Robin POV

My vision started to blur as I ran towards the general direction of Chrom's fort. My legs felt like lead, but I couldn't waste time as long as Terry was still in danger.

This is ridiculous! I should not have listened to that plan. I should have stayed. I should have…

Breaking past the tree line, the fort was looming ahead in the distance, but there didn't seem to be any more sounds of combat.

"Robin! Are you alright!?" I heard a voice yell out in the distance before seeing Chrom leaving the fort along with Frederick, Lissa, and what looked like two other soldiers. Rushing over to meet them I tried to explain the situation, but began coughing from the lack of oxygen.

"Easy, you're safe now. Where is Terry? I would have expected him to be with you?" Chrom seemed puzzled and even Lissa was glancing behind me to see if someone was going to pop out of the forest.

"Chrom, we have to head back! Terry stayed behind to hold off those monsters." I gasped, trying to catch my breath. Looking up towards Chrom I can see his gaze harden before he turned back towards the group.

"Frederick, you go on ahead! Sully, can you follow Frederick and take Robin with you?"

"Alright Captain. Get up here girl, we can't be wasting time if there are more of those freaks to take care of!" The aforementioned soldier yelled before pulling me up onto her horse.

I yelped in surprise at the sudden movement. This lady was way stronger than she looked! Sully quickly brought her horse around and charged ahead back into the forest line. Leaving Chrom and company behind as they followed after us.

"So your name is Robin huh. Me and ruffles came just in time to help out the captain, but he did mention that a tactician and her father were split at another fort."

"Ruffles?" It seemed like a strange name. Perhaps she was referring to that other soldier. He was definitely wearing some flowery clothing.

"Yeah, he came out of nowhere and was spewing some random stuff about his archery skills or something. He is a good shot, so he is good for something at least." Sully chuckled while shaking her head.

I stayed silent, mulling over what she said. That must be why it was so quiet. Sully and this Ruffles guy must have helped Chrom clear out the monsters surrounding his fort. Looking ahead I could see Frederick's horse slowing down and we soon broke into another clearing.

"Why are we stopping here sir?" Sully slowly moved up behind Frederick and glanced around the area.

"It looks like there were signs of combat. Look, there are a few of those creature's bodies decomposing here." Frederick pointed towards what looked like one of the bodies, it was killed in one blow if its two halves were anything to go by. There was also a hulking mass that looked like one of the monsters as well, but it looked like it was missing it's head.

"He must have been fighting here, but where is he…?"

"Robin, were you able to find anything?" I turned around and saw Chrom behind me. He glanced at the slowly decomposing body of the giant creature before heading over to the other bodies.

"Whew, whoever took this guy out must have been vicious. This Terry guy sounds like he would be fun to fight against." Sully exclaimed before getting off her horse to take a closer look.

"Yes, this looks like that mercenary's work, but something doesn't seem right here milord."

"I agree, look at this tree here, it looks like something hit it. There seem to be some blood around it as well. If it was Terry who hit this, it must have been a strong blow." Chrom seemed confused by the situation before glancing at the huge body close by.

"Captain, I found something!" Sully pointed towards the neck of the decapitated creature. Walking over, Chrom took a glance before looking over to me and waving me over.

"This doesn't look good Robin. Take a look at this." I walked up behind Chrom and looked at the cut. I saw a lot of dark ooze pouring out of the wound, but then saw a glint of silver. I slowly reached out and grabbed it before pulling hard. Holding it up, it was a piece of a broken blade, with the moon reflecting off of the blade, there was no mistake who it belonged to.

"Those blades you have seem quite interesting Terry. I thought they were steel swords at first, but they looked to be much stronger than that." Chrom looked interested in the blades Terry was cleaning.

"Yeah, these swords were forged with a type of metal called tungsten." Holding the blades up, they seemed to have a bright sheen against the moonlight.

"There is no mistaking it, this blade belonged to him, so he must have surely been the one to defeat this creature, but his body is nowhere to be found…"

"Yes milord, after investigating the area, there were no signs of a body and all that was found was the puddle of blood by this tree earlier, but no trail showing that he moved from that spot." Frederick seemed puzzled at this situation, unsure of what to make of it.

"Chrom…you don't think those monsters took him do you?" Even Lissa seem subdued at the prospect, none of the energy she usually had was present.

Chrom's gaze moved over towards me, but I could only stare blankly at the blade. Even if it was only a piece of it, the blade felt much heavier than it looked.

"Robin, before I teach you swordplay, hold this blade for me. You need to understand the weight of this weapon."

"Weight? This sword seems pretty easy to swing around father."

"Hm, its not quite the weight that you may be thinking. Whenever someone holds up a blade or weapon, not only is it used for self-defense, but it also shows the wielder's intention to end the life of another. When you learn how to wield a blade, you have to understand that the weight of a person's life is hanging onto that very sword."

"The weight of human life…" Looking at the sword, it felt much heavier now.

"These swords are unbearingly heavy, but I do have something that helps lighten the load."

"What's that?"

He glanced at me before ruffling my hair. "Maybe I'll tell you when you're older."

"Hey!"

"The weight of a blade…" I could feel tears stinging my eyes and tried to rub them out, but they kept coming. A hand clasped onto my shoulder with Chrom looking at me.

"Don't worry Robin, we'll find him." His stance was strong, but his gaze seemed to waver at the possibility of Terry's death.

"Milord, I understand your concern, but we cannot spend anymore time searching for this mercenary. We have combed the area and there doesn't seem to a trace of him anywhere. We have to make haste to Ylisse to report this calamity."

"Aren't you being harsh Frederick, although his time was short, Terry was still a Shepard. We can't leave him behind if there is even a chance that he is alive."

"Sorry captain, but I am going to have to agree with Freddy on this one." If this guys body is somewhere, its probably not in a place that we can find in good time." Sully rubbed her head, not sure what to make of the situation.

"Urgh..Damn it!" Chrom slammed his fist into a tree. He sighed before turning back towards me. "I am sorry Robin, but Frederick is right, we have to make our way to Ylisse. I assure you we will send parties out to find him once we reach the capital."

I could only stare down and nod, not trusting the words that might come.

"Alright let's move." Chrom and the Shepard's began to move ahead with me following soon after. Staring at the blade in my hand, it only felt heavier than ever before.

Lucina POV

Watching father leave, I truly wanted to go down there and meet them, but with the current circumstances it would be too suspicious. Perhaps in the future where I can warn them of the impending danger.

Making my way through the forest, there was a small hill overlooking a river. Glancing around, nothing has seemed to have changed since I left for that small period of time. Propped up and currently unconscious against the hill was Terry.

"I'm glad that you're still safe." I was worried that he would bleed out from the wounds on his body. It was fortunate that he had a few concoctions to close up the wounds from the earlier battle. Looking at him, memories of a time long past came to mind.

"Lucina."

Glancing up, I saw a tall figure standing at the entrance to the castle. There was a hood covering his head, so I couldn't see him very clearly. From the way the guards were stepping to the side, he must have been important. He wore some light armor on his arms and legs and had a simple chest guard, but there was a symbol of Naga on his armlets and he seemed to be carrying a bundle.

Pulling down his hood, a head of graying hair appeared along with old, but sharp eyes looking at me. He slowly moved forward to me, but I could only stare. "This might be one of the first times we met little miss, but I am a friend of your Father, a Shepard.

I was amazed, the Shepards were known across the land as being some of the strongest fighters in Ylisse! Looking at him again, I saw that he looked to be carrying two blades to his side.

"Do you know why I am here Lucina?" He looked at me in question, but I did not have any idea what his purpose was. Shaking my head, he only knelt down and slowly opened the bundle in his arms. Inside was something that I was familiar with, but I always saw it at the side of only one person, my father.

Sensing my confusion, the man's gaze softened. "Your father and the Shepards were on a key mission, but we underestimated who we were up against. He told me that if anything happened to him and your mother, that I bring this back to Ylisse."

"So where are they? Where is mother and father?"

The man could only look away. "I am sorry Lucina."

Tears welled up in my eyes. If what this man was saying is true, then father is…

I felt a presence and felt a hand on my head. Glancing up, I saw the man looking down with a mournful look on his face and he wiped my eyes. Standing up he took the Falchion and walked up to the throne before stabbing the blade into the ground. It stood resolute as people stared, confused at what the man was doing.

I mourn for the loss of people who I would call my closest family here, but I cannot ignore the impending future. I will teach you what you will need to survive Lucina and once you are ready, you can take the Falchion for yourself. It is the least I can do in your parent's memory. Walking back to me, he ruffled my hair. I could only glare at him before he started laughing.

"You know, your mother used to make the same face."

"Who are you anyway?"

The man sat in thought for a minute before answering. "My name is Terry, just a lowly mercenary turned Shepard.

At the time, I was confused by what he said. He called himself a mercenary, but I heard tales of his speed and precision in battle, favoring technique over brute force. Growing up, he taught me the basic skills in order to take care of myself and also how to lead. Unfortunately, I could never really pick up his fighting style, but he was able to teach me the basics and the Royal Ylissean sword art of my father that he learned from memory.

Although my father was lost in the battle against the fell dragon, Terry was happy to take the role of a father figure in those troubling times. Being able to travel back to this time with the grace of Naga was truly a blessing. With the help of the others, we can divert the future brought by Grima and save our families. Glancing back at Terry, I could only think about the last time I saw him before coming to this time.

"Lucina we need to retreat!" Owain struck out against one of the risen before taking a few steps back. The situation seemed dire. The number of risen were continuing the rise. More and more people were beginning to fall against the unending tide of the undead.

"Owain is correct, escape is our best option at this moment." Laurent seemed to be in agreement. Although he seemed fine, the beads of sweat slowly dropping from his forehead spoke volumes to the amount of concentration he was doing keeping the Risen at bay.

Looking around, there seemed to be risen everywhere, I wasn't sure how we would be able to break through.

"Leave it to me." I heard a voice to my side before seeing multiple risen be cleaved in two. Standing behind them was Terry, standing resolute against the horde of risen. "We have to make it to Mount Prism if we want any chance of succeeding with the awakening."

I nodded in determination and called over our allies to follow quickly. As we charged forward, seconds turned to minutes and minutes turned to hours. However, Terry seemed relentless in his assault on the risen. However, even I could tell that he was beginning to tire.

"These risen are persistent…" Terry muttered. Looking ahead, the mountain was visible in the distance, but a horde of risen were still pursuing us. The chances of making it before we were overtaken seemed slim at best. As if sensing my inner turmoil, Terry moved up to me.

"Don't worry so much Lucina, once we get close to the mountain I'll think of something." I appreciate his vain attempt at making light of the situation. It was comforting, but even I could tell that the odds were set against us.

"Trust me." His confidence was surprising, but I couldn't help but believe him. He has not led us astray so far in our war against the risen. Turning back and running ahead, I heard him say something as he repositioned himself behind us.

"So this is my place…" I glanced back at him, but he only seemed to smile at my stare.

Eventually we saw the mountain in the distance. Climbing up, I felt our goal in our grasp. "So Terry, what is this plan that you…have?" Looking around the mercenary seemed to be missing. Where did he go?

"Lucina! Down there!" Looking back the way we came, I could only freeze, seeing Terry standing at the base of the mountain alone. I remember screaming out to him, but he only turned his head upwards before shaking his head and drawing his blades. This was his plan!?

"We can't waste anymore time Lucina! Don't let his life be wasted." I felt someone pulling me ahead, but I could only stare before seeing the risen reach the mercenary. His blades shined, tearing through armor and flesh alike. The bodies of risen began to quickly pile around him, but for each one he struck down, two more took their place. Before reaching the peak, I had believed it possible that he would be able to hold them, but then I saw him flinch and then a stray arrow hit him in the arm, causing him to drop one of his blades. He tried to bring his other blade up in defense, but that small moment of weakness was all before he was run through by the risen.

All around me, I had felt the morale of the other children drop drastically seeing one of the final Shepards fall to the risen. Maybe it was not surprising that we continued on to have fail the awakening. Not only were we not able to retrieve all the gemstones, but witnessing my mentor die so easily was too difficult a trial to overcome. It was only with the assistance of Naga that we were able to escape.

"With this new opportunity, maybe things can be different, but…" Looking over at Terry's body, it seemed that there were already changes being made to the timeline. In the future, the mercenary often spoke of his past battles. In particular, he recalled a time where due to his inexperience, he suffered a heavy injury against the risen. Although he was saved in the end, his wound never completely healed, and he was often hindered by it.

I had not planned on meddling with the timeline so early, but seeing him defenseless, I could not let the same fate happen once again. However, what happened afterwards was not something that I intended to do.

"Why did I take him with me?"

I should have left him in the care of Father and the Shepards, but instead after healing him, I took him here. It was a decision driven by impulse. Perhaps a desire to see a familiar face. However, I knew that my actions could have severe implications in the future.

"I just hope I have not already made a mistake."

Sorry, been getting tied up with work and schooling so wanted to get something out before things get too hectic again. As a consequence, the chapter is a bit shorter, but I will try to get back up to speed once time frees up for me.