Chapter Thirty

I woke up in a haze on the grass, not unlike when I arrived in Ylisse. Shaking off the cobwebs, I picked myself up to study my surroundings. I recognized the water tower, or what was left in the rubble. The gray skies produced silence. The main road was impassable; the black asphalt missing in the street was found along sidewalks, inside collapsed stores and even on tops of remaining roofs. The town was not destroyed by a bomb. No, something worse happened. I could confirm I was in my hometown, but not the time.

I spun around looking for any human interaction but none was in sight. My legs started to move east. With no operational vehicles, walking would take around six hours. The raised and lowering of the terrain made the travel feel like climbing a small mountain. Delaware was known for being flat and this was unnatural. I dreaded to think what caused all this, but I did have one guess.

Halfway to my house, my fears were confirmed. The skies turned purple with flashes of lightning. The thunder roared first before the cry. A sound I never wanted to hear again filled my eardrums.

Grima.

Not seen but heard, I ran home as fast as I could. My lungs burned and my knees felt heavy. That didn't matter. I had a wife to get to…if she was even home at this point. But I had to find out for myself. When I got home, I broke the front door and screamed several times for my spouse. No response. Running up through the debris of hardwood and drywall, I found her body…lifeless. I flipped her over to see her blood-soaked clothes and began CPR. Neither my breath nor tears could bring her back to life. I held her tight, mixing the water from my face with her blood. Time stood still and I didn't care if Grima arrived at the door.

"I love you, dear! I'll see you on the other side. Just…wait for me."

The crying ceased with a different sound from above. It was not a dragon but machinery. A Boeing CH-47 Chinook lowered from the dark clouds. A military personal slid the door and stretched out a hand. Without a second thought, I grabbed his hand and was lifted into the helicopter.

"Are you Phil…"

"Phil is fine, just call me Phil."

"Pleasure to meet you," the man shook my hand. "I am Rodney. We are so thankful we found you. Been looking for over a week now."

"What's going on, Rodney? Where are we going?" I asked dusting myself off the blood and tears. Anywhere but at the current location was fine by me.

"Your questions will be answered soon enough in the debriefing." The helmeted man pulled out an Aquafina water bottle. "Drink this and relax. Our ETA is 1800 hours."

At the undisclosed location, Rodney, myself, and the two pilots landed without turbulence. I jumped to the ground and was taken through a steel door. In the elevator, we went down pretty far. I didn't count, but it was longer than a minute. Upon opening, I was surprised to see the many artifacts. I recognized a few but the one that startled me the most was a sword. It was none other than…

"Falchion! That is the Falchion!" I pointed as we walked away from the glass holding. "And that's Missiletainn! And Sol!"

"Please keep moving, sir." An officer in black pushed me forward. It was confusing; how could these artifacts be real and in seemingly pristine condition? More and more questions formed in my head but when I saw a brunette woman in a lab coat, I sensed I would obtain the answers.

"Ah, greetings Phil!" She pulled out her hand and I responded in kind taking it. "We've been expecting you. You are like a hero around these parts!" Her glitter in her eyes dimed down after a glare from her superior. "I am sure you have many questions, so follow me."

"I do. For starters, what's your name and where the heck am I?" I asked trailing the brunette.

Without looking back, she answered. "Doctor Cindy Howard. And I'm sorry, but I have no authority to answer that."

I paused and guessed the first top secret place I could think of. "Area 51." That caused the woman to stop and smile. "I can not confirm nor deny the existence of such a place."

I knew what she meant and nodded. "I understand. I don't want to put your job in jeopardy." Eventually we turned a corner in the poorly lit hallway and I was taken in a dark room with one chair and a desk.

"Please, sit down. We will get started right away."

A line of scientists and doctors entered the room, appearing to be in their 20's. They stood at the desk with their notepads and metal pens wearing the traditional gowns for those in such positions. I folded my arms, "Ok, looks like there's enough people here. Anyone want to enlighten me? What is going on!? And why is Grima-"

A man in glasses held up a hand. "In do time, Phil. But let's go around and introduce ourselves. I am Professor Lawrence Burten. Next to me is Professor Degel Pierce, this is Doctor Noria Majure and this is…"

I interrupted him, raising a hand. "First names are fine with me as I am prone to forget full names. And no titles, please. I assume you are all doctors or professors of some sort. No need to be formal."

Laurent sighed, "Indeed, that is most understandable. I'll start over. I am Lawrence, this is Degel, Noria, Chambray, Lazlow, Odin, Cindy, Natasha, Jerry, and Selena."

The last one, a red-headed woman. I recognized her standoffish mannerisms and name. I stared at her for too long, making her uncomfortable.

"Excuse me? Are you daft?"

"No, I am not daft as you put it, Selena…if that is even your real name, professor." I folded my arms.

"What are you insinuating, sir?" A tall, chiseled man spat out.

I grew impatient. "Bull. Don't try to pull a fast one on me. You all got false names to hide something, isn't that right…Laurent?"

The man with spectacles coughed and pretended to clean his eyepiece. "What made you come to deduce that reasoning?"

"Because I believe I know all of you…at least, your parents." I picked out the ones I knew for certain first. "You are Kjelle. Noire. Nah. Inigo. Gerome. Owain. Yarne. Cynthia. And…Severa." The looks of bewilderment confirmed my reservations.

The redheaded woman still was unflustered. She turned her head in disgust. I called out her name again. Her angry demeanor changed with a sharp tongue.

"Yeah, what do you want?"

"I…"

Your parents are safe is what I wanted to say. The words never came. Instead, an image of a previous dream came to mind. Cordelia. Severa. At the waterpark. She could have been my daughter. Maybe in another life, but I didn't want my brain to wander down that road.

"Well, spit it out! Gosh!"

"You don't have to put up a front, you know? You are a strong woman; there is no need to act tough. I know you've been through a lot…all of you, in fact."

"How did you know, sir?" A stern, pink-haired man growled.

"Easy, Gerome. The hair colors. And your mannerisms, like the way you're all standing."

Yarne unsettlingly paced around the room. "You said you knew…my mother. And father. How are they doing?"

"Peace, Yarne, relax." I walked over and grabbed him. "Gregor is still his jolly self and Panne is still calling everyone a 'manspawn'. They are just fine." This relieved the hairy man as he ceased fidgeting. "All your parents are fine, by the way. But, tell me, what is going on?"

"Before when that monstrous creature arrived in our timeline," Laurent explained, "My mother spoke of one of her experiments with time displacement. I didn't believe her at first, but one day, I found one of her books on the subject and studied heavily during the much free time I had when she was away in her work. Then we found-"

Inigo stepped forwarded, "I'm sure Laurent can explain the boring details, but I don't think Phil wants that. We found that Outrealm gate. It took us far in the future. Since then, we've been following Laurent's lead on how to defeat Grima once and for all. Isn't that right, dear?" Indigo winked at the ponytailed woman next to him. Clearly not amused, she sucked in air and jabbed her pen in his rib.

"You can die quickly if you don't shut up! Stop wasting your breath. I'm not the sort of floozy to swoon over the crap of trite flattery, you already know that! Go eat-" Severa paused, seeing the room fixated on the couple.

"Love. Funny thing." Kjelle shrugged.

I raised an eyebrow. "Whatever. Anyways, how does all this involve me?"

"D-Do you still have that blue device?" A shy Noire spoke up.

I reached in my pocket, feeling plastic. I pulled out the 3DS console and presented it to Noire. She fumbled it around in her hands and gently handed it off to Laurent.

"Using technology in this era," he went on to ramble, "we were able to connect the Nintendo 3DS to a portal. However, the government was catching on to our trials…and our identities."

Nah expounded, "We moved fast in our research. Hacking into all 3DS systems, we noticed you just finished up the last level on a harder mode. You, Phil, had several 'save' files. That was enough to convince us that you knew of our world intimately enough for our liking."

"What?"

"What she is saying, Phil, is that we chose you!" Cynthia answered with flare.

"Let me get this straight," I rubbed the hairs on my chin. "All of you went forward in time, tested stuff in Area 51, hacked into my game when I was sleeping and somehow transported me to the world of Archanea? And you wanted me to help kill Grima?"

Laurent smiled, "Excellent! Your comprehension spared me the botheration of further explication."

"Ok, well, I got some bad news."

"We already know about Grima, Phil." Gerome spat. "You failed the mission."

"Hey now, Gerome, be nice to our friend!" Noire cried. The redheaded man scoffed.

"It wasn't my fault. I wanted to land the final blow," I flicked my wrist. "But then Chrom went ahead and slashed the dragon with his Falchion."

The room became depressed with the miserable looks on their faces. I didn't blame them. They did everything in their power to help stop an Apocalypse and I failed. I failed.

"Anyways," I startled the group, "where's Lucina and Brady?"

The lone door opened and a woman trotted in. "I am here."

"Lucina!" I gasped. "Glad to see you, but-"

She pointed a finger at me, "Not now. No time to explain." Lending over to Laurent and whispered something inaudible. He dropped his belongings.

"Everyone, we had a code 5-5. Proceed to evacuate now!"

While everyone scrambled to the exit, I froze in confusion. "Can someone tell me what the hell is going on?"

Kjelle grabbed my arm, "Brady didn't make it, I assume. Now come on, let's go. Risen have infiltrated the vicinity."

"Risen!?"

As much as I wanted to process all the information landed on me, the overriding sense of fleeing and fighting the Risen took over. Going down the hall, we traced our way to the archives. Gerome and Kjelle punched through glass to retrieve the ancient axes Helswath and Hauteclere. Cynthia causally pressed a button and the remaining imprisoned weapons.

"Show offs," jeered Yarne as he grabbed a beast stone. The remaining Shepherd children seized swords, lances and tomes with Owain hesitant. His eyes glimmered reflecting his favorite blade.

"The blade of legend and song. I feel its power coursing through me! At last, my sword hand lays calm. Come, Missiletainn, destiny beckons!"

"Gods!" Severa grunted, "Just get the damn sword and let's go already!"

Owain brushed her and picked up the grip, still staring in full awe. Cynthia tapped on my shoulder and stretched out her hands. She was carefully presenting a sword. I took it and examined each part. The first thing anyone would notice was the massivesize. The blade alone was over three feet long. I saw my reflection in the golden blade. The point was triangular. The guard was short and cut on an angle. A dazzling green stone was placed in the rain guard. White wraps crossed around the grip down the small pommel. This was no other than Ragnell.

"Woah." I grinned, "This is nice. I think I know how to use this." I winked at the woman that looked similar to Sumia.

"You're welcome! Now, let's play the hero and smite down the fiends!"

"Hold on," Gerome interrupted. "We could use one more helper." The tall man whistled and several seconds later, a reptilian yelp and flapping wings were heard. The wyvern came to the call of her master and Gerome scratched under her jaw. "Death will always have its due," he spoke to the dragon, "but perhaps it will accept a few substitutions. Come, my dear Minerva. Join me on one final fight."

Noticing everyone present and armed properly, the lead scientist pushed up his glasses.

"Follow me, everyone," Laurent waved us on as he flipped his key card at the reinforced door. Flying open, we were welcomed by a hallway with emergency yellow lights as the only source of sight. Keeping close to one another, we moved light footed. After two more key swipes, we arrived at the last door.

"The next area is crawling with Risen," Lucina spoke bluntly. "They followed me through the Outrealm gate, like how I followed you, Phil."

I should not have been so surprised with her stealth, as she developed the habit in Ylisse. And yet, I failed to detect her presence back at Sandibar. "So, you followed me to Sandibar? Well, I won't ask why, but I'm glad you're here."

Lucina nodded. "You already know the stakes and our parents defeated Grima once. There is no reason the outcome would be any different. We believe in you, Phil. I believe in you."

A tear danced around my left cheek. A bulb went off. Naturally, I knew what had to be done once the portal came open. But experiencing a second chance of redemption was an alien sensation. One could say I was a motivated new person. I could have quit after holding my deceased wife. I could have quit after witnessing the desolation of my home and possibly the world. I could quit even now with Grima's minions waiting in ambush. But none mattered more than going back to Origin Peak and killing Grima, even if I must use my bare hands. I never asked for any of this, but the responsibility I gladly accepted. My friends deserved more than a life of gloom and warfare.

"Thanks, Lucina. Thank you, everyone for giving me a chance at doing something far greater than myself. This is for you, and your parents, and the world." I embraced each one with sound of sirens and roars filling our ears. Severa was last and I anticipated the cold shoulder. What I received instead was a bear-hug as she crushed my lungs.

"Take care of yourself, Sev. Your parents love you and they would be darn proud to see their daughter grow up to who she is now."

The redhead sobbed on my shirt, creating a deepened wet spot. "You idiot! You better give that bastard a good beatdown! If you don't kill that monster, I'll kill you before he gets a chance!"

I released her and smiled. "Of course. I wouldn't expect it any other way." I took in a deep breath then motioned to Laurent. "Open the door. I'm ready."

"Is everyone else prepared?" Laurent questioned.

"Ready!"

The door swooshed opened and out came the wave of Risen. The hideous creatures had no other purpose than to murder. We made sure they failed.

Gerome and Minerva took to the front. The scaly ally burped out a massive fireball. The majority of the living dead were incinerated instantly. Breathing in hot flames, she was prepared for another round, until one of the ghastly figures punctured her chest. Flailing on the ground, the dragon tamer lifted her head.

"Minerva! Stay with me, girl!"

"Severa! Inigo! Owain! To the front!" Lucina blurted. The three close friends obeyed and slashed down the Risen with their swords. Noire and Laurent provided support in the back with longer range weapons. The small force we made were able to push the Risen deep in the lab.

"Cynthia!" Laurent grunted between spells. "Go to my desk. Under my stack of papers is the control panel. Switch to 'up' levers one, two and three."

"Ok!" Cynthia ran with her giant black lance. Before reaching the panel, several Risen jumped in front of her, blocking the path. Expecting doom for herself, her heart pounded away. One of them got by her defenses and gnarled on her arm. Screams of defeat expelled from her mouth until a louder shriek rang.

"I got you covered! Now go!" I pulled back Ragnell from the monster's skull as it vanished in purple mist. I regripped the famous sword. "Welcome to my world! Come get some!" I swung wildly around in all directions to give Cynthia time to do her work. She used both hands to push the large stacks of lab work away. Flicking her wrist, the gate twenty yards ahead made a rushing mechanical noise. Similar to the gate at Sandibar, lightning danced the metal beams. Flashes of light grew brighter and brighter. Plasma appeared next; the portal was opened.

"You did it, Cynthia!" I yelled out.

"Go for it, Phil!" She responded as she watched my feet carry me to my destination. Kjelle and Yarne, in his beast form, bulldozed a path for me.

The rabbit man slashed and chewed those unfortunate to get in his way. "No one messes with a bunny!"

"Come on, Phil! Hurry!" Kjelle groaned.

You didn't need to tell me twice. I placed Ragnell on Laurent's table and ran through the gateway. Thoughts of friends and family flooded my mind. The overwhelming state of joy and gratitude became my heart, embracing the second chance of winning back the world for mankind. An awakening of rebirth, one could say.

"Chrom! I'm coming Chrom, hold on!"