Disclaimer: Fire Emblem and Kid Icarus do not belong to us. They belong to Nintendo.

Chapter 3: Pastorale Animato

"Something seems to be bothering you, Chrom."

Despite Chrom's sigh, her little brother manages to smile.

It is not often that she has the luxury of having dinner with her family. When she had first become Exalt, the promise she had made to spend time with her younger siblings became more and more strained as the mistakes of her father further and further fractured Ylisse, piling themselves onto her shoulders. As the years went by it became...easier was not the correct word. Manageable. She could make time. But by then, her baby brother had grown into a young man with aspirations to create a band of warriors to protect Ylisse - aspirations that would eventually become the Shepherds. And little Lissa had started her training with the clergy. Now, with tensions between Plegia mounting, coupled with the new threat of the Risen, it was a miracle that this day, she, Chrom, and Lissa were both free.

She'd asked the cooks to prepare their favorites as soon as she'd learned earlier that they would all be free. The cooks, perhaps all too eager for an excuse to give her a larger meal rather than the small portions she normally had, took to the task with zeal. When Emmeryn had entered the dinning room, the table had been pilled high. Pots of stew, plies of buttery flatbread, bowls of sauces, fried vegetables, several flaky pies, and countless deserts and wines all crowd the table. She feels stuffed just looking at the spread. At least Chrom and Lissa seemed to enjoy the sight of it.

"Tell me, what's wrong?" Emmeryn asks her brother. Lissa coughs up crumbs as she fails to not laugh, though she has the grace to look incredibly sheepish.

"What didn't go wrong about today is a better question," Lissa chirps.

"Surely it wasn't so bad?" Emmeryn asks. Chrom winces as he chews on a slice of mutton pie.

"Lissa exagerates...but only by a bit," he sighs again.

"It's your fault for having such big expectations," Lissa points out, not unkind.

"Oh?"

"Yeah, today could've gone better," Lissa frowns as she nibbles on a piece of halwa, "But in hindsight…"

"I see your point."

"Perhaps you may elucidate me?" Emmeryn asks. Gentle though her tone was, both her siblings startle a bit.

"Well, as Lissa said, perhaps I should've predicted the day's course..."

"Are you sure that this is a wise idea, Chrom?"

"Are you having second thoughts?" Chrom tries to keep his face neutral. His older sister has always had an easier time of that than he ever has. But what Robin doesn't need right now is to see the unease Chrom himself is feeling.

In any normal situation, someone of Robin's caliber would be welcomed into the Shepherd's with open arms. Skilled with both the blade and magic, and with a keen mind for tactics - and gods, how she moved in battle. Even with amnesia, Robin would've fit in perfectly with the Shepherds. In fact, the amnesia might've helped. The Shepherd's were an eclectic bunch at the best of times.

But she was Plegian. And it was that that everyone would see first and foremost. Chrom would admit that he too had first seen Robin as Plegian, before anything else, in that field near Southtown. The scars of the past were not so easily forgotten, especially when people insisted on scratching them in the present.

But battle has a way of breaking down those walls. Twice now Robin had fought at Chrom's side, once even against her own countrymen. Despite Frederick's paranoia, not once has Robin moved to kill him. In fact, more often than not Chrom has had to deflect an attack away from Robin, who'd overextend in some brilliant move to take down an enemy that would've left her defenseless. Defenseless, if not for him. Chrom knew that Robin wasn't so reckless to be doing that on accident, loosing sight of her surroundings while focusing on the goal. That level of trust for someone who might as well be a complete stranger...How could Chrom not return that?

So Frederick could continue to voice his misgivings. Chrom had made his mind, and he knew that the Shepherds would come around. Eventually.

'Oh boy…'

Robin fiddles with the hood of her cloak. She hasn't decided to hide her face yet, which Chrom is taking as a good sign. But Robin keeps fidgeting, alternating from messing with the edge of her hood and stuffing her hands into her pockets.

"A bit, yes," Robin admits, "I can't help but think of all the ways this could go wrong."

"I'll be right beside you," Chrom assures, "And the Shepherds don't bite. They're good people."

Robin hums, not saying anything. Chrom resists the urge to fidget with the handle of the Falchion.

"I won't hold it against you if you don't want to join the Shepherds," he says.

Robin turns towards him, surprised.

"Honestly?"

"Honestly?" Chrom sighs, "I would like for you to join us, in truth. You have great skill Robin. The Shepherds could use someone of your caliber. And...it felt right, fighting along you. But the Shepherds are a volunteer force. If you truly don't want to join, I truly won't hold it against you. There are plenty of other things you could do."

"...I want to help you. To repay your kindness."

"There are no debts between us," Chrom says firmly, "And if there were, they would've been payed the moment you had saved my life."

"You've saved my life plenty of times," Robin argues.

"I'd say we're even then."

Robin huffs out a laugh.

"I suppose so!...Give me a moment."

Chrom waits for a moment as she steels herself.

"Ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be," Robin admits, "Let's go."

The moment they enter the barracks, all conversation ceases and all eyes fall on Robin. Chrom sees Robin freeze up, and clears his throat.

"Hey, you made it!" Lissa yells out before Chrom can say anything. His little sister is sitting on top of a crate, Maribelle sitting in a chair next to her. Chrom does a quick head count as Lissa waves at Robin. Miriel and Ricken are huddled over one of Miriel's journals, Sumia is talking - or rather, being talked at by Virion, Sully is doing weapon maintenance as Stahl snacks on something besides her, Frederick is in the corner looking over everyone as usual, and Vaike...Vaike is frowning, borderline scowling at Robin.

"Welcome to the Shepherd's garrison!" Lissa calls out.

"Er, hello…" Robin begins to close the palms of her hands together and bow slightly, before suddenly stopping and stuffing her hands into her pockets. Chrom takes mercy on her.

"Listen up everyone!" the Shepherds turn their attention to him, "This here is our newest recruit, Robin! She's the one who helped us against the last night's incursion of Risen! Without her things could've gone a lot worse, so please, welcome her with open arms."

"I am in your care," Robin adds softly, hands still in her pockets, posture ramrod.

For a moment, nothing happens, and Chrom trades a nervous glance with Lissa. Then, Sully stands up.

"What's wrong, got a stick up your ass?" Despite her words she is smiling, "Relax! We don't bite."

"No, but your horse does," Robin immediately fires back. Sully's laughter is followed by Lissa's and even a chuckle from Sumia.

"He's not that bad," Sumia attempts to defend.

"Nah, he is," Sully says with pride.

"I do not accuse without evidence, miss…?" Robin trails off.

"Oh! I'm Sumia," Sumia sends Robin a soft smile, nodding from where she stands.

"Miss Sumia. It's a pleasure to meet you. And I accuse because last night I saw that horse take a chunk out of the...Risen, you called them Chrom?"

"The council's decided to name them that for now," Chrom confirms.

"I had to scold him a bit," Sully grumbles, "After all, who the fuck knows where those things have been?"

"Language, Sully," Frederick sighs. Chrom can see her bite back a 'Kiss my ass'. Instead she jerks her head to Stahl.

"This here is Stahl. My partner on the road to knighthood, you could say."

"Hey there," Stahl says warmly, "Sully's talked about you."

"Oh? Charitable things, I hope."

"What do ya take me for?" Sully grins.

"Sully and Stahl are our very own twin cavaliers, you could say," Chrom's reference doesn't seem to land with Robin, and he turns her towards Miriel and Ricken to introduce them. He jerks back in alarm as Miriel happens to be scant inches away. The mage brushes past him and leans in towards Robin.

"Uh-?"

"Sully and Virion mentioned you," Miriel begins, "How despite your amnesia you were able to fight with both sword and magic seamlessly. It's fascinating."

"What she means!" Ricken pops up between Miriel and Robin, creating distance between the two, "Is that she, uh, wants to...get to know you better!"

"That is true. However-"

Miriel's face doesn't change as Ricken starts pushing her away, hissing at her under his breath. Chrom doesn't envy the young man's self appointed task as Miriel's minder.

"You are not wrong," Robin says after a moment. Ricken stops and Miriel adjusts her glasses, staring at Robin intently. Robin has cupped their chin, half lost in thought.

"My amnesia is strange. Even if the healers had not said so outright, the fact is that it is the strangest of things I've retained. Fighting perhaps can be explained by the body remembering what the mind cannot, but what about script?"

"Oh?" Miriel perks up.

"I can still read. Both Ylissean, my own tongue, and magic runes."

"Fascinating. I would love to look further into it-," Miriel catches Ricken's expression, "-Later."

"Of course," Robin, whose done a remarkable job in the face of Miriel, looks around the room. Her eyes fall on Vaike for a second, before moving on, and Chrom cannot blame her. As Robin turns towards Maribelle and Lissa, Chrom walks up to Vaike.

"Vaike," he begins in low tones as Lissa excitedly introduces Maribelle to Robin.

"Chrom," Vaike begins.

"Just this once, may I cut to the chase?"

Vaike nods once, eyes never quite leaving Robin.

"Robin is a Shepherd now," Chrom says, hoping he wont have to elaborate on this.

"Chrom, she's a Pleg-!" Vaike hisses.

Chrom's rebuke is as sharp as the Falchion, "That doesn't mean anything."

"Course it does! You can't have a Plegian join the Shepherds!"

"May I remind you that the Shepherds are a volunteer force? So long as Robin wants to join, she can join. You will not cause a scene, or else there will be consequences."

"A bit too late for that," Maribelle sniffs.

Chrom and Vaike snap towards her, and Chrom feels himself wilt. Both under Maribelle's truly wicked sneer, Lissa's worried frown, and Robin - who has hooded herself. At the very least Vaike doesn't say anything. Not while Maribelle glowers at him.

"Uh…" Lissa begins, searching for a way to salvage the situation.

"Don't bother darling," Maribelle sighs, "Some people simply lack manners, even if they should know better," Chrom winces as Maribelle turns to Robin, "Robin, you must join Lissa and I later, for a proper introduction."

"I-I'll take you up on that offer, Lady Maribelle. I appreciate it," Robin bows her head. Then she jerks back as Virion slings his arm over her shoulders.

"You simply must join me as well, my dear lady!"

Despite Virion's occasionally overwhelming presence, Robin relaxes a bit as Virion waxes poetic, and for that Chrom is thankful. With one last look at Vaike, who doesn't look at him, Chrom clears his throat and speaks about the day's agenda.

Emmeryn watches as Chrom picks at the food on his plate, jaw clenched. Lissa is fidgeting in her seat, and once more Emmeryn feels a spike of sorrow. The relationship between Plegia and Ylisse hadn't always been this way…

"Vaike is a good man," she begins, "Earnest, perhaps too much so, but a good man. He will come through eventually, Chrom."

Chrom exhales.

"I know. Vaike is a good man. But still…"

"It's not fair to Robin," Lissa mutters.

Emmeryn looks over her younger siblings for another moment before speaking.

"That's not the only thing that's bothering you, however."

Both Chrom and Lissa groan.

"You can say that again," Lissa grumbles, tearing some flatbread with force more common to Chrom. Emmeryn turns towards her brother, who screws up his face.

"It was during the skirmish with the Risen…"

Stick together! Pair up, and keep with your partner no matter what!

"Ready?"

"On my mark!"

Robin's thunder slams into the chest of the Risen Soldier, causing it to spasm midswing. Seconds later, the Falchion cuts through their neck, sending the undead monster falling to the ground.

"May you rest once more," Robin says under her breath. Then she looks over the rest of the battlefield with an intensity only matched by Frederick's Fanatical Fitness Hour. Chrom keeps watch over her back, making sure nothing sneaks up on them, but he can't help but look for how his Shepherds are doing.

Robin had taken charge immediately after seeing the - admittedly spontaneous - way the Shepherds went into battle. Chrom had felt guilty seeing the sheer panic and exasperation in her eyes. But he was also proud seeing how well the Shepherds were rallying under Robin's orders. Even if he had to repeat them to get a few of the more stubborn Shepherds to listen.

Sully and Stahl are patrolling the open road, ready to strike at any of the Risen that left the cover of the forest. Maribelle stands near them, ready to rush to anyone's aid if needed. From here he can just make out the shape of Virion, guarded by Sumia, near the eastern woods as he peppers the Risen hiding there, trying to goad them into the cavaliers range. Even further, Vaike and Miriel were no doubt taking out the Risen Fighter Robin had spotted atop the hills, preventing it from charging at the spear-wielders. Lissa and Frederick are somewhere there too, Lissa to heal anyone injured and Frederick to keep her safe.

Robin mutters something under her breath, something Chrom can't understand.

"Coin for your thoughts?"

"I said I wished we had more range," Robin flexes her fingers, no doubt to relieve phantom pains from the sheer amount of electricity she's been wielding. "That bridge is going to be a problem."

Chrome grimaces. He'd seen the bridge in question. Two Risen, a Fighter and a Soldier, guarded the bridge's other end. Breaking that defense would no doubt be dangerous - especially with the Risen Soldier holed into the nearby fort that Robin had spotted.

"Any plan to deal with them that doesn't require range?" he asks.

"Nothing without more risk than I'm comfortable with," Robin grunts.

"Give me the best plan you have," Chrom orders, "I trust you. And its not like ranged reinforcements will be showing up anytime soon."

"...How do you feel about taking out the fort?" Robin asks. In response Chrom grins at her.

Moments later they're making their way across the road. Chrom whistles sharply, catching Sumia's attention, and soon Virion and Sumia join them, Sully and Stahl charging against the Risen Mercenary that tries to follow after them.

"The Archest of Archers, at your service!" Virion says with a flourish. Sumia gives a hesitant smile behind him, lance griped tight.

"We're taking the bridge as soon as we get rid of the Risen in the fort. Keep an eye on our back, and take any clear shot you can," Robin says. Chrom nods at them, confirming the order, and the two of them walk into the fort. Chrom goes in first, despite Robin's quiet protests. He may not have Robin's head for tactics, but he knew that of the two of them he was better with the sword. Just as he passes through the door, a spear almost skewers him, shattering a hole into the wooden door. Chrom swears, managing to dodge the spear but not the splinters that explode out. The Risen Soldier wrenches its spear out with a low grunt before lunging at him.

"Back off!"

Another spark of thunder slams into the Risen. Robin's bronze blade follows, sinking into the creature's ribs. The Risen barely flinches, sending Robin flying back with a groan, and pulls its spear back to skewer them.

"Think again!"

Falchion lops off one arm at the elbow and the Risen whirls around just as the blade shears the spear in two.

"My turn!"

It was only when the Falchion is sank right where the Risen's heart should be, and a bronze blade is jutting out from its neck, that Chrom realizes that he and Robin had yelled the same words at the exact time he had. Miasma escapes from the Risen's mouth and wounds as it crumples to the ground, and Chrom sends a grin at Robin.

"Nicely done," Robin says, a shaky grin of her own.

"Captain!"

Somehow Robin makes it out of the fort before Chrom. What he sees sends a jolt of fear through his heart. The Risen had forded the river.

It had cost them. Chrom can see two of the Risen, a Soldier and a Mercenary, sprawled half out of the river on the sandbar, pincushioned by arrows. But the rest had made it through, if not unscathed then unhindered. Not only that…

Two Risen Fighters blocked Sully and Stahl from Virion and Sumia. Another two Risen Soldiers had braced their spears to try and impale Frederick's horse as he tries to get to them. Behind Frederick, Lissa clutches her staff tightly. The Risen guarding the bridge were now a Fighter and a Mercenary, on the near side of the river still holding their ground. For but a split second, Chrom thinks the worst and searches desperately for Virion and Sumia. He finds them off to the side of the road, a Risen Mercenary dead at Sumia's feet while Virion tends to a gash in his arm.

"They didn't…" Chrom began, not believing that the Risen wouldn't have attacked the two en-masse.

"Strategy! They're using strategy!" Robin yells.

"But how?!"

"Take a look, past the bridge!"

Chrom does, and swears when he sees the form of a Risen Chief. The Chief stands behind the bridge guards, mane of blood-mated black hair waving in the wind. Evil red eyes stare out at the battlefield, and Chrom shivers when they meet his.

'It can think,' he realizes.

"Chrom! Go help Sully and Stahl!" Robin barks out.

"And leave you at the tender mercy of those three? Think again!"

"Chrom, if you manage to take down one then Sully and Stahl can overpower the other and free Frederick! Think!" Before Chrom can argue further, Robin turns towards Sumia and Virion. "Besides, I won't be alone."

"Sumia! Virion! With me!"

Sumia starts for a moment before nodding, and Virion manages a strained smile.

"I'll look after her, Captain!" Sumia swears as she helps Virion up and rushes towards Robin, who's hands already hold violent sparks of lightning.

"...I'll make it quick," Chrom growls out, before rushing towards the Risen Fighters. One of the Risen Fighter's turns as he runs, which turns to be a mistake as Sully takes the opportunity and runs it through. The blow does not kill it however, and Sully lets loose a particularly vivid explicitive as the second Fighter clefts the spear's shaft. Thankfully Stahl intercepts the next blow.

"Watch it!"

"Face me!" Chrom bellows as the first Risen Fighter tries to turn to help the other. He dances out of the way of the first heavy swing of the axe, and ensures that the Risen wont get a second by severing its arm. This proves to be less of a hindrance than Chrom hopes, as the Risen lunges at him bare handed, black smoke pouring out of its mouth as it growls. Chrom manages to escape the first swipe, slamming the Falchion's hilt into its face and doing nothing. The second lunge leads to the Risen grabbing Chrom's wrist, and for a breathless moment Chrom finds himself struggling against a creature with strength unbelievable. Before the bones in Chrom's arm can snap like a matchstick, the remains of Sully's spear appear inches from Chrom's chest. The rest of it is buried in the Risen's neck.

"Back to hell with you!" Sully races past Chrom, nearly giving him a heart attack as she grabs the spear's remains and pulls, sending the Risen to the ground, now in two pieces.

"Fucking piece of shit," Sully sighs, tossing away the splinters of the spear. Behind her Stahl rekills the other Risen Fighter.

"Sully-" Chrom breathes.

"You're welcome," she grins back, all teeth. Then she catches sight of something behind him and says something that would definitely make Frederick wash her mouth with soap.

Chrom turns around and says the same thing.

Virion has backed away from the main fight on the bridge. The two Risen are being held back, but only just, by Sumia's spear. It's clear from here that its only a matter of time before she falters. Behind her, Robin is paging through her tome. The stuttering glow of its cover shows that it is nearly spent.

The Risen Chief marches towards them.

"Stahl! To Frederick! Maribelle, heal Virion!" Chrom bellows, "Sully!"

"Go! Go!" she urges.

Chrom runs towards the bridge, and no matter how he runs he knows he wont make it before the Risen Chief. Maribelle outstrips him, staff lit up as she goes towards Virion, and he hears Sully try and scrounge for a weapon.

The Risen Soldier lunges towards Sumia, sending her triping to the ground as she dodges. The Risen Mercenary raises their sword into the air and Chrom fights for breath as he runs faster. Robin's tome burst into flames, violet and purple, and Chrom recognizes the taint of dark magic as Robin launches a crackling inky black orb that explodes on top of the Risen. Chrom sees the Mercenary and Soldier tumble into the river, and Robin stumbling to their knees. The Chief's axe glints in the sun as its raised.

"Robin!"

"Out of my way!"

Something rushes over him, and a black feather floats down from the sky. Not a second later, the angel dives from the sky, kicking the Chief with such force that the Risen nearly stumbles back to the other side of the bridge. Chrom sees the angel, a boy barely taller than Ricken, rise to his feet, the violet light surrounding his wings shuttering. The Risen Chief snarls and lunges at the boy. The angel raises their hand, palm outward, and Chrom sees something on his arm glow before a blast of iridescent light explodes out of the angel's palm, turning the Risen Cheif's chest into a smoking crater.

Sully passes him, a sword in hand, and she stands guard over Virion and Maribelle. Chrom manages to get to the bridge, chest burning.

"Robin...Sumia...Are you alright…?" he asks, gulping down breaths.

"I-I'm fine, Captain…" Sumia mumbles, wincing as she stands up. Robin is a different story, a gash in her sleeve that has blood seeping through it and their face palid as she gives him a shaky smile.

"I'm alright, Chrom…"

The relief that descends over Chrom is washed away instantly as he hears the groan of a Risen. The Risen Soldier rises out of the river, singed but still moving, eyes glowing blood red.

A second later another blast of iridescent light slams into its head, rendering it into ash.

"Stay down," the angel sneers. Up close Chrom sees bright glowing rainbow tattoos snaking up the angel's arm. Tattoos that most assuredly hadn't been there before.

"You again…" Robin murmurs. The angel turns around, eyes furrowed.

"You look like garbage," the angel says.

Robin's only response is to laugh before slumping against Chrom.

"Robin!"

"What's wrong with her?" the angel asks Sumia.

"Er, I-I…"

"Don't worry...Just a headache," Robin manages to groan out, "Make sure that the area's been cleared…"

"I'll take care of it," the angel says, in surprisingly soft tones. The young man turns around and walks away and Chrom nods as Sumia glances at him. As she follows after the angel, Chrom hears hoovebeats pounding towards him.

"Please let her down gently, milord," Maribelle says. Chrom helps Robin sit down and Virion appears next to him, helping support Robin.

"Are you alright dear?" Maribelle asks, looking over Robin with a critical eye. She squints and groans, lifting her hands to try to lift her hood.

"Light's too bright…"

Virion hisses as he sees Robin's hands and Chrom can't blame him. Robin's gloves are burnt and in tatters, the hands underneath in barely better shape. Maribelle tsks.

"And this, dear, is why we try not to overload elemental tomes," Maribelle scolds, taking Robin's hands into her own and muttering a prayer under her breath.

"Virion. Help me remove these gloves."

"Why of course m'la-"

"Do it now."

Chrom hears another set of hooves, and recognizes them. He gets to his feet just as Frederick thunders to a stop, Lissa in tow.

"Lissa!"

"On it!" His little sister dismounts and rushes towards Robin and Chrom breathes a sigh of relief.

"Sir-" Frederick begins, tone warning.

"Frederick, now is really not the time," Chrom nearly growls. By now all the Shepherds but Sumia had gathered around the bridge. He sees Miriel adjust her glasses as she stares, wide eyed, at Robin, and hears Maribelle gasp behind him. When he turns around, he understands why.

Robin's hands are surprisingly scarred, despite their delicate shape. No doubt this wasn't the first time Robin had played with risky spells. Yet that wasn't what had caught everyone's attention.

That would be the mark on their left hand. Six eyes, intertwined. The Brand of Defile, symbol of the Dark Dragon Grima.

"I knew it!" Vaike growls.

"Vaike-"

"I told you! Teach told y'all! The Pleg is a damn Grima worshiper!"

"That means nothing, Vaike!" Chrom barks out, "Just as Naga is venerated in the Halidom, so too is Grima in Plegia!"

"Listen to yerself Chrom! You admitted it yourself, the whole crazy country worships a death dragon!"

"Vaike," Chrom hisses.

"Not a death dragon…" Robin grumbles from the ground.

"Now what?"

The angel walks up to them, Sumia following, an expression of annoyed confusion on his face. This expression sours further as Vaike points at him.

"See! She used some sort of dark spell to summon a monster!"

"Excuse me?" the angel scowls.

"Vaike, that's absurd," Chrom says exasperated, "This...young man here is a guest of the Exalt, and has been in the castle since yesterday."

Vaike falters for only a second.

"The same day that the Pleg walks into the castle? You can't tell me that isn't suspicious!"

Chrom can see Frederick frown at that, and he's about had it.

The angel beats him to the punch.

"Were you born stupid, or were you dropped on your head as a baby?"

Sully chokes back a laugh.

"Excuse me?" Vaike demands.

"Excuse denied!" the angel snaps back, "What's your problem anyway? Do I look like an Underworld goon to you?"

"Well with them black wings of yours, you ain't exactly anything holy!"

The angel visibly tenses, scowl turning into a glare.

"U-Um-" Sumia begins. She lets out a yelp as the angel's wings flare out.

"Right now, you and me!" the angel snarls, pointing at Vaike.

"Oh yeah? Wanna go a few rounds with Teach eh?" Vaike sneers, brandishing his axe.

"I'll wipe the floor with you in seconds!" the angel punches his open palm, cracking his knuckles as he does so, and the tattoos on the angel's arm glow. For the first time in his life Chrom feels threatened by a rainbow, "By the time I'm done with you, human? You'll wish you hadn't woke up today!"

"ENOUGH!"

Lissa stands between the two, looking ready to snap her staff over someone's head. She points at Vaike, who backs up a bit, eyes wide.

"You better stop being a big jerk, Teach. Robin and Pip-" the angel splutters, "-have done nothing but help Ylisse since they showed up! I won't have you besmirch their names like that!"

Chrom trades a glance with Maribelle, equal parts surprised and proud at Lissa's use of Princess Voice™. Lissa then whirls onto Pip.

"And you-!"

"Okay, first of all don't call me Pip!" the angel interrupts," And second of all, what did I do?!"

"First of all, tell me your real name and maybe I'll stop calling you 'Pip'," Lissa waits for a moment, a moment where 'Pip' crosses his arms and looks away, "Right. Second of all, you were picking a fight! You can't just do that! Especially when your wing is already injured!"

"How do you know about that?!" Pip asks, defensive.

"Even if Emm hadn't told me, all the healers know it," Lissa rolls her eyes, "Now! You'll both say sorry, and Vaike will say sorry to Robin, and everyone will be alright-"

To everyone's alarm, Lissa's voice starts to break, her eyes looking wet. Pip's expression of horror reflects Chrom's own. Before Chrom can attempt to comfort his little sister, Maribelle is at her side in an instant.

"Here darling," she soothes, pressing a handkerchief into Lissa's hands. As Lissa honks into it, Maribelle glares down at Pip and Vaike as if they were cockroaches caught trespassing in the throne room.

"You two," she hisses imperiously, "will stop acting like complete brutes and apologize to each other, to Lissa, and to Robin-" Maribelle directs this last part at Vaike, "-this instant, or there will be consequences."

"Like what?" Pip asks with a roll of his eyes. Maribelle's glare grows narrower, and she twirls the tip of her parasol into her other hand. Slowly she unscrews the tip. Seconds later, gleaming metal tapered into a precise point sparkles in the sunlight. Everything is silent aside from the burble of the river.

"Or else," Maribelle says ominously, running a prim finger down the spike at the end of her parasol.

Chrom watches as a mix of intimidation, rebelliousness, and awe make its way across Pip's face. Finally the angel tucks his wings in and faces Lissa.

"Sorry?" he says.

"Properly," Maribelle snaps. Lissa puts a hand on her shoulder.

"Its fine, Maribelle," Lissa says. His sister looks at Pip for a moment before nodding.

"Apology accepted, Pip."

"Please stop calling me that?"

"Not unless you tell me your name! Now sit still so I can see if you broke something with that stunt you just pulled!"

"Hang on darling," Maribelle grabs Lissa's hand and turns towards Vaike. She raises an eyebrow, patient as the mountains themselves, as Vaike and Lissa fidget.

"...Sorry, kid," Vaike says, sincere and sheepish.

"And your other apologies?"

"You can't be-" Vaike stops as Maribelle once again checks the tip of her parasol for 'dust'.

"Er, fine. I'm sorry Pip," he grumbles out.

"Okay, you don't get to call me that," before Maribelle can turn her wrath towards Pip he folds his arms and turns to the side, "And I guess I'm sorry too," he says, mulish. Maribelle seems to accept this reluctantly and stares Vaike down.

"Oh, come on-"

"Vaike," Chrom and Maribelle speak in tandem.

"Just apologize ya ninny!" Sully heckles.

"Fine! I'm sorry!" Vaike snaps at Robin. Robin squints up at Vaike. Before snorting. Soon she's practically rolling on the bridge, laughing so hard that she's crying.

"Er, Robin-?" Chrom begins.

"All of you are a buncha weirdos," Pip says, empathically.

And this only serves to make Robin laugh harder.

"Oh dear," Emmeryn said. That certainly hadn't been in the mission report Chrom had given the council earlier. Her brother gives her a strained smile as Lissa groans into her slice of pie.

"I feel like such an idiot!" Lissa moans, face red.

"Now now," Chrom's words only make Lissa turn redder, "Er, its perfectly normal to have battle jitters, before and after."

"Chrom is right, Lissa."

"I know, but still!" she whines, "I looked like such a kid!"

"...Pip probably isn't that much older than you, if that's what your worried about-" Chrom begins.

"If you continue that sentence I'm pieing you in the face," Lissa threatens. Chrom relents and Emmeryn makes a note to pry it out of him later.

"Philia wasn't exactly pleased that Pip followed you," Emmeryn said, "But seeing as how he saved the lives of our Shepherds, I advised her to be lenient."

"I am thankful to him," Chrom says, earnest. While Emmeryn isn't sure that even Chrom realizes it, she recognizes the signs immediately and wonders how long it will take before her brother asks the angel to join the Shepherds. She wonder if he'll say yes. Pip is a free spirit, almost to a fault, she's realized. But perhaps the Shepherds would be good for the young man.

Emmeryn senses a deep loneliness within him. And she wonders what the castle's strangest guest is doing at this moment.

By candlelight, Robin writes in her journal. It was one of the few things she owns it seems, tucked into one of her coat's great pockets. To her frustration, it is a practically new journal. Only a single paragraph of her handwriting is on the first page:

Another new journal. I've managed to stock up, with what remained of my money. Oh but how cutthroat that merchant was! In the future, should I ever see her again I must be sharper with my words. Now I make way for Southtown. May the winds of fortune smile upon me.

Oh but how Robin wishes she could slap her past self! Why hadn't she kept the other journals?!

This wasn't the only piece of writing, however. There were loose pages stuffed into the book. A parchment of old magic runes, which seemed to be her own notes. Loose pages of poetry and prose, written in the same angular script that Robin felt best writing in, as opposed to the curvier calligraphy of Ylisse. To Robin's immeasurable relief, she could still read her mothertongue. And finally, pages of sketches. Most of them rough, nearly all of them of landscape. Nothing that Chrom or Lissa recognized, though Chrom had posited that one of the sketches looked like it could've been from Ylisse's southern coasts.

It is precious little of a past, in the grand scheme of things, but it is something. Something to give an idea of what she was like before.

"So you have amnesia?"

Robin looks back at the angel who refused to be called Pip, but doesn't offer any alternative. She'd run into the angel while walking back to her room from the library. After the, frankly disastrous, skirmish Robin had spent the rest of the day pouring over books of strategy and tactics. By the time the librarians had pushed her out of the castle library, the sun had long set and the castle halls were nearly empty. All except for the guards, who were slightly on edge because of the angel stalking the halls.

Robin took pity on everyone involved and managed to cajole Pip into joining her for a walk. She hadn't expected the angel to join her in her room. Now Pip had created a little nest from several blankets and was sitting on the floor of the room. Perhaps it was just the candlelight, but the angel seemed less prickly.

"Yes," Robin says.

"That's rough," is Pip's succinct response.

Robin has to bite back a bitter laugh.

"You are not wrong. If Chrom and Lissa hadn't found me, who knew what would have happened?"

"Cause of the Underworld monsters?"

Robin files away the peculiar vocabulary that Pip kept using to refer to the Risen for later.

"I suppose so. But I'd been thinking more about being a Plegian in Ylisse…"

Pip's face scrunches up in thought.

"Ylisse...Plegia...Those are two countries, right? Why would being a Plegian be a problem? You're human, aren't you?"

From the mouths of babes. Though, on second thought, Pip was a bit too old...

"You really don't know much about humans, do you?" Robin asks, a bit bitter. What a kind world to live in, where the country of one's birth didn't matter.

"I know you guys are pretty weak and cause problems for yourselves and everyone else," is Pip's blunt answer.

"Rather harsh of you…"

"Am I wrong?"

Robin thinks about how easily Pip dispatched the Risen Chief, and can't find an argument for that specific question.

"There's more to humans than just that."

"Like hating each other cause of arbitrary locations?"

"It's more complicated than that."

"I suppose I'll take your word for it," Pip says, unconvinced.

"Look," Robin sighs, "From what I've learned, Ylisse and Plegia are at odds with each other because we worship different gods. Ylisse worships the Divine Dragon Naga, while Plegia worships the Divine Dragon Grima."

"And what, these two gods don't get along?" Robin's explanation doesn't seem to have worked, judging by Pip's sneer, "That's an even worse reason to hate each other."

"Long ago…" the words seem to come from nowhere, and its only as she speaks that Robin realizes that the words come from memory, "Lord Grima fell to madness. The Queen of Plegia at the time, with the help of the first Exalt of Ylisse and Naga, sealed away Lord Grima before He unknowingly brought ruin to the world…"

As Robin marvels at the piece of her past that has returned to them, Pip frowns.

"Humans sealing away a God?" he shakes his head, "Even if that were true, that doesn't explain why Ylisse and Plegia hate each other."

"There is...misunderstanding about the events," Robin desperately tries to remember, "Ylisse has a different history…" She lets out an explosive sigh. She can remember nothing else. As Robin massages her temples in vain to stave off another headache, Pip scowls.

"That still doesn't make any sense. And that still doesn't make it any less dumb. The last thing you humans should be doing is attacking each other cause the gods say so."

"Is that so?" Robin mutters, feeling faintly annoyed.

"Gods are selfish," Pip spits out, "They care about nothing but themselves. Trust me, these gods of yours? They're probably laughing at you all every moment they use you."

"Lord Grima wasn't like that," Robin says firmly, "Before His fall...He cared, in His own way."

"Whatever you say," Pip scoffs, standing up and heading towards the door. Before he leaves, Robin asks a question.

"You speak of the gods as if you know them."

"I've met a few," Pip grumbles, "Let me tell you, a complete waste of my time!"

The door slams before Robin can ask any follow up questions, leaving Robin with a throbbing headache, burning with curiosity, and sans several blankets. As she climbs into bed, wrapping her coat around herself along with what blankets remained to stave off the chill, Robin recites under her breath a prayer that had been in her journal.

The Eyes of Grima pulse reassuringly on her hand.

There was a full paragraph detailing food that got cut cause it was a bit too indulgent. Food is a great way to worldbuild - one starts with food and then works backwards; what needs to be grown to make such food, what climate is required for that, what social classes would have what access to what food, what resources are scarce - and I wanted to do something different with Awakening worldbuilding in this story. Rather than taking what canon shows and assuming Your Basically European High Fantasy(TM), we thought 'hey, to pair well with the Greek/Roman inspired Kid Icarus what if we borrowed more from the Mediterranean?'.

We also wanted to work more nuance about Plegia, Grima, and Robin's past rather than leaving it as Always Chaotic Evil.

Dark Pit of course, doesn't care about nuance at this point and is all too happy to be blunt.