25 – VALIDAR

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The Third Timeline

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A day after we destroyed the Fire Emblem, I am woken in the middle of the night by Henry quietly shaking me. I blink up at him and he puts a finger to her lips, nodding at Chrom sleeping beside me.

I slip out of bed and put on my coat. Henry points at the twisted metal of the Fire Emblem and I pick it up, following him out into the darkness. We steal silently through the camp and he leads me out to a hilltop nearly a mile away.

Olivia is waiting for us, Jasper perched on her shoulder, staring watchfully into the dark.

"What's going on?" I ask.

"Jasper spotted a wyvern five miles away north of the camp."

"Validar," I say. "We have to intercept him before he reaches the others."

I glance back at the glow of the dying campfires with a tug of pain in my heart. Should I warn Chrom?

"You wanted Chrom left out of this," Henry whispers, reading my mind.

"I know, but…"

"He'll just get in your way. You might feel like shit lying to him but you'll feel worse watching him die."

"How could this all be happening so quickly? All our plans are for nothing now," I say.

"Yes, thank you for that astute summary, Gray," Henry snaps. "You'll go first, distract Validar. He knows who you are. He doesn't know about me. And he certainly won't expect Olivia's blade in his back."

"Alright. I go ahead, Olivia goes behind, and you?"

"You said in the castle Validar vanished. I will hold him in place. Drain spells are my specialty," he says.

I nod, my stomach feeling sick. I expected years to prepare for this, then I was given days.

To my surprise, Henry's hostile manner disappears abruptly and he grabs me in a hug and holds me for a long moment.

"You're going to live," he says quietly. "I know you're powerful enough for this. You are more than your magic."

"As are you," I say. "I love you, Henry."

"Damn right," he says, then adds awkwardly, "I also… you know, love you."

Jasper caws in alarm and we snap back to attention, magic readied in our hands.

Panic has been clouding my mind ever since we reached the hilltop, thoughts racing through mind about Chrom, about a fight I don't even think I can win. But worse still is the thought that if I don't, it might not just be me that dies.

"Gray! Come on," Henry whispers at me.

I see a shadow blot out the stars ahead of us and the strike of terror in my heart clears the panic from my mind with urgency and adrenaline. I bolt forward, racing down the hill towards a sheltered valley where I figure a fight could be best contained.

I draw deep of my fire, feeling the dragon magic intertwine with the flames and send a powerful burst of blue flame towards the shape. I hear the screech of the wounded wyvern and the beast plummets towards the earth.

A small flare of dark magic glitters in the air then suddenly a man is standing in front of me. My heart jumps into my throat and I instinctively send flames hurtling towards him.

Validar deflects them and stares at me in the moonlight. "What a pleasant surprise, Gray."

Red light and static bleeds into my brain and I grit my teeth, willing it to clear. "There is nothing for you here," I say. "I destroyed the Fire Emblem."

"I highly doubt that."

I throw the melted metal husk down at his feet. "See for yourself."

Validar leans down and examines it. "There's no way you did this, unless-" He jumps up and stares at me, then laughs. "No…"

I try to take advantage of his surprise to blast him with a spell but he turns into thin air and appears at my side. He grabs my wrists and holds me in place, studying my face. I struggle against his paralyzing magic and look up to meet his eyes.

Again the streaks of scarlet pain and a roar rise up in my mind. His eyes stare into mine and he smiles. "I was wrong about you, wasn't I? This is incredible."

I cry out and send fire searing through my skin. He flinches and I yank out of his grip, casting more spells at him. I can feel the dark magic rearing through my body and I focus all my will on controlling it.

Validar deflects my spells with ease, never ceasing his evaluating gaze. "You really did destroy the Fire Emblem," he says. "I didn't think it possible."

He closes his eyes for a second and focuses his magic. I fire a spell at him, but before it hits him, he leaps forward and tackles me. I feel my body torn apart by a force like a storm then I blink and I am lying on the grass on the other side of the valley and Validar is standing above me.

"I think we should leave," he says to me, holding down his hand to help me up. "There is much we should speak of, daughter. It is a lucky fate, working so tirelessly to find the Emblem and then stumbling on something far more useful."

"I'm not going anywhere," I tell him.

He holds my body in his paralysis spell and says, "I don't think you have much of a choice."

"My magic is powerful, but it isn't what you think it is."

He laughs. "You think I don't feel Grima in you? You think you can lie? Your mind is pathetic. It always was. But your magic is so much stronger than I imagined. I wonder what has caused it to grow."

I see a flash of movement behind him. Henry!

Validar reaches out to touch me but then he gasps, his body going rigid. Pulling myself to my feet, I lurch forward and grab his head in my hands. I unleash the dark magic inside me, letting it tear its way free of my chest and flow through my arms, crackling and burning through my blood.

Validar yells in agony but I can hardly hear him over the chaos in my mind.

Voices scream, red lightning strikes, and laughter echoes louder and louder until I cannot hear anything else. I cannot discern what is my brain turning on itself and what is real. The dragon magic rears with unimaginable pain, surging back towards my core. I drop to my knees and my hands raise of their own accord, flames shooting forth, not at Validar, but at the figure behind him.

Henry cries out and his spell breaks. Validar's body convulses, then he steadies himself and draws an all-too-familiar blade from a sheath at his side. His body is trembling and his skin is horribly burnt.

I flinch, anticipating the slash of the knife across my throat, but instead he hands the hilt out to me.

"Take this," he commands.

I stagger to my feet and take the Levin sword.

"Kill your brother. I wish to speak to you alone," he says.

Spells strike at Validar but he deflects Henry's magic with a violent pulse. My feet move unsteadily forward, then I am running, blade drawn, leaping at Henry. He dodges my attack, but it throws him onto his back on the grass.

Flame crackles along the blade and I swing it down towards him. He rolls to the side and sends a pulse of magic to knock me off my feet.

"Gray!"

I think he is calling to me, but his voice feels so faraway. Maybe it is an illusion.

"GRAY."

For a moment it stirs a resistance in me and I hesitate.

Validar steps forward and yells, "Damn you both! Kill him! Prove how strong you are or I will kill you myself."

I hack at Henry again but he is on his feet, running away. I throw myself after him and grab his coat, throwing him back down on the ground. He struggles but I plunge the blade into his leg and he cries out.

His magic hurls me off him and the blade flies from my hand. Henry rolls onto his back, palms outraised. I sense his energy surging to life inside him and I fire a blast at the same moment. The twin spells meet each other and roar against each other's power.

Validar's laughter comes to my ears. "He can't be stronger than you!" he taunts. "KILL HIM!"

I push my magic outwards and hear Henry's screams. But before my fire can engulf him, a sword slices through my back, the agony clearing the red light and noise from my mind. I feel the blade wrench out and I fall to the ground, a blast of energy exploding from within me.

Olivia cries out behind me as the magic hits her.

"No!" Validar yells, lunging towards me.

Henry's spell soars into a whirlwind, consuming Validar in the storm. A pulse of magic erupts, shattering the earth and air around us. My vision spins and I can feel my magic pouring from my body along with the blood pooling around me.

Validar emerges from the chaos and appears in front of Henry, paralyzing him with a drain spell.

I pray for anything, any shred of power left in my spirit, but my natural energy is gone. All that is left is the sickening remnants of Validar's magic twisting and roiling inside my core.

Seizing it, I raise my hand to fire a spell at Validar but the magic fights back, straining to turn on Henry instead.

I pull from deep within myself to overcome the magic's rage, harder and more desperately than I ever have before, knowing that the impossible strain on my body could kill me. Keeping my palm facing at Validar, I cast the drain spell.

I can only keep the dragon magic under control for a second before I know it will turn once more on Henry. But it is long enough for Henry to break free from the paralysis. A ragged cry escapes his throat and he lunges at Validar and grabs onto him, unleashing the full force of his dark magic.

Blood, bone and flesh shatter into the air with a horrible thunder crack. Henry collapses to the ground amidst the carnage as if struck dead.

I try to draw from the energy inside me to move, but instantly my vision goes black.

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A voice is singing, or maybe weeping.

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More voices, yelling, pleading, crying.

Green light shines then goes dark.

.

This time when my consciousness returns, I hear his voice, growing clearer and clearer. "Do something! Please! She's got a little life left. I know!"

I try to call out to Chrom, but I am in a whole different world, it seems.

"She's gone!" Lissa says.

The more I sense of their voices, the more pain grips my body. It isn't physical pain, but rather the darkness warring inside me against the healing spells, forcing the magic outwards from my spirit. I try to control it with my own energy but all I have left is the wild, ruthless dragon magic.

"Keep trying!"

"I can't do anything! I've healed her body but she's still dying! I can't stop it!"

"What did you do?" Chrom says savagely. "How come she isn't healing?"

"I had to stop her!" Olivia says. "You weren't there. She was possessed!"

Chrom yells and I hear Olivia cry out, "It wasn't the sword that killed her! Look! The wound has healed! Her body is fine! It's Validar's magic left in her. It's tearing her apart!"

"There is a tiny spark of natural magic left but I don't know if it's hers," Lissa says.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know if it's her magic I feel in her, or… or the baby's. I think Gray's dead. I don't think it's her magic."

"Baby? What do you-?" Chrom's voice is so panicked I can hardly recognize it as his.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I can't- I can't save either of them. The magic is resisting me," Lissa says.

"Get out of my way," Henry yells.

"There's nothing you can do!"

"FUCK YOU ALL! MOVE."

The pain flares, pulling through my body. Henry cries out as my darkness flows into him, poisoning his magic and energy.

"Henry, stop!" Olivia says. "Please! Henry!"

"It's Validar's magic stopping us," he chokes out. "I can feel it. But it's so tangled up in Gray's that I..."

"Why is it stopping us?" Chrom demands.

"It's out of control… after we killed…" Henry gasps and his words fail. I can feel the dragon magic growing fainter and fainter. "Go… now…" Henry whispers. "It's almost… gone."

"Stop! I can't heal her. I've got nothing left. I'm not powerful enough. I've used everything!"

"Lissa, please! You've got to have enough for one last spell. Please!" Chrom begs.

A tentative bit of green light sparks in my mind then fails.

"Liss!" Chrom says. "No, no, no, no. Don't fail me now. Please…"

With one last wrenching tug, I feel the darkness leave my body. I fall into the emptiness in terror, sensing nothing but silence.