Lucina rushed in after hearing the explosion and immediately called for help when she saw what happened. Robin and Henry were badly hurt and the room was in disarray while medical supplies were cluttered on the floor. She could barely contain her fears despite Robin groaning and saying he was alright. Seconds later Lissa came sprinting in a panic and was greeted by a bloody Henry with a giant grin and a wave.
Lissa quickly mended the two Plegian natives and gave stern lecture to Henry for destroying her clinic. Though, Henry didn't listen to any of it because he was still reliving the exciting thrill of getting hurt again.
"Nyahaha, that is one powerful and beautiful curse! Not only does it slowly kill you by choking all the air out of you, but it also has one exciting defense system!"
"This isn't funny you imbecile! Robin could have seriously been hurt!" Lissa cried "How could you-"
"Hold on Lissa." Robin grimaced as he slowly moved from the wall and felt a sharp pain in his arm. Lucina had to help him get up as he said, "What do you mean by choking the air out of me?"
Henry smiled and said, "Just that. This sweet curse makes it so your body rejects oxygen. It painfully pushes it out of your body and slowly suffocates you to death!"
Lucina eyes widened in fear and she said very scared, "What makes you think that?"
"Nyahaha, because it turns Robin's blood into a rusty looking color. Oxygen gives blood a beautiful and rich vibrant red color, but without it, it looks like a rusted sword. I really am envious! I have tried to do that to my own blood for a decade!
"...Can this curse be cured?" Robin asked hesitantly.
"I dunno." Henry said without a care in the world
"You don't know?!" Lucina yelled back in horror.
"Nyahaha, nope. I could try a couple of things, but they will probably blow up in my face because the curse is powerful enough to reject me. Though that does sound like fun!" Henry laughed maniacally
"If this is true...then how long do you think I have?'
"Hmmmmm, it's hard to say. You could die at anytime it triggers actually. Your lungs will collapse and turn into pancakes. Your heart and brain will struggle to function as they are both deprived of oxygen. Oh! And you should see what happens to your eyes! It's like they get sucked-
"OKAY we get it! I don't think they need to know the details." Lissa cried emphatically.
"But it is the best part!" Henry retorted back.
Lucina clenched Robin's hand so tight that in nearly came off while Robin stood there trying to come up with the courage to speak.
"A-and..and...you are sure about this?"
"Of course! the color, texture, taste, smell, and purity of blood is my specialty! I can even tell what blood type you are just by looking at it!" Henry smiled in pride.
"I...I see." Robin barely muttered and seemed lost in his own thoughts
...
Night fell soon after and Morgan found herself being tucked into bed earlier than usual. Normally she would have protested to the high heavens to stay up later, but there was something unsettling about how her parents were acting.
Whenever Morgan saw Robin today, he seemed very tired and out of his senses. It was almost like the life had been drained out of him. However, she was oblivious to large bandage across his right arm and the burn marks on his stomach since it was concealed by his navy blue tactician cloak.
As for Lucina, she was never more than a foot away from Robin, but even at that distance she seemed afraid and anxious. The only thing that seemed to comfort her was when she was holding his hands or could feel the touch of his skin. It was like she was afraid he would vanish if she was not around.
….
"Did you hear that explosion earlier today?" Morgan asked trying to break the eerie silence.
Lucina froze in dread, but Robin remained calm and smiled. "Heh, I think everyone did, and we can thank Henry for that."
"Oh?"
Robin laughed for a second before wincing in pain and held on to his shoulder. "... It was one of his experiments he was working on... As always, it ended with a bang."
Morgan sighed to herself and pretended not to notice that her father was hurt again. She knew he was hiding something and it worried her severely.
"But! The good news is that Henry figured out what is bothering me."
"Huh? Really?!" Morgan cried in surprise.
"Yeah, and I should begin the treatment in a few days... Assuming there isn't any complications, I should be back to normal soon." Robin said cheerfully but felt a crushing weight in his hand by his wife.
"That's great!" Morgan said ecstatically and if it wasn't for the cotton sheet jail that her mother tucked her into; she would have jumped up out of her bed and hugged her father with all her strength.
"Heh, yeah. Henry may have his own way of dealing with things, but he always seems to get the job done... Though I think we have suffered more casualties from his exploding birthday cakes than we did in the war."
"Exploding birthday cakes?"
"Haha yeah. Just ask Gregor about that and he will tell you a few stories of his own." Robin laughed. "And speaking of stories, I believe it is time for yours." Robin cleared his throat and was about to speak before his wife grabbed his shoulder and said.
"Dear, you have had a long day. I think you should save your strength and let me tell it tonight." She said concerned.
Robin paused for a second, but shook it off and said, "Okay."
Lucina glanced back at Robin one last time before turning to Morgan and taking a deep breath to calm herself down.
The battle on the roots of the Mila Tree never seemed to end. We were slowly moving our way through, but the battle ground was filled with an unending supply of Valm soldiers. It was exhausting and it never seemed like it would end, but eventually the men stopped charging at Robin and I and held their ground by their leader.
Because of this, I thought I had a moment to rest, and I looked out in the distance to see how Chrom was faring. However, I made a grave mistake by taking my focus off of battle. In the next instance I heard someone yell-
"Lucina! Look out for that Pegasus Rider!"
"Huh?!" My eyes widened and through the corner of my eye I saw something moving towards me. Without hesitation, I quickly dodged the blow and swung Falchion straight into a blury figure which turned out to be the rider's chest. The blow sent him reeling back down the ground permanently. Though another set of four of them were heading for us and closing fast.
"Augh!" There was a sound of someone grunting in pain behind me but I ignored it and kept my attention back at the oncoming attackers.
They swooped down in the air one by one, but I showed them no mercy as I dodged their futile strikes and countered with my own. Within moments I slew three of them but the fourth one tried to circle around from behind.
Robin was there and I heard him yell in a fury as metal collided against one another. Next there was another groan and a large thud.
I turned around to see that Robin was hunched over and leaning all of his weight on his right side with two fallen Pegasus knights besides him. He was breathing heavily and he thrust his sword into the ground like my father had a habit of doing. However, he seemed to be holding onto it as if he was trying to support his weight on it. "I-I think that is the last of them." He panted quietly to himself and I figured he must be tired since he wasn't use to such heavy fighting as a tactician.
I shook my head and said with a fierce look of determination. "We can't stop yet, we still have to stop their general, and they are trying to flank us!"
Robin face grew paler, and he seemed to be heavily exhausted as he shook his head. "D-don't worry about that. Chrom and the rest of the shepherds should be approaching their commander soon... … Afta-." Robin paused and took a deep breath. "After that, the forces should withdrawal."
"But what if more Pegasus reinforcements come and try to flank my father and put him in danger?!" I yelled in fear and tried to encourage him to keep moving
Robin shook his head and laughed hysterically. "Have some faith in your father Lucina. We've been through worse before."
"I do have faith in him!" I cried passionately. "But my father is the only person who can defeat Grima! So we need to make sure he is safe!"
Robin sighed in anger and looked down at the ground, "Fine, if I makes you feel better than try to catch up to him yourself."
I nodded quickly and I was just about to rush over to my father when I took one last glance back at Robin. He grimaced and gingerly placed some of his weight on his left leg while trying to pull his sword from the ground. He then pivoted his foot and shifted his body so it turned to his right. He paused one more time before planting his sword into the ground again and hopped forward. He repeated this process a couple more times and used his sword as a crutch to keep moving.
"Robin, are you alright?" I asked and watched him slowly hobble to his right.
"Yeah" He said with a faint hint of pain in his voice as he stood up as straight as he could. "But I need to go check on Lissa and Maribelle and see if anyone was hurt."
It was then that I noticed a large red stain on his left leg and a small pool of blood slowly trickling down as he tried to hop away from me.
"What happened to your leg?"
"It ran into a spear." Robin snickered and watched as Chrom dueled with the Valm commander up ahead.
"Is it bad?" I asked a little concerned.
"Well, it doesn't feel good." He remarked back calmly and laughed under his breath so I figured it wasn't too serious.
"Oh, so the wound isn't too deep?"
"I dunno. I havn't pulled the tip out yet."
"What? The spear head is still in your leg?" I said confused and looked back at his leg. It was still bleeding, but I couldn't see any part of metal sticking out of him.
"Yeah, I had to break the shaft and leave the tip in or else I would bleed out in minutes if I took it out." He said casually and continued to hop along like it was no big deal. "Though Lissa should be able to fix it."
I didn't know what to say as he moved along grunting and groaning in pain. Though I shook it off and I offered my arm to help support him up. "Let me help you."
Robin shook his head and hopped forward to avoid me. "I don't need it, and besides, I thought you were more worried about your father."
"I am." I replied and looked over to see Sumia guard Chrom from an oncoming attack. "But you are badly wounded and need help."
"No, It's just a flesh wound." Robin remarked back and sighed when he saw that I would not go away.
"You can barely move as it is, and you are bleeding very badly. If I don't help you then you cold be in danger. "
Robin grunted as he moved forward in a lot of pain and said, "Look I appreciate it, but I can't accept your help."
"Why in Naga's name not?" I yelled back in horror.
Robin looked back at the fight Chrom was in and then turned back to me. "Because your father has a habit of looking over here. Heh, just like how you look over to see if he is okay every other second." Robin grunted as he took another step forward and then made a point to stand as rigid as his body would let him. "Grr uh, ... So if he sees that I am hurt ... ... he will panic and worry about me, and that is the last thing he needs to worry about when he is fighting for his own life. So no one can see that you are helping me because if they know I am hurt, then morale falls to the floor."
"But your life is in danger! Do you not realize that?!"
"I assure you that as we speak my body is panicking and begging for help. In fact, I fear I could lose consciousness at any moment." Robin paused and took a deep breath. "But part of my job is not showing my fears until the situation is over with. That is the number one requirement to be a tactician. The ability to hide what you don't want to be seen until the moment is passed.
...
"Heh, but don't worry. I guarantee your father will yell at me later. So he can ... voice your concerns later."
...
...
...
...
"...Mom?" Morgan called out in a low tone and broke her trance. There was a tear coming down Lucina's eyes and her face was a little puffy.
"I'm fine." Lucina turned away from her and wiped her face with her arm.
Robin sighed and tried to console a wide eyed Morgan. " Lucina is just a little emotional right now because of all the chaos and time it took to get an answer for my treatment." Robin lied and hesitated before saying, "It is also a weird time of the month so she is a little- Augh!" Robin felt a painful jab straight into his stomach as his wife violently elbowed him in the side. He struggled to breath as she removed her elbow and held back on to his hand with all her strength.
...
"Dad...Are you sure you are going to be okay?" She asked in a soft tone.
Robin smiled warmly and leaned down to kiss Morgan on her forehead. "Of course little one. Now go to sleep or else you wont be able to see what surprises the world has in store for us tomorrow.
Morgan remained silent and watched him walk over to the door. He opened it for Lucina and waved to Morgan before following behind his wife. The door soon shut firmly behind them and Morgan was left to herself to wander about her thoughts.
However, on the other side of the door.
…
…
"... Lucina, please ... don't cry."
She was sobbing on his shoulder and holding on tightly to him as they slowly made their way down the hallway. Robin could hear her gasp for breath as she fell to pieces.
"There is still hope. We just have to have faith." Robin tried to console her, but her cries only became worse.
*Sniff * "I ...I don't ... want to see ... it again."
"See what again?" Robin asked concerned.
"Yo- …. you... you disa-." Lucina exploded into tears and her knees buckled under her. The only thing keeping her from falling down was her tight grip on Robin.
…
"... You are afraid of me disappearing again aren't you?' Robin sighed and gently lowered his knees as they both descended to the ground.
This question only made her sob harder and she barely could speak between choking under her own breath. "Ye ...Yesss. *sniff* You...you vanished right in front of me. I ...I felt so alone."
"That won't ever happen again." Robin commanded in a strong and resilient voice, and he was now standing on his knees while his wife held on to him him with all four limbs. Even her legs were firmly wrapped around him like an unbreakable straightjacket.
"B-but you will …. disappear." She coughed violently and her bright red face was soaking wet. "The curse-"
"We don't know if it is fatal."
"Of course it is!" She yelled in horror in between choking. "Henry says you are slowly suffocating to death!"
"That is just Henry's theory. We don't know if-"
"Robin, just stop!" She took a deep breath, but it did not help her composure. "Don't sugar coat it anymore. Just tell me what you think is going on! I don't need to hear everything will be okay, because I know it wont" She pleaded and held onto him so tight that Robin had trouble breathing.
…
…
"Drowning." Robin muttered half halfheartedly.
"...What?" Lucina whispered
Robin sighed and looked blankly down the corridor. "Ever since that sea battle with Valm, the thought of dying in the ocean paralyzes me. To be helpless as the weight of my armor sinks me down into the ocean. Meanwhile my lungs fill up with water while I slowly and agonizingly suffocate to death."
"...Robin-"
"There is nothing you can do. You know you are drowning. You feel the life slipping away from you. You can cry for help. ... ...But there is nothing you can do to stop from dying. That is why the thought of drowning terrifies me." Robin shook his head and frowned, "And I do not find it to be a coincidence that this curse is like I am slowly drowning on land.
…
… "I hate to say it. I really do... But there is only one other person in the universe that knew about my fear of suffocating. …