"It is said that the most pious would pray for the enemies of the halidom. For at the height of their power, even my father feared the Grandmasters of Ylisse.
-Lucina Lowell, Exalt of Ylisse
"There are better places to take a nap than on the ground, you know."
Harsh sunlight fluttered two sets of eyelids before brown eyes cracked open and settled on the heads of blue and blonde hair standing over them. A pair of gloved hands reached down in gesture and with a tug, hoisted them to their feet with startling ease.
"Are you two alright?" The man asked, his stirring blue eyes eliciting a strange sense of familiarity between the strangers.
Instinct dragged his gaze to the brown orbs by his side which were asking the same question. What was going on?
"Y-Yeah, we're fine Chrom," he began before falling into a wheeze. He felt like he'd just swallowed a bag of sand and now his throat scorched in regret. The silvery haired woman by his side moved closer and thumped a hand on his back as a small fit of coughs racked his lungs.
"Ah, then you know who I am?" Chrom questioned with a tinge of amusement meeting his lips.
His eyes glazed over as his brain attempted to pull forth an answer. How did he know who the man was? His head hurt, but more worryingly, it felt empty, like he'd lost something. It was only then did he realize that he hadn't lost something - he'd lost everything.
Well, not everything, as he turned to the woman who was wearing a remarkably identical outfit. Her eyes carried a similar sheen of thought as they were slowly narrowing. Their eyes met once again, and somehow, he knew she was the same.
He tried to recall something, anything, before an overwhelmingly nostalgic feeling washed over him. There were still no memories, but there was a bond between them. It was like a flame in empty darkness, a connection that he hungrily latched onto. He didn't need memories to hold on to family.
The shorter of the duo cleared her throat before taking over. "He- er, we don't. I think… we lost our memories?"
"..."
"What?"
A range of emotions were traded among their finders - three of them, now that a hulking suit of armor made its presence known.
"Preposterous, the idea reeks of deception," the brown haired newcomer rumbled, moving to stand an inch closer to Chrom.
"Frederick, while suspicious, if what they say is true, then they are in dire need of help," Chrom's look of resolution brought a frown to Frederick's own, the blonde girl giggling softly to the side.
"Yep! We can't just not help those in need," she chirped with so much optimism that even the walking suit of armor sighed in defeat.
"You two may have lost your memories, but do you remember your names?"
"Robin."
"Robin."
The air hung with a silent confusion - mostly on the side with their memories intact, the Robin's merely glanced at each other before shrugging.
"This is getting ridiculous. Who gives their children identical names," Frederick scoffed.
His (most likely) sister leaned towards his ear conspiratorially. "I don't like this guy, Robin."
"Me neither, Robin."
Their whispering didn't go unnoticed by Chrom, who raised his hand in a gesture of peace. "Perhaps we should settle this at the nearby town. Maybe there we can figure out what to do with you two."
"Do we have a say in this?" He asked, a cautious step inching him towards his sister.
"Peace, Robin, all I want is to verify some information and make sure there won't be any trouble. You and your sister are free to do as you please afterwards."
His shoulders relaxed at Chrom's words. The man's bearing was direct, and noticeably familiar with negotiation. It was a welcome contrast to his companion's glare that looked like he wanted to skewer him into the ground.
Another glance passed between the two Robin's before they dipped their heads in agreement. "We just woke up with no memories, the last thing we want is trouble."
"And put a muzzle on the walking piece of metal," his sister griped, returning Frederick's stink eye in full force.
Ylisse, a lush halidom ruled by a peace loving ruler - if she took the other pair of siblings' words at face value. It was a name that felt somewhat familiar but came up blank the more she thought of it.
She exhaled an irritated gust of air and pushed a long strand of white hair over her shoulder. If there was something she was certain of, it was that amnesia sucked. But at least she wasn't alone in that boat. One look at her brother told her he was just as uncertain as she.
Robin, he said his name was, and she knew he was her brother. She didn't remember, but she knew. Besides his near identical features and apparel, the two trailed toward the back of the group, furthest away from Frederick the weary and practically conjoined at the hip. No words were spoken but the sentiment was shared.
Chrom and his sister, Lisa, filled the trek with idle talk varying in importance. She learned the countryside wasn't safe from raiders, Frederick implicating the neighboring nation of Plegia to be responsible. It was especially damaging to where they were headed to: Southtown, an important hub of trade to be distributed north.
Lastly, all three claimed to be shepherds. Frederick, who was a walking tin can, Chrom, who carried an obviously ornamental sword, and Lissa, who cheerfully swung around a magical staff. A glance between Robins confirmed what the siblings thought about the three being 'shepherds'.
Her attention was disturbed as her nose twitched, something foreign in the wind alerting dormant alarm bells. She was about to open her mouth when Lissa beat her to it.
"C-Chrom, the town!" Five pairs of eyes turned toward the horizon, small but noticeable pillars of dark smoke stained against the clear sky.
The frantic chatter between the three 'shepherds' was pushed to the back of her mind as she turned to her brother. Her hand drifted toward a recognizable weight she'd concealed under her cloak and she could see her brother mirroring her movements. They were armed - good.
Three figures darted off into the distance and she hummed in thought. Were they really about to risk their skins for some strangers?
Of Course they were, as much as it irritated her. She had no memories, but her gut was pulling her to run after the trio. Whoever she was in the past was either an upstanding citizen or was attracted to trouble. Regardless, she unlatched the bronze sword from her belt and took a brave step toward the burning town.
"Wait."
Was her brother against it? Weird, she was certain-
"I want the sword," his tone held just enough demand to make her eye twitch. Brother or not, her things were hers, and she rounded on her sibling who just barely stared down at her. A yellow book was grasped tightly within his fingers, a bolt-like symbol emboldened on the cover. Whatever it was, she felt a strange pull from it, but that was beside the point.
"What- Why would I give you my sword?"
"Because I'm the older brother," he insisted, standing a step closer to lord the barely noticeable height difference.
"I don't know why you think you're some sort of swordsman, little brother, because it seems I'm the one who woke up with the sword," she turned her nose up to send a challenging glare into her brother's gaze.
"Wait a minute, I think I remembered something!" He exclaimed, face slack with apparent shock.
She paused before leaning forward hopefully. "A memory?"
"Yeah, I remember you being garbage with swords, so give it here," he snorted, a conniving hand darting toward the pommel.
Crunch*
Her response was fast, and hard, and painful. She smirked as her brother leapt back with a yelp, his palms clutching his shin that had been deservingly assaulted by her boot. Little brothers across the world should just learn their place already.
"Come get it then, brother," she scoffed before dashing off toward the three dots in the distance.
A free laugh bubbled from her lips as she ran. This was familiar, thank Naga she could share the pain of amnesia with someone else. Wait a minute, who the hell was Naga?
Her musing was interrupted by a violent streak of yellow lightning splashing into the ground she just barely covered a moment ago. The taller Robin's deeper voice screeched in the distance, and she ran just a little faster. Her brother wouldn't actually blast her with lightning… right?
The all too common sounds of metal and death carried along the stone tiles of the market square. A sword plunging into flesh, a scream before lightning fried their insides out, a violent flow of action that Chrom was familiar with. What, or rather who, he was not so sure about was the two siblings they had found by chance on the side of the road.
A head of blonde hair jogged up to him, and his sister hunched down on her knees for a quick breather. "C-Chrom, we're seeing the same thing here right?"
"Monsters," he breathed, just loud enough for Lissa to tiredly nod her head in agreement.
Things had at least started predictably. They'd arrived in the square to mete out justice for the townspeople only to be interrupted by two white hair lunatics barging into the burning town and bickering over something Chrom didn't understand.
His warnings went ignored, and he was almost sure something terrible was going to happen when they nearly crashed into the group of raiders occupying the square. But miraculously (and horrifically) it was the raiders who quickly became the victims to the siblings' heated argument.
"This one actually hit me bro, fry his brains out!" He heard to his front, witnessing the female Robin toss an already battered man onto the stone tiles. The male Robin responded immediately, sending a shining bolt that ended the man's life in an unpleasantly graphic manner.
Those demonic brown eyes met his own and he flinched.
"Why are you just standing there Chrom, move up the left flank and help Frederick!" It was the male Robin, who had already turned back toward the onslaught to rain lightning from over his sister's shoulder.
His legs obeyed before his brain caught up, his steel tipped boots clanking in the direction of the mounted knight who was fending off three ruffians on his own. Somewhere along the fight, the siblings had started dishing out tactical advice, which evolved into straight commands once the battle heated up. What's worse, they actually worked, to an astonishing degree.
A mage, a swordswoman, and they were both tacticians. The only thing they were missing was their memories.
But even as he questioned their sanity, he couldn't doubt that they were here to help. Anyone who helps save innocent Ylissean lives was good in his book, even if he wouldn't touch them with a ten foot lance.
The five were soon methodically plowing a path of carnage through the raiders, some of whom had decided fighting two gods of destruction just wasn't worth it. He marveled at how Lissa seemingly popped into existence whenever he sustained an injury before scurrying off to who knows where under Robin's command. And that wasn't all.
Frederick, his ever faithful guardian, was more mobile than in any skirmish he'd ever seen, blitzing into the flanks of enemies before rallying in a perfectly cleared out space. The tiny smile of satisfaction was unmistakable to Chrom's keen eye, and he chuckled. Maybe the battle would warm the man's weariness, if only a little.
"Watch out!"
Chrom's smile vanished and his senses blared at high alert. He swiveled to see a charging raider, the glinting edge of an axe already moving in a savage arc. He grimaced, too fast to dodge and too close to parry, he'd have to block and hope for the best.
He was spared from the blow however, as a bronze sword bit at the man's ankle, sending the detached appendage flying away. Even he winced as he witnessed the man's balance get violated, face planting into the stony floor like a stringless puppet.
Falchion plunged into the now prone man's heart before he could even think of picking himself up, and he turned to thank his rescuer.
"Hmph! All that fancy swordsmanship and you leave your flank open to some crusty bandit. It's positioning 101 Chrom, listen to my advice next time!" The female Robin ranted, her unamused glare piercing his pinkening cheeks. It had been a long time since he was so harshly scolded, and he had to visibly shake the embarrassment from his visage before wading back into the grisly melee.
Note to self: don't mess up in front of the female Robin, or the male Robin, or any Robin in general.
Robin dragged his knuckles across the sheen of sweat staining his forehead, leaning lazily against the stone bridge's low railing. While he wasn't swinging around his sister's sword as he would've liked, casting the same spell over and over again had proved just as, if not more taxing.
Even the slightest thought about the future gave a mental protest, so he resigned himself to gazing languidly at the perfectly blue sky. The wind was cool, and it felt great against his skin which still pulsed warmly from battle.
Chrom, Lissa, and Frederick chatted amiably with the town mayor in front of the chapel where the ruffian boss had made his last stand. He snorted, 'shepherds' indeed, he at least enjoyed the humble wordplay.
"Hey bro."
His head turned right, watching as his sister came into view and plodded over to his side. The bronze sword she wielded was once again tucked behind the dark curtain of the black and purple coat they shared. The thought of the blade made him scowl which quickly turned into a frown as his eyes drifted down to her left foot. His twin tailed sister hid it well, but his brotherly instincts sniffed out the slight favor she gave her right side.
"How's the ankle sis?"
She flopped against the railing by his side, breathing a long winded sigh. "Lisa healed me up, just a little tender down there for now. Moved too fast I think."
Her gloved finger touched her chin and she looked to the sky thoughtfully. "I could tell I was re-learning sword skills the longer we fought. It's a weird feeling isn't it? Feeling something you don't know."
He looked down at his hand and stretched his fingers out. "Yeah."
Her gaze dipped over her shoulder and his eyes narrowed at the ear to ear smirk. "Guess we know who the sword user is in the family. Stick to your books, lil bro."
Robin pursed his lips, just barely reigning in his vengeful instincts. One push - one push was all it would take to send his sister careening into the river. It would be hilarious, Lissa would probably get a laugh out of it too, and his sister would be furious. Then his tactical mind considered her sword, but she wouldn't shank him in his sleep… right? He settled with a grumble, turning his head the other way.
"Teach me what you learned later, I'll give you a go with my tome in exchange," he offered finally, returning his gaze to grumpily stare at his amused sister.
She hugged his shoulder, and he willed himself not to shove the gremlin off. "Deal, probably wait until we get to Ylisstol though."
Ylisstol, capital of Ylisse, and a few days travel north. His sister had agreed rather quickly when Chrom offered a place in their shepherds. He wasn't mad, it felt good to officially be part of something now that he had no memories, and Lissa was actually pretty funny. For a pair of amnesiacs, it was probably the best offer they could get.
The two lazed in silence as the temperate countryside breeze cooled their heads. Chrom and Lissa were still in animated discussion with the townspeople while Frederick broke off to stonily inspect the damage done to their town.
Robin cracked a sideways smile. Maybe things were looking up?
"Lissa!" His cry was swallowed by the desperate rage of combat. It was only his sister's screeching commands that peaked above the chaos. He abandoned his position to sprint toward the collapsing blond. At closer view, a grisly arrow protruded from her abdomen and stained her white frills crimson.
The perpetrator, a lumbering figure of flesh oozing darkness, tramped forward as it knocked another arrow. Robin hastily slid to put his body in between Lissa's squirming form and steel tipped death.
"ErGraGh!" The thing screeched as a different arrow violently lodged itself into its skull. Robin let a shallow breath escape as he turned to see the blue and white archer that had arrived in assistance.
The tactician's thoughts were on autopilot as his attention returned to the blonde cleric. Her hands desperately pawed at the protruding arrow and Robin couldn't help but mirror her wince.
"D-Don't… don't pull it out yet!" Lissa's words were accompanied by rough grunts as she pushed herself to a sitting position. One of her hands retreated under the exterior of her dress and returned with a concoction. With one hand, the top was dexterously removed, and the young cleric didn't hesitate in dumping the medicine onto her wound.
"C-Crap," she whispered, teal eyes enlarging to stare at the lack of concoction coming out then the noticeable cracks in the bottom of the bottle. That gaze turned to Robin, and he knew from the settling panic in her expression that the broken container was the last.
"I've been casting too much, we'll have to manually dress the wound," her voice had a hollow ring to it. Robin dared his eyes to reassess the seeping wound, and his stomach turned. He didn't even know how he knew, but if they pulled out that arrow, Lissa would probably die. He didn't need to be a cleric to know the arrow had pierced an extremely bad place.
A protective instinct flared in his chest, and his thoughts burned in overdrive. They were centered in the back of the hasty formation they set up. Lissa was bleeding fast, and the others were too far, he'd have to do something himself.
With his mind made up, his hands reached for where Lissa had dropped her staff. He clutched the cool metal with whitening knuckles and prayed his face didn't betray the twisting uneasiness in his chest.
"Alright! Tell me how to do the heal thing. I- I can do it!" Robin exclaimed with only a hint of hysteria touching his words.
Lissa's face contorted in several emotions before settling with her lips pressed tightly. He would have thought the sight amusing if the girl he'd slowly been warming to wasn't bleeding out in front of him.
"The orb, that's the catalyst," she hissed, wincing harshly as she pointed at the staff's tip. Her eyes were getting glassier with every word she spoke, and Robin knew she was losing consciousness.
"Think of… our bond… the soul… focus," the last word came out as a murmur, and Robin grit his teeth.
The soul, their bond, Robin didn't know what that meant, but he didn't care. He'd used magic without even knowing what a tome was earlier that day. Staff, tome, magic was magic, surely there couldn't be much of a difference - at least, he prayed it was so.
Gods, please let this work.
His hands angled the staff's apex toward the fading girl. The scraping of metal, the screams of monsters and men, even his dear sister's hoarse commands were droned out as he dedicated every fiber of his being toward his task.
Lissa had been a stranger just that morning, but she had so readily given them her trust. She was kind, and gentle, even if she vehemently denied being so 'delicate'. But she was also strong; the blonde wasn't scared to voice her opinions, and even less scared to do the right thing. He didn't know if he was a good judge of character, but he believed Lissa was beyond that.
And so he gave everything. Every drop of his magic was wrenched out of his soul and thrust forward in a dazzling glow. It was wild, untamed, and misdirected, but somehow it was enough. The staff in his hands thrummed in reception, and his clammy hands gripped it tighter.
"Heal," he bit out, hoping the universe would hear his wish. It felt like ice flowed through his veins and his knees buckled while his vision warped, and he could taste a crimson wetness leaking from his nose.
Magic, he deduced, was not meant to be expended at such a massive rate all at once. He squeezed his eyes tightly shut, holding on to the spell as long as he could.
"K-Keep going," Lissa's voice barely tickled his ears past his concentration.
An audible squelch, followed by a pained groan, alerted him to what she was doing. A few more seconds were all he could manage, the intense glow disappearing like a flame being snuffed. Was it enough? He didn't know, as his face met the ground a second later, his quickly disappearing consciousness barely registering the faint sound of footfalls reverberating through the dirt.
Robin trailed her eyes along the contours of her brother's face, his head nestled snugly in her lap as he lay unconsciously. The battle was desperately fought, her body failing, and even her tactics coming short at times. They had almost lost.
A gloved hand instinctively reached to carefully comb through her siblings' hair. Returning from the front lines to see her brother with his ass up and face plowed in the dirt had startled her more than she had been comfortable with. She'd nearly shaken Lissa half to death before it was explained to her that her brother had only passed out from mana exhaustion.
Healing magic, the thought set her lips into an amused arc. If her brother could in fact use healing magic like Lissa, there was no way he'd ever be in the front lines with her. It was probably for the best anyways. Their tactics were better distributed this way - and it ensured she'd be the designated swordsman.
Pausing in her sisterly doting, her eyes roamed the forested clearing turned battlefield. She guessed the monsters that assailed them were magical in nature. Not only could their ungodly strength make even Frederick tire, but their forms seemingly evaporated upon the deathblow. It was a little too mysterious for her liking. She was a tactician, not a detective, and the unknown variables were a nightmare to plan around.
The slight crunching of footsteps turned her eyes to the blue haired archer, Virion, she learned. He wandered the battlefield locating spent arrows and inspecting their tips with a seriousness she wished he held when speaking - particularly to her. Though she'd admit it was amusing to see his flowery visage cringe when she'd shut down his disgusting flirtations.
Nobody, not even her brother, could get away with calling her a 'pleasing treat for the eyes'.
It was a sentiment shared by the group's other newcomer. Another Shepherd, if she heard Chrom right. Sully seemed a fiery and martial knight, and Robin certainly didn't mind another woman in their company. Frederick was a stone wall, Chrom was a little awkward around her, and it wasn't like she and her brother had much to talk about. They didn't have memories after all.
She returned her hand to her fellow tactician's head and harshly sighed. Her first day of consciousness and monsters are raining from the sky. If there was one thing she was certain of, the world was a dangerous place.
A slight shift from below her made her eyes snap to her brother's identical brown. He groaned as his eyes fluttered to meet hers. The waking tension in his shoulders sagged, her brother allowing his head to remain planted blissfully in her lap.
"We did it?" He asked in a whisper, and Robin had to crane her head down to hear his raspy words.
"Yeah."
"Any casualties?"
She patted his head in assurance. "Nope."
He closed his eyes once again, releasing a dramatic sigh. She rolled her eyes but silently shared the sentiment. Today had been the most (and only) tiring day of their lives. So tiring, that she decided that her brother could enjoy her doting for just a moment longer.
Indeed, the world was a dangerous place.
Perhaps it was time to tip the scales.