On Wings:
Gerome still believed that the game was stupid. How he let Inigo talk him into it was beyond him.
From the day he entered the portal to now, it was perhaps the one thing that did not change. It would lead to foolish decisions amongst other risks in this time of war. And while they drew guidelines to their courtship, they were just that – guidelines. Rules that could fall apart at the whim of their emotions.
He didn't know who would win. He wasn't even sure if the other two were alive. All he had was this sense of hope and foreboding, that maybe he could win before he bade his mind to dash the thoughts away.
Still, he found himself holding onto that hope, however small and dismal.
On the first day, Gerome watched the sun rise over a lush green field. It had been a long time since he could let his body rest. Running from and fighting Risen was as common an occurrence as breathing that fetid air, and now a peace had claimed his spirit. Minerva shared his sentiment and the pair remained still for a long time before they finally shook themselves from their reprieve and moved into the nearby forest to hide in.
On the second day, Minerva hunted, returning with a deer. Taking a hind leg as his cut, he felt himself salivate as he prepared the fire. It had been a long time since game was plentiful. At the end of the night, and for the first time in what felt like ages, Gerome had a full stomach. Surviving in the ruins of their world taught him that his next step was to smoke and preserve the meat. Slicing the venison into strips, he hung as many as he could over a smoldering fire, storing the finished pieces in a pouch for later.
On the third day, he was forced to flee his camp as Valmese forces were spotted drawing near to him. He cursed his softness as they were no doubt drawn by the smoke of his fire. He may have returned to the past, but he could not forget that he had returned to a world about to be embroiled in war. Even worse was that he was on the other continent. Had he been on Ylissean soil, finding Lucina would have been much easier. And that was before he wondered if they had been separated by time as well instead of just by distance.
So he hid himself away. He needed to avoid large towns, as wyvern riders were not common in the local military powers. Though Wyvern Valley was situated on the continent, their abilities to tame the scaled beasts paled in comparison to that of Plegia, who hexed many of them into servitude. He pretended to be a wandering mercenary when he had to go into towns, but otherwise distanced himself from the people as much as possible. If anyone actually wished to hire his services, he charged an exorbitant price to make sure that they left him alone.
One time it didn't work. He had earned good money and wisely stowed it away for later after buying immediate necessities. He also purchased some sewing material, however, and carefully created a small flag with the Ylissean colors of gold, blue, and white.
In the end, the two became vagabonds, surviving off of local game and wild vegetation and buying as few supplies as they could. A hard life, but anything was better than the hell their future was.
On the tenth day of the thirteenth month he had been in Valm, Minerva picked up two familiar scents in the wind.
If she could help it, Lucina never wanted to be on a boat again.
It was not the rocking that made the ship the target of her ire. She had been on them before returning to the past and had long gotten used to its bobbing. It was not the salty air, or the fact that everything around her was a vast plane of blue.
No, the reason why she disliked being on a boat was the utter lack of things to do. The ride across the ocean was several months long. Aside from that one ocean battle, activities were limited. Her mother brought a series of tomes she had been hoping to study from and had invited her and Morgan to learn with her. Her brother gladly accepted and his blue head was never far behind her when they went to pull more books from the storage.
Lucina on the other hand found herself bored by the third day of bookdiving. It was not that she was poor at studying, but rather the subject matter seemed trivial to her. She did not need to know that healing magic worked on all living beings instead of just humans. She did not need to know the basics of conjuring magic for uses outside of battle. Her interest was mildly piqued when one of the topics was stabbing someone in a way that would fake their death, but it quickly died away when the subject passed.
This meant that she soon found herself spending the majority of her time trying to avoid the prying questions from those from the future.
She silently cursed Morgan for using the larger of the ships to set fire to the Valmese fleet. The boat they were on seemed smaller and smaller with each passing day as her friends (it was so hard to call them friends when they were being so annoying, but she knew that it was just a passing phase and held steadfast) kept trying to get her to crack about that day, when she returned with a mask, cape, and shield that clearly were not hers.
"Why not tell them?" Laurent prompted her for the umpteenth time. He was once again tracking the rations on the boat, nibbling on the tip of his feather quill as he took stock. A bad habit of his.
She gave a glowering look at his back from atop a half-full barrel of hard tack. They had discussed the question before, and her answer was still the same. "I've told you before, Laurent. I don't want the idea of me being courted by three men to cause discord among us."
And like clockwork, he used the answer that she found herself dreading. "You will have to tell them sooner or later, however. This cannot stay a secret forever. And I am certain that Yarne knows of it to some extent. His hearing is astounding, after all."
"Have any of them approached you, Laurent?"
"A few, but I remained silent. I am well aware of your current stance on it, after all." Putting away his notebook, he pulled up a small sack from the ground and walked over to her. Reaching out, she took a hold of it and got off the barrel before lifting its lid off and counting out the hardened loaves she shoved in.
"Kjelle challenged me to a duel earlier," she said loudly, her voice bouncing off the storage walls. "She said that if she won I would have to talk about it."
"And that is why you are down here helping me prepare the day's rations," he smiled as he spoke, as if taunting her foolishness. "What if you won? Had you considered that at the time?"
"A little. I had thoughts to ask her to leave me be in regards to that subject, but figured it would be wiser to avoid the situation all together." Once she counted enough loaves, she waited for Laurent to finish taking out pairs of preserved fruit.
"You should have asked her to kiss Yarne or perhaps your cousin."
Lucina rolled her eyes. "That would have been the equivalent of accepting her duel."
He gave a quick laugh, but it seemed more like a scoff to her. "Do you doubt your martial prowess?"
"Driving a wooden blade against that much armor? Have you forgotten how much she wears?" her incredulous voice rang.
"I have not forgotten," he turned to face her with a smile. "I just know how ineffective it is against thunder magic. Perhaps you'll let me teach you some day."
She let the meaning of the words stew in the back of her mind as they climbed the stairs to the deck. Still, she found that conversations with Laurent were stimulating. He had a gentle way of reminding her that he knew more than she did and probably had the right answer more often than not, but did not push the agenda. It made her laugh as much as it annoyed her at times. It was a compatible trait, Robin would say, and a sign that a future together was a possibility.
One step at a time, for now. The end of the war was nowhere in sight yet, after all. But it was something to take into consideration should-... no.
When that moment came.
The moment the pair stepped back onto the deck, they were greeted with the crew yelling orders to lower sails and drop anchor. Sailors rushed back and forth, making preparations to hold the ship still in the rocking waters.
A familiar voice called out to them, thankfully one that was not her father's.
"Lucina, head below decks! Strategy meeting!" It was Morgan, who was leaning on the edge of the railing overlooking the deck, and he seemed excited.
"Did we spot land?" Laurent yelled upwards.
"We're roughly two days out, according to the pegasus knights," her brother said as he descended the stairs. "Chances are they know we're on our way, but reconnaissance says they've only got two ships patrolling the coast. It looks like a lot of the fleet was destroyed when we encountered them at sea.
"Finally," she sighed, heading towards the door towards the bow of the ship. She handed the bag of rations to Laurent and he quickly grabbed it. She shot him a sympathetic look as she had intended to assist him with the task. "Sorry, Laurent, I was hoping I could help you again with these."
His smile faltered a bit before nodding at her. "Your insight is needed elsewhere. Perhaps another time." With the bags in hand, he began to twirl around and head to the quarters and mess hall to give out rations, but Morgan's voice stopped him.
"Actually, Laurent, mother said that she wanted you there as well."
"Sumia, are you sure they have no long-ranged weapons? No ballistae or slings?"
"Correct. Neither Cordelia nor I saw any. If they did, it was hidden from our view."
"… Alright, then. Take a rest, you two, and thank you."
The war table was surrounded by familiar faces. Khan Flavia and Basilio sat on one end while Robin and Chrom were placed across from them. Lucina and Laurent sat themselves on the side between them with Morgan opting to sit more at the corner between his family members. On it laid a map that was transposed as best as possible from a cruder version drawn by Cordelia and Sumia's scouting. New additions to the round, though, were Virion and his retainer Cherche.
The two khans seemed to be bickering just a little, a strange and friendly banter Lucina had seen the two share time and again. The others at the table were quiet or otherwise engrossed in looking at what the map told them. The mage at her side was analyzing roughly what distance they were from the port as per her mother's orders, running some set of numbers on a smaller sheet of paper. Her father and Morgan were looking at a list of deployable troops and figures, judging how much manpower was needed and what type.
It was easy, however, for her to see who was really running the meeting. And like with each diplomacy lesson her mother gave her, she studied with rapt attention.
The way Robin stared at the map of the port drawn during Cordelia and Sumia's reconnaissance made it look like the queen was quietly devouring a meal. She played with the small ship model in her hand that was meant to represent their vessel, gently rolling it between her fingers while the other arm was draped behind the chair, drumming at the grip of the sword that was made for her. And now that she had resumed her seat, she began to tilt her chair back and forth on its hind legs once more, silently taking in the information from the pair of scouts. The front of her coat was undone, revealing bits of a gray camisole beneath it.
"Cherche, tell me what you know about Walhart again, please," she said, still glued to the map.
"He believes in the rule of might is right. It could be said that he embodies it," the pink-haired woman spoke. She was seated across from Robin with Virion next to her. There was always a maternal air around her, one that seemed almost out of place for such a distinguished warrior on the battlefield. She also wore heavy black armor that clash with her bright hair. "In the rare times he took the field, his strokes are best described as simple but brutal. Even the most stalwart of warriors had difficulty withstanding them. His philosophy was bow or be crushed and he lived that path well."
Lucina didn't know much about the wyvern rider, aside from being Gerome's mother. Back in her time she recalled being told that by Robin that she and Frederick, her father's retainer, were secretly placed together to form a 'natural' political marriage to strengthen the bonds of Roseanne and Ylisse. The vigilant knight was selected as his personality often mirrored hers and their ages were in short distance of one another. Luckily, the two were none the wiser and had married within the year.
And while Lucina paid close attention to the two of them, it looked like additional help wasn't necessary, but time would have to take its course. Frederick and Cherche seemed amiable together, but the actual romancing between the two had yet to be seen.
"A man of efficiency, then," the queen trailed off, "and one who cares little for the insignificant." She placed the ship down at the front of their miniature fleet. "I imagine that he won't even evacuate the civilians should they get caught in combat zones. He'll respond to a threat, but perhaps to crush it rather than to protect." Her eyes traced over the narrow alleyways of the port town.
"Virion, you have watched the man in combat. What kind of forces did you see him employ?"
"The beauteous Roseanne is a land of rolling plains, fitted with the waving fields of grass seen only in stories. As such, though, much of the Conqueror's forces were comprised of cavalry at the time. Flat plains, as I'm sure you know, make it easy for those on horseback to outmaneuver and strike at the flanks." The duke gave a lofty sigh, too airy for a real one. "Much of our losses stemmed from not just his numbers but because our land played into his favor."
Robin looked up from the map to stare at Virion. "And you did not have cavalry of your own to repel him?"
"At that time, Walhart's forces were smaller. This meant, however, that he could lead them directly instead of by proxy with commanders." He closed his eyes and took a breath before opening them. "I must say, seeing that fierce red armor back then was certainly trembling."
"Hm…" her eyes went back to the map again, this time leaning forward towards the table. "Then it looks like we know what we can't do, at the very least." Her fingers traced through the alleyway and streets, eventually leading to a central square before trailing down to flat piers and docks. "Sumia and Cordelia reported that the troop breakdown seemed to be split between ground infantry and those on horseback. They spotted some more heavily-armed knights, but they were few and far in between, most likely just centralized guards meant to defend a place rather than chase down an enemy. There was also a small garrison located a bit west of the port, so no doubt there will be even more in there."
"When the local forces find out that we've landed, the cavalry will be the first we encounter as they have the speed to reach us sooner and they will rush down these paths. And with how narrow they are, direct confrontation is out of the question. They will simply trample us beneath the horses. Unless we can create a barricade or position heavier units to keep them out, our lighter forces cannot match them directly. After that, their foot soldiers will come in. The waves will arrive within minutes of each other and can easily overwhelm us."
"Mother, wouldn't that mean the bulk of the forces would be arriving separately, then?" Morgan piped up.
"You are correct," she clearly said. Her brother seemed to brighten at her comment, smiling even more than he was just a moment ago. "It's a small window. We'll have maybe three minutes at most before reinforcements arrive, in addition to other troops that are in the immediate area. And that's if we're not detected. If they know that the Ylisseans are knocking at their door we can kiss this port invasion goodbye."
"So the approach is the real issue, then?" Lucina asked. "But how would we get to them unnoticed?"
"Laurent," Her mother looked up to the mage, who was dutifully scribbling away at more numbers. "Roughly how far are we from the coast?"
"Based on Morgan's estimate of two days and an average speed of nine knots per hour, we are nearing a path of 450 knots of distance, factoring in water and wind currents." Laurent looked over his numbers to make sure nothing was wrong. "The actual distance, though, would be closer to 390."
"And from where would our ship approach from?"
"We're on a path that will curve out and put us at the south of the port traveling directly west."
"As expected…" she trailed off, looking at the map again.
"Are we looking to sneak by the patrolling ships, then?" Laurent asked.
"No." Before the others could speak, Robin began to push the small models around. "We don't know the exact position of the boats, and if we leave them alone they could come and hit us from behind later. It would be suicide for them if they do because of our invading size, but that would result in us losing more than if we take care of them now."
"I'll issue a search and destroy order for the ships. Two of ours will engage each of theirs, for a total of four ships." She moved four of the smaller models and placed a pair at each target. "We, however, will sail past the blockade if we encounter them and will engage with the port forces in two days." Robin's outstretched hand moved their ship just south of the port. "We should far away enough from the coast to be clear of long-ranged weapons, if they have any."
"But how will we engage them then?" Chrom asked, looking at the map. "We don't have the capabilities to hit them at that range."
"You're right," Robin suddenly stood up, "we don't." Walking over to a locked chest, one that Lucina recognized as having personally brought onto the boat back when they first set sail, she opened it and pulled out a tome. Moving over to Laurent, she placed the book into his hands. "He does."
"L-Lady Robin… this…"
Lucina wasn't one for magic. It wasn't something that was in her veins, unlike Morgan. Magic came to him like it was nothing. But she was schooled in some of the words and letters of the arcane language, and how to read the basics of a tome from a distance. Most were color coordinated with what element they used. Fire was red, lightning was yellow. The height of it often showed how long it would take to cast and how powerful the spell was. The book Laurent held was taller than most tomes she had seen. Its red binding was intricate and glossy – recently printed.
But when her eyes drifted across the top and she read the letters, she felt a sudden thud in her heart, and she was sure that many others at the table recognized it for what it was.
Meteor
She instantly shot out of her seat and looked at Robin. "Mother, I ask that you please reconsider the use of this tome."
The table soon became a flurry of noises and looks. Cherche shared a worried look with Virion while the khans started to whisper among each other again.
Chrom was the one to address the issue first, casting a sharp eye at his wife. "These types of tomes were banned from military use and production for a reason, Robin, something Emmeryn worked hard on to remove from use. I'm not going to ask how you came across it. But to use it now… Isn't there another way? We risk hitting a lot of civilians with this type of weaponry."
The queen gave a long sigh and closed her eyes. For a moment Lucina thought she seemed older than she really was before opening them again. "Do you remember when Valmese forces first arrived at Port Ferox? What the captain did to that man? Was that not also breaking the laws of war? They do not care for civilian life, Chrom. They arrived with the intent of butchering all who would not bow. Had we not been there, that town would have been put to the sword, maybe even the women and children."
"That was one man, Robin." Chrom's voice rose. "What you are about to risk is hundreds while opening a door to far worse repercussions. One stray spell and you could wipe out so many innocent people. These have been historically hard to control and misguided use has wiped out thousands of innocents."
"There is a lot at stake here." Robin looked at the members in the room. As Lucina sat down, feeling insignificant against her mother's statement, she saw that only Chrom could truly meet her gaze. "If we fail, we lose more than just our lives. We are against a tyrant who has thrown away his humanity. And that is why we need Laurent for this."
The mage glanced up at the queen, surprised that she was mentioning him directly. She walked back to her seat, ignoring the Exalt's glare and turned back to the map, a sign that he was not done yet with this conversation with Robin. "The Valmese want us to land and fight in their territory. They know the streets, and with their composition they can take advantage of the paths very well. They can cut us off before our reinforcements arrive. Bringing the fight to them like this is suicide."
"Instead, our goal will be shock and awe. The last thing they would expect is Ylisseans, who have abhorred military conflict since the end of the first Ylisse-Plegian War, to use siege tomes. A properly placed spell will create three things. It will surprise the military populace with what we are using, forcing them to rethink their entire strategy. Then, assuming we can hit the garrison, we will disrupt the chain of command and sow confusion. Finally, the civilians will see that they are in danger and many will attempt to evacuate. I doubt that they have evacuation plans set, so this means we are further bogging down their military force with civilians that they must either evacuate and split their focus or trample over and ignore them, causing even more panic and mayhem."
From her seat, she glanced up at Laurent.
"You and Miriel are two of the best mages we have, and your mother points out that you have the ability to surpass her. The way you're going to use this is going to be very different from what you're used to in terms of casting, and I need you to be able to control the spell and hit particular targets only when ordered. We must avoid civilian casualties when we can."
"There will, however, be one exception to this."
The night was cold, but it was better than the heart of the winter months. Spring was coming soon, and it was beginning to usher out the frigid winds. Still, flying in the dark sky at this time meant that Gerome needed to dress warmly. Given the fact that having a fire was too risky and the moon was casting its light upon the forest they resided in, this meant that once they landed the only warmth available to them were the clothes on their back. Getting caught now was not an option.
"So… I've been wondering for a while."
Gerome had been waiting for this to happen. Of all the people Minerva could have found, she led him to one of the chattiest members possible. When they were flying, it was fine since there would be distance between them, but once they saw the small lights of the port city in the distance, they touched down and did their best to make camp.
"When Lucina came out of that forest, looking all hero-y and the like, she was a bit… you know, decorated. What's the story behind that?"
"… It was Inigo's idea," he finally said after a long pause.
"It seems a bit half-baked for one of his ideas." Cynthia's voice was muddled by the second lollipop she had for the night, which had been preceded by three lemon drops. "Are you sure you don't want something, Gerome?"
"No."
"Oh! There's even your favorite, gumdrops! You used to love these!" the orange-haired girl held out the bag to him. "Go on, have some!"
"Where did you even get that bag of sweets?"
"From… uh… Fake-Chrom," the pegasus knight's arm slacked a bit, her enthusiasm dampened a little by his obvious pointed remark. "No one's going to miss one bag, right?"
"We came to the past to fix our future, not purloin candy," he growled.
"But there are so many things now!" her hands went into the air excitedly. "I mean, did you just hide in the woods or something while you were waiting for us to appear?"
"Yes."
He found a small bit of satisfaction in how Cynthia's jaw hung open and she nearly dropped her sucker and cursed. She recovered quickly though, and held it securely between her fingers.
"Whatever, back to you guys and Lucina. What exactly happened out there? There has to be more."
A part of him debated whether he should speak or not. Telling her now might ease her up on the questions, but at the same time would spur her onto asking more.
"… We gave Lucina the gifts as part of a courting ritual."
The lollipop fell from her lips, softly landing in the soft grass.
"Now go take first watch. Tomorrow could be they day they get to shore and we need to be ready."
When Cynthia woke him for his turn, he took a quick note of all the flower petals scattered among the moonlit ground.
"Haven't seen you do these in a long while."
"Just trying to figure out who wins," she smiled.
A/N: I think I want to make this my next project. That won't mean my others will be gathering dust, but for now this will be the main focus as I'm tired of just imagining what will happen in the back of my mind. Also, with the loss of quite a bit of my notes on this fic and others, this is the one that remains most freshly in my mind.
Anyway, this chapter begins to pull us into the first big conflict of this war - invading Port Valm. A part of it makes me think of the opening scene of Saving Private Ryan, but it won't be nearly that crazy. Still, it makes sense that Valm knows Ylisse is coming and would begin to defend its landing zones. Hopefully the planning stage felt detailed enough while also being easy to read. We finally get to see Gerome too, and we'll be seeing more of him in a little bit.
Also, it's probably really easy to tell but I enjoy writing this particular type of Robin. It's a different type of Robin we don't see too much in fics, one where any low blow is fair game. Feminine wiles and ruthlessness, go!
Review time:
Ziodyne967: I have always been a fan of Advance Wars, and I enjoyed Days of Ruin quite a bit. Seeing as how both series were made by IS, the name was fitting.
GuyBrush007: As I said earlier, I really do enjoy writing this particular Robin. Also it's fun to see her teaching Lucina a few things beyond just sword fighting. Lucina is still a princess to her and needs to be able to conduct herself in ways befitting a royal. Hence diplomacy lessons.
On another note, this fic is over a year old! This was in no way intentional, given my fic track record in regards to FE:A.
I do not own Fire Emblem.
Also I like reviews! Please leave me some~