20 – THE FUTURE OF THE PAST

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The Third Timeline

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The next morning we make camp and rest for the last time before reaching Ylisstol. Chrom is almost dead on his feet from weariness and he falls asleep within moments.

As I take first watch, Henry and Olivia make a small campfire and sit beside it.

The two of them don't seem to remember I am here. It is as if once Henry broke through his discomfort with being close to her, he is trying to make up for years of a lack of touch. Pulling Olivia into his lap, he wraps his arms around her tightly. With a fond smile, she reaches up to run her fingers through his hair.

He whispers something in her ear and presses his lips against her neck. She turns around to kiss him, slowly at first, testing to see if she is pushing his boundaries, and when he pulls her closer, she kisses him more passionately.

Shaking my head at their obliviousness, I take my tea and walk away from them, stationing myself for my watch several yards away and facing in the other direction. Thankfully, Chrom's snoring provides a nice background of noise to muffle the sound of them kissing and talking.

I hum a song to myself and enjoy the warmth of the tea in my body even if it is Ylissean herbs.

Several hours later, once everyone has fallen asleep, I hear footsteps and glance up to see Henry walking over to sit beside me.

"You should be resting," I say. "We've had a long journey."

"Unless I hex myself that's not going to happen," he answers.

"Show me how to do the hex and I'll make sure you sleep for days."

"There's no way in hell I'm teaching you hexes," he says.

He is silent for a while and I look at him, wondering if there is something on his mind he wants to talk about. It is hard to tell with his unreadable expression.

"So are you going to go back to Ferox with Olivia when all this is over?" I ask.

"She doesn't want to go back to Ferox," he says.

"Oh. Where will you go then?"

Henry turns to face me. "When have I ever wanted to make small talk with you?"

"What did you want to speak of then?"

"I've been thinking."

"I'm surprised. I thought you had been too busy kissing."

"Will you shut the hell up and listen to me?"

I'm taken aback at his tone and say, "I'm… sorry. I didn't mean to offend you. I'm happy for you and Olivia. Truly."

He waves away the comment with his hand impatiently. "I've been thinking about your magic and mine. You remember what I told you when we first met? When I cast the tracking hex on your blood it was too easy to find you."

"Maybe I have very unique blood."

"You do," he says. "So I tested it with my magic as best I could. It reacts to things the same way mine does."

"What do you mean?"

"Magic is carried in your blood. You and I have the same kind of magic. I've learned to use mine differently, but the core of it is the same. I am sure of it."

"Henry, I can't remember anything of my past. If there is some connection between us, I don't have any answers as to it."

"Your memory is missing too?"

"I can't remember anything before Chrom found me lying in the dirt in Ylisse."

"My memory goes back further than yours then," he says. "But it stops when I was around twelve or thirteen years old. Whatever made me like this, I have no memory of it."

"Made you like what?" I ask. "Aren't dark mages common in Plegia?"

"I'm different from them. My magic is damaged. My brain is damaged. And yours is obviously too. I've never understood it but I've learned to control the magic to some extent to keep myself safe. You make a lot of enemies when a crazy pulse spell accidentally blasts through the roof of an orphanage."

"You were in an orphanage?"

He looks up at me angrily. "That is none of your business."

"I'm sorry. I want to understand what is wrong with our magic. I want to fix it, fix us both. We both have people we love who we can't risk hurting."

"I am well aware," he says. "Once we reach the capitol and I make sure Olivia is safe, I'm going to disappear. She'll never see me again and she'll be a lot better for it. You better leave her alone too. You are as much of a danger as me. But don't worry; I'm going to leave Jasper with her, so that if something ever happens to her, I can…"

He struggles with the emotion until he has buried it away and his face returns to its normal expression.

"Before that, though, I want to understand finally," he says. "I don't think we can fix what's wrong with us but maybe we can find the bastard who did it to us and make him pay for it."

"Why do you think someone made us like this?"

"Because someone threw me out like trash with my brain scrubbed blank and someone left you in Ylisse. I've experimented with erasing memories. It can be done to someone else but you cannot do it to yourself."

"Is there a way to recover my memories though?" I ask. "Have you tried that?"

Henry shifts uncomfortably. "I've considered it, but…"

"But what?"

"I'm a coward," he says. "I'm afraid that no matter how terrible my life has been what came before might be worse."

"Henry, you are not a-"

"I am. But you, you're fearless. You are a moon-brained idiot."

"Thanks."

"If you can remember who did this to us then I will kill him. Slowly. And he won't be doing it to anyone else."

I consider his theory and say, "I would do it but I'm afraid that if it affects my magic, that darkness will take over me again."

"I've considered that. I'm going to paralyze you so you cannot go on a murdering spree if the spell goes wrong."

"Your magic has been weak lately. Are you sure you can stop me?"

He nods. "I will do whatever I have to."

"If you can't stop my magic like you did last time, I need to know that you will kill me before I hurt Chrom or Olivia."

"Oh I will," he says.

I find his willingness unsettling but I am glad at least that I can trust him to make a decision that others would be unable to.

"Do you even know how a spell like this can be done?" I ask.

"I have a hunch," he says.

"A hunch? This is my mind you are experimenting with!"

"I've got a theory. A strong theory," he says. "Do you want me to waste time explaining the interconnectedness of magic and the brain or can we get this over with?"

I glance over at Chrom, sleeping peacefully in the sunlight. "Alright. Do it."

Henry shakes his head. "You really are crazy."

"Promise me something, though," I say. "If I live through this, teach me how to talk to animals."

"I can't promise animals will want to talk to you. You don't always have the best manners. They're sensitive creatures."

"Fuck you, Henry. Just do the spell."

He hesitates then raises his hands and closes his eyes, flinching as his magic surges to life. My body goes rigid and instinctively I try to struggle but my arms and legs are paralyzed. I feel a stab of pain behind my eyes as magic pierces into my head and my body kicks into panic.

Henry strains at his magic until blood trickles from his nose then he gasps and the spell breaks.

"What's wrong?" I ask.

"Your conscious mind is fighting me like a cornered wolf. This isn't going to work unless I can reach your subconscious with my magic."

I take a deep breath and search around until I find a large flat rock. I hand it to Henry and say, "Knock me out then."

"Your prince is going to kill me."

"He won't hear anything over his snoring."

Henry smiles and picks up the rock. "Hold still."

I clench my eyes shut and grit my teeth. I feel the movement of his arm and then the force of the rock against my head, followed by darkness.

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The memories overwhelm me - weeks, months, years of them. All the pieces of the second Gray's life that I haven't seen. Some memories stand out more vividly and painfully than others.

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"Chrom!" I shouted as I lost sight of him in the overwhelming onslaught of Risen.

I tried to blast my way through the fight but my magic was beginning to wane and it was all I could do to fight the nearest monster. I hacked through one with my Levin sword then sent a blast of fire through another.

A scream came from nearby and I forced my way through the fight towards the sound. I caught sight of a flash of pink hair and the glint of a katana. One of the Risen's blade sliced my arm and I whirled around to burn him to ash then continued to fight my way towards Olivia.

As I broke through to them I saw Henry on his knees, covered in blood. His body was frozen rigid with a drain spell and I saw the dark magic flashing through the fight from the sorceress Aversa.

Olivia was fighting desperately to protect him from the attacking monsters as he was paralyzed. I leapt to her side to help.

"Kill her!" she yelled. "Kill that bitch before she kills him!"

I knocked back one of the Risen and threw myself towards Aversa. She saw me coming and laughed. Raising both hands, I raged my magic into the most powerful spell I had left in me. I hurled the flames towards her and she shrieked.

It didn't kill her but it did knock her off balance. I tried to launch another spell but before I could summon the flames I saw a sword pierce her body, its tip jutting through her ribs as she was stabbed from behind. She fell and I saw Chrom behind her, Falchion dripping with her blood.

"Henry!" Olivia shouted. "Please! Someone help him!"

Chrom rushed to our side and defended us from attack as I dropped to my knees beside Henry. He was lying on the dirt, unmoving, blood dripping from his lips. I touched his head, reaching out with my magic, but I was met only with silence and cold.

"Do something! Gray!"

"I don't have healing magic," I told her. "Even if I did, he's… he's gone."

She took Henry's body into her arms and kissed his forehead. "No, no, no," she sobbed. "Please, please, use your magic. Come back to me."

Tears of helplessness came to my own eyes. "Olivia, we have to get out of here."

"Leave then! Leave him here in the dirt and the blood. I'm not going anywhere," she cried.

"Gray!" Chrom said. "We need to move."

I tried to pick Olivia up but she lashed out at me and screamed. "No!"

I backed up and summoned a spell to my fingertips, releasing it carefully. The blast knocked her back against the ground, rendering her unconscious but unharmed. I picked her up and handed her to Chrom. "Take her! Go!"

I started to follow, then look back at Henry. Olivia was right. We couldn't leave him here like this.

"No, Gray-" Chrom said but I was already running back to Henry's side and slinging his body over my shoulders. I wasn't built as strong as other men and I staggered under the weight, but I clenched my teeth and pushed myself to move.

Lucina rejoined us and defended Chrom as he fled the battle with Olivia. Grief and rage were coursing through my body, lending new strength to my magic. I sent a spell into the approaching Risen that blasted them off their feet.

Tears streaming down my face, I carried Henry's body away from the fight, my heart heavy as lead in my chest.

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Validar smiled at me and the darkness in my magic flared, the red light and chaos in my mind growing louder.

"You've come home finally, son, right as I need you."

"Go to hell."

"Not yet. Grima needs a body and my magic isn't able to contain his. But yours… I thought it wasn't strong enough. I'd tried before with your pathetic brother but he was so useless I had to dump him off in an orphanage. I was pleased to hear that Aversa killed him in your last battle. But you… here you are again, strong enough to be the sacrifice our god needs and foolish enough to fall back into my hands."

"I'll die first and so will you."

"You can't kill me. You carry my blood, the blood of the dragon. His soul slumbers within you. And now the time has come to awaken you both."

"I'm Grima? I'm the fell dragon?"

"Your life began with the purpose of reviving his and it will end with it."

"My life did not begin with you. It began the day Chrom found me in that field. I have been all over this world, and I have helped change it for the better. I have fought and laughed and bled with those I love and that is more powerful than any magic."

"A ludicrous idea. It stinks of the filth of Ylissean ideals. But you will know better than anyone else soon enough."

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"You can't do it," Morgan said. "You told me that I can't allow Father or I to kill Grima, that it has to be you. But I'm not stupid. You taught me, in my past life, how magic works. If you kill Grima, you'll die."

I reached out and pulled Morgan into a hug. "You are too young to worry about things like this."

"I'm old enough to understand them," he replied, his voice choking with emotion.

"Chrom will take care of you. He loves you as I do. After this is over, stay with him."

"I don't remember him! I remember you!"

"I didn't remember you when you showed up in my reality but I came to love you just as deeply as if you were my own child. Chrom will do the same. I swear to you. Learn to love him too."

"It doesn't matter. I'm not going to lose you again. Let Grima come back in a hundred years. Why the hell should we care? All we have is each other now."

"Morgan…"

"No! You can't just expect me to let this happen."

"I have to," I told him. "You have your fathers strength and you have my mind. You are wise enough to know that this has to end with me. I cannot allow Grima to live. It is the hardest thing you will ever have to do, but I am relying on you to be stronger than anyone should ever have to be."

He yanked out of my arms and stared at me angrily. "Maybe you're not the same Gray I knew."

"I am," I told him. "I might not have raised you but you are still my son and I love you more than anything. You know that. The fact that I found you, that you broke through time to find me, has been the greatest miracle of my life."

The other Gray screamed as Falchion embedded itself deep in his chest. I staggered backwards, all the air ripped from my lungs as if it were my own flesh, blood and bone being torn through. Chrom pulled his sword from the other Gray's chest and raised it.

Before he could strike my voice – the male Gray's voice – screamed, "Valflame!"

"No!" Chrom blocked my spell and collapsed.

The dragon Grima let loose a fell screech and I raised my hand to cast the killing spell.

Lightning blinded my eyes and the other Gray's body spasmed and slipped off the dragon's neck, falling into the clouds below us. I looked over my shoulder to see Morgan gripping his Arcthunder tome with a stunned expression and tears in his eyes.