And we're back with your kinda-sorta regularly scheduled updates. Kind of.
I was toying with the idea of releasing this on Christmas, but the chapter the release was already delayed by a month due to life reasons and that was really bothering me. So here we are! Just in time for the holidays! Kind of. I hope it was worth the wait.
As always, a great big thank you for everyone out there who's still reading the story. Your continued readership and patience is greatly appreciated!
Inigo was a man of passion! And chief among his many passions was girls. Or rather, a passionate desire to bring smiles to all the pretty girls in the world by way of having tea with them. After all, what better way to make pretty girls smile than by charming them over a cup of tea?
It was just too bad the universe seemed to do everything in its power to thwart Inigo from carrying out his noble goal. Just as he was about to seal the deal, there was always some sort of emergency that arose and necessitated Inigo being carried away by his father, or the pretty girl's boyfriend/husband/father coming in and making some very explicit threats against his person, or some other event that resulted in Inigo either being chased off, laughed at, threatened, or just plain rejected. It was a discouragingly familiar pattern which would've really dissuaded Inigo from pursuing this path further if not for the fact that it was Inigo's mission to impress girls! ...Well, there was also that little bit about saving the world from Grima and stuff, and that was also pretty important. But first and foremost, girls!
And Inigo stuck to his goal and approach even in the face of countless failures and rejections. He did so because he knew that despite the aforementioned failures and rejections, he would eventually be successful! ...One day. And it would all be worth it if even a single pretty girl would give him the time of day to have tea with him, for one success was worth a thousand failures!
There was a point when Inigo despaired and was on the verge of abandoning his quest, but just then the gods must've decided to take pity on him and reward him for all his efforts and signal their approval of his actions. And they did so in the form of Morgan.
Morgan saw how down Inigo was that day and was nice enough to agree to be taken out by him. Sure, Morgan requested a full dinner instead of a simple cup of tea, and sure, after examining how much money he had on him, she somehow managed to pick a place and order enough food to ensure that the bill added up to exactly how much money he had down to the copper, but that didn't matter because Inigo got to take out a pretty girl in the end (and it was not a pity date...and even if it was, it still counted!).
So with a (admittedly very expensive) date under his belt (and an empty wallet in his pocket), Inigo's faith was restored and he threw himself back into the fray of trying to make every pretty girl smile (and get a date in the process).
And it seemed that Inigo's renewed faith and vigour paid off as he (after several failures) got the attention of a pretty redhead! And more than that, she answered his questions, laughed at his jokes and made witty banter and everything! Best of all, she agreed to tea!
So basically everything was looking up for Inigo in the girls department. Of course, that was until they got to the actual drinking of the tea, which was when Inigo suddenly felt drowsy and passed out. When he awoke, his wallet was gone, as was his equipment, and even the shirt he was wearing (though not his pants, luckily enough). Worse, Inigo was hauled off by Chrom as soon as he returned to camp to be informed that half of the army's equipment was gone, stolen by some red-headed thief.
So now Inigo was currently sitting and being lectured in his father's tent.
"—cky that I caught this and brought you here instead of Robin," Chrom said, arms crossed.
"I'm sure that Robin would understand this was an honest mistake once I explain what happened to him," Inigo offered cheekily.
"Inigo…" Chrom sighed, not amused at the slightest. "You don't know Robin, do you?"
"I mean, he was kinda scary and intimidating in the future, but he seems totally different here in the past! More laid back and stuff, you know?"
"More open to hearing how half of the equipment he painstakingly negotiated and procured for us went missing due to one thief making out with all of it because you invited her for tea?" Chrom asked rhetorically. "I will admit that Robin does seem to be a radically different person than the one he was in the future."
"Then—"
"But that also means he has certain...eccentricities that he may not have had in the future. One of those eccentricities being that he likes to plan and calculate exactly what equipment we will need and how much of it, then order more in case something unexpected happens. He then takes great time and effort to coordinate with our suppliers to arrange delivery of our supplies to wherever we might be. So he ensures that no matter what may happen, we will be well supplied."
"That sounds reasonab—"
"And today, your lady friend raided our storage tent and somehow made out with half of our equipment when we are about to march and liberate a country from Walhart's control, meaning we have just enough equipment for everybody to get by until we resupply. Barely, if that.
"...I see…"
"Inigo, Robin is going to kill you," Chrom said bluntly.
Inigo laughed nervously, looking up at his father to smile and reveal the joke.
Chrom's face remained unchanged.
"Robin won't really kill me…right?"
"Inigo, the only reason I'm alive right now after all the things I pulled is probably because I'm Robin's best friend and the ruler of Ylisse. Being my son may save you, but it won't stop Robin from making your life very, very difficult."
"Really?"
"Yes. He has many tools to make you lose your will to live, chief among them being his lectures and many, many, many briefings on the various rules he came up with…" Chrom shivered, trying his best to suppress memories of those dark times. "The point is, your pursuit of girls has now directly impacted on our ability to wage war and made this campaign unnecessarily difficult."
"R-right. Sorry about that, Father," Inigo said sheepishly. "Although in my defense, how was I supposed to know that girl was going to be a thief? And to make out with half of our stuff, to boot!"
"Inigo…"
"I'll fix this, Father. Next time we stop by a town with a blacksmith or a market, I'll buy whatever stock they have! Maybe I'll even manage to charm my way into a discount if the burly blacksmith has a daughter…"
Chrom stared at his son, wondering how he ended up like...this.
"...Father? You're staring. Is there something on my face?"
"No. I just...I was wondering if you were like this in the future as well."
"Depends on what you mean by 'like this,' I suppose."
"For someone who came from an apocalyptic hellscape, you're awfully carefree. Seems like you haven't a care in the world past whose bed you'll be sharing tonight. Lucina's so driven and serious, while you…" Chrom shook his head. "It's strange you don't have any of that purpose."
"No purpose?!" Inigo seemed genuinely offended. "I'll have you know I'm EXTREMELY driven!"
Chrom raised a brow.
"Indeed! I will not rest until every woman in the realm swoons at just hearing my name!"
"...Your purpose in life is to be popular with girls?" Chrom repeated incredulously. "You literally traveled across time...to be popular with girls?!"
"To be popular with ALL girls. Genius, I know," Inigo stated proudly. When Chrom continued to stare in disbelief, Inigo looked away. "Er, Father? Your continued staring is making me blush..."
"I...I don't know what to say."
"What? It never bothered you when Mother would blush in front of you!"
"I don't even know where to begin with that one…" Chrom rubbed his temples. "Suddenly I'm feeling very tired…"
"Father?"
"Go." Chrom waved dismissively. "I'll talk to Robin and try to prevent him from killing you or trying to lecture you to death. We'll see what we can do about the stolen supplies."
"Are you sure I can't help with anything?"
"I hesitate to think how you may be able to 'help' if there's even a remote possibility of a girl being involved…" Chrom muttered under his breath. "I mean, no, Inigo, let me take care of it. I doubt Robin would listen if it came from anyone but me."
"Are you sure, Father?"
"Yes, Inigo. Now go. We'll talk about this later."
"Thank you, Father."
"And Inigo?"
"Yes?"
"Please be more careful from now on. Let today be a lesson to you not to just trust every pretty face that comes your way."
"Of course, Father."
Chrom sighed after Inigo left.
Gods. Inigo was his son and Chrom loved him, but for the love of Naga did he turn out to be careless. How Inigo survived a hellsih future crawling with Risen and death was anyone's guess. Chrom supposed it was because Inigo had Lucina and the rest of his friends to help him survive, because there was no way Inigo would've lasted five minutes with the way he was now! Hell, Chrom was almost sure that Inigo would bring a Valmese assassin right to the command tent if the assassin was a pretty woman who flashed him a smile.
No. No! Chrom had to have faith in his son! Maybe it was because Inigo wasn't used to everything being all (relatively) peaceful and not overrun with Risen that he spent his time chasing skirts. Hitting on girls wasn't really a crime or anything, so Chrom couldn't really forbid Inigo from doing so. Inigo was free to do so as he wished as long as it didn't get him hurt or affected the rest of the Shepherds. Maybe what Inigo needed was someone to look after him and make sure that he didn't get himself into trouble again. But who should Chrom ask…?
Actually, that thought could wait. What Chrom needed to do now was find Robin and explain to him what happened before—
"WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO ALL OUR EQUIPMENT?!"
Urgh. So much for that.
Chrom could already feel a headache setting in as he left his tent to try to calm Robin down.
"...Not a care in the world, huh? Not a thought in my head, he means!" Inigo muttered as he walked from his father's tent. "For being such a softy with everyone else, he sure doesn't pull any punches with me…"
Okay, Inigo messed up today. And he really felt bad because, really, who wouldn't? They were busy fighting a war against the odds and because of him those odds became more unfavorable. All he wanted was to do was have a nice cup of tea with a girl and instead he ended up with a thief who stole half of the camp's gear. And worst of all, his father thought he was some brainless flirt. Although Inigo supposed his actions really didn't give Chrom reason to think otherwise. And Inigo literally told him that he was fighting just for girls! Which was obviously just a front since Inigo really couldn't tell his father the real reason he was out there and why he kept smiling and his front up. What Inigo needed to do was do something really heroic and strategically valuable to show that he wasn't some airheaded philanderer! ...Or at least that he was also a warrior as well as being an airheaded philanderer.
Inigo still couldn't believe his luck with the thief, though. What were the odds?! More importantly, why him and why a thief? He would've been better off if she was married or had a scary boyfriend or something. At least then it only affected him and not the entire camp!
Inigo was so absorbed in thinking over his unfortunate date that he didn't hear footsteps approaching.
"Hi, Inigo!" Morgan greeted, upbeat as usual. "How goes the philandering? Did our dinner date help turn your luck around?"
"Oh, yes. It turned me around a full 360 degrees!" Inigo exclaimed, the day's events and being told off by his father not putting him in a very cheerful mood.
"Oh, that's great!" Morgan said. She then did the math. "...Wait, no it isn't. That's not great at all!"
"Ha! That isn't the half of it. I only WISH I'd come full circle to when we went out."
"What happened?" Morgan asked curiously.
"A girl agreed to join me for tea, and I was on cloud nine!"
"Buuuuut?"
"But she spiked my drink and robbed me blind while I was out cold! She even took the shirt off my back!" Inigo cried, before adding, "...Left the pants, though."
"That's not good."
"The joke's on her. My purse was nearly empty after taking you out. But now I've gone from poor to flat broke. I guess it's dirt soup for Inigo tonight…"
"A silver lining at least, right?" Morgan offered.
"I've always done my best for the ladies of the world. I'm even fighting a war for them!" Inigo said dramatically. "But now…"
"Wait. You're fighting a war to impress girls?"
Inigo cleared his throat, feeling dramatic and glad to have a friendly audience to dump his woes on. "...But now that my love has been so cruelly abused, I don't know if I can ever—"
"You're fighting a war to impress GIRLS?!" Morgan repeated.
"Can we get past that already?"
"No, actually! I don't think I can!" Morgan said indignantly. "...Still, I'm sure that woman didn't become a thief because she wanted to. So perhaps THAT should be your reason for fighting this terrible war. We need to bring hope back to the world and make it a place for honest folk again!"
"I suppose you're right…"
Seeing Inigo be so down made Morgan feel generous. "Come on, Inigo. I'll buy dinner. I owe you a meal anyway."
Inigo looked up, the light of hope in his eyes. "...Truly?"
"I know, I know. Quite an honor to be taken out by a lady. And a first for you, I'd imagine."
"I'll pretend I didn't hear the last part," Inigo said wryly. "...But thanks, Morgan. That's sweet. That makes me feel better."
And funnily enough, Inigo did really feel better. Maybe it was because he had someone to listen to him while he vented all his recent frustrations, or maybe it was because he had a girl taking him out (even though it was Morgan again and although it may or may not have been out of pity, it still counted!). Whatever the reason, the end result was that Inigo had a date and that was really all that mattered.
"All right then! I hereby forgive all the cruel ladies of this world!" Inigo declared. "The war for your hearts rages on, and Inigo shall return to the fray!"
Morgan smiled.
"Now THAT'S the Inigo we ladies know and occasionally manage to tolerate!"
Inigo was in such a good mood that not even Morgan's little snipes could get him down.
"Shall we be off?"
"...Now?" Morgan looked up at the sun in the sky. "It's barely midday."
"Is that a problem?"
"I mean, not if you want me to take you out to lunch instead of dinner. Or we can have early dinner!"
"Early dinner?"
"Yeah, yeah!" Morgan's eyes lit up. "You know, have dinner but at lunchtime!"
"...What'll be the difference between that and lunch?" Inigo felt compelled to ask.
"Portions, duh!" Morgan replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Everybody knows that dinner has the biggest portions of all the meals of the day. So if we have early dinner, we can have dinner portions for lunch!"
"But then what'll we have for dinner?"
"Still dinner, but we'll just call it second dinner. We're not just gonna abandon actual dinner just because we had early dinner. That'll be like throwing away perfectly good food!"
"But if you're concerned about portions, why not just rename everything dinner? Like breakfast can be morning dinner, right?"
"Inigo, please. Having dinner in the morning? Now that's just crazy!"
"...But having dinner for lunch isn't?"
"Of course not. By midday you're already hungry and can eat a lot more portions that you can when you're groggy and barely awake in the morning. So morning dinner is just silly, but early lunch-dinner works almost as well as real dinner."
"I…"
Morgan was losing Inigo every minute she talked about her food theory. And Inigo used the word "theory" very lightly.
"So what say you, Inigo? We gonna have dinner for lunch? I've got enough pocket change to get some real good stuff. And a lot of it!"
Inigo decided to regain control of the coversation before it lost him completely.
"Actually, maybe we should wait and make it dinner after all. I mean, we're still on the road and all and far from any village or town, let alone one with a big enough place to serve us anything substantial. So...dinner still later maybe?"
"All right…" Morgan sighed. "Man, I got so hyped about food I made myself hungry."
"There's always lunch."
"I guess, but now it's just gonna be not as good as the early dinner I was thinking about…"
"What if it's Sumia who's on lunch duty?"
"Oh man, she makes such good food! I'm drooling even thinking about it…"
Inigo chuckled. "Well let me leave you on that note, then. Otherwise we'll spend all day here talking about food and making ourselves hungry. Bye, Morgan. And thanks."
"But I'm already hungry!" Morgan yelled after Inigo left. "Man, I really hope lunch is good today…"
Now that she found and helped Inigo out of his rut, Morgan needed to get back to doing whatever it was that she was doing before she randomly came across Inigo looking down in the dumps. And what she was doing before was…
"Uh…"
Man. Morgan really needed to carry a notebook around with her and write her thoughts down into some sort of list of things to do when she thought about them. Because with the whole "remembering things" not being one of her strong points, that list would be pretty helpful!
Oh well. Whatever she was doing before the Inigo thing came up must've not been that important. If it was, Morgan wouldn't have forgotten it in the first place! So now she just needed something to do.
Morgan looked around.
"Man, it's kinda dull around here. Everyone's busy sparring. Or training. Or throwing fireballs around. Time to make my OWN fun!"
Just as she was thinking up something fun to do, Morgan felt like she was being watched.
"Oh, hey, Gerome. What's up?" Morgan asked when she noticed the wyvern rider standing there. " ...Er, do you always stand around like a statue and stare at people? Or am I just particularly enchanting?"
"Not particularly, no," Gerome replied. "However, for someone without memory, you are unusually...peppy."
Morgan grinned. "Heh, get that a lot. I figure it's better than being unusually glum! Besides, everything is fresh and new for me. I can't help but be excited!"
"I suppose that makes sense."
"Sure does!" Morgan said cheerfully. She then squinted at Gerome before asking an obvious question. "Hey, so what's up with the mask? Is it for effect or what?"
"That's…"
"Oh, wait! Are you a mask collector? Do you wear a different one every day?"
Gerome didn't have the time or patience to answer the barrage of questions, opting to say only, "It's complicated."
"No, calculus is complicated," Morgan stated definitively, pointing at Gerome. "That's a mask."
"And it's none of your concern!" Gerome said irritably before walking away.
"Huh? Hey, Gerome? ...Hello? He just walked away! How rude!"
Morgan would've felt insulted if she wasn't such a good and kind individual. Also an individual with a task at hand, that task being to find something fun to do.
"Ha! Ragh!"
Looking around, Morgan noticed various Shepherds training. She supposed training was always an option when she didn't have anything better to do…
Approaching the training grounds, Morgan spotted Lucina and got an idea.
"Hey, Lucina!"
Morgan yelled just in time to see the princess swing her sword and cut the practice dummy in half.
"Yet another dummy breaks during training…" Lucina mumbled, frowning. She then turned. "Hello, Morgan."
"Wow. You sure hit hard, huh? How many dummies does that make this week?"
"I…er..." Lucina blushed in embarrassment and quickly tried to change the subject. "What brings you over here, Morgan?"
"Training. Sword training, that is," Morgan replied. "While Dad's busy giving me the ins and outs of magic and swordsmanship, I figured I'd expand my horizons and get what knowledge I have and then knock his socks off with how much I've learned. And who better to learn from than basically the best swordswoman here?"
"You give me too much credit, Morgan. But if you wish to hone your sword skills, I will be more than happy to assist. Would you like to spar?"
"Uh…" Various memories of Robin's frantic (and sometimes pained) warnings against sparring with Lucina flashed in Morgan's mind. "N-not right now, thanks. I, uh, don't think I'm at a level where I can stand toe-to-toe with you in combat yet. I think tips will be good enough for now, ha ha ha…"
"If you say so, although sparring would be the best way for me to gauge where your strengths and weaknesses are."
"Don't worry about that. I'm sure Dad will tell me all about it. Right now I just want some tips or tricks that'll show him how far I've come! Or better yet, show him something not even he knows!"
"I see." Lucina couldn't help but smile at Morgan's enthusiasm to learn and impress Robin.
"So what kinda tricks can you give me?"
Before Lucina could answer, another voice butted in.
"What're you two doing over here?"
"Hi, Severa!" Morgan waved. "You here to train?"
"Duh. Why else would I be here on the training grounds? Severa asked rhetorically. "What I want to know is what you're doing here with Lucina."
"Severa, I think—"
"Nothing much. I was just hoping to get some advice from Lucina on some cool sword moves or techniques that I could use to impress Dad. Oh, and improve my skills too, I guess."
"Morgan, that's—"
"You were going to share your moves and techniques with her?!"
"Severa, I—"
"Because there's no way in hell I'm letting you, our best fighter, share your secrets with...her," Severa said, picking up a practice sword and tossing it to Morgan. "Here."
"Wha—?" Morgan didn't have enough time to react before the practice sword hit her in the face. "Ow! What was that for?"
"For practice," Severa said curtly. "Lucina isn't going to be teaching you anything before I get to see what you're capable of. And I'm going to do that by sparring with you right now."
"Severa?" Lucina looked at her friend curiously.
"I just want to see what she's capable of. She just randomly shows up and joins your group and everyone's all accepting about it with no proof or whatever?"
"Severa, Morgan has been fighting alongside us for quite some time now," Lucina pointed out.
"Fighting how? Getting up close and personal with the enemy, sword in hand and everything?"
"Well mostly staying with a buddy and zapping bad guys," Morgan informed helpfully. "Not much with the melee. Dad's still training me on that and says doing the magic is safer in the meantime."
Lucina closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
As helpful as Morgan was, sometimes she was a bit too helpful, which then veered into being unhelpful.
"Well there you go!" Severa said definitively. "She may be an adequate mage, sure, but no one here really knows what she's like up close and personal. And I feel it's my duty to test her and see what exactly she can do."
"Well actually, Dad knows what I can do with the melee, although he's kinda the only one. Yeah…" Morgan thought for a moment. "He's really particular about who I train with...in that he insists he trains me himself all the time. Probably because he doesn't want me to get hurt sparring with you guys."
"Morgan, you know that we would never hurt you or anyone else when we spar," Lucina assured.
"Yeah, I know you wouldn't intentionally hurt me or anyone else while training," Morgan said, recalling her father's words as well as the many instances she saw Lucina and Chrom break dummies while training (as well as the state both Chrom and Vaike were in after their sparring sessions). "But you know how Dad gets worried about stuff, ha ha…"
"Right, so bottom line is that no one knows if you can even fight with a sword," Severa said. "So let's change that, shall we? With all the training, Robin's daughter must have the skill to match her parentage, right?"
"She sure does!" Morgan chirped before Lucina could say anything. "Although she's primarily a caster and the sword skills are still a work in progress."
"Morgan, you don't have to do this if you don't wish to," Lucina said, turning to the aspiring tactician. "Severa here is being—"
"No, I think this will be a good learning experience. Dad's been taking up all my training time and we haven't sparred for real all that much. Now I get a chance to test my skills against someone I've never fought before. This will be kinda like a controlled enemy encounter, unknown fighting technique and everything! Only, you know, with less horrible injuries and death. Ooh, how exciting!"
"If you're sure…" Lucina said, before adding, "As this is a simple sparring match, let's try to keep the injuries to a minimum, shall we? No need to get as aggressive as in a real encounter."
"Please. How are we supposed to get some real practice in if we're holding back?"
"Severa…" Lucina's tone showed she wasn't kidding.
"...Fine. I'll tone it down for her sake."
"But not too much, please! Although this may be a simple spar, I want to try and make this as real an enemy encounter as possible! Also, I may surprise you with what I can do," Morgan said. "Dad's definitely taught me a few tricks."
Severa scoffed. "Yeah. Sure."
"I will observe and mediate this match to ensure fair play and so no one gets hurt," Lucina announced, moving aside.
"Hey, I'm actually pretty excited! Not often I get to train with someone I have no prior knowledge about. Or ever, actually. This should be neat!" Morgan grinned and assumed a fighting stance.
"Yeah. Neat."
Severa always did like to do things herself and so had no qualms about getting a feel for Morgan's skills and abilities by sparring with her. Severa was also much too impatient to wait for a combat engagement to maybe get a glimpse of Morgan's style. No, this was a much faster, more efficient way. And if Morgan really was Robin's daughter, then she'd have no issue blocking Severa's blows and wouldn't fall for Severa's feints.
And there would be a lot of both.
Severa grinned, tightening her grip on her practice before launching her attack.
Owain Dark was many things: a warrior of justice, a vanquisher of evil, and a master of various arts ranging from epic weapon naming to peerless swordsmanship. Yet even he, Owain Dark, had things that he could not master. And as Owain looked at the cake in front of him and compared it with the picture in the book, he was quickly coming to realize that cooking was maybe one of those things he would never be able to get right. Or at all.
"Man, how hard is it to make a cake?" Owain wondered out loud, frustration in his voice. "If I can't bake one measly cake, how can I convince my fated partner of our predestined partnership?"
Owain was about to give up and move to an easier recipe when he stopped and sniffed.
"Oh man…"
Whatever it was, it smelled sweet and delicious! ...And it was getting closer. What…?
"Owain? Are you in there?" came a timid voice.
"Noire? That you out there smelling nice and delicious?"
"Uh, wow. I mean, yes. Sort of. Can I come in?"
"Sure."
Noire entered the tent, but she was carrying something, much to Owain's surprise.
"Whatcha got there, Noire? Is that cake? It smells amazing!"
"Y-yes. It's for you."
"Really?"
"Uh-huh. Remember from before, when you volunteered to try my cakes?"
"Oh yeah. I did do that, didn't I? Well say no more! I, Owain, always keep my word, especially when it comes to tasting awesome-smelling baked goods!"
"Thank you, Owain," Noire said gratefully, setting her cake down on the table, cutting a piece. "I hope it's all right. Some of these proportions are a bit tricky."
"I'll let my stomach be the final arbiter of quality here! Gimme."
Owain proceeded to devour the piece of cake Noire gave him with gusto...followed in short order by the entire cake itself.
"By the juggled axe of Kieran! This is amazing!"
"R-really?" Noire sighed, relieved. "I'm so glad…"
"It's like a lightning bolt of flavor from a fluffy nimbus of perfect texture! Is this your mother's recipe? Because it tastes like magic!" Owain raved enthusiastically.
"I'd always wanted to try my hand at making it, but we never had the ingredients in the future."
"Ha! Tell me about it! I spent most of my time in the future eating bugs." Owain shivered, trying not to recall those times. "So what do you call this delicious morsel, anyway?"
"I...I don't know. The recipe never mentioned a name," Noire said.
"Then I must give it one!" Owain declared.
"You...you will?"
"Sure! If you don't know it, I doubt anybody else does, so I may as well give it a new one! Besides, something so delicious deserves more than being some unnamed...thing."
"I...I suppose that's okay. Not like it had a name in the first place."
"Okay, here we go..." Owain rubbed his hands together and closed his eyes. "A harmonious clash of sweet and bitter rise up through a field of earthen brown... A single whole, when sliced, shows two tiers joined by icing, as two hearts by love... It's coming to me... Brace yourself!"
Noire looked on with bated breath.
"It's...coming...to...me...! Behold! The Garden of Eternal Devotion!" Owain exclaimed dramatically.
"That's…" Noire's eyes were wide with awe. "That's beautiful, Owain! You're a poet! You just poemed!"
"I did?" Owain asked before quickly catching himself. "I mean, um... Ha ha ha! Of course I did!"
"Oh, there are so many cakes I'd like to have you try! But even here in the past, this stupid war makes it hard to find ingredients."
"Ha! Never fear, my dear chef! I'm sure we'll figure something out and you can bake all the delicious cakes you want."
Noire hesitated. "Um, so if I do...will you name it again? L-like before? I mean, like a poem?"
"Of course! Deliciousness of this magnitude deserves no less." Owain paused as a thought occurred. "Hey, Noire? You're gonna continue to cook these delicious cakes, right?"
"I'll try, if I can find the right ingredients."
"You wouldn't be mad if I shared it with others, would you?"
"I guess not, but only if it's good! And if you, you know, do your poem thing?"
"Of course! This I vow!" Owain declared.
"Ooh, I'm so excited! Let me see if I can find some more ingredients to make something else, even a little bit."
Owain watched Noire run out of the tent with more energy than he could recall. But this was a good development because this helped him hatch a totally foolproof plan to convince Morgan of their fateful partneredness without him having to cook himself.
Morgan asked Owain to bring her some food he cooked. And if Owain brought her some cake that was cooked by Noire, Morgan would never know. Might not have been the most honest thing to do, but Owain really needed to get past this hurdle and this was much faster than actually learning to cook well. Besides, he could totally learn to cook in his free time after he proved to Morgan that he was her destined partner! Also, this course of action was totally something Robin would've approved of, whether now or in the future. Owain was pretty sure that completing the objective by any means necessary was one of the things Robin taught them in the future if the situation was dire enough. And what could be more dire than reuniting with his fateful and destined partner?
"Heya, Owain! I thought I heard your voice in here."
"Hoy there, Cynthia!" Owain greeted as his friend walked into the tent. "What brings you here, my fellow Justice Cabal companion?"
"I was just on my way to pick up my spear and pegasus before I heard shouting. Was that Noire that rushed out of here? She seemed in a good mood, which is rare for her."
"Oh yeah. I was just helping her out with something," Owain said casually. "Anyway, what's got you all gearing up?"
"I actually got wind that there may be some bandits lurking around ahead of us. Like around fifty! So the obvious thing to do is saddle up and meet them head-on so I can personally heroically smite them!"
"Hold up, you were going to charge them alone? Without backup?"
"Well duh. I—"
"More importantly, you were going to take on villainous villains without me?"
"Well I was going to do the whole 'solo heroine takes out an entire group of bandits' thing. But I guess it would be cooler if we do it together, Justice Cabal style."
"That's the spirit! The two of us, heroes of justice up against a world filled with villains and evildoers. And it'll be up to us to take them down and protect the innocent. And it'll be way better than fighting some Risen again. Man, I'm getting pumped up even talking about it!"
"Me too! Come, Owain, Scion of Legend, let us hop on Daisy and reign justice upon these bandits with the righteous fury of justice!"
"Heck yeah! Right behind you!"
"Ha!"
"Grr…"
Severa pulled her practice sword up just in time to block Morgan's strike.
There was a loud cracking sound when the sword connected.
"What was that?" Morgan asked, pausing her assault. "It didn't sound very good…"
"I…"
Morgan and Severa looked down at their swords, which had large cracks in them and promptly split in two.
"Well. I think that's a good a sign as any to end this session," Lucina announced, approaching the two. "I trust that you were both satisfied with the training?"
"Oh yeah. It was great! Severa here's a real good fighter!" Morgan tried to steady her breathing. "I think this did wonders for my sword training."
"Eh. She's not bad," Severa said, shrugging. "Definitely needs work, given how out of breath she is."
"Give her some credit, Severa," Lucina said. "Morgan hasn't fought much with her sword."
"And I think I did pretty good this first round!" Morgan added. "Although you're really something else. Don't hold back and everything! That round we did got me all tired and sweaty and gross..."
"Do you want to have a quick wash?" Lucina asked.
"I think I'll do that. Have to do some things with Dad later on and it wouldn't do anyone any good if I smell like a pile of sweaty laundry. Thanks, you guys! We should totally do this more often."
With that, Morgan ran off to the bathing tent to get the stink of training off of her.
"I hope that was enough for you?" Lucina said, watching Morgan leave.
"Hmph. She wasn't terrible, although there's a lot of room for improvement. But before I go on, is she gone?"
"Yes. Why?"
"Good." And without warning, Severa groaned and clung to Lucina for support.
"Severa?!" Lucina looked at her friend worriedly.
"Urgh, damn it. She hits deceptively hard for such a small kid!" Severa grit her teeth and clutched her side.
"What happened? You seemed okay just a second ago."
"Well duh! I couldn't let any weakness show while she was around! Gawds, imagine how that would've looked. I come in here and make a big show about challenging her only to writhe in pain after our session? You might as well kill me and my pride now."
"Are you going to be okay?"
"Not at this rate. I think she really did a number on me. Do you have any potions on you or something?"
"Sadly not. I might have to take you to the medical tent for that."
"Wonderful. Lead the way. Oh, and I'm going to have to use you as my crutch while we walk there because I'm feeling sore all over!"
"Then let us be off."
Lucina put Severa's arm over her shoulder and helped lead her friend to the healing tent.
"So I take it based on that session that you're happy with Morgan's performance?" Lucina asked.
"I'd be a lot happier when we spar for real." At Lucina's curious glance, Severa continued, "I mean, you said for me to take it easy on her, which is what I did. And because of that she took me by surprise by launching such an aggressive series of attacks. I'd have been in way better condition if I wasn't holding back."
"Of course," Lucina said in understanding.
"I'm serious! And I'm also serious when I say she does hit hard for such a small kid. And apparently takes her sparring almost as seriously as you do. I mean, did you see the state of our practice swords? That's how hard she was hitting! And if I wasn't busy holding back and blocking, she'd be in a much worse state than she was now. Urgh, holding back isn't a mistake I'll be making again…"
"I would advise against that, Severa."
"What? Why?"
"Because she means a lot to Robin and there is a reason he insists on training her himself. And that reason being," Lucina continued despite Severa's sour look, "because Robin wants to make sure that she doesn't get hurt while training. Some of us here, myself included, get a little too focused when we spar, resulting in injuries and visits to the healing tent. Much like right now, actually."
"Hmph."
"And since Morgan means so much to Robin, he would not take too kindly to her coming to him in such a state...or to whoever put her in such a state in the first place."
"Are you taking her side?"
"No. I'm simply offering a piece of advice, having spent a lot of time around the Robin of this time and observed his behavior around Morgan."
Severa frowned.
"Severa, I know it may be hard to understand and you probably don't even want to accept it, but Robin really cares for Morgan," Lucina said gently. "And he's very protective of her. And if you go out and spar with her and she may need a visit to the medical tent as a result, I fear that may severely color the way Robin looks at you. For the worse. And that may irreparably damage your relationship with him."
"Well what do you want me to do, Lucina? I can't really play nice with some girl who waltzes into his life claiming to be his daughter."
"Can…can you not try to at least get to know her?"
Severa looked at Lucina incredulously.
"She's very charming and likable. You might even become friends."
"Do you even hear yourself and how crazy what you're saying is?"
"It was merely a suggestion, Severa. It's better than disliking her for the entirety of your stay here, isn't it?"
"Look, let's just drop it. Just get me to the damn medical tent where I can get a potion to heal myself."
"Very well."
The two girls walked in silence for a moment.
"So what did you learn of Morgan's style?" Lucina asked after a few minutes.
"Definitely familiar. It's rough, but I can certainly see a blend of familiar styles and techniques there. She's got an aggressive style that focuses on speed. She closes the distance and tries to get as many hits in before her opponent can counter. And those hits hurt…"
"Interesting. I would like to see what she's capable of myself, actually. Hopefully she will feel ready to spar with me one of these days."
"Yeah, if she wants a trip straight to the medical tent, maybe."
Lucina blushed. "Come now, Severa, I'm not that bad."
"How many dummies did you break this week?"
"I...well…"
"Report," Robin, who was in an understandably bad mood, demanded.
"I have done a full inventory of our current remaining equipment and compared it to our last inventory check. I can confirm that the thief has taken about half of our weapons and several pieces of armor," Laurent said, looking down at his notes. "I have the exact breakdown per weapon and which armors with me, if you're interested."
"Give it here."
Laurent handed Robin his notes.
"...So we're down on swords, axes are more or less okay, and may or may not have enough lances, spears and bows," Robin said, frowning. "How did she even manage to steal so much? She was just one thief!"
"I believe that she may have found a nearby cart and loaded as much out of our equipment tent as she could before escaping with her ill-gotten gains."
"Great. Wonderful. Inigo is lucky Chrom convinced me not to kill him for this mess…" Robin muttered. "What of our reserves?"
"Reserves?"
"Yeah, you know. The reserve weapons stuffed in chests I keep with our food supplies out of a totally justified fear of something like this happening?"
Laurent stared at Robin blankly.
"Oh, you don't know. Well. Now you know! Anyway, I'm going to need you to see that those are still there. There was no reason for the thief to actually steal our food, but I'm not taking any chances with my luck. Oh, and here." Robin tossed Laurent a key ring. "Keys for the chests. If I remember correctly, I managed to stuff those chests with mostly swords and axes since spears and lances were too long to fit in them. So let me see the inventory list after you take into account our reserves."
"I will do so at once." Laurent said and made his way to the food storage tent.
It was incredible, really. Robin was an eccentric, loudmouthed and bumbling fool in the best of times. But just when Laurent started seriously questioning Robin's fitness for the job, he either proved himself through command during a battle or by showing surprising judgement and foresight when it came to unexpected situations, like right now. It was times like these that assuaged Laurent's fears and reassured him that despite Robin's quirks, they were in good hands.
"I should really punish him for this somehow…" Robin muttered to himself as he mentally went through the problems this little incident caused and how to fix them.
"Bah! Your stupidity is contagious!"
Robin snapped out of his thoughts just in time to see Gerome storm off.
"That child…"
"Hey, Frederick."
"Robin."
"What were you doing talking to Edgy Broodingson over there?"
"His name is Gerome, and I was hoping to get to know him better."
"Really? Him? And you?"
"Is it so surprising?"
"Well, yeah. Gerome always keeps to himself and actively avoids interacting with the rest of us. I don't see why anyone would want to get closer to him, least of all you. I mean, you have less reason to want to talk to him than most!"
"And why would that be?"
"Well, you know. Lissa and Sumia I can see wanting to talk to him, what with them being so friendly with everyone and stuff. You? Not so much, unless you want to train with him or something. And Gerome hardly talks to his own mother. I see no reason why he would want to talk to you of all people!"
"Ah, I see. Of course. That makes perfect sense." Frederick smiled politely, remembering that Robin wasn't the most observant of people when it came to interpersonal relationships.
"Anyway, I need your help," Robin said seriously. "You're aware of our little security breach today, right?"
Frederick immediately frowned. "Yes. It is unfortunate that Inigo is milord's son. If he was not, the punishment would be severe indeed for such a, shall we say, lapse in judgement."
"Oh, he'll get punishment, don't you worry. I just need to think of something cruel and unusual."
"Robin."
"But we'll talk about that another time. What I need from you, Frederick, is to redo our patrol schedule and security checks. I want all corners and exits to our camp covered at all times. No strangers are to be allowed on our premises without my written confirmation, is that clear?"
"What of milord? Or Olivia? Lucina?"
"I like them as much as you do, Frederick, but I don't trust their judgement enough for them to bring people into camp who may have ulterior motives."
"Robin, to second-guess the royal family is—"
"Need I remind you that this entire situation is the fault of Chrom's own son?" Robin asked pointedly.
"I...very well. Without your written permission, then. What shall I tell the others?"
"Just as it is. If anyone wants to bring someone to camp, they either don't, or they run this person by me. The only exception is Anna since she's our supplier and knows better than to rob her best clients."
"I will do so at once."
"Thank you, Frederick. Oh, and have someone do a maintenance check on our weapons, will you? I want them to be in the best possible condition until we get replacements."
Frederick nodded and departed.
"Good. Now..."
"Hey, Robin! I want to be yer boy, and I want you to make me a man!" Brady exclaimed, running up to the grandmaster.
It took Robin several moments to try to understand those words and that they were directed at him.
"...What?"
"I want you to be the boss what keeps me in line! Remember? We talked about this! I've been looking for someone I could lay my life down for in this here army. A mentor! A big cheese who shows me the ropes!"
"...Right. Gods. We did talk about that, didn't we?"
"We sure did, and I decided YOU'RE gonna be that someone! Sure, you're not exactly the gruff, manly type, and 'gravitas' ain't a word I'd use... But what you said before, about seeing a clear path? It kinda got me right here."
"Okay…? But I don't know if I'm the sort of superhuman you're looking for...or have the time to do...whatever it is you want me to do."
"Whoa, whoa. Hold it right there!" Brady said, alarmed. "A boss has gotta ACT like a boss, you know? Have some bravado. Some swagger! Never play modest, especially in front of the boys! Now, let's try this again. Lay some orders on me, boss! Lemme have it!"
"What do you want me to do, Brady?" Robin asked tiredly.
"Put me to work! Send me on errands! Whatever ya needs! If anyone in this camp's givin' you lip, lemme smack 'em around. Fellas? Dames? Old ladies? Don't matter none to ol' Brady!"
"That's...wow."
"When you walk around camp, I'll be one step ahead, clearin' your path. When you go to eat, I'll shoo people away from your special table!"
"It's starting to sound like you want a gang kingpin, not a mentor," Robin remarked.
"Exactly! You'd be the boss, which would make me your second! All I ask is that ya worked me ragged. If I can draw my last breath after taking an arrow for ya, I'll be happy!"
"There's a lot to unpack there, but the most obvious thing in this totally hypothetical situation is that you won't be my second."
"...What, I don't make the cut? Not good enough to be one of your boys?"
"Uh, no. You can't ever be second by virtue of Morgan. She's my daughter and my pride and joy and aspires to be just like me and knows how I operate, so if we were to start a gang, she would naturally be my second."
"Ah. Yeah, I see where you're comin' from. Guess a lowly goon can't compete with the ol' flesh and blood, eh? So where would sit on the pole, then?"
"Well that would depend on several factors such as who else is in my gang, how long they were in, their experience, skills…" Robin glanced toward Brady, who had an eager expression on his face. "I don't know, Brady. But since you'd be the newest member of the gang, you'd probably start off at the very bottom."
"Bottom, huh?"
"Yeah. At the grunt level."
"I guess that makes sense. You can't really trust the new kid with a position of power and responsibility. I gotta prove myself worthy of a title."
"Exactly! …Wait, no, that's not—"
"Then put me to work, boss! Let me prove to ya that I'm worthy of a title! I'll do chores, shake people down, rough some folks up, you name it. Throw any ol' menial task at me and I'll get it done! I'll get it done so well you'll be graduatin' me to, I dunno, peon or somethin' in no time!"
"...You're not going to leave me alone unless I agree, are you?"
"Do you want me to leave you alone, boss? 'Cause I can scupper off faster than—"
"N-no, don't do that. Just, I don't know…"
"Yeah, boss?! Whaddya need? Just name it!"
"Let me think for a second!" Robin tried to come up with a way of using this without telling Brady to get lost or making him an annoyance. "I got it."
"Yeah? Yeah?"
"How goes the magic training?"
"Magic trainin'? Okay, I suppose. Pa's a real good, patient teacher, despite me not bein' all that of a student. Still, feel like I'm makin' progress. Baby steps and all that. Ma, on the other hand, that's a doozie. Tries teachin' me magic while drillin' all that noble malarkey. Gotta stand up straight when I cast spells, not slouch when readin' my spellbook." Brady frowned. "It's a real pain."
"Then it sounds perfect."
"Huh?"
"Your first task if you want to join my gang, should you accept it, is to learn all you can from your parents about magic and get good at it. Basically become a good mage."
"Oof. You're really startin' out rough, ain't you?"
"Brady, do you just expect me to accept any random schmuck that comes off the street and asks to join my gang? It's my gang, Brady. We have standards and accept a certain type of person, that type of person being the best person. And the best people can usually fight. No offense to you, but you're not really the fighting type, are you?"
"I...guess I ain't, yeah…" Brady admitted reluctantly.
"Exactly. You're a healer. A very scary looking healer, but a healer nonetheless. And I understand that you're not the most physically strong, either. So without the physical strength, what do you have?"
"Uh...magic?"
"Exactly. Magic. Or magic potential, at least. So while you may not be the toughest, sturdiest person on the planet, you can be a good mage. And that might just qualify you to be able to join my awesome gang."
"I see. So I can't join you while I'm all weak and pathetic now, but I got a shot once I can hold my own in the magic department, eh?"
"Exactly. So tell me, Brady, are you determined enough, man enough, badass enough to get good at magic and join my gang?!"
"You bet I am! Just you watch, Robin, I'll devote all my time learnin' the ins and outs of magic. I'll spend every waking moment hittin' the books and trainin' grounds if I have to! The next time I come to you, I'll be such a darn good mage that you'll be beggin' me to join your crew!" Brady declared, fire in his eyes.
"That's the spirit, Brady! Now go and be the mage that you think you should be to be considered good enough to join my gang and for me to take you under my wing!"
"Yeah!"
Brady saluted before running off somewhere.
"That should motivate him somewhat," Robin muttered. "...I really hope he doesn't come back with this whole gang thing. Otherwise I've just accidentally started my own gang which I'm going to have to follow up on…"
Robin was about to continue with his tasks for the day when he smelled something foul in the air.
"Why the hell does it smell like swamp in the middle of camp…?"
Following the scent, Robin turned and saw a strange sight.
"I still can't believe that just happened!" Cynthia cried.
"I know! We were so ready to rush off and smite the villains and all we found was something dark and wet and disgusting!" Owain said.
"What the hell happened to you two, why are you covered in muck, and why do you look like you've just come back from wading through a sewer?"
Both Owain and Cynthia froze, turning slowly to see Robin standing there, a bemused look on his face.
"Uh, hail there, Robin!" Owain was the first one to speak. "You have caught us returning from a glorious and highly successful raid against a horde of bandits! This is just our, uh, usual smell and look after a glorious victory!"
Robin raised a brow. "Really? A horde of bandits? How come I wasn't aware of this?"
"Well, uh, the intel was brand new so we thought—"
"And instead of telling me of this new info and waiting for my orders and plan of attack, you two just, what, went off to face them? On your own? Just the two of you?"
"Two highly trained and motivated warriors of justice will overcome any obstacle or foe, no matter how many of them there are!" Cynthia declared confidently.
"...You do realize how ridiculous that is, right? Moreover, do you realize how absolutely reckless it was for you two to just run off to fight a bunch of enemies along, without telling anyone or any backup?"
"The two of us are more than enough to handle some smelly bandits! We have truth, justice, and awesome catch phrases on our side!"
"And with the wind at our backs and conviction in our hearts, we rode forth to smite the evildoers with our mighty weapons! The enemy had no chance against our deadly duo and combo moves such as The Crimson Flash and The Desert Tiger!" Owain said.
"And we were so pumped up that we went into the enemy at full speed! You know, to take them by surprise with our speed and power? And that strategy would've totally worked if there wasn't a giant swamp there!" Cynthia shivered. "We charged in and couldn't stop in time... Next thing we knew, we were stuck and...and...and it was not heroic in the slightest!"
"It was wet and smelly and gross is what it was…" Owain sighed.
"And the enemy?" Robin asked.
"Not a one. Must've misheard the reports or something," Cynthia said. "Man, it was awful. We were stuck in the mud and it took us forever to get out!"
"I guess you're lucky there were actually no enemies. You would have been like fish in a barrel, mired in that swamp," Robin noted.
"I guess…" Cynthia shook her head. "The worst part is that I had a REALLY good victory line picked out for when I won! Now it's totally wasted…"
"And we spent so much time coming up with the perfect ones, too…" Owain added, looking as dejected as Cynthia.
"You think that is the worst part of this misadventure?" Robin asked incredulously.
"Well, that and the fact that we're all wet and gross and covered in mud," Cynthia said.
Robin closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
It seemed like today was one of those days where a lot of stupid and/or annoying things happened that all required his attention and he didn't have the patience to deal with them all in quick succession.
"Okay," Robin finally managed to say when he came to the conclusion he didn't have the time to properly tell these two off for what they did. "You two, go and wash the stench of swamp off yourselves before you end up spreading the stink to the entire camp. I've got several critically important things to deal with, but remind me of this little stunt once I'm done. We are going to have a long discussion on procedures of enemy engagement and what to do when we receive new intel on enemy troop movements and locations!"
Robin then walked off without waiting for a reply.
"Wow. That wasn't as bad as I thought it would be," Cynthia said as she watched Robin walk away. "Dad would've given us a very long and stern talking to if we pulled that in the future!"
"But he would've congratulated us on a job well done if there were bandits for us to vanquish! ...And if we didn't rush into and get bogged down in a swamp. If that stuff didn't happen, we would've beat the bandits back to wherever they came from and reported back on our successful mission and been showered with praise and pie!" Owain said.
"Oh totally. We would've kicked their butts!" Cynthia agreed. "But now that I think about it, maybe we should've at least told someone what we were going to do. Although we were filled to the brim with our heroic zeal, Dad always said it was never a good idea to go off on an engagement alone and without telling your allies. Because what if things go south then you're on your own without any friends to help you...and now that I'm remembering that, I feel really bad about what we just did."
"Cheer up, my Justice Cabal companion!" Owain said, putting his arm around Cynthia's shoulder. "Our luck stat must be close to maximum since everything worked out despite our less than ideal planning situation and end result. Besides, we'll get a chance to prove ourselves next time. Oh, and use those cool victory lines we've thought up!"
"Yeah! Thanks, Owain." Cynthia smiled. "Now let's actually take Dad's advice and get washed up before this stink sticks to us."
"—a nutshell, that sums up the changes around here in light of the recent security breach," Robin concluded.
"Really? In writing?" Chrom said. "Isn't that a bit much?"
"If you want to risk some other thief stealing our remaining weapons and plans, be my guest. I, meanwhile, want to concentrate on preventing any such breaches in the future," Robin replied, giving his friend a dirty look.
"But won't that slow things down? Like what happens if we want to speak to our allies?"
"Then I need a list of everyone who we want to invite and who we don't know. Besides, our list of allies is a bit short at the moment. Aside from Say'ri and Anna, who do we invite to camp?"
"I suppose that's true…"
"Then that's that. And you'd better hope we don't have to fight before I manage to sort out our sudden equipment shortage. Because if I get wind of enemy troop movements ahead and we're short on weapons, there's a good chance that Inigo's going to wind up having to fight the enemy without a sword."
"Let's hope it doesn't come to that and we'll get to our destination without having to fight, shall we?" Cordelia said, trying to change the subject and get the conversation back to the topic at hand.
Robin just grunted.
"My, a skillful redirect from the lovely Cordelia if ever I saw one," Virion spoke up in his usual fashion. "Why, if we were not in the middle of a strategy meeting, I would—"
"Topic at hand, Virion."
"Er, right. Well." The archer cleared his throat and rolled out a map. "We have now officially crossed into Rosanne and are making good progress. Provided there are no unexpected surprises, we should be on track as per Robin's schedule."
"What's the situation on the ground?" Morgan asked, pre-empting Robin.
"After I had left my homeland to seek allies against Walhart, it seems like the local lords formed a council to govern the land in my stead."
"Wait, how do you know this? I thought everyone hated your guts after they thought you abandoned them?" Robin questioned.
Virion chuckled. "My dear Robin, you give me too little credit. I still have contacts inside the country who I can trust and who in turn have seen the reasons behind my actions."
"So you have friends and inside information? Good. That sounds like it could be very helpful."
"Very helpful indeed. My sources say that there was no real enthusiasm for Walhart or his cause. The nobles only submitted to his will because they did not want to lose their lands and be replaced by Walhart's men."
"I'll take whatever I can get at this point. What else?"
"Due to the fact that Rosanne capitulated without any fighting, its population was spared the horrors of war and remained relatively intact. And due to the ambivalence of the governing council to Walhart, they have only sent the bare minimum required of them to reinforce Walhart's armies."
"I'm guessing they were stationed here in the south?"
"That is correct. Under the command of Yen'fay like the rest of the southern portion of his army."
"Wait a minute, we totally destroyed that army at the volcano," Morgan spoke up while making notes. "Does that mean…?"
"Sadly yes, that included the troop contribution from Rosanne," Virion confirmed. "However, the bright side is that Rosanne has a vast and relatively intact army due to its minimal contribution to Walhart's armies and the fact that there was no conflict to resist the Valmese advance."
"A vast and relatively intact army that we could use to fight Walhart as soon as we liberate the country," Chrom concluded.
"Exactly."
"So how can we turn these armies and the country's ambivalence into support for us? From what you're telling us, it sounds like no one wants to rock the boat and keep the status quo as long as they keep their privileges," Robin said.
"Sadly yes, most do find it more comfortable to keep things as they are instead of risking their comfortable existences resisting Walhart. It does not help that they know that he's taking a sizeable portion of his remaining army here."
"So…?"
"So most of them sit, watch, and wait. Make no mistake, they do detest Walhart's agents in their lands and having to contribute ever more of their tax revenues to fund the Valmese war machine. The citizenry equally resent the ever increasing taxes that they do not see the benefit of. So while I do have my contacts and they are all too willing to cast off the yoke of the Valmese, they have not the courage to do so alone. What they wait for is an opportunity…"
"I feel like I've heard this story before…" Morgan mumbled.
"An opportunity like, say, their historical ally and neighbor suddenly rising up and liberating itself from all Valmese influence?" Robin said, grinning.
Virion nodded. "Precisely. A successful rebellion in Chon'sin should be more than enough to motivate the nobles in Rosanne to openly oppose the Valmese as well."
"And with us there to help them along, we'll make sure this little transition of power goes smoothly," Robin said. "Bravo, Virion. Your grand strategizing and forward thinking puts me to shame. Not only did you throw your entire reputation away to save your people when you left your homeland, you actually ensured that Rosanne would have plenty of men for our cause when we would come and liberate it, as well as providing us with extremely valuable intel on the situation in the country."
Virion bowed. "I am just a humble—"
"Yes, yes you are. Now let's skip the part where you humble brag and discuss our plans," Robin interrupted, rolling out a map. "Say'ri and Flavia should be gathering their forces and marching to Chon'sin's capital. By my calculations, they should be there in…
So it was decided that Virion would use his contacts to get them a meeting with the most powerful and influential lords in Rosanne so they could discuss the country's liberation. Of course, that meant they had to time this thing with Say'ri's march to free Chon'sin and coordinate the entire operation so that it all happened more or less simultaneously, otherwise they'd miss the initiative if Chon'sin threw off the yoke of Valmese oppression and Rosanne just sat there.
So this was a complicated mix of timing, planning, politics, and coordination. Luckily Robin was good at three of those things and had Virion to handle the politics.
As he was going through his plans and trying to figure out how to solve their little equipment issue, Robin didn't notice someone walking up to him.
"Ha! Found you!"
"Hm?" Robin snapped out of his thoughts and frowned. "Oh. Severa. What do you want?"
"Don't play dumb with me. I may have missed the meeting due to circumstances that totally weren't my fault, but I'm here with an answer to your little question."
"...What question?"
It was Severa's turn to frown. "Really going all in on that playing dumb thing, huh? Remember last time we had the meeting and you ran through several scenarios and engagements with the enemy and that stuff?"
"Vaguely. And then you got upset for some reason and went off to see if you could do better than me. Spoilers: you can't, by the way," Robin said as he kept walking, not really having time for this nonsense.
"Try me," Severa retorted, following him. "To recap, the scenario you ran was that the enemies retreated and you decided it was best to let them go."
"Yes, because in that scenario we already had an engagement with them once and to pursue them meant we would've been chasing them up into some mountains. I hope you see why that would be problematic."
"Fine. I suppose you may have had a point, but how about this: we let the main force rest, but send a small strike force of your best fighters. That way, you minimize risk while also having the best chance of killing the foe. What do you think about that?!" Severa said, smirking.
"Well you've clearly given this some thought, so credit where credit is due, I guess. Although there's a good chance you just sent our best forces to chase stragglers up a mountain and right into a trap. And now they're all dead."
"H-hey! You didn't say anything about traps!"
"Without knowing anything about the path ahead, sending anyone is a risk, doubly so for rugged terrain such as mountains," Robin explained patiently.
"Yeah, and so that's why you send your best men and minimize casualties!" Severa countered.
"So instead of risking the lives of everyone in the army, I risk the lives of my best people? Not good enough."
"Not good enough?!"
"Not good enough. Because in this hypothetical scenario, my best soldiers are going to be Chrom, Lucina, Lon'qu, Frederick and...if I had to pick, probably Gregor. And they're going to be tired from the first round of fighting. And now you're telling me I have to send them chasing after our retreating enemy up a mountain where they may be ripe for an ambush? And what would happen if it was an ambush, huh? Best troops though they may be, they're still tired and caught up a mountain without support. That's not a good scenario no matter how you slice it. So now not only have I lost my best units, I've also lost my best friends." Robin shook his head. "So no, Severa, while you do get points for effort, it's still not good enough."
Severa grit her teeth but remained silent.
"But you didn't do too badly for someone not versed in tactics. I can respect that."
Severa felt a swelling of pride in her chest and had to look away lest Robin noticed how pleased she looked.
"Why do you even care?" Robin asked. "I've kept my friends alive long enough for them to not doubt my plans or the reasoning behind them."
"That's exactly why. Someone has to keep you sharp and on your toes to prevent you from getting complacent. Having someone critically examine your work brings a fresh perspective and a point of view you may not have considered. It's...something my father taught me."
"That actually makes sense, but you don't need to worry about that."
"What? Why?"
"Because I have Morgan. She may not be a tactician on my caliber, but she's definitely getting there. Working in the same field as I do, so she gets what I'm talking about, thus saving me the time to explain things to her. But just because she's my daughter doesn't mean she takes everything I say as being right. Let me tell you, she asks a lot of questions that really make me think about my plans and her suggestions are sound, even if not always what we need. So yes, Morgan acts as my tactical check. She asks questions, makes suggestions, points out any issues that she spots, and definitely brings another perspective," Robin chucked, remembering Morgan's more outlandish suggestions. "She's also curious and as sharp as Falchion and just plain adorable."
"Oh my gawds! It always has to be about her, doesn't it!?"
Robin almost jumped at Severa's outburst.
"I was just trying to help and then you go on and on about how Morgan is all you ever need. And what was that before about you respecting me? You were making fun of me, weren't you?! Well I'm sorry I was trying to be helpful and that I'm not as smart or perfect as Morgan!"
And with that, Severa stormed off.
"Yikes. And here I thought she was beginning to be tolerable…" Robin muttered. Severa seemed to be a huge ball of issues wrapped in a caustic personality that for some reason always sought Robin out to yell at him. He might have to tell her to stop doing that since Robin really didn't have the time or patience to deal with her. Also talking to her never ceased to put Robin in a bad mood.
"248... 249... 250…"
"Hm?"
Robin was about to walk away when he saw Olivia looking down at something.
"Phew, that's all of 'em! ...Still a long way to go, though…"
"What are you doing, Olivia?"
"EEK!" Olivia let out a startled yelp.
"Oh, whoops. Sorry! I didn't mean to startle you."
"Oh. It's okay, Robin," Olivia said, trying to calm herself down. "I just didn't see you there."
"That was some reaction. It's like I caught you stealing or something!" Robin laughed. "Anyway, what's in that bag you're holding?"
"Hm? Bag? What bag? Ooooooh, THIS bag! Er, it's nothing really. Just a few coins…" Olivia said evasively.
Robin raised a brow. "Keeping a secret stash, are you? What's it for, Spirit Dust? Because let me tell you, you really don't want to be hitting that stuff too—"
"It's money I've been saving out of my wages, I'll have you know! Sheesh. 'Secret stash' indeed. You make it sound so sinister."
"Sorry. Didn't mean to imply anything untoward. Still, it's very impressive. It takes real dedication to save on a soldier's pay."
Olivia smiled. "Oh! Thank you, Robin. Such praise means quite a lot coming from you…"
"Well I do consider myself somewhat of an expert in the subject," Robin said, puffing with pride. "Did you know that I not only balanced Ylisse's budget during the interwar—"
"Aaaaaaaaanyway, I've got to run. I'm on mess duty tonight. You know what they say, right? A hungry Shepherd is a big jerk!" Olivia said quickly before starting to make her way out.
"...That's not directed at me, is it? Because I'm only slightly more irritable than usual when I'm hungry!" Robin shouted after Olivia before looking down. "...Ah! Olivia, wait! You dropped your secret stash!"
"Will you PLEASE stop calling it that?! You make it sound like I stole it or something. People will get suspicious!"
"Well, whatever you want to call it, you're losing it as we speak! Look at all the coins rolling down the hill!"
"ARRRGH! Why do coins have to be so darn round!"
Robin watched in confused amusement as Olivia scrambled to collect her coins.
"Do you, uh, need my help with collecting you not-stash?"
"Who the hell does he think he is?!" Severa fumed as she walked in no particular direction. "And her! Just shows up out of nowhere and says she's his daughter and gets showered with affection! And she just happens to be good at tactics and...and…!"
"Hel-lo, Severa!" Inigo called out, running to catch up with her. "Looking good, lass!"
Severa said nothing, really not being in the mood for Inigo's nonsense.
"Oh ho! There's nothing hotter than a cold shoulder!"
Unfortunately for Severa, Inigo didn't sense the rays of disdain radiating from her. Or if he did, he completely ignored them.
"You're an idiot." Severa stated flatly. "You think anything with a skirt looks good. Your compliments have lost all meaning."
"Ah! Her melodious voice rings out at last! Now if I can just get a smile, I can die happy!" Inigo said.
"You can die quickly if you don't shut up!" Severa snapped. "Now stop wasting your breath. I'm not the sort of floozy to swoon over a cowpile of trite flattery."
"Aw, come on! Saying someone looks good is just like saying hi!"
"Do you say Chrom 'looks good' when you see him? Or Frederick? No! You don't! It's just girls! Gods, this is…" Severa really wasn't in the mood for this. "Look, I don't have time to deal with your weird sexist world. Later."
"S-Severa! Darling! Wait!" Inigo cried out. "Aaaaaand she's gone. Geez. You'd think a lady could take a compliment…"
"I really don't have time for this…" Severa grumbled once she was clear of Inigo. Although she did admit that Inigo's little distraction helped take her mind off what just happened with Robin. ...And now that she was thinking about it, she was in a bad mood again.
What Severa needed to do was take her mind off it again, but how…?
Just then, Severa spotted Gerome walking from the training grounds.
"Heh. Perfect." Severa grinned, running up to him. "Hey, you there! Gerome! Stop!"
"Yes?"
"I want to know why you wear that stupid mask everywhere," Severa said once she caught up.
"My mask is not stupid. Nor is it your concern," Gerome responded coolly.
"Says you! But I'm the one who has to look at it all the time! It makes you look like a mime or a burglar or an acrobat or something. It's totally weird, and everyone thinks you should take it off."
"I doubt you speak for everyone."
"Whatever! Are you going to take off your dumb bandit mask or not?"
"You should spend less of your time worrying about others. The mask stays."
And Gerome walked off without saying anything further.
"Hey, where do you think you're going? I'm not finished with you!" Severa shouted. "Oooooh! Who does that dumb acrobat think he is, walking out on me like that?!"
So much for her plan to distract herself from the disaster that was several minutes ago.
Severa looked at the training grounds.
Maybe hitting some dummies to let off some steam would do the trick. And she had a lot of steam to let off!
"Hey, Severa! Whatcha doing?"
Great. This was something else that Severa didn't need at this moment in time.
"Not now, Cynthia. I'm not in the mood."
"Wow, no kidding. You look even grumpier than usual," Cynthia remarked. "What happened?"
"Like I said, I'm not in the mood," Severa grumbled, picking up a practice sword. She then glanced over at Cynthia. "Why're you in such a good mood?"
"I always feel good after a nice wash," Cynthia said simply. At Severa's questioning look, she continued, "I may have had to wash myself due to a little mishap that may or may not have been my fault. But hey, I totally avoided getting a scolding from Dad!"
"That's what's got you in such a good mood?"
"I mean, yeah, he did tell us how dumb we were for the thing that we did and it makes me feel bad we decided to do the thing we did in hindsight, but no scolding and/or lectures on why the thing we did was stupid! And I count that as a win in my book!"
"...We?"
"Me and Owain."
"I should've known it'd be that idiot pulling something dumb…"
"Anyway," Cynthia decided to change the subject. "What's up? How's your investigation going?"
Severa frowned.
"That bad, huh?"
"Was going fine until we got on the topic of Morgan and he just sang her praises to the high heavens. Like, what the hell? She has maybe some skill in tactics and a similar tactician's coat and suddenly she's all the rage. And he gushes about her right in front of me! Right after I offered my answer in response to that tactical scenario he handed me. Can you believe that?!"
"...We're talking about Robin, right?"
Severa glared.
"I just wanted to make sure!" Cynthia said defensively, raising her hands. "So what'd you find out about Morgan, then? I take it from your reaction that Dad seems to like her a bunch."
"Yeah, him and everyone in camp it seems…" Severa mumbled. "And I tried to see what she can do by challenging her to a little sparring match today."
"And?"
"And she hits really hard for someone so short!" Severa exclaimed, rubbing her side. "Lucina asked me to take it easy on her and the thanks I get in return is a few cracked ribs and a lot of bruises."
"She really did that much on you, huh?"
"It was only because I was holding back," Severa said dismissively. "Next time I won't let my guard down and really put her through her paces!"
"Huh. Okay, so she's a pretty good fighter, then?"
"She can at least hold her own. Although I'd be surprised if she couldn't, given that she's been with the group for a while now."
"Okay. What else?"
"Hey, don't you go relying on me for all your Morgan related info! I have things I have to do so I can't keep my eye on her all day, you know."
"Well it's a good thing I'm here to help you with that, then!"
"What?"
"If you don't have the time to keep an eye on Morgan for anything sketchy, I'll help you do it. I was supposed to be busy trying to see what's up with Dad in this time, but I got a little distracted. Oh! Why don't we combine our efforts and go follow Morgan together?"
"Cynthia, I don't need your help to—"
"Yeah, yeah! This is gonna be so cool!" Cynthia nodded enthusiastically. "Just like when we were kids and solved crimes together!"
"When have we ever— "
"Come on!"
"What the—hey, let go of me!"
"Look, there she is," Cynthia said, peeking around the tent they were standing behind.
"I see that," Severa replied dryly.
"Hiya, Gregor!" Morgan greeted cheerfully.
"Oy, is Robin's daughter! Looking brighter than sun as always, eh?"
"Now that you mention it, I do feel pretty radiant today…"
"Oh ho, little Morgan's good mood is making Gregor feel better!" The mercenary laughed heartily. "Say, has Morgan seen Panne anywhere?"
"Panne? I think she was by the cooking tent. Was mumbling something about having extra carrots or something. Why?"
"Gregor have to be talking with Panne. Have something very important to discuss and ask." Gregor nodded gravely. "Gregor thank Morgan for the directions!"
"Sure thing. Bye!" Morgan waved as Gregor left.
"Doesn't seem she's doing anything suspicious…" Cynthia remarked.
"Well she's not just going to pull something right in the middle of camp where everyone can see," Severa said, rolling her eyes.
"Wait, look!" Cynthia suddenly exclaimed.
Both girls saw Morgan looking around before darting off somewhere.
"She's totally up to something now," Cynthia stated matter-of-factly.
"What makes you say that?"
"Didn't you see how she looked around to make sure that no one was watching her? That was totally the sideways glance of someone who was looking around to make sure no one was there before doing something they know they shouldn't be doing! I've done my fair share in my youth."
"I don't think Morgan is going to sneak into the kitchen to steal cookies," Severa said tartly. "But it was pretty weird how she just decided to run off all of a sudden. Come on, let's see where she was going all of a sudden."
"Right behind you!"
The two girls made sure to keep their distance and out of sight while following Morgan.
"What is she doing…?" Severa muttered.
"Hey, isn't that Dad's tent?"
"I think so...and she just went inside!"
"Ha! We totally got her dead to rights! Let's go catch her in the act of doing whatever it is she's doing in there!
Severa and Cynthia both ran into Robin's tent after Morgan.
"AH HA!"
"GAH!"
Morgan was so surprised that she threw the bag she was holding in the air.
"Wha—oof!"
And didn't catch it fast enough before it fell and hit her in the face.
"Ow…" Morgan rubbed her nose and picked up her bag. "Oh, hey, guys! What's with all the barging in and the shouting? You could really give someone a heart attack!"
"Or catch them in an act of sabotage!" Severa retorted.
"...Or that, although I'm not sure how effective getting the drop on your potential saboteur would be against just apprehending him."
"Wha—?" Severa shook her head. "Don't try to change the subject!"
"But you're the one who brought it up."
"Enough of your mind games! Don't try to talk your way out of this!"
"Yeah! It doesn't change the fact that we caught you red-handed!" Cynthia added. "...What were you doing, anyway?"
Severa whipped around to give Cynthia an incredulous look.
"What? This is the part where the culprit monologues about their plans and tells us exactly what those plans were now that we, the heroes, have ruined said plans."
"I…" Severa facepalmed. "I really hope you don't think this is how real life works…"
Morgan looked at the two girls in utter confusion.
"A-anyway, you better—"
Severa was interrupted as the tent's flap was pushed aside.
"What the…?" Robin paused. "Why are there suddenly so many people in my tent?"
"Hi, Dad!" Morgan waved. "I was just, uh, looking for something. Severa and Cynthia came here because they were looking for something too…?"
"No, what we were doing was—"
"Well whatever you were looking for, get in line," Robin said, pushing through and heading to his desk. "And as this is my tent, I'm first in line to search for...great. Where the hell did I put that thing?"
"What're you looking for, Dad?" Morgan asked.
"One of my tactical books…" Robin muttered, looking at his desk in frustration. "Where is it? I always keep it right here!"
"That treatise on tactics, Dad? Blue cover? Fairly thick?"
"Exactly. Now where…" Robin paused. "Waaait a minute."
All eyes fell on the young tactician.
"Yep!" Morgan confirmed with a smile. "I hid it! Think you can find it?"
"Heh. This today's challenge, then?"
"It's somewhere in camp—I'll tell you that," Morgan said enthusiastically. "You have until sundown today! Though I could give you weeks and you'll never…"
Robin's mind quickly spun into action and ran through various possible scenarios and locations. As he was thinking, his eyes fell on his daughter and the bag she was holding.
"...because of my diabolical hiding—"
"Found it."
"WHAT?!"
"It's in the bag you're holding, isn't it?"
"...No?"
"Guess I win this round," Robin said, smirking.
"How did you figure it out so fast?" Morgan asked, handing the book to Robin.
"You know me well, Morgan. And that includes knowing how much that book means to me. I knew you'd never hide it anywhere it might be damaged or stolen. So it needed to be somewhere you could keep a close eye on it...yet still concealed," Robin explained.
"You read my entire thought process!" Morgan deflated. " ...And here I thought I was being so clever."
"You'll have to get up pretty early in the morning to get one over me," Robin said with self-satisfaction. Then he saw how bummed out Morgan looked. "All right, that settles today's challenge. Now come on."
"Huh?"
"I wanted to check the book and run a few scenarios. After that, I'll need help on making notes and getting my thoughts down on what we need to do to solve some of our urgent problems." Robin smiled. "You want to help me out?"
"You bet!" Morgan said enthusiastically.
"Now that we've got that settled, why don't we—?" Robin looked up only to see his tent was empty. "Hey, where did the other girls go?"
— Somewhere outside the tent —
"Well that was a bust," Cynthia said.
"No kidding. We rushed in to find something shady only to walk into some kind of challenge thing."
"Yeah, and it was all wrong, too. I remember we were usually on the other side of that. Dad usually made games out of hiding our stuff for scavenger hunts and stuff. Remember? During birthdays or special events or just sometimes when there was nothing better for us to do? We spent hours running around the castle grounds looking for clues on where our stuff was. It was supposed to improve our observational and critical thinking skills or something, but it was also a bunch of fun!"
Severa grunted. "And now we walk in Morgan trying to do exactly that. Damn it! Guess we'll have to keep a closer eye on her for when she does actually try to pull something."
"I'll help as much as I can!" Cynthia said. "In the meantime, good luck!"
"Wha—? You're ditching me?!"
"Yeah, sorry about that, but Mom promised to teach me some lance techniques and aerial maneuvers! Can you believe that? Getting pointers from Mom! The only way this could've been better was if I could actually tell her the truth…" Cynthia sighed. "But I'm sure we can do that eventually. Then I have to do some things and make up an excuse to hang out with Dad to see what's up with him and why he's so weird. Bye!"
And Cynthia ran off before Severa could stop or yell at her.
"Damn it. Alone again…"
Severa sighed.
She supposed she couldn't blame Cynthia for wanting to spend time with her mother. That girl was always so open and friendly and just went for it. Not like Severa, who thought about spending time with her mother too, but then remembered all the issues she had and ended up not doing that. It was probably for the best, though. All the things Severa wanted to say to her mother related to, well, Cordelia being her mother. Severa didn't think she could have a normal conversation with Cordelia until Cordelia knew the truth.
Robin was a man who won wars, crafted brilliant tactics, and generally solved problems. Yet as he stood in the cooking tent with a knife in one hand, staring blankly at the ingredients in front of him, one question kept on returning to his mind that he could not for the life of him solve.
"...Why the hell am I on cooking duty?"
Because as the drafter of the roster and every Shepherd's duties around camp, Robin made sure to carefully craft that thing to ensure that every Shepherd did what they were good at and were kept very far away from what they were bad at. It was an especially painful lesson learned after he either didn't pay attention or thought it was somehow a good idea to let Sully do the cooking. Robin's stomach ached even thinking back on it. Even Vaike and Chrom weren't that bad!
So yes. Sully, Chrom, Vaike (and later, Kjelle) were to be kept very far away from the kitchen or anything that resembled cooking for others. Gaius could participate but only under strict supervision when making desserts (too much damn sugar otherwise) and either Cordelia, Sumia, Olivia, Stahl, or Cherche were required to be present in the cooking tent when making meals at any one time. There was no way Robin was risking a meal going terribly wrong by not having at least one of the most capable chefs in the camp to supervise the cooking.
As for himself, Robin discovered that cooking wasn't one of his strong points. Of the times he tried, he ended up either making something that tasted like dishwater or tasted...off. People didn't tell him what exactly "off" meant, but it wasn't "good." It wasn't terrible like Chrom's cooking or almost fatal like Sully's, but it wasn't great. Barely passable, which might as well be a failure.
So Robin understood that cooking was not one of his many skills and kept himself out of the kitchen. And he drafted the roster to ensure that he (along with the other terrible cooks in camp) was never on cooking duty. His roster was optimised to take advantage of everyone's strengths for duties at camp while keeping them away from things they sucked at. It was perfect, flawless, and optimal! It was so perfect that no one was allowed to change their duties for the day with anyone else except in super exceptional circumstances and without his prior written authorization. The last thing they needed was people changing their tasks and suddenly finding Kjelle on cooking duty!
So given his ironclad planning and rostering skills, Robin had no idea how he found himself on cooking duty. Worse, he had no idea what he was supposed to do.
"Okay. I guess I just...cook. Nothing to worry about. I can do this. I'm not Sully or anything. Okay. Deep breaths…"
"Well what do we have here?"
Robin turned to see Cordelia standing at the tent's entrance, a look of surprise on her face.
"Robin in the cooking tent again? I thought you recused yourself from cooking forever after the disaster that was Spicy Meatloaf Monday."
"Hey! First of all, it wasn't a 'disaster'!" Robin retorted, genuinely offended. "I just decided to take a few liberties with the recipe and add additional teaspoons of all those spices with the funny names. And I think it turned out—"
"Robin, some of us couldn't taste anything for days," Cordelia said flatly.
"Well it's not my fault your palettes aren't refined enough to appreciate exotic dishes!" Robin huffed. "Besides, it's not like I landed any of you in the medical tent."
"I suppose that's true, albeit an extremely low bar…" Cordelia shuddered, thinking back at when they allowed Kjelle to cook for them. "But really, I thought you assigned yourself out of cooking duty for good after that. Have you decided to give it another shot?"
"I have no idea. I thought I did too and I know I would never assign myself to cooking duty, but somehow…" Robin paused. "Hey, wait, why are you here? If I recall correctly, you're not on cooking duty until a few days from now."
"And you would be right. I was originally on stable duty but then Lucina ran in and said she had an urgent matter to attend to and if I could switch with her."
"Urgent matter? What was it? Did she submit a written request, and more importantly, did I approve it? You know what switching chores is highly discouraged unless—"
"Strictly necessary," Cordelia finished, rolling her eyes. "Yes, Robin, you've made that abundantly clear."
"If I made it so clear, why aren't any of you listening?!"
"Relax, Robin. I'm sure Lucina had a good reason for her request. And others too, judging by how you're here instead of...stock duty, was it?"
"Looks like I'll have to have another session on the rules and procedure of camp duties again…" Robin muttered.
"Oh, lighten up. It's not the end of the world if some people swap their duties for the evening," Cordelia said, putting her arm around Robin's shoulder. "Besides, I'm here to supervise you and ensure that you follow the recipes and don't take any creative liberties with the portions!"
"I suppose that is why I mandated that you and some of our more capable chefs were to be on cooking duty at any time. And I guess cooking was one of those things I did want to do well at…" Robin clapped his hands. "Okay! Teach me the ways of all things culinary, Master Chef Cordelia!"
"Stroking my ego will get you nowhere, my friend," Cordelia quipped, putting on her apron. "Now get ready to create something delicious as well as edible!"
"I'll settle for 'edible' for now, although if you're offering 'delicious' as a guaranteed free upgrade…"
"The guarantee will cost you a little extra."
"I make plans to save your life on a daily basis. If anything you should be offering me guaranteed delicious as thanks!"
The two laughed before starting to cook.
Cordelia decided to start with something simple for Robin, so they were making a stew.
"You know, I'm actually surprised, Robin," Cordelia said as she was cutting her vegetables. "You seem quite intent on getting cooking right. I never pegged you for a cooking enthusiast."
"My interest in cooking is purely selfish."
"Do tell."
"See, cooking is a survival skill. A key one, in fact. I mean, here in camp I rely on you all for my meals, but what if I'm separated from you all and stuck in the wilderness for days on end? Then what? Sure, I may be able to scavenge berries or something, but that's not going to get me through being lost Naga knows where. What I'll need is meat. And while I'd be able to, I don't know, go and zap myself a bear or something, then what? I have no idea how to cook its meat. So then I'll basically be stuck with a perfectly good bear with perfectly good meat just sitting there while I starve because I don't know how to make raw meat edible. And I don't care how hungry I am, I am not eating raw meat!"
"...You've thought about this often, haven't you?"
"I like to come up with possible scenarios I may find myself in real life and how to solve them when I'm bored," Robin said simply. "This is also a way I can finally find Morgan's mother."
"Oh?"
"Yeah. You know, cooking. All those romance novels we read together all had at least one cooking section. After reading countless romance novels with you guys, I have deduced that cooking for someone is a way for one party to show affection to another party. So I figure that me learning to cook is killing two birds with one stone! I get to learn a crucial survival skill and have another tool under my belt in my quest to find Morgan's mother!"
"Efficient as always."
"Exactly." Robin tossed his cut vegetables in the cauldron and reached out for more. "I will make delicious meals for as many women as I possibly can to cast the net wide and the one who likes it the most will be Morgan's mother!"
"You really thought this through, haven't you?"
"...I'm sensing sarcasm in there."
"I hope you realize that finding your true love involves more than cooking for her."
"Why do you always have to pour the cold water of reality over my fantasies? Can't you for once let me have my ideal scenario?"
"You don't pay me to indulge your fantasies," Cordelia said cheekily.
"How much do you want to indulge me?"
"Well—"
"Cordelia!" Robin suddenly had a horrified look on his face. "What're you doing?!"
"...Cooking?"
"But...but…!"
Cordelia looked down at her cutting board where she was about to cut a chicken. She then looked at Robin questioningly.
"You're about to cut a chicken."
"Yes. It's for the stew."
"But you're about to cut it raw!"
"...Yes."
"With your hands!"
"...Yes…?"
"But...that's so gross!"
"This coming from the man who kills other men with his sword for a living," Cordelia felt compelled to point out.
"Yeah, well it's easier because those guys want to kill me. Also it's my job. I kill everyone who want to kill me and move on. Also, I don't dismember them! With my bare hands!"
"Robin, is this your way of telling me you don't want meat in your stew?"
"What? No! Meat is good! I'm doing this entire thing so I can know how to cook meat in the wild! Why would you even ask me that?"
"Because this is what's involved when cooking meat. Unless you want to toss this entire chicken into the cauldron and rip out the bits you like instead of having them served to you."
"No…" Robin said reluctantly.
"Then this is what you have to do. Now grab a chicken and watch how I cut it. I find it easiest to start with the wings…"
Robin forced himself to watch as Cordelia started slicing the bits of the chicken off the body. He then reluctantly reached for his own chicken and started doing the same.
"Urgh, this is so gross…"
"I still can't believe how difficult you're finding this," Cordelia commented, quickly and efficiently slicing her chicken.
"Again, I don't actually have to cut the soldiers I fight on the battlefield into pieces!" Robin unevenly cut the legs off his chicken.
"But you do like chicken for dinner."
"It's not my fault chicken is so filling and delicious, okay? And the way you prepare it, too."
"And now it can be delicious when you prepare it! You just have to actually prepare it."
"Gods, I swear that this better get me a lot closer to finding Morgan's mother," Robin grumbled as he cut his chicken. "Otherwise I'll have to accelerate our pact by twenty years and propose to you."
"Gee, thank you so very much for settling for me out of your desire to not cook and denying me my chance to meet my significant other," Cordelia said dryly.
"Cordelia, why would you need a significant other when you have yours truly?" Robin flashed his most charming smile and leaned on the counter. "...Or, you don't need a significant other because he is me, Robin."
Cordelia raised a brow.
"...The second thing is the thing I should've said first. Pretend that's what I said instead of the first thing."
"Are you flirting with me, Master Tactician?" Cordelia asked wryly.
"What? No. I'm just, uh, getting warmed up. This is just a practice run for the real thing."
"Real thing, huh?"
"Yes, the real thing. Because, believe me, you'll know when I'll flirt with you for real."
"I have to see this." Cordelia smirked and leaned back. "Come, then. Serenade me with sweet nothings and sweep me off my feet."
Robin looked around. "...What, now?"
"Unless you think you can't do it."
"I totally can!" Robin put on his most confident smile and walked up to Cordela. He opened his mouth…
Cordelia looked at him expectantly.
...and promptly realized he had no idea what to say or even how to flirt.
"I'm waiting," Cordelia said playfully.
"Give me a minute…"
Robin frantically tried to come up with something smart/romantic/cheesy to say.
Cordelia was still there, looking.
"...Well I can't do it with you looking at me!"
"Do you want me to turn around?"
"Forget it. The mood is gone." Robin retired to his cutting board. "But just you watch—you'll definitely know when I'll be flirting for real!"
"I'll be waiting with bated breath," Cordelia quipped, turning back to her chicken.
Although she knew that Robin wasn't serious about this whole thing, a part of her couldn't help but be slightly disappointed. Despite their casual banter and playful everyday almost-flirting, Cordelia knew that it was all in jest. She and Robin exchanged their little bits because they were comfortable enough as friends to do so, but this conversation made Cordelia curious as to how Robin would flirt when he really meant it. Cordelia thought he certainly had enough charm and courage to successfully sweet talk a girl, probably opening up with a joke or two. And Cordelia had to admit that had circumstances been different and if they were strangers, there was a good chance that Robin might have been successful in charming his way into her heart. Of course, that also depended on the way he would go about doing it. Cordelia was sure he was going to be better than those boys who accosted her when she was but a young trainee. Robin would have more grace and style, perhaps like Virion, minus the whole 'being a shameless philanderer' part. Yes, Robin would have confidence, charisma, and grace as he would make his way over to her and—
"Okay, there. I've managed to cut my chicken into pieces being only slightly grossed out," Robin announced, breaking Cordelia out of her thoughts. "Now what?"
"Now you drop all that into the cauldron and do it again with a different chicken."
"What, all that gross work again?"
"And again and again until we have enough food to feed everyone in camp."
"...I don't give you guys enough credit for cooking for us…"
"You can always walk away…"
"No! I came here to learn to cook and make edible, not disgusting food and that's what I'm going to do!" Robin said stubbornly, reaching for another chicken.
"That's the spirit!"
Of course, that's not to say that Robin right now didn't have confidence, charisma, and grace.
"Damn it, how is it so hard to cut through bone?!"
He did...in his own way.
Robin may not have been the suave, smooth ladykiller from her novels, but maybe he didn't need to be. After all, he was endearing in his own quirky, bumbling way. And how would this quirky, bumbling Robin flirt when he was serious about it? Cordelia doubted she would know, and that made her a bit sad. Well, maybe not sad, but...disappointed? It wasn't like she wanted Robin to flirt with her for real, but she had to admit that all their playful banter made her feel good about herself. And Robin's playful comments were nicer than the usual shallow words of philanderers and crude catcalls of drunken soldiers she got. Of course, all that was before she was promoted and got too busy with the war. Now, Robin was basically the only one giving her that kind attention (and probably the only one she would allow, if she were honest). Without Robin, where would she be?
...Huh. Cordelia often heard Robin talking about his sense of "loss" after Chrom got married and at the thought of her and Sumia finding their husbands (although when Robin was talking about losing Sumia and Cordelia, he was mostly referring to pies. Always pies). Cordelia always assumed he was just being his overly dramatic self, but thinking now of when Robin found his future wife and Morgan's mother, Cordelia started to understand where Robin was coming from. And the thought of losing Robin made Cordelia feel sad…
Cordelia shook her head.
What was she thinking? "Losing" Robin? She wasn't "losing" anyone! Robin finally finding his wife was a happy occasion and should be celebrated! Of course, Robin getting married meant that he would spend less time with her and they'd no longer have their little playful flirtatious banter, which Cordelia would miss. Miss greatly, honestly, but—
"I'm sorry I'm la—ACK!"
Mercifully, Cordelia's thoughts were interrupted as someone ran into the tent and promptly tripped, falling flat on her face.
"Ow, definitely going to feel that one in the morning..." Sumia rubbed her nose, getting up. "Sorry I'm late! I thought I was doing equipment checking when...Robin?"
"Hi, Sumia," greeted the grandmaster. "You okay?"
"I'm fine, but...what're you doing in the cooking tent?" Sumia asked curiously. "I thought you decided never to set foot in here again after you almost burned this and half the camp down that one time."
"You people never let that stuff go, do you?" Robin mumbled. "I'm here because someone decided to mess with my duties roster. Cordelia too."
Cordelia waved.
"What brings you here?"
"Yeah, I thought I was on inventory when Laurent said he had some matters to take care of and asked me to switch with him. I agreed and thought I'd be on training grounds cleanup when Cherche asked me to switch with her too. It continued like that until I finally landed cooking duty." Sumia paused. "You guys aren't going to ask me to switch with you, are you?"
"No, because everyone should know that switching duties is strictly—!"
"Well now that we're all here, why don't we make something nice for everyone to eat?" Cordelia interjected, cutting off Robin's rant. "Robin here decided to use this opportunity to improve his cooking and luckily for him, both of us are here to supervise so we don't have a repeat of the Salmon Saturday debacle?"
Sumia chuckled. "Yes, it would be a shame to waste so much food again."
"How do you people remember every single…!"
Lucina walked away from the cooking tent, satisfied.
It was a bit of work trying to line up everyone and do enough switching with others while concealing the main reason for the switching, but Lucina (with the help of her friends) managed. Lucina was worried when Sumia didn't appear for a while, but it seemed she just got a bit delayed trying to figure out what her role for the evening was. At least everything worked out all right.
With that, Lucina headed to the storage tent since she was now on inventory. Once inside, she picked up the inventory master list and decided to start with the potions.
Lucina was just taking stock of their vulneraries when someone ran in.
"S-sorry I'm late!" Morgan panted. "I kept on getting the runaround from people on what my chores were for the evening. Spent all this time running around camp only to get redirected!"
"Hello, Morgan," Lucina greeted. "I don't recall you being on inventory duty."
"I wasn't, but then everything got all crazy and people kept on switching their duties for the day and I had to run around camp to keep up. Literally! I'm pretty sure this is why Dad doesn't like people trading their chores. Do you know how much I could've done instead of running around?" Morgan huffed.
"I'm sorry to hear that. I hope this will not be a recurring event."
"I hope so too. Anyway, inventory, yeah?"
"Yes. I was just—"
"Well it's a good thing I'm here. I've actually devised a system to maximize our efficiency when taking stock of all the stuff we have so we can do it quickly and accurately. And inventory's especially important after our recent security breach. Here, let me show you!"
Lucina smiled as she saw how enthusiastic Morgan was about something as trivial as inventory check. Morgan's abundance of energy and ability to get excited even about the most mundane things never ceased to amuse Lucina. She certainly made doing inventory checking a lot more exciting than it otherwise would've been.
Severa surveyed the land, carefully assessing the situation. And in this land plagued by war and conflict, things didn't look good. Her armies, carefully guarded and slowly growing larger stood behind her, but it may not be enough in the end.
Severa looked across, to her erstwhile "allies" fighting against the tide, so convinced of their cause that they discarded all tactical thinking and opted instead for reckless battles that cost them their armies and served only to strengthen the enemy.
"I move ten armies to attack the Bulgar region of Sacae."
"You can move twenty armies for all I care. I have fortified this region and my troops get terrain and home field advantage bonuses in the form of extra dice!"
"...You have a good point. Twenty armies it is!"
"Ack! I mean, do your worst, villain!"
"Roll!"
Severa supposed that it was a good thing that the enemy was focused on conquering Sacae and bleeding forces there instead of focusing on Etruria.
"Ha! Struggle all you want, but no one resists the unstoppable forces of Bern backed up by my awesome dice rolls!"
The downside was that her allies' dice rolls were usually not great, which meant that they lost territory, which meant more armies for their opponent.
"And the Bern's forces successfully occupy Bulgar," Morgan said, moving several pieces on the board. "Now to reinforce my flanks...and I end my turn."
"Villain! You may have captured my capital, but we still have several territories including Taras, which is where we shall all retreat to!" Cynthia moved her pieces to the territory in question. "Once we regroup and refill our armies, you'll be sorry!"
"Your ability to replenish your losses decreases with every territory you lose. Meanwhile, I get even more recruiting grounds to swell my army's ranks," Morgan said. "Your doom slowly approaches!"
"Not if I can help it!" Owan exclaimed. "I finally have enough cards to exchange for fifteen armies!"
Owain exchanged his cards and distributed the pieces on his territory.
"Now that the mighty forces of Lycia have been restored, we will march to aid our Sacaean brothers and sisters by taking back Pherae!"
"Ooh, this should be good! I just reinforced occupied Pherae with twelve armies!" Morgan rubbed her hands together with glee. "Let the dice decide how this epic battle will play out!"
"Have at you!"
As Severa watched Morgan and Owain roll their dice, she looked over the game board. Morgan was slowing but surely making her way through Sacae and Lycia, taking all of their recruiting territories for herself. That was bad since Bern's territories already gave a recruiting bonus. What was worse was that Etruria shared no borders with Bern, so all Severa could do now was collect cards and wait until the inevitable tide that was Morgan's army crashed against her borders.
Well, actually waiting wasn't the only thing Severa could do.
Severa glanced again at the territories Owain and Cynthia currently controlled.
"Ha! Rolled a five!"
"So did I!"
"Oh man, this is gonna be close…!"
Territories that she could've used to shore up her defenses and reserves for when Morgan showed up...or take the initiative and bring the fight to Morgan!
"And although it took a lot of blood, sweat, and tears, the righteous forces of Lycia manage to retake Pherae from Bern!" Owain declared triumphantly, moving what few pieces remained from his battle with Morgan into Pherae.
"You just got lucky...or maybe I just got unlucky. I'm totally gonna retake Pherae next turn!" Morgan said.
"You'll never be able to bring down the both of us!" Cynthia stated defiantly.
"Sure I will. Nothing will stop Bern's quest for domination! Oh, it's your turn, Severa."
"You gonna consolidate again?" Cynthia asked. "Don't worry, we totally got Morgan handled."
"Yes, you're doing such a good job so far," Severa said sarcastically. "But no. I think I'll break out."
"Break out? What?"
"Firstly, I exchange my cards to thirty armies."
"Whoa, you had enough for that many armies all this time?" Owain said in awe.
Severa smirked. "That and more. Now I use fifteen armies to attack the Ostia region."
"Wow, that's—wait a minute. Ostia? HEY, THAT'S ME!" Owain exclaimed.
"Yep. You, completely defenseless because you spend all your armies fighting Morgan."
"But this is a clear violation of the Treaty of Bulgar!" Cynthia cried.
Morgan whistled. "Oooh, betrayal…"
"Please, this 'Treaty of Bulgar' was nothing more than a verbal agreement for me not to attack either of you," Severa said, rolling her eyes. "It meant nothing."
"But you swore and everything!" Cynthia protested.
"Severa, this does seem a bit underhanded," Lucina added disapprovingly.
"And if this was that kind of game, it would mean something. But it isn't so it doesn't. Besides, all you two idiots are doing is losing your armies and territories to Morgan while making her stronger. I'll make much better use of your territories and actually use the extra reinforcements strategically instead of throwing them against Morgan's armies at every opportunity."
"Traitor! Betrayer! Deceiver!" Owain exclaimed, pointing an accusatory finger at Severa. "To break a sacred oath of—"
"None of that," Severa cut Owain off. "Ostia has no soldiers so I claim it and its reinforcement count for myself."
"To go against your own allies just to be ready for me. I guess I should be flattered," Morgan commented.
"Be flattered once my armies crush yours and chase them back to Bern's borders," Severa said. "Now—"
Just then, someone knocked on the door.
"Who is it?" Morgan called out.
"It's me," came Robin's voice.
"Oh. Come in, Dad."
"Thanks." Robin walked into the room. "Just wanted to tell you guys that we're moving out in ten mintues, so pack up your stuff."
"Aw man, but we were just in the middle of a Risk/Reward game!" Morgan protested. "And it's just getting good. Can't we wait for a little while?"
"Sorry, kiddo, no can do. We have a schedule to keep and need to stick to it." Robin looked at the game board. "How's it going, by the way?"
"Morgan has been at war with Cynthia and Owain for what seems like a dozen turns," Lucina reported. "Owain and Cynthia valiantly hold their ground but Morgan steadily makes gains."
"Heh, as expected of an aspiring tactician," Robin said approvingly, earning a beaming smile from Morgan.
"Meanwhile Severa and I have been building up our forces," Lucina continued. "It has been quieter for us since Etruria and Ilia don't share borders with Bern."
"And you two haven't been warring with each other?" Robin inquired. "Or taken advantage of the chaos next door to seize territory?"
"Actually, Severa has done just that in the past few minutes."
"Yeah. The arch-traitor here just broke her promises to me and Owain by attacking us while we're fighting Morgan instead of staying neutral!" Cynthia complained.
"Wow. On the one hand, that's terribly dishonest and underhanded and just terrible."
"I know, right? It's what a villain would do!"
"A villain, or a good player."
"Wha—?"
"Takes any opportunity she can to grab land and enhance her chances of winning, including breaking promises and taking advantage of her neighbors' weaknesses. At the end of the day, the goal of the game is world domination, so all of that is justified in the grand scheme of things."
"Ha! See? Approval from Robin himself!" Severa said smugly.
"But...but...it's wrong and evil and unfair!" Cynthia protested.
"Yes, but the game doesn't have any systems to punish her for that. It actually has no 'diplomacy' system at all. So in the end of the day…"
Severa smirked triumphantly.
"Of course it'd all be for nothing if Morgan just ends up destroying everyone."
"I'm trying my best!"
"And I hope you continue to do so. Next time. Because we have to go. Pack up, guys. See you in front of the inn in ten."
With that, Robin left the room.
"Man, that sucks. I was looking forward to our epic clash…" Morgan said.
"I'm sure I would've prevailed with all the territories under my control," Severa stated confidently. When she looked over, she saw Owain and Cynthia stare daggers at her. "Come on, you guys. Really?"
"Yes, really! What you did just now is like, level twelve on the scale of grievous injustices. And that thing only goes up to ten!" Owain said.
"And that places you firmly in villain territory," Cynthia added. "Supervillain, even. We won't forget this betrayal, supervillain!"
"Come on, everyone. Let's up aside the events of the game and pack up, shall we? You all heard Robin just now," Lucina said, trying to diffuse the situation.
"Hmph. You're lucky the Manual of Justice prevents me from unleashing my true power to inflict righteous retribution on you since civilians would get caught in the fire," Owain said.
"Wait, you're writing the Manual of Justice? I thought we agreed we'd wait for each other before starting that thing!" Cynthia exclaimed.
"What? W-well I, you see…"
And so the Shepherds gathered their belongings, bade farewell to the innkeeper in the village they were staying and set off to their rendezvous point with Virion's contacts.
"Someone's in a good mood," Chrom remarked as they were making their way out of the village.
"And why wouldn't I be? For the first time in what feels like forever, we're actually keeping to our schedule. Actually, we're even ahead a little bit and have some time to spare. Do you know how rare that is for us? Things going according to plan and something annoying not happening to derail all my hard work and plans." Robin sighed contentedly. "Nothing can ruin this day!"
"Oh boy. You just had to say it, didn't you?"
"Say what?"
"What you just said. Given your luck, I'm pretty sure you just doomed us to having something unexpected happen to throw all your plans into disarray."
"Chrom, don't you say that or even think it! Nothing is happening and everything is going to go according to plan and everything will be fine!"
"And if it's not, let the record show that it was Robin who decided to jinx us. Olivia, you're here as my witness."
"Olivia, your husband is being annoying. Tell him he's being annoying."
"Um, I think I'd rather not get involved between you boys and your little squabbles, if that's okay with everyone."
Robin's witty retort was cut off by the sound of hooves landing on the ground.
"Cordelia? What're you doing up in the air?"
"I thought I'd have a look to see what the landscape is like and if our path was clear."
"And? I assume we're good to proceed?"
"Not...exactly."
Robin frowned. "What is it?"
"The universe proving me right, probably," Chrom said beside him.
Robin mustered all his willpower to ignore that little remark from his friend.
"I've seen a large group of cavalry rapidly approaching our location," Cordelia reported.
"Valmese?" Robin asked immediately.
Cordelia shook her head. "Didn't look like it. No insignias and the colors didn't match any forces we've encountered."
"If I may," Virion waded into the conversation. "I've heard talk from the villagers of rival mercenary bands fighting over territory lately. One of these bands is called the Riders of Dawn."
"Sounds like a bunch of horsemen to me, which means that they must be that group of unidentified cavalry approaching us," Robin muttered.
"There's more," Cordelia said.
"Oh good. I love it when I get additional bad news on my bad news. Lay it on me."
"It seemed like there was a group or armored knights coming to meet the cavaliers."
"The villagers did say that a group called the Stonewall Knights controlled this area," Virion informed. "If I had to guess, that would be them coming to defend their territory from others who would try to steal it."
"Hey, that works out for us, then!"
Everyone looked at Robin curiously.
"Because finally we have enemies who can fight each other instead of just us. All we have to do is get the hell out of here as soon as we can and leave these two groups to duke it out. If we're lucky, they'll kill each other in the process and never know we were even here."
"But what about the village?" Chrom asked.
"What about it?"
"Surely we shouldn't let two armed and most certainly dangerous groups fight it out near this village? The fighting could spill over and the villagers could get hurt."
Robin sighed in exasperation. "Chrom, for the millionth time, there are always going to be villages getting caught in the middle of some conflict. Always. How many times do I have to tell you that we can't be there to rescue every damn village that's under threat? It would be far more beneficial for us to quickly get the hell out of here and let these idiots kill themselves."
"And I'm telling you, like I always do, that it would be more beneficial for everyone if we stuck around to make sure that these mercenaries don't bother anyone ever again."
"How is it going to be beneficial for us to risk our lives for some pretty matter that doesn't even concern us?!"
"Because it's the right thing to do," Chrom said firmly. "Besides, previous experience dictates that there's a good chance that we'll find another one of Lucina's friends."
Robin opened his mouth to object.
"You have to admit that he does have a point," Cordelia said.
Annoyingly enough, he did. Of the times Chrom pulled Robin aside to help some village in distress, they did end up finding Lucina's friends kind of a lot of the time.
"…Fine. Fine! We'll do it your way and play village guardians," Robin grumbled. "But it's going to be all on your head if this goes poorly!"
"Then it's a good thing I have you to prevent that," Chrom quipped.
Robin just grunted.
And it was just then that a group of mounted knights rode up near them and were met by a group of armored soldiers.
"Turn around and get lost, swine! This land belongs to the Stonewall Knights! If you need a second notice, I'll write it down on your men's corpses!" shouted one of the armored knights.
"Ya-har! A pile of corpses could still outfight you sorry lot! This is our territory, and no one gives orders to the Riders of Dawn!" retorted one of the mounted men.
"Guess we outta teach these punks a lesson. Stick 'em full'a holes, boys!" shouted the armored knight to his men.
"We'll trample all over you sorry bunch. Time to fertilize the fields, soldiers!"
"Huh. I thought that maybe they could've talked this out," Chrom said. "But it looks like diplomacy is out since they're just going straight to fighting each other."
Cordelia turned to Robin. "What do you want us to do?"
"Ideally we do nothing and watch these idiots kill themselves and only intervene if they decide to threaten the village or something. And then we just pick off whoever is left of the winner so they can't threaten anyone in the area again," Robin said.
"Why don't we ally ourselves with one group to take out the other?" Virion suggested. "It would help us to have allies against the other."
"Yeah, we're not allying ourselves with one mercenary group against another," Robin stated flatly. "We have morals and standards, Virion. Siding with some mercenaries would make us no better than mercenaries, and as Ylisse's finest, we are above that. We can hire mercenaries ourselves if the situation is dire enough, but we may never be hired or fight with mercenary groups ourselves."
"What about Gregor?"
"We hired him, so he's not an issue."
"I see."
"Great. So let's just quietly sit and watch and not get invol—"
It seemed the fighting mercenaries chose that moment to notice the Shepherds.
"More sellswords? Ha! Your timing is right impeccable!" said the armored knights' captain. "I'll buy your steel and see you're well compensated for the trouble!"
"Damn it. So much for staying quiet and unnoticed…" Robin muttered. "Look, uh, while it's a nice offer, I think we—"
"Ya-har! There's a sensible lad!" the captain of the mounted knights laughed. "Come fight with us, instead! I'll pay you twice what that fool would!"
That immediately caught Robin's attention.
Chrom looked at his friend questioningly.
"…No. We have values and rules and morals and we will remain from allying ourselves with some mercenaries despite the fact that they'll be willing to pay us a lot of coin…" Robin shook his head. "Y-yeah. Yeah! So, uh, if you two gentlemen don't mind, we're just going to sit this one out and—"
"Well then I guess we'd better take you out before you make up your minds and fight for this other scum!"
"Wha—?"
"My thoughts exactly. Boys, kill everyone you see!"
"Great. Wonderful. We went from fighting no one to fighting both of them at once," Robin grumbled, unsheathing his sword. "If we don't find Lucina's friends now and I die, I'm going to haunt you for the rest of your life."
"As if you'd let some mercenaries do you in," Chrom said, readying Falchion. "Shepherds, to battle!"
And so they did end up fighting the mercenaries who were also busy fighting each other. Much to Robin' chagrin, the rival mercenary camps also ended up calling reinforcements, turning what seemed like a relatively quick skirmish into a protracted battle. The only upside was that the mercenaries were also busy fighting each other as well as the Shepherds.
"Ha!" Robin parried a blow from an enemy swordmaster before kicking him in the stomach, knocking him back. "Morgan, now!"
Robin jumped back, giving Morgan space to zap the staggered swordmaster with a lightning bolt.
"Heh, there's nothing quite as satisfying as zapping bad guys with lightning bolts!" Morgan declared, watching her enemy crumple to the ground.
"I can see you're definitely getting better," Robin said approvingly. "I think you may be ready to graduate to the next tier of spells soon."
"Really?!" Morgan's eyes widened. "Because you can't imagine how long I've wanted to toss the cool spells like you. And I've been practicing a lot!"
"You're very close now. A few more lessons and a little push to expand your boundaries and I think you'll be able to fry enemies almost as well as me."
"Yes!" Morgan pumped her fist in the air. "I am SO ready for this! Here, lemme cast a bunch more spells so I can be ready to learn the really good ones!"
"Not so fast, Morgan," Robin said, putting his hand on his daughter's shoulder. "We're still in the middle of a fight. Stay near me and follow my lead. You can't lose focus just because you're excited about graduating to the next tier of magic spells."
"Er, right. Sorry," Morgan said sheepishly. "Guess I did get a little carried away there."
"It's fine, dear. Just remember to keep your cool in the middle of battle no matter what."
"Right!"
The sounds of hooves drew Robin's attention. Turning around, he saw a paladin charging at him.
"Need me to take him out, Dad?" Morgan asked, getting her spellbook ready.
"Paladins are trained to take hits from magic, so aiming for the horse is your best bet," Robin advised. "Try to knock the rider off his horse and—"
"ARGH!"
Robin's advice was cut off when he saw what looked like a giant killer bunny slamming into the enemy, throwing both horse and rider to the ground.
Morgan whistled. "That looked like it hurt."
"It sure did. Still, less enemies for us to worry about," Robin said. "Hey, Panne! Nice timing!"
The bunny looked up in his general direction.
"Thanks for the assist," Robin shouted. "Now come on, regroup with the others like we discussed so we have all of our flanks covered!"
"How…what did you just call me?"
Huh. That was weird. Robin knew that Panne's voice became all weird and distorted when she transformed, but he swore that it sounded even deeper now that it usually did.
"…Hey, Dad? Does Panne's voice sound different to you?"
"So it's not just me, huh?"
"Yeah. Doesn't it sound a lot more, I dunno, masculine to you or something?"
Robin shrugged. "Must be a transformation thing. After all, we haven't really heard Panne when she was in her beast form all that much, have we?"
"I guess not."
"Yeah. Besides, it's not like there are other taguel around besides Panne. Anyway, Panne!" Robin called out. "I think the others…are…"
Robin trailed off as he saw another giant killer bunny run up to the first one.
"Ho! You there!" said the first giant killer bunny.
"Gyah! Wh-what do you want?!" The second giant killer bunny looked very startled.
"You are a taguel."
"Yeah, well so are—GODS! M-Mother?!"
The first giant killer bunny tilted its head. "Mother?"
"Gah, you nearly gave me heart failure! I'd given up on EVER finding you! You wouldn't believe how dangerous it is here. All these swords and brigands… Anyway, I've found you. That makes the trip back in time more than worth it."
"So you came with that man-spawn Lucina, did you? Hmm… Explain to me why my son consorts with common thugs."
"Huh? H-hey, I didn't have a choice in the matter! You were nowhere to be found, and roaming around alone is a recipe for… extinction. I'd figure I'd be safe if I took up with some strong allies, and so I…" The giant killer bunny trailed off. "Wait, are you angry? Because you look kind of ang—"
"OF COURSE I AM ANGRY! No son of mine will survive by taking the path of the coward! You're coming with me, I'm going to teach you some taguel pride, starting right now!"
"I—wargh"
Robin and Morgan both watched in utter confusion as the first giant killer bunny bit the second giant killer bunny and dragged it off by its ear.
"…Dad?"
"No, Morgan, I don't know. I'm sure it'll clear itself up eventually."
"You don't sound very surprised."
"Morgan, I am so used to weird stuff happening to me that nothing surprises me anymore," Robin said. He then remembered where they were. "Oh right. Let's park that for after we're done fighting these mercenaries, yeah?"
"Oh yeah. That's still going on, huh? Okay. Let's kick some butt and then figure out what the heck we just saw!"
So the Shepherds fought off the mercenaries that were busy fighting over little scraps of territory, even if the fight dragged on longer than it otherwise would've because of the unexpected enemy reinforcements. And after the battle, the Shepherds had to go back to the village instead of moving deeper into Rosanne because the fight had drained their resources and energy. Despite how much Robin wanted to move on, they had to rest and recuperate, otherwise they would not be in any condition to fight any enemies they encountered. The only bright side was that they could afford this little setback due to the fact that they were ahead of schedule. That, and the villagers gave them a bunch of stuff as thanks for taking care of those marauding mercenaries. That was always nice.
Of course, not everything was sunshine and rainbows.
"Report."
"That battle actually took a lot out of us. And by that I mean our weapons. After taking into account the degradation and damage during the fighting, we now have a shortage of…" Morgan checked her notes. "Everything."
Robin grimaced. "Everything?"
Morgan flipped through her notebook. "Well, not everything. Our bow supplies are still holding."
"Well—"
"But we only have about two quivers of arrows."
Robin took a deep breath to try and calm himself.
"Fortunately, our stocks of healing potions and staves appear to be steady," Laurent reported. "So we are able to heal any injuries we may suffer in the future."
"It's something, I guess…" Robin muttered.
"What do you suggest we do?" Morgan asked.
"Do we know where Anna is?"
"She's going to meet us in the next village as planned. We could try to reach out to her before then, but it would take several days, and several days after that to try and rearrange our resupply location."
"Which we can't do because we have a schedule to keep." Robin ran his hand through his hair. "This village have a blacksmith?"
"I believe so, yes," Laurent confirmed.
"Good. See what they have on sale and buy everything. We'll have to make do even if it's basic bronze or something."
"Right away." Laurent nodded and left.
"Morgan, why don't you go and see if there's any local libraries or mages or something to replenish our spellbooks. We need to have reserves so that our spellbooks have power in case of another engagement."
"You bet."
As Morgan ran off, Robin tried to recall the local area layout and enemy sightings in order to plot the most effective route to their destination while avoiding any fighting.
"Robin? Might I have a moment?"
"Lucina. Now is not…" Robin trailed off as he saw who Lucina brought with her. "…Who's this?"
"I would like to introduce you to Yarne," Lucina said. "He is another one of my friends who came with me to the past."
"H-hi…" Yarne greeted timidly.
"…So we ran into another one of your friends after playing the good guys and helping save some random village form a bandit/mercenary attack?"
"Yes. Is that a problem?" Lucina asked quizzically.
"No, it's just I hate it when your father is right. At this rate we'll have to save every damn village we come across…not that we haven't been doing that already…" Robin muttered. "You don't have any more friends coming from the future, do you?"
"I believe that we have reunited with all of them."
"Really? That's wonderful! Now I can finally push back when Chrom suggests we waste more time playing savior."
"Excuse me?"
"Nothing, nothing. So!" Robin smiled. "Yarne, huh? Panne's kid? So she's another one whose kid just popped in out of nowhere while she's unmarried?"
"Y-yeah. That's right. You know who my mother is but she's not yet married since we don't know who my father is…" Yarne recited, looking uncertain at Lucina, who nodded.
"Gods, at this rate half of our merry little gang is going to be half parentless kids. We should really work on getting them their dads…" Robin reached for his notebook before remembering he didn't have his coat pockets and thus gave his stuff (including roster) to Morgan. "Great. Well, it looks like I have no roster, no pen, and too many things to do to retire to my room. So I guess we're doing this thing here, outside and while we walk and talk. Come on."
Robin then walked off.
"Is…is he serious?" Yarne asked incredulously.
"It's a lot harder to tell with this Robin, but it's safe to assume he is until proven otherwise," Lucina said. "Come, Yarne. It seems that we are going to do this while on the move."
"Okay…"
"So, Yarne," Robin began, making his way through the village, "Panne's son and all. Taguel and all that, correct?"
"That's right. Taguel. The last of my kind. Entire continuation of my species depends on me. No pressure, ha ha ha…"
"Well, that might've been true in the future, but less so now."
"What?"
"Because, you know, Panne's still alive," Robin pointed out. "So that doesn't make you the last taguel anymore. And once she has the you from this time, you'll be even less than the last taguel."
"I mean, I guess that's true, but still! It's easy for you to say since the fate of your species isn't riding on your shoulders!"
"I mean, now that you're in the past, it isn't riding on yours either. Now it's basically on your mother."
"How do you figure?"
"Well, until you showed up, Panne was the last of the taguel. And she seemed pretty nonplussed about it, by the way. Anyway, she carries the fate of the taguel on her shoulders since, you know, if she dies, then so do the taguel. But I guess she's going to be okay since you're here, since you wouldn't be if Panne died before she had you, right?"
"I…guess? But if that's the case, doesn't the onus fall back on me?"
"Not really. Panne is still alive and so are you. Also, Panne has yet to give birth to you. So if you die, then the taguel line is still secure as long as Panne stays alive to give birth to you in this time, who will then be able to carry on the taguel line." Robin paused. "Not that I'm saying you'll die or anything."
"Huh. Never really thought about it that way. But still! What would happen if I die and Mother would be so stricken with grief that she'll refuse to marry and have me in this time?!"
"That's a bit—"
"Or what if we fail to keep Mother alive? Then not only will the me of this time not be born, but I'll be the last of my kind! Again!"
"Again, you being here kind of guarantees Panne surviving long enough to have you. At least that's how I understand time travel."
"So you're saying you're not certain?"
"Well no one can be certain certain about anything. Also no one really knows exactly how time travel works, so—"
"Gods, I knew it! There's no guarantee about anything! So it's best to assume that I'll be the last hope for my species and take extra special care to ensure that I don't die."
"Er, why don't we move on from this subject, shall we?" Lucina offered. "I think Robin has a lot of questions he wants to ask you, Yarne. About combat skills and such, right, Robin?"
"Not really. Yarne's a taguel, so there's not that much I can ask that I don't know about in terms of fighting ability since I've fought with Panne and saw how she fights for a good long while now. Unless you tell me that you fight differently from your mother?"
"I actually don't know how my mother fought," Yarne admitted. "I was young when she died. All I remember was how she taught me to use my beaststone to transform. After that, well, it was either learn how to fight or get overrun by Risen."
"Right. So…you transform into your giant killer bunny form and basically use your claws and teeth and speed and stuff against the enemy, right?"
"Basically."
"Great. That's also how your mother fights. There could be differences, but it's not like with humans and the different fighting styles of say, swords and axes. So I basically already know everything about how you fight."
"That's good. It saves everyone time and trouble. Is there anything else you would like to know, Robin?" Lucina asked.
"Actually, I, uh, have something to ask," Yarne said.
"Oh?"
"Yes. A favor, if I may."
"People generally wait to get to know me before asking for favors. But I'll hear you out since you're one of Lucina's friends."
"Thank you! I'm the last of the taguel, right? So it's essential that I keep myself alive. So when you set up battle formations, can you keep me somewhere safe? Say like, at the very, very back? You can do that, can't you? Please?"
"You sure seem to be focused on the whole 'being the last of your kind' thing. Wait a minute, did you just ask me to keep you at the back away from the fighting?"
"You'll have to forgive Yarne, Robin," Lucina quickly intervened. "As you can understand, he has lived with the added pressure of being the last of his kind in the future, which is not something one can easily let go, even if in the past."
"Yeah, I get that. I already explained how it's not really true anymore, but I guess I can see how it can be hard to get adjusted to after living with that pressure for so long. But that request is a joke, right? Even with all you've been through, you're not really asking me to make a special exemption for you and keep you from fighting, are you?"
"O-of course not! That would be cowardly and selfish and wrong!" Yarne laughed nervously. "…But if you could maybe find a way to try to minimize my exposure to danger, that would be greatly appreciated."
"My job is to try to minimize everyone's exposure to danger," Robin said flatly. "And I do that to the best of my ability. Obviously, it doesn't guarantee anything and that everyone will come back from the battlefield uninjured, but I do my best."
"And we all appreciate your efforts, Robin," Lucina said.
"I would certainly hope so. And if I didn't know better, I'd say your friend here is a little scared of the fighting!"
"Aren't we all a little bit scared?"
"I suppose it's only natural that you feel a little fear every time you go out and risk your life in battle…" Robin mused.
"Yeah, a little fear, or just that creeping, all-consuming, paralyzing fear that you feel when you see someone want to kill you and end your entire species…" Yarne shivered.
Robin stopped and looked at Yarne. "Okay, I don't have time for pleasantries and am just going to be blunt: are you going to be an asset or a liability here?"
"Robin!"
"Lucina, I've known your friend here for what feels like five minutes and I can already see the whole 'being the last of his kind' thing is weighing heavily on him. And while I sympathize, he has also just asked me to give him special treatment in troop deployments by giving him safe positions. The only way it could've been worse is if he asked me not to deploy him at all."
"Robin—"
"Moreover, I understand that his issue with his lineage seems to manifest as a primal fear of combat and the enemy. This, and his request, leads me to believe that he is unwilling and/or unable to fight. And if he is able, he will either freeze during combat or have this fear in the back of his mind, which will impede his focus and combat efficiency, affecting our overall combat efficiency as a result. So given my understanding, I see a lot of potential liabilities weight up against not that many benefits."
"Oof. He may not be as scary as he was in the future, but Robin still goes straight to the point without any sugarcoating…" Yarne mumbled.
"Thus, your friend here doesn't inspire much confidence from what I've seen," Robin continued. "I'm going to need more in order to change my opinion."
"Then let me be the first to say that Yarne is not a coward and is one of my strongest friends."
Yarne looked up. "Lucina…"
"Really? This guy? The guy who just admitted to having crippling, paralyzing fear?" Robin asked skeptically.
"It takes courage to admit your faults, and it takes even more courage to keep fighting despite your faults and fears, but that is exactly what Yarne has done time and again."
Robin raised a brow.
"Yarne may act scared and talk about his fears, but that does not stop him from doing what is necessary, not in the future and certainly not now. Despite the pressure he faces and the fear he feels, he still fought alongside us in the future, fighting countless Risen to buy us time to evacuate civilians and undertaking dangerous missions in order for us to secure vital supplies."
"I understand doing the right thing when you live in a hellish landscape where every day is a fight to survive, but what about now, in the past? There are a lot more resources and more allies to rely on. You're sure that Yarne won't freeze up and then come to rely on his allies to rescue him? And make that a recurring theme?"
"Hey! I might not be the strongest or bravest taguel around, but I have my pride!" Yarne said. "I didn't survive our future by being dead weight that dragged everyone down, you know."
"And you won't start now?"
"You bet I won't! I don't think I could handle it if I suddenly became the liability that everyone has to save every battle. Not after everything we all went through. The shame alone would kill me!"
"Well that's something, I guess."
"And I'm more than just a helpless bunny, you know. I'm a taguel! And you should know from experience that we're pretty tough and even tougher to kill!"
"And I hope that gives you comfort and courage on the battlefield."
"It does, actually. As long as I have my handy beast stone, I can take a lot of punishment before, you know. Although I'll have to get treated really quickly for any wounds lest they get infected and that infection develops into something horrible…"
"Where exactly did this entire attitude come from? Panne is, or was, I guess, the last of her kind and she didn't seem to think about it or care at all. All she did was go about her business as usual."
"Yeah, I hear that about Mother and can't help but feel awed. Surely she felt the pressure of being the last of her kind, right? Yet she didn't let that bother her one bit! And she had to care, right? I mean, how can you not? Surely being the last of kind had to be in the back of her mind at all times!"
"Yarne…" Lucina looked at her friend sympathetically.
"Well I guess you can ask her that yourself," Robin said, looking past Yarne. "Since she's running right toward us."
"What?!"
"There you are," Panne said, running up to them.
"Hello, Mother."
"Why did you run away from me after the battle?"
"I don't know. A reflex, I guess."
"Is it your reflex to run away from your own mother?"
"Well I never expected to see you, you know. After the initial euphoria, it kind of dawned on me I had no idea what I'd say or do. Also you kind of mauled a few dozen mercenaries when you were busy dragging me off. I didn't really know what to do about that."
"Ah yes, the mercenary incident. I am still quite upset that you decided to throw your band in with some common bandits."
"I thought it was the best way to keep myself alive in this unknown land and time! And it did get me reunited with you, right?" Yarne laughed nervously.
Panne glared. She then turned to Robin.
"Robin, I would request some time with my son to discuss today's events."
"By all means. I'm sure you have much to discuss."
"Thank you."
"W-wait, Mother—!"
Without warning, Panne took Yarne's arm and dragged him off somewhere.
"That should be one interesting conversation…" Robin muttered, frowning.
"I hope you give him a chance, Robin," Lucina said, noticing his expression.
"Of all your friends we met thus far, Yarne is the only one I have serious doubts about. Feel like his whole 'being the last of my species' thing will get in the way of his ability to fight effectively, not to mention he seems to be afraid of everything by default."
"That may be, but I can assure you that he more that rises to the occasion when it counts. It was because of his strength and speed that we managed to survive some otherwise hopeless situations in the future."
"Given that you know him better than I, I'll take your word for it and see what he's capable of. You've vouched for all your friends and they've not let me down thus far, so I guess I have no reason to doubt them after your recommendations."
"Thank you, Robin. I can assure you that Yarne will not be any different despite his…quirks."
"I suppose having another taguel would be helpful. Opens a lot more strategic doors now that we have two of them as well as two manaketes…" Robin mused before shaking his head. "Anyway, thank you for introducing your friend to me, Lucina. If there's nothing else, I'm afraid I have a bunch of things to take care of after today's unexpected encounter."
"Of course. Please don't let me keep you. Is there anything I can do to help?"
Robin smiled. "I think I can handle it myself, but thanks for the offer."
"Very well. I will see you later, then."
"Bye."
"Right. So equipment shortages and tried soldiers, minus a day to rest after the battle means…"
"Hiya, Robin!"
"Not now, Nowi. I'm busy."
The manakete pouted. "That's what you always say when I come to you."
"You do know what I do, right? Drafting plans to keep you all alive on the battlefield is a fulltime job! Besides, every time you come to me it's always about wasting my time with requests to play with you or whatever."
"Yeah, and you always say you don't have time!"
"I have better things to do than play games, Nowi! Like making sure all of you have everything you need to not die next time we meet the enemy! Or seeing where the enemy is moving next so I can keep the whole 'you not dying' thing. Speaking of, have you seen where Sumia or Cordelia went? I'd like a scout report to ensure that there aren't any more mercenaries in the area to jump us."
"I think they were at the stables tending to their pegasi."
"Pegasi? What happened to them?"
"They were pretty out of it from what I hear," Nowi said. "I mean, we did kinda have to fight like two bands of mercenaries at once. And those guys on the horses really gave them some trouble since they were also horses, only without wings."
"So what you're telling me is that they won't be airborne in the near future," Robin stated flatly.
"Pretty much."
"Great. There can be rival bands around here and I have no eyes in the sky. I don't suppose Cherche and Minerva are free?"
"Ooh! Forget about those guys. Let's go together!"
Robin stared at Nowi blankly.
"I can fly too, silly!" Nowi reminded. "Just have to get my dragonstone and bam! Instant flying dragon at your disposal."
"While that's true and helpful, I think I prefer to get my scout reports from Cordelia, Sumia, or even myself."
"Hey, I can give perfectly good scout reports too, you know!"
Robin scoffed. "Nowi, I need something more than 'there were some bad guys in the forest' or the like. Why do you think I don't ask you to do scouting anymore?"
"I thought because you never ask me when I'm in the mood."
"When are you in the mood?"
"Right now, silly! Look, If you're so hung up about wanting to get the lay of the land yourself, why don't you hop on my back and see the area for yourself?"
"Hop on your back?" Robin looked Nowi up and down skeptically.
Nowi rolled her eyes. "When I'm a dragon, duh!"
Robin wasn't convinced.
"It's totally safe," Nowi assured. "You don't need a saddle or any of that silly equipment like with pegasi or wyverns. I have scales and stuff you can use to hang on, so you can just hop on and we'll be on our way to get the lay of the land or whatever."
"I don't know…"
"Here. See for yourself."
Nowi pulled out her dragonstone and transformed.
"Well you certainly did get bigger," Robin remarked dryly, examining Nowi's dragon body.
"Bigger, better, and perfectly able to fly you on my back!" Nowi chirped. "Hop on!"
"…I guess I do urgently need to see if there are any enemies about." Robin carefully tried to find his footing to get on Nowi's back.
"You secure up there?"
Robin sat between two spike…things (?) on Nowi's back. "I think so. So I guess I just hold on to these, right…?"
"That's right! Now get ready to fly!"
"Are you sure this is safe? I don't even have any reins or anything to—"
"Here we go!"
"WHOA!"
Today was yet another awesome day of heroes winning against smelly bandits and/or mercenaries. And why wouldn't they? They were the good guys in this epic saga and the good guys always won! But more than that, the good guys also had cool lines for every time they did battle. Cool lines to introduce themselves, cool lines during the battle or when they pulled off something particularly heroic, and cool closers! But before lines, there were intros. Awesome, elaborate intros which set the scene and each character's theme.
And coming up with these was no easy task. In fact, it was a task that took a lot of time! And then there was the picking…
"Now then, let's see what the flowers say. Option one, option two, option three..."
"Heya, Cynthia! Whatcha doing?"
Cynthia looked up to see Morgan smiling brightly.
"Hi, Morgan," Cynthia greeted. "I'm using flower fortunes to choose an entrance flourish for the next battle! I'm just having trouble choosing the right one, so I've decided to leave it to the hands of fate! What about you?"
"I was just doing spellbook inventory for Dad, but he apparently went scouting the area nearby or something, so I'm just here waiting until he gets back. So what's this about intros? What've you come up with?"
"Oh, it's great. I have three choices," Cynthia said, not expecting Morgan to take an interest in this but getting excited to talk to her about it nonetheless. "The first option is to ignite a huge plume of purple smoke and come racing out of it!"
Morgan nodded. "Not bad."
"Option two is to step onto the field amidst a shower of fluttering violet petals…"
"Okay…"
"Option three is to suddenly burst out of a farmhouse in the middle of the battlefield!" Cynthia finished excitedly. "So what do you think, Morgan?"
"I think I liked the one with the smoke best. That means you gotta light a big fire. Everything is better with fire," Morgan said sagely. "Although if you really wanted to make a cool entrance, you'd have a giant fire wall or explosion or something and then ride out of that!"
"Ooh, that does sound awesome!"
"Yeah! The only way it could be better is if you added some lightning bolts there somewhere."
"I think lightning bolts have be saved for the exit. I can't blow all my fancy tricks for just the entrance! Gotta say, I never thought you'd be into making heroic entrances."
"I'm not, really. I just like to get the bad guys before they get me and go home. But talking about cool and heroic entrances got me thinking about it. But really, all you have to do is add some fire and lightning and boom! You have a cool and heroic entrance. Fire and lightning makes everything cooler."
"It sure does. Now I gotta think up a way to incorporate that into an awesome intro and entrance…"
"If you need any inspiration, you can always use some of these," Morgan said, reaching into her coat and pulling out her card deck.
"Oh man, is that…!"
"The Heroes of Legend card game? Yeah. You know of it?"
"You bet I do! It was one of my favorite games growing up! The game was always a bit too complicated for me, but I loved collecting all the cool cards and stuff. Man, my collection was so good. I miss my deck…"
"I was gonna say that you can use the cool artwork of the many characters as inspiration for your heroic entrances, but now I have to talk to you about the game!"
"Really? Do you not have friends here who are interested in it?" Cynthia asked curiously.
"Well there's Dad, but he doesn't exactly have the time to play the game with me every time I want to and Owain's pretty fun to play with too, but most of the others either like to collect cards more than actually fighting or aren't very good at the fighting part," Morgan explained. "But you seem to know the game and like both aspects of it and have better availability than Dad, so it gets me excited to add another dueling partner!"
"Dueling partner, huh? Sounds like the beginning of a friendly-yet-intense card game rivalry! I'm totally into it!" Cynthia was pretty pumped thinking about it.
"Oh gods, nerd alert."
The two girls looked to see Severa approaching.
"Hi, Severa!" Morgan greeted, smiling. "What brings you to this side of the village?"
"Nothing in particular. I was just passing by when I heard something interesting."
"You interested in getting into Heroes of Legend too, huh?"
"Please. As if I'd be interested in some children's card gam—"
"And if you're as into it as you are Total Warfare and Risk/Reward, then you would truly be a fearsome rival! Maybe equal in skill with Dad! …Although that would depend on your cards and packs."
Severa's eye twitched. "Look, firstly, I'm not into anything, least of all those games you just mentioned. I just happen to know how to play them because I did know a thing or two when I was young."
"More than just 'a thing or two' even…" Cynthia snickered.
Severa shot her a withering glare. "Secondly, Heroes of Legend is totally a children's card game and thus something I would have absolutely no interest in, especially not something as silly and childish as 'dueling' you. Also, we're in the middle of a war! Shouldn't you have better things to do than spending money on silly cards and time fighting with them?"
"Don't get me wrong, I help Dad craft strategies and take inventory and other war stuff, but you can't do war stuff all day, every day even if the war is pretty intense. So you get downtime here and there, and that's when you have to just relax a bit. After all, worrying about war stuff all the time isn't doing anyone any good."
"She makes a good point, you know," Cynthia said.
"And you decide to spend this time playing children's card games?" Severa asked derisively.
"It's actually pretty neat for a card game. And there's something really satisfying about getting the card you want," Morgan explained. "You sure you don't want in?"
"Just leave her, Morgan. I'm sure she has better things to do than spend time playing games with us 'children,'" Cynthia said.
"Exactl—" Severa began before stopping, narrowing her eyes at Cynthia. "What're you up to?"
"Just stating why you won't be joining us." Despite her words, Cynthia had a knowing smirk on her face, increasing Severa's suspicions. "Anyway, I think I saw a local trader around here who sold some card packs. Come on, Morgan. I think he was over in this direction."
"Lead the way!"
"Don't spend too much time on your silly games! It's not like we have a war to win or anything!" Severa shouted after the retreating girls. "Not that I care what you do with your spare time or whatever!"
Severa paused.
"You idiots aren't even going in the right direction! The merchant is the other way!" she shouted, running after Morgan and Cynthia. "Hey, wait for me, damn it!"
The sun was setting in the quiet village where the Shepherds had unexpectedly extended their stay. Yet even as all the village's activity was winding down, there was a certain something missing. Or rather, a certain someone.
"Hey, Lucina? Have you seen Dad?"
"I have not. The last time I saw him was earlier today after the battle," replied the princess. "After introducing Yarne, he said he had some things to take care of. Is he not back?"
"I dunno. He asked me to do a little inventory check but hasn't followed up and I haven't seen him since. It's not like him to just up and disappear…"
"Do you think something happened?"
"No." Morgan suddenly looked at Lucina with a worried expression. "Why? Do you think something happened?"
"O-of course not!" Lucina said quickly. "I'm sure your father is simply busy doing his errands. Perhaps he has found an urgent matter to attend to outside the village premises and that simply took up all his time."
"Yeah, I guess that makes sense. He does tend to find things when he's looking after unrelated things and get bogged down. Although it's getting late out there…"
"I'm certain he's fine," Lucina said, trying to sound reassuring. "Robin is a seasoned and capable fighter. Nothing can catch him unaware."
"That's true."
"Let me see if I can find him."
"If you see him, tell him to meet me at the inn. I have his report and everything!"
Lucina chuckled. "Of course, Morgan."
"Hey, Morgan!" Cynthia called out. "We got the last packs! Come on, I want you to be there to see all the cool rare cards I'll get and how awesome my deck will be!"
"Don't get too excited," Severa said beside her. "I bet I'll pull twice as many rares as you and end up with a killer deck that puts yours and Morgan's to shame. You will all bow before me as the Queen of Card Games!"
"Queen of Silly, Nerdy Children's Card Games, you mean?" Cynthia teased.
"Why you—!"
"Be right there, guys! Thanks, Lucina."
The princess watched Morgan join her friends and smiled.
It seemed that Morgan and Cynthia were already getting along. Then again, Lucina supposed there was no reason for them not to, given their personalities. Well, there were plenty of reasons, but that didn't seem to present a problem.
And even Severa, with her suspicions and prickliness, was slowly warming up to Morgan through their shared interests in games. That was surprising, but then again, Morgan's personality made it very hard not to like her, even for someone as hostile as Severa. Lucina still had to keep an eye on her friend, though. Just in case.
But for now, Lucina had to find Robin. Given how late it was, she was actually curious as to why he didn't return from wherever he was.
The first course of action in establishing where Robin went was to ask someone.
Looking around, Lucina saw Nowi walking around.
"Excuse me, Nowi?"
The manakete turned and smiled. "Hey, Lucina. What can I do for you?"
"Have you seen Robin lately, by any chance?"
"Oh yeah. I dropped him off by some trees."
Lucina blinked. "You…dropped him off?"
"Yep! We went scouting the surrounding area together. It was great! I hardly ever get to give people a ride while in dragon form. Everyone declines for whatever reason. Anyway, we flew around for a bit and did a few tricks. I think Robin had a good time since he curled up into a ball after we landed from all the fun we had!"
"I…see. And where is he?"
"I dropped him off by those trees over there."
"Thank you."
Following Nowi's directions, Lucina waded through some bushes to find Robin curled up in a ball on the ground.
"Robin?"
"Hi, Lucina," Robin greeted flippantly, still not moving. "What brings you here?"
"I've actually been looking for you. Why are you in that position?"
"No reason. Just, you know, my body basically froze up like this after perhaps the most terrifying experience of my life."
"I heard you were on a reconnaissance mission with Nowi."
"Yep. Riding atop a manakete high in the sky looking for any bad guys. I don't even know what I was thinking. Probably wasn't, if I'm being honest. Definitely forgot I was afraid of heights, that's for sure. You're all high up there in the sky, with only scales to hold on to prevent you from falling. And if that wasn't terrifying enough, Nowi decided to get fancy and do flips in the air. Flips! Did you know I actually fell off a few times?"
"You fell?"
"Yep. Fell like a stone, I did. I mean, there wasn't that much to hold on to in the first place while flying the right side up. Nowi caught me, of course. But I'm sure that little stunt shaved a few years off my lifespan."
"And you are like this…?"
"Ever since we landed, yes. I was so glad to be back on the ground that my muscles must've frozen of something."
"Are you saying you've been in this position all this time?"
"Definitely a few hours, yes."
"…Do you plan on getting up and going to the inn anytime soon?"
"Well that really depends on whether my muscles decide to unfreeze. Let me see…" Robin grunted and tried to move. "Nope. Still frozen."
"Robin…"
"No, it's fine! Just leave me here overnight. I'll sleep here on the nice, hard ground. It'll be just like when we're on the road, only a lot less comfortable."
"Here. Let me help you."
"Help me? What—?"
Lucina walked over and brought Robin to a sitting position. She then sat behind him.
"Lucina?"
"Please try to relax, Robin."
"Relax? What do you mean by—OH! Oh…" Robin's protests melted as Lucina started massaging him.
"Feeling better?"
Robin sighed contentedly. "Gods, Lucina, this feels incredible! How are you even able to make anyone feel this good?"
"I've picked up a few things here and there in the future. Believe it or not, I'm quite the masseuse."
"Masseuse indeed. A bit lower…there we go…"
"Your muscles are very stiff, Robin. Especially around your shoulders. Let me try to unwind them a little bit..."
"I don't know what you're talking about. My muscles are fi—ah! Ah…"
Lucina smiled to herself, content at Robin's reactions to her efforts.
Gradually Robin's body did unwind. After a while, Robin slowly uncurled from his fetal position and was very happily lying against her.
"Are you feeling better, Robin?"
"So…relaxed…"
"Do you think you are well enough to go back to the inn?"
"Can we lie here for five more minutes…?"
"Very well, but no more. It's getting quite late."
Robin yawned.
"And you seem to want to go retire yourself."
"In five minutes…"
"Five minutes."
Lucina continued to massage Robin's shoulders in silence.
"…Lucina?"
"Yes, Robin?"
"Can you tell me more about myself in the future?"
"I can. Is there anything you would like to know in particular?"
"I don't know. Maybe something about me from your childhood? The happy portion, I mean."
"Of course, Robin." Lucina thought back to her early childhood memories…
The little girl ran through the hallway as fast as her feet could carry her. She didn't dare look back lest she lose her focus and trip over the rug.
"Where are you…"
Oh no. The monster was right behind her!
"You know you can't hide from me, little one…"
And it seemed like it was catching up to her!
The girl knew that she couldn't outrun the monster. She was far too short to make it and the monster covered more distance with its steps than she did (which was so unfair!).
So the only option the girl had was to hide. But where?
Stopping in her tracks, the girl frantically looked around. Unfortunately for her, she had few options in the hallway.
Where could she hide…?
Turning her head in increasing desperation, the girl suddenly saw an unfamiliar door to the side.
That was strange. What was this door doing here? The girl knew her way around the castle and was pretty sure she never saw this door before. How could—
"I'm getting closeeeeer…"
The monster!
Deciding to plunge into the unknown, the girl quickly opened the door and rushed in.
After carefully closing the door, the girl listened quietly.
"Keep running. It will not save you from me!"
The girl stood silently until she heard the monster's footsteps pass the door. When she was sure the monster was gone, she sighed.
That was close. She was almost caught! It was just a good thing she found this secret room to hide in.
Now that she was safe, the girl turned around to see what was this room that she stumbled into.
It was a long room, with bookshelves lining the walls and a large desk at the end. It reminded the girl of the library with how many shelves there were.
The girl walked around curiously, looking at a random shelf. The titles there were an eclectic bunch, ranging from boring-sounding things like A Treatise on Tactics and Warfare: Volume Twenty to scary-sounding things like Wyvern Wars: Terror at High Noon and interesting-sounding things like Stories From: The Complete Collection.
The girl wondered if she stumbled upon another wing of the library. There were so many books!
Walking past all the shelves, the girl made her way to the desk at the end of the room.
Standing on the tips of her toes, she saw several papers strewn about on the desk, along with books, bottles containing either brown or clear liquid, and glasses that smelled very strongly of…something.
Looking to the side, the girl saw a small round table with something that caught her eye.
Approaching the table, the girl saw that there was what looked like a map depicting a foreign land. And on the map were various beautiful and intricately designed figurines.
The girl squinted to try and make out the writing at the top of the map.
"Jug...dral…"
That sounded somewhat familiar. Didn't her mother read her a fairytale that was from Jugdral?
But more interesting than the map were the figures on it. There were various figurines of what looked like different soldiers. The girl saw soldiers on foot, soldiers on horses, soldiers on pegasi, and even soldiers riding giant winged lizards that the girl couldn't recall the name of.
The girl marveled at how detailed the figurines were. Each figurine was made and painted so well that she could make out the details in their armor and even the wrinkles in the robes of the mages.
She picked up a mounted horseman to examine the piece in more detail. But just then she heard voices outside. And they seemed to be coming closer!
Quickly dropping the figurine back on the board, the girl frantically looked for a place to hide. She then decided to dive underneath the table, hiding under the long cloth. Just in time, too, for just then the door opened and the girl heard voices.
"—onstruction of the outer walls are going as planned, but the nobility are starting to complain that we are using all the architects and masons to build the walls."
"So? This is all for the defense of the capital. What can they possibly be complaining about? Also what do they even need architects and masons for now?"
Two male voices.
"They, uh…" The first voice hesitated. "They are complaining there is no one available to renovate their manors and summer estates."
There was a silence before the second voice sighed, exasperation evident.
"We're preparing for what promises to be a devastating battle for our very survival and these idiots whine about their summer estates? Unbelievable. I should just seize their lands and sell them for money for the upcoming battle. That'll shut them up…"
"My lord…"
"One of these days all these nobles and their petty problems will drive me to do something so drastic. It may not be today, it may not be tomorrow, but that day draws ever closer with all of their whining. They're lucky Chrom is patient enough to hear their petitions and problems."
"Speaking of petitions…"
"First Chancellor, if you are going to tell me that Director Sylvana has submitted yet another petition—"
"Concerning the relocation of the Royal Ylissean Theater, yes."
Yet another tired sigh.
"She is nothing if not persistent, my lord," the first voice said. "She has been submitting petitions since the war, when you have requisitioned the Royal National Theater for the war effort."
Silence.
"Although the soldiers do enjoy their new barracks, you have been promising to locate a suitable venue for Director Sylvana and her troupe for quite some time," pointed out the first voice.
"And she's been holding me to that promise ever since…" the second voice muttered. "I suppose I'll have to placate her eventually."
"Sire?"
"Eventually, but not today. Remind me about this later, although I'm sure I'll be getting another petition about it soon enough… Is there anything else, First Chancellor?"
"No, my lord."
"Very well. Leave your reports with my secretaries. I will deal with them in turn later today."
"Yes, my lord."
The man sighed again once the door was closed.
"Theaters and summer estates. Hmph."
The man poured himself a drink and looked at the pile of papers on his desk.
"Looks like another late night," he muttered, downing his drink in one go.
He was about to reach for a report when something odd caught his eye.
There, on the round table to the side, where he has lined up all the Jugdrali figurines in perfect harmony, there was an…irregularity.
Approaching the table, the man saw that one of his cavaliers was on its side, contrasting with the otherwise impeccable arrangement of the figurines.
The man's mind spun with the various possibilities, but his thoughts were interrupted by a knock on his door.
"Enter."
The door opened to reveal a pink-haired woman.
"Apologies for the intrusion. I know how busy you are so I'll only be a moment."
"Nonsense. I always have time for the Queen of Ylisse. What can I do for you?"
"Well, you see, I was just playing a game with little Lucina and I seem to have lost sight of her."
"Is that so?" The man's mind quickly started putting the pieces together.
"Yes. Now, I know that there aren't that many places around here where Lucina can hide and where I couldn't find her. I've run through the possibilities and…" The woman smiled apologetically. "I know you said you didn't want any children in here, but I think that Lucina may have snuck in here because she got so caught up in our game."
"I see." The man didn't fail to notice the little gasp from underneath the table. "Well I'm sure you told your daughter that this room is absolutely forbidden to children and she shouldn't come here in any circumstances."
"Well, yes, although not in so many words…"
"And I'm sure you've told her what happens to little girls who stumble into my office unannounced and uninvited," the man continued, his gaze shifting to the table that he was standing next to.
"I'm sure I did," the woman said, quickly catching up to the man's plan. "But please remind me what the consequences are."
"Well I'm sure that you, and she, know that little girls who sneak in here will be punished severely. And they'll be punished by being eaten!"
The woman gasped dramatically. "Eaten?!"
"Yes, eaten. Eaten whole by a giant spider with hairy legs and sharp fangs! And they'll be eaten at night. When they're snug in bed, thinking they're safe and sound, the spider slowly extends its long, hairy legs from the window."
"No!"
"Yes. At night, while naughty girls who sneak in here lie in their beds, the giant spider enters the naughty girls' rooms. It uses its legs to hang from the ceiling, its eight eyes, dark as the abyss, staring down at its meal. And when its target is fast asleep, it slowly takes its two front legs and slowly traps its target in a web. Silently, it wraps its victim in webbing so strong that nothing can break free. And just then, its victim wakes up. What does she see? Why, she sees the terrifying image of the monster spider's teeth! They are long as spears and sharp as swords! And no matter how hard the victim struggles, she can't escape the giant, chomping, bloody—"
"MOMMY!" The girl ran from underneath the table and hugged her mother's waist. "Mommy, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to sneak in here! I don't wanna be eaten by a big scary spider! I'm sorry, I'll never come here again! Mommy, please don't let the spider get me!"
"Of course, dear," the woman said gently. "Your mother will always protect you. As long as your father and I are around, no monsters will hurt you."
"R-really?"
"Wait a minute," the man objected, "If you say that, that completely invalidates the entire sto—"
"Hush, you." The woman slapped the man's shoulder. "Did you have to take it that far? Look how you scared her."
"Well how else am I supposed to keep kids from sneaking in here and messing up my office? You can't tell kids to not do something and expect them to listen. You have to scare them with the consequences!"
"I hope you're not like this with your own children."
"My daughter is still too young to understand. But when she does, she won't be allowed in here either."
The girl looked up between the two adults in confusion. "Mommy?"
"Don't worry, honey. There are no monsters coming after you," said the woman gently, quickly continuing before the man could object, "And don't listen to your Uncle Robin, either. He's just a grouch who says scary things because he's just a big grouch."
"Uncle Robin?" The girl looked up at the scary-looking man with the fancy coat.
"Olivia! What are you doing? You're going to get her used to me!"
"Robin, how else do you expect her to bond with her godfather?"
"Well, I was kind of planning on her being scared of me until she was old enough to come to my office without wanting to play or, you know, do kid stuff."
The woman looked at the man, unamused.
"In my defense, I can't have kids running in here when I'm reading reports or working on plans. And given everything that's happening, that's kind of all the time."
The woman sighed. "I see where you're coming from and I'll promise to keep Lucina away from your office, but I hope you change your approach. I would like her to know her godfather before she reaches her teens."
"I was thinking maybe even after then…" At the woman's reproachful look, the man raised his hands. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding!"
"I suppose it's a good thing we have you making jokes now. You're always so grim these days."
The man raised a brow.
"I know it's hard with everything going on, but…" The woman sighed. "You know what I mean."
The man smiled, just barely.
"Please take care of yourself, Robin. You know how much we worry about you."
"Olivia, please. I already have plenty of others–Sumia and Cordelia chief among them—nagging me about this. I would really like to keep that list from expanding."
"Well if you don't listen to all of us who care about you, I will have to use my authority and order to you to relax."
The man looked at woman wryly.
"I can do it, you know!"
"Okay, okay," chuckled the man. "I will do as you command, Your Highness."
"I'll hold you to it." The woman then turned to her daughter. "Come, Lucina, let's leave your Uncle Robin alone. He's a very busy man and has a lot of work to do."
The little girl looked up at her mother.
"And there are no giant spiders or other monsters coming to get you."
"…You promise?"
"I promise."
The man opened his mouth to say something.
The woman frowned.
"…Fine. No monsters. As long as you don't come back here ever again. Ever."
"Come on, Lucina," the woman said, rolling her eyes. "Your Uncle Robin is being a big, grumpy grouch. We'll come back when he's a better mood."
"Wait, 'come back'? That's not what we—!"
The woman was already leading her daughter away.
The girl looked back once last time at the man, who was suddenly looking very perplexed.
Although he seemed scary, her mother talked to him like he was a friend. Her father too, now that the girl thought about it. And her mother just called him "Uncle" Robin, which meant that he was a very good friend, like Uncle Frederick and Aunt Cherche. So if he was friends with her mother and father, he couldn't be that scary! And if he was a friend, then Lucina made a point to go talk to him when next she had the chance. After all, she loved meeting friends!
Lucina looked back again.
…But she'd ask her mother to be with her when they talked to Robin next, just in case.
"That is the first concrete memory I have of you," Lucina recalled nostalgically. "Everything before then was just glimpses of you talking to Father or other officials. You might say that day was our first official introduction."
Lucina looked down when Robin didn't respond to see the tactician with his eyes closed, sound asleep.
"Ah."
Lucina must've lost track of time as she was recalling her first encounter with the Robin from her future that she didn't notice how the current Robin was drifting to sleep. And the Robin of this time was currently sprawled on the ground with his head turned to the side and a little bit of drool coming out of his mouth and onto her robes.
Lucina laughed softly.
No matter how many times she thought about it, it never ceased to amaze her just how different Robin was. In the future Robin was stern, authoritative, and spoke very firmly, yet there was always a tiredness to his voice. He was serious, dedicated, and not especially sociable. Of course, that wasn't to say that the Robin of this time wasn't authoritative, serious, or dedicated! Lucina had seen time and time again that Robin projected all those qualities and more from his future self when on the battlefield or when discussing strategy at meetings. That was when he most resembled his future self. Of course, things diverged radically when it came to matters not related to war or tactics.
In everyday life, the Robin of the present bumbled through life, somehow finding himself in ever more ridiculous situations, was prone to rants and tangents that were only marginally related to the topic at hand, and was generally a very sociable individual. It was actually the same for her father, only that difference was more easily explained by him not being inflicted with a debilitating wound from an attempted assassination for the rest of his life.
Lucina heard Laurent's theory on why Robin was so different in the past and not for the first time wondered what he was like before she was born? It made sense that the war with Plegia dragging on for years would affect him, but so much? He was almost an entirely different person.
And as Lucina gently wiped the drool from Robin's face, she thought that wasn't entirely a bad thing; the Robin of the present was certainly a lot more fun than the Robin of the future. While the Robin of her future was her mentor, the Robin of the past was her friend and equal. And all the present Robin's quirks and oddities did make him quite endearing, in his own chaotic and rambly way.
"Robin, wake up," Lucina said gently, shaking the tactician. "It's time to go back to the inn."
No response.
"Surely it'll be a lot more comfortable than on the ground?"
Robin replied by snoring loudly.
Lucina sighed. "Very well. I will just carry you, then. Let me get up and—Robin? Robin!"
Lucina's movements must've disturbed the tactician, as while she was trying to get up, Robin turned and wrapped his hands around her, using her body as a pillow.
"Robin, no. Robin!" Lucina hissed.
"Mmm…"
Lucina sighed.
Robin may have been endearingly quirky, but that also meant he was equally frustrating at times!
And as Lucina was attempting to wiggle herself out of Robin's grip, she couldn't help but marvel at his ability to drag others into the strange situations he found himself in. That, and how surprisingly firm his grip was. Did he usually grip his pillow so tightly when he slept?!
