Snapshot Eleven: What If?
Game: Awakening
Outtakes: 25 and 26
Summary: There are multiple lines of time, changing when a different decision is made. If Nykolai had chosen differently, what would have happened?
Notes: My failed attempt at writing. I wanted to convey Nykolai relying on Lucina a bit more, since Lucina is certainly not a helpless damsel in distress as I may have been portraying her (depends on how you see it, though). I failed, or at least, that's how I see it. I did, however, manage to convey what would happen if Nyk chose differently, letting Chrom land the final blow.
In other news, I have four more Snapshots fully written, plus an unwritten idea already for FE 14 (FIRE EMBLEM WILL LIVE ON!). I will try to post every week, but seeing how well that worked out last time I said that, well yeah. Also, I'm changing this story's status to complete, as each Snapshot stands on its own. I'll be updating here and there once I've gotten everything posted (kinda like my Library Wars fic, which is also a bunch of drabbles).
Hope you enjoy!
Despite the circumstances, Nykolai knew that any battle against Grima would be tough.
The fell dragon's human form was protected magically. Only Chrom's Falchion was able to wound the dragon enough, though not to a great degree.
Truly this would be a tough fight.
It was inevitably made worse for Nykolai. A mind numbing headache, courtesy, he knew, of Grima trying to gain control over him, had plagued him since the battle at the Dragon's Table.
He and Lucina held back, letting others fight on the forefront, while the pair directed the fighting. None of the Shepherds complained. They knew the pair wasn't feeling well - Nykolai with his headaches, and Lucina with some odd cold that didn't want to let go - but still wanted to be there for their comrades.
Nykolai quickly called for aid for some of the Shepherds who were getting overwhelmed by the Grimleal, and then scanned the battlefield. His gaze meet Grima's, and the pain in his head escalated, causing him to double over. He felt Lucina's gentle hand on his back.
"We should pull back," she said. "You're obviously in no condition to fight. Besides, Morgan is doing a fine job on the front."
"No," Nykolai gasped. "I have to stay."
He gasped as another wave of pain crashed through his head. He could hear Grima laughing in his mind. He didn't know how much longer he could hold off the fell dragon.
"Nyk!"
He glanced up at his wife. She took his face in her hands. "Fight him. Okay? Fight him with every ounce of strength you have. I know you can keep him away." At his small nod, she sighed. "I'm going to get you out of here." She let him go and started to lead him to her pegasus, who was standing nearby.
"It won't work," the grandmaster gasped as Grima pushed harder. The pain nearly sent him to his knees. He could feel the electricity gathering at his fingertips.
Obey me, Grima snarled.
"Never," Nykolai growled. He vaguely heard Lucina calling for her father, and he felt panic grip him. Chrom would surely die by his hand if he came close enough.
Grima took a hold of his panic, and urged Nykolai to do the unthinkable. Without his own bidding, he wrapped his hand around a dagger of thunder magic and looked up at his wife through a red haze, all while fighting against himself.
You cannot win! Kill the girl and join me!
Lucina acted quickly. She grabbed his wrists and forced them to his sided, before taking a step forward and pressing her lips to his.
Wha-
Grima, stunned, stopped his struggle for control. Nykolai seized the moment and shoved him back before responding to Lucina's gesture. The magic melted from his hands as the headache dimmed and he regained control. He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her as close as their armor would allow. He didn't care that the battlefield was just about the most inappropriate place to kiss. He was just happy the pain had diminished.
He pulled away after a moment. "Thank you, Luce."
She smiled. "I'm glad I could help."
Nykolai glanced toward the head of the fell dragon on which they were fighting and saw that Grima had been distracted. Chrom, Sumia, and several other Shepherds had crowded the dragon's human form, landing blow after blow.
Grima fought them all, then suddenly disappeared among the crowd. Several Shepherds backed off, and the Grimleal froze in horror.
Grima was close to defeat.
And in that instant, the fell dragon tried one more time to take control of Nykolai. The pain in his head was so sudden, so overwhelming, that this time he did fall to his knees, retching from the sheer torment.
Blinded by reddened vision, he heard Lucina scream. "End it, Father, end it!"
It was Grima's turn to scream. The pain increased tenfold, then everything went black.
He woke to a gentle rocking motion, the softness of a bed which - after sleeping on the ground and on camp-cots for the longest time - felt like heaven.
There was the gentle creak of wood in time with the swaying, and above that, the sound of a quill scratching against paper. A patch of pale light fell on his face, pulling him farther from sleep.
Nykolai managed to open his eyes to glare at the light source, and saw it was a small rounded window, through which shone the light of the full moon. He lay on a bunk in medium-sized room with a dozen or so bunks pressed into the alcoves in the walls. At least half were occupied.
At a desk built into the wall sat Laurent, busily scribbling away in a notebook. The only source of light, other than the moonlight coming in from the small widow above Nykolai's bunk, was a lantern on a hook above the desk, illuminating the words that Laurent so diligently wrote down in his book.
Someone several bunks away coughed, and Laurent paused, looking up in the direction of the sound. When no second cough came, he returned to his scribbling. The sage was obviously on watch duty, taking turns with the other healers among the ranks of the Shepherds.
The world swayed again, and the grandmaster realized that they were on a boat. His stomach churned at the thought, increasingly so with each sway and rock. He gave a soft groan and rolled from his back to his side, facing away from Laurent.
The scratching of the quill stopped again for a brief moment, and Nykolai could feel the healer's gaze on him. The scratching continued and all was silent, save for the increasing churning of Nykolai's stomach.
After several long moments, with the nausea of seasickness fully upon him, he turned again to face Laurent. The sage was back to his books, head bent low.
Nykolai mustered his strength. "Laurent."
The sage's head shot up, startled by the fact that the grandmaster was awake. Before he could do or say anything else, Nykolai spoke again.
"Get me a bucket before I puke all over the floor."
Laurent leaped up instantly and fetched him a bucket. He took it immediately, weakly pushing himself up. He leaned over it just in time, giving several painful dry heaves.
"Why are we on a boat?" he managed. "What happened?"
"We are on an approach to a port in southern Ylisse. Once there, we shall travel north to Ylisstol. It was the simplest way to transport you and the other wounded home."
Nykolai nodded, biting back another groan as the nausea threatened to send him heaving over the bucket again. When the wave passed, he accepted the waterskin Laurent handed to him. He doubted he could keep anything down, but a few sips of the cool liquid seemed to calm his nausea.
Laurent continued. "As for your condition, other than the rather sudden seasickness...we are not exactly certain. Tharja made a conjecture that, when Grima was put down, he left your mind with more than just a little fight. Whatever damage he created put you into a coma."
"How long has it been?"
"A week. Lucina and Morgan have been near constantly by your bedside since the battle."
Nykolai straightened slightly, suddenly feeling anxious. "Luce. Is she alright? Where is she?"
Laurent made a "settle down" gesture with his hands. "She is fine." He gestured to the bunk caddy-corner to his. There, buried almost completely under the blankets so that only her hair was visible, was Lucina.
Nykolai breathed a small sigh of relief, though his anxiety didn't go away. He wanted nothing more than to curl up next to his wife. But he knew she would be exhausted from worrying for him, and so he leaned back against the wall his bunk was next to, and resigned himself to a long night of waiting for his seasickness to pass.
"Shall I fetch you anything?" Laurent asked. "Some broth perhaps?"
"I don't trust my stomach to keep it down," Nykolai replied, drawing the hood of his coat - thank goodness someone had left the comforting garment on him - so that the edge rested at his hairline.
"Very well. I shall be at the desk if you need anything."
With that the young scholar went back to his desk, leaving Nykolai to try to relax, despite the churning nausea caused by his seasickness. It was dawn before the grandmaster, completely exhausted, fell asleep.
Lucina sipped wearily at a mug of tea, her pulse still racing from the news she had received. It wasn't the tired announcement from Laurent that Nykolai had finally woken from his coma. While it was fantastic to hear - she had been worrying about him nonstop - she just wanted him to wake up so she could tell him the news. Tears filed her eyes, though whether they were ones of joy or sorrow, she didn't know. It seemed that, despite Grima's demise, the future was still highly uncertain. Had she really made the right decision to stay here in the past and settle down with a husband?
She shook her head. Of course she had made a good decision. Nykolai brought her more peace than she could have ever wanted, and she knew that she helped him as well. Content with that thought, she studied her husband's sleeping face, silently imploring him to wake.
As if he read her mind, Nykolai stirred. He turned on his side so that he was facing her, moaning softly, before opening his eyes. He smiled at the sight of his wife, his strange anxiety from the night before dissipating. "Hey," he greeted.
"Good afternoon, love," Lucina replied. "How are you feeling?"
Nykolai rubbed his face with one hand. "Awful. I hate being seasick." He sat up slowly, grimacing as the boat swayed. He studied his wife's face. "You've been crying," he said softly, leaning forward to wipe the tear tracks from Lucina's face. He gave a weak smirk. "Mourning over your comatose husband?"
"You wish," Lucina quipped teasingly. She shook her head. "I've just been rather emotional today." She sighed. "Let me get you something to eat and I'll tell you."
"I won't be able to keep it down. I could barely keep water down. I'd rather you stay by my side."
Lucina stood anyway. "You can't go for more than a week without food, especially now that you're awake."
Nykolai sighed, fighting back the odd anxiety once more. Seeing very little resistance, Lucina hurried off to fetch him the food. She was gone only twenty minutes, and when she returned, she paused at the sight of her husband. He was leaning back against the wall, hood up over his face. His eyes were closed and his shoulders rose and fell gently with each breath.
For a moment, Lucina recalled the moment Grima had been brought down. Nykolai had shouted in pain, his hands clutching his head. Then he had collapsed, limp, in Lucina's arms.
In the moments following, Lucina feared she had lost her husband with Grima, but she was, luckily, proven wrong.
Now watching him sleep peacefully, she shook her head, set down one of the two steaming bowls, and woke Nykolai. He jumped and tensed before realizing it was only his wife. "You startled me," he said.
"Sorry." She handed him one of the bowls and pulled her boots off, climbing up onto the bunk next to him and tucking her legs underneath her. "It's chicken broth and noodles. Eat up."
Nykolai obediently did as he was told. They ate in silence for a while. Nykolai quickly finished his broth and began to regret how fast he ate as his stomach began to churn. He looked at Lucina, who was only half way through her own meal, eating it slowly. She must have felt his gaze on her. She glanced up at him, and frowned. "You look green," she deadpanned.
"I ate too fast."
Lucina laughed, despite her husband's indignant look. "I'm sorry, love." He sighed in response, leaning back against the wall. "Don't worry," Lucina continued. "We'll reach Ylisse in a couple more days and, hopefully, you'll never have to sail again."
"Praise Naga for that," Nykolai muttered, closing his eyes. "This past month has been one horror after another. I may ask your father to let me resign. I've had enough war and fighting to last ten lifetimes, and you, probably more."
"I'm afraid I can't allow that."
Nykolai opened his eyes at the sound of the familiar voice to see his best friend entering the infirmary, quickly followed by Morgan. "And why not?" the grandmaster quipped.
"Because Ylisse still needs her Grandmaster," Chrom shot back as Morgan hurried to her father's side to hug him. The Exalt frowned, taking in his friend's appearance. "You look awful."
"That's what happens when you wake up from a week-long coma to find yourself on a floating piece of wood. Morgan, grab that bucket over there for me."
The young tactician did so. "You were fine before you woke," she said, taking a seat next to him again.
"It's all up here," Nykolai replied, leaning his elbow on the rim of the bucket and tapping the side of his head. "There were a few blissful moments before I realized where I was, and then the agony began."
"You are a bigger drama queen than I am," Lucina teased, setting her now empty bowl aside.
"Drama king, and Chrom, I'll stay around as Ylisse's Grandmaster if you give me two months leave."
"Two months?"
"Yes. One for me to fully recover from all this fighting and the utter crap Grima put me through, and the other to spend in peace with my family."
"Fine." The Exalt winced as the ship shifted, knowing what was next. He was right. Nykolai leaned over the bucket, heaving noisily. Morgan flinched away from him. "Three months if you can control your stomach," Chrom said.
Nykolai huffed. "Yeah right." He lifted his head slightly and glanced at Lucina. "So, what were you going to tell me?"
Published 1/20/2015
