(Clear)
The lessons are going well.
Well, as well as the lessons can go. We have learned that the class cannot keep up with Robin's rate of teaching. That is not to say nobody can. Linhardt and Lysithea in particular have kept up very well. It is just that the entire rest of the class seems not to be able to absorb everything that Robin is teaching them, whether that be combat, tactics, or other battlefield lessons. Especially Caspar: everything Robin teaches him seems to just bounce off of his skull.
It's funny seeing Robin infuriated by this.
"To be completely fair to Caspar, I might have set expectations a bit too high," Robin groans when I asked him about this. "I've only taught three people in my life: Donnel, Morgan, and Lucina. All three are incredibly smart and understood what I tried to teach them. These students are just…I don't know how else to explain anything to them, save shoving them on a battlefield."
Case in point, today's hard lesson on combat. Robin is teaching how to fight in pairs, having me demonstrate fighting with him against two knights and then letting the students try against those two knights.
All-in-all, today's lesson was quite successful. The mages learned how to better control their spells while their melee-focused partners attacked, and the martial students learned how to leave gaps in their form in order to let those spells pass through.
Most teams were able to beat the two knights by the end, and a single team (Linhardt and Caspar) managed to beat those two knights without Caspar taking any hits. Robin could not stop praising them.
The only problem is that Robin likes to have a test at the end of every lesson, and class isn't dismissed until after someone passes the test. And this time, it was to force him out of a circle while he tried to stay in it. While he was blindfolded. And had an arm tied behind his back.
And still, nobody has passed.
This is why Edelgard and Hubert are laying in a heap in the sand pit. Edelgard had tried to sneak up behind Robin, but he heard her and threw a thunder spell that she couldn't dodge. Hubert attempted to block the spell, but Robin noticed that too and caught his knee with a blizzard, making the mage tumble to the ground in a surprised yelp of pain.
"That…was an impressive display," Robin nods to himself as he takes off his blindfold with his left hand; his right is the one that is tied behind his back. "Close, Princess, but not close enough."
"Damn it…" Hubert groans as he flips back onto his back. "I had thought…that would work…"
"Don't worry…we'll get him…next time," Edelgard uses her axe to prop herself up, legs shaking like a violin string being plucked. She's breathing heavily, a torrent of sweat dripping from her silver locks and staining the ground below. Robin pushed them hard before he threw out the final blow, and it showed.
"Alright then! Lysithea and By, you're up next!" Robin sighs and puts on the blindfold again.
I blink in confusion. Wasn't Lysithea's partner Petra? Why do I have to go?
"Er—Professor?" Ferdinand raises his hand.
"Yes, Ferdinand?" Robin turns with frightening accuracy while blindfolded to stare at Ferdinand. I don't react, but everyone else in the class flinches. Sothis included. (It's only natural! He's freaky!)
"Gah! Oh, right…" Ferdinand takes a deep breath before continuing. "Why is Professor Byleth going with Lysithea?"
"The reason that I'm going say to Seteth? Because she needs to learn to fight with a less mobility-focused melee combatant. Petra will be able to dodge most incoming spells, while By has spent too much time with me to pay attention to things like that," Robin shrugs. "The real reason is that it's almost time for my afternoon prayer session and I don't like to keep divinity waiting."
Ah. That's why.
The rest of the class nods their heads, while Edelgard frowns. She's the only one who knows that the two of us don't pray to the Goddess, so I guess she's curious.
"Alright then," Lysithea stands up and shakes off some exhaustion from a previous attempt to push Robin out of the circle with Petra. "Come, Professor. Let us show this Mortal Savant up!"
"Again, I have no idea what a Mortal Savant is, but you can try!" Robin cackles gleefully as he turns to face the two of us. "Begin!"
The moment the word leaves Robin's mouth, I shoot forward, sword outstretched, and attempt to force my way into Robin's guard.
Robin must have heard my footsteps, because he immediately turns to face me, tracking me as he pulls a sword out with his left hand and points it towards me. This leaves him open to a spell, which Lysithea immediately takes advantage of. However, she picks a Fire spell, a spell that one can hear as its being cast. Why she didn't
Robin doesn't even look her way as he twirls his sword around, plunges into the sand, creating a quick spell matrix and shoots a quick Thunder at the other white-haired mage, picking up his sword in one smooth motion.
It doesn't even give me enough time to close the distance and attempt to strike at him. Instead, I roll forward and to the left in order to get closer while fully using the noise that his own Thunder created to hide my movement.
I am somewhat successful in this endeavour. Robin's tracking of me is thrown off for a moment, and I manage to get within his guard. The circle in the sand is large enough for him to take a couple of steps in any direction, but that's all he can manage. A single powerful strike will knock him out of it.
Of course, Robin isn't so weak as to not be able to understand such a thing. Instead of letting me have the initiative, the moment he realises I'm within his guard (which was a lot faster than I thought. He must have some experience fighting blind), he drops his sword and prepares an incredibly fast spell matrix.
I blink. That's Celica's Gale! He's countering the inaccuracy of spells at a close range by casting a spell that doesn't care about hitting a specific target!
I'm barely able to dodge the deluge of pink-purple blades of wind that makes up Celica's gale by ducking and rolling. The sheer number of casts causes half of the training pit's sand to be blasted backwards. Thankfully, nobody was sitting directly behind me, so the mini-sandstorm simply smashed harmlessly against the wall. It is significantly smoother afterwards, however.
"Holy—" I hear Caspar whistle from the sidelines. "I remember that spell! That's what happens when it hits?"
Robin grins despite himself.
"That's the power of a spell created by the Saint-Queen!" He laughs as he punishes Lysithea for being out of position with a Thunder before picking his sword back up again. "Stay behind By, Lysithea! I can hear you just fine and there's nothing preventing you from getting hit!"
Lysithea nods grimly and quickly moves to a position that has been between her and Robin before Robin is able to sling a nasty looking Elthunder at her.
I shake my head. This wasn't going very well. We'll never get this done before Robin's prayer time. Time to do this properly.
I feel my mana snapping to the tome at my waist (Why do you keep using this phrase? What does it even mean?) as I prepare three spell matrices in quick succession. Three bolts of electricity soon leap out like an uncaged tiger at Robin as I cast three Elthunders.
Robin's brow tightens as his hand suddenly glows with a bright light.
I click in annoyance as the three spells crash harmlessly onto Robin's body without so much of a single singed hair on Robin's head. Tomebreaker, I completely forgot. I use this momentary distraction to charge him.
This sudden usage of that skill causes ripples throughout the class, with Hubert and Edelgard in particular being the most shocked. It's funny seeing Hubert trying and failing to hide his surprise.
The gambit works as intended, however, as the time it takes for the heat from Tomebreaker to cool down is enough for me to give him a quick strike on the head. It doesn't push him outside of the circle and I'm blown with some force back out again courtesy of a wind spell, but it's the first damaging strike of this entire session. That's good enough for me.
What this does allow for, however, is Lysithea to get a blast of wind to slam Robin in the back while he's distracted with me. This finally, finally, pushes Robin less than a finger's width outside of the circle, and we call it a day then and there.
We're all tired, and frankly, I don't think many of the students can go for much longer. I head off to our room to get some water. I am parched beyond belief.
"And you are sure that she is fine?" When I get back, I find that Robin is talking with the people in the cards again.
This time, it's a person with white hair and a weird-looking set of armour and no shoes. The armour is many different colours, black pauldrons and chest-plate with gold trim, yet white greaves with similar gold trim. He's wearing a white cloak with gold trim and blue inside. It's quite…unique? Strange? Exotic?I'm not sure what word is correct here without it sounding like I'm insulting him. (I believe exotic would be the best choice here.) Robin has a slight…nostalgic smile on his face while the hazy man has a rather concerned expression on his face.
"Sure? Of course not…" Robin sighs. "I can still hear the person inside of her head, despite my many attempts to tune her out. I can't imagine having to live with that kind of being inside of your head at all times. I can sympathise."
Robin takes a moment to gather his thoughts before continuing.
"But it's much less than what Grima did to me, and I'm basing my expectations on him," Robin sighs, deflating slightly.
"Judging your expectations for a cranial neighbour on the literal Fell Dragon isn't the best metric…" The other man shakes his head with a slight frown. "That…goddess? Whatever is in her head definitely isn't naturally occurring."
"And there is the million-gold question," Robin sighs and slumps down onto a chair with some force. "How did that thing get in there? Because going off of experience, it's either a sacrificed twin made to bind a vessel to the soul of a Fell Dragon…"
"Or she's the daughter of some long-lost silent dragon who's manipulating everything," Corrin chuckles slightly. "I see your point. Well, considering that the person hasn't told her to murder her best friend or cause the downfall of both of her families, I think we can give this Sothis the benefit of the doubt."
They are talking about me! Why are they talking about me!
Sothis took this as an opportunity to speak up, forgetting again that Robin can hear her.
"And there is the knife with six eyes!" Robin chuckles as he, predictably, hears Sothis's extremely loud voice and turns to face the two of us, who are currently hiding just outside of the room. "Welcome back, both By and the freeloader in her brain!"
I am not a freeloader! Hmph!
"Wow…that was…uh…not the response I was expecting," The other white-haired man blinks with an odd half-smile. "They're usually…more feisty?"
"Exactly what I was saying!" Robin laughs. "Not your average cranial roommate, and a much better one that either of us had, even if yours didn't last for very long."
"Mine was more of a blood problem," Corrin shrugs. "Less Anankos being in my brain and more him in my blood."
"And here they'd slap a weird-ass symbol on it and call it a crest," Robin snorts. "Seriously, I've seen these crests in action and I must say I am not impressed. Fjalar could burn down an entire castle with their Holy Blood and Cethleann can only give Linhardt a bit more oomph on casts of healing spells? I call bullshit."
"Uh…Robin?"
"Yes, By?" Robin sighs and grabs a waterskin from…somewhere in his cloak. I swear, he has enough supplies to keep him fed and watered for a month if he gets lost. (That sounds about right…Hmph, I bet he has enough for even longer!)
"Who is this?" This simple question manages to stump Robin and his white-haired friend.
"Ah, heck," Robin suddenly slaps his forehead, causing his friend to flinch and reach for Robin's wrist before almost immediately pulling himself back. "I forgot to introduce him, didn't I?"
Strange…what could have caused him to do that?
Sothis whispers into my ear to avoid being heard by Robin…and apparently, this weird man that Robin seems to forget to introduce. Extra strange. I've never heard of Robin forgetting to introduce someone.
"Well, By, this is…actually, Corrin, do you mind if you introduce yourself?" Robin's eyes glint dangerously with mischief. That glance I have known to fear since I was very young.
"…Do I have to?" Corrin sighs and visibly deflates. "You know how much I hate doing it."
"Which is why I'm making you do it," Robin folds his arms across his chest in triumph. "Also, you owe me around a thousand favours for being an idiot about Anankos."
"You're still mad?" Corrin winces. That is one extremely uncomfortable expression.
"Of course, I'm still mad!" Robin groans. "But I'll save that rant for another day. The way you completely forgot that paper and quill existed is quite infuriating."
Corrin makes the face of a person who just accidentally kicked a puppy.
"I—That…well, I suppose I did," He groans in response. "Did not expect it to bite me in the butt in such a way…"
Robin shrugs as Corrin turns to face me. (You mean us!)
"Hello. My name is Corrin sur'Vallen, King of Valla and the Last Dragon. It is nice meeting you…" After this very noble-like greeting, he takes a very deep breath and collapses onto the bed, muttering something under his breath. Most likely profanities at Robin.
Robin, having better hearing than I do, is actually able to hear what Corrin said.
"Why didn't you think of this when you vaguely tried to get Xander and Ryoma to join you?" Robin snorts. "Would have saved me the trouble of dying by disintegration into water."
Corrin continues to groan, his voice growing louder with each passing moment.
"Seriously, I cannot believe you managed to get Lady Sakura and Lady Camila to join you with that weak excuse of yours," Robin continues, not caring for Corrin's continually worsening wailing. "There's something making Nohr and Hoshido fight each other. I can't tell you what it is right now, but please trust me. Come on, Corrin! Have you never tried to convince a single person in your life? The only reason Lady Sakura joined with you is that she trusted you implicitly, and Lady Camila probably had a thing for you before she learned you were already married."
This only serves to further cause Corrin anguish.
Is he alright? He seems…
"To be having a mental breakdown?" I finish for Sothis.
"He'll be fine," Robin shrugs. "Corrin's a tough man, he'll be fine after a while."
I look down at the King of Valla crying ghost tears into Robin's bedsheets and somehow doubt that. Weird. I think this is the first time I've actually doubted Robin. (Progress! -R) Still, does Sothis make ghost tears? …Do ghosts make any kind of fluid? Because if they can cry… (No! No! No! Why did your mind have to go there? I did not need to see that image!)
"Now, you're probably asking why Corrin's here right now, right?" Robin continues on, ignoring the man in extreme mental pain.
I blink before nodding slightly. (Byleth doesn't want to write this into her journal, but she was definitely thinking that. I would know, I share her mind. Before, I thought that was fine, but after that image you showed me, I am rethinking that position.)
"Well, the reason is simple," Robin walks over to where Corrin is currently laying on the bed and taps him on the head. After Corrin does not respond, he slaps his neck, which causes the 'Last Dragon' to leap up and howl in pain.
"OW! What was that for?"
"This man wanted to see you for some reason," Robin shrugs. "Could not understand why for the life of me, but I dislike interfering in the lives of my friends, so I found some time where you could talk to the man if you both wanted to. Do you want to, By?"
I shrug.
"It's a yes or no answer," Robin responds dryly. "I dislike dealing with Corrin because of his naivete and inability to think ahead—"
Corrin screams something incomprehensible before Robin can keep talking, so the white-haired mage shoots him a cold glare before continuing.
"—but if he would stop interrupting me, I would ask you to make up your mind. I can always shut him up if needed," Robin rolls his eyes.
Taking pity on the poor man, who was currently curled into a fetal position in a corner of the room crying quietly, I agree to Corrin's request to talk to me. I would also be lying if I said I wasn't curious, but I would not be if I said that it did not affect my planning in any way, despite what Sothis might say. (Covering all of your bases before I can say anything, huh…)
"Alright," Robin shrugs. "I'm going out to pray to Naga. I'll see you for lunch; apparently, they're serving those weird fish skewers again, so I'm going to cook some bear and bring it back to our room. You guys just stay put. And Corrin, stay quiet. I almost got outed by Mae, and I don't want it to happen again."
Robin then proceeds to disappear from the room with a well-timed use of Pass.
It takes a surprisingly long time for Corrin to calm down to a more stable state of mind. He spent most of the time immediately following Robin's departure muttering sorries and apologizing…to people I don't know. Who is Subaki? And who is Selena? And why is saying sorry to…Sakura(?) so much?
It takes a couple of dozen minutes, but he eventually calms down to a state where he could make normal conversation with me.
Oddly enough, he is the one to initiate the conversation. I was not expecting that.
"You probably have so many questions, do you not?" Corrin is able to stand up with frightening speed and looks me in the eyes with his two crimson orbs.
I nod slightly.
"What question do you want to be answered first? Unlike last time, I am able to answer all the questions that are posed to me," Corrin smiles bitterly.
"Who are you?"
My first question seems to take him by surprise as he just blinks at me.
"Who are you in relation to Robin," I amend my question, taking note of Corrin's confusion.
That seemed to get the question across.
"I was one of the many people that Robin has been the tactician for," Corrin sighs and rubs the back of his head.
Moreover, I am most curious about you as a person. What is Valla? What are Hoshido and Nohr? What do you mean by that you are the 'Last Dragon'? How did you meet purple-mage?
Corrin stares at me for a little while, his eyes glistening with confusion before I realise he can't hear Sothis's voice. I relay her questions, though amending 'purple-mage' to 'Robin'.
"Ah…I suppose you'd want to know those questions…" Corrin chuckles slightly. "Let's get those out of the way first."
"I am Corrin sur'Valla, born Corrinthus Paidí'tis'Anánkis, King of Valla by Right of Birth, Prince of Nohr by right of Rite of Adoption and Prince of Hoshido by Right of Marriage," Corrin takes a moment to take a deep breath before he groans and continues. "I hate saying that. I don't have what it takes to be a general, never mind a prince…"
He shakes his head before giving a slight smile.
"Valla is known as the Invisible Kingdom and is a nation located at the bottom of the bottomless canyon. It's a nation suspended in a weird mana matrix that causes the land to float around. It makes a pain to build bridges between parts of the kingdom, but all in all, it is a normal kingdom. Hoshido and Nohr are known as the Dawn and Dusk kingdoms respectively. I think you can guess what they are like from those names alone."
"As for the title…well, technically with Anaknos, I am the last of the pure 'First Dragons'. I can also turn into a more draconic form, but I tend to lose my mind when in that state for too long, even with my dragonstone, so I avoid doing it."
"As for how I met Robin…" Corrin sighs again with a slight frown. "It's a really, really, long story."
"A good place to start would be the beginning," I shrug, quoting a sentence that Robin always liked to say when either Jeralt or I would stumble on our words. I think it helped me massively with my words.
"You've spent too much time with Robin," Corrin snorts with a slight smile. "But you're right. The start would be when I was stuck picking between the family that raised me, and the family of my blood. Of course, there are a lot of nuances between my birth and that day, but it isn't important. See, I didn't want to pick either side; I knew I would be killing the other side. So instead, I chose to go it alone."
"And that's when Robin appeared?"
"No…" Corrin shakes his head. "See, before my mother died—"
"What?"
"Not enough time right now, and honestly, not important enough," Corrin sighs sadly. "My mother was the cause of my two families fighting. And before she died, she had told me this-"
'In the future, you will be forced to choose a side. I will not fault you if you choose the dawn or dusk, but should you seek to find your own path, know that an old robin is waiting for you at the edge of the bottomless canyon'
"So when understood what mother meant by that…I sought out this mysterious old robin," Corrin finishes.
"That was Robin," I note.
"It was," Corrin nods. "And now I get to the actual topic I wanted to talk with you about. See, when I first met Robin…he was a true mess."
Corrin bites his lip and leans back onto the wall, his vermillion eyes looking at a point far away.
"He…tried to kill himself at every opportunity," Corrin shakes his head. "When we first met, Azura had to pry his sword from his hands to prevent him from just stabbing himself. It was only after I explained everything that he stopped trying to plunge his sword into his gut."
I turn my head slightly before asking him what he meant by that.
"I mean what I said," Corrin sighs sadly. "Robin…Robin used to be really…not ok…if that makes any sense."
Not ok? Extremely suicidal is not ok? I'm sure we can find more words than just not ok! This is beyond just a simple 'not ok'!
I ask her what words she would use before Corrin can speak.
Concerning? Frightening? Not at all normal and should have been fixed? It all makes me wonder how Purple-mage became what he is now…
I ask Corrin that same question.
"I was actually hoping you could answer that question," He looks at me sheepishly. "When Robin summoned me through my Einherjar card a couple days back, I was surprised by how…well, normal he looked, talked, and felt. I wanted to know why and how he changed…"
He looks down sadly before finishing his sentence.
"…and why I couldn't help him…"
The room stays silent as I think to myself. I…don't remember this Robin that Corrin is talking about. Robin had always been happy and smiling when I was around…
Maybe that's because you made him smile? What did he look like when you first found him?
"…When I first found him," I decide to answer this question out loud so Corrin can have an answer. "Robin seemed fine. He…didn't talk very much."
"That sounds like him," Corrin nods when I take a pause. The white-haired king scratches his well-shaven chin. It's actually amazing how smooth his chin is; Robin's chin has some scar marks from shaving mishaps. Then again, do dragons even need to shave? "Though I would have thought…"
"He didn't like to talk with anyone except for me and Jeralt," I continue when Corrin's mumblings become inaudible. "He took it upon himself to completely change how our mercenary company worked. People became more standarized. Tactics and planning were incorporated into the standard training procedure, and the officers became more professional. Cavalry was incorporated into the main force and C&C was invented."
"What do you mean by Command and Control was invented?" Corrin raises an eyebrow. "Did you not have a system of command before?"
"It was just Jeralt shouting at the top of his lungs," I shrug. "Robin created the entire system of command that we use now from the ground up."
"Wow," Corrin blinks. "He did the same exact thing for us. We still use his system of command."
"It is very efficient," I shrug. This is true.
"Still," I continue after a slight pause. "Robin never seemed…particularly down when he was with us. Not to the extend you described."
"Well, that's good," Corrin smiles. "I was worried that Robin would be more…worrying than he was now. It's actually good to see him healthy both in body and in spirit. With everything he's done for Hoshido, Nohr, and me personally, it would be sad for him to die in such a terrible way."
I stay silent. I did not expect this conversation to turn this way.
"Ah…I've said too much now, haven't I?" Corrin frowns. "I'm sorry, Byleth. I didn't mean to suddenly put a downer on your day. I was…I was so worried. I…didn't know what…Anankos told me that Robin didn't die and yet…if he didn't then…"
Corrin takes a shaky breath, his eyes glistening and glimmering in the afternoon sunlight. It didn't take long before long snakes of wet tears descended down his face, the ghostly liquid disappearing before it could hit the bed and soak the sheets.
I still wonder how thank works. If I get Sothis to cry, then would it cause real water to appear? (How should I know?)
"To see him so happen when it…when it looked as if…to be able to know…I know my true self will not…but it hurts so much…why? Robin, what happened to you for you…what did you see in the…" Corrin starts to talk to himself in snippets of sentences before each one is swallowed by the sound of weeping.
He's crying…he's crying over the purple-mage being happy? Why would he…was it that bad?
"Are you ok?" I ask with a bit of concern.
"I—I'm fine…I'm just…What happened to him? He seems so nice…so peaceful here that I can believe Selena, Odin, and Laslow's stories about him. I can connect the man in their stories to the man who left that door, but not the man who had to be tied up by Gunther for his own safety. It doesn't seem right for him to end his life fixing my mistakes when he should be with his family, enjoying the fruits of his own labour…" Corrin starts to ramble as he grips my shoulder. His touch is quite warm, unlike Sothis's. It's…weird feeling a ghost.
I don't get to respond, because at that moment, the door slams open to reveal a livid Robin standing in the doorway.
"Corrin! I told you to be quiet!"
The way that the King of Valla wilted will never stop being funny to me.
AN: Hello There! Acardia here!
Wow, we have an influx of reviews! I'm really thankful for that, you know? Every single review is another boost to my motivation to write this fic, and it's never been higher!
That being said, life still exists and time is a cruel man. This chapter is a bit shorter than usual due to other projects that I'm working on, so I'm sorry about that. Hopefully, the next chapter will have more meat on its bones.
This week we have Corrin's first appearance. He'll be a recurring character as a more naive and less traumatized foil to Robin, in relation to the core character dynamic. Yes, this Corrin has finished the revelation path.
As for Robin's characterization during his time in Fates...well, you're going to have to wait a couple of days for that. I'm working on an Extra to show Robin in Fates off; not sure how long I want it to be. But know that Robin is not the happy-go-lucky man that he is in Awakening.
Now! On to review responses!
Blackplant: Hello! Sorry that I haven't responded via PM for a while! Life's been busy... Anyhow, yes, Politics, worldbuilding, and bureaucracy are my jam. I had so much fun writing that, you would not believe it. As for Robin's trauma...the next time we have a paralogue I'm going to expand on why Robin has so much trouble differentiating himself from Grima. It's going to be quite gruesome. I hope you all have a good stomach.
Guest (1 [the nice one]): My man, please, for the love of all that is good and respectable in this world, include paragraph breaks... The reason why my writing has so many of them is that I cannot physically read that massive wall of text... I kid you not, to respond to your review I had to c&p it to notepad and break it up there. I'm not trying to be rude, I'm just desperate. My eyes have died...
Let's start with the timeline thing...I suppose I could go and re-order it, but I think I'll just rewrite it once I'm done with the 'white clouds' portion of the story. These paralogue and stuff are supposed to be read with the first half of the story, not without. It'll make less sense that way. I think.
Don't worry about that; my brain is smooth enough that even Chrom's blows will slide right off.
Are you talking about the first Extra chapter? That occurs around a year after the fight with Grima (See Chrom's Xenologue), which is why Robin seems more...depressed. If you're talking about how Robin still sees himself as Grima, well, you're going to have to wait until the next Paralogue for that flashback. Sorry!
That brand isn't on his hand, it's in his blood. (A situation that Lissa is in). But yeah, he doesn't realise this until he gets to Fodlan, and is part of the reason he can even recover in the first place.
There's the funny thing! In my own FE:H account, I have exactly *3* characters from Awakening. Three. Technically, there are only two because one of them is Winter Cordelia and her duo with Selena, a Fates character! I only have Robin and Winter Cordelia! Agh!
Anyway, that's to say that there weren't any people from awakening at Zenith to comfort Robin; only Kiran.
As Robin says: 'It's my mental illness, and I get to choose my coping mechanism!'
The recovery is because Kiran is a therapist. Like, an actual bonified PhD holding Therapist. He got Isekai'd into FE:H. Of course, this is my own headcanon, but that's why Robin got better from Fates and Naga sending him to Future Past to rescue Mark.
Ah yes, Time. The thing that makes *no* sense whatsoever. For Ylisse, Robin's been gone for 5 years. For Fodlan, Robin's been around for eleven at the time of his 'death'. To Robin, he was in the Future Past for three years, in Fates for another three, in Zenith for...he doesn't know because he died twice there and time in Zenith is meaningless, and in Fodlan for eleven. He's also not sure what his biological age is anymore. He seems to return back to the state that he was in when he died the first time, and then he was 25 years old, which makes him pushing at forty.
Novis. The meeting takes place in Novis. The island off the east coast of Chon'sin, in the south of Valentia. I spent something like 2000 words talking about the place. They're in Novis. Novis. N-o-v-i-s.
If you need a map: santafer/art/Shattered-Reflection-Map-Updated-800627851
Look in the middle bottom. The island labelled NOVIS.
All in all, a good review. It might seem like I take criticism badly, but I genuinely want criticism of my writing. I like it when people point out the bad parts of my writing.
Guest (2): Man, I dunno what to say. I want criticism, not you wanting me to write a completely different character. This isn't canon Robin at all; if the introduction of Daraen as a younger sibling isn't enough for you to tell. And it's not like this Robin doesn't want Grima to succeed either. He just thinks that by removing himself, he will make sure that Grima will not ever succeed.
If you think this Robin is depressed, then the Robin we see is controlled by Grima in game would be down-right neurotic. Imagine being taught all your life that something is evil and then suddenly being told that you are that evil thing. Furthermore- you know what, I'm not going to delve into the psyche of my characters just because you don't think that Robin is happy enough. I'm going to be exploring it more anyway; if you're too dense to realise some things then it doesn't bother me too much.
Another thing: Shez. I don't think he/she is going to make an appearance. Not until the second half of the story, at least. Three Hopes already is a AU to Three Houses, and this changes so much to the plot of Three Houses that I'm having trouble fitting him/her in.
AisuYumegami: Thank you so much! I hope you won't be disappointed! Pity that Shepherding the Flock isn't releasing; I'm running out of themes to copy mirror in mine.
That's all for this week. Next week, we delve more into the Mercenaries and Robin's more...unusual effects on Fodlan. Acardia out!