Sorry. It's been a busy couple months and certain characters weren't cooperating (*cough* Lissa *cough*), but here's the second chapter. This is the last chapter of canon compliance. Next chapter is where things begin to change. Just don't expect it too soon. I'm in college now and classes start on Monday so I'll actually need to devote time to studying, but I'll try to get it up in a shorter amount of time.
Robin hissed in pain as Lissa treated the burn on her right leg. It was a wound born of negligence. Robin hadn't been watching her back, expecting Chrom to do it like he always did. Unfortunately, this Chrom was not her husband and had only been able to get a warning out in time for her to only prevent a more serious injury. It was ironic really, she was safer than she had been in years and yet still almost got herself killed.
"This is a nasty burn," Lissa said with a sigh, "I'm not sure if I'll be able to heal it completely. You should really be more careful, Robin. You were lucky that Chrom was able to warn you in time,"
"Yeah," Robin replied distractedly, "I'll try to be more observant in the future," She wasn't really paying attention to Lissa focusing more on Chrom who was arranging the wood into a pile. The more she looked at him, the more she realized he wasn't her Chrom. He looked younger, more carefree like when she had first met him. He was missing some of the scars he had gained over the years of fighting, his shoulders didn't sag with the weight of the entire kingdom, and his eyes...his eyes didn't hold the haunted look that she had seen on many a sleepless night, when the responsibility and loss weighed especially heavy on him. She guessed it made sense, considering that, if she was right, most of what caused that look had yet to happen.
She wasn't sure how, but she was almost sure that she had ended up back when she had first woken in the field, except this time she had retained her memories. It wasn't the most desirable situation to be in, but, she supposed, it was better than being stuck in...wherever she had been for eternity.
"..bin. Robin!" Robin started at the sound of Lissa shouting her name. She had been so caught up in her thoughts that she had become oblivious to everything around her. It wasn't the first time it had happened, she had been known for ignoring the outside world when she was preparing strategies.
"Sorry, what?" Robin replied sheepishly, the blood rushing to her face, "I was lost in thought,"
"Sheesh. You really should pay more attention," Lissa admonished, "I was just saying that I've done what I can. It's a bit better, but you should try and avoid anything strenuous, like running,"
"Thanks Lissa," She said as she stood up and shifted her weight onto the foot. It still hurt, though the pain had dulled considerably. It should heal soon enough, so long as nothing happened to cause her to strain it. Unfortunately that was unlikely with her luck.
Though, she supposed if there was some good to come of this then it would be that those that she had seen fall in battle were still here. She had another chance to save them.
Then she froze.
Validar was still alive. Grima still existed. She would have to face them both again. Fate had granted her a second chance to save those she loved, but it had also forced her to face her worst fears again. It wasn't something she was particularly looking forward to, especially her confrontation with Validar. She was still haunted by the feeling of the loss of control of her own actions, and the consequences that arose because of it. She hoped that with the loss of her connection with Grima, Validar would be unable to control her.
Robin snapped out of her thoughts, and suddenly became very aware of the three pairs of eyes on her. She smiled sheepishly realizing this was going to be a long journey.
Robin could not sleep that night. There was too much that had happened that day for her to possibly find any sort of solace in the comforting arms of sleep. So, she just sat with her back up against a fallen tree, and wondered how things were fairing for those back in her time. If that time even existed anymore. She doubted that her timeline would cease to exist, after all that incident with the other version of their children proved that multiple timelines could exist at once. Maybe there was a way for her to get back there. However, she couldn't just abandon these people to Grima's destruction. No, she would help them defeat Grima and then work on a way to get home.
If there was a home left for her.
Had they all moved on? One part truly hoped they had, she didn't want them to suffer, and another desperately hoped they hadn't stopped searching because she feared that they would forget her, though she knew that would never happen.
A sudden chill swept through the air, forcing Robin back into reality. It was an unnatural chill, not one caused by frost, but one indicating that something was not quite right. She stood and looked around. Nothing seemed amiss, but she could not ignore the feeling of dread settling in her stomach. To her right she noticed Chrom begin to stand, likely awakened by the same chill.
"What's wrong, big brother?" Lissa yawned, having been woken by Chrom's movement.
"Sorry I didn't mean to wake you but..." the prince replied, "Something is amiss…"
"Define 'something'," Lissa said worriedly.
"I'm not sure...I think I'll have a look around,"
"Not alone, you won't!" Lissa responded immediately, "I'm coming, too"
Robin stood and approached the two siblings, "I'll come, too" She volunteered, "More pairs of eyes are better after all,"
Chrom nodded once, not questioning her obvious lack of sleep, and the trio set out into the woods. All seemed well at first, discounting the disturbing feeling of foreboding they felt, but then the world seemed to fall still. There was no noise from the creatures of the forest. Robin could feel that this was just the calm before the storm, and a glance at Chrom told her he felt it, too.
"Where did the birds go?" Lissa questioned, not experienced enough to sense the same thing the elder two did.
"Something is wrong here…" Chrom said warily, voicing both his and the tactician's thoughts. Then all hell broke loose.
The ground began to shake violently throwing them all off balance. Lissa screamed and the ground began to split and roil beneath them, hot, burning magma spitting out from the faults, setting the entire forest ablaze. Trees fell around them. The once quiet night was filled with the sound of chaos.
"Lissa, run," Chrom commanded. The younger girl stood stock still, fear and shock seizing her and holding her frozen in place, 'I mean it. Go!" The sound of Chrom's urgent yell and the force of his shove was enough to get her moving. Chrom and Robin followed shortly.
The dashed through the blazing trees, trying to avoid the walls of fire quickly encroaching upon them. They simply ran, avoiding falling trees and flaming rocks.
"This way," Chrom cried, turning sharply to the left.
Robin, Lissa, and Chrom raced through the forest desperate to get away from the erupting magma and blazing flames. They stopped for breath once they had escaped the worst of the disaster. Chrom and Robin both looked back towards the flames, morbidly captivated by the destruction. Lissa's attention however, was captured by something else.
"Chrom what is that?" Both Robin and Chrom turn at the sound of Lissa's voice and see particles of light all converging into a large glowing orb of light.
This must be when Lucina comes, Robin realized. She had not seen this the first time around as she and Frederick were more interested in finding the siblings. She watched with fascination as the light burst apart and all color seemed to fade from the area around it. Runes formed an intricate circle around a line of what seemed to be crystals. The line expanded, much like an eye opening, into a blue, crystalline circle. From it, fell multiple Risen. Two of them landed in front of the trio, their red eyes glowing eerily in the darkness as they spewed foul black smoke from their mouths.
"Lissa, get back," Chrom said as he drew Falchion. Robin mimicked the action, drawing her own sword and taking the familiar place at Chrom side. Not my place, she reminded herself. She couldn't afford to forget that again.
One of the Risen charged at the small group, and Chrom met it in the middle, Falchion slashing across its side. Chrom looked back only to see the Risen seemingly unfazed. It swung its axe down and Chrom raised his own blade to block. Sparks flew as sword and axe met in a struggle for dominance. Chrom's face was contorted in exertion, but before Robin could help Chrom forced the Risen back, and threw himself against the off-balanced creature, forcing it to the ground. With a flourish, Chrom leapt at it and stabbed the Risen through the torso before it could stand back up. The creature gave out one last groan before dissipating into a cloud of smoke.
Robin let out a sigh of relief, but the feeling was short lived as Lissa screamed. Both her and Chrom turned to see Lissa backed against. She cursed. She had been so focused on Chrom that she had forgotten to keep an eye on Lissa. She reached down to pull out her Thunder tome only to find herself grasping at empty air. She berated herself for her foolishness, as she realized she left it back at their camp. She and Chrom both ran to Lissa hoping and praying that they would make it on time. Robin was closer and almost made it to Lissa before her injured leg gave out. She knew she shouldn't be surprised, it was a miracle it hadn't given out sooner.
The Risen raised it's axe above it's head to deliver a fatal blow. Robin watched on with horror even as Chrom tried desperately to reach his sister, but he would not make it in time. The axe swung down. The clang of metal on metal sounded as a familiar face stopped the blow. Lucina, wearing the mask Robin hadn't seen on her in years, held the axe at bay, obviously struggling under the weight. Chrom had stopped his charge out of surprise.
"Help!" Lucina called roughly.
Chrom nodded, breaking out of his surprise, "Right,"
He charged at the Risen with a yell, causing the Risen to lighten some of the load on Lucina. She pushed it back, and swung at it as Chrom did the same. Both hits made contact and Robin sighed in relief. Chrom turned towards Lucina, eyeing her warily.
"That was quite the entrance," he stated. Lucina met his gaze, a slight tightness in her jaw, "What's your name?"
Before the future child could answer, however, they were interrupted by another voice, "Milord, Milady are you alright?" Frederick asked, as Lucina slipped away from them to drive off some of the encroaching creatures, unnoticed by all, but Robin.
"Frederick!" Lissa cried in obvious relief.
"We're fine, Frederick, thanks to…" Chrom looked around to see that Lissa's savior was gone, "Wait, where did he go?"
"He snuck off when Frederick rode up," Robin said as she tried to use her sword to help her stand, only to fall when her leg gave out again, "I'm sorry, it looks like I'm only going to be a hinderance in this battle,"
After a moment's hesitance, Frederick directed his horse towards the tactician, and offered his hand. She took the proffered hand and was pulled up onto the saddle behind the knight, "You can observe the battle from here. You may not be able to fight, but you can still focus on strategy,"
Robin did not miss the implicit message. That Frederick was willing to trust her, despite his misgivings about her and her backstory, he knew that she could come up with a strategy that could lead them to victory. She nodded her thanks briefly before turning her attention to the Risen scattered across the clearing.
Flames sprouted from multiple places in the area, a hazard to watch for and use to their advantage. That and the old, abandoned forts in the area. She studied what she could see of the battlefield. She could see very few Risen around them, though she doubted that was their whole number. She could see little of the battlefield from her position, the flames, fallen logs, and old forts blocking much of her view. If only she could see more of the battlefield.
"We need to get to that abandoned fort," She decided, "Quickly, before the Ri- those things reach us," She said barely catching herself before calling them Risen. Thankfully no one noticed it, all too focused on the situation at hand to care about her minor slipup.
They ran quickly to the abandoned building, Frederick reigning in his mount so as to stay near his two charges, "Chrom, guard that entrance, make sure that none of them get in here. Frederick, see if there are other possible entries. Lissa, you stay inside and heal Chrom and Frederick if it becomes necessary," Robin directed once they arrived in the fort, as she carefully slid off the knight's horse, and braced herself against the wall, "I'm going to take a look at the battlefield from above,"
The tactician struggled up a pile of fallen rubble to get to the roof of the fort, doing her best to avoid straining her injured leg. The damage didn't look any better from above.
The fire had spread quickly consuming over half the forest in the short time since the first flames had begun. The Risen were few, though most of them were already heading towards the fort where she and her companions had holed themselves up. To the west she could see two figures on a horse heading towards the fortress, most likely Sully and Virion, the latter having latched onto the former after meeting her as she returned from a mission of her own. Robin smiled as she thought of their future relationship that so many had thought unlikely.
Robin shook her head, now was not the time for thoughts like this. She climbed back down from the roof, hissing in pain whenever her leg caught on a piece of stone. When she got back to the ground floor, she was greeted by Lissa healing a small gash that Chrom had gained. The latter looked at her as she began to speak.
"We're surrounded. There aren't very many of them, but the forest fire blocks most of the escape routes. Our best bet would be to hole up in here until they leave," Robin said, "There were also two people riding this way on a horse,"
"Hopefully they're friendlier than these monsters," Chrom said as he picked up his sword to beat back the Risen that had again begun to approach the fortress. One swung its axe down at the prince who blocked it with his own blade. He forced it back, but it wasn't enough to give him the opening he needed to end it, and the Risen quickly swung its axe again at Chrom. He dodged it barely, but unknowingly threw himself right back into danger. Another axe-wielding Risen stood behind him, preparing to deal a mortal wound when an arrow sprouted from its chest and the monster disintegrated into black smoke.
Robin breathed a sigh of relief.
"Captain Chrom!" A voice called from outside the fort.
"Thank the gods you made it in time, Sully," Chrom said in relief, as the two riders came into view, "Who are you?"
"I am myth and legend! I am he who strides large across hist-"
"Nevermind," Chrom brushed off the noble, "Sully, this is Robin. She is a tactician, and a good one,"
"It's good to meet you," Robin said quickly with a grimace as pain flared in her leg again, "Especially now. I need to go provide Frederick with some relief. He's down that hallway at the other entrance. Vi-Archer, go to the roof and see how many you can take out up there," Robin ordered, barely stopping herself from calling Virion by his name.
Sully hesitated for a moment a looked to Chrom, who nodded before heading down the hall towards Frederick. She could also vaguely hearing Virion grumbling about "not being appreciated."
With the added help of Virion and Sully along with Lucina's work, they were quickly able to dispatch the rest of the Risen with little problem.
"What was that?" Lissa asked, after they found that it was safe to leave the fort.
"I don't know," Chrom admitted to his little sister, "But we need to get to Ylisstol. I worry for the state of the city and Emmeryn needs to know about this before we can make our next move"
Please leave a review on your way out, and thank you to those who reviewed the first chapter and have favorited or followed this story.
-AlyRe