Dang, that vacation took longer than I expected … sorry about that. Anyways, the original draft of this was a bit different, but I decided to move some things around to see if it helped with motivation … and I guess it worked. Anyways hope you enjoy.

The Princess's Dragon Bride

Chapter 28: The Oaths We Carry

Eleven strained his ear, listening to the patrolling Koopa making their rounds outside his room. When he was sure the hall was empty, he sat up from his bed. Ever so gently, he tried to peek out from the small window in the door. The hallway was indeed empty.

He returned to his bed and pulled out his satchel. Thank goodness they didn't search me after my last break out. He couldn't contain his smile as he rifled through his belongings. Found it. He pulled out a universal lockpick that Akira had given him when they first met.

Akira said it was for treasure chests, but… He began to fidget with his ankle restraints. A lock-pick is a lock-pick.

It's now or never. Then there was an audible click. It's showtime.

Shulk crossed under the arch to the training grounds. He watched the prince swing his blade alone. The sun had set a while ago. Marth's swing was unfocused and off-balance. "M'lord?"

Marth didn't look away from his invisible foe, "Shulk, What do you need?"

Shulk could hear the edge in his voice. He clearly wasn't angry at anyone in particular. "It's late. Perhaps you should retire for tonight."

"You'll need all your strength for Pyra's training tomorrow." He approached the prince carefully.

Marth lowered his blade, "Any word from Bowser Jr?"

"Pyra tracked him down to a tournament held by a nearby lord." Shulk placed a hand on the prince's shoulder to keep him from returning to training. "He said he'll be returning tomorrow."

"That's good." He had yet to sheath his blade or look in the seer's direction.

"Your Highness, please." Shulk walked in front of him. And softly placed his hand over Marth's in a gentle attempt to take the sword from him. "You can't keep running yourself ragged like this."

"You'll be of no use to anyone if you collapse from fatigue." Marth raised his head to meet Shulk's eye.

The prince looked so tired and drained, so hopeless and desperate. His eyes bloodshot and unfocused. His breathing heavy and ragged. His hands had a faint tremble in them, and he swayed ever so slightly.

A lump grew in the seer's throat as he stared into the prince's empty gaze. Despite his fatigue, the prince attempted to smile. "Perhaps you're right."

Shulk let out a sigh of relief as the prince handed him the practice blade. After returning the blade to the weapons rack, Shulk aided Marth to his room.

"Shulk," he turned to look as the prince spoke. "Thank you."

Yes, it was just his job, but the prince was dear to him all the same. "It's what I do." So many years spent in his service had strengthened their bond.

Robin wasn't sure what had woken him in the dead of night, but he could feel the ripple of magical energy in the air. As he pulled on his coat, he noticed a tome was missing. It was a simple wind tome, nothing catastrophic, but a missing tome was concerning regardless.

As he exited the wagon, he noticed Akira, their lookout, had fallen asleep on the job. Thankfully he was positioned in a way that he could be confused for a bored watchman at first glance. Perhaps it's good I woke up before we were ambushed again. He resisted the urge to shove Akira over.

He continued his patrol around the campsite when he noticed the Yilssen princess alone amongst the trees clutching a tome, cursing quietly to herself.

He pressed his back to a tree as he spoke up, "Any reason you're alone out here at this hour?"

Lucina yelped, and as he expected, a blade of wind lashed out at the tree he was hiding behind. "It's just me," he poked his head out.

"Robin?" Her shoulders loosened. "You startled me."

"I noticed," he walked out into the open.

He took note of the lack of destruction in the area, "I'll ask again," he gave her a playful smile. "What are you trying to do out here at this hour?"

"Ah yes, well…" she began to fidget, unintentionally hiding the tome behind her. "I was hoping to better my magic."

"Without Corrin?" He teased.

He expected her to look bashful, but instead, she hung her head. "I … "

Robin raised his hand. "Is this about Corrin's seal?"

She only nodded, defeated. "I know it has something to do with the amount of magic she's been using lately."

Impressive, Robin nodded. "It's very likely she's pulling her magical energy from the seal itself rather than from her own power."

Lucina tilted her head slightly. A habit she must have learned from her father. "What do you mean?"

"Tomes, staves, and the like are more akin to conduits," he motioned to the tome in her hand. "The magical energy comes from within a person."

"Byleth tells me that mages from Foldlen don't typically use tomes or staffs," he chuckled to himself as the look on the young princess's face mirrored his own when he learned this years ago.

"Leven and Akira, likewise, don't need anything to activate their magic either, but …" he noted before wincing. "Leven's magic is far wilder than anything I've run into before." He shook it off before adding, "And Akira's magic, I feel, comes from that demon of his."

She nodded along. I feel like I'm rambling. "Cloud, much like myself, needs a conduit to use magic; however, he uses small crystalline spheres rather than a tome. He says they're easier to carry."

He shook his head. "Anyways, my point is that while there are exceptions to the rule, most people draw magic from within themselves, and seals, especially those like the one on Corrin, are magical in nature. Overtaxing her magic may be weakening it little by little."

"This is my fault," She tightened her grip on the tome in her hands.

"How do you figure?"

Lucina looked down. "I asked her to teach me magic. I never imagined it would be putting her in danger."

"You said she was pretty proficient in magic, yes?" He placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "It's possible that this had never been a cause for concern in the presence of castle mages."

She covered her face. "And I took her away from that."

"I meant to ask about that," he frowned. "Why did you ask to be kidnapped?"

She took a deep breath and, after a second, began to explain, "Corrin and my brother were arranged to marry, and she didn't want to marry someone she didn't love, so… I asked Akira to get us away from the castle."

She made such a reckless stunt for someone dear to her. There was a ghost of a smile on his face, "You are very much like your father when he was your age."

She looked up at him. "How would you-?" she shook her head. "Right; you told me you were a Shepherd during the war." She looked pensive for a moment before adding, "Although I don't remember Father ever talking about you."

Robin nodded. "Ah well, I was just a tactician. I'm more of a footnote as far as war stories go."

However, Lucina's eyes were wide in awe. "Wait, you were The Tactician."

Her eyes were suddenly alight in a way he had never seen before. "My father always talked about his tactician. He would call you the sword at his side."

Her face softened suddenly. "Although he would always get choked up when he talked about you in the last battle, Father thought you died, and I assumed it was from some injury you sustained in that battle."

Robin frowned, "I see." He had sustained an injury in that battle, but he had made it out with the others. He and Chrom had enjoyed their victory back at the castle.

"I departed rather suddenly." It was that night that Chrom's father had heard roomer of their little friendship and had threatened him personally as he was retiring to his own room.

"I suppose he must have assumed the worst." He never got to say goodbye; he hoped his journal would have given Chrom all the answers he needed, but Chrom was never good at reading between the lines.

His mind drew back the memories of Emmeryn's death, the way Chrom had closed himself off. A pain tightened in his chest as Chrom's hollow gaze dragged him deeper into the growing pool of guilt he felt for leaving.

Gods, Chrom, I'm so sorry. I need to make this right.

Chrom and Bowser were at the forefront of those confronting the newly escaped Eleven. Bowser retreated into his shell and endured a powerful blast of magical energy. Then as the boy raised his hand again, the air began to chill.

Bowser's grin was massive. As the boy let loose his ice power. Bowser let loose a stream of fire, countering him completely.

Chrom rushed in as the Phantom Thief raised his blade and shield again. His strikes came out frantic and wild.

The boy leaped back and readied his magic again. Bowser, however, was quick to swap places with the Exalt, ready to endure or counter any wild magic. However, the mark on the back of his hand failed to glow.

Eyes wide and frantic, the thief dove under Bowser and made a rush for the other side of the ship. Pulling something from his bag, he downed a potion of some kind, and the light returned to the mark.

Chrom cursed their luck. He's fast and hard to pin down. He tightened his grip on Falchion. I knew that bag was trouble. Leven rolled under one of Chrom's slashes and squirmed his way in between soldiers. He must've grabbed it during his last escape attempt without us realizing.

The boy managed to leap atop some nearby crates and raised his mark in their direction. Bowser was quick to intercept whatever was coming their way.

Suddenly a soft sphere of magic rushed forward, and before either king could react, Bowser and a handful of koopas collapsed, fast asleep.

Damnit! Chrom rushed forward alone. However, he wasn't fast enough to notice the bolt of magic rushing his way. He was brought to his knees for a moment. He never did do well against mages.

Eleven, with his back to the rest of the boat, stared off the front of the ship, looking down at the rapidly moving surface hundreds of feet below. He cast a peek over his shoulder, and Chrom knew what was running through his head.

The Exalt struggled to regain feeling again and rushed to stop him. His sister at the forefront of his mind. The boy was gone by the time Chrom reached the edge of the ship.

He hesitantly peeked over the edge and saw something shiny plummeting into the river below. He peered up at Kamek, who emerged from his hiding spot.

The mage adjusted his spectacles. "He lived. I can still feel his magic."

Chrom only nodded and stumbled his way to his room. After closing the door, he slumped over against it and pulled his knees closer to him. He had forgotten this fear, this pain, the heavy stone in his stomach that made him sick.

He shut his eyes, the wound of that day had reopened, and now Robin wasn't here to help soothe that pain. Now he was alone.

AN/ Once again, many parts of this were different from their outline counterparts. Most noticeably, that moment with Marth was meant to be a completely different scene that I decided to use later. Secondly, there was only meant to be one scene with Eleven escaping. However, I decided to add more. Originally he was just supposed to do a full Magic blast and pray he gets Hocus-Pocus off, but I liked this version better. Welp, hope you enjoyed. I hope you have a wonderful day.

~ (11/29/2022)