Disclaimer: The Fire Emblem Awakening setting and characters belong to Intelligent Systems and Nintendo. Any other works referenced belong to their respective owners. I own nothing.
A/N: This story presents an alternate ending to The Future's Past DLC series in Fire Emblem Awakening, deviating immediately after Lucina performs the Awakening and attempts to strike Grima.
Falchion spun end over end through the rusty sky out of the explosion of blue, purple, and black magic of the Fell Dragon's expiration. The blade stopped abruptly when the tip of the sword lodged between two tiles of a ruined fresco on the roof of the shattered remains of the once great palace at Ylisstol.
The remnants of the younger Shepherds watched as the Fire Emblem fell from the charred corpse of Lucina, their Exalt and the last hope for their continued existence. Lucina had performed the Awakening with Tiki, had held Falchion wreathed in blue flames above her head and charged at Grima with a battle cry on her lips. And now Lucina smoked and crackled as sparks of purple magic fell from her blackened body.
Grima, or at least the humanoid form wrapped in shadow that served as Grima's avatar, made a low rumbling noise that morphed into a basso chuckle before growing into an overpowering laugh. The gigantic head of the Fell Dragon's true form retreated away from the palace, all six of its purple eyes gleaming with malice.
Most of the Shepherds were still engaged with the ludicrously strong Risen that swarmed over the battlements to protect their master.
Cynthia, paralyzed with more despair than she ever thought possible, continued to gape as her sister's burned and unsupported ligaments finally gave out and Lucina's remains collapsed into a pile of bone and ash with occasional melted metal flecks that had once been part of her armor mixed in. She didn't notice the armored corpse crashing towards her until its silver lance pierced the neck of her flying steed from the side.
Reflexes honed in countless hours of training for both battle and heroic posing caused Cynthia to kick off the back of the pegasus before she had time to process what had happened. She hit the ground hard and rolled away from the spasm of hooves and wings made by her dying mount.
Cynthia sprang to her feet, ready to parry next thrust with what remained of her spear, only to be saved as Gerome led Minerva in a steep dive in front of her. Minerva's jaws closed around the incoming lance and snapped it in half while Gerome used the momentum of the dive to bury his poleaxe in the shoulder of the Risen, cleaving it in half from shoulder to hip.
She opened her mouth to thank him, but was interrupted by a voice that chilled her to the bone.
"Look on your champion, the pathetic last Exalt Lucina, and despair!" shouted Grima's avatar in his deep, rumbling voice. "Even the power of this new Naga cannot save you! Now embrace your deaths!"
The dragon overhead roared in triumph.
"No," a voice whispered.
"What was that?" asked Grima.
"I said no! NO!" shouted Cynthia, dropping her now useless spear and running forward. Her right hand stretched out and grasped Falchion's hilt. As she pulled Falchion from the cracked fresco of a red flame-like face in a white circle, a crest from one of the many now defunct noble houses of Ylisse, the blue flames that had surrounded the blade after Lucina performed the Awakening returned.
A shockwave of air burst out from the sacred sword, causing Cynthia's blue pigtails to billow wildly behind her. Despite this, Cynthia's demeanor radiated a calm confidence.
"My sis is dead. She is gone from this world," Cynthia said. Her voice was no longer quiet, amplified by the power of Naga – Tiki? – with a mystic quality that was as magnificent as the voice of Grima was terrible.
"However! In my eye," Cynthia continued to speak as the Brand of house Ylisse pulsed brightly in her right eye and continued to glow in a vibrant blue light, "and in my heart, she continues to live on!" She pounded her left hand on her chest for emphasis, like any good hero when making an impassioned speech.
"A hero fights from the heavens to all hells. No matter what's in my way, I won't stop! And once I've vanquished you, I will have found victory!" Cynthia shouted, her conviction growing with every word. All around the roof top, the remaining children watched in awe as their new Exalt kicked reason to the curb and did the impossible. Their feelings of despair burned away in the cleansing blue fire that now burned around Cynthia's body and in a crown around her head.
"What? What are you blathering about?" asked the avatar, with a look of confusion and what might have been panic on its shadow-obscured face.
"Who the hell do you think I am?" Cynthia said as her voice swelled into a roar, "I'm Cynthia. Not my sis, Lucina. I'm me! Cynthia the Hero!"
As the words left her mouth, Cynthia locked both hands around Falchion's hilt and began a charge towards Grima's shrouded form.
"So you insist upon defying me! Then face my ultimate power!" Grima shouted right back as the liquid smoke around it expanded into a red and purple flame. "Ignis!"
The bolt of the same black and purple magic that had ended Lucina's life now flew straight at Cynthia, still mid charge. Her reflexes kicked in again, this time bringing Falchion straight down in a two-handed, overhead arc. The glowing blade intercepted the pulsating projectile and arrested its flight midair, but Cynthia's charge was similarly halted.
Memories of faces flashed before Cynthia's eyes. Lucina, encouraging her to work harder every day. Her mother, letting her ride a pegasus for the first time. Lucina, laughing at the antics of the Justice Cabal. Her father, calling her his Pega Pony Princess. Lucina, tears in her eyes as assumed the title of Exalt at age nine and still promised to save everyone. Lucina, telling her that she was the best little sister ever.
Tears streamed freely down Cynthia's face, but the blue flames enveloping her only expanded. Drawing internal strength from the precious memories of her family, now all dead due to Grima, Cynthia finally succeeded in diverting the bolt of magic away. Even though the bolt careened into the brown and red sky, the cherry blossoms that accompanied the attack remained trapped in a vortex spinning around her body.
"Certain kill!"
Kjelle gasped in shock.
"That technique…" Owain whispered softly to himself with more than a little envy.
Cynthia completed her charge and swung Falchion up, knocking Grima's avatar higher into the air than should have been possible by strength alone. Bars of blue flames locked his arms and legs in place on either side of his body, now suspended in midair. Falchion continued to ascend, spinning in an arc.
Cynthia crouched down for a small moment before rocketing up at barely visible speeds and surrounded by a flaming blue aura.
"GREAT! AETHER!" she yelled as she caught her blade by the hilt mid-spin and brought it to bare against the Fell Dragon's human form. She hacked at it again and again, flames of blue and orange sprouting from the impacts of her blade in brilliant displays. She even mixed in a few kicks in the abdomen and groin, for good measure. Feeling the crescendo of power she was drawing from the magic of the Awakening reach its zenith, Cynthia once again brought Naga's tooth over her head in a two-hand grip and struck down with all the force she could muster.
The bonds locking Grima in place failed as Cynthia rode the momentum of her strike down with Grima in tow before impacting the palace roof with the force of a meteorite impact.
Cynthia jumped out of the crater with a graceful back flip ending in an elegant pirouette to face her nemesis.
"… At last… I have control…" said the avatar of Grima, no longer in a reverberating, all-encompassing presence, but in a normal voice. "… No one else… will suffer… because of me…"
Black flames began to consume the figure, parts of his body burning way into nothing. Behind him, the Fell Dragon itself fell from the sky as its body too was engulfed by flame and purple sparks.
"… Lucina… please forgive me… I tried my best…"
The fires finished their gruesome work and went out, not even leaving ashes to be scattered by the wind as the clouds that had covered the world for most of Cynthia's life began to dissipate. The Risen her friends had been fighting were disappearing now too, breaking apart along with all other traces of the dark magic used by the Fell Dragon to blight the world.
Cynthia didn't know what to think of Grima's last words. She didn't particularly care at the moment either. She had become the hero she always wanted to be, at a cost she never wanted to pay.
She was more than just a hero now, though. She was the Exalt of Ylisse, and she had a country to rebuild.
A/N: Yes, that was Cynthia's version of the "My Bro is Dead" speech from Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. Thank you very much for reading! I would appreciate any and all critiques, especially constructive criticism. If you would like a response, the easiest way to contact me is by PM.