Robin was scared. Despite years of experience, and vast amounts of knowledge at his discretion, he was afraid. No matter how bad anything had become, how close to death he'd come, he'd always had Raven at his side, ready to support him, without fail.
Now he was alone. Alone with the devil himself.
"Come now Robin," the voice whispered in the dark, chilling him to the bone. "You know I am part of you; I always have been and will be until your dying day. I know you. You want to know about the dark power that runs within you. You want to understand. Listen to me, and you will know everything you wish."
The devil will tell a thousand truths to sell one lie, Robin thought. Every word the voice spoke rang true to his ears. Robin found himself agreeing with the words spoken, for they were nothing but the truths. That did not stop the overpowering feeling that the voice belonged to a creature of unspeakable evil, simply cloaked in the shape of a human being. Robin could not afford to listen.
"I understand your confusion," the voice hissed. "You don't want to betray your sister. A noble intention, but a foolish one, for she has already turned against you."
"Raven would never do that to me!" Robin cried. "She's my sister! My friend!"
"She held you back. She denied your desires to learn about the power of Grima. She fears that you will be more powerful than her of you learn how to use your true power. Raven betrayed you when she drove you further into Ylisse, Naga's territory. She is the evil one, the cruel manipulator."
Robin tried not to listen, but the words pierced his very core: Raven had never let him learn of Grima, or his followers, the Grimeal. She had held him back. Rage coursed through his body, and he curled his hands into fists.
He should teach her a lesson. Yes, Raven would learn to respect him and the power of Grima that he would wield. He was the older twin, the leader.
The darkness faded from his vision, and he was back in the real world. Trembling with anger at her unjust treatment of him, Robin turned his bronze sword so that the razor edge pointed at his twin sister.
Raven would pay for holding him down.
"I will never be the host for Grima!" Raven cried. A twisted version of her own laugh echoed around her.
"It seems that you will not have to," her darkened voice answered. "Even as you resist, your dear brother takes up arms against you."
"He would never do that!"
"Then see for yourself."
The darkness faded a moment, temporarily replaced by the image of the green field where Raven knew she still stood. As promised, Robin faced her with his weapon drawn. His eyes gleamed red, with a hatred that did not belong. When the black smoke returned, Raven was shaking her head in disbelief.
"Robin would never do that," she repeated, sounding much less sure. "I'm his little sister. He loves me."
"Perhaps once," the voice whispered. "Not anymore. His love for you died with your mother. He has given himself completely to the fell dragon, to the darkness that runs through his veins. He will kill you, for he is not the boy you grew up with anymore. He is as wicked as your father."
"But you have the same darkness," Raven murmured, more to herself than to the voice. "Why do you not tempt me to take your power? Isn't that what you want?"
"I am you. I want what you want. Your poor brother has lost his way. It would be a mercy to destroy him, for he is incapable of redemption now."
Deep down, Raven knew the voice was only trying to turn her against Robin, to force them to fight. Yet despite knowing that, Raven found herself taking heed to the words of her dark voice: it lived within her. It knew her better than anyone else. If she couldn't trust herself, then who could she trust?
Mother told me that one person is not worth the world, Raven thought. Did she know this day would come? Did she forsee Robin turning on me?
"I don't want to kill him," Raven said aloud.
"If you don't, then he shall do so to you. Will you be the weak one and die under his possessed hand? Or will you be strong and save the world from the fell dragon your brother will surely become? It is your choice, for there can only be one."
The voice had wormed it's way into her mind, saying exactly what she needed to bolster her nerve. The darkness faded and Raven readied her grip on her thunder tome. Her vision was tinted red, perhaps from the anger she summoned to assist in battle.
Robin would be put down for giving into the darkness, for abandoning her.
A/N: So the next two chapters will be "what if" chapters. First, Robin will win and we can see his reaction to killing his twin, and then it will be Raven's turn. Both tacticians will eventually reach their in-game starting position and Raven will start calling herself Robin.
