I am finally off hiatus and my lazy arse. All my other stories are getting backed up, so I had to get something done to get me back into the swing of things. I was planning on ending this story here, but it seems that there is still a little too much to cover, so there will be one more chapter after this. Here is the next installment of Id Curse! Enjoy!
"Gods… Is this the end?" What Lucina saw could only be described as a calamity. One Grima was enough to plunge the world into ruin and despair. Two Grimas would amount to hope itself dying. Her feet were rooted to the ground as she stared, terrified, at the two dark scaly titans. Had it not been for Gerome's lance, a pegasus mounted Risen would have skewered her while she was paralyzed.
"Lucina! Stay focused! Look closely!" The masked wyvern rider pointed at the dragons. Freed from her fear, though not completely forgotten, the princess took a second look at the fell dragons.
Her mind went blank again, but for an entirely different reason than terror. "They are… fighting?" They were indeed locked in combat, snapping at one another with their great fangs and breathing blackened flames at their adversary. What in the gods' names was going on?
Lucina was racking her brain trying to discern how another fell dragon spawned over Ylisstol when she remembered something; the first Grima was summoned by that white-haired man on the other side of the roof.
If the same applied to the second Grima…
Lucina followed the trail of darkness dripping from the new dragon with her eyes until they fell on the source: the cloaked tactician. A sickening cloud of shadows pulsed around him as he waved his arms about. At his silent urgings, the evil dragon above him moved in tandem, as if he were conducting a macabre troupe.
Lucina slowly settled into a combat stance, Falchion pointed at this man. "He is the one…" she muttered under her breath and Gerome turned to follow her gaze. He too brought his lance to the ready and Minerva growled threateningly. Even if this man was controlling the one thing that was holding 'their' Grima at bay, he was still controlling the object of terror for the people of Altea. The princess prepared to charge forward, intending to impale the tactician on her holy blade, but then someone leaped in her path.
It was Chrom, or rather the man that came from the sky whose appearance was very like her late father. He shouted at her intended target, not realizing he had inadvertently spared the tactician. "Robin! What the hell are you doing!?" At his cry, the cloaked man turned his head away from the battle in the sky.
Lucina could barely make out a small smile underneath the hood and black wisps. "I swore to protect my friends, no matter the cost. Chrom, rally the Shepards and prepare to advance. Without the fell dragon to support them, the Risen will be easy to route." He shook his head in the direction of the other evil avatar. "Get to other side of the roof and take out that guy. Once the Grima of this world falls, victory is ours. Go!" As he turned back to his rumbling duel in the sky, Chrom grasped for his shoulder, but the lord's hand only found the hood.
Lucina felt her breath hitch in throat. A head of white hair shone through the darkness surrounding him and his otherwise unimpressive appearance was all too familiar.
It was the same face as the evil avatar on the other side of the roof.
"What in Naga's name…" Her voice was a whisper only she could hear. This tactician and her sworn enemy looked so alike they might as well have been the same person. Wait… Mother and Father earlier said that they were not the same people as my parents, but were from another world. Could it be that man is different than the enemy, even if they are so alike? Lucina's mind was spinning like a rat being chased by a cat.
"How… HOW!?" A bestial roar of anger snapped the princess out of her stupor. The first Grima avatar was directing its hands in erratic motions, trying to ward off this new foe. "How have you come to control this power!? My will is absolute! Even that remains true across the fabric of worlds. How can a mere mortal manipulate this power!?" Grima was furious. This new opponent not only dared to oppose it, but dared to mimic its deadly abilities as if they were its own. It would not – COULD not – stand for this.
"Well then, I guess it's a good thing I am not a mere mortal then," the man called Robin retorted as he commanded his fell dragon to sweep low across the roof and knock several Risen into the air and to their demise below. "Without the Gemstones at your Table, you are only operating at a fraction of your power. I on the other hand…" Another flick of the wrist and the incarnated dragon head rushed forward and closed its jaws around the other Grima's neck. "Have access to its full power. Now let's see how yo – GAH!"
A cry of pain cut his taunt short and Robin dropped to his knees. His dragon puppet relieved its hold on its enemy and swayed about in a daze. What is happening? Lucina could not tear her eyes from the agonized man, even if he did control Grima.
"Damn it… Just… A little more…" She could barely make out a pained whisper float from his lips as he stood once again and brought his familiar to the ready…
That was foolish of you. Power such as mine does not come without a price, boy. Now, surrender your body to me as you were destined to! After spending so long without hearing the fell dragon's voice in his mind, Robin almost forgot what was speaking. But the evil sensation that accompanied it was not so easily forgotten. He remembered the overwhelming and terrible power that almost took his body before.
You should know better. Beings such as I do not die so easily. Did you think that besting me in a game of wits and destroying my conscious would be enough to end me? What hubris! The voice rang through his head like achurch bell, racking his body with searing pain. What's the matter, boy? You summoned me did you not? My consciousness is power, and my power is my consciousness. You cannot have one without the other. For a tactician, your insight is weak! Its taunting ravaged his mind and threatened to overthrow Robin's hold over his body.
"Shove it you lizard. You can have my body…" He swept his arm across his chest and his dragon rammed into its otherworldly counterpart. "After it fades to dust!" He defied the fell dragon's will with every fiber of his being. He could not lose to it now.
"Once more… Just one more time... It is time… Time to tip the scales!"
Chrom was at a loss.
His best friend just harnessed the dark powers of his fell blood in order to turn the tide of battle. With his dragonic familiar, Robin was able to draw the other foul beast's attention from the Shepherds and allow them to regroup.
The warrior in him told him to not waste this opportunity. The man in him told him to save his friend. But how could he save his friend from a now invisible foe? He recognized the way Robin's face was contorting; it was just like when they were combating Validar at the Dragon's Table in their world.
Validar had used his dark influence to weaken Robin's mind to Grima's control, giving the dread being temporary control of the tactician's body. Using the opportunity, Grima used its vessel's lightning magic to fatally wound Chrom, or that was its plan had Robin not subconsciously weakened the attack's power at the last moment. This intervention saved Chrom's life, but left him with an unsightly scar on his abdomen.
He remembered the first time Robin laid eyes on it. His friend had dropped to his knees and pleaded for the Exalt's forgiveness. Chrom never blamed him; after all it was Grima, not Robin that threw the blow. That was not even mentioning Robin's interference saved his life, so Chrom came to look at that scar with pride. It was a badge of faith in their unshakeable friendship, so strong that not even a god could overcome it.
That same scar now pulsed against his ribcage, reminding him of the power that gave him that mark. He looked to his friend, trying to see any way that he could help him. But a demanding glare from the tactician told him everything.
There is no going back. End it before I am lost! That is what Robin's desperate gaze said to him.
"Damn it, Robin… Damn it!" With a cry of fury he raised Falchion into the air. "Shepherds, push back the Risen! Bring down Grima of this world! Let us change fate!" His rally resonated across the rooftop and the Shepherds surged forth with renewed vigor. Even in their exhausted states, they were still a force to be reckoned with and proceeded to cut down every fell soldier that crossed their path.
Chrom did not worry about the children; he knew they were left in capable hands…
"Severa, watch out!" Laurent threw himself into his friend as a tail black scales smashed the assailing Risen. Though she was in no immediate danger of being crushed, her friend's concern was not exactly misplaced.
"Damn it, Laurent. I saw it coming! It was going to miss me! Now get off, you bookish arse!" The girl shoved off the mage as she pulled herself back to her feet. "Well, I guess that is one way to keep the Risen off our backs…" She was now staring into the sable scales of the 'allied' Grima. The avatar of this dragon commanded it to drop its body on the Risen attacking the children and then act as a barricade, cutting off any of the undead troops' attempts to get back to them.
They were safe, for the time being and from the efforts of Grima no less.
"Lucina!" A familiar cry rang from below the steps and Lucina spun around. To her surprise, a quartet of young men was climbing the staircase.
"Inigo! Brady! Yarne! Owain! You are safe!" Lucina was beyond relieved. She finally had some tangible good news. Her friends had returned and in their hands they bore hope incarnate; Sable and Argent. All they need now was for Cynthia's group to arrive with Gules and Azure, then the Fire Emblem would be prepared for the Awakening ritual.
Lucina was still skeptical, though. She had seen the destruction the fell dragon was capable of. Having two in the same sky would be a calamity on whole new scale. And there was still one thing that concerned this 'friendly' Grima.
If one fell, what was to stop the other from rampaging across the land?
Fool! Surrender your will to me. You cannot contain me forever! Give in, you stubborn bag of flesh! Grima's voice continued to shout in his mind, shattering Robin's concentration and allowing the other fell dragon to, quite literally, knock a tooth out of his dragon's mouth. Excruciating pain racked his body at the damage, but it reminded Robin of his mortality and gave him the drive to push back Grima's conscious for the moment.
And with that reprieve, he swung his fist in a vicious left hook.
His dragon lashed forward and struck its enemy square in the snout with one of its horns, shattering the bony shell around its great maw. As the pieces fell away, the heroes, both young and old, paused to take in the sight.
What appeared to be a human face was carved into the skeletal jaw. Where the fell dragon's nostrils were supposed to be were instead a pair of closed eyes. The grim countenance extended down until the chin, where it was cut short by the lower jaw. There were no discerning features that pointed to any one individual on it, but it was eerily unsettling.
However, it had no bearing on the fight at hand, so the Shepherds and their dark dragon continued their assault. The dragon would keep the opposing Grima occupied while the Shepherds pressed forward and felled every Risen they came across.
Once again, the tide of battle had shifted.
The Shepherds pressed forward, slaying the undead abominations that threw themselves mindlessly into their formation. Trails of evil dust scattered to the wind as the heroes of legend briskly advanced. With Robin keeping the enemy Grima occupied, they were free to push back the line and encroach on the Risen infested side of the roof. Waves of rotting flesh and empty, red eyes covered the battlefield, but what the Risen had in quantity they lacked quality. It did not matter how many of them there were; the Shepherds cut them down like wheat during the spring harvest.
A small part of Chrom was glad that these undead creatures were here; cutting them down helped take his worried mind off his friend. While he would be the first to admit that he was not the sharpest blade in the armory, he was quite keen when it came to his friends. Back in their world, the prince had to almost literally twist the tactician's arm to get him to speak of the conversation he had with Naga after their final battle in Plegia…
According to Robin, he was able to defeat the consciousness of Grima, yet keep its dark powers. It was a plan that the grandmaster came up with on the spot when confronted by Validar. After tricking the dark dragon into letting down its guard, Robin had seized its power then turned its own foul energies onto itself, destroying Grima's essence while leaving Robin the reins of its evil powers. The Shepherds had then capitalized on the confusion and finished off the sorcerer, his heinous plans brought to an abrupt end.
Unfortunately, in order to lull the dark god into a false sense of security, Robin had to accept the sacrifices prepared on the Dragon' Table. As a result, thousands of Plegian citizens were consumed by the tactician in order to enact his plan and it provided not only Grima with the strength to begin to manifest, but it gave Robin the fortitude to defeat it in spirit.
Upon their return to Ylisstol, Robin had locked himself in his office, refusing even the company of his wife and Chrom's daughter, Lucina. Not even Morgan, his daughter heralding from a future unknown, was not granted entry. The young tactician had more than once threatened to blast the door open with her magic after her father did not appear for almost half a week, but he finally left the room after the fourth day.
Chrom could remember his tired, bloodshot eyes; they were so lifeless, like Robin had lost the will to live. The fact that his friend did not even take any meals did him no favors either. But, gods bless his daughter and grandchild, Robin's family never left his side. By the next day, color had returned to his face, but his eyes were still empty, only shining with a small light when surrounded by his wife and daughter.
Then the tactician came to the Exalt just over a week after their return.
"Chrom, I need to go to Mount Prism." He remembered the desperation in his companion's eyes when he said that. But it was so sudden, and Chrom did not like it.
"While I am glad that you want to be out and about, Robin, I would like to know why." They were the first words spoken to him beyond the short courtesy greetings since his friend finally left the room. There was definitely something going through his head and, gods be damned, he would find out what.
The grandmaster did not answer at first, opting to wander to the alter that held the Fire Emblem and the Gemstones. But he did not remain silent for long. "Sorry. I meant to say we need to go to Mount Prism. Chrom…" The tactician tore his eyes away from the relics to look at his friend. "I want you to perform the Awakening."
Chrom started putting the pieces together, and he did not like where this was going. "You want me to kill you, don't you?" How his voice quivered. After almost losing his best friend, that same compatriot was going to ask for him to take his life.
"I never said that," Robin countered calmly.
"Then why in Naga's name are you asking me to undertake the ritual that will grant me the power to slay Grima when it's already gone? The last remnants of its being are inside you. So why else would you ask this of me!?" Chrom shouted back, but Robin held his hand up to interrupt his rant.
"Yes, it does give you the power to slay Grima. But since I am in control, that power is mine. However…" He found the floor quite interesting at that moment. "I don't know if I can control it. There is so much about this power that I don't understand, and if I lose my hold over it..."
He trembled slightly before looking the Exalt in the eyes. "I don't think I will be Robin anymore. I will become Grima and bring the calamity that Lucina dreads." As the name of his wife left his lips, Chrom saw his irises shrink in fear. He was terrified at the thought of becoming the very object of horror that his intimate still lost sleep over. He was terrified at the thought of being forced to murder his best friend.
He was terrified... of becoming the abomination that manipulated his daughter into a hunter of the innocent and a butcher of friends.
Chrom crossed the room in no less than three paces and clasped his hands onto Robin's quivering shoulders. "That is not going to happen, my friend. I know you are stronger than that. You beat that foul creature once, you can do it again. Please, believe in the bonds tha-"
"I can't! I know I can't!" Robin shouted in distress, interrupting his friend's attempt to console him before his voice fell to a whimper. "Gods… I can still hear them… I can still hear their voices, screaming in agony and begging for the pain to stop…" The young man fell to his knees with his hands to his head. His fingers stabbed into his skull so hard Chrom thought he was trying to break through the bone. Quickly, he moved his own hands to grasp the tactician's and pull them away, holding firmly but as gently as he could manage.
Robin raised his head and sobbed, "I've been broken, Chrom. Just once was enough to reduce me to this. This is not something that will heal or a thing I will just get over given time. I will not be able to resist next time." Tears streaked down his face in salty rivers before dripping onto the stone floor with a quiet patter. "I am a bomb with a fuse down to the powder. I can't…"
Chrom instinctively pulled his companion into a tight embrace. Never before had he seen this man so shaken. He always envisioned him as he always was; kind, insightful and confident. But now he was a ravaged mess of fear and despair.
It must have been ages when Robin finally quieted his weeping, and Chrom pulled away from him. "Alright. We'll do it your way, Robin. But, you must promise me one thing." Bringing his index finger in front of him, he continued, "You will not ask that I strike you down unless you are truly lost. Because I would rather get impaled on another of your lightning spears than run you through when I didn't need to."
The mention of Robin's assailment made the grandmaster visibly wince. But after another moment of contemplation, he returned his eyes to the lord's. "Deal." His voice carried clear relief at his request being granted. A small smile broke out across his lips and pressed a hand to his knee as he pushed himself onto his feet.
"I'll make arrangements for an expedition to Mount Prism in three days. Please get some rest in the meantime." Chrom clapped his hand on Robin's shoulder once more and the tactician took it as his cue to leave. But just as his hands touched the polished handle of the door, the lord called, "And spend some more time with Lucina. I think you need her as much as she needs you now."
A gracious gaze met his eyes as Robin wordlessly nodded and left.
As Chrom promised, three days following their conversation they left for the holy shrine with a small entourage of Shepherds, Lucina and Morgan following along. It was almost like a vacation for them, stopping by rural villages to take part in some seasonal festivities and occasionally stopping along traveling merchants to entertain Lucina's rather unique taste in attire, a trait that Morgan seemed to have inherited.
Once at the benevolent mountain, Chrom was baptized in Naga's fire and his Falchion glowed with righteous power. With the holy blade poised to meet Grima's evil, Robin's fall back plan was in place. He finally began to enjoy the comforts of the post war world with the comfort of a liberating death at hand. Perhaps he knew that he would one day have to be felled by Naga's power and wanted to enjoy life to the fullest.
He and Lucina decided to take a tour of the world; their belated honeymoon they called it. Robin said it was because marching across the continents to make war did not count as a honeymoon. Lucina said it was because all the post war reports in her husband's office threatened to smother the man to death. Regardless of their reasons, they left the capitol to see the land in peacetime. However, because it was their honeymoon, Morgan was left in the castle, much to the budding tactician's dismay.
Chrom still remembered all the pranks the energetic teenager pulled on him in her parent's absence. He still had not gotten back at Lissa for giving Morgan the frog-down-the-shirt idea as a form of entertainment. But he endured because he knew the girl was just lonely and bored; mostly bored.
So, their return was met with ecstatic relief. That is until Lucina mentioned something about carrying a child. Then it was fuming rage as Chrom chased Robin through the castle, waving the blessed Falchion about and accusing the grandmaster of falling to the dark dragon. To make the scene more memorable was Sumia chasing after her husband with a stack of books under her arms, using the mostly romance novels as makeshift projectiles to chase off her crazed partner.
Life was returning to normal, it seemed.
That was two months ago. Then the divine dragon herself called on Shepherds to aid a far off Outrealm from the brink of destruction. In the span of a couple weeks, the Shepherds had accomplished most of this. Until they stood where they were now…
"Chrom!" The shout from his wife snapped the lord back to reality just in time to evade a wild swing from a Risen berserker. Its axe embedded in the stone at its feet, he beheaded the creature with a brutal slash, his holy blade tracing orange contrails through the air. Hearing Sumia heavily sigh in relief at his focus returning, he sent a quick nod in her direction.
"Thanks love."
"Anytime time, honey," she called back as her mount trampled over a pair of undead tricksters foolish enough to stand under it.
Already the Shepherds were close enough to the enemy avatar to see the thing's face contort in anger and frustration. "You insolent roaches! You think you can stop me!? Me, the-"
"Keep your eyes on me." The sudden warning forced the avatar to command his dragon familiar to shield him from the blackened flames of his adversary. A vicious snarl split his features as he could nothing to halt the Shepherds' advance, his hands full warding off his counterpart.
The Risen seemed to detect his desperation, as the ones trying to clamor over the tail of the opposing dragon dropped to the ground and sprinted back across the roof, their unholy moans sounding their attack.
"Miriel! Ricken! Switch to the rearguard!" At Robin's quick command, the sage pair shifted to the rear of their allied rank, losing a barrage of storms and flames that consumed the pursuing undead in a fierce conflagration.
They were only twenty meters from their target, who was still in no position to defend himself from attack. A few more Risen corpses disintegrated as they hit the ground and they were now in striking range.
Seeing the opportunity, Robin flourished his hand in a sweeping motion and clenched it into a fist. His dragonic beast charged forward and latched onto its enemy's horns with its jaws and refused to let go.
"Do it, Chrom!" he shouted from the rear and the great lord sprang forward in a blur of blue and orange. The evil avatar gasped in surprise at the sudden aggression and gathered a orb of shadows into his left hand before unleashing it at his attacker in a thorn bush of deadly spikes.
However, his attention was divided and the spell did not have the power to back up its morbid appearance, allowing Chrom to cut through the field of shadowy needles effortlessly before plunging Falchion into the dark being's chest.
Time seemed to freeze as all stared at the prince and his victim. A sickening drip broke the silence and the avatar looked to his feet. A puddle of black, viscous liquid was pooling under his boots and slowly faded into a dark mist. His head then rose, trembling with ebbing strength to look his killer in the eyes. When his red orbs met blue, a blackened hand reached out and grasped the lord's shoulders.
Chrom gasped in surprise at this sudden surge of strength and attempted to push his foe off the blade with his foot. But a firm grip from that hand kept the dark avatar where he was on the edge.
And then he smiled. A soft, gracious smile like the one Robin wore when Chrom granted his wish to perform the Awakening. "I know you are not my friend of old, but please allow me to say this… Thank you, my friend…" He suddenly coughed a black mist erupted from his mouth as the same black blood leaked from the corners of his mouth. "No one else… has to suffer for my mistakes…"
Chrom could not believe what he was hearing. The warped, bestial voice of Grima was gone, replaced with the soft, yet strong tone of his friend. He whipped his head to the other side of the roof and saw that the Robin he knew still stood there. Bringing his face back to his victim, he opened his mouth to speak, only for the grim avatar to shake his head.
"Don't speak. I do not deserve to hear your words after I betrayed you. This is… I couldn't think of a better end than this…" With a grunt, the man shoved the great lord away from him, Falchion sliding out of his chest with a sickening slip.
Now new noises broke the silence. A weary moan eked out of the remaining Risen and they faded to dust. Above their heads, the foul dragon of the dying avatar let out a piercing shriek before it froze stiff. With its great maw hanging open into the air, it too faded like its Risen minions.
Robin's familiar lifted its tail to allow the children to pass, and they did so warily. But when their eyes fell on the fading dragon above, they halted midstride.
Lucina followed the fell dragon's fading body to its avatar and saw a gentle smile, as though he were content with the outcome. Then he spoke again. "Forgive me, Morgan. I put you through so much. I am so sorry for the suffering I caused you. But no one has to get hurt anymore. No more death… Just… simple…"
With these last words, the man faded away, leaving nothing to mark his existence. The pool of black blood was gone, too.
Everyone seemed afraid to break the silence as if it were an illusion. Like their victory would be proven false should the still air be broken.
So it fell to the sound of Vaike's rump hitting the stone beneath him and his nervous laugh to start everything off. "Hahaha… We did it…" He let his great axe slip from his hand as he allowed his body to collapse ungracefully into a spread eagle position.
At that, everyone cheered. Cries of joy and happy laughter erupted like a just-opened champagne bottle. Lissa and Maribelle danced in a small, ungainly circle. Cordelia and Lon'qu embraced each other tightly and shared a passionate kiss, much to their daughter's disgust. Miriel allowed her young husband to rest his head on her lap as she wiped the sweat from his brow. Minerva decided to playfully poke Vaike around with her snout as Cherche giggled from her saddle. Chrom and Sumia took each other's hands and gazed deeply into their eyes.
"We did it…" Lucina muttered. Her friends' ears perked at her whisper and looked to each other warily before breaking out in smiles.
"It is done. We are finally free…" Gerome chuckled, his stoic persona giving way to joy. That was when they heard rapid steps coming from the stairway. Not a moment later, a blue blur exploded from the stairwell and slammed into Lucina so hard she nearly toppled over.
"Lucy! Oh my gosh, Lucy! Are you all okay!?" Cynthia had arrived, with Kjelle, Nah and Noire trailing close behind. Kjelle had her lance and shield at the ready as she cleared the steps.
"Lucina! We saw Grima spawn above the palace as we entered, but we were forced to take the long way through the lower passages because of Risen. Is everyone al-" Her eyes now fell on the 'friendly' Grima, though she could not make the distinction.
"It's… It's not over yet?" Noire whimpered as she stared at the towering serpent with wide eyes.
"No! No, he is…" Lucina's hand shot out to push the knight's lance down as she contemplated the right word. "Our ally… He saved us." The newcomers looked to their leader with undisguised surprise.
"Lucina… how is that friendly? How in the gods'-" Kjelle's retort was cut short when she saw the Shepherds. With a surprised gasp, her weapon clattered to the floor, forgotten.
"What is going on, Lucina? Why is Grima with our parents?" Nah asked nervously, her hand fidgeting with her dragon stone.
"I… I don't know. They just suddenly appeared when Grima attacked. And then he…" She motioned to the tactician who was still wearing his cloak of shadows, though he seemed to be in the process of trying to rid himself of it. "I don't know how he did it, but he was able to summon another… Grima, but under his control. I can't describe it any other way, but if he had not been here we would have been dead long before you arrived."
Brady decided to chime in at this point. "Yeah, you shoulda seen 'im. He was punchin' and bitin' and- Ah who am I kiddin'. He saved our hides!"
"It was the most terrifying thing I had ever seen, two Grimas going at it. But it is definitely on our side." Inigo voiced his approval. Kjelle turned to Laurent, Gerome and Severa, who only shook their heads, indicating for the young knight to let it go. But then she saw Owain trembling, his gaze still fixed on the dragon.
"Owain? Hey, what's the matter?" She jogged up to him and gripped his arm tightly, snapping him from his stupor.
"It… It is…" The myrmidon's voice shook and then found strength. "Magnificent! The ultimate technique of power! The power of a god incarnate! My sword hand… it thirsts for a taste of such vigor!" Kjelle looked at him as if he said one plus one equals three. But it was the final nail in the coffin, so she shrugged it off and dug into her pocket, pulling out two gleaming stones.
"I suppose that means they did the work for us. Guess we won't be needing these then, right?" Gules and Azure; the final two Gemstones. They now had the complete Fire Emblem, now all they needed to do was take the relic to Mount Prism and perform the Awakening ritual. But it was a moot point with Grima gone, felled by Falchion no less.
But the cerulean haired princess shook her head. "No, but it wouldn't hurt to have them in case-"
She then realized the Shepherds had fallen silent. Their jubilant cries filled the sky moments ago, but now it was as still as the moment Grima fell.
But that was when she heard a sound. It was a pained moan, interrupted by occasional grunts. She felt her back go rigid as she turned to face the source of the sound:
The tactician who saved them.
His cape of darkness still had not dispersed, and his hands were on his head as if it were going to split open at the drop of a hat. He was clearly in pain as he groaned in agony. Her father doppelganger ran to the man, hands outstretched.
"Robin, what's wrong? The battle's over. You don't need to-"
"Stay away from me!" The tactician called Robin tried to run away from the lord, but ended up tripping over a dislodged stone, stumbling to the ground, where he curled into a fetal position.
"What's going on!? Are you hurt?" Chrom, unabated continued to walk towards his friend. He then stopped cold, head slightly cocked. "What was that? I can't hear you, Robin. You need to speak up."
"…nnngh… uh… nnngh…" The man on the roof flung himself around like he was trying to shake off the black mist that clung onto him, until he shouted.
"RUN!"
His voice was no longer human, warped into a bestial chorus that was a mixture of a desperate plea and an animalistic roar. And no sooner did he cry out the six gleaming eyes in the dragon above shifted to stare down the Shepherds and the children. It then slowly turned its head, its jaws slightly agape, like a snake sizing up a meal.
"Oh gods… No…" Lucina barely squeezed out this small prayer just as the serpentine head of their new foe snapped forward into the unaware Shepherds of old…
So here's the next installment on my spin of the Future Past. Not much else to say except please read and please leave a review if you can spare the time. Even little one or two liners saying it was great or not great. That's all I ask. But in the meantime, I am going to be working on a couple of my other projects before I return to finish this up. Hopefully, with a degree in my hand I will have more time to write. Until next time!