So yeah sorry for the super late upload, I got my mojo back right before my parents dragged me into a Holiday road trip to go see family in another state and I don't own a laptop so … I was unable to post until I got back. "But Rosey, why are you annotating it now and not in Chapter 35 since that one was uploaded first and was your first chapter back?" simple, the last chapter's Author's Notes were already too long and I didn't want to make them worse. Anyways enjoy.

The Princess's Dragon Bride

Chapter 36: Dangerous Darlings

Pyra tried to hide her growing panic. Bowser Jr, in his Marth disguise, had called a meeting for the council, and as the seconds ticked on he had made a move to study all of their faces for the first few minutes.

"Have you finally come to a decision, your Highness?" one of the older members of the council spoke up, crossing his arms. "Or are we going to dance around the subject again?"

Another council member opened his mouth to speak but Jr placed a collection of photos on the table. "This you?"

The photos showed a collection of various council members meeting with women who were very clearly not of noble standing. Some of them even looked twice as young as the men they were meeting with.

The faces of the council members paled one after another, "Where did you get these!" One of them demanded.

"I have my ways." Marth's double only smirked this smug grin, "I have more, by the way."

Pyra wanted to interject but she had witnessed a handful of the council meetings with the real Marth, and to say it was insufferable dealing with these stuck-up snobs would be an understatement. Marth truly was either incredibly patient or very good at tuning them out.

"Now unless there is something else I need to know, meeting over." the council had never been so quiet. There was a deep fear and shame that permeated the room. And Pyra was almost scared of what the actual Marth would think when he found out what Bowser Jr had done in his name.

Robin was thankful that Chrom hadn't asked him any questions or tried small talk. He feared he wouldn't be able to pull off a decent girl voice.

The Don took a bite from the sandwich that Leven offered him, he turned his attention to the kings, "So what can Don Dedede do for ya fine gentlemen?"

Chrom righted himself, lowering his cup of tea, "We believe the group of kidnappers we're after just made their way into your city," he cast Robin a glance out of the corner of his eye.

"Kidnappers eh?" Dedede rubbed the underside of his beak. In a pensive gesture. "Well, there isn't anything that goes on in my city that I don't know about." he chuckled as he patted Leven's shoulder absentmindedly, "If they're here I'll find 'em"

"That's good." Chrom turned to look at Bowser who was busy being fed by a very unamused Cloud. he then leaned back and tossed an arm around Robin's shoulders, "If you hear anything let us know." he gave Robin a small squeeze to emphasize his point.

He's toying with me. Robin was far too tense to notice the way Chrom was looking at him.

The seal was a unique creation, Palutena noted. It was clear that two separate magic users had worked in tandem. While the base of it was pretty standard, a powerful mage using common magic, it was the bulk of the seal that fascinated her. This kind of magic manipulation wasn't common for people of Ylisse. She had seen it before long ago but there was no way it was the same magic.

She began to toy with the glyphs. "Who made this seal for you?"

The girl, Corrin, shifted awkwardly in the spell circle. "Kamek most likely." she frowned "I wasn't aware of it until Byleth looked into it."

She groaned internally. "I see."

Corrin's tail began to swirl, she must be nervous. "Does that complicate things?"

"A little," She summoned her staff, and in the best smile she could said, "It'll just take a little longer to fix, is all."

Magic like this didn't work like normal magic. Rather, it involved pulling magical energy from the air itself and that was going to be difficult, especially here in Midgar.

For her, however, this wouldn't be too much of an issue. Although, the presence of this magic meant this girl knew an ether user.

This group is a curious one.

Chrom cleared his throat and stood much to Robin's surprise. "I rather enjoyed your company." he offered Robin his hand again. "May I have a word alone with you?"

I did my job, I played host, I should refuse, I could claim I have somewhere to be. But he took Chrom's hand again.

Chrom's face pinkened as he looked over Robin's shoulder assumedly at Bowser "Don't give me that look it's not what you think." He couldn't see the look Bowser was giving the Exalt but the look on Chrom's face made the implication clear.

Chrom led Robin outside the large double doors, down the streets of the walled-off sector, and onto a rolled-out mat with a spell circle being guarded by two Ylissen guards. "I can't take the Clown Car, I get anxious."

Robin had no idea what he was going on about but decided not to speak up on the small chance that he still believed the ruse.

They stepped onto the circle and found themselves on the deck of a ship floating in the air. The view was incredible. He had pulled away from Chrom for a moment to stare over the edge and out into the expanse of land beyond the city.

For a moment the world was right and he didn't flinch away as Chrom wrapped his arms around him. "Watch your step, I still get nervous seeing people so close to the railing." In a softer voice, he whispered, "It was bad enough seeing Eleven leap off the edge, I don't think I can handle it …"

Wait, did he say Eleven? Was he actually called Eleven and not Leven?! Boy don't I feel like a bad teammate.

Absent-mindedly, he rubbed Chrom's arm, and in the best falsetto he could manage said, "I'll be fine."

He could feel the smile on Chrom's face as he rested his chin on his shoulder. "You're not used to doing that voice are you, Robin?"

"Why didn't you say anything?" Robin sighed as he dropped the act.

"If I said anything you would run and maybe tell the others," Robin glanced over at Chrom "and that would be a mess we don't want to make in a foreign city."

So he played along, did he? He has learned a thing or two from my old tactics. Alright if he wants to play mental chess, I can do that.

Akira took another swig of his coffee. Still grumpy from earlier, he watched as Byleth tore through another burger. What do they do with all that energy?

Byleth added another empty plate to the stack and reached for their drink, "Akira?" Akira saw the way their eyes narrowed ever so slightly, the tiny furrow in their brow. They were on edge.

Akira closed their eyes and took a long sip from his coffee. He opened his third eye and could feel it, someone was watching them. A small group hiding amongst the crowd. "I know, I feel them too." There was something about their aura that felt familiar to him.

"It's those bandits from the woods," Byleth noted. He followed Byleth's line of sight and caught the reflection of a few familiar animal faces. Notably a Wolf with an eyepatch. "We can't draw attention to ourselves, not with the kings here."

"We lead them around and lose them," Akira downed the rest of his coffee and stood. "You get Leven, Cloud, and Robin, and I'll get the girls."

Robin hid his disappointment the moment Chrom let him go to get another full look over. "You know, you wear that dress well."

"Shush," Robin sighed as he pulled the wig off. "I assume you have questions. Otherwise, you would have sold me out a while ago."

He cupped Robin's cheek and the tactician found it easy to lean into the touch. "Maybe I just wanted to speak with you alone." in a whisper he added, "I've missed you."

Robin lightly placed his hand over Chrom's feeling the Exalt's warmth through his gloves. He closed his eyes, lingering on that feeling just a little longer. "I missed you too." he cracked open his eyes and stared back at his other half. "You're making my job harder, you know."

"About that." Robin opened his eyes fully to look into those deep blues he longed to lose himself in. "What if I was to pull some strings with Bowser? We could use a skilled tactician." He flashed Robin one of those lovesick smiles. "It'll be like old times."

Something in Robin's chest squeezed at the thought. Finally, he could be of use for once, aside from being the only functional brain cell that was always ignored. Finally, he could be taken seriously.

Akira's smug visage flashed before his eyes. Robin clutched Chrom's wrist a little harder.

He could go back to the way things used to be. Finally, he would be able to live his life at his other half's side. He could make up for lost time with the man he loved. Ylisse was at peace and Chrom had children now, there was nothing else needed from him.

He threw himself at the Exalt, letting his lover's strong embrace shield him from all his guilt and agony. He could feel Chrom's fingers card through his hair.

"Please," Robin could feel the rumble of Chrom's voice as he spoke, "I need you to tell us who requested the Phantom Thieves to kidnap Corrin and Lucina."

An image of the two princesses came to the forefront of Robin's mind, the image he captured for their mock wedding had him conflicted. "I…" He pulled himself off of Chrom and held his gaze for a long moment. "I can't tell you that. I'm sorry Chrom."

"Robin…"

He had to remember them. I can't leave them with Akira. For their own good, I need to stay with the thieves. "I also can't stay either." This isn't about me anymore. "I hope you can understand." They need me.

"I don't," Chrom looked genuinely hurt by Robin's words, "but I'm not letting you get away this time," that determined look in his eyes only burned even brighter. "And if that means capturing you," he unsheathed Falchion. "Then so be it."

Robin took a step back and with a simple motion his outfit transformed back into his tactician's robes. He pulled out his Levin's sword and a random tome. I'm sorry Chrom, I truly am. But I have to make this quick and get back to the others.

Eleven was enjoying one of the leftover sandwiches as Bowser and the Don were busy conversing about something he didn't care to listen in on.

Suddenly the double doors were kicked open. He only saw Byleth for a second before she was dragging him and Cloud by the hands away from the kings and into the hallway.

It was as if he was skipping through time, Byleth was dragging them through the building in segments of time that didn't exist.

Eventually, they found themselves in a hiding room. Byleth was hunched over themselves gasping for air. "Leven," she gave an exhausted wave. "Know any teleportation spells?"

"Byleth, the hell's going on" Cloud asked as he tossed the wig off and already started undressing. Thankfully he had his normal clothes on under that, except for his armor.

"The bandits from the woods," they righted themselves. "Akira and I saw them in the crowd. I think they've been following us."

They could hear heavy footsteps down the hall. Byleth turned to Eleven then. "So Leven, now would be a good time to use any warp spells."

Eleven looked down at his hand and winced as he grabbed both of his teammates. He took a deep breath and summoned the magic in his hand. Please be Zoom, Please be Zoom, Please be Zoom!

The magic flowed from his hand as the mark of the Luminary shined brightly. Wisps of magic pulled themselves around the trio and suddenly there was a feeling of falling.

When their feet touched the ground again the three found themselves at the bottom of the stairs that led up to the Don's manor.

YES! Eleven pumped his fist triumphantly into the air as Byleth grabbed his arm again and they started skipping through the city again.

Chrom had always found falling in step with Robin while sparing incredibly easy. The issue was, he knew all of Robin's tricks and Robin knew all of his. For every blow, there was a counter. For every strike, there was a backstep or dodge.

However, what made it worse was that Robin wasn't holding back from using his magic. For every reckless move, he would be punished with a powerful gust of wind.

At one point Robin flung a useless tome at his head. That had given the tactician the opening he needed. Chrom watched as Robin pulled out a lighting tome and began casting.

He cursed as the bolt hit him straight on. The magic traveled through him and down his arm, forcing the muscles to spasm. He dropped Falchion and cursed himself for not being fast enough to dodge.

He noticed something just behind the mage and grinned. Maybe I should even the playing field.

He picked up Falchion and rushed forward. And as he expected Robin rolled out of the way. Chrom slammed his fist into the gold block lying on top of a nearby crate. He grinned as a rather large cherry landed in his palm.

The confused look on Robin's face was amusing, "What is that?" The caution never left those lovely honey-gold eyes.

"Just a little power-up," he grinned as he downed it in one bite. Much to his surprise the tingle didn't feel all that different than usual. As he expected when he glanced to his left he found himself looking back.

His doppelganger reached behind him and grabbed a leftover spear from one of his men had left behind. He wasn't much for tactics. No, he liked brute forcing it.

Corrin winced as she felt the magic glyphs press into her, she felt as if she was squeezing into a tight dress. Madam Athena was so very concentrated judging by her silence.

Corrin's ears perked as she heard a noise from just outside the main doors. Suddenly the door was pulled open revealing a frazzled Lucina and a serious-looking Akira. "We gotta go now." was all he said as he poked his head outside, clearly looking for someone.

"What's going on?" Madam Athena took the hint and Corrin suddenly felt a slight yank and pop.

Lucina frowned, "Our dads are in town, and the bandits from the woods tracked us here."

Corrin's eyes widened. She turned to face Madam Athena who now had a crown of light atop her head. With a wave of her hand, something in Corrin shifted and when she looked down her tail was gone. "It worked!"

She frowned, "It's rushed so it's a bit fragile. Be careful."

"Thank you, Madam Athena," she gave the woman a tight hug and rushed out with her Wife, Akira leading the way.

Robin cursed as he ducked under one of Chrom's sword swipes before sidestepping the other Chrom's lance. He wasn't mentally prepared for this.

He cast Wind on the Chrom with a lance and rolled out of the way of Sword Chrom's Aether. He really didn't want to be hit by that.

He cursed to himself. He should have brought more tomes.

He summoned a ball of fire and flung it at Sword Chrom. He needed to get one of them off of him.

He hadn't expected Chrom to take a stand and counter it. He rolled out of the way of his own fireball being flung back at him.

He cursed as the smoke obscured his vision and when it cleared he saw Sword Chrom charging at him. He attempted to right himself when a sudden pain shot up his back as a heavy slam shoved him to the ground.

His head hit the wood floor and as he peeked over his shoulder he watched as those two handsome faces looked down at him with concern.

Damn it. He closed his eyes. I'm sorry Lucina.

AN/ Wow that was one hell of a ride. I hope you guys enjoyed it.

Fun Fact.

1. I had asked my friend for possible skeletons in the council's closets and he decided collectively they all committed infidelity. Bowser Jr. learned a lot while he was looking into the Phantom Thieves.

2. Akira's Third eye is an ability he can use in Persona 5 and most other P5-related games. It usually allows you to see treasure or things you can interact with but more importantly for this story, it shows nearby enemies and how dangerous they are.

3 . So Byleth's powers are based on the way they work in Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes.

I'm about to go on a trip so I really wanted to finish this chapter before I left and after a few nights of not sleeping, I managed it.

~ (12/22/2023)