can't be helped. I'll stay behind and‒" Lucina managed the first half of her plan before Robin knelt beside the rail, placed an arm around her knees and lifted her clean over his shoulder.
She screamed something angry-sounding before colliding with the water as Robin turned to the others.
"It's fine I outrank her." Robin glanced to his patch then Cordelia, "...Right?"
She shook her head with a disbelieving stare.
"Well it can't be helped, I'll stay behind with Stahl and wait for evac."
The risen were closing in and didn't leave room for backtalk. Cordelia and Sumia descended the ladder as Gaius dove overboard. A glance over the side saw the crew pulling Lucina into the boat before risen pushed to the front of Robin's attention.
There were too many, engaging would only lead to them being dragged down, leaving Robin's magic as their only ranged method to dent the dozens bearing down on them. Stahl dispatched any that pushed too far forward, but it was a retreating engagement, and they were running out retreating space.
"Not that I'm complaining that for once people do what I command, but you're fairly compliant for being consigned to death by dismemberment," Robin noted as Stahl took a knee.
"Not to lessen your opinion of me, sir," Stahl cut across a risen's stomach and pulled back as it lunged forward, unfazed by its entrails spilling onto the deck and tripping, "But I'm not in terrible danger."
As if to prove his point two risen charged, first meeting his sword as the other latched onto his arm. It bit, clawed, and wrapped swollen arms around his neck. He shouldered it to the ground and stabbed, retreating as others stepped over their fallen comrade.
"I mean, I might starve in here, but I don't see them getting through the plate and latches. You on the other hand…"
"Oh yeah, I shoulda shoved the women and kid out of the way to the lifeboat. Stuff heroes are made of."
"I'm just saying…"
"No, no!" Robin turned from the oncoming horde to face him, "You can't finish off an erroneous argument with 'I'm just saying...' Saying what, what are you saying?"
"Saying it was brave of you, sir." Stahl's echoing voice was barely loud enough to be heard over the risen, "Staying behind, saving the princess, death by dismemberment… And you didn't even think twice. That is the stuff heroes are made of. I mean… At least I have the armor."
Robin stared at him, unable to conjure a witty comeback when shouts drew their attention to the side to see the Ghazi making for them at full speed, turning slowly to pull ahead of the infested ship.
It was coming too quickly to stop, they'd have to jump from the elevated bow as the Ghazi was passing. Stahl was right behind Robin, up the stairs to the higher ground as risen fell off the vessel drawn by the Ghazi. Shepherds were armed on the deck, ready to fend off boarders as Stahl and Robin perched on the rail. The risen were getting closer, Robin inching away on the slim wood as the nose of the other ship passed under them.
"Go, go go go!" Chrom shouted from almost ten meters below.
Robin was about to leap when he felt Stahl's presence beside him jerk backwards. He spun, grasping for Stahl's armor and finding his gauntlet. He took the knight's sword and swung over Stahl's head, bloated muscles splitting stringily and Stahl fell into him, rail at his back giving way as they stumbled over the side.
He had about two seconds to contemplate the full ramifications a reverse belly flop from ten meters onto hardwood with a 30 kilo steel chaser, when a reptilian shriek split the air. Wyvern talons missed Robin's cloak by inches, while Stahl was ripped from the air above him.
'Oh good.'
Back met wood, skull slamming into the deck hard enough to splinter the plank as his neck dislocated from the impact. Robin lay still, watching the rainy sky with half lidded eyes.
"Robin ‒ Robin!"
Chrom's blurred shape appeared overhead, shifting into focus. A wyvern landed nearby, depositing a suit of armor that climbed to its feet, embracing the long-haired rider before they made towards him.
'That's nice. They're cute.'
"Naga, I thought that killed you," Chrom whispered, wincing and pulling Robin's eyelid up, he disappeared from Robin's fading field of vision, "Lissa!"
"Boat's recovered! Bringing the recon team aboard now‒ whoa-hold on miss, miss!"
"Gerome, no!" Lucina's voice came from somewhere too far to help as a blurry black silhouette obstructed Robin's vision before a boot eclipsed the sky.
The weather had turned from bad to worse two days later. The ship rode a wave high and dipped low again, deckhands outside working through the night to keep the ship on course. Chrom remained in his study, too nauseous and angry to venture far.
Thunder outside almost made the knock on the door inaudible, but Chrom looked up from his desk to see Lucina enter carrying a candle. He gestured to a chair and she sat wordlessly, setting her candle beside his on the desk. She stared at the ground, atmosphere set for a solid parental lecture. He let it stew for almost a minute, before letting out a sigh and rubbing his eyes.
"Tell me about your friends again."
"Father?"
He gestured, "Your band of survivors, from the future. With Gerold and-"
"Gerome."
Chrom looked at their roster from Robin, frowned, and shook his head. "Tell me about him."
"He didn't intend…" Lucina cut herself short, realizing she didn't believe the lie any more than her father would. She took a deep breath, "He was trying to protect me. When he saw me thrown overboard-"
"That was not protection, that was revenge."
"He's not accustomed to working alongside others, or being…"
"Accountable," Chrom finished, nodding as she shook her head, "Is the word you're looking for. Being responsible for your behavior. Realizing your actions have consequences. Do not try to justify him, you're fortunate you're not sharing shackles."
"F-father?"
"He doesn't listen to a word anyone else says, only yours. Who bears blame, the sword, or the hand wielding it?"
"I've never instructed him to harm Robin."
Chrom's jaw set, and his expression told her no one aboard either ship would believe that.
"I'll speak with him."
"To what end?" Chrom asked, "You're two children trying to teach one another temperament. Your impatience… Your fury consumes you, both. It makes you unpredictable, unreliable… And a poor leader."
Chrom stood, running a hand through his hair, "Leaders do not govern with strength of force. Leaders do not harm their comrades. I don't know what lessons I imparted in your childhood, but your interpretation of them… Shames me, Lucina. As Gerome shames you."
She looked up as if he'd struck her, rising slowly. It wasn't her intention that Robin be harmed, but if this was to become a trial she knew whose side she stood on.
"'Never trust,' that's what your death taught me. That's what I taught my friends, and they're strong because of it."
"Callousness is not strength, Lucina," Chrom uttered, eyes glistening as he shook his head. "It's easy to become cold, and hardened, and detached from the world. It's strength to be remain vulnerable, to go against every instinct of protection in order to trust someone."
Chrom took a deep shuddering breath, meeting her stare. "And that you don't understand that means I've failed you, utterly. Robin has saved your life, multiple times, and for that, Gerome broke his neck. You're lucky he's alive."
"Then why don't I feel very fortunate."
Chrom stepped forward suddenly and she instinctively looked away, recognizing this was not the time for witticisms. He spoke, voice low and stern.
"Your inability to lead has resulted in my best friend's inability to walk. You are alive. And the only reason we are not having this conversation through a stockade, is because Robin did not seek it. Despite the insistence of his peers." Chrom let that settle over her, her eyes widening slightly as she opened her mouth.
"Consider that, when counting your fortunes." Chrom sat again, looking into the candlefire. "I don't want to see you until he's accepted your apology. Are we clear?"
Her jaw clenched as she stood and left the cabin.
The cabin tilted in the rolling waters, bad weather pattering the window as low groans filled the room.
"Slower… Slow… That's!... That's it…"
The mounted silhouette rocked forward, easing its pace as the prone figure on the bed grabbed the headboard for support. Testing new waters, the dominant partner dipped lower.
"Not there! Oh… Oh… Oh! Oh yeeeessss..."
The straddled figure leaned closer to whisper into the other's ear, "Relax… You're too tight…"
"S-sorry…"
"Are you ready?"
The submissive partner could only nod meekly, taking a steadying breath. Cool fingers slipped around their neck, kneading a few kinks before fingers settled in precise positions along the spinal column.
"Embrace the dragon!"
"Wha-?"
Vertebrae crunched into place, disks realigning and synapses reconnecting as nerve endings fired in a glorious anthem of pain and victory.
Robin gasped, arching his back as he rolled involuntarily, toppling Tharja who let out a yelp falling off the bed. He took a deep breath, flipping over to stare at his toes. They moved. He swung his legs over the side of the bed as Tharja popped up behind him.
"I wouldn't. Give yourself a day to rest."
"Another day?" Robin asked, turning to look at her.
"You just recovered from an injury that would have ended the lives of most men. Another day won't kill you."
"Fine… But no more sponge baths," Robin muttered, lying back in bed and eyeing her suspiciously.
"I had something else in mind…" Tharja murmured, but Robin wasn't hearing her.
"Well now I can get back to work," Robin commented cheerfully, looking around for books as Tharja made her way to the side of the bed. "Instead of rolling around all day in agony."
Tharja sighed dreamily, "I'm almost going to miss it. You were far less reluctant when you couldn't move... " She commented as she undid the clasp on her cape. "You didn't even object when I slept here last night."
"You slept here last night?"
"Wrapped around you, I've never slept better," Tharja replied, trailing her fingers through his hair. "I had to make sure that child didn't harm you again..."
"I was harmed?"
"And I could continue to access your latent healing powers-"
"I have healing powers-?" Robin was cut off by a finger on his lips.
"And I can teach you so much more. The full potential of your heritage."
"You do keep the bed pretty warm…"
She smiled, by far the least sinister smile he'd seen her perform.
"We complete each other, don't you think?" she asked, removing the golden ornaments from her hair.
Robin frowned with one eyebrow. "We barely know each other. The reason you slept in my bed last night was because I was literally paralyzed."
"Then will you deny me tonight?" she asked, beginning to strip to her smallclothes.
"I'm a bit torn. Part of me feels obligated to owe you for giving me the ability to walk again. I mean I probably would have figured it out eventually, but you certainly expedited the process while asking for nothing in return," he thought aloud, speech growing faster as she peeled back the sheets. He stopped the reveal to protect his modesty and she smirked, sliding into the bed beside him as he continued, "Which I realize now might be naive, you might have just been taking advantage of the situation. But on the other hand I'm worried this means a lot more to you than it does to me. You're fanatically enamoured with me, for like no reason, and I'm afraid us spending intimate time together is giving you the wrong impression because I'd really just like to be fr-"
Robin muffled as Tharja brought her lips to his, limbs coming around, securing him in place as she pressed her near-naked body into him.
"Friends," Robin broke free to take a breath, "Because you're really hot and that's making it super difficult to think straight but I don't know you well enough to trust you-"
"Trust this," Tharja murmured, kissing his neck and resting her hands on his hips to guide them into motion, "This feeling."
"Trusting this feeling seems like it leads to trouble very quickly," Robin assessed as he caught her hands before they dipped to his front. She used the opportunity to pull his hands to her well-endowed chest, letting out a seductive moan.
"And…" Robin thought for another moment, reaching his conclusion as she kneaded herself through his fingers, "Yes. I've decided I will regret this."
She swung her leg over, straddling him again as she stripped her top.
Lucina made her way through the narrow halls, intent on swallowing the pill sooner rather than later. She felt her way along a corner, cursing herself for forgetting her candle in the study. Still, over the last few days she'd learned the ship well enough. Robin's quarters should be near ahead…
A rectangle of light across the wall flickered as laughter and voices came from an open doorway ahead.
"...but at that point it's pure adrenaline, right? So I'm cutting 'em down left and right, Chrom and Robin are running around screamin' at us to 'leave some for the villagers to fight, they need experience defending themselves!' while the villagers are running around with pitchforks, don't even know who's on which side when we're not attacking the bad guys," Vaike took a sip from his tankard, giving other Shepherds time to chuckle. "In the end though, a few rose up to the challenge. Showed promise, too."
"Now we don't have to worry about that village. Being everywhere at once is unrealistic, Robin knew that. He wanted them to be safe, even when we weren't around," Sumia added, looking down to the table.
"Fish for man, feed for one day. Teach man to fish, feed for lifetime," Gregor nodded sagely, winking at her and raising his own cup.
"Always hadda big heart, with a bigger brain to boot," Sully chuckled.
"And the ego to match," Stahl commented with a grin, earning a snort from Sully's raised tankard as Cherche slapped his shoulder.
His eyes settled on the door and the smile faded. He looked away, clearing his throat.
Lucina hadn't realized her small smile until she felt it fall. She didn't even know when she'd stopped to listen at the doorway, as though she were part of the conversation.
The expressions of those realizing her presence made it clear. She wasn't.
Lucina looked away, turning to leave when Sully's voice beckoned her.
"Hey kid, how's your boyfriend doing?"
"S-sorry?" Lucina turned back.
Cherche appeared before her, blocking her view of the room. Her gaze harbored neither ill will, nor any degree of warmth.
"Go."
Lucina glanced past the tall woman's shoulder, opening her mouth to begin some form of apology when Cherche moved to block her view again.
"Go."
"Nah, she can stay if she wants! We got loads to talk about," Sully slurred, draining her tankard and gritting her teeth as it thudded to the table, "Like how to kick a man when he's down. I wanna know the real good form, y'know, so the other guy won't ever walk again. Aw where you going? I got this real bad pain in my back, didn't know if you could fix it to never feel anything again."
Lucina was already down the hall, cheeks burning. Her ostracization was complete, she was a pariah in both worlds now. Her father's words were true, Gerome's actions spoke of her behalf. What wasn't true was that she wanted this.
A dark form emerged from a darker room ahead. It straightened when it saw her, speaking in a gravelly voice.
"Lucina."
"Gerome," she greeted, halting midstep. He'd been moved ships, she felt it safer for him if she was around, fearing soldiers would throw him overboard while he slept. For all the weight her word carried now. She wouldn't be surprised if they were thrown out together.
"Are you well? I've barely seen you for the last two days."
"I've been… Alone," Lucina admitted, finally feeling it.
Gerome nodded, silence filling the air before he spoke again. "Would you like to be alone, together?"
Lucina took a silent sigh, aware of what it would mean for her versus what it would mean for him. Truthfully, she didn't know how she felt about him anymore. Not that way, not for years. There was a time, once, when it was different. But now, having lived in this world for two years, all she saw when she looked at him was a man shaped by the world they'd come from. The haunted gaze of a survivor, the absence of feeling, the violence...
He was the blameless product of their environment, but even as she looked into his cold amber eyes all she saw were the dead hellscapes of their past home.
The ship rocked suddenly in the storm and they fell against the wall, his arm on her shoulder to steady her.
She looked up, seeing the crack of concern in his stoicism. He took a deep breath, lips parting.
"Goodnight, Gerome."
He closed his mouth, mask of calm returning over him as he straightened.
"Goodnight, Lucina."
She passed him in the hall and continued through the ship, putting distance between the one other person in this world who wanted to be around her, and finally arriving at her destination.
Lucina raised a hand to knock on the door. Her hand trembled. She took a step back, uncertain why she hesitated. Uncertain what she could even say. How could she begin to thank him for saving her life when the actions of her comrade weighed so shamefully on her.
She leaned back against the wall, sliding down until her arms rested on her knees.
Perhaps, in the morning, she would have the strength to face him.
The sun didn't rise on the horizon like it normally did on the ocean, spanning the water with magnificent glow as the sky turned to day. Rather, the grey bleakness of clouds was slowly revealed as the sky grew brighter signifying morning.
Stahl's eyes opened. He lay in his cot, watching the ceiling as the ship barely swayed. It felt like they were gliding through the water with ease, waves calm and tranquil, silent save the creaking hull. Something was heavy in the pit of his stomach. Not seasickness, he'd gotten over that in the first two days. A sense that something was wrong. Like the way animals knew to flee before an earthquake, or a storm.
The last morning he woke with this feeling, he was drafted.
He rolled out of bed, noticing the subdued atmosphere of the ship. While the crew usually bustled about noisily, animals below deck neighing or snarling at one another ignoring their handlers, today everyone seemed off. Quiet.
Cherche crossed the hall ahead of him and he called out to her, stepping between bedrolls and limbs.
"Good morning," she greeted, looking him over, "everything alright?"
"I dunno, I just woke up with this feeling…" Stahl muttered uncertainly, trying not to wake the soldiers at his feet.
Her lips thinned and she glanced around. She jerked her head and he followed her above deck.
"Only the morning crew's seen it, no word from command yet," she explained as they stepped into open air, "Which is a bit silly, because it's difficult to not notice."
Stahl already saw the congregation at the back of the bridge of the ship. He climbed the stairs and easily peered over shoulders to see what the hushed voices were referring to.
"Been the same size all morning. Like we ain't movin'."
"What is it?"
"How'd we pass it?"
In an instant Stahl knew whatever that was, the feeling in his stomach was justified. He felt fortunate he and Cherche had returned to the Mamluke after yesterday's recon, for if misfortune truly followed Robin, he wouldn't want to be on the same ship when it came knocking.
"So we're just waiting on command to issue orders…" Cherche murmured beside him, hand around his forearm, "I hate waiting."
Stahl wasn't too distracted by the hand on his arm to notice the tremble in her voice. It spooked her. It spooked him too. He met her anxious amber eyes and they both looked back over the water.
In the distance, barely visible under grey skies, a sand bar had appeared on the horizon behind them.