Fomorstbusters
Kiran looked at the twins of Renais, both Five Stars and Summoned right after the other, and noticed that something seemed to be missing.
It didn't take long to figure it out. From their forlorn looks to one another and the guilty expressions they had while alone, even the dullest of Heroes could've figured out what the issue was. Honestly, he'd checked too. Popped Sharena down right in front of them and told her if she guessed their issues he'd reward her. Analyzed it in five seconds and then demanded he go scrapbooking with her. Introducing that goblin to pictures was a horrible idea and the gloves he wore now served a purpose: hiding the paper scraps she'd glued onto his skin.
The crux of the issue was simple. They were missing Lyon: the prince of Grado and Fomortiis' bitch.
By all means, he was ready to find him, but the prince didn't appear in any of his current summoning pools, and Kiran had no clue where else to find him. In the fairly likely chance he'd end up encountering the purple haired priss in combat, he had no doubts he'd be under the Demon King's control.
His current army of accidentally incestuous mages, world jumping morons, Alfonse: Lord of Benches, and like, seven five stars were nowhere near tough enough to kill a Demon King. They'd probably say they were ready, yet the ass kicking they'd gotten from Ryoma in the World of Birthright would like to disagree. How was he supposed to know the first person in his squad would be dragged to a two-by-three room with the lightsaber lobster?! Chrom had jokingly worn Easter garb and had jokingly gotten his teeth kicked down his throat!
He'd looked long and hard at the mostly depressing roster, thankful that it was sorted by game and downtrodden at the fact there were rows and rows of missing units. He could only gleam so much from the silhouettes, but the one he focused on was either Lyon or a large and unneededly spiky pine cone atop a frying pan.
Prince of Grado, everybody!
"Kiran?"
He turned his eyes from his phone, doubling as his list of things he needed to fix - NINO AND RAIGH NEED JESUS at the top, STOP CORRIN FROM BEING A DUMBASS next to it- and was face to face with the bright blue eyes of one pouting Eirika.
"I was… wondering… if I could look over your roster?"
"I haven't pulled Lyon, Eirika," he said callously, wincing at her downtrodden expression and wondering what he should do.
"Ah… I see. I'm sorry for bothe-"
"Give me reasons."
The princess halted, looking at him with a hopeful gaze.
"Reasons why I should try to find him. Reasons why you think he won't attack people here."
"It isn't his choice to fight as he has," she explained as she lunged for her chance, or at least tried to. He knew all about how he acted possessed in Ephraim's route, but being telepathically manipulated into being an ass counted in his book. "My brother has told me. The influence of the Demon King has blighted our friend, but we've been learning. Robin told us about how he once fought off Grima's influence long enough to save Chrom. Marth of Tiki being controlled, yet broken free. We hope that we can save him like others have with their allies."
He assumed they left out the time travel and actual killable Mage aspects of their explanations.
"And if that doesn't work?" he asked. Mostly because he knew it wouldn't. Anyone with two brain cells and the slightest understanding of Fire Emblem possession would understand.
"Then… my brother says he can knock some sense into him, and Tharja supplied her interest in learning how to expel a demon from a human host. Something about Robin and his pants too…"
Ah.
Looks like Tharja needs a restraining order then.
"I can't risk lives like that. I'm sorry. Until you find a concrete way to prove to me that Lyon can be freed without putting everyone at potential risk, I'm going to consider this topic closed."
The princess frowned sadly, and he had the sudden impression that he'd just punted a puppy into the sun. The tears that built on the corners of her eyes felt like a punch to the nuts.
"I'm sorry for wasting your time then," she muttered in a clipped tone, leaving. Kiran sighed and ran his hands through his hair.
She was going to go behind his back, wasn't she?
"Kiran," Alfonse's voice called through the door early the next morning. Kiran grit his teeth, having failed to sleep due to the thoughts stewing in his head.
"I swear to god Al, if those idiots went to find Lyon, I'm crippling them and beating them with common sense."
"Then you need to find a way to weaponize common sense."
"GOD DAMN IT!"
There!
Those asshats that scared him half to death stood at the edge of a large mass of ruins, black miasma coating the structure. Eirika and Ephraim looked about ready to head in alone, sharing a quiet conversation with one another.
"Dumbasses!"
At least, until he roared the swear at the top of his lungs. They looked like children with their hands in cookie jars as he marched up and immediately whacked Ephraim upside the head. He was smarter than Eirika!
"Stupid idiots! I was so worried! What the hell?! Ask for help next time! Well?!"
"Were any of those even questions," Ephraim asked, instantly getting whacked yet again. Eirika blinked with her wide doe eyes and he turned his gaze to her.
"Giving me reasons doesn't translate into 'Bring him back myself,' Eirika."
The princess smiled guiltily. Kiran whacked Ephraim again, just for fun.
"Stop hitting me."
"Shut up," he grunted to the Lord, "I suppose you're not going to accept me bringing back reinforcements if it keeps you from Lyon?"
They looked to one another, looked to him, looked to the ruins, looked back to him, looked to each other, gazed past him where Askr's castle stood in the far distance, back to the ruins, back to him, and smiled.
So no.
"Great. Welp. Let's kick the shit out of Fomortiis."
The twins of Renais followed him into the ruins and right into a den of Outrealm monsters and a smirking, possessed Lyon.
"...oh you've gotta be shitting me."
This battle was fucking awful.
It started bad, it was ending bad, the sequel would be worse, and the book was better.
Eirika was almost hentai'd a few times, Ephraim was beating the shit out of the monsters that looked at his sister the wrong way (any way, cough cough) and Kiran had to watch as Fomortiis started doing something horribly similar to the chicken dance for his upcoming victory.
"That's more than enough," Kiran roared across the battlefield, slamming into Lyon with a basic shoulder tackle. The prince, who was by all means a hella powerful mage, had all the width of a twig, wasn't paying attention to him, and was sprawled out on the ground with ease. The sheen of the Dark Stone in his hand gave Kiran his target.
"This fucking thing is the cause of all of your problems, so I'm taking it!"
He ripped the Dark Stone out of Lyon's hand, kicking down the tome ready to incinerate him, and slapping the purple haired prince with a nasty backhand.
"Sit down, dickweed," he growled at the Grado Prince, whose eyes dilated with terror. Good. He should be afraid.
All of this was stupid bullshit! If sorcerers would stop sticking their noses into places they don't belong, the world would be peaceful! What's dead should stay dead.
Kiran dropped the stone and stomped his boot down onto it. The stone wouldn't even crack. He groaned and likened it to stepping on a rock, picking it back up with his gloved hands and kicking away Lyon's hand when the rapidly declining possession in his body tried one last time to get the stone back, yet now it gave Kiran a new problem. Fomortiis was out of Lyon's body, which was good. Yet now, his influence needed somewhere else to go to.
Guess how that worked. If you guessed contact, you'd be correct, and Kiran would give you a cookie.
"Use my power, you miserable fool. End the Askrian and Emblian conflicts. Protect all of those friends you care so much for."
Kiran glared at Fomortiis' form when a horrible idea came over him. He had to get the Dark Stone away from people who would try to use it, but Askr couldn't launch anything into deep space or hide relics to save their lives.
But he could.
"I'm ending this!"
Kiran held the dumb purple rock high up in the air, getting everyone's attention. The monsters that surrounded seemed to still, entranced by the sheen of the Demon King's rage. The humans, on the other hand, were horrified at the sight.
"Don't use the stone!"
"Kiran, stop!"
"It will take you ove-"
"YOLO!"
Kiran jammed the stone into his mouth and swallowed it.
"WHAT IN SAM HELL DID YOU JUST DO TO ME-"
The voice cut out, and all of the creatures that surrounded them just… ceased. They vanished without a trace, leaving the four alone with each other, where the twins and the Grado Prince were looking at him like he was insane. Considering he'd swallowed a demon, yes, yes he was. But it worked, so that had to count for something, right?
Ephraim was the first to get his wits about him.
"Did you just eat Fomortiis?"
The computer crash screen that was Lyon's brain unfroze, and horror overtook his features.
"He'll take your body for his own, you have to vomit him up!"
Kiran, opening his mouth to explain his thought process, was very unprepared for Ephraim to grab him from behind and Eirika to jam her fingers down his throat, the worry in her eyes disregarded for the fact that her nails were jabbing the back of his neck. Lyon was panickedly pacing beside them, giving advice through the sound of Kiran's gagging.
"HURJK!"
Both of the twins whipped back as bile grew up through the back of Kiran's throat, and he could feel the stone.
"AAUGH! OH GOD IT'S SO NASTY IN THERE! I THINK I'M GONNA- HHHMMMPH!"
He forced himself to swallow and immediately regretted it because the twins seized him yet again.
"STOP! JESUS CHRIST, STOP! HE CAN'T CONTROL ME!"
The pure volume of his words got the two of them, with all of their care for friends, to release him, and Kiran took the chance to duck behind a pillar in case they changed their minds, which Lyon seemed to think they needed to do.
"What do you mean he can't control you?! He's Fomortiis! The Demon King!"
Eirika and Ephraim immediately began to chase after him once again, yet Kiran's basic capabilities in the world of parkour led to the absurd image of him kneeling on the top of a pillar, kicking at Sieglinde and Siegmund. Lyon seemed half ready to blow him off of it with Naglfar, but Kiran managed to breathlessly explain himself.
"I'm not from this world… where I'm from, there isn't any magic to tap into, so I literally can't use the Dark Stone. He can't use my magic to control me because there isn't any to control."
The three Sacred Stones characters stopped to ponder this fact, then realized that Fomortiis was gone and shared awestruck expressions with one another while Kiran massaged his throat.
"I wish you'd've given me a chance to explain before you jammed your fingers down my throat."
His complaint went unnoticed.
Lyon sobbed at Eirika' and Ephraim's feet, and he was immediately swamped with hugs from the twins. Kiran just smiled and ignored the rumblings of his stomach that were the demo-
"OH MY GOD I FUCKING VORED FIRE EMBLEM SATAN!"