#grimmeryn

From the Bottom of My Heart - The Wallflowers (Future Built): "Everything means nothing and tonight, everything is mine." Do you know what it does to my brain, imagining Emmeryn and Grima seeing each other in the endgame while Grima makes those big grand terrible speeches? Deliberate and intentional and villainous, and Emm is the only one who knows what a lie it all is. Delicious. Love it.

God Says Nothing Back - The Wallflowers (Future Built): I've loved this song for years, it's just so good, and it works in such a weird perfect way here? "To be in your heart, I filled my own: love says nothing back but 'I told you so.'" Attempts to remain detached crumbling in the face of honest connection. I absolutely love it.

When I Watch the World Burn, All I Think About is You (Demo) - Bastille (Future Built): Very heavily entrenched in Emm's PoV for late game Future Built, since I shuffle events a little to give SpotPass stuff better breathing room. That last, soft, tender "All I think about is you" refrain is Grima smiling at her one last time before Robin deals the final blow with the cymbal crash.

Divide - Bastille (Sibling AU): Endgame Sibling AU, entrenched mostly in Grima's PoV and recollections of his time with Emmeryn, not realizing that while he's prepared to give up, she is most certainly not.

Those Nights - Bastille (Sibling AU): Continuing the grand tradition of me completely missing the point of lyrics and intentions, the second verse is very specifically associated with a scene where Grima is nearly assassinated in the Ylisstol Castle Gardens and Emm is trying to keep him conscious and responsive

Yes it's Grimmeryn because Future Built is why I ship them in the first place okay.

Intent on averting the ruined future wrought by Validar's machinations, Grima follows Lucina and the other Shepherds' children into the past, and in attempting to make contact with Robin and pass on the knowledge of what's to come, they inadvertently wipe Robin's memories. It wasn't intentional: they wanted to arm their past self with their memories, give him a blueprint of what happened and therefore how to avoid it...but the shock of seeing his own doppelganger, coupled with the overwhelming influx of new information, appears to do the opposite, burying Robin's memories out of immediate reach.

(They do realize, though, that it's not gone, just buried -- including the ones they tried to pass on: Robin pulls Chrom out of the way of the hatchet throw at the Farfort, preventing the injury Chrom otherwise would have taken there, which surprises both Grima and the future Robin.)

Grima and Emmeryn actually meet on the night Validar attempts to assassinate her. Knowing what's to come, Grima slips into the castle posing as Robin -- after all, with the hood raised only someone who really knows the tactician would be able to tell the difference, and there are only a handful of people who can say they know him at all -- intending to act as yet another line of defense there to prevent against disaster...and Emmeryn happens to see them as she's retiring to bed. On a whim, she invites 'Robin' to share a cup of tea before bed, hoping to get to know her brother's tactician a bit better since the opportunity has presented itself...and very quickly comes to realize that this is not the man she spoke with on the way back from the Border Pass. At the same time, though, they don't seem to mean any harm, and are actually quite forthright in answering her questions, so they just...talk for a while. It's weird, but not unpleasant, on both sides, since this is the first real conversation Grima's had with a human since getting trapped in Robin's body.

They might have continued to talk, too, if not for the explosive beginning to the attack. Grima tells Emmeryn to keep back and moves to guard the door until reinforcements arrive -- and they slip away just before 'Marth' appears on the scene, though her Parallel Falchion still glows bright in response to their recent presence.

From there, Grima just slips through the dark picking off assassins to try and skew the odds in Lucina's favor, and they are viciously delighted by Validar's fall...only to realize in the aftermath that the man didn't die: he managed to cling to his husk of a body and save his own hide with an elixir he'd kept hidden away. Recognizing this for the chance it is, the future Robin convinces Grima to approach, since it will put them directly in the Grimleal fold and therefore able to undo Validar's plans from within; and though neither really likes the idea, they still go with it, and Grima ends up in Plegia.

Of course, Emmeryn's survival on the night of the assassination wasn't enough: she's still taken by Gangrel's men in the end, and though they don't have much sway, Grima still attempts to make her detainment as comfortable as they can. They talk more, when Grima comes to see her (which is as often as they're able, since they don't trust Gangrel's guards not to do a political prisoner harm unless they're supervised), and though they can't speak of it directly, Grima still intends to see Emmeryn escape this with her life. They even go so far as to project bits of conversation between Validar, Aversa, and Gangrel to the other Robin as he gets closer to the courtyard, hoping the knowledge will help him devise a rescue plan.

Honestly, it might have worked...if not for Aversa warping in those Risen archers. It catches Grima off guard, as much as anyone else -- but it's that one unforeseen act that destroys all their carefully laid plans, and ultimately pushes Emmeryn to her martyrdom.

Grima very nearly gives in to despair at that point, because if fate cannot be changed, then what is the point of continuing on? But amid the chaos in the courtyard, the Shepherds' retreat and the Plegian army's chase, they realize...that Emmeryn is still alive. She should have died in the fall, but by some cruel miracle her will kept her bound to her body in much the same way Validar's had -- and as the future Robin points out, Grima came to the past to save as many lives as they could, and if they do nothing then that is one life that will be lost yet again. If they intend to change this fate, then let this be the start of it.

Grima remarks that it's little wonder he was such a remarkable tactician, if his words can move even gods.

They warp down, gather Emmeryn up in the confusion, and then warp away, off to an island the quiet archipelago past Plegia's southwestern shores. The doctors there are able to save Emmeryn's life, but they can't undo the all the damage from the fall, and even once she recovers enough to regain some independence she has to learn to manage coordination issues, nerve damage, and speech impairment that make communication difficult. Grima visits her as often as they can, though -- and they seem to know everything she wants to say without her needing to speak a word. They are kind and respectful, they understand her frustrations with these new limitations, and they offer her both the freedom to vent those feelings and the encouragement to keep fighting on in spite of the difficulties. Grima, for their part, sees Emmeryn as a touchstone of sorts: a reminder of what they came here to do, the lives they came to save and the change they want to affect...but more than that, they are awed by Emmeryn's strength of will, her ability to not only live but continue to grow after such a trauma.

If nothing else, they're going to be dear friends by the time we start spinning into the last arc. But if it shifts from a platonic affection to a romantic one -- that's where Morgan would come in.

Seriously, though, can you imagine the shock on the Shepherds' faces when this blonde-haired girl in a tactician's coat latches onto Robin and insists he's her father? Chrom and Sumia are completely dumbstruck because they know Robin's dos and don'ts, and meanwhile the rest of the Shepherds are trying to figure out who the mom is. Morgan's amnesia really is not helping matters.

...and funny enough, I was actually thinking more about this recently. Specifically, that Morgan would have to be there when the Shepherds save Emmeryn from the Grimleal looking for human sacrifices. (For the record, Grima had no say in that, and is in fact the reason why Emmeryn and the other women managed to escape the operation: when they went to visit and found the village in chaos, Grima stormed into the Grimleal camp, undoing the prisoners' bonds before sweeping out and drawing their attention off so that Emmeryn could lead everyone to safety). In the aftermath, once the Shepherds' camp has settled for the night, Grima quietly visits Emmeryn for what they know will be the last time, since Validar is about to kick off his plans at the Dragon's Table...and as they leave her tent, Morgan sees them.

It comes back to her in a rush, when she sees the coat. Robin's might look much the same, but there are differences: little bits of wear here and there, mending done by loving hand present on her own but oddly absent on the tactician's. And while the person she sees might look, for all intents and purposes, like Robin...the coat is the same as hers. She remembers growing up with quiet stories of a father she would never meet, whose coat would forever be her keepsake (hence why she latched onto Robin in the first place)...and in that moment, she knows that the figure before her is her father, and this may be the one and only chance she has to meet them before the end.

Grima's understandably surprised when a quiet voice rises at their side, calling for her father...but when they look down at her, they smile, and greet her with nothing but warm affection. They leave camp together, walking slowly so they can take the time to talk, since Grima knows they cannot stay long...but in the end, they promise Morgan that their absence was never a lack of love: the world simply cannot bear the weight of Grima's power, just as it cannot bear the weight of Naga's, and if they were to make the selfish choice to stay, then there would forever be a grave and constant danger that everyone they care for will die as the Risen continue to spread and multiply. In leaving, they can ensure stability and peace for those left behind -- and they will always be watching from afar.

Understandably, the Grima and Emmeryn aspect doesn’t come into play until after Lucina returns to the past with Grima close behind -- or rather, not far ahead, based on where they both end up in the jump.  Grima chooses to keep an eye on events, rather than directly interfering except in extreme circumstances...and that first extreme circumstance comes on the night of Emmeryn’s assassination in the original timeline.  Slipping into Ylisstol castle isn’t so difficult when they can pass for Robin by just raising their hood, and they imagine they’ll have a better chance of defending the Exalt from close by...but much to their surprise, they are spotted by Emmeryn herself while quietly navigating the palace halls -- and she invites them to share some tea with her.

Emmeryn might not be as close to Robin as Chrom and Lissa, but even she recognizes within a few moments that the person she’s speaking to is not the Robin her brother brought before her after the events in Southtown.  At the same time, though they are very careful with their words and say nothing that could betray them as anyone but Robin, the stranger clearly doesn’t mean her any harm, and they have a pleasant (if decidedly odd) conversation before an explosion shakes the castle.

Grima tells Emmeryn to remain calm and keep back, then moves to take out the first wave that, in the other timeline, had been responsible for the Exalt’s fatal wound.  They vanish just before Lucina and the rest of the Shepherds make their grand arrival (and the Parallel Falchion shines in response to Grima’s presence), quietly taking out more of the enemy before retreating entirely to watch time’s course change.

It doesn’t change as much as they’d hoped, unfortunately, since Validar doesn’t want to die and manages to save his own sorry hide with an Elixir he’d hidden away in his robes, but even that presents an opportunity for them to infiltrate his ranks and try to destroy them from the inside out.

Grima and Emmeryn don’t meet again until after she’s captured and brought to Plegia to await execution.  Grima, having claimed a place by Validar’s side, has the freedom not only to move, but to give orders -- and on finding Emmeryn detained in Plegia, ensures that she is treated well and kindly, anticipating that they will be able to help orchestrate her rescue once the Shepherds arrive in the capital.  They talk more, though Grima remains evasive about their name and nature in spite of the frequent visits.

But it all comes undone at the Plegia Castle courtyard.  Unbeknownst to Grima, Aversa and Validar had planned for the potential rescue attempt, and warped Risen archers onto the scene that shot down the Pegasus Knights who had come flying to Emmeryn’s rescue...and with no other apparent recourse, she made her choice to sacrifice herself in hopes of peace.

Robin doesn’t need to beg Grima to look away.  Grima can’t bear to watch it, either.

But to their shock (and horror), Emmeryn somehow manages to survive the fall.  Critically wounded and likely to die if nothing is done, Robin insists that they need to help her, to which Grima -- desolate at this apparent failure, and how the timeline has returned to its original course despite their earnest efforts -- asks what the point is.  And Robin frankly berates the fell dragon, reminding them both that they came here to save as many lives as they could: yes, this is not what they wanted to see happen, but there’s a life down there right now that’s going to be lost if Grima does nothing.

And Grima really can’t argue, that.  The fell dragon chuckles because it’s little wonder Robin saw such success in the other timeline, if they can sway even a god to their will.

Grima slips down to the courtyard in the confusion of the Shepherds’ retreat and the Plegian army’s pursuit.  They gather Emmeryn gently up, careful to do her no more harm than she’s already suffered.  And then they slip away to a quiet village in the archipelago to the southwest, placing her in the care of the healers there before returning to the castle as though nothing had happened.

But Grima goes back frequently to see her in the two years that follow.  She’s a touchstone for them, reminding them of what they came here to do...but beyond that, they find comfort in her presence, and her company helps to relax them after suffering through time with Validar.  And Emmeryn equally enjoys their visits, their kindness, and the care and support they offer through her recovery.