Chapter 32

Into the Ground

Coming to, I found myself in a strange room. In comparison to the rest of the shrine which looked all dilapidated and run down, the room I found myself in looked very advanced and well maintained. Much like the Grave Marker of Bases, the room had a blue glow to it; wondering how this could be, I walked forward. As I walked forward, I saw the black knight again, as though it was beckoning me to come to it. I walked to the knight, only for it to mysteriously disappear again; growing frustrated at this, I kept walking, only to find myself in a technologically advanced altar. Noticing the gold and purple statues there, I found that they weren't of Alphen and Shionne, but myself and Framme instead. I looked at the statues, seeing my ring glowing in response to the statues themselves. Reaching out to the statues, I then had an even stranger vision- this time, I saw myself once again facing Shulk, Fiora, Reyn, Dunban, Sharla, Melia, Rex, Nia, Morag, Zeke, Noah, Mio, Eunie, Taion, Lanz, Sena, Matthew, Na'el, Nikol, Glimmer and A; I looked at the "arena" of sorts, noticing how familiar it was at second glance. "Tell me why! Is this really what you want?!", Shulk asked desperately. "Nothing's gonna get through to him; he's just a heartless tyrant!", Rex shouted. "Oh, how disobedient of you. I will stop you from spreading the Flood of Light and prevent you from creating a kingdom of the dead. I shall also prevent you from perpetuating your precious Endless Now and finally allow the world to advance.", the other me said.

Before I could get any proper context for the scene, the vision faded. "Typical. Absolutely typical.", I said to myself. I then heard the crack of a mechanical whip, making sure to dodge before it hit me. On closer examination, I saw that the "whip" was actually made out of someone's spine, but before I could look at it any further it returned back to the attacker. I turned to face whoever had attacked me as Byleth stepped out of the shadows. "And? Can I help you?", I asked. "Don't be like that. I thought the Sovereign Pretender was better mannered than that.", Byleth said. "What do you mean by Sovereign Pretender?", I asked. "Oh, that. You see, Alphen is looking to make Yuito the Sovereign after all. It was you who recommended that Yuito become the Sovereign so you wouldn't have to. Besides, with your imposter syndrome, it's only natural that someone would take the place that you refused to accept.", Byleth said. "And let me guess, you want to take my Dein Nomos and my Renas Alma, right?", I asked. "That is correct.", Byleth said. "I'm sorry, but they belong to me now. Besides, only someone with an equal disposition towards all types of Dahnan astral energy can properly use Dein Nomos's power and I am one of only three people who fulfil that criteria, the other two being Vholran and my predecessor Alphen.", I said. "So you are willing to commit treason against the Sovereign Empire, is that right?", Byleth asked. "No. I am not committing treason, Yuito is.", I said. "You will regret your words in time.", Byleth said before leaving. Irked at Byleth's words, I looked at the altar, noticing the same crest I saw in the hospital ward- that of the Crest of the Sovereign from Tales of Arise fused with the Mark of Grima from Fire Emblem Awakening. Wondering who would fuse those two symbols together, I then experienced a very sharp headache. Seeing that black knight again, I said, "Who are you? Why are you inside my head?". "You must remember. You must remember me and who you really are.", the knight said before vanishing. Thoroughly confused, I then found myself in a strange room facing a large and impressive mural. Noticing the beings on the painting, I then asked myself, "Who could these people be?". As if to answer my question, I heard Marni behind me say, "Those are the Eight Eikons: Phoenix, Bahamut, Shiva, Ramuh, Garuda, Titan, Odin and Leviathan, the Keepers of the One Law.". "But where's Ifrit?", I asked. "Oh, that thing? Ifrit is a freak of nature, a second Eikon of Fire. It shall be used by His Majesty the Lord Ultima to rule over the Multiverse through his vessel, the Mythos. Your purpose as the Dominant of Phoenix is to empower the Mythos, a man you know as Clive Rosfield. He shall be one of the Sovereign candidates, the one to rule over the Multiverse as the Ruler of All Things; your purpose is merely to witness the Sovereign Victorious' coronation.", Marni said. "But I'm meant to be the Sovereign though. Since I'm the heir, there shouldn't be any other candidates.", I said. "Well, had you merely accepted the post of Sovereign outright, then Alphen wouldn't have had to share his powers with several other people. It was because of your refusal to become the Sovereign that many other Sovereign candidates were called in the first place. And now they will fight to determine the next Sovereign after Alphen. You will accept that, right?", Marni said, walking up to me.

After a brief moment, Marni then looked at my ring. "That ring on your finger, how did you come across it?", she asked. "I just remember Alphen giving it to me. Well, he came up to me and gave me two rings in fact- both this white and golden ring and a black and purple ring. I gave the black ring to Framme during our wedding and she properly gave me this ring in return.", I said. Gasping, Marni then said, "No, that's impossible! You were given the White Ring of the Sovereign and Framme was given the Black Ring of the Maiden?! How could you betray Yuito like that?". "What do you mean?", I asked. "When you refused to become the Sovereign and nominated Yuito instead, Alphen gave you the Two Rings of the Twin Worlds for you to safeguard until Yuito won the Crown Contest. The plan was for you to be the ringbearer of the White Ring of the Sovereign and the Black Ring of the Maiden and give them respectively to Yuito and Naomi. After all, your refusal to become the Sovereign meant that Yuito was named as the Sovereign and his girlfriend Naomi was named as the Maiden, with Yuito having gathered the most astral energy of all the candidates. But you just had to go and commit high treason against both Alphen and the Sovereign Heir, didn't you?", Marni said. "But then, why were Alisa and Hanabi calling me "Your Majesty"? I mean, if as you say I'm no longer viewed as the Sovereign, then why did they refer to me as such?", I asked. "Forget it. I'm not willing to talk to traitors.", Marni said, leaving off in a huff. Turning my attention to the mural again, I also noticed that it seemed to be depicting an ancient war of some kind. "So this is where you were, traitor.", Lapis said behind me. I turned to face her, saying, "Oh, are you talking back to me?". Readying her greatsword, Lapis said, "You filthy traitor, how dare you take the Two Rings of the Twin Worlds for yourself. Yuito was going to use them to usher in his reign as the Sovereign and the Ruler of All Things; after all, it was the least he could do after you decided against taking the post of Sovereign yourself.". "You little bitch, how dare you side against me.", I said. "Strong words coming from a usurper.", Lapis said. Before she could attack, Lapis then disappeared quite suddenly. "Strange.", I said.

I then found myself back the altar again. As I walked towards it, I noticed that Sigurd was waiting for me. "Emblem Sigurd, I ask you: am I from Nintentopia?", I asked. "You aren't. You are not the son of Ragna the Bloodedge and Velvet Crowe, no.", Sigurd replied. "Wait, what?", I asked. "When you came to this world, you were attacked by the Archangels. Why do you think that was?", Sigurd asked. "I don't really know why. I just walked into this town that was being beset by Sin Eaters and was attacked by the Archangels for no apparent reason. I just thought it was because the Archangels could attack me.", I replied. "Well, the true reason they attacked you is because your body is not native to Nintentopia's reality. You were not born there, although you do have ancestors that came from that world. Oh, sorry, I'm using the name we gave the world to explain what it was to you.", Sigurd said. "Wait, what are you saying? What is Nintentopia's true name?", I asked. "I'll answer that question.", Eunie said, strolling into the altar. "Are you sure, E? After all, he did deny the Ascension Project and the post of Sovereign. I doubt telling him the truth would help him.", Sigurd said. "Oh, you're such a wuss, Sigurd. Besides, he needs to know the truth sooner or later, doesn't he?", Eunie said. "That's correct but I really don't think you should tell him.", Sigurd said. "Nonsense.", Eunie said. As I turned to face her, Eunie said, "Right, Jack, our world, Nintentopia, is truly called Aionios. It was formed when two worlds I believe were called Bionis and Alrest were fused together in this thingy called the Intersection, due to what Melia said was their common origin or summat.". "And it's because I'm not native to this world that you chose me to become the Sovereign, right?", I asked. "No, we chose you to become the Sovereign because of your equal disposition to all types of Dahnan astral energy. We brought you to this world because we weren't able to truly kill YHVH. You see, we're all bound to Aionios's reality, something that other people called the World- what reality in a specific world runs on. Now, you naturally exist outside of Aionios's World meaning that you have the power to kill YHVH. Well, I say that, but everyone has the power of the Godslayer within them. You're unique in that the power of the Godslayer manifested in you at a much quicker rate; because of that, you are the best equipped to kill YHVH and actually succeed in doing so. Not just that, but your connection to the Ontos core of the Trinity Processor means you truly are the rightful successor to the Sovereign Empire; your imposter syndrome just meant you couldn't see it.", Eunie said. Extending her hand, Eunie then said, "Still, I must ask you; will you become the Sovereign? Pretty please?". Taking a moment to think, I then said, "Yes. I'll become the Sovereign.".

Turning to face Sigurd, I then asked, "Then, if Ragna and Velvet aren't my parents, then who are my real parents?". "Your parents are still Duncan Martin Arnold and Suzanne Julie Arnold; that much is certain.", Sigurd said. "Oh, good. By the way, where am I?", I asked. "This is the Temple of Odin; well, the true temple underneath the shrine that was constructed to conceal it until the time had come for you to learn the truth.", Eunie said. "You certainly seem to know a lot for a Consul.", I said. "What can I say? All I know is that you are connected to this shrine somehow. How you are exactly connected to this shrine is unclear, but that's not for me to find out.", Eunie replied before she and Sigurd mysteriously disappeared. Touching the altar, I then felt a strange red and black darkness spill out of me, just like with the knight I saw. This as you could expect led to another vision, this time of a blue sphere colliding into and fusing with a yellow sphere. As they fused, I saw a green energy come out of the impact point, giving way to a very unstable looking world. I then saw the world draw in various others, as though it was a living black hole; I wondered why Aionios felt the need to draw in other worlds anyway. This vision then led to another- this time of me riding a hellish six-legged horse whilst holding a mighty spear and charging against an army of angelic monstrosities. The vision faded alongside the dark energy, leaving me greatly exhausted. "I remember now. They tried to manipulate me, tried to make me give up my throne to that imposter Yuito. They even tried to make sure that I would forget my true Eikon too.", I said. "So, are you ready to surrender the Dein Nomos and the Renas Alma now?", Yuito said behind me. Turning to face Yuito, I said, "No.". "What do you mean?", Yuito said. "I understand it all now. I am not the Eikon of Phoenix like I thought. I am the Eikon of Odin, Warden of Darkness. And I am the Sovereign on top of that.", I said, smirking. "No. Alphen chose me as the heir, not you.", Yuito said. "You may deny reality all you wish, but the truth is that I am Alphen's heir.", I said, summoning a flaming lance to impale Yuito. Upon just managing to parry the lance, an expression of anger appeared on Yuito's face. "You will rue the day you chose to oppose me.", I said as Yuito escaped in anger.

Suddenly, I found myself facing a large blue crystal. "Beautiful, isn't it?", Celica said behind me. Turning to face her, I said, "Celica, can you confirm something with me?". "Of course, Your Majesty.", Celica said. Taking a deep breath, I said, "Celica, who are my real parents?". "That's easy. They are Ragna the Bloodedge and Velvet Crowe. Of course, the reason you exist outside of Aionios's reality is because you weren't properly born in this world. You were cut out of Velvet's womb, meaning that you weren't strictly born in Aionios. Because of this, you exist outside of the World- well, Aionios's World anyway.", Celica said. "Wait, so I am from Aionios in the end?", I asked. "That is correct.", Celica said. Celica then suddenly disappeared. Turning to face the crystal again, I then had another vision- this time of myself vs Noah, Mio, Eunie, Taion, Lanz and Sena. "Why? Why do you resist our holy Ascension Project? Don't you realise that we are trying to create a perfect world, one where we can rule eternally?", Noah asked. "You will create a kingdom of death, one that will crumble in time. As your Sovereign, I cannot accept your world and I order you to stop your plan immediately.", the other me said. The vision then faded. "I'm beginning to remember now. That's right. The kingdom of death they'll create will destroy everything. I can't let them succeed.", I said to myself. I walked outside of the room where the crystal was being kept, only to gaze upon a collection of two thrones- one gold, one purple. "Ah yes, my and Framme's thrones. Makes me nostalgic.", I said. I approached the golden throne, wondering why the black and red dark energy disappeared how it did. In walked Dohalim, only for him to react in shock upon seeing me. "Oh, Your Majesty! Or should I say, Your Highness. Your emotional problems are still bad, aren't they?", he said. "Eh, they're not too bad.", I said. "Still, to control your powers as both a Dominant and to ensure your health, you shouldn't keep repressing your emotions.", Dohalim said before walking out of the throne room. I then found myself in the Grave Marker of Bases again, noticing a strange dark purple portal in front of me. Deciding to walk into it, I knew now what I had to do to truly derail the Ascension Project.

The story continues in the next chapter.