Fire Emblem: Awakening - Again Again

Chapter I

Prologue

The day the planet exploded

"Chrom!" Robin shouted as he shook the man in a futile attempt to resuscitate him. As much as he wanted, he couldn't take back what he had just done. The blood he had spilled was the world's last hope, and now it was soaking into the brickwork. "Wake up damn it!"

"Father!" Robin looked over his shoulder in the direction of the two voices, and immediately spotted two young women making their way towards him. The shorter one, a blue-haired girl with a huge grin on her face, dashed towards him with a wide smile. "You're alright!"

"Morgan…" Robin whispered as he scrambled backwards, only to trip over Chrom. "S-stay back!"

The other woman, who he recognized to be none other than the time-travelling daughter of Chrom, stopped moving entirely. She seemed to freeze in place, her eyes wide in horror as she stared at her father and the bolt of lightning in his chest. Morgan stopped as well, directly next to the pile of ash that once was Validar.

Gingerly, the princess kneeled down next to the fallen Lord, and the entire temple went silent as a single tear ran down her face. The atmosphere was solemn.

And then she drew her sword.

"She's pissed." Morgan squeaked.

O

"Lissa!" Chrom shouted, pushing himself to run even faster as the princess trembled. She was almost curled up, her healing staff held out as if to ward away the undead warrior that towered over her, keeping her backed up against the tree. She looked scared, and Chrom's heart skipped a beat as the monster raised its war axe... and the prince knew that there was no way for him to reach her in time.

"No!"

I blame myself. He thought as he leapt over a rock. If I hadn't let her come with me to check out this damned place...

Time seemed to slow as movement caught his eye, and for a moment he wondered if more of the creatures were crossing through the eye-like portal that blocked out the moon. He had almost died to the first one he met prior, and the thought of even more worried him, if only slightly.

There…

Dropping from the sky itself, a figure landed gracefully on their feet before taking off towards his sister at an even faster pace than he himself could manage. Their tattered cape trailed behind them like a ribbon as they closed the distance, weapon raised in a fashion that made him wonder if they were friend or foe.

Who…? Chrom slid to a stop as they bolted past him, sliding to a stop just as the axe began to drop, and knocked the weapon aside with their own. Before the monster could regain it's balance, the mysterious swordsman slashed viciously at it's neck, separating the head from the body in one smooth movement.

The masked man hesitated, his worn blue-garb flapping in the wind as several more zombie-warriors began to claw their way out of the ground around the princess and her saviour.

"Help!" He ordered, grimacing as the beasts began to close in. Chrom could see his mouth move as he mumbled something to himself, before taking up an oddly familiar stance.

"Right." Chrom nodded, sprinting forwards to provide support. Leaping up into the air, he drove his sword downwards and sliced through his target, creating a path through the ring of undead. With a battle cry, he spun and drove his Falchion down into his fallen opponent with a sickening thud. Leaping backwards, he swung a few more times, forcing the remaining enemies to keep their distance. "Come on!"

The swordsman nodded in appreciation, grabbing Lissa by the arm and darting through the opening that had been made for him.

"Chrom!" A voice called from the forest.

Chrom waved for his allies to follow, before breaking into a sprint towards the sound of cursing and snapping twigs. His group arrived at the edge of the trees as Robin and Frederick burst out of the thorny bushes at the base. Frederick looked no worse for wear, leaping majestically over the bush on his horse and painting the picture of a true knight, whilst Robin was forced to take the less fortunate path through the thistles, her coat covered in leaves and twigs in her hair. The mysterious blue-haired swordswoman flinched at the new arrivals, a confused frown on his face though he said nothing.

"M'lord," Frederick said, drawing his lance. "We apologize for our tardiness. We came as soon as you set the forest on fire."

"I swear I didn't do it!" Chrom protested, spinning back to face the threat as the five edged away from the flaming ruins of the wood.

"What is going on?" Robin demanded, her eyes narrowed as she drew her thunder tome. "And what are those? I would hope this is not common fare in Ylisse."

"They aren't." Chrom reassured her.

"They are known as the Risen," The swordsman spoke for the second time, his bloodstained and cracked mask hiding the fire in his eyes. "soldiers brought back from the dead to lay waste to this land."

Chrom seemed to remember that the man existed for the first time, and turned to look at him. "That sounds unpleasant indeed. I am Chrom, the one on the horse is Frederick, that's Lissa, and this is Robin. Care to tell us your name?"

"Only if your mysterious warrior cliche allows it." Robin chimed in, her finger raised.

"You may call me…" He hesitated, glancing from Chrom to Robin. The corners of his mouth were twitching, and behind his mask his eyebrows were furrowed. "Marth."

Suddenly, a fiery explosion detonated itself off to the east of the group, drawing their attention back to the task at hand. Lissa let out a squeak as the ground shook, causing one of the trees from the forest to finally give in to gravity as it fell, crashing to the ground mere feet away from her.

"Do I have to travel at the back?" She complained, though was ignored as the ground trembled once more.

"What is that?" Frederick demanded as his horse neighed. "This area is not safe as it is. Perhaps the ground is splitting again?"

"Frederick, take point!" Robin ordered, cracking open her tome as she warily eyed the approaching monsters. "Marth and Chrom, watch our east and west sides. We need to get to one of those fortresses. Their foundation is less likely to split open and swallow us whole, and we can defend better from th-" She was cut off as the earth rocked again, and for a moment she wondered if the fort she had been pointing to on the other side of the Risen was going to explode just to spite her. "Gods damn it all! What is causing the-"

And then the world exploded.

O

Okay, the world didn't actually explode. Though from Marth's position, it totally seemed like it. Despite this, the totally-not-future-princess kept her-HIS cool, even as a huge rift tore across the ground, swallowing the Risen that had been advancing on the five in an instant.

Alright. Marth wasn't really Marth. Obviously.

It was kind of funny, really. Back with the Shepherds, after revealing her identity and mission, people were always confused as to why she didn't simply reveal who she was and protect Chrom from beside him. She had carefully explained that she was trying not to alter the timeline too drastically, though looking back on it it was a laughable excuse. She was trying to prevent the world's destruction. Not making any drastic alterations seemed a tad counterintuitive. To this day, incidentally two years before the question will be asked, she still has no idea why she did it. But when asked by Robin what she would do if she could try it all over again, she had said that she would stay by her father's side, not as Marth but as Lucina.

Unfortunately, upon seeing her father alive again again, in the flesh and blood, she kind of… panicked.

Panicked and introduced herself as Marth. Again again.

Stupid, stupid, STUPID!

"Alright, I think I figured it out!" Robin hurriedly corrected herself, backing away as another, thinner crack zig-zagged between her legs. "Yup. The planet is exploding!"

"Naga above." Chrom cursed, shoving Lissa towards Frederick. "Frederick! Take Lissa, and get her to safety. If you can, come back for us!"

"What?!" Lissa looked shocked, and struggled to get away from the knight much like a child to avoid bathing. "No! I can help!"

"M'lord!" Frederick shook his head. "I cannot leave you here."

"There's only room for two on your horse, and I'm not leaving anyone behind." Chrom argued, shoving Lissa back up as the princess became the unfortunate rope in the reverse-tug-of-war. "If you stay here, we all die, and I'm not leaving Lissa!"

Frederick hesitated, looking from Lissa to Chrom, and Lucina knew that the poor man was being torn apart. Her earliest memories included her father's brave guardian, and she hadn't ever seen him leave his side to go to the outhouse, let alone in the midst of danger.

"Take care, m'lord." Frederick practically moaned as he slung Lissa over the back. Lucina knew that this had to be killing him, but at the very least the princess would be safe. "I will return for you as soon as possible."

With a shout, Lucina watched as he took off faster than she had ever seen him ride, and she knew that her father had been in good hands.

Didn't save him. She lamented, before shaking the thought away.

Suddenly, the crack at Robin's feet began widening, and the tactician-to-be leapt across to stand beside the future-princess and her father with a huff. "We need to get to that fort!"

"Would it not be wiser to leave this place?" Lucina demanded, speaking in her 'Marth' voice as she looked to the burning forest.

"Nope." Robin shook her head as more cracks began to spread. "Run!"

The three took off in a dramatic sprint across the cracking ground, and Lucina idly noted that this had never happened in the previous timeline. Only idly, though, as soon a jet of lava almost seared her eyebrows off. Luckily, Gerome's mask protected her.

Gerome's mask. Not a copy. The dying man had given it to her before he breathed his last breath, and it still haunted her.

Shaking out of her daze, Lucina could hear shouting on the other side as the ground around her split apart, causing her to take a step backwards.

Right off the cliff.

Her heart was in her throat as she grasped for something to steady herself, finding nothing but the ashy branch of a bush that disintegrated at her touch.

"Marth!"

Tipping backwards, her world flipped upside down as she did a full vertical three-sixty, her hands finding purchase in one of the hand-hold like gaps of the seam's walls. The swordswoman felt the searing heat of the magma below, and several thoughts flashed through her mind.

Is this how it ends?

Father… forgive me…

"Curse you, Robin!"

A rock bounced off of her head.

Looking up, a pale hand was dangling just above her, the grime and ash that was smudged across it glistened with sweat. She supposed it wasn't just her.

Hey! I made a joke!

"Take my hand!"

Ignoring her inner ramblings, she reached up and grabbed the hand, quickly scrambling up the hot rocky surface and ignoring the burning in her hands as she was hoisted up and over the edge.

Climbing to her feet as quickly as she dared, Lucina cleared her throat and looked up at her saviour. The hand had been masculine, so unless Frederick had already returned, then-

"Thank you, Chrom…"

There was an awkward silence as even the cracking of the earth stopped. She was frozen mid-rise, staring up at the familiar Plegian robes. They were far too tattered to be those of the Robin she had seen earlier, stained with blood and run ragged at the edges. Further up, under the hood, a pair of umber eyes stared down at her in concern.

A range of emotions flashed through her. Relief, happiness… Boiling uncontrollable rage as hot as the sun…

Mostly rage.

"Hey!" Lucina tore her gaze from the ghost to look in the direction of the voice. Chrom was waving wildly as the world started again, cracks beginning to spider-web across the surface and magma erupting. Meanwhile, just behind the lord-to-be the fortress sat sturdily, it's foundation remaining stable amongst the shifting plates of earth. "You two! Get over here!"

Scrambling to her feet, Lucina broke into a run, dodging away from a pillar of fire as she, Chrom, and the Plegian robed man that no one would ever recognize darted through the open gates of the fort.

"Help me close them!" Robin ordered, wiping sweat off of her forehead. "Also, your cape is on fire."

Cursing, Lucina patted out her cloak before assisting in shutting the doors.

O

I loved the idea, but the execution was… poor, to say the least. Ah well. I'm sure it'll turn out somewhat alright.

On that note, I'd like to mention the story's nature. This isn't going to be a hardcore drama. I thought about it; I really did. But then I remembered I'm an asshole that can barely pin down emotions. So this will be part humor, part drama. I apologize if any of the characters seem out of, well, character.