Cursed Love: A Fire Emblem Awakening Story

Cursed Love

Dimly glowing with a sickly orange, the sun was fading into the arid horizon. Hounded by the sun and tormented by gales all day, a break in the arid storms finally allowed the militia known as the Shepherds halted to set up camp. Perhaps they should have considered themselves lucky for escaping Validar Castle. However, they left that accursed dark fortress with many less comrades than they had entered. The oppressive cloud of loss cast its sullen shadow over the normally merry band of fighters.

Usually in times of suffering and defeat, the Shepherds could count on both their king, Chrom, to inspire them, and their tactician, Robin, to guide them. But charismatic speeches eluded the young, imposing Chrom. And the normally verbose and witty Robin? He shrunk into the baggy obsidian cloth of his magic robes, uttering not a word. He presumed to give no advice. How could he? Robin had just been mind controlled into forfeiting the sacred Binding Shield, the artifact the Shepherds had sworn to guard with their lives, to the despotic sorcerer Validar. Soon he would summon the Fell Dragon and herald the apocalypse. Chrom and all his friends would die. Their home kingdom of Ylisse would collapse, and the human race would wither and die as hordes of undead devoured all lands of the Earth. And it would all be his fault. While the rest of the Shepherds went about planting stakes and setting up tents, Robin ventured over a nearby hill out of sight.

Eyes fixated on the ground, Robin kicked up clouds of sand as he went. At first he wandered, but then a gentle breeze carried the alluring song of a swishing stream to his ears. Instinctively he gravitated in that direction. It was pleasant on the streams bank. Although it was merely coarse bushes and stubby cacti, there was life here, the most he had seen so far during this accursed expedition. Robin's skull ached with guilt, and he was in desperate need of a remedy. Perhaps this humble swath of water could provide some reprieve.

At the stream's rocky bank, Robin knelt down and scooped up a handful of water. Pressing cupped hands against his face, he did his best to wash the coarse grime off his fair, youthful face. Looking down into the stream, he hoped to spot a fish, or possibly a salamander. All he saw however, was his own almond brown eyes staring back at him. The water of the stream glimmered as it reflected his cloud-white hair. Robin's apathetic expression morphed into a hateful glower. Along with his hair, Robin had purple arcane symbols of six dragon eyes that permanently marked the black of his hands. These were the inescapable reminders of the Fell blood that flowed through his veins, the same blood that had allowed Validar to seize control of Robin's mind and force him to give up the Binding Shield. To have your mind violated in such a manner was a waking nightmare Robin wasn't sure he would ever get over.

"GRAHHH!" Clenched fists spontaneously smashed against the rocks on the riverbank. As Robin shook with rage, his eyes stung as he tried to suppress the tears that wanted to burst forth.

"What do you want?" Robin snapped, hearing footsteps approach from behind. No one in the Shepherds had ever witnessed a moment of weakness like this in him.

"Um, Robin? May I have a word?" A stern yet princessly female voice called. It was Lucina.

The fiery red drained from Robin's face, his fists loosened, and a weak but authentic smile instinctively replaced his frown.

"Lucina, what is it?" Robin responded as he turned to face his wife.

Lucina's long sapphire hair, matched by her ocean-colored eyes, danced in the cool evening breeze. In her left iris was the gleaming Brand of the Exalt. Unlike Robin's white hair and arcane markings, these were signs of the royal blood within her. They were signs that, like her ancestors before her, Lucina was sworn to protect the people of the world from those who worship the Fell Dragon. That duty was why Lucina, born in an apocalyptic hell where the Fell Dragon had almost destroyed humanity, had traveled through time to stop that future from occurring. To witness the horrors she had and persist was a testament to her warrior mantle. More than ever, Robin needed her endurance.