Day 235, Morning - Fort Steiger
"The Feroxians are beginning their march shortly. If we're going to take advantage of the clear skies we'd best get moving too."
"Yes, I agree. Packing and preparations are finished by now. All that's left is breakfast and the long road ahead."
Ryoma and Xander looked at the ghost town Steiger was soon to become. Of course, they would leave a contingent of Chon'sin defectors and a Feroxian garrison to maintain the strategic foothold, but those numbers wouldn't be so large as to take away from the Ylissean League's main army.
"Speaking of breakfast, I hear today's meal is Hoshidan-inspired," Xander began. Ryoma turned, humming his acknowledgement and gauging his partner's subtle expression.
"Chon'sin, actually, but they're pretty similar- A simple egg and rice dish with a little Hoshidan flair thrown in. It's nothing special but it... it's home for us. Some of us," he added quickly. Xander seemed to pay no mind though.
"This peace that we've made... if it is to truly last, I would imagine I could get used to 'home.' Your soldiers seem to enjoy Nohrian cuisine. And I will admit there are some dishes from Hoshido that satisfy my palette as well. So no, Prince Ryoma, I do not believe that it would be home for just 'some.'"
"This peace will last, as long as we work together," Ryoma decided firmly, nodding in renewed conviction. "Perhaps it's naive to say this early, but I truly believe this Alliance was the right first step to a bond between our two Kingdoms."
"It isn't naive. But much work lies ahead- you know this. We all do. It is good that we share a common goal, without one we would have torn each other apart within the first month. With Grima threatening our lands, we must stand together lest we die alone. A year ago, I would have never said this, but time changes and we must too if Nohr and Hoshido are to survive."
"Yes. I know that fact well."
To be fair, Ryoma had his lasting doubts about Grima for the longest time, believing the illusion he had suffered under Robin's spell to be just that- an illusion. Maybe it was until he met Say'ri, or perhaps the true fear in Kamui's eyes and eventually his doubts faded to the recesses of his mind. But a few days ago, when the children had trespassed upon the Ylisse they had escaped from... That was undoubtedly real. No child could imitate terror. Not when it reached their eyes, their fingertips. Even the more mature Gerome's breathing was labored. Truly, if they had lost one of their own that day, they-
"Any word from the commanders?"
It would have been a demoralization that not many could recover from. The cause the Shepherds aimed for would have been hamstringed on the spot.
Ryoma shook his head. Corrin and Robin had been oddly missing since morning but they were probably elsewhere, coordinating with the main army perhaps.
"None so far. They're probably on another their own time-frame. I'm sure we'll hear from them when it's time to march."
"What do you mean they're missing?"
"Uh-huh! They went out to walk last night, and when I woke up, they still weren't back!"
"We've checked everywhere! Maybe they woke up early, but no one's seen them!"
Chrom rubbed his eyes in frustration, Morgan and Kana standing before him with various degrees of panic on their face. Not that it was contagious, but the Exalt had a similar expression plaguing his usual stoic visage as well. Robin and Corrin were responsible; Clearly this was no mere tryst outside the walls of Steiger. And to be gone for more than a few hours? This could be bad.
"Do we know who was on watch when they left? Have they reported anything?"
"23rd-Hour Watch was Lucina and Laslow, which was about the time they left, I think. 1st-hour was Hana and Lon'qu. 2nd-Hour was-"
"And none of them have said anything?" Chrom interrupted, not caring much for the specifics. Kana didn't seem to recall, and Morgan shook her head.
"Nope! Weird..." the siblings muttered in tandem.
"Very. Well this is a horrible start to the day. If that's what's happening, I'm going to call everyone. We're clearly in the midst of some sort of emergency and none of us realize it."
"They were walking along the walls, but only for a short while," Lucina explained. "Laslow could not see them?"
"No," Chrom sighed. "And they didn't return to their tents after you saw them?" Lucina held her chin thoughtfully, the princess clearly not aware of the severity of the situation.
"Not that I could tell. They weren't walking with a torch. Robin usually patrols by magic light, and well, they were not patrolling."
"Oh? What were they doing then?"
Lucina's face lowered, both from shame and embarrassment.
"Just walking and talking on the ramparts." And risque hand-holding, but that was irrelevant and well... unnecessarily explicit behavior.
"I see. Well, we have our leads, little as they are. Some of you," Chrom ordered to the gathered Shepherds, "Start a sweep on the walls. See if we can find anything. Any clues or signs of a kidnapping or a fight. The rest of us, eat quick and get ready to march. We still have to follow the Commander's strategy, even if they're not here. As of now, the Equinox Contingency is in effect. Prince Leo, Prince Takumi? You're in charge of the Shepherds now."
The name was rather cheesy, but being as it was Corrin's idea, no one dared say a word and ruin the dragon princess' perpetual smile. That, and Robin couldn't figure out another word that symbolized the balance between light and dark. Corrin loved metaphors for whatever reason and at the time of its conception, the name was rather clever.
Regardless, Takumi and Leo had proven themselves as cunning intellects, untempered as they were. Corrin had vouched for Leo's existing wit, while she had gathered a familiarity with Takumi's mind over the course of the Valmese campaign. Robin came to his decision after a few board games oddly enough, saying something about Virion under his breath. The next day, he and Corrin had announced the Equinox Contingency and had named the two his back-ups just in case something had happened to them.
And something had happened to them, so Commander Takumi and Commander Leo looked at each other with a shared gulp. Still, Ryoma and Xander approved greatly of this idea, seeing themselves as better suited as leaders on the battlefield than on the backlines. Not that they were any less prominent, of course.
"Right," Leo said through a nervous smile. "Uh... Morgan, Ricken, Miriel, Owain, Tharja, Maribelle... and Princess Sakura? With me."
"Mages?" Takumi wondered.
"Something had to breach our sentries without them noticing. The only thing that comes to mind is magic. Very specific magic," Leo explained. "We're all pretty familiar with teleportation spells and their signs. The rest of you, hurry up and eat. Missing commanders or not, we have to march."
With that, the Shepherds split up, most of them going to the mess hall while the small squad Leo led went towards the walls.
"Actually," he turned to Sakura quickly, causing the meek priestess to yelp. "You can go ahead and eat. I know you love Chon'sin food. Just save some for us, please?"
Sakura nodded, smiling as she joined the others.
From even that distance, he could catch Takumi and Ryoma nod in acknowledgement at that little act.
It didn't take very long to find the tell-tale signs of a magical fight. Maribelle had found some stones charred with fire and lightning, far more intense than the normal torch could ever do over the years. That and well, some of the stones were cracked. Very cracked. Possibly bloody, but dried if so.
"This staircase is the closest to their tent," Leo derived, feeling the ash on the stones before sniffing his fingertips cautiously. "Definitely fire magic. I don't smell any charred wood in the ash. Or oil. And I really don't know or care to know what burnt blood smells like."
"And what's could this be?" Miriel wondered, looking at the floor. "It looks like some sort of summoning ring, similar in design and function to the portal that connected our world to that of the Old Ylisse, yet judging by these markings..."
"Not quite the same," Morgan finished for her.
"Odd," Leo mused, walking around the ring before envisioning himself inside it. It came back in spurts, but upon closing his eyes and turning back the clock Leo found himself not in Steiger, but in Krakenburg. A young prince learning high-level magic from a seemingly unenthusiastic teacher.
"Is it familiar?" Ricken asked. "I've never seen something quite like it."
"I couldn't do it when I was a student, but my old magic instructor could teleport across large distances with the proper spell. I... want to think that this is it. But it wouldn't make any sense."
"Well, if you're right then that's Nohrian magic," Morgan observed. "That much is odd enough. I've never seen anything like this in any of the Ylissean or Valmese texts. Even the portal predates most human magic."
"Hoshidan ninja can do a similar feat, albeit at a lesser distance due to the lower state of the sigils they conjure," Leo added, thumbing along the stones for more clues. While the main group observed the circle, the remaining mages returned from outside the walls. "Owain, Tharja, did you find anything else?"
"It's dark magic for sure, though I've never myself tampered with teleportation magic. It's far too risky without prior experience," Tharja responded, shaking her head to Leo's initial query. "As for our surroundings, nothing seems out of place. Faint wisps of magics emanate from this staircase, but out there, I sense nothing. To think that someone could have overpowered sweet Robin and dear little Corrin... this is worrying."
"Some sort of fight happened here, but our mystery assailant had to cloak himself in the darkest of shadows to get by Lucina," Owain added. "The walls are without breach or break. Whoever bested our commanders must have scaled Steiger's walls, not to mention assert control over the two, without her noticing."
"Or she wasn't being a very attentive sentry," Maribelle countered, which was met by a blank stare from Leo. "Right, not the most realistic scenario. Pardon me."
"Owain, do these runes look familiar?" Leo asked, pointing his retainer towards the charred sigils in the stone. The sorcerer nodded, his eyes widening.
"Hey, aren't those old Nohrian magics? What's this doing here?" the prince wondered to his princely liege. "I remember you practicing these a year ago in your-"
"We suspect our perpetrator must have utilized warping magic on top of some sort of invisibility spell. Now, assuming that this is a Nohrian sigil, there are a few spellcasters that I know that are capable of this level of mastery. Unfortunately, all of them are back in Nohr."
"It is possible that we have been followed all this time," Ricken suggested, to which Leo nodded after a beat.
"Odd as it might be, that's the most reasonable possibility. We weren't exactly discrete when we abandoned the conflict at the border. We sent half our army back to Krakenburg without us... and with not so much as a solid explanation to Father. In hindsight, a horrible idea. But anything that gets Xander spooked is, well, pressing. I wasn't about to question his resolve."
"Indeed, Lord Xander was convinced by Inigo quite effectively," Owain mused. "Well, at least we narrowed it down. But I fear there isn't much else we can decipher from this remnant of battle."
Leo rubbed his eyes in frustration, before banishing his doubts with a clenched fist. A couple deep breaths, and the commander was back in the game.
"I'll question the Feroxian guard before the march, see if they spotted anything out of the ordinary. Everyone else, it appears our investigation is at a temporary halt. Go eat something, and we'll have to make it up as we go."
"Nothing?" Takumi asked, seeing his partner return from the Feroxian garrison.
"Besides what you already know? Nothing," Leo replied with a defeated sigh. He had a plate of rice and eggs and started on it as Takumi scratched his head in deep thought.
"Damn, alright, this is really happening."
"So it is. You're not doubting Corrin, are you?" Leo asked between bites.
"Kamui. And no. If you aren't, I'm not. But still, they trusted us with this, and we're already off our bearings within hours of their disappearance. Do we really just march without knowing what happened to them? Without trying to find them?"
"There's a lot of things to figure out right now, and right now, it is our duty to keep the rest of the Shepherds on their path. We must slay Grima, stop Valm."
"...About that. I had some thoughts," Takumi suggested.
"What?"
"Is Valm really a threat to us now? We've bested armies ten times our size with not nearly as much effort as they should have warranted. I have no better comparison, but even our own battles as Nohrians and Hoshidans had more... vigor."
"Are you suspecting that they're letting us in too quickly?" Leo asked. Takumi shrugged, shaking his head.
"It crossed my mind. I don't know, but this is too easy. Robin and Corrin are a genius pair, sure, and I'm not doubting our combined strength. Think about it: If Lucina's story is accurate, shouldn't Valm be a much bigger threat?"
"You are right, I suppose. This is the greatest cavalry that ever rode upon on the Archanean continent and we've tossed them aside like scraps at every turn.
"So what do you think? Are we marching into their trap?" Takumi thought, envisioning the map in his mind.
"Empress Say'ri has expressed the utmost importance on reclaiming the Mila Tree. If we are to unite Valentia under one banner, we both know that our march cannot stop until we have liberated it."
"Valentia, Valm, I've heard them being used interchangeably," the Hoshidan speculated. "If the books are right, Valm, the country that is, isn't much of a factor on paper. How did they sweep through all of the continent? Numbers nearing a million horses and men, and yet what have we seen if not a mere ten-thousand at a time?"
"Simple," Leo responded, biting more of the Hoshidan food. "We simply haven't found them yet. Despite compromising three of their generals, we still haven't found anything."
"So we just march to the Mila Tree then?"
"Right into a trap?" Leo laughed. "Of course not."
"But Robin-"
"But nothing," Leo interrupted. "We will take the Mila Tree, dismantle this painfully tedious idea of a 'Conqueror' and go home. It's been a long few months, Takumi. No need to prolong it."
"But is Walhart really an enemy we need to make?"
"You ask me. Empress Say'ri and your brother need to save their people, don't they?"
"Right... yeah. Dumb question." Leo wrapped up his remaining food, licking his lips in satisfaction.
"This stuff is great. Anyway, now that the dumb questions are out of the way, what's really going on in that head of yours? Don't tell me all that hair is weighing down your intuition."
"Shut your mouth Nohrian- Ugh. Alright, I'll say it; I don't think we're being led into a trap."
"Alright, then what is it? If we're taking care of Valm this easily and are not being led into a trap, what's got you spooked?"
"I think something bigger than us caught Walhart's attention."
Mila Shrine Ruins- The Conqueror's Whetstone
"What a dreadful place," Robin groaned, lifting a rock out of his way to access the catacombs further within. Caves were one thing. Tombs, gross as they were, were on an entirely higher level of ghastly. But yet... there was power here. Great power. Power that should have been sealed an age ago. Power that should have died.
He had sensed it when he made his way to Valentia. In his existence, there had only been two great powers in the world: Naga, and his.
To find a third was... enlightening.
He had been walking for what seemed like hours. Still, hours, days, even years could come and go in the blink of an eye. His final tactic as a god was more vast a time-frame than the stratagems of wars waged in his human life.
Speaking of, he hadn't checked in on the Shepherds in a while. They must've been marching to the Mila Tree by now though, assuming that nothing else was going wrong.
Of course, when one brings along an entire continent and drags it through the oceans of the Astral Sea to juxtapose it onto another? That could be considered something going wrong.
In Robin's case, it was going right.
"I never knew Duma. But someone is using his power. Stealing it, more like. No man can withstand our power for very long, not until it betrays him. Walhart finds that out the hard way, even long after he dies a mortal death," Robin narrated aloud, dragging his hands along the wall until finally coming to a stop behind a grand door with a dim beacon before it.
"Oh."
A man lay there, hunched and battered like an old dog that had winded itself on a hunt. In his hands was a gleaming spear, perfectly balanced with an edge maintained long throughout the years- no. Throughout even more than that.
The faint flickers of an otherworldly ember danced dimly from his fingertips to his palms, shifting from a deep vermilion to a more natural ocher. His armor was pitted, and what banner that could have been on the fore of his cape had faded into naught but dirt and grime. Seeing Robin approach made the man look up with both surprise and defeat, and that pitiful look made the tactician tilt his head.
"I thought this was a tomb," the wanderer said flatly, trying his best to get a stir from the old warden.
"You a-are too late. The power you seek is already gone," the man spat, but not without struggling to keep his head raised. Wounds could be seen now that Robin was closer. Great wounds that should have killed lesser men. Robin would have none of that.
"Oh, that's apparent enough. Get up."
"What right have you? I am-"
"You are nothing. At least, you should have been nothing. You should have been dead for thousands of years, and yet here you are."
He was a tall man once, Robin would like to think. Long black hair had turned into a grayish motley rag, and a beard that hadn't been shaved nor washed in too long adorned the man's bruised face. Skin that hadn't seen the sun's warmth is hundreds, maybe thousands of years lay stretched and leathery, at least in the few spots where it wasn't torn asunder by terrible lacerations.
"I am a steward of a terrible and consuming evil," the man moaned, rising with great effort. "I have guarded this curse, kept it safe from man... who should not ever possess it again."
Hardly, Robin thought. Walhart had made quick work of him.
"Was. You are barely a steward of your own body at the moment. Do you know who it was, the beast that took this power from you?"
Of course Robin knew. Walhart was a direct descendant of the Saint King, whose blood bore the fortitude to bear Duma's raw power as his own. Blood that would not allow him to die, as the Conqueror would soon find out.
"I do not know. But like the others who have taken it from me, he will fall, and the flames will come back to me. I am their sworn protector. It is my duty and my responsibility."
Wolf Berg's cleaves were tell-tale: Walhart's greataxe was a colossus even next to his horse. The fact that the guardian of this tomb was still even in one piece was a miracle in itself.
Or a curse.
"Well, you don't have it anymore. And you won't for a while. So here's my proposal: get up, and you're going to help me stop him."
"Truly you are a fool. Why would I help you? I have not left this place for an age. I will stay here for an age more. Leave me be. Perhaps with the power gone as you say, I can die. I can finally-"
"There is still a flicker of Duma's stench in you. Not much, but enough to keep you alive for many more years. But you help me. You help me liberate Valentia, and I'll put your soul to rest. I'll claim whatever power that sustains you for mine own."
"Folly. No man should bear Duma's power but I. It is my punishment."
"I know. A dragon's temptations should not be toyed with by men such as us. I realize that now, too late."
The man's eyes narrowed.
"You aren't a man."
Robin's facade faded away slightly, as subtle as the change was. Kind brown eyes gave way to his true red ones.
Eyes of despair. Of ruin.
Of Grima.
"A dragon? You should all be dead. Duma was among the last of his kin."
No, Robin was elsewhere on Valm. Grima had his own journey to complete though. And that journey needed someone that could best Walhart in single glorious combat.
"Not wrong," the Fell Dragon nodded. "But not quite right."
Grima walked over to the man, placing his hand on the rusted and pitted armor.
"I will not bring her to you. But I can bring you to her. You can die a worthy death not as a vessel, but as a man. Grant me your strength, Rightful Emperor of Valentia."
Berkut's eyes widened, and the old man long past his prime looked up at Grima in shock.
"H-how..."
"I can grant you one last conquest. Ride with me, liberate your homeland. Return to your love whose heart holds your soul. It will not do for a son of Rigel to be bound by Duma's curse."
"What you offer me... I forfeited those privileges when I was but a stupid boy. I will not make the same mistake twice. But yet... Who are you?"
"I can give you a life and death worthy of your history. When all is said and done, you will die, like any man should.
And you will see her again, not in this life, but the next."
"...Rinea?"
Grima nodded.
"...Get up."
With a slow breath, Berkut, proud cousin of the Saint-King rose.
"What I grant you, I will take away as soon as your use as steward of Duma's power has been fulfilled. Knowing this, will you ride with me? Will you die for my selfish cause?"
"I will die for my people. I will die so that no man will ever be plagued by dragons again."
Instantly, Grima transferred a small amount of power to the Rigellian scion, restoring that which was once broken. Wounds faded, bones creaked, and the fire that burned in the prince's hands shifted from dark red to a lighter purple to finally, a strong amber and pink.
Berkut screamed, feeling his body bend back into place as the proud knight of three-thousand years was rejuvenated by the Fell Dragon's power. Kriemhild burned with the same flame, its blade once more thirsting for blood.
Duma's power had sustained him for ages, even beyond both his and Berkut's supposed deaths. How he had survived this long, who could possibly know. But no man could ever be trusted with power this foul again.
"Will you truly do as you say? When all of this is over, will Duma's curse still be a temptation to my people?"
"No. Because it will be mine."
"...I see. That is good enough for me."
Southtown, Ylissean/Plegian Border
Why was I sleeping on the floor... And where are we?
"Ah, Chrom, Lissa, Frederick," Corrin greeted casually, nodding to the respective people before rising to her feet. However, Frederick's lance stopped her from stepping any closer. "H-hey!"
"You know who all three of us are?" Lissa asked in awe, but Frederick glared at Corrin who was still frozen in confusion.
"Any spy could know our names," Frederick observed, "Though she lacks the wit to call her marks by their given titles."
Corrin's confusion turned into outright clueless bewilderment.
"W-wait. What? Of course I know your name, Frederick. You've been at our- Chrom's side at every strategy meeting, not to mention any time else. Though, I suppose as a mere Princess, an Exalt is something more than that... So, my Exalt," Corrin continued, her heart sinking as Frederick's lance got closer and closer by the word, "Alright I'm really not sure what's happening."
"Exalt? Oh, is every assassin so sloppy with their details? How did you find us here on patrol? This is not-"
"Alright that's enough," Corrin pouted, getting up. "Frederick, what's going on? Chrom? Lissa? Did... did something happen?"
"I'm pretty sure she hit her head pretty hard," Lissa guessed.
"Yeah I'm pretty sure too," Corrin groaned, sitting back down after a woozy few steps. "Gods, my..."
"We kill her and move on," Frederick decided, letting his spear thrust forward-
"Peace, Frederick," Chrom eased, stepping to kick away Frederick's weapon. Approaching Corrin cautiously, the Exalt looked at the stranger in awe. "I've never seen armor like that. And that sword? Are you Feroxian? Plegian? Chon'sin?"
"Geez, you too, huh..." Corrin muttered, before opening her eyes and gazing up at the Ylissean before her. "Chon'sin? No, no... Do you really not remember me?"
"Do not claim familiarity with milord or milady," the knight warned. "I can vouch that I've never seen you before in my life."
"He can vouch for us too," Lissa admitted. "I would remember meeting someone like you."
With a groan, Corrin lay back down on the grass. Maybe she would wake up right about now and...
Give me your hand.
Corrin's eyes widened, looking around quickly as she shot up, ignoring the dizziness. "R-robin! Where-"
"I said give me your hand," Chrom repeated, his hand outstretched.
"Milord, please exercise caution-"
"I'll do your exercises another day," Chrom said with a dismissing wave. "She clearly needs a little help getting her bearings."
"At the very least, we can lead her to Ylisstol's theater troupe with acting skills like that," Frederick scoffed.
Corrin reached warily for Chrom's hand, looking at Frederick the entire time. Even as she rose to her feet, she gauged the Wary Knight's lance from a safe distance.
"Are you alright?" Chrom asked, still holding on, before looking quickly to their hands in shock and letting go quickly. Corrin didn't seem to notice, still trying to put everything together in her jumbled mind.
"Not really. My head... hurts," Corrin admitted. "And you three clearly don't remember... hey, where's everyone else?"
"Everyone else?" Lissa asked.
"Y'know, the Shepherds? Robin, Sumia, Olivia..."
"I recognize Sumia. Who are Robin and Olivia?" Chrom wondered. "We should get you to a healer."
"Ahem! You are looking at one?" Lissa huffed.
"Oh, right." Chrom laughed nervously, bringing his arm behind his head in embarrassment. This led Corrin to look at the rest of him and she physically cringed at the Exalt's odd wardrobe.
"I don't remember this," she winced, not exactly piecing together Chrom's getup. "What happened to your sleeve, did you rip it off? And your boots are mismatch-"
"We tell him that too!" Lissa laughed, not joined by Frederick. "So you do know something about him!"
"Well yeah. He gave me this big talk about 'An Exalt having to dress befitting a leader of Ylisse' and all that. This honestly looks like you were attacked by a bear," Corrin appraised. Judging by Chrom's actions, she had to have said something right.
Or wrong. Probably wrong.
"Exalt? I think you have your facts a little switched around, assassin- er, lady. I'm just a prince."
Prince? But Chrom wasn't Prince ever since...
"Yeah! The Exalt is none other than our-"
"Emmeryn," Corrin realized, piecing together what portion of the puzzle she had. "Exalt Emmeryn. Oh."
Her composure diminished instantly.
"See? There we go. You must be feeling better," Chrom said with a proud nod, as if he had done something aiding Corrin's recollection.
It all began in a field in the middle of Southtown, not too far from the border of Ylisse and Plegia. That's where I met Chrom and his sister and their devoted knight. This is where my memories start.
Corrin closed her eyes, a few tears falling out of panic and desperation. This odd sense of loneliness that tore at her heart all of a sudden... In that instant, she remembered everything. Robin's doubts, his worries, his story... and Iago. How he had... what did he do?
"You alright there?"
"Are we in Southtown," Corrin asked, not so much of a question as it was a command.
"Yep!" Lissa answered brightly. "I'm going on my very first patrol with the Shepherds soon, and-"
There was a small problem brewing over the horizon, but nothing like a little bit of exercise to jog the memory. With blade and tome in hand, I set forth to earn the three's trust!
"Has... has Plegia attacked yet?"
"Whoa, that's a weird question. No- hey, what are you looking... at."
Corrin saw smoke in the distance and her heart sank even further. Chrom and Lissa had already turned too, and their reactions were much the same.
"...I don't really know what's going on," Corrin warned, "But we're not going to let those people get hurt. Frederick, Chrom, Lissa? I have so much to tell you, and I don't even know where to start. But please, let me help you. I... I think I can help you."
?
When Robin came too, his head felt like it was about to freeze solid. Not that he'd ever experienced that before... had he?
"W-what in the! H-hey!"
Oh, he had definitely felt that before. But when? He opened his eyes, the dim light of candles and the Nohrian dawn much more gentle than his icy awakening.
Wait. Nohrian?
Robin sat up in a flash, almost hitting heads with...
Felicia and Flora stood right over him, curiously gauging his reactions.
"Cute as ever, Lord Robin. Good morning! Time to get up!"
"..."
"..."
"Oh."
