What...NANI?! I looked at the chapter I made yesterday and its already in DOUBLE DIGITS?!! Brooo... Thank you... Next chapter now!
An explosion shook the already vibrating ground. Minerva went into panic, but with a harsh command from Gerome, the screeching creature regained its bearing.
"G-gerome! What's going on?! Why are you here?! I...I thought you died! Is everyone else here too? Cynthia? Owain? Tiba-"
"Hush Lucina! All will be explained, but we have to get out of here now!" Gerome barked, pulling the princess onto Minerva by her open arm with impressive strength. Minerva growled at the new weight placed upon her, but Gerome's light kick silenced the beast.
Another explosion sounded from outside, and Lucina couldn't help but glance through one of gaping holes in the wall.
They were high up, for the ground below them was at least 2 or 3 stories downward. She could only make out a few key differences with the landscape. The tall, proud castle walls were cracked with chunks of stone littering the grassy ground. She could also make out what seemed like an undead army marching through the darkness.
"Oh wait, that IS an undead army marching through the darkness." Lucina shuddered at the sight of the Risen walking in complete unison.
Lucina had seen her fair share of Risen in her past, but something about the orderly fashion and how in-step they were made her feel uneasy. In all of her battles with the corpse like demons, they attacked and moved in very unorthodox ways, creating a chaotic fighting environment. But she and her friends always pulled through because they had strategy, where as their opponents didn't. So seeing the unpredictable creatures moving as one just made them even more, unpredictable.
The Risen came to a sudden halt when a figure stepped through a large door. Lucina knew the fluttering, plegian cloak all too well, and even just staring at it from a distance sent shivers down her spine.
His white hair seemed a tad bit shadier and his eyes burned a deeper crimson. Lucina was sure he wasn't happy.
Grima began launching orders aggressively towards the army, waving his arms around menacingly and stomping his feet at the unnerved zombies.
Lucina had to peel her eyes from the scene when she heard a light whimper come from her arms.
Ceada was frowing, as of the infant knew something bad was going to happen. She looked like she was on the verge to tears, yet, somehow, the one year old held her composure. The strange sight caused Lucina to smile.
Lucina shifted her sights towards Gerome, who looked very stressed. She took note of the fact he was grinding teeth and gripping his hands tightly around his steel axe.
"It's good to see you again Gerome." Lucina attempted to ease him, but knowing how stubborn he can be, she pressed on. "No really, thank you, I can scarce believe a world without you and my other comrades... no.. friends, with me." She rested her hand on his shoulder.
"Think nothing of it." He continued peering at the night sky. "It was Owain's idea, so I deserve no such credit." He grunted.
Hearing Gerome state Owain's name made her happier than she's ever been. Her friends were still alive! Lucina felt content knowing that her friends and family were living on, even if it is in this hellish nightmare.
Lucina's happy thoughts were cut off when something came to her. Gerome was clearly determined to take her away from here, and yet...
Lucina glanced at Gerome's semi-concealed face once more.
His sense of urgency was still present, yet, they weren't moving.
"Excuse me Gerome? But might I ask why we aren't moving?" Lucina asked him, looking back down at the silent reptile below them. Gerome didn't answer her immediately, he never does, so she focused her attention on the commotion outside.
It appears as if the Risen have split up into different groups and were searching the grounds. Groups of 3-4 were sluggishly shambling around the palace grounds, poking their heads around walls and gazing across open spaces.
"They're slow everywhere else except in battle it seems." Lucina observed.
"I'm waiting for a signal, but it should have already went up by now." Gerome's voice suprised Lucina. But once his words sunk in, she feared the worst.
"Are you saying..." She didn't need to finish, Gerome's nod confirmed her suspician already.
"They may be in trouble." Gerome muttered.
Lucina's relief vanished.
"We have to help them!" She hopped off Minerva and took off down the hall, cradling Ceada in her stride.
"Lucina! Stop!" Gerome also jumped off the wyvern and charged after her. "Don't do anything reckless!" He called out when Lucina disappeared around the corner.
Lucina heard Gerome, but didn't listen to him, for pure adrenaline overtook her as she continued sprinting blindly. Just the thought of her friends and family in danger clouded her ability to make clean cut decisions.
But she didn't need it right now, all she needed was her-
Lucina suddenly stopped in her tracks, panting.
"I don't have Falchion..." Lucina gripped the air with her free hand, in the same place Falchion used to hang by her side. "Last time I had it, I was..." Her memories overcame her despite her current situation. The day she lost Falchion. The day she lost her friends.
F:O-O-O-O-O (Flashback)
Somewhere Dark: In Valm
They just keep coming.
Lucina and her friends were fending off waves of Risen, but they weren't holding up so well.
Thunder was continuously clapping among the down pour of rain. The falling drops of water were corrupted with a swirling onyx as they streaked across the dark sky. Bolts of lightning were lighting up the nightmarish figures whose red eyes were clearly visible despite the darkness. It was not a good day.
"These foul fiends are relentless! I guess I'm gonna have to unleash my ultimate move... BLUE FLAME OF RADIANCE!" A young man slashed down an axe wielding Risen no differently than his previous victims.
"Someone shut him up! It's hard to concentrate with his constant blabbering!" A snarky girl scoffed while blocking an incoming sword strike. She shoved the zombie-like creature back into the Risen following behind it, causing all of them to stumble. "Lucina, he's YOUR cousin." She called out, dashing into the cluster of Risen.
"Please Severa, don't condescend Owain right now, we have bigger issues to worry about-" Lucina plunged Falchion into a pair of Risen, skewering them. But instead of disappearing into dust, they flung their arms and legs around, trying to squirm out of their predicament. "Such as dealing with these creatures." She yanked her blade out and slashed viciously quick, cutting both Risen's heads off.
"I agree wholeheartedly dear cousin." The short, blonde haired man spoke confidently. "Severa, I'll allow your condescendence later, but for now, we have bigger fish fry." Owain took off his yellow tunic, showing his bare skin. "Berserker mode, INITIATE!" Owain dashed at the nearest Risen, slashing his blue blade wildly at it.
"Aaaand he took off his shirt, gawds what a pig." Severa stroked her red pigtails, unamused. Another Risen soldier sprinted towards her, sword in hand. She used the blunt of her blade and slashed horizontally, knocking the creatures sword out of it's hand. With the Risen defenseless, she cleaved the creature's head in one slash, decapitating it and turning it into dust.
'Ey! Knock it off over there!" A gravelly voice approached the trio. Lucina turned around to see a crouching man with a large staff walking towards them. "Hmm, y'all see fine to me." He stroked his scar over his eye. "A'ight boss, I'm gonna go over to dancer boy and friends. Call me if you need me." Lucina nodded at the blonde healer and focused on her battle once more while the healer took off in the other direction.
The healer rushed into the direction of where he saw the dancer last, and to much of his relief, the pink haired man and one other stood back to back against the onslaught of Risen, exactly where he left them. He approached them but a Risen broke through the defensive circle and targeted him immediately.
"Aw crap." The healer held his large gold staff out defensively. The Risen sprinted towards him with a lance in its hand, its glaring eyes squinting slightly in confidence. But before the healer could whack the Risen with his staff, a very large creature tackled the Risen, ripping at its face and torso with large claws.
"Never! I'll never go extinct!" A distorted male voice yelled. The healer scoffed as the large, brown, rabbit-like creature made quick work with what was left of the Risen soldier.
"That was mine Yarne!" He complained, gripping his staff tighter. The large creature looked towards the healer with glowing pink eyes as the Risen turned imto dust.
"Huh?" He scratched his ear with his hind leg. "Oh! Sorry Brady, didn't see you there. It was just animal instinct, you know?" He chuckled nervously before dashing at another Risen riding a horse.
"Yeah, sure it was damnit." He shook his head and continued his light jog towards the dancer.
EF: O-O-O-O-O(End of Flashback)
Lucina snapped out of her trance when a firm hand gripped her shoulder and turned her around.
His black mask covered his eyes, masking some emotion, but the downward curves tugging at his mouth told her he wasn't pleased.
"Lucina!" Gerome growled darkly. "You could've put our whole plan in jeopardy! Look, they're fine, I saw the signal light up the sky. Now come on, hurry up!" He grabbed her wrist and pulled her through the hall, speed-walking towards the awaiting wyvern at the end of it.
Lucina was emotionless, her overwhelming feelings causing her entire body to stiffen. Remembering that day always had negative effects on Lucina's mental state. This was no exception.
Gerome mounted Minerva, pulling Lucina up as well, much to the wyvern's displeasure. Lucina then decided to check on Ceada, trying to distract herself from... herself. Ceada's wide eyes signified she was understanding that something big was happening, or last least that's what Lucina thought. She smiled, already forgetting her tragic memory. She could practically see the infinite wisdom in her baby's shining blue orbs.
"Hmm, I wonder where you get your intelligence from." She pondered momentarily before snapping back to reality as Minerva glided through one of the many windows.
Lucina has flown a couple a times in her life, mainly due to her overenthusiastic sister and her peguses, but riding a wyvern felt a lot more intense than the smooth sailing on top a peguses.
Her stomach dropped, making her wrap both arms around Gerome's torso, ensnaring Ceada between her abdomen and his back.
Lucina couldn't really tell where they were going, for all she could see were blurs of lights zooming passed her, but the sounds of weapons being sharpened and fires being spread suggested they weren't safe yet.
Minerva took another dive, sending a flurry of winds through Lucina's hair, and just like that, it was over.
Minerva landed on the ground with a mighty thump, sending the surrounding dirt and insects in a flutter around them. Gerome jumped off immediately and started jogging directly towards the Dragon's table, before coming to a stop and crouching into some nearby bushes.
Lucina tried to follow his lead, but when she attempted to get off, Minerva growled and whipped its body around, sending Lucina, with a crying Ceada in her arms, into the air.
Lucina landed on her back in a small thud, grimacing at the uneasy feeling of sparks being sent up and down and her back. She slowly picked herself up, and checked the bundle that seemed permanently glued to her left arm.
It wasn't very clear due to the dark sky, but she could still tell from the shines gleaming off her eyes that she had been crying.
"Aww, I'm so sorry, I promise it won't happen again." She cradled her, patting the infant's back in the process. Her promise was broke almost instantly though, for she felt a something crash into her back, sending everyone tumbling to the ground.
"LUCY!" A high pitched voice screeched, followed by a 'hush' from somewhere else.
It's been almost 2 years. 2 long years since she's heard her voice. But Lucina recognized her sister's deafness inducing voice immediately. She picked her face up and turned to find two brown pigtails messily sprawled across her own blue tunic.
"Ooh Lucy, I missed you SO MUCH, don't ever leave me again!" The girl sniffed, muffling into Lucina's side. "If you leave me again, I oughta- 'sniff', WAAAH!" The loud girl hugged Lucina in an almost vice grip.
Lucina hugged her back with her open arm, closing her eyes and smiling. It has been awhile, but Lucina felt her heart warm lovingly, making her tear up.
"I missed you too Cynthia." She felt happy knowing her younger sister is safe. "I missed you more than you can imagine, I'm sorry for leaving you."
"H-hey Lucy, it's okay for a hero to cry right? Just every once in awhile? Just a b-bit?" Cynthia bursted into tears, soaking Lucina's tunic in the process.
Lucina ignored the wetness in her side and nodded. "Of course, everyone needs to cry every once in a while." This heartfelt moment was short lived though, when 3 figures shuffled up to them akwardly.
"Ahem, sorry for the interuption, but it would be in our best interest to resume this later and take our exit before we are discovered." A tall man in glasses spoke very monotonously. He was wearing a pointy black hat and a robe that could only be desribed as a wizard's cloak. Next to him appeared to be a young girl with a very noticable cowlick among her neatly kept lime hair. She a red cloak attached to her white gown, and had very bright purple eyes. Behind both of them was someone else but she couldn't quite make them out.
"Laurent.." She smiled at the tall man. "Nah." She then turned to the small girl. "And I'm guessing Noire?" She tried to look at the timid looking girl shaking behind Laurent. "It's so great to see you all again." Lucina couldn't take it anymore. Seeing her friends alive and well, filled her with hope and happiness, and Lucina couldn't hold back the tears that streamed down her face.
"Aww, don't cry Lucina, you'll only make me cry." Nah sniffed, falling to her knees and hugging Lucina along with Cynthia.
"We have time for a reunion later, but for now we must make haste." Laurent fixed his glasses, offering his gloved hand to Nah.
As Nah was helped up, Gerome came back with a red haired girl in heavy armor at his side.
"It's great to see you again Lucina, all the others have already gone on ahead." She smiled, speaking in a stoic voice.
"Kjelle..."
Her armor was a lot heavier than it looked, and her wearing it all the time just emphasized how physically strong she was. In fact, she was probably THE strongest of Lucina's group, gripping a large steel lance and an iron shield effortlessly.
"Heheh, it's so great to see you all here, and I can't wait to meet up with the others." Lucina looked around her, from her energetic sister to the loyal wyvern rider, and felt a wave of warmness overcome her.
"Wait, Lucy who is this?" Cynthia perked up, poking a finger at the wide eyed baby in her arm.
Lucina was ice once again.
Everyone turned to her expectingly, even Noire, who's black hair was slightly visible from behind Laurent's back.
"Oh, well, it's... a long story." She really didn't feel comfortable telling her friends that she was raped by Grima and this was their child. For now, she'll cop out and go along with her friend's plan. "So what's the plan, where are we going?" She changed the subject unsubtly.
"Finally, a wise question. Let's go, we have to clear this hill." Laurent started walking up the cracked ground, leaving Noire exposed.
"O-oh, u-um, hi Lucina, l-long time no see right? It's very nice to see you again." Noire was playing with her short hair, twisting her leg in place. With her uneasy smile and her constant stuttering, it would seem as if Noire was convicted of a crime, but Lucina knew better than that. Her uncontrollable nervousness was caused by her passed mother, so Noire is always on edge no matter how much Lucina and the others attempt to get her to loosen up.
"Its great to see you again as well" Lucina pulled herself up, dusting off her legs from the collected dirt. "An-"
KABOOOOOM
A large, cataclysmic explosion sounded in the distance. The group turned to see the Dragons Table emitting waves of dark purple energy, and above it, the swirling black clouds began to separate.
"FEAR. I CAN FEEL YOUR ANGUISH, YOUR MISERY. YOU CANNOT ESCAPE ME AGAIN, SLAVES OF NAGA!" A very malevolent voice shook everyone's ears. The sound of two different voices, one of which sounded as if it came from a large lion, intertwined and sent shivers down everybody's spine. "HAHAHAHA, THERE YOU ARE..."
As the swirling dark crowds seperated even more, an enormous head poked through, staring at the group with six glaring red eyes and freezing them in their tracks.
The giant head was very dark purple, almost black, and it had two large horns sticking out beside the eye and creating a jagged arc around the sides of its mouth.
"RUUUN!" Laurent yelled, turning tail and running up the hill. "The voice is waiting for us, she'll help us get away!" Laurent's voice was almost drowned out by the wind.
The giant head bared its mouth, showing rows and rows of razor sharp teeth. "NO! NOT THIS TIME!" The head dropped lower, revealing the rest of its serpent like body attached with short, gray wings running down the sides of its body. The creature's scale was unimaginable, being bigger than twice the size of the entire Dragons Table.
As the group continued running, they noticed Risen were rising from the ground, but outright ignored them, determined to reach their goal.
Lucina reached a flat elevation and spotted a green haired figure in the distance, next to what seemed like a cyan oval, resembling that of a portal.
As Lucina and the others approached, a wall of Risen holding various weapons sprang out of the ground, blocking them from their destination.
"Tsk, guess fighting is the only solution." Laurent pulled out his red tome, already chanting a spell.
"I wouldn't have it any other way." Kjelle knocked her spear against her shield, creating a loud clang!
The Risen were almost upon them, and right before Gerome and a Risen clashed axes, the entire Risen horde was wiped out in a white flash.
Behind the charred corpes was a flying, silver dragon, a manakete, who's green eyes feigned innocence. The dragon roared, and in a flash, the dragon was gone, and all that remained was the green haired lady Lucina spotted earlier.
"Thank you Milad-"
"We're out of time, hurry in the portal!" The lady silenced Gerome, gesturing towards the pulsing portal. "Wait." Her eyes fell on Lucina, and what she was carrying in her left arm. "I was not aware a young child such as this was present in your group."
"Is..Is that a problem?" Lucina already knew the answer based on the tone of the women, but asked anyway, clutching Ceada a little tighter.
BOOOM
Once again, an explosion could be heard, causing the ground to shake. The green haired lady wiped some dust from her red tunic, shaking her head.
"Lucina, you are last, everyone else, jump in!" She started tugging on Nah's hand, urging her to go first.
Everyone gave Lucina, and then Ceada, an uneasy glance, before one by one, they each jumped in, including Minerva and Cynthia's peguses, leaving Lucina, Ceada and the green haired lady alone.
"I FEEL YOU NAGA. I'LL WIPE OUT THE REST OF YOUR PETTY EXISTENCE."
Well, almost alone.
Lucina held Ceada up to her shoulder before asking. "What's wrong with Ceada?" In which was asked in a quiet, nervous voice.
"This portal leads you to the past, going in there will cause a variety of side effects to you and the others including dizziness, nausea, and even amnesia." She stated in a regretful tone. "So if one with a young, developing mind such as Ceada were to go, they may sustain permanent damage, both physically and mentally."
Lucina froze.
"Wait, you can't mean that I..."
"Of course not, here, hand her to me, I'll bless the child." She held her arms out, in which wyere immediately filled with the light weight of Ceada and the blanket that wrapped her. "Oh, and the masked one left you this." She shifted Ceada to her right arm, and pulled out a blue mask from the bag at her arm, in which Lucina took puzzlingly, rotating it around.
"A mask? Why would Gerome-"
"I'm sorry..." Lucina looked up, which unbeknownst to her would be her final glance at this world, for Tiki shoved Lucina into the portal.
"HEHEHEH, HAHAHAHAH!"
(AN) Sorry this took so long, and sorry that I rushed it, getting passed this part was a major obstacle, and now that it is done, it should be smooth sailing from here on out. Thank you, and goodnight!
-Cassius