Chapter 29 - The Defense of Ylisstol - Chalysane and Robin

A blurred suit of Pegasus Knight armor hangs on a frame next to the wall - specifically, where my old set of armor used to be. A set of armor that I've consistently used for more than twenty years. It will be taken to Ferox for repairs, but they expect it to take a while: the armor designs are supposedly familiar but foreign to an exotic degree, and it was apparently built from an exceptionally difficult to replicate alloy. It's effective armor: in fact, it's the most advanced that they've ever seen. If it wasn't so prohibitively difficult to recreate, they would outfit the entire Feroxi military in the equipment. Until my armor is returned, however, I'm to use the Pegasus Knight armor. It's a somewhat difficult situation, but it has its benefits.

Sitting up and wiping the sleep out of my eyes, I reach over to the nightstand next to the bed and take my glasses from it and put them on. The blankets shift next to me as Robin sleeps on top of them: she had fallen asleep near the window last night, so I removed her coat and moved her to the bed. At some point, however, it seems that she has somehow ended up on top of the blankets - and put on her coat. Or, that is, she seemed to have tried to: she has one arm through the wrong sleeve as the rest of it hangs off the side of the bed. As I watch, she turns over, pulling the coat off the floor as she slips her other arm through the other sleeve, thereby succeeding in wearing it backwards. I'd consider doing something, but she seems comfortable enough. Somehow.

Taking care to move slowly so as to allow Robin to continue sleeping, I push myself off the bed and I consider putting on the armor. I decide against it in the end: it would make too much noise, especially considering I'm not used to putting it on yet. While it's much less tedious to put on and take off than my normal armor, I've dropped my cuirass twice, each time resulting in a sound that is very nearly deafening. It's an event I'd rather not have Robin experience, much less while asleep: while she doesn't scare, I'm sure she would be annoyed. With this conclusion, I walk over to the window and move the curtains for a moment as I look out.

The sun has long left the horizon and Ylisstol is already entirely awake, its people roaming the streets as they go about their business. A red and white blur flashes in front of me, followed by a series of other blurs: Cordelia and her squadron. While Emmeryn is in the Barracks, the guard has remained in the castle in an attempt to perpetuate an illusion that she's cloistered away. Of course, she's not completely undefended: Panne and Gaius have been keeping watch over her from midnight onwards, and they switch off with Ricken and Ena during the day at noon. Also to be noted is that the guard includes Cordelia's Pegasus Knights in their number: they could be anywhere any time.

Cordelia's Pegasus is named Aurora, for that matter. On the other hand, I still haven't come up with a name for Sumia's Pegasus. Before Robin fell started falling asleep, I had been bouncing ideas of names off of her: At first, I wanted to find something that was similar to Aurora, but I couldn't really find a name that fit: Astra and Aster were the name of a skill, Aether was also the name of a skill; Cosmi and Atmos were nice, but they didn't seem to fit Sumia's Pegasus. After that, I had started trying names of flowers: the Shion flower seemed a little on the nose, and the same could be said of the Forget-Me-Not - specifically the latter took too long to say. Peony sounded too much like Pony. Genus names would also take too long to say. But at that point, Robin wasn't really awake anymore: she had been out in the town the entire day.

That said, Robin continued trying to talk me about it while falling asleep last night as she sat on floor next to the window: she was mumbling various things to herself. A few of the phrases I can remember her mentioning were "Vaike did nothing wrong", "don't eat my Elwind tome", "just use Falchion to cut the potatoes", and "please don't throw Kellam again - Lissa, no, stop, don't do it-" At which point she jerked upright and said in a slight panic, "You're scaring Basilio". She looked at me, making and holding eye contact, at which point she slowly allowed herself to wilt and slump onto the ground, asleep once more.

She stayed quiet for some time, and eventually her breathing slowed into a steady, soft pace. At that point, I got out of bed and carried her to it, taking off her coat and tucking her in. When I was satisfied that she seemed comfortable, I considered sleeping on the floor - though I eventually concluded that, without my armor in specific, it was just going to be uncomfortable. Finally putting out the lamp, I made myself comfortable on the other side of the bed - At which point Robin mumbled something else, though it was much clearer and easier to understand now that she was closer to me.

"Just... name her Sky… -wait, no... Azure...? That one."

Next chance I get, I'll propose the name to her.

But that was last night: there are other plans for today.

As the door slides shut, gently and quietly as directed by careful hands, the room is left in silence. A faint murmur can be heard from the town through the closed, curtained window - the sounds of the people going about their day. The sheets on the bed stir as Robin begins to wake, roused by the uncomfortable sensation of her coat having been put on incorrectly. Her eyes crack open as she regards the back of her coat in front of her body. Pushing her sleeves down and off her arms, she yawns as she goes about remedying her problem. With her outfit in check, she raises herself from the bed.

Looking to the window, taking note of the light that barely seeped through the curtains, Robin could already see that the weather outside was going to be beautiful.

A perfect day.

She was in Chalys's room: or, more specifically, she was on the bed for some reason. She was able to recognize the room because of the Pegasus Knight armor: she had brought it into the room sometime yesterday night. She remembered wanting to spend time with Chalys, but that she had been struggling to stay awake - she remembered imagining something, a dream perhaps, as she fought in vain against the overwhelming exhaustion. She had been standing by the window - but she also remembered sitting on the floor, laying on the floor. Chalys had probably moved her to the bed at some point. Raising her arms above her head to stretch, Robin's yawn comes out in a sigh.

She needed to find Cordelia.

As the guards start to mobilize, probably agitated by something I had expected to happen yesterday, I flip through the pages of the Thunder tome I was assigned: it's a familiar book, and it's definitely something I'm used to using. But then again, I'm experienced in using all of them: While wind tomes are generally considered weak, they're highly accurate, and can be cast quickly and repetitively - not to mention that their method of damage is perfect for taking out air targets. Fire tomes are harder to use, but they're more damaging and quite effective at burning through most types of armor. Most of the glory goes to thunder tomes, however: while they're the most difficult to handle, their strikes are able to cause immense amounts of damage if properly cast.

They're further classified as El, Arc, or otherwise depending on their specific design - but a skilled mage can effect those different outputs from a single tome. I learned this as part of one of the few unique instances that occasionally occurred during the repeated timelines: one of the Robin had once cast the effects of a Thoron from an Elthunder tome a few weeks before the encounter at the Dragon's Table, primarily as an experiment: I remember that, before he pulled off the cast, a few of the Shepherds were wondering why he was carrying the weaker tome. At that point, especially considering the forces that we were facing at the time, his actions had made little sense. However, his reasons had become clear once he had taken the chance to demonstrate the new technique.

Specifically, he said that he had theorized that it was possible and had simply wanted to try it out. From his experiment, however, he concluded that it also seemed to burn through a tome's remaining power much more inefficiently. For example, a person can only get three casts of Thoron out of a Elthunder tome, rather than the usual twenty-five from a dedicated tome, or about forty-two casts of Thunder instead of forty-five. He also noted that it took more time to cast a stronger effect than a tome's design, while it took less time to cast a weaker effect. For example, while it takes about two seconds to cast Arcfire from an Arcfire tome, that it takes about twice the time to cast Bolganone, and half the time to cast Elfire.

With a few hours of his instruction, a few of the Shepherds were able to replicate what he did: specifically, Lissa, Ricken, Miriel, and me. While I couldn't maintain the code that prevents the expense of mana if I used his methods, I can at least cast different effects from a tome that isn't designed to achieve those outputs. Aside from that, he also taught us how to "extend" or "empower" a cast, specifically building upon the theories used to cast non-standard effects from tomes: those who were able to achieve this were just Lissa and me.

Along with his instruction, he also gave us several warnings: that, while it was relatively safe to go one step up or down - an Elwind to a Wind or Arcwind - that it became dangerous beyond that - and never to go three steps: Changing the effects of a tome too drastically runs the risk of the cast coming out malformed. Similarly, that extending or empowering a cast was safe to a certain point, but that it became exceptionally draining beyond that point: that extending or empowering a cast too much ran the risk of all of the energy being unleashed at once in an uncontrolled burst. Finally, he specifically prohibited using both of the techniques at once: that they compounded upon each other in a dangerous fashion that was beyond even his understanding.

I've been assigned a Thunder tome. While she intended for me to use a more powerful variant in the future, Robin said that the official reason was that I was nonetheless intended to be a Pegasus Knight for the time being. More specifically, it was because the idea of a Pegasus Knight carrying tomes and swords was new, and I would be the first of a different generation of Pegasus Knights - specifically a "Dark Flier": the same as the Dark Flier squadrons that form out of necessity later in the timelines. From what she told me, Robin had posed the idea to Phila, who said that it was certainly something to consider, and gave her blessing: therefore, I was assigned a Thunder tome for the trial period.

Flipping through the pages of the tome one more time, I familiarize myself with the incantation once more. When casting from tomes with mana-weaving, I don't need incantations: it's simply a matter of drawing the mana out. However, sometimes it's necessary to sacrifice reusability and use a tome's incantation: sometimes, the most I can do with mana-weaving is help stabilize an otherwise extremely dangerous cast. It was why I was able to use a Thoron tome without any prior experience in the first timeline. That said, while I never ended up using it as my primary weapons, it was still fun to try them.

A group of guards cross my path, moving with purpose - a familiar electricity hangs in the air. They snap to attention in front of me, and I pause my movements as I regard them. With a salute, their officer informs me that I'm needed at the Ylisstol Walls.

Their unease is obvious in their professionalism.

I close the book, creating a familiar resounding clap.

One of two heavyset doors slide open, pushed aside by Robin, as Cordelia strides into the Barracks, her squadron of Pegasus Knights in tow. Ideally, Robin would have liked for a more dramatic entrance: Chalys's unintentional penchant for such drama had grown on her, and, specifically, she wanted to imitate the way that Frederick could throw open the doors with a resounding "Boom!" However, the current situation called for discretion and pragmatism over all else: the ruse was still in play.

"Woah, woah, what's up Bubbles? Is something-"

"No shift change today, Chuckles."

Though she made use of Sully's nickname for Gaius, Robin's otherwise curt and silencing response was disquieting. The ruse still being in play was the only reason Robin had only collected Cordelia's squadron instead of a company of guards. Theoretically, it would have been safer to keep Cordelia's squadron in the air - it would draw less suspicion - but Robin wasn't entirely willing to sacrifice an elite group to what might be about to come. Besides, the fact that Robin was taking this extra precaution at all was an undisputed indicator that their ruse had been irrevocably successful. No matter the misgivings the besieging force might be feeling, this would be the first and last chance they would get: the Shepherds would never allow Ylisstol to come under such danger twice. If the besieging force were here, it wasn't a choice anymore: it was either attack and get something - anything - or go down as the biggest missed opportunity in recorded recent history.

"Cordelia and her Knights are joining you today. Ricken and Ena will be along shortly to-"

"What exactly is this, Tactician?"

Panne's voice cut through Robin's informative statements, though Cordelia and her Squadron continued their preparations unfazed. The Taguel had left the training grounds the moment that Robin had approached - but as suspicious as that might have been, Robin knew that she could be trusted. After all, Panne's instincts were probably screaming at her: that Robin was hiding something that she didn't want to hide. Panne was only trying to give Robin an excuse to speak her mind - to save her from carrying that burden alone, whatever it was. Panne was perceptive and kind - more so than a lot of people that Robin knew. In fact, so the same could be said of all of the Shepherds, Panne and Gaius included, despite being new. It was why the Shepherds were as strong as they were.

But just as that kindness was their strength, it was also their weakness.

They would never let this strategy run its course if they knew anything about it.

But this was the only way.

"We'll be protecting the Capital today - as well as the Exalt."

As Robin delivered her answer, she gestured past Panne - towards the open door where Emmeryn now stood, Marth at her side. Emmeryn's expression was tense - reluctantly abiding by whatever plan that the Strategist had concocted. As for Marth - as always, the mask effectively obscures most of the emotion that the person might be feeling. However, Marth's hand firmly gripping the pommel of Falchion was telling - not just of the mental state of the masked figure, but also of the origins: Chrom did the same thing.

"And to do that, the Exalt must not leave this building - and I'm not leaving her unguarded."

With her intentions conveyed, the Tactician turned on her heel, her Grimleal coat floating with her momentum as if caught on the wind. As Ricken and Ena arrived for the shift change, slowing in confusion as they saw the drastically increased headcount, Robin swept past them and started to pull the heavy door back to its original position.

"We'll be done by nightfall. Until then, open the doors for no one."

The door made not a sound as it closed.

An eerie silence hangs over the Ylisstol Walls: it's an obvious conclusion that we wouldn't be able to turn back the sea of soldiers gathered and facing us. Or, at least, the rest of the guards mounting our rudimentary defense would have come to that conclusion: among the sea of soldiers, siege engines had virtually materialized from nothing, and they now stand poised and ready to destroy these Walls, their enormous forms standing at least a dozen meters higher than the engineers manning them. We had watched in silence as they loaded their stone missiles: nobody had fired a single arrow at that time. Maybe we had simply wanted to prolong the inevitable - all of us afraid that, the moment we struck, they would immediately move to annihilate us. Annihilation, for that matter, was all that awaited the defenders: Only Cordelia would survive.

Historically, that is.

"Raise it."

As I give the command, I grasp my Thunder tome tightly - the only weapon I currently carry. When I saw what faced us, I had told them to craft a white flag, and I now give the command to fly it. Doubtless, his expression is incredulous: I'm not wearing any armor, and the reason he's listening to me is because the Exalt gave Robin command of the guard, who subsequently gave command to me - that it was for the best, considering the rumors that had recently spread about her. Despite these misgivings, I soon hear the banner billowing in the wind.

When I had arrived at the Ylisstol Walls, I was informed that I had been given command of the defense. In all honesty, in this difficult moment, it's a much appreciated relief and respite: I had originally planned on something much more drastic, but having command is the best possible case scenario: I can prevent any casualties at all whatsoever. As the flag flies, a familiar face rides forth from the sea of soldiers.

"A surrender? Why, I must say, I am truly honored to be given such a privilege!"

His voice is mocking - but he will soon know the value what he is being offered.

"Alas, I believe that I'll need to… Restrain myself for just a bit longer!"

This was only to be expected of course: I know what happens in the other timelines, and the soldier reporting to me informed me that Robin believed that he wouldn't accept a surrender until he's had his way… "or if he were coerced, whatever she means by that." In other words, Robin already expected that he would need to be convinced. Luckily, she probably already knows that I have a plan for that. From the moment I had grasped it, I had never let go of the Thunder tome I carried: with Gangrel's words, I bring it out into the open, and I begin coalescing every last bit of mana I can find in it.

"Go ahead and begin."

His command is stated with a cruel smile, and a surge of activity ripples through the sea of people, culminating in a roar that could drown out any sense of hope. The flagbearer loses his grip and the white banner falls to the stone floor as the siege engines unleash their payload.

And I respond with Thoron.

As Robin finished closing the Barracks door, she heard a roar like thunder and turned to look to the skies:

An untamed beam of empyrean energy arced its way across the skies, lingering for a full dozen seconds before flickering out, leaving behind unnaturally fractal-patterned streaks of electricity.

Her blood ran cold.

n darkness, remnants of the cast still coursing through my body for a moment before vanishing, I can feel myself lose my balance and begin to fall. But something catches me - the Flagbearer. Lucky enough to touch me after the energy had vanished. If anyone didn't trust Robin or me before, they would surely trust us now.

Lowering myself to the ground, I feel for the flag - and, finding it, I bring myself back to my feet. My balance falters again, and I am once more steadied by the soldiers surrounding me. I need to look like I hadn't just done something impossible: I need to look like I can do it again - as many times as I need to. Even though that I know I would die if I tried it again right now.

"King Gangrel…!"

My voice comes out hoarse, failing, and I bite back my words. One of the soldiers holds out a canister and I drink from it. I cannot fail now: not in this most important moment.

And so I raise my voice to the high heavens.

"Open the gates, please."

"But-"

A spear of light and energy had pierced the heavens: the assault had suddenly begun and, just as suddenly, it had ended - just as Robin had expected. The defensive use of the the tome's magic, Gods know how it had been achieved, had been a display of unadulterated absolute force: enough to end the conflict before it could even begin. Only Chalys could have done it, and it was only possible because she was given the authority she needed: given the opportunity, she would seek to end the battle before it began. And now that she had acted for the sake of peace, it fell to Robin to follow up.

No matter how painful it was going to be.

"I am Robin, commander of the defense of Ylisstol as per the Exalt's orders. I order you to open the gates."

Without further hesitation, the steel gate lifts off the ground to reveal Chalys under the Mad King's boot. Fury flashed through Robin, but she quelled it, allowing only the pain she felt to persist. Through many sacrifices, Chalys and Robin had achieved a delicately crafted moment, and any misstep could shatter what they had worked so hard to achieve: the rumors that Robin had spread, those that spoke of the heroic and later treasonous past of "Chalysane the Blade-Lance"; the courage that Chalys expressed by throwing herself at the feet of the Mad King in this desperate, reckless bid to protect those that she loved - that same courage that allowed her to forego armor and sword for that sake, and only having used her tome to protect the Ylisstol Walls. And even with that tome alone, she could have annihilated the entire force by herself if she wanted to - but she didn't: instead, she had forced a chilling calm upon what was supposed to be a field of insanity. She had, once again, performed beyond every expectation Robin had for her.

Robin would not let her gift go to waste.

"Please! Spare her!"

Allowing only the pain she felt to persist in her speech, Robin's anguished voice pierced through the cacophony of her own thoughts and the murmurs of worry from both sides, bringing silence back to the battlefield. The Mad King lifted his foot, and Chalys pulled herself back to her knees - only to be kicked back down, eliciting another cry from Robin. The Mad King commanded her to stay there - like the dog that she was - and turned his attention to Robin - that sickening, egoistic smile on his face. Robin would rip that expression off by the sword if she had to - but not now.

"Oh? And who might you…"

The Mad King hesitated, his expression faltering into fascination.

"...You're Plegian, aren't you?"

For a moment, satisfaction flashed through Robin's body: few things felt so pleasurable as a variable returning the perfect response. It was even enough to overwrite her wrath.

But the voice with which she responded was full of desperation and guilt, an emotion drawn from the fact that she had done this to the person that had saved her. That she had intentionally allowed her to experience such pain. Someone that had saved her so many times, even from her forgotten days: from such an early point, Chalys had sought to protect her - going so far as to be called a traitor and sentenced to death - all because she held faith that Robin's future was not written. Even if Chalys had doubts, she had cast them aside time and time again to protect her.

Emmeryn had reminded Robin of those days - the ones in which Robin was the cause of a war that had consumed the entire continent; the ones where Chalys committed treason for her sake.

They were days that Robin could take advantage of.

"...Yes. Yes I am."

As Robin felt the eyes of virtually every soldier on the battlefield, Plegian and Ylissean alike, the Mad King's maniacal laugh scattered and danced across the battlefield before he levied an accusatory tone at her.

"Then why do you want her alive?!"

Immediately, he turned and brought his foot down onto the form lying on the ground. In the unsettling silence that the battlefield had fallen into, the impact was audible, and the pained cries it induced even more so. Ordering her silence, the Mad King levied his Levin Sword at the figure who had curled into a ball as he regarded the one who told him to ignore his desires.

"Do you not know what she did?! How many of our people she massacred-"

"She never wanted that!"

With Robin's claim, the sword in his hand lost its tension, its point lowering towards the ground.

"She saved my life!"

Robin continued to speak, knowing that it didn't matter whether the Mad King believed her.

"So… please…"

And, in his continued hesitation, Robin pressed her request home.

"Don't kill her…!"

Robin's sobs echo across the battlefield, causing each beat of my heart to ache. Against his commands, I once again pull myself up: sitting on her knees in the archway of the gate, desperately wiping away tears, Robin's expression is unlike any I have seen. No matter what happened, whoever died, Robin has always kept her composure. But the expression I see now utterly and completely breaks from anything I have seen before, and it forces into me a wretched guilt. As confident as I am that she had foreseen even this, the emotion displayed on her face could only have come from an utterly agonizing place.

That said, no one else would hear it, but her voice held more than just that agonizing emotion.

Beneath that pain, suppressed for the sake of the act, was a quiet, overwhelming wrath.

And, beneath even that… Despite all the pain that Gangrel had put me through, despite the fact that he probably would have killed me if Robin hadn't come to the gates, I could still hear the descendent of the emotion that I first heard at Southtown: Excitement.

She had perfectly executed her strategy.

"What in the Gods' names did you do, you Dastard."

Gangrel's lowered voice is filled with a vicious fury. Through gritted teeth, he sheathes his sword and calls his horse back to him.

"Very well: I won't kill her."

Mounting his horse as his voice once more fills with confidence, echoing it across the fields, he turns to Robin once more for a moment. In his eyes is the complete and absolute manifestation of his hatred for Ylisse: a country that tore apart his homeland, protected the instrument of that destruction, and now stood to take away he had struggled and fought to achieve. He wanted his revenge: nothing would stop him from achieving it. There was only one possible conclusion.

"Not like this, at least: Take her away."

But this is exactly why Robin suggested the plan that she did.

"She'll have something more... dignified."

Nightfall.

The doors to the Shepherds' Barracks fly open with a resounding boom, and the Exalt's Guardians immediately draw their weapons, ready to fight to the last. But standing in the doorway, having thrown them open, was the Grandmaster Tactician, wrapped in the darkness of the night sky. With this, the rest of the Shepherds start to lower their weapons with a collective sigh of relief: they had heard the ear-splitting sound of thunder, and it had instilled worry in them. Robin's return, however, meant that all was well.

However, Marth's blade continued to hold its position.

As this persistence is slowly realized by the rest of the guardians present, the room falls into a deathly silence, and all gazes once more turn to her - just as they had at the Walls. Unfazed, Robin steps into the Barracks and sends a gesture towards Cordelia, who immediately recites a command to her Pegasus Knights. They would be departing to rendezvous with Chrom and request his return: Ylisstol was attacked, and, while the damage was minimal, it was still an incident notable enough to request his return. As they vanish into the darkness, Robin turns and pulls the heavyset doors closed once more.

"I know what you want, Marth - If that is your real name. You'll have it in time."

As she addresses Marth, Robin pulls her gloves into a tighter position on her hands, clenching a fist as she tests the fit. Just as Marth's expression is veiled by the mask, Robin's expression is veiled in the torchlight's shadows. Stepping closer to the group, and out of the shadows, however, a dissatisfied frown creeps onto her face, and she responds by pulling her gloves off Momentarily just barely exposed in the torchlight, the symbol on her hand glows faintly - but Robin remains unperturbed as Marth's stance grows even more vicious.

"I only hope that you'll put the same faith in me as your mother does - Your Highness."

A/N.

Misleading.

Posting early because I won't be able to post this Saturday. I'll be returning to normal posting schedule in like, iunno, two weeks maybe?

If you have any time, I'd appreciate any reviews regarding your thoughts regarding recent story events. No pressure tho.

Also, btw, how obvious is it that I'm writing this literally 5 years later? :))))))