DISCLAIMER: FIRE EMBLEM AND ITS CHARACTERS BELONG TO NINTENDO.
Sage's Hamlet 3
"Good for them." Lucina said happily, watching over her friend engage in a loving moment with her mother.
"Yes! The triple threat has reunited!" Owain cried.
Kjelle rolled her eyes.
"Kjelle, do you wish to meet your parents?" Lucina asked.
Kjelle nodded. "I don't really know how I'd go about it though. I mean, I can't just go 'I'm your daughter from the future.' "
Lucina deadpanned. "Actually, that's exactly how it should it go. It's not as strange as you might think. Well, it is, but I'm confident the Shepherds are used to it by now. They accepted Owain and I without a second thought."
"I guess, but to be honest I don't even know where to find my mother. Sad as it may be, I kind of... forgot what she looked like." Kjelle said sadly.
"You forgot your mother?" Owain yelled.
Lucina punched his arm for his insensitivity.
Kjelle shook her head. "No, I remember my mother and all the time we spent together. It's just, her face is kind of hazy when I try to recall. I know for sure she has red hair."
"You remember your father right?" Lucina asked.
"Yes, a bit."
"No matter, I know where Sully is. Let's go," Lucina said as she led them towards the lodging house.
On their way there, they ran into Stahl himself.
"Oh hey! Lucina and Lon'qu junior." Stahl greeted.
"Hello uncle Stahl," the two said.
"You guys eat yet? The villagers are preparing a feast for us in a bit," Stahl said.
"No we haven't, thank you. But actually, there's someone here for you," Lucina said.
Kjelle stepped between her friends.
"Hi, I'm Stahl." he said holding out a hand.
Kjelle shook it. "It's nice to see you again father. I'm your daughter from the future." Kjelle said happily.
Stahl almost fell. "F-father? You're m-my daughter!?"
"That was much too blunt, Kjelle." Lucina said in disapproval.
"You said that was exactly how it should go." Kjelle retorted, narrowing her eyes.
Stahl spoke up. "But, I'm not married yet!"
Kjelle pouted. "Well you better hurry then," she said, holding out the ring on her finger.
Stahl looked closer. "...That looks exactly like the one I saw at the store in Ylisstol!" he said with a blush. "You mean... she says yes?"
Kjelle nodded. "Of course. She said you were one of the first people that saw her as an equal, and she loved you for it." she said with a smile.
Stahl grinned. "Alright!" he exclaimed as he pulled Kjelle into a hug. "So we named you Kjelle?" he asked.
Kjelle hugged her father back. "Yep."
"Well aren't you a cute little thing. Judging by your grip, seems like it's safe to say you're tough as nails like your mother." Stahl said with a smile.
Kjelle blushed at the compliments. "Thank you, father. You were plenty strong too!" she said not wanting her father to feel like she thought he was second rate. She knew very well of the standards her mother held. "Maybe you'd like to spar sometime?" she asked.
Stahl ruffled her hair. "Sure, I'd love that. But we better go find your mother first." he said pulling her away towards where Sully was.
Robin passed by, noticing Stahl walking away with a girl in tow. "I sure hope that one of the other children was his daughter, or Sully'll kill him," he joked.
"That's correct," Lucina confirmed.
"There was another one if I'm not mistaken," Robin said.
"Cordelia and Gaius's daughter." she said.
"Really? I'm happy for them. Cordelia's really sweet, she deserves it. Gaius, well, I'm sure he appreciates her sweetness."
"Yes, so am I. Oh, Stahl said dinner would be ready, shall we go?"
Kjelle stood outside the cabin the women would be staying in. Her father, Stahl, had gone in to call Sully. She fidget, wondering how her mother would take it. She remembered that Sully had always been quite rough. Despite the fact, she loved her mother and she loved her. She had always aspired to grow up as strong and proud as her mother, and even after she passes, she carried her legacy with her.
The door to the lodging house opened. Sully stepped out and yawned loudly, stretching her arms. "Alright. Make it quick Stahl, I'm thinking of turnin' in early."
Stahl directed Sully's attention towards the armor clad girl leaning against the wall beside the door.
As soon as Kjelle saw her, her memories all snapped into place. This had to be her.
"Huh? Who's she?" Sully said disinterested.
Stahl scratched his head nervously. "She's... our daughter." he said with an awkward smile.
Sully snorted with laughter. "Hah! What kind of jape is this? That's not how you ask a girl out, fool."
Kjelle wore a dejected look. Seeing as her parents had not yet married, she had now way to prove to her mother that she was hers. She was fortunate enough her father recognized the ring, but Sully had yet to see it.
Seeing his daughter look so down, Stahl put on a serious face and grabbed Sully's shoulders. "Sully, I'm serious. She's our daughter." he said firmly.
Sully was caught off guard by his stern demeanor. "...You're not playing are you?" Sully turned towards the girl and let out a sigh. "You, get over here."
Kjelle obeyed, walking up so that her mother could get a good look at her.
Sully looked her up and down.
Kjelle played around with hem of her armor, uncomfortable with her mother's skeptical gaze. Sully grabbed her chin and lifted her face up to meet hers. Kjelle gulped, but decided to put on a brave face and stare her mother in the eyes.
Sully's face was blank, until, "Heh, I like what I'm seeing. Cute face, and judgin' by the way you're lugging around that armor, you're no pushover huh?" she said with a grin.
Kjelle nodded, hesitantly.
Sully laughed. "Guess I raised you good in the future." she said proudly.
"...you believe me?" Kjelle asked.
"Yeah, I'll bite."
"But, I've no way to prove it to you..."
Sully hugged the girl. "It's fine, I believe you. Call it mother's intuition or whatever, but I felt it when I looked into your eyes." she said with a smile.
Kjelle felt her eyes water. "...Mother..." She hugged her mother. She felt a wave of relief wash over her. Her reaction to her mother had been completely different to her meeting with her father. Whereas her father had always been easy going and understanding, her mother while loving, was always very critical of her. So when her hard headed mother had taken her word without so much as an ounce of proof, she had been overcome with emotion.
"Alright, settle down." Sully rubbed Kjelle's head before breaking away. "Looks like me and your father have got a new sparring partner." Sully said looking back at the grinning Stahl.
Kjelle nodded happily at the prospect of training with her parents again. "R-right!"
"However, if I ain't satisfied with your performance, I just might disown you." Sully joked with a smile.
Kjelle smirked. "And if you don't live up to what I remember, I may just run away."
"Ha! I like you." Sully said, rubbing Kjelle's cheek.
Kjelle smiled warmly.
The three walked into camp to catch up.
The Shepherds shared greetings once again with the 2 new children. The village had thrown them a feast in thanks for their efforts against the Valmese.
Robin roamed the village. He was bloated from the large meal and figured a brisk walk would do him some good. He spotted Bora wandering the dirt road.
"Good evening. Robin was it?" Bora asked.
"That's right. Thanks again for the food."
"Think nothing of it. It's the least we could do to help the cause."
"We appreciate it. So about your village, you're all mages?"
"That's right. We think of this place as a small getaway, where we can conduct research in peace."
"This may sound a bit greedy considering all you're doing for us but, do you think you can give me a few pointers? I'm good enough with magic, but if the war progresses at this rate, I'm going to need to get a lot stronger to keep up with what the Valmese are throwing at us."
Bora's head bobbed in understanding. "I see. Very well, but first I will have to assess what you already know."
After Robin picked up his tomes from his tent, the two headed off towards Bora's cottage.
As they entered, Robin took note of the large amount of weapons, tomes, writings, charms, potions and staves scattered about the small living room. The stacks of books and papers in the corner alone were enough for him to get a grasp of how ambitious they were in their studies.
Bora pulled a seat for himself and Robin. "Let us start with your tomes. What types magic do you use?"
Robin sat down and cracked open a few tomes. "I'm partial to electrical types. Their speed and power are invaluable on the battlefield. Fire spells are useful for intimidation and do good damage, however there are some situation where I find them to be too much of a liability to make use of. I've recently acquired a Bolganone tome, but I haven't gotten around to transcribing it's contents. I hardly use wind magic, but as of late, I've found more and more ways to utilize it. It's ability to generate force has recently given me some interesting tactics. For one, I'm able to dramatically increase my mobility in short burst, as well as sail into the air."
"Using magic to assist in physical tasks? I'm quite impressed, it's an idea that I've heard none make use of."
"I'm just as surprised with the discovery myself. It came about during battle when I found my options limited to wind magic."
"Ha, necessity is the mother of all inventions after all. There's only so much you can learn through study, perhaps the battlefield is a suitable environment to foster inspiration." Bora said thoughtfully.
"Oh? Why not join us? You made it clear that you are opposed to Walhart's conquest. And I'm sure your people will be of tremendous help."
Bora laughed. "Excuse my arrogance for a bit and allow me to agree. But while we do oppose the Valmese, we enjoy our peace here."
"But how long will that peace last? Sure, your village has avoided notice but it's only a matter of time until the Valmese begin to further expand their hold of the continent. They'll begin to establish colonies and towns of their own. Your village won't stay secluded forever."
"I apologize if it seems we're turning a blind eye to world events, but can you blame us for wanting avoid the hardships of war?"
"I don't mean to come across as rude, but yes. You spoke of the people of Valm holding freedom in their hearts, yet you don't want to fight for it?"
"...I will... think about it... But for now, let's focus on you magic shall we?" Bora said, brushing aside the issue.
Robin was disappointed with their lack of initiative. It wasn't his place to say that they should fight, but it seemed a bit hypocritical that they valued freedom as much as they did, yet weren't willing to do anything about the Conqueror's reign. He chose not to press on the subject and instead focused on what he could learn from them.
Bora opened a tome. "Touching upon your new use of wind magic, there might be one spell that can be of use." He said as he turned the books contents to Robin.
Robin read the words inscribed on the pages. "...anima...wind...Forseti?"
"That's correct. It's a rare and extremely powerful wind spell, even more so than Rexcalibur. One of the 12 Holy Weapons. But the nature of it is more akin to that of the basic Wind spell in that it fires in a wide burst of wind. Since it's not a concentrated projectile, it's efficiency degrades the farther the target is. But with how you probably intend to use it, I'm sure that won't be a problem." Bora said with a smile.
"That's amazing. Do you mind of if I copy that tome's contents over into a blank one I have?"
"Not at all. That's why we're here."
Robin excitedly reached for the feathered pen on the desk. He neatly inscribed the contents of the Forseti tome into its new vessel. He chose a much smaller tome to better suit his new fighting style.
Bora leaned over with a sheet of paper, pointing out to a corner of the page. "Add this symbol at the end of the page your on. It should shorten the delay in starting up the spell. And this one here as well."
Robin did as he was told. After an hour of nonstop writing, he had successfully created a duplicate Forseti tome. Robin noticed Bora's original tome had begun to crumble. "W-what? Your time!"
"That is the nature of the Holy Weapons. There can only be one at any given time. With you having transferred my tome's contents, mine had been destroyed."
"Bora, you can't possibly let this be."
"Do not fret. You will need all the power you can get, correct?"
"...Thank you."
"Very good. Let's go outside, I'm sure you're just itching to try them out." Bora said, leaving the cabin.
The two stood in the field behind the home, outwards towards the forest.
"Let me demonstrate for you." Bora said with a smile. Robin handed him the new Forseti tome. Bora pulled his tome forward and aimed at the tree line. The book glew faintly before an incredible continuous stream of greenish wind jetted forward. It blew into the trees, shaking them furiously.
"Wow..." Robin said in awe. The power of the spell was staggering. Bora handed him the gripped it in his hand at aimed for the same trees. He launched his Forseti, the wind stampeding through forest.
"Ha ha, it's an amazing spell, isn't it?" Bora laughed.
"It truly is..." Robin smiled, looking down at the tome. "How can I ever thank you for bestowing this upon me?"
"For starters, perhaps you can show me this new manner of wind magic usage you talked about?"
Robin grinned. "Right." He aimed the tome downwards, unleashing a stream of the green wind downwards. Robin floated into the air, moving around as he changes the angle of his hand. With one final gust of wind, he landed softly onto the grass beside Bora. He aimed backwards and shot himself forward. He glided over the grass plains.
"Magnificent. You say you need power, but you more than make up for it with sheer ingenuity." Bora praised.
"Thank you. This spell, it's much easier to control my movements with it than the other wind spells. Probably because the wind it blasts is continuous rather than a momentary burst."
"That might very well be the reason. Let us take a short break before we continue. There's one more spell I wish to grant you."
"Sounds good, I'll meet with you later." Robin said. He bowed and headed back to camp.
Robin sat by the warmth of the campfire, grinning like mad as he admired his new tome.
"Robin? Where've you been?" said Chrom as he took a seat by Robin.
"Chrom. Bora was giving me some help with magic. You won't believe this new spell I have."
"You look about as giddy as a child on his birthday." Chrom laughed.
"Heh, I probably do."
"Say, Robin? I never got a chance to thank you for last night. You know, with what happened to Lucina and all."
"No need to thank me for that. As much as I was trying to qualm her fears about time travel, it was I who caused her episode to begin with."
"No, time travel is dubious affair. With enough pondering, she would have eventually come to that conclusion on her own. Thank you for looking out for my daughter, friend." Chrom said appreciatively.
"Then you're very welcome my liege." Robin joked.
"Ha, Lucina is quite stubborn. To think you got her up and going in only 20 minutes. What did you say to her anyway?"
"I told you, I knocked some sense into her."
Chrom narrowed his eyes. "You mean to tell me you hit my daughter?"
"No! I merely... provoked her. I mean, sure we got into a little duel, but I managed to get through to her in the end."
"Oh? So you settled the matter through battle? That's intriguing to say the least."
"Well at first yes. I managed to wear her down enough so that I could speak to her properly. After that, well... let's say she just needed a shoulder to cry on."
"I wasn't aware you two were that close." Chrom said, as he jokingly began to crack his knuckles.
Robin laughed. "Spare me the jokes Chrom, I did what I'd do to any Shepherd. We have each other's backs right?"
"That's our code." Chrom smiled.
"...Be proud of her Chrom. She's one of our finest."
"Hah, oh I am."
"...You know, I wouldn't be surprised if she's got herself a nice boyfriend among the Shepherd's future children." Robin smirked.
"W-what? You seriously don't think that do you?!" Chrom blurted in panic.
Robin shrugged. "Who knows? She's quite the girl, and despite being your daughter, she isn't a child Chrom."
Chrom was nearly pulling his hair out. "Wait, wait, wait! You promised you'd help me! If such a dastard exists, we'll find him, and we'll kill him."
Robin howled with laughter. "Isn't that taking things a little too far? Sure, I'll help to make sure the guy knows his place, but I think Lucina can handle herself."
"This isn't battle we're talking about here, Robin! An enemy is one thing, but men... We're dogs! Oh gods, Lucina... Some snake could be... could be..."
"Ha ha! I was joking Chrom. But kudos to any man brave enough to pursue her with you looming over like that."
"W-what are you two talking about!?" A voice yelled. Robin turned to find that Lucina had come over to the campfire along with Owain, Severa and Kjelle, when she heard the ensuing conversation. She was trembling with embarrassment when she found her father and Robin speaking so scandalously about her. Her friends snickered at her outburst. "I demand you cease this nonsense at once!" Lucina fumed.
"Oh Lucina." Robin said casually as he waved them over. "I was just telling Chrom about the possibility of you having boyfriend from the future."
Lucina could see the evil twinkling in the Tactician's eyes. "You dastard! Father, don't listen to any of the garbage this fool spews out."
Chrom stared blankly into the fire.
"Owain, is there anyone like that among you?" Robin asked, ignoring Lucina's rant.
"Hmm, now that you mention it... lot's of guys in our group speak highly of Lucina. But whether that be only out of respect or it truly is the blossoming of youth, is the mystery of life itself!" he cried, arms to his chest.
"Maybe Inigo? That fool chases after anything wearing a skirt." Severa said with her arms crossed.
"Who's child is that?" Robin asked.
"Henry and Olivia's."
'Henry and Olivia's?' Robin tried to imagine this 'Inigo' hitting on Lucina. 'E-excuse me, L-Lucina? I was wondering... if you'd maybe want to try out some hexes with me sometime?' he pictured the man asking.
"Or Gerome? He followed Lucina around as badly as I've heard his father did to Chrom." Kjelle noted.
'No way, Frederick's son?' Robin pieced together. His imagination went rampant. 'Lucina, I've just prepared your laundry and made your bed. I've also taken measures to set up posters of you in the nude in everyone's tent in order to raise moral.'
Robin held his sides as he cackled. Before long, Severa and Kjelle joined in too, taking advantage of the rare opportunity to poke fun at their usually composed leader.
"What's with that face!? What did you just imagine?" Lucina cried as she jumped at Robin furiously, tackling him to the floor.
Robin pulled her into a bear hug. As she glared at him, he took note of how cute Lucina looked when she was embarrassed. 'This was so worth it.' he thought to himself.
"You really know how to piss a girl off don't you?" Lucina yelled, trying to free her arms.
The three new future children laughed at the sight. Chrom was still sulking about the thought of his daughter with a man.
"It was a compliment! We were talking about how wonderful you are!" Robin spoke, but the smile on his face could've easily been interpreted as mocking.
Lucina managed to pull free one of her arms. She attempted to slap the bigmouthed Tactician across the face.
Robin weaved his head through the strikes. "L-Lucina! It was just a joke!" he stammered. He caught Lucina's hands and held her still. "Alright, alright I'm sorry. I'll let you go, and you get a free shot. Just one! Deal?"
Lucina nodded, jaw clenched.
As he let go, Robin closed his eyes and braced for the strike. But it never came. He felt Lucina's hand firmly press onto his cheek and he opened his eyes.
"Consider this as thanks for yesterday." she said as she narrowed her eyes.
"Yes ma'am." Robin laughed awkwardly. Lucina got up to go clear the air with her father.
Robin dusted himself off and decided to head back to Bora's. He heard the sounds of footsteps trailing him. He turned his head to find Owain, Kjelle, and Severa following him. "What can I do for you three?" he asked as he walked.
"Don't act like we're following you for any reason. We just happen to have nothing to do right now with Lucina busy with her dad." Severa said.
"Still, you and Lucina must be pretty close if she let you off that easy." said Kjelle.
"Really? Eh, think of it more as mutual respect. Or disrespect." Robin said.
"Who are you anyway? I don't remember you being in the Shepherds." Severa asked sharply.
"Severa! Robin's our tactician. The one which our very lives depend on in battle!" Owain explained.
"So you must think you're pretty special don't you?" Severa huffed.
"Yeah, I'm pretty amazing." Robin said mockingly.
Owain and Kjelle chuckled as Severa pouted.
"Where you headed off to Robin?" Owain asked.
"To Bora's. He's teaching me some new magic."
"Awesome! I must see this. If you don't mind that is."
"No, not at all. You three know him more than I do, correct?"
They nodded.
The group headed up to Bora's house to find something amiss.
The door was wide open, lights off. The area was silent. As they made their way to the door they could make out someone's legs sprawled on the floor, hanging out the doorway. They bolted for the entrance to find Bora on the floor with 2 men clad in dark cloth robes searching through the desks.
"You..." Owain grit his teeth as he charged at the men. As soon as one of them turned around, he was run through by Owain's Killing Edge. The other assailant ran for the entrance. As he passed through the doorway, he was tripped by Kjelle's foot. The man fell to the floor where he was immediately flipped over and hoisted by his collar.
Robin looked at the assassin dead in the eye. "Who the hell are you?"
The man avoided Robin's glare. He reached into his pocket but his arm was grabbed away by Severa. "Don't think we're just going to let you get away you dastard." Severa spat.
Robin shook the man. "You... you're not Valmese are you? What are you after?"
The man looked to the side.
Something pierced through the air and dug it's way into Robin. Robin's grip waned from the pain surging through. He looked down to discover an arrow buried into his arm.
Seeing Robin distracted, the assailant grabbed Severa's arm with his free hand and pulled her into Robin, knocking them over. He quickly made for the treeline, presumably to where his allies lay in wait.
Robin and Severa quickly got up from the ground, scanning the area. They turned towards the forest, where they heard the rustling of footsteps.
"Damn, there's more of them. Have you got a weapon on you?" Robin asked Severa as he pulled out his tome with his uninjured arm.
"No, I left it back at the camp." She said, crouched down, anticipating any sudden movements.
"Severa was it? I'm going to assume that your mother taught you how to use a stave?"
Severa nodded. "For your arm? I don't have anything on me right now though..."
Robin his head towards Kjelle, eyes never leaving the forest. "You! There should be a few swords and a heal staff in Bora's house, grab some for yourselves and bring the staff over." Kjelle nodded and went inside.
Robin snapped his head back to the treeline, tome readied. The rustling in the bushes had halted, but with the number of enemies he guessed from the sounds, they had no reason to retreat just yet. Suddenly, he heard the sounds of multiple objects whistling through the air. A barrage of arrows flew out from the treeline towards them.
Robin fired his tome. "Foreseti!" The gale blew away the arrows from their flight path and crashed into the trees. Whoever was in hiding scrambled away, their footsteps could be heard fading away.
"They're gone, for now." Robin breathed, inspecting his wound.
"It was those damn bandits." Severa said as she clenched her fists.
"You know them?"
"Some jerk named Gecko and his cronies came into the village a few days ago and demanded the 'treasure' the sages were keeping. They attacked after Bora refused, but we kicked them to curb and they fled. Looks like they're still bitter over it."
"I'm assuming they just went to get reinforcements."
Severa nodded slowly.
Kjelle ran out and handed the staff to Severa.
Robin picked up a stick off of the ground and bit into it. He gripped the arrow that was in his arm and pulled. His teeth clenched onto to the stick, eyes watering. The arrow came out, as he spit the stick from his mouth and cursed.
Severa hurriedly healed the wound.
Robin rubbed over where the hole was. He moved around his arm to find it a bit numb. The arrow must have hit a few nerves. "Thanks... What happened to Bora?" he asked.
"He's... We can close up the wound but he's lost a lot of blood." Kjelle spoke softly.
"Damn it." Robin raced for the man. "Bora!" he cried, as he knelt down by Owain. Owain had flipped the bloodied man over and grasped his hand in his own.
"...Robin..." Bora coughed out. "...under my bed... take it...I'll trust it to you. Don't let them... get a hold of it..."
"Bora, take it easy. We're getting you to some help. Severa close his wounds, we're taking him back. you two, knock on every house and alert them of the situation. Tell them to meet us at the campsite."
Robin got up and went into Bora's room. He got down and reached around under his bed to feel a small chest. He pulled it out and opened it. Under a few sheets of paper was a black tome with yellow patterns on the cover.
"...Mjo..Mjolnir!?" Robin gasped as read through it's contents. He certainly didn't expect to come across another one of the 12 Holy Weapons here of all places, much less be given it. However, this was no time to dawdle over the fact. Robin shook off his amazement and focused on helping the injured man.
The four rushed to their assigned roles. Severa healed Bora and helped Robin carry him away. Kjelle and Owain went door to door and rallied the sages.
They would need to assemble their forces quickly before the real assault began.
Danger lay just beyond the forest.
A/N: There you go. I find it increasingly difficult to write the Future Children's meetings with their parents as they kind of get repetitive.
Robin gets Forseti. Ingame it increases your speed and skill stat, so I figured it would be perfect for Robin's new style. Also Mjolnir! Time to kick ass!
Robin teasing both Chrom and Lucina this time around.
This chapter was more of a bridge to the real event happening in this arc which is the battle.
Til next time!