AN: Hi. I'm back.

Disclaimer: I don't own it. If I did, plot in Conquest would have been very different.

I realize now that nothing ever goes as planned, and that my muse is a very fickle friend.

000...000

Chapter Five

No pain. These monsters felt no pain. Unless you cut off their heads, they kept on coming.

Their body stank of rotting meat and their breath was black and enough to paralyze a person with fear and disgust.

These were monsters.

Takumi yelled a battle cry as he notched another arrow to his bow.

The sound of shattered glass filled her ears.

"What was that?" Corrin looked to Robin, demanding an explanation.

Robin observed the princess. Corrin's eyes were unfocused, her tone terrified.

Robin spoke promptly. "Risens are reanimated human corpses created by Grima by dark magic. Before all of this, Grima, insane as it was, created an undead army. These are the remnants of the army. I summoned them-"

Corrin made a sudden lunge for her throat.

Robin dodged the dragon princess's fists, just barely. "What do you think you're doing, princess?" she hissed.

Corrin did not reply. Her eyes were red and wild, and Robin realized she was just an inch away from transforming into a dragon.

Robin cursed.

Fighting in a small room, and if the princess burst into her dragon form because she lost control… And Robin was not an expert in hand to hand combat in the first place! At least she did not keep anything of value in this room.

However, Robin soon realized that she had not needed to worry.

Corrin had never fought for real in life. She had always been sheltered, never been to battle, and it showed. Of course, as a princess, it should have been obvious that Corrin never learned hand-to-hand combat. And what was more, she did not know how to use the advantage of mass she had over Robin- and instead traded that for a wild fury of blows.

Robin realized that the dragon princess needed training, and soon, if she was to survive at the end of this whole mess.

Two hands to block the girl's jabs, and a sweep of her leg to throw the girl off balance. Robin pressed her left knee to Corrin's chest and used her right to pin the girl's left hand to the ground. It left Robin's right hand free to poise a dagger to Corrin's throat.

Corrin breathed harshly. A few seconds later, Robin could see the red dimming from her eyes.

"Are you calm, yet?"

Corrin gave up on struggling as she slumped to the ground.

Once Robin was certain that Corrin would not attack, Robin slid off of her and slouched to the hard floor, pressing her fingers to her temples in a futile way to ward off the coming headache.

"If you are going to react like this every time I reveal to you something unpleasant- this-whatever relationship we have with each other will crash and burn horribly."

Corrin ignored her. "What gave you the right to hurt my siblings? You do realize that your friends, Selena, Odin, and Laslow would be hurt too, didn't you?"

Robin swallowed dryly. Guilt. It was necessary. Robin had planned it from the start. That did not erase the fact that Robin had released the undead monsters, the monsters that had destroyed her three friends' home, parents, friends… the monsters that lead to that world's demise.

Her fault.

It wasn't that she could have hurt them that made Robin feel this. She knew they could kill the Risens without major injuries; they hadn't been very strong. It was just the fact that those undead monsters were Risens. They wrought back specific memories to specific people.

But there was no going back. She had planned this, she reminded herself. 'Get a grip, Robin!' she thought fiercely.

"Princess, my purpose was not to hurt anybody. And I promised to bring your family together, didn't I?"

Corrin was insistent. "But why do you have to send monsters after them?"

Robin sighed. "You saw your siblings. Does it look like they will get together without any outside encouragement? I realize you grew up sheltered, Corrin. But know this. Nohr and Hoshido are enemies. Nohrians abhor Hoshidians, Hoshidians loathe Nohrians. Small talk will not bring them together." Robin paused, making sure to meet the dragon princess's eye. "A more… drastic approach is necessary."

Corrin slumped to the ground again.

"You're right," she whispered.

Silence filled the room.

At last, Robin shook her head. "It's admirable though, the amount of love you posses for all your siblings."

Corrin flushed a deep red.

Robin laughed lightly in response. "Trust me, and have a bit of patience. I haven't lied to you yet."

"It's just... I do not like seeing them in pain…"

"They will grow stronger for it." Robin's eyes were strangely misty. "Just a bit more- they will be united, they will be strong, and in time, they will be ready to face their real enemy."

"Real enemy?" asked Corrin, without taking her eyes off from the remaining shards of the once magical orb.

A firm hand grasped her left shoulder. Corrin tore her gaze from the shards and met Robin's eyes.

"Surely you don't think that Nohr and Hoshido are the only factors at play here?" She watched Corrin struggle with her words. "The plan is very simple." Robin's eyes gleamed. "Unite the two countries. Kill Anankos."

She tilted her head, studying Corrin with intent eyes.

"And for that, you also need work as well, Corrin."

"Huh?"

"Come now, princess." Robin rolled her eyes. "Your siblings are coming for you, training, and getting stronger. Surely you do not want to be behind by the time you meet them?"

Corrin's eyebrows flew up. "Are you telling me-?"

"Best feel honored, princess. I'm offering to train you." She looked Corrin up and down. Their eyes met. "Interested?"

"Yes."

Robin laughed, loud and clear. "And there is the determination I was looking for!"

Robin began walking towards Corrin.

"I promise to train you to be on par with the best. You might even be able to surprise your siblings- by defeating your brothers, Xander and Ryoma."

Corrin leaned in eagerly. "You can do that?"

"What did I tell you? I am Grima, the Fell Dragon. More importantly, I'm Robin, Chrom's Grandmaster. I promise you Corrin, we'll unite your siblings. And kill everything that taints your world."

Robin's face was just centimeters away from Corrin.

"Training starts, now."

Corrin yelped as she was swallowed in, yet again, by an inky black portal.

She felt pressure from all sides, then, nothing.

The monsters were all dead.

"What, was that?" drawled Niles, looking closely to Odin, his fellow retainer.

"That was… Risen," muttered Selena from his left.

"It can't be," said Laslow. "It can't be!" His eyes were slightly wild. "This was supposed to be over. Grima was supposed to be dead! Robin… Robin gave up her life for this, damn it!"

Everybody stared at him at his unusually emotional display.

"Laslow…"

"Hinoka! Takumi! Sakura!" shouted Ryoma. "Gather our troops. We're leaving."

"No!" yelled Laslow. "Don't you see? These were Risens. Not Faceless, or anything you can see in this world. Risens are Grima's puppets."

He looked serious, as he walked towards Ryoma without fear or hesitance in his expression or body language. As if Ryoma was not the high prince of the enemy kingdom.

"Maybe it's something else. Maybe this is some cosmic joke. But if this is the work of Grima, do you think you- any of you, can face this alone? Grima nearly destroyed our world."

"No," disagreed Selena. "There's no nearly about it. Grima destroyed our world, and the only reason we survived was though a half baked plan and time travel."

"I know that it sounds impossible to trust us," admitted Odin. "But can you not feel your blood stir as well? We cannot divide!"

"You stated the problems perfectly," replied Ryoma. "We don't trust you. And this little skirmish- it was, for a better word, disturbing. But nothing we couldn't handle."

"Grima isn't!" exclaimed Selena in an outburst. "I don't care if you think you can handle this alone, Prince Ryoma. But the only hint you have in Princess Corrin is Grima. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. For just princess Corrin, can't you cooperate with Nohr-"

"And who are you to be saying as if you are a representative of Nohr?" asked a cold voice.

Selena stopped dead in her tracks. "Lady Camilla…"

"Did you think it was given that we would cooperate with Hoshido, Selena?"

…

"Xander, Leo, Elise. Let's go."

"Lady Camilla! Please!"

"Goodbye, Selena." Empty voice, and Camilla was on her wvyren, kicking off to the air. Her soldiers, all fellow wyvern knights fell behind her.

Watching the display, the Hoshidians quickly dispersed as well. But this time, none of the three dimension travelers paid the Hoshidians any mind.

"Beruka," pleaded Selena. The voice was entirely not something one would associate with the aggressive, competitive girl they had always known.

...Thought that they had always known.

Beruka's eyes were glaciers. Without a word, without a nod, just looking at her, as if trying to figure her out and failing…. Beruka kicked off into the air as well.

"Niles, let's go. Mages, in line," commanded Leo. "Elise-"

"I'm coming!" said the girl, clutching her staff closely to her chest. She glanced hesitantly at the three retainers, but quickly turned away.

Both Niles and Leo never even acknowledged Odin's presence.

Xander was last.

"You are hereby released from our service. Do not come back to Castle Krakensburg, Laslow." He spared his once-retainer a long, narrow glance.

There was no warmth in those eyes.

…

Alone in the town square, the three stared listlessly to the horizon where the Nohrian army had disappeared to.

"...Great. Now what?"

AN: Do you guys remember the time when this story used to be crack?

I have no idea what happened. I had such a hard time wringing this out, attempting to plan, for once- except nothing went as planned. Gods, do these characters have a mind of their own? I swear, at the end of the chapter, Laslow, Selena, and Odin was suppose to reconcile. That's why this took really long. No matter what they did, they just... decided to split apart? Whelp.

If you haven't, check out my newest story/oneshot, Laslow's Father. P.S. the father is Robin. It's basically Robin winning a fight against Corrin&co and him joining them, after Robin realizes that Inigo, no, Laslow, is working for them. It's quite humorous, I promise.

Thank you for everyone reading my story. And a special thanks to all of my reviewers, followers, and favorites! You guys make my day!

Review!

Posted date: 8/19/16