(Fire Emblem Heroes) May The Future Be Bright: Kiran's Story

RoBlue321 · Jul 26, 2023

World Of Revelations Part 3

Raigh couldn't say that he disliked having, essentially, become the summoner of the order since having Breidablik in his hands definitely felt nice, and being more than just a black mage in the ranks of this army was something that could be described as pleasant… but having to be the one explaining to the summoned people what was the reason for why they were taken away from their original timelines was kinda stressful.

Bernadetta's case is the most obvious example...

Still, he hoped she was okay...

But for now, he was focused on his current activity... which consisted of giving this young couple a copy of everything they had lost when they were sent into the future.

"I don't understand, I can send you back in time to the exact moment and same place where you left… why do you want a copy of everything?" if what they wanted were resources to survive, the Order would give them everything they needed, especially since with the replicated inventions and more projects in the future, the Order's budget was going sky high.

The red-haired woman played with her index fingers while her fiancé placed a hand on her shoulder. "It just happens that... we were talking about it after you explained everything to us... and we decided that maybe we don't want to go back."

Raigh raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms.

The green-haired man was quick to explain. "We found ourselves traveling, our desire is to find where to start a new life together."

"And being here practically ensures that you will have a job?" Raigh shook his head slightly with a sarcastic smile. He was not sure if they were idiots or just that desperate "I mean, a normal person would expect that military work would not be what a couple, recently married which I guess given the rings and the fact you're very young, would be looking for."

"We have experience." The green-haired man shrugged. "It would be like going back to work under Eliwood's orders."

"Besides... this way my family won't be able to find us... ever..."

"Oh, the classic father of the bride does not approve the man who her daughter loves, I suppose?" Raigh rubbed his chin and shrugged. "Bueno (well), that still sounds like a very fast-done decision... but who am I to opine? in that case, I guess I can give you what you want." Raigh grabbed a pen and paper and looked at them with an expectant face.

The couple then gave him a description of everything they had lost. In addition to Priscilla's horse and clerical utensils, there was a certain amount of money and supplies.

Nothing very complicated that could not be easily provided by the Order. Raigh gave a slight nod as he read the list and then started walking outside. "Well, follow me then." He yawned while doing this.

Maybe he should get more sleep...

But of course, his work on experiments didn't give him much of a chance to do that.

Perhaps trying to discover just what the hell was so good about coffee would be a good idea?

Both the nomad and the ex-noble held hands before following the young black mage. While their original idea of a new beginning never involved leaving Elibe, much less traveling to the very distant future and finding themselves on what was possibly an isolated continent billions of miles away that may not have been even discovered in their original time… this was something that was a once in a lifetime opportunity. Furthermore, this ensured that they would be safe from any further attempts by Priscilla's family to separate them again.

It was worth giving it a try.

Waiting for the spies of the order to obtain the intel they needed to discover the main trade routes of Hoshido and Nohr was something that became not so necessary thanks to the knowledge that King Corrin brought about this world, something that the current strategist of the order appreciated too much.

Given the existence of the canyon between the two nations, most of the trade between Hoshido and Nohr was of the maritime transport type within a gulf which was partially controlled by another nation called Mokushu.

Normally that would mean having to attack Mokushu directly… but it turns out that most of the ships had to make stops on intermediate islands called Notre Sagesse.

Slightly taking control of the islands would greatly disrupt the foreign trade on which Nohr was highly dependent at the moment. This would probably get Hoshido's attention, but their reaction time would be much slower in comparison.
Besides, it would be a sea battle… and Robin knew what to expect given her experience in this type of combat.

The idea of technically becoming a pirate wasn't something she was very excited about... but it was the best plan out there at the moment.

Luckily for her, Corrin volunteered to be the strategist who would lead the blockade on those islands, which made sense.
Not only he had more experience walking in this world, not only he would be better received on the island for it having been the place where he got his legendary weapon, not only was he more likely to get ships that would be willing to transport him without much suspicion, but this way she could stay to protect the portal.

In addition to other factors that they discussed in the greatest secrecy possible.

An important detail was that she ordered Alfonse, Anna, and Raigh to go with Corrin. Regarding the prince and the commander, the reason was obvious, the decision to send Raigh on the other hand was, essentially, because there was no record of whether there was another person to whom Kiran had entrusted the Breidablik... fortunately, Miriel could continue with the dynamite project with another assistant.

To make sure there was more or less good communication between both parts of the army, the Hinata of the order received orders to follow Corrin towards the south.

Robin would have preferred that the dynamite project had been completed already so she could give King Corrin a bit since she wanted to see possible results of this new version of a magic rain called bombing, but it was simply not feasible to wait that long and there was also the fact that there wasn't enough material to make the amount of dynamite needed to sink a fleet.

The means of production and transportation were just not as good and efficient as those in the Terran World Of Metal based on what she had learned about the inhabitants of that universe.

Regardless of that, another thing she was excited about was the idea of creating a path between two villages by destroying pieces of mountains. However, now that her mind was totally free of thinking in scientific strategies and experiments... her mind made her remember what she had discussed with Sumia days ago...

After several more of traveling, Corrin was sitting on the upper deck of a ship, enjoying the view of the ocean a little. While Valla had beaches, he was rarely able to leave the palace because he had the obligation of fulfilling his duties as king. It was almost like, once the conflict between Hoshido and Nohr was over, his life had returned to the way it used to be when he was still locked up in that tower. The reasons why he remained inside the building were both political, but now of different causes.

While he could now go out when the situation allowed it and he had a wife, Corrin couldn't help but appreciate any opportunity to be in nature… and, in this particular case, in a much warmer environment. Maybe he could enjoy a day at the beach after arriving at Notre Sagesse. More nostalgia struck the king's heart when the island was visible on the horizon. He felt the need to unsheathe his precious sword and give him a good look.

This was the place where he got what made him feel like he could achieve anything.

And it was good to be back.

If only Azura was with him right there, everything would have been perfect.

Remembering his wife made him realize that maybe it was time to write her a letter regarding his progress, he didn't want to worry her too much. While the idea of people from another world sounded crazy to a normal person, he and Azura had seen so much weird stuff at this point of their lives that it might not be so strange to her.

Now it was a matter of waiting.

Being separated from the main army meant that he would now be in charge of the entire order of heroes portion of the army… or that would be the position Raigh would be in if not for Anna managing that.

Which he appreciated very much.

Raigh didn't genuinely enjoy the idea of being in charge… and while his "stepdad" didn't complain, it was clear from the start he would prefer a lot being just the right hand instead of the actual leader.

The difference is that he unquestionably didn't want to be in command, unlike Kiran Mark who seemed to resign himself to it.

For this trip, Alfonse had lent him his recently recharged special energy to open portals with which explained why they had 4 new orbs in case more heroes were needed.

Although the luck factor regarding the summoning was something that Raigh didn't think could actually be counted on to save the day.

Even with all those details, he had to admit that it felt good to have some time for himself away from his mother and brother. He just liked having a few days alone, even if it meant not spending more time with Mrs. Miriel learning things... especially because the night after they crossed the Gate they realized the firmament had something that Kiran had been looking for for a long time.

Considering that El Proyecto Rojo prototype had progressed very well, something very opposite to his attempts to better decipher Embla's curse, a break from those activities might be a good idea to relax a bit.

"Um, Lord Corrin wonders how you got the ability to summon heroes." Raigh turned around, the visibility his eyes gave him making him discover the presence of the King of Valla as well as that person who was the temporary translator, Hinata.

He just shrugged and started playing with a red orb. "It's not something that truly belongs to me, just that the main summoner had to leave the post for a while and left me in charge."

The king glanced at Breidablik and then decided to look at his sword. "Lord Corrin said the following. He used to think that having the Yato was one of the greatest responsibilities in the world… but the power to summon an army of the most powerful people in history is something that must be much more stressful to handle. "

"Part of the reason I hope I can get this back to my 'stepfather' as soon as possible." Raigh shook his head and rubbed his forehead in frustration. The mention of a stepfather seemed to pique a slight interest in Corrin… but he didn't say anything else afterward.

Of course, a commercial blockade through military action in a medieval-style world could go unnoticed for quite some time before the local authorities detected it and a messenger sent a direct report to the capital... which explained why Corrin had sent a message himself after sending back the first ship that reached the island. He had wanted to use a messenger from the moment he made this alliance of him, for now in a state of trial, with the order of heroes. However, Robin had explained that if there were generals or some other kind of Emblian authority among the ranks of Nohr or Hoshido then that would only complicate matters.

That explained why his current message did not specify the reason why he was doing this, he had only written that it was necessary and that he expected his siblings to show up to arrange an agreement.

If all went well, maybe it could be settled in a peaceful way.

But as an old saying goes: wanna make gods laugh? tell them your plans The local inhabitants had been quick to accept that King Corrin required this action for the greater good… this was one of the advantages of having Yato, he didn't have to give much evidence for people to take his word.

It was his "divine right" to be king and be respected as the bearer of the Fire Emblem.

His word was practically speaking: law.

Corrin, many times, wondered if this honestly was something that made sense...

The most obvious example that came to mind was Garon, his "stepfather" whom his subjects had obeyed despite how obviously evil he was... even if this was due to the influence caused by his real father... which was certainly repugnant.
He vowed to be a better father figure to any children he might have in the future.

"They are taking so long..." Raigh would never describe himself as someone with a patience to be praised... but even he found this to be a bit slow considering that the messenger Nohr sent to warn of the arrival had left like an hour ago.

Once Corrin received a translation of that sentence, he somewhat agreed. Perhaps there were simply not enough wyvern knights escorting Camilla to make it safe for her to approach without Nohr's small but still existing fleet?

Alfonse, for his part, was serious.

For this kind of situation, he had trained his abilities as a ruler.

A diplomatic situation that could perhaps help you liberate a nation from Embla's control or an alliance with Embla, without even having to resort to technically starting a war against that nation...

Perhaps this would help to ease the doubts that his people had about his capabilities as a leader...

He couldn't afford to fail here.

It took a little longer for a brigade of wyvern riders to be clearly visible. Both Corrin and Alfonse recognized quickly that the central wyvern rider was a female.

Black armor adapted for a female body, long purple hair... and an imposing ax.

Camilla.

Alfonse breathed in and out deeply, basic relaxation techniques for any situation.

Corrin instead crossed his arms. For obvious reasons, there were several soldiers of the Order of Heroes and the army of Valla nearby as well to protect both the prince of Askr, the king of Valla, and the spare summoner.

Among them, Minerva and Cordelia are among the most important ones besides obviously Hinata for the translation.
Alfonse and Corrin witnessed the descent of the Wyvern Knights maintaining their composure and understanding the gravity of the situation.

Camilla's facial expression was… clearly serious.

Corrin knew this wasn't the typical serious look from his sister.

She was angry.

She crossed her arms and began to speak in a complaining tone in Nohr's language.

Since Corrin could understand and respond perfectly, Raigh and Alfonse had to rely on Hinata to understand the conversation.

While it wasn't perfect, a full translation of their conversation that would appear in the recorded story would be:

"Corrin… could you please please explain to me… why are you affecting the commerce of our nation when we're literally running out of supplies even with your previous help and Hoshido's?!" The woman raised her hands in clear exasperation… probably the result of all the stress that everybody would get into managing a kingdom that had recently been at war not to mention dealing with the nobles.

Corrin kept his composure and proceeded to explain.

"I have been informed that Nohr has formed an alliance with an empire from another dimension, timeline, or something like that. Turns out they are at war with my current, although provisional, new allies."

"Your new what ?!" Camilla's face did not fail to show her confusion at this fact.

Corrin proceeded to raise his hand in a manner that asked his sister to allow him to explain what had happened. After doing more explanation, Camilla was confused and angrier.

"But that does not make sense! we've been sending you letters all this time! " Camilla exclaimed. "Xander even told us you were fighting with him!"

Corrin, of course, denied such a claim... and this made him see that, indeed, there were more reasons not to want to trust the Emblian empire...

His sister, however, did not see it the same way.

She proceeded to look at who Corrin had explained to her were the current leaders of the Order of Heroes. Alfonse kept his composure as Raigh proceeded to cross his arms, but she made sure her facial expression remained neutral.

"How do I know these guys are not keeping you controlled under the influence of dark magic?" Camilla asked, remembering the incident involving Garon… if it now turned out that her little brother was also being controlled… she would "retire" these people mercilessly.

"It would not be the first time I'm in a situation where somebody is not trusted when they don't have much evidence to back up their claims and it turned out they were right once people gave them an opportunity." Corrin had to frown slightly as he patted the trusty holy sword. Camilla looked down in shame as the memory of that time Corrin had been declared a traitor by the two nations appeared in her mind... not exactly their best moment as family...

Corrin simply shrugged. "And they gave me a story that has not been contradicted so far and something to give them my momentary vote of confidence. Not doing so would be hypocritical coming from me."

The Princess of Nohr sighed and thought about what her next words would be.

"Brother... you do understand that we cannot simply break an alliance which was made with the approval of the current king." As far as the King of Valla knew, his brother Xander was fighting for Embla on the front lines. That was something quite worrying, although at least it was good to know that he had not died in battle... unless that tragedy had already happened and Embla decided not to report it... just like they had not informed him of his new alliance with Nohr and, apparently, they had written letters and claimed they Corrin himself had written them.

It seemed that he should try to improve his handwriting to avoid forgeries... although that brought up a new question... had they managed to imitate the seal of the royal house of Valla so perfectly?...

Or maybe…

Or maybe there were spies from Embla in his castle who had access to one of the seals... or at least they had stolen one...
Although the possibility of a spy seemed less coherent once Corrin made some extra questions: if there was, indeed, a spy in Embla in Valla, why not forge letters from his brothers to avoid suspicion on his part?

Maybe he was just paranoid, maybe the enemy made a mistake or forgot an important detail, but he was only sure of one thing.

He needed to send a direct message to his wife telling her to be a thousand times more careful.

"Even if there is a possibility, not to mention partial confirmation given that the only letters I ever wrote to you for a whole year never received a response even though you claim to have received letters from me, that this alliance has been formed based on lies? " Corrin had to fold his arms, it was one of the things he hated about the ruling, the chain of command could be a headache.

"Corrin, they have given us more resources to feed the population and make our lands prosper after the war, who knows how many would have died in the previous winter had it not been for Embla's help." His sister had to rub her forehead as she explained this.

That was a partially fair point, he had to admit that.

"So what could we do to have the alliance suspended, at least momentarily until we solve this mystery and discover what realm of another universe is lying to us?" Corrin didn't want to give up, there must be a somewhat more peaceful way to solve this.

"Well, what makes you give them your confidence vote to this "order of heroes"?" Camilla wanted at least a tentative proof.

"They mentioned being able to summon heroes across space and time to fight for their cause. They showed me the process and I saw with my own eyes a couple being summoned through a portal. Not to mention that Hinata here is one of them. In theory, he is not the same Hinata that we know."

Hinata proceeded to explain how and when he had been summoned by Kiran and that he had been fighting for the order of heroes for months.

Hinata also offered to translate for Camilla a statement made by the Prince of Askr. Camilla sighed several times, her arms crossed as they considered the situation.

"If these are truly legendary heroes... that means they are very strong, is that correct?" She asked Alfonse this question.
Once Hinata translated it, Alfonse nodded at the same time as Raigh.

"If that's the case... I suppose they will have no problem showing their strength in combat." Camilla prepared her ax as she said this.

Once both members of the order heard her request, Raigh and Alfonse looked at each other.

"Does she want to fight us?" Alfonse asked. "It's gonna be a duel I suppose." Although he was already strong enough to fight Chrom on equal terms... the King of Ylisse wasn't exactly the highest on the list of the 10 strongest male heroes... and that's without considering the fact that the list was separated by genre. Askr had never really bothered to try to determine if the strongest hero was stronger than the strongest heroine.

And of course, the list was made considering the average strength of the different versions of the same hero that Askr and Embla found through their long history of visiting the past.

He doubted he could defeat Camilla.

Hinata, however, clarified the matter further. "What she wants is to face the heroes you have summoned, if they can defeat her then Lady Camilla will be willing to avoid conflict with the enemy of Embla."

Alfonse had to grit his teeth.

Since the main army of the Order could not be left without its strongest soldiers, the heroes who had accompanied them weren't exactly the best ones...

This was bad...

Although I honestly don't play FEH much anymore (seriously, once I completed my +10 F!Robin and +10 Nino it's as if the magic just disappeared) I won't abandon my story. If FEH's writer won't give this game a story at the very least decent, it's my job to do so.

Then again, Journey Through Pressure is much better but that does not mean I won't try to stay in, at least, second place.

As you have read through the chapter, one of the concepts I changed from Fates is the location where Corrin got Yato. This time he got it from the sage himself after demonstrating he's worthy rather than just getting it in Hoshido because... gary stu/mary sue reasons I guess? and the sword was very important as a symbol if you understood correctly.

I also realized this is the first time a Fire Emblem it's mentioned.

Don't worry, the other ones will have their moments too.

Doing this chapter required studying a lot the geography of the Fates continent aka Neite as I named it for this fic.

Talking about geography, since in this story all the games happened on a single planet, I was having a conversation with Half-beastdragonsoul2013 regarding where each continent should be considering the environment each continent displays. So far there are 9 of them. It may seem they are too many but it's simple: that planet is bigger. Don't mix the concepts of size/volume and mass up though, an object may have more mass but also a similar size to something with less mass. Take a look at Jupiter for example: it has more mass than Saturn, Uranus and Neptune combined yet it does not seem that much bigger than Saturn. Density is a thing after all. So yeah, the FE Planet is bigger but it has more or less the same mass as our Earth so the gravity is the same. Anyway, in our conversation, we decided the location of all the continents on the south or north side of the planet plus what continent would be neighbor of which one.
Thanks a lot to them for helping me. I appreciate it and you should go and take a look at their story!

RoBlue321 · Jul 26, 2023

World Of Revelations Part 4: Summoning For The Victory

Knowing the strength that the provisional leader of the kingdom of Nohr was capable of, both Alfonse and Raigh had to play their cards right if they wanted the situation to do not escalate into something many times worse.

"Uuuh..." Alfonse raised his index finger a little. "Could you please allow us to discuss our dueling strategy for a moment?" His teeth demonstrated his feeling of anxiety at the moment.

Raigh had to swallow hard. Luck was never going to be on his side given what he had seen in his life.

"Lady Camilla asks if that means you are accepting her proposition." Hinata translated, the princess herself had her arms crossed but one hand clearly gripped on her ax. Alfonse then bowed, placing his hand on his chest. "If it's the only way to avoid bloodletting the soil of these lands and throwing our soldiers' lives away, I'm sure both King Corrin and I will agree."

Indeed, Corrin nodded. This was no surprise to Camilla though, her little brother had always disliked having to fight to resolve conflicts.

Alfonse then shook his head. "But first I want to discuss a few details with my... spare summoner?"

Honestly, there was no perfect way to describe what Raigh was in the hierarchy of the order.

He was the right hand (or left one considering Kiran was left-handed at birth) of the summoner. That was clearer than the visibility of the stars on a moonless night, but exactly what else he was able to decide or command was still something not defined on paper.

Camilla, fortunately for them, decided to accept.

Once the two of them walked to a spot a little way up that hill, Raigh was the first to say a word. "First of all, and based on your reaction, I imagine we're so screwed that we don't have a single hero that you're really sure can fight her... right?"

Alfonse sighed, his face betraying his "confidence" in the situation just like Raigh had predicted "Indeed… maybe if Robin were here she could fight Camilla. The Robins are generally just as strong as the Corrins, that would mean a more or less assured victory… but everyone else we have…"

"Just our luck..." Raigh growled as he facepalmed.

Unfortunately, Corrin himself couldn't be chosen to fight since he wasn't a summoned hero. "Okay, I have an idea." Raigh tried to put into practice the logic he had been taught recently. "Heroes are able to fight multiple soldiers with no problem… so Camilla, who is a hero, is what you would define as "one-woman army" or whatever you want to call her… other heroes are that too, but overall she is more strong and effective, is that correct?"

Alfonse crossed his arms as he thought. "Yes." He nodded before pointing to something else that he realized. "Another problem is that, since this is a duel, I doubt we can convince her to fight a mage. It will have to be a fight with weapons. What's your idea then?"

"Perhaps we can tell her that she will fight two heroes at once. If she can sweep the ground with ordinary soldiers easily, two of them being able to defeat her will show that we have soldiers of superior strength and skill in general." Raigh was honestly trying his best and that was the most logical approach they had right now.

"That sounds a bit difficult…" the prince his fingers on his chin. "But perhaps if we appeal to her pride in her strength with flattery then perhaps she will allow it…" Alfonse then remembered a detail.

"Why don't you just show her how we summon a hero?"

"Remember that this just shows that we have the power to make people appear through portals," Raigh explained closing his eyes. "It doesn't prove by itself that they are heroes." Corrin had given them the benefit of the doubt, but that woman certainly wouldn't, and there were two big reasons for that…both the alliance they had with Embla and the simple fact of being strangers.

"Wait..." Alfonse snapped his fingers as the flame of ideas lit up in his brain.

"What?" Raigh raised an eyebrow as the prince pointed his index finger at his pocket.

"We have four orbs..." the prince's suggestion was obvious.

Raigh pulled out two orbs, one gray and one blue. He had them swap positions on his hand, toying with them, before speaking, "So you want to leave it to lady luck as that gambler from Magvel would say? Are you aware that the probability of summoning someone who can defeat her and also being able to convince said person to do this job for us is low…right?"

"Do we have any other options that would help avoid having to fight Nohr?" Alfonse asked.

Raigh considered it, before accepting the prince's point. "No, but if I understood correctly these were for emergencies only." Raigh began to play with the gray orb as he moved it to his left hand.

Alfonse nodded "I would say this counts as one, we can always make more. Listen, we'll have two heroes take her on… in the meantime do some summoning and hope for the best." Alfonse gave that order before he returned to where Camilla was.

Raigh swallowed hard.

The prince of Askr, once he had returned to be in presence of the king of Valla and the princess of Nohr, made a semi-bow before speaking again. "I would like to make a request." Alfonse cleared his throat and pondered his words carefully. "We are aware of Camilla's power, she is one of the ten strongest female heroes." Praising this warrior princess would be a good way to put her in a better mood.

Camilla took the news with the most natural reaction. She found it hard to believe. She didn't doubt that she was strong, but being able to claim she was in the top ten was certainly impressive… Camilla had to smile.

After Hinata explained that Camilla desired to know what the request was, in addition to asking her brother's place among the strongest heroes, Alfonse nodded. "The heroes among us don't precisely reach the top ten." It was at times like this that he wished at least one of the two Caedas had accompanied them. Maybe even Tiki. "Then how about if at least two of our heroes fight at the same time against you?" It was better not to tempt fate, if he asked for too many heroes she would probably change her mind. "Regarding Lord Corrin, he is the fifth strongest." Alfonse wasn't sure how the list would be altered considering the newly discovered new world Fodlan, but for now, that was the truth as far as he knew.
Camilla considered the proposal for several seconds…until she agreed.

All of the above was the reason why Cordelia and Minerva were together preparing their weapons.

Cordelia was inspecting said weapons. "Do you have knowledge of weapon maintenance?" The princess of Macedon asked the question as she lend the ax to Cordelia for a moment.

"They taught me a little about almost everything." Cordelia nodded as she polished the weapon as carefully as possible using a piece of tin. "Normally the weapon I am best at is a spear, but considering my opponent…" Cordelia pointed to a "silver" sword and shield she had in addition to her spear. "I think the combat style that I apparently inherited to my daughter is a better choice."

"That you apparently inherit to her? don't you remember training her?" Minerva had to admit that the derusting job her partner had done was quite competent.

It wasn't a wonder, like other blacksmiths she had access to as a princess could do, but her weapon certainly looked better.

"Well, we're in a different world and we've seen portals to different versions of the same ones. I think if I tell you I mean my daughter is from the future that won't sound impossible." Cordelia continued repairing her weapon.

Minerva made a confirming sound.

After having her ax back in her hands, she began to nod in satisfaction. "Usually this is the part where I tell you that you did a good job… but to be honest, I never liked receiving compliments and by extension, I didn't usually give them either… so I'm afraid I'm not good with words for this." Contrary to what princess Minerva expected, Cordelia smiled slightly at this. "Actually, I don't really like receiving them either. Before, even the slightest made me feel bad… It's a long story, my fellow Pegasus Knights used to say them to me in a somewhat sarcastic way." She rubbed the back of her head.

"I see." Minerva began to walk in the direction of the area where the duel would take place. "I still have my old Pegasus. While my wyvern is beautiful and my primary mount as a representative of my people, riding my pegasus makes me feel…younger. I don't know if you understand what I mean."

Cordelia was now polishing her sword as she answered and walked

"Well, when I was a child my mother made me sing, and singing always brings me back to those days so... I guess I can say I understand?" Luckily, the pegasus knight was very efficient at keeping her weapon clean and rust-free, so it didn't take her more than a minute and a half to get it ready. "By the way, did you say your name is Minerva?"

"Minerva Macedon, yes."

"I see." Cordelia thought that Cherche would have been very happy to meet the princess of Macedon.
"My full name is Cordelia Tiamo."

"Interesting. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"The pleasure is mine." Cordelia smiled.

Now if only she could get some free time to speak to Caeda... she would be the happiest fangirl ever.

Both decided to collide the bases of their weapons, almost as if they were two glasses of wine, as a means of "confirming" that they would be working as a team for their next battle.

Camilla had her ax in front of her, both of her hands resting on the shaft of it as she watched her two opponents.
Red hair and she a pegasus knight… although her hair was much longer. Still, Camilla couldn't help but think of Hinoka for a moment. Paying attention for a moment made her understand that her foe would be fighting with different weapons this time though.

Her other opponent, despite also having red hair, denoted being a wyvern knight given her type of armor and ax.
Had they decided it was best to send aerial warriors to fight her even though they wouldn't be using their mounts for this fight for some reason? Or was it really that these two were the strongest in their current group?

Raigh, not that far away from there, loaded the Breidablik pistol with the four orbs that had been created.

There was still room for another one, but just there wasn't enough energy and gems to create more at the moment.

Since Raigh, and by extension also his "stepfather", was unaware of the mechanics of the summoning process... he wasn't sure if pulling the trigger constantly would increase the chances of summoning heroes from the same world, or if it would affect the chances of getting a strong hero. It had already become clear with Azura and Amelia that it was perfectly possible that they wouldn't always summon a "hero", a mere civilian was not out from the reach of Breidablik and its luck factor.

Not to mention the youngest Macedonian princess... that reminded Raigh that they still had to discuss whether they would agree to return her to her world or try to convince her that her brother was a lost cause. After looking at a list of names of heroes that, according to the prince's information and that was given to him by Sharena, might be able to defeat Camilla without a problem, he decided to begin.

Raigh took a deep breath, aimed the pistol at the horizon, and then pulled the trigger.

The first orb completed its duplication process through time and space, then it began to glow.

As the portal ejected the person who touched it from the other side, Raigh noted that the woman in question was wearing a light blue dress, the same color as her hair in fact. As she began to look around, he could see that her eyes were red. The last detail that he ended up noticing was a very long and transparent piece of cloth... which was identical to the ones that some dancers had... yes… it seemed that he had summoned a civilian.

He placed his palm on his face as he strongly shook his head. Raigh even wondered if the fact that he wasn't the rightful owner of the "holy weapon" was affecting the summoning process. Some kind of safety mechanism that would prevent everyone but the legendary hero from being able to summon strong heroes.

Until he remembered that one of his summoned heroes had been Leif, so he dismissed the possibility.

Raigh cleared her throat to get his attention. "Sorry to bother you, lady, but I have the explanation why you're here so suddenly."

Cordelia held her shield in front of her.

Not only did her opponent have to use both hands to hold an ax like that, but she was also fighting alone. Theoretically, Cordelia would have an advantage using this combat style.

Camilla stood motionless, and so did the Pegasus Knight of Ylisse and the Princess of Macedon.

It was clearly a situation where all three fighters were aware that they wanted to wait for the other to start attacking to generate an opening that could be exploited.

Corrin and Alfonse watched the situation not that far away, while in the opposite direction from them the bodyguards of the princess of Nohr did the same.

"If they want to prove to me that they are heroes of great power, then they will have to do it now. My patience is not eternal." Camilla very suspiciously let her ax touch the ground.

Minerva, having circled around for at least three minutes, decided to move forward and attack.

Camilla, wasting no time, raised her ax and slammed her opponent's weapon mid-air, Minerva, being slightly exposed, quickly jumped back. Camilla herself had to step back when, from her left side, a thrust nearly damaged her arm as Cordelia had made her first attempt as well.

The princess of Nohr simply "answered" to what Minerva had done, to which she then strongly advanced with a bottom-up attack which Cordelia had to stop with her shield, which Camilla took advantage of to push her away using the full force of her weapon.

Cordelia realized almost immediately that, try as she might, pushing Camilla's weapon with her shield would be pointless. The Princess of Nohr's strength was too much and her shield simply didn't have enough matter to be able to generate the necessary force for such an action. Minerva held her ax upside down and then whispered to her mate. "I'll try to improve our defense, try to cut her."

Cordelia nodded.

Camilla, however, did not take long to understand what they were doing and reverse the situation, now also holding her ax in a defensive position once, after several sword attacks, Cordelia managed to hit one near her stomach.

Cordelia narrowed her eyes at her in frustration. The worst thing is that she knew that this was just the warm-up…Camilla, for her part, had to admit this was entertaining. It had been a long time since she had a fight where her objective was simply to defeat her opponent instead of killing them, this a duel where skill was not everything, there was also some honor as opposed to the more pragmatic style that had to be taken when fighting on a real battlefield. At war, survival is a priority.

The battle stopped for a moment as this was again one of those moments where the opponents just look at each other and try to strategize about their next move.

Alfonse rubbed his head, he tried to relax himself thinking that this was just the beginning... he needed to have some patience.

Camilla sped forward, forcing Minerva to block her opponent's ax by bringing her ax horizontally above her. The Princess of Nohr's speed did not allow her to react in time, however, when she kicked her forcing her back. At the same time, Camilla wasted no time and placed her weapon behind her, blocking Cordelia's attack towards her back. Camilla then performed a spin attack which Cordelia barely managed to dodge by doing a back somersault. The Ylisse warrior greatly appreciated that she had removed the heaviest pieces of her uniform, this made those maneuvers less complicated to perform.

Both Minerva and Cordelia attempted another assault against Camilla, but the princess of Nohr knew that in matters of one-on-two combat, being in the middle was just asking to be defeated, to which she simply ran to gain distance and have the two heroines in front of her again.

Cordelia and Minerva decided that they would now try to attack from different directions, sacrificing some defense for offense.

"I'm sorry but... I have to go." Ninian immediately shook her head as soon as this green-haired magician explained the situation to her, albeit in a very basic way. "I don't have much combat power, and my brother needs me!" The poor guy couldn't stand her disappearing as soon as she'd been saved.

"An understandable answer, you don't have to fight for our nation." Raigh nodded. Honestly, he would have sent her back with no buts… but he also had to follow the order he had been given to make them consider waiting a bit. Not necessarily to fight, but there was a certain factor at play. "And I guess you wouldn't believe me if I told you that by sending you back you'll be back at the same time you left." Ninian considered for a few seconds.

"Not really."

"All right." Although Raigh considered for a moment asking her if she wanted to wait at least a little while to perhaps receive a copy of the Encyclopedia, the book Kiran had been creating that would contain all of his knowledge, Raigh realized that she would have the same problem as his mother in case she returned home with said book.

She was being persecuted and therefore the book could fall into the wrong hands.

Raigh pressed that button on the weapon that was supposed to reverse Breidablik's power.

A certain sound coming from inside the relic made him know it was in "reverse" mode.

While Raigh couldn't tell that anything seemed to have changed from the exterior, the weapon's creator's journal indicated that this was how he unsummoned so Raigh had no reason to want to doubt it.

"It is a pity that your brother was not with you when you were summoned, we could have offered you asylum in this place." Raigh shrugged and pointed the relic at the woman. "Anyway, sorry for the inconvenience, and good luck in the future." Ninian felt strangely uncomfortable seeing that thing pointing in her direction, but after a few moments, she felt a strange sensation inside her. She then had some strange specks of light around her. Raigh could see that a portal had formed behind the woman… similar to the one he had brought to this woman minutes ago.

She was then "captured" by it and, as easily as she had arrived, so easily she left.

On the other side of the portal, Ninian realized that she was back in that hotel room that she and her brother had rented with some money given to them by the nobleman who had saved her.

She turned around quickly enough to see the portal closing.

The connection point between the two timelines closed once more... and this time for good.

"Ninian, are you ready?" she could hear her brother's voice behind the door.

"Eh yes." Then she remembered that she had barely finished dressing when she was summoned...

Summoned...

Had she not seen that portal, she could swear all of that must have been a very strange dream.
She opened the door.

What surprised her was that the magician wasn't lying.

When she asked Nils if it had been a long time since she entered that room, Nils was confused and assured that it had been 10 minutes at most... and she remembered having taken about the same time to get dressed.

Raigh pressed the button again so that Breidablik was in summon mode once more.

Kiran had instructed him to take great care of it since, not knowing the internal components of the relic, he feared that it could get damaged and rendered useless... and the disaster that would cause would be titanic. What he saw, once a new orb was ejected and generated the portal, was what appeared to be an ordinary soldier.

The armor had its style, of course, but at first glance, there was nothing about this person that made him stand out.
The first thing he said when his vision became clearer was the obvious questions the summoning process would cause due to its confusing nature.

Raigh rubbed his forehead in frustration since his success rate at getting good heroes was pretty good!

Although not easily discernible due to the fact that the man wore a helmet that fairly covered his eyes at all times, Raigh could tell that this man was quite confused.

After he heard the whole explanation… there were only a few words to say. "I have to stop drinking…"

Raigh made his pupils roll from side to side. He could only hope that the next orb didn't miss...

Camilla decided that the warm-up was over.

She then started running at high speed with her ax over her head. Cordelia jumped to the left, getting out of the way of the weapon… only to see, to her horror, that Camilla managed to alter the trajectory of her weapon.

Instead of hitting the ground vertically, it began to descend diagonally. Cordelia barely prevented it from being able to cut her using her shield. However, paying too much attention to this made her fail to notice that Camilla would no longer just use her hands. Cordelia received a kick, forcing her back.

Immediately Camilla spun around as she moved away from her position since Minerva tried to attack her and she, once she did a complete flip, was already retaliating. Minerva failed to block one of the attacks for which she received a few injuries.

Cordelia tried to get up quickly to help.

Knowing that she would be caught between them, Camilla backed away, using all the speed of her legs. Cordelia and Minerva tried to approach once more, each one by a different direction, but Camilla would not allow them to do so.
Although they managed to block one of her attacks, suddenly the princess of Nohr placed her ax in a horizontal position and pushed them using said weapon. Camilla then kept attacking mercilessly.

Cordelia had to protect herself and Minerva.

Neither of them was sure where to find an opening in the Nohr princess's attack pattern.

In a moment of confusion for the two warriors, Camilla ended up leaping forward and landing a kick on Cordelia's stomach. Minerva almost managed to hit a downward vertical attack, but Camilla moved with "ballerina's" speed, and the princess of Nohr ended up hitting the princess of Macedon on the left side, under her arm.

The partners had to thank a lot for the fact clerics were near.

Before Cordelia could try to defend her partner, Minerva ended up getting hit enough times that she fell on the ground.
Alfonse had to grit his teeth when he saw what was happening.

Even King Corrin looked concerned… though also partially surprised that his sister had evolved that stronger.
It seems that Camilla would be the winner of this match.

Raigh could tell that he had summoned, for all practical purposes, another civilian since this soldier was little more than a guard.

The interesting thing was that when he asked to be returned to his world he didn't say anything about his family, a possible girlfriend, or anything else of the sort.

The only thing that truly seemed to interest him was to go back to guarding the gate he was meant to guard every day.
A simple man, apparently.

Raigh didn't even bother to look at the orb or hesitate to fire. He simply loaded the gun with its ammunition and fired.
The man who came out of the portal... had blue hair... clothes that seemed to be what a mercenary swordsman would wear.

The most particular thing, besides that cape... was that his sword was gigantic.

Raigh had seen two-handed swords before, but this was simply impressive.

Camilla was now sure that it was time to end this.

She was partially satisfied with a challenge, but this was not what she expected.

Camilla did not waste a single second as her attack speed began to increase to levels that even she herself was amazed at her new capabilities.

Since that day they defeated Anakos she swore to herself that she would become as strong as possible to do not allow anyone else to hurt her family.

And she could be proud of her hard work when, with a well-aimed hack, Cordelia ended up sprawled on the floor.
A back somersault allowed her to evade what Minerva tried to then defeat her in a matter of seconds. As she threatened the Madecon princess with her ax near her neck, the message conveyed was clear.

It's over.

Both defeated warriors weren't sure how to react to this.

Cordelia was certainly impressed. A part of her made her wonder if Camilla was as strong as the legends said about the strength of the wife of the hero-king Marth. Another detail was that... she sighed slightly happily. It was good to know that she still had goals to overcome. Minerva, on the other hand, shrugged and agreed that, given the infinite nature of the worlds, it was obvious that she was not the strongest wyvern knight even if the people of Askr had been more than honored to accept her into their ranks.

They both stood up, Camilla made a slight bow and said. "Good duel."

The two of them decided to replicate the action. Alfonse was on the verge of "sweating" from nervousness.

Corrin, on the other hand, had to sigh and rub his forehead as he shook his head.

It seems that things could never, indeed, be solved the easy way.

Camilla then walked towards the prince of Askr with her ax resting on her shoulders. Her imposing height, added to the situation, made the prince feel... too small...

"It has certainly been an interesting combat experience and I can respect the strength you have shown me today… but I feel that this is not enough for me to believe that these are heroes of legend, Prince Alfonse." Camilla shook her head and closed her eyes. Once Hinata translated her message for Alfonse, he had to grit his teeth harder.

"(God damn)"

Corrin tried to help him.

The translation of their dialogue for the story was this.

"We can still try to solve this in another way." Camilla, however, denied again. "What I want to know now is whether or not there is black magic in your mind." Her tone of voice was firm and clear.

And Corrin, despite being a legendary hero and king of a nation… he would never stop being Camilla's little brother… as a result, her mere presence made him feel weak once again.

Before Camilla could say anything else…

"Before you claim victory, you will have to face this me." Everyone turned to see the new contender quickly.
And Alfonse's eyes as well as his mouth expressed the greatest surprise of all.

Raigh just summoned… the strongest hero of them all?

As some of you may remember, I did reference Chrom and Ephraim's fight in the Awakening chapters. This was the time for a reference to the second voting gauntlet. A shame Hinoka couldn't join the party of getting your ass handed over by Camilla. Granted, I did not want to humillate Cordelia and Minerva so bad like in the actual battle they had with votes so I made them fight together.

And yes... I guess suddenly summoning HIM is a luck factor that could be considered deux ex machina... but come on! who else would you expect to be able to defeat her? XD

I did want to show how unsummoning works after so much time. Ninian seemed like a coherent option. Because this Breidablik does not destroy the hero's will of its own and does not transform them into the Summoner's "slaves", I think she would be another one who wouldn't like to stay. Especially if you consider she does not trust she will be accepted by humans.

RoBlue321 · Jul 26, 2023

World Of Revelations Part 5: Light Power

Raigh continued to display such a proud grin, his eyes laying on the legendary relic with so much happiness that it felt anti-natural coming from him.

It was impossible for him not to be in such a good mood after this precious "sacred" object had decided to stop being a hindrance and summoned someone of such caliber.

As for the princess of Nohr, she was certainly impressed with what her eyes showed her.

This man was carrying and wielding a weapon that was clearly intended to be two-handed…one-handed and without appearing to have any difficulty holding it…although he would probably move to two-handedness sooner or later since that style of combat, although it was known to be strong, it tends to tire the user out.

Alfonse and Corrin's reactions were "diametrically" different given their respective knowledge of this legendary warrior. Corrin only saw a man who had quite a considerable musculature and a rather peculiar big sword. Alfonse, instead, saw the one who had achieved what no one else had been able to do. Defeat a goddess. With the help of the power of another goddess, true, but it was still an impressive feat for anyone. Cordelia and Minerva were been healed by the clerics who had been nearby the whole time. They had their own thoughts regarding the situation.

Cordelia, in particular, could claim to have seen someone like this new hero before... however, her memories didn't seem to be able to offer her the answer of who, where, and when, at that moment.

The hero radiated a simply imposing presence from Minerva's perspective.

The translator of the moment, Hinata, was able to understand the new contender because he also had a mental translator.
"Mmmh… Ike" he made a sign with his hand, to imply that this was the name of this new hero " wishes to face you, Princess Camilla."

The woman in question doubted that she would have to accept that request.

The deal with the prince was to face one of the "heroes" who belonged to his army. This new character is someone she didn't remember seeing…and if he was stronger enough to beat her solo, why didn't they just send him to fight her from the beginning?

"(Think… think… think!)" The prince did his best to force his brain to get a solution.

However, Corrin decided to come to his rescue.

He stepped forward and made the proposition for both the new hero and his sister.

"How about we fight him together?"

Ike kept his arms crossed. He had been promised a duel, the opportunity to continue improving his skills, and much more… so he was getting impatient.

Camilla looked at her brother as if he had obtained a third eye or something similar… although considering his ability to transform into a dragon, that would be one of the least unusual things coming from him.

"Corrin..." his brother was still that man full of faith. "I am only willing to accept that condition if you are checked by a magician. I want to confirm that there is no black magic in your mind right now."

Raigh and Alfonse received the translation of Camilla's request.

"It's fair." Raigh commented, shrugging his shoulders and his facial expression reverting to the typical angry look of a lifetime.

"If we want her to be willing to negotiate, now we must have the disadvantage."

"I guess so." Alfonse had to agree.

Camilla seemed satisfied.

Since Cordelia and Minerva had finished receiving medical attention, they continued to analyze Camilla.
The terrifying thing about the situation is that the princess of Nohr did not look so tired after that duel.
She really was a legendary hero.

Both of them felt motivated by having found a higher level in the combat skill that a wyvern knight could have and, since before being able to tame one of those things, one had to go through the pegasi taming training of a pegasus knight, someone to respect and aspire to equal one day.

Though, for now, the strength that was relevant in the situation was the one that belonged to the radiant hero.
"Please tell me that he told you that he defeated a goddess or something." Alfonse crossed his fingers, his teeth clenching together as he realized that he wasn't sure if this Ike was already the legendary hero he was supposed to be and wasn't facing another case similar to Seliph's.

"He mentioned something about taking on somebody called Ashera with the help of a certain girl whose name is Yune." Raigh was scratching his arms after suffering from some itching.

The prince of Askr breathed one of the largest sighs of relief in his entire life… the life he could remember anyway.
If that was the case...

There was nothing to be worried about.

Back at the "bottomless canyon" the main order of heroes remained on stand-by as there was not much to do.
Simply put, until a message was received from the troops that went to visit that distant island, there were no plans to begin the mobilization to take control of Hoshido.

Knowing that she shouldn't stress about possible plans just yet, Robin decided to spend some time with Sumia.
Which she partially regretted doing after what she discovered during that bonding session.

Cooking had never been Robin's forte, which had always made her particularly uncomfortable. She hoped to get married one day and a wife who couldn't cook good food was usually judged badly… although she didn't know if Kiran would care much about it.

It was a very strange surprise when she discovered that he washed his own clothes or even washed the dishes he ate his food on.

A man doing those activities was a somewhat bizarre sight.

Although the castle maids had insisted that he didn't need to do that, his response had always been: I am a twenty-first-century man, gender equality is the future.

All the staff kept insisting, but he continued to ignore them until they gave up trying to change his mind.

Despite all that, she felt that she should learn several things in case… in case both of them… one day…

At the time, she was trying to learn how to cook classic Sumia cakes.

If they had been so effective at capturing Chrom's heart, Robin thought it wouldn't be a bad strategy to use them as well with her partner.

Also, from what she had heard, his birthday party kept getting delayed every time… it would be nice to give him the special cake for the occasion.

"So..." Robin spoke as they prepared the flour. "What is that thing you wanted to tell me?" she asked as the memory of a few days ago at the dining tent flashed through her mind.

"Oh." Sumia suddenly had to display a face that exposed her extreme discomfort with the subject… "Are you absolutely sure you like him?" Sumia tried to avoid what she needed to say at least for a few seconds.

Robin, of course, was a smart girl and she was able to discern Sumia's intentions… but she decided that it would make sense for her to explain her feelings better.

"At first, I must admit I found him a bit rude…" she frowned, especially remembering when he yelled at her for questioning his experiments on criminals… but Robin later understood that she wasn't exactly the best for criticizing that. She had burned an entire fleet of soldiers alive after all, and his point about humans and manaketes made her realize that she had unconsciously said something racist against that species.

What matters is the mind, not the body… that's what he once told her.

"But he has shown to me that his desire to help others is very great." He had pretty much given them all the knowledge he could as a present, especially his vaccines. "He helps us because he doesn't want us to make the same mistakes his civilization did." Robin had to swallow hard as she remembered her history lessons about the Terran Metal world.

"He explained to me about the one-hundred years that passed before he was born, years of war and constant chaos during the first half of the century and during the second one a constant fear of a possible cataclysm… and even today he is not sure if all that fear could be reactivated."

Mutual Assured Destruction through nuclear warfare... a way of forcing "peace" that made Robin's blood run cold... "I once accompanied him to see what he did with his part of the profits he receives from his inventions… or replicas as he calls them... and much of it was invested in orphanages. He claims that he doesn't need that much money since many of the things he likes won't be invented for 300 years at most anyway so he might as well use that money to keep investing in the future. The future, in this case, being those children."

And that's not even mentioning the promise he'd made to help her fix her mistake...

"Oh, true." Sumia scratched her chin. "I heard that as soon as he completes a project, he is already thinking about the next one. Miriel said she was collecting seeds for "a global seed vault" or something like that."

Miriel had explained them that said vault was meant to be a place to store copies of every single seed on the planet, to ensure there were back-ups so those crops didn't go extinct.

Having gates to almost every continent of the world was just too convenient for that.

Sumia then noticed with surprise that she couldn't find the cake they had been working on.

It didn't take her more than two seconds to figure out what was going on.

"Gaius, if you're still here, please put that back… if you want some at least wait until we've finished it!" Sumia rubbed her forehead.

The ninja appeared behind Robin, she wasn't scared at all since she was already partially used to it. "I'd say I'm sorry, but we know that's not true." He had a clear smile on his face as he put the cake in the making back on the table.

Robin, however, was nervous about something. "How much did you hear?" Gaius simply placed another lollipop in his mouth.

"About Bubbles being in love with Morning Star?" he just shrugged. Robin had to rub her face as she could feel her cheeks' temperatures increasing.

"Uh... I don't remember you ever giving a two-word nickname." Sumia commented, looking particularly puzzled.
Robin pondered for a second and she had to admit that her friend had a point.

Well, he called Virion Your Lord or something like that but even then, this was the first time he used two nouns.
"I tried calling him White, but he said he didn't like that nickname at all. I suggested Brain then, but he was still not satisfied. He insisted that his nickname must be somehow connected to the meaning of his name. At first, I thought of Star, since they create rays of light, he seemed happier but said something was missing. Remembering that Specs said that his knowledge would be the essential thing to lead us to "a new sunrise" I suggested Morning Star." Gaius's face reflected some doubt in his mind. "For some reason, he laughed a lot when he heard that combination of words but he said it seemed like a better one."

"I see…" Robin knew that Kiran's sense of humor could be very dark… so she wondered if that combination, Morning Star, had any connotations in the Terran world.

"Anyway, it's sweet that Bubbles has finally found someone who can give her love. He is a sweet boy, we discussed a lot about candies once." Gaius sat down to wait for the cake.

"Yeah...uh...Robin," Sumia sighed, they couldn't help this anymore. "You have to know what happened." She asked Gaius to leave, explaining that she would cook him another cake apart from the one they were currently making if he did.
When Sumia finally explained to Robin about the conversation she had with the girl she had had some time ago, Robin felt a cold sensation in her chest.

"He… loves her…" Robin had felt a lot of sympathy for Cordelia when Chrom and Sumia's wedding occurred. Robin had tried to cheer her up by asking her to go shopping, training together or just anything she could think of... which perhaps didn't turn out to be very effective given the still lack of understanding in human relations that she suffered at the time due to her amnesia... but Robin could never say that she understood the pain that the now Pegasus Commander had felt...
At least... at least until now...

"There's no way that's not the case given his protection declaration." Sumia patted her friend's back.

Sumia in particular was a bit disappointed. While that little girl deserved to be loved as much as anyone else, Sumia and her husband had been hoping that Robin might get some happiness too.

The poor woman had practically become suicidal when she discovered her connection to the fallen dragon… and even now it was still pretty clear that she wasn't quite right.

"I focused so much on teaching him tactics that I didn't make enough progress…"

Robin sat up, showing concern.

She then remembered how Nino had also offered to take care of him when he was unconscious…and how he had promised that she could come live with him when the war was over.

"Now then, Nino says she's not sure if she wants to reciprocate his feelings." Sumia scratched her head. The poor girl did not understand what was happening at that time "And after talking to her it became clear to me that she was very confused about what romantic love was. She's not really in love... so you still have a chance."

An opportunity…

Although… did it make sense for her to want to try in the first place given what he promised he would help her do?

One of the reasons Ike was so willing to do this was that, after defeating Ashera, he felt like he had reached his limit.
Simply put, beating a goddess… even if it was with the help of another goddess, must have been the ultimate challenge.

None of the battles he had faced afterward had been satisfactory to him.

Hence, he had thought about the idea of leaving the mainland in search of challenges.

And being summoned to an alternate world where heroes from multiple worlds would gather and, thanks to that, be able to return as if he had never left in the first place was a golden opportunity.

His hold on Ragnell was the strongest he had had in a long time. He got into a fighting stance and then… and then both he and his two opponents started walking in circles, staring at each other and getting ready.

The boy's sword was particularly interesting. With an excess of parts that looked like spikes…

Though he immediately seemed to press something into his sword that replaced the spikes with a more normal blade.

Although Ike didn't fully understand the reason for that action, Corrin did it because the king had simply discovered that, in practice, the Yato in its Omega mode was just more useful against dragons or to deliver the final blow against a human. Otherwise, it tended to get stuck in an opponent's armor or simply, and he would never discuss this detail with anybody besides his wife, he had cut himself several times by mistake.

He had a new scar on his face to prove it.

His other opponent, the purple-haired woman... he, more than anything else, wondered if she didn't feel too hot given her black armor.

The others had all moved far enough away to give them a good fighting ground.

So… two opponents with a sword and an ax… Ike soon decided that he would be the first to attack.

He placed his sword over his shoulder… and began to run towards Corrin. Valla's king regretted not having a shield when Ragnell collided with Yato with a downward vertical attack... and Corrin had to back up and move to the left before his hand couldn't resist the pressure, causing that Ike nearly rammed the weapon into his head.

Camilla almost immediately appeared at Ike's side to attempt a horizontal slash with her ax across Ike's stomach… which the radiant mercenary hero dodged with something as simple as a high-speed backflip.

And at the end of that, Corrin and his sister found that Ike could fight using his legs since Camilla got kicked on the face by him.

Corrin had to react to another attack from Ragnell with another block. Ike may have continued the assault, but he quickly jumped back to back off and avoid possible retaliation from the two siblings.

As always, being in the middle of two opponents was not a wise idea.

You always had to have them face to face.

Camilla reflected on the fact that not too long ago she had been the one fighting two opponents and seemed to have the upper hand on them…

And now the situation had been reversed.

Corrin and Camilla looked at each other momentarily and nodded.

Unlike Cordelia and Minerva, they both had a lot of experience fighting as a team.

Ike smiled when they were both in front of him, with their weapons ready to hurt him.

Ike backed away, dodging everything thrown at him.

One, two, three, four, five… ten, twenty… thirty attacks in succession that Ike had to constantly block or dodge.

Yes…

Yes!

This was what he missed!

Ike changed to hold Ragnell with both hands and managed to block both of his opponents' weapons at the same time.

"This will be interesting." He smiled and then pushed at them with his sword. Camilla and Corrin lost their balance momentarily.

Camilla had to admit that he had unparalleled strength.

One would think that Ike would have less speed considering his muscles, but the legendary mercenary had already trained to compensate for that weakness.

Ike advanced on Corrin so quickly that Valla's king couldn't do much more than defend himself.

He was holding Ragnell one-handed once more.

Seriously, for this man to be able to attack with a longsword like any bastard sword using one hand was insane!

Camilla decided to wait a moment… perhaps she shouldn't focus on attacking her opponent's torso… but rather on his hands.

If he couldn't use the strength of his hands to lift that sword, he would be defeated.

There was a moment in which Corrin feared too much for the integrity of his body as Ike, during an attack in which they both collided their swords and kept them in contact as they moved, used the momentum in his sword's movement to slash again in an attempt to reach to cut his neck.

Camilla was about to slash the radiant hero… to which Ike simply responded by turning around and using the momentum from that to attack her as well.

The result was that they both ended up injured this time... but Ike had a much higher pain tolerance, which allowed him to not even flinch and continue to attack a little longer before, once again, moving away to do not be in middle of the siblings.

"Are you okay?" Corrin hurried over to his sister's side.

"That sword… it's as sharp as yours… or maybe sharper… it cut through my armor just fine…" Camilla commented, trying to ignore the pain as best she could.

Ragnell was certainly a marvel.

No one knew exactly what materials she was made of.

Although on a fundamentally atomic level, there wasn't much difference between many of the legendary weapons.
A weapon capable of competing against his Yato…

If there was a doubt that these people were capable of summoning powerful people still in their minds, it vanished.

Although both would have liked to start being on the offensive, Ike had other plans.

He wanted to test their strength to their highest limits.

Ike rained down sword thrusts at them.

Camilla regretted not having a shield too and Corrin felt like he couldn't keep up at blocking.

And even less when he could feel Ike's left hand holding him.

"Wha? Aaaaaargh!" Ike pushed him away from his sister, but not before causing a cut across his stomach.

Camilla and the radiant hero then began a whole sequence of crashing their weapons into each other.

Corrin had to admit, her sister wasn't lying… this hurt.

Ike decided to stop the fight momentarily by jumping far back and placing the point of his sword on the ground.

"You're not showing me your true strength. I know when an opponent is holding back… especially…" He raised his left index finger and pointed in Corrin's direction. "You."

Camilla and Corrin didn't know what to do, only when they both received the translation from Hinata, Corrin had to swallow hard.

"Do you truly want me to use my full strength?" Corrin asked as he extracted his dragon stone from one of his pockets.
Ike smiled at that.

He knew those ears looked familiar.

Even if they were not as obvious as the ears of a Laguz, especially Lethe's, it was obvious that those ears did not denote to be a human being.

Not that it would mean he was less deserving of respect.

Receiving confirmation from Hinata that Ike wanted to fight Corrin in his dragon form, the King of Valla activated his stone and he transformed into his magnificent dragon form.

Ike smiled even more. "That is much better."

Camilla, partially tired, allowed her brother to face the radiant hero alone so she could recover some stamina.
No one could beat Corrin like that.

It was just impossible...

Corrin expelled his fire dragon breath.

Ike began to roll on the ground to avoid those constant attacks, every time he wasn't doing it, he would run towards Corrin.

Yes!

Yes!

Corrin used his paws to try to stop Ike when he finally closed the entire distance between them.

Ike's reaction to this? simply jump to the left at high speed. Ike used all the strength of his legs to jump higher than normal and slashed.

Corrin in his dragon form stepped back.

Once again, Corrin used his legs to try to partially crush the radiant hero.

However, Ike's dodging abilities seemed unmatched.

Corrin then attempted to use his wings to push Ike away.

To which the radiant hero began to roll again… and reaching under Corrin, he then jumped up and made a fresh cut.

"Grraah!"

Alfonse was sitting watching the battle along with everyone else.

"Wow... very few can fight one by one against a manakete..." Cordelia commented, Robin had been one of the few and still, she had had difficulties at doing so.

"He is the radiant hero, the strongest hero. It's nothing to be surprised about." Alfonse smiled and crossed his arms as he nodded slightly.

Even Raigh must have agreed that this was impressive and he proceeded to genuinely applaud. "Excelente (Excellent)"

Camilla finally reached out to aid her brother in battle.

But as Corrin prepared to release his flames once more… this time Ike placed himself between Valla's king and his sister.
The dragon immediately stopped his attack. He knew what Ike was up to.

"Very well… time to end this." Ike closed his eyes for a moment as he sighed…

AND THEN A RAIN OF ATTACKS FELL ON THE PRINCESS OF NOHR.

One, two, three, five, seven, fifteen, twenty… how many attacks did she need to avoid?

"Gaaah!"

Corrin moved slowly forward.

He could try to use a kick… but he risked hitting his sister by mistake as well.

Camilla… was beginning to be unable to concentrate.

This…

This…

Ike's sword, thanks to the hero applying the full force of both of his arms, made her unable to keep grabbing her ax anymore and it flew away from her.

This was an incredible force!

At Corrin's moment of doubt, Ike quickly turned around and then… Ragnell cut him across the face.

As Valla's king fell in defeat, Camilla then saw the edge of Ragnell's sword at her neck.

"I guess it's clear that I'm the winner." Ike said, his face showing a mixture of seriousness with a very slight but visible smile.

She didn't understand his word, but she actually didn't need a translation this time to understand.

Wow…

If it wasn't for her immediately running to help her brother who had returned to his human form, she probably would have had a smile similar to the one of a teenage girl.

The old battle of Ike vs Camilla in the voting gauntlet... the first time a male hero won said event... I honestly don't think I could ever hope to write something that lived up to that. I mean, I took inspiration from several videos: from some actual sword vs ax videos of people sparring to that memetic video of Camilla and Ike as cats that fight each other. I tried my best, that's for sure.

Now, if some people wonder... I don't see Ike as an either gay or interested woman that much. Dunno, nothing I saw frankly convinced me of anything... so to me, Ike is more of an asexual person. Yeah, Priam is slightly mentioned in this chapter but honestly, I would subscribe more to the idea that he's actually Mist's descendant. Then again multiple timelines so there are probably LGBT and hetero versions of any characters out there so let's just say Priam is a descendant of one of those Ikes.
His ending claims he left the continent, never to be seen again... if that, for this story, means he also decides to stay in Askr is something I'm not sure about.

Correct me if I'm wrong but he didn't take Mist with him... right? I mean, it just feels weird he would suddenly abandon his sister... regarding why he would decide that in the first place... my bet would be his slight but still present blood knight tendencies or he just got bored of local food and he went on a mission to discover new delicious stuff lol.

I thought I needed to flesh out better why Robin started liking Kiran (Mark). Reading the story again it just didn't feel justified enough for me given some of his asshole moments (although maybe I ran with the concept of girls can like bad boys back then...) plus I needed to finally address the fact that Sumia was going to tell her what happened between Nino and him.

Gaius's nickname for him was given to me by Half-beastdragonsoul2013 when we were discussing what kind of nicknames he would give to certain characters. I also considered: copycat (given his similar clothes to Bubbles) or flame tongue (because he can eat stuff with so much sauce and spicy things given his Mexican nature) but in the end Morning Star just seemed better. Heck, in the split-brain chapters we even saw him wielding a sword called Lightbringer!

Now, getting the nickname to make sense with in-universe logic was kind of a challenge but I think I managed to make it work.

Anyway, thanks for that Souly!

Speaking of the devil, I completed Cuphead. Very nice, it took me like 6.24 hours to do so. The final battle was pretty nice... but fuck you King Dice, at least give me a checkpoint for when I face him so I don't have to fight all the boss rush before!

RoBlue321 · Jul 26, 2023

World Of Revelations Part 5.5: Diplomacy

Queen Henriette certainly didn't want to be surprised, at least in a bad way, more for the remaining time this war would last.

The whole situation with Marth's army had caused a panic effect on the nobles, who now feared more armies could enter their world through different Gates.

The Kingdom Of Askr had always attempted to remain hidden each time a Gate was opened, most of the time they were only interested in studying the history of the local world, and by extension the past of their planet, and extracting some minerals. This had ensured they had avoided being detected for most of the nation's history, especially because the Gates usually appeared in secluded or remote places that wouldn't have a dense population around, but this worked because Gates remained active, in most of the cases, only a month.

But now that there was a precedent of an army suddenly appearing inside their territory, the nobles of Askr wanted them to be closed the soon as possible.

This wouldn't help to clean up her son's image...

She, at least, had to ask a lot about the fact Anna had left a report explaining that Roy had gone back to his world to get reinforcements to fight against Embla... otherwise, the surprise may have been too much.

At least she had managed to calm them down by explaining that none of the Gates were opened to a moment in time in which the armies the heroes had fought were still around, the only hostile force that could exist in the worlds of the Gates was the Emblian army and there wasn't a single Gate in their current controlled territory that could still have troops of the Empire around.

However, the universe just wouldn't allow the queen to take a break.

An unexpected letter had bent sent to the castle from the harbor town known as Izaiburg.

The reason for this message to be that important? it had the seal of the Niflian royal family.

The diplomatic associations with the north neighbor couldn't be described as very tight but they were still rather decent. The lack of conflicts with Nifl in recent history plus the particular detail that a king four generations before her had married a Niflian princess made sure that peace was a thing between the kingdom of ice and the kingdom of gates, but the relationship was mostly just about business.

That was the result of being separated by the sea and without the much modern technology of the Terran Metal World.
So having a letter saying that one of the current princesses of Nifl was visiting Askr meant this was a far more important situation than just exchanging wines, fishes, and crops.

The letter mentioned discussing a deal for refugees... which was the reason why Fjorm had requested a formal reunion at the castle... but the queen knew that letting foreign soldiers walk toward the capital would cause more panic. Due to this, she had sent a letter back saying she would visit Izaiburg herself to discuss matters.

It had been at least a week and half of constant traveling, Henriette had to thank the capital wasn't that far from the coast, but it had paid off when, after exiting the royal carriage, she had put a foot on the harbor town.

Her escorts were the few elite soldiers that didn't work for the Order Of Heroes, at least fifty warriors trained to protect her.

Once they had marched towards the actual port, the queen smiled. It had been a long time since she visited the sea... maybe she could enjoy the beach a little before leaving.

"Your majesty, the Niflians are approaching."

She could see them, soldiers wearing armor gold and light-blue armor.

In front of them, a blonde girl wearing a noble white dress. She had a tiara and what seemed to be a belt, both things in perfect gold, with their respective gem and snowflake-shaped design.

Fjorm made sure her soldiers had their weapons sheathed and were in a just standing stance.

Of course, when you wanted to start a diplomatic deal where you practically had to ask for everything, the princess of Nifl doubted that showing any hint of "pride" would help her with that problem.

There were a few awkward moments as both groups looked at each other. And so, the queen of Askr decided to begin.
She turned to see the man who knew enough of the Nifl language to start the conversation.

While the accent was very different to what she was used to, Fjorm more or less understood "Bienvenue à Askr, princesse Fjorm. Elle est la reine Henriette, elle a reçu votre lettre et elle est ici pour discuter des termes de votre demande.(Welcome to Askr, princess Fjorm. She's the queen Henriette, she has received your letter and she's here to discuss the terms of your request)"

…although she needed at least one repetition.

As Fjorm considered her words carefully, she then gave a message to her translator.

"Princess Fjorm is grateful for your presence here, queen Henriette. The reason why she has visited Askr… is asking for help with a certain situation regarding a war."

Henriette's face quickly denoted she didn't like this.

A war?... another one?...

She sighed.

She seriously hoped Nifl didn't expect them to give them military support right now...

"Le royamu du Askr est encore très occupé avec un guerre contre notre voisin du sud… mais sa majesté est disposée à écouter ce que vous voulez demander (The kingdom of Askri is already very busy with a war against our south neighbor… but your majesty is willing to listen to whatever you wanted to ask for)"

Fjorm frowned. She had already been informed by the locals that they were also dealing with an armed conflict.

Asking Askr for help with troops was an idea she knew she would be unlikely to gain, but this simply discarded the idea entirely.

Therefore, the only important thing now was the people of Nifl and Nidavel.

Queen Henrietta, after receiving a detailed explanation of the Northwest continent's situation, had to rub her face in frustration.

Askr could not have rest according to what the will of the gods seemed to dictate.

In summary. Muspell, the kingdom ruled by the god of the same name, had begun an expansionist policy.

Nidavel was now under their control, leaving Nifl as the last bastion of resistance.

However, Nifl was a nation of low temperatures, as a result, they didn't think they could feed all the refugees.
That alone was enough for Henriette to understand what all those transport ships meant from which a large number of civilians were being disembarked.

"La reine dit qu'il aurait été plus sage d'envoyer une requête diplomatique avant de faire venir tous ces réfugiés (The queen says it would have been smarter to ask for a diplomacy meeting before bringing all these refugees)."

Fjorm wished Gunnthra was here, she would know how to deal with this situation.

"We understand that, and the kingdom of Nifl apologizes deeply for this but unfortunately there weren't many options left. The winter was approaching and it was calculated the harvest wouldn't be enough to feed everybody and with the army of Emperor Surtr about to reach the frontier, our only option left to try to save these people was to send them here."
Not even the soldiers protecting the queen seemed to be satisfied with this kind of response.

As far as the war had advanced, the kingdom of Askr had also had its problems managing food resources given all the territory that had been stolen from them.

Getting it all back…just to continue the scarcity by having to feed more mouths wasn't exactly something they were willing to do.

Fjorm… then knelt, she needed to demonstrate how much they needed this.

Her translator soldier hesitated for a second before he started explaining why she did this.

"The Kingdom of Nifl is willing to pay for the sake of these people. Losing them would harm our diplomacy with Nidavel, but also would decrease a lot the extent of our population in the future."

We present you." As the soldier spoke, some others brought stuff to put on display: a lot of artifacts made of gold "what could help you to improve your situation. Taken from the royal treasure of Nifl. It's just a part of it, of course, the rest is at the ships."

Henriette put her left hand on her chin as she watched… all of what they are offering her.

"Notre reine voudrais voir tout le trésor que vous avez avant de faire quelque decisión. (Our queen wants to see the entire treasure you have before making any decision)."

That was fair, or so the princess of Nifl believed. She was here to make requests, so complaining about even this would do her no favors. Henriette followed her to the ships, where she could see that the storages of several of them had more resources loaded.

Most were made of silver and copper, which made her understand that Fjorm had wanted to show her the most valuable objects first to better try to convince her.

The queen was still not entirely convinced... but remembering the low temperatures of Nifl, as well as the fact that from now on Askr would have military support from many of the worlds they had finally liberated...

She then nodded as she gave the translator a message.

"Notre reine acceptera ces choses en échange de protéger à votre population… mais elle voudrait utiliser une région de Nifl pour commencer autre projet comme la condition finale de l'accord. (Our queen will accept these things in exchange of protecting your people… but she would like to use a region of Nifl to start another project as the last condition for the deal)"

Fjorm certainly had a hard time understanding exactly what she meant. Beginning a project?

What type of project and why was it necessary for it to be in Nifl?

The queen herself smiled when the questions in question were translated for her.

Kiran had been asking them to try to find any place, even within the other worlds, with the following characteristics: cold, with a natural temperature of between -3 y -6 °C, even if it meant a place on the top of a mountain, and if it was in an isolated island, better.

Even the queen wasn't certain of what he wanted with such a bad place, although it was clear that he was not going to build his house there, but...

"Si vous obtenez la permission d'utiliser une zone de votre pays pour cela, surtout si c'est sous une montagne... il y a une possibilité de que autre personne vous donnera plus d'argent pour aider ces réfugiés. (If you obtain the permission to use a certain zone of your country for this, specially if it's under a mountain… there's a possibility that a certain person will give you more budget to help these refugees)."

The Nifl princess had difficulty understanding the strange nature of this request.

It was permission to use the snowy areas for an experiment, that was clear as the crystal of her homeland, but… why a mountain?

When she asked if they needed a very specific mountain for this, the queen of Askr commented that if it was on an island far enough north to be isolated and in an area where there are no records of earthquakes, it would be better.

Fjorm still didn't understand why... but if that was all it took for Askr to agree to take care of the refugees from both Nifl and Nidavel...

So be it.

Receiving that confirmation letter was a marvel thing for the order of heroes.

At last, a victory that hadn't required multiple fights.

A situation where the "cards" had aligned themselves enough to allow this to be resolved in a peaceful manner... which, for people like Robin or Corrin who were used to everything going from bad to worse, was something that could be greatly appreciated.

Once the part of the army that had visited the island returned, and with the company of the Nohr army, both strategists shook hands to celebrate a job well done.

They weren't the only ones happy to see someone who had come back after a mission accomplished.

Raigh rolled his eyes when he saw two green-haired figures running in his direction.

"Hey." He raised a hand to greet them, but his gaze focused on looking to the right as he continued to narrow his eyes.
Nino quickly gave him a hug… to which he shook his head and slightly pushed her away. "I only left for like two weeks and I'm fifteen, it's not that big of a deal."

"Raigh..." Lugh crossed his arms. Although he had never been the more aggressive of the two, even he had limits on how much he could see Raigh treating their mother like this.

"I was afraid of something going wrong." Nino glanced down.

"Pfft, did you doubt me?" Raigh smiled wretchedly as he took the Breidablik out of his pocket and spun it. "Please, who do you think ended up summoning the strongest hero? ha- O-ouch! hey!" Raigh patted his shoulder as Lugh had hit him on the shoulder.

"The strongest hero?" Nino blinked a few times until Raigh simply pointed with his index finger in Ike's direction.
"Well, he certainly looks strong." Lugh paid particular attention to that two-handed sword that Ike could wield without much trouble using only one.

"What do you want me to tell you? I do my best." Raigh snapped his right hand's fingers and moved his left index one up and down. "And that indicates the best of the best." He then stretched out his hands to relax. "The prince was scared because the lady in black armor, whose name is Camilla by the way, wanted a proper duel if she was going to even consider the idea that we can summon legendary heroes. So the prince ordered me to summon and well, el resto es historia (the rest is history)."

Raigh then began to walk…until he stopped and hit himself on the head. "Eh… where was the dining tent? I'm hungry."
Nino put her hands in a similar position for praying as her eyes began to shine.

"Do you want me to make chicken broth?!" Raigh rubbed his chin as he considered the possibility. "Why not?"

The radiant hero, newly arrived in this area of the multiverse where multiple warriors united for a common goal, found himself eating large doses of meat.

He had access to that much food because it was an order from the prince, giving the one who had saved them from having to fight Nohr whatever he asked for to eat and as much as he wanted.

Or at least to the point it was reasonably possible.

The radiant hero didn't like being selfish like that, but he wasn't going to pass up the opportunity to eat foreign recipes.
Also, having so much meat at his disposal kept the radiant hero's fighting instincts low enough that he didn't go around asking every hero he encountered to duel him.

Although that didn't change that he liked to eat outdoors… and it helped that the current weather in the area wasn't too hot.

His attention was caught, however, by the sight of magicians traveling from one side of the camp to the other… mounted on something strange. It wasn't a horse... but it looked like a cart for a single person.

Which didn't seem to make much sense if he was asked about it.

"Hears." He approached a magician dressed in pink, who had a green jewel on her forehead and brown hair.

The woman in question simply stopped her path and placed her leg as a support to keep from falling off her bike. "Do you need something?"

The radiant hero began to walk around her as he inspected the artifact. The magician, fortunately, knew to recognize what he was doing to her and she did not confuse his actions with… observing her.

Ike scratched his chin. "What's the name of that artifact you're riding?"

"Oh, it's a bike. It is a one-person transport that is intended to replace the horse for city travel, but it is also useful for mages… or at least that is how it was described when it was given to me." Normally that would sound like the gossip of someone wanting to rip somebody off… but Linde wasn't about to complain when they gave it to her pretty much for free.
Ike was feeling extremely curious due to seeing this thing… almost as if his inner child was resurfacing. "Do you mind if I try it?"

Linde considered the idea for about two seconds before she shrugged, got down, and offered him the seat. "Go ahead, it's not perfectly comfortable, but from what I'm told what we have today is just a primitive version of what they have in another world."

The Terran Metal World was perhaps the most mysterious universe for all those who had made contact with the only person who had information regarding it or had simply received the replicated products.

Ike proceeded to sit on the bike and hold the grip.

It was a bit small for someone like him...

"At first it's hard to keep your balance." Linde decided to help Ike by doing the typical thing, holding him with her hands.

"Now, put both feet on the pedals and try to move." Ike did as he was told on the bike… and it only took him a few minutes to understand.

Using one of those he could move at more or less the same speed as running without having to exert the same effort.

This was something that mages would certainly like to use.

"Not bad." He nodded slightly in satisfaction once he stopped and got off the bike.

"I don't have many complaints, the seat could be comfier... but as it is, it's a nice gift." Linde laughed lightly.

"I can also imagine that walking around with one of these things might be relaxing…it makes me want to get myself one." The radiant hero shrugged as the thought crossed his mind.

Once the Nohrian army and the other half of the Order of Heroes had finished placing their tents and everything they needed, it was decided that the current leaders of the entire army would need to properly introduce themselves to the Nohrians.

Robin sat right next to the hero-king Marth while Camilla and Corrin were right next to each other.

Technically Chrom would have been present too had Robin not been there, but technically she counted as the leader of both the Ylissian and Askarian factions.

That didn't mean the prince of Askr wasn't there though.

"So, you're the provisional leader of Nohr?" Robin rubbed her chin.

Another person inside the tent was Hinata who, once more, translated messages for both the princess of Nohr and the king of Valla.

Camilla moved a part of her hair obscuring her vision before answering.

"Indeed, the actual leader would be my brother Xander but he's currently, or at least that's what the letters I've received say, at the Emblian's capital city."

Alfonse, who had his arms crossed, nodded. "We would have like to give you more recent information about his situation," he sighed. "but unfortunately it has been a very long time since we crossed paths with him... and I highly doubt he would be willing to give us a new letter for you."

"Speaking of letters," the princess of Nohr had crossed her arms too, but she displayed plenty of fury. "I've spoken with my brother, compared what we have, and it seems that our "allies" have been interfering with the missives that my dear brother and I sent to each other.

Not only Corrin's letters had never reached her, but they have falsified his answers... and this meant there was the possibility that Xander received fake ones too.

Corrin also didn't seem pleased with the whole situation. "This means Hoshido may be in danger too... not sure how but..."

The Hero-King decided to give him at least some "good" news. "According to our scouts, they haven't found Emblian troops in the few areas of Hoshido they have explored... which means they are doing an excellent job at hiding... or they are farther away."

Robin nodded slightly. "We decided to stay in this bottomless canyon due to it being an excellent natural barrier for defense in case of being attacked from the west or east... but it seems we do require to proceed if we want to free this world completely.

Camilla made a noise of confirmation before answering. "We know Hoshido's terrain like the palm of our hands, we can guide you." she had transformed her hand into a fist while speaking. "If they are doing something bad against our neighbors, these Emblians better prepare themselves."

She had already sent a secret message to Leo to tell him to start investigating anybody who looked suspicious back at Nohr.

Marth made a suggestion. "I presume we should leave in three days, your troops are probably tired and not eager to start marching again."

"Plus we need time to integrate the Nohr part of the army with the other half of the Order Of Heroes." Camilla was satisfied with the offer.

"All right, let's do that." Robin nodded.

They decided to discuss how to manage the space they had in the canyon before finishing the meeting.

Another kinda transitive chapter. I wanted to continue the arc regarding Fjorm.

Again, we need to start the war against Muspell soon... well, BY "soon" I mean as fast I can release these chapters.

I remember people commenting if Fjorm might have been somehow related to Sharena and Alfonse... or at least a drawing in which the summoner asks this to them while they say no... and then the artist points out at their gold royal outfits plus the same blonde hair for both Sharena and Fjorm... but I just decided to say they share an ancestor. I mean, medieval times so you see.

Plus I don't plan to ship Fjorm with Alfonse, I honestly have another girl in mind for him and it would be far more interesting.

I don't think we'll see Loki or Thorr in this version of the story though... I just couldn't find a method to have her transformation skill using realistic logic. I mean at first, I thought about her copying DNA... but how exactly do you modify your entire body's DNA to have a viral transformation? even the idea that all is an illusion makes me ask stuff like: how do you modify the photons to make the light display something that is not really there? and without her transformation... I don't truly see anything to use with her that I couldn't give to Laegjarn or Laevatein to make them more interesting... I mean at best Loki would only serve to try to seduce Kiran Mark but... yeah, it wouldn't work.

Back then when book 2 was the last one, my first idea was that she actually would be the evil dragon of the story that maybe would want to take over Kiran's body similar to the case of Robin and Grima... but I guess that just can't be anymore lol.

Apparently, I also didn't explain that given the fact Roy, and his friends Raigh, Lugh and all the others, are post-game versions of themselves they are older. I was having a conversation with Half-beastdragonsoul2013 and she was confused about Raigh, who she thought was meant to be 10, doing an autopsy with Kiran... when in reality he's 15 here.

By the way, besides Linde (who would return along with Marth) I think it's safe to asume Kris is around there, still as a novice but he's around.

Yeah, the joke of Ike on a bike was absolutely something I needed to do, the main reason for introducing the bikes was for this joke XD.

I got help from a user called ScientistXXXX, who made an intense effort of creating a lot of worldbuilding that will definitely help this story. Expect to see interesting details regarding dragons and more technology. All my thanks to you, man. You are the best.

RoBlue321 · Jul 26, 2023

World Of Revelations Part 6: Fort Jinya Part 1

Ephraim scratched his head, walking with his trusty spear at his side as he tried to think of what to do.

While the current King of Renais had always been on a quest to become a stronger and more capable military strategist, and more recently he was also making some time for learning diplomacy techniques from his sister… he had never really bothered to try to understand how to capture the heart of a lady.

Ephraim didn't see himself as a father…even when he had finally accepted the idea that he couldn't give his sister his clothes and make her king instead, he hadn't started to consider wanting to start a love relationship. He had focused on restoring Renais and helping his neighbor to the south, to protect all the people for whom Lyon had been willing to do almost anything.

He was very grateful that Duessel was the new emperor of Grado, the amount of pain in head that this avoided him was considerable.

The point was, in the midst of all that disaster (both human-made and natural) he hadn't had time to think about that kind of thing.

Yes, the lack of an heir could cause a crisis if something ever happened to him, but it's not like he wasn't the uncle of twins (apparently his bloodline was prone to doing that) so he hadn't felt the need to rush it.

And then there was the major problem: being the king in itself. It would be very difficult for him to find a partner that he was sure he could trust... Eirika was already lucky that she married her bodyguard.

The other solution would be to try it with one of the Magvel princesses. However, he didn't want to force Tana to marry him merely for political reasons, she didn't deserve that… that, and the obvious detail that Innes would take it upon himself to use him as a practice dummy for his target practice.

L'Arachel? She simply lived too far away to start and keep a relationship working, and she also was the apparent sole heir to Rausten's throne… He would basically be solving his country's succession crisis by causing another in the country whose sacred stone kept the demon king sealed now that the original Fire Emblem was gone.

And now that he had the demon king in mind, he remembered that Kiran had suggested he should grab the stone, put it inside a fairly sturdy compartment, and throw it to the bottom of the ocean... something about how that had been done to another demon king who had been sealed in a "rice cooker" (the idea of more than one demon king was very unnerving if he was honest) so only people with very advanced submarine technology could find it.

Another idea was to wait until he had space travel technology and launch it deep into the cosmic void, hopefully getting sucked by a black hole.

The second option would require more time... but to tell the truth, the King of Renais now had to wonder why no one had tried the first one.

He realized that he was straying from the subject… which once again showed how little he actually knew about it... this explained why he hadn't tried to do much to woo that blue-haired princess who had given him the defeat of his life.
Thinking of that mark in her eye that made her stand out forced a smile into his mouth.

Well, there was another reason why he hadn't tried anything.

Ephraim was quick to react and recognize that the weapon wielded by that blue-haired beauty was identical to the one carried by his current rival in Askr, the Exalt Chrom.

During one of the few conversations he had had with Lucina during lunchtime, she explained that the Chrom was her father and that she came from the future.

After facing the apparent incarnation of evil and having been summoned, that idea was not strange at all so he didn't question it... heck, in theory, the heroes were summoned from multiple parts of the past, so in theory, he was a time traveler too.

And knowing that she was Chrom's daughter… made the situation rather awkward.

So he was in a difficult situation.

He wanted to woo the daughter of his current rival's future, who in turn was from a world totally different from his, which implied that if he wanted to take Lucina home with him, that would require taking her away from her original world and therefore she probably wouldn't be capable of seeing her family ever again…and all this while he wasn't sure how to woo a lady in the first place.

Even escaping from Valter seemed like a walk through the park by comparison...

However…

He would never enter into a battlefield that he wasn't sure if he could make his way through to reach victory… so he would have to be patient and decide if victory was possible in this kind of "warfare".

And speaking of battlefields.

Being in that canyon hadn't been an experience he would call pleasant, but the terrain was easily defendable.
This was not the case with these plains.

Hoshido was beautiful, he was no denying that, and certainly quite unlike anything he had seen before in his trips through Magvel but the plains were not the best place to have a battle.

At least the mountains were left behind and that prevented ambushes with archers.

"Boss, boss!"

Ephraim blinked a few times, finally noticing somebody was trying to get his attention.

He seriously was deep in thought if he had forgotten that Amelia and Shanna were walking with him… or rather, Amelia was walking and Shanna was riding.

"Sorry, sorry, was it that you need?" Ephraim looked at his apprentice.

The spearwoman Amelia looked at her weapon as she answered. "I wanted advice about what class should I go for now that my basic training is complete."

Shanna kept her classic smile. "Don't you want to try learning to fly a pegasus, Amelia? The feeling of riding through the sky is wonderful."

Amelia rubbed her chin as her face indicated she had doubts.

"I don't know… I mean, it sounds lighter than this somewhat heavy armor, but I feel that if I don't manage to adapt to it, I won't be able to consider myself a true warrior capable of overcoming my weakness. I was considering riding a horse… and yet I feel like I don't have a lot of affinity with animals."

Ephraim patted her on the shoulder. "Horsemanship is not as easy as it seems, one must use one's own legs more than what it seems necessary, and sometimes it requires gaining the trust of multiple horses, not to mention they are creatures that can be scared easily." That last detail was the reason he hadn't tried to ride again since he came to Askr.
It was already incredible that the horses of his old army did not constantly panic given the horrid monsters they had fought in Magvel.

Although perhaps he should improve himself a little more, in addition to his constant archery duels with Innes, the King of Renais wondered if he could have some talent with axes. Magic on the other hand... although he did consider it, apparently Eirika was the one who had obtained some talent in that type of combat.

Using her thumbs on the horse/pegasus rein grip to give commands to correct the walking of the animal, Shanna nodded as she thought of another idea. "A bicycle seems to be simpler to understand and control even if the current models are mere… what was the word they used to describe it?"

"I think they are simple prototypes." Ephraim just shrugged.

"Maybe... although I think they only give them to mages at the moment." Amelia sighed. "I think for now I'll try to continue gaining experience as spear infantry."

"Do you want to train with me then?" Shanna smiled at the soldier girl. "I also requiere some experience in ground fighting."

"It would be nice for you to gain experience on spear combat styles that are from outside of Magvel." Ephraim agreed.

"Thanks for the offer." Amelia smiled as she closed her eyes.

"You know, I wonder what Robin has planned to deal with our opponents." Shanna balled her hand into a fist and waved it excitedly at the prospect of battle.

Ephraim became more interested upon hearing about the upcoming matchup. "According to what I heard, we are now heading to take a fort that has the name of Jinya." Ephraim did not understand why, in recent days, he had been given a position in the new "council" of the order of heroes. Unlike other leaders, he had not brought an army from Magvel to think that he had power over a fraction of the growing army.

"We have to take it in order to have better ground control in these lands." The idea was to block the capital of Hoshido from all contact with the outside, so it was first necessary to take control of that place.

How this would be done was another detail… and it was something quite new.

He hoped that none of those who would be selected were afraid of heights.

This time, Cordelia had taken the responsibility of spying on the enemy from above using the already famous telescope.
In truth, she felt very nervous holding this thing since it was not exactly designed for observing while flying, the size made it difficult to hold correctly and a single mistake could cause it to plummet.

The fortress that she saw was a building with walls in the shape of a circle and a large tower in the center. As it should for any kind of fortress like that one, it had several vigilance towers… nothing out of the ordinary. The presence of archers was perfectly expected and the amount was not negligible at all. The defending infantry at the gates would make any attempt at a direct assault unsuccessful.

After making a mental report on everything she had seen, she simply flew back to the army… although somewhat annoyed, since this was about the seventh time that Robin had asked her to spy on the foe without really deciding to initiate the raid.

Corrin had desired to attempt to talk to the people of Hoshido first in case the occupation of the nation was the result of another manipulation... but the recent small battles with Emblian and Hoshidan forces had made him understand that would not be worthwhile.

However, he did not fully understand the current plan of his fellow strategist.

"Why are we sewing this much?" That would be a translation of his question according to Hinata.

Sure enough, several women of the order were making large amounts of "cloth".

Robin, for her part, really couldn't put it into words. She just rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Tell him that the only other person here who understands Miriel's complex vocabulary is not with us right now, the only thing I comprehended was something about neutralizing the speed at which we fall using the force of the wind." And it was precisely the wind that made her think of alternative plans in case this failed.

She had learned of this kind of strategy long ago.

Drawing was still not his forte, and the map of Europe on the table was downright pathetic and oversimplified to the point Italy looked like the top of a triangle.

There was not even a very good consistency between the different versions of the map that had been generated as it was required to draw new versions to continue explaining history since it was being done by drawing lines and other objects on them. All this to depict different moments in the history of the continent through the years.

Next to it were other very bad drawings of tanks, planes, ships, submachine guns, and almost every kind of weaponry a modern army had.

"After the disaster of trying to surround the Red Army, Hitler preferred not to risk it and decided to send the reserves of the army to Italy in order to stop the Allied advance through the area." Kiran's finger marked with a circle the area on the map that was "supposed" to look like Italy. "The red army saw this as an opportunity, the Soviets launched a brutal counter-offensive undoing all the progress made by Germany during the whole battle of Kursk. If the Battle of Stalingrad was a severe setback, this marked the end of the German possibility of launching a major offensive ever again.

Robin had been learning about history for at least four consecutive hours and from what she understood, they were barely halfway through the entire chronology of the so-called 20th century, the century of chaos. "And the allies managed to take over Italy?"

Kiran smirked in amusement. "Easy, the Italians are a bunch of useless in war, and another of the reasons why the decision was made to send the reserves to Italy was because the Italians themselves decided, after the bombardment of Rome the supposed holy city, to kill Mussolini and well… they changed sides or something like that, this part is not entirely clear to me."

That was something she frankly didn't expect.

"Hard setback for the Germans, the Italians have betrayed them… again." He laughed like a madman at that.

Robin was honestly about to laugh as well, history was repeating itself. "I feel a deja vu."

"Prepare to say again more times." Kiran laughed as he shook his head. "Just as they couldn't stop the Soviets, they also couldn't stop the allies in the battle of Montecasino... pretty hilarious considering they made their own defensive line called the line... uh, the Gustav line." Kiran laughed again at a silly coincidence and continued explaining. "Similar to the Maginot line, the idea was to stop or turn back the enemy advance but the allies managed to break it."

Robin rubbed her chin, and with a slight smile, she shook her head. "Sounds like revenge."

"And it gets better. Despite these victories, reaching Berlin would take at least another 4 years... so the Americans, the British, and the Canadians decided to open a new front." The miserable bastard smile he had on his face made Robin immediately figure it out.

"Please don't tell me they disembarked in France..."

"HAHAHAHA, indeed they did." Kiran continued to laugh a lot, placing his palm on his forehead.

"So even though the Germans dominated France this time so they didn't have a countdown to beat like during the first big war…they still couldn't stop the allies?" She would have thought that it would be more logical for the allies to convince Spain to let them disembark, but no… the history was certainly very ironic.

"Indeed, welcome to Operation Overlord." He then made a circle in an area on the north side of France. "Of course, it was not something easy to carry out, it was a project that required a great battle of deception intelligence. The allies made up two fictitious armies, one in the south of England and the other in Scotland, these simulated the typical activity of a campaign over the radio reporting false problems and talking about people who did not exist… all to convince the Germans that the landing would be elsewhere." He marked another area which he named Calais. "However, there was one factor that could destroy the entire plan and it was uncontrollable… the weather."

Among the factors that had been essential for that operation to succeed... the wind. The plan required that those using this new technology not be blown too far off course by the power of the atmosphere.

Unfortunately for Robin, the methods of being able to predict the weather in the way that the Terrans did was something far out of reach yet. Thermometers had already been invented, but things like barometers and anemometers of high accuracy were missing… things that Kiran himself admitted to not being completely sure how they functioned in the first place or how to measure with them in high scales.

And that level of scale just wasn't something she could tip in her favor.

And indeed, she had a miserable misfortune in this case. the Hoshidan wind had been quite significant, in the few tests that Miriel had done with Sumia's help, Raigh had a hard time landing in the correct place.

And then, on top of that, there was another factor that she truly wanted to have for the next operation, something that would prevent her plan from being discovered too quickly.

Kiran had once said that she would love to see her dressed as "Sailor Moon"... and although she couldn't truly punish someone in the name of the moon... she genuinely hoped that luck would bring the moon and the wind into acceptable conditions soon.

Although at least the time of waiting had served to sew and check the material before using it.

When you are a night guard in a tower, the most common thing is to constantly look towards the horizon, looking of a possible enemy to "call" the alarm as soon as possible.

And today was one of those days that was considered riskier given the lack of moonlight.

That's why the torches were constantly being fed to maintain even minimally decent visibility.

The "mistake" that would cost these guards their lives is that they rarely looked up at the sky above their heads.
While Wyvverns and Pegasi could come from above, they always used to do so from a not-very-high altitude… so none of them noticed the small flying force above them beyond what would be anticipated.

Camilla gave her adoptive brother a few small pats to encourage him and she also performed a hand ritual to "bless" him in this task.

Corrin swallowed hard at how high up they were… and then he let himself fall into the air.

Very close to him, many others were in full free fall as well.

Kaze, Gaius, and Matthew were the most important members of the operation given their abilities, plus the other ninjas accompanying them, but even Raigh and Ephraim found themselves falling... plus Shanna, who for some reason insisted she wanted to experience this.

Even without a very strong wind blowing from north, south, or any other direction the king of Valla commenced comprehending what Miriel meant by: air resistance.

And so they let the canopy be free.

It immediately moved up and began to unfold.

The change in speed was somewhat abrupt, but Corrin made sure to hold on strongly to the strings as he had been told to.
And then everything went…slow.

He couldn't see it due to the darkness of the night, but his companions had, almost all of them, the same expression of astonishment and relief at feeling how this worked without problems.

The problem is that these people had decided to activate the parachute waaaay before what was truthfully necessary... nothing strange if one took into account that it was their first time doing this, but...

The descent soon became somewhat boring.

On the positive side, the few that had wind magic of their own used it to correct their direction if they felt they were moving away from light sources that could be seen on the towers.

Corrin made his best to ensure he was close to Kaze, so when they both landed on top of the watchtower they both looked at each other for a moment before nodding and slowly beginning to descend a bit more.

Two soldiers were on duty at that time, one of them looking at the horizon while the other took a little break by sitting and counting the money he had received thinking about what kind of toy he could buy for his daughter. When Corrin and Kaze used gymnastic-like techniques to enter the tower through the "windows", this soldier was the first to react, but Kaze was fast and cut his throat with his knife, silencing him with his other hand.

The remaining soldier barely turned around to witness Corrin's sword piercing through his skull.

Once they went inside the tower through the internal stairs it didn't take too long to find enemy archers who would spring into action as soon as they received an order… who were quickly annihilated by the king and the ninja.
In the other watchtowers, something quite similar was happening.

Shanna impaled an enemy soldier through the neck.

As much as she was a little unsettled at having to use a method like this, it was necessary if she didn't want to allow one of them to shout too loudly or simply blow the horn to warn of an attack.

The longer it took them to realize what was happening, the more disorganized the enemy line of defense would be.
Raigh silenced one of his opponents with his dark magic.

Regarding the magician, the only thing he appreciated was that on this occasion he was not asked to attack after midnight, which would already be horrible for his sleep cycle.

"Don't go too far." He ordered to the pegasus knight.

"Okay!"

"And don't talk too loud either." Raigh growled slightly upon hearing her response.

Shanna covered her mouth with both hands and giggled in embarrassment.

Raigh shook his head in frustration.

Women.

Even so, what bothered him the most was the fact that he could not extract any quintessence from these corpses given the little privacy he had at the moment.

Ever since the black mage had heard from his "father" how Nergal had used morphs as soldiers, they had both discussed the possibility of doing it themselves... even if one of the two halves of Kiran's personality had refused to cooperate with the idea.

However, given how little they knew about how to create a morph, it had made them reconsider that the idea was not viable in the near future...

Even so, the experiment with the flies had given promising results and after testing with more bandit prisoners how much quintessence could be inserted into a human before causing a death by overdose (which turned out to be not dissimilar to water, with 4 liters of quintessence being the cap before internal damage began, albeit with different replacement times) Raigh had not hesitated to add more of said substance to his internal reserves.

The young black mage calculated that his current lifespan should be at least 3.5 times that of a normal human.
The lack of "fusion memories" was an indicator that if you wanted to use quintessence you should extract it when it was still fresh... hence his current frustration.

Now the hard part would be convincing his mother and brother to use it too... which he couldn't do if he didn't get it in the first place.

As for the King of Renais, inside another watchtower, he was really impressed with this kind of strategy… maybe he should try to learn more about the more "modern" style of warfare.

Similar feelings were held by the pair of cousins from the Jugdral continent. Seliph and Leif watched each other's backs while silently killing the guards.

Robin had the telescope "glued" to her eye, looking directly towards the fortress and analyzing the progress of the operation.

After learning a little about the style of strategies of the allies on what is known as D-Day, she decided to put the concept of the paratroopers into practice.

The darkness of the night certainly did not allow her to observe, at first, more than black shapes falling slowly on the towers, but it did not take long for the Grand Master of Ylisse to notice that many of the shadows that were the guards on the towers were no longer there.

So far the results were not disappointing.

Exploring all the possibilities that new technology allowed seemed like a good idea.

Now, if only the dynamite could be stabilized...

She waited...

She waited...

And she waited...

…
…
…

And then she finally saw what she had been waiting for.

The gates of the fort opening.

it seemed surreal how this could be happening...

But with advantages as great and unknown to the enemy as these, Robin understood better why Kiran refused to admit that he was a better tactician than her ...declaring himself a cheater.

Perhaps she should train him more at the same time that she learned more about how to use technology to innovate.
Robin turned her right hand into a fist as a smile appeared on her face.

It was time to win!

I really wanted to finish this first part before Engage was released... or well... officially, apparently UK stores already sold someone a few copies and the content is leaking,

I'm going to have to avoid Facebook and Twitter to avoid spoilers.

I don't expect great things from the story, or at least I don't hope for anything comparable to Three Houses (and honestly I think it's for the best, that game divided the fandom reeeeeally hard), but the gameplay looks good and the intro song, well, it is not very common one for a Fire Emblem game but I still like it. I'll have to complete the game (happy to say it will arrive to me on the same day of release) and make the decision if the continent of Elyos will also be considered as existing in this fic (I mean, I already feel like there are too many continents to realistically be possible for all of them being on the same planet). The characters from what I've seen in Heroes, seem funny so far, so a small positive point.
Something certain is that I can't wait to see all the chaos that will happen the day Alear enters Smash XD. The tears of Smash fans were and will continue to be delicious.

If you want to know, I don't consider Alear's design inherently bad, I just think that what really makes them look "ugly" is the lack of symmetry, I modified my PNGtuber to have the same dual blue and red design in the hair but with actual symmetry and people have complimented it... I also got lucky and got Alear in Fire Emblem Heroes!

Although the apparent color implications they have is something I'd like to take inspiration from. I don't know if I ever said this, but while Kiran is primarily an expy of Robin, he must also have things in common with all the other avatars as tribute. As for Shez it was a bit of luck the whole thing about wielding two swords and liking the idea of facing a copy of themselves, and my original concept for Mark and Kiran was more like how Sothis and Byleth interact.

I wrote Amelia's scene having her possible promotions in Sacred Stones in mind, so I tried to do some research on horsemanship... which I feel I should have done in the chapter where Nino receives riding lessons.

Regarding Sacred Stones, you may be interested in trying two hackroms: The first one is called The Sacred Trilogy, basically an improved version of the base game with improved sprites, a more useful interface (with visible life bars on the map to better visualize which units are in danger), 3 possible promotions for each normal unit and an alternative promotion for Ephraim and Eirika. In Ephraim's case, he becomes able to wield the entire weapon triangle (while his normal horse promotion gains the ability to use bows (probably a reference to Tana's support with him where he mentions that Innes challenged him to an archery duel)) and Eirika the ability to use anima and black magic (Heroes reference I guess) which I really liked since she's pretty much a red mage from Final Fantasy... the only bad thing is her husband Seth is no longer the god he used to be for balance reasons lol.
The other one is called Sacred Echoes, a demake of Fire Emblem Echoes using the Sacred Stones rom, in theory it is already completed. I tested the beta and it looked pretty well done.

I was very happy to see that the Journey Through Pressure fic received a new update. I too find myself in strong WWII humor (blame it on me buying a Steam copy of Call Of Duty World At War), hence I decided to use a few pieces of wisdom from recorded history on Operation Overlord strategies (Day D) for this chapter (and I plan to keep adding parallels, I already basically wrote Nifl as a mixture of France and the Soviet Union)

Regarding how the story of the war between Askr and Embla ended in canon... don't expect any of that here at all XD. Especially since the role I have for Embla and Askr (the two characters themselves) is quite different (in particular, some may remember that Embla has been described as the goddess of art) and well, Embla… is the "mother" of a certain person.

I also saw a review of somebody complaining about more grammar errors... and honestly I'm surprised I still let shit pass the radar even though I do read everything as I'm translating it... so I've been going back to correct more stuff. It works for me though, since it allows me to read the whole thing again to ensure I don't write a plot-hole... and realize if I've forgotten about a certain thing (like Fae, who I guess I can excuse her abscence as makanete levels of sleeping... man, I feel like Dragon Ball Super's writers trying to get Majin Buu out of the story the laziest way as possible... lol)

I watched Dr. Stone, if you want something even more focused on a guy trying to replicate modern science in a low-tech world, that's your option!

As a bonus, I want to show you what Kiran Mark would look like if he were ever transformed into an Emblem (ie a "ghost clone" like the ones in Engage).

Alear: So... there's something I don't understand.

Kiran Mark: Of all the Emblems I'm probably the one who holds more knowledge, so ask away or forever hold your peace.
Alear: Why do you phrase it like that?

Kiran Mark: You call our skill Engaging and I'm in a literal ring, a ring which is a copy that the "original" used as his engagement ring to his dear wife, if you're going to leave things that easy for me to make jokes don't expect me not to take the opportunity when I see it, Pepsi.

Alear: I see… so… Lucina told me that time travel is possible… but she said that doing so would create new timelines… but your power doesn't seem to make any sense to either she or me.

Kiran Mark: Lucina's experiences with time travel don't take into account the fact different timelines could interact in a circular way. I'm the Emblem of the Time Loops. My time travel is designed to do not interact with other timelines, it's different. You could even call me the Hero Of Time if we consider what my powers do.

Alear: But… how?...

Kiran Mark: I create a passage, a path, a Gate, through time inside a single timeline. Time is not something absolute, it's relative to the observer and it's affected by space. My powers are pretty much like having two wormholes and using time dilatation in one of them.

Alear: … it worries me that whenever I summon myself and then I go back in time to help… myself, I sometimes try to do something different yet it seems I cannot do anything but what I was destined to do in the past.

Kiran Mark: Lucina may think she can change fate, but as I said time loops are something that may happen even due to the interaction of two timelines. You cannot do something different because you simply can't.

Alear: But that makes it seem I'm just like a puppet following a script…

Kiran Mark: Do you realize you're complaining about being a puppet to the literal "AI" clone of a being who, as far as we know, is long gone and said clone cannot really do more than serve you?

Alear: Oh! Oh! I… I… I'm sorry…

Kiran Mark: It's fine. As a perfect copy of the "original", and it's thanks to that specific factor, I don't care I'm a copy. At least I had more luck than other Emblems who weren't designed to do not care about their situation.

Alear: …I'm still not sure what my mother was thinking when she made you all…

Kiran Mark: She probably wasn't even thinking, but returning to the subject: If the events could differ from what you see your future self doing, it would violate the Novikov self-consistency principle: only self-consistent trips back in time, of the inside a single timeline kind, are permitted. "One often meets his destiny on the road one takes to avoid it."
Alear: But I want to do something different!

Kiran Mark: Oh, is that so? Well, what happens if by doing so you cause the death of your past self?

Alear: …

Kiran Mark: Due to it being time travel inside a single timeline, that event would contradict the fact your past self is supposed to go back in time to become your current self. The consequences of that kind of possibility are unknown. In the best scenario you, and by that I mean both versions of you, would be erased from the existence and so would I, because paradoxical items aren't meant to exist… in the worst one, the reality itself could be destroyed.

Alear: But… but… but…

Kiran Mark: But what?

Alear: But where is my free will…

Kiran Mark: When has it ever been demonstrated that anybody has "free will"?

Alear: …

Kiran Mark: Think about this, so long as you can keep summoning yourself from the future that means you are undefeatable during the whole process your future and past selves are in the same moment of time… now, if you suddenly are unable to summon yourself… well, it's time to dread.

Although I used the clips they have shared on Twitter as a base, in which the hero asks something and the Emblem gives a bigger speech as answer, I wrote an entire full support because I felt like it lol.
Honestly, the concept of the Emblems seems a bit creepier than summoning heroes in itself (which already can fall on conscripting, something a videogame called Summon Night Swordcraft Story 2 uses as a plot point)... like, really? creating a copy of a person just to serve you? I would get it if they volunteered for that but even Arthur 97 pointed out the problem with this concept in his Awakening One Shot Collection (chapter Emblem Thoughts). Heck, wasn't there a comic about Heroes that depicted the summoning as doing that? with a creepy ending of a Robin being killed after discovering this fact?

Anyway...

The ring in theory sounds similar to Lyn's one, but with the difference that the "time clone" can do different stuff from the "main" one, it can attack other units and go do whatever else you want them to do.

Basically, it would work like this: using its power would give you a copy of your unit for three turns, and after that, the "original" unit leaves into the past (meaning the unit you get to keep is the "time clone"). When using the engage transformation, you get 4 clones instead. The weapon the Emblem Ring gives you is the Master Sword and the secret art is: Ending Blow (Effective against "broken" units, dealing 2 times the normal damage)

However, it's balanced by the fact you cannot make them exchange items with other people and you also must protect both units because if you lose the original one you cause a TIME PARADOX! (Sorry, Metal Gear Solid 3 reference lol) and you lose both the ring and the unit… but if the future one dies, then you get to keep the ring (you still lose the unit, since the original one must go back in time to die just like their future self). In the case of using the Engage transformation, the units would have a number to let you know who is the "most past" version and who is the "most future" one. (With 4 being future, 1 being past).

I think some of you may remember Kiran Mark has a copy of Goku Black's ring (which, fittingly, it's called the Time Ring), so Emblem Kiran Mark's ring would be another one just like that (I know Goku Black says in the anime that the ring gives him acausality, aka the impossibility of being erased due to paradoxes, but that's just a bunch of bullshit to me).

The mention of the Hero Of Time is because in Ocarina Of Time you can time travel with the Master Sword, but unlike the one that happens at the end of the game which creates the new timeline, the Master Sword allows time travel inside a single timeline: it's similar to how in Oracle Of Ages all the time travel is done with an artifact that generates stable time loops (which explains how the Song Of The Storms exists).

Basically, to wield this ring you must, as Doc Brown would say, be capable of thinking fourth dimensionally.

Only heroes with high intelligence could do that… which suits it very well since this ring holds the Emblem of the smartest hero.

I'm gonna explain it again in case there are some people confused. In Zelda there are three types of time travel:

Universal "Wormhole" Time Travel, Multiverse Timeline Time Travel, and Divine Pulse Like Time Travel.

Universal Wormhole time travel gets its name because it works similar to how a possible time machine with wormholes would work: by creating a wormhole and causing time dilatation to one side, they would stop being "in the same time" from the perspective of an outsider but from inside the wormhole the clock would remain the same (which again, works with the idea that time is not absolute, it's relative).
Say you have a wormhole with both sides in 2020, January 17 at 2:00 pm, but then you use the time dilatation thing. You can get a situation in which one side of the wormhole is connected to January 17, 2027, 2:00 pm… while the other is on January 17, 2034, 2:00 pm. If you spend time in the past and suddenly the hour says 4:00 pm, the moment you go back to the future your time of arrival will be January 17, 2034, 4:00 pm. More or less that's how the Master Sword's time travel works in Ocarina Of Time. You can never go further back in time than the original creation of the path through time with this type though.

Multiverse Timelines Time Travel does allow you to go further back than what you should be able to, but to avoid paradoxes this time travel instead sends you to the past in a different parallel timeline.
This is what happens at the end of Ocarina Of Time and that's how time "splits". This also could explain how the Hero's Shade and the Hero Of Twilight could appear together even though Links are reincarnations: due to Link being sent back in time to a point in which he had not even started his adventure in the first place… there's another Link at the Kokiri Forest who exists at the same time the one who just arrived from the future (similar to how Lucina from the future is a different person from the one that was born in the present) so in the second timeline there are two spirits of the hero… while the future timeline no longer has one, explaining why there wasn't a Link to fight Ganon when he eventually returned.

Wind Waker's Link is described by the King Of Hyrule as not having anything to do with the Hero Of Time… and it's true. Unlike Twilight Princess Link, who is recognized as the chosen hero immediately, Wind Waker Link MUST prove to the gods that he's worthy of wielding Master Sword… because he does not have the original spirit of the hero.

Only after completing his journey, his soul is considered worthy as a replacement spirit.

Majora's Mask version of time travel works more like Divine Pulse in canon. If time was a sentence with words, you'd be writing something… before changing your mind, erasing part of that sentence, and then rewriting the rest… therefore, this would be the only type of time travel that could actually change the future.

So the Emblem Ring of Time's powers would use the first type, while Naga's power during Awakening used the second one (same with Askr's gates). Sothis's power in canon uses the third type… but honestly the third type not only is broken as fuck but it also does not have some basis in theoretical physics so I'm changing Divine Pulse for my story. To what exactly? that's something you'll see later.

This more or less fits with what Kiran said to Robin about free will back then when he was telling the story of his past: Infinite timelines mean every single possibility must exist, so maybe instead of time splitting due to our decisions, there are infinite versions of ourselves each one with their own destiny to fulfill, even the destinies that are mean to interconnect at some point.

At the end of the day the concept of free will in fiction is bullshit from a meta-perspective though, the writer controls everything.

A shame there's not a fourth type of time travel though, it would be fitting given how time is the fourth dimension.

If you are still having trouble understanding Wormhole time travel, search for this video on youtube: Time Travel with Wormholes Explained, by The ScienceVerse.

RoBlue321 · Jul 26, 2023

World Of Revelations Part 7: Fort Jinya Part 2

Chrom was used to the idea that his strategist was capable of generating the most incredible plans that could turn the situation around, that experience with ships in the ocean had made it more than clear for all eternity...

But being able to open the gates of a fortress in this way?

"What will you show us next? make our enemies hand over their weapons to us by making them believe that we are their superiors in command?" Chrom had such a smile as he tried to imagine such a scenario as he ran into the fortress.

"I did not design this strategy, I just borrowed the knowledge of a friend. If you truly want to know what else we could do, maybe using a wooden horse for infiltration purposes." She joked as she prepared her weapons for combat.

Unfortunately, her Levin's sword was once again close to running out of energy, and without a lightning storm from which to draw power to recharge it, much like a tome, she had decided to bring an old reliable steel sword to the occasion.

Sumia, who had returned from helping the paratroopers' mission, smiled at her friend, it seems they didn't understand she was just jesting. "Sounds like something so crazy that only someone like you would come up with it. And I have no doubt that you'd find a way to make it happen." Robin's eyes communicated her exasperation, but they didn't see that. She simply nodded to them, not wanting to rebut the extreme faith her friends had in her right now.

The story of the Trojan horse was described to her as a very old myth, but although she doubted that she could truly build something of this caliber and make her enemy decide to introduce it to their city no matter how much they'd desire to obtain a victory trophy… there was always at least some kind of supply convoy to impersonate or something.

Some of her soldiers had just emerged from the watchtowers, a hand signal from them was enough to know that the mission had been a resounding success in terms of disposing of the enemy guards there.

However, what must happen eventually did.

Robin looked north as a loud and almost despairing sound of a battle horn rang out.

The front door could be noisy, but it was always possible that whoever was entering was an ally, and that could cause more confusion.

But this was unequivocal.

Now all the Emblian soldiers in the area knew the fortress was being invaded.

"Advance as far as you can! before the enemy's defensive positions strengthen!"

There was still some time left, many would be asleep and they would need time to react and prepare for combat.
Better not waste time.

"Can you go ahead?" Raigh commented, looking back… inside the watchtower.

"Uh? why?" Shanna scratched her chin in curiosity. "The battle is going to start there!" she pointed out towards the east.

"And I will participate, but I have orders to search for artifacts from this world and bring them to Askr." Raigh crossed his arms.

"Isn't that... looting?" Shanna tilted her head as she gave him a dubious look.

"Not exactly, Askr is a kingdom that is in the future and has a library specifically to record the history of the heroes and the time period they lived. It's not looting, it's historic preservation." He gave her the most genuine smile he could offer about him having no other intentions.

That was obviously a lie.

"If you say so..." Shanna then simply nodded and left the tower to join the battle.

Raigh sighed as he went back in search of the corpses of the soldiers behind him.

As well as actually taking at least one or two items to not raise too much suspicion later.

As for Shanna, she ran in the direction where she could see the Askr soldiers.

The most, technically, difficult part of the invasion had already been done, after all trying to penetrate the defenses of a fortress used to be an action that would require days and even weeks.

But that didn't mean the fight within the walls wasn't going to be challenging in itself.

"On the left!" an Askr soldier shouted.

And she understood that when, by looking in that direction, barely gave her enough time to dodge... an arrow.
But not just any kind of arrow.

Usually, the arrows had to take into account the wind to be fired effectively.

This arrow had made her feel cold when it passed close to her face, and it didn't seem to have any wood… if anything, it seemed to be made of magic.

Shanna jumped back in startle and immediately raised her spear into a defensive stance.

However, around her other soldiers did not have the same luck as they were hit by those magical arrows.

The wind was still not the strongest magic combat art, but the extreme push was enough to send several of these soldiers crashing into the walls. Add their armors into the effect and it was not at all strange that they ended up on the ground groaning in pain.

Shanna was at least relieved to know they weren't dead… but they were already incapable of keeping fighting.
Who had made them suffer like this?

Shanna could see a humanoid figure which became a little lighter as the light of a torch illuminated it better.

Very long hair, so long that it had to be worn as a ponytail, apparently of greyish color. A outfit with blue sleeves but what she assumed must be a white shirt with feather trimmings and red ribbons... and a bow clearly different from the conventional one. She was not an expert in legendary weapons, but it was clear that this weapon had magical properties from what she just observed.

As the next arrow came in her direction, Shanna's eyes hardened and she jumped sideways to avoid those arrows.
The man's eyes, even in the dim light, seemed… almost lifeless, as if he were a corpse that now moved only by the will of a puppeteer.

The only thing that could make them scarier is that they were red like the blood that covered his outfit… blood that he had apparently gotten from killing some Askr soldiers.

She didn't have her pegasus to escape in case this hero-turned-weapon reached her... but at the same time, her natural disadvantage towards his arrows was negated by her absolute control of where to move.

Still, even if she had found this opponent while riding her mount… no archer could ever defeat her!

Shanna ran as the arrows continued to be aimed at her.

Where was he getting all those arrows from? He didn't seem to be carrying a tome… was he drawing wind energy directly from the air for his weapon?

Shanna jumped up and ran on a wall for a few seconds before quickly jumping up and away from it as more arrows kept hitting behind her.

The good thing about heroes with this level of mind control is that they seemed to lack much intelligence of their own beyond basic combat instincts.

What Embla had sacrificed for more obedience had cost them dearly in that regard.

The distance between her and her target was closing slowly but surely…and yet Shanna wasn't sure what she should do.
On the one hand, it was obvious that she had to try to defeat him, that was her thought as she somersaulted backward and an arrow passed under her, however these heroes were enslaved people... she was not supposed to kill him, so she had to find a way to hurt him enough to prevent him from being a danger to her any longer, but doing so might leave him without an arm or leg, which he simply didn't deserve... and there were no healers that she was aware of around to just run and ask them for help.

Shanna gritted her teeth as she saw more and more arrows coming her way.

They were endless!

She could then hear the battle raging in the distance.

The walls made it difficult to see it clearly, but undoubtedly the clash of multiple weapons and the cries of battle could be heard in the distance. Should she try to lure him to an area where there is someone who can heal him after she defeats him?

Wouldn't that count as abandoning the soldiers that accompanied her? They weren't that injured… but they were helpless, an Embla soldier could show up and easily take them out while they were like that!

Where was Raigh when she needed him?!

The problem was that now she could see something she hadn't noticed due to paying so much attention to her opponent's bow.

The archer fended off the attack by blocking it with a spear of his own.

A normal soldier would have had a confident smile... but his eyes were as empty as ever.

This was a big contrast to the look of surprise and terror that he generated in her.

Shanna had to step back slightly as her opponent's spear dashed toward her face.

Shanna tried to evaluate her chances as fast as she could while continuing to prevent this pineapple head enemy's spear from claiming her life.

What she disliked so much was how he just never stopped attacking. Didn't he get tired?

Spear fights used to have various intervals where both opponents were trying to decide the right time to lunge, it wasn't like this madness!

Would she get tired first and then he'd finish her off?

Would help never come?!

The questions were piling up as an extreme sense of urgency screamed at her that she had to get this over quickly!
Although her opponent's attacks seemed that they could continue until the end of time… he lacked something she could do.

Accelerate as if her life depended on it.

The pineapple hair hero continued with is lifeless gaze even as Shanna had more and more chances to hit him.

And horrifyingly, his gaze was still so cold even when Shanna finally managed to make a cut on his leg.

In the next clash of their weapons, the puppet hero slightly moved back and pushed Shanna's spear out with the bottom of his weapon, the imbalance causing Shanna to move forward… at which point he used one of his hands to hold her arm.
With her movement restricted, Shanna tried to break free as she saw the other spear aimed at her shoulder.

And she let out a piercing scream as it passed through her.

Sword wounds could stack multiple times, but one thing known by users of the longer-ranged weapon was that the penetrating skin effect of the lance was certainly much more painful and more likely to be fatal.

Shanna, with one eye closed and clenched teeth, could only be thankful that she'd managed to deviate far enough that she hadn't received a lung injury from her.

And likewise, she had to thank his opponent's lack of intelligence in his current state.

She normally would have expected any enemy to take advantage of that situation to push her with the weapon itself either against a wall or against the ground or anything similar... instead, the pineapple head decided to focus on removing his spear and trying to stab her again in another part.

That was why she took the initiative. He wouldn't allow her to move her hand away... so instead, she moved closer until she grasped and held the handle of the weapon hurting her.

Shanna then proceeded to push him herself.

Even as she drove his spear deeper into herself in doing so, Shanna withstood the pain through her fierce determination.

The determination of not to die there!

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

She managed to do this long enough to make him collide with a wall, the imbalance this caused in her opponent allowed her to free her hand from his.

Shanna then dropped her own spear and grabbed the pineapple head's one with both hands, and with that, separated it from its owner.

Now with him disarmed of the only object that could give him an edge in hand-to-hand combat, Shanna cried out as she began to return that tempest of thrusts he had so kindly given her.

Although his gaze remained the same, this enemy showed with spasms that the thrusts were causing damage.
Having inflicted injuries that she deemed enough to weaken him, Shanna tossed the weapon away from her and began using her fists to subdue her opponent.

"HYAAAAA! HYAAAAAAAA! HYAAAAAAAA"

A blow to the right cheek, one to the left cheek, one to the stomach… and finally she caught him, lifted him into the air and made him hit the ground.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!"

She remained silent for some seconds, watching her defeated opponent... it was then that the adrenaline began to fail her.
She closed her eyes, placing her right hand on her shoulder in an attempt to decrease the pain.

The puppet hero tried to get up, but Shanna simply kicked him in the face, sending him back to the ground.
She then made sure to take away his bow as well.

Shanna thought that, in hindsight, if she wasn't going to be fighting in the air… she probably should have brought a different armor for this occasion.

She was for several seconds unable to know what she should do now before the person she would have liked a lot had rushed to help her... finally appeared.

"You have to heal that wound fast, if you lose a lot of blood you will not survive... and we haven't developed the blood transplant process to save you yet." Raigh knelt before Takumi and using his black magic, he made sure to keep him on the ground.

Shanna gave him a partially annoyed look, though seeing how many relics he was carrying made her want to get angrier that there weren't that many.

Making sure to keep the possessed hero in check, he allowed her to run in the direction of the main fight to get herself some help.

Robin was amazed at the fact they had not met Ryoma here.

The man who had been described as the leader of Hoshido... she had hoped to see if it was possible to use that "anti-lightning" weapon against his lightning sword in the same way that Kiran had done against her Levin sword, but seemingly he was not here at all.

Their spies hadn't been able to find him… was it possible that he wasn't here but rather fighting on the front lines with Embla's troops in the world of Zenith?

Once only the central tower remained to be taken, Alfonse approached to give a message to the few troops that might still be inside. "My name is Alfonse, prince of Askr and future King! The battle is decided! Surrender now, there is no need to stain this fortress with more blood!"

Robin felt that she only made the prince walk to say that just because of the protocol, she didn't remember a single time when enemies would surrender when asked.

...
...
...

Which made seeing the soldiers come out of the tower dropping their weapons a somewhat bizarre scenario.
Next to her, she could see that several other heroes were also stunned and not knowing exactly what to do for several seconds before they ordered the soldiers of their squads to restrain the prisoners of war.

The plan had gone even better than expected.

If this plan, carried out in the middle of the night, could break the opponent's morale like this, she couldn't think of what dynamite would do if what she had learned about it was true.

Although at the same time… this kind of thing terrified her.

World War I was what Kiran had described as the complete dehumanization of war. Everything had turned into something more similar to massacres than battles.

Was that… kind of advanced warfare something that any civilization in the universe, which she now knew stretched beyond a single planet to an infinite void, would eventually be led to?

Corrin approached her, Hinata as always serving as translator.

"I think you just changed the way stronghold takeovers are done forever."

She had her hands crossed, nodding slowly. "I didn't make this up, I just borrowed the knowledge from another world. Still, it's a very effective method." Still, once you had the knowledge, it was easy to wonder in hindsight why something like this had never crossed her mind.

She guessed she never truly appreciated the potential Miriel and Laurent could give.

Well, part of the job was already done... all that was left was to free Hoshido and then return to Askr.
And then the hardest part of the war would begin.

Invading Embla's territory.

Given the type of strategy used for this chapter, victory was practically a beautifully decorated gift. That's why I decided to focus on the voting gauntlet match that I wanted to replicate for this chapter.

Shanna vs Takumi is probably one of the best ones, since Shanna was losing hard until she suddenly started getting points strongly during the final hours and she didn't even have a multiplier to help her.

As some people joked, it's like she truthfully activated her inner desperation 3 skill.

It was somewhat difficult to think about how to do this battle. If Shanna was flying with her pegasus then it was obvious that, using realistic logic, if she had managed to stab Takumi he would have been defeated in a single blow given the full force that the impact, increased by inertia, would apply to his body. However, even in ground combat Takumi canonically only has experience with bows...so I decided to give him the spear skills from the possible reclass he has.

And I think it's the first time I've written a fight between spears... and we have a boring but practical case here. Spears/Lances (the Spanish word for both is the same, in case you wonder why I cannot seem to figure out which word I wanna use) were realistically more practical in combat than a sword, but the combat was simpler. That is why I tried to give a more focused approach to the reactions of both characters during the battle.

Takumi, being a hero manipulated by the improved Embla curse, helped me to make a bit of a reference to his possessed state at the end of FE Conquest but at the same time show what happens to the heroes who find themselves like this. As fighters they seem to never get tired and always fight hard…but given their reduced emotions and ability to think they become unable to change their battle style… and this is also connected to the fact that, well… it's obvious which emotion I wanted to portray with Shanna during the battle.

Despair is not something that can only arise from losing a battle, a situation with many factors that one cannot control is another good example... and I thought it would be more coherent to represent despair in her that way since Shanna is a very cheerful character, I can't imagine her falling in terror merely by being losing the battle. She had to find a way to defeat Takumi without killing him, protect the defeated soldiers, hold Takumi back... and finally find someone who could heal her if she received a wound that while it wouldn't kill her instantly, it eventually would... all of that in middle of the night while torches are the only reliable light.

I don't know, I feel like I did it right but maybe someone in the audience can point out something I did wrong.

I thought it was cute to see Mark join FEH, and especially it was hilarious that he was a blue magician since in this fic I had him merge with the I love the color blue dude.

That detail of the blue color is a very deep cultural aspect that it's integrated into the Spanish language, in fact, and many may remember why.

It was also very nice that he was with Lyn.

Now what do you think if we talk about Fire Emblem Engage?

Remember when I told you that I thought it would be a pretty funny cast of characters? Well, Alfred and Alcryst were the ones that made me laugh the most. That support where Alcryst gets down on his knees before a wolf and practically insults himself by treating himself like the worst trash in existence and this ACTUALLY MAKES THE WOLF GO AWAY made me laugh A LOT. I found it very relatable (you can easily guess that the suicidal Star of the Mario Movie ended up being very funny for me too). Alfred? He probably dug the grave for Lumera given how much he likes to train and dig stuff. Alfred is certainly someone I would like to have around forever to get some laughs. Céline could probably have good talks with Zuko's uncle about the wonders of Tea. The support where Chloé mentions that she could eat a snake, Etie and Alfred trying to cook something to build up their muscles! All those things, I loved them.
Of course, then there are situations that are somewhat less funny but still entertaining. Yunaka and Cintrinne have an interesting support about distrust, that moment when she and Merrin discuss the difference between looking "cool" while doing something and using a more direct approach, Chloe's desires to be a novel character that reminds me of Ingrid, among many other things.

I gave the pact ring to Ivy, she is precious… she saves my life and protects me, she decides to go against her nation because it became corrupt and then she is a very good big sister… she is just divine.

Unfortunately… I haven't really been able to connect with Solm's characters besides Merrin. Dunno why people seem to instantly like a character like Fogado or the actual Askr dragon just because they have that type of smile… that stuff does not work on me, looking cool and being cool are different things and I have problems finding the cool stuff in them.

Maybe I need to read more support of them, but none of them have left an impression on me like… say, Zeke from Xenoblade Chronicles 2.

Oh yeah, I already played it and completed it! And man Rex looks freaking awesome in the DLC of the third game… gotta play the first XC1 soon so I can go to the third!

I loved how XC2 was actually a sci-fi setting disguised as a fantasy one, kinda like how I want to write this fic actually!

Returning to talking about Engage.

The villain is crap and on top of that his name is Sombron… he has the same problem as Malos in that regard, I can't take that seriously. At least I get some good laughs from you, puto Sombron y Laputa que te parió.

The gameplay? SOOOOO fun, so much so that unlike Three Houses I can replay Engage without feeling like I have to take a months break because THE MONASTERY IS SLOOOOOOOOOOOOOW (I really enjoy it since I'm on my way to becoming a teacher, but as a game mechanic it will eventually bore you)... but in the later chapters they start abusing the infinite reinforcements to a point where all they do is waste your time, and I mean that literally because a lot of those reinforcements have a skill that prevents you from getting experience from them... said experience would be really helpful because map battles, if you want to do them, are very very very difficult in this game.

I compare it to this: 90% of the time it feels as if you are playing inside a military pocket: a place where the enemy units have been surrounded and therefore cannot receive supplies or reinforcements and they are usually harassed by an incredibly larger force (basically how the Soviets won the Stalingrad battle) … on the one hand that prevents you from using map battles to trivialize the difficulty of the game but on the other hand I feel like they overdid it.

The Emblems… they are just... there. The truth is that I knew that the story would not be deep, but for the love of Naga and Lumera! at least explain to me who created the rings and how! WORSE, THEY TELL US THERE ARE OTHER EMBLEMS IN OTHER WORLDS! SERIOUSLY, WHO MADE THEM, AND HOW?

It also makes me angry that Ephraim doesn't have dialogue.

However, as much as I love Engage I don't feel like I can integrate its story well with my fic.

The main problem is the Emblem rings: their existence conflicts with ideas that I want to introduce in the future. That's why, since Veronica herself can appear as Emblem, it seems more coherent to write Engage as something that happens after Fire Emblem Heroes (which I liked to think would always be the last chronological game, since Askr tends to behave like the Time Police from what we see in a certain game mode where several heroes go looking for historical information and then they have to ensure the battles go the way they originally went, basically preserving the timeline)…although that causes a little bit of trouble too but unlike the others, these I feel that I can patch them.

It's an issue of time.

And it's funny because at some point before I truly decide to discard the idea of souls in this story I considered writing that classical idea of all the Avatars being reincarnations (Like Avatar (HA!) The Last Airbender), with Kiran's expy characteristics of all the other avatars being him displaying stuff from his previous lives, and I guessed I would just need to throw the future incarnations in between.

I even thought about a possible order:

Kris-Corrin-Mark-Robin-Byleth-(Space for New Avatars)-Kiran.

Even if I decided to include classical souls I would have faced trouble because Three Hopes screwed that up. How it would be possible for Byleth and Shez to exist at the same time then? time travel stuff?

OH! Talking about time travel!
What makes me laugh a lot is that before the game came out I explained to you in the previous chapter the 3 types of time travel and I wrote that Kiran Mark as an Emblem would have control over time loops... AND IT TURNS OUT THAT THERE IS A TIME LOOP IN ENGAGE'S STORY! BASICALLY CONFIRMING THAT ALL THREE TYPES OF TIME TRAVEL EXIST IN THE FRANCHISE.

One joke me and Halfbestdragonsoul have recently is that IS seems to read my mind or something because a lot of the ideas I come up with for my fic end up having their own versions in canon (even the ones that I discard or I have yet to show you), which has been going on since the Three Houses days.
Here's a list of the ones I remember right now:

1.-Protagonist with two swords.

2.-Two characters sharing a body that eventually merge.

3.-A Niðavellir-based kingdom

4.-Protagonist linked to the colors blue and red, blue representing the heroic side of him while red shows his "evil"

5.-Link/reference to the fallen angel: In addition to the nickname Morning Star (which is partly a reference to Byleth as well, he being the Fell Star who has the name of a demon), and the name related to light (at least in Japanese: Lueur) Alear is technically a "demon" too, being the son of Sombron, who is a fell dragon (we could well say that Divine Dragons and Fell Dragons are parallel beings to Angels and Fallen Angels, I've even written Fell Dragons as Fallen Dragons a few times during this fic)… and Kiran Mark has similarities with the Fallen Angel (why would I decide to write that... well, there's the fact that a character based on that mythological figure is not necessarily evil (look at Zero, he is the antichrist of robots and he ended up saving the world, his horns with red armor contrast with the halo and cross suit that X in his cyber elf form has… plus Copy-X's angel style armor)).

5.-I did imagine a certain new nation for Zenith that I wrote as this: four lands surrounding a center, very similar to how Elyos is (although, and since the game released yesterday I may as well reveal it, these four lands would be called: Estrella Roja/Naranja, Luna Azul, Tierra Verde y Cometa Amarillo. They would be states though, with the main government being in the center)

6.-A younger version of the main character: Sorta, at some point I had this thing on my mind: what about Kiran asking Askr to summon a younger version of himself (or just getting to meet one due to making contact with other Askr kingdoms). While young Mark is not Kiran, I did merge the characters (and said they basically look like twin siblings).

So anyway.

Don't expect to see any Engage characters here since that's a story that takes place in the future rather than the past… at most Lumera, maybe... but Lumera from 1000+ years ago. (Just in case you don't understand, in this fic Heroes happens after all the previous games except Engage, so summoning is also bringing heroes from the past. However, just like Time Police rarely deals with problems that happen, from their perspective, in the future and they only deal with the past, Askr only gives the power to summon heroes that have already existed so Engage's ones wouldn't be possible) It's a shame because I'd love to write some scenes of Kiran and Chloe discussing things about how they want to be like their favorite fictional characters (perhaps along with Cynthia, who I imagine would love to learn about the Guardians Of Power... aka the PR), or him discussing with Alcryst what it feels like just being a failed copy of your big brother but hey… stuff happens.

Geez... only now I just realized how long the author notes have become in recent chapters...

RoBlue321 · Jul 26, 2023

World Of Revelations Part 8 Final: Incoming Calamity

Raigh watched the vial of quintessence he had obtained after the last battle with fascination... but at the same time a bit of fear.

Like any other substance or invention, he understood that it could be used in a mistaken way, carelessly, or simply with intentions completely opposite to what a decent person would want to do and such a situation could result in something dangerous.

And his family had a far from pleasant experience with the substance given what that stupid dark mage with four brain cells had caused.

Nergal was certainly a pest.

All of this made his life very complicated in one very evident detail.

Both Kiran and he would now have a longer lifespan, they were going to live much longer than regular humans... but...
Could he convince his brother and "mother" to utilize this substance?

It was already irritating that there were idiots in the order who sometimes questioned his use of dark magic.
These imbeciles did not understand that this magic was the magic of intelligence, the magic of reason, the magic with the greatest hidden potential that could exist.

They were simply fools afraid of new knowledge.

He shook his head and hit himself on the head with a punch.

His teacher had already told him that pride like that usually blinded the mind.

Nobody was perfect, even he made that mistake... but if one could realize he was making it, Raigh needed to correct himself immediately.

Still...

Was this the reason that described why their world remained so technologically stuck?

Hearing about things like automobiles, airplanes, ships so big they may as well be floating castles, video games... it all made Raigh wish he'd had the chance to experience something like that in his lifetime.

And that was partly why he hadn't hesitated for a second to increase his vitality through quintessence since it was unlikely that any of that would begin to exist in this world if not for a couple of centuries down the road.

He sighed, leaving the vial inside the chest where they usually hid anything he and his teacher didn't want anyone to notice it.

And he sorted through the artifacts he had collected from the castle too.

Technically he hadn't lied at all when he told that blue-haired pegasus knight that he should do some historic preservation, he just hadn't been asked to do that with a lot of artifacts, just enough to add them to a possible future museum.

What he didn't understand was why his teacher had asked him, besides the artifacts, to collect pottery.
Lots and lots of pottery.

Well, that was a mystery to reveal later.

Raigh yawned as he got out of bed, took the holy relic of Askr from inside another chest, and left the room he was using.
Since advancing without securing the ground first was by general military rule a very stupid idea, the Order of Heroes had begun using the Jinya fort as a base of operations.

To commence the day, he had to visit the victims of Embla's curse that were native to this world.

Raigh folded his arms, thinking about how to explain the current situation.

Besides the pineapple-head, whose name was apparently Takumi, the Corrin of this world had identified among the mind-controlled heroes Subaki, Hayato, Setsuna, and Reina.

Corrin was clearly disturbed by the situation, although Camilla's case was not much different.

Obviously, Hinata was there to function as a translator.

"I suppose," she commenced, "after seeing this there's no reason to disbelieve the story we've been told." The princess of Nohr had confronted Reina during the assault on the stronghold, and Corrin had had a rather unpleasant experience when Setsuna attacked him with her bow without there being the slightest evidence that it was the result of her distracted nature as she was wont to be.

Instead of seeing their friends, each with their respective personalities, what they saw was what could be expressed as vessels without souls, without their essence, eyes so lacking in life that it was frightening... the fact that they didn't move made it even more unsettling.

"Robin told us you can help them." Corrin commented, though his tone of voice implied that the intentions behind his words were more akin to a mandate than a simple question.

Raigh shook his head slightly. "I can remove the dark magic by opening the cranium with tools and extracting it with tubes, but I fear that even with the best method I have been able to develop there is damage the curse leaves on the victim that I haven't been able to remedy and I don't even know if it is feasible to fix them, healing staffs can't do all you desire. I'm also not sure if these consequences are the result of being exposed to the hex for so long... without mentioning it's remarkable they didn't die when receiving it in the first place."

"There must be a better way!" Corrin asked, somewhat more aggressive to his regular self... Camilla wasn't used to it, but given that Takumi was a victim of this, it was easy to deduce that Ryoma and especially the poor little girl Sakura were also under the effects of that curse for a while now.

Raigh raised his hands in a defensive position, his face still showing that classic expression of frustration and boredom. "I do magic and science, not miracles." He shook his head. "Something better may exist, but I'm afraid our current technology doesn't allow us to do much more for them." This was especially depressing considering things like the fact that the only vaccines they'd been able to produce were what could be classified as the basic ones, those that didn't require specific preservative ingredients so that the virus or bacteria wouldn't be destroyed before the immune system could properly diagnose it. "If you want a better method, wait at least a century, I'm afraid that's your only option."
Corrin looked at him with partial anger... before simply sighing and lowering his hands in dismay.

His sister then let him know that those responsible for this would pay hard for inducing this harm to their friends and loved ones.

Raigh then folded his arms once more, his face denoting a bit more empathy this time around. "So... shall I start the operation?"

Alfonse had spent much of his childhood reading the universal history books that the castle library had in reference to all the legendary heroes that preceded him.

They were certainly mythical stories, and these were fantastic people worthy of respect and admiration.

This meant that having to spend time with them in the war room generated a rather strong "pressure" on him.

Luckily, his sister was always by his side to make him feel more relaxed.

Who knows what he would be capable of doing if anything bad ever happened to her?

So there he was, in the war room.

Everyone was once again seated in order to debate the next course of action.

Corrin placed a map on the table, one more focused on displaying Hoshidan territory.

Again, Hinata was by his side.

"Trying to take Shirasagi Castle won't be an easy task... or so I would have said a few days ago, but with our new parachute technology it should be a piece of cake." Corrin had a tiny smile as he expressed that.

The prince, future king, heroic nodded. "Honestly, I didn't expect the plan to take possession of this fortification to turn out so well. It's something that will definitely go down in history."

Ephraim scratched his chin as he considered more opportunities with such an invention. "With these parachutes, we could even give supplies to troops trapped inside an ambush to buy them more time so we could rescue them."

Robin nodded. "It seems our scientist Miriel's work has paid off marvelously and she is certainly very happy about it, but at the moment the most we can do with this castle is to infiltrate it during the night... taking it is still tricky." She pointed her finger around the castle on the mountain. "And that's because, unlike this fortress in an open field, the Shirasagi palace is surrounded by a town. The defenses will be concentrated primarily on it, they won't let us just march on it since we would block their access to supplies and they don't have our parachutes to supply themselves from outside. The strategy just won't be the same... and we haven't developed something like the bombardment yet to weaken their defenses..." Robin gritted her teeth, her eyes showing concern.

"Bombardment? What's that?" Chrom, who was sitting next to her, asked.

"The concept sounds somewhat familiar..." Alfonse commented.

Robin saw that everyone was looking at her expectantly, and then she sighed. "Do you remember that the scientist Miriel and the scientist and tactician Kiran were together designing something called dynamite?" Unbelievably, it was Sharena who decided to speak at that moment. "Oh! If I remember correctly. It was a compo... compo... eeeh..."

"A chemical compound." Alfonse said the concept that her sister had on the tip of her tongue but she was unable to communicate.

"Yes! That! Seemingly, it was a power capable of destroying large amounts of rock to create caves in mountains and demolishing buildings very quickly!" Sharena's excitement at the idea, however, quickly died as she pondered about what it would be like to use an artifact like that for military purposes. "Wait..."

Robin scratched her hair in dread. "Yes... I'm afraid that apparently in the Terran Metal World, after bombs and... metal "pegasus" were invented, a common tactic during wartime was to make dynamite fall on enemy towns."

Imagination did its job and the different hero leaders tried to manifest in their minds an image of what it would be like to have it raining down from the sky not drops of water or arrows, but pure destructive "magic"... and this greatly disturbed them, even if most of them were unable to imagine the scales at which such a military strategy was executed according to what Robin had learned in that history class.

Ike, who hadn't felt the need to add to the conversation thus far, went ahead to give his opinion. "Our goal is to take control of the town and free the civilians, not obliterate them and their homes."

Robin nodded. "The most useful bombings are the ones that specifically target areas where enemy military might, aka resources weapons and everything, is most significant, but even with that we still don't have dynamite in a state that's stable enough to be safe to handle. Not to mention that our Pegasus Knights are not trained to accurately drop things. The wind could work against us, plus the normal pegasi are not as "muscular" as metal ones to carry enough dynamite to launch such an assault."

"In short, we need a different plan." Alfonse, who seemed somewhat calmer commented.

"The prominent evident plan is to besiege the town," Robin placed the pieces representing the army of the Order of Heroes around the "town." Alfonse then suggested something "And we could try to destroy their supplies like we did in Elibe." he did this remembering how Embla's troops were forced out of Caelin's castle if they didn't want to starve.
"The problem we have is that waiting much longer is not exactly possible anymore." Robin sighed, scratching her forehead with her two index and middle fingers.

"What are you talking about?" Corrin crossed his arms.

"We got a letter." Robin pulled said letter out of her coat. "It seems that Embla's high command is preparing a very large offensive back on the Zenith world according to what has been leaked by a spy infiltrated deep within, we are requested to finish the mission as quickly as possible... or abort it and return to reinforce Askr's ranks."

Both the princess and the prince of Askr were partially outraged. "When did this letter arrive?" Sharena seemed somewhat more concerned.

Her brother, on the other hand, did look annoyed. "And why weren't we informed!"

Robin held up her right hand to ask them to calm down for a moment. "The letter arrived yesterday during the night, and since we had this strategy meeting today I didn't feel much of a rush to deliver the message."

"From what I can see, we have a big problem." Ike hadn't been around long, but even he understood what a problem it would be if Embla recovered ground.

"The last time we went through a portal and took too long to return, Embla tried to close the portal and leave us trapped on the other side." Alfonse still remembered how they had very barely made it in time.

This immediately put Marth on alert. "If that happens, I would lose access to my world too."

"What about us?" Ephraim felt the need to ask. Ike, who had the same feeling of uncertainty, simply said. "Good point."
Alfonse gave them a simple nod so they could relax. "We have the Breidablik on this side of the gate, anyone who was summoned by it will be sent back to their world, you would still have a possible way out of here."

Epharim nodded, then he simply replied. "Given what I see, our goal then is to take the castle as quickly as possible... which transforms the ideas of us waiting for them to start running out of supplies or another new moon to use paratroopers for another surprise attack pretty much something we cannot afford to do... and I doubt they will be as stupid to do not hide better their food after our tactic of burning it, so finding it won't be as easy this time."

"And the dynamite is not yet ready to be capable of blowing up the wall protecting the town." Robin squeezed the bridge of her nose with her fingers.

They all folded their arms, trying to think about the possibility that they would need to seize the town by force the old-fashioned way.

They all knew perfectly well that it wasn't ideal, the high casualties tended to be on both sides, as their experience in those types of battles certified.

And that's when something crossed Corrin's mind. "Why are we talking as if going into battle is the only solution we have?"

Once everyone received the translation of his words, several stared at him.

Corrin took a sip of tea before continuing. "If we think about it, the Emblians surrendered pretty quickly after our parachute trick. Some managed to escape and it's likely that those in the capital have already learned of our presence. And besides, they are facing a rather delicate situation. They are cut off from their world with no possibility of reinforcements... and we are technically about four to six armies against one... we could negotiate."

Once everyone received the translation of his proposal, several heroes held their hands on different parts of their faces as they thought about it.

"Ask them to surrender..." Chrom commented.

"That would be quicker and fewer resources, both human lives and materials, would be lost if such a thing could be accomplished..." Ephraim moved his face slightly to the right.

"We have plenty of resources and enough reasons to order them to surrender... but in my experience, empires don't tend to yield until you take the throne room." Marth sighed.

"We have Ike." Alfonse quickly pointed out. "Most armies in the world of Zenith would rather deal with the wrath of the elements than take on the mightiest hero."

Ike raised an eyebrow at these words, was he considered that strong?

"I don't see why we couldn't at least try." Robin nodded. "But of course, we'd still have to make an assault plan in case they decide not to accept our terms."

If there was something that always made any human feel nervous but at the same time created such a big feeling of excitement it was that moment in life when you start earning the money to bring food back home. That's the moment when it was time to stop being a kid and begin working hard to "win the right of the tomorrow"
Erwin was making sure to sharpen his two swords properly for the occasion.

These weapons, which had been a gift for him years ago, had rarely been stained with blood in combat. He was usually only sent to fight against small-time bandits who were little more than trash with no real power or skill and had only served to put what he had learned into practice in a safe manner.

And he was sick of that.

But this time, he would finally face real enemies of his beloved nation and bring home the glory he had always sought.
To make his nation, the empire that would last ten thousand years, the greatest across the multiverse!
And he was not the only one.

Nilsa appeared to be much more excited than him considering the way she was using her spear, spinning it around and throwing occasional thrusts with a smile.

"Careful with that, you're gonna break something." Erwin shook his head at her extreme enthusiasm, not that he considered it wrong but playing with a spear like that inside a room with things like vases wasn't a good idea at all.

"Relax, you know my control over this beauty is the best in the world." Nilsa smiled at him, her eyes partially narrowed as she looked at him.

"If you say so." He rolled his eyes, receiving a punch on the shoulder from his partner to which they both laughed lightly.

"You know," she stopped playing for a moment to look happily at her new "first class" soldier's uniform through the mirror "I'm so looking forward to meeting the princess of Askr."

"And why is that?" Erwin folded his arms, stopping for a moment to pay attention to his comrade.
"I hear she's into spear fighting too, what better way to show off my skills and crown myself a warrior than by defeating that blonde silly bitch." Nilsa was still wearing that snarky smile, but this time she decided to sit in a chair nearby.

"Meh," Erwin smiled back at her in amusement. "You simply want a prey to entertain yourself with. If you really wanted to combat someone interesting you would aspire to defeat a member of the order of heroes worth your time. the princes of Askr are nothing but foolish children playing and pretending to be heroes."

"Am I to assume then that you aspire to defeat someone important?" Nilsa waved her right hand to indicate to him to keep talking, that she wanted to hear an explanation.

"Any of those blue-haired princes with legendary weapons would be an interesting opponent, Marth, Ephraim, any of those."

She looked at him as if he had gone mad. "Do you remember that the prince of Askr also fits that description?"
He shook his head, laughing as if that was a bad joke.

"Please, he's more talk than skill. He's not even worthy of wielding one of Askr's three sacred weapons." he tapped his chin with his index finger several times as an idea popped into his mind. "Although come to think of it, it would be hilariously entertaining to steal the holy sword, humiliate him, and kill him with it."

"Uh, I like your idea. See, I knew you had it in you as well!" She began rubbing her hands against each other as if she was about to eat something very delicious. "Maybe I can grab that big spear of them for myself."

At that moment, one of their other companions, who was a male green-haired mage, entered the room. "Be careful regarding how you word that, Nilsa."

"Shut your mouth, Henver." She threw a book to his face.

The mage didn't even flinch, allowing the book to touch the floor, he simply kicked it aside so it wouldn't get in his way. "I've got all my spell books ready, they won't know what hit them."

Erwin yawned. "Just watch my back and I won't complain about what you want to unleash on the battlefield."

Henver gave him a nod. "Nothing to worry about." After all, he did also have a sword and he was good enough with it to make anyone who became his enemy reduced to little less than nothing. "Altrecia's ready too, her pegasus finally relaxed." It was quite annoying when that animal would start whinnying until its rider appeared. Yes, it was true that she had saved it when the animal was just a foal, but that extreme dependence was disgusting.

"Maybe I should try taming a wyvern." The thought crossed Erwin's mind, it wouldn't be complicated at all. Nothing escaped his greatness.
"Maybe, anyway. It's time to leave." Nilsa commented, watching the sun from the horizon and guessing the hour.

As the three left the room, someone from the other side of the wall was still taking notes.

Askr's legendary weapons had to be protected.

The camp around the space-time gate to Askr had been set up for several days by then, all his troops and several of his friends he had recruited after making a trip all over the continent were there with him almost ready to cross to the other side.

"Hey, Chad,"

"Mmmh?" the now ninja looked at his leader at the sound of his name, ready to take orders.

A translation of their conversation would be something like this.

"Are you sure there's nothing else to report?" he asked, looking at the sheets explaining the situation. "I want everything to be perfectly in order when we leave."

His wife gave him a small tap on the shoulder, her tone somewhat playful. "You worry too much."

He smiled very warmly at her. Being away from her for so long and having to interact with a "twin" had not done his mental health any good so they had been making up for the lost time.

All this caused... that now he was worried that she may be pregnant.

"I'll say it one more time, your majesty." Chad kept his gaze serious. "The only thing that appears to be a problem is the shortage of healing staves that Clarine complained about, but it's nothing we can't replenish by buying from Askr, or we may simply have access to more than enough once we join the Order Of Heroes."

"I see, it's just that since we had to spend some money hiring several mercenaries again I thought we might be in more financial trouble." Roy shrugged as he rose from his chair.

Unfortunately, finding all of his old companions had proven to be an impossible task, both because of how little he knew about where they had gone and the possibility that some of them were now being enslaved by Embla and forced to fight for them.

At the moment, Larum, Echidna, Elffin, Thea, Juno, Noah, Melday, Clarine, and Klein were the only ones he had successfully located.

Besides Lugh and Raigh, he wasn't sure who else was in the world of Zenith at the moment.

Lilina put a hand on his shoulder. "You can't keep Commander Anna waiting any longer, sweetheart."

Roy nodded. "Well, I guess you're right." He looked at Chad seriously. "Spread the word, we're leaving in thirty minutes."

"Yes, King Roy."

Once the ninja had retreated, Roy scratched the back of his head. "I just hope nothing bad happens while I'm gone again."
Lilina gave him a slightly angrier look. "I told you, you worry too much." Immediately, she was now smiling beautifully again. "I have faith that everything will be all right."

He definitely was happy to have her by his side again.

Aaaay wey (hooooly shit)

Who knew that trying to finish this thing would consume all the neurons I have in my head?
And that's because after rereading the previous chapter I realized that there wasn't much reason why the Order Of Heroes couldn't just repeat the previous chapter's strategy and take control of the Hoshidan Castle in the blink of an eye... and this brought another problem, while I could come up with a more or less decent justification for why it couldn't go the same way, my brain really wasn't up to writing a minimally decent battle after having inserted all the imaginative fuel to the one I wrote for Shanna vs Takumi... so yes, Ryoma will be without his epic duel.

So I decided, considering that the whole point of the Revelations game was to find a "peaceful" way to resolve conflicts, that it would make much more sense to write that the Order of Heroes would prefer to negotiate a surrender.

But it was then that I remembered several of the plot points that I had left a bit forgotten: Roy, who went to get reinforcements, those "heroes" from Embla that I added to the story, Bruno playing the spy in Embla, the strong assault that happens to Askr when Veronica uses Ike against the Order Of Heroes (And yes, most probably there will be two Ike) and the fact that I wanted to rewrite about our protagonist given that his two chapters to then return to Askr are already planned since about 2 years ago. In fact, when I was having trouble writing this chapter, I basically decided to start writing the next one to at least feel like I wasn't wasting time... and let's just say that after going to see Accros The Spiderverse I'm going to have to change some things so that it doesn't look like I'm literally copying aspects of the plot of that movie... and that reminds me that I will also most likely have to change or remove entirely a certain aspect of the plot that I thought a long time ago which is connected to the RMS Titanic (yes, the ship) since... well, you understand why.

The point is that I said: what if he left some of those things ambiguous about what happens to them to cause intrigue? Who will get to the battlefield first? Roy? The Order of Heroes? Embla? Or maybe the protagonist himself?

And yes, in the next chapter we'll already have him back... in a rather long chapter, probably as long as the two chapters in which Luis and Duncan faced each other. In these chapters, I plan to add quite a few things that my friend Scientist has shared with me to enrich the world-building. That, and I will soon add another important character.

Anyway, let's talk about other things.

Sadly there was no Fire Emblem 4 remake in the Nintendo Direct... although I don't really feel that bad about it. I still replay FE Engage. Attention deficit syndrome... I mean! Zelda Tears Of The Kingdom still steals time out of my life, I'm saving up to buy Xenoblade Chronicles 1 and will probably order 3 for my birthday, my brother has confirmed he has pre-orders for Super Mario Bros Wonder and Mario RPG Remake so I'm not running out of things to play, I mean I'm also yet to play Resident Evil 4 Remake (if this PC can take it lol) and I'm still waiting for the date of the new Mario Kart tracks, Nintendo! Speaking of games, I've continued with Ike's first game (I hadn't continued after ch 10), and truth be told... is anyone else bad used to being able to skip the enemy turn with a button? Now waiting for the red units to move gets to feel eternal lol.

What is depressing though is the situation with Metroid Prime 4. For the love of all that is holy in video games Nintendo! You announced that game when the Switch had just been born and now it's already close to "dying" and you still haven't shown more than the fucking logo XD At least Zelda BOTW had occasional trailers!. I knew something was wrong since they showed just the fucking intro screen with the name of the game, but this is already a miserable joke that isn't even funny really.

The Mario movie was a wonderful experience, fun in the extreme levels.

It looks like the Switch 2 will indeed be backward compatible with Switch 1 games... which is great, it felt bad that Switch didn't have this feature with Wii U... although considering they had to resell the games to recoup the money lost with that failed console I can understand why they didn't give us the possibility.

I've tried to take some inspiration from Dr. Stone in order to improve the scientific research aspect of the story a bit although don't expect this story to suddenly speed up with inventions, if there's one thing I find unrealistic about that manga/anime is that just how much scientific knowledge of so many branches of science Senku has. If there were at least 3 characters with different specialities I would be more able to believe it. I don't doubt that what they do is possible, it's just extremely difficult for one person to know all that. And well in general advancing to a civilization with our current technology would be something that would require at least two centuries.

And... uuuh... ah yeah, FE 7 for Nintendo Switch Online! not bad but honestly the games I think would benefit the most from this service are Four Swords and Kirby The Amazing Mirror.
Yeah... I guess that's all I have to say for now.

RoBlue321 · Jul 26, 2023

Once more, this chapter contains certain scenes where music should play. Only two this time though.

First: Star Shrine - Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time (I recomend the 3DS fanmade version if you like it).

Second: Gohdan Theme - The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD.

Third: FF8 The Legendary Beast.

I'm gonna use this: -*(number), to mark where they should begin.

Anyway, that's all. Enjoy.

Divine Beast

After he had awakened, Naga had asked him to sit still a little longer as she did a scan with X-rays and other tools in the area of his brain to determine if she had successfully repaired the connection between the two halves of his mind.

"So we are all actually two people who are so connected that they think they are one." Kiran Mark scratched his chin while looking at the monitor displaying an image of his skull.

Naga was holding her hand over his head, which was glowing as the "goddess" was using her magic to fix nicely the small incisions she had made in his skull when she had analyzed him, which caused Kiran Mark himself to have to resist the urge to giggle given the tickling he felt.

The healing magic was indeed magnificent.

"You could say that, I even once wondered what would happen if you could split two brains and mix the four parts with the opposite part of the other brain."

The implications were interesting. "Sounds like chaos... you should try it!" If he could mimic Yao Ming's face, he certainly would have done it at that moment.

"By the way." Since he was here doing nothing but sitting and receiving medical attention, he desired to speak to pass the time. "Did you just happen to connect with the magic that serves to translate? Because for some reason I understand you even though I doubt you speak Askr's language."

Naga shrugged with a smile. "I just had to interact with the magic in question and adapt it to my own. I have visited several continents and also use the very same one."

"I see." Feeling satisfied with that answer, the summoner began to look around. "Now that I have time, I would like to say that I find it amazing to see this kind of technology on a planet that seemed to be entirely of medieval stuff."

Naga nodded, a clear smile on her face. "You know, I know you are an alien, but I could never tell if your civilization was more advanced or if you were simply sent to this world to spare your life. I was only able to deduce that you weren't from this planet since you didn't possess any quintessence."

Well, he didn't know all the specifics, but he doubted the second option was the accurate one... after all, it would be ridiculous to essentially be Superman.

"I... lived on a blue world like this one, the third planet in that solar system."

Little Azura, Lucina, Kagero, and Corrin were still there with him, so when he started narrating those things curiosity got the better of them and they started paying more attention.

"If I understand correctly this is the fourth planet, isn't it?" it hadn't been too hard to figure it out. He had only needed to pay attention to the "wandering stars" that the locals themselves had discovered, use his telescope, and notice if he could see the front or back side of the planet.

If one observed Venus with a regular telescope from Earth, the most one could see would be half of a planet at best and only a tiny fraction at worst. It was somewhat similar to the phases of the Moon with the exception that there would never be a "full moon" phase. With Mars it was quite the opposite, it was normal to see the entire front of the planet with clarity of light as if it were the full Moon. With this it was easy to deduce which objects were closer to the sun and which were farther away so he had no trouble seeing that there were at least three planets in front of this one.

"The fourth planet out of ten, pretty much. I can show you my observatory later."

The "goddess" wouldn't admit it, but... she was truthfully starting to enjoy the presence of this alien.

Ten planets, huh? Well, he had been using a telescope like Galileo's, who had mistaken Saturn's rings for two giant moons therefore it was pretty easy to deduce that there were several planets that the old-fashioned thing wouldn't be able to spot or would be incapable of detecting them. If his memory was not failing him, it had been discovered in records that Galileo had observed Neptune but had mistaken it for a star. And regarding their new telescope, they had very barely finished the mirror telescope version used by Newton.

"Mine has eight. Mercury, Venus, Gaia, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune." He wasn't going to argue whether Pluto was actually a planet or not, and he decided to give a different name to the earth itself in order to avoid confusion with this other earth that seemingly had the same name.

Therefore, he decided to use the name of the planet from Final Fantasy 7.

"Interesting, I call them Nobos, Igatera, Bevenia, Earth, Narus, Ucratov, Nulia, Magutera, Marth, and Kris."
Interesting names...

Wait, what?

"Marth and Kris?" Lucina blinked rapidly.

Naga closed her eyes happily. "Oh, yes. You see, Tiki always wanted to name planets after I discovered the eighth, Tiki almost begged me to name them after those two heroes." She let out a giggle. "She was a very adorable little girl."
Kiran Mark folded his arms with a grin, now he had something to use to tease the Tiki of the order of heroes with. "Well, the planet Mars in my solar system sounds similar, but that's just a coincidence."

Yeah, the names were similar, but Mars was red.

At that moment Azura began to use her arm to exert force on the summoner's coat.

Kiran Mark quickly recognized this as a gesture children utilized to get their parents' attention, and he turned his gaze to her. "What's the matter, my Azurita?"

"I... I want to name a planet too!"

There are things in the universe that are lovely, things that made him think that existence wasn't just miserable nonsense.
"I'll name a whole galaxy after you." If her eyes could shine, this little girl's ones would be like a quasar.

"Thank you, Papi! (Daddy!)"

One thing his Terran mother had always told him was that he should eat healthier in order to decrease those extra pounds of body mass he had back then, that having too much fat in his blood could cause cardiac attacks.

But no one had ever warned him about the cardiac attack that such an adorable kid could generate.

Kiran Mark had to place his right hand on his chest and start grunting in pain. Suddenly, he fell out of the chair.

"Kiran!"

"Child of the stars!"

"Papi!"

Of course, he just raised his hand to tell them he was fine before getting up by himself as if nothing had happened.
"Sorry, I couldn't help myself." He then held Azura and lifted her up high, stepped back a bit, and started to spin around.

Little Azura began to giggle.

And Kiran Mark's companions watched the scene somewhat... perplexed.

"He looks..." Kagero started to speak, but couldn't complete the sentence.

"Happier." Lucina voiced that which seemed too weird.

Sure, it's not like they hadn't seen him laugh or smile before... but this time this was more... pure. This wasn't that half-macabre smile he always had when it was time to strategize or do science. It was something more... simple and beautiful.
"It appears he feels much better now..." Naga watched him. "Well, it's been a long trip, how about resting in one of the rooms for today and we continue tomorrow?"

"We... continue?" Corrin looked in confusion at the "goddess".

"We came because he needed a cure." Kagero commented.

Naga folded her arms, still staring at the summoner. "True, but I also told him he could come in case he wanted to test his spirit."

What kind of test?" Lucina raised an eyebrow.

Not that she wanted to doubt the morality of the summoner... but she disbelieved his heart would be considered pure enough to withstand the Awakening ritual.

"In his case, it will have to be specially designed for him." Naga certainly looked confused. "It's strange, I've seen many hearts of men over time, and while none are perfectly pure or completely dark... his..."

If Kiran Mark was paying attention to what she was saying, that didn't seem to be the case.

Once he was done spoiling his precious sapphire and once he allowed her to walk by herself again, he then looked at Naga. "So, where do I have to go or what do I have to do in this test."

Naga gave him a partially angry look, raising her right hand to signal him to stop. "Your mind has just been repaired, child of the stars, I do not care how much determination you wish to demonstrate at this time. What you require is time for the curing to be completed and then tomorrow I will check if you are in condition."

Kiran Mark said nothing for a few seconds before shrugging his shoulders. "That's fine, plus it gives me time to get on with a certain very special thing." He smiled at his daughter once again and she seemed to understand what he meant.
"Allow me to lead the way." Naga began to move in the direction of the elevator.

Kiran began to carry Azurita on his back.

As an apology to his precious girl for accidentally hurting her... he owed her more story this time.
"The light warriors hesitated for a second since the idea of entering inside a volcano seemed so lacking in intelligence that the only thing brilliant about it was the lava..."

After going up to the surface for a while to collect from the camp everything they had brought with them and also for Naga to finish convincing them to use the visitor's room, situation in which Kiran Mark had to practically order them to stop treating the manakete queen like a goddess and accept her hospitality, the group exited the elevator into another basement and started walking through what they assumed was the place where Naga spent her time when she wasn't... doing whatever it was she did, which Kiran Mark guessed was experimenting with nuclear power or something.

All the girls in the group were quite surprised once more by what they saw.

Once they entered a room, the room was quite dark. Kiran Mark walked ahead of Naga and started looking for something on the wall.

"More to the right." The "goddess" instructed him.

After a few seconds, there was a somewhat odd sound and almost instantly the whole room was illuminated with a light strong enough to make it seem like it was daytime, but dim enough not to hurt the eyesight.

"This is my guest room... although it's actually rarely used, it used to be Tiki's room when she still lived here... of course, she uses it again whenever she decides to stop by." Naga really didn't understand why her daughter had wanted to leave, it's not like she thought it was necessary.

The girls could only describe the "room" with two words.

A house.

A small house, yes, but a house nonetheless.

There was a gigantic bed at the back, a rather large closet next to what appeared to be a window... which was entirely dark. Naga seemed to notice this problem and quickly reached for a strange rectangular-shaped object. She activated something and the view got transformed... into a panoramic view of a meadow. "You like that?" She asked, scratching her cheek. "Or maybe you prefer something like the ocean floor?"

The image in the window changed again, this time showing a blue fundo with various sea plants and fish moving back and forth.

Although the girls were more surprised than ever... they were quick to notice that Kiran Mark very barely bothered to look at the window for a few seconds, nodding in approval slightly but somewhat disinterestedly at the same time, before opening a door.

"Uh, this bathroom is of very good quality." Kiran Mark was still not feeling too surprised, as if he had a sense of familiarity with all this kind of weird stuff. "Though I guess I should leave the explanation of how these things work to Naga." He simply walked out of the bathroom and began to open the closet, placing the girls' luggage in it.

Lucina, Kagero, and Corrin were certainly amazed at the idea of being able to bathe every day and using this shower that apparently could offer them so much cold water, hot water, or a mixture of the two. Not to mention so many soaps and things that made it all very clean.

Azurita, on the other hand, was simply enjoying jumping on the bed once both Naga and Kiran Mark gave her permission to do so.

Naga wasn't complaining even in the case it had somehow bothered her, the room remained unused most of the year and she could feel the girl's brain waves... and certainly, depression from such a young girl was alarming.

The room also had a table, a table where it looked like a small family could sit and enjoy food.

Once everything was settled Kiran Mark and Naga headed for the door. "Well, that's how it all works." The "goddess" smiled at them.

"See you guys in the morning." Kiran Mark withdrew. It was obvious he couldn't sleep here. As much as he didn't mind sleeping with a woman, these were three women and a little girl.

They appreciated their privacy.

Naga followed him without saying much at first until she commented. "I'm afraid the only other two rooms I have are occupied."

That didn't seem to make sense.

"Uh... one must be yours... who occupies the other if Tiki isn't here?"

"Oh, well that's a bit of a complex answer. But you don't think I handle this place all alone." Naga instructed him to follow her once more to the elevator.

As the artifact began to descend even further, Naga broke the silence.

"Tell me, child of the stars."

"Yes? Lady Naga?"

"How much do you know about the functions of the most basic units of life?"

"You mean cells? From single-celled organisms to more complex beings like us that have trillions or more cells that we are made of?" Kiran Mark showed her his hand and began to play with his fingers.

Naga found the fact somewhat amusing, so she stopped looking straight ahead and turned to him. "I see you understand the concept... tell me, have you ever entertained the idea of copying a multicellular living being in a manner similar to how single-celled beings reproduce?"

"You're talking about a clone, right? Using a cell and the genetic material sequence of four types of chemical bases that is individual to each living thing, better known as DNA in my world, to replicate a living being, create a "twin" with the same DNA."

Naga blinked several times... and smiled again. "Yes, you see..."

It didn't take much longer for the elevator to stop... and Kiran for the first time had to look genuinely surprised.

His mouth opened slightly, his eyes analyzed what he saw... and he was quite silenced.

Naga took him by the arm to make him walk.

"I had to do several experiments in order to more or less recreate the conditions inside a womb, since cloning is generally not something you can do without having to birth a new being. Although I guess you already know that. Making an adult clone would require assembling it by cloning each part of the human body and each organ separately... which is much, much more complex and difficult... you could also use teleportation but... that kills the original."

Inside tubes with a certain liquid he could see... other Nagas.

Some appeared to be girls, others teenagers, others were as adult as she was... there were some that were opposite-sex clones.

All had their eyes closed and were hooked up to what appeared to be life support machines.

At least Naga had had the decency to cover the... private... parts.

"... I have two questions." Kiran Mark folded his arms as the initial surprise finally expired.

"Go ahead." Naga crossed the fingers of her hands with a smile.

"These clones... do they have brains?" He had to swallow saliva.

"No, I made sure that in the early embryonic stages the brain didn't develop. They are just mindless vessels I can use." Naga seemed to understand his concern and patted him on the back.

Kiran Mark sighed in relief. These things were Manaketes and they were alive, no doubt about it, but they were not people. That made him able to calm himself. "I see... I remember reading that you appeared to humans taking many forms... is this how you did it?"

Naga simply nodded. "Depending on the needs, I simply put my brain inside one of the clones. Even this body I'm currently using isn't the first one I had." she sighed. "Curing dragon degeneration was hard since it was a genetic disease being the result of deterioration by quintessence."

"I see..." Kiran Mark.

"The detail is, not all clones I've made were produced with the idea of being spare bodies. Sometimes I've wanted some company..." Naga for the first time seemed to show signs of sadness "Ever l since I lost my sister Sothis and most dragons degenerated... I haven't enjoyed being alone. That's when I started cloning myself. Tiki doesn't have a father in the regular sense."

That made sense, he thought. "She doesn't look exactly like you." He commented.

"For the clones I want to be my children I modify their DNA a bit. Sometimes being identical to someone else physically can be psychologically bad for someone. Especially if they start to feel like they are failed copies."

There was a rather noticeable and long-lasting silence that caused Naga to turn from watching the condition of her clones to looking at the summoner.

Kiran Mark had his head tilted slightly down and to the left. His eyebrows and eyes looked droopy.

"Yes... honestly yes."

Naga knew this was a big deal... but she decided she would figure it out later.

"And well, the other room is occupied by my other daughter." Naga walked over to a computer and began to activate it.
Kiran Mark waited for her to finish what she was doing. While he focused on continuing to observe the clones.
He didn't know if in the Terran world a cloning project like this existed.

Suddenly the computer began to display an image.

It didn't take Kiran Mark long to figure out that this was some sort of surveillance camera.

While it might seem stupid to have one of these when it was unlikely that anyone would infiltrate, it was always a good idea to have one in case she had to check from afar for any malfunctions in the base.

Kiran Mark could see another Manakete, she seemed to be working with some trees.

"That's Nagi, unlike Tiki she preferred to stay. She helps me with certain tasks."

Kiran Mark nodded slightly. "Those trees... what are they?"

"They're my mineral-extracting trees."

Wait what...

"Trees... for mining? ...how?"

"All trees take some ore from the ground, star child." Naga folded her arms. "Though most extract only 0.0005 percent of things like nickel since getting more is usually toxic to them but one day we discovered trees which did not follow this pattern and were able to absorb 50000 times more with no problem. That confused me, until I discovered that these trees enclosed the nickel in "pockets" inside their leaves. This doesn't seem to have much function... but it keeps the animals that eat these trees away since the leaves turn out to be too toxic for them." Naga started rubbing her hands together as if she was about to eat something delicious, her smile was still big. "And so by making some genetic modifications I was able to get trees like those, but for different minerals. I was even able to make them bigger and even reduce their need for water."

Kiran Mark was again surprised.

And he thought mining with plants was something that only happened in the world of Minecraft with mods.
Wait... increasing the size...

"Is Mila's tree by any chance one of those extractor trees?"

"That tree my masterpiece." She winked at him. "That tree also draws nickel away from the area's water resources, which helps quite a bit in making it a green and beautiful place, especially since instead of pulling water from the ground with the roots, my genetically altered trees collect water with their specialized hydrophobic slightly inward-sloping leaves. The leaf stems project toward the middle of the upper leaf surface and has a single conduit that accepts rain channeled into the tree. And since I designed it to also draw a lot of salt, this helps it like a plant in a desert." Naga clapped her hands, quite pleased.

"Oh, sorry." She sighed. "I rarely get the chance to have a talk with anyone other than my daughters who might be able to understand half the things I say...and well, I really love to find out and explain things so-"

"You tend to start explaining and explaining, taking as many tangents as necessary, and you lose track of time." Kiran Mark smiled back at the "goddess" "I have the same problem."

They both then laughed together, as if they were any two friends enjoying a chat.

"So... I guess we should find a place for you to sleep then."

"Well I have my personal carriage, but that doesn't matter. By being with you, the urge to sleep is reduced a lot." Kiran Mark shook his head, still smiling.

They both then laughed together, as if they were any two friends.

"I see... in that case, I'd want to discuss something with you." Naga had a more serious tone of voice this time.

"Well?"

"Well... do you truly want to attempt the trial?"

Kiran Mark shrugged. "I see no reason not to try."

"I understand..." Naga began to walk around him. "If that's the case, the thing is... if I'm going to do a test specially created for you... I require, at the very least, to do a basic psychological analysis."

Kiran Mark didn't see the problem with that, it makes sense to do that sort of thing. "And the problem with that is?"

"The detail is that we could do it the regular way... or I could use my magic technology to analyze your memories and design the test based on them too. I don't need all of them, but I do need at least a little context about your past if I want to get the trial right. "

Oh.

"I think I get the problem now..." Kiran Mark then yawned. "Alright, let's do it."

"Uuuh... really... you don't have a protest?"

Kiran Mark sighed, closing his eyes. "I know I'm not pure of heart. And fighting the darkness is usually fighting the evil desires and impulses that dwell in one. If you analyze my mind that way you'll discover things about me that I've never wanted to tell anyone. But..." Kiran Mark opened his eyes, his gaze denoting stoicism. "I never needed to believe there was a deity capable of smashing me to pieces with a bolt of lightning to understand that doing such things is wrong and not wanting to do it no matter how many times the "void" called to me."

Naga's eyes widened quite a bit at such a statement.

"One doesn't do good deeds for someone to notice them, they are done because it is the right thing to do... and one doesn't do bad deeds out of 'fear of god', one doesn't do them because it simply isn't right." He shook his head. "Though of course, since right and wrong are not objectively something that exists, defining them from a subjective point of view is an extremely difficult task and in my opinion... it is quite relative to circumstances, resulting in many gray areas where intentions matter more than results or even situations where results matter more. When one says the end justifies the means, one must ask what end and what means exactly we are talking about."

Naga began to rub her chin. "I see... so, we can start the brain scan tomorrow."

"Understood...by the way, question."

"Yes?"

"If it's just a stupid guess I don't mind if you punch me, but an idea just flashed into my mind and I'd like to know..."

"Yes?" Naga gave him an instruction with her hand to continue speaking.

"The Lucina that came with me is not the one from this world. She is from another timeline where Robin was a man... anyway, she told me that a version of you said that if Robin killed the fallen dragon Robin would die too given a magical bond between them... but that there was a small chance he would come back to life in the future if "the ties that bound him to his friends were strong enough", or something like that. The Robin of this world didn't die, but... had she made the sacrifice... you wouldn't, by any chance, have extracted her memories and DNA with the idea of eventually cloning her, inserting the memories of the original Robin into the clone, and having her appear as if she were the original Robin resurrected?"

Naga was silent, her facial expression was completely different from what anyone had ever seen from her.
She was nervous.

"I mean, it sounds like something Robin would agree to do. Hell, it sounds like something I'd do." Kiran Mark shrugged. "And unless you directly lied to motivate them to kill Grima once and for all, I can't think of any other way how you could bring back from the dead someone who, as far as I was told, was reduced to atoms."

Naga remained silent for several seconds.

Kiran Mark never looked at her in a way that said he was judging her, it was as if he simply wanted to know the answer.
Naga sighed, lowering her gaze. "I've never liked knowing what kind of weapons I could create with my knowledge... but when I found out that Lucina and her friends came from a future that ended up ruined because I never assembled a weapon powerful enough to actually kill him... it made me doubt about my way of supporting humanity." She looked to the left, still rather uncomfortable with the situation. "But... the memories of what the humans of Fodlan became when my sister decided to directly share her knowledge with them pushes me distrust too much... they eventually betrayed her, forcing her to almost destroy the continent, rebuild it and at the end they managed to slay her regardless..." Naga had never shown this part of herself to humans before... but considering the person she was talking to wasn't a "human" genuinely, little had changed. "So, when the opportunity presented itself for someone to finish off Grima, a living being that would be classified as a level 7 apex predator, once and for all without me having to create a weapon of mass destruction... I... I really wanted them to do it... no matter how much... no matter how selfish that would be."

Kiran Mark scratched his hair, there was something odd. "You couldn't... you know... just create a nuclear bomb and nuke Grima to oblivion? No need to share that power with humans."

Naga continued to show that expression of utter misery. "Beyond the fact that in itself would reveal the existence of such a great power to the humans and any other surviving dragons who may witness what happened... well, it would most likely spread panic... in different ways. If they knew it was me... their fear of me would increase much more." she sighed very heavily, denoting annoyance. "I've had enough... I'm fed up that no matter where I go everyone only thinks of me as this goddess, which I'm not even in the first place, who everyone must respect and treat with respect... respect that feels fake... there is no one else besides my daughters I could have a conversation with without the other person feeling every single second that they must kneel before me and watch their tongue with every word they say... and that is only with the little power I have shown them... if I demonstrated them more..." she sighed in frustration.

"Again, I'm not sure if the motivations you give me are justifiable, but I can understand, or at least imagine, what you mean. An eternity without having a single true friend..."

Naga sighed once more... her gaze was down... so she only noticed that Kiran Mark had moved... when he placed his hand on her shoulder.

"What about this: we ignore the going to sleep part then... and just have some fun instead? We get some coffee or something and discuss whatever you want to do."

There was silence for at least ten seconds before Naga smiled again.

"I would love to."

Fortunately for him, Naga had the vanilla-flavored coffee he liked so much.

Naga, on the other hand, preferred to drink tea. "It's good to see that one of the warriors visiting me still has both parents alive." Naga shrugged. "For some reason almost everyone I've seen has lost at least one parent."

Kiran Mark had to swallow saliva. "Indeed, poor people..." he then shook his head. "Well, that's a large portion of my past." Naga had been asking him questions about his life, which he had divided into his two sets of memories, whether this was to reduce the amount of time she would have to scan his memories or was simple curiosity he wasn't sure, but he wasn't going to ask. "Anyway, now I'd like to know a few things about dragons."

"It's because you claim we don't exist in your world." Naga scratched her chin.

"Well, there were similar beings we call dinosaurs... though those went extinct about 65 million years ago." Kiran Mark took one more sip of his coffee before continuing. "They were generally gigantic beings that could be considered giant lizards... and given how similar dragons are to dinosaurs and how similar our worlds are I wondered if there was a connection."

Naga was silent for a second... before smiling again.

She throughout the entire conversation had been using something very much like a tablet in order to look up images in case Kiran Mark had trouble trying to describe in words some object.

Naga was then quick to show him an image of a fossil of a very ancient creature... which Kiran Mark was quick to compare to a stegosaurus.

"Then this world had its own dinosaurs too."

Naga nodded. "One thing humans don't often know is that when they say the end of the world is coming... you could theoretically say there have been four endings of the world."

"Four mass extinctions?"

Naga nodded.

"In my planet there have been five of those, and the sixth is expected to be very soon." He scratched his neck from behind. "So, are dragons descendants of dinosaurs?"

"Given what I could find with fossils and genetic backtracking, dragons all descend from an ancestral reptile that evolved shortly before the third mass extinction. They were uniquely hexapods, a result of incredibly rare Hox gene mutations. Dragons also have a special quintessence organ and system with regenerative mechanisms, their ability to adjust their body heat type between heterothermy and endothermy, rapidly adjusting it between climate changes with chromatophores both adjusting the heat they received from the environment, plus our hibernation capabilities... all that came in handy when it was about surviving the asteroid."

Kiran Mark blinked several times, so the quintessence is part of the reason why the proto-dragons were able to survive. "So in the end it was a Meteor here too... well, considering it's a mathematical certainty that every few hundred thousand years a Meteor hits my planet I guess the odds are pretty similar here... I must assume you guys can have a varied diet too then."

"My ancestors already had a robust digestive system, it allowed them to digest a wide variety of food sources from conventional meat and plant matter to stuff like consuming extremely toxic organisms. large amounts of blood, eating tree bark, and finally straight out eating mineral rocks and metal ores."

"Straight up eating minerals... could that be the reason why your fangs are so good at generating swords? Although... why are they so effective against other dragons?"

Naga began looking for more images to show him, and the one he finally saw was one of two dragons fighting by bitting each other. "In those distant days when dragons were not yet an intelligent species it was the regular practice that male dragons fought other dragons for the chance to breed with a female. Originally it was done with fire, but that eventually became less effective as they continued to evolve, Dragons got a special heat-resistant enzyme protein and amino acid-infused liquid secreted and spread throughout all their internal anatomy, especially the throat. This made fire breathing even safer since originally it wasn't something we could do without risking ourselves by overuse, coupled with thermophile properties the cells developed over evolution. As a result, breeding fights changed. It was then done with teeth. Those who had better teeth to hurt their opponent were the winners and their genes were passed on to the next generation."

So it was a situation similar to the elk, they used their antlers as weapons. "And cultivating a diet of mineral-rich rocks helped a lot with that."

"That's right, I mean... you could make anti-dragon swords with other dragons' fangs, it's just that mine are the best there are given the genetic modifications I made to my clones and my ancestry."

"Makes sense... though I imagine the essence of your fang isn't the only thing necessary for the sword. Lucina told me that no blacksmith could replicate the Falchion which I would guess, seeing all the technology you have, is because it's made of metals that humans don't know about."

"In addition to my fang, I employed some mithril, adamantium and reinforced it all with durasteel."

Kiran Mark had to blink several times. "You used what, again?"

"Mithril, adamantium, and durasteel, you know. The elements of atomic number twenty-two, seventy-four, and seventy-seven respectively." Naga waved her right hand in circles and in a begging motion, as if asking him to get to speed up with his understanding of the conversation.

Kiran Mark nodded slowly, understanding better. "I see, sorry it's just that I got confused by the names. Where I come from we call them titanium, tungsten, and iridium." It was no surprise then that Marth and Lucina's swords were that effective, they were made from metals that were usually utilized for the manufacturation of war tanks. "Add that you probably have machinery with which to refine every little detail of forging a sword and it's no wonder it's a weapon no one can reproduce."

"Even if they advanced far enough to copy my blacksmith's workshop, their economy would not allow them to equip armies with weapons such as these. Durasteel is very hard to find on the planet. Most of the reserves I have I got from meteorites."

"I take it the gold color is just paint then?"

"Indeed, paint of the finest quality." Naga smiled and used her left hand to make a finesse gesture. "Anyway, since I realized that parallel timelines are a reality and that this world was almost ravaged by Grima... I at least decided to upgrade one of my clones. I modified its genes to give it a breath capable of overcoming thermal defense, although that required modifying the main quintessence organ so that it could give enough fuel to the flame, the dicyanoacetylene turned out to be very effective..." Naga closed her eyes. "I don't want to use it... but if someday it is necessary for me to go into action myself..." The "goddess" rubbed her face in frustration. "I never wanted to turn my daughters into weapons, but I'm afraid that with the threats out there the coherent thing to do was to give them all the necessary organs so they were capable of using all the different types of draconic breaths and not just one like the wild dragons."

"And how is it that you make it so that the sword can only be wielded by someone who has received "your blood", which I guess actually means that you gave them dragon genetic modifications." blood donations didn't alter the receiver's DNA, so it was clear that the heroes who said that just were ignorant about that.

Blood transfusions between species generally speaking killed you, not gave you powers.

"I introduce a synthetic gene into their DNA, which usually behaves like a recessive one so that it doesn't spread too far through humans. Then I make sure that the sword has a built-in sensor that detects the presence of the gene in question, if it doesn't then the magic locked in the blade activates a safety protocol that electrocutes anyone who tries to take it. There's also the fact that the guard has a certain... artifact that allows me to determine who is holding it and whether they are worthy or not." Naga yawned, since she wasn't drinking coffee it was normal that eventually she was falling asleep. "In recent times I was thinking of adding... a sort of... how to explain it... it's a computer-created "mind", one that can make some basic decisions by itself. It would be capable of determining by itself if someone is worthy to wield it instead of having to require the special gene and all that."

"An artificial intelligence?" Kiran Mark blinked many times in just seconds. "You know, like there's a "spirit" inside the weapon." he placed his hands firmly on the table.

Naga moved her head back slightly since Kiran Mark suddenly moved his closer with extreme interest. "Yes, that's what I meant. It could not only judge the bearer but also offer advice during battle."

"I... I'd like to try that with the sword you'll forge for me if I pass the test."

Naga raised an eyebrow. "You mean the swords, I promised to make you two as an apology for fragmenting your mind."
Kiran Mark shook his head and shook his right hand. "About that... I don't want a second sword."

Naga got even more confused. "Why not, from what I've seen you wield two swords when it comes to combat... now would you rather try a shield?"

"No no no no, it's not that the idea of owning two legendary level swords doesn't appeal to me... but if we're going to be honest, I don't really need a second one... and there's something more important I'd like to request."

Naga blinked several times. "I'm listening."

An hour later, after explaining the whole situation and Naga had decided to drink some coffee as well, the "goddess" found herself walking and turning around as she considered the idea.

"Technically that would be one way to circumvent that limitation... and it would certainly be a nice present for her."
What Naga hadn't expected was for him to kneel before her. This partially angered her, but when he opened his mouth that little anger disappeared.

"Whether or not I win the test you impose on me shouldn't be relevant... please help her...I'll do anything... just...please fulfill her dream...the dream I can't give her."

Naga folded her arms, no longer upset but not exactly comfortable either. "Are you in love with her?"

"What, no! But as a scientist, or rather a cheap copy of one, it's my duty to give people solutions... but let's be honest, I'm little less than a fraud... I don't know why Askr chose me, but there were a thousand and one more capable people for the job... I didn't even go to a university for the love of all that is scientific! maybe one of them could give her what I can't... so I only have the alternative of begging you."

After that there was a somewhat awkward silence.

...
...
...

"I will do it."

"Thank you."

How much more time did they spend conversing? Neither of them really knew. They both lost track of time until the watch Naga had with her warned them that it was already another day.

Once they went to find the girls to ask them what they wanted to do while Kiran Mark did his test, Kagero and Azura preferred to go out to the surface to enjoy Naga's garden... or rather, the whole prism mountain since that was how big her garden of plants was.

Kiran Mark could only assume they were also genetically modified.

Corrin and Lucina, on the other hand, preferred to accompany him again since Naga commented that, unlike the first time, they would be able to see what happened inside his mind.

The operating room was different. This time there were different types of electronics around it.

Kiran Mark was not at all frightened, if Naga had wanted to do something bad to him there was no reason to wait so long with such a high level of technology.

As Kiran Mark lay down on the table to start the test, Naga decided to ask one final detail to determine the nature of her test for him.

"So..." the manakete king/queen held her hands together with a smile filled with curiosity. "Before starting your test, Kiran Mark, I would like to ask you something."

Naga gently grabbed his left hand, raising it until it was in front of her and she could see the mark she had given him time ago. "You are so fond of this particular mark, and while I didn't oppose the idea of giving another mark to one of my champions, I would like to know what makes it that special for you. you were happy enough with this as your reward after all."

Kiran Mark's eyes went wide for a moment... and then, with the same eyes a child looks to a toy they desire to obtain... he smiled, his right hand caressing his left's one back-side.

The room had become silent after the question, all the others in the room suddenly were interested. "That's... a good question, actually." Corrin rubbed her chin as she walked to be by Kiran Mark's side and take a look at his left hand.
Lucina nodded. "It gotta represent something, I mean the mark of Naga is meant to be the symbol of the ancient pact the first exalt made with lady Naga..." she commented as she caressed the area near her eye. "So, what does this mark mean?"

"It's a complex story." Kiran Mark nodded slowly, his mind filled with nostalgia and thinking about how to narrate it.
"The existence of this symbol predates me, same with the story in which I first made contact with it... and even the writer." he blinked slower each time. "It belongs to an ancient clan born in the country of the rising sun." quite ironic for him to have such a thing given that the name of his country was linked to the moon. "While the mark is mostly known in modern times as the Triforce... its actual name would be Mitsuuroko."

"Mitsu... what?" Naga scratched her cheek.

"In theory, it means three scales." Kiran Mark explained, touching each triangle of his mark with his right hand. "according to the legend, the clan founder visited a cave in Tokyo, the country's capital, to pray to their divinity for the sake of his family. Said deity gave him as a present these three scales... dragon scales."

Naga, and everybody else for that matter, didn't see that coming.

"Dragon scales... so..." Lucina's surprise became bigger as she thought she had connected two dots in a puzzle. Corrin looked at Naga as they also thought the same.

"Yes, a divine dragon... but I highly doubt it is what you think it is." Kiran Mark giggled.

Naga smiled back at him. "I'm perfectly certain you are the first one I ever gave this mark to, plus my presents for the children of the men are fangs, not scales. And I'm pretty sure you're the first child of the stars I've ever met."

"Besides, dragons don't truly exist in that universe, so it's just a myth." Kiran Mark made his heroes remember that.
"Oh right, you said that multiple times." Corrin nodded.

"Yes, I mean there were dinosaurs but those don't breathe fire and they also went extinct around sixty-five million years ago. So, even if the humans of the time the legend comes from could mix up a dragon with dinosaurs... something kinda possible if we consider that the word for dragon and dinosaur in their language is similar... there couldn't be a dinosaur at said cave."

"I see." Naga looked at him, analyzing him. "But it seems to me you're forgetting what I asked you."

"Oh, right. Sorry." Once more, this bad habit of them had appeared. He laughed before continuing. "Whatever happened to this clan is not something I know, but it's common knowledge that the writer of the story took inspiration from this symbol to create the triforce."

"The triforce..." Naga said the name as if testing how it sounded.

"One day, a group of men created a franchise known as The Legend Of Zelda." Kiran Mark closed and opened his fist several times while talking. "This version of the symbol has deeper lore linked to it." Kiran Mark took a deep breath and exhaled.

"Before the spirits and life existed... before even time itself began... three golden goddesses descended upon the chaos that was the universe. They were..." Kiran Mark looked up and, while saying each name and title, he took a tiny pause.

"Din, the goddess of power..."

"Nayru, the goddess of wisdom..."

"And finally, Farore the goddess of courage..."

"They brought order to the chaos, creation to the nothingness." Kiran Mark closed his eyes.

"With her strong flaming arms, Din cultivated the land and created the earth..."

"Nayru poured her wisdom onto the earth and created the spirit of the law and order."

"Farore's rich soul produced all the life forms who would uphold the law."

Kiran Mark began to walk slowly around without much direction, lost in his thoughts.

"With their labors completed, the three great goddesses departed for heavens."

He then stopped, looking at his audience while putting his mark on display. "They left a relic in the place where they created the world... known as the golden power, this relic represents the qualities of the goddesses themselves..." his right hand's index finger placed itself over each triangle as he described them.

"The triforce of power... the triforce of wisdom... and the triforce of courage." his hand closed into a fist.

"W-wow..." Corrin was the first one to say something.

"I... I didn't expect something similar to a mythology coming from you... I mean, you have never given us any reason to believe you are a religious one..." Lucina was certainly puzzled.

"It's fine, it's only some lore of a story meant to entertain children." he laughed as he walked to be in front of Naga again. "I can enjoy a good story like that as long as somebody does not try to sell it to me like an actual fact."

"A very interesting story, I must express." the divine dragon said, looking at the mark with more amazement.

"There's more." everybody paid more attention after hearing that. "The triforce holds the power of the goddesses... therefore, it can reshape the universe as you desire."

"So, it's the power of creation," Naga commented. Mortals always seemed to create stories with that concept, to the point they had started believing she had said power even though that was simply ridiculous.

He nodded. "The power to grant the wish of the one who holds the triforce in his hands... in other words: the triforce is the universe's greatest treasure!" he raised his left hand towards the sky.

"However." he palmed softly his mark as he lowered the hand. "The goddesses don't allow just anyone to use their power. They hid the triangles in a location known as the Sacred Realm... the zone is a mirror that reflects how is the heart of the one who enters into it. If it's somebody with a heart dominated by darkness, the Sacred Realm transforms into a hell, on the contrary... a person with a heart of gold will convert it into a paradise."

Lucina decided to share her opinion. "Basically, those who attempt to obtain the golden power will have it easier or harder depending on if they are more or less evil."

"I guess that's the idea, but the final challenge is other."

Naga could see that this boy's eyes denoted... doubt and uncertainty.

"The triforce... it is a balance that weights the three qualities of the goddesses... power, wisdom, and courage." he now seemed... depressed.

"Those who have a balanced heart between these qualities will gain the true Triforce to govern all... but if the sacred relic is touched by somebody whose heart does not possess equal balance... the Triforce will separate into its three component parts, leaving only the piece representing the force that the person who wanted to get their wish believes in the most."
Naga had to admit that she was very stunned by the lore.

"Then, the remaining pieces will be held by two special individuals chosen by destiny, who the goddesses regard they represent the other two qualities the best."

Naga finally understood.

The reason why this boy had such an attachment to this simple mark.

"Summarizing, you have this mark because it represents that you have those attributes?"

Kiran Mark smiled and shook his head. "Mhahahahahahah!" he closed his eyes, his grin still very visible. "I guess? the problem with these kinds of stories is that they are very vague about what their concepts mean." He made himself a bit more comfortable on the table/bed before positioning his hands behind his head.

"What do they exactly define as power? it's pure raw strength? it's the force measured in joules? or power is the capability of doing something and its possible potential, and also current intensity, what is measured? what do they mean by courage? lacking fear? having audacity? owning a strong determination? being capable of fighting even if there's fear tormenting the heart? some people seem to agree that true courage is that instead of not feeling fear at all."

He, once more, raised his left hand towards the sky… but this time it was as if he was trying to reach out for something.
"What's wisdom? the quality of having experience, knowledge, and good judgment? Is it being able to reason and, as a result, change your opinion if enough evidence appears? being capable of sensing, predicting, and analyzing more than normal people could?" once more, his facial expression denoted how confused he was about these questions. "Not to mention the fact that how would you describe having a balance in those qualities? can it be measured?"

He took a look at his Espada Maestra Azul, by his side as always, and sighed.

"If I need to give a significantly general answer... I would say that... a sword may have all the power in the world, both in capability and physical raw strength, but it wouldn't be able to extract all the potential of said power if the hand that holds it does not have courage. Courage is the motivator that allows using said power... but courage can become recklessness without proper knowledge of how to harness that potential... power can corrupt or even kill its wielder if it's not used smartly."

He sighed once more. "And then there's the fact… well, you can't really use any of those without hope too."

"Hope?" Naga questioned.

"If you are hopeless, no matter how much power you have you won't use it wisely at its full potential… and you probably won't even fight." he laughed a bit. "There was this theory at some point that the triforce had a secret fourth piece." He pointed to the inverse triangle space of the center. "Some people said it was the triforce of hope… and while nothing is confirmed, I would say the idea of it being the triforce of hope makes some sense."

Naga smiled, crossing her arms.

"I see... I think, I already have everything I need to get started." Naga noddes slowly.

"I don't understand how you intend to test me in the realm of my mind... but I suppose you have your methods."

"Before that though... I wanted to ask you something." Naga became much more serious.

"What is it?"

"After what happened yesterday, I did a bit of a detailed analysis on your body... and let's just say I'd like to know what happened to your eyes." She showed him what appeared to be a scanned image of his eyes. "Both eyes show signs of damage, but the left one particularly seems to only operate at 70 percent of the sight capacity a human has, which I imagine is not much different for your species, causing the right eye to have to overcompensate and deteriorate much faster."

Kiran Mark, again, had to blink in surprise. "Wow..."

"If we don't do something you'll go blind in twenty-five or thirty years." Naga looked horrified at this.
Lucina and Corrin were also scared.

"I had an accident during childhood. The doctors had to remove a piece of graphite from my eye in order to save me from losing it." In some parallel universe, he wore an eye patch.

"I see...well, I would like to know if you would like me to fix this problem while you sleep. While I could simply give you lenses adjusted to the needs of each eye... that's very basic. However, the other method is to replace your eyes with new ones... but for that, I require-."

"You need my DNA." He completed the sentence. Kiran Mark yawned. "Go ahead, I'm sure you want it in your hands anyway."

"Eeeh... are you sure?"

Kiran Mark made his eyes roll in annoyance. "Come on, if an alien being showed up in my world the first thing I'd want is to have a sample of their DNA, to compare it with mine to understand how it works. I mean, my DNA is a gold mine containing genetic information that goes from me to the first living thing with DNA on the surface of my planet, it's a genetic treasure. So it's okay, take it. It's not like you're going to use it to create clones of me, though. I mean, you, a "goddess" asking me to create a descendant with you... it's the stupidest thing I could ever hear so it's obvious you won't do that"

Naga shook her head with a smile. "Okay, if you say so."

"Uuuh..." Lucina raised her index finger to ask. "I'm afraid I'm lost, I don't understand what you're talking about."

"I have the same problem." Corrin looked... worried.

"It's okay, we'll explain later. Especially for you." Kiran Mark replied, looking at Corrin in particular.

"Very well... then, I'll replace your eyes."

"Can you give me blue eyes?"

"Blue... eyes?"

"If you're going to give me other eyes, can't you modify them a bit to make them permanently blue?"

"...I suppose I could do that" What truly disturbed the "goddess" a little was how excited this man was at the idea.

"What about my hair?"

"... Your hair color is tied to your body's genetics and it's not an organ I can replace so I can't permanently dye it. I'd have to replace your whole head or directly give you a new body."

"Well, I wouldn't mind." Kiran Mark then grabbed the oxygen and anesthesia chemical mask and put it in his mouth before plopping down on the table and closing his eyes.

Naga, Lucina, and Corrin blinked several times, watching him stay there peacefully and without complaint.

Lucina narrowed her eyes in annoyance. "He's insane..."

Corrin shook her head. "Definitely..."

It was illogical to think that he would have fallen asleep by now... but he didn't seem to mind hearing that.

"For you," Naga began to speak, "I have something special." She then presented them with two helmets. "It was always of interest to me to be capable of seeing other people's dreams, so I was able to design, with Tiki's help, these. You just have to put them on and wait for my signal."

Lucina and Corrin simply looked at each other before shrugging, sitting down in some chairs, putting on their helmets, and waiting.

Naga, feeling more relieved to have permission from this patient, then brought a syringe and without hesitation drew a blood sample from Kiran Mark.

Once she inserted the sample into a machine, it began running a quick analysis of the DNA in question.

To tell the truth, it was already a surprise that an alien life form would have anything remotely resembling DNA.

Just as she expected, his DNA was regular in the sense of only having four "letters" unlike her dragon DNA genetically enhanced to have eight.

That was not what she was actually looking for.

As she made a comparison with some human DNA she had, Naga observed that the sequence of letters was nothing alike.
Even when exploring older parts of the genetic code she couldn't find similarities like those that could be found between humans and monkeys.

Or between humans and other animals.

Or even plants.

That he could eat the food on this planet without dying was impressive enough.

Once she was sure he was perfectly asleep, Naga began to plug into his brain the components once more.

"Alright, get ready."

Naga had made sure to chain him better considering the jerky way he had moved while sleeping.

She lifted Kiran Mark's left hand, the one with the mark, with her right one while her left one got placed on his forehead.
Naga closed her eyes and then proceeded to perform her magic.

The three pieces of the triforce for a moment glowed but returned to being dark as always.

Kiran Mark assumed that, since Naga would be designing a test for him, this time he would not materialize in his beloved outer space that he had chosen to represent his cerebellum.

However, this was also not the void his two halves arrived at when they both began their conflict for control of the brain.
This... more like... an ocean world.

Though he could walk, there was no floor... it was as if when he stepped he was walking on water, but all he could see besides that was the blue sky.

It was no surprise to him that his clothes were now a mix between his summoner's coat and his old clothes as a strategist in Elibe. Mainly the part from the waist to up was green clothing while everything else was blue with the occasional white, brown, and gold.

Kiran Mark started walking, trying to speculate what his trial was supposed to be.

Psychologically resisting being in nothingness for what would seem like an eternity of time, perhaps?

It was then that, in front of him, a staircase began to form. Literally, it was materializing itself in front of him.
Kiran Mark then heard Naga's voice.

Her actual voice, not Tiki's one.

"I give you permission to ascend and stand before me. If you want to face your destiny, show me your determination."
Kiran Mark didn't even have to hesitate, he simply began to climb.

The journey was not exactly short, to the point that he thought he would reach at least the stratosphere at some point.
In the sky, there was a platform on which there were many pillars.

When he finally finished climbing all the stairs... Naga was there, seated on a throne made of stone that he could only assume was her "divine dragon" throne.

Whether she was annoyed by the fact that his brain was unconsciously playing music or not, he couldn't say for sure. Her face was stoic.

"Throughout history," Naga began to speak, resting her face on the fist of her left hand. "I have lent my power to multiple champions and never before have I seen anything like what is in your heart."

Kiran Mark slightly tilted his head downward in order to give a somewhat more "intimidating" look.

"The darkness I see is in alarming amounts... and yet, I can also detect the light of your being, in exactly the same amount." Naga raised her left hand. displaying what appeared to be a balance measurement object.

Kiran Mark immediately thought about the anthropomorphic personification of justice, the one the French had created.
Naga began to look at him with a bit of "disdain" which, coming from what was considered a goddess that was unnerving. "You were right, young man. There are things I saw in your memories that disgusted me."

She then slowly rose from her chair. From her position, the goddess appeared much taller which he deduced was for an intimidation factor.

"But the truth is that we all harbor some darkness in us. To me what concerns me is the fact that your darkness and your light are equivalent. In my champions, the light usually dominates its counterpart... in you? It's as if the two have merged together... how can I be entirely sure that you wouldn't misuse my power in that case?"

Kiran Mark... didn't respond to that, his face instead seemed to fill with shame, looking down and tilting his head further.
"Will you say nothing in your defense?" Naga's voice now seemed to have an echoing effect.

He closed his "eyes" and simply shook his "head" before speaking.

"The... actions prove more than words or thoughts... you... you saw my memories, shouldn't you then know the answer based on what was observed?"

Naga flashed a smile again... though he doubted that meant anything good. "Good answer." She began to walk slowly towards him. "In that case..."

He barely had time to raise his head and react. Naga had cut the distance between them and, Falchion on hand, made a vertical slash towards his head.

Kiran Mark unhesitatingly leaped to the right.

"Time" seemed to slow down as a sword materialized in his right hand. Golden and glowing, La Iluminadora finished forming.

Kiran Mark then, once one of his feet touched the ground, thrust forward and performed a horizontal slash.

Naga had no trouble dodging with a backward somersault.

In the time it took her to do that, Kiran Mark took the opportunity to summon another weapon.

When Naga once again approached to make weapon contact, he defended himself with la Ragnarok by blocking another slash and then he tried to respond, with Naga now immobilized, by using la Iluminadora to perform a forward lunge.
Very foolishly he thought she only had that one weapon, so la Iluminadora was then blocked by the Fire Emblem.

They both backed off for a moment before continuing their clash of weapons.

Naga expected to see some anger on her opponent's face.

But the only constant was those wide eyes on high alert combined with the fact that every time the two were locked in a stare at each other as their weapons tried to push each other... she could detect and see the tremor in her opponent's weapon.

She then moved her left hand with great speed towards his face.

Kiran Mark was pushed as the Fire Emblem impacted his face.

Naga then had no problem kicking him and sending him flying.

Kiran Mark impacted backwards against one of the pillars.

He had to react in time before the Fire Emblem crushed his head between the pillar and the shield itself.

He then rolled around her, on the ground.

Naga didn't have time to react by the time Kiran Mark was already behind her and quickly rose up performing an upward slash.

Naga grunted in pain, instinctively placing the shield on her back, blocking another lunge, and then turning around.

Kiran Mark, in an act she couldn't describe whether it was indecision or just pure fear, decided not to continue attacking and instead simply thrust backwards.

They both stared at each other for a few seconds, Naga was surprised at how much he was shaking.

Then he discarded one of his two swords.

Naga raised an eyebrow, but then narrowed her eyes as another weapon materialized.

It was a... triangular saber made of plasma.

"C-c-chain rod!"

However, what she didn't expect was that he would perform a lunge from afar... and the blade along with his guard would extend in her direction.

It was a chain sword!

Naga tried to block it with the Fire Emblem, and while this prevented the blade from cutting her... he then simply pulled the chain.

Naga was then dragged in his direction.

At the same time, energy seemed to have been charged on his body... and it was then that she noticed the other weapon he held.

"RECOIL ROD!"

It was a weapon that at first glance looked like a simple stick made of energy, but the moment he put his arm forward all the accumulated energy was sent into the weapon. It suddenly expanded in a single second and exerted an extreme thrust force on her.

Now she was the one who was propelled away.

Had this been the reality, that weapon would have split her in two.

Naga did not take long to stand up, but then she had to dodge as the chain passed very close to her stomach.

Kiran Mark began to wave his whip as if there wasn't a tomorrow, and Naga quickly understood the rod had more bladed tips than just the top.

Naga smiled, "Not bad, kid."

Kiran Mark panicked as Naga suddenly seemed to become extremely fast to the point where he could only see what appeared to be her silhouette. No matter how much he moved the chain across the battlefield Naga dodged everything with perfect synchronicity.

It was something that would even be beautiful to observe.

Once he knew he had her extremely close, he knew the same strategy wouldn't work so he transformed the recoil rod back to his Z-saber form and released all the energy from it impacting it against the ground.

Naga simply jumped high to avoid the energy blast.

Kiran Mark looked up only to find Naga's foot smashing his face.

He fell onto his back, and then again he felt a kick. This time in the stomach.

Naga would not let him get up. Falchion then appeared inches from his face.

If he was shaking before, he was doing it much more now.

"Tell me, demon." He could feel the strength of Naga's leg pressing him harder against the ground. "What would you do if our current situation were reversed? Uh, would you succumb to the darkness?!"

Kiran Mark grunted in pain. "I... I..." he then hardened his eyes.

His iris turned green and he quickly clutched the Falchion as his hands turned into tiger-like claws. "I wouldn't do anything." He then shoved her with all his strength.

Naga had no trouble pulling herself together, but then she saw that Kiran Mark was circling around her.

With a tiger roar, Kiran Mark attacked with his claws.

And Naga had to be surprised at seeing Falchion break.

She, however, didn't seem to flinch.

"Enough!"

She let go of the shield and her hands glowed with magic. At that, she then expelled a wave of electrical energy.
Kiran Mark again ended up impacted against a pillar, his eyes returning to brown and his claws disappearing.
"There is certainly no way to defeat you in this world." Naga folded her arms.

Kiran Mark said nothing, just kept his eyes narrowed.

"You're awfully quiet."

"You wouldn't say something like that if you weren't going to use something to try to overcome that difficulty." There was no point in wanting to brag.

Naga smiled.

In the real world, the real Naga saw the situation through her helmet.

Corrin and Lucina could see the battle as well, but Naga warned them that he would never hear or see them.
They were only spectators.

Naga put her hand back on his forehead and used more magic.

Naga stretched out her hands and began to fly, Kiran Mark took advantage of the pause in combat to stand up.
"I will summon the being you fear the most, the stronger it is in your mind... the worse the torment shall be!"

Kiran Mark had to cover his "eyes" as the light became excessively strong.

When he could see again... Naga was no longer there.

Then, a golden beam of light fell from the heavens.

Kiran Mark turned upwards... and saw a humanoid figure descending.

Both Lucina and Corrin, who "were" by side, could also see the figure descending.

He didn't have wings, but he might as well have had them considering his descent was masterfully beautiful.
When his feet touched the ground... they both felt a kind of deja-vu. This new individual's clothes… were not very different from the summoner's in this dream…but everything that had been green on the Kiran Mark was red on his clothes.

Likewise, although his face was incredibly similar… there was a significant age gap.

This man was not a teenager, he had very marked adult features, with a noticeable brown beard and mustache. Likewise, his skin tone was a bit more… brown, if that was a tan or his natural tone they weren't sure.

Kiran Mark took a few steps back.

"Miguel…"

The only thing the girls could detect from Miguel's face was extreme contempt, almost as if what he was looking at was an abomination of nature.

"LUIS MANUEL!"

Kiran Mark backed up even further.

Unfortunately for the ladies, nothing that followed was something they could understand.
But there was something they could see. Kiran Mark was trembling even more.

He looked like a child...

Literally… it was as if every step he took back had diminished his age.

Until, at best, he was now 10 years old.

"Mientras nuestra madre y padre gastan tiempo, dinero y esfuerzo para buscarte… tú que haces (While our mother and father spend time, money and effort looking for you... what you decide to do?" His tone was calmer at first... until Miguel suddenly grabbed Kiran Mark by the neck and began to suffocate him. "PERDER EL TIEMPO AYUDANDO A UN MONTÓN DE GENTE DESCONOCIDA! (WASTING TIME HELPING OUTSIDERS!)"

Then he threw him against the ground, creating some cracks in it.

Kiran Mark coughed in pain, Miguel didn't give him time TO REST as he grabbed his leg and lifted him into the air before hitting him on the ground again.

"Te diviertes mucho jugando a ser héroe, ¡¿uh?! (Having a lot of fun playing the hero, huh?!)" He lifted him by the neck again, but this time Miguel punched him in the stomach with his other hand, again and again.

Corrin placed her hands over her mouth while Lucina… she didn't know how to react.

Kiran Mark eventually managed to stop one of those punches and, having decided to escape the situation, his bet was to resort to magic.

Electricity surged from the hand that stopped Miguel's fist, forcing him back off.

Miguel growled in a rather lion-like manner and responded with fire magic throwing multiple balls in his direction.
Kiran Mark tried to stop them, redirect them, whatever he could do. While he was able to pull it off decently with the first five times…he was too slow to react for the sixth.

His left eye then began to burn.

He grunted in extreme pain.

Again, he did not understand how it was possible for him to feel such a thing in this mental world... but that didn't take away from the fact that he had to place both hands over "his eye" to decrease the pain a bit.

Miguel stopped for a moment, looking at him with his arms crossed... and shaking his head.

Kiran Mark gritted his teeth… and materialized yet another weapon.

With the already classic guard in the form of wings, blue color, and blade with the engraved triforce, Kiran Mark tried to draw the Master Sword out of its sheath.

If he had grunted in pain before, this time he couldn't help it and released the full force of his lungs.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!"

By screaming.

He blinked multiple times, unable to fully process what was happening around him.

Once he was back to his senses... he observed with horror that… his hand… his hand skin was worse than his eye's, it had turned dark as a result of the burns.

Miguel's laugh made him pay attention again.

"Por favor… (Please...)" he then extended his hand… and the Master Sword flew in his direction, resting comfortably in his left hand as if it was natural for it to be there. "Esta es una hoja sagrada, Luis. Es la espada destructora del mal y los demonios. (This is a sacred blade, Luis. It's the sword of evil's bane and destructor of demons)" He then drew it, pointing it at her brother. "Solo alguien de corazón puro puede blandirla… (Only somebody of pure heart could wield it...) ¿EN SERIO CREÍAS QUE UN MISERABLE DEMONIO CORRUPTO DE PECADO COMO TÚ PODRÍA SER DIGNO DE ELLA? ¡ESTA ESPADA NO PODRÍA NI SIQUIRA TOLERAR QUE PUSIERAS UN SOLO DEDO EN ELLA! (DID YOU REALLY THINK A MISERABLE DEMON CORRUPTED BY SIN AS YOU COULD EVER BE WORTHY OF IT?! THIS SWORD COULDN'T EVEN TOLERATE YOU PUTTING A SINGLE FINGER ON IT!)" The sword then began to glow… with the holy light that opposed the cataclysm. "¡HEREJE INSOLENTE! (INSOLENT HERETIC!)"
Kiran Mark did no more than try to cover himself with his hands as the blade prepared to cut him in two.

And with this... I FINALLY PORTED THE ENTIRE STORY!

Now I can focus on writing the next chapters.

First of all, I'd like to thank my friend ScientistXXXX (yes, that's his name, there's nothing wrong with that) who wrote a lot of lore regarding dragon biology pretty much out of the generosity of his heart, since I don't remember ever actually asking him to do his. And it's not just the dragons, I have a document of 73 pages he shared with me with world-building for a lot of other things.

I tried my best to integrate as much lore as I could into this chapter without hurting the pacing or the possible interest of the audience and I still left a lot of stuff out like the plant-like features of manaketes he thought about after seeing those green "feathers" dragons had in Awakening.

Like seriously, there's lore here for how the tails work, the different types of breaths, which kind of dragons are more likely to obtain them, how the environment makes them evolve, how they use quintessence to improve themselves, etc. It makes me think I'll have to share some in a similar way to how some animes share lore through author notes (the example that comes to my mind is Death Note, there each time it's time for a commercial break you can see an image explaining each rule of the death note)

Here's one:

Multiple hearts: Naga's species has multiple hearts like octopuses. The main heart and 2 more hearts for further powering each wing on the lower parts of the body to ease circulation needs for the dragon's lower body section. Lastly, an additional heart is near the throat connected to the 4 different types of breath organs and the quintessence organ along with the rest of the neck and head area. The multiple-heart system provides both more stamina for the sapient dragon species, improvement in blood and oxygen circulation, and energy requirements which is yet another way of overcoming size and energy requirements and also act as redundant organs if one heart is extremely damaged (in the case even two extra chambers are damaged) other hearts can share its burden albeit with a decrease in efficiency though because of their rapid regeneration, this problem would not last long.

While I had planned myself to write Mila's tree as a genetically modified tree and even say it's a bit less big than in canon, it was also my Scientist friend who explained to me the concept of the metal trees (Search for the video: This plant is filled with metal) actually helping me to explain why Naga would plant such a big tree.

Talking about the dragon "goddess" it's said in Heroes that she has appeared in different forms to humanity through time to explain the discrepancies of her gender and stuff throughout the entire franchise. Because shape-shifting is a skill that does not make any sense most of the time, I preferred to write that she has spare clone bodies.

Plus, while watching a video called "The ultimate sword material - Is there anything better than carbon steel?" I decided to use their conclusion to explain why nobody can replicate the Falchion (both its dragon-killing properties and its extreme power). Their conclusion was a sword of "Titanium core with tungsten carbide edge". I just added iridium since that's a metal known for its reinforcement capabilities on other metals when making alloys. Plus the whole evolution explanation for why fangs of Naga are so effective at killing a dragon.

Noticing that I had written that Naga's daughters are "clones" of hers I suddenly realized how similar was that to Sothis's stuff and I decided to write them as sisters. Granted, there's the theory of Sothis herself being an alien who came from a star called Sirius, but not sure if I'm gonna use that here. I did reference it a bit with the whole Naga asking Kiran Mark if he was sent to the FE Planet to save his life.
Seeing as I wrote a connection between Sothis and Naga I also wrote Naga's part of the fight a bit similar to the battle Seiros and Nemesis had at the beginning of Three Houses.

I also wanted to give more characterization to the "goddess" since while she usually works perfectly well as a character with her paragon proclivities it gets kinda boring seeing only that in every single fic I've ever seen. Plus if Grima could get characterization making him more like Zamasu and Goku Black, why can't Naga be more developed?

I got a bit of inspiration from Xenoblade Chronicles 2 while writing the final scenes. I mean, I already had them in mind, I just found there the tiny details to polish it a bit better. Those who have reached the final chapters of the game will understand.

Although TLOZ tells me we need to be balanced between power, wisdom, and courage the series never truly explains how one can be "balanced" since there are many concepts that could fall under one of those three ideas. I even use a profile picture of a triforce made up of words in their respective place. Regarding the tetraforce, I doubt that thing could be canon, but the idea of it the fourth piece being united to the concept of hope made enough sense for me to consider mentioning it.

Not gonna explain everything about Miguel (no! he sharing a name with Miguel O'Hara is a mere coincidence) in this chapter, some of you may remember him from the chapters where Kiran/Luis explained his past, since there are multiple references on top of each other. But I will mention three:

their colors and powers are referencing Mario and Luigi (in the case of the names Luigi and Luis both share even the same meaning: famous warrior),

The whole sentence Naga said when summoning him is a direct reference to what Ultimecia/Artemisa says in Final Fantasy 8 when she unleashes Griever on the party. In English, her sentence got changed a lot but in Japanese and Spanish she says exactly that:

I will summon the being you fear the most, the stronger it is in your mind... the worse the torment shall be!

You see, Griever is actually a GF (Guardian Force beast) extracted from Squall's mind. He's the representation of what Squall sees as the ultimate life form, something that cannot be defeated.
And finally, the reason why Miguel got chosen for this is a reference to Mario and Luigi Dream Team.

Citing TvTropes here:

"A bit of Fridge Brilliance doubles as heartwarming when you look back at the game and wonder why Mario curb-stomped Antasma in the first battle in the hot air balloon even though he was in his true form. It's simple. It was Luigi's dream and in his mind Mario can take down any foe without much trouble, and that includes a fearsome nightmare king with godlike powers."

Finally, regarding what Kiran requested to Naga... you'll understand better in the next chapter.

RoBlue321 · Aug 19, 2023

New Life

There were very few things to do when you lived in a fairly isolated part of town from any other kind of contact with people of a young age.

Most teenagers lived in neighborhoods too far away to make visiting on a daily basis possible.

Consequently, he had never really bothered to make plans to go outside from home.

So when he walked through the door using the key, he simply left the backpack at a random place.

What bothered him was the paper he had on hand.

He set about rummaging through the old papers, those that had come to this house long before even he was born. Once he found what he was looking for, he set about comparing what was on the paper with his name on it to what was on the one with the older brother's name on it.

"Math... 8 vs. 9.5... natural science... 9 vs. 10... History 8 vs. 10... Geography... 8 vs. 10..." he put his hands to his head in frustration and returned the old paper to its place.

Every year... it was always the same...

He didn't even bother to compare Art Education... a 6 was bad enough.

Inheriting clothes was commonplace when the family income wasn't exactly high.

So today he was getting a few "new" shirts.

Being a person who cared much more about practicality than aesthetics, this was not usually a complaint for him. If anything the only thing he might grumble about was the fact that these clothes had no blue in them at all, being all red or black.

Or at least that was at first.

Was it a day when he had to keep his mother company on a visit to some sort of... alumni reunion?

He had never really understood.

While the adults chatted he just read a book. Even if there were other kids around it's not like he was really interested in interacting with them for the simple reason of wanting to interact.

"Hey mijo, come here!"

He looked up from his book and just sighed as he approached the table where the adults were talking.

"What's on your mind, mother?" she usually always called him when he was required to go buy something.

"Look let me introduce you to my friends from school." His mother put a hand on his shoulder.

"Hi..." He raised his hand in greeting but did no more.

He truly didn't care about learning their names. He would most likely never interact with these people again, and there wasn't much that made them particularly memorable.

Many of his classmates did not receive the privilege of having their names be worth enough to be recorded in his brain, even less these women.

However, there was something that did make the situation memorable.

"And so I guess this one goes by Miguelito?"

Huh?

His mother shook her head and was about to respond, but he stepped forward.

"My name is Luis..."

There seemed to be confusion between them.

"Hadn't you and your husband said at the last meeting that you were thinking of calling him Miguel too?"

Seriously, they were going to give him the same name?!

There was something about it that truly irritated him.

"That's what my husband wanted, but I told him that now it was my turn to name the kid. I decided to name him Luis given a certain song I love and then my husband wanted to name him Luis Miguel."

"Like the singer?" one of his mother's friends commented, while all the others laughed.

"I told him no, that Luis Manuel sounded better."

"Well, they look a lot like each other, although he's a güerito."

Whatever they continued to say didn't really matter.

The only thing that was certain was that from that day on he discovered something.

People calling him by his brother's name was something that pissed him off a lot.

And having to inherit clothes from him made it more insulting.

Which unfortunately began to happen a lot more when he became a teenager.

"Hey, bro, can we play together?" Luis raised his hand shyly, the difference in stature had always scared him... and considering how much Miguel and one of his sisters used to argue, he doubted Miguel was the most reasonable person on the planet regarding this kind of detail.

Without taking his eyes off the computer and typing at high speed, Miguel simply replied. "I can't, I'm busy. Lots of homework I have to go get my driver's license."

"B-but..."

Miguel rolled his eyes in annoyance and rubbed his forehead. This time he moved his head slightly to the left to look at him.

"I know you just want to play video games, but I'm using the computer now so I'm not going to let you. I need it now, it's as simple as that!" he shook his head, his eyes so narrowed it was obvious the contempt.

"O-okay..." Luis started to walk away.

The older brother's facial expression changed, this one looking "softer" for a moment before turning stoic. "Look..." he sighed and pulled some money out of his pants. "Here, go and buy some Takis Fuego or something."

Luis turned and received the money... but just stared at it without saying anything.

"What, you don't want it?" the older brother paused for a moment and folded his arms, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh? No, it's not that. Thanks..." he nodded slightly before leaving for good.

But... he didn't actually want money.

He just wanted to play something...

Together with his brother.

That was the important factor.

Kiran Mark screamed extremely louder again as the Master Sword sliced him vertically.

The sacred light from the blade reacted to his body as if it were matter and antimatter touching each other, it was effectively as if the blade was specifically designed to hurt him.

That was why the next thing that happened was a burst of energy that sent him flying.

If hitting the walls of the void was painful enough, it was even more so when the "body" suffered extreme burns... and when the body had been reduced in size as well.

If he was shaking before, he now looked like a nervous wreck.

Although Kiran Mark got up and immediately began to repair with mental magic his burns, it wasn't as if Miguel was going to show him any sympathy.

Kiran Mark tried to defend himself by summoning both la Ragnarok and la Illuminadora.

The second vertical attack was parried by two blades... and even so, Kiran Mark could feel himself being slowly pushed down...

Had he tried to defend himself with a single weapon, he would now be burned by holy flames again.

"At no time did you ever consider the idea of going back, did you? You abandoned us all the second you were offered a pretty sword, didn't you?!"

His mistake was only paying attention to one of his big brother's hands.

"Gr-uaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" electric sparks were expelled from the area where his heart would be as another sword pierced him.

Given his small size, it was not difficult for Miguel to separate him from the ground by simply raising his left hand.
And then Kiran Mark noticed a big problem.

The sword that had pierced him was la Iluminadora.

Even when a sword glowing in light threatened his face, he really only paid attention to the detail that his older brother was carrying the sword he was supposed to have summoned to defend himself.

And then looking to his left... he noticed the detail.

Why was he carrying Excalibur?!

Excalibur wasn't a bad weapon at all but in terms of power, this one had always been below the other two.

"What's the matter, is that the best you can do!" Miguel extracted the la Iluminadora from his opponent's body... and then began a long sequence of attacks with both swords.

The holy power again showed no mercy as electric sparks popped out of Kiran Mark's body again and again and again, being a total of 30 slashes across his entire body.

Kiran Mark didn't even feel able to stand up after that, so he ended up falling down with his face facing the ground.

And then the older brother put his leg over his head and started to exert excessive force downwards.

"Grraa... Graaa..."

"I hope you're very happy now. I'm sure you care little for the fact that our mother suffered extreme mental health decline since you decided to abandon her when she was approaching old age!"

There were several moments where the two heroines watching this whole situation felt too motivated to intervene, but no matter how much they tried to push, block or do anything to defend Askr's summoner they all proved useless since they always passed through them as if they were transparent.

Naga wasn't lying, they were essentially ghosts.

"This isn't going well for him."

They were both startled when the voice of the "goddess" was heard behind them.

"Lady Naga!"

"Aaay!"

The "goddess" folded her arms. "I told you, you can't interfere with this, at least for now."

"But!" Corrin turned to look at the "fight."

"This is..." Lucina wanted to protest.

Naga simply denied slightly with her head. "I'm afraid it is necessary... there is too much darkness in his heart and this is the only way to know if said darkness will not be an impediment in whether or not he is worthy." Naga pointed to the Master Sword. "If he had tried something like the Awakening ritual I'm afraid he would have a hundred percent chance of dying. Those sacred flames aren't much different from what I employ and yet... well, you saw what it causes him."

Naga then moved a little closer to them, placing her two hands on the forehead of each.

"Still, I guess I forgot the language detail. Let me help you."

They felt a rather gentle magic cross their minds.

"You should be able to understand now."

Kiran Mark continued to suffer for some time until Miguel got bored of crushing him and kicked him away.

The younger brother had to cough a few times before he opened his left eye.

"Come on! I don't even have to strain myself a bit. That's the best you've got?"

Kiran Mark tried to get up... and given how much he was shaking he even stumbled and had to do it more than once.

Miguel simply chuckled at this.

"Why are you so quiet, are you angry, BECAUSE I HAVE MORE REASON TO BE MAD THAN YOU, YOU DAMN TRAITOR!"

La Ilimunadora began to glow brightly as Miguel prepared to cast the Sanctus spell.

"This world needs help... they need help to save both Askr and the multiverse of this planet!"

"THEY OWE YOU NOTHING!"

The elder brother waved the Illuminator sword in their direction, releasing a wave of pure anti-demon energy.

Kiran Mark somersaulted backwards as the entire area where he had been standing became a pillar of holy power.

"Why do they have to fucking owe me anything?! They're innocent people who need help!"

"Help? From you?! PLEASE!" Miguel raised the Master Sword to the sky and it was then struck by an electric bolt of lightning. After that, he performed a horizontal slash, sending out a disc of celestial lightning.

Kiran Mark wasn't foolish enough to think that he could block that... luckily, being locked in his ten-year-old body had its advantages so by lunging forward he was able to dodge it.

Though of course, him having to dodge multiple celestial beams was something he found himself doing after that.

"YOU'RE NOTHING BUT USELESS! THEY NEVER NEEDED YOU! THE ONLY THING THAT REALLY HAS VALUE IN YOU TO THEM IS THE KNOWLEDGE YOU HAVE!"

Kiran Mark gritted his teeth and looked down slightly.

Big mistake.

Electricity is in such an enormous supply is not anything that should make contact with the human body under any situation.

Kiran Mark ended up dropping his weapons as he growled in pain.

Within seconds Miguel was beside him, slashing him to pieces again with both swords.

Every time a cut caused him damage, there was a flash of light.

This time, instead of falling face-first, Kiran Mark was pushed back with a kick and ended up looking skyward.
"Urgh... uhaaaa!" The younger brother panicked when he saw that the older brother had jumped and was falling with the Master Sword aimed downward.

He had to roll to the left to avoid ending up just like Ganondorf.

Kiran Mark very barely managed to lift his torso when he saw the Master Sword pointed at his face... to which he crawled backwards by exerting force with his feet forward.

"The only reason you were born is because our father wanted one more son who could take care of him and our mother when we all left home!" Instead of burying the sword straight into his chest again, the older brother contented himself with kicking the younger one in the stomach several times. "AND YOU COULDN'T EVEN DO THAT!"

"Graa! Ehe! Aaah! Grrra!"

"I didn't kill myself studying and working so I could raise us from a lower-middle class family to an upper-middle class family and give you everything you needed to succeed in life for you to throw it all away just because some stupid girl put in your head the idea that you have what it takes to save a country... SAVE A COUNTRY!" Miguel started to laugh as he shook his head in amusement. "How are you going to save a country? you are little less than a stupid child who can't even manage his own future!"

The elder brother's laughter caused him to pause momentarily.

Kiran Mark kept his right eye closed, the pain being too much for him to think properly for a few seconds... and then he finally stood up again.

Since he had dropped the swords, they ended up fading... but he didn't need them.

He raised his left fist and threw a punch.

Which Miguel had no difficulty stopping with his palm once his weapons also vanished.

At this, the younger brother threw another punch.

Miguel rolled his eyes in annoyance as he deflected the other fist.

Kiran Mark growled like a beast and then threw one more punch.

Although Miguel managed to parry the attack but, this time, the impact between palm and knuckles expelled a wave of sound and air so powerful that the onlookers almost lost their balance.

"I..." Punch with the left hand. "I..." punch with the right. "I WILL... NOT..." punch with the left again. "GO BACK!"
"So what are you going to do?" Miguel asked, again shaking his head with a smile. "They're not your family. We're the only ones who really care about you. They'll abandon you the moment you stop being useful to them."

"You don't know them!" Kiran Mark continued to growl, "You have no right to say anything about them."

"You and I both know that the only ones you can truly trust are your family!"

Kiran Mark this time remained adamant. "Yeah, sure, tell that to the Lopez side of our DNA!"

This broke the older brother's smile, cracking it with hatred.

To which he responded with his own high-speed punch against the younger brother's face.

But despite the punch connecting, Kiran Mark refused to move a single inch or show pain. Exerting force against the fist with his forehead, the younger brother grunted once more as he began to move forward despite how much he was shaking. "You'd do anything for your daughters...wouldn't you... BUT I NOW ALSO HAVE A DAUGHTER TO PROTECT!"
"THAT CHILD IS NOT YOUR DAUGHTER!"

"SHE IS TO ME!" For the first time, Kiran Mark managed to connect one of his attacks as his fist buried itself in his brother's stomach.

"GRRRR!" Miguel recoiled, but very little... just enough to actually show that this had indeed hurt him.

"Maybe you're right... maybe the heroes don't need me, maybe I'm useless... but no matter what, that little girl is depending on me." Though he might have tried to attack again, Kiran Mark merely gave his best look of hatred.
Michael shook his head in disapproval. "You fucking retard! You're always talking without functional brain cells in your mind! If you love that child so much just bring her into our world! How are you going to take care of her by yourself when you're not even capable of supporting yourself?!"

"SHE'S AN ALIEN!" he roared in a tiger-like manner. "The moment someone finds that out she'd be kidnapped by the governments of the planet!"

Unnoticed by him, his left-hand mark had begun to glow dimly.

"I can't bring her! And I can't abandon her! Not her or anyone who now depends on me in this universe!"
A green aura began to materialize around him, his fists were at waist level.

"I can't go back anymore... even if I ever wanted to... and no one is going to take my precious blue gem girl away from me..." The aura became more erratic. "NOT EVEN YOU!" he then raised his right hand at high speed and his fist impacted against Miguel's chin.

For a moment it seemed as if everything froze, before from the force and speed of the blow both brothers were propelled upwards.

While Miguel was spinning around, Kiran Mark simply jumped a little before stopping and starting to fall.

He did not notice that the lower right triangle of his mark now shined brightly in gold.

Likewise, he had regained some height. He now looked as if he were 14 years old.

Lucina watched Naga extend her hand towards the two combatants, a flow of magic being sent towards the hand of Askr's summoner and strategist.

"Now the really tricky part begins." She lowered her hand and folded her arms.

Lucina gritted her teeth. "This was just the easy part?"

"There are several things to test in this place." Naga remained adamant.

Lucina turned to look at Corrin... who stood motionless.

"Hey... are you okay?"

However, she didn't answer.

It was an awkward silence. Her face showed a strange mixture of longing, sadness, and regret.

Unable to get a reaction out of her, Lucina then decided to continue watching the fight.

But after a while, Corrin did something.

She folded her hands... and began to pray.

Miguel took a few seconds to react and began to spin on himself with more control.

When he hit the ground, it was as if he had somersaulted backwards instead of being hit with extreme strength.

He placed his fist next to his chin and lightly brushed it as he moved his hand from right to left.

"So that's your answer... well... then you'll see what mine, traitor!"

Kiran Mark summoned a new weapon.

He expected to have in his hands the Artema weapon of the FF Universe 7... but soon realized that again he only had la Ragnarok in his hands.

Miguel was the one holding the Artema weapon.

Both weapons collided against each other a total of seven times before remaining in a thrusting blade-lock duel with each other.

"I never thought you would turn your back on our family and our world!" as the older brother said that, a red-colored aura "took possession" of him.

Somewhat noticeable was that Kiran Mark was shaking less, though his rage was still perceptible even to one who was blind. The green aura getting stronger.

"Our world is doomed, for me it was always like the Titanic after hitting that iceberg... I was just the guy who wanted to drink something to sink comfortably so our planet can rot for all I care, it will be on this other one where I can start from scratch and lead humanity to a brighter future. That is my duty."

"YOUR DUTY BY BIRTHRIGHT IS TO BE WITH US! I CANNOT FORGIVE THE CHOICE YOU'VE MADE"
"I'm afraid our family is no match for the fate of this world."

"YOU ARE NOT A HERO! YOU NEVER WERE AND NEVER WILL BE!"

Kiran Mark readied his fighting stance and smirked. "Well, on that I agree with you."

Corrin remained speechless.

Lucina wasn't sure what to say either... but she had doubts.

Why did Kiran think in such a way about his world?

Had he really decided to never go back for so long?

At the same time, she noticed something strange...

The environment of the dream changed.

Now she was... standing on a strange gray floor.

The floor was decorated with many lines of white and yellow...

And then she noticed the buildings.

They were... they were very big!

The trees next to them, which were also of considerable size, were simply very small in comparison.
It was as if they could scrape the heavens.

They were filled with windows of the purest crystal...

And likewise, she could then notice some strange... carriages made of metal next to them.

They all looked empty.

Wait...

Corrin finally broke her silence. "This is... it's their world..."

As both brothers began to advance against each other... Corrin flashed a smile. "You can..." she whispered.
Both giant swords impacted against each other, causing the asphalt to fracture due to the force of the impact.
Kiran Mark and Miguel then engaged in a chatter where their swords said everything for them.

After a few seconds, they both stopped... and began to run across the street.

The two girls felt Naga's hand once again.

"Let's follow them."

And then she flew with them.

As they advanced through several city blocks, in which they occasionally jumped and impacted their weapons looking for an opening, they halted for a moment.

Kiran Mark landed on top of a car.

He raised his hands slightly, dematerializing la Ragnarok. His arms glowed and in that moment he now had gloves that had a precious metal and a red gem.

He placed his hands on the car and using the strength the gloves provided, he jumped up and lifted the vehicle and held it above himself before throwing it at the older brother.

Miguel didn't look surprised at all, he simply broke the car in half with the Artema weapon.

And then he materialized his own gloves.

Kiran Mark, in panic, noticed that Miguel's were golden.

He looked down to realize that his were silver.

Michael only needed to use one arm to grab a car from the frontal part and send it flying much faster in the direction of his opponent.

Kiran Mark put his two hands in front of his face and very barely managed to resist the impact before trying to send it back.

The mistake was that Miguel had already launched a fireball towards him, so the car exploded very close.

The force of the impact blew him to the asphalt, and even then he rolled several times to a stop.

The stronger it is in your mind, the worse your torment shall be.

"So... that's why..." Naga had designed the test to be specifically designed to kill him... that's the reason why Miguel always had the best stuff.

No matter.

He could handle it.

He rose to his feet.

Behind him was a statue suspended several feet above the ground of a golden angel, around him and further down were other, simpler statues with "greenish" coloring.

He attempted to heal all the wounds immediately.

He summoned a new weapon.

What surprised him was that he actually had the Z-saber in his hands.

Usually, it would be expected that he would have the O-saber as it was a copy made for Omega and not Zero's original Z-saber.

His confusion was answered by a giant blue plasma sphere speeding towards him.

He had to jump high to dodge it.

The monument was shattered, with its various components falling around it.

The dust from the explosion was enough for him not to see his older brother appear out of nowhere and hit him in the face with a blue metallic fist.

And immediately notice his other hand now a plasma cannon that was charging another attack.

The X-Buster Mark 17.

"Bringing a sword to a gun duel, YOU STILL DON'T STOP DISAPPOINTING ME!"

Kiran Mark activated the Z-saber to receive the strike and he managed to deflect it with a slash. "We both know there's nothing I can do to make you happy!"

His fists and boots also took on that metallic style, but with the difference that his were now red.

The two continued, in the air, exchanging attacks, with Kiran Mark desperately generating energy waves with his plasma saber.

This was bad.

Strategic retreat time.

He began to run in the direction of a motorcycle, which he started and began to escape on it.

Miguel did not look at all pleased. "WHERE ARE YOU GOING YOU USELESS ADOPTED COWARD?!"

Miguel then activated a hawk-inspired armor that allowed him to fly.

Kiran Mark turned back and checked that Miguel was chasing him from the air.

He let the bike drive itself and summoned his Breidablik.

Again and again, he tried several shots at him, which Miguel could easily ignore by increasing his speed or moving to the side.

Miguel charged the X-Buster and began raining down a shower of plasma on the road.

Kiran Mark had to hold the bike again to steer to dodge said plasma.

Eventually, he was stopped as a plasma shot shattered the ground in front of him, to which Kiran Mark had to jump. The bike ended up crashing to the ground multiple times, spinning around.

Kiran Mark landed... on what looked like metal lines that were constantly parallel to each other, but connected by strange wooden rectangles.

As Miguel prepared another plasma shot by landing on the soil, Kiran Mark decided to bet everything on getting closer.
Miguel de-transformed his arm canon to a regular one and blocked Kiran Mark's fist.

They both glared at each other with hatred.

"Our father made a mistake in creating you!" Miguel started to push, which the younger brother did as well.
"Considering how he once said he was afraid I would someday kill him, I'm sure he believes that." Wrath, a lot of fury that gave him the strength to counter-push.

Kiran Mark then exerted upward force causing Miguel's arms to be in the air and kicked him.

After which Kiran Mark spent not even a second to activate the Z-saber once again and began to perform diagonal, vertical, and horizontal slashes.

"WHAT DID I EVER DO THAT HE EVER THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO COMMIT PATRICIDE! WHAT THE HELL DID I DO?!"

Miguel received at least 7 slashes, after which he managed to dodge the eighth and move a bit away.
He did not answer the question.

Corrin and Lucina, who were watching almost everything from "the sky" with Naga then had to cover their ears when they heard a very loud sound.

They then noticed that above those metallic lines, a gigantic caterpillar was traveling... except that it was metallic and of different colors. Its front part was red while other sections varied in size and color and shape. Not to mention that frustrating noise it made.

Miguel started to run towards Kiran Mark, the Askr summoner somersaulted backwards and landed on the red-colored part of the caterpillar.

Miguel simply walked up to it fearlessly and jumped as well.

Kiran Mark tried to attack him while he had the higher ground, but Miguel simply dodged everything.

Miguel then generated his own Z-saber, to which Kiran Mark panicked slightly.

The two clashed plasma swords again and again, backing over the metal caterpillar, which seemed to have something written on the side: Ferromex.

Another section of the caterpillar that Kiran Mark jumped onto by doing a back flip while firing more plasma bullets said BNSF and was orange.

Another was blue and said FNM.

It was then that they finally understood that this was a caravan.

But it was gigantic!

As Kiran Mark's plasma sword sliced through one of the wagons, it began to drop wheat all over the road.

A plasma shot from the older brother caused many carriages inside those giant boxes to be ejected as well.

But what really stopped the caravan... was when another explosion hit what appeared to be a giant black container.

It exploded with extreme force.

Both Kiran Mark and Miguel saw this and began to escape towards the rear boxes, many of which continued to explode behind them.

After that, the rear boxes ended up collapsing off their tracks and the explosions damaged many nearby buildings.
And then both brothers hit each other's faces again.

"Where did you get all this strength?" Miguel smiled.

"I don't have to tell you!"

Miguel laughed and then… he used the golden gloves to hold his younger brother, throwing him lightly with holding a train car with which to hit his opponent away.

Kiran Mark spun on himself multiple times, crashing into the glass and through offices. He crashed through several buildings until he finally managed to stop at another.

This one was… massive, or at least much bigger than the others.

The most interesting thing about this structure was perhaps its peak at the top as if it were a large anti-cavalry spear trying to pierce the skies. In addition to some giant letters.

Latinoamericana.

Miguel flew once more, on a collision course to crush Kiran Mark, to which Kiran Mark resorted to running over the wall and then up.

They both struck their sabers again and fired their guns at each other, causing damage to the structure as they went up.
"Face it, you can't beat me." Said the older brother.

Kiran Mark growled like a beast.

Miguel then invoked the Master Sword again. "You will never be worthy of this, or anything you have."
Kiran Mark once again found himself in a situation where just being near that weapon caused him pain...
But he was fed up.

"OH YEAH? WELL FUCK THE MASTER SWORD! FUCK MY PAST LIFE!" And in a fit of rage, he then pounced on Miguel.

"AND FUCK YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!"

Miguel then simply placed his holy sword in front of him, while he completely ignored gravity and stood upright.
The holy flames began to generate mystical force from him, and Kiran Mark found himself as if he were facing a force field that prevented him from getting any closer.

In the distance, both Lucina and Corrin were screaming.

"DO NOT DO IT! THOSE FLAMES WILL TEAR YOU TO PIECES!

"IT'LL DESTROY YOU BEFORE YOU TOUCH IT!"

This made Kiran Mark's eyes widen for a moment. "C-Corrin?... Lucina?..."

"Did… did he just hear us?" Corrin turned to see Naga.

The "goddess" smiled.

"The next part of this is arriving…"

Kiran Mark could feel it, the extreme fire of that holy light.

But he didn't care.

He needed to win this...

He needed to ensure Corrin's wish came true...

He needed to win to get that sword…

He needed all the power he could get…

He needed to beat this nightmare from his past again...

He needed to prove...

He needed to prove that he wasn't just a poorly made copy of this man! "Grrr…grrr…. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" little by little he got closer to Miguel, entering the flames.

Miguel also started growling as he tried to apply more pressure.

And then his Master Sword was punched away.

Miguel backed off about two steps, his eyes widening in extreme surprise. On the back of the hand that Kiran Mark had used to punch with, which now had extreme burns…

The upper triangle had begun to glow.

As a result, his aura had turned red.

And then when it hit the building after Miguel dodged, the punch caused extreme damage to the structure.
Miguel quickly regained his composure.

"It won't do you any good to do that." It was especially obvious given how slowly the wounds on his arm took to heal even with magic, as he started to attack only with his right hand.

Miguel jumped from the wall to gain height... and once he was behind his younger brother, he threw one of the heavenly rays from the Master Sword.

Kiran Mark descended several floors as electricity transformed his avatar into something dark full of wounds and Lichtenberg lines... but he didn't give up for a second and started running up.

"Luis Manuel... you have lost your sense of fear... or rather you became as suicidal as our father predicted..." Miguel shook his head as he dodged another punch. "You always let the anger get to your head… I can only feel pity for you."

It didn't take long for them to reach the top of the tower, at the part where you could walk.

"Right now you are not what you think you are... YOU ARE JUST A DEMON AND A STUPID CHILD!" Miguel blocked one of Kiran Mark's punches with his sword and immediately went to grab him by the neck. "BEHAVE AS SUCH!" Miguel suddenly began to glow in an extreme blue aura.

Limit Break.

He launched Kiran Mark into the sky.

And then he jumped after him.

Kiran Mark summoned a weapon in desperation as he saw his brother approaching.

But then… He noted that this time he did have the Artema weapon.

And what Miguel seemed to have was the Buster Sword.

This didn't make sense.

But he noticed what was wrong when both weapons collided.

Miguel's sword didn't seem to be…a single solid object.

Kiran Mark wanted to scream in panic… as the sword split into several ones which remained floating around them, each glowing in that blue aura.

Omnislash Version 5.

Miguel began to move at hypersonic speed.

Kiran Mark was pierced by one of the swords into which that gigantic weapon had split, making him open his eyes even more.

And then another hit.

And another.

Twelve times he was sliced.

And then… Kiran Mark could feel his heart stop... seeing that the final cut would not be with the Fusion Sword... but with the Master Sword, which was charged with electricity.

The blow was a straight thrust to his stomach. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!"

The electricity consumed him once more and it continued to damage him as the momentum of the attack sent him falling.
He pierced the "spear" of the tower and continued to fall through the entire interior of the building destroying floors and infrastructure as he fell deeper and deeper.
…
…
…
And then the tower began to collapse.
The forty-five levels of the structure were unable to stand, and after at least 30 seconds… of the tower, there was nothing left.

Miguel simply watched the disaster with indifference.

"Stay in my shadow, the place where you belong."

…
…
…

He couldn't move.

He couldn't see.

Everywhere he looked… there was only darkness.

He couldn't…

He couldn't do it.

Perhaps… this was his fate…

Wasn't this what he had always wanted?

Letting the darkness take him and his mind to shut itself down...

Forever.

All the times he tried to end it all but he just couldn't do it because even at that he was just a coward...

He thanked that he was already underground...

But... this wasn't real...

It was just another one of these nightmares he'd had… only amplified by the power of a "goddess".

He would wake up... as the useless piece of crap he had always been...

There was no way to win this...

"I… I give up…"

Naga… she blinked several times.

Had she heard correctly?

She, in the real world, began to channel more magic into his mind.

And then she "materialized" next to him.

"Repeat that…"

Kiran Mark didn't even turn to look at her.

"I give up… get me out of here… I can't do it…"

Naga blinked several more times and she suddenly crossed her arms.

"Is this serious?"

Kiran Mark was not irritated by having to repeat it... he simply looked into the void with "eyes" that had lost all will.
"I give up… get me out of here… I can't do it…"

"Do you realize what you are asking me?"

How was it possible?

He was in the final stretch!

Was he truly going to refuse to continue with victory so near?

"I can't do it…"

Naga looked at him with fury "If you give up now I won't help your friend like you asked me to!"

Contrary to what she expected... there was no anger or at least resignation on his face at this "threat". only…
Just drops of water coming out of his eyes.

The "goddess" even verified that this was also happening to his real body.

"I'm sorry… Corrin…" Hearing her name made the princess of Nohr and Hoshido also approach.

"Why do you say you're sorry?"

"I failed you…"

Both Corrin and Lucina jumped.

"Yes, he can hear us now…" the princess of Ylisse remarked.

"I can't see…" he commented.

They understood that this was due to all the tower debris above him.

It was good that they were for practical purposes ghosts here.

Lucina "sat" next to him. "Come on Kiran! you're the one with a diary with a heart that has the word determination on it! You can't give up, just like that!"

"Don't... give me... empty... words... determination... can become worthless... when faced with overwhelming power… I have no more strategies… I have no cards... I accept my helplessness..."

Naga was horrified by this...

Because the triangles that had gotten golden stopped shining and they had degraded back to their old black coloration.
Corrin tried to hold his left hand, but she soon found that she couldn't move it at all... and he was cold... almost as if he was turning into stone.

"Kiran, this is your mind! There's no way someone can beat you here!"

"He gets his power from my mind… I can't beat that…"

"I'm sure you can do it," she spoke to him in a firmer tone. "Because it's impossible for you to give him unlimited power! And because no matter who or what, everyone has a weakness!"

Lucina then rushed to say. "And if there is someone who can find the weakness of a seemingly invincible being, it is someone like you! Robin did it with Grima and I'm sure you can too!"

Robin... the warrior who had been created to eradicate the world... the warrior who got amnesia and befriended his master's enemy's champion... Robin the warrior who faced a mirror of darkness, a mirror that displayed what he would have become if he had decided to accept his original purpose, and won...

The slayer of the demonic fell dragon Grima.

The Zero of this universe...

He couldn't measure up to that...

"Robin had access to Grima's power... I don't have that."

"And Miguel has access to your power!" Lucina exclaimed.

"And he has my full potential…"

"But not your full potential." This time it was Naga who decided to speak. "Only the potential that he can extract from you."

He negated slowly"That doesn't make sense, if he has my potential then he has everything."

"You're sure?"

"Yes..."

"Are you truly sure?"

"Yes...

"ARE YOU DEFINITELY SURE THAT'S THE CASE?!"

His face finally changed from sadness to rage... as the tears continued dropping from the windows to his "soul"
"FOR THE LOVE OF, YES! YES! YES! THERE'S NOTHING I COULD DO TO BEAT HIM! EVERYTHING I KNOW HE KNOWS BETTER! THE ONLY WAY HE COULDN'T USE ANYTHING I HAVE IS IF HE DOES NOT KNOW ANYTHING ABOU…" he went silent before completing the sentence.

Naga smiled at this.

He was finally getting it.

"... if he... if he... if he does not know... something I only know..." he gradually lowed his head. "Something I know... he has definitely... never seen..."
...
...
...

Kiran Mark began to wave his arms... if he could, he would have brought them to his head.

"I... I... I... I am... I AM AN IMBECILE!"

"K-Kiran?" Lucina stepped back a bit. So did Corrin.

"HOW DID I NOT THINK ABOUT THAT? IT'S JUST, UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUURRRGH!"

All the rubble around them began to shatter.

Because he extracted force from his hate and began moving them apart... and then he started punching the wreck.

"OUT... OF... MY... FUCKING... WAY!"

Naga panicked.

She didn't expect him to react like this.

His triangles remained black.

However...

His right hand began to glow in purple energy as he got fed up with doing it the hard way
And then he touched the rubble above him.

"DESTRUCCIÓN! (HAKAI!)"

The rubble of the tower was enveloped in the purple power which little by little, step by step, atom by atom, began to disintegrate everything into nothingness.

Miguel raised an eyebrow and shook his head slightly.

Kiran Mark remained standing in the center.

"Grrr! Grr! Grr! Grrr! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!"

Growling much more than ever, like an actual demon.

Michael crossed his arms. "Is that… were you… were you crying?!"

He began to walk slowly.

The older brother started laughing, placing his left hand on his forehead while he pointed his right hand at his little brother. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Kiran Mark spawned a new weapon.

The sword had the appearance of a pirate saber.

Miguel raised his eyebrow again, but the smile did not disappear from his face.

Holding the sword in his right hand, Kiran Mark drew it in a perfect circle in front of him as the blade began to glow white.

All traces of humor instantly disappeared from Miguel, who simply, with his eyes narrowed, prepared his combat pose.
Once the sword was pointing towards the ground, Kiran Mark slightly raised it until it was diagonally in front of his chest.
The guard was by his face's right side.

And then he very quickly performed two slashes in the air. One vertical and one horizontal.

The two crescent-shaped slashes turned into energy and it didn't take a second for them to be about to strike Miguel.
"What the?! Aaaaaaaargh!" The brother tried to block said attack, and although he was successful at first, said attack suddenly detonated in his face.

"GRAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

The anger that Kiran Mark had suddenly vanished as the realization filled his mind.

IT WORKED!

Miguel got up without a problem, but for the first time he looked genuinely wounded.

Kiran Mark grinned slightly.

However, one thing was clear. If what he thought was really happening... He couldn't replicate any of his attacks. Kiran Mark began to run. Michael did the same. "You don't want to get smart!" Miguel summoned another celestial lightning bolt and launched it against his younger brother. Kiran Mark did not try to dodge at all. Instead, he immediately summoned another sword.

And then he drew it.

And where before existed one now stood four.

"Uh?!"

One of them kept the green coloration of the suit.

But the other three, instead, had blue, red, and purple.

The blue clone smashed his sword hard against the Master Sword.

The red replied with the same action, forcing the older brother to protect himself with both hands.

Which gave the purple and green free rein to attack.

The purple one jumped and performed a helm-breaker slash.

This stunned the big brother enough, giving the red and blue clones a chance to plunge their swords into his feet, cutting through everything and digging into the ground.

They proceeded to finish the movement by grabbing his arms. Immobilizing him.

"YOU'LL PAY FOR TH-AAAAARGH!"

And then the green clone and the purple one started cutting him back and forth on both sides.

"HUREA HUREA HUREA HUREA HUREA HUREEEEEEEA!"
"HUREA HUREA HUREA HUREA HUREA HUREEEEEEEA!"

Both attackers suddenly stopped their assault…and then they both created doors that they could hold with their arms.
They threw them into the sky and then jumped towards them.

The doors opened and once they were inside, the doors vanished.

Miguel managed to push away the red and blue clones by expelling energy with his aura.

But he was still immobilized by the swords. And when he was about to remove one, the magic door appeared again.
From within them, the purple clone shot out like a rocket.

He slashed with his sword.

"CURSE YOU!"

And just as quickly as he had appeared, he disappeared through another gate.

And then a new gate materialized from which the green clone emerged and made the same attack before vanishing as well.

Miguel growled in rage, trying to look around. The next door materialized behind him, so after suffering that attack he immediately tried to attack behind him… only to have the door materialize on top of him.

The next door was under his feet.

The green and purple clones took turns to attack and with each second the attack rate increased.

Miguel got to such a point of frustration that he tried to attack in all directions like a headless animal.

And worse for him, the two clones decided to stop using swords and summoned hammers.

This time it was more difficult for him to use his aura to force them away, but after at least sixty times, he managed to accomplish that.

The green and purple clones moved in constant contact with the ground several meters as they landed on their knees.
And it was then that Miguel could see that the red and blue clones hadn't just stood still.

They had been constantly throwing stars into the sky which had coalesced into various "rocks".

Which immediately began to fall on his head as meteors, slowly burying him.

The last 3 that fell were even just three simple lone stars.

Kiran Mark made the power of that sword vanish, becoming one again.

On this occasion, Miguel took a long time to stand up.

But something was clear.

This was not over yet.

"SO YOU WANT MORE UH!" He nodded slightly.

"LUCINA! CORRIN!"

The two princesses came closer as they heard their names.

"Yeah?"

"You won't mind me borrowing your power, will you?"

They both turned to see each other, they didn't understand what he meant by that, but... but they did not hesitate.
"If that's what you need." Lucina gave a determined look.

Corrin smiled gently at him.

"Do what you must."

Kiran Mark nodded back to them.

Miguel was finally on his feet.

"What the hell was all that?!"

"Did you like it? Because it's going to get worse!" He closed his "eyes"

"Pay attention... this... is an armatization!" Kiran Mark then began to roar loudly, his body began to radiate light to such a level that his distinctive features were no longer really visible. The only thing that could be noticed was the humanoid figure made of light from his being, almost as if he was a humanoid star.

"CORRIN!"

Corrin was turned into a sphere of light which was infused into his body. Miguel gritted his teeth and stepped back slightly. "Simply increasing your power is not going to work against me!"

Kiran Mark raised his left hand towards the sky. A sword began to take shape.

And then he returned to be visible.

Lucina blinked… and then she noticed the details of this new weapon.

It seemed to be on fire, but unlike the Master Sword's holy flames, these were pure fire flames. It was also as if the sword had "teeth".

Lucina for a moment thought of comparing it to a saw for cutting wood… except that the teeth of this sword moved through the entire section where you would find the edge. It seemed to generate an extremely loud sound too, to the point that Miguel himself backed off a bit when Kiran Mark pointed his sword in his direction.

Regarding Kiran Mark himself, his suit had turned almost completely white. There were still multiple stripes and decorations of gold color that made the suit more similar to Askr's tactician outfit... with the difference that other stripes and the belt were now red. Likewise, he had a cape that seemed to ripple with power at all times.

And perhaps the most obvious change of all.

Kiran Mark now possessed reddish hair and eye coloration.

His face changed for a moment. He was no longer showing hate, instead, it was confusion… by looking at himself.
"Wh… what happened to us?" That was Corrin's voice.

His face returned to the emotion it had shown before, and this time it was Kiran Mark's own voice that came out of his mouth. "I'll explain later! for now, focus!" Without wasting a second he slammed his weapon into the ground.
"PURGATORY OF FLAMES!"

What followed was that the flames began to advance in a frontal direction as if it were a sequence of explosions in a row.

"What the hell is this?!" Miguel covered himself with a shield, the current of fire was such that he had no choice but to stay there until the current stopped.

And then he barely had visibility he noticed that Kiran Mark had run around him around and was now behind him. Miguel jumped with the clear intention of not taking damage, but he found that Kiran Mark, just like him, wasn't going to give him a chance to rest.

Miguel had to block a slash with the Master Sword... and both weapons continued to rub against each other... but then Kiran Mark began to growl and yell.

This time, it was the two voices doing this.

The Omega Yato then accelerated the speed of its blades, and its thunderous sound increased even more in intensity.
And then two things began to break.

The first was the Master Sword itself, denoting several cracks in the area of impact.

And the second was Miguel's self-confidence.

"WHAT?!"

"¡TE VOY A HACER PICADILLO! (I'M GOING TO TEAR YOU APART!)" Kiran Mark began to demonically roar much more until his opponent's sword ended up collapsing into shards.

As the Omega Yato made contact with Miguel's body, Miguel released an extreme amount of sparks before being sent flying.

Miguel impacted a building, and as he tried to get up he could see with horror what was coming.

Kiran Mark made the tip of the Omega Yato begin to drag on the ground as he spun around and then performed an upward diagonal slash.

The sword in question was still releasing extremely hot flames. "FLAMBERGE!"

Miguel was then slashed across the chest by the chainsaw sword… and then he was engulfed in a wall of inferno, and so did the entire building.

He raised his hand to the sky once more.

"LUCINA!"

The princess of Ylisse turned to see him... and exactly the same thing that had happened to Corrin occurred to her.
Although everything white in his outfit remained that color, everything which had an actual color changed immediately.
Everything red immediately turned blue… giving Kiran Mark the blue hair and eyes that he had asked so much for.
And the sword was immediately replaced by a bow.

His look denoted surprise once more.

Although this time it was both of them who were confused.

"I was expecting a bow... but what is this?" Kiran Mark inclined his head slightly to the left.

It had a golden design with two blue gems and seemed to be specifically designed for combat.

"It's the bow my father gave me after the war!" Lucina's voice came from his lips.

"LUIS MANUEL!" Miguel was not going to give them a moment's rest. He came out of the flames and Kiran Mark had to jump back as a gigantic sword nearly crushed him.

Kiran Mark certainly didn't feel like being destroyed by the Artema weapon, so he continued to do backflips until suddenly he somersaulted harder, allowing him to stay airborne for several seconds.

Kiran Mark put his hand where an arrow should go, stretched the bowstring… and a blue magic arrow came into existence.

"OCEAN BLITZ!"

The arrow that was shot immediately split into multiple ones which certainly did not respect the laws of trajectory and gravity.

Miguel covered himself from the first assault by positioning the Artema weapon in front of him… and yet many arrows, as if they were AI-controlled missiles, surrounded the weapon and hit him.

"AAAAARGH!" Once his feet touched the ground, Kiran Mark tensed the bowstring again.

And then he raised his bow towards the sky.

"ARROW SQUALL!"

Miguel was able to observe the multiple arrows gaining height before all falling vertically toward him.

The older brother simply raised his shield and took cover. Unlike the previous arrows, these didn't seem to be remotely controlled and those that didn't hit the shield just dissolved on the ground… like literally drops of water. "Who follows up a strong attack with a weaker one?!"

It was then that he noticed that Kiran Mark was no longer ahead.

He was now to the left of him and released another fury of water arrows. This time the arrows abandoned their form and turned into literal streams of high-speed water.

The torrents of water hit him on the face, chest, legs, and anywhere it was possible.

The stun was such that it gave enough time for Kiran Mark to make his bow transform into a spear which he propelled with all his strength.

Still holding on to it, it was as if he was flying.

"AQUA LIMIT!" The tip of the spear pierced Miguel's chest as if it was a high-pressure liquid used in industrial operations. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!"

The younger brother continued moving for some distance before landing.

And he raised his hand towards the heavens again.

"NINO!"

"What?" two feminine voices made that question.

Lucina and Corrin were sure that they were the only ones in this mental world, the only ones inside Kiran Mark's mind.
Why had he called the name of someone who wasn't present?

However, it was then that they noticed… that there was someone else. The figure of Elibe's green-haired mage girl had materialized beside them and, like the two of them, turned into an orb of light that merged with Askr's summoner.
Again, everything blue in the light was replaced with green.

However, this time he did not carry any weapons.

Instead, behind him, something else had spawned.

They seemed to be angelic wings… which were made of blades.

Green blades made of wind magic.

Kiran Mark prepared to fly... and in a microsecond, he had separated the distance that separated him from Miguel, who still had his hands covering the area of his chest where there was now a hole.

And he then held him with both hands on the shoulder area.

"NOW WHAT?!" Miguel growled, squeezing in a futile attempt to free himself.

Without letting go of his opponent, Kiran Mark flew extremely high into the sky.

And a second later he was falling at high speed headfirst with his opponent's face having the frontal position.
The impact was thunderous, opening a large crater in the earth. "GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" The older brother was left holding his head and thrown into the crater for several seconds.

Rage seized him, standing up and glaring around him, although his hands were still trying to reduce the pain on his skill.
The seconds he spent searching for his opponent on the ground cost him dearly.

When he looked up at the sky, he could see it. Kiran Mark was floating high… in front of him was a green magic book… and an excessively high amount of wind blades had materialized around him.

They then stopped being in a state of rest and took turns going down to the speed of sound and passing through him at the moment that Kiran pointed his index finger at him.

"SYLPHYSTIA!"

"Urgh! Aargh! Uha! DAMN! Curs-AAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!"

"!HECTOR!"

The figure of the Prince of Ostia manifested next to him and, like all the others, merged with him.

And once again, everything that had been green turned yellow.

The wing blades disappeared, instead being replaced by the Armads axe. Holding the heavy weapon in front of him, Kiran Mark then began to spin on himself at an elevated rate in the air and fell towards his brother.

Miguel, who was still lying down, panicked when he saw what was approaching such speed, so he immediately rolled on the ground.

Kiran Mark ended up hitting the ground.

The ax made the crater even bigger, to the point multiple buildings around began to collapse.

Kiran Mark quickly released the beautiful weapon from the ground and covered himself from an attack coming from his brother.

The clash between Armads and the Artema weapon generated such a strong "wave" of impact that both of them were pushed back slightly, the buildings getting even more damage.

Kiran Mark then found himself back on the defensive as all he could actually do was block. Not surprisingly, he was dealing with a sword of brutal size and weight against his ax which not only had a natural handicap but he wasn't exactly knowledgeable how to wield one of them.

At this, Kiran Mark held the weapon by its medium part.

And he divided it into two pieces.

"Uh?!" Miguel, still extremely furious, but not stupid enough to think that his little brother had gone crazy, stopped the attack for a second as a precaution.

Both Armads shards were attached to Kiran Mark's arms, more specifically on top of the back of each hand in a way… they were now used more like claws.

"EARTH SHAKER!" His younger brother smashed his right arm against the ground.

Immediately followed by the left one.

Miguel at first expected something akin to purgatory from the flames… so he paid no attention to the fact that the ground below him cracked.

And then the earth began to part under him in an X shape.

Miguel had to immediately jump in if he didn't want to end up even deeper.

When Miguel saw his younger brother approaching him, he then decided that if he wanted to play with elemental powers nothing could stop Miguel from doing so.

He conjured the power of the Materia embedded within the Artema weapon and unleashed a torrent of electricity at Kiran Mark.

But then he noticed the mistake.

When the two pieces of Armads hit the ground, two giant rocks had attached to Kiran Mark's arms like gloves... and then he covered himself by placing the two rocks in front of him.

The beam proved ineffective as a result, and so the younger brother made another attack as he leaped forward.

"DIVINE BASALT BLOW!"

Which translated to throwing a rain of punches as if it were a boxing match.

"HUREA! HUREA! HUREA! HUREA! HUREA! HUREA! HUREA! HUREA! HUREA! HUREA! HUREA! HUREA!" The total stun from all the attacks combined was enough to prevent the big brother from attempting any counterattacks at that.

Finally, Kiran Mark delivered one last blow that sent Miguel flying through whatever remains of buildings you could find around. "HUUUUUUUUUUREAAAAAAAAA!"
…
…
…
Kiran Mark finished landing... and finally, his transformation ended.

The outfit was once again the hybrid suit between his Elibe and Askr strategist clothes.

Corrin and Lucina then noticed that they were outside of him again, with the summoned "ghosts" of Nino and Hector next to them.

Naga was blinking with her mouth partly open after seeing such an act of aggression.

Armatization… huh?

She placed her index finger on her mouth.

Interesting…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGYg5hHPGK0

Miguel had trouble getting back to his feet, to the point that the most he could do was use his left knee to keep from falling to the ground, but he couldn't really get up anymore.

Kiran Mark had to moan in fury.

Why the hell didn't he just fucking die?!

He then stopped.

And he gave himself another hard punch on the forehead.

He didn't have to destroy him...

He just had to win the battle.

Both things did not have to be the same option.

Kiran Mark spawned the Breidablik, aiming towards Miguel.

"It's time to end this..." But then he waved it to the left, at which point what appeared to be the blade of a sword emerged from the barrel of the weapon.

The problem was that this weapon was not made of metal.

Instead, it seemed to be made of pure cosmic energy.

The entire blade was black with multiple white dots that, with a little more inspection, turned out to be stars in the infinite void of the universe. Likewise, the blade was not straight… looking more like a curved Katana. "GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Kiran Mark yelled as loudly as he could as his blue aura changed.

Now it was as if he was on fire.

With flames that were blue.

Two flames in particular were on his forehead, taking the shape of what appeared to be horns, and another appeared to be a tail.

Fire also emerged above the sword.

Miguel, for the first time, showed signs of being truly terrified.

Kiran Mark raised his weapon to the sky. The flames from his aura spread beyond him so that Kiran Mark seemed to be standing on a fire as blue as himself.

He made the blade descend in a semicircular motion before holding up the gunsword.

The older brother seemed consumed with rage as he yelled at him. "YOU MEAN TO STRIKE ME DOWN?! COME ON! DO IT! DO YOUR WORST, YOU LITTLE BASTARD!"

And he then began to move at supersonic velocity against Miguel.

"LUNA INFERNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAL!"

Miguel attempted a block with the Artema weapon.

But as Kiran Mark closed the distance between them and performed the slash, the dark blade pierced through the gigantic sword in a ghostly manner.

The dark sword had gone from being to the left of him to now being to the right of him as he stood there, the flames on his body dimming a bit but still existing.

Corrin and Lucina kept watching the scene.

Neither of the two brothers moved at all.
…
…
…
The silence was interrupted by a cry of indignation.

"LUIS MANUEL!" Miguel finally got up fully and turned to face the younger brother.

"¡PENSÉ QUE ME DOLERÍA, NO QUE NI COSQUILLAS ME HARÍA! (I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE PAINFUL, NOT THAT IT WOULD NOT EVEN TICKLE!)"

Kiran Mark lowered his weapon, not bothering to look back.

"It's simple, brother... corpses don't feel pain."

Miguel narrowed his eyes and clenched his teeth… only to then feel as if a current of wind was pushing him backwards.
"URGH! HUH?!" Behind him, something had formed.

It was a gigantic sphere of darkness… which seemed to be an entrance to the void of space.

Instead of just stars, what appeared to be nebula and galaxies were visible.

Miguel had to try to fly forward, reaching out with his hands in an attempt to grab onto whatever to not be absorbed into the infinity.

Kiran Mark finally turned around. "Maybe you'll recognize this technique by its original name... MEIDO ZANGETSUHA!"

Miguel seemed to be about to explode in fury at this.

"I HOPE YOU ARE HAPPY NOW!" Miguel wanted to try to separate the distance between himself and Kiran Mark to strangle him.

"ENJOY YOUR STUPID GLORY AS MUCH AS YOU CAN, BROTHER! THEY WILL ABANDON YOU ONCE THEY KNOW WHAT A MISERABLE SCUM YOU ARE! THEY WILL NEVER ACCEPT YOU, DEMON!" As much as he tried, little by little the big brother was sucked into the sphere.

"YOU WILL REGRET THIS! YOU WILL REGRET THE DAY YOU DECIDED TO TURN YOUR BACK ON US, THE ONLY PEOPLE WHO REALLY CARE ABOUT YOU! YOU WILL DIE ALONE AND ABANDONED IN THE DEEPEST DARKNESS FROM WHICH YOU WILL NEVER ESCAPE!" The dark hole began to close and the last thing that was seen of the brother was his face and his hand.

"LUIS MANUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEL!"

And then the space sphere collapsed into itself, being erased from that "reality".
…
…
…
This would have been the perfect moment to smirk.

Or to exhale in relief.

Or just let himself fall onto his back in exhaustion.

But all he did was keep looking at the spot where the hellish moon had once been, uncertainty taking over his face he just didn't know what to do…

Or how to reply to what his brother had said...

It was true that he was just an impostor, there were so many people who were probably better for the job of saving the multiverse from Embla's empire...

They deserved better...

But since they were stuck with him...

He would do his best for them!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2zErx9rMrM

He was eventually distracted by light.

"Uh?" he turned slightly to his left… and saw that his triforce mark was glowing.

Placing his hand in front of his face, his eyes widened and his mouth held slightly open as the bottom left triangle turned gold.

And so did the other two.

Corrin and Lucina tried to go to talk to him but were stopped by Naga who put a hand on their shoulders.
"Let him enjoy it a bit."

Kiran Mark began to levitate slightly as he raised his left arm to the sky in triumph.

For a few seconds, the right triangle began to glow green and with it, his aura, hair, and clothes took on that coloration.
Then the upper triangle was red, and in the same way, now its coloration was reddish.

And finally, the left triangle turned blue. The blue hue remained for several seconds and, finally, he returned to the clothes he had started with.

And he released a genuine smile with more some more tears.

Lucina and Corrin's eyes widened in surprise as the dream seemed to end. "Wh… what happened?" The princess from the future blinked.

"The test is over," she nodded in satisfaction. "Let me change your translator back to its regular configuration." she made a flow of magic into their minds.

This took at least seven seconds.

"This feels nice." Corrin commented, smiling and closing her eyes.

Once she was done Naga turned to see that her cloning machine had finished replicating what she had ordered it to do.
"Now I have to focus on doing the second task he asked me to… and some extra things, his genetics are a bit… bad." she giggled in sympathy.

"Well, maybe you'd like to go get some rest after seeing that? I don't think you want to witness this. This isn't exactly pretty." She commented as she increased the dose of the anesthetic "drug" and took out some tools. Seeing those tools approach Kiran's eye, holding it open, and then appearing to enter into it was enough for both princesses to accept that what Naga told them was not an exaggeration and they preferred to go back to the surface to see what Kagero and little Azura were doing.

"Keep your eyes closed, trying to open them so quickly would be a mistake." He heard the voice of the "goddess" and simply nodded slightly. He could feel one of her hands helping him to stand up... in addition to gradually removing the chains that kept him tied to the operating table.

It was something he had always found amusing.

When he still had nightmares or something similar, it was normal for him to move as if he had spasms, but at no time did he scream or anything similar since none of his family members had ever complained.

"Very well, I've given you these glasses that darken everything so that your new eyes can adapt correctly to the light. Now open them slowly." Just as Naga had told him, there was a dark filter on everything he could see.

"Wait, am I wearing sunglasses?"

"Is that what they are called in your world?" Lucina asked.

"Can you pass me a mirror?" The princess of Ylisse fulfilled his request. Kiran Mark then noticed that yes, he was wearing dark glasses.

He smiled and gave her a thumbs-up. "Chingón (neat)"

He sighed.

"Anyway… so, Naga?"

"Hmm?"

"Did I pass the test?"

Naga smiled and giggled. "Why would you think you didn't?"

"You gave me the answer of how to win… and I received help…"

"I didn't give you the answer, I gave you a clue. And no one said you couldn't get help."

"But... it was a test for me... only for me."

"Isn't it wise to accept that you can't do it all by yourself?"

"..."

Lucina began to speak. "If you could face Miguel no matter how scared you were and confront his power…why couldn't you have the wisdom that you could never have beaten something that strong without some help? Or without employing a totally unknown type of strategy?"

"It's also true that sometimes you can't expect help from anyone... I gotta prepare for the worst... it's part of my job."

"But that doesn't mean you should automatically act like you don't have anyone." Naga looked at him sternly.

For a few seconds, there was silence... and then he again denied that he had completed the test.

"If there's one thing I've learned from tests of character, it's that it's usually disguised with other tests on top of it."

Naga rolled her eyes in annoyance and proceeded to pat him on the head as if he were a small child.

"And what makes you think there was something hidden?"

Kiran Mark raised his left hand.

He was delighted to see that now the three triangles remained golden... but...

"Although I understand why you gave me this after overcoming that… I don't understand how that proves if I am worthy of wielding one of your weapons. Courage, power, and wisdom are things that someone with a heart full of darkness can have." Kiran Mark shook his head.

"Certainly, I don't deny that." Naga nodded slightly, still patting him.

He wasn't going to complain, this reminded him of when Corrin did the same.

Besides, for a being that had millennia behind her, he might as well still be a child from her perspective.
"So?" Kiran Mark wanted an explanation.

"Do you think someone whose heart is DOMINATED by darkness would worry about that?"
"...maybe not, but that still doesn't indicate that I'm worthy."

"You are not the first nor the last to have a heart with a balance of darkness and light, child of the stars."
Kiran Mark sighed.

Naga continued speaking. "Do you still remember what you said? As much as it hurt you to never see your family again and the suffering that will cause them, you decided that your duty as protector of the world was much bigger and more important. And even though the decision seems obvious, you still cared a lot about what to choose, about its consequences. A person who only seeks glory would have simply abandoned their family without feeling any remorse. You? You have a real reason why you can't come back that easily."

Kiran Mark couldn't find something to argue against that.

Lucina crossed her arms in concern. "May I ask…why is your brother the one you fear the most? Was he really that mean to you?"

He made a negative sign with his hand. "Please, no, don't say that... it's not his fault that I feel like this..."

Naga decided to explain. "I designed that trial taking into account what I saw in his memories. That wasn't really Miguel in the sense of how he behaved… it was more of a manifestation of his inner fears and insecurities taking the form of the one he respects the most."

Lucina blinked for a few seconds as the implications of that hit her like a Zanbato.

"I think I kind of understand what you mean." Corrin commented. "Garon used to scare me a lot… partly because I was afraid of disappointing him." Naga then commented something. "True respect cannot arise from fear... but real fear can be the result of respect."

Kiran Mark sighed. "After the country's economy started to take a turn for the worse, my brother worked twice as hard to make sure we didn't have a hard time… what the heck, my parents used to complain that "he'd never amount to anything if he just spent time on a computer" to which he proceeded to show them how wrong they were..." he closed his eyes. "And it is not surprising that he is that good… my father, who is also called Miguel, managed to woo the daughter of the richest man in town… a town that was not even his hometown. Grandpa Pedro? He was practically respected by everyone in his village and he managed to raise at least twelve children to adulthood despite being a simple farmer with a minimum salary... me?... I was just a useless parasite... there were days when they gave me things I needed or wanted since they wanted me to have an easier life…" He lowered his gaze. "But there were days when I felt like I hadn't done something to deserve all that... I tried to follow in my brother's footsteps... but no matter how hard I tried I could never match him..." he slightly opened his eyes and tried to smile...

Emphasis on tried.

"The age difference is also a considerable factor, you saw it yourself. The other is already an adult in the prime of his life while this one is still a teenager. Siblings with such an age difference often have difficulty connecting."

Kiran Mark chuckled slightly. "Besides our love of video games…I have a hard time remembering a time we actually spent time together…and I don't blame him, when I try to remember what it was like as a kid…the only thing that makes me want to do is to go back in time and beat the shit out of that useless and stressful brat."

"Kiran!" Corrin yelled.

Lucina looked equally mad. "How can you say something like that?!"

"…using my mouth?"

They both facepalmed.

"I only wish I was even half as good as him..." They didn't see it at first, but once the tear was no longer behind the dark glass, it was perfectly visible.

Corrin then proceeded to grab his face and make him look at her. "And I don't know where you got that stupid idea that we don't need you."

Kiran Mark raised his eyebrow. "Because you don't… I mean, Robin already does the strategist job perfectly and my knowledge has already been copied into a book so you don't really need me anymore. You can take the Breidablik and summon heroes without me. I do not matter." Corrin proceeded to get even more angry, but Kiran Mark stopped her before she could speak. "And that doesn't bother me. Being special really isn't something that sounds like a good idea to me. If only I could manipulate the Breidablik, getting myself killed would be an easy way to defeat Askr. If all this knowledge were still only in my mind, it would mean that I should be protected at all costs because if I die or get lost in the multiverse, all that knowledge would be lost, with all that this entails for humanity..." He slightly lowered his head. "I've never liked being special... at all"

Once more, there was silence for a few seconds. "Can I take his glasses off now?"

Naga gave her approval, to which Corrin immediately did so.

Revealing his new blue eyes, they looked at her without confidence. Corrin stopped to look at him before sighing and hugging him.

"Well, even if you don't want to be, you WILL still be special to all of us. We are not going to throw you out just because you have done everything you could for us." She then gave him a light blow on the back. "You complained to your brother that he and your father always thought the worst of you for no reason, so why do you do the same to us?"

Lucina then decided to add something. "Robin was also filled with doubts after discovering his origins, but if even the man most linked to the fell dragon's darkness could prove to have the purest heart… what's stopping you from doing so?"
Kiran Mark didn't know how to respond to that… they were right, he was a hypocrite.

Corrin looked at him sadly. "I know better than anyone what it feels like to have to go against your family to follow what you know is right." The hug she gave him became a bit more motherly "I know that most likely the guilt will never go away, but you should always fight for what is right and choose that path."

Naga crossed her arms. "If I have to defend him, most fears are irrational."

Lucina placed a hand on his other shoulder. "You also gave up on returning to your world because that girl depends on you."

He, however, denied with his head again. "Even some truly evil people can have individuals they really love and that doesn't change the fact that they will continue to cause harm to others."

"But I repeat, are they worried about that? Do they ever wonder if they have crossed any lines?" Naga said with a firmer tone of voice.

"… I suppose not…"

"It is your capacity to worry about every action you do that convinces me that you are worthy. That concern is what allows you to achieve many things that others do not." She placed a hand on his forehead, Corrin moving a little to get out of the way. "True intelligence can dispel all lies and illusions." Naga then placed her hand on his chest. "And a true heart can carry the poison of hatred without being harmed." She then pulled her hand away. "There may be darkness in your heart... but that and the light don't fight each other... it's almost as if they cooperate for a common goal."

"… I see…"

"Of course, a lot of worry can be an impediment to focus on the goal, but we must not forget that our capability to care is the door to a lot of potential."

Kiran Mark looked into the "void" "Worry... potential..." he seemed to smile for a second. "Limitless potential..." he chuckled as he began to stroke his forehead.

Naga scratched her head. "Yes, I guess you could say it is 'limitless' or something like that."

Kiran Mark took a deep breath and then exhaled. "Well..." he held up the mirror and looked at himself once more.

"Thanks for this, lady Naga." Blue eyes

Just as he wanted.

To tell the truth, he couldn't notice at that moment the difference in sight quality compared to his first eyes, but he wasn't the expert.

Naga, with a slight smile, raised a vial to show it to him. "Here are the originals, in case you want to see them." Corrin stopped hugging him and took a few steps back.

Lucina, too, backed away in disgust.

He didn't blame them, this could be a little disturbing or gross indeed.

Kiran Mark simply toyed with the glass jar for a bit, then he simply placed it on the table.

"It was not the only thing I did," Naga sighed. "I also extracted four teeth. Your mouth is too small to hold all your teeth." She showed them to him, which he immediately recognized as wisdom teeth...

Wow, new eyes and a painless tooth extraction…

"Naga, you are amazing."

She shrugged her shoulders. "Not that I want to insult you, but your genetics are so…terrible."

Kiran Mark just laughed. "Yeah, I imagine." He looked at himself once more in the mirror. "I mean, look at that face, it's horrible." And then he laughed even more.

"Speaking of you…" Lucina crossed her arms. "How is it that your name is Luis Manuel?"

Corrin narrowed her eyes. "Right, you only told us that your name was Luis and that you changed it to Kiran. You never said anything about having a middle name originally."

Kiran Mark sighed and rubbed his forehead. "I really don't like that name… for two reasons… first? Well, when you put it together with Luis, they sound phonetically similar to the name Lucifer… which… well, Lucifer basically means the same thing for my planet as what the names Grima and Anankos mean here."

The three women winced.

"Oh..."

"That is…"

"It's also like the names Medeus... or Loptr..."

He closed his eyes. "I mean... it's a coincidence... no sane parents would name one of his children "Lucifer" and the other Miguel, being Miguel the one who defeated Lucifer and threw him into the depths of hell unless both parents want both children to kill each other."

Well, at least their names weren't Cain and Abel…

"And the second reason... urgh, well... it's not a name you can use in modern times anymore... it's... I can't really say this like this... uh... Lucina, you can come closer."

He gave her a signal that he wanted to whisper something.

Lucina obeyed. Kiran Mark then began to speak to her…

First, he began to play with his right hand to make her pay attention to it. And then he made his hand into a kind of "spear" by extending his fingers and starting to move it back and forth.

She then blushed a lot. Lucina covered her face with her hands. "STOP! STOP!"

The problem was that he hadn't considered the Manakete had somewhat better hearing so Corrin and Naga also heard what he said…and decided to look away and keep their mouths shut.

He sighed and got up from the table. "So." He looked at Corrin. "I take it you haven't started doing what I asked you yet?" Naga made a confirming sound. "I haven't told her yet, I thought it would make more sense to do it with you awake."

Corrin inclined her head. "Did you want me to be with you when Naga gives you your new sword?"

He loved her innocence.

"No, this is something different." He then asked the princess of Hoshido and Nohr to follow him, while he ordered Lucina to go have some fun.

Naga had taken them to a different room but one that also had that hospital motif that Kiran Mark was so used to.
Corrin, for her part, was very confused. "Why do you need a…um…sample of my DNA for?" She still didn't get used to that strange word.

She then placed a hand near her eyes. "Do I also have vision problems?" Naga denied that using her hand. "None of that, it's something… more complicated, but prettier. I'll need to run some tests on you, though."

She then used her elbow to hit Askr's summoner.

Kiran Mark clenched his teeth and scratched at his hair. "Ah... how do I begin to tell you this?" he had mentally prepared for it many times... but apparently the fool had forgotten to prepare a speech. "Corrin… all this time… urgh… look, can we run the test on her to see if this is gonna work first? I don't want to give her false hope and I need to prepare my words." Naga patted his shoulder. "That makes sense."

Corrin crossed her arms. "Kiran, I want an explanation."

"It's Kiran Mark… uh, sorry. I'll give it to you, I promise this is nothing bad, I just want to help you." Corrin raised an eyebrow… but then she nodded. "OK, I trust you." Naga asked her to sit down as she extracted the DNA sample and used all sorts of devices Corrin didn't understand how they worked to apparently analyze her body.

Corrin felt nervous when she was scanned, especially when Naga focused mainly on her stomach or womb area... and certainly, other exams made her uncomfortable, but Kiran Mark kept up with her holding her hand so she would feel safe.
This continued for an hour or two.

Naga was surprised when she found that this girl's DNA revealed the fact that she was Anakos' daughter, but she had nothing to really comment on the matter.

Once she finished, Naga exclaimed the words that Kiran Mark had been waiting to hear. "It will work." She nodded.
Kiran Mark sighed in relief.

"What are you going to do to me? I want to know, now!" Corrin looked at him sternly.

Kiran Mark began to stroke her hair. "You see Corrin…I've kept something secret from you… ever since you told me you wanted children I…I was afraid to tell you this."

Corrin narrowed her eyes.

He understood that the silence was an order to resume speaking. "You are a hybrid between humans and dragons... and well, although that is wonderful since it gives you abilities that not every human has and also prevents you from suffering from degeneration like other dragons... not everything is perfect... and well, as a scientist that I am I always knew that hybrids are usually…" he felt his heart tell him to stop, fear taking control for a moment before his new blue eyes turned serious and he dropped the "bomb" "Hybrids are often sterile. ."

The next thing that happened was that the irritation drained from Corrin's face… just like her skin color, she was now partly pale.

"Wh-what?"

Naga decided to give him some support there, she used the same tone that she usually used with Tiki when she was a child. "Creating a hybrid is not exactly an easy task given the usual incompatibility between two species. Since we used humans as the base for the creation of these humanoid forms, luck was with you when you were born… but that doesn't eliminate the usual problem hybrids have."

Kiran Mark continued to stroke Corrin's hair gently. "It is somewhat complicated, my lady, but usually the resulting DNA turns out to be incompatible with that one of either of the two species that created the hybrid."

Corrin was silent for a while.

Her hands instinctively sought to place themselves on her belly.

She had had many times the dream of having a son or daughter who came running towards her.

They had a cute smile that gave her such happiness...

Corrin always opened her arms to receive them.

But now, when imagining the scene, the boy or girl vanished as soon as she tried to complete the hug.

Corrin showed her horror so much with her face… and then she was furious.

Kiran Mark was not surprised that she grabbed his neck and pulled his face closer, or that she tossed his hand that was stroking her hair away. "You knew... since we met..." The accusatory tone was clear.

Kiran Mark slightly lowered his gaze. "I… I was waiting for the right moment to tell you…"

"And according to you when would have been the right time?"

He could see a few tears.

"To tell the truth… I was thinking, first of all, to take you somewhere where I could give you a wonderful day before saying it… it's not something that can be said that easily… I didn't want to break your heart…"

But the look she gave him told him very clearly that her heart was broken. Maybe not as much as if he had said it from the beginning, but the fury was clear.

"Before you try to kill me, tell me... if our places were reversed... would you have been able to tell me?"

Corrin stopped her fury for a moment as she herself considered all the implications of it.

The grip gradually weakened but it did not completely disappear. "I don't know…" He didn't try to go back to stroke her hair yet, but he did keep a gentle grip on her hand. "Listen, the reason I finally got the courage to tell you this… is because we have a solution."

"A solution?" she seemed slightly offended. "Kiran, this has no solution! If what you say is true I simply can't have children!"

"Not in the regular way." Naga remarked as she prepared her tools. "But this is my laboratory and here the impossible becomes possible."

"Do you remember how Naga used her technology to create these copies of my eyes for me... well, we can do something like that... but for a whole person."

"What?..."

"You see, DNA is unique to each person and it is, let's say, the instructions for the body on how the body should look like and what characteristics a person should have. Most children are created when the DNAs of both parents combine. That is why they have characteristics of both."

Naga gave Corrin a gentle pat. "But with my technology, it is possible to have a being born with the same DNA as the one who I extract the DNA from. The reason you can't get pregnant is because there is no DNA that is compatible with yours to mix with… but…"

"But…if we use my own DNA…" Corrin felt her eyes widen as she began to comprehend what she was being told. "But...would that mean the baby...would be completely identical to me?"

"More or less, but Naga can fix that. This method is what she used to bring Tiki to life and you will remember that she is not an exact copy." This time, he held her hand again, intertwining her fingers with hers. "So I asked Naga if she could help you fulfill your dream."

"But… but… copying me..."

The "goddess" crossed her arms. "These types of babies are known as clones, clones cannot be created in the image of the original instantly. They have to grow up like any child. They will be a regular baby like any other who will grow up, have dreams and their own aspirations in life." Corrin was silent as she had to process everything.

"So… can I really be a mother like this? Can I… get pregnant right now?" "Right now indeed, you just need to accept and Naga will do the 'miracle' of making you a mother."

"I... I..." It was as if the child of that fantasy suddenly materialized again in her arms.

Corrin sighed…and smiled.

"I understand… yes… I would like to do this, please."

Naga took out a paper and a pen from a drawer.

"By the way, do you want a boy or a girl?"

Corrin shook her head. "That's not important, I would love my child whether it's a boy or a girl."

Naga paused for a moment before laughing. "No, what I mean is if you want me to give you a boy or a girl."

This got Corrin's attention too much, who slightly rose from her chair even more surprised than before. "Wait… I can choose that?!"

Kiran Mark patted her back gently with his other hand. "Of course, you can, even more! If you want more than one kid you just have to say so."

"I… I… don't know what to say."

"Take your time, don't worry.." Naga smiled at her.

Kiran Mark made her turn to look at him. "That's right, although once this happens don't expect me to let you fight at all."

Corrin nodded slightly. "Yes, I understand."

She stared at 'void' as she repeated to herself.

"I can choose... I can choose how many... Kiran... what would you choose?"

The Askr summoner scratched his hair and showed a confused smile at such a question. "Well, I'm sure it wouldn't be me who would make such a decision… I mean, I'm a man… but if I had a wife and she accepted…" he began rubbing his chin, looking up and slightly to the left. "Maybe… maybe two boys and two girls. I would give each of them green, blue, red, and purple clothes… and identical four swords. Maybe even a fifth child in black clothes. I don't know, this is a strange question, my lady."

Naga put a hand in front of them, in order to tell them to stop right there. "Keep in mind that the more babies you ask for, the more food you will require. Not to mention the difficulties of childbirth."

Corrin blinked and smiled slightly. "Right, I usually eat more than a normal person... so..." She placed her hands on her belly again and closed her eyes with a smile. "I want twins! a boy, and a girl!"

"Well, I recommend that you start thinking about some names," Naga closed her eyes with a smile.
"Anyway, let's get started with this then."

"I guess I shouldn't see this." Kiran Mark started to leave.

"Not at all." Naga signaled him to get out.

"Very good, Corrin. This will take a while until I can confirm that everything will happen as you requested, so," she put on some clean lab gloves, "If something bothers you just tell me."

Corrin raised an eyebrow, but then she nodded.

In the next two days that Corrin stayed with Naga, Kiran Mark simply used the time to spend some time with his daughter, advancing more into the story she loved so much.

So much was the progress that by the time Naga finally asked for him, little Azura had already heard the part where the warriors of light entered the Lufenian space station to face Tiamat.

He really didn't understand why Corrin wanted to see him alone.

Wasn't it more coherent to have everyone together to announce this? Or did the process turn out to be futile and now she wanted the luxury of beating him unconscious for giving her false hope?

Naga and he were in the elevator.

And when it finally stopped... he noticed that this was not "the medical room"

Instead, it was the temple at the top of the mountain.

Naga then pushed him out and told him something that he didn't quite understand as she immediately closed the elevator again.

Something about… have luck?

He looked at his golden triforce mark once to give himself courage and then he began to walk.

He didn't have a hard time finding her, she wasn't trying to hide.

"Were you looking for me?"

Upon hearing his voice, the dragon woman turned around… and had the biggest smile she had ever shown.
"Am I to assume that face means everything went according to plan?" "Why didn't you tell me that you decided to exchange a holy sword for giving me this?"

Oh.

"Well… it was a single opportunity. Once we leave this place it wouldn't be possible to ask someone to do this for you… plus I'm still going to get another sword. She had promised me two, but I really only need one."
Corrin started walking toward him.

"She says that you practically begged her to help me."

Kiran Mark shrugged.

"I just had to ensure she did it."

"Still, why didn't you say anything?" She was already standing in front of him.

That smile just wouldn't go away.

"Does it matter?"

She then hugged him.

It wasn't strange at all for her to do it…but something…felt…different.

"Of course it matters." Corrin most likely would have rested her face under Kiran Mark's chin if they weren't both similar enough in height to make that uncomfortable.

"Thank you."

Kiran Mark made a sound of denial. "It was Naga who granted you your wish, I would not have been able to do this... I just don't have the capacity."

Corrin then created some separation between their faces to look him directly in the eyes. "I'm getting tired of you talking about yourself in such a way."

"But it is true."

Corrin narrowed her eyes, closing the distance between their faces quite a bit. "And it is also true that if you had not summoned me and brought me here none of this would be possible." She reflected on that. "Did you choose me to accompany you here specifically for this reason?" Something… was definitely weird… This wasn't like when she caressed him all those times when he liked to act like a cat.

Her eyes… were very bright… more than usual...

Wait…

This atmosphere…

This place…

Her behavior…

Was it… was it possible?

"Uh..." he nervously tried to look away, but Corrin didn't let him. "I was unaware of Naga's capabilities in the fullness of it... but she seemed to be much more knowledgeable in science than I am when I met her... so... I thought maybe there was a chance."

If her previous smile denoted affection, now there was too much adoration in this one.

"I thank you, with all my heart."

Kiran Mark could feel that the temperature of his face was higher.

"Uh… Corrin…"

"Yes?" she asked in a whisper, her eyes not wanting to leave his.

"If I'm wrong you can call me weird and punch me... I won't get mad... but..."

"But?"

"Are… are you… are you trying to make us more than just friends?"

Corrin narrowed her eyes again… seductively.

"It's a good thing you're not a dense boy..." And then she closed the distance between their mouths.
In addition to hugging him tighter.

Kiran Mark… he knew what was happening, he knew what this meant, but…

He couldn't react right away.

He was kissing a dragon girl... just... wow...

However...

His mind sent him images of Lyn... and then of Nino...

Did this count as cheating?

Well… Lyn and he had never really consummated anything in his days as just Mark…

And after everything Veronica did, he wasn't sure if he would ever see her again…

And Nino…

Did he really love her? Or was it just the result of his mind having just been mixed and with all the logical disasters it caused that had led him to think so?

He had kissed her, but… they hadn't had a chance to talk after that… maybe…

Maybe he was just overthinking this…

The thing that was happening now...

It wasn't intrinsically bad or wrong...

His hands found two natural positions on his partner. His left one found itself comfortable on her back, pulling her closer to him. And his right one was placed on her hair and he caressed it slowly.

Would they kiss again later?

Was she his girlfriend now?

He wasn't sure... but at that moment... that didn't matter...

He closed his eyes.

Einstein once said that time is relative.

Even though time dilation was something that only happened at speeds close to the speed of light… he actually felt as if his perception of the fourth dimension was altered since he couldn't determine how much time had passed since they had started this.

They had stopped to breathe, evidently, but it had not taken long for them to return to claim each other's lips as their own.
The only thing he was sure of at that moment was that he decided to enjoy the moment.

Communication between continents was something she had developed long ago, so for Naga it was as simple as turning on a computer and sending the signal to the exact place she wanted.

It took a while to get an answer, but eventually, she could see it.

A woman almost as old as her with blue hair, she wore a golden crown and a beautiful white dress with golden decorations.

"Queen Lumera."

"Queen Naga."

The woman on the other side of the screen raised an eyebrow.

"We haven't interacted in a while."

Ylisse's "goddess" sat more comfortably on her chair.

She and Lumera didn't have the best of relationships, even if Lumera and her family hadn't done something like what Mila and Duma had…they had different ideals.

At least it was a much more peaceful separation.

Still, it was never a bad idea to have some communication to exchange ideas.

"Do you remember when you gave me the information about your ideas to create a kind of 'virtual ghost' or whatever you call it?"

Lumera nodded slightly, crossing her arms.

"What's up with that?"

Naga looked slightly to the left.

"I think I finally have something to thank you with. You see, I saw something that inspired me to start a new project." she commented with a smile.

After being able to see dreams, recording what happened in them had not been so complicated.

And what she was seeing… were four images of the four types of Armatization.

Oh, you don't know how good it feels to finally complete these two chapters. Seriously, the satisfaction of finally being able to complete something you've been planning for years is just too high.

When the vision of these chapters (both Luis vs Duncan and Kiran Mark vs Miguel) appeared in my mind I wanted to play with two questions: what happens if two omnipotent beings meet each other? And can an omnipotent being create something stronger than itself and also regain omnipotence from it?

Although of course, like any idea, this one evolved.

Originally instead of a single battle, I thought there would be three individual battles taking some inspiration from the chapter of Power Rangers Dino Thunder: Fighting Spirit, in which Tommy Oliver faces his three previous ranger forms in three duels. These battles even had a clear color motif, the only thing that I would need to do is change the white color to blue and that's it: green, red, and blue.
There was even a scene in Kiran Mark's head of Naga appearing to him after finishing the test and giving him the three pieces of the triforce (in the form of scales) in the same way that the three rangers give Tommy his black Dino Thunder ranger stone.

However, I decided to change that because I thought it would be that clear to understand why he was receiving said fragments.

I also considered having Kiran's sisters appear as a cameo at one point (I'll say it again, I like the idea of them looking like the first three female forms IS gave us to represent Kiran. Just swapping out their golden eyes for brown I guess, I don't worry about the red and blonde hair since Mexico is so full of mixed races that who knows what could be found with a genealogy analysis), I even wrote a dialogue for one of them. "When it comes down to it, you are nothing! born in the King's shadow you could never make a world of light."

However, the scene just didn't make sense. It's one thing to have Naga testing him... and another is her kicking him while he's down… metaphorically speaking, she literally did it in the previous chapter.
Defeating what you fear the most is something that would require a lot of courage, and if you fear it so much it is usually for a good reason so you would need a lot of power to achieve it... but at the same time to defeat something of such power you would need to use everything at your disposal wisely.
And the truth is that while Kiran Mark didn't have to show that he was smart... he did have to show that he could accept changing his mind and find the weaknesses of his opponents as well as being able to accept the advice of others.

The last part of the test was the most difficult to understand... but not for nothing wisdom is something that requires high intelligence and seeing beyond the obvious.

Now let's talk about all the Miguel and Kiran Mark references.

Miguel is the Spanish version of the name Michael.

Something that is often said about the Master Sword is that it actually has the name of Fay/Fi's master... so it is a subtle way of saying that it is Link's sword... so, the sword is named based on who it is the owner of the sword In this case, Miguel's sword… Michael's sword, which is described as a sword that has holy flames capable of destroying evil and is therefore specifically designed to destroy Lucifer.

Perhaps the name Luis Manuel at first glance does not sound sooo similar to Lucifer, but keep in mind that the sounds of the R and the L are, as I learned in my phonetics lessons, extremely similar given their location to the point that, as some of you may remember, the Japanese feel both sounds as the same and they have trouble telling them apart. Add in the fact that TV Tropes has an article called Louis Cypher that describes how in fiction the devil likes to use that kind of alias and I guess you can understand better.

Again, this does not mean that the Kiran Mark is literally the devil, it is simply symbolism.

People mistaking Luis's name for his brother's one is more or less a joke regarding the fact people often call Luigi "Green Mario".

The straight-up punch to the chin is the punch that Luigi can use in Super Smash Bros.

If you know the reason why Manuela's name was changed to Miguela (Ha! Very funny Nintendo) in the Latin American versions I guess you get the joke.

Something that you usually find in many works of Mexican fiction is the lesson that the family is the most important thing... but the truth is that the plot never convinced me.

I mean, the mere fact that patricide is commonplace among some of our lead characters, Robin and Corrin being the most obvious examples and Alm the most tragic one, immediately goes to show that our allegiance shouldn't belong to someone just because we share DNA ( I mean, if we're going to be strictly scientific, you share some DNA with every living thing on the planet).

Since Kiran Mark is balanced between light and dark he usually takes characteristics of both villains and heroes from all the works of fiction he draws inspiration from. So, if you noticed similarities between our main character and Coco's two characters, Hector and Ernesto, let me tell you, it's totally intentional.

Oh, and this chapter allowed me to show the expy characteristics that Kiran Mark shares with Corrin. The latter turned out to be the most difficult avatar to write tributes for, to the point that I had to create some artificial similarities (one of them being that they both read a lot of books about the nature of the world while they spent much of their childhood in their houses without going out). This chapter helped a lot, if you pay attention you will realize that some of Miguel's dialogues are identical to Ryoma and Xander's ones.

Oh yes, I guess many want to know about the Armatization.

If you've never played Tales Of Zestiria, Armatization is the result of a human merging his body with a seraph. Seraphs are "guardian angels" that are usually invisible to regular people.

And yes, that mechanic is very similar to the Engaging. However Tales Of Zestiria did that in 2015.

And considering that I already said that FE Engage is something that happens in the future… I saw a good opportunity to write the origin of Emblem Engage.

The summoner's white and gold outfit even resembles the outfit that results from using the armatization (seriously, go take a look) and would also explain why Engage fusions have such a weird design.

I mean, if the fucking game isn't going to tell me how the rings were created, I don't see why I can't invent and change whatever I want.

That is why the Armatization that Kiran Mark made is not exactly the same as the one in Tales Of Zestira. For example, the hair should have always been yellow… however, I didn't think it would look good.
Likewise, since the Armatization was done with Fire Emblem characters, I didn't see why I couldn't use Fire Emblem weapons instead of the ones that the seraphim grant in that game... although of course, this did not affect the powers that these fusions gave. And considering that FEH allows you to grant elemental affinity to your heroes, this was just perfect.

Of course, I gave them elemental affinity taking more into account the weapons they could offer than anything else. That's why Corrin is fire instead of water since her sword is the Fire Emblem (although poor woman, IS won't let her wield her Yato. It seems only male Corrin can use it).

To tell the truth, I would have preferred to use references to Velvet Crowe (she's a magnificent waifu, it's as if instead of dividing them into two characters someone decided to write Pyra and Mythra as one single character with all their characteristics... and also give her an appearance similar to Ayra's) since she is the opposite of Sorey (the protagonist of Tales Of Zestiria) since despite the fact that she is the Lord of Calamity (basically the demon king) she is an anti-hero... but in the end, it just made more sense to use the Armatization.

Maybe I can use the Velvet Crowe stuff for the future if I ever write another mental battle.

Regarding the double slash technique in the form of a crescent-shaped moon identical to the one used by Eirika and Ephraim, the technique appears in Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger and is owned by the master of the blue ranger (and yes, there are meant to be references to some of the critical attack animations of Engage forms in the fight).

Lumera cameo!

Again, since Engage doesn't explain shit I preferred to write that she is the creator of the Emblem rings... and small detail here:

I like to think that, since in a lot of fanfics Corrin is usually written with the idea that their name in Nohr is Corrin but their Hoshido name is Kamui, Alear would also have two names:

Alear, his original name when he served under Sombrón's power... and Lueur (Japanese name), the name that Lumera would give him when she adopted him.

This given the meanings of the names:

Alear: Alloy in Spanish… apparently? I really don't know anything about that, maybe it's Spanish from Spain.

Lueur: Shine in French.

The second name is closer to Lumera's own name... but at the same time, since Lumera must have seen Kiran Mark/Luis after receiving the information of the armatization from Naga... Lumera decided to rename Alear in honor of that hero who inspired the concept of the Emblem Engage.

Unlimited potential stemming from the ability to care... while I prefer Zero as a character, I must admit that the characterization X was given in that PSP remake of the first Mega Man X really made me grow fond of the blue robot hero, in especially since I finally understood why his concern was considered a strength.

Basically, because X cares and worries too much, he is able to think deeper than other robots/reploids, so he is more capable of finding solutions to problems... which Copy-X, the villain of Mega Man Zero 1, does not have. Hence when there was an energy crisis Copy-X impulsively decided to start a robot genocide instead of ordering the investigation of a new energy source.

In Zero's own words:

"X wasn't as simple as you... he was a coward, always worried about everything, that's what made him a hero."

There's also a reference to Blue Exorcist, that last part where Kiran Mark's aura turned flaming but still blue in color? Well, that's the transformation of the main character who is the son of Satan (and therefore, a character archetype called the anti-anti-Christ, similar to Zero).

Remember how I once said la Ragnarok and la Illuminadora were sword versions of the tomes that Mark inherited from Athos? Well, the Meido Zangetsuha (known in Latin America as La Luna Infernal (The Hellish Moon)) means: Dark Path of the Dawn Moon's Wave, it is a technique that creates a path that sends anyone who is hit directly to the Underworld/Hell ( strangely, this technique of Inuyasha displays "hell" as if it was the outer space... I don't get it, but I like it). Remember Nergal's tome? Ereshkigal? The FE wiki describes it like this: "Casting the tome causes the background to go black and creates a giant black portal alongside smaller portals reminiscent of black holes that pulls in a stream of swirling purple energies reminiscent of souls or spirits, taking the tome's name and its meaning into consideration it could mean that the portal is in fact a portal to the underworld and it is pulling in the spirits of the damned into it."

To finally end the author's notes, regarding Corrin getting pregnant that way.

I know I said she's sterile, but please understand this:

Sterility is the inability to conceive and infertility the impossibility of ending the pregnancy with the birth of a healthy child. I was discussing with my Scientist friend and we both agreed that while Corrin should, by logic, have the first problem there was no real reason to write she also was infertile.
This difference is not only conceptual because the studies aimed at finding out the causes and the treatments aimed at solving them are totally different.

The couple who sees that they cannot conceive is not the same as the couple who often conceive without difficulty but sadly see how the pregnancy is not evolutionary (although this last one is waaay more depressing).

RoBlue321 · Oct 11, 2023

The Light And Darkness Of The Mind

They were certainly both enjoying the situation.

Although they both seemed to have no plans to stop, sooner or later that had to happen.

Once their lips broke apart after what may have been their tenth consecutive kiss, they both stared at each other.
"It's your first time making out with a woman, I guess."

Kiran Mark blinked three times. "Uh... well, there's nothing to be gained by denying it."
She smiled. "It was obvious, the lack of experience showed."

"I must assume you do have practice then." There was no annoyance in his voice tone, it was simply a "question."

"I had a friend named Silas..." her tone was more somber in comparison. "He and I... well, we had a great friendship and there was a day when I wanted to try to go further with him... unfortunately Garon didn't find that to be of his liking... and... I was told that he had been exiled, but I never saw him again, even during and after the war..."

She didn't have to say much more, the sepulchral silence let Kiran Mark know what had happened.

As a king of the ancient type who had power gone to his head and an intelligence level that he could humiliate in a matter of seconds, it was only logical to deduce that Garon had ordered him to be executed.

"More reasons why you killed Garon once and for all?" Kiran Mark held her cheek, making them look directly into each other's eyes again.

"After I found out what he was capable of, I realized he was just a monster in humanoid form."
Well, that's something that perhaps people would say about him.

But it was better not to piss her off any further.

"Understandable."

She decided to change the subject. "You really like stroking hair, huh?" she asked, noting that whenever he had an opportunity to do so he didn't even hesitate and certainly hadn't stopped at any point on this occasion.

He caressed with more eagerness. "I don't know why I do it, maybe I have a fetish." He tried to grin, in a mixture of happiness and his current confusion.

"That would make sense." She assented. "You said your father was able to romance a noblewoman while he was just a farmer's son? Well, congratulations! you just won the heart of a princess!" She certainly wanted to give him some self-confidence, the levels of depression he seemed to have were certainly abnormal.

Kiran Mark looked slightly to the left. She had apparently forgotten to mention that she wasn't just a princess, she was a dragon war princess with elf ears.

And from another universe/dimension.

And he was her Mexican boyfriend.

At what point did his life began to become so similar to Star Against the Forces of Evil?

He had to swallow saliva and blink hard. "A-anything that makes me more like my father, or even allows me to surpass him makes me feel like I've managed to do something good with my life but..."

She perhaps would have folded her arms if she wasn't enjoying hugging him so much. "But what?" she still raised an eyebrow accusingly.

It was clear she was losing patience with his pathetic whining.

"It's just... this seems too good to be true..."

He looked extremely worried...

Almost as if he was afraid.

Corrin didn't understand this, she had kissed him, what could be false about that?

Corrin began to give him little kisses on his cheek. "Well trust me, it's true."

This didn't seem to calm him down, but after a few seconds he just sighed and went back to his usual serious face, though his cheeks were still red.

"I doubt pregnancy mood swings start that quickly... so I guess there's no reason why you'd want to do this if it wasn't because you really... truly like me..." The concept just sounded otherworldly. A girl who was attracted to him? Even after going out of his way to ensure that didn't happen when he was just Kiran?

Corrin let out a giggle, she then began to stroke one cheek. "You know... blue really suits you..."

He guessed she was referring to his new eyes. "'Good thing... I wouldn't want to look bad in that color."

"Why are you so obsessed with the color blue?" it was a doubt she'd always had.

Having a favorite color was one thing... it was another thing to beg for his entire head to be replaced just to have eyes and hair of that color.

"It's the color of heroes." He shrugged. "At least on my side of the world, on the continents Europe and America. Blue has a long association with knights and the concept of paragon, to the point that, in some languages, 'blue' is used as a synonym for 'good,' often in the context of fairy tale princes." He smiled. "I mean, do you remember the concept of blue prince, said in my language as principe azul?"

Corrin brought one of her hands to her chin, still hugging him with the other. "You mean... like Alfonse, Seliph, and other heroes?"

"'Sort of'." He nodded, he could name an incredibly long list of heroic characters who wore that color.

"That concept doesn't exist in Nohr and Hoshido." She commented.

"Well, blue is not the only color of heroes. On the other side of the world, mainly in the country called Japan, red is the color more associated with heroism being the color of fire and blood, in other words: the color of action... most probably you could find a timeline where I asked for red eyes instead of blue ones."

There was a reason why, no matter the generation, there was always a red ranger and a blue ranger in a Super Sentai or Power Rangers team.

Reason why it bothered him, as much as the episode Forever Red was legendary, that there had never been an episode called Forever Blue or anything like that.

Although of course, red had also been used to represent villains given its usual connection to the color of blood... especially when this color was paired with black.

Add a swastika and you have the image of absolute evil in popular culture.

However, if you put blue and red together... you'd most likely have the best combination for a hero.

"So you wanted to have blue hair and blue eyes just for that? Isn't that kind of...I don't know, petty?"

He rolled his eyes. "I'm just a person, I can be petty... but well, explaining it further... I always wanted to be a prince knight in blue... and since in my world getting to be something like that was rather far out of my realm of possibilities... I don't know, I guess I always liked to dress in that color to feel a bit more... heroic?" Or at least that was one of his motivations, people always tended to think there was only one reason why he did things.

Corrin seemed to have a look of understanding. "Psychologically speaking wearing blue makes you feel like you're wearing a knight's armor, like you're the hero in a fairy tale."

"Something like that, yes." He scratched the back of his head with his right hand for a few seconds before returning to stroking her hair.

Corrin looked more pleased. "Considering that, it's good to see you got that shirt." She commented, glancing at the part of his outfit underneath the white coat.

"Truth be told, the only reason I haven't asked for a replacement of this white coat with an all-blue one is because I didn't yet have enough merit as a strategist and legendary hero for me to think I'd be allowed to wear an exception of the Askr's strategist uniform... though since I'm now Kiran Mark, I'd like to get a second green coat as well." he grinned.

Well, he had also wanted to keep the white coat since his name was Kiran.

The light "was" mostly white before it was broken down into its different components after all.

It was rather odd to now have two favorite colors... and two sets of memories... and two identities...

And being "in love" with more than one woman in a non-ironic way.

Not like a miserable idiot asking if it's possible just to cheat.

No.

He had inherited the feelings of his two halves for several women.

That just sounded like a lot of headaches and chaos in the making.

Corrin held up the heart necklace he wore. "Why not a red one too, I mean, you already have some red here."
"Maybe, I don't see why not."

There was a quiet moment between the two that lasted several seconds. Corrin stopped smiling so much... and now she appeared to be somewhat unsure about what to do.

"So..." Corrin looked down slightly. "Emm... I know you didn't complain at all about this... so..." had she not been hugging him, he could imagine her nervously playing with her fingers like a teenage girl with a crush. "Does that mean you accept my feelings?"

...
...
...
Dammit.

This was... this was...

"That face doesn't give me a lot of hope..." Corrin looked partially sad after seeing him grit his teeth.

"Look, you have to understand that just because you're in love with me and have confessed doesn't mean I'm automatically going to fall in love with you... especially when I'm now the mix of two people." Well, technically if one considered what he had learned about the brain from Naga, he was actually four people fused into one. "Or when one of my two halves has been uninterested in having a girlfriend for most of his life and even avoiding getting one."

Corrin raised an eyebrow. "Avoiding? Why would you do something like that?" what reasons could anyone have for not wanting someone's company? Love was what made them able to enjoy life.

Humans were beings that were meant to love!

Human... human...

It was then that she remembered.

He is not human, not even in a manner similar to her who happened to be a hybrid.

He sighed in frustration. "Well... let's just say that when I was just Kiran, I never saw what was so appealing about having a girlfriend... and well, my father and his actions didn't help."

She tilted her head, but said nothing.

At this, he simply continued speaking. "My brother only had daughters," he said, "I've always been an introvert, I've always preferred and as a wise man said: is better to be alone than have bad companionship, and I was always perfectly happy that way... but my father was constantly worried that because of that I would "never stop just playing video games and studying"... so he began to nag me a lot about how I should get myself a girlfriend." He rolled his eyes in annoyance. "The problem is... that was never one of my priorities and there was never anyone I could say I was really interested in that way ... and it all got worse when I became "the last hope"... mamadas (bullshit)."

"Last hope?" Corrin raised an eyebrow and tilted her head more.

"Since my brother didn't have any male children... my father began to see me as the last chance to get a male grandson who could continue to pass on the Enriquez surname and bloodline." He narrowed his eyes and shook his head in disgust.

"Oh..." the dragon princess's eyes widened in surprise. "And all that pressure just made you angry."

"It got to a point where I got so fed up that I told him I would never have children or get married."

"...Well, you weren't lying when you said you could be petty." She blinked.

"It's not like I cared what people thought of me due to that, they'd most likely just say I was a bitter incel or some bullshit like that." He shrugged again. "Better for me, girls would approach me less and I could still be happy alone..." he sighed and stopped hugging her, placing his hands on her shoulders and giving her a serious but kind look. "What I mean is, if I had been interested in getting a girlfriend throughout all this time I most likely would have tried to go for Lucina."

Corrin shrugged as he nodded slightly, a look of understanding on her face. "Oh... sure, I mean... she's blue."

"I mean, given what I know it probably wouldn't have been too hard to get her to take an interest in me. She's already compared me several times to the Robin of her world, who is a man, and she clearly has feelings for him." And remembering that made him realize that sooner or later he would have to tell her that Robin would not come back from the dead... escaping from having to hide a very dark secret that would break one lady's heart only to have to deal with another... his life was not easy in that regard. "However, having to take care of Azurita and now being Kiran Mark instead of just Kiran makes me think that maybe my Kiran side could let go of that tantrum and embrace the idea of finding a partner for life. And that's why..." he used his right hand to hold Corrin's chin, making her look at him.

Blue and red looked at each other in uncertainty... but each for different reasons.

"That's why I'm not going to turn you down either."

"Y-Y-You won't?"

"Let's try to get to know each other better, go on a date or something. That way I can determine if I can fall in love with you... and at the same time, you can get to know me better and determine if you love me..." he put his index finger on her mouth before she could say anything. "Let's be honest, you kissed me now because you feel too grateful that I helped fulfill your dream of becoming a mother, and that's understandable, but that doesn't mean you're truly willing, or think that it's truly a good idea, to accept me as your partner for the rest of your life."

Corrin wanted to say something... she wanted to think up something to say against that... but now she was the one who had nothing to use as a counter-argument. "I guess you're right... does that mean that when you look for a girl you always go with the intention of living with that person forever?"

He sighed. "I mean, what's the point of starting a relationship if that's not the case?"

Corrin smiled at him again, closing the distance between their faces to give him another soft but short kiss.

"I see."

He then narrowed his eyes for a moment, ceased his embrace of her... and then began to smack himself in the head using his palm. "Damn how did I forget that, I'm a complete moron!"

Corrin held his hands and with an authoritarian gaze that made him understand: stop doing that.

"What's wrong?"

He sighed in a frustrated way and shook his head. "Corrin... you and I can't be together."

"...okay, you changed your mind really fast, what's wrong?" she continued to denote annoyance to him.
"Corrin, you don't think about abandoning your world... I certainly doubt it very much."

Corrin blinked for a few seconds as the information and implications were processed in her mind.

And then she opened her eyes wide. "Oh..."

"I have to send you back once this war is over..." Kiran Mark didn't have the Breidablik at the time, but he most likely would have used it to illustrate his point.

"But..." Corrin held his face affectionately. "Can't I just go say goodbye? Or you could come with me!"

"Corrin, the portals the Breidablik creates aren't like the ones Alfonse generates. Those don't stay open... if I send you back you'll never come back ever again." He started to look to the right. "And I'm afraid I'm not going to leave the world of Zenith, I've planned so many things for the future that in the grand scheme of things the war against Embla is just one more step I have to complete."

"...Couldn't we find a way to open one of the portals that Alfonse makes to my world?"

"I don't think that's possible." he sighed.

"Kiran-"

"Kiran Mark."

Corrin sighed, closing her eyes, then opened them again and gently placed a hand on her belly. "Kiran Mark, I am a woman who was incapable of bearing children who now has twins growing inside her thanks to the help of a manakete with knowledge of reality that exceeds what I ever imagined... if we need proof that we can make the impossible possible we have it right here."

Well... maybe... maybe she had a point.

"...Maybe we could try to find the dragon Askr."

"Askr? The deity of the Askr nation?"

"Breidablik's manual said that it had been crafted by both him and the first king of Askr, if there is someone who can perhaps open a gateway to YOUR world, not just a copy that one that looks the same but YOUR own timeline, it must be him..."

"Well we'll do that." She proceeded to embrace him once more.

"It's just an option that we don't even know if it will work... what do we do if it's not possible to do it?" Kiran Mark didn't feel confident at all.

Corrin then hugged him tighter, to the point where Kiran Mark found himself... resting his head on her chest.
She was stroking his hair in a gentle way.

He found himself returning the hug and partially closing his eyes as a sense of comfort and sleepiness wanted to take over his mind.

"It's okay, don't worry about it now. Worrying may be the source of 'unlimited potential'." She commented, remembering what he had said earlier. "But that doesn't mean you have to spend the whole day like this." She then changed the tone of her voice.

It was... more relaxed, helped by the fact that she was now whispering.

"I don't want you to collapse from stress... my dear Kiran Mark."

Kiran Mark blinked a few times at that.

"I would be honored to be granted the opportunity by a dragon princess from another dimension to determine if we are soul mates."

Corrin let out another giggle, but her voice was still that whispery tone so comfortable when responding... "I think you do indeed behave like the Blue Prince you always wanted to be."

"I hope so..."

Wanting to be or do something and actually being good at it were two very distinct issues at the end of the day...
He reflected that this would give him a chance to organize his emotions better.

If he really fell in love with Corrin, then he would just have to stick by her side.

If not, then he would simply break up with her and there would be no harm done.

Lyn...

If she could be healed... maybe then he could try again with her...

Nino...

The poor girl must be confused, he would have to talk to her and explain why he did that. She was very innocent, she didn't deserve to be confused like that.

He... he just had to play his cards right.

At least four timelines would be generated from here.

One where Corrin was his girlfriend.

Another where Lyn was.

Another where he would end up being Raigh and Lugh's stepfather...

And the other timeline where he would simply end up alone.

Well, there were also those timelines where he would screw everything up and the girls were going to abandon him... or the timelines where he would die before he could figure it all out... though those last ones he didn't worry about.

There was no point in worrying about it.

Every day there was an infinite amount of Kirans Mark who died and an infinite amount who survived to fight another day.

He just had to make sure he wasn't one of the former ones.

And then he realized that he had gotten very lost in his thoughts.

Well, the sweet effect of Corrin's voice mixed with the way she stroked his hair... plus his new "pillows" certainly allowed him to disconnect from thinking about the real world very well.

Corrin didn't seem to complain, she seemed perfectly content to let the time pass like this.

"You know," Kiran Mark wanted to smile again, but he found it hard. "I'm still finding this a little hard to believe..."
Corrin rolled her eyes, though not in complete annoyance as she also had a beaming smile. "A girl wants to be with you, what's so hard to understand?"

"Maybe the fact that I always saw women as stars."

Corrin raised an eyebrow, stroking her boyfriend's hair more gently. "Like beings too bright and beautiful that it hurt you to look at them?" she thought about the fact that he had told her that the sun itself was a star.

"Like something so extremely far away in the void of infinity that even with all the determination, technology, and time a human life could provide they would still be way beyond my reach... I would never be capable of being by their side."

Oh.

"I mean... when I first met Lyn for a moment I thought maybe we could be together... but then she became the heir to the noble house of Caelin... I certainly wasn't worthy."

Corrin looked down slightly in confusion as to what the hell he was talking about until she quickly understood.

These were his memories of his life as Mark.

"Every time I felt like I could finally reach her something new would happen... like that time she and Hector talked together on the boat trip we had to Nergal's island...and now it turns out Eliwood might have fallen in love with her too..." the memories of his interactions with Roy let him know that he should talk to the boy more, Eliwood would be proud. "I guess I just never had a chance with her." Kiran Mark sighed, his eyes now narrowed as "emptiness" could be observed if attention was paid to his pupils. "Sorry, I shouldn't be talking about this when I'm having a conversation with my first girlfriend. It's just that Lyn was like a yellow star, magnificent, but compared to the star that accepted me now in terms of rarity... this star is a legendary one, a dragon princess of equally incredible beauty who is also a heroine... you might as well be a gigantic blue star. The whole thing just... feels almost unreal... in more ways than one."

Corrin did nothing to make him assume she was angry, Valla's dragon princess just continued to pet him and speak in that soft tone of voice. "It's okay... part of being in a relationship is being able to open up to the other person."

He didn't know if it was because female voices in English naturally generated a relaxing effect for him in particular or something, but he certainly felt incredibly better every time she spoke to him.

"But don't worry, this is real and I'll tell you as many times as it takes for you to believe it." He looked up for a moment to see that she was giving him the most heartwarming smile he'd ever seen from her.

The problem for him was that that was exactly what he wanted to hear.

Oh well...

Kiran Mark simply went back to resting his face on her chest and making a noise of confirmation.
Corrin felt calmer after that.

After everything Naga had told her about his mind, the only she desired at the moment was simply to ensure that he was feeling okay.

Kiran Mark for his part pondered one detail.

He had a girlfriend... a pregnant girlfriend even before the first date.

For the love of science, when he said he wanted to be a speedrunner he didn't mean it like this!

Naga herself was somewhat excited.

It had been a long time since she had made a new holy weapon so the "goddess" couldn't deny that she felt somewhat nostalgic about the whole thing.

Using sand and resin might seem like a strange thing to do, but these were some of the items that usually helped her the best when it came to making the mold for a sword's cross-guard.

At first she thought she would simply make a new version of this somewhat lighter "Master Sword", but after seeing the design of the golden Master Sword she had a much better idea.

First, she made a copy of the guard she was going to use out of RTV silicone, nothing complicated.

After that, she placed it inside a mixture of sand and resin which, after leaving the model inside the mold for a while and separating it Naga could see that both parts of the mold now had the pattern of the guard she was going to make.
This was a bit like making a vase out of fiberglass.

She passed the molds to Nagi, who nodded and put on her dark eye protection goggles for this type of activity.
Sure, technically her eyes were better at resisting damage... but it was never a bad idea to have as much protection as possible.

Naga did the same.

Nagi then placed the samples of Mytril, Adamantine, and Durasteel inside the furnace. They start to boil at such a high temperature that they became liquid.

Nagi held the sample with tongs and then began to pour the liquid metal into the mold.

While the metal cooled and took the shape of the guard, Naga herself was also doing her own thing with her own samples of the metals.

Nagi held the sample with smithing tweezers and then began to pour the liquid metal into the mold.
As the metal cooled and took the shape of the guard, Naga herself also did her thing with her own samples of metals.
And then she decided to take advantage of the opportunity and use something that she had forgotten to employ a long time ago.

She held up the remains of an old sword, one of her old projects that had seen better days.
She took the broken pieces and proceeded to melt them as well as adding a little more metal so she could "reforge" this weapon.

Considering that Durasteel was a very rare metal on Earth and that the reserves she had obtained from that meteor were dangerously close to running out, the idea of recycling metal certainly made sense.

She just had to make sure everything went well.

That was why Naga first joined them into a simple rectangular alloy bar while ensuring that the Mythril formed the central part, the Adamantine what would eventually be the edge, and that there were parts of durasteel reinforcing both the part where they were joined and the edges themselves.

Since this sword had lost its divine fang properties, it was necessary to replace the essence of it with another new fang.
The fang was added after she purified it and made sure it would not be destroyed by mixing it with the future sword.
Once she had the bar ready, Naga then approached a machine, placed the burning bar on a square piece of metal that served as a support, and then activated "the hammer".

Most human blacksmiths used regular hammers to shape swords... but she had this machine that repeated the striking pattern at least 4 times per second and without the errors that a regular human would make.

The metal bar began to flatten.

Although of course, once it was finished there was something else to do.

Actually shappen the bar into a sword.

It was for this reason that Naga used another machine which was a collection of wheels against which to rub the metal to make it as sharp as possible.

Multiple sparks came out from the area where the future sword and the wheel came into contact given the speed at which the wheel was spinning.

At the same time Nagi had finished using the mold and, after extracting the real piece of the cross-guard, she used another machine to mark better the parts that looked like the wings of a Neburi.

As soon as he had finished, Naga placed the blade of the recently finished sword near her as well as an image with the pattern that she needed to engrave on it.

Nagi simply nodded and using something resembling a drill she made the pattern on the blade.

Then she put it inside the furnace again to heat it intensely and, once it was burning, she placed the blade inside water to complete the process.

Naga then began to craft the grip of the weapon.

Since this one would no longer be for training, she did not add the solid, big, and heavy part under the guard that existed on the Master Sword according to what she had seen in the blue version.
Likewise, she made sure to make the grip "rectangular-circular" shape, to allow to determine the direction of the tip while wielding the sword.

Also, Nagi had begun to make that yellow gem that appeared in the center of the guard by using the same material the dragon stones were made up of.

However, she did not add it directly since Naga had yet to add the artificial intelligence.
This entire process took hours but by the time everything was ready and done the two "divine" dragons had assembled the entire sword.

All that was left to do was to paint it.

This gave the "goddess" an idea.

Unlike the other instance, all of Kiran Mark's companions were present when Naga asked him to go to a specific floor of her fortress.

This was not a laboratory... instead... it was another part of the temple at the top of the hill.
While Naga would have preferred to make a new room with the right theme it's not like she'd had enough time to prepare something like that.

"Child of the stars, it is time for you to obtain the blessing of the divine dragons. Come closer."

Kiran Mark turned to see his companions and daughter who gave him a supportive stare.

After that, he kept walking until he arrived at a giant door.

There was a moment in which he tried to analyze the door in search of something he could use to open it... but in the end, he determined that the only thing he could do was push.

Placing his hands on the large stone gate, he pushed forward.

The door then revealed a new chamber.

He then found himself in a garden.

It was an incredibly beautiful glass-roofed garden.

There was a circle-shaped structure around the center of the garden filled with water from which the plants could draw their vital resource.

The outside of Mount Prism was beautiful, but so was this.

And in the center of the room was what appeared to be a concentrated beam of light.

Naga was standing in the center of the illumination, looking away from him.

He began to walk slowly toward her, crossing a bridge to cross over the water.

"While I couldn't do much to decorate this place with the little time I had," the "goddess" commenced to speak, glancing in the direction of the stained glass window before turning to look at him with a smile. "At least I went to the trouble of adding this."

She then stepped back, revealing behind herself... a pedestal.

A pedestal that had a sword attached to it.

Kiran Mark remained silent as he blinked.

"I know you would have preferred a door that opened on its own, a somewhat dark hallway, and finding this in a room more akin to that of a Church, perhaps even surrounded by statues, but this was the best I could do." Naga gave him an apologetic look.

Still blinking and unable to look away from the sword in the center he shook his head slowly. "No... it's okay... sometimes the... the sacred blade also rests in a forest..."

"Well, that helps then. Come on, what are you waiting for!"

Kiran Mark reached the point where the focused light began to "bathe" him.

His companions behind noticed that said stained glass window seemed to represent the ancient times of the dragon civilization that had existed long before even the days of the hero king Marth or his ancestor the first hero king Anri.
Or at least that's what Lucina could tell them about it.

"On your knees," Naga commanded.

The "goddess" then asked him to give her his left hand, to which the warrior of light agreed to do. He kept his gaze downward but at the same time positioned his right hand on the area where his heart would be.

"The creation of a third Falchion was not something that was planned to be done and since the arrival of a Lucina from the future it was thought that it would not be necessary... however, today we are reunited to deliver this new sacred weapon."

Naga raised her own left hand and began to imbue the mark of the triforce with magic once more.

"You, who carry the wisdom of thousands of minds that sent their message to the future and now seek to rebuild your civilization by being reborn as a much better species… you, who trained with the help of legendary heroes to obtain power… and you who faced the ultimate terror that lived in your heart and emerged victorious… the mark on the back of your hand is proof that I recognize you as worthy of being a new champion."

Naga then connected the flow of magic from the mark of the triforce… with another flow of magic within the gem that was on the sword. As a result of that it seemed to glow "electronically" for a few seconds.

"The sword is now connected to you, and may it remain by your side through the drift of time."

She helped him to stand up.

"Go ahead, take it. May the power that seals the darkness be yours."

Kiran Mark then analyzed his new weapon.

It seemed to be a combination of the two types of Espada Maestra he had been wielding.

Fitting, he guessed, now that he was a fusion himself.

The "wings" along with the gem were golden, but the rest of the guard along with the pommel had a beautiful dark blue color…

And the grip itself was red.

Likewise, the triforce was engraved right where it should be.

This new sword was beautiful…

His left hand began to slowly approach.

It was supposed to be simple, grabbing the sword and pulling it out... but... the "goddess" noticed that he was trembling.
Kiran Mark started breathing very hard and very fast.

When he was about to make contact with the weapon he suddenly backed off.

He tried to grab the sword one more time... but his hand kept shaking a lot every time he tried to take it.
The process repeated itself at least five times.

And then Kiran Mark felt a gentle hand placed on top of his.

Naga gave him the best reassuring smile that she with her "divine essence" could offer.

And then the "goddess" gently guided his hand toward the hilt of the sword.

The weapon did not react as if was matter suddenly coming into contact with antimatter.

The weapon did not activate holy flames to burn whoever had dared to lay a finger on it.

His hand had not been burned beyond recognition.

The weapon did not reject him.

Kiran Mark glanced once again at Naga who simply smiled and nodded at him.

He sighed… and then grabbed the sword with both hands.

And he started pulling.

"Grr…grrr….grrrrr!"

Kiran Mark narrowed his eyes.

The blade was not going to come off its pedestal easily.

But that was fine.

He preferred it that way.

Little by little the sword began to rise.

"Grrrr! Grrr! Grrrrrrr!"

He could then feel it.

And he saw it.

Magic energy leaving his body through his hands.

The quintessence of his body was being absorbed by the sword.

One last test.

Good.

It wouldn't be fun if there wasn't any risk in doing this.

"Grrr! Grrrr! Grraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"
And then the sword left the pedestal.

Kiran Mark had to breathe in and out several times as the quintessence returned to his body.
He had lowered the sword to his waist… and then he positioned it straight upright in front of himself.
He then shook his head.

And he smiled determinedly.

He did what anyone in his situation would do.

He performed a vertical slash, then another horizontal slash, and finally finished with a thrust.

"Hyaaaa!"

He raised the sword above his head, toward the heavens as the halo of light seemed to bathe the weapon in energy.
And he stayed in that position without moving, without caring about the progress of time.

Although his partners watched the scene with fascination at first, it was obvious that they did not fully understand the "ritual."

"How long do you think he will stand there?" Kagero crossed her arms.

The "goddess," who had moved away to give him privacy and space to try out his new weapon, responded. "He's probably imagining text appearing in front of him giving him a description, or at least that's what I saw in his memories. Give him a little more time."

Lucina stopped for a moment from watching all that to look at her sword. "So… is that a third Falchion?"

"Technically." Naga nodded as she shrugged.

"Technically?" Corrin asked.

"The two Falchion, both the one carried by the hero king and the one carried by the unifying holy king of Valm, were made with the essence of my fangs. This one also has Divine Dragon Fang essence, but I used a Tiki's one instead. If you consider it a Falchion regardless of the origin of the fang then the weapons of the twelve crusaders from Jugdral could also be considered Falchions."

Lucina crossed her arms. "I see… now that I think about it, what happened to Alm I's Falchion?"

"You're seeing it, I guess."

Lucina blinked multiple times rapidly, she was switching between seeing the Master Sword and Naga quite a few times.
"What?"

Naga smiled. "1000 years ago a horror of extreme power appeared in this world," she began to tell. While the other women needed the exposition, Lucina could already deduce who she was talking about. "I'm not sure why, but this evil dragon called Grima had a very strong hatred for the descendants of Alm and that was why Valm was the first continent that he attacked. Given his extreme power, I had to ask Wan the first Exalt to support the bearer of the Falchion of Valm in those days, Audrina, in battle to beat him. Although they managed to overpower him, Grima managed to break the second Falchion during the battle. After both of them sealed that monster, I took the broken sword and, considering that it had already fulfilled its purpose of killing Duma and Milla, I decided to keep it as a souvenir."

Little Azura, who had remained silent all this time, finally said something. "And that broken sword is now the sword my Papi holds?"

"Not really, I melted all the metal from Falchion 2 to craft this new one and, as I said, I had to replace my fang with Tiki's one... but if it being made of the remains of the original one you still want to continue considering it as the same sword then we could say that this "Espada Maestra" is the reincarnation of the old Falchion of Valentia."

Lucina looked at the new "Falchion" again, displaying the same admiration that its current wielder gave to it. "That part of the history doesn't appear in the books I've read…"

Naga shook her head in annoyance. "Humans should hire more and better historians, if they are going to have such limited lifespans they should make sure that their memories are left for future generations better."

Lucina, however, began to reflect on something... it could also be that, given the rivalry that existed between Valm and the new nations of Archanea, Ylisse had intentionally erased the records about that heroine who helped the first Exalt against Grima.

When would humanity learn to stop letting hatred get in the way of progress? Lucina wondered.

More or less at that moment Kiran Mark stopped admiring his weapon and turned to look at his companions.

The combination of his face full of admiration and determination with the light falling on him and that sacred sword in his hand made a sight worthy of being captured in a painting, something that Kagero visualized and told herself that she would have to.

Naga approached the young anti-hero.

And offered him the weapon's scabbard.

Kiran Mark blinked hard at the sight of a green version of the scabbard he already knew... but truth be told he had to admit he liked what he saw.

"Thank you very much for everything, Lady Naga." Kiran Mark stored the sacred blade in its sheath and nodded.

"You're welcome, son of the stars." She nodded with a smile.

"Well..." Kiran Mark folded his arms and considered the time of day after looking through the glass. "We need to get ready so we can leave... not to mention plan our return trip well... would you mind if we stay one more night?"

The "goddess" shrugged. "One more day with some company wouldn't be bad."

Azura began to pout, to which Corrin understood that she had to stop carrying her and let her run to her adoptive father.
"Papi! papi! That new sword looks so sharp!"

Kiran Mark stroked his adopted daughter's hair and carried her on his right arm. "That's right, with this sword there will be no stopping me! Soldiers, warriors, the Emblians, heroes, gods, the homeless man on the street! No one is going to be able to beat me!" Kiran Mark then began to swing the weapon to make Azurita laugh.

They all watched the scene laughing as well.

Corrin in particular watched it all with a very big smile.

"One last thing." Naga proceeded to hand him a small tome. "This will be useful for you to give your mark to whomever you deem worthy to take the sword once your time in this world is over."

Kiran Mark, now having magical knowledge thanks to his memories as Mark, recognized the object as a seal marker.
He accepted it with a nod.

Once again, Lucina had a question. "But... why would he need that? The mark should be inherited by his descendants, shouldn't it?"

Kiran Mark stowed his weapon in his scabbard again and scratched the hair behind his head. "Yeah well... there's a problem with that... I'm an alien."

"What's the problem with that?" Lucina didn't seem to understand.

"That means I'm pretty much sterile." Kiran Mark shrugged.

Corrin blinked with her mouth very wide. "Wait... you... you too?"

Kiran Mark gave her a smile. "But never mind, I'd rather be able to choose who I give this thing to and that said person gets to choose."

He looked at Azura for a moment... and his eyes denoted a mixture of sadness and wistfulness.

Part of him wanted to give her an Iron Man-like suit and train her to be a space bounty hunter who could kill space dragons each Tuesday... and another one just wanted to give her a peaceful life without worries.

"Anyway." He smiled genuinely again. "You know my little one," he began to stroke little Azura's hair. "It's a very fitting time to get a new sword because we're just getting to the part where the warriors of light get the legendary sword after giving Adamantite to the supreme blacksmith."

Azura smiled as she immediately deduced that this meant it was time to move on with the story.

All the ladies stared at the scene once again.

"He looks even happier." Kagero scratched her chin.

"Speaking of which… I need you girls to come with me." Naga became more serious and walked out of the garden towards another room.

"What happened?" Lucina, again, was the voice of the questions.

Corrin's face darkened. "I think I know what she wants to tell you."

"You already know?"

"Miss Corrin volunteered to help him as soon as I told her about his serious illness." Naga nodded slightly, still walking.

"He is sick?" Kagero

"Other than his headaches due to the… fusion… I didn't notice anything strange with his body." Lucina continued walking forward but momentarily turned to where he and little Azura had left.

Naga crossed his arms. "Mental illnesses are still illnesses even though they are not as apparent and the consequences they can have on the brain are equally worrying."

"But… hadn't you already cured him?" Kagero crossed his arms.

"What I did was repair the connection between the two hemispheres of his brain, which helped him resolve the emotional imbalance generated by his different beliefs, but this is something else... and perhaps it may be the reason why his two hemispheres suffered a connection cut when I was trying to heal him normally."

Once they reached a room where she was sure Kiran Mark would not find them, the "goddess" took out what appeared to be a tablet.

"Truth be told, I began to notice it since I started analyzing his brain… but it is much more worrying than I thought." The "goddess" sighed. "This is a very complex topic, so I will have to explain it in a simplified way." Naga shook his head. "He suffers from something called imposter syndrome."

"Imposter syndrome?" Kagero didn't quite understand what that was... in what sense was he an imposter?

"In his memories, I could see that he has been replicating inventions from his world for you in Askr." Naga scratched her chin.

Lucina nodded. "He honestly continues to impress me with what he can do."

"Did he ever try to warn you that what he does wasn't "that impressive"?" She already knew the answer, it was simply a rhetorical question.

"Sometimes… although we always told him he should have some more faith in himself, his inventions are just otherworldly!" Lucina insisted.

"I'm afraid that, based on what I saw about his world and what he told me, the education he received is not even something that could be considered professional. There are at least seven educational levels and he never reached the fifth and the fourth was left unfinished."

"What?"

"What?"

"It's really until the fifth level, called college, when they truthfully commence to learn the complicated subjects. And even if you compare it with what I have obtained over the millennia it is still quite limited."

The Ylisse princess and the ninja blinked in confusion multiple times.

Corrin took a step forward. "I had the same reaction… I always got the impression that he always seemed to know more… I came to doubt that there was anything he didn't know about."

They then remembered how he had accepted not knowing much about the brain itself.

Naga cleared her throat before proceeding. "What happens with people who have this syndrome is that they live in constant fear, it is a feeling of insecurity related to work achievements. A person may feel like an imposter because they don't believe they deserve their job. Often, imposter syndrome makes them feel like they're tricking their peers into thinking they're good at what they do. That's where the name comes from, those people feel like they're a fraud."
It was then that Lucina began to remember... how days before he practically thought it was only a matter of time before Robin replaced him as the order's strategist... or how he felt that he was no longer needed.

Kagero, for her part, could remember times when he seemed frustrated when he couldn't remember a certain detail to put in his Encyclopedia. Any information he could use for the future of humanity that he forgot usually equaled to him punching himself on the face.

"If we add the detail that he has always been living in his brother's shadow… well, what that does to the brain is marvelous to look at… the most concerning part is that his brain is inflamed.."

The thought that an organ like that could be going through something so painful was enough to make even Kagero wince. "The… can the brain become inflamed?"

"Brain inflammation is one of the most common effects of depression. Although his case is not very strong I was able to notice it... however, this also generates other problems. An inflamed brain damages itself in different ways, the brain is made of things called neurons, the more you have and the better the connections between them are, the better and more intelligent a person will be... but the inflammation of depression, added to the lack of a certain substance that is produced when one is happy, reduces the power of the neurons... they progressively turn off until... there comes a day when they are sleeping for good." Naga gave them a look of: do you understand what that means?

The silence that followed was something the "goddess" was expecting, after which Naga displayed them an image.
"While he is an alien, his brain is similar enough that I could notice something wrong. This is a human brain seen with a special effect, can you notice the "yellow" areas?"

Both Kagero and Lucina nodded, pointing to said sections of the brain mass. There were quite a lot of them and they gave this brain a somewhat shiny appearance.

"Those areas show high brain activity… well, this is a picture of HIS brain."

Naga then changed the image... and although they still didn't fully understand, seeing a brain that seemed to be mostly blue made them feel horror.

"And the problem with depression is that it creates other self-destructive habits. From what I saw, he suffers from major episodes of stress and usually has problems sleeping… unfortunately, his "solution" to this has been to decide to ignore sleep almost completely in favor of working more… the problem is that all of these things damage the neurons even more."

Lucina placed her hand over her mouth in horror as the implications of it all hit her immediately.

Had Robin suffered from this too in addition to all the headaches that Grima gave him through their mental and physical link?

Naga for her part, after analyzing the details about the mental battle that his two halves had had, was not very optimistic after having seen how one of the two behaved more like a machine.

It was an indication that sometimes he saw himself more as a tool than a person... and he didn't see a problem with that.
Kagero crossed her arms. "And let me guess… this was happening to little Azura too?

Corrin… well, she didn't react well to hearing that possibility… seeing the girl so happy recently had made her kinda forget about her own mental problems.

She then felt the incredibly strong urge to go hug her many more times and never let her go again.

"Maybe, the truth is that it disturbed me too much to notice depression in that girl… however, from what I see, she only suffered from depression for a few years. Irreversible degenerative effects tend to be something that takes longer."
"How long has Kiran Mark been dealing with this?" Kagero asked, she knew something had to be done…
And she was certainly going to report this to Commander Anna once they were back with the Order of Heroes.

"If what I've seen of his memories is true... and considering the difference of what his species and ours consider a year... he's close to reaching ten years since this started... and that is only talking about the damage caused directly by depression... damage as a result of secondary effects by such as lack of sleep, something that also kills neurons in itself… well…"

"It is a vicious circle where one harm generates another which aggravates something else and so on." Kagero commented, raising an eyebrow... but with a very obvious look of sadness.

"And the main problem is that this vicious circle has generated, at least in Kiran Mark, a mentality in which he does not care knowing that he is slowly killing himself... in fact, the area of his brain that is responsible for the basic desire for survival is on the brink of death... that's why I said this to you and not to him, if I had told him he wouldn't have cared... so if you want to help him it has to be through a subtle approach."

"And what can we do?" Lucina sighed before looking a little more stoic and determined.

"Corrin has started spending time with him, and you certainly need to make sure he spends less time alone with his thoughts. "He needs a distraction." Naga placed a hand on the princess of Valla's shoulder.

"Distract him… I guess we could do things he likes to do…" Kagero knew that trying to force him to do other things wouldn't work.

"Well, maybe he likes chess?" Lucina suggested, Robin truly loved that game.

"I say he needs to get more in touch with nature, by investigating things! "He loves to investigate things!" Corrin gave a proposal.

Naga nodded. "Regardless of how you decide to help him in that aspect, you must remember one thing: this is only to be able to start the healing process. Curing depression is something that requires eliminating the source of the problem... otherwise, it would be like eliminating the pain of a person who has been pierced by a spear... but without removing the spear at all. In a similar way to how that person will feel pain again as soon as the effects of the medicine wear off, he will return to his original state the moment he is left alone with his own thoughts. This is usually common when it is time to sleep."

Corrin tried not to show her sadness. "The problem is that Naga told me that there are multiple origins of his problem, the imposter syndrome and living in the shadow of his brother are just two."

"I don't know all the possible causes, but there is a ray of hope. Little Azura looks happier and happier and that is because the reason for her suffering, as Corrin told me, was that she used to be abused in Nohr after the death of her mother. By no longer being there and finally finding people she feels she can trust, her condition has improved so she is proof that there is always a way out."

All the other girls nodded.

Today had been a very productive day.

What he had discussed with Naga regarding the ancient war of Fodlan had been quite the unnerving situation since he never expected anything similar to the Elf Wars to have ever actually happened... but that just meant he needed to be more cautious.

Plus now that he had a "real" Master Sword, he had to decide what to do with the first of all the ones he had obtained.
The Azul one was a training sword, the excessive weight had served the purpose of conditioning his two arms so he didn't really need it anymore.

He could still keep the Dorada one as his second weapon.

After all, it was still the smallest that was perfect for combat with two swords.

He figured he could keep the heavy blue sword as a souvenir anyway.

He entered his personal carriage with the intention of leaving the object in a drawer and then perhaps trying to sleep.
Or rather, spend hours planning new stuff until his brain finally gave up as almost every night.

But what he found was Corrin... sitting while she examined a book.

The book whose cover was the hearts that represented the souls of Undertale.

His diary.

"Do you want me to ask Kagero to make another book with a cover like that?"

"No, it's just that I'm genuinely fascinated by what's written here." Corrin turned a page.

"But… it is impossible for you to understand anything." Kiran Mark finally placed the blue sword in a compartment for safekeeping and walked over to sit next to her.

"I know, what I mean is that all these strange symbols make me curious… and well, the fact of knowing that this is a language that only one person on the entire planet can speak makes it even more unique."

"Ironically, Spanish is the second language with the most native speakers on my planet only behind Chinese." Kiran Mark took out his writing instruments: his pen, and his ink bottle. "Could you pass it to me? "It has been a very good day and it makes me want to write it all here."

Corrin smiled kindly at him. "I guess, yes."

Corrin then decided to examine her boyfriend's sword.

"So this would be the authentic Espada Maestra?" Corrin had learned the lesson of trying to hold a sacred blade without having the corresponding mark attached to the weapon, so she made sure to only hold it from the sheath.

"Well, according to the legend the Master Sword is born after the Sword of the Goddess is reinforced with the sacred flames of the 3 goddesses of power, wisdom, and courage and after receiving the blessing of the fourth goddess and its creator Hylia herself… so technically it is not, but if we consider Naga as Hylia and the three metals it is made of as the "3 flames" then maybe you could say yes." Although of course, the original version of this sword Naga gave him already had the same three metals.

"I wish I could have my Yato here so I can compare it to your Espada Maestra." Corrin sighed.

Kiran Mark extended his right hand and stroked her hair as he continued writing. "Well, I did see it when you lent me your power in that mental battle… and your Yato kinda broke the Espada Maestra so... I guess there's no need." He giggled. "I never thought I would see a chainsaw sword in my life though, but it looks damn awesome." and kinda impractical in that form but he wasn't going to complain.

Corrin smiled for a moment, although a doubt arose. "What is a chainsaw?"

"A mechanical device we use in my world to cut down trees."

"Oh!" Corrin blushed and put her left hand over her mouth in embarrassment. "So I wasn't being crazy when I cut down some of those with my Yato."

"There is nothing wrong with using something for something mundane as long as it doesn't get damaged." He shrugged as he continued writing.

Corrin stared at him for a couple of seconds... and then approached him to give him a surprise kiss on the cheek.
Kiran Mark turned slightly to look at her with a half smile and a raised eyebrow. "Is there anything you want? More food maybe?"

Corrin didn't seem to like that question. "Are you calling me fat?"

Kiran Mark narrowed his eyes. "Woman, now you are pregnant and with twins you need food… wait… that reminds me…" he then slapped his forehead. "How are we going to move this carriage if you can't transform into a dragon?"

Corrin stopped pretending to be upset and instead hugged him again. "Don't worry, Nagi offered to help us on the way back."

"Ah, I see. That's good I guess. Problema resuelto (Problem solved)." he nodded in satisfaction.

"Hey."

"Yes."

"I feel alone."

...
...
...

"Y uno nuevo empieza (and here comes another problem). Eeeh…" Kiran Mark put his diary aside and then caught her in a hug similar to the one they had given each other the other day. "This helps?"

Corrin then sighed in happiness. "Yes, that helps… although…"

"Although?"

She pulled away for a moment to look into his eyes. "There is something you have forgotten to do for a while… something I'd love you you do right now." Her narrowed eyes were clearly accusatory.

"Eeeh… I'm not sure what you're talking about…"

"Don't act like you don't know." She moved his face a little closer.

Did she want another kiss? Did she want him to stroke her hair more?

Oh… wait...

Looking slightly to the right and with an angry face… he began to purr.

Corrin then returned to denoting her happiness and resting her face on his chest.

Although there was a part of himself that had never been bothered by this… now there would always be another part that would complain, which is why he didn't modify his angry face despite the… five or ten minutes they both spent in that position while he purred constantly.

"Oh by the way. I just remembered." Corrin suddenly broke away from him and began searching through her suitcases.
Although he knew that they would be leaving the next day... it was still a little early to bring her stuff inside the carriage... shouldn't they still be in Tiki's room inside the underground fortress?

"Let's see... yes! This is the one!"

Corrin presented him with a piece of paper.

Which contained a drawing, or rather several drawings.

A drawing… of a gigantic building, a tower that had something written in Spanish (Latinoamericana)… another was a monument in the shape of an angel surrounded by more buildings. There was also… a train, a train of multiple wagons and locomotives traveling on what were clearly railway tracks, he could even see what was clearly a train crossing place complete with its X-shaped signs of alert, not to mention that on the road there were cars.

"That's…" She was certainly better at drawing than what he could ever achieve.

"That's your world, right? They are the buildings that scratch the skies, the carriages that move by themselves, and all that." Corrin put the paper on the table and sat down next to him again.

Kiran Mark, however, looked… fearful. "You…did you see all that?"

Corrin held his hand gently with both of hers. "That version of your brother was just a nightmare… it's not real…"

Kiran Mark looked slightly down and to the left, but eventually returned her grip and smiled at his girlfriend.

He then used the ink to try to draw more things, like airplanes and similar things. "That was Mexico City, the capital of my country."

"Your hometown?"

"Well, I wasn't born there but I've lived there at some point of my life."

Corrin rubbed her chin. "It was an immense town… Naga made us fly over the houses and buildings, but no matter how far she was there seemed to be no end."

Kiran Mark shrugged. "Normal, it is one of the largest cities in the world. It's almost fifteen hundred square kilometers of buildings that have been in constant expansion for at least... 700 years, maybe? I don't know, I just know that it has existed for at least 500. It is said that the founders of the first version of the city, when it was called Tenochtitlan, built there since it was a group of nomads looking for "a promised land" and that They would find it in the place where the signal of their god would appear: an eagle standing on a nopal while eating a snake." Or at least that's how the legend went.

"What is a nopal?"

He blinked a few times. "Something like a cactus."

The princess's silence made him understand that she didn't have any idea of what he was saying. "A plant that grows in many mainly desert environments, its most defining characteristic is that they are green and have spikes." Luckily cacti were not that difficult to draw, so he only had to make a few ovals and add lines to simulate the spikes.

"Such a strange plants."

"And yes, Nopales's strangest property is the fact that they seem to be able to grow on almost any surface even if there is no soil, and sometimes they don't even seem to require water." He gave a chuckle as he shook his head in amusement.
Corrin raised an eyebrow. "You got to be kidding…"

Kiran Mark shrugged. "I don't know, I've seen them growing on the roofs of houses and even on top of trees, don't underestimate them."

"If you say so... and by the way, I also remember listening to music that was... well... I remember that you had described a genre of music that you defined as action music as hard as a rock but... if that's what I heard I must admit that it's not at all how I imagined it."

"You mean one of these?" Kiran Mark started humming the music from X's battle against Zero in Mega Man X5.
"Yeah! "Why didn't you ever introduce us to music like that?"

"Well, beyond the fact that the instruments necessary to play music like that don't exist here and that I don't know how to build the vast majority of them... well, I'm simply a terrible artist." Kiran Mark leaned better against the carriage wall. "I couldn't play anything like that even if the instruments were given to me by Naga herself. There are many things that I have not been able to replicate either simply because I cannot draw them very well and I cannot get the blacksmiths to imagine correctly what I am asking them to make."

"If only there was someone who could give you the artistic support you need."

Uh…

Someone who could draw for him… well, there was no one in this world who could do that…

In this world…

That gave him an idea...

"Anyway… so you want us to stay up all night while we talk about things from my world?" If he had to do this again he didn't care, he just wanted some more coffee.

Corrin seemed to panic at his suggestion and she began to quickly negate using her hands. "No! "No no no no no!"

"Eeeh…"

"You're right, sleeping is good for the soul." His girlfriend then gave him a sequence of kisses on his cheeks. "Let's rest." She said with an urgent tone.

"... okay..."

He looked for the box where he kept his clothes. "See you tomorrow then."

He expected to hear the door open and close... but that didn't happen. At first, he didn't give it any importance... until after taking off his coat and shirt and starting to sit down to remove his shoes.

Corrin was lying on his bed.

Now wearing only black lingerie.

...
...
...

"Corrin," he remained stoic, concentrating on looking into her eyes. "I know you're… my girlfriend now… but as far as I know there is… a period of time before we should be allowed to cuddle…" he rubbed his face in frustration.

"Oh, come on! You slept with Commander Anna once!" she smiled at him.

"That's not something I volunteered for…" Kiran Mark crossed his arms. "Shouldn't you be with Azurita?"

"Don't worry, Lucina can take care of her." That smile wouldn't go away.

They both stared at each other for at least ten seconds in complete silence until Kiran Mark made a frustrated sound.
"Okay, but if we are going to do this I need you to wait for me a moment, I'll be right back." He got out of the carriage, taking with him a piece of clothing.

Corrin could hear the footsteps of Askr's summoner walking away.

She decided to get inside the blankets and wait.

Although after 10 minutes she considered leaving and going to look for him after thinking that maybe he had taken the opportunity to escape.

However, then she heard footsteps approaching.

The door opened to reveal a… somewhat wet Kiran Mark.

And now wearing only underwear.

"Did you bathe in the river?"

"I had to do it, my scent wasn't exactly good after several days without taking a bath." Once he finished toweling off and threw his pants onto a chair, Kiran Mark didn't even flinch when he lifted the blankets to get inside.

"Good night." And with that, he closed his eyes.

Corrin...was speechless for at least another ten seconds. "You're seriously not going to say anything more than that?"

He once again opened his new blue eyes, he was evidently irritated. "And what am I supposed to say?"

"I don't know… I just wanted to have a nice conversation before going into the dream realm."

"I thought the purpose of going to bed was to sleep…"

"Well… I just wanted to get to know you more."

"Can't we do that tomorrow? I mean come on! Woman, you said it was a better idea to sleep than to continue talking."
Corrin reflected on what he said…and responded. "True, you are right. In that case…" She moved closer and proceeded to hug him similar to how a mother would hug her little one. "Good night." This was reinforced when she placed a kiss on the top of his head after whispering that to him.

Kiran Mark remained motionless and silent for a looong time…

He had to admit… this was comfortable…

But… no matter how much he tried to keep his eyes closed… more and more things came to his mind.

At least the sound of the soft rain that had begun to fall outside helped him stay relaxed.

Objects to replicate, battle plans, plans for the future... how did having Corrin as his girlfriend change his plans to build a house? Did he still want to build a house far from the capital? If he got what he was looking for it was unlikely that the idea of staying in Askr would still make sense. There were many places to travel to to obtain resources, build a new civilization, and avoid another Elf War...

Perhaps…

"You're not trying to sleep... are you?" The whispered voice of his girlfriend momentarily brought him out of his long train of thought.

"It's not that I don't want to… my brain just won't let me." Yawning.

"Your brain…" the tone with which she said that was strangely… unhappy. "I'm not as good a singer as Azura… but… do you want me to hum something for you?"

Well... something like that wouldn't be bad...

"That would be nice… thank you…"

Corrin then proceeded to hum the song that Azura had taught her many times already.

The effect of the music was not immediate... but... little by little... his thoughts dissipated in a river of thoughts.
All that existed was the soft rain, the darkness his closed eyes displayed... the sound of his girlfriend resting close to him... and the warmth she gave him.

And for the first time in a long time, he slept in complete and utter peace.

To the point that the next morning he didn't remember dreaming.

To be honest with you, I had kinda lost the motivation to write this story... let's say that the lack of reviews in the previous chapter made me doubt if people are even still reading this thing... the fact that people gave it more kudos on AO3 and kept adding it to their reading lists on Wattpad was what made me get it back.

After 70 episodes with almost no romance, I said: it's time to press the accelerator and add as much as I could in this chapter.

The scenes are designed to be done in a way that if they were a video you would expect them to be ASMR-like, although my favorite type of ASMR videos are those of water or objects like that. I also took some inspiration from… well, you know, the infamous petting your Waifu minigame XD. Speaking of Corrin, the truth is that both voices (Japanese AND English) have their own charisma.

However, I didn't want them to just be romance scenes and that's it. Something that Avatar The Last Airbender does in the chapter where Zuko has a date with a girl from Ba Sing Se is to display us something more than just a simple date: it reveals to us that Zuko grew up in an environment that took away basic aspects of a human being. He's unable to recognize that a girl could look at him just because she is attracted to him and, instead, he immediately assumes that she has discovered his identity as a fire bender (which tells us that he has a mentality too focused on the aspect of war, so he's a very clear example of a child soldier) in addition to being the first time he uses something he always had employed to destroy to create something beautiful instead (his fire bending).

This is why those scenes, especially the final one, were more to show a girl trying to stop the boy from falling again and being alone in the dark.

Depression… complicated topic, really.

The thing about the brain looking different when you have depression is something that you can see yourself, just search on Google: "How a brain with depression looks like" It's strange because it doesn't look like an extremely grotesque wound... but just looking at it is fucking disturbing.

In addition to brain inflammation and eventually neuronal death (both from insomnia killing neurons itself and the simple fact that lack of activity eventually shuts them down), there are other serious consequences including: a reduction in the size of the hippocampus and disconnection of the cerebral amygdala. Most of these things are reversible if detected in time, that's the good thing.

Now that you have seen it... try to imagine how Bernadetta, Marianne, and Alcryst's brains would look like.

Linked to depression is impostor syndrome (SUS)... although his fears are not unfounded, I say... imagine having incomplete high school and being given the job of saving the world... and being in a world stuck in the Middle Ages knowing that if any threat comes from outer-space you would need at least another 500 years to even begin to be prepared.

Something that seems strange to me is that despite the fact that FE Awakening was made as "the grand finale" for the franchise (which is why it uses several mechanics from different games and tries to bring back many things from the first 3 Fire Emblem to reference) they didn't bother to explain what the hell happened to the second Falchion (and as far as I know a second Falchion isn't something they invented in the remake Shadows Of Valentia, it was even in the original FE Gaiden), that's why I wanted to expand a little more on it.

Having the La Espada Maestra Definitiva (Definitive Master Sword) be the reforged second Falchion was an idea that although I wanted to use it... there were several moments when I hesitated and thought about just saying that it was a different, new sword and that something had happened to the original Falchion 2. I even considered just saying that Walhart had thrown the weapon to the bottom of the ocean because he disrespected it for being a symbol of the gods' power over humanity or something... but even after creating an explanation for why Falchion 2 broke I still had my doubts until I learned that technically you can't reforge a weapon, the most you can do is reuse the metal (and add a little more) to generate a new sword. After discovering that, and the fact the Master Sword in Tears Of The Kingdom breaks and is repaired by a divine dragon that may as well be Tiki's counterpart of that world, I decided: yes, I want to use this idea.

In fact, you can technically do the reverse idea by fusing the Master Sword with a white dragon fang, and there you go: a makeshift Falchion. Hell! When I saw what Ganon transformed into after eating the secret magatama stone, all I could think of was: Ganondorf El Dragón Caído (The Fell/Fallen Dragon).

Also, the wielders of Falchion 2 and the Master Sword are two left-handed guys in green with markings on their hands that enjoy breaking pots, it just seemed fitting lol.

Another reason I did this is because the word Valentia is actually identical to the word Valentía in Spanish which means Courage. The Master Sword belongs to the hero of courage so you understand.
If you want to have a better idea of what this "Falchion" Master Sword looks like, more or less, you can look for the AO3 or Wattpad version of this story, where there will be an image of it. The original image is the property of BLUEAmnesiac, a Deviantart user, and the title of the image is: Zeldanime Master Sword.

By the way, if you think that the colors of this version: gold, blue, and red, fit with the colors of Alear it is not a coincidence.

Regarding the whole scene where they forge the weapon itself, well, as Naga said: she has access to a forge a thousand times better than what any blacksmith from the Middle Ages could dream of... although I still think I should have done better research on how they are cast. these metals (titanium, tungsten, and iridium).

Nopales are powerful, don't underestimate where they can grow XD.

(Fire Emblem Heroes) May The Future Be Bright: Kiran's Story

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