Bright Flame
"She is stronger than any steel he has ever come across."
A collection of Priam/Robin drabbles, from their first meeting to post-game.
Part V- fifth
Rating: K+
Word count: 2,750
Summary: "Yeah, I'm ready to see what the future has in store for me – no, for us."
A/N: Tried to make things a bit more interesting instead of "straight-out-of-the-book" text. Hopefully it turned out alright!
Starting from here, let's make a promise
You and me, let's just be honest
We're gonna run, nothing can stop us
Even the night that falls all around us
- Not Gonna Get Us, t.A.T.u
xxi.
"Priam, Chrom," Robin turns towards the two. "I have a favor to ask…"
"As long as it's not a request to leave you behind," responds Chrom. Priam says nothing, he's pretty sure he knows what she's going to ask. He dreads it, because he's pretty sure of what his answer is going to be, but he nods and allows her to continue.
"I can't run from Validar forever. And if I'm going to overcome him, my best chance is with you both by my side." She shifts her body, an uncomfortable look on her face. "If Validar somehow does gain control over me... Promise me... Promise me you'll cut me down."
"You can't mean that. You can't ask that!" He looks over at Priam for support. He only gives Chrom a look and sighs. He finds himself not being able to side with both of them. On one hand, he really doesn't want to cut his wife down but on another hand, he knows why Robin's asking this. The first time this happened really did leave Robin in fear and worry, but she was able to overcome that.
"Robin, think about what you're saying." He'll at least give Chrom some support, though, because Chrom has good intentions as well. Robin stares at the two of them – though giving Priam more glances than Chrom – and begins to speak again.
"I'll resist him with all I can, but..." She looks back at the group. "There are too many people here. Not just here, too. In the world, I mean." She looks back at them. "You need to protect them. My life is not more important than the lives of the innocent people."
Suddenly, Priam feels as though he understands. Robin isn't thinking about herself entirely, but the innocent people in the world. She wishes for them to be safe and she would gladly give herself up to protect them. It's not surprising, considering what she told him during their early days. She bleeds for her friends. She bleeds for the innocent. She would feel guilty if she did nothing to help the people of this world. He relaxes his body a bit and gives her a nod.
"I will do anything I can to stop you, but you have to promise us that you will try to resist them." He places a hand on her cheek for a quick minute. "I know you can do it, Robin. You have proven that you have strength within you."
"Strength stronger than steel, I know." The tactician places her hand over his. "I will try. You know I will."
xxii.
"The fell dragon needs only a mortal vessel, which you so kindly brought along..."
All five of them realize it – Chrom, Lucina, Robin, Priam and Morgan – all know who he's talking about. "Oh gods, he means me…" Robin whispers and clutches on her tome, glaring at her father. "I'd rather die first!"
"You carry my blood—the blood of the fell dragon. His soul slumbers within you. And now the time has come to awaken you both!"
"Wh-What?!" She has a horrified look on her face. "I'm the Fell Dragon?!"
Chrom grits his teeth; Priam grips Robin's shoulder, an overprotective air around him. He won't allow Validar to lay a finger on Robin – as both a husband and a warrior, he refuses. Robin seems to sink back into him, feeling safe for the moment.
It's Morgan who speaks up, tightening his grip on his Ragnell. He interrupts Validar's speech with words of his own.
"You won't touch my mother! I won't let you! My mother isn't the Fell Dragon! She's not some pawn you can use for your world domination plan! I won't let you take her away from me, you… you…!" There's a look in his eye that he hardly ever shows, a look of hatred and anger. It really doesn't suit him, Priam decides. Morgan is more of an innocent type, and the hero can only feel more hatred for Validar for introducing Morgan to this kind of hate.
Validar simply sneers at the boy and looks towards Priam with disgust. They share a silent stare, and the sorcerer simply chuckles for a moment.
"Your boy has quite a tongue. His anger reminds me of the great general of Begnion, don't you agree? With enough work and effort, he might even become a replica of him. Wouldn't that be a site to see – the hero's descendant's son becoming the very thing that killed his own father?"
This angers Priam quite a lot and it shows in his face. The look mimics Morgan's own. "My son will not become a man like him!" His anger only makes the sorcerer laugh. Robin looks up at Priam, eyes widening. She's not used to this type of anger from him. It frightens her a bit and she clutches her tome even more. Priam feels her shaking underneath his grasp and quickly rubs her arm, to calm her down.
"As I was saying, before I was rudely interrupted, the Grimleal have worked for generations to create someone like you... Simply having Grima's blood in our veins were not enough... You had all the makings! You were perfect!"
He's smiling, though it turns into anger. "Your foolish mother, however, betrayed us. She took you from your crib and fled! I know naught of your life thereafter; but all that matters is your return. That you are here is proofof your purpose! It is why you still draw breath!"
"Robin," Priam whispers, "we're going to stop you. No, we're going to stop him. That I promise."
"You may have killed me in some future past, but I am stronger this time! With the power of the Dragon's Table flowing through me, I am unstoppable."
"You're not the only one stronger this time!" Chrom shouts, looking back at Robin. "Right, Robin?"
"I-I… I don't know…"
"You're not alone in this." It's Priam's gentle voice that shakes her out of her doubts. "Your way of living has exceeded mine, in many ways. I have seen how strong you are, in both battle and in the heart. You have proven to me that your inner strength is strong. You have the power to stop this."
"Enough! This sorry display ill befits the heir to our master's power." Validar looks at Priam with disgust. "And you, Radiant Descendant, your sad poem sounds lovely, but it will not alter destiny."
"They're more than just words!" Robin finds her strength. She releases herself from Priam's grasp, getting herself in a fighting position. "My life did not begin with you. It began the day Chrom found me in that field. I have helped change the world, for the better! I have fought and laughed and bled with my friends."
She points towards Priam and Morgan and continues. "I have found a way of living, with these two! The ties we've forged, the bonds we share with others – that's what matters the most!"
"A ludicrous idea, as you will know better than anyone soon enough..." Her father sighs with a disappointed look on his face.
"We do agree on one thing: my life so far has all been in preparation for this moment... When I kill you or die trying!" She opens her tome, ready to attack him.
"You have your father's courage, but your mother's judgment..." Validar starts to laugh. "Very well, pup. Come! Do your worst! Come at me with all you have! There is no damage I can do your body that the fell dragon cannot repair!"
However, before Priam, Morgan and Lucina can move in, they are forced out of dark barrier that begins to form around them. Morgan yells for his mother, and Robin yells for her husband and son. Priam tries to reach for her, but unfortunately, she disappears in the darkness. She's gone, forced to face her father by herself. She has Chrom, but that's it.
He failed her. He broke their promise.
Morgan throws a string of insults at Validar – surprisingly, he keeps his vocabulary clean – and looks as though he's ready to cry. He starts to apologize to his father for his words but he dismisses it. A part of Priam wants to cry too.
But he is the descendent of the Radiant Hero, and he shouldn't cry. Instead, he looks ahead at the barrier. Even if Robin is alone in there, he imagines that she has that sparkle in her eye, the one she has when she's fighting. She plans on bringing justice to that man, once and for all.
"You better come back out in one piece," he whispers.
He believes in her.
xxiii.
The barrier falls as soon as Validar's body hits the ground. Chrom looks at Robin with an eager face. Morgan cheers and Priam has a look of relief on his face. Both of them managed to defeat him. Yet, something seems so off about this. He should be celebrating, shouldn't he?
His thoughts are interrupted by a shout and soon, he watches as Robin pushes the Exalt out of the way, taking Validar's attack. She's on her knees and Chrom attends to her. Priam can't hear what they're saying, but he sees what happens next.
Chrom falls.
"This is not your— your fault..."
Priam failed again.
Lucina screams as Morgan's eyes widen. The boy can't move. He can't believe this is happening. He looks towards his father for some answers, but Priam has none this time. The princess calls for her father's lifeless body, trying her best not to cry at the sight of it. She failed her future.
History, for her, was repeating itself.
Validar reappears, laughing at their reactions – especially Morgan's, who's held back by Priam.
"Human bonds are leaves in the wind. They offer you nothing."
"This can't be happening. We were supposed to change this!" Lucina is lost of what to do. She looks so distressed, as does Priam and Morgan. "Everything I have done is...worthless."
"The hell it was!"
A new voice, one that Priam and Morgan do not recognize. A barbarian steps out, a grin on his face and Priam soon recognizes him as one of the Khans of Ferox. "Don't you put any stock in this destiny hogwash! Let the dead whine about their fate..." He looks over at Validar, the grin never leaving his face. "As long as I draw breath, I choose to keep fighting! That's what life is all about!"
As soon as Lucina questions him, Basilio explains that he took Lucina's advice and managed to escape Walhart without dying.
"If you didn't die there, then you can die here!" Validar shouts as he's angered that he didn't predict this.
"You're no Walhart, snake eyes! Not as strong or even as clever..." Basilio shakes his head with disappointment. "You still haven't realized you've been tricked."
"What?!"
"Robin predicted everything that would happen here. She saw it in a dream." Basilio explains. Suddenly, everything starts making sense. Robin had been staying up rather late, working on some plans. She refused to tell anyone, not even Priam. Basilio continues to explain their plan and soon and Validar growls in anger.
"That doesn't matter; Chrom is dead! He's—?!"
As soon as he said that, the blue haired lord began to stand up. He wobbled a bit and he was still in some pain, but he was alive at the very least.
"Father, you're alive?!"
"Robin spared me… She weakened her magic…" He looks at Robin, who smiles. She smiles at him before looking back at her husband, her smile widening. The hero simply smiles back; he admittedly had second thoughts, but in the end, it seemed as though they were able to pull through.
Robin strolls over to Priam's side with Chrom. Priam shifts into a battle position and Robin does the same. "Are you ready to end this?" He asks as the confidence in his voice returns.
Morgan grins. "I'm ready! I mean, mother is probably ready too, but I know I am."
She simply smiles at him once more, quickly glancing at Morgan with a small laugh, before looking back at her husband. All three of them have a flame of passion in their eyes.
"Yeah, I'm ready to see what the future has in store for me – no, for us."
xxiv.
Validar falls and for a minute, all is well. But it doesn't last long as a new figure appeared; one with the same face as Robin. They learn that the person is the Robin from Lucina's time – she had followed her back into the past secretly.
"Those vivid dreams you have—those are my memories. We share those memories because we share the same heart..." The twin gives them a wicked smile, full of malicious intents, "Grima's heart."
"Th-the headaches... The voices... It was you!"
The amnesia was caused by Grima trying to join them together. The shock had wiped her memory clean. "Of course, we're not the same. You were supposed to choose godhood. But that's ok if you don't. I'll simply take your place for you!"
She laughs as a dark aura surrounds her. "The fell dragon and I are one! And though my journey through time has diminished my power...the life force here shall renew me!"
"We need to go," Chrom shouts, motioning every to follow him and quickly runs with Lucina. The army follows after them and Priam's about to follow.
However, Morgan stalls for a minute and Priam stops. His son seemed to be focused on something. "Morgan? What's wrong?"
Morgan says nothing as he quickly runs to where Validar was. Priam's not sure what he's doing but he seems to be picking up something. He quickly rushes back to the hero's side once he's done.
"Sorry," he smiles at his father. "I thought maybe we dropped something. Let's go!"
Priam's about to question Morgan, but the shaking interrupts him. He grabs Morgan's arm and sprints out, managing to catch up with Robin.
The Dragon Table begins to shake as an earthquake suddenly begins – or at least, that's what they think.
An explosion happens; Chrom manages to push Lucina out of the way and Priam does the same with Robin and Morgan. Slowly, they look up to see a dragon at the top. It roars ferociously, its roar shaking the earth.
"Grima," Lucina whispers as her body shakes. "It's all over."
xxv.
It's a sly move, actually. Before they left, Morgan managed to pick up the Fire Emblem and handed it to Priam. He managed to sneak it over to Robin with a smile and she proudly presents it to Chrom. Once learning that it was Morgan and Priam who took the Fire Emblem, he turns to them.
"Morgan, Priam… You both have my thanks." Chrom deeply bows to move of them, with the blue haired hero scratching the back of his head in embarrassment while Morgan simply grins at the lord.
"You can thank us later. Don't we have an awakening to complete?" At Priam's words, Frederick nods, telling them that they need to head to Mount Prism. They move quickly, though Robin stops both Morgan and Priam.
"I don't know what I had done without you two, to be honest." She speaks quietly. Her son laughs a bit and shakes his head.
"I remember something else about you two. You always had father at your side. You said it was better to be paired with someone in battle, as a second pair of eyes. Father always said that you were his second pair of eyes, and that he was yours as well." He puts a hand on Ragnell's hilt. "Well, father might need a pair of eyes himself! That's what I'm here for!"
"Does that make Lucina your pair of eyes?" Robin teases lightly, thinking she will embarrass him. Instead, he's grinning and he nods his head at her.
"That's right! We look out for each other, like you guys do. I wouldn't have it any other way!" He suddenly runs off, probably to join Lucina. Priam and Robin look at each other and they both begin to laugh a bit.
"Well, he certainly doesn't take after us when it comes to romance." The hero jokes a bit. "He seems to have it all figured out. If only he was around when I first started falling for you."
She laughs, and Priam swears he's fallen in love with her all over again.