A/N: What's up, what's up?! Time for the next instillation of Fire Sword, where we shall see a bit of shepherd humor (something we've been lacking for a while), the acquiring of the Exalted Falchion, and a final master plan beginning to take shape. Who's the real mastermind this time, though? Might not be who you think... So pay close attention, because otherwise you just might miss it!
P.S. I have NOT played the new Fire Emblem, so please, no spoilers for myself or any other readers!
Mountain of Light
"These are the divine grounds of Naga, they said!" Agil complained. "The Risen wouldn't be stupid enough to come here, they said! Then what the hell are we fightin', huh guys?!" He countered an axe with his own before relieving the user of its head.
"Look, out of all the places in the world that Grima could have sent his troops, this is the last one we'd have thought of!" Kirito said as he cut down a Pegasus-riding Risen. "Which is exactly why Grima did it!"
"Man, when we make it to this Naga dragon-lady, I hope she ain't too pissed at us for bringing them here," Klein added as he held his ground alongside Lon'qu and Owain.
"Right now I'll be glad to make off this blasted mountain alive," the Feroxi scowled.
"Come now, Father!" Owain laughed, apparently unfazed by the situation. "Where's your sense of adventure?!"
"Somewhere back in Chon'sin," the man replied gruffly.
The Shepherds had fought their way across the country against Risen at every turn. They were increasing in number by the day, and their attacks against the common populace were getting bolder, just as they had in Lucina's time. Their only consolation was that so far, Grima had yet to move directly against humanity.
Right now, Chrom was inside Naga's Temple, performing the Awakening ritual that would enable them to destroy the Fell Dragon. Lucina was inside acting as both his guard, and his potential replacement should he not survive the ritual.
"If this place is the key to destroying Grima, and he sent forces to attack it, why not come himself?" Morgan wondered aloud.
"Probably from his sense of pride, the thought that this battle is beneath him," Robin said. "He doesn't consider any of us a threat, which I plan to make his downfall."
"More likely that he does not have the strength yet necessary to do battle in his dragon form," Aversa interjected, casting a dark spell to reinforce Robin's lightning. "It takes a great deal of energy for him to assume that form, much less use it. The use of fake gems in the Emblem will have slowed his ascent to full power greatly, though when he reaches his peak, it will be a terrible sight to behold."
She had changed from her darker attire to a blue-and-green spell master's uniform during her travels with the Shepherds. Her attitude had also greatly changed, from being haughty and assertive to almost demure. She stuck close to Robin- who welcomed her with open arms- mostly due to the mistrust a lot of the other Shepherds showed her, but she was also seen eating with Morgan and Marth on occasion, who seemed to have no reservations about her presence. Lucina seemed wary of the woman, but she trusted her children's judgement- for the most part.
"Nonetheless, at least he won't be as strong as he intended to be, right?" Marth asked. "He was planning on ascending with the power of two Fell Dragons, but father's plan essentially cut that power in half, yes?"
"That sounds about right," Aversa nodded.
"Then we've got everything we need to win," the future prince grunted as he shoved back a fell swordsman. "Right after we drive off these dastards and complete the Awakening."
"Never assume victory too soon, son," Robin told him. "Remember, Grima has my memories, or at least, another version of me. He'll know exactly how to counter my strategies, because he came up them years ago. He's had time to-"
"He's not you," Morgan interrupted.
"Pardon?" Robin asked.
"Grima might have your skin, but he is not you, Father, nor are you he," Marth added. "He simply stole what you had."
"Is this supposed to be helping me?" Robin asked a trifle sourly. "Do you have a point in all this?"
"Actually, we do," Morgan said as she torched another Risen that was advancing on Noire and Severa from behind. "Grima stole everything from you, and you from the future couldn't even fight back."
"So now you have an obligation to your future self," Marth growled as he slashed through one Risen and stabbed into the next with the same motion, killing them both instantly. "Take back what was stolen on his behalf!"
"Take it back, huh…?" Robin murmured to himself. Clenching his fists, he thought on what his children had said- and realized that as usual, they were right. Focusing his anger, he channeled that fury into his next spell, his body bursting with a rosy fire, augmenting his magic so that the next Arcthunder he cast zapped three Risen to dust simultaneously.
The last time he had used Ignis, it was an accident. Now, he could feel the power welling up from the depths of his anger- anger against Grima, anger against Validar, anger against himself. As a tactician, he had always been of the opinion that anger was a great motivator, but a poor general, so this was certainly a new experience for him.
"Your time is coming, Grima," he whispered to himself, his eyes flushing red for a moment. "Your end will come through the hands of my family… and I will get them there to see it happen, mark my words."
"Brother?" Yui asked as Mataras slashed through a Risen's neck, causing it to fade into smoke.
"Yes, Yui?" he tossed over his shoulder as he backflipped, planting his feet on the wall of the temple behind him, then pushing himself off the surface in order to build enough momentum to pierce a knight's heavy armor, killing it with cold proficiency.
"Why haven't you used your magic since we fought Validar?" she asked before blasting a Risen to pieces without so much as a glance in its direction. Like it had been on the Divine Dragon Grounds, Yui's already-potent magic had received a significant boost in power. It allowed her to cast spells more quickly and with less effort, part of the main reason why she and her paradox-brother were in the last lines of defense.
Her brother's skill with magic should have also been a factor, but now that Yui had thought on it, she realized that since their encounter with Grima in human form, he had not once used his magic, not even to cast lightning.
"Call it an experiment of mine," he said after deflecting a spear thrust and gutting its owner. "There's something I'm waiting for."
"Keeping a tight lid on it, huh?" she asked with a raised eyebrow, an expression she had begun to unconsciously adopt from her younger sibling.
"The less people that know, the better," he said grimly. "There's the old saying- a secret shared is no secret at all. We don't know how much Grima can do at this point, so on the off chance that he has even the slightest capability to see or hear us with his magic, I'm not taking any chances."
"Now I'm really curious," she sighed. "When do I get an answer?"
"When I begin the field test," Mataras grinned crookedly. "Trust me, it'll be hard to miss."
Just what does he plan to do with Grima's magic power? She wondered, slightly worried. I hope it's not corrupting him somehow…
"Kirito!" they heard Asuna scream. Snapping their gazes over to their parents, they saw Asuna lowering her husband to the ground, a heavy spear lodged in his stomach.
"Oh, not this crap again!" Mataras snarled. "Apparently my father never learned how to DODGE!"
"Mataras, that looks serious!" Yui said with wide eyes. "I need to get to him, now!"
"We have our orders to stay here and hold the line!" he said tightly. "We're spread out too thin as it is, and somebody has to make sure that Chrom and Lucina remain safe while the Awakening is completed!"
"Oh, now you want to follow orders?!" Yui shouted, outraged.
"I don't want to, but as I said, someone has to hold this position!" Mataras hissed sharply. "Do me a favor and stop his bleeding fast so that you can get back here and help me hold off these monsters!"
"Stop his-" Her eyes widened again, briefly. "Are you sure?"
"I'm never certain," he replied with a feral smile. "But I do have faith. Go, and hurry." She took off like an arrow from Sinon's bow, leaving Mataras staring down twenty-odd Risen that were eyeing him with something akin to hunger. You'd better come back soon, he grimaced. Even I don't like these odds…
Somehow, they all made it through that day. Yui managed to seal Kirito's wound while her mother defended them both. After ensuring that he wouldn't bleed to death, she blasted the Risen assailing her mother to bits before zipping back over to her brother, who was barely holding his ground against the undead soldiers. Sinon saw what was happening and decided to compensate by changing sniper posts so that she could better provide cover for Asuna and Kirito.
When the legions of zombies finally stopped coming, Morgan went into the temple to check on her mother and grandfather. While she was doing that, Mataras and Marth stood side-by-side, acting as guards while the others set about treating wounds and setting up camp.
After some quiet moments had passed, the Black Spirit asked the future prince, "Have you thought about what I proposed?"
"I have," was Marth's reply.
"Have you come to a conclusion?"
Here, Marth hesitated. Though in the end, he did say, "I don't like it, but I will accept it. As Father always says, it's best to have a contingency plan for your contingency plan."
"A wise thought," Mataras nodded. "When shall we begin preparations?"
"Tonight," Marth said. "I don't want to prolong this any more than necessary. The sooner we finish this experiment of yours, the better."
"On the flip side, should we succeed…" his companion said with a slight frown. "I'd rather we not try this on Naga's hallowed grounds of all places."
"Hmm, I see your point," Marth nodded. "Very well. Tomorrow night it is, then."
No sooner than they had finished speaking than did Morgan walk out, followed by Chrom and Lucina. "I take it you succeeded?" Mataras said as he eyed the hilt of Chrom's Falchion, where the teardrop shape in the pommel was glowing blue.
"What gave me away?" Chrom grinned tiredly as he patted his beloved sword.
"The fact that you walked out on your own was a big hint," Marth said mildly. "Mother told me that if you fail the ritual, you perish." When he received a reprimanding look from both his mother and grandfather, he bowed his head swiftly and said, "My apologies- that was rude."
"I'll chalk it up to you spending time with this delinquent," Chrom said as he brushed past Mataras, who simply raised an eyebrow in response. "Come on. Lucina and I have some news that should interest the warriors of Aincrad and Alfheim." Intrigued, the young men set out to follow him.
"Wait!" Lissa cried as she ran up to the group. "Chrom, Lucina! I need your help!"
"What is it, Aunt Lissa?" Lucina asked as she turned to face the blonde princess. "Has something happened to one of our comrades?"
"Yeah," she gasped. "Kirito got stabbed during the fight, and it's not looking so good. Yui did a great job at patching him up, but he still lost a lot of blood. He needs blood transfusions to survive."
"Blood what?" Lucina asked with her head cocked.
"Henry can use some of his equipment in combination with his magic to transfer blood from a willing participant into the body of another person," Lissa explained. "It's something that he's been teaching me about lately."
"What do we have to do with it?" Chrom asked.
"Apparently only certain people's blood types are compatible," Lissa said as she waved for them to follow her. "I don't wanna know how he knows, but apparently only you two and Mataras are among those that can transfer blood. And he's going to need quite a bit in order to recover- which is why we need as many participants as possible. If we take too much from any one of you, it'd end up being fatal."
"All right, save Kirito first-"
"Again," Mataras interjected.
"-then debrief the Shepherds on what we know," Chrom finished.
"Shepherds!" Chrom called out once everyone had assembled. The only ones absent were Kirito and Henry, who were resting in the infirmary tent, and Asuna, who was looking after them. Apparently the blood loss and subsequent transfusion had really taken it out of both the patient and the surprise healer.
"I bear a message from Naga to us all." The gathered fighters murmured among themselves briefly, but they were quickly silenced by a glare from Frederick. Once it was quiet on the mountaintop, Chrom cleared his throat before speaking again. "Naga has given us the means to seal Grima away again for another millennium." As he spoke, he unsheathed his Falchion, which now glowed like the rising sun, eliciting several gasps of surprise from those that were gathered.
"Wait, what do you mean, 'seal him away?" asked Inigo, who had a frown on his normally-cheery face. "Wasn't the entire point of this to slay that beast once and for all?"
"Naga claimed that neither she nor Grima are gods," Lucina explained. "That neither one of them truly possesses the powers of making or unmaking- one cannot truly destroy the other, for light and dark shall always clash. He may rise again, but she will always be there to help humanity put him back in his place."
"So there really is no way to destroy him forever?" Cynthia asked, her expression also slightly forlorn.
"There is," Chrom nodded after a moment. He glanced over at Mataras, who nodded once. "Mataras once mentioned that there is a power that can destroy Grima- his own."
"So… he has to kill himself?" Lissa asked curiously. Next to her, many people missed Robin's thoughtful frown as he took those words in.
"Mataras believes that he can reflect Grima's magic back at him, something we've seen him do already," Chrom replied. "However, that's a risky move at best, lethal to Kirigaya at worst. So I'm going to have Robin, Kirito, and Klein put their heads together and come up with a plan that involves all of us going home in one piece. We need to find a way to use this power to seal Grima away again."
"Kind of a tall order, but we'll do our best, boss-man," Klein grinned. Robin nodded dutifully, but Lucina and his children noticed that his eyes were distant, his mind clearly elsewhere.
"So we are to put Grima back in the ground just long enough for this entire cycle to repeat itself?" Mataras scowled angrily. "I know I can destroy that overgrown lizard- it's what I've spent my life training for."
"You are overconfident and brash," Chrom said sternly. "I won't risk the lives of my people- your life, even- to do what cannot be done. Yes, Grima will rise again. But our descendants will be there again and again to see him back to his grave. We must have faith in those that will come after we are gone."
"Uh, hello?" Mataras said as he gestured to himself and the other future children. "We're what comes after you kick the bucket. I don't know if the others are willing to take this lying down, but I'm not about to stand by and let you pawn this off on your children a thousand years from now!" He was shouting at the end, the air around him becoming thick with tension and frustration. "I've seen that monster in his prime, and it's not something I'd wish on anyone in my bloodline! If I fight, I'm fighting to kill that beast!"
"You'll do as I say!" Chrom snapped. "I am your commander!"
"Only I command my destiny, Prince," Mataras growled softly. "Not even exalted blood can tame my spirit. And I say that my destiny is to destroy Grima once and for all, not leave our mess for someone to clean up a thousand years from now."
"That's not your call to make," Chrom said through gritted teeth, Mataras' arrogance beginning to get under his skin.
"It's more his call than yours, Father," said a quiet female voice.
Chrom turned in shock to see Lucina standing with her arms folded, her eyes drawn together in a frown as she faced him. "You haven't seen what Grima can really do. We have. If Mataras has a way to destroy Grima for all eternity, then I'd like to at least hear him out."
"You're serious!" her father gaped. "He's insane- a delusional child desperate to end his nightmare!"
"No more than I," Lucina replied forcefully, her words striking her father like a whip. "No more than any of the rest of my comrades. We were all desperate to end our nightmare- we still are."
"With Naga's power, we can!" Chrom insisted. "Trying to fight him with his own power is too risky- we have no idea what it might do to Mataras!"
"I'll take my chances," the boy said flatly. "Look at it this way- if you're right, and I am in over my head, you can always use the Exalted Falchion. If you're wrong, well… I can only imagine what the bards will sing of. Perhaps, 'Chrom: the Shepherd that drove away the fearsome dragon instead of killing it so that when he was dead and buried, his sons were left to deal with his mess."
"That sounds like a very un-heroic song," Cynthia nodded. "Sorry, Daddy. Gonna have to go with the dark hero on this one."
"I am not a hero," Mataras scowled.
"Ooh, ooh!" Owain exclaimed excitedly. "I shall take that mantle, then. Enter Owain Dark, the Hero of Ylisse!" He laughed to himself while his friends rolled their eyes. Severa even punched him in the arm once he started getting out of hand.
One by one, the future children moved to stand beside Mataras, showing their support of his stance against Grima. Chrom's eyes nearly popped out of his head when Robin moved to join them.
"Sorry, old friend," he said as Lucina gripped his hand warmly. "But these kids are right. We can't leave our mess for some else to clean up. My mess."
"Not your mess, Robin," Aversa said with a shake of her head. "Fa- Validar's mess. Hell, it's more my mess than yours'. I played a willing part in the grand scheme of things. You were literally born into it without a chance at another life."
"Yet it is my weight to bear," Robin said firmly. "Since that is the case, I say that we destroy the Fell Dragon- by any means necessary. Who's with us?"
Everyone in the Shepherds but Chrom shouted their approval. Once the noise had died down, the crown prince strode up to his friend with hard eyes and whispered, "I know what you plan to do, Robin. No uncalled for heroics, do you understand?"
"I do," Robin nodded once. "I will only do what is called for, just as I always have."
Chrom muttered something under his breath before walking over to stand before Mataras. Keeping his eyes downcast, he said in a low voice, "If anyone dies because of you, I'll escort you to the afterlife myself. Robin and I have never lost a Shepherd in all of our time together, and I'll be damned if this turns out any different."
A slow grin crawled its way across the Black Spirit's face as he replied in the same tone, "Should I fail, I'll welcome your blade, Prince. Because I have lost many Shepherds in my day, and I'll not live to see it happen again."
The next night, after they had gotten a fair distance away from Naga's holy temple, Marth and Mataras sat in the Black Spirit's tent, the third Falchion sitting between them.
"Ready?" Mataras asked.
"As I'll ever be," Marth muttered. "Let's begin."
Robin: You never told us what you're actually planning...
Mataras: I don't have to tell you everything- I don't have to tell you anything!
Asuna: Spill.
Mataras: No.
Kirito: He'll explain when he wants to explain, not before. Why bother worrying about it?
Mataras: Heh, a wise policy.
Lucina: Next time- Uphill Battle.
Morgan: Time to lay some smack on Grima's armies!
Yuuki: You said it, girl!
Marth: Since when did they become best friends...?
Aiko: Just... roll with it.