Chapter 3: The Incursion

Hyrule Castle

The four of them had stayed at the Mirror Chamber for the rest of the night, and returned the Hyrule Castle the day after.

They stood at the castle's balcony, under the sky that was slowly becoming darker. Link and Zelda pondered whether or not it was a good idea to just leave the Twilight Mirror. Their deep thought was then interrupted by Robin.

"Now that I think about it, the creatures kind of look like Risen," said Robin.

"Except darker and with a more black to their appearance," added Chrom.

"Hey, Link, what did those Twilight demons look like?" asked Robin.

"..." (Link).

"Completely black. Well, since we don't have any other thing to call them, we could call them Twili Risen," suggested Robin.

"Until we find out if they have a proper name, I suppose that Twili Risen would work," said Zelda.

"We should get inside. It's almost night," said Chrom. "It would be the perfect time to execute an assassination attempt."

"What makes you say that?" asked Zelda.

"Because someone did try to assassinate Chrom at night," said Robin.

The Castle Armory

Robin and Link entered the armory. Robin was astounded by what it contained. Link surveyed the room and took a few arrows and the hawk eyes mask.

At the far end of the room was a book labeled "The TriArc." Robin picked the tome up and took it for himself.

"Hey Link, the guards said we could take two things from here, right?" Robin asked.

"..." (Link). Link assured Robin.

"Okay. Just making sure," he replied.

The Castle Foyer

Zelda and Chrom stood in the castle foyer.

"How did you end up in Hyrule?" asked Zelda.

"Robin and I were talking to our Goddess, Naga. She had us link our minds to form the most private form of communication," explained Chrom. "Link was somehow brought into the mind link. There was a distress in Link's village, and Naga was forced to close the mind link. Then we were dragged through a hole in time into Hyrule."

"I've never heard of the Goddess Naga," said Zelda.

"Who do you worship here?"

"Faron, Din, and Nayru. They all symbolize courage, power, and wisdom. Let me ask you something: who is the ruler of your kingdom?"

"I am. I'm the Exalt of Ylisse. I rule with my wife, Sumia. Wait... she must be worried. Robin and I have been gone for a while."

"To get back, it appears that you just have to pass through another hole in time."

"We'd need to find one first."

Just as Chrom spoke, a group of seven soldiers rushed to the balcony to alert Zelda.

"You're highness, there are two intruders in the castle. We must get you to a safer place," said one of the soldiers.

"Bring me to my private quarters. I want the castle locked down as well," said Zelda.

"Right away, your highness," said the soldier.

The one soldier ran off to alert the gatekeepers. The remaining soldiers created a perimeter around Zelda, holding their shields, swords, or spears, ready to attack whatever was in the castle. They exited the foyer to Zelda's room.

The Castle Corridors

The guards had alerted Link and Robin about the intruders. The guards insisted on protecting Link and Robin, but they said that they could handle themselves. They exited the armor and started patrolling the castle.

The moonlight seeped through dark clouds, and through the tall windows of the castle's corridor. The dim light from the torches added a bit more light, but it wasn't enough to remove the eerie atmosphere. They reached the end of the corridor, where it then split into two paths. Link told Robin to choose the left path, which would lead to the Zelda's room. Link followed the path that lead to the series of staircases that lead to the castle foyer.

The dark clouds were heavier, but there were chandeliers with candles, so there was a source of sufficient light in the room. Then, a heavy thunderstorm slowly crept in.

Link continued his patrol, and stopped after one flight of stairs. Two guards, both of them unconscious, but not dead, as there was no blood on the floor. He walked cautiously past the bodies, and farther down the staircase. He could sense that someone was there, close to him, maybe above him. A person agile enough could scale the walls using some of the indented and empty spots. Link readied his sword and shield. Someone is behind me, he said to himself. With any hesitance, he turned around and performed a shield bash. His shield collided with another blade. The intruder. They had a dark blue mask on, and was clothed in blue clothing and a thin layer of armor.

"I... don't want to hurt you... I'm just trying to get out of here," the intruder said, with a somewhat feminine voice.

The intruder was either a woman or a man with a feminine voice.

"..."(Link). Link said that she wasn't going to escape while he was still there.

"Fine. I guess I'll hold back on the sword hits," she said, as she withdrew her sword, and struck again.

Link held up his shield again, and then pushed her back. He swung his sword with a horizontal strike, but she evaded it by dashing backwards. She swung her sword at Link, with a vertical strike. Link blocked it with the Master Sword, and he finally got a clearer view of the sword. It was Chrom's sword. How could she have gotten it, unless she reached Chrom already. The thought of it confused and angered Link.

"Your sword and your shield, unlike any kind I've seen. My sword would have been powerful enough to cut through a cheap sword like that," she said.

"..."(Link). She insulted the Master Sword. Now Link is angry.

He went for a full jump strike. The impact on her sword was strong enough to make the her fall on her back, struggling to keep Link's sword at bay. She swept Link's legs causing him to fall. She could kill him, but she wasn't going to. At the moment, she was going to flee, but Link pulled out his clawshot, and it grabbed her before she could get out of reach. She was dragged down, and restrained by the clawshot.

"..."(Link). He said he'd never killed a person before, unless you count Ganondorf and Zant.

"I'm not being your first," she said.

Link had the opportunity to kill her, but he genuinely couldn't. His conscience was telling him not to. It wasn't because she was a woman. Everything he had killed in the past was always a dark creature of some sort.

Link pulled the clawshot away. She stood back up, and faced Link, with her sword lowered.

"You really can't kill a person," she said, as thunder from the storm struck. "Your outfit, it isn't like the others. You don't look like a soldier at all."

Link swiftly held his sword, parallel to the ground, with the tip inches away from the intruder's face. He asked why she was there.

"Wouldn't I like to know the answer to that too," she responded.

Link responded and said that she had to come with him.

"I'm getting out of this damn castle, thank you."

She swiftly swung her sword at Link's, knocking it out of the way. Link countered and shield bashed her, really hard. She staggered back, and fell unconscious. Link sheathed his sword and his shield. He took the mask off of her.

"..."(Link). He thought that she looked like a female version of Chrom.

He picked her body up, and then proceeded to carry her body away, and headed to find Zelda.

The Soldier's Mess Hall

"This place is empty. Not a single guard," Robin said to himself. "Well I guess that is what happens when there are two intruders in the castle."

Robin had been the only one in the mess hall, and the only sounds were the fireplace cracklings and his footsteps on the cobblestone floor. He walked through the aisles of the wooden tables, and towards the fireplace. He sat down on a seat by the fireplace and the cauldron by it. He looked inside. Nothing but water.

"It is quite peaceful and relaxing in here," he said. "Although I should get back to my patrol."

He got up and walked out into the castle hall. He walked down farther, and saw two other guards. They looked back at Robin, and then resumed their search. Robin thought it would be a good idea to pull out his iron sword, since he didn't bring any weapons that could channel magic. He only had arcfire, arcthunder, and TriArc.

At the door of the mess hall in the corridor, Robin looked back and saw that the door was open, just a few cracks. He closed the door when he left, although it was surprising that someone could open it without making any noise. It had to be one of the intruders. If it were a soldier, he or she wouldn't care whether Robin was there or not.

Robin opened the door, with a soft prolonged creak. He wanted the intruder to know that someone else was in the room. He saw the same empty room. The intruder might not have gone in, and maybe Robin just didn't close the door all the way. He scanned the room for any changes that might have been made. It took him a few moments, but a stool had been knocked down, and one of the skillets for the cauldron was missing (there were three. Before Robin remembered that there were four). Robin readied his sword, and slowly walked towards the other end of the room.

Suddenly, the missing skillet whizzed past Robin's head, and only a mere inch away from impaling his left cheek.

"That was a warning shot," said the intruder.

"Get up. Reveal yourself," Robin said.

A hooded figure came out. He was dressed in black armor, which was probably very light, which allowed the intruder to enter quietly.

"Robin? How are you here?" asked the Intruder, as they pulled down their cloak. It was Gerome, the child of Frederick and Cherche.

"Gerome? You're the intruder? Also, I have the same question. How are you here?" questioned Robin.

"Everyone in Ylisse was worried. You and Chrom have been gone for four days, after your meeting with Naga. On top of that, there are these peculiar portals opening up. Lucina and I entered one in Ylisse's castle, and ended up here," explained Gerome. "I've been chased by guards the whole night. I didn't kill anyone, but I did have to get rough."

"Chrom and I ended up here after our meeting with Naga," said Robin. "We should probably clear this up with Link and Zelda."

"Who?"

"I'll explain later."

The Throne Room

Zelda and Chrom left to the throne room, after a guard alerted her that one of the intruders was caught. Soon enough, Link, Zelda, Chrom, and Robin reunited at the throne room. Robin entered with Gerome.

"Robin! And Gerome? How is he here?!" said Chrom.

"He was dragged through a rip in time, like us," answered Robin. "He was one of the two intruders."

"You say two intruders. I suppose the second one is Lucina," said Gerome.

"Lucina is here too? Wait, the guard said that Link got to one of the intruders," said Chrom.

"I'm sure he didn't kill her," said Robin.

Afterwards, Link entered with Lucina, who was awake and had her hands chained, and accompanied by the head guard of the castle.

"Lucina!" yelled Chrom and Gerome, simultaneously.

They both ran over to her, much to Link's confusion.

"Let her go, she's my daughter," said Chrom.

"I can't sir," said the guard.

"Let her go, under my authority," ordered Zelda.

"Well then, I guess we're letting an intruder go," said the guard. He unchained her hands.

Lucina proceeded to go to Gerome. Chrom awkwardly stood and watched for a few seconds.

"So, how long has that been going on?" Chrom said.

"Well, uh, actually for a while now..." Lucina replied.

"Does Frederick know about this?" Robin jokingly said.

"You stay out of this..." Gerome said.

"..."(Link). He said that they have a lot of catching up to do. He then awkwardly apologized to Lucina for attacking her.

The Castle Foyer

The six of them recapped on everything that occurred, up until that point. Everyone in Ylisse believed that the portals are where Chrom and Robin ended up, so Lucina and Gerome went through one. If they didn't come back within a week, they would have to assume that Chrom, Robin, Lucina, and Gerome were dead.

"I believe we are missing something: what if the portals work in two ways?" said Zelda.

"Even if that was true, then we'd have to find a portal that leads to Ylisse's castle," said Gerome.

"How did the portal appear in the castle? Spontaneously?" asked Robin.

"I don't recall exactly, but I do remember that my sword lit up when it opened," said Lucina.

"Our Falchions aren't lit up now. Do we just have to find a place where they do?" suggested Chrom.

"Maybe we don't need a Falchion. Maybe a Master Sword will solve the problem," suggested Zelda. "Link, hold out your sword, and try to summon your piece of the Triforce."

Link held the Master Sword in his left hand, and his piece of the Triforce glowed on his left hand. The sword's blade began to reflect a light, which reflected on to the ceiling of the foyer. The portal began to creep in, bit by bit, like a twilight portal. At its full elliptical size, it emitted a solid black pattern on to the floor of equal size, with small bright rays peeking out of the floor light.

"I think we just made a tear in time," said Robin. "Shall we go through?"

"..." (Link). He couldn't stay. He still had to deal with the Twili Risen, and find the villagers of Ordon. Although, he said he understood that they had to go back to Ylisse.

"We'll be back. That I can assure," said Chrom. "Until we meet again, hopefully, united against the Twili Risen."

Chrom, Robin, Lucina, and Gerome left through the tear by kneeling within the black pattern.

"..."(Link). Link told Zelda that he had to leave. When she asked where he would go, he said to meet some old friends.

Damn that was long. As you can guess, I paired Lucina and Gerome together in my Fire Emblem: Awakening playthrough.

-Kaz