Of Lords and Tacticians
And Tagules, and Troubadours, and Mages, and Manaketes, and everything else in between; A one-shot and a long-shot collection. ;P
Sorry for not getting this out sooner. I've been experiencing computer troubles and all that jazz. Also, Spoilers for the game! Go play it first!
(3/1/13) Reworked the chapter.
A/N: I am in the very long and excruciating process of reworking from the ground up this rather unpolished first chapter. Please be patient.
Part One: You may call me Marth:
A/N : So, For this series, which somehow managed to become more popular then I had dreamed, (This may be in part to the fact that Fire Emblem Awakening just recently came out. :P) I'll be alternating between my Avatar (Chris) and Lucina centric one-shots, that will, more often than not, lead into each other to some degree, and one-shots dealing with other members of the Shepherds in between. This particular piece goes off of the little fact Grima brought up at the end of chapter 23. He says that you lost your memory because he came back in time with Lucina and tried to possess you as his vessel. But that would be impossible, because Lucina apparently didn't drop into the future until later, during her rescue of Lissa. 0_o So, I've decided to mix things up a bit as I explain this little discrepancy.
Regardless, here we go.
Thanks for stopping by to read.
Sweat dripped down his face as he ran as fast as his legs would carry him, praying silently to Naga that she would deliver him from the terror he had just witnessed.
He dared not look back, lest a last glance at the smoking heap that had been his home sap what little strength he had to spare. The dying wails of the townsfolk, who had become his kin, still echoed in his ears. The cold, lifeless gaze of his mother, the only real family he had ever known, refused to leave his mind's eye.
His legs moved of their own volition, even as his aching body protested. His mind was too far in a daze to care anymore. That thing... It's deep, dark chuckle never ceasing as it butchered and razed his home. It's strength so terrible even the best of the warriors or passing mercenaries could do nothing to even stall it. It's face... Oh, gods... It's face... It had my face...
"You cannot escape your destiny, little fool." The foreboding voice of darkness echoed around him. He only ran all the harder. Until a rock, a simple innocent stone, simply nothing save in an ill place at the most ill of times, caught his foot, sending him plummeting to the ground.
"Why do you run?" The voice said, a grim humor in it's otherworldly voice. "You are destined to a higher purpose."
A chill went down his spine as a dark presence loomed over him. Gods, he caught me... He whimpered with the thought.
"Your are to be a god. Accept your fate. Become me!"
And then, darkness.
Total, all-consuming darkness...
...
...
...
A pulsing blue portal tore itself open out of this air, opening like a single, unblinking eye. A single figure, clad in blue and with hair to match, walked through the portal, its 'lid' waving like water as the figure broke through. A traveler from a distant time and place, clad as the Hero-King of yore, Marth. Flachion was borne on her side.
The figure immediately noticed someone laying face down on the ground, the smoke rising from the distance telling that something was terribly amiss. Despite her own internal protest for meddling in this timeline, she knelt down next to the unconscious young man. His silvery gray hair briefly caught her attention, though she paid it no mind for the moment.
After a quick look over, making sure that there were no major injuries, the figure flipped over her disabled companion.
And immediately recoiled as she saw his face. Nearly tripping over in surprise, the figure's hand went quickly to the blade at her side, drawing it and holding it shakily at the man's downed form.
No... There is no way... It's impossible. The Avatar of Destruction? Why is he here? How?
The figure prepared to thrust the blade through her target, but was caught off guard, simply by the serene look adorning his face. Wincing at her own indecision, she re-sheathed the Falchion, marching resolutely away from the man.
She didn't get far, before her resolution faded. Letting out a strained groan, before turning around back to the Avatar.
His head hurt, a whole immense ton. He tried to sit up, but the pain that shot through his whole body sent him back down. Upon some kind of bedding? With an intense level of concentration, he managed to pull his eyes open. On one side, the sun hadn't risen yet, but the very edges of the sky were already lighting up a faint pink. On his other, the edge of a forest. A non-descript figure sat warily on a log, switching between watching the fire and scanning her surroundings every few moments.
They must have been the one who had given him the bed, but why he was out in the middle of no-where in the first place, he couldn't seem to recall.
The figure noticed that he had awoken, and immediately made a quick movement for something behind them, holding it up to their face and tucking their long azure hair beneath the collar of their outfit. They made a slow, almost cautious approach, hand resting at the ready on the hilt of their sword.
She stopped a few feet from him, the object she had held to her face now clearly an intricate mask, and stared him down apprehensively.
"Do... You know how I got here?" He said after a moment of silence, looking over the person in front of him. She was clearly female, if one looked hard enough, though she was clearly trying to hide that fact, for whatever reason.
The figure was silent, instead, simply pointing to the smoke still rising off the horizon. The man couldn't help but feel a clench around his heart, even if he could not understand why. "What happened?"
"Who are you?" The person snapped back, ignoring his question. He recoiled a bit at the fierceness of the question, but quickly went still as he realized,
He had no idea who he was.
"I... I don't know." Was his simple reply.
The figure gave a dissatisfied grunt, before turning and walking away.
"Wait... Who are you? Why did you help me?"
She figure stopped for a moment, turning her head around only enough for her to see him. "You may call me Marth..." She said, going back to walking. He gait was forced, and the way she carried herself almost looked like she was trying too hard not to look feminine, right up to the obvious inflection she added to her voice.
It was a curious matter. Almost curious as how he was able to put together all these little pieces about this 'Marth'. Or why he couldn't remember anything. Yeah, he would have to figure that one out later.
Scrambling to get out of the cloths that he had been given as a makeshift bed, he quickly made chase after Marth into the woods. He couldn't figure out why, but something about her seemed annoyingly familiar. Like he had know her before, almost like in a distant dream or something...
He nearly tripped over a jutting root as he lost himself in his thoughts. He managed to catch himself and right his stance back up, only to come a few inches away from Marth's snarling, masked face.
It was slightly unnerving to see.
"Stop following me." She hissed, before turning and walking away again, leaving the amnesiac young man standing confused, alone in the forest. He watched her fade away into the distance, unable to follow any longer. For but another unexplained reason, he couldn't help but respect her wishes. There was some bizarre, unexplainable attraction here. Some kind of otherworldly connection. He knew her, but from where, he could not remember. A dark buzz in the back of his mind told him he didn't actually want to remember.
Letting out a sigh, and running a hand through his silver-grey hair (something his subconscious told him was a nervous habit he had been doing for a long time), he turned and walked back to the clearing bordering the woods.
Taking a last glance at the smoke still rising from the distance, he turned and headed off in the opposite direction, towards the sunrise. He took a deep breath. He didn't remember anything from before now, so this marked the first step on the journey of a new life.
He had a feeling that it was going to be a long trip.
"Chrom, we have to do something..."
Huh?
"Well, what do you propose we do?"
Whattists?
"I-I don't know!"
His relentless march into the distance the previous day had been admittedly foolish in hindsight. And the fact that it had ended with him passing out off the trail of some road to nowhere as far as he knew was one of the stupidest things he could remember.
Not that he could remember anything...
He forced his eyes open, only to find a pair of people standing over him. One, a rather oddly dressed blonde female, and the other a blue-haired knight of some kind, who looked oddly like Marth. He had a familiar feeling about him as well, but it was significantly less profound.
He was snapped out of his thoughts as he realized he was being talked to, and apparently offered help, as the man was offering his hand.
"There are better places to take a nap then on the ground you know." The man said with a smirk.
Shaking off any nagging thoughts he may have had, he took the man's hand, using his weight to pull himself to his feet.
"You all right?" He said, sounding a bit concerned, but still cheerful.
"Y-yes... Thank you, Chrom." He answered, surprising even himself as the name slipped off his tongue.
The one who was apparently Chrom raised an eyebrow at the rather odd person in front of him. "Ah, so you know who I am?"
The silver-haired man shook his head, rubbing his temples. "N-no, actually, I... It's strange. Your name just came to me..."
Chrom looked just as puzzled as he was, nocking his head to the side in confusion. "...Hmm, how curious. Tell me, what's your name? What brings you out to these fields?"
"My name is... It's... I... Don't remember." He answered, slightly flustered.
"Wait, you don't know you're own name?" The blonde girl behind him said, sounding astonished. "I've heard of this! It's called amnesia!"
A third, taller man walked up beside them, looking down on the amnesiac man with suspicion. "What it's called is a load of pegasus dung. You expect us to believe you know milord's name, and not your own?"
"B-but it's the honest truth! I don't even know where on earth I am!" He answered, holding up his hands defensively.
Chrom put his hand on Frederick's shoulder, urging him back. "What if it IS true, Frederick? We can't just leave him hear, alone and confused. What sort of Shepherds would we be then?"
Frederick took a step back, but his wary expression didn't change. "Just the same, milord, I must emphasize caution. 'Twould not do to let a wolf into our flock."
Oh, real kind of you Frederick.
Chrom nodded. "Very well. We'll take him back to town and sort this out there."
"Wait, don't I get a say in this?" He said, giving Frederick a sour look.
"Peace, friend. We'll hear what you have to say in the town. Now come."
Well, that doesn't sound like a bad idea. Who knows when the last time I slept in a real bed was...
"What will you do with me? Am I to be your prisoner?" He questioned, not helping the lingering feeling of unease around these people.
Chrom just laughed. "Hah! No, you'll be free to go as soon as we establish you are no enemy of Ylisse?"
"Is that where we are? Ylisse?" He asked, furrowing his brow in confusion.
Frederick answered with a sarcastic laugh. "You have never heard of the Halidom? Ha! Someone pay this actor. He play quite the fool! The furrowed brow is especially convincing..."
Chrom put a hand on Frederick's shoulder again, putting him back in place yet again. "Frederick, please. This land is known as the Halidom of Ylisse. Our ruler, Emmeryn, is called the Exalt. And I suppose proper introductions are in order..."
Ylisse? Sounds... Familiar... A dream... A memory maybe? A city burning, underneath a huge shadow. Many sorrowful cries as life upon life is snuffed out. As well as a name...
"My name is Chrom- but then, you already knew that." Chrom continued uninterrupted. "The delicate one here is my little sister, Lissa."
"I am NOT delicate! ...Hmph!" Lissa pouted behind them, crossing her arms a spitting her tongue out at Chrom. Not that he noticed. "Ignore my brother, please. He can be a bit thick sometimes."
Chrom rolled his eyes at his sister's behavior. "And the one behind me is Frederick the Wary."
Frederick nodded, standing tall and proud. "A title I shall wear with pride, Milord. Gods forbid one of us keep an appropriate level of caution. I have every wish to trust you, stranger, but my station demands otherwise."
Well, your nickname definitely fits you... "I understand, sir. I would do no less myself, I suppose."
Another flash of memory. Several faces flying by, some so fast he couldn't make out most of them. And a name again... His name...
"My name is Chris..." He muttered. Everyone looked at him with raised eyebrows. "...I just remembered that. How odd. I suppose that is one mystery solved."
A memory of a burning town. The name.. It seems to drag with it such weight... The town... His town? The smoldering remains of the town, smoke rising from the distance. The same town he had looked at with Marth... Marth?
"Chris? Is that foreign?" Chrom asked, again shaking Chris from his thoughts. Chrom gave a dismissive wave of his hand, picking up his pace slightly on the trail. "...Ah well. We can discuss this later. We are almost to the town. Once we... Oh, gods..."
The town was on fire. Fire... Not more fire... Chris winced. These dreamlike memories would be the death of him yet.
By the time Chris shook himself out of his stupor, the people he had been traveling with had disappeared. Scolding himself for losing himself like that, he quickly hurried off after them.
By the time he had made it to the town, most of the attacking brigands had already been slain. Aside from a few gurgling stragglers, the only real noise in the town was coming in the direction of a nearby courtyard. He rounded a corner, just to see a rough looking brigand holding a young girl in a choke-hold, shouting threats at Chrom and Frederick, who stood not far from him, weapons drawn.
"Don't take another step, ye blasted Ylissean dogs, or this maiden gets it!" The brigand yelled, holding his axe up to the squirming girl's neck. Chrom and Frederick stopped in their tracks, glairing furiously at the brute. "Now, put down yer weapons." He said with a smirk.
The sound of clicking metal rung out as Chrom's weapon hit the floor.
Chris growled furiously, running at the bandit.
"Now..." The ruffian continued. "I want you to turn around and- Hurk!" With a dull thunk, the charred husk of what had been the ruffian leader Garrick, hit the ground. Chrom looked around, surprised, only to see and equally surprised Chris, small jolt of electricity still jumping from his fingertips.
"Did... I just do that?"
Chrom sighed. "Looks like we are have a lot of talking to do..."
They spent the rest of their day on the long walk to Yilsstol, all while explaining the world that Chris apparently knew nothing about. And while his constant headaches and mutterings about 'fire and darkness' struck them as odd, they just attributed it to his amnesia.
Either way, Chris caught on fast. He was a surprisingly quick learner, and his mind was quite keen, as everyone, Chris included, were figuring out. Even Frederick's best riddles couldn't stump the young man, whom Chrom had made the Shepherd's tactician on a whim, much to the lieutenant's dismay, on both counts.
"We'll camp here for the night." Chrom said, having grown tired of his sister's annoying, if slightly amusing, complaints. "Why don't you and Frederick gather firewood, Lissa?"
The blonde healer vigorously shook her head. "No way, nuh uh! I've had enough of this walking around for the day!" She squeeled, plopping herself down on the ground.
"Say again, who isn't delicate?" Chris chuckled under his breath. Lissa heard him anyways, gave him a death glare, sat up, and started setting up camp.
"I'll get the firewood myself, then." Frederick sighed, before walking off.
Before long, Lissa and Chrom had set up camp, Chris and Frederick bringing firewood, with the lattermost person dragging a slain bear with him as well, much to everyone's astonishment.
Needless to say, they ate the bear that night.
"Mmm... It's been too long since I last had bear meat. Delicious!' Chrom murmured, smacking his lips, satisfied at his meal. He, however, noticed that Lissa hadn't touched hers. "What's wrong Lissa? Dig in. If you don't, I'll eat it."
His answer was a slab of well cooked meat in the face. "Gods, couldn't you spear us am animal normal people eat for once!?" Lissa complained. Again. "I mean, Come on! Who eats bear!?"
To this, Chris began eating his chunk all the faster, making a show out of clearly enjoying his meal.
"Goodness, Chris, slow down! You'll give yourself a heart attack if you eat like that." Frederick said.
"Hey, Frederick..." Lissa muttered, leaning closer to the knight. "Why haven't you eaten any? Bear meat too much for out staunch lieutenant?"
Frederick immediately tensed up. "Me? Ah, oh, well... I'm not hungry. I... I had quite a large lunch! Yes, quite..." Came his slightly too hasty answer.
"Yeah, right!" Lissa laughed, and was joined in by the other two. Frederick just tried his best to ignore them.
Chris couldn't sleep. He didn't even feel tired. Which was saying something, seeing as to how they just spent almost the whole day walking.
He had entertained himself with the stars decorating the night sky, and trying to sort out who exactly he was. And the memories that kept plaguing him. It would take awhile, but if he was ever to move on, he would have to forget about who he was before. Hopefully, nothing really important happened in his past.
There was a cold breeze, and a chill ran down his spine. A very familiar chill...
Grabbing the sword Frederick had been kind enough to provide him with, Chris set off into the woods to see just what was going on.
He didn't know that Lissa had seen him sneak off, and had given chase herself.
Chris didn't get very far, before he noticed that the woods had grown eerily quiet, eerily fast. "Something is wrong here..." He muttered.
Not but a moment after the words left his mouth, did the ground start to shake beneath him. "Damn!"
Quickly turning around, Chris started running back to the camp, nearly tripping several times as the earth beneath him stared to splinter and crack. And rise, spitting forth thick balls of fire as they did so.
He nearly tripped again, but this time, over Lissa. "Damnit, Lissa! Come on!" Chris shouted, grabbing the girls arm and having her run with him.
They were nearly taken down several times, between falling fire, and falling trees. By the time they made it back to the camp, it had already been abandoned. "Damn it!" Chris ground out through clenched teeth as Lissa gasped for breath behind him.
"C-Chirs! Look!" Lissa shouted between raspy breaths, pointing to the sky.
First one, then many glowing, eye-like disks appeared in the sky over them. Everything around them seemed to go still.
Until, like worms sliding out of a clump of dirt, several limp humanoids came sliding out, hitting the ground with a hard thud. A moment later, with stiff and jerky movements, the figures stood up, glowing eyes bleeding ill intent.
"Lissa... Get behind me..." Chris said, pushing the small cleric to his rear. She squeaked meekly in response.
One of the creatures charged at him, unbelievably fast for how... Decayed it looked. Chris brought up his sword, and managed to parry the creature's axe.
Where did it get that thing anyways?
The creature's reaction speed was slow, and Chris was able to land a clean slash across its chest before it could bring its axe back down. Chris flinched for a moment as the creature simply looked down at him., before he ended up going flying as the creature backhanded him. The creature lunged at him again, and Chris sidestepped, holding out his sword arm as to impale the creature as it shot past him.
That's exactly what happened, the creature taking his sword with it as it was skewered. It disappeared in a puff of foul smoke, causing the sword to fall to the ground.
Chris picked up his weapon, nodding to himself in satisfaction. A shrill cry interrupted his self-congratulations.
Lissa was meekly holding up her staff in defense, as one of the creatures approached her, oddly slower than the one that had attacked him. The creature raised it's axe...
Damn... No! She's too far away! I'll never make it in time!
Chris tore off, full tilt, at the monster, yelling in desperation, sword raised.
The creature dropped it's axe, Lissa and Chris both freezing in the moment. The loud clash of steel on steel rang out, catching both Shepherds by surprise.
Marth had blocked to blow, though just barely, as she stood with her weapon locked against the monsters.
"Help!" She managed to yell under the strain. Chris realized he had been standing still, and went back to rushing the creature. The monster loosened the grip on its weapon, distracted by the approach of a new target, just enough for Marth to push the axe away.
The creature recoiled back, and was hewn in three as the two blades met it simultaneously. Its pieces turned to smoke before they even hit the ground.
Frederick rode by, already mounted on his horse and armed to the teeth, followed closely by Chrom. "Milady! Hurry, let's get you to safety!" He said, grabbing Lissa and pulling her up onto his horse. "You two! There are more of those creatures to the west and south! Hurry!"
Chris and Marth nodded between each other, running off.
Before long, all the monsters in the immediate area had been disposed off.
Marth gave a satisfied grunt, re-sheathing Falchion. "Thank you..." She said over her shoulder, turning to walking away, just like last time. She was stopped as Chris grabbed her arm. She simply froze in his grasp, her whole body tensing up.
"Marth... I have to ask you something..." Chris muttered quietly. She turned around to face him, a sneer on her face. Said sneer disappeared though, when she saw how troubled the future vessel of Destruction was.
"I... I have memories of you. At least... I think they're memories. Have we met before?" He asked simply, though the undertones of his voice almost made it sound like he was begging for an answer.
"We have not met before." She said simply. Chris looked somewhat downcast at the answer. "And yet... We have met before..."
Chris looked at her, confused. "What do you mean?"
"I have said to much already." She said, shaking her arm free of his grasp, and running into the woods.
Chris wouldn't be deterred this time, though, and gave chase. But despite his best efforts, he couldn't match her speed, and she faded from sight.
Though even that wouldn't stop him. He kept up his chase, regardless.
He didn't know how long he had been running for, but he was finally starting to feel slightly winded. Chris had sense slowed himself down, unable to keep his pace, but still moved quickly.
A clumsy sound rung out to his left, followed by some muttered curses.
Poking his head through a bush, Chris saw Marth sitting on a log, breathing heavily. Her mask was off and her hair was down, and the moonlight that funneled down through the trees cast her in an ethereal light.
He heard her take a nasally breath, followed by some more quavering breaths and maybe a hiccup or two.
Wait... She's... Crying?
Chris was tempted to come out of hiding, but fell silent again when she started muttering something.
"Father... Your alive... And Chris..."
At that, he couldn't remain hidden any longer. Chris pulled himself out of the bushes and walked up to the crying woman. She didn't even notice him as he sat down on the right next to her.
"Please... Tell me what you know..."
Marth let out a shrill cry, totally not fitting what he had seen of her so far. Or what he... Remembered of her. But still she didn't try to run away, instead, simply slumping her shoulders in resignation. "You... You really want me to tell you what I know..." She said between sniffs.
Chris nodded. "Please. I have to know..."
Marth nodded slowly. "You... In the future... Become the Fell Dragon Grima..."
The name alone brought a slew of nightmarish 'memories' to the surface, most of them filled with death and despair. But that made no sense... How could he have memories of the future?
"How... How can you know this!?" Chris shouted, standing up in a mix of excitement and fear.
"Mayhaps you should sit back down..."
Chris must have lost all track of time, as the sun was already starting to rise again.
Lucina, as she had revealed herself to be, had spent the whole night explaining exactly what she knew, to painstaking details. And through many stunned silences, and tears shed over painful memories, Chris had finally come to understand.
Understand, yes. Believe, now that was a different story.
"So... just as recap... I kill Chrom, become the Fell Dragon due to my dark bloodline, and lay waste to the world?"
Lucina nodded.
"And you're Chrom''s daughter from the future, who has come back in time to prevent all this from happening..."
Lucina nodded again.
"And you think I lost my memories because Grima tried to take over my body in this time line?"
"Or something similar. You wouldn't have had so many of his own memories otherwise." She murmured.
Chris sighed, running a hand through his hair. That was alot to take in...
But that still left one unanswered question... This lingering attraction to the masquerading lordess...
"I promise you, Lucina, I will not let this future of yours come to pass." Chris said solemnly.
"I want to believe you... I do. But I'm not sure if it can be done. Can one truly challenge their fate and win?" Lucina said, sounding physically and emotionally drained.
Chris nodded. "I don't believe in fate. We make our own destinies. And I'll prove it to you."
"How... How do you plan on tha-" She was cut off as Chris placed a gentle kiss on her cheek.
Lucina's face immediately went red.
"Trust me."
"W-Why did you do that..." Lucina sputtered.
"I'm not sure myself... Blame it on my Grima-borne memories..." Chris answered quietly
Lucina looked away, face flushing deeper. "In the future... As Grima, you said after you killed my friends, you would have captured me and made me your slave..."
All the color drained from Chris' face at that.
"All I can figure is that was a more benign version of that attraction you had for my body..." She said blankly with a sigh. All the emotion had sense been drained from her over the course of the night. "Still... Maybe there is still hope. You never kno-mmpf!?"
Chris placed another, equally soft kiss on her lips, making them both go red in the face.
"Lucina... I'm sorry... I'm going to stop this future, one way or another."
"How... How can you be certain..."
"Like I said... Trust me..."
Well, first off, thanks a ton for reading. Thanks go to my reviewers, who made my day several times in one day; Mzr90, Mark of the Asphodel, KingAwesome, Gone2GroundEX, FallenBey, Tyrant Ratatosk, Gunlord500, Missletain, BrightCrest, That's my Pi, and GreyJack 72.
Special thanks to Missletain, BrightCrest, Fallenbey, Mzr90, Gone2GroundEX, Metalpenguin, and kingawesome for being cool, and Mr0Cheese for being a fellow writer on the field on Avatar x Lucina. I'm rooting for you, man.
And, that's the game. This has been quite the start, hasn't it? Also, for those curious, I was working in alot of the "Grima memories" Thing as mentioned several times in-game. I also felt the story was a bit rushed, especially closer to the end, but I still enjoyed writing this. I plan to continue through the majority of the main story, all with Avatar x Lucina going the whole time. I feel it's a bit of a long shot, so let's see how it goes.
Questions, comments, criticisms? Let me have em'!
Next up, is the first of the divergent one-shots, an Avatar x Cordelia story, with credits to Mzr90.
Cheers!~