A/N: Hullo everyone! Thanks again for coming to join me for this awesome series, which will be drawing to its conclusion but six chapters from now (so probably in about two months). As the end of yet another adventure approaches, I want to take a moment to thank those of you that have gone out of your way to show me support during this journey- you all make these epics possible, so be proud of that fact.

Enjoy, and be sure to leave a review!

Defying Destiny

Many men in Validar's situation, surrounded by hardened warriors with a grudge to settle and no one in the immediate vicinity to back them up, would have gotten on their knees and hoped for mercy. Of course, he was hardly a normal man, nor were these normal circumstances, he thought. The pieces have all come together, just as Fate decreed it.

"Come to witness the end of the light with your friends, Princeling?" he sneered as he gestured to the altar behind him, where the Fire Emblem rested, surrounded by a dark aura. "It was foretold that you would be here, but I didn't think it would be so easy to bring you back so soon after our last run-in."

"Laugh while you can, Validar," Robin said defiantly from beside his best friend. "You won't be doing it for long."

"Oh-ho, is this your rebellious stage, son?" Validar cackled, causing Robin to flinch at the epithet. "Just like your mother- if she hadn't been seized by weakness, the wretched line of Naga would have ended years ago!"

"That's my family you're talking about," the blond man snapped, eyes flaring with a dangerous light. "Beware- I will not tolerate such insults to their person."

"You are the ones that should be wary," the King of Plegia said in a strangely soft tone. "Do you know where it is that you stand?"

"Should it matter?" Kirito demanded from behind Robin.

"Foolish boy! This Grima's Table!" Validar thundered. "It's not called that for no reason, you almighty fools! This isn't just a place where people come to worship- it's where the Fell Dragon feeds!"

Several of the Shepherds appeared sick at his words. "The people… outside…?" Asuna gasped. "Why would anyone offer themselves up to that thing?!"

"Because human beings crave worship, stupid girl!" Validar laughed. "Whether they would admit it or not, every human being that has ever lived worships something- whether that is a god, an item, status, or an idea, it matters not! Thanks to the war with Ylisse and the death of Gangrel, the people of Plegia were lost, frightened, confused! They jumped at the chance to give their meager existences some worth!"

"That's horrible!" Robin shouted. "How can you justify all of this?!"

"It was for you!" Validar thundered. "You are at the center of it all, Robin!"

"What are you talking about?!" Lucina demanded. "Explain your power over him!"

"It's all power that he gave me, meddler," Validar answered ominously. "You see, we nearly have the life energy we need to resurrect Lord Grima. Now, the Fell Dragon only needs a living host- a vessel worthy of preserving his power! And behold- after a thousand years, a vessel fit for a god has come forth." He stabbed a finger at Robin, leaving no mistake as to whom he could be speaking about.

"Wait, you…" the young man said, paling to the shade of a bedsheet. "You mean…? I'm… Grima?"

"You soon will be!" Validar howled with laughter. "That's right, son! It was you! In the future, you betrayed your friends, murdered the princeling, and destroyed your precious wife's world! Well done, indeed!"

"No!" Robin cried, clutching at his hair, eyes looking around wildly, trying to escape this awful truth, this unending nightmare. "I didn't! I wouldn't!"

"Did you truly forget who you are?" Validar scoffed. "You are my son, Robin- I follow Grima's will, and as my son, my will is yours, whether it is a free will or not. You have no choice!"

"He has the choice that we offered him!" Sumia said from the other side of Chrom, surprising many of the Shepherds with her boldness. Normally she kept quiet on the battlefield, but apparently this was important enough for her to break past her normally-timid approach to life. "Chrom and the rest of us gave him the choice to stay and build a new family, or go back to what you would make of him- an isolated, unloved puppet! He chose us!"

"You don't have the right to call yourself his father!" Yui added as she rose into the air with the other fairies. "You may share blood, but that's all you have in common!"

"Is this supposed to move me in some way, change the outcome of your inescapable doom?" Validar laughed again. "This is so sweet, I might vomit!" The last few words were spoken with unimaginable hatred while he cast a spell from a tome hidden in his robes.

The next instant, an impenetrable barrier of dark energy sprung up between the two leaders of the Shepherds and their warriors. A moment later, Risen and Grimleal alike began pouring into the worship hall to menace the Shepherds and Warriors of Alfheim.

"Ki-bou, you're the only one of the three C.O.'s outsida that barrier," Argo said nervously as she gripped her dagger. "What're we gonna do?"

"Hold your ground and make them regret crossing paths with us!" the Black Swordsman said grimly as he drew his swords. "Robin and Chrom can handle the boss- we've got the easy part!"

"Man's right!" Agil boomed as he hefted his axe. "C'mon, Shepherds! Let's make some noise!"

The battle against fate itself had begun.

Validar was surprisingly agile and skilled as a warrior, Chrom thought as he swung at the dark king again and again, only to have his Falchion being blocked with dark magic every time. The worshipper of Grima had obviously been trained in the dark arts for a long time now- he was holding off both him and Robin with regularity, if not ease.

Robin was still reeling from the news that he was harbinger of doom that had forced Lucina and her friends to come back in time, so it was no shock that he was only 'present' for the battle half the time. It was forcing Chrom to cover for both of them, which gave him no real time to help his friend snap out of his stupor. Blast it, Robin, I need you!

He tried several times to go for the Fire Emblem, but Validar always had a blast spell ready for the prince anytime he attempted to get past him.

Still, we have to get it back before the ritual finishes, Chrom thought as he dodged a black spell. That, or kill him before then.

"Such a waste, my boy," Validar said at one point in the fight. "Whether or not you defeat me, there are some things that you simply cannot change."

"Like what?" Robin grunted as he used lightning to counter a magic attack.

"The fact that all of this has been pre-orchestrated," Validar said calmly, as if fighting for his life were an everyday occurrence. "That no matter what you think you accomplish here, it means nothing. The second fact is that no matter what you or your friends tell you, I am your father. We are blood, you and I. This… is truth."

"I reject your truth for the lie that it is!" Robin finally screamed, rosy fire suddenly coming to life across his body. It seemed as though Validar's taunts were too much for him to take, and something had snapped. "You may have sired me, but as far as I'm concerned, you're an enemy of Ylisse that must be crushed underfoot!"

Chrom backed away from the sight with some traces of fear, so he missed what appeared to be a nod of approval from Validar.

"Fathers are kind," Robin growled, lightning blazing around his fingertips as he aimed his hand at Validar. Too late, the evil man saw the spell coming, and he was struck with a lightning bolt through his arm, causing him to recoil in agony.

"Fathers protect you," Robin added, casting another spell that singed Validar's leg, causing him to stumble backwards. Still Robin kept advancing, saying, "Fathers raise you." The third bolt caught his enemy in the abdomen, nearly killing him where he stood, forcing him to his knees as the pain threatened to overtake him.

Chrom wasn't even pressing the attack anymore, seemingly content to let Robin work out his anguish however he needed. The blond tactician stopped not four feet away from the writhing king and growled, "I was protected by Exalt Emmeryn, and I was raised by the Shepherds." He levelled his hand, which glowed with lightning magic once more as he said, "They are my family, Ylisse is my home, and you are not welcome in my life any longer! Mjolnir!"

An unbelievable amount of lightning magic coalesced above Validar and descended in the time it takes to blink. The magic produced an ear-splitting thunderclap that even those on the other side of the energy barrier could hear clearly. The smell of charred flesh and burnt clothing filled the air, coming from a smoldering pile that used to be Validar.

Yet strangely, Robin and Chrom both clearly heard the dead king say, "Heh… even this was foretold…"

"Sinon, cover Owain!" Kirito ordered as he stabbed through a Risen while sparing a quick glance at the battle around him. Fortunately, the zombie-like monsters moved slowly enough for him to do things like that every now and again.

"Got it!" she said as she floated a little higher in the air, sighted, drew, and released an arrow that took out a mage getting ready to target the boy.

"Owain needs no aid!" he protested. Then he proceeded to cut down three of his attackers in as many seconds, causing the Cait Sith archer to blink in surprise- apparently, he wasn't kidding. Looking up, he saluted her and added, "But I appreciate it anyways!"

"Kazuto!" The leader of the Aincrad Warriors looked up to see his kid sister barreling right towards him, her sword coming up for an overhead blow. "Move it or lose it!" Taking the hint, he sped out of the way just in time for her to slash through another Risen that had popped up behind him.

"They just keep coming!" Ricken panted. "Who's even summoning them?!"

"They said that they were trying to resurrect Grima, right?!" Aiko said as she and her twin danced around a trio of human swordsman that were trying to cut them down. "My guess is that even though he's not able to take on a physical form, he can still mess with us quite a bit!"

"Sounds about right!" Gerome grumbled as he finished off a griffon rider from his wyvern's back. "Back in our world, he could bring up an army of these things just by breathing on a graveyard!"

Before anyone else could interject, there was a sound of thunder booming from behind the force field, accompanied by a blinding flash of light. When the noise and light had settled, the Risen were all gone, and the few humans that had been present were fleeing the scene. The force field was gone, and the two leaders of the Shepherds stood alone.

"So… did we win?" Inigo asked.

Chrom and Robin both stared at the blackened corpse of Validar with something like surprise. Chrom turned to his friend to ask a question, but then something bizarre happened. The corpse became wreathed in purple-black energy, got on its knees, and screamed in a warped voice; "This is isn't over…!" Extending a twisted limb to aim at Chrom, a black orb shot forth as the dead man added, "DAMN YOU BOTH!"

Robin didn't pause to think- he acted completely on instinct, shouldering Chrom aside and taking the blast meant for his friend.

"Robin!" Lucina cried, but Chrom was already moving to check on his friend, kneeling beside him and helping him to stand.

"Robin?" he asked. "Are you all right?" When Robin opened his eyes, the ruler of Ylisse breathed a huge sigh of relief. Looking back at Validar's remains, he grinned and said, "Looks like we did it… At long last, we can rest easy- thanks to you."

"Chr-" Robin said, seeming to choke on the word. "Chrom…"

"Huh?" the man asked as he looked at his friend, who was swaying on his feet unsteadily. "Are you okay?" Robin looked up at him with glowing red eyes, and time seemed to freeze. Chrom gripped his best friend's shoulder and said, "Hey, Robin! Snap out of it! I'm right- Urk!"

The Shepherds all recoiled in shock as they saw Robin skewer Chrom through the chest with a Thoron spell with a blank expression. Just as fast, the crown Prince of Ylisse fell to the ground, unmoving.

"No…" Lucina said hoarsely, falling to her knees, despair washing over her. I failed again… Everything that she had worked towards, everything that her friends had sacrificed, it was all for naught. Fate had won out in the end.

A ripple of dark laughter preceded Validar, who walked out of the shadow of the massive altar, looking none the worse for his battle with Robin and the prince. "Haha!" he crowed. "You see?! Not even twice the amount of Shepherds could stop this! This moment was set in stone over a thousand years ago! You really thought that-"

"Shove it, creep," said a new voice that came from above.

Before anyone could even look to see who was the speaker, there was a blur of motion- something or someone crashed into Validar from above, sending him sprawling on the cold ground. At first some of the Shepherds thought that it might have been Mataras, as it was a tactic they'd seen him use many times. The moment that the figure rose up, however, they realized that the color scheme was all wrong- none of them had ever seen Mataras wear anything other than black, and this newcomer was dressed in red.

"Wait, a sec, those aren't red clothes…" Kirito muttered aloud as his eyes widened along with the others. "Those are-!"

The newcomer flexed their back muscles, and four shining salamander wings flared to life, glimmering even in the dark of the temple. The owner of said wings was a young woman with reddish hair and narrow eyes of a matching shade.

"How is that possible?" Asuna asked, eyes wide. "None of us have-"

"Like I told the khans," said an impossibly familiar voice as its owner strode up to the group from the shadows. "Time for fate to have a crash course in history." Katana in hand, bandana holding his messy hair up, and wearing his signature goofy grin, Klein stood before them, alive and well.

Special Thanks go to:

Northern Warrior
N-Sight
Kidkaboom1
Will Underwood

Mataras: Unlike most chapters, I don't think I need to say anything other than the next chapter will be called- Light in the Dark. I'll just let you all digest that little surprise I gave you... Buh Bye!

Cordelia: Get back here, YOU DASTARD!