Children of Naga.
Beware of the God of Death.
Beware of his lies and promises of bounty and plenty.
Lies and folly all of them, for there's no life in what he offers. Death is his domain and only death shall he bring.
Clad in the skin of man, he shall walk this earth in disguise.
Friend or foe.
Kin or stranger.
But do not be deceived!
For all the masks he wears, you will know him for his mark.
Know his chosen! For he can only take form in their bloodline.
Know his servants! Cravers of death and scavengers of the battlefields.
Know what he seeks! Death may nourish him, but above all he desires his true form.
A horror that will block out the very sun.
A dragon with six wings and six eyes.
Blessed be Naga.
Blessed be the Exalted line.
For they have denied him this for millennia.
Yet he is eternal.
For only by his own hands may he be banished forever.
Except above is from an unknown author, but typically credited to a prophet named Bantu. An unusual long lived individual, other quotes credited to him can be found spread out over a span of at least 200 years. His death has never been recorded, and his existence is considered by many to be fictional or just multiple individuals with the same name.
Aversa was bored.
As if she cared hearing about the casualty report from their latest battle.
She could vaguely guess that it was light, but that was not surprising given who was in command of this little expedition. His little trap at sea was a marvel to behold, Aversa wished that she had been allowed to participate in it herself. Seeing so many people drown and burn alive must surely had pleased Grima to no end.
Repressing the need to yawn, Aversa tried to appear at least attentive. She was after all the only representative of Plegia in this war council.
''…amongst our officers. We lost Dante, Yula, Sten, and Gregor…''
Frodor? Grogor? No, it was Gregor…
For some reason that name caught Aversa's attention. She was sure she has heard it somewhere…
Then she recalled it. It was that traitor mercenary that absconded with one of their more valuable sacrifices to Grima during the Plegia-Ylisse war. She had sent one of her captains after him, a dark mage named Chalard, only the fool and his group never returned, and she had written all of them as a loss. There were other more pressing concerns back then.
So that traitor joined Ylisse and is now dead? Good riddance! She hoped that his end was most painful.
Aversa hid her smile with her hand, appearing as if she merely leaned on it in deep thought. At least there was one amusing thing about this entire farce of a meeting.
Another bright spot was they also had some good wine in this abandoned estate. The building served as their temporary command post, as they planned their next move.
The army of Ylisse had landed on Valm merely two days ago and had already seized a few coastal towns. This had all been made easier by the presence of a resistance movement of some sort. They had sowed chaos amongst the Valmanese ranks and their coastal defence suffered for it, being forced to concentrate their efforts on two fronts.
Apparently Valm was not as united as they had been led to believe. Their new allies were led by a Chon'sin princess named Say'ri, who was eager to join the Ylisseans efforts to overthrow the Conqueror.
All for the better, it was just more bodies that could be thrown into the meatgrinder. Aversa did not care; the outcome of this war had already been decided.
The dark mage couldn't wait until nightfall. That's where she would discuss about things that truly mattered with her master, but for now they all needed to keep up appearances. All she could do was count the seconds.
Their meeting spot was outside of the camp, a small gathering of trees, far away from any prying eyes or attentive ears. Aversa had some agents planted amongst the mercenaries that the idiot of an Exalt had hired. They could make excuses or see to it that her absence from camp would never be noted. No doubt that the Exalt thought himself clever by hiring sellswords with their gold, but that had also made it possible for Plegia to subtly plant their own forces in the army.
A hidden dagger, ready to strike if their lord commands it.
Her Lord…No…God was already there waiting for her. Sitting on a lonely stone and surrounded by cawing crows, he absently toyed with one of the birds with his one hand. At times he would feed it with pieces of some kind of meat that laid beside him on the rock. It was dark and she could not make all the details.
Aversa went on her knees and bowed down her head.
''My master…By your command I stand before you. What are your orders?''
Her master did not seem to acknowledge her, too busy with his little bird, who made no motion of flying away from its master's hand. The Ylisseans were fools to think that the crows served them. Crows had always been one of Grima's favoured servants. They would never rob any of his secrets.
A silence followed, she did not notice it first, but as her senses began to focus on the surroundings, she noticed it.
The stench of death.
Concealed by the swarm of crows, Aversa saw three corpses laying besides the rock her God was sitting on. They were in the process of being picked clean by the ravenous birds, but Aversa could see from their torn uniform that they had been soldiers.
''Friends of yours?''
Her master finally turned towards her.
''Just some foolish valmanese scouts that thought that they could get some intel on us. They will not be missed.''
He bore an unsettling smile as he addressed her, for all his knowledge and power it was clear that he still struggled to imitate a genuine smile with his host body.
''Master, may I advise you to not smile and laugh so often? Some people may find it unsettling.''
The smile remained frozen on his features.
''And some would find it insolent for a servant to speak with such a sultry voice to her lord in the presence of others…''
Despite his cherry disposition, Aversa could feel his displeasure as cold steel pressed at her throat. But she couldn't help herself, it gave her a certain thrill to vex him. Grima could easily crush her with a snap of his fingers, but he didn't. She was too valuable, and she knew it.
Her God was much diminished in his current form, yet she could feel his energy; An unending dark vortex that sucked the very life essence around them. How it pulsed every time he spoke or starred at her with displeasure. She felt alive when that happened, and the thought of him reaching his true potential filled her with glee and excitement.
The ice-cold feeling surrounding her quickly evaporated as Grima turned his gaze away from her and back to his bird.
''Report. How are things at the Valmanese camp?''
''Everything is going according to your designs, your excellency. Excellus is keeping to his schedule.''
''Does he suspect our true goal?''
''No, he still believes that this all a simple grasp of power, he believes that he…''
Her master chuckled.
''He believes that he'll rule Plegia and…if my memory serves…get a queen for his efforts.''
Once again, he looked at her. His gaze laced with an alien hint of mockery. She knew what he implied. As if she would allow that toad to touch her. Nevertheless, her master still had uses for that sorry excuse of a human being, and so she was forced to play the part of an interested woman.
Grima then made a dismissive wave.
''It matters not to me, who sits on that throne, only that they know how to serve. Feel free to do with him as you please once we're done in this continent. I trust that you know how to tie a loose end?''
Oh, that she knew indeed.
Satisfied with her expression, Grima continued.
''There's another matter that I need you to take care of…the girl…I noticed that she has been moving a lot around the camp lately, talking with a lot of people. I suspect that she might have found some of her companions and is planning on something…''
Her master appeared thoughtful, as if he was digging for something in his mind.
''I…suspect…that she has realized that shouting at my vessel will gain her nothing, so she might try to expose me by other means. If she is smart, she would send her allies to find any proof of my alleged treachery. Most likely she could have someone in Plegia looking for it.''
Well, they couldn't have that now, could they? If the girl was beginning to move and coordinate their enemies behind the scenes to expose them, then the obvious solution would be to kill her immediately.
''Shall I swat this annoying flea, my master?''
Surprisingly her master didn't seem to agree on this course of action.
''No…I'm not concerned with the girl. I know where she is and can deal with her by my leisure, its her companions that I cannot abide. If they are in the camp, we'll do well to eliminate them as soon as possible. And if they are not…it's time that we hunted them down like the dogs they are.''
''I'll have my people shadow our little princess more closely and make note of who she interacts with the most. However, it would aid us greatly if you could give me some leads, my master. If nothing else let us deal with the girl. Deny these worms their leader.''
Her master seemed annoyed at her second request to kill the princess.
''I said no, do not question me again girl! The little princess still has her uses, and if nothing else, her clear presence alone should draw these other travellers of time towards us like flies to a corpse. As for leads, I have none that may describe them, except perhaps the princess little sister, who bears the same hair colour as her.''
Grima then held a finger up.
''I do have one lead however, this vessel's hometown…Inial…I trust that you have razed it to the ground?''
Aversa was confused by this sudden mention of that insignificant fishing village but nodded in confirmation.
''Yes master, I have seen to it personally. Its buildings have been burned to crisp and its inhabitant executed for housing that traitor of a woman. None remain to speak about it.''
''Good…tell your spies to keep an ear out for anyone who would inquire about this village. They would likely be in league with our little princess. You know what to do with spies…''
Aversa bowed her head once again.
''It will be done, my master.''
With that Grima threw the last piece of meat by his side up in the air, signifying the conclusion of their meeting. The moonlight revealed it to be an entire arm of his latest victims. The crows immediately began to devour it midair, picking it clean in seconds.
As Aversa turned her gaze back to the stone, her god was already gone.
The hunt has begun.
So that was the last chapter for this year. I hope that you enjoyed reading it.
I'm a bit torn on to whatever the next chapter should be the POV of Nah or POV of Lucina. Both POV a viable as the next chapter with the other one following short after.
I'm open for wishes but otherwise I think I would just work on both at the same time and post the first one I finish (might take a longer time).
Note about why Grima can't give any description of the future children, despite having Robin's memories. Grima is just very poor at differentiating people. For him it's the same as if someone asked us to tell the difference between two ants
Once again thank you all for reading and Happy New Year! Seya all in the next year ^^