Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem

Chapter 21: Prince of Darkness

Razia. The continent of oracles.

It's prince, sir Colvin, stared out of his bedchamber window. His favorite one, that presents a clear, undistorted view of the sea. Especially his favorite on a sunrise and sunset, when the clouds had vanished over the horizon, leaving a golden red sky.

That was not the case today; the sky was black with storm clouds, the likes of which he had never seen before. Lightning raged and flashed in the air, thunder roared and boomed. Winds that threatened to blow the castle down, waves that threatened to sink the entire continent. It was as if the gods themselves were doing battle in the heavens.

A flash of lightning, followed by a bust of thunder, drove him back. It looked so close! It was at the very window front, threatening to come in. Cautiously, he peered down the windowsill. Right where the gate of the castle used to be, a crater had appeared. It wasn't that large, however, and he reasoned this must be so only because the lightning had been a quick strike. Still, the gate had been totally demolished, in the brief flashes of lightning; he could see the palace guards beginning to crowd around it. Their curiosity was understandable; it was the first time lightning had struck a gate at such low an altitude, especially if there were other, much higher, things to hit. He's curiosity peaked, he would liked to have gone and investigated. Unfortunately, he was supposed to be deep in his studies. He sighed, and strained to see though the darkness. Through another brief flash of lightning, he saw a guard bend down and pick something up from the crater. Another flash, and he could see the guards crowding around him. He could see the silhouette of the guards running into the castle, enough was enough, he had to know what was going on.

He came down, and ran out into the throne room, a solider was presenting something to his father, the king.

"My liege," said the guard, "We have found this, a message from the gods."

His father raised an eyebrow, his well know look of skepticism.

"What makes you think this is from the gods?" he asked.

"It came down in a lightning bolt sir."

His father's eyebrows furrowed, a look of curiosity, "A lightning bolt you say?"

"Y-Yes."

"…I see." The king rose, "Show me where you found this."

"B-But sir! It's soaking wet outside!"

"Do you think I care if my outfit gets wet?" the king asked, "Do you think me a vain, pompous fool?"

"N-N-No sir! Of course not!" said the guard hastily.

"Then take me to where you found this immediately!"

"O-Of course sir! Right this way!"

It was at that time that Colvin decided to reveal himself, "Father, what's all the commotion about?" he asked.

His father looked to him, "Oh, it's nothing son. Go back to your studies."

He groaned quietly, he was hoping he wouldn't say that.

The thing in the soliders hands started glowing at the sound of his voice, "S-sir!" cried the solider.

The king and Colvin turned; an unknown force pushed the solider back. He flew from the stone against the wall, the stone floated in mid-air, looking very similar to a firefly. It flew as fast as the lightning that carried it, zigzagging it's way through the air aimlessly. More guards arrived at the scene, but only to pay eyewitness to the spectacle for themselves.

The stone finally ceased its random flight and flew straight for one of the guards. The guard flinched and covered its face to protect himself; it turned away at the last possible second and flew to the next face. He reacted in a similar fashion; it only got halfway to him before it turned away. It went straight for the king; all the guards reacted to that. But before they could step forward to protect him the stone was already in his face.

The king did not flinch, or even move, either because he was very brave or he didn't have the time. The stone hung on the brink of actually touching his nose; it darted around his head, seemingly examining him. Was he the right one?

Suddenly, the stone darted off in the direction of prince Colvin. He flinched, the stone stopped dead in near the bridge of his nose. He crossed his eyes to see it; it flew circles around his head. Examining every little detail, every little feature of his person. Finally, it flew back a few feet, stopped in mid air, and shot at him with renewed force.

He raised his arms to shield his face, the stone was undaunted, it seemed to fly faster with no intention of stopping, until, all of a sudden, it disappeared.

The guards could not even react; they just stood there, weapons poised as if an invisible assailant were about to strike. The prince froze with his arms still up to protect his face, until he realized, with great embarrassment, that he was acting like a coward and that nothing was coming. He lowered his arms.

"W-where did it go?" asked a solider from the crowd.

They looked around; there was nothing, no sign of the mysterious stone for a time. Until something caught the king's eye, he pointed to something sparkling in his son's left hand.

"Son…look…" he managed to say.

The prince looked to his left hand, an aghast expression on his face.

The stone had embedded itself into the back of his hand.

It was glowing slightly; he held it up, "Father, what does this mean?" he asked.

His father came closer to him and inspected the stone with a look of amazement on his face, "It means…" he said with awe in his voice, "You have been chosen by the goddess son…"

"Chosen…by the goddess?"

Colvin lay on his bed, hands behind his back, staring at the ceiling. All the continents greatest scholars couldn't figure out what had attached itself to his hand, they looked though every available reference. Every story, every document, every earthly record of the goddess's actions showed no reference to what had happened last night.

He sighed, he could hear the guards outside his door chatting about it, it seemed they were present. Of course they were, practically every one in the castle was there. He sighed again, why did it have to be him?

He shut his eyes and fell asleep.

When he opened them again, he was flying in the air, thousands of feet above the continent.

"What the…? What the heck's going on!" he asked

"It seems to me, you're flying," answered a very young, purple haired girl.

Colvin turned to face the girl, "Yeah, I can see that. But the last time I checked I couldn't fly…and who are you?"

"You wouldn't believe me," said the girl, "Even if I told you."

"Try me."

"Alright, I am the creator of the universe," she began, "I am the maker of worlds, I am the maker of the void. I have created the shining sun and the cold night sky; I am your alpha, and your omega. I am Ashera! The goddess of all you can see!"

"You're right…I don't believe you…"

The girl's voice suddenly became the booming equivalent of thunder, "You dare call me a liar!"

The sky around them darkened, the white clouds took on an angry black color, the winds around them became forceful. Ashera suddenly rose in a raging torrent of clouds and lightning, Colvin held his hands up to protect himself against the splicing winds, he was afraid they would blow him out to sea.

"Okay!" he called over the howls of wind and the booming of thunder, "I believe you!"

The winds ceased, the clouds took their white color back, the sky turned blue once again. Ashera came down to his level, "It always takes a couple of frightening theatrics to get them to believe," she said to no one in particular.

Colvin slowly lowered his arms from his face; he looked at the little girl, who had formed a throne out of one of the clouds. "So…" he began, before Ashera cut him off.

"Let me guess, you have so many questions," she said, "Like why I chose you, and what do you have to do to serve my will, and blah blah blah." She made a mouth open-close gesture with her hands.

"I do have questions," said Colvin, "Starting with the first, why did you choose me?"

She shrugged and shifted upon her cloud throne, "I don't know…I guess it's because you're royalty…People will listen to you."

"Huh…I see…"

"And to get to the second question, look down below," she pointed down, back to the earth. Colvin looked and he could see a great battle taking place on the beeches of Razia, "What's happening?" he asked.

"What does it look like?" asked Ashera, her cloud throne disappeared and she lay on her stomach, hands holding up her head, "Their…what is it you mortals do so often…oh yeah, fighting!"

On the shallows of the beach, he could see the warships of the invading force. More and more troops poured out of the ships, and more ships came to the aid of the invaders. Wave after wave of them came from the sea, threatening to completely overwhelm the army of Razia.

"We must do something!" said Colvin.

Ashera sighed, "Calm down, none of this is really happening."

"What?"

"Well, not yet," she put a finger to her lips, "I'd say in about…a few weeks."

Colvin stared at her blankly, "You don't get it do you?" she asked.

He shook his head, Ashera sighed, "It's a vision," she said, "This is what would happen in the future."

"Is there anything I could do to stop it?" he asked.

"Of course!" she said," That's the whole reason I gave you the oracle stone in the first place! To stop things like this from happening!"

"…But why me?" he asked.

" I just answered that."

"But why Razia? What have we done to win you're favor?"

"Mmmmm…" she gave a long pause before she answered, "Nothing"

"But then why?"

She shrugged, "I don't know…I just find it interesting to meddle in mortal affaires."

Suddenly the scene began to fade, his vision became blurry, his head began to ache, he looked to the girl but already she seemed to be fading away like a cloud…

He woke up, back in his room. The guards were still chatting, barely any time had passed since he fell asleep. He sat up, he was panting and sweating. Was it just a dream? Could it really be true? Had he just met the goddess of this world? He looked to his left hand; the oracle stone was glowing as if all the light in the sun was shinning on it.

There was no doubt in his mind, what he saw was real.

He had to tell his father immediately! No, not immediately, Ashera said the attack would come in a few weeks. His father wouldn't wait that long, he would tell him in advance, when the attack was just at their doorstep. Oh! But he didn't know when the attack was coming! She hadn't given specifics. He growled in frustration, what kind of goddess was she anyway? There was no use for it then, he had to tell his father now. Perhaps if he pleaded, he would send some watchmen out to patrol the beaches at least. After all, the goddess had chosen him, and, seeing as how he was chosen just a few hours ago, his father couldn't really argue.

"…So what happened next?" Nathan asked the twelve year old, purple haired girl as they floated above his unconscious body.

"Well, of course his father listened to him," said Ashera, "How could he not? He sent a huge army to patrol the beaches and, after the first week, the invading forces came and were slaughtered."

"I see," said Nathan, nodding his head understandingly. He looked to Bartimaeus and Faquarl, who were engrossed in a game of crazy eights.

"When do you think he's finally going to get up?" asked Bartimaeus, as he put a card down, "King of spades!"

"I don't know," replied Faquarl as he put another card down on the ever-growing pile, "You know these visions could last from a couple of minutes to a few days. Ace of spades!"

"Drat!" Bartimaeus drew a card from a deck, from Nathan's vantage point he could see it wasn't the one he'd hoped for. He let out an angry sigh and drew another, and another, and another.

Faquarl let out a hardy laugh as he watched him draw more and more cards, " I've said it before, and I'll say it again," he said as he waved his last two cards mockingly, "You'll never be able to beat me at cards Bartimaeus! I mean look at you! You've practically got the whole deck in your hand!"

Bartimaeus mumbled something under his breath and drew another card, finally! Spades!

He slapped the card down onto the pile enthusiastically, "Seven of spades!"

Faquarl put down a card, "Seven of clovers."

Bartimaeus looked though his cards and found not a seven or a clover, "o for the love of…" he drew another card out of the deck.

"Hehehehe…"

Nathan looked to the girl; she was twirling her finger in the air, pointing at the deck of cards. He watched Bartimaeus.

"Drat!" he said, and drew another.

Nathan looked back to the goddess, she found him looking at her. "What?" she asked.

"…Are you really the goddess Ashera?" he asked.

"You dare call me-"

"Okay! Okay! Sorry I asked"

Ashera let out a puff, "So, shall we continue with the story?"

Nathan nodded.

So it went that the great prince Colvin became the first oracle. He led the armies of Razia to many victories; his cunning tactics were flawless. Even his enemies acknowledged him as invincible; they cowered in fear at the might of Razia's army and his genius. But the more they told him he was invincible, the more he believed it.

Then one day, the goddess Ashera paid him a visit.

"I have a favor to ask of you," she said.

"What is thy wish? O great goddess?" he asked, as he bowed on one knee.

She rolled her eyes, "Don't flatter me, it doesn't get you anywhere."

He stood up, "Sorry."

"Anyways, my brother Demitri is plotting against me," she began, "I guess he doesn't like the way I run things around here. But nevertheless, I was put in charge and I'll become a mortal before someone takes that away from me! Especially if it's my two-timing, lousy sneak of a brother!"

Colvin nodded understandingly, "So…what is it you need me to do again?" he asked.

"My brother has developed a sort of armor," began Ashera, "He plans to use it against me. It's supposed to make any one who wears it invulnerable to any attack."

"Including yours?" Colvin asked.

"Well…not mine…" she answered uncertainly, "…I think…well anyways, I don't think he was planning to use it against me."

"Who was he planning to use it against?"

"The world," she answered nonchalantly, "He was probably going to get some foolish, power hungry mortal to wear the armor and do his bidding for all of eternity. This way he would gain dominion over the mortal world."

"I see…"

"So I want you to find this armor and bring it back to me."

"But isn't it hidden…you know…" he pointed a finger upwards.

"Of course not! If he hid it up there I'd find it immediately!"

"Oh…and uh, what's my reward for all of this?"

"Your reward…?" she asked, "your REWARD!" she repeated, her voice booming, "I've given you the power to transcend time and you want more!"

"I was just asking-"

"ENOUGH! Find the armor! And never speak to me again until you've found it! You understand me!"

Before he could reply, Ashera clapped her mighty hands together and everything disappeared in a flash of light.

And he woke.

It took almost a year to find the legendary armor. A year out at sea, searching from continent to continent. Until finally, out in the middle of the ocean, on a creaky old boat crewed by Razia's elite marines, he found it.

He watched as the crew pulled and tugged on the ropes, which, in turn, would manipulate the crane, which would haul the armor up from the great bowls of the sea. Heave ho! Heave ho! They went. Until the sea relinquished their prize, and the Armor of Demitri hung from the hook of the crane, its spike-studded shoulders glistening in the sunlight.

The crew cheered as they set sail for home.

He met with Ashera on the return voyage.

"Do you have the armor?" she asked.

"I do" he replied.

"Good, meet me at the Winnow Lake."

"Winnow Lake? Back in Razia?"

"Of course back in Razia! That's where you're going isn't it?" She crossed her arms and let out a huff, "And come by yourself, capise?"

Colvin woke up then, the sun was shinning out through the curtains of his room. For a dream that felt like it lasted a few minutes it sure took long. He got up, dressed, and came up to the deck, and to Razia.

He came to the lake, after trekking up hill, through the forest, with a suit of heavy armor on his back. He let out an exhausted sigh and let the armor drop from his shoulders; he bent down and took a long sip from the lake.

"Refreshing, isn't it?" asked a dark, cold voice.

Colvin immediately stood up and drew his sword; he pointed it at the stranger, "Who are you?"

The stranger stepped forward, "I am Demitri"

"D-Demitri?" Colvin asked, still not lowering her sword.

The stranger chuckled quietly as he walked into the water, to Colvin's surprise, the water did not touch him, and he trod on water as if it was no big deal at all. He stopped, nearly touching the point of Colvin's sword.

"Put that away," he said, as he pushed the sword down with one finger, "I'm not here to do you harm"

"What are you here for then?" Colvin asked, as he sheathed his sword. He didn't want to listen to the dark god; he just thought it didn't make much sense to try using a sword, a mortal weapon, against a god.

"I'm here to make a proposal," he said, "One that you would do well not to refuse."

"…And if I do?" Colvin asked.

"Well, listen to it first before you make up your mind," said the dark god, he gave a smirk, Colvin flinched.

"You want your armor back?" he asked.

"No," said Demitri, "actually I want you to have it."

"…Really?"

"Yes," Demitri began to pace around, "You see, I need someone on this world to do my bidding while I battle my sister in the heavens. Someone with talent, with cunning, with strength and influence."

Colvin chuckled, "And you want me?"

"Well, why not?" asked Demitri, "You're powerful, intelligent, you've led campaigns that the gods themselves couldn't compare to."

"Well…"

"I've been watching you, Prince Colvin," he said, "You have everything it takes to be ruler of this world."

"Ruler…of the world…?"

"Yes, here, let me show you something…"

He pointed a finger at an empty space of nothing, and sitting there was a suit of armor not unlike the suit he had brought up the hill. There were a few differences though; this suit was complete with gauntlets, steel boots, a helmet, and even blood red cape. It was also entirely black, and lacked the spikes on its shoulders. Colvin walked up to it, feeling a cold, and the same time, queasy feeling in his stomach. He picked up the helmet, the faceplate was entirely covered, save for a Y like slit for the eyes. The tips of his fingers felt cold.

"This is my armor, my true armor," said Demitri, "Is it not a work of art? Can you not feel it's power?"

"…Yes…"

"Serve me, prince Colvin, and I can give you power beyond your wildest dreams," said the dark god, "You will lay waste to nations without need of an army, the highest kings will bow to you, the tallest walls will crumble to dust at the swipe of your sword!"

"But…Ashera…"

"My sister is a fool! She does not see your power! She fears it! She knows you can become more powerful than anyone in the heavens! That is why she limits your power!"

"…"

"But join me, and I will not be so cruel as to restrain your power, I will let it roam free, run rampant on this world! Together, you and I, we could rule the heavens! We could rule everything we see, everything we touch!"

Colvin listened, unable to breathe. He could feel the cold gripping him, he wanted to get away, he wanted to run. But, at the same time, he didn't want to run. He wanted to kill…

He wanted power…

"Everything…I could rule…"

"Everything," finished the dark god, he picked up Colvin's sword, which he had absentmindedly dropped on the ground, "Kneel, sir Colvin."

Colvin did as Demitri commanded, and knelt as if he were about to be knighted.

"Sir Colvin," said Demitri, as he touched his shoulder with the flat part of his sword, "I dub thee…The Black Knight…" he said as he touched his other shoulder, "Rise, dawn your new armor, and lay waste to everything in your path. Make this world suffer the likes of which will forever be remembered in the annals of history!"

And, with a whirl of wind and swirling armor parts, the first Black Knight was born.

"…So what happened to Colvin?" asked Nathan.

"Huh? Oh, after my brother was defeated I imprisoned him in his own castle," replied the goddess.

"You mean, this castle?"

"Yep"

"Why didn't you just do away with him?"

"I wanted to teach him a lesson, no one betrays me and gets away with it!"

"But he still must've died!"

"His soul was imprisoned in the armor for all of eternity," said the goddess, "That is, until your master freed him and took the curse for himself…"

"Why did my master want the armor?" asked Nathan

She shrugged, "I don't know, I don't pry into the personal matters of mortals…"

"So, what caused the great flood?" Nathan asked.

"None of your business." Ashera answered simply, "Any more questions?"

"Yes, why did you showed me all this?"

"Well…I thought I would show you how good at storytelling I am!"

"…I see…"

"Any more?"

"Just one, why weren't my visions as clear as Colvin's?"

She crossed her legs and put a finger to her lips, taking a moment to think, finally, she answered, "Eh, I just like messing with you…"