Morgan and Grima - Battle of the Tacticians
That night, Morgan had fallen asleep in Azura's tent, sharing Corrin's old bed with Kana. Azura didn't seem to mind, but disturbingly enough, neither did Robin. Then again, he was long asleep by the time it came to nightfall.
Azura had knocked out a while ago, and Felicia was sneaking off with Laslow on some date. Pff.
So there Morgan found herself, staring up at the ceiling as Kana lay snoring a few inches away. The gentle rise and fall of his breathing, coupled with the slight movements of his body reminded Morgan that she wasn't quite alone.
Despite the developments of her Father's kidnapping, her Mother's kidnapping, Kana's rescuing, Lilith's intervention, and now finally Robin's behavior, Morgan had felt very much alone in her problems.
But a tactician could handle any enemy. Once, Robin told her one day after a particularly brutal march and skirmish, "Enemies that are out to kill you make everything easy. It's the things that nag at our side; the stress of combat, the fatigue after, the loneliness of a battlefield and the isolation of peacetime... those are the things that a seasoned warrior learns to fear."
She wasn't really stressed, no, Takumi and Leo had that role filled out quite well. As for being fatigued? She was the daughter of a tactician and a dragon-princess! She could handle a few broken ribs, or a few marches.
But the loneliness... Corrin was still out there. Robin was acting weird. But Kana...
At least she had him.
It felt good to have Kana by her side, even if he was drooling on her cloak and grabbing onto her arm like it was a pillow.
But he was safe.
And thus, her quest was proceeding just as she would expect it to.
She let the night take her, closing her eyes and thinking of the future to come.
"Sis, why are we here? Shouldn't we be taking care of Papa?" Kana asked earlier, eager to spend time with his father after they had brought him back to the camp unharmed.
To this, the young tactician silently shook her head. She had to observe Robin more. Granted, he did fall asleep as soon as he entered the camp, so there was that. He must've been immensely tired from his time in captivity, Morgan believed.
"Father is acting strange. I think his time as a prisoner must've messed with his head a little," Morgan lied. Kana raised his eyebrows in question and pursed his lips.
"He seemed fine when me and Lucina rescued him."
"Lucina and I," Morgan corrected before diverting back to the issue at hand, "And you didn't rescue him. He rescued himself. You and Lucina just happened to run into him at the right time." Kana's eyes widened in surprise and he gazed in awe at his older sister.
"How'd you know that?"
"I watched," Morgan lied again, "I was in the castle at the same time. Instead of finding father though, I was fighting off Iago. I got information from one of his lackeys that Father had escaped his cell. "
"H-how'd you get away?" Kana asked suspiciously, not knowing of his sister's secret mission. "How come I didn't see you?"
"I... didn't," Morgan replied softly, thinking of her near brush with death (even if Iago wasn't going to kill her) and her time spent with Lilith in Fort Corrin. Had it truly been a few seconds in this world? She spent enough time to heal her broken ribs in the Astral Plain. Long lonely days, alone in another world... "And as to your second question... I didn't see you either."
"Okay," Kana responded, not a trace of skepticism in his voice. "I believe you."
"R-really? Just like that? No questions?"
"You know how Papa escaped his cell moments before we came. I don't think anyone else could have figured that out. I'm just glad that you didn't get hurt." Morgan smiled at her brother's care and melted further into her side of the cot. Her back and ribs were still a bit sore, but it was nothing big. What was this nagging at her? It surely wasn't pain, nor fatigue...
Anxiousness. Restlessness. The enemies that Robin faced as a tactician were now plaguing her. She felt this dissent at being so stagnant. The Shepherds had been here for a few days now. They had to take out Walhart, liberate Ylisse, and somehow solve the fact that Hoshido and Nohr were in their way.
But, like Robin, she would take this one step at a time.
"A tactician only needs their two feet and a good plan to move mountains."
"I guess not," Morgan laughed, holding onto her brother tightly as the night crickets chirped their song. She could just lay here, with her brother and pretend that everything was fine. But she had this gnawing feeling in her gut...
Somehow, Morgan believed that the worst of her problems had yet to be solved.
"Well, now we just have to rescue Mama and everything will be just fine!" Kana exclaimed eagerly, no hint of nervousness in his tone. "And Papa will help us, won't he?"
"Of course he will," Morgan reassured. "Now get some rest. We'll fix this in the morning."
Once the sun broke the horizon, Morgan gently got out of bed. Even that motion was abrupt enough for Kana's sharp senses and his gray eyes snapped open.
"I'm going to check in on Father," Morgan explained, and Kana was too tired to argue or follow. Realizing that her cloak was still wrapped around Kana like a blanket, the tactician left it as she exited the tent, tiptoeing over a grinning (but asleep) Felicia. The cold dawn bit upon her bare shoulders as she adjusted her undershirt to be more appropriate for the weather. Valm sure did cold, she admitted as the goosebumps prickled her arms.
With a breath of conviction, Morgan made her way to her Father's tent, greeting any who were up but not straying from her course.
She didn't quite avoid Lucina, who, during her training, noticed that Morgan and Kana had not slept in their Father's tent today. Why?
Finally reaching Robin's tent, she raised her fist to knock and hope that he-
"I'm awake, Morg. Come in," she heard Robin yawn from inside, and she took that as her cue. Opening the tent door slowly, she noticed her father hunched over a desk, countless books and maps strewn about his vicinity. Unlike her, his cloak was on his person, along with his hood, ever-so-present on his head, instead of flopping on his shoulders and back.
"Good morning, Father," Morgan stuttered hesitantly. Robin perked at this pause and looked at his daughter curiously.
"And a good morning to you as well," he responded, more as a question than a greeting. "Is something the matter?"
Robin was a tactician. There was no subtlety that could get past his guard. Morgan sighed and got right to business.
"Are you... well? Father? You've been a prisoner, if only for two days, but I'm still... Ah, I apologize. I was just concerned whether your thoughts were in order after your ordeal as a prisoner."
Robin softened up and rose from his desk, moving to his bed where he sat down. Morgan joined him after a pause, and he smiled through his fatigue.
"Come now, Morg. You're a tactician's daughter. You already know the answer," Robin teased.
"W-what happened out there?" Morgan asked, not too keen on her father's slight. Robin ignored the question and continued his spiel.
"Your first instincts when you saw me. You were suspicious, unsure," Robin explained, and Morgan caught on quickly. "You had doubts to contend with. Why abandon your initial reactions of wariness at the first sign of discontinuity? Am I truly, as you would say, 'alright?'"
The young girl's eyes widened as her claims were proving to be correct.
"Y-you're not..."
Robin shook his head in mellow confirmation.
"Trust your instincts next time. You have a good sense of things, but you just need to trust yourself more, no matter how far-fetched your thoughts turn out to be."
"W-what? Are you saying that-"
"Sadly, no. I'm not your Robin."
Morgan backed away slowly, but Robin made no move to stop her. So Morgan stayed.
"Who are you?"
"You might not like the answer," her father warned, rising to his full height but not taking a step towards Morgan.
The way he breathed out of his nose through gritted teeth, the way his eyes pierced through that shadows of his hood...
Ah shit.
"But I will admit... I missed you, Morgan," Grima whispered genuinely through his shallow breaths. There was no smile on his face, but then again, there was no frown. Still, Morgan was regretting being right all the time. Especially now.
She knew there was no way she could escape from Grima if he wanted her in sight, so she stood up bravely against the god of destruction even when he didn't move an inch.
"I thought... I had left you behind," Morgan sighed in defeat. "All my years of running... I thought this jump was finally the one. After everything you showed me of myself in Old Ylisse, after all I've done to force amnesia upon myself... I thought I was free of it."
"Naga and I, we've been keeping a close eye on you," Grima explained, sitting back onto his bed to assume a passive stance. "You've finally found the right world, and you need to know everything. Even the stuff you don't want to. So muscle through it, Morgan. You're right where you need to be."
"Until you kill us all, you mean," Morgan countered, too in shock to be scared right now.
"...Not quite."
"My assumptions are correct, right?" Morgan questioned. "You are the Fell Dragon? The same one that's been haunting my nightmares, plaguing my reality... The one that coerced me against my friends in my world, and will outright destroy this one. I doubt I'm in the wrong, but I would very much appreciate if you prove me a liar, Grima."
"Never doubt yourself, Morgan," Grima huffed. "Grima is my name. Even if I preferred Robin. But is by no means this world's harbinger."
"And the fact that this entire army thinks you're my father... Or rather, that my father is running this army."
"My, my, you've gotten clever," Grima commended. "Don't worry though. Leo and Takumi will still be in charge under the guise that 'I have things on my mind,' and I need time to recover."
"You're a god. You need no time to recover. You barely need time to prepare," Morgan retorted, anticipating her inevitable demise at every turn of this conversation. "Without Robin in charge, this army is going to fall apart. Even if Leo and Takumi are capable, only my Father can lead us through till our destined end."
"Of course," Grima agreed. "But I still need to find all my pieces before this game can begin."
"This game is waged with the lives of me and my family. I can afford you not being at 100% effectiveness." Grima chuckled and played with his thumbs in nonchalance.
"...Even if I'm playing on your side?"
Morgan stopped, looking at Grima oddly.
"Huh."
"What if... I told you that Robin and Corrin are in their prisons by my designs? Or rather, my approval?"
"I wouldn't doubt it," Morgan countered, "You would do anything to divide this army's leadership and split us apart." Grima snorted and shook his head.
"It would be a smart move were I your enemy, but that is not the case."
"You have given me reason to believe otherwise. My mother is still imprisoned, and you... I don't know. But you know where Robin is, don't you? Because he certainly isn't here."
"Ah, so we're getting somewhere. That's what I like to see in my favorite tactician-in-training! While I would like to reveal my secrets to you, I believe there is a better way you will understand my motives."
"Last time you showed me another way, I almost killed Lucina. I resurrected the Fell Dragon on the plains of Plegia, and I doomed Ylisse to its death. And then you fooled me, again and again until I lost count of worlds I have doomed. I've played this game with you, Grima. I found my family on my own, whether you think it was part of your master plan or not. I'm not going to let them go so easily. And I won't harm Lucina, nor my family, ever again."
"Ha, the innocence of youth. But no. I'm on your side for the foreseeable eternity, my dear. Take a look."
With an eager grin, Grima cast a spell and showed Morgan true strategy.
"Where am I?" Morgan wondered, before looking around and seeing herself in the Shepherd camp. Things looked the same as they did for a while, so she assumed she was outside of Robin's tent. Except that it was near-dawn, nothing seemed out of the norm.
Then again, she was very familiar to Grima's ploys. The fact that even in the early cracks of light, the world wasn't as saturated as it was supposed to be. The fact that the streams of dew floating in midair did little more than remind her that this world was fake. Manipulated. Just like her.
"I'm in one of your time-window-things again, aren't I?" Morgan sighed, glancing around this world.
"Shh, you're gonna miss the good part," Grima replied, manifesting next to the girl. "Welcome to the Shepherd's camp! The time is two days ago, a few moments before our favorite pair of white-haired commanders disappear!"
Morgan watched quietly as Robin tiptoed inside the tent, noting how he grinned when he eagerly shared his journal of the Plegian war with Corrin. Soon after, they fell asleep, and she couldn't help but fear for her parents, even when she knew their inevitable fate.
"And... 3. 2. 1... bang."
Silently, a figure appeared out of nowhere, whom Morgan recognized as Iago. A pang of hatred rang through her at the thought of the Nohrian who bested her in the tower, but that was neither here nor there.
"Thgis morf eeht edih," he whispered in some Nohrian gibberish tongue. Assuming that was a spell that cloaked him just like the ones Ophelia used in the Cabal, Morgan strained her eyes to catch Iago's silhouette sneaking and peeking about, before entering Robin's tent stealthily.
"This is when he kidnapped them!" Morgan realized, before entering the tent as well.
Morgan knew, from experience, that whatever happened in these 'Window Realms,' she could observe from whatever angle she needed, and no amount of interference would actually affect the current events of the window.
"Greasy sleaze asshole," she muttered, cursing Iago's existence as he crept until he was enveloping both Robin and Corrin in magic. To her surprise, Iago perked upwards and his eyes (or eye) widened in visible shock.
"S-someone is here?!" he whispered, rechanting his cloaking spell and standing still.
"Can he hear me?" Morgan wondered, questioning Iago's reaction to seemingly nothing.
"Shh," Grima insisted, pointing at Iago.
"I can see you, you know," a voice called out from outside, causing Iago to tremble even more. A figure entered confidently and to her shock, Grima entered Robin's room in real-time as Iago nearly shit himself in fright.
"What manner of sorcery is this?" Iago cursed, looking at Robin's sleeping body before glancing back at Grima. Not accepting the fact that the two figures were exactly the same in appearance, the sorcerer had to do another double-take before he stood his ground.
"And what manner of Peeping Tom shenanigans is going on here?" Grima replied, a smirk lining his face as he charged up a spell to erase Iago from existence. "First, I catch you sneaking into this sick setup my human counterpart makes, and then suddenly, boom, here you are, creeping about his room with his children in it, ya perv."
Iago, still having some sense of dignity, shook his head rapidly.
"N-nonsense! I am here to-"
"Kidnap the two commanders of this army, cause chaos, blah blah blah. That's great. Smart, even." Iago's eye twitched and he gave up all means of reasoning with the Robin doppelganger blocking his way out.
"So you've seen through my plans. What do you expect to accomplish with my death? Do you even know who I am?"
"Not really," Grima admitted. "Though, I could probably probe your mind right now and find all sorts of tactical gold. But I won't. You know what? I'll even let you carry through your little fuck-fuck-game you call a plan without touching a hair on your head."
"W-what?" Iago trembled, still at a loss at what was happening.
"Good to see we're clear," Grima continued without regarding Iago's confusion. "Now, you will describe to me in vivid detail as to what shenanigans my poor human self and his badass dragon princess are going to be subjected to, and I'll see if it's worth their time."
"Who... do you think I am..."
"Let me repeat myself," Grima threatened, opening one eye and turning his smirk into a grimace. "You will explain, in beautiful, colorful, thorough imagery what my two favorite dragon-gods are going to be going through. Stutter on your words again and I'll stutter a lightning bolt down your pee-pee hole. Sideways."
"I am under orders to kidnap these two," Iago spat out in fear. "I will separate them at the earliest instance and subject them to a curse I have developed to contain their minds!" Grima paused, before lowering his hands and crossing his arms casually.
"What kind of curse?" Grima asked in genuine curiosity.
"Their minds will be trapped in the memories of the other! The Ylissean devil will live through the Princesses' memories, and vice versa!" Grima's eyes widened and he nodded in eager approval.
"Hmm. I can work with that. Will they be harmed?"
"W-what? N-no- Augh!" Iago instantly collapsed to the floor, holding his Blessed Lance in his hands and closing his legs in pain. Looking upwards, he caught Grima bring his hand back down and close it, lightning still crackling around his fingertips.
"You stuttered." Grima growled, kneeling to Iago's prone form and poking his face with his finger. "Let's try again for half the points. Will Robin and Corrin be hurt?"
"...No!" Iago rasped, still clutching his invisible kingdom in gruesome agony.
"Good. Very well, whoever you are. You have my permission to carry on in your little schemes to get a little extra from your wrinkly hag of a king. Now disappear and take those two with you before I decide you should have three arms growing out of your asshole or something. Oh, and if you get the cheeky idea of displacing even a single molecule of air from Robin or Corrin from the place I remember said molecule being...
Let's just say that I'm going to have trouble finding where the rest of your intestines flew off into. Now, shoo, you mongrel pup."
Nodding furiously, Iago disappeared back to Nohr, Robin and Corrin in tow. A second later, Lucina burst into the tent, shocked at what she just witnessed.
"R-robin?" she asked, turning to Grima who regarded her coldly.
"Oh. You."
Raising his hand once more, he blinded the princess with a spell before taking her down, tying her hands and legs and binding her mouth before driving his palm into her neck, knocking her out. "Hush, little princess. Can't have you ruining this."
"As for you..." Grima sighed, looking at Morgan and Kana who were beginning to stir from their sleep. Much more gently, he bound Kana's legs and arms, placing him next to Lucina on the ground. "Holy crap he's so cute!"
"And Morgan, mi pièce de résistance. Can't have you clueless now, either, can I? You'll figure things out on your own though, given time. Sorry about this." Giving her the same treatment, Grima concluded his visit and nodded briskly, three bound, unconscious figures at his feet as he exited the tent.
"Alright Iago. Let's see you try to keep up."
"So you just... let Iago go?" Morgan asked, still not sure on Grima's stance.
"Robin is living his life as a prince of Nohr, and Corrin as a Shepherd. They might learn a thing or two on the way, which is what I'm expecting. In time, we'll rescue them; Robin from the same fortress Lucina and Kana found me in, Corrin from the Northern Fortress."
"So all this... it's to feed them information? Not just about Valm, but about Nohr and Hoshido?"
"Precisely," Grima replied proudly. "Just you wait. In the meantime, we'll be playing without them as we dethrone Walhart, so..."
Morgan shook her head, drawing a sword from the wall and pointing it at Grima confidently. Grima could kill her in an infinite number of ways, but she still had to know his plans.
"Not until you tell me your goal of all this." The tactician stared down the Dragon of Death's avatar with a blade poised for his heart.
Grima took the threat seriously and nodded, dropping his hands to his sides and taking a position of submission. He wasn't scared, but he might as well act like it. Not like Morgan's blade could pierce his skin.
I think.
"You know by now who I am, as Grima, right?"
"The Fell Dragon. I helped resurrect you once; I had to do some research as to your true purpose in Plegian culture. Of course I know what curse your name brings."
"Well, the person you resurrected was once a tactician for an army of Shepherds, just as your Father is. Just... one from a world far before yours. One who, like every other Robin, was the vessel for Grima."
"I know how the mantle of the dragons work. Two dragons. One light, one dark, watching over countless universes one at a time. Everything changes from one universe to the next, or perhaps nothing changes at all. The only constant is the dragon's existence in tandem to the universe. Even if the world burns in fire, or lives out its' existence in peaceful fortuity, the dragon lives and moves on to the next one. Even if the vessel falters, another one takes his place in their eternal cycle."
"Someone's been doing their homework," Grima commended, smiling at Morgan. "Seriously, Robin and Corrin can't comprehend the fact that there are other worlds aside from this one."
"It was tricky to grasp at first," Morgan admitted. "But that doesn't explain your motive. Grima exists to destroy. Sure, maybe he's exploiting the fact that he was a tactician before and wants to pursue a more elaborate plan of cunning and strategy. But I hardly see how you win in all this."
"I don't win until Robin and Corrin win," Grima explained. "See, Robin has two choices in this life, which I'm sure you know full well by now."
"As you've painfully reminded me in Old Ylisse," Morgan scoffed. "Either he puts you to sleep with Falchion or he embraces his calling as the vessel. I have spent countless years of my short life trying to find a world where Robin does neither."
"Which is why you're here," Grima replied coolly. "Robin never found Corrin in most of these worlds. But you finally found one where he did. The only one, actually."
"The only one?"
"Robin never sided with Corrin before. In fact, they never crossed paths. This is why Kana never knew he was your brother, nor did anyone else."
"Okay then," Morgan continued, thinking about how Grima operated on the cosmic scale, "So this is the right world. My father and mother are both alive, and Robin will never doom himself by coming into contact with both Naga and Grima."
"Correct. While he will contact us eventually, his actions are going to be a lot different than the ones Lucina and her ilk have witnessed.
"He won't kill himself to stop the curse?"
"Or..." Grima added slowly, "He kills me."
"You can't kill a dragon," Morgan corrected. "You can kill the vessel. You can't tarnish the Mantle of the Fell Dragon. If I could've killed you, you would be dead a long time ago."
"Not without help," Grima added, cocking a smirk.
"Help... as in you?"
"As in me."
"Why would you want yourself to be dead?" Morgan asked, and Grima saw his own existence through the sequence of a million worlds, either broken or glorified through The Fell Dragon's game. Countless times had he emerged triumphant, and countless times had he failed in dooming the world he presided over.
But this Morgan? She was unique. Her existence was tied to only one world. This one.
Sure, Severa was bound to Cordelia no matter what world she came from. Her father would change, and thus her haircolor. But no matter what world he and Naga doomed or preserved, Severa would always be that twin-tailed bitch who spent an ass-load of money on shit. Even if it was as Robin's daughter, that poor thing.
But this Morgan? She was special. There were never any Morgans that had found their place. All of them had been lost, doomed to settle in the world they had landed in. If not for their bright nature and amnesiac memory, they would still be in search of the worlds they belonged to. It was pitiful, really. Grima would doom a world, forcing a Morgan and her group of friends to another world in attempts to save their parents. But due to her nature... she would never make it to the right one. But she would live in the world were Naga wins anyway, not knowing any better.
Yes, Morgan could be the daughter of Cordelia. Heavens help the ones that were born from Tharja. And damn him if Robin fell for Lucina even one more damn time. But Corrin?
This Morgan was the only Morgan to have found where she belonged, just because she wasn't like all the other Morgans. She was still bright and cheerful and mischievous.
But she was a dragon, just as much as her brother. Just as much as Grima or Naga or Anankos. Not even Tiki could provide the missing variable. Corrin's existence as a pure-dragon was essential to Morgan's power.
And that's why she was the key to all this.
Morgan and Kana, the latter still unknowing of his plans in all this, would be Grima's keys to unlocking his own shackles.
This Morgan was the only one that knew what evil she was capable of, but chose to do good anyway. All the other Morgans never knew their potential until it was too late for them to have a choice. And in their desperation to redeem themselves, they either were killed off by Lucina or fled to worlds that never knew them.
The Morgan in front of him had been through that cycle. She had revived him in hopes of finding the Robin who she belonged with. The Corrin she belonged with. The Kana she belonged with.
But Robin and Corrin never met until now. Morgan and Kana never met until now.
And they would never meet again, in any other world.
It could be the perfect ending for everyone. Corrin wouldn't have to watch her family die. Sure, she was destined to cross blades with Robin, but Grima would handle that bridge when he crossed it. Robin wouldn't die by Corrin's hand.
Robin wouldn't have to adopt the mantle of Fell Dragon. He wouldn't have to put Grima to sleep, either. Instead, he would end his own curse, by his own hand, backed by his own family. Even if his wife was going to stab him one day.
Morgan wouldn't have to wonder what her memories of her parents she had because she would never lose them. She would never have to resurrect the Fell Dragon because Robin would kill him himself.
Still, Grima had no idea what would happen if Robin killed his avatar form by his own hand, but that could wait.
He could finally atone for every sin he had committed.
If Morgan played her part, that is.
And she would.
They were both tacticians.
"I want it to end. There's a human inside of Grima who you helped revive. But he's bound to the Fell Dragon's curse. It's about time he gets to live his life. I want Robin to kill me."
"And set you free," Morgan realized, her suspicions faltering.
"And set me free," Grima confirmed. "And when I'm free?"
"I'll be free..." Morgan put together. "Okay then. I get to watch you die and be free of this curse of jumping across worlds trying to bring back my father. What do you need me to do?" The Fell Dragon's avatar smiled at Morgan's eagerness, even if it was in the sadistic nature of his own death.
"First things first," Grima laughed, watching the young Morgan he had scattered throughout countless worlds finally come to the place he and Naga wanted her to be.
Home.
"Me and you are going to crack Azura out of her little shell of secrecy."
AN: I may have to do a recap chapter. What do you guys think? That's enough plot for now, though. Next few chapters are going to be the lighter-ones. Sakura/Ricken (She wants the Dicken) Leo/Maribelle, Cynthia/Kiragi, and Gaius/Saizo are up next!
Oh, and do I delete the chapter before or what? I'm not sure how to handle such dank AN's. I'm toying with powers I can't possibly comprehend.
