Chapter Text
After "meeting" Emmeryn and the rest of the shepherds, Robin immediately bought gloves.
They were headed to Ferox the next day, and Robin figured they would need supplies. Luckily, he had convinced them to let him go shopping alone, saying that he wanted walk around by himself for a while. He needed some time to himself after all that happened. He had no idea how he was supposed to keep his composure for much longer.He was the one who decided to lie, but it was taking it's toll on him.
The fell dragon's presence in his body was strong, stronger than it had been in his alternate self. He could feel Grima within him, like a stomach ache that never quite went away. His alternate self had never even noticed Grima inside him, but now that he knew, he wondered how he had been so blind before. He slipped the gloves on immediately, feeling satisfaction when the Mark of Grima was finally hidden. He hated it with a burning passion.
As he wandered around, not quite wanting to go back to the castle yet, he idly wondered why revenge seemed more important to him than stopping Grima. Perhaps it was because he had more control this time, he was shaping his own future. Either way, he didn't feel guilty about hiding Grima. He knew he should, but he didn't.
Robin stiffened and almost let out a yelp when he felt a hand land on his shoulder. He turned swiftly, but relaxed when his eyes met Chrom's.
"Chrom!" Robin exclaimed, hiding his newly gloved hands. He didn't know why, but he felt a sudden rush of shame at his weakness.
"Hello, Robin," Chrom smiled, "I heard you went out to buy supplies and..."
"And?" Robin prompted.
"Well," Chrom shifted awkwardly. People were beginning to stare at them, or rather, at Chrom. They whispered excitedly as they passed.
"We can move, if you want?" Robin suggested, noting Chrom's discomfort. Chrom smiled at him gratefully and they headed to the castle.
To Robin's surprise, Chrom didn't go inside, but went to a secluded area, one behind the castle. Robin observed the area, noting that it was probably a training area. There were battered dummies and broken weapons lying around. He saw one particularly mutilated dummy and grimaced. That one must be Frederick's, he tough to himself.
"What was it you wanted to say?" Robin asked, turning to face the other man. Even in this terrible lighting, Chrom looked stunning, Robin noted.
"I just wanted to make sure you were OK," Chrom said, his eyebrows knitting together, "I mean, you woke up with amnesia and were immediately recruited into an army. To top it all off, you're about to march off to Regna Ferox. Are you doing alright?"
Boy, what a loaded question. No, he wasn't doing alright. He wanted to lay down and cry his eyes out, he wanted to sleep for days, he never wanted to wake up. He wanted to claw at the feeling in his stomach, scratch at the mark on his hand, a constant reminder that he would be the one to destroy everything.
"I'm fine," Robin said, smiling politely, "Thank you for your concern."
Chrom frowned, but said no more.
The next day they headed out to Ferox. Robin could feel Frederick's eyes on him, still, although he hadn't tried to kill Chrom at all. In fact, he hadn't done anything bad yet. Perhaps Frederick just knew, maybe he could sense the evil in him.
The shepherds soon came across a wounded pegasus. Sumia quickly volunteered to stay behind and take care of it, and Chrom reluctantly agreed, clearly uncomfortable with leaving Sumia alone.
Robin felt relieved. In his future timeline, Chrom had married Sumia and he had been stuck gazing from afar, still loving Chrom, but unable to do anything about it. Robin regretted that he harbored some resentment toward Sumia, but that didn't stop it from happening.
"Here we are," Chrom said as they approached a tall wall. A woman was standing at the top, peering down at them.
"Who are you?" she questioned warily, her voice booming down at them.
"Chrom, prince of Yllise," Chrom said, "We were asked to come here by Kahn Flavia."
"How do I know for sure who you are?" the woman asked harshly. Chrom scowled. "Fight me, and prove to me that you are indeed Chrom!"
Robin felt his stomach drop as an arrow flew toward Chrom, but before he could move, Sumia had already scooped Chrom up.
"You OK?" he could hear Sumia speaking, although it was hard to hear as she flew in the air.
"I'm fine," Chrom said, staring at Sumia, mouth slightly agape. Robin pressed his lips together, feeling a stabbing pain in his chest.
Robin immediately started yelling, splitting them into to groups, and keeping Chrom close to Sumia. He moved with them, having Vaike and Frederick and a few others move to the other side. As they were running, Robin saw a glimpse of someone out of the corner of his eye. He moved to attack, but saw only Kellam.
"Hey!" Robin shouted, running over to Kellam, who looked shocked that Robin had noticed him, "Uh, who are you?"
Robin hated having to keep up this facade. But now that he had lied, he had no way back.
"Kellam," Kellam said, still looking shocked, "I'm one of the shephards. I've been here the whole time, actually..."
Robin felt a stab of guilt in his chest, "Kellam, will you help us fight?"
"Isn't that my job? I was just in shock, I was about to help," Kellam grinned and began fighting.
Soon they were on the upper level of the gate to Ferox, and both groups moved in on the leader. Robin yelled to Virion to shoot at her as Vaike moved in, Frederick attacking from the other side. The leader was quickly beaten.
"How could I have been so easily beaten..." she panted on the ground, grimacing.
"Believe me, it was far from easy," Chrom said, stepping out from the crowd of shepherds surrounding the woman, "Now do you believe who I am?"
"...Yes," she said finally. Chrom offered her a hand and she took it, standing up.
"Now, let's go."