Chapter Text
Darkness. Pitch black. That’s all that I can see; the only thing I can feel is the grass and hard ground that lies under me. What is happening? Where am I? I need to open my eyes. I force my eyes to open a bit, but the light of the sun is too much to take. I try to look up, but all I can see is the light filtering through my eyelashes.
“Chrom, w-we have to do something…” A girl’s voice rings in my ears. Who is she? I need to find out. I slowly begin to open my eyes, a little bit at a time to keep the sun from overtaking my vision.
“Well, what do you propose we do?” A man speaks this time. My eyes have opened enough that I can see the blurry outline of the two figures talking.
“I-I don’t know!” The girl speaks again. My eyes are finally open - I can make out her face now. She has blonde hair that sits in two pigtails on her head. When she catches that my eyes have opened, she gasps.
“I see you’re awake now.” The man nods gently, his blue eyes peering down at me softly as he speaks.
“Hey there,” the girl says with a smile and a chuckle, as the pair lean down closer to me. The feeling reminds me of being examined by a pair of doctors.
“There are better places to take a nap than on the ground, you know.” Have I been napping? I don’t remember how I got here, nor laying down to take a nap on the grass.
“Mm-hmm.” The girl nods in agreement.
“Now give me your hand,” the man says as he offers his hand to me. I don’t even think before reaching out my hand to him. I’m just thankful to be found, to get off the ground. I feel a jolt as our hands touch and he pulls me up to a standing position, our eyes meet for a fleeting moment, and our hands linger in one another's. But, when he finally lets go, everything fades back into darkness.
Stairs, stairs, and more stairs. I didn’t know how many floors I had descended at that point, but it felt as if my body was moving on its own, as if I were looking through the eyes of someone else.
“Ah, Robin, you finally made it. Get over here, we have work to do.” The man with striking white hair spoke as he peered down through a magnifying glass at a number of bugs on his table.
“Forneus, I brought you those insects you were looking for.” My voice spoke on its own. I had never met this man before, but the one thing I knew now was that his name was Forneus.
“Brilliant. I wouldn’t expect anything less from my apprentice, after all. Hand them over now.” I set down a container that contained small insects. What I saw next made me want to jump out of my skin: the small insects seemed to be feeding off a dead rat within the container. “These are exactly what I needed.” The man, Forneus, observed the creatures feeding on the rat with a smile on his face.
“Oh, I almost forgot, a messenger gave me a letter for you.” I reached within the pocket of my robes and handed over an envelope sealed with black wax. A strange symbol was pressed into the wax; it was a circle within a square, within a triangle, enclosed by one final circle. “What does this symbol stand for, sir?” My body asked the question that I wanted to ask myself.
“You have been working for the finest Alchemist in all of Thabes for a while now and you can’t even recognize the symbol for the Philosopher’s Stone? We are further behind on your training than I thought.” Forneus shook his head as he opened the envelope, but when his eyes read the first line, he went still. I saw panic, and fear, build within him; before I knew it, he had jumped from his seat, quickly grabbing a long hooded robe and putting it on. “I must go.”
“What is wrong, sir?”
“It is my wife. She was…” He paused, the words lingering on his tongue, “She was found dead.”
“Shall I come with you?”
“No!” He screamed, before taking a deep breath. “J-just stay here and watch over the workshop while I am gone.”
“Yes, sir.” I spoke as he quickly ascended the stairs.
“You alright?” The man with the blue eyes speaks to me again, bringing me back. What just happened? Where had I gone? Was that a dream… or something more?
“Y-yes…” My voice shakes as I speak, “Thank you, Chrom.” The name came out of nowhere, even though I have control of my body again. It feels as if all my memories are not my own, or at least… not my present-day memories.
“Ah, then you know who I am?”
“No, actually. I… It’s strange… Your name, it just… came to me…” I try to explain how I know his name, but words seem to fail me.
“…Hmm, how curious. Tell me, what’s your name? What brings you here?”
“My name is… It’s… Hmm?” I search my brain for my name. Who am I?
“…You don’t know your own name?”
“I’m not sure if… I’m sorry, but where am I exactly?” I can’t seem to remember anything, so I better start asking a few questions.
“Hey, I’ve heard of this! It’s called amnesia!” The girl with blond hair speaks up. Her theory makes sense; I can’t seem to remember anything.
“It’s called a load of pegasus dung.” A second man wearing heavy blue armour speaks up - the first time I have even noticed that he was there. “We’re to believe you remember milord’s name, but not your own?”
“B-but it’s the truth!” I shout, angry that he doesn’t believe me. All I can remember before waking up in this field is nothing but darkness…
“…What if it is true, Fredrick? We can’t just leave them here, alone and confused.” Chrom defends me. “What sort of Shepherds would we be then?” Shepherds? These people expect me to believe they herd sheep, in these clothes? Highly doubtful, but there has to be an explanation.
“Just the same, milord, I must emphasize caution. T’would not do to let a wolf into our flock.”
“Right then- we’ll take them back to town and sort this out there.”
“Wait just one moment. Do I have a say in this?” I am thankful for them helping me, but I do not intend to follow a group of strangers back to an unknown town.
“Peace, friend- I promise we’ll hear all you have to say back in town. Now come.” Chrom says with a smile. Well, I guess I don’t have a choice, or anywhere else to go for that matter.