The sun had just come up over the mountains as it began its trek across the heavens, and its radiant light illuminated the deep verdant green in seemingly endless fields of rolling grass. Birds chirped excitedly overhead, fluttering to and from the occasional trees dotting the landscape as they spoke to each other through chirps and their physical language of aerial maneuvers and displays. The soft sound of rustling grass could occasionally be heard along with bird songs as gentle breezes caressed the plains, but otherwise the running water of a gentle, babbling brook provided a soothing white noise for the area. The banks of the stream teemed with butterflies, dragonflies, and other inoffensive non-biting insects that, along with the silvery minnows that darted through the water itself, contributed to the natural serenity. It was a calming sight, and Princess Lissa felt that pleasant feeling grow as she slipped off her brown leather boots and dipped her bare feet into the water. A relaxed smile formed as she sat down at the stream's edge, giving a pleasant sigh that soon became a giggle as she absentmindedly started skipping small pebbles across the surface. How nice it was to experience so tranquil a morning.

They were becoming a rare commodity.

Lissa tried to enjoy the moment for what it was, but she couldn't avoid dwelling on the dread tugging at the back of her head. The knowledge that the serenity would inevitably come to an end, and that it could be days before she would get another chance to truly unwind. The princess was the youngest member of the Ylissean royal family, and she spent the majority of her life without most of the stress and responsibility her two elder siblings were burdened with. That said, she was still technically a representative of the Halidom's dynasty, and in difficult times she had to serve as an example to the Ylissean people. As Lissa couldn't help but think now, there weren't times much worse than these. The Ylisseans were currently locked in their third year of pan-continental war with their westernly neighbor of Plegia.

They were losing.

Month by month the Plegians had expanded eastward, and now half the country looked up to see their predominantly purple war banners flying triumphantly overhead. The Ylisseans had only managed to hold on to the other half through an elaborate defensive line, and this could only be maintained through constant scouting and patrolling. Plegian raids and infiltration units were common, sometimes daily, and every probing attack had to be found and responded to quickly. Lissa was no stranger to this, not after almost a third of a decade, and she knew full well how serious it all was.

Still, the war wouldn't fall apart if she took just a little break, would it? Surely, surely she could have a moment to pretend, if just for a moment, that the world was as peaceful as this little stream.

The young princess snapped back to reality at the sound of an approaching horse, her mind immediately thinking of a particular knight. He was a loyal and protective knight, granted, but also a very overbearing one. Lissa was almost sure she'd soon hear his stern voice, admonishing her on how taking a moment to rest was somehow dangerous, but the words that came next belonged to a woman. "Taking a quick break, Lissa?"

The princess smiled as the Pegasus Knight Sumia climbed off her winged mount. She'd been scouting the area from the sky for awhile, and her expression now suggested she desired a break of her own. "I couldn't help it. It's so relaxing here."

"Well I think you've got the right idea." Sumia stepped forward, taking in the moment. "No sign of Plegian forces. This area is clear."

"Let's hope things around here stay quiet. I'd hate to see this place touched by the war."

Sumia looked down to her. "You looked relieved to see me just then. Were you expecting trouble?"

"No, no. Nothing like that." Lissa giggled. "To be honest, I thought you were Frederick coming to kill my fun."

"Good thing she's not, huh?" Said Vaike, a big man with a big axe and a bigger ego. "Old Freddy-boy always finds something to lecture us over."

"Come on." Sumia spoke up, though she couldn't help but smile slightly in agreement. "He's not that bad."

"Teach has been around him long enough to know. If he were here, he'd say something like… like…" Vaike deepened his voice somewhat. "You shouldn't stand right next to that brook, milady. T'would not be good to fall in."

Lissa laughed and played along, falling to the ground in an exaggerated manner. "Oh no, Sir Frederick! I've fallen! Please come to my aid, oh gallant Sir Frederick!"

"No! Gods no! Not Lady Lissa!" Vaike fell to her side, struggling to keep a straight face. "If only you drank your tea with pinky fingers extended, milady. T'would have given you the strength to avoid such a fall. Oh, if only you would heed my constant nagging!"

Lissa gave a fake cough, her giggling almost ruining it. "It looks like… this is it. I'm sorry, Frederick. Tell the people of Ylisse… they'll have to make do with Chrom even though… he's not... as cool as I am."

"No, milady! Don't go into the light!" Vaike looked skyward. "If only I had nagged her more often!"

Sumia couldn't help but grin, though it faded as she heard an armored figure approaching. "Stop it, you guys. What if Frederick were here… to see… he's behind me, isn't he?"

"No, no. Please continue." The knight the conversation had centered around said as he crossed his arms, his voice completely dry. "Such biting wit you two are possessed of."

Vaike was visibly startled same as Lissa, but he quickly laughed it off. "Ah, we were just having a bit of fun, Frederick. You may dress like a big metal pole, but that doesn't mean you gotta have one shoved up your—"

Lissa cut him off with a nervous laugh. "I think what Vaike here is trying to say is that there's nothing to be worried about. We haven't seen any signs of enemy activity all morning, and Sumia didn't see anything from the sky."

The Pegasus Knight nodded as she turned back to Frederick. "All clear, sir."

"See? Everything's fine. We can take a moment to rest."

The knight retained his unfeeling expression. "Do not allow yourselves to be distracted. A single moment's lost concentration is all it takes for the enemy to get the drop on you."

"Teach knows that." Vaike huffed. "I'm hardly a rookie anymore, Captain Buzzkil."

"We are wasting time here. T'is not even noon, and we have plenty more ground to cover."

Lissa took a moment to think about how best to argue in relaxation's favor. "I know we'll have to get back to scouting soon, Frederick, but everything's fine for now. Plegian infiltration teams have a knack for sneaking through our defensive line, sure, but they're not, like, ghosts or whatever. They can't just appear out of nowhere. Our fortifications do catch them every once in awhile. We've proven this area is quiet, and quiet days like this are rare. There's nothing wrong with enjoying them while we can." Lissa extended her arms, complementing the gesture with a big grin. "I mean, look around. Blue sky. Green grass. A perfect breeze. Even you have to admit this is a great day, and the war doesn't give us many of those."

Sumia cleared her throat. "And, uh, Captain Phila always did say resting was important. We need to keep our stamina up."

Frederick eyed her. "And is this really what she had in mind when she said that?"

"Y-Yeah. Definitely, yeah."

Frederick still flashed a look of disagreement, but he knew he couldn't actually order Lissa to get back at it. It wasn't long ago that he could, but much had changed.

Though a princess from the moment of her birth, meaning Frederick was technically sworn to serve her same as the rest of the royal family, Lissa hadn't known her current responsibilities very long. It wasn't so long ago that she'd lived a rather carefree life. She had only worn dresses. Had carried only a healing stave. Had to beg Frederick and her elder brother to let her come with them on missions. Now her attire was intertwined with occasional steel plating. Now she carried that same healing stave alongside offensive magical tomes and an imposing bolt axe. Now she regularly worked with Frederick and her brother in Ylisse's defense. The war caused her to mature into a leader in her own right over the past three years.

Forced her to, really.

But war cleric Lissa was still Lissa. She still had her cheery temperament, and she was still quick to lighten a difficult workload if she could. "Learn to relax a little, Frederick. No one's saying we should start singing by a campfire. This is just a quick moment to… regroup."

Lissa's point was helped by the return of two Pegasus Knights under Sumia's direction. Her, Lissa, Vaike, and Frederick weren't alone, as four people did not a patrol make. Sumia was experienced enough now to lead a few young Pegasus Knight recruits, and even Vaike had a small number of warriors not so unlike him under his care. Lissa lead this combined force and shared responsibility for the mission with Frederick, himself leading a group of knights that were surely patrolling somewhere else. All in all, it was a force large enough to cover a decent chunk of territory, and it was certainly large enough to keep functioning if a few members took a short break to enjoy the peace. "Sumia." One of the teenaged fliers reported. "We've finished our patrols. Everything's clear."

"Very good." Sumia walked to the edge of the brook herself, taking a whiff of the cool, late summer air. "It's like we said, Sir Frederick. Nothing to worry about. The worst thing that could happen here would be falling into the streaaaaaggh!"

Sumia tried to turn to the small waterway as she spoke, but her boot didn't quite follow her body, and she almost ended up fulfilling her own prophecy. She was saved from the inconvenience of shin deep water as Vaike darted forth to catch her. "Easy there, Sumia! You almost got a faceful of muck."

"Woah. Thanks."

"I'll say." Lissa added. "How'd you of all people move so quickly?"

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?" Vaike held Sumia steady as she kicked her boot back into place. "To be honest, the Vaike kinda saw that coming. You started talking about someone tripping near the stream, and what with you being… well… you…"

Everyone not named Frederick laughed, with even Sumia chuckling somewhat as the embarrassment faded. The moment failed to move the knight. He wouldn't even uncross his arms. "We can glean the future from fate tempting comments, can we? Surely one of you could be so kind as to peer into time and prove to me that Plegian raiders aren't mobilizing while we idly stand around admiring the scenery. Need I remind you all this peace only exists because we constantly strive to protect it?"

"And what's the point of defending the peace if we don't appreciate it?" Lissa smirked. "Come on, Frederick. You know you want to relax. You do know how to relax, don't you?"

"I'm familiar with the concept, but it's not something I personally partake it."

"Oh you act all stern and strict, but I can tell you like it here. You're using the friendlier of your two expressions."

"I beg your pardon, milady. My two expressions?"

"Your grumpy face, and your angry-grumpy face."

Lissa and her companions again laughed at Frederick's expense, and though he rolled his eyes and brushed it off, he couldn't help but scan the area as he turned. He wouldn't deny it came together in an idyllic scene, and the knight was reminded of the beauty in the land he was helping to protect. "Well… I suppose a bit of rest might do us some good," He looked Lissa right in the eye as he turned. "So long as we return to our mission shortly. The situation can change in an instant."

"Please, Frederick. Plegians can't just come out of nowhere." Lissa returned to her moment of bliss. Watched the sunlight scatter across the water. Felt the grass between her weary toes. Took in the cool air. "Maybe this is a little silly to say, but I just feel that… that nothing could ruin this moment."

It was but a few instants later that Frederick, Sumia, Vaike, and Lissa would be dragged into what would go down as a history defining moment. It began with a deafening crack, and as the light in the area inexplicably turned shades of violet, everyone glanced back to see a rift in the very fabric of reality suddenly force itself into spacetime. This anomaly hung about a meter above the ground like something out of an abstract painting, the rift itself shimmering against the backdrop of the mountains and the rising sun like a jewel and radiating dozens of variations of purple.

The event had the complete attention of everyone present. The Ylisseans had seen battles across innumerable territories and beheld countless events on a continental scale in the three years since the peace with Plegia collapsed, but now they could do little but fall silent in wonder. For Vaike, Sumia, and the others in the force, this silence was born from confusion.

But this wasn't actually the first time Frederick and Lissa had seen something flaunt the laws of physics so. The confusion in them was great, but greater still was their awe—an awe that provided kindling of hope in a place in their hearts where hope had long since guttered. They had both seen a portal much like this one before, and the sight brought to mind the events of that day.

"Oh." Lissa gulped. "Talk about fate-tempting comments."

"Milady," Frederick spoke up, his stoic voice faltering with honest shock. "Do you recognize this kind of magic? Do you remember when we saw a larger portal like this?"

"I do, Frederick. Before the war. It was the night we met Marth, and that was on the same day we met…"

The rift captured everyone's focus again as it began to violently flash, purple lightning arcing out of it and carving streaks of flame into the grass. An object emerged just as the spacetime spasming reached the apex of its severity, and as the portal began to shrink after that, the Ylisseans turned and discovered it had been a covered wagon of all things. It initially materialized above ground same as the portal, causing the two draught horses in front to cry out from an uncomfortable landing, but they soon recovered and pulled the vehicle along as their panicked galloping resumed. The wagon was across the plain before anyone could bring themselves to speak.

"Uh… Teach has a question. The hell?!"

"There was someone coming out of it!" Lissa exclaimed. "Just like the one Marth popped out of three years ago! Except smaller, and… lightning-ier. This could be another one of his portal jumping allies! A latecomer, maybe?"

Frederick eyed the wagon even as it streaked into the distance, leaving a trail in the rolling fields of grass. "Yes… though it could also be a new Plegian infiltration tactic."

"Either way, we're following it."

Frederick was already mounting his nearby horse. "I'll mobilize my knights and sweep the area at once. I trust you'll take after it yourself?"

"On it." Lissa stood tall while Frederick galloped away, speaking firmly and audibly as she hurriedly fumbled for her boots. Even as a princess—even as someone who could theoretically take the throne one day—leadership experiences like this were completely alien to Lissa for most of her life. Conflict made her a quick study. "Sumia, we need your Pegasus Knights airborne. You've got the best chance of catching up to that thing!"

"Right!"

Sumia quickly did as instructed, tripping only once as she mounted her pegasus and followed her skyward bound recruits. Lissa then looked back to Vaike, finding him excitable but unsure of what he should actually do. "What about us, Lis? Ol' Teach doesn't like standing around in times like this… though Teach also knows he can't catch up to a speeding wagon. Learned that from experience."

"You're right. We'll just have to stay here until Sumia brings it to a stop."

The two had almost forgotten about the portal itself, and it reminded them as the lighting in the area changed again. The violet filter over the plains faded, and the two turned to see a fog stained red and black waft out of the shrinking portal, stopping only when the rift disappeared completely. The gas grew in density, building and building on itself, until it became as a smoke that defiantly refused to diffuse into the surrounding air, instead organizing into several distinct clouds that followed after the now distant wagon on their own power. These clouds somehow held together without spreading out, maneuvering and accelerating and staying independent of each other without ever merging. It was as if each had an intelligence behind it.

An innocent bystander would certainly find it strange, but Vaike and Lissa locked up in fear. They were experienced enough to know that there was a consciousness behind each cloud, and these incorporeal entities were not benevolent. "V-Vaike? Do you recognize that smoke?"

Vaike had reflexively drawn his axe, and he now held it tightly for comfort. He at least managed a nervous laugh. "You know, Lissa? I think something ruined your moment."

"Me and my big mouth…"

A young man violently jolted awake as the covered wagon he found himself inside continued to barrel across the field.

What? What's going on? Why is everything so bumpy?

But for his snow white hair, a metal contraption on the back of his neck, and the faint purple glow emanating from somewhere around his right hand, there wasn't anything immediately eye catching about the man. He wore a light tan shirt, a baggy pair of pants, worn and cracked work boots, and nothing else. He felt a little underdressed, as if he were used to a heavier cloak, but there wasn't one to be found.

Perhaps more interesting was the interior of the wagon. It was covered, though the covering was loose and torn in places, and filled with boxes, leaving the man little room for himself. Curiously, one of the boxes was damaged, and books that he recognized as offensive magic tomes spilled out. Several boxes had a kind of wire that connected them all to a lever rigged to the side of the wagon's interior, and the man also noticed a bronze sword bouncing around nearby. He was quick to pick it up, if for no other reason than to keep the rough ride from sending it flying into him blade first.

Where the hell am I?! Wait… who am I? I don't even remember my name!

The man sat up, clinging tightly to the bench he'd been sleeping on as the bumpiness grew in severity. If he had to guess, the wagon probably wasn't hitched to the horses correctly, and something had sent them into a panic if their frantic galloping was anything to go by. The man felt a little unsettled himself, and it wasn't just from the shock of waking up in a strange place. His mind was driven by a strange impulse. An imperative to get away.

But what was he trying to get away from?

Looks like I'm in a wagon, but why? Am I running away from something? It feels like I'm run—Eagle! My name is… Eagle?

The man took a moment to think. He wasn't just unfamiliar with his current predicament. He wasn't even familiar with himself. He could feel that memories were there, but he couldn't consciously bring them to mind. It was like those memories were corroded, worn out gears, and his brain was a mechanical clock that didn't function properly because it kept skipping over them. Even his name eluded him, and the man decided to take a break and figure that out as his brown eyes carefully scanned the wagon for any clues. There were none to be found, but the more he willed himself to think, the more vague sensations began to come to him.

Wait, no. That's not right. It's on the tip of my tongue. Something like… Besra… Swift… Magpie… Raven? Rave-in… rave… rob… Robin! That's it! Look at that, I finally remembered something!

The shaking in the wagon became more violent still, almost knocking "Robin" over.

Well then, back to what I was doing. Am I running away? It feels… it feels like I'm trying to escape from something. Have I already escaped? Robin looked around again, this time managing to notice a clue. He'd been looking all over the wagon, but this new hint made itself known only as he reached his arm out to move some of the boxes. Something was written on the back of his left hand. Ooh, this might be helpful.

"Robin, you HAVEN'T escaped! They're ALL AROUND you! Pull lever! Cut horses free!"

Huh. Ominous. Maybe my other hand as the rest of the message? Robin hopefully glanced over his right hand, but there wasn't anything written. Just a strange glowing purple symbol he didn't recognize, notably featuring six "eyes" that seemed to consciously stare right into him. Robin scratched at it, but it appeared to be in his very skin. No, that didn't help one bit.

Robin looked back to the lever and again noted it connected to all the boxes. I'm supposed to do what now—ooh! Now I recognize that thing! It activates the wagon's failsafe! Alright, my memories are coming back! Robin's smile faded as he stared. Wait… what was the failsafe?

A sudden rocking of the wagon caught his attention, as it was too violent to be from a simple bump. Something had latched onto it, and Robin braced himself as a shadow climbed from the back and made its way atop the covering. A steel axe was forced through the fabric, followed by an arm that tore at and expanded the hole. Once it was big enough for two arms, Robin's visitor violently introduced itself by rending a sizable chunk of the covering away and standing menacingly overhead.

And really, "itself" was the best descriptor for the thing. Though humanoid, the entity only resembled a man at the briefest of glances. The skin was splotchy and necrotic, and dark magic seemed to emanate from the body itself. The face was covered by a strange mask, and beady red eyes didn't suggest anything human about the figure.

"Hierophant!"

Robin slowly stood up, his eyes darting between the mask and the figure's weapon. "Uh, hey there. I try not to profile, so I won't assume those glowing red eyes mean trouble. I like to see the best in people, you know?" Robin smiled and extended his hand. "My name's Robin. Are you here to help me out?"

The figure raised the axe. "HIEROPHANT!"

"Ooh, bad guy."

Robin was still too shocked to effectively process what was happening. The movements that followed were automatic. He parried his guest's axe swing and further disarmed it without even thinking, and as he did, he almost felt a familiarity with the creature.

Or at least, he thought to himself as he forced the bronze sword through its chest. I think I can remember killing these things.

The entity fell apart as it collapsed lifelessly into the wagon, and its remains further deteriorated into smoke that rapidly faded away. One might say it disintegrated, but that implied trace particles remained. But for the hole in the wagon's top, there was no evidence that anything had been there.

What was that, and what did past me do to piss it off?! Robin felt a strange urgency to take a tome from the damaged box, and he quickly helped himself to thunder, wind, and fire spells. He then stood atop another container and poked out of the tear in the wagon covering, carefully scanning the environment as it passed him by. Even these actions were reflexive. Honed by combat experience the amnesiac didn't know he had. Why did I pick up these books? That's right, I needed a ranged weapon… what? How is a book a weapon?! Uh… think… tomes! They're spells, of course! Wait… can I even use magic?

Robin noticed several black and red clouds of smoke aggressively chasing after his wagon. Two of them grew denser as they approached until finally shifting into more of the humanoid pursuers, both completely identical to each other and the first. "HIEROPHANT!"

Robin was granted a brief moment to prepare as both figures had to brace themselves against the wagon upon landing, but he wasted it holding the wind tome in his left hand and extending his right arm. Part of him was confused when nothing happened, and the other part wondered why he expected anything else. Was… was I just trying to cast a spell? Why do I think I can use magic? Robin barely managed to bring his sword up to deflect another axe swing. Damn it! There's a part of me that clearly knows more than I do, and it won't tell the other me what's going on!

Desperately fighting the creatures off, Robin was given enough time to crawl out of the opening and onto the top of the wagon. He didn't dare stand up, and though his pursuers also had trouble with their balance, the amnesiac could see the other clouds would catch up soon. He didn't want to be on his back and surrounded.

More of these guys. No idea what they are, but I doubt they're here to give me a hug. Granted, I'm still getting to know me, but I've decided I'm a risk taker. Robin glanced back to the lever. I mean, why else would I do something like this?

Remembering his "note", Robin hurled his apparently useless wind tome and struck the lever in the pulled position. This triggered something in the boxes still connected to it, and bright light poured from the small cracks in the wood as every tome inside was apparently primed. Robin couldn't be sure what purpose this served, but the instinctive side of him that had been co-piloting gave him a sudden desire to be elsewhere. Anywhere else, really.

Alright, calm down. Let's go over the situation. My name is Robin. I just pulled a suspicious lever because a creepy message on my own hand told me to, and now the whole wagon is lighting up. Oh, and I'm also being chased by crazy smoke man monsters. Now that I've got the basics covered, I can focus on not dying.

Out of options, and with more of the creatures materializing on the wagon, Robin obeyed the rest of his note and turned to the horses. The two were saddled, but nothing kept them fastened to the wagon besides a single rope for each of them. Robin got into a jumping position, clinging tightly to the wagon even as he felt the tarp heating up.

So this is… crazy. Can't think of a better word for it, really. Forcing himself to move, Robin sliced both horses free with his bronze sword. But maybe someone has everything planned out for me. Jumped for dear life. Or maybe this was my idea, because that's just the unpredictable but lovable kind of guy I am. And barely managed to cling to a horse as it veered to the side. It took every bit of strength he had to make it up the saddle. Actually, that's less comforting.

Instinct took over again the moment Robin righted himself, and with the snap of reigns and a sharp kick from his boot, the amnesiac finally brought the tired horse to a stop as the abandoned wagon, now covered in the creatures and glowing almost as brightly as the sun itself, thundered past. A moment later it surpassed the sun in intensity as the tomes inside went up in a flash, rending the wagon apart in a maelstrom of wind, fire, and lightning that left debris no bigger than a human fist raining down for several seconds. The sight left Robin stunned.

Then almost boyishly excited. Ha! Look at that! I beat the monsters, and, hey, I figured out how to ride a horse too! Things aren't so bad after all.

But with the sudden terror in that horse, Robin turned to see several straggling clouds veering direction to meet him.

Oof. I get the feeling I'm not particularly lucky.

Sumia's two Pegasus Knight recruits had been circling overhead while Sumia went off on her own, and they were both caught off guard at the blinding flash that consumed the wagon they were supposed to monitor. Confused and unable to completely reign in their frightened mounts, both teenaged fliers met up on the plains below. "Did you see that mess?!"

"How could anyone not see it?!"

"But I noticed something else!" The first girl quickly added. "I swear I saw someone on the wagon climbing onto one of the horses. He bolted away right before the thing went up like that."

"What direction was he headed?"

"He… er…" She motioned with her hands. "So if I'm flying like this, then he went behind me like this."

"Do you expect me to know what that means?! Just tell me east or west."

"Uh… so if the sun was here… then the wagon was here…"

The second flier crossed her arms. "You can't tell east and west apart, can you?"

"I can! Like, on the ground I can. It's just that when you're in the air and you're flying all over the place—"

"Unbelievable. Imagine if Captain Cordelia could hear you now!"

"What does it matter anyway?!"

"If you could tell me where the horse was going, we'd know what direction that man was headed in!"

The two girls were too engrossed in their argument to hear the horse storming forward at full gallop, and they only got Robin's warning a moment before it was too late. "MOVE! OUT OF THE PATH!"

The two ducked to the side as he galloped past, and more of the smoke bound monstrosities rocketed after him soon after. The first recruit warily pointed towards them as her companion looked to her. "I think he's going that way."

XXXXXX

Meanwhile, Robin resumed his daring in progress escape, but he was rapidly running out of advantages. His poor horse just couldn't take much more after what it'd already been through, and the clouds were gaining. Still, Robin noted that only a finite number harried him now. I can't outrun these things, but I know they can be outfought. Maybe this isn't the safest bet. Robin carefully stood up in his saddle, aided by the horse's slower pace. But it's only the second craziest decision I've made in the past five minutes.

Robin had been monitoring the creatures, and he noted their gaseous forms were purely for conveyance. They always shifted when preparing to strike at him. Praying to no deity in particular all the while, Robin leapt from his stolen steed and grappled with one of the rapidly gaining creatures right as its humanoid form began to materialize. Both were knocked to the plains, but Robin forced his foe to take the brunt of the landing, and it was out of fighting commission by the time they finally stopped rolling. A quick thrust from his bronze sword finished it off, and the amnesiac let himself smile in triumph. It lasted only as long as it took two more of them to finish deploying, and others followed soon after as they began their advance.

"HIEROPHANT!"

"This again. What does that even mean?! Can't you do anything else with those mouths of yours?!"

He didn't think the creatures could comprehend spite, so it was probably just unfortunate coincidence that one chose that moment to vomit some kind of corrosive substance he only narrowly managed to avoid. Why'd I have to phrase it like that? Alright, it's settled. Close quarters is safer.

Robin charged back into the fray, and though he was heavily outnumbered this time, he at least had the freedom to move how he wanted. By all accounts he should have been scared, but he was surprised at how natural it all felt. He pressed the advantage his sword gave him over the axes used by the creatures without having to think about it, and a natural ability to expertly keep track of where every enemy was and what they were doing allowed him to weave out of the way of attacks and reduce their numerical advantage by striking down creatures almost as soon as they appeared. Furthermore, more of his impulses from before were taking over. With every clash of a blade, with every creature felled, Robin could feel more and more coming back. I've been in battles like this before. Somehow I just know I have. I prefer swords, but I also have an affinity for magic. Does that even make sense. I can't use magic. Can I? The amnesiac felt a particular sense of inspiration as he brought his blade through the chest of another entity. I think I even have a catchphrase!

"The scales will tip this time!" He declared triumphantly as what remained of the thing faded away. "Err… no, that doesn't sound quite right out loud."

Robin had defeated half a dozen of the creatures at this point, but at least just as many made themselves known as they roared and clanged their weapons together. He turned and forced himself to stand tall. "Hey, I just defeated at least half your friends! All on my own! What do you have to say to that?!"

"HIEROPHANT!" Several shouted back.

"Figures."

XXXXXX

One of the Pegasus Knight recruits brought her mount to a trot while scanning the plains, and her companion soon joined her as she descended to the surface. "No sign of him!"

"Huh? Didn't you see him from the air?"

"I caught up to his horse, but the man wasn't there. He must have jumped off!"

"Then where could—"

Robin answered the recruit's question as he violently came to a stop right in front of Pegasus. The hostile that had knocked him there followed up by shifting from cloud to combat form right over his head, but Robin managed the strength to block its axe before it could find his chest. "Come on! Is that… the best… you've got?!"

A lance went through the entity's abdomen, and Robin quickly righted himself to see the two recruits dismounting as its remains faded away. "There you are! Are you alright?!"

"I—*cough*—think so. Ack! A word of advice, don't breathe in after killing those things." Robin willed himself up. "Who are you two?"

"Those monsters are called Risen, and we don't have anything to do with them!"

"You know, I can actually tell you aren't undead abominations. Who are you?"

"We're Pegasus Knights… in training. We're here to help."

Robin's mind immediately recognized the term, but not as an organization. Memories came to him in the form of raw data. Pegasus Knights. Highly mobile. Prefer lances. Resistant to magic. Above average speed.

He pressed down on his forehead, trying to snap back to the present. "Agh! What… what was all that information?"

"Huh?"

"Never mind." Robin looked back to his approaching foes, still roaring their made up title for him. "So those things, you're familiar with them?"

"Occasionally. The Risen have been showing up since just before the war started."

Now Robin had a word to assign his foes, and more of his repressed experience and knowledge resurfaced. Risen. Necrotic. No sense of self preservation. Rely on numbers. Prefer to congregate in packs. Individual units within packs will generally display similar combat capabilities.

Robin shook himself back to the present. "I admit I could use some help, if you're still offering."

"Boy, could you." The second recruit approached Robin from behind and fingered the metal contraption on the back of his neck, which he'd honestly since forgotten about. "Looks like they got you with an equalizer."

Robin hunched over uncomfortably as the girl fiddled with it. "Who got me with a what now?"

"It's a Plegian device. It accesses your brain through your neck or something and prevents you from using magic. They slap 'em on mages they take prisoner to render them harmless. I guess we know where you've been." She gave the device a few good tugs. "Don't worry. These things aren't invasive. They're just, damn it, they're just finicky."

"So if I have one… I can use magic?"

"You tell me. Why else would you… would you…" The recruit finally tore the equalizer off. "Have one?! Gah, finally."

Robin now felt a breeze on the back of his neck, but that was nothing compared to the sudden surge of raw power within him. He would have said everything was normal with the restraining device on, but this feeling was something else. Going back to how he was even just five seconds ago was an abruptly unbearable thought. "Woah." Again allowing reflexes to take over, Robin drew his thunder tome and casually aimed his right hand towards an approaching Risen. He willed a lightning bolt into snapping off his arm as casually as a swing of his sword would have been, and a second discharge had felled yet another Risen before the first even finished dissipating. "Oh ho, yes. Yes indeed."

"Uh, you're still taking this seriously, right?" The first recruit began to back away. "There are still more."

Robin nodded and unleashed a barrage of lightning towards the remaining Risen, but they actually displayed enough sense to shift into their gaseous states specifically to avoid the assault. Again in their smoke forms, the Risen circled around in a shark like manner, perhaps looking for a moment of weakness. Robin wasn't about to give them one.

Remembering how he'd defeated the majority of the force, Robin drew his commandeered flame tome and began to channel his still growing power to manually prime it as the wagon's "failsafe" had done. "I have no idea if this will work, but in my head it's genius!"

"That sentence doesn't make sense!"

"Nothing's been making sense! Why start now?!" Overloading the flame tome until it burned in his hand, Robin tossed it skywards and struck it will as powerful a lightning bolt as he could manage. The tome unleashed power intended to be spread out over multiple uses all at once, creating a heatwave that simply incinerated the gaseous Risen. The two Pegasus Knight recruits would have been caught up in it as well, but the newly enlightened mage shielded the three of them with a ward he projected from his hand. This too had apparently been instinctive, and Robin was left just as surprised as his new companions. "Wow. To think I wasted all that time with a sword."

The recruits looked at their would be helpless victim in awe. "You've clearly done this before! Nice moves! Who are you?!"

"What are you?!" The second recruit asked as she stepped forward. The two proceeded to bounce ideas off each other. "A veteran mercenary?!"

"One of the Exalt's elite warriors?!"

"A rogue Plegian infiltrator?!"

"Ex-Convocation Vanguard?!"

"An Imperial Guardsman from Valm?!"

The word came to Robin's head instantly, and it just felt right as he said it aloud. "I'm a tactician."

The first girl raised an eyebrow, somewhat confused. "Uh, how can you be a tactician if you're all by yourself?"

"... I don't know." Robin scratched the back of his neck, the excitement of the moment having passed. "My name's Hawk by the way—Robin! My name is Robin. Not sure why I said… I'm getting my birds confused."

The Pegasus Knights looked to each other. "Uh… having trouble with your own name?"

"Sorry, I haven't been myself lately. I'm not really sure who myself is. Huh… sentences like that sound weird out loud, don't they?"

"Wait…" The first recruit eyed him with a new suspicion. "Robin the… tactician? Is that… it can't be. I've heard of you… but you can't really be him. Can you?"

"Be who? You know a Robin?"

The second recruit also looked him over. "Prince Chrom had a tactician named Robin at the beginning of the war before he disappeared. He was supposed to be some kind of big hero. There's… there's no way you can be him. He's been gone for so long, and you're just some guy."

"Hey! I thought you were impressed with me?"

The first recruit shrugged. "I don't know. I was only thirteen when the war started, and even then I heard stories of Robin's accomplishments. They never seemed real to me. I thought they were myths Prince Chrom and the Exalt came up with."

"Oh, believe me. The stories are real. I was there." The three turned to see a third Pegasus Knight approaching. She was a young woman, several years older than the recruits, with long brown hair so faded in color it was almost silver and personalized lilac armor. Robin could tell the knight outranked the others. Her quiet and graceful landing suggested much more experience in the air, and her armor was more ornate and unique. She returned Robin's stare, but while his was analytical, the woman's own brown eyes were filled with emotion. Familiarity.

This must be one of past Robin's friends.

"Robin." She spoke as she slowly approached, her gentle voice just above a whisper. "Chrom's legendary tactician. The drifter without a past who appeared when he was needed, like the hero from a storybook, to become a champion of Plegia and Ylisse. You two girls are lucky. You're standing in the presence of a legend."

The man in question had no idea how to feel about any of that. "Excuse me?"

"Robin…" The Pegasus Knight stepped in front of Robin and looked him up and down like she doubted her own eyes. She eventually reached for his right hand and slowly lifted it to bring his strange mark to bare. Robin thought the woman might be afraid of it, and so was taken aback when she lit up and tightly wrapped her arms around him. "It… it is you. It is you! You've come back to us! After all this time!" Robin stared blankly forward as the Pegasus Knight rested her hands on his shoulders and cried. "People started to think we wouldn't see you again, but I never gave up hope, Robin! I always knew you'd come back! I'm sorry I couldn't get here earlier but, well, it looks like you held out okay. You always did know what to do. You can't imagine how badly we need that skill of yours in this war, and now… you're finally back."

"Y-You're crying?"

"Am I?" She wiped tears from her eyes, but her smile only grew. "Gods, I've pictured this moment so many times, but I never thought I could be this happy. Heh, I can only imagine how Chrom will feel. He's missed you so much."

"Chrom?"

She turned and smiled at something else. "And speaking of the royal family, here comes Lissa."

"Who is—"

"ROBIN!"

Lissa was apparently the young woman that had sprinted forward and practically tackled Robin in an aggressively friendly hug. She was young, closer in age to the Pegasus Knight recruits than their leader, with light blue eyes and blonde hair done up in girlish and exaggerated pigtails. It was easy to think her a prim and proper noble at a glance of her dress, but Robin could see combat had touched her too. Aside from a few military decorations, like the capelets over her shoulders and a heavily reinforced corset like piece, Lissa had golden plating over her forearms and a bolt axe slung across her back alongside a healing stave.

The princess had been running in the direction of the wagon since seeing it go up in a flash on the horizon, but Robin's horse closed most of the distance, and the sight of the wagon's passenger only helped to energize her now. She excitedly buried her head in Robin's chest as she squeezed, uncaring that her running jump hug had almost knocked him over. "YOU were in that wagon! Best surprise EVER! We were starting to think you were gone!" Lissa lightly punched him. "Don't ever do that to us again!"

Robin received a more severe punch to the shoulder. It was also meant to be playful, but again Robin almost lost balance given the size of the man it came from. Lissa's companion was a muscular fighter with brown eyes and spiky blonde hair. He had an axe, a few pieces of leather armor, and… that was about where his distinctiveness began and ended. "Where have you been, buddy?! The Vaike was really starting to miss you! Teach still needs to be taught every once in awhile, and Chrom lost his fighting edge without you around. Not nearly as much fun to spar against." Vaike's grin grew from ear to ear. "We saw that fireball thing you just did, by the way. Still that wildcard tactician. Teach always said you'd be back. Nothing can keep you down. Not Plegians. Not Risen. Not even… some third thing."

"Plegians? Risen?"

"All threats we've had to deal with in this area." Lissa grabbed Robin's hand and tried to tug him along. "But there'll be plenty of time to fill you in later. I bet you've got a heck of a lot of stories for us, huh Robin?" Lissa tried to walk forward, but he was hesitant to follow. "Like what you've been up to and how you made that daring escape from wherever it was you were. Right, Robin? Right? … Robin? Uh… is something wrong?"

"Well it, uh, it seems I'm pretty popular around here." The amnesiac tactician withdrew his hand. "But I do have one question, if you wouldn't mind."

"Sure. Anything."

Robin looked the three in the eyes. "Who are any of you people?"

"Ha! Good one. Pretending you don't remember us." Sumia giggled, though her soft expression slowly left her as she returned Robin's gaze. "Just like when we met you… the… first… you are pretending, right? For the love of Naga, tell us you're pretending."

A look of alarm slowly took Lissa, twisting her girlish features in worry. "This isn't funny, Robin. Knock it off. Don't make us worry like this!"

"What?!" He responded defensively. "Am I supposed to know you all?"

Sumia placed her hands over her mouth while slowly shaking her head. Her voice fell whisper quiet. "Oh no. Oh no-no-no-no-no. I… I think it's happened to him again."

"What's happened?"

Vaike was a little more blunt about it. "Yeesh. Twice in one lifetime? Talk about unlucky."

"Stop it, Vaike!" Lissa snapped. "There has to be another explanation."

"For what?!"

Robin could see denial across Lissa's face, but even then, he could also tell a part of her had already accepted. "Robin, please. Don't you remember us? I-It's me, Lissa! And Sumia, and Vaike! We're good friends, Robin, and we've all known you for a long time. I was there when we first met you!"

Sumia was quick to chime in. "You were there for me when Captain Phila died, and you helped convince Cordelia to work with Chrom when she was left in charge of the Pegasus Knights."

Vaike nodded. "And you helped the Vaike ally with Chrom when we weren't on speaking terms. We helped save a city together, man. Remember? You 'member!"

"What about Chrom, Robin?" Lissa asked, her voice filled with hope. "You even recognized Chrom the first time we met you. Surely you still remember?"

"... Who?"

Lissa and Sumia reacted as if he'd punched them in the stomach. "Oh gods. It really has happened again, and it might be worse this time."

"What?! Why do you keep saying things like that?! Has this happened to me before?!"

"It has. When we first met, you were an amnesiac drifter who could barely remember his name. We helped you get better, and we were very good friends." Lissa's lip quivered. "To see you like this again…"

Vaike shrugged. "No offense, but it's surprising how surprising this isn't."

"What does that even mean?"

"We always did wonder what would happen if something reset him, and he was gone a long time. Actually, the Vaike is pretty sure there were bets on this. Someone owes me money."

"Gods, Vaike!" Lissa fumed. "If we could beat Plegians with tactlessness, you'd have won the war all by yourself a year ago!"

"Thanks, Lissa!"

"That wasn't a… ugh. Alright, calm down, Lissa. Calm-down-calm-down-calm-down." Lissa took deep breaths before speaking to Robin again. Her tone was firm and slow, as if trying to convince him, but Robin could tell she was also fighting back her own distress. "Listen carefully, Robin. We know you. We were all your good friends, but you disappeared from us about three years ago."

The tactician's eyes widened. "T-Three years?!"

"Easy, Robin! Easy. There's no telling what kind of trauma has affected your mind. Take it slow. What do you remember?"

As hopeful as Robin had been, he realized now all his returning memories were combat related. He still didn't know who he really was or what he'd been doing. "Nothing. I can't consciously remember anything about my past, but I have this strange feeling that I was just… out."

"Out?"

"Asleep? Unconscious? I can't really explain it. I may not be able to remember, but it just feels like it hasn't been that long since I was last, how do I put this, active? Has it really been three years?"

Lissa slowly nodded. "So much has changed. I was only fifteen when we first met. Now look at me."

Vaike chuckled to himself. "You're still short, squirt."

"I am less short, thank you very much. Anyways, it's crazy you don't remember everything you've done in the three and a half years since we first found you."

"Why?"

"Because you had such a hand in shaping the world. A lot of us are where we are today because of you. Hold on. I think I can show you. I-I think I can fix your amnesia."

Robin flashed a puzzled look. "Really? Just like that."

Lissa began digging through a pouch she'd been carrying, pulling out several objects that appeared to have medical applications. She settled on a small cylinder. "I've been prepared for this. I was trained."

"By who?"

"By you! Believe it or not, Robin, your past self feared his amnesia could return. He, err, you helped develop magic that could access the mind itself. Thoughts. Memories. Emotions. You wanted to make it all accessible so we could help you if you ever, as Vaike so rudely put, 'reset'. You always were remarkably farsighted." Lissa flipped a switch on the device, causing several blades and spikes to extend. "And we'll do it with this."

"Uh, w-where exactly is that going?"

A small smile finally returned to Sumia's face as she looked to the princess. "Heh, I think that's the wrong tool, Lissa."

"Huh?" Lissa giggled. "Well that explains your hesitation, Robin. This one's for… nevermind what it's for." The princess pulled out another cylinder that extended into a more benign looking object. "I meant this."

"You've a lot of tools in there."

"I do, don't I? It wasn't so long ago that being a healer meant just waving a healing stave around, but…" She took a few moments to gather herself. "A lot changes in three years. The Plegians come up with new ways to kill and torture every month. Speaking of which." Lissa glanced up. "Soldier, that device in your hand there. Is that what I think it is?"

Lissa spoke to the Pegasus Knight recruit that had freed Robin of the strange contraption on his neck, and she held it up for the princess to examine. "If you think it's an equalizer, then yeah. I took it off him."

Lissa wasted no time in fiddling, inserting her other device into ridges along the back and channeling a light blue energy into it. Somehow Robin already knew what she wanted when she finished. "I'm going to put this back on you now. Okay?"

Robin didn't enjoy the thought, but he found Lissa easy to trust. "If you think it'll help."

"It won't hurt a bit." She stood behind him and again laid the restraint upon his neck. Robin must have gotten used to the weight and the various fasteners that kept it in place when he awoke in the wagon, as it was exceedingly uncomfortable and hard to ignore now. "You know, Robin, the Plegians actually based these things off the magic you helped develop. Not everything you've given to the world has been used for good."

"So it's ironic I got one? Is that it?"

"I dunno. I was just making small talk." Lissa secured the device, but Robin didn't feel any ill effects, nor did any of his power leave him. "Equalizers radiate energy into the spine that affects the whole nervous system, preventing the brain from controlling the body's natural magical affinity. It's actually fortunate that you have one though, since it also lets my spell access your brain directly." Lissa stepped in front of Robin and channeled the same icy blue magic from before through her bare hands. "Or should I say your spell. You taught it to me, Robin. Just in case something like this ever happened. Hee hee, I'm almost excited I get to try it out!"

Sumia lit up. "So you can bring his memories back?!"

"Yep."

Vaike smiled. "And he'll be our old tactician again?"

"Yep!"

Robin looked between the three. "Okay, I have a more sensible question. Have you actually done this before?"

"Well… no, but you developed the spell, and you never make mistakes."

"I don't know if I really trust me. I mean, I jumped between moving objects today. Twice."

"Ha, yeah right."

"I'm serious." He held up the note on his left hand. "In fact, I think I planned one of those ahead of time."

Lissa gave a childish frown. "You know what, Robin? This is gonna happen, and past you is gonna thank me for it." Lissa pressed her glowing fingers against her temple, and the equalizer on Robin's neck lit up in response. "I just have to bring him back."

Lissa was… somewhere. She could see and hear, but she found herself in a realm without space, depth, or even anything resembling tangibility. She saw her own body, but she couldn't actually feel anything. She simply was, almost like…

"A thought. I'm like a thought in Robin's mind." She realized. "This must be the spell. It worked!"

Lissa glanced around. She was surrounded on all sides by a seemingly endless vacuum of icy blue, the same color the magic had been in the real world, but moving images began to swirl around as she focused. The image streams casually glided through the strange medium like bubbles, and Lissa could actually hear faint noises emanating from them if she was close enough. Able to move through the void by sheer force of will, she popped up next to one blob of sounds and lights and focused on it. It became clearer, morphing into a sequence Lissa could actually perceive.

A figure is lying on the ground. A blonde girl and a blue haired man stand over him.

"Chrom, we have to do SOMETHING."

"What do you propose we do?"

"I… I dunno."

Chrom looked down as he began to stir. "I see you're awake now. There're better places to take a nap than on the ground, you know."

Lissa giggled to herself. "That must be when we first met, but from Robin's point of view. I knew he still had his memories! This is actually gonna work! I mean… *clears throat* of course it's going to work."

Losing herself in excitement and triumph, Lissa travelled from blob to blob reliving Robin's memories. They seemed to manifest in a chronological order of sorts.

Lissa was speaking to a conscious Robin later that day, smiling ear to ear. "There's something about you, Robin. You're special. I can tell. You have an important destiny ahead of you. Now go out there and prove me right!"

"I remember that too. That was after he woke up." Lissa shifted to another memory glob, happily watching as it deciphered itself.

Robin was in a forest at night, with Lissa and Chrom nearby. The three spoke to a thin, blue haired swordsman with a distinctive mask in the shape of a butterfly. "Thank you, Marth. You saved my sister's life. Hell, I'd say you saved my life."

Marth almost angrily sheathed his sword. "Listen to me. I'm not here to talk. This world teeters at the brink of a horrible calamity. What you saw tonight was but a prelude. You have been warned."

Lissa spoke up. "Huh? What's teetering where now?"

"Hey, that's when we met Marth. Why are all of these from the same day? Maybe I can go deeper." Lissa was downright addicted, but something caught her eye before moving again—if anything here could be called moving. Shifting to it, Lissa found Robin himself floating in the void. "There you are! I was wondering if you'd show up here too. I mean, it's your mind so—"

But Robin was in no mood to talk. Getting closer, Lissa realized he was shivering while curled tightly in a fetal position, faint violet shimmering in his eyes and brilliant purple light blaring from the distinctive mark he had even in incorporeal form. "Too much, Lissa."

"Huh? What's wrong—"

"TOO! MUCH!"

Lissa was about to inquire further, but the problem made itself known before her ethereal lips even parted. The memory blobs, once visible against the vacuum only when focused on, flooded the area and made themselves clear even when Lissa didn't want to see them.

Robin stood in a throne room with Chrom and a middle aged man in gold and blue armor with fading blue hair of his own. Chrom looked inviting. The older man had bitterness to spare. "You're Plegian. Why should I trust you?"

Chrom stood by Robin. "I trust him, father. He fought by my side."

"Hmm."

"Is that from when he met daddy?" Lissa could barely turn before another memory barraged her.

Robin was with Chrom again, this time joined by a stout, aging man in robes and glasses. The two didn't look happy to see him.

"Hierarch, I truly believe initiating this crackdown on the city's populace will only make things worse. You can't solve this crisis through force!"

The Hierarch didn't even acknowledge Robin, only speaking to Chrom. "Tighten the leash, my prince. Your pet Plegian is speaking out of turn."

"That wasn't a very pleasant one. How do I stop this? Robin? Robin?!" Another memory came.

Robin was alone with an armored woman. Specifically, he was fighting for breath as she pinned him by the neck to a wall. She had piercing red eyes and light blue hair, and wore armor much like Sumia and the Pegasus Knight recruits, though hers was gold and blue and far more elaborate. "I'm only going to give you one warning." Robin struggled, but the woman pressed harder. "Go near Princess Emmeryn again, and I will kill you. Simple enough, Plegian?"

"Ooh, that one wasn't nice at all. This isn't fun anymore!"

"Lissa! Can you hear us?!" Sumia's voice echoed. "You're shaking! Do you know that?!"

Vaike also called out. "Teach isn't sure about this, Lis. Maybe you should stop!"

But the princess wasn't sure how. Lissa tried to float back, but the memory clusters surrounded her on all sides.

Robin was with a woman with pitch black hair and eyes and partially transparent dark mage attire. "Tharja! There you are! When you stopped contacting Chrom, I thought the worst. Why haven't you tried to find us?"

Robin placed a hand on Tharja's shoulder, but she only returned a cold stare. "You should give up on me, Robin. I'm not the woman you and Chrom knew."

"I don't think that's true, and I don't believe the rumors about you either! Curses… hexes… they've said horrible things."

"Well, maybe I've done horrible things." Tharja flashed a mocking smile. "Oh, Robin. You want change and you want it to be pretty and clean. So unwilling to dirty your hands."

"I don't believe you mean that." Tharja began to turn away. "I believe the woman you used to be is still in there!"

"Someday, Robin, you will stop believing. This is the me you'll be getting used to."

Lissa couldn't escape. The memories continued.

Robin spoke to a man with fiery red hair and irises. Robin sounded unsure, while the man's voice burned with a subdued fury. "I don't know about this, Gangrel."

"That's your problem, Robin. No matter what the Ylisseans do to our kind, you still want to be their friend. You still want to be one of the 'good ones'."

"They're not our enemies."

"But surely you see the truth. They'll never view you as an equal. You'll always be an 'other'." Gangrel extended his hand. "You belong with your countrymen."

One.

Robin was with Gangrel again, Chrom by his side this time. Gangrel stood with Tharja alongside several other armed figures including a bearded berserker, a thinly mustached wyvern rider, a snow haired dark mage with a friendly enough smile, and another white haired dark flier in heels. The way they stood around Gangrel suggested Chrom and Robin had come to them. "This isn't what I wanted, Gangrel! I sought change same as you, but not like this! Not at the cost of innocent lives!"

Gangrel shot a finger towards Chrom. "Don't lecture me, Robin! You betrayed me! You saw how bad the Ylisseans are, and still you side with him!"

Chrom stepped forward, some of the others readying weapons as he did. "I'm not your enemy, Gangrel! I wanted change too, and I supported you when you wanted it to be peaceful! You betrayed Emmeryn's trust!"

"I tried it your way. I tried it your sister's way. Now is the time for ACTION!"

After the other.

Robin was with Chrom, Sumia, and several others now. One of Chrom's companions, a cavalier with curly red hair, was less than happy to see him. "Damn it, Robin! You did this! YOU DID THIS!"

Sumia stepped between them. "Knock it off, Sully! Robin's with us!"

"You're defending this?! The Plegians killed Captain Phila!"

"And he wasn't one of them!"

Chrom tried to ease her. "Sully, calm down!"

"No, prince-boy, I will not calm down!" She had to be restrained. "Gangrel rose to power because of you! You made him what he is, Robin! You gave us a damned warlord, and the world won't forget!"

"R-Robin! How do I leave?! ROBIN?!"

Robin found himself strapped to a table, his arms and legs paralyzed by an unseen force. Purple light flooded from the mark on his hand, just as it did in the mindspace. "Stop it, Validar! I don't understand why you're doing this?!"

An elderly dark mage with menacing red eyes and a pointy goatee stood over him, a dissonantly serene smile on his face. "Don't worry, child."

"Validar!"

"Your so called friends may have rejected you," Validar opened his palms, unleashing snakelike tendrils of swirling darkness towards Robin. Lissa felt it the instant he did. "But Grima's love never will."

"Gaah!" Lissa's projection flickered as the void collapsed, the six eyed symbol on Robin's hand manifesting everywhere Lissa looked. The memory clusters. The vacuum itself. The inside of her eyelids. "ROBIIIIIN!"

Back in the real world, Robin and Lissa stood in mutual spasming as icy blue light poured from their eyes. Lissa had completely lost control of the spell, and she dug her own fingers into her head as if trying to put them through her skull.

"Damn it! Teach hates standing around!"

"Wait, Vaike! Don't—"

"Come on, Sumia! This has been going on too long!"

Vaike got a solid grip on Lissa and, utterly clueless as to what to do, tried furiously shaking her out of it. Both her and Robin froze up before unleashing a magical discharge, knocking them both to the ground but harmlessly passing through everyone else. The recruits were quick to step back. "What the hell?!"

"Robin!" Cried Sumia.

"Lissa!" Followed Vaike.

Both were out cold.

I Remember Me is a loose adaptation/retelling of Awakening's main story. It begins in medias res relative to Awakening's beginning with Ylisse and Plegia already in the midst of a long war and a Robin who is notably suffering amnesia for the second time. Going forward, the fic will be divided into "then" and "now" storylines. The present segments focus on Robin again rising to be Ylisse's tactician while the Shepherds help with his memories, while past segments explore Robin's original adventures with them and the exact role he had in making the world as it is now.

The fic also changes Awakening's story in a number of ways, exploring concepts like a Ylisse still ruled by Chrom, Emmeryn, and Lissa's warmongering father, a Gangrel that gradually rose to power, and a second generation from a timeline where pairings and history defining moments weren't always the same.

Thanks for reading, and please let me know if you want to see more of this.