Beneath the Threads

XX.

The grounds weren't clear until early morning. Everyone was dozing when Chrom returned and knocked on the door. The only one who was fully awake was Morgan, who jumped up and opened it.

"Good morning, Father!" He smiled. "You took care of it, didn't you?"

"Yes, but can you get my sister?" Chrom leaned against the wall and winced. "Damn."

"Who's your sister?" Morgan frowned. "Are you okay?"

Chrom walked through the door and sat on the nearest cot. He leaned back against the wall and put his hand over a wound at his side. Morgan followed his movements, his eyes wide.

"Oh, Gods!" he exclaimed. "MOTHER! MOTHER, HELP!"

Robin jolted awake. She clutched her chest and exhaled. She looked to the baby, which, somehow, didn't seem phased by the sudden shouting. She sighed.

"Morgan, must you yell?" she said as stood. Lucina rushed forward and grimaced.

"Mother, Father's hurt!" Lucina shouted louder than she meant. Now everyone was awake, Lissa and Maribelle hurrying over to them. They immediately got to work, first by having him lay down. They removed his armour and exposed the wound underneath. Robin winced and held his hand.

"Chrom, how did this happen?" she asked.

"I got nicked by one the damned things." He sighed. Lissa trained her staff on him as Maribelle treated the wound.

"Nicked is being conservative." Robin sighed.

"I love you, dad!" Morgan frowned and grabbed Chrom's free hand. "I'm sorry I don't remember you! Don't leave me!"

"Morgan, I'm going to be fine." Chrom winced. "It just needs-Ow…"

"I'm sorry, Milord…" Maribelle said. "I should've warned you. I'm sewing your wound closed."

"I forgot to mention…" Lucina swallowed. "Morgan is quite dramatic."

"No kidding…" Chrom said as he winced again. Maribelle finished sewing the wound closed and wrapped it in a bandage.

"You need rest, Milord," she said. "We'll keep the staff on you while you sleep."

When Chrom woke, the setting sun was coming through the clinic windows. Pain throbbed from his side, and he tried his best not to jostle it too much. He turned his head and saw his wife, son, and daughter staring at him.

"Have you all been staring at me intently like this all day?" he asked.

They shrugged. Chrom sighed. He rubbed his hand over his face.

"It was worse than we thought…" he said. "These Risen are being controlled by another source, just as Frederick suspected. I know because there's no way…" He paused. "...he's alive."

"Who?" Lucina asked. She furrowed her brows.

"Gangrel...We saw him at the edge of the mote on the other side of the castle walls. Soldiers were able to fend him off, but he retreated. He's come back as a Risen, there's no other explanation."

"Gangrel?!" Robin exclaimed. Tears filled her eyes. "Chrom, you finished him. He's gone now!"

"I know, but someone's brought him back. Whoever this is, they're doing this to toy with our minds. Especially you and I, Robin. They want us to constantly question our choices and if we really did what we thought we did."

"This didn't happen in my time," Lucina said. "They sent Risen to the castle because you weren't at Carrion Island after securing the ports. You sent a representative on behalf of Ylisse to speak with Plegia, didn't you?"

"Yes, but what does Plegia have to with this?" Chrom asked.

"It's their new king, Validar. I'm sure of it. He's a grimleal, and he knows that your moral grounds stand in the way of him using the Fire Emblem to bring back the Fell Dragon. He wants you and anyone connected to you out of his way."

"Gods...this goes so much deeper than we could've imagined. We have to figure out what's beneath the threads of all these connected events." Robin sighed. She stood and walked to Chrom's beside. "Morgan, Lucina, can you give your Father and I a moment alone?"

They nodded and stepped out. Robin cupped Chrom's cheek and kissed him. She sat on the bed and ran her fingers through his hair.

"You've had me worried all day," she whispered.

He stared at her through half-lidded eyes. "It's not a pretty wound, but it's not grave either. I just need some rest for it to heal."

"I don't understand why everyone's so adamant on coming after us."

"I don't know either, other than the fact that we have the Fire Emblem." Chrom sighed. "It's far more powerful than you think, Robin. People like us, we don't think twice about, because we would never try to abuse it. Others, they have more dubious plans."

"What do we do about this? About this...Validar?"

"I don't doubt what Lucina's saying, I trust every word of it. But, I think we'll need to meet this person first. I've never held a summit with Plegia's new king. I can't start making rash decisions without any proof. We were definitely provoked last night, but I just need to know who it was."

Robin nodded. "I agree. We need to take our time and tread carefully."

"Lucina said I was gravely wounded at Carrion Island. I managed to not get myself that seriously hurt, but I can't help but think this alternative could've somehow ended up worse than her's."

"Really?" Robin bit her lip.

Chrom nodded. "Yes. Think about it. If I were at Carrion Island, it would've just affected the Shepherds that were with me. This invasion came over the entire castle. Those damned Risen were right outside the window beside the bassinet our baby was sleeping in. I found Morgan because he was screaming at a Risen attacking him, and he was having trouble defending himself. Who knows what would've happened if we weren't in the right place at the right time. If you hadn't checked on Lucina when you did, or if I hadn't found Morgan, what would've happened to them? I can handle when they come after me, but it's entirely different when they go after my children and my wife."

Tears ran down Robin's face. She wiped them away. "I-I'm sorry, Chrom. I feel like I can't protect my children. I should be able to do more for them."

"Hey, this isn't your fault. You did protect Lucina by getting her away from those things and looking after her. Protecting them isn't always going to be gutting an enemy in battle."

"You're right. I just feel so weak. I'm better than before, but I still can't do anything strenuous."

"And I wouldn't want you to. I know it's been a hard recovery for you, but you're getting better. There'll be time when you can fight by my side again. For now, focus on your health and being there for our newly born."

Robin nodded. She smiled. "Well, at least you found our son."

"He was a surprise, that's for sure. I'm glad we found him, but I feel terrible he lost his memories. It's not our fault, of course, but he just seems so lost and confused."

"I'll work with him. I was the same way, and I turned out fine. I'm thankful he at least remembers me, but I would hope to have my children better off than me. I guess that's simply not the future they're from."

"No. At least we can give them what our other selves couldn't, no matter how strange that sounds."

"Of course." Robin drew the blanket further up Chrom's chest. "Let me take care of you while you recover as well. If you need anything, let me know."

Chrom smiled. "Alright."

Author's Note:

If you've stuck with my story this far, I'd like to say THANK YOU! I really appreciate it. I had a few new ideas for it, so I decided to branch out in some experimental directions with it. I totally disregarded Gangrel's spotpass paralogue, sorry about that, but I hope you find it interesting anyways! Writing this story has helped with writer's block, which always such a pain! I was going to just keep it private on my computer, but I decided to post it, because why not let people give it a look, right? I've gotten a lot of positive feedback, so THANK YOU for that as well! I hope to keep you entertained with my stories. :)

-LovelyCosmos