The Renowned Star

Chapter 10: Twisted Snapped

"AHAHAHA!" Chrom laughed as he shot arrows from his bow. The heroes jumped out of the way as Byleth shot a spell at him. Chrom flew out of the way and continued shooting arrows down at the heroes. They hit the ground harshly as the heroes did everything in their power to dodge the arrows.

Hajime muttered, "Ugh, dealing with Chrom in a different mindset is really tough to deal with... he's incredibly skilled and strong."

"Not a good duo to go against... but we can do it!" Byleth yelled. The heroes nodded as Celica and Veyle kept throwing spells up at Chrom. Chrom was able to dodge the spells with ease. He just enjoyed it all and continued to dodge them with no problems.

Chrom laughed, "You guys can be so weak and pathetic sometimes... here... let's see THIS!" He shot an arrow directly as Byleth and Byleth barely dodged the attack. Chrom gritted his teeth together as he jumped off the wyvern. Just like that the heroes dashed in to attack him. However, Chrom was able to block their attacks.

Byleth yelled, "THE KEY IS TO MAKE SURE YOU HIT HIM AT RANDOM! THAT WAS PREDICTABLE!" The heroes looked at Byleth and nodded as the wyvern flew back to Claude's side. Claude was too worried to hurt Chrom but he knew he had to do something in the end. "TAKE THIS!"

Chrom jumped out of the way and asked, "Is that the best YOU CAN DO?!" Suddenly he was hit from behind by Alear. He fell forward and soon Celica threw a spell at him. Chrom rolled out of the way and glared at the heroes in anger. "You are nothing... you don't understand my pain! YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND ANYTHING!!"

Veyle asked, "But how are we supposed to understand what you're going through if you don't bother to tell us?!" Chrom stood there staring at Veyle when Zhongli kicked him from behind. Chrom fell onto the ground again as Marianne walked over and attempted to cast a spell on him but Chrom leaped out of the way.

Byleth grunted, "We can attack him but he's quick to react when someone is going to do something against his will..." Byleth searched around the area and then grabbed a tree branch and whipped it toward Chrom. Chrom caught the branch when suddenly Byleth swung his sword again at Chrom. Afterward, Chrom was sent flying back and hit a tree.

Claude yelled, "Don't hurt him too much!"

"We won't! We're just going to have to until he snaps back to who he is!" Byleth replied. Claude slowly nodded as Chrom put his hands together and proceeded to charge a spell against them.

Alear muttered, "It's not often he uses spells. He must be pretty desperate..." Alear jumped out of the way of the spell and dashed toward Chrom. She swung her sword while Chrom jumped out of the way and threw another spell toward her. "GAH!" Alear fell backward and looked over in agony.

Albedo muttered, "Shoot... no matter what we do it's never enough!" Byleth looked around when Rafal slowly walked up to Claude.

"You need to do something!" Rafal shouted.

Claude asked, "D-Do what?! I can't bother to hurt him so what can I do?!"

"You're his husband and you're the only person who is actually capable of making him snap back to normal! Hit him a couple of times! He's not going to die if you don't use those laser arrows of yours!" Rafal yelled. Claude looked at him and slowly took out his bow and arrow.

Claude muttered, "Fine... I really wish there was a better alternative to this." Celica galloped over to Claude's side as the two got ready to combine together.

Celica explained, "I'm going to amplify the power of your arrow. It won't kill Chrom but it will sting a lot more."

"If he just comes back to his senses... I'm all ears," Claude muttered. Celica nodded as the two combined the spell and the arrow. It landed on Chrom's left shoulder and he fell back onto the ground.

Chrom groaned, "Out of all people... I would never suspect that my husband would go against me... I thought you always supported me of my actions."

"I told you already that snapping is an automatic NO!" Claude exclaimed as he shot another arrow. Chrom looked over as he got hit by the other arrow, right in his right thigh. He landed back onto the ground as Byleth got ready to cast a spell against Chrom.

Byleth muttered, "He's definitely getting weaker. We'll be able to snap him back if we try harder!" The heroes nodded as Celica and Claude once again combined. However, Chrom rolled out of the way as he pulled the arrows out.

Chrom muttered, "You will never stop me from what I WISH TO DO!" Chrom then shot more arrows at the heroes. Claude soon directly shot an arrow into Chrom's eye and he fell onto the ground.

"SHIT I THINK I HIT HIM TOO HARD!" Claude shouted.

Celica sighed, "Nonsense... I think that was plenty to help him get back to his senses." Claude looked down toward Chrom as the rest of the heroes walked up to him.

Kirby asked, "Chrom? Are you good?"

"Ngh..." Chrom groaned. Claude got down to his level and slowly pulled the arrow out of his eye. Then he gave Chrom a small embrace, Chrom opened his eyes slowly and hugged Claude back. "I'm..."

Claude muttered, "Sh..."

"Well one thing is clear, Chrom is back to himself again," Alear said with a sigh of relief.

Chrom mumbled, "I'm... such a fool. Thinking that snapping was going to be the best way out of this? What was I thinking?"

"You're just thinking the way you think, there's no harm in that," Alear sighed. Chrom looked down at himself and then back toward the heroes. "It's okay Chrom, I promise you."

Byleth nodded, "Yes, I just wish you told us a little more sooner about these issues."

"I... I think I'm better off just telling Claude, but thank you all for the offer... I'm so sorry my stupidity got the better of me," Chrom apologize.

Byleth sighed, "It's alright, now... let's try to get back on track. You're not in trouble, we just want to forget about this; okay?"

"Mhm... I understand how you feel," Chrom laughed. The two smiled as the heroes all walked over toward Byleth.

Alcryst asked, "So... Now what? How are we going to get to the Dark Kingdom?"