Ok, I started writing this with the intent to be just a dream sequence at the start of Lucina's chapter, but it got away from me and got to be WAY too big to be a dream. Therefore, I am leaving it as a short follow up chapter instead of doing some massive mood whiplash to include Lucina's story.
Chapter 2: The Forsaken
It was quiet. So quiet that Lucina would swear she could hear each of her companions breathing. Not that it was difficult with some of them. Yarne was sucking in air through his tightly held lips, trying desperately not to go into a panic attacked, and even Cynthia and Owain's eternal optimism seemed to have faded away. It had been barely a week ago, when Severa, Laurent and Gerome had risked their lives to try and acquire the Fire Emblem. But all of that had been for naught, in the fight the final gemstone, Vert, had been lost. Lucina was quite certain the failure of the mission might have finally broken Severa, whom had never taken personal failure very well, but for now she was holding together. Perhaps in understanding that their death may very well be upon them.
The others had told her as much when they returned to a besieged Ylisstol. They encountered nothing on their trips save for Risen. No humans, no animals, barely any life at all. Then to return and see the one place they thought was 'safe' surrounded by Risen. Morale was in short supply. Thankfully there were ways into the palace none others knew of, but that was a small comfort. The thirteen had barely been here for a day, with a pointless relic and four gems, when Grima's forces finally wore through their defenses. The massacre had been total, only Lucina and her companions had escaped to the final refuge deep within the castle. A final secret room, known only to the royal line in case of the castle falling. Even Owain and her brother didn't know of it. She, as the next Exalt, was the only one her father had told. She supposed keeping it a secret for so long was foolish, what would have happened to them if she had been killed? Still, none of that mattered now. They had no other options left now, no hope of surviving this apocalypse. Everyone could sense it, as the feeling of dread was omni present
And then, something unusual did happen. What else could one call it but a miracle? Nah had been sitting in the corner, eyes closed, hands clasped, as if praying for some miracle to save them. Lucina didn't have the heart to tell her that there was no miracle coming. But then she jumped up, something closely resembling a smile on her face. It was the first spark of...well, life, to pierce their group since the return. Lucina eyed her, as most of the others did turn their gaze in her general direction, more that she was the one who had just disrupted the total silence.
"What is it Nah?" Lucina ask, very much doubting that it was anything that could be of importance. It wasn't that she didn't trust Nah, but she just didn't see how anything could save them now.
"Naga spoke to me, in my prayers." She said, not seeming bothered by the crazed looks of her companions. Brady himself wore an odd combination of a shock and grimace on his face, or maybe that was just him looking shocked and normal. He always was a little...gruff.
"Well, what'd she have to say then? So long? Good try?" He shot across the room, but Nah wasn't a little girl to be intimidated by his words.
"No! She said that we can still escape!" She said almost cheerfully. At this, most of the more serious members of their party stopped paying attention. Escaping from Ylisstol, what good would that do them? Gerome scowled, walking back over to run his hand peacefully over Minerva's scales, while Severa rolled her eyes and resumed kicking out absentmindedly. Lucina looked at Nah with an expression of almost pity, as if she were telling a child that her parents were 'in a far away place' (something she'd have to do quite often.)
"Nah, there is no place left to escape to. There isn't anything left." She spoke, kneeling down to try and comfort what she still thought was a young girl. She knew that Nah was old, and strong, but fighting past that face was hard sometimes. Nah just shook her head, the smile not fading.
"No, not where! When!" She exclaimed, looking extremely proud of herself. She'd gotten some attention back, but nobody spoke at first. That is, until Inigo decided to join in.
"What do you mean 'When', Nah? Can she pull Vert from the past so we can finish the Awakening?" He asked. Naga was a god, maybe such things didn't apply to her.
Nah shook her head again, but still smiled. "Better! She said with the power from the Fire Emblem and the Four Gems we have, she can use her power to send us through time to stop this!" As she spoke the words, a ray of light seemed to pierce the room. The light of hope, that had all but been extinguished. It was a new voice that spoke up, rekindled by this light.
"Then we shall become the scions of time itself, traveling to right the wrongs of the past and to avert the hellscaped future of the wicked Fell Dragon!" The blonde prince said as he stood, his usual boisterous voice nearly bouncing off the walls. Laurent pushed his glasses up on his nose, smiling quite a bit.
"Traveling back to a past era? But when would we go to stop this? We must go early enough to prevent it before it began. Perhaps the war with Valm? If we can prevent that, we can allow them to focus on the Grimleaf?" He suggested.
Kjelle stood now, her armor clanging against the stone. "My mother spoke of the time and energy the Plegian war took from Ylisse, perhaps we should endeavor to stop that from coming to pass?"
But Lucina spoke next, sure in her action. "Both of those could be changed, but I believe our first course would be to prevent the assassination of Emmeryn, the Exalt before my father. My father was also horribly injured in that battle, so it may have contributed to the future fall of the Shepards.
A general series of nods went around the room, it seemed as if nobody disagreed with it. Lucina then turned to Nah, hope in her voice for the first time in a while. "Nah, what does Naga need for this magic?" She asked plainly, to which Nah gave a similar answer.
"Time."
Lucina heard a crash from the direction of the secret wall, up a flight of stairs from them, and grabbed her sword hilt. "That may be the one thing we cannot afford right now..." She said, as her allies also armed themselves for battle. As she did, she felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see someone she hadn't expected to do such a thing. The blonde hair slicked back, and the lack of black on his face made her almost do a double take as he looked down at the shorter woman.
"If you are going that far, it would probably be wise to keep your left eye hidden." He spoke, as he handed her his mask. "I can always make a new one." Lucina paused for a moment, looking at the simple mask. He was right, to see someone with the Mark of the Exalt could cause undue problems. Best to hide it for now...
Wave after wave of Risen poured down the constricted staircase, and were summarily struck down by Kjelle or Gerome, who had taken to guarding the rear. Noire's arrows whizzed past them, accompanied by vaguely unsettling laughter. Laurent's spells and Cynthia's javelins would join as often as they could get a clear shot, and Brady was close on hand to keep the wall strong from any attacks that slipped through their guard. In the back, Yarne, Lucina, Morgan, Nah, Inigo, Severa and Owain stood, either as the second line, or watching the status of the ritual before them. The Emblem and it's four Gemstones had been glowing with a splendid light, growing brighter with each moment. But Lucina did not know if the magic would finish before their lines fell. She turned and looked towards the stairs, seeing Minerva roar out a cry as an axe ran across her side. The wall was starting to give, every moment pushed them a bit harder, and the enemies were quite literally endless. How many more would have to die for this final gambit?
And then, light shone into the room. Brilliant and pure light flooded over all present, seeming to stun the Risen and allowing them to be pushed back for a brief moment. Lucina's eyes snapped back, seeing the Fire Emblem seem to dissolve into a ball of light, and crash into the far wall. The wall became like a screen of light, blues and greens and white, spiraling like a great cyclone. Nah was the first to speak, in what everyone could have already guessed.
"It's open! Come on!" She shouted, even her little voice being heard over the constant roar of combat. Gerome and Kjelle looked at each other for a moment, before signaling for Cynthia, Laurent and Noire to back off. By the time the three of them reached the portal, only Morgan and Lucina were standing there.
"Go! Hurry!" Lucina shouted, practically throwing them through. Objections were not obliged, and she called to Gerome and Kjelle as the Risen began to re surge. "Come on! We have to go now!" She called.
Kjelle turned to break off, when a Risen came up on her side. The lance pushed toward her, but the body incinerated before it could get close. Morgan held out his hand, the flames from it still licking at dead flesh as he launched another spell into the breech. "Go! I'll cover you!" He shouted, sounding quite forceful as he did so. With no time to argue, the two fell back, pushing towards the portal. Once they had cleared the Risen, a dark and foreboding voice made the two of them stop at the cusp of the gate.
"Well well, I see that fool Naga had one more trick up her sleeve. All it will cause is your world to slide into ruin even earlier." Came the rumbling voice from down the hall, as Risen seemed to flow into the room like water. Grima...
"Run!" Morgan shouted, turning to launch a spell at his friends. The act caught the three of them by surprise, and the torn up earth from the explosion of fire knocked Gerome and Kjelle past the boundary into the gate, where they quickly faded from sight. Lucina looked to them, then back at her brother who had quickly become surrounded. His magic was sending flaming chunks of stone and flesh all about the room. It was becoming hard to breathe here, and more then a dozen enemies between him and her.
And none between her and the thirty feet to the gate. "Lucina! Go now! You've got to stop this!" He shouted, as a Risen claw cut into his shoulder, knocking his tome from his grasp. Lucina wanted to run to her brother...wanted to save him, but she knew that nothing she could do now could possibly save him...she needed to stop this from ever coming to pass. "You better be right behind me!" She shouted, her voice cracking as she turned and began running for the portal. The clamor of battle behind her grew louder, and she could swear she felt some maleficent power reaching out for her as she extended her hand to the gate.
And in an instant, she was gone.
Morgan fell to the ground as the Risen cut into his flesh. He expected the violent and bloody end, but at least they made it...all of his friends. But then suddenly, the claws stopped. The Risen pulled away from his body, and seemed to march towards the gate. It wasn't closing...why wasn't it closing? Why would Naga let these things travel into the past?
And slowly, lines and lines of Rise vanished through the same gate that her sister just had. Morgan heard something as he lay on the ground, footsteps? But...those didn't sound like a Risen...
"Hmmm, left behind...betrayed by all those you held dear. Why don't you tell me where they went? Or perhaps...when they went." The female voice spoke, not bothering to hide it's mocking tone. Morgan struggled to look up, when a hand came down to grasp his chin and guide his eyes up. What he saw filled him with a lot of emotions at once.
Mother...
But that voice...that snide smile...that was...Grima. "Come now, won't you tell your beloved mother where her daughter has gone?" She said with a mirthless laugh. Morgan felt rage build up in his breast. For this...this monster to wear his mother's face, like she was some kind of a mask! He pulled on strength he didn't know he had, and fired out a blast of lightning at the figure before him as he rose to a knee. She was knocked back, and the cloth sizzled as the smoke slowly trailed away. Not a bit of damage done.
Morgan stood, and Grima opted to remain on one knee as he moved up to her, clearly weak. Her grin widened as she looked up at him, with a quick comment.
"Like father, like son."
Morgan's eyes went wide as the pain exploded in his chest. His eyes trailed down to see the lance of lightning protruding from him, as he staggered back two steps. He felt life leaving him rapidly, as the creature before him stood and snarled down at him. He fell to the ground on his side, his vision fading. The last thing he would see is the guise of his mother vanishing into the brilliant gate as the portal and the world around him sank into darkness...
Woo, a lot of dark in this story. Well, hopefully that explains some questions from last chapter. What I realized after talking with a friend was that it didn't explain anything about how Lucina reacts so calmly to her brother being in the past with her when it is outright stated he came from another future. So either:
Her brother died in her world and everyone does an excellent job of hiding the fact that they know they are talking to a dead guy. Not to mention wondering where he CAME from.
Or
Her brother was at the escape, didn't make it, but could have.
I like to think this story fills any plot holes you may have regarding what happened to Morgan. I mean, in this story Morgan is from another world, but Lucina and the other children recognize him, that means there MUST have been a Morgan in their world. If they are not shocked to see him, then that means there must have been a potential that he was still alive and got to travel back in their world. But since there is only one Morgan that shows up in the game as a PC, clearly the one from Lucina's time period didn't make it back.
Confused yet? Good. Welcome to Time Travel 101. See you next chapter, remember to leave a review!
