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

Chapter 28: World Of Awakening Final Part
  • Index
    • World Of Awakening Final Part
    ​
    Robin couldn't sleep... and how she would be able to?

    Reports indicated the Order Of Heroes finally arrived on the outskirts of Ylisstol. This was her last chance to win and prevent Veronica from killing the younger selves of the second-generation shepherds.

    She didn't have a child of her own however she remembered very well the pain of a parent displayed when they lost a child... and usually, it was her fault, too.

    Strangely, even though Kiran could order an assault already, he... didn't. It didn't make much sense considering they arrived when it was still noon... until she remembered the Emblians used to have a different sleeping clock the first time they conquested Ylisse.

    He was planning a night assault... even if that night the moon wouldn't be there to offer its light... however, it also could be convenient.

    That gave Kiran three different paths to enter the town without facing much resistance, once the enemy is inside the perimeter it becomes a lot harder to expel it and she didn't have enough soldiers to protect perfectly the three entrances. At least one of the sides would have fewer soldiers to deal with an army that had powerful heroes from other periods of the story... and Lucina, the strongest sword wielder she knew besides Chrom.

    Kiran could take advantage of this to do a surprise attack... and he didn't lack methods to accomplish that.
    He could try to deceive her by sending a few soldiers with many torches, making it look they were many, then, when all were paying attention to one entrance, he and the principal part of his army would be at the opposite side. Then the ones who were a bait would only need to escape... or perhaps... he could pretend they were a few by just giving torches to some soldiers, then attack another side with fewer soldiers but more torches... and once she was confused... the first attacked side would discover they weren't very alone.

    Ordering the Emblians to sleep could not work very well, allowing Kiran to create a surprise attack more easily, and trying to leave Ylisstol to face the Order Of Heroes once for all might be a trap, too.

    Somehow, this was like playing scissors, paper. and rock... and she needed to choose what to use.

    The problem was that apparently, her opponent had the ability to predict the future or somehow read her mind... how? how he could?

    The Emblian spies only said a pegasus knight had flown very up the last time... that didn't explain anything, the altitude and distance were too much to allow a pegasus knight to see the battlefield from the sky... even with a spyglass!

    He was a depredator patiently waiting outside the cave... and she was his prey.

    After thinking about it, she decided she would give her orders at the last minute... with that, even if he could read her mind... it would be late... right?

    Again, there was a headache... Robin left the war room, placing a hand on her head. She walked for a while until she reached a good place where to sit and admire the sunset, the altitude of the castle allowed to admire it very well.

    She was preparing herself... she still a good opportunity with her Levin sword... unless Kiran already had discovered a way to counter that... she growled in frustration, not noticing one of her friends walking towards her.

    "It's a bad time, uh?" the voice of that person was friendly... but with some sadness, too.

    Robin turned to see the ex-queen of Ylisse, Sumia.

    "I've failed you two times already... I cannot fail a third."

    "You know perfectly the first one wasn't your fault and that second one is not true, nobody could have predicted this." she gently placed her hand on Robin's shoulder.

    "But it's my duty to be prepared for something like this!"

    "We all thought you had already overcome this..."

    Robin shook her head and didn't say anything else. Just the mere fact she may have managed to "overcome" that before did not mean the pain could not return.

    "I just wanted you to know that nobody is gonna be mad at you in case..." Sumia sobbed, she closed her eyes and then tried to remain stoic. "This is not your fault."

    "Thanks, Sumia." Robin attempted to fake her best smile.
    The Emblians and the Ylissean heroes didn't have it easy at trying to do not to fall asleep.

    Everything was very dark.

    Robin was pretty sure Kiran was waiting for the perfect moment, she drank a lot of coffee to stay awake... but the others weren't exactly very well. Frederick, Cordelia, and Miriel didn't have a problem at all. Chrom, Sully, Stahl, Lissa, Maribelle, Sumia, and Vaike... on the other hand...

    Regarding how to deal with the special mages Kiran had on her side... the only possibility was to take them down with her Levin Sword.

    More hours passed... perhaps the sun was just about to appear once more.

    And then it finally happened.

    An incredible amount of fire was released and was perfectly visible on the east side of the Ylisstol... fortunately, that side wasn't the one lacking soldiers.

    All the local heroes and Emblian soldiers on that side prepared their weapons and hid inside the buildings as all them expected the green magic swords... but they never came, even when Robin and more heroes were present...

    Robin frowned... the distance from the south entrance didn't allow her to hear the screams of soldiers dying by the same green swords she thought she was about to see... until the war horn obligated her to pay attention to the south side of Ylisstol.
    Kiran ordered most of his soldiers to get inside the buildings, too. They had to destroy the doors, that scared many families, but it wasn't the moment to think about it.

    Roy, Florina, and Ephraim were behind him.

    Normally Florina would be flying but the dark of the night and the fact it was Lilina the one riding her pegasus didn't make that possible.

    It didn't take too long before the lightning appeared.
    The very moment Robin saw the green-haired mage she raised her sword, the power of thunder quickly fell from the sky.

    But...

    Her power didn't hit the target she wanted. She didn't know how, but the lightning suddenly changed its direction and hit... something.

    "W-What?!"

    Her three next attempts didn't make a difference, somehow... all her attacks were redirected!

    Robin then commanded to attack the mage girl and the soldiers protecting her.

    Suddenly more of that fire fell from the sky, erasing a large number of soldiers.

    Robin screamed as her left arm was now unusable as some of the fire got her, she growled and yelled. "Sumia, Cordelia!"

    "We're on it!" yelled the red-haired dark flier and the falcon knight. However, it didn't matter that Cordelia attempted to find the other dark flier using her own fire magic to try to see in the middle of the night, she was nowhere to be found, and that because Kiran ordered to Lilina to attack one and then escape every time. That explained why she had landed a few seconds after and she now was fighting on foot. The noise the battle created helped her, too.

    However, this time, Cordelia took advantage of that and now she released her arcfire, it wasn't as powerful as Lilina's Forblaze, but it certainly caused casualties and burnt members of the Askarian army.

    Unfortunately for a certain legendary "hero"... he was part of the ones with burns.

    Kiran placed his right hand on the right eye... he could open it and see, but the pain was insane... it was good this time Alfonse was there to pay back the favor of helping to stand up while Ephraim kept everybody away from the alien.
    "UUUUUUURGHH!..." he slowly removed the hand, he then drew his second sword, the Espada Maestra, preparing himself to fight with two weapons. "Genial... ahora soy Zuko, ¡principe de la Nación del Fuego!... ¡por honor! (Great... now I'm Zuko, prince of the Fire Nation!... for honor!)

    Ignoring the calling of Sharena who was protecting a healer that could help him, Kiran quickly demonstrated he had finally managed to hold the Espada Maestra almost as right as the silver sword of his right hand. A diagonal slash from right to left was blocked by the silver sword and then Kiran killed his attacker cutting through the forehead with the Espada Maestra. It was a shame he wasn't lord Ganondorf or it would have been much more satisfying for Kiran. The next one was a lancer, he didn't have any trouble at dodging by doing lateral jump and one sword pushed the spear away and the other cut the Emblian's neck. Alfonse and Ephraim didn't want to do not be able to keep up with him and worked together to advance.

    During the fight, as Kiran had requested, Lucina was following them, she might not want to fight her father... but that didn't mean he couldn't do something.

    In the air, Cordelia cast fire two times more, but unlike the queen of Lycia, she didn't try to hide herself, in matter of seconds, Shanna's spear pierced her. The blow was so direct and effective that the dark energy of the contract was released and Shanna just had to hold her to do not let her go down to collide with the floor. Sumia, on the other hand, didn't see coming to Florina, once more riding Huey.
    Once Lissa had cured her arm, Robin, Frederick and Chrom teamed up to fight, their advance could be described as almost unstoppable. Robin this time used her Levin sword as a normal sword but the mere contact with it electrocuted any who dared to attack her, Chrom and Frederick were pretty much beating everybody as they were already used to.
    It didn't take too much before they were face to face against certain three enemies.
    Kiran pointed his Espada Maestra towards them. "¡DEBO CAPTURAR AL AVATAR! (I MUST CAPTURE THE AVATAR!)"

    Of course, nobody actually understood what he said.

    Chrom took a step forward as he prepared his sword.

    "I have to admit, you have an excellent tactician on your side, that still does not mean you're gonna win!"

    Kiran smiled sarcastically. "Pff, simón (yeah). I mean, you're tired and running out of men." then he also took a step. "I'm sorry but what about if we skip the part where we talk and go directly to when we beat the shit of you?"

    "How dare to talk to the Exalt like that, you piece of scum?!" Frederick demanded.

    "Well, daring, duh!" then Kiran raised his middle finger and laughed.

    Of course, this made angrier to the knight. "Peace, Frederick."

    Kiran would have crossed his arms if he wasn't holding his swords. "Besides, calling me scum? I mean, could you please tell me something I don't know already?" then he gave a look that told how bored he was.

    That was even less expected than her first sentence.

    Robin growled and prepared her sword. "Is this young man insane?"

    Both Alfonse and Ephraim shrugged. The prince of Askr was the first one to respond. "You get used to it."

    "He's just messing around... I think so..." Ephraim shook his head.

    Kiran yawned.

    "We can't afford to lose..." said Robin.

    "You already lost."

    "Shut up!" yelled Chrom, he ran towards Kiran, only to be stopped by Ephraim.

    "I think we still have our pending combat."

    Frederick, of course, tried to help his lord, but Alfonse was there to do not allow that.
    Robin tried to run towards Chrom, but obviously, Kiran didn't make that possible, unlike colling his weapons towards hers, he directly ran until he held her, he tried to tackle her.

    "Sorry, my lady, but this is between you and me. Not that I wanna be rude but... you know."

    Robin punched him with her left hand. She attempted to cut him with her sword, Kiran just made a backward jump.
    "What's wrong with you, suddenly your personality seemed to change." Robin clenched her teeth.

    "It depends on certain factors. Right now, for example, I'm talking specifically to a lady so..." he bowed to her.

    Robin frowned. "How you managed to redirect my lightning?!"

    "Again, sorry, but I'm not telling until you're on my side or you stop being a pain in my head..."

    "Let's see if you can do it right now." Robin raised her magic sword. Kiran, not wanting to waste any time, jumped to avoid the impact.

    "Ay wey... (Holy crap...)"

    Robin smiled at this.
    Chrom had Siegmund cutting through his left arm, but he quickly reacted and tried to stab Ephraim on the face. However, that didn't work at all as the king of Renais inclined his body and then pushed Chrom against a wall.

    "It's a shame you're very weakened right now... perhaps we could have a better combat if you join us."

    "I'm sorry, that's not gonna happen... urgh." This time Chrom made his head collide against Ephraim's one. However, that wasn't the smartest decision, the lack of sleep mixed with that worked against Chrom.

    Ephraim shook his head and hit Chrom with the back part of his lance. Making the Exalt fell.

    "Are you sure? I mean, I just need to get this through your chest a few times and it's done... wait... that does not sound very well..." he frowned.

    Chrom didn't care. He used Falchion as a lame stick to try to get up.

    "I-I... cannot give up! I have two daughters to save... urgh... they are counting on me!" once Chrom was on his feet again, he ran. Ephraim placed Siegmund in a vertical position to block a slash from up to down when both weapons collided, Chrom slid Falchion, causing a wound on Ephraim's hand. Taking advantage of the tiny moment of unfocus of his foe, Chrom slashed many times Ephraim's chest until he managed to react and block again, but this time Ephraim didn't fall into the trap, he backed off while moving Siegmund to be horizontal from him towards Chrom instead of being horizontal from left to right, Chrom lost balance and began to be walking with a single paw. Instantly the lance threw Falchion away. Disarmed now, Chrom didn't have anything to stop Siegmund from stabbing through his chest... that didn't matter much anyway as he held the lance with the left hand, even if it was painful as hell, and punched with all his strength Ephraim on the nose. Taking once more the lance off, he threw it away, too.

    Both looked at each other with fury and pain... each one adopted a posture...

    Chrom attacked first, Ephraim raised his hand and caught Chrom's one with his left hand, he attacked with his right hand... and Chrom did the same thing Ephraim did... both pushed strongly. Ephraim released Chrom's left hand and jumped laterally, the inertia did its job and Chrom continued without being able to stop himself which generated an aperture that cost him a punch on his chin. Backing off once more, Ephraim connected his fist with Chrom's stomach and then his elbow with Chrom's back. Having Falchion as the nearest weapon, Ephraim tried to finish Chrom off with it... and tried because when he grabbed it, Ephraim felt a lot of pain.

    "That sword can only be wielded by someone with Naga's blood..." Chrom kicked, making Ephraim face the floor just like him once more. Chrom attempted to get his sword back, but even if it hurt a lot, Ephraim resisted, kicking Chrom and throwing it away once more. He kicked Chrom five times more and stood up, he quickly saw his Siegmund, ran, and grabbed it. Just when Chrom managed to stand up... once more Siegmund created a hole, this time it perforated the lung. Dark energy emanated from his body... and then he fell once more.

    "Sorry... uuuurgh... healer!"
    Kiran ran in circles around Robin as the storm of lightning didn't seem to stop, good thing she had to raise every time she wanted to release energy, otherwise he would be dead already. Perhaps Robin could have attacked better if she wasn't as sleepy as she was at that moment.

    He had also sheathed his swords to do not have the same accident Alfonse suffered.

    Strangely, she wasn't attacking anymore. He drew his Espada Maestra as soon as he noticed she was pulling a tome out from her pockets. Instead of attacking directly to her as someone would have done, with his slash, he destroyed the tome.

    "Hey!"

    "Again, sorry my lady." having her at his will, he slashed one, two, three, four, five times, on her hands and the stomach.
    However, when she tried to slash with her own sword once more, Kiran knelt, catching it with his both hands as the Espada Maestra ended up on the floor.

    "W-What?!"

    "I remembered rubber wasn't the only anti-electric material... urgh..." due to the power of the thunder, he still was feeling some electricity, and due to that, he kicked Robin, he didn't disarm her though.

    "Leather from cows also had that property... it's not as good but... urgh... it's enough." he played with his fingers, showing his leather gloves. He drew his silver sword and stabbed Robin. Then he pushed her with the same weapon, quickly grabbing the Espada Maestra with his right hand and he was about to attack her it was the moment when she decided to use the Levin sword again, Kiran this time grabbed the weapon with the left hand, the electricity hurt...

    "Come on! you've already lost!... urgh!" Kiran growled as his right eye blinked as a result of the pain.

    "I CAN'T! MY FRIENDS' BABIES WILL DIE IF I LOSE!" Robin attempted to execute more strength into her swords.

    "I'm afraid that's not my problem! it's a necessary sacrifice to save the multiverse from Veronica's hands!" Kiran growled even more, almost as if he was a beast.

    "How could you sacrifice a person to get the victory?!"

    "IT'S NOT THAT I WANT TO, BUT IT'S NECESSARY BECAUSE REALITY DOES NOT CARE ABOUT WHAT I PREFER!"

    "THAT'S NOT RIGHT!"

    "IF YOU'RE NOT WILLING TO MAKE A SACRIFICE WHEN IT'S NECESSARY YOU MUST NOT BE IN CHARGE!"
    This made Robin's eyes go wide... an opportunity that Kiran wasn't going to ignore. He left the Levin sword go and jumped laterally to the right and finished Robin off with his Espada Maestra by slashing her directly on her left hand
    When the dark energy left her blood... Robin coughed... and then screamed as Kiran ensured his silver weapon wasn't buried into her anymore.

    Robin fell... she had failed... she had failed! but her thoughts were interrupted when Kiran held her and made her look at his eyes.

    "I literally abandoned my family to help Askr! you have no right to tell me I cannot make people suffer for the greater good! because guess what?! one, five, even twenty persons aren't anything when weighed against thousands of millions! and if I don't free all of you from your slavery then you will continue being a potential danger that could ruin everything these people have been fighting for!"

    Robin didn't say anything... she just... couldn't...

    "Let's get you a fucking healer... damn." then he dragged her to get her away from the battlefield... the winner was decided already anyway.
    Holy shit... I think this is the most brutal chapter I've written... realistically the combats in the medieval age were more like this than the spectacle they try to show us. Even drawing a sword from the back is bullshit, unless it is shorter than your hand, it's not really possible. That's why everybody carried their weapons on the waist.

    Perhaps making Chrom and Ephraim fight using their fists is kinda anti-climatic, but I desired a lot to reference that comic of the first voting gauntlet where both of them punch each other... while Lucina is beating the shit out of Eirika with a stick. I just hope you liked the combat.

    Making logical that our scientist could beat the twin-tailed tactician at his point of the story was a hard obstacle. In the end, the only way it would be possible is if Robin wasn't at her 100 percent of strength and mental power. How to get that? by not letting her sleep well! and considering I wrote Ylisse and Askr have different "time zones"... it was just perfect!
     
  • Index
    • Chapter 29: As A Child
  • Index
    • As A Child
    ​
    "So, are we fine now? I mean... I didn't mean to be your enemy and I would prefer to be your friend." Kiran asked, he was sitting on a chair near Robin's bed in the infirmary tent. She had been sleeping for hours after the battle. Being he who caused all those injuries to her... he had apologized to her.

    "Y-Yes..." Robin still had that sad face.

    "Seriously? still with that thing?" Kiran narrowed.

    "I was thinking about what you said..."

    "And?" he raised his eyebrow.

    "It reminded me a lot to what I told to Chrom and the others when we had to choose between killing Grima or sealing him away..."

    "Ah, yeah, Lucina told me something about that. However, the Robin she knew was a male."

    "A.. a male?!" Robin was very shocked by this.

    "Infinity timelines, infinite possibilities, all of them are a different universe, that Lucina I summoned is from a universe where you are a male. And due to the law of infinite, there's a female me having this same conversation with a male you in other timelines."

    "So... our choices create all of them?"

    "Pfff, humans wanting to be special." Kiran shook his head and gave a more bored expression. "There's no real proof of that, the existence of infinite timelines does not mean we have real free will, that happens when you presuppose new timelines are generated when the "decision" happens... however, it may be possible that all timelines existed since the beginning of the time. Since all the possibilities must happen, there's an infinite number of us and each one would have their own destiny to fulfill."

    "But I don't want to be a pawn! I want to create my own path!"

    "That is like saying, I don't want to get hurt by falling from a very high altitude, therefore I can fucking fly... it won't work, reality does not care about what you prefer, lady."

    Robin looked at him, clearly sad and horrified.

    "I once read a book," spoke Kiran. "It was written by the smartest man in my world... well, the smartest one in the present, in the past there was a smarter one called Isaac Newton... anyway. It said that the knowledge we have got about the brain pretty much confirmed our actions weren't really "our owns". Generating certain electricity impulses on a person's brain you can make them desire to move a hand, speak or anything, and since electricity is a product of matter and the matter obeys the laws of the universe, it's pretty hard to imagine how the free-will would work when the brain, as I said, obeys the laws of nature, it seems like we are just artifacts that are self-aware but our free-will is just an illusion. Of course, the number of variables to consider to be able to predict all your moves is insanely large. Probably over ten trillion variables. It's thanks to that we can still continue our lives, free-will may be fake but at least it feels real enough to enjoy it... besides, what else would we do? go insane? it's pointless, we cannot fight against this." Then Kiran shrugged and began to drink coffee as if he knew nothing about what he had said.

    "T-This is crazy..." Robin placed both hands on her head as she felt the worst migraine of her life... well. It wasn't as bad as the ones Grima gave her time ago but... it still was very painful.

    "I know, right? but again, there's nothing we can do about it."

    Near that bed, another person also heard what Kiran had said.

    "How are you able to sleep with all that stuff in your brain."

    "Mmmh?" Kiran turned to see Alfonse.

    "It is hard to comprehend what kind of events could create your personality... not that I have anything against you but... it's beyond my mental power."

    "I can tell you about my past if you want to."

    In other side of the tent, Sharena, Ephraim and Nino asked if they could hear, too.

    "I would like to know, too." Robin said.

    "Um... well, why not. Just three things, I'm gonna narrate as if I was an omniscient narrator, first-person narration is not of my liking. Second, if you ask questions, please wait until I decide to take a break. And third... since what part you want to know?"

    "Since the beginning!" said Sharena.

    "Since the first thing I can remember?"

    "Yes." said Nino.

    "Okay..." he drank more coffee before to start. "Well, here I go."
    A certain little boy recently had obtained the skill to store memories in his brain. It perhaps was one of the most appreciated capacities by any life form intelligent and self-aware enough to be considered as a person. However, for such a young boy, those concepts were unknown.

    What interested him was the environment around him.

    He was... laying? he could see... a grey roof.

    His bed was... not actually a bed. It was two couches joined to do not let him fall and rest peacefully.

    On the wall of the room, there were... somethings the kid didn't know what they were. It would take much time until he realizes those were photos of himself and his four siblings, everybody when they were babies. There was also a clock and a mirror and a big real bed.

    Then he noticed what unconsciously due to his lack of real memories he wanted. It was a toy on a table near the mirror.
    He tried to stand up and get out from his "bed"... to fail epically because of the not flat surface he was on and his lacking experience at walking. This caused the boy to have his face on the cold and tough floor.

    As anybody would expect, his reaction to this was to cry.

    The logical thing would be that his mother entered the room to calm her little boy... right?

    Well, not exactly, he continued suffering for a while until finally a person actually decided to help him.

    It was a teenage girl, she took the little one in her arms, hugging him, comforting him. Fortunately, he stopped crying very quickly because she gave him what he wanted in the first place.

    "Tranquilo (Tranquil)." her voice was kind even though the voice itself wasn't very cute.

    He knew who she was... Mayra Enríquez... López, one of his three sisters.

    She placed him on the big bed and patted him. "¿Tienes hambre?. (Are you hungry?) Luis."

    Luis nodded, but if he was honest, he wasn't sure if he really was hungry or he just wanted cookies because they were delicious.

    Mayra hugged him once more before she left the room.

    Then Luis paid attention to the toy.

    And what in the hell was that thing anyway?

    It was what people knew as a train... or well, a steam locomotive, it was blue and had a number one on both the left and right sides of the toy. Strangely, it had a face, something real trains didn't have, but this was because this train was also a character.

    "Chu chu!" Luis played with the thing on the bed, making it move and even pretend it was a flying train sometimes, all that using his left hand.

    He then noticed he had at his reach an object that could turn on an artifact also present where he was. He didn't waste the time and in less than four seconds... he was seeing the intro of what could be described as a play of theatre. He smiled for the first time since he woke up and singed... and well, who wouldn't have singed considering the beautiful music.

    ¡Bing y Bong! ¡en el espacio está su hogar, del cosmos héroes son! ¡y cada día hay acción! (Bing and Bong! in the space their home is, of the cosmos heroes they are! and every day there is action!)

    ¡Bing y Bong! ¡Los llama un pequeño planeta, donde emoción tendrán! ¡ y en camino van! (Bing and Bong! a tiny planet is calling them, where they'll have fun! and they are on their way!)

    Something his sister forgot was to close the door. This allowed a certain creature to get inside and by its own will, it decided to get on the big bed.

    Luis wasn't scared though, he smiled even more after seeing that cute animal with black and white fur.

    The animal also wasn't afraid of him, it was the opposite. At the very moment both saw each other Luis extended his hand to caress its head and it began to make a sound that was so adorable that Luis replicated while hugging the animal, leaving his toy so he could carry that cute thing on his tiny legs.

    When his sister finally returned, she had something better than the cookies he expected, it was a piece of cake!
    It was sad to have to stop holding and caressing the cat to eat it but Luis did that and happily bite.

    "¿Cómo se dice? (What you must say?) Luisito."

    "Um... ¡gracias! (thanks!)"
    Going out wasn't something this 3 years old kid enjoyed a lot. The outer world was unknown and because of that, it was scary. However, being so young, he didn't have any authority to opine.

    He was inside a metal cart. the how it was able to move by itself without the help of an animal was a big mystery... and he wanted to know the answer.

    The most logical person to ask about was that old man wearing glasses and cowboy clothes, he also had a beard and a mustache. He was Mr. Enríquez Escobedo... Luis's father. Well, it wasn't like there were more persons in the car.

    "Papá, ¿cómo es que esta cosa... arranca? (Dad, how come this thing... runs?)"

    The old man smiled as he answered, he never took his eyes from the road though. "Ah, pues es muy fácil, ¿ves la llave que puse allí? eso enciende la batería que a su vez enciende el motor (It's easy, you see that key I put there? it turns on the battery which turns on the engine of the car)"

    This explanation didn't was satisfying though.

    "¿Pero qué hace el motor? (But what does the engine do?)"

    "Hace que un liquido llamado gasolina se combustione y con ello se pueda mover el auto. (It combustionates a liquid called gas and with that, the car can move)."

    "¿Combustiona? (Combustionates?)"

    "Se quema. (It burns)"

    "¿Un liquido se puede quemar? (A liquid can burn?)" Luis scratched his hair.

    "Quizá el agua no lo haga, pero otros liquidos sí lo hacen. (Maybe the water cannot, but other liquids can)."

    "Chido... (cool)... ¿pero porqué no vamos tan rápido cómo ellos? (But why we aren't as fast as they?)."

    "Mejor tarde que nunca (Better late than never)." the old man then extended his hand to pat his son.

    The boy would have asked more things since he still had many doubts generated by the same answers he got, principally... why going slower meant better late than never? however a sound he knew so well made him change his mind and pay more attention to something that for any kid was epic.

    A locomotive Ferromex and all its wagons crossing through the railroad near the highway.
    While Luis hadn't wanted to come to that enormous marketplace, he had learned he wouldn't want to complain about it in the future. His father bought a big bag filled with gummies for him. And while any child loved to eat stuff like that, Luis also wondered why they had that... beautiful taste... what caused it? how his tongue processed it? how they created these things?
    Normally kids would be afraid of going to the bathroom during the night... and Luis wasn't an exception. It didn't help that to go there he had to cross a backyard which the family conveniently used to dry the clothes after washing them, making him encounter many "ghosts" since he could remember.

    Seriously, his parents should have installed a light bulb a long time ago.

    But all that didn't matter this time as he needed to go in direction to the bathroom, near to it there were the stairs to get to the roof of the house.

    Technically he could have reached that place by climbing the big peach tree they had in another backyard... but he wasn't stupid to try that... it also was even scarier than the "ghosts"

    Once he was on the roof, he lied there, waiting for what they had announced in the news, a "stars rain".

    If Luis was honest, he wasn't sure about what the concept meant... according to his dad, the stars were giant suns very far from the planet... how they could fall like rain? wouldn't that be... something to be afraid of?

    It was being hard to keep himself awake... why this kinds of events only happened after the middle-night?

    And then he saw it... a light in the form of a white line... and then another! and another!

    Luis smiled, raising his hand, he knew he couldn't touch them... so this is what a stars rain was... many shooting stars.

    He began to count every single one he saw... that unfortunately worked for him as if he was counting sheep so he ended up sleeping there.
    When there were two brothers, one being 4 years old and the other being 17 years old usually would have meant the younger brother would have become into a "slave" of the older one. Luckily for Luis, his brother Miguel was more interested in his videogames. The Play Station 1 already had some years since its release.

    And for a curious young kid, seeing someone else playing was as entertaining as playing himself.

    Between the characters his brother controlled there were three, Cloud Strife, Tifa Lockheart, and Barret... he didn't understand very well the plot, especially since everything was written in English and he barely could speak his mother tongue. He had to ask about everything he thought it was interesting. At least for the Gamers, asking them about the videogame they were playing never really bothered them if that wasn't interrupting them.

    "¿Qué es esa cosa verde? (What is that green thing?)"

    The screen displayed the image of a sub traveling under the sea... and a strange green creature swimming around. Miguel apparently got scared as if he was the little child and quickly raised the sub to the surface.

    "Esa chingadera es Esmeralda, ¡si peleo con él ahorita me va a dar una putiza! (That shit is Emerald, if I fight it right now he's gonna beat the shit out of me!)." his brother scratched the back part of his head.

    Luis raised his eyebrow "¿Neta? ¿ya te chingó antes? (Really? has it already kicked your fucking ass before?)."

    His brother laughed. "No! pero un amigo me contó... y bueno porque no he pinches guardado en un buen rato. Se iba a ir a la chingada mi progreso. Es decir, Esmeralda es más cabrón que el jefe final. (No! but a friend told me about it... and it's really good because I haven't saved for a while. My progress would have gone to the fucking hell! I mean, Emerald is more bastard than the final boss)."

    Luis grimaced "Ah no mames... no entonces que bueno. (Don't be fucking kidding... then that is good)."

    "Pero ya pronto conseguiré el nivel y materia necesarios para romperle toda su puta madre (But I will soon get the level and materia necessary to make it cry like a bitch)." his brother make his hand to turn into a fist of determination.

    "Chido (cool)." Luis just nodded.
    It came that day when Luis had to enter the school... a kindergarten.

    If he was honest... the idea of being many hours locked with other kids was... weird. Having spent almost all his life inside the house, without neighbors that had a similar age to his... the concept seemed from a different planet.

    Even his siblings couldn't really spend time with him to play, as Mayra, Maricela, and Marisa were usually busy with their homework and all that stuff, Miguel only let him see but not actually play... and that only when he was enjoying his holidays.

    His parents used to be all day working and they only brought him to buy supplies for the Tortilleria when nobody would be there to give him food.

    He was just very used to do the things alone... so when the teacher asked him to work with a classmate... it was just... strange.

    Luis focused on drawing instead of speaking to other kids... especially since the "incident"

    That day when... well...

    "¿Porqué dibujas con la mano izquierda? (Why are you drawing with your left hand?)."

    Luis turned to see a kid in front of him. "Siempre he usado esta mano... (I've always used this hand...)"

    The other kid seemed to be alarmed. "¡Pero esa es la mano del diablo! (But that's the devil's hand!)"

    It was just very stupid how he got accused because of that... of course, in the end, nothing happened.

    He already had an idea of those beings called God and Satan also known as the Devil... and if he was honest, they were so boring... their existence seemed to ruin his Sundays every time. Unfortunately, if he didn't go to that cursed place called church his mom hit him with her shoes and punished him, not letting him play videogames...

    Now he hated them even more so.

    Once, when he was playing with his blue train in the distance. The other kids got on... some metal things that made them go up and then go down... and other things where they needed to use their hands to do not fall... he didn't want to go near.
    But of course, being a good kid only meant he had to suffer.

    "¡Oye! (Hey!)"

    Luis raised his head to see a... a kid that clearly didn't seem to be likable.

    "Lindo juguete, ¡¿es para niñas?! (cute toy, is it for girls?!)"

    "..."

    The next thing Luis knew was that he wasn't holding his precious train anymore, then he felt pain on his nose.
    However, this Luis wasn't like his older self who would have grabbed that fucking asshole and collide his head against a wall to cause him brain damage, perhaps killing him in the best scenario so he wouldn't be a pain in the ass. No... he was just his stupid 4 years old version.

    "Dámelo! (Give me back it!)" The only thing he did was to try to grab his toy... pathetic.

    Then his toy train broke when it crashed on the floor.

    And, again, being a pathetic, worthless to exist inferior version... instead of beating the shit out of that kid... he just cried... like a fag. Needless to say, the other kid was laughing at this.
    Months happened and that other kid only got "warnings", which pretty much meant he never stopped bullying Luis, thanks to this Luis learned teachers and authorities usually are useless pieces of shit... and needless to say Luis was already fed up with the situation. Fortunately, he wasn't going depressive, rather, he began to feel hate, something he really needed.

    The next time that fucking bastard approached...

    "Hey, niñit-aaaaaah! (Hey! little gir-)." The kid had to place his hand on his eye since a stone hit him.
    Luis quickly prepared another rock with his slingshot. And then he shot another, and another, and another... AND ANOTHER! AND ANOTHER!

    When the bastard that made his life impossible was gone, Luis smiled in relief.

    A fucking shit that now it was the moment the teacher decided to be "good at her job" and due that he wasn't able to go to the school for three days. At least when he came back nobody wanted to mess with him.
    "Your name is Luis?!" asked Alfonse.

    "Yeah." again, Kiran acted as if it didn't matter at all.

    "But we all thought your name was Kiran!" Nino yelled.

    "And it is, it's a self-given name." he closed his eyes and sighed.

    "B-But... why?" asked Ephraim.

    Kiran opened his eyes and gave a very stressed facial expression. "Because when you are born, they decide your nationality, your name, your family, your believes and then you spend your fucking entire life defending something you never chose just because "it is yours and you should be proud of it"..." Kiran said the last part trying to sound like a retarded. "I wanted a new start here, so I got a name that fits very well my purpose. Kiran means ray of light, and that's what I wanna be, a ray of light, the light of knowledge... and it also is similar to Kira. Kira is the name of a character that got the power of a god and killed an incredible amount of criminals on behalf of justice. I love justice, so... the name was perfect."

    "But you decided to keep the last names." Robin pointed out.

    "Yeah, they are cool, but if I had to have only one, I would keep Enríquez, I don't have very good memories of the López side of my family. It's a shame I wasn't able to dance over the tomb of my López grandfather. He's part of the reason why my mom was a terrible one during most part of my life."

    Nobody was really sure about what to say then.
    If any of you saw that Bing and Bong thing and you are wondering why the lyrics don't match the ones you remember... well, I'm using the ones of Spanish, since those would be the ones Kiran/Luis would have heard.
     
  • Index
    • Chapter 30: The Reason I Work So Hard
  • Index
    • The Reason I Work So Hard
    ​
    "What kind of world do you come from?" asked the Ylissean tactician. "I've never heard of such weird things you described."

    "It could be defined as the modern world. Basically, it has better technology. Even a poor piece of shit like me has access to an infinite amount of information through an artifact I can hold with a single hand, operate with the other hand and all that by using a service called the Internet... of course, the only reason I have one of them is because my brother got a job in the neighbor country of the north right now but, meh, details."

    Nino's face showed she had remembered something. "You mentioned it was some kind of... of..."

    "No physic dimension you could use to communicate with people from other countries." Sharena completed the sentence.
    "Yeah, well, that was an example to help you understand, the real way to use it, well, it's by an artifact that displays to you information."

    "So, everybody from your world speaks like... well, you know." Alfonse scratched his forehead.
    "Swearing almost every two words? the answer is yes, even my aunts do that." Kiran shrugged, again, not giving a shit about it.

    Robin gave a more worried face. "I don't think that's something you should consider... normal... even... the way you told the last part of your story... and your answer to Frederick... I think you need some help."

    "Je, that's what my mother said," Kiran stood up. "Then she sent me to a mental hospital but the doctors were my bitches and I managed to convince them I was perfectly fine... because I am!" he raised his hands in the air and look at the roof "There's no need to worry, my mental strength is enough to deal with anything..." then he looked at Robin again, but not moving his arms at all. "For real, I mean, I can control my dreams." Then he yawned again and sat on the chair once more. "Necesito más café (I need more coffee)." he drank more. "Okay... more questions?"

    "I have one." Ephraim raised his hand. "What is a... vi... vi... that word you said game."

    "Videogame. Honestly, it's hard to explain with words... mmh... mmmh..." the stress increased in Kiran's head. "mmmh!... fuck it! it's not gonna work, I need visual support... give me a moment!"

    Then he left the infirmary tent as quickly as he could in direction to his own personal tent, he saw on his desk what he wanted, he grabbed it, taking a chalk, too. Quickly he brought both things with him back to where the person who asked him awaited.

    "Sorry about that... unfortunately, my drawings suck. I mean, I draw decent blueprints since I studied technical drawing but ask me to make a face or a body and... well... you'll see."

    He sat once more, beginning to reproduce in the chalkboard the images of what he was the only visual witness in this world. He did his best, drawing a SNES and his favorite game of that console since those two would be "easy". Needless to say, those who were by his side, Robin and Ephraim, tried to sit on their beds to see him working.

    When the super expert artist whose skill would have made Miguel Angel feel jealous had done, he stood up and displayed his ultimate creation... a five years old kid's drawing with a stick kid!

    Even though nobody was going to say anything to him, Kiran responded to nobody. "Yeah yeah, it's as horrible as my face, but I've never been a good artist."

    He walked to all the beds of his friends.

    "So... all this game is inside that... box... paint... thing?" Nino asked.

    "Its name is TV, television. It's a box that displays images with movement and even sound."

    Sharena was particularly interested "And you... control that character... with that thing in the kid's hands?"

    "Basically. The objective of this game is to control Mario to reach the end of the stage. In the stages other beings are enemies, you can either kill them or jump over them and ignore them."

    "I'm trying to imagine it... and it seems fun!" said Nino.

    "Although this does not look... like the game you described before, the one your brother was playing," Ephraim commented, rubbing his chin.

    "It's because that is another game, this in the drawing is Mario Bros 3, the other one is Final Fantasy 7. In that game, you command three characters. Using a list of options like Attack, Magic, Items and Flee you must plan a strategy to beat the monsters in battles per turns."

    "And one of those monsters is called... Emerald?" Robin asked.

    "Yes, although I prefer to add some letters and a word and say Arma Esmeralda (Emerald Weapon), there's more Armas, like Arma Rubí, Arma Záfiro (Sapphire), Arma Jade, Arma Diamante (Diamond), Arma Artema (Ultima) and finally Arma Omega... the videogames are like playable theatre plays, in Final Fantasy 7 the Armas are powerful giant beasts created by the world to protect it from any threat. And that's because in Final Fantasy 7 the world, the planet itself is a living being... well, only six of the seven Armas are protectors, the last one, Omega, it's a last resort, it only appears when the planet is in dire danger of being destroyed. Omega collects all the lifestream and leaves the planet as a desert husk, it goes in direction to the stars to find another planet where to begin from zero."

    "Wow!" Nino exclaimed. "But... your brother mentioned something about... fighting against Esmeralda... why would you fight the Armas if they are guardians of the planet? aren't they... good monsters?"

    "Technically, yes. The problem is that the government Shinra has been extracting the lifestream, the essence of the planet, to transform it into electrical energy in order to become richer... the problem is... that's killing the planet... which is even more concerning when the story explains the lifestream contains the knowledge of all the living beings that have existed... their memories, dreams and all that stuff so..."

    "They were harvesting souls..." concluded Alfonse.

    "Pretty much. Now that's why you have to fight the Armas, not because you're the bad guys, actually, it's the opposite since the mission of our protagonists is to destroy Shinra," Kiran grimaced. "but the Armas cannot differentiate between good and bad humans so... yes."

    "Wait..." Nino began to analyze. "If life force is real here... could it be that the world is a living thing here, too?"

    "I've considered that possibility, too... but if that's possible... I'm very worried... to think something like the Materia Negra (Black Materia) could exist... I mean... if a spell like Meteor can be done here... it's..." Kiran placed his hands on his hair and negated with his head.

    Again, this was one of the few times everybody of the order had seen Kiran showing perfect signs of... fear.
    "What's Meteor?" Robin asked.

    "... Try to imagine... a shooting star... but... em... it has a big size... like, bigger than the moon and that's saying a lot considering we see it tiny because it's big but very away... Meteor is described as the Ultimate Destructive Magic... while normal spells are cast to face an opponent... Meteor summons a celestial body to harm the planet itself! it's a spell that literally causes the apocalypse a month after you cast it..."

    Nobody said anything for at least five seconds.

    "I gotta admit the plot of that story is very interesting..." Ephraim nodded slowly.

    "Good thing it's a story... a spell as powerful as Meteor cannot be real." claimed Robin.

    Kiran remained silent... which, for those who know him... it wasn't a good signal.

    "Gods..." exclaimed Alfonse. "Please do tell me Robin's right..."

    "Well... just like fire not necessarily needs a spell to exist... the shooting stars that Meteor summons already exist... governments from my world spend tons of money to have the necessary instruments to detect those giant space rocks and determine if any of them is in course of impact... and since we have discovered the existence of a giant crater... in my country actually, known as the Chicxulub crater... a hole in the Earth that can only be created by that kind of rocks... well, it's needless to say we know that kind of event has already happened at least once... 65 millions of years ago... approximately."

    Again... silence... but for much time...

    Kiran turned to see the entrance of the tent, crossing his arms and narrowing.

    "I guess that's a good motive to spend almost all the days working and training without rest... right?... the people of my world actually have something that might destroy one of those rocks in case we confirm the end of the world is near... you all? there's no hope for you... in the best case, the asteroid would destroy your world instantly... in the worst, it wouldn't be big enough for that, but due to its size, an insane amount of dust would be sent to the sky... blocking the sun's light for years..." Kiran sighed. "Quick question, what happens to the plants when they don't obtain light?"

    "T-T-They... die..." said Sharena.

    "And what happens to the animals that eat plants if that happens?"

    "They die." said Alfonse, unlike the others, he now seemed less scared and more... determined?

    "And finally, that kills the rest of the animals... without animals or plants we won't be able to hunt or harvest and because of that, the survivors of the initial impact are going to be ironically the most unfortunate ones..." Kiran turned to see the heroes again, his face displayed a lack of hope, as if his mind was already broken... he also spoke with a very low tone... like if he was whispering. "Because they are condemned to live without anything to eat... and probably nothing to drink, waiting for the unavoidable end..."

    That was the destiny the dinosaurs suffered... and who knows what kind of Meteor was out there in this solar system... awaiting...

    Kiran didn't expect anybody to answer after that... he saw Nino holding a pillow... Sharena and Robin clearly horrified. Ephraim seemed to be reflecting on what he heard.

    "So that's why... you might be the only difference between the extinction... or the salvation of all of us..." Alfonse concluded.

    "Pretty much... not that I want to sound arrogant," Kiran responded, returning to be simply serious and nothing more... but that didn't last as he let out a hysterical laugh "And wanna know something funny? even if a Meteor never falls again, there's a certain event that's gonna destroy the world anyway. I'm not saying this because it's too powerful to stop it, I'm saying this because, unlike any other possible end of the world, this one is awaiting with a probability of 100 percent at the end of the corridor with a black tunic and a scythe on its shoulder... and it is..."

    However, before he could end his sentence, the voice of a woman interrupted him.

    "Excuse me."

    Kiran got surprised to see a red-haired woman, she wore mage clothes and glasses.

    "Is there something I could help you, my lady?"

    She walked to inside and then she spoke. "I've been informed by the oldest descendant of the captain about the existence of a genius whose mind might contain the deepest secrets of everything that exists around of us." she had a stoic expression... and if Kiran was honest, he liked it.

    He scratched his hair and responded. "Uh, it must be me. But I think she has exaggerated my intelligence. I know a lot, for real, but I cannot compare myself to the real genius of my world." Kiran extended his hand. "I'm Kiran, nice to meet you."

    The woman, instead of shaking her hand with Kiran's one, adjusted her glasses. "If the information is reliable, the subject presents signs of underestimation of his cognitive abilities. Such a condition is usually suffered by those who seek exaggeratedly the social quality defined as humility."

    Kiran laughed. "I know it as the Dunning-Kruger effect. Without the self-awareness of metacognition, people cannot objetically evaluate their competence or incompetence."

    She nodded. "A more technical definition would be this. The miscalibration of the incompetent stems from an error about the self, whereas the miscalibration of the competent stems from an error about the others."

    Kiran played with his index finger as he smiled. "I ensure you, if you could meet Stephen Hawking or Carl Sagan, you'd agree with me when I say they are ten times smarter than me. Anyway. I guess you desire to see my work and explore the knowledge I brought from the physical plane of the existence I came from."

    "The answer to the assumption is affirmative."

    "Very well..." Kiran, once more, turned to see the other people inside the room. "Not that I wanna stop having a talking with you, but... I hope you comprehend this thing is more important... I will tell you more about my life later, see ya."

    Alfonse shrugged. "Have fun... I guess."

    If Alfonse was honest, he already had expected something like this. Miriel was the only hero that perhaps rivaled with Kiran at being intelligent.

    Sharena and Nino stood up in order to hug each other as they were still very scared. Ephraim was as serious as Alfonse.
    Robin... on the other hand... had certain thoughts crossing her mind.

    Following Veronica's orders by her desire of protecting the loved ones of only her friends... might have killed the only man able to prepare the future generations to save the world... or worlds... considering the existence of all those worlds the Emblians claimed to have conquested...
    all that motivated by... a selfish feeling...

    Selfishness... the same thing her friends applied on her to convince her to do not kill Grima when she had the opportunity...
    ...
    ...
    ...
    Usually, people forget that having a world that stays always as a medieval one is not exactly a good idea. I suppose I don't need to explain why... right?

    Miriel was one of the characters I've been waiting so much to introduce to the story. I think she's the only scientist I've ever seen in Fire Emblem (wrong, I later remembered Lute). I tried my best to represent her rightly since she in the game speaks with very technical vocabulary.
     
  • Index
    • Chapter 31: As A Child Part 2
  • Index
    • Just a little detail before start reading. Have in mind that in Latin America when people say the date they are at, they begin by saying the number of the day and then the month... that's it.​
    ​
    As A Child Part 2
    ​

    Kiran placed the chalkboard on a stand. Normally he would have begun by writing any kind of math formula but since it was Lucina who told Miriel about him, he had a theory he needed to confirm.

    "By the way, is it you the woman who was looking for the answer about why the objects fall the way they do?"

    "By the moment it has only been confirmed that any object falls at the same speed independently of their mass. Pages and other flat things seemed to be an exception, however, when they are put over a more solid one like a book the speed of fall is increased and it's again as fast as any other. The best explanation is the air has an effect on them that alters their advance."

    "It's known as the air resistance actually." Kiran walked and pulled out from a drawer eight of his instruments and a prism.

    "The possibility of generating the opposite effect crossed my mind. The experimentation didn't take too much time to be started. By the moment, a box filled with weapons has landed safely even though it was thrown from the tallest part of the castle."

    "Parachutes, excellent!" Kiran nodded with a smile. "I suggest you design one with a rectangular form and with a very thick fabric. 30 meters would allow you to land people and objects that weigh tons easily."

    Miriel didn't answer, she just wrote down what Kiran told her.

    He placed the prism on the entrance over a different stand, this, as expected, generated a rainbow.

    "I guess you already knew this."

    "It was in my mother's book."

    "Well, right now I'm gonna place all of these... right here." Kiran placed seven of its instruments under the light of all the colors were falling to, the left one was placed by the side of the instrument that was getting the red light.
    "These are called thermometers, they are designed to measure the temperature, we're leaving them here for a while, you'll see why later... now... mmmh... oh! right!"

    Kiran looked through other drawers that he had been working at almost since the day he arrived at Askr until he found it, he opened it and passed to Miriel a page he had previously torn off.

    "This is a book I've been writing. In case I died I didn't want my knowledge to be lost forever... however I started it before I noticed we understand each other due to a translator integrated into our mind so I will have to translate it but anyway, just take a look at the math formulas on the page and pay attention."

    Miriel nodded.

    "Okay, so let's begin with Kepler laws since they are the previous path to the Newton laws."
    Needless to say, Miriel was speechless... this young man knew more than her and, unlike she, he hadn't need to discover them, they were common things to be taught where he came from.

    That telescope was wonderful, she had already guessed the moon had to be some kind of world but actually seeing it and its craters was incredible... she couldn't wait to the night to be able to see those stars... even more when Kiran explained to her how to determine how far they were by using a math method called parallax... even if it took at least six months to get both necessary measures to determine the value.

    When she wondered herself why the sun and the moon didn't fall just like all the other things, she never expected the answer to be that the moon was actually falling but moving fast enough to do not actually fall and that it was the world the one "falling" towards the sun... it explained why it never changed its size as she had determined years ago... even though the perspective laws determined the sun's size had to decrease if it was hiding itself in the horizon and increase the more "near" it was to the "center" of the sky.

    "Would you mind checking the thermometers? they should be ready now." Kiran asked, analyzing a new blood sample he got from Miriel.

    "Right"

    The scientist woman discovered that the blue light thermometers displayed a temperature of 24.3 celsius, the red one 23.4 Celcius... the other colors also displayed different temperatures... but interestingly, the one left by the red one's side, which wasn't being "hit" by any color... displayed 25.9 celsius.

    "If you're seeing what I'm pretty sure it is happening, you can compare it with this control thermometer, it shows to us the real temperature of the room." Kiran handed it over, not turning around to see Miriel as he was still focused on the blood.
    Miriel was pretty sure that, somehow, the eighth thermometer was feeling more heat than the others.

    "Why-"

    "You just discovered infrared light, there's also ultraviolet light, X-rays, and more... our eyes can't see all the types of light that exist."

    Miriel smiled like a child.
    As the Order Of Heroes was beginning their travel back to the world of Zenith, they had bought many supplies since Kiran and Anna didn't want to waste time taking the long way once more in case that Veronica had updated the peanut she had as a brain and was attacking Evelyn soon. Kiran would have used his bike but his biological clock said he needed to get some rest inside his personal carriage. Just like any time they freed a world, he could actually sleep without worrying too much about what could happen at least in five days.

    He opened the door... only to find he wasn't going to be alone.

    Robin and Sharena gasped, putting the book they had been holding back on its usual place on the tiny table in the middle of the carriage. Alfonse rubbed his forehead while Ephraim closed his eyes. Nino and Anna were there, too.

    "I-I-I-I'm sorry! it's just that... the design... gave us curiosity..." Sharena looked down while playing with her index fingers.

    "I mean... it's hard to find a book with this kind of cover... being owned by a man..." Robin scratched her nape.

    "I told them it wasn't a good idea to touch it." Alfonse commented.

    "Even more... considering that it's my diary." Kiran narrowed,

    Sharena and Robin felt more guilty after this. But just when one of them was about to say something, Kiran laughed. "It's okay, I mean, it's totally written in Spanish, it's not like any of you could ever read it."

    "So you didn't even bother to hide it," Nino commented.

    "But you gotta admit that with that kind of cover your diary is gonna call attention." Ephraim said.

    "I think the very fact of a man having one of these is weird." Kiran sat in the middle of Alfonse and Ephraim, then he took the book.

    The cover and back cover had the same design. Black background with seven multi-colored hearts. Red, sky-blue, blue, green, yellow, orange and purple. The red one was in the center, is surrounded by the others as if they were orbiting around it, it was actually a little bigger than the others. Under each heart, there was a word written in the same color as its respective one.

    Perseverancia, Valor, Justicia, Amabilidad, Integridad, Paciencia y Determinación. (Perseverance, bravery, justice, kindness, integrity, patience, and determination)

    "This is from a game called Undertale, each heart is supposed to be a human soul."

    Kiran opened the diary, taking a moment to see the date the first page displayed: 24/09/2017. He then turned the pages until he found a clean one, took a quill, and wrote: 10/03/2018. He was still using the old calendar system since he didn't want to forget how much time he had been away from his original universe.

    "Could you please tell us about that game?!" Nino asked excitedly.

    "The thing is... I was able to play Undertale only when I was sixteen years old. Before that, the game didn't exist in the first place. I guess you want me to continue since we left it so... you see the problem... by the way... why is Anna here?"

    "Sharena told me about this, naturally I was interested... also a biography of you would value much once all this is over."
    That explained why she had pages and why she was prepared with a quill and ink.

    "I should have known... but well, I think leaving a good historical record about me is a good idea." Kiran shrugged. "Okay... what was I saying?... ah, right, now I remember."
    The kindergarten for Luis continued... normally... after the incident with the slingshot, Luis kept himself away from other children... which he enjoyed. Nothing really important happened in his life until a certain day when he discovered a new liking.

    The teacher had given to him and another fifteen kids toy swords and toy bows.

    Apparently, she was choosing the kids that could act better to perform roles in a theatre play Luis's class was going to present. The story of a prince and his two best knights going to war.

    Luis analyzed both objects. In theory, he must hold that thing called arrow along the bow and its rope to shoot with this thing. He was already familiarized with this kind of "weapon"... the sword, on the other hand...

    Even though he had seen sword fights before on TV and his brother's videogames... Luis wasn't used to a sword.
    Instead of attacking from a secure distance, he had to get near to his opponent and use the sword's blade to hit.
    He played a little, slashing and thrusting without a real patron...

    "¿Prácticamos? (Shall we train?)"

    Luis turned to see another boy... being him the only one that... perhaps... had shown a smile to Luis instead of being indifferent or wanting to bully him.

    "Sí... (Yes)" Without wasting time, both began to attack each other... it was good their swords were made of plastic... it would have been more painful if they were of wood.

    Luis got to admit that... this was much... more dynamic, fast, entertaining!

    Luis kinda had an advantage due to being left-handed.

    Luis hit him on the head, he hit Luis on the leg. Luis hit the left hand, he hit Luis on the stomach. Both continued like that for at least two minutes, just like all the other kids with toy weapons.

    In the end, the teacher discarded the bows since nobody wanted to use them.

    By the time the play was presented... the other kid was the prince and Luis his right-hand knight.

    That kid became Luis's first best friend. His name?... Martin.
    The holidays were appreciated by the Enríquez López family.

    The most loved one was Christmas, and it wasn't a surprise as many other families around the planet felt like that.
    However, Luis couldn't enjoy it the same way the other children... and that's due a little factor.

    The date was December 31, 2006.

    The family was together in the kitchen, waiting, just a minute more and it would be a New Year.

    "¡DIEZ! ¡NUEVE! ¡OCHO! ¡SIETE! ¡SEIS! ¡CINCO! ¡CUATRO! ¡TRES! ¡DOS! UNO!... ¡FÉLIZ AÑO NUEVO 2007! (TEN! NINE! EIGHT! SEVEN! SIX! FIVE! FOUR! THREE! TWO! ONE!... HAPPY NEW YEAR 2007!)"

    Luis smiled and shrugged as his mother and sisters brought a cake, a candle shaped like a number seven decoring the top. It was over a big white ball that was being surrounded by many other balls, each one had a different size and color. White, yellow, blue, red, brown, a middle point between white and brown, sky-blue and finally, ocean blue.

    The biggest ball represented the Sun, the others were its planets...

    It was a Solar System cake after all.

    Then his family began to sing the Mexican version of Happy Birthday to you... as usual, Luis never was exactly sure about what to do during that... just like any other person on the planet.

    Presents for him finally appeared... being his birthday and Christmas very near in the year and due to the poverty of the family... they had to mix that holiday with the already mixed with the New Year... Luis's birthday.

    He had been born the same day the new millennium had begun, just a few seconds after 2000 had started.

    He got the same things he expected, not that he didn't like them.

    A new toy train.

    A collection of Power Rangers SPD action figures... and nothing less... or that's what he thought.

    His brother, Miguel Enríquez López, gave him a third box. Weird, he usually only got two presents.

    When he opened it... he found a cap, a green cap with an L letter on the forehead part.

    "¿Te gusta? (Do you like it?)" asked Miguel. Now Luis noticed... his brother was wearing a cap... a red cap with an M symbol.

    A red and green caps with an M and L symbol each one... just like the Mario Brothers. It made sense considering Miguel was a name starting with M and Luis a name starting with L.

    Luis nodded, then his brother used his fist to rub Luis's hair. "Ahora eres el pequeño Luigi! (Now you're the tiny Luigi!)"
    He didn't dislike the nickname... good thing considering Luis was going to be called like that by his siblings and even parents for the rest of his life in that universe.

    "De hecho... decidimons ahorrar y conseguirle un cuarto. (Actually... we saved up money and bought him a fourth one)." said Maricela Enríquez López. She was younger than Mayra, the other sister who saved up was Marisa, older than Mayra but younger than Miguel.

    Luis got... a book. Normally he would have preferred a new toy but... the title made him reconsider.

    Aprenda Inglés Fácilmente Sin Maestro 17a. edición (Learn English Easily Without Teacher 17th edition.)

    "Para que ya no necesites que Micky te traduzca dialogos. (To allow you to understand without Micky translating for you)."

    Micky was Miguel's nickname.
    Luis was now going to the second level of education, the primary school... it was very weird for him to think the second level would have that name, but well, who cares?

    The very first day he found a titanic problem...

    He sat down on the desk chair... and gave an anxious expression as he noticed... all of them had the desk section at the right-hand side... because our little 7 years old boy was left-handed... what was he going to do to write or even draw appropriately?

    He could not.

    His new teacher at least had allowed him to sit near the teacher desk in the frontal part of the class... but it was a low probability that the administration of the school would bother to get a left-handed version of a desk chair for a single child... or at least that's what she had said to him.

    He usually didn't have this kind of problem but... when he returned home and sat down again to do his homework... he held the pencil with the right hand and began to practice.

    In a way, it was like the natural law about evolution.

    Get adapted or perish.

    As a little boy, he didn't realize this was something very common for left-handed people.

    He also threw rocks to practice his aiming. Slash with the toy Thunder Cats sword he got when he was 5 years old.
    Seven months after that, the teacher walked by Luis's side and noticed him writing decently and fast enough with the right hand... at least what a 7 years old boy like him would know of Spanish. She smiled and continued walking through the room.

    Unlike the previous school, this one was just a big rectangle... there were no swings or anything. In a way, this looked more like a prison... which made Luis even less interested in going out from the classroom during lunchtime.

    If he wasn't a middle-low class boy, perhaps he would be playing Megaman Zero in a GameBoyAdvance... but no, he had to wait until he was home and play it in an emulator.
    Being the youngest sibling had its advantages.

    Luis had the habit of searching for interesting things when he didn't have homework and the PC was being used so he couldn't play videogames.

    Especially in those old boxes and drawers throughout the house.

    Old notebooks, toys, and old videogame magazines were easy to find.

    However, a certain day he found what perhaps would be the most important things in the future.

    That time he was opening his dad's boxes. At first, he didn't see anything interesting aside from some car magazines and tools... until he found that specific and special box, the seventh one.

    It contained more magazines... however, they looked very different compared to the others.

    The title looked kinda... pretentious.

    Muy Interesante. (Very Interesting).

    However, the images and their descriptions made Luis really consider to read them.

    ¡Volvemos al Espacio! (We're going back to outer space!) 1998 abre una nueva era de exploración espacial y busqueda extraterrestre. (1998 opens a new era for space exploration and extraterrestal-life search)
    ¡Naturaleza! Los árboles más altos del mundo (Nature! the tallest trees of the world)
    ¿Por qué no podemos vivir sin mentir? (Why we can't live without lying?)
    El amor en rayos-X (The love seen through X-rays).
    ¡El futuro digital ya está aquí! (The digital future is already here!)

    At least five hours after his discovery, he had already read half of the magazines inside the box... he extended his hand to take another one... however... this last one was very heavy...

    Luis stood up and walked to see what his hands were unable to pull out easily... this last one wasn't a magazine, it was a book... a very big one, at least 1000 pages.

    The cover had been destroyed, but the title was there to be seen on the first page.

    Enciclopedia Temática Estudiantil (Student Thematic Encyclopedia)

    Looking through the pages, Luis was surprised... at least 160 pages per subject... math, physics, chemic, ecology, geology, biology, anatomy, botany, grammatic, zoology... this Enciclopedia thing contained information about almost everything! it was one of those magazines but multiplied by 1000.

    He didn't bother to return the book back to the box, he carried it with him even if it was very heavy since he was still 8 years old.

    How much time did he need to read it completely?

    At least seven months because he got interrupted a lot by homework and another of his duties.

    He never suspected he would be trying to replicate that book years after that.
    Kiran had just finished adding to his diary the events of that day as he asked. "Any questions?"

    All of them raised their hands, being Sharena the first one to be able to ask. "When is gonna be your birthday again?"

    "Well, in my calendar we are at march so at least eight months and some days more." Kiran answered, once more, as if it didn't matter at all.

    "Wait... in your world, the year has twelve months... and you've been here at least five months..." Sharena started to seem... angry.

    "It was the previous day to that meeting of all the armies and nobles of Askr" Kiran shrugged and yawned.

    "And you didn't tell us?!" Nino also seemed offended.

    "... Is something the matter?" Kiran raised his eyebrow.

    "IS SOMETHING THE MATTER?! YOU SPENT YOUR BIRTHDAY WITHOUT GETTING A HUG OR A PRESENT!" Sharena yelled as if the world was about to end.

    Everybody backed off a little.

    "Sharena loves birthday parties... you never must make her angry regarding something like this..." Alfonse said, trying to get away from Kiran.

    However, Kiran was stupid enough to make another stupid nihilistic question. "So?... I mean, it's not like I care about that anymore."

    Anna, who had stopped writing at this point, held Sharena, keeping her away from Kiran.
    "IT'S NOT ACCEPTABLE! YOU'RE HAVING THE BEST PARTY OF YOUR LIFE ONCE WE'RE BACK HOME, YOU HEAR ME?!"

    "I agree with her!" said Nino.

    Ephraim approached slowly to Kiran. "You should listen to her..."

    Kiran growled. "Fine..."
    Kiran you fucking idiot XD.
    I didn't want to bore you with all the scientific stuff Kiran explained to Miriel, I mean, some of them weren't going to be relevant to the plot and only would affect the world in the chapter of 500 years into the future so...

    The experiment of the thermometers is the same one William Herchel used to discover the infrared light (although in his case it was an accident, he was only measuring the temperature of the colors and the eighth one was supposed to measure the environment temperature). He also discovered Uranus (the planet...).
     
  • Index
    • Chapter 32: For The Future
  • Index
    • For The Future
    ​
    "Any more questions?" Kiran had his eyes narrowed as he clearly was very stressed, he had to continue answering though.

    Ephraim raised his hand. "I would like to know why you mentioned your friend Martin a single time... I mean... you said he was your first best friend."

    Kiran yawned and blinked.

    "You must take into consideration that I'm telling you what I can remember and in a very summarized form since my memories aren't perfect. For example, I cannot remember if the kid who despised me for being left-handed was the same one that broke my train. After kindergarten, I never saw Martin anymore, I barely can remember how he looked like. But it's okay, I mean, every time you make a new friend you must understand almost all the friendships aren't forever, always certain factors make your ways diverge. Therefore, one must be mentally prepared when the farewell finally happens."

    It was obvious it was an indirect lesson for the prince of Askr. Even though he got angrier, he didn't say anything back... he just crossed his arms and closed his eyes.

    The next one to ask was Nino.

    "Everybody in your world knows how to read and write?" she had... a worried expression.

    "Almost, speaking the truth, nowadays in 2018 if you aren't able to write, read and speak in at least Spanish and English you're pretty much doomed. It's a necessary basic knowledge to get a good job."

    "Oh..." she lowed her hand slowly. "... At least Lugh is teaching me..." she let out a little laugh. "A mother should teach her son to read... not the other way around..."

    Kiran extended his hand with his index finger shaking. "Don't feel bad about it, I mean, it's cute." he smiled... at least she stopped being sad.

    Then it was Anna's turn.

    "What is Christmas?"

    "Oh! you're gonna love this. Summarized... it's a consumerist holiday when everybody buys presents for each other in an empty attempt to demonstrate the humanity does not want to destroy itself. Like a birthday for everybody on the planet. Trees are decored with multi-colored lights and a star is put on the top. Very cute and all that but to me, it is now very meh."

    Anna was, of course, interested... so was Sharena.

    "A birthday for everybody... can we celebrate that here?!"

    Alfonse scratched his head's back part as he opened his eyes again. "Eh... well... why not?"

    Kiran narrowed and yawned once more. "Just don't invite me. I suck at giving presents, besides I'm a busy man and I don't want to be bothered, please."

    Sharena's face displayed fury... Nino sighed, so did Anna. Ephraim shrugged.

    "You never change... do you?" asked Anna.

    "No, I don't!" Kiran's voice tone was kinda cruel.

    "I think almost nothing of what you've told us by now explains why you are like... that... besides the Muy... Intere... sante thing." Robin commented.

    "We're not yet in the most important parts of my life, the problem is Sharena wanted to hear since the very beginning so... you see."

    "Understood..."

    Alfonse still had something crossing his mind that didn't let him in peace...

    "Could you please end your sentence?"

    Kiran raised his eyebrow and turned to see Alfonse... it was becoming hard to stay with the eyes opened... "Eh?... what the fuck do you mean?"

    "You were saying something before Miriel interrupted you."

    "Aaaah! that thing... okay... urgh..." Kiran inhaled deeply, after exhaling slowly... he responded with an emotionless version of his voice. "The sun..."

    Nobody understood just as expected.

    "The... sun?"

    "Today we know that even the stars aren't eternal... they are birth in the vacuum of the outer space in places where an incredible amount of matter is present. There are stars of many sizes and colors... the "tiny" red ones are the most common ones, they are smaller than a sun like mine and yours... yet, if compared to the earth, they are giant... others make the sun seem like a bacteria... they become bigger the more time they have existed until, just like any other thing in the universe... they die." Kiran raised his index finger and his head fell slightly. "Even manaketes live very little seen from the perspective of a child star... as some of you perhaps remember, the sun from my universe is 4.6 billion years old... it still should last like 7 billion years more but... I'm afraid we have less than such an incredible amount of time..." He sighed and raised his head... to let everybody see his pale and filled with the fear face.

    "It will come the day when the sun will transform into a giant red, making the possibility of the life on earth non-viable... the oceans will dry, the raining is gonna be an event relegated to the past... it'll destroy all the marine and terrestrial life... all the plants and the animals... all the building and mountains will be burning structures... the atmosphere will lose all those marvelous properties that allow it to generate and sustain life... and then... our worlds will transform into a copy of Venus... to make it clear... the highest temperature in a desert is 70°C... in Venus the normal day is around 480 and 500°C..."

    Kiran smiled with his eyes narrowed... he enjoyed so much seeing these faces filled with the horror... it made him feel so much pleasure... he waited a few seconds and the proceeded.

    "Therefore... if humanity, in that already coming future, hasn't created the technology to sail efficiently through the stars... it will be extinguished in a very cruel way... as a punishment for wasting such a large and important amount of time... time they should have invested at progressing... and not fighting... humans must understand that the Earth is not their home, it's just a cradle with an expiration date... their home... is up there... in the stars... "

    Kiran remained silent... Ephraim was the first one to speak.

    "Kiran... even though the world of Zenith is blessed to have you... my world is not... If I return home with empty hands I won't be able to start developing everything so that... destiny... won't happen to us... because of that... on behalf of all in Magvel... I beg you to share your knowledge with us!"

    "Speaking the truth, I thought about that since the very day I started to replicate inventions. That's why I'm writing a book to store all the information of my brain in case I die... I need help to translate it to all your languages though. In the best scenario, I'm giving to all of you a copy... or copies... in case I need to write more than one book."

    "I thank you so much."

    "It's just my job as a scientist... or cheap copy of one better said."

    For some reason... Nino was sad.

    "Well, not that I'm an asshole and I want you to leave but... I'm sleepy..."

    "M-M-May I stay a little more... em... I... I need to talk with you about something..." said Robin.

    "M-M-Me too!" said Nino.

    "... Okay... the rest... please..."

    Once the others were gone and in the carriage were only three persons, Nino was the first one Kiran allowed to say something.

    "I-I... I... must I really return to my world?..."

    Kiran was actually very surprised to hear something like this.

    "You don't want to?"

    Nino sighed in sadness. "It's just that... Lugh and Raigh told me that... the reason my other self abandoned them was that... assassins were going after me... for betraying the Black Fang..."

    Kiran grimaced"Oh... I get it... so, are you sure you want to stay?"

    "I have no place to go... however... I must deliver the book... right?... if else..." sorrow began to take over her.

    "If some bastards pieces of crap are chasing you then It's better I don't send you back, they would take possession of my book and they won't exactly use it with the best intentions... I prefer to do not take the risk... that world still can get technology by other methods... we have like 5 billion years left... please, stay." Kiran smiled kindly.

    "I see..."

    "You can come with me to make me company, I mean, I was thinking to leave the castle and build my own house after the war is ended. I would be very alone... but with you..."

    Nino let out a single tear as she smiled. "T-T-Thanks Mr. Kiran..."

    The summoner of Askr stood up, approached Nino, and hugged her, she happily hugged Kiran back. He enjoyed caressing her hair.

    After a while, Nino left the carriage, too. Then Kiran sat by Robin's side.

    "And... what do you need?"

    The Ylissean tactician sighed.

    "I... I... em... I wanted to... t... thank you... for opening my eyes..."

    "... Explain."

    "Remember what you said to me... one... two... five... even twenty persons aren't anything when weighed to thousands or millions?... I... I said something similar to Chrom and everybody else when they begged me do not to destroy Grima because that would kill me... too... unlike you... I didn't stay loyal to my belief... and now Grima is still alive..."

    "... YOU DIDN'T KILL IT?!" Kiran yelled in rage.

    Robin didn't try to look at him. "No... I let my feeling got the best of me... I have no excuse... but at least now you made me understand I did something wrong... I didn't want to hurt my friends... but you're right... sometimes it's necessary for the better... and then I almost killed you... the hope of worlds... their ray of light... I... I..." Robin finally broke as she began crying.

    Kiran... couldn't stand it... women crying... he just...

    "(UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUURGH!)"

    He hugged her... letting her release the pain generated by the feeling of guilt for at least five minutes... he also caressed her hair.

    "You know... normally I would be mad at you... I would have punched you more even... but since you actually regret it... urgh... I'm not that cold... I'm giving you a solution."

    "S-S-Solution...?"

    "Let's say that my grandfather once taught me how to create something called dynamite... it can turn a castle into debris in a matter of seconds... Grima is right now sleeping... right? that was the purpose of the seal."

    "Y-yes..."

    "Well, we just need to blow him up with that and he'll be gone for good."

    "... Naga's power couldn't kill it... why would this be able to?"

    "Because we're gonna place them inside it, it's not like it's gonna stop us."

    "I... I guess we could at least try..."

    "Not that I wanna sound arrogant, but it's good for you that you have me." Kiran laughed.

    "Em... do you do this to all the women you meet?... I mean... for a moment I thought you and Nino... em..."

    Kiran grimaced. "Maybe if I was thirteen or fourteen years old I would have asked her to go on a date with me... but now I'm an adult and I've learned love usually is an obstacle for a scientist so... meh."

    "..."
    When Robin also left, Kiran growled as he felt his head would explode... he just let himself fall on the ground and closed his eyes.

    When he "woke up" and was able to manipulate "reality" once more, Kiran sat in the vacuum of the outer space. Today his clothes fit very much the background. They were his tactician clothes but instead of white, they contained blue stars, making him look like a cosmic god.

    However... he didn't know what to do... dressing like Sportacus and running around wasn't fun anymore... he decided he should check more memories in case they asked him more about his past. He extended his hand and with a finger touched a star, which immediately opened... the very day he began reading a book of one of his heroes... the science heroes...
    However... something interrupted him... he felt a hand touching his forehead... Kiran opened his mouth and eyes as a light covered him... when he was barely being able to see again, he heard something...

    "Greetings, child of the stars."

    It was a... feminine voice... a very beautiful one... the problem was he had never heard it... and his mind shouldn't be able to create something if he didn't order it.

    He turned to see a woman... she seemed to be 30 years old at least. Her hair was long enough to reach her hip. It was green, just like her eyes. She wore a golden tiara and a dress that was... very... it showed a lot...

    Kiran noticed her ears were like Corrin's ones. A strange blue aura was around her.

    Kiran used his "fist" to hit his "head"

    That woman giggled.

    "There's nothing wrong with your head, child of the stars, I'm actually here."

    Then she screamed as Kiran snapped. There were chains holding her... she couldn't move her legs or arms. Seconds after that... a weird... green triangular sword was near to her neck... it seemed to be formed by pure energy... there was also something aiming to her forehead.

    "This universe never stops surprising me..." Kiran had a killer tone voice. "I would have never guessed there was the magic that allowed people to get inside other people's minds..."

    She got scared when two green monsters with giant fangs on the bottom part appeared behind Kiran.

    "They like to suck their victims' life force until they become dust... so... now tell me..." The space-blue clothes became dark... even Kiran's eyes looked more like a black hole instead of a nebula.

    "Who are you? how do you get to enter here and what do you want to do in my fucking head?!"

    The woman calmed herself, she mustn't allow the situation to scare her.

    "I come in peace, child of the stars. You may know me as Naga."
    Chan chan chan!

    It's good to know I'm passing all my exams... not exactly with the best score but... you know.
    Seriously, no matter how many times they save the world from somebody like Walhart or an evil dragon... if they never progress the sun is gonna make them perish.

    Kiran is pretty much invincible in his dream world so not even Naga could face him. Those creatures were metroids and the gun and sword were the Z-saber and the Z-buster. The versions from Megaman Zero. (I mean, it's a dream world, it's the perfect scenario to make references and you know it). Why does she call him the child of the stars? she usually calls the other characters the children of the men... the thing is... Kiran is technically not human for them (yeah, she knows what he is... just wait a little more and you'll understand).

    Let's be honest, Christmas or anything similar is an Earthling holiday... they wouldn't have something like that. If we think about it, the world-building for Askr just sucks, we don't know anything about that place... I could try to invent something but... I'm not exactly good at that.
     
  • Index
    • Chapter 33: The Atheist And The "Goddess"
  • Index
    • The Atheist And The "Goddess"
    ​
    This woman's claiming was ridiculous to many levels... what in the hell the "goddess" of the Ylisseans would be doing inside his mind?!

    "Eh... are you putas (fucking) kidding me?" Kiran narrowed even more and shook his head slowly.

    "Naga" also shook her head and smiled gently. "No, I'm not. I'm pretty sure the future Exalt must have told you about me."

    "You might have discovered that by checking my memories... that's no proof at all that you are the "Naga" Lucina mentioned."

    Naga considered that for a moment. "I guess everything I mention and you know may be obtained through that method... what about I tell you something you don't know but the future Exalt does know?"

    "Mmmh..." Kiran relaxed a little. "okay, go ahead."

    "I have a daughter, her name is Tiki." Naga said that with a very big smile.

    Kiran raised a little his eyebrow, while he wanted to confirm the information, he was more interested in the name.
    "Does she have a ladybug costume or something?"

    Naga seemed genuinely confused. "Eh... no. Why the question?"

    The Z-Saber and the Z-Buster disappeared. Kiran inclined a little his head, closed his eyes, and shook his hand. "Due to nothing, due to nothing... em..." Kiran crossed his arms. "If you actually have a daughter, you must be able to create a copy of her... right? I mean, you are pretty much self-aware here just like me, therefore you must have some power... not as big as mine but..." He then extended his arms and opened his hands.

    Naga didn't respond, instead, she closed her eyes. After three seconds, a feminine figure materialized into the existence.
    That woman was a little smaller than Naga, but she shared her hair color and having a tiara. She wore a red dress, had dragon-elf form ears and... big... breasts...

    This "Tiki" indeed looked like a daughter of this woman... however, certain detail was bothering Kiran.

    He scratched his hair and forehead "You know, you could have been more original with her design..." he snapped once more. The two green membrane monsters disappeared and in front of "Tiki" another woman materialized.

    Naga's eyes went wide... both her daughter and this woman were... very identical.

    "W-Who is she?"

    Kiran looked at her with a little contempt. "Don't play the dumb, you must have seen her inside my head by now. It's Terra, one of the protagonists of Final Fantasy 6."

    "Final... Fantasy? I don't know what that is."

    "Suuuuure! and Mario wasn't part of my childhood..." Kiran growled and snapped once more. Both Tiki and Terra vanished. Then, behind Kiran... an enormous version of the green monsters of before suddenly appeared...however... it made... what seemed to be happy noises that... despite its horrible appearance... they made him look cute... "Don't force me to use the super metroid on you and now tell me who you actually are."

    "I am Naga." This time, she seemed upset about the situation... it didn't help the chains weren't exactly comfortable.
    Kiran rolled his eyes, then the "super metroid" approached a little, but instead of attacking Naga, it only made more happy noises as Kiran caressed its membrane. Then he created weird yellow... gelatinous organisms that were trapped inside crystals, then he threw them away, the super metroid didn't waste time and flew after them... it began to eat.

    Kiran smiled at this before turning back to Naga. "Okay, so let's pretend you're Naga for a moment... what do you wish from me?"

    "Since you have freed Ylisse from the invaders of another world, it is fair and necessary to give you a reward." The woman seemed serious about that.

    "Em... I suppose... yeah, I deserve something... but... you didn't have to give me... that..." Kiran covered his eyes with his left hand and with his right hand pointed to Naga's... "I mean, no mames (don't be fucking kidding)"

    It took a few seconds to the goddess to comprehend what this human-like life form was implying.

    "T-T-That's not what I'm here for..." Naga looked away, annoyed but with a notable blush present on her face.

    "Then why would you dress like that?..." Kiran growled. "Al carajo con esto (to hell with this)." A new snap generated a dress for Naga. It was white and hid more skin.

    "I hope you like Hylia's clothes..." He then let his left hand fall. He maintained his eyes borrowed though.

    Naga noticed that even though this dress did indeed cover more of her skin, had this been a place filled with light the white nature of the thing would reveal some stuff anyway. "I gotta admit this is marvelous," said Naga. "Thanks."

    "You're welcome?... so how are you going to "reward" me then?" Kiran rubbed his forehead.

    "I was thinking in strengthing your sword." she commented, crossing her fingers.

    Kiran remained silent... suddenly the Master Sword appeared, Kiran held it. "You mean the Espada Maestra?"

    "Yes... em... could I?..." she would have extended her hands to reach it if she could.

    Another snap erased the chains holding Naga. Kiran handed over the Espada Maestra. However, once the "goddess" had it, an invisible barrier generated between them.

    "It's not a bad sword." Naga nodded slowly. "However, being this a little heavier than the average one... wouldn't it be good to add an especial attribute?" she commented as she looked at the blade.

    "Well, in the story it could throw bolts of lightning." He made a quick demonstration materializing a second Master Sword and raising it before unleashing the skyward strike.

    Naga nodded slightly. "I can't exactly replicate that, but I don't think it'd be difficult for me to add the power of a Levin sword... there are some issues though."

    "You can't or you can? make up your mind." Kiran sighed.

    "You see, due to your special nature as a soulless being my magic judgment cannot work on you the same way it worked on the Exalt. That and the fact you also seem to behave... different from normal heroes." This time Naga seemed to looking at him with some distrust.

    Kiran once again closed his eyes and shrugged. "I am not a hero... that's for sure... anyway, then what's the point of coming here in the first place?"

    "Well, I cannot use my judgment... but I can test you. You'd have to bring your sword to my temple. The test is gonna be different due to your soulless and lacking of divine blood condition, but if you pass, I will bless your... Espada Maestra." Naga gave him a smile.

    Kiran sighed.

    "The thing is... unless your temple is on the way back to the gate which we came from... I don't have time for that..." he shook his head. "Couldn't you just give me something more simple?"

    Naga rubbed her chin. "What do you wish then, child of the stars?"

    Kiran's left hand abruptly began to shine. He then put on display his hand's back part. The light was golden or yellow and it had the form of three triangles.

    "A mark?..." Naga noticed it also was in the sword. "You must like that symbol a lot... don't you?"

    "Even if it does not shine in the real world I don't care... I mean, you gave a mark to the Ylissean royal family so I guess this isn't hard." Kiran commented as he looked at the mark on his hand before it disappeared.

    "Are you sure?" while Naga was kinda happy to know this human-like being was humble... that wasn't a very good reward for what he had done. "Take into consideration that this mark won't give you divine blood."

    "As I said before, I don't care." he sighed.

    "I see... if you change your mind in the future I will be in my temple that is over the Mont Prism." she attempted to place a hand on his shoulder only to find the presence of the invisible wall.

    "I suppose for a manakete it does not matter a lot if I go right now or in 50 years..." he left his arm down and the shining stopped. "By the way... why do you call me child of the stars?... It's technically true since the atoms that form my body were generated in the cores of stars that died a long time ago, however... this applies to any life form..."

    Naga smiled. "That is true, but you're the only one on this planet that was born in a world that is beyond any sun we are able to see from here." she pointed out, putting her index finger on display.

    Kiran's mouth opened a little. "Do... you know about that?... oh wait... probably you learned thanks to my memories."
    Naga giggled. "Living millennia may result to be extremely boring without a pastime. One of mine is to discover things about our world."

    "... do you know how to create a nuclear explosion?" if she really was that old and was a scientist... she should know about that.

    "We both know we would need to break an atom. That's not a good idea... and even if it was due to the circumstances, that power is beyond my normal reach."

    "So when you sent Lucina back in time you calculated where the galaxy, the sun, and the planet would be in that very moment in the past... didn't you?"

    "I'm not my future self but it's for sure I did. Hadn't I done that, she would have ended up dying in the outer space." Naga seemed to imagine the situation as she narrowed her eyes.

    Kiran noticed how math formulas appeared behind Naga... he knew some of them.

    "You have had this knowledge for so much time... and yet you never gave it to the humans that worship you so much." he crossed his arms.

    "If I give them all this they wouldn't learn to progress by themselves, they would become even more dependent on me of what they already are. Given your "human" condition, it's not very probable they would create a religion with you as their god."

    Kiran raised his eyebrow "Mmmh... well, at least you actually told me the reason why you don't help them... a lot... unlike certain "god" back home that people even aren't sure if it actually exists..." Kiran rubbed his face and growled. "Not that I totally agree with you... but dammit, it's something!"

    "I'm not either omnipresent and omniscient to fix everything... unlike humans like to believe."

    "I see..."

    "Anyway... I desire luck for you in your battles, child of the stars." Naga closed her eyes and raised her hand as it began to shine with a green light.

    Kiran began to felt... weird... before he decided to attack... he woke up.

    Confused, he felt something burning a little on his left hand. The dark of the night wasn't a problem to see what was happening.

    Three triangles had been formed on his hand.

    While the original hero had only a single triangle being totally golden... he had the three. Of course, they didn't have the power of the real triforce, but again, he didn't care.

    After a while, they stopped shining. Were they golden because they were being created and then they just became into the mark?... or perhaps they would begin to shine once more if he did something?

    Kiran smiled like a child... this felt so good.
    It was obvious the heroes of The World Of Awakening hadn't wanted to stay home. All of them wanted justice for what happened to their babies... or even if one of them didn't have a baby, the shepherds were like a family and weren't going to abandon their "siblings"

    This, as anybody could have expected, didn't please Veronica.

    She took the dolls and crushed them without hesitating... the remaining ones... some of those crying bastards had been a headache for her and some maids... it didn't matter while she made the Awakening heroes believe they were still alive... not to mention the few adult versions she also killed.

    Xander tried to give her a massage but it wasn't working.

    Seein her leader dark mage entering her tent and kneeling at least allowed her to feel interested regarding something else.

    "What do you want? better for you to be important..."

    "Your highness, I've completed what you asked for."

    Veronica narrowed as three heroes also entered the tent.

    The first one was a red-haired knight, wielder of a very big sword. His armor was sky blue... just like a cap he also wore.
    The second one had a more dark blue armor, it was decorated with many golden lines. His hair was also blue and wielded an enormous ax.

    Finally, the last one was a woman, green-haired just like her clothes, they were more light and she had two katana-like swords.

    The three shared a detail... their faces were emotionless... around their eyes, their skin was... darker.

    "Now they will follow any order if you're holding this amulet." The dark mage said. Veronica extended her arm. Once she had it around her neck she wasn't sure about what to say.

    "Put your weapons down."

    The three heroes did that in less than two seconds.

    "...Take them and then leave."

    Again, they knelt, grabbed the weapons and each one went outside. They never made any noise of confirmation or disagreement... they just did what she asked for.

    Veronica stood up and left, too. The dark mage and Xander followed her.

    "Fight each other."

    Immediately the woman jumped fastly and attempted to stab the armored man on the head, he stopped her with his ax. The knight attempted to swing and make a cut on the woman's arm but she used her second sword to block it.
    Then they began to hurt each other, they didn't seem to get bothered at all by the wounds... even when they were many.

    "Stop." Veronica didn't need to lose more heroes.

    She smiled...
    I had a lot of fun writing this one.

    Perhaps Naga seems a little out of character because she's showing more emotions instead of being the stoic woman we usually see... but that's in part because she's interacting with one of the few life forms that does not treat her as a goddess. He's also the first one ever questioning her, she's happy about that.
    Why is she rewarding Kiran and not anybody else?... well, the order of heroes had already attempted to free this world before, however, they failed. It was Kiran's tactics and knowledge about electricity that allowed them to win.

    She being a scientist too is something I've done to fix a detail regarding time travel stories... they almost never are aware that every second, the Galaxy, the Sun, and the Earth are traveling through the Cosmos. Even going a single second to the past would materialize you in the middle of nowhere... this was another reason why Kiran thinks all this might be a dream or a matrix... or at least that Lucina wasn't being honest about her backstory. In his logic, had she actually traveled back in time... she could not be standing in front of him. So this also changes something: She didn't arrive alone. If Naga is precise enough to calculate the position of that many space bodies... why some of the future children would end up in different places of the continent or even on different continents?

    Of course, this also means she needed to have a reason that explained why she hasn't given her knowledge before... and in a way, she's already like that in her canon version. It wasn't that hard. Think about her like a Kaioshin that sometimes actually decides to help when it's absolutely necessary.
    All the test thing was a detail to make sure that the idea wouldn't sound like an asspull if I ever do that part.

    The triforce mark is just that, a mark, as Naga says it does not give any power to Kiran. It's an adorn he wanted and that's it.
    And Veronica is back... the next world to free... the World Of Blazing!
     
  • Index
    • Chapter 34: Race Against The Clock
  • Index
    • Race Against The Clock
    ​
    Kiran regretted sleeping instantly after Robin left.

    He hadn't taken off his contact lenses... and now his eyes hurt.

    He gave them a final look as now they were dirt enough to do not be usable anymore. Without the appropriate cleaner, he couldn't continue having blue eyes... it was depressing, but he quickly smiled a little, taking off his glove.

    The triforce mark at his left hand was so beautiful... he hoped the triangles would shine again, but whether this was possible or it wasn't depended on Naga's power and what the reality determined.

    Kiran ensured the Espada Maestra was resting by his hip, then he opened the door of his carriage. He had been sleeping a lot considering the carriage was moving again.

    "Thanks, Agnes."

    "Any time, sir." the soldier stopped the carriage. Normally he would have gone to the back part to take his bike and begin pedaling, the fact he had lent it to Nino changed that. He just walked away to continue marching on his own.

    He noticed Nino was having fun with the bike. Kiran ran faster to catch her up. This was good for his health, too. In a way, he was surprised he had stopped being kinda fat to be just as thin as his former friend David... he still wasn't as muscular or tall as him though.

    "Good morning, Nino." Kiran smiled.

    Nino gasped a little, then she smiled back at him. "Good morning, Kiran." she stopped pedaling and get off from the bike, she was now just walking and so was Kiran. He began to caress her hair. "Did you sleep well?"

    Nino giggled. "I think I should be... eh?!" Nino narrowed a little, approaching her face to Kiran's. "Eh... y-your eyes... what happened to them?!"

    Kiran smiled, he was feeling a deja vu "Well, they actually are like this, brown. They only looked blue because I had cosmetic lenses that made them look like that."

    "Cosmetic lenses?... that were... glued to your eyes?..."

    "Something like that, however, they... expired." He shrugged. "They were the only things... besides the keys of my house, that I brought from my world."

    "Wow." Nino blinked faster for some seconds. "Amazing." then she inclined her head and showed sadness once more. "Kiran... now that I'm staying with you... does that mean we're... siblings?"

    "I guess we are." Kiran yawned in boredom.

    "Okay... just... just..." She stopped, letting the bike lean on her, she hugged Kiran tightly. Kiran raised his eyebrow. Nino didn't say anything for two seconds. When he heard her voice... it was as if she was at a funeral or something. "Just... don't die... please... I... I don't want to lose anybody else..."

    Kiran hugged her back and continued caressing her hair... he even kissed her on the head. "Since I have all this knowledge here in my mind and I haven't backed it up completely in the books I cannot even consider to die by the moment, so don't worry, your new brother is not leaving you."

    "P-Promise it..."

    If Kiran was honest, he considered the promises were nothing but empty words... but if that made her feel better... "I promise it."

    She finally let him go. At least this time she wasn't crying... "Thanks, brother."

    Kiran felt something wasn't right... "Um, would you mind calling me onii-chan?" he smiled like a stupid.

    "Um, I don't mind... but, why?"

    "It's the Japanese word for brother, it sounds better in my opinion." He couldn't deny he wanted to hear it. Nino was already too cute...

    Nino scratched her hair, but then she lowered her hand and smiled. "It's okay, onii-chan."

    "..."

    Nino panicked when Kiran suddenly knelt and placed a hand on his chest, making pain noises. "What's wrong?!... Onii-chan?!"

    Kiran raised his other hand. "It's nothing! it's nothing... urgh... I just... I'm having a heart attack or something like that."

    "EH?!" Nino yelled. "HEALER! HEALER!"

    Kiran stood up slowly. "No no no! it's okay it's okay... I feel fine now... I was just exaggerating." His face displayed a stupid smile he probably would be keeping at least five hours... he wasn't sure if this was better than having obtained the "Triforce"

    "A-A-Are you sure?!" Probably he shouldn't have scared her that way seconds after saying he promised her he wasn't going to die... he called himself imbécil (fool) in his mind and then spoke.

    "Y-Y-Yes... em... I changed my mind, better call me hermano." he caressed her hair again.

    "H-Hermano?" She was very very confused.

    "Yeah, it's better that way due to the fact I have a diabetic grandmother... I'll call you hermana. Those are the words for brother and sister in my mother tongue."

    "Hermano and hermana... sounds good... but are you sure you are okay?" the concern those eyes displayed was going to kill him...

    "Yes, yes, sorry for that..." He hugged her and kissed her on the forehead once more. "Tell me, do you like cats?"

    Nino took a moment to answer. Probably she was still confused about what just happened. However, she finally raised her eyes to meet his "I gotta admit they are cute."

    "Well, you're getting one once we live together in our own house." he needed even more cuteness in his life, a cat would just make it perfect.

    Nino smiled again.

    All this cuteness remembered to Kiran something... technically, Nino would also have a hermana... yes, her hermana was back home at Askr.
    Evelyn was... very worried.

    During the whole time the order of heroes had been absent... they hadn't sent a message to explain their situation... it shouldn't have been hard since this gate wasn't very far from the Ylissean capital... and while she prepared herself in case the Emblians appeared from it... nothing had happened.

    Were they succeeding? had they been defeated? she couldn't know...

    At least she and her soldiers enjoyed some time to take more rests, spending a week without advancing and killing felt good.

    Evelyn drank some lemon tea as she wrote a letter to report to the castle.

    Destiny was a bastard though, soon there was going to be something that needed more attention.

    One of her soldiers entered her tent, he entered running and without asking, something not normal for entering the tent of a lady.

    "Lady Evelyn!"

    The woman raised her sight from the letter and looked at him.

    "This better be important."

    "The Emblian army... is approaching..."

    Evelyn crossed her arms. "From where?"

    "The south! our pegasus explorer saw them at the other side of the mountains."

    Evelyn sighed in relief... "At least that gives hope the order of heroes may still be alive... spread the word, prepare yourselves for the combat. I'm going out in a second!"

    "Yes, lady Evelyn!"

    The tactician left the quill on the table, grabbed a map, stood up and walked towards where her sword and fire tome were. She breathed deeply, exhaled and went out.

    It was battle time.

    As she walked around, she analyzed her situation.

    If the Emblians wanted to reconquest the portal the soon as possible, they would take the passage through the mountains, which was very narrow. It was the only one, that meant she didn't need to separate her forces into two or more squads... however... this also implied all the heroes the Emblians brought with them would be in the frontal lines... if dealing with a single one was hard... worst part, she didn't know who were the heroes this time, apparently now the Emblian generals made sure they were hooded with black coats.

    Her forces didn't have many experienced archers to create a perfect arrow rain...
    Would it be better to retreat and await from a secure distance the arrival of the order of heroes and then crush the enemy army by attacking from two fronts?

    She wasn't sure how to make the idea practical... even worse, while the heroes were hidden, the army banner of these Emblian was not. They belonged to the imperial guard of the princess Veronica!

    Why had she come there instead of being either in her castle or in the frontal lines against the grandmaster Frank?!

    The possibility suddenly crossed her mind. The commander Anna had reported that the first time the order had attempted to free the world of Awakening they almost got trapped there when the gate started to close. It's true the prince Alfonse could have opened a new one... even if that happened... but they had lost one of their members, the prince's best friend... however, the prince mentioned he barely opened the gate once more to the same version of that world of Awakening due to the short time it had been closed, needless to say, many questioned why to do that only to save a single man.

    The important detail here was the prince himself said he couldn't open the same gate if it had been closed for much time... if she allowed Veronica to close it...

    She couldn't ask for reinforcements... there was no other faction of the Askarian army near her position...
    She would have to resist... she must resist...
    The Askarian soldiers prepared their shields as arrows were the drops of the new raining.
    The Emblian soldiers advanced slowly but carefully.

    When Evelyn's mages cast their fire magic, Veronica released the power of Élivágar. Green poison spheres generated and fell towards the Askarian. Evelyn ordered to get away from them. The soldiers obeyed, while she reduced the casualties, the Emblians had advanced more, those who been left behind, still screaming in pain due to the poison, got their lives taken when swords, spears, and axes cut through their bodies.

    The red knight ran placed his sword in a vertical position, protecting his blue armored friend so no arrow could hurt him. Once they reached the Askarian spearmen, they attempted a thrust. The red knight destroyed a few spears with Durandal. Armads then destroyed the shields, amputating some hands in the process. Then the green nomad woman used her both katanas to quickly assassinate the first defense line with the help of the red knight and the black knight Xander.

    Evelyn grimaced. "WHATEVER IT TAKES, TAKE THOSE FOUR DOWN!"

    Forty soldiers attacked them when they approached once more.

    The armored didn't react when at least two of those swordmen hit him with two armorslayers. He just turned back and beheaded them. One Askarian soldier was about to do the same to him but Xander blocked it.

    Suddenly, they noticed an arcfire spell in direction towards them. While Xander could avoid it... the armored one was so heavy that got very burned... but that didn't seem to matter to him as he continued killing soldiers.

    "W-W-What's going on here?!" Evelyn gulped. Why this man hadn't screamed at all?!

    On the other hand, the red knight and the green woman had their own problems.

    While they managed to take down all their attackers, they also got a cut on the left hand, a lunge on the stomach and some other wounds on the face.

    The green woman had just finished off another soldier when she got pierced on the back. The red knight attempted to hurt with a slash from up to down to the attacker of his friend, but a lancer blocked the attack.

    "I'm counting on you!" yelled Evelyn as she jumped backward when the green swordman made two slashes. She counterattacked by doing a vertical slash from down to up. This slash collided with both katanas, forcing the swordwoman to raise her hands, creating the opening Evelyn needed. She used her left hand to cast fire on the left hand of her opponent. Again, Evelyn was surprised to see that the woman was yelling in pain. Evelyn blocked a diagonal slash, then she had to dodge a horizontal one... a vertical one, another horizontal one, another diagonal one and so on for at least three minutes. She wasn't making any progress. This woman was incredibly fast! Then her spearman saved her from an attack coming from Xander.

    "T-Thanks!"

    Noticing more of her soldiers were dying and she would be surrounded, Evelyn ordered to back off more...

    "G-G-Go!" yelled that spearman.

    Evelyn gulped, casting another arcfire. This obligated to both Xander, the green sworwoman and the red knight to back off. However, her spearman refused to escape. Instead, he and some soldiers more approached and implored to Evelyn to run.

    "G-G-GO! YOU ARE PERHAPS OUR LAST HOPE!"

    Evelyn had to close her eyes as she turned around and ran. While those soldiers managed to keep in check to the four at least a minute, Veronica noticed this.

    They became into poisoned corpses.

    The Askarian army was now just a few meters away from the gate and nothing was going well. Evelyn cast arcfires to her left, to her right, in front of her. The other mages did so. But the amount of Emblian soldiers was insane! The remaining foot soldiers had to deal with at least two Emblians and a minor hero from other world, each one.

    And finally... after probably healing them... the three heroes from before a Xander.

    While her training to become a tactician said a good one must remain calm no matter what... Evelyn was breathing faster than normal "L-L-Light, g-g-give me s-s-strength..."

    Just when she and Xander began to cross their blades and Veronica was being escorted to the Gate...

    "FOR ASKR, FOR THE QUEEN!"

    She and Xander stopped trying to push the other's blade... to observe that from the Gate, the Order Of Heroes... had returned!

    The prince Alfonse stood in front of the portal as many heroes and soldiers keep coming from behind him.
    Xander had to run away when, suddenly, lightnings fell from the sky and many of them almost hit him... A levin sword, here?!

    "Is that?!..." Evelyn's mouth was very opened... she was seeing... Robin the grandmaster of Ylisse!

    She noticed a certain white tactician running in direction towards her.

    "Kiran! your timing couldn't have been better!" Evelyn's smile could not be bigger.

    "I don't think so, had I came here a few hours ago you wouldn't have suffered so many casualties... let's not celebrate yet, this battle is far from over!" Kiran drew his Espada Maestra and silver sword. "How is the situation?!"

    "Y-You are right!" She pointed with her sword to the red knight, the green swordwoman and the blue armored man. "They are the most dangerous one, and take care, Veronica is here! her tome is horribly dangerous!"

    "Is that so?" Kiran's face suddenly displayed a smile and his eyes narrowed. "Well, I really want to give her a hug... let's do this thing!"

    Evelyn continued casting fire from a secure distance. She smiled at seeing that not only lightnings were falling, now there was also an even more powerful fire spell and green swords, too! Kiran, on the other hand, was fighting by Alfonse and Ephraim's side.

    Ephraim was kinda disappointed, this swordman, even when having a bigger sword than Chrom's one, wasn't as challenging as him. He quickly pierced him one, two, three, four times!

    Alfonse had improved his speed. Hector might be the second strongest male hero, but his slowness would be his downfall!
    Kiran and that woman began their sword dance. his eyes went wide as he recognized these two katanas... Roy had the same ones!

    Slashes and more slashes between these two, Kiran had no other option than using the Espada Maestra to constantly block attacks and push the katanas since his opponent was fast and only his right hand would work in this case to attack fast.

    A lightning impacted on her. Kiran jumped backward. As she tried to stand up... she began to be surrounded by shadow magic... and then she disappeared... turning around... not only her, Veronica, Xander... most of the soldiers around her were gone...

    As the two armies fought the remaining Emblians, Kiran could not help but hit the ground with his fist.
    That bitch had escaped once more...
    Remember when I said our OC would do something important? well, thank to Evelyn our heroes remained in their Askr.

    Because that's something the game also does not bother to think about it... is Alfonse able to open the same portal to the same exact timeline always?...

    In this case, the answer is: If much time has happened, the gate won't be the same one and you'll end up in a different timeline since the "connection" is lost... it's even more dangerous when you attempt to open it from the side where is other world and not the world of Zenith, then the dragon Askr (Who is the one that actually opens the portal, since he would be the only one to calculate the same things Naga must. Being Alfonse's power simply a "pray") won't be able to reach you that easily.
     
  • Index
    • Chapter 35: Connection
  • Index
    • Connection
    ​
    Kiran sat on a rock displaying another of those disgusted faces he usually had.

    Nothing weird considering how badly hurt he was, similar to his second battle against the Hero-King.

    It was just... frustrating how he still wasn't able to be at the same level of a common hero. He had managed to hold his own but, again, he could have never defeated that woman.

    His face relaxed as curative magic surrounded him and it began to flow through his body, he certainly enjoyed this part. It felt so good!

    "Thanks." he smiled back at the healer. Yet, she wasn't quite as happy as him.

    The young woman looked down and said with a voice tone that just denoted how depressive she felt "It's just... part of my job... it's a pleasure... to help... " Then she turned around and walked away.

    As far as he remembered, her name was Lissa.

    Kiran sighed, he took off his left glove to observe and appreciate, once more, the Triforce mark. He then reflected on the fact he already had two things from The Legend Of Zelda. Perhaps it was time to get something from other series?

    He couldn't ask for the buster sword because it was just insanely heavy, and even if it wasn't, it's not like there was somebody who could teach how to fight using that kind of weapon.

    The same story would repeat with Ultima weapon. No matter how cool and blue it was, it was just a bad idea, therefore, a copy of the golden hilt master sword was the only practical thing.

    Maybe it didn't need to be another weapon... he already had an awesome outfit as tactician. why not more aesthetical objects? he had money now and there was no reason why anybody would complain if he bought to himself something awesome.

    He smiled as some things "materialized" in his mind.

    Of course, all that had to wait as Evelyn approached and she sat by his side.

    "Hello," she said.

    "Hello." Kiran suddenly extended his hand to take Evelyn's one, as anybody would have expected, she narrowed. "Um... sorry! sorry!" Kiran shook his hands in a defensive posture. "You see... where I come from kissing the back part of a woman's hand is a way to display respect to her..." he gulped.

    The woman raised her eyebrow, at least she didn't seem to be offended anymore. "Then why you didn't do this before?"
    "I guess I was more focused on working than on being polite." He scratched his hair as his face denoted shame. He thanked a lot he hadn't tried this with the queen Henriette... that would have been so dangerous...

    The purple-haired tactician extended her hand after three seconds of awkwardness. Kiran nodded and gently kissed.
    "Sorry."

    "It's okay. Actually... it wasn't bad." Evelyn shrugged, then she placed her index finger on her chin. "Actually, It made me feel curious, any other weird custom they do in your world?"

    "Well, we have this." Kiran showed the same signal he had given to Marth. "This means peace and love, it's usually used as a simple salute." then he showed the classic rock hand gesture. "And this is when you are hearing amazing music and then you say hell yeah!... but... well, let's say the musical genre it's usually associated with hasn't been invented here."

    "What is that... music like?..." she scratched her hair.

    "Um... well... it's very hard to explain... I would describe it as battle music... while orchestra usually attempts to make you feel relaxed or feel amazed... this genre, known as rock, usually wants to stimulate the adrenaline..." that was honestly the best explanation of metal and rock and roll he could imagine for this situation.

    "Mmmmh... I'm not sure if music with that goal can be considered as art."

    "I don't blame you, probably you would consider it insanely high nonsense noise at first." he laughed, imagining for a moment this was Back To The Future.

    Evelyn got confused due to certain detail. "Um... weren't your eyes... blue?" she raised her eyebrow.

    Kiran laughed again as he explained the same thing again. Then, he noticed something too.

    "Em... you just came here to have a nice chat with me or...?" he would have thought she would be more busy doing anything else. Why would she waste time with him?

    "Oh! right, I forgot with all this we did. I wanted to discuss what we should do now." she sighed as she became more serious. "I'm sorry for doing this but I need you and your troops to stay here for a while, with the remaining soldiers I have I'm not in conditions to protect the Gate from being captured again."

    "I'm ashamed to admit I also lost some of the men you lent me... and sorry for taking so long... complications and all that stuff." Kiran shrugged and sighed.

    She shook her head. "You were fighting Robin, the master tactician of Ylisse, that in itself says it's not gonna be an easy task. You don't need to apologize."

    "Thanks for being so understanding." Kiran smiled, then he looked down and growled a little.

    "Is something the matter?"

    "Well, I wished to return to Lifstya as faster as possible, I left one of the heroes taking care of an important experiment back there... but well, reality does not care about what I want." he laughed.

    "I will send a letter calling for reinforcements. During the time they take to arrive here... it will be a pleasure to teamwork with you."

    "The pleasure is mine." they shook their hands.

    "No, it's mine, I mean, you are the hero of the legend after all."

    "Technically it's true, but come on, you would expect that hero to be a warrior with decades of experience, no a simple villager from a miserable country." Kiran laughed even more.

    "You're not noble?" Evelyn's eyes went slightly wide.

    "At all. I mean, even if that rank still existed the same way it works here back home I wouldn't be one." Suddenly, Kiran remembered certain detail that had bothered him since the first time he met her.

    "By the way... your friend... or well, I don't know if he's your friend but whatever. The other tactician... the one that likes to be an asshole."

    "Karl?"

    "That wey (dude)," he nodded as while moving his index finger. "Yes... what the hell is wrong with him? no, seriously, is he always like that? does he enjoy being a fucking pendejo (moron)?"

    Evelyn got to admit she was surprised by how suddenly the personality of this man seemed to change entirely, from a polite nobleman to a rude villager.

    "Well, I've got a theory. You see, I've known him since we were children and he always told me how much he dreamed about becoming the next grandmaster of Askr. He has worked a lot in order to make that true... and then the hero of the legend appears and he results to be a tactician."

    Now that explained a lot.

    "He fears I'mma take his desired rank in the army?" Kiran raised his eyebrow. "Well, the next time you see him, tell him that this is my opinion regarding becoming grandmaster... and please, do tell him exactly the same way I did..." Kiran cleared his throat before speaking. "I. don't. give. a fucking... shit!"

    Evelyn grimaced. "Um... I'll see what I can do."

    "I mean, really, it's true I wanna be Alfonse's right hand once he becomes the king but it's more practical to me do that by being the royal scientist. If I'm a tactician right now is because these people are trusting much on me because of "I am the hero" and some overvaluing regarding my mental skills. But once all this is over I'm leaving the army."

    "Okay?..." Evelyn was not exactly sure what she should say to this man.

    "Anyway... emm... not that I wanna leave you but I'm a man with a looooot of things to do so..." he kissed her hand once more. "I... gotta go."

    "Have... luck."

    "Thanks!" then he left running as fast as he could.

    She had to admit... he was the weirdest person she had ever met...
    Besides the heroes from the world of Awakening, there were two heroes feeling particularly upset regarding the recent events.

    And they had real reasons to feel bad... anybody would be like that if they saw a loved one that passed away a time ago in tragic circumstances.

    While Roy understood that Eliwood wasn't the same man who had grown him up... it hurt a lot seeing that face. It was enough to make him depressive.

    The more the memories of those good old times when he was just a kid and Eliwood told him stories, played with him to chess or any other board game... it just... it just...

    It didn't help that... for the first time, he saw her mother in person... and not in a portrait...

    As he felt water rolling through his cheeks, he just looked down... how he wished to have his own Lilina by his side at that very moment... he missed a lot her hugs...

    Regarding the Lilina of the order of heroes, she was inside her tent, just as sad as Roy. Normally the fact she hadn't witnessed the death of her dad should have helped to feel less pain... but it wasn't the case.

    After all, even in her teen years, she still enjoyed being her little daughter princess.

    Just like his best friend, Hector always managed to get some time for her... to allow her to have the best childhood she could have ever asked for... how she promised her he would be present the day she would marry...

    She felt a hand on her shoulder. She got confused... but smiled sadly as she saw her mother...

    Florina didn't say anything, she just hugged Lilina.
    Chrom, Sumia, and Cynthia spent much time hugging each other... the time Lucina had to explain to them she wasn't the same one they loved... to say it was uncomfortable would be a euphemism...

    Stahl and Sully didn't display their usual personalities. Normally the female red knight would be training as if the world was about to end and the green knight would have eaten until he exploded...

    Lissa needed to cry on Frederick's shoulder a few times per day. The knight not only felt pain in his heart due to his son Owain... but also in his pride for being unable to prevent that from happening.

    Something similar was the feeling Cordelia was suffering. What a perfect person she was! they had taken away both of her daughters!

    And then... Robin herself... she... just couldn't take it anymore. The pain of her friends was her pain... she didn't know how to make them feel better... actually, she didn't know what to do in this army. She wasn't the tactician in charge, which was something she was already too used to.

    There was another detail... as much as she didn't want to admit it at first... the Askarian tactician made her felt... interested.

    She had taken a wood sword as she and Kiran prepared to train. Given their similar clothes, ranks in the army, desires, situation about being the tactician of a blue-haired prince and his little blond sister, both being thrown into the adventure without getting to ask but willing to do it anyway.

    It was just natural they felt a "connection"

    Both swords clashed multiple times until it came a moment both decided to keep them making contact as both began to push. Having faced more battles than him, Robin easily got the advantage... and then she saw how his face deformed into a beast, not willing to give up.

    "Grrr... grrrrr... graaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" She got to admit she was partially scared... this man was growling as if he was being possessed... but she could see something in that face.

    Determination... a determination that reminded her of a little to her own one. The same way she appreciated her friends... he appreciated his own ones... even if he was less gentile.

    She fell as his effort and strength overpowered her. Yet, he seemed to regret going to so hard as he quickly extended a hand to her.

    "Sorry about that... I... well... let's say I'm just... angry... I want so desperately become stronger than I forget we're just training."

    She accepted his help. Once they were both standing up, she asked. "May I know why?"

    "I'm just... tired of not being competent enough... to be always under the shadow of somebody else... even more in this case since my efforts are necessary to save the multiverse." he laughed as if his internal problems were just pathetic things. "I mean, if my brother were here, he probably would have become two times stronger than me in even less time." he laughed more.

    So he also felt insecure about his skills... and yet, he didn't allow it to slow him down at getting what he wanted.
    He and she really shared things in common even if they weren't exactly equal... she liked that...

    It was pure luck Kiran didn't notice a slight blush on Robin's face.
    I probably should attempt to make this more into a show don't tell thing... one problem is that having such an insane amount of characters makes it hard. When you have that many it's humanly impossible to focus on all of them... that's part of the reason we almost always see a FEH fic from the perspective of the Kiran in turn. Yet, I must always mention a little regarding how the other characters feel respect x or y situation.

    The kissing hand thing is kinda a reference to Zero No Tsukaima but I'm not gonna explain it, I'll leave it to you now to understand how.

    I suppose the whole thing "I'm inferior to my brother" kinda seems to be out of nowhere and just in part to add a joke. Lol, he got a Luigi cap, his brother a Mario cap, and his brother can do anything better, what a funny coincidence!... I'm gonna explore it in the chapter: As A Teenager... which I think will not be the next one since I really want to write about him making vaccines already!
     
  • Index
    • Chapter 36: Experimentation
  • Index
    • Experimentation
    ​
    Kiran was working inside his tent.

    He placed the quill inside the inkwell as he had run out of ink. He missed a little the old disposable pens he was already too used to. They were much more comfortable to hold and practical to use, especially those millimetric ones. Even if a quill looked much better or "awesome", it was kinda tedious to use... or at least that's how he felt regarding the whole subject.

    He decided to take a break after writing about physic, math, chemic and more brands of science... although part of himself wanted to continue. The more time he spent away from his original universe, the more knowledge his brain would forget... who knows how many important details had been lost in the oblivion by that moment?

    He then felt the needing of standing up and walking towards a tiny chest hidden under a blanket and a table.
    Perhaps he was being too paranoid, but he couldn't help himself. He wanted to be sure it was still there.

    Opening the chest, Kiran saw a crystal jar, its size was similar to a classic plastic water bottle. He sighed in relief, taking a few seconds to hold it and admire its containment. Part of the reason he checked constantly the jar was to determine if he had perfectly isolated the inside from the outside... since the last time he had made a mistake and the substance had vanished... it seemed to be on the verge of transforming into the gas state of matter.

    It would be a bad idea to allow the quintessence to get lost given the fact Kiran had it hard to extract it from corpses after the battle without nobody discovering what he was doing in the act... even with Kagero helping him.
    Thinking about the ninja, Kiran remembered he wanted her report.

    "Are you there?" he asked as he placed the jar back into the chest and hid it again.

    The woman appeared, entering from the "door" of the tent.

    Kiran would have said something if Kagero hadn't interrupted him by extending her hand. Kiran's smile was on display as he took a look at what she had given to him.

    A black notebook... tiny size, around 14.8cm x 20.5cm/0.48ft/0.67ft. The most interesting detail was the title the cover had. In silver letters, it read.

    DEATH NOTE

    It was just... incredible how talented this woman was at making covers and binding. She had made an excellent work with his journal after all.

    He adored having one of these again, even more with this Necronomicon-style design. It made him think what the police would have thought when they discovered he had a Death Note totally filled with names in his room, especially after reading his mental health register. He had been disappeared for many months already. It was impossible they hadn't registered it by now.

    "Thanks!" he placed the money on the table, the ninja took it without saying a single word and nodded.

    "So... have you watched something weird regarding that monk?" his voice tone became serious... as he crossed his arms and narrowed.

    "With all respect, I don't understand why you'd think he's dangerous."

    Kiran didn't seem to care about what she said as he asked: "Has he approached Nino?"

    "They both had a short talking a week ago. Since then, she and her children spend time with him, he reads them stories and teaches them magic... although the dark mage one complains a lot about being forced to be there."

    The usually stoic woman got a little surprised as she noticed Kiran's facial features changed became... more sinister... that sadic smile of him allowed getting a better effect.

    "I see... keep watching him... if he tries to do something... disgusting... " Kiran made his right hand with his index finger raised to move from left to right by the height of his neck... in a clear signal of ordering her to kill him if that happened.

    "...Understood." then she turned around and left. Whether she was still watching at him or immediately went after the monk he didn't care.

    Kiran pulled from a drawer another note.

    Inside this one, Kiran had written down all the names of all members of the order of heroes he knew: information regarding their ranks in the army and what they usually did, and everything he knew about their personalities. At the end of each report he had written:

    ¿Debería deshacerme de él/ella? (Should I get rid of him/her?)"

    In the section about Artur, he wrote: Probablemente. Indicios leves de que quizá sea un pedófilo. (Probably. slight hints of him being a pedophile)

    With the time, Kiran not only had begun to be skeptical about the faith his mother professed... he also didn't trust a lot on those who claimed to be spreading god's word.

    It was incredible the number of children raped by those... rats?... probably he shouldn't offend the rats comparing those animals with a priest. Even the rats were useful as lab experimentation subjects... and even then Kiran thought it would be more practical to use criminals for that... even rats deserved more respect in his opinion since they weren't exactly intrinsically evil things.

    It's not that he wanted to mistrust these people, but the pragmatic side of his mind told him to. He already had felt so relaxed when he could write: No en lo absoluto, se recomienda influenciar su mente para evitar que vaya en mal camino, obtener su confianza y finalmente obtener el poder (Not at all, it's recommendable to influence his mind in order to avoid he going in the wrong direction, obtain his trust and finally get the power) in the section about the prince of Askr.

    Yet, it wouldn't be surprising if he discovered the church worked pretty similar there. Even with the little information he had gotten, he learned the Naga's church had totally supported an invasion to the desert nation of Plegia in order to disappear all those "putrid followers of Grima". While it's truth Grima wasn't exactly a "good" guy, it only proofed they were the same shit from the other side of the coin.

    He would take care of them in the future... but then there was a question that bothered him... what to do after that?... perhaps... perhaps, after having that power and an army of one... he could return to his world... and conquest Latin America?... if the USA wanted to be an obstacle he would only need to capture the president and beat the shit out of him on national tv... the same with the Russian one since Russia would obviously want to bother... and then the Chinese president...

    Heck, given his ideas and now more loyalty for the people of that universe he was now in, at least a 70% of humanity would be his enemy... technically speaking he was a humanity betrayer at this point considering he would be willing to steal the nukes and use them to destroy his original planet in order to save this other one in case it was necessary and he actually could do that.

    But... was he right about being like that?... only the time and proofs would tell.

    At that moment, he just knew something... if any bastard monk or any other dirt man put a single finger on Nino... he would bury them alive!
    When the reinforcements for Eveyln finally arrived after many days, both Kiran and Evelyn said goodbye to each other, shaking their hands and Kiran kissing her hand once more.

    The marching back to the castle wasn't exactly happy due to the atmosphere gained by the world of Awakening. Yet, Kiran didn't care too much.

    He kept swinging with the Espada Maestra in his right hand, now his left hand could handle it easily, it was necessary to do it with the other one... it felt strange having more musculature in only one arm...

    At the very moment, they returned. Corrin ran to give them a welcome.

    Kiran inclined himself a little to receive a patting on his head and then a hug as he purred... Robin herself was so confused...

    While Kiran under normal circumstances would have asked about the bacteria samples he requested... he right now was more interested to determine if Nino's "hermana" was not depressed anymore.

    "How is Azurita doing?"

    "Much better... um..." Corrin's worried face didn't make Kiran feel good "Well, there's a detail."

    "What?"

    "The Azura I met loved bunnies and, by extension, Azurita does too... I just couldn't say no to her when we went to the town and she saw a man giving them to anyone who asked for one so... I hope you could help me to ensure they allow her to keep it here in the castle."

    Kiran shrugged. "Perhaps it's possible for it to live in the castle's garden... but I highly doubt it's possible to convince them to have one of those inside a room..."

    "I kinda expected that." she smiled.

    "Where is she?"

    "Playing with Fae a board game in my room... you know, it feels good doing this, taking care of children is tiring... but beautiful at the same time. I cannot wait for having my own child." Corrin's face displayed happiness... which didn't match very well with Kiran's grimaced one...

    Should he tell her?... that hybrids usually are born sterile... he should wait...

    "Yes... anyway. I hope my bacterias are in perfect condition."

    Corrin gasped. "Um... um... most of them are still alive... but at least two of the containers got dropped."

    Kiran sighed. "Well, in the end, I was expecting this to happen... I'll go to my lab. Continue with the little girl."

    Had Robin didn't hear from him that love was useless for him, she would have thought this woman was his wife and that girl their daughter... perhaps adoptive, but their daughter anyway.

    Yet, she was interested to know about what he was doing. Given some other girls followed him, she thought it wasn't a bad idea to approach.
    Kiran extracted a "tiny" amount of the first sample he had at his reach once he opened it... and sighed at seeing some microbiological culture wasn't a pure one. There were at least two types of bacteria inside this one... but well, he couldn't ask for professional work to medieval people that had only discovered the existence of these beings some months ago. Even he was just a miserable amateur. He then asked Miriel to help him now she had seen how to do it.

    Once they had checked all the samples and they had isolated the ones that had already got extinct, Kiran turned to see Sharena. "Could you please ask your brother to allow me to insert this shit inside a prisoner? now I need a test subject."

    "Okay!" she immediately left.

    "Normally, using rats it's the normal protocol, but I suppose humans are just better for getting information. That without mentioning some diseases of us wouldn't affect them." Miriel commented.

    "Indeed." He drank more coffee as both extracted more tiny samples with syringes.

    Lilina raised his finger in order to ask something, she was clearly scared. "Um... is it absolutely necessary to use needles?..."

    "Don't worry, it barely hurts. It's just on the arm or the ass and for less than five seconds." of course, being the bastard asshole he was, Kiran ensured he turned to see Lilina with a devil smile.

    "W-Where?!" both Lilina and Robin backed off a little.

    Kiran yawned. "Relax, I can't care less about seeing your panties or anything else. I'm a scientist, I approach these situations without any emotion. In case you really don't want to lift your skirts to me, you just need to ask her, a woman, to do the job"

    "Remember I'm here," said Miriel.

    "Whatever, let's kill bastards in a slow way for the sake of progress!"
    "What are you- Arrrggh"

    "Keep your useless mouth closed, asshole, I didn't give you permission to opine here." Kiran smashed this man's head against the table. Chains wouldn't allow him to get up as the needle Miriel held got inside his body and its containment entered the body.

    This one had been the leader of some bandits that captured villagers to sell them in the black market, he and the survivors of his miserable commerce got the bad luck of being Kiran's first victims.

    "Get your putrid hands off from me!" another one yelled as he got a needle introduced. This time, Kiran wasn't as gentile as before and used the Espada Maestra to cause a cute scar on the face.

    Once both had finished applying all the diseases, he knew he would have to wait. He ordered the soldiers to return them to jails and be isolated, he didn't need a pandemic happening in the castle.

    "That's everything for the moment, thanks for your cooperation."

    "Thanks for your knowledge, although the behavior can be questionable."

    Kiran shrugged. "I know, but it's in part necessary."

    Miriel only adjusted her glasses. "If you excuse me, I would like to continue using the lab."

    "Use as much as you want, you're welcome here." Miriel and Kiran shook their hands, then the woman left.

    Kiran took a moment to relax as he leaned on a wall... Robin, who had also been present but stayed silent... decided to say something.

    "Are you sure... that you're not a bit excessive?" asked Robin.

    Kiran's eyes suddenly changed from seeming to be in good mood to being annoyed and so done with life, he also growled. "No, they are criminals."

    "So?! one of my friends, Gaius, was a thief! but he became a great ally."

    "Did he willing decide to redeem himself?"

    "Well, yes, he sided with us after all."

    "Then he really deserved the opportunity, look at me at the face and tell me they would want to integrate themselves back into society..." he commented, pointing with his entire arm and finger towards the cells. "They must first earn it."

    "B-B-But they are humans! nobody deserves to be treated like this!"

    "So your whole point is that being human makes you special somehow?" Kiran crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow.
    "Wh-what? of course!" Robin gave him a very concerned face, why would he question something like that?

    "Well, following that logic of them being humans, I don't deserve rights. Technically speaking I'm not a human as you understand it after all." he shrugged

    What?

    "What are you talking about?!" she took a look at him, what was different?

    "I'm as human as Tiki or Naga are humans... I'm not. I'm an alien." then he explained to her what the concept of an alien was. "So, if your argument is that I shouldn't do this to them just because they are human, I want to ask you if you think both Naga and Tiki don't deserve it as well even though they aren't human... and by extension it also includes me in the question."

    "..."

    "What should matter is the person and not the species, I'm a person, manaketes are persons, non-human persons. But these bastards that do not care about that when it's about us, why should I care about them then?... I mean, it's weird hearing that from someone whose job is about ensuring your enemy is destroyed."

    "I-I don't take lives down because I want to! it's to protect my friends!"

    "Well, I'm taking these lives down in order to create something that will protect not only my friends, but future generations of this world as well from a threat much more dangerous and hard to kill... and I'm not using innocent people... and that's without mentioning I'm sharing this secret to all the worlds of all the heroes that come here so, if you don't like this... please do us both a favor and stay away." Kiran walked faster. He was going to use his personal notebook to register the effects of all the diseases as they developed and, of course, extract the same bacterias once they had died with the body and finally, insert them into other criminals, wait at least three days and then began to give them alive ones.

    He first needed to proof to Alfonse they worked before he could present this way of preventing pandemics to scholars.

    Robin just looked at him as he left... it... it was incredible how one day he could make her feel comfortable... and then suddenly change to being so rude...
    So, they by reasons I don't know finally decided to gave me free time to do whatever I wanted and, in compensation for taking so long, forced myself to create this chapter, too... and it's kinda hard for me to believe I managed to due to all the stress and shit on my mind. I guess since this was something that was planned to happen since the very beginning of the fic it was easier to produce... some people say the hardest part of writing is to connect the points of the story you already know. I guess it's true.

    Finally, a chapter where I can display much more that side of Kiran that is not like your average all-loving hero who is totally good. This totally sets why he says he's not a hero... what kind of hero does something like this?

    Something that really bothers me is that needing of thinking that human is equal to person... not really, a person only exists until the brain is generated.

    Probably this chapter will cause negative feelings towards me... well, you decide if you want to continue reading or not.
     
  • Index
    • Chapter 37: The Second Replica
  • Index
    • The Second Replica
    ​
    Having completed another step in his goal to demonstrate his science was the ultimate way to save innocent lives and to ensure those lives had the most joyful life as possible, Kiran knew he had to wait before the symptoms were visible in the test subjects.

    Given that, he decided it was a good moment to take care of certain things he wanted to do.
    His first desired stop was to visit the blacksmith.

    He first entered his room. He closed the door and approached the closet as he began to take off his tactician clothes.
    As he was getting dressed in his old blue earth outfit he felt more relaxed.

    The only difference to the usual was that he left the blue sweatshirt behind since the weather had become warmer compared to how it was like to the first months he had been living in Askr.

    Yet, he wasn't going to leave the Espada Maestra... he, however, didn't bring the silver sword with him.

    He wouldn't need it anymore after all.

    Having worn that while walking through the castle many times by that point, the soldiers didn't give looks at him anymore. Or better said, the lookings weren't as many as before. The difference this time was the fact that the people staring were the few ones that noticed a new detail on his left hand.

    Without gloves, his triforce was perfectly visible.

    He raised his hand a little in order to watch his mark. If they asked him where that thing came from he doubt anybody would believe if he told them the truth.

    At least it wouldn't be as uncomfortable or dangerous as explaining why he had some quintessence hidden inside his lab.

    He rubbed his chin as he took into consideration he also saw some quintessence in the bacterias he analyzed... an interesting detail to study deeper in the future.

    As he kept advancing, he didn't notice a green-haired girl running at him.

    "Hermano!"

    At first, he frowned in confusion... then his lips became curved as he remembered he asked Nino to call him that way.
    He turned around and hugged her tightly.

    He enjoyed a lot caressing her hair.

    "I thought you'd prefer to be spending time with your little boys or... that monk." Kiran narrowed his eyes as his face denoted signs of rage.

    Nino, being the innocent adorable little girl she was, didn't find weird Kiran knew she had been talking to Arthur recently.
    "I wanted to hang out with you."

    "Really?"

    "Well, you said we're siblings now."

    "Technically." he shrugged. "I guess I should get fun with my hermanita."

    Of course, when Nino paid more attention to her hermano as both began walking...

    She pointed at Kiran's left hand "Did you have that all along?"

    "Um... no, It's something new."

    "Oh." Luckily, she didn't ask for more details.

    "So, what do you want to do?"

    "Well... I'm not sure."

    "If I remember well, I had ordered a bike for you. Let's go for it."

    Nino's eyes brightened. "Oh! yes!"

    Of course, once they were walking... or rather, pedaling through the town, Nino smiled a lot. Of course, bikes were more normal to see, but Kiran's clothes were still weird for the commoners.

    Both parked in front of the smithy.

    Inside, Kiran made the rings jingle a few times. This time, however, it wasn't the blacksmith. Instead, the one who appeared was a young man. Nino, on the other hand, decided to take a look at the weapons on the walls.

    "I guess Mr. Flint is not present right now."

    "My father is not feeling very well, he may be sick but we're not perfectly sure."

    "I hope he gets better... anyway, I'm Kiran, did he finish what I ordered or I should be back another day?"

    "Kiran? let me see." The man began to search inside the boxes of requests.

    At first, he showed him some swords or lances he couldn't recognize as the Espada Maestra Dorada (Golden Master Sword)... then Kiran facepalmed as he got an idea. He showed to him the back-side of his hand.

    "It mush have engraved in the blade this symbol."

    After that, it didn't take more than seven seconds when the sword was placed on the table.

    The guard didn't look like wings this time, it was simply curved. The color, as the name suggested, was gold.

    The red grip that, according to a theory was supposed to be the Hero of Time's blood after his defeat against Ganon in the third timeline, was present. The pommel was silver and the blade itself was slightly different.

    The new sheath's main color was also red but in a lower tone. It had two green gems, the rest of it wasn't very different compared to the other sheath.

    Kiran's smile was just as big as when he hugged Nino as he placed the bag with the money and put the sword on his right side of his hip.

    "Thanks a lot."

    "You're welcome."

    Nino's curiosity got interrupted when Kiran put a hand on her shoulder. "Do you want anything from here?"

    Nino looked at the floor. "Llyod and Linus once tried to teach me to use a weapon but... I was just a failure..."

    "I see... well, perhaps you don't necessarily need to buy a weapon. Do you have something that might come to be useful for a mage?"

    The man scratched his hair. "For a mage... for a mage... mmh... well, I have this tiny shield. It can be held with the arm itself rather than the hand. It's not big protection but against some arrows, it may work."

    Nino's eyes laid on the shield. It wasn't exactly cute but...

    "Is that of your liking?" asked Kiran as he saw Nino grabbing it.

    "Yes." she nodded and smiled.

    "That would be then." Kiran pulled out more money from his bags. Both thanked and left the place.

    Outside, Kiran helped Nino to put the shield on her back as they still have to travel using their bikes... or at least that would have been the idea if Kiran hadn't seen that, not that far from the smithy, was a jewelry store.

    "Hermano?" Nino raised her eyebrow as Kiran stopped after pedaling so little... and entered the building.

    Kiran had to admit, the gems they had would be pretty beautiful for a woman... he, however, was here for other things.
    Nino didn't say anything else as she stood by Kiran's side... which gave a wrong idea to the owner when she appeared.
    "Good morning, what can I do for you? getting a present for your girlfriend?" she smiled.

    Kiran grimaced while Nino rubbed and looked away. "She's not my girlfriend... I mean... she must not be older than eleven years old!"

    Nino, however, responded something a little different as she seemed offended. "I'm already seventeen years old! hermano!"

    "Oh?..." Then he remembered something. "Well, what we consider a year is different... how long is the year in your continent?"

    "304 days, with eight months of 38 days."

    "304 days... not very different to Askr.. mmmh." he turned to see the woman at the other side of the counter. "Could you please wait for me a second?"

    "It's okay."

    Kiran began to calculate... 17 multiplied by 304 and divided by 365... 14.15... "Em, when is your birthday?"

    "I gotta admit I'd hope we could share the birthday party... it's in a few days."

    So she practically was 15 years old already... "That means... OH MY GOD! You're very small!"

    This whole time he had thought Nino was a very young girl... instead, she was a dwarf!

    Nino looked away, still not in good humor. "One day I will grow!"

    This was the first time since they met that Nino wasn't enjoying when Kiran hugged her. "You're adorable, you're adorable, you're adorable!"

    He quickly realized he shouldn't behave that way in public... he coughed as he let Nino stand on her own and turned back to the woman.

    "Sorry about that... em... do you have rings?"

    She raised her eyebrow. "Now you have changed your mind?"

    "Eh... no... I want one for my index finger."

    She nodded as she pulled a paper out from a drawer that helped to determine which size of a ring would be good for each person.

    "Well, I have a good selection for you."

    "I suppose you have, but I want a specific one that I highly doubt you have one even similar... not because it's very complex but rather because it's so simple that normally a noble wouldn't want it."

    "Could you describe it to me?"

    "It's a silver band, with a symbol of the infinite."

    When Kiran drew what he could, the woman rubbed her chin. "It's simple... but it must be beautiful in silver."

    "It is."

    "I'll see how much time it takes to get it crafted."

    "Thanks."

    When both had gone out of the store, Kiran sighed as he placed a hand on his forehead. "Are you sure you don't prefer to go with your kids?"

    Nino, a little more relaxed, looked at him. "You don't want me here?"

    "No! em... what I mean is... let's face it, we're not having such an amazing adventure or anything that would make it worth to follow me. I mean, we're just going from store to store and not doing anything that interesting."

    "But I really want to spend time with my new hermano."

    "The question is, is it fun? probably no... it's because they always left me alone that I don't know how people in this kind of world get fun... I mean, there are no videogames, there aren't any movies, there's no Internet... we should probably do something you want."

    Nino hugged him. "It's fine, hermano... perhaps we should go to the library."

    "You know how to read already?"

    "Not much but... Lugh and Raigh helped me a lot."

    "If that's what you want." He kissed her on the forehead and then, both made their way to the library.
    Sharena felt a little sad. As much as she wanted to have fun with one of the heroes from the World Of Awakening... they weren't in the right humor to do that.

    However, even if they were more than eager to talk to her, she knew she must hang out with a pretty special person this time.

    She was looking for him, yet, she didn't know she wouldn't need to. In the very second she crossed a hall... her brother appeared from the corner, hugging her and, instantly, assaulting her armpits.

    The laughs of the princess filled the corridor. As she tried to back off, the only thing she accomplished was to fall, making the things easier to Alfonse to tickle her without giving her a single moment to rest.

    "Wanna give up?!" He smiled.

    "YES! YES! YOU WIN! YOU WIIIIIIIIN!"

    Eventually, Alfonse felt mercy for her and allowed her to stand up.

    "Let me guess, I'm the one you wanted to see."

    "Don't forget we are going to create new memories for us."

    "That's true... but first... since you didn't find me because I was the one that went towards you... you'll have to find me!"
    Alfonse turned around and quickly ran in the opposite direction as Sharena stayed there. She shook her head as she began to count.

    "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine... ten!" She ran as fast as she could through the castle.

    Her first attempts were to search behind any kind of columns, boxes, inside the rooms she would be allowed to be... where did he go?

    It took her at least one hour and a half to notice her brother had managed to be following her, being behind her all along, she would have never found him... if she hadn't seen his face reflected in the armor of a soldier as she asked him if he had seen Alfonse.

    "How you accomplish such a thing?!" demanded Sharena.

    "It's not that hard, walking slowly and you pretty much stop making even a single sound... to you."

    Sharena felt insulted, yet, she hugged him. "Have you thought how are we gonna tell this to mom?"

    The prince gulped. It wasn't that the thought hadn't crossed his mind... it's just that he didn't want to think about it... if the bond he had with his sister suffered some damage... the one with his mother even more so. He gave a more sad smile as he spoke. "Not even sure how to begin..."

    "Well, we'll figure it out then."

    "But not right now... please..."

    "Yeah, you're not ready... let's go to the town! we need to get something for Kiran! remember the little idiot is gonna have the best birthday party he ever dreamed about!"

    Alfonse giggled as Sharena and he began to make their way to the town.
    "So... when the... kingdoms of Askr... and Embla... were born... their..."

    "Respective founders."

    "Respective founders... were blessed... with the powers... of the dragons... of the same... names..."

    "Your progress is decent." Kiran shrugged.

    "It's not good enough... when you were half the age I am right now you were already beginning your second language." Nino sighed as she kept reading.

    "True, but considering the differences between worlds, it's not a fair comparison." He caressed her hair... he still wondered what allowed these alien humans to have such an amazing variety of hair colors...

    "Do you know only two of them?"

    "Kinda... I mean, I desired to learn Japanese and French but I got summoned before that was possible... I got some notions of them but... they are pretty basic... it makes me wonder how this translator Breidablik gives works. What kind of magic does it use?"

    "Who knows? magic is just that awesome." Nino smiled... while Kiran could only think: Yeah... so awesome that it seems fake...

    He, of course, hadn't forgotten the fact he still had his doubts... he hadn't found any kind of crack in the environment. Something that, given the weird nature of the place, could perhaps lead him to a crystal he should destroy...

    It's not like he didn't have this kind of problem back home. Even some of his science books played with the idea of everything being a simulation... yet... imagining Nino might be just a product of his mind... or a computer or anything!... just felt so wrong... ah, yeah, and all the others, too.

    "It is... I think I should go to train." Kiran commented.

    "Perhaps I would do the same, Lilina and I wanted to add some new spells to our collection... before I go... again, thanks hermano."

    "Hey, I'm partially rich, if you want something... just ask for it."

    They hugged each other the last time. Then both took different ways...

    Kiran didn't advance much though... as a wind spell threw him against a wall.

    "GGGrrrrh... grrrrhh... esa dolió bien culero... (That was painful as hell...)"

    When he noticed who was standing in front of him... the green hair and black mage clothes told the whole story.
    "Raigh?... what the fuck is wrong with you?!"

    "That's the same question I have for you, asshole!" his wind magic flowed around his hand... kinda like the Rasegan. "Confess... what are your intentions with my mother!"

    "I thought you didn't consider her your mother, pendejo." Kiran growled as he quickly placed his right hand on the Espada Maestra Dorada, prepared to slash in case the moment arrived.

    "Shut up... giving her presents, kissing her... just tell me what you want and perhaps I won't curse you."

    "You know" Kiran scratched his hair "Normally hearing that you're going to curse me wouldn't have scared me... but given the existence of "magic" in this universe... it does not sound as stupid as it would back home... but also, let's be realistic, whatever shit I tell you is not gonna make any difference. They would be only stupid, empty and simple words against facts."

    "... At least you're not as retarded as other motherfuckers I've met."

    "Do you kiss your mom with that tongue?"

    "Did you kiss your own one with yours?"

    Kiran smiled even more and laughed. "I was expecting that answer, I just wanted to hear it actually... you're lucky I sent Kagero to watch that monk, otherwise you would have a dagger about to cross your head from back to front."

    Raigh frowned. "So... you don't trust him too..."

    "Perhaps by different reasons to you, I don't know, but yes..." he shrugged.

    "... Is this the part where you tell me we're not so different?..."

    Kiran laughed as if the world ended tomorrow. His smile resembled more to a bastard than anything else. "Well, heck! yes! I mean, I'm a scientist doing weird, questionable experiments while my friends are looking at other places. You're a dark mage which, regardless of any kind of moral code it's followed here, makes everybody not trust you because your magic is intrinsically creepy... wanna see the compound I extracted from corpses since the last battles?"

    Raigh sent his magic to... the air... and... smiled like a bastard. "Sounds good."

    Kiran stood up. "You're gonna love it. Once I show you all the creepy shit I know and can do, you're gonna want to teamwork with me. That's for sure."
    Back then, at the moments I'm writing this chapter they had let us know Altina is now part of the FEH family... and she doing dual-wielding is just perfect. I mean, I kinda laugh at the fact her swords' auras are blue and golden while Kiran's Espadas Maestras are... well, blue and golden so... shit XD (I mean, I know it might be purple in some games, but in Wind Waker it was totally blue and Kiran preferred the blue so...). While it's true that the Master Sword "rival" from FE is technically speaking the Falchion... I had already imagined what is gonna happen when Ragnell or Alondite make contact with both Master Swords.

    Speaking of that... a little minor spoiler... Ike is not the strongest hero here!... well, it's kinda obvious because of Altina but she's not gonna appear in my fic. What I mean is that there's a certain hero Alfonse hasn't heard about that, due to certain power he has, can beat Ike. That's everything I'm gonna say.
    Of course, in order to keep the continuity, I couldn't leave behind the siblings of Askr. I decided to leave Robin a little out by the moment, we already had many chapters with her.

    I suppose that when you read Nino saying she's 17 years old your minds kinda exploded. Let's remember that the year is different for them. Actually, I had this planned since the very moment Kiran calculated his Askarian age (he's barely an adult now since he became 18 but in Askr he's considered as 22 years old). Remember how Lyndis was supposed to be fifteen in Japan but they made her eighteen in the rest of the world? well, let's do some math stuff.

    18 x 304/365= 14.9, pretty much 15

    The calendars in Elibe might be a little different but if they based it in the constellations and the sun the same way we do, then the variety would be tiny.

    Now in Nino's case, as we saw before it's like this:

    17 x 304/365= 14

    Because yeah, in the Japanese version Lyn is just a year older than Nino... given the fact different women develop differently, I don't see weird that Lyn already begins to look like a Milf.

    This way we could create an "in-canon" reason for this detail. In a way, I also used it to mock to the loli-style design they gave to Nino, I mean, in her artworks from FE7 she actually looks 14 years old.
    As Gordin would say: Five points to they who discovered this and they have an idea of what ring Kiran wants.
     
  • Index
    • Chapter 38: Syringeal "Magic" Resistance
  • Index
    • Syringeal "Magic" Resistance
    ​
    "Are you absolutely sure we have everything we require?" Kiran was sitting by one of those hundreds of doors the castle had. He had his arms crossed and his eyes closed. His face displayed the extreme level of stress he felt.
    Sharena palmed him on the back "Relax... remember you told us that it would be necessary for this more than one meeting."

    "The current condition of Kiran's attitude may cause complications in presenting his investigations."
    Kiran showed a tiny smile. "The more I hear you, the more you remind me of the spirit that inhabits the original Espada Maestra."

    "A spirit? as far as I remember you said it's supposed to be a sacred blade, does that mean this is one of those weapons that chooses its wielder?" Anna questioned.

    "Sorta. You see, that spirit was created to be the partner of the original wielder: the goddess Hylia's chosen hero... I don't know if Hylia created the soul of that hero or he managed to impress her, but whatever. The thing is, the spirit of the Sword, Fay, only allows the soul of her master to wield the Espada Maestra. Each time a new person is able to pull it out from its pedestal... that person is actually the same wielder reincarnated."

    "And the personality of this character is comparable to mine," Miriel stated.

    "She uses more percents when speaking, but a huevo (yeah)."

    "And how many times this hero has taken his weapon to fight evil?" Sharena seemed excited.

    "Well, seven times?... each time he gets a new hero title. The Hero Of Time, The Hero Of Winds... although I'm not entirely sure regarding him given the time travel shit... The Hero Of Legend, The Hero Of Twilight... The New Hero Of Hyrule... The Hero Wielding The Sword That Seals The Darkness... and The Wild Hero... yeah, those are the times he's wielded the Espada Maestra. Something we must consider is that, while it's true he has the ability to reincarnate... not always he goes to recover the Espada Maestra because he never remembers his past lives, there are other sacred blades he's gotten. Like the Four Sword... although I prefer to call it Quadruple Sword. That one is particularly good and even better."

    "Why?" Sharena raised her eyebrow.

    "The one becomes four."

    "... I don't understand..." Sharena scratched her hair in confusion.

    "The one becomes four... the one becomes four... no idea." Anna shook her head.

    "Given the name you have described to us... and the fact that Kiran rarely speaks in terms not literal ones... is it conceivable that the magic of the weapon forms "twins "of the owner?" Miriel rubbed her chin.

    "Yeah, the sword quadruples the warrior. That's why Quadruple Sword or Espada Cuádruple is much better than Four Sword."

    "Now I comprehend." Sharena nodded just like Anna.

    "But returning to what we're going to do... did you bring everything?!"

    Anna smiled. "We quadruple-checked, now just relax."

    Kiran sighed. "Right..."

    Sharena was about to say they had only double-checked but Anna stopped her with an shhh!

    That didn't matter at all as Kiran quickly stood up and began to check everything once more.
    Kiran breathed deeply and exhaled. In front of him, many students of curative magic and creation of potions looked at him expectantly. He could see his friends cheering him up while Miriel adjusted her glasses.

    "Ladies and gentlemen. It's an honor to meet you all. As many of you probably have heard, my name is Kiran. Member of the order of heroes and wilder of the Breidablik."

    He raised his gun. Eyes widened and whispers began to fill the room as Kiran started to walk around while speaking as a method to relax and focus. "Now, if I remember correctly, the legend mentioned the chosen hero of this weapon was supposed to come from an unknown world."

    An older mage decided to speak."When the multiverse falls in cruel hands and its inhabitants are in sorrow... then, by the power of the legendary relic known as Breidablik. A hero from an unknown world will appear."

    "Thanks." Kiran nodded. "Now... the thing is... my world is truly very different from the other worlds you know. When I arrived I was... confused. Swords? spears? castles? kings? dragons? all that to me... is... weird. It's not similar to what I was used to in my daily life, at all."

    He continued walking around while he felt all those eyes questioning him.

    "However, I recognized all those things anyway because to me your world is, and I don't mean to offend you with this, primitive... very primitive."

    This time, Anna approached to support. "Following what Mr. Kiran has replicated from his world and how he describes it, many of us would have believed he came from a very distant future."

    Since the very moment, Kiran had started giving his speech, Miriel had been placing on a table, not one, but seven microscopes they had created together. Miriel's knowledge regarding glass had helped to improve the quality of the image they displayed.

    "These over here... consider them the opposite of a spyglass. Its purpose is to make visible things that are incredibly small, so small that our eyes cannot see... or at the very least, to allow you to see better the details of something tiny enough to be seen. Please, take a look."

    All of them had a sample of bacteria, colored with liquid in order to facilitate to determine their form. As all the people made a row to take their turn to watch, Kiran drank some coffee in an attempt to relax much more.

    "I suppose you have many questions regarding those strange beings you just discovered. This time my partner here will explain to you." Kiran left the cup on the table, sighed, and continued walking around.

    Miriel nodded as she began her explanation. "They are unicellular beings. The cells can be described as the fundamental block of life itself, being us multicellular creatures."

    Miriel then began to replace all the samples with simple water or just anything else. "Our investigation determines they could be considered as omnipresent in all our world."

    Again, everybody took their turn to observe all the new samples.

    A female student raised her hand to make the most obvious question Miriel was expecting. "Are they... on our bodies, too?"

    "Indeed. Habitually, the ones that inhabit either inside our stomach, skin, eyes, or any other part are beneficial."
    Kiran decided to continue speaking. "Many of them are our allies... but that's the thing... many of them... okay, it's the time!" he yelled as an order.

    Almost immediately, four soldiers entered the room. They were pushing a cell cart that inside had one of Kiran's test subjects.

    He was coughing as if somebody had ordered him that in order to spare his life. The red of his face was similar enough to the red of a giant star... and his skin displayed cute red circles like pimples.

    As the people got confused, Kiran and his friends handed over more mouth covers.

    "I'm sure I don't need to tell you what is this man suffering." Kiran shrugged.

    "Senmuni." many of them answered. Some others took their time to diagnosticate the man before they confirmed it.

    "Now, if you are wondering why he's inside a cage is because he's a criminal that was sentenced to death. However, I asked the queen if I could use him as part of my experiment... I KNOW! I know this does not exactly look cute! however, It wasn't as the reality was going to throw me at my hands some people willing to participate in something like this. You see, while some bacteria are either our friends or entirely neutral... others cause this... they are the cause of the diseases."

    As he spoke, Miriel approached a stick with a container to collect bacteria from the prisoner.

    "Some of the bacteria I showed to you are the same ones that are making this man suffer. You can check it. Actually, I beg you do to it, please."

    Once everybody had seen the new bacteria, many of them confirmed they were, indeed, similar to one they had already seen... but they seemed... more active, alive, or something.

    "You see, our body has a thing called: the immune system. Its principal function is to detect the presence of unknown beings like those and fight them in case they are dangerous..." Kiran flexed his knees, smiled sarcastically, and said. "But of course, some diseases are so powerful that when your system has identified the problem and discovered what it can use to destroy it... the mortal symptoms are already happening or you are pretty much dead already... but, a long time ago some healers discovered that if you receive the disease from bacteria that are already debilitated or death, you suffer a weak version of that disease... but when the strong one enters your body the immune system already knows what to do to destroy it and acts instantly... compare this to a knight fighting an armored unit, the first time he uses his normal sword being uneffective... until he discovers that using an armorslayer is a better idea."

    One of those older healers frowned. "Young hero, if I am understanding correctly... you want us to get infected... to become stronger against the disease?"

    "But from a weak version of the disease or a dead one. With that, my knight has all the time of the world to find the correct weapon to fight... of course, let's face it. Now you understand why I said I couldn't get volunteers for this..." Kiran approached to Miriel, sitting on a chair and preparing his arm. "Due to that... I'm gonna use myself as test subject.."

    "YOU WHAT?!" yelled Sharena and Anna. Some others also displayed surprise but they left that in whispers.

    "I'm gonna use myself as a test subject, now please stay quiet." Kiran shrugged.

    Both women ran to by his side. "Are you insane?!" yelled Sharena.

    "I thought I had made clear that the response to that is a yes..."

    "But this is extreme!" exclaimed Anna. "Remember there is much more knowledge in your brain to risk it!"

    "Relax, I know what I'm doing. I've been receiving these things since I was born and look at me. I'm perfectly fine... now... could you please move? or am I obligated to move you with a punch? get out of the way."

    Both the princess and the general gave him angry faces as they let Miriel approach.

    "While it's true the method may seem... intimidating. "Kiran commented as Miriel introduced the vaccine on his right arm.
    "The pain suffered is minimal and the protection you get is worth it... of course, it's gonna take time until you can see the effects this is gonna do to me so we need to meet again. By the moment I'm going to give you a present, they are called thermometers and are very functional at measuring the temperature of the body. That, and the expedient I've gotten of many diseases by letting them evolve in more criminals like this one."

    Miriel pointed to another table. "They are for free. Just stay a little more so I can explain how do they operate. "

    The scholars shrugged, whispered, and more as they got near to take their respective present. While Miriel remained, Kiran decided his presence wasn't necessary. He said goodbye and walked away.

    Sharena and Anna followed him. "Well... it didn't go bad at all. I told you you were worrying about nothing..." Normally Sharena would be more excited regarding this kind of event... but what Kiran did to himself kinda ruined it.

    "The first rule of security: always think in what is considered to be the impossible and prepare for that, the responsible of the Titanic's safe boats, Alexander Carlisle, knew that but they ignored it. The result? 1514 persons died after a ship that transported 2334 ones went to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean... well, perhaps my example cannot be exactly translated in what I did... but again, no matter how much preparation you have, it can always be not enough."

    "Wait wait wait... you're telling me a single ship from your world can transport thousands of persons?" Anna questioned... and preparing herself to note everything he said... if she could replicate that ship...

    "When it's principally of metal instead of wood, it uses coal instead of wind to navigate and its size is similar to a mansion it's perfectly possible... but take in consideration that I'm talking regarding a ship that existed 88 years before I was born so its technology is antiquated compared to what I've seen in the present. Also, with the existence of the planes, the ships today are principally utilized to transport products. The ones that still transport people are pretty much... floating hotels... or castles..." again, Kiran shrugged. "I highly doubt that even with my help this world is gonna have something like that in this century..." Kiran rubbed his chin. "Although it would be interesting to see if we could make the Titanic operate with fire magic... it may be more expensive though..."

    "But are you absolutely sure you're going to be okay... right?!" Sharena demanded.

    "Yes... carajo (goddamit...)"
    Days after that, everybody was again in that room.

    Anyone could see with their own eyes that Kiran wasn't exactly... healthy... but he also wasn't that bad.

    His face was also red... but the tone was... light. His coughing was less frequent and it made less sound. Kiran's voice was perfectly normal. He also had those red circles... but just a few of them.

    More heroes were present that day. Alfonse himself wanted to continue to examine what he already had witnessed when Kiran made his experiments. The queen also used some time of her already very low free time to see this. Others were just either curious or worried about their tactician and possible hope for the future... and finally, Lissa and some healers were taking care of him.

    With his eyes closed and face resting on his fist, Kiran spoke "As I told you, I'm suffering a weak version of this... but take into consideration that it's affecting me like this given the detail I'm from another world and the bacteria there are different, other people would react differently... and analyze it... "he coughed. "If I'm this bad thanks to a weak or dead version of one of these things... what do you think might have happened to me had I made contact with the real thing?"

    Everybody could approach to take notes. Kiran didn't mind at all. "Now, it's obvious I'm going to introduce a better version once I'm healed."

    Even if something went wrong, at least the authorities were already convinced that the bacteria were the cause of the diseases.
    When the hero of the legend finally recovered and that syringe with mortal content approached his arms, his friends were praying to their god that he would be okay. But Kiran didn't need to pray... he KNEW this worked.

    Days and days passed... and Kiran didn't display any symptoms of what he had suffered the first time.

    His smile was only comparable to the shine of the sun. "Normally this is the part where I ask you if this is sufficient to prove this to you but, as a scientist, I beg you to repeat the experiment with more people. Just don't inject more than one vaccine at the same time, that might be dangerous."

    Many approached Kiran to shake hands with him, which he gladly did. After explaining that the more people vaccines the fewer probabilities of diseases to cause a pandemic and how important that was and how this also protected people who given certain medical conditions couldn't receive a vaccine or didn't feel its effects. All the scholars left very content.

    As Miriel introduced another vaccine into his body. Kiran was talking to Henriette.

    "As queen of Askr, I must thank you once again. The first time you saved my life, now you're going to save many." they shook their hands.

    "It's just my duty as a scientist." He also gave her a thumbs-up "But If I'm going to get some credit, don't forget my partners. They also do their part."

    "It's my pleasure to learn and help." Mirel nodded.

    "I'm always willing to help." Sharena giggled.

    Alfonse crossed his arms. "Okay, it's official, ask me for anything you need and I'm gonna move earth and sky to get it."

    "That sounds good." Kiran shrugged as he took another cup. "You're not gonna make me monetize this?" Kiran asked.

    Anna rolled her eyes. "You already make yourself clear. We can make money with anything else, but the health sector won't be touched."

    "Excelente (Excellent). Now, I would like to order to do a census to determine how much the population increases from now..." He narrowed a little. "The last thing I want is to create a situation of overpopulation that will destroy us all thanks to the lack of enough resources... "

    "We must control it then," Alfonse stated.

    "Yes, I'm helping you, but I don't want you to commit the same mistakes the aliens I'm part of did." Kiran sighed.

    "Mr. Kiran... I would be honored if you signed this." Henriette handed over a document. Kitan approached his face to read. "As a reward for this discovery and anything else you are still going to show us... I'm giving you the Askarian nationality and founds to help your research."

    "Don't think I forgot to get you the money you didn't come to receive since you saved my mother." Alfonse commented.

    "True... I told her I would calculate it but in the end, I never returned for that... just... there's a detail I don't like..."

    "What is it?" the queen asked gently.

    "The part where it says I'm becoming a noble... being a noble means I have to go to all those parties I don't like at all... that and other details I'm not don't know about. I'm sorry but unless you erase that I'm not signing this." Kiran shook his head as he handed the paper back.

    Henriette smiled as she nodded. "I see, it's a shame though. That mark on your hand would have been an excellent symbol for your house."

    Kiran imagined for a moment a flag with the triforce being carried by some soldiers working specifically under his command. "Sounds good, but... no... no."

    "It's okay... em... em... could you please vaccinate my babies already?" Henriette's mom instincts were taking over her.

    "Um..." Sharena and Alfonse backed off a few steps. "Are you absolutely sure there are no other methods to put that thing in us?" Sharena asked timidly.

    "I remember reading that they were making advances and probably, in the future, they could put the vaccines in the food we eat but... not only I don't know how to do that but even if I knew that wouldn't be possible with the current technology so... get back here!"
    "Having fun?" Kiran sat on a chair as his new "nephew" was reading his reports. At least seven detailed reports regarding diseases... that and he also was watching the bodies of the recently dead test subjects.

    "Are you sure we are allowed to dissect them?" Raigh seemed eager to get started. Anybody could see that because he was holding instruments.

    "Yes, they are also secure. We had to burn the last ones since we determined the disease still could spread with a dead body." It was a shame, but the last thing Kiran wanted was to cause a pandemic inside the castle.

    "What a shame... so what are we exactly doing with this?"

    "We're just studying the body to comprehend better how it does works... imagine being able to save a life by replacing an infected lung or kidney by extracting one from another person." Magic was certainly marvelous, but even that couldn't do everything, a mix of both could be even more practical and beneficial than working using a single one.

    "Hohoho! can we do that with everything?" Raigh began cutting.

    "Probably, except with the brain. Our brain contains our "soul" so you understand what's the problem with doing that."

    Raigh used his wind magic to suck the blood with a crystal tube. "I heard a mage could use this to extend his life from the regular."

    "Yeah..." Kiran looked at the crystal container that had all the quintessence he had obtained. "I heard that, too..."
    By now I've seen all the routes of FE Three Houses and my opinion never changed regarding who I would side with. It's just amazing how good the story is... but I have a massive issue with TWSITD... they are supposed to be the descendants of a super-advanced civilization... they have their own futuristic version of Area 51... THEY HAVE FUCKING NUKES AND ROBOTS... and they decide to fight with the same medieval weapons as anybody else?!... WHAT THE FUCKING HELL?! No, seriously! These assholes never thought that they could create something more advanced?! THEY HAVE THE ABILITY TO MAKE THEMSELVES LOOK LIKE OTHER PEOPLE! WHY HAVEN'T THEY INVENTED AN ANDROID OF HUMAN SIZE THAT LOOKS LIKE HUMAN FOR INFILTRATION OPERATIONS?! (Yes, that's a terminator reference). THEY HAVEN'T THOUGHT ABOUT CREATING TANKS?!

    MOST RETARDED EVIL FACTION I'VE EVER SEEN!

    And don't tell me magic works better than a fucking assault rifle which allows you to shoot from a more secure distance... besides... why wouldn't they want to create magic bullets? you know, a bullet that contains magic power inside and explodes once it stopped moving (preferably inside the body of a human)

    They cause a massive plot hole that... I'm going to need to fix here... the most obvious thing is to make as if they never have the technology... but given the detail that their superior power
    *ALERT OF SPOILER!*

    is part of the reason Edelgard allies with them so she can get the power to destroy them later... it's...


    URGH!
     
  • Index
    • Chapter 39: Training And Watching The Sky
  • Index
    • Training And Watching The Sky
    ​
    Kiran was certainly surprised about how inefficient he had been the whole time at extracting quintessence.

    Granted, he only knew about its presence in the blood and the time he had to obtain it was limited until somebody apart from Kagero approached to ask him what in the hell was he doing.

    At least he now could do it in the dark with the advantage of learning regarding this second "human" species.
    He now had at least five containers completely filled and ready to be utilized.

    "Just remember that we cannot tell anybody concerning these... projects" Kiran scratched his hair while looking at the quintessence worried.

    Raigh raised his eyebrow, turned to see him. "Tell anybody about what or what?"

    Kiran gave a thumbs-up and smirked. To this, Raigh did the same.

    "However," Raigh crossed his arms. "Soon or later we must use this for something." Kiran didn't fail to notice the looking his nephew gave him and the implications of it didn't escape of his mind.

    But he had to analyze one specific detail first.

    "Well... there's something" holding a needle which he used to extract a tiny but considerable amount of his own blood. Kiran's body reaction to this compound was about to be tested. "Given the fact we've seen my alien condition does not make me much different to the humans you are used to, even from the parts of inside, I... I want you to add some quintessence to this. It's better to take precautions first."

    Raigh nodded as he placed the same on the table. "Honestly, I doubt there would be any problem."

    "It might be true... but remember that, for example, if you inject a type of blood that is not compatible with the person you are injecting to... its immune system is not gonna react well against this and that, as far as I know, can somehow kill the person... even worse if you do that with animal blood."

    "True... you said that." Raigh shrugged, watching the many samples they had extracted in order to discover the possible combinations of blood types of the local humans. Who knew if there were more than the classics A, B, AB, and O and their respective negative variants.

    Kiran, as O- type, had more possibilities of dying with a process like this. Of course, the compound wasn't exactly blood... but it was better to do not take any risk. "Good use of common sense I suppose."

    "I must go to train so I leave you in charge... oh! right!" Kiran took a few steps until he opened a drawer. "I told your mother I wanted it to analyze it... and it's in part true, but it would be good if you use this against our enemies... in cases of extreme emergency given its nature of course."

    Raigh approached. When his eyes were able to see what was inside... he smiled as if he was a demon. He extended his hand and took it.

    "If she asks you how you got it back..."

    "I found it while working with you."

    Kiran snapped his fingers. "Do not allow her to take it away again."

    "Never in my fucking life." Raigh snapped too.
    Thanks to all his training with the Espada Maestra Azul (Blue Master Sword), Kiran's left hand was the perfect one for the Espada Maestra Dorada as this one not only was lighter because of a more classical guard... but also because the blade was shorter.

    It was better like that. After using that silver sword Kiran realized that wielding two swords of the same length led to situations where both swords got into the way of the other one, colliding and stopping the attacks. While the Azul one was a bastard sword with the weight of a longsword... the Dorada one was, indeed, a classic single-handed sword. Now it was time to practice with the right hand, and he had done for days.

    However, he that day discovered that demonstrating how important him... or better said, how valuable was the knowledge his brain held had a secondary effect.

    He saw Robin, Ephraim, Roy, Alfonse, and the knight of Chrom... Frederick, approaching to him.

    "May I help you?" not that he would mind the company, but this time he didn't plan to train with a partner.

    Alfonse crossed his arms as he considered his words before speaking. "You see... Kiran, before you complain or anything... we want you to hear us out."

    As this might mean something not good, Kiran narrowed as he used his hand to make a gesture to say: continue.
    "Many of us discussed this and we came to the same conclusion..." Robin said. "We cannot afford to allow you to die."
    Ephraim nodded. Kiran had seen the king of Renais being serious before... but this was more than the usual. "At first we didn't know to measure how important was everything you are offering to us and we are very grateful that you're willing to share it without pretty much nothing in exchange..."

    "The many potential lives to be saved thanks to you are unthinkable, especially considering we are going to take a copy of your book to all of our worlds so..." Roy scratched his hair.

    "Your friends and Robin requested me to train you in order to improve your strength and skill." said Frederick.
    They waited for Kiran's response... considering his personality, they kinda expected he would get mad instantly.

    "Good idea."

    "So... are you okay with this?" Alfonse asked.

    "What do you think am I? your average retarded hero?"

    "Um... no..."

    Frederick narrowed as he crossed his arms. "It's important for me to see what he's capable of before I decide what level he's apt for."

    This resulted in him having to fight four opponents in a row... with training weapons of course.
    Kiran blocked a slash from the left. He proceeded to attack with his right hand, aiming at his opponent's own right arm. Robin lost balance for a second as she jumped to dodge that. Kiran then began to attack mercilessly with both swords. Slash after slash after slash Robin blocked them all with her shield. Suddenly she pushed one of Kiran's swords with the shield itself and she lunged.

    Kiran made a lateral jump to the left, barely avoiding getting hit by Robin's sword. This time nothing got in the way of Kiran's left sword and it ended up near Robin's neck.

    She nodded and smiled as she walked away. Ephraim's turn was about to begin. He noticed the knight of Ylisse didn't seem to be fascinated at all. Not that he expected the opposite... as much as he had progressed... a hero fighting seriously would beat the shit out of him in less than five minutes.

    Lacking of any shield to block spears, Kiran's only option was to dodge just like all the other times he and the king had trained together. Being a dual-wielding user, this had helped a lot in battles.

    A jump to the right, another to the left. Two to the right, three to the left, he constantly dodged everything without counterattacking at all.

    After a while, Ephraim's attacks changed into a real threat.

    Kiran attempted a vertical cut from up to down with the right sword. Ephraim, of course, didn't have any problem stopping it. Taking advantage of the opening, Ephraim's next strike almost hit on Kiran's face as the summoner inclined his body. Kiran used his left sword to hit the spear. Normally this would have worked a little but Ephraim already got used to this. He didn't have any trouble at backing off and preparing himself for what was going to come.

    They continued like that for a while but the result was as Kiran himself expected. Ephraim managed to hit him at least four times.

    Frederick raised his eyebrow.

    Kiran giggled and shrugged as he threw his left sword.

    "Robin, please!"

    Robin didn't understand what he said at first. Until something made click on her mind. "Oh! right!" She threw the shield which Kiran caught. "Okay, ¡aquí vamos! (Here we go!)"

    Ephraim kept his serious face as his thrusts were stopped by Kiran's shield. The king was worried regarding the detail that Kiran could push his spear with the left hand with superior strength to the average soldier. Kiran was born as left-handed after all. Considering this, he began to attack at Kiran's legs principally. It came a moment when Kiran decided to attempt to kick the spear. It failed but Ephraim decided to change his approach as Kiran also almost hit Ephraim's right hand when the king lost his balance a few seconds. Grabbing his weapon from a lower position, he thrust faster. However, his fears became true as Kiran suddenly executed all the force of his left hand to throw away the spear.

    Ephraim felt in part frustrated but in part proud when he saw that sword about to enter into the middle of his eyes.
    "Better." This was all he needed to say. Kiran didn't want to hear cute words regarding his progress. He only wanted to know if he did it rightly or wrongly.

    Kiran smiled as he put his sword down and bowed.

    This time, the prince of Askr took his turn.

    "Are you remembering something?"

    Alfonse shook his head. "It seems it's gonna be permanent."

    "I didn't ask because it wasn't really a good moment for that but... how reacted your mom?"

    "She said she would find a method so she could spend time with Sharena and me so we can bond... but what truly bothers me is the detail that I cannot remember my dad... or my brother..."

    "The best thing that crosses my mind to tell you is this: Keep moving forward, accept reality as it is and continue with your life... of course, those are probably just empty words without some actual help but I'm not the most appropriate person to ask for mental assistance so... you see."

    Alfonse sighed. "Thanks anyway."

    This time, Kiran started to hold the sword with the left hand and the shield with the right one.

    Alfonse made the first move, Kiran responded by blocking and aiming at Alfonse's hand. The prince had it harder than normal at defending himself from that since he had to move more to put the shield in the correct position so Kiran's sword would collide, but he managed to do it. Yet, the effort he put on that didn't help him at recovering balance when Kiran used his shield to push Alfonse's shield. The prince, who wasn't exactly the fastest fighter, was forced to block with his sword rather than the shield an imminent attack. They stared at each other as their blades obstructed a little their vision.

    "It's marvelous how much you have improved since you arrived."

    "You and the others taught me well."

    Alfonse nodded as he released contact and moved to the left. Kiran lost his balance and ending up standing on a single foot, normally this would have given the victory to the prince but with a shield on the right hand, Kiran easily stopped the blade and gave a jump backward to prepare himself. They continued sparring for at least ten minutes. Alfonse got two victories and Kiran one.

    The case with Roy was different since this time, both fought using two swords.

    This reminded to Kiran that he had to ask something.

    "That woman I fought when we returned... she had the same two katanas you wield..."

    "That was my mother..." this apparently made Roy angry as he began to attack faster.

    That explained a lot. Therefore, fighting Roy might be some kind of training for the next time he found that green-haired woman...

    And Kiran knew one thing for sure...

    HE WAS GOING TO WIN NO MATTER WHAT!
    "251, 252, 253, 254!"

    Kiran was now in the second part of the training... fitness at the stage of push-ups.

    Frederick had to admit something. The boy was skillful... but weak.

    Yet, at that moment, he couldn't force this "hero" to realize a routine of training as brutal as the one Chrom and the others were already used to.

    The "hero" ended up collapsing, lying on the ground. Frederick was about to yell him nobody gave him permission to take a break just like his enemies wouldn't let him rest, however, the boy growled insanely and slowly he began to push to be up once more. It was like the very thing of attempting it was torture and impossible of doing for him, but instead of collapsing again, the boy continued growling. It took him at least a minute to be in the correct position once more and continue with the routine.

    Frederick didn't know if he should smile of pride... or laugh of how pathetic he looked...

    It helped that even with his low level, the boy didn't complain regarding what excessive he had to do like other recruiters he had trained in the past. He even wore some strange clothes specifically designed for exercise that he said were from his own world.

    If only he stopped growling as if he was a beast everything would be "perfect".
    Comparing it to the first times he had to train like this, Kiran didn't feel the extreme pain you could expect after a long period of doing extensive training in all his body. He was tired, of course, but walking or even moving a single hand around wasn't torture anymore.

    He laughed as he imagined what his old friend David would have said if he had the opportunity to saw him this thin and strong in comparison to his thirteen years old version. It wasn't a surprise that, after a long life of sitting in front of a computer, on the bus, on the cars and a long list of other things, having to adapt to a lifestyle in which he had to move a lot was hard and strange. However, given his responsibilities as a "legendary hero" he couldn't take the privilege of being lazy.

    But now he could rest and do a bit of astronomy work with his telescope.

    Miriel and he were already building a better version based on the mirror telescope of Newton, but this old Galileo style one was still decent.

    Yet, some other thoughts crossed his mind as he noted the positions of the stars.

    His condition after receiving a vaccine was worse than the usual reaction anybody would have had. That, as he himself had said, meant the local diseases would have been mortal had they entered his body...

    This was comparable to that old movie or book... the war of the worlds. The earthling diseases ended up being the essential element that defeated the Martians... that, seen from a reviewer perspective could be described as a Deux Ex Machina... yet, that didn't change the fact that, in his case, a single virus or bacteria would have forced him to prepare the documents of his will and trusts.

    And that indeed happened in many parallel timelines.

    It was something that made an uncomfortable scratching in his mind at least one time per month. Even before obtaining "confirmation" of the existence of the multiverse.

    Even in this adventure, no matter what, just like the Hero Of Time... Kiran was going to have his timeline of the failure.
    But as Rick Sánchez had stated.

    What about the reality where Hitler cured cancer?

    What about the reality where Luis never was born because his father never met that other man who convinced him that it was a good idea to have a new young boy so the youngest one could help when the others left the house?
    What about the reality where he never got summoned and probably he committed suicide? or perhaps that reality where he didn't do that but continued living until the humans destroyed their planet and obviously themselves in the process?

    The answer was just one.

    Don't think about it.

    Kiran shook his head, he needed to focus on the sky.

    While it's true that the ancient registers of the firmament already had told him where to look in order to determine whether that strange moving star was a planet or not and he already noticed this was the fourth planet of the solar system, there was a particular thing that only he thought it was weird.

    The thing that in his world in the past was only known as the milky way... that band of stars... wasn't exactly present... not that he expected to be inside a copy of the Milky Way galaxy but he at least would have found interesting if he saw something similar that could confirm to him if he was inside a spiral galaxy...

    He also couldn't see a trace of a single brilliant core that could be seen from the inside of an elliptical galaxy like the one that could be seen from the earth if it still existed when the future Lactomeda galaxy had been born..
    .
    Was this a lenticular galaxy or an irregular galaxy? considering how many stars he was able to see and how radiant they were... it suggested the right answer was the second option... yet, Kiran had his doubts regarding whether this was just his imagination given the fact he used to live in a town with much light contamination and he didn't truly know how a normal, clean firmament looked like... or if this, indeed, was a more shinning sky product of many stars being born faster as product of an extremely high star formation just like how it usually happened in irregular galaxies.

    This opened another interesting question... if this was an irregular galaxy, it made more possible a curious thing that even most people from his world didn't have any idea about...

    Was this a satellite galaxy?

    Could it be possible that this galaxy was orbiting around a longer one just like the large and small Magellanic Clouds orbited to the Milky Way?

    There was something that kinda ruined that... if that was the case... where the main big galaxy was?

    He at least would expect to find a galaxy that, given its big size and proximity in the case this was a satellite one, would occupy a big part of the firmament, perfectly visible using only the eyes... in the best case it would be so big that it would mean this galaxy was in course of collision and would be similar to how Andromeda was going to look like 4.3 billion years in the future... or in the worse case, it would look like a big cloud bigger than the moon.

    But he didn't see anything... yet... what if the galaxy could only be seen from the other hemisphere of the planet?

    Where was he? on the north side? or the south side?

    Kiran wrote down something so he wouldn't forget it.

    Prestale atención al firmamento cada vez que cruzes un portal (Pay attention to the firmament each time you cross a portal)

    He felt kinda stupid for not thinking in that before... but well, he wasn't perfect and he had a lot of working to get done as tactician, as a soldier, friend and as scientists in other areas of knowledge... he kinda wished the time ring the had just bought could actually make him travel to the future... who knew how the firmament would look like 100000 years after that point of the time he belonged to?

    The other worlds were just the same world in different timelines and continents. Observing from those points of reference would help to determine which options were true.

    "Good night."

    Kiran turned to see... Robin.

    "Good night." he smiled as he made his peace and love signal.

    Robin answered with the same one... she still seemed to be confused though. "I'm still not used to that." she said as she said by Kiran's side.

    "You'll get used to, don't worry." he crossed his arms and shrugged. "How are you?"

    "Very well, I suppose. I've been in the library reading about Askarian story. I'm kinda surprised this war is the second one of this kind."

    Kiran scratched his hair. "But, why? I mean, didn't you fight in a war that was the second part of a conflict between Ylisse and Plegia? I mean, even in my world the Great War caused the second one."

    She shook her head. "What I mean is that, if this happened twice... I would expect Ylisse to have been invaded by Embla two times and not just a single one."

    "Aaah! that! okay. If I remember well, they cannot open a gate to the same specific world every time. If Veronica's father invaded a Ylisse, it wasn't yours."

    "I see," she rubbed her chin. "By the way, I saw you presenting your experiment, it was amazing."

    "It's nothing so great to be praised like that. It's nothing compared to what a real scientist of my world can do even if you have limited tools... did you vaccinate yourself already?"

    "Yes, I just hope the effects will end fast."

    "True, but the fact you are from this planet may help a little so I doubt you'll suffer the same way I did thanks to my alien condition."

    "It's good to know that."

    Kiran remembered something. "Question, if I help you to kill Grima... and your life and his... or hers... I don't know... are linked... you're going to die?"

    The Ylissean tactician smiled sadly. "It's the most probable scenario... it doesn't matter. I should have killed Grima in the first place. I'm willing to sacrifice my life."

    "Are you totally sure?"

    "Yes. I don't want to repeat the same mistake."

    "Understood." Kiran sighed as he rubbed his neck. "The last thing I want is to give assistance for suicide in a situation the person isn't sure whether they really want that or not... well, in that case, I wanna tell you that with the money I'll get for my researches... my next project is probably going to be the dynamite I promised to you."

    Her eyes shone. "For real?"

    "Yes, for real... I still have to demonstrate its power but if I can blow up part of a mountain I don't think it would be impossible to kill a dragon with this." Kiran smiled... and caressed Robin's hair.

    The woman didn't complain... yet she couldn't say she didn't feel nervous.

    "You are pretty."

    Well, that was unexpected. "Eh?!"

    "I mean, that's something that is interesting. I don't know if it's because all of you are aliens or is a genetic thing but... by the moment I haven't found a single woman I could describe as ugly... and I don't mean it as a compliment, it's like literally the ugly ones don't exist in the first place. What's the explanation for that I wonder." He got his hand away as he rubbed his own chin.

    Robin felt that her cheeks were warm. "I don't think I can help you to find a good answer to that."

    The silence filled the place for a while.

    "Is that mark something you got from your parents?" Robin asked as she noticed the triforce in the hand that had gently caressed her.

    "No, it's something recent... if this can be inherited as the Ylissean mark... I don't know... and even if that is possible it's not gonna happen."

    Robin wasn't sure what he meant with that last part.. yet she considered it was a too personal thing to ask for it. "I see... I thought it was the same case..."

    "Why the interest?"

    "Oh... well..."

    "If you don't want to tell me it's okay, I just felt curiosity."

    "Well... as Grima's... vessel..." she gulped... she was kinda lying with that last part. "I have my own." She took off her glove.

    "Oh!... while I know the implications of that... I gotta admit its design is... good."

    "That does not make me feel better though..."

    "It's okay." He caressed her hand with his left hand. "I'm not gonna tell you more cute words given that you have probably heard that many times already..." He kissed her hand.

    "Thanks..." again, it was incredible how he had yelled at her when she questioned the use of criminals as test subjects... or how he had mocked of her desires of having free will... and yet, he was being a gentle right now... and he was very willing to help her to fix her mistake... should she hate him or should she respect him? the feelings were too contradictories.

    "Anyway. I'm using my telescope to watch the stars and moon right now... wanna see?" Kiran approached with his hand the object in question to her.

    "I suppose it would be good.
    This story just got 100 followers and I'm happy because of that... I want to thank you so much because of that. It's a nice way to start the year...

    Of course, considering the third great war may happen soon it probably won't matter in the end... meh, I'm going to continue this no matter what!

    As many of you may have thought since this story follows realistic logic regarding giving your blood to somebody else... the experiments of TWSITD wouldn't have worked very well. Reality strikes once more and just like in the case of radiation, putting strange random things in your body is more probably going to kill you rather than giving you superpowers! Crests work a little differently here, you can be sure about that!

    I'm aware that this thing of the heroes saying that protecting Kiran's life is probably one of the most important things is kinda to make him look more like a Gary Stu... you know, that type of character kinda becomes the center of the universe for the other characters... however, I tried my best to make sure there was a logical reason for this in the case I couldn't take this element out from the story. In the canon they said it's because he's the only one capable of wielding Breidablik and I always wonder... does the gun have a mind and only allows him/her to shoot?... or are they retarded enough to do not have learned how to use the damn thing? or the excuse is so stupid and convenient or they are retarded... so... what do you think? it's enough to be allowed to write something like this?

    The training part pretty much demonstrates that I'm not gonna give to Kiran plot armor against spears/lances. The best way for him in case he faces a spearman is to use a fucking shield and not two swords.

    And yes, the Espada Maestra Dorada is shorter. If you search for information regarding dual-wielding many videos and websites will tell you this: having two swords of the same length can generate situations where both swords interfere with each other.

    As Frederick is very well known for his infernal but effective training routines... you see why I used him for this.

    And who wants to bet? the one that says the right answer at guessing what kind of galaxy are they in is gonna get the opportunity to appear as a character in the chapter of 500 years in the future! not the best price... I know, but... making you an OC of this story is not gonna work well with my ideas.

    Speaking of ideas... don't expect me to adapt the book 4 for this just like I'm gonna ignore book 3... I mean, Kiran has already demonstrated he's a dreamer weaver and the story happens in a dream world so... I'm gonna give you a little of what would happen realistically speaking.
    The dark elves/fairies screamed in horror as they saw the tactician of Askr floating on the sky being followed by an army of monsters.

    With a single snap, the green medusa-like things approached at an insanely fast speed at their victims and extracted their life force with those enormous fangs.

    Those who weren't flying didn't have better luck as metal skeletons shoot their purple "magic" which disintegrated everything it touched. Killing an enemy instantly.

    Kiran himself released a wave of energy as he yelled Kame Hame Ha.
    I mean, I know dark elves are dream weavers too but... anything we could have seen in movies like Terminator, games like Metroid or Silent Hill are thousands of times scarier and have the advantage of being not known... perhaps if book 5 is good I would accept to adapt it but... who knows?
     
  • Index
    • Chapter 40: Lockets and Bed Time Story
  • Index
    • Lockets and Bed Time Story
    ​
    Shanna left the scissors on the table while she used a hand-mirror to allow the chief to be able to see the part of his head that the frontal mirror didn't display.

    A lot of hair that a few hours ago was adhered to Kiran's head now lied on the ground.

    The tactician-scientist rubbed his chin as he analyzed. "Just make it a little more curve."

    "Yup!" Shanna gladly continued her job. Cutting and cutting once more, Shanna reduced Kiran's hair to a tiny, barely existent, membrane.

    "Ay wey! que a gusto... (Hell yeah! how pleasant it is!)" Kiran sighed in relief. "Thanks... I don't comprehend how you women can tolerate long hair... it's the most uncomfortable condition of the existence..." he grimaced.

    Shanna giggled as she swept. "You're asking the wrong person if you want to know the answer. I mean, my homeland is very cold. Having my hair as this helps. Yet, whichever is the reason why others decide to have their hairs longer... well, I'm afraid I don't know!"

    "True." Kiran closed his eyes, shrugged, and placed money on the table. "Anyway. Thanks a lot. The best part is that as far as I know, soldiers in my world must have their hair like this."

    "Enjoy it!"

    He left the room feeling remarkably good!

    Taking a bath multiplied his good humor by ten.

    Noticing something on the table he had bought days ago after a certain person told him a special date was coming, he placed the box in his pockets and ran fastly and furiously through the corridors.

    "Amelia!"

    Even though she was surprised because of Kiran's new haircut, she didn't comment on anything regarding it.
    "Have you seen Nino?"

    Amelia rubbed her hair, attempting to remember whether she had seen the mage or not that day. "I believe I saw Lugh and her entering the library."

    "I see." He nodded. "By the way, how are you? is your training with Ephraim paying off?"

    "His highness has taught me to attack more efficiently." A tiny but visible smile appeared on her face. "He even helped me to deal better with the weight of my armor." she raised her head to meet Kiran's eyes. "For the first time... I think I'm truly a soldier!"

    "Have luck then." Kiran patted and caressed her hair. "Well, if you excuse me." He then left as quickly as he had arrived.
    As he approached the library, he decreased the speed... good thing considering he was about to crash with the door.
    Inside, he saw Robin walking through the history section. Alfonse was sitting on the left side with a book that apparently was about ancient Askarian. It took Kiran at least a minute to finally found the person he was looking for.

    He decided to sneak, kneeling and approaching slowly.

    The next thing Nino saw was... darkness.

    "Who am I?"

    The girl had a smile that could warm even the coldest heart. "Kiran!"

    As he sat by her side, he asked. "I thought one of your little boys was making you some company."

    "He had to go to the bathroom... whatever is forcing him to do not return quickly is something I don't know." She scratched her cheek.

    "I see... so, how is it going? reading better already?"

    "There are a lot of words I don't understand yet..." she took a look back at the book, returning to some previous pages.

    "But I see many of them already translated."

    "You cannot be blamed, it's harder to learn a language when you become older. The perfect time for that it's when you are between eight and five years old."

    "Thanks... I... I'll do my best!"

    "It's for sure you'll do... anyway. Remember you told me your birthday was approaching?"
    Nino nodded.

    "Well... after returning to that jewelry to claim my time ring," he raised his left hand to point his right's hand index finger "I decided to request a new thing... one for me... and another for you." He then placed the box near the book.

    "Y-Y-You bought me a ring?!" She opened her present... to laugh a little when she discovered it was something different.

    It was a locket. A green heart-shaped locket. The design was simple, yet, the simplicity made it look cute.

    She then noticed that Kiran was now wearing another locket colored red.

    Some tears rolled through her cheeks.

    "Uh... you don't like it?"

    "No! It's just... this... this present reminds me of this one."

    Kiran raised his eyebrow when Nino pulled out a pendant from that bag she always wanted to carry no matter what.
    "I suppose... I'm not the first one at giving you something like this."

    She shook her head. "It belonged to my mother..." She opened the precious object to reveal a... photo? for a moment that's Kiran's thought... until he understood it was a painted portrait. "And I suppose that's her..."

    She nodded, still crying. "I never met her... I wish I had..."

    Kiran grimaced and growled. "Sorry..."

    "It's okay... I like my new locket, hermano."

    He hugged her without hesitation. She happily accepted the comfort.

    When she finally felt better, Nino felt curiosity due to a detail.

    "H-Has this something to do with your diary and that... Under..."

    "Undertale. And yes. Frisk, the protagonist, gets one of these at the end of the story. Some drawings feature it as a golden heart locket... while others showed me something more similar to a collar in red... I decided to ask for a mix of both concepts... then I thought about you and... this happened." he laughed.

    "It wasn't necessary... also, weren't you the one saying you were bad at giving presents?"

    "T-T-This is an exception!... because I know you very well!... or at least that's what I think." he rolled his eyes.
    Nino giggled.

    "Any-anyway... em... I must go now." Kiran began to stand up... only for Nino to hug him tightly. "Wait!"
    "What? is something the matter?"

    She, strangely, seemed to be very nervous. "Can we... can we... go to get something to eat?"

    "... You mean... right now?"

    "Em... no, tomorrow! tomorrow!"

    "At the dining room?"

    She shook her head. "I would like to try a restaurant... or if that minds you... can we at least go to obtain some clothes?"
    Kiran stared at her in confusion.

    "I just want to hang out with you..."

    Kiran shrugged. "Well, tomorrow is the last day of the week... why not?" he kissed her on the forehead. "So... can I go now or you want to continue the hug?"

    "Uh? ah! sorry! sorry!"

    Kiran smiled as he left.

    In a way, displaying too many emotions always bothered him as he always desired to be as stoic as Zero... but with people as Nino, Sharena, Shanna, Amelia, Alfonse, Ephraim, and others... he just couldn't resist being that happy... reality never cared about what he preferred anyway.

    As he always moved through the castle by running, the guards didn't question anything when they saw him, they just gave him a greeting as he entered the room used as a hospital.

    He saw something that made him feel relaxed.

    Lissa, Miriel, and other clerics or sages were using his lastest invention on the workers of the castle and the order of heroes.

    As he walked by Ephraim's side, he saluted him with the gesture of peace and love, which Ephraim gladly replicated.
    "Is everything going well?" he asked to Miriel. She was vaccinating a soldier, He also noticed Lissa was about to vaccinate Azurita.

    She gave him a paper with all the details. "45 extra vaccines of Hórmmel, 75 of Putzppe, and 25 of Rhusite are going to be required to protect all the personal operating in the castle."

    "I see." He sat as Miriel approached another a syringe to him. "I would help you to fabricate more but now they gave me a more hard exercise routine I doubt I'm gonna have time today..."

    When Lissa attempted to protect the girl from the disease... she didn't react well. As much as Corrin tried to make her stop moving... the little Azura hugged her tightly with no intention at all of letting her go.

    "It's okay, Azura. It does not hurt, you saw me! I promise you, it causes no pain."

    Even with Corrin displaying her sweetest smile, Azurita didn't obey.

    "Perhaps if she's caressing her bunny?" Kiran suggested.

    "It may work," Lissa commented. "Bunnies are cute."

    At least Lissa seemed less sad than the previous time he saw her.

    "Could you please take care of her while I bring it?" Corrin asked as she attempted to pass the little girl from her hands to Kiran's.

    Of course, she wasn't exactly willing to abandon Corrin, but when Kiran caressed her hair the same way he did when they both met... she accepted.

    Once she had her precious animal everything went correctly.

    Kiran continued helping with the vaccination for a while until he left to train.

    However, seeing Azurita again remembered something he had to discuss with Corrin.

    By the time Frederick had ended torturing him, Kiran knocked on the door of Azurita's room... after a while, both Corrin and he were outside.

    "How are you?" Corrin patted him. Kiran, as usual, reacted to this by letting the princess hug him and purr.

    "Partially dead, but meh. I will live..." he sighed before purring again. "Now, going directly to what I came here for... are you going to keep Azurita?"

    "Keep... her?" Corrin needed a moment to understand what had said. "You mean, adopt her?" she blinked.

    "Yes. Taking her to your world and all that stuff." he made some movements with his hands as he spoke. "I mean, I think we both agree that sending her back to her own one is a bad idea if what you told me regarding how she was treated is true."

    Corrin closed her eyes. "We cannot do something so wrong to her... even less considering she may end up... end up... end up dead..."

    Okay, now that was even more terrifying... she was just a child for fuck's sake!

    "Is she murdered by your moment of the time?"

    Corrin shook her head "She sacrificed herself..."

    Kiran frowned.

    He wrote down in his mind something.

    Ask Alfonse about this later.

    "So, are you adopting her or not?"

    "I would be glad to have her... but... can you send us to the same world?"

    Kiran blinked. "Uh... now you mentioned... I hadn't thought about it..." he wondered how he could be so idiotic. "Em... Braidablik's manual indicates how to revert a summoning but... it does not say anything regarding sending a person to a different world... "

    "You think it's possible anyway?" She allowed him to raise his head from under her neck so they could speak face to face.

    "As a scientist, it's my duty saying the truth. To be honest... presuppose that if you are holding her, or anything similar, is gonna send you both to the same world would be irresponsible... and even if that happens you may be transported to her world rather than yours."

    Corrin considered it for a moment. "If that did change my past perhaps I would accept it... but..."

    "That's not the case." obvious answer.

    "We shouldn't take the risk then... she must stay here." Corrin certainly didn't know any other place where she could be safer.

    "I already "adopted" Nino..." or rather said, she was going to live with him given he didn't have papers about claiming her as his sister or anything. "I suppose I can adopt her too."

    "You're so sweet." She patted him again. "Although, you should spend some time with her."

    Kiran growled. "I already have a very tight agenda... I cannot add a new task." Plus, Kiran didn't have fond memories of interacting with children.

    "At least one time per week... otherwise I highly doubt she will desire to stay with you." she kinda gave him puppy eyes to force him to cooperate.

    "Well... if you could bring her to my lab I could teach her my science and spend time with her at the same time..." he wondered if wanting to fix almost every single problem of his life like that was a good idea. He also would need to teach her when Raigh wasn't around so Azurita wouldn't see the less cute experiments he and his "nephew" did together... but maybe it could work. "She's a little girl... at that age, the kids are easy to impress and they want to know the answers of everything."

    Corrin nodded, it made some sense. Then she had a suggestion. "You must tell her a bed story, at least one!"

    Classical parenting stuff.

    "...Tonight?"

    "The whole week if it's possible."

    Kiran sighed. Well, sleeping was something he barely did by that point in his life. "... Understood..."

    "By the way, that heart you have there is cute."

    "Thanks."
    Azurita didn't feel comfortable knowing Corrin wasn't going to be the one by her side until she slept. Even though Mr. Kiran seemed to be kind... the keyword was that: seemed.

    Kiran himself discovered another problem... he didn't have any experience at this... it wasn't like his father and mother ever told him a story to sleep... heck, he even didn't have a bed of his own as a child.

    She apparently was between five and eight years... it suggested she may enjoy a more complex story than something as classic as the Cinderella, stories he wasn't exactly fond of and probably would trigger bad memories in her, or anything like that... he definitely didn't want to scare her yet he doubt he could think in a story that didn't have a villain or at the very least an antagonist.

    Both stayed there without saying a single word for at least five minutes.

    Kiran cleared his throat.

    "The world lies shrouded in darkness... the wind stops blowing... the seas rage... the earth decays... the fire consumes..."

    The girl wasn't exactly excited but she didn't seem to be scared.

    He also attempted to move his hand to display emotion for the story.

    "But people believe in a prophecy, patiently awaiting its fulfillment... when darkness veils the world, Four Warriors of Light shall come." after that last sentence, he closed his hand, transforming it into a fist to denote... something, probably hope?

    Azurita was interested. It was a very different story to what Corrin used to give her.

    "After a long journey, four young travelers did, at last, appear... and in the hand of each one was a crystal... beautiful gems of red, blue, green, and yellow..." Kiran stood up and began walking around as he narrated.

    "Two of them were soldiers, twins. A girl called Rosa and a boy whose name is Manuel. The others were two mages. One of them a master of elemental offensive magic. He's Joseph. The other mage is a beautiful woman... she's Lucero, the team's healer. "

    One could argue that he was exaggerating with being so deep in the details of the story, he just needed a simple story for a kid... the thing is, he was actually narrating the story of a videogame... that and the fact Kiran really hated that excuse of: It's for kids! as if the fact it was for kids meant it was fine being lazy with the writing process. Granted, as an artist he generally sucked a lot, but even he could think of something more coherent than most old stories by adding some logic.

    Plus he didn't really needed to invent anything, just build over what already existed.

    Besides, working like this would help to extend the same story for many days!

    "They arrived at the kingdom where their destiny finally reached them. Cornelia. The barely existent light of their crystals didn't fail at getting the attention of the soldiers of the kingdom. They didn't doubt to tell them the king was looking for the warriors of the legend. Not sure of what they meant, the four followed them after the soldiers promised them a reward."
    His decisions at telling the story kinda had the opposite effect on Azurita. Instead of wanting to sleep, she was more than eager to continue awake to hear more.

    Kiran had transformed the story into some strange form of play in which he was performing the role of all the characters.
    "Hmph! the king's puppets! Do you have any idea who are you messing with?!" Kiran gave his best acting of the dark knight Garland who had kidnapped the princess Sara. "I will knock you all down!"

    Kiran changed his position in the room and simulated being holding a sword. "Let's go!"

    Azurita kinda wanted to laugh at seeing how he pretended to be five warriors almost at the same time.

    Yet, her biological condition already began to order her to get some rest as Kiran narrated the end of the first part.

    "And so their quest began. As the Four Warriors Of Light, they felt overwhelmed by the great task destiny had prepared for them. They don't even know the significance of the four crystals they possess. It was time to cast off the veil of shadows and bring the world once more into the light."

    Seeing Azurita blinking and forcing herself to stay awake. He approached and kissed her on the forehead. "We continue tomorrow."

    She nodded, closing her eyes and allowing herself to be brought to the domain of dreams.

    As he closed the door of the room... Kiran concluded he should start drinking more coffee than usual.
    Sharena wasn't happy at all when Feh returned to the order the next day with a letter from the grandmaster Frank for The Order Of Heroes.

    It was time to save the World Of Blazing!

    Asking Nino to distract him so they could prepare the birthday party had been for nothing...

    While the princess of Askr had a bad day that day... it was the opposite for the princess and soon queen of Embla.
    She hugged with all her love to the only other person besides Xander she loved...

    Bruno did hug her back... yet he perfectly felt how the generals and nobles were watching him. It made sense they didn't trust him. He had already betrayed Embla a long time ago... Veronica was the only reason he was still alive at that moment.

    Unironically, they were completely right!

    He wanted to cure his sister... she already had caused too much disaster... he wanted to take her away...
    But if that wasn't possible...

    He at the very least would recover his old powers and close the Gates again.
    Damn Bruno, you're a pain in my ass... your existence in the original story is just to be a stupid plot device Deux Ex Machina!

    Raise your hand if you already had forgotten the existence of this character.

    I don't remember if I already mentioned this but... he's also one of the biggest plot holes of the game... if he's good... why hasn't he closed the Gates himself? that's the reason I preferred to say the power to close and open Gates is something you get through a magic ritual... otherwise, the story makes fucking zero sense!

    Sorry, Sharena, but we already have enough chapters in Askr, it's time to return to the action! quicky question. Who do you believe we're going to meet soon?

    I still need to see a complete gameplay of all plots of Fates to understand what I must fix. I already know Kanna cannot exist though... actually, I noticed, after talking with some friends in Facebook, that Nah might cause another plot hole... you see, her mother looks like 10 years old but she is 1000 at the very least... Corrin seems to be aging like a human... yet Nah claims she's gonna live much time... so... if she's aging like a Manakete... why she already looks like her mother if she's like... 12?

    I mean, don't get me wrong, one can assume that hybrids age in a different way, a mix of both human and manakete aging would be expectable... but... considering Manaketes seem to age as if they must still be like 3 years old babies at the age of 300 (which kinda explains why they don't attempt to reproduce more if their babies are as parasites as the human babies are to their parents, lol)... Nah would still be a baby by the moment Lucina travels back in time... perhaps she only needs 150 years to be a 3 years old kid in human perspective but... it does not make sense anyway... unless you're telling me she ages like Human and she does not know it... which makes you wonder... is she dumb enough to do not realize she's not going to live that much? (even more, Tiki herself does not seem to notice this detail in her supports with Nah). I have two options... I erase Nah from existence just like I did with Kanna... or change her past and interactions with Tiki... probably the second option is better but... mmmhh... you know how I am XD.

    I mean, just in case, I made my calculations and they match very well with how Tiki looks in Awakening. She was 1000 in the first game (meaning she was as old as Nowi) and by Awakening, 2000 years after, she looks like 30 because she's 3000 years old already.

    And yes, the story Kiran is telling to Azurita is Final Fantasy 1. And yes, Kiran's gonna get many other objects from other characters.

    Counting by now he has Two Master Swords, the mark of the hero (it's not the same as the mark of a chosen by the triforce, search in Zelda wiki to confirm it), The Locket from Undertale, and Black Goku's Time Ring. Proximately the Hylian shield I guess... technically the name Kiran counts as one since he says it comes from Kira the killer... I'm still thinking about what other accessories he would like to have.

    I suppose I don't need to explain that Shanna cutting hair is a joke regarding that voting gauntlet she won... right?
     
  • Index
    • Chapter 41: Bastard
  • Index
    • Bastard
    ​
    Kiran and Alfonse walked out from the Kiran's lab. Thanks to the detail that Anna had bought new gems and they had finally arrived at the castle, both were able to create new orbs to initiate a new summoning session.

    While it was true they knew this was totally necessary for the future of Askr and now even for all the worlds that would get beneficiated thanks to the knowledge that Kiran's books were going to contain... since the last time they attempted that the heroes weren't exactly their most strong versions... it made them doubt if it was a good moment to try.

    "Which one do we use first?" Alfonse questioned as he raised and opened the bag as they finally were at the castle's garden.

    "I highly doubt it even matters. I analyzed everything I could with my microscope and the only apparent distinction between each one is just the damn color and the gem we used to. From inside, they pretty much look the same... so, unless my tool is so primitive and, because of that, it does not allow me to discover something new... they are pretty much the same."

    With those words, Kiran grabbed an orb, loaded it on the legendary gun and he shoot.

    ...

    He never in his life expected to recognize a single hero of all those he summoned and he was going to convoke.

    Yet, he already had seen her before... yes.

    He had previously asked Lucina if Naga actually had a daughter whose name was Tiki...

    Green hair, a tiara that held a red gem... elf-like ears... a red dress...

    Yes, she was her.

    Alfonse had his mouth very opened, the same with his eyes...

    When the dragon-woman seemed to be wakening up... she didn't need more than two seconds to conclude that she wasn't the same three she lived on.

    "W-What?" as she saw two persons standing near her... she frowned.

    She hadn't seen them before... yet... a blue-haired person with a sword and what seemed to be a tactician...

    They reminded her a lot of Robin and Chrom...

    Alfonse didn't want to have an inappropriate behavior while talking to the Voice Of Naga. He knelt immediately without hesitation.

    "I-I-It's an honor to have the privilege to meet you, lady Tiki!"

    Seeing his tactician didn't react, Alfonse yelled. "Kiran!"

    The legendary "hero" didn't care about what the prince of Askr was doing. He approached instead.

    "I assume you are Tiki, Naga's daugther." He offered his hand.

    Alfonse raised his eyebrow in confusion... when had Kiran learned that information?... he never told him... unless Kiran had been spending some time reading about the worlds, something that he usually preferred to rely on him, Alfonse had no idea...

    Tiki nodded... shaking hands with this strange man... she had known people in the past that didn't seem to care that she was considered as an important religious figure and treated her like any other person... but there was something very... off... about this one.

    "I am Tiki... and you are?"

    "Kiran, royal scientist, tactician, and summoner of the kingdom of Askr."

    The woman frowned more as she tried to analyze this person...

    "Is something wrong on my face?" Kiran asked.

    Alfonse, once more, ordered him to be more polite... but neither Tiki nor Kiran were interested in that at that moment.
    The voice of Naga touched the alien's face, placing her hand on his forehead and closing her eyes.

    "Any reason to do that?" Kiran also frowned as he crossed his arms.

    After a few seconds, Tiki's tiara shone a little... and then she quickly opened her eyes in shock!
    She backed off in horror.

    "Y-Y-You... have no soul!"

    Kiran smiled and shook his head. "Tell me something I don't know already." then he giggled.

    Tiki felt tempted to use her dragon-stone to defend herself in the case this... something... was dangerous.

    Fortunately, Alfonse decided to get near and help Kiran. "My lady! I can confirm, no matter what, that my friend here is a good person!"

    Although Tiki couldn't be sure if this other man was honest... what the soulless said didn't help to support that affirmation.

    "Friend? am I your friend?" Kiran smirked.

    It took Alfonse some seconds to process correctly what he had said.

    "Eh... eh..."

    "I mean, you are the one who gave me a putazo (punch) on the face when we had an arguing regarding making friendships with people from other worlds!"

    "Eh... well... I..." Alfonse could do nothing but rubbing his face.

    Kiran laughed a lot. "Oh well!, I suppose that after I said I'm staying here I'm an exception to the rule." He then patted the prince on the shoulder. "Te quiero too, Poncho (I love you too, Poncho)!"

    Kiran walked to be by Tiki's side again.

    "W-What are you?!" she demanded.

    "An alien." Kiran yawned. "I'm not a human, at least not the same way you understand that concept."

    "You're not from this... planet..."

    "No way!" Kiran gave her a thumbs-up.

    "Kiran!" Alfonse, recovering himself from the shame, yelled again at his friend. "She's a sacred figure!"

    Kiran growled and looked at his friend. "Does it look like I give a shit regarding the "sacred"?" he rolled his eyes. "I mean, for fuck's sake! when I met her mom the first thing I did was to threaten her with the Z-Saber and the Z-Buster!"

    That sentence, as anybody could expect, made angry to the daughter "You did what to my mother?!"

    "Y-You met Naga?!"

    Kiran shrugged. "She entered into my mind when I was sleeping! what do you do when somebody you don't know enters into your house without permission or any warning?! it was perfectly logical for me to be cautious and prepare my weapons. After some talking, she said she wanted to transform my Espada Maestra Azul into a genuine legendary weapon as a recompense for saving Ylisse. I had to reject the offer since we had no time left, we needed to return quickly to this world. Although the first time I saw her I thought what she wanted to give me was a... marvelous night, if you know what I mean." he turned to see Tiki. "You really should tell her to get a new dress, at least yours covers you enough!" then he again started to look at Alfonse. "In the end, she just gave me my Triforce mark." he raised his left hand at the same time he smiled and closed his eyes in happiness.

    Alfonse... wasn't sure if he believed this. "... Why you didn't tell us?"

    "Because I had no real proof to demonstrate that actually happened... and you know how much I hate saying something without evidence to support it..." he shrugged.

    "I am here..." Tiki complained.

    "Ah! true!" he held her hand and kissed it gently. "It's an honor."

    She didn't say anything.

    "Hey! I know I'm soulless! whatever your mother and you understand as soul anyway... but that does not mean I'm a putrid undead!"

    "Could you please at least explain to me where am I?"

    "Alfonse, tell her!"
    "In my so long life, I thought I had seen it all... but it seems that always there's something new to discover..."

    "Does that mean you're going to help us?" Alfonse smiled.

    "I see in you a gentle soul, prince Alfonse, and while I cannot say the same about your friend... you can count on me."
    Kiran yawned. "We should bring Lucina or anybody she knows."

    "Lucina is here?!"

    "A Lucina from the infinite timelines and all that stuff."

    "Ah, yes. I understand."

    "Also, some time ago, her great-great-great-great and I don't know how many times more great... grandfather beat the shit out of me." Kiran smiled, remembering his first fights.

    "What?" Tiki inclined her head in confusion.

    Alfonse face-palmed. "He means that time ago we fought against the hero-king Marth himself."

    "M-M-Marth?!"

    "Yes, that wey is fucking strong!"

    Tiki crossed her arms. "What's the meaning of wey?..."

    "Dude, or at least in this context. In others, it can mean: idiot, retarded, all that."

    The Voice Of Naga seemed to be on the verge of becoming into a degenerated dragon... "I have another question..."

    "What?" Kiran asked.

    "You thought my mother was a... a..."

    Normally, a person would have denied everything.

    But it was Kiran.

    The one that was stupid and smart at the same time.

    "At first I thought she was some kind of local version of Afrodita."

    "And who is she?!"

    "The goddess of love, known for having many children."

    Alfonse backed off a lot and grimaced when the sound of a powerful slap appeared and Kiran fell.

    "Why... why is he here?! he's not a hero!" she looked at Alfonse as if it was his fault. "Why my mother would ever consider to give him a third Falchion?!"

    Kiran laughed as he stood up. "A Falchion wasn't the idea, she was going to give to the Espada Maestra the same powers the Levin swords have." He sighed and gave the more serious face he could as he approached his face to Tiki's one.

    "And I want you to get this in your head... perhaps from all the trash they could have obtained from my homeworld, I'm the least worse one... but... even so... I'm not a hero... I'm not a villain... I'm more... much more!"

    "You'll never be even a half of what Marth is!"

    "Is that a challenge?" Kiran smirked.

    "Goddamit!" Alfonse yelled as he ran to be in the middle of each other. "You! continue summoning!"

    "Ah, right!" Kiran did as if he just had forgotten about everything that had just happened and grabbed a new orb.

    "I'm so sorry, lady Tiki."

    "It's not your fault..." she shook her head.

    Tiki decided she had enough, asked Alfonse where Lucina was, and then she left.

    Alfonse knew Kiran was... different... but this was too much.

    "Kiran, you're crossing a line with this! I appreciate a lot what you have done for us... but please... just... stay silent for a while... please. If the heroes are mad at you this is not gonna work correctly!"

    "If you say so." Kiran growled.

    While the next person wasn't a dragon... certain detail made her "important"."

    Kiran helped to another little red-haired girl to stand up. "Are you okay?"

    "Y-Yes... em... where am I?" the girl had a white dress. Kiran helped her to clean it from pieces of grass.

    "I'm Kiran, a guy who can summon people." Kiran... noticed some chains that used to hold the girl's hands...

    "Summon?... I don't think I understand it very well... but... could you please help me to return to Dell? if they discover I'm not there my brother and the people may suffer!"

    Alfonse decided to speak. "Eh... I'm not sure if it's a good idea to obey her or it's a bad one..."

    "Why? because the people of that Dell place are responsible for her having chains?..."

    "B-But I need to! Michalis needs me to maintain the alliance between our country and Dohlr!"

    "And Dohlr is?" this was a question to Alfonse.

    Alfonse gulped. "The empire that attempted to conquer the Archanean continent... Marth, his army and the other nations managed to defeat them in the end but... Michalis was one of his foes... he's Minerva brother actually, and she is their little sister." he pointed to the summoned girl.

    "And she's the key that maintains the alliance between that empire and the kingdom of this little girl?"
    "That's right! I need to go back!" she demanded.

    "So, if we keep her safe here... we're doing a favor to a version of Marth stilling fighting that war?"

    "I can't be sure about that." Alfonse grimaced.

    Kiran turned to see the girl. "What is your name?"

    "I'm María, princess of Macedon!"

    ...

    ...

    ...

    Kiran grimaced and gave a weak growl...

    He inclined his head to do not see the girl and smiled sadly. "Sorry... María... but I don't think I'm sending you back."

    "W-What?!"

    "First I need to confirm that's a good idea in the first place... if your-"

    "Kiran!"

    "Ah... right... yeah... em... just, follow his orders..."

    She attempted to back off. "I-I-I don't want to."

    "Do it and I'll send you back later."

    María, having no other option, obeyed.

    Once she was gone, Alfonse placed a hand on Kiran's shoulder. "What's wrong?... you look so sad now... as if you just had seen a ghost or something comparable."

    Kiran laughed. "It's something so silly that's pathetic...it's just that... my mother's name is also María..."

    "Oh... I understand..." The prince gulped. "I would have said something... but knowing you... anything that you don't consider something more than cute words would have irritated you instead of helping..."

    Kiran snapped. "You know me very well now, friend."

    Friend...

    "True... regarding that..."

    "Mmmh?" Kiran looked at him.

    "I suppose... you in part are right."

    "... Explain..."

    Alfonse scratched his head's back part in shame. "I've been reflecting on everything you have taught to me... and in part is thanks to the fact I lost part of my memories but..."

    "Yes?"

    Alfonse sighed in sadness. "I was being very immature by not wanting to get close to anybody... after what happened to Zacharias I... I was being an idiot... as you said... reality does not care about what I prefer..." he gave a more determined face after that. "And it's my duty as the future king to leave the pain in the past. I must continue moving forward. I must prepare myself to deal with that kind of situation again..."

    Kiran... was... impressed... he smiled. "Alfonse, I'm very proud of you."

    Now it was the prince who backed off a little.

    "What?"

    "It's just... as if I've wanted to hear those words before... perhaps from my father... from what my mother told me... he was very strict with me..."

    Kiran patted him on the back. "Je, you're not the only one who wants to hear that from a father, Poncho... you're not the only one..."

    "It's the same case with you?"

    "I've always desired to stop being the cheap copy of my brother... but let's not talk about sad stuff. Anything else you've learned?"

    "Well... since your five rules imply I must question everything... I've been wondering... is it really a good idea to allow the throne to be... inherited?"

    Now, this was amazing... "I gotta admit I never thought you'd start to have doubts about monarchy this fast..."

    "I wonder... I'm so willing to be the best king as possible... but... wouldn't it be a better idea... to give the throne to anybody more... capable?"

    "... Okay, let's be honest, had I been a manipulative power-hungry bastard, I would have told you to give it to me... but..." He pointed with his finger to the prince. "You, my amigo, deserve your throne. And I can say it with no doubt because you are the first politician I've ever met that has demonstrated to me that he's not a corrupt garbage piece of shit!"

    "The first one?... is that why you trusted on me so easily? considering what you say about the ones in charge of your world... I always thought it was weird..."

    "Who said I trusted on you back then?" Kiran shrugged. "I was ready to get rid of you in the case you were evil... but you're not. You deserve my fucking respect and I accept you as the king."

    "I don't know how to feel about that..."

    "It's okay... I'm gonna summon more... so, are we amigos indeed?"

    "Amigo is the word in your language for friend?"

    "Yes."

    "Well, yes." Alfonse smiled. "We are amigos."

    "Chido (Cool). Now, let me teach you how amigos salute each other in my world."

    After that, they gave each other five, then they collided their fists three times, they gave each other five once more, and both snapped their fingers and, as the final movement: the peace and love signal.

    The other heroes summoned were a Samurai called just like Naruto's wife, a spearman called Lukas... and another blue-haired prince, Seliph.
    "I'm sorry for leaving now..." Kiran was caressing Azurita's hair "Especially since I only told you the chapter one... but... the duty calls."

    The girl sighed.

    "At least Fae is still here to play with her." Corrin commented.

    "True." Kiran felt a doubt crossing his mind "Where is she? by the way."

    "When the manaketes need to sleep, they usually do it for a longer period than a human. She has been in my room but she should wake up soon."

    "The same happens to you?"

    "Kinda, I also don't need to eat as much as her." Corrin giggled.

    "Interesting." Kiran crossed his arms as another question bothered his mind... and he wanted to kick himself for not asking this before.

    "Question... what happens to your clothes when you transform into a dragon?"

    Corrin felt... not very right. In part happy because, for a moment, she thought Kiran was staring at her breasts and it was fake... and in part uncomfortable because of the question... even though she wasn't naked... she covered with her arms her body. "Actually... it took me some time to figure out a solution..." she said as she showed to him a... different type of orb or something...

    "So the first time you..."

    "Yes..."

    "Oh..." Kiran imagined the scene... he grimaced and shook his head. "So your armor and that are connected."

    "Yes..."

    "I see... anyway..."

    He knelt to see Azurita better.

    "Be nice." he kissed her on the forehead.

    He stood up. "I'll be back."

    "Good luck." Corrin nodded.

    After that, Kiran ran away as fast as he could.
    As the Order Of Heroes started the travel to reach the army of the grandmaster, Kiran didn't interact a lot with the others. He was only seen when he left his carriage to get some food.

    Only Raigh and Nino had been talking to him for a considerable amount of time... with the exception of Robin who was by his side every moment.

    The motive?

    They were going to meet again the grandmaster... Kiran knew Frank would know this was the perfect opportunity to test Kiran's skills.

    While he had learned a lot and he had obtained some experience... Kiran didn't know much regarding assaulting a fortress or sea battles...

    So he asked somebody that actually knew about this.

    "It was only matter of filling the ships we weren't going to need with oil, make them collide against the Valmese ones and, with magic... set them on fire... everything became ashes..."

    Kiran smirked. "Puta madre! (Hell yeah!) there's no kill like overkill, right?!" the earthling laughed.
    "I don't understand what you find so funny..."

    "You're talking to a guy who enjoys jokes about the genocide of at least 6 million people and terrorist attacks that happened when I was a baby... it's nothing new to me."

    For the second time in his life, Kiran received a slap.

    "H-H-How can you laugh at something so horrible?!... what kind of bastard are you?!"

    "One from the twenty-first century."

    The Ylisse's tactician got scared when Kiran used both hands to trap her against a wall.

    "I laugh at all that... at the fact the previous century in my world the two biggest wars in the story happened one after the other... wars so brutal that at least 97 million people died... because I must take it as a joke... otherwise..." Robin... felt as if she was seeing Henry's face. "I would cry..."

    The difference... however... was that this smile was totally fake..
    .
    "And I would have killed myself a long time ago..." he reflected about that two seconds before he laughed again. "Pfff, yeah... the reasons that explain I haven't done that yet is that now I'm here... and the fact I'm so coward, I'm not able to actually hurt myself..."

    He then let her go as he closed his eyes and let his head fall on the table.

    His smile was fake... just an emotional coping mechanism to ensure he didn't lose the remaining sanity he still had...

    She still had to discover a lot to fully understand why he was like that...

    But she knew what he needed now.

    Kiran didn't understand why she placed her arms around his body and allowed him to rest on her chest.

    "Why?"

    "You need it..."

    "Thanks..."

    The comfort he felt was marvelous...

    Only the detail that all that might be a dream or a simulation ruined it a little...

    "How... how such bloody wars could ever be possible?" she questioned.

    "Well... I need to explain a lot... but to give you an idea of how bloody could be a third great war... a man once said that... the destruction it would cause would be so... immense... that the fourth one would be fought wielding sticks and rocks..."

    He then started to explain... the age of the story he knew as...

    The Century Of Chaos.
    I really REALLY wanted to display more of that other side of Kiran that is an asshole.

    Now we have the first hero that actually hates him: Tiki!

    It's like being hated by Jesus for the Christians.

    I know, she also may seem to be out of character... but she heard a guy talking shit about her mother and the man she is so in love with... I think it's a natural reaction.

    One of the biggest problems I have is that, due to the very nature of Kiran, he cannot have character development... so I knew Alfonse had to have one... you've seen how he has evolved and now we have this, he finally accepting what happened and making use of the rules Kiran gave to him... kinda strange because it didn't happen in a fight but... you'll see that later.

    I know I said we were going to the world of Blazing, just wait for the next chapter. A little talking with Frank and that's it.

    Also... since we are going to the world of Blazing... make a guess! Who do you think is gonna appear in the next chapter? it's an easy answer!
     
  • Index
    • Chapter 42: The World Of Blazing Part 1
  • Index
    • The World Of Blazing Part 1​
    Kiran gulped as he felt even saying the least stupid thing could cost him his entire military career.

    The grandmaster of Askr was reading the report Anna had written regarding his victories in all the battles since the last time Kiran had spoken to Frank for the first time.

    "Here it says you use an artifact you himself developed to analyze the movements of the enemy army just a few minutes before the encounter. Would you mind allowing me to take a look at this telescope thing?"

    Kiran gulped again. "I can be defined as a more potent version of a classical spyglass. Its capacity allows a pegasus knight to observe almost perfectly the other army from a very secure distance... I'll bring it!"

    Kiran "had" to run as if his own life depended on it. Meanwhile, the grown man continued reading.

    Kiran came back holding two objects.

    "This," he put on the table the telescope of his left-hand. "It's the one that I've been using... or rather said, the pegasus knights under my command have used. " Then he did the same thing with the second one. "This is a more advanced prototype... it's not in conditions of being useful right now... my assistant that knows more about glass is assisting me with it..." then he laughed nervously a little as he scratched his head's back part.

    The man took his time examining. When he used his eye to watch through the object to outside, the entrance of the tent was permitted to see the armory tent that was in front of the place the war tent. After a while, he decided to stand up and attempt to watch something more being outside.

    Kiran remained there, sitting on the chair until the grandmaster returned.

    "Didn't you think it would be an excellent idea to create more of these to help us?"

    Kiran didn't know what to say... "Eh... you're right..." then he face-palmed very quickly. "I... I will replicate it and give you a copy as soon as possible!"

    Frank raised his hand a little to order him to relax. "According to Anna, this is one of the most important factors that allowed you to win against the legendary tactician, Robin."

    "Y-Yeah... I'm not really that good at making tactics... it's this what ensures I win... if this was a chess game... I would be cheating, using some kind of mental powers for example. That... and the fact the heroes aren't exactly willing to win against us when they are forced to."

    "I admire your humility, boy. However, whether you truly depend on this or you actually are a good tactician... we're going to figure it out."

    The man prepared his quill and some paper to write down. "Before that, is there any other invention you could give us to end this war faster?"

    "Urgh..." Kiran frowned... "The truth is... yes... there are at least two things that cross my mind right now... the most important one would be the dynamite... I would have started on it had I already have the components that make it stable... I would prefer to make it illegal for military operations since its original and "right" purpose is for mining... but perhaps we could make an exception by the moment..."

    Kiran sighed and inclined his head to do not see the man to the eyes. "I highly doubt I could explain its function and how I make it work without having a single one to make a demonstration... but it is more efficient at destroying a fortress than the fire..."

    The man rubbed his chin. "If you say so... and now you mentioned the fortress. It seems you have never needed to assault one."

    "Ylissetol didn't have walls and Marth didn't wait for me inside his castle." Kiran shrugged.

    "So," Frank began to look at the paper. "Tell me, boy. How would you storm a fort?"

    "Eh... attempting to take the fort is the last resort tactic... they are designed to be a death course to the invaders after all. Unless it's definitely necessary to take it because of some reason... simply it is more practical to destroy or steal the supplies for the soldiers of the castle so the enemy will starve to death... unless they surrender before of course... it takes longer but the casualties from your side would be less or pretty much zero. "

    "Correct." Frank nodded, his hand was writing as fast as Kiran spoke. "But let's pretend you absolutely need to take it as soon as possible."

    Kiran rubbed his chin at the same time he scratched his hair furiously. "In that case... you can either convince some guards from inside to betray their general and open the door for you... which is pretty hard though... or send someone, usually a ninja, to do an infiltration mission. Stealing the uniform of the enemy to dress as the enemy and... probably wait until the night if it's not night already, and open or burn the door down for you.., mixing it with freeing the prisoners may increase the probabilities of success."

    "Nothing else?"

    "Well... if all that fails... then you must attempt to enter by using stairs to jump the walls or a battering ram to take the door down... and that's only considering the cases you don't think your soldiers are chess pieces... or at least you have some honor to do not end your enemies the worst way as possible." Kiran gave a more sad face. "Otherwise you can poison the food or the water." Kiran particularly remembered a certain scene from FF6 while saying this. "Of course, some of these other options aren't exactly cute or... legal?" He gave a very nervous smile... he REALLY didn't want to think in the implications of knowing what a bacteria was... and training some bacterias to resist the normal methods to cure their diseases... that could create a potential biologic weapon... not as effective as the one the American army owned but... still. "Any good tactician should prepare to deal with situations like those though... who knows what kind of person may be commanding the enemy side." he gulped.

    "That's true." the grandmaster smiled. "Although..."

    Kiran grimaced... he had forgotten an important factor... RIGHT?!"

    "You didn't mention something like pretending to retreat, or asking the ninja to burn the supplies inside the castle or fort."

    "Oh! right!" he face-palmed as he growled... then he considered something. "But... the first one would only really be a good option if the enemy is stupid enough to celebrate the "victory" with beer and more... right?" he highly doubted something like the Trojan Horse would work in real life.

    Frank nodded satisfied. "If the date is something more to consider, you can take advantage of any possible holiday the other nation has to get the same effect."

    "I think I once read about that..."

    "For an infiltration mission, who is a better option? a man or a woman?"

    "Eh... a woman... a maid costume can be better than a soldier uniform if nobody knows how she looks like... and also the obvious fact she can seduce easier." he didn't say anything else for two seconds as the thought something. "I think I know who am I going to send if the opportunity appears..."

    The grandmaster continued making questions regarding other aspects of the war.

    Two hours later, Kiran finally left the tent and returned to the side of the camp that belonged to the order of heroes.
    Robin and Ephraim approached as soon as they saw him.

    "So?" Robin asked.

    Kiran pointed with his hand the emblem he had received, now easily seen in his tactician clothes. It was mostly silver with a light-blue letter. He couldn't read the symbol but what he heard from Frank was very recorded in his mind. "He gave me the A rank. He also requested me to use my replicas to support the other armies." he shrugged.

    "So you are just a single rank under the highest one?" Ephraim asked.

    Kiran rubbed his hair. "Technically speaking, yes and no. The next rank is S and the final rank is SS... but the SS only belongs to the grandmaster so... you understand."

    Robin smiled... and knowing he actually enjoyed something like this, as she remembered how he reacted with Corrin... she patted him. "Well done!"

    Kiran closed his eyes and smiled. "Thanks for teaching me."

    "I still need to teach you how to fight with only you and three soldiers though." Ephraim also smiled, they both did the same salute he had done with Alfonse before.

    "True."

    There was something that bothered him a lot though... something that Frank had explained to him regarding how, strangely, the heroes from the recent battles had been... more aggressive, as if they actually were willing to fight for the Empire... the only known example until that point was Xander... Frank even mentioned his soldiers felt forced to actually kill two heroes... a blonde archer woman and a silver-haired mage man.

    The only explanation the man supposed was more black magic... interestingly, they didn't speak... and then Kiran remembered the last time he fought some heroes they didn't speak... and, if he remembered correctly, the World Of Blazing was the homeworld of those heroes...

    He had to capture at least one and analyze them with Raigh.

    Again, The Order Of Heroes had to wait until the other side showed the light of the sun. As much as this was disappointing for the astronomic side of Kiran that wanted to find the possible major galaxy... it was necessary.
    The Nabata Desert was a place that the traveler hadn't liked much since the first time he arrived with his friends. However, Hawkeye, following orders from the master, hadn't allowed him to leave with the legendary tome until he had mastered it and at least read seven times each one of the books the master had left.

    The traveler considered that, in the end, it paid off though. After so much effort to get the approbation of Athos to be accepted as apprentice and training to be at least as powerful as the 40% percent of Athos's power... Hawkeye had finally allowed him to visit his old friends and being the owner of the legendary tome.

    So, finally returning to Lycia felt so good... but the feeling didn't last much.

    However, when he entered to a town he discovered something so horrible that he could barely believe it.
    While he was out, an army from an unknown nation had conquered the country and probably would start an invasion to other nations soon or late.

    When he asked what happened to the Marquesses... nobody was totally sure about all of them... but many had been killed.
    Yet, for him, the worst part came when those enemy soldiers laid their eyes on him.

    A certain factor... a certain factor had caused that he was now being considered a possible primary threat...

    He walked through the fields, trying to move himself the fast as possible to run away... yet, he knew he would have to fight again when he heard that cursed war horn...

    He stopped and turned around... he pulled the hood of his green mage clothes off as he saw many mages and pegasus knights following him.

    The face of a young man of 21 years old frowned. His hair was brown just like his eyes. His hair had got reduced to tolerate better the heat of the desert...

    He still had some injuries he got from fighting with these bastards previous times... but that wasn't going to stop him.
    "Tse... allomos... (Tse,.. let's go)."

    He quickly opened an Elfire tome and, jumping to avoid a thunder attack and some javelins, he incinerated at least five mages. As one of them attempted to attack him with a thunder, he used his own thunder tome to control the lightning and quickly throw it against a pegasus knight. Gods blessed the armor was made of metal and that helped.

    The traveler started to continue running away at the same time he counterattacked.

    An Excalibur of his thrown away some other mages at the same time he began to aim at the sky, making more pegasus knights fell and die due to this. He then used this same magic to jump higher and cast more fire magic against his enemies on the ground.

    When his feet were on the Earth again, he switched to a Thoron tome. He then rolled from to the right and sometimes to the left and each time stopped a second, it was to release the power of lighting.

    Each hit, due to the insanely high voltage and intensity, resulted to be mortal.

    As he noticed more mages and the remaining pegasus knights preparing themselves to attack him with better tactics... he saw his opportunity to use his legendary tome.

    As he extracted energy from the book, it was as if a second sun was born and it generated a very dense ray of light that aimed at the center of all his enemies. By the moment they thought it was dangerous to remain there, it was too late. The so heat energy of the light erased the majority from the existence and the ones remaining had fourth-degree burns!
    Usually, he would have felt on his knees... but after practicing for at least a year, this wasn't as tiring as it used to be.
    He then continued escaping in direction to Caelin... or part of Ositia as it was now... it was the place more near to his position and he had to confirm his friend was fine... and in the case she was dead... he would use this tome on the whole enemy army!
    "If what you say is true... this is terrible..." Alfonse grimaced. It seemed that, just like in the world of Awakening, the heroes would be serious again.

    "However... I have another problem..." Kiran sighed in frustration.

    "Which one?"

    "Well... probably this time my own tactic is gonna work against me this time." he then pointed with his finger to Nino, she and Lilina were practicing riding a pegasus with Florina.

    Alfonse needed some seconds to process what he meant. "You don't want to fight the local version of Nino?"

    Kiran laughed, again, in frustration. "Stupid... right? I mean, one of the things that I agreed with you regarding not getting close to others was to do not get a weakness the enemy could exploit... and now I have one... true, Embla does not know this about me... but I'm pretty sure they would be more than happy to kidnap Sharena to force you to surrender or something like that."

    Alfonse scratched his head's back part. "They have attempted it at least one time..."

    "So, who were the ones we fought back then?"

    "Eliwood, Lyndis, and Hector. The power trio of Lycia... Hector rivals with Ephraim and Ike at being the strongest hero we know... from the side of the males. From the side of the females, Lyndis is not stronger than Altina or Ayra... but perhaps she could beat Lucina easily. Eliwood is an interesting case though. He's not considered to be stronger than, for example, Chrom... but he's very good at dodging."

    "This is gonna be painful..." Kiran growled.

    "Although is strange, technically speaking there's a fourth member... yet, very little is known about them."

    "How is that?"

    "The only information we have is that they are a mage and a tactician..."

    That made a light get on in Kiran's mind. "Wait, If he's from this world... I might have an idea of who is... let me go to ask Florina, I mean, she should have met them too, right?"

    "That's a good point."

    Kiran thought very seriously about what he remembered. If what he had heard was true...

    Before he could leave, a blue-haired pegasus knight landed by their side. "I have to admit, this artifact is wonderful." the princess of Talys commented as she handed over the telescope.

    "So? what do we have for dinner?" Kiran unsheathed his two swords. He then, again, thanked he didn't have long hair anymore. It's true that principally he got rid of it because he hated long hair in the first place... but at the same time, when he had seen himself in a mirror... he noticed that wearing a coat and wielding two swords and with that kind of hair... he was looking like certain character almost everybody hated back home... he included in the list. Granted, that character's hair and eyes were black, the same with his coat, instead of brown and white... but... still.

    "They don't seem to be aware we're here, they are securing the position. The town is their base I suppose."

    "Do you want to apply the same tactic we did with Ylissetol?" Alfonse asked.

    "It's not a bad idea I suppose, we're not exactly hurried... thanks, lady Caeda."

    "It's my pleasure to help." she nodded.

    "Well, I see you later." he and Alfonse collided their fists before he started walking in direction to Florina.

    Which didn't happen as he felt someone poking on his back... He turned to see Raigh. "What's up?"

    "The quintessence." he whispered.

    "Ah! right... let's go." He nodded.

    It was time to see if he could get some more years of life...
    I suppose is pretty obvious who is our "mysterious character" here. I mean, I think the only mysterious character that is done right in the entire franchise is the Black Knight.

    I tried to inspire myself seeing the intro stage of Megaman Zero 2 to create his introduction.

    Just like it happened with Robin, this guy is gonna have his own scenes. Try to guess what tome is that legendary one. it's pretty obvious of course, but try! :D

    Now many of you perhaps remember when I said that he and Kiran will meet each other in a very strange way... you'll understand it.

    So our bastard is rank A. I don't think he's ever gonna reach the rank S though.

    I really want to ensure that his skills make sense. I know it seems that he has improved fast, but let's remember he's been trained by not anyone but the heroes, they are the strongest warriors after all. So it means his training has more quality than your regular spearman.
     
  • Index
    • Chapter 43: World Of Blazing Part 1.5
  • Index
    • World Of Blazing Part 1.5​
    In the privacy and security of Kiran's personal carriage, the legendary "hero" and his nephew were able to discuss whatever they wanted without people bothering them. Kiran even closed the door from inside to be sure.

    "So... what did you discover? do you have good news or bad news for me?" Kiran sat as he crossed his arms.

    The black mage placed the sample on the table along with the microscope. "There wasn't any reaction that could be understood as negative." he shrugged. "I just see blood more similar to mine. That's it."

    Kiran took a look... and, indeed, his blood had obtained a coloration that made it partially silver.

    "We shouldn't get cocky though... a tiny part may react differently to the system as a whole..." as much as gaining some centuries more to exist sounded so tempting... and as much as surviving long enough to be present when AI became a thing was important... a single step bad calculated could end up in disaster. "What about our test subjects?"

    "They are fine." commented Raigh as the collocated three jars with three flies inside of each one.

    The mage that Nino had described to him a long time ago must have made an experiment that would have led him to discover that quintessence could extend the life-span of other live beings...

    Because even mouses lived too long to be useful to obtain information the soon as possible, it had occurred to them to attempt it with these tiny beings.

    Regularly, flies only lived a few days but in the best scenario, they could survive two months... the first one didn't receive any quintessence in its food, the second one received a little and the third one had a lot to consume.

    Kiran was sure that, just like even drinking so much water could kill you, there must be a limit of how much quintessence you could insert into your body without committing suicide involuntarily. For any species, it would be different, of course, but it was never bad confirming suspicions.

    If quintessence did what Nino claimed... perhaps at least one fly would live at least six months.

    "I wonder," Raigh scratched his hair. "could it be possible that this is the secret of the Manakete longevity?"

    Kiran rubbed his chin. He had never thought about it. "It's a possibility we cannot discard... probably it's an important factor, but their biology itself must be "superior". For example, apparently, they can remember detailedly events from thousands of years ago. Their brain must be very special to hold such an insanely level of information. Based on what I read back home, the human brain could only store 3 million hours of memories... which is equivalent to almost 3.5 centuries. Of course, the brain erases information regularly, but you could expect that, after thousands of years, you would have forgotten the eighty percent of your first five centuries."

    "Yet, they do not seem to be naturally smarter than us..." Raigh scratched his head in confusion.

    "Or perhaps they are but their lack of education and knowledge is not allowing them to reach their true potential..." Kiran remembered at that moment the fact that Naga was probably the smartest being of the planet. If she had been able to discover the secret of time travel and calculate everything to ensure Lucina didn't die of suffocation in the vacuum of the outer space... who knows what kind of magitek stuff she could possess... she had been able to manifest herself inside his dreams... yet, her ideals and the fact she was mostly alone may be decisive factors to explain why she hadn't constructed her own personal rockets...

    "Anyway, we will wait more time until we insert some of that stuff inside me."

    "Affirmative."

    Something crossed Kiran's mind as he remembered an important detail regarding the next battles.

    "By the way, there's something else we're going to study once we get a test subject."

    "Mmmh?" Raigh smiled, filled with interest.
    After days of avoiding the Emblian army, the traveler had found a farm in the middle of nowhere.

    "Yi dno impare hoanto illo couest! yi onlo neceed tel horllo (I don't care how much it costs! I need the horse)" he said as he placed a bag of money on the hands of the owner.

    The farmer, seeing an opportunity to get much easy money to increase the production of his precious place decided do not to say no. He just pointed to five horses and told the traveler to choose the one he preferred.

    Once he got on the mount, he wasn't going to spend more time. "Granks! (Thanks!)"

    He rode into the horizon... or rather said, in direction to Caelin.

    He thanked a lot Lyn had taught him how to ride one of these things.

    More days passed and he barely bothered to rest a little, just when his mount just couldn't keep going. He knew he wouldn't feel secure at all until he knew if his precious friends were safe.

    It finally came a moment when he began to recognize the landscapes. In a way, seeing all those places again brought him memories of his first adventure with the woman from Sacae.

    Meeting her was something he could only describe as a miracle... how high were the possibilities of him being found by her after he passed out in those plains? what were the odds that the woman who saved him would be a princess?
    He would never change that moment of his life for anything else.

    The more places he recognized, the faster his heartbeat was.,. only to suddenly stop a few seconds when his eyes went wide as he considered that... he wasn't sure at all if Lyn would be there...

    No!

    He must have faith! that faith in his friends was what allowed him to get that far in his life...

    He had to believe!

    Unfortunately, the reality is indifferent to what humans want... he would find a horrible surprise...
    "So, any doubts? opinions? something?" Kiran asked. At that moment, Robin, Alfonse, Anna and the legendary "hero" were inside the war tent.

    "It's a solid plan." Anna commented.

    "We still don't know our exact location on this continent though... I mean, it's Lycia as far as I can tell and remember from what happened when I..." the prince growled as he remembered that all this was his fault... he rubbed his face in frustration.

    "We just need to obtain that information from the locals once the town is ours." Robin shrugged.

    "Yeah, you're right..." Kiran crossed his arms and frowned. "Yet, there's something that is making me worried..."

    "What is it?" The prince looked at his amigo.

    Kiran sighed. "The grandmaster told me something very disturbing."

    "And that is?" Robin made him a signal to indicate him to continue.

    "It's something that, because we had just returned from fighting your friends..." he pointed to Robin to make sure everybody understood he was talking regarding the heroes of the world of Awakening, "we didn't pay it the attention necessary... it seems that... whatever the magic Veronica uses to enslave the heroes... she has managed to improve it to its next level... in the last battle, the grandmaster noticed that the heroes weren't holding back at all."

    Alfonse scratched his hair. "Wouldn't it just mean that she's doing a similar tactic to the one she used with the shepherds?"

    "I actually made that question... but, unlike Robin here, those heroes didn't get rid of the curse no matter how much they were hurt. He says that they behaved like... empty vessels. They didn't denote emotion, they didn't seem to feel pain at all... they didn't talk..." Kiran rubbed his forehead. "While Veronica managed to escape with most of the heroes... the grandmaster felt forced to kill two of them."

    The news had the effect Kiran expected, silence... at least for half of a minute.

    "So you're telling us we may find more heroes like those?" Robin didn't like this at all.

    "Now you mention it..." Anna frowned. "I thought something was... off the last time..."

    Alfonse quickly frowned and hit the table with force. "Damn you Veronica..."

    Anna placed her hand on his shoulder as she tried to comfort her.

    Yet, the commander hadn't failed at noticing how the prince was... becoming slowly more rageful, less depressed and smarter... as if he was becoming into a copy Kiran...

    According to Kagero, they used to talk a lot regarding the future and things like those... but what exactly Kiran told to Alfonse... she wasn't sure.

    "I told him that the next time he should capture them instead," Kiran sighed in frustration. "Even though I don't know much about dark magic, somebody expert at this stuff must analyze them to determine what in the hell is going on now and how to revert the hex... otherwise I'm pretty sure I don't need to explain what are we going to need to do in order to continue the mission to save the multiverse..."

    Robin could only think that even though Walhart was a miserable bastard... he at least had some honor... the Emblian Empire was much worse. "It's bad Henry isn't here..." she commented.

    "By the moment, the only competent dark mage on our army is Raigh, he will take care of this along Miriel."

    "Regardless of how are we supposed to deal with this situation... we should be ready to face anything." Alfonse's face denoted determination. "Veronica and her followers aren't going to stop doing things like those with the heroes... if we can't save them... at least we should make sure their power is not misused... they wouldn't have wanted that at all."

    Again, Anna grimaced as this last sentence didn't sound like something that she would have expected to hear from the prince...

    Kiran, however, was more focused on other detail.

    "Be ready to face anything..." he whispered.

    Anything...

    As those words resonated into his mind, he shook his head as an idea crossed his mind.

    But it didn't matter at all. Once something like that appeared, his memories would store that information to be useful if it was necessary... and he knew this wasn't the first time his brain processed these thoughts.

    A backup plan... El Proyecto Negro (The Black Project). The last resort tactic his mind imagined for a scenario where everything suddenly started to go wrong.

    As much as the information he had indicated that such a horrible project wouldn't be necessary... there's always that tiny but existent possibility that Veronica would discover a new power that would allow her to win...

    But El Proyecto Negro was just going too much far at creating something in case of that...

    Right?

    Robin had been watching Kirans' face. She actually heard what he had said.

    She didn't know what he was thinking... but her "connection" to him made her able to guess what kind of feeling he was having...

    "Anyway," Kiran spoke. "I'm gonna ask Caeda to take another look one last time to determine if a relevant factor as changed that would obligate us to change the plan... I'll see you on the battlefield."

    "Would you mind if I follow you?" Robin asked.

    "Eh?... no. not at all."

    As the two left the tent, Robin didn't attempt to hide she was worried about his mental sanity as she hugged him. "Are you okay?"

    "No, not all."

    "Weird, this is normally the part where you try to lie to me saying you're fine." she smiled a little as she caressed his hair.

    "What would be the point then?" he shrugged as he accepted the hug, hugging her back. "I just... my knowledge can have many applications... technology is not intrinsically good or evil... so it can be used for both purposes..."

    "You're not thinking about using that... the dynamite of yours... right?"

    "The grandmaster has already told me he wants to see its potential... he wants to end this war the faster as possible and perhaps it can be a way to accomplish it... I can make it illegal for military operations after this but... what's on my mind is not that..."

    "Is there something even worse?" Robin looked at him with a mix of horror and... something that made clear to Kiran that he was losing some of her trust.

    "Sorta, but I'm not sure if I can replicate it or even if it actually exists..." he lied. He just didn't want to tell her he could weaponize the life itself through evolution.

    Robin could feel he wasn't being honest... but trying to get more information at that moment could be counterproductive...

    "Sorry about that." he said.

    "Don't worry." she caressed his hair... which he responded with a purr.

    She giggled.
    As the traveler finally saw the castle he had been so desperately tried to reach... what he saw was something he didn't like at all.

    Emblian soldiers patrolled the area.

    Lyn must be inside... perhaps being prisoner inside her own home... or even worse... perhaps she...

    The rage that filled his being as that idea appeared made his blood burn.

    Normally he would have chosen to wait... normally he would have prepared a more efficient plan... but the feelings he experienced... along with the fact that he was now the strongest mage in the continent made him think differently from normal.

    He approached slowly towards the castle.

    As one of the patrols noticed him and the leader yelled at him... the traveler didn't bother to look at them, he just opened his third most powerful tome. A massive fireball generated, he quickly impulsed it and, where before there was a squad of soldiers... now only the flames reigned.

    Of course, this event alerted the rest of the army that protected the castle about his presence... and he couldn't care less.
    He charged thunder energy on his hands and cast the magic.

    Soldier after soldier that attempted to challenge him met his end.

    For a moment, he saw other mage attacking with fire. The traveler didn't bother to move. As the fire spell almost touched him, the traveler grabbed it and quickly send the fire back.

    The other mage managed to return the attack but the traveler didn't bother to continue the game as he quickly jumped to the left and released electrical energy.

    "Hya! haaaa! hureeea!" the more energy he extracted from his tomes, the larger the number of bodies he was leaving behind.

    However... as he turned around to cast another thunder spell... he suddenly stopped as he saw... an archer he instantly recognized.

    "Wil?! eris tuat?! (is that you?!)"

    His friend didn't seem to hear... or even care that he was seeing the same coat he should have recognized... as an arrow almost hit the traveler.

    "Wil, quat hare hacppen?! Ies myo, Mark! (what are you doing, it's me, Mark!)"

    Wil didn't care, he continued aiming and shooting arrows.

    Mark should have paid more attention to what was behind of him... but he was so scared and confused for the "betrayal" of Wil that he didn't notice a pegasus knight approaching and then... a spear stabbed him on the back and crossed all his chest.

    He expulsed blood through the mouth. As he raised his head... he couldn't believe it.

    "F-F-Florina?... uuurgh..." he yelled in pain as arrows ended up on his chest, legs and shoulders...

    His confusion and fear only increased when he saw... three figures standing in front of him.

    The very woman he had been looking for... Lyn...

    A red noble... Eliwood...

    And the blue one... Hector.

    Tears rolled through his cheeks... "W-Whqe? (W-Why?...")... AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" He yelled even more as Lyn pierced him, directly on the heart...

    This had to be a nightmare... this couldn't be real...

    As he saw the katana-like weapon quickly swinging towards his neck...

    Everything became black after a while...

    The commander of that part of the Emblian army was happy to know that scum had been destroyed.

    They didn't bother to move the corpse of Mark. They just left it there...
    ... That... must be painful...

    I told you important characters were going to start dying. This time is Mark, make your bet who's gonna die in the next one... I already know who.. and honestly, the one who's gonna kill that character... uuuh, it's gonna be even more painful!

    Maybe you're wondering: Wait.. you said Kiran and Mark were going to meet each other!

    And I say: Wait, I know what I'm doing... let's just say... let's just say... SPOILER, SPOILER SPOILER:

    Think about Sothis and Byleth and you'll understand.

    And what are Lyn, Hector, Eliwood and the others doing there if they were with Veronica? they were the first test subjects, now Veronica has more of brainwashed heroes for her royal guard... that and the fact they were fighting the army of Frank before, they just happened to return to their world when the retreat was ordered. The Order Of Heroes is in Caelin, but there's a town between the castle of Caelin itself and the Gate.

    Anyone who has been paying attention must know or at least have an idea of what is El Proyecto Negro.
    It's not the quintessence though. While it's true Kiran has kept it a secret and it may be level 3 of secrecy, that's El Proyecto Elfo (The Elf Project)."

    Talking more about other stuff, I'm about to end my Gate Story which means more free time for me. Regarding the virus that is destroying the world and its economy, I don't have anything of relevance to say. I am sick right now but since I don't have a fever and the fact that I'm not coughing as if there wasn't a tomorrow... I doubt it's that shit. I think I can take advantage of the quarantine to write more chapters.
    You may notice that I changed the cover image. Let's say I wanted to avoid conflicts with the creator of that image (I'm really gonna miss it, the Kiran looked so badass) so I got a new one from a friend. It kinda displays a wrong idea since it shows Kiran holding a Master Sword that seems like a weird fusion between the Dorada and Azul ones... but well, it's better than nothing.
     
  • Index
    • Chapter 44: World Of Blazing Part 2
  • Index
    • World Of Blazing Part 2​
    As the sun hid under the horizon and the hour to assault the town was approaching each second, the "hero" of the legend sat on the ground over a hill filled with grass to do what he had concluded was an important detail for the future since the last time he checked the heavens.

    Even though he could see that incredible amount of stars on the firmament... he wasn't able to find the object he had hypothesized time ago.

    At least from this point of perspective of the planet, there wasn't a big galaxy easily to be seen.

    Could this mean an irregular galaxy that traveled alone through the Cosmos? or at least one that wasn't a satellite galaxy but still belonged to something similar to the Local Group?

    Kiran wished it was the latter option... otherwise...

    He sighed as he rubbed his face.

    "Would you mind if I join to you?" a sweet voice he recognized easily spoke to him.

    "Want another astronomy lesson or something?" Kiran asked as he extended his arm to lend his telescope to the princess of Ylisse.

    "I would enjoy that." she sat by his side as she, like a child of five, allowed her imagination to feel amazed as she placed the artifact near her eye.

    Kiran reflected for a moment that, had he been interested to get a girlfriend, Lucina would have been the first option given his sometimes weird obsession with the color blue. Yet, the only thing that interested him regarding the beauty of all those ladies he had met in this world was... well, the scientific secret that explained why all them looked so beautiful in comparison to the women from his universe.

    "Just like the planets orbit around a star... sometimes the stars themselves interact with more stars, creating what is known as binary solar systems... although the limit is not two stars, there can be three, four... I'm not sure if six can be possible though."

    "Wow... just... wow..." Lucina's smile shone as brilliantly as the stars she was admiring so much.

    "Although at first it was thought binary systems were something odd... it happens that having a yellow star that is "single" is what is odd... and by that I mean even though the most common stars are the red "tiny" ones that are usually, indeed, "single". Between bigger stars, you can expect to find at least one partner. This led some people to think that, perhaps, there was a hidden partner of our sun... proofs to demonstrate it never appeared though."

    Lucina was fascinated because of all this knowledge... however, then she sighed as she gave a sad smile. "You know, when I was a little girl... mom used to tell me that the stars were our loved ones that had ascended to heaven... that idea gave me hope in my future... the few times we could have some peace from the Risen Grima constantly sent to hunt us... I watched the stars... thinking that mom and dad were watching me from there... had we knew some stars have companions... probably I would have believed it even more..." she sighed again. "But I suppose it was just a silly tale for children..."

    A part of Kiran wanted to remain silent... yet, another part ordered him to give another speech about the indifference of reality... while he still was waiting for the correct moment to tell Corrin she was, ninety-nine percent probable sterile... in this case, the subject wasn't that problematic.

    "Adults tell children a lot of stupid stories, saying the also stupid excuse: they need to enjoy the magic and the illusion of the infancy... to me that is garbage. Reality is interesting enough, it's not necessary to invent such things to keep the kids entertained."

    Whether Lucina got mad at him because of this, he couldn't tell.

    "This gives hope to people when everything seems to be lost though..."

    "Hope? having hope for the sake of having hope it's just deceiving yourself. When you just don't have the answer, it's more mature just to say: I just don't know. There's no shame on accepting we don't have all the answer, shame would lying us regarding that."

    He groaned in frustration. "Although it's true that, as Skynet would say, in times of despair... people will have faith in what they want to believe... this is something that we, tacticians, must take advantage of."

    Lucina remained silent as she felt she had heard something like that before... then, her memories flued through her mind and she remembered when.
    Lucina was sitting inside a tent along with her father's tactician. A marvelous man called Robin. The man was worried that the army would fall had he got killed in battle without leaving a spare tactician... and that's why she was there.
    "One of the primordial details a tactician must ensure is making the opponent believe they can win."

    Lucina frowned. It didn't seem to make sense. "But... wouldn't it be the opposite? destroying their will to fight?"

    "The art of the war is the art of deceiving. Would you fight a battle you think you're gonna lose when you are still willing to fight?"

    "Uh... well, I suppose no..." she rubbed her left hand's palm.

    "To win the war we must ensure the enemy falls into our traps... of course, one can wish they would listen to reason and would surrender after that... but things like honor can allow the enemy to retain their hope even when the only thing at the end of the tunnel seems to be darkness. In those cases, we must take advantage of that hope... and then... well, crush it... as many times as necessary to make them surrender..." the tactician sighed as he gave a sad smile. "I know this all sounds more like something you would expect to hear from Walhart himself... but I'm not a hero... never was... never will be... all the Valmese that were transported to a physical version of the hell because of me can be sure about that..."

    He then rubbed his forehead.

    Lucina just gave him a hug.
    Back in the present, she also hugged Kiran. "You really are similar to him..."

    "To Robin? well, yeah. Even his female self agrees we are similar... but not that much... anyway. Just don't get too attached to me. Ephraim would go mad with envy if he discovers his friend like this with the woman he likes." Kiran smiled, shooking his head.

    Lucina blushed. "I guess it's obvious he would tell that to his friends..." she said as she let him go.

    Kiran then gave a hysterical laugh, in his fucking life he would have imagined he would be in this kind of situation.
    It was truth he once found a message written on a table that read: Te amo, Luis (I love you Luis). But he always thought it must have been some kind of prank. He was kinda fat back then after all... but being a possible cause of some jealous... it felt so surreal...

    Love just wasn't his field. As he inclined his head towards the grass he remembered another interesting detail for the class.

    "It's a shame most of the plants are green instead of red." he looked at the said thing with... disappointment.

    "Eh?... why?... red plants?... what makes them better than green ones?"

    "It's kinda complicated but it has something to do with the type of light a star emanates. Do you remember the experiment to make the rainbow?"

    "Yes, aunt Miriel told me that the white light is composed of all those colors." Lucina nodded.

    "Good, well, the thing is that the colors that the plants receive the most determine their color. A yellow sun, along with some other factors about the atmosphere, give more red and blue light to the plants and they absorb those lights to make their food in a process called photosynthesis, they reflect the light green and that's why they have that color."

    "What you mean... is that other types of suns would cause different lights to reach the plants... and they would reflect other colors?"

    "Yes."

    "But... what makes the red plants "superior"?"

    "It's not like they would be "superior", it's just that stars that would cause red plants are orange stars type K. They are kinda smaller than the yellow ones... but they live almost three times the lifespan of a yellow one. And that is good because-" Kiran didn't finish his sentence because another sweet voice continued it.

    "Because an orange star like that would allow life to develop more time."

    "L-Lady Tiki!" Lucina didn't waste her time and she knelt to her.

    Kiran smiled like a bastard and gave a signal of peace and love. "Yeah, pretty much that. An orange star type K is one of the factors most astronomers look to find a superhabitable planet."

    Tiki ignored the bastard as she sat by Lucina's side. "There's no need for you to do that, Lucina.

    "I-I-I see..."

    "What gives us the pleasure to have you here this night, lady Tiki?" Kiran asked witch such a stupid smile on his face as if he had totally forgotten he and Tiki had an arguing the previous time they talked.

    "I cannot say it's a pleasure for me... but I couldn't sleep so I decided to walk a little." she remained indifferent.
    "I see." Kiran yawned "The only explanation that could exist for you to understand what I was explaining is that your mother taught you about this, right?"

    "I've also learned a lot by myself throughout my entire life," she commented. "And I suppose that your species is more advanced."

    "We have placed a flag on our moon that because of radiation or something like that now it seems like it's the French flag. So we do have the technology... whether they deserve it or not is something different."

    "You don't exactly give a good example..."

    "I know I'm a piece of garbage, no need to remind me it" he smiled as he approached his face to Tiki's one.

    "Then don't dare you to compare yourself with Marth!" she also approached her face.

    As a result of this, Lucina had to awkwardly move herself to do not end up receiving a double kiss...

    "But the legacy of a scientist, usually, has more impact on the world than any king."

    "Marth's efforts saved the world!"

    "And people like me make living in this world worth it and our legacy keeps saving lives even centuries after our last breath is expelled... or well, I should better say people like my heroes, they invented and discover everything I know. I'm just a stupid wannabe copy of them... and even with that, I cause more impact." he shrugged.

    Lucina could only fear the tension as Tiki had a face filled with rage... and yet Kiran continued with that stupid smile.
    "Anyway." Kiran stood up. "I lent it to you more time, but make sure to give it back to Miriel once you finish," he told that to Lucina. "Have a nice night, ladies."

    Then he left.

    "L-L-Lady Tiki?..."

    Tiki still had that rage face... he wasn't a hero... no... never was... never will be...

    She sighed. "Sorry for that, Lucina."

    "I-It's okay..."
    Because the body didn't have a proper burial and the fact it was summer in Lycia, the putrefaction had been accelerated and the corpse was already been invaded by the worms. What once was the strongest mage of the continent after the death of Athos and the man who gave the fatal blow to who perhaps had been the worse black mage ever existed in Elibe would soon return to the planet and he would stop existing... or well, at least, the majority of him.

    A certain compound had been flowing through the brain as the biological processes of the body had stopped. The information was being copied and, soon, would be released.
    The darkness of a night without a moon was, as many tacticians through the story had discovered, the perfect scenario to initiate a nocturnal assault to any fortification or town,

    It served well this time too to hide the presence of the enemies of Embla.

    Kiran, following Kager and being him followed by the rest of the Order Of Heroes.

    Kagero thanked a lot the lacking of walls as she hid under the shadow of a house... and she quickly grabbed one of the guards by the mouth, pushed him towards herself and used her other hand to stab him directly on the neck... followed by another stabbing on the mouth to ensure he remained silent.

    Another soldier still noticed the sudden dissipation of one of his friends... and he met the same horrible fate.

    Kagero advanced quickly as she continued killing soldiers until it was sure nobody could warn about the danger until it was late.

    She returned and gave a thumbs-up to Kiran.

    "Ready?" Kiran asked to Robin as he prepared his two swords.

    "Ready."

    Kiran then gave the signal. All the soldiers advanced quickly!

    On the air, Shanna, Florina, and Caeda flew near the ground...

    Florina almost screamed in horror when the spear of her own sister Farina almost stabbed her on the head.
    The shy girl had to order her pegasus to... escape...

    Shanna had her own problems against another pegasus knight who had also blue hair but longer. They began to fly in parallel with each other. Shanna thrust as fast as she could, which her enemy blocked with her shield. As the blue-long haired pegasus returned the thrusts even faster, Shanna blocked them with her own shield. They continued like that.
    The princess of Talys faced another opponent. Her situation was worse seen from a more psychological perspective
    A wyvern and its master.

    Had she been her version already married to Marth, she wouldn't suffer as much...

    The wyvern flew fast and almost bite her precious pegasus, Caeda ordered it to raise more, and then she made a maneuver to stab with her lance.

    She failed.

    To rescue her, however, appeared the dragon princess transformed, on her back Lilina and Nino had been casting their spells. Tiki used her fireball which managed to hit the wing of the wyvern, Caeda took advantage of this to finally stab the master on his shoulder and make him fall.

    Florina got the help of a red-haired pegasus knight. "Fight back!" she yelled as she thrust as quickly as possible.

    "B-B-B-B-But... sh-sh-she's my sister!"

    "What?!" Although Cordelia began to fly by Florina's side, it proved quickly to be a mistake as Farina almost collided with both.

    Shanna blocked another attack. She then pushed with her shield when the spear of her foe was touching the said object, making an opening she didn't waste.

    "Fine, fine, everything is... fine!" three stabs in total. One on the pegasus, another two on her rival.

    As the three enemies fell... they barely survived because of the low altitude they were combating. Quickly some Askarian soldiers obeyed the order Kiran had told them before the battle began and take them to Lissa and Maria... at the same time they chained them up.

    On the ground, the battle was more brutal.

    Frederick saw two knights running towards him, each one wearing red and green armor. This kinda gave him a deja vu.
    As the green one attempted a thrust with a spear, Frederick hit that spear with his ax and also blocked a diagonal slash from the red one with his own sword. He quickly hit the red one with the superior part of his ax. Having free time to attack the green knight, Frederick dodged a thrust and hooked the spear with the ax, then he just controlled his enemy's weapon allowing him to stab the green one with his sword. By the time the red one attempted something, Frederick used the red's green partner as a shield and finally gave himself the final blow with his sword.

    Chrom had to deal with a blue-haired woman paladin.

    She was too fast!

    A vertical slash, a horizontal one, diagonal ones. He blocked them all for thirty seconds until he saw an opening. He jumped to the left and proceeded with his vertical slash. The woman only needed to jump too to avoid that... but the spear of Ephraim suddenly stabbed her.

    "Need a hand?" he smiled.

    "I could use some help." Chrom smiled too.

    The king of Renais and the Exalt did attacks together, each thurst of Ephraim's lance was followed by and slash of Chrom's falchion, one, two, three, four, five, six and more times they did that. Some Emblian soldiers tried to help the paladin, but nobody could stop the duo.

    A similar team but between siblings could be found on the same battlefield.

    Alfonse used his sister's shield to protect them both, Sharena kept attacking using both hands to cause the most damage as possible. The prince sometimes attacked too in case Sharena hadn't killed any soldier that dared to face them.
    Alfonse noticed a very muscular man wearing green about to hit his sister's spear with his ax... only to be stopped by Anna's ax. "Don't forget about me!"

    Kiran used both swords to block an ax that almost landed on his face, he quickly jumped to the left and then a jump backward when his opponent then used his sword.

    He then released a rain of slashes towards the red-haired man he was combating with.

    He thanked infinitely Frederick had given him experience against this kind of enemy.

    A dodge moving to the left, a dodging moving to the right. Blocking with the sword, the man didn't receive a single wound.
    Kiran growled as he stopped and prepared himself to counterattack.

    When he blocked a vertical slash with his left sword... he didn't attack... no... this option wouldn't work against the sword... he kept blocking until his opponent used the ax.

    There!

    Unlike the previous time, he jumped to the right moving his left sword with a slash from down to up. The result was Kiran's blue sword hurting the hand that held the ax and making the other man drop it, all this due to the lack of protection for the hand an ax offered.

    Without this, when Kiran did a diagonal slash from up to down with his left sword and the other sword blocked it... at the same time Kiran was stabbing him on the chest with his right sword.

    As Frank had told him... it didn't seem the hero felt any pain at all...

    Kiran continued his assault until his enemy fell. Kiran stabbed him one last time on the back, almost hitting the heart. It was then when the Askarian soldiers captured him.

    Robin could have helped him... but she had been busy with two purple-haired mages. One of them cast a fire wave she received with her hands and redirected towards him. However, Robin found herself surrounded by dark orbs. Fortunately, Raigh pushed her out of the way and he received the energy.

    The young black mage coughed some blood, he managed to control part of the energy though.

    Lightings fell from the sky, but the mages dodged them jumping.

    However, the mage of anima didn't notice Lugh with a hand filled with electrical energy... releasing it directly on his face.
    The dark mage wearing a monocle as about to cast Luna once more... and he couldn't as Raigh sent him back the previous one and Robin took advantage of this to make her Levin sword cut through his chest.

    Other mages or soldiers couldn't interfere because Nino, Tiki, Lilina were giving them more hell from the sky.
    Roy decided to use his mother's swords for this combat... and probably that was a good idea. A swordmaster who seemed to be also from the same land his mother came from was releasing his own storm of attacks which he counterattacked as fast as he could.

    The horn could be heard. Thanks to this, the Emblian soldiers started the retreat.

    Kiran and the others ran after them for a minute, taking down at least twenty soldiers more.

    Kiran was breathing fastly... but then smiled. Another successful battle...

    He let himself fall on the ground... as much as his biological clock was reaching the point when it would ask him to sleep... he wasn't going to.

    No... there was a place he needed to visit first...

    He used his two swords to help himself to stand up... and walked to where Raigh was.
    Raigh rubbed his chin as he analyzed his patients... as each one kept struggling against their chains, trying to kill him.
    As Kiran entered the tent... he felt confused.

    "Why are they here?" he pointed to Florina, Lilina and Roy.

    "Well..." Florina played with her index fingers... as she looked at her two sisters...

    True... technically speaking these versions weren't her sisters but...

    It also begged the question... where was "she"?

    "They are our parents' friends..." Roy commented. "If we don't cure them... then..."

    "You'll need to kill them?" Raigh asked as he extracted some black magic from his tome and approached the red-haired man who fought Kiran.

    Lilina inclined her head and it seemed like she was about to start crying.

    Kiran rubbed his forehead, his eyes closed. "I see..."

    Raigh placed his fingers on the patient's forehead. The black energy helping him as he analyzed what he had to deal with.
    "There's much dark energy flowing through the brain and the heart..."

    "Not a surprise, to control someone you would need to "reprogram them" and the only way do it to a man is to alter the brain." Kiran frowned.

    "Most of the energy is crossing the frontal and central side of the brain... almost nothing the back part..."

    "Those must be the frontal lobe and temporal lobe... both are the parts of the brain related the most to the behavior, emotions, and memory... the rest probably is blocking the pain."

    Raigh nodded. "At first it sounds cool to do not feel pain... until you remember that it is a function that allows you to determine danger... most people who don't feel pain end up without arms or legs."

    "Can't you just... extract the magic?" Lilina asked.

    "Yes I can, now, if you do care about possibles secondary effects like mental damage that would make them retarded, I don't think it is a good idea," Raigh growled, shooking his head. "It's never that easy... you know?"

    "S-Sorry..."

    "I'm afraid I cannot help you much with this... neurology is one of those fields of study I only know the basics..." Kiran sighed.

    "Whatever." Raigh stopped the process... and then...

    Each captured hero began to struggle even faster... which wouldn't be that surprising...

    if part of the dark magic hadn't begun to be expelled from their bodies through their mouths and they began to scream!
    Everybody backed off.

    "W-W-What's going on!" Lilina hid behind her mother.

    Roy and Kiran unsheathed his weapons just in case...

    "I-I-I don't know!" Raigh yelled.

    The heroes continued screaming until... all the black energy from their brains had been expelled... and then they stopped moving... then, just like the original regular contract, the energy that was inside their hearts was expelled too...

    Raigh approached slowly... his own black magic ready to kill... he grabbed one of those stethoscopes Kiran and Miriel had created... and he tried his best to hear the heart of this people at the same time he analyzed the brain of the red-haired guy again...

    His eyes went wide...

    He proceeded to do the same with the next hero, the man the trio of Askr had faced... the next one the red knight...
    ...
    ...
    ...
    "Raigh?..." Kiran was the first one to speak.

    "They are dead..." Raigh confirmed... "Heart attack... mixed with the pain it caused the dark magic because of getting out from their brains that fast..."

    "No... no... it can't be true..." Florina approached his sisters. "Farina?... Fiora?... speak to me... please... say something... anything!"

    Kiran grimaced, crossing his arms. "It seems like the Emblians really don't want us to discover the secret of their new contract..."

    "So they are going to kill any hero we capture..." Raigh frowned...

    Lilina and Roy had their mouths covered by their hands.

    The implications of this didn't escape them of course...

    Raigh approached Kiran. "So... are we going to do something different to Veronica?... or is burying her alive after putting her inside a room with five prisoners is still the plan?"

    "No... having read the universal history of torture finally is going to be useful for something instead of being just fucking dark curiosity..." Kiran's face "degenerated" into the face of a demon.

    "The question is... how are we gonna save the heroes if we can't study the spell?..." Raigh remained serious.

    "Perhaps the answer just is... we can't..." Kiran knew... that he now didn't want to have mercy...

    He didn't care what Nobel would have thought had he still been alive...

    Now he just wanted to see the Emblians screaming after being dismembered by explosions
    Because this new contract cannot be removed through fighting... this happened.

    The thing about Kiran saying there was a hypothesis regarding a possible second star in the solar system isn't a joke, it's real, just search: Nemesis hypothesis (yes, Nemesis). It's old and debunked as far as I know but it's still something interesting to read about. It's basically the star version of the planet X.

    I tried my best to give you a chapter-longer than 3000 words as a way to say sorry for taking this much... I mean, at least I finished one of my fanfics... the Gate one... but now they are sending the work I need to do at home and... damn, I really wish I was still going to classes at the school... working from home like this is a fucking nightmare... the physiological factor hits you even harder.

    So, yeah. First I kill a character you barely knew, then I kill half of the cast of a game very loved by people... this is escalating. Proximately members of the order... and you can guess who of the Askrian trio is gonna die once we reach the part of Muspell.

    Probably the Niflians will speak French and the Muspellians Japanese.
     
  • Index
    • Chapter 45: The World Of Blazing Part 3
  • Index
    • The World Of Blazing Part 3
    ​
    Bruno drank some tea after he gulped due to the awkwardness of the situation.

    "I missed you so much..." for the first time in a long time, the face of the princess of Embla didn't display any anger or even that loneliness that convinced Xander she needed him.

    This time, it was a genuine smile of happiness, as if she had returned to be the same little girl of that time when she was five years old or less. She served more tea to her beloved brother as she spoke.

    "Why were you wearing that stupid mask and uniform?"

    Now dressing in a more classical black spearman outfit, besides his new haircut similar to the one he used to have as a kid, the prince drank more tea before answering. "You know that since I was exiled I cannot be seen here... had I returned with my old clothes I would have been executed as quickly as the sound of a snap is produced... without mentioning my old Emblian clothes don't fit me anymore."

    Veronica frowned with fury. "Anyone who would have dared to put a single finger on you... I would have sent them to rot in prison!"

    Bruno tried his best to do not to react at all to that moment of rage of his sister. Had this been caused because of the curse on their blood or it happened thanks to their love of siblings?... or perhaps a combination of both?

    He didn't know... "You didn't have the authority to make that possible back then... besides it would have caused a hell of problems even worse than the actual."

    "Where have you been?" Veronica's concern for him was also genuine, he could notice it easily.

    "In Nifl." he lied, taking advantage of the fact that in his magic investigations he had learned to cast ice magic. "I always enjoyed cold climates."
    "And you never thought about writing some letters to me?!" Veronica hit the table with her fist. "Have you any idea about how I felt!"

    "They would have burnt them as soon as they noticed the letters were written by me, and even if I got someone else to write them instead, they always read and check anything it's sent to you because it could have a dark magic hex on it." Bruno shrugged, and then he scratched his head's back part. "It's also possible they would have sent assassins after me for "daring to plan something against our country again" or anything similar."

    The princess growled as she stood up and ran quickly to hug him. "Please don't leave me again..."

    Bruno patted her on the head. "I won't leave you, that's a promise."

    The inclusion of that specific pronoun had reflected the fact that he, indeed, wasn't going to abandon his sister... but not the Empire. If anything went well in the end, perhaps he could actually take her with him to Nilf before Alfonse repeated with his sister the same event their parents had experienced.

    Unfortunately, to continue his investigations in peace and be able to stay by Veronica's side without a knife trying to get to his neck every ten seconds, he would have to work against Askr for a while...

    "By the way, I have some information that might come to be-" he didn't get to finish his sentence as Veronica placed a hand on his mouth.

    "No!"

    "Uh?"

    "Just for today... I don't want to do anything regarding war... I just want to spend time with you, just like the old times..."

    Bruno could only smile at this... yes... there was hope he could still cure her... he had managed to resist after all...

    "As you wish."
    The members of the order of heroes remained silent as the dead bodies of the local heroes were been placed inside some holes recently dug by the Askarian soldiers.

    It was a shame there weren't any coffins at least to give these heroes the burial they deserved...

    Florina's tears weren't exactly as many as one part of herself told her they should have been... but the fact that these weren't exactly her versions of her sisters and friends just didn't make it possible.

    Roy and Lilina, on the other hand, looked at the scene with a certain fear growing in their hearts... the possibility of being unable to save their "parents"... or worse... having to kill them...

    Even though this wasn't his Lilina, Roy wished she wasn't there to witness this...

    He placed a hand on her shoulder. The young woman turned to see... a copy of those gentle eyes filled she had fallen in love with...

    She quickly backed off.

    "Roy!... we must not..." she turned around and covered her face with her hands.

    Roy shook his head. "Sorry!" he turned around, too.

    What in the hell was he doing?!

    Kiran had been watching them... he frowned as he crossed his arms. "Recordatorio... mantenerlos alejados... (Thing to remember... keep them away from each other)."

    Kiran's mind was only occupied by his desire to cut both Veronica's heart and brain with his two swords. "They were the swords of demon's bane" after all..."

    That all was thrown away when he felt someone pocking him on his right arm. He turned to see...

    "Nino..." the girl's face didn't denote that... beautiful happiness she used to have... he could detect easily the fear.

    "A-Are we going... t-to have... t-to..."

    "Kill more versions of your friends?..." he, as usual, caressed her hair. Nino didn't waste time and she hugged him.

    Both didn't say a thing for a minute... until she gasped, backed off, and placed her hands on her mouth, it took her some seconds before her "crystalized" eyes met Kiran's ones.

    "Y-Y-You're... not... gonna make my babies... kill the other me... r-r-right?"

    Kiran grimaced "Of course not..." he closed his eyes as he hugged her tighter this time.

    However, bringing up the detail of the another Nino caused a few problems on Kiran's mind.

    An image of the precious angel-girl in "soulless" mode materialized in his mind. Kiran's face displayed a legendary awkwardness at this...

    Unfortunately for him, thanks to that phenomenon he called "the call of the darkness", based on the call of the void the French people mentioned, mixed with his rage thoughts to Veronica... recreated that image of him stabbing her on both heart and brain... but replacing Veronica for Nino.

    "GRAAA!" Kiran yelled as he interrupted the hug and placed both hands on his head as if he was suffering both a migraine and a stroke at the same time.

    "Kiran?!"

    Of course, all this noise got the attention of some of the others present.

    Kiran kept shaking his head and growling for a while before his mind decided to stop messing up with him and the thoughts vanished. He opened his eyes. "It's nothing... it's nothing..."

    "I highly doubt that's nothing..." Nino's worried expression didn't help him to relax... even less when she tried to put her hand on his forehead... as if she thought he was sick or something... which she barely could because of how tiny she was... which gave her an even cuter look...

    "I-It does not matter..."

    But it did.

    He was used to having intrusive thoughts. Some of them were even worse than what he had imagined himself doing to Nino at that very moment... throwing a baby from the roof of a high building, punching someone to death just for the sake of being an asshole... and he had managed to deal with them since a long time ago. It wasn't something that indicated his mind was off. He had investigated and it was a normal condition for everybody, intrusive thoughts were a normal thing and what mattered about them was that he would never make any of those thoughts come true...

    THEN WHY THE HELL HAD HE SO OVERREACTED TO THIS?!

    He even had had this kind of disgusting thoughts even with people of his family... then why...

    Unfortunately, his brain didn't seem to generate the answer.

    "Y-You don't trust on me?..." Nino seemed... disappointed...

    "Hey, it's just like that time when I pretended to be having a heart attack for the sake of exaggerating." He said, for the expecters, he seemed to be more relaxed... but his mind was a mess...

    Nino frowned. "Why would you even do such a thing?..."

    He grimaced. "You know... I'm just a stupid guy regardless of how smart I can be."

    He once again hugged her... yet this time she didn't seem eager to hug him back.

    Kiran then noticed... Raigh... watching.

    The dark mage had an expression similar to the one Kiran had when suffered stress... however, Raigh's mouth curved slowly and he gave him a thumbs-up... his eyes were still narrowed though...

    Nino finally decided she didn't want to continue receiving affection from the idiot as she just left, not even saying goodbye.

    Kiran felt he wanted to follow her... but his logical side seemed to be taking over once again as he walked away on his own path. He shouldn't bother her by the moment. Once he was near a tree, he smashed his head against it... which, of course, ended up with him on the floor because of the pain.

    Had Raigh really... had Raigh really... told him what Kiran thought that thumbs-up meant?

    "What are you doing?" he heard the voice of Anna.

    He stood up. "Nothing..."

    Anna, however, seemed interested in something on his face.

    "Are you... blushing?..."

    ...
    ...
    ...

    Only a fucking bastard like him could blush in a funeral...

    "Yes... now, if you excuse me... I need some rest" He smashed his head against the tree once more before he left to get inside his personal carriage.
    Once the sun illuminated that side of the planet once more, the order of heroes was marching in the direction to where the Emblian soldiers had escaped after the previous battle. All this after restocking all their supplies, buying them in the town.

    Robin was walking by Kiran's side.

    "So there's nothing we can do to break the curse this time?"

    Kiran, still affected by the experience with Nino and irritated by the fact innocent heroes had died, growled as he answered. "According to Raigh, this type of curses cannot be activated if the caster or at least the one controlling is too away... so anyone who killed them is part of the Emblian army we're fighting right now... the question now is... who the heck is that person?... common sense would indicate that a powerful dark mage or at least a general would have the other part of the spell... but..."

    "Probably because of this same reason, it's none of them. You would prefer to give it to someone who isn't that obvious."
    Robin completed his train of thought. "We don't know what exactly they use though."

    "So, unless Kagero somehow manages to discover it by pure casualty, we have no option... we have to finish them off..." again, he growled like a beast.

    Robin raised her eyebrow. "What's going on with you today?"

    "Rage accumulated, the stress of feeling I'm a useless piece of crap for not being able to do anything to help these slaved people... pain because of training with Frederick... and now this thing seems to be malfunctioning." he began to hit his head with his fist.

    Robin, worried about his mental health, held his arm to stop him from continuing to do that, and hugged him. "Relax..." she patted him and kissed him on the head. "Just tell me, what do you mean by that? how is your brain "working incorrectly"?"

    Kiran... actually cooperated as he sighed and let his head rest on Robin's shoulder "... I had a dream..."

    "How is that something off? was it a particularly bad one or...?"

    "I don't have dreams... well, technically speaking, I have them... it's just that you need to remember I have... had total control of my mind so I could transform my dreams into everything I wanted..."

    "I suppose this time was an exception," Robin concluded. "It makes more sense, what was the dream about?"

    ...
    ...
    ...

    "A nightmare." he lied. His dream was too cute to be considered like that... at least from a certain perspective...

    "What kind of nightmare?"

    "Remember Meteor?"

    "The doomsday device you mentioned?"

    "Yeah... I saw it fall on Askr." he lied.

    The only thing that had fallen was him when he woke up when his dream was at its climax...

    "Perhaps you should really take a break from your job... we appreciate you are willing to help us all to deal with things that even some of them will happen in a very distant future... but we all worry about you. I had to learn the same thing during my travel with Chrom."

    "I need to lead this army."

    "I could take your place for a while."

    The idea of getting vacations was... tempting...

    "No thanks... just, wait for me a second."

    Kiran released himself from Robin's embrace as he, again, placed both hands on his head.

    "Focus... focus... focus..." he breathed slowly, one, two, three... four times.

    "Focus... focus... focus..."

    He could deal with this mental disaster later. Right now, he had a duty.

    "(Tú controlas las emociones... ellas no te controlan a ti (You control the emotions... they don't control you))." he repeated that sentence over and over and over until he finally relaxed.

    "Okay, I'm fine. " he coughed a few times.

    "Are you sure?"

    "At least by the moment."

    He REALLY had to start controlling them, he had gone from rage to blushing, to blushing to self-deprecation and from that to rage again...

    Unfortunately for him, that day something was going to happen that would send his mind into an even more insane spiral of emotions.
    The general in charge of the Emblian army in Elibe had decided to use the Castle of Caelin as the place for the last stand against the Order Of Heroes. It wasn't a fortress surrounded by walls but it had enough to be defendable.

    He had already discarded the dolls he had needed to destroy, he still had some of them but he just couldn't allow losing more.

    It mattered more to remain in control over this country to continue extracting gold and more useful minerals, but without the heroes, Askr would win.

    What was strange was that detail regarding the tactician of the order. Some of the soldiers that retreated declared to have seen him fighting alongside his army... yet another fraction of the army declared they had been chasing him for two weeks and he had been killed near the castle days ago when he attacked to the soldiers patrolling...

    It didn't seem to make any sense... but after he got more information that described the first one as a swordman wielding two swords and the other being a powerful mage... the general concluded they weren't the same. Perhaps just someone with a face similar. Had the tactician of the order died, he would have had the advantage to win this time. Unfortunately, this wasn't the case.

    There were enough food supplies to resist at least two months, so he at least had time enough to come with something to win the battle.

    As he left the papers on the table and walked through the corridors, he noticed two maids, one of black hair and another with blue hair, carrying what seemed to be wine.

    At least there was something to have some fun or get rid of some stress.
    Because Emblians forced local maids to serve them but they at least were smart enough to take advantage of the language barrier to do not allow any important information to get filtrated, and another important detail, Lilina had to come with Kagero for the infiltration mission in case they got questioned. Kagero only needed to pretend to be mute in the worst scenario.

    Thanks to the fact Florina had inhabited in a castle totally similar to the one they were at, the location of where the food supplies were stored was very well known by the ninja and the red mage.

    As they entered the kitchen and proceeded to try to enter the supplies room... a soldier there noticed something off with these maids.

    "Do we have a register of an enslaved blue-haired maid?"

    "I think the answer is no."

    As Kagero saw the two guards walkings towards the same direction as she and Lilina, she yelled. "Change of plans, burn everything now!"

    Kagero quickly pulled out her daggers, dodging a spear attack and stabbing one soldier in the neck.

    Lilina used her fire tome to transform the kitchen into a hell. Then she kicked the door she was going to open and cast three times her fire magic inside.

    As Kagero finished off the second guard and the screams of the other maids and cookers were getting the attention of everybody and more soldiers would arrive soon, the ninja held the hand of the queen of Lycia from other timeline and both ran through the corridors until they were back at that fake wall Florina had also explained them about.
    "Mission completed, all according to the plan," Kagero reported, still wearing that maid outfit.

    "How many soldiers do you had to seduce?" Kiran asked.

    "Just one that perhaps saw us coming out from the wall the first time, I'm not sure, I killed him quickly."

    "I see..." he turned to see Lilina. "Sorry for that, but Kagero isn't a mage and it was just more practical to set everything on fire with your magic."

    "It's okay," Lilina said forcing a smile... she was just happy she didn't meet any of the heroes... especially her father... "I don't like a lot this kind of tactics but they are useful after all."

    Kiran drank lemon tea this time... he had attempted to speak to Nino again but at the very moment she saw him, she ran away... this had, of course, made him feel depressive again... so he decided something like this could help...

    "Now the question is... are they going to attack us in a desperate attempt to have anything to eat for tomorrow?... or we will have to wait until they starve to death?... An army marches on its stomach, as Napoleon would say." he drank more tea.
    While inside the castle the invader army was in chaos even during dinner time, Kiran was inside his carriage once more... he was going to go to the dining tent... not now...

    He preferred to invest his time continuing writing that special book, filling more pages of that back-up of all the scientific information his brain had stored.

    The more time it happened, the more likely it was he would forget an important detail, like the exact value of a mathematical constant, and valuable time would be lost in the future trying to rediscover that.

    As the door opened... he saw the last person he ever expected to see bringing him his dinner...

    Raigh.

    "Hey!" he had a... smile... sure, a tiny one... but a smile anyway...

    "It's not like it disgust me but... why did you choose to bring this to me?... I suppose you had more important things to do..."

    "Well, you're one of the few ones I actually like." he shrugged.

    They remained silent for a while... now that he was here... Kiran's mind returned to what had seen while hugging Nino...
    "Raigh... I need you to confirm to me something... what do you exactly meant with that thumbs-up?..."

    Raigh crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow a little. "I thought it was obvious... I mean, at first, I thought you were some piece of crap, garbage with legs, putrid degenerated... now, honestly I think you are the only one that actually understands me. Not even my brother can do that." he laughed. "So... I gave you... permission."

    Kiran grimaced... "Raigh... I don't want that..."

    Raigh shook his head as he laughed again. "So you mean to tell that each puppy hug, each kiss on the forehead and the fact you gave her a collar heart-shaped, asking her to come home with you after the war and all that shit never was with the intention of taking her to your bedroom? are you fucking kidding me? because it's not working." he raised his middle finger.

    Kiran's teeth clenched. "Wey (dude), we're talking about your mom! she calls me brother and I call her sister..."

    "Yes, I know she's my mother. But that is irrelevant. Now, even if she actually thinks of you as a brother even though you didn't get raised together, you're not really answering my question."

    "It's nothing very different from what I did with my sisters..."

    "Even the kisses part?" Raigh mocked.

    "Eh..."

    Kiran had to rub his face furiously with his hand.

    "Besides, if you really think of her as a sister, wouldn't a more logical reaction be laughing at everything I'm telling you instead of negating everything like a bitch with a voice tone that does not support at all your affirmations... not to mention that stupid red color of your cheeks?" Raigh pointed out with his index finger.

    ...
    ...
    ...

    Raigh smiled like a bastard. "Je, gotcha."

    "I-I need fucking air..." Kiran stood up and kicked the door.

    "Aren't you going to eat this?" Raigh asked, still smiling.

    "LATER!"

    "... Pendejo (Idiot)." Raigh laughed once again as he got out from the carriage too and proceeded to follow Kiran as he was running without a reasonable patron towards the darkness of the night.
    Kiran didn't know how much time he had been running, shaking his head and growling. When he stopped, he started to punch a tree... which had kinda the same result that when he attempted that with his head.

    Again, his own mind mocked at him as it materialized images of the sweet green-haired angel. The effect Raigh added when he said "taking her to your bedroom" made those fantasies even worse...

    "GRAAAAAAAAAAAA! GRAAAAAAAAAAAA! GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGHH!"

    Kiran really tried his best to throw those thoughts away... he just couldn't...

    He was a follower of people like Tesla and Newton. From people like them he had learned love was not worth it. It was just a chemical reaction that impulsed animals to breed... he had managed to keep that cursed feeling buried in the deepest part of his mind since a long time ago.

    THEN WHY HE COULDN'T DO IT NOW?!

    His beast-like growls finally stopped when his nose detected a smell as horrendous as the mental disorder he was suffering.

    "Tch!." he pressed his nose as he wondered where the hell that nasty shit was coming from.

    "Did you get lost?"

    "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!" Kiran almost buried his sword into the face of his "nephew" "RAIGH!"

    "Sorry about that." he shook his head... until his own nose also detected what Kiran's one was barely managing to do not let in. "Damn! that's the smell of a corpse!"

    "How do you know that?!"

    "I'm a black mage, creepy stuff is my specialty."

    "...True..."

    As Raigh predicted, it didn't take them that long to find a body in an advanced state of putrefaction.

    It was thanks to Raigh's magic flame that they were able to see.

    "Perhaps he was the victim of bandits..."

    They frowned... and his eyes went wide a little as they noticed... a certain silver compound being expulsed slowly from this body...

    "Is that... quintessence?" Kiran asked.

    "Most probable answer? yes."

    Kiran, wanting to confirm that hypothesis, approached his hand to touch it and determine both compounds felt the same...

    Which made the compound react.

    Kiran barely had time to frown when the quintessence began to flow and enter his body through the skin.
    "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!"

    "Kiran!" Raigh held him... "Kiran?!"

    Kiran's vision became... fuzzy... "W-What?... argh... uuuuh... daaaah..."

    Raigh tried his best to make Kiran react or form any sentence coherently... but after a while he then stopped moving.
    Kiran had passed out after receiving such a level of that compound so quickly, "Dang it!"
    "Healer! I need a fucking healer!" Raigh yelled, dragging Kiran's body through the camp.

    His screams got quickly the attention of the members of the order. The first one to reach them was Alfonse. "What happened to him?!"

    "We found a corpse expelling certain energy and it got all into his body!"

    "GET HIM TO THE MEDIC TENT, NOW!" Ordered the prince, worried by seeing his, by now, only friend without moving at all.

    Artur, Joshua, Sharena, and Cordelia held the white tactician by his extremities and carried him away.
    The white blood cells didn't react positively at first when a strange substance invaded their world. The neutrophils and the T-killers attempted to eliminate the quintessence... however, at the moment the silver substance made contact... the cells "relaxed"... no, not only that happened. It was as if they suddenly became stronger... a group of weak local bacteria that entered the body after a while met a horrible destiny because of this. The red blood cells didn't get as much energy as the white ones, but all this caused that the blood obtained a tiny silver coloration.

    Most of the quintessence, however, made its way until it reached the brain and "energized" the neurons as new memories began to be loaded into the brain...

    After that day, the body was going to become partially based on silicon.
    That last kinda detailed explanation of what happened inside the body is thanks to that anime called Cells At Work. Because what could be better to watch during this quarantine than an anime regarding our internal defenses fighting bacteria and viruses?! So, I'm also one of those who ship U-1146 and AE-3803. I can't wait for season 2.

    Intrusive thoughts are common things, I also have them (the most disturbing ones would be those when I imagined myself letting my baby nieces hit the ground... with their heads) but it just takes some will to be able to ignore them and destroy them as quickly as they appear. There's a Wikipedia article about it if you want to read it. Why hasn't Kiran displayed them before? well, because each of those were not really important for the plot (most of them were like: punching Sharena for apparently no reason at all). While "Call from the darkness" and "Call from the void" may seem the same, as far as I know, the latter one is only used to describe the thoughts where the person imagines himself/herself committing suicide by jumping.

    I guess it's obvious who was the corpse that gave its quintessence to our idiot here.

    The Westermarck Effect explains why histories of childhood romance and incest between siblings are, in general, not very realistic (especially with the latter one, seriously, what the hell Japan?!), basically, two children (a boy and a girl) that have grown up together since a time before 6 years are kinda unable to think about the another one as a potential love interest. It's not a universal law but this is why Raigh highly doubts Kiran actually thinks of Nino as a little sister. (Actually, had Nino not mentioned that to him, the idea would have never crossed his mind). He himself had admitted he would have asked her to go out on a date with him had he been between thirteen and ten years old... because he thought she was like 9 or 11 years old because of how tiny she is... (and because when he was 13 years old, while he didn't have an active interest in girls, the idea didn't seem like something intrinsically wrong or a limiter to his intelligence) but then he learned she's actually 15 years old.
    ​
     
  • Index
    • Chapter 46: World Of Blazing 3.5
  • Index
    • World Of Blazing 3.5
    ​
    Nino hummed happily as she grabbed the salt and dropped some grains over a soup. She then used a spoon to shake it to ensure everything mixed correctly.

    "You're doing it amazingly." Cordelia smiled at her, she cooking another thing by her side.

    Nino smiled as she said. "Thanks for teaching me."

    "No need to thank me, it's a pleasure to help." the pegasus knight patted the girl on the head.

    It was true the cakes tasted like heaven and Nino enjoyed so much that smile that Lugh always displayed when she prepared one, sometimes even Raigh gave up his pride and he gave her a cute face too... but she also knew any respectable chef was able to cook a great variety of recipes, even simple yet healthy ones like the one she was preparing.

    Her heart warmed as she felt something very special, a desire to do her best to make sure her babies would be content eating what she cooked... she was so happy to have them... yet, that also brought another feeling... knowing she had needed to abandon them to protect them because the problems of her past chased her... prompted her to feel pain of regret.

    Even if technically she wasn't the same mother and they weren't exactly her sons... she didn't care, she loved them...
    She just hoped in her turn she wouldn't suffer the same fate...

    True, in Askr the Black Fang couldn't find her... yet... something could always go wrong.

    That also brought up another question that was consuming her mind...

    Who the father of Lugh and Raigh was?

    After... learning how the babies were brought into the world... she felt incredibly uncomfortable trying to imagine who had been the man she had allowed... to touch her that... particular way...

    Honestly, her desire to have twins must have been that influential to let happen something so... scary? terrifying?
    She couldn't describe it with words...

    She shook her head as she determined the soup was now in perfect condition to be eaten.
    That detail wasn't important at that moment.

    Taking two bowls and filling them with said aliment, she walked in direction to the table she always spent time with her babies.

    As she arrived, she frowned. "Where is Raigh?"

    Lugh shrugged as he raised an eyebrow. "In theory, he left to give the summoner his food but he hasn't returned, no idea why he's taking so long."

    Nino sighed. "I see," she quickly recovered her smile as she placed one of the bowls in front of Lugh. "Anyway, I hope you like it."

    Lugh gave her a smile. "Thanks, mother."

    "Anything for my baby." She gave him a kiss on the forehead.

    Lugh's smile didn't fade, yet, anyone could notice his awkwardness. "Mom! I'm not a baby!"

    "You know you can't change you'll always be my precious baby." Nino's heartwarming motherly smile made Lugh give up.
    "Whatever... so... what about the book I gave you?"

    "It's so cute when the duck manages to return to the lake."

    It was kinda odd she would be reading books for children... yet, it made sense. She technically didn't have the opportunity to have a normal childhood.

    Lugh put the spoon inside his mouth.

    "So?..."

    Lugh nodded. "It's delicious."

    Nino sighed in relief.

    She decided she would eat from the bowl she had prepared for Raigh by the moment. Otherwise, it would get cold.
    Both remained silent for a while until an idea appeared on Lugh's mind. He moved his index finger as he spoke.

    "Wouldn't it be funny if you learned to read because of me... and then, thanks to that, you taught me to read... which allows me to teach you to read... that ensures you can help me to learn and so on?"

    Nino smiled, raising her eyebrow. " That's an amusing but confusing concept... but I don't think the time works that way given what we know thanks to Askr."

    "I know, it just felt it would be interesting." Lugh giggled.

    They continued eating.

    Nino was getting worried. Again, where was Raigh?

    Even if she wasn't in the mood to go to see the idiot Kiran... perhaps she should go to take a look.

    Before she stood up, however, the voice of her other son was heard through the camp.

    "HEALER! I NEED A FUCKING HEALER!"

    The young mother, as expected, got worried something might have happened to Raigh. So, she didn't waste any second and she ran out to find him. Lugh, of course, ran behind them along with some other heroes whose attention was gotten by all the commotion.

    Her eyes went wide and her mouth was opened when she saw Kiran... lying on the ground... he didn't have any wounds but... when Raigh said a substance entered his body... she couldn't deny she was concerned.

    So, when the Askarian tactician was being carried, she followed.

    Another one who also was very worried about what had happened to Kiran was the tactician of Ylisse.

    The tension in the order was pretty clear to be seen as Kiran was placed on a bed inside the medic tent.

    Lissa, Maribelle, and even Artur were by the sides, preparing their instruments.

    "Could you describe to us that substance?" Lissa asked.

    Raigh didn't respond at first... he wasn't sure if he should explain that detail... but then he remembered this had been basically an isolated incident. It wouldn't imply anything about experiments with quintessence Kiran had been doing and the fact more of that substance was hidden back in Askr.

    "It's probably what we know as quintessence."

    Nino was surprised... Kiran's body was filled with quintessence now?

    Robin, understanding that concept, rubbed her chin. "Quintessence... just that?"

    The prince of Askr crossed his arms. "I've heard about it but my knowledge is very limited."

    Raigh nodded. "Sí (Yes)."

    Nobody felt it was anything important to ask why Raigh suddenly decided to use one of those words Kiran spoke once in a while. They had already gotten used to it and, considering how much time they spent time together, it made sense.
    Artur and the other healers scratched their hair, cheeks, or foreheads. "Well... quintessence is one of the most basic things of the body... how much he got?"

    Raigh growled as he clenched his teeth. "That's true, right... but let's remember he technically is not human like us! quintessence has never been part of his organism! not to mention he got a full dose! what is normal for us may be poison for him!"

    Everybody grimaced at the possibility.

    The healers began to take the situation more seriously.

    Maribelle took one of the stethoscopes. As she placed the metal part on Kiran's chest...

    ...
    ...
    ...

    She frowned and gave them all a very worried expression. "I don't want to alarm you... but I can't hear his heartbeat..."
    Alfonse's reaction to this? "Try again!" he demanded. His teeth just like Raigh's one when he explained the problem of the quintessence.

    Nino and Robin gasped.

    However, the dark mage rolled his eyes as he approached. He took Maribelle's hand.

    "You're doing it wrong,"

    "Eh?" it was not only the noble's reaction. Pretty much everybody did that.

    "You're placing it on the right side of the chest, normally that would be correct, but in Kiran's case his heart is at the left side." he guided the hand of the troubadour.

    Maribelle's mouth opened when, indeed, the sound of the heart was finally reaching her ears. "It's true." she nodded slowly.

    Lissa raised her eyebrow. "So, he has situs inversus?"

    "Situs..." Nino spoke.

    "Inversus?" both Alfonse and Robin completed the sentence.

    Artur scratched his hair. "I think Lute mentioned the concept to me. She said there are cases when some people are born with their internal organs in positions that... aren't usually the normal ones. As if they were in mirror mode."
    Raigh coughed. "Well, yeah. The thing is, when we were doing autopsies to the corpses of the test subjects and we opened the first body, Kiran was surprised that he had the stomach and heart on the right side. I told him something like: what the fuck do you mean? that's normal and we could check it easily with the remaining corpses. He gave me a very confused look. At first, I thought he got the information wrong or something. As he himself said, even he could be wrong about something. Once we checked three corpses more, he then laughed and commented that in his world it's the opposite. What I mean is that, yes, technically speaking he has situs inversus of the totalis type... but that's because in his world that's the standard and the healers from his world, if they got the opportunity to take a look at our bodies, would say we are the ones with situs inversus totalis."

    Nino looked at Kiran entirely surprised... he was like a mirror person.

    Robin, on the other hand, placed her hand on her heart. Had she never tried to verify its position, she would have wondered if she had that strange condition.

    Artur analyzed. "So his right lung is the largest one?"

    "Eso es correcto. (That is correct)" Raigh nodded.

    Alfonse laughed. "I guess he really is an alien."

    The three medics resumed their task, this time knowing where they should look for Kiran's vital signs.

    "He seems to be fine..." Lissa commented. "I just guess the shock of receiving that much quintessence was too much for him to handle..."

    "His heart beats a little faster than usual... but he's pretty much just having a very heavy dream," Maribelle concluded. "He just needs rest I guess..."

    "We should try to figure out how to extract the substance though... it might not be dangerous now... but who knows... this is a completely new case." Artur stood up as he spoke.

    Raigh crossed his arms... he had already tested how Kiran's blood reacted to quintessence... but as he had suggested, it was possible the whole system would not react the same way as a simple part... yet... perhaps... perhaps it had been assimilated positively... or perhaps neutrally... had it been the former option... this did beg the question.

    How many years of lifespan had he received?

    "I-Is there something wrong if I stay to take care of him?!"

    "Could I stay so I can watch him?!

    Both Nino and Robin said... which made each one look at each other.

    Raigh smirked and shook his head. "Bastardo suertudo de mierda (Lucky piece of a crap bastard)." he shrugged.
    "Well... we don't see the problem." Maribelle commented.

    "At all." Lissa giggled, looking at Robin with a... face that didn't hide at all what she was implying.

    The tactician's cheek became red. In Nino's case, it was kinda the same but, in her mind, this was just concern for her "hermano"

    Before anyone else could say something more, Sharena entered the tent. She was breathing quickly. "B-Brother! we're under attack!"

    The prince grimaced. "Dang it! it couldn't have happened at the worst moment..."

    Just when the tactician of the order wasn't in condition.

    "I-I take care of that!" Robin gave a step forward. "I had already asked him if I could take his rank for a while so he could get some rest after all."

    "We have no other option anyway." The prince nodded. "Let's go!"

    Everybody was making their way out, leaving the normal Askarian healers to take care of anyone who would be brought here during the battle... but Raigh stepped in Nino's way.

    "I think he needs you more right now." he still had that smile of a bastard.

    "B-But... the battle..."

    "We already have enough powerful mages on our side. Besides, what if an enemy sneaks out to here and discovers Kiran unable to defend himself? he needs protection."

    "Raigh, I doubt I can be his guard..." Nino gulped.

    "Come on, you were raised by assassins, you must know many of their tricks! anyway, take care, bye!"

    Raigh ran to do not let his mother argue back again.

    Nino, nervously, considered that possibility for a moment... and noticing there wasn't anybody else to guard the tent... she chose to stay.

    Outside, Raigh pocked the ninja woman of Hoshido as she prepared herself for battle. "You should protect the medic tent."

    "I was going to do it anyway, I swore to keep Kiran safe even before we discovered his existence may change all our worlds for the better, I'm not gonna choose now to change that priority."

    "Excelente! (Excellent!) just make sure your ninja skills allow you to stay out of my mother's sight."

    "Whatever you order."

    Raigh ran to the battlefield giggling

    This of being Kiran's second in command was awesome.
    The brain kept processing the new memories obtained through the compound at the same time some "mutations" were generated on the bone marrow. The red-blood cells in the making had received a new characteristic that allowed them to recycle the silicon of the substance.

    Regarding the memories, many of them were very important... one of those wasn't exactly from the first days of life of the original host... yet, of course, it would have been important no matter what... it was about the day he met her.
    "Hey... are you awake?"

    Mark felt a horrible headache. He growled a little, attempting to stand up... he quickly realized he was on a bed as his vision stopped being blurry.

    He saw a green-haired woman wearing a light-blue dress... she had a big pigtail.

    "Eh... who... who are you?" Mark asked, rubbing his forehead.

    "I'm Lyn of the Lorca tribe." she offered him a glass. "Need water?"

    "Uh? ah! yes, thanks." Mark quickly drank the liquid. "So... the Tribe Lorca you say?"

    "Yes," she nodded... before a shadow aura took over her. "Well... actually... that tribe does not exist anymore..." she inclined her head.

    He wasn't stupid to directly ask her regarding instantly... he just remained silent for a while until he spoke. "I'm Mark."
    "Mark?" she looked at him at the eyes again. "No offense but... that's an odd name. I mean! sounds good but..."

    "Weird to be heard about someone called that?" he smiled.

    "Y-Yes." she scratched her hair.

    "I guess I should thank you again... the last thing I remember is walking through the prairie." he laughed.

    "You were sleeping for at least three days... or who knows, I found you already unconscious, who knows how much time happened since the moment you passed out and the moment I found you," Lyn shrugged. "Why were you traveling in Sacae... without food?"

    Mark's face denoted shame. "Well, one day you escape from home after your parents try to force you to marry the daughter of another noble just for the sake of making an alliance between houses or something like that... then you become a mercenary to survive... you get hired to kill some bandits... unfortunately your map gets burned and you have to return on your own without real knowledge of navigation... so you spend days walking in circles... and then you get saved by a girl."

    "That is... a really serious case of bad luck..." she smiled with sympathy.

    "Indeed." Mark gulped. "Em... to be honest with you, technically speaking my name is not Mark... I had to adopt a new one to avoid being tracked easily by my family... but whatever my name was isn't really important."

    "It's okay, I understand." Lyn stood up a moment to bring him a bowl filled with fruits. "I'm afraid by the moment I don't have something with more protein but I can at least give you something."

    Mark almost let a tear get out from his eye. " Again, thanks a lot, Lyn..."

    He then proceeded to put many of those things inside his stomach.

    After a while, he decided it was time to ask the obvious thing. "So... you live alone?"

    She looked depressed. "My mother and father died along with our tribe six months ago... our village was attacked and... I was pretty much the only survivor..."

    Mark grimaced and he quickly gave her a hug. "I-I see... sorry" he patted her on the back. "Just remember that... as long as there's life, there's hope."

    Lyn, however, shook her head. "I've been living all this time since that only... to continue living... I-I don't know what I'm gonna do... where to go..."

    "Well..." he got an idea. "W-What about... coming with me?..."

    "With you?" she raised her head to see him.

    "I-I mean... I know we have just met but... if you really are that alone... at least that way we could make each other company... I mean, I'm alone, too... and this place still brings you bad memories... perhaps traveling some time would help?"

    "I... I... perhaps it could be a good new start..." she commented.

    "Just... don't lose faith, " he caressed her hair. "I'm sure your parents are always gonna be with you, they are watching you from above."

    Lyn remained silent for a while. "Thanks..."

    "You're welcome."

    He then remembered something. "Em... would you mind tell me where are my things?"

    "Oh! right! sorry!" she stood up as she brought his bag. "Those are many books."

    "Some of them aren't just books." Mark mentioned as he pulled out a thunder tome.

    "You are a mage, I suppose."

    "I've been training since I was a kid. I was planning to join the army as a tactician but... I suppose that's not gonna happen." he sighed and laughed.

    "So... I'm gonna do some farming, I'll come back as quickly as I can."

    "Would you like some help?"

    While Mark used a sickle to cut some grass, Lyn was watering the most recent seeds she had planted.
    "It's weird going from being noble to a mercenary and then to a farmer." Mark smiled at the situation.
    "If you were a noble, where are you from?" Lyn asked, smiling as she saw him working without complaining
    "From Bern, the southside near the ocean. I was planning to join the army as a tactician but that's not gonna happen anymore." he sighed, still smiling. "Whatever, this is nice."

    "Does that mean we are going to Bern?"

    "No. Besides... you need to remember I don't remember the way back since I lost my map. Why not you choose our destination for now?"

    Lyn placed a finger on her chin. "Well... Bulgar would be a good option to get supplies."

    "Sounds like a plan."
    Nino kept watching Kiran, still unconscious, as she had her tome on her legs.

    She trusted he would be okay... but she had to admit... the idea of having to protect him from perhaps more than one enemy was scary...

    She had already lost many... Lyod... Linus... her stepfather... she didn't want to lose him too...

    She barely could hear the battle taking place.

    As more time passed, her curiosity got the better of her... and she wanted to confirm with her own ears what Raigh had claimed... without a stethoscope... her only option was to lean on Kiran's chest...

    Her eyes denoted that surprise when she couldn't hear, indeed, his heartbeat on the right side of his chest. On the left side, on the other hand, was perfectly present the sound.

    She then remembered that when he had suffered a "heart attack" he had placed his hand on the left side... that, however, also made her remember why she was so mad at him.

    She stood up as she crossed her arms.

    She... just couldn't understand why he would find funny on pretending to be suffering that... or a headache like the last time... why he didn't trust her?!

    Or was he really pretending?...
    Situs Inversus Totalis is a medical condition that has 1 of each 10000 persons in which the organs of the body appear all in "mirror" form. Now, to clarify. Only when it's Totalis all the organs are implicated... otherwise it would be called: Situs Inversus plus the name of the organs that suffer this... while Situs Inversus Totalis isn't dangerous at all and you can pretty much have it and never notice until you get to the hospital for, say, an operation... Situs Inversus no totalis can be a problem... the organs may crush one against each other and things like those. I would recommend you to try to determine if you have one of these conditions, it can save up important time during a medical intervention... it's also the fact these people apparently must receive an organ transplant from a person with the same condition... I'm not exactly sure why... perhaps I'm wrong or there's something I ignore...

    In this case, I found this something interesting to be part of the list of why the FE humans can't be considered humans as us besides the fact their pigments allow them to have all the colors of the rainbow in their hair and things like those.

    We have more scenes with Mark. If you wonder why these scenes are shown with only English instead of the classical Local language with a translation... it's for practical reasons, this memory has many and very large dialogues, besides you could argue that is the translator since we are watching that event from the memories being loaded into Kiran's mind so... you see.
     
  • Index
    • Chapter 47: World Of Blazing Part 4
  • Index
    • World Of Blazing Part 4
    ​
    The Askarian soldiers were doing the best they could in order to prevent the Emblian army to continue advancing towards the camp.

    The fact their enemies had decided to attack this soon meant the advantage of the Emblians being poorly feed wasn't going to be there. It was true they weren't displaying their usual strength, but it wasn't the eighth marvelous thing of the world.

    The Askarians were decently doing their job...

    Unfortunately, that didn't last long.

    A soldier wielding an ax didn't have the time to react appropriately when Sol Katti cut across his heart. His partners couldn't do anything and, one by one, each one of them suffered a similar horrible destiny.

    Another group met a dark way to die when their spears were broken by the massive Armads. Just like their weapons, their heads were crushed, transforming them into blood fountains.

    Another one had problems keeping themselves away from the owner of Durandal as his sword didn't seem to have problems "drilling" through armor.

    There could be few heroes still remaining on the Emblian side, but these ones were the strongest ones of the world of Blazing... and even three of them belonged to the category of the strongest heroes of all the worlds.

    The general was very aware of that detail, and he wasn't to display mercy after such a dirty trick. So he ordered the heroes be as no-nonsensical as possible.

    Even though the dark of the night didn't allow Wil to aim at everything he could, he and the local Florina were making a good duo.

    As Eliwood raised his sword to claim the life of another soldier, his sword, but he quickly had to dodge an attack coming from another sacred blade.

    The corrupted hero had to jump backward multiple times before he could start taking the offensive posture once more.
    "He does have reflexes..." The prince of Askr complained. By his side, the king of Renais. Chrom, who had been the one who had attacked Eliwood, trying to stay serious, prepared himself to battle again. "Just let's stay together and he'll go down!

    However, reinforcements for the hero quickly arrived in the form of more Emblian soldiers... and Héctor, who was standing by Eliwood's side.

    The Emblian general, holding the dolls the princess and future empress of his nation had entrusted to him, knew that leaving a hero fight alone against multiple ones was the easiest way to get failure. He had already lost the opportunity of using the castle as a fortress, he now HAD to win no matter what! no more mistakes!
    Lyndis, on the other hand, got interrupted in her attempts to continue killing soldiers by a red-haired swordmaster.
    "I don't like hurting a lady... but I suppose there's no option."

    he commented as he started slashing at high speed.

    Unfortunately, if speed is what is been talking about, Lyn was just behind of Ayra and she and her two katanas didn't have any problem blocking the multiple attacks,

    Lyn also could react to her new opponent but, unlike Eliwood, she didn't have good luck because at the moment her sword and Robin's sword made contact, the electricity of the Levin blade used Lyn's sword to reach her.

    Robin didn't release the full power of her weapon since she didn't want to kill Lyn.

    The local corrupted heroine had received a potent electrical load, but because of the minimal time of transference, she was still in a condition to keep fighting.

    "Let's see what the rest of the day has stored for me" he threw a coin into the air, caught it, and checked it. "Interesting."
    "Don't get distracted!" Robin demanded as more Emblian soldiers approached.

    The general, not knowing where that cursed sword came from, ordered Lyn to dodge everything instead of blocking.
    Raigh gulped deeply... he still remembered the detail this world was the past version of his own... because of this... there was always the small but not inexistent possibility he'd meet during the fight... another Nino...

    The possibility was there, "scratching and bitting" inside his mind as if rats they were.

    The black mage clenched his teeth at the moment he cast a Luna spell on a group of enemy soldiers...

    His mental pain increased when he remembered that time he ALMOST had killed her using his Apocalyse tome...

    However, thinking about it, he then smiled like a bastard as he got a better comprehension regarding a possible explanation for why Kiran had displayed such a funny scene of him having a "headache"

    With this in mind, he cast his Luna spells faster.

    Near to him, Lucina, Sharena, and Anna were dealing with the soldiers that survived the Luna spells.

    Because the local Florina was fighting on foot and there were not more pegasus knights on the Emblian side, the pegasus knights of the order were not present in the air, too. The only exception was Cordelia helping Lilina to release hell on the battlefield... but taking care because the dark of the night may cause them to hurt allied by mistake.
    Ephraim suffered a little panic attack when Armads was about centimeters from cutting his right arm by the section of the shoulder.

    Ephraim learned the hard way that Siegmund wasn't very effective since Héctor's armor was a very good one and he even managed to make sure Ephraim only hit him on not very critical places.

    Héctor, at some point, seemed to have decided that using only his weapon wasn't enough and a certain painful punch landed on Ephraim's face. Alfonse had to stay in the middle of them to barely stop Armads from crushing Ephraim's skull after that. The prince counterattacked quickly.. only to barely manage to cause a tiny scratch on Héctor's face before the marquess kicked him strongly.

    Durandal and Falchion made much noise as their edged collided one, two, three, four, five times multiplied by five.
    Chrom had to admit that he was impressed. That sword was a bit big and still, Eliwood could wield it without much trouble. Also, at this point, it was normal for any sword to have been broken by having so much contact with Falchion ... that other one really had to be another holy sword.

    Both ran against each other once more. Unfortunately for the Exalt, Eliwood displayed more combat intelligence this time when Eliwood quickly jumped and kicked him on the stomach. It was so fast and so unexpected that Chrom didn't have the time to react accordingly and he lost his balance. Then a slash on his arm created a wound, and then another one on the back as Eliwood continued advancing after the first attack. The third wound on Chrom would have been inevitable had Chrom not quickly placed his sword behind him to obstruct.

    As Eliwood attempted to stab him more times, Chrom rolled on the ground to dodge.

    Ephraim and Alfonse didn't fail to notice the situation as they jumped backwards to dodge another attack from Héctor.
    "Go help him!" Ephraim yelled, still attempting to do not let the "cursed" weapon to take his life first instead of the owner's one.

    Alfonse didn't hesitate and he quickly obeyed. Even if he was usually known as a slow fighter, he could didn't have to travel that much to be near to Eliwood. He interestingly did a similar tactic to what Eliwood had done before, but Alfonse had the advantage Eliwood wasn't facing to him so the prince got a clear opening.

    His sword cut through Eliwood's back. Yet, the corrupted hero, being unable to really feel pain or at least display he felt pain, turned around once he used his legs once more to kick his opponent get himself free from Alfonse's blade.
    Then, when Chrom stood up, he attempted to replicate the action of the prince. This time it didn't work though as Eliwood ran away a little to have each one in front of him again.
    In another part, the princess of the Manaketes expelled fire from her mouth. Her flames didn't fail at consuming the soldiers that attempted to take on her.

    Knowing how dangerous a Manakete could be, the Emblian general ordered something new through his dolls.
    Robin and Joshua had to raise their eyebrows when, suddenly, Lyn apparently stating to retreat... but that was the keyword, apparently.

    Both followed until they were side by side with Eliwood, Chrom, and Alfonse. Once the lady took the place of her friend and more reinforcements got to help her, it was now Eliwood the one retreating.

    "Where the hell is he going?!" Robin didn't understand why they would be ordered to do that... until she noticed, shockingly, who was in the direction Eliwood was running to.
    Cordelia had to stop casting magic when Wil started to aim at her the whole time. How many arrows had she dodged? did they had given the full stock to this hero?!

    "Hold to me! She ordered.

    "Understood!" Lilina yelled.

    After a while, Cordelia decided it was time to land, she had had enough of this.

    Which made it even more frustrating when Wil finally managed to hit her with his great aiming skills... or rather, her pegasus.

    The flying horse screamed in pain as it fell... fortunately, it wasn't flying so high at that moment.
    Once both hit the ground, both screamed... their wounds weren't that severes but the pain was still there. Even though Cordelia got it worse in the physical aspect because of the weight of her armor, it could be said Lilina had much worse luck.

    Why?

    Because the place they landed was near to where two heroes were combating each other.
    Lilina growled as she tried her best to stand up...

    Only to face a blue-haired man holding a monstrous ax... unable to feel anything... ready to separate her head from the rest of the body.

    "WATCH OUT!" Ephraim yelled as he ran towards her to try to save her.
    Tiki could say she had already taken care of all the Emblian soldiers of her place of the battle... until she noticed the red-haired hero running towards her.

    Eliwood, not wasting any second, jumped to the left as soon as Tiki released her power.

    Almost by her side, Tiki used her claws to crush him, but again, Eliwood's reflexes helped a lot.
    Tiki attempted to start flying.

    But Eliwood quickly jumped towards her.

    The anti-dragón legendary sword created a magnificent and long wound that started at Tiki's neck and ended on her leg.
    Had Eliwood been aware of everything he was doing, he would have felt a deja-vu.

    The Manakete princess fell defeated. Her "divine" blood quickly decorated the ground around her.

    Before Eliwood could turn around and gave her a second wound, she quickly returned to her humanoid form, and, to the shock of everybody who could see the scene, Tiki started shinning, and suddenly, she was "erased" from the existence.
    Back at the medic tent, Nino was drinking some water the healers had offered to her.

    Just like the ones fighting, all they had their mouths partially opened when a strange light materialized by Kiran's side.

    "Wh-what?!" Nino ran and pushed Kiran, she wanted to get him away... but that didn't work because of how heavy Kiran was

    As the princess Manakete appeared apparently from nowhere and fell on them... Nino wasn't exactly comfortable with that...

    The sight everybody got from the voice of Naga was as comfortable as Nino felt under her... especially with all that blood.
    "H-Help..." Tiki whispered.

    The healers, confused as they were, immediately started working.

    They carried Tiki to another bed and used their staves to fix the injury.

    Nino used a towel to clean as best as she could the blood that had stained her.

    The same she did with Kiran's clothes. His case was worse because of his white clothes.

    The same healer that had cured Kiran's wounds with magic the first time, whose name was Clara, approached to Nino. "Are you okay?"

    "My hand hurts a little..." she commented as she tried to caress to reduce the pain.

    "Let me examine it." She smiled.

    Nino extended her arm so her hand was perfectly visible for her.

    With all this, they didn't notice somebody was starting to move his fingers...
    Cordelia couldn't move. She just couldn't.

    As the local Florina and Wil stood by her side, Cordelia screamed more in pain as a spear made its way through her heart.
    Her suffering was stopped when Shanna's lance hit the local Florina on the head. Wil also didn't have much time to react as a fire spell from Lugh hit him on the back.

    Cordelia found pretty ironic how one of the heroes that offered her a hand to help her... was the version of the order of heroes of the pegasus knight that had caused her that injury. To say her face denoted shame and awkwardness was a euphemism.

    Sumia, the other one who helped her, smiled at her best friend. "Let's get you out of here."

    "Thanks."
    Robin used her full strength on her legs to jump forward.

    Lyndis, once again, dodged the better she could, either by jumping too or even on some occasions, shielding herself with another soldier, either an Askarian or an Emblian one.

    "Damn!" As Robin prepared herself to release more electric power, Lyndins held another soldier but, instead of using him as a human shield like the previous times, she kicked him in direction to Robin.

    Robin, too busy avoiding end up on the bottom part of that man, couldn't react in time for Lyn's assault.

    One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight consecutive slashes from both Sol and Mani Katti gave to the Ylissean tactician injuries.

    Robin's luck was better than Lilina's one. Robin only had to place her sword in the horizontal position once she was on the ground to hurt the woman of Sacae.

    The contact between weapons wasn't much longer compared to the first time Robin applied this tactic, but once she rapidly got on her feet to see Lyn, Robin was pretty sure Lyndis's internal injuries wouldn't allow her to move that efficiently.

    Joshua would have helped her more had he not been busy taking care of the remaining Emblians.
    Tiki's wounds had been closened correctly. However, the big amount of blood she had lost in the process made her remain unconscious.

    "It would have been mortal had it not been treated properly immediately..." one of the healers commented.

    "Who knows? she's a Manakete after all." another one said.

    Nino, now with less blood on her skirt and shirt, continued watching Kiran.

    She had to blink a few times when it seemed like his index finger... was moving?...

    She shook her head, approached... and gasped when, indeed, his fingers began to move.
    As the mind got reactivated, the eyes had begun to open. Even though it wasn't necessary to adjust a lot to the level of light present in the room to commence the process of sending information to the brain, he blinked a few times.
    However, the process that had taken place caused... a certain effect.

    As he growled and tried to stand up... this time he actually felt something similar to a headache.
    Kiran?... Mark?... who the hell he was?

    The brain, unknowing the complete details of what had happened to him, couldn't answer a very crucial question.
    Was he Kiran who got Mark's memories somehow?...

    Or had somehow Kiran and Mark merged their minds into a single one?... which begged a very concerning question...
    His train of thought got interrupted when he felt somebody embracing him with love.

    "Kiran!"

    That voice... he knew very well that voice... she had been making company to Kiran during such a large time... but...
    As she separated her head from his chest, she looked at him into his eyes. "I'm so glad you're okay." Her heartwarming smile along her angelical "ojitos" ("tiny eyes") could radiate more light than a quasar...

    ...
    ...
    ...

    Nino's eyebrows and mouth denoted her confusion as she approached more her face to his.

    "Kiran?... a-are you?..."

    He didn't let her finish examining his facial expression. He gave her the tightest hug he had ever had for her.
    Nino would have backed off a little if Kiran's hands had allowed it.

    "K-Kiran?!..."

    "... Gr... grrr..." This man's eyes narrowed... and he was trembling as multiple emotions mixed in his being started to be influential in his behavior.

    His pride ordered him to do not to let those cursed water things get out... on the other hand, he was just so happy for being able to see her again...

    There were multiple memories that "glitched" as they were pretty much opposite... even though technically he had bought to her a birthday present not too many days ago... a part of him still remembered the tragic day of the battle against Nergal's morphs...

    The memory of Nino's face filled with desperation as a being with the face of HER OWN STEPFATHER claimed her life had ended up very well recorded and was perhaps the saddest thing Mark experienced that day...

    This memory, as painful as it intrinsically was, became even more unbearable because of the memories and feelings of one of his two... halves?

    A part of him had always appreciated her, even if she had a stronger relationship with Lyn... but the other one...
    He just couldn't hold them... clear and "crystal" as they were, this body's tears begun to flow.

    Nino remained silent for some seconds... not understanding what was happening to her "hermano"

    The others also present watched the scene... it was supposed to be an intimate moment... but it was a case of mundane made incredible... since nobody had ever seen Kiran cry.

    "K-Kiran... w-what's wrong?..."

    Her innocent and curious face was just... too much for him to handle. A part of him very familiar with all her suffering thanks to her miserable life as Sonia's "daughter"... and another one that had barely gotten a better comprehension of just how much pain she had felt...

    He took a moment to look at her as he saw her face once more.

    One of his halves didn't believe in angels... his other one could claim to the other one that he was seeing one... even if they didn't have evidence to demonstrate it...

    Even if the rational side couldn't understand how or when it had happened of even if that was actually the case and he wasn't just misunderstanding everything... the emotional side told him the answer was pretty obvious...

    He loved her... his heart... no! his mind confirmed this!... or perhaps it was both?

    "I-It's nothing..." his face tried to mirror the best of the smile she had given to him before. he caressed her hair even more gently than the previous times...

    Nino was speechless. Even when Kiran smiled... he never seemed to display that level of happiness...

    "I... I... I just..." he gulped.

    As he remembered all the questionable experiments he had done... how a side of him seemed to be merged with a monster... and how horrified he was that he had spoken similar things to what Nergal had said regarding the life, the evil and good... (at the same time the side that had said those things insisted he was being retarded for getting scared of the cruel truth of the universe...)

    "It's nothing..." he repeated...

    Emotionally... he just didn't feel worthy to have her because all that... his rational side told him this was a mistake, that he couldn't let the cursed feeling to take over.

    Yet... he had... he had... he had faith one day he could actually offer her the peaceful life she deserved.

    "I just... I just want to promise you I won't allow anything bad happens to you again..." his determination and faith took over by a moment...

    Nino, who at this point was already displaying a coloration of red on her cheeks... became even redder when she felt Kiran's lips.

    He DID NOT kiss her on the mouth, it was a tiny but soft peck on her cheek.

    However, after a few seconds of him watching her with all his love... he suddenly backed off quickly and placed both his hands on his head and, just like the previous times, it would seem like his head was about to explode.

    WHAT IN THE FUCK HAD HE DONE?!

    He thought as he growled like a beast.

    HAVING FAITH?!

    HE HAD ABANDONED THAT GARBAGE IN THE PAST!

    But technically speaking, a part of him hadn't.

    The healers tried to help him as Nino still tried to process everything... she couldn't move.

    After a while, he heard the sounds of the battle... and, without either his rational or emotional side working adequately...
    He unsheathed his sword and took Nino's tome as he quickly ran away.
    I have... kinda the feeling that in my attempt to give you more fight scenes to compensate for the lacking of that in the previous chapter might have caused I went too far with making so many for this episode...
    Because I got enough free time and I knew you deserved more after waiting so much time, I forced myself to create this. I've spent the whole day writing it (I first write everything in Spanish so my brain won't suffer much and then I translate it. That's why it took me a complete day)

    I hope I managed to make sure Lyn, Eliwood, and Héctor are a real threat again though...
    So, as you may have noticed reading the previous chapters... Mark and Kiran don't have personalities that could match very well. Mark has been "heard" saying things like: We have to have faith, or something like: Your parents are up there, watching you. We all know Kiran WOULD NEVER say anything like that, at the best he would stay silent. So what did you think was going to happen when you merge two people with an ideology base SO OPPOSITE to each other? It's not like their both base concepts: Care more about reality than what you want to believe it's true, and: Faith is an essential part of every person, are parallel things that can be compatible... no! they are totally opposite!

    Basically, the scientific ideology and the Faithfull ideology are causing "personality mental glitches" because Kiran and Mark would have never get along, in the best scenario they just wouldn't hate each other. I mean, as it has been suggested before, it's like Kiran is a new Nergal and Mark the new Athos...
    I remember somebody once mentioned Kiran reminded him of Mark from Wanderer of Elibe... but when I read the first chapters... my reaction was to say: They are only similar in the sense that Kiran would have become like Mark had he been born in Mark's place, because of this, never have had made contact with the scientific method and all the rational process involved in it.

    This will be more explored in future chapters, as we are about to finish the world of Blazing in the next one. Just take into consideration that when I say the words: Faith and believe, I never meant them as synonyms of Trust... both things aren't the same. It's a detail that's even explained in a book of introduction to the logic, the one that Irving M. Copi wrote.

    Talking about other stuff, I'm honestly surprised nobody is throwing rocks and death threats to me for making Kiran develop a crush on Nino...

    The existence of this chapter means Nino has won already?... allow me to remember the woman Mark was in love with is... obvious answer, Lyn! XD Besides, who says Robin does not have opportunities anymore?

    Also, I kinda find funny how I once said Kiran could fall in love with Edelgard... and then, time after that, her legendary alt pretty much seems to have a similar crush on him like the one she has for Byleth XD.
     
  • Index
    • It is here! On the site of Quests of Questionable motivations! Welcome!

    Is this just an archive (because fanfiction.net is a mess) or does the campaign continue?
     
    NooneImportant said:
    It is here! On the site of Quests of Questionable motivations! Welcome!

    Is this just an archive (because fanfiction.net is a mess) or does the campaign continue?
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    Not quite sure what you mean as an archive, but I'm porting the entire story (still around 21 chapters more to go) and I'll continue crossposting it just like I already do it with archive of our own.

    Thanks for the comment!
     
    Chapter 48: World Of Blazing Final Part
  • Index
    • World Of Blazing Final Part
    ​
    Kiran/Mark was growling and screaming as he ran.

    Definitively... he wasn't thinking correctly at all...

    his rational mind tried to dominate his emotional mind, and; at the same time, his emotional one tried to control his rationality.

    The result was he couldn't take correct decisions because his emotions interfered in the process instead of being the initial motor... and he also couldn't react to situations quickly enough because his panic of taking a wrong decision made him overthink everything.

    Without being able to separate the emotions and rationality, his mind had become a disaster.

    He even wasn't running in the correct direction... rather in circles.

    The detail was that, once he had left the medical tent, he had realized he wasn't sure at all if this body could do magic even if quintessence was now part of his organism... and even if the body could, the tome he had taken was one he had never used before!

    Nino really had to be a prodigious mage to be able to master this tome since the day she received it...

    A part of him ordered to return and try to find a different tome that he already had mastered just in case he actually could do magic... another told him to have faith in his skills, he had already experience with advanced magic and this shouldn't be a problem.

    The result of this internal rant was that the brain didn't state the obvious experiment... just trying to cast the magic of the tome and determine, at the very least, he couldn't use that one.

    His dilemma got interrupted when a strange light suddenly appeared near to him... he instantly remembered the last time he had seen something like this.

    When Virion had been defeated back then when he and the order had fought Minerva.

    He saw Ephraim appear from the light... apparently being teleported in a way similar to what happened in Star Trek.
    As much as this concerned Kiran/Mark regarding the question of whether this Ephraim was the same one... or a clon that believed to be the original... and how much a side of him didn't want to believe the answer was the latter one... he paid more attention to a certain detail...

    Ephraim had a massive wound directly below his neck.

    Kiran/Mark's face was filled with rage as the fury took over for a moment.

    As the healers arrived after they had tried to follow him, Clara approached him carefully. "Sir Kiran, please... sta-" she then noticed the severely wounded hero lying on the ground.

    "I don't have time for this!" Kiran/Mark yelled with his fists near his ears. "TAKE CARE OF HIM!" he ordered firmly. He then started run towards the battlefield once more... only to facepalm hardly and return. "Take this!"

    Clara's mouth was very opened. "Sir! this is the sacred relic!"

    "Yes! and every hero I summoned is teleported to be by this relic's side when they are badly injured! You should have it by the moment!"

    Then he ran away once again, never considering the possibility of the relic being stolen or the healers not being careful enough with it... perhaps damaging it and, considering the fact Kiran had never wanted to try to apply the reverse engineer on the weapon because of this, Kiran/Mark should have remembered that.

    But again, his mind, being unable to function correctly, made him forget that crucial detail.

    This time he didn't return.
    Lilina wasn't capable of breathing normally as an effect of what had just occurred.

    Her face was stained with some drops of Ephraim's blood, the rest of the compound lying on the ground after the hero suddenly disappeared by a phenomenon she didn't comprehend... it's not like she was trying to understand it... no.
    She was using all the strength of her legs and arms to attempt to increase the distance between her and Héctor.

    "No...no... no!" she shook her head multiple times and very rapidly.

    Tears rolling on her cheeks.

    Was this her fate? her end?

    Murdered by her father?!

    The one she had missed so much?!

    She had covered her face with her hands when Héctor raised his weapon again.

    She would have died there hadn't someone kicked Héctor from behind from left to right, making the corrupted hero lost balance and move to the left. Armads didn't hit the girl.

    Then Héctor received many attacks from two swords.

    If Héctor was aware of everything of what was happening and not being more similar to a robot at the moment... he would have wondered why "Eliwood" was "betraying him".

    Roy was trembling.

    It was so disturbing against a man he had witnessed dying.

    Even worse, he had to defend his "wife" from her own "father".

    Héctor didn't waste the time as he attempted a horizontal attack. Roy jumped backward one, two, three, four times as Héctor kept attacking the same way. After that, the marquess changed his pattern by being more random. However, now that Roy only needed to dodge the normal way, he got an idea.

    Héctor, though fast with his attacks, wasn't as fast when it was about dodging. When Roy jumped to the left and used his right sword to push Armads, Roy also aimed at Héctor's hand with his left sword.

    As the sword created a wound on Héctor's hand thanks to its length, the corrupted hero, even though he didn't scream or seemed to suffer pain, couldn't attack as appropriately as before.

    They continued the process for a while. Lilina watching everything being speechless... until she felt a hand on her shoulder and then, another on her hands as both women helped her to stand up.

    "Are you hurt?!" Lilina felt the arms of her mother embracing her as her worried feeling was evident. Making her company, Cordelia, Shanna, and some other pegasus knights were there too.

    "I'm not... that much..." she nodded. It took her some seconds to articulate those words.

    It wasn't necessary to be a genius to notate the emotional conflict Florina also felt as she saw her "husband" and her "son in law" fighting each other in combat that probably was to death.

    Roy blocked with his two swords a vertical attack from Armads. He had to kneel as the weight of the weapon was that problematic.

    "Urgh!" he then rolled through the ground, leaving Armads hit the ground. Roy jumped to stand up quickly and slashed Hécto's hand once more.

    With all those injuries together, the corrupted hero was unable to raise his weapon and became a practice target as Roy increased his slashes as his life depended on it. Héctor ended up falling, defeated at last.

    Roy was breathing quickly as he knelt.

    However, everybody's' eyes went wide was Héctor began to struggle... and expulsing dark magic from his body... especially from his mouth...

    This time, Lilina had the "privilege" to be present when her father died...
    The general growled as he had to destroy another doll, it was that or allow it to be captured and the curse analyzed.

    He, however, had to drop instantly the object as he had to block a sword attack coming from the prince of Askr.

    As painful as it was to admit it, the battle was already lost if prince Alfonse was able to reach him.

    "We can end this right, now, there's no need for more blood to be spilled."

    The general, however, held his sword tightly.

    "I prefer to fight until the bitter end to surrender to a miserable like you!"

    The prince sighed in frustration. "It's never easy." he then prepared his defensive combat style.
    Chrom continued taking care of the remaining Emblian soldiers while Joshua and Robin were still dealing with Lyndis.
    Joshua was giving a rain of slashes to keep the girl of the plains occupied and this time he was actually hitting her thanks to the fact Lyn already had internal injuries because of the electricity, even if she had two swords.

    A vertical slash, a horizontal one, another vertical one, a diagonal one, and so on.

    With all this, Robin didn't have any problem getting behind Lyndis and making the Levin sword make direct contact with her.

    "Hyaaa!"

    Again, the time Lyn had the power crossing her body wasn't that big, but after all those injuries, she finally fell.

    Joshua also fell... he was tired... he had never needed to move this fast in his entire life...

    "Are you okay?..." Robin offered her hand.

    "Y-Yes... fortune didn't determine me a bad day after all." he looked proudly at his coin. "It was totally impossible I could lose."

    Robin scratched her hair. "Right..."
    Eliwood cut the neck of another Askarian soldier that had the bad fortune to cross paths with him. However, he couldn't continue his one-man army slaughter as Durandal suddenly got blocked by two a golden and a blue sword.
    Eliwood would have had a shocked face in other circumstances just like his current opponent... for it being the first time he had seen that face in a long time.

    Once more, the mixed feelings screwed up with Kiran/Mark's mind. For a moment, the rage in his "soul" increased at limits he had never thought possible. The memories of Mark getting killed by his friends mixed with Kiran's love for justice almost made him attack like a beast... until the rational side also remembered that happened because they were being controlled with that stupid hex.

    Yet... he probably wouldn't be able to face them again the same way after such a traumatic event.

    As Eliwood initiated his assault and Durandal was trying to claim his life. Kiran/Mark yelled. "I know you're in there, YOU GOTTA FIGHT THIS!"

    Mark's personality became the dominant three seconds before Kiran's personality glitched causing a new headache.
    "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!"

    WHY HE WAS SAYING SUCH A RETARDED CLICHE BULLCRAP?!

    The pain was enough to make Kiran release the hold on his weapons. As Eliwood attempted to thrust directly on his chest, Kiran/Mark barely reacted, dodging almost everything.

    With a new wound on his arm, Kiran/Mark prepared his tome.

    However, at the moment he placed his finger on the page to begin to extract the magic power, the personalities collided once more.

    Kiran/Mark growled in psychological pain. Kiran's pragmatic side told him it was worthless to hold back... but Mark's emotional side just told him this wasn't right and he didn't want to do it.

    Seeing his opponent ready to claim his life again, the levels of stress and rage finally allowed one of the personalities to take over for a while.

    Kiran used the force of his legs to jump backward, the jump wasn't a mortal one.

    The quintessence of the body reacted to the stored energy inside the tome and quickly generated a green dagger on his left hand.

    Kiran/Mark let the tome fall as he grabbed Durandal, hurting himself in the process but allowing him to use it to force himself forward and stab Eliwood on the neck.

    "HUREAAA!"

    Then he punched Eliwood on the face, quickly knelt, and grabbed the tome. Once more, a dagger ended up buried on Eliwood, but this time in the brain.

    Kiran/Mark's face deformed into horror at what he had done... his mind started to glitch even more than before. Had he been a machine, it wouldn't have surprised anybody if he had shut down.

    What actually made him fell, however, was Kagero's hands that forced him on the ground.

    "You are in no condition to fight." the ninja gave him a serious expression.

    Kiran/Mark wanted to protest... but the pain didn't allow him to do that...

    At least he had to thank Kagero had picked up his weapons and gave him back to him.
    Alfonse counterattacked pushing the sword of the general in the up direction, this allowed the prince to wound his opponent a few times on the stomach before he finally gave a fatal blow on the heart.

    The general expulsed blood from his mouth.

    Alfonse let the general fell on the ground. Alfonse took a moment to look around in case an enemy tried to take advantage of him being distracted... but that never happened.

    It seemed the battle was won... or at least that's what he could see through the dark of the night.

    He got scared a second when a mage approached... but sighed when he saw it was Raigh.

    "Everything in order?" asked the mage as he began to check the corpse of the general.

    "Em..." Alfonse raised his eyebrow. "Yes... what are you doing?"

    "Because the curse of Embla must have a catalyzer, I've been trying to look for anything that could have a fraction of dark magic on the corpses of all the ones that have been killed in battle."

    "Ah, I see. Intelligent."

    Raigh nodded. After a while... he found the general was carrying some dolls... he found what he was looking for as he clearly noticed the dark energy coming from them.
    Kagero threw Kiran/Mark on the bed where he had been sleeping almost the whole time he had been unconscious since the fusion took place. He had least could thank to see Ephraim was in good condition again.

    It was a strange feeling of surprise and... not surprise at the same time because of how much Kiran still was excited by curative magic... and how used to it Mark was.

    However, his smile dropped when he noticed... Nino wasn't there...

    "W-Where is she?..."

    Clara gulped as she sat by his side.

    "After you kissed her... she remained immobile for a while... then... she just left.

    Kiran/Mark could claim his heart was feeling... cold?... yeah, this was sadness. "Damn..."

    He almost would have hit himself again had Kagero not hold his hand.

    "I request you to calm yourself, sir Kiran."

    But he couldn't do that... but... again, a part of him wanted to go after her and tell her how much he loved her... to make her feel protected... but another one insisted he shouldn't bother her right now... he probably would screw the things up even more... again, mental pain appeared.

    However, as he remembered he had just killed Eliwood... he suddenly remembered all the other people he had had adventures with... that were now resting underground...

    He had technically assisted to the funeral of many of them...

    Dorcas... Sain... Kent... Erk... Raven... Isadora... Farina... Fiora... Heath... Canas.

    Tears wanted to get out from his eyes again as those faces crossed his mind...

    He also became aware that he also didn't know where Priscilla, Lucius, and others were... dead too?... or had Veronica taken them to use them at the Emblian main army?...

    He had worked so hard to make sure almost all of them could return home to have their happy endings... and SHE had thrown all his efforts at a cliff...

    At least his two halves finally agreed at something...

    THEY HATED VERONICA!
    I honestly wanted Roy and Lilina to interact with both Eliwood and Héctor... but it would have been very convenient that they just happened to run into both. So, I decided to give to Roy an opportunity to finally earn his position as Lilina's husband by being able to defeat the man that would have forced him anyway to demonstrate he was worthy... well, kinda. You know the versions in the fight don't really have that level and the context does not create that exact situation... but meh, close enough.

    So, now we have finished this world, make a guess! who do you think is going to help to repair Kiran/Mark's mind?

    I guess it's no use to hide by now the fact that I when I had a FEH pass my three S supports were Robin, Nino, and Lyn. I mean, it's very obvious at this point that the fic is a self-insert, I just didn't want to mention it at the beginning because people would have thought of the fic as probably very pretentious and say I'm making Kiran this way to raise my fucking ego... but don't worry. I'm not making this an harem story.
     
  • Index
    • Chapter 49: Mental Disaster
  • Index
    • Mental Disaster
    ​
    As much as they needed to sleep, they just couldn't get it accomplished.

    Simply, they lived with the constant fear of that night be one of those nightmare nights... even if some of them still wore the maid outfit, it was always possible one of the soldiers with that particular liking would be the one to visit them.
    For a certain girl, however, this didn't matter at all. Her fight spirit had been broken by this point in her new life she had been forced to.

    She wasn't exactly the only one in that condition but she was the only one who had been captured in the battlefield and, instead of being transformed into a living weapon as the other hero archer because of her lack of power, the soldiers decided to put her beauty of young lady to "better" use.

    She remained silent and unmovable as she heard the door of her cell be opened. Whatever this man was it didn't matter, it was hopeless trying to fight against the chains that bounded her and transformed her into a toy, she was just let him have his way on her and hope it didn't last much.

    Because of all this, it took her some seconds to process the fact this person had thrown a towel to her... in all this time, the only thing that had covered her skin was that green scarf she always had.

    She had barely time to blink at this when she heard... something she had given up on the idea of ever hearing, followed by an already strange feeling of freedom on her wrists.

    "Get up."

    Unfortunately, she couldn't understand what that voice was saying... yet, the fact it had a tone clearly feminine made her raise her head to see...

    For a moment she panicked when she noticed the uniform of this soldier was similar to the one of the... Emblians?
    It was the white color instead of black that told her something was off...

    After some seconds, that woman helped her to stand up and ensure the towel was hiding appropriately every part of the body.

    Something of life returned to her eyes as they walked out... and the ex-slave saw how all the other women who had suffered her same destiny... were being... released...

    Just like her...

    As she finally could see some light coming from the exit... it was like a miracle.

    Sobs and tears of happiness, not only from her but all the other women, could be heard through the whole dungeon.
    Her sight went even more blurry when another soldier offered what she had almost forgotten how it felt to wear...

    Clothes.

    She just couldn't articulate even a single word, the relief she felt was incredible...

    She could swear her tears had been more at this moment than in all those horrible nights of suffering.

    "Uhm... perme... (Um... excuse me...)"

    She turned to see... a boy who had a very similar green hair to her... but his facial features brought her memories... more sad ones as the image of the corpse of best friend returned to her mind.

    "Yi som Lugh... Podild yoted terme sur nabre? (I'm Lugh... could you please tell us your name?)"

    She needed at least five minutes to relax enough. Nothing to be surprised though, she wasn't the only one who could barely talk after such a traumatic experience.

    "R-R-Reb-b-becca..."

    Her name was written down by one of the soldiers, just like all the other women recently released.

    The boy gave her the best smile anybody could force in that kind of context and quickly she was allowed to get dressed in privacy.
    Raigh let the dolls lay on the table by his side, he was inside the "lab" tent of the order.

    Once more, in front of him were heroes chained up to ensure they wouldn't attack him once their wounds were healed. Although this time they were less many than the last time.

    The known survivors by the moment were: Lyn, Florina, and Wil.

    It was very curious having an "evil" version of his "aunt"

    As he placed his fingers on Lyn's forehead and touched again the dolls... he finally confirmed what he suspected when he finally touched the correct one.

    The dark magic inside the doll had a connection with the one flowing in the heart and brain of this woman. Considering what he had learned from Kiran, he could call them a "quantum connection"

    The question of how exactly this worked became present... and he decided to try the simple answer.

    As he applied pressure over the doll, suddenly Lyndis started struggling even more than before and the dark energy began to get out. At the moment he confirmed this, he quickly dropped the doll.

    If he was honest, he was expecting something more complicated as a way to kill the hero... but well, sometimes a simple thing was practical enough to work.

    The fundamental question, however, was... how to extract the dark magic without causing any secondary effects on these people? from what part of the body should he attempt it?

    Starting near the organ affected might be dangerous...

    The boy rubbed his chin as he considered possibilities.

    He, however, got interrupted when he heard a voice behind him.

    "I'm here to report."

    The black mage turned to see the personal protector of his "stepdad"

    "Let's talk outside, these guys here cause much noise."

    They didn't stop walking once they were far enough though. Perhaps both just wanted to have a nice walk.

    "So... anything interesting?"

    "After lady Tiki got teleported magically by the sacred relic of Kiran to the medical tent, Nino had to clean all the blood that stained her clothes and Kiran's ones. Then, sometime later, Kiran finally awoke... however... he's behaving strangely."
    Raigh crossed his arms as he raised his left eyebrow.

    "Define strangely."

    "I've heard and seen him cry sometimes, usually when he's alone at his tent or room and after middle-night. Whatever is the cause of this is unknown... but he crying in public and hugging Nino is something very off coming from him."

    Raigh blinked for three seconds, then, he had a mix between his bastard smile and a confused one displayed by his face. The truth should be told, he could not imagine Kiran letting tears coming out from his eyes, "Vale... (Right...) and what happened after that?"

    "He made a declaration of protection to Nino and then he kissed her."

    If the dark mage had known how the sound a vinyl disc sounded when it was getting scratched, he perhaps would have compared that to what happened to his mind as he heard that.

    "Wait a minute... WHAT?!" he needed at least that a half a second to turn his head to see the ninja in total disbelief.
    He completely didn't expect his plan to work... that well...

    But wait a minute... why in the hell Kiran would go from the extreme of not wanting to admit his feelings... to the absolute opposite side of the coin and kiss her that fast?!

    Something really bad must have happened to his brain!

    "It was a kiss on the cheek," Kagero quickly cleared out the misunderstanding. "But once he did that, he seemed to suffer another of those strange migraines. The healers attempted to help him but he just ran away to participate in the battle."
    "Considering your voice tone I suppose nothing wrong happened to him." the dark mage narrowed.

    "He faced a hero that looks a lot like Roy, If I remember correctly he was his father. There was a moment when he suffered another migraine and let his weapons fall, but he managed to defeat the hero in the end... the surprising factor is the fact he used magic to accomplish that."

    Magic?...

    Kiran had used magic?

    All the times he had attempted it resulted in failure... which made sense considering his nature as an interdimensional alien being who belonged to a universe where the magic didn't exist at all.

    Raigh could only imagine that meant the quintessence had granted to him that skill... had it been integrated into his organism positively?

    It would still be necessary to confirm the idea that the substance allowed a being to increase his lifespan with the experiment of the flyes though.

    "Right... continue."

    "I had to drag him back to the medical tent. However, his erratic behavior continues, and even worse, he seems to be depressed because Nino left without saying a word."

    Raigh shook his head. "I'll go check him, thanks for your report."

    "Always pleased to serve." the ninja bowed and then she left.
    The dark mage walked in the tent at the same moment Kiran was receiving a lemon tea from a nurse. Even with that, Kiran still had a hand placed on his hair and a facial expression that denoted pain.

    "May I know what the fuck is happening to you?" Raigh sat by Kiran's side. He was using the same chair his mother had been sitting on previously.

    Kiran's silence continued for at least a minute, then, he finally responded. "Could you please remind me what were we doing before suddenly everything in my mind is foggy?"

    Raigh coughed a little before responding. "You absorbed quintessence from a corpse."

    Kiran analyzed his hands for some seconds. "Does that mean this body is the same one I owned before that happened?"
    Raigh's confusion increased. "Eh... yes... besides quintessence now being a part of you... what in the hell do you think would change?"

    Kiran/Mark reflected at this revelation.

    If Kiran and Mark's bodies hadn't fused into a single one and, by extension, that didn't happen to the brains too... and the only thing thing that supposedly happened was that Kiran's body had obtained the quintessence that once belonged to Mark... this could mean the mind was just Kiran.

    Or Mark's soul combined with Kiran's fully material mind could be a possibility? this idea, coming from the strong spirituality of Mark, clashed quickly with Kiran's personality as the scientist could not believe in the existence of something immaterial.

    The most similar thing that could be described as "really supernatural" by Kiran/Mark was the idea that the "spirits" had granted to Lyn her first "sacred" sword... and to that, Kiran argued it was just that the priest had been the one that truly broke the spell.

    How in the hell a being that is not matter works anyway?

    How can you store memories obtained by material methods inside something that, by definition, isn't matter?
    How it was possible that, in the case the souls existed, the personality of anyone could be changed by brain damage?

    What was the difference between something that was spaceless and timeless... with something that just didn't exist at all?
    The thoughts of a person were inside their head and they had a beginning and an ending, so, as much as people dislike the idea, the mind was ligated to the matter!

    He had obtained these memories by a substance that had a place and mass! that wasn't a soul!

    Mark's faithful life personality was being brutally and mercilessly questioned by Kiran's personality. All this caused mental pain which Kiran's side considered a weakness.

    "Let's... let's... let's just say I feel different right now." he placed his other hand on the head.

    "I heard you were able to cast a spell."

    "Yeah... that wasn't complicated..." all Mark's knowledge regarding the subject would have been welcomed had it not caused this whole mental mess.

    "And how is that thing about you kissing my mom?" Raigh's bastard smile became more prominent.

    However, at this, Kiran's facial expression changed... instead of displaying the fury and frustration of always that had been potentiated recently... it was showing an emotion Kiran hadn't been so open to denote since that day his parents had interned him into that mental hospital...

    Depression.

    "I don't know what the fuck what I was thinking... or well, I guess I wasn't doing any mental process at all... because I screwed up everything at a legendary level! and everything because... urgh!" he suffered another migraine. By this moment, the nurses thought it had been enough. "Urgh!... it's like... try to imagine your personality and Lugh's one sharing a mind."

    Raigh grimaced. "Sounds like torture."

    "That's what is happening! uuuuurgh!" if this continued, Kiran could argue he was about to die by a stroke. A coincidentally funny way to end the life for a guy as intelligent as him.

    Raigh took a while to comprehend what Kiran was implying. "... you mean?..."

    "I inherited the memories of that fucking corpse!"

    As the pain reached critical levels, Kiran received a new cup of tea... which the nurses had adulterated with the same "sleeping pill" Sharena and Anna had used on him before. As result, it didn't take too much until Kiran's sight became blurry, and then he was lying on the bed with the consciousness off.

    Clara sighed as she rubbed her forehead. She hoped this would help him...

    "I-Is it really possible?..." Raigh wondered, his mouth very opened.

    The quintessence had even more characteristics than they had predicted?

    Was it possible... that effect of accumulating memories from other beings... which seemed to result in personality clashes as Kiran described... could be an explanation for why the previous dark mage that used the substance had lost his sanity? as a result of mixing multiple personalities constantly after every absorption?

    "Where did he get a soul?"

    "Uh?" Raigh turned to see Tiki.
    Nino was lying inside her tent. Her blankets covered completely, hiding her from the rest of the world as if the dark of the night wasn't enough.

    To say she was confused would be a euphemism...

    The image of Kiran looking at her in that... unusual way... those eyes usually filled with rage or stress in the least bad of the cases... now so relaxed, denoting love... that so beautiful promise... and finally...

    She had to shake her head so many times and so quickly after she noted that unconsciously she had placed her hand on the cheek where she had received such a sweet kiss.

    Even though she didn't a mirror at hand and even the darkness wouldn't allow her to see her now very red face... she could feel perfectly the warm by each side of her mouth...

    Just... just... why did he do that?!

    She attempted to rationalize everything and calm herself down... it was true she knew that in some countries, for example, a kiss on the cheek was a method of saluting... but Kiran had never kissed her there before! he had always gone for her forehead! not to mention that context had nothing to do with saluting at all!

    Then there were his tears... it had been like he thought she had died or something!

    Could it be possible?... was that the reason he became so emotional at the tent?...

    The principal problem was that Nino could claim that the kiss was with romantic intentions! it felt totally like that!
    But... didn't he consider her his little sister?!

    Well... technically speaking... she wasn't... but she also didn't have a blood relation with Linus or Lyod... although it was true the circumstances that had happened between Kiran and her were very different... that without mentioning they had raised for years...

    Had he never genuinely considered her his little sister?... did he just decide to say yes to her when she suggested the idea?
    This recalled her how had been his reaction when she asked about it.
    "Kiran... if I'm staying with you... does that make us siblings?"

    With a disinterested face, he responded. "I guess we are."
    It was true... he probably had never thought it until that moment...

    Remembering more, she had to admit Kiran treated her in a way sweeter than her stepdad or her siblings...

    It's not like they didn't hug her... but Kiran really did that much more frequently... and then she thought more deeply about it... the kisses on the forehead and caressing her hair so gently... that was something a boy would normally do with his girlfriend... well... he caressed the hair of other girls too... but she couldn't believe he could be a womanizer somehow... and she was sure she was the only one he had kissed on the forehead... and so gently...

    Was it possible that kind of kisses had more emotional value in his culture?

    Wait...

    She shook her head again as she got up to be sitting rather than lying there.

    Why she was so obsessed about getting an answer regarding this?!

    P-Perhaps she was just overthinking all this...

    Why she allowed that to affect her that much?

    It was a fact she could describe Kiran as a gentleman... and even though he probably wasn't inside the top 10 of most handsome men of the order... or even the Lycian league... he wasn't bad... without to mention his extreme intelligence and determination to share his knowledge with the most worlds as possible... how much he cared about not only his friends but their descendants...

    She stopped her train of thought as she realized everything she was thinking.

    However, her doubts about what Kiran actually felt for her didn't disappear just for "throwing away" what she liked of him.

    Even more bizarre ideas appeared in her mind.

    Had his "heart attack" been because of how cute he thought she was?... did he really consider her that beautiful?
    He had mentioned something called diabetes... but she had no idea what it was...

    As much as she had desired to sleep... that whole night she never managed to do it.
    Something the writers of the game seem to have forgotten regarding Veronica and the Empire is that scene at the prologue part 3 where Veronica says: Steal for me. Spread destruction, Kill all those who stand in your way. All that garbage... and then you mean to tell me that later Veronica says she does not want to kill civilians because "the Askarians will be part of my empire"...? I mean, what the hell? She's not gonna kill them! she's stealing their supplies and mercilessly killing the members of countless families... but she's not gonna kill them, no!

    I mean, if the Emblians are that bad and nationalists to the point they would commit suicide if their king dies... they seem like the local version of the Nazis... then you can not later try to make me feel sympathy for them! they are not fighting to get rid of a clerical power or something like that! they just fucking want conquest!

    And all this brings us to something that would inevitably happen because it's a horrible war crime that has been happening since the very first invasion... something that was done in Berlin by the Soviets and by the Nazis too in their conquested territories... and by many other armies anyway...
    Even if Veronica herself does not order this, it's just inevitable the soldiers of lower rank would start "playing" with captured women... and unfortunately, some of the heroines would suffer this...

    Actually... now I think about it, an even crueler concept as an idea for this story is crossing my mind right now...

    Don't get me wrong, some Askarians are doing that too, obviously, but you'll see that later.

    Anyway, you have now a better comprehension of why I included that first scene (that and the fact that, as I've said, by now the story is going to be darker, especially because I'm gonna start introducing the first details of the Muspell arc). Because Rebecca was enslaved rather than transformed into a puppet by a contract, she didn't receive a magic translator and that's why she didn't "speak" in English.

    I just hope that, because "that" wasn't actually showed I won't have to raise this story to M rank... but well... time will be the one with the final definition... and the website.

    Man, we're about to reach the 50 chapters... that makes me wonder if my plan of 100 chapters is actually gonna be like that since... well, we'll have an arc between this world and the world of Birthright... then the world of Conquest... the world of Radiance... then the arc of Muspell... man XD. I don't want to imagine how bad this would be if I hadn't decided to leave out the other books... Although perhaps I could merge the worlds of Conquest and Birthright as a corrupted version of the Revelations timeline.
    Probably, in the end, I'm actually going to need 150 chapters XD. Are you guys thinking this is degenerating into the trope called Arc fatigue? if you don't know what is that, read it on TV Tropes.
     
  • Index
    • Chapter 50: Consequences
  • Index
    • Consequences
    ​
    Inside the medic tent, Kiran wasn't present anymore.

    It was considered necessary because of his migraine wasn't just as important as the wounds the Askarian soldiers had received during the whole battle. That, and the fact Raigh had requested for him to be moved to his carriage so they could discuss in peace stuff again, not to mention Kiran wanted an answer to what Tiki meant about him obtaining a soul.

    One of those who remained inside that tent was the king of Renais. His wounds were healed correctly, but it took a while before he woke up.

    As he was becoming aware of everything around him, a voice by his side made him backed off a little due to the sudden surprise.

    "Lord Ephraim!" she had a precious smile.

    "Amelia..." the king sighed as he relaxed. "I presume you had more luck in the battle than the one I had."

    "I-It's all thanks to you. You taught me everything I know." she proudly pointed to her spear with her finger. The day she arrived at Askr she had problems holding it and the armor was just too heavy for her, right now, she was at least able to hold her own decently against two enemies.

    Ephraim wouldn't admit to the girl that it felt very strange she admired him so much... considering just how awkward it had been meeting her back in his world.

    Granted, this Amelia seemed to come from a point of the time when she hadn't joined the Grado army yet so she never heard all those infamous rumors about him... but that memory usually came back to bother anyway.

    "You are welcome." he extended his arm to pat her on the shoulder.

    "Just..." she crossed her fingers in that classical pose the girls always did when they desired something or their heart was warming. "Be more careful, teacher."

    Ephraim scratched his head's back part. "Yes, I'm sorry for worrying you." he coughed. "If Duessel had been here, he probably would have grounded me after a severe speech."

    "Duessel?... as in, the general Duessel?" Amelia's eyes displayed a clear surprise.

    "The only and same one. He trained me and, thanks to him, I was able to transfer that knowledge of combat and strategy to you." remembering his days as a simple recruit soldier in strength level always put a smile on the spearman.

    "B-Before I was brought here... I had heard about his exploits against bandits... it made me desire to be trained by him. I knew it was probably a silly dream but... dreaming is easy." the girl confessed, rubbing her left hand's back part.

    "The man deserves all the praises he receives," Ephraim nodded slowly. "And well, technically he already trained you through me."

    "Wow... just... wow... I suppose it makes sense! it explains very well your great skills, my lord!"

    "A student can only reach its maximum potential with the help of the best teacher," the king guessed out loud. "Let's make sure the same case is repeated with you."

    "I'll put all my effort to accomplish it!" she exclaimed excitedly.
    It was the second time The Order Of Heroes had to prepare a funeral for soldiers that weren't only from their side or the Emblian ones... two more heroes had been included into the list of casualties of this time travel war through the ages.
    Not needing to focus his mind on getting sure another person didn't claim his life, the prince of Askr had more time to reflect on the possibly dangerous alterations all this event would cause to the future of this timeline. He gulped and rubbed his forehead as he tried to remember everything while sitting on a rock.

    The power trio of Lycia had lost two members... and if something went wrong during the purification process that it would be necessary to release the third member from the curse that clouded her mind, she might as well join her friends in the "afterlife"

    This was going to be be a mortal blow to the morale of the continent since they and their friends were going to be considered legendary heroes just like the ones that fought the dragons in the past.

    The prince realized that, while it was true there were infinite timelines, the story fo this world seemed to be going in the same direction to become into another world of Binding...

    The local versions of Lilina, Dayan, Sue, Klein Clarine, Hugh, Nilme, Lugh, Raigh and finally, the most important one, Roy, had been ret-goned from the existence... they would never exist here... and that was only taking in consideration the confirmed cases of a hero of the future being the offspring of a hero of the present.

    He tried to calm himself down... his comprehension of the time thanks to his powers had made him learn that there were timelines where the heroes the story had recorded would never existed in the first place... and yet these timelines could have new unknown heroes who could raise to step in the fight to save the world. Their absence wouldn't immediately mean Zephiel would accomplish his goal... but the doubt was going to consume his mind forever...

    The other worlds that had released still had many of their heroes... and perhaps the ones that were being forced to fight in the frontal lines on the Emblian side of the Zenith part of the war could eventually return...

    But this world had lost them...

    And it was his fault...

    It didn't matter just how much his mother, sister, and Anna insisted that it wasn't the case... he had opened the portals...
    As he raised his head to see the event... he saw Lilina along with her mother watching the corpse of the local Hector being placed inside his improvised tomb.

    His actions had caused that she had to suffer losing her father once again... and this time she was present to see it.
    How many people had and were going to suffer thanks to his mistakes? to his stupidity?

    What would have happened had his father was still alive?... without being able to remember him completely but using what his mother had told him as a base... the prince wouldn't be surprised at all if the man hadn't wanted to look at his son at the face.

    He hadn't wanted to think about all these implications since the previous battle... but he just couldn't do it anymore. His mind ensured he would never forget the disaster he had caused.

    As he was about to let his head rest on his hands to feel miserable again, he felt some gentle arms embracing him with much love.

    He didn't need to have her inside his sight to know who she was.

    If it wasn't a fact that smiling was considered a very heavy insult during a funeral, he would have given her a smile to ensure he was okay. This time, the best thing he could do was to hug her back tightly.

    "It's okay, bro." Sharena softly said.

    As if his subconscious having thought all previous stuff hadn't been enough to make him pay the price of the mistake, he remembered another factor why his knowledge of timelines was hard to tolerate... because of the infinite nature of the time, his dear and precious sister was, inevitably, suffering in a parallel universe.

    Timelines... where he hadn't been able to protect her...

    He had to put much focus on throwing those thoughts away.
    Even if Roy had still considered a good idea to try to comfort Lilina, it wouldn't have been a good moment to do it...
    The young lion gulped very slowly as he tried to do not let some tears roll through his cheeks.

    He shook his head as he tried to convince himself that he shouldn't be crying. This Eliwood wasn't the same one that raised him... yet... having to deal with this situation again...

    He wished he was wearing his old clothes and not these copies in honor of his father... it only made it worse.
    He looked away, not wanting to see this.

    Veronica was a monster... that's what he thought.
    As bad as the general mood between The Order Of Heroes was, once they had confirmed there weren't more war prisoners inside the Caelin castle, Robin, who was in charge by the moment, ordered to retreat from the world.

    It was damn depressing not to be able to do something more for the people of the recently released world, but the Order just couldn't stop and help everybody. Their services would be required to save another one soon or later.

    During this period of time, Nino felt... very awkward.

    She was using the cycle as usual, but her mind wasn't focusing on the landscape.

    She sighed as she looked at where Kiran, in theory, was resting.

    It was a fact she wasn't sure if she desired to have a talk with Kiran regarding his real feelings for her... but even if she decided she should clear this doubt already, Raigh and Alfonse had claimed Kiran wouldn't leave his carriage since, apparently, he wasn't in a good condition to speak to someone else.

    As anybody could expect, her heart felt cold at times as she was worried for him...

    Just... what happened?... when he woke up, he seemed to be fine... had he got sick?

    Her mind created a scene of the kind man coughing, perhaps throwing up and with his face red-colored... or perhaps he was paler than the white snow?

    Even worse, if what Kiran claimed was true... the diseases of this planet would have it easy at dealing with his body defenses...

    She shook her head.

    She was imagining a lot without any real idea of what was happening...

    Besides, he had promised... he had promised he wouldn't leave her alone... that he would survive... no matter what...
    To say she wasn't exactly good at hiding something was happening to her would be an underestimation. She only was lucky that Lugh had been helping Arthur to take care of the mental health of many of the prisoners, otherwise, he surely would have wanted to know why she behaved so oddly.

    She couldn't even go with Florina to ask her for advice. It wasn't a good moment.

    Was she in love?

    How being in love actually felt?

    Was she just misunderstanding?

    She wanted an answer...
    "Hey, tarado (retarded), wake up!" Raigh commented as he hit slowly the head of his "stepfather".

    Kiran/Mark growled as he attempted to comprehend why he had gone to the realm of the dreams so quickly after interchanging a few words with Raigh.

    "I'm getting tired of... resting... weird... anyway. Just... how much time has passed since the last time we spoke."

    "Days, it seems the nurses kinda gave you too much of that substance." The prince of Askr commented. While it was true the prince usually had a stoic face when he wasn't around his family, his face seemed more depressed than usual... almost matching Kiran's usual face. If his sister and commander had noticed he was slowly starting to behave more like his friend, now it would be clear to be seen by anyone. His arms were even crossed. "We're about to return to the Zenith continent, we can't needlessly keep the grandmaster and his army guarding the portal more time."

    "That was fast... eh... what is she doing here?" Kiran/Mark's reaction to the voice of Naga being present was a mix between the usual disrespect displayed by Kiran... and wonder thanks to Mark.

    Raigh approached with a needle to extract blood. "It happens that lady Tiki here is not very happy regarding your current condition."

    For a moment, Kiran's side took over. "Is she even happy at some moment anyway?"

    "... I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that and I'm gonna go straight to the point." she placed her fingers on his forehead.
    "Where did you get that soul?"

    "... Define your concept of a soul." Kiran/Mark sighed, at least he didn't feel his head was about to explode.

    "It's the essence that it's inside every living being," she responded. She could certainly feel the presence of the substance through the body. "Where did you get it?"

    "She means, quintessence?" Kiran/Mark shook his head as he tried to assimilate the concept.

    "He got it from a corpse," Raigh explained, the sample of blood he extracted turned to do not have the pure red coloration Kiran usually had... it was partially silver.

    "... Why I'm not surprised?..." Tiki shook her head in disproval and looked at him with contempt. "You were so desperate to get a soul that you stole it?!"

    Kiran/Mark narrowed. "Do you actually believe I would do such a thing?!" Kiran's part of the mind quickly "kicked" its counterpart for saying such a senseless sentence, of course she believed it! "You know what, I don't care what you have to say to me."

    "It was a corpse we discovered in an advanced state of decomposition." Raigh clarified.

    "Someone must return to look for it though... if these memories are true, he was carrying two powerful tomes of legendary level..."

    "So, if I understood correctly, you absorbed the soul of a dead person?" Alfonse asked for confirmation.

    Tiki and the others nodded. "I hope for your own sake that what your friend says is right."

    "You don't have to believe if you don't want to." Raigh stared at her. "It does not really matter."

    Tiki stared at the boy, but she sighed, preferring not to start a fight with these two.

    "So... urgh... any idea how can I repair my mind?" Kiran/Mark asked.

    "The only one I suppose could know about this stuff is my mother, but don't expect me to guide you to Mount Prism." Tiki sighed.

    "You don't need to, Lucina or Robin can tell me where it is."

    "So, you're going to the world of Awakening?" Alfonse asked, a clear vocal tone that denoted he was worried could be heard.

    "Yeah, since these two idiots got merged I feel my mind is at war against itself."

    "These two?" Tiki raised her eyebrow. "Why are you talking about yourself as if you were another person."

    "Honestly, I still don't know if I'm Kiran with Mark's memories or Mark and Kiran fused into a single one... which could mean I'm none of them... although what Raigh told me suggests it's the former option."

    "That's actually an interesting question." Raigh wrote down in a notebook. "Could we argue that Kiran is already dead? by the way, how did you say it was the second one called?"

    "Mark." Kiran/Mark said.

    "Thanks."

    Dead?... to say the idea concerned Alfonse a lot was to underestimate it...

    Although the idea that perhaps Kiran had disappeared already made Kiran/Mark remember something.
    "Eh... who else got saved by Breidablik's teleportation power besides Ephraim?"

    "Lady Tiki here is one."

    "Her?..." Kiran/Mark gulped...

    Should he consider that the original Tiki was already dead?

    He shook his head in pain.

    "Anyway, something important we need to clarify," Raigh crossed his arms. "If you're going to visit that place... whatever its name was, and it's in the world of Awakening. Who's gonna be in charge while you're out."

    "Robin has already taken care of the battle before, she can do it again... regarding the Breidablik... that is under your security. I assume you even have it already, right?" Kiran sighed.

    Raigh pulled the relic out from his cloak. "Safe and secured."

    "Do you remember everything I told you about it?"

    "That is probably a magitek artifact? yeah."

    "Good."

    "I guess I don't have anything else to do here." the voice of Naga commented. "Farewell." she knocked on the wall to tell the one driving the carriage to stop, and then she left.

    "So... if you're leaving for a while..." Alfonse coughed. "Just take care, okay?"

    It wasn't that hard to figure out the prince was worried about losing another friend in the same world again.
    "I'm not going alone, I need Lucina to tell me where the hell that place is and probably Corrin to reach it fast enough to be acceptable. Besides, I need to plan the travel, otherwise, it probably would end up in a not good situation."
    Kiran/Mark rubbed his eyes.

    "By the way," Raigh sat as he spoke. "Talking about the possessed heroes and all that. Perhaps if I use those tubes we used during the autopsies I could extract the dark magic slowly enough to do not cause possible secondary effects to the heroes. It's a good advance, I just need more time."

    "Well done." Kiran/Mark gave him a thumbs-up.
    Miriel, once she had finished replicating the Newton telescope the times the grandmaster had requested, continued doing the science for no military purposes she and Kiran liked.

    She, with the help of a very large ruler, was drawing the lines of a blueprint. The building in the pages Kiran had left for her was certainly a marvelous thing.

    She had already attempted to discover the possible applications of the glass even since that time Robin destroyed the Valmesian fleet when Basilio and Flavia asked her if she could create a copper mirror able to set on fire ships in case a second invasion ever happened to Regna Ferox. After some experiments, she discarded the idea since it would need more than 200 mirrors to focus the light enough to even set a single ship on fire, not to mention the facts that it would be necessary that the enemy ships were not moving and it would only work during the day and not the night for obvious reasons. A failed idea indeed.

    This other idea, with the purpose of helping agriculture, on the other hand, seemed more realistic.
    A house designed specifically for plants, taking advantage of the closed environment and the crystal walls, that could retain the heath better. This, in theory, would allow harvesting even during the winter! If it was necessary to reduce the temperature, some curtains would suffice. The name couldn't be more perfect: A greenhouse.

    There were some minor details Kiran admitted he wasn't aware of, but as long as it helped to tiny villages, it was more than enough.

    She honestly didn't like when somebody interrupted her, so when a soldier entered she quickly spoke.

    "Please, clarify the reason for your presence as fast as possible."

    "I was sent to tell you the Order Of Heroes has returned."

    Well, that was kinda fast.

    "Comprehended, thanks for the information." Miriel then stopped her drawing as she started to put the instruments inside its boxes to be transported.

    It was time to return to the capital of Askr.
    Would you like some more chocolate?" Corrin gently asked to the third girl she had been taking care of. If she was honest, she loved having so many "daughters"

    María nodded slowly, extending her hand to grab the present.

    "It seems we are out of candies, I'll go get more. Be nice." she patted María, Fae, and Azurita as she left in direction to the kitchen.

    "Hey, Mary! it's your turn!" Fae poked María on the shoulder with a smile.

    "Ah, right." the girl placed her hand behind her marble and, with a single move, sent it to collide with the other marbles.
    Even though she was so focused on caressing her little bunny, Azurita didn't need to be reminded of the game as she hit her marble without delay.

    The princess of Macedon couldn't complain about the treatment she was receiving in Askr. It was, with total honesty, much better than being inside a cell... but... she just wondered when they would send her home as they promised...
    Apparently, only that young man called Kiran could do it... but the only thing Corrin could tell her was to be patient, that he would return.

    But she was running out of patience at this point.

    Her brother needed her...

    Sometime later, Azurita gave one of her first genuine smiles as she was being carried by someone that had promised something to her.

    "Sorry for that," Kiran/Mark sighed, closing his eyes. He caressed the hair of the girl as usual. "So, where was I the last time?"

    "The heroes were crossing the bridge." Azurita said.

    "Ah, right. So, their quest continued as they crossed a forest filled with monsters."
    So, as you may guess... the next arc regarding freeing a world won't have Kiran in it. I just realized that having him around does not really leave much space for Alfonse to do something on his own (heck, even Raigh is more proactive on his own) so I decided to take this concept. While it's true the next chapters are going to be about Kiran/Mark meeting Naga again, once that little arc is over, we'll say goodbye to Kiran/Mark for a while.

    So, as someone mentioned perhaps it was time to move on from medical inventions to something different, I decided to include that scene about the greenhouses. They are magnificent buildings and honestly, Regna Ferox could use some of them. For Plegia there's another invention but, by the moment, no more info about it.

    Some of you may have noticed the two chapters that only were messages I left have been deleted... well, reading the rules of this website, I noticed that wasn't allowed so that's why... besides, some of them gave information of concepts that I've already dropped: like allowing Fjorm to be Kiran's girlfriend so... I think it's better this way.
     
  • Index
    • Chapter 51: Split-Brain
  • Index
    • Split-Brain
    ​
    "B-But... we have defeated the vampire!" Kiran/Mark, having gotten into character to entertain Azurita, knelt and pretended to hit the ground in frustration. "Why isn't the earth healing?!" the character at that moment was Manuel, one of the two knights of the group.

    Quickly, he stood up and covered his entire face with the hood of his coat to simulate be a mysterious character... or rather, the usually faceless black mage in Final Fantasy. "You're not gonna accomplish anything complaining like that."

    He then proceeded to try to seem more feminine, reducing the pitch of his voice and pretend he was holding a staff. "Let's calm down for a moment." "Lucero" rubbed "her" chin. "Perhaps the villagers just were wrong and the vampire wasn't the cause of the earth's decaying."

    Kiran/Mark changed to the character of Rosa, Manuel's sister. "She" was training with a sword. "That, however, does not give us a single clue for what is causing this mess then."

    He returned to play the black mage Joseph. "Well, we do know that the putrefaction follows a circular pattern which center is the Earth cave..." Kiran/Mark held a paper as if it was a map and "drew" a circle. "Killing the vampire may not have stopped the process, but perhaps he was doing something deeper in the cave through... I don't know... a spell? that is still functioning... or he had a secret ally. Whatever the case, we can be sure that it is still inside that cave."

    Playing as Manuel again, Kiran/Mark stood up and gave a very determined face. "Let's investigate then, there's no time to waste..." he clenched his teeth. "The more time we take to complete this mission, the more the people suffer."

    "Hold on." the "sister" said. "Lucero and I will go to buy more potions and antidotes before."

    The "black mage" nodded. "Good idea, that cursed place is filled with so many poisonous monsters that is ridiculous."
    With all this, Kiran/Mark finally stopped acting as he approached the bed to be by Azurita's side.

    The girl knew what this meant and she didn't like it. She still had many doubts and she didn't want to stop there.

    Kiran/Mark caressed her hair as usual. It certainly felt well how Kiran and Mark had seemed to take a break from their constant war in his brain.

    "But what is happening to the earth then?!"

    "I wouldn't be a mystery if a told you before reaching that part, right?" Kiran/Mark pointed out. "Just be patient, you need to rest." he patted her.

    "I still don't know what the crystals are for..." Azurita complained regarding the other mystery that still bothered her. She crossed her arms in disgust, perhaps that way Kiran would be willing to continue.

    "That's what you're gonna discover tomorrow actually," Kiran/Mark commented.

    "I want to know now..."

    "It's just until tomorrow." Kiran/Mark smiled.

    "That's what you said the last time..." she shook her head.

    "I have no control over when I'm gonna be called to work again... but don't worry, while it's true that I'm leaving the castle tomorrow as well..." the disappointed face she displayed of: I knew it, made him quickly clarify something. "But this time, you're coming with me."

    Even if that wasn't necessary, Mark's side of his personality wouldn't have let him leave the girl without her promised next part just that easily.

    "Eh?!" for a moment, the girl seemed to be scared about the idea of leaving the only place where she had felt secure, protected, and loved.

    "Corrin is coming with us," he explained. "I require her help, you have nothing to be worried about." Kiran/Mark kissed her on the forehead. He took a moment to reflect on the fact Nino didn't seem to be much taller than this little girl... which meant Azurita would probably become much taller in the future... Kiran's side of the memories brought another person into the equation: Andrea, a former friend Luis really liked to tease regarding her height when he was thirteen years old. Mark's ones included Ezkan, one of the nobles he used to talk to when he still hadn't escaped from home. He kinda had a "Napoleon complex".

    The girl seemed a little more relaxed. "Do you promise it?..."

    "Of course. It's a promise as sacred as my life." Mark's personality didn't allow Kiran to even complain internally about how a promise was just empty words, Kiran/Mark just said that immediately.

    Although Kiran/Mark frowned because calling life sacred had really pissed Kiran, it seemed he didn't want to bother the little girl.

    It was just something both Kiran and Mark agreed regardless of how much they hated each other, Azurita was cute. "Now, have sweet dreams that are made of sugar thing." Kiran/Mark kissed her forehead once more before he helped her to get comfortable.

    "See you tomorrow."

    Azurita finally gave a genuine smile as she nodded and closed her eyes.

    Once Kiran/Mark closed the door, being he now outside, his face didn't denote signs of being tired, actually... it was the opposite.

    It was not a surprise for him to see Corrin was waiting for him.

    She approached as she asked. "Everything is in order?"

    "As far as I know, she's already going to the realm of the dreams." Kiran/Mark shrugged "And we also almost reach the end of the first quarter of the story."

    "That is a really long story, are you sure it's meant for kids?" Corrin scratched her forehead's left side.

    "Yes, well... at least Final Fantasy one is soft enough... and probably Final Fantasy five too... Final Fantasy six, seven, and eight... I'm not sure."

    "What happened to the second, third, and fourth ones?" Corrin raised her eyebrow.

    "Kiran never played them or I don't recall the story completely." Kiran, even though being a videogame fanatic, still left many games he had desired to finish uncomplete by the time he had been summoned...

    Corrin... didn't feel comfortable at the aspect of Kiran/Mark referring to Kiran as a different being. "And why is it called Final Fantasy... if there's more than one?"

    "The legend claims it was named that way because the first game was supposed to be the last game the creators were going to make because they were running out of money... the game ended up being a massive success that allowed them to continue... another version just says they wanted to name it Fighting Fantasy but the name was already taken so they just chose another word." Kiran/Mark wasn't sure which version was the real one, the former sounded more epic... but reality often was disappointing.

    "I wish I could play these games... the concept of playing a story the way you described it sounds... marvelous." the princess could only imagine a videogame as... almost the ultimate form of entertainment while being at house.

    "Unfortunately, even with my help to skip a big part of the time that the Terranos required to discover many of the concepts and invent the artifacts that I'm giving to you... probably we won't have anything similar to a videogame until... three centuries into the future."

    Given the fact that both species, the ones Kiran was part of and the ones inhabiting this different planet called themselves humans... Kiran/Mark decided to use the word Terranos to refer to the humans from his original Earth while he would call humans to the ones of the planet where he was now standing on.

    Kiran/Mark was partially sure that only with the quintessence he had obtained from Mark it would be probably enough to survive that long ... although Kiran's personality wouldn't be satisfied with only three miserable centuries.

    "By the way... now we are talking about time." Kiran's curiosity took over for a moment. "Kiran has always wonder... how much time do you think you'll live?"

    The question made Corrin go from a smile to a sad expression instantly. "I... I don't know... I've been aging like human my whole life so far... but who knows... I just hope I won't have to witnesses my children's death... I mean, they won't have as much manakete blood as I have so..."

    Those words sent Kiran/Mark's mind into pain once more.

    Kiran had been patient regarding when he should tell Corrin that the most logical possibility was that she was sterile because of her hybrid nature... and Kiran's side considered he had waited for it enough... but Mark's personality, not wanting to hurt her feelings, interfered.

    Corrin patted Kiran/Mark on the head softly as she used to once she saw him grimace. "I assume your mind is not getting any better... right?"

    "I'm not sure if I'm Kiran or Mark... or none of them... their personalities are still clashing and I don't see that stopping in a near future... at least they agree that Azurita is a beautiful being too pure for this miserable world... " the concept of what kind of fusion he represented was still without a clear confirmation of which answer was the correct one... even without considering the fact that Kiran and Mark weren't the original names of the two beings that composed Kiran/Mark.

    As Kiran/Mark has suggested... should the order of heroes start behaving as if Kiran was already dead?

    "What do you believe is the correct answer?" Corrin didn't wish any bad thing for that Mark guy... but it was incredibly uncomfortable to speak to someone that shared the same face and voice with a dead friend...

    Kiran/Mark gave a tiny smile. "A part of me wants to believe I'm both at the same time..." it wasn't necessary to say who... and, as expected, this caused another migraine.

    Corrin hugged him tightly and continued patting him... almost as if he was just a tiny sick child. "B-Better.. just... relax and... don't think about it... well, actually... don't do much thinking for now."

    Both personalities seemed to think this was a good idea as Kiran/Mark only sighed and enjoyed the hug.

    After a while, Corrin blinked as she noticed something off. "You're not gonna purr?"

    Kiran/Mark gulped... and blushed. "That... that is... embarrassing..." at least to Mark, it was.

    Corrin's face turned into something more similar to what her sister Camilla displayed when Camilla gave her affection. "Awww!" then she pretended to feel sad... which obligated Kiran/Mark to start making the classical sound.
    Sumia hadn't yet recovered that smile that had became her standard facial expression since the day she married Chrom.
    It was comprehensible though... she was certainly surprised Cordelia could continue working as efficiently as she always used to regardless of the pain both were experiencing in their hearts.

    Sumia placed her hands in a way it seemed she was carrying a baby...

    She missed a lot those moments where she had the littles Lucina and Cynthia together... their cute baby faces...
    As she remembered how it was possible both were now in the afterlife... not having even reached to be little girls of seven years...

    Her hands then covered her eyes as the water made its way out of her eyes.

    She sobbed, alone at the horse/pegasus stables, for a while. The best she could to try to calm herself was to caress the head of her precious pegasus.

    "Um... excuse me..."

    The queen of Ylisse stopped paying attention to her mount to see a young and tiny girl.

    "Oh!" Sumia attempted to give the best first impression of her regardless of being depressed. "How can I help you?"
    She had a worried expression. "Well... I heard someone crying..."

    "S-Sorry, it was me... I just... I haven't had the best day..." Sumia sighed as she smiled... but it was obvious it wasn't a real one.

    "I-I see..." The girl simply seemed to have her curiosity satisfied... but to Sumia, it was evident this girl was thinking in something that had her worried. Sumia remembered how she looked like in those days when she was just a recruit and compared it to this girl.

    "I know we just met each other but since you worried about me... could you please tell me what is on your mind?"
    She blinked several times, raising her head to see Sumia at her eyes. "Em... well..." she hesitated for a moment.
    It was true she wanted and needed advice... but talking about this with an unknown person...

    "If my question made you feel uncomfortable I'm sorry." Sumia quickly said.

    Taking a better look at the girl's physical appearance rather than her emotions... a white skirt of what seemed to be a dress, a vest shirt, a purple cape, her eyes were blue and her hair green... short stature... and a beautiful green heart-shaped like collar... Sumia got an idea of who she was. "Is it possible your name is Nino?"

    Nino, of course, got surprised. "How do you know?"

    "My friend, Cordelia, told me she was giving cooking classes to a girl who matches your description.

    Nino took her time to analyze the person she was talking to. "Oh! then you must be Sumia!"

    Good thing Nino seemed more excited than sad now. "Nice to meet you."

    "Nice to meet you." at least this smile Sumia gave had more real happiness.

    "Is this your pegasus?" Nino asked as she looked at the white flying horse.

    "Yes." Sumia caressed the animal's head once more. "She used to be a wild one before I met her in a mission."

    "Is it a female or a male?"

    "A female." Sumia gave it an apple. "She's the most loyal pegasus ever."

    "My friend and her daughter, Florina and Lilina, promised me to teach me to ride one... but right now they aren't in the best mood for that..."

    "Well, I could be your substitute teacher for that," Sumia suggested the idea because she wanted to help... and to get distracted from thinking in her babies...

    "T-Thanks!"

    Because of how much Nino appreciated her teacher Cordelia, Nino actually considered telling Sumia about her current problem... if Cordelia considered Sumia a great friend it meant Sumia must be just as kind as Cordelia... and that's what she was seeing in her behavior... right?

    Besides, Cordelia told her that Sumia was more experienced in dealing with uncertain feelings than her.
    "Um... miss Sumia..."

    "Yes?"

    "Could you please... explain something to me?..." Nino played with her fingers in "shame"

    Sumia raised her eyebrow. "About riding a pegasus?"

    "Eh? no! I mean... yes, that would be nice but... I wanted to ask... it's something personal but... Florina cannot help me right now so... em..."

    "It would be my pleasure to help you." Sumia patted Nino on the head... while Nino kinda got mad because it usually meant people thinking she was much younger than she actually was... she preferred to ignore it this time. "Y-You see... there's a man..." Nino increased the speed at which her fingers moved as she played with them.

    Being a super mega fan of love stories, Sumia got interested immediately. "Uhum?" Sumia nodded.

    "He has promised me that... em... that he will protect me..." Nino gulped, getting more and more nervous at the prospect of telling all this stuff.

    "Awww!" Sumia's heartwarming smile appeared on her face for the first time in months.

    "He also gave me this collar as a birthday present..." Nino placed her hand on the object as she said that.

    A green heart necklace "It's a very cute present." Sumia thoughts had those earrings Chrom once gave her as a possible comparison.

    "He has offered me to stay at his house since I don't really have a home back in my own world... he cares much about me..." Nino's cheeks were gradually becoming redder.

    "He sounds like a blue prince." Sumia smiled, this was really making her feel calm. "So I guess you want to know how to thank him appropriately?"

    "Eh?! no!... I mean... I guess he likes me... he gave me a peck and all that but..."

    "He kissed you and you only guess that he likes you?" Sumia teased.

    Nino's face had the same color that Lilina's usual spells had. "B-But... I don't understand... has he always liked me?... at first I thought our relationship was more similar to siblings... and also... I wonder... do I like him back?..." She shook her head.

    Sumia placed her hand on Nino's shoulder. "Why don't you tell me everything that has happened between you two since the beginning so I can have a better comprehension of the situation?"

    Nino gulped... and she nodded.
    "So, do you need anything else?" Anna had her arms crossed, but her face denoted how worried she actually was about Kiran/Mark.

    "Well, had you have Ylissean money or Regna Ferox money I would have asked you for some... but I doubt that's the case." Kiran/Mark walked around, watching the supplies for the travel. "That's what I'm gonna ask for to Robin and Chrom I guess... so this is enough, thanks. This was much more than what Mark used to have when Lyn and he started their journey. " Living only with the supplies to survive a single day and having to look for more wasn't an unknown concept, but both Kiran and Mark would prefer not to have to deal with that ever again.

    "Um, right." Anna nodded. She also had problems understanding the fact "Kiran" now remembered to have experienced two entirely different lives.

    "Kagero is also coming with you, but take care anyway." Anna commented.

    True... it was unlikely Kagero would leave him alone... Kiran/Mark guessed that having to carry three persons plus the supplies wouldn't allow Corrin to fly on her dragon form... kinda rendering useless the idea of bringing her in the first place...

    Well, having a dragon to help in the battle in case they discovered bandits or anything like that was always a good idea.
    "I have no intention of dying... but in case that happens... Raigh has the Breidablik."

    Anna wouldn't tell him, but she also had included that "sleeping pill" they had used on him twice at this point just in case it became necessary.

    "I just hope that when I return you guys are here... it would be boring to be here waiting." Kiran/Mark commented.

    "You could invest the time at recreating more of that stuff your brain contains." She suggested. "Didn't you say you would prefer to dedicate yourself to do your science rather than the war?"

    Kiran/Mark rubbed his chin. "Well, that's true... but both Kiran and Mark won't be comfortable without taking care of their responsibilities as the legendary hero first..."

    Anna patted him on the back. "It's okay, we now have many heroes and the Breidablik. We'll be fine."

    "I guess Kiran isn't really necessary for the war anymore." Kiran/Mark shrugged.

    "That's not what I meant." Anna frowned.

    "It's fine. Kiran does not feel comfortable being special or irreplaceable... it's still necessary to complete at least one translated version of that book though..."

    That was another of the objects Kiran/Mark was bringing. His version of the Encyclopedia was... perhaps near to be completed.

    Anna held him by the shoulders tightly. "Listen, never say something like that again! you're very special to us! especially for the prince now that you are basically the new Zacharias."

    Kiran/Mark raised his eyebrow and smiled a little. "A part of me is confused and worried... but the other is happy and says thanks." At least suffering so many headaches at this point allowed him to simulate as if they didn't really were happening... a little, he still needed practice.

    "I have an idea of which one is feeling what..." Anna shook her head and sighed. "Let's bring all this outside the castle."
    "The faster I finish this, the better." Kiran/Mark nodded.
    Corrin transformed into her dragon form and knelt.

    Lucina, using her back, helped Azurita to get on Corrin.

    It helped the girl had seen her transformation before... otherwise the little girl probably would have freaked out at the idea.

    Kagero and Lucina would use Kiran's personal carriage. Because they weren't going to fly in the end, they preferred it that way. Kiran, on the other hand, would go along Azurita to continue telling her the story.

    "So, this is all the stuff I was planning to replicate that could result practical for a battle... this page, in particular, explains what Kiran used to negate the effect of your Levin Sword." Kiran/Mark explained as Raigh handed over to Robin some documents he had translated with the help of Lucina.

    "I had already forgotten that I still didn't know the answer to that." Robin scratched her hair as she read the pages.
    Kiran/Mark turned to see Raigh. "No need to worry, I'm gonna be back." the arrogance of that affirmation that without real evidence caused another migraine as Kiran's side of the mind got mad.

    Raigh shrugged. "I would say I would beat the shit out of you in the afterlife if you don't but... we both know that shit does not exist."

    Another migraine. "R-Right..."

    Kiran/Mark felt Robin's hand on his shoulder. "Just... take care... okay?..." she then approached to whisper to him. "After all... unlike me... your death is not necessary to ensure the safety of the future..."

    Kiran wouldn't have blushed at this... but Mark's influence in the personality, being him a more emotional guy, caused Kiran/Mark's face to go red. He just nodded... sadly... but he did.

    She gave him a hug. "Good luck."

    "Thanks."

    Kiran/Mark noticed Raigh had crossed his arms... and he didn't like the implications of that...
    Once Robin released him, Kiran/Mark walked to mount the dragon.

    "Are you sure this does not mind you?" Kiran/Mark asked since now, instead of a horse, it was Corrin the one moving the cart.

    The dragon woman nodded. It was the only way for her to say yes in that form. Dragon mouths weren't exactly designed to speak... even less in a human language.

    Before that, however, Alfonse approached. "So... I hope the protection of three heroes is gonna be enough..."

    "It's a dragon, a warrior who beat Ephraim and a professional Ninja, I have faith in them..." again, migraine.

    "Yeah... I'm just... scared... that's all... be careful, amigo..."

    "Of course, amigo." they both did their modern salute.

    "Have luck!" Anna yelled.

    "Take care!" Although the prince attempted to sound normal, it was clear in his voice tone that he wasn't very confident in this idea.

    "You still are having your birthday party no matter what!" Sharena yelled in part angry.

    Raigh only saluted.

    Robin gave him a thumbs-up, a signal to tell him: your army will be in good hands.

    Kiran/Mark wasn't sure if he wanted to say goodbye with his mouth or hand... so he used both.

    As the capital of Askr was becoming tinier and tinier in his sight, Kiran/Mark sighed and turned to see Azurita. "So... where was I?" He pretended to do not remember what was the next part.

    "They were returning to the cave!" Azurita said.

    "Ah, right!"

    Kiran continued explaining how the Warriors of Light fought more monsters and made their way deeper into the cavern. "So, when they discovered another door and they opened... inside that room... there was... a Crystal... a giant yellow crystal... Joseph's surprise was particularly bigger than the one of his friends since... it looked a lot like the tiny one he owned... just... the color tone was darker..."

    Azurita's mouth was very opened. "Oh!"

    "However, when they approached the giant version... a very horrible voice, apparently coming from the void, became present."

    Kiran/Mark's voice became more "dark" and his facial expression became "demoniac"

    "Who dares to enter my lair?"

    Kiran/Mark explained that from the crystal, dark energy was being "expelled" and it quickly took the form of a giant skeleton-like monster.

    "The Warriors Of Light had a hard time believing what they were seeing." Kiran/Mark, after showing the confusion those characters suffered through his own face, returned to play the monster.

    Narrowing his eyes and displaying his hands like claws, Kiran spoke. "I am the one who feeds on the power of the earth... mortals like you who dare to enter into the lair of Lich, the fiend of the earth... deserve only one kind of punishment... a trip to the afterlife!"

    Azurita covered her mouth with her hands.

    The next minutes were Kiran/Mark attempting to do not fall from Corrin's back... at the same time he attempted to express the Lich's attacks through corporal movements.

    "With Manuel barely able to stand, Joseph severely wounded and Rosa unconscious... Lucero decided to use her secret card."

    Azurita blinked...

    Getting into character, Kiran/Mark yelled. "DIA!"

    Azurita's smile appeared. "Of course! Lich is anundead and Dia hurts a lot that kind of monster!"

    Kiran/Mark nodded. "Lich barely had time to react when the sacred light started to burn him and purify his evil soul!"
    Kiran/Mark played the Lich. "No! Noooo! impossible! aaaaaargh!" with the generic villain scream at getting defeated and moving his arms as if he was getting sucked into quicksand or something like that.

    Sometimes cliches weren't bad. Besides, the four fiends weren't exactly very dimensional villains anyway.

    Azurita clapped.

    "After the Lich vanished, Lucero didn't waste the time to heal her friends... and then... Joseph had the opportunity to approach his crystal to the giant one. The crystals reacted to the presence of each other... and when they touched, the giant crystal started to shine stronger. When that happened, the giant crystal's energy traveled through the ground, and, thanks to that, the earth started to heal... the crystal was the sanctuary of the earth, where the power of said element came from."

    Azurita raised her finger as she asked. "T-then, then, then there are more sanctuaries and crystals! one for each element!"
    "That's correct." Kiran/Mark caressed the girl's hair.
    Kiran/Mark's interactions with the women during the next days could be summarized as training with Lucina, telling more of the story to Azurita, Writing on his diary along Kagero as she drew on her own one... and relaxing his mind with the help of Corrin as she hugged him.

    Kiran/Mark reflected on the fact Kiran usually complained about those damn harem animes where the protagonist always somehow ended in situations where he was the only male between women... but he was traveling along with three women and a little girl and all of them had real reasons to be there...

    So... was he a hypocrite?

    And all that without considering the detail that Kiran also had to deal with his three sisters, his three nieces, female cousins, and aunts back home... somehow, the Lopez gens seemed to cause a severe lack of males... on the Enriquez side, however, he had more male cousins... if Kiran/Mark recalled correctly, Kiran's father claimed Luis had at least 100 cousins... most of them, however, weren't around because their parents had abandoned the tiny town where they had grown up and had attempted to get a better life in the United States and, by obvious reasons, those males cousins also lived there.

    It was something understandable because, unlike the Lopez family; that had monopolized the market of the tortilla (the most basic element to cook a taco: the most basic Mexican food) in their hometown and because of that the Lopez family was kinda rich; the Enriquez family was just some farmers...

    Luis had lived in middle-low class just because his mother happened to be the only one who didn't marry another middle-high class man like his aunts... she had fallen in love with a farmer.

    Apparently, his father had inherited grandpa Pedro's charm with the ladies.

    "Are you okay?" Corrin asked him, they both were the ones in charge of the patrol of that night.

    "Yeah... I was just thinking in some weird stuff..." Kiran/Mark shook his head in disgust.
    "As the fairy gave them the oxyale, the Warriors of Light didn't waste time to return to where the mermaid waited for them." Kiran/Mark had continued the narration for Azurita all those days. Despite the fear of having to deal with bandits as a result of a post-war state in Ylisse, the group never found even a single one.

    "So, this is Mount Prism?" Kiran/Mark asked, he was carrying Azurita on his back in Mario and Luigi Partners in Time style.

    Kiran's memories could compare the place to what he had seen in Age Of Mythology The Titans when he decided to worship Gaia, the goddess of nature... a paradise of vegetation, water... the wet dream of any ecoterrorist.

    Mark, more used to travel rather than spending his entire life inside his house in front of a computer, would have compared it to one of the most beautiful plains of Sacae... those Lyn loved so much...

    Lucina smiled. "The last time I was here it was infested with Risen... now I can really appreciate its beauty."
    "Kiran would have appreciated the zombies though..."

    Lucina glared at him. "Why?!"

    "In Kiran's world, there are many people who fantasize about living a hell similar to what you have experienced..." Lucina's face of disbelief was easy to be seen. Kiran/Mark closed his eyes "In part because with the modern weapons the Risen would be more like... em... cannon fodder stuff rather than an actual threat... even though the usual person barely knows anything about surviving... but yeah... by reading books, watching movies and playing videogames... zombies have become the most popular kind of monster in Kiran's world."

    To say Lucina was offended would be underestimated. "I remember Kiran said the Terranos were naturally stupid... but that much?!"

    Who, while being sane, would actually desire something like that?

    "Anyway..." Corrin took her shoes off. "I gotta admit, the grass here feels so good!"

    "I would ask why you always like to take your shoes off... but Kiran enjoyed wearing only his underwear when he's at home and Mark liked to sleep naked so... I don't have much right to complain..."

    Corrin giggled. "I just feel "connected" to the earth this way, if you get what I mean. I would be more than glad to do not wear shoes forever... but I would need to wash my feet more often, not to mention the rocks and all that so... it's really not an option." she sighed.

    "Don't forget the spiders or animals like those." Kiran/Mark commented.

    "Please... don't remember me they exist..." Corrin suddenly was wearing her shoes again.

    Kagero didn't seem to be interested in giving her opinion about the place, she was more focused on her diary... probably drawing the landscape.

    "K-Kiran... may I go and take a flower?" Azurita asked.

    "Why not?" Kiran/Mark allowed her to walk on her own. The little girl immediately was picking some blue flowers.

    "So, Naga's temple isn't that far from here," Lucina explained. "Just follow my lead."
    Kiran had never been a fan of religions, but even he could appreciate the magnificent work of architecture necessary to construct a church or a temple... even if his artistic capabilities were inversely proportional to his scientific abilities... it explained why when he played Minecraft he only was looking for resources to give them to the people who actually could build something interesting.

    Mark, on the other hand, would have been amazed thanks to what he was seeing. Memories of the temple in which Athos had lived and the diabolic island crossed his mind as he analyzed the columns.

    The neon blue was certainly beautiful... Kiran liked it... but Mark would have preferred it to be green.

    "So... what now? I don't see anybody here..." Corrin commented.

    "Um... hello!" Kiran/Mark yelled. "Anybody?"

    Lucina punched him on the shoulder. "This is a sacred place! treat it with respect!"

    Kiran/Mark's face displayed a strange mix between shame and angriness "Part of me wants to say I don't care... the other says I'm sorry..."

    Suddenly, the voice of Naga... and by that it meant Naga herself rather than her daughter, became present.

    "It's good to see you decided to come, star child." there was a tiny pause. "Just, be patient. I'll be there in a minute."

    Azurita hid behind Corrin. Corrin herself was surprised. "Well... I knew you described her as divine... but wow..."

    "She says she isn't a goddess, but everybody respects her as one."

    "Star child, who is that?" Kagero rubbed her chin.

    Kiran/Mark was more interested in the fact that the way Naga's voice was heard... was very similar to what it was like when somebody spoke through a microphone to the audience of a stadium.

    Just as Naga had said, after a minute, the "goddess" of the Ylisseans appeared from behind a column.

    Kiran/Mark blushed as he noticed she was wearing that revealing outfit again... he kicked himself mentally quickly though... it probably wasn't considered taboo in dragon culture to wear something like that...

    Lucina knelt, asking the others to do the same. While they obeyed... Kiran/Mark continued walking and extended his hand.

    "Nice to meet you again, lady Naga." both Kiran and Mark agreed it would be a better idea to be formal this time.
    Naga accepted and both shook their hands. "Nice to meet you again. Even more because we meet properly in person and not inside a dream."

    "Um... is it considered an insult or anything similar to kiss the hand of the lady by the manaketes you belonged to?" Kiran/Mark scratched his hair.

    Naga giggled. "It's fine, go ahead." she offered her other hand. Kiran/Mark ensured the kiss was soft.

    Naga's face stopped being a smile as it reflected the same expression Tiki had given to him when they met. "Mmmh? may I touch your forehead?"

    "Yes, actually... it has something to do with the real reason I visit you right now... the offer of the sword is something amazing, of course, but I have a bigger problem right now..." Kiran/Mark sighed.

    The "goddess" placed her fingers and allowed her magic to analyze what had changed inside the being she was seeing.
    "May I ask... where did you get that soul? star child." Naga's face didn't seem to be... happy this time.

    He grimaced for a while as Kiran and Mark had another fight regarding what to tell her... but Kiran finally took over. "I could tell you I got it from a corpse in an advanced state of decomposition... but I don't really have any proof to confirm it to you so..." he sighed.

    Naga rubbed her chin.

    "But I can tell you that this "soul" is causing me a massive problem..." Kiran/Mark rubbed his forehead.

    Naga decided to change her attention to the other persons that had arrived. "You can approach if you desire, children. It's not necessary to kneel."

    Lucina smiled. "Thanks, lady Naga."

    Corrin decided to carry Azurita. Kagero just continued as silent as ever.

    "Oh!" Naga smiled again. "I wasn't expecting to see another manakete."

    Corrin smiled nervously. "Well... I'm just half manakete actually."

    "It's fine, child. That's actually even more interesting." the "goddess" seemed eager to investigate all about Corrin's biology as she looked at her.

    "T-Thanks." Corrin's smile became genuine.

    "Well... returning to what we were speaking... em... you see... my mind... is basically at war against itself." Kiran/Mark explained.

    "Define your concepts with more clarity, star child."

    "Essentially... I'm not sure if I'm Kiran... or Mark... or none... Mark is the one whose soul got merged with this body... the thing is... Mark and Kiran don't exactly agree regarding certain aspects of life... and because I have their memories and opinions here... let's resume it like this: I've never experienced that many migraines in my entire life!... which may be very short if I'm an entirely different person..."

    Naga nodded slowly as she processed the information. "I would say you're Kiran, star child. The mind is entirely ligated to the brain, the soul is just an extension of the body."

    "Aaargh!" Kiran/Mark placed his both hands on his head.

    "I presume... that's one of those migraines you meant..." Naga gave him a sympathetic face.

    "Pretty much." Corrin confirmed, patting Kiran/Mark.

    "So, what do you want me to do about that? star child."

    "I don't know... just... whatever repairs my mind... considering everything you know, which obviously is even more than what I know, I thought you would get an idea of what to do."

    "You must understand that your case is... unique. Therefore, I must analyze your brain and body first before I decide what can be done."

    Kiran/Mark nodded, he was not going to complain since she was the expert here.

    "This is gonna require more than what I'm used to showing to humans so... please, follow me."

    Corrin, Azurita, Kagero, and Lucina got surprised when, after walking through many corridors, Naga placed a finger on a wall... which caused a door to open by itself... an in a very curious form.

    Kiran/Mark, on the other hand... "Is this... an elevator?..."

    "If that's the name your species use for it, I guess it is. I imagine you understand how it does work then." Naga moved aside to allow them to enter the "room"

    "Kiran sometimes used one. Especially when his sister and he went shopping." Kiran/Mark entered the cabin, standing in the center.

    "I didn't design it to carry many persons though."

    "Can at least Corrin and the girl come with me at the same time?"

    "Yeah, two adults and a child should be fine."

    Kiran made them a signal to tell them to enter. "Come on, it's fine. This thing is secure."

    It wasn't a surprise that Azurita didn't want to enter. Kiran/Mark had to smile at her and offer his hand.
    Corrin wasn't sure what was going on, but she decided to trust her friend.

    "Which one should I press?" Kiran/Mark asked.

    "The fifth one."

    "This one?" Kiran/Mark wanted confirmation before he did something stupid.

    Naga approached to see. "Yes, that one." she then left the cabin.

    Of course, Azurita and Corrin felt tense when the doors closed... and even more when they felt how the elevator started descending.

    "W-What is going on?" Corrin asked

    "It's bringing us to a place that is underground."

    "What?!" Azurita yelled.

    Kiran/Mark caressed her hair. "Relax, this thing is an alternative to stairs. In Kiran's world, they invented it because buildings with many floors or underground levels were becoming more and more high or profound that... the stairs became tedious."

    After some seconds more, the elevator finally stopped and the doors opened again.

    "Time to get out." Kiran/Mark started walking, Corrin following her along with Azurita. Although it had been implied before, it didn't change the fact the girls were surprised to see a totally different room.

    It seemed more practical than beautiful though, it was just a big hall square-shaped.

    It was the artifacts present in the room that made it incredible, so much that the girls didn't pay attention to how the elevator abandoned the room "on its own"

    Kiran/Mark was also surprised... but it was more because of the fact Naga had all this stuff rather than being surprised by the scientific tools themselves. "I know your curiosity must be on... but we shouldn't touch anything... they all seem important and we could break something by accident."

    Corrin nodded, holding Azurita better to ensure she didn't leave.

    The rule: don't touch, didn't mean watching was forbidden.

    Kiran's memories helped to recognize what he could describe as... a computer... the architecture of said electronic artifact was more similar to something Kiran/Mark would expect to find in the Nasa though...

    Well, with millennia to work and build stuff, it wouldn't be that hard to imagine how Naga had something like this.
    "So... Kiran... in your world... are there places like this one?" Corrin turned to see him.

    "There are many specialized labs in the world... each government of each rich country must have their own underground restricted area in which to have hundreds of scientists designing secret projects. Generally, they create new weapons... although nothing here reminds me of a weapon." Kiran/Mark remembered how much Kiran had wanted to create his Area 51-like base in the distant future... he would call it Tourian or Sector SRX though.

    What Naga was using to give electric power to all this? it wasn't likely the answer was nuclear power, to control that kind of energy source you need multiple people.

    Once Naga and Lucina appeared from the elevator, the blue-haired princess was just as surprised as the other two princesses.

    "While I help the star child, you can entertain yourselves with these books." Naga pointed to a bookshelf.

    "Thanks, lady Naga."

    It would be necessary that Lucina was the one reading because of the language, but Naga hoped they liked the books.
    She approached Kiran/Mark. "Please, lay here."

    She pointed to a table with looked similar to one of those tables the scientists used in the movies to experiment with the people.

    Kiran/Mark naturally obeyed, placing his sword by the table's side.

    "I will have to connect my artifact to your brain so... I'll give you something to sleep... I don't think you'd like feeling this." Naga displayed her instruments with a tiny smile.

    "Yeah... anesthesia is always welcomed..." he laughed. He then remembered something important. "Ah! yes... em... in case you need to study more organs of this body that aren't the brain... all of them are in "mirror mode" from your perspective."

    "You have Situs Inversus Totalis?"

    "Technically speaking, yes... it just happens that for my species, the Terranos, that's the default."

    "Interesting." She smiled. "You really are an alien... anyway, just relax and have sweet dreams."

    As Naga placed one of those things that looked similar to what pilots of fighters used to breathe, Kiran/Mark's consciousness gradually fade away.
    Thanks to an encephalogram and other artifacts, Naga analyzed Kiran/Mark's neuronal activity, neuronal waves, body temperature. She also used her magic to study the memories of this mind to discover which ones caused conflict.

    She had once guessed that it could be possible to transmit memories if someone's soul was put into another brain as long as much time had not happened after the original host's death. Getting confirmation made her smile.

    Now, the question was, how to repair this mind?

    The logical answer would be to remove the memories... and this didn't need to eliminate all the quintessence the body had obtained.

    However, she had to be careful...

    She sighed as she prepared herself for what she was going to do. Once she had connected a tube to Kiran/Mark's brain, she activated the process.

    Inside the brain, the hippocampus, prefrontal cortex, and amygdala were gradually getting some "damage" as Naga's energy started erasing Mark's memories...

    However...

    Naga narrowed her eyes.

    The flow of magic... wasn't going correctly...

    As she took a look at the monitor to see what was going on...

    The quintessence wasn't reacting well to the process! especially in a part where...

    Naga's eyes went wide at the implications.

    Naga attempted to block and stop the process...

    But she couldn't do it immediately...

    "No... nonononono!"

    Corrin, Azurita, and Lucina, hearing Naga scream like that, quickly stood up and tried to approach.
    "Lady Naga, what's wrong?!" Lucina asked.

    Naga ignored them though. In a desperate attempt to stop the damage, the "goddess" decided to turn the energy off.
    As she disconnected her artifacts to their main power source, they turned off...

    Naga didn't say anything, regardless of the questions Kiran's friends did to her.

    As she disconnected the tubes and cables that weren't part of the encephalogram and she turned everything on again...
    She covered her mouth in horror.

    "L-Lady Naga?" Corrin gulped.

    "I... I... I... I severely wounded his corpus callosum..." Naga didn't waste time and analyzed what else could have happened...

    Another area affected had been the prefrontal cortex...

    "Lady Naga... we need to know what happened to Kiran..." Lucina said.

    "I-It's hard to explain..." Naga ran towards what seemed to be a closet where she kept many of her chemical compounds.
    As he gradually became aware he was dreaming, a being "blinked" in confusion because of how used to do it he was in these kinds of weird situations...

    The "eyes" that allowed him to watch around him... revealed what seemed to be the void... multiple stars could be seen in the distance though...

    As he took a better look at his "body" he noticed he was wearing black gloves, a shirt of the same color that his eyes and hair: brown... and a coat as green as his pants...
    "The brain is a complicated biological machine..." Naga started to explain as she finally found the gel-like substance she was looking for.

    Unlike needing to extract quintessence and memories, she had repaired neuronal damage before... she should be able to fix her mistake.

    "However, its structure can be summarized a little because the brain has two... sides, hemispheres better said." She placed the gel in her tiny table near the table Kiran's body was laying.

    "Two sides?" Lucina asked.

    "Each side is connected to each other through something called the corpus callosum... however... I just... I just... I just cut many parts of that connection..."
    "¿Dònde estoy? (Where am I?)" the green/brown being was scared.

    "¿Hola? (Hello?)..."

    "¿Què es este lugar? (What is this place?)..."

    Suddenly, a light beam raised... it looked very similar to what the beam that had brought Kiran into the world of Zenith looked like...

    The green/brown being narrowed and placed his arm over his "eyes"...

    After a while... another humanoid figure started to take form...
    "But what does that mean?" Lucina gulped.

    Azurita, although worried, couldn't say a thing...

    "The most simplified explanation is..."
    The green/brown being's eyes went wide... as he thought he was watching a mirror... a weird kind of mirror... because his copy's clothes didn't match...

    They were... a white coat with golden lines... white gloves... a blue shirt... white pants... the boots, eyes, and hair were the same though... brown...

    The white/blue being's facial expression was... almost empty...
    "I've just literally split his mind into two..." Naga gulped as she prepared the gel and her curative magic.
    The split-brain or callosal syndrome is a type of disconnection syndrome when the corpus callosum connecting the two hemispheres of the brain is severed to some degree. After the right and left brain are separated, each hemisphere will have its own separate perception, concepts, and impulses to act. Having two "brains" in one body can create some interesting dilemmas. This is another of the strongest arguments to confirm the mind is a physical process and there's no such thing as an immaterial soul.
    You may wonder how a gel could repair the neuronal cortex, but it's something that, as far as I know, actually exists now. Just search in Google: The New Gel That Regrows Brains. Some of you may recall a similar concept used in the movie: Kingsman: The Golden Circle. Well... it happens that they introduced the idea to the public a year before the actual invention was revealed. Talk about accidentally correct writing.

    You notice another reason why I wanted to make Naga a scientist for this story... besides, now that FE: Three Houses has given us a group of villains that have their own Area 51/Tourian from Metroid... this does not seem so impossible in FE universe. I mean, even the original Final Fantasy 1 had the Flying Fortress, something that the locals describe as a floating castle but that it's actually a space station in high orbit (although in the remakes they actually changed it to a normal floating castle... which kinda sucks... LaPuta que los parió)

    Another thing in this story that happens is that many of the outfits of our characters are lacking their impractical/fanservice characteristics... I mean, I like to walk without shoes or even socks and my feet need to be cleaned almost every day... not to mention rocks, spiders... there's a reason we need shoes... so that's why Corrin actually wears them here. Another change would be that Camilla has that censored version of her armor they gave her in Smash Bros that covers her bust... she also has actual pants for armor instead of walking showing her underwear. Nino has a larger skirt (I remember watching a fanart where she's carrying the babies Raigh and Lugh, her skirt there actually goes beyond her knees) and much more stuff like that. I only decided to keep Naga's outfit the way it was for the sake of that joke and because she's a character that usually does not appear that much in the battlefield.
     
  • Index
    • Chapter 52: Emotions vs Stoicism
  • Index
    • Before reading this chapter, I must tell you a few things.
    First: The characters of this chapter are gonna be called Luis and Duncan respectively in order to differentiate each other.

    Second: This chapter happens inside a mental world. So, unlike the rest of the story where the battles are portrayed the most realistic as I can portray them, nothing here is supposed to make much sense so it's a rule of cool chapter in general.

    Third: Technically, this chapter contains music in-universe that is being played during the chapter so I'm gonna provide some links for them. (Dunno why some of them actually appear as the video in this website and the others only as a link... but whatever lol). If for any reason they don't appear or don't work here's the list:

    Metroid Fusion Environmental Intrigue *
    Megaman Zero 3 Return to Zero *
    Megaman Zero 3 Apocalypse Now.
    Megaman Zero Warning Theme
    Cannonball (Megaman Zero 3)- GaMetal Remix (You can choose another version If you prefer it)
    Metroid Fusion Environmental Silence *
    Megaman ZX Rockin'on Remastered by TShadowKnight
    FF7 You Can Hear The Cry Of The Planet.
    Decisive Battle (Final Fantasy VI) - GaMetal

    The music that has a * after the name means you should look for an extended version so it won't suddenly stop while reading. I tried my best to measure the cases where the * does not appear and, in theory, you should reach the part where this song ends correctly... but I cannot make promises. I don't know how fast you read.

    Of course, this is optional.

    I also made sure all the songs here were created before the year 2017 (the year Kiran got summoned) so it will make sense in-universe he could have listened to them.
    Anyway, that's all.


    Emotions vs Stoicism
    ​
    After the connection between the left and right brains had been destroyed almost completely, the streams of consciousness that previously functioned as a single being had started to operate as two different things.

    However, given both minds were unaware of this fact plus multiple factors that had caused chaos to the original unified mind, inside the limit that still existed between the two halves of that "infinite" realm... an unprecedented event of titanic proportions was about to take place.

    It was inevitable.

    Duncan didn't need to observe the other recently appeared figure too much time to think he wasn't somebody of agreeable personality. The mere fact the eyes of his opponent didn't seem to possed any life to the point of him being comparable to a soulless vessel wasn't a good signal at all. His common sense simply stated this.

    Luis did the action known as blinking a few times as he "calibrated his systems" and his neurons were computing data to process and analyze his current situation. Some orders were transmitted to the right hand of his avatar. He placed his hand in the middle of his field of view, obstructing the other humanoid figure as a result. He opened and closed his fist a few times to check the functionality of his "body".

    The survival instinct of Duncan obligated him to back off a few steps. To say he felt fearful of finding another person identical to him inside this place that, after watching it for some seconds, he recognized as his own mind was underestimating it.

    He just didn't know how this was conceivable at all.

    Luis, confirming his motor functions didn't seem to suffer any malfunction, changed the priority to analyzing the environment... which his systems identified as the vacuum of the outer space... which didn't make any sense since, according to the stored memory data, the home sapiens wasn't able to survive here without a space-suit, no to mention the lack of oxygen to breathe.

    Calculating possible explanations, a simple experiment was selected.

    Duncan narrowed in confusion at the sight of his copy's palm aiming at him... and immediately his eyes went wide as his opponent had formed an energy ki-like sphere that was big enough to cover all the hand... and then he just shot it at him.
    Duncan didn't have the time to react, before he knew it, the ki blast had already collided with him since it moved just as fast as the light itself.

    "AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

    Realistically, Duncan would have been reduced to less than dust... but this energy just pushed him and blew him away several meters until he redirected the energy with a movement of his left hand The ki blast then traveled to the infinite... probably getting lost in the stars.

    With the experiment having given a positive result, the unit known as Luis considered the first explanation to be the most probable one. He closed the gates that allowed processing visual information and he initiated the operation: environmental transformation.

    Duncan, still trying to calm himself down after such an event, gave a worried expression when he saw the outer space transforming into something much more normal to see. A plain where the beautiful and familiar blue sky was present.
    However, something else also took form. Some ruins... pillars over there, and some other pillars over there.

    In the center of all of them, however, there was a monument that seemed to be made of stone.

    The monument had marks in the form of lines. All of them created a figure which could be claimed to be a tree. In the center of the tree's top, there was a hole in which a big sphere could perfectly fit.

    Once the whole mental dimension transformed into the selected location, Luis finally nodded slowly. "Location confirmed, current status: sleeping... stranges cracks on the sky detected... of origin unknown... " True to be told, the "walls" of the environment seemed to be ready to collapse... yet, there was another important detail to be examined.
    The memory data once again got contradicted with certain detail: the previous sleeping cycles hadn't been of the lucid type given emotional interferences caused by the excessive increase of dopamine, serotonin, and oxytocin as a result of interactions with an alien life form type female of class "homo sapiens espejo" whose biologic age, seen from the perspective of Terranos years, was fifteen years old.

    More possible contradictions didn't have time to be processed as the sensors detected damage received directly on the area of the face.

    All this because for a good damn time Duncan had been trying to get Luis's attention. Nothing to be considered weird, after all, who wouldn't be mad after being attacked without any kind of provocation?

    "Answer me!"

    The obtaining of conclusions, having being stopped, obligated the "CPU" to change priorities.



    Finally noticing the other humanoid figure present in the dream, the "CPU" realized the facial features that other human had were... strangely familiar... but determining exactly who he was ended up being a harder task than expected.
    An examining more detailed of this strange's outfit plus the visual information collected allowed Luis to conclude this persona must be...

    An Impostor.

    It was also confirmed that, unlike other entities that had inhabited this mental world during previous sleeping cycles, this being seemed to have a mind of his own so he couldn't be considered an NPC.

    "It is requested to you an explanation for why are you simulating to be this unit." Luis asked, his voice tone... as emotionless as it could be expected because of his robot speech.

    Even though the body this unit was controlling belonged to a being known as Luis, it was true that some time ago the unit Luis and the unit Duncan had apparently merged into a single unit.

    "What are you talking about?" Duncan clenched his teeth.

    "Please, identify the motive you have for trying to pretend to be this unit, besides your mere presence here in the first place." Luis didn't seem to want to be more emotional.

    Duncan shook his head. "You have stolen my words. That's what I wanted to ask. Why are you here and why are you so similar to me?!"

    This caused a short circuit to the CPU's systems.

    "It's impossible for you to be the owner of this mind. This unit is the owner. Please, stop lying and clarify your intentions."
    This was making Duncan really really mad. Did this imposter considered him to be a fool?!

    Entering this place was pretty much the ultimate violation of his privacy, he had barely forgiven Naga the last time...
    "I've had enough! I'm the owner! now... get the fuck out of my mind! now!"

    Luis, emotionless as he was, didn't move a single "muscle" of his face beside his mouth. "Error, you have one last opportunity. Your honesty is required to avoid getting your spirit terminated."

    "Quit talking like a robot! you're not a machine! you're alive dammit!" Duncan yelled, he was already very irritated... but then he noticed...

    Some emotion in the impostor's eyes.

    He seemed... mad.

    "Difference between living matter and non-living matter not clearly defined by science. Some interpretations, specifically the Darwin-like theory of the natural selection of universes and the computational game of life, determine that life could be considered as information trying to propagate. Machines, especially those with artificial intelligence, could fit perfectly in the description."

    This answer hit severely a feeling inside Duncan. "Okay, I don't care about what you believe, just leave this place before I make you!"

    "Invalid input, you have been identified as a hostile entity."

    Luis changed priority from investigation to defensive. "System command, object ID: Espada Maestra Dorada and Breidablik to generate."



    The two requested weapons, effectively, got materialized on each of Luis's hands. Specifically, he held La Espada Maestra Dorada using his right hand and Breidablik with his left hand... although the color of the sacred relic was black rather than white.

    Duncan backed off when Luis used Breidablik to aim at him. He grimaced and jumped to the left quickly as a plasma shot almost hit him.

    Without feeling eager anymore to try to reason with this "machine" Duncan materialized his versions of the same weapons. A white Breidablik for his right hand and La Espada Maestra Azul for his left hand. "Very well... if this is how you want to resolve it!"

    "Commence combat procedure?" Luis asked.

    "Yeah..." a green aura surrounded Duncan. This kind of aura had the particularity of being shaped like a humanoid instead of being more similar to something seen in Dragon Ball Z.

    "Input accepted." The same kind of aura surrounded Luis, the difference was that it was blue.
    It was time...

    "Commence combat."

    Unconsciously, both summoned something very appropriate for the situation.
    WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!


    Luis pulled the trigger of his gun but he kept holding it. Being this a plasma weapon, obviously, the energy started to get accumulated.

    After Luis considered it enough...

    Duncan attempted to jump to the left like the last time but, predicting easily this, Luis had changed his aim to that direction in the last second.

    He released the trigger but he quickly pulled it again only to release it immediately this time. The result was two plasma-charged shots that impacted directly on Duncan.

    The green warrior, having lost his balance, growled in pain... only to start wanting to scream because Luis had used his sword to do a vertical slash from down to up which created a lunar-like energy beam that didn't waste time and quickly hit Duncan, sending flying away again before he hit said beam with his sword to redirect it.

    Duncan, not wanting to be the slowest one to react each time, also aimed his gun at Luis and he started shooting like crazy without bothering to charge at all.

    Although Duncan had tried to replicate the strategy Luis had used against him, Luis had simply reacted faster and, therefore, the bullets weren't hitting him, although the difference of space between him and the missed bullets was very minimal since some of them almost reached his neck or cheeks.

    Luis lunged himself against his opponent. Duncan blocked a slash coming from up to down. then a vertical slash from left to right, then a diagonal slash from up to down.

    Duncan decided it was his moment to be the one being offensive.

    During a blocking moment, Duncan used his gun to shoot at Luis's stomach. The repetitive multiple impacts were enough to make Luis back off a few steps before he jumped very high and started shooting from above.

    Duncan jumped backward, but the time he spent kneeling after that didn't allow him to avoid a direct slash from Luis as he was falling.

    Oddly enough, instead of blood every time they got hurt their bodies released sparks.

    Exposed, Duncan received at least five slashes before he managed to roll through the ground until he was behind Luis, he took advantage of that and slashed from down to up as he jumped, causing a sparking fountain from Luis's back.

    Duncan, landing again, released more of his speedy plasma bullets. As Luis took his time to turn around, some of them actually hit him. The result was that Luis ended up falling on his back. During the process, however, he shot several times too, forcing Duncan to dodge.

    Although on the ground Luis continued shooting while rolling through the ground. Duncan running in the same direction.
    Luis used the force of his hands to impulse himself up and, accurately, he managed to be standing up once again.
    Both started charging the plasma as they stared at each other.

    They shot at the exact same moment and they used a sword beam to support the shot.

    The result of the four powers colliding against each other was an explosion that blew them away until they collided with pillars.

    Duncan tried to stand up... only to see, horrified, that Luis had lunged again but, unlike the previous times, he was insanely fast... to the point his humanoid aura seemed to be replicated behind him three times.

    Duncan attempted to dodge, but as soon as Luis touched the ground, he lunged himself again and this time Duncan didn't have luck.

    Duncan received a succession of seven slashes. The first was horizontal from left to right, then an ascending diagonal one followed by a vertical one that, for some reason, was also an ascending one. The next one was a descending diagonal one only to repeat the ascending vertical one. Then a horizontal from right to left and, finally, Luis ended the attack by making the blade touch the ground... and then jump while cutting through the way up in vertical. This last slash sent Duncan away to collide with another pillar.

    Luis wasn't stupid though, so he didn't low his guard.

    He wasn't surprised to see some "lines of hyperspeed" coming in direction to him.

    Luis placed his golden sword in a horizontal position to block a vertical attack from the blue one. Duncan attempted four slashes but none of them managed to accomplish anything. As he attempted to thrust, Luis jumped and landed on Duncan sword, the moment he took advantage of to aim Duncan's forehead and release a new dose of plasma bullets Luckily for the green one, his instincts ordered him to jump backward again multiple times.

    However, when he stopped, Duncan found himself in a situation when a sonic speed-like spinning swordman was about to cut him again.

    However...

    As both swords collided, Duncan just released contact and moved aside. Luis continuing moving by inertia and this gained him a stab direct through the back.

    At first, Luis attempted to get free... only to drop his weapons, grab the sword with his two hands... and use super strength to raise his opponent still holding his sword and then make him smash against a pillar, destroying it in the process.
    Luis turned around and he didn't even need to kneel to grab his weapons as they teleported back to his hands.

    Duncan clenched his teeth again as the same happened with his sword.

    However, he had to roll quickly as Luis immediately started shooting again. He stopped for a moment to charge.

    Duncan decided to do the same.

    Both started orbiting at a common center between the two, preparing themselves to attack once more...

    However...

    "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!"

    "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!"

    They released the hold in their weapons had placed their hands on their heads as a massive migraine attacked them.

    Booms could be heard as the cracks on the walls of the world commenced to be repaired slowly.



    The pain lasted a few seconds before it was gone.

    Duncan had his right eye closed and his left one blinking. "What the fuck was that?!"

    "I don't know, but I don't think it has something to do with our battle here," Luis commented, looking at the sky.

    The so sudden change in vocabulary style didn't go unnoticed by Duncan. "Why you speak like a person now?"

    His eyes also... had more light. They weren't black pearls anymore. "I don't know, for some reason, I now have the impression that it's dumb."

    Luis himself was trying to understand what in the hell had happened. It's not like he didn't have memories and understanding about how emotions worked at psychological and chemical levels... yet...

    Luis closed his eyes as he decided to attempt something.

    Duncan raised his eyebrow at the sight... of a cat taking form on Luis's hand.

    A baby cat... with white and black fur... in a pattern that made it look he had a white moon on the forehead.
    It was Osiris, Kiran's old pet as a kid.

    The creature, or rather said the mental clone of the creature, looked at Luis with the same curiosity and cuteness the original displayed when it still was alive...

    ... until Luis smashed it against the ground and, with a thrust, he pierced the animal through the head.
    Duncan's face got deformed because of the horror.

    Luis raised his sword to analyze it... observing the blood that stained the blade...

    "Nothing..." Luis said,

    "W-W-What?!..." Duncan's weapons became "ghostly" to allow Duncan to display his fists of fury.

    "My memories indicate this should concern me, make me feel sad... that I would have stopped before the blade..." he knelt to grab the corpse of the animal... he looked at him as if the pet meant nothing... as if it was just an object "but I couldn't give less a shit for this piece of crap." and in a mix of confusion and stress, he threw the corpse away.

    "..." Duncan narrowed his eyes. "You are fucking insane."

    "Probably the answer is yes." Luis rubbed his chin. He looked again at the blood... and sighed in boredom. "Something is lacking here..."

    "Perhaps your heart, YOU PUTRID BASTARD!" as his weapons became solid again, Duncan charged his Breidablik and aimed at Luis.

    "The heart is a biological machine with the purpose of blood pumping, the emotions aren't present there."
    There was something new though. If the scientific mistake of before caused him to feel... a little mad, now he was irritated.

    The first time, he had only summoned his weapons as a defensive protocol... but now...

    "What about we go to the next level?" a familiar sensation was felt in the area of the mouth.

    He had smiled.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XAtKh52TjA

    La Espada Maestra Dorada's metal blade got destroyed when it got replaced by what seemed to be the energy of the light itself in purple. As the sword's guard transformed into a simple white stick, the energy blade also got a triangular-shaped form.

    Duncan's sword also changed immediately. The only difference between the two now was that Duncan's one was green instead.

    Whatever the hell it would be necessary to create a sword like that in real life couldn't be described as "pure energy" since it would make as much sense as saying that a car is made of "pure velocity".

    As the two laser blades made contact by two rapid slashes, they released tons of sparks due to the blade lock situation.
    As Luis used his force to push, so did Duncan.

    For a moment, Duncan seemed to be taking the lead as he used his legs to get the impulse to force Luis to take a step back... only for Luis to increase the amount of force he was applying as he decided to use his both hands to push by releasing the hold of Breidablik. As Duncan lost balance, he received at least five slashes.

    Instead of being cut as if he was a portion of pizza, Duncan's avatar only released even more sparks than before.
    Luis kicked him and, teleporting his gun back to where it belonged, he did what he obviously did.

    This time, however, Duncan transformed his Z-saber into the Z-Shield Boomerang and none of the bullets affected him.
    As Luis lunged against his opponent once more and the two blades collided, this time they began to run towards the same direction of their dominant hands as they attacked and attacked.

    A collision between a vertical and horizontal attack.

    A collision between two diagonal attacks, one that was descending and another rising.

    Both spun over themselves to cause another clash of laser in vertical and horizontal positions.

    They both jumped and continued their weapon talking in the middle of the air.

    When they spun over themselves again, they have their guns aimed at the other's heart and so they shot. Both were sent to fly by this but they quickly impulsed themselves with the help of an invisible wall that became solid with the only purpose of helping them.

    Once more, both blades locked against each other as they began to fall.

    Once more with the feet on the floor, Duncan became more aggressive with his slashes, forcing Luis to go backward during the fight.

    When Duncan attempted a thrust, Luis jumped to the left. Because there was a pillar behind, the electromagnetically contained plasma sword ended up totally encrusted on it. It not only destroyed the thing as if it was a knife cutting through the butter... Duncan simply raised the weapon to release it, destroying more of the rock-made construction, it also left clears signs of molten rock.

    Nothing to be surprised considering the plasma is a state of matter that is the stars' natural condition. The temperature of the laser blades was around the 2752 celsius grades at best.

    However, this action created an opening for his opponent to use his gun.

    Forcing Duncan to lean on the pillar as a result of the shoots, an idea crossed Luis's mind.

    However, before he could make it possible, another of those migraines suddenly appeared.

    "AAAAAAAAAAAARGH!"

    "AAAAAAAAAAAARGH!"

    Again, the cracks on the mental walls became tinier.

    Luis, still mad but focused still on the battle, growled as a different strange aura surrounded his already present aura and he jumped as a message appeared in a text box in blue color.

    Limit Break

    Duncan's eyes went wide as, with a single swing from Luis, six tiny meteors formed and were going directly against him.
    The explosions caused by the meteors buried him a few meters underground.

    Duncan growled in fury as a similar text box appeared over him.

    Limit Break

    He impulsed himself from the bottom of the crater at the same time he spun at an insanely high speed to the point he seemed like a tornado.

    Luis clenched his teeth as the green laser sword cut him one, two, three, five, six...

    A total of thirty times. He had been a festival of fireworks made of sparks.

    Again, the expectable would have been that Luis would have been reduced to nothing but human hash.

    As Duncan kicked him in the end, Luis collided against a pillar on his way down.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1giYRAYFTHQ

    Luis stopped holding Breidablik to pass his fist on his chin. "Excellent, this wouldn't be funny if you were just a fucking weakling."

    Duncan shook his head. "There's no reason to be wasting my time like this, just get out!"

    "Je," Luis stood up and began to stretch his arms and legs in an attempt to pseudo-relax. "I gotta admit that your lucid dreamer skills are impressive." he smiled sinisterly. "And it's certainly wonderful to finally battle someone whose actions I have not already determined because he's just a stupid NPC created for my own entertainment... but you're the real impostor here." his smile disappeared as his facial expression denoted rage. "You will never be able to beat me."

    "You're wrong!" Duncan yelled.

    "Uh?" Luis raised his eyebrow.

    "There's nothing impossible when you believe in yourself!" Duncan pointed at him with his sword. "And I'm gonna prove that to you!"

    ...
    ...
    ...

    Luis proceeded to let his laser sword fall and rub his forehead at the same time he shook his head slowly.

    "I guess it would have been too much to ask for you to have a brain."

    He let his hand go down as his weapons disappeared. "Of course, of fucking course!... if you really were me, you would know that you wouldn't say any bullshit like that" Luis shrugged.

    Luis... remembered that emotion... yes... it was the same thing he had felt all those times he had debated with people that insisted that the faith could be comparable in value to his scientific method... or when dealing with earthflaters... or pretty much anybody.

    Duncan yelled when, in less than two seconds, Luis had decreased the distance between the two from meters to millimeters with his fist directly making contact with his stomach. The green warrior ended up on his knees.

    "So..." Luis backed off quickly. "Attack! try as much as you want, I'm gonna be more than glad to break your illusions, you fucking moron." Luis laughed.

    Duncan raised his head, fury dominating him.

    Luis, on the other hand, wondered how exactly he felt that pain even though the thing was merely mental.
    "You, cursed fiend, I'm gonna make sure to send you to the hell where you came from!" Duncan yelled.

    "Ha!" Luis giggled. "As if such a place existed in the first place!"

    "Then I'm gonna create it for you!"

    "Nice! so let's see if you can actually back up what you claim with more things than just some stupid cute words!" Luis prepared himself.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3rwAAEmHKE

    Duncan decided to use his ace card.

    From the heavens, several rays of light descended. The sacred light took the form of some people.
    Alfonse, Sharena, Lyndis, Eliwood and Héctor.

    Luis crossed his arms, then he extended one of his hands in a signal of: What the fuck are you waiting for?
    Duran proceeded to shoot multiple plasma bullets.

    Luis jumped very high... only to find himself surrounded by the other warriors.

    He then materialized two swords. The proportions of both were kinda exaggerated... but well, mental world and all that stuff, nothing stopped him here from dual-wielding two long swords.

    One had a golden guard with a red inverted triangle in the center and multiple points that could be useful to hurt someone's eyes. The blade itself was black.

    The other one was a sword whose blade itself was made of gold with a silver guard and exaggerated decoration.

    Luis blocked an attack from Alfonse with his right hand at the same time he blocked Eliwood... but having both hands busy meant Sharena had the way free to stab him on the chest. Lyn used her twin Katanas to slash him multiple times and to finish the assault, Héctor pushed him away with a single attack of Armards.

    As Luis was about to collide with another pillar, he quickly recovered the balance on himself. He used the strength of his feet to jump forward from the pillar and stand up quickly.

    Duncan was preparing his two most powerful spells, Forblaze and Aurora.

    As Sharena approached, Luis remained there without moving until she attempted to thrust him again.

    Luis threw the sword of his left hand in the direction to where Lyndis was and dodged Sharena's spear... only to grab it with his now free hand and push it, making the princess lose her balance. He quickly grabbed her and forced her to be his human shield.

    Interestingly, Alfonse reacted pretty much the same way the real deal would have as he stopped his sword when it was about to hit Sharena on her neck. Taking advantage of this, Luis threw Sharena and she ended up falling over her brother.
    With both of them attempting to get up, Luis's golden silver sword began to shine when he dodged an attack from Armads.

    At the same time, Lyndis had barely survived the attack from the other sword since Eliwood had to use Durandal to block it.

    Jumping backward multiple times, Luis had already charged the attack he was going to use.

    Duncan's eyes went wide in horror.

    The sacred power of La Iluminadora (The Lightbringer) got cast and the spell Sanctus (Holy) created a magic circle around the royals of Askr.

    Both of them screamed as the sacred light began to burn them to the core and they got pretty much vaporized.

    "ALFONSE! SHARENA!" Duncan yelled.

    Duncan was ready and mad enough to release his two spells... but he didn't notice La Iluminadora had been thrown in direction to him.

    The blade pierced him on the section of the stomach and, once more, sent him away.

    But unlike the other times, he collided against that monument with the three. The sword, crossing his body and the hole of the center, had immobilized him in that place as it continued causing harm with the sacred power it still generated.
    Luis, now disarmed, paid attention to the trio of Elibe.

    Being slow as he was, Héctor wasn't at all a problem and Luis punched him away easily. However, when Eliwood attempted a thrust with Durandal... Luis decided it was time to call his other special artifact.

    A silver shield with a blue gem in the center got materialized and Luis used the strength of both arms to push Durandal out of the way and he jumped in a way that allowed Luis to kick Eliwood using the two legs making him fall.
    He rolled through the ground protecting himself with the shield until he jumped and stood up. At the same time, he stretched his right hand out.

    Sensing the force, the other sword traveled at hyperspeed to return to the hand of its owner.

    Once Luis held it, the fire properties of the weapon started charging.

    Covering himself with the shield from Lyndis and Héctor. Luis smiled like a bastard as flames as hot as the temperature you could find inside a volcano were surrounding the sword.

    "GO AWAY!" Duncan, still unable to move, yelled.

    Lyndis, Héctor, and Eliwood backed off when Luis swung La Ragnarok and he released the whole power of Fulgor (Flare).
    As the firebomb moved to be in the middle of the three, it finally released all its power. The same way the royals of Askr got consumed by the light, the power trio of Elibe got burns by flames that traveled all the way from their skin until it reached their organs, bones, and brain. They screamed as they couldn't do anything to save themselves from becoming less than ashes.

    "LYNDIS! ELIWOOD! HÉCT-" Duncan couldn't complete his sentence as La Ragnarok pierced through his chest too.

    Luis shook his head. "Why do you even react to their deaths? I mean, it's not like they are the real ones... oh! wait!" Luis's smiled like a bastard. "It's because you think you're me and I can't be actually sure if the ones that live outside this dream aren't actually fake ones too?" Luis facepalmed as he starting laughing like a mad man. "Mahahahahahahahahahaha!" Luis could die due to the hysterical feeling he was having.

    Duncan, unable to free himself from even a single sword, yelled in rage. "YOU PUTRID MONSTER PIECE OF CRAP!"

    Luis shook his head in boredom. "Do you realize that the whole point of insulting is getting your victim feel offended, right?" the bastard smile was quick to return though... only for it to disappear again as Luis returned to be serious.

    "Now... have faith... a pray!" Luis placed El Escudo De Paladín (Paladin shield) in front of himself as the blue gem started shinning like the sun.

    A blue energy ball got expelled from the gem and it made its way until it was by Duncan's side...
    "ARTEMA! (ULTIMA!)"

    The result was a blue explosive wave of ultimate destruction that began to consume EVERYTHING that could be seen as it grew exponentially.

    Duncan couldn't even scream as his avatar was pretty much erased from the existence just as the whole territory the mental world displayed.

    Luis, on the other hand, just needed to activate his force shield around him and enjoy how, in the end, he was the one that was creating the hell.
    Is this the trope that is called reference overdosed? I guess it is! But it makes sense, after all, this battle is taking place inside a brain and, if there's something everybody knows about mental worlds in fiction is that the amount of symbolism in this kind of places is always infinite and it's also always a good place to put references as if there wasn't a tomorrow!

    So, let's list what are all the references that we got here (try to imagine the ones that will appear tomorrow in the second part):

    Ki blasts: Dragon Ball :
    Sparks coming from your body after getting injuries: Power Rangers/Super Sentai

    An Impostor: Among us (although Kiran hasn't played this game, I managed to make the language make the reference in a meta way)

    Megaman Zero 3 is the game that is referenced the most with the following things:

    Sword and Gun: Zero's battle style in his series. In this case, at first, they fight with their respective Masters Swords and Breidabliks (One of them being black is, of course, a reference to the book 3 of FEH). Then they switch to use lightsabers triangle-shaped, like Zero (in itself the Z-Saber and the O-Saber are a reference to Star Wars).

    Fight of foes with the same body: reference to Zero vs Omega Zero (although this one was pretty obvious I guess), this includes the auras which were similar to Omega Zero's aura during that fight.

    Fight in the same place where it all began: Technically, as some of you probably guessed, the second environment of the chapter: the place with the monument and all that, is pretty much the monument of summoning from the game we already know. The battle between Luis and Duncan takes place there the same way Zero and Omega fight in the lab where Zero was sleeping at the beginning of Megaman Zero 1.
    Charged shots and Sword Beams: Omega uses them during the battle.

    7-slashes combo: Omega Zero's definitive attack: Ranbu! (Wild Dance!)

    Final Fantasy gets these references.
    La Ragnarok, La Iluminadora (The Lightbringer), and El Escudo De Paladín (Paladin Shield).
    All those are weapons from Final Fantasy 6. La Ragnarok and La Iluminadora are the infinite -1 and infinite +1 swords respectively from that game. La Ragnarok has a probability of casting Fulgor (Flare) while La Iluminadora has a probability of casting Sanctus (Holy) in gameplay. Although in the remake of FF1 for GameBoy Advance and PSP they cast them no matter what if the swords are used as objects during the battle and you can do it infinite times without cost. I chose those swords because they and their spells make them pretty much sword counterparts of the tomes Forzblade and Aureola that belonged to Athos and Mark.

    El Escudo De Paladin is the ultimate shield from FF6. You obtain it by releasing El Escudo Maldito (The Cursed Shield) from its curse (em... duh XD). It also teaches Artema (Ultima) to everybody, the best fucking spell of the game!

    Limit Breaks

    Meteorain: One of Cloud's limit breaks. It's one of my favorite ones. As its name suggests, it makes rain meteors.

    Spinning Edge: Celes's limit break in FF6 (because yeah, they existed since the sixth game actually), it's basically Link's circular attack.

    And I think those are all the references in this chapter.

    Now talking about other stuff.

    While it has been considered as a hypothesis that the split-brain syndrome causes Dual Consciousness... it is still a subject that neuroscientists debate constantly since they aren't exactly sure that is the case. For the purposes of this story, it is true.

    Now, have you ever heard that thing that the left brain is the one that processes the information regarding logic while the right one is the one that holds the emotions?... well, the thing is... while it's true that our brains have many lateralized functions, not all of them are lateralized so that information is only partially true... at least it's not totally fake like the idea that we only use like... the 12 percent of our brain and there's a part that is sleeping.

    That is the reason why, even though Luis almost lacked emotions at first, he still has some left and it also explains how Duncan still retains some intelligence... but he's clearly not as smart as Luis.

    Because personality aspects aren't quantitative things you could say that, summarizing what happened here. Kiran and Mark got merged... but when they separated the way they did here as Luis and Duncan... Luis obtained the intelligence of the two while Duncan obtained the emotions of the two.

    The cracks are the representation of what happened to the connection between hemispheres. Because at the same time this battle is taking place Naga is repairing that corpus callosum, the two brains are gradually recovering the connection they shared. The recuperation of emotions and intelligence by Luis and Duncan is an effect of this.

    Luis, being the consciousness of the left brain, is right-handed because the left brain controls the right side of the body. As you can guess, Duncan is left-handed because he's the consciousness of the right brain.

    A tiny artistic license I had to take is the detail that, usually, one of the aspects that is totally lateralized in the brain is the ability to speak... so if we were going to make this totally realistic... one of them would be a silent guy... it's one of the few times where I decide to go against what reality says because come on, it would be boring as hell if one of them didn't say anything.

    Where the hell the name of Duncan came from?

    As it was told in previous chapters, Mark wasn't his original name.

    Kiran means: Ray of Light.

    Mark means either: God of War, or, Consecrated to the god Mars.

    Luis means: Famous warrior.

    I wanted another name that could function inside the two categories that these names have... so I got Duncan.

    Duncan can mean: Dark warrior.

    Although it also contains the word warrior... its purpose is to serve as the counterpart of the name Kiran... in theory anyway lol.

    But why a name related to darkness instead of another name related to light like Kiran?
    Well, how was it called the era of the story where science (the light of knowledge) was pretty much abandoned in favor of beliefs? The Medieval Era, the age of obscurantism.

    I know it would have been worked better if Duncan was Mark's second name while Mark was the first one that was the secret one... so I guess I should have planned this better since the beginning... but well, what is done is done.
     
  • Index
    • Chapter 53: Science vs Faith
  • Index
    • As you can expect, this chapter also has some in-universe music.

    Here's the list:

    Final Fantasy VII - Aerith's Theme Piano Remix
    Megaman Zero 4: Fate... Theme Of Weil * (remember this * means you should look for an extended version)
    Final Fantasy 1 Opening Demo.
    Three Days Grace: I Am Machine.
    Final Fantasy VII - J-E-N-O-V-A (BIRTH/DEATH) Remastered.
    Then there is a part where no music should be played.
    Super Mario Galaxy - Gusty Garden Galaxy Piano (Nostalgia Edition)
    Super Mario Galaxy - Rosalina's Storybook/Luma Theme (Piano Lullaby)

    Technically the last two ones happen when the character is not dreaming anymore... but meh, it would feel weird to do not end with music. (Besides, let's just say it's the music he hears in his mind)
    I hope you enjoy it!

    ​

    Science vs Faith
    ​
    Luis deactivated his energy shield once his spell had finished doing its job.

    He was levitating since the whole area got transformed into a gigantic crater.

    The "matter" that had been destroyed by Artema was so considerable that it didn't matter in which direction Luis decided to look... the crater seemed to continue until the infinite. He just couldn't find the end.

    Well, it was perfectly logical considering he had decided to use all the force of Artema in a single attack. Technically speaking, this spell should be called Artema x 20 or Artema lv 20.

    Yet, he highly doubted this level of destruction could even be comparable to what the meteor that caused the extinction the dinosaurs had occasioned on the planet a long time ago.

    With his opponent seemingly erased... Luis didn't feel satisfied though.

    Something he couldn't ignore was the detail that, apparently, no matter how much he imagined the persons that were supposed to be his friends suffering or dying... this caused no reaction from him.

    He just didn't care... even if his memories indicated this, at the very least, had to cause him a slight discomfort.
    He could perfectly remember the fury and stress he felt when Xander was about to kill Alfonse... yet nothing happened in the present time.

    Another thing that crossed his mind was that occasion when a noble had insulted Lyndis because of her nomad lineage. He remembered hating him for being a racist piece of scum...

    He remembered how he had cried whenever one of his beloved pets had finally reached the end of their lives...
    But now...

    There weren't coherent words to describe this due to it being an emotional phenomenon... he simply didn't feel that thing that allowed him to feel the happiness, pain, and sadness of other people...

    His empathy was gone...

    It was true he had trained himself to reduce this particular emotion to control it better so he could totally turn it off when it was about dealing with a certain kind of people so he could claim their lives without much trouble... and it also helped to do not become into a hypersensitive idiot... but now even when his mind determined that these people should be considered the "good" ones... he felt nothing.

    The best proof of this was how he had so easily killed "Lyndis" without a single hesitation even after going through so much trouble of training to master Forblaze and Aureola so he could always protect her.

    Heck, even the image of her stabbing him on the heart didn't cause anything.

    What in the hell had happened?

    He snapped his fingers to materialize the image of what he had considered the most similar to an angel thing that could exist even if the angels themselves didn't exist in the first place.

    Again, even if he had compared her eyes to a quasar, being those objects the brightest objects ever discovered to the point they were what you usually could see of other galaxies... and even if he had bright memories of enjoying her smile...

    ...
    ...
    ...

    No, nothing.

    This face didn't make him feel anything.

    So she disappeared as easily as she materialized.

    Luis reflected on the fact... that now he had no opponent to face... he actually didn't have any motivation to do... well, anything.

    This wouldn't last long though.



    "GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

    Luis backed off a little "W-What?..."

    Matter particles began to accumulate in front of him. Progressively they started to take humanoid form... after a while, Luis was seeing again to the enemy he had considered terminated at this point.

    Duncan denoted brutal levels of stress as he breathed and exhaled very quickly... not to mention the red color his face displayed.

    "You... you shouldn't be able to regenerate from something like that..." granted, in the dream world, the laws of the universe meant nothing... but only the owner of the mind could, in theory, be completely invincible.

    "I... I... I told you..." Duncan coughed. "That I could accomplish anything... if I have faith in it!" this time, it was Duncan who smiled.

    Luis rolled his eyes, crossed his arms, and answered. "Correct, that's why you managed to beat me and no the other way around, right?" he shook his head. "Yet... this is..." for a second, Luis's clothes started to resemble more to a lab coat and his shirt became black, his hair turned white and his skin seemed inhumanly pale "Fascinating..."

    This sight made Duncan felt even more rage than usual. This guy was pretty much the modern Nergal. "Shut up, Caulder."
    "Aaah, you know that?" Luis laughed as his avatar recovered its standard appearance. "Got busy checking my memories?"
    "I know that because I'm Kiran Mark!" Duncan yelled.

    Luis growled. "NO! I'M KIRAN MARK!" he responded.

    "I'M KIRAN MARK!" Duncan repeated.

    "NO, I AM!"

    "NO, I AM!"

    Their argument got interrupted by a new apparition of the migraine and the fixing of the cracks.

    "AAAAAAARGH!"

    "AAAAAAARGH!"

    Both of them growled as the horrible pain didn't seem to have any kind of mercy on them until, again, it just vanished.
    Duncan removed his hands from his head. "Is there a reason why everything today seems too eager to make my head explode?" yet, his rage seemed to have been reduced a lot as his voice tone denoted.

    "I could ask the same question." Luis laughed, this time being more similar to a casual laugh like the old times. He looked at the sky.

    "Although... If I have to guess what has happened to my brain, Naga must have done something..."

    "You mean my brain." Duncan said. This time, he also crossed his arms.

    "Meh." Luis didn't think it wasn't a good idea to continue arguing with this idiot. "Let's do something different."

    Luis snapped again to transform the environment.

    Duncan clenched his teeth as he saw a familiar temple where the walls seemed to be painted in green.

    A big stair was present in from of him... and at the top part... something new.

    Sitting on a throne made of swords, Luis had his face resting on his fist.

    "Hey."

    "Why did you bring me here?" Duncan looked around in discomfort.

    "I don't know, this place brings me memories..." Luis commented as the humanoid figures materialized around Duncan. "Well, not really. If you really believe you're me, then perhaps watching this could be useful."

    Duncan narrowed when his final battle against Nergal and his morphs was being recreated.

    He could see Eliwood having problems dealing with Linus.

    Lyndis facing Keeneth.

    A copy of himself fighting Ursula.

    But then he saw...

    "Stop it..." Duncan said.

    Luis, in particular, made sure this scene was perfectly visible. He snapped his fingers to "stop the time" to let the scene be displayed for a while. "Let's see how do you react to this." Luis rubbed his chin.

    "PLEASE STOP IT!"

    "But I already have." Luis smiled.

    "YOU GET WHAT I MEAN!" Duncan growled like a beast.

    Considering Duncan had in front of him a recreation of the Brendan morph about to claim the head of Nino, it was pretty understandable why he would react this way.

    "So you actually feel pain because of this?" Luis scratched his chin.

    Seemingly having increased his intelligence, Duncan decided to replicate the snap of Luis, causing the recreation of the historical event to vanish.

    Duncan narrowed as he looked at Luis. "Would you mind telling me what exactly you meant by that?!"

    Luis seemed ready to stand up from this throne. "I was trying to understand again that feeling..." then he leaned again on his chair as he looked at the sky. "Without my empathy... it seems the only thing that gives me pleasure is making you scream..." although that was partially satisfying... in the long term, it would become boring. "Such an empty life..."

    "I highly doubt a soulless monster like you could even feel anything." Duncan started going stairs up.

    Luis shook his head. "Oh, please. You're not going to give me that stupid retarded speech of Eliwood, right?"

    Duncan prepared his fists. "If you truly were me, you would never insult your friends!"

    "And if you were me, you would know that the fact they are your friends does not change what they are." Luis's smile was a mix of boredom and sarcasm.

    "Shut up! you don't consider them your friends, if you don't have faith in them then you see them as nothing but tools!"
    Luis materialized what, at first, seemed to be another Espada Maestra. "I may not care about them anymore, but I still remember what I used to think. A "true" friend is not the one that always shares your opinion. It's the one that wouldn't abandon you just because your ideals and theirs aren't exactly the same."

    However, the sword was monstrously huge. The blade and guard were totally black, the triforce engraved on the blade was inverted and red... and the blade had a lot of points through the whole length.

    It was Demise's version of the blade... La Espada Maestra Oscura (The Dark Master Sword).

    Luis stood up from his throne and, in less than a second, he was already slashing Duncan who barely managed to protect himself summoning the Espada Maestra Azul.

    "Having faith in your friends?! only a fool has faith in something!" Luis kicked Duncan, making him fall through the stairs all the way down. "They aren't perfect, not even I am." he made his dark sword land pointy on the ground. "There are infinite timelines and therefore all the possibilities are true. Every day is a career for survival against my parallel selves in finding who's gonna survive another day. If I decided to entrust a task to someone just because they are my friends, I would have been one of the losers since a long time ago!"

    Duncan summoned his Breidablik and shot at Luis, who only needed to place his shadow blade in front of himself to get protected.

    "Let me guess, you like to claim that your friends give you strength, right?"

    Luis continued making his way down. "It's partially true..."

    Duncan backed off a little. "What?"

    Luis giggled. "What, did you think I'm one of those retarded villains that can't comprehend "good"? please." He shook his head. "What friends give you is motivation... but motivation and strength aren't the same things the same way power and strength aren't synonyms." Luis pointed at Duncan with his sword. "Proof of this is the fact that the only thing that seems to actually motivate me now is to make you feel miserable, something that is obviously less motivational than having multiple friends that love you, and you are still my bitch."

    Duncan raised his sword as a thunder fell on it, charging the blade with celestial power which he immediately threw at Luis.

    Unlike the previous times, Luis wasn't able to counter this and he got hit.

    "You have no right to speak about this! you have let the darkness take control of your heart!"

    "Do you realize that if you're me then it necessarily means there's darkness in your heart too, right?" Luis asked as he stood up.

    "Even if I let some of it corrupt me, I would never accept it and I would get rid of it!"

    Luis's eyes went red and, using hyperspeed, he pretty much "teleported" and stabbed Duncan directly on his heart. Then he quickly pushed him against a pillar. Strangely, unlike the previous times, Duncan actually coughed blood. "For real? fascinating... but what is the "light" and what is the "darkness"? because what is good for someone can be evil for someone else! is perhaps the good something relative to the circumstances or is the good absolute?"

    Duncan aimed at Luis with his Breidablik and shot, forcing the blue warrior to back off. "And you said you comprehended good. Why it doesn't surprise me that you're unable to differentiate between good and evil?!"

    Luis coughed. "What does give to these two concepts any value or real meaning anyway? as far as I remember, even when I had emotions, these things didn't have any intrinsical value!"



    Duncan's eyes went wide as he recalled Negal's speech.

    Nergal was grinning miserably, his newly summoned army of morphs behind him was ...

    Scary...

    "This..." Eliwood's face was pale... not that the others present did have a very different expression, including Mark.

    "Old enemies... and members of the Black Fang... Nergal!" Mark clenched his fist in anger.

    "What have you done?!" Eliwood screamed.

    "I gave these morphs the appearance and abilities of people who had the quintessence which I crafted them with... although it is not entirely true, I took the trouble to increase their capabilities too!."

    Nergal laughed. "This is perfect for hypocrites like you! You continue to cause harm and kill the people around you, it doesn't matter when you regret that you claim to suffer for it! At the end of the day, once the action is done, the result is always the same! It doesn't matter if you enjoy it or not, you are just the same!"

    "Your mind is twisted, it's clearly not the same!" Hector gritted his teeth.

    "If you don't feel horror when taking someone's life... you're not even alive in the first place!" Eliwood exclaimed.

    Nergal slowly shook his head, that smile still on his face. "Hehehehe! such a weakness... you could never understand it! The concepts of good and evil are devoid of any value or meaning! Those miserable ideas keep humans from reaching their true potential! "


    "I KNEW IT!" Duncan charged a plasma shoot. "I'M SICK OF YOU! I WILL VANISH YOU!"

    "Oh, for the love of-" Luis laughed maniacally. "is this for real?!" Luis demanded when he imitated Duncan's previous action by raising his sword, collecting energy from a thunder. However, Duncan focused so much on expecting the celestial disc that he couldn't react in time when Luis preferred just to slash him with the power of the electricity.

    "AAAAArgh!" Duncan screamed, releasing the hold on his weapons and making him vulnerable.

    "HOW DARE YOU TO COMPARE ME WITH THAT TRASH!" Luis, once again, stabbed Duncan on the stomach. The remaining electric charge continued hurting him for some seconds.

    "He was an idiot who didn't understand the evolution! I don't know if somebody has told you this... but there's no such thing as an ultimate life form!" Luis punched him with his free hand.

    "There's no such a thing as the law of the strongest one because the only real important thing is to survive long enough to be able to leave descendants! sometimes what matters is to be slow and require not much food. In those scenarios, the strong and big one will die and the weak and tiny one will occupy the place in the niche!" Luis used wind magic to blow Duncan away.

    He raised his index finger as a light particle formed on the edge of the finger.

    "This is the reason why the "almighty" dinosaurs ended up perishing allowing the mammals to take over the world!" Luis threw multiple particles.

    Tiny as they were, they moved insanely fast and caused multiple holes on Duncan's avatar.

    Duncan got worried when Luis's hands displayed certain blue-colored energy. As Luis placed his two hands together and prepared what seemed to be a wave of blue energy, Duncan prepared himself to replicate the attack.

    The only problem was that it wasn't either the Kame Hame Ha or the Hadokuen as he expected.

    Instead, the energy was a single ball that in less than a second had already impacted on him.

    Duncan didn't feel... well... he looked at himself, horrified, as the blue essence started to take over his aura... he felt he couldn't move...

    The effects the Cherenkov radiation was going to cause him would doom him.

    "Nergal believed good and evil within you limited humanity... the existence of all those marvelous things that are too much complex for a single human to comprehend every single aspect of them, created through cooperation and science, debunk that stupid idea. Because most of this success is thanks to the people thinking good and evil have a meaning." Luis raised a prism from which a rainbow ray got expelled, hurting Duncan even more.

    "People like Nergal would never be able to reach the moon."

    Luis looked at his hand in disappointment... "And while it is true the fact that people value morality, it does not mean it has any intrinsical value... and yet... and yet..." his hand became a fist. "I don't feel it... I don't feel it anymore!"

    Duncan coughed multiple times, had this been his biological body instead of an avatar, he probably would suffer a lot because of the radiation. He was barely able to stand.

    "F-F-Feel what?"

    "Why create when it will only be destroyed?... why cling to life... knowing that you have to die?! nothing would have meant anything once the end comes..." Luis's two hands became fists as he growled like a beast and his aura became erratic.

    Duncan had to place a hand on the ground to kneel appropriately. "That's why we need to have faith in the creator. Without faith, our lives have no meaning, and we get lost in the darkness!"

    "STOP SPEAKING BULLSHIT!" The frustration and stress in Luis had got multiplied at least ten times. He snapped once more to transform the place they were fighting. This time, it seemed like Luis had decided to transform them both into something similar to Galactus because the whole place was filled with tiny planets and stars... even if it didn't make much sense. "Those who need to believe in a reward in an afterlife to behave decently aren't good people, they are nothing but trained dogs!"



    Luis put his right palm on display...

    Duncan expected another energy-based attack, perhaps more radiation... but his face deformed horribly as he comprehended what was happening.

    He saw darkness in Luis's hand... and the matter around him started to move in the direction towards his hand.

    A black hole!

    Duncan turned around and attempted to run which in itself was very painful because of the blue radiation. He collided with a planet, then with a star, then another planet.

    He collided with multiple objects as he tried his best to do not get absorbed by that space-time abomination.

    When Luis closed his palm, there was nothing but them there. All the matter that belonged to the other solid objects had been lost into the void.

    Duncan fell on his knees again. Yet, he wasn't going to lose... not even in a fight of ideas. "How would you be able to determine what's good and bad without the authority of the creator to give you the moral laws?"

    Luis shook his head. "What is that needing of presupposing that god is good just because he's god? that without mentioning that people from multiple countries seem to struggle a lot at defining god. The believers of different eras and places always end up believing in different gods." having closed his palm, Luis put his right hand down and this time he raised his left hand.

    That hand was still in fist mode.

    "Is god good because of some moral standard that exists independently of god? or is god good because good is defined as anything that god does or is? if it was to be the former we don't need a god to determine what is good, we only need to look at that standard. If it was to be the latter it would be a pointless tautology! it would be the same as saying that god is godly!"

    Then Luis opened his left fist.

    "Oh! for the love of god!" Duncan yelled.

    All the matter that had been sucked into the "black hole" was now being ejected by something extremely bright, a type of object whose existence was suggested as a result of Einstein's equations along with wormholes and which some thought might, in fact, be described as a Big Bang.

    The space-time counterpart of a black hole.

    A white hole.

    "AAAAAAAAAAARGH!" Duncan yelled, jumping to the left and jumping to the right multiple times, covering his face with his hands.

    "When people like you don't know the answer to something, you invent multiple ones and accept as true the one you like the most. When I don't know the answer, I wait until I have the sources to confirm my answer." Luis growled. "BECAUSE WHEN YOU CARE MORE ABOUT REALITY THAN ANY BULLSHIT YOU WANT TO BELIEVE IT'S TRUE, ALL THIS CRAP IS UNABLE TO KEEP STANDING!" Luis increased the speed at which his white hole was releasing matter.
    One, two, three, ten, twenty, fifty planets or stars collided against Duncan.

    It was only until another migraine attacked them that Luis was forced to stop.

    "UUUUUURGH!"

    "UUUUUURGH!"

    The remaining cracks on the walls had almost completely disappeared.

    Duncan couldn't stand on his own anymore... his avatar had been weakened so much.

    Luis approached to him and used the force to raise him and make him levitate.

    Duncan coughed a lot. It took him at least a minute to be able to talk. "Y-You... claim... to do not... have faith in... anything... yet... you have faith in your science! you... you have faith that the universe can be understood by humans!... where... where is the evidence of that?!"

    Luis growled so much that his voice got distorted to the point it sounded demonic.

    Certainly, this debate was causing even more migraines than anything else could. "You don't have faith in science, the whole point of science is to attempt to check if an asseveration has evidence to back it up!" Luis started to walk in the direction to Duncan. "And I don't even have faith in the second thing you mentioned. There's a reason why Hawking, in his book, explained the concept: reality depending on the model or model-dependent realism." Luis kicked Duncan on the face with so much force that he ended up colliding with a wall Luis generated behind him. Luis then ran transforming himself into particles and rematerializing by grabbing him by the neck.

    "Perhaps some of the unanswered questions are unanswered because the real answer is totally incapable of being processed by our limited human mind in the same way that a monkey cannot differentiate between a building and a mountain!"

    Duncan screamed as Luis put more strength in his holding

    "I trust in ideas that seem to work, perhaps they aren't even true in the sense of true you mean here... they may be totally illusory but as long as they allow me to predict and navigate consistently into the illusion land they are worth employing!"
    Holding Duncan with a single hand, Luis transformed his hand itself into a knife and he stabbed Duncan in the heart.

    The green warrior, using the remaining forces he had left, attempted to hold the knife and pull it out. "Why... urgh!... why..." he coughed blood. "Why would you trust... a mind that was... urgh!... created by a mindless unguided process?!"

    "Doesn't it make sense that a mind made of matter and energy would be able to deduce the laws of matter and energy since it works under the effects of those laws? why the fuck would you expect a non-physical mind, whatever the hell that means in the first place, to be better at understanding physics than a mind that in itself is a physic process?" Luis transformed the knife into a chainsaw.

    "AAAAAAAH!"

    "And please don't tell me that bullshit of: any law must have a lawgiver... the laws of the universe are descriptive, not behasts! that is the same retarded mistake the people that claim that because a clock cannot form by probabilities then a self-replicating molecule cannot do it too! they have so many different characteristics that applying the same logic to them is retarded! not to mention people don't understand how "random" works in science! they think random is based on nothing! using that logic, you could throw dice with the exact same velocity and altitude and you would get different results!" Luis transformed back his hand to its normal form and continued punching Duncan on the face.

    "For someone who claims to be me, you don't even have a half of my brain!" the contempt displayed by Luis's avatar had pretty much transformed him into a "demon".

    "Even if our minds were created by an intelligence, they were apparently designed to be fallible." However, he wasn't going to stop with just that. A monstrously large sword appeared on Luis's right hand, the sword had a white and purple blade, a red gem, and a golden handle. "Sometimes we make mistakes without even noticing that they are mistakes." He pushed Duncan away, only to immobilize him within a "magical gravitational field."

    "A mind created that way is also not totally trustworthy." Luis raised his sword as his aura started to alternate colors.
    "The universe behaves in a way that seems to violate the common sense, just ask to the quantum physics! that's why we need science to discover the truth. To confirm our ideas!"

    A message inside a textbox appeared over Luis as his blue aura denoted even more energy.

    Limit Break!

    Duncan's eyes went wide as he realized what was about to happen.

    Luis smiled like a bastard. "Pray to your god... go ahead... he does not exist! he won't be able to save you!"
    Duncan struggled with whatever energy he had left... until he just stopped moving.

    Just when he was about to do what his enemy suggested, he got interrupted. "You know what? I take that back!"
    The point of the Artema weapon started to show a tiny flashing "orb".

    "There's no need to wonder where your god is... " Luis's smile became even more sinister than it had ever been. "Because he's right here! And he's fresh out of mercy!"

    Omnislash

    Luis advanced at hyperspeed and proceeded to use a fifteen-slashes attack, each one causing a glow of the same color that his aura had at the moment of the attack.

    A diagonal slash from up to down in green: 9999

    A direct red thrust: 9999

    With the sword still encrusted on Duncan, Luis jumped causing an ascending purple cut: 9999

    Followed by the obvious descending black cut: 9999

    A diagonal descending yellow cut: 9999

    A horizontal slash from left to right in orange: 9999

    Another thrust in cyan: 9999

    Another cut through a jump in blue: 9999

    Another descending cut in crimson: 9999

    Another thrust in pink: 9999

    A diagonal ascending silver cut: 9999

    Another diagonal descending golden cut: 9999

    A horizontal turquoise slash: 9999

    While jumping, an ascending lime cut: 9999

    And finally, to finish off once and for all his foe, Luis remained levitating as the Artema weapon absorbed all the colors for a single rainbow final attack!

    "I guess this isn't how you imagined it, right?"

    Duncan's eyes began to lose their shine as he saw the last attack ready to complete the limit break. At the same time, Luis's ones also looked dead... but in the sense that they became "black holes" and all of his clothes turned cosmically black.

    "It's time to face reality... this was never going to end any other way."

    Luis started descending and Artema cut Duncan's avatar in half.

    "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

    9999

    As the sword landed, it released the power of the spell it was named after.

    Once more, everything there ended up consumed.

    At the same time, the remaining cracks finally disappeared.
    No music in this part.
    Naga looked at her patient with a worried facial expression.

    She not only had caused damage to him when he had come here to ask her to cure him, but she also wasn't sure if her efforts in repairing his mind would leave some secondary effect on his mental health for the rest of his life.
    After all, she had divided his being into two different beings...

    Not only the very brutal and unnatural way of doing so... but also the immediate fusion back to one... she had never experienced this before so she couldn't make predictions regarding the subject. The previous times she had a patient with split-brain was because it had been a necessary process to stop a certain mental problem called epilepsy.
    Her concern only could increase when Kiran's body started to move erratically as if he was having a nightmare... but even worse...

    That explained why he was chained up to the table to keep him immovable.
    Given the fact she had needed to repair the connection between his two hemispheres, she hadn't had the opportunity to enter his mind to see what was going on.

    Corrin used a towel to clean Azurita's nose as it still was releasing some blood. At the same time, Lucina caressed Azurita's hair. The little girl had stopped crying at least...

    Kagero, being this a situation where technically she had to protect everybody else from Kiran, was also looking at the sleeping tactician.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6EtZkbZRAU

    "Mmg... urh... UUUUUUURH!"

    The sounds of Kiran waking up easily got the attention of the goddess. In less than a second, she was already by the alien's side.

    Kiran Mark blinked multiple times as his consciousness, recently merged back into one, got activated in the real life.
    He growled multiple times in pain, not only because of the mental one but also because he felt pain in his hands as he attempted to place one of those hands over his forehead but couldn't.

    "Relax, star child." Naga gently caressed his forehead as her fingers shone. After some seconds, Kiran Mark sighed in relief.

    "How are you feeling?" Corrin asked. As expected, everybody was around him again.

    "Like... like... I don't know..." he shook his head slowly.

    "I... I must apologize, star child." Naga sighed as she sat by his side.

    Kiran Mark turned to see her. "Eh... does it have something to do with the strange... dream I just had where I was two persons fighting each other?... it hurts to think I remember the combat from the two perspectives..."
    Everybody blinked because of this question.

    Naga gave a nervous smile. "Eh..."

    Definitely, she hadn't thought about the possibility that the two hemispheres of the brain would go to war against the other... in a technically not just metaphorical way. To say that the others present were also confused would be an understatement.

    "Or was it your idea to... I don't know... divide me into two so my two halves could determine which one would become the dominant personality through a fight?" Kiran Mark still was trying to comprehend the situation.

    "I'm afraid that... was the result of an accident. It's true that I separated your mind into two... but that happened because, during surgery, I accidentally damaged your corpus callosum."

    To everybody's surprise, Kiran Mark narrowed in confusion. "My what?"

    "It's what connects the two hemispheres of your brain, star child. Once that happened, you became two... and I guess it's then when your dream happened."

    Kiran Mark blinked as his mind attempted to process what he just heard.

    "I... didn't know that..." he nodded slowly. "I must suppose you have repaired it then."

    Naga nodded. "I did... as an apology, I'm willing to make you a second weapon besides your sword."

    "Thanks, I guess... but... well... I gotta admit this was fucking awesome!" Kiran Mark smiled and laughed.

    "Awesome?..." Corrin smiled nervously.

    "Of course! I mean, it's everybody's dream to have a stupidly epical battle against a copy of yourself! and I remember the battle from the two perspectives!" Kiran Mark laughed more. "And it happened in a dream!"

    "Fitting, I suppose," Kagero commented.

    "Independently of how you feel about this, I need to know how you feel right now... how is your mind?" Naga asked.

    "I... technically I feel different... but at the same time I don't..." it was just crazy how, being he a fusion, could experience these mixed feelings and memories. Kiran forced himself to think regarding the existence of souls... regarding the idea of the existence of hell and heaven... regarding the possibility that morality was something objective...

    "The migraines... they are gone..." Kiran Mark nodded.

    "Are you sure?" Naga's eyes denoted surprise. Had she somehow repaired the problem... by making a mistake?

    "I no longer feel that pain resulting from the rational scientific thinking conflicting with mystical theistic thinking... I... no longer have faith... "Kiran Mark nodded when he felt completely sure that he cared more about the truth than about anything he wanted to believe to be true.

    A familiar sensation... but at the same time, it felt like it was the first time he felt this way.

    "I don't feel different in the way that... I feel like I have returned to be myself... even if technically one of the fundamental aspects of the personality of one of my two halves has died... it is... strange and fascinating. " Kiran giggled and sighed in relief. "I feel so good that... I could sing!"

    Lucina, Kagero, Corrin, and Azurita grimaced at the idea. Naga, on the other hand, giggled. "You really are a box filled with surprises, star child."

    "If You can hold the stars in place
    You can hold my heart the same
    Whenever I fall away
    Whenever I start to break
    So here I am, lifting up my heart
    To the one who holds the stars!    " Kiran Mark had closed his eyes during the whole song.

    Naga grimaced and covered her ears just like all the other women present in the room. Using the most polite tone she had, she decided tos share her opinion. "No that I have something against you, star child... but... let's say your voice..."

    Kiran Mark laughed. "Yeah, sorry... I may be a Jack Of All Trades Of Science... but when it's about art I just suck!"

    "Yeah." Corrin nodded.

    "I think your singing is gonna hurt Azurita more than your fist did." Lucina said.

    "Than my fist?" It was then when Kiran Mark noticed the little girl holding a towel on her nose...

    His face got deformed in horror.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90hpn-nEtHY

    "Oh..." Kiran Mark felt pain in his "heart"

    Wait a minute...

    HE FELT PAIN BECAUSE ANOTHER PERSON HAD BEEN INJURED... BECAUSE OF HIM!

    AND HE REGRETTED DOING IT!

    He turned to see Naga. "May I... May I...?" he gulped.

    The "goddess" comprehended immediately what he wanted and she removed the chains from his hands.

    Once again free to move, Kiran Mark got off from the table and he knelt to look at Azurita at the yes... "Azu... I... I..." he extended his arms to make her understand he wanted to hug her.

    The little girl, of course, didn't want to approach...

    He couldn't blame her... he had promised he would never hurt her... and now...

    Corrin knelt too. "He didn't do it on purpose... it was an accident, he was sleeping..."

    The girl didn't speak at all.

    "What about... telling you more about the story for the rest of the day? you can even go to sleep as late as you want! I will continue telling you what the warriors of light did!" Kiran Mark exclaimed.

    It took at least five minutes of Azurita looking at him with distrust.. but when she finally hugged him...

    He felt so good...

    Not only because the girl had forgiven him...

    But also because he was able to suffer if people around him suffer...

    Because he was able to smile as a result of making other people happy...

    The void one of his two halves had started to feel during the battle had been filled...

    He had recovered what was one of the reasons he still wanted to live even if, in the end, he knew nothing would really matter.

    He was able to feel empathy again...

    He couldn't help but let a tear come out from his eye.

    "So... does this mean you already know who you truly are?" Naga asked once enough time had happened.

    Kiran Mark stood up and turned around, still hugging the girl.

    He gave a smile filled with determination...

    "I am Kiran... Kiran Mark!"
    And so, we have reached the end of this mini-arc.

    Although Kiran's personality has become the dominant one, pieces of Mark's personality are still there to be found. After all, the memories of Mark still live on inside Kiran's brain.

    And because the quintessence still remains inside Kiran, he still is able to cast magic. He's finally completed as an Expy of Robin. Because that's what's he is. I mean... the coat and being the tactician of a blue-haired prince and all that.

    Since now, our main character's name is Kiran Mark. His mind physically speaking is Kiran's one... but after obtaining the memories of Mark, he just can't be the same one speaking from the perspective of personality. All this trip was a way to correct the problem that caused that specific aspect of Mark's personality... but now that it's gone, the rest is perfectly compatible.

    After this chapter, we won't see Kiran Mark for a while. The protagonists of the next... seven or eight chapters are gonna be Alfonse, Ephraim, Nino, Raigh, Robin... and others I guess.

    White Holes' existence hasn't been confirmed unlike their black cousins, but they are still an interesting concept to explore in fiction. The most common explanation of what they are is that... well, they are the other side of the black hole. All the matter that is absorbed by the black hole would travel through the wormhole between the two until it reaches the other side and then it would be released into another universe.

    According to a book I once read when I was a kid, a hypothesis is that the white hole is the equivalent of the Bing Bang. Every time a black hole is generated, an universe would have a "son" that, similar to what happens with animals, would inherit the "DNA" (In this case, the Laws of Nature) from the "father" universe. However, eventually, some "mutations" will appear to one of the sons.

    So... why am I commenting on all this?

    Well... the FE Universe is very similar to ours... with some extra laws...

    Yeah.

    Of course, Kiran Mark will never be able to demonstrate this is true, this is something that I, as the "god" of this multiverse, reveal to you. In case you want to learn more about this subject, just search in Google: Cosmological natural selection.

    Of course, I know that perhaps this hypothesis will be refuted one day (or perhaps it has been already refuted and I don't know) but, in this story. That is what happens.

    Just a detail. Theory and hypothesis in science aren't the same things. A hypothesis is something that hasn't been proved... while Theory is an explanation demonstrated and consistent of a phenomenon, being the difference that law is the math expression of the theory. Some theories don't have a law because there are many factors implicated that is hard to create the math expression for them.
    So let's go the talk about the references this second part contains.

    Advance Wars:

    Caulder is a mad scientist unable to feel any empathy who likes to make experiments like for example: creating a disease that makes plants grow from inside your body and kill you slowly... just to see how humanity would react to such a scenario. The only thing that drives him is his curiosity. Caulder is also a nihilist who sees no real value in the concepts of Good and Evil, being him a modern war version of Nergal.

    Because Kiran Mark is not a hero, he's pretty much comparable to these guys. Remember that chapter when Kiran got a burn on the eye?... it had another purpose, it wasn't just a way to make a reference to Avatar The Last Airbender.

    Zelda La Estúpida Aventura

    "But what is the "light" and what is the "darkness"? because what is good for someone can be evil for someone else! is perhaps the good something relative to the circumstances or is the good absolute?"
    A very similar phrase is said by Dark Link to Link in this series. Zelda La Estúpida Aventura is a web series made in Flash. As its name suggests, it's a parody of Zelda. It has three seasons and some extra chapters. The voices of the series are executed by a voice synthesizer program called Loquendo.
    The phrase is also said during a mental battle actually. However, the purpose of that battle was different.
    If you want to watch the series, search for it on Youtube, however... it's only in Spanish so... have that in mind.

    Science Kombat:

    A flash game where the fighters are scientists. The sprites can be easily found in Google.
    The attacks that are used here are:
    Radiation: Marie Curie uses a Kame Hame Ha-like made of radiation. The radiation is blue because, contrary to what people usually think, the normal color of radiation is blue instead of green... why do you think Godzilla's atomic breath is usually blue?
    The particle of light: An attack used by Einstein.
    Prism of the rainbow. An attack used by Newton.

    Although Stephen Hawking generates a black hole to fight in the game, the way it works in the game is not like what was displayed here so... I don't know if it counts... although I guess it could count as a reference to Miroku from Inuyasha.

    Sword Art Online Abridged:

    Unlike its canon counterpart, SAO Abridged is actually a very good written series. One of the proofs is this gem said by SAOA Kirito (who actually has a personality):
    "There's no need to wonder where your god is... because he's right here! and he's fresh out of mercy!"

    Final Fantasy:

    "Why create when it will only be destroyed?... why cling to life... knowing that you have to die?! nothing would have meant anything once the end comes..."

    Kefka, the villain from Final Fantasy 6, says pretty much the same thing when he dies in Dissidia.
    Limit Break Omnislash: Cloud's signature ultimate attack.

    "The laws of the universe mean nothing" a thing the final boss of Final Fantasy 5 says, as the protagonists fight him in what seems to be the "void" itself.

    Before I forget.

    The name of the song Kiran Mark attempts to sing is Skillet Stars.
     
  • Index
    • Chapter 54: Out Of Context Problem
  • Index
    • Out Of Context Problem
    ​
    Back in the world of Zenith, at the same time the armed conflict between Askr and Embla continued its progress, another unfortunate event took place in the "main continent".

    Given the infinite nature of the time, the existence of a second war was perfectly conceivable and pretty much inevitable.
    Human nature was to destroy themselves after all.

    A silver-haired cyan-eyed man observed the horizon, in the direction to where the Muspellian army was going to arrive... in two or three days depending on the weather according to the spies.

    His cyan armor was much more decored with gold compared to the ones owned by the generals or the normal soldiers who had simple copper. This helped to differentiate him easily as one of the highest-ranked members of the kingdom. The cyan, on the other hand, indicated he belonged to Nifl, unlike his allies in green from Nidavel.

    Two soldiers in green and cyan armor wielding spears approached to him. "Monsieur! (Sir!)" yelled the one in cyan.
    The man turned to see them.

    "Dis-moi, comment est notre situation concernant les bateaux? (Tell me, how is the situation regarding the ships?)"

    "Presque toutes les ressources sont chargées dans les navires. (Almost all the resources are already loaded on the ships)" commented the green soldier.

    "Il y avait un peu des problèmes parce que certains charrettes etaient endommagés et elles bloquaient la route, mais tout devrait être preparé pour naviguer quand la nuit est arrivé. (There were some problems because some wagons were damanged and they were blocking the path, but everything should be ready to sail once the night comes)" the cyan soldier explained.

    The man placed his hand on his chin and began to rub with his index finger as he asked. "Comment se déroule l'évacuation des réfugiés? (How is the evacuation of the refugees doing?)

    "Les soldats les gardent sous contrôle, même s'il y a un conflit mineur (The soldiers are keeping them under control, even if there's some minor conflicts)" the Niflian nodded.

    The man sighed. Well, it was inevitable... this had already occurred since day one when these refugees and the Nidavelian army entered his nation asking for help.

    All of them were families escaping from the war in search of protecting what they loved the most. In times of desperation, people just had a hard time cooperating… much more when this was going to be the second time they were forced to move so much.

    As much as he wanted to be able to protect them in his territory, the land conditions of Nifl as a cold nation most of the year prevented an agriculture activity that could sustain a population that had increased by 40 percent thanks to all this disaster...

    His only coherent option was to transfer these refugees through several trips on ships to Askr... along with several of his subjects and sister as an attempt to convince this nation across the ocean to help them... if he failed... at least he wanted them to survive.

    The ships carried various shipments of gold and other types of valuable objects that could be sold... whatever it could be necessary to convince the Askrians authorities to accept the refugees.

    Furthermore, this was also meant to be a warning.

    He doubted Surtr's ambition would stop here...

    It was logical the madman was going to try to conquest Askr and Embla afterward based on what he had heard about the fire lord.

    How Askr decides to respond to this could determine the future.

    "D'accord, bonne travail. (Right, good job)." he started to walk back to the port. "Ces montagnes devraient nous permettre de préparer une embuscade, avec beaucoup archers pour le soutien... nos magiciens devraient avoir un avantage naturel dans cet environnement... (These mountains should allow us to prepare an ambush, with many archers as support... our mages would have a natural advantage in this environment)." he stopped and considered if there could be something he was forgetting.

    The probability of an attack through the ocean was unlikely. Muspell didn't possess a fleet due to the lacking of the necessity of having one as a result of they not having enemies to confront through the ocean. Embla and Muspell didn't use to have many political conflicts... or at least that's what the official story claimed.

    Besides, the wyvern enemy subdivision had been seen attacking forts at the north...

    In theory, everything should go according to the plan.

    "Vous pouvez continuer avec vos obligations, merci beaucoup. (You can continue with your obligations, thanks a lot)" he mentioned.

    "Oui! (Yes!)

    "Oui, votre altesse! (Yes, your highness!)"

    Once he was seeing the buildings of the town and he approached the port, he wasn't surprised to see his sister running towards him.

    "Hríd!"

    The prince of Nifl crossed his arms. "Fjorm."

    Fjorm gave him a hug. "Je seulement veux te dire que... je suis preparée pour partir (I just wanted to tell you that... I'm ready to go)."

    He nodded. "Es-tu sûre que tu ne iras pas oublier quelque chose? (Are you sure you are not forgetting something?)"
    She shook her head. "Tout est en parfait état. (Everything is in perfect order)." her facial expression became sad as she sighed. "J'ai juste besoin de dire au revoir... (I just wanted to say goodbye..)"

    Hríd hugged her back and patted her on the back. "Ne t'inquiète pas, nous sauverons Nifl (Don't worry, we will save Nifl)" he attempted to display his best smile at her.

    "Oui...(Yes...)" she nodded.

    "Je vais vaincre ce salaud fou, même si c'est la dernière chose que je fais (I'm gonna beat that lunantic bastard, even if that's the last thing I ever do)."

    ""Ne dis pas la s'il vous plaît... (Please don't say that...)" Fjorm gulped.

    "Je ne peux pas te dire un mensonge... je ne sais pas si je vais suvivre... mais je suis sûr que je vais gagner! (I cannot tell you a lie... I don't know if I'm going to survive... but I'm sure I'm gonna win!)"

    He placed a hand on her shoulder as they broke the hug. "Bonne chance, mon petite soeur (Have luck, my little sister)."
    With that, he left to go to the war room.

    "Bonne chance... frère... (Good luck... brother)" Fjorm had no option left but to walk in the direction of the ship which she was going to use.

    Hours after that, the ships started their travel.

    She sat near the edge of the deck as she waited.

    She wanted to see the land until it finally disappeared on the horizon.

    Fjorm had never left her country even a single time in her entire life... and she rarely wasn't present at the capital, Niflir... and now she had to serve as a diplomatic figure between Nifl, Nidavel, and a nation she barely knew anything about... even when she barely knew any Askarian.

    Under normal circumstances, her mother would have allowed Gunnthra to be the one in charge of this mission... but since her health condition wasn't a good one at the moment...

    Of course, some generals and civilians that knew the local language thanks to multiple commerce trips were going to help her... but she still was worried about the possibility that the Askarians would feel offended because of this.

    She rubbed her forehead. The feeling of responsibility was being too heavy...

    Feeling something grabbing her pants. Fjorm turned to see a little boy wearing some golden and green clothes.
    She gave her most precious smile as she patted the little one. "Tu veux que je me dors avec toi? (Want me to sleep with you?)"

    The little Fenri nodded. "Oui, s'il vous plait...(Yes, please...)"

    She proceeded to hug him to comfort him after all he had been through.

    Of course, another of her missions was this... to protect the second descendant of the now deceased Nidavelian king. At least one of them should reach adulthood to take the throne in the future. The last necessary thing was a crisis of succession once this was all over.

    To say the kid was in good mood would be like trying to aim at a target and that the arrow hit a mountain located five kilometers away.

    That day, a fleet of fifty transporter ships and at least two thousand people departed from Nilf in direction to the south.
    Raigh felt he could see some signs of progress in the task his "stepdad" had left him in charge of since that day back at the world that represented the past of the world he came from.

    Now as the temporal owner of this "lab" of the castle, the black mage hadn't wasted even a single second studying the curse that Embla had created to transform to what were legendary heroes into, technically speaking, nothing but puppets to kill.

    Puppets who, as he could see, seemed to have lost all interest in trying to break free from the chains. Now they just looked like corps who didn't decompose.

    Creepy... and awesome subjectively talking.

    He had understood that the dark magic flow whose location was inside the heart could be extracted carefully through blood draws near that organ using those syringes. It explained the presence of five vessels filled with dark energized blood on the table.

    But this was only half the job. How to get black magic out of the brain without secondary effects was still a mystery...
    And although he had orders to find the cure for this... he also had been requested to find out if it was possible to replicate the influence.

    Raigh just wondered how many backup plans his mentor desired to produce as he rubbed his forehead and growled...
    It was already stressful to have to hide the quintessence... then El Proyecto Negro was included... and now he also aspired to add a mental manipulation program to the list?

    Well… since his "stepdad" told him that he wanted to be so fucking prepared for every single outcome to the point he could be acknowledged as Zordon, whatever that the heck that meant, he probably should have mentally prepared better for this.

    Although of course, had they had their personal underground lab where to hide all these "questionable" experiments instead of using just coffins for the task... all this would be much more tolerable.

    All this made him remember the experiment with the flies. He took a look at the said thing while sitting.

    As predicted, feeding with such an exaggerated amount of quintessence to one of them ended up killing it faster than usual. The second one had already perished because of natural causes... while the third one was still flying inside the container.

    Now the question was how much extra time it was going to live.

    Raigh only hoped that the day when sufficient funds were received to build this laboratory outside the castle would come soon.

    But returning to the subject of repairing minds.

    He approached the puppet Florina and placed his fingers once again on her forehead to analyze the dark magic on her brain.

    He wondered if he was ready to attempt something on the brain...

    Had he knew what had happened to his stepdad's mind as a result of being careless manipulating flows of energy crossing the brain... he probably would have preferred to wait a little more...

    One of the newer members of the order of heroes was walking in the direction of the training ground.

    He was feeling particularly pressured to start training.

    As much as he wanted to help the Askarians with their problems, the truth was that his current motivation to join this group and fight in this war was rather… selfish?

    He had to make sure he didn't die through the way though...

    Once he was at said place, he didn't have to look around much time to find someone to challenge.
    "Would you mind train with me, prince Alfonse?"

    Alfonse, having been staring at apparently the "void", backed off a bit as his train of thought got interrupted. "Oh! Um..." the prince didn't have to analyze much to identify this hero. "Lord Seliph."

    "I'm sorry if I scared you." Seliph bowed to apologize.

    Alfonse took a few seconds to answer. Although he had already gotten used to training with the princess of Ylisse… this was somewhat due to the serious nature that she used to display to him "It's okay. I... was lost in my thoughts."

    "If you're busy I can find someone else." Seliph offered, preparing to leave.

    "Well… Lady Lucina is not here, my sister decided to see if she could visit Mom and Commander Anna is still filling out and handing out papers regarding what happened in the World Of Blazing. I guess I don't have anyone else to train with. " Alfonse scratched the back of his head.

    "Well, I'm glad to hear that." Seliph certainly didn't want to be lazy.

    It was true that he had been told that he would be able to return to the same moment in time to which he was summoned... but since his responsibilities back in his world were too important... he wanted to return as strong as possible.

    it was disappointing that he was the only one of his group who had been summoned. This could have been an extraordinary opportunity to receive special instruction from legendary heroes and thus form a powerful squad to fight the Grannvale empire… Larcei would certainly have appreciated the chance.

    The two grabbed simple training swords plus some shields and prepared to face each other.

    "Since I don't know your strength, I would like to ask you to do not to hold back, please," Seliph commented.

    Alfonse inclined his head a little "Just a question. Do you want me to try to go full offensive, or do you prefer to start the sword dance yourself? I ask since my style is usually more oriented towards defense than speed "the Askarian asked.

    "Quite the opposite of what I'm used to combating, I suppose... although more similar to what I usually do." Seliph considered that since Alfonse had probably already trained with heroes, it was an obvious thing to assume that Alfonse would be stronger than him... so he wanted to get an idea of what he was up against. "I will attack first."
    "Understood." Alfonse placed his shield better to cover himself.

    As expected, they remained immobile as they tried to predict the possible actions of the opponent.
    Seliph attempted to imitate as best as he could the style of Larcei through a quick descending slash, as fast as he could.
    Alfonse didn't need much time to react and block said attack with his shield, but Seliph continued attacking with different slashes. From down to up, from left to right, and more things like those until the prince of light decided to attempt something different.

    He bashed with the shield.

    Alfonse moved to the left to avoid getting a direct hit on his face, and even though he tried thrusting to counterattack, Seliph managed decently to avoid the sword by jumping back, he then just needed to push Alfonse's sword with his own.
    It was Alfonse's shield that pushed Seliph's sword to block the obvious counterattack.

    Both stopped a moment before continuing their "dance".

    This time, Alfonse took the first step by being the first one to attack ten times.

    Seliph wasn't being unsuccessful at blocking them, but he had to admit those were very strong impacts.

    Or perhaps the answer was that he was weak.

    Seliph was forced to take some steps back before simply dodging by jumping when the prince of Askr decided to thrust again.

    Alfonse had to react quickly when several slashes were causing him trouble. This forced him to jump to the right in order to buy some time to regain control of his weapon.

    Seliph certainly didn't feel secure when Alfonse gave a more determined facial expression.

    His fears came true when, although the number of attacks he received had been reduced... they were much stronger and more unpredictable.

    A quick thrust followed by a shield strike that this time did manage to hit him in the face was just enough to allow Alfonse to knock him down as he failed to block another thrust.

    Seliph dropped his weapons as he had to place his hand on the stomach.

    "You win this time." Seliph nodded as he proceeded to sit down, his hand still in that position.

    "Sorry about that..." Alfonse grimaced.

    He felt that something was wrong. Fighting a hero like Seliph, even in training...

    "By any chance were you holding back your strength?" The Prince of Askr could only assume that the Prince of Light was not taking him seriously.

    "Eh? ... I wanted to ask you that very question, actually." Seliph made a noise of pain as he accepted Alfonse's hand to get up.

    "... I don't understand... I mean, I was able to fight the Exalt Chrom on equal terms... in theory, but... it felt like you lack a lot of strength despite being a legendary hero."

    Seliph shook his head and rubbed his forehead. "Listen, I don't know what kinds of things they say about me in the history books but… right now I'm not that strong. I accepted this mission because it would allow me to gain strength and experience so I can start my war adequately against the empire once I return."

    Alfonse's eyes widened and he began to nod slightly. "Oooh, I understand. My apologies, I thought I was facing the Seliph who became the new king of Grannvale. " Alfonse felt foolish for a moment, he must have deduced something was odd since the moment Seliph was summoned without having Tyrfing on his hands... although if he thought about it, Corrin was not wielding her Yato either.

    This information made a very strong click in Seliph's mind. "So… did I actually manage to beat Arvis? Did I avenge my father's death?"

    Alfonse had to give an uncomfortable expression. He had spoken without thinking. "Yes…"

    "So… there must be records of how I won all my battles… right? Could you explain them to me?" The interest of the prince of light was quite remarkable.

    "I'm not sure if it is a good idea for you to know the full circumstances… mainly because the existence of infinite timelines implies that, even if I gave you every single detail, some of them may vary one way or another. Even now I don't completely agree with Kiran about not sending Maria back…"

    Alfonse, at that moment, remembered the fact that his actions could have doomed a world...

    "It's better than having nothing," Seliph commented, then he got interested in certain detail. "Maria? ... who is she?"

    "It's hard to explain, but let's say her absence from her home would cause trouble for one of Hero King Marth's rivals." Alfonse crossed his arms.

    Seliph rubbed his chin. "I see. But back to the previous topic. " He grabbed the practice weapons again. "I would like at least to know the most relevant events."

    Alfonse prepared himself to fight again. "Well ... I suppose it wouldn't hurt if you know about Prince Julius and Princess Julia before than usual..."

    Seliph could only guess that those must be Arvis's children.

    "And I suppose knowing about Thracia beforehand would allow you to plan better... just make sure that Princess Altena doesn't die as a result of this."

    Thracia?

    Seliph could only guess that this would be a very long story.
    "And then... then..." Nino placed her hand on her green locket as her face turned red due to embarrassment.

    Although she had asked only Sumia for advice, it was inevitable that this problem would become a conversation topic between Lilina and Florina once they had partially recovered emotionally after... that event...

    Although perhaps also talking about her romantic life allowed them to help them distract from it...

    "And then?" Florina crossed her fingers near her chest.

    Nino's red face was legendary. "He gave me a soft peck..." she had to close her eyes and look away as she said that.

    Sumia scratched her cheek. "True, you mentioned that."

    "That was very cute." Lilina, hearing all this story, was remembering many beautiful moments with Roy.

    Nino blinked several times. "After that… I don't know, he started behaving erratically again… and then he ran away."

    "Maybe it was a feeling of embarrassment. When one has near-death experiences, it is normal to let your true feelings display when, in theory, you want them to be kept a secret. " Sumia then approached the young woman and placed her hands on Nino's shoulders. "Now I want you to answer some questions."

    Nino gulped. "And what are those?..."

    "Whenever you see him or you imagine his face, does your heart start racing? as if it's about to get out from your chest?"

    Nino had to think for a few seconds. She ended up negating. "I'm not sure... I mean, right now, yes, but... before that event..." Nino closed her eyes again. "Even now... I feel mostly confused."

    "Do you feel that you need to be by his side?"

    Again, it took her some time to figure out what to say. "No... I mean, the idea of living with him doesn't sound bad, however..."

    "I see." Sumia nodded. "Finally, do you think he's more handsome than other guys just because he's... well, him? "

    "Eh ..." Nino couldn't lie about something like this. "The truth be said... no."

    Florina put a finger on her lip. "I understand you. Mark is not the most handsome man either. "

    Lilina scratched her hair. "And he now looks better. When I met him... he wasn't that thin."

    Sumia reflected on what she had heard. "Very well." she ensured her eyes and Nino's were watching directly at each other.
    "I'm gonna tell you what I concluded, whatever you do after that is up to you, do you understand?"

    Nino nodded, the blush on her cheeks didn't seem to want to disappear.

    "I could say without fear to be wrong that he's completely in love with you." Sumia patted her. "Even if he hasn't fully realized it and he wants to deny it, it's pretty evident." she commented, remembering when Nino told her they had visited a jewelry store and he said Nino wasn't his girlfriend. "Now, the fact he loves you does not mean you return those feelings with the same intensity."

    So she wasn't in love... Kiran was the one that was in love with her.

    Nino felt a little better now that she had an answer.

    "How you want to respond to his feelings for you?" Sumia smiled as she imagined one of those stories she liked to write and read in books. "Do you want to give him a chance?"

    Nino placed her hands on her face. "I... I don't know! I never imagined this could occur... I thought he was going to be my new brother... not my boyfriend!"

    "Telling the truth, I wasn't expecting this." Florina commented. "Especially now that... he and Mark are one now?..." the concept was still quite confusing for the Elibian pegasus knight. "I mean... Kiran is practically a reflection in the mirror of Mark..." The fact that she had always imagined that Mark and Lyn would end up together didn't help.

    "Do they truly look that much alike?" Nino scratched her hair.

    "Don't you remember Mark?" Florina was surprised. As far as everybody knew, this Nino had already lived the final battle against Nergal.

    "Well... I suppose Atenea looked like Kiran... but the tactician I remember is a woman." Nino explained. It didn't help that her old friend's hairstyle was so different.

    "Oh." Florina nodded slowly.

    "I guess it's just one of the many possible variations of the timeline." Lilina guessed.

    "Regardless of whether this is expected or not," Sumia began to speak. "You don't have to answer right now. But I want you to know that if you decide to accept their feelings, I am here to give you more advice."

    "Me too." Florina came over to give her friend a hug. Nino gladly returned it. Sumia had to move a little so this could happen.

    "I will try to help as much as I can." Lilina scratched her cheek. "Although it would be strange if my godmother is one of my friends." Again, the idea that Mark and Kiran were now one caused very strange situations.

    "Stranger than being a similar age to your mother?" Sumia commented.

    "Touche..." Lilina shrugged.

    "I ... uh ... I don't know what to say ..." Now it was Nino's turn to cross her fingers.

    "Relax, whatever path you choose. We will help you. " Florina assured.

    "Definitely. I cannot miss the conclusion of this story. " Sumia started looking for a book among her things. Either a novel or her diary "Although I suppose I will have to tell Robin that Kiran already has someone in his heart." She sighed. "This brings back memories... I guess."

    "Robin?" Nino inclined her head a little.
    As I had mentioned before, the Niflian's language was going to be represented with French. I tried my best to make sure it is correct... but probably a native speaker is gonna tell me: X detail is not said that way because of Y and Z factors. If that's the case, your cooperation would be very appreciated.

    It is mentioned in the story of book 2 that Surtr destroyed another nation before reaching Nifl... but they never mention its name, where is it and there's not a single character from that nation... so I decided to make some world-building. If you remember correctly, I once commented where, based on the map that of Zenith that the game gives to us, I decided the nations would be located. Nilf is at the north of Askr and in the middle of Nilf and Muspell is where that other unknown nation is. The thing about the portal to Nilf always seemed bullshit to me so that thing does not exist here.

    I named it Nidavel based on the nine worlds of the Norse mythology. (Yes, this was made before book 5 was a thing)

    Anyway.

    I guess some of you didn't remember Seliph got summoned. Well, I intentionally made that fact forgettable (just a single line) because back then he was the forgotten one by IS since he didn't have an alt. Now that's not the case anymore, but I also took my time and watched a video of eight hours to learn about the story of the Genealogy Of The Holy War. My thanks to the youtube channel Chi Montana for uploading that video... I mean, that game's maps are insanely big... I don't think I have the patience to complete that game even though the story is just as awesome as Three House's one.
     
  • Index
    • Chapter 55: Curse Removed
  • Index
    • Curse Removed
    ​
    Raigh felt a pressure that generated to him a legendary feeling of nervousness.

    Simply, he cursed having to work with such primitive objects as tools to deal with a problem inside a part of the body that, in theory, would require years of study to be even able to comprehend how it did work.

    If having wait for the bodies of his "patients" to recover the blood they had lost after each extraction of that damn fluid had been stressful, having to extract black magic from the brain was simply torture.

    He hadn't had an option though, freeing the heart from black magic was important; yes, but if he removed too much blood in a single attempt... he might as well kill them by accident.

    The human body required, or at least that's what he remembered, at least seventy percent of the blood it usually contained to survive after all.

    It was amazing how simple it was to "break" something and how challenging it was to repair it properly.
    And, unfortunately, he couldn't do his job starting through the area of the neck... because in that part the dark energy flow was no longer within the fluid...

    And he also could not access the brain with such tools without having to make cuts that would inevitably cause damage to the cerebral cortex itself...

    And that's why he had given up on getting the dark magic out and without any possible secondary effects...

    At least for the first patient... if he, after having the dark magic controlling the brain inside the vessels and out of the subject, could replicate the curse with some lab rats, better known as prisoners, then he might be capable of extracting the thing safely...

    In theory...

    At the moment, he could only hope to minimize the damage he would cause to the mind's origin organ.

    "As soon as I'm done making an extraction, use your magic in the area." Raigh rubbed his face in frustration as he grabbed the utensils from the table and began cutting across the front of her head. In particular, his idea was to try to reach that artery that crossed the entire upper part of the brain, which would be, as far as he knew, a good idea not to cause so much damage.

    "Y-Yes ..." The cleric Clara failed miserably at trying not to denote that she was uncomfortable with the situation... if the current appearance of the woman who was about to be healed was already partially terrifying... seeing head tissue being cut was much worse because it made her imagine herself in that situation and… evidently, that was quite terrifying. She doubted that anyone could remain stoic while seeing something like this... with the exception of black mages, apparently...

    Raigh, for his part, could only hope that the healing magic had some effect on the cerebral cortex...

    When Raigh began to insert the tube, Clara had to close her eyes for a moment to avoid passing out because of the horror.
    Robin had to admit that, in a way, it felt great to be in command of the entire army again. Even if this would only be a temporary thing, she had already gotten used to this and therefore it felt really good.

    Well, technically there was also Anna ... but she was only in charge of the finances of the Order. She was reading a new report regarding the progress of the war. It certainly was amazing how this magical translator allowed her to read these files as if the language were Altean.

    It seemed that Askr had finally recovered all the territory that originally belonged to them before the conflict began and now the counter-invasion was beginning. The main army, led by the grandmaster, was located near the mountainous border and they were defending it successfully, the other two armies were further east and they were invading the section of the peninsula... section where another of the portals was located.

    Which name? she wasn't sure. She was curious though, she could only guess it would be named after something special just like her world had been named after the ritual of Naga.

    There were still many things she had to learn about these continents, but so far the Order of Heroes had not received orders to begin liberating any world. Although she supposed she would only have to wait a week.

    What surprised her the most was that, on the map, the capital of Embla; named Brasinum, was located on an island within a fairly big lake. This meant that, although the town was not too far from the mountains that marked the border between Askr and Embla, it was quite well defended... after all, trying to access it through the bridges built by the Emblians would simply be a suicidal idea... and building a fleet for an assault would not only take too much time, but it would be necessary to consider that Embla would probably already have a considerable fleet guarding the city... after all, the lake had an exit in direction to the sea through a large river. That, or good defenses against ships... or even both!
    It would certainly not be an easy job to conquer the city, and winning by leaving them without resources did not seem viable either given the scale of the territory that would have to be controlled to achieve it and the size of the island.
    She simply finished signing the report to verify that the ORDER was aware of what happened. Once she closed the doors of the office, she proceeded to search for one of her friends to spend some time with them.
    "Has her condition improved?" the boy gulped as he looked, sitting on a bed in silence, at one of the women they had rescued from the world of Blazing.

    Rebecca was brazing her legs as she sighed sometimes... she wasn't as "broken" as she used to be inside that cell but... you couldn't expect a smile coming from her anytime soon.

    Lissa simply rubbed her left shoulder with her right hand. "She is calmer." And she continued by sighing. "Still, she won't be able to fully overcome the trauma if she doesn't deal with the situation ... even so, trying to force that would backfire a lot."

    Lugh gulped. "Is there anything I can do?" The female cleric shook her head. "Your help certainly is appreciated… but I'm afraid there isn't much to do at the moment. If you want, you can come to visit her more often, but if I'm honest... in this type of trauma, the help of a woman is more likely to be effective..."

    Lugh reflected that she had probably only been willing to speak to him the first time due to the thrill of happiness due to being released ... "I understand... I guess I'll visit her later.." and with that, he decided to depart.

    He really felt bad for not being able to help... he knew that technically it wasn't his responsibility, but... this made him feel kinda useless...

    As he walked through the corridors, the mage remembered something else... yes... there was something else that was worrying him a lot right now...

    He rubbed his forehead as he considered the fact that… he hadn't seen the local version of his mother in the world of Blazing… which was supposed to be the past of his world…

    What had happened to that other version of his mother?...

    At least he hadn't gotten confirmation that she had been...

    According to what little he knew, another possibility is that the Nino of that world was forming part of the main Emblian army as a puppet...

    Part of his concerns was the idea that history would repeat itself regarding the issue that his mother would have to abandon his and his brother's younger versions again, but... it was unlikely that the circumstances that led to their birth could be fulfilled in that timeline given the alterations provoked by Embla... perhaps... regarding that detail, he could feel "calm"... even if the idea of not coming into existence at all, even if it was not exactly "him", was disturbing in itself.
    Noticing that it was time for training, Lugh decided to head to the magician training room.
    A Pegasus was flying at a moderate speed of 44 kilometers per hour through the skies of the Askarian capital, called Lífthra, because, at that moment, the training flight of a future Pegasus mage knight was taking place.

    "Very good... now, start to slow down and descend." Florina, holding the girl who was handling the animal in question, ordered that action.

    "Don't fall, don't fall..." Nino gulped as she did what she asked to do. The animal, already more accustomed to allowing more than one person to ride it, was not bothered at all by the extreme nervousness of the person who was controlling it.
    Even if something could go wrong, Shanna was flying closer and lower, watching the whole situation from below. "You can do it!" The blue-haired girl wasn't sure if Nino could hear her, but she would cheer her up anyway.

    The young wizard, seeing the ground getting closer and closer; especially the castle walls, almost suffered a panic attack... but she shook her head and concentrated as much as she could.

    It was time to do her best!

    The pegasus had placed its wings in glide mode for a while and began to take slower steps "in the air"

    When the hooves made contact with the ground and gradually the animal stopped trotting to start walking at simple speed, Nino sighed in relief...

    "I understand what you feel." Florina gave her a nervous sympathetic smile.

    Lilina approached her mother and possible godmother at the same time that Shanna began to land, although in her case, it was a vertical landing.

    "There's still some training left to do, but the progress made is quite acceptable as I remember it." Not that the fire mage was in a position to declare herself a full Pegasus knight, but she certainly already had some experience of her own.
    Nino got off the animal carefully. "T-Thank you..."

    Shanna approached. "Just relax," she said it with a smile. "I still remember when my experience level was simply that of a mercenary. Now, look at me!"

    "Thank you all very much." Nino smiled beautifully.

    "Do not mention it." Lilina nodded.

    "I think I should go to start preparing dinner for my children." Nino placed her finger on her cheek as she noted the position of the sun. It was getting late.

    "We don't want you to miss your cooking classes," Lilina commented. "I think I'll go to the kitchen too, it would be a good time to spend more quality time with my mother."

    Florina nodded. "That would be nice after training."

    Unbeknownst to them, someone was watching them from afar.

    "No... I shouldn't be doing this ..." the red-haired and red-robed boy shook his head.

    He had already screwed up once, he had tried to interact with this Lilina by trying to make her feel better... but truth be told, he had done it more because of the fact that he missed his wife...

    Which made him wonder if... if maybe he should ask permission to return to his world for a while...

    His main motivation in this campaign was to confront Veronica for what she did to his father and he was sure that the order had more than enough powerful heroes to resist without problems...

    No one would complain that he had that personal need... in theory...

    In fact…

    He thought more in detail that... it had already been some time since he was fighting... maybe his world was already in better condition...

    Maybe...
    Seliph wasn't sure what to think about what he had discovered.

    That explained why he was sitting alone in the room the Order had granted him.

    On one hand, he felt somewhat more confident about what he would face once he returned.

    On the other hand, he had learned that his mother had been murdered some time ago by his half-brother...

    Although he never had much hope of getting her back, knowing that it would ultimately not be possible was a heavy blow.
    It seems that Julius had turned out to be just like his father... or even worse, if what Prince Alfonse told him was true.

    Although what bothered him the most was the purpose for which she had been captured... they had used her as a method to give birth to a human capable of becoming the perfect vessel for Loptous...

    They had used her like any other animal for reproductive purposes!

    He was usually calm... but he was perfectly able to sense the blood burning under his skin.

    And then... there was the fact he also had a half-sister...

    And this was what made him have conflicted feelings the most.

    In theory, she would help him defeat the evil dragon... but he wasn't entirely sure if he wanted to have her near either...

    Although he later reflected that he probably felt this way since he still didn't know her in person. She was supposed to be amnesic when the time came... and amnesic people were innocent... he mustn't let his present feelings regarding her affect how he would react at a time still quite far in the future... or in the past?...

    The idea that he was at a point in the time where he was technically a legend and his actions were events in the distant past was still confusing.

    I mean, he perhaps could visit his own tomb for the love of Naga!

    His future was in the past ... the future and past were relative to the observer, apparently.

    Whatever the case, he shouldn't hesitate at all at fighting either Arvis or Julius... and he should certainly prevent someone from capturing Julia in the first place...

    The fact that they had been foolish enough to only brainwash the only person who could use the magic sealed in Naga's tome instead of killing her was a very incredible moment of luck... but there was a possibility that in his timeline the events might go in another direction.

    It was better not to take any risks.

    And that's why he got up and left the room to go to practice one more time.

    The stronger he returned, the better.

    And to ensure that he would return in the first place, he had to avoid dying in this future... in order to save the past...
    Naga, his brain hurt.
    Zacharías, or better known as Prince Bruno, did not have to be a genius to understand that there would be at least four ninjas watching him even at night, so he just spent the day in the library when he wasn't having tea parties with his sister.

    He knew it was unlikely that by "showing" a non-treacherous attitude the nobles would trust him again, but there was simply no other way he could get closer to his sister and study better what he could do.

    These stupid books hadn't allowed him to advance much... the curses mildly similar to what he was trying to cure that were described there always seemed to be the product of black magic...

    So why couldn't he perceive the flow of it coming from his or his sister's mind?

    What kind of demon had cast this thing at them?

    Bruno was certainly beginning to lose some of his patience with each passing day in which he couldn't find the cure.
    What was he doing wrong?... what was he failing at? What was it that he hadn't realized that could be so important in solving his problem?...

    Or maybe… this curse had no cure?

    He doubted a lot that killing the cause of the problem would make this go away… in real life, just because the cause disappeared it didn't necessarily mean the product would disappear as well. And even if this was a possibility... he had no idea who had done this to them... again, he could not find the trace of black magic no matter how much he looked for it...
    Knowing that if he stayed in one place doing something specific they would accuse him of planning something... although the truth was that the nobles would want to use anything, no matter how minimal it could be, to incriminate him... the prince of Embla got up from his chair and departed from the place.

    He also had another tea party with his sister anyway.

    He ignored various guards who gave him suspicious looks, he had no time to waste with them.

    When he got to the door he was supposed to cross, he came across something that hadn't been there the first time...

    probably because Veronica had expressly asked for complete privacy… but now it was different.

    The greater amount of gold on their uniforms denoted that they were members of the royal guard... the problem is that, as far as he knew, the current royal guard consisted mainly of heroes that his sister controlled as puppets...

    One of them was a young woman wielding a spear. She had blue hair, as blue as her eyes.

    The other was a man with black hair and purple eyes who was an ambidextrous swordsman.

    Were they as strong as the strongest heroes the empire had enslaved?...

    Although they also denoted his contempt, they did not prevent him from passing.

    Even so, once they were sure that neither Bruno nor Veronica would hear them, they both began to talk.
    "I can't believe that traitor is back." The woman rolled her eyes in frustration.

    "My father says they will get rid of him as soon as possible." The swordsman placed his cheek on his fist. "There is no forgiveness for his kind."

    "His mere presence here is an insult to our nation." She nodded.

    "Anyway, it does not matter. Rather than worrying about him, it should make us nervous that Askr is reclaiming the territory we have conquered."

    "The fact that they have started recruiting heroes into their ranks only complicates the situation…" The woman guessed that the generals had underestimated Askr too much after easy victories and had lowered their guard.
    She understood that celebrating the glory gained for the empire was important, but in her opinion, it would have been wiser not to celebrate prematurely.

    "And none of the professional assassins they have hired have managed to steal the holy relic ... or assassinate their targets, truth to be told." The man could only think that, for being "professionals", they were nothing less of a bunch of useless. He could do a better job if they just let him.

    "Changing the subject, hopefully there's gonna be something decent for lunch." The woman relaxed as she dreamed of her favorite food.

    "Let's hope for that, yeah."
    As the self-awareness of the mind just freed from the influx of black magic began to reactivate normally after a long time, it was just natural that she had trouble understanding what was going on around her... especially considering that she was not only in a totally different place from Lycia... but that she was even in another timeline.

    Her senses were slowly working again… but she felt too… exhausted? Without encouragement? Sleepy?... she wasn't sure...

    "Are you okay?... can you understand me?" she heard a male voice... she did not remember...

    "Eh?... eh... uh..." Her head was spinning slowly...

    "She... she does not look very good..." commented a female voice...

    The boy seemed to growl. "Well, I knew this would happen... I guess I shouldn't tell Florina that her counterpart now... uh... I still don't know how to describe what her condition is right now."

    This Florina, in theory, should have reacted in some way to that last sentence… and yet she seemed... lost, unable to properly interact with reality.

    Although whether this was something that would be permanent or was only the result of awakening from the curse that turned her into a puppet after such a long exposure was a quite valid question... for the same reasons, it was worrying.
    It took her almost two minutes to try to speak. "W-Who… are… you?"

    "I am Raigh, a black mage." He crossed his arms as he tried to analyze the situation and at the same time looked at the vessels that contained all the dark energy that he had extracted from the brain.

    It seemed that the girl had to process each word in a slow way as it took her almost 10 seconds to start responding… that, or she was reflecting on what she heard. "A... black... mage..."

    "I doubt that I can adequately explain to her what has happened to her right now ..." Raigh sighed in frustration.

    "Could you take her to a place where you can observe her condition better?... not to mention that way she doesn't have to see these when she wakes up again?" Raigh, with a bored expression, pointed at the other puppets also present in the lab.
    Clara simply nodded, remembering that they weren't the only ones there… and honestly, that was pretty scary in a way.
    Once "alone", Raigh sighed again. Although he had technically managed to free this woman from the curse, this did not feel like a victory at all.

    Although he wanted to start replicating the curse, he didn't feel very psychologically good to do so right now.
    He then pulled the Breidablik out from his pocket and… decided that maybe it was time for summoning.
    Once he and Alfonse had made some new orbs and reached the secluded spot in the garden where the prince and his "stepfather" used to summon, Raigh aimed the gun just as he had been instructed to… and he pulled the trigger.

    The portal ended up expelling a young man with brown hair and eyes, he wore a white armor which had a design generally used on the Jugdral continent.

    Raigh, knowing nothing of the people he might summon, decided to move aside and allow the prince to solve the situation.

    The man, of course, was about to try to get up on his own when he saw someone offering him a hand.

    "Are you Leif Faris from Leonstar?" It was not difficult for the Prince of Askr to identify the person he was seeing.

    Leif blinked several times and accepted the help. Once he was standing again, he preceded to speak. "That's my name ... I'm afraid I don't remember you. Have we met before?"

    "No, this is the first time you have seen me. I am Alfonse Asthr. It is an honor to meet you. "

    They both shook hands. After that, Alfonse proceeded to explain to Leíf everything about Askr, the situation of the war and why he had been summoned.

    "Now, in case you are wondering, the summoning ritual will return you to the same moment that you left. It will be as if you didn't leave in the first place."

    Leif crossed his arms as he considered that possibility. "The truth I was about to respectfully reject the offer. As much as this keeps me away from those who are trying to capture Finn and me... someday I will have to take the initiative, and of course, I can't just disappear without Finn and Nanna exploding in panic... but if when I return it will be like never I left in the first place… and I can spend as long as I want here… it would be a good place to train."

    Alfonse smiled as he was feeling deja-vu. "Prince Seliph had the same idea."

    "Seliph… like Seliph the son of Lord Sigurd?" Leif blinked again.

    "In fact, we're talking about the same Seliph here." Alfonse nodded before placing his finger on his chin. "You guys are cousins... right?" The confirmation that Seliph was also here had made Leíf take a moment to respond... or rather, he simply nodded slowly as his mouth and eyes were slightly opened in surprise.

    "Since he arrived he has been training very hard. I suppose you want to join him. " Alfonse guessed.

    "Well, I guess so." The prince of Askr instructed Leíf to wait a bit while Raigh and he finished the summoning.
    Raigh simply gave to the Prince of Leonstar a slight glance before loading a new orb into the weapon and proceeding to fire.

    Now, while the Order was already getting used to the idea that they had the bad luck of summoning several rookie heroes... and even a young girl version of a heroine... the principal concerning point had always been that maybe one day they would summon a civilian with no combat experience… and Alfonse could only guess that was the case when he saw a young girl that… he surely did not recognize.

    The girl, confused, began to look to both her left and right, which obviously indicated that she was trying to determine where she was... and when she turned to see them...

    "AAAAAh!"

    She covered her face with her hands... before wanting to run in the opposite direction.
    Again, Alfonse had some kind of deja vu...

    The difference is that last time Azurita had run in the direction of the castle… now, that young girl with purple hair ran into a wall.

    "NOOOO!" for a moment it was as if she had wanted to climb.

    Raigh, who had watched the entire scene with some disbelief and frustration, narrowed his eyes even more as that shrill voice was, relatively speaking, annoying. "Hey!"

    "AH!" the girl then turned around, still leaning on the wall. "Please don't hurt me!"

    Raigh came closer. "Eh, it's not my intent-"

    "Please!" she then knelt down. "My father will give you all the money you want, just..." she then burst into tears as she knelt.

    Raigh clenched his teeth and growled. "Dang it!"

    The thing that could stress him more than anything was the woman's crying.

    "I'm not interested in your father's money..." he tried to kneel and hold out a hand...

    Which proved to be a mistake...

    "W-what?... then-then..." the girl's eyes widened in horror and she proceeded to place her hands protectively over the area of ... "NO! If I lose my virginity he will kill me! he will throw me at the streets!"

    Raigh had to punch himself on the face and rub it very hard. "I DON'T WANT TO TOUCH YOU, COÑO! (DAMMIT!)"
    "Aaaaah!"

    With that last cry, the girl ran off to the left.

    "HEY!" Raigh, despite yelling, stared for a moment that as he could hardly believe what he was seeing... before running after her. "I'LL BE BACK!"

    "Definitively, this is partially a deja vu." Alfonse grimaced.

    "Things like that happen all the time?" Leíf scratched his hair.

    "Not really, but let's just say that today's summoning session is somewhat similar to one from time ago."
    Bernadetta didn't know how she ended up there, she just wanted to go back to the comfy safety of her room and never go out again!

    "W-where's the exit?! where?!" she kept running in a parallel direction to the wall in order to look for a possible door.

    "HEY! GET BACK HERE!"

    Bernadetta turned slightly to panic when she saw that guy with green hair chasing her.
    "AAAH!"

    Raigh, quite stressed and fed up, started running as fast as he could and then managed to tackle the girl.
    "AAAAAAH!"

    Raigh wasn't stupid, he knew that if any guard or hero saw the position they had on the ground at that moment, they would get a pretty wrong idea... so he had to silence the girl first.

    Using a non-lethal method!

    Raigh, once his hand was covering the girl's mouth... who was making a great effort to escape from his claws... which sounded even worse than the situation truly was, spook to her.

    "Okay, you keep quiet and I speak... do you understand?..."

    Bernadetta looked at him with her eyes wide open in panic and trying to scream.

    "Do. You. Understand?!" he tried not to yell so loud... because of two reasons... do not get unwanted attention and avoid frightening her even more.

    Bernadetta then nodded several times and sobbed.

    "Excellent, progress!" Raigh shook his head before continuing. "Very good, first of all. If what I wanted is to "play" with you that way, first of all, you would not be in a garden... you would be locked inside a room; second, I wouldn't waste my time asking you to listen to me, I would just destroy your clothes... "Raigh frowned... this conversation was making him sick… he then forced the girl to stand up. He still had her leaning against a wall though.

    "Third, if I wanted to hurt, I would have been doing it for a long time. I am a black magician after all." he clarified.
    At least the girl was struggling less...

    And that still sounded really bad out of context...

    "Now… will you allow me to reveal the reason you're here in the first place?"

    Bernadetta, still feeling very terrified, avoided looking Raigh eyes to eyes.

    In order to reassure her, Raigh decided to use his hand that wasn't keeping her from crying out loud for help... to stroke this girl's hair as gently as possible. "I'm not going to hurt you..." likewise, he relaxed his expression more...

    When she seemed to stop moving, Raigh removed his other hand from her, allowing her to speak… but at the same time stroking her shoulder.

    "Trust me…"
    Those two guards of Embla... if you're thinking the lancer girl is the representation of that memetic overpowered unit of the training levels, then you're right. I decided to give her a partner... and, as you can guess given the fact they have much more dialogue than your typical random Emblian soldier, they're gonna be important. The smartest ones may have already a theory to determine why...
    I'm not sure if I had already given a last name to Alfonse... if that's the case, can somebody please tell me where to fix the mistake?

    Seriously, that last scene is more... bad than what I imagined it would be lol.
    In case you wonder, in this story the dragon Embla is not the cause of the "curse" Veronica and Bruno suffer... I mean, if that damn thing is related to the "blood" they share with the dragon... and that is as ancient as the nation itself... IT IS NOT POSSIBLE FOR IT TO BE KEPT A SECRET THAT MUCH TIME!
    I mean, historical records would tell almost every member of the Emblian royal family has gone insane and it should be painfully obvious to Askr that something isn't right with the head of their neighbors... not to mention any noble with the desire of taking the throne would use this fact to their advantage.
     
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