This was it. The final battle was coming to an end.
I just needed to launch one final magic spell and the Fell Dragon would be no more.
And my life as well.
I heard my comrades' desperate cries to stop, more specifically Chrom's. His throat must have been hoarse from all the screaming he had to do to get my attention ever since the battle started.
"Robin, don't do it!" I heard him say.
My mouth formed a smile that didn't quite reach my eyes. Don't do what? Don't sacrifice myself and let you kill the Fell Dragon? Let Grima come back alive once more in a different era and cause grief and pain for our descendants? Is that what you really want, Chrom?
No, I don't think so.
You say that you want me to live now, but I know you will regret it later. If you don't regret it while you're still alive, then you will regret it in the afterlife. When you watch your descendants suffer because you let your so-called 'best friend' live, because you let the Fell Dragon live.
That's right.
We are best friends.
I closed my eyes tightly. No, that wasn't the right term to describe us. We aren't best friends. Our bond is stronger than that. It was stronger than friendship.
We are brothers.
And as your brother, do you really think I'll be happy to live? Because to live means that I will be your source of pain in the future. If not your pain, then your descendants' pain. If not their pain, then the world's pain.
The future's pain.
What would happen if I continued to live? Grima would be asleep for the rest of our generation, but what about the future? There's no doubt that he would wake up again. Does that mean that the grim future that Lucina came from will simply be delayed to a later time period? Are we going to simply throw the harsh burden that Lucina and the other children had to carry to a later generation?
Do you really want that, Chrom?!
Why couldn't we just end everything right here. Choose the final decision that we all know will end the dragon once and for all. This isn't just about me; it's about the world, the future's outcome.
So why can't you accept it?
Why can't you accept my death?
Is my death going to cause you so much grief that you're willing to risk the world to save my life? Is it because you couldn't forget about Emmeryn's sacrifice? Is that why you are so against my death?
If that's the case, then it really is best that I die now.
You won't be able to move on if you continue to be so naïve, believing that you can prevent every one of your loved ones' death.
Kindness couldn't save everyone. Emmeryn tried so hard to stop a war from brewing and it was all for naught. She sacrificed herself against your wishes. She wanted to throw her life away for our sake. She wanted to die. So what makes you think that you can save me now?
Besides, do you really have the right to stop someone who wanted to die?
Even if I continued to live, the guilt will kill me little by little. My heart and soul would be reduced to nothing. I would be a dead man walking, knowing that I prolonged the fell dragon's lifespan simply because I decided to selfishly live on.
In order to gain something, you also need to sacrifice something in return.
That's why I'm doing this. Because I know that my death will benefit everyone. Maybe you would grieve, but you would move on, along with all our other comrades. My death will be a life lesson for you, for everyone.
Accept reality. We all know it's harsh and cruel, but there's nothing we can do about it.
I slowly opened my eyes. I glared at the fell dragon with determination. Taking a deep breath, I raised my hand. I started to cast a spell. As I chant the words, I turned my head to look for Lucina. I don't know why, but I really wanted to see how she would react to this.
When my eyes finally found her, I saw something that I never expected. Lucina's facial expression was horrified. Her eyes were filled with fear and her jaw clenched in anticipation. She was holding Falchion like it was a lifeline. Her hands held it so tightly that they trembled.
I didn't expect her reaction to be like this.
I assumed that she would be somewhat relieved with my death because she tried to kill me once. She suffered a lot because of what I would become in the future. Her world was almost entirely destroyed because my future self killed Chrom and lost his will to Grima. I knew that if Chrom didn't interrupt us, Lucina would definitely have killed me that day. She hesitated at first, but I'm sure she would have killed me.
I can't say she would be happy because I knew that she isn't the kind of person to be happy about another's death, no matter how terrible that person may be.
Just like her father.
For some reason, seeing that stricken expression on her face left a terrible feeling in my chest. I never saw her like that before, even when she talked about how hopeless she felt about changing the future, or how devastating her world was like. I don't think she considered me a friend, but maybe she saw me as an ally to confide in, for a short time in the beginning at least.
Now, I'm not so sure.
I sighed. It doesn't matter what she thinks of me anymore. I was going to die soon.
Turning my gaze away from her, I faced Grima again. The spell was completed; bolts of magic erupted from my hand and hit him right in the chest, where his heart laid. He screamed at me as his body started to deteriorate.
Black clouds of mist appeared and his body turned into ashes of black dust, floating away into the distant horizon.
I felt my body floating away, too.
I stared at my feet as they started to disappear into nothingness. It was strange. I used to be scared of dying, of the very concept of death. But now, when my life was finally going to end, I didn't feel afraid at all.
I felt serene.
I felt peace.
I felt free.
It was then, that I knew that I would never regret this. Because Grima was gone and I knew the world was safe from him forever. Knowing this, I can die peacefully.
"Robin! No!"
That must be Chrom.
I laughed quietly, which I knew wasn't the best course of action in this situation.
With the best smile I can muster up at the moment, I gave a fleeting glance towards my comrades then at Chrom. His face was contorted in sorrow; his eyes held great pain. How ironic, I never wanted to be the reason why he had that expression. It was always because of someone else, but not me, never me, until now.
I let my eyes close once again.
"Thank you, Chrom. For...everything..."
I wanted to say so much more, but I didn't have that time anymore.
"Tell the others...my last thoughts were of them..."
I always thought about them. Because they were all I could remember. Because the memories I have lost had yet to return. They will never return now that I was so close to death.
Perhaps I do regret something. I regret not making more memories with them, to spend more time with them, to make more memories for everyone to cherish. I will never truly die, because I will continue to live on, in their memories.
One thing that I've known since meeting Chrom was that memories were indeed very precious.
I said my last words to them and waved with my hand in farewell.
"May we meet again, in a better life..."
I heard Chrom yell my name one last time before I felt myself disappear into the unknown.
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P.S. Grammar/spelling mistakes may be present.
