Chapter 2

"I thought I'd find you here." Robin chuckled as he strolled over to Allie, who was sitting her favorite chair, per usual. "I thought we were meeting on the training field."

"S-sorry," she stammered as she put the tome she was reading down on the table next to her. "I-I was nervous."

Her cheeks were dark pink. She thought Robin looked cute in his training clothes, which was just a pair of brown pants and a white shirt. She wore similar clothing: black cotton shorts and a blue tank top. Though, she felt embarrassed showing so much skin, especially to her crush and commander.

"I-is Frederick mad?" she asked, her hands trembling; she knew how the knight felt about people missing training sessions.

"Naw." Robin waved her concern away. "I already told him you were training with me today, so he knows where you are," he explained.

The mage let out a sigh of relief. At least she wouldn't have to go talk to Frederick and explain why she skipped practice. Again.

"So, we can get started right away." The tactician grinned. He couldn't help but notice Allie's attire. Her legs looked soft and slender while her curves were outlined perfectly. She was in great shape for a mage, he couldn't help but think to himself. He shook his head and gestured for her to follow him.

"W-where are we going?" she asked as she grabbed her satchel, which was full of tomes and other study materials. Allie hoped it wouldn't be outside; Ylissian summers were brutal.

"You'll see," Robin answered, his tone excited. He could hardly wait to show her where they'd be spending the day together.

To Allie's surprise, he was actually leading her through the library. He stopped at one of the many walls lined with bookshelves and pushed two of them apart. Between them was a wooden door, which he led her through.

"What do you think?" he inquired as he but the shelves back together before closing the door.

Allie's eyes widened as she examined the room. It was simple, having no windows and a single desk with a small bookshelf next to it. The floors were hardwood and already scuffed up; it looked like Robin spent a lot of time in here. It had a cozy feeling to it, almost like a personal hideaway.

"I-I didn't know this existed," she answered, wandering around so she could examine every aspect of the room. "And I spend a lot of time in the library."

Allie was impressed. Of course, it made sense someone like Robin had a secret space like this. He had to train and command people all day with little time and space to himself; this seemed like the perfect escape.

"Nobody else knows about it," Robin said as we went over to the shelf to grab a few tomes. "Well, except for you now." He smiled. "Feel free to use it anytime you like

Allie blushed again, fidgeting with her hair. Being the only other person to know about and be able to use Robin's training space made her feel special.

"S-so," she said, trying hard to calm herself. "W-where do you wanna start?"

"Well, I've seen your magical abilities in action," he praised as he looked through the stack of books he gathered. "But I wanted to know your progress. You can use Arc tomes, correct?"

"Y-yes." She nodded. "They require a lot of mana though."

"Right," Robin agreed, thinking for a moment. "I thought about maybe having you try a legendary tome, like Valflame and Excalibur." He held both of them in his hands. "I know you haven't practiced with them much, but I think it would be good to have you start to get used to training with them."

Allie's heart raced. She had studied tomes and magic since she found out her potential. She loved the feel of the pages on her fingers and the incantations on her tongue; she loved the way the power flowed through the book and through her veins. She had used powerful tomes before, but never legendary ones. They intimidated her a bit.

"A-are you sure?" She wondered, unsure if she was ready or not. "I-I've never used one before."

"Positive." He gave her a reassuring smile. "I'll be right here to guide you. I'll even demonstrate," he offered. Robin placed the Valflame tome with the others along the wall and stood in the center of the room with Excalibur. "Sit along the wall," he instructed. "I'll show you the power of a legendary tome."

Allie nodded and sat in the corner of the room with her knees pulled up to her chest. She had seen Robin in action; they fought together on the battlefield. But she had only really been able to see it from a distance being a mage and all, which meant she was usually kept in the back for support. She was also usually paired with Miriel, who always criticized her fighting style and techniques. Seeing power one on one like this was something she never thought she'd get to see being stuck in the background.

Robin's eyes lingered on Allie for a moment before he opened Excalibur, making sure not to let his thoughts wander too much. He took a deep breath and skimmed the pages before muttering the ancient text. Soon, violent winds whipped around the room, but they stayed concentrated in a swirling tower around Robin, far away from Allie. The mage was astonished to see how well he controlled such powerful magic. A moment later, the wind died and Robin closed the book. He smiled and walked over to her, unphased.

"Lots of practice will allow you to control powerful magic like that," he explained. "Here." He handed her the tome. "Your turn."

Allie nodded, her legs wobbly as she went to stand in the middle of the room where Robin was moments ago. The tactician smiled to her, standing in the corner where she was sitting. That smile made her heart melt and her knees weak. She still couldn't believe she was alone with her hero, Robin.

She opened Excalibur and read the pages. The words were familiar to her; they were ones used and other wind tomes. But something about these ones were more powerful, more commanding than the ones she had seen previously. Allie took a deep breath and ran her fingers along the pages as she muttered the words slowly, unlocking the tome's power. Suddenly, her body became overwhelmed with magic, all her mana being used to fuel the legendary tome.

Again, the room filled with winds. However, this time, it was wild and uncontrolled. Excalibur's magic whipped around the room, the fury of wind slicing and cutting whatever it could. Robin winched as he felt it cut through his clothes and strike his skin. He had never seen power like this before, so raw and untainted. Allie too felt the sting of the legendary wind magic. She held the tome tightly and cried out as it hit her skin over and over.

"Allie!" Robin cried as he made her way to her. He ignored the pain he was in and pushed toward the center of the room. He wrapped his arms around Allie and petted her hair to soothe her.

Again, the wind died down. The tome fell to the ground with a thud as Allie's magic finally died down. The room was a complete mess more. All the books had flown off the shelves and the papers on the desk were shredded and scattered around the room. Allie had a lot of cuts that were bleeding her her clothing was torn to the point that Robin could see her undergarments. The tactician blushed as he pulled away from her, trying not to look at her current state.

Allie's face was red as she tried to cover herself. She didn't want Robin to see her like that, especially since she was trying to make a good impression.

"T-thanks for the training session," she said as she rushed out, leaving Robin alone in the training room.

He frowned and sighed, knowing it was useless to go after her. Still, he wanted to make things right; he didn't want to leave things with Allie on an awkward note. Ideas filled his head on how he could make things right with her as he began to tidy up the room.