The Broken Gate has been revised 2020/02/01. Originally published in 2016.

Thank you to randomadorablepikachu for proofreading and thank you for all the faves/follows/reviews thus far. We return to Elibe for the first time in this chapter.

The Broken Gate

Back in Elibe, Nils had been in an outraged panic. Eliwood had done his best to keep him calm, but it didn't seem like there was much that he could do outside of let Nils calm down on his own.

It had been weeks since the events at Dread Isle and Roy's disappearance. Nils had escaped the island and made his way to Pherae as quickly as he possibly could. His sudden appearance had surprised Eliwood at first but seeing as though he had shown up heavily wounded, Eliwood's initial surprise was quickly overcome by concern. After Nils had been tended to, he recounted the events with Roy at the Dragon's Gate.

". . . And then I shoved him into the gate, to get him away from those men," Nils said.

"So… you're telling me that Roy went through the gate? And now you've no idea where he's gone?!" Eliwood questioned, worry evident in his voice.

"That's right," Nils said and pursed his lips. "But it was either that or let both of us be killed right there on the spot, with the Dragon's Gate wide open for those dastards to do whatever they pleased with it. Seeing them as they were, you would probably have another Scouring on your hands if that had happened."

Eliwood quietly nodded. ". . . Is… is there anything that could be done to bring my son back? Do you know if he's alive?"

"… I don't know," Nils said. "The Dragon's Gate connects many realms together. I don't know which one he was sent to."

This caused Eliwood's heart to sink. "So… he could be lost forever?"

"… Yeah, it's possible," Nils responded hesitantly. ". . . The Dragon's Gate here is broken. The only way I would be able to search for him would be if we could restore the Gate."

Eliwood's expression hardened as he put his knuckles to his chin in thought. He stared at the stone floor of the room as he mulled over Nils' words. "Then if that is our only option, we need to rebuild it."

Nils was taken by surprise at how forward Eliwood was and how quickly the marquess had come to his decision. The manakete pursed his lips into a thin line as he looked down to his feet.

There was a stiff silence as Nils debated something in his mind. Eliwood noticed Nils' hesitation.

". . . Nils, is there something you haven't told me?" Eliwood asked him.

Nils looked up to him. ". . . Eliwood… I don't know if it's possible."

Eliwood blinked. "You… don't know?"

Nils shook his head. "The Gate was destroyed… I have no idea if it would ever be repairable, or how to do it. And I definitely know I'm not strong enough to do it on my own."

There was silence once more as Eliwood processed Nils' words.

". . . So… Roy could potentially be lost forever," Eliwood finally said.

". . . Yeah."

A frustrated sigh left Nils' throat as he looked up at the sky. He was out in the garden behind the castle, trying to clear his mind. His arms and legs and chest were still bandaged up from his injuries, so he wasn't really able to do anything at all besides wander around House Pherae.

He watched the clouds slowly drift by as he was once again absorbed in his thoughts. This had been happening a lot during his month of recovery, especially since there was nothing he could really do outside of sit around and heal.

His eyelids slid shut as he let out another sigh, this one quieter than the last.

"Take this and go!" Nils shouted as he shoved a stone to Roy's chest. "Get out of here… I can't lose you too! Ninian, mother, please keep him safe!"

With as much force as he could muster, he shoved his brainwashed nephew into the portal, and the mages fired off all their tomes at once. Nils was barely able to get out of the way before the magic all struck the ground where he once stood, but he didn't get out of the situation fully unscathed—much of the Elfire had managed to burn his sleeve and singe his skin. Nils let out a pained hiss as he gripped at his arm.

"You brat," the lead mage hissed. "You think you're so smart… we'll kill you here and now!"

"I won't let you do that," Nils growled, his voice laced with pure anger. "You've managed to make this dragon really angry!"

His body glowed brightly and the ground shook as his body transformed, taking the form of a towering Ice Dragon. He let out a vicious roar and bared his fangs.

"Damn," grunted one of the mages. "He is no joke…"

"Keep him distracted," muttered the other mage off to the leader's side.

"We will. You know what to do," the leader said, and at that, the other mage nodded.

"Of course."

Nils let out another roar, his mind wrapped in rage. He turned to swing his tail against one of the pillars, knocking through the middle of it and causing it to crumble. The mage that had been standing atop it jumped off as it started to fall apart, only to be intercepted midair by one of Nils' massive claws. The mage was sent flying into a far wall, where his body slammed into the aged brick and fell into the shadowy depths below the ruins.

The quick demise of one of his allies caused the leader to growl. "Damn you, you foolish beast!"

He rose his tome and held out his free hand as a glyph appeared beneath his feet. "No matter what you try, we will get our way!" He shouted and cast his magic.

Nils roared as he was hit with a powerful blast of Aircalibur that managed to leave deep gashes in his neck. He returned the hit with magic of his own—a blast of freezing breath billowed forth from his maw as he tried to strike the mage. The pillar was encased in ice from the attack, but the mage had dodged the attack somehow.

Nils quickly looked around to see where the mage had gone but was hit with another strong bout of magic—this time, Bolting—on his side. He stepped to the side and shifted his weight, causing the floor and ceiling to once again rumble. Debris started crumbling away from the ceiling.

"You're being a pain," spoke another mage that suddenly appeared in front of Nils' face, his hand outstretched. Nils was barely able to manage a glance at him before his eyes were struck with Elfire.

Nils let out a pained, primal sound as he stepped back one step and shook his head with his eyes clenched tight. His eyes stayed clenched as he bore his fangs and let out a huge breath of ice.

He was unable to see for a number of minutes, but he could still hear very well. He could hear the mages as they flitted about him in the air and struck him with spells. He was able to land the occasional hit, which one was usually good enough to take whatever mage he struck out of commission, but it was getting increasingly more difficult and more painful to move.

He opened his eyes slightly to try to see, and though his vision was blurry, he could see enough to ascertain his surroundings and spot his enemies. Only two of the mages were left, with the leader being one of them.

"Amazing, can you still see?" he taunted. "Dragons… truly are incredible."

His tone was almost like he was mocking Nils for being a manakete, but Nils saw something through his damaged eyes that shocked him.

The mages were flying. But how could they do that?

Nils could not stay surprised for long, however, as he was once again attacked with Bolting. This time, though, Nils was more prepared—he lowered his head just before the magic struck him and lunged out to bite at one of his attackers. There was an almost bloodcurdling scream as Nils sunk his fangs into flesh before throwing the mage down onto the ground.

All that was left at that point was the leader.

"You know, I'm actually pretty angry," growled the remaining mage. "Very angry. I'm practically bubbling up with rage on the inside… I could probably do anything right now."

Nils glanced to him and a cool mist started to leak from his open maw as he had begun to prepare his attack.

"You're nothing without your Gate or your kind," the mage hissed. "So how about instead of destroying you, I destroy this!"

With a swift motion of the arm, the mage cast a huge gust of Aircalibur at the Dragon's Gate. Nils barely had any time to react as the powerful magic collided with the portal and stone gate surrounding it.

The Gate had been totally destroyed— portal and all.

The sight caused Nils to snap. He let out a terrifying roar that shook the entire place before swinging his claw at the remaining mage. The sudden attack had caught the mage off-guard and he was hit dead-on. Nils brought his claw plummeting down into the ground beneath them and slammed the mage into the stones, pinning him there.

Fueled with rage, his gaze bore down into the mage below, who was barely able to draw breath.

"H…ah… F…ool… even though we may be dead… now what… will you do…" he breathed out. "Our plan… was already set… in motion…"

Nils growled lowly and opened his maw. With one final breath of ice, the last of the mages was slain.

Nils couldn't help but cringe at the memory. "Why couldn't I do better…?" he whispered to himself.

He had been beating himself up over the past few weeks for his inability to keep the Gate safe. And even though he was able to kill off five of the mages, he had realized later that one of them was still unaccounted for. He quietly cursed himself.

"Sister… I'm so sorry," he spoke softly as he clenched his eyes. "Please forgive me for failing you so badly…"

Nils could hear two sets of footsteps approach him as he thought. The distressed manakete looked in the direction of the sound to see Eliwood and a very small winged girl approaching him.

Nils blinked slowly. Winged girl? A manakete?

"Nils," said Eliwood. "How are you feeling this afternoon?"

"Oh," Nils quietly spoke before clearing his throat. "I'm doing fine, thank you."

Eliwood nodded. "That's good to hear. Nils, this is Fa, a friend of Roy's."

The little girl waved enthusiastically at Nils and fluttered her wings. "Hello!" she exclaimed.

Nils stared for a moment before smiling a little. "Hi," he said.

"I remember what you said about the Gate," Eliwood started before hesitating. He lowered his voice a little. "That you weren't sure if you were strong enough to restore it on your own."

This caused Nils to cringe a little. ". . . Yeah?"

"As I'm sure you may have already guessed… Fa is a manakete as well," Eliwood said and smiled to Fa, who let out a small happy sound. "She is from the village of Arcadia… and is a Divine Dragon."

Nils quickly looked to Fa, who grinned.

"Fa wants to help find Roy!" she exclaimed. "Fa will help Nils and Eliwood with the gate so Nils can find Roy!"

Though her enthusiastic nature was charming, Nils still couldn't help but feel slightly cold. ". . . Eliwood..."

"Nils," Eliwood spoke up, his tone serious. "This isn't the time for self-loathing… we have a problem on our hands. And honestly, fixing a gate and finding my son in another realm sounds better to me than him being dead."

Eliwood's words caused Nils to tense up.

"You protected my son the best that you could. He's not dead—I refuse to believe that the incident on Dread Isle would be what ends him. He's just somewhere else right now, and if we rebuild a gate of our own, perhaps then you could pass through and bring him back to our world, where he belongs," he said. "I have faith in you, Nils… Ninian would, too."

The sound of his sister's name caused Nils to tear up slightly. ". . . Eliwood, I let her down," he said shakily.

"Nonsense... you didn't let her down. You didn't let anyone down, Nils," Eliwood responded, closing his eyes as he continued, as if trying to convince not only Nils, but also himself, "Roy is alive, out there, somewhere in another realm. He's alive… that alone is enough. You did nothing wrong, and I am sure Ninian appreciates all you did to help her son escape."

Nils shook his head a little and clenched his eyes tight. He gritted his teeth as he tried to hold back his tears. Fa frowned sadly before going over to Nils. She tugged on his sleeve, which caused him to glance to her. Then she smiled cheerfully at him.

"Don't be sad," she said. "We can fix it all together. Roy will come home! Everyone will be happy, then."

There was something about Fa's innocent resolve that calmed Nils enough for him to stop himself from breaking down into tears. He closed his eyes and let in a slow breath before holding it. He nodded once and breathed out.

". . . Alright," he finally spoke.

Eliwood smiled and Fa let out a cheerful noise once again. She took Nils' hand and fluttered her wings. "We can do it! Roy will come home soon! No giving up!"

Nils gripped Fa's hand slightly with his own and he nodded slowly. "Yeah… no giving up."