I - Everything Went Dark
What have I done? What am I? Am I truly a monster? A young sorceress roams the shadowy halls of an ancient castle, searching for a truth she might never find...
[This story takes place before the events of Fates. Each chapter is a separate episode from the life of Nyx. It is based on the Japanese version of the game, and does NOT contain any spoilers for the storyline of Fire Emblem Fates.]
Nyx hurried her pace, having roamed through these castle hallways for far too long.
It has to be here somewhere... or have I gone wrong again?
Another hallway. Cold stone walls surrounded her. Ageing chandeliers hanging above lit her way. Paintings and portraits lined the hallways, but all the figures seemed faceless, all the landscapes seemed to be of ruins.
She clutched her tome to her chest. These walls chilled her to the bone. Her thin purple cape barely provided her any warmth.
I must press forward. No turning back now. This time, I'll find it. I have to.
Each hallway she turned into was just like the last. An endless maze of ancient corridors. For a moment, she felt like a poor little girl lost in a crowded market, separated from her parents. Except here, she was separated from everything and everyone.
This was hardly a place for a frail, young sorceress. Or anyone, for that matter. Yet here she was, searching for something she could never seem to find, grasping for a truth that would always elude her.
Another corridor, another empty promise. She walked past more doors, more hallways, when something tempted her to turn around instead of proceeding around yet another corner.
She spun about, and there it was...
An ornately decorated door beckoned to her. A large, arching double door, it radiated importance, appearing considerably less worn than the other portals she had passed.
It was as if the passage had materialized out of nothing. All she had to do was turn around, and it was right there. For some reason, this did not surprise her. This felt right in place, somehow.
Past the door was a large bedchamber, the caress of darkness inside barely held at bay by a gentle candlelight.
A large, four-posted canopy bed, fit for a king and his queen. Tall, intricately carved furniture made of expensive imported timber. Rich tapestries on the walls. Someone important lived here, once.
Where is it?
In the far corner, a dresser, the kind which fancy ladies stand before to put on their make-up and style their hair. More importantly, above it, covered with a sheet, what was shaped like a mirror.
The mirror of truth.
Excitedly, she proceeded towards the mirror, heart filled with hope, but her mind filled with hesitation.
The moment of truth.
She grabbed the sheet covering the piece, unfurling it, revealing the mirror underneath.
With a sudden whoosh, the candles all went out. Just as suddenly, the candles were lit again, but this time, their orangey-red glow replaced with uncomfortable purple-blue flames.
Show me what I really am...
The mirror remained blank.
Then, two red dots appeared. Glowing, red eyes.
...So its true.
Three runes, with a similar, though weaker, red glow, appeared. One above the eyes, two below.
Just like these cursed marks on my face...
A figure began to take shape. She could see her long, messy hair, the outline of her figure...
But somehow, it was twisted, deformed, like the trunks of ancient dead trees in a haunted forest.
So this is the real me. I really am a monster.
Sorrow and despair filled her. A tear almost dripped from her eye, but she regained her composure.
No, I deserve this. If this is who I really am...
A hand slowly emerged from the mirror. Thin like hers, but the nails, those dreadful nails, long and curled, like claws. The hand's skin was rotten and torn, trembling, reaching, probing... asking?
More of the hand extend from the mirror, her shadowy counterpart struggling to emerge from the darkness on the other side.
No, this can't be me. It can't. It can't!
She would have screamed, but it was useless. There was no one here to hear her. No one here, but her other self.
She took one last look at the escaping horror, her living nightmare, then turned around and ran.
Running away, as fast as her little legs were take her. Around one corner, then around the next, only a vague idea of where she was going. Into another hallway. Past another door. Not looking back. She knew she couldn't look back. The faint recollection of where the exit was located soon escaped her mind, as she turned into yet another hallway.
Running away yet again.
A few ragged breaths. Then running again, now sprinting, where to she did not know.
She passed a few more long hallways. The walls seem to grow ever colder. The cracks underneath the doorways she passed were no longer black shadows but appeared to emit an otherworldly violet glow. The network of hallways seemed impossibly complex. Another turn, and...
A dead end. Only a wall of stone stood ahead of her at the end of the corridor. No going back.
Her other self rounded the corner with an eerie grace.
She opened the tome she had been clutching, but to her surprise the pages were blank. She collected her thoughts, making the preparatory motions to cast a spell. But she could not gather the strength or the willpower.
Shoot.
This place was dead. No magical energy flowed through these walls. Cold and dead, devoid of any magical currents. Of course it was. Was the tome she brought only for mere comfort?
She dropped the tome. Her doppleganger advanced towards her ever so slowly, almost floating. Dread and despair filled her, a chill running down her neck.
So this is it...
The shadowy form called to her. Not with words, but with feelings. Fear. Sorrow. Anger. Despair. Agony. Regret. It beckoned for her to give in, to join her other self.
Nyx got down on her knees, eyes closed. Not out of fear or submission... but out of acceptance.
Her shadow self began to grow as it approached, as if turning into something far more sinister.
If this is my time, take me. I have sinned. I have erred. I have strayed from the path. If it is my fate to suffer through the rest of my days and beyond, then I deserve it. I have tried to make amends, and I have failed.
Take me.
The entity before her no longer resembled a young girl. It was now a hulking monstrosity that took up the entire corridor. Claws, massive curled horns, a mouth full of ravenous fangs, exuding a warm, steamy breath.
She stared right into it. It's eyes were like spiralling galaxies, lost in the enormity of the void of the cosmos itself.
Take me. I no longer fear you... I no longer fear myself.
A gleam in the demon's eyes. As if the galaxies themselves were about to explode. Its form began to expand, no, collapse... And then...
Everything went dark.
There was nothing. Then, all of existence hung suspended in the void, like a blanket thrown into the air.
The darkness converged at a point, began to flow, no, rushed, as if being sucked in by some great cosmic vacuum, streaming into the page of an opened book.
The pages hurriedly flipped towards the book's beginning. Of its own volition, the ancient tome slammed itself shut, leaving a cloud of dust hanging in the air.
A flickering violet flame of a single candle barely illuminating the room in an eerie bluish glow.
The worn, faded purple cover of a thick, musty old tome.
Concentric circles sketched in chalk on the floor.
So I'm back in my study...
Of the twelve candles arranged in a circle around her, only one remained lit.
...Only one?
She sighed with relief, letting out a breath long held.
Hmph. That's one way to face my demons.
A moment's reflection, then she closed her eyes again.
...Still, am I going too far again?