Morgan, to her credit, had been more prepared than she gave herself credit for.
As she and Severa broke off from Robin, Severa winced, and Morgan had just noticed the wound on her side.
"Hold still, sis," she whispered, pulling out a small skin from her pouch. As she did so, a roll of parchment slipped out right along with it.
"Hmm? Morgan, what's this?" Robin asked, picking up the scroll. He unrolled the parchment, skimming it with his eyes. "Morgan, is this...?"
"A map of the town, Father... it's crude, and mostly from memory... but it's better than nothing."
Severa wordlessly took the skin from Morgan's hand, downing a gulp of the vulnerary and handing it back.
"I... would have been fine, geez. But... thanks," she said, the last part devolving into mumbling. She felt the familiar tingling as the fast acting vulnerary healed her wound.
Robin looked more closely at the map, using it to plan out a strategy.
If I'm right, the leader of the bandits will be in the town hall. It's easily defensible, and it's the largest building in town. A perfect symbol of their power.
"Girls, are you ready to go?"
They both nodded quietly.
After weaving through alleyways, and in and out of buildings, the group eventually came to a spot with the town hall in view. The bandit leader... Robin recalled him calling himself Jackyl. He stood at the entrance to the town hall, tossing a coin in the air with a wide toothy grin. Around him stood three other men, each seeming to be waiting for something.
...Robin had to admit... Someone with a lesser strategic mind would have walked right out there, but to Robin it was way too obvious.
"We need a distraction... someone to lure them away..." Robin whispered.
He turned his head to look at Morgan, who in turn looked at Severa.
"...Wha- Why do I- Oh gawds, fine!" Severa huffed.
"Sorry, honey," Robin said, looking as apologetic as possible. "It won't take long. I'll signal for you when it's time to come back."
"The things I do..." Severa mumbled. "If I die, I'm haunting you forever!"
With that parting statement, she ran out into the open.
"Hey, jerkwads! Sure do look confident while you're picking your noses over there, aren't you?!" Severa shouted, trying to abate the shaking in her voice. She was scared. She trusted her dad... but she was still scared.
"What's this, little girl? You want to take us all on? Baaaaaaahahaha! You're funny, girl! You should take up comedy! And what do you think to do against us?"
Even as Jackyl talked, Robin eyed small amounts of movement in his periphery. His hunch was right.
"I could easily take on the four of you!"
"Hah! I doubt it, girlie! But you sure seem confident, huh? I'd love to crush your hopes... like this!"
And with that, as if on cue, about eight more thugs came out from the shadows.
Severa gulped. You'd better be ready, Father.
"You gaggle of geese couldn't catch a crippled turtle! I'll outrun you slowpokes all the way to Ylisstol!" she taunted, before running away from them and turning the corner.
"Grrrr! I will not be made fun of! You hear me girlie?! ...After her!" And with a loud roar, the group of thugs chased after the lone girl.
"Only such a pack of idiots would let a girl escape their clutches!" Jackyl snarled.
"And only an incompetent leader would blame his subordinates for his short-sightedness," Robin replied, stepping into the open. He immediately followed it up with a blast with his Thoron.
"Hello again, party boy!" Jackyl laughed, easily sidestepping the bolt. Robin quickly fired another blast at the lone man, and he easily sidestepped that one as well.
"Have you gotten stupider since the last time we met, boy?! Even a snail could dodge such an obvious barrage!"
Robin scowled, before sending three more consecutive beams at him. He could see the pages begin to oxidate from its use, and he knew the book would lose its power soon.
"Hah! You don't learn, do you? It's like you're not even trying anymore! You'll run through an entire library before you hit me!"
"I know," Robin said deliberately. His eyes flickered, a movement impossible to catch from such a distance. "But wouldn't it be tragic for you if that was never my intention?" he finished with a smirk.
Jackyl's face fell.
"What are you talki- hrk!"
There was a sword sticking out his stomach.
There was a sword... sticking out... of his stomach.
He felt something push on his back. The sword slid out from the wound and he felt himself fall to the floor.
"Stop... talking..." Morgan said, breathing heavily. She lowered the sword, and slowly walked over to meet her father.
Robin used one of the last few charges of his Thoron to fire a bolt into the air. That was the signal for Severa to come back.
"Good job... Morgan," Robin said, feeling a little out of breath himself.
"Father! You almost hit me with one of those bolts! If I hadn't known about the plan, I would have been fried!" Morgan pouted.
"But... you did well to dodge the blasts anyway..." Robin replied sheepishly.
"Faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaather!" Severa yelled, her voice fading in from the distance. She collided with Robin, hugging him tightly. Robin looked up to see the group of bandits from before rush in. They ran about halfway towards them when they slowly noticed the body of their leader and screeched, rather comedically, to a halt.
"Your leader's dead," Robin said humorlessly. "Unless you want to join him, you'll leave this town immediately." The gang, in a rather abrupt attitude change, looked amongst each other and decided that pillaging actually did give fewer rewards than not dying. They scattered away, leaving the trio alone.
"Father... here's your sword back." Morgan said, handing in over to Robin.
"Thanks. You did well with it."
Robin placed his hand on Morgan's head, ruffling her hair a bit.
"Father, stop! I'm not a child." Morgan said, pouting again.
"Gawds! What are you two doing? You're so embarrassing!" Severa yelled, butting in. "We need to check on the townspeople!"
Right. The townspeople.
"Thank you very much, Robin... to be honest... it's still hard to believe you're back," said the town elder.
Indeed, they had found the surviving villagers hiding in one of the untouched buildings. One of the villagers had recognized Robin, and there was an uproar for quite a while. Eventually, and mostly thanks to Severa, the townspeople had calmed down.
"It's... hard to believe it too," Robin lied. It wasn't hard for Robin to believe it. Not anymore.
"But still... a bandit attack? I would think that the Shepherds had done much to stop this... kind of thing..." Robin trailed as he noticed the townspeople's faces pale.
"Er... that is to say..." the elder started.
"Father..." Morgan said. There was a look of unease on her face, and Robin already knew he wasn't going to like this.
"Chrom... and the Shepherds... they've disappeared."
"Robin! You can't leave! Not like this! Robin! Robin!" Chrom yelled, as he held the broken body of the tactician in his arms. Robin's dead eyes stared back at him. Emptiness was all they betrayed.
Chrom buried his head in his hands wailing. There in the empty field, he'd lost his best friend... and now he was truly alone...
Blink.
Chrom clutched his head, looking around in confusion. He noticed Robin, standing just a few feet away. He looked perfectly fine, and despite Chrom knowing for a fact that he'd just seen his friend dead on the ground, Chrom sighed in relief.
"I'm not sure what happened, but let's get going. Come on, your-"
He'd taken a few steps towards Robin, close enough that when Robin's head spontaneously exploded, Chrom was hit in the face with skin and flesh and skull fragments.
Blink.
The woman takes a sip from her wine glass, staring into a mirror with mild amusement. She wallows in the despair radiated by the man in her mirror, the poor soul she has trapped in an endless nightmare.
"Watching your best friend die is always painful. Watching him die over and over... that's Hell."
Her lips curl upwards.
A/N: Things are getting incredibly real, incredibly fast. The biological waste product is going to impact the rotary air conditioning appliance very soon.
I hope I'm portraying the characters accurately enough, and I hope the action flows well enough. I tend to worry about portraying things like this competently enough.
Either way, it's still fun to write, so I don't planning on stopping at all. Reviews, as always, are appreciated. Tune into the next chapter for an encounter with...