Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

She was betraying her husband. She knew that walking into this fight, their final battle of a pair of wars. He desperately pleaded with her to let him deal the final blow. But she knew what she had to do. She needed to get rid of this accursed evil once and for all. As Exalt, she had to do whatever it took to keep her people safe. To keep her family safe. Naga said that if her bonds were strong, this wouldn’t be her end. So all she could do was pray, and believe in everyone she had met in these past few years.

Sinking her blade into her double, she felt like another sword was just struck through her own chest. She knew that ending Grima meant ending herself, but she wasn’t prepared to actually feel the cut of a blade as her vision went hazy. Grima was roaring in outrage, trying to tear her magic blade out and to attempt to repair the damage, to survive, and probably devour her for what she did. But they both could feel all their energy and will drain, as both fell to the ground, struggling to breathe as blood seemed to fill their lungs.

As Robin laid there, on the back of the fell dragon with her vision beginning to dim, she could see her husband looking down in outrage and deep sorrow. Her daughter looked so defeated, accepting that she seemed to be meant to lose one of her parents. Her son, looking down with acceptance. Morgan was a smart kid, and he knew all about their doomed heritage. He probably knew that her choice would be this, and he had to accept that this time, he had to lose his mother, instead of watching his father be killed. She gave one last smile as she closed her eyes, feeling warm with her family’s tight hold even though she slipped away.

Only to wake up in an endless black plane, similar to when Grima trapped her just minutes earlier. She looked around for a moment before the conclusion was made. She was really alone. Not even Grima’s crushing presence was here this time. So, she wandered. She stuck to one path, just walking and walking. She passed nothing, and she couldn’t put her finger on how long she walked. Until all of a sudden, every vein in her body seemed to be filled with lava, as her body burned. She might’ve screamed out, but she heard nothing. A void that seemed to ignore all the rules of the world, not even letting her scream. She fell to her knees, just hugging herself as tight as she could, gritting her teeth as hard as she could, anything to make this pain bearable.

After a long time enduring that agony, she thought she heard something. A voice, seeming to mumble something from too far away, making the words impossible to decipher. The pain started to lessen, as well as her grip on this strange reality. Eventually, she succumbed to the darkness, feeling like she had fallen asleep, or simply losing consciousness.

When she came to, she was laying down, a breeze rustling her hair as it tickled her face. Opening her eyes, she stared up at a blue sky with gentle clouds drifting above her, hearing the rustling of the leaves all around her. Slowly sitting up, she took a look around. She was laying in the middle of a forest, a stream flowing to her left. She crawled her way towards the stream, her body feeling like lead, with every muscle seeming to ache. Once she was close enough, she took her gloves off slowly before reaching down to take a sip of water. She didn’t realize she was thirsty until she took a sip, guzzling the rest quickly before giving a sigh. Sitting up, she took a moment to simply listen to her surroundings. Birds chirping, leaves rustling, and the gentle sound of the running stream. A breeze sent her hair dancing across her face, tickling her cheeks again. Reaching up to undo her ponytails, her bare hands grasped air. She frowned before grabbing again, only feeling her own locks between her fingertips. She leaned over at the stream, to get a better look before she froze in place.

The reflection staring back at her was her but… not at the same time. Same tan Plegian complexion, same soft brown eyes, same snow-white hair. However, her hair, once held in pigtails that went down her shoulders, now was a ruffled mess that barely went to her neck and more masculine features had defined her face. The same Grimleal cloak that seemed a size bigger to accommodate slightly wider shoulders. A reflection of a different her entirely, but still somehow her.
Finally awake, are you? A voice echoed in her head, and with a chill, she knew exactly who it was.

“Grima..!” She cut herself off, being surprised at the deeper voice that came out. A chuckle rang out in amusement at her bafflement, before a short grunt. Unfortunately. Was the response.

“What happened..? I thought I destroyed us both.” She responded softly, barely daring to whisper as unease filled her heart. You almost did. But I worked too hard to just give up, little pawn. After your tearful family said goodbye, I tried to devour you to get enough power to head to a new realm and acquire a new body that wasn’t dying. The first one I found is the one your sitting in. I did everything I could to heal the damage before we slipped into this realm.

“You act as though I will not end us both again.” She said calmly. Grima gave a sigh before the response. Lucky for you… Things might have just gotten tricky. Usually, when I devour your vessels, I can retain control and siphon off your soul. However… because of how sloppy I was, it seems I am merely a presence in your mind. I couldn’t rise up even if I wanted to. Can you feel it? The air here is nothing like in Ylisse. I’ve dropped us somewhere that is nothing like our home. Which means…

“No Grimleal to feed you to regain your power.” She mumbled, staring at her reflection. A world where her family was nowhere to be found. That made the situation direr, to be alone with only a fell dragon as company. I hate it too, pawn. What’s worse… Is instead of destroying your soul, I’m merging with it. All your disgusting emotions and memories are mixing with mine.

“You’re becoming almost akin to a human then, Grima.” Don’t compare us worm!! I am still the Fell Dragon.

“That is stuck in a place where you can’t ever be heard from. The irony is clear. You wanted to take everything that made me different from you, but now you’re assimilating with it.” I wouldn’t be surprised if this is Naga’s way of punishing me. Making me live and feel like you do.

“I suppose hearing you complain won’t get us anywhere. The best thing to do now is... Learn. Find out where we are.” She rose to her feet, grabbing her gloves and sliding them on, giving a short glance at her hands that still held her Fell Brand. So much for getting rid of it. She dusted off her coat and pants and looked around before following the stream. If she was lucky, there would be a settlement along the banks, and she could navigate a road to a city from there.

As she walked, she took inventory. She held her usual items she took to battle, and mysteriously a few more, most likely possessions of the man who had this body before Grima… She stopped the thought. Elwind, Arcfire, Thoron, her trusty Levin Sword, and an elixir she knew as hers. An iron lance, a shield, and books written on the art of flying were most likely the other items. From that, it seemed he was training to be a wyvern rider. Probably would make a good hobby to learn that trade. Flying across the land would be easier than walking, that was for sure. Look. It seems we found a settlement. Grima spoke up, shaking her from her thoughts as she looked towards the settlement. A grin on her face, she broke into a run towards it, stopping when she heard shouting in the distance and the familiar sound of weapons being used against armor.

Her feet thought faster than she did, and soon enough she was hiding in the forest near a clearing, watching bandits attacking a poor group of travelers. Well, maybe not quite travelers. Three armed teenagers in bright colors, a fully armored paladin, and a young woman in black armor, wielding a blade, all fighting off the bandits. Scanning the area brought her eyes to a large man in the rear, shouting at the bandits. The leader, most likely. Another look at the field showed the colorful teens struggling to make killing blows, while the paladin seemed to stay at the rear, and the woman in black danced through her enemies, cutting them down when the youngers couldn’t. The best plan with her weakened state was simply to hide and keep watch. The defending group seemed to have a good enough handle on things, so her help didn’t seem needed.

Minutes later and the leader was downed by a combination of the archer clad in yellow and the woman in black. She inched closer, trying to find any other threats in the area, not noticing her position until she was close to the lady in red, wielding an axe. All of a sudden there was a shout, as the leader leaped to his feet and charged at the girl. Her face filled with terror as she seemed to fumble on her axe, dropping it and retrieving a dagger from a sheath, holding it up in feeble defense. The woman in black seemed to start to rush down to shield the girl, but her own instincts were faster than the other.

She dashed out, her hand grabbing her blade as she felt Elwind slip from her fingers, pushing the man off balance just enough for her to slip under and bury her magic blade in his chest, lightning jumping from the wound before he fell to his knees and collapsed, twitching ever so slightly. I feel like… We have gotten involved with something out of our league, Robin. There was no time to linger on the remark since the woman she had protected stepped forward. Upon closer look, she gave a regal and refined presence, standing straight with a piercing gaze from soft lavender eyes.

“I must thank you for helping me. Your skills with magic were impressive, not to mention your swordsmanship. Might I have your name, sir?” She spoke with a refined air, that reminded her of Emmeryn if only just a little. However, the ‘sir’ at the end of her question threw her for a loop before she remembered that the body Grima had found was that of a male. Thankfully, her own name could pass for either.

“Ah, my name is Robin. There’s no need to overexaggerate my skills, miss. Just doing the right thing.” She, or rather he responded, hooking his blade to his belt, making a mental note to wash it off later. The woman in red didn’t seem pleased by his response.

“You shouldn’t downplay your ability! Not anyone can wield a sword as difficult as yours as easily as you can. Not to mention that spell you used was a reason spell I’ve never seen before. You are quite skilled, Robin. I simply must ask that you and this mercenary come back to the Adrestian Empire!” The other two colorful young men jogged up, as well as the mercenary woman and the paladin. All at once, the other two spoke up, saying similar lines of recruitment and praise, the one in blue seeming to fumble in his earnestness and the one in yellow admonishing the other two, explaining his plan to befriend before asking the same question. Both he and the other woman stared in silence, shocked at their eagerness.

At that time, a group of knights rode up, and Robin felt himself tune out slightly, absorbing the words, but instead choosing to focus more on Grima. The woman with green hair is... Unnerving me. She has a sort of presence that reminds me of myself, or Naga herself. Or… like you. Someone ordinary with some power beyond mortality. He had no idea how to respond to that when his attention was called back to the conversation. The young lady in red was staring at him with a smile.

“Will you come with us? I would still like to thank you, and ask more of your abilities.” He was lost at the statement before Grima chuckled. Those knights basically strongarmed that paladin to go back to some monastery that the kids attend. The other woman, the paladin’s daughter, is coming with, as well as their mercenary forces. Seems they want to bring you too.

“I suppose I shall then.” He nodded before he began to join the rather large group all heading the same way. The lady, introducing herself as Edelgard, rained down questions at him, and he answered the best he could before she ran ahead to chat with her classmates. He fell to the rear with the mercenary woman, who held a calm expression, or perhaps just a blank one. He decided to try to make friendly banter.

“I don’t think I caught your name. You made quick work of the bandits. I suppose you’ve been using a blade for quite a while.” He mused, tucking his hand into his coat pockets, looking up at the sunlight that broke through the trees. She seemed almost startled by him speaking up before it faded to indifference.

“Byleth, and I’ve been using a sword since I was small. You were... Robin, right? I’ve never seen your sword before.” She said simply, glancing over at him, dark green hair framing her pale face and eye-catching purple eyes. In his gut, he couldn’t help but feel connected. Like they shared a similar fate, somehow.

“My Levin sword? It is a pretty tricky blade to use, and not easy to get your hands on, at least in my home. It conducts electricity and can slice through armor and the toughest steel with ease, thanks to its magic. Of course, you have to be pretty skilled with both to wield it effectively.” He explained as Byleth nodded along with mild interest.

“Magic seems interesting… I’ve seen the occasional bit of magic from our travels, but none of the mercenaries can use it. It seems like a hard skill to pick up on without good guidance.” She responded, her hand resting on her blades handle. Before he could respond, both of their attentions were grabbed by the shouts at the front, as the trees began to clear away, showing a massive structure ahead of them. The man who led the knights turned back with a grin.

“Welcome… To Garreg Mach Monastery!”

Chapter Text

Back in Ylisse, Robin could safely say he really didn’t give a damn about religion. He existed because of the Grimleal, the zealous followers of Grima trying to give the dragon a body to return and destroy the world with. In Ylisse, they did worship Naga, but not to a point where they had a cult of zealots. All his time in the Ylissean Palace and he never found entire wings or rooms dedicated to the Divine Dragon. The belief in her wasn’t something people overdid. She was real, having given the people the Falchion, and the Brand. Everyone prayed to her during the day, and that was always seen as enough. Robin has only ever even seen a single church in Naga’s name. But this land... Fodlan was something else.

Robin was there for barely an hour and already his head was spinning from how much information they were trying to cram into his head. About their religion, about the Goddess they served, of houses and Crests, the three territories that shared the land. Byleth seemed just confused, giving her neutral expression, with just a hint of discomfort from everything they were being rushed through. Her father, Jeralt was whisked away earlier, and it seems she’s not used to not having him around. The only person who seems to hate the whole experience more was Grima, who kept grumbling about the apparent Goddess and the fact that there was only one religion across a land so massive.

Eventually, Robin was separated from his fellow victim by a man with a gray mustache that could rival a certain Valmese general. At least it wasn’t like a rat on his face. The man, introducing himself as Professor Hanneman, was talking at length about crests once more, and Robin finally was able to get an idea of what it was. These crests acted almost like Brands, except they could give boons in battle. Why couldn’t the Fell Brand give him any boon…? It was more like a curse. Watch it.

“Now then, Robin. I was hoping to see if you had a crest. Would you mind placing your hand over this device?” He asked politely, pointing to said device. He shrugged before putting his hand over it, waiting a moment as Hanneman fiddled with buttons on the side. After a moment, a symbol shimmered in the air and his heart sank. The Fell Brand simply floating there in the air, giving off a soft purple glow. Hanneman looked on in shock and glee.

“A new undiscovered Crest?! Why Robin you simply must let me examine you further!! We must find out about what your crest does!” With that, Robin was there for a couple of hours, testing everything from sword skills, healing magic that they quickly found he had no talent for, and combat magic, all with Hanneman taking fervent notes. He seemed deadset on finding out with the crest did. He explained that they could boost the power of weapon arts, magic, or even prevent others from moving after your own attack. By the end of it, they were no closer to finding out what it did, and Hanneman sent him off to ponder his results, bumping into Byleth who was on her way in. Robin quickly left, not wanting to be inside any longer. 

Making his way towards the dining hall, he was surprised by all the people inside. Students in the same general uniform but none wearing quite the same style, not to mention how unique some looked. One man had hair that was baby blue. Another girl was shocking bright pink pigtails. His heart squeezed, thinking about Ylisse and the Shepards. They were also a pretty extraordinary bunch, weren’t they? Cordelia and her bright red hair, Olivia with her long soft pink locks. Even his own family, with deep navy on all three of them. Robin was always a bit jealous neither child had her hair, but Chrom explained that in Ylisse it was more common for a child to have the father’s hair. Which was proven when every child from the future had their father’s hair. It was easier to find who was the father than the mother unless they had the family ring.

Either way, he grabbed a plate of some sort of meat pie and sat down, eating away. In the back of his mind, he wondered how it would’ve tasted with bear instead of lamb. Frederick would hate the thought, certainly. A chair slides out beside him and he looked over, finding the student in blue from earlier, along with a much bigger man with a tan rivaling his own.

“We never got introduced properly, did we, Robin? My name is Dimitri, and this is my friend Dedue. I was wondering if you had any plans to stay at the Monastery? I would love to train with you. There is much to learn from you as we have all seen.” He said, giving an easy smile. He could feel Grima hiss. This boy. He reminds me of your father. A friendly front, with much darkness hiding behind him. Robin dismissed him easily.

“I’m not sure, myself. I’m still trying to get used to everything I’ve been told so far.”

“Ah, did Seteth go around and give the usual lecture? I apologize, he is the Archbishop's right hand, so preaching is in his nature I suppose.” Dimitri chuckled, before eating his own meal. Robin took the last bite of his own before looking around.

“Where do we return the plates?” He asked sheepishly. The larger man, Dedue, spoke up.

“At the counter. They wash it back there in the kitchen area.” He had a foreign accent compared to everyone else. Robin would have to ask about it. Later, though. He gave his thanks before dropping off the plate and heading outside, almost bumping into a priest, who gasped.

“Oh, Robin! The Archbishop wanted to see you in her chambers.” He thanked her before heading off, making his way back to the first room from the tour and heading up the stairs, slowly walking into the room. Byleth, Hanneman, and a woman dressed in white stood in a line as the lady with bright green hair stood before them.

“Ah, Robin. Please come in.” She said, giving a gentle smile. He walked up to the rest and took a position on Byleth's free side. The woman looked over and winked as the Archbishop began to speak.

“Now then. I invited all four of you here to begin choosing what Houses you would be teaching. Byleth, as the newest instructor you shall get the first pick.” Teaching the Houses? Robin remembered that vaguely. Apparently the Monastery taught the bright youths from the three territories. The Adrestian Empire was represented by the Black Eagles, with Edelgard at the head. The Holy Kingdom of Faerghus was the Blue Lions, with Dimitri leading. Finally, the Leicester Alliance with the yellow archer Claude as head of the Golden Deer. But that was three houses, and there were four of them. Byleth seemed to pick up on that fact too.

“What happens to Robin then? You said Hanneman, Manuela, and I would be instructors, you never mentioned Robin.” She said in her deadpan tone, giving a hard stare at the Archbishop.

“Good question Byleth. I will discuss with Robin after this and then we shall see.” She replied, smiling at Byleth. Robin narrowed his eyes slightly at that. Something was strange. Why would she ask a mercenary like Byleth to become a teacher of such important children? These were heirs to noble houses and the territories themselves. The rest went by in a blur. Byleth chose to teach the Blue Lions, Hanneman went with the Golden Deer, almost miffed by Byleths choice, and Manuela chose the Black Eagles with a grin. After they shuffled away to meet with their classes, the Archbishop turned to Robin.

“We haven’t properly met yet. I am Rhea, the Archbishop of the Church of Seiros. Professor Hanneman said you had a crest he never saw before. He was very insistent that you stay here while he figures it out. Unfortunately, there are no more teaching positions open to you… I know. For now, why not help Tomas in the library? We can decide a more permanent solution in the coming moon.” Rhea smiled, and before long Robin was off again, this time finding himself in the library.

It was nothing like the Ylissean or Plegian libraries, but it was still new books that probably weren’t back home. He was eager to dive in, but Tomas stopped him. Apparently, the new professors had asked for several texts to prepare for lessons the following month, and as the new assistant, Robin was to take the books to them. Saddling up with a few stacks, each neatly labeled for who asked for what, Robin was off.

Walking into the Black Eagles classroom, Manuela almost pounced on him, taking the textbooks focusing on reason and faith magic, and trying to coerce him into a date, before Edelgard calmly asked a question and Manuela’s focused shifted, giving Robin time to escape. Next door was the Blue Lions. Walking in, Byleth seemed totally lost as all the students were happily chatting and asking her questions. She had asked for the most books of all three, most likely because she had no idea how to teach and wanted the most information she could get.

“Byleth, if you want I can help you make lesson plans. It seems I’ll be sticking around the Monastery, and it's not fair they asked you to teach without experience.” He offered and she gave a look of relief.

“After dinner?” She asked simply, before the students rushed her again, asking to spar with her, bake with her, all sorts of requests. Robin agreed and went on his way, entering the final room. Hanneman had books on crests and history, and while dropping them off he complained in too many words how before Byleth was here they had already picked their houses and that he had wanted to teach the Lions. Robin gave an apologetic smile before heading on his way.

Afterward, he simply buried himself in a large pile of books, reading as much as possible. The history of Fodlan and the church, all the crests that were known, the differences in the magic types as well as all the known spells. They could cast magic without a tome, but with limits. With more experience, they could cast dozens of spells without ever needing a tome to take up space. Robin was jealous until Grima spoke up. Don’t worry about breaking your tomes. If you give me some time, I can repair them ever so slightly. But don’t get spoiled, I can only give you a handful of uses from a single tome every month. So in his case, there were more for emergencies. Good to know. The idea of faith magic was intriguing, to heal without a staff. However, Lissa made it tough to imagine not having a staff after the time she knocked out a bandit leader with her mend staff. Chrom joked about calling it an assault staff, and Lissa loved the idea.

As the hours ticked by, a bell rang in the distance. Tomas informed him that it was the dinner bell, and Robin should get going before the dining hall ran out of food. Tucking a book into his coat he rushed to the dining hall, grabbing a random plate from the dozens of options and sitting down, pouring over the borrowed book and eating. He realized with a start that he was going back to old habits, burying himself in the library, and never leaving without a book on hand. Back in Ylisse, Chrom was there to make sure he took breaks to actually head outside sometimes, or work on sword training. Old habits die hard without your husband there to curb them. A plate was half dropped on the table beside him, and Byleth took her seat, looking completely drained.

“The Lions have… a lot of energy. We were supposed to be making strategy for the mock battle at the end of the moon, but they instead decided to interrogate me for all the details of my life story.” She sighed before eating her own meal, which seemed to only be a steamed fish.

“Well, if you still want to plan your lessons, maybe we can work out a strategy for this mock battle. Do you have any idea about your student’s strengths and weaknesses?” Byleth nodded, taking out a collection of papers.

“Hanneman gave these to me. Tells me their best skills, their goals for the future, and what he thinks they have the potential for. Like how Felix might be good with a blade, but might have an affinity for reason magic. Or how Annette who is a magic prodigy might have the strength for an axe.” Robin put away his book before reaching for the papers, reading through them.

“How many can you take into the mock battle?”

“For all missions, Dimitri and I must be involved, and for the mock battle, I get three more.”

“Dimitri is very capable with lances, so he is a good front liner. Mercedes has some faith magic, so you should have her to heal any wounds that vulneraries can’t fix. Ashe is your best archer and seeing as the Black Eagles have a variety of magic users, it would be good to have him pick at their weaker defenses. For the third, pick whoever you feel would shine the most here.” Robin explained, mapping out the plan on the back of one of the sheets of paper. “If you can get a map of the area you’ll be fighting in, then choose someone who could benefit from the area.”

“Because the terrain can give advantages that certain students can benefit from better. Like how archers and mages are best in the trees since they can avoid enemy attacks easier.” Byleth responded, digging through the papers and producing a map.

“Exactly. But trees can also slow people down. It’s harder to run and dodge trees at the same time when pursuing someone.” Robin had to hand it to her, she knew her way around a battlefield. As a mercenary, she probably had some insights that he didn’t as a tactician.

“Since this field has some trees that separate the field, it might be useful to bring another mage to pick at the enemies who are behind the treeline… But having a strong defense could also prove useful.” She mumbled to herself.

“In the end, it’s your strategy. Will you play the offense or the defense? Will you try to lure the other students into ambushes? All sorts of plans can’t be done until you actually get on a battlefield.” He responded, finishing his dish and getting up.

“You seem to know your way around strategies, Robin.” She responded, gathering all the papers and tucking them away, grabbing both of their plates of dropping them off before grabbing his arm and dragging him towards the dorms. Once they got to the room at the very end Byleth entered, closing the door behind them and grabbing a notebook off the desk. This was most likely her room.

“Well, I like to read up on strategy. It’s an interesting art when you think about it. Shall we get to planning your lessons?” She gave a grateful nod and both hunched over the desk, talking in detail about every student and quickly filling the first notebook, and then a second, and almost a third. At some point Byleth had sat on the bed, still writing, and the next time Robin looked over she was fast asleep, leaning against the wall corner as her grip was lost on the notebook. Robin chuckled before going back to his own writing. While Byleth was taking notes of her lessons, he was making notes on Fodlan and everything he was learning, as well as theories on how to get home. At some point, he must have fallen asleep at the desk because the next thing he knew, he was being shaken awake.

“Seems we both got too absorbed in our notes,” Byleth said sleepily, stretching her back. Robin yawned and stood up, pocketing his journal.

“Seems like it. When is your mock battle?”

“In a few days. I’ll be sure to let you know how your advice works out.” She nodded, and with that, Robin was gone, back to the library. The next few days became routine. Spend every waking moment reading every book in the library, do the occasional task for Tomas, eat, and eventually pass out at his spot in the library, waking up with a blanket over him, most likely from Tomas.

It wasn’t until he was eating lunch one day that he realized he was becoming a mess. He needed to do something that didn’t involve being holed up in the library, and he probably should ask Seteth about where he should actually be sleeping. He spent his afternoon doing just that, securing a room near the other teachers and knights, and spending some time in the greenhouse, where Dedue was more than happy to show him the ropes. Once it was time for dinner, both of them headed to the dining hall, only to witness a celebration in progress. The Blue Lions were all chatting happily, bunched together and eating, with Byleth in the middle, looking somewhat pleased. She caught his eye across the hall and she got up, walking towards both of them and dragging them over, seating them at the table and shoving plates of food in front of them.

“We won the mock battle. So, Dimitri suggested we celebrate.” She said simply, reaching for another plate of cake. Robin chuckled and started eating the dish she had shoved at him.

“How did it end up going?” With that, all the Lions involved in the battle spoke up, giving all the details about the expert planning Byleth had done and how easily they swept through the other two houses. He noticed that the orange-haired Annette was Byleth’s third, and she talked on about how she blasted everyone with wind and was able to beat Claude by tumbling into him with an axe. None of them could stop complimenting Byleth’s skill all while she seemed embarrassed. Once more, Robin felt a connection with Byleth, having people believe in her so much with unwavering support. Almost like his own Shepards. The celebration continued until late, and afterward, everyone rushed to the dorms before curfew. Robin started heading back to his own room when Byleth stopped him.

“Thank you. Your help let me have a better idea of how to lead them.” She said sincerely, looking at him with admiration.

“It was really nothing. Planning stuff like that is second nature to me.” He replied, giving a small grin. She tilted her head and hummed before looking at him.

“Your… strange, Robin. Why did you stop by to help us on that day?”

“Because… I can’t just let someone be hurt when I could help them. Back home, I was the strategic advisor to a small militia, a pretty ragtag looking group, but all equally capable. Eventually, I fought with them and I just couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t try to protect them all from the bandits we would come across in our missions.” He said earnestly, looking away as memories started to flood his head. Saving Sumia from archers, teaching Donnel how to use an axe, even his entire family learning how to use a blade from Chrom, even though he kept breaking their only training dummy.

“Where is your home, then? Why are you here instead of there?” Byleth asked, giving a confused look. However, he wasn't quite sure how to explain the situation. But he had to try something to answer her question, shouldn’t he?

“I’m… somewhat lost. I’ve never heard of Fodlan before I came here, and I’m not sure my home is anywhere close. The books I’ve read in the library don’t mention anything I recognize. Duscur, Almyra, Brigid… Those are the neighboring countries, but they aren’t any I recognize. Not Valm, or Plegia, or even Ylisse. My home country, Ylisse, actually has a lot of history that was in books everywhere back home or even in Plegia our neighbors to the West. But… not a word. Not even about our own religion.” He couldn’t help but ramble, feeling homesick for the gentle hills and plains of home.

“What’s… your religion about?” Byleth asked, almost trying to be careful.

“Nothing like this. In short… a long time ago dragons roamed the world, but some of them went insane and tried to destroy the world. However, the most dangerous was known as the Fell Dragon. So the strongest Divine Dragon, Naga, gave humans the power to beat the Fell Dragon and the Brand. The Brand was given to the First Exalt and to this day, his family rules over Ylisse. We call it the Brand of the Exalt, and it shows our connection to Naga. I suppose to compare, Naga is like our Goddess.” Byleth listened to his ramble intently, nodding along with a look of amazement.

“Dragons, huh…? That sounds so cool.” She mumbled before shaking her head. “Your homeland sounds completely opposite of everything here.”

“Seems so, huh?” Robin said softly.

“We should head to bed before Seteth comes. He nags too much.” Byleth sighed before starting to walking back towards the dormitories.

“See you tomorrow Byleth!” Robin called before heading to his own room, lost in his thoughts. Grima piped up after a few moments of silence. It feels like your bond got stronger with that strange girl. Looking through your memories, you’ve had moments like this quite often with your army.

“Yeah… You brought up a good point. At least it didn’t take us walking in on each other in the bath this time.” Your husband is a moron. Then again, you also did that. Even after the few years that went by, those memories were still always easy to recall. They were still naive then, not knowing the harsh war in Valm that was coming, or Robin’s own doomed fate. But they also didn’t know how happy together they would be, or their own family that they made. Bittersweet memories.

“Grima…? Do you think Fodlan really has a Goddess?” He said softly to himself, heading up the stairs to his room, hugging his arms to his chest. ...Perhaps. But I’m not sure she could, or even would help you to get home, worm. If you want it so bad, you’re going to have to suffer to make your own way home.

“How comforting. Here I thought you would be helpful for once.” He sighed, opening the door to his room and throwing his coat over a chair. My options are limited as a spirit, you idiot. Robin rolled his eyes as he collapsed into the bed, making mental note to himself to visit the town to get new clothes. He loved his tactician garb, but he can only wear the same thing so long before he needs to clean it.

As he drifted to sleep, he dreamed of Lucina, the little one. His precious little girl, still too small to speak, but a delight nonetheless. Leaving her side to fight a war was difficult, but Robin had to go. At least he had the older Lucina and eventually even Morgan to help him feel better. His cobalt haired family, all surrounding him with love and trust. Feeling himself wake up, he saw the blue skies once more, lazy clouds moving at their own pace. Once more he was laying in a field, and a voice he wasn’t expecting rang out.

“How peculiar. I meant to summon you to my throne, but it seems your heart insisted on this field. I suppose this must be a fond memory for you.”

Chapter Text

Meeting Chrom in that field that day was the best thing that could happen to him. He went on to lead a bunch of colorful people, fight against some annoying creeps, get married to an adorable blue idiot, have a family, and fight in a second war because some guy thought that wearing all red armor meant he deserved to rule the world. So generally, Robin had nothing against waking up in fields. Hell, even when he woke up as a guy in a land that was nothing like what he was used to, he still went on to help people, and find friendship in the strange and skilled Byleth. However, waking up to an angry girl with green hair that seemed impossibly long, he might be thinking he just got lucky with waking up in fields.

“Well then, Robin. Who are you, what are you doing here, what is that strange crest on your hand, and who is the presence in your head?!” She demanded, stomping a barefoot into the grass. Sitting up, Robin was just in shock at what he was looking at. A small looking girl with pointed ears like a manakete, hair that went past her feet, and ribbons… everywhere. It took a moment to realize that yes, this strange girl did ask questions of him.

“I… My name is Robin and I’m a tactician of Ylisse. I’m here because of an accident I think, and the symbol on my hand is known as a Brand. The…thing in my head is Grima, whose Brand I have. Anything else…?” The girl frowned and put her hands on her hips.

“Well, whats a Brand then? And what is a Grima?” She demanded once more.

“A Brand is like your crests. It symbolizes a family line that is blessed by a dragon. Grima is known as the Fell Dragon and is worshipped in my birthplace of Plegia, and my Fell Brand proves my connection to it… unfortunately.”

“Fell Dragon… You said before that the Fell Dragon was defeated by that Exalt that Naga blessed. Because it was evil and dangerous. So why is it in your head?!”

“Grima wasn’t actually killed back then. Naga and Grima are equally powerful, so they can’t kill each other, and the Exalt was gifted a sword by Naga that could put Grima to sleep for a thousand years. As for why it’s in my head, in Plegia there is a cult that worships Grima, and my father actually had the chosen blood, but his body wasn’t good enough to act as a vessel for Grima. Then I came along… And it’s a long story.” Robin sighed. The girl stared before waving her hand.

“I can see. No need to explain further, I get the gist. Grima’s dimension-hopping is why you’re here as well, isn’t it? And stuck in some other Robin’s body that it devoured to try and not die after your recklessness.” She said, starting to float in the air.

“How did you…? Actually, how did you even know about the Fell Dragon? I only told Byleth.”

“I am Sothis, the one who shares a soul with Byleth. What she heard, I did as well. As for the other bit, I’m not sure either. But I could see your memories for just a moment, but long enough to see the story. Your no tactician, you’re the Exalt of that country, Ylisse. A queen of sorts.” She mused, giving him a strange look.

“I thought Byleth and I had more in common than I thought. Seems we both have people sharing our bodies. Now to the big question, why are we in a field?”

“Your dreaming, of course. I was trying to get you to a different place, but it seems your fondness of this field beat my abilities. Anyways, I wanted to scope you out. I knew you were unusual and I had to make sure you weren’t dangerous. Either way, Miss Exalt, I suppose you should be back in your dreams. Keep being nice to my Byleth, won’t you? And I’m watching you, you evil lizard.” She seemed to glare at a point in the air before vanishing. Afterward, he couldn’t help but lay back down in the grass, trying to wrap his head around what just happened. But soon enough, another voice, a charming deep voice he knew on instinct rang out.

“There are better places to take a nap than on the ground, you know.”

Waking up in the morning was rough after such a strange dream. The enigma known as Sothis seemed to know all his secrets while sharing nothing of her own. It was almost as irritating as being stuck in his current position. Either way, he did have places to be. Grabbing his coat, he headed off the Monastery grounds and went to the town just outside the walls. He had a little bit of gold from his work as an assistant librarian, and he needed clothes that didn’t spark questions everywhere he went. 

The shopping trip was eventful. He was able to find some interesting books and some new clothes in the style of Garreg Mach. It seemed to be just the basic officers uniform, black with gold threads forming the odd patterns that made the Garreg Mach uniform, as well as a hat Robin knew he wasn’t wearing. A new pair of gloves was a welcome sight to keep his Brand covered, a new belt to hold all of his gear, and best of all, a nice black officers coat almost like his Grimleal one, large enough to obscure his belongings, and pockets to hide journals and quills. The new clothes made him blend in more and gave him a chance to not have questions asked of the strange purple insignia all over his coat.

Heading back to his room after the trek back on Monastery grounds, he dropped everything off into a dresser before heading to the dining hall to finally grab a bite to eat. Picking a fruit tart, he sat at a lone table and ate, simply listening to the morning chatter. He recognized a few of the Blue Lions, probably eating before classes or other hobbies, and even some of the other professors, and Edelgard with a creepy looking man that almost give him the chills. However, no one could send chills down his spine as Tharja could. As he was finishing up his breakfast, footsteps came beside him and the panicked look of Dimitri was the first thing he registered.

“Robin is it true you went into the Professors dorm and ended up staying the night?!” The blonde said frantically, barely containing himself to a reasonable volume. Robin had to squint at that before he remembered that he did indeed end up falling asleep in Byleths room that one day while helping her with lesson preparations. But Dimitri’s reaction was in such a state the Robin would almost compare him to… Oh, this will be funny. Ignoring Grima, Robin replied.

“I suppose I did. We ended up staying up later than I thought that night. I know I woke up in a terrible position, my back was killing me from hunching over all night.” He said calmly, cleaning off some sugar from his gloves. Dimitri seemed to give a strangled gasp, his face heating up.

“You- and the Professor did-” The poor boy struggled to form words while Robin stood to put his plate away. I swear you’re almost becoming as oblivious as your weakling husband, worm. It took a moment for Robin to piece together the jab before his own words finally rang in his head.

“Oh, Naga- Dimitri it wasn’t like that!! Byleth and I were up all night making lesson plans and I fell asleep hunched over a desk! Not anything like what you’re implying!” Robin chastised, grabbing his plate and returning it before smacking the younger’s shoulder. “Get your head out of the gutter!! Either way, I’m married and would never do such a thing.”

Dimitri stared before slowly calming down, running out of the dining hall, yelling an apology over his shoulder. Why would anyone even think he and Byleth would do anything like that? Rumors are powerful when no one knows anything about either of the two new, strong, and mysterious figures here. Because it seems the Fell Dragon was talkative this morning. He sighed, running a hand through his hair before leaving the dining hall, immediately being flagged down by a monk. Apparently, Rhea wanted to speak with him. Having a goal, he headed to her chambers, where Byleth was on her way out, giving a small wave as she rushed off. He cleared his throat before walking in, Rhea’s gentle gaze coming across him with a smile.

“It is good to see you well, Robin. I see you have taken to wearing the officer’s academy uniform?” She waved at his clothes.

“I need more than one pair of clothes if I am to be staying here, so I suppose it was inevitable. Why did you wish to see me this morning?” He said carefully. There was no point in angering the leader of the sole religion so soon.

“Ah, you are quick to cut to the chase. About your position, I thought it would be best to give you different tasks to complete each moon. You seem to have a sharp mind and are skillful in combat. This moon, I want you to investigate rumors that have been going around the Monastery. Apparently, during the night as of late, people have been whispering about a figure wrapped in purple flames wandering the grounds. Witnesses say that the figure is seen near the dorms, the dining hall, the training grounds, and the classrooms as if searching for something. Lysithea of the Golden Deer claimed to run into the figure, perhaps it would be wise to get more details from her?” Robin’s mind was already starting to formulate different plans and strategies by the time Rhea finished. He would be like an investigator this month? He couldn’t help but get excited. He bid goodbye before almost running out of the room, grabbing a fresh journal and tracking down the mage by the dorms.

“The archbishop asked you to look for the ghost?! How scary…” The girl barely seemed to be the same age as her classmates. Most likely she was like Annette, a prodigy who got to enter the academy young.

“Rhea said you ran into it? Can you tell me what you remember?” Robin asked gently, using the voice he saved for Nowi when she was having a fit. The girl trembled before taking a deep breath.

“I forgot something in my classroom a few nights ago, so I went to go fetch it before I went to bed. On my way out of the room, I heard this noise… Some young kid was whispering, ‘Mommy? Where did you go?’ All of a sudden, purple flames appeared, and a young boy showed up out of nowhere! I-I was so scared I just ran for it… Robin, you better be careful!!” She said, giving a worried look.

With that, Robin went around asking more of the people who milled around and heard similar descriptions. This ghost was apparently that of a young-looking child who would wander around looking for his mother and was always followed by purple flames. Seems like one hell of a ghost story. A ghost who knew a thing or two about dark magic, it sounded like. Purple flames reminded him of Tharja during her hexes, which meant that it was possible this ghost was a sorcerer playing a prank. Already making theories on what it could be? Never hurt to be prepared.

The first week was spent researching dark magic, and the folklore that the church kept on ghosts, which was next to nothing. He wanted to get a good idea of what he might be running into before he confronted this little enigma. Apparently, just like with all the magic, dark magic was completely different. Different spells he never heard of, and completely rare to find anyone with an affinity for it. Not to mention dark mages apparently were male restricted, like how pegasus riders were only for females. Robin remembered his first time on a pegasus, Sumia’s specifically. It was something, to be in the air free from most normal dangers. Until the wyverns, griffons, and arrows swarmed you in the air.

The second week, he found himself doing combat training for the Blue Lions at Byleths request, and then the Black Eagles because Edelgard simply followed him around until he agreed, and then the Golden Deer, just to be fair. In the end, Felix cornered him about the magic blade he carried and the many different ways it could be used to cut down an enemy, leading to him demanding Byleth to start teaching him reason magic so he could also use a Levin sword, Edelgard taking a similar interest in reason magic, and Lysithea actually teaching him about dark magic, as thanks for training the Golden Deer. Her quick explanation about the different spells was just enough to confirm that dark magic was still an option, although very unlikely.

Week three was also strange, as he had to sit in on a church holiday, and even was roped into singing, and then Annette had pleaded with him to help her get something for Mercedes’s birthday the following week. Since Robin apparently missed Annette’s own birthday, he helped the best he could and even bought her something sweet from town as an apology and a late gift.

The last week of the month was when he finally was free to get to his investigation. The other classes were preparing to leave for separate missions, leaving them too busy to ask more of him, and the faculty was too busy gossiping about something in Kingdom territory. Finally, Robin could polish off his plan to catch the little ghost child in the dead of night, with no one to bother him. The night before the Houses departed for their missions was the time Robin prepared for. He had rested up and prepared all of his gear, determined to solve the mystery that night. Hiding his white hair with his coat’s hood and wrapping a scarf around his mouth, he left his room, holding a small ember of Arcfire in his hand to guide his way.

His first stop was by the classrooms. Poking his head into all three of them, he found nothing amiss. No purple flames, and no voices. Lysithea had said she found it by her own classroom, which meant stopping by later that night wouldn’t hurt. Next was the dining hall. Looking into the windows, it was empty, with no sign of anyone having gone inside. Training grounds also ended up being a bust, since it was locked up tight for the night. With only one place left before he doubled back to the classrooms, he was getting a bit annoyed. Was this really just some silly ghost story?

The moment the dorms came into his sight, he knew something was off. The hair on the back of his neck was standing straight up, and his own sliver of flame almost extinguished before he sent more magic to keep it up. Walking past the first-floor dorms, he couldn’t help but notice all of the animals were nowhere to be seen as if scared off by something. This was all adding up to something being amiss here, which made Robin get giddy. He might be close to cracking his first task after all. A gust of wind blew past him, snuffing out his flame as he turned around. As someone who used Elwind pretty frequently, he knew the feel of magic winds pretty well, or so he likes to think. Ducking behind a stack of crates, he listened carefully, and sure enough, he heard the voice.

“Mommy…? Where did you go…? Why did you leave me alone again…? You and daddy promised you would never leave.” The voice definitely belonged to a boy, probably the same age as Felix. The footsteps crept closer, and Robin could see purple shadows dancing on the wall by his hiding place. Footsteps ruled out ghosts entirely unless this was the world’s most physically capable ghost ever. The most likely theory was this was a child the same age as most of the students, wandering the church grounds, and wielding some form of fire or dark magic.

The footsteps stopped all of a sudden, and Robin took a peek from behind the crate, slamming a hand over his mouth before he could make a noise. Standing right in front of his hideout was a kid looking around, holding a ball of purple flames. From his angle, the kid seemed pretty short, having dark hair that couldn’t be discerned from the purple coloring that was cast over his whole form. He wore a long black coat that was obviously too big for him and a pair of boots that were barely in one piece, most likely from how worn they were. All of a sudden, he swerved his head right towards the crates, and Robin couldn’t jump back quite quickly enough.

“Mommy…? Why are you hiding from me?” Fuck. Indeed. Robin took a deep breath before finally giving a response.

“Sorry kiddo, but I’m not your mother.” He slowly stood up and walked into the child’s line of sight, lowering his scarf and hood, keeping his hands up, palms facing the child. With a better look, the kid barely reached his shoulders, with straight hair that was kept almost short as his own. He was pale as well, which made him all the more creepy with the glowing purple eyes. Wait a second… Oh. I’m going to apologize in advance. The child’s face lit up at the sight of him, giving a wide smile.

“Mommy!! There you are!! Why didn’t you come back as you said…? Daddy has been worried sick and big sister won’t go to lessons without you as her teacher.” The child almost sang, giving a sad look. Robin frowned at that before slowly walking forward until he had a closer look at the child. Gently grabbing the hand holding the purple flames, he lowered it before making his own flame to better look at him. Now he could see the child had straight navy hair, and his too-big coat had some familiar patches Robin recognized. Then, Grima’s words clicked.

Back in Ylisse, before the final battle, Robin had a horrible nightmare. He dreamt of being in the future, being in the devastated world he had helped to create, watching the children of the future struggle against the full force of the Fell Dragon. He dreamt of him and the shepherds fighting with them, trying to help their mission of getting the gemstones of the Fire Emblem. The thing that scared him the most… were the twin Morgans that seemed to have been manipulated by the Grima who took his body. To have them try and kill their own friends and even Lucina, just because they wanted to please the person they thought was their parent. Both of them dealt with dark magic, and both were frighteningly powerful.

“Morgan…?” He whispered, snuffing out his flame before cupping the boy’s cheeks, looking closely at his eyes. Sure enough, behind the glow, the Brand of the Exalt sat on the right eye, proving without a doubt that this was his little boy. I have no idea how the hell he got here, but… It seems like he’s sleepwalking, with my power leaking out of him. Most likely, he was here trying to find you by sensing for me. There will be a time and a place, but a stern talking to was certainly in the future. Morgan simply smiled up at him before closing his eyes and falling limp against him, causing him to lurch forward to catch him. Seems he’s back asleep, without the walking part.

Carefully picking his son up, he headed back to his room, holding him closely. Many thoughts raced through his head, but the only one that stayed was… How did Morgan get here? Was Grima’s magic still strong enough in him that he was able to traverse through worlds as the Fell Dragon had? Did anyone else accidentally follow him here? Not to mention… How was he going to tell Rhea the child was his son and was the ghost everyone found wandering the grounds?

That morning, the classes departed for their missions, leaving the grounds somewhat empty. Robin stayed in his room for most of the day, catching up on his own sleep and watching over Morgan, waiting for him to wake up. At that moment, said child was just laying in his bed, hugging Robin in his sleep and sleeping peacefully. He might have been worried about Morgan’s wellbeing, but he couldn’t stop himself from being overjoyed to have one of his babies right at his side in the strange land. Maybe he could convince Rhea to let him join the academy and get a proper education? What house would he go to? Maybe the Black Eagles, since the people of the empire seem to be more attuned to magic. A small yawn shook him from his thoughts as Morgan slowly stirred before opening his eyes and looking up, jerking back, hitting his head against the wall.

“Oh- Naga! I’m sorry mister!! W-where am I?” He half squeaked, holding onto his coat as if it were a lifeline. Robin cracked a small grin at the sight.

“I found you wandering the Monastery grounds during the night. You collapsed, and I brought you to my room. You called me mommy before you passed out.” He teased lightly, watching his son start to blush with embarrassment.

“I’m so sorry!! O-obviously you can’t be my mother since your a m-man and all- there’s no way we could be…” He cut himself off before looking around the room for a moment, registering his surroundings. His eyes fell on a pile of clothes Robin tossed on his dresser, specifically his freshly cleaned Grimleal coat he never bothered to fold. He turned back to Robin, eyes wide.

“Good call, Morgan. You should always look around to check for escape routes and details to help you identify your location or the person you’re interacting with.” He complimented, ruffling the smaller hair.

“Your… A Robin” He said in awe, patting his hair down.

“Well, yes I suppose. However, if my theories are right… You’re my Morgan. Your father is Chrom, right?”

“Yeah, but that’s not a specific enough detail to try and pin down if I’m your son… Not to mention your a guy, my Robin is a woman! She’s my mother.” Smart boy, just like Robin would’ve taught him.

“Allow me to prove myself. Being specific is the only really way to pin down anything, so I’ll do my best. Before the final battle with Grima, Lucina, the older one, stumbled into one of the palace’s secret rooms that was holding a series of special weapons that were heirlooms to the Halidom. She found two bows and forced Chrom to train with her so they could be a father-daughter duo. You on the other hand randomly found a series of tomes and forced me to practice with you. The Book of Naga and Grima’s Truth. You wanted us to be the deadly force of Fell and Divine magic.” Morgan gave a hard stare before speaking up.

“Who is Lucy dating behind you and fathers back?”

“Laurent. I went to check on Lucina one morning because the day before she had told me she wasn’t feeling well, and I found the two of them sharing a bed. From the sounds of it, only you and I know, and I doubt Lucy thinks I know either.” Robin felt bad, but obviously, Morgan knew about it too so it wasn’t really spilling her secrets if they both knew.

“You really are mother… But why do you look like that?” Morgan settled down on the bed, relaxing a bit, the look of concern clear across his face.

“Blame Grima. It tried to escape demise and took me with it, and we both ended up in this body in this world.” He sighed. I would complain, but unfortunately, my own carelessness is the source of this annoying situation.

“...C-can I still call you mother, then?” Morgan asked innocently, and Robin’s heart just melted. The mother instincts kicked in as he pulled his baby in, hugging him tightly.

“Of course you can sweetie. No matter how I look, I’m still your mother, and you’re my adorable little boy.” He cooed, nuzzling into the blue head of his little boy. Morgan was always the youngest of the future children and paired with his amnesia, Robin always was sure to shower him in love to make up for his lost memories. It helped that there was no baby Morgan to divide his attention from the bigger one, or else he would be torn from having to choose which one to spoil.

Staying in that position for a few more minutes, both simply held tight, not wanting to lose hold in case this was a twisted nightmare. However, a knock on the door had them look over, and Seteth entered, looking over and starting to speak.

“Robin, Lady Rhea wanted to speak to you regarding the… Who is that small boy?”

Chapter Text

Morgan was always the baby in every situation. As the youngest of the children from the future, as the youngest of Robin’s two children, and especially the fact he was identical to Robin in many ways, like a mini Robin. Wearing the same clothes, studying strategies, and learning swordplay. It was cute to have such a dedicated son, but it was also strange how he couldn’t remember anything except for his mother. Chrom certainly was sad at the fact that he had nothing in common with his own son, but it all changed. Morgan was able to salvage one glimpse of his memory, and soon it all just fell in. Not as many memories that he had of his mother, but having a few handfuls of memories of his father made him always giddy and excited. His adorable little boy just shining with joy. Unfortunately, now was not a time where Morgan behaved like a cute little son.

“Oh, hi mister grass hair! Are you a manakete too? We’ve met two with green hair already, and I don’t remember anyone else with such bright green hair. So you MUST be a manakete!! So how old are you then? Nowi is a few thousand and Tiki is way older, I think.” Morgan babbled with no end. By the way Seteth’s eye was twitching, Robin knew that he wasn’t about to get off easy.

“Robin. Who is that child?” He said through gritted teeth. Robin sighed, lightly flicking Morgan’s cheek, promptly making him go quiet.

“My apologies Seteth. This is my son, Morgan. I found him last night on the grounds and took him here.” He explained, watching Seteth’s expression soften ever so slightly. 

“Did you have your report for Lady Rhea ready?” He said, looking over the blue-haired bundle sitting in Robin’s lap.

“I did. But I must ask Seteth… Is there any way I can enroll my son here? He’s only ever been homeschooled since I was too poor to get him into an actual school.” Robin asked, willing the lie to sound normal. It wasn’t that Robin couldn’t afford to put Morgan in school, no one knew if he had gone at all. The only thing they could say for sure was that it seemed the Robin in the future exclusively homeschooled both of the royal children. While he wasn’t saying he couldn’t be a good enough teacher, it would be nice to have his son getting a proper education, at least while they were in this other world. That, and its a chance for Morgan to make friends that aren’t only his friends because their parents were all friends.

“What?! Robin, we can’t just let anyone enroll here. There are proceedings for a reason, and to arrive a month late would be difficult to catch up from. I’m sorry but I cannot allow your son to just enter the academy. It’s meant for bright and talented youths, as well as educating the young nobility. My apologies. However, you should meet with Lady Rhea as soon as possible to give your report.” With that, he stormed out.

“Ugh rules! He’s a rule follower just like Uncle Freddy. And what did he mean he can’t let me enter?! I’m talented AND a prince!” Morgan ranted, glaring daggers at the empty doorway.

“Now now, don’t let him bother you. Seteth is… very serious and committed to what he believes is the way to do things. However… We are Ylisse’s prized tacticians. I’m sure we can devise a plan.” He said, patting the boy's head as a smile erupted on his face, the smile that Robin knew meant plans and pranks were in the future.

“Right! I don’t know why you want me going to this school or whatever, but I’m sure you and I can ace it!” He cheered, hopping up and digging through his cloak, grabbing spare paper and a broken pencil.

“We can plan on the fly, right now I need to head to Rhea. Actually, you’re coming with me. Perhaps we can ask Rhea herself.” Grabbing the boy by his hood, he began to drag them towards Rhea’s chambers as Morgan stashed his supplies away, yanking his hood away before running to catch up. Walking into Rhea’s chambers, the Archbishop was alone, simply standing there, as if waiting.

“Good morning Robin. Before your report, I would like to know who this young man is you brought with you.” She gave her ever serene smile, looking at Morgan. Robin opened his mouth to explain before said boy stepped forward, bowing deeply in front of her.

“Um…! My name’s Morgan. I… got separated from my parents a few months ago before I found my mother here. And... I’m sorry for the trouble I caused! I was the kid everyone was calling a ghost for the past month! I didn’t mean to scare them but… I was just… trying to find my mommy.” He looked up towards Rhea, eyes threatening to spill with tears. Your child is devious. He can cry on demand? He’s the baby of the children, of course, he knows how to make people feel bad for him. Naga knows it works on his father every time. Ah, right. He always wants to play chess with the Exalt and every time Chrom is too busy, he forces at least one game out of him. Where did he learn this skill? Hell if Robin knows, Morgan wasn’t even born yet, how could he guess who taught his little boy to perfect the fake tears and puppy dog eyes? Looking at Rhea, it seems her expression softened, walking up to Morgan and bending down to look at him at his level.

“There’s no need for tears, little one. I’m sure you didn’t mean to scare anyone while searching for your mother. I’m very happy you found her here. You go and make sure to apologize to her for making her worry about you.” She cooed, gently wiping away the boy’s tears before standing up straight and taking a step back. At the suggestion, Morgan turned to face Robin, his sneaky little grin on his face as he rushed forward, almost knocking him off balance from the sudden hug.

“I’m sorry for making trouble mommy!” He yelled out, nuzzling into Robin. The shocked look on Rhea’s face was something unexpected for Robin since she’s always seemed totally calm and collected. However, her shock was justified by Morgan calling a man his mother. Wrapping an arm around his boy, Robin took to explaining the confusion.

“His… mother died suddenly a long time ago. When his father and I married, he took to calling me his mother.” Not technically a lie, but certainly not the entire truth. Hopefully, Fodlan wasn’t against the idea of same-sex marriage.

“How awful, for such a young boy to have lost his mother… I can feel for him. My own mother passed a very long time ago as well. I am very pleased to hear that he has such a wonderful family, especially in you, Robin. You have been nothing but kind to everyone here. I would love to meet his father someday and to thank him for raising the boy alone for a time. It is difficult to do so after all. The fact all of that ends with Morgan being a good-hearted young man means that his father did a good job.” She said, smiling to herself with nostalgia. Seeing an opportunity, Robin took the chance.

“Actually, I was wondering if I could ask a favor from you, Lady Rhea. Morgan never had proper education and I… can’t watch him every day with my other duties here. I was wondering if he could attend classes here during the day while I am busy with your tasks?”

“Hmm… Usually, we only take commoner children when they’re proven to be talented and gifted in specific areas.” Rhea mused to herself. At the words, Morgan spun around and ran up to her, a hand pointing at one of his eyes.

“No worries then! Mother and I are from a place called the Halidom of Ylisse. See this symbol in my eye? We call it the Brand of the Exalt. Ylissean royalty always has this brand somewhere on their bodies, marking us as the royalty of the Halidom. My father is the current Exalt too! Not to mention, I’m pretty skilled with magic! So that makes me noble and gifted. Can I join now?” He rambled on, making Robin’s hopes drop. There was no way Rhea was going to believe him, especially say that he was royalty from a place she had never heard of. Rhea was peering at Morgan, probably squinting to see the brand in his eye.

“Halidom of Ylisse you said? I’ve never heard of such a place. However… That Brand in your eye certainly means something. What is an Exalt?” She asked, tilting her head. Robin jumped in before Morgan could babble further.

“The ruler of the Halidom is called the Exalt. Like the king or queen of a kingdom. I’ve read through your texts in the library but I also couldn’t find a single word on Ylisse. It seems me and my son are very far from home.” He explained. Morgan almost jumped with glee, producing a knapsack from under his cloak and digging through it, producing multiple books and a wrapped scroll.

“Lucky for us, Father lent me some of the texts from our library! This one is the founding of the land of Ylisse, this one is a summary of the three territories, and the last is a brief history of Ylisse, up until the war with Plegia, with father’s coronation marking the end. Doesn’t have anything about the war with Valm, though. Oh, and I have a map! This one is mine though, so don’t mind the chicken scratch.” He held out the books and map. Rhea waved her hand as a priest ran up, taking the books and heading towards a side room.

“I will look through them soon. For right now, I can’t say you can take the classes, however, feel free to visit Professor Hanneman. He can be a good judge of your magical talent while I am looking into your texts.” She said calmly. He nodded, grabbing Morgan by the shoulder and starting to lead them out of the chamber.

“Ah! Lady Rhea, I must ask. Could you please keep all this to yourself? I… don’t want anyone to treat us any differently. Especially not like royalty of a country we can’t prove even exists quite yet.” Robin asked, looking over his shoulder at her.

“If that is your wish. The three of us shall be the only ones who know about your ties to this Halidom.” With that, the conversation was over, and Robin was taking Morgan to find Hanneman. The classes should be back from their missions by now, which means the most likely place for Hanneman to be is in the Golden Deer classroom. The entire walk was filled with silence, Morgan catching on that maybe what he did wasn’t the smartest decision. Arriving at the classrooms, students were on their way out, talking about their missions and stories of what happened. Ducking into the furthest classroom, Robin saw Hanneman organizing his papers before the older professor noticed him.

“Ah, Robin! There you are, I was just thinking of some more tests we could do with your crest.” 

“Actually, I needed a favor from you. Rhea suggested coming to you to judge this child’s magical aptitude. I’m trying to get him enrolled in the academy, but he needs a proper judge on his abilities.” Robin quickly explained. Hanneman nodded in interest.

“I am a good judge of reason magic, so I suppose this won’t be anything too difficult. Let’s head to the training grounds.” The three of them headed off, walking into the mostly empty grounds. Hanneman directed Morgan and Robin to stand opposite of each other, grinning to himself.

“Now then, we shall have you do a mock duel. I am curious to see your magic again Robin, and maybe see if we can get your crest to appear. Rules are to use magics that are available to you! The goal here is to show off your skills and how well you can use magic. We will end when one of you is out of magic to use.” The two nodded before getting into a ready stance. Morgan took out a purple tome as Robin fished out his Thoron tome.

“Begin!” Immediately Morgan threw a Flux at him, which was easy to duck underneath. Reading through his tome he could feel the lightning starting to streak up his arm, ready to fire. However, it felt slightly off. The sparks seemed almost blue. Looking up, he saw the green blades of Wind rushing at him, making him roll out of the way, not without watching his own tome get blown out of his grip. Looking back at Morgan he could see his grin. Taking a tome from a caster’s hand was as good as disarming them, and reaching for another was an opening that was too much of a risk. Morgan continued to toss Wind after Wind, however, Robin couldn’t help but notice that Morgan was casting wind-based magic from a dark based tome. That wasn’t right.

Ducking under spell after spell, Robin knew he couldn’t keep this up. He was not as athletic as his husband or daughter, and Morgan probably knew this. Wear out his stamina and throw something he couldn’t dodge was the strategy here. Which meant that he needed to cast in response. As another spell of Wind came rushing at him, Robin just knew he couldn’t run fast enough away, he was getting too tired. Idiot!! Blast through it!! But how…? There wasn’t enough time to grab another tome. Don’t think, do!! Thoron!! 

At Grima’s cry, Robin stepped back, holding up a hand in the same way he would had he been holding his signature tome. As if in slow motion, he could see the blue arcs of lightning dance down his arm, growing larger as it reached his hand before they combined, firing off a streak of bright blue lightning that blasted straight through the Wind, dissolving it. He watched Morgan’s shocked before he rolled out of the way. Robin had cast Thoron without his tome… Was this another strange rule of this world? That was probably why he never saw tomes here. The people could simply cast magic without it. It made no sense that Robin could, since his magic came from tomes, like everyone in Ylisse. Worry later, focus!

An orb of flames was descending on him, so he did what he did before. Sending a blast of Thoron straight through it, and turning to Morgan. Casting fire magic now? Something strange was happening with their magic. Robin began to look around for a better place to fire from, only to notice a growing crowd of students starting to watch them. Then, he saw it. Morgan was preparing another spell, but a flash appeared right in front of him. The Brand of the Exalt. Then, his spell went through. The blades of his Wind starting towards him, before they almost… grew. Then, it was almost as if Arcwind was rushing at him at full speed. There was no time to try to blast through it with Thoron, there wasn’t time! 

He tried to raise his arms feebly to protect himself from the rushing force before he saw a symbol flash in front of himself. The Fell Brand lasted a moment before he moved without thinking, slashing his hand through the air in front of him, a magic circle appearing in front of him, sucking the blades in before releasing them, absorbing the spell and reflecting it right back at the caster. Morgan’s eyes widened before the wind blew him into the air, sending him careening into a pillar at high speed. Robin’s eyes widened in horror. No, not Morgan. He couldn’t let Morgan get hurt from his own actions, whatever it was he did. Thoron couldn’t be used, and grabbing another tome would take too long. Hitting that pillar at that speed was going to hurt the small boy in such a way, not even the best staff could fix the resulting damage. Did…he just send his son flying to certain doom? I finally see what she meant. Robin, do you want to save him? Gods yes. He couldn’t live with himself if this critically injured his baby. Do you trust me to save him? His eyes went wide and he pleaded.

Please… save him!

Chapter Text

Everything hurt. That moment when the blade went into her gut and the magic lightning sparking throughout her body was agony. She was dying. That worm actually had the mind to end herself to get rid of the other. To throw away her bonds, to leave her life behind. She knew how the rest of the worm’s life would go. If Naga’s chosen dealt the final blow, she would live to be a perfect Queen. She would raise her children happily, and lead the world towards a peaceful future. Why did she toss it away?

The worm’s grip loosened as she fell back, collapsing to the ground as the rest of her allies surrounded her. Why…? Why would she throw that all away? Every time she went to the next world, she got the memories of the now-dead Robin. Feelings of jealousy, discontentment. Most Robin’s never found their so-called soulmate, settling with the next best thing and living in a pool of their own jealousy. But this Robin… Got what the others failed. She found the person that completed her, they married. Now, she was dying, leaving it all behind. Why would she throw away her one in hundreds chance?

She wasn’t going to die here. She refused. As her dragon form began to shake, the Ylisseans were taken away, Naga’s power saving them from dying on the dragons back. Leaving behind the now dead body of the former Queen. Her blood boiled with rage as she grew weaker. Dragging herself towards the body, tossing aside the blade that had been used to try and slay her, she looked over her meager double.

A gentle smile was across her face. She had gotten to die surrounded by loving friends and her family. Leaving the other to die in agony, alone. No. This was not her end, she refused. She collapsed on top of her other, hissing at the pain. Everything hurt. Reaching for Robin’s gloved hand, she yanked off the glove, showing the Brand, slowly beginning to fade. She roared and bit into the Brand, feeling the last remanents of life flowing into her dying form. That wasn’t enough to survive. She needed to find another world, fast. 

Using the last of her power, she opened a gate and fell through, feeling herself get torn piece by piece until falling into a field. Looking around, she found what she was looking for. This worlds Robin, running with his mother, trying to escape Plegia. It was easy enough to subdue them, the woman was frail, and the Robin, a male, had no weapons. 

She bit into him, absorbing the latent power that was growing inside of his blood. She could feel her form shift to reflect the new one, and she easily crushed the last bit of that Robin, hearing his voice go quiet.

Examining her wound, she did her best to repair it. Used magic, herbal medicines, everything she could get her hands on. But she could still feel herself slipping. How was she dying when the body was perfectly healthy? How?! She needed another then. She opened a new gate and fell in, feeling herself be torn again except, something went wrong. She was falling away from her course, she was falling into a different place entirely. Her body still hurt from the traveling of worlds, before she arrived, collapsed in a forest clearing. No, this wasn’t where she wanted to go. This was a mistake. She tried to reach out, trying to find another Robin but failing to find anything. Which meant this wasn’t Ylisse or even Valm. This was an entirely different place, where there was no way for her to get any more power. She was going to die here without that power. Feeling her mind slip into the darkness, all she could do was a mumble.

“Why… do I feel so lonely?”

She woke up. She was sitting at a desk covered in papers and books, in some sort of study. Looking down at herself, the wound was gone, and she was back in a female body. But she was sure the body she had grabbed was male. What trickery was happening? Standing from the desk, she couldn’t feel any pain from any injuries. Something was not right. She went to the door of the study, opening it in a swift movement before gazing at what laid before her. An endless hallway with doors on both sides. Walking up to one she saw a plaque labeling it. ‘The field.’ She frowned before opening the door and walking through.

All at once, she woke up in a field, the Ylissean field all Robin’s find themselves in without memory at some point. Standing above her was the Naga spawn, but looking at him she couldn’t force herself to feel hate, or disdain, or spite. All she seemed to feel was a wonder, staring up at the charming smile of Ylisse’s prince. It felt so wrong, the feelings going through her. She shut her eyes and hissed. Get her out of here. Stop making her feel these feelings!

She woke up at the desk in the study. She went into the hallway of doors and went to another one. ‘Lucina’s first birthday.’ She opened and looked through, watching from afar. Robin holding her baby, trying to feed her cake, Chrom and Lissa laughing in the back. It made her heart ache with joy and warmth. These were memories. She found herself stuck in a corridor of Robin’s memories, the one that had just killed her. And she was stuck with the same feelings. What hell did Naga decide to put her through, forever wandering these memories, and feeling the emotions her mortal half felt. 

After seeing what every door held, she went back to the study and sat there. There were books everywhere, most likely a collection of all the ones Robin knew from cover to cover. This study seemed to be a collection of knowledge that Robin always knew on hand. She could easily retrieve any of this information to use in any situation, and she could go down the corridor to remember. 

So she read all the books. History, magic, strategy, legends, folklore, and many more mundane topics. Just how many books had she been reading while fighting in those wars? The memory of the Exalt falling to her doom flashed through her head and she felt sick to her stomach. Robin probably locked herself away to read to distract. But why could she guess how Robin reacted? It wasn’t like she knows how the worm functions. Unless… All her time here was starting to change her. She could remember all of Robin’s memories, remember every dumb book she had memorized, and she could even predict her reactions from all her memories. It was as if she was learning how to be Robin from inside her own head.

She kept searching through the strange area she found herself in before she finally saw the window in the study. Outside the window was just darkness. She leaned forward, pushing open the window before crawling out. As she fell from the window, she appeared to be standing in a forest clearing. Looking at herself, she seemed almost like a ghost, with a see-through form. She looked around before her eyes fell on the body laying on the forest floor. The body she tried desperately to save herself with.

Walking over she looked over the body. Still seemed to be breathing, wasn’t bleeding out. All signs pointed to it being alive. So why wasn’t she in it? Why wasn’t she living in it? She looked through all her memories before she came to a handful of possibilities, and only one seemed plausible. The Robin she was killed by was sitting in that body, still recovering from being on her deathbed. When she had taken her essence, she didn’t make sure the other was actually dead, so when she was fading out, it was because Robin’s mind was taking the body. Leaving her to stay in her head, with her memories.

For a length of time, the process continued. She would look at Robin’s memories, read her books, check on the body, and in general be upset. She lost. She was now simply stuck in another’s head, living through her memories until she couldn’t separate herself from Robin. With all the new emotions and feelings going through her, she felt stuck with guilt. Guilt that she had landed Robin in a world all alone with none of her allies. Guilt that she tried to snuff out the light in the world after she was forced to interact with them and feel for them in the memories. Guilt that she slaughtered an innocent Robin that never had a chance to even meet his other half. She was stuck repeating the same cycle and drowning in all these new emotions.

When she wasn’t drowning in guilt, she played pretend. She would pick her favorite memories and stay in them as long as possible, pretending to be Robin. Her wedding was interesting. Standing there with the Naga spawn, with warmth and love being radiated from every inch of her body. Going around and eating the cake, which was sweet and fluffy. Talking to the guests, and listening in on the jealous ladies. One girl, the one who rode a pegasus, whined about how she could’ve been at the altar with Chrom. A Plegian dark mage grumbled about how she had been planning to marry Robin. It was… fun. To have her enemies look at here with warmth and joy, all while Chrom made a fool of himself in his bright white suit, making jokes and freaking out about how nervous he was during the vows.

When she would leave the memories she would remember. All the people in that room despised her and wanted her gone. They were happy around Robin, not her. They wanted her dead and out of their lives. No one wanted her around. No one wanted the sick little freak of a dragon that was her, the little experiment that failed, the mistake that her own creator tried to fix. Then she would drown herself in her despair. Her… Loneliness.

It was a moment such as that when it happened. She was simply sitting the study’s chair, hugging her knees and staring out the black window. Staring at the deep depths. Alone. After a while, she thought she heard something. Someone’s breathing. She slowly left her chair before opening the window and leaving. When she appeared, the body had moved. It was crawling over to the stream nearby. She followed, sitting beside the body as it drank the cool water from the stream. She looked over at the body. She probably shouldn’t say the body when she knew who it was. Robin was now gaping at his new reflection, most likely trying to fit the puzzle pieces when he was missing some. She decided to try and fill in the blanks. It was her fault, so why not try to be helpful for once.

“Finally awake, are you?” She spoke softly, looking at the water. Robin jerked his head, panic starting to sink it. It seemed that he couldn’t see her, so she supposed a voice in his head would be something shocking.

“Grima..!” He cut off, seeming surprised by his own voice. She giggled at the reaction. Silly little Robin.

“Unfortunately.” There was so much to say but she couldn’t bring herself to say it. Apologizing for the situation they were stuck in, apologizing for how awful she was to him, and how sorry she was for existing. Being stuck in that emotional pit made her weak, it made her human.

“What happened..? I thought I destroyed us both.” He said, speaking to the forest, even though she was right next to him. 

“ You almost did. But I worked too hard to just give up, little pawn. After your tearful family said goodbye, I tried to devour you to get enough power to head to a new realm and acquire a new body that wasn’t dying. The first one I found is the one your sitting in. I did everything I could to heal the damage before we slipped into this realm.” She couldn’t help the spite in her voice. All of this guilt and regret was because of Robin. Because she couldn’t get rid of him. She was supposed to be trying to make amends, not immediately seeming like the arrogant dragon she was months ago.

“You act as though I will not end us both again.” He said calmly. To think he was ready to throw his life away again made her sick. Why couldn’t she just live her happy little life? She sighed in frustration. 

“Lucky for you… Things might have just gotten tricky. Usually, when I devour your vessels, I can retain control and siphon off your soul. However… because of how sloppy I was, it seems I am merely a presence in your mind. I couldn’t rise up even if I wanted to. Can you feel it? The air here is nothing like in Ylisse. I’ve dropped us somewhere that is nothing like our home. Which means…” Why did she say ‘our’ home? Ylisse was never her home. She was never welcomed there, only hated or zealously worshipped. Her home was underground, stuck in a stone labyrinth where her creator looked at her in fear.

“No Grimleal to feed you to regain your power.” He said, looking at himself in the stream. She felt sick. Like she wanted the freaks to die for her again. Robin totally missed what she was trying to say. Being in this different world meant that he was away from all those people in his memories. She could feel his disgust at being totally alone with her in his head. And that was fair.

“I hate it too, pawn. What’s worse… Is instead of destroying your soul, I’m merging with it. All your disgusting emotions and memories are mixing with mine.” Her bitterness seeped through. If it wasn’t for the emotion and memories she saw, she would have learned nothing. She’d be the same Fell Dragon without any idea of what being human could mean.

“You’re becoming almost akin to a human then, Grima.” Robin replied, and that didn’t soothe her own fears.

“Don’t compare us worm!! I am still the Fell Dragon.” But did she really want to be after witnessing all the pain she caused?

“That is stuck in a place where you can’t ever be heard from. The irony is clear. You wanted to take everything that made me different from you, but now you’re assimilating with it.” She leaped from her seat next to him and glared down at him, gritting her teeth.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if this is Naga’s way of punishing me. Making me live and feel like you do.” She yelled out, turning on her heel and storming off, before finding herself back in that study, to wallow in her own self-hate. That didn’t stop her from hearing one last remark.

“I suppose hearing you complain won’t get us anywhere. The best thing to do now is... Learn. Find out where we are.”

From there, she simply stared out the window, which acted as a mirror to what Robin saw. She watched him find the mercenaries, be escorted to Garreg Mach, helping to plan for the Mock Battle, and even investigate for the ghost that turned out to be Morgan. She simply sat there, watching. When Robin slept, she went back to the memories, choosing to watch instead of experience. To look on to everyone’s joy as a stranger, because that’s what she was. The unwanted outsider that came in and tried to ruin all these memories.

Of course, she talked to Robin occasionally. Her bitterness left her always sounding like the arrogant dragon she was before. She acted mean and hateful, while she sat in this study simply wishing to stop existing. That’s what the whole world wanted, wasn’t it? For the big bad Fell Dragon to disappear.

One night, she was visited in the study. A girl dressed in navy with white and pink ribbons, with long green hair with a headpiece adorned in gold stormed in from the window.

“Are you supposed to be the evil dragon trying to destroy Robin’s homeland?” The girl demanded, slamming her hand on the desk, glaring at her. At this point, she was still sitting in the blasted chair, the Grimleal coat tossed on the ground. It made her blood burn, having a reminder of those sickos.

“I was, sure. Now I just… stay here. Out of sight.” She said, laying her head on the desk, tapping her nail on the oak. The girl seemed almost shocked at her answer.

“You… don’t seem anything like you were in Robin’s memories.” She said, frowning.

“Well… I’ve been stuck in his head for a while. He might have been awake for a week or so but… I think I’ve been in his head for months. Looking through the memories, reading all these books. I guess seeing yourself from a different angle really hits home how unwanted you are.” She mused, glancing up at the other. The girl was staring deeply into her eyes before shock encompassed her features.

“You… you didn’t come into this world willingly. You were forced, having company in a madman who made you from blood, herbs, and hate. Then he tied to kill you because that concoction you were made from made you stronger than he could keep a leash on. You’re not a Fell Dragon trying to destroy the world because your evil, your the little Creation who doesn’t know anything but hate and destruction.” She whispered.

“You did that to Robin too. Reading his mind. Just what are you, Sothis?”

“...I don’t remember.” Sothis mumbled, looking around before taking a seat on the desk. “But, I suppose it means little. It seems we are both two lost beings stuck in our vessels.”

From then on, Sothis made it a habit to visit more often. To keep a lonely dragon company, and to help drive away her own toxic thoughts. It was nice, having someone who would speak to her just because she wanted to. Sothis was good company. She would read some of Robin’s books and complain about the Plegian script. She would gossip about Byleth a lot too, how the young mercenary was ‘catching feelings.’ Over time, Sothis even got her to go back into the memories again, and the strange girl would even join, and they made it a game for her to try and find which person in the memory was Sothis.

It made them both feel… Normal. Not like the strange spirits sitting in normal people’s heads. Not like the all-powerful death dragon and a girl who apparently gave Byleth the ability to go back in time. It made them feel like two girls having fun, and being friends. One time, Sothis noticed how she wouldn’t wear the cultist’s coat anymore, and came back the next day with her own. A navy coat with gold threads making lines and shapes reminiscent of her own strange dress. The same long sleeves and hood, with white and pink ribbons acting as clasps instead of the golden buttons from the Grimleal coat. It was like the old coat, but could only really be tied to Sothis. She would forever be grateful.

The night when Robin found Morgan, she stayed quiet, simply going through the memories pertaining to the child. Of course, she remembered both Morgans, and everything she forced them to do in the countless futures she ruined. Knowing that her dark energy still was stuck in the boy, which made him wander around like a puppet trying to find its owner… Made her sick. She would have to try and remove her own power from him, to keep that magic from overflowing again.

The next day, watching the boy call Seteth old, and having him successfully charm Rhea with his… For lack of a better term, utter adorableness was interesting. Morgan had a knack for dark magic after his time besides her but still seemed like a normal child, not to mention happy to be beside his proper mother. It made her feel worse remembering how she manipulated him to carry out dark tasks, and how he did it happily, simply because she wore his mother’s face. She was almost tempted to go look at the memories, to see how Robin properly treated his children, but she decided to remain to the mock magic duel.

Sothis had explained crests to her once. How they could emerge and give power to the people who held them. But, she didn’t believe the Brands could do any such thing. But watching as Morgan’s normal wind spell became something far more powerful due to Naga’s Brand, and then watching Robin reflect it back because of the Fell Brand made her uneasy. So, now her Brand can actually cause harm to other people? Sothis might have to fish her out of her pond of self-hate tonight. Her pity party was put on hold when the kid went flying. She forced herself out of the study, until she was standing besides Robin, the horror on his face evident as Morgan’s feet left the ground.

This was her fault. Her Brand caused the magic to blast back. Robin would’ve been fine, but Morgan was small. Of course, he was blown off his feet. She had to do something. She had to help, she couldn’t just be the evil dragon Robin knew her to be. She was better, she could be better. She turned to Robin, knowing that he couldn’t see her.

“Do you trust me to save him?” She pleaded with him. He spoke no words but she could feel his desperation, and could hear his plea in his thoughts. Please… Save him! She acted. She reached for the glove hiding her Brand and willed herself to activate it, absorbing some of Robin’s magic before she fell through the shadows, using it as a gate to travel between the length of the arena, appearing in the shadows right by the pillar that was Morgan’s fated landing spot. She felt Robin fall to the ground as she kept siphoning his energy, but she had to worry about to boy first. She couldn’t form her physical form with so little energy. She would have to borrow other matter to do it, but with all these people watching it could lead to problems. Her eyes wandered the crowd before it landed on Byleth, her face also in horror. Then she saw Sothis, who seemed to be concentrating hard.

“Grima, what happened?!”

“My… Brand sent the boy flying. I’m not sure if I can help without more time to get energy.”

“Oh leave that to me. Grima, I’ll pulse us back a few seconds, right before the wind was reflected. You try to gather all the energy you can. I will handle everything else. But you must save the boy.” With that, time distorted, and she found herself still in the study, watching Robin disperse the fire spell. She jumped out of the window and took her place beside him and let herself start to drain the bystanders of energy. Not enough to cause illness, but just a bit from everyone, and with the big crowd, it should be enough, combined with Robin’s own magic to get her a solid form for a few seconds.

She watched the spell reflect, and Robin pleads to her for help. She siphoned off his magic, taking as much as she needed before she traveled through the shadows, feeling herself solidify, just barely to be seen as a person made of shadows. Her form seemed to weigh her down, and every movement sent streaks of pain. She couldn’t stay like this, all her power needed a proper vessel to contain the power. Regardless, she had to help. She grits her teeth as wings formed from the shadows, sending new waves of pain through her before she jumped up, flying the little distance before the boy slammed into her, her shadowy form just enough to soften the impact. She fell to the ground, keeping a death grip on the boy. Once she hit the ground she screeched in pain before the form collapsed, and her spirit was simply curled up on the ground, too drained to move or even retreat back to the study. Sothis was just as tired, but she still whispered into Byleth’s ear, who nodded before speaking up.

“Everyone, head back to your dorms! It seems that the Goddess saved the boy, but right now we need space to make sure both are okay.” She commanded, pointing to the exit as the kids scrambled away. Hanneman turned to her in shock.

“The Goddess must have seen that Robin’s crest almost killed the boy, and saved him herself! A miracle, oh what a miracle!” He gushed, leaving to make sure the students left the area. Byleth ran to the collapsed Robin, and Sothis made her way over to her and the boy, where she still was holding am arm over him, trying to keep him safe despite having no physical form.

“You did great, Grima! I can’t believe you can manipulate shadows.” She praised, leaning down to smile at her.

“I’ve… always had a knack for it. Dark magic and making life from shadows… Was easy for me. Now I’m just… completely drained.” She wheezed. Sothis hummed, ruffling her hair.

“Beings like us aren’t meant to use our power without vessels. The shadow doll barely could contain all of you. Maybe next time you should ask to use Robin’s…?”

“No… I can’t. I shouldn’t go using his body. He… pretty much killed me. I shouldn’t be allowed to walk around with that body. I should… Just be content with how I am.” She said, looking over at Robin, where he was finally sitting up, holding his head, His gaze went straight to Morgan, seeing the boy unconscious, most likely from the force of the fall, or perhaps Grima’s own energy sending him to sleep. Then, his eyes trailed to the side, looking her dead in the eyes, most likely piecing it together. That she had saved him from harm, most likely by stealing his own energy. 

She was tired. Even with all the energy she had borrowed, that small feat made her feel like she was dying all over again. She looked up at Sothis, before looking once more back at Robin before she faded, drifting off. She thought she heard two sets of shouts, Sothis’ panic, and… Robin’s worry? It was too late to think about it anymore. Right now… She just wanted to rest.

When she roused, she felt herself laying down in a bed, which was strange. The study only held a desk, chair, and books. Why would she be in bed? She looked around slowly, still feeling the ache in her spirit. She was in a small room, with the bed she was laying in with soft lavender sheets, a desk pushed to the side with a chair, a small bookshelf, and a single framed picture on the wall, with her Brand seeming to stare down at her. Rising up, she got up and left the room, finding that the door did connect to the study, where a new door was there where it hadn’t been before.

She made her way to the desk. From her time here, she slowly found explanations for the strange place. The study represented Robin’s mind, how he kept information neatly filed away on the bookshelves, all the information he had read. The desk contained knowledge he got elsewhere, little notes about what people liked, or anything he thought about. Looking through the notes on the top of the pile, she saw the mundane thoughts. ‘Make sure Morgan gets rest’, ‘Thank Byleth for the save’, and… ‘Please let Grima be okay.’ She set the note down before backing up. Why… was Robin hoping she was okay? Her back hit the window before she spun around, seeing Robin at his desk in his real room, reading the same page over and over again. He couldn’t focus. Because… He was worried about her?

Her mind jumped onto the idea and formulated a reason for the new room in Robin’s head. A room just for her. Perhaps Robin has accepted the fact Grima was here to stay and gave her a place to rest, a place in his own mind where she could do as she pleased? The idea seemed almost too good to be true. Hesitantly, she went through the window, and she found herself on the bed in his room. Morgan was nowhere to be seen, most likely in a different room to rest peacefully. She cleared her throat slightly before speaking up.

“You were… Worried for me?” She said meekly. His head jerked up and he looked around, once more staring straight at her. He never noticed her presence before, why now? Ah… It could be the same reason she has a space in his head. He accepted her presence and wasn’t trying to actively ignore her presence.

“Of course I was worried! I thought I almost hurt Morgan and then... You saved him. Then, before I could thank you, you faded out of sight. I thought… Something bad happened.” He said shakily.

“We’re tied together now. I… can’t just die. I used up every ounce of power I could trying to help, so when I drifted off, most likely I was returning to your head to rest. But I’m… somewhat happy you were worried about me.”

“I… Thank you. For saving Morgan. It’s been a rough few days, but… I feel better knowing you’re better.” He said, giving a small smile. She gave one of her own, hoping that this time her smile didn’t scare someone.

“Our souls have been bound together now. Of course, I would help save the little one. He… feels like family to me now. I… spent a long time simply going through your memories, so it’s very difficult for me not to be fond of your family and of the little… Shepards, you call them.” She said slowly.

“It seems like your understanding us better. You… don’t have any more feelings to destroy the world anymore do you?” He asked uneasily. She scoffed in response.

“I’ve had months to contemplate my actions. Of course, now I realize I wasn’t the most stable being. Your… memories helped. I could see and feel how all of you felt about me, and my plans to destroy your home. Even though I… thought I was justified to do so, I wasn’t. Being… an accident doesn’t justify killing and destroying countless worlds. I realize that now. And… I want to try and be better. I don’t want to be alone, drowning in my own hate for another thousand years. It… wouldn’t hurt to try and be good for once.” Robin stared for a moment before walking over and sitting on the bed, wrapping in arm around her in a feeble attempt to hug her.

“You helped me keep Morgan safe. I’d say that’s a good first step.” He mumbled. She looked at her hands as she felt herself shake. Was she… Crying?

“Well… I will try to do more good then. I… shall be returning to your head now.” With that, she was back. She rubbed at her eyes, feeling the tears still coming as her throat started to get tight. Someone… was thankful for her. Someone was glad she did something. She had used her horrifying abilities to save someone, instead of scaring them. It… was a good first step, like Robin said. She looked at the desk, watching a quill rise up and begin to scribble. What new thoughts could Robin possibly be thinking? Walking over, still wiping away at her tears she looked at the paper and read the clean handwriting.

‘Grima was an accident?’ ‘Do we not know the full truth about them?’ ‘How do you accidentally make a dragon?’ She bit her lip before grabbing the quill, writing her own little bit on the paper.

‘Forneus and Thabes Labyrinth. A warning that… if you find anything, you might not like it. ~Grima.’ If Robin was actually interested in knowing the truth, why should she hide anything? If anything… She should help him whenever she can, to try and make up for what she did. So… she doesn’t mind giving him the first stepping stone.

Chapter Text

Robin might have been dreaming something happy and peaceful, but the other soul intertwined with him was in no such situation. She stood in the middle of a cathedral, a Ylissean one she recognized with a chill. She could recognize the bodies on the floor, and the one sitting on the altar. The soft blue hair covering eyes that held no light. In one of her earlier conquests, the vessel she devoured was very hateful and jealous of a woman… The one who went on to marry the now Exalt. Once she devoured his hateful body, she couldn’t help but feel the sticky feelings of mortal emotions. Plunging a blade into the Exalt’s stomach left her feeling sick. That Robin made her feel disgusted that she dared act on the tactician’s awful feelings. She recognized this church, because in no other timeline did she dare leave the body of the Exalt on that altar again. The weakness she showed… To present Naga her chosen, almost out of the forced remorse she felt from that Robin. Footsteps behind her made her turn, her eyes narrowing as she took a step backward.

“You remembered? This was the first instance you proved that you could feel the turmoil of mortal emotions… The first instance that you could feel bad for something.” The soft voice spoke as the opposing figure stared at her with a calm gaze.

“... Why are you in my dreams, woman?” She growled, stepping back.

“I was simply checking on you, Fell Dragon. You died that day… and Robin vanished. She was supposed to come back to her home, but your act of self-preservation took her away from that. Or is it him now?” The imposing figure of Naga looking down at her left her feeling small. It was laughable almost. In her dragon state, she spanned continents. But now, being shorter than the divine dragon… She felt helpless.

“Well, I’m alive. But that’s not the only reason you showed yourself.” She growled, backing away until she bumped into the altar. Naga shook her head, sighing softly.

“Grima. Please, I mean no harm in speaking with you here.”

“Then what do you want?!” She roared, glaring at the green-haired deity in front of her.

“Your presence in Fodlan… has started a disaster. All of us can feel it in our bones. Something terrible is coming, being drawn towards you. Neither you nor your vessel should be there. The disaster that is awaiting Fodlan… is coming faster than before. Which leaves you with a choice. Will you run and hide, protecting your vessel from the disaster? Or will you fight to fix what your presence and mistake caused to the land? You wished to bring good for once. I dare say that this is the ultimate chance.”

“You’re telling me I need to get ready to stop some disaster?” Grima said slowly, eyeing the fellow dragon.

“I’m telling you what is happening. Either start looking for a hiding place, or begin drawing energy. You’ll need every ounce of your power to hope to protect the Monastery.” She whispered, looking to the side, out the dark windows of the dream cathedral.

“Why does it sound like… No matter what I choose, you're saying goodbye?”

“It is very unlikely I will be able to reach you again. I am warning you to try and help you, in the case that I can’t speak to you again. We may have been enemies… But I always hoped for a world where we could be anything but.” The divine dragon mused.

“... Fool. You can’t get rid of me that easily. I’m getting Robin home, which means you're bound to see me again.”

“I will choose to believe you. And hope when we meet again, you might face me with something other than a bitter look on your face.”

Waking up the next day, he simply stated at his ceiling, lost in thought. Rhea had given him the month off, worried about his health after the incident at the training grounds. But in this free time… He had no idea what to do. Morgan was up and running around, taking classes with the Black Eagles. Rhea couldn’t refuse his magical talent, so he was able to slip right in. Apparently, he was a magic genius in the class. Everyone was impressed with his magic, and his crest. Hanneman was quick to prove his theory about their crests and gave them a decent hypothesis. Morgan’s could occasionally upgrade a spell if unknown circumstances were met. Robin’s could reflect magic sometimes. He had no idea how, but Hanneman was overjoyed at the results.

For the past week, he simply stayed in his room and rested, Byleth being kind enough to help him remember his meals and to give him some time to enjoy her company. She was busy with teaching, and her upcoming mission made her concerned about her students’ wellbeings, leaving their lunch as the only time they could chat and try to ignore reality for an hour. In that week, he was also on pins and needles, anxious about Grima. He was absolutely out of his mind with concern. That day in the training grounds, he remembered just collapsing after begging the fell dragon for help. When he came to, Morgan was on the ground, being held by his female self. She had locked eyes with him before vanishing, and Robin knew that it was Grima, which left him freaking out over why she just appeared and vanished so quickly.

When Grima spoke to him, he was overjoyed by their… her safety. She gave some insight, even appearing as a sort of illusion in his room. After she disappeared, he couldn’t help but feel the rush of his own thoughts, wanting to learn more about the being who now seemed to want to help him. He jumped in place when he thought of a strange thought, seeing the words in his head, before seeing the patchy signature of Grima. He guessed that meant she could somewhat see his thoughts and even leave new ones behind. Which made him even more curious about her. What could she do in his head? How did she leave new thoughts in his head? Her more involved presence left him with many questions, and she seemed okay answering them.

Which leads him to today. He probably should grab breakfast before it became lunchtime, and maybe he could have another go at questioning the voice in his head. That would certainly be interesting and would lead to time passing by faster to when Morgan was out of classes. Getting out of bed and grabbing a clean uniform, he headed to the dining hall, grabbing some fruit and a pastry, sitting down at a lone table. Across from him sat Grima, or the illusion for a more accurate statement. She eyed his plate with a stiff look on her face.

“...Got something against breakfast?” He muttered to himself, knowing that she could hear. She huffed, crossing her arms.

“It isn’t that I have something against it. I’ve never needed it. It still seems strange to me how often you need to eat, and how many different things you can eat. Why not just eat the same thing every day?” She asked, her gruff tone lowering to a more curious one.

“Eating the same thing is boring, I suppose. That, and it doesn’t hurt to try new things. So you’ve never eaten fruit?” Which gave the thought, did Grima eat food? Or did she really only eat people at the Dragon’s Table in Plegia?

“Don’t remind me of that stupid table the Grimleal use. As for the question… Dragons don’t usually need to eat. The stronger ones, like Naga and myself anyways. Our power keeps us sustained, so we don’t usually lower ourselves to eating like mortals.” She said stiffly, looking downing at the table, giving a glare at the mention of the Divine Dragon.

“You should try it sometime. It might be a bit frivolous to you but… You never know, you might like it.” Finishing his breakfast, he put his plate away before heading back to his room, sitting at his desk, Grima taking a spot on the bed.

“You may begin the day's questions.” She said, leaning back against the wall.

“What’s it like inside of my head?” At his question, she took a moment to think before speaking.

“It looks like a little study. All your knowledge stored neatly in bookshelves, and your thoughts cluttering a desk. Your memories are stored in an endless hallway, each in their own little room.” She said. 

“What do you do all day?”

“I look through the books you’ve memorized or go through your memories.” She said softly, looking away.

“Why look through my memories?” Was his puzzled response.

“I… When you first arrived here, you were simply asleep for months, your body trying to adjust and heal itself from whatever I couldn’t do. I was going crazy, being trapped. So… I looked through your memories to try and entertain myself.” She said meekly, lifting a hand up to chew on her imaginary fingernails.

“... Is that why you had your epiphany? You looked through my memories…?”

“And realized I was wrong. That I was just a monster everyone despised. And I realized… I was lonely. All your memories are flooded with people who care about you and I have nothing. Those Grimleal don’t follow me because they like me, they want to use my power for their own ends. Or they're simply scared of me.” She whispered.

“Maybe… When we get home, we can try and work on that?” Robin said carefully. She shook her head and looked towards the window.

“We will have to see, if we ever manage to get home.”

“Do you have any idea how Morgan got here?”

“The only thought I have is that the Fell energy in him reacted to his thoughts and will. He wanted to see you, so he traveled to this dimension and during his sleep tracked your magical wavelength. Simply a child who wanted to see his mother.”

“Could we try and use your power to replicate a similar scenario or something else to get back?”

“We’ll see. It all will come in time. For now, I need to rest and gather my energy if I am to do any such grand feats of my power.” And it seemed that the conversation ended, with her simply disappearing back into the confines of his mind. He still had questions, but if she was done, he had to respect that. He couldn’t push her too hard when she was still trying to improve from the big bad dragon role.

The month went by. When it was finally the day for the classes to depart, Byleth finally had told him of their mission. They were to quell a rebellion in Kingdom territory, with the lord in question being the adopted father of Ashe, the grey-haired archer of the Blue Lions. Byleth had been spending her free time trying to comfort the poor boy since Rhea’s orders were to get rid of the rebellion entirely. That made Robin’s gut twist, but there wasn’t much he could do. Getting on Rhea’s bad side just didn’t seem to be the right thing when she had his fate in her hands.

After he wished them luck, he had no idea how to spend the last day of the month. Morgan had left with his class as well, leaving him on his own with the only familiar faces being the other staff, most of which he didn’t really speak to. So, he went fishing. Borrowing a pole from the stall near the church’s pond, he sat himself down and casted a line. Grima appeared next to him, staring at the calm waters. There was a gentle glow to the water, the man who watched the fishing stall saying that it was a blessing for good catches today.

“...Robin? What’s the point of this?” She said after a few minutes of nothing.

“Just to pass time. And whatever fish I manage to catch I can try to cook for dinner.” He replied, letting his eyes wander around the area.

“You can eat almost anything, can’t you? I saw that you ate a bear once.” Ah, that memory. Frederick and Lissa’s looks of disdain while he and Chrom devoured that bear were priceless, now that he has time to look back on it. That was also around the time where… They met Lucina for the first time. Grima looked over at him.

“Your thinking of the Exalt’s daughter?” The way she phrased it startled him a bit.

“Why say it like that? She’s my daughter too.”

“In your world. In many other worlds, she has a different mother. She remains identical though. The same attitude, the same appearance. She is a constant, the only thing that changes is who happens to be her mother.”

“...In the worlds where I’m not her mother, does she still try to kill me?”

“Yes, but it branches. As a male, she tries to kill you knowing you are her father’s closest friend. As a female, she accuses you of trying to seduce her father away from his wife and raises her blade nonetheless. As her mother, she tries to do it anyway, but in the end, can’t bring herself to try and hurt you.” She mutters.

“So no matter what, she tries to end me.”

“Correct. She has always kept her goal first of saving her doomed future and tries to ignore whatever relationship she might have with you to do so. Mother, Aunt, Uncle, or the family friend, it doesn’t matter. She will always raise her blade and fail. Most of the time, because her father steps in to save you.”

“You’ve seen so many different timelines of how my journey plays out. It’s almost staggering how much things remain the same between them.” She went quiet then, before speaking up.

“There was only one that stood out before yours. One of my very first… You were a male then. Naga’s spawn went on to marry Sumia, and that version of you was heartbroken. He held many feelings but bottled them up. He had dearly loved the Exalt… But couldn’t bring himself to speak up. So when he had married Sumia, he was eaten alive by his own jealousy. I went on to get him very quickly since he distanced himself from the Shepherds. That adoration and burning jealousy… Overwhelmed me. His emotions drove me to kill the Exalt, and then his soul withered with his own regret and grief. That was the first and last time I ever gave into a Robin’s emotions… Until you.” Robin’s heart dropped. To hear of how another Robin lived was unnerving. A Robin that went on to overwhelm Grima and kill Chrom from his jealousy… And then mourn him once more, as Grima snuffed his soul away…

“That poor Robin… Why did he never speak up about his feelings?” He looked over at her.

“... He was practical. He knew that as Exalt, Chrom had to have a child. So, he put his duty as tactician first, and watched Chrom marry someone else.”

“Do… you think that would’ve happened to me? That I would almost kill Chrom because he chose someone else?”

“Unlikely. That Robin couldn’t bear children. You could, so that was never a disqualifier for you.” The idea made a knot set in his chest. To think a Robin had to suffer simply because he was a male…

“Are… are there any worlds where a male Robin and Chrom were happy together? Duty be damned.” He didn’t know why he wanted to know, but he desperately wanted to.

“Yes. All Robins and Chroms are fated to meet, and many will end up being happy together. Some stay happy as friends, some marry. But there are just as many sad endings as happy ones.” All this talk of different times and different paths made his head spin. But… At least the thought that every Robin will meet a Chrom made him somewhat happy. But… Looking at his own body he felt guilt.

“This Robin…”

“The Robin whose body you stay in will never meet the Chrom of his world. But… that world will be one that won’t be destroyed because of me. There will be a happy ending there.” She said simply.

“There’s no way we can…?”

“No, Robin. I… already ate his soul. The only thing left of him is the body, and whatever possessions he held. I can’t bring him back and return him to his body and world.” The mood went somber as the bobber dunked under the water. He narrowed his focus on the fish, trying not to focus on the guilt on his own survival causing another person's demise. Struggling against the fish he yanked as hard as he could, yielding… Not a fish. At the end of his line seemed to be a soaked leather bag.

“What was that doing in the pond?” Grima pondered, looking at the bag from over his shoulder.

“Who knows? I wonder what was inside that made it as heavy as it was.” He set the fishing pole aside as he opened the bag. Inside was a large piece of folded cloth, a deep blue in color. However, it felt slightly heavier than it should’ve been normally, even factoring in that cloth is heavier when soaked.

“Is the cloth wrapped around something? That might explain the weight.” Her logic was sound, so he worked to carefully unwrap the cloth. In the center of the bundle were two objects, a golden hairpiece, and a blue mask, almost in the shape of a… Robin’s heart dropped. Dropping the bundle he went back into the bag, digging for anything, anything to prove his own thoughts wrong. Grabbing onto something, he pulled it out, showing a red and gold broach that was supposed to be attached to the blue cloth, which he now was realizing was a cape. His heart dropped as he looked over at the pond. Grima must have put the pieces together as well, her face flooding with concern.

“Those… aren’t replicas. They are one of a kind, only belonging to… Lucina.” Robin nodded. The butterfly mask Lucina had borrowed from Gerome, her cape and broach, even her golden tiara… What were they doing inside a bag he fished from the pond? He turned to Grima in a panic.

“Is there any way you can look into the pond? What if there's more stuff down there?!” He was panicking. Why were Lucina’s things here? Why weren’t they with her?

“Try to keep calm. I’ll look.” With that, she floated off the pier and disappeared into the water, leaving Robin alone with his own thoughts. Was it possible there was a Lucina in this world? Did that mean there was a Chrom here as well? The possibilities were countless in his head since he knew they could all be true. After a few moments of waiting in agony, his heart jumped when Grima rose from the pond and gave him a quizzical look.

“Was anything else in there!?” He asked, trying to peer into the pond.

“I found her bow, the one she practiced with. I haven’t quite found anything else that can explain why, however.” She reported, looking into the water as the bow seemed to float up and drop onto the peer, along with the other items. Robin looked down at the collection, worry flooding his mind. Physical objects of his daughter, but where was she? Why were these just here?

“Calm down, Robin. I have a feeling this might just fix itself.” She reassured, looking back into the glowing water.

“What makes you say that?” He inquired, looking at her ghostly form floating above the pond.

“Call it… Dragon’s intuition. I get the feeling this will resolve cleanly. Can’t say I’m sure how, though.” She responded, before disappearing back into his mind, giving a final thought. Take her items to your room, they’ll be safer there. He sighed before wrapping all the items up and putting them back in the leather bag, slinging the bow over his shoulders.

“If you say so, Grima. As long as my daughter ends up safe, in the end.” She usually does, so don’t worry. What did Grima mean by usually? Don’t worry about it. 

“What do you mean by usually?!”

Chapter Text

The walk back from Magdred was quiet. The Blue Lions trailed behind the Knights, led by Catherine in silence. Ashe was walking beside Ingrid, who was giving a comforting shoulder to the smaller boy. Byleth couldn’t help but clench a fist. Why did it have to happen this way? Having to take Lonato’s life without any form of mercy… Rhea must have been damn mad. No survivors… She was a mercenary and even she had more mercy than that woman.

A noise beside her made her tense, a hand going to the dagger on her belt. She relaxed when she looked over her shoulder to see the gentle gaze of Dimitri, walking up beside her. He looked nervous for a moment before finally finding his words.

“Are… you alright, Professor?” He said softly, looking at her through those silly bangs. She looked at the ground in thought before responding.

“Not really. I can’t say confidently I like how this ended.” She replied coolly, glaring at the back of the Knights head. The younger boy looked nervous before speaking up.

“I’m… not sure many of us are quite pleased. But, as students of the Church, I’m sure they had a reason.” The tone of his voice seemed to be hiding some poison as well, but Byleth knew better than to try and pry. He was a strange case, bottling up some dark emotions, and he was quick to shrug them off. She could see it, and Sothis once said he seemed to be surrounded in shadows. She couldn’t explain why she wanted to help him, but she wanted to. No… maybe she had to. It was her job to make sure these youths were on a good path, and she would be damned to be bad at something.

They stopped at a clearing to rest. The Knights were discussing the best way back from their position with the weather while the students rested. They still weren’t used to these long marches and having to kill people with their own hands, so no wonder they needed a break. Byleth couldn’t even be bothered with tiredness or feeling bad for what she’s done. But they were children, and they weren’t mercenaries their whole lives. Taking a quick look over all the students, Ashe was curled up against a tree, Ingrid trying to get him to drink some water. Sylvain and Felix were whispering to each other, and Byleth was unnerved at the lack of a smile on Sylvain’s face and the concern on Felix’s. Mercedes and Annette were eating some sweets together, and Dimitri and Dedue were snacking on rations. All seemed mostly healthy physically, but it seemed like they needed some more mental care.

Taking a count of supplies, she decided to run and find a water source to fill a few canisters before they left again. Dimitri jumped at the opportunity to come along, and she allowed it. Both went through the trees silently, Byleth keeping an ear out for the sound of running water. She knew there had to be water somewhere, she recognized the area from maps and studying their march path, and she knew she saw a stream somewhere.

“Professor? Have you enjoyed teaching us?” Dimitri spoke up out of nowhere, looking at her with those big blue eyes.

“I can’t say I don’t like it. Each of you are very talented, and bright kids.” She said simply, focusing more on the task at hand.

“What do you think of that man, Robin?” He asked carefully, following behind her closely.

“Robin? He is very capable. He doesn’t look like a mercenary but he is very knowledgeable in battle tactics. I must say I respect that. Not to mention his skill in magic is something I’m somewhat jealous of. Magic is cool…” She trailed off. Magic was cool. And Robin did it so effortlessly. His son was also adorable. She had spoken to the child before he had chosen a house and he was a very bright kid. But that night sky blue hair was nothing like the light cloud white Robin had. What was it Morgan said… That he got his hair from his other parent? Whatever. He was talented and smart.

A noise to her left stopped her dead in her tracks, making her reach an arm out to stop Dimitri. Footsteps were running past them, seeming to head the same way they were walking. The sounds of growling made her chase the same way. It sounded like beasts were chasing a pair of people, and if they were running it was most likely because they couldn’t fight back. Dimitri seemed to yell something before resigning himself to follow her.

Sprinting past the trees, she found the poor people standing by a river, one moving too rapidly for them to even try getting across safely. A man and a young girl were standing there, the man keeping an arm out to protect the girl, holding out a sword. The beasts were… strange. They were giant beasts on all fours, looking like they were made of wrappings. Sothis chimed in suddenly. Demonic Beasts…? Here? Demonic beasts didn’t sound very pleasant. She rushed forward, sweeping her blade in a wide swing before backing up towards the people.

“Are the two of you safe?” She called, watching Dimitri jump into the battle with his lance, throwing the first monster back a few feet before taking position beside her. The man spoke up, his voice full of authority, almost like Dimitri in a way.

“We’re standing! What is this thing?!” He shouted, staring at the beasts with a venomous glare. Perhaps he could hold his own. The unarmed girl, Byleth didn’t think so.

“Not sure.” Was her neutral response, swiping at the second one when it came to close before kicking her heel into the third and final one’s face. The three backed away, snarling at them. They began to spread out and surround them, trapping them on three fronts with the roaring water behind them. So they were smart enough for some form of hunting tactics. Glancing between the three creatures, her head was trying to hammer out a quick plan. There were four of them versus three, however, the young girl was completely unarmed. The older man was holding his sword in a way that shows he knew how to properly use it. Three on three, but these beasts were huge. Byleth couldn’t help but reach out to Sothis.

Do you need a plan? Hmm... Demonic Beasts aren’t easy to take down. They have barriers that surround them to keep them safe, and extremely few weapons can pierce their hide effectively. So it seemed the only good way to get through them was to hit hard and fast.

“Dimitri, sir, to beat these things we need to hit them as hard as we can.” Both gave a nod before getting into a battle-ready stance. The three beasts were stalking closer before one struck out fast, going right past Byleth and Dimitri and slamming into the man, knocking his sword out of hands and flinging him straight into the river. At the sight, the girl screamed out before turning to the monster with a hateful gaze. All at once, she swung her fist out as a ball of light appeared above the beast before it burst, knocking the beast back into a tree. Did… that girl just cast Seraphim? That spell is deadly to the Beasts.

“Kid, you gotta do that again!” She yelled out. The girl glanced at the river before nodding, holding her hands out again before she sent a flurry of magic at the other two beasts. Dimitri charged forward and stuck his lance deep into one beast, as she rushed forward and dug her own blade in the other. The two collapsed to the ground, presumably dead, as the third roared and fled. Once the threat was over the girl turned to the water, looking around.

“Father?!” She cried out before getting ready to jump in. Dimitri ran to her side and grabbed her arm.

“We’ll find him but it's dangerous to-” Byleth shook her head before reaching out to Sothis. Divine Pulse. In a moment, everything seemed to blur as time rewound. Now, she was standing ready to attack the beasts, seconds before its charge at the man, the girl’s father. She glanced back at the girl.

“If you can cast any kind of magic, you have to do it now!” She shouted. The girl looked shaken for a moment before a serious face appeared and she nodded, stepping forward to her father’s side. Just then, the beasts approached before the one from before rushed right towards the man, and the girl blasted it back with the faith magic, as her father rushed forward to finish off the beast. The battle from there played out as before, with the girl knocking the beasts back as they ran in to finish them off. Afterward, the girl fell to her knees, breathing heavily.

“I… Don’t worry about me. I’m okay, just… not used to that kind of magic just yet.” She wheezed. The girl's father was quick to sheath his blade and dig into his bag, pulling out a canteen and handing it to her. Which reminded Byleth why they were even there. She grabbed the flasks in her own bag and handed them to Dimitri, who went to the river to start filling them. She crouched down by the pair.

“Are you two alright? We can take you to the Monastery if you need help.” She said, looking them over for wounds.

“Ah, we’re not harmed for the most part. Thank you for your help. But since you mentioned it, we wouldn’t mind going to this monastery. We sorta lost our map.” The man said with a carefree grin as the girl elbowed him.

“Father you were the one who dropped my bag into the river.” She chastised. He looked embarrassed for a moment before Dimitri returned.

“Well, the monastery can help you out with what you need. We’re not that much further either.” He said kindly handing the flasks back to Byleth. With that, they headed back to the group, let the knights know about the monster attack, and let them know of the guests to their march. The rest of the march went by with no further events, and Catherine went ahead to inform Rhea that they had returned. Which meant Byleth had to report to her soon about the assassination plot they found on Lonato’s body.

“Ah, Professor?” The father-daughter duo approached her. “We were wondering if you could show us around? This place is rather large.” The daughter asked politely, brushing her long hair out of her face.

“Ah, sure. I just need to stop by and check on a few things first.” In reality, Byleth wanted to check on Morgan to see how his mission went and to let Robin know his son was back safe and sound. Both nodded before Byleth headed to the Black Eagles classroom, finding the students milling around.

“Wait out here.” She told them before walking inside, spotting the energetic boy at his desk, writing up notes, and talking to Edelgard. “Morgan? How did it go?” His head jerked up before seeing her, and a grin stretched onto his face.

“Byleth!! Our mission went okay. Nothing interesting at all.” He whined, closing his journal and backing up his bag.

“Have you let Robin know that you're back?” She asked. His face went neutral for a moment.

“I tried. He wasn’t in his room when I checked. A lady said she saw him at the fishing pond but he wasn’t there either.” He pouted.

“I’m showing some guests around the grounds. If I spot him I’ll let him know your back.” With that, she waved at the boy and his house leader and left the room.

“Sorry for making you wait. My friend’s son is in that class and I was checking on him.” The father nodded before smiling.

“Not a problem. Me and Lucy were just talking about her brother funny enough. He’s the sweetest little prankster.” The man chuckled to himself. The daughter, Lucy, rolled her eyes.

“Father, reminding me of that monstrous bug is not funny at all. It was huge! And it flew!” Watching the two made her think of Robin and Morgan. It almost made her grin ever so slightly. With that, she started showing them around the main points of interest, even heading to the market place to buy a map for them. Both of them were in awe of the structure, commenting on the design, and asking plenty of questions.

“So you went from a mercenary to a teacher? That’s a pretty drastic change, Professor.” The man said. Lucy elbowed him hard

“Father, you forget. Mother went from a nobody to the tactician of the Shepherds.” She pointed out. That made the man embarrassed for a moment.

“I guess that means Professor Byleth here is destined for greatness!!” He joked.

“Your wife is a tactician? We have someone here who was a tactician. He does some investigating now. His son actually was the person I was seeing.” Byleth commented.

“Really? What are the chances?” He said with a smile. Byleth was about to respond before she was cut off by the sounds of screams. Something crashed through the wall next to them and she turned around, seeing the strange beast that had caused the commotion. It was like the other Demonic beasts, roaring and tearing through the people around them. She watched as Lucy’s father withdrew his weapon and charged, only for the beast to throw him back with ease. She readied herself to rewind time before she caught a glimpse of snow-white hair. Robin was running at the beast, exuding some sort of dark magic around him. Go back further, we should try to find the beast before it breaks through to Garreg Mach. She nodded before feeling the pulse flow.

After placing Lucina’s items in his room, he left in a rush, mind still reeling. Too many thoughts were still rushing through his head, and he had no idea what to do with this erratic energy. Grima simply floated beside him, looking at him and biting her lip.

“Calm down, Robin.” She tried to reassure him. He couldn’t just stop and breath, he needed to keep moving, he had to do something to keep his thoughts at bay. He went to the training grounds and set up a practice dummy. He felt bad that it was probably going to get obliterated by a few Thoron’s, but he needed to do something. He needed to calm his thoughts, and the best way to do so was through training. 

“If you really want to distract yourself, wouldn’t a real opponent be better?” The floating Grima offered. He glanced over at her, adjusting his gloves out of habit.

“I suppose it would. But I don’t want to accidentally hurt anyone.” He said before feeling the lightning race across his skin, tossing the magic out at the dummy, watching as it fell to the ground, smoking from the intensity of the spell. Grima sighed and shook her head. 

“I can try to summon a Risen if you would prefer. I’m willing to try anything to get you to calm down.” She offered again, crossing one leg over the other from her place in the air. Robin wouldn’t normally consider summoning one of those sick creations but… He really needed to stop his mind from racing. What if Lucina lost the items? What if she was here and the items were lost because she died? He clenched a fist as he felt more lightning starting to form. Why was Thoron so easy to cast at times like these, when he couldn’t properly keep his emotions in check?

“Enough!! I’ll summon one for you. Anything to keep your thoughts in check at this rate.” She grumbled before floating towards the fallen dummy, holding her hands out and channeling her magic as shadows surrounded it, and he watched as it shakily stood up again. It was a very poorly done version of a Risen, but he was grateful for the punching bag. He began to cast spell after spell, trying to figure out what magics were available to him. He was pleased to cast Elwind and Arcfire, despite their differences. It was the same as with Thoron, the magic seemed to react and appear differently in this world. He would have to ask a bit later, but right now, he just wanted to practice. Dodging lunge after lunge from the mindless creature, watching Grima repairing it after every blast sent it stumbling backward, it became a pattern, until he tried to cast and failed. He remembered something about this from his reading. The magic here could only be used so many times before the caster needed to take a break. However, that didn’t stop the Risen dummy from trying to attack him.

“Robin, watch out!” He heard before it lunged, its makeshift claws bearing down right into him. A roar erupted from his side as a strange beast leaped forward, tearing into the Risen and tossing it aside as the shadows melted off of it. The beast then turned towards him and he backed away.

“W-what in the world…?” He mumbled, trying to figure out some sort of plan out of this. He took a moment to glance to his side, and he stopped when he saw Grima’s shocked expression. She had many different looks all trying to show but the one she wore the most seemed to be rage. Or… perhaps disgust. The beast roared again and charged at him. Out of habit, he tried to blow himself up with Elwind, and his heart dropped. He had the one second to get away and he wasted it. As the creature charged at him, he closed his eyes tightly, before he felt his world turn upside down.

She couldn’t help it. She saw him in danger and she reacted. She reached forward and grabbed Robin’s shoulder and yanked him backward, watching as a ghostly form of him sailed back before she stepped forward. It felt strange, being in a proper body after so long, but she couldn’t worry about it. Robin couldn’t cast any magic, but she could, and she planned on defending him. She was trying out this hero thing after all. As the beast went to bite into the body, she easily felt the pull of her dark magic at her fingers. With a simple snap, the beast was shrouded in black flames, wailing out in despair as it simply melted away, and its gooey remains burned to nothing. 

“Grima…?” She turned to look over her shoulder, seeing the spirit form of Robin floating beside her. He looked shocked for a moment, staring at his hands, and probably marveling at the ghostly form he now found himself in.

“I… apologize. I didn’t mean to…” She trailed off, looking down at the boots Robin had worn today. She wanted to help, but forcing Robin from his own body didn’t sit right. Her chest felt tight as she could feel something sticky clawing up her throat.

“No, I understand. I couldn’t do anything, and you could. Strategically it’s a sound plan. But what was that thing?” He asked, looking at the empty space in the arena where the beast no longer stood. She tried to remember if she had seen the beast before, but her thoughts were quickly led astray. She turned towards the door and pushed them open. In the air she could see the strings of shadows, weaving throughout the monastery. Looking down at herself, she noticed that a single string was tied to her. The wisps of darkness seem to represent everywhere Robin had been. Her own magic had been leaving a sort of trace all around Garreg Mach. Turning back into the training grounds she saw a much larger web of the magic. Where she had originally summoned her magic to help Morgan, and where she had made the makeshift Risen. Wherever she summoned her magic seemed to make a bigger mark. An idea formed in the back of her mind before she looked into the shadow of the building and closed her eyes. 

As shadows were her native magic source, it was easy to spread her senses through them. As the Fell Dragon, it was how she could keep track of unwanted pests who got too close, or how she could listen in on their plans. In the shadow network, she followed the pull of her own magic, leading her eyes to see out of the shadows of the fishing stall. A large bundle of magic was there as well, making a ball of darkness over the pond. She had needed to summon some strength to lift Lucina’s items from the bottom of the pond. She left an impression there. Just as she was about to retrieve her sight, she saw movement. Another beast was leaping over the dining hall and going towards the pond, before stopping by the bundle of magic, almost entranced by it. She felt that stickiness claw further up her throat. She thought so. The beasts had some connection to dark magic, and they were drawn in from...wherever by her magic. The beast that had found them felt the massive spike in her magic and tried to get it. And this one… She tore her sight away as guards approached it.

She started running towards the dining hall, ignoring Robin’s yell behind her. She needed to get rid of the beast before it hurt anyone. Is this what Naga had meant? That her presence was causing a distortion in the world? Her own magic was luring in these disgusting creatures to the Monastery, as well as endangering the students. She shook her head and kept running, taking a sharp turn at the greenhouse before looking out at the pond. The beast was tearing through the meager guards, and she watched as it seemed to drain the magic she left in the area, growing larger with tendrils of darkness dripping from its maw. They were feeding and getting stronger. All because of her.

“Grima, calm down! Leave those thoughts behind, we need to get rid of this thing first.” Robin caught up to her and floated up to her face, grabbing her shoulders. “This is your chance to be a hero! Now go!” She swallowed hard, trying to force her own emotions down before getting to the task at hand. She picked up a lance that was dropped by a guard and willed it into the air before sending it straight at the beast. It roared as the lance made home in its back, before leaping to the roof of another building and fleeing. She swore under her breath before giving chase, grabbing more weapons on the way and launching them at the fleeing monster. It kept running off, most likely regenerating thanks to her own magic that it had fed on. She knew a good blast could destroy it, but she couldn’t help but be worried about how much energy she left behind from doing that. She really wasn’t looking forward to more of those things coming here because she used too much magic.

As she chased the beast, she was thrown off by new magics muddling the air. Her own sickly black strings were getting tangled with a gentle purple thread. A quick taste of it revealed it belonging to Morgan. Of course, the boy still radiated some bits of her magic. Not nearly as much as she was passively, which meant he wasn’t going to be luring anything in. At some point, she even found some third energy, which threw her for a loop. It was a gentle gold color and tasting it made her soul burn. Naga’s blessing. But why was it here? Closely tied around the gold was a soft baby blue. It burned as well, but not nearly as much. But she tasted her own magic as well. Which meant it could only be Lucina. Morgan’s magic also had her taste, but taking another look and she could feel Naga in there as well. Morgan and Lucina holding both her blessing and Naga’s… Which meant the final energy, made purely of Naga’s blessing could only be the Exalt. But why were their energies here? They should be in Ylisse. Not here, unless they have also found a way into this world. Was Lucina also tapping into her magic to try and find her mother? 

“Stop thinking about that!! The thing broke through one of the building walls!!” She looked ahead, seeing the newly formed hole. She noticed the trails of Lucina and the Exalts magic both seemed to converge in the same general area… Which meant it was possible the beast was looking for more dark magic to consume and found… Lucina. She charged right after the beast, seeing little Byleth trying to hold off the beast, with Sothis hanging in the air right behind her. Behind her was Lucina, standing guard over the fallen body of the Exalt, sending magic at the beast, looking completely drained. A quick check at the Exalt and she could tell he was fine. Probably just knocked off his feet and trying to stop the world from spinning.

“What are you waiting for?! Kill that thing before it hurts Chrom or Lucy or Byleth!!” Robin roared. A glance at him revealed the pure rage on his face. Maternal instincts for his daughter, and pure affection for his husband. He was always fiercest when his family was in danger. She nodded before unhooking the Levin blade from inside Robin’s coat, watching as the lightning-sparked before going purple, her own magic sweeping into it. She raced forward, swinging the blade in a wide arc, watching the lightning blast at the monster. The beast roared as the lightning jumped from wound to wound, being drawn to the other weapons sticking out of his body, acting like lightning rods. She slid right under the beast, burying the blade into its gut before righting herself, watching it shriek. Now that she was closer she could feel the energy that came from it. The magic it ate was barely keeping it alive, trying to heal wounds that kept appearing and failing to keep up. 

She looked at the sword before holding it out in front of her and letting go, watching it float, purple lightning crackling. She twirled her finger in the air before the sword spun, the energy starting to glow as she gave more magic to fuel the blade. She wanted to overcharge the blade's magic abilities, using the Levin swords' own magic to slay the beast, and minimizing her own usage. A conduit to say. As the lightning began to spark she flicked her fingers, and watched as a large bolt streaked out from the sword, turning gold once more without her magic directly tainting it. It struck the beast and it gave a wail as it collapsed, yellow sparks still jumping throughout its corpse, being drawn to the multitude of metallic weapons in its hide. She let the sword drop to the ground, watching as it shattered upon hitting the stones. The magic it had used seemed to have broken it beyond repair. Oh well.

She took a quick look throughout the Monastery before relaxing. No more monsters were around, and she couldn’t find any other places where her magic spiked. It seemed they were safe for the time being. She looked at her hands and felt a small drop of pride. Being in Robin’s body… Was exciting. She could perfectly channel her magic and control it, just as the body was intended. A perfect tool for her to unleash devastation. Except… She used it to help. She used her destructive power to aid, with Robin’s help. He was an overseeing force, and not just another Robin she had snuffed out to take the body. But it was short-lived as her disgust came back. She did this. Sure, she had helped save the monastery, but the monsters wouldn’t have come if she hadn’t lured them in. Every time she unleashed her magic, she left a mark in the world, one that could lure evil creatures or people towards it. Her existence really was leading this new world towards ruin. Once more, she was the villain of the story. She couldn’t help herself. She ripped herself from the body and went back into Robin’s mind, locking the door to the room Robin gave her. She stood in the center of the tiny cozy room that she didn’t deserve and she grabbed her head, feeling her thoughts run rampant. She had wanted so bad to be something different. Robin was sure that she could change, and Naga was so hopeful that they could be… allies, maybe even friends. They thought she could change, but she was wicked to her core. Her own magic was like a sweet poison that led to nothing but death to all who took it.

She screamed, covering her ears from all the voices that she kept hearing. All the little voices she recognized. Different Robin’s calling her a scourge to be dealt with, different Lucina’s threatening to kill her as revenge for the Exalt’s death, all those little Shepherds yelling at her for ruining their lives. She couldn’t see the darkness spreading from her feet on the floor. She didn’t realize her self hate was materializing. She didn’t notice the walls turning black.

She didn’t notice that her own hate of herself was trapping her in Robin’s mind. Maybe she did, and she just was accepting it. It was probably for the best that she was trapped away from the world, where she couldn’t hurt anyone. Fodlan might be safer that way. As the room disappeared, a new one appeared. Stone walls, cold floors. As the voices kept yelling at her, they slowly faded away, as if getting farther away. She felt small all of sudden, still holding her ears, trying to drown a noise that wasn’t there. She looked at the floor, noticing a pool of blood. She looked up, seeing a man standing over her. She felt dread in her stomach before looking at the blood. The man spoke up.

“Eat up, little Creation.”

Chapter Text

After the final beast was taken down, Robin couldn’t help but grin. Floating closer to Grima, he turned towards her, ready to praise her for a job well done. He couldn’t muster the words after seeing her face. She was staring in the distance, her hands slowly clenching into fists. All at once everything went upside down, and he found himself standing where Grima was. It seemed that he was back in his body once more. He was a bit dizzy from feeling himself being weighed down to the ground once more. He turned to where he was floating and was worried when he didn’t find Grima floating there. He tried to reach out in his mind. Grima? Are you alright? He bit his lip when he couldn’t get a response, and his concern grew when he couldn’t even sense her presence. It was like she disappeared from where he could find her, which was troubling since he should be able to feel the other soul sharing his own mind.

He tried to focus on what he knew of his own mind. Grima called it a study, connecting to a hallway full of doors, with one door now leading to a room where she could stay. He tried his hardest to imagine it but came up short handed. A hand touched his shoulder and he jumped, turning to see Byleth’s lavender gaze showing worry as well.

“Where did… she go? Sothis says she can’t feel Grima anymore.” She whispered. Not even the strange deity in Byleth’s head could get a hold of Grima. Where did she go?

“No idea. I can’t feel her either…” His voice trailed off when he finally turned around, seeing the matching blue haired heads of his husband and daughter. Grima once more had saved people he had loved, and once more she was nowhere he could reach her. She was completely gone once more, and he had missed his chance to say thank you to her once more. His heart was heavy, looking at Lucina whispering to Chrom. He wasn’t even sure they were his family, and if they were, how could he explain the new situation? ‘Hello dear, I’m a man now and Grima is a good guy now!’ They’d surely think he was Grima parading as a random Robin and try to end him.

“Robin, are you okay?” He turned toward Byleth, seeing her forehead crinkled with her worry.

“I… I don’t quite know. I think… I need some time to think.” He said slowly, taking another look at his family. Chrom’s gaze met his and he felt himself go numb. Those blue eyes lit up in recognition, and Robin simply was too overwhelmed. He turned on his heel, tugged his hood over his head and left, heading straight to his room and locking the door. He couldn't himself speak to them, not yet, not now, when Grima was once more dead to the world.

He spent the next few days trying to figure out some way to get to Grima, or to even speak to her, to comfort her. When he was a spirit, he saw something that made him worried. When she would think too deeply, some sort of purple magic would snake up her arm from their branded hand. After she beat the final monster, it retreated from its spot on her neck, only to rush up all at once, forming the symbols from Grimleal texts. Adding the markings to represent the two extra sets of eyes on the cheeks, and he was sure if he could see their back, he would find some depiction of wings. It was as if her magic was overwhelming her. 

He remembered what Grima had said when she had first risen up in her full form over Ylisse and Plegia. I am the wings of despair, I am the breath of ruin. I am the Fell Dragon, Grima. In his time locked in his room once more, he thought about that phrase more. Grima could only survive when her magic was strong. When she used too much of it, she was half dead to the world. But what made her magic her own? The only thing he could think of was… Despair. She was at her most powerful when she plunged the world into darkness and despair. So was it possible that despair fueled her ability to cause ruin? He would love to ask her directly. But with that theory, it did explain why the brand seemed to spread. She might have been in a state of despair with whatever she was thinking about, and that made the brand overtake her. Her magic might have been feeding off of her self loathing and despair, which meant it wasn’t simply contained to their hand anymore, and it could overtake their whole body, every inch radiating that dark magic of ruin.

But that made his worry skyrocket. What if she was trapped in a pool of her own despair? What if having all the destructive power overwhelmed her soul and she couldn’t help but destroy? Would she lose her newly formed self and just operate through her magic, her own emotions fueling her destruction? Was… she only evil because when she was born she was surrounded in darkness, and her magic took over? Too many questions that he couldn’t get answers to.

He thought back to what they'd talked about before. When he was unconscious she had wandered through his memories, seeing the warmth and friendship and love. Could that have washed away her negative thoughts enough for her true self to realize what she did was wrong? If her dark emotions fueled her power to cause chaos and spread despair, could good emotions fuel her power to change? If she was stuck in a pit of self loathing… Could some happier thoughts bring her back?

Robin liked the new Grima. The one willing to try to be better. The one who helped him save Morgan. The one who helped him understand new things he never would understand otherwise. The one who asked silly questions and was shocked by the new things she would learn. He liked the Grima who wasn’t the Fell Dragon. He liked the Grima who was the lost child learning to change. He thought she was a hero for fighting back the monsters. He thought she… was a good friend, for trying to comfort him when he was distressed by Lucina’s gear showing up. She earned a new chance to be better. And Robin didn’t want her to lose all her progress just because old thoughts can still cause damage.

So he strategized. He convinced Byleth to have Sothis talk to him in his dreams, and they hatched a plan. He couldn’t lie to himself, it was devious, it was manipulative, but he would do anything to get the result he was looking for. The goal? To get Grima back from wherever she’s locked herself away. And Robin always plays to win.

Eighty days. That stupid, disgusting man had fed her like that for eighty days. Always a cut to the palm and squeezing out the blood, making her drink from the ground, like an animal. Each day she tasted his hatred of the people above. They locked him away, even though he was doing what he always did, alchemy. He found a way to make soldiers from the dead, and not risk the living. He had made the perfect lifeform from human, plants, and Divine Dragon blood. But the people of Thabes locked him away, with his Death Masks and the small lifeform he fed with his blood.

When his wife died, he truly was drowning in madness. He created the parasites that could manipulate cadavers, and forced the living corpses to wear the masks made in his wife's image. He was a sick man, but she couldn’t do anything about it. She simply fed on all his loathing, his hatred, every gross thought. She hated remembering this far back, feeling so small and feeling every inch of her body being drowned in his emotions. Emotions. They were always at the core of a human’s decisions, especially the bad ones.

She desperately wanted to leave the string of memories. She didn’t want to feel the end again. She was stuck however. There was no way for her to escape, no doors leading out. She was stuck, just being this tiny little creature who could do nothing but feed. After the final day, she matured, taking on a more draconic form. Eventually, she could even speak into her Creator's mind, showing him his toxic thoughts combined with her power. All his hatred being the fuel to ruin, to the devastation of the world. She remembered the little grin she had when he saw his own thoughts, but it went away when he looked at her with fear. Like the thoughts were her own, and that she was the one yearning to destroy everything. He thought she was the little monster here.

Eventually he tried to kill her. She wasn’t a pawn he could control, so it was better that she was off the board, so that she couldn’t be used against him. It barely took an effort to kill him. The slightest tilt of her head and the shadows of the labyrinth burned him to nothingness. The blood of the Divine Dragon almost went… sour in a way. Instead of using the misty breath they were known for, she was instead capable of casting magic made from shadows. A dragon that was born from hate, and fueled on destruction, using the darkness of the world to destroy it. A Fell Dragon indeed.

People entered the labyrinth. A small band led by a boy with green hair, and a girl with red hair. The boy held a sword that she recognized. It had the power of the Divine Dragon. Falchion. The sword to slay dragons. They were here to kill her. She fought to survive, only to be blown away with scorching flames and the blade to end dragons. As her body died, she didn’t. Her spirit remained bound to the labyrinth, the hatred she radiated filling the stone room. 

She decided that she hated humans then. The one that made her poisoned her with his madness, and when she showed it back to him, he tried to kill her. When more humans entered, they attacked her, never doubting that she was an evil to be purged. She stayed in the labyrinth for some time, simply waiting for something to happen, her hatred simmering, getting stronger. That was how she got the plan to destroy the world. She hated being born into a world that only wanted her dead. Her spirit was burning with hate, fueling her plan to end everything. She deserved to be here just like them. She would just have to show them.

A strange man had entered the ruins at some point. He went through all of the Creator’s notes, reading about his experiments with the Death Masks, and of her. The man seemed eager to try and meet her. He took all of her Creator’s research and did everything in his power to try and revive her. That led to her revival, and she tried to lay waste to the outside world, enacting her revenge and following the man’s wishes. In that battle, she met Naga. A beautiful entity praised by all humans in the world. While she was a disgusting dragon that always needed to be destroyed. She knew the blood that made her was connected to this Naga, and she was angry. She fought so hard to try and beat her, trying to earn a place in the outside world. She was easily struck down by that damned sword, the Falchion. It looked different than the one the green haired boy used, but she remembered the pain from the blade on her scales.

It was infuriating, dying again. Her body was laying in an endless desert, and her bones became a landmark. Then the Grimleal came, and formed their sick little cult. Bitter memories full of disgust. She really couldn’t find anything about herself that she liked, could she? She was really just a worm that thrived on everyone else’s misery, even her own. With that power she just tries to ruin everything. Like a Fell Dragon. She didn’t want to keep remembering. She didn’t want to keep reminding herself that redemption was a folly she could never achieve. She covered her face and curled up, trying to ignore the memories. She didn’t want any part of it anymore. She just wanted to sit in silence. She just wanted to forget, to be forgotten, to be nothing again. It would be safer.

For some amount of time, she simply found herself floating in a cold darkness, threads of her own magic tugging at her arms, pulling her deeper and deeper, until she couldn’t even see her own body. She was simply pulled endless into nothing. Is this what it was like? To truly die, and to disappear? Would anyone care much if she never came back? Naga made it sound like she cared but… Well. Divine Dragons had better things to worry about than if their evil counterpart is ever coming back. If anything, it should be a relief.

After this small eternity of endlessly floating, everything started spinning as color started to bleed into the void, and her senses were assaulted with screams, the smell of flesh and blood, and seeing red, before she found herself standing at the church. That one Naga damned church. However, the bodies were withered, with only bones and maggots left. Time had passed in this dream version of the church. And the body offered on the altar… Was gone. She tried to stop the shiver from creeping down her spine. She hated remembering this church, and everything that happened in it. Footsteps echo behind her, heels on stone, and metal bits of armor clinking against each other. She hoped it wasn’t who she thought it was. The gravelly voice whispered across the silence of the church.

“You… were difficult to find, my ladyship.” The soft voice struggled to make a sound. With the person’s presence, the sticky feelings of hatred and jealousy filled the air, radiating off of them, making it hard to not devour it for power.

“...Naga knows I’ve repented. Why does she still send you after me?” Was her quiet response, her fingers curling into a fist.

“... She… feels it will help.” They whisper, as a few more slow footsteps approach her before she hears the ‘thump.’ They were most likely kneeling. “Her words… You made a puppet… For company. Company… I will give.” They attempted to speak gently. She knew she should turn and acknowledge them but… She was stuck in this eternal nightmare, she wasn’t in a rush.

“How did you even get here?” Walking over to the altar, she sat down, leaning her back against it on the side where she couldn’t see the figure, effectively hiding from them.

“A… voice called for help. Begged for any...way to reach you.”

“Who?”

“A...lady of green. Called herself… Sothat? And… A Robin.” Sothis? Sothis and Robin reached out through the gates to find help to… find her? She was stuck in her own memories and they scoured for a way to get to her and found… him? She felt her stomach turn. She was obviously important enough that the only two people who called her friends actually… Tried to find her again.

“Ladyship…? Will.. you return?” She could feel her brand itch as she glanced up, staring at the blood red eyes of the puppet. He is looking down gently, hovering over her with something close to worry… Or perhaps concern? She quickly averted her eyes, glaring at a crack in the church walls. He sits on the altar, careful to move his armor so it wouldn’t touch her.

“Return? To what, a world of ruin that is my fault?” She hissed, glaring at her hands. Naga had said her coming had brought disaster.

“Stop.” Her own thoughts were cut off by the soft but commanding tone. “Your… thoughts are clouding reality. Your shadows are blocking… The sky. You will not bring ruin. You… You will bring salvation.” He pauses for a second, almost as if trying to find the right words. “Anything can change, Grima.” For once, the voice was firm, not shaky or slow. Almost as if the puppeted corpse came to life just long enough for a pep talk. She felt like needles were stabbing into her chest.

“Don’t say that. Don’t ever speak like that.” She couldn’t help but snap. The armor clinks together before his face is hovering over her again.

“You're doing it again. Drowning in the memories. Ignoring the reality. You.. have been forgiven. Why insist on regretting mistakes?” Those words put her on edge. Him? Talking to her about forgiveness?

“Are you forgetting what I did to you? What I did to all of you?!” She snapped, standing up as the shadows pulled the puppet away, sending him toppling on top of the altar, looking up at her. He was almost startled, before calmly looking up.

“You were not the only… One at fault. You… Never were the sole source… of blame, my Ladyship..” She cut him off.

“No. Don’t… treat me like that. It’s just… Grima. Not ladyship or empress or bringer of ruin. Grima.” Her eyes narrowed before turning away, looking out the window to the endless night of the dream.

“...Then call me by my name. Not.. thing, or puppet. Or corpse.” He replied firmly. She turned around and gave a long look, simply thinking as silence rang out. He was still on the altar, the dried blood on his white and gold trimmed armor still there, that stupid black sword sheathed around his waist. The shadowy crown sitting atop dark blue hair, as those glowing red eyes looked up with firm determination. She couldn’t help but remember. The same scenery, the same body.

She had entered the church, jealousy fueling her magic. The Shepherds were holed up inside the cathedral, trying to tend to their wounds. She effortlessly knocked them aside, spilling red all over the sacred grounds, as she approached the single living person in the church. She was a he then, and the Exalt of no kingdom stood there, blade pointed at him. He had yelled and screamed, talking about betrayal, and how he trusted Robin. Grima hadn’t cared then, simply grabbing the electric sword and stabbing the man, watching him slump over. The jealousy then turned to sorrow and rage. Then, nothing. She had pushed away that vessel’s feelings, before his soul snuffed out. Out of disgust and pity, she laid the corpse on the altar, and gave half an apology. Telling Naga that this wasn’t her fault. None of it was! She was just so lonely…

She tried to get out of the church, but the doors slammed shut. Naga had seen, and was going to respond. In her ethereal speech, she admonished her, giving an earful. Before saying…

“If you are truly lonely, then keep your regrets as company.” The corpse moved, and bowed, before introducing himself. Back in the present, she finally looks at him properly.

“...Fine, then. I suppose.. Acknowledging you is only fair.” She mumbled that damned name before his face lit up as best it could.

“Shall… we depart your thoughts?” He said slowly. She glanced around the church once more. He was right. No one was keeping her here. Only… herself. If Sothis and Robin were worried about her… It was only right that she went to greet them.

“I shall. I’m… not sure about you however.” With a final look at the black sky, she turned on her heel and left, the doors of the church crumbling as things began to take a much brighter and softer tone.