Since y'all are naughty people who just WON'T post reviews unless I explicitly say so every F-ing chapter and I am in dire need of constructive criticism, Read and Review *glares aggressively*
Also, I've noticed that chapter 12 had less views than chapter 13, which left me... confused. Do people just skip to the last chapter updated or something? I usually make 150-200 views a chapter (I'm shocked that so many people enjoy my garbage writing), but that one received a measly 74. Should I not upload two chapters in a row again? I have no idea.
Kidemonas: It's been lost across space and time and is now sitting in between countless miswritings. Rest assured, my friend, however, that the symbol of friendship with the redhead is not lost forever! I will redeem myself of the heinous act post haste!
Chapter 13- Interlude: Daydreams and Nightmares
Nick had passed out. Again.
Lucina wasn't even shocked by now. Nobody was, really. After that little show and tell, everyone simply resumed eating without a care in the world, save for the royal family who was chatting between themselves after Lissa checked that he hadn't knocked his head into something. She really wanted to join them, but she knew that her cover would be blown if that was the case. Anyways, Nick was passing out a lot more than a normal person would, what with always bringing himself to the point of exhaustion just for the sake of others. It wasn't a rare occurrence in her timeline either. A lot of times Brady or Rose would have to put him to sleep using a staff. While Brady would use a sleep staff (which would've been a shame in using, if it wasn't for the fact that it didn't really work on Risen) Rose had a more… direct approach. The bumps in the back of his head were growing countless.
As she strode down the canteen so that she could go and put him into a bed, she looked at the gathering that was taking place in front of her. She'll admit that she had gone a little… overboard, on Marth; but it was such a rare occasion when she could meet him outside of a battlefield that she wasn't gonna miss the chance. Sadly, however, Aunt Emm had to butt in. Not that she was wrong, mind you, but she just wanted a moment alone with him! Was that too much to ask?
Nevertheless, she bent down and picked him up. He was light as a doll; the signs of malnourishment from his recent mission in the Outrealms were clear. Sadly, this wasn't the Nick she knew, so she couldn't start thwacking him on the back of the head without having eyebrows raised… unless she grew close to him. That, sadly, still hadn't occurred, with him being always occupied with something or the other, when he wasn't lying down in a bed. But one of these days she was gonna have her chance!
To be honest, she felt a little sad for Belle. The girl was probably gonna be jealous as hell for not having the chance to see what her father was like when he was younger. None of them expected him to be quite so young (and short) but she adjusted fairly easily, although it surely was gonna be a fun surprise for the others.
As she started heading towards his quarters, she got to thinking. They had about two days to prepare for the assassination attempt on her aunt, and she still quite had no idea how she would make it. She didn't know the exact day it would be on, but she was sure assassins would come. She still hadn't changed enough of the timeline to warrant any particular changes, so she would simply have to be in two places at once. She had to be there to protect Aunt Emmeryn, and she had to be there to protect Father. She obviously couldn't tell anybody of the incoming assassination attempt, they would either take her for crazy or she would be locked down for treason. Both were, to say the least, undesirable choices. So how? How?
"You gonna open the door or we just gon be pacing in front of my door? It's been 5 mins already." The boy in her arms asked. She shrieked and flung him away, causing him to roll on the floor before coming to a halt against a wall.
"Damn Lucy, remember me never to sneak up on you." He said while picking himself up. But that phrase struck something in her.
After both her father had died she had cried herself out, until the council had decided that the unification of the countries of Plegia and Ylisse was the safest thing to do to face the threat that Walhart represented. Under the rule of King Nicholas, they had actually managed to stipulate an accord between the kingdom of New Ylisse and Valm. She was the last in line for the throne, and seeing her rightful place stolen from her angered no little amount. But she was reassured that, when she came of age, the throne was going to be hers as the last and rightful heir of the Falchion along with her little sister Severa. She thought the worst of the man that had unrightfully usurped her father's throne and it didn't help that he always looked so damn lazy and Plegian. But over the years she had to grudgingly admit that, despite her little knowledge of politics, he was doing a good job as a king, as none of the villages were in unrest. And so, they came to a grudging (at least on her side, because at hearing that the heir finally accepted him he lit up like Nagamas had just come) friendship. He promised to train her in the art of the sword just as he did with her sister (little traitor) and his own daughter, and so, they were here.
"Take me seriously!" She shrieked at the top of her lungs, before charging towards the man once again as he dodged and dodged and dodged yet again. It was obvious that he was toying with her, dodging without striking back aside from making her trip or parrying slightly with his open hand.
She reared back and, despite after being told otherwise-
"Damn Lucy, do you have to hit so hard?" The king of Plegia, Nick had lazily asked after being hit, flicking her in the forehead with a finger. She had gotten mad that he refused to take her seriously, and put all of herself in that one strike. As it was, the strength of a 10-year-old wasn't impressive enough to do much of anything aside from a slight bruise on the leg, but it was still an achievement. She was smug for weeks, which resulted in the king training her into the ground. Eventually, he grew on her.
"I-I" She stammered out, unable to respond as the figure in front of her blended with the man she knew. After Rose came telling them that he had died, they all were obviously saddened, but not quite like Belle. The girl had taken to staring into the horizon, thinking about her father, occasionally breaking the cheerful façade that she put on.
"Hey, you ok?" He asked, frowning.
"Yes, I… I have to leave." And she dashed to her quarters.
Lissa used to think that, if she really wanted to, she could nap anywhere and at any time. But these days were putting her skills through a real test, if she did say so herself. She knew that fate wasn't something that was decided just yet, and the vision could actually help prevent the events that happened in it. Robin hade made quite sure that nobody forgot that lesson. And yet, everytime she managed to get an ounce of sleep the same visions haunted her every night. Despite their best efforts, they couldn't prevent Maribelle's kidnapping, and she knew that even if Maribelle was putting on a brave face they had done something that changed her. She was jumpier, peeking at every corner (if in a very dignified way) to make sure that no one would surprise her, and quite literally jumping in the air when someone still managed to. She had even started taking lessons in magic from Miriel, something that she never expressed interest in. If the knowledge of what would happen in the future still wasn't enough, what would be?
The mansion that Maribelle's family resided in coated in blood, not a single of the residents or servants left alive as the bandits bring her out while she's screaming and trashing
She wouldn't admit it, but Nick wasn't her only concern right now. Despite him being a fellow shepherd and a… friend? Not quite, but a friendly acquaintance, she wouldn't be stressing all that much over him. She had long since come to terms that sometimes people wouldn't come back from the wars, and that was the reality of life. She would cry, sure, but he just wasn't her main concern right now. And Chrom was already working on keeping him away from the front lines, despite his recent acts of rashness and lack of self-conscience about his health.
Nick standing on top of a giant dragon's head, hand outstretched towards the ground as he can do nothing but look as the archers ready their arrows. His expression turns peaceful as his fate is clear, and he becomes like a sick representation of a maid's pincushion from all the arrows the Risen have fired towards him.
Clearing her head of the image, she frowns. What she was stressing about and that she wouldn't ever admit to someone else, because that would imply that it's something that might happen, but she's worried sick about her dear sister. Through Nick's eyes she saw what can be her fate, but she just can't accept it. How could she? She saw her sister die in the plegian territory, and herself just standing there watching.
Emmeryn, seeing as Chrom's at an impasse about whether to give the Fire emblem or accept his sister's death, takes the decision from him and leaps with one last message to the world. Her body, still graceful as ever, goes limp as she plummets to her demise. In her last moments of consciousness, she smiles at Lissa. It's a haunting smile that she would never forget for the rest of her life.
"Gah! It's useless!" She jumps out of her bed as she just can't catch some sleep. She rushes off to the closest balcony to find that she's apparently not the only one that can't sleep.
"Lissa! Darling!" Maribelle rushed over from her perched spot on the balcony to Lissa. "How are you feeling? Do you require anything?"
"Ah… I'm… fine." Lissa replied, a little uneasy from the sudden attention.
"Nonsense darling! I have seen the horrible bags under your eyes. Why don't we come to my room and you can tell me what nightmares afflict you over a cup of tea? I'll make citrus, your favorite!" Maribelle, as always, knew just what to say.
"A cup of tea DOES sound good…" she considered, although she had no idea that citrus was her favorite. It would do no good to try to go back to sleep anyways, and since her friend was still awake as well…
"Let's be off then! I'm sure you have quite the story to tell." Lissa pretended not to see the nervous glances her friend threw over her shoulder. Everything would be fine. Right?
"Say… could you please teach me how to use a Rescue staff? I saw you the other day…"
Robin had to make many decisions on the fly in his short but intense career as the Shepherds' tactician. Most of them were right. He didn't think he couldn't fair or anything, but so far everything had been working smoothly.
But this was not a decision that he could take so easily. This was probably the most important decision in his life.
He, of course, knew of the little ball of trouble that was the first person to consider him a friend since waking up. He felt a lot closer to Chrom, but… their dynamic was weird. Most of the shepherds treated him like he was a celebrity, someone to look up to. He was one of the few that looked at him and saw just 'Robin'. It was nice.
It also helped that he took a lot of the heat of Frederick's mistrust off of just his back, even though he would never say that out loud.
But what did any of this have to do with his current plight, you might ask.
Well, being the tactician for the army meant that he knew just about everything that people did. It was a lot of work, but he was nothing if not zealous.
So when he came to know that his friend had temporarily lost his memory and then regained it, he should've been happy that maybe whatever worked could do the job for him as well. But a few issues came to mind…
Frederick had warned him that his favorite coat would bring him a lot of trouble if seen in public. When asked why, he had told him that was the mark of the Grimleal, an ancient religious cult that worshipped the dark dragon Grima. Despite that, it was hard to separate from the only piece of his past. The tome and blade that he had were long gone by now, broken under the constant usage. And they were simply tools, means to an end that held no sentimental value. The coat felt different. It felt safe and warm, and he rarely took it off.
Despite everything though, it was also a grim reminder that whoever he used to be would be up to no good. And that scared him. He knew himself as Robin, tactician of the Shepherds. But beyond that? He didn't know who 'Robin' truly was, for all he knew he could've been a murderer, or a bandit, or anything really. He wanted to know! But he was also scared. Because what if the truth then set him up against the Shepherds? It would never be the same.
So he was at an impasse. Be the tactician of the Shepherds, or find out who he was? He truly didn't know. The question gnawed at the back of his mind, haunting his sleep, but another part said that he's better off like this and it would get worse if he remembered.
And the voice that talked to him in his sleep…
Robin, join me… become one with me, and crush these useless mortal bugs…
Join who?! What is it even talking about?
And yet… he can't help but feel himself drawn to this power… maybe…
"Robin? You in there?" Chrom's voice called out. "Ah, y-yes!" He scrambled to make himself look like he was working. Being a tactician held a surprisingly huge amount of studying and paperwork. Lately he had been studying the tales of an Archanean tactician, whose name had sadly been lost to history but he seemed to go by the pen name of "Mangs". His strategies were successful, but for the love of him Robin couldn't understand how they worked. They relied mostly on surprisingly efficient gambles, with a whole chapter of the book dedicated just to his incredible usage of the "Devil Axe". Maybe Robin should try to take more risks? No, that doesn't like a good idea…
Chrom opened the door, finding him in a cross legged position on his seat, studying.
"You know, you've been studying a lot lately. Don't you ever need a break? We're back in Ylisstol now. And we won't be leaving for Ferox for at least two weeks."
Robin ran a hand across his face, rubbing his eyes. "I know. It's just… with everything that's been going on, I can't help but think that I need to do MORE. It's just… I have a bad feeling about this war." He groaned. Despite not being old (not that he knew exactly what his age was, what with his amnesia and having white hair), his bones creaked as he got up after 5 hours straight of being sat down.
"Gods, Robin! Come on, you have to go take a walk. It's not healthy to stay all day in your room." He rolled his eyes, even though he felt grateful about Chrom caring for him.
"Yeah, yeah mom. I'm coming." Despite everything, a smile came to his face. Who needed some voice in the void when he had friends like Chrom in the shepherds?
Ugh… My head. I feel like I've had the worst hangover in my life, despite never having drunk. I got up though. Sadly, I had to go to school, despite it being pointless already. I looked to the side, and noticed that the bed to my side was empty and undone. Huh, so Francis had already gotten up. Mom's probably gonna start screaming at me if I don't do so as well. *rumble* And I'm hungry.
I started to dress up, picking my favorite shirt, the one with green eyes on it, representing Toothless' eyes from How to Train your Dragon. God, I loved that movie and its sequel. Along with it went a pair of sweatpants, because fuck if someone can convince me to start wearing jeans. HELL NAW. Along with them went my 3 years old sneakers, who were by now to the brink of being destroyed and giving up on my feet, but until then I would wear them. They're the only shoes that I feel comfortable in, for now.
I started heading towards the kitchen, for some cereals and milk. On my way there, I noticed in the corridor that the bathroom door was locked. And since Trudy (my dog) hasn't come to greet me already, she probably taking her for a walk, so I'm almost sure that it's my brother in the bathroom. "Hi, Fra'!" "Hi, Ni'!" he greeted back behind the locked door. I continued towards the kitchen, grabbing the milk and putting it in the bowl. I know some people prefer to do cereal first, but if I put cereal in the microwave it becomes all mushy and it sucks.
I added the sugar and started spinning it with a spoon, before removing it and putting the bowl in the microwave, set at one minute. While I was waiting for that, I looked down at my phone, and noticed that it was not picking up any signal. What the hell? You can't do this to me! I need my daily dose of memes!
The familiar beep of the microwave took me out of my misery, and as I grabbed my bowl, I heard a voice sound out from behind me. It sounded like someone in their middle age, and was filled with sorrow. "Why didn't you save me?" she asked. I turned around and realized that it was Donnel's mother. "Without you, none of that would've ever happened!" She screamed. I was startled into dropping my bowl, the scalding milk dropping right in the middle of my chest as the bowl crashed down onto the ground. However, when I looked, there was nothing but the fragments and milk, the old lady vanished.
My brother decided that moment to come into the kitchen. His normally happy expression was replaced with a sneering one as soon as he saw me. He was slightly taller than me, but not by much, even though he had four years more. His blue eyes were cold, lips set into a thin frown and his brown hair messed up, as if he had just gotten out of bed. "Ah, another blunder?" He asked with so much venom in his voice that I didn't even think it possible. "I don't even know why I should be surprised. You've been having a lot of those lately, haven't you?"
"What?! I just- I just- "
"Let me see… you failed our family with the school." I felt a pang of guilt strike me in the heart.
"Failed me and mom when you left us." I felt the pain of the arrow that had struck me in the forearm before it faded away.
"I didn't mean to-"
"Left your niece, my daughter all by herself when you saw that she needed help." Besides him appeared said pinkette, looking accusative as well.
"I-I" I stammered out, but he just continued.
"You literally failed yourself when you've tried to use a divination" I felt my mind burning in pain for a second, before fading away as well. My own reflection appeared as well, wearing the same accusative face.
"That was not my-"
"Failed Donnel and his entire village by killing that bandit when he attacked you" Donnel and his mother appeared as well. A wave of nausea hit me, reminding me of the time I spent poisoned. It left quickly as it came, however.
"Failed Lissa when you didn't understand why she was upset" the Ylissean princess came out of nowhere as well, looking angry and distressed. I temporarily felt the burns of the ropes on my wrists, before returning to normal as well.
"Failed the Shepherds when you were so stupid that you couldn't get the message that you just had to STAY. AWAY." They all appeared, frowning at me with Chrom looking the most disappointed and shaking his head. The jagged blade that had buried itself in my side not even a week ago made itself remembered for a few seconds. By now I was gasping for breath with tears in my eyes from both the pain and my brother's words.
"Face it, you're a failure." He spat out with so much venom that it hurt. "Why don't you just kick the bucket?" He sneered. I gasped as I heard those words. M-my brother wishes me dead as well…?
"Ah, right. You couldn't even do that properly." A knife materialized in my brother's hands as I was now suddenly aware of a gaping hole in my chest, both metaphorically and literally.
"Here, let me help." And then he rushed at me, burying the knife in my chest where the hole already was. I couldn't move, just stare at him as he used the knife and slammed me to the ground using it. An hysterical part of my mind helpfully supplied that this was the hornet ring parry animation from Dark souls 3. The pain was unbearable.
"AAAAAAAAAH!" I screamed as I sat up in my bed. I looked outside the window and realized that it was already night, and I was back at the Sheperds' garrison. I pulled down my shirt and looked at my chest. There was nothing there, aside from the scar, right on the heart's side that reminded me of how I came to this place.
"It was… just a dream. Only a dream. Only a dream. Only a dream…" I curled up in a ball and started repeating said mantra, holding onto it for dear life. "Fake it till you make it, heh?..." I asked nobody in particular. "I thought I was over this… but I guess that I don't stop being a failure just because I'm in a different world…" The logical part of my mind screamed that I was not that useless, but I couldn't for the love of me remember a time where I have done something good for someone. On that grim note, I let sandman carry me once again to his realm, hoping that I could catch some zzz's before needing to go back to my life once again.
Aaaand we're done! Slightly shorter chapter because I couldn't find any other character to really make have a nightmare. I'm gonna go ahead and let you know that I'll be rewriting chapter 1 to 4 because they feel unsatisfying to me (I wrote them in just a few hours, writing both 1 and 2 the same day) because the first impressions matter! I want to trick any new viewer into thinking that I actually have decent content you see :*
Ninni51, out *drops mic*
