It was still so confusing. Chrom's time-travelling daughter was amongst the Shepherds now, apparently here to stop a deadly evil from resurfacing, Henry; the Plegian dark mage they had met previously, and Tharja hadn't managed to figure out Link's strange Beaststone at all, and Robin was still sure that Link wasn't here to stop the same evil that Lucina was. His head was swimming with all of this new information; so intensely, in fact, that it nearly made him faint when he thought about it. He tried not to let Lissa see them, but this one was unavoidable. They were marching next to each other, when all these thoughts hit him from out of the blue.

"Robin?!" Lissa yelled at him as he faltered in his step; unnoticable by all except his wife. "Are you okay?! What's going on?!" It didn't help that her spastic shouting attracted the attention of any nearby Shepherds.

"I'm fine." It was hard to hide the exhausted tone in his voice.

"No, you're not! You need rest!"

"Really, Lissa, I'm okay!" He said with a slight chuckle. It was a horrible attempt at fooling Lissa.

"Robin!"

"Is there something wrong?" Chrom walked over to the two. Unfortunately, he was one of the nearby Shepherds.

"No, everything's fi-"

"Robin needs rest! We need to stop moving!"

"Lissa, even if he is my brother-in-law, I can't stop a march just for him."

"You won't be! You'll be stopping it for your brother-in-law, your chief tactician and me." Lissa promptly sat on the ground. Chrom knew he wouldn't win this one.

"Okay, okay. Shepherds! We're taking a break here!" He walked off, and Robin warily sat down.

"I guess I could do with a rest."

"Yes, you could. I'm always right, you know." She gave a smile to the tactician.

"That's not what I've heard." The princess stuck her tongue out at him. He chuckled and put his arm around her shoulder. The light- yet kind-hearted woman always managed to make him feel better.

The small respite had cleared his head, and the ensuing march was much more agreeable; well, as agreeable as a long, boring trek across the country can get. He was walking hand-in-hand with Lissa, who was almost skipping along beside him, when a familiar figure came running up.

"Hello, Link. Enjoying the day?" As the boy got closer, Robin noticed his concerned expression. "What's wrong?" From the distance, he could hear the roar of a small Risen battalion. Link turned in the direction of the sound. "Right." The group moved off into the woods, the sounds of battle leading their way.

They ran through the woods, and eventually found themselves looking upon a ruined temple. They briefly stared in awe at the massive structure. Its blue-tinted bricks practically touched the clouds. Pillars jutted up out of the ground; some only chipped, the others almost destroyed. From within, they could hear the unmistakable sounds of a Risen horde and the faint sound of a female voice.

"The Ruins of Time…" Chrom breathed just above a whisper. "It was only a myth…" Robin's eyes swiveled from the mystified Exalt to the ancient stone structure, and finally landed on the green-tunic-ed boy. He was charging towards the entrance, sword drawn. He had the right idea.

"Let's go!" Robin motioned to the temple, and the Shepherds snapped out of their reverie. The party charged through the opening, and right into a pack of Risen. Fortunately for them, they were occupied with attacking a not-so-fortunate girl. A barely intelligible roar came from what Robin presumed was the commander.

"Kill… Future… Ch-" It was cut off by the hollow sounds of the other Risen, who had finally noticed the band of fighters. Now they were in trouble.

"Sumia!" The queen flew over to the tactician. "You and Lissa go help that girl. Protect each other and that girl. Go!" Lissa jumped on the back of the pegasus, and the two took off. Thank Naga the ceiling was high enough that Sumia's mount had enough room to fly. "Lucina, Link! You two will follow me. We're going after that commander. Everyone else, follow after us and stick together. Take down any stragglers, and we should be fine." The unsheathing of weapons followed his command, and the trio set off through the throng of Risen.

They moved well, despite the gaping holes in the ground. Lucina's Falchion proved to be just as deadly as her father's, and Link's sword practically sliced Risen in half; actually, it did do that once or twice. But their assault could only work for so long. Robin's sword shattered when it collided with the helmet of one of the Risen; who still fell away into mist, and Lucina became visibly tired. Instead of focussing on what she was doing, she watched the fearsome green warrior in awe. His endurance was astounding: he took hundreds of hits to his shield, his sword arm never faltered, and his gaze never fell away from the enemy. Lucina's temporary lack of focus resulted in her getting disarmed, Falchion flying just outside of the encircling Risen. Robin dodged a particularly vicious blow, and looked to Link. The boy had obviously seen the look, because he sheathed his sword and reached into his pouch. A small gasp came from Lucina as he began the darkened transformation. Even the Risen stood back from the shadowy form as it morphed into the wolf that Robin now saw as a final resort.

The beast stood still for a mere second before charging into the Risen. The two that remained could hear the deafening roars of the undead soldiers as a path was cut directly to the sword with its tip embedded between the tiles of the decrepit floor.

"Did he…" Lucina was dumbstruck as she retrieved Falchion.

"Yes. Now, let's get to that commander." Robin pulled a spare tome out of his robes; only a weak wind one, but it would have to do.

They found the leader riding atop a fearsome griffin, throwing a barrage of axes at anything it could. The wind tome that Robin had, despite being extremely useful against flying creatures, was still very weak. Even with the added help of his grown niece and her legendary blade, they hardly made a dent in the chief's armour. That's why, when they were on their last wind (literally for Robin), the assistance of a certain animal was very welcome. A wolf leaped onto the griffin from behind, sinking its jaws into the rider. It let out a bone-chilling scream as teeth and claws tore into the undead commander. Link jumped off the mount as it plummeted to the earth below, the mental connection to its rider lost.

Robin surveyed the ruins around them. The remaining Risen seemed to be falling back, and the Shepherds were celebrating loud enough that Robin could hear them from across the enormous room. His eyes fell on a black shape that was sauntering over to the pair. When the rectangles and dark finally settled, the familiar form of Link stood before them, smiling.

"Well done, kid." Robin patted him on the shoulder.

"That…" Robin turned to see Lucina's stunned face. "That was incredible… How did you do that?!" Link simply shrugged. "No, really! I want to know!"

"Lucina, Link's mute, remember?"

"Oh. Right. I had forgotten." She looked incredibly downcast. "I suppose I'll have to find out on my own."

"That's what we've all been trying to do."

"INCOMING!" Lissa's energetic yell called to the three. She was still on the back of the pegasus, but she did have something different: there was a cloak sitting behind her. Actually, that cloak looked very familiar…

"So, how is she?" Robin asked as the flying horse landed on the ruined slabs before him.

"Just fine! You know, she's a really good fighter! She was absolutely incredible!" Lissa jumped off the back of the animal and pointed towards the girl that was sitting behind her. The girl was blonde; she couldn't have been much older than Link, she was clutching a tome tightly to her chest, and, once again, she was wearing a very familiar cloak. When her blue eyes landed on the tactician, they instantly brightened.

"Father!" She practically flew off the back of the mount and charged at him. With barely any time to react, she slammed into Robin, enveloping him in one of the tightest hugs he had ever been caught in. "Father, I missed you so much!"

"Father…?" Great. One more thing to add to his headaches.

"Did… did she just call you Father?! This is our daughter?!" Actually, make that two more things.

A/N: I know, I know, the beginning isn't all that great. I really wanted to introduce Morgan, and I had the ending all planned out, but the beginning was a difficult task. I bet you'll have noticed that this came out sooner than most of the other chapters. That is simply because I have a few ideas that I really want to get to, so expect at least one more chapter to come out in… probably a few days. So, be sure to review or PM me with anything you want to say about the story. I hope you enjoyed this chapter!