After Red and the Shepherds were able to fight off a new threat to their continent, Ylisse and Regna Ferox turn towards a former enemy for aid in the upcoming conflict. There are spoilers in this chapter, consider this your warning.
Seriously, spoilers. Read at your own risk.
At Port Ferox, Frederick informed Chrom that we had received word from Plegia; they would meet us at their outpost on Carrion Isle. Naturally, Frederick was ill at ease with that idea, but Chrom told him not to worry. He was determined to get the ships we needed.
Chapter 13: Of Sacred Blood
With our preparations complete, we marched south to Carrion Isle. When we arrived at the outpost there, we were greeted by Aversa. She served Plegia's new king, Validar. Both he and Aversa were Grimleal, believers of Grima. Apparently Validar's faith was what got him through after Gangrel's passing.
Validar then arrived. Chrom and I recognised the man, but he claimed to never have had any encounters with Ylissean royalty. Still, that was hard to believe when he was almost the certainly the man that had attempted to assassinate Emmeryn.
Validar knew of me, as well. Apparently, the whole world had come to learn of Ylisse's master tactician. Whilst Validar showered me with compliments, Chrom and I whispered to each other about who this Validar actually was. Validar soon cut our conversation short, however.
Chrom decided not to move for the time being, just to be ready for anything.
We then turned to the matter at hand. Plegia would lend us no soldiers, but they were willing to offer us eight hundred warships and two hundred transports. They would also fully fund the campaign against Valm.
That was quite a surprising offer, and the only reason Validar didn't offer troops was that Plegia's army was still in shambles after the last war.
Chrom accepted, and then the two spoke of building a strong relationship between the two nations. With our deal complete, Chrom told them we would be leaving.
Aversa, however, still had one final introduction to make. A hooded man stepped out before us, although he didn't seem so eager to talk at first. He then started talking in an eerily familiar voice. Frederick asked him to lower his cowl. He did so.
The face he revealed from underneath the cowl was mine; the man that stood before us was me. He shared by looks, my voice, even my name. Chrom tried to question Validar and Aversa about my doppelganger, but they had no intention of answering any questions. Aversa also gave us an ominous warning about the highroads of Plegia being quite treacherous...
Once we had left the outpost, I spent the night wide awake. Seeing myself standing before me was raising all sorts of questions. Whilst I was wandering alone at night, I could hear someone call out to me. The voice was in my head; Validar then appeared before me, asking why I had closed my heart to "him".
Validar then told me that he was my father. Apparently due to being of Validar's flesh, but of sacred blood as well, I would serve a glorious purpose.
I had no intention of listening to Validar, and tried to push him out of my mind. Just as Validar was telling me to give my strength to the Fell Dragon, Grima, Chrom arrived and managed to snap me out of my trance. I told Chrom about what had happened, although neither of us could be sure of whether he was my father or not.
Being Validar's son might have been a valid reason for having someone else who looked like me in this world, but my memories wouldn't return. I had no idea whether that was the case or not. Chrom insisted that I was myself before I was any man's son, which helped to put my mind at ease.
Whilst I had been away, Risen had encircled our camp. Somehow the Risen had managed to get past our sentries, behaving in a way we had seen Risen behave in thus far. Chrom was certain that Validar was responsible for the Risen attack. He ordered for everyone who could bear arms to get equipped, so we could all fight for our lives.
Our position but us between two cliffs, with a bridge to our north. Naturally, the Risen had claimed the higher ground, so we were left with no choice but to fight them all off.
As the battle began, a storm of crows approached us. In the midst of all the crows was dark mage named Henry. Henry kindly informed us that we were trapped, a fact that we were well aware of. Despite his japes, Henry insisted on joining our side, only because he had a thing for killing. It seems that all these Plegian dark mages are unhinged...
Henry also warned us about enemy reinforcements from the fortresses that could be found on top of the cliffs and to our south.
At first, we focused on defeating the Risen on the same elevation as us. As ever, Tharja was at my side. Vaike fought alongside Lissa, Donnel with Nowi, Virion with Cherche and Gaius with Sully. Chrom had also teamed up with his wife, Sumia. This setup did leave Henry alone, but he was able to provide support in finishing off any wounded enemies that the rest of us couldn't finish off.
During the battle, Tharja used a Master Seal. She became more powerful than a normal dark mage; she was now a Sorcerer. Her increase in magical power would be welcome in our battle, especially with enemies advancing upon us from the north.
Chrom wasn't slacking off from combat, either. With Sumia at his side, the pair were proving to be a formidable duo.
Considering Henry's warning about the reinforcements from the forts, I had everyone hold the southern area where we started the battle. We had the enemies come to us, allowing us to pick them off gradually whilst Lissa tended to any wounds.
Of course, there were a few reinforcements from the forts closest to us as well, but Donnel, Nowi, Tharja and I were able to put a stop to them fairly quickly.
Due to an oversight on my part, Lissa's Heal staff quickly broke. However, we had a Mend staff in the convoy, which was a fortunate coincidence. Since Lissa couldn't heal everyone at once, those of us who had been wounded took some time out in the forts.
At this point, our enemies started advancing towards from the cliffs. Fortunately, by fighting together, we were able to defeat them and then focus on the Risen Chief, a berserker.
As we cut through the enemies, Chrom was the next Shepherd to become more than strong enough to make use of a Master Seal. Chrom had become a Great Lord, now able to wield lances alongside his swords. At this point, we had one foe left.
Those who were fighting gathered around the Risen Chief. The first to attack was Nowi, who had been extremely lucky and struck the creature with a powerful attack that it stood no chance of surviving.
Both Chrom and I were on the bridge when an assassin Risen appeared out of nowhere. Fortunately, Marth came to the rescue, calling out "Father". When she blocked the attack, the Risen vanished just as suddenly as it had appeared.
Chrom immediately picked up on Marth calling him father. Marth requested to speak privately. I let Chrom and Marth wander off to discuss their business.
I didn't leave Chrom and Marth alone for long, however. I had heard Marth crying, so I decided to go and investigate. For some reason, Sumia was present as well. Apparently she had been spying on Chrom, and was using flower fortunes to determine whether he still loved her or not.
Chrom revealed that Marth wasn't actually called Marth. Marth was actually Lucina, daughter to Chrom and Sumia. Lucina had the Brand of the Exalt in her eye, proof of her bloodline.
Naturally, as a mother, Sumia was worried about the baby Lucina. Adult Lucina assured her that her baby self was safe, and this is going to get really confusing...
Anyway, the Lucina that stood before us revealed that she had come from another time; more than ten years in the future, to be exact. Lucina told us that history had taken a dark and destructive turn in the future she came from
Man, what a day today was! First, I meet my identical twin, then Validar calls himself my father. After being attacked by Risen out of nowhere (this one being the most normal thing...), Marth turns out to actually be Chrom's daughter Lucina, from a grim future.
So much has happened, and most of it had very little connection to our upcoming battle with the Valmese armies...
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