K, I'm just gonna say right now that tinfoil hats will be required (maybe). It's an alternate timeline/AU sorta thing, but I've been thinking it out a looot, am taking some artistic liberties, and I'm posting it.
Yolo, yellow, jell-o...whatever the saying is, yeah, screw it, going with it.
Fair warning: FIRE EMBLEM REKKA NO KEN/FUUIN NO TSURUGI SPOILERS AHEAD. Read at your own risk!
Roy is dressed as he is in Awakening. This will be more apparent later, since I only referenced his looks a couple of times in this prologue, but...yeah.
I'm really excited to write this story. I don't own Fire Emblem/the characters/whatever, that's all Nintendo and Intelligent Systems. I just have this story.
Huge thanks to randomadorablepikachu for proofreading!
I hope you guys enjoy this prologue!
Prologue I: The Dragon's Gate
Dread Isle.
The name alone was enough to send shivers down the spines of even the strongest of warriors. Stories of shipwrecks and missing seafarers—sailors, travelers, and traders alike—were copious in amount. Nary would a month go by without another story of a missing ship and its crew. What was once an event that would occur every two or three months soon became a weekly incident.
The young lion, Roy, had returned to Lycia after slaying the demon dragon. Though he had been expected to marry, he never did—he put the good of the land above his own social obligations.
Eliwood was proud of how much Roy had done to help rebuild Lycia, but he was concerned for Roy's health. The young redhead had a tendency to overwork himself, and one night, Eliwood happened upon his son sprawled across his desk, passed out from exhaustion. This incident is what prompted the Marquess to forcibly send Roy off to "get some godforsaken rest."
Though Roy protested at first, his aching eyes and sore hands were enough to persuade him into agreement with his father. His idea of rest was different from Eliwood's, however, as his request was nothing of a luxury.
His bid was simple: to go on a short journey of his own.
Initially, Eliwood was surprised. It wasn't long, however, before his surprise soon ebbed away into understanding.
"Where will you go?" Eliwood had asked his son.
"I would like to… go meet my uncle," Roy had answered slowly, as if choosing his words carefully.
The Dragon's Gate was a controversial place; Roy knew this. The young man had been curious about the other side of his family—he had never met his mother, for she had died soon after his birth, and all he heard about her and was from his father. He did not doubt that his father knew his mother well, but he wanted to hear about her and 'the other half' from someone who grew up with her and lived the life of a dragon.
"The Gate was sealed by your uncle, it won't open," his father had explained.
Roy nodded. "I know, father. But… I would like to talk with him, perhaps through the sealed gate."
Nergal had been able to speak to both Ninian and Nils when they were inside the Dragon's Gate, so the young lion's idea was to attempt the same form of contact.
Eliwood was wary of the idea. He knew the only reason it had ended so terribly with Nergal was because of how corrupt he had become and what his motives had been, but sending Roy to Dread Isle was tedious and dangerous in and of itself.
However, he knew that meeting Nils was important to Roy. He was eighteen now and had never met anyone from his mother's side of the family—he knew nothing of the dragons, other than what he had learned during his studies in Ostia and what he had been told from Eliwood and the others.
Therefore, with a hesitant nod, he allowed his son to go on this journey.
Violent waves crashed against the shore of Dread Isle as Roy looked over the sea. The water had been dangerous, that much was certain—but his ship did not struggle as many others seemed to.
He turned his head and tilted his gaze upward at the island.
"I'm here," he said quietly as he surveyed the area with sharp, curious eyes. The wind rushed past him as a wave crashed against the rocky shore and his cadmium red hair whipped about his face. He squinted, tugged his tattered cape back, and began his trek into the island alone.
The fog had been thick at the shore, but it had become nearly opaque by the time Roy found the old ruins that contained the Dragon's Gate. It seemed like an eternity of wandering through those ruins before Roy finally stumbled upon a tall and wide staircase. He looked up slowly as he felt a tugging feeling in his chest. His eyes narrowed and he slowly ascended the stairs, the armor on his legs making the quietest clanks with each careful step he took.
As soon as he reached the top, his eyes widened.
Directly across from him stood a towering gate, decorated with ornate designs and statues of dragons on either side. He felt his heartbeat quicken at the sight. Even though the gate was sealed shut, he could still feel its energy charging the air.
A few moments passed before he closed his eyes and opened them once more. He calmly walked towards the gate and stopped when he was only mere inches away from it.
". . . Nils?" he called. There was no answer.
He pursed his lips. Surely he could do this. If someone as human as Nergal could speak through the gate, Roy could as well. He thought for a moment before he decided to try again.
". . . Nils," Roy began, "My name is Roy. I'm… here to talk to you, because you knew my mother."
Silence. Roy's eyes closed and his shoulders drooped slightly—not from sadness, but from exhaustion.
"My mother's name is Ninian," he continued. "She is your sister. I was hoping… I could speak with you."
Silence again. Roy's lips pursed.
". . . You are my sister's son?" a young voice responded.
The response startled Roy and he quickly looked to the stone wall of the gate.
"I… yes, I am the son of Ninian," Roy answered. "You… are Nils?"
"I am Nils," Nils said. "Why are you here to talk with me?"
Roy let the faintest of smiles cross his lips. "I wanted to learn about my mother. My father always tells me stories about her. I also wanted to meet you."
One could almost sense the surprise that Nils felt when he heard Roy's words.
"… Alright," Nils finally responded, a smile evident in his tone. "Let's talk."
Hours went by as Roy spoke with Nils. He learned a lot about the dragons, learned about his uncle, and most importantly, heard stories about his mother.
"She really loved your father," Nils said. "I was surprised at first, but Eliwood is a really great man… so I can see why she ended up falling in love with him…."
Roy, who had decided to sit back against one of the pillars of the gate some time before, nodded slightly. "My father... told me a lot about her. He loved her, too."
There was a silence.
". . . You know, it's not your fault, Roy," Nils finally spoke.
Roy blinked and looked back to the gate, as if he looked back to Nils. "What?"
"She ended up passing away after you were born," Nils continued. "But it's not your fault."
Roy stared at the cracked stone behind him. ". . . I know," he responded slowly.
"Do you?"
Another bout of silence. Nils started to speak again.
"…Roy—"
"Wait," Roy cut him off and stood. He looked around.
There was an uneasy feeling in the air. The magic that filled the room had shifted from the static charge of the Gate to a darker, heavier feeling.
"Something bothering you, manakete?" a chilling voice called out from the darkness of the chamber. Roy's gaze snapped to the source of the noise—a man in a cloak standing atop one of the pillars to the side of the staircase.
"Who are you?" Roy called out, his pose instantly shifting to a defensive one.
"Do names matter?" the man responded coolly. "A manakete does not deserve to know our names, anyway."
"I am not a manake— wait, our?" Roy's hair stood on end as he quickly looked around. There were five other cloaked figures, each one standing atop pillars, looking down on him.
The first man snickered and Roy glanced to him once more. "Clearly you do not think us the fools," he said. "Only a manakete would be powerful enough to stay in this place and talk through the Dragon's Gate for so long without going the least bit mad."
"I am no manakete," Roy repeated as his hand gripped the hilt of his sword.
"Hm," the man pretended to think. "Then if you are not a manakete, why do you harbor such an incredible level of Quintessence?"
The young lion pursed his lips and remained silent.
There was a smile in the cloaked man's voice. "Ah, that must mean you're…a half-breed? No, not a half-breed... only a quarter of your blood is the blood of a dragon's."
Roy's body visibly tensed and the grip on his sword tightened.
"I seem to have struck the nail on the head," the man observed with a smile.
"Roy," Nils' voice came through the gate, "Get out of here right now."
Roy looked back, poised to respond, but was cut off before he could.
"I believe the time to escape has long since passed," the man spoke again, turning Roy's attention to him once more.
"Who are you people?" Roy asked again.
The man shook his head. "You won't stop asking, will you?" He smiled. "Fine. I'll tell you. We are mages. Years ago, we came here to study our arts… and excel at our magic."
The man's smile faltered slightly. "But no matter how much we practiced, we were never able to become as powerful as those before us… like Nergal."
Roy's eyes widened slightly at the name. "Nergal?"
The man nodded. "Back when he was still alive, we were followers of his. Though we witnessed his power first-hand, we never knew how to become more like him."
"Roy," Nils spoke. "You have to get out of here right now!"
Roy needed no further instruction. He quickly ran for the staircase, knowing full well that these mages were going to cause nothing but trouble for him. He was a few feet from the first step when a huge bolt of lightning struck the ground at his feet, forcing him to stop. He looked up to the man who was now holding a tome in his hands.
"Now now, it's not polite to leave during someone's story time," he spoke slowly. "I suggest you stay where you are. Let me finish my story…"
Roy grit his teeth. He knew if he tried to escape again, he would be struck by a spell. These people were powerful and he was clearly outnumbered.
"As I was saying," the man continued. "We didn't know how to become more like him. And then, one day, we noticed something… the incredible power of Quintessence."
"Do you know what Quintessence does to a person? How much more powerful a man can become with even just a little bit of it? Or how insanely strong many people can become with a lot of it? Say…six people?"
Roy's heart skipped a beat at the sudden realization. "Gods," he whispered. "You can only get it by taking it from someone… don't tell me, those missing ships were all-?"
The man laughed. "You really are as sharp as they say," he said. "Yes. It was us. Shipwrecks full of crew members… their bodies ripped to shreds by the tides and stony shore of the island, and their Quintessence is sent straight to us. Then we create worse storms, and more people wash up dead here. It's a rather efficient cycle, wouldn't you say?"
The redhead could feel his stomach tighten slightly, but his demeanor remained relatively calm as he stared at the mage.
"But we need more. What we've got now isn't enough, and imagine our surprise when we come to the Dragon's Gate, only to find a manakete here? It's like we were sent a gift straight from the heavens, really—you're like a font of power."
There was a sudden thump of pain in the front of Roy's mind, like it was being crushed in a vise-grip. He let out a strained cry and fell to one knee as his hands desperately grabbed at his hair.
"Roy!" Nils called out from the gate.
"That's good, little manakete," the man almost cooed. "You know, Dark magic is very useful. Even though you've only got a little bit of dragon's blood in your veins, it's still enough that spells like this will cause you more pain than a normal human would have to endure."
Roy let out another cry of pain and clenched his teeth tightly. His hands gripped his head and he crumpled over as waves of pain washed over his body.
"We could kill you now, you know, and steal your Quintessence. You do have a lot of it to share," the mage taunted. "But that's not really fun, now is it?"
"You know, I've never had a puppet. I've always wanted one. You're not a complete dragon… so I wonder how hard it would be for us to pull your strings, like Nergal did with your mother."
With those words, something seemed to snap in Roy's mind. His head twitched upward, as if struggling against the force of the magic on his brain, and his eyes flickered. There seemed to be a fire building inside of him as his mind twisted.
"Ahh, that's the look I was hoping for," the man said and grinned. "You're so calm on the outside, but on the inside, you're still a dragon—press enough buttons and that beast is sure to burst forth."
Another force gripped his mind, which enticed another strangled cry from the young lion. His eyes screwed shut and his breathing quickened from the pain. There was a burning feeling inside of his mind and a clawing feeling ripping at the outside, like two powers were fighting for dominance over him—the intruding magic, and something from within him.
However, that all came to a stop when the six mages clenched their outstretched fists. The claws at his mind tore into him and a sharp ache paused his entire being. His eyes were stuck wide and his fingers had gone limp in his hair.
"ROY!" Nils' voice echoed out from the gate.
The man smiled. "I don't think he can hear you," he answered. "You should see how dull his eyes look right now—like a real puppet, if I do say so myself."
"Say, Roy, could you stand for us?" he asked.
Roy's body twitched slightly, as if it was trying to process the request. Slowly he rose to his feet with his head bowed. His eyes were dead and his body was numb.
"Good dragon," the mage said with a grin. "Now how about you open that gate for us?"
Roy slowly turned to the gate.
"It won't work," Nils said. "You can't open the gate from the outside."
"Who said we needed to open it from the outside?" the mage responded with a light laugh. "Roy, point your sword to your chest."
Nils was shocked. "You wouldn't," he said.
The man grinned more. "I would."
Roy had raised his sword and pointed it to his own chest by that point. He still faced the gate and his eyes bore into the sealed stone.
"Open the gate, or he dies."
