Chapter 25: Powerless

A/N: So this one will be dealing with a theme of loss. And not in losing a game, but the loss of loved ones so trigger warning for that.

Within a matter of seconds, Robins' plan had shattered into pieces. The rescue attempt on Emmeryn had been going as planned. Phila was on schedule and was about to rescue the Exalt from her execution. Robin was paired up with Cordelia on her pegasus, and ready to provide backup for knights extraction of the exalt, but then Gangrel revealed some of his own tricks: risen archers. Phila and her knights were ambushed, and Robin's mind was able to see no way out for her. She was cornered, and she knew it.

To Robin it happened in slow motion, Phila's eyes came to gaze in his direction. She knew her end was coming, Robin could read it in her expression. Then her gaze shifted and softened to the rider in front of him, who has already steered her steed to save her sister knights. Robin's heart fell knowing what Phila needed him to do, the ultimatum on the future of the Pegasus Knight's.

With a heavy heart, Robin closed his eyes and pulled with all his might off the pegasus, and took the rider down with him. He held on tight as the two tumbled onto the desert sand, all he could do was keep hold of the struggling knight as she screamed and pleaded for the tactician to let her save her sisters. Robin knew what was coming, he saw the archers pull back their bowstrings, he saw Phila nod over at him, accepting her fate as she turned her head to look up at Emmeryn.

Cordelia cried out as the arrows were let loose, begging for them to stop. She was strong, but she shouldn't have to be witness to her knight sisters falling again. Before the arrows met their targets Robin used his body to shield the paragon from this tragic end. The thunks of the arrows and the thuds of the bodies could not have been masked, and Cordelia's screams added on to the pain "How could you?! We could have saved them! It's your fault! It's your fault!"

It all went wrong. How...how could he fail them? He failed the Shepherds, he failed Ylisse, he failed Emmeryn. Robin felt….powerless. For the first time since he can remember. And then he looked up and saw Emmeryn fall.

The Shepherds had just escaped from the fight against Mustafa, the rain pouring down on the caravan and the bleak gray clouds above couldn't compare to the mood of the militia. This was more than a loss for them, it was a major loss for the whole country. All of the Shepherds were grieving in their own way. Chrom has taken to the front, having released his rage on Mustafa, was comforting Lissa, Frederick was driving the lead carriage stoic as always but there was a shake to his usual demeanor, and the rest spread out. Leaving Robin at the very end, outside of his carriage, walking in the pouring rain. How could he ever face them again after this? He should have known Gangrel would have played a card like that. It was all his fault.

"Robin, you need to come inside," a soft voice says from the carriage. Robin looked up to see Cordelia looking out at him. The tactician merely brought his head back down in response.

"Robin l-look...I...I didn't mean what I said. The situation in the desert," The knights' voice trailed away, and she averted her gaze as well. When no response from Robin came, Cordelia looked back up and then jumped out of the carriage into the rain. "Robin, will you just look at me?"

"...How can I? Even if you didn't mean what you said, it's still true. It's because of my pride, my ego, and my incompetence that so many were sacrificed today. How can I ever look at any of you the same again?!" Robin cried out, falling to his knees and letting tears he had been holding back since the execution finally flow free. "Chrom and Lissa lost their sister, a beacon of peace of Ylisse and to everyone here. And you...you were forced to lose your sisters again...all because of me"

This was the first time Cordelia had ever seen the tactician so vulnerable. He was always one of the best to keep his head on straight. To keep a calm head was what made him a great tactician, and co-leader to the Shepherds. She knelt down and pulled Robin into a hug, the same way he had comforted her when she grieved over her sisters.

"You know," Cordelia said as she held Robin in her arms, "There was something Commander Phila used to say to the knights when we were in training. 'You may encounter defeat, but you must not let them fully defeat who you are. You can confront the defeats, so you can know who you are, and how you can still come out of it'. We still need you Robin...now more than ever,"

Robin could be grateful for one thing. Someone was there for him, as he had been there for her. And not just her, but a whole new family that would do anything for their members. He had to be strong for them, by being there for them. Robin nodded in understanding and helped lift himself and Cordelia up off the ground.

"Phila knew didn't she?" Cordelia brought up as the two headed back to the carriages "That she wasn't going to make it out of there"

Robin looked over to the knight and nodded in response "It happened quickly, but the look in her eyes told me she did. Then they looked to you...wanted me to keep you back from their fate. She cared about you. I could tell."

Cordelia smiled a little at that comment, "That easy to read on, huh. She was tough but one hell of a role model in the end."

The look on Cordelia's face, reminiscing of her mentor, brought a smile onto Robin's own face as well. It was true it was easy to read on Phila's face that she loved and cared for the paragon a great deal. Robin just couldn't tell Cordelia that the way Phila looked at Cordelia, was almost close to how he looked at the knight. Just romantically instead of platonically. But he couldn't tell Cordelia that, her eyes were only for Chrom.

If only the tactician could see how wrong he was on that.