Slow and steady because I have no idea what I'm doing. I hope you enjoy it.

A Legacy of Ashes

Chapter 4

There was a loud and reverberating clang that sounded throughout the small space. Marth leaped backward, barely missing the heavy ax as it slammed into the stone. Their gaze locked on the opponent, but their stance betrayed nothing.

A lance came rushing out in a fraction of a second, forcing Marth to raise their blade in time to counter. The blow shoved them back a few paces.

Marth grunted as they tried to rush forward, but they were unceremoniously swatted away with the lance's superior reach.

Then there was a soft TING in Marth's ear, and they stopped. They stared into the distance as if something were calling out to them.

"Marth." their instructor's voice broke through the dull silence that had overtaken their mind.

"Oh, sorry," Marth placed a hand on one side of their skull as if trying to shake out water, "I just got a headache."

"Again?" the professor lowered their weapon. The lesson could continue another time. "Shall I get a doctor?"

Marth only shook their head "no, no, it's just …" they turned back and stared into space again. In the direction of those old ruins miles away. "I keep hearing something."

"I see," they reached out, placing a hand on Marth's shoulder. "Perhaps we should call it a day."

Marth had turned to face Byleth when they touched them, but they glanced back into space for a second. "Yeah, I think the heat's getting to me."

Ike reached out, snagging Akira as he was flung their way by the impact of whatever that thing burst open. He paid no mind to the magical fire that erupted from the rift and shook the boy, but he was unresponsive.

He grimaced, there didn't seem to be any apparent injuries, but he clearly wasn't well. There was something about the way he was breathing that bothered Ike.

"We have to go," he tossed Akira over his shoulder and turned towards the others, "Cloud, grab the other kid."

Cloud yanked Rex off the ground without a word and flung him over his shoulder.

As the two turned to leave, the ground began to tremble. The mercenaries didn't wait; with almost inhuman strength, they managed to leap from one outcropping to another and escaped the chasm quickly.

Once at ground level, they continued to run, and the earth began to quake properly. As if something dwelling deep beneath its surface was finally breaking free.

The already crumbling stone fell further as any wall that still stood began to waver. They managed to reach the gates, as the devastation seemed to stop there.

Ike peered over his shoulder to stare back at the ruins of Ylisstol, only to see a pillar of flame erupt from the ravine.

Rex's voice broke the solemn silence that overtook the two mercenaries. "Does this happen often?"

"No," Cloud set Rex down before turning to Ike, who was setting down Akira, "not usually."

Akira ran through the shallow ankle-deep water, ignoring the lighting strikes as they blasted off around him. He ignored the presence behind him. He didn't dare look.

Instead, he ran forward, as just off in the distance, he could see someone, two someones standing far out of his reach, their backs to him.

He stumbled a bit but couldn't stop running. Every time he faltered, they seemed to drift ever further away.

One of them turned his way, the taller one. They reached a hand out in his direction, and despite being so far away, Akira reached for it anyway.

Akira felt so small then.

He saw something emerge from behind the other two. A huge pair of scarlet eyes arose from the shadows, blazing like two crimson suns. Then a massive maw opened up, preparing to swallow them whole.

Akira scrambled for them, but they only watched as the ground beneath Akira's feet gave out.

He was falling endlessly. Suddenly there was nothing.

He couldn't see anything, feel anything, hear anything. He wasn't even sure if he was still falling.

Slowly, he could hear something moving in the endless void.

Abruptly something emerged from the darkness. Six crimson suns stared down at him, and something deep in the pit of his being told him those were eyes.

Six bloodthirsty red eyes glared down at him with every intent to kill.

As he tried to fumble away, chains ensnared him.

He was at the mercy of those hate-filled gazes.

Then there was an ear-shattering roar. Akira found himself screaming, too,

Then, as abruptly as it had started, it was gone. Leaving him in the soundless, empty void.

He could feel something lurking. Leaving him feeling smothered and so bitterly alone.

Akira blinked slightly, his eyes struggling to adjust to the sudden contrast between his nightmare and reality.

"Ike," Cloud's voice seemed so loud. "He's up."

The sudden crunch of the grass beneath the boss's steel-toed boots was almost deafening. But Akira didn't have the strength to cover his ears.

Akira expected Ike to be furious. The mercenary simply handed him a waterskin as Cloud helped him sit up. Akira drank deeply. He felt as if his whole body was on fire beneath the skin.

Ike stood up, turned, and started walking off toward the horses. "This trip was a bust. We'll try again once everything's calmed down."

Akira hung his head, he wanted to say something, but Cloud placed a hand on his back, attempting to comfort him.

"Um, guys," there was panic in Rex's voice.

The rest of the team followed his line of sight and saw a pillar of light erupting from the fissure grew in intensity. Then there was a loud and defining roar. Akira's stomach dropped at that all-too-familiar roar.

Then the storm that had been nothing more than agitated clouds seemed to darken as purple lightning erupted free from those ebony clouds.

Ike turned to Akira expectantly.

Akira didn't even try to fake calm, "we need to talk to the Seer."

She was in Ylisstol again; Zelda wasn't sure how she knew that. However, she could feel the certainty to her very core.

All around her were crumbling walls and dying vines crawling up cracked stone. She wasn't sure where in the castle she was, but she figured it must have been in the catacombs of the cellar.

As she floated down the many twisting corridors of the basement, she found herself in a large room. A strange dark stone she knew was very reminiscent of Sheikah technology.

She pressed her hand to it and passed through the sturdy door. But as she entered the room, she found the floor a mess with crumbled stone and a hole in one of the far walls. A deep and disgusting miasma crawled along it. Lapping at the strange-looking object in the middle of the room.

Tentatively she entered to get a better look at the strange pod-like structure in the middle of the room. However, something didn't feel quite right with the image before her.

She had seen much of Sheikah technology, and one thing that persisted was the pale blue runes along the durable stone. These runes, however, glowed in a strange red hue.

Then she heard that soul-shattering roar again. However, this time, she didn't wake up; instead, she watched in disbelief and horror as the corrupted pod opened. A clawed hand emerged from the dark liquid.

She should have been able to see the figure's face, but she couldn't. It was as if they crawled out from the shadows themselves.

Then they opened their eyes in her direction. A deep crimson gaze burned with fury, unlike anything she had ever experienced.

That searing stare was the last thing she saw before her eyes shot open. She looked deep into the tiles of her ceiling. She wasn't quite sure why, but tears were sliding down the sides of her face.

She sat up, sluggish and tired, but that dream haunted her. Those crimson eyes were so full of bloodlust, yet her heart had a strange feeling. Perhaps they weren't mine.

She remembered feeling both relieved and heartbroken upon staring into them. She was afraid, but whatever she felt in that dream differed from her thoughts.

With the seal broken, a figure stepped out of the magical tare in space. His darkened armor gleamed in the afterglow of the corruption that oozed out from the rift.

Fire followed him, attempting to set him ablaze as something else began to rush out from the portal. He raised a hand outward from it, rushing a dark and opaque slide. It seemed to erupt from the very ground as well. Binding whatever was still in the portal back into their once-shared hell.

A thin smirk crossed his features as his dark magic forced the beast back into a prison of its own making. Before the thing could be shoved back into the seal it created, it emitted another pathetic cry.

A cry that shook every wall and stone within this crumbling grave.

Then from behind him, the sound of metal colliding with rock met his ears. A figure stood among the rubble, but it was nothing but a meager shell. As there was no actual light behind those burning pits on its face.

It rushed at him, summoning a blade with power obtained from its other half. But it was not what he had expected.

The dark and vulgar imitation of the sacred blade was not some holy weapon but a tool for murder crafted of the beast's own malice for him.

He summoned forth his own blade. A mere husk would not do him in here.

AN/ Fun fact, that scene with Marth was planned to be longer, but I cut it short when I decided it would feel a little off given everything else in the chapter. Also, that scene with Zelda wasn't in the plan. It came to me, so I put it in. anyways hope you enjoyed this chapter, and hopefully, we'll get another one done soon.

~ S. Rosey (8/5/2022)