A/N: Hey guys! This is my first fic on this site; I hope you all enjoy. I try to keep my work as clean as possible, but please, let me know if there are any glaring errors in a review/PM (if this site has those, haha)

In any case, this is an attempted novelization of Awakening, although the first few chapters will cover the Future of Despair that Lucina hails from in the game. Not all of the story will be exactly as it is in the game, but for the most part it'll be following Awakening's story line.

I know the title's a tad generic, but I'm not great at coming up with them. It could change in the future, if I can think of anything that works.

I only have two pairings that I'm going with for sure: Chrom/Sumia and Robin/Lucina. If you guys want to suggest other pairings (my only requirement is that Gen1 and Gen2 characters can't get together for obvious reasons) feel free to! I'll only reject pairings that I feel I can't write successfully for whatever reason.

Please leave a review! I would love to hear any criticism or compliments that you have. Thanks!

Oh, and of course, I don't own Fire Emblem or any of it's characters. They are all property of Intelligent Systems and Nintendo.


Prologue: Dark Tidings

Lucina walked ten steps, reached one of the four walls of the bright room she was in, turned to the left, and walked ten more.

Turned left. Ten more.

Turned left. Ten more.

And—

"Milady, pacing isn't going to help anything, you know."

Lucina glanced at the speaker. Frederick was there, watching as always. His soft brown eyes were furrowed as he watched her pace back and forth, and his arms were crossed over his chest. He still wore his armor—despite the fact that they were in no immediate danger—but he was the spitting image of a mother hen, worrying over her chicks, as he gazed at her. She shook her head, and her long, dark blue hair flew from shoulder to shoulder.

"I can't help it, Frederick. I'm worried about mother and father."

And indeed she was. Lucina's father—Chrom—had left the castle days ago with his trusted Shepherds for a final assault on the Dragon's Table, where Validar, the ruler of Plegia, was attempting to revive the dark god Grima. The danger was great. Validar had proven himself a tricky foe already. Somehow, he'd managed to wrest the Fire Emblem from Chrom's grasp; her father had refused to explain how, but it had to be some trickery.

Lucina could still remember the day he had left, a week earlier. It had been in the early morning, before daybreak. He had taken all the Shepherds with him except Frederick; Ylisse's longest standing knight was left in command of defense of the castle, and watching over Lucina and Cynthia.

Father was so grim that day, Lucina recalled. No laughing, no joking; all business. Neither Robin nor Chrom had offered any of their usual banter to the princess or each other.

The silence of that day had been stifling.


She was still furious that Chrom had refused to bring her along, Frederick could see. Lucina was young—at age 15, she would be by far the youngest of the Shepherds—but she was no slouch with a weapon in hand. She had sparred with her father starting at age nine, and her skill was peerless. Frederick had watched her grow stronger by the year, and despite being so young, she could match many of Ylisse's best swordsmen in a fight.

Any observer could tell that Lucina would grow to become a beautiful woman. Her eyes were a piercing blue, and her dark blue hair fell past her shoulders. She was slim, but not overly so. Her face had a determined look about it; she took after her father in that way, Frederick had noticed. But she had a gentler side as well. She did not live by the blade like her father; at first, violence had sickened her, and although she was no pacifist like the late Emmeryn, she preferred peace to the blade.

He's just trying to protect you, Lucina, Frederick thought to himself. But that thought was hardly encouraging to the weary old knight, and it would certainly not ease her fears. He knew he had to do something to calm her down, though.

"Chrom and Sumia will be fine, Lucina. The Shepherds have made it through countless campaigns…not necessarily unscathed, but Chrom and Robin always figure out a way to prevail." Frederick tried as best he could to sound reassuring, but he could tell from the look she shot him that his attempt had failed.

Lucina sighed sadly. "I just want my parents back," she murmured as she finally paused her pacing and gazed out the window. The city was bustling about beneath her; it was always active during the day as citizens shopped, bargained, chatted, and generally lived amiable, happy lives. Children laughed and played in the streets, heedless of the world-changing events taking place. Her hand brushed Falchion, which was sheathed at her side. Chrom had left it with her for safekeeping. Frederick was still curious as to why Chrom had done so. The prince had claimed his heir should have the famed weapon with her; it was tradition in Ylisse, but the weapon had served Chrom well over many a campaign.

The knight couldn't stand to see the princess so distraught. He straightened himself tiredly from the chair he was sitting in.

"Why don't you find Cynthia?" Frederick suggested. "It might help take your mind off everything."

Lucina glanced at Frederick. In truth, she was surprised the old knight had let Cynthia leave his sight. Frederick was incredibly cautious and wary when it came to his duty—protecting the heirs to the halidom of Ylisse. She was even more surprised he was willing to let BOTH her and Cynthia out of his sight.

Frederick caught the surprised glance. "Don't stray too far," he remembered to add, his brows furrowing once again as he thought of all the ills that could befall the two princesses. "Chrom said you two aren't to leave the castle. It's getting unstable in the city with everyone gone."

A brief smile crossed Lucina's face. "Of course, Frederick the Wary," she replied, a bit of sass finally returning to her face. Frederick was relieved that she had finally smiled. "Careful's my middle name, you know."

"If only," The knight muttered under his breath.


Lucina walked briskly down the passageways of the castle, nodding at soldiers as she passed. She was still self-conscious when they bowed in return. Like her father, she'd never gotten used to the formality of being a noble.

She reached the east wing of the castle, and entered her sister's room without knocking.

"Cynth—Er, Cynthia?"

Lucina was surprised to find the room empty. Then again, her sister wasn't one to stay cooped up all day. Having just walked most of the passageways and not seeing her, Lucina came to the conclusion that she'd probably left the castle.

Without permission, of course, Lucina thought, somewhat irritated. Then again, it'd always been like that; Lucina, focused on the task she was given and obeying her orders to the T, and Cynthia, wild and uncontrollable, always darting around and raising trouble. Her father often joked Cynthia had inherited that from him and that Lucina had inherited her dedication from her mother.

Lucina's thoughts were interrupted by sudden shouting on the castle battlements.

"R-Risen! Risen on the horizon!"

Lucina jolted in surprise as a soldier's voice rang down from the battlements. Risen?! Here?! She thought in shock. The Risen had never dared an attack on the capital city of the halidom. She was frozen in shock as she tried to think of what to do. What would her father do? Other men on the wall picked up the soldier's shouts. What was more was that there was an unmistakable tinge of fear to each voice that grew with each passing second.

The duties of the exalt fall to you while I'm gone.

Chrom's words suddenly rang strong in Lucina's head. She finally snapped into action, racing from Cynthia's abandoned room to the front gates of the castle. As she ran, her mind raced. Surely it couldn't be a large horde of the beasts. The monsters had only begun appearing around the kingdom in recent days, but never in large numbers. The castle was well-garrisoned; they could easily fight the monsters off. But even before she had finished the thought, she doubted it. There had been too much fear in the warnings—inexplicable fear if it were a small group of the creatures.

The castle was a hive of activity. Soldiers raced through the passageways, gathering equipment and racing outside to the outer city walls. Men shouted across the drilling grounds as troops broke away from their practicing to suit up in their armor and prepare for battle. Sergeants barked orders as to their men, and gradually a sense of organization fell across the castle. The men slowly separated into respective divisions—light infantry, heavily armored knights, cavalry, archers, mages—and began marching out of the castle grounds to the city walls.

Lucina raced out of the castle, and then up the stairs to the battlements, two at a time. She burst up on top of the wall and gazed out from the battlements. The city gleamed beneath her, the predominantly white buildings shining in the bright sunlight of the afternoon. She looked past Ylisstol to the fields beyond, covered in farmland that fed much of the country.

What she saw horrified her.

A massive horde of Risen was approaching Ylisstol from the west. Their numbers stretched as far as the eye could see, a never-ending tide of undead soldiers, shambling with deadly purpose straight at the city. They clutched rusted swords, axes, and spears, while they spewed noxious fumes that created a cloud of death over the horde. What was even more shocking was that they were almost moving in formation. The thud of thousands of rotting feet hitting the ground as one rumbled across the warm summer air. Risen were notorious for their lack of organization, lacking any sort of leadership. The only true advantage humanity had over their endless stamina was the power of the mind.

Ylisstol's outer lying provinces had countered Risen attacks with tactical skill, not numbers, although the average soldier typically outmatched Risen. The creatures, despite often having superior numbers, allowed themselves to get stretched out and systematically eliminated one by one.

These Risen, however, looked as if they had some…direction. Some leader guiding their movements. They weren't wandering aimlessly, simply killing what they came across. They had a purpose.

That purpose was to raze Ylisstol to the ground.

Lucina was finally broken from her shock by a loud voice, right next to her.

"Milady! You must get into the castle!"

Frederick had come onto the battlements beside her, and was looking at her expectantly. In spite of the terrifying sight beyond the walls, he was calm and focused. Lucina snapped out of her daze and began thinking rapidly. What would Father do? Cynthia may not hear what's happening, but I have to rally the castle garrison…

"Frederick, get the civilians into the castle! We don't have enough men to hold the city walls; they must buy time until we've evacuated the city. I'm going out to find Cynthia to make sure she gets in before we close the gates." Frederick began to protest at the last part, and Lucina cut him off. "I know what you're going to say; it's not safe. But none of us are safe now. Lead the defenses until they break through. Then retreat to the castle and regroup there. That's an order, Frederick," Lucina finished sharply.

The old veteran shook his head ruefully. Lucina thought he was going to give a stinging retort, or worse, refuse her orders. After all, she was only fifteen; the veteran Shepherd obviously should have been the one giving commands.

He simply replied "You've learned from your father well," before darting off, shouting orders to a division of knights. He grouped them up behind him and marched to the city walls.

Lucina watched him leave, somewhat touched by his remark. She knew she was nothing compared to her father; not in leadership nor in battle. But she hoped to one day surpass him. But where is father? Lucina wondered. Was the horde of Risen a sign…? No. She couldn't think that. She refused to think that her legendary father could be defeated, would allow himself to be defeated. It was like Frederick had said—her father and the Robin had grasped victory out of the jaws of defeat more times than she could imagine. They were an indomitable pair; as one, they were indestructible. She cast the distracting thoughts from her mind; it was her time to prove she was worthy of her father's legacy. She sped out of the castle gates to find Cynthia, her eyes set determinedly on the task ahead of her. She would not let her sister or her people down.


A/N: And there it is, the first chapter of my fic.

Again, please review! I love all sorts of feedback, and I really want to know how my writing is. And feel free to suggest pairings.

Next chapter should be up within a few days.