Look who's back right before the holidays with an update!
That's right! It's a Christmas miracle! Or close enough, anyway.
So...yeah. To all those out there who are still here, thanks for sticking around! Hope you enjoy the latest chapter.
Happy holidays!
Of the many things Robin had to think about in his life, dying was, surprisingly, not one of them. And this despite the fact that he had a much more exponential chance of dying in his line of work than almost anyone else.
There were many reasons why Robin didn't think about death or the manner in which he would die. For one, he had no time to think about it because he was busy with hundreds of other things that required his attention. After all, he was the head tactician of their little group and they were in a middle of a war. So naturally Robin's time was busy with keeping his friends alive and crafting battle plans so that they could win. But aside from that, Robin also had an inflated sense of optimism—that everything would be okay and that things would work out in the end no matter how bad they looked at present. Of course, the caveat was that he had to work to ensure that things would turn out okay. So Robin believed that as long as he worked hard, nothing bad would happen to him and his friends. And considering Robin always worked hard when it came to war and his friends, nothing seriously bad could ever happen to them or himself.
Foolproof logic!
Of course, life did tend to test his beliefs every so often. And during those times, Robin came very close to cracking and, by extension, dying.
Now was such a time.
"Urgh, damn smoke…"
As Robin fell to the ground and coughed, eyes watering, surrounded by volcanic smoke, he wondered if this was the end of the line for him.
And as these thoughts occurred to him, Robin realized something: this would be the most pathetic way to go.
Really? Death by smoke inhalation? If Robin had a preferred way of dying, he…well, ideally he'd die peacefully in his sleep at a ripe old age after a successful military and civilian career. But discounting that, he'd prefer that his death would have been something for the bards to sing about. A one-on-one with Walhart, or a final last stand protecting against overwhelming odds while his friends fled, or even (if Robin wanted to be completely fantastical) a (successful) suicide mission to take down the Fell Dragon and cement him as a legendary hero worthy of statues and heroic children's stories. Any of those scenarios would've been preferable and heroic and glorious and something for the history books for years to come.
A nice heroic ending to his career.
Dying by some volcano due to too much smoke was definitely not how Robin planned, wanted, or intended to go. Not only would it be a totally humiliating end to his life and career, but what would Morgan think? It would totally demean his imagine in her eyes! Robin promised her that he'd be there for her to watch over and protect her and dying would be breaking that promise. Not only that, but dying in this pathetic way would just be pathetic. He was Morgan's father, idol, and inspiration and he was going to live to uphold his reputation!
Gathering all his leftover energy, Robin concentrated his magic and summoned a gust of wind to clear the smoke from around himself so that he could get a few breaths of fresh air.
"Okay, okay…now just to…"
Robin's eyes watered and his lungs burned, even with the break in the smoke.
"Everything's fine, everything's fine. Just have to get up…and…"
Robin coughed.
Gods, he just needed a few more minutes breathing non-volcanic air.
Robin looked back when he heard a crashing noise, only to see a part of the ground behind him break away and fall into the lava below.
"Okay, just have to…get…up…and walk…!"
Robin coughed violently and fell to his knees. Looking up, he saw that the volcanic smoke was once again enveloping the area.
So much for breathing non-volcanic air.
Robin struggled to get up. He struggled to get air in his lungs. He struggled to see as the smoke was making his eyes burn.
There was no way he was going to die here. It couldn't end this way. It couldn't! Robin would get out of this! All he needed to do was…
– Earlier –
"We have won some breathing room now that we have put some distance between ourselves and the turncoat dynasts," Say'ri said. "The issue now is that Yen'fay's forces are closing in on our location from the south."
"Gods, we just barely managed to get away from one mess and now we're here facing another," Chrom commented, frowning.
"Well we certainly can't stay here and do nothing. Our best bet is to keep moving and take on Yen'fay's forces," Robin said. "And we have to move fast; Basilio and Flavia can stall Walhart's army only for so long."
"Another concern," Say'ri spoke up. "The dynasts who betrayed us. They attacked us and let us go both, because it suited their purpose. Should they attack us from behind as we battle Yen'fay, it would be an easy victory. They would curry favor with the empire without risk of injury. This is how they think."
"Opportunistic traitors…" Robin mumbled.
"We cannot defend two fronts. We'll need to choose our battlefield carefully…" Chrom said, looking into the distance. There, something caught his eye. "Say'ri, that mountain—I've seen it smoke for hours but I see no trees on it anywhere?"
"What...? Ah." Comprehension dawned when Say'ri saw what Chrom was looking at. "That is no forest fire, sir. It's a volcano. Have you never seen one?"
"I can't say that I have."
"Mountains that spew fire, they are. A terrible sight to behold if ever there was one. That one is called the Demon's Ingle. It is known and feared by all people of Valm. Few dare even get close, lest they anger the wicked fire god that is sealed within."
"No one dare get close, you say?" Robin perked up. "How very interesting…"
Chrom grinned. "Robin, are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
"Only if you're wondering how quickly we can reach the volcano."
"G-go to the Demon's Ingle?!" Say'ri looked aghast. "Do you know what you're saying?"
"I'm saying your opportunistic former friends wouldn't dare risk following us. And we can use the flames as barriers to limit how your brother's army approaches," Robin explained.
"That…is a reasonable assumption. And my brother will still come. His stubborn pride will force his hand..."
"Then it seems we have our strategy," Chrom said.
"'Tis a risky plan, but I can devise none better," Say'ri admitted. "And you two seem to have a peculiar talent for performing miracles."
"It's mostly me. I just let my friend here take the credit because I'm such a good, humble person," Robin casually.
"Yes, a fact that you never cease to remind us of," Chrom said, rolling his eyes.
"Well I have to keep you all from getting unappreciative," Robin quipped. "Anyway, we have our plan of action. Let's tell everyone and get going."
"Are you going to be okay?" Chrom asked, putting his hand on Robin's shoulder. "We have no data on Yen'fey's forces nor the terrain or what to expect. We're basically going to go into the next battle blind."
"Chrom, you're never truly blind when you have me around."
"Robin."
"I'll manage," Robin said seriously. "Situation is far from ideal, but I'll come up with something once we have more information and get closer to the volcano so I know what I'm dealing with."
"Good luck. You know we all have faith in your abilities."
"Aye. I've seen you work long enough to know that we are in good hands."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence, you guys. I hope I can meet your expectations." Robin smiled. "Now, let's tell the others of the change of plan. I'm sure they weren't expecting to have a fight next to an active volcano when they woke up today."
"I will prepare my forces," Say'ri said. "Unnerving thought it may be, I feel they will understand we have no choice but to go near the Demon's Ingle."
"Fighting one army near an active volcano or fighting several on two fronts in an open field. Ironically the one that sounds may more dangerous is the one that has the highest chances of survival for us."
"So in other words, just your typical Tuesday in the Shepherds," Chrom chuckled.
"It's always on a Tuesday. Why is it always a Tuesday…?"
"Well then. "Say'ri cleared her throat. "If there is nothing else…"
Both men nodded and made their way outside the command tent to prepare for the fight ahead.
"Blast this heat!" Robin wiped the sweat from his eyes. "I'd gladly take fighting in the sub-zero Feroxi winter than this hot hell."
"I've never seen a volcano before, let alone an active one…" Morgan said, staring in awe at the top where the volcano was spewing smoke and ash. "It's pretty cool. Wish the circumstances where different so we could get a closer look."
"Closer? Morgan, are you out of your mind?"
"I mean, look at it! Dad, you can't tell me you don't think that's at least a little bit cool."
"Of course it's not—" Robin looked up at the volcano again just in time to see it shoot some lava into the sky. "…Okay, maybe it's a little cool, but we're not here to sightsee!"
"Robin's right."
Everyone turned to see Sumia and Cordelia landing with their pegasi.
"Had to fly low because of all this smoke, but I could still make out Yen'fey's forces amassing on the opposite side," Cordelia reported.
"Hmph, as expected of him," Say'ri said. "What surprises me is that his forces followed his lead here."
"Well they did and we're here, although here I was hoping they wouldn't…" Robin sighed. "What of the traitorous lords and their armies? Was Say'ri's hunch that they wouldn't follow us to the volcano true?"
"It was," Sumia confirmed. "No one on our flank and no one approaching."
"Huh. So some welcome good news after all. Thank gods."
"So now we just focus on Yen'fay's army." Chrom gripped his Falchion tightly. "What's the plan, Robin?"
"Nothing too fancy, given the timeframe and unexpected turn of events. The main goal should be to take out Yen'fay so we can disable one of Walhart's biggest armies on the continent. To this end, we—"
The volcano rumbled.
Some of Say'ri's men looked around nervously.
"Fie! With the way the Demon's Ingle is acting, I would say that the fire god is displeased that we are to engage in combat near his resting place!" Say'ri exclaimed.
"Well pray that he shows his displeasure at Yen'fay. After all, he chose to follow us here!" Robin said.
Just then, there was a rumbling sound followed by loud cracking noises and screams.
Looking to where Yen'fay's army was assembled, the Shepherds saw part of the ground split open and shoot some lava into the air, covering some hapless Valmese soldiers in the process.
"Yikes." Morgan grimaced. "That's gotta hurt…"
"Certainly one way to go…" Robin remarked. "Still though, helps us now that there are fewer enemy soldiers. Thank you, fire god!"
As if in response to Robin's comment, a crack spitting steam into the air appeared near where Robin was standing.
"Gah!" Robin jumped backwards, surprised. "What was that for? I was thanking you!"
"Seems like the fire god doesn't take sides and is generally displeased with all of us and this fighting," Chrom remarked dryly.
"All the more reason to get this over and done with, I guess. That and this blasted heat…" Robin wiped his face with his sleeve. "Remember the plan, people! Our goal is to take out Yen'fay and make our way to safety on the other side! This new terrain will naturally make this fight a lot more difficult than others, so be careful and watch your steps! Fliers, stay low. There is a bunch of smoke in the air and I don't want you to take an unseen arrow to the face. Everyone know what they're doing?"
"If you would be so kind, I would ask that you leave my brother to me," Say'ri said. "I know his fighting style better than anyone and believe that I am most suited to engage him in combat and emerge victorious. He has much to answer for and I would like to be the one to make him talk."
"No guarantees, but we'll do what we can. If you see your shot at Yen'fay, take it, but don't blindly rush into his bodyguards; we need everyone alive if we hope to make it out of this and still take down Walhart."
Say'ri nodded.
"Now—"
Robin was interrupted as a large chunk of the ground behind them fell away into the lava below.
"Dear Naga, now the ground is falling right beneath our feet! Everyone, move before you have a chance to fall and die horribly by lava! Lucina, cover Chrom. Say'ri, stay close to us as we try to cut our way through to your brother. Morgan, with me. The rest of you, cover each other and watch the ground! Now let's go!"
As a man who has had first-hand experience with one war and was halfway through another, Robin could confidently say that this engagement was the worst and most difficult one by far. And that was counting the Plegian part of the last war where they had to trudge through the desert sands!
Robin was beginning to have his doubts about this whole "fighting near a volcano" strategy. For one, it was really, really hot! Robin hated the heat. That was one of the main reasons he had such a bad time in Plegia. Well, that and their constant supply shortages. And the fact that they were horribly underprepared. And how the enemy had much better stuff than they did…
So Robin really disliked it when it was too hot. Even more so than when it was really cold. And with the volcano spitting out ash and smoke and lava and fire, it was plenty hot!
Not only that, but the constant smoke and ground splitting up to reveal the fiery hell beneath made fighting the professional Valmese soldiers just that much more fun. Although Robin supposed he should be lucky since his forces actually managed to avoid all the fire and lava shooting out of the ground when it did. For their part, the Valmese weren't so lucky and kept on suffering casualties due to getting caught in the fire or being too slow to avoid the ruptures in the ground. Gods, Robin usually didn't think or care what happened to the enemy, but even he thought falling into molten lava was a terrible way to go…
Oh well. Robin supposed moving on and not falling into burning lava was as good a motivator as any to keep going and fight the Valmese.
And fight they did. The Shepherds and their allies fought past all steam-filled cracks and the crumbling ground and the unfortunate Valmese that got hit by the lava (while simultaneously avoiding said lava themselves) to make it all the way to where Yen'fay was camped. Robin briefly wondered why Yen'fay wasn't busy fighting on the battlefield himself, then Robin remembered where they were fighting and understood. After all, Robin himself wouldn't be fighting in this smoky burning hell if the situation they were in wasn't so desperate.
So they eventually fought their way to Yen'fay, and, in keeping their kind of sort of promise, held off the Valmese soldiers so that Say'ri could dash forward and engage her brother.
Now, Robin didn't really pay attention to what happened with their fight or after it (what with the fighting for his life and trying to avoid suffering a painful horrible fire-related death), but when he looked back after dispatching the Valmese soldiers around him, he saw Say'ri on her knees, Lissa crying, and Chrom and Lucina looking very solemn.
Robin would've asked what was wrong but the volcano chose then to rumble and start leaking lava.
"…That doesn't look good…" Morgan observed.
"No it does not." Robin turned to his daughter. "Morgan, how are you? Tired? Hurt? Can you still move? Run?"
"Okay, a bit, no, and yes," Morgan replied.
"Good, because we're probably going to have to do a lot more running for our lives very soon." Robin walked to where the others were gathered. "Guys, as much as I want to ask what happened and make sure everyone is unharmed and okay, I'm afraid we don't have time for all that. Looks like we've pissed off the fire god under the volcano so much that it's now belching out smoke and lava at us and we need to go right now."
Being too caught up with whatever they were doing after Yen'fay's defeat, the others were surprised and alarmed when they glanced toward the volcano.
"Say'ri, I know this must be a very difficult time for you, but I'm afraid Robin's right," Chrom said. "We need to—"
"Y-yes, I understand." Say'ri tried to stand up.
"Please, milady, lean on me," Lucina said, helping her up.
"Thank you." On wobbly legs, Say'ri tried to compose herself. "We…we must get going if we want to make this victory count and bring down the empire. I believe the road ahead will lead us to safety."
"Say'ri, are you going to be okay?" Lissa asked, concerned.
Say'ri put on a brittle smile. "I thank you for your concern, but I will manage."
"If you're sure…"
"Okay, great, everyone will be fine, etc, etc," Robin interjected, "Now let's get moving before we all get burned alive!"
With that, the Shepherds and their allies made a quick and disorganized exit from the area around the volcano.
"Come on! Come on! Move it, people! The lava waits for no man!" Robin shouted as he waved the retreating soldiers forward.
"Looks like things are going well, all things considered," Chrom said beside him. "I daresay that we'll get out of here long before the lava engulfs the area."
"Don't get complacent," Robin warned. "That's just asking for something to go wrong."
Just then, two pegasi landed near them.
"Robin, Chrom, we have stragglers," Cordelia reported.
"Who? Why? What's wrong? Where?" Robin asked immediately.
"Henry, Tharja, and Noire," Sumia said. "They were falling behind when we were making our sweep. And since they weren't here yet…"
Robin cursed under his breath. "Did you see anyone else falling behind?"
The pegasus knights shook their heads.
"…Okay. Chrom, stay here and make sure everyone gets to safety. Sumia, Cordelia, with me. Show me where the stragglers fell off."
"Are you going to be okay?" Chrom asked, concerned. "I know we got out fast, but the lava is quickly catching up."
"We'll be fine. Worst case scenario is we all fly out of there."
"Robin—"
"Really no time for argument, Chrom," Robin said, mounting Sumia's pegasus. He then spotted Morgan trying to help others. "And Chrom? Don't let Morgan know I went back, yeah? Tell her I'm off on the other end helping people…or something. Don't want her to worry unnecessarily, you know?"
Chrom nodded. "Be careful out there, Robin."
"Always." Robin then turned to Sumia. "Come on, let's get to Tharja and the others before the lava does!"
Robin held his breath as the pegasus flew off into the smoke-filled air.
It felt like forever before he felt the familiar feeling of descending from the air in the pit of his stomach.
"There!"
Squinting, Robin saw three figures on the ground as they approached.
"I-I'm sorry, Mother…Father…" Noire huffed, hunched over. "I think you'd be…better off…"
"Don't even think about finishing that thought, Noire! There's no way your Mother and I are leaving you to death by burning, even though that sounds like a really good way to go!" Henry laughed.
"Hmph. There is no way any daughter of mine is going to die by something so simple as lava," Tharja said. "Now get up. We have to move."
"I…can't…" Noire coughed violently. "The fighting…and running…and smoke…"
"Oh dear. All that stuff's taking a toll on your already fragile health, huh?" Henry asked.
Noire nodded weakly.
"Well that does put us in a little pickle!"
"Then let's get you out of it."
The three looked up to see two pegasi land and Robin dismount.
"Well if it isn't our local knight in shining armor," Tharja said. "Here to get us out of yet another unpleasant situation?"
Given the grave circumstances, Robin was somewhat surprised to hear Tharja sound only marginally more emotive than she usually was.
"Why are you falling behind?" he asked sternly before seeing Noire's condition. "Anaemia acting up again?"
Noire nodded meekly.
"Wonderful…" Robin glanced to where the lava was and mentally did some calculations. "Okay, first thing's first: let's get Noire up on one of these pegasi."
"You heard the boss, Noire. Up you get!"
Henry and Tharja guided Noire to Sumia's pegasus and helped her up.
"Sumia, hold on tight to her."
"Right."
"Cordelia, can your pegasus fit two?" Robin asked.
"Unadvisable. Pegasi can fly two people just fine but three is pushing it. They've already used a lot of energy during the battle and I'm not sure they'll be able to take off with that much weight, let alone stay in the air."
"Great. Wonderful." Robin turned to see where the lava was. "Guess our best bet is to have you two ferry two of us across while the other two—"
"Wait, so the number of people here is the issue? I can fix that in a jiffy!" Henry started muttering something.
"Henry, what're you—"
"Aaaaand BAM!" There was a brief flash of light as Henry cast whatever it was he was conjuring. "There we go. One less body to worry about!"
"W-what did you do?" Robin blinked the spots out of his eyes and looked around. "Wait, where's Tharja?"
"Right here!" Henry said, picking up a toad from the ground. "She's not as pretty as she usually is, but she's small enough to fit right into my pocket. Isn't that right, Tharja?"
The toad croaked.
"Nya ha ha! Don't be like that! I'm doing this for all our sakes!"
"F-Father, what did you do to Mother?" Noire squeaked.
"Just a little curse to help us move this rescue along," Henry said nonchalantly as he mounted Cordelia's pegasus.
"B-but Mother's going to kill you for that!"
"I know! She seems preeeeeeetty mad!" Henry laughed. "The talk we're gonna have after all of this is said and done is gonna be a doozy!"
The toad croaked again.
"Heh, she says she's gonna curse me until my eyeballs bleed eyeballs. Doesn't that sound fun?!"
"I'll never understand you people…" Robin muttered. "Whatever. It works. Now go fly to the others, you two."
"Robin, we aren't leaving you here alone," Cordelia said.
"Guys, we really don't have time to discuss this. Go fly the others to safety. I'll follow as best I can. Worst case scenario is you'll pick me up if I fall too far behind."
"Robin, you're not—"
"What part of 'really don't have time to discuss this' didn't you understand?" Robin snapped. "Every second we waste here is a second of you not flying the others to safety. So go!"
"Robin—"
"Go, damn you!" Robin cast a few wind spells near the pegasi to spur them into the air.
"Whoa! Daisy, no!"
"Robin, what are you—"
"Fly yourselves to safety with the others! I'll follow!" Robin shouted. "And you better come back for me! I'll never forgive you if I die!"
As the pegasi flew off, the volcano erupted some more.
"Well that's not good…"
Seeing the lava making its way toward him, Robin quickly made his way to join the others. Covering his mouth with his sleeve to avoid the increasingly thick smoke, Robin ran, jumping over the fallen trees and avoiding the cracking earth spitting lava.
All that running in the smoke must've gotten to him because eventually breathing became very hard, and keeping his eyes open, even harder.
– Now –
So that's where Robin found himself: coughing, struggling to breathe, and teary, stinging eyes, and stranded in some foreign land with lava closing in on his location.
The ground shook and a large chunk of earth not too far away from him fell away into the lava beneath.
Oh. Right. There was the ground falling away too.
"…Well that's not good…"
Robin felt lightheaded. Turns out that coming up with some miraculous escape plan was a lot harder when you were breathing in volcanic ash and smoke.
But as a man of many a plan and backup plan, Robin was not one to be found planless! Of course he had a backup plan in case things went sideways!
The earth shook as another piece of the ground fell.
It just…relied on a bit of luck. Or a lot of luck. And it would kick in any minute now.
Robin coughed and wheezed as he was losing consciousness.
Any minute now…
Scenes, strange yet familiar, changing and transitioning one into the other, lingering long enough to trigger a sense of familiarity yet disappearing before recognition dawned.
Robin was in a house, looking up at a woman.
She was smiling at him and saying something.
Robin felt warmth. Affection. Love.
But where one moment he was looking up at the woman, the next he was kneeling and holding her in his hands.
She was still smiling despite the bloody wound in her chest. She reached up and tenderly stroked his cheek.
Anguish. Despair.
There were some men approaching them, weapons drawn and grinning maliciously.
Robin looked up at them.
Rage. Vengeance.
Next he was fighting some bandits in a field.
He just finished taking down the last one when he heard movement behind him.
Readying for combat, Robin turned to see three individuals slowly approaching him: a girl, an armored knight, and a man with blue hair and a strange fashion sense.
Suspicion. Distrust.
The scenery changed again.
The sky darkened into night and the ground rose up all around him to form a tent.
Robin suddenly felt the pressure and stress from years of grueling war—he was tired, haggard, and had the burden of his friends' lives on his shoulders. Yet here, on the night before their most important battle that could end the war once and for all, he had a chance to forget his duties and relieve his stress, if only a little bit.
Robin couldn't see through the darkness, but he didn't need to know what he was doing.
Passion. Lust.
Robin grunted as he increased his pace and gripped her hands in his, nearing his limit.
What they were doing was a far cry from what the romance novels described. Theirs was purely physical, raw, and desperate.
She arched her back and cried out as she hit her peak.
Moments later, Robin's vision exploded in white. He felt something he hadn't felt in a long time: relief. Immense, powerful, explosive relief.
Returning from his high and looking down, Robin suddenly saw red.
The walls of the tent grew tall and turned to stone.
Red on the ground.
He was standing in a hallway, feeling bitter, angry, resentful.
Red on his clothes.
He saw Chrom, expression showing shock and disbelief, staggering away from him.
Red on his hands.
"This is not your…your fault. P-promise me you'll escape from this place... Please, go..."
It took Robin a while to realize that the maniacal laughter he was hearing was actually coming from him.
This is only the beginning of your revenge. Now go claim your birthright and show the world true suffering!
Robin's eyes shot open.
The first thing he saw was Sumia's face being very close to his own. So close in fact, that there was contact. Wait, were her lips…?
Sumia pulled away as soon as she saw he was awake.
"Robin! Thank gods you're awake!"
Robin had many questions, but before could he even open his mouth, he started coughing violently.
In between bouts of coughing, Robin realized that he really needed to breathe and get some air into his lungs. He felt like he was breathing for the first time after holding his breath for a prolonged period of time.
"I…argh…gods…!"
"Robin, take it easy!" Sumia kneeled beside him and tried to calm him down. "Slowly, Robin, breathe."
"I…gah…!" Robin fell back on his cot breathing precious air. "What…? Gods…I feel like…"
"You're lucky to be alive now, you know. Even though we got you out of the way of the lava, there was also the risk from the smoke. Speaking of which, what in Naga's name were you thinking?!" Sumia exclaimed, slapping his arm.
"Ow! What was that for?!"
"Do you know how reckless you were?"
"Hey, I'm not reckless!"
"Robin, you were minutes away from dying!"
"Sumia, I'm minutes away from dying on a daily basis," Robin said breezily, "and I make a habit of not doing so equally as often."
"Robin, this is serious."
"I know. And I'm being serious when I say that I always manage to wiggle myself out of otherwise almost certain death."
"Oh yeah? Than what was your plan back there, Robin? Get burned to death by lava? Choke on the smoke until you died?"
"Well ideally I would've managed to outrun the fiery death and make it to you guys safely, but since no plan survives contact with the enemy – or in this case, nature – I had to fall back onto one of my various backup plans."
"And that plan was…?"
"Wait for backup. That's you guys, by the way." Robin grinned cheekily.
Sumia wasn't amused. "So your backup plan was to blindly hope that we would swoop in and rescue you?"
"And it worked like a charm!"
"Robin…"
"I don't even see why this is bothering you so much, Sumia. We rescued Tharja and her family, I'm alive, and everyone lives to fight another day!"
"Robin, it's bothering me because what you did was careless and dangerous and you could've died! Dying is what you would've done if Cordelia hadn't swooped in and saved you at the very last moment."
"Oh. So she's the one I have to thank for saving my life?"
"Don't change the subject," Sumia said sternly.
"Wow. You're genuinely upset about this."
"Of course I'm upset! You may joke around, Robin, but you could've died! And if you had, what then, Robin? What would we do without you? We all care about you, Robin…" Sumia said as she held his hand with both of hers and looked into his eyes. "Do you know scary it is for us seeing you risk your life doing reckless things like you did today? The thought of you going out there and not coming back is just terrifying for us...and for me."
"Sumia…"
"And I'm not saying what you did for Tharja and Henry and Noire today was bad! Far from it, but the way you went about it…" Sumia sighed. "I really wish you would look after yourself more, Robin. What will happen if you do something reckless one day and we're not there for you?"
"Hey, come on, don't talk like that! It's like you're resigned to the fact that I'm going to get myself killed soon."
"But—"
"Also, what about you?"
"Me?"
"Yeah. You risk your life and follow me when I do reckless and dangerous things all the time yet you don't seem to be particularly worried about yourself."
"But that's only because—" Sumia stopped herself.
"Because…?"
"…Because even if I'm about to undertake the most dangerous mission of my life, I-I know everything will be okay as long as you're with me…" Sumia admitted, blushing and looking away.
"Sumia…" Robin remained silent before sitting up in his cot and hugging Sumia's waist. "You really do care, don't you?"
"I care so much, Robin. It frightens me to see you risking your life like that and talking about it so casually. I really wish you would be more careful…" Sumia said, gently weaving her hands through his hair.
"Well, given how many times I tend to risk my life, I must cause you a lot of worrying, huh? And we can't have that." Robin nuzzled Sumia's stomach. "From now on, I...I'll promise be more careful."
"Do you mean that, Robin?"
"…Okay, maybe not exactly…" Robin sighed. "Look, I can't guarantee that I'll definitely be careful, given the nature of my job and all, but I can at least promise you that I'll try."
"I suppose that'll have to do…"
"Thank you for looking out for me, Sumia. And for caring," Robin muttered quietly.
"Always, Robin."
They stayed like that for a while, enjoying each others' company.
Being with Sumia always had a calming effect on Robin. She was so kind and gentle and sweet that spending time with her cleared his mind and made Robin forget about whatever troubles or stresses he may have had at the moment. It was a warm, pleasant feeling in his chest that washed over Robin like a balm every time they had a moment to themselves. Somehow felt familiar…
Robin opened his mouth to say something but was hit with a coughing fit instead.
"Lie down, Robin. You've just woken up from your ordeal and need to rest. With all the smoke you've inhaled, I have no doubt you'll have more coughing ahead."
"Right…that…" Robin said after his fit. "I'm assuming it was you who worked on me while I was out?"
"It certainly was! Remember when I told you I wanted to do more to help and so took up nursing and medical training? Well it looks like all that is paying off. I remembered my training and did as I was taught to get you breathing again."
"I'm grateful, although your technique sure is interesting…"
"I assure you that it is a valid medical technique."
"That may be true, but you know what else is technically true?" Robin asked mischievously.
"Okay, Robin, I'll bite. What else is true?"
"Back then we technically had our first kiss."
"Robin, that—! It's not—!" Sumia stuttered, blushing.
Robin laughed, but halfway it turned into a painful laugh/cough.
"Ha…worth it…"
Sumia pouted and tried to regain her composure.
"I assume all this commotion in here means that our patient is awake."
Robin and Sumia both turned to see Cordelia entering the medical tent and walking over to them.
"How are you feeling, Robin?"
"Alive and mostly well, thanks to my nurse here."
Cordelia saw Sumia looking flustered and sighed.
"Honestly, Robin, teasing Sumia already?"
"Just shows you my recovery is going strong! It's when I'm not teasing Sumia is when you know something's wrong," Robin said matter-of-factly. "Oh, and I guess I also have you to thank for me being here, alive and not dead. Swooping me from certain death at the last minute? Very knight in shining armor of you."
"Oh yes, I did want to talk to you about that if you were awake and feeling better. You are feeling better, right?"
"I guess so."
"Good." Cordelia smiled and then suddenly gave Robin a smack on his head.
"Ow! Why are you all hitting me after my near-death experience?!"
"Because what you did was stupid and needlessly risky!" Cordelia snapped. "Honestly, Robin, rushing out to the rescue with only two pegasi knowing full well that they could only carry a maximum of four people? And then trying to outrun incoming lava amidst the smoke of an erupting volcano? Are you really in such a hurry to die? Did you even have a backup plan?"
"As a matter of fact, I did. And it was because of my brilliant backup plan that I am alive and well now."
"So blindly relying on luck was your 'brilliant' backup plan?"
"You may laugh but it works every time!" Robin grinned cheekily.
Cordelia remained silent before hitting Robin again.
"Ow! What are you, trying to send me back into unconsciousness?!"
"Maybe Sumia and I will use this as a reminder to keep you from doing something so irresponsible next time," Cordelia said sternly before softening her expression. "You really had us worried, you know."
"Well you sure have a funny way of showing it…" Robin muttered, rubbing his head.
"We hit you because we care."
"In that case, I wouldn't object if you cared less…"
"Or you could, you know, not do something stupid that can get you killed."
"You speak as if I go out of my way to get myself killed."
"You do tend to do a lot of risky and/or stupid things. And that might as well be the same thing."
"…Sh-shut up!" Robin made to get up.
"Whoa there, Robin. I don't think you're in any condition to be walking around," Sumia said, trying to get him to lie down again.
"I'm fine," Robin insisted. "A little cough here and there, but nothing more. I'm sure I'll get better the more non-volcanic air I breathe. Besides, can't really afford to get complacent. Although we managed to beat Yen'fay and not get burned to death, there's still work to do."
"Robin—"
"It's okay. Really. Now where's Chrom and the others? I need an update on where we are and our next steps."
"…So that's where we are now," Chrom finished.
"That's certainly a lot to take in. Say'ri, are you sure you're…?" Robin asked hesitantly.
"I will endure," Say'ri said. "We have much more important things to discuss than the loss of my brother and Excellus' betrayal. There will be time for mourning afterward."
Although Robin knew that Say'ri was hurting and needed support, he also knew that she was right and they needed to discuss their next steps.
"Okay. So to recap: Walhart's central forces are in disarray after we raided Steiger and the southern armies are eliminated from our little encounter by the volcano. So that leaves the army commanded by Walhart as the only significant Valmese force on the continent. And it is…"
"Still pursuing us, last we heard. Of course, the last time we heard anything was when we sent Basilio to stall them…" Chrom trailed off.
"Well we haven't heard anything about Walhart's forces advancing on our position, so I must assume that Basilio and Flavia must've done a really good job at running interference. Hopefully they'll make their way back to us so we can proceed."
"We can only hope," Chrom said. "And it looks like we won some breathing room for ourselves. I'll bet it'll take Walhart's armies some time to try and catch up to us from where he is."
"Here's hoping."
"So what are our next steps?" Chrom asked.
Robin thought for a moment.
"With the Valmese no longer occupying the south and…my brother no longer commanding them, Chon'sin and its surrounding areas should be safe territory for the time being," Say'ri said. "I suggest we travel there and resupply. Perhaps we can even attempt to replenish our forces. I'm certain that my countrymen chafed under the empire's oppression and only did Walhart's bidding out of loyalty to my brother, being the ruler after the passing of our parents. Now that he is no longer with us…"
"They should follow you," Robin said, smiling.
"Aye." Say'ri nodded. "The lords in the surrounding territories should also rally to our cause now that the empire no longer occupies their lands. They had no love for the empire and should have no qualms about ridding the land of Walhart now that their domains are not occupied."
"Thank gods, some good news at last…" Robin sighed. "So going south sounds like the prudent thing to do. There's no way we'll be able to take on Walhart's remaining troops at our current state without supplies or reinforcements, so heading toward some friendly territory to do that will definitely boost our chances of winning this thing. Say'ri, will your countrymen definitely follow you if you return?"
"Of that there is no doubt. They have followed Yen'fay despite having their doubts and everything the empire did to their homeland."
"Oh, I guess that's true. After following your king in oppressing your country, I guess following your new queen to liberate it would be way easier," Robin remarked. "But what about the other lords? Are they trustworthy or are they secretly in the empire's pocket like our other friends?"
"I…am unsure," Say'ri admitted. "Before I would say without question that my fellow lords are loyal and trustworthy, but after Steiger…"
Robin frowned. "Steiger showed us that we shouldn't trust anyone other than ourselves. Going by the assumption that every lord in Valm is a filthy traitor who works for the empire, we can't ask them for help or let them know our location."
"That's a bit excessive, don't you think?" Chrom asked.
"Better to be excessive than to be dead," Robin pointed out. "Our grand mission to liberate Valm almost ground to a halt when we discovered our so-called 'allies' weren't so reliable. I refuse to make that mistake again."
"But we can't complete our mission and take on Walhart just by ourselves," Chrom pointed out.
"We cannot," Robin agreed. "And we will not. But we can only do so by relying on those we know we can trust."
"That being…?"
"Say'ri's countrymen, for one. They currently have no ruler and Say'ri is the heir to the throne. Given how loyally they followed her brother, I'm sure they'll follow her too."
"Fair enough, but one country's reinforcements isn't really enough to fight Walhart's remaining army."
"It will have to be," Robin said gravely. "Can't really risk betrayal again at this critical juncture. We've already taken out two of Walhart's major armies. We can't afford to screw up now."
"What of Rosanne?" Say'ri queried. "They also dislike the empire occupying their lands and are likely to join our case. Do we trust them?"
"I…would say yes, considering Virion is with us, but from what I hear, they kind of hate his guts after he hauled tail out of there…"
"Ah, yes. Many do blame Sir Virion for abandoning them in their time of need..." Say'ri frowned. "Is that enough to cast away their aid?"
"That…is a question for another day," Robin said. "We still have to actually get to Chon'sin and know what we're dealing with before planning our next moves."
Chrom nodded. "So getting to Chon'sin is our main objective."
"Say'ri, can you get us there from where we are?"
"Aye. We are close now to my homeland so I know the terrain and all of its secrets."
"Good. Please try to take us to Chon'sin using the stealthier routes. Walhart may still have spies on the roads and we don't want them to know what we're doing or where we're heading."
"A wise decision. Very well."
"Great. So we now that know what we need to do next. Let's get to it."
"What about Basilio and Flavia?" Chrom inquired. "How will they know where to meet us once they return from their battle with Walhart?"
"Uh…"
"I will talk to my men and make preparations. I am sure they will be happy to return to their homeland and see it free from the empire's grasp," Say'ri said. "If you'll excuse me."
"Is…she going to be okay?" Robin asked once Say'ri left. "I mean, the ordeal with her brother and Excellus is a bit rough…"
"She's been handling it quite well, but she's probably hurting badly inside. It's a lot for someone to go through and it seems she was close with her brother," Chrom said.
"Should we…talk to her?"
"I've tried, but I wasn't entirely sure what to say. Even though we've been through quite a lot during this war, we still know almost nothing about her. I would've thought it'd be better if it were someone she knew who did the comforting."
"So…Virion."
"I really wish we had better options."
"Yeah, a notorious philanderer acting as the emotional support doesn't really inspire much confidence, does it?"
"I'll…have a word with him…" Chrom said slowly. "Hopefully he can be a good friend to someone who's supposedly close to him in their time of need."
"I'm sure even Inigo isn't that stupid."
"Hey, that's my son you're—"
"I said 'isn't'!"
"I would certainly hope living through a hellish apocalypse has given him at least some tact."
"Would be nice. It certainly didn't give him skills with the ladies. Although I guess we should be thankful for that, otherwise we may have a few illegitimate heirs to the throne down the line, eh?" Robin joked.
"You joke, but his lack of luck with the ladies is actually something I'm genuinely glad for. Can you imagine the chaos that would arise if he was a younger version of Virion?"
"It would certainly expand your family tree…" Robin chuckled before deciding to change the subject. "How is Morgan, by the way? Does she know that I…?"
"No. We took your advice and said that you went out to do some heroic sweeping and rescuing and you'd be back soon. Then we kept her busy until you recovered. She doesn't know that you almost died today."
"Thanks, Chrom. I hate it when I unnecessarily worry her."
"You worry us too, you know." Chrom turned to face his friend. "Seriously, Robin. What you did today—"
Robin groaned. "Gods, you too? Can we not do this? I've already had an earful from Sumia and Cordelia about how 'stupid and reckless' I was today."
"You were stupid and reckless today," Chrom said sternly.
"Are we really doing this?"
Chrom looked serious until a smile slowly spread across his face.
"I suppose Sumia and Cordelia would've said everything I needed to."
"Yeah, that and more…" Robin rubbed his head.
"It's just because we care, Robin."
"I know. And if it makes you feel any better, I promised to try and be more careful."
"It does make me feel better, actually."
"Great. Is there anything else you need, Mom?"
"Yes, go clean your room."
Both men shared a laugh.
"Right. I think we'd best get on with our business," Robin said, calming down. "We've still got a lot to do and a tight time frame to do it in."
Chrom nodded and both men exited the tent.
Walking around and mentally going over the things he had to do, Robin walked past Brady, Ricken and Maribelle. He then smiled, recalling the moment Brady met his parents.
Ricken handled it well enough. In fact, he seemed pretty happy to finally meet his kid, no matter how scary said kid looked.
Maribelle, on the other hand, freaked out.
It was everything Robin was hoping for (which was why he ensured he was there for the grand reveal). It was like watching an incredibly accelerated version of the five stages of grief.
First there was denial: Maribelle refused to talk to Brady and even accused him of being a "disturbed individual whose diseased mind is beyond healing." Robin knew from there he was in for a treat.
After denial, anger: Brady showed his mother his version of her ring and she flipped out, accusing him of being a thief and a rapscallion, among other things.
Then came bargaining: Maribelle got over the shock of Brady being her son quite quickly (which was quite impressive, in Robin's opinion) and, after briefly wondering how she could've given birth to a "common thug," immediately went on to probe if he knew chess, violin, classics, if she taught him proper speech, etc.
The depression stage came as quickly as it left: Maribelle's despair at her son's manner of speaking and outward appearance was gone once he told her he could do all that (useless) stuff she tried to teach Robin.
And finally, acceptance: Maribelle came to the conclusion that her son was "salvageable after all" and they both hugged.
And then cried.
It was a hilarious, bizarre, and surreal sight that Robin was glad he witnessed and totally made up for the fact that he almost died. Even put him in a good mood despite all the hard work ahead.
Robin was so caught up thinking about that entire encounter that he didn't notice someone running up to him.
"U-uh, Robin?"
"Hm?"
"I just wanted to…to thank you."
"Hmm."
"For, um, you know…"
"Uh-huh."
"F-for…gosh, you walk fast…"
"Mm…"
"INSOLENCE! I demand you cease your careless wandering when I am trying to thank you!"
"Bwargh!" Robin nearly jumped out of his skin at the outburst. "Dear Naga, Noire! The hell are you trying to do, scare me to an early grave?!"
"O-oh, I'm sorry. I was just…" Noire mumbled, looking down.
"Okay, well sudden outburst from nowhere aside, what can I do for you?"
"Um, I just came here to…thank you for…"
"Speak up, will you? I can't really hear what you're saying when you mumble like that."
"Oh! I'm sorry. I-I just wanted to…"
"To…?"
"She just wanted to thank you for putting your life in danger to save hers," said a sultry voice. "As do I…"
"Gah!"
Having let his guard down, Robin wasn't ready for Tharja showing up right beside him.
"Are you people trying to drive me to an early grave?!" he exclaimed.
"Your reaction is surprising. I thought you'd gotten used to my presence after all these years."
"Yes, well I thought I'd be seeing less of you around me once you got hitched to Henry. Can't you walk up to my face like a normal person instead of skulking around?"
"You seemed to object when I tried acting normal…" Tharja pointed out.
"Yeah, but you acting 'normal' wasn't really—you know what, never mind. Why are you here?"
"We're here because we have something to say to you, you big hero you!" Henry said cheerfully, walking up to them.
"THANK YOU for walking up to me from where I can see you and not freaking me out!"
"No problem, although watching you almost jump out of your skin is preeeeetty funny!"
Robin sighed in exasperation. "What do you people want?"
"We are here to offer our thanks to you, for your actions today," Tharja said simply. "Risking your life to save that of ours was quite admirable."
"Yessir! Even though dying by lava sounds pretty sweet, we still got some unfinished business in the world of the living, so thanks for keeping us here!" Henry added.
"Thank you for your kindness, Robin…" Noire finished timidly.
"…Oh. Thanks, you guys. Although it's unnecessary, since it's part of my job description, it still feels nice."
"It certainly does. I feel it's been a while since we got to do anything together…" Tharja said wistfully.
"I guess? Although I can think of a few activities I'd rather do together than run for our lives away from burning hot magma…"
"Can you?" Tharja looked up hopefully. "Please, don't hesitate to tell me. It has been ages since we spent some time together and we would be more than happy to fix that…"
"Uh…" Robin backed away slowly as Tharja approached.
"You kinda have been neglecting your dark magic training," Henry pointed out. "And I'll admit that I do miss our together training. It's always way more fun with more people! Oh, and are you gonna join us for our new hexes sessions? I feel your presence really gets the ol' brain juices flowing. More heads means even more wicked hexes!"
"Yeah, I'll…uh…get back to you on that. Have been pretty busy with everything that's been happening lately, yeah?" Robin then decided to quickly change the subject. "Noire!"
"Yes?"
"Uh…how are you? How goes the…uh…training? Yes, training! You were to start with Virion, yes?"
"Ah, that's right. It's actually been going quite well!" Noire said, in an uncharacteristically enthusiastic manner. "I've been learning so much lately. I feel like I improve as an archer after every session!"
"That's great to hear! And since Virion isn't a newt or anything, I assume he hasn't acted untoward?" Robin asked, turning to Noire's parents.
"No…" Tharja admitted begrudgingly. "And we keep a very close eye on him, too."
"We sure do!" Henry agreed. "Watch him like hungry vultures over a rotting carcass, we do. He's been surprisingly restrained given how he usually acts around women. I thought we'd have cursed him into the ground ages ago!"
"Well at least he can behave…" Robin nodded approvingly. "And Noire gets to become a better archer. Everybody wins!"
"For now, although if he slips up even a little bit…" Tharja muttered darkly.
"As long as you people don't kill and/or impair his ability to fight, I'm sure he had it coming," Robin said dismissively. "Anyway, glad you're all okay, thank you for thanking me for saving your lives, keep up the good work, Noire, and we'll see if we can't make something happen with the dark magic session, you guys. Now see you later!"
And with that, Robin quickly walked away before anyone could say anything else.
Walking around camp and idly watching everyone going about their business, Robin paused when he saw Say'ri sitting by her lonesome, away from the others.
Robin was debating what to do when he heard footsteps approaching.
"Hail to you, Robin!" greeted Virion. "I was wondering if—"
"Exactly the person I wanted to talk to!" Robin quickly yanked Virion to the side. "Chrom's had a chat with you about the whole Say'ri satiation, right?"
"Indeed. A truly dreadful situation…" Virion shook his head gravely.
"And I assume he also talked to you, the only person who knows anything about her, about trying to cheer her up, yeah?"
"That he did! Which was why I was approaching you in the first place. Being our resident tactician, I figured you would know where I could find Say'ri to do the comforting."
"She's right ahead. And I assume we can all count on you to be kind, understanding, and not your usual philandering self?"
"Honestly, I would hope you have more faith in your friend Virion than that!"
"Trust but verify, Virion. Trust but verify."
"Let me assure you that you can trust me to be the kindest, most understanding person on this planet. Say'ri is a good friend of mine and it would be a disgrace if I were not with her in this dire time."
"All I needed to hear." Robin nodded. "Do your best, Virion."
"I will certainly try."
Robin watched as Virion slowly approached Say'ri and initiated the conversation.
It seemed a bit stiff from where Robin was standing, but eventually Virion moved closer to sit on the same log Say'ri was sat, and she didn't object.
Robin assumed that was a good sign.
"Heeeeey, Dad."
"Morgan," Robin greeted, seeing his daughter running up to him. "What's up?"
"Just got some status reports for you. Wanted to give them to you sooner but you were always somewhere I couldn't find you and no one seemed to know where you were."
"Oh yeah. I was, uh, busy. Very busy. Zipping around camp and helping everyone and all that. Yep."
"Sounds just like you! Anyway, here's what I gathered while you were around-yet-not-around."
"Great job, kiddo!" Robin ruffled Morgan's hair affectionately. "Let's review this now. Come, let's walk and talk."
"Right! So since we're not planning to stay here long, the camp's all ready to get up and…"
So once their next moves had been decided, the Shepherds quickly made their way down south to Chon'sin.
Say'ri instructed her agents to make their way back into enemy territory and see what intel they could gather. She also left them instructions on where to direct stragglers that survived Walhart's onslaught. Given that the two biggest Valmese armies were eliminated within a very short period of time, gathering information on the state of affairs in the land was key to deciding what the next steps would be.
The trip to Chon'sin was a long one since the Shepherds chose to avoid the main roads and stay out of sight, resupplying at small villages or via traveling merchants. The upside was that they were making good progress toward Chon'sin.
"This is good," Robin said aloud, looking at the paper in his hand.
"What?" Chrom inquired.
"Our progress. Traveling fast and light means we're making good time and should be in Chon'sin sooner rather than later."
"Are you really looking forward to visiting Chon'sin that much?"
"I'm just looking forward to being somewhere that isn't crawling with enemy spies and soldiers. Somewhere where we can walk in a big city and resupply in peace. All this hiding and sneaking around is a real pain…"
"Perhaps, although it does remind me of our early Shepherd days."
"How?"
"You know, traveling light, moving fast, being deep in enemy territory, that kind of thing."
"Chrom…" Robin stared at his friend blankly. "Those were, without a doubt, the worst days we have ever experienced. Not only were we chronically undersupplied, but we were also dirt broke, which led to the aforementioned chronic undersuppliedness and led to all sorts of quality of life problems like not being able to afford replacement tents and having small, uncomfortable chairs…if any at all."
"Yeah, makes you feel nostalgic, doesn't it?"
"…Are you sure we're remembering the same thing? Because I distinctly remember—"
A familiar screeching was heard in the distance.
"Ack!" Robin instinctively reached for his tome while frantically looking around for incoming wyverns. "Enemy wyverns! They're coming! We have to…to…"
"Peace, friends," Say'ri said. "That is not the cry of incoming enemy wyverns."
"Are you sure?" Robin asked dubiously. "Because I know a thing or two about the sounds of incoming enemy wyverns and that sounded a lot like it!"
"I can understand your thinking, but I assure you that is not the case."
"Oh, then what? There's just some random wyverns flying around?"
"In a way, yes."
Robin and Chrom looked at Say'ri quizzically.
"Further ahead is where Wyvern Valley is located," Say'ri explained. "It is home to Valm's greatest feral wyvern population."
"Feral…wyverns…" Robin shivered at the thought.
"It sounds lovely, doesn't it?"
Robin almost shot an Arcwind spell when he turned to see Cherche atop Minerva right next to him.
"Can we not drop by for a visit? My Minerva is so excited others of her kind are near. Why, she's fit to burst!"
"As…interesting as that sounds…" Chrom began, looking past Cherche to see Robin frantically shaking his head, "…I believe that our mission to reach Chon'sin is more important than sightseeing. Perhaps we can organize a stop once this war is over?"
"That seems like a sensible approach." Cherche sighed. "A shame. Minerva's so excited she looks even cuter than normal. Don't you, girl? Don't you look cuter? Who's a goooood wyvern?!"
Robin, Chrom, and Say'ri both watched as Cherche coddled Minerva.
"Charming, isn't it?" Frederick commented, approaching. "The bond they share, that is."
"Yeah…it's, uh…" Robin cleared his throat. "I think it'll be best if we all moved away from the valley filled with big scary wyverns and—"
Minerva suddenly roared.
"Gah! What's wrong now?!"
"Minerva is disturbed by something in the distance…" Cherche said, squinting at the horizon. "Is…is that smoke?"
"I'm sure it's nothing," Robin said nonchalantly. "Now let's—"
"No, she's right," Chrom interrupted, "I see smoke in the distance. What do you think it can be?"
"I'm sure it's nothing for us to worry about," Robin said with increasing urgency, not liking where this was going. "So let's quickly walk in this other direction and not look back—"
"S-sir, over here! Please help!"
As everyone turned to see a panicked man running toward them, Robin felt a sinking feeling in his stomach.
"You there! What's happened?" Chrom demanded.
"My people are fleeing for their lives from a pack of armed brigands, sir! They came to capture the wyverns and we scattered and now we've gotten separated...! Oh, the horror of it all!" the man wailed.
"Brigands attacking the innocent and trying to capture wild wyverns…" Cherche shook her head. "Absolutely despicable."
Robin really didn't like where this was going.
"Well, today's your lucky day. We'll aid you and your friends," Chrom declared.
And at that precise moment, Robin felt a little bit of himself die inside.
"Robin."
"No."
"Robin…." Chrom turned to his friend with a pointed expression.
"No."
"There are innocent people at stake."
"There are always innocent people at stake, Chrom. But more importantly, these innocent people are at stake in some kind of death valley apparently filled to the brim with feral wyverns. Do you know what that means?"
"That—"
"That means that you're asking me to go and rescue some strangers and walk into what is essentially a valley filled with my worst nightmare."
"Robin, really? Even after all this time you're still hung up about wyverns?"
"They are FERAL WYVERNS, Chrom! And it's a valley FULL of them!"
"Robin—"
"I'm not going, Chrom. I'm staying up right here until you're done playing hero, and there's no way you can change my mind."
As it turned out, there was a way for Chrom to change his mind.
"I hate my friends sometimes…" Robin grumbled, Levin Sword in hand as he shot lightning bolts at airborne bandits.
"This doesn't seem so bad," Morgan commented beside him, shooting wind spells. "We got plenty of wind magic to keep these guys at bay."
"That may be so, but did you see the wyverns they have over here? They're big and ferocious and are somehow even more terrifying than Minerva. And there's like thousands of them here!"
"I dunno. Minerva lets me climb all over her so I think she's pretty cool." Morgan frowned as the wyvern rider shrugged off her wind spell. "Man, these guys are tough! He just took my Elwind to the face and isn't even fazed! Now he's…uh-oh."
The rider's wyvern snarled and shot toward where the two tacticians were standing.
"Yeah, these people are a lot hardier than the ones we fought in Plegia…" Robin noted, opening his spellbook. "Guess we'll have to hit them harder!"
Just as the bandit was about to swoop in on them with his wyvern, Robin unleashed an Arcwind spell, knocking the rider off his mount and plunging both of them into the valley below.
"Just as the bad guys get tougher, so too do the tools we use to take them down!"
"Man, I can't wait until I can shoot giant gusts of winds out of my hands…"
"Heh, keep training and that day will come sooner rather than later."
"Really?!"
"Thoughts for another day, Morgan. Keep your guard up," Robin cautioned.
"Oh. Er, right. Sorry."
"Gods…"
Robin surveyed the battlefield, watching as the Shepherds, confined to the cliffs and bridges, tried to fight off the aerial bandits assaulting them.
This was far from an ideal situation.
And looking ahead, it seemed there were several more groups flying through the air to reinforce their friends.
"Argh, more enemy reinforcements and we're nowhere near the village to try to protect it!" Chrom said, frustrated.
"Them being in the air and us being confined to the ground and these bridges certainly makes this trickier than it has to be," Robin agreed.
"What's the plan?"
"Same as before: you guys make your way across these bridges the village. I'll try to stall the enemy reinforcements."
"What, alone?"
"Chrom, I've never been truly alone. Besides, not like I can suddenly grow wings and meet these people for air-to-air combat."
"This is where we come in," Cordelia said, landing her pegasus beside them with Cherche and Sumia in tow.
"Are you sure you can do this?" Chrom asked dubiously. "I feel these bandits we're facing are a lot stronger than what we're used to. They're more heavily armored—them and their mounts."
"Oh ye of little faith…" Robin shook his head. "Even the most heavily armored foes can be taken out with magic!"
"Oh yeah? Then how come you had so much trouble with the pegasi when we met Inigo?"
"Yeah, those ladies are jerks. Had speed and high magic resistance or something. Of course, in that case we take them down the old-fashioned way."
"That way being…?"
"With precision and grace!"
Chrom turned around to see Virion casually walking up to the group.
"He's right. When fancy magic fails, you have to rely on the tried and true method of shooting your enemies out of the sky with arrows," Robin said sagely. "With that thought in mind…"
"Can I come with you guys? I wanna shoot bad guys out of the air, in the air! Please, please, pretty please?" Morgan begged.
"Sorry, kiddo," Robin said apologetically. "You've seen yourself how your current magic doesn't really manage to do these guys in. I need people up there with me who can pack a punch. That means you, Ricken."
The young mage looked startled. "Me?"
"Yes, you. So grab your spellbook and climb on Cordelia's pegasus."
"Right."
"You better be careful up there, Pop," Brady said to his dad. "I'll never forgive you if you wind up being wyvern chow or trip n' fall from the air!"
"A bit crude, but our son does have a point. Please take care of yourself, dear," Maribelle added, approaching her husband. "I would hate if those barbarians…"
"So us three will take care of the fliers while the rest of you go and defend the village from the others," Robin continued, turning to Chrom, "I'll leave Morgan in your care to direct you in my absence."
"You can count on me as always!" Morgan declared.
"Always." Robin smiled. "And you'll have the likes of Henry and Tharja and Noire to neutralize any fliers that might make it past us."
"And the Vaike!" Vaike yelled, brandishing his bow. "Teach's really getting the hang of the bow now!"
Robin looked at Chrom dubiously.
"…We'll rely on our mages as well as Noire," Chrom assured.
"Good. Stay safe and stay alive out there."
"You too."
"Okay, you have your marching orders, people! Get to it!" Robin shouted, mounting Sumia's pegasus. "We ready?"
Sumia nodded. "Hold on."
Robin held on tight as Sumia spurred her pegasus into a gallop and then the air.
"So what's the plan, Robin?" Sumia shouted when they were in the air.
"We are going to try and avoid engaging the enemy."
"Huh?"
"Well, we're going to try and avoid engaging them in melee."
"We…are?"
"Well, yeah. I mean, have you seen those wyverns back there?! They're somehow even more scary and ferocious than the ones in Plegia. And that's saying something!"
"So…how are we supposed to fight them if we're not getting up close?"
"By keeping our distance and having me and Ricken barrage them with gale force winds!" Robin exclaimed dramatically, whipping out his spellbook. "Oh, and I suppose Virion's arrows too. You two got that?!"
"Loud and clear!" Ricken shouted, preparing his own spellbook.
"Shame on you, always underestimating the majestic grace of the bow." Virion shook his head. "I suppose I will have to show you its true magnificence by taking out twice as many wyverns as your magic!"
"Hah!" Robin snorted. "I can shoot off maybe three Arcwind spells in the time it takes you to notch an arrow."
"Do you want to put that to a gentleman's wager?"
"You 'gentlemen' best put your little ego contests on hold. The enemy is fast approaching!" Cherche shouted.
"So they are. Guys, stop the approach and try to keep your mounts steady in the air!" Robin commanded.
The two pegasi and Minerva stopped midair.
"Ricken, Virion, prepare yourselves!"
"Right!" Ricken opened his spellbook and began casting.
"The Archest of Archers is always prepared!" Virion exclaimed, standing on Minerva's back and readying his bow.
"Hmph. Showoff."
Robin looked down to see if he had enough space to stand up on Daisy.
"You can't," Sumia informed him helpfully. "Well, I suppose you could, but I don't think you have the skill or experience on horseback to pull it off."
"Maybe this is a good sign to start working on my horsemanship…"
"Robin…"
"Okay, okay…"
Robin opened his spellbook and readied an Arcwind spell, looking at the horizon to judge how much distance was between them and the incoming wyverns.
"I really hope we can take these guys out before they get close to us…"
"Wow, I can't believe we made it all the way here unharmed!" Morgan commented as the Shepherds prepared to defend the village entrance.
"You had your doubts?" Chrom inquired.
"Well, no, but did you see some of those bridges back there? They had holes and parts falling left right and center! I'm actually kinda surprised one of us didn't fall right through one of them."
"Well, we had a close call with you, but luckily Vaike was there to save the day."
"…Oh yeah." Morgan turned to Vaike. "Thanks for the rescue back there."
"Hey, don't mention it. The Vaike looks out for one of our own. Besides, your old man would've had a few choice words for us if something happened to you on our watch!"
Morgan laughed. "Oh yeah, Dad would be pretty mad. But hey, you managed to pull me up just in time. With one hand, too! You just lifted my whole body up one-handed!"
"Yep, liftin' you up was no problem for The Vaike. I mean, look at these muscles!" Vaike flexed.
"Very bulgy," Morgan acknowledged. "And now that we managed to make our way over here, let's give these bandits what for! Luckily there seems to be only one way into the village, so that makes our job a lot easier."
As the assembled Shepherds prepared their weapons as they saw the bandits massing across the bridge, they overheard a roar of a wyvern and a flap of some very large wings above them.
"Huh, look at that," Morgan said, looking up. "A single bandit guy on his wyvern flying over the village."
"What do you suppose he's doing?" Chrom asked.
"Who cares? Let's see which one of us can shoot him down first!" Henry exclaimed enthusiastically, preparing his spellbook.
"Is that…?" Lucina squinted, trying to make out the rider in the sky. "Can it really be…?"
"That's a great idea!" Morgan readied her own spellbook. "Let's see if we can't shoot this guy down in one shot."
"Nya ha ha! You're on, kid!"
"Oh gods, I think it really is…!" Lucina urgently turned to the two mages, taking aim with their wind spells. "Stop! I believe the rider up there is a friend!"
"Taking aim, aaaaand…!"
"Wait!"
Lucina quickly rushed over and knocked Henry and Morgan's hands off target so that their spells missed the wyvern in the sky.
"Aw, I was on track to take him…" Henry said, seeing his wind spell miss.
"Yeah. Hey, what's the big deal, Lucina?" Morgan demanded. "We were totally gonna take him out!"
"Listen, I have a—"
Another roar from a wyvern.
"Oh, great. Now this guy knows we're down here. Look, he's making his way here as we speak!"
"Peace, Morgan. If my hunch is correct, you have nothing to fear from him."
"Wha—? Really? How do you know?"
"Let's give her the benefit of the doubt, yeah? After all, if your gut says somethin's up, then odds are that somethin' has to be up. If the Teach's learned anything, it's that you always gotta trust your guts," Vaike said sagely.
"That…was actually pretty deep," Sully remarked. "You moonlight as a philosopher in your spare time and didn't tell me about?"
"I'll have you know that the Vaike is plenty spiritual! There's more than just muscles in this package."
Sully laughed. "I suppose there'd be at least some nuggets of wisdom amid all that hot air you blow."
"Lucina?" Noire looked questioningly at her friend. "Are you sure this is a good idea? If I take aim, I think I can take him out before he reaches us…"
"Tell me after you've had a look at our friend up there," Lucina replied cryptically.
Confused, Noire gazed at the wyvern rider quickly making his way down to them.
"Wait, is it really…?"
While the children slowly realized who it was that was riding atop the wyvern, their parents stood warily as they watched the wyvern land in front of them.
"The blast of wind magic originated from here so I assume you were responsible. Who…" The rider trailed off, as his gaze (or what Morgan assumed was his gaze. It was really hard to tell when he was wearing that mask) fell on their group.
"Hello, Gerome," Lucina greeted with a smile.
"I…Lucina?" Although the mask made it difficult, it was still clear that the man named Gerome was shocked.
"H-hi, Gerome." Noire waved timidly.
"Heh, fancy meetin' you here," Brady said.
"Wow, look at that! We've found another one of Lucina's friends. And as awesome as this is, I'm afraid I'm gonna have to cut this little reunion short as we're still in the process of fending off a bandit attack," Morgan said. "So…would everyone please get into position and get ready to repel these bandits? Also, new guy. You helping?"
"I…had originally planned not to interfere in the happenings of this land and time."
Lucina looked at Gerome disapprovingly.
"But I…suppose I cannot do so now that I know the rest of you are here. Very well. I shall aid you in your quest to save the village. Use me as you see fit."
"Great! We can always use another body, especially one with a wyvern! Here." Morgan reached into her coat and tossed Gerome a bunch of axes. "Hover around and chuck these at the incoming bandits on the bridge. Having axes raining down on them should really ruin their plans!"
Gerome caught the axes and looked at Morgan quizzically, only now noticing her attire.
"Jumpin' jesters! Just how did you manage to stick that many axes in your coat?!" Brady asked incredulously.
"Heh, tactician's secret," Morgan replied. "You'd be surprised how much stuff a good tactician can fit when she has the right coat. Anyway, here come the bad guys. Everyone, get into position! Make room for the mages so they can burn, zap and/or blow these guys all the way into next week! And be ready to take on the ones who make it through the magic!"
As Morgan was busy organizing the Shepherds, Lucina approached Gerome.
"It's good to see you, Gerome. I'm glad you changed your mind and decided to stay and help us."
"Although it was not my intention, I knew I couldn't continue on my path of non-interference when I saw all of you here. And there seems to be quite the number of you here."
"Indeed. We have been extremely fortunate to run into the others."
"I note that we are still missing a few."
"Yes, we—"
"Hey, Lucina! We need one of our star players at the front, please!" Morgan shouted.
Gerome tilted his head toward Morgan and looked at Lucina for an explanation.
"I will explain everything later. Right now, we have a battle to win."
"Very well. I will hold my questions until then."
With that, Gerome spurred his wyvern into the air and Lucina walked to join the others at the front.
And as always, the Shepherds emerged victorious over the unscrupulous bandits. The Shepherds were noble, and virtuous, and saved innocent lives, etc, etc.
More importantly, it was their chance to show off their noble and heroic selves to the local village girls and impress them enough to ask them for a nice chat over a cup of tea! There were bound to be some wide-eyed girls in the village who were impressed at the heroic Shepherds for fending off this dastardly attack and saving their lives.
At least, that was supposed to be the plan until Robin and Chrom pulled everyone away saying they still had a schedule to keep in order to get to Chon'sin. So despite his best efforts, Inigo only got as far as chatting up a nice village girl before he was cruelly pulled away.
And that was why Inigo was sullenly walking around camp now. He was so close! He totally had that girl in the bag! A little more time and they would've been sharing a nice cup of tea right about now, he was certain of it! Instead they were heading off and not talking to grateful village girls.
Inigo sighed. With no girls to try to pick up, what was he supposed to do? Well, he supposed he could train, but it just felt wrong to do anything until he managed to hit on a girl. And properly hit on a girl from beginning to end! Being yanked away while he was in the middle of his craft didn't count!
Randomly looking to one side, Inigo saw Morgan and immediately cheered up.
Morgan! Of course! Inigo didn't think he hit on her yet. Truth be told, he didn't much know about the girl and was a bit confused given her, well, everything and how many questions her mere existence raised. But hey, she was (somehow) Robin's daughter and Robin was a trustworthy guy! Besides, Morgan also had Lucina's seal of approval, and there was no better judge of character than his sister. Also, this was his opportunity to actually get to know her and, most importantly, fill his daily quota of hitting on girls!
Inigo made sure to straighten out his clothes, put on his best smile, and made his move.
"Hey, Morgan. You busy?"
"Oh, hi, Inigo!" Morgan smiled brightly. "Not really. Just getting some reports ready for Dad. What's going on?"
"I thought we might grab a cup of tea."
"Tea? Hmm..."
"It doesn't have to be for long!" Inigo added quickly. "I thought maybe talking might stimulate your brain. Maybe jog your memory a bit?"
Ha! It was a good thing that a lifetime of rejections made Inigo quick on his feet when thinking up excuses when asking girls out.
"I suppose that's possible, now that you mention it…"
Yes! This day was looking better alrea—
"In that case, we should ask everyone to come! More people means more topics!"
Oh.
"Er...right. But it seems like they're all...um...busy. So maybe just the two of us should go?" Inigo ventured.
Morgan looked at him curiously. "But I don't remember anyone saying they were particularly busy?"
"Oh! Well, um...crap."
So…close…
Morgan blinked. "Wait, were you flirting just now? Was I just hit on?!"
"Wh-what? No! Of course not! I have nothing but the most platonic of respects for you, Morgan! I'll, uh..." Inigo cleared his throat and put up a smile. "Right then! Perhaps another time."
"Giving up already? That's a little surprising," Morgan commented.
"Knowing when to make your exit is part of being a dashing gentleman," Inigo explained matter-of-factly.
"Oh. Well, I think being a gracious loser is an admirable trait!"
Inigo chuckled. "Oh, this isn't a loss. It's just a time-out in a much larger game!"
"Ah, I see. Well, your philandering is quite deplorable, but high marks on your attitude!" Morgan said cheerfully.
"Yes, I think high marks are—wait, what was that first part?"
"Uh, hey, Robin? You okay there, chief?" Brady asked.
"Hm? I'm fine. Why?"
"You suddenly had this real scary expression on your face and it ain't going away."
"Oh. Sorry. I just…" Robin paused. "I just suddenly have an unexplained urge to hurt Inigo. A lot."
"Inigo, huh? Yeah, he's a real Melvin, that one. What'd he do this time?"
"I don't know, but what I do know is that he's going to get hurt…" Robin muttered, unsure as to why he felt such sudden hostility to Chrom's son. "A-anyway, what're you doing on the receiving end of the medical tent?"
"Uh…"
"What, got a little too close on the front lines and took an axe to the face?"
"W-well…"
"I mean, it would explain that nasty-looking scar you got there."
"Hey, I had this scar way before today!"
"Oh. Then why are you bedridden instead of healing like a healer tends to do?"
"I…er…" Brady hesitated.
"Yes?"
"…I tripped and fell, okay?!"
"…What?"
"I was doin' the rounds here, administerin' the healing magic to the injured and all that malarkey, but then I up and tripped over a helmet or somethin' and must've fallen all weird and twisted my ankle."
"So…you're in here not because you were hurt in battle…but because you tripped and fell…?" Robin asked incredulously.
"Y-yeah," Brady admitted. "Look, bein' a healer and all, I ain't as sturdy as the rest of you fightin' types. Been sadly weak all my life. Is kinda why I became a healer in the first place. Yet even then, I must up and hurt myself in the most pathetic ways…"
"You can say that again…"
"Hey, it ain't like I did this on purpose, okay?! Laugh in my face, why don't ya!" Brady said defiantly.
Robin had to fight his instincts to do just that very hard.
"Don't be silly, Brady. We're not ones to mock our allies for their injuries sustained or the way they sustained them, no matter how…minor or ridiculous…"
"Really?"
Robin nodded, using all his willpower to stifle his laughter.
"Gee, thanks, Robin," Brady said thankfully. "Here I thought you was gonna make fun of me."
"Brady, I would never. We treat all here with respect and dignity—" A snicker managed to escape while Robin was talking, so he quickly tried to change the subject. "Hey, have you seen Tharja here somewhere? Coming back I saw her getting stabbed but then got distracted by bandits to help her."
"Noire's ma? Can't say I have. Actually don't think she ever set foot in here today."
"Weird. Guess I'll have to seek her out myself, then. Anyway, thanks for the chat, Brady. Get well soon, keep up the good work and, oh, how's the magic reading going, by the way?"
"Is goin', although that book you gave me's really darn thick. Lotsa theory and all that. Not even sure I'm cut out for all that stuff."
"Sure you are! Just ask your parents."
"Wha?"
"Seriously. I'm sure they'll be happy to help. Ricken and Maribelle are pretty good mages in their own right and you must've inherited at least some of their magic skills. So just ask them for some help and I'm sure everything will grow from there."
"I guess it won't hurt to ask my Ma and Pa for some pointers. Hey, thanks—"
"Happy to help, hope you get better, etc. Bye!"
With that, Robin quickly ran out of the tent before Brady had a chance to thank him.
Once he was sure he was out of earshot, Robin finally managed to let out all that laughter he was holding in.
Gods, Brady was the gift that kept on giving. First his appearance and general demeanor completely flipping out Maribelle, and now Robin finds out that that he somehow hurts himself in the most hilarious ways. It'd probably be pathetic if it wasn't so funny.
Once he calmed down, Robin decided to focus on his task and find Tharja. If she really was walking around after being stabbed (quite seriously, from what Robin saw), then he had a few questions for her.
Finding the sorceress didn't take too long, given that she tried to limit her interactions with others and tended to hang around the same places.
"Hey, Tharja!"
"Robin," Tharja greeted, smiling (as much as she was capable of doing, anyway). "To what do I owe the pleasure?"
"I noticed you took a real nasty sword when I was up in the air. Was just wondering how you were…" Robin trailed off, looking at her stomach, expecting some grisly wound or something but finding nothing. He then looked up at her, confused.
"Enjoying the view?" Tharja quipped.
To be fair, there was a time in Robin's life when the answer to that question would've been an unequivocal "yes." After all, Tharja's attire left little to the imagination and even Robin had to admit that she had a great body. However that time was short-lived because Robin quickly learned of her creepy stalker tendencies and that was enough to halt any sort of attraction he might've felt for her. No matter how hot someone could be, the fact that they watched you sleep and stole your hair when you weren't looking was enough to focus Robin's mind on that someone's creepiness instead of their hotness.
"You got stabbed," Robin stated.
"Yes."
"But I don't see any marks, wounds, or otherwise. Did you manage to grab an elixir soon afterwards or something?"
"In a way."
"Tharja."
"If you must know, I used the fool's life force to heal myself."
"…What."
"Oh yes. I did sustain an otherwise grievous injury, true, but the fool didn't have enough wits to step back, so I killed him and used his life force to heal whatever injuries he caused."
Robin stared at Tharja, dumbfounded.
"A problem?"
"…How?"
"Nosferatu."
"What did you just call me?"
"Not you, the spell."
Robin blinked uncomprehendingly.
"Honestly, Robin, you have so much potential yet you ignore your natural affinity for dark magic…"
"Oh…" Robin finally understood. "A dark magic spell, then."
Tharja nodded.
"…A very useful one, from the sound of it. Killing your enemies while at the same time healing yourself through killing them sounds extremely useful!"
"It is. And the feeling you get when you cast it over your enemies and watch the life drain out of their eyes while using that energy to heal yourself, combined with the thrill of vengeance burning inside you, amplifying your power…" Tharja closed her eyes and shivered. "Simply wonderful."
"Um…yeah…" Robin took a few cautious steps back. "So how come this is the first time I'm hearing about this? It sounds like a spell I could've used ages ago!"
"But Henry and I did try to teach it to you, Robin, but practicing a spell that drains life is difficult when you have nothing but lifeless dummies to practice on."
"Oh. Yeah, that's starting to ring a bell…"
"I'd be more than willing to volunteer to be your test partner," Tharja offered. "A few cuts here and there on you and then I'll be—"
"Tharja, I'm not practicing dark magic on you or anyone else in camp!"
"But how else are you supposed to learn the intricacies of Nosferatu? I can guarantee you it will save your life on the battlefield."
"I'll…I'll figure it out," Robin said uncertainly. "Maybe in the heat of battle my instincts will kick in or something."
Tharja looked at him skeptically.
"For now, give me a rundown of the basics and how the spell works, yeah? I'm sure I'll bust that thing out for real once the situation becomes dire enough."
"You won't even be able to do that much without practice…"
"I'll figure it out," Robin repeated. "Just, you know."
"I'll see what I can do given your self-imposed constraints…" Tharja sighed.
"Thanks, Tharja. I'm sure it'll work out fine. After all, you said I have a knack for dark magic, right?"
"Yes, although it would go so much faster if you didn't put all these artificial limits on yourself and just embraced it…"
"I'll embrace it in due course. This thing sounds too useful not to. Just make sure you have notes ready for me and stuff when next we meet."
"Very well…" Tharja sighed again before heading off to her tent without another word.
Robin had to admit that dark magic sounded really fun. And from the few times he actually dabbled in it with Henry and Tharja, it really was. He always got a rush when using it, even if it was just to smash dummies. It also called out something in Robin every time he used it. Now, Robin wasn't sure what any of that meant, but he knew that he had a natural affinity to dark magic and, given that dark magic drew its power from the darker parts of its user, prolonged use of it probably didn't lead to anywhere good. So Robin tried to limit his exposure to dark magic despite some deeper part of him crying out for more every time he did.
Maybe given this new spell, he might have to indulge that part of himself more. Healing yourself at the expense of your enemies sounded too good and useful to pass up…
"Ah, Robin."
Snapped out of his thoughts, Robin turned to see Lucina approaching him.
"Hey, Lucina. The usual thanks for keeping my daughter safe and sound. What's up?"
"It was no trouble, Robin. Do you have a moment?"
"I can spare a few minutes or so," Robin said, then noticing someone tall, dark, and broody right next to Lucina. "Who's the new guy?"
"Robin, allow me to introduce Gerome. He is one of my comrades from the future that we ran into during today's skirmish."
"Gods, really? Another one? We really have a knack for this stuff…" Robin shook his head. "I mean, nice to meet you. I'm Robin, but you probably already know that and a lot more."
Gerome grunted as he shook Robin's hand.
There were many questions Robin had in regards to the Gerome now that he was taking him in. And of those many questions, one in particular seemed to stand out.
"So…what's with the mask?"
"…Not five seconds in and you're already asking me about that?"
"I mean, you make it very hard not to. It's not every day you see a masked man in dark armor, you know. Unless they're bandits, I guess…" Robin paused.
"Gerome is not a bandit, Robin," Lucina said preemptively.
"I know that! But do you think other people will? Like, with your mask hiding your expression and your midnight black armor, villagers would probably freak out at the sight of you and run away! Especially if they saw you at night."
Gerome remained silent, expression unreadable.
"And that's not to mention people with actual weapons who know how to fight," Robin continued, "I mean, I don't know about the others, but if I saw you walking down the street toward me, you'd probably be getting a lightning bolt to the face. And if I saw you at night, that'd turn into several lightning bolts…and maybe a few fireballs…and a gust of wind, just to be safe. The only thing that could possibly make it worse is if you were on top of, say, a wyvern."
Gerome looked at Lucina, exasperation visible even through his mask.
"Remember what I told you," she whispered.
"…So I guess what I'm trying to say is, what's with the mask?" Robin finished.
Gerome sighed.
"It's…complicated."
"Heh, you haven't seen complicated until you've tried leading an army through enemy territory and avoiding patrols. Or tried efficient budget allocation on a national scale…or calculus. What you have there, my friend, is a mask."
"Robin, is it really such an important detail that you must linger on it?" Lucina asked, trying to get him to move on.
"Well, yeah. You don't see anyone else wear a mask around here, do you? Makes your friend here look really sketchy, especially with his dark armor." Robin paused as he realized something. "Wait a minute…"
"What is it now?" Gerome asked irritably.
"Dark mask that hides his face, pitch-black armor darker than midnight, deep, gravelly voice…" Robin trailed off and looked at Gerome seriously. "Gerome, your answers to the following questions will color our future relationship."
"Very well."
"Great. Question one: do you narrate your actions in combat in an overly-dramatic manner?"
"…What?"
"Question two: do you ever randomly shout that you are vengeance, the night, or other such related things?"
Gerome stared at Robin blankly.
"Question three: do you have special combat moves/have special name for those combat moves?"
"What—"
"And in addition to the above, do you name and/or talk to your weapons/make complicated and dramatic backstories for them?"
Even Lucina was confused at this line of questioning.
"Answer honestly and truthfully, please," Robin said and then stared at Gerome expectantly.
Gerome remained silent. Then, instead of answering, he turned to Lucina.
"Is this some sort of joke?"
"I…"
"Does it seem like a joke?" Robin said indignantly.
"This seems like a colossal waste of time," Gerome replied.
"So…I'm taking you not answering any of my questions as a 'yes' to all of them, right?"
"Robin, if I may, what is the point of all of these seemingly random questions?" Lucina inquired.
"I just have to know what I'm dealing with here," Robin said simply. "From my end of things, Gerome here looks like a darker, edgier version of Owain."
"I look like what?" Gerome said indignantly.
"I mean, come on." Robin gestured at Gerome. "You with the dark armor and the mysterious mask that hides your face and gravelly voice and whatever. You're basically what I imagine Owain's opposite counterpart to be, only instead of rambling about your life story about justice and stuff, you probably brood. At the same time, you probably have an elaborate and dark backstory to your 'character' and will tell it to anyone who listens. And your weapons probably have really edgy names. Am I right or am I right?"
"…I see my earlier statement about this whole thing was true. This was nothing but a waste of my time."
Not waiting for a response, Gerome walked away.
"There's no point denying it! I know the truth now!" Robin shouted. "Tactical deduction skills on point as usual. Sometimes I'm so good I surprise even myself."
"Robin, please, just…" Lucina glanced at Gerome's retreating figure. "Please stay here. I'll get him back."
"Get him back to what? I've already—aaaand she's gone. Is people walking away from me today's theme or something?"
"Gerome!" Lucina cried, catching up to him.
"What was that back there?"
"Gerome—"
"Senseless and ridiculous questions along with rambling that went nowhere. That was not the Robin I remember."
"I realize he may be a bit different…"
"The Robin in our future was a tactical genius, but also an austere man of few words. He was a strict yet fair tutor who taught us important military and life lessons, giving us invaluable advice when we were children that saved us when the world plunged into darkness."
"W-well some of those things remain true…"
"I've not spent five minutes with him yet I see this Robin is nothing but a clown. He may have the same name and wear the same face, but this buffoon cannot be the same man that we knew as children."
"Gerome, I understand that Robin may be a bit different…"
"Are we even certain he is the same man? He behaves so differently that one can't help but—"
"Enough!"
Gerome was taken aback by Lucina's outburst.
"While I understand your concerns and frustration, I will not have you questioning this Robin's character or identity," Lucina said firmly. "Although he may behave very differently from the man we remember, he is no less talented and dedicated to the Shepherds. I have fought beside him during many battles and seen firsthand how hard he works and how much he cares for those under his command. Strange as he may be, he is still a brilliant tactician and a good man and thus deserves our respect."
Gerome listened silently.
Lucina's voice conveyed authority and conviction. It also left no room for argument. This was one of the few times that she was talking to them not as their friend, but as their commander and exalt.
"So please, give him a chance," Lucina finished, tone softening.
"…I suppose I have no choice when you ask it of me."
"I would much rather you do it by your own rather than my having to ask you."
"Be that as it may, I give this Robin the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps…he may be able to change my view of him."
"Thank you, Gerome."
"Ack!"
Gerome and Lucina rushed back at the startled yelp.
"Dammit, Minerva! We've been over this!" Robin cried, stepping back as the wyvern brought its head closer to him. "My personal space! Personal space!"
"Why is Robin so uncomfortable around Minerva?" Gerome asked.
"Ah, yes. Robin seems to have a fear of wyverns due to some unfortunate experiences during the Plegian campaign," Lucina explained.
"But even Minerva? How can he possibly be afraid of her? She's the prettiest, most gentle wyvern in all the lands."
"AW, GROSS! Wyvern spit all over my coat and my shirt and…!" Robin let out an anguished cry before Lucina could comment on Gerome's uncharacteristic gushing over Minerva. "Minerva, did we and Cherche not talk about the whole 'licking Robin' thing?! Argh, I just cleaned my clothes…"
Minerva responded by nuzzling Robin.
"Minerva certainly seems fond of Robin…" Lucina remarked. "Interesting that it seems true both for her present and future self."
"I…had forgotten how fond Minerva seemed to be of Robin," Gerome said slowly.
"And you put a lot of weight on who Minerva does and does not like, do you not?"
Gerome remained silent.
"Okay, seriously! Stop with this!" Robin exclaimed. "If you're planning to eat me, at least get on with it instead of these games! Cherche may insist that you're trained and will never eat your friends, but I've seen the way you look at me! Also with all the licking. Urgh…"
"Enough!" Gerome finally interjected. "You should know very well by now that Minerva will never hurt one of her comrades. You should also be grateful for she doesn't treat everyone so affectionately."
"I'd much rather she not treat me as anything…" Robin grumbled, wiping off the saliva off himself. "Anyway, how do you know so much about her? You just joined!"
"I know Minerva because I have spent the best part of my life around her," Gerome replied, walking up and petting the wyvern. "We share a bond that is unlike any other. So much so that Minerva is like an extension of my body."
"Great. Wonderful. That's…oh hey, you're back."
"You sound surprised."
"Well with the way you walked away there, I thought that was the end of our little introductory session."
"I apologize on Gerome's behalf," Lucina said. "It's just…your line of questioning took him by surprise and he needed some time to think of the appropriate answers."
"Sure, sure, fine. Wait, so you don't want to answer yes to all my questions?"
"Do you honestly think I actually behave like Owain?" Gerome asked flatly.
"Edgy Owain," Robin corrected. "And that's an emphatic 'yes' unless proven otherwise."
Gerome sighed. Minerva seemed fond of Robin and he'd promised Lucina to give the tactician a shot.
"No to all of your questions."
"Aw, that takes a lot of fun out of things…" Robin paused. "Then again, I suppose having an edgy Owain would be exhausting in its own right. Instead of weird tales of heroics, we'd have mopey tales of death and fate and whatever…"
"Is that the end of this line of questioning?" Gerome asked impatiently.
"I suppose. Now that we got the most important questions out of the way…" Robin reached into his coat and searched for his notebook.
"Those were the most important questions you had?"
"Well hey, I needed to make sure you weren't some sort of raving lunatic who goes on and on about his damn sword hand or blood boiling."
"I can't believe you would compare me to Owain…"
"Now Robin, Owain might be a bit eccentric, but he's far from a raving lunatic," Lucina said.
"He may not be a lunatic, but you have to admit that he certainly does a lot of raving."
This was actually the first thing Robin said that Gerome agreed with, but he kept silent about it.
"Okay, so!" Robin said, fishing out his pen and notebook from his coat, "I've got all I need with me right here, so let's get this thing started, shall we?"
Gerome grunted.
"So. What's with the mask?"
"…Really? We move on from ridiculous questions about your assumptions about me to my mask?"
"Well it's kind of a glaring feature of yours. Again, not every day you see someone running around in black armor and a matching mask."
"I—"
"Besides, how do you even fight wearing that thing? Must narrow your field of vision something fierce. Would you even see a bandit running up to you if he were a bit to the left?"
Ridiculous as he was, this was the first time Robin was making any sort of sense.
"If you must know, the mask has a combat purpose."
"Really? How's that?"
"By masking my face, I can prevent the enemy from reading my emotions. To keep an enemy guessing about my intentions confers a decided advantage, much like the 'fog of war' that strategists exploit to confound and unbalance a foe. It also makes it harder for the foe to read the target for my next attack. I'm prepared to exploit any tactic that gives me an edge in battle."
"Yeah, okay, but how do you overcome your mask narrowing your field of vision and making you more prone to being caught unaware?"
"Through rigorous training," Gerome answered. "I have honed my instincts and senses to their absolute limits. The movement of the wind, the scent of sweat, the whisper of steel through air...I can sense these from any direction, even obscured by the mask. My skill is enough to overcome the handicap that the mask inflicts."
"Some bold claims there…" Robin looked to Lucina for confirmation.
"Although I can't comment on the exact nature of Gerome's claims, I can say that he has exceptional skill on the battlefield. His reflexes and reaction times are superb, made even more impressive that he manages to sense danger even atop his wyvern," Lucina said.
"Hmph. Even though I have my doubts about you, I will take Lucina's vouching for you that there's at least some grain of truth to your claims…" Robin made a few notes.
"If you doubt my skill, I will be more than happy to show you what I am capable of."
"Oh I'm sure there'll be plenty of time for that. This is far from over and we've to see much more combat yet. We'll see if your words match your actions."
"They will."
"We'll see," Robin said noncommittally.
"Are we done here?"
"Not quite."
Gerome looked irritably at Lucina.
"Patience, Gerome. Robin's questions have been sound, have they not?"
Gerome grunted.
"Anyway, going back to the mask…"
"Still?"
"Yes, still. You've said that your mask hides your emotions from foes on the battlefield, but I imagine it also serves to hide your inner self from allies as well?"
"I fight without allies."
Robin raised a brow.
"Come now, Gerome, surely you don't meant that," Lucina said.
"Perhaps in the future that was not true. I will admit that fighting together as we did then did increase our chances of survival in that bleak world…"
"Then what changed?"
"When we were separated while traveling to the past, Minerva was the only companion I had. Alone is this strange world and time, I had no choice but to rely only on myself, and I've grown stronger because of it. My solitude allowed me to hone my skills and fine-tune them to their limits, so that I can stand alone come what may. But in my time alone, I've also come to see the actions of the cruel hand of fate one too many times."
"Okay…" Robin had no idea where this was going.
"Bandit raids, slavers, entire villages attacked, friends and families all wiped out in a single raid. I've come to realize that some things are written in stone. No matter how fast or strong or nimble you are, you can't save everyone. Death is inevitable; it will claim us all eventually. So what use is there in saving those who are doomed to die, be it today or tomorrow, by bandits or by drowning. No, for someone like me, who doesn't belong in this world, the best course of action would be to try and associate as little as possible with the people of this time and get on with my mission."
Lucina looked at her friend worriedly. Just what had he been through…?
"You must be great at parties," Robin commented dryly.
"You have your answers. Whether you find them satisfactory is not my concern."
"Okay, so you like to fight alone and not associate with anyone here. Fine. But what of your friends? You must've seen by now that we've found some of them in our little gang. Do you intend to just ignore them and continue to be Mr. Lone Wolf?"
"I…"
"Wait a minute, do you even intend to join us? After all you've said, it seems you're more content to just wander the world and wait until death claims you and everyone around you."
"No. We have been tasked by Naga herself to try and prevent the events that led up to our dark future. Although I have seen what we are up against, I will not abandon our mission." Gerome looked over to Lucina. "…And I cannot when my comrades continue to fight for a better future. To abandon those with whom I've fought countless times in the future would make me the most despicable craven alive."
"You have my gratitude, Gerome," Lucina said thankfully.
"Well thank you for gracing us with your presence, although that still doesn't really answer my question about the fighting," Robin pointed out.
"It has been so long since I've fought alongside anyone that I feel I would see them as a hindrance. It would be better if I fought alone."
"Well, good luck to you then, I guess."
Both Gerome and Lucina were taken aback by this statement.
"I mean, with that attitude and all, you clearly want to be left alone to fight the good fight," Robin continued, "so I don't really see any merits in letting you into our integrated little group. You can help out in your own way doing…whatever it is you were doing up until now. Alone. And without us. So…good luck with that!"
With a tone of cheerful finality, Robin put away his notebook and began walking away, much to Gerome's confusion and Lucina's alarm.
"Robin, wait!"
"Hmm?"
"You don't really mean that, do you?" Lucina asked, running up to him.
"Well, you heard him! He's all 'I fight alone. I have no allies. I am the night.' I don't think there's anything I can do."
"I have never said that I am the night!" Gerome objected.
"I'm certain that Gerome can adapt his fighting style and mesh with the rest of us," Lucina insisted. "Please give him a chance."
"Yeah, but how long will that even take? In the meantime, what, do I just sit back and watch as he throws himself solo at the enemy? What happens if he gets stuck behind enemy lines? I can't afford to go and rescue him with my limited resources. Also, I get the feeling he doesn't like me. Will he even follow my orders in the field if we do decide to keep him?"
"Gerome is as loyal and stalwart as anyone else I know; he isn't prone to recklessly rushing ahead to engage the enemy. As for orders, I can personally guarantee that he will listen to yours if you let him stay."
"How can you guarantee that?"
"Because he will listen to me," Lucina said firmly.
Robin looked over to Gerome for confirmation.
"…Friends though we may be, Lucina is first and foremost my liege. I will follow her wherever she leads," Gerome affirmed.
"Even when it means following orders from someone like me, who I sense waves of dislike not unlike those I sense from Frederick?"
Gerome stiffened at the knight's name.
"I know, right?" Robin continued, "I would've thought that after all this time, my natural charm and charisma would've gotten through his cold exterior, but nope! Even though he stopped glaring daggers at me, I still feel he hates me."
"Robin, you're being silly. No one hates you here," Lucina assured. "But getting back to the topic at hand…"
"Oh. Right. So, following my orders in battle. Yay or nay?"
"Lucina seems to place her faith in your abilities. And I have faith in her judgement. So I shall do as you command," Gerome said.
"So basically you're here because Lucina's sticking around."
Gerome remained silent.
"Robin, Gerome is here because he shares our goal of changing the past to save the future," Lucina said patiently. "Although his way of expressing himself is…subdued, I can assure you he's no less determined than the rest of us."
Robin looked at Lucina, then Gerome, then back at Lucina.
"…Robin?"
"He's not, like, your boyfriend or anything, is he?"
Not even the mask could hide Gerome's reddening face.
And the blush spreading across Lucina's made a nice contrast to her blue hair.
"R-Robin! Why would you…? H-how could you even…?!" Lucina stammered.
"Because you're pushing awfully hard for this dude who doesn't really seem to want to be pushed. And he certainly seems to put a lot of emphasis on sticking around and doing things just because you do. So one can't help but wonder if…"
"Then one would be wrong," Lucina said, trying to regain her composure, "Gerome and I are merely friends, just like we are with everyone else from our time."
"Lucina speaks true." Gerome was trying very hard to fight down the reddening of his face.
Robin looked at them both suspiciously.
"Do you not trust us, Robin?"
"I want to say yes, but then I trusted your father, and look how that turned out!"
"Robin, please don't mention Father," Lucina said, embarrassment coming back in full force. The last thing she needed right now was for Gerome to learn how her parents of this time met!
"This line of questioning serves no purpose," Gerome stated flatly.
"Says the boyfriend wanting to hide their relationship," Robin sneered.
Lucina didn't think she was ever this embarrassed in her life. And this was including that 69 Shades book session!
"Robin, you're completely—!"
A growling behind Robin.
"Not now, Minerva. I'm busy," the tactician said, waving his hand dismissively.
More urgent growling.
"Gods, fine. Fine! What do you—" Robin turned only to be face-to-face with the wyvern. "GAH!"
Robin quickly made his way to stand (not cower!) behind Lucina.
"Personal space, Minerva. Personal space! Wait a minute…" Robin looked behind him to see Minerva(?) standing behind Gerome. But that was impossible since there was Minerva standing right in front of him!
"This is getting out of hand. Now there are two of them!" Robin exclaimed. "But how…?"
"Robin, calm down. You should know by now that Minerva means you no harm…both of them," Lucina said.
"Easy for you to say. You don't get a front seat look at all her sharp, pointy teeth every time she licks you! Wait a minute. Minerva, and Minerva…with Gerome…" Robin paused as a thought occurred. "You're telling me that Gerome is actually Cherche's kid?"
"After all this talking and you're only realizing this now?" Gerome remarked, bemused.
"Hey, there was a lot of stuff to go over before we got to your parentage," Robin said defensively. "Speaking of, you must be in the weird Morgan situation since Cherche isn't married…"
Gerome looked over at Lucina, who shook her head and indicated for him not to pursue this line of questioning further.
"But if Cherche is unmarried, then that raises the question…" Robin shook his head. "Never mind. I don't want to know."
"Are you not curious?" Lucina asked.
"A bit, but then that opens many boxes and invites questions I'm not ready to answer…" Robin mumbled. "So hey, guess congratulations to Cherche are in order. But don't you go off distracting her about her future husband. I need her head in the game to win this war and not thinking about who her future husband is."
"Robin, I'm sure that is and will be the farthest thing from her mind," Lucina said, trying to suppress a smile.
"Yeah, well I sure hope—"
"Minerva, there you are!"
Everyone turned to see Cherche walking toward them.
"What's wrong? It's not like you to just rush off all on your own. Ah, I must apologize on behalf of my Minerva here if she interrupted something important."
"No, nothing important. But, uh, can you call your wyvern away from me…?" Robin said, shirking behind Lucina.
"Honestly, Robin. Still feeling nervous around my Minerva after all this time?"
"Can you blame me? Look at her! With her hard scales and sharp claws and really pointy teeth…"
"I know. Isn't she just the cutest wyvern in all the land?" Cherche gushed.
"…Your definition of 'cute' continues to baffle me…"
Cherche smiled innocently, patting Minerva. She then saw Gerome.
"Ah, I see we have a new face in our group. A fellow wyvern rider, to boot. I was actually hoping to speak with you."
"Why?" Gerome asked, face betraying no emotions.
"So you can introduce me to your wyvern, of course!" Cherche answered cheerfully. "It's not every day we encounter a friendly wyvern rider, and I was hoping to compare our partners to see which one is cuter. Not very sporting of me when mine is the finest in the world, I know."
"…Do as you please."
"I will, then!"
"Okay, Lucina, quick! While they're distracted with one another!"
"Robin, wha—?"
"Now. Go!"
Without warning, Robin (still standing behind her) whisked Lucina away from the scene.
Once they were far enough from the wyverns, Robin sighed.
"There we go. Far enough away from those wyverns so that I feel safe and sound. Gods…"
"Robin, what was that back there?" Lucina asked.
"Oh, yeah. Sorry about the awkward positioning, but I had to ensure that you were between myself and the wyverns if things went…somewhere unpleasant."
"…So you used me as a meat shield?"
"No! I would never! I just used you as my cover person since I knew that the Minervas would never think of attacking me if you were in between me and them. Also you have a magical sword that cuts through wyverns even if they did want to snack on my person. See? No meat shield."
Lucina looked at Robin with a bemused expression.
"…What?"
"Are you sure that you got enough information out of Gerome back there?"
"Eh. Enough to make a rudimentary judgement. Not sure how good a team player he'll be given his whole attitude, but who knows? Maybe he may surprise me. Besides, knowing he's Cherche's kid gives me a lot to work with. I mean, Cherche is kind of a terrifying badass on the battlefield. And they even share the same wyvern, so Gerome should be a real treat. Now the question is if he can throw axes around with the same ease and accuracy his mother does…" Robin mused and then wrote this thought down.
"Is that all?"
"All I think I'm going to get out of him. He doesn't seem like the talkative type. Guess the proper evaluation will come when next we encounter some enemies."
"Robin, I know Gerome may not be the most talkative person in the world and may seem brash, but please don't hold that against him. He's—"
"Yes, I know."
"You…you do?"
"Well, I don't, but he's your friend and you're vouching for him, and you should know by now that your word means a lot. So…you know. I'll give him a chance."
"Thank you, Robin."
"Yeah. Besides, I'm used to working with people who dislike me, sometimes openly."
"Really? That seems surprising."
"What?"
"That people can dislike you. You may have some quirks and come off as a bit eccentric, but I think that makes you…"
"Charming?"
Lucina laughed softly. "…Yes. Let's go with that."
"I know, right? There are still people in this world who are immune to my overflowing natural charisma. Chief among them being Frederick."
"Now Robin, I don't think it's a matter of—"
"And all those nobles back in Ylisse when I was in the process of overhauling the country's laws."
"Oh?"
"Yep. When I was revoking their various tax exemptions and privileges, they were maaaaaad…" Robin chuckled. "Not that it helped them any. They could've huffed and puffed all they wanted, but in the end they weren't the ones Chrom was listening to. Ylisse was going to be overhauled, even if I had to drag them kicking and screaming with it."
"That sounds like an interesting story."
"Did I not do something similar in the future?"
"Perhaps, but I don't believe I ever heard of it. It's not something a child would be interested in hearing."
"But she is now?"
"Let's just say she has an appreciation for the finer workings of her country," Lucina said, before adding, "and I'm sure your retelling will be very colorful."
"No doubt. I will enlighten you on my trials and tribulations of overhauling Ylisse's ancient laws and tackling vested interests…later on. Right now we have a strategic meeting with your father and the others."
"I look forward to your storytelling. For now, let us not keep the others waiting."
"Okay, so we're still making kind of good progress despite our little detour today. We'll need to pick up the pace if we want to get to Chon'sin as initially planned," Robin said.
"But it's still doable?" Chrom asked.
"Aye. If there are no more distractions, we should be in friendly territory as originally planned," Say'ri confirmed.
"Are there any alternate routes we can take if we run into Valmese forces?" Frederick inquired.
"Aye. Should we encounter Valmese patrols, we can…"
As everyone discussed various matters inside the tent, a soldier suddenly ran in.
"Milords! Dire news from the field!" the soldiers huffed.
"At least, soldier. Catch your breath," Chrom said, before taking the man in. "Wait a minute, aren't you part of the contingent that was deployed with Basilio?"
"That I am, sire. And I bring news that Khan Basilio has been killed in battle!"
"What?!"
"No!"
"Gods…"
"Damn it all!" Chrom cried out in frustration. "Are you certain?"
"We are," came a familiar voice.
The occupants in the tent saw as Flavia, looking like she sustained many injuries, limping in.
"Flavia! What happened? Wait...you're hurt!" Chrom turned to the soldier. "You, fetch a healer!"
"I'll be fine, gods damn me…" Flavia growled, as the soldier ran out, "Gods damn me for outliving that one-eyed clod! That big, bald oaf! That...that..."
Without warning, Flavia yelled into the air.
"That's twice I have failed…" Lucina muttered, with a dazed look on her face.
"I'll kill him! I'll cut that dastard Walhart down myself! I swear it before the gods!" Flavia shouted, slamming her fist on the table.
"No, Flavia...for now, you need to rest and to heal," Chrom said, keeping his composure. "When the time is right, we will avenge Basilio. You have my word."
"…Then know that I will hold you to it," Flavia muttered, looking straight into Chrom's eyes. "There's also something else."
"Can it wait? You look like you need rest."
"This is more important. Before Basilio died, he asked that I give you this…" Flavia said, taking something out of her coat.
"Wait, is that…?"
"It's Gules, one of the Gemstones you need. Don't ask me why in hell's name the oaf hid it from you. He always did love his surprises, damn him."
"Whatever his reasons, I accept this gift now, and gladly," Chrom said, taking Gules. "I can feel its power resonating through my whole body..."
"It's hard to believe he's truly gone..." Flavia shook her head. "The larger the man, the larger the void left in his wake..."
"And Khan Basilio was a titan. There is no replacing him. I should have tried harder to convince him..." Lucina murmured.
"My friends, you have my sincerest condolences," Say'ri said. "I know my words may mean little to you, given that it was—"
"We can't let the others know about this."
Everyone turned to Robin, who had until now stayed quiet.
"At least, not yet. It's the evening now and everyone is tired and deserve to have a good night's rest. This news is probably going to hit morale, so we need to keep it to ourselves until we can find a way to frame it in a way that…does it less."
Flavia sighed. "Robin's right. It won't do anyone any good to give them the news now. It's better to let them rest."
"And you, Flavia," Robin said. "Go see a healer. You look like you've been through a lot. Get some rest and tell us all about it tomorrow."
Flavia was about to protest when the soldier came back with a healer.
"Good timing. Flavia, go. Rest. Heal."
"Yeah, yeah…"
As Flavia leaned on the soldier for support and left the tent, Robin turned to the others.
"The news doesn't leave this tent, got it? If anyone asks, you're just tired. Tell no one until we meet up tomorrow to discuss how to break the news," Robin instructed.
Everyone nodded wearily.
"Good. Now let's all of us get some rest. It's been a hard day…"
Say'ri looked like she wanted to say something, but Robin raised his hand.
"Rest, Say'ri. It's getting late and we're tired. We need our minds sharp after a day's rest to figure out our next steps."
"Gods, just when we thought things were looking up…" Chrom sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I think resting will do us all some good right about now."
Robin nodded, and looked pointedly at Say'ri, who acquiesced.
"Lucina?" Chrom walked over to his daughter.
"Father?"
"Look, it's not your fault, okay?"
"I…"
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"I…believe that Robin is right. Perhaps a rest would do some good."
Chom didn't look convinced.
"I am fine, Father. This is just…a lot to process so late. I'm sure some sleep will clear my mind."
"…Very well. Just know that your mother and I are here for you if you need us."
"Thank you, Father."
"Then it's agreed. Get some rest, all of you. We're going to have a difficult meeting tomorrow," Robin said.
Everyone nodded and left the tent.
Robin kept a straight face as he walked through the camp.
Around him, he saw the other Shepherds going about their business: Gregor sharing a cup of tea with Panne, Vaike and Kjelle getting one last sparring match in before calling it a day, Cherche talking with her son (and Frederick was there too).
But Robin was only kind of paying attention. What he needed was some time alone to properly process today's news.
"Hey, Dad!"
The cheerful voice brought Robin to the present.
"Oh. Hi, Morgan. Are you still up? Isn't it getting a bit late?"
"But not too late for a game of a quick round of Total Warfare? Please?" Morgan asked hopefully, holding the board game box.
"Always prepared, eh?" Robin chuckled. "I hate to disappoint you, kiddo, but this evening…isn't the best time. Take a raincheck?"
"Aw, okay. Although I really wanted to try out some new strategies on you…" Morgan trailed off as she took in Robin's demeanor. "…Dad, you okay?"
"Huh? I'm fine. Why?"
"You seem…down. Did something happen?"
"No."
"…Are you sure?"
Robin internally cursed his daughter's perceptiveness.
"It's…been a tough day. I'm just dealing with a few things right now. But it's nothing you have to worry about, Morgan."
Morgan didn't look convinced.
"Really," Robin said, putting on his most convincing smile and hugging her.
"Okay…" Morgan replied, hugging him back. "As long as it's nothing serious. I ask because I care, you know?"
"I know. And I'm glad." Robin hugged Morgan tighter before letting her go. "Now you go off to sleep, yeah? It's getting way past your bedtime."
"Dad, I don't have a bedtime. My bedtime is…!" Morgan yawned.
"Sounds like right about now," Robin remarked, amused. "Off to bed with you. You can test your wits against me tomorrow."
"Okay…" Morgan mumbled. "Stupid sleep. I wish people didn't have to sleep. Then we could spend all that time doing important stuff. Like playing board games all night!"
"Goodnight, dear." Robin laughed softly as he watched his daughter grumble and head off to her tent.
When she was gone, the frown on his face returned and he went to seek a secluded area away from camp.
Stopping by some trees near a river, Robin took a deep breath, and reflected on the recent news and its implications.
This feeling was almost like that time Emmeryn died. Although Robin was sure he didn't feel as bad as Chrom or Lissa that day, he still felt pretty terrible. Losing a friend was always hard, doubly so if their death was on your head as a result of your decisions.
The difference between then and now was Basilio was a warrior and knew the risks involved with this mission. Lucina told him of his fate in the future and yet he still chose to go confront Walhart so that the rest of them could make their escape. But more than that, Basilio's death could be laid squarely at the feet of Say'ri's treacherous friends.
Robin frowned thinking about it.
Everything was going according to plan until they decided to turn traitor. That threw everything out of order and now not only was half their army dead and/or scattered, but the surviving forces were now weaker and having to sneak into Chon'sin instead of confidently liberating it.
The more Robin thought about it, the angrier he got.
Because of those backstabbing traitors, half their army was scattered, Basilio wasdead, and their entire liberation of Valm just got that much harder.
"Gods damn it!"
Robin punched a nearby tree, not noticing how he blew off a significant portion of the trunk.
However this war ended, he would have to make those traitors pay. They would face the consequences of their actions even if Robin needed to hunt them down, one by one.
Robin didn't notice the burning pain in his hand.
They. Would. Pay.
Finally looking down, he saw that his right hand was glowing with purple energy.
"…What the…?"
Robin's thoughts were interrupted by a rustling sound near him.
Squinting through the darkness, Robin saw blue.
"Lucina…?"
"R-Robin?"
"What're you doing out here? I thought you went to bed like the others."
"I…"
The princess looked dazed.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," Lucina replied automatically.
"That's clearly not true."
"Robin, I can assure you—"
"It's Basilio, isn't it?"
Lucina opened her mouth to protest before sighing and nodding.
"I know. His sudden death is very upsetting for us all."
"Yes…"
"…But that's not the only thing bothering you."
Lucina nodded silently.
"Talk about it?"
"I don't want to trouble you with my problems. I know you have a lot to deal with already…"
"Please. If there's anything I've learned these past few years, it's that talking about your problems helps the solving process. If not that, it at least makes you feel better airing them out. And I know you have more problems that most, which means that you probably also need to do more talking and feeling better. So…" Robin smiled encouragingly.
Lucina looked at him before closing her eyes and sighing.
"…Have you ever felt that despite all your efforts, despite everything you do, in the end of the day it's all…pointless?"
Robin frowned as he recalled Chrom and the others getting engaged despite his objections.
"…I have experienced such feelings, yes."
"I want to believe with every fiber of my being that my actions here make a difference. That I can fight against the tide of fate and change something so that we may see a better future than the one I grew up in. I want to believe that with every fiber of my being…!"
"But…"
"But fate will try to correct any deviations to the original flow of events. With Aunt Emmeryn, the Valmese, now Basilio…" Lucina hugged herself. "Sometimes I wonder if my actions truly make any difference. Whether all my efforts are for naught. Whether I am on a futile mission, destined to fail and watch the world unravel despite my efforts to stop it…"
Robin closed his eyes.
He wasn't good at cheering people (not named Sumia or Cordelia) up on a good day, and today was far from a good day. From the sounds of it, Lucina's doubts and fears ran deep; too deep for Robin to even attempt to untangle them.
"Tell me how it happened."
Lucina looked at Robin curiously.
"In your time, I mean. With the Valmese. ."
"Admittedly we were all very young when the Valmese invaded, so I can only tell you of events as I heard them." Lucina took a deep breath, remembering. "In my time, Walhart broke your two cardinal rules of warfare."
Robin raised a brow.
"He got involved in a land war in Valm, but in that, he emerged victorious."
"So it would seem. And the other rule?"
"He invaded Regna Ferox in winter."
"Heh. I can't imagine that went very well for him."
"From what we heard, it did not. Walhart came to Ferox with half a million men. I heard his Valmese forces weren't remotely ready for the harsh Feroxi winter or the fierceness of the resistance. By the time spring came, he was down to half his numbers."
"Wow."
"Indeed. Unfortunately he had the entire Valmese continent to call upon for reinforcements. So although his forces suffered heavily casualties, he could call upon more as long as he controlled Ferox's port."
"Oh."
"So Ferox's efforts were doomed to fail eventually as more enemy soldiers poured into the continent, each contingent then better prepared for the weather."
"So…what were we doing while Ferox was being invaded?"
"Preparing."
"Hm. We didn't go to their aid?"
Lucina shook her head. "I actually overheard many a heated argument between Father and yourself when I was little on this very topic. As you can imagine, Father was very uncomfortable with sitting back and doing nothing while Regna Ferox was being slowly overrun. Understandably, he was the one advocating for Ylisse to come to Regna Ferox's aid."
"I can't imagine I took too kindly to that course of action."
"You did not. As Ylisse was just recovering from a prolonged and devastating war with Plegia, your position was that Ylisse was simply not ready for another conflict," Lucina said.
"And the Feroxi didn't resent us sitting on our thumbs while they were getting destroyed?"
"I'm not entirely sure what the Feroxi thought. Perhaps they were too proud to seek assistance, or perhaps they felt like they didn't need it. Regardless, Ylisse did not aid Ferox in their fight against Valm."
"Then what did we do while Ferox was fighting for its survival?"
"Preparing for when the Valmese would turn their attention to Ylisse."
Robin raised a brow.
"You understood that Ylisse, as it was after the war with Plegia, had no chance against the Valmese in open combat. You decided to compensate by denying the Valmese their cavalry by forcing them into a siege of Ylisstol."
"So I decided to bank the entire war and our future on them besieging our capital?" Robin frowned. "That sounds…risky."
"It was extremely risky, but you had no alternatives. So you decided to do everything you could to prepare the city and population before the Valmese arrived."
"That being?"
"Moving people in villages bordering Ferox into safer Ylissean territory, recruiting more soldiers and training them in defensive warfare, and, most importantly, fortifying Ylisstol's defenses."
"Was that even enough?"
"You certainly ensured that it would be. I remember when I was little, there were people constantly going in and out of yours and Father's offices. It was only later on that I understood they were the army of builders, engineers and workers you hired to build Ylisse's defenses. You wanted to, I believe in your own words, 'Turn Ylisstol into the grave of the Valmese army.' By the time the Valmese arrived, Ylisstol doubled in size due to the walls and fortifications you've built."
"Wow. I'm guessing from your presence here, my plan was successful?"
"Devastatingly so. Tales abound about what the Valmese called it the 'Ylisstol Meat Grinder.' They indeed laid siege to Ylisstol, assuming that the lack of resistance to their way to the capital showed Ylisse's weakness. Your preparations forced them into a long, bloody battle. The Valmese had to breach and penetrate every wall and every defensive perimeter you built outside the city proper. And after every breach, there was another wall waiting for them."
Robin listened grimly, trying to picture it.
"Of course, we were all little then and had no idea of what was happening outside the castle walls. All we knew was that our parents would disappear for days on end and come back looking very tired. We had no idea how close the Valmese came to breaching our last defenses…that those distant rumbling sounds we occasionally heard were the sounds of siege weapons hitting the city walls…" Lucina had a faraway look in her eyes.
"Was it really that close?"
"The records state that the Valmese, despite terrible casualties, breached all of Ylisstol's outer walls and were on the verge of reaching the city itself. It was only at the last wall that their advance was stopped."
"How?"
"That was where the Valmese suffered the most casualties and where Walhart was himself killed. And after having lost so many soldiers and their commander, the Valmese couldn't maintain the siege. Ylisstol was saved, although at a very high price. That was how events unfolded in my time, at least, according to the archives," Lucina finished.
"Well…" Robin took a deep breath. "That's proof right there that your actions make a difference in this time."
Lucina looked at Robin uncomprehendingly.
"I mean, compared to what you just told me, things now are just peachy!"
"I fail to see how…"
"Well, for one, Ferox isn't overrun with Valmese, Ylisse is still safe across the sea, and we're all here waging war on Walhart on his turf instead of desperately defending ours."
Lucina remained silent.
Robin sighed. "Look, Lucina, I know that sometimes things may seem desperate and that your actions may seem like they achieve nothing—especially now. But even when things seem at their most dire, you have to remember that things are better than they were in your time, and they're better because of your actions."
"Things being better now is not what concerns me…" Lucina muttered.
"Hey, just because certain events happened just like in your time doesn't mean that they will necessarily lead to the same events. Yes, Emmeryn did die just like she did in your future, but because of your actions, she chose to sacrifice herself in Plegia instead of being assassinated in Ylisse. As a result, the Plegians lost the will to fight and deserted en mass, thereby shortening the war and greatly reducing casualties on both sides," Robin said, adding, "and because of you, Chrom now is hearty and healthy instead of being gravely wounded during the assassination attempt. Doesn't that count for something? I'm sure we just increased our chances of changing fate by virtue of having your father at his best and ready for when things start happening."
Lucina said nothing.
"And," Robin continued, "we're all here in Valm bringing the fight to Walhart instead of bleeding his army dry at the walls of Ylisstol. You can't tell me that isn't a significant change to how it happened in the future."
Lucina nodded slowly.
"Even now, although Basilio may have died just like he did in the future, I'm sure that this time, with all the changes you've brought, things will turn out differently. I don't know how I know, but I know, you know?"
"Robin…"
"Lucina, I know it can be hard and I know things may seem hopeless, but you have to believe things will be different. Even though the river of time always prefers its original course, that doesn't mean that its destination will always be the same. I'm sure that with a little prodding and pushing, you can put some rocks in the stream to…uh…divert it…from the…sea and to…a lake…?"
Lucina looked at Robin curiously.
"I…uh…gods, that really sounded better in my head. Guess this is why I leave all the inspirational speaking to Chrom…" Robin scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "I guess what I'm trying to say is that things will be okay, even if they don't seem like it right now, so don't lose hope."
Lucina looked down.
"…Do you want me to get your parents in here? I'm sure they'll say it better than me. More convincingly, too."
"…How do you do it, Robin?"
"Hm?"
"How do you manage to be so hopeful and optimistic even in such dire times?" Lucina asked, looking up at him.
"I…don't really know," Robin answered truthfully. "Whether it's blind faith in my friends or an unrealistic belief in my abilities or even my lack of memories from my past…" Robin trailed off at this. "Well, whatever it is, I just know we'll all pull through and that everything will be okay."
"…Whatever it is, I find it encouraging." Robin looked over to Lucina, who had a small smile on her face. "Although you base your belief in nothing but your gut feelings, when I hear you talk with such conviction, I…I actually begin to believe that things will get better."
"Because they will. I don't know how or when or even why, but they will," Robin said resolutely.
"Thank you, Robin. Your words give me strength."
"Anytime. But you know whose words will give you more strength? Your parents'. Now let's go get you over to them so they can make you feel better without saying dumb things that sound good in their heads but come out sounding real dumb." Robin started walking back to camp.
"You give yourself too little credit, Robin," Lucina said, following him.
"Perhaps. But I've learned that talking out your problems and worries helps. And who better to talk stuff out than with your parents?"
"But what about you?"
"What about me?"
"I know recent events must weigh heavily on you too. Do you have someone to talk to?"
"Well, I just did a little bit with you. And it makes me feel a bit better, truth be told."
"Robin…"
"…Basilio's death does weigh heavily on me," Robin admitted, sighing.
"Robin, it wasn't your fault."
"I know, I know. And unlike with Emmeryn, I don't blame myself for this…at least, not totally. But it's still…you know…" Robin sighed. "I just felt like I needed a moment to myself in order to think about what happened, what I could've done differently, what went wrong…just, let it sink in, you know?"
"But—"
"I wasn't going to dwell on it," Robin assured. "And as for your second question, yes I do have people I can talk to."
"Oh?"
"Sumia and Cordelia. They may not be my parents, but they've become my go-to people for when I need to talk about things."
"Ah. And are you…?"
"Yes, I'm going to see them. Heh, I'm sure they'd never forgive me if I didn't when they'd inevitably find out what happened."
The two walked until they reached the edge of the camp.
"And this is where we must part ways," Robin said. "I believe your parents set up camp down to the right."
"Thank you, Robin. I'll admit that my thoughts this evening were…unpleasant. But talking to you has put my mind at ease somewhat." Lucina smiled gratefully.
"Happy to help. We can't have you of all people feeling down and despairing, now can we?"
"I think you put undue importance upon my well-being…"
"Nonsense! You are like the campfire of hope that burns and keeps hope alive for the rest of us. To have you be down is like extinguishing the…burning fire of…and…" Robin tried to finish his thought before giving up and shaking his head. "Seriously, talk to your parents. They'll put it more eloquently than me."
"With all your insistence, I will do just that." When Robin turned to leave, Lucina grabbed his sleeve. "Please don't neglect yourself, Robin. You may put a lot of emphasis on myself and others, but you underestimate what effect your own attitude has on others. After all, even the strongest fires need fuel to sustain them."
"Gods, you used my stupid analogy better than I did," Robin chuckled. "But sure. As the fuel to your fires of hope, I shall…uh, rekindle my…for your…argh, why do I even bother? Sure. I'll go take look after my emotional well-being right now. Take care, Lucina."
"And you, Robin."
As Robin waved goodbye to Lucina, he sighed.
Job well done. He managed to get Lucina to not dwell on how bad things were and instead think positive. Quite a feat, given that she wasn't used to doing that, even after all this time spent around himself and Morgan.
Lucina dwelling on Basilio's death would do no one any good. If people saw that she was down, it would greatly affect morale, especially her friends from the future. And that was the last thing anyone needed!
So a smile for the princess. Was much better than the usual frowning. Was much prettier, too. Robin wished she'd do so more often.
And in a way, talking to her also helped Robin in that it took his mind off who was responsible for Basilio's death and what he would do to them once this war was over and done with.
Robin growled, thinking about it.
Just as these thoughts returned, Robin found himself in front of his target tent.
From what he saw, the light was still on and there were two sets of voices talking quietly inside.
Robin smiled and loudly cleared his throat.
"Sumia? Do you have a moment?"
"Robin? Of course. Please, come in."
Pulling the flap aside, Robin wasn't surprised to see Cordelia in the tent too.
"Quite late for a visit, no?" Cordelia remarked jokingly.
"Hey, sorry for the sudden visit, but…"
"Robin? What's wrong?" Sumia asked, seeing how tired the tactician looked.
"You two have a few minutes? I feel I need someone to talk to…"
Sensing that something was wrong, Sumia and Cordelia both nodded and made some space for Robin.
"Thanks, you guys," Robin said gratefully, making his way between them.
"Stupid fire, light already!" muttered the girl as she tried to get a campfire going. "I hate how much trouble this is. Gawds, I had better luck lighting fires in the future! Light, damn you, lig—argh!"
The girl fell back as the fire suddenly sprang to life.
"Heya Sev! Whatcha doin'?" asked a second girl, plopping down to sit next to her friend.
"Dammit, how many times did I tell you to warn me before you do that?!" snapped the first girl.
"I dunno. Probably a bunch. I lost count, to be honest."
Her friend glared.
"Well hey, it's not my fault I can start fires with just a snap of my fingers! And you gotta admit that it's super handy when we're stuck in the middle of the forest and really want some food," the girl said, putting a pan over the fire and throwing some things in it.
"You and your blasted magic. So irresponsible. I'd be much more controlled if I had magic running in my blood…" muttered the first girl.
"What was that?" asked her friend, cooking their meal.
"Nothing."
"Oh hey, did you hear the news?"
"What news?"
"The rebels have managed to beat back some of the Valmese forces!"
"So? Not that it matters. They're doomed to lose this war anyway."
"Maybe not."
"The hell are you talking about?"
"Word on the street is that they're getting foreign help."
"Foreign?"
"Yep! Help from across the sea. Help from some folks people are calling the 'Ylissean League'!"
The first girl's eyes widened.
"I know, right?!" her friend exclaimed excitedly. "Our parents are totally gonna swoop in and heroically topple this oppressive empire like the heroic heroes that they are! Isn't it awesome?!"
"But…that's not how things are supposed to happen…"
"Yeah, weird, right? Do you think Lucy has anything to do with this?"
"How the hell should I know?! Even thinking about all this time travel nonsense hurts my brain. All I did was follow Lucina through the portal and hoped for the best."
"Yeah. Well hey, if our parents are all over here fighting Valm, that basically means we changed the future!"
"You don't know that," cautioned the first girl. "Gods, we don't know anything! All this time we were stranded Naga knows where, taking odd jobs to make money just to survive."
"I thought the goal was to try and scrape enough money to make it to Ylisse and join up with the others?"
The first girl scoffed. "Yeah, that was the goal, but given how much we actually made, it might as well have been a fantasy."
"Well it looks like now the fantasy came to us!" the second girl said cheerfully. "So what's the plan? We link up with our parents?"
"Well—"
"Ooh, do you think Lucy and the others will be with them?!"
"I—"
"Ohmigosh this is so exciting! We get to see our parents again and—"
"Will you shut up for five seconds!?" snapped her friend. "Look, there's clearly a lot we don't know and a lot we have to do."
"Right. Okay." The second girl calmed down somewhat. "So what's our next move?"
"Well, given that our parents are here, we pretty much have to join them. I'm sure we'll not get a better opportunity than this."
Her friend nodded.
"With any luck, Lucina and the others will be with them. Okay, so to do that, we have to know where they are or where they're headed."
"I've not really heard anything about that. Just rumors from the folks in the villages we pass by."
"What did they say?"
"Uh…there was some kinda confrontation near some volcano somewhere?"
"And?"
"I dunno. I was busy deciding on what to get us for dinner, so…"
The first girl facepalmed. "Okay. It's not much, but it's something. I guess our next course of action will be to try and retrace our parents' footsteps. Maybe try to make our way to where they were seen last and pick up the trail from there."
"Sounds like a plan!"
"It's nothing. A good tactician would've come up with something much better by now..."
"Hey, it's a lot more than I could come up with!"
"Well, yeah." The first girl scoffed. "You're even more hopeless in tactics than I am."
"What I lack in tactical thinking I make up for in heroics and panache!" declared the second girl. "Anyway, dinner looks just about done. Let's eat!"
