A day passed and this march is lacking both the tenseness and the silence of yesterday's. Raven's cooking seemed to be playing a rather large part of it. Another factor is we should be arriving at Leo's general location by the end of the day. Hadronix sent out Ruinad and declares that the 'really out of place' ruins would be the most probable spot. However, when the ruins were in sight, the area around it was… wrong.
"Called it, portals." The Hunter casually comments. "I hate being right about things like this." I noticed that she hasn't been doing as much since her assumption, she claims that the magic here is interfering with her devices. "...Five gold says one of these portals leads to someone's washroom."
"And you believe Leo is in the ruins in the center of all of this?" I ask as I look the area over. The ground itself seems distorted, there are patches of dirt in one spot, but then there's grass in the next. There could be snow covering one area, but a pool of lava next to it. 'And big brother had to work on this.' I don't like this. The ruins themselves have a sort of… pull to them. There is a motif of a large dragon covering the front, 'Naga'. Another symbol is simply a clock of sorts, though there are multitudes of those. The stones are white, and...
"Well, 'prepare for the worst, and hope for the best'." Hadronix replies.
"Uh, that's 'Hope for the best, and prepare for the worst'." Elise chimes in.
"Not if you're a pessimist by nature." The Hunter raises an eyebrow, "I'll throw my gold in the more probable scenario, which on average is what is considered a 'negative' outcome."
"I don't like that line of thinking." She puffs out her cheek.
"Princess Elise, I can't tell you the number of times I should have died or been permanently disabled. The survival percentage of everything I have done so far is so small that not even the most esteemed genius would bother keeping track."
"That's no excuse for not thinking about the good endings!" The youngest Nohrian princess then raised her staff and bonked the Pandaren on the head.
However, her antics seemed to have no effect on her and Hadronix's gaze returns to the area in front of us, "...Not everyone deserves a happy ending." She mutters. "I wouldn't be surprised if I ended up dying alone." A short pause follows.
"Are those stones floating?" I ask, pointing at one side, which has a ruined portion in its wall.
"Floating would imply that they would be slightly rising and dropping, as if in water." The Hunter explains, "Those are perfectly in place, as if frozen in… time." Something seems to dawn on her face.
"We should move out, then." Xander states, "The sooner we get to Leo, the sooner we can plan our next move." I hesitate, 'Which is what? Do we turn around and go to Hoshido to finish off the war? Phoenix is probably on that side still.'
"C'mon, sister!" Elise tugs my arm, "Let's go see big brother!" Her sunny nature breaks all of the gloominess, and I find myself smiling.
"You're right." I flash my permanently sharpened teeth. 'He has to be alive.' I return my sight to the ruins, "Alright, let's stay on guard, there's no telling what will pop out of those portals."
"Just imagine it's 'avoid the fire'," Hadronix starts, "except that the fire are the portals, and the portals could end up placing you… hmph." Raven slaps a hand over her mouth.
"Honestly, Sis." Despite the frustration, Raven smiles. A brief moment of levity before we resume, except that a sense of dread fills me, like something will happen. I don't like it, it's like my instinct is screaming me to rush to the ruins, but from what? I can't sense anything anywhere near us…
"Move!" Hadronix also had seemed to pick up on it, and she shoves me aside, right as a bolt of lightning strikes the ground, the Hunter has some sort of barrier around her, but it isn't magical…
"Lady Yasei, are you alright?" Jakob asks as he helps me up.
"Yea…" My heart drops as I realize that the lightning also wasn't natural. The electricity is still arcing the area violently, and when I look the direction we came, I see her . "Phoenix…" Her Mjolnir tome is in hand, and I can actually see her magical aura. I draw my sword out of reflex, 'We're so close, though.'
"You…" Camilla snarls, her Divine axe in hand, as she also pulls out her fire tome. "You hurt my dear little sister." As with the fight in the Kitsune hamlet, she wreathes her axe in flames, before putting the tome away. And, wait… 'Where's Selena?'
"I'm more surprised you survived being ran through, girl." The Tactician's tone comes out cold. I notice that she has removed the glove from her right hand, and some sort of purple magic is pulsing from the back of her hand. "Mjolnir…" She almost lazily states, as if the spell costs nothing.
Another bolt strikes Hadronix's location, and the shield dies out. "That could have gone worse…" The Hunter has yet to draw any of her weapons. "I'm shocked that didn't do more damage."
"Out of the way," Phoenix casually walks closer, Xander and Camilla move to get between her and us. "I came for the Shifter, not you."
"Take one more step, and I'll cut you down, girl." Xander points his weapon at her.
"Try me." She replies. "I'll throw you aside like the toy you are." Xander responds with shooting a beam from his sword, and she stands there, the energy simply stopping mere inches from her. "Tch." A few chanted words, along with her waving her hand, and both Xander and Camilla were blown aside, as if she threw them away. Phoenix's gaze centers on me, "Mjolnir."
I get pushed aside yet again, but I note that it isn't by any of the people here. "Damn, girl." Out of all the potential saviours, I would least expect Lotus to save me. "How many people want your head?" Getting a good look from behind, I can see the two holes on the back of her right shoulder, where Bethy bit her. There are also a number of slashes, from Raven's weapons, I assume. She even just took the spell head on, as electricity arcs through her body, yet she stands. The skulls on her blades pulse an intense red. "You." She takes a step forward, as if she didn't take a lethal dose of magic, "Yasei is my kill, on my contract. Piss off."
"Your claim has nothing on the will of Grima." The Tactician casts another bolt, and Lotus raises her swords above her, taking yet another strike head on…
And still as seemingly unaffected. "Go ahead, keep throwing your magic away." Lotus scoffs, "Try all you want, you can't kill me, little girl."
"Cocky woman." A third strike, yet while her fur starts to burn and I can see some of her skin peeling off, she acts like she remains unharmed, "That enchantment from your blades won't last."
The Rogue laughs, but it's hollow, "This is no enchantment. I've sealed my fate when I took the Dreadblades for myself. I've taken their power when I used them to satisfy their call. Let me make this clear, you can't kill me, as these blades already have a claim on my life." She takes her stance, "I'm already dead, I've nothing left to lose."
"A foolish claim." A fourth, but Lotus managed to vanish before it struck. "Where…" Somehow she managed to close the distance in the blink of an eye, and lashed out at the Tactician.
"Left yourself open, sweety." Phoenix is on the defensive with her shield as the Rogue lands strike after strike on the barrier. "What's the matter? Don't like it up close and personal?"
"You are nothing more than a bug…" Phoenix lets out a blast of magic, but it literally passes through Lotus, as her form turns into a shadow for a few seconds. "A nuisance!"
"The hell you waiting for?" Lotus shouts, "Get out! Shoo! I claim my kills later, MOVE!"
A second later, Lotus was knocked back by… "Selena!?" Camilla shouts, "Get back here this instant!"
"You won't lay a finger on her, 'Princess'." Phoenix casually comments.
"She is my retainer."
"I'm Morgan's, not yours." The red-hair snarls, while easily deflecting Lotus's attacks. 'Phoenix must have empowered her…'
"We'll hold her off." Hadronix adds, "I…"
"You get near me and I'll slit your throat." The Rogue spits back as she lands a single strike on Selena, before getting slammed back several inches.
"She hurt my dear little sister, I'm not standing aside." Camilla raises her axe, and like back at the Kitsune Hamlet, strikes the ground, causing the ground to rupture and fire to spew from the cracks.
"We stand together." Xander states, rising once more with Siegfried.
"I'm here for ya!" Elise is next.
"Always by your side, Lady Yasei." Jakob adds, brandishing Flora's dagger.
"Oh, the amount of kindness here is going to get me sick." Lotus sighs, who then dodges another Mjolnir strike, but receives a gash from Selena. 'And she's still standing without a problem.'
"Back off!" Another wave of force from the Tactician, but this time, Lotus is actually blown back. She discards her tome and holds a hand out, "Ruin!" Looking to finish the Rogue off, a dark void forms on the ground where Lotus lands.
"Arcwind!" Elise shouts back, interrupting Phoenix's spell and knocking her off-balance. Another beam from Xander's sword that pierces her barrier, though not enough to destroy it. Camilla charges in next, her Axe still burning, and lashes out horizontally. Phoenix stumbled backward, enough to avoid getting hit, but leaving her open for another beam from Xander, who is now charging in, except that Selena's shield managed to block it.
"She's mine!" Lotus sprints back into the fray, avoiding a force of magic.
"S-sis, Lotus…" Raven mutters, unable to bring herself to do anything. 'She must still be drained.'
"I can't do much, but…" Hadronix is wrapping a red-packaged item around a small ball of sorts. "At least, not much without endangering the others." She brings out a small container filled with a sickly-blue thick liquid, she then drops the ball in it and pulls it back out with a small pair of metal tongs. "I just need a good shot." She brings out a small metal pipe, like what Lotus had, she then drops the ball in there and takes aim. "Assuming the chemical compound doesn't explode from the gunpowder in here, of course."
I can hardly believe that Phoenix is being pushed back, she must not have been as all-powerful as I thought. "I'm going to find Leo." I speak up, unconsciously. 'Leo, Niles, and Odin will be more than enough. I think they can handle her for now.'
"You get him, love!" Elise nods, "We can take her out."
"Y-You have our support, big sister!" Sakura smiles, Hana and Subaki by her side.
"My questionably improbable odds are at your service, my liege." Hadronix smirks, "I can assure you we can at least stall her. Sis, go with her, you need to recover."
"R-right." Raven stands by my side, "Let's go, L-Lady Yasei."
"I've had it!" A near scream comes from Phoenix. Her form is now practically surrounded by a dark-purple aura, and even her own shadow seemed to have changed, resembling more of a dragon that her. "Impudent mortals. I came here for Yasei, but if you're so intent on intervening… Goetia!" The next moments seem to have happened slowly. The Dark Magic was shot out, forming a small puddle-like area underneath Camilla, before a spike of pure magic thrusted itself out of the ground, skewering my big sister, before dissipating.
"C-Camilla!" Xander wasted no time doubling his assault, scoring his first actual hit on the Tactician.
"Big… sister?" Elise mutters, tome trembling in her grasp. 'No, no no! Not another death!' My Dragonstone shines brightly in response to my sudden anger. 'Kill, revenge!'Foregoing any sense of danger, I charge towards Phoenix, gifted sword in hand.
"Mjolnir!" Even without her tome, she summons a lightning strike, another scream echoes as Sakura drops.
"L-Lady Sakura!" With a rage-fueled scream, Hana charges Phoenix, Subaki taking to the skies to flank her.
"Phoenix…" I growl as I swiftly dodge one of those damn spikes. There might have been other people yelling at me, but in this moment? The only things here are Phoenix and me. I close the rest of the distance and lunge towards the woman, whose barrier blocks the first strike. Letting out another growl, I form my lance, following up a second sword strike. "Blood for blood. Life for life." I side-step another Goetia spike, and land my first hit on her, the force behind the slash is enough to draw blood. 'Blood, rend, rip, revenge!' My Dragon roars for more, the Stone intensifies, "You don't know how to channel your Dragon in your human form, do you?" Keaton's words suddenly pop in my head. 'No, but now I do.' I feel my side get hit, opposite of my Wyrmslayer, but it barely registers, more like a simple scrape. 'Probably from Selena.'
My lance arm switches to a maw, and it snaps onto her outstretched arm, the one with that glowing purple mark. Her barrier keeps me from ripping her arm right off, but it's strong enough to keep her from moving it. "Persistent whelp!" A metallic shing rings out and she attempts to strike me with her Levin Sword. I let go of her arm and step back, electricity crackling in the spot where I was. 'Death, revenge, kill, blood!' She attempts another strike, but I deflect this one with my own sword, I feel the sparks crackle on me, but again, it feels more like a scrape than any actual pain.
"You killed Camilla! You killed Sakura!" I land another strike on her, Stone glowing ever brighter. I may have never felt so close to my Dragon back in the Kitsune Hamlet, but now? Now I've never drawn so much strength from my Stone. 'Power, revenge, blood, kill!' I dodge another Levin Sword slash, and I counter with my own strike, her barrier suddenly spiking to block the attack. "Coward!"
"Die already!" Phoenix tries yet another strike, earning results no better than the previous ones. At this point, I'm too fast, too strong. 'Kill, feast, ravage, death!' My maw snaps around her casting arm and I land a kick on her chest. Looking to end her life, I bring my sword down. She raised her Levin Sword in defense and…
My sword cut straight through hers. The immediate area where it sliced turned white-hot, drops of molten electrified metal landing on the Tactician. However, that small moment gave Phoenix enough time to redouble her barrier, ultimately keeping her head from being split in half. Another blast of magic and she pushes me off. Though, my maw is still snapped around her arm, so she flies with me. We tumble through the grass, before the roll ends and she's on top. I narrowly dodge a mini-Goetia spike, before pushing her off of me, my Stone seems to have reached its limit with how much it can give me. My maw finally gives out and I opt for my lance once more. Her barrier stops the following sword strike, but does nothing to keep my lance from skewering her side, it hits nothing major, but it does leave a hole in her side. 'Kill, die, revenge, ravage!'
I bring my sword down once more, and she tries to summon a stronger barrier with the arm that once held her Levin sword. It seemed she realized too late that it wouldn't work. With the same power that cut through her sword, my gifted sword slices straight through her gloved hand, but again, that small amount of time was enough to let her form a strong enough barrier.
"You brought this upon yourself, mortal." A glow shines from inside Phoenix's cloak and her form shifts. She easily knocks me aside, 'A… dragon?' She said her magic is stronger than her dragon form, so why bother? Unlike my form, hers is more long and slender. The scales are a dark crimson, her eyes flash red and two extra wings sprout alongside the two already there. She rears her head and exhales, I barely had time to dodge the incoming attack. It looks like an entire field of mini-Goetia spikes. "Bow before me!" Phoenix takes to the skies, blasting down a ball of flames.
"Stop trying to get yourself killed!" Lotus shoves me aside, she has a sword lodged through her midsection… then proceeds to take the ball head on. 'Gods, she really can't die, can she?'
A small blue pebble speeds across the sky, hitting the shifted Tactician, then… nothing. "...damn. Could've sworn that was the right compound." Phoenix dives straight towards me, an almost single-minded determination.
"Hey, sweetie." The Rogue steps in front of me, "Mind getting that piece of metal out?" I growl in response, instead preparing myself for Phoenix's charge. "Fine, I don't like people pulling out, anyway." Phoenix opens her maw and fires off another ball, which Lotus steps in front of, with only her blades protecting her. "Already told you, can't kill me." She tuts as the ball slams onto her. By now, large portions of her fur and skin have been burned off, she bleeds, some of her insides are showing, she's still impaled with that sword, but she stands.
"Die!" Phoenix snaps her maw around the Rogue, who simply side steps it and slices two of her teeth out. I land a strike with my sword shortly after, hitting the upper side of her maw and ripping a chunk of her scales off. Selena tackles Lotus with Hana, Subaki, and Jakob close behind. "Ruin." The black void forms under their bodies.
"Not while I stand." Subaki forcibly trips Hana to sweep her up in his arms, before having his Pegasus buck Jakob, placing him on the head… Ruin goes off the same second, causing his Pegasus to take the brunt of the spell, and leaving the rest unharmed.
"S-Subaki…" Hana breathes, before redirecting her attention to Phoenix. The Samurai uses Subaki's body as a makeshift catapult, jumping off of him and getting a hold on Phoenix by shoving her sword into her side. Jakob expertly throws Flora's dagger into Phoenix's neck and she roars as a multitude of ice crystals form and break, then loses height as several more of those small balls from both Lotus and Hadronix sink into her.
Phoenix lands on top of Hana, but she's forced to shift back, allowing the Samurai to survive. Hana pushes the Tactician off, the blade still embedded in her side and the frost-enchanted dagger in her neck. I charge her next, landing a strike on her. 'Kill, rip, devour, rend, blood, revenge!' I try for another, but Selena tackles me off of her, we both land on the ground, with me on top. The red hair kicks me off, before getting up to charge me again, sword in hand. "Mjolnir." Phoenix's voice sounds off as a bolt strikes down on me, but it doesn't kill. 'She must be getting worn out.' However, the electricity arcs around me, '...that wasn't meant to kill.' My body feels like it locked up.
Selena smirks, bringing her sword to run me through. "Niuzao, grant me the fortitude to withstand the storms…" I hear Raven mutter as she runs to stand in front of me, her body looking as weary as before, "Violence begets violence… reap what you sow." She takes the blade head on, the Monk chokes up blood…
But then so does Selena. I can see a hole in her chest, mirrored in the same spot Raven was stabbed. "Sis!" Hadronix shouts.
"Raven?" Lotus follows, "Damn, why is everyone trying to die today?!" Another round ball flies through the air towards Selena, but it's blocked by a shield. "Blood for blood, bitch." Lotus rushes Selena, running her through her back before she even had a chance to look. Yet, as with the Tactician, she doesn't fall. The red-hair turns around, removing the blade from Raven's chest, and slicing into Lotus's body, or at least she would have, had she not stumbled from Raven tripping her. "Night, sweetie." Without missing a beat, Lotus pulled out that small metal pipe thing, aimed it at her head, and fired.
Selena dropped on the spot, Lotus went back to Phoenix without even sparing a glance for the red-hair, who now has a hole in her head. "I... need to fall back." Raven mutters as she steps back, her hands wrapped in the mist. Simply nodding, I charge Phoenix, who is now occupied by everyone except Raven and Hadronix. 'Blood, rip, revenge, kill!' Yet, once more, a sense of immediate danger occurred to me. 'From what?' I never felt so much power from my Dragon, I thought that my Stone had reached its limit. "Yasei!" I finally hear someone yell as I'm tackled away from Phoenix. "Stop!" The voice now comes out high-pitched. 'Elise?'
"M-My sincerest apologies, my liege." The haze drops enough and I see Raven atop me, her wound has only slightly healed, as she is still bleeding through her chest.
"Back off!" I attempt to push her off, but with a speed that puts all others to shame, she expertly strikes my arms, keeping them from moving.
"Love… big sister…" Elise is now next to me, a concern far greater than anything I've seen before. Her staff glows as the Monk's wound closes.
"I'm not finished with her!" Phoenix is so close to being killed, "I will avenge Camilla! Don't you…"
"You told me that you should never Shift without your Dragonstone." That one statement from Elise nearly shatters all the anger I had, replacing it with a sudden panic.
"What are you talking about?!" I look to where my necklace is, 'Did Lotus swipe it…?' No, it's still… The Dragonstone, it shattered. "What…?"
"It was glowing really brightly, like the sun, but then the light just stopped." She continues, "I saw it fall in shards on the ground shortly after."
"You drew too much magic from it, Lady Yasei." Raven picks up, "It couldn't handle the stress. The amount of power you took was more than what it could replenish, so it broke, like any overused item." With the haze gone, the Monk wraps her hands in that mist and places her hands on my arms, restoring the feeling. "We need to move, the others can handle it now."
A glance at the Tactician shows her on the extreme defensive against Lotus, Xander, Hana, Subaki, and Ruinad, she doesn't even have a moment to spare for a single attack. "Right." I nod, "Let's get to Leo." Without my Stone, I need to keep myself in check. "Never transform without your Dragonstone, Yasei. I don't think I can bring you back again if you go feral once more." Azura's warning sends shivers through me. I've been relying on my Dragon side so much, but now I suddenly have to stop using it? I can literally feel the Dragon lurking near the surface, roaring for its release, and if that happens, I won't have control at all, maybe never again. I shake my head, dispelling the nightmare from my head.
"This… isn't over!" Another shout from Phoenix, and a huge discharge of magic follows, blowing back the surrounding area, large enough to even push Elise, Raven, and me back… even Hadronix, who is standing quite the distance away. Due to my position, that meant I was sent towards the ruins, where all the portals lie. In the direction of a portal. I would summon my dragon wings to redirect myself, but…
I can't. Not without risk losing myself. As such, I'm sent speeding through the magical gateway. A feeling of weightlessness comes with the portal, as well as a near blinding light. Both of those fade within moments, and I'm sent sliding across grass. Unlike the previous area, where the clouds covered the sun. This place is blanketed with an unobscured light of the sun, there is a gentle breeze, and the area looks to be some part of Hoshido. But at the same time, there lacks a certain… scent that was a part of Hoshido. It looks the same, but there are small differences that tell me this isn't the bountiful land.
Getting up, then sheathing my gifted sword, I look into the nearby area and… and. There are ruins near me… the front has a motif of a dragon, the word 'Naga' engraved, and a multitude of clock-shaped designs splattered around it. I rub my eyes, then glance on the side… where that one side is partially destroyed, and that one brick is stuck in mid-air. "What?!" I couldn't stop myself from asking aloud. It's the same building, scent and all! I look around once more, though unlike the part of Nohr I was just in, there isn't a single portal around here, and the ground is consistently covered in grass, not a single patch of dirt or snow in sight. "Those are perfectly in place, as if frozen in… time." Hadronix's words pop in my head, instead of a portal that sent me to a different land…
Was it a portal through time? Did Nohr once look like Hoshido? Or is this the future, will Nohr end up having a bountiful land? I took several unconscious steps forward, then take a deep breath of the scents in the area, a sudden overwhelming joy taking hold. Because, among those scents coming from the ruins, I can pick out one very distinct one, enveloped in a magical flair, one that spoke of a powerful magic user…
'Gods, Leo is in there!'
A/N: Those are the same ruins from 'Disowned by Time' in Awakening. The sequel will be taking place in Awakening, why? I'm going with the 'Before Awakening' DLC's logic, Nohr and Hoshido are considered mythical, places that haven't existed by that name in millennia.
It wasn't until just at the last minute that I decided on where Yasei will start the next one. I discarded the ideas of Chrom, Ylisstol, or the new nation I'm bringing in for this re-write, and instead just went with the portal spitting her back out at the same ruins.
However, there will be absolutely no posts on 'One More Chance' until I finish off with 'A Need for Peace'. That AU path will have canonical information, as that version of Kana will impact the lore in Awakening. It won't be a required read by any means, since most of it will be explained in the sequel anyway, but it'll be there for those wanting to hear those events from Kana's perspective.