A/N: Well, I did the first story here, and this is number two! This is a direct sequel to Verdant Love, my previous Fire Emblem fanfiction, though it takes place twelve years later. This story introduces an original character, so things get a bit hairy. First thing I want to make clear: This story will have less frequent updates than VL did. Not only because of increased school work load, but also because this story needs a lot more fine tuning than the previous one did. The first story only had characters that had already been created. Because this one introduces some new ones, I need to define their relationships with other characters better, and it'll take longer. Hopefully it will be worth it.

Also keep in mind, my writing style is pretty dynamic (read: half-assed). As of right now, I have no idea how I want the story to end. I prefer letting the story define itself. This story will literally write itself.

I don't own any characters in this story that appear in the game Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon. Any characters not mentioned in said game belong to me.

So let's get on with it. Chapter one begins… NOW.

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Renaissance of the Dragons Chapter One: Crimson

Zuni was eight years old. He was also fairly confused. About a lot of things, really. One of his biggest questions was why his father was thirty-seven and his mother twenty. He knew basic math. Thirty-seven minus twenty was seventeen. His parents' ages were nearly as far apart as his mother was old. That fact alone unnerved him. Not only that, twenty minus eight told him his mother conceived him at the age of twelve.

Because of that, Zuni suspected foul play. Maybe his mother was a prisoner of war, and was taken as an unwilling concubine by his father for his depraved urges. There was a war four years prior to his birth that both his parents were involved in, as his father had said, so that checked out. It also explained why nobody else like them lived nearby.

Unable to contain his uncertainty any further, Zuni confronted his parents.

"Okay, you two," he began accusingly. "Things are not right. Father, why are you so much older than Mother? Why is she so young at all? Answer me, please!"

His father, Abel, chuckled. He responded simply (and almost cryptically), "Love knows no limitations, Zuni."

As if to prove him right, Zuni's mother, Tiki, kissed Abel on the cheek.

"Zuni," she said, "we… haven't told you everything about your past. We did it for a good reason, believe me, because it's a… a heavy burden to place. And we weren't sure you were old enough to carry it."

"Well I'm old enough now. So tell me everything!" he demanded.

Abel and Tiki looked at one another. They silently agreed to explain themselves with a nod.

While they do that, perhaps a physical description of Zuni would be useful.

For the most part, Zuni looked like his mother did when he was her age. His hair was crimson red, and short too. Though both his parents' hair colors were green, Zuni got his hair from his uncle, Abel's brother Cain. Tiki gave Zuni her dragon-god headdress to wear, because it was the last one left. No one alive knew how to make them. Abel had tried multiple times, but to no avail: he could never figure out the proper mixture of metals, and all his work fell to pieces quickly, almost mockingly.

Though he was, by biology, a divine-dragon, Zuni was not able to use a Divinestone, the key to transformation into a dragon form. The only one left was also Tiki's, but she was more reluctant to part with it than with the headdress. Without a Divinestone, the best Zuni, like his father, could do was grow white wings from his back. Abel did, however, give Zuni a spare Firestone, which turns a manakete into a red fire dragon form. Zuni generally refused to use it, though, saying it didn't feel "proper to use a lesser form" than he could otherwise.

He was trained in both dragon and human combat (he had to use the Firestone for the former, and was under the premise that the stone itself made the bearer a dragon, that it was pure magic), as well as equestrianism. Abel's horse, Adam, had taken a liking to Zuni, which was significant, because Adam rarely let a stranger ride him without a fight.

Over the last eight years of his life, Zuni had been introduced to most of Abel's former brothers- and sisters-in-arms. The lord of Altea himself, Marth, had given Zuni a small medallion as a gift, bearing a noble mark upon it. Marth's sister and current queen consort of Altea, Elice, had given him a stranger gift: a regular comb with a small amount of long, green hair trapped within the tines. When Zuni asked why they were there, all Elice said was to ask his mother someday. Elice tended to act like a mother to Zuni, and he wasn't sure if he liked it or not. Part of him enjoyed the love and attention, and the other part hated her for trying to replace Tiki, intentionally or not.

A red-haired woman who had identified herself as Minerva had given him a small axe, which was ornately designed, though with a definite killing intent in mind. Just the sight of it gave Zuni chills. Minerva said it was a replica of her ax, Hauteclere, which she had made so that he could carry it. She also said she used the original Hauteclere herself in the war, claiming she had defeated the "tyrannical dictator son of a— I mean arrogant king of Macedon". She also gave him her blessing as the current leader of Macedon. Zuni asked her why she took the throne from the arrogant ex-leader, and she said that she had made the people a compromise they couldn't refuse. She didn't go into much detail, Zuni had noted.

He had to admit, though, he liked Minerva. He wasn't sure why, though. Something about her appealed to him. Maybe it's her take-no-nonsense attitude, or her fierce independent spirit. If I didn't know any better, I'd say she was a dragon in disguise, he had thought.

Back to the present. Abel concluded his explanation of the circumstances.

"So I'm the descendant of a nearly-extinct dragon clan? And you, father, used to be purely human?" He paused, trying to think. But life-changing epiphanies had a tendency to cloud one's thoughts. "I see. Well, then, where is she?"

Abel blinked. "She who?"

Zuni put his face in his palm in exasperation. "If I'm supposed to carry on our heritage, don't I need a… mate, mayhaps?"

Tiki laughed. "Of course! Your father… erm, planted the seed in my womanly soil a few nights ago, son!"

Zuni frowned. "Well, good, I'd hate to think my parents had forgotten the main reason they had me."

"No, of course not," said Abel. "We just wanted you to acclimate to the situation at hand. With any luck it will be a girl. That way, later, you and she might mate. I'm sorry if it seems… forced upon you, but it's kind of a pressing matter."

Then Abel's voice changed. It became feminine. "Zuni, now that you have been made aware of your background, I feel it is time I reveal my presence."

Zuni was surprisingly calm with the change. "Who are you, then?" he asked.

"I am called Nagi. I met Abel twelve years ago. When he went from human to manakete, if you recall, the transformation killed him. His soul went to some inter-dimensional void, where we met. When he was revived, I was merged into his mind, and I quite enjoy living with Abel and Tiki. They are fun to be around, and having been isolated for who knows how long has made me cherish any sentient contact."

Zuni nodded. "I can see how that would be. I wish I knew what you looked like…"

Abel/Nagi pointed to Tiki. "A lot like your mother, actually. Because my physical body has long since perished, I no longer age."

Zuni extended a hand. "It is both a pleasure and an honor to meet you, Lady Nagi."

Nagi took Zuni's hand and pulled him into an embrace, wrapping Abel's body around him. Zuni felt a distinct motherly vibe from the embrace. He took a note of it.

"Nagi? Were you a mother at any point?" he asked.

Nagi hesitated. "I do not remember, but it is possible." She kissed Zuni on the forehead. "If you don't mind, I wish to consider myself a relative of yours, even though I'm not."

Zuni considered it. "I suppose I could consider you like a mother. You do seem to be good at it."

"Thank you…" Nagi thought for a second. "… my son." She returned control of Abel's body to him.

"I guess we're all a family," he said. "A strange family, but a family nonetheless."

Zuni reflected, as he did often, on Abel's words. His parents' ages differed greatly, his mother was exceedingly young, he had a mother-in-effect confined to his father's mind, and a once-human-turned-manakete father. For a minute, Zuni considered how a normal family was like…

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A/N: First chapter complete. Would you like to save? (Y/N)

Just kiddin'. So, the first chapter is done! And don't worry, the chapter title format will make sense later. Crimson obviously for Zuni's hair color.

Oh, and take note of Zuni's affinity for Minerva. It may come into play later.

So what'd you think for a sequel? Let me know, review~