Advanced science for monsters
Robin couldn't look his wife in the eye when he came into the tent.
"You'd be in your rights if you never forgave me. Gods know I don't have the right to ask."
Lucina's eyes matched his, aimed at a distant corner of the tent, as far from Robin as she could manage.
"It would be easier if I could, wouldn't it?"
"I lied to you. I left your father with a gaping hole in his side that it's going to take all night for the healers to patch up. And even if I try to claim that was in noble cause, it failed. Grima shrouds the world again. I… I shroud the world again."
"The monster I would give my life to destroy. The man I love. I suppose I was late to this joke as well."
Robin tried to look up. Tried to find something he could think of to answer any of the weight on his shoulders.
For what felt like the thousanth time that day, he failed.
"The gods seem to have have a morbid sense of humor."
He closed his eyes. He couldn't take seeing her now. Seeing that somehow, she might still care for him. Think that he was worth saving.
"If it makes anything better… Gods. I can't make anything better, not now. But I'm going to try. Every day I have left, every day of this filthy lie of a life, is yours. And together, we can make your better world. If you need me to tear down the heavens, then... "
He could feel her weight on his arm.
He took off his coat.
There weren't any words for a moment like this. There never had been. But perhaps they could both find a moment of solace, a little relief.
*Thump*
Robin coughed.
"There must be a storm outside tonight."
"Does it matter?"
"I suppose it doesn't."
He leaned closer. He didn't deserve this. He was a patricide, a demon, the spawn of a thousand nightmares made to burn the world. He only deserved a blade in his heart and a pit by the side of a road. But somehow, here he was. Given more than the best man in the world would ever earn, all by…
*THUMP*
Dammit.
Lucina frowned.
"It sounded like someone knocking on the flap."
Robin sighed.
"It did."
"Perhaps…"
"I know. I'm sorry for this as much as anything tonight, but I should probably…"
Lucina looked down again.
"It could have been the wind."
"You're right. I'm sure whatever it is…"
*THUMP*
Robin gritted his teeth and reached for what felt like his coat.
"Can't wait."
It took him far too long to stumble to the door, but his instincts were already warming up. Love and guilt alike slid behind need. Strategies. Counter-strategies. Disaster and triumph. Fear and fortune. Robin would need to find a path for mortals to slay a god, and then he would have to watch as all the friends and family he had left in the world walked it.
Whatever Chrom needed, he'd provide. It was the least he could do.
"Chr… Ah."
Chrom was not outside his tent.
"Hello, Miriel."
"Robin. I feel we possess a unique opportunity. It would be most injudicious to abnegate such contingent occurrences."
"...What are you talking about?"
"The presence of a numinous agent in our company!"
"Ah."
Robin rubbed the back of his head. It wasn't the best timing. Of course, technically it wasn't the worst timing either, but the worst timing would probably get all of them killed. Just killing the mood and the evening was a much smaller price to pay.
"Well, I'm sure Lady Tiki will be glad to discuss things with you in the morning. When everyone is awake. Right now I have to go back to my tent with my wife, so…"
Miriel shook her head.
"Tiki's claims of divinity are subsidiary at maximum. On the other hand, one member of our company has legitimate direct ties to such an entity! Free of the claims of the prelacy, capable of unbiased responses to any query, with a proven record of reliability."
"Who are you… Oh. Oh, gods, no."
Robin took a step back.
"This is the last thing in the world I want to talk about. We are not discussing it just to fulfil your curiosity."
"Perhaps future generations…"
"We won't get more than one future generation unless we kill Grima. And as difficult as that might be, it will be impossible unless we're all at our best."
"But you have stated in the past that maximizing cognition is key to optimizing performance, a position I find worthy of the fullest accord.."
Robin sighed. It was bad enough when Morgan used his words back at him. Anyone else lost the tiny layer of parental pride that made it almost tolerable.
"Normally, yes. But if I have to think about this, I'm…"
Robin tried to weigh his words. 'Going to kill myself' was too close to the truth for army morale. So was 'curling up into a little ball sobbing.' The army needed a tactician, needed to think things could be made right again. Right now, he could almost hold it together in public, and with Lucina's help he could still more or less function. The slightest tap, and it would all fall apart, and no-one needed to know that.
"I'm going to get back to you on the subject. Later."
Miriel nodded.
"I will restrict myself to observation."
"Thank…"
Robin paused.
"Observation."
Miriel nodded. She had a notebook in her hand.
"Indeed."
"Don't you want to go to sleep? It's late."
"I have consumed stimulants in advance to ensure I could benefit from this opportunity. Feel free to resume your previous activities."
"I…"
Robin turned to follow the noise of the tent flap. Lucina stood out in the night.
...In his robe.
Robin looked to his shoulder. Right. That was her cape on his shoulder. Perfect.
Lucina looked out at Miriel.
"Ah. I'm sorry to interrupt your strategy discussions."
"It's fine. I'm sure Miriel can wait for morning for her research."
"It's no… It's very little bother to help. If there's anything I can suggest… we did fight Grima, in my time. There were no victories, but we did learn, at too high a cost, how to survive a defeat with a little less harm. Perhaps that would be of assistance?"
Miriel shrugged.
"I am certain you could elucidate more productively on other, more singular matters."
"Err… of course. Your son made as many decisions on overall strategy as I did, and I doubt I ever held the royal bloodline with as much grace as my father and aunts, but if you feel that would be more useful…"
Robin blinked. Even at this hour, even with so many other things to think about, his brain could still zero in on the horrifying truth of a matter in a heartbeat.
"I… don't think that's what she's talking about. And I think neither of us would like to talk about it."
"Then… oh!"
Lucina blushed slightly.
"I think I agree with you, dear."
Miriel shook her head.
"Tsk. I presumed you retained inclination to advance the cause of science. Perhaps another matter would be more advantageous? I surmise that your daughter would possess certain qualities in common with the divine. Perhaps a comparison..."
Robin frowned.
"Later. If ever. When she's awake, you can ask her. Until then, you can try to work on your own."
Miriel frowned.
"Purely guesswork. I would ignore opportunity to…"
"To work from the information you already had in a new context. It would be a start. I'm sure I gave away something that could be useful now at some point. I'm even more sure I don't have anything useful to say now."
"Are you certain?"
Robin looked Miriel in the eye. She wasn't very emotional at the worst of times, and he couldn't read much expression now. Still. Something seemed off. She looked almost desperate this time, to the extent she looked anything.
Fine. She wanted more information, but who didn't? Robin would beg, borrow, or steal any edge he could find. Anyone trying for a tactical approach should do the same. If he wasn't so tired already, and if it was something he could think about without wanting to die, and if he didn't want… need something else at the moment, he'd be eager for a chance to talk.
But that was how things always went. That was how things always went. Before and after battles, after funerals and before weddings. The only difference this time…
The only difference was they were fighting a god.
Robin winced.
"I'm certain I don't know what to do, if that's what you're asking. I'm certain I can't tell you anything that will guarantee us a victory. I'm not sure what I am, or what I was meant to be. I'm certain that I can't give you a magic arrow that will reveal how easy this whole war will be."
Miriel hrmphed. Even she didn't have a better word for it.
"I was not anticipating that you would reveal that the current contention possessed any facile qualities. I simply…"
"You wanted to be able to understand it. We spend so much time, we learn so much, and now everything falls apart and we find we weren't nearly as smart as we thought. We didn't know anything. We… still don't."
"The development of intellectual patterns still… it must maintain value."
Robin frowned.
"Gods. I hope so. It's not like I'm in any state to make any grand statements about the world and our place in it. I'm just a damned god pretending to be a man."
Lucina shook her head.
"You're more than that!"
"I…"
Lucina glared at Robin.
"You're more than that. I refuse believe that I was willing to sacrifice the world for anything less than a good man!"
"The son of a demon, born to be the devil who killed everyone near to you. And you insist I'm a good man."
Lucina reached for the sword at her side. Her hand didn't draw it, but it seemed relieved by the weight.
"I… I do insist. If I doubted, for a second, if I thought you were the monster that killed my father… you would be dead where you stand."
Robin looked at his wife. It was impossible to doubt her.
"Thank you. But that doesn't change our situation. We're against something we can't understand, more powerful than we are, with none of our limits. And…"
Something flashed in Robin's mind. Monstrous, but strange and sweet all the same. The look in the eye of the devil.
"And he's still scared of us. Gods help me if I know why, but he thinks we have a hope of stopping him. He thinks that we know something he doesn't!"
Robin leaned over to kiss Lucina. He knew that this wouldn't last, but right now he could take on the world, and he'd be damned… well, he was probably damned anyway, but he was going to celebrate this little chance if it was the last thing he'd ever do. Victory was a joke, a one in a million long shot, but it was a good enough joke to make Robin laugh.
"Miriel, you'll have notes in the morning, and I want every comment you and Laurent can put in the margins by dinner. You'll be thinking on the march, but I know I can count on you for that. Lucina!"
"Yes?"
"I'm sorry to cancel what we had planned, and I'm sure I'll hate myself for this by tomorrow, but right now I want every scrap of knowledge you have on Grima. If I'd been thinking, I might have been able to steal Validar's tome… it's highly biased information, of course, mostly worthless propaganda, but it might… it probably would give more insight into his thought processes than if I just judged from my own biases. I've spent years with Chrom, and they reshaped far too much of my tactical doctrine to assume… we have a chance. Praise Naga and anyone else listening, we have a chance!"
Robin turned around to walk back into his tent and get to work. He was a lowborn monster who would never deserve half of what he had been given. He was a traitor, a kinslayer, and a thousand other horrible things, only given the slightest dignity by people who should have much better taste in friends and family. But right now, all that meant he had a chance to repay a little of his debts.
So he was a monster? For once, that was a good thing. There was nothing quite like a monster for killing a god.
Not One Word Apt
"'A true hero is always ready' yelled Chrom as he charged forward into a bunch of flowers which were on the stage already from the start (we should have flowers for Chrom to charge through)..."
"That's more than enough."
Robin smirked.
"I'm not sure. There were some awfully heroic lines of dialog here. What's this about how you refered to everyone's eyes as 'orbs?' Or how you broke into song… five times? Six?"
Chrom clenched his teeth.
"Eight."
"Really? Eight? I… Oh, I see. The bit where you… I never knew you could talk to pegasus! I thought that was Henry's job."
Chrom's teeth slid back and forth. Robin held up her hands
"I'm sorry! It's just… you had to know how bad this was when you brought it to me. Sumia would say the same things, even if she'd be more polite about it. Think of it this way. It can't be worse than the time I saw you naked."
Chrom shook his head.
"I didn't write this."
"Oh. Good. Now I can almost take you seriously again. On the other hand..."
Robin turned to look at Chrom.
"Why did you bring me this little bit of future biography, then? As much as I appreciate something to lighten the mood before we leave for meeting my... father, I can't think of any reason for anyone to write this."
"Cynthia."
"...That explains everything."
Chrom nodded.
"She wrote it for my coronation. I think it's meant to be a script or something similar. Knowing Cynthia…"
"She poured her heart and soul into it, she's incredibly excited to see it, and she wanted it to be a surprise for her beloved father so he can have the perfect ascension to the throne. I know Cynthia. What are you planning to do about it?"
Chrom sighed.
"I was planning to ask my best friend if she had any idea how to deal with all of this."
"As usual?"
"As usual."
Robin started pacing.
"Well, for one thing, this is not my specialty. At all."
"It's impossible?"
"Don't get cute with me. You're married, and I'm sure Sumia would get angry if she walked in on both of us naked on the rug. I mean…"
Robin scratched her chin.
"This is a family issue, and you have a three nothing shutout on me in the children department. And at least one of them has threatened my life for just talking to you, so I can't say how she'll react to any of this. At best, I'd think I can give you as good an idea as you could come up with yourself, but less specific and with more hedging."
"At least then I'd have someone else to blame when it goes wrong."
"Wait. Say that again."
"At least I'd have someone else to blame when it goes wrong?"
Robin wrapped her right arm around Chrom's neck and lifted her other hand for heaven.
"Naga be praised! He can learn!"
Robin released her grip and rubbed her hands together.
"They said it was impossible. They said it couldn't be done! But today, I stand before you with the latest wonder of the world: A Chrom who learns from his social mistakes!"
Chrom just rolled his eyes.
"If I just wanted someone to make bad jokes, I could have gone to Lissa just as easily."
Robin looked down.
"You're right. I'm sorry. I'll… try to come up with something. It's not like there's a battle going on instead. I'll be stuck resolving petty castle disputes soon enough, if all goes well, so I should get started now. "
"Thank you. If there's anything you need…"
"I'll let you know. Don't worry. I will need to keep the script, of course, but I promise I won't tell anyone else about it. Or let them see it. Or start rumors about it. Or…"
"I should leave before the list gets any longer."
Robin shook her head.
"Sorry. That little 'incident' with Lissa left me too sensitive to the finer points of loopholes in a conversation. When I have something, you'll know. Try not to think about any of this. If you can forget it..."
"For once, Robin, I'm ahead of you. I saved some of the good beer for a day just like this."
Robin smiled as Chrom walked away. Well. Here was a chance to help her best friend in the world, and lightly taunt him at the same time. Life seldom offered a better opportunity.
She'd review the whole script before she came to any firm decision, of course, but Robin thought she had some reason for hope. As little as she knew about dealing with her own hypothetical children, she had to admit there were days she felt like mother to half the camp, Cynthia included. She kept track of everyone's insanity, and found ways to control it towards success instead of disaster. All she'd have to do would be find a polite way to tell Cynthia that… oh! Yes. That was perfect. Let Cynthia start things. And then make her think all the changes were her idea. It would probably still be more embarrassing than Chrom wanted, but… well, that might even count as a side benefit, depending on how it went.
Robin nodded. It was a start. Or a step before a start, at any rate. The start would be finding Cynthia.
She left for the stables. Minerva turned to face her when she came in.
"Seen Cynthia lately?"
*Hrrmph.*
"I'll keep that in mind."
As little as Robin understood Minerva most days, it was the closest she had to a conversation for several minutes. The stables were mostly empty, with most of the usual horses and pegasi out on parade, and the usual servants taking a well earned rest. Robin tried to restrain herself from attempting some basic efficiency improvements with this opportunity. After all, she could do a few of them with the room full. And she did have a task to do that took more of a priority. It could wait. After all, she was Robin of Ylisse, the steel trap mind that could endure any hardship to wait for the perfect moment. It wasn't like she'd just...
Robin sighed and looked down. She was already shoving a few bales of hay to match a Valmese model. Stupid muscle memory. She walked back to the nearest wall.
Odd. She could almost hear someone on the other side. Robin adjusted her position. Eavesdropping was bad manners, but manners had no place in war. And Robin was too recently at war to forget all the habits.
"No, that isn't exactly right either. Ribbons on the wings would throw off her balance."
"Aw, Lucy…"
"I'm glad you want to help! I'm sure with practice, you'll be every bit as good at this kind of thing as mother. It's just you… need the practice."
"Awww."
"And making sad eyes won't change any of that!"
Robin leaned away from the wall and took a breath. Things were suddenly much more complicated than she hoped.
Then again, things were almost always more complicated than she hoped, and she'd been able to work through it before, with much higher stakes. She just needed to think things through, and then she could make a decision. Standard. Complications and goals, sorted out and laid flat.
Goal: Talk to Cynthia. Soon. While they both had time not spent on drills and while Cynthia hadn't implemented any of her plans for the coronation. Given pending events, right now was the best, and possibly only, time to talk about all of the details.
Complication: Talking to Cynthia meant, at the moment, talking to and/or spending time around Lucina.
It really wasn't fair to the woman, of course. None of this was. From what Robin had heard from everyone else, Chrom's daughter was as fine a woman as he could ever hope. Kind, generous, clever, beautiful, and so on. Speaking as a tactician, Robin could offer a few more compliments, mostly involving variants on the term "stab".
But purely personally, Lucina didn't like Robin, and that was as far as the matter needed to go to be trouble. She'd tried to keep Robin and Chrom from talking for over a week, she'd muttered things about plots to leave Sumia abandoned, and there was the one time in the forest… well. The less said the better.
Robin clenched her jaw. Well, if experience said anything, it was that fortune favored the bold. She took a step around the corner.
"Hello, Cynthia. Funny seeing you here. I just had..."
Cynthia smiled.
"Hey Robin! Maybe you can tell Lucina how she's being a no good fun killer."
Lucina turned to face Robin. From the look on her face, fun wasn't the only thing getting killed.
"Hello."
Robin nodded. Well. Fortune certainly had an odd way of showing her favor. Then again, between the volcanos, the dragon, and the pending end of the world, she'd always been that way. Best to just play out things as best she could.
"I know you're in the middle of something, so I'll try to keep things… brief."
Cynthia shook her head.
"Don't worry about it! Three heroes working together ought to be able to make something even more impressive than just me and Lucy!"
"What are you trying to make impressive?"
"It's…!"
Cynthia frowned.
"It's a secret. But I'm sure you can figure out what to do anyway."
"Is it something relating to your father's coronation?"
Cynthia's eyes bugged out.
"Wow! I knew you could figure things out, but…"
"You left this lying around."
Robin tossed Cynthia's script in the air for a spin.
Cynthia's eyes went wide.
"What?"
She reached for the book, but Robin snatched it out of the air before she could retrieve it.
"We need to talk about it first. I know you have the best intentions, but I'm not sure this is the best idea you've ever had."
Honestly, Robin wasn't sure about anything relating to the plan here. She had enough history with Cynthia ideas that she'd lost all ability to accurately gauge levels of disaster beyond fatality counts.
"Really? I thought it was great!"
Lucina nodded.
"I'm sure Robin is just trying to make sure she can spend more time with father. It's nothing to worry about."
Robin shook her head.
"Not this time. Read it yourself."
She tossed the book to Lucina. She pulled it from the air and opened it.
"I'm sure this will prove my point. Cynthia will have written something that will bring father and mother closer together, and your jealousy lead you to think it was flawed."
She flipped to a random page in the middle.
"I can't think of any other reason to assume that father would… have trouble with singing a lullaby to passing forest animals."
"I know! Ricken talks to them, and father always was his hero, so he should be even better at getting along with them! It only makes sense."
Lucina looked from her sister to Robin and back, then turned the page.
"Even if he objected to that for some reason, I'm sure he would be…"
Lucina blushed red.
"I'm sure it's just a printing error."
She carefully removed the page and crumpled it into a ball.
"Nothing that should hurt such a touching and well written coronation play! I know father loves mother too much for such an obvious ploy to work. And look at..."
Lucina flipped through the script again. She frowned.
"I'm sure I'll find something to show you how wrong you are soon enough. For now, you should just feel ashamed of yourself for trying to convince Cynthia to abandon her efforts!"
"Or for trying to shape them?"
"Or for trying to shape them! I know how you think. You want to take Cynthia's ideas for yourself, so you can claim credit!"
Robin lifted an eyebrow.
"I want to be the one who came up with calling Cynthia a 'Pega Pony Princess', who can enter the… idolsphere with the power of dance."
Cynthia smiled.
"That was one of the best parts! I knew you'd like it. Did you see the part where he teams up with a singer and works for a big group of players to help them through their problems? I know the dance numbers might be kind of tricky, but he could practice a lot. We could say it was combat training! You could do that, right Robin?"
Robin blinked. She didn't have many options now, did she? Every second she spent defending herself from Lucina was energy she couldn't use to talk down Cynthia, and every bit of talking down Cynthia would just make Lucina defend the gods-damned script even harder. She was caught between a rock and a hard place. She…
Robin smiled. She had everything she needed this whole time.
"Of course I could. I just thought, when you asked for my help with this earlier, that you might want to carry on further on your own."
"I asked you earlier?"
Robin scratched her chin.
"I thought you did. It's a bit of a blur, really. I said something about Chrom's coronation, and heroics being needed… It sounds like something I'd say, doesn't it?"
Cynthia skewed her face.
"I guess it does. I must have forgotten that you suggested it in my enthusiasm."
"Don't worry too much. It's mostly exactly what I wanted already. I just wanted to adjust a few little details."
Lucina turned from Robin to Cynthia in terror.
"This was your idea?"
"Of course. I don't think Cynthia would have written some of that without my help. A lot of it, really. She might have been afraid that Sumia wouldn't like how much it had in common with Dream of the Tellus Wars. If she saw a bad rendition, well, who knows how she might feel about Chrom after?"
Lucina gulped.
"I don't… I hoped even you wouldn't stoop so low!"
"I might."
"And dragging Cynthia into the middle of it!"
"My evil knows no bounds, if I remember you right. I might have tried to remember what you told me, but what woman could resist Chrom's dreamy blue eyes? The way you describe him..."
Robin feigned a sigh.
"Well, good luck with the script, Cynthia. I'm sure you can figure out what I would do with it on your own. And if you're having trouble, just follow your heart."
"Can do!"
Robin turned to leave the stables at a speed just below a dash. Best to go before Lucina had a response ready.
She could hear a voice behind her, saying the most beautiful words in the world.
"Err… Cynthia? Maybe you could… forget the whole thing."
Checkmate.
Cynthia's Heroic Adventure
"Cynthia's the greatest! Cynthia's the best! Cynthia's the one! Who can pass the toughest test! Hooray for Cynthia!"
Cynthia sang to herself as she fell. It was a good distraction from the falling. Which would hopefully stop soon, and then?
Then she'd be in the past! The golden age of heroes, when days were sunny, knights were bold, and her father was around to call her his little pega-pony princess!
She only wished she could see Lucy. She could have sworn that she was with her when they all jumped through, but right now, she couldn't see anyone. Maybe that was so she wouldn't be distracted. Would be ready to play the hero when the need came.
Cynthia started on another loop of her theme song while waiting for the ground. Her pegasus had its ears drawn tight against its head. Its loss. Cynthia would just have to sing a little…
Suddenly, the ground was right below her.
"WHOA!"
She pulled her pegasus out of a dive and looked down. It took a second to process that the ground was covered in Risen. She was too used to the sight to really register it any more, but there they were. A bunch of Risen, and a girl cowering from them. Almost like she needed a hero.
Good thing one was right at hand!
Cynthia dove for the ground, jabbing her lance through the nearest risen in a spin. Lucina would have said she should try something less fancy, but it was obviously working. She'd knocked over FIVE risen already, and if she just put a little more effort in…
"Aaagh!"
Cynthia went flying off her pegasus and crashed against a nearby tree. Maybe Lucy had a point sometimes about keeping her balance. It was hard to look heroic when you were sprawled head over heels across a forest.
She heard more moaning. Right. It was also a bad idea to be sprawled on the ground looking edible around risen. She tried to untangle herself, and with a little effort, struggled to her feet, just in time to stare into an undead warrior's gaping jaws.
Her lance was still on the ground.
There had been better days to be Cynthia, on the whole.
She closed her eyes in hope. Lucy once said if things got too bad, Cynthia could just close her eyes and let her older sister handle things.
But that was when Lucy was there to help her. Now, Cynthia was all alone. Out of family. Out of time. All closing her eyes would do…
*Thunk*.
Cynthia opened her eyes. There was a healing staff embedded in the head of the nearest risen.
"Hey! Try picking on someone able to defend herself."
The creature turned to face the girl Cynthia just rescued. It moaned. The girl stepped back.
"I meant Chrom! Eeesh! He's over…"
Cynthia snatched her lance from the ground at the mention of the name and jabbed it into the monster, smashing it and a second creature in the bargain. Before any of the others could even look at her, they were in pieces on the ground.
"Da da! Cynthia saves the day!"
She turned to face the girl. Funny. She almost looked familiar. But that must be her imagination making up a suitable heroic backstory.
Well, a hero had to introduce herself, especially…
Especially to someone who'd just mentioned Chrom! Cynthia almost fell over again when she realized what she'd almost missed. Chrom! The Exalt! Father!
She was about to go burbling when she remembered something else. Hadn't Lucina talked about a need to be subtle or something? Cynthia hadn't been paying as much attention as she maybe should have been, but Lucy definitely said something about not telling everyone they were from the future, and heroic or not, Lucy almost always knew what she was talking about.
Time to play it cool.
"So, Chrom, huh? That sounds like a heroic name. Can I meet him?"
"Chrom?"
Cynthia gulped. She might have said too much already.
"I meant that sounded like a name. Is it your name? Because I don't think it is."
The girl shook her head and snorted.
"No, he's my big brother. I'm Lissa."
"I don't know. I knew Lissa, and you don't look old enough to be her."
'Lissa' blinked and took on one of those expressions other people sometimes picked up around Cynthia, the one Kjelle wore most of the time she and Cynthia talked. It wasn't quite amazement, and it wasn't quite despair, but it always had a certain element of disbelief. Cynthia liked to think that it was shock at how clever she was.
(Even Cynthia wasn't able to believe that most of the time, but she liked it when she could.)
"I don't think I'm that Lissa."
"Well, why would... Ohhh!"
Cynthia barely kept her hand from slapping her head. Of course! It was the past! She'd almost forgotten about that, when it explained everything!
There were a lot more people in the past! You had to repeat names sometimes.
Maybe even Chrom, but Cynthia had to at least try. She'd know him well enough if she saw him.
"Sorry about that. I'm sure you're a Lissa too. So, where's Chrom?"
A blue haired man stepped forward through a nearby bush.
"Lissa? Are you alright?"
Lissa glanced at him and nodded to Cynthia.
"Right there."
She turned to Chrom.
"I'm fine!"
"That's a relief. This place is crawling with gods-only-know what kind of monsters. Robin and I managed to deal with a few of them, but it was close, and I don't want to think what would have happened if one of them found you."
"Some did."
Chrom stopped in his tracks.
"And you managed to…"
A white haired young man in a greatcoat crawled out of the bush next to him.
"By herself? Gods, she was right. You never should have called her delicate."
Lissa grimaced.
"Welll, not all by myself. I had some help. She's right…"
Lissa looked left and right. The girl was gone.
"She was right here! You… you don't think they got her, do you Chrom?"
The man in the coat shook his head.
"I doubt it. They weren't exactly subtle. We'd have heard them by now, if any were waiting that close."
"Then where did she…"
"DA DA DA DA DA DUM DUH DUM! PRESENTING… CYNTHIA!"
Cynthia swooped down from the sky on the back of her pegasus.
"The legendary hero returns, in the hour of greatest need! Atop her trusty steed, she challenges all evil!"
The white haired young man looked up.
"Legendary hero?"
He turned to Chrom.
"Should I have heard of her?"
"I doubt it. I certainly haven't before tonight. Then again, I've never been much of a scholar. I suppose Frederick might have heard of someone…"
The bushes rustled. A knight in full armor stepped through next to Chrom.
"Not a word, my lord. And may I say I do not trust this… Cynthia any more than I do Robin. A matched set of brigands, I wouldn't be surprised. One to earn your trust, so the second can slit our throats in the night."
The man in the coat, presumably Robin, lifted his hands in protest.
"I just said I didn't know her!"
"Exactly what you would say if you did."
Frederick turned to face Chrom.
"Bluntly, milord, trusting one heavily armed stranger is folly. Trusting two in this short a span borders on suicide."
"I'll be careful, Frederick."
"I've seen your 'careful.'"
"And it's worked quite well so far. If Robin wanted to kill us, he's had opportunity to at least try. More than once. And if Lissa says Cynthia helped save her life, I owe her at least a little trust."
"If you say so, my lord."
Even Cynthia could pick up the sarcasm. She tried not to look hurt. Here she was, on a white horse, in white armor, loudly proclaiming how heroic she was, and someone thought she was a baddy?
"I'm not plotting!"
Frederick looked up at her.
"With all due respect, ma'am, no-one would announce it if they were. You came here out of nowhere, unknown to all of us, in the middle of an attack by some unholy monsters, which you seem almost entirely untroubled by. If we knew who you were, I might be more inclined to trust you, but wearing Ylissean armor without Ylissean training is more than a little suspicious."
"But I'm…"
She paused. Lucy said not to reveal things. Lucy said to keep them quiet, so that they could help with… something. Cynthia didn't always understand what Lucina was thinking, but she was always smart about this kind of thing. Best to play it cool.
Cynthia smiled. She was always cool.
"I'm not Chrom's daughter from the future, if that's what you think!"
Perfect! That covered everything.
Chrom… didn't look like he agreed.
"I never said you were?"
Lissa shook her head.
"Like Chrom could talk to a girl long enough to marry her."
"I could! Sully and I..."
"Sully doesn't count!"
Chrom smiled.
"What about your friend Maribelle?"
"You and her? What were you talking about?!"
Whatever they were talking about, Cynthia would never know. Something in the distance was moaning.
Chrom reached for Falchion.
"We don't have time to argue. Whatever these monsters are, we could use all the help we can find. And considering she just saved Lissa from these things, I think we can trust her."
Cynthia snapped a salute.
"You won't regret this, fa...friend! Cynthia is on the case!"
Robin nodded.
"Can you scout the area? I'd like to have a little more information before we make a plan."
"On it!"
Cynthia flew off into the sky. This was perfect! She was in the past, fighting evil alongside her father! And she managed to find him without tipping her hand at all! Soon, evil would tremble at the name of… CYNTHIA!
On the ground, Chrom turned to Robin.
"She didn't try to call me 'father', did she?"
"I'm guessing that's not common behavior, then?"
"No."
Robin nodded.
"She did."
Chrom sighed.
"Remind me to never have children."
Bloody Heroes
Lon'qu weighed his sword in his hand. He'd never believed in the philosophies of Chon'sin when it came to the art of the blade, but they were right about one thing. It was a weight.
Even when he could keep back the memories, he knew what a weapon could do. It was something to consider in silence…
"But lo! He faces a thousand more of the fiends!"
Which was impossible as long as the imbecile was in the same room as he was.
"Do you ever shut up?"
The man, 'Seliph' or whatever his real name was, turned to face Lon'qu.
"But hark! Even here the champion faces the harshest of opposition! A fellow master of the blade, perhaps his one true rival. They…"
"I won't be drawn into your childish farce."
The man slumped. It was absurd. Lon'qu wouldn't tolerate a child this disconnected from reality. A grown man acting like that was madness.
More madness considering the man. Not many people had his gift for the sword, his practiced stance, his constant alert for attacks, no matter the angle. Lon'qu liked to think of himself as a master swordsman, and 'Seliph' was able to match him blow for blow most times they sparred. You'd expect a man like that to act his age.
Instead, he went on for hours about imaginary adventures, fights with demon swordsmen, his own hidden destiny, or some other nonsense. What was worse, he seemed to think that Lon'qu would care about any of it.
"But… we're men of destiny. Our path is marked by blood and…"
Lon'qu looked up from his sword.
"Have you ever killed a man?"
"What?"
"I don't repeat myself."
Lon'qu looked down again. His sword was clean, other than the few flecks of blood he could never remove. Kay'ri's blood, likely as not. It would explain why no-one else could see it.
"I… of course! Have you not heard of my endless battles with the forces of darkness? I have slain thousands of the most vile…"
"You mentioned it."
"Ha! I barely scratched the surface! O… Seliph the Dark has always been haunted by his lineage, torn between the dark path of blood and the heroic legacy he follows!"
"Then you know what it's like."
"Yes. The path of glory and heroism is slick with blood and darkness. I know well the path of the assassin, the killer's seven roads to hell!"
Lon'qu doubted it. He still remembered the first time he killed a man. It was the most effective inoculation he could have asked for against this kind of heroic nonsense.
He was eight. His foe couldn't have been more than ten. There was never enough food, and his opponent wanted to take away the little Lon'qu had earned. They stumbled in an alley, Lon'qu found a few broken shards of glass...
He felt no deep guilt over it, even now. He only did what he had to do, and the other boy would have done the same if their positions were reversed.
That was combat. You could gain skill, turn it from a clumsy farce into something almost elegant, but at the core, it was always the same thing. Two desperate idiots flailing until one of them died in a fit of agony.
But nothing he could say could convince the fool sitting near him of that. Lon'qu had to find out on his own. It seemed the fool would have to go through his own pain. If it didn't kill him, perhaps he would stop being such an irritant. If it did, well, that would also solve the problem.
'Seliph' tossed his sword in the air. It seemed he still wasn't finished.
"Truly, my sword hand twitches today, with more energy than ever before! Even our heroics will be pressed to contain it. For today… WE SPAR WITH DESTINY!"
Lon'qu grunted. It wasn't even worth using words at this point.
'Seliph' took the lack of active insults as encouragement.
"Yes! Today, we decide the fate of nations! Our sworn lord, the Khan of Ferox, faces opposition from within and without! His own companion brings foreign swords to our door. If they were mere mortal foes…"
"They are."
'Seliph' shook his head like Lon'qu was the idiot in this conversation.
"Ah, but mere mortals could never slow the twin blades of Ferox! For the blood of sweet Chon'sin flows through our veins, the power of the mysterious west giving us… power to slay legions! No, today we face Ylisse's favored sons and daughters!"
"I don't care."
"Ah, the confidence of a true champion! For even the thought of facing Chrom himself, favored son of Naga, could not shake his confidence. Even merciful..."
Merciful someone was obviously looking down on them, because 'Seliph' didn't manage another word before someone knocked on the door.
"Arena's ready. Best not to keep the Ylisseans waiting."
Lon'qu nodded and walked for the door with an easy stride. Another day, another battle with whatever mercenaries and brigands Flavia could scrounge up. Not the most appetizing meal for his blade, but not a real risk either.
'Seliph' followed after him, shaking like chaff in the wind. So much for the champion of a thousand furious battles.
"We won't have to slay any of our foes, will we?"
"Hmm? I thought you'd slain hundreds."
The other swordsman tried to cut his shaking, but his hand still twitched.
"Of course. But… I fear the power of AVENGER MODE unleashed in this arena."
"Hmmn."
"For I could strike down the spectators and our foes alike! Even the Khan himself might not be exempt from my boundless wrath! Once the path of blood sets out before me…"
"Don't kill anyone."
The twitching slowed down.
"Of… of course! Although mine hand has slain tens of thousands of foes, tonight it must not drink deep from the wells of blood! Aye, for the word of a trusted companion, I will restrain the might of OWAIN THE AVENGER!"
He stopped for a moment, then looked around and coughed.
"Seliph the avenger."
Lon'qu turned away. There were more important things to worry about. He faced his opponents. A few cavalry soldiers. A pair of women dressed in mage robes, one with intricate designs on the sleeves. A pegasus rider. And a lord, if he knew the local nobility. A blue haired man with a cape and a sword.
Lon'qu took his measure. None of the others would challenge him. The lord would. He could ignore the chaff and focus.
It might help him ignore how many… women were on the other side. It wasn't unmanageable, but it was a distraction.
In a moment, the battle was joined. Lon'qu flowed through the enemy like water. Unseen. Untouchable. Unstoppable.
It was amazing how simple it was to slip through their lines. Lon'qu was gifted, but it was never this smooth before, never this easy. His foes were chaff, and he felt a new level of mastery opening before him.
It slammed shut when he heard the cries of his fellow gladiators. He hadn't slipped through. He'd been cut off.
"Checkmate."
One of the mages was smiling. The white haired woman, with the elaborate cloak.
"You might as well surrender right now. We have you cut off from any support, and you're outnumbered. Even if you're the greatest swordsman in the world, you can't take all of us alone."
She frowned.
"...Probably."
Lon'qu lifted his sword into position and looked around.
She was right. He'd been outplayed. But admitting defeat would be even worse than allowing it. He could charge through, force the lord in the cape to fight him, and then…
"But hark! The champion is not alone!"
Every head turned to face the figure breaking through the line. The woman in the cloak frowned.
"What in the…?"
"Ha! The AVENGER appears alongside his sworn comrade! Soon the tide of battle will…"
Lon'qu winced. The idiot was monologuing. Even now, the mages were lining up their shots.
At least he'd do more good than Lon'qu expected that way. The distraction would give Lon'qu time to retreat and regroup, let him try to set the battle on his own terms.
A bolt of lightning arced towards the idiot. It would be easy to let it…
Lon'qu noticed his body was already in the air. Halfway to the bolt. It was the last thing he noticed for some time.
"Is he alright?"
"Don't you sprogs worry. I wouldn't trust him to handle things if one lousy thunderbolt could take him out of commission."
Lon'qu opened his eyes. A young woman was waving a healing staff over him.
"Are you alright? You looked like you were hurt..."
Lon'qu scrambled back. He was well enough to move again, which meant he was well enough not to want to be around anyone… female.
"Fine."
The white haired mage shook her head.
"No-one is 'fine' after taking that much electricity to his system. Lissa's the only reason you aren't dead."
Lon'qu grunted. It wasn't the first time he'd been close to death. It wouldn't be the last. And if he'd been left to his normal plans, it wouldn't have been one at all. If it wasn't for 'Seliph'...
Lon'qu turned to the leader of the group.
"Where's Seliph?"
"The other swordmaster? He left as soon as he was sure you weren't going to die. Which you owe him for as well, if you see him again. Lissa said he could have been a much better healer than she is."
"Could have!"
"Don't worry, Lissa. We still need you. And…"
Chrom shook his head.
"We could use your help too, friend. Basilio said you were one of the finest swordsmen alive. He also said that you were working with us, as long as we had the same war."
Lon'qu sighed. It wasn't like he'd been consulted. Then again, even when he could make his own choices, he hadn't been making his own choices lately.
"...My blade is yours."
Chrom slapped him on the back.
"We're glad to have you."
He leaned in conspiratorially.
"Especially Lissa."
"Hmmph!"
Lon'qu looked to the cleric, and up at the sky.
Well. In the long run, nothing would come of it. Lon'qu was certain. But for the short, his life was going to be very unpleasant.
(Author's notes: And here we come to the end of another chapter. As always, I hope you liked it, thanks for reading, and if you see anything that worked or really, really didn't, let me know. Won't say I'm always eager to get criticism, but knowing your mistakes is how you eventually stop making them.
Moving on to the individual chapters,
Advanced science for monsters: I've done something with most of the cast so far, but Miriel was one of the last on the list. Figured I should at least try to have something. Somehow, she seemed the type to interrupt deeply personal moments for research purposes. Especially when she's as scared shitless as the rest of the cast and trying to process things in her own way. At least, that was the idea. Hopefully it worked out.
Not One Word Apt: I hadn't written Cynthia or female Robin for a bit. That's... pretty much it for the genesis of this little story. Well, that and being amused by how much Lucina distrusts a non-mother female Robin in the B rank as opposed to her opinion on the male version. It's the one place Lucina breaks down as thoroughly as the other kids into paranoid insanity, and it's kind of fun to watch. From a safe distance.
Cynthia's Heroic Adventure: Okay, this one's not mine. Or, well, the writing is mine, but the idea isn't. And neither is the title. Grabbed both of those from a The Cruel Mother's Gift author's note. In my defense, it said the idea was up for grabs. I only hope I did okay with it.
Originally, it was going to be part of a longer chapter, with a different kid subbing in for Lucina in every excerpt, but I never finished any of the other parts, at least not to my satisfaction. So, Cynthia's little story sat on a hard drive gathering dust until another story I was working on turned out to be awful, and hey, what do you know, something to round out a chapter that was feeling a little small.
Bloody Heroes: Okay, some of you may remember this not being here previously. You would be correct. It turned out I had an almost finished Owain as the time traveler story, and I figured it might be a fun little thing to slip in, even though the collection's still officially done. Besides, Lon'qu and Flavia were the only playable characters left without a focus chapter. I could correct at least one of the gaps.
And that's that, except for one last thing. Little announcement, probably not too important in the grand scheme, but I figure someone out there might want to know. Next chapter?
It's the last one. At least for a while. Figure with the new game coming out, I'll want to put this on hold even if it isn't outright finished. Ideas have been coming slower anyway, seems a plan to give 'em a chance to refresh.
That said, I'm going to at least try to make that last chapter a good one. Last hurrah and all. Should be a long one, at least. Maybe even something to look forward to.
So, that's it for this time. Thanks again for reading.)