CHAPTER TWO
An Attempt on Auntie's Life
I never got to meet my aunt before. My father's older sister was assassinated in just a few moments. It's my duty to make sure that doesn't happen again. I hold that power in the palm of my hand; to change what was once done.
I stand in front of my father now. I inch closer, just a little.
Standing just a little way away from us is my mother. They always seem to be together.
I take comfort in that. If my lord father was with another woman, I wouldn't know what to think.
"In a few moments," I mutter in the deepest voice I can muster. "Queen Emelina will be killed."
"What?"
I nod. I need to convince him that I'm telling the truth, or else I'll be going home to the same fate.
I come from a bleak future, where cities are wasteland, and families are torn. Most of my friends, like myself, are orphaned or their parents ill. We are the children of heroes long gone, and on the brink of demise, we must search for hope.
Naga allowed me to do this. She allowed me to go back in time, to have this opportunity to stand in front of my parents and warn them of the very downfall of The Holy Kingdom of Iris.
Suddenly there is a ruffle in the trees surrounding the courtyard.
Mother flicks her head to the side. "Watch out!" she cries, and before I know it, a bandit bursts from the treetops, two sharp blades tucked in his sleeves. I push Father out of the way as quickly as I can, slashing in the brigand's direction, but one of his blades brushes past my face as he flies across the court. My hair, once bound to make me look as boyish as possible, flows freely behind me, cascading around my face.
The mask Jerome gave me back home to conceal my identity falls. I clap a hand to my eye, swinging around to try and finish off the bandit, but Father has already stabbed him deep in the chest.
The blades concealed in the sleeves of the hooded cloak drop with clangs to the ground, and the man who attempted to kill my father follows their lead limply.
I try and prop the mask back on the face, but the ties are already severed, and it won't stay up.
"A-A girl…?" Father murmurs.
I narrow my eyes.
While in this time I do not exist, and therefore there's no way they could possibly recognise me, there happens to be a (rather obscure) mark on my left eye; the mark of Naga, which is only present in children of the royal family of Iris.
I have to hide it as best as I can.
"We have to hurry," I say. "Queen Emelina is in grave danger. We must protect her at all costs. The future depends on it."
My mother nods, that familiar look of determination blazing in her eyes.
"Krom, can you—"
"Already on it."
My father has probably memorised each of my mother's strategies off by heart by now.
He is a dedicated person, after all, and by this point I'm sure he's already head over heels in love with her.
"Come on, then. We must hurry," I say.
Mother is a very good strategist. She plays to everyone's strengths, knows who to pair together so that the front is unstoppable. I am charged with staying close to Aunt Emelina.
The waves of enemies are almost endless. The castle walls are constantly being broken down, a fire briefly starts in one of the halls, but Mother quickly douses it.
It is amazing how well the two of them work together. I want to join them, but there are more pressing issues at hand.
An enemy cavalier breaks through the front line.
Aunt Liz tries to hold him off, but she is knocked back with an effortless strike. Uncle Vake rushes to her rescue; he easily manages to knock the rider off his horse. He seizes control of the stallion, laughing, howling.
"Vake! This is serious!" she moans. "You'll get hurt!"
"Nah, nah! The great me could never be hurt by mere mortals; woo!"
He charges with the horse towards the wave of cultists, before leaping off axe-first with a mighty roar.
It's funny for a moment, and then I realise that that's exactly the way he was finally killed. It wasn't so funny back then, either, and my mind rushes back to the memory of comforting his stubborn son, my cousin, after the incident.
Mother rushes back to us without Father, instead gripping the sleeve of a familiar redheaded man, the latter of whom looks far too disinterested with the whole affair.
This for sure is Gaia, my friend Cynthia's father.
"Keep an eye on this one," she says to me.
I think this is the first time she's actually spoken to me without Father around. My heart flutters a little.
"Whatever," he mutters. "Your loss."
"Yuming!" Liz cries. "There are too many of them!"
"No, there's not!" Mother retorts, as gently as she can manage at this time. She flicks her head to me again. "Marth, I need you on the front line. Can you do that for me?"
I nod. "Y-Yes, Mo—Ma'am!"
I rush alongside her to the core of the battle. A man in heavy armour hides behind his shield to keep a chunk of the enemy force at bay.
"Uhh—" he says rather calmly as we approach. "Yuming?"
"What is it, Callum?"
He looks pleased that she answered his call. Callum has never been a man of many words—not that many people pay attention to those few words.
One day in the future I come from he went off to battle and promised his son he'd come back, but no such thing happened.
I miss his son a lot, I think.
"I don't think I can hold them all off—Nghar! There are—too many reinforcements! Gah! What's that!"
The halls are lit up with a strange glow, and for a moment we are all caught off guard.
The enemy front manages in that moment to pierce Callum's defences.
Mother utters something under her breath, and the strong light is quelled.
She is an amazing mage.
"They have a strong mage," she yells. "Everyone! On your guard! Marth, lend us your strength!"
"Yes, Ma'am!"
My mother, the tactician, has put together a fine army. Even the guards of the castle take every word of hers into consideration, and suddenly their power is increased tenfold.
With her help, we defeat most of the assailants.
She tells me to retreat back to Aunt Emelina, and I reluctantly oblige.
Two cavaliers ride past me, a redhead and a brunette in red and green armour.
"Ready, squirt?" the redhead calls to her companion.
"Born ready," he chuckles nervously back.
It's both heart-warming and wrenching to recognise each and every soldier in this armour.
As I rush back to the throne room, I catch a glimpse of a blue-haired archer rushing behind them. He is grinning, an arrow poised and ready against his glimmering bow.
"Wait for me, honey!" he coos.
"Keep up, sweetie," Soiree halts momentarily and huffs sarcastically.
Oh, Uncle Viole, Aunt Soiree…Never change.
In the moment I run looking over my shoulder at the soon-to-be couple, I slam into the chest of yet another familiar face…This time far too familiar.
"K-Krom—"
"Marth, get to my sister, please. We're counting on you to keep her safe right now."
He grabs my arm, pleadingly, as if urging me to go on.
I nod, mouth slightly ajar. I don't know what to say, and before I can he gently releases me before sprinting to the action.
From what I hear, there is a powerful mage behind this attack. I know him—he's the one who caused all of this.
If Mother succeeds in killing him, and then Gangrel, it'll all be over.
I'll go home to an Iris where both my parents, as well as the parents of my friends, are alive and well.
I smile.
What's wrong?
Something's wrong.
The future's the same; I don't understand!
What did I do wrong? Why did Aunt Emelina sacrifice herself? N-No! It can't be…All our work.
I stare at my hands—I should be disappearing right now.
Naga, what did I do wrong…?
Father is crying over the corpse of his sister, who so bravely gave her life when she stepped off the ledge to her doom. But it shouldn't have been that way…
Mother looks his way as Aunt Liz cries into her shoulder. Does she want to comfort him…?
It shouldn't—It can't be this way…
I grip the hilt of the Falchion and grit my teeth to stop from crying.
Why…?
We have the Fire Emblem safe within our possession. Then, why is Gimle's return imminent?
Tell me, Naga…
I…I can't give up, can I? No…
I said long before that I'd do whatever it takes to secure the future I long for.
I have to…Somehow I must keep going…
For Father, for Mother, for the little brother I left in the future, somewhere along the timeline…
Until Gangrel is killed and the future is safe, I will not rest.
Please Review!
I want to introduce the other children soon, definitely.
Especially Mark. But especially Chambray. But especially Jerome.
I must add that Vake x Liz is my secondary OTP, as well as Soiree and Viole...
See if you can guess (if you know anything about the game) who Callum's son/wife is?