*Lyon [Remastered] (FE8 OST)

**Coming Demise (FE14 OST)

HOW DARE SHE! THAT MISERABLE, UNGRATEFUL, LITTLE INSECT! THAT IS JUST LIKE HER KIND! WHERE IN ALL THE WORLDS DOES SHE FIND THE GALL TO SPEAK TO A GOD IN SUCH A MANNER! But it is ultimately little matter. Humans are weak-minded, weak-willed beasts. Puppets merely awaiting a master! Surely there are far more cooperative beasts of burden than her.

* He had always been somewhat of a frail child, somewhat less so as an adult, but still nothing compared to Xander, Camilla, or even Corrine. While the healers had been instructed to give he, Camilla, and Corrine priority in treatment for their injuries, his relatively frail constitution and the extent of his injuries had convinced most of the healers on duty that he was in fact, unlikely to survive his wounds and moved him to the appropriate wing of the commandeered Hoshidan temple. To the surprise of many outside of himself, two days after the defeat against Princess Sakura her gods-only-know-what-that-thing-was, Leo, albeit with the help of a cane, managed to rise from his bed and greet his surviving siblings in the antechamber.

"Oh, Leo!" exclaimed Camilla, rising from her chair with some difficulty before smothering the prince with her embrace. "Baby brother, I was so worried about you! Those mean old healers were saying that-"

"Yes, Sister, I am aware." replied the prince, nudging his half-sister away. "I was in and out of consciousness, but I got most of it."

The dragon princess smiled, extending her non-heavily bandaged arm over Leo's shoulder.

"Yes, it's good to see you." confirmed Corrine with her equally gentle-smile. "Are you hungry? I could make us something to eat."

"The rations were nothing special, but I've got something in my stomach." answered Leo, shrugging off the concern. "There's no time for me to wallow in self-pity. There are still things to take care of. Where are Odin and Niles-"

The sisters and Azura suddenly became stiff and silent, their eyes downcast as Leo suddenly recalled the fates of his two loyal retainers. After Xander's retainer, the mystery man Laslow had fallen to Sakura's entity, the theatrical mage set off towards the mercenary's killer in a white, completely-and-utterly-serious rage, furiously (and futilely) hurling spells at the being before it took his life with those horrible purple flames. Niles for his part, defended the prince to his last breath; even picking up a blade after the entity slashed his own bow in two for a last clash. Indeed, after reviewing the scene repeatedly in his dreams and mind's eye, Leo had come to the conclusion that, even though he was severely wounded by the same attack, the dashing rogue had literally saved his life by shielding Leo with his own body.

But even more heartrending for all involved were respective fates of their family's eldest and youngest member respectively.

"I'd never seen Xander that angry before in my life." Corrine remarked, still avoiding eye contact with the remaining prince. "It was like he was an entirely different person."

"At least he was able to die with Siegfried in his hand." replied Leo bitterly. "What in the seven hells was that thing?! What kind of monster kills a child in cold blood just to get to me?!"

Camilla frowned. "I'm sorry, Brother." she answered, perhaps even more dejectedly than her siblings. "I didn't get a good look at what attacked me. The only reason I still live was the armor across my abdomen."

Turning to Azura for a sign of nonverbal support, Corrine ultimately remained silent, unsure as to whether or not the truth of the matter would inflame passions further or lessen them.

"And I ask you all again." Leo inquired, his tone dangerous and icy. "What kind of monster slaughters a child in cold blood just to get to us?!"

"What kind of monster kills a child in cold blood, Sire?" asked one of the sentries, leaning against his lance. "I was with the first response team the next morning. We found a black-haired child in the throne room on the brink of death. Deep cuts from a sword by the look of it. Fucking Hoshidan savages. I'm actually starting to agree with some of the guys that the only good one of them is a dead one."

At the words "black-haired child" and "throne room," Leo's heart sank into his stomach, the void consuming any possible optimism remaining in him. Tossing the cane, Leo set off for the rest of the makeshift triage wing as fast as he could manage, dragging his left leg behind him when need be. It was truly disheartening and morbid to race through what had become a morgue for their friends, comrades, and even family members, but Leo's single-minded focus was one particular woman, a woman to whom his insights had truly given a new lease on life. Winded and red-faced, Leo reached the one of the chambers serving as a makeshift surgical facility, his worst fears as to the patient's identity confirmed by her dark hair, pale skin, and very distinct markings on her face. Pushing the healers aside, Leo raced to her side, stroking her cheek and mouthing futile pleas for the fellow mage to open her eyes.

"Milord." said one of the healers, a woman scarcely older than he. "I'm afraid there's nothing left we can do for this child-"

"Get out, all of you." ordered Leo, his voice cracking. "GET THE FUCK OUT! NOW!"

The healers scared away with this verbal display, Leo fell to his knees and took Nyx's cold, lifeless hand as he began to sob, something he as a young child swore he would never do in public, if at all. He could deal with having lost his father; truth be told, as far as Leo's suspicions, the thing which he had devolved into was pretty much the equivalent to the king's psychological state before Xander and Corrine put him out of his misery. Painful as it had been, if it had ended there, he could have dealt with losing Xander and Elise with time as well. But that fate had been cruel enough to take the woman he loved from him, well that was simply too much. While the understanding Corrine, Elise, and possibly Camilla may have given their blessing, Leo knew fully well that Xander and the remainder of the court would not have approved of his romance with Nyx, not least of which due to her child-like appearance and social status, both of which were of no matter to the prince. No, he had fallen in love with her razor-sharp mind and her wise, introspective soul, the couple having spent many a late night discussing in depth everything from politics to philosophy and even the nature of the world and life in general.

Blinking through the moisture, Leo, with his free hand, wiped the tears from his eyes. "Xander and Elise are dead...because I was weak." he said heavily. "You're dead...because I was weak. I'm sick of losing people I love because of my weakness! I'm through with it! Whatever it takes, I'll become stronger! Stronger than Xander, stronger than Corrine, even stronger than Father!"

Swallowing deeply, the prince clutched his lost love's hand even harder. "I swear to you, that the weakling I was in your life is dead." he promised. "I swear, for everyone, I'll hunt down and wipe that...thing from the face of the earth if it's the last thing I do! Even if I have to destroy this whole damnable country and everyone in it!"

Even outside of the sick, hazy, disassociated feeling using said "gift" had granted her, Hana extremely was grateful to be rid of the otherworldly powers for another reason; it had literally made her sick using it. After taking the Yato, Siegfried, and Brynhildr from their fallen enemies (she knew full well she'd be unable to use the former two, but did so simply to keep them out of Nohr's hands) and spiriting Sakura out of the capital under the noses of a Nohrian army under heightened alert, once they had reached the nearby woods, Hana became violently ill, literally vomiting more than once as Sakura dragged her to a nearby cave, insisting she get off her feet in spite of the swordswoman's protests.

For two days after the battle, through Hana's fever, dizziness, and a complete inability to keep anything down save for water, Sakura spent her time nursing her retainer back to health, armed only with a bow and some arrows Hana had taken from a very unfortunate Nohrian sentry. By the night of the second day, Hana was well enough that the princess would not immediately insist she lie back down.

"Are you alright, Lady Sakura?" Hana groaned, sitting up and sweeping the washcloth (technically a piece of a Nohrian tunic) from her forehead. "I don't want you to push yourself too hard."

"Wh-what are you worried about me for?" replied Sakura, her tone betraying no small degree of surprise. "You've barely been able to stand for the past couple of days!"

The swordswoman beamed, taking Sakura's hand in hers. "Thank you, Lady Sakura, I mean it." she replied softly. "But that's what I live for! I'd never be able to forgive myself if something happened to you on my account."

"I just don't want anything to happen to you either, Hana. Please don't leave me alone in a world like this one."

"Not even in my nightmares! I already told you, I'd take on the entire Nohrian army if it meant protecting you. And I would win too!"

"Yes, they are quite ferocious, are they not?"

"Yes, and speaking of the Nohrian army and protecting you, Lady Sakura, there's no way I can keep you near the capital in good conscience. Since word will have gotten out about the throne room by now, they'll have literally every Nohrian soldier in the country after you! I know a place, my home province. It's a good distance north from here and Nohrian control over the area is weak, where it exists at all."

"V-very well. I hate to leave the people at the mercy of those brutes, but I'm not going to be of use to anyone dead."

In spite of his insistence upon doing otherwise, Corrine was quite worried about her brother and made no secret of this. Ever since his flight from the antechamber yesterday, Leo had been utterly silent, refusing any food, drink, or human contact whatsoever. Of course, she was willing to give him his time he needed to grieve, but his reaction to the passing of the diminutive sorceress in particular bewildered the dragon princess.

"I don't get it." she admitted finally. "Just going by their personalities and interests, I'd have assumed that Leo considered her an intellectual equal, but-"

"Perhaps they were lovers?" suggested Azura as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

"It's very possible now that you mention it. But I don't really see why they would feel the need to be so...cautious about their romance."

"You mean like us, Corrine?"

"Fair point."

The prince for his part, knew fully well what he was doing, he simply chose not to confide in his sisters. When they and the priests had laid Xander, his would-be-queen, and Elise to rest several hours after Leo's rise from his would-be deathbed, he was of course, out of sorts. However, after his return from an unexplained outing (which left him both visibly red-eyed and smelling strongly of smoke, as if having spent hours before a funeral pyre) at well past two in the morning, Nohr's surviving prince had secluded himself in his chambers, emerging solely to scavenge for some select tomes and notes around the camp.

Of course, Leo would have loved a confidant, preferably an older male one somewhat close to his own age. But this was complicated, or rather made impossible by the loss of Xander and his two loyal retainers, he reminded himself bitterly. As for his sisters and stepsister, Leo could intellectually see Corrine understanding his plight, but he viscerally doubted it severely. Azura was distant and aloof as always; the only other human being she would even open up to somewhat being Corrine. Of all these options, Leo was most inclined towards Camilla. However, while Camilla was extremely empathetic towards his feelings, it was always on the level of a mother towards her children, being her baby brother as opposed to a man trapped by his own limitations and weaknesses.

No, the one person whose counsel he truly longed for was no longer of this world in any sense, Leo having disposed of her lifeless body exactly in the manner as Nyx had prescribed. Indeed, as implied by his surrounding himself with her various tomes, notes, and journals, the grieving prince reminisced about their intellectual and philosophical discussions fondly, even about the awkward laughs they had shared on more than one occasion.

Yes, both by circumstance, his distant and proud personality, as well as his own preconceived notions, Leo truly felt completely and utterly isolated from any sort of human connection, only compounded upon by his own powerlessness. After several minutes of wallowing in these thoughts, Leo, as if by fate by how natural it seemed, was suddenly taken back to a conversation he and Nyx had shared after stealing away to the scenic shore of a certain Hoshidan lake as they gazed up at the stars.

"Yes, it's possible, but I would recommend against even trying highly." Nyx's high, but stern voice echoed in his head. "Communicating with beings from other worlds and even possibly being given new powers for your trouble, I mean. But remember, that there are things in this world, in this universe, which simply refuse to be controlled, something to which I am a living monument."

While two of the three sentences of Nyx's words he'd recalled were in fact, warnings, the prince's despair and overwhelming sense of impotence were so strong by this point, that he simply refused to heed them. I will become strong enough to control these powers, he told himself resolutely, as he spent hours pouring through his late lover's tomes, notes, and diaries. I must! Finally, by well past two that morning, Leo had found what he had searched for obsessively; in the back of one of Nyx's oldest, most decrepit books, he'd located the diagrams detailing the intricate glyphs to be placed at the four cardinal directions, as well as the incantations in some ancient, almost-certainly dead language required. The spell apparently called either for the glyphs to be carved into stone or inscribed onto the ground in chalk or ash. Fortunately, the latter was in considerable supply in the temple, as the Nohrians had little if any use for it. Spending ten minutes collecting ash from around the temple and another ten constructing the glyphs at the exact northern, southern, western, and eastern ends of his temporary chamber, Leo began to chant the incantation, his eyes following the text and his lips giving as close an approximation as possible.

Partaking in the ritual for some thirty minutes, the prince, while disappointed with his apparent lack of progress or results, did not allow himself to be discouraged. After all, some of these spells could take months, if not years to perform correctly. Resolving to attempt it again the following two nights, Leo retired to bed. While he was reasonably sure the spell had not had its intended function at least for the first night, more than once before he drifted off, the prince could swear he was hearing some sort of mumbling, its source a human-like (but not exactly human either) voice and sounding none too pleased.

The next morning, Leo did in fact, rise to join his sisters for a meal and outwardly, seemed (to the relief particularly of Corrine and Camilla) to at least be partially returning to his old self, but even so, the eldest princess could sense something not quite right about his behavior, something she made clear in pulling aside her surviving retainer.

"I hate to be a bother, dear Selena." began Camilla, stroking the redhead's cheek. "But please do let me know if you notice anything...unusual about my brother's behavior. He insists everything is fine, but-"

"No, I'm glad to do it." answered Selena, her normally prickly tone contrite and guilty.

Indeed, there was something quite unusual about the prince's behavior, namely his fixation upon the recovery of some stone, relatively-pristine tablets from the temple and surrounding city and their return to his chambers. It was a small task for a Nohrian prince to requisition a Hoshidan apprentice mason's tools, particularly when flanked by an armed retinue of soldiers with very loose rules of engagement. Carving the tablets on the other hand, was a frustrating adventure all its own. But as everyone was away at supper, Leo would receive some help from a most unexpected party.

"Gunter, shouldn't you be with the others?" inquired Leo guiltily, sitting on one of the tablets as to conceal it.

"Actually, Lady Corrine sent me for you, milord." replied the old knight dutifully. "But I noticed you seem to be having a bit of trouble with a project of yours. Perhaps I could be of assistance?"

"No, really, I'm fine."

"Oh, come now. My father was a master mason himself and I picked up more than a bit before I left to start my training."

Leo was very hesitant to accept the old knight's help for a number of reasons. Selena had been tailing him all day and did Corrine have an idea of what he was trying to do? And finally, the spell required the caster himself to carve the glyphs into the stone. Then again, Leo reasoned, he did need a good deal more help than he was at first willing to admit and he could always finish the almost-complete runes himself. "Alright, Gunter." he said. "I would appreciate your help greatly."

For a fraction of a second even, Leo could have sworn the knight had flashed a very uncharacteristic and sinister smirk. "I would be honored, milord." Gunter replied.

With Gunter's aid, the prince had managed to complete the runes by a little after midnight, thereafter spending several minutes adjusting them to their proper position. This time, Leo had spent at least an hour on his chanting of the incantation, but to no avail, much to his frustration and disappointment. Maybe this particular spell was forgotten for a reason, he thought bitterly as he retired to bed. Upon awakening the third morning, Leo was on some level, now aware of the habitually mumbling, human-sounding voice. His first inclination was to attribute it to Azura and Corrine (or more likely, Camilla and Selena) being inappropriately affectionate with each other for the time and place, but once again, the voice was too distant-sounding to be emanating from the temple.

By the third day, Camilla, Corrine, and Leo had agreed to return to Windmire at the request of Duke Toscana, the head of the regency council. But all three of his sisters (outside of having their friends, allies, and even Xander and Elise slaughtered by that entity) were struggling with issues of their own. Camilla had already sent word back to the duke informing of her intent to abdicate her right to the throne and, while still her affectionate self, was somehow more distant. Azura was hesitant about leaving Hoshido, the adopted home she had (indirectly) already done so much damage to, under the auspices of Nohrian forces to be reorganized as a formal occupation army. The ever-gentle Corrine struggled with this dilemma just as much as her dear friend, but after much deliberation, decided to petition the duke for some sort of high-ranking position in the force.

He had known Camilla to always be somehow aloof to the possibility of becoming queen someday, but with her formal abdication, the reality of the situation was now not just staring Prince Leo straight in the face, it was mocking him, taunting him. It was no longer simply optional, for the sake of his own peace of mind, that he do so, he needed to become as powerful as he could to see to Nohr's continued stability and its newfound gains. Leo reminded himself of this constantly, obsessively as he cautiously, almost lovingly carved the glyphs with chalk according to the diagrams at the four cardinal directions of his chamber. If he required aid from otherworldly beings, than so be it. Actually completing his task before noon, Leo, as not to raise the suspicions of Gunter or Selena any further, actually returned to his usual functions of their impromptu garrison, taking inventory of weapons and items and (most heart-breakingly) keeping a detailed record of the casualties. "Xander, Elise, Nyx, my love." he told himself as resolutely as he had ever so done. "Your sacrifices will not be in vain, I promise."

As the last of the Nohrian survivors and support personnel turned in for the early morning departure, in the minutes before midnight, Leo stepped over to the center of his chamber and took a deep breath. It has to work this time, it just has to, he told himself as he sat down to begin his chanting. For the first five or so repetitions of the incantation, the prince retained a relatively neutral, even intonation. However, as his recitation became more and more natural, his approach changed; whether consciously or not, Leo began to inject every word of the incantation with all of his pain, fear, fury, and sorrow, not simply from the past week or so, but from his entire life. Indeed, as he became more and more lost in the mantra, the passage of minutes mattered little as his words began to suffocate the temple's clean air. His memory of the exact moment was extremely hazy, when it existed at all, but at some point during the night, that very familiar, otherworldly voice made its presence known to him and very unambiguously so.**

"Are you-" said Leo, the exact same existential terror he'd experienced at the sight of Princess Sakura's entity returning. "Are you from another world?"

"Yes, one could say that." replied the voice, the thinly-veiled contempt enmeshed with a sort of anticipation. "What seems to ail you so, my boy?"

"If you really can help me, I want- No, I need to become stronger. Stronger than my brother, stronger than Corrine, even stronger than my father!"

"What are you willing to do?"

"Anything! It's just that important! I'm a weakling of a prince who cannot even protect the tome entrusted to him by his fathers! I cannot be such a king!"

"A tome, you say? Very well, open your eyes."

Complying with the order, the prince opened his eyes and recoiled at the sight in front of him; a burst of sickly purple flame suddenly appeared in front of him. Fading away as abruptly as it had appeared, in its place lay an obviously quite old, yet immaculately maintained tome decorated with intricate, illegible (to Leo) runes.

"A wise young prince, a learned man much like yourself, once used the knowledge contained in this tome to save his country and those he loved from a horrible fate." explained the voice half-truthfully. "It is called Naglfar and with it, untold power and secrets of the worlds will be yours."

"Thank you, O Wise One." replied the prince, his upper body dipping into a short bow. "I shall treasure it always. But I feel...hesitant about being entrusted with such an immense power. If it would please you, may I seek your continued guidance about its secrets and those of other worlds?"

"The beginnings of wisdom are to accept one's limitations. I would be honored to become your mentor, Prince Leo."

Naglfar:

Description: Leo only. A cursed tome of immense power from the Outrealm. Said to overflow the pride and lust for power of its original wielder.