Screenshot Dakota's War Journal (Semiblind Fire Emblem Fates RP/LP) (Send me your castles!)

[Alastor15243]

You at least chose to kill Lilith this time.

Can you clarify what you mean by that? I'm a little confused.

[Moblin Major General]

You included a death that was already in the narrative, far after her death in-game.

[Alastor15243]

You included a death that was already in the narrative, far after her death in-game.

No, I mean, why "at least"? Did you dislike my use of her? Or did you mean "At last"?

Edited August 3, 2016 by Alastor15243

[sirmola]

No, I mean, why "at least"? Did you dislike my use of her?

I personaly thought that was the best way to handle that charachter. Everyone guessed that you were going to skip her death because of how hamhandedly it was done in the narrative. Surprising us with it at a latter point after everyone assumed she was oing to survive to the end of the plot was just around the only way you could have made it emotionally effective. (bonus points if you remove lilith's temple from my castle on your next playthrough.)

[Alastor15243]

Entry 30

[spoiler=Part 1]

Excerpts from Lilith's funeral service

Dakota: ...Thank you, everyone, for coming. For those among you who were not selected for the previous battle, yes, what you heard is true. Garon's armor was successfully disabled... after a fashion. There were complications, but Garon is no longer invincible, and we are just one more battle away from completing our mission. But before we do so...

(Dakota pauses, trying to find the words)

Dakota: We lost someone today. Someone... someone who won't be coming back when we rewind time. Lilith, may the gods rest her soul, thwarted Garon's ambush attempt in a tremendous display of strength, skill and courage... and at the cost of her own life. Were it not for her sacrifice, all of us would almost certainly be dead right now, and Garon's plan, whatever it may turn out to be, would have succeeded completely. But thanks to her, we were able to create the chaos surge, and Garon is now not only mortal, but barely alive, and we are mere hours away from sending me back to the past. However... when that happens... I will be the only person who will remember anything Lilith ever did. And she deserves far better than that. So while we are all still here, I am hoping we can spare... spare some words for her.

(Dakota takes a deep breath)

Dakota: Imagine yourself, for a moment, sitting on a throne in an empty throne room, covered in blood. You have just completed a long, hard, and bloody battle, motivated by nothing but vengeance, ambition and hatred. You have... “won” that battle, technically speaking, but at a cost so astronomical that it strips all meaning from that word. Nearly everyone you have ever loved is now dead, and in every case it is either partially, or completely, your fault. You are alone in the world, with nobody for genuine solace or company besides your twelve year old daughter. She is quite literally the only thing in this world you have left to live for, as you are faced with the prospect of holding together the tattered remains of the country you once were so proud to call home, ruling over a people who now follow you out of nothing but fear.

Dakota: ...Five days. Five days, seven hours, thirty-two minutes. That is how long I lived that ironic hell of my own creation, and even that nearly destroyed me. And were it not for Lilith, that would have been the rest of my life. Had she not been there for me, had she not worked tirelessly to use the power at her disposal to give me the power to do everything over again, I would still be in that throne room. And she didn't stop there. When we went back in time, when for the longest time it was dangerous to tell anyone about what had happened, she was there for me, a sympathetic ear to my every problem, a tirelessly loyal ally and friend as I ventured back to a hostile homeland. I ask all of you: how do you thank someone for that? Mere words could never possibly convey the depths of my gratitude for everything she has done for me. And yet I was determined to do it. As soon as this war ended, I told myself... as soon as Garon was defeated and the country was at peace, I would, somehow, find a way to show her just how much I appreciated everything she did for me. That... needless to say... that chance is now gone forever. The brief few months we had together, all the while busy fighting two wars... is all I'll ever get with her.

Dakota: ...No, that's... that doesn't quite convey... even then I could have had so much longer to get to know her. For eight long years while I was at the Northern Fortress... in the hallways... in the stables... she had been there the whole time. Waiting for me. Waiting for me to talk to her. Waiting for me to look her way. Waiting for me to just remember her damned name. And I never gave her a single thought until she assumed her true form to save me at the Bottomless Canyon. What little time we had together meant everything to me, and yet we could have had so much more had I not been so snooty and self-centered for all of those years... and no matter what I do in the next timeline... no matter if I save the continent or not... no matter how victorious I am... I don't know if I'll ever be able to forgive myself for that... tremendous waste of precious time.

Dakota: And yet she stayed. In spite of every reason I gave her not to, even before she remembered her mission, she stayed with me. Because she saw something in me. She believed in me more than any creature alive deserves to be believed in, and she died for that belief. I will not, I cannot let her down. She always believed I had what it took to save the world. Now... now it's my duty to prove that she was right.

Dakota: I'll never forget her. I'll never forget her courage, her kindness, her smile... her laugh... that special way she ate berries... the adorable way she did that flying backflip whenever she finished eating... I... I'll never forget any of it... Lilith... if you're still watching me... I promise... I won't need another shot at this. No more mistakes. No more subterfuge. I'll win this war the right way this time.

(Dakota leaves the podium. After a few moments, Leo stands up and takes Dakota's place.)

Leo: I had the incredible honor of working alongside Lilith on a great many experiments, and I only wish that the fruits of our labors had not ended so catastrophically. Perhaps if I had been more careful, or perhaps if the fates had simply been less cruel, we would not be here today, mourning the loss of yet another brilliant mind. The things she knew, the forces she worked with, I had always imagined that I would work alongside her to return my beloved country to the golden age of prosperity and free thought that should never have ended. By far my greatest regret about our current predicament is that I must lose out on the opportunity to have ever known her. Words cannot describe my sorrow to know that when we are victorious on this day and Dakota commences attempt #3...

(Leo pulls out a book labeled “Anastasia's Research Log” and stares at it)

Leo: ...There will then be two brilliant women, cruelly taken from this world before their time, who I will only ever know through the pages of a research log. Two brilliant women I will desperately wish I could have truly gotten to know. Two brilliant women who, by all rights, should have gotten to know each other. The things we could have done together. The lives we could have changed, the discoveries we could have made.

(Leo puts the book away)

Leo: But we cannot lose ourselves to mere fantasies of “what if”. They will accomplish nothing, and they never have. We have what we have, and we must use it to make what difference we can. The world will never know Lilith again, but life, and our mission, must go on. Lilith would want nothing less from us.

(Leo pauses)

Leo: As... as an aside, Dakota... during our time working together, Lilith... she confided in me. And I want you to know that she always spoke incredibly highly of you. And though you said you'd never be able to forgive yourself for those years... I just want you to know that she did.

(Leo leaves the podium)

Dakota: ...Is there anyone else?

(Silence)

Dakota: ...Right... I suppose she didn't really interact with many of you...

(Laslow stands up)

Laslow: I'd like to say something, actually.

Dakota: ...Laslow? But you barely even talked to her!

Laslow: I know. But... I do have something to say.

Dakota: ...Very well.

(Laslow walks up to the podium)

Laslow: I know that I haven't spoken much about my past before becoming Lord Xander's retainer. I... have my reasons for this. But considering our current situation, there are a few things I would like to say about it. Most importantly, this is actually my third war... and my second brush with time travel. And I can imagine what most of you are probably thinking, if you're not questioning my sanity already... that I seem far too young to be a veteran of three wars...

(With an extremely uncomfortable half-smile, Laslow rubs his hand over his eyes before continuing)

Laslow: Yes... yes, I am. My whole world, my whole life, was an active war zone since I was eight, and I've been a soldier since I was ten. Truth be told, I hesitate to call the first one a “war”... we had a commander, yes, and we fought battle after battle against an “army”, yes... but it was nothing like any war this world or any other had ever known. Our enemies were not human, nor even alive. There were no grievances, no politics, no countries... just a desperate fight for survival against an enemy with no end in sight, commanded by a mad god who seemed to love nothing but suffering for its own sake. ...And no, we didn't win. Not that war. The very thought of winning left our minds early on, for we knew it was impossible. It would take a miracle, and the only miracle the gods granted us was a way to escape into the past. We spent three long years traveling the globe, hunting for the materials to cast that spell.

(Laslow takes a deep breath)

Laslow: ...This is Lilith's funeral, I do not mean to sidetrack, so I'll get to the point: You're right, Dakota, I didn't know Lilith. For... personal reasons, I avoided interacting with her all that much. But while I didn't know Lilith... I know what she did. Gods do I know what she did. Back in those days, it seemed like hardly two weeks could go by without losing a loved one... a parent... a friend... and nearly every one of them died like a hero. I remember every sacrifice, every final stand I was ever witness to, vividly. I will never forget what these people did to save the world.

(Laslow's hands are shaking in fists at his sides. A single tear rolls down his cheek.)

Laslow: ...Even now I can't bring myself to praise what they did. I... I'm tired of watching my friends die like heroes... even to praise their actions... feels like encouraging it... like expecting others to do what they did... and I... I never want to live through that again...

(Laslow takes another deep breath)

Laslow: ...But just because I can't bring myself to praise your actions, Lilith... that doesn't mean I can't say that they spoke volumes about your character. In your eyes, in that moment, when you broke through the seal and saved Dakota, I saw the same thing I saw in so many of the people I was proud to call friends. Dakota was truly fortunate to have met somebody like you. We all were. ...And it doesn't mean I'm not grateful, either. I am. With all of my heart. Just like I'm grateful for every single other life given for me to be here today. And so I say to all of you what my mother told me when my father died to save me: If you want to honor Lilith's sacrifice... live a life worth dying for. Don't squander it in foolishness, and don't squander it in fear either. Do something that matters, and do it well. And above all else, find a way to be happy. Make sure that what they did was worth it. That's all anyone can ask of you.

Dear War Journal,

I will be brief and to the point, as we have a lot of work to do:

First off, we elected not to have a funeral for Kaze at this point, mostly for one big reason:

Midori. She thinks her father's still away on a mission for me. At this stage, when we're literally hours away from reversing his death... honestly, what would be the point in letting her know he died?

I have spoken to my siblings regarding what happened earlier today, and we're in unanimous agreement over the obvious implications:

We have a spy.

Somebody among us relayed crucial information about our plans to Garon. It's the only way he could have known about what went on inside West Dakota.

And worse still...

...It's not any of the people we suspected. It's not Landon, Nyx, Charlotte, Benny, or Shura. No, I've made sure to keep them both in the castle and out of the loop.

I probably should have elaborated on this earlier, but...

...Basically, right after exposing Garon to my siblings and working out who to trust, I informed those five soldiers that they were “benched”, which is a military term for “Ultimately for various reasons we've decided you're not a good fit for the current campaign, but for contractual and bureaucratic reasons we have to keep you around and on the payroll, so enjoy what is essentially a paid vacation in the barracks.”

This is a rather common practice, and thus aroused no suspicions at all, and thus gave me a perfectly unsuspicious excuse to arrange various plan-related discussions they were not invited to. Furthermore, I've kept a close eye on the five of them. I've had Kaze and Mozu tracking their movements vigorously, and they saw no suspicious behavior from any of them.

...Which means it was somebody else.

Somebody I trusted.

Somebody my siblings trusted.

One of the people we involved in this plan, either one of my retainers or one of my siblings' retainers, is a traitor and a spy.

Someone. In our group. Is responsible for Lilith's death.

And when I find out who it was...

...That... that will unfortunately have to wait. I have no proof at the moment, nor any means of acquiring proof. Whoever it is, I'm confident that they will not unmask themselves now. We're no longer forced to use subterfuge and spy work. This is an out-and-out battle. Betraying me in such a situation, now that Garon has finally lost his advantage, would be foolish and suicidal. I'm confident they intend to keep their identity a secret to hinder me in the third timeline.

As long as I don't let my guard down and give anyone a huge opening to take me out when I'm separated from most of the group, I should be fine.

It's getting to be time to make my final preparations.

But first...

...Time to interrogate our prisoner.

(Dakota walks into the prison. Kana, Velouria and Keaton are standing guard)

Velouria: ...Hey, Mom...

Dakota: Is Iago secure?

Velouria: Yeah.

Kana: We've all been watching him real closely! He won't slip past us!

Dakota: ...That's great. Listen, Velouria, Kana... why don't you take a break? Daddy and I need to deal with Iago personally.

Kana: ...Uh... okay.

Velouria: Do you need anything, Mom?

Dakota: Yes, actually. Go get Jakob and Dwyer. Tell them to come here as soon as possible.

Velouria: On it!

(Velouria and Kana rush out)

Dakota: ...You ready?

Keaton: I've got your back, Dakota. I always will.

Dakota: ...I know.

(Dakota and Keaton walk towards Iago's cell, unlock it, and enter)

Iago: ...Hmph. So the great princess Dakota finally deigns to speak to me personally.

Dakota: (Glares) I want answers, Iago. And you're going to talk, no matter what it takes.

Iago: (Laughs) ...Good one, Princess. What exactly are you implying? That you're going to torture me for information?

(Dakota says nothing, but continues glaring at Iago)

Iago: Oh, an admirable bluff, Princess, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to call it. Your little charade isn't fooling anyone, least of all me. I trust you've already figured out that we have a spy?

Dakota: Of course.

Iago: Well I'll have you know that that spy told us all sorts of positively delightful stories about how your adorable little trainwreck of a plan has been going these past few months. We know about that little... accident in your pod chamber. We know what it did to you. We know you've been a sobbing, quivering little wreck since P-poor l-little S-sakura went and exploded! I don't know what the hell happened to you, but you're not the heartless iron terror of a child Garon raised you to be. Not anymore. No, now you're just a terrified, miserable little bundle of nerves playing commander because you have to, and you don't have a single “evil” deed left in your entire body. And you expect me to believe you're still capable of torture? HA! You're pathetic, Dakota, and you don't scare me.

(Iago starts putting on a mockingly miserable face, doing an impression of Dakota)

Iago: OH WOE IS ME! HOW DID I BECOME SUCH A MONSTER!? DO I EVEN DESERVE TO LIVE AFTER WHAT I'VE DONE TO THE WORLD!? WHY MUST THE CRUEL FATES AND MY OWN HUBRIS FORCE ME TO BREAK THIS WORLD TO FIX IT AGAIN!? OH WHY!? SAKURAAAAAAAAAAAA-

(Dakota extends a dragon lance, impaling the wall behind Iago with a mighty THUD, intentionally missing Iago by inches. Iago is immediately struck by wide-eyed terror)

Iago: Eep!

Dakota: Hinoka and Ryoma died in fear and despair, unable to protect their country, killed by a member of their own family. They did nothing, nothing to deserve what I did to them. They deserved to succeed. They deserved to live. And I killed them. Because I had to. Because it was the only way to stop Garon and bring Sakura back.

(Dakota retracts her dragon lance from the wall, reverting it into her arm)

Dakota: You... are a narcissistic monster who has killed hundreds of innocent people, murdered Anastasia and thereby doomed your entire country to anarchy and famine for twelve long years, and conspired with the most despicable creature on this planet, all for promises of money and power!

(Dakota walks up to Iago, still trembling, and whispers in his ear)

Dakota: What the hell do you think I'm willing to do to you?

(Dakota walks back to the cell door)

Dakota: Keaton.

Keaton: Yes?

Dakota: Tear his arms off.

Iago: No... no, no no nonononononononononono AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGH!

...Right. Just as planned, Iago's been stabilized. He passed out almost immediately from the pain, but Dwyer and Jakob managed to fix him up and keep him from bleeding out. Good.

I went and grabbed Leo in the meantime, I need him to be present for this. As it turns out, he requested access to the remaining two arms scrolls (one of which was just won this morning) and a heart seal, a request I granted, even though the first arms scroll use would have been pointless since he was literally two or three attacks away from rank A, because frankly I don't have any other use for the things at this point. He immediately reclassed to sorcerer and brought his tome rank up to S.

I should think his reasons for doing so were obvious.

(Dakota and Leo walk into Iago's cell. Iago is sitting in the corner, two blood-crusted stumps where his arms once were).

Dakota: Now then, are you ready to talk?

Iago: You... you bitch... even after all of that talk... you didn't have the guts to torture me yourself.

Dakota: I'm not torturing you, fool. Since when has that ever actually worked? I need results, and torture isn't going to get me them.

Iago: THEN WHAT THE HELL DO YOU CALL THIS!?

Dakota: I call it... holding for ransom.

Iago: …

Dakota: Consider your current situation: without your arms, you'll never be able to cast magic again. And frankly, now that I think about it, isn't that all you're really good for? Oh dear, that's quite the setback for you. And even ignoring that, I'm fairly certain that if, by some miracle, you managed to escape your cell, your quality of life isn't going to be all that great from here on out, no matter what Garon has promised you. And that's assuming he still keeps his word, whatever that was, now that you're totally incapable of defending yourself. Let's be honest: he's not a nice guy.

Iago: ...What the hell are you getting at?

Dakota: It's quite simple, really: your arms are gone. I burned them, too, so no medical miracle now or ever is going to re-attach them to your shoulders. Basically, the only way you could ever possibly get your arms back and live a normal life again is if, somehow, the hands of time were to be rewound.

Iago: (Look of dawning comprehension)

Dakota: And wouldn't you know it? That turns out to be exactly what my little band is planning to do. So congratulations, it is now completely in your own selfish, egotistical personal interest for me to destroy that amulet and return to the past. You'll get your arms back, and you'll get another shot at bringing your own disgusting ambitions to life. You just need to cut your losses in this timeline and tell me what I need to know to bring about the next.

Iago: …And... what might that be?

Dakota: Honestly? Whatever information you feel you can afford to provide. I have almost no idea what I'm dealing with except what Lilith told me. So go ahead. Tell me as much or as little about the thing as you like. Just know that your arms are on the line.

Iago: …

(Iago sighs in defeat)

Iago: It's called the Amulet of Ruin. It's an ancient magical artifact of... otherworldy origins, shall we say.

Dakota: I'm fairly certain I know what kind of “otherworldly” you're referring to. Proceed.

Iago: I can't tell you anything regarding how Garon obtained the thing other than what he told me, because it was twenty years ago. I wasn't there, I was only fifteen at the time, still an apprentice mage, and far from becoming a royal court magician. It wasn't until I was twenty that Garon brought me in on this plot, so if you want that story, you'll have to look elsewhere. But I can tell you that, as I said, it's an ancient magical artifact, the creation of which, by all accounts, should be impossible according to everything we know about magic and energy.

Leo: ...Like Siegfried and Brynhildr, you mean?

Iago: ...Sort of. Except that it makes those mighty weapons look like children's toys. The Amulet of Ruin is designed to, when supplied with sufficient magical power, cause a vast, apocalyptic chain reaction that – save for the insides of the castles that house the Great Veins – would completely and utterly unmake all of reality, and reduce it into raw dragon vein energy! Every rock, every plant, every animal, every human, every drop of water in the sea and speck of air in the sky, all of it, everywhere, for as far as creation turns out to truly extend, completely and utterly destroyed and turned into the raw power of dragon veins!

Dakota: ...Such that anyone with dragon blood in their veins would be able to play god and recreate the world as they saw fit?

Iago: ...Yes, with practically no limits or restrictions. Needless to say, King Garon couldn't possibly pass up on such an opportunity.

Dakota: ...Of course he couldn't.

Iago: Unfortunately for him, the amulet was never finished. Well... it was left unfinished in a very particular way. It worked, alright, everything was set and tested, according to the notes he found... but the maker of the amulet hadn't figured out how to supply it with the required energy to make it work full-scale. What's more... apparently she had a change of heart, the weak-willed coward, and dedicated the rest of her life towards destroying the thing. Thankfully that was easier said than done, because apparently she was working with forces alien even to her own people, and she had inadvertently rendered the thing nearly indestructible. According to her notes, she and her coworkers eventually did find a way, but by a miraculous stroke of luck... well, for us, anyway... it happened before she could put it into practice.

Leo: I'm sorry, did you say her n-

Dakota: One second, Leo. What happened, Iago?

Iago: Whatever it was that happened to that place, of course! You say you've been there, surely you know what I'm talking about!

Hm...

Actually, now that he mentions it...

Broken, shattered, flying landmasses...

Signs of abundant past human life now reduced to nearly nothing but mindless purple-invisible creatures...

...Yes... yes, something definitely... “happened”... to that place...

Leo: ...As I was saying... did you say her notes?

Iago: Yes. What of it?

Leo: Well, how exactly did Garon read them? I have documents of the same origin as that amulet, and they didn't speak or write in Xelbus Common, Ancient Hoshidan, or Elder Nohrian. How did he translate their language?

Iago: Hehehehehe... I'm sorry, young prince... but I have absolutely nothing to gain from telling you that.

Leo: ...Hmph. Let's get back on track then: I'm assuming Garon figured out how to power it?

Iago: Well, his court mages did, with the help of the context of the maker's notes. Mind you, it took two to three years.

Leo: And what, pray tell, did they discover? I'm assuming it involved a lot of souls.

Iago: ...Why, yes. A very specific type of soul. You see, the soul is a powerful and complex thing, and depending on its environment and actions, it takes on certain qualities.

Leo: ...What? I've never heard of such a thing. Where on earth would Garon learn this?

Iago: (Smirks) Oh dear prince, you know nothing of the knowledge and resources at Garon's disposal. And I fear you never will. Because of course, why should I tell you?

(Dakota steps between them)

Dakota: Because, you shortsighted fool, if you don't tell us what triggers it, and we accidentally set the damn thing off, then not only will you remain armless, but you'll promptly die when the amulet's effects break through timespace and reach your prison cell here. You did say all of reality, didn't you?

Iago: ...Hang on! I was going to tell you that much! ...Alright, listen carefully: they discovered that activating the Amulet of Ruin required the following things:

Dakota: We're listening.

Iago: First and foremost, it required access to a Great Vein. Meaning either the Heaven Vein or the Earth Vein.

Dakota: Noted.

Iago: Secondly, it could only be properly forced into such a vein by the dragon blood of darkness and light.

Dakota: ...Meaning you needed a Nohr royal and a Hoshido royal to both grasp it while forcing it in.

Iago: ...Precisely. So, obviously, we had to brainwash a descendant of the Dawn Dragon to help us. Because obviously you wouldn't do it, nor would any of your blood siblings. Not in their right mind, at least.

Dakota: Takumi...

Iago: Exactly. Third... it required one thousand and one souls.

Dakota: …

Leo: …

Iago: ...

Leo: ...One thousand and one!?

Iago: Yes. One thousand warriors' spirits. Five hundred warriors of light slain by darkness, and five hundred warriors of darkness slain by light.

Leo: ...Come again? ...Warriors' souls specifically? ...And it matters who kills them?

Iago: As I said, I have nothing to gain explaining the specifics of why that is.

Leo: That's not what I was getting at. Do you mean to tell me that this entire war has been nothing but a pretense to collect those souls? That that's why Garon ordered you to assassinate my mother and framed Sumeragi for it? Why he forced a war with a peaceful kingdom!? Why he released the blight and destroyed his own country!? Are you telling me he did that all to power up some stupid ancient trinket!?

Iago: “Ancient trinket”!? Have you been listening to nothing? The Amulet of Ruin promises nothing less than the power of a god! How could any sacrifice mean anything in the face of that power!?

(Silence. Leo is glaring daggers at Iago.)

Dakota: ...And the 1001^st soul?

Iago: (Grinning) I think you already know the answer to that.

Dakota: Spell it out for me. Just so we're both on the same page.

Iago: ...Very well. The 1001^st soul required to power the Amulet of Ruin... is the soul of a True Dragon warrior, awash in the blood of war, and the willing slayer of at least 100 lives.

...“A True Dragon”... Where have I heard that before?

Dakota: And what exactly is a “True Dragon”?

Iago: …

Dakota: I asked you a question.

Iago: ...Obviously, it's any human with sufficiently potent dragon blood in their veins to be able to turn into a dragon. Someone like you.

Dakota: …

Iago: What, you expected something more informative?

Dakota: You and Garon know more about True Dragons than that. You have to. There's no way Garon learned all he needed to know about the contents of my soul when your Mokushu spies reported the birth of a Hoshidan princess with red eyes and pointy ears.

Iago: Maybe... and maybe not. But either way... again... I have nothing to gain by telling you. I've already told you everything you need to know to avoid accidentally setting it off.

Dakota: But you haven't told us how to destroy it. What method did those “foreigners” discover to destroy it?

Iago: ...Isn't it obvious? You're holding it!

(Dakota looks down at the Shadow Yato)

Dakota: That's all?

Iago: The method of destroying the Amulet of Ruin isn't any different when it's outside of a person or inside of them. The Yato is all it takes! You've destroyed it before, why are you even asking?

...Because, you idiot, you just admitted two very important things to me:

First, you confirmed that the Yato is from that other world, created by those people. And by extension, considering the way they interact, so are Siegfried, Brynhildr, the Raijinto and the Fujin Yumi.

And second, you revealed that you don't know how Azura has to sing her song as well, meaning that you and Garon don't know about her necklace's true purpose and power, even though it and the Amulet of Ruin are literally identical in shape. This probably means that it's a common enough design in that world that Garon didn't even consider that the two had any connection at all. This is extremely important to figuring out the bigger picture, Iago. Thank you so much for the information.

Dakota: Of course. Silly me. Very well. I think that will be all. You may sit here in your cell and wait for us to complete our mission.

Leo: Actually... there is one more thing I'd like to ask.

Dakota: Very well.

Leo: Iago. Tell me how you did it.

Iago: How I did what, Prince?

Leo: How you trapped those souls. Tell me about that affront to science, sorcery and nature that you devised to imprison them.

Iago: And why should I tell you that?

Leo: Because it's quite obvious it's the reason why Bifröst isn't working. If we can find a way around it, you have better odds of getting your arms back.

Iago: ...Fine. You may ask a few questions.

Leo: Good. So... how does your sorcery discern what souls are taken? How does it know to steal the souls of warriors and no one else?

Iago: Hehehehehehehehehehe... “Discern”? What on earth makes you think it discerns anything?

Leo: ...No...

Iago: Oh I'm so sorry to tell you this, Leo, but it doesn't pick and choose. The spell has been forcibly imprisoning the souls of every human being to die since it was cast over a decade ago.

Leo: …

(Leo takes an extremely deep breath, and exhales for five whole seconds)

Leo: ...So. So the afterlife, whatever it turns out to be... it's just been devoid of new arrivals for more than ten years? They've all been stuck in those cages? Continuously? Unable to move or act, forced to simply exist?

Iago: Yes. All of them. ...Oh, except the Wind Tribe's citizens. Their souls, with their power to reincarnate, appear to be strong enough to resist the pull of the cage.

Leo: And you've been using their souls to... create these “Purple Ones”?

Iago: Yes. It... takes a lot out of the souls, of course, but... we don't need every part of the soul for the ritual. Only the fundamental core. There are so many other parts of the soul that we can simply... take apart... and put to other uses.

...Hm. So... that's odd. Kana explicitly stated he saw the spear master from the Wind Tribe that he killed reforged into a Purple One. But apparently Wind Tribe souls can resist the pull of the spell. But then... that spearmaster didn't die in Xelbus... he died in the astral plane when the explosion happened. Which means that whatever this ritual is... it's closer to the Astral Plane in terms of point of origin than to Xelbus.

Leo: ...Very well. I have no further questions.

(Leo and Dakota leave the cell and lock it behind them)

Dakota: Was that really all you needed to know?

Leo: ...Yes. All I needed to be sure of was the manner in which it extracts the souls from this world. Now that I know that it simply pulls them away like a magnet rather than actively ensnaring them by some other means, I think I might be able to form some sort of temporary workaround to make Bifröst function. You told me that in the first timeline there was something causing everyone who had been here for too long to forget anyone else who had been here for too long when they died?

Dakota: Yes.

Leo: That means that we're all being bombarded with some form of temporal energy. I might be able to use this to anchor somebody's soul to this plane just long enough to resurrect them with Bifröst... if only once. However, even if I do succeed... it won't bring back anyone who's already died.

Dakota: Thank you, Leo. Do your best, that's all I can ask of you.

Leo: Also, I'm going to place some more items in the paradox chamber to bring back with you. Those writings I recovered from you-know-where, as well as my research log from working with Lilith. There is a lot of important information in that log that we can't afford to lose now that Lilith is gone.

Dakota: ...Agreed.

Leo: And your war journal. That's absolutely crucial, make sure it goes into the paradox chamber.

Dakota: Don't worry, I can teleport it there at will, just like I teleport us in and out.

Leo: Good. I'll leave you to the final preparations then.

...I see. I think the picture's becoming rather clear now. This entire war, and my entire life, have been carefully arranged to satisfy all of the requirements of Garon's ritual to power the amulet. I'm guessing the original assumption was that Garon's transparent efforts to murder me would inspire me to undergo a bloody quest for vengeance. I'd fight my way across the entire continent while Garon's invasion of Hoshido claimed sufficient mortal soldiers on both sides to satisfy the 1000 souls requirement, and then in the big climactic final showdown, Garon would defeat and subdue me at Castle Krakenburg, I would be sacrificed, the spell would be cast, and the world would end.

...But something went wrong. I'm not sure what, but I'm guessing it had something to do with Takumi's mind control. Maybe it wasn't complete enough, or there was a limit to what they could make him do, something that prevented them from being able to use him to properly place the amulet. There certainly seems to be more going on with what they did to him in this timeline, at any rate. But whatever the reason was, the ritual wasn't ready to be performed in time. But Garon, apparently knowing about Lilith and the “Time Castle”, as he called West Dakota, probably had some sort of contingency plan. He arranged to make sure that I wanted to go back in time, and to do this he made sure that as many of my loved ones died as possible. Then he orchestrated his own defeat, and thus the destruction of the amulet, so he could get another try. It worked, and back in time I went to try again.

But this time my course of action was different. I didn't fight alongside Hoshido again, I went back to Nohr to kill Garon more cleanly. Already this must have raised alarm bells with Garon. Perhaps he figured out right then and there that I had already gone back in time. Those first few missions he sent me on must have been to buy time while he figured out how to salvage his plan, because so much had changed.

And that's when he came up with the invincible armor. I'm assuming since it took him so long to come up with this plan that this was something he didn't have access to in the last timeline, for whatever reason. I initially assumed that this was because he was a pawn of the Purple Ones, but no, that appears to not be the case. That theory was wrong, and those incidents in Izumo and Mokushu, with the Purple Ones seemingly trying to get them to fight against Nohr, appear to have been orchestrated solely to keep me under that false impression once the spy in my army informed them of my theory. I'm guessing this was to keep me thinking Garon was a pawn, and thereby underestimate him and not suspect his grand trap.

And damn it, it worked.

...Which means... which means that my actions in the new timeline changed his mindset in such a way as to help him create the armor with what he had at his disposal, or...

...Or...

...Or perhaps the act itself of traveling back in time is what gave him access to it. Perhaps something...

...Perhaps something simply... spilled out... of a crack in space and time.

...Either those happen in places other than West Dakota... or perhaps... perhaps Garon has access to some other structure likely to have them, and the necessary materials spilled out of there.

However it turns out he acquired the invincible armor, it was a brilliant way to trick me into waging a war and racking up my personal body count and the overall body count for the 1,000 souls, all while leading me into thinking that I was the one with the machiavellian scheme to lure him to the Heaven Vein the whole time, even though in reality it was the other way around. But in order for it to truly work, of course, he would have to manipulate it so that I felt like I was the one who came up with the plan to use a chaos surge to destroy it.

And I think, emphasis on think, this was why Garon had his band of fake Hoshidan soldiers stationed at Fort Dragonfall kidnap Azura and bring her there. While it's obvious that Garon and Iago don't know as much about the true nature of her amulet as Azura does, whatever secrets she's keeping, it had a few powers that were obvious and possibly common knowledge. Her ability to refresh allies, and most crucially, her ability to sense otherwise invisible auras. What's more, she was the only royal in my group who actually knew of the Heaven Vein's existence.

And then he sat me down at the opera house in Cyrkensia. And he warned me that my refusal to up my own kill count would not be tolerated any further, because of course it wouldn't. He informed me that I would be leading the war effort almost exclusively, “as a test of my might and worthiness for the throne”. But most importantly, he openly admitted to me that he had no noble intentions in waging this war at all.

Knowing full well I had a magical book that was recording his every word.

He intentionally gave me proof to give my siblings.

He gave me Azura, and he gave me all of my Nohrian siblings.

All of the people I needed in order to come up with “my” plan and feel confident that it could be done.

He handed me all of them on a silver platter and I didn't even notice.

But of course, there was a problem, one that Garon's spy quickly informed him of: Thanks to Leo and Lilith, I still wasn't really killing anyone. My body count was dangerously low and not rising at all, and he needed to fix that. He needed to get rid of the Chamber of False Death.

...And then it blew up.

Either Sakura was a sleeper agent the whole time, being subtly manipulated into performing the ritual in just the wrong way...

...Or it was a freak coincidence that it happened. Perhaps that freak coincidence was the only reason their plan could even move forward, or perhaps they had something else in store to deal with it that proved unnecessary when the explosion happened. I may never know the exact truth of what was going on there. Leo would have a far better chance of figuring it out than I would, and so far he's completely at a loss.

Regardless, after that the plan was back on course. I kept killing my native countrymen and my own siblings, racking up the body count...

...And then the trap was sprung, I failed to consider the possibility of reinforcements being blocked...

And now Lilith's dead.

And here we are.

...Well. Guess there's only one thing to do.

...Rally the troops.

Dakota: ...Thank you, everyone, for coming. This... will probably be my last speech to you. The final battle is ahead of us, at long last. ...I know it hasn't exactly been easy to feel good about ourselves lately. Our situation has been... unfortunate, shall we say, for the last few weeks, and I know it's taken a toll on all of you as much as it has taken a toll on me. You've doubted yourselves, hated yourselves, cursed yourselves, all the while wondering when our fight will finally take on meaning again.

Dakota: My friends... that time is now. Take all of your self-doubt, your guilt, your reservations, and cast them all asunder, for they are now neither productive nor valid. This is not a battle of moral greys. There is nothing tragic or sympathetic about our enemy. You want a noble cause? Congratulations, one and all, you have one! For our enemy's goal is nothing less than the destruction of all reality! Yes, friends! That is what the amulet does! That is what Garon has been fighting for this whole time! He has destroyed his homeland, terrorized his citizens, lied to his children, and instigated a brutal and pointless war against an innocent nation for no other reason than to smash this world and all who live in it to pieces and remake this world in his own hideous image!

Dakota: So, friends, comrades, brothers and sisters in arms, ready your weapons, fuck your spouses, and tell your children you love them, for an hour hence we march into the most glorious and righteous battle this world has ever known! Think again of all who have fallen along the way, and let them not weigh you down but give you strength, because now you fight for them! For this is the battle that will bring them all back! Think of their friends and their families not with shame, but with courage and determination, because from here on out, you fight for them as well! NAY, YOU FIGHT FOR ALL OF HUMANITY! Cast away your guilt and ready for battle, friends, because from now on you are not war criminals! You are not even soldiers! YOU ARE HEROES! YOU ARE CHAMPIONS! YOU ARE HUMANITY'S ONLY HOPE, AND THE ONLY HOPE IT WILL EVER NEED! PREPARE FOR BATTLE, FRIENDS, FOR TONIGHT WE SLAY THE APOCALYPSE ITSELF!

(All soldiers roar and cheer, raising their weapons skyward)

Thank you, Lilith.

For everything.

Don't worry.

...I think I can take it from here.

[Ren_Ambrose]

Man, this is getting intense. I'm excited to see what's to come in the endgame.

[Alastor15243]

[spoiler=Part 2]
Right.

Preparations time.



Time to sell all of the useless priceless treasures and accumulated salable junk, and use any remaining stat boosting items I've been too paranoid to use.



Perfect. Now to buy enough tonics to fully power up every one of my frontline fighters through two battles (I learned my lesson this time), a bunch of concoctions, some physic staves, and, finally, after I've run out of worthwhile stuff to buy...



...A magical playing card replica of me. That'll be extremely useful.



...Maybe if I had saved up more money and bought a ton of these I could've escaped without Lilith's help by stuffing a bunch of these cards into my convoy bag.

...There's no point in thinking about that now, of course.



Everyone even remotely likely to get into deep combat or wind up away from a healer now has a concoction in their inventory.



Leo reports that his little experiment was successful, and Bifröst can be used exactly once now. Elise, being the best healer on my team and the only one capable of using it, is entrusted with that task. I've also given her a wane festal staff since her obscene magic stat means she'll be able to do much more with the wane festal's extended range. I have a Great Festal as well, but I went with Fortify since if I'm going to use such an expensive and limited-use item, it'll almost certainly be an extreme emergency and I'd like to make it count.



As for my other main healer, whose magic is nowhere near as good, I've given him anything that doesn't particularly need high magic or a high staff rank.



Having more ore than I know what to do with and a bunch of accumulated rubber bows I can't sell, I forge Arthur another bow out of them in case he really needs the crit protection at some point.



Speaking of forging, Leo now has a forged nosferatu tome, just in case it proves useful. He's gained more than enough defense as a dark knight to be able to still frontline enemy phase semi-tank as a sorcerer, so I'm not overly worried about him.



Kana also has a forged killing edge, in case he winds up needing it.



...Yeah.



I... think that's everything, War Journal.

...Let's go.






































(Dakota and company all burst into the throne room at once, weapons readied.)


Dakota: GAAAAAARROOOOOOOOOOOOOON!

(A Purple maid is using a recover staff on what can loosely be described as Garon's face, with almost no effect. However, it seems to have restored his ability to talk. But his words are slurred and his breaths are frequent and struggling. He turns to face them.)

Garon: GHHHK... You... you insolent little rodents... GHHH... all of you... you have accomplished... GHHHH... nothing! Do you hear me!? HHHHHHHHHHHHHNothing you have done hhhhhhhhmatters in the long run! There is hhhhhhhhhnothing you can do to me, there is hhhhhhhhnothing I can sacrifice, that I cannot or will not undo... GHHHHK... once this wretched world... GHHHHHK... gives me its hhhhhhhpower! I will make myself... GHHHHHK... a new... hhhhhhhhbody... GHHHHHK... a young body... GHHHHHK... an hhhhhhhhhhhimmortal body... GHHHHHHK... AND I WILL... GHHHHHHK! HHHHHHHRULE THIS WORLD AS ITS NEW AND UNQUESTIONED-

Xander: SILENCE!

(Garon continues his sickly breathing)

Xander: I have made excuses for you. Toiled for you. Fought for you. Killed for you. In another time I died for you! All the while telling myself that no matter how horrible it may seem, no matter how much my heart may protest, you were still my father... you were still the only hope for Nohr.

(Xander draws Siegfried)

Xander: But you are neither, Garon. You are no father, and you are no king. You are a monster and a tyrant, and I loathe every moment I ever thought otherwise! So prepare yourself, monster, and make peace with your wretched god, because tonight we take our first true step towards reclaiming our kingdom! AND IT IS A STEP THAT WILL CRUSH YOU LIKE THE FILTHY, CONTEMPTIBLE COCKROACH YOU ARE!



Well said, Xander.

Because now we end this!



I am the reaper!



He is my prey!



This is my scythe!



AND YOU'RE IN MY WAY!

BEGIN.



Garon's forces are... disarmingly sparse... it's basically just a straight line with a bunch of optional pockets of... wait... why is my dragonvision tingling? Why... what...



...What...?



WHAT!? FUCK WHAT!? FUCK WHAT FUCK WHAT FUCK WHAT WHAT WHAT FUCK WHAT FUCK!?



EVERYONE, EMERGENCY PROTOCOL 57B/Q7! ALL SQUISHIES AND FLIERS GET BEHIND TANKS IMMEDIATELY! ELISE, GET BEHIND THE CREEPY ME CLONE! NO ONE UNPAIRED! NO ONE UNPAIRED, THIS IS NOT A DRILL!



ALL TROOPS ADVANCE FOR PRE-EMPTIVE SEARCH AND RESCUE, ALL TROOPS ALSO BRACE FOR ISOLATED COMBAT!



...Thankfully they seem to have gone for the strongest links in the chain rather than the weakest. ...They also didn't attack, either. What's Garon playing at...?



...Oh. Shit.



...Did Garon just take advantage of my excessive caution and trick me into pairing up everyone, thereby allowing him to rob me of as many nearby units as possible so he could rush what remained with a group of ridiculously powerful enemies with an obnoxious skillset it would be near suicidal to counter-attack and an extreme nuisance to eradicate on player-phase!?

Well played, you son of a bitch.



Let's see if it's enough.

I send in Leo at an angle so three of the four enemies can attack him. They all have spendthrift and can do obscene damage, but Leo's defense is quite good, and on top of that, between Lily's Poise, Rose's Thorns, Rally Defense, Demoiselle and Inspiration, that quite good defense is now boosted by a further twelve, and his formidable offense by six. With the entrap staves gone now, I can start splitting up my units, and I start with Elise. This will help speed up splitting up others who need to do things and get Laslow replicated faster. I also had Xander switch over to Selena so he can fly to join the fight faster since he's gonna be a big help against the counter-countermagic soldiers if too many wind up surviving.



As for the others, Mozu and I race towards the center hall as well, hoping to take out the enemies in our chambers with counter-attacks if they pursue (they still haven't), but Velouria stays behind to take out her master ninja since she's melee locked.



This unlocks the door in her room. She has a clean path to the main hall.



The enemy behaves roughly as expected, and the reinforcements are coming in from the northern chambers. Thankfully I'll have the main army cleared out in time to deal with them.



A bunch of swordmasters with Armoured Blow, and a bunch of spear masters with Warding Blow. The swordmasters are the more problematic ones since they're ridiculously fast, to the point that even with Laslow rallying, most of my army still can't double any of them, and all the ones that can are either too far away, debuffed by a silver shuriken, or both.



First things first, though. One of four special techniques or a critical, any will be enough to do the job.

Go for it, Kana.



There we go!



And Xander takes out the remaining soldier from afar.



As it is unfortunately my only viable option right now, I have Leo try to take out the spear masters on counter-attack, hoping for a lucky critical with Excalibur. If I get really unlucky I still have some room to retreat.



His mother's tome in hand, Leo fights with a fire and a passion even beyond what I've seen from him before, summoning cyclones left and right, not leaving one of these creatures alive.



However, due to enemy pair-ups and the swiftly approaching swordmasters, we're forced to retreat.



...And this is where I finally join the battle!



Dakota: WHAT'S THAT, GARON!? THOUGHT THIS WOULD BE ENOUGH FOR ME!? YOU CATCH ME IN ONE LITTLE TRAP AND SUDDENLY YOU FORGET WHO YOU'RE DEALING WITH!?



Dakota: IS THAT IT!? NOTHING LEFT BUT A BUNCH OF HEALERS!? WAS THAT REALLY ALL YOU HAD!? COME ON! YOU CAPTURED A THOUSAND SOULS, DIDN'T YOU!? THERE'S NO WAY I'VE KILLED THAT MANY PURPLE ONES YET! YOU CAN'T HAVE STOPPED AT THIS! GO ON! BRING ON THE SHADOWS OF EVERYONE I'VE EVER KILLED! I'LL KILL THEM AGAIN, RIGHT HERE AND NOW!



Dakota: WHAT!? NOTHING!? NO MORE TROOPS!? WELL THEN STRAP IN, GARON, BECAUSE THAT NECKLACE IS COMING OUT OF YOU ONE WAY OR ANOTHER!

Leo: Sister, wait! You can't get close to him! Remember the Heaven Vein! It's too risky, he might manage to force you into it!

Dakota: ...Damn it, you're right... Well then... Wait! I could get my magic card clone to-



Camilla: Darling, please. You're far from the only one here who has a bone to pick with daddy dearest.

Xander: Even if this timeline isn't long for this world, a soon-to-be king can hardly stand back and let others do the dirty work!

Elise: I'm here too! Anything he does to anyone, I'm patching it right back up!

Leo: You put him in this condition, Dakota. Let us take care of the rest.

Dakota: ...Of course.



With a little bit of help, of course. Hm... Bölverk... if my Elder Nohrian is correct, that means Wretched Work. Plus 20 critical evade. Impressive. But let's see how your precious Wretched Work...



HOLDS UP AGAINST A TRUE HERO'S WRETCHED LUCK!

...Ouch. That took a bigger bite out of him than I thought. Looks like I'll only need one other person to finish him off.



Leo, why don't you do the honors?

Garon: GHHHHHK... HHHHYOU... HHHHHHOW DAAAARE...

Leo: ...Far too many times in my life, Garon, I've asked myself a question that I could never find myself able to answer. The question? What did Mother see in you? That question puzzled me even before I saw you for what you truly were, but now? Now I only have dozens more questions just like it. How could she have been so blind to what you truly were? Her heart was great, but it did not rule her. She was kind, but not soft. And yet she married you. Had two children with you. Helped you unite the country. Why? How could she possibly have loved you?



Leo: ...Only now, seeing you like this up close, prepared to kill you, do I feel I might know the answer: ...Perhaps... she didn't. I only know her from a single research log and faint memories, true... but she barely ever mentioned you. None of us ever remember her saying a single nice thing about you, in fact. So perhaps... perhaps she simply married you out of convenience. Perhaps she thought the resources it would grant her were worth it. ...Perhaps she thought she'd be able to protect us from you.

Garon: HHHHHHHHHShe... was wrong... GHHHHHK!

Leo: Enough. There will be other times to ponder such things. For now? I shall simply settle for using Mother's magic to do what she, no, what we all should have done years ago.



Leo: Farewell, Father.



It's... it's finally over.

(Dakota is about to walk towards Garon's corpse, but stops herself)

Dakota: ...Somebody needs to make sure he's dead. He's taken me off guard with that twice now, we have to-

Camilla: Right. I'm on it.

(Elise turns away, unable to watch. Camilla readies her axe and, with a mighty swing, brings it down on Garon's head. Not stopping there, she hacks and hacks at Garon's body until it's in half a dozen pieces.)

...Right then. Finally, it's time.



(Dakota pulls out Azura's necklace, covered in melted and burnt flesh, and wipes it off with her cravat)

Dakota: ...There. Sorry about the smell, Azura, but there's not really much we can do about that. I assume you can still use it?

Azura: Yes. Thank you, Dakota.

(Dakota looks up towards the sickly purple column of energy behind the throne and sees the Amulet of Ruin within it)

Dakota: ...Right. Azura. Are you ready?

Azura: Yes.

...Finally. After all this time... I can finally be free of this cursed timeline.



I can finally...

...

?

Edited December 17, 2016 by Alastor15243

[Alastor15243]

Alright, full disclosure:

After all this time, I've ceased to be blind to the story of Fates. I'm still basically completely gameplay blind to the chapters I haven't done, but storywise I've known quite a few details about conquest, and I knew who the final boss would be for several chapters. I will even admit I've looked up one or two things (but not everything) about Conquest and Revelation plotwise just to make sure I don't completely write myself into a corner now that I'm so largely off the rails (and also because I've ceased caring about Fates' story so the concept of spoilers kinda lost its sting). So I had a basic idea for what I wanted to do storywise for this battle. However, as I didn't look at any of the maps before reaching them in-game, so I'm only now seeing the endgame map. As such, while Birthright's endgame was released basically within a day of me beating chapter 27, this may take a few days, I need to write some dialogue and justify everyone's starting positions... among other things...

Anyway, thank you for your patience.

Edited August 19, 2016 by Alastor15243

[Prince Cavvy]

I've been reading through this, and I'm quite impressed, but I do have a question.

Would any "recruited" units (like other avatars) end up acting like the Bond Units (i.e. good at fighting but flop around like fish out of water any other time) or would they end up being more "silent mercenaries" in this story, were they to appear at all?

Edited August 20, 2016 by Generic Cavalier

[Alastor15243]

I've been reading through this, and I'm quite impressed, but I do have a question.

Would any "recruited" units (like other avatars) end up acting like the Bond Units (i.e. good at fighting but flop around like fish out of water any other time) or would they end up being more "silent mercenaries" in this story, were they to appear at all?

Thanks for the question, but honestly I think any answer I could give would be more entertaining to simply reveal within the story when that time comes, honestly. Hope you keep enjoying!

[Prince Cavvy]

Oh, and by the way?

I beat Dakota's castle.

It was really tough, but I managed it by some stroke of luck.

I'm not saying I should get an award or something, but good lord that was difficult, certainly a far cry from the usual "skill/easy sieze" castles I'm used to seeing.

I especially like the use of immortal buildings to block the main enterance, but I should warn you if you try to fight in my castle in return there will be a special condition... All of this applies to my old revelations save though, the one before I started my Hard mode run, so...

EDIT: Oh, and I recruited Dakota as well, but I'm going to avoid using her for castle fights mainly due to possible paradoxes, unless... hm...

Edited August 20, 2016 by Generic Cavalier

[Alastor15243]

[spoiler=Part 3]

???: How cute. The lamb staged a coup in the slaughterhouse.

(??? Raises his bow. Instead of a simple arrow, a massive purple energy razor blade expands from the bow.)

???: Rejoicing in victory before she can even realize... that in the grand scheme of things it means nothing.

(??? fires it at Dakota and company, tearing up the room in the process as it passes)

Dakota: EVERYONE, GET DOWN!

(Everyone dives for cover, but the devastation is tremendous. Nearly everyone in the army suffers severe injuries except for Dakota, who managed to jump over it, Xander, who tanked it, and Elise, who was behind Xander.)

Dakota: Damn it! Elise! The wounded!

Elise: I'm on it!

(Elise runs over to heal the others, starting with Azura, while Xander covers her. But she's interrupted when ??? fires off a barrage of shots to harry her. Dakota readies Shadow Yato and rushes after ???)

Gotta distract him...

(Dakota does a flying jump attack at ???, who simply adjusts his grip on his bow to hold one of the ends so he's wielding it like a hacksaw, and blocks the slash with the energy bowstring. They start fighting, Yato blade clashing against energy bow.)

Dakota: You survived Lilith's astral breath... and a fall out the window... just who the hell are you!? What the hell did Iago put in my brother!?

???: I am this world's future and its destiny. I am everything that matters. I am soon to be the master of all reality, and that is all you will ever know.

Dakota: LIKE HELL IT IS! After everything I've been through, after everything I've lost, I am not letting you use me to destroy this world! NEVER!

???: ...Oh... but Dakota... I don't need you anymore.

(Dakota's ears twitch. Her pupils contract in horror.)

No...

(Dakota turns around to see two figures, clad in glowing purple cloaks, dashing out from behind the Heaven Vein. Dakota kicks ??? square in the chest and immediately starts running back to the group.)

A True Dragon warrior...

(One of the hooded figures grabs an unconscious Kana)

Awash in the blood of war...

(The hooded figure drags Kana back towards the Heaven Vein. Xander races to stop them, but the other hooded figure draws a katana and fights Xander to a standstill.)

And the willing slayer of at least 100 lives.

(Dakota rushes to Kana's aid, when suddenly she's shot from behind, and a purple energy arrow pierces straight through her back and out her chest. As she falls to the ground, she watches in horror as the hooded figure tosses Kana into the Heaven Vein.)

No...

N-no...

NO!!!

Elise: KAAAANAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

(The Heaven Vein glows a brighter and brighter purple as the unarmed hooded figure re-opens the cracks in spacetime where the souls were being stored, and sends them all flying into the Heaven Vein. When the last helpless, screaming soul flies into the Heaven Vein, the column of purple smoky light erupts through the roof of the castle, extends high into the heavens, beyond the highest clouds, and explodes outside with a crack like the mightiest thunder. The Amulet of Ruin falls to the floor where the pillar of purple smoky light once was. The unarmed hooded figure seizes it at once, pairs up with the katana-wielding hooded figure, and, with a rune and a flash of light, teleports directly to ???'s side. They hand the amulet to him, and he presses it back into his chest just as Garon had pulled it out of his. The two hooded figures once again warp away.)

???: All. According. To plan.

(Elise takes her fortify staff out and, with a mighty wave of healing energy, restores everyone to consciousness, as well as closing the wound in Dakota's chest. Velouria and Keaton stir, look around, see Dakota on the floor, and rush to her.)

Velouria: Mom! Are you okay!?

Dakota: …

Velouria: ...Mom?

Keaton: ...Honey? What... (Keaton sniffs the air) ...Where's Kana!?

Dakota: He... they... he's...

Velouria: What!? (Velouria turns to see the Heaven Vein gone, and Kana's Manhkschtall and Thunderblade tome lying on the floor) NO!

(Velouria and Keaton both rush over to Kana's discarded weapons as if hoping he's just hiding behind a pillar. Elise whips out Bifröst and raises it skyward)

Elise: Kana, arise!

(Nothing happens)

Elise: Kana! Arise!

(Nothing happens. Elise starts to cry.)

Elise: K-KANA! A-ARISE!

(Still, nothing happens. Elise breaks down in tears, before spotting Leon. She runs over to him and starts pounding his chest.)

Elise: YOU TOLD ME YOU FIXED IT! YOU TOLD ME IT WOULD WORK!

Leo: Elise... I'm sorry... but there's nothing left for Bifröst to bring back. No body. No soul. Nothing. He... he's gone.

(Elise collapses on the floor in tears again. Velouria and Keaton lose control, take wolf forms, and unleash skyward howls of despair. Azura looks out the window in horror.)

Azura: Gods... we're too late...

(Dakota turns to look outside, and sees dozens of columns of purple light gently descending from the sky. They slowly become fuller, thicker, and less gentle, until suddenly they're massive columns of energy, each like the corrupted Heaven Vein, but much, much larger. They tear up the land around them. Everything near them crumbles to dust and is swirled up into them like they're tornados.)

???: The ritual was a resounding success. Reality is collapsing as we speak. It will only be minutes now. Less than fifteen minutes. And then I, Fuchsia, will claim dominion over the full power of all reality. Well done, Fuchsia. Well done indeed. Yes, only one task remains for you to do...

(An army of Purple Ones bursts through the throne chamber doors)

???: And that's to take care of this little pest infestation. This power is for my use and mine alone.

(??? walks over to the window and serenely beholds the view)

???: Ahhh... beautiful. Just beautiful. If only Garon were here to see this. ...Oh well. More of the world for me. Look, everyone. The destruction of this world. The conversion of all creation into raw energy. Could there possibly be a more beautiful sight? ...No. No, there cannot.

(??? sighs a contented, gentle sigh.)

???: Ahh... how I have waited to behold this sight... for so very, very long...

(Music stops)

Dakota: Then you'd better look at it long and hard. Look at it with all your might. Burn it into your memory. Look at it hard enough to transcend space and time!

(Dakota raises Shadow Yato skyward, and the aura surrounding its blade expands tenfold, nearly reaching the ceiling, before she points it accusingly at ???)

Dakota: Because I swear on every soul you sacrificed to make it, YOU WILL NEVER SEE IT AGAIN!

Focus, Dakota. Quick scan of your surroundings. You can do this!

While the castle's general anti-apocalypse shield that Iago implied appears to be holding up, this stuff has flooded in.

Not even my fliers can cross it, while the Purple Ones universally can.

There's our mark. Kill him with the Shadow Yato while Azura's singing and before the apocalypse can reach West Dakota, and the path back to the past is mine. I'd say we've got a minimum of 12 minutes.

Easier said than done, Fuchsia is a nasty piece of work. And frankly I'm not entirely sure which one has the amulet in them. That replica of his will probably disappear when I kill the real one, but if not, an all-out rush tactic might not be the wisest strategy.

Still, time to drop the Nobility skill and focus on raw power. Velouria re-equips Better Odds for better survivability and to reduce the load on my healers. I'm taking Basil with me so I'll have Astra, Dragon Fang, Luna and Rend Heaven.

This is it. Everyone's re-applied their tonics. No more time to plan! LET'S WIN THIS!

Leo, rallied up, moves in to bait the oni chieftains.

Everyone else advances as well, prepared to intercept any advancing reinforcements.

They advance as expected, and I take them out, after remembering that Azura can sing again and I can rally with Laslow and replicate him simultaneously, getting us up to speed faster.

Dakota: SHIT! HE'S DOING IT AGAIN!

Wait... where'd all this dragon vein energy- RIGHT! Reality's collapsing into pure energy and flooding in here!

Dakota: VELOURIA! USE THAT DRAGON VEIN!

Dakota: BRACE FOR IMPACT!

...Close call. Fuchsia's probably going to keep doing that. We're not the only ones with access to the energy in here.

Better make this quick.

Unfortunately Leo's dual guard is no longer primed since I spent a round erecting the barrier and now I can't guarantee he'll avoid the eastern ninja's debuff. But even so and even with the defensive penalties of Excalibur (I need the power and accuracy), thanks to being rallied up and boosted by his sisters' auras, Leo will easily survive the attack from these three unhighlighted enemies.

...Unfortunately due to some enemy behavior so stupid it was ingenious, the ninja took up the only spot the malig knight could attack from, so Leo couldn't take him out.

This combined with the lower dual cavalry brigades moving out...

and some exploding faceless materializing out of the liquid ether beside us...

...means I'm now being swarmed with a ton of enemies in a very unfavorable position.

...But I don't have time to retreat, I have to take care of this immediately.

I have Xander erect a shield prematurely to block the western ninja's path so Xander can counter the incoming dark knights without his speed and defenses being hindered.

Then my Einherjar, having largely served its purpose and no longer having a partner, prepares to engage in some high-risk high-reward activity to clear out this ninja before he can debuff anyone.

Then Dwyer heals, I attack, Camilla rallies, Leo attacks, Elise silences, Mozu prepares to take out the two eastern exploding faceless in one round with assistance from Camilla's dual strikes, and Velouria prepares to do the same in the west without dual strikes, positioned to guard Laslow.

All others retreat.

I made two mistakes: I assumed self-destruct was a skill that would make an enemy suicide into somebody they couldn't hurt, and I didn't realize the bow knights were too fast for Leo to double without Laslow's rallies. Fuchsia's charging his attack again, but the barriers are still intact.

We have to take out a lot of enemies this turn and prepare to advance quickly.

Like so.

Dakota: We're almost there, everyone! Stay strong!

Yes! As predicted, the ninja goes first to maximize the attacks done while nerfed, not realizing this means that it hits Velouria's pre-prepared dual guard from Keaton!

Give them hell, you two.

Velouria/Keaton: FOR KANA!

Almost there... almost there...

And like that, the staff users are disabled...

...Nothing left but Fuchsia and faceless.

...Wait a second... how much damage?

...HOW MUCH!?

...Damn it, my dragonvision isn't telling me! It could be literally anything!

...But it would have to do a whopping 48 damage or more, all but 4 of my health, for it to kill me if I fail to activate Dragon Fang or Astra or score a critical on the one with Wary Fighter.

...To hell with it,, I'm going for it. We don't have time to lose, and nobody else is nearby! We have to clear these things out fast! There's no way Fuchsia would conceal this if not to prey on my paranoia of random chance.

WELL I'M NOT FALLING FOR IT, FUCHSIA!

Dakota: ...This is it.

Dakota: All of the obstacles are out of the way.

Dakota: Time to finish this once and for all!

???: … (Eye twitches)

Dakota: Any last words, Fuchsia?

???: This... this is impossible... you're... you're nothing! You're a sacrificial lamb! A PAWN!

Dakota: You're right. I am a pawn. And do you know why you lost? Because you never once considered what that made you.

Dakota: IT MADE YOU THE FOOL WHO LET ME CROSS THE BOARD!

(Dakota rushes up to the prone ???, spins Shadow Yato with a flick of her wrist, and presses it blade-down over ???'s heart)

Dakota: Now Queen me.

(Dakota stabs ??? through the heart. The shattered fragments of the Amulet of Ruin erupt from ???'s body as he screams in agony with his last breath.)

...It's done.

(A column of light surrounds Dakota.)

Right. Now to return you to the paradox chamber, War Journal-

Leo: DAKOTA! WAIT! I JUST REALIZED SOMETHING IMPORTANT! IT'S ABOUT SAKURA! I KNOW WHY SHE DIED!

(The light brightens around Dakota, preparing to take her back into the past)

Dakota: OUT WITH IT!

Leo: IT WAS A REFLECT CASCADE!!!

Edited September 30, 2016 by Alastor15243

[Alastor15243]

Aaaaaaaaaand... That ends Conquest! Damn that took a while! Hope you enjoyed it! I'm really excited about what I have planned for Revelation, I think you're going to love it. I may take a bit of a break, but I don't know if I'll be able to keep myself away from this.

So... end of volume thoughts? Likes? Dislikes? Things I did better in this volume? Things I did worse? Favorite entry? Favorite overall entry? Suggestions? Criticisms? Fire away!

But anyway, as for my own thoughts on Conquest...

...Yeah, I think everyone should be pretty well aware by this point that I really dislike Conquest's story. Birthright's wasn't great, but this... holy cow. So much of the plot hinged on this plan of theirs... and the plan was nothing but selfish, short-sighted idiocy! I hated how the other siblings basically had no opportunity to grow as characters until the last two chapters of the game. I hated how Corrin and Azura, by far the two most boring of the royals, were the only ones kept in the loop. I hated how nobody called Corrin out on how unbelievably selfish his plan was, and how even at the end, when the full scale of the cost became clear, Corrin was still praised for her decision. And that's to say nothing of the numerous plotholes and instances of bizarre logic in the worldbuilding.

...But holy crap the maps. Conquest is my new favorite fire emblem from a pure gameplay perspective, it's that awesome. Gameplaywise I really only have a couple of minor gripes, like how some chapters were exclusively "hold position until attack" enemies without any enemies going on the assault to force the player to think on their toes. In those instances it felt way more like a puzzle game than a strategy game. I also dislike the balancing for most of the weapons above rank C. But besides that? So. Much. Fun! Holy shit!

Also, I did it! I beat the entire campaign without a single casualty! WHOO!

[Prince Cavvy]

Yes, good job, and quite the cliffhanger on the overarching story, I might add.

...I do know you implied the Recruit function might come into play at some point, I'm guessing that would be at some point during Revelations.

It'd make sense, too, given how this story has been coming along so far.

Someone really should try to romhack Fates into making the story more along the lines of this. I'm sure it'd be far from easy, but, I can dream, regardless.

[blah the Prussian]

So speaking of casualties: how would you have handled Xander dying in Chapter 20?

[Alastor15243]

So speaking of casualties: how would you have handled Xander dying in Chapter 20?

Frankly I might have chickened out and had him cling to life for the sake of the plot, unable to fight, since as Dakota said, anyone dying before the memory erasure got fixed would raise serious red flags with Garon. The plan would've been impossible to proceed with.

[Moblin Major General]

So, what made you decide not to use Kana in the final chapter? I know he wasn't really dead. Was it because you really needed Card!Dakota? Or just to avoid dying to Takumi?

[Alastor15243]

So, what made you decide not to use Kana in the final chapter? I know he wasn't really dead. Was it because you really needed Card!Dakota? Or just to avoid dying to Takumi?

No, it was so I had an excuse to have the final battle take place as the world was literally unraveling around them. It was my only opportunity to showcase what the Amulet of Ruin would actually do if the villains succeeded, and I had an entire expendable world to work with, I decided I might as well have it go completely to shit in the final moments.

[Prince Cavvy]

I doubt Dakota is going to forget any of this any time soon. It will weigh heavily on their shoulders for the struggles to come...

Also, I just realized, this started on my date of birth. Quite a coincidence.

Edited August 22, 2016 by Knight of Shade

[Alastor15243]

Okay, so, since this is the last path, I'm considering diving into the DLC if I need filler chapters or want to use them for story purposes. Which ones are you most interested in seeing me take on?

Edited August 23, 2016 by Alastor15243

[Moblin Major General]

Ballistician Blitz, Anna on the Run(marry her, plox), and maybe Hidden Truths as between path filler. Also, Any amiibos you haven't done yet, if you have them.

[sirmola]

Excellent job. Really can't think of any major issues.

With regard to you spoiling your self on revelation's plot, i think that it's a good thing, because it makes the your plot better, (and less likely to wright yourself into a corner)

[Prince Cavvy]

Yeah, and to be honest, Revelations' plot twists are... uhh... well, even I (someone who genuinely enjoyed Birthright and Conquests' stories) thought they were kinda... obvious? Bad, even?

[Alastor15243]

Ballistician Blitz, Anna on the Run(marry her, plox), and maybe Hidden Truths as between path filler. Also, Any amiibos you haven't done yet, if you have them.

Hm...

I considered doing it as an explanation of why the Awakening characters are here (My explanation is completely different from the canon one, I checked out the DLC but didn't play it, so I know), but there's a problem: Owain's a myrmidon in part 1 (maybe part 2, I haven't seen it). See, as his conversation with Robin in book 1 implied, he was already a dark mage at that point in my version of the story and I'm not sure if I'm comfortable violating canon like that, and that one detail is more important than it sounds.

Plus... I don't think now is the right time to do it. It wouldn't make sense storywise. I do have an explanation for how this knowledge would wind up in the literary form of the rest of the series, but having that be now wouldn't make sense.

If I can find a workaround for the dark mage thing I'll consider doing it.

[Omegaprism]

Perhaps the Before Awakening freebie? Could be a fun bit of meta-interaction.