White has been revised on 2020/02/01. Originally published in 2015.

Thanks again to randomadorablepikachu for proofreading and thank you for your reviews so far!

White

"Open the gate, or he dies."

The words lingered in the air and the tension was so thick it could be cut with a knife.

After a few moments of silence, the mage spoke up again. "Come now, you wouldn't let your sister's son die, would you? What would she think of you if he died on your watch?"

Nils clicked his tongue in frustration. ". . . Alright, I'll open the gate."

There was a pulse of magical energy as the gate began to glow. The lead mage grinned viciously as he watched the portal form between the pillars of the Dragon's Gate, illuminating the dusty old walls of the chamber.

"It's beautiful," the mage whispered. "And it contains such immeasurable power…"

There was a loud and hollow groaning sound as a small figure started to form in front of the portal. The glow quickly took shape into the form of a young male with blue-green hair and dark red eyes. His eyes instantly locked on the cloaked man, who was still standing on his perch atop the pillar.

"You have what you want—the portal is open," Nils said, "Now release your hold on Roy."

The man quirked his eyebrow at this. "Release him? I didn't say I was going to do that…"

Nils furrowed his brow and glared at the man. "Don't go back on your word!"

"I'm a man of my word, that much I can assure you," he replied smoothly, "I didn't say I would release him. I said open the gate or he dies. You opened the gate… so he won't die. At least not by our hands."

Roy suddenly lunged at Nils with his sword raised. Nils nimbly ducked out of the way and the blade cut through the air with a metallic noise.

"Gods—Roy!" Nils yelled, clearly taken off-guard by the sudden attack.

A dark laugh echoed around the chamber. "Let's see how this new puppet plays. Maybe he could even slay a manakete!"

With a flick of the hand, the mage forced Roy to move again. He attacked and chased after Nils, who continually dodged every blow, without hesitation. Roy's sword had been set ablaze with a clear intent to kill. After a particularly close call with the burning sword whizzing past Nils' face, Nils jumped back to create some distance between him and his attacker.

"Roy, snap out of it!" the bard shouted. "These people are using you!"

"There's nothing you can say that will stop him," the man spoke in obvious amusement. "You are not Eliwood—even though you are family to him, your words still mean nothing in the end."

The young manakete was quickly growing exhausted and increasingly frustrated as he kept dodging his nephew's assaults. Nils was never one for fighting—he would much rather play his flute than swing a sword—but he knew he wouldn't be able to keep the dodging game up for much longer. Therefore, he made one last attempt to free Roy from the grasp of the mages' magic:

"Roy!"

The young lion, eyes void of any emotion, did not respond and his blade sliced through the air again. Instead of jumping away, however, Nils only ducked before sending a fist straight into Roy's gut. The impact caused the latter to cough harshly and stumble back a few steps, allowing Nils to follow up his first hit with a swift roundhouse kick Roy's side. Roy flew across the platform and tumbled across the tiled ground, his sword knocking loose from his hand.

"Tch, that's enough," the mage hissed as he readied a Bolting tome, "This is getting old. We will kill you if the puppet can't."

"I don't plan on dying here," Nils retorted, staring down Roy's form through the clouds of dust as his nephew slowly pulled himself to his feet.

"No one ever plans to die when they're acting the hero," the mage taunted. "But not every story ends happily. Yours will be a sorrowful end!"

By the time the dust had cleared, Roy had fully recovered from the earlier blows and was slowly walking towards Nils, his blazing sword once again in-hand.

Nils, realizing he was low on time, was forced to make a difficult decision—either escape through the portal himself, or…

"I can't…!" he muttered through clenched teeth.

Nils quickly turned away from his nephew and dashed towards the Dragon's Gate. This was his last chance—either stop Roy here, or die trying. He stopped mere feet from the gate and spun around, readying something in his tightened hand.

Roy's pace quickened and he ran at the bard once more, his sword held back and ready to strike. As he brought his sword around, Nils grabbed his arm tightly, locking them in a stalemate. The incredible force behind Roy's swing caused Nils' arm to tremble, but the young manakete held his ground. He pressed an object to Roy's chest with his other hand and firmly stared into his lifeless eyes.

"I'm sorry I have to do this, Roy, but I have no choice," he spoke.

In his mind, he pleaded to the heavens: "Mother... sister... please, help me!"

"Enough of this!" the lead mage yelled and raised his tome. The others raised their tomes as well, poised to cast their spells. "We'll kill you both now!"

Time seemed to slow down as all six mages cast their spells—a mix of Bolting, Elfire, and Aircalibur—at the two below. Nils pulled Roy to the side with determined eyes and yelled something that Roy was unable to hear before shoving him hard.

Suddenly, Roy's mind was freed and all he felt was excruciating pain.

Then everything went white.