Author's Note: Hello, and welcome! Now, some of you might have me on your Author Alert lists and might be wondering what in the name of God am I doing with a new story after having been dead for so long? Suffice to say... my university life hasn't been kind to me, especially with my old laptop giving out on me and costing me dozens of files for all my other stories. As of right now, I'm officially announcing that everything aside from THIS story is going to be on semi-permanent hiatus until I can, in order: graduate from university, and put everything back together again.

That said, I'm here writing this now because of a sudden burst of inspiration (and a bit of a feels trip thanks to a friend of mine). I've been in the Fire Emblem fandom for about 15 or so years now, and it's getting to the point where I've asked myself why I haven't tried to do anything for it. I couldn't really answer the question, but I guess it's probably because I never really found myself attached to any of the games as much as I have been attached to Awakening. The realization that Fire Emblem: if was coming out soon just moved me into action, sent my brain into overdrive... and this is the end result.

This will be a semi-Alternate Universe re-imagining of the storyline of Fire Emblem: Awakening. Many of the canon events that occurred in the game will remain as is; however, there will be changes, both obvious and subtle, that will definitely shift the how's and the why's of each of these events, with the back-story in particular receiving several revisions and additions in order to generate a much clearer and more defined picture of the game's setting. It is my only wish that I am able to present it all to you in a way that is both familiar and nostalgic, while still remaining a fresh experience for both veteran fans and newcomers. Officially, I'm rating this at M, and for good reasons - reasons which I will not disclose through this AN but will be more willing to speak about through PMs to avoid spoilers for the vast majority. However, for the time-being it will stay at T, as someone pointed out it might not get to a lot of people unless they change their rating filters. The M Rating will only be applied once the darker stuff starts to come into play.

If you ever wish to discuss certain ideas or if you have some questions, my PM box is always open, as is the review section which you can use to send me feedback on how I'm doing. I would certainly love to hear from you all and hear your thoughts, and will do my best to reply to each and every one of you!

Whew! That was a bit of a marathon of an AN. I hope I haven't bored you all to death yet. If not, I sincerely hope you can all enjoy reading this story as much as I will enjoy writing it.

Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem, Fire Emblem: Awakening, or any associated characters, weapons, concepts, etc. that are found therein. I only own the original character Nyx.

Special Thanks: JumperthreeDS and metallover, for their support, guidance, and inspiration, and without whom I probably would not have finally pushed myself into writing this out.


Premonition – The Road To Oblivion

Location: Inner Sanctum, The Dragon's Table

Robin ran as fast as his legs would carry him. He could see the twisted sorcerer Validar just a few paces away, standing before the unholy altar of this demonic temple he kept referring to as "The Dragon's Table".

'Today is the day… Today is the day when we finally put an end to this madness!' Robin thought. He watched out of the corner of his eye as his blue-haired comrade-in-arms Chrom sprinted forward, the holy blade Falchion in his hands gleaming as he swung at Validar with all his might. The sorcerer twisted back in a movement which Robin had to admit was graceful and elegant before bringing a graying, skeletal hand up, azure lightning magic crackling at his bony fingertips as he parried Chrom's second and third swings.

Robin brought his left hand up for his own spell, but the mental incantation faded as his head suddenly throbbed for a second and forced him to hesitate. In the meantime, he danced around the engagement between the Exalt and the Grimleal's High Priest, sparks flying and lightning arcing and crackling over Falchion's blade as Validar and Chrom fought for supremacy. Corrupted magic and sacred steel clashed again and again, explosions of energy marking where the two met every time.

'Focus, damn it! Focus! Chrom needs you to back him up!' Robin mentally berated himself as he watched Chrom get knocked back by a particularly powerful blast from Validar, the Prince-Exalt rolling forward to evade a burst of demonic fire magic that slammed down at him. Shaking his head, brilliant golden energy focused itself in the palm of Robin's left hand as Validar leaped up high over Chrom's counterattack.

"Robin! Up there!" the blue-haired swordsman yelled, causing Robin to look up just in time to see Validar gather energy and release a powerful fire spell.

An explosion shook the room, Robin throwing himself back just in time to avoid the blast's area of impact. "Thoron!" he cried out, letting loose a furious bolt of lightning at the magic circle Validar was standing on. The demonic sorcerer phased out of existence, allowing Robin's spell to slice through the magic circle and impact upon the roof of the Inner Sanctum in a fiery blast.

Before either of them could comprehend what had happened, Chrom suddenly found himself blasted into a pillar by Validar's azure lightning.

"Chrom!" Robin yelled, concern for his comrade overriding common sense for a brief moment. The smoke and dust cleared, revealing Chrom down on one knee. Taking the spell head-on had clearly staggered him, as the Prince-Exalt struggled to hold himself up even when using Falchion as a support.

A bright glow alerted Robin to Validar standing directly opposite Chrom. The skeletal sorcerer had raised his hand once again, conjuring a massive orb of energy. Eyes widening in panic, Robin, too, began charging his own spell as fast as he possibly could, ignoring the pulsing pain behind his eyes.

"Hahahahaha! You fool! Die!" Validar exclaimed in triumph as he swung his hand, sending the ball of pure energy flying directly at the helpless Prince-Exalt at the same moment as Robin leaped into action.

"I won't let you! Thoron!" Robin yelled in response as he raised his hand and fired off his own spell, meeting Validar's attack head-on and causing an almighty explosion of energy and power that blinded the three combatants.

Seconds passed – precious, precious seconds that could have decided the fate of the world – as the dust and destructive energies settled.

Robin was breathing heavily from where he was crouched, hovering between Chrom and a venomously glaring Validar.

"I already failed once…" he said through labored breaths. "I'm not going to let you kill anyone else! Not while I'm still me!"

A hand suddenly laid itself on Robin's shoulder and gripped it.

"You're right, Robin," a revitalized Chrom said as he helped Robin back up to his feet. "We're stopping him right here, right now. This is our final battle! You're one of us, and no "destiny" can change that! Now let's kill this dastard and be done with this!"

"Right!" Robin said, gripping his left hand tightly and pulsing out lightning magic through it as a sword materialized in his right hand. "Let's do it!"

Chrom nodded. "Together!" he said, before the two took off in unison.

"Hahaha! Why do you even resist?!" Validar mocked as he fired off more spells, his tome flipping through its pages as fire and lightning rained down upon Chrom and Robin. Explosions rocked the room as the two men wove their way between the storm of magic, Chrom bringing up Falchion to deflect the occasional spell he was unable to evade before rolling to the right to avoid a particularly powerful blast of dark magic.

Robin tried his best to cover both himself and his ally, firing off more bolts of lightning to meet Validar's barrage. What few that made it through were met with Robin's own blade, the hooded man deftly handling it with quick, economical movements.

"Gyahaha!" Validar laughed. "Fools! Struggle all you want! You cannot unwrite what is already written!"

"Watch us! Elwind!" Robin said as he suddenly rushed forward and fired a wind spell at his feet, boosting himself high into the air and over Validar's barrage. With a cry of anger, Robin brought his blade down on Validar, forcing the sorcerer to teleport behind the tactician, several meters away from the altar. Validar fired off another spell, Robin turning to counter once again with his own Thoron, locking them once more in a stalemate of magical prowess.

"I've got your back, Robin! We fight as one!" Robin heard Chrom call out. The hooded man tossed his sword up into the air in response as Chrom appeared in front of Robin, deflecting several spells with Falchion. Charging up spells with both hands, Robin fired off several blasts of lightning magic at Validar as Chrom dove to the side once more, limiting the sorcerer's movements. Before the sorcerer could react, a Thoron speared through his leg and staggered him.

"Checkmate," he grinned ferociously, raising a hand pulsing with green light. "Elwind!"

The blue-haired Prince-Exalt had already moved without any prompts, leaping into the tunnel of wind Robin had created and dashing right at Validar with his friend's wind spell propelling him forward.

"We're not done yet! My turn! " he said, closing to melee range and impaling the sorcerer in one swift motion just as Robin's sword hit the ground, burying its tip into the Inner Sanctum's floor.

Chrom removed his sword from Validar and leaped back, dark energies oozing from Validar's wounds and bursting into demonic flames. The sorcerer fell to his knees and then collapsed fully onto the ground, the corrupted magic beginning to consume his body as blood pooled around him. Powerful though he may have been, Validar was still mortal, and still only one man. Robin and Chrom were already plenty strong on their own, but together… they were unbeatable.

The two watched the body seemingly burn for a second before Chrom turned to face Robin, a tired grin on his face.

Robin had been about to smile back and nod in response, relieved that they'd both made it through, but a distorted voice stopped him cold in his tracks.

"This… isn't over…! Damn you both!" Validar roared in a defiant, demonic voice as he forced his disintegrating body up to his knees and fired one final blast of dark energy at Chrom.

'Chrom…!' Robin thought, the world seemingly slowing down in his perception as the spell closed with his comrade far too quickly for the other man to evade it, let alone even turn and see it coming. His body moving automatically before either of them could say anything, the hooded tactician had stretched his left hand and arm out, pushing Chrom aside and behind him as he moved right into the path of the destructive energy.

The blast connected with Robin, and he saw nothing but white, his body – or was that his voice? – screaming in pure agony. His ears were ringing, his body felt like he'd been dunked in liquid fire, and his head was throbbing like it never had before. Oh, dear sweet Naga, did his head hurt.

As his vision returned to him what felt like an eternity later, Robin wondered briefly why it was everything was sideways and when exactly Chrom had learned to run and stand on walls before belatedly coming to the realization that he was lying on the ground. Robin could barely understand what in Naga's name was happening as Chrom propped him up, steadying his back and shoulders with a strong steady grip as he checked his wounds.

"Hey, are you alright?" he asked as Robin's world continued to spin. "That's the end of him." Chrom looked back at where Validar had been, the last wisps of dark energy dissipating into the air.

"Thanks to you, we carried the day," Chrom continued, giving Robin a gentle smile. "We can rest easy now."

Chrom continued to speak, but Robin could neither hear nor comprehend anything else, feeling as if he was suddenly very far away. 'W-wha-what… what's happening…?' he thought, his vision pulsing red as his head continued to throb, wracking his burning body with pain unlike any he'd ever felt.

He barely felt himself being helped up to his feet, coming face-to-face with a concerned Chrom. His mouth was moving, but everything was hazy, and his body felt like it was moving on its own. He wanted to speak, wanted to scream at Chrom, to tell him-!

Chrom suddenly jerked, his eyes going wide in utter shock. Robin's vision and hearing cleared once more as Chrom stumbled backwards, hand clasping his shoulder where a spear of golden lightning had impaled him.

Robin's eyes were wide as Chrom's expression twisted in obvious pain, legs wobbling as he tried to stay standing. Looking down at his right hand, he barely comprehended the lightning crackling over his gloved palm and fingertips. Bringing it up to his face, he looked at Chrom, then back to his own hand, then back at Chrom again. Only then did the dots finally connect and hit him full in the face.

'Oh, gods… what… what have I…?'

Did… did he just intentionally harm Ylisse's Prince-Exalt, the man who'd taken him in, given him a home and a family…

Did he just intentionally harm – and possibly even kill – the last remaining hope for the world…?

Robin was frozen in place. He wanted to move, to support Chrom and get him to the healers. If he moved fast enough, he might still be able to save him!

So why… why couldn't he…?

"This is not your – your fault…" Chrom whispered, looking Robin in the eye. "I'll be fine, just… just promise me… that you'll escape from this place… with us… promise… me…"

The barrier around them dissipating and revealing the scene to the entirety of the Shepherds still fighting against the Grimleal outside. All eyes turned as Chrom fell, gasping for breath as blood splattered from the wounds he'd sustained.

The hooded man wanted to scream, to shout, to do something, anything. But he was just a passenger now – a passenger and a prisoner in his own body.

'I… I…' he thought, despair clouding his mind as the darkness began to overtake his consciousness. 'Everything… did end today… the world included…'

"… So, you think you're all that now that you've taken control of your Avatar…?" a voice called out, causing Robin – the being now inhabiting and controlling Robin's body – to turn, his now-demonic red eyes narrowing at the sight.

A woman perched herself on his altar, dark blue medium-length hair framing otherworldly golden eyes that were appraising the possessed tactician and the fallen Prince-Exalt with an almost disdainful expression. A short black and purple coat covered an even shorter sleeveless beige dress, tights serving to protect the modesty of her otherwise bare legs. Elbow length gloves and ankle boots completed the girl's ensemble, which somehow resembled Robin's own yet still managed to maintain its own distinct flavour.

"You…!" the demonic Robin growled, causing a delightful smile to rise to the woman's lips.

"N-Nyx…?" Chrom croaked out, blood bubbling from his lips. "W-what… what are you…?"

"Yes, it's me. The one Robin could never defeat. The one who's here now to surpass you, Grima," the woman named Nyx said as she licked her lips in anticipation. "After all… why stop at being the Avatar of a god when you can kill him and take his place?"

Nyx daintily let herself off the altar, almost floating down to land ever-so-gently on the ground. "Now… tell me. How should we start?" she asked sweetly, her grin taking on a manic quality as her clothes burned themselves away, revealing a new outfit that was nothing if not raunchy, at best. She wore a one-piece dress with a low neckline and an even lower backline, exposing the entirety of her shoulders and back as well as the tops and sides of her breasts. Detached, flowing sleeves, leather leg guards, and thigh-high stockings complemented her clothing, while her dress parted at her waist, exposing her smallclothes and the lower part of her abdomen for the world to see…

Not that she minded, seeing how she had been draped over the altar without any regard for her own modesty and was now reveling in the attention.

"YOU DARE STAND AGAINST ME?! I AM YOUR MASTER, NOW KNEEL!" Grima replied as he tapped into the dark magic that had linked him to Robin, to Nyx, and all his potential Avatars, and imposed his will upon her.

However, she did the last thing Grima could have imagined. She laughed. She laughed long and hard, even as the remaining Shepherds approached the trio.

"Impossible… why can I not influence you? How did you break the control Validar had upon you?!" Grima asked, a mixture of anger and surprise lacing his tone.

Nyx smiled as many Shepherds stopped cold upon witnessing the scene before them. "Simple. I refuse to be just an Avatar for you, tied to a single inescapable fate. Do you really think the fell magic Validar implanted into us at birth was infallible? I broke nothing. Pretending that it worked simply tipped the scales even further my way."

"Chrom!" "Brother!" came the twin cries of Sumia and Lissa as they immediately dropped to Chrom's side, immediately going to work on his wound.

"And so the rest of the circus arrives," Nyx commented, grinning in delight. "Come to witness history, have we?"

"N-Nyx… Robin…? W-what's happened to you…?" asked a frightened Cordelia as she and Frederick took their positions between the royal family and the two outcasts.

Nyx stared at the Shepherds coolly, almost as if she no longer recognized them. "So many, many questions," she said. "To keep everything short, nothing happened. I'm simply tired of playing games with you all. Fifteen years was far too much, as it was."

"Games… So, Southtown…? Plegia? Valm? Everything… it was all a game?" Chrom barely managed to choke out, his expression one of horror. The way their trusted comrade was so casually tearing apart everything they'd known for all these years… it was too much. It was all too much!

"Don't talk, brother" Lissa whispered as she continued to pour healing magic into the wound in Chrom's chest

"It wasn't exactly necessary," Nyx replied, secretly loving every second of this revelation and finally being free of the shackles of her role. "But it was a convenient deception. A woman with no memories is a woman with no motive, and you and your merry band of Shepherds were all too trusting and naive."

"… But why… Why do all of this?" Cordelia asked, before turning to the possessed Robin. "Robin, say something!"

Nyx childishly giggled. "Robin over there is simply fulfilling his destiny to become Grima's host, dear Prince," she said teasingly. "I, on the other hand… am surpassing mine. Now that both a Sacrifice and the Emblem were delivered, Grima has been summoned once more… Prince Chrom, I truly must thank you for your help. With the aid you have given me, I can achieve my goal by killing Grima and taking his place as a new god."

"You think you can usurp me, child?!" Grima growled in rage as dark energies began to gather around him, the ground rumbling with the raw power of Grima's fell magic.

However, it came to an end as a sudden spike of pain brought him to a halt. "W-what?! Robin, even now… even now, you try to resist me?! RESIST YOUR DESTINY?!" Grima ground out, before letting out a blood-curdling scream of pain that shook the room.

Slumping slightly, Robin's body was still for a few moments before he looked up, his eyes no longer a glowing demonic red, but the warm hazel the Shepherds had come to know and love.

"R-R-Robin…?" Chrom managed to get out faintly.

The other man turned halfway, never taking an eye off of Nyx. "Yeah… it's me… I don't have much time left, so listen up… Take the Prince and the Emblem and get out of here. Regardless of the outcome of this coming battle, you'll have time to prepare – at least two years. Try and perform the Awakening before either Grima or Nyx marches on Ylisstol."

'… My attack was laced with extremely potent fell magic, though… anything short of Naga couldn't heal that…' Robin thought regretfully. 'Chrom's fate is already sealed… just like mine…'

"But… but what about you?!" Lissa cried.

Robin smiled sadly. "I'm… already dead, pretty much. But maybe I can atone for my sins this way," he replied slowly, wincing in pain as Grima roared from within him. "Urgh… hurry… y-you don't have much time left… go! Go now, before I- aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!"

Robin never finished, erupting in a scream of pain as Grima's presence once more forcibly overtook him.

'Just for that, you can experience my power for yourself before I turn it against your precious friends!' Grima growled out in Robin's mind. 'Let's see if you'll still be willing to resist me afterwards!'

Robin looked back, watching as the Shepherds retreated, Emblem in Lissa's hands and a still-bleeding Chrom leaning heavily against Sumia's back as the Queen's pegasus took to the air.

'Chrom… everyone… I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…' Robin thought, tears coming to his eyes as he looked back at Nyx, who was watching patiently, almost as if she was enjoying the show before her.

"Nyx… at least one of us… is being stopped here," he whispered. "It's… almost… urk!"

Robin suddenly screamed in pain as Grima's essence poured into his mortal body. The Fell Dragon's mana rampaged over his body, destroying him inside and outside and rebuilding him as Grima saw fit.

From that moment, Robin, Tactician of the Shepherds and Grandmaster of Ylisse, was no more. After almost two decades of resisting its call, he had finally achieved his destiny and made it reality.

In those last moments before the darkness consumed him completely, Robin thought he heard Grima's mocking laughter echoing throughout his mind as the darkness above coalesced into a form he recognized… a draconic figure with six eyes staring down at him…

Nyx could only smile in wicked triumph, dark energy pooling around her into intricate magic circles as she stared down the Fell Dragon.

"Now, the fun begins…" she said, staring at the clouded form that had once been Robin as it opened its eyes to reveal glowing crimson irises.