A/N:

This fanfic of mine has been like a roller coaster, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Hey, I'm adjusting my style all the time, there are bound to be highs and lows. Also as a bit of a warning: Dark chapter is dark. I have no idea what I was doing while writing this chapter. All I know is that it was a blur of researching Medieval torture and listening to the Legend of Zelda Rap (though, none of that should really show). I hope you enjoy, R&R. Word Count (2,528)

Chapter 9:

Naga abandoned me.

The eyes of the cobalt-haired princess widened in shock. It couldn't be… "You… How could you kill Father?! I thought you loved him! What about me and Morgan?! Mother… Why?" Tears pricked at the corners of the girl's sapphire eyes and started trailing down her face. She couldn't stop once it started.

The crimson eyes of the once-tactician kept focus on the sobbing preteen in front of her. Grima's host let out a sigh as the young princess fell to her knees. Hands covering her eyes, the girl continued to cry. "Enough, child." Lucina didn't pay any attention to the adult in front of her. Her life had been ruined! "I said, ENOUGH!" The tactician shouted out in a voice that was both hers and Grima's. She took the girl by the collar and yanked her to her feet, staring straight into the girl's watery eyes. "Enough tears. Such weakness… You. What else could I have expected from such a spoiled princess?"

Grima let go of the girl. All Lucina could do was look up at her mother, through eyes blurred by the tears that kept welling up. This can't be happening. "But… but…" She just couldn't get her words out. They only kept getting caught in her throat. "You…"

The tactician let out a frustrated groan. Finally, the fell one reeled back her hand, and brought it down hard across the girl's face. "You should not be crying like this. So weak, just like your father."

The young princess brought a hand up to her cheek, which was starting to redden. "But you're Grima! You-"

"You should be proud!" Grima shouted out, interrupting the girl before she could continue. "Everything you learned about that damned dragon, Naga, was FALSE! You should be proud to share MY blood!"

Lucina could only stare up at her mother in shock. False? No, it can't be. No! Naga will still be there! "You're wrong!"

Lucina turned to leave, but Grima grabbed her shoulder, and the grip was hard. "Just where do you think you're going?"

"Anywhere!" The girl broke free and ran off.

\

How long had she been running? How far had she gone?

A mighty storm raged. The rain was relentless, and a mighty wind howled. A cobalt-haired princess trod on, despite the storm. She sloshed along through knee-height, muddy waters. By this point, she had been shivering uncontrollably. She had been exposed this entire storm, but she wouldn't stop to take shelter. She had to keep moving.

'Naga, please help me.' She silently prayed as her teeth would not stop chattering. The girl kept on path. Another bolt of lightning flashed in the distance, and the clap of thunder that followed, sent the girl into a panic, as it was much louder than the others. She set off to run, but found her foot lodged in the mud below, and fell face down into the slosh below. Lucina picked herself up once more before letting out a shout to the sky. "Naga! Where are you?!"

The princess broke down into tears. Naga was supposed to be there for her followers. There was no way the divine dragon would let one of exalted blood suffer like this. She was on her own like this for days and she didn't see any sign of the divine dragon acknowledging her in any way. She was alone… The girl was pulled back into reality when a hand settled on her shoulder. She looked over to see who it could be. It was the familiar form of her own mother.

"I told you, didn't I?" The tactician said. "That dragon didn't come for you, did she?"

Lucina embraced the form of her mother. "No." The princess said as she tightened her hold on her mother. "Naga… wasn't there."

"Isn't it unfortunate when the ones we believed would be there for us, always, abandon us in our time of need?" The fell one said, stroking the back of Lucina's head. She tilted the princess' head up, so their eyes met. "Don't worry anymore, child. I will be here for you. Grima will never abandon you."

"I'm fellblood!" Lucina shouted out at the prince, eyes tightly shut. "Grima's…" She finally came to the realization that she was no longer in the library of Palace Ylisse. No, this was much different. She was nowhere, a void. Utter darkness surrounded her, and the only sound audible in this void, was from the beating of her own heart. Though there was no source of light, she still managed to stand out from the rest.

She had been here before, and her heart started racing as she knew what would come next. Lucina lowered her cowl and started mentally preparing herself for the coming encounter. "Hello, child." Came a chilling voice from the void. A figure appeared from the shadows. Cloaked in clouds of ash, this was Grima's Avatar. Lucina still stood a distance away, but felt some force pull her closer to the being until she was face to face with the fell one. Grima took the girl's chin, and tilted her head to bring Lucina's sapphire eyes to look right into her own glowing, red eyes. "Now, would you mind finishing that statement for me?"

Lucina let out her breath. "Of course, Master." Reluctantly, she let her statement, directed at her brother, out. "Grima's Avatar is my own mother. Grima would not dare dispose of me as some common Risen. You're wrong about Grima… just as Father was." Lucina let out a deep breath as she was slightly shaking, waiting for a response from Grima.

"Just as I suspected." Grima said. "Such is the reason I pulled you out of that damned palace."

"Master, I-"

"Your mission was a failure." Lucina was starting to wonder when this would be brought up. Her eyes shut, waiting for Grima to finish with this. "You didn't come back to face your punishment. No, you had to go back to that damned city instead. You went to Ylisstol and almost gave away your identity. To whom? Your brother."

Lucina brought herself to look into Grima's eyes once more. "And my punishment this time…"

Grima let the corner of her mouth tug upward. "Well, I wouldn't call it your punishment, so much as those Grimleal you met as Lucian… I trust you will be able to handle that."

"Of course, Master." Lucina obediently stated, pulling her hood up once more.

"Good. Oh, and before I forget, the Risen have already started tearing apart those traitors at the fort you held up in. That should provide enough of a distraction while you stab them in the back. I trust you'll put on a good show." Lucina let out one last nod before Grima summoned a new warp to send her back to the fort she had sheltered in, the last month. One last mission as Lucian.

\

Lucina was back in the room she held at the fort. At least Grima had the decency to send her some place she could replace her lost weapon. Lucina strode over to her personal weapon rack to pick out a new weapon. A rapier? That wouldn't suit her needs. A silver sword… She inspected the blade closer, still quite sharp, it would do. She strapped the blade to her side before heading out.

Lucina walked the halls of the fort, noting the absence of many Risen where they were usually posted. They would be busy keeping the Grimleal distracted. How many were at this fort, again? She knew exactly where she would be able to find the majority of those Grimleal though. Oh, this will be too easy. I doubt they'll expect me, of all people, to even show up. Finally, a Grimleal Sorcerer came running her way, followed closely by a Risen Warrior.

He didn't pay any attention to her at all as he came closer. The sorcerer spun quickly, throwing an off-balance Bolganone at the Risen following him. The Risen was caught up in the eruption from the ground, a noticeable smell of burning flesh filled the air before the Risen vanished in a purple mist.

The sorcerer picked himself up from the ground, letting out a sigh before realizing he had company. His eyes widened at the sight of the one who had just watched his encounter with the Risen. "G-General Lucian?"

It was about damned time he noticed her. "Yes?" She said in her natural voice, no longer feeling the need to conceal such a trivial thing around dead men.

The sorcerer's mouth opened and closed, nothing coming out. "I- no wonder the Risen are attacking! You lost the battle… and Grima's unleashing his wrath upon us for your return." He paused a moment. "Wait, your voice…"

Lucina unsheathed her silver sword, slashing deep across the man's abdomen before he could finish with his thoughts. She watched as he desperately clutched at his stomach, trying to keep his contents in, as the familiar red liquid seeped out from the wound. He collapsed to the ground, glaring up at Lucina despite the pain he must have been feeling. "Oh, don't look at me that way. You are right about Grima's wrath… though, his punishment isn't meant for me." She took another look at her silver sword, now lightly coated in the man's blood. She flicked it off to the side before returning it to its sheath. "Thank you for your help this month, but I must bid you farewell." She reached around the man and pulled out an elixir he was carrying. "I'll just take that. We can't have you healing up and running off, now can we?" Lucina stashed the elixir in her cloak and stepped around the man that was bleeding out in a heap on the floor.

She continued down the corridor, her destination, an old mess hall. She remembered the Grimleal stationed here, informing her of their plans to hole up there in case of any attacks. She often doubted anyone would be daft enough to attack a Grimleal fortification.

As Lucina drew closer to her destination, more signs of struggle had become apparent. Trails of blood stained the floor, sometimes even leading from various body parts. Risen were becoming a much more common sight as well. None of them cared for Lucina at all, and kept on their paths without her.

She reached the mess hall, noting the remaining Grimleal fighting in a circle around a cleric, who was tending to those too wounded to continue battling. They were successfully holding off the Risen as they fought like this. Time to break this up.

A Grimleal Hero's, acting as the leader of the group, attention was drawn to the new human in the room. "Lucian!" He called out, above the chaos. "Thank Grima, you're alive! Now get over here and… help us out! The Risen… they won't listen!"

Lucina sprinted over to the group, falling into formation alongside them. For the most part, the Risen stayed away from her. This would be detrimental to her cover if it kept up, so instead, she went out to actively cut down the Risen. Even so, she noted that the cleric was already giving her odd looks. Before she could fall in to take care of the healer, the Hero grabbed her attention once more. "Lucian, I heard you were dead." She didn't answer. "You… don't suppose the Risen are acting up because of you, could they?" She froze. "Hah, I jest. The Risen were acting up long before you showed."

That was too close. She would let him continue on with that though. She hoped she would be putting on a good enough show for Grima to watch then. Lucina let herself fall back into the middle of the group. That cleric needed to go. She wouldn't be able to complete her job with this woman alive to heal the others. "Rae." She called to get the attention of the cleric. The raven-haired woman looked over to her with a quizzical look on her face. "I think you've done enough work here today. Why don't you… take some time to rest?"

"Would that I could, but this is hardly the place to-"

Lucina stepped closer as the woman carried on. "Oh, I believe that you need a break. Why don't I help you?" Lucina took her blade and buried it in the woman's chest.

She watched as the woman let out pained gasps, clutching at her bleeding chest before falling to the ground. The other Grimleal had only barely taken notice of what was going on; they were much too busy to break their attention from the Risen. The Hero turned his head to look at the dark lord. "Lucian? What the hell is going on here?!"

"Grima has passed judgment," She explained, no longer using a disguised voice. Before the man could react any further, she took her blade and sent it right through the man's left eye socket, as the other held wide from the shock of this news. "…You know what we do to traitors." She twisted her blade once before pushing the man off of it. "You don't have any more uses, unfortunately."

The remaining Grimleal ran after seeing what had just happened. It would be easy to pick them off now. Lucina signaled for the Risen to give chase. A Grimleal Warrior was felled by a Risen Sniper as an arrow pierced the back of his head. A Risen Sorcerer sent out a Bolganone towards a Paladin without his mount. The man screamed out as the spell engulfed him, melding armor with flesh; he collapsed in a burning heap. Lucina chased after the last Grimleal herself. As she neared the warrior, she leapt forward to deliver a deadly blow. The Grimleal tripped as this happened, and instead, Lucina's silver sword hacked through his right shoulder. The man let out a pained scream as she pulled the blade out, kicking the man back. As he fell to the ground, she cut off the man's head, finally silencing him.

Now that all the Grimleal at the fort were taken care of, she had one last duty. As this was their punishment, these Grimleal wouldn't have the honor to serve Grima in the afterlife. Lucina would have to dispose of them some other way. She dragged the bodies, along with any other missing parts, outside, and created a pile. She took oil, dumping any of it she could find on the bodies. She signaled a nearby Risen Sorcerer to set the pile alight. Some of the Grimleal were still alive, barely, but they let out their last screams as they burned alive.

Lucina watched the Grimleal burn, ignoring the horrid smell assailing her nostrils. She lowered her cowl now that there was no one left to take notice. This was a sight she had seen quite often in this new era. Years spent under the Fell Dragon had turned Lucina into what she was now. Her last mission under the name Lucian… She wondered what Grima held in store for her next.

A/N:

I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Like I said, dark chapter is dark. I'm glad I was able to include Grima in another chapter. I kind of see this family like the Royal Fire Nation Family. Grima/Robin being Ozai, the Lucina of this fic kind of being Azula, and Morgan being like Zuko in a way. These are just my comparisons. Haha XD I hope you enjoyed. Be sure to leave a Review!

This is Squish, bidding you a good day. :D

Edit (12/18): Just a few very noticeable errors that had been cleared up. Word Count adjusted accordingly (-25).