"I want to be with you forever," Nowi said as I stroke her rich, silky hair. Strangely enough, the words brought more pain to me than joy. Her expression was also forlorn and desperate. I held her closer and replied with the same desperation. "Me too, my dear Nowi...Me too." Saying it produced a gut-wrenching sensation and brought tears to my eyes. I could no longer move the hands that was stroking my wife's hair. I instead held her head closer and closed my eyes.
I turned 25 years old this year. 25 years old...Most would be rejoicing in this youth. But my family's special circumstances only made me more and more anxious as the days passed. I found that I loved my family fiercely; My family of four including my two dear daughters from the future, Nah and Morgan, my wife Nowi, and lastly myself. My wife was a manakete, a legendary race with the power to turn into dragons. And apparently, I was the first in history to ever cross the boundary of race and be united in both body and heart. Our marriage was celebrated both by humans and manaketes alike as something that brought the races closer.
But such things did not matter: the flutter of my heart when I see her waking up in my arms with the happiest expression a woman could have, her warm gaze as she strokes my cheek, the indescribable sensation of holding my daughters in my arms, celebrating their first proper birthdays...those things are what mattered to me.
So my problem arises: It pains me too much to think of the rest of the thousands of years they would spend remembering me. It pains me to think how much my dear Nowi would claw at her breasts in formless agony over a long gone love. She would never be able to forget me...and condemn herself everytime she forgot something about me. Just imagining my wife in such pain gave me wrenching heartaches that seemed to make the world spin.
Did I mention that manaketes are extremely sharp to the feelings of people around them? My torment over this thought began when we settled in a quiet town in the outskirts of Ylisse in a beautiful cottage. Nowi found my problem out within the first day, and we have been trying so, so hard to get over it. But the conclusion was that we just couldn't. She would never, ever, reconcile with herself if she decided to move on. "I''d rather kill myself than find anyone else than you...You are my only one forever." She said with the saddest smile I have seen on her. I cursed myself for making her show such an expression. And we wept ourselves to sleep in fear and pity for each other for many, many days.
This was a rainy day. And we again held each other tightly, dearly, desperately, forlornly, and most lovingly, staining ourselves with each others' tears. It just flowed on and on as if to drain my feeling of sadness dry, but the lump just kept swelling the more our tears flowed. "What will I do, Robin?...I just can't do it...I can't spend even a day without you...How can I stand an eternity? Don't die...please...I'm begging you...I want to grow old with you...I want to watch our children grow and get married...with you holding my hands..." Each word a sweet death that stabbed at my heart.
"Nowi...there's just no other way...You...you have to...f...for...forget..."
I just could not form those words. My breathes were cut short and something seemed to swell at the back of my throat and prevented me from saying it. It was only natural: I never wanted her to forget me. I just couldn't imagine it.
"NO! NEVER! I'LL NEVER FORGET YOU! STOP LYING TO ME! YOU DON'T WANT ME TO FORGET YOU! I DON'T WANT TO FORGET YOU! DON'T TRY TO MAKE ME!"
Nowi shook my collars and yelled with a ferocity I've never heard of before. It was a sad scream that tore at my soul. It was anger and love all mixed together into a hot mass of emotions.
'Then...what are we to do...?'
I just could not think anymore. I just murmured "I'm sorry" over and over as I held her tearful face close to mine.
That was when we heard the voices of our daughters.
"Father! Mother!"
Nah and Morgan burst into the room; they had been living away from us for school. We all deemed it necessary for them to have a proper socializing and educational experience and enrolled them in the same school as the rest of the children from the future. They would soon graduate and return to us. Regardless, they frequently came to visit. But never when we were this exposed; when we were so weak and pitiful.
"Nah, Morgan! ...I-I'm sorry, this isn't the best-"
What dignity I tried to maintain as their father was long gone.
"No it's not, father. But it's absolutely necessary."
Nah said with a determined expression.
"Father...mother...did you really think you could hide how sad you were from us? Not only are we manaketes, but also and more importantly...We're your daughters."
Morgan sat on her knees and and held our hands.
"This is SO not like you, father!"
Nah pointed an angry finger at me.
"I'm sorry...but there's nothing I can-"
"Are you really the same person who said 'We aren't pawns of some scripted fate-we are something much, much larger and more important...' in front of everyone?! You should be embarrassed! Ashamed! I'm so disappointed in you that...that I'll do...THIS!"
Saying this, Nah produced a huge, massive tome from her bag, raised it high and-
literally,
Bashed my head with it.
"Hurrrgh-?!"
A cry of pain escaped my mouth as stars popped into my vision. The book bounced off my head and landed on the floor with a thud.
"N,Nah! What are you doing to daddy?! A, Are you okay dear?!"
An appalled Nowi started rubbing my head.
"Y-yeah...I...Nah, just what is that..."
"Hmph! Nothing but what you deserve, father!"
With that, Nah crossed her arms and turned her back to me. But this time, Morgan picked up the tome and handed it to me.
"Calm down Nah, and everyone. We knew mother and father were worried about the difference in our lifespans. We were also so worried...that we started asking around in the capitol and looking for any way a person managed to extend their lifespan."
"I'll have you know it took a LOT of effort to find that book. People thought we suddenly went crazy! We even threw away our school work for it so you can't say anything about our grades for this semester!"
"-As Nah said, we found this book...It's written by Lord Pent, the ancient mage general of Elibe who was the apprentice of the Archsage Athos. It writes about a lot of magic that Athos used, and one of them is..."
Morgan quickly turned the pages over to a certain picture. It was the picture of a man hunched over a manuscript, studying its details intently...with a dragon.
"Quintessence manipulation and its application to extending the lifespan of the user."
"Wait, what?!"
Nowi grabbed Morgan's shoulders in disbelief.
"But...but quintessence manipulation is just something we all do by instinct! It's just how we absorb floating residual life energy from our surroundings instead of eating to sustain ourselves as we grow bigger!"
I was also dumbfounded. So there IS a way...? But surely, there must be a catch.
"Wait, but if such a method exists, why aren't there more immortal Sages in the world?"
"As expected of you, father...the problem is that this is a dragon magic, and the method for teaching it so humans can also use it is known only to some of the oldest dragons alive for obvious reasons."
"Not even I knew!"
Nowi said as she started reading the pages. I also started on it and quickly became immersed in it.
"I see...the technique of quintessence manipulation itself is a natural instinct for manaketes like Nowi said...Who would have thought dragonstones were created this way? And I should have known too! When the manaketes of old started to fall to madness in the olden times, that's what was used to seal away a large part of their life force to slow the process, which, in other words, is quintessence manipulation...!"
"If someone could learn this, the life energy from it would definitely expand their lifespan to match that of us!"
Nowi yelled excitedly.
"See, father? There IS a way! Don't give in to some scripted fate like differences in lifespan!"
Nah grabbed my shoulders and shook me. There was anger in her pupils, but more importantly, there was worry, and love, and trust.
"Father, we can be together now, through the years."
Morgan squeezed my hand as the sides of her eyes started to well up with tears.
The realization seeped into me and sent jolts down my spine. I reached out to my dear daughters and held them in my arms.
"Oh...I...I don't know how to thank you girls..."
"You've done so much for daddy...Thank you, oh, thank you..."
Nowi joined in and squeezed the two, elated and thankful for her nestlings.
"We...we worried so much you know...? We were so scared too...the thought that we would lose you so quickly...hic..."
Nah seemed to be pouting and smiling and crying all at once. And I simply understood how she felt with my heart, for it also was producing the same kinds of emotions with each beat.
"Nah cried so much that her bedsheet is now permanently stained!"
Morgan chimed in, joyful and tearful.
"M, Morgan! That's the same with yours too!"
"Ahahaha! But if you really want to thank us, father...Please, live together with us. I...We want you to watch us grow and become real adults. We want to share more of our lives with you, father..."
Morgan started sobbing uncontrollably saying this.
"..."
The warmth of my family seemed to nurture the new fire of hope that was kindled within me. We just held each other tightly for a long time, smiling, crying, laughing and loving.
"So all we have to do is to find an old manakete who would know about this, right, mother?"
Nah asked after a while in our arms.
"Yup! And I know just the manakete for that! His name was...Banter? Banta? What was it? Anyways, he's like, 8000 years old! Mommy knows how to find him, so no worries! Let's set out right now!"
"Eh? Right now?"
Morgan asked, a bit surprised at her mother's suddenness.
"Yup. Right now!"
Nowi yelled thrusting a little fist up into the air. Then, she beamed at me expectantly.
And was I going to say no to that warm gaze?
Hell, no.
"...Alright, right now it is then! It's time to tip the timescales!"
"YAY! That's my hubby!"
"And our father!"
It was indeed only a short journey of a few days to the old dragon on the back of my wife's excited dragon form; His name was Bantu and to my surprise, he had lived through the ancient war of the Hero King Marth: In fact, he was already ancient at the time. And more importantly, thank Naga, he knew the method. But instead of teaching me, he guided us to the Mila tree where, to our surprise, Tiki, Chrom and Naga herself greeted us.
"I'm sorry, Robin. I wanted to tell you sooner...it was agreed upon that you and your family had to reach Bantu yourselves for me to disclose this secret. I am truly sorry for all the pain and sadness you had to endure. But even that was a part of this trial."
Tiki said apologetically.
I vaguely understood what Tiki meant...it was to test whether we would stand together as a family even in face of overwhelming despair. It was a test to our bond and our power as a family to overcome despair. When our children were in need, we were able to help them. This time, in our need, our children answered. Just as any family, we were able to help each other in our times of need.
I had expected to learn quintessence manipulation, as that was the answer we had found in Athos' tome. However, Naga had prepared something else for me. 'A safer method,' she put it. She called it 'Ascension': It involved forgoing the logical knowledge and understanding of quintessence manipulation of the user and instead directly 'rebirthing' them. It was a method devised due to previous instance of a human learning the secrets of quintessence manipulation bringing horrific war upon Elibe in the past, and also a method only made possible thanks to my feats in championing Naga's cause and defeating Grima despite his blood of the earth dragons running in my veins. It was a proof that I would not lose to the madness of the blood. Moreover, Naga had to take extra precaution to purify my body of what remained of Grima's influence in a ritual similar to Chrom's Awakening ritual. The Fire Emblem that Chrom brought was used as the catalyst for my ritual as well, for it still held the ancient power to cleanse the manaketes of their madness.
The final part of the ritual involved Chrom driving the Exalted Falchion through my heart. But there were no surprises or worries, for both he and I knew that we would never harm each other. Falchion only cut away the residue of the madness that dwelt within my soul. With that, I managed to complete the trial with much less trouble than what I had expected. But then after all, we had already defeated the worst of them all-Grima.
The completion of the ritual resulted in me being engulfed by green flames much like Chrom during his Awakening Ritual. At first, we were shocked, but then I realized the fire felt warm and friendly, as if I was being embraced by something. Naga also reassured me, saying that I would be undergoing a metamorphosis, or what Naga referred to as "Ascension". This was in fact to my surprise, a transformation into a manakete in essence by amplifying the potency of the pure draconic blood now flowing within my veins. Flower petals sprouted from the ground and engulfed me, much like how they did when Nowi and our daughters transformed into their dragon forms. I soon felt very drowsy and lost consciousness, but when I opened my eyes again, I felt...I felt as if I was a new man, quite literally. Nowi, Nah and Morgan who had been waiting anxiously ran up to support me as I stumbled outside and exclaimed in surprise at the change that I had went through, of which I was unaware of at the time. "EARS!" They yelled. Who would have thought I would grow pointed ears? At the same time, I could understand why Naga deemed it sufficient to forgo the quintessence manipulation technique: I was already breathing it naturally, each intake seemingly bolstering my life force producing an extremely fresh sensation each time. The Mila tree was brimming with purified life energy and my empty reservoir was being quickly filled each moment, strengthening me and replenishing me.
"A gift to commemorate the new start of the lineage of Earthen Dragons," Tiki had said as she handed me a crystal that shone with pure azure light. Tiki had preserved the dragonstones of the ancient Earth dragons themselves, purging the madness within it over a long time, of which I was given one as a special gift. It seemed that all of this had already been arranged before I was even born; Nowi's birth itself was a miracle: A new divine dragon when Tiki was thought to be the last of them. Naga had blessed her destiny with this path, and I was an integral part of the continuity of the manakete race, not that I really understood what she meant by it. "Just live long and be happy with your betrothed," Naga said with a gentle smile to my question.
Chrom put a hand on my shoulder. "You shouldn't make your daughters worry so much, Robin. Even I heard of their plight in school, Hah! You should have seen how worried Lucina and Cynthia were when the two most diligent students simply stopped attending lectures." Chrom said. From his crisp grin and the firm, assuring grip on my shoulders, I could tell that he was genuinely happy for me, for he had also known of my troubles before I even told him and worried for me like a brother would. "Though, I'm going to need some time getting used to those ears of yours. But make no mistake, I am surprised at how well it suits you. It feels as if you were born to have it." Chrom said, looking at my ears with an amused expression. In my sheepishness, to me and everyone's surprise, my ears wriggled in a wide arc. "AWW! That was ADORABLE!" Nowi exclaimed as she clung to me and started rubbing my ears affectionately. "Wow! Did you see that? Just like mother!" "Just like us!" "Yeah!" Nah and Morgan also ran to me for a better view at my new feature with eyes sparkling in curiosity. "...Indeed, I'm going to need some time alright." Chrom snickered. Meanwhile, my ears grew hot from the embarrassment and also from Nowi vigorously adoring them. I managed to gaze into Nowi eyes and Nowi stopped to return the gaze. After a moment, we burst into joyful laughs as we threw ourselves into each other's arms and simply understood…that everything was going to be alright now.
A lot of things happened after that, but...they are all details in the end.
"Mommy! Daddy! Look! Look! A giant snake!"
"Little Nah, you're already 10 years old. You should call them mother and father! And what
are you doing?! Put that stone down!"
"But Nah!"
"Morgan, come say something to little Nah!"
"Aw, isn't it alright? Besides, you call them mommy and daddy too when you're alone with
them~"
"M-Morgan!"
"Really? Then it's okay, right? Morgan?"
"Ahaha! Sure, little Morgan! We're their beloved little daughters after all!"
A cheerful conversation like that of chirping songbirds was taking place in the yard of our now small cottage thanks to all the children it was housing.
Nowi sat on the porch bathing in the crisp morning sunlight shining through the leaves of the tree that we had planted when our third daughter-and the first child Nowi gave birth to-was born. She was knitting an adorable baby clothing in a shade of green our family all loved. Her hands were always ever so deft when it came to knitting, and her gentle, motherly expression as she sewed was nothing less than divine. I approached that beautiful woman and she soon noticed me, looking up at me with the happiest expression a woman could have.
"Hey honey...Have you decided on a name for our fifth child?"
"Not yet...But it's already fifth now, huh? Time sure flies...And it's our first time getting to name a child too!"
Gently, I put my hand on her belly. I could feel the familiar swell of something more precious than anything in this world and without fail, an endearing warmth seemed to bloom within me.
"Yup...and just imagine you wouldn't have been able to give me this child if you gave up that time!"
Nowi pouted a bit, but drew me closer and kissed me on my cheek with a gentleness that never failed to make me fall back again in love with her all over again.
"'That time,' ...This is probably my thousandth apology, but I'll say it again anyways: I'm sorry about that time, dear...I also shudder at the thought. I don't know what came over me back then...I guess the sudden realization struck me hard. I just wasn't myself then. ...But that's all past now, thanks to our daughters...Right?"
I kissed her back, producing a little chirp of joy from her.
"Mhm! And we'll be together forever and ever."
"Forever and ever."
I repeated her words, closing my eyes. The sounds of the breeze rustling up the leaves, our children playing without a worry, and the resonating double heartbeats of our new child and my wife all blended into a perfect harmony.