Work Text:
A likely story.
A Fire Emblem: Awakening fanfiction.
The next time the sun rose, the murmuring ceased as footsteps echoed throughout the hall.
The doors open, slowly, agonizingly slow.
Once the creaking stops, the people look up.
The whispers seem to cease until they realize what they see. And in the absence of words, the very atmosphere itself seems to grow heavy.
The very air seemingly turning black, with the hatred in their eyes.
Ahh, the kind of atmosphere that he'd actively tried to avoid.
Robin stumbles a bit when one of the guards yanked the chains on his collar. On his hands.
He's thrown on his knees, clenches his teeth at the impact.
Insults flying over his ears in heated whispers, he feels his cheeks burn, involuntarily.
The back of his neck prickles at the intensity of their stares.
"So, this is him?" He hears, a different voice than the others. Softer, his voice slightly raspy from strain.
At that voice, the people quieten down. Ah.
Robin looks up and sees a man standing in front of him.
From this angle, he can just barely see the mark inscribed on his shoulder.
"This is...the man who killed Emm?"
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"The exalt is dead, then?" Is the first thing the man says.
Chrom narrows his eyes, taking in his expression. The way the man said that was...odd.
Not a gloating tone. Or a pitiful plea.
Not even a simple matter-of-fact statement.
"Didn't you kill her?" He asks. Demands.
"I didn't." Is the man's reply, "I had no intention to, nor even any ill-will towards her."
"He's lying, milord!"
Jeers and boos from the group gathered around them, like a cheap pantomime, a shadow play.
He's in no mood for this.
"Silence!"
And they do fall silent, startled by his sudden outburst.
"Then why have they brought you to me?!"
"We found him sneaking around the castle, milord!"
"He was wearing the cloak of the Grimleal on the grounds of Naga!"
"A familiar complaint..." He hears the man mutter. That catches his attention.
"A familiar complaint?" He repeats, "What do you mean?"
"The lands I've traveled through do not exactly welcome Grimleal with open arms, milord." The man says, with a rueful smile.
"Traveled through? Who are you exactly?"
"A sword for hire. Or a mage. Or perhaps even assistant patissiere. It varies most days."
"Assistant...patissiere?"
"That was a strange job." The man says with a shrug, "Food's food, though."
"Then why were you called here?"
"I wasn't. I came here, investigating something."
"You shouldn't have been here at all."
At this, the man stops smiling.
"Because you were never supposed to have been found here, milord? Nor you...", He looks around, sees the servants mill around them, "...nor your family?"
He can feel the very air around them freeze, the whispering picking back up in volume.
"...You seem to know more than a simple sell-sword would."
"More of a tactician than a sell-sword. And I suppose."
"You don't deny that?"
"I don't. I've heard the rumors, milord."
"Rumors, huh. Must've been pretty detailed for them to lead you here."
"Too much so." That same unreadable expression. Rueful, lips pursed tight.
As if he knew something.
"But then, for what purpose have you come here?"
"That's...can I ask you something back?"
He feels them tense, the chains around the man tighten ever so slightly.
"What is it?"
"Rare for someone to actually listen." The man says, smiles, takes a deep breath, "My name is Robin. I'm a wandering tactician...but that is merely my cover."
"Cover?"
"I've been looking for something."
"And it led you to this place?"
"It did. Milord," Robin pulls at his sleeves, his head tilts like he's tempted to bow it, "the rumors are all true. I've seen it."
He barely hears those words, but when he does, the effect is immediate.
The very world around him seems to tilt, the air in his lungs knocked out by the vertigo, he just barely resists the urge to actually stumble.
"The youkai that looms over the royal family...your family. I've seen it."
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He's grown up with the stories. One of the first words he'd heard was 'youkai'.
He'd learnt what it meant 10 years later, when his father had been driven insane.
It didn't happen over the span of a day. It took days, months, even years.
With the death of their mother and the manifestation of Emmeryn's magic, his wrath had been almost inevitable.
And in turn, the ruin of the kingdom itself. Famine, the people impoverished, and the darkness seeping into the earth itself.
He'd seen it firsthand, the youkai's 'curse'.
It resulted in his father's death, in a fire that ravaged the civilian population.
On that day, Emmeryn had taken both him and Lissa in her arms, hugging them close to her.
"I won't let anything harm you. I will never let anything harm you or Lissa ever again."
"I promise, Chrom."
I will protect you.
Father's heirloom she'd insisted that he'd take. Possibly in bad taste, but she'd insisted.
"A shield to protect the sword."
I will protect you.
And she'd kept her word.
Even now, the image of the blood, her body askew, like the prized puppet abandoned by its master halfway through the show.
Emm...I wanted to protect you.
The last thing he'd wanted was for her to become his sword.
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"...!"
Robin tenses up suddenly, looks around. Completely obvious to the guards' snarling.
"...It's still here."
"What?"
"The youkai. It's still lingering...ugh, this isn't good!"
He can hear crashes in the distance, people screaming.
That's all the warning he has before the doors slam open.
As the guards shout, he hears the clinking of chains and suddenly, the man standing in front of him.
"Hurry!"
Hands on his own, strangely warm and Robin pulls him along as he finally sees it.
A hulking mass, sharpened teeth, a single, glowing eye.
A beast made of darkness, dripping the shadows themselves.
And it turns towards Chrom.
"Don't look."
His gaze is wrenched away by a hand on his cheek and back towards Robin.
"We need to run!"
The clinking of chains as Robin pulls him away. Behind him, he can hear the monster roar.
More people screaming.
"Wait!"
"You can't do anything for them right now! The youkai's after you!"
"What about Lissa?!"
He hears the man curse, and they almost stumble over the debris.
"Where is she?!"
"Sh-she might be near the boundaries of the castle still!"
"We'll need to get past the monster then-!!"
He almost collides into Robin as he stops suddenly, he's about to ask why when he feels it.
Disgusting, warm breath on his face, the smell of meat.
Words.
The glimmer of a familiar, cat-shaped eye.
A hard tug on his robes has him out of the youkai's grip.
"This way!"
Robin pulls him towards a set of doors and hastily closes them.
Muttering something under his breath.
"What are you doing?"
"Shutting it out by shutting us in."
Before his eyes, streaks of purple seeped onto the surface, slashed violently across the door.
"No such time for finesse." Robin pipes up when he notices Chrom staring at it.
"This...keeps the youkai out?"
"Not exactly. It draws its attention and tells it that you're here. In essence, it keeps it rooted to the spot."
"Rooted to the-?! Wait...", Chrom narrows his eyes, "...so it doesn't go after anyone else?"
Robin's eyes widen. Just a tiny bit. "...Yes. Least of all, the princess. A messy solution, but it'll last for long enough."
"Long enough?"
"Yes, until I figure out how to get rid of it."
"How to...wait, you can?"
"I can. It'll take awhile to do so though. A...while."
Robin rests his hand on the doorknob, taking a deep breath.
"Are you alright?"
"I'm fine. I'm used to this." Robin takes a deep breath, "Maybe a little more tired than I'd like, but I'm alive."
"...I'm sorry."
"For what?"
"For holding you captive."
Robin stares at him before he says, "It was a rational decision. I was the only one you didn't recognize inside the castle, and I was wearing the colors of the enemy country. It's only natural that you'd suspect me."
"I didn't."
"...What?"
"I didn't suspect you. You didn't seem like you killed her." Chrom says.
"...Well, that's what most people would suspect." Robin says shortly. He straightens his robe, then sits down next to the door. Taking a deep breath and checking the lock.
"Why are you here, then?"
"I tracked the rumors. I'd heard that it was...bad." Robin grimaced, "I didn't know that it was this bad."
"This bad?"
"An amalgamation of the kind of hatred that only a leader would possess. Or a king." Robin adds, before he quietens down.
"...You mean, the kind when you're the king in a warring country."
"Yes. Sorry. That was a bit tactless."
"No. It's true." Chrom says simply.
"If it makes any difference, it's not a curse."
"It's not?"
"No. It's merely a vindictive kind of monster. Your sister...the exalt didn't suffer from it like your father did."
"It..." Chrom takes a deep, harrowing breath, "It helps. Thank you."
"I should've been here to help sooner."
"You're here to help now. Thank you."
"You're giving me a bit too much credit, milord."
"You can stop it with the 'milord' stuff. Please, just call me Chrom."
"...Chrom, then. You're giving me a bit too much credit, Chrom." Robin says after a while.
"Do you know why the youkai's...done this?"
"Well, it's an amalgamation of hate, like I said." Robin grimaces, "But I can tell that's someone's summoned it here."
"Summoned it?"
"Dark magic. Usually not bad to practice it, but this kind of summoning requires a 'special' kind of demented determination."
"Any idea who would summon it?"
"..."
"You know, you can give me some options. I'm not going to go to war with them right this second."
"I suppose not." Robin says with a chuckle, "...The guards were right, you know. I came from Plegia."
"..."
"I know exactly how bad things are up there. They say the king had gone mad...and they're right. Rounding up the servants, noblemen, peasants alike for sacrifices to the cult or something."
"Or something."
"...I suspect the king's hand in this. I know it sounds unbelievable but-"
"No, I believe you." Chrom says, almost immediately. On seeing the look on Robin's face, "Gangrel hasn't exactly been discreet with his madness."
"True."
Robin absentmindedly tugs at the chains in his hands, the sleeves of his robes. "What's that on your arm?" He asks.
"It's...a treasure of Ylisse. It's been passed down from ruler to ruler, but Emmeryn said I needed to keep it."
"A treasure? Wait." Robin straightens up, "...Is it okay if I take a look at it?"
"Sure."
While Robin makes his way towards him, Chrom surveys him with a sharp, renewed gaze.
His hair seemed ruffled, unkempt. There was a patch over one of his eyes and this close, he can see the faint traces, lumps of scarred tissue marring his skin.
"Horrific, isn't it?" Robin asks, softly.
He raises his head and meets Chrom's eyes.
"The price of losing to a youkai had never been so light for the others."
Chrom doesn't have an answer for that. And Robin returns to studying the shield.
His cloak was dusty, the ends were tattered. The boy looked much too skinny. A painful, gaunt look hanging around his features.
...
"Right. I have an idea on how to drive it out."
"It?"
"The youkai. It seems to be attached to this shield."
"It is?!"
"Yes. It explains how it's been able to sustain itself for so long, and feed off its host without people finding it. Would you be so quick as to suspect one of Naga's relics as the source?"
"It's not-?!"
"No, Naga herself is not the cause. You could say it's something...of a rivalry though." Robin purses his lips.
"Do we have to destroy it?"
"I doubt I can. This kind of thing isn't exactly something you destroy without disastrous consequences, even if I could. And we don't need to. The youkai seems to have abandoned the object entirely."
"Good. This is...kind of something I want to keep."
"...I understand all too well."
"You do?"
"I don't exactly wear this for convenience." Robin says, indicating his cloak.
From outside, they hear a series of heavy thuds against the door.
"Ugh. It's gone on for too long already. The sooner we deal with this, the better."
"Can you?"
"I can manage."
"No, no. I mean, are you alright? You look..." Chrom struggles for something that couldn't be taken as an insult.
"I'm alive." Robin says simply, "And I'll ensure that you stay alive as well. Please stay behind this door...!"
The slashes on the door fade out from the door at that moment, and the doors crash open.
"Stay back!"
"Wait!"
It's too late; Robin is running right towards the youkai. Chrom hears it roar and he feels his heart stop.
"Wait!!"
A flash in his eyes makes him halt, he grits his teeth. "Ugh!"
"I said, stay back!" Robin snarls. More to the monster than to him.
The monster. It resembles something he vaguely remembers.
It-
You can't protect them forever.
It looks vaguely familiar.
A foreboding feeling.
The clap of thunder and another flash of lightning. The rustle of chains.
The monster's mighty jaw clamps at the chains around Robin's hands.
"...!"
"Robin!"
"Let go!"
Before his very eyes, the chains turned black with rust. The smell of blood.
You can't run for long, Robin.
"...!"
"I'm not running."
In a fluid motion, he snaps the chains off the monster's teeth and grabs its maw.
"I'm right here."
A flash of colors, light, warmth. It illuminates the entire room, Chrom could hear his ears singing. Stars dancing before his eyes.
And just like that, the youkai was gone. Robin standing in his place, clutching at his wrist.
"Robin!"
"I'm fine. Might've grazed my hands and that's all." Robin says, while stretching his arms experimentally.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"That's good."
"...You're a bit too nice, you know that? Too trusting."
"Am I now?"
"..." Robin looks towards the door, "You should go. You're going to need to check up on your people."
"What about you?"
"Probably go to an inn and get some sleep. And food. It's been a rough couple of days."
"...You can stay here if you want."
"What?" Robin frowns at him.
"It's the least I can do for you saving my life. For as long as you want."
"What? You're going to let a random Plegian commoner stay at your home?"
"I don't exactly know what they do in Plegia, but I'm not so ungrateful that I would let my savior go back on the streets sleepless and hungry."
"But..."
"No complaints."
"I..." He's tugging at his sleeves again. Chrom stares at him mutely, then shakes his head.
Unbuckling the clasp of the cape at his throat and pulling it off, wrapping it around Robin.
"...!'
"If it's an issue of trust, my subjects trust in my decisions. I trust you, they all do. And the few naysayers left will see that and know to trust you."
"So you say but this is...mildly embarrassing." Robin says, still a bit disgruntled.
"What do you say?"
"..." Robin looks back at him and sighs, "I wouldn't be changing your mind, I see."
"Come, then."
A spur of the moment decision, perhaps.
But he could trust him somehow.
The sound of footsteps behind Chrom's back was oddly reassuring.
And in truth?
For all the time that had passed by, he never once regretted his decision.
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