I do not own Fire Emblem Awakening or any of the characters.

Gangrel

Corbin groaned as he crashed down in the mud. He hated rain. It was always raining when something bad happened. When someone experienced Hell. Chrom was in Hell right now. It was clear in the way that he neglected any kind of strategy and merely slaughtered any Plegians who got in his way as he headed for the commander. The way he used brute force to best them more than skill. The way his face was set into a more terrifying expression of hatred and bloodlust than Lucina had worn while fighting the Risen Corbin.

The others were all struggling to keep up. Cordelia and Sumia were flying above them, battling a group of Wyvern Knights, Robin was struggling to help Lucina keep Corbin alive, but that was made infinitely more difficult by Corbin's exhausted state making him an easy target, which the Plegians were capitalizing on by swarming them. Frederick was doing his best to aid Chrom in reaching the commander, and the others were simply trying to survive.

As Corbin forced himself up from the mud, he lifted his sword just in time to block an axe, only for it to knock him back down, his sword splashing down beside him. The Plegian let out a triumphant laugh, pouncing, then shrieked in surprise and dismay as Lucina all but tackled him away from Corbin, stabbing him as she did. She stood, ripping her sword back out of the Plegian as Panne and Lon'qu finally joined Robin and Lucina in Corbin's defense. Lon'qu had sheathed his own sword, now using a standard steel sword instead, and was fighting more defensively than Corbin had ever seen, blocking every strike instead of avoiding them, countering only when there was a sure chance of defeating the soldier, rather than creating his own openings. Panne was likewise being careful, slashing soldiers to draw their attention, then darting out of range before returning to kick them, injuring them but not killing them. Corbin realized that this, too, was due to Emmeryn's influence. It wasn't only the Plegians who had been affected by her. No one wanted more death.

Already, the commander had announced to his forces that any who no longer wished to fight for Gangrel could flee now and use the storm as cover to get their families out safely, promising to take the blame for them disobeying Gangrel, only for the soldiers to refuse to abandon him. Corbin respected the commander. If circumstances were different, he would be willing to bet that they could be allies. But that wasn't an option now. Not after Emmeryn. Not when they were struggling already to survive.

A Plegian shouldered Robin aside, leaping at Lucina, who was actively killing a soldier who'd tried to reach Corbin from behind, but before he could reach Lucina, Corbin shoved himself up, catching the Plegian with the point of his sword before crashing to the ground yet again with the corpse. He pushed himself up, heaving the body over and wrenching his blade free of it, having to use all the strength he had to free the sword. He looked around, watching as more and more Plegians closed in on them. However, before they could reach them, the others arrived. Lissa, Vaike, Maribelle, Ricken, Gaius, Nowi the Manakete in her large, beautiful, glittering, gold and green dragon form, Gregor, the grounded Pegasus Knights, Kellam, Sully with Virion riding on the back of her horse, Sumia and Cordelia who had finished with the Wyvern Knights, Khans Basilio and Flavia, Libra the War Monk who had joined the others on the way to save Emmeryn, Tharja the Dark Mage who had been one of Gangrel's but who had joined the Shepherds when she had seen and immediately become infatuated with Robin. All of them rushed to surround and protect Corbin, Lissa and Maribelle moving to try and heal Corbin. It did nothing for his energy, but the wounds left by the Risen Corbin, after being washed clean of mud by their water skins, did heal. Lissa helped Corbin onto Maribelle's horse with her, Maribelle not even complaining about a commoner getting blood all over her dress and hair, merely telling him to hold onto her.

Corbin looked around, smiling to himself in spite of the situation. They were a force to be feared together. Their newest members, Libra and Tharja, were especially terrifying. Libra wore loose, pure white robes and splinted, tan vambraces, had long, blonde hair, and wielded a large axe with a pure white head with the top of it shaped a bit like a "T" but with the front edge hanging down in a jagged, zig-zag pattern to form the blade. The shaft of the axe was gilded, and the gold continued along the temper edge of the head. He was terrifying with it, as well, because he wielded it as though it were weightless, easily outpacing anyone who attacked him and deflecting the strikes, then swinging the axe through them entirely most times. Tharja, on the other hand, wore a belly dancer's uniform of a black bikini, a gold belt-like piece of metal around her hips that then had a transparent, black cloth hanging down in the front, a gold collar along her neck, and a black cape with red inside. She wore gold sandals, and gold bangles on her wrists and thighs, then a dark, transparent bodysuit under everything else, making her skin look about the same color as that of a Risen, but which still left her skin clearly visible. She wielded a purple tome of curses, dark variations of spells, in her case mostly meaning the same purple lightning as the Risen Corbin had used. It was making Corbin feel unsafe, but she was arguably the most lethal of the bunch, so at the moment he didn't feel like saying anything about it.

Finally, however, just as several more Wyvern Knights arrived, the commander's voice boomed across the battlefield again.

"Men, stand down!" the commander thundered. "I am going to fight their commander! If I lose, you are to allow them to leave!"

All eyes turned to a hill in the distance where Chrom and the commander, who'd identified himself as Mustafa, stood opposite each other, Chrom with his sword raised and ready and Mustafa holding an axe that looked to have been designed like a scimitar at first before the blade suddenly bent forward and ballooned into an axe blade. For a moment, both stood motionless. Chrom glanced to the side, eyes finding the others, but pausing for a moment on Robin, who shook her head, then turned back to Mustafa. Then, as one, both of them lunged. And then, the fight was over. Mustafa moved to strike from above and Chrom deflected the axe blade off of his sword, stepping aside, then thrust his sword through Mustafa's abdomen. Mustafa's knees sagged and he fell to the ground, but as Chrom removed his sword, he tore a piece of his cape off, pressing it to Mustafa's wound.

"Lissa, come heal him!" Chrom called down to her.

All eyes turned to Lissa before the Plegians parted. Lissa sprinted past them and to Mustafa, quickly healing him. As Mustafa rose, lifting his axe, he surveyed Chrom suspiciously.

"Why?" Mustafa asked.

"You're an honorable man," Chrom said. "It would be a waste to kill you. And...this is what Emmeryn would want. Send your men to protect their families. You'll be our prisoner."

Mustafa's eyes widened, then he smiled, nodding. "Men, use the storm to take your families somewhere safe. Lieutenant, you're to take my family to safety as well."

A spearman beside him nodded. As the Plegians rushed back toward the capital, a small-framed girl with light pink hair in a ponytail and a white and pink dancer's outfit rushed over, the hood of her black cloak falling down.

"Khan Basilio!" she called out, Basilio quickly leading the others all over to her.

"Olivia," Basilio nodded. "Sorry for keeping you waiting."

"When I didn't hear from you, I thought..." she trailed off, shaking her head. "I feared the worst."

"Everyone, meet Olivia," Basilio introduced her. "She'll be smuggling us out of here, prisoner included."

Mustafa nodded.

"Only if you hurry!" Olivia said. "Doubtless more of the Mad King's men are on the way to see why he hasn't reported back yet." She glanced at Mustafa as she said it.

"She's correct," Mustafa nodded. "We must hurry."

Everyone nodded and quickly piled into the carriages Olivia had waiting for them, except for those with a horse or Pegasus to ride. As they clambered into them, Robin and Lucina helped Corbin into one with them and Mustafa set his axe on the edge of a rock, then had Robin shatter the blade with magic. She complied, and he tossed the pieces to where he'd lost to Chrom, which was still stained with blood, despite the rain. Then, he climbed in with Chrom and Basilio before the carriages started out. Corbin sighed, beginning to drift off, and Robin wrapped an arm around him, letting him lean on her shoulder.

"Rest, Corbin," Robin said. "You've pushed yourself enough for today."

"We'll wake you if anything happens," Lucina promised.

Corbin nodded tiredly. "Thank you, Robin, Marth."

Then, his eyes slid closed, and he was asleep. Robin directed her gaze at Lucina instantly, narrowing her eyes.

"I don't care who you are, or where you're from," Robin said. "I don't care who killed who when. If you ever try to hurt my brother, I'll kill you. The Risen version from the future is fair game, but if you hurt this one, I'll end you."

Lucina's eyes widened before she sighed, nodding. "I should have guessed you'd be able to figure it out as well. I won't hurt Corbin. I've agreed to train him once this war is over in order to try and stop him from becoming a Risen in the first place."

Robin nodded. "Thank you. But the threat stands. If you lose faith in your ability to keep him alive and decide to avoid a Risen Corbin any other way, you die."

Lucina nodded silently, and both of them remained silent for the rest of the ride back to Regna Ferox.

Corbin groaned as he stirred, pushing himself into a sitting position and looking around. Robin was seated at his side, and she smiled in relief instantly.

"Good morning," Robin smiled. "How do you feel?"

"Like shit," Corbin said. "And hungry. So, about the usual when I push my magic too hard."

Robin nodded, passing him a loaf of bread nearby, the plate the bread had been on also bearing several kinds of meat and some fruits. Corbin tore pieces off of the bread and stuffed them into his mouth quickly, scarfing down as much of it as he could before she passed him the plate and a cup of water. While he ate, Robin filled him in on what he'd missed. Lucina had disappeared, promising to return once the war was over, but needing to not be there in order to try and guide the future toward a better outcome than it was heading for now that Emmeryn had been killed successfully. Aside from that, the Feroxi and Ylissean allied force was preparing for one final battle with Plegia, and should be ready to move soon. Robin had established a plan for the battle but had planned for the khans to direct it while Robin and Corbin fought with the Shepherds. Corbin could tell that it was mostly so that they'd be around people potentially able to keep Corbin alive if the Risen Corbin decided to kill Corbin after all, but neither of them brought that possibility up.

Once Corbin had finished eating and had stretched the soreness and fatigue out of his muscles, they left the room they'd been in, Corbin heading to a washroom to get cleaned up and changed, finding his coat had been cleaned for him and Robin had gotten him a change of clothes, then headed to the throne room to meet the others.

"Perfect timing," Chrom greeted him. "We just got word the army's ready to move."

Corbin nodded, eyeing Chrom's new armor. It was a pure white chestplate, sleeves, and left pauldron with gold highlights, a pure white cape with pale blue inside, white boots with gold highlights, blue pants and leather straps over his legs, a blue shirt and gloves under his armor, and the Fire Emblem adjourning his left forearm as a shield.

"Are you sure it's a good idea to use that as your shield?" Corbin asked.

Chrom shrugged. "It's resistant to magic, and it's the same kind of metal as the Falchion, which means that it's not liable to be damaged in battle. Seemed perfect to me. Besides, it is a shield."

Corbin shrugged. "Fair enough."

Chrom wasn't the only one with new gear, Corbin noticed as he surveyed the group. Sumia now had a spear that looked to be entirely either a white crystal or bone with a smooth shaft with a slanted ridge near the head, then a head that seemed to be carved from the same piece of whatever substance as the shaft. It was about a foot long, curved forward just slightly, and had a piece hanging down in front of the shaft for about a foot that was also sharpened and seemed to be present to allow the spear to be used more like a halberd if Sumia wanted. Phila and the other Pegasus Knights Corbin had saved were present as well, and all had reins in their hands, informing him that they had new mounts, whether horses or Pegasi, and Phila had a new spear, replacing the silver one she'd had before. This spear had a long, brown, metallic shaft, a small, gold, crescent moon blade on the back end, then an intricate, golden head with a crescent shaped set of arms, then the a stretched, heart-shaped blade with the top of the heart framed by the crescent, the inside of the heart open with the shaft running along the center of it in a golden sleeve to keep the head stable, a pair of tiny spikes sticking off of the sides of the heart, a pair of hook-like barbs at the bottom of the heart, then a double-edged, dagger-like blade extending from the point of the heart, the entire head of the spear roughly two feet in length, yet the spear seemed extremely light, based on her casual grip. Mustafa had been given a replacement axe, so Corbin assumed he'd be fighting on their side, this time, and he was laughing with Basilio. Corbin had suspected they might get along well.

Almost everyone had a new weapon, now that he looked around. Vaike had a new, silver, double-sided axe, Donnel had a silver lance like Frederick's, Kellam had a new spear with an alternating red and brown shaft and a double-edged dagger blade as a head, Stahl had a new silver sword, Virion had a new silver bow with a pair of rings at the base of the arms, Lon'qu now had a second sword strapped to his waist opposite the first and identical to it, Gaius had traded his basic steel sword for a silvery short sword with a red grip and a gilded cross guard, which would be easier to wield in reverse grip as he usually did, Gregor had a new bastard sword with the ends of the guard's arms bearing diamond-shaped sections and a coin pommel, and Olivia, who seemed to be planning to fight alongside them, despite Robin telling Corbin she was just a dancer, held a weapon with a curved blade running the entire front side of it, a handle set into the back edge, the body of the weapon being a golden, curving lattice of metal strips with an open design, rubies and emeralds set into the metal here and there, and the entire weapon only about two feet long, the entire weapon designed to be held in reverse grip.

"Looks like almost everyone but me and Robin got new stuff for this, huh?" Corbin smirked.

"Actually...it's just you," Robin said.

Corbin turned to her, seeing her holding a new, much thicker, yellow spell tome. He rolled his eyes. "This is what I get for losing a fight, isn't it?"

"I'm working on a new one for you like yours, but it's not a quick process," Robin offered.

Corbin sighed, nodding. "Fine. Let's just go and kill Gangrel, shall we?"

"Yeah," Chrom nodded. "It's time to end this war."

They all quickly left, traveling south with the rest of the army. It wasn't a quick trip, but it was much faster than Corbin expected. Then, finally, they were in position. The khans moved first, drawing the Plegian army away from Chrom and the others, then, Chrom and the others moved in on Gangrel, who was left with only his elite personal guard.

"What's the strategy for the khans?" Corbin asked Robin as they closed in on Gangrel and his troops.

"Yours," Robin grinned. "They're drawing the Plegians into a valley, then assembling into the formation once they're there, that way the Plegians don't realize it's the same trap. But then a second formation of the same thing is going to form behind them to trap them and the cavalry will enter from both sides."

"Genius," Corbin nodded. "Then I don't need to worry about our army getting beaten."

"Not at all," Chrom smirked as Gangrel's personal guard finally took notice of them. "Let's go!"

Everyone broke into a charge. They were in a large, open wasteland with a few trees scattered around, but for the most part there was no cover, just open land to fight on. But that was fine with all of them. They weren't in the mood for special tactics or tricks. They just wanted to end things. At the last second before the dozen or so mounted cavaliers reached Corbin and the others, Corbin's left arm snapped up, his tome racing to his hand before a massive fan of lightning bolts arced out of it. The lightning tore through the cavaliers, killing nearly half of them while also wounding and scattering the others. A moment later, they overtook the remaining cavaliers, quickly slaughtering the remainder of them. Gangrel's voice roared in rage, ordering the rest of the troops to charge. Gangrel's mages fired off spells, lightning bolts, Thunder blasts, fireballs, blasts of razor-sharp wind. Most of the Shepherds scattered, avoiding the rain of spells. Robin and Corbin used their magic to block a few of the spells, and Chrom managed to block a lightning bolt heading for him with the Fire Emblem, the magic bursting apart but doing little else.

Several archers fired at them, but they were all able to avoid the arrows, and all of the pegasus riders were in the air already, battling nearly double their number of Wyvern Riders. Corbin ignored the wyverns as he reached the Plegian forces. One of them leapt at him with an axe as another thrust a spear at him. Corbin stepped to the side, deflecting the axe to the side with his sword as he twisted, kicking the spear away. Then, he slashed back the other way, splitting the axe wielder across the side and the spearman down the front. To his left, Chrom leapt into the air, then fell and slashed a mercenary down the front before lunging and stabbing an axe wielder, only to turn, slashing out through the man's side and into another mercenary. To the right, Robin slashed a spearman across the chest, then fired three lightning spikes into a trio of mages who were in the middle of chanting incantations to try and blast some of the others.

Corbin sidestepped a spear, catching it, then stabbed its wielder before retracting his sword and tossing the spear to Sully, who hurled it into an archer that was firing up at the Pegasus Knights. A mage fired a lightning bolt at Sully, but Kellam stepped into its path, blocking it with his shield and shouting in pain, but withstood the spell and hurled his spear into the mage, then charged forward, barreling through several Plegian soldiers before reaching the mage and reclaiming his spear. He turned, stabbing a mercenary chasing him just as Sully rode up to him and stabbed past him into an axe wielder charging him from behind.

"Stop defending me!" Sully snapped. "We're even! Again!"

"I'm sorry!" Kellam said, then stepped forward, blocking an arrow aimed at her back.

Lon'qu slashed the archer across the back as he passed, then wove his way through several more soldiers, using his usual, flowing fighting style as his two swords carved through the soldiers easily. As he cleared the group, a mercenary leapt at him from the front, only for Panne to slash him into the ground, then spin, slamming a kick into him just as he was standing, sending him crashing into several other soldiers. The moment they landed, Tharja blasted them with a violet bolt of lightning just as Libra passed her, his axe splitting a spearman down the front, also hacking through his spear before the spearman could kill Tharja.

Corbin spotted Chrom and Robin fighting their way toward Gangrel, passing directly through the army, and turned, hacking his way through the army as he did. However, just as he broke free, catching up to Chrom and Robin, reinforcements were arriving. Except, there was something else happening. A gang of thugs and bandits had stumbled upon the battle, along with a prisoner. Anna, the merchant in the maroon outfit with the sword with the bear charm. She was in shackles and being dragged along behind a horse, and the two bandit leaders, twins, looked surprised that there was a battle.

"Robin, Lon'qu, Panne, help Anna!" Corbin called out.

"Our employer is being attacked, Vincent," one of the pair noted as the three Corbin had instructed to rescue Anna moved to help her.

"We should assist him, Victor," the other twin said. "Oh, look, someone's coming to us."

"We should greet them, Vincent," Victor decided.

"I quite agree, Victor," Vincent nodded.

The only difference between them was that Vincent had his hair shaved along the top on the left and right third of his scalp and wore armor with purple highlights while Victor had a strip along the center shaved as well, leaving two small sections of hair in between the three shaved sections and wore armor with red highlights. Both drew axes similar to the one Mustafa had had before losing to Chrom, only for Robin to fire a single lightning spike at Anna. The spike smashed Anna's shackles' chains, and Anna leapt up, snatching her sword from Victor's horse, unsheathing it and immediately stabbing Victor through the chest from the side.

"Victor!" Vincent shrieked as Anna ripped her sword free of the dead brother and rounded on the other bandits.

Vincent leapt off of his horse at Anna, only for Robin to crash into him in a tackle. As Vincent crashed to the ground and Robin bounced away from him, Lon'qu and Panne rushed past them, tearing into the bandits with Anna. Vincent threw himself to his feet, only for Robin to send a lightning spike into his heart, killing him. A second later, Anna stepped up beside her, offering her a hand up. Robin accepted it, smiling.

"Thanks, beautiful," Robin smiled, Anna raising an eyebrow and smiling playfully.

"No problem, babe," Anna smiled.

"It's nice to see you again," Robin smiled. "But you really need to stop getting captured."

"Again?" Anna frowned, then laughed. "Oh, so you're the one who rescued my sister!"

"Sister?" Robin blinked, then raised an eyebrow. "An identical twin with the same name?"

"Mmm, a few more than twins," Anna admitted, "but that's the general idea, yeah." She smiled. "Still, I can't exactly let a beautiful girl like you walk away empty handed after you've saved two of us. Tell you what, I'll come with you guys." She looked past Robin as Lon'qu and Panne joined them. "Looks like you might need the extra help, anyway."

Robin looked back, seeing another wave of reinforcements, this time including more Wyvern Riders, was just reaching Chrom and the others, who were drowning in soldiers already. "You're right. Let's go save the day, everyone."

They all charged back to the battle, arriving just behind the reinforcements, allowing them to kill nearly a dozen of the reinforcing soldiers before anyone had realized they were there. Not that it made much difference. Anna was as lethal as her sister had been, moving fast and attacking in that same spinning, reverse grip style as the last Anna Robin had met. Lon'qu was even deadlier when the enemies he was facing were back-to and only vaguely aware of his presence, and Robin was able to make full use of her sword despite not being the most skilled fighter with it. Finally, they reached Corbin and Chrom as they were fighting back-to-back, struggling to fend off the Plegians. As Robin and the others returned, carving an exit in the swarm of Plegians, Chrom and Corbin nodded to one another.

"We're going for Gangrel!" Chrom warned the others. "Can you handle this?"

Just as he asked this, several wyverns crashed to the ground and all of the Pegasus Knights swooped down, slaughtering nearly a dozen Plegians on their first pass.

"We've got this," Robin smirked. "Now that our Pegasus Knights are free to help."

Chrom nodded and he and Corbin charged for Gangrel. A pair of elite mercenaries, wearing armored chest plates with horizontal splints, a forearm shield that connected to their pauldron shield to protect their entire side, and heavily armored grieves, charged, brandishing their Silver Swords. However, when they met Chrom and Corbin, Chrom avoided his opponent's first slash, then spun around him and slashed him from behind while Corbin deflected his opponent's blade, then jumped, stepping off of his shield to jump over him and blasted him in the back with a lightning bolt. As they landed and turned on Gangrel, he was seething with rage.

"Why won't you all just die!?" He demanded, brandishing a sword with a gold hilt, a glowing, yellow gemstone set into the center of the guard, and a jagged, zig-zagged blade. As he brandished it, golden lightning lit up along the blade, crackling loudly.

"A Levin Sword?" Corbin asked.

"Like it?" Gangrel sneered. "It functions by siphoning off my body's natural store of energy!"

Corbin grinned, just before Gangrel directed the blade at Chrom, firing the electricity as a lightning bolt. Chrom blocked it with the Fire Emblem, and Gangrel shrieked in annoyance.

"I'm going to rip that fucking Fire Emblem from your arm and stuff my sword down your throat!" Gangrel shrieked.

"Bring it on!" Chrom challenged as he and Corbin charged, Corbin summoning his tome to his left hand.

Gangrel fired several more bolts of lightning at them, both of them either evading the attacks or blocking it, Chrom with the Fire Emblem and Corbin with his own magic. Then, they reached Gangrel, and the real fight began. Chrom struck first, slashing at him rapidly, but Gangrel deflected the blade several times, the unusual shape of the blade making it harder for Chrom to recover each time. Finally, Gangrel knocked Chrom's sword out to the side, then pulled his own back, only to have to spin and slash Corbin's blade away from himself. Corbin's left arm swung up, but as his spell fired, Gangrel barely managed to get his sword in the way, the blade seeming to catch the spell before Gangrel spun, flipping the sword to reverse grip and stabbing at Chrom. Chrom blocked it with the Fire Emblem, but the resulting blast still hurled him away. Corbin slashed at Gangrel, but he deflected the blade, slashing back at Corbin. Corbin ducked under the blade, stabbing at Gangrel, and he dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding it. Gangrel spun, slashing upward at Corbin in reverse grip, but Chrom's blade blocked Gangrel's. Corbin slashed at Gangrel, but Gangrel dodged backward, narrowly evading the slash.

Gangrel brandished the blade again, electricity crackling and shrieking along the blade, but as he slashed, Chrom slammed the Fire Emblem into the blade, negating the magic and stopping the slash. Then, in a smooth, fluid strike, he pivoted, severing Gangrel's arm at the elbow. Gangrel shrieked in pain, staggering backward, clutching at his stump. Chrom and Corbin both lunged, slashing together, and together cleaved Gangrel's torso in two. As Gangrel crashed to the ground, Corbin sheathed his sword, picking up Gangrel's instead and turned toward the others. The battle was nearly over, only a handful of Plegian soldiers left, but as all but one fell, that one, a mercenary, charged at Chrom and Corbin.

"For the King!" the mercenary roared. "Die, you Ylissean SCUM!"

Corbin brandished the sword, focusing the same way he would his tome, and electricity screamed along it. Then, as he directed the blade at the mercenary, a bolt of lightning burst from the tip of it, striking the mercenary and launching him backward. Corbin let out a long whistle, nodding to himself. The sword had a lower drain than his tome, but was equally powerful. He loved it. However, he didn't need another sword, or a new weapon to make casting magic easier. But he did know someone who could use it. He just needed the scabbard. As Corbin was freeing the Levin Sword's scabbard from Gangrel's belt, Robin and Frederick jogged over to them.

"Hey, Robin, I got you a new toy," Corbin said, sheathing the Levin Sword and tossing it to her. "It works the same way my tome does."

"Ooo, I love it!" Robin grinned, strapping it to her side just beside her own sword.

"At last, it's over," Frederick said, just as Flavia and Basilio arrived, reporting that the main Plegian force had surrendered no long after being caught in their trap.

"Once our messenger delivers our terms, that's it," Flavia nodded. "We put an end to this bloody business, once and for all."

"If only things were that simple," Corbin sighed. "Marth seemed certain that this wouldn't be the last of our troubles. More war. Not least of which was against an army of Risen, which we lose."

"That remains to be seen, boy," Basilio said confidently.

"We won," Chrom breathed, shaking his head. "Somehow, I don't feel like celebrating."

"Victory can be bitter as well as sweet, boy," Basilio said seriously. "It's good you learn that now."

"Regna Ferox lost many good men today," Flavia said. "We need to see to our dead."

"It could have been worse," Basilio said. "If not for Corbin and Robin, we'd have lost many more. You two are a credit to Ylisse."

"If there is anything Ylisse can do to repay you..." Chrom offered.

"Oh?" Flavia smirked. "In that case, how about you hand over the Fire Emblem and we'll call it even?"

Chrom tensed, several of the Shepherds reaching for their weapons, however, they stopped as Flavia let out a laugh.

"Just a little Feroxi humor!" Flavia assured them. "Don't worry after our finances, Chrom. Reparations will fall to Plegia, and I've seen their treasury. They can well afford it."

"Yes, pity the man who stands between Flavia and a full coffer, boy," Basilio laughed.

Chrom chuckled. "I'll have to remember that when you come to visit Ylisstol, then."

Just then, there was a thunder of hooves as Cordelia landed off to the side, leaping down from her pegasus and sprinting to Chrom, stumbling several times before finally throwing her arms around Chrom's neck, sobbing.

"Maybe we should give these two some room," Flavia chuckled.

"Oh, Chrom!" Cordelia sobbed. "I was so scared! Are you alright? Are you hurt?"

"Cor...delia..." Chrom choked out. "You're...choking me!"

Cordelia gasped, releasing Chrom and beginning to apologize, only for Chrom to finally hug her back. Corbin and the others all quickly excused themselves to give the pair privacy, neither of them noticing them leave.

"I'm so glad you're alright," Cordelia said in a shuddering voice. "I was so worried!"

"I'm alright," Chrom smiled. "I'm alright. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Cordelia shook her head, taking a step back and drying her eyes. "A few pathetic Plegian Wyvern Knights are nothing to the Pegasus Knights of Ylisse."

Chrom smiled, nodding. "I'm glad. I've been so worried about everything recently. My family, my friends, the war. It feels nice to have someone worry about me for a change."

"I always worry about you, Chrom," Cordelia smiled, despite the deep blush on her face.

Chrom smiled. "I don't mean to be such an inconvenience."

"No!" Cordelia gasped. "That's not what I mean! I mean...I just...you're-"

"Cordelia, I'm just joking," Chrom smiled.

"Oh," Cordelia sighed. "Good. It's just...you're so amazing, and you're so good, and strong, and kind, and handsome." Her blush darkened, but she continued. "You're the best man I've ever met, Chrom. I could never bear to see something happen to you. It would break my heart."

Chrom's eyes widened slightly before he smiled adoringly, though Cordelia was now staring at their hands, which were both holding each other's between them. "I'd be devastated if something were to happen to you, too, Cordelia. You're incredible at everything, you're the most beautiful woman I know, and I would love to spend the rest of my life with you."

Cordelia's eyes went wide, and she stared at him, mouth agape. "What did...you..."

"Cordelia, will you marry me?" Chrom asked.

"YES!" Cordelia shrieked, throwing her arms around his neck and sobbing again.

Finally, she pulled away, kissing him, and he smiled, kissing her back for a long while before pulling away and pulling an intricately decorated ring from his pocket, offering it to her.

"This ring was passed down through my family, and I was told by my mother to give it to the woman I'd spend the rest of my life with," Chrom said as Cordelia allowed him to slip it onto her finger.

"Perfect fit," Cordelia marveled, staring at the ring in a mixture of awe, joy, and pride.

"I love you, Cordelia," Chrom smiled.

"I love you, too," Cordelia smiled, kissing him again.

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