A Summoner's Journey
Tempest Trials: Dark Clouds Over Awakening
Team for this chapter: Robin, Robinne, Xander and Priscilla
"Lucian! Lucian!" Anna ran over to me in a panic, nearly crashing into me in the process.
"What's going on Anna? Are we being attacked?" I asked worriedly. I just returned from Robin and Robinne's room after they reported feeling weird headaches. They felt like something was wrong in the World of Awakening. Both of them wanted to check just to make sure.
"There's a catastrophe in the World of Awakening! A swirling vortex of light has reportedly appeared in the ground and is swallowing everything in sight!" Anna cried "The Askrian portal guards are trying to discern the source, but we need some serious firepower here"
"And I'm assuming this isn't a natural disaster?"
"No, this hasn't happened before in our world. It's something completely unreal" Robin shook his head "I know this vortex is the source of my headache. I feel like if I go there and quell it, it'll go away. Don't you feel the same Robinne?"
"Yeah, I can sense it. It's like my body is telling me something's wrong with our world. This is what it is" Robinne agreed, then turned to me "Lucian, we're coming to help quell the vortex. It's mine and Robin's duty to stop whatever crisis erupts in our home"
"You never needed to ask. Of course I'll bring you two along" I nodded, then turned to Anna "Find Xander and Priscilla in the five star suites and tell them to come down to the lobby. Me, Robin and Robinne will go to the World of Awakening to scout out the vortex"
"Alright then. Be careful!" Anna said and rushed down the barracks in a hurry. Me and the Robin twins ran towards the portal courtyard as fast as we could and jumped into the World of Awakening portal, depositing in a disarrayed field, with trees bending unnaturally and grass blowing in random directions. Even the sun couldn't decide where it wanted to go, abruptly shifting from day and night constantly.
"What's going on here?!" I asked an Askrian portal guard over the raging wind "Are the civilians alright?"
"Summoner Lucian, a great vortex of light has opened up in the earth up ahead. It looks to be tearing the fabric of reality apart!" The guard pointed to a tall tree close by, which seemed to be bent to the point of snapping to the right. Within seconds, it dissolved into particles and flew like dust in the wind towards the blinding tornado straight ahead.
"The civilians are hiding in their homes, crying out that this is the end of the world" The guard continued "Should all the guards in the area retreat back, sir?"
"If all the civilians are safe from the vortex, retreat back to Askr. Me, Robin and Robinne are going in there to silence the vortex from within!" I yelled and the guard nodded.
"Stay safe and good luck!" The pikeman raised his hand high "All Askrian guards in the area! Retreat back to home base if all civilians in the World of Awakening are safe! This is an order from Summoner Lucian himself!"
One by one, the white-armored guards went back into the portal and returned to Askr, leaving us alone with the calamitous vortex.
"Sirs and lady, do you need my assistance in quelling the Tempest?!" Suddenly, a masked swordsman wearing a elegant blue outfit appeared at my side. In his hand was Chrom's Falchion strangely.
"That's what it's called? The Tempest?" Robin stared down the tornado, which was devouring more of the environment around it, piece by piece "What are you even doing here Marth?!"
"I'm here for the same reasons as you. To cut down the Tempest and return the world to its normal state" Masked Marth explained "But now's not the time to chat. We must go into the heart of the Tempest and sever it at its roots. That's how we'll destroy it!"
"You sound like you did this before! Are you sure it's safe?!" I asked as we began walking towards the Tempest, struggling to not get thrown in.
"Nothing is safe, summoner. I hope you three are prepared to fight" Something caught Masked Marth's attention and he cocked his head towards the portal, where two cavalier heroes appeared. Xander and Priscilla.
"Xander! Priscilla!" I yelled "We're charging into the Tempest to take it down by it's core! Trust me! It's okay to go in!"
"We can't leave this world ravaged by this. Priscilla, we have to go" Xander drew his Siegfried and charged down towards the Tempest with Priscilla following close behind. Masked Marth leaped into the eye of the Tempest first, disappearing into white mist. Robin and Robinne followed afterwards and I jumped in with them, turning the world white with light.
When I awoken, we were on the battlefield where we fought Chrom, Frederick and Lissa on our first trip through the World of Awakening. The only difference is that the enemy trio were now glowing with purple smoke and had piercing red eyes that dug into my skin.
"By the gods, are those Risen?" Robin asked in shock.
"No. They are merely spiritual soldiers made by the Tempest as a defense mechanism. They are usually made to resemble the current world's worst nightmares" Masked Marth replied, tone flat and serious. He leveled his Falchion and got into an offensive stance "I will fight alongside you to quell the Tempest"
Masked Marth turned to face me "You're a tactician, are you not? I will follow your commands, given that they are reasonable. The twin Robins being your companions shows that you're a capable strategist though"
"I hope to impress. Alright, let's get started" I cracked my knuckles and assessed the enemy formation briefly. It was going to be hard to lure Chrom out without being in easy striking range of Frederick and Lissa, so if the enemy wasn't going to move, I had to use hit-and-run tactics.
"Robin, charge in and attack Chrom with your Blarraven! Xander, be prepared to pull back Robin if Frederick gets close!" I commanded and the two charged ahead. Robin opened his tome and a flood of spiritual ravens burst forth, bombarding Chrom with powerful thunder-based magic. The false prince collapsed under the pressure of the blow and dissolved into purple mist, just like a Risen. Frederick galloped towards Robin with his Hammer raised next to his head with Lissa following behind. Xander grabbed Robin's hood and threw him behind him while both Frederick and Lissa fell on the Nohrian prince.
"Right where I want you!" Xander took both Frederick's Hammer and Lissa's Gravity with ease and retaliated with two strong slashes of Siegfried for Frederick and a Bonfire-powered shadow bolt for Lissa. Both guardians fell to the ground and disintegrated into dust.
"Well done. But that's not the end yet" Masked Marth informed and the scenery around us changed, transforming into the ravine cliffside where Cordelia and her squad of Emblian pegasus knights ambushed us a long time ago. This time however, Shanna, Cherche, Caeda and Palla were the four fliers surrounding us this time. All of them had the same aura as Risen Chrom, Frederick and Lissa.
"Marth, handle Caeda and Palla up ahead with Robin. Xander and Robinne, deal with Shanna and Cherche. Priscilla, stay in the middle of the ravine in case any of us need healing" I ordered and my troops rushed into action, instantly brawling with the Tempest's soldiers. Masked Marth sidestepped Caeda's giant Armorslayer and cut her down swiftly with his Falchion while Robin face-tanked Palla using his Triangle Adept and triangle advantage, blasting her off her mount with a swarm of ravens.
"Time to tip the scales!" Robinne thrust her free hand towards Shanna and a glowing green wolf head blazing with fire rocketed towards the pegasus knight, smashing her out of the air with ease. Xander parried Cherche's heavy Hammer swing with his blade and counterattacked, striking the wyvern rider hard in the chest. Cherche backed up in a attempt to retreat, but Xander raised his Siegfried in the air, shooting a fast shadow bolt that shot both rider and mount into the ravine below. With all the enemy troops defeated, the battlefield changed yet again, this time to the canyon littered with bridges where we fought Chrom alongside Robinne, Stahl and Sully.
"Huh? What are these?" I bent down and picked up something that just appeared out of thin air. 10 orbs, several bags of Universal Crystals and a large bundle of Hero Feathers tied by a piece of rope "When did these get here?"
Masked Marth shrugged, clearly perplexed as to why they appeared as well. Usually, I only get these kinds of rewards from the quest fountain.
"No time to worry about it. The next wave of enemies come!" Marth called and four more Tempest heroes appeared in pillars of blue light. Abel, Ryoma, Odin and Gunter were the enemy team this time around.
"Robin, take down Ryoma quickly and have Xander cover you from Gunter! Robinne, handle Odin and Marth, hang back with Priscilla to avoid Abel!"
My units worked as a well oiled machine, taking down every enemy in their path and avoiding ones they couldn't defeat on their own. Robinne shredded Odin's Blarblade with B Tomebreaker and tobbled him to the ground with an Ignis-powered blast of Gronnwolf while Gunter turned away from Xander's Siegfried to gallop towards Odin's dissolving body.
"What is he doing- Ah!" Robin opened her tome again "Gronnwolf!"
Turns out, Gunter jumped the gap with his horse to catch us by surprise, but Robinne intercepted him with her magic, making the armored horseman slam against the cliffs with a loud bang.
"Robinne, help Marth take down Abel!" I called and the tactician turned to see Abel's Brave Lance skirting around Marth. The lithe swordsman was doing all he could to avoid the blows as to not let Abel's Swordbreaker shatter his Falchion and counterattacked whenever the chance came. Robinne cast Gronnwolf and devoured Abel and his horse in one shot.
"Phew. Haven't seen that much action in a while" Robinne closed her tome with a weary sigh as the battlefield changed a fourth time, turning into the riverside village with the broken down walls, where we fought Robin and Tharja for the first time. Gwendolyn, Reinhardt, Sanaki and Merric were our foes this time.
"Robinne, snipe Gwendolyn from behind the wall and have Marth assist you in taking down Merric! Robin, bait out Sanaki, but watch out for Reinhardt! Xander and Priscilla, hold steady and be ready to assist!"
Robinne moved towards the first wall and cast Gronnwolf, sending a spiritual wolf head smashing through the bricks and colliding with Gwendolyn. The lance knight took it better than I thought she would and thrust her Killer Lance towards Robinne. The tactician darted back to dodge, but took a heavy blow from Merric's Excalibur, slicing apart fiddlements of her coat. Marth caught Merric with surprising speed, cleaving his head off in one blow. While Priscilla healed up Robinne to take another Killer Lance strike, Robin dueled with the empress of Begnion and her Cymbeline.
"Wrong move!" Robin walked out of Sanaki's meteor-escue Cymbeline with ease and quickly double-casted Elthunder to bring her down, retreating once Reinhardt came galloping through.
"Robinne! Fall back and let Robin take on Gwendolyn! You need to kill Reinhardt and quick!" I commanded and Robinne rapidly stepped back from Gwen's spear, shooting a blast of Elwind in her face to blow her into Masked Marth's blade and raced towards the approaching mage knight. Reinhardt opened his Dire Thunder with one hand and thrust out his free hand, calling down two blue thunderbolts from the sky, striking Robinne simultaneously. The tactician gritted her teeth through the pain and fired back a Gronnwolf shot, demolishing Reinhardt and his tome instantly. Robin, Marth and Xander finished off Gwendolyn while Priscilla patched up Robinne and the field changed a fifth time, turning into the mountaintop forest where we fought Lucina and Tiki. Jagen, Leo, Cecilia, Adult Tiki and Alm were our opponents.
"Robin and Robinne, go down the left path and take on Jagen and Leo! Use the trees for cover when needed!" I called "Xander and Marth, go down the right side with Xander leading the charge to engage Alm. Priscilla, trail behind them in case they need healing support!"
As Xander trotted down the hillside with his sword drawn, Alm flew at him with his Falchion aimed at his head. Xander brought his broadsword up to guard and kicked Alm back with his horse's legs. The cavalier brought his blade down to finish off Alm, but a gust of wind blew his blade back, letting Alm get another hit in.
"Make sure you strike first against Alm! His Windsweep will prevent your counterattack!" I warned and Xander nodded, blocking Alm's next attack and letting Masked Marth cut the swordsman down with a stab to the chest. Meanwhile, the Robin twins handled the two cavaliers on the left side, firing their magic behind the cover of trees. Jagen was devoured in one shot of Robinne's Gronnwolf while Robin used Blarraven to shield against Leo's Brynhildr. Robin directed the ravens with his free hand and sent them crashing into Leo, toppling him off his horse.
"Fall back Robin and Robinne! Cecilia is coming close!" I yelled and the twins retreated as Cecilia's Gronnraven cut down the trees they used as cover. Cecilia directed her ravens towards Robin and they came fast. Robin and Robinne both cast their magic to act as shields, but Cecilia's ravens blew through them and smashed the twins to the ground. Robin dissolved into feathers, defeated while Robinne struggled to stand, groggy from the attack.
"You're right where I want you!" Xander slammed his flaming Siegfried onto Cecilia, distinigrating her into purple mist instantly. Tiki squeezed her dragonstone to transform into a gigantic dragon, but Marth's Falchion cleaved Tiki's scales easily, cutting down the manakete in quick fashion.
"Haa… haaa… I don't think I've ever felt this tired in my entire… life…" Robinne panted as Priscilla healed up her wounds with her staff "How… how many more stages to go, Marth?"
"Consistently, it's always been seven battles before we reach the core of the Tempest. Right now, we're at the sixth trial" Marth informed. He didn't seem winded in the slightest, although his grip on Falchion was somewhat unsteady "Keep yourself together Robin. Your brother wouldn't want you to be defeated by this"
The field changed to the Feroxi arena, where the World of Awakening's final battle was fought. Five enemy heroes stood before us, separated by a cluster of short, breakable walls: Lucina, Saizo, Mae, Hawkeye and Clarine. I picked up the new cluster of reward orbs, feathers and crystals as I issued my commands.
"Marth, break the first wall in front of Mae to let Robinne bait her out. Priscilla, break the rightmost wall to let Xander bait out Saizo" I instructed and my troops did what they were told, with the enemy team not even moving a muscle. They were really creepy, with their glowing red eyes, flowing purple mist, complete silence and lack of presence that made them feel alive. After Marth and Priscilla were finished, Robinne and Xander moved into position, aggravating Saizo and Mae to strike. Saizo threw his Smoke Dagger towards Xander, who effortlessly blocked it with his shield, but the dagger unleashed a plume of smoke upon contact, making the cavalier lose sight of Saizo.
"Curses" Xander growled and raised his Siegfried high, unleashing a bolt of dark magic onto the spot Saizo threw his dagger. All Xander heard was the exploding tile of the arena floor, so he moved to the right and caught Saizo attempting to sneak by and catch Xander by surprise. Xander's horse kicked Saizo to the floor while the prince shot a bolt of darkness straight through Saizo's chest, ending the spectral Tempest soldier for good. Meanwhile, Robinne dodged Mae's storm of thunder birds and shredded her tome with B Tomebreaker, knocking her to the floor as Clarine rode in to assist. Robinne's Gronnwolf ate the troubadour and her mount with one cast.
"Robinne, fall back and let Marth take on Lucina and Hawkeye!" I called as Marth swapped places with the tactician "Assist whenever you can. Xander, ride behind them to catch the enemy by surprise"
"You will not stop me!" Marth parried back Hawkeye's giant Killer Axe and stabbed him through the stomach with Luna, pulling out his Falchion as Lucina brought down her own sword on him. Robinne blew back the enemy Lucina with a burst of wind, letting Marth and Xander both impale her on their blades, dissolving Lucina into dark particles.
"Finally, the last battle" I sighed with relief as the battlefield changed for the last time, turning into a map unfamiliar to me or my troops before. Marth seemed to be briefly surprised by the changed battlefield as well.
"T-this is the Dragon's Table. Where my father and Robin fought Validar…" Marth murmured, then covered his mouth "Forget I said anything. This looks to be the core of the Tempest. The leader and source of this chaos should be here"
"Princess Veronica?! What are you doing here?" I gasped in shock as the Emblian princess heard my voice and turned to address me.
"Who are- Oh, it's you. The treacherous summoner who always gets in my way" Veronica glared in my direction "What's with you and coming to disturb my fun with your disdainful "Order of Heroes"?"
"You're destroying the World of Awakening! What "fun" is absolute destruction to you?!" Robinne yelled.
Veronica said nothing, instead opening her tome Elivagar and summoning four heroes to her aid: Hector, Reinhardt, Linde and Takumi. Four of the most powerful heroes at the time.
"There's no point in exchanging words with you. You have come and disturbed my playtime, so I'll kill you. Simple as that" Veronica glowed with the orange light of both Fury and Bonfire "Come then. You came to destroy the Tempest right? You'll have to defeat me first"
"Xander and Marth, engage Hector, defeat him quickly and retreat. Robinne, stand behind them and be prepared to fight Linde" I ordered "Priscilla, stay here in case anyone needs healing. Go!"
The two swordsman rushed forward, flanking Hector from both sides with their swords. Hector decided to go for the frailer of the two swordsmen with his Armads, but missed his swing, imbedding his axe into one of the stone pillars. Hector yanked the Armads out of the pillar just in time to block Xander's strike along with Pavise shielding him from Marth's sneak attack.
"Robinne, help Marth and Xander take down Hector. Linde, Reinhardt and Takumi are approaching fast!" I warned and Robinne shot a blast of Gronnwolf at Hector, bypassing his Pavise and due to Marth and Xander keeping him busy, prevented him from striking back with Distant Counter. Two more Gronnwolf shots later, Hector fell just as the other three enemy heroes arrived. Xander blocked Takumi's spectral arrow and countered with a shadow bolt, rupturing Takumi's side badly, but Reinhardt fired down two azure lightning bolts onto the paladin, defeating him in one go.
"Damn, this is getting bad really fast…" I gritted my teeth "Marth, keep Takumi busy and try to fight him far away as possible from Reinhardt and Linde. Robinne, deal with the two blue mages with your B Tomebreaker and Priscilla, heal Robinne to keep the skill up!"
Marth dashed towards the left as Priscilla healed Robinne. The tactician took attack after attack from Linde and Reinhardt, blowing through thunderbolts and rings of light while counterattacking with Gronnwolf to shred their tomes. Reinhardt fell from one Gronnwolf strike while Linde needed two to finish her off. Marth took an arrow to the bicep, but he switched hands on his Falchion and cut down Takumi swiftly. All that was left now was Veronica.
"Robinne, retreat and let Marth take on Veronica. Don't let her hit you!" I commanded "Priscilla, heal Marth immediately!"
"I'll ease your pain" A shining ray of light shone above us as Priscilla's Rehabilitate sparked with Heavenly Light, healing Marth and Robinne as well. Marth dashed towards Veronica as the princess opened her tome.
"Begone, insignificant doll" Veronica intoned as she summoned a cloud of green mist in Marth's face, willing it to become solid and blast the swordsman backwards. A small line of orange light slashed into Veronica briefly, indicating her use of the Fury skill. However, the cut on Veronica's face from Fury was healed quickly by Renewal, shown by the light green aura surrounding her.
"Just rushing her isn't going to be a good idea unless we can dodge Elivagar" I murmured as I watched the green mist slowly disappear "But it covers too much space and it lingers. We need another strategy"
"Robinne, act as a decoy with Marth behind you. Take an Elivagar shot the best you can to let Marth sneak by and land a killing blow. Priscilla, ride behind them to provide healing support"
Robinne and Marth moved together, with Robinne's gloved hands glowing, ready to fire Gronnwolf. Veronica struck first with Elivagar, blinding Robinne with green fog before knocking her to the ground. A series of explosions, indicating Savage Blow, flinched Marth and Priscilla briefly, but the plan worked just as I wanted it. Marth brought down his Falchion onto Veronica's side and slashed half her arm off, making her scream in pain as blood spilled like a fountain. Taking advantage of her shock, Marth ran his blade through Veronica, impaling her through the chest. I was about to celebrate our victory before I saw Veronica's corpse dissolve into purple dust like the rest of the Tempest soldiers.
"Wha… that wasn't the real Veronica?" I asked, confused as I bent down to pick up the rewards that just appeared: ten more orbs, five bags of Universal Crystals, another large bundle of Hero Feathers and two badge-like things. One of them had the Breath of Life icon on it while the other was purple, like the colour of a special skill.
"No. All the Tempest's cores and vessels are illusions created by it, like the rest of the regular guardians" Marth replied, watching the Dragon's Table fade back to the normal World of Awakening field outside of the Tempest "The Tempest picks through the mind and world it is currently occupying, creating it's vessel and home battlefield to suit it. In this case, we fought this Veronica at the Dragon's Table. A mingling of both your mind and our world"
"I see" I gazed at the badges in my hand again "Any idea what these are though?"
"Oh, I've seen those in a book in the library before" Robinne reached into her torn coat and pulled a leather-bound book that was somehow not damaged in the fights. On the cover was "Askr's Artifacts and Items"
"Let's see… here it is" Robinne showed me a page on the book which shown a badge exactly like the one in my hand. On the top of the page were the words "Sacred Seals" in bold black print.
"Sacred Seals are like badges or pins you can give to heroes that act like an additional skill. Albeit at their weakest form" Robinne flipped to the next page "The seals you're holding in your hand right now are… the Breath of Life seal and the Quickened Pulse seal. Quickened Pulse accelerates the user's special trigger at the start of a fight, allowing them to fire it off more often"
"Interesting. Well Robinne, here" I handed Robinne the Quickened Pulse seal "Consider it a reward for a good well done today in the Tempest"
"Oh…? Thank you very much Lucian. I appreciate it" Robinne pinned the seal to the hem of her coat, displaying it proudly "Well, we should be going back to Askr now. Marth, is this farewell?"
"Not exactly. I believe I'll be joining your army from now on" Marth smiled at me "Your summoner is quite an adept tactician. Not perfect, but nobody is. However, I felt that he has a good heart and charisma from our battles together, so if you don't mind, I'll be joining you"
"No problem. You were superb in the battles in the Tempest. We could really use someone like you" I grinned, opening up Marth's skill menu with a swipe of my hand. He came as a five star hero with the Falchion, Luna, Speed 3 and Spur Attack 3. All in all, pretty good.
"When we arrive back in Askr, go see Prince Alfonse in the castle's right wing. He's the guy with short blue hair and beige armor" I said "He'll teach you everything about what's up in Askr"
"Thank you. May your battles in the future be successful ones" Marth nodded and together, we travelled back through the portal and into Askr.
Mysteries Behind the Mask: Chrom and Masked Marth's Conversation
"Thank you for your time today, Prince Alfonse. I hope I didn't take too much of your time" Masked Marth said as he got up from the chair in the library.
"It's alright. I do this all the time now" Alfonse replied with a smile "Where are you off to now?"
"To explore the castle. Nothing is taking up my time at the moment" Masked Marth stretched briefly "And I'm weary from fighting in the Tempest. Best not to overexert myself by training"
"Sounds good. Have a good time!" Alfonse waved as the swordsman made his way out of the library and towards the training grounds. Even if he was incredibly fatigued from the Tempest, he wanted to swing around a blade for a little while to relax his mind. It was hard to believe that in the world of Askr, he could be free from the duties his mask has given him. He heard from Robin and Robinne that Chrom was in this army as well, so Masked Marth contemplated shedding his mask.
To show his real face.
When he made it to the training yard, he found Chrom alongside other heroes either slashing away at training dummies or sparring against each other. The archers were on the far side of the compound, firing their arrows at targets with loud thwacks ringing through the air. Chrom himself was battering a training dummy with an Iron Sword relentlessly, beating it to the point beyond repair, like he usually does. Masked Marth strolled into the yard, grabbing a dull Iron Sword lying against the wall to use.
"Greetings Prince Chrom. A pleasure to see you here" Masked Marth greeting, stopping Chrom's blade mid swing from pulverizing the dummy even further. The prince faced Masked Marth with a look of surprise.
"Oh! Greetings to you too, Marth. I'm surprised to see you here" Chrom sheathed the training Iron Sword into its leather sheath "I don't recall you being on the recent summoning banner though"
"No. I was recruited into the Askrian army after dealing with the Tempest in the World of Awakening alongside the Robin twins, Prince Xander and Priscilla" Masked Marth replied flatly "Didn't you hear about it?"
"Lissa was having intense headaches and insisted that going to the World of Awakening would fix it" Chrom mused "So did Tharja. I heard from Commander Anna that a vortex was swallowing everything in sight, so I forbid Lissa from going there. That was the Tempest, wasn't it?"
"Yes and it was and I was a good idea to bare Princess Lissa from going" The swordsman nodded "Though heroes cannot permanently die once breathing the air of Askr, you know what it's like to dissolve into feathers like Robin and Xander did, right?"
"Robin mentioned that it felt like his entire body was being torn apart piece by piece and reassembled together when he reappeared in the castle's lobby" Chrom explained "So I wouldn't call it a pleasant experience personally"
"I doubt it is. Anyhow, we cleansed the World of Awakening of the Tempest. Are Princess Lissa and Tharja okay?"
"They are. Lissa said her headache was gone, so she left to go play with Nino and Maria" Chrom confirmed. SIlence hung between the two swordsmen for a little while.
"You know Marth, I find you such a mystery to me. You're a stranger yet I feel so comfortable talking to you. It's like talking to my own family" Chrom said and Masked Marth's heart just about melted.
"That's because I am one of your family" Masked Marth whispered.
"What was that?"
"Prince Chrom, may you join me in my room for a second? I'd like to tell you something"
"Can't you tell me out here?"
"No. It's something more than just a few words. I want this to be private. Between me and you"
"Well… alright. If you feel this adamant about it" Chrom hung up the practice Iron Sword and so did Masked Marth. The two of them went to Masked Marth's room in the barracks and shut the door.
"So… what's the big reveal you want to show me?" Chrom asked and Masked Marth took a deep breath, steadying himself.
"You wondered what I whispered under my breath, did you?"
"Yeah"
"Well, I whispered "That's because I am one of your family" because…" Masked Marth reached up and gently pulled the mask off his face, revealing the face of Lucina. She used her other hand to flick her pinned hair free, letting her azure blue hair fall onto her back.
She smiled brightly "Greetings again, Prince Chrom. I am Lucina. Your daughter"
"I knew "Marth" was you the entire time. Lucina, my grown up daughter…" Chrom grasped Lucina tightly in a hug and Lucina returned it, smiling while tears went down her face "I'm guessing the timeline you came from was when you first met us at arena Ferox?"
"Yes. After I lost the duel with you, I encountered Anna on the outskirts of the arena, where she directed me to the Dragon's Gate to assume my new duty of quelling the Tempest" Lucina explained "Tell me Fathers, what happened in our timeline? Did we defeat Grima?"
"Yes we did. I dealt the final blow and sealed Grima within the Falchion. He won't be returning for several millennia" Chrom winced at the memory of fighting Robinne possessed by Grima back in the World of Awakening "However… I had to fight Robinne possessed by the Fell Dragon in the World of Awakening, due to the sealing leaving a fragment of Grima's spirit within her. So it's not… fully sure that Grima's really gone"
"Either way, I don't think we have to deal with it here. Robinne didn't seem to harbor any of the Fell Dragon's darkness within her" Lucina smiled "You know… it was a good idea to come here. It gives me something new to fight for and I get to reunite with everyone I've lost in my world. Like you for instance"
"Yes. It truly is a wonderful place" Chrom got up from Lucina's bed "You want to go out to the castle town and shop for a while? Just me and you. Father and daughter time"
"I'd love to, father" Lucina got up excitingly, adjusting the Falchion on her belt "Speaking of which, did Lucian summon mother yet?"
"No, he didn't unfortunately. No summoning banner has come in with her yet either" Chrom sighed, but ruffled Lucina's hair "But we have to be patient. She'll come eventually. Better that we wait than pester Lucian, right?"
"Of course. Well, let's go out before it gets too late!" Lucina grabbed Chrom's hand and both father and daughter headed out to the castle town together.
And that was the first Tempest Trials, which is notorious for being the hardest TT of them all due to the cramped final map, Veronica's insane stats at the time and the score requirement for Quickened Pulse being utterly ridiculous (50,000 score) with no TT bonuses or daily score multipliers. For this fic, Tempest Trials will be seven consecutive battles with the rewards appearing every three stages (10 orbs, 5000 Hero Feathers and about 20000 Universal Crystals for a total of 20 orbs, 10k feathers and 40k crystals along with the seals) and will only be done once. Coming up next is the Echoes of Mystery paralogue and then the War of the Clerics VG. If you want to be notified of when a new chapter comes out, favorite and follow! If you want to give me criticism or praise, leave a review. Until next time summoners!