"So … you mean to tell me that you come from a land beyond the Dragon's Gate?" Cora spoke up as she stretched out, riding on Miledy's back as the wyvern kept pace with the walking Lucina and Raine. After the Bael's defeat, Raine had explained to Lucina that he and Cora were in that part of the runes for some sort of research, and the blue-haired woman had opted to travel with them. She had just gotten through explaining her origins, using both the brand in her eye and Falchion itself as proof to her tale. "How odd … the legends only ever stated that dragons lived beyond the Dragon's Gate, and that only those who are dragonkin can open it." Running a hand through her chestnut colored locks, the wyvern rider arched an eyebrow. "Brand or no Brand, your story's kinda fishy, Luci."
"... Well, being dragonkin would explain a few things about the Annas ..." Lucina commented drily, shaking her head at Cora's impromptu nickname for her. "But, yes, I come from a realm called Ylisse." Nodding, she glanced down at Falchion as the sword kept glowing, the three of them heading in deeper to the runes. "It's … well, I must say that it seems to run on very different rules than Elibe does. The Manakete weren't as massive as the ones here appeared to be, at least."
"Manakete?" Raine paused at that, looking at Lucina in confusion. "What in the name of the spirits is a Manakete?" Lucina also stopped in her tracks, stunned. Miledy didn't seem to notice that the two humans she was walking with had halted until a minute later, almost dumping Cora from her back in her sudden stop.
"But … the Anna … she said there was a war with dragons." Lucina stammered, not knowing where her footing was in this situation. "I … I assume that she meant the Manakete. The dragonkin." Seeing that she was only getting blank looks in response, the blue-haired woman shook her head. "Then do you know of them as taguel? Laguz?"
"The dragons have always been, well, dragons." Cora replied after a moment, shrugging. "Why call them anything but that?" Seeing Lucina's baffled look, the brunet woman shrugged again. "Sorry, but we're not exactly the fanciest of people here on Elibe; we've kind of got bigger issues to worry about than what we call something we chased away about fifteen hundred years ago."
"Bigger issues?" Resisting the urge to shudder as the memory of Grima flashed in her mind's eye, Lucina looked around. "Did it have to deal with those Entombed from earlier? And that spider?"
"Potentially, yes, but we don't have enough information." Raine shook his head, frowning as he resumed walking. "But that is why Cora and I are here, anyway. We're trying to see if a ruin that predates the Scouring and Ending Winter would hold any clues as to how we can change things." Lucina, worried, glanced at Cora as she followed after the blue-haired male. The other woman let out a sigh as her wyvern started walking again, glancing up at the stones overhead.
"That's right; if you just got here, through the Gate or not, you wouldn't have seen the rest of Elibe to notice." Shaking her head, Cora looked at Lucina again, a frown creasing her face and making her appear far more serious than she normally did. "Elibe is dying, Luci."
"... Dying?" A chill shot through Lucina at that, making her grip Falchion's hilt tighter.
"Yes, it is dying." Raine's sigh echoed through the chamber for a moment, the blue-haired man stopping to grip tighter on the golden staff he carried. "It must have been going on for a while, but we only just now started to notice it about ten years before my birth; harvests are becoming smaller and smaller, the sea life is beginning to retreat, and even the weather strikes against us. We have long winters, with snow that reaches up to the rooftops of a villager's home, summers without an ounce of rain for weeks at a time, typhoons along the coast that wreak havoc wherever they make land … It's as if the spirits are punishing us."
Another chill went down Lucina's spine. The timeline she had come from had been dying as well, but that wasn't from any acts of nature; Grima and the unending waves of Risen had caused the decay of her Ylisse. Granted, the undead seemed to be rising up here as well, but that wasn't necessarily a sign of another Grima; Noire had mentioned her mothers books spoke of necromancy, but even among dark magic practitioners, it was considered vile.
On the other hand, desperate times called for desperate measures. She was willing to count having a world dying around you as desperate times.
But Raine had said something else that caught her interest. "What's the Ending Winter?" She asked, confused. "I wager that this 'Scouring' you speak of was the war against dragons, but what about the Ending Winter?"
"That's the thing; nobody truly knows exactly what it was." Raine shook his head as they reached a fork in the ruins. "Exact details about the Ending Winter itself were never fully recorded, but one effect was that the dragons were stricken by a strange blight that sapped their powers. It forced them to pour their magic into gemstones to keep from dying, and they could only use it in short bursts. They were forced into their human forms outside of those short bursts to keep themselves alive as well. Some of the records say it was a divine judgment brought on by the gods, but it allowed humans to win the war and drive the dragons away."
At that, he frowned, looking at the two archways. "However, recent studies seem to imply that something more happened when the Ending Winter took place … But none know what for certain." Sighing, Rain tapped the staff he held against the flagstones of the floor, brow furrowed. "That's why Cora and I are here; Lycia, Bern, Etruria and the Western Alliance have joined forces in an attempt to figure out what we can do to save our world. It's small, fragile, and not everything is perfect, but it's our home. We don't …" A lump must have formed in his throat, because he swallowed suddenly before continuing. "I don't want to watch my homeland die."
Lucina's heart went out to him at that, eyes saddening; she had died a bit inside when she had been forced to give up her Ylisse to the risen and Grima in an attempt to prevent the same future from happening elsewhere. It was a piece of her that hadn't fully recovered even after Grima's death in the new future, and she couldn't even begin to fathom what it must feel like to watch a world slowly die and wither away against something you couldn't fight against.
Stepping forward, she went to place a hand on Raine's shoulder when Falchion's glow brightened again, drawing her attention. "What in Naga's name …?" Perplexed, she drew the blade, noticing with interest that it seemed to react more to one pathway than the other, a force tugging on her when she pointed the sword at the right passage. "... Is something … Whatever these ruins might contain, they're down this way." Nodding, she began walking, taking the lead.
"Hah! Leave it to a sword blessed by a dragon goddess to figure out where we're going in a set of runes made by dragons." Cora's laughter echoed for a few moments, the brunet wyvern rider taking the rear of the party, Raine walking in between the two women. The sword's glow grew brighter as they continued down the hall, the sound of their footsteps echoing in the stone surroundings.
Just when the feeling of claustrophobia was beginning to kick it, the passageway opened into a large chamber, and Lucina almost did a double take. They were just above sea level, but they were no longer underground; large pillars stood on either side of a water-filled chamber, floating platforms resting on clear, turquoise-colored water, a shrine in the center of the chamber, all of it resting beneath a roof supported by the pillars. "Well, this is certainly 'something'." Lucina commented, restoring Falchion to its sheath as Raine and Cora began to walk around.
"A temple rested beneath the Dragon's Gate?!" Raine's jaw was agape as he walked around, going to one of the pillars and looking out at the open air that replaced the walls. "No … it seems we exited it; that's the walls of the Gate up there." Lucina looked where he was pointing, eyes widening; from the outside, the Gate seemed to be a mountain of green-hued stone, the midday sun hitting it at an angle. "But why would an entrance to a temple like this be hidden in the depths of the Dragon's Gate?"
"Perhaps the Gate wasn't always there, and that was just a regular entrance?" Cora offered, having hopped off of Miledy to kneel by the water that filled most of the temple. The wyvern leaned over her rider, tongue slipping out to taste the water; it seemed to be fine, if the way Miledy proceeded to lap at it happily was any indication. Cautious, Cora cupped her hands and took a sip as well, eyes widening. "Wha – it's like drinking from a mountain spring!" Finishing off the water she had in her hands, the wyvern rider began to continue her pacing, walking on the pathway that stretched around the edges of the 'walls'. Miledy herself took to diving into the water with a splash, surfacing a few seconds later with a happy crowing noise before diving back under.
Lucina, however, found herself drawn to the shrine that rested in the center of the chamber. Stepping forward, she cautiously stepped onto one of the floating platforms. Instead of sinking underwater with the slightest application of weight, however, it remained solid, a set of glyphs lighting up for a second before dimming. "?" Puzzled, the blue-haired woman kept walking, stepping onto the next platform with more confidence. It remained upright.
Letting a giddy smile cross her face for no real reason, she glanced down into the water, amused to find Miledy chasing some sort of fish between the supports the platforms had. It seemed as though the arrival of the three people had triggered something, and she could catch a glimpse of faintly glowing glyphs on the submerged pillars. Grinning a bit more, Lucina jumped over the two foot gap between her platform and the one the shrine stood on, eyes lighting up when she spotted the Mark of Naga etched onto the flagstones.
Miledy surfaced a moment later with a happy crooning noise, a fish clenched between her sharp teeth. It was an odd, multicolored fish, but it didn't seem poisonous. Raine and Cora had finally noticed where Lucina had reached, and both of the other two were hopping over the platforms to reach her. "I didn't know if these would remain upright." Raine admitted with a weak chuckle, bracing the staff against one of the stones when they were on the center platform as well. Looking up at the shrine, he gave a nervous whistle. "... A … A shrine to Set the wind spirit?" He eventually forced out, walking closer.
"Wind Spirit?" Lucina turned to Cora, who arched an eyebrow.
"I was gonna ask if you'd ever run out of questions, but I doubt you could just research Elibe before coming here." Shrugging, the brunet nodded at the shrine. "There's four elemental spirits here on elibe; Set, who rules over wind. There's also Filia, the fire spirit, Thor, the thunder spirit, and Ninis, the ice spirit."
"Ice?" Lucina's head tilted to one side, arching an eyebrow. "Fire, Thunder and Wind are the three elements of Anima magic in my home, but ice?"
"Some say the spirit of ice left with the dragons." Cora shrugged again, spotting Miledy as the wyvern attempted to crawl out of the water. "Ah ah ah ah! Over there before you shake yourself off, Miledy. You know better." Frowning until her wyvern followed her instructions, Cora shrugged again before staring up at the shrine. "And nobody knew that there were shrines to the spirits either. Gods … I don't even know if most people realize the spirits even existed outside of mages."
'Oh, Laurent would have a field day here.' Lucina thought to herself with a smile, looking around again. 'The rules of magic here seem to work a bit differently than they do on Yllise, but … Unless I'm mistaken, Anima magic almost seems to be losing strength in this land. That has to tie in with the fact that the land is dying, somehow.' stepping closer to the shrine, Lucina watched as Raine tapped the staff against the shrine doors, as if testing for a reaction.
The silver gem on his staff flashed briefly, but apart from that, no reaction. "Odd." The prince frowned, gripping his staff and looking it over. "I thought this staff could do something to call the spirit; the gem was apparently found in a place full of magic ..."
"Perhaps it only will work with a certain spirit?" Lucina offered, looking the silver gem over. "Judging by the color, I'd say ice."
"Knowing our luck, that's the case." Raine let out another sigh, frowning. "And it's not as if I can just trek to the temple; I didn't even know this one existed, let alone shrines for the other elemental spirits. Gods, why is this so frustrating …!" Lucina winced and patted his shoulder, not knowing how better to comfort the mage.
All three present jumped a bit when the sound of a sharp increase of wind flooded through the pavilion that served as a temple. Straining her ears, Lucina caught the faintest hints of whispers from several laughing voices, her and Raine backing up to stand by Cora as the other gripped her lance. A figure started to appear in front of them, wispy and made of the winds that blew through the open chamber. A green tint seemed to flow through the breeze, and Lucina could have sworn she saw a face for a second.
Visitors?
The voice was almost masculine, but it was hard to tell. It wasn't helped with how the wind would ebb and flow, muting the voice at random intervals.
Rare sight, visitors. Not … … winter. How did ... place?
Both Lucina and Cora blinked before looking at Raine. When the blue-haired male glanced between them both, Cora shrugged. "You're the mage, YOU talk to the magical spirit." Raine scowled and turned to Lucina, who held up her hands.
"I am not magically inclined, and I'm also from a foreign world." She countered. "I have no notion of how to interact with magical spirits." Sighing in defeat, Raine turned towards the apparently forming spirit and bowed, clenching the staff tightly.
"H … Hello there, Spirit of the Wind." He began, trying to keep his voice even. "My companions and I did not intend to stumble across your temple, so we hope we are not imposing where we aught not be."
... too formally. Talk … … a friend. Filia … … stands on ceremony, not … … bag of hot air ... decline of mana.
Either she was losing her mind or Lucina could have sworn the spirit was amused.
Raine gave a nod, but his face seemed to pale. "Mana?! The mana is declining? Is that why the weather has been so violent as of late!?" Lucina winced; from what she had managed to gather from one of Laurent's explanations – if only due to Owain translating it to layman's terms for her – that mana was a sort of energy that flowed in the land, and it was what helped fuel elemental magic into something more than rituals to ward of ill luck. If Elibe's mana was deteriorating, it would certainly put a few things into perspective.
But for a land to be this badly decayed, that would mean a great deal of mana had been depleted. How had that happened!?
You are smart. … … the weather, personally; T... … that. Go ask him. He's over … … … plains. Why a … … flatland to settle, I … …
"The plains … does he mean Sacae?" Cora frowned. "Last I heard, they were in conflict with Ilia for some reason, but Romulus didn't elaborate." Frowning, the brunet began muttering under her breath as Miledy approached, the wyvern settling onto her haunches. Lucina didn't disturb her, settling into her own thoughts as she glanced back down at the tiles beneath her feet.
She could clearly see the Mark of Naga, the mark etched into several of the flagstones to create a nearly invisible shift in color from the rest of the stones. If this mark was here, then perhaps, when these temples were built, Naga had been worshiped on Elibe. It would certainly explain why she was a "Lost Goddess", at the very least.
Raine seemed to be thinking about a similar topic. "But what of the Lost Goddess?" He asked the spirit. "What of Naga? Is her presence still here, or has even she forsaken us to this demise?"
… ke she has little power here. … … s of nature, the dragons were affected the worst, in ... … … really ancient divine dragon. I don't think sh... … … loves you almost as much as Fath... the girl with blue ha... … … of Naga's.
Lucina was only half paying attention at that point, something moving at the back of the shrine catching her attention. When she tried to focus on it, however, she couldn't see anything, making her frown. The blue-haired woman could have sworn she had seen a flash of color behind one of the pillars, and the faintest sound of bells had reached her ears. Was she just imagining things? Puzzled, Lucina didn't realize that the wind spirit was starting to fade until a current of its winds caught her fully.
You are … n's doesn't flow through your veins, and yet … You ha … meant to come here …
Going to open her mouth, Lucina blinked again when she realized the spirit was gone, but the shrine still seemed to glow and hum with a faint hint of magical energy. It was faint, nothing more than perhaps a mere shadow of what the spirit's power had been originally. "That … was unexpected ..." She breathed after a moment, sighing and releasing her grip on Falchion completely for the first time since she had arrived on Elibe.
"Understatement, Luci." Cora frowned again, Miledy wandering over to stand by her side for a moment. "But at least we have something of a hint now. We're losing mana."
"And that's another whole nest of problems." Raine frowned, shaking his head. "Mana's not exactly something that humans put out a lot of. At least, not enough to patch up a dying world." Sighing, the blue-haired man gripped the staff tighter. "But maybe if we return and go to speak with my grandfather, or Romulus or Remus ..." Violet eyes staring at the shrine for a moment, Raine eventually turned to Lucina. "... I mean no affront, Lucina, but I must insist you come with us. I … I have a feeling that you might have insight that nobody here would."
Lucina felt a part of her protest; she was done with the end of the world. She had expected to not face such a horrible crisis after the defeat of Grima, and yet here she was again, on a new world whose decline was noticeable. And unlike back on Ylisse, the solution to setting things right once more wasn't as easy to perceive as 'slay Grima'. She didn't doubt it would be just as hard of a task, however, once they knew what they had to do.
She paused, before letting a soft laugh leave her. Her brain and heart had decided before she had even realized it. Giving Raine a nod, Lucina let a solemn smile cross her face. "Don't worry, Raine, Cora. I'll stay with you until things are set right." She reassured the other two, giving a curt bow at the waist. "But you might be right; a fresh set of eyes never hurts when you're staring at a complicated problem, especially if you've been staring at it for quite some time. I'm … not that well-versed in magic, however."
"Neither am I; that's Raine's job." Cora laughed, earning a scowl from Raine. "So, Lycia first, or do we want to go right to Remus?" She asked, hands folding behind her head.
"I'd suggest your brother, Cora." Raine nodded, looking around again. "He'll want to know about the Entombed, and I'm almost afraid to see what he says about the Bael." Cora groaned as well, but nodded in understanding. Lucina could wager a guess as to why, and it was a frightening one. Entombed were bad enough; she didn't want to imagine a realm crawling with more than just Entombed.
Taking up the rear as they filed out of the chamber, Lucina paused at the threshold, turning to look behind her. She had heard the chimes again, a bit louder this time. But, once again, she couldn't find a source. Frowning, the young woman turned and headed back into the long tunnel, following the small orbs of fire Raine had created to serve as a light source on their way up. For several moments after, the shrine was still, the changing sky outside reflected in the mirror-smooth water.
And then, from behind a pillar, something shifted.
It was a girl, appearing about ten, dressed for life in the desert in loose, rose and russet colored fabric. Green eyes were wide, an odd light in them, accenting the four diamonds arranged in an upside down cross on her forehead. Her bare feet were silent on the tile, making the chiming of the bells at her ankles seem all the louder as she ran straight to the passageway, stopping at the entrance.
"Sophia was right." She whispered, a grin pulling the corners of her mouth up into a wide smile that bared teeth too sharp to be human. "Sophia was right! Someone came through the gate.!" Stifling giggles, the little girl twirled for a moment before running back the way she came, leaping from platform to platform without a care. "Fae has to get back home! I need to let the others know!" Laughing as she reached the rear of the pavilion, she jumped over the edge of the cliff face, a pair of cream colored bird's wings appearing from her shoulder blades.
A flash of light later, and the girl was gone, a feathered creature three times the size of any wyvern riding the columns of warm sea air to get above the clouds before anyone could register its presence.
Tori's Notes: I shudder to imagine what would happen if Fae and Nowi were to ever meet. I don't think the world could handle the two of them in one spot.
Anyway, I've updated this! Yeah, it's a bit of a 'filler' chapter and nowhere near as long as the first one, but it's setting up some of the world around it, and what the fuck is going on with Elibe. If you haven't played Fire Emblem 6 (Seven to a lesser extent, but I'm drawing more on FE6) or read a walkthrough/the script of the game on Serenesforest, I'd recommend it; that's where the Ending Winter is first mentioned.
The next chapter will explain where Raine and Cora come from, though. I don't know when it'll be up; I'm back in college. I'm at the AI of Pittsburgh for Game Art and Design, so I have a bit of a homework load. Between that, trying to find a job, and the various other stories I'm working on, progress will be sporadic with all my stories. Until next time, Tata~ (and leave a review; I like to hear what you people have to say)
