Phoenix and Dragon

Prologue/Pilot: The Fallen, The Voice and the Gate

Our tale begins at the end of a bloody conflict between good and evil. On one side, the second generation of The Shepards, led by future Exalt Lucina. On the other, The Fell Dragon, Grima, possessing the body of its perfected vessel, and former tactician Robin. With aid from the Shepards of the past, the Fell Dragon and its vessel are struck down for good bringing true peace to the people of Ylisse and its neighboring lands. For those still living, it is cause for both relief and celebration. In tales to come many would note that the celebration lasted for days, with practically everyone jubilant at the threat of Grima coming to a definitive end.

All, except for one person.

Which takes us to the South of the kingdom of Ylisse where we find a series of islands. Each one for the most part is uninhabited and just as plain as the last… except for one. On this particular island is a small jungle. From the shore there is a path that winds its way to the center of the jungle. At the center of jungle, there is a clearing and in this clearing is a gateway. Glowing in the center of the gateway is what can only be described as a portal to who knows where. And standing before this portal is a young girl dressed in tattered robes.

In any other time, the young woman would be a remarkable sight, but in this particular timeline, the developing beauty makes for a sad image. Green hair, normally vibrant and bouncy, is matted down with blood and sweat from battle. Lips somewhat dry from little drink are set in a despondent frown, further emphasizing the scar on her upper left lip. Drooping low in misery are somewhat pointed ears from her head marking her as not completely ordinary. Finally, staring at the gate are a pair of green eyes dulled with guilt and regrets.

The young woman was Morgan, the daughter of Robin, Grima's vessel, and Tiki, the voice of Naga, leader of the Divine Dragons. Morgan was a girl who had once been described as brimming with infinite potential, possibilities too numerous to count and a future brighter than any star. At that moment, however, Morgan felt as though there was nothing in her future but despair. Slowly, she lifted her right hand and stared at the back of it.

Except for a scant few scars, it was unmarked. Such was the case for any who had once held the mark of Grima. With its final defeat, any who bore the mark would find it gone immediately and now find themselves free of the vile Fell Dragon's influence. For most, this would actually come as something of a moment of clarity and relief. For Morgan, however, it meant that whatever possibility of her father still being alive was gone. Then again, considering his fate as a vessel, he was already long gone, she had just fooled herself into thinking otherwise.

With this sudden realization, Morgan buried her face in her hands, falling to her knees and choked out a quiet, sobbing laugh. Now that she had proof of Grima's ultimate demise, she was now forced to acknowledge all that she had done in her desperation for the monster's approval. How many people had she struck down? How many homes had she destroyed? How much pain had she inflicted, in the deluded hope for some affection from the thing wearing her father's skin? The quiet sobbing laugh grew louder and louder as the full weight of her sins came down upon her. There was no denying it anymore: Morgan was a monster, and there was no coming back from that.

Eventually, Morgan's laughter subsided, and she grew morose once more. She looked back at the gate. There was nothing for here for her anymore. Nothing to go back to; no one to welcome her; no home to be made to live out the rest of her days in silence. With her mind made up there was only one thing left to do. Morgan stepped towards the gate.

"Morgan…," a faint voice spoke up seemingly from within her and around her. The girl in question stopped, her eyes widening at the familiar voice. Looking along frantically, her gaze fell upon a mote of light. Slowly, the light morphed into the image of woman. Like morgan she has green hair and eyes and pointed ears. She wore a red dress with a pink shawl across her shoulders. With her concern and anguish in her eyes, Tiki addressed her daughter.

"Morgan… oh Morgan, I- "Tiki began but was interrupted.

"No… nononononononononoonononononononononono!" Morgan shouted, clamping her hands over her pointed ears and shutting her eyes. "I can't do this! I can't face you! I can't… I just can't. No! No! NONONONONONONONONONONONONO!" Morgan found herself falling to her knees again. Rocking back and forth, she was quickly overcome with a fresh wave of guilt and despair at the sudden meeting with her mother's ghost.

"Morgan! Morgan! Please!" Rushing forward, Tiki took hold of her daughter. The younger girl found herself in her mother's embrace. Despite her ethereal state, Tiki had a powerful hold and refused to let go despite her daughter's protest. "Let me go! Let me go! LET ME GO! LETGOLETGOLETGOLETGOLETGOLETGOOOOOOO," Morgan screamed. Tiki, however, remained committed and refused to give in. No matter how much her daughter thrashed in her embrace, the older Manakete would not relent.

Eventually, Morgan's thrashing subsided, and her screaming was reduced to small hiccups as exhaustion finally began to take hold of her. Finally, the younfer Manakete nodded off in her mother's hug. Gently, Tiki laid Morgan's head in her lap, tears of her own beginning to fall at Morgan's sorry state. Slowly the sun, which had been high in the sky upon Morgan's arrival began to set in the west.

When Morgan woke from her troubled sleep, she found that it was nighttime. Taking stock of her situation, she found that all her wounds had been dressed and that her robes had been replaced by a simple grey tunic and trousers. Looking around, her eyes widened at the sight of the last two people that she wanted to see at the moment, her mother, Tiki… and the new Exalt of Ylisse, Lucinca. The younger woman looked much better than when they last met. She was dressed in the same light armor that she had worn in the final confrontation with Grima. Her blue hair was held in a loose ponytail. Her facial features were the pinnacle of noble beauty marred only by the scar under her left eye. When Morgan focused on Lucina's eyes, she found no hint of any emotion within them. Lucina had always worn her heart on her sleeve, so Morgan was somewhat disconcerted by the blank expression on the Exalt face, especially considering that she had a hand resting on Falcion. Morgan was well aware that as she abysmally weak as she was now, Lucina would have no trouble putting her down if she so chose. The manakete did not know if death would be preferable to her current state.

The Exalt held her gaze for a few moments before addressing Tiki. "Well, she seems to be doing fine for the moment. I'll just give you two some space to talk." With that she took several steps back, her gaze never leaving Morgan's form.

Tiki approached Morgan, kneeling beside the makeshift cot that the latter was resting on. The same pained expression on her face that caused knots to form in Morgan's stomach. For a moment neither mother nor daughter spoke. Taking a deep breath, Morgan decided to break the silence first.

"Why… why are you here?"

Tiki made a move as if to reach for her, but when Morgan flinched, she held back. Taking a moment to gather herself, she finally responded.

"Morgan, I… are you… are you okay?"

Morgan stared at her mother, incredulous. "Am I… okay? Am I okay?" Morgan asked in disbelief. "Mo- Tiki. In case you may have not noticed, I am definitely not okay! I couldn't be anymore not okay. I… I… oh gods, I'm a monster."

"Morgan you are not a"-

"Yes, yes, I am mo- Tiki. I have too much blood on my hands to be anything but such. I'm a monster and a damned fool. All the pain and destruction I've caused, just for a few words of praise from the monster pretending to be my father. So what if I was a lonely little girl. So what if I was treated like the second coming of Grima. So what if I was turned away by everyone. None of that is any excuse for what I've done. Let's not pretend otherwise."

As Morgan buried her head in her hands, she felt her mother's spirit embrace her again. The Voice of Naga was clearly holding back tears at her daughter's self-deprecation. Even Lucina couldn't help but show some discomfort as Morgan tore into herself for all that she had done. She had not been sure what to expect when Tiki had asked her to accompany her to this final confrontation, but to see Morgan like this was mildly upsetting. As much as she did not want to, she did feel somewhat guilty about Morgan's early childhood. After Grima had taken over Robin, many had indeed turned on the girl, hefting blame for Chrom's death on her by proxy. Even Lucina had been somewhat hostile for a time, only coming around after Morgan had already left the Shepards.

"Morgan," Tiki spoke up. When her daughter did not look up, Tiki gently pulled her hands away from her face, lifted her chin up to meet her gaze. "I… will not deny that you have done terrible things, and that you may not be welcome among the people of Ylisse and its neighboring nations. However, I cannot deny the pain that you are feeling and only want you to be better."

"…why? Why are you… why do you still care about me" Morgan asked in a quiet voice.

With a sad smile, Tiki hugged her daughter. "I would think it rather obvious why: I am your mother and no matter what you may do, I will always love you."

"Ti- oh mother!" Morgan hugged her mother, a fresh wave of tears on her face. "I'm sorry! I'm so, so sorry! I'm sorry," Morgan cried out over and over again. They held each other for some time, Morgan letting out every bit of pain that she had kept bottled up. Tiki, in turn, tightened her hug, accepting everything Morgan let out. Eventually, Morgan began to calm down. Slowly she began to pull back from Tiki. Together they stood up and turned towards Lucina. Morgan, feeling exhausted physically and mentally, found that she could not bring herself to care all that much about the Exalt's presence anymore.

"So… what happens now" Morgan asked addressing the other woman. "Am I to be imprisoned for all that I have done? Or will it be a public execution? Well, Exalt Lucina what is to be my fate?"

Tiki made to speak but Morgan squeezed her hand. When she turned to look at Morgan, the younger Manakete, shook her head. "M-mother… I… I know that you love me and want to help me, but… but I've caused so much pain. I have to confront this." Morgan turned back to Lucina, awaiting a response.

Lucina held her gaze for a moment. Truth be told, there were quite a few people who had called for Morgan's execution along with the unrepentant Grimleal. Others had also called for her to be imprisoned for the rest of her life. Lucina had not been sure which she would choose when she had found the fugitive. Seeing her now as she was, Lucina found that she could not except either one for Morgan. Before she came to a decision, Lucina asked, "before I decide, let me ask you this: what were you doing here?"

Morgan blinked, confused for a moment before she remembered what she had originally came here for. "Ah, I… I was here for the gate…"

"The gate?" Lucina asked.

Morgan nodded, "yes; I think that this gate was the one that the other Shepard from another time had come from."

Lucina glanced towards the gate in question. Thinking back towards the final few battles with Grima and its cultists, she had honestly been shocked at the sudden appearance of the Shepards, her father and Robin in particular. It had been a constant ebb and flow of emotions as she got to speak with her father again and the short time spent together their parents had done wonders for the second generation of the Shepards. It had also been very awkward to work with the alternate Robin and Morgan as they aided the others in putting a permanent end to the Fell Dragon.

"So, what was your plan? Do you mean to use this gate to leave this world and travel some other place and start over?"

Morgan, feeling uncomfortable under the Exalt's impassive gaze, nodded. "There's nothing here for me anymore. While I would like to make amends, I don't think anyone is going to give me the time or room to do so. Me being here would also be a constant reminder of the pain and death. So, I figured I might as well just go away so that everyone could just move on."

After that the three were silent once again, both Tiki and Morgan awaited Lucina's response as the latter considered what to do. After several minutes, Lucina finally nodded to herself, coming to a decision. Looking towards Morgan she spoke, "Morgan, you have caused a great deal of harm to everyone living and dead during this war, too much pain to be made up in a single lifetime. However, at this point, seeing you as you are now, I can't bring myself to see to your execution or imprisonment. So as Exalt of Ylisse, I Lucina hereby banish you from this world forever more."

Tiki squeezed Morgan's hand a little tighter. On the one hand, she wanted more for her daughter. Their bond meant that she had felt more of Morgan's pain than she had realized and wanted so much to help her. On the other hand, she knew that Morgan would likely come undone if she was imprisoned for the rest of her very long life. The less said about execution, the better. With that she bowed low towards the new Exalt.

"Thank you, Exalt Lucina, for showing my daughter mercy."

Lucina nodded towards Tiki before staring Morgan straight in the eye. "I… am not sure if this a good idea for any of us, but I want this to turn out for the best. So, it is my hope that you don't make me regret this decision. Farewell, Morgan. May you find some modicum of peace wherever you go." With that, Lucina stepped back to give Morgan a final moment with her mother.

Morgan nodded then turned towards her mother. "So this… this is it, isn't it?"

Tiki held her daughter's gaze for a moment before nodding. "I wish we had spent more time together. If only… if only…"

"If only I had gone to you. If only I had simply disappeared. If only I had found this gate instead of Grima. If only, if only…" Morgan finished a bittersweet smile on her face. With that she stepped towards the gate.

"Wait! Morgan, wait," Tiki spoke up.

Turning back towards Tiki, Morgan tilted her head. "Yes mother?"

Stepping up to her daughter, Tiki took Morgan's hands into her own. Concentrating for a bit, the Voice of Naga gathered all the ambient magic around them into a ball of light. After a bright flash, Morgan found in her hands what was quite possible the single most beautiful gem she ever laid eyes on. Looking up at her mother, Morgan asked, "mother what is this?"

"This, my dear little Morgan is my final gift to you. It contains all the knowledge that we as Manaketes have gathered over our long history. The spells that we have used to survive and aid others. May it serve you and others well, wherever and whenever you may go."

Overwhelmed by this gift, Morgan hugged her mother one last time. "Thank you, mother, thank you so much. I love you."

"I love you too, my dear daughter."

Finally feeling some sense of peace with herself, Morgan finally let go and stepped towards the gate. As she stepped through, the last thing she saw before being enveloped in light was her mother's tearful gaze.

In another time in another place there was a flash in the sky. Bright as it was, no one noticed when a girl fell through it and made a hard landing on the cold pavement. With a groan, the girl slowly got up, staggering a bit. Looking around for a bit, she was quick to realize that wherever she was, it was a very different place from her old world. From what she could tell she seemed to be some sort of port town. As far as she could see there seemed to be carriages in every direction. Past that, where buildings made of what appeared to be grey bricks that rose high into the sky.

Morgan found herself both amazed and confused at everything she saw, when suddenly there was a loud honking sound in the distance. Clamping her hands over her sensitive ears Morgan turned to the source of the noise, only to be amazed. Before her was a vast stretch of sea with ships of metal moving far faster than any other ship she had seen.

What really captured her attention however was the strange statue of woman in robes holding a book in one hand and a torch held high in the other.