So here we have Robyn meeting Robin...

Chapter three: Her Other Self

4/07, Saturday: Evening; Ylisstol High School

Looking at his eyes, Robyn knew she had never met this boy at all. Never in her life had she seen or known about yet. Yet she felt he was no stranger either. Still, that wasn't important right now. She had a mission to do and staying in this interrogation wasn't going to help her. But getting out was still a probably considering she had just taken some of the Shepherds' confidential property by breaking into a safe. And neither did it help that she was wearing a school uniform that wasn't of Ylisstol High.

"Robin? Do you know who she is?" Chrom asked, looking at the white-haired boy.

Robin shook his head. "No." His answer came out as a whisper, and probably because he was still in shock. "What do you intend to do, Chrom?"

"That's the thing, Robin. We can't just let her roam freely knowing what she's capable of," Frederick replied, not bothering to look at Robyn. "She just broke into our safe and stole confidential information that is ours. I would suggest milord to isolate her for the time being until we know what her intentions were."

Chrom nodded. Robyn's actions spoke for themselves and she was suspect to be begin with. "That is serious enough on its own to break into our safe. So until we can establish the motive, we can't let her out in public."

"W-wait just one moment! Do I have a say in this?" Dread started to fill Robyn's heart. Her very friends were going to lock her up just like that, and she couldn't even explain herself! "Please, hear me out, Chrom!" And Robyn knew she had more reason to worry than she was right now.

"That's Chrom-sama to you."

The issue was that Chrom and Lissa were both literally a prince and princess of the district monarch and magistrate, and as a result they wielded some influence over practically anything. That included their insisting on pursuing education from the public system instead of the private sector. Yet despite their stature as a prince and princess, they were surprisingly relatable than anyone would expect once they got to know them. Yet they also possessed some power to hold people (in other words, arrest) at their discretion.

Robyn also knew that Chrom, in particular, had learned how to direct civil policy already. Likewise, Chrom also had the power to imprison her.

The other voices weren't helping either.

"She knows too much."

"It's best to lock her up."

"And she looks too much like Robin. Suspicious? Probably."

"If it'll help Chrom, then who are we to complain?"

That hurt. She was realising that her world was turning against her. Even what she felt like she had left was turning against her too. The very friends she had studied with, played with, laughed with, and ate with for the past year, were about to condemn her to who-knows-what. She looked to her friends for help, but she only got looks of pity in return, which added salt to her wounds.

She didn't bother resisting when Frederick had her on her feet and was about to lead her away. As that happened, tears started to fill her eyes.

And there was something in those tears that caused Robin, and only Robin, to tense. He did pity her, yes, and he could perhaps understand what was going through the girl's mind. Yet he also felt something in him that was more than that.

He felt that he had to protect this girl despite not knowing her and despite her 'crime'.

"Frederick," he said.

Both Frederick and Robyn immediately stopped, with everyone else looking at Robin. Robin briefly glanced at Chrom and then added, "Chrom, I haven't had the chance, so before you lock her away, I… I want to talk to her."

Frederick looked to Chrom, who nodded. "You have five minutes," Chrom said. Afterward, Frederick brought Robyn to where Robin stood. In Robyn's eyes, it was a little nerve-wracking to have this conversation in front of her friends, as if this was a private interrogation made public. However, at this point she didn't care. If there was even the slimmest chance she could get out of this predicament, she would take it.

They looked at each other face-to-face, with Robin examining her face like he was studying a specimen.

Oddly, she found that this Robin looked just as nervous to talk with her. But he managed to hide that nervousness and spoke to her in a whisper. "I've never met you in my life, ever, let alone talked to you," he said. "But I'll be honest, when I saw you, you didn't feel like a stranger. Like I somehow know you." He glanced at Chrom and the others.

And just as oddly, Robyn added as if to finish Robin's thoughts, "It's like some kind of closeness, isn't it?"

Surprised, Robin nodded. "My thoughts exactly, but you know, it's obvious we can't trust you yet. At the same time, we don't know you either. Can you tell me who you are? And be honest with me."

"One condition, as long as it's only with you, then you can tell Chrom-san what I have shared with you, okay?" Robyn's eyes glanced at the others. Robin himself was willing to agree to her terms, so he motioned to Chrom and Frederick to lead the others out. But just for safety reasons in case this girl would try to pull any surprises, Frederick insisted to tie her hands on the chair. But Robin insisted he not do that, citing he had a feeling this girl did not mean any harm.

Within minutes, the two of them were left in a separate meeting room near the student council room, which felt much like one of several meeting rooms the school had for project teams to meet together. Only now the room felt much like an interrogation room when the Shepherds were here together, and it felt even more like that with just the three of them now.

"You have your only chance now, so… please, whenever you're ready," Robin said. "Tell me about yourself, and perhaps how you broke into our club safe."

But Robyn was still shedding tears, so in an act of kindness Robin leant forward and offered the sleeve of his arm to her face. He wasn't surprised when the girl rubbed her eyes into it, feeling his sleeve soak as that happened. For a moment, Robin tried imagine what sort of grief was going through the girl's head, but either way, she needed help and perhaps some comfort too. There was something in her eyes that suggested that she had seen things no sixteen-year-old should have seen.

Now that he thought of it, he found it strange that the girl looked more similar to him than he realised. Apart from having similar facial features, the same hair colour, and even the same smile, they even had the same name as far as he was concerned. But he pushed those thoughts aside and let her finish drying up her tears.

"Thank you," she muttered.

Robin nodded and waited for her to continue. Eventually, Robyn took a deep breath and then spoke in calmer voice.

"My name is Robyn," Robyn said. "I moved into Iris-shi last year having transferred from a school in Perezia, studied here with Chrom and the Shepherds for that year, and established myself as the Shepherds' de facto researcher because I was such a bookworm. Look, that explains how I got into the safe, because I've used it more times than I can count. You're 'Robin', right? I saw your name in the Shepherds' roster, and I know the roster inside out because I wrote it myself. But I've never ever written that name like that before."

She paused. Her voice became weak. "I… Look, this will be hard to conceive and I doubt you'll believe me, but this isn't the reality I know. I come from an alternate reality, which is – was – identical to this one. But the one lone exception is you. You don't exist in my world, but I feel like… I know you. I…"

She couldn't say any more, because she was unsure of what so say at all. Her mind was a mess and having this boy before her only gave her limited comfort. Robyn looked back into Robin's eyes. Did he doubt her words? She guessed he must have.

"Look, Robyn-san." So he was addressing her by name, Robyn noticed. "This is a lot to take in, and to be blunt, you never wrote that roster because I wrote that list myself. I can't accept your claim that you even come from another world! That's…"

"You don't believe me?" Robyn gasped.

"Robyn-san, I never said I doubted you, but I'll need just a little more information from you." Robin glanced at his watch. "We have about a minute or two, so let me get this straight. In your world, I'm the only one who isn't there, so could that mean that…?"

"I am you in my world?" Robyn finished for him. "And you are me in this one?"

Robin didn't want to admit that at first, but in this brief conversation he came to understand Robyn's line of thinking with ease. As if he knew exactly what she was thinking. So quickly, with time running out, he added his final thoughts.

"Robyn-san… If you really did come from another reality, then tell me, what happened to your world?"

That question brought back to Robyn a violent flashback of the apocalypse she had personally witnessed the other day. She shut her eyes tight as if trying to shut her mind off from the memories, but she couldn't do it. The flashback was replaying in her mind and wouldn't get out.

The city ablaze.

The falling meteors.

Monsters roaming the streets.

The dragon descending from the sky.

The end times. The deaths of the friends she once knew.

And the memories had begun to make her shake. All she wanted to do was grab her head with her hands to contain the pain. But she couldn't do that, obviously. Her hands were tied, so the best she could do was to struggle against her binds as violently as she could. It was the worst feeling in the world. It was mental torture. Would Robyn have to carry this burden forever? Apparently so. Chrom, Sumia, Tharja, and the rest of them. They were all dead. Why her? She couldn't cope with the pain she was feeling and having that contained by her physical binds made it worse.

She felt one of the binds loosen, and then the other just seconds after that.

Her hands and arms were free.

Robyn opened her eyes. Though her vision was blurred from the tears that had built up, she could make out the figure of Robin who had just untied her binds. Slowly she lifted her sleeve up to wipe her tears, and then quickly grabbed her head with both hands. Strangely, it felt better to do just that, so the pain could just go away.

She looked up again and saw Robin looking back at her, his face full of concern.

"Can I…?" she mumbled.

"Sure," he answered.

And, as he expected, he let Robyn throw herself forward around his neck so she could cry into his shoulder for the time being. Once again, Robin could tell from her eyes that Robyn had seen things no normal sixteen-year-old should have seen. For a few moments, he allowed Robyn to continue hugging him, and that was when he glanced at his watch. Time was almost up.

"And how can you be sure that that theory – that I am you and you are me – stands? I don't doubt your words, but it's still a lot to take in," he said. "It's still really hard to believe." The two of them finally separated.

What he hadn't expected was that she still would not let go of him. "Let me tell you a secret that only I would know and no one else, assuming that you've never told anyone either. If… you are me, you would have the same secret." She then whispered something in Robin's ear that caused him to widen his eyes in surprise.

And also a blush on his face.

"No way…" he muttered.

"Yeah… Uh…" She too was lost for words.

Robin then added, just to confirm the details, "Before you left, d-did you also go back to retrieve one of the fallen tomes when you realised it had all your handwritten notes in it?"

"Yes!" A wave of relief swept Robyn's face, seeing that Robin understood her. "I had a midterm."

"And then Frederick went on a manhunt because Chrom had nearly gotten crushed by the tomes?"

"Yesyes!" For once, Robyn's face broke into a smile and her eyes lit up. "And I told myself that was the last time I would ever play tome stackers."

"But it was a lot of fun," Robin said, relieved that Robyn had cheered up. "That was the last time though, because if I ever did it again, Frederick will know who nearly crushed Chrom with a tower of tomes. And then there would be consequences."

"Believe me, I would not have told anyone about this either," she added. "Never will."

"And for good reason," Robin agreed.

The two of them looked into each other's eyes carefully and started to chuckle simultaneously at the direction their conversation was going. Of all the ways this conversation could have ended up, and it had taken a very strange turn indeed. Albeit it had become a really, really, weird one.

"Oh, and what about battle strategies?" Robin asked. "Do you read battle strategy books? Would you happen to be a bit of a gamer too? Play chess, or even Generals of Hyrule?"

Robyn nodded, smiling genuinely for the first time.

Then another thought crossed Robin's mind. "Say… Let me share a secret with you. See if it matches yours. Like, I'm still weirded out meeting someone who looks and acts like me."

Robyn raised an eyebrow, and then she let Robin whisper something in her ear. Upon hearing that, it was her turn to widen her eyes and stare back at Robin in shock.

"No way…" she muttered. "You have one too?"

"It's a little invasive, I admit. And I did have to interview or interrogate the fellow Shepherds to do it," Robin admitted. "I've kept the logs in my diary. You have the same, don't you?"

Robyn nodded, and then suddenly a though crossed her mind too. "Robin! My diary is still in the student council room! It would be a bad if they read it!" Her eyes started to fill with dread, as well as her voice. And Robin understood well. If Robyn's diary did end up holding the same support log as he did, with the same details and even the same handwriting, the consequences may as well be fatal should any of the Shepherds discover it. It would not only be the end of Robyn, but also Robin himself. It may as well result in his excommunication from the Shepherds.

It would be a disaster.

Frederick heard knocking on the door from inside. For him, that had to have been the longest five minutes of his life. He was looking forward to interrogating this supposed Robyn character that when Robin said he would do it, Frederick became disappointed to say the least. So he opened the door to let him out. Besides himself, Chrom and the others were also waiting outside.

What they hadn't prepared to see was Robin flying out the door.

"Robin? What's going on?" Chrom said.

"Chrom," Robin said, his voice anxious. "Robyn-san is clean. We can trust her."

"Who's Robyn-san? But why the hurry…?" Chrom trailed off, seeing that Robin wasn't interested. Instead, he and the other Shepherds stood in surprise as Robin rushed to the student council room, stayed there for moments, and only to come out and return to the room where Robyn was held.

In his hands was Robyn's bag along with everything else in it. Frederick in particular noticed that Robin had put everything back into the bag like it was his own. Albeit the bag was of a slightly different model than what Robin himself normally used, but otherwise it was the same bag. Robin had even brought the shield with him.

Not bothering to close the door, the Shepherds instead peeked into the room where Robin and Robyn were talking together. Moreover, Frederick looked annoyed that Robyn's hands were freed, whereas Chrom and Lissa noticed Robyn was speaking to Robin with ease. It appeared they were reading a certain journal together, with Robin doing most of the reading and Robyn only reading along. There was some kind of understanding between the two.

"Now do you believe me?" Robyn said to Robin.

"Yeah," Robin replied, still surprised at what he was reading. The lines in Robyn's support log matched almost all what he had written himself. From playing games together to eating lunches or watching movies, the writing was the same for each experience he had recorded.

Then he turned his attention to the shield. "What about that, Robyn-san? What is that?"

Robyn swallowed. Even though she had told him that she came from another reality and Robin had asked her about, she couldn't bring herself to still explain it. The memories were still traumatic for her and reminiscing them would only cause her pain, for the time being. Robyn hadn't forgotten her instructions from Naga regarding this shield either, and if the same disaster Robyn had witnessed was bound to happen again in this reality, Robyn had no time to waste either.

But she also had to accept that she was, bottom line, a schoolgirl. Her story – and her mission – may as well be a work of fiction. Who would buy her story, anyway? What Robyn did know was that she had no idea how she was going to prevent the disaster that was coming to this world, especially with this so-called Fire Emblem. Naga never told her how it would help or how it worked, and instead told Robyn to guard it with her life.

Plus, the eyes of the Shepherds were on her too. She couldn't tell them everything for now.

Now that she had a better look and her mind was in order, Robyn noticed only a handful of the Shepherds were present. Chrom and Lissa were here, with Frederick, Miriel, and Tharja also present. But as far as Robyn was concerned, no other Shepherds were here. But despite the small number of Shepherds present, Robyn didn't know what to say.

"I… can't tell you yet. It's something I don't understand either," Robyn admitted. Without another thought she crammed her diary and the Fire Emblem in her bag. For the oddest reasons, she now had the trust of this Robin character who was likely her other self in this reality, but what she was tasked with was too big a secret to bear. For now, she might have to take it slowly.

But what about Chrom and the rest of the Shepherds? Was Robin's word enough to convince them to earn her trust?

"Chrom," Robin waved to the prince as if inviting him into the room. "I'm pretty sure there's nothing wrong with Robyn-san here. In fact, I think she might even make another good member of the Shepherds. She's… It's really hard to explain and I doubt you would believe her or me. But can you accept that for now?"

"I'll take any recommendation you have, Robin." That response surprised Robyn, that Chrom would accept Robin's word so quickly. Then Chrom's expression became a more uncertain one. "But is Robyn-san here a student of this school? She has to be enrolled here, first of all." He looked at Robyn directly. "That's up to you, though, Robyn-san. I'm sure I can pull a few strings with the school and let you in." He smiled that familiar and warm smile that Robyn was used to seeing, and it pained her to see it again. This was the same Chrom she knew, but he didn't know her in this reality, which hurt a bit. "You can probably show up to class on Monday. Just come to the staff office and we'll sort it out together."

Lost for words, Robyn smiled politely and nodded.

A short while later, Chrom had left the room and had debriefed the rest of the Shepherds about what had been going on so far. He did not say much pertaining how the interrogation went (and Frederick was so keen on knowing), but assured everyone that there were no issues with Robyn, especially regarding her break-in from earlier. In fact, Robin went back to the safe to retrieve the Shepherds' roster list so he could explain it to Robyn.

"Well, I'm pretty sure you know exactly what this is," he said to her. "But it only makes sense to add your name in here." He took out a ballpoint pen from his bag, with Robyn noticing it was the same model that she used, and started to write. "So, Robyn. I'm just going to get your name down here so that we know you're one of us. Let's see… I'll write it how I'll do mine, then. R-O-B-I-N…"

Robyn held her hand up. "Whoa whoa, hold it there Robin. My name is spelt R-O-B-Y-N."

"Well, that's at least one thing we know that separates us."

The two of them made eye contact and then laughed together.

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