Lucina tripped amongst the endless rubble, desperately trying to make it to the top of Mount Prism as fast as she could. Without a word, she quickly picked herself up off of her knees and continued sprinting for the mountain's peak. Sweat and tears ran down the sides of her face as her bruised arms cradled the Fire Emblem and four of the five gemstones needed in order to perform the Awakening.
At the time, she felt as though things couldn't get any worse. Inigo's group had failed to retrieve Sable, one of the required gemstones, so she was left with only four of them and no other options but to attempt to perform the Awakening. The entire world had been devastated by Grima and his endless armies of risen and now Ylisstol, the only place left untouched, was under attack.
The Awakening was her last hope… no, the world's last hope. Lucina knew, however, that it was a failed resort; there was a reason that the Awakening required five gemstones, so four wouldn't cut it. It wouldn't work. She shook her head and quickly pushed the negative thoughts away as she climbed higher and higher up the mountain. It didn't matter; she had no other options. This was the last card she could play. Her friends had done well to retrieve the rest of the gemstones and she refused to put their efforts to waste.
Still climbing, she finally reached the forested area near the peak of the mountain. Fortunately, it was not yet destroyed by Grima or his armies and continued to host the most radiant atmosphere on the continent. The shamrock colored leaves on the trees almost seemed to glow in the sunlight and the soft, thin grass shrouded the entire area. It was the most peaceful place Lucina had known, but that peace was soon to be gone forever.
Finding a better footing, she was able to run much faster through the forest and made haste for the summit. Sprinting past small creeks and woodland creatures, she dodged trees and jumped logs and rocks. She found an old pathway that had mostly grown over with grass, but provided the fastest and safest route to the top. She stopped to catch her breath at one point, leaning against a tree and looking behind her.
She had stumbled across a small clearing of sorts, just so that the leaves on the trees were absent in one area, creating a window to the rest of the world below. Through the gap of greenery, she could see smoke now polluting the once blue skies and fire almost everywhere she looked. The risen were taking over the continent at an incredibly fast pace, destroying everything they touched. The towns were especially bright from the fire, soon to be nothing more than piles of ash.
Lucina wiped away the tears on her face as she gazed out at the horrendous sight. Everything she had known was gone; everything she had loved. She often visited those towns and knew many folks who lived there. They were dead now, no doubt about it. She gritted her teeth at the thought. Everything… everything was gone. Even if she managed to stop Grima now, his armies would most likely overwhelm her and her friends; there were barely any of them in the first place. And if they somehow managed to defeat both Grima and his armies, what would there be left? It almost seemed as though there was nothing left to fight for.
However, she wouldn't give up. Lucina was widely known as the sort who never gave up, no matter what. If there wasn't anything left to fight for, then she'd make something to fight for: a future. She could still protect what was yet to come. And her friends were more than enough of a reason to keep on living; they had never given up on her, why should she give up on them? She caught her breath and squeezed a tight fist in her free hand.
"I'll make you pay for this." She said as she took one last look at the mayhem miles below. "You won't get away with this, Grima." She pulled herself back together and made haste for the summit yet again. After what seemed to be an eternity of running, she had finally made it to the top. Several scattered ruins lie around a large waterfall, which loudly roared while creating a misty atmosphere at its base. There were no more trees, but the soft grass and serene environment were all too welcoming.
Lucina charged forward and dashed into the divine temple ahead. Her footsteps echoed off a glossy tile floor as she ran towards the large altar in the back of the temple. She placed the Fire Emblem down on the altar and stepped back, looking at the incomplete setup. She stood alone in the large building amongst the holiest place on the entire continent. It was completely silent.
Her eyes fell upon the beatific statue above the altar: a dragon, its wings spread out above the altar as if to protect it. She took a couple seconds to admire it, standing in awe at the sacred structure in front of her. She hung her head and closed her eyes, clasping her hands together on her chest.
"Please… let this work." She whispered, praying that the Awakening would prove successful. Freeing Falchion from its sheath, she held the mighty blade in front of her with both hands and pointed it skyward. "Hear me, Naga! I bear proof of our sacred covenant! In the name of the exalted blood, I ask for the Divine Dragon's power! Baptize me in fire, that I may become your true daughter!"
A couple seconds passed but the room was silent. Nothing happened. Lucina stood in place, her heart beating faster than ever before. She felt her breath get caught in her throat, knowing that the Awakening was now nothing but a futile attempt to save the already doomed world. She opened her eyes and stared at the blade only inches away from her face. Slowly lowering it, she slumped her shoulders and stared at the ground. Thoughts whizzed through her head.
It was pointless all along. I knew it. What do I do now? What's going to happen to me? What about my friends? Is this truly the end of the world? Was I truly too late to stop it? I failed my father… I failed everyone. We're all going to die… This can't be happening… This can't really be happening!
The room suddenly filled with a blinding light, startling Lucina and causing her to retreat a couple steps back. She tried to look back at the altar, but covered her eyes from the holy entity forming in front of her. A strange noise echoed throughout the temple, sounding like an explosion mixed with a strong gust of wind. In that same moment, a blast of wind pushed Lucina back, almost causing her to fall over. Everything happened so fast and Lucina had witnessed none of it.
Seconds later, once it was quiet again, Lucina slowly opened her eyes and stared at the ground, her arms still shielding her face. She began to lower them and looked up at none other than the Divine Dragon. Her mouth fell open and her breath hitched as she nearly felt her heart stop. Did it work? Did the Awakening really work? In front of her stood the most magnificent creature she had ever laid eyes on, responding to her desperate plea for help.
Still frozen in place, Lucina immediately dropped to the ground, kneeling in respect for the divinity before her. The light started to fade away from the rest of the temple, but Naga was still glowing in radiance as she looked upon the young girl who had lowered her head in admiration. Lucina was both baffled and amazed that Naga had answered her call but also nervous to be in the presence of such a holy figure. Without raising her head, she spoke.
"Naga, Your Grace, please lend me your strength by unlocking Falchion's true power so that I may-"
"Child of man…" Naga started. Her voice was beautiful and echoed throughout the entire temple, filling Lucina's ears who looked up in response to the interruption. "The Awakening cannot be performed unless the Fire Emblem is complete." Lucina immediately felt her heart drop again once she heard those words. "You are from the Exalted bloodline, surely you know this."
She took a second to absorb the statement as she sat still, confused and worried. She almost choked on her words as she tried to speak. "B-But, then… why…"
"You are in desperate need of help, that I know; Grima is here to destroy the world as you know it. However, although I cannot grant you Falchion's true power, I can offer assistance by providing you with another option; one that may prevent this catastrophe from ever even occurring." Lucina gripped Falchion tighter in her sweaty hand upon hearing that. Was she saying that there was still a way to save the world? One other than the Awakening? Naga continued.
"Although it may seem unlikely, I can grant you the possibility of time travel. I can send you back in time to prevent Grima from ever obtaining a host for his power; to prevent those from the Exalted bloodline from dying. You can prevent the world from falling into the chaos it now resides in." Lucina almost jumped at the thought. She would give anything to prevent Grima from destroying the world; anything to go back in time and save her father. But she immediately stopped herself from accepting the offer.
What about her friends? If she left, she would leave them behind in this doomed world to be killed by Grima and his armies; there was no way they'd survive alone. She knew that she couldn't leave them, but she also knew that she couldn't waste this opportunity. The dragon interrupted her thoughts when she spoke.
"What say you? Are you willing to leave this world behind in order to save it?"
"I-I must, I know it! But I cannot leave my friends behind. Is there a chance they can come with me?" Naga closed her eyes in thought and Lucina felt almost ashamed asking the question. Was she asking too much? It was incredible that Naga had given her another option in the first place, but she couldn't just take advantage of it. After a moment of silence, Naga reopened her eyes and responded.
"There is a chance that I can send them back in time with you. However, it will use up much of my power and I cannot guarantee that it will be safe; you may not even all end up in the same time period." That didn't matter. As long as she could save them from this horrendous timeline where they had no future, it was okay. It was taking a big risk, but there were no other options.
"I… I see. So be it." Said Lucina. "If that is the only way, then I cannot decline."
"Very well. You must bring the rest here. Only then can I open an outrealm gate to another world."
"Thank you, Your Grace!" Lucina said gratefully, bowing her head yet again. "I shall return as soon as possible." With that, she stood up and sheathed Falchion as she ran back out of the temple. More thoughts started to take over her mind as she sprinted down the mountain. She couldn't believe that there was actually another way to stop everything from happening. Another way to save the world!
She found the small path that she had taken to get to the top of Mount Prism and started down it, thinking about what she was going to say to the others. Would they believe her? Would they want that? Still running as fast as she could, she looked up and saw the world below burning away before she realized she had an even more important question: would she even reach them in time?
Inigo swiped his sword down, disarming the risen in front of him. Its axe fell to the ground but the creature was still far from harmless; it lunged itself forward in an attempt to bite Inigo. Though he was able to evade its bite, the monster then swiped its hands down in a swift motion, too sudden to predict, scratching Inigo's right arm open. "Ah!" he screamed, before slicing its head clean off in return. The head fell on top of the axe and rolled over to his feet before he stepped back, grunting in disgust. The red glow in the eyes began to fade as a dark liquid poured out of the severed neck.
"Brady!" Inigo yelled, gripping his wounded arm as he looked back to the group's healer and ignored the head at his feet.
"I'm comin'!" Brady announced, making his way through the other fighting children and over to Inigo. He raised his staff up to Inigo's arm as he focused. The ripped skin began to mend itself back together but the blood and ripped clothes remained the same, serving only as a reminder to every mistake Inigo made. Luckily, however, the pain was gone. He rubbed his arm as he observed the blood coating it.
"Thanks." He said. "Though I don't know how much blood I have left to lose." He chuckled.
"Yeah, well that's your fault! You gotta be more careful, I can't just bring ya back from the dead, ya know!" Brady snapped. He looked back at the other children still fending off the attacking risen. "Don't know how much longer we're gonna hold out." He continued. "We may need another healer."
"Don't go thinking that just yet." Inigo remarked, twirling his sword around in his hand. "Not until that staff breaks."
"…That'd just mean we'd need a new staff, ya dimwit." Brady responded, looking down at his staff. It still seemed to be in good condition. As long as he was left out of the actual fighting, the staff wouldn't be breaking any time soon. Hopefully.
Severa trotted over to the two a second later. Her clothes were torn in numerous places and bruises were showing through the holes. Like the rest of the children, she was scratched and covered in blood. Her cold expression still held its place on her face though, as she closed her eyes in disappointment upon arriving in front of Inigo.
"I see you've killed, like, four risen." She snarled, crossing her bruised arms. Before Inigo could even respond, she looked at Brady who glared back at her.
"What'd ya want?" he hissed. Conversations between the two were always curt and edgy since they both seemed to possess the same rotten manners and small amount of patience, especially for each other. Severa grunted.
"Gerome just got back and had nothing but bad news." She began. "The other towns… all of them…" Her eyes fell to the ground as she unfolded her arms as her tone became lighter and more softhearted. Brady and Inigo knew what it meant.
"So there's no one left, huh? Just us." Brady stated. Severa turned around to look at the ruins that the group of children occupied. What used to be an old town was now just a heap of rubble and ashes, swarming with risen and reeking with the scent of death. Walls of fire and piles of destroyed buildings concealed the amount of oncoming risen; it seemed that there was no end to them. Severa sighed.
"The only place left is Mount Prism, where Lucina is. If she can successfully perform the Awakening, then we might, just might, stand a chance against Grima." She turned back around to face the boys. "We just need to-"
Brady and Inigo stared at her as her eyes widened and her mouth hung open.
"What's wrong?" Brady asked.
"What is it?" Inigo said at the same time. They both looked behind them to where she was looking and froze as well. At the bottom of the mountain, only fifty yards away, was Lucina, running towards them.
"Lucina!" Severa shouted, suddenly shoving the two boys aside and nearly causing them to fall over. She ran over to meet Lucina half way, who was exhausted from her rapid descent down the mountain. Noticing that Falchion didn't look any different, Severa started to wonder if she made any progress at all.
"Did it work? Did the Awakening work?" Brady and Inigo ran over to meet Lucina as well as she leaned over, panting and desperately trying to catch her breath. She just shook her head. The three children in front of her didn't say anything but just stared back in horror.
"Then…" Severa began.
"Listen," Lucina finally said in between breaths. "There's another way… Naga said… there's another way…"
"What do you mean?" Lucina looked up to respond but stopped upon seeing all of the other children coming over to her. Severa turned around as well. "What are you all doing? Aren't there more risen?"
"They're gone!" Yarne exclaimed, just as surprised as she was. "We either wiped them all out or…"
"Or something's coming." Kjelle finished as she stomped forward in her heavy armor.
"What does that mean?" Kjelle looked at Yarne who whimpered after receiving her stern scowl.
"Do you really think we would be able to wipe out all of the risen that easily? There's probably no one else left in this area, if there's even anyone left in the entire world… my point is there's no one to kill them but us. That couldn't have been all the risen."
"Whatever." Severa said, turning back to Lucina. "It's not like we're staying here. Now what do you mean by another way?" Lucina was finally able to catch her breath and explained to the other children what Naga had told her about. The concept of time travel, however, wasn't simple. It raised many questions and among the group of children, lots of arguing and disagreement.
"Time travel?" Yarne cried. "Is that even possible?"
"Well obviously if Naga said so, you idiot!" Severa snapped.
"But didn't she say it was extremely dangerous?" Noire asked.
"Not extremely dangerous." Owain pointed out. "Besides, we'll get a chance to save the world!"
"If we can save the world." Laurent corrected. "And that's highly improbable. Lucina already mentioned that we might not even all end up in the same time period."
"But we'd all meet up again eventually, right?" Nah asked.
"That's if we can even survive however long on our own." Laurent continued. "And as much as I respect the Divine Dragon, it would take an incredible amount of power for her to ensure our safety. I still think our chances of all coming out of such an event safely are very slim."
"But this is probably the only chance we'll ever get!" Cynthia exclaimed, running up to Laurent. "Besides, we have nothing to lose!"
"I-I don't know…" Noire sniveled.
"What else can we accomplish by stayin' here?" Brady questioned. "We'll all just die and that'll be that; no savin' anyone."
"It's not our right to go and mess up someone else's world." Gerome disputed. "This is our one world and we screwed up; for that, we have to accept our consequences. We shouldn't get ourselves involved in an entirely different timeline. Imagine all the things that could go wrong."
"So are we just gonna sit here and die?" Brady yelled back.
"The Awakening didn't work! This is our only option left, just like Lucina said!" Cynthia agreed.
As the children continued to argue, Lucina looked off into the distance and noticed something wasn't right. The sky was already dark, polluted from the smoke and sparks of destruction among the countless wrecked towns and cities. However, something was… off. The sky was getting darker off in the distance, almost like there was a… shadow. Lucina's mouth fell open as she realized what it was: Grima himself.
"Everyone!" She shouted. All of the other children looked at her as she pointed at the giant looming shadow in the sky. At that very moment, Grima cried out, emitting a deafening roar that caused all of the children to cover their ears. They all watched as the shadow slowly moved towards them and then did something that none of them had expected; without being able to see his face, there was no telling what he was doing.
It was clear what has happening, however, as a massive shockwave separated the clouds of smoke before being followed by an enormous shaft of white-purple fire. Grima was attacking Ylisstol.
"Take cover!" Lucina screamed as she dove behind a large pile of ruble close by. All of the children immediately followed her orders, hiding behind whatever was there to protect them. Only seconds later, the fire, mixed with what seemed to be nothing but destructive energy, blasted through the area. The air was suddenly scorching and burned the backs of the hiding children. Debris flew through the air so fast and so hard that it nearly broke through any of the still standing ruins.
All of the children covered their heads and pressed their arms against their ears when doing so to block out the deafening explosion. Wooden structures around them were disintegrated in a matter of seconds and a billow of smoke blew through, blotting out all visibility. The explosion lasted a couple of seconds before things settled down. Lucina was the first to open her eyes and inspect the damage. She realized, however, that it was impossible to determine whether or not a town once even existed there.
Anything wooden was nearly completely gone, save for anything still burning. Fire was the only thing illuminating the area; the sky was once again blacked out by smoke. The ground was scorched and only piles of rubble remained; any animals or other survivors were all wiped out. It was dead silent. Ash and sparks started to rain down as Lucina looked on in horror at what the Fell Dragon had done. With just one breath, an entire town was wiped out. No, probably even more than that. Although they could see his shadow, he wasn't even close by; he had wiped out much more.
The rest of the children, coughing and gasping from the mantle of smoke surrounding them, slowly rose up to bear witness to the destruction. All of them were speechless. A moment of silence went by before Lucina turned around to face them.
"We have to go."
The children all walked in line, following one another up the base of the mountain. The sky, still dark and dreary, hung over them and gave off a threatening atmosphere, like anything could happen at any moment at any time without warning. It already had happened; the smoke was a perfect curtain for Grima to hide behind. The Fell Dragon, however, was still far off in the distance. His roars echoed throughout the land and rang in the ears of the fleeing children, reminding each and every one of them that he was coming.
The smoke had risen higher so the group could actually see ahead, though they ascended the mountain, only moving closer to the mass of smog. Luckily, the air was breathable again so they'd be able to take fewer breaks. Unfortunately, however, the ruins at the bottom of the mountain made transportation difficult, but Lucina refused to let anyone fly in fear of Grima noticing them, even though he was a great distance away. No wyvern or pegasus was to take to the sky.
"Hurry!" Lucina called to the children in the back. "We must make it to the sanctuary before Grima takes notice!" She turned back and continued up the mountain yet again, finding that Gerome had caught up to her to converse.
"I'm sorry, Gerome." Lucina began, before he was able to speak. "You must understand that I cannot allow you to fly on Minerva. We'll be reaching the forest soon and we'll need to use the trees as cover; we can't have anyone above them giving away our position. If Grima finds us out-"
"That's not what I was going to mention." Gerome stated. Lucina felt somewhat embarrassed for jumping to conclusions.
"Oh. Then?" Gerome held out his hand and revealed a mask worn over only the eyes. It was a dark blue, matching Lucina's own apparel, with golden edges. Small slits were placed in the eyes' location, a good cover up for the eyes but still allowing for sight.
"We do not belong to that era. We should not become too involved, you particularly." He said, speaking of the past timeline in which they were headed to. He handed her the mask. "If you need to hide your identity, use this." She took the mask and inspected it, admiring its clean-cut design.
"That's true," she said, running her hand over the smooth surface. "This brand in my iris is proof of my royalty. I cannot allow the chaos it would surely bring to the world of the past." With that, she slipped the mask on and had the idea to tuck in her hair as well. As she fiddled with her hair, trying to hide her long blue tresses, the earth began to shake and tremble violently.
Caught off guard, she nearly fell over before stumbling against a tree. The rest of the children behind her fought to keep their balance as the ground vibrated and trees started to fall over. The ground then split open, cracks forming all around the party and causing them to panic. Reddish lights started to emit from the cracks, the color of fire, as the children all stepped back in shock.
"What's happening?" Noire mewled.
"Is it Grima's battalions?" Laurent questioned, holding his arms out to balance himself.
"Th-The sanctuary!" Owain cried, looking up at their destination. Lucina's head shot in the same direction as she tried to decipher what was happening. It must have been Grima; she knew it. Trees started to topple over and rocks went rolling down the mountain. The earth continued to quake as Lucina started to swiftly climb higher.
"Quickly!" She called to the others. "We must make it to the sanctuary! Now!" The other children all started to run after her as she made her way up the crumbling mountain.
What's happening? She thought. What's going on? This must be Grima's doing; I know it for sure! The risen must be coming! But how did he notice us? Rocks swept past Lucina and towards the other children as she kept climbing.
"Whoa!" Owain shouted, nearly getting pelted by one of the oncoming stones. Severa, following directly behind him, shoved him up the mountain without hesitation.
"Hurry up, idiot! How're we going to save the world if we die by rocks?" The children all hurried to the summit, following Lucina's trail. As they all rushed ahead, Naga's voice suddenly echoed throughout the forest.
"O children, you who are humanity's hope… you must hurry!"
"Naga?" Lucina asked. The Divine Dragon continued to speak.
"A gate has been opened at the altar. You must pass through it to a world of the past. There, you will have a second chance to stop Grima once and for all."
Lucina quickened her pace upon hearing the deity's words. It wasn't long before she made it to the top of the mountain, followed seconds later by the rest of the group. They stopped after seeing Lucina, frozen in front of the nearly destroyed temple.
Some of the walls had caved in and pillars were toppled over inside. Pieces of stone littered the inside and sparks were flying around everywhere. Fire spread throughout the interior, as Lucina noticed the outrealm gate behind all the destruction. She couldn't make anything out save for a bright light emitting from where the altar used to be. That was it; that was the portal.
"Lucina!" Severa called from behind. Lucina suddenly snapped out of her trance and lunged forward.
"Hurry!" She yelled to the other children. "Let's charge through in one go!" She knew they would follow, so without waiting for them, she ran straight towards the light. It was nearly blinding, almost like looking into the sun, but not quite as bright. She couldn't make out anything on the other side though; the only thing to see was the light itself. She was running into the unknown.
Her heart raced as she sprinted forward and everything seemed to go in slow motion. This was the last moment she would ever spend in her world. Not that that was a problem; it was a blessing, if anything. This was her chance, her chance to change her fate; her chance to change the future.
Fire cracked and pillars toppled over as she raced forwards. She could almost hear her heart pounding as the light started to engulf her vision.
No matter what it takes, I must save this world. She thought. My friends who became risen, my father who passed away, I'll save them, you'll see. She lunged into the light as everything immediately disappeared from sight. I stake it on the name of Hero-King Marth!
Author's Note
So I've been thinking about doing a story based on all of the children's "adventures" in going back in time (where they all ended up and their time until their met up with the Shepherds). I'll probably shorten Lucina's (if I even choose to do it) just because hers would be exceptionally long and we kind of already know what happens after she shows up for the first time in the game (since we witness her exiting the outrealm gate into the present time).
As for this story, it follows the actual events of the game's story (just the children's story before they went back in time). Obviously I threw in a bit of original dialogue and such, but the main events are all right from the real thing, like the Fire Emblem missing its last gemstone, the failed Awakening attempt, the attack on Ylisstol, etc.
Oh, and the last scene (where Lucina is running through the crumbling sanctuary to the gate) is a scene in the opening movie for the game, so you can watch it if you want a better visualization.
Cover image is a screenshot from Fire Emblem Awakening (All rights belong to Nintendo and Intelligent Systems)