Chapter 2

"-Plegia is Ylisse's westerly neighbor. They send small bands into our territory, hoping to instigate war."

Chrom said. The eight continued listening to this discussion of the bandits' origin, although quite a bit of their attention was focused elsewhere. The party had left Southtown for the forest, almost immediately, to Lissa's displeasure. However, as they walked, the eight began to notice the forest's ambient noises, or rather, a lack of them. The arrival of sunset was greeted by no chirping of Cicadas. The forest was eerily silent, and looking up revealed flocks of birds streaking east across the sky. All these signs pointed to a few possibilities, and none of the good. The eight watched as their youngest brother stood back up from pressing his ear on the ground and confirmed it to be the most likely one.

"Chrom, might I suggest we take an eastern detour?"

Said Guo Jia. Even after becoming his advisors, the prince still insisted they call him by name.

"Right now there's mountains to our east, we'll have to march a bit further before we can do such a thing, why?"

"We believe there'll be an earthquake to our west, sometime in the near future. It's not possible for us to completely escape its range, but the farther we move away, the better."

The shepherds' eyes widened at this. They didn't quite run after that little announcement, as exhausting themselves would also serve no purpose.

"How can you tell?"

Robin asked curiously, as they redoubled their pace.

"The more attention to your surroundings, the safer you'll be. Animals do this best, and if they're running away…"

The man gestured up above, drawing the others' attention to the fleeing birds above.

"...so should we. We've also been feeling the ground for potential tremors, and believe me, there definitely were signs."

"So that's what you guys were doing! I thought you were performing a weird ritual for the earth mother or something."

Lissa exclaimed.

"Who's this earth mother?"

"Ah right, you don't know. Well she's-"

Their little party had gotten as far as they could until nightfall arrived, where they decided to set up camp in a clearing that specifically was as far away from any trees as possible. The eight had then accompanied their new lord (along with Frederick) to go hunting for some game. A bear promptly attacked them, and later proved to be more than enough sustenance for twelve people. Lissa had initially refused to eat the meat, wrinkling her nose in disgust, but with gentleman Zhou's patient prodding, insisting that she keep her strength up for the natural disaster ahead, she relented. The only other dissenter was Frederick. This surprised fifth since the knight had been the one to help him skin the beast and cook its meat, all the while sporting the same unperturbed expression. A few questions revealed that meat from any non-domestic animals caused the man to empty his stomach no matter what, which was quite a bit different than the princess's simple distaste.

Before they settled in for the night, campfire still warmly lit so they wouldn't freeze in the night air, Guo Jia reminded them not to get too comfortable,

"We could be off by anywhere within a few days, but don't be too surprised to be awoken tonight."

Then, as the moon rose higher in the sky, they fell asleep….at least, four of them did. The eight geniuses waited until their new companions slumbered before unanimously moving away into the cover of trees. Situating themselves at an elevated position that still kept their companions in view yet distant enough not to be overheard, the eight took their first opportunity to converse alone.

"A world stands on the brink of demise…"

Pang Tong repeated the phrase he heard just before his death, and gauging the reactions of his brothers. He found what he was looking for.

"It seems we're all on the same page."

"Physically as well. Coupled with giving us this new power and mastery over a new foreign tongue, this mysterious benefactor certainly didn't hold back on the gifts."

Commented Zhuge Liang in their native language. This way, even if they were somehow overheard anyway, it wouldn't matter. The other seven quickly caught on. On another note, it seemed they still needed to learn the written form of this world's language, as they hadn't recognized any of the characters on the town's signs, nor in their plundered tomes.

"Yes, and despite how powerful this patron of ours is, the supposed world destroyer must be even stronger, must be capable of even more...godlike abilities."

Guo Jia analyzed gravely. After all, this time and space manipulating benefactor still required their help, meaning even they couldn't stop that black dragon by themselves.

"Fortunately by heaven's will, we've had nothing but the most fortuitous of encounters and opportunities ever since we've arrived. Meeting the Exalt's bloodline immediately, becoming a part of that naive fool's circle...Nice work on that last one, sixth brother. Finding conceit in his goodwill, heh."

Smirked third genius Jia Xu, a tall lanky man of long black hair and a topknot. Pang Tong nodded, but the third had more to say:

"However, why go so far for this silly facade, even making them promise to treat us all for a condition we don't possess? And why include this Robin to have the same rank as us? I admit she is talented but…."

The same rank meant sixth wanted her close. As the fledgling pheonix recounted the meeting with Robin's (mother?), the answer became too clear.

"That girl undoubtedly possesses a connection to our enemy as well, and I suspect her lost memories are the key."

Pang Tong finished.

"It's a good lead for sure, but what if say…..she is our enemy incarnate, and unlocking her memories will make her remember true nature, causing her to transform to her true form?"

Jia Xu mused on a whim. Sixth rolled his eyes.

"That's ridiculous, but fine. Then we keep the remedy at hand, and capture that other woman first for more information...and if that woman is our enemy incarnate, we still have to capture her anyway."

"And, heaven forbid, if they're both sacrifices for some sort of evil ritual to summon that dragon, then we'll just have to kill them both."

Laughed Guo Jia, tossing out his own asinine idea. Really, what could they actually expect in a world filled with magic? Only everything and anything, of course. Afterwards, the eight then moved on to plans for the future, but besides accumulating more power and influence, they were very limited by how little they knew of this world. Lastly, they had a lot of catching up to do.

"So I'm the only one who feels bitter?"

Mused Yuan Fang, staring at his three brothers that he had fought wars against, the three whose schemes had successfully killed him. True, he had tried to kill them all first, and surprisingly still they didn't reciprocate his grudge.

"We secured your body-"

Began Xun Yu.

"You found my body."

Yuan Fang repeated, still under the impression he had come to this world body and all.

"Yes. And I was there when our fourth brother here died. Nothing amiss happened there either. That benefactor must have taken our souls, leaving our corpses behind."

"I see."

"We...didn't allow the men to publicly display you in all manners of indignity. We instead held a private funeral, sending you off with a promise... to let all enmity be burned away by the fire."

"...I see."

Yuan Fang was somewhat touched. As he gazed at his second brother's earnest expression. If they could forgive, why couldn't he? After all, they all ended up like him anyway. It was within these thoughts the first suddenly realized:

"A private funeral, so that's how you destroyed me completely. Keeping my death secret would allow my forces to remain hostile to my clan, destroying it all from within."

"It still took some years, thanks to your many ingenious backup plans."

Xun Yu complimented politely. Yuan Fang sighed, suddenly feeling very tired. It was all such a waste in the end. A life of treachery and conquest, ultimately ending in nothing. He only had one question left.

"Who was our era's final victor?"

Scanning his brothers' blank or uneasy expressions, his surprise grew.

"None of you lived to see it?"

The thought was extremely depressing. It meant all of their efforts in fighting for a better world only succeeded in causing needless bloodshed.

"I...believe I know who would win."

Said Zhuge Liang.

"At the time of my death, he had all the foundation he needed...yes it could only be him."

"Who?"

"Help the strongest power conquer the world, and after a speedy restoration of peace, usurp from within."

Seventh grinned as he recited. This shocked more than a few of them.

"That prankster…" Xun Yu breathed. This clued Yuan Fang on who they were talking about, also shocking him as well.

"Sima Yi."

He supposed that meant they had all fought oceans of blood, just for an evil conniving businessman to seize everything.

"He's not all that bad."

Zhuge Liang said, correctly guessing what his first brother was thinking.

"He may be greedy in nature, but he recognizes that the best way for him to accumulate the most wealth is if the citizens live happy lives."

"But how long can they do so? With all the bloodshed that occurred, our people's numbers have dwindled drastically. I believe there simply isn't enough manpower to repel the next invasion by those northern barbarians."

The eighth scoffed. To this possibility, even Zhuge Liang had no answer.

"Eighth is right. Now that everything is over, I can safely ask: the three kingdoms, the warring states...what's the difference? And how was our role any different than those ten attendants?... I think it's all a good indication that we should do things differently in this new world, and not repeat our past mistakes."

Preached Pang Tong.

"No matter our differences in political views, we should stand together no matter what. After all, the most common result of us meeting on opposite sides is….."

Sixth didn't have to finish that sentence. They all knew. Over the countless battles they had against each other in the past, all in the name of their differing views on how the world should be governed, millions had died by their command. Perhaps compromise is the wisest choice moving forward.

Suddenly, the eighth genius lowered himself to hug the earth again.

"We'll have to continue this another time."

The preliminary weak tremors had begun. The eight returned to the campsite, just in time to see their new lord wake up, along with the princess.

"So the earthquake is tonight."

"Yes Chrom, and for safety's sake, we should remain in this clearing until everything subsides."

Guo Jia replied, as the rest of their companions awoke from the worsening quakes. Fortunately, it seemed they had marched far enough from the earthquake's epicenter. The shaking they experienced was comparatively mild compared to what they saw further westward.

The sky lit up in a orange glow from the burning forest below. Large stretches of earth rose to form new hills, large fireballs launching across the sky from the new lava emanating cracks from said hills.

All these terrifying sights was still within the eight's expectations. What wasn't expected was the sudden appearance of an strange crystal eye, surrounded by a few golden rings, opening in the distance just above the treeline. Vague humanoid specks began to pour out of it, prompting Chrom to declare that they had to investigate this. It was obvious he wouldn't take no for an answer, and Robin proceeded to suggest scoping things out first at a nearby abandoned fort, one of the few they had passed earlier.

Their group now stood atop the aged stone walls of the fort, surveying the landscape below and the portal up above. They were joined by two new additions they had met along the way. One was a brash young lance-wielding woman on horseback, possessing short red hair and armor of a similar sheen. Chrom had introduced her as Sully, one of his shepherds. The other newcomer was someone none of them knew, the self proclaimed 'archest of archers', a sharply dressed man named Virion. The archer volunteered to join them, all in the name of supposedly wooing the female knight, much to her disdain. To their amusement, the eight watched as Chrom quickly accepted the stranger into their fold, just as easily as he had accepted them. This was accompanied by Frederick's usual routine of suspicious protests, which Chrom waved away yet again.

In the forest, the group got a good look at what appeared to be lumbering armed men with glowing red-eyes, and strange masks painfully stitched onto their faces. To the eight, the sight was awfully familiar, to the other six, it was not.

"Are such horrific creatures commonplace in these lands?"

Asked Robin, eyeing the groaning menace.

"They're not from Ylisse, I promise you that."

Chrom answered.

"They seem to attack anything that moves."
Observed Frederick, as some unfortunate wildlife were cut to pieces.

"Look out, here they come."

They seemed to have been spotted, with the first of the brutes breaking into a sprint from their ambling state.

"Time to earn your keep, Virion. But keep in mind, your top priority shall be those who can shoot back, like that archer further west when he arrives in range." Guo Jia ordered. Twang. The sound of a bowstring was followed by the aforementioned archer falling to the ground, an arrow in its brain.

"Not to worry, dear advisor. Noblest Virion shall earn all of the keeps, and more."

The man was a braggart and a philanderer, but he had a good eye, and there was no denying his skill. The shepherds proceeded to rain down spells and arrows at their new enemies, with even the eighth hurling hand axes he picked up at the last battle.

As this battle progressed, it was evident that the enemies lacked intelligence. They just kept running forward and trying to scale the walls, despite there being a rusted old entrance gate in front of them. They also displayed signs of abnormal physical strength, capable of inhuman leaps in the air. None of them were able to jump to the top in a single bound, and the eight observed that those who did attempt said inhuman leaps caused awful cracking sounds in their legs. Those two limbs would then flail bonelessly as the groaning enemy would continue the climb with only their arms.

'No sense of self-preservation.'

Any who reached their position were swiftly cut down by Chrom and the rest of their melee units. However, when the first enemy reached the top that the shepherds finally realized their true nature. The first to notice was the shepherd who killed it. Stabbing the creature in the throat, Sully sported a disgusted grimace.

"Captain Chrom, I don't know if you've noticed, but these chumps are definitely worm food."

"You're right, but how is it they rise again?"

Wondered the prince, as he beheaded one himself.

"The mask."

Said Yuan Fang. It was their only distinctive feature that drew the eyes. As one of the dead began to crawl over the ramparts near him, he separated its arms from its body and pulled it over before it could fall. He knew he couldn't kill it for what he was about to do; these things just disintegrated once they died. The first stuck his iron sword through the base of the its chin, attempting to remove its mask. A few quick stabs and swings later, the mask clattered on the ground, revealing its contents to all who could spare a glance in the midst of battle.

"Ewwww. What is that?"

Said a disgusted Lissa, watching as root-like appendages slowly retracted into the mask's interior, before said mask and its owner dissolved into nothing.

"It's a parasite, my lady."

Answered Zhou Yu, as he offhandedly stabbed the neck of another undead near the young princess. Fifth was accustomed to such creatures back in the marshes and rivers of his home in the southeast, although those were smaller than...whatever this was, and most certainly could not control their hosts.

"What?! What's the parasite?"

Chrom confusedly called, eyes still ahead at the mass of undead below them.

"We'll discuss it after the battle Chrom!"

Robin barked. The girl was quite a bit more spirited and serious in the heat of battle, compared to her usual relaxed and curious demeanor. And like with the previous battle, the the eight watched as she took the reins again. Out of the corner of their eye, they saw the strange portal close up, not before a caped figure in blue slipped out.

After the intensity had let up on the walls, the prince had wanted to hunt down the rest, to keep them from wandering away and attacking nearby villages. In the process they had met a rather mysterious masked man dressed entirely in blue, who finished off the last of the creatures.

"Many thanks for helping us put an end to these monsters."

Chrom addressed the newest stranger he met today.

"The Risen are only the beginning. This world teeters at the brink of horrible calamity. You have been warned."

That sounded very similar to something the eight heard before their deaths. The masked man sheathed a familiar looking sword and turned his heel-

"Wait! I never caught your name. I am Chrom, and-"

"Marth."

"After the hero king of old?"

"Huh? What's teetering where now? Hey wait!"

Lissa cried. The masked man didn't answer this time, nor did he ever turn back. The next thing to stop him in place was a firm hand on the shoulder, turning him to face a smiling Zhou Yu.

"Yes, I believe we're all very curious about the answer to that. Hopefully, you can join us, help us answer these questions."

"Unfortunately, I don't have the time. This land is in danger."

Marth tried to shrug fifth's hand off, but Zhou Yu tightened his grip, gestured to Chrom, and put as much earnesty in his voice as he could.

"But in this land, my lord's authority is second only to our ruler. I believe he is in a position to influence a great many more things here than you by yourself. Whatever path you plan to follow, I don't think you should do it alone. Let us help you."

Zhou Yu finally released his hold, stepping back to await Marth's decision, who now looked a bit unsure. Fifth followed the man's stare, from him to….his lord, and then, strangely enough, settling on Robin. It was brief, and with a hitched breath, the masked man swiftly turned away, disappearing into the trees.

"Thank you, but I'm not alone."

A swish of his cape accompanied departing footsteps.

"What a troubled young man."

Now, it was Zhou Yu's turn to feel a hand on his shoulder. It was Frederick, whose stern face now seemed a tad bit softer than usual.

"It appears his skills lie elsewhere. I wager we'll hear his name again...but for now our topmost concern is the capital. We should make haste."

Zhou Yu's mind was still on his failed persuasion attempt. None of the best negotiators among the eight had wanted to make their move on this Marth. Zhou Yu understood why: Their better procedures in persuasion put the target on edge against them, which was not ideal for their safer backup option.

For such a valuable yet mysterious lead, it was best if they chose the approach where they got what they wanted, regardless whether the masked man was willing or not. And that was their youngest brother's area of expertise. Zhou Yu discreetly slipped some rope to the eighth, who vanished at the first opportunity.

First, wear them down.

But the hidden eighth could sense that Marth was quite worn out already. She hid it well when they found her, but the experienced assassin estimated she had been fighting all day, and all night, and perhaps some more. Where'd did that portal lead? Perhaps she'd had been fighting those Risen on the other side.

And yes, her poor attempt to disguise as a man didn't fool him. He caught a glimpse of those rolled up buns hidden in the back of her hair. There was also her faux deep voice, which she dropped when crying out in her natural voice during the heat of battle. There was also her lack of an adam's apple, etc….

Second, plan for the right location.

In this neck of the woods, it was just the two of them. It was dark, and with forest's natural foliage, there was many places he could choose. But he had to make it quick, as dawn was approaching fast.

Reciting step three and step four in his mind, Zhao Yun soundlessly rushed forward with rope in hand, tackling the girl from behind while holding the cord against her neck, straight into the thicket.

The shrub began shuddering immediately, first spitting out a fancy sword. After a short period of struggle, the underbrush parted to reveal Zhao Yun dragging away a figure bound by hand and foot. He retrieved the girl's weapon he had removed at the earliest in the scuffle. Frowning at what essentially looked exactly like Chrom's blade, he sheathed and tucked it into the folds of his robes. Hefting an unconscious Marth over his shoulder, the eighth quickly picked up the shepherd's trail, and it would not be long before he found them.

His new lord was not pleased to see him.

"What?! Why did you do this?"

"This young lady has many things she isn't telling us."

"Young lady?"

The eighth simply removed the butterfly mask covering the girl's eyes. This let out her long blue hair to its true length, as well as exposing her fair countenance to all. Chrom stared at her for a moment before saying,

"Whatever secrets she wants to keep isn't our concern."

"I disagree. It's a concern of our state, milord. She insinuated there will be more Risen popping up and possibly worse things. Knowledge is power, and her knowledge may prove to be the difference between saving none, and saving many. You wish to protect your people, correct?"

To that, Chrom had nothing to say, but Zhao Yun saw he was still quite displeased. He remembered how freely even a suspicious character like himself was treated. Knowing how honorable and naive their lord was, he had to ask,

"Does your shepherds not take captives?"

"No, and certainly not anyone who had fought alongside us in battle."

Ah, so that was the issue.

"Chrom, enemies of our enemies are not necessarily friends. She came from the same place as the Risen, right Frederick?"

He knew the vigilant knight had the chance to see that too. Although Frederick now appeared way more distrustful of him, the man still agreed.

"Who knows, maybe she was the one who led them here. At any rate milord, I am not one of your shepherds. I am your advisor, who only made a decision with your best interests at heart."

"...I understand."

Chrom still appeared conflicted, but not enough to protest any further. The prince gave an apologetic glance at their new captive, just in time to see Marth's eyes snap open, revealing a familiar shade of blue, and a familiar brand in her left eye.