Warning: No longer crack. Severa, Inigo, and Owain holding back their quirks due to the serious nature of the conversation. No Robin or Corrin in this chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem.

000...000

Chapter Four

The sage's words echoed in their minds.

Three someones, in fact. Prince Xander, Princess Camilla, and Prince Leo, they happen to come from a different world.

There was a tense silence as they swallowed the sage's words.

"Impossible." Camilla crossed her arms, looking as lethal as a viper poising to strike. "There is no possible way that anyone in our service has connections with Grima," she said vehemently.

The soldiers of Nohr moved restlessly, surreptitiously looking at each other.

"Hah," scoffed the Hoshidan prince, Takumi. "Are you so certain of that, Nohrian? Being naturally deceitful as you are, I don't doubt the ones that serve you are just exactly the same."

"Takumi, please, hold yourself," pleaded Sakura from the other side.

Her words passed by unacknowledged.

"Do not insult us, or our soldiers, Prince Takumi," said Xander stiffly.

Tension ran high.

Xander and Camilla both avoided looking at their retainers. 'It couldn't be,' was their echoing thought. They couldn't imagine Laslow or Selena ever deceiving them.

But Leo could not just dismiss the sage's words.

Leo took pride in himself for being reasonable. If Xander was the leader, Elise their heart, and Camilla their protector- he was the logic, he was the one who got himself dirty- all for his siblings.

He had to contemplate- It was a well known secret that Odin, Laslow, and Selena were not from Nohr, or even from Hoshido. The fact that the sage had called out for Xander, Camilla, and himself and failed to include Elise was another point against them.

Could it be…?

"Fine, fine, fine!" yelled Selena as she walked out to the sage. "Sheesh. You can now all stop squabbling. And making accusatory glances, if you please," she breathed out harshly.

Silence filled the small town.

"Selena."

Camilla's face was drained of blood, and her voice was cold and brittle like ice.

Selena had a look of guilt on her face. Her voice changed into something sincere. "I'm sorry, Lady Camilla. I… I did not mean to keep this from you."

At the sound of her retainer's apology, Camilla broke out of her shock.

"If you have betrayed us in any way- if you harmed a single hair in Corrin's head, I swear-" Her voice was harsh, and it slowly gained heat as she spoke threateningly.

However, maybe Selena was just imagining it, but she could hear her lady's voice, cracking.

Selena shook her head, pained. "I didn't Lady Camilla. …How could I?" she whispered so softly, that it went by unheard.

Laslow and Odin stepped forward as well.

"My apologies for keeping this from you, Lord Xander," said Laslow, his smooth voice unusually serious as he stood next to Selena.

"Hahaha," chuckled Odin nervously. "My lord, a thousand of apologies for this… foul deception. I'm afraid we had no choice. Have no choice," he reaffirmed, looking anxious, apologetic, and worried, all at once. For whom, Leo could not tell.

The three stood together. Their body betrayed their tenseness. And the Nohrians, and even the Hoshidans who did not know about the three royal retainers, could read telling signs in their body language.

Selena, Laslow, and Odin, for all their time working for Nohr, had never shared a mission together. They had no reason to, because they were under the service of each their Lady and Lords, and they rarely worked together for the royals each had their own army.

Simply put, there was no reason for the three retainers' paths to cross. However, standing together, no one could deny the fact that the three flawlessly melded in with each other, and how natural they made it look, standing side by side.

The three had... betrated them. Leo could not deny it any longer. Nor could Xander, or Camilla.

It was bitter.

The Nohrians were shocked as it shook them to their very core. They, never in their lives had ever thought that the three would- could ever betray Nohr.

Yet the evidence pointed to the contrary.

Had they been quite quirky? Yes. Had they been strange? And had it been obvious that they were from somewhere other than Nohr, or even Hoshido? Yes, yes, and yes. But they had never expected, not, never, this.

Selena placed her hands on her hips, seeming to be annoyed at the whole drama, though nothing could be further from the truth. "Well, sage? You've accused us, and you are correct. What is your purpose in all of this?"

"I apologize for putting you in such a situation," answered the sage. "I did not mean to put you or your companions into unnecessary trouble. But the fact remains that the three of your knowledge in fact surpasses mine. And I do wish to help them find Princess Corrin."

"We have a reason for not speaking," retorted Laslow. "Of course we wished to tell our Lords and Lady! But the most we can is to allude that we do know something, which in not helpful in the least, and would only have opened up to unnecessary questions. That is why we held our tongue."

Odin sighed theatrically. "My wonderful companions are talking in riddles. Let me make ourselves clear. The dark curse still is strong. We are only human, after all. We cannot go around it, for if we do-"

"-you will fade," finished Azura for Odin.

"Azura?" gasped several voices in shock from the Hoshidan lines.

"Did you know about the Fell Dragon as well?" asked Hinoka with trepidation in her voice.

Azura shook her head. "No, Hinoka. I have no knowledge of this Grima."

Azura looked straight at Hinoka, holding her gaze. "But the curse that they speak of," her amber eyes glinted. "It is quite familiar."

"Speaking of it, it would in turn make you into an invisible monster. That is what you are saying, is it right, Nohrian retainers?"

The three from another world looked to the blue haired princess with surprise and relief in their eyes. "Yes," they replied.

"Such far-fetched lies won't get you anywhere," drawled Leo. He was masking pain quite well, but Odin could see the betrayal, his betrayal, cut deep.

A standstill.

Laslow, Selena, and Odin clearly would not talk directly of Grima- and Nohrians and Hoshidans- could not let this go either, not when Corrin was on the line.

"And now it seems that what I must now do is clear," declared the sage.

"How so?" retorted Selena bitingly, rolling her eyes.

"Break the curse," said the sage simply.

Selena stared at the sage as if he'd lost his mind. "If we could, don't you think we would have tried already?" no, she really couldn't hold back the derisive snort. "No human can break a curse by a dragon." She muttered darkly, "Especially when not even the dragon who cast the curse can break it."

Only Azura Odin, and Laslow heard, and the latter shot her a dry look.

The sage smiled pensively. "But I am not human, my dear."

"I am a dragon."

A pause.

"What?"

"I am a dragon, who has been punished for a very, very long time for my sins. But if I break this curse, aide in the uniting of two armies who will eventually find peace, maybe it is enough redemption to pay for my crimes."

The sage closed his eyes. When he reopened, them, his eyes were glowing red.

A familiar red, thought the royal siblings uncomfortably. It was the same shade as Corrin's own eyes.

There was no fanfare, no gleam of light, or any change it atmosphere. However, the sage said calmly. "It is done."

"Done?" Selena growled. "And if we are cursed because you are mistaken, what are you going to say? Whoops, sorry, but no blood off my back?" she asked sarcastically.

Laslow placed his hand on Selena's shoulders, calming her down. He glanced to the sage. "So exactly where are we supposed to start?"

Selena pushed him off and glared in warning. Laslow paid it no heed.

The sage answered easily. "From the beginning, of course."

Odin chortled. "Exactly what is the beginning? Where does the wheel of fate start?" he questioned rather poetically.

Laslow rolled his eyes at his friend's theatrical antics. Well, he was the dancer, the entertainer, and could tell a story much better than Selena- too much sarcasm and snappiness, or Odin-too much exaggeration and wild hand movements that barely helped comprehension; and so he began.

"In a land far, far away, there one was a noble prince, the crowned Prince of Ylisse."

As he began, both Selena and Odin fell silent, staring into each other and giving Laslow room to tell their tale.

"He found a woman with amnesia, by the name of Robin. In a skirmish, he found out that she was a brilliant tactician, and recruited her into his army…

"Grima is a monster in our world. The one who tried to destroy everything. And Grima is also Robin. Our tactician, and friend. We killed it. Or more accurately. Robin killed it. And for that price, Robin disappeared, as well."

A few seconds passed.

"Do you expect us to believe that?" asked Leo incredulously.

"I do hope not," said Takumi. "And there are flaws. Grima is killed in your story."

"It the bonds are strong enough," said Selena as if she had not heard him speak. "If the bonds connecting Robin are strong enough, she will be able to come back."

Her eyes bored into Camilla's. "Those were the last words of Naga, when Robin fell."

Odin spoke. His lips tilted into a rare, sincere smile, directed at both Selena and Laslow. "Maybe… maybe she managed to come back."

His words were soft, hopeful.

Silence filled the pavilion.

"We don't know if it is Robin that came back, or Grima." Laslow's eyes were sorrowful. "By the looks of things… But we shouldn't get our hopes up, Odin."

Harsh words called out with distrust. "That is, if what you are saying is the truth."

Odin bristled. "This is the truth. We speak the truth," His smile was bitter. "We have no idea why Princess Corrin was kidnapped by Grima. By all rights, Grima is dead. Robin gave up her life for this. If this is Robin…"

The sage slowly clapped his hands. "You have done well."

"Done well?" snarled Selena. "Do me a favor and shut up, sage, before I truly lose my temper. What exactly was the point of revealing all of this?"

"And yet, maybe they are now closer to understanding," said the sage.

"Understanding exactly what? That you shouldn't trust strangers that you do not know the origin of?" Selena glared at the floor darkly. "This was completely unnecessary."

"Maybe all of this was, indeed, unnecessary. But I have a feeling this... would lead you three to your true purpose. It will allow you to fullfill the true reason why your came into this world, Selena, Odin, and Laslow.

"Our true purpose? And I suppose you know what it is?"

The sage gripped his cane, and tried to come closer to the three retainers. However, before even taking a step, the sage suddenly stumbled.

He crumpled to the ground. Laslow rushed to him, catching him and allowed the sage lean against him. "You spent up all your energy, breaking the curse," he stated, incredulous.

The sage nodded weakly.

"You're about to die," stated Selena bluntly. "Are you an absolute moron? Why the hell would you do that?"

"You do not have to mourn my passing. I have wished for this, for countless centuries."

"That's…"

"I.. am sorry. I wish this brings you all closer to true peace… I am sorry... for all my sins."

His eyes closed. His head fell.

The man was dead.

"So what now?" sighed Selena.

Before anyone could formulate a proper reply, Elise pointed her fingers shakily to a figure coming their way.

The smell of rotting flesh wafted down their nose.

"Wha- what is that?" she exclaimed in fright.

It was an animated rotting corpse, to be exact. And there was more than one. Tens, no hundreds were crawling to them, those ugly, disgusting human corpses.

Selena and Laslow froze. They could only look at the all too familiar monsters in mounting horror.

Odin managed to gather his wits, and shouted out a warning.

"Risen!" Without a second thought, he whipped out his tome, ready to charge. "Get ready for battle!"

Robin was Grima.

And Grima could only be killed by its own hands.

The once-prince, now King, could not bear to lose his best friend. He made Robin promise to stay back, to execute Grima himself, to spare his friend's life.

Robin... Robin wanted peace. She did not wish to live in guilt. So she told him she would stay back. She lied. In the end, it was Robin who landed the final blow. She died, and with her Grima perished.

AN: I'm removing Crack! from the summary. It was crack in the first chapter. As the story progresses though, I'm falling more into, well, some more depressing/serious matters. I suppose it is the nature of this story. Robin will try, though, to keep this cracky with her godly powers. I don't know if she'll ever be successful. And yup, you read it right. Risen, not Faceless. Teehee.

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Posted 6/11/16