The impact of landing was painful, nothing like jumping from a tree to the ground. Shockwaves of pain ran up his legs, made worse by the burn on his leg, but he forced himself to his feet. Turning he saw the risen behind him. No matter how many times he countered her the Risen Princess would always terrify him. Pale, ashen skin. Steel grey hair that held faint traces of cobalt blue reminiscent of when she was part of the grey, black, and gold gold armor. The crimson eyes were now cold, mocking imitations of the loving blue he remembered from childhood. "O my darling boy," the Princess cooed. The words may have been familiar and once calming after he hurt himself, but no longer. "Why won't you join Grima? Your father can make it all better, he helped Morgan and me so much.'
"Grima is not my father," he answered, unsheathing his sword. "My father died three years ago," he raised his weapon and dropped into a familiar stance. The same one his mother taught him. "And I will save Morgan, you will not keep my sister for much longer."
The Risen Princess shook her head with a sad smile, "if not for your father then for me? I miss you, Marc. Please, for mummy?" She was using the same words from when he was a stubborn child. The last part was always used when he refused medicine.
Marc shook his head, reminding himself this was not his mother. His mother was gone, she had died saving him and Morgan. This was nothing more than a risen, a monster who simply resembled his mother. "No, I will never join you. If you were truly my mother you would be telling me to run, you would never tell me to join Grima." With that he attacked.
The blow was swift and supposed to be unexpected. Unfortunately the Risen Princess saw it coming and raised her lance to block it. "I know I taught you better than that," she said. She raised the weapon and aimed for his ribs. He dropped to his knees and rolled back, putting distance between them. The princess came at him again, her lance aimed for his heart this time. He blocked the blow but left his left side exposed. A weakness quickly exploited. Warm blood started to cover his side but all he noticed was the brief opening he could use to his advantage. Falchion was swung down towards a gap in her armor, a hit that connected. While no pain or blood would come it was a distraction. Her eyes widened in shock but it served to make her all the more angry. Blows came down fast from all sides, Marc could barely keep up. Right, down, left, down, up, right, left. He couldn't see a pattern he could break or an opening to exploit.
Eventually the princess's lance found its mark. The lance was embedded in his right forearm. The weapon was yanked back, tearing the wound further. Screaming in shock and pain he dropped his sword and brought his arm close. The princess looked down on him. "Pathetic," she snorted. Glancing up she smirked and the ground began to tremble. "I guess this is where I come into play. My Aunt Lissa and father will encounter my younger self soon."
She knelt down till they were eye level. "Run my son, warn them of my presence and of Grima's. This world shall suffer a fate worse than your own no matter what you do." She laughed and ruffled his hair, "take care Marc. You will join me another time where they will watch helplessly as we burn the world to the ground." The risen Princess smirked and grabbed Falchion. "Such a pathetic weapon."
Anger bubbled up, "NO IT'S NOT!" He stood up and lunged to get the weapon back. He could not lose his last tie to his mother, he would not! The woman laughed again.
"Here," she said and handed it to him, "you can have it for now. Rest assured I will take it from you another day." She then turned and left, leaving Marc alone as fire started to rain down around him and the ground started to break. Marc shook his head and pushed the pain away. If this was the night the princess claimed it to be he was in trouble. Risen would be here soon and fire was just pain dangerous. Gritting his teeth he ran as fast as he could, hoping to leave the forest or find the shepherds. Every step sent a blast of fiery pain up his leg and blood continued to run down his arm. It was difficult to ignore but he faced worse, had lived and fought with more serious wounds before.
Eventually he ran into a clearing and had to pause for a brief second while it registered. Aunt Lissa was backed against a tree, his moth-... Lucina was blocking an axe, her sword across her back and seeming to struggle under the weight. Uncle Chrom was busy with two others. A fourth risen was approaching his… Lucina.
Quickly he sprung into action, stabbing the lance-wielder then spinning and slicing the one Lucina faced. Both evaporated into purple smoke and their weapons fell harmlessly to the ground. Chrom had finished his own risen and faced them. "Who are you two?" he asked.
Lucina went to answer but Marc cut her off, "Introductions can wait, these things should take precedence." Lucina nodded as did Chrom. With that the battle began.
A.N: And that's it for now. Anybody a little confused? Good! You should be at the moment. Things will, hopefully, start to make sense as the story unfolds. This will be a massive AU! If you are not a fan of that then don't read, I won't be offended. Any guesses who the 'Risen Princess' is? I think it's obvious but you never know. The next chapter will start off just before Chrom finds Robin.
If anyone has any feedback or notices any mistakes please point them out. I want to improve as a writer and positive and negative feedback will help. Well, have a good day/night folks! Thanks for reading!
P.S: I don't own Fire Emblem Awakening
