Chapter 34: Power Like Mine

The Spiritual World

Year ?

When Tiki finally opened her eyes, she found herself floating, drifting, through an endless sea of stars. There was no direction, no beginning or end, just the vast expanse of eternity all around her.

Among the white-speckled skies were dozens, hundreds, perhaps thousands of shimmering circles, each a glimpse into other worlds, other realities, depicting people and places across the entirety of time and space. So many people and places Tiki did not know, and probably never would.

People and places all in danger because of the mad designs of a single, crazed dragon.

She would not allow those designs to come to pass.

Tiki clasped her hands together and tucked her chin into her chest, the best bow her weightless, spiritual form could offer to the gods and the souls who presided over this tranquil void.

"Great Naga, Queen of the Divine Dragons, Progenitor of the Exalted Bloodline, Protector of Humanity," she called out, "I come to you on behalf of the children of man. A terrible evil encroaches on our world, and every world beyond it. I implore you, bestow your infinite wisdom upon me so that I may provide our brethren and our subjects a solution to confront this dangerous, unprecedented threat."

Tiki kept her head respectfully lowered, waiting for the Divine Dragon's spirit to materialize and answer her plea…

But no one appeared before her, and the only answer she received was silence.

Frowning, Tiki called out again, louder this time. "Naga, I come seeking your guidance. Please, heed my call!"

Her voice echoed across the spiritual world, but again, nothing but the gleam of the stars revealed themselves to her.

"Naga?"

No response.

"Naga!"

Silence, heavy and dull against her ear.

"Mother!" Tiki dropped her hands and snapped her head up . "Please, I need your help! My friends are in danger, I am in danger, everyone is in danger, and I don't know what to do! The Mila Tree is burning, my powers are being drained away. We don't have much time and I don't…I don't…"

She sighed, clenching her transparent hands into fists. If her mother were here, she would have made herself known by now, even if it was just to tell her that she too was unsure about how to defend against the Silent Dragon's invasion. Which meant…

Her mother's spirit was already gone.

"…No…"

If there had been a stable floor beneath her, Tiki would have fallen to her knees. Instead, she buried her face into her hands to muffle a frustrated cry, and bit out, "Has he truly taken you too, Mother? How many souls must he claim before he is satisfied?!"

"Before they are satisfied," an unfamiliar but youthful voice behind her grumbled.

Startled, Tiki gasped and spun her body around in the air. A blue flame the size of Tiki's palm flickered a few feet away from her face, exuding warmth and life into the otherwise empty void.

"What's with the gawking?" the flame asked. "Never seen a goddess before?"

Tiki slowly blinked at the talking ball of fire. "You are…a goddess?"

"Is it not obvious?"

"Not…exactly," Tiki said cautiously. The only god or god-like being Tiki had ever interacted with on a personal level like this was her mother, so she wasn't exactly an expert on the vast pantheon of gods who made up the greater universe. But to think this little flame could possess the powers of divinity…

"Are you an elemental goddess?" Tiki guessed. "The Goddess of Fire?"

"Fire? Of course not! I serve a much greater purpose! Why would you—ah, I see the problem." The flame shimmered and flashed, stretching itself into the shape of a small child. More specifically, a young girl, transparent in appearance and outlined by a ring of blue fire. "There we are. A much more fitting appearance for the Goddess of Chaos, I'd say."

"Chaos?"

Guard up, Tiki slowly began to float backward. After all that had transpired at the Mila Tree, the last thing she needed was more chaos. Time was of the essence; she couldn't afford to waste any of it on a chaos god's antics.

"Yes, I am Yune: Goddess of Chaos, Embodiment of Freedom and Emotion, the better half of the Goddess of Dawn, Ashunera," the girl said, "and I'm here to—Hey! Where are you going?!"

An invisible force wrapped around Tiki's foot and yanked her back toward the chaos god. Tiki shook her leg to try to free herself from its grasp, but to no avail. Yune pouted at her.

"It's very rude to leave when someone is trying to talk to you, you know."

"I do not mean any offense, my lady," Tiki said, struggling to pull herself out of the goddess's hold, "but I need to find my mother. My friends are counting on me to—"

"Is your mother a god?" Yune asked.

"…She would not call herself a god," Tiki sighed, letting her foot go limp. "But as the leader of the Divine Dragon tribe, she possesses tremendous power, even in death. The humans of my world worship her as—"

"That's good enough for me." A relieved grin settled over Yune's face. "I've been looking everywhere for another god, but either they're too busy to talk to me or they're not here, because I haven't been able to find anyone…until now." The flaming spirit inched closer to Tiki, so close that her fire warmed her spiritual body. "Maybe we can help each other. I'll help you find your mother, and when we do, you'll both help me with my… predicament."

"I would love nothing more than to aid you, Lady Chaos," Tiki said, glancing around nervously, "but I am afraid my time here is limited. My friends are risking their lives for me to be here, and if I don't find a way to stop the horrors coming for our world, their efforts will have been for nothing."

"…When you say 'horrors'…" Yune raised a thin eyebrow. "Are you referring to an incursion of undead, invisible soldiers being puppeted by a mad dragon who, because of an annoying curse, can't be named directly?

Tiki's mouth parted in shock. Yes, that was exactly the problem. Though she supposed she shouldn't be all that surprised that a goddess such as Yune was already aware of the situation, given the grand scale of the impending threat.

"You've encountered them, too?"

"Not personally, no," Yune said. Her smug expression drooped into a pained frown. "But my counterpart—Ashera, the Goddess of Order—has decided to support their master and whatever crazy scheme he's trying to pull off. She tried to have me killed so that my 'chaotic nature' wouldn't get in their way."

Tiki's jaw dropped even farther. "Why would a goddess of order ever want to help—"

"I don't think we have time for that discussion." Yune gave a short, hollow laugh. "What's important is that he and Ashera are working together, and whatever they're planning to do with their alliance, it isn't good."

The young goddess began floating upward, bringing herself closer to the collection of circles that served as windows into other worlds. "Ashera mentioned something about casting another judgment. 'When the light of judgment next shines…something, something…order will flourish for all eternity,' or some mysterious omen along those lines. I have to stop her before that happens."

"Judgment?" Tiki asked, following Yune's path. "What kind of judgment?"

"I…I don't know," Yune admitted. "The first one she cast turned the people of my world to stone, completely surpassing the protections I put in place against her. If she's able to cast another, with the full might of this annoying dragon—and all the other people he's been stealing from—bolstering her power…there's no telling what she, and they, would be capable of."

Tiki drew a shuddering breath, trying to force down the terror brought by Yune's revelations. Now was not the time for her to tremble. "But with the help of another god or god-like being, you believe you could stand against them?"

Yune shrugged; it did not do anything to assuage Tiki's apprehension. "Maybe. But I need to actually find another god or god-like being first."

With a quick flick of her wrist, Yune summoned the circles to her side. They floated around her head like a ring, each image bordered by a sparkling white light. Among them, Tiki could see her own world, where her physical body was currently seated within her shrine in the Mila Tree. Her friends still stood at her side, but the clouds of smoke were thickening, and the flames were creeping closer to their position.

Just a little more time…

"Let's see…" Yune began to examine the worlds like she was flipping through a book, swiping away any that did not seem useful to her. "Not that one…no, that one's mine…nope…"

Several worlds passed by Tiki's eyes. Her own; one with a field that had been set aflame; one with a bustling military camp she didn't recognize—for a moment, she could have sworn she had seen her old friend Merric among them, but the circle passed by too quickly for her to tell for sure. There was even a world that appeared to be made almost entirely of steel: steel towers that touched the sky, steel carriages that rolled through the streets without the aid of horses, and small, steel boxes that sat in the hands of thousands of nameless people who called that world home.

"Come on," Yune grumbled. "There has to be something…" More worlds were flung away as Yune sped up her search.

A world with beautiful canyons streaked white and red.

A world with a slab of stone standing over a cliffside, a circular hole carved through its center.

A world with lands that had been ravaged by an earthquake

A world where a girl with pale purple hair sat staring at a charcoal drawing (a girl familiar to Tiki in a way she couldn't describe).

A world with a dark, damp dungeon holding a young manakete behind bars, her long green hair askew around her sleeping face and her pink dress…stained with dirt…

Tiki's heart jumped into her throat.

"Th-that's me!" She grabbed at the world's image as it passed by, but her fingers simply phased through the circle like she had tried lifting water with her bare hands. "Wait!"

Startled by the sudden shouting, Yune whipped around and froze all the images in place with a quick snap. Tiki pointed to the world in question, and Yune reeled it back in, studying the image closely.

"This little girl is you?" Yune asked, tilting her head. "If you're a dragon, this must be several years in your—"

"No—well, yes, she is a version of myself from over 2,000 years ago—but I think this particular image is…is…"

Tiki's eyes slid to the cell next to the one holding her younger self. A woman in a heavy coat sat slumped against the stone wall, unconscious, bruised, but breathing. Pale hair done up in pigtails, a Levin Sword hanging off her belt…

"Robin!" Tiki called out. Her friend did not stir. "Robin, wake up! Robin!"

"She can't hear you," Yune sighed. "Not through the spiritual world. Look, I can see this is someone you're familiar with, and it's obvious she and this younger you have landed into some kind of trouble, but we need to keep looking for—"

"These are the captives!" Tiki blurted out, any semblance of her dignified "Voice" persona disappearing in an instant. "His captives, the people he has been siphoning power from! We have to help them!"

"There's not much we can do for them from here, I'm afraid," Yune said, frowning, "…but…wherever this world is, it's probably where he is, too. And if we can spy a little and figure out what he's been up to…"

Yune spread her arms out wide, enlarging the image to give them both a fuller view of the dungeon. More cells were revealed, and with them, more unconscious prisoners: a mercenary with dark blue hair, a manakete dressed in religious attire, and two mages—one with red hair like fire and the other with a lighter purple—both plagued with heavy bags under their eyes.

Aside from Robin and her younger self, however, Tiki was unable to identify who these prisoners were supposed to—

The vessel of Sothis, the Progenitor God, a faint, but familiar, voice echoed within Tiki's mind, and one of the Progenitor's children.

Tiki froze. That had been Naga's voice. Her mother's voice.

Tiki's eyes snapped upward to find the source of it, to find her mother's spirit somewhere among the stars…but just as before, there was no one else there with them.

Where are you, Mother? Tiki asked silently, but if Naga had heard the question, she ignored it in favor of identifying the rest of the prisoners.

The vessel of Fomortiis, the King of Demons. The vessel of Loptous, an Earth Dragon whom they call the Dark God. The vessel of Grima, the Fell Dragon of Annihilation and Despair. And you, the princess and inheritor of the Divine Dragon tribe.

"…Strange…" Yune murmured. Her hands hovered over the image of the prisoners, as though she were feeling around for something.

"Strange?" For a moment, Tiki thought Yune was referring to Naga's voice—had she been able to hear Mother, too?—but the way the goddess's eyes had narrowed on the cells suggested something else had caught her attention.

"When I had learned that our mutual enemy has been abducting people and dragons of particular import," Yune said, "I imagined he'd be torturing them for their powers and life essence, or at least hurting them in some capacity to satisfy the mad, malicious bloodlust that comes as a consequence of draconic degeneration."

The reminder of a dragon's inevitable fate tore through Tiki like a dagger across the chest, but she did her best not to let it show.

"But…that doesn't seem to be the case at all," Yune continued, hands alight with blue flames and radiant energy. "He's been draining their powers, that much is certain, and I can feel from how weak they are that he's almost finished, but…they're not in pain. Far from it, actually. They're…happy, I think? At ease?"

"Happy?" Tiki repeated slowly, to make sure she had heard the goddess correctly. "At ease?"

"He's shielding them from their pain—both the physical scars and the mental trauma of their past." Yune's eyebrows pinched together in confusion. "They appear to be in some sort of magically induced sleep. Dreaming, to be more precise."

Tiki looked over the prisoners again, scanning each of them from head to toe. All of them lay on the floors of their respective cells, some more visibly injured than others, but…

Their expressions did not indicate any discomfort or weakness or pain; rather, their faces were relaxed and calm, the corners of their lips curled into the slightest of smiles.

They seemed to be…at peace.

And that unsettled Tiki to her very core.

"W-why?" Tiki managed to force out the question. "What does he hope to gain from…from making them sleep or dream? Would that make them easier to control? Make them less likely to resist as he steals their powers away, perhaps?"

"Maybe, but…I don't think that's it." Yune slowly shook her head. "It's not just these prisoners, it's everyone under his influence. The soldiers patrolling this dungeon, the warriors he's sent to other worlds, the spirits he has yet to use…all their souls seem to be bound to this strange magic." She lowered her hands, thoroughly perplexed. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say it's almost like he's trying to—"

Get…out…

Every fiber of Tiki's being stiffened as another mystical voice began to speak to her, though unlike her mother's kind, gentle voice, this one was steeped in an oppressive malice and hatred that grated against her ears like razors against ancient stone. Yune's hands immediately shot back up defensively, indicating that this time, she too had heard the new voice among them.

Stop…trying…to…get…in…my…way.

The image before them shimmered and blurred, erasing their view of the dungeon and its prisoners. When the lights stilled and the picture cleared, they were staring down the length of a long, dark tunnel. At the end of it, Tiki could just barely make out what appeared to be a massive, haunting mask carved into the back wall, complete with blank eyes, a sharp nose, and pinched lips. Thin streams of water ran over the dirty ground and seeped into the jagged cracks scratched into the mask's face.

I…will…succeed…

The eyes of the mask began to glow red. Wisps of purple energy vented through its nose.

Where…you…have…failed.

More cracks crawled across the mask. The tunnel began to quake, the muddied water began to rise off the ground like the spray of a rushing river, and the mask, marred by so many cracks and fractures, began to fall to pieces.

I…will…save…them…from…themselves.

Sharp claws burst through the end of the tunnel, crushing the remnants of the mask into dust. Through the gaps, the face of a dragon peered up at them, a face so enormous that less than half of it was visible through the mud-soaked tunnel. Its long, jagged teeth were clamped down around an orb shrouded in darkness, each side littered with twitching, frenzied eyes staring directly at them.

"…You…" Yune's blue flames flared as she balled her hands into fists. "So, you're the ugly scale-bag who's been messing with my world and my people? How disappointing. With all the trouble you've been causing, I was expecting someone far more impressive than some puny wannabe god cowering behind a pile of rocks."

Puny? To Tiki, this creature was anything but puny, but she held her tongue.

Such…arrogance…the dragon hissed, for… a… child… who… was… sealed… inside… a… mere… trinket… for… centuries.

"Then crawl out of that pathetic little hole of yours and fight me!" Yune spat, cracking her knuckles. Or rather, making the motion, as her spiritual form did not have any bones to crack. "Come on, Silent Dragon, let's settle this. God versus—"

No…you…are…irrelevant.

Yune barred her teeth at him. "Excuse me?!"

I…have…what…I…need. The eyes twitching across the dragon's orb flashed red and black, their pupils thinning into predatory slits.

Fighting…me…will…only…delay…the…inevitable.

"What is that supposed to—"

You…will…know…soon…enough. The dragon reared back and dug a pair of claws into the tunnel walls. You… are… not… welcome… in… my… home. Your… presence… will… disturb… my… family.

The tunnel shook beneath the dragon's weight. Dark energy dripped from its exposed fangs, and with a deafening roar:

GET…OUT!

The shout was so powerful that the sound waves alone sent Tiki and Yune flying backward hundreds of feet, as though they had been struck by an explosive blast of invisible air. Tiki flailed and tumbled farther into the void without direction, ears ringing and head heavy from vertigo.

By the time Tiki managed to get her bearings and reorient herself, the circle projecting the dragon's image dissolved into mist, leaving nothing behind but the echo of the dragon's thunderous cry.

Shaking away her dizziness, Tiki glanced to her side to check on Yune's condition…but the goddess was nowhere to be found.

"Lady Chaos?" Tiki called out. Her eyes darted frantically around the void, searching for the goddess's spirit but still finding no sign of her. The blast must have sent Tiki farther away than she had realized.

"Yune?!" she tried again, slowly turning around to scour every section of the stars. "Are you all right? Where are—"

Tiki froze mid-spin. A circle of light floated behind her, one bearing the image of the strangely familiar girl Tiki had just briefly glimpsed before discovering the Silent Dragon's lair. The girl with long pale hair spilling over her shoulders, pinching a charcoal drawing between her fingers.

But instead of staring at the drawing, she was looking up. Up through the circle.

At Tiki.

"Wh-who…" the girl spoke with a fearful, timid voice, her face drained of all color. "Who are you? A-are you the…the woman from my dreams?"

"…You can see me?" Tiki asked. The girl gave a hesitant nod. "How?"

The girl shrugged, hugging the picture close to her chest. "I-I don't know. I heard someone calling out to me, and a dragon roaring, and when I looked up, I saw you a-and that terrifying monster and I don't…I don't…"

A violent shudder passed through the girl. At first, Tiki thought it was from fear, but then…by some miracle…

Naga's spirit flashed over the girl's head, bathed in an iridescent, golden light. Tiki gasped and reached out, but her arm phased through the image like she was naught but a ghost (in a way, she supposed, she was).

Still, Tiki called out, "Mother!"

"M-mother?" the girl asked, ignorant of the divine presence standing over her.

The scion must unite with the Book of Naga, her mother spoke, though she did not move her lips to do so. The girl covered her ears and continued to tremble. Only then can her true potential flourish, and only then can the children hope to stand against the Silent Dragon's army.

"What are you talking about, Mother?" Tiki tried to enlarge the image as Yune had done before, but the circle did not move to her will. "Is this where you've been? Who is this? What children? What book?"

"…ik…"

A muted, far-off voice that did not belong to Naga grazed her ears, but Tiki ignored it. Instead, she pressed her mother for more information.

"Mother, there is not much time! If we are to act against him, we must do it quickly!" Tiki floated as close to the circle as she could without distorting it with her touch. The girl flinched, gasping in pain and scratching streaks of red down her arms as the presence of the Divine Dragons bombarded her senses. "Please, tell me what to do! Tell me how we can help!"

"…iki…!"

The scion must unite with the Book of Naga, Naga repeated. Her mother's spirit began to fade away from her sight. The lion…open…Gate…puppet…Labyrinth…

"Mother, wait!" The girl looked up at her again instead, eyes wide and stained with tears. The charcoal drawing was crumpled inside her clenched fists.

"Mother!"

"TIKI!"

Tiki's eyes—her real eyes—shot open. Immediately, excruciating pain seared across her face as her physical senses returned to her, the aftereffects of the Starlight spell still sizzling the skin around her eyes. She instinctively reached up to shield her sensitive face, but a pair of strong hands clamped around her arms prevented her from doing so.

"Tiki, come on! We need to go!"

Kris was yanking her up onto her feet when her mind finally caught up to her. His hair and face were drenched in sweat, his eyes bloodshot from the dense smoke clinging to the air. "The flames are out of control, and the tree could collapse at any second! I'm sorry, but we can't stay here any—"

Kris doubled over, hacking and coughing into his elbow. Black-spotted spit stained the fabric of his uniform. Through the thick haze and blazing flames behind him, Tiki could see the Exalt and his children were covered head to toe in ash and soot, and were not faring much better than Kris in their attempts to breathe.

They would not survive here for much longer.

"Everyone, with me!"

Pushing aside her own pain, Tiki ripped her dragonstone off her sash and transformed with a guttural roar. She crouched low to the ground and flapped her wings, dispelling as much fire and smoke as she could with a few beats. The Mila Tree groaned and splintered beneath her weight, but held long enough for her friends to recover the Fire Emblem and swing up onto her back.

Once her riders were secured, she launched herself into the air and dove through the thick clouds of smoke, pushing her wings to her limit. Behind them, the flaming trunk of the Mila Tree split down the middle, every branch plummeting into earth and sea. The rest of the tree was sure to follow soon.

Tiki's heart hung heavy in her chest at the sight of the Earth Mother, of her home for the past millennium, falling to pieces before her very eyes. A low whine escaped her throat.

But Tiki could not stop to mourn. She had to keep flying, keep fighting, keep pushing through the pain. She had to find somewhere safe to take her friends. Somewhere she could try to make sense of what she had seen and heard in the spiritual world.

Somewhere she could figure out what her mother wanted her—and that mysterious girl—to do.

—

Castle Melgen, the Munster District, Jugdral

Grann. Year 776

Seliph paced the council room, arms crossed over his chest. Two of his advisors, Oifey and Shannan, watched him move restlessly from one end of the war table to the other, eyebrows raised in both curiosity and concern. For some time, the only sound heard in the room was the pattering of rain against the window, until…

"Do not fret over the ramblings of strangers, sire," Oifey finally said. "Whatever those two think they saw out in the storm, it's of no concern to you. We cannot afford to lose focus on the task at hand: defending Leonster from King Bloom and the imperial army."

"Your cousin won't be able to defeat them by himself," Shannan added.

"I know that," Seliph said, pausing in his pacing to scuff the back of his heel on the stone floor. "No one wants to secure Leif's safety more than I do. But…"

He glanced to the corner of the room, where Julia sat huddled in a chair with Lewyn at her side, the latter pouring out a cup of tea. Julia's head was tilted up toward the ceiling, her hands clenched around a weathered piece of parchment.

A worried frown tugged at Seliph's mouth. His sister was still recovering from her earlier outburst in front of Lord Azelle and their guests "from another world," it seemed.

"Is it really wise for us to just ignore what they said?" he continued, brows furrowing. "Dead soldiers resurrected by some kind of dark magic…it's not outside the realm of possibility. The Loptr Cult has been known to dabble in necromancy, so maybe what those two saw was actually—"

Julia slumped out of her chair and collapsed. Her teacup shattered as her knees hit the floor.

"Julia!" Seliph was at her side in an instant, helping Lewyn scoop her off the ground. He shoved off a glove and pressed the back of his hand to her forehead. "Gods, you're burning up again!" His eyes snapped over to Lewyn. "I thought you said she was getting better!"

"She was," Lewyn mumbled, "but then…Naga was…hm, how strange…"

Seliph's frown deepened. "Naga?"

"I'll help her back to her room, sire," Oifey said, leaning down to test her temperature himself. "The stress of the coming battles may be—"

Julia jerked up and shook her head. Her face was paler than the shards of porcelain scattered across the floor, her body was trembling, but when she spoke, her voice was firm and certain. "No! There's no time to rest! I have to help them!"

"Help who?" Seliph asked.

"Everyone!" Julia sat forward on her knees, laying out her crinkled drawing. With an unsteady finger, she traced a charcoal sketch of a black orb with sinister eyes. "He's real! I saw him! All of it, Seliph, that dragon, the dead, the other worlds—all of it is real!"

"What? Slow down, Julia—"

"Please, we have to do something!" Julia clasped Seliph's hands between her own, eyes wild with desperation. "I have to do something!"

Seliph slowly shook his head, not in disagreement but in disbelief. He had never felt so utterly lost and confused. "What are you talking about? What do you need to do?"

Julia dropped her gaze to the floor for a moment, lips pursed, then lifted her head to look each of the men in the room directly in the eyes. Resolve hardened her expression, and she stopped shaking.

"I need to find the Book of Naga."

Character Bios:

Lewyn: Sage

—King of Silesse and advisor of Seliph. Once a carefree and mischievous man in his youth who traveled the continent as a bard in Lord Sigurd's service, Lewyn has become quieter and more distant to the world after the massacre at Belhalla. Some suspect that the real Lewyn died with his comrades on the battlefield on that tragic day, and carry the macabre (but not unfounded) belief that some other entity now controls him. The spirit within has concealed itself well for some time now…but he can't hide from us forever.

—Former wielder of the tome Forseti

—Relations: Son of Lahna (deceased). Father of Ced and Fee. Husband of Erinys (deceased). Likely the vessel of the dragon Forseti.

Robin: Grandmaster

—Queen of Ylisse and tactician of the Ylissean army. An astute woman with a brilliant mind for strategy and war tactics, with a mysterious past she is still trying to piece together. She met Chrom and his Shepherds after waking up with amnesia in the middle of a field and has been fighting for the young Exalt and the Halidom of Ylisse ever since, even going so far as to sacrifice herself in the final battle against Grima to banish him from their world forever.

—Relations: Daughter of Validar (deceased). Mother of Lucina and Morgan. Wife of Chrom. Aunt of Owain (by marriage). Vessel of Grima.

Next chapter: A risky gamble.