Invisible Ties Prologue
An author's note:
The story that you are reading is based rather loosely on my play through of Fire Emblem Awakening. I would like to stress that there will be spoilers for the game thought the story, so spoiler warning if you haven't played or completed the game yet. I highly suggest that you both play FEA and complete it before you read this story to understand everything that is here as well as my plot deviations. If there are certain pairings that you do not like and see though out the story, I request that you hold your tongue as this is based on my personal run through FEA and I've already finished the game and paired the characters accordingly. I will not be altering said pairings and I know what all of the supports are like having researched the possible endings for all of the characters including the child characters. I tried to give them all a happy ending based on my research and who I felt 'clicked' with one another for various reasons. That said if you did have different pairings more power to you I will not judge your Chrom x Sumia superiority/cannon shipping, however I am entitled to think what I like about this pairing. Same goes for Chrom x Olivia or any of his other potential brides. All I ask is that you write your own fiction then instead of bashing this one with whinging that your pairs aren't present or that my pairings suck because of the "damage" I do to the child characters' stats or abilities because I "don't know what I am doing". The only pairing that I will mention here is Chrom x Female Avatar because it is one of the pairings that I stick with regardless of the other optional marriages that Chrom has if I do a female run through the game, as I like the Morgan/Lucina siblings and will not separate that family unit ever regardless of other potential fathers for male Morgan even if they are 'better' than Chrom. I respect that not everyone shares this view and if you do not like this pairing then you don't have to read the fiction presented to you. I would also like to point out this will be rated M mostly for language, but also for some minor scenes of violence etc. that are for adults or older teens. With that done, now to the story!
It was as if the world itself was slowly pulling apart. Chrom and his loyal tactician wife had both attempted to stop the rise of the fell dragon Grima and all of their work had accumulated to this one moment. Chrom gripped the hilt of the falchion tightly. This would be the last time that he was going to fight. This was his final shot at revenge for Emm's death, this would be the last chance that he got to get at her real killer. He looked at his wife and she nodded, they were going to end this here and now. They had to.
As Chloey surveyed the scene she noticed that it was just them and Validar, Aversa having being killed by Chloey's use of the thoron tome she possessed. It was a horrific ending to what had been one of their most hated enemies; Chloey had kept her promise to Sully after Stahl had died. All of the shepherds were either dead or unable to fight on with their injuries. As much as Chloey hated the thought, she knew that there was little that she could do about it. As the tactician the burden on her shoulders was too great to bare without the fact that Chrom insisted that he come with her. She knew that he was injured and fighting was going to make that injury worse. Worse still their enemy could exploit it making Chloey more concerned with the outcome of the battle. She was fighting to stop Validar, and yet she had a sinking feeling that she was missing something very, very important in that moment. With a frown she proceeded to watch carefully for any openings that Validar presented and kept an eye on Chrom as well. She shot a bolt of thoron to stop Validar but missed the man by a long shot. However Chloey quickly fixed the issue by hitting the orb that would have killed Chrom. Then she raced quickly to his side; there was no way she was going to let that damn man die on her now, not while Lucina needed them.
Chrom was granted a brief reprieve from the fighting to catch his breath. They were not close enough to land the final blow to Validar. Pain shot through his right arm and Chrom looked at his wife again. She was deep in thought and she spoke softly,
"Chrom, I think you'll hurt Validar more if you use your silver sword," she said calmly, "also I will be right beside you this time so he won't pull a swift move on us,"
"Right," Chrom responded placing his falchion back into its sheath, with practiced ease he drew the silver sword he'd been holding onto the entire fight. While it didn't weigh as much as the falchion, it did have the advantage of being a lot stronger at the cost of being breakable. Only the exalted falchion would be stronger, but they needed the fire emblem. Which they didn't have because Validar had stolen it on the night that Emmeryn was killed. Chrom grit his teeth and prepared once more to engage Validar. This time with Chloey by his side as she always was.
When Chrom at last took the man down it was thanks to both his and his wife's hard work. They beat the man together. He smiled at her, sweat dripping down his forehead as he struggled to regain his breath. He could see the blood pooling on the floor from where he'd gutted Validar, the red splashed on his blade slowly dripping away. He didn't notice that Validar was not as dead as he seemed, but Chloey did. She watched in horror as Validar's eyes glowed fully crimson, his body arching up as if pulled by a string. She saw the magic rise up from what should have been a dead man. Before Chloey could cry a warning to Chrom, she pushed him as hard as she could out of the way. She was afraid that her timing was off as the spell hit her hard and fast. She felt her body falling with the light of the magic.
Chrom raced over towards her as soon as the magic and Validar faded. "Chloey!" he said at first afraid that she was killed, but then she seemed to open her eyes and he smiled, "Thanks to you we carried the day," he frowned as she didn't speak and looked at her and heard her gasp in pain, "Hey, hold on!" Chrom went to grab her hand only to see her eyes glowing crimson, then he felt the strangest feeling. It was as if the lower part of his body was on fire. The shock spread when blood started to pour from the wound inflicted by the shot of what had to be thoron. He tried to resist the urge to struggle to his feet the last expression that he saw was his wife's soft brown eyes widened in horror. He watched as she uncertainly looked down at her right hand then back at him, at first confused then the slow and horrific realisation dawning on her. She looked back at Chrom and he could see the horror on her face so well written into her face. With a gasp of pain Chrom could feel the blood starting to flow out of his body, all while his distraught wife could do nothing but gape in horror at the situation that they were in. his last thoughts were of the child that they had left behind. Their Lucina; the love of their life and light in their world; Chrom was truly sorry that he would never see her grow into a young woman. He spoke to his wife with what strength he had left, "This isn't…your fault…please…make it out of here alive…go…for…Lucina…" and then he collapsed.
Laughter filled the air and it was not his kind and gentle wife who was laughing, but a foul force, Grima was slowly awakening. Chloey struggled against the fell dragon, but she didn't have the strength, without Chrom she was just a hollow shell. He was her spirit, her half of the greater whole that defined who she was and even now seeing him dead she wanted to cry, she wanted to break down and cry until she could cry no more, but now she wasn't in control of her own body. Tiki barely got a hold of the blade as Chloey tried to hold Grima back so that the divine dragon's daughter could get it to Lucina. At least that was what Chloey hoped would happen. As it was Grima spoke,
"Your resistance is amusing," Grima now settled into his new body, smirking widely, "Too bad you won't be able to stop me now," Grima held Sable in his (?) hand, smashing it with pure dark magic very unlike the dark magic of his host's body. Of course Grima was using the magic to destroy the host's resistance and self but it seemed to Grima that control was an easy process. Tiki didn't have the time to even fight back. She knew what the fell-blood had told her and she slipped away with the fire emblem and the falchion somehow. This was not going to be a pleasant day and the fact that the risen were more numerous. Tiki gave these to Lissa and her husband Lon'qu; with the word that they had to get them to Lucina. Tiki knew that a partial awakening at least would open the door to the past and alter the events that had happened. Of course she didn't get the chance to escape; the risen were upon her before she could take on her dragon form. Her blood was spilt not too far from the Dragon's Table.
Lissa ran as fast as she could with her husband keeping her as safe as he could. They were barely making progress to Ylisstol. In fact they were hounded by risen the entire time that they travelled. Clearly Grima wanted to create as much destruction as he could while he could. Plegia bore the brunt of Grima's power and for the time being at least, Lissa and Lon'qu were not being as badly hounded as Grima feed upon the dead and dying.
Lucina had no knowledge of her parents' fates. She like the rest of the shepherd's children had been gathered in the palace of Ylisstol by their various parents to keep them safe. Lucina had come across Nah, whose foster family had finally been forced to let the little half manakete go. Owain was anxiously waiting for his mother and father to return while Gerome was busying himself with Minerva, the wyvern having returned recently with deep gashes to her side and her rider nowhere to be seen. Gerome had not cried, and had instead turned his grief into hatred for fate. Declaring that there was nothing that he could have done to save his parents; Lucina had been close to loosing her temper with him. Several times the young woman wanted nothing more than to slap some sense into him, but her mother's words often stopped her. She knew that everyone dealt with grief in different ways. Lucina had yet to realise just how she would respond to the situation at hand.
The first sign that something was wrong was when her aunt Lissa gave her the falchion and the fire emblem. At first Lucina was in denial, she was certain that her mother and father would come home and everything would go back to being peaceful and the risen would stop. Even as her world was torn apart and her uncle was at last ended by an arrow protecting Owain, Lucina still kept denying what was happening. It wasn't until the risen arrived into Ylisstol and caused chaos among the people killing thousands of men and women did Lucina begin to see what was happening before her. It was as she fought with everything she had to stop it from happening that she learned what became of her parents. Grima flew over Ylisstol a hulking form several thousand times her size looking down at her as if she were little more than an insect. The glowing red orbs regarded Lucina for a moment before the roar of despair filled the air,
"So ends the human race," Grima's foul voice cut through the air and made Lucina shake into a cold sweat just to hear it…just his words were enough to bring dead to her heart, "The future is built upon the past, but your kind shall never see it," the dragon loomed closer and Lucina was now in full view of his gaping maw, "Your mother and father are dead tiny one! Now it is your turn to die!"
Lucina screamed and in the burst of light that was expiration, she could have sworn a figure leapt into harms' way. The closer she looked the more shocked she became. It was her aunt Lissa. She watched in horror as her aunt's healing stave broke cleanly in two, and all that was left of her aunt was a burnt corpse. Only with her aunt's death did Owain finally bring her to her senses. His scream of pure anguish woke her to the task that she had to do. There was nothing that they could do except head to Mount Prism and hope for a miracle from Naga herself.
By entering the area, Lucina could feel the faint pulse of Naga's power. With the help of the other children Lucina had all but one of the gemstones for the fire emblem. Once she braved the fire, Lucina was able to speak with Naga. The divine dragon revealed that for Lucina to defeat Grima she had to go back in time. Naga explained that she could only partially awaken the falchion, and Lucina understood what she had to do. She had to travel with the others to save their parents. For Lucina it was a case of a catch twenty two. She had in her left eye the mark of Naga, and that by default singled her out as someone of Marth's bloodline. All of the children had known of its existence and Gerome was right in Lucina needing to hide it. however there was another mark Lucina carried that she kept hidden from the others, a mark that her mother had begged her to keep hidden at all costs, lest the Grimleal come for her, the mark of the fell dragon Grima. Lucina had once worried that such a mark would prevent her from wielding the falchion, but her father's blood was strong enough through her veins to counter the taint of Grima. That or her heart was strong enough. Lucina looked at her gloved hands, no one save her mother and father had known about that mark. Lucina felt odd. She knew that she would have to make certain that the fire emblem stayed in the right hands. She also suggested to the others that they try to find the gemstones and keep them out of the Grimleal's hands. Severa spat then, but Lucina was used to it by now that it had lost the impact. She did however firmly insist that they do that much. She looked to Gerome and the young man looked away. She sighed.
"Risen!" Nah cried running towards the others,
"Huh? How did they get here?!" Severa exclaimed loudly,
"We need to move!" Inigo called, while Brady rolled his eyes and grabbed Severa's hand. Lucina looked at ahead and noticed that Naga was guiding them,
"The portal is over this way!" Lucina cried, "Come on!" just as Naga told them it would be. Sadly however the risen had already managed to get there. Even so Lucina ran. She called the others to make one charge through. As she did so she thought no matter what it takes, I will save this world. I'll save them all…mother, father…and all of my friends who became risen…I must save them. I stake it on the name of the Hero King Marth!
