A/N: This is my Sylvix BB! The accompanying art was drawn by the amazing Mezzo, who can be found on Twitter onionpax. PLEASE go take a look at it!

Prologue

"So this is the legendary blade."

The sword was far heavier than the thin and light rapiers that Eliwood was used to, but the balance was near perfect. He held it aloft near his shoulder in a mock sword form before settling back.

"Durandal, the sword of sacred fire," Lyn said from his side. She wiped at her sweaty brow, smudging dirt across her cheek. She looked as tired as they all felt, after crawling through the belly of the earth to retrieve the sword.

"It's strange, isn't it?" she continued, shuffling closer. "I've never seen it before and yet it feels so... familiar. Somehow."

Eliwood turned back to Durandal, running his fingers alongside the thick flat of the cured steel. The leather-wrapped hilt felt right in his palm as his fingers curled around it.

"I will use this to battle Nergal."

For the first time in their long journey, Eliwood felt as though they actually had a shot, that they might actually stand a chance of saving Elibe and everyone in it. The threat of Nergal had weighed over them for far too long, but with this…

"Come!" Eliwood said, standing straight as he looked to the group around him. Lyn and Karel were the closest to his side, already alert the moment that he called out. "Let us go to the Dragon's Gate!"

Eliwood whirled around with a twirl of his blue cape, arm held out dramatically as he looked off into the distance.

Then there was a soft rumble, followed by a roar.

"What was that?" Lyn asked, hand already thumbing the Mani Katti out of his sheath, her other hand flicking her grimy blonde hair away from her face.

"It can't be good," Karel murmured, "whatever it is."

"I-" Eliwood was interrupted by another roar, this time far closer. Durandal warmed in his hand, before burning with blazing might. "What? The sword it's… It's glowing-"

From the mountains, a mighty dragon flew into the valley. Its brilliant seafoam green scales glittered in the harsh sunlight as it let out another deafening roar, mouth open in a wide gape. It was massive and terrifying beyond compare.

"It can't be!" Eliwood breathed.

Dragons were creatures of old, creatures of myth. They were stories told to children to scare them into behaving and yet…

"It's a dragon," Lyn whispered, her fingers curled tightly around the hilt of her sword.

Even Karel, a man of extreme composure and a little bit of madness, seemed jarred. "How is this possible? How-"

Eliwood felt a tug, a yearning, an indescribable urge to move. His fingers tightened around the soft leather grip of his sword, as his other came to meet it. It wasn't a form that he knew, but at the same time he did know it. It felt familiar.

"Get back!" he yelled, and then his feet moved, almost as if he couldn't control them.

The movement was oddly familiar and he felt no fear as he ran for the beast. The dragon roared in response, raising up on its hind legs, claws splayed wide as it began to reach out. Eliwood acted without thought; it was as if Roland himself were driving him.

Durandal sliced through hardened scales like butter, a clean cut, effortlessly made as though Eliwood had slain hundreds before it. The dragon staggered back and then swayed. Then it fell to the ground, chest heaving heavy breaths as it struggled to pull itself upright again. It failed, crashing to the soft earth as it let out a pitiful whine.

"Eliwood, are you alright?" Karel was the first to reach him, sword ready but his stance wary. He carefully picked his way to Eliwood's side, eyes on the dragon the entire time.

"I… I think so," Eliwood said. He glanced down at Durandal, eyes wide and mind reeling. He wasn't sure what had happened. "It was as if the sword itself was guiding my arm," he said, mouth parted in wonder.

His arm still vibrated with energy and he could feel the blade crackling with it. The dragon was still alive, just barely, chest rising and falling and faltering. Durandal itched to finish the creature off once and for all, but Eliwood managed to hold it at bay.

"The sword of sacred fire was made to fell dragons," said another voice, old and frail with time. Their cadre turned to find that the archsage Athos had found them, having waited for them to finish their trial. "With so much power, who can say what it might be capable of."

Athos stepped closer, but veered towards the dragon instead.

"Lord Athos!" Lyn said, moving to follow after him.

Athos held out a hand and she paused. "This is an ice dragon," he said. Then he frowned, concerne. "Surely not..."

Eliwood went to his side. "Is something the matter, Lord Athos?"

Athos did something that he didn't often do; he hesitated for a long moment. "No," he finally said. "No, I-"

"Let me be the one to answer that," a disembodied voice said. A man warped before them, shrouded in flowing black robes with a red collar. His turban was wrapped around his head askew, but the eye that showed, glinted with malice.

Eliwood felt rage deep within his heart immediately. "Nergal, you blackheart!"

Nergal took a step forward and ran a hand down his robes, dusting them off after his travel. "Ninian proved utterly useless in the end," Nergal said. He looked to the dragon, lips pulled into a dramatic pout as he sighed. "As such, I've come for a replacement. Nils, if you would?"

Eliwood had nearly forgotten that the boy was with them. The moment that Nergal waved his hand, Nils had materialized, face dead and mouth slack. Spelled it seemed, unseeing and unknowing to what was happening around them.

"Nils!" Eliwood started, but stopped when Nergal held a hand out.

"Don't waste your breath. He won't be awake for some time." Energy crackled at Nergal's fingertips, dark and foreboding as his lips quirked into a satisfied smirk. "Nils will do for me what Ninian would not."

They weren't fools. Eliwood and his companions would hold and not engage, watching warily as they waited for Nergal to make the first move. He was far more powerful than them and it would be suicide to make hasty decisions.

Still, Eliwood was angry.

"Scum!" Eliwood yelled, standing his ground. "Where is she?"

The magic at hand dissipated, as Nergal cocked his head to the side, confused. Then he seemed to realize something and his face split into an evil-looking grin. He laughed, an ugly, baffling sort of screech as he threw his head back in madness.

"Eliwood," Karel murmured from his side, and Eliwood could already tell that he was calculating the best action to take. Eliwood held his hand out, telling him to stand down. Karel's mouth twitched, but he did as he was told.

"This is amusing," Nergal said when he finally found himself. "Utterly amusing. I must admit, with as close as the two of you were, I didn't realize that you had no idea. My mistake."

Eliwood narrowed his gaze in confusion as anger rolled through him. "What have you done with her?"

"Oh, it's not what I've done," Nergal said to him. He thumbed at his chin, amused with the entire situation. "It's what you have done, my dear Eliwood."

"What do you mean?"

Nergal stepped closer, his robes billowing around him. "Have you never once questioned it? The reason why I needed the siblings to open the Dragon's Gate? Do you not remember the myths?"

Eliwood did remember; the Dragon's gate could only be opened by dragons, or so the stories told. Eliwood's heart pounded at the thought. "I don't understand," he said.

"The answer is simple, Eliwood. Use that tiny little brain of yours and think. Why would a human be able to open a gate that was designed for dragons?"

"No," Eliwood said, a lump forming in his throat. "No, that- No."

"It's pitiful really," Nergal sighed, casting a glance at the look of the dragon behind him. It was hanging on weakly and something like sadness flashed across his face. It seemed genuine, but then it was gone almost as soon as it had come.

"Poor Ninian and her plight," Nergal continued. "Coaxed by my honeyed words as she passed through the gate. I hadn't seen her in so long. But then she refused to help me and wandered off lost and alone, only to be slain by the hand of the one that she loved."

"You're wrong," Lyn said and Eliwood was thankful, because he wasn't sure that he could speak. "You must be wrong!"

Nergal scoffed at that. "Can you really not see it? Or is it that you are afraid to? Very well, I will say it very plainly." He shuffled to the side, hand outstretched to gesture to the dragon. "The ice dragon here, the very one slaughtered by your hand Eliwood, is none other than Ninian herself. The girl who adored you, the girl who danced for you. The girl who, when she returned to her true form and lost all human memory, still found you.

"You see, you above all else remained in her heart. She was mad with confusion, yet she still came here. She came to find you."

Eliwood couldn't breathe. His chest tightened in pain, because he couldn't dare think it. Ninian, the woman that he had loved, the woman that he had wanted to be with, whom he had promised.

"Go on, take a look, little lordling. See what you have done."

Eliwood was going to vomit. It took everything in his power to not drop Durandal and fall to the ground, to scream and yell and to curse everything around him.

"Ah," Nergal said, turning fully to the dragon. "She is using the last of her strength to take human form one last time. There still may be time enough to say farewell." He paused and his face slipped once more to allow a brief flash of sadness to show.

"You know of course that you cannot possibly save her." Nergal's voice was quiet this time, out of character. Far away, almost.

"Nergal, you foul demon!" Eliwood screamed.

His words seemed to snap Nergal back to the present, the man's face twisting into a look of amusement. "Not me, Eliwood, but you. You are the one who killed her."

Eliwood couldn't help the roar that ripped from his throat as he launched himself at Nergal, hands tight around Durandal as he brandished it. It was a foolish move, not well thought through, and Nergal must have expected it.

"Not even the legendary blade can cause me harm!" Nergal exclaimed, smile widening as he laughed maniacally. He reached out to press a hand against Nils' shoulder. Then he lifted the other and the air around him crackled with energy before turning hazy as the two of them melted away.

"No!" Eliwood yelled, "No, I-"

"Calm down!" Karel snapped at him, reaching out to grab his arm. "He's gone, Eliwood!" His grip tightened when Eliwood tried to pull away. "He's already gone. Get a hold of yourself."

"I- I-"

There was a flash of light that drew everyone's attention. The large form of the dragon started to shrink until a woman was left in its wake, clothing tattered and smudged with blood and dirt. Eliwood felt like air had been punched straight from his lungs.

Karel's grip loosened as he sighed. "Go," he said, his voice soft, pushing Eliwood away from him. "Go to her."

Eliwood did. Durandal still buzzed in his hand, itching to slay, so he threw it to the ground and ran to Ninian. Even pale and weak and mudstained, barely holding on, she was beautiful. "Ninian," he said to her, falling to his knees by her side, pressing his hands to either side of her face.

"Lord Eliwood," she choked out, mouth settling with blood. A thin stream dripped from her lips. Eliwood didn't look down, he couldn't, he knew the mess that lay there caused by his sword.

"I'm here," he said instead, stroking a thumb along her face softly as he trained his attention there. "Ninian, I'm here."

"Eliwood," she said, smiling at him weakly, gaze barely focused as she tried to focus on his face. He held her cheeks, trying to stay strong, but he couldn't. He could already feel the tears welling up and threatening to spill.

"Please don't die," Eliwood begged, voice hiccuping with a sob. "Ninian, what have I done?"

Ninian moved to cover his hand with her own. Her skin already felt cold, her grip around his palm weak. "I'm glad," she said to him, serene like always, with the utmost grace. It was one of the things that he loved most about her. "That you are unharmed. I'm so glad."

"Ninian," Eliwood murmured, leaning closer, trying to remember her face and the way that she sounded. The soft way that her lashes brushed against her eyelids, or the rich color of her crimson eyes.

"Eliwood, I…"

She never finished her thought, eyes fluttering closed as she went limp in his arms.

"Ninian," Eliwood said, panicked. He pulled back, shaking at her, trying to nudge her awake. "Ninian," he said firmer. "No, Ninian, come on, darling please."

His voice cracked because he knew it was too late. Tears started to slip down his face, and he felt his breath hitch and his lip wobble. "No, no, no," he cried, leaning closer, pressing his forehead against hers.

Eliwood could feel the others watching from a safe distance, but the only thing that mattered was the woman in his hands who'd breathed her last. He pulled her closer, pressing his face against her hair. She smelled like rain and ice and blood, and it only made him sob harder.

Then he screamed. Eliwood yelled with rage and he screamed with agony as his heart broke over and over and over.

Durandal glowed from the spot next to him until it dimmed, and then its light winked out entirely.

TO BE CONTINUED…

#

"And that's the final episode of Fire Emblem ! Such drama and such heartbreak! I feel like I'm there with him, feeling every shred of agony that Eliwood feels himself. The third and final season of Fire Emblem ended on a nasty cliffhanger, intended to keep us loyal fans on the edges of our seats."

The host on stage pauses to shuffle some of his papers, before sweeping a hand through his pale and sweaty hair. Then he sticks a finger into the collar of his costume, pulling it away from his neck.

Convention centers are always so damn hot, and this isn't any exception, but Ignatz has no intention of complaining. He has an entire room of panelists to entertain, hundreds of them lining the rows and dotting the chairs. It's an amazing feeling, to be around his kind of people.

"This episode marks the tragic end of the beloved character Ninian, having been struck down by Eliwood. This would have been the end of an entire arc and possibly the last appearance we would have seen of Rhea Seiros as Ninian. Her younger brother Seteth would have gone on to continue as Nils, according to interviews with Hubert Meus, who played Nergal."

Ignatz pushes his glasses back up his nose. "Most of this is conjecture of course, seeing as they cancelled the show quite suddenly, so we'll never quite know will we? Rhea and Seteth Seiros rarely do interviews and, according to Mr. Meus, even the actors were kept in the dark to prevent spoiler leaks."

Ignatz sighs dramatically as he leans against the podium. "Even when I was a set designer on the show, I can't remember hearing anything about it. Ah, to be young again! Those were the years, am I right? In any case, I'm pleased that I was able to share this unaired episode with everyone! The only way to see it is usually here, at Fire Emblem Expo! What an amazing treat for our tenth year!"

He glances at the clock and clears his throat. "We still have a few minutes until the main festivities truly begin! How about we get some hype up in here as we welcome our guests to the stage?"

Ignatz throws his hands up and the crowd roars. He smiles, feeling his blood pump through his veins, because he's got a pretty good feeling. Maybe this year will go well.

Maybe this year won't be an utter disaster.

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