Silence
Alone. At last, she was entirely abandoned. The throne room doors had slammed shut to cut her off from the world and all the people she had tried so hard to win over. To realize all their dreams, to see them smile and hear them laugh – everything to earn their love.
Falchion trembled in Lucina's hand. All these fantasies lay as glass shards before her, they sank in the blood of the dead Altean guards, crushed between the unforgiving oak wood of the doors. Roy and his soldiers drew closer, and the heat of the fire spirit already clawed into Lucina's cheek. She had no chance against four opponents all by herself. Neither Naga's blessing nor Marcus' teachings would save her this time. At last, Roy would finish what he had started in a different throne room eighteen years ago.
At last, Naga's champion would fall.
Like father, like daughter.
A growl beside her tore Lucina back to reality. She was not entirely abandoned. Tiki was still here. And with this realization, the tiniest spark of fighting spirit returned and allowed Lucina to steel her grip around Falchion.
"Naga's Voice, I presume," Roy said with a look at Tiki. "I believe we have not yet been introduced to each other."
Tiki's shoulders quivered. "You stood aside while your father tortured me in Johtran."
"Ah yes, I do remember that. My father took me with him once. A gruesome lesson in dealing with gods and their poisonous disciples for a twelve-year-old. But I would be lying if I said the lesson failed its objective. Then I assume you put the idea of my imprisonment in Lucina's head? What else have you been putting in her head, I wonder."
"You murdered Mar-Mar! Even death would be too generous for you. All this time, you fought Naga and ruined her plans. But now you stand here with stolen magic all over you. I didn't realize it at first, but seeing you now, it's clear as day. The fire magic you use is Naga's! You enslaved it!"
"This magic is mine," the fire spirit said. "And I share it with Roy out of my own volition."
"Then you have betrayed your creator!"
"I have merely cast aside her shackles." The fire spirit tilted her head. "I pity you. That you choose to continue existing as her tool after all the suffering this path caused you already."
Roy raised a hand. "It's alright, Sêl. All this will come to an end, one way or another."
"You are mad, Roy," Lucina said. Her voice trembled at the edge of desperate screaming. But she needed to continue. In a swordfight, she couldn't prevail, but words might still reach him, might delay the inevitable for a few more heartbeats, one more heartbeat while precious, merciful air filled her chest. "You never stopped telling me that you wanted peace, but all you do is kill and look for the fault in others. Naga isn't the one who killed your parents. And she isn't the one who enslaved the people of Altea under the guise of peace."
"You still don't understand, do you? Gods draw their power from those who believe in them. The more people you shepherd into her shrines, and the more you force them to repeat the five credos, the stronger Naga becomes. Thanks to you, she has closed her greedy claws around Pherae already. But I suppose your precious Voice failed to mention that."
"I won't fall for your lies anymore. The gods can't be any more malicious than you."
"The gods stole my daughter. Isn't that enough?"
Lucina stumbled backwards. Roy's words twisted her stomach like a physical punch, as though the Binding Blade's merciless sharpness tore her insides open already. Why? Why this single word, after all this time?
Falchion turned to stone in her hand, a heavy stone that dragged her down with her. She couldn't fight Roy. Not when this single word still hovered on his lips.
Tiki growled. "You won't defy fate any more than you already have. This time you will pay."
A blinding light erupted from her chest, bright as the birth of a star. Tiki's form dissolved in it, grew twenty feet and more to the sound of windchimes. Wings sprouted. The banners fluttered, the tiles cracked, and Lucina stumbled from the sheer energy concentrated in the room.
When the light faded, a dragon crouched where Tiki had stood, its scales of a brilliant white, purer than any pearl salvaged from the ocean depths. A pillar snapped in two as the Manakete enfolded her wings with a roar. The two soldiers backed away; they had never seen a miracle like this. The jaws of the dragon could crush their skulls with the same ease as an egg. And the intelligent ruby eyes were set on Roy.
He raised the Binding Blade, ready for Tiki to leap.
But she didn't bother with fangs or claws to kill him.
A new light glowed beneath the white scales and traveled up the neck, growing in intensity and temperature. Tiki opened her maw, but instead of another roar, she unleashed fire upon her enemies. Lucina recoiled, needed to shield her face from the burst of heat. The swirling ball of flames reached Roy in a heartbeat; no armor could defend him from this attack.
In the moment before impact, Sêl threw herself between Roy and the inferno and countered Tiki's magic with her own. The air crackled from the clash, and a storm of sparks erupted to light the banners hanging between the pillars. Fire consumed the throne room, Lucina fought for air, and still Roy stood amidst the blaze undefeated.
His soldiers were less fortunate. They hardly had the time to scream before the flames devoured armor, skin, and flesh, until nothing but the echo of their voices remained. Tiki roared triumphantly.
And still Roy stood there undefeated.
The fire dwindled; the cold tiles offered nothing else to consume. Lucina reclaimed her balance, but she stood too far away. The horrified scream died in her throat.
Roy jumped through the shrinking flames, five short steps on the scorched tiles. The Binding Blade came alight. And then, he rammed the steel into Tiki's chest.
"Now you are free of Naga's shackles," he said. The dragon form under his blade already faded. "You are her tool no more."
Now Lucina did scream.
As Roy stepped back, and as Tiki reverted into her human form, Lucina stormed forward. She caught Tiki's shoulders just before she tumbled to the ground. The crown slit from her head, clattered out of reach, and Lucina held tighter. But she couldn't provide stability for both of them, she couldn't do anything, only sink to her knees while clutching the body of a child.
Pain misted Tiki's youthful green eyes. The patch of blood in her dress was rapidly expanding, too much, too much.
Lucina pressed her hands on the wound, even though she knew her weak fingers couldn't hold back the inevitable. Against a mystic sword such as the Binding Blade, infused with Naga's own flames, not even the scales of a Manakete could withstand.
A whimper escaped Tiki's lips.
Lucina choked on her tears. "I'll get you a healer. It will be alright, just hold on for a moment."
She was lying. Cordelia had locked the doors, and even if Roy stepped aside, Lucina would never break through the heavy wood in time to find a healer. But she couldn't force the truth to her tongue. How could she tell a child that it was dying?
The blood drenched Tiki's cape. Lucina rocked her in her lap, helpless, aimless, without guidance, as the heartbeat under her hands grew quieter and quieter. Naga, why wouldn't she send a miracle to save Tiki? Why did the noise of battle still waft through the balcony windows, why didn't the people stop when Tiki was dying?
Tears dripped from Lucina's chin onto Tiki's face. These youthful eyes, always looking for a new game to play or a new adventure to run after, always there to provide Lucina with support and with love when nothing else did – the haze of death had stolen the spark from them.
"Say something," Lucina begged. "Please, speak to me. Please! You will be alright, the pain is going to stop soon, just stay awake a little longer."
Tiki struggled to raise her hand. Lucina held onto it.
"Mar-Mar… would be proud of you. I'm sorry I can't stay by your side."
"But you did. You always did. And you will in the future too." Lucina forced a weak, tear-stained smile. "What would I do without you?"
"You will do great. You're my hero… just like… Mar-Mar."
"But I couldn't…" A sob rocked Lucina, and she held Tiki closer. Her fingers searched for Tiki's flickering pulse in vain. "I couldn't save…."
"You already saved me. Way back when you lifted Falchion out of the rostrum underneath Seliora. I got to walk in the sun and travel with you. One last adventure… sometimes it felt like a dream. I have to tell Mar-Mar all about it. I think he will like that…"
"I'm sure of it."
Tiki's words faded to a whisper. "Remember that Naga is with you. Always."
Her breath stirred Lucina's hair one last time. Then it was still.
Naga's Voice had fallen silent.
Forever.
"Get up."
Lucina's head shot up. The tears still blurred her vision, but she could make out Roy as he stood a short distance away. Tiki's blood dripped from the Binding Blade in his hand. A strangely empathetic expression had captured the flames of Sêl's face, but she too had assumed a fighting stance.
"I said, get up," Roy repeated. "I don't want to kill you while you're on your knees. So don't force me."
"Maybe Naga was right," Lucina pressed out. "Ike, Cordelia, all of them… Maybe I should have cut off your head before you could do any more harm."
"Then you still cling to her lies. Her voice still poisons your ears." Roy raised the Binding Blade. "I suppose hoping for anything else was foolish after all. Now get up."
Lucina gently rested Tiki's head on the tiles and reached for Falchion. The hilt almost slipped out of her bloody hand. Then she stood to face Roy.
Alone.
Notes: To be fair, this is another shockingly short chapter. But I didn't want to undercut Tiki's death by slapping two other scenes next to it. My poor dear deserved better than all of this. The end to this confrontation should follow before the end of the year, and until then, Happy Holidays!