"RETURN TO ME… COME… WE ARE ONE… AND THE SAME!"

Robin stared at his evil doppelganger, slight amusement in his eyes. The man was absolutely unaffected by the world-ender's words and instead raised his right hand towards the Fell Dragon, Grima.

"No thanks." Electricity writhed around the tactician's arm as he fired a beam of condensed yellow lightning from his bare hand. The blast ripped through the battlefield, which was currently the back of the Fell Dragon, and landed directly onto the man's overly-violent doppelganger.

"ARRRRGH!" Grima yelled. Electricity painfully course through his body, losing his balance and forcing him to collapse onto one knee. The Fell Dragon growled, greatly affected by the powerful Thoron, whilst glaring hatefully at Shepard's tactician.

Said tactician returned the glare with a smile and a mock wave, much to the world-ending dragon's anger.

Robin looked to the side to find his best friend and Exalt of Ylisse, Chrom, staring wide-eyed at the tactician's magical prowess. Robin continued to stare at his bestie for a good five seconds before clearing his throat to garner the Exalt's attention. "Chrom, maybe you should…" Robin allowed his words to hang in the air as he gestured towards his friend's legendary sword, Falchion. He then proceeded to make a stabbing motion towards the reeling Fell Dragon.

"O-Oh right…" Chrom shook his head to relieve himself from his momentary stupor and took a deep breath. One second later, the Exalt was charging headfirst towards the world-ender with his inspiring battlecry filling the air.

"I'm being helpful!"

"ARROGANT MORTAL… DO YOU TRULY BELIEVE YOU CAN SLAY A GOD?!"

Robin chuckled at his best friend's display. "Never change you amazing bastard you."Robin thought fondly.

Chrom quickly closed the distance between him and Grima. "This ends now!" The Exalt roared before he plunged his Falchion into the Fell Dragon's chest.

Grima roared in agony as the Naga-blessed sword tore apart the dragon's innards. "MERE… WORM!" The Fell Dragon snarled. His hands grabbed the blade of the sword, using every ounce of his strength to desperately remove the object that had pierced his body. Chrom briefly struggled against the dragon's immense strength, but held firm as the Falchion had already taken its toll on the world-ender.

Soon Grima's grip of the sword laxed and his arms fell to his side. He sent one final glare at Chrom before his form was enveloped by a blinding light, signaling his defeat and forced slumber for the next millenia. The Shepherds looked away from the light, in hopes of avoiding blindness. All shied away from the light, except for Robin.

The tactician allowed a sad smile to grace his lips as he continued to look towards the light, a sight he has become increasingly familiar with as of late.

"Here we go again." Robin muttered as the light began to seemingly enveloped the entire world, him along with it.

The white light that Robin knew so intimately was soon replaced by a great, blue sky. The tactician was currently on his back in the middle of a field in Ylisse. The very same field he woke up from so long ago. Robin stared at the sky for a good minute before lazily raising his right hand.

The Mark of Grima, still prominently on the back of his hand.

Upon seeing the Fell Brand, Robin showed no reaction whatsoever. He didn't glare, didn't groan, didn't yell, didn't sigh. The tactician did nothing but stare at the brand with the most neutral expression a person could humanly muster.

"There was a time where I would've reacted angrily upon seeing this mark." Robin thought to himself, allowing his hand to fall to this side. "A time where I still had hope that I would one day escape this endless cycle and continue to live my life as I see fit."

A sudden wave of drowsiness took over his senses, forcing his eyes to close as he waited for sleep to take him.

"Now… I just want to rest."

Robin wordlessly counted five whole minutes before he heard three pairs of footsteps coming towards his location. "Right on time…" The tactician groan internally, silently lamenting on the lack of sleep.

"Chrom, we have to do something!" A shrill voice that only Lissa can hope to replicate, filled the air.

"What do you propose we do?" An unfamiliar, feminine voice followed. Robin furrowed his eyebrows in confusion as his ears picked up the unfamiliar voice.

"Is that Chrom?" The tactician thought to himself, eyes still closed. "Those are certainly the same words he's said over my past lives, but why does he sound so feminine? Is this the life where Chrom hasn't hit puberty yet?" The tactician silently laughed to himself, finding the impossible notion absolutely ridiculous. All Chroms from his previous lives were all the same, no matter what.

"I… I dunno…" Lissa's shrill voice returned, obviously showing clear concern for the tactician's well being and uncertainty on what to do in this situation. Before anyone else could respond, Robin decided to add his own thoughts.

"Maybe you could keep quiet!" Robin growled, feigning annoyance from the back-and-forth. "I'm trying to sleep here Nagadamnit!" To drive the point home, Robin turned to his side and curled himself into a tight ball.

A brief silence took over before a gruff voice, that could only belong to the one and only Freddybear, decided to speak up. "A grumpy fellow isn't he?"

The same unfamiliar, feminine voice made its appearance once again. This time it started with a good-natured chuckle at the tactician's display before words came into fruition.

"There are better places to take a nap than on the ground you know. Here, give me your hand." The person offered their hand for the tactician.

Robin's eyebrows furrowed once again in confusion. "Those were the exact same lines that Chrom had used, but that couldn't be Chrom… could it?" The tactician took a moment to collect himself before raising his hand and blindly grabbing the air, trying to haphazardly find the offered hand.

"Er… I suppose so… " Robin muttered as he finally grasped the offered hand. The tactician allowed said hand to pull him up to his feet. Once he found his balance, he opened his eyes to greet the person.

"Thank yo-" Robin stopped himself as he finally took in the person who had offered their hand. His eyes widened to size of dinner plates and his mouth suddenly became dry, only managing to rasp out one word.

"CHROM?!"

In front of Robin was a young woman that couldn't be older than eighteen. She had a shock of long, blue hair and even bluer eyes that would put the ocean and sky to shame. The woman was adjourned with a dark, blue tunic, with the right sleeve completely missing. Couple with a white cape and a single, silver pauldron that rested on the woman's left shoulder. The outfit clearly mirrored that of the Chroms he had met before, but what really drove it home was what was on the woman's right shoulder and the weapon she had sheath.

The Brand of the Exalt was displayed proudly on the woman's right shoulder. Only the Ylissean royal family will are capable of having this brand surface on their skin. Seeing as the woman had chosen to display the brand, and all of its regal glory, confirms her royal lineage. Not only that, her weapon was also a dead giveaway. The woman wielded the legendary sword, Falchion, that could only be wielded by those with the blood of the exalt. Throughout Robin's multiple lives, he had only witnessed two people who wielded Falchion.

One of them being an overly-serious girl who has the tendency to cross-dress as other men. The other wielder being his best friend, Chrom.

"Ah, then you know who I am?" The woman smiled at the tactician, inadvertently confirming that she was indeed the Chrom that Robin knew and loved. Chrom's smile dropped slightly. "However, I don't believe we've met before. May I know your name, friend?"

The only response she got was garbled mess of words that were too incoherent to decipher.

Robin frantically eyed the two other individuals who were also present during his internal ordeal. His gaze first snapped towards the youngest sibling of the Ylissean royalty, Lissa. Her blonde, golden hair was done up into two twin pigtails. She wore an expensive-looking, yellow dress and held a staff made for healing. Most importantly however, she was the same gender as before!

Robin gaze flickered towards the designated nanny of the Shepherds, Frederick. The tall knight had a mop of brown hair and brown eyes that were dangerously narrowed onto the tactician's every movement. Seeing that the knight's natural skepticism was thankfully constant, the tactician proceeded to thoroughly examine the armor he wore. Thankfully, he didn't find any feminine, armor pieces, such as a boob plate or the aversion to wearing pants.

The tactician's examination of his two closest friends didn't exactly answer any questions, in fact, it raised even more!

The major one being, why the hell did my best friend turn into a woman?! With Lissa and Frederick being the same as ever, it didn't make sense why this Chrom was a woman while in the previous incarnations she was always a he!

It would at least make an iota of sense if this was the life where all of Robin's friends were the opposite gender. Then again, why would this life be different when all previous lives remained consistent? It was as if this was some sort of weird dre-

"Dream! This has to be some weird dream!" Robin silently cheered, elated that he had finally found a reason for his current situation, even if it was admittedly pretty weak. Just as Robin's elation appeared, it was replaced by a sudden sense of horror.

"Why the hell am I dreaming about Chrom as a woman?! Have I had repressed, romantic feelings for my best friend and this was the only way to act upon them?! Oh Naga… or was it my mind subconsciously reenacting one of the many pornographic scenarios that I had mistakenly read in Sumia's salacious diary?!"

"Are you ok? You seem pale." Chrom said in worryment as she reached out and placed a hand on Robin's cheek.

"Oh Naga it was happening!" Robin yelled frantically within his mind. "I refuse to be dominated by my best friend!"

The tactician ripped himself away from the princess's grip and sped towards the great knight. Said knight's eyes widen when he saw the tactician closing the distant at a remarkable speed, prompting him to reach for his silver lance. He would have skewered the tactician were it not for said tactician stopping his charge.

"Frederick! I need you to punch me in the face right now!" Frederick narrowed his eyes at the tactician.

"How do you know my na-"

"Forgot it! I'll do it myself!" With that Robin clenched his right hand and punched himself in the face. The self-inflicted blow effectively knocked the tactician out cold.

The three Shepherds stared at the unconscious tactician for a few moments before Lissa turned to her older sister.

"Chrom, we have to do something!"

"What a strange course of events." Chrom mused to herself as she walked alongside Lissa and Frederick.

The princess's eyes flickered to the unconscious form that was haphazardly tossed onto the knight's horse, courtesy of the knight himself.

The stranger had snow, white hair and from what she observed when he was conscious, chocolate, brown eyes. The man wore clothing that mostly consisted of the color beige and purple. He was also equipped with a bronze sword and a thunder tome, a rare combination seeing as not many could effectively wield both a tome and sword at the same time. However, what stood out the most was the cloak he wore.

The cloak was of Plegian design.

Plegia is a country with landscapes that primarily consists of desert. The inhabitants of Plegia emphasizes the worship of the Fell Dragon, Grima. Such worship has led to aggressive altercations with its neighboring country, Ylisse. Due to the two countries violent pasts, it was a surprise to find a plegian sleeping soundly in the middle of a field of Ylisse.

Chrom, Lissa, and Frederick had just finished a patrol and were making their way back to the capital. Only to stop once Lissa spotted a lone figure laying in the middle of a field. Doing his title of "The Wary" proud, Frederick had advised against approaching the sleeping figure, more-so when noticing the man's Plegian cloak.

Being the person she is, Chrom had ignored Frederick's warnings. When the man in the Plegian cloak came into view, she saw a person who was in need of help. She did not see a person who was about to ambush her just because the man wore a Plegian cloak. No matter who that person is, if she sees someone in need of aid, she will try her best to help.

Thankfully, Chrom found that the man was not in need of help or a Plegian spy. Instead she was met with a man who was simply taking a nap.

Though the man was admittedly odd. Two fine examples of the man's peculiarity being how he looked at her as if he's seen a ghost or how he had willingly punch himself in the face. Nevertheless, Chrom is a woman of her word and she vows to help anyone in need.

"Even if the person had willing inflict the injury on himself." The princess ended her thoughts with a chuckle. She sent another glance towards the Plegian and saw that he was stirring from his slumber.

Chrom quickly signalled Frederick to stop his horse whilst she approached the waking form with Lissa in tow. "Are you alright?"

"Urgh…" The Plegian grumbled, rubbing the drowsiness out of his eyes. "Tell me you caught the person who punched me… I have some choice words for the bastard." Chrom felt her lips tug upwards at the statement.

"Sorry! The person managed to get away!" Lissa giggled.

"Nagadamnit…" The man sighed. "What a way to start the day." Once the man finished rubbing his eyes, he turned towards Chrom. The man examined the princess for two seconds before his eyes widened in surprise.

The Plegian proceeded to mutter to himself, something along the lines of 'not a dream', and made his way off the knight's horse. Once he caught his bearings, he began dusting his cloak of all the grime and dirt.

"You never answered my question from before." Chrom voiced, garnering the Plegian's attention. "May I know your name, friend?"

The man sent a look towards the princess, though not one of hostility, but more as if he expected the restated question. "Is this an interrogation?"

"No, no, no it's just out of curiosity sake." Chrom raised her hands in defense and smiled. "Can you blame me? It's not everyday that I would come across a sleeping man from Plegia in the middle of Ylisse." The man opened his mouth to respond, but stopped and sent a confused look her way.

"Plegia, Ylisse? What's that?"

"You don't know of the halidoms?" Chrom questioned, honestly surprised that the man didn't have knowledge of the halidom of Ylisse or even his own, Plegia.

"Can't say I do." The man frowned, shaking his head. "My mind has been drawing blanks as of late… heck, I don't even remember my name."

"Ooh, ooh!" Lissa chirped. "I know what this is! It's called amnesia!"

"It's called a load of pegasus dung." Frederick snapped, making his presence known. The knight's gaze immediately zeroed onto the supposed amnesiac. "Do you truly expect me to believe that you know of milady's and my names, but not your own?"

Frederick is an established and intimidating knight, not many are able to maintain their composure when under the man's scruinzation. Yet the Plegian was able to do so, even keeping eye contact with the knight.

"It's the truth." The amnesiac said lamely. "I swear it on my forgotten mother's grave."

"Keep your childish jokes to yourself." Frederick demanded, his frown somehow becoming deeper. "If you do not tell the truth, I will be forced to apprehend you and take you before the Exalt herself."

To Frederick's benefit, his threat was able to elicit a reaction from the Plegian. However, not the one that the knight had expected or wanted. The man smirked at the knight, a hint of mirth in his eyes.

"Would you believe me if I said it was a lucky guess?" Robin supplied, batting his eyelashes. Chrom heard her sister giggle from the side and she herself had to fight back a smile.

"No." Frederick gritted out.

"Apologies, I have been studying an ancient branch of magic where I am able to guess the names of strangers with pinpoint accuracy." Chrom had to disguise her chuckle with a cough whilst Lissa's giggles evolved into laughter.

Frederick continued to glare at the man before, his face growing increasingly flush with anger.

Seeing the knight wasn't about to relent, the amnesiac threw his hands up in frustrations. "Fine! I'll tell you the truth!" The man proclaimed, his previous smirk was now replaced with a frown and his eyes were now deadly serious. The complete reversal in attitude, made Chrom and Lissa treat the situation more urgently.

"The truth is… I'm from the future." The Plegian allowed the words to hang in the air for a brief moment. "I travelled back in time to this very spot so that I may be able to meet you three. That is how I am able to know your names." He swung his head towards Frederick, giving him the fiercest glare he could muster. "There you have it, now take me away so I may live my life out in the dungeons!"

A powerful silence took over, for three whole seconds, not one word was spoken after the amnesiac's confession.

One

Two

Thr-

"HAHAHAHA*snort*HAHAHAHA*snort*HAHA-"

The silence was absolutely destroyed by Lissa's ruptious laughter. The princess had clutched her stomach and bent over from being unable to control her laughter, not even caring if she let out a few snorts here and there.

Chrom joined her younger sister, allowing herself to laugh openly at the Plegian's supposed confession. She shot a brief glance at her protector to see that his face was completely red with anger and his left eye was slightly twitching.

The older princess was genuinely surprised to see her protector react so volatilely. Not many were able to get under the knight's skin, yet this man was able to do so easily. Chrom quickly composed herself and place herself between the amnesiac and knight.

"W-What if his amnesia is g-genuine?" Chrom forced out, trying to smother the last bits of laughter. "We can't simply apprehend him for simply forgetting who he is. What sort of Shepherds would we be then?"

Frederick narrowed his eyes and made to respond, but was interrupted by Lissa's started cry.

"Chrom, look! The town!"

Chrom and Frederick followed Lissa's gaze to find Southtown being set ablaze. The older princess's eyes widened in surprise before narrowing.

"Damn! Likely the work of those blasted brigands!" Chrom growled, unsheathing her sword, Falchion. "Frederick, Lissa! On me!"

"What about him?" Frederick questioned, pointing at the amnesiac.

"Unless he's on fire as well, it can wait!" The older princess didn't give him time to reply before she raced towards the burning town.

Shower of sparks littered the battlefield as Chrom's Falchion continued to make contact with her opponent's sword. The princess locked swords with the bandit and glowered at the man.

"Not bad princess…" The bandit huffed, out of breath due to the princess's superior swordsmanship. "Tell you what, come quietly and I'll leave this town alone, deal?"

Chrom didn't bother giving the man a response and instead broke away from the sword lock. Jumping a bit away from the bandit, the princess readied her blade as she wordlessly taunted the bandit to attack.

The bandit growled under his breath and charged, sword over his head with clear intentions of cleaving the princess in two. Said princess eyed the largely, telegraph attack with rapt focus. Just as the attack came down, Chrom parried the strike with a single, fluid motion. She followed the parry with a powerful thrust of her sword, impaling the bandit and bringing him to his knees. Once the life left the man's eyes, the princess kicked the body off her blade.

Chrom quickly scanned the battlefield, spotting her ever reliable knight taking on a group of bandits on his own. Near the knight was her sister who was currently hiding behind a ransacked stall. Lissa's gaze flickered from the knight and the older princess, incase one of them needed any healing.

"This is getting out of hand…" Chrom silently told herself. She had to end this battle quickly lest more civilians be caught in the cross fires. Her gaze soon found a man covered in animal fur, dispensing orders to a group of bandits.

"Final boss…" The princess muttered to herself. She charged towards the bandit leader, hoping to slay him quickly so this battle may be brought to an end. However, her charge was put to stop once an arrow whizzed by, narrowly missing her head.

Chrom cursed under her breath as she was forced to take cover behind a destroyed wagon. She poked her head out to see three archers raining arrows all across the battlefield. The princess momentarily cursed her poor luck before racking her brain with possible solutions to this predicament.

The princess's pondering was put to a halt when she felt a finger tap her shoulder from behind. With the speed that rivaled a lightning bolt, she spun around and pointed her sword at her supposed pursuer's neck. Her eyes widened when the person before her was the sleeping Plegian from before.

The Plegian gave her a smile and a small wave before sitting next to her, legs crossed. "Hey there, seems like your in a bit of trouble huh?" He spoke to the princess casually as if commenting on the weather.

"What are you doing here?! You could've gotten hurt!" Chrom hissed.

"I was bored." He shrugged. "Besides, seeing as how this town was about to be reduced to ashes, I thought you and your band of misfits might need some help."

Not particularly fond of the man's comment on her Shepherds, she nonetheless conceded to needing extra help. "I do, but what can you do to turn the tides of battle?"

"I have a few tricks that could tip the scales in our favor." He procured a thunder tome from his robes.

"You know how to cast magic?"

"Yup! Figured out how during the walk here." The Plegian smiled. The man poked his head out behind the wagon, his eyes suddenly became calculated and his mouth was pressed into a firm frown. The princess blinked a few times when she witness the man's expression take on a more serious tone.

"Ok, with just the two of us, our actions are somewhat limited. However, I think I have simple enough plan." The Plegian returned his head back behind the wagon and faced the princess. "With my tome, I'll be able to take out at least one of the archers and grab the attention of the other two. With them distracted, you'll be free to face the leader by yourself." Chrom nodded.

"With the commanding officer dispatched, the other bandits are likely to flee."

"Exactly." The Plegian agreed. "The bandit leader seems to only be wielding an axe, and if the weapon triangle is to be believed, you'll be able to take him down with little difficulty." He finished as he ready his tome, electricity surrounding his fingertips. "Are you ready?"

Chrom nodded once again. Even if the princess had just met the man not an hour ago, she found herself being able to rely on him wholeheartedly. "I am."

"Good…Oh! Before we start, my name is Robin."

"What? I thought you forgot your name?"

"Just came back to me." Robin simply responded. He dove out behind the destroyed wagon and fired a bolt of lightning at the trio of archers.

"Robin huh?" Chrom pondered whilst witnessing a bandit be electrocuted. Taking that as her cue, the princess jumped over the wagon and darted towards the leader.

"If everything goes well, I hope to recruit a tactician to the Shepherds."