New AN: This is the original Chapter 17 of the story. Somewhere in moving my drafts to a more permanent location I lost chapter 16, basically all that happened was Robin talked to Morgan for a bit and Chrom had a spar with Morgan in which Chrom was almost able to see the brand on Morgan's shoulder.
AN: Yay! Back again with another chapter! WAAHH! I feel so terrible right now...I haven't updated in like two weeks! Curse you, homework! How dare you keep me from writing! Anyways... finally, Melody enters the picture! What will happen when Chrom learns that he is Morgan's and Melody's father? What will the rest of the Shepherds say? Sumia? Lucina? So many questions! Answers are coming, I promise. Story start!
*Disclaimer: I don't own Fire Emblem, Nintendo does. I just use the characters in my own creative story.
Chapter Seventeen
~Chrom~Saving the mysterious woman (Melody)~
Chrom looked at Morgan and when the young man nodded, Chrom tightened his grip on Falchion and dashed out of the training area to follow the messenger. He heard feet hitting the ground behind him and knew that Morgan was following him, hard at his heels. Morgan was a very strange young man but Chrom had no doubt in his mind that Morgan was extremely powerful.
The prince regretted that he didn't get to see Morgan's left shoulder, and resolved to himself that he would see it afterwards. Chrom then shook his head to clear his mind and called out to the Shepherds as he ran through the camp. "Shepherds to arms! Risen near the camp!"
The Shepherds responded immediately to his call, running out of their tents with their weapons, ready to fight the threat. Robin appeared at his side and raised an eyebrow at him while she ran. Her way of asking, 'What on earth is going on?'
Chrom simply said, "I'll explain when we get there." Robin nodded in response and Chrom saw her fall back slightly to run next to Morgan.
The Shepherds finally reached the small lake area that was close by the camp. Just as the scouts had reported to him, a lot of strong Risen seemed to be surrounding something. He held Falchion even tighter, determined to save the young woman that he could just barely see through the mass of dead creatures. She seemed to be unconscious and Chrom wanted to get her to a healer as soon as possible.
The prince had no idea why, but something in his gut told him that this young woman wasn't just a random villager that the Shepherds were saving from the Risen. Chrom believed that she was important, very important to him, he just didn't know why. The only thing he knew was that he had to save her, no matter what stood in his way.
Chrom looked back at Robin and saw her and Morgan with their heads bent together, talking urgently about a battle strategy. Chrom chuckled to himself a little bit at how similar mother and son were. 'They're both born tacticians.'
~Robin~
"Ok, that's a lot of Risen," Robin said, as they arrived at the lake, her mind already running through a dozen different scenarios and battle plans.
"Mother, I think the best thing to do is send three separate teams," Morgan said from her side.
Robin studied the field again and realized that her son was right. "That's probably the best course of action," Robin murmured.
"I did study to be a tactician after all," Morgan said with a happy smile. "Now we can win this battle together."
"Ok, who did you have in mind for the three teams?" Robin said with a smile.
"Well all of the Shepherds already know their battle partners," Morgan said. "If we send three sets of two with each team, they should each be able to handle a section of the Risen."
"Ok," Robin said, thinking hard. "We can send Lon'qu, Lissa, Sully, Vaike, Ricken, and Nowi to the left. Then Chrom, Sumia, Gaius, Olivia, and uh, Donnel and Maribelle down the middle?
"No, mother, they need at least one mage," Morgan said. "Maribelle isn't a Valkyrie yet, so we should send Tharja and Libra instead. That way they have a healer and a mage."
Robin nodded at her son's logic and scribbled down more on their piece of parchment. "Hmm, ok so then Donnel, Maribelle, Virion, Cherche, Stahl, and Cordelia to the right." Morgan nodded so Robin continued, "What about the other future children?"
"We need someone to guard the camp in case more Risen show up," Morgan said thoughtfully stroking his chin.
"Hmm okay, yeah that will work...hmm, that leaves the two of us then.." Robin replied.
"We will go wherever we are needed and assist all three sides," Morgan said.
Robin blinked for a bit at her son, "You took the words from my mouth..."
Morgan laughed a bit and said, "I guess I take after you in more ways than one mother."
Robin laughed and reached up and ruffled her son's hair with her hand. 'I'm so glad you are here Morgan...I missed you so much...Soon we will find your sister and be together again...'
~Chrom~
Chrom looked over Robin and Morgan's strategy and nodded his approval and shouted the orders to the Shepherds. As soon as the battle began, Chrom ran forward with Sumia behind him, slashing down any Risen in his path. If this important person, died in this fight, Chrom didn't know what he would do. He wanted to figure out why this person, this young maiden, felt so important to him.
It took a while, but Chrom finally reached the unconscious young maiden and raised Falchion and glared at the Risen that were surrounding her. He took the big, ugly, axe-wielding one first, swinging at the undead creature with his blade. He managed to get a hit on the creature's shoulder by aiming underneath his axe. Sumia was right behind him hitting the axe wielder in the arm with her lance.
Chrom felt energy surge through him, they could do this. However, Chrom's hopes were quickly dashed when an arrow hit Sumia's shoulder and another one hit her pegasus' wing. He quickly charged over to the archer and made it explode into dark, purple ash. Then he quickly turned back to Sumia.
"Sumia, hurry, fly back to Libra and Maribelle. You need to get healed," Chrom said.
"Chrom, I can't leave you, there's too many Risen for you to fight by yourself," Sumia protested.
"If you stay you're going to die," Chrom replied. "Please, do as I say, our little Lucina needs you."
Sumia took in what he said and nodded reluctantly and gently urged her pegasus to fly away from the battle. Chrom turned back to the five remaining Risen that stood in between him and the young maiden. Chorm didn't know why the Risen weren't attacking the young woman but he shook his head to clear his thoughts and focus on the Risen.
However, Chrom was very shocked when he saw that the young maiden had become conscious and she was now looking around at her surroundings looking very confused.
"Come and get me, Risen!" Chrom shouted in challenge, knowing that he had to keep the Risen's focus on him, rather than on the defenseless young woman. The five undead creatures snarled at him before charging his way. At first Chrom managed to fight all five opponents at once, but soon the Risen started getting nicks on the Prince's skin as they broke through his openings. One of the Risen swung its steel sword and knocked Falchion up and as Chrom stumbled backwards, another Risen started to swing its silver axe toward him. Time seemed to slow down for Chrom, as he desperately tried to get Falchion under control to block the axe. Chrom then heard a clear feminine voice shout above the noise of the battle.
"Oh mighty Earth, open up in rage and hoist up your flame! Flame of Death! Exhaust this foe with your Inferno! Ignotius!"
Flames erupted from underneath the Risen, turning them into dark, purple ash immediately. Chrom leapt backwards in surprise as the heat overwhelmed him. When the flames finally died down, Chrom looked up and faced his savior. He looked at the apparently not so helpless young maiden that had saved his life with her powerful spell. He did a double take when he realized that the young woman looked really similar to Robin. From her coat to her soft purple hair to even her feminine face. The purple hair was actually a little darker than Robin's hair now that Chrom could look at it more closely. It looked like the same shade as...as Morgan's hair. Chrom's eyes widened at the realization. 'Is she...Robin's daughter? Robin has two children?!' Chrom felt a pang of jealousy near his heart but he pushed the feeling away so he could focus on the situation at hand.
"Um, thank you," Chrom said with a small, smile. "You saved my life."
The young woman dusted off her coat and smiled back at Chrom. "No problem, I didn't burn you did I?"
'She even sounds like Robin...'
"No, you didn't," Chrom said. "I'm very surprised that you were able to control that spell so precisely. You are quite the accomplished mage."
'Just like her mother...'
"I guess I am, although to be honest, I don't remember anything," the young woman admitted sheepishly, running a hand through her hair.
Chrom looked at the young woman in surprise, "Then you don't have any memories?"
"I literally don't remember anything beyond waking up in this field and seeing those undead things," the young woman admitted. "The fire spell I did was sorta out of instinct."
Chrom smiled inwardly. 'Like mother, like daughter...both of them are amnesiacs then huh?'
"Do you remember your name?" Chrom asked.
"Yes, I think so," the young woman said, thinking for a bit. "Melody? Yes, that's it. My name is Melody."
'That's the same name as the young girl I saw in that village...It can't be...that's where Robin was hiding...Did I meet the Melody of this timeline? Robin's daughter...without even realizing it? ...Chrom, you really are an idiot...an idiot...you should have trusted your gut...'
"I see," was all that Chrom could manage to say.
The young woman put her hands on her hips and looked at the prince with a look of amusement. "Now, you aren't just going to ask a young woman for her name, without giving your own name in return?" she teased.
'Yup...just like her mother...'
"Ah, I'm sorry, my name is Chrom," he replied with a smile. "And apparently finding amnesiacs is one of my special talents. I met someone...someone very dear to me, in the same way. Her name is Robin."
Melody clutched her head and squinted her eyes shut as soon as Chrom said that name. Chrom reached out with his hand to touch her shoulder in concern.
"Are you okay?" Chrom asked.
"Aaahhh...my head...it's throbbing..." Melody managed to say.
Before Chrom could figure out why Melody's head was hurting so that he could help her, the prince felt a sudden pressure hit his stomach. He flew through the air and landed on the ground a few feet away from Melody, hitting his head hard in the process. Chrom looked up in confusion, not entirely sure what had just happened and he saw a double of the coat and noticed the short, dark, purple hair.
"Stay away from my sister," Chrom heard Morgan say angrily, before the prince passed out.
AN: Ahhh! I'm sorry! I had to stop the chapter here...I really wanted to get this chapter out as soon as possible...The next chapter should be up soon though...I need to catch up, since I haven't updated in so long...Stay tuned for Chapter Eighteeen tomorrow! Thanks for the reviews!