The Last Battle For All Eternity

A/N: This little piece is for Fire Emblem Mew Mew's Secret Santa Fanfic Exchange. I wrote this for Gunlord500. Well, here you go, man. I hope you enjoy the story and thanks for keeping up with mine. Sorry it's a little short …

Disclaimer: No, I don't own anything.

~FE~

How long had he been alive? He had lost track of the years that had gone by. Time seemed to pass by in a blur – never ending, without a clear separation to the stages of his life. Everything felt almost meaningless now – everything, except for all the things he had done wrong.

He had made mistakes in his life. Great mistakes, ones that he knew had already affected the course of history of Elibe. If only he could have stopped himself from having made those mistakes – but no. At the time, he had been in such a rage at having lost his best friend … he didn't care for anyone or anything. Nothing had mattered but his own anger.

A long time had passed before he was able to come to his senses. And once he did, he was horrified of all that he had done. Searching for repentance, he discarded his mercenary ways. He took up the staff, became a bishop, and isolated himself on the Dread Isle in his quest for redemption. He lived his life on the island in peace.

Until the day that it happened – the tranquility of Dread Isle had broken almost in an instant. The clashes of battle and death could be heard from anywhere on the island. Not much earlier before the start of the conflict, a mysterious black-robed group had settled onto the island, their purposes unknown. But they were lead by none other than that man.

Nergal – whom he had turned to after his friend had died, allured by the promise of restoring him to life. Nergal, the man who had paved the road to his life of mistakes. For as long as he lived, he would always remember his grievous error in being the man's assistant for his experiments. But still, he could not bring himself to break his vow of solitude. And so, he remained.

A few days ago, a ragtag army from Lycia had arrived on the shores of the island. That was when the battle had truly begun. For reasons he did not know, they fought against the black-robed group from before. But still, it was nothing that he needed to involve himself with. And so, he kept his distance.

~FE~

It was late in the afternoon. He had been in the middle of his midday prayers when a loud rustle from near the front of the ruins caught his attention. Rising to his feet, grabbing his Divine tome and Fortify staff, he headed towards the source of the sound. At the entrance was a lone knight: a redheaded Lycian dressed in red armor. His side bore a deep gash and he was applying a vulnerary to the wound. Slowly, he approached him.

"Oh!" The knight jumped to his feet, startled, and turned to face the man behind him. "Who are you? What are you doing here?" he demanded.

"I'm Renault," the bishop said, his demeanor unaffected by the knight's words. "I'm on a pilgrimage."

"A bishop?" the knight yelped. "Forgive my rudeness …"

"What are you doing here?" Renault asked, disregarding the apology. "You do not appear to be with the black-robed group I saw earlier."

"No, we stand opposed to them," the knight said. "… This is a battlefield. You should stay hidden, Your Excellency. This battle is nothing that need concern you."

"I'm sure I cannot convince you to lay down your arms." Renault could see some of the knight's companions on the battlefield outside of the ruins, locked in fierce combat with the black-robed group. Despite their smaller numbers, they appeared to be winning. "In that case, I will give you this." He reached into his robes, pulled out a goddess icon from his pocket, and handed it to the knight.

"This is …"

"It may help you survive longer," Renault said. "Even if you face the misery of defeat, perhaps you may find another road if you survive."

"Thank you …" The knight placed the little statuette in the pocket of his pants and bowed to the bishop respectfully. "Blessings upon you too, Your Excellency."

Renault nodded, casting a small spell on the knight to heal his wounds, and watched him leave the ruins to rejoin the battle.

That knight … he and the companions whom he had come with … they were a different sort of people than the black-robed group. Would they be the ones to expel the black-robed scoundrels from the Dread Isle? Renault hoped it would be so. He wanted to continue his journey for atonement in peace.

~FE~

Shortly after this meeting with the knight, Renault could no longer sense the dark energies that had pervaded the Dread Isle since the arrival of the black-robed group. So … they had been successful. Once again, the island became silent and secluded from the outside world.

The tranquility lasted for many moons, but it came to an end nonetheless. Nergal and his black-robed group had returned to the Dread Isle and began causing trouble again. But this time … Nergal's black-robed henchmen consisted of morphs and only morphs. Before, with the exception of two or three who strayed not far from his side, they had all been human. So Nergal was up to his old tricks again. And this time, he had an entire army of morphs at his command.

However, close behind his trail, was the Lycian army that had pursued him to the Dread Isle the last time. Whatever their intentions were, they stood opposed Nergal and his dark scheming. But with them they also brought the commotion of battle. The sounds of warfare echoed throughout the island yet again. It became clear to him that until Nergal and his morphs were defeated for good, there would be no peace anywhere on Elibe.

~FE~

Hector slowly approached the ruins, throwing a backwards glance at Eliwood and Lyn even as he walked. He highly doubted that he would find anything in the ruins, much less a person. Who would be crazy enough to want to live on the Dread Isle? It gave him the creeps. But Eliwood had made his perspective clear: We can't be certain that there is no one here. I don't want innocents to be caught up in our battle. See if there's anyone hiding in those ruins, Hector, and warn them.

Lyn hadn't been much help either, as she had immediately agreed with Eliwood. That's right. I remember Kent telling me that he met a bishop here. There could be other people on the island.

"I don't see why anyone would want to have anything to do with this place," Hector grumbled, as he stumbled inside the ruins. "Hello? Is anybody here?" he hollered.

"So noisy …"

Hector whirled around, turning in the direction he had heard the voice come from. Stepping out of the shadows of the ruins was a tall man with graying hair, dressed in a white bishop's robe and a purple cloak, a Fortify staff clutched in his right hand. A Divine tome was tucked under his left arm.

"Who are –" Hector began to say, but then he reconsidered his words. "You're a bishop?" he asked. "Well, Your Excellency, we're in the middle of a battle. But it is nothing that need concern you."

"I care not why you fight," the man said. "I came to this place hoping to find peace. If I can lend my assistance to restore that peace, then I shall join you. Not that I'll be much help …"

"Okay, then …" Hector raised an eyebrow at the bishop's words. "It's your decision, Your Excellency. Well, we'd best be joining the others now." Without waiting for a response, Hector ran back onto the battlefield and rejoined his fellow lords in a battle against an enemy sniper morph.

Renault watched the young lord as he all but flew back to his companions. With a sigh, he stepped out of the ruins and onto the battlefield for the first time in many years. It was time to redeem himself and take a stand against Nergal.

~FE~

They had finally reached it … the Dragon's Gate. Nergal was already there, waiting for them. If he were at all bothered by the loss of his morphs at the hands of the Lycian army, he masked that emotion well. Seeing that loathsomely smug smirk on the dark druid's face made Renault's blood boil. But it would soon all be over.

Nergal did not seem to recognize him, though, nor did he seem to realize Renault's presence in the crowd. He only had eyes for the two lords, Eliwood of Pherae and Hector of Ostia. Taunting Eliwood about the loss of his father and cajoling Hector with promises of bringing his brother back to life, Nergal summoned his final morphs by his side – as if mocking the lords of their inability to stop him – and then he and his morphs vanished into thin air.

"This is it … the final battle," Eliwood muttered. "Everyone … thank you for supporting me. It's because of all of you that I've made it this far. But this is my fight now."

"Hey, what are you saying?" Hector demanded. "We're friends. And friends watch after each other's backs!"

"That's right, I feel the same way," Lyn agreed. "We're all with you, Eliwood."

"Hector … Lyndis … thank you," the Pheraean lord said. He then turned to the rest of the army. "Let's go! We'll defeat Nergal once and for all! I'll understand if you want to stay behind. But if you're with me, then it's time to move out!"

Renault was the first to speak up. "I will help you bring an end to Nergal's madness," he said. "It is for this moment I have lived."

"Heh …" The warrior whom Renault knew as Geitz smirked. "This looks like fun! This is what I've been waiting for! Count me in!"

"My, oh my …" the purple-haired thief sighed. "Fools aplenty. That includes me, too." He took a step forward. "I'll get my revenge on Nergal for corrupting the Black Fang."

Slowly, one by one, a select few began to voice their assent. The bloodthirsty swordsman Karel; the shy falcoknight Florina; the taciturn nomad trooper Rath; and the noble couple from Etruria, Pent and Louise – they were all ready to place their lives on the line to stop Nergal. Renault watched the others as they said their farewells, catching a glimpse of the redheaded knight whom he had met earlier on the Dread Isle. He had his arms wrapped around a young woman with teal hair, who was tearfully exchanging goodbyes with Florina.

"Is everyone ready?" Eliwood asked, drawing his sword Durandal from its sheath. "Let's go! We have to stop Nergal!"

Renault fully agreed with him. It was time for Nergal's ambitions to come to an end. It was time to redeem himself. The lives Nergal had ruined in his quest for power … all the evil deeds he had done and manipulated others into doing … it was time to bring it all to an end.

~FE~

A/N: I'm not completely happy with this story, but I did try my best. Renault isn't the easiest character for me to write. He shows up in either the last or the second to last chapter depending on which route you're playing. I was originally planning on writing this differently, but I couldn't make it work the way I was originally planning it. I especially didn't mean to make the last part of the story focus so little on Renault. But I don't think this is too bad … Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this, Gunlord500.