Just a neat little one-shot to get me back in the writing mood and to expand on a little idea I had bouncing around in my head for a while.
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"…WHAT… WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" The beaten, craven being growled at his attacker. A man who looked just like him and wore an extremely determined look on his face.
"For once, I'm glad you and I are the same." The white-haired tactician proclaimed as he charged up a powerful spell in his palm. "Now I can give my life to protect those I care for..."
"...YOU WOULD...NOT DARE!"
"I would and I will. The evils you would visit on this world are unthinkable..." Energy crackled harshly in the man's palm as he aimed it at the being in front of him. "In some way, I—we share the blame. It's only right we meet our end together!"
"...NOOOOOOO!"
A flash of lightning cracked across the battlefield, piercing the heart of the Fell Creation. He uttered an unholy cry of pain and agony before fading away into the nothingness of the void, his vessel would follow suit. At this moment, Grima was permanently slain, and he had no way to come back. He was gone.
Grima awoke with a start. His eyes shot open as he inhaled sharply. He sat up and stared at his new surroundings. And empty white void, with its only occupant being an enormous black gate before him. Grima gulped upon seeing it. He touched the marble, or what he assumed it to be made of. Or he would have, had he not been in the form he once had all those millennia ago, the shape of a dragon whelp. The first time he'd truly learn the importance of his sentience, when he killed his creator, Forneus.
"What… what is this?" Another recoil hit the homunculus. His voice sounded a lot less gravelly as if he was never a fell creation to begin with.
But that's nonsense… He thought. "Is this… the afterlife?" Grima's voice quivered with rage. "DAMN IT! I spent all those years, meticulously plotting my return, and for what?! My own Vessel to betray me? To side with that damn Naga-Spawn?! Just… where did it all go wrong?"
"My, how interesting." A voice cut through Grima's ravings as the homunculus turned around and saw… himself. "I didn't think I'd see another Homunculus here again, yet here we are."
"What in the… who are you, worm?" The being before him was himself, but at the same time wasn't. It was stark white, and the only reason he could even see it was because of the black aura that surrounded it. But it wasn't evil, rather it was there as if it was to help the dragon see the being before him easier. Speaking of, it didn't have his eyes at all, just pure white. The only thing on it that had detail was its maw that it shared with Grima. Which unnaturally widened into a grin. "ANSWER ME DAMMIT!"
"Who am I? Well, one name you might have for me is The World, or maybe the Universe. Some may even refer to me as God-"
"BULLSHIT! THERE IS ONLY ONE GOD AND THAT IS ME, GRIMA!"
"…Or perhaps the Truth; I am All and I am One. So in that case…" Truth pointed to Grima with his tail as a replacement for a finger. "I am You as well."
"N-No… That's not possible… Naga was merely a Divine Dragon playing God, I surpassed her! I SHOULD BE GOD, NOT YOU!"
"And this brings me to my next point; I come to bring to you your Truth. The reasoning to your madness. The price of your pride."
"Tch, the price for my pride?" The Fell Dragon scoffed. "My Pride is justified. Humans are weak, sniveling creatures who live solely to destroy each other and cause each other misery. I am merely showing them how it feels. Is that so wrong, O' Mighty God?" He spat the last part with venom. However, Truth's grin never wavered. In fact, it seemingly grew wider.
"Yet you are part human as well, are you not? What makes you any different from the 'worms' you seek to exterminate, hmm?"
"I AM NOTHING LIKE THOSE PESTS!" The Fell Dragon snarled. "I may have the blood of humans coursing through my veins, but my Draconic blood is far superior to any Human Blood I have."
"Yet it is still there. Still coursing through you, still making your heart beat, still making you… human." Grima's eye's flashed in fury before attempting to unleash an Expiration blast at the being known as Truth, but one never came. Truth simply chuckled at Grima's exasperation as he continued. "Your pride, your ego, it clouded your judgement from the moment you were born. You claim to be above humans, yet here you were, being bested by them…
"Time…" Grima's roar trembled throughout the caverns of Thabes as Alm and his group beat him into submission. He would never forget his first major humiliation at the hands of humans…
"Time…" Grima cried out in a hate-filled screech as the First Exalt skewered the Exalted Falchion into his heart, forcing him into a one-thousand-year slumber. He would hate the bloodline of the man who dared to desecrate his name for ages to come…
"And Time again…" Grima's most recent defeat, at the hands of his own Vessel no less. His biggest humiliation as the man disregarded everything he was made to be to save the worthless humans he cherished. He rued every single event that led up to his death as he faded into the abyss…
Grima gasped harshly as he relived those painful memories, glaring up at the being who was now merely gazing down at him like a disappointed parent.
"You claim humanity is undeserving of anything other than death, yet you yourself bore witness to the ingenuity that humans have, have you not?"
"…"
"All this talk of humans being foolish, prideful, arrogant; those were all traits found in yourself more than anything. You were truly the most boastful being of your world."
"NO! I… I refuse to believe this! I know what I saw when I rose to power! The wickedness of humanity, the callousness of those in power, the vanity of the prideful! I merely cleansed the world of them! Of all of them! I wanted to make sure they never sullied this world with their sins ever again!"
"So you think that by ridding one of their sins, their desires, they can achieve perfection?"
"YES! THAT IS EXACTLY IT! THAT IS WHAT I MADE TO EMBODY!" Grima cackled madly as he flew around in circles. "I WAS MADE TO BE THE ULTIMATE LIFEFORM! I WAS MADE TO BE PERFECT. I. AM. PERFECT."
"You are merely a misguided fool who believed another fool's assessment."
"WHAT?!"
Truth's grin faded as it continued. "You think that by being perfect, you can achieve godhood. That by rejecting the human side of you, you would prove your dominance to all. Yet look what happened when you did so; when you refused to accept your humanity, what it caused. You became arrogant, boastful, and foolish. You refused to take the first step into becoming human and gleaning upon the mistakes of not only yourself but others. You constantly strove for perfection when in reality, perfection does not exist for you. To be perfect, you must be a God. An occupation that you will never be fit to take.
"The place of a Mortal is not to achieve Godhood but realize that they are Mortal and they should learn how to better themselves as a person. THAT, my friend, is what makes a human, human. The acceptance of their flaws, the acceptance to learn from their mistakes, and the will to keep moving forward. That is the fatal flaw that you refused to glean at in your long life, Creation. You constantly wished to achieve something that you ultimately could never reach and lashed out on the ones that remained complacent in their place in the World. The Pride that you relished so dearly was your true downfall from the very beginning. That is Your Truth."
"N-No… No… no…" Grima was left stunned. He wanted to refute whatever this being was saying, but he couldn't. It was impossible, everything Truth said was well, the Truth. He wanted to feel angry at himself for not understanding this sooner, but he couldn't. He wanted to lash out, but he couldn't. He just felt… empty. As if his whole reason for existing was simply shattered.
"Now then, those who wish to play God must pay the price for their arrogance, isn't that correct?"
The Gate behind Grima groaned as the doors opened, revealing a hulking mass of black and an unsettling eyeball. Suddenly, tendril-like hands reached out from it and made their way towards Grima. The Fell Dragon suddenly felt the only other emotion he had felt in his life other than rage and sadistic glee: Fear. A recent emotion that emerged upon staring down death for the first time in his life.
"W-Wait! Please, have mercy! I-I can change, please! I'll learn, just spare me!"
"Groveling are we? A stark contrast from your earlier bravado. You must pay the price for your Sin all the same."
"NOOOO!" The arms wrapped themselves around the Fell Creation as he was dragged into the Gate of Truth. Grima cried out desperately to be saved, yet nothing came. He gazed once more at Truth's smiling face before the Gate closed itself on him with a resounding thud.
"Naga did say if my bonds with the others were strong enough, I'd return to them."
"That she did, Robin."
"So… why did you still wish to speak with me, Truth?" Robin flailed his arms wildly at his unexpectedly rude comment. "N-Not that I didn't enjoy our talk! It was very eye-opening for me."
"Heheh, no need to get so flustered. I merely wished for you to see something. Or rather, someone."
"Oh? And who would that be?" Truth gestured for him to turn around, and before them laid a pathetic creature, barely the size of a fetus, sniveling on the ground. The only thing that stood out to him was the Brand of the Defile on its back. "Is that…"
"The one known as Grima? Yes. He simply paid the price for his arrogance is all."
"The Law of Equivalent Exchange that you described… In order to gain something, you must first give up something of equal value… What did he gain and give up?"
"He gained the knowledge of a God but gave up the one thing that made him a being: his own Pride. He is essentially a husk of a being, no longer a cognitive soul with thoughts and free will. I doubt he will cause any more trouble for anyone ever. If he ever decides to leave his home that is."
"His home? As in Plegia?"
"No… In Thabes, inside the Flask."
"Oh." Robin put a hand to his chin as he thought. "Isn't this a bit…cruel?"
"It is fair, is it not?"
"I-er… I don't exactly have a counter-point to that." The two of them laughed as the Tactician turned back to face Truth. He then felt something tug at his soul gently, as if it wish for him to return. "Heh, well… you know where the exit is, Truth?"
"Yeah, the back door is right over there." Truth pointed back behind Robin as the Gate opened, but unlike Grima's own, this one shone with a pure, white light. "Take care of yourself, Robin. Cherish the bonds you forged with the men and women you fought for. Don't you ever forget them!"
"I won't. Thank you Truth… for everything!" Robin waved the fading Truth as he entered the Gate, ready to meet the smiling faces of everyone. Especially Chrom. Robin then chuckled to himself as the white light enveloped him. "Heh, wouldn't it be funny if I ended up in a field again…"
And… done! This was mostly just a little drabble I did that got me thinking on Grima's character. He's a really interesting fellow to be sure, and Truth certainly had a field day with him. I had a nice time writing this, and hopefully, I can get back into my groove of writing again.
One last thing! Stay safe out there you guys! Remember to wash your hands and try to keep a level head about things. Coronavirus is scary sure, but it's not the end of the world. As for me, I'll be fine, don't worry about me! It's important that you guys are doing okay throughout all of this instead.