The Dragon's Table…
As the shepherds made their way inside the temple, they could see Validar by himself, next to what seemed like an altar. When most of their allies had made their way inside, hundreds of Plegian Elites began flooding in from the back entrance, directly across from them. Validar, seeming to finally have noticed Chrom and the others, turned around and grinned.
"Chrom…" Validar purred. "Come to witness the glorious culmination of your failure? I have the completed Fire Emblem, and the Dragon's Table is also set for a great feast. I will return Grima to this world!"
"You'll DESTROY this world!" Chrom protested. "Lucina has seen it!"
"Then I only pray that today's spectacle lives up to her nightmares!" Validar countered. "You know, the Awakening rite isn't something only for the exalts and the Divine Dragon. I too, can use it to rouse Grima! The Fell Dragon only needs a mortal vessel, which you have also kindly brought before me."
"You mean… me." Robin cautiously said.
"You ken quickly, Robin." Validar nodded in satisfaction. "That's my boy! The soul of the Fell Dragon slumbers within you. And now the time has come to Awaken you both!"
"I don't think so." Robin replied resolutely, enough amongst murmurs and whispers from the rest of his allies.
"Oh but you must!" Validar insisted. "You see, the Grimleal have worked for many generations in order to create someone like you… A vessel worthy of our master. Simply having Grima's blood in your veins isn't enough… My father was not worthy, and neither was I. But you? You have all the makings! You alone are worthy enough to accept the most sacred gift from Grima!"
Robin was slightly taken aback by Validar's words. The sorcerer mistook his hesitation for interest.
"Think about it!" Validar continued. "All we need now is your cooperation! It's fate that you would be here in front of us tonight! This is PROOF of your purpose! Just come over to our side, and the Grimleal will not only assist you, but they will WORSHIP you!"
"You've proven NOTHING!" Chrom spat back. "Robin and I… together, we WILL stop you. This can be stopped. YOU can be stopped!"
"Quiet, boy!" Validar snarled. "I wasn't talking to you. You may have killed me in some future's past, but I am stronger this time. With the power of the Dragon's Table flowing through me, as well as the allegiance of my son, I am unstoppable!"
"I'm not your son." Robin replied coldly. "My life did not begin with you. My life began that day when I woke up in the field. I have been all over this continent, and I have been all over Valm, helping change the world for the better. Our united army is proof of this fact. I have laughed and fought and BLED for my friends, and THAT is what matters! Not some shifty charlatan who claims that destroying the world is for the good of all!"
"You've been brainwashed, it seems." Validar shook his head dejectedly. "You have your father's courage, but your mother's judgement, unfortunately. Very well, pup. Come! After all, there is no damage that I can do to you that the Fell Dragon cannot repair!"
Validar began chanting, and within seconds, a disorientating wall of magic rose up from the ground and separated Chrom and Robin from the rest of the shepherds. They were, after all, the most forward among the shepherds.
Robin turned around and knocked on the wall with the back of his hand. Despite knowing that it was created out of magic, it still felt as solid as if it were made out of bricks. Not only that, but aside from the magical energy that distorts a portion of his vision once in a while, the wall looked like purple colored glass.
He was not the only one who was interested in said wall. When the moment of confusion subsided, Lucina was the first to run up to it, in an attempt to make it through the barrier. When she realized that she couldn't make it through, she began to swing her sword against it, but to no avail. Even though she was not making any progress, Lucina also couldn't bring herself to stop either. After all, her father and Robin were both stuck on the other side with Validar. Although she had faith in the two of them, and they had a numerical advantage, it wouldn't make sense for Validar to create this scenario unless he were confident in being able to gain an advantage, after all.
Finally after giving up, Lucina gritted her teeth in frustration. However, Robin on the other side seemed to let out a chuckle. He held up his hand to the wall, prompting Lucina to also do the same with her own.
"We'll be fine." Lucina saw Robin mouth to her. "Go help."
With that, Robin pointed towards Lucina's right side. The wall seemed to be the signal for the Grimleal to charge at them, and Lucina was so focused on breaking through the wall, that she didn't realize that the fighting on their side had already started.
"Be careful." Lucina warned, and she only left after confirming that Robin heard, or at least understood what she said in the form of a nod.
"It looks like it's just you and me." Chrom chuckled dryly as he unsheathed Falchion. "Personally, it's two against one. I don't know about you, but I think the odds are quite favorable for us."
"I agree." Robin nodded as he drew weapons of his own. This moment, to a certain extent, almost felt familiar to him. He had a dream that was eerily similar to this situation in the past, after all. "Together?"
"Together." Chrom nodded in confirmation, and the two began their assault on Validar.
Outside the barrier…
Kellam, as usual, was in the thick of combat, tanking for his comrades behind his heavy shield and suit of armor. At this point, he could already be considered a seasoned veteran to combat, and he could tell that these Plegians were anything but that. Their attacks felt far weaker than Walhart's calvary, and he felt like he wouldn't even need to break a sweat at this point.
The quiet giant looked to his side and found that Frederick was next to him, eagerly gutting enemy after enemy with his lance, without a hint of remorse or hesitation across his face.
"This isn't like you, Frederick." Kellam spoke between thrusts of his own lance.
"What isn't like me?" Frederick even had the energy to laugh back. "Are you saying I don't belong in combat?"
"No, not that." Kellam responded as he fended off another round of arrows. "It's just… the old you would probably be worried to death about Chrom by now. After all, he is fighting an enemy while being completely separated from the rest of us."
"He'll be fine." Frederick responded, which further startled the Armored General. It turns out, Frederick didn't have a sudden memory lapse. He was genuinely unconcerned. "Chrom has been through worse. And after all, doesn't he have Robin with him as well?"
"...Right…" Kellam sweatdropped. He didn't believe that Frederick of all people would so easily forget what Validar was capable of doing to Robin the last time the shepherds encountered him.
"Besides…" Frederick followed up. "There's not much we can do if we are separated by that wall. Our best way to help milord is to get rid of these Plegians before that wall comes down."
"You finally said a sensible thing." Kellam agreed wholeheartedly and went back to focusing on tanking for his teammates.
Cordelia's Perspective…
The interior of the temple was extremely spacious. Cordelia was extremely thankful that she had room to maneuver her pegasus. The difficult part was paying attention to all of the enemy archers.
Fortunately for her, the responsibility was shared between many people. Cherche and the Rosannese all helped her with this task, and Sumia would also prioritize hitting archers before anyone else. Arrows were a huge risk for her falicorn, after all.
Whenever she deemed it was safe enough, Cordelia would dive towards an unsuspecting Grimleal and run them through with her lance. The pair would immediately climb in altitude once again after the sneak attack was over. The moment her back was to the Plegians when she was still close to the ground was when Cordelia was most vulnerable, but thankfully, Virion was able to cover her with a couple well aimed arrows. As soon as Cordelia reached a safe height, the Sniper would turn his bow towards the direction of their other flying allies.
Cordelia smirked. Of all of the ranged attackers they had, perhaps Virion was the one most accustomed to cooperating with fliers. This type of experience was invaluable to them at this time.
"It's been quite a while…" Cherche laughed as she pulled Minerva up besides Aurora. "Minerva and I have missed this type of messy conflict quite a lot since you guys left Valm."
"I didn't realize we'd be working together again quite so soon myself." Cordelia replied. "How has rebuilding Rosanne been?"
"Virion hired some expert carpenters and stonemasons to help fix up our mansion, and the people of Rosanne have become more lively recently as well." Cherche replied cheerily. "It seems that taking the boot of the Valmese off the citizens' throats has done wonders for their optimism of the future. And also, Virion has been… oh look, what an opportunity!"
Cherche didn't bother finishing her thought and dove towards a Grimleal in a deadlock with Vaike. She brandished her axe, and moments later, her target's head was separated from his body.
"Perhaps she really was serious…" Cordelia chuckled to herself before readying her lance once again.
Morgan's perspective…
Morgan found herself in a slightly awkward position. She didn't have any trouble killing her opponents, as her weapons were quite deadly and she was far more agile than any regular twelve year old, or even professional assassins for that matter.
No, Morgan was slightly confused due to the hesitation and even fear that she felt coming from these Plegians standing before her. Some seemed to try and run away from her, while others attempted to converse with her. A few of them even looked relieved, up until she rushed up and eliminated them from the battle.
"You're fighting for the wrong side!" One of the Grimleal pleaded. "Please, use that weapon against the infidels, not us!"
"Really?" Morgan felt like her head hurt, but she slashed down the Grimleal nonetheless. "I'm pretty sure I'm attacking the right people though… Mama is on this side, and not that one after all…"
She wasn't even using her tome. After all, papa had told her that Genesis could potentially be difficult to use when fighting with allies in enclosed spaces, and so, Morgan resolved to fight using only her shortsword.
"I guess it doesn't matter what any of them are thinking." She shrugged as she flipped her sword to a reverse grip. "Since these guys are trying to kill papa and mama and their friends, I need to kill them first."
Morgan went back to darting around the battlefield, leaving slashes and slitting the throats of anyone unlucky enough for her to pass by.
Brady's perspective…
Brady, much like Lissa, Maribelle and the other healers, had their hands pretty full with work. After all, even if there were very few deaths among their comrades, there would always be a plethora of injuries that needed to be tended to. The reason their mortality rate was so low was precisely because their healers had the capability of bringing soldiers on the brink of death back to a relatively stable state.
However, unlike Lissa, Maribelle or even some of their secondary healers like Anna or Miriel, Brady didn't have any means of reliably defending himself. In the past, his best method of defence was to shout "Halp!" as loud as he could when a Risen got near him, hoping that one of his friends would come to his rescue. His backup plan was the bludgeon his assailant into oblivion with his staff. Although his friends had all poked fun at him, they quickly learned to stop doing so after getting their injuries patched up by him a few times.
Despite not being able to simply rush into the thick of things, Brady still was an invaluable asset to the shepherds. Since all he did was heal, his expertise in the subject rivaled even Lissa's. How could such a valuable healer be considered useless in conflicts resulting in blood?
The way his weakness was patched up was simple: his friends and allies would bring their injured companions to the very back of their formation, where Brady had essentially set up camp. Heck, he could've set up a tent if he wanted to do so. Although it is a little inconvenient for a perfectly capable fighter to leave the battle just to bring an injured ally to Brady, at the same time, one could argue that the frontlines were not the best place to receive adequate treatment. Anyone fighting on the frontlines would not object to this method, especially when it was clear that the other healers were busy.
The one most enthusiastic about doing the job of bringing Brady the injured was Yarne. In his beast form, he could pretty much carry any human swiftly from the front to Brady. Not only was he being useful, but Yarne also minimizes his own risk as well. Not a bad deal.
Cynthia, and occasionally Nah would also bring him the injured. Most of the time, it was soldiers that he did not recognize, but occasionally, he'd find himself tending to one of his friends, and once in a while, even one of the shepherds.
Being completely safe from their opponents, Brady was able to show off why his healing capabilities were invaluable. Barring any life threatening injuries, the soldiers he tended to were quickly able to rejoin the battle after just a few minutes of rest. One could even say that they fought with even more enthusiasm after realizing that it didn't matter if they got injured.
"Ah, I'm hit!" Yarne cried out in alarm as he transformed back into his human form and dropped off yet another soldier. Brady quickly hurried over.
"Looks like ya got done in good by an' axe!" Brady exclaimed after seeing the wound on his friend's back. "Gimme a second…"
"This is nothing!" Yarne lifted his head up high as Brady fumbled around for some healing ointment. "You should've seen the other guy! He's got an imprint of a rabbit's foot in his chest now. Better luck next time I say!"
Seeing his friend laughing it up, Brady couldn't help but let out a chuckle of his own. "Yer not afraid o' dyin'?"
"Nah, for some reason, I'm not." Yarne winced as Brady applied the ointment to the wound and began to channel his healing staff. "I guess maybe it's because I'm pumped full of adrenaline or somethin'. I dunno. I feel pretty good right now, even though normally I'd probably be panicking. Oh Naga, is this what combat feels like to everybody else?"
"How should I know?" Brady shrugged. "Yer guess is as good as mine."
Just then, a Manakete landed next to them. In a flash, Nah reverted to her human form. "Did one of you call for me?" she asked.
Yarne and Brady blinked a few times, looked at each other, and burst out laughing.
"What's wrong with these two?" Nah wondered as she tilted her head slightly.
Henry's perspective…
To any normal person, turning one's weapons against their own countrymen would have been a huge heartache. But this was clearly not the case for the happy-go-lucky sorcerer. In fact, he was giggling as he threw a combination of curses, hexes and dark magic towards his former countrymen.
"Nya ha! I still remember exactly how much of a killjoy you guys were!" Henry said when he recognized some of the Grimleal on the other side. "Now that we're finally fighting one another, you guys can see just how large of a mistake you've made!"
A Ruin spell threw towards the Plegians, throwing anyone in the vicinity into disarray.
"This is a lot more fun than training." Henry mused to himself. "They can't enforce the 'no blood' rule anymore now that I'm on THIS side."
"You traitor!" A Plegian who had obviously recognized him declared as he charged towards Henry. However, he didn't get far.
"Stop staring!" Olivia exclaimed as she shot an arrow towards this particular Plegian, hitting him directly in the chest. "It's very rude!"
"You… traitor…" The dying Plegian repeated as he lay on the ground.
Henry casually threw a flux spell in his general direction, silencing the Plegian for good. "Geez, it's like everyone here knows me or something…" he shamelessly muttered to himself.
Lucina's perspective…
Lucina tried to focus on the enemies right in front of her. Deep down, she knew that there was nothing she could do to help Robin and her father deal with Validar directly, and that the best way for her to contribute would be to kill the Grimleal in her way.
However, she could not stop herself from worrying. Her gut was trying to tell her that something was about to go very wrong, but she tried everything she could in order to ignore this feeling. Unfortunately, this showed in her fighting. Lucina had to deal with several close calls, and had to get bailed out by her friends and allies multiple times.
"Careful!" Kjelle scolded her after running a lance through the body of an assailant attempting to strike Lucina while her back was turned. "This is the third time today! Since when did you have so many openings in your fighting?"
"S-sorry." Lucina apologized sheepishly. "I guess I'm a bit distracted."
"I'll say." Kjelle retorted. "There's no point in worrying about Chrom if you don't make it out alive yourself."
"Y-yeah." Lucina nodded numbly. "I got it."
Kjelle made a good point. It was difficult, but Lucina managed to avert her attention from Chrom and Robin into the task on hand. Taking a deep breath, she was finally able to enter the correct mentality of being on the battlefield. When she began to focus, Lucina found that she no longer was struggling with dealing with her opponents.
Slowly but surely, the shepherds and their allies were pushing the Grimleal back, one step at a time.
Suddenly, magical energy shot out from the other side of the barrier. The shockwave was so large, that the ones fighting closest to the barrier were knocked off their feet, and both sides seemed to have called a ceasefire as everyone in the room reflexively turned to look at the spectacle on the other side.
Lucina and the shepherds had a large grin on their faces as they saw Robin blast Validar in the chest repeatedly with magical energy.
Inside the barrier…
Robin and Chrom began to fight against Validar at close range. This way, most of the advantage from the sorcerer was removed. To Robin's dismay, it was nearly identical to his dreams. Validar seemed to be empowered by some magical force so that he was far stronger than the last time they had fought. However, even Grima's blessings could not cause a human sorcerer to overpower two battle hardened close range fighters at arms' length.
As a result, Validar was forced to be on the defensive. Large amounts of magical energy covered his hands and forearms, making it seem like he was fighting with purple gauntlets. However, he was only able to repeatedly block Robin and Chrom's attacks, and was only able to throughout a single punch every once in a while. Even when he managed to create himself an opening, Robin was able to patch it up with a quick cast of his magic.
"Dealing with a physical combatant that can also expertly cast magic is quite troubling." Validar muttered to himself. "But no matter. If you are so eager to come to your death, then I shall oblige. Your death is already written."
"I'll tell you again." Chrom grunted as he swung down Falchion once again, causing Validar to have to block the strike. "I make my own future. And it's one that you won't live to see!"
"How resolute." Validar snickered. "How foolish."
Validar pushed Chrom away and sidestepped a swing from Robin's scythe. Without wasting a single motion, a tome materialized out of the air and he began to chant. Robin immediately threw a spell over, but he had underestimated Validar, and for the sake of speed, did not put enough power behind the spell. As a result, Validar took the hit, but his chanting was not interrupted.
'Not good!' Robin thought to himself. "Be careful Chrom!" He managed to yell out before Validar threw the ball of purple energy forming above his head towards the Ylissean Exalt.
Chrom didn't have enough time to dodge, and could only brace himself for the hit. Still, he was knocked off his feet and into the barrier. He let out a cry of pain, but began to stumble back onto his feet, albeit very slowly.
Robin, as if trying to fix his earlier mistake, immediately pounced on Validar. He picked up his speed, and sensing that Validar had exhausted a large amount of his energy in that last spell, was able to back the man into a corner.
"Robin, why do you insist on these games?" Validar asked, grabbing onto the blade of the scythe that was inches away from his face with his bare hands. Even with the protective magic surrounding his limbs, it still felt as if the weapon was cutting straight through his soul. "You only delay the inevitable. Have you considered what happens should I fall? These followers of Naga will spurn you now that they've learned what you are. Kill me, and you incur the wrath of the Grimleal as well... Would you truly choose to be so utterly alone?"
"I've never been alone." Robin shot back. "Not when I'm with my friends. They will stand by me, regardless of who I am. It took me a while, but it is something that I managed to learn. That is why I am willing to fight for them, and not for you."
"One day, your supposed 'friends' will turn on you." Validar prophesized. "That is also written, even if you succeed, should you choose to walk down this path. Why would you choose to help them knowing that they will betray you one day?"
Robin smirked. "Thanks for letting me know. Even someone who claims to be able to see the future knows that there's a possibility that I will succeed. I guess my odds are not that bad after all."
Validar gritted his teeth, knowing that he had made a mistake. "Humans are weak, pathetic creatures… Your bonds with them will bind you. You've been destined for a greater purpose, the GREATEST purpose! You are to be a GOD!"
Robin withdrew his scythe, and for the briefest moment, Validar mistakenly thought Robin had changed his mind. However, Robin instead pressed his arm to Validars chest, and pumped magical energy from his arm into Validar's body. He repeated the attack a couple more times. The sorcerer's entire frame shook from the impact, and he slumped to the ground.
"Not your god… and not today." Robin snarled. Seeing no response from Validar, Robin ran towards Chrom to help him.
Chrom, although struggling to walk steadily, managed to give Robin a cheeky grin. "We did it."
Robin smiled back, but sensing some magical energy behind him, reflexively pushed Chrom out of the way. Validar, who Robin had mistakenly judged as dead, had shot a bolt of darkness at the two of them, but it only managed to hit Robin. As he threw the spell, the barrier separating the three from the rest of the battle also began to disintegrate.
Seeing as Validar fell to the ground as soon as he finished casting the spell, Chrom hobbled over to help Robin up to his feet. "Are you all right? Thanks to you, we carried the day. At long last… we can rest easy now."
Then, Chrom's expression changed, for the worse. "Robin? What's wrong? Hey… hang on!"
In response, Robin grabbed Chrom's throat with a free hand, and began to channel magic energy. It was just a short moment, but everyone present could see lighting arc from Robin hand directly into Chrom's body. Traces of electricity sparked from his chest and appendages even after Robin removed his hand.
"This… is not your… fault." Chrom managed to get out before falling down. "Promise me… you'll get out of here…."
The inside of the temple was dead silent for several moments.
"Father… no!" Lucina was the one to break the silence. She immediately ran over to her father's crumpled body.
Upon seeing Lucina rush over, Cynthia immediately flew over as well. "Father! You can't die!"
Meanwhile, Robin had silently made his way to Validar's side, and the sorcerer was standing up once again, causing the Grimleal to cheer out of elation.
"With five Gemstones in hand, my magic knows no bounds." Validar smirked. "Robin is powerless to resist me. Do you see now Ylisseans? Humans bonds are worthless; they don't offer you anything."
"This can't be happening…" Lucina sobbed. "We were supposed to change this! Everything I have done… it was all worthless…"
"The hell it was!" A deep voice resounded throughout the temple.
"Wait… I know that voice…" some of the shepherds mumbled to themselves. They proceeded to stare in shock as in Basilio walked in, tailed by the Feroxi army. Some of them looked like they had just seen a ghost.
"Don't put any stock in this destiny hogwash!" Basilio declared confidently as he walked up to Lucina and the body of Chrom. "Let the dead whine about their fate! I choose to keep fighting! That's what life's about."
"K-khan Basilio!" Lucina exclaimed in surprise. "I-I thought… we all th-thought you were…"
"Worm food, back in Valm?" Basilio laughed. "Well, that almost happened. But I got out just fine, thanks to you. Once I took a couple of hits from Walhart, I knew I was not his opponent. Normally, pride would've had me dead before I'd even thought twice about it. But your warning gave me the courage to be a coward."
Basilio laughed at how ridiculous that sounded. "I played dead like a big, bald opossum! And it wasn't that hard either. The truth is, I almost WAS dead. You saved my life, Lucina. Had you not said anything, I'd have stood my ground against that monster and died on the spot."
Dozens of heads turned towards Walhart. Clearly Basilio didn't realize that the man that had 'killed' him was in the room as well. But contrary to everyone's expectations, Walhart didn't even look upset. If anything, he looked impressed by Basilio's tenacity.
"Oh, Basilio…" Tears came to Lucina's eyes. "But Father…"
"This does not matter!" Validar snarled. "This doesn't change a single thing! If you didn't die in Valm, you can die HERE instead!"
"Quiet, snake eyes!" Basilio pointed his axe towards Validar. "You're no Walhart. You're not as strong, or even as clever. You still haven't realized that you've been tricked."
"That bluff won't work on me." Validar chuckled. "You think I'm a fool?"
"To me, you may not be considered a fool." Basilio guffawed. "But compared to true geniuses, you are no more than an infant. For example, Robin predicted everything that would happen today. He saw it in a dream. This very fight with you."
"Wait… what?" Lucina murmured in confusion. Validar, as well as everyone else in the room, seemed equally as confused.
"Guess what else he saw in his dream?" Basilio continued. "The five Gemstones. He knew that Chrom couldn't bring the real ones here to Plegia. That would be like swinging a big, juicy steak right in front of destiny's choppers."
For a second, hope flickered in Lucina's eyes. But this brief moment was immediately destroyed by a laugh from Validar.
"A worthy bluff, you Feroxi fool!" Validar cackled. "However, it's ridiculous all the same. I've had people watching your merry little band since Carrion Isle. I know Robin hasn't touched the stones!"
Lucina looked up at Basilio expectantly.
"Maybe you watched their party, yes." Basilio admitted. "But you were only watching the people your men knew about. In other words, the live ones. But I'm gonna take a wild guess and say that you weren't watching the 'dead' ones, were you? You weren't watching ME."
"No…" Validar's eyes shot open as he thought about it. "That's not possible… These… they have to be...!"
"Looks like it's starting to sink in." Basilio chuckled. "Now why would that be? Because of destiny? I think not. Robin had your destiny beat when he came up with this plan, weeks ago. The expression on your face… it makes all those long nights in hiding worth it!"
"None of this matters!" Validar swung his arm to his side. "Chrom is still dead. You're fate is sealed! Grima will… !"
Validar suddenly gasped in shock as a blade protruded out of his stomach.
"No!" Validar spat out a mouthful of blood. "Im...impossible… you cannot resist… Grima's power."
"Well I guess you'll have to voice your complaints to Grima then." Robin replied coldly from behind him. "... you can get up now."
"Huh?" Validar managed to look confused even with a grievous wound in his torso.
"Father! You're all right!" Lucina exclaimed in happiness, prompting many heads to turn towards her direction.
Chrom slowly sat up and rubbed his forehead with one hand. "What do you think Frederick? Just like how we practiced!"
"Pr-practiced!?" Cynthia squeaked in confusion.
"Spectacular acting milord." Frederick nodded in approval. "That spell Robin used… the visual effects were so powerful that even I was fooled!"
"N-no… this can't be… happening…" Validar voiced his complaints for the last time, before crumpling over. "Grima… save me…."
"Khan Basilio…" Lucina finally managed to gather her thoughts. "Does this mean… you all planned this moment? Since when?"
"Well, in short, this plan began ever since Robin found me back in Valm." Basilio laughed. "Even with exceptional foresight, I guess that Plegian bastard didn't see this one coming." He lifted his axe and pointed it at the Plegians. "Now stop starin' at me everyone… we still have to slaughter our way through all these Grimleal."
"We can talk things over once we get out of here." Chrom nodded in agreement as he placed a hand on Lucina's shoulder. "But I know what you must be worried about. I reassure you, Validar's mind control magic never posed a threat to Robin."
"Mm… All right." Lucina grinned, as a single tear of happiness fell down her face.
The following battle could not be any more one sided. The shepherds not only were more skilled, but they had the support of four other nations at their backs. Furthermore, the Grimleal seemed to have lost all hope following the fall of their leader. Soon, the inside of the Dragon's Table was littered with the corpses of the Plegians.
"So… is it over?" Yarne asked after the dust had settled. "Did we change the future?"
"I… think so?" Lucina said hesitantly. She couldn't really believe it herself either.
Her fears proved to be true. A deep voice resonated throughout the temple. "On the contrary, young ones… you've only altered the course of destiny; you haven't changed its destination."
"Who…?" Chrom gasped in confusion as the second Robin they had met back at Carrion Isle suddenly materialized in front of them.
"It is still written that Chrom dies here." The other Robin said coldly. However, no one present could recognize the voice of the tactician they knew as their ally. The voice felt far more ancient, far more sinister. Out of the mouth of other Robin came the true voice of Grima. "Specifically, by MY hand. While I must applaud your efforts, they were ultimately all in vain."
"Who are you!?" Chrom demanded.
"I am Robin." An eerie smile crept across this other Robin's lips. "I've already told you. I am the Robin that murdered you and became the Fell Dragon, Grima. The two of us are one and the same. We even share some our memories, because we both share Grima's heart. And when Lucina and her friends jumped back in time… I followed them through the gate. While we may be the same person, Robin and I ended up in different positions due to the decisions we made… and the decisions that were made on our behalf when we were too young to do so… And now you can see, the difference is as great as night and day. I will claim the bounty that your Robin refuses to claim, and I'll destroy the world in place of your weak minded friend."
"So the memories and the nightmares… that was you?" Robin asked.
"No, that wasn't me." The future Robin replied. "If I had it my way, you wouldn't have witnessed those memories in the first place. However, there's not much I can do… it's not possible for me to force myself to forget specific details, after all. But enough talk. It's time for me to feast… and to reclaim my godhood!"
The future Robin raised his arms and began to glow as the souls of the deceased Plegians began pooling towards him. He was enveloped in a flash of light before disappearing altogether. Mere moments later, a soul piercing howl could be heard from the skies above them.
"Quickly!" Chrom commanded in panic. "We all have to get out of here… NOW!"
Everyone that was still alive inside the temple hurriedly ran outside. What they saw in the sky was enough to chill them to the bone. A dark, shadowy figure of a dragon with six wings floated up in the sky above them. Thunder crackled whenever it flapped its wings. Bolts of lightning struck the temple, causing it to collapse upon itself. Thankfully, most of the shepherds' allies were able to make it out in time. An unlucky few were relatively close to the entrance when the building collapsed, burying a few of them alive beneath the rubble.
The soldiers among them all began to murmur amongst themselves in shock and terror. A few of them even knelt down and began to pray for their lives.
"Th-that's Grima!" Lucina exclaimed. "That's the demon that destroyed my world! And now… it's among us…"
"The terrible size of it!" Frederick muttered in shock. "For once, the legends spoke true. We can't hope to face it in direct combat! It would slaughter us all!"
Chrom turned to Robin. "Did you retrieve it?"
Robin held up the Fire Emblem, which clearly had Sable, the missing Gemstone, embedded in its proper position. "Yeah."
Chrom breathed out a sigh of relief. "Then I suppose we still have some hope. We have to seek Naga for her aid, it seems."
Lucina nodded in agreement. "It's our only change. When Grima first appeared in our world, it had to take some time to get reacclimated to its larger body, and to regain his lost powers. This is the only opportunity we have to complete the Awakening ritual without his disturbance!"
"The first Exalt completed the ritual on Mount Prism." Frederick offered. "There is an altar at the peak of the mountain. If we were to attempt the Awakening, I advise we do so at Mount Prism!"
"You're right." Chrom agreed. "No matter how small the chances of success is, we have no choice but to try. Otherwise, there will be no way for us to stop Grima from destroying the world! Hurry, everyone!"
The shepherds and their allies hastily marched to the Northeast, in the direction of Mount Prism.
Author's Notes:
First of all, for those of you in the US, I hope you had an enjoyable Thanksgiving! I don't have too much to say this time except that finals season is once again coming up, so unfortunately, I will probably not be doing much writing in the next few weeks. Perhaps the next chapter will be released near Christmas time. However, this story is still quickly nearing its end, and I hope to be able to post the final chapters before the spring semester starts.
That's all from me. See you all next time!