Lucina sighed as the warm salty air rammed into her pale face and through her long, dark-blue hair, making it fly freely. As the ship moved forward, she leaned against the dark brown wooden railing, the old wood splintering and piercing through her sleeves and gently pricking her skin. The sounds of the waves crashed against the hull of the boat, the giant white sails flapped as the wind pushed against the sheet, and the seagulls let out high-pitched squak as they floated beside the ship. She smiled at the beautiful scenery as the summer sun enveloped her in its warmth. Past a couple of small, wispy clouds, the blue sky was clear for the sun to glare down at the world.
“It’s hard to believe that a week ago, the world almost ended.” The blue-haired girl sighed to herself, running her sleeve across her face to wipe away a few specks of salty cold water that sprang up and hit her.
“Ey,” A deep voice called out from behind the teenager, making her stand up straight and turn to see who addressed her. The sun was quickly eclipsed by the massive figure that now towered over her. If she didn't know better, she could have sworn that it was nighttime. ‘“Holy mother of Naga–” she quietly said to herself not being able to believe that something could grow into that size. The man-thing that had approached her gave a warm smile as though it had heard her comment. Turning his gaze outwards to sea, the colossus held onto the railing of the ship covering it completely with a massive hand.
“Captain Koda” Lucina said, turning to the leader of the ship and giving him a nod of acknowledgement. Captain Koda was a towering specimen of a man with dark hair sprouting off every inch of his body. At a distance one could have mistaken him for a bear. His choice of clothing did not also alleviate his bear-like qualities since he only wore a pair of brown leather shoes and tan shorts that didn’t even go down to his knees. It was a good thing that Lucina had met the captain during the day rather than at night prior to the voyage, cause she feared she would attack the poor hairy man in self-defense. She’d hate for her warrior instincts to kick in and end up having to explain to the crew why their captain was cleaved in two if he was able to surprise her at night. She was also glad that she had gone alone in this voyage because if her father’s expert hunter had come along, Captain Kodas head would have been adorned above a fireplace.
“Thank you again for taking me on the voyage with you,” She said, her hand falling to the hilt of her sword. It was a habit she had gotten into early in her life: squeezing the soft leather grip that covered the handle. It had always brought her a sense of comfort no matter the situation.
“Anything for a member of royalty, not to mention one who helped save the world,” he said, crossing his arms, smirking down at the teen. “For the proper price, of course.” before leaning his head back and barking out a laugh, while Lucina let out a shy chuckle and her hand went up to her left eye to cover it. The girl was indeed royalty, a fact that she had hoped to keep secret for as long as she could. But when the mark of her royal lineage, the Mark of the Exalt, was branded in her eye, it rendered her secret harder to keep hidden. She was sure the five thousand gold she had been charged to ride on the ship would have been much cheaper if the captain had thought she was a normal lady just wanting to go on an adventure.
“Though, the crew and I have been wondering: why is a member of royalty wanting to sail away from her kingdom?” he asked her as he leaned against the railing making it creak under his immense form. The railing seemingly ready to snap at any moment but holding on.
“You are a nosey group, then, aren’t you?” she shot back, leaning her back against the railing of the ship like him, only for a moment, and crossed her arms as a small smile grew on her face. “You know, captain, curiosity killed the cat?” She chaffingly said.
“True, oh so true!” He laughed, reaching over and clapping the princess on the back, making her grunt as she staggered forward. “But satisfaction brought him back. But, don’t worry lass, if you don’t want to say, we won’t bug ya. We’ve had all manner of man and creature on this ship, and their stories were a mystery we didn’t bother solving,” he assured her, barking out a loud laugh that hit her like a cannonball. “Anyways, I wanted to come and warn you about what's coming up...”
“Pirates?” Lucian asked, her hand instinctively falling back to her sword as she started to look around nervously as if they were about to be boarded at any moment, though the ocean was clear. But looking around she noticed that in front of them, the clouds were looking a lot less friendly and dark with flashes of lightning in them.
“Nay” he sighed. His smile wavering for a moment as he scratched the back of his head and looked at the clouds wearily. “I wish…pirates would be so much easier to explain. But alas what we’re going into is something unnatural. We sea lovers call it the Glacier Fangs.” He started to explain, his smile disappearing. “That bit of the sea over yonder is caught in an endless winter. No man knows why it’d be like that, but tis the truth. Been that way since I was a lad, me father was a wee lad, and granddad was a young man taking his first ship out.”
“Why don’t we just go around it?” Lucina asked him, her eyebrows knitting at the mention of an endless winter. Despite her tunic and pants covering her from head to toe, her clothes offered little to no protection from the cold. She wasn’t equipped to go through a winter storm, and from the captain's lack of clothes, he looked less prepared for it unless his black body hair counted as a winter coat. Sure she did have thick warrior boots, fingerless gloves and her cape banner for extra warmth but it would not be much.
“Normally we would,” He sighed, his hand reaching up and petting his beard like it was some sort of pet attached to his face. “But we’ve been tasked and paid to take the fallen bodies of soldiers to the next continent and those corpses wouldn’t last the extra three days trip going around the storm. Brave souls who wanted to try and make a difference in the world, just to meet a hero's end.”
“You know captain, gold is good and all, but you need to be alive to spend it.” The girl pointed out, sighing as she shook her head. But before anything else could be said the warm sun suddenly disappeared as a cold breeze chilled the air around them making the princess shiver.
“I’ll tell me crew that, see if they agree!” He said before laughing again, clapping the girl on the back once more. “Anyways, it will take us a day's journey to get through the Glacier Fangs. Feel free to wait in your quarters downstairs to stay warm.” He advised her. “I gotta find me shirt if I’m gonna try and survive this!” He announced with a grin before turning and leaving the girl alone.
“Unbelievable,” Lucina mumbled to herself, a puff of white fog coming out of her mouth like a ghost had just been pulled out of her. She had just needed a ride to the next continent to hopefully try and start a new life. In a place that hopefully didn’t recognize the Mark of the Exalt. Sure she could have stayed home with her parents in the castle after the fall of Grima. She would have been accepted and treated like the princess she was, never having to pick up a weapon ever again, and never having to worry about anything for as long as she breathed. But that wouldn’t have felt like the right thing to do. She wasn’t from this world afterall or this timeline to be more precise. She had come back from her own timeline in which she had failed to save the world from an evil dragon called Grima.
Now that this timeline’s world was safe from the great evil, it no longer needed her and it was time for her to find her own destiny. It was comforting to know that this world’s version of her, who was no more than a baby barely able to crawl, had a bright future ahead of her. But she would need to live through this trip for that new chapter in her life to begin. She began negotiating whether or not this little frozen death trap could help get some sort of discount.
But as snowflakes started to drizzle over the princess and decorate her hair in icy glitter, she sighed and began making her off the deck. She did not at all want to have to deal with the cold and the possibility of frostbite. She had just survived a war against a demonic dragon that wanted to destroy the entire planet and dying in a little snowstorm didn’t sound too heroic. That would also be embarrassing to have that carved into a tombstone:
***
“Here Lies Lucina, Hero Of The War Against Grima. Died In A Random Snow Storm At Sea”.
***
Throwing open the door leading to the lower decks, she made her way down the dimly lit stairwells. A high-pitched squeak echoed through the empty space as she made her way to the first lower deck, the sound of crew members talking and laughing could be heard as they drank alcohol and sang sea shanty songs.. The princess decided not to go and chat with them, figuring they had better things to do than be bothered by their “royal” passenger. Besides, she was sure their captain was going to call for them shortly to get to the main deck to help navigate through the Glacier Fangs. So she pressed forward to go to her room, only pausing as she got to an open door and sadly sighed seeing a dozen or so coffins in the room. These poor souls were the whole reason they were forced to go through a frozen sea death trap.
But the princess wasn’t cold and callous despite the current inconvenience. She knew that the families of these fallen souls wanted to get their sons and daughters, husbands and wives, and friends back home sooner so they could have a proper funeral for them. Plus how many of them perished because of the Fell Dragon, maybe not directly from his claws but due to him being there?
The undead, known as Risen, could have attacked these people and killed them or maybe their deaths had nothing to do with the war but something like sickness. It was unknown how each of them had passed away and it wasn’t like she had the luxury of knocking on the boxes they laid in and asking them about their life stories. But the princess did walk in and gently placed a hand on the first wooden box. Unlike the boat they rode in, the coffins were smooth and didn’t attack her with a thousand splints. She closed her eyes in a moment of silence and began to speak.
“Mother Naga, please see these souls safely to their next destination.” She prayed silently, though as a buzzing sound replied to her, making Lucina lift her hand off the coffin in shock. ‘If bugs had already gotten into the coffins then their families probably weren’t going to have an open-casket funeral…that's a shame’ she thought mournfully. But as she turned around to walk away she felt a shiver run down her spine as though something was crawling on her moving her hand to swipe at it. Lucina couldn’t stand bugs and she could have sworn she felt something crawling on her neck. But as she moved her hand back to her face she didn’t see any crushed remains of a creepy crawly.
“Ok, it's time to leave.” She said, shuttering as she hugged herself and left the room using her foot to shut the door. As the door vibrated shut the girl winced from the loud noise. Feeling a tinge of regret not having meant to slam the door so hard and disturb the souls of the dead. t tBut knowing that there was some sort of unknown bug munching on the corpses didn’t sit well with her and tied her stomach into a knot. So she continued her journey back to her room not stopping for anything else. Periodically slapping at a random spot on her body that felt like something might be crawling there. But soon she got back to her quarters and shut the door behind her before sighing in relief.
The room wasn’t anything to write home about, she had a wooden bed that had a grey blanket on it that attacked her skin like the railing on the main deck did, causing her entire body to itch whenever she used it, and a small desk that had a half-burnt candle on it. It was a rough time to be going through a magical snow storm with only an itchy blanket to cover herself in and a small candle for warmth, but had been through worse with less. Thankfully some of the remaining light outside poured in through a small round window that was beside her bed. However, a bit of the cold frosty air was also managing to seep through the window, making the blanket situation far worse than it had to be. At least it was a lot warmer in her room than it was going to be outside.
Reaching down the princess unstrapped her sheath from around her waist before propping it against the wall beside her bed. The dim light from the window enveloped the sword's tear-shaped gap, in gleaming splendor, resembling the Mark of the Exalt. She wasn’t expecting to need her sword, but she never wanted the blade to be out of her reach in case something happened and she needed to defend herself. If things were tense she would have slept with her sword in the bed with her, but past being a tad annoyed with the ship's captain, she didn’t feel like she was in any danger that her sword could protect her from. Plus the sword was worthless in anyone else's hands, as it became too dull to cut anything if wielded by anyone but her; so she didn’t fear anyone taking it.Well anyone in her bloodline could use it, but the chance of finding someone she was directly related to out in the middle of the ocean was slim to none. The blade, which was named the Falchion, was her birthright and had been inherited by her from her fallen father in her own timeline.
With the blade in sight Lucina sighed as she sat on her bed and stretched her arms up, her back popping satisfyingly, before laying down on the bed and closing her eyes. Not that she had a taxing day or anything, her main activity had been watching the ocean waves. But what else was there to do? Besides taking a nap and hoping that when she woke up, they would be out of this accursed everlasting stretch of sea, the Glacier Fangs.
***
Though sleep didn’t want to stay with the princess at first, she was swiftly able to fall asleep in a matter of minutes. A useful skill she had picked up while being on her own and running for her life. Being able to sleep just about anywhere had really come in handy despite the uncomfortable situations.
However, her slumber was short lived when a chill ran down her spine causing her to sit up. She wasn’t sure how long she had been asleep. Iit could’ve been for a few seconds or maybe an hour. But light still shone through her now frosted window, so she hadn’t been asleep for too long. She began to wonder what that uneasy feeling was that had woke her up when she was startled by a noise. The clear distinct sound of swords clashing and panic reverberated throughout the cabin.
“Pirates!” She hissed out, but as she reached for her sword she heard a loud crash coming from her door making her shoot her eyes over to see the head of an axe sticking through the door.
“Excuse me, lady’s quarters!” Lucina hissed out as she grabbed her sword, flinging the blade out of its sheath as the grey rusty axe was dislodged out of the door. Just when Lucina was about to leap into action to confront her attacker, her courage turned to ashes as she was hit with a sound that she would never forget.
“Weraaaa!” A high-pitched demonic shriek came from the other side of her door, causing goosebumps to run up and down the girl's body as she pinned herself against the wall. Her hands immediately began to tremble with adrenaline as she held her sword towards the door in a form of defiance. Her eyes widened in terror as the same axe came crashing through the door again, shattering the cheap thin wooden door and revealing something that the princess had hoped she’d never see again.
A corpse began to slowly shamble its way past the shattered door. Its decomposing pale body showed no signs of life as it gripped its axe. Its body twitched and jerked with each movement in such an unnatural way as though it were a puppet on strings. Bits and pieces of its flesh slumped off its body with every step it took as though it were melting. Lucina could only watch in trembling horror as the glowing red eyes of the creature fixated on her with overwhelming hunger and malice.
“Risen, here?” She asked as she shook her head, not wanting to believe that the monster was here in front of her. She prayed that this was just some nightmare and that she would soon wake up from. But she knew that this wasn’t the case here, she had gone through too much in life for her to lie to herself. With a deep breath she narrowed her eyes as she lunged forward with all the bravery she could muster, slicing the monster across the chest.
“Raaaaaaa!” The Risen howled as it stumbled back and crashed hard onto the wooden floor.. Giving it no chance to retaliate, Lucina raised her Falchion above her head and planted it down into the heart of the creature. Impaled by the holy blade, the monster began to spasm violently as the red glow from its eyes faded away.
“Whew,” Lucina shakily sighed in relief as she removed her blade from the monster's chest looking up at the ceiling above her. She could still hear the sounds of battle coming from the main deck causing her to fear the worst. Maybe the crew wasn’t fighting pirates, but something that shouldn’t even exist. Kneeling down to inspect the corpse closer, she noticed that it had once been the body of a skinny man with brown hair. It was dressed in a brown tunic and pants reminiscent of the clothing that common folk would wear. ‘How could such a thing come aboard in the middle of the sea and why did it seem so familiar?’ she thought. ‘We are nowhere near any villages and the only ones that had such similar clothes were the deceased inside…of the…cof–’.
“Ah!” Lucina cried as a BZZZZZZ went by her ear . She quickly turned to see that it was a fat-looking gray beetle about the size of her thumb with tiny glowing red eyes hovering inches from her face. “AAAGH!” She squealed in a high-pitched and very unwarrior-like way as she swung her blade wildly as though it were a fly swatter.. With an audible tink, the beetle flew into the wall after being hit by the princess’ sword and crashed onto the ground. Unfortunately for Lucina it was still alive wiggling its many legs in the air with its back on the ground trying to get its small plump body back upright. “And I thought all of this undead, Grima nonsense would be over with!” She yelled in disgust as she looked between the corpse and the beetle. “So you things were what I heard earlier.” She hissed to the beetle before lifting her foot and slamming it down on the plump beetle, shuttering at the juicy squish sound that came from the flattened bug. “Well, time to tie up some loose ends before I start my new life.” She said with a sigh before rushing to the main deck.
Author's Note
Huge thanks to Xowatle and Love And What Came After (Riley) on Discord or looking this part over and fixing grammar mistake and adding other details to the part
Bursting through the door leading to the upper deck sword at the ready, Lucina’s heart pounded in her chest fearing the worst. She instantly had to shield her eyes from being blinded by the frigid wind. The once soft snowflakes that had gently decorated the ocean now slapped her across the face digging into her skin like miniscule daggers. So intense was the shock of the cold that it sent chills throughout her entire body. The blizzard’s roar in her ears made it almost impossible to hear anything, but she did manage to hear the cries of the crew and demonic shrills of the Risen locked in combat. Lucina could only see shadows, frantically moving within the white field in front of her.
“It’s going to be nearly impossible to distinguish friend or foe,” Lucina said, lowering her hand as she held onto her blade and squinted her eyes. She had hoped that the glowing eyes of the Risen would have made it easier to distinguish amidst this intense magical storm, but no such luck. “Magic snowstorms and magical evil corpses…can’t a girl just live a normal life?” She asked exasperated before noticing that a shadow was quickly approaching her side. “Friend friend friend!” She cried out in hopes of it just being a crew member, but as the figure loomed closer its glowing red eyes became noticeable in the tempest. The Risen rushed towards Lucina with its sword raised, ready to send it soaring down on her head. Sadly for the creature even in the middle of a magical snowstorm, the princess was quick. She raised the Falchion above her head, sparks flying off the blades as they hit each other.
Lucina growled as she kicked the once human in the gut, sending it stumbling backward and without missing a beat she lunged forward burying the blade into the Risen's chest. The corpse shrieked as its body convulsed from the deadly impact and just as suddenly became quiet. Looking up Lucina noticed that she was quickly becoming surrounded by several shadows with glowing red eyes. It seemed that the cries of the Risen had beckoned its monstrous comrades to come to its aid. ‘This isn’t good…I need to find a way to kill these things without alerting the rest and becoming overwhelmed’ she thought. Slashing and dodging Lucina slowly began corralling back the monstrosities further and further until they reached the railings. With a powerful swing from her blade she sent the undead creatures over the edge into the ocean below. Expecting the satisfying splash of her foes hitting the water, Lucina became confused when nothing but silence came back in response. The storm was so thick she couldn’t see the waves below and as far as she knew they might have been docked on land or the monster fell off onto a piece of floating ice.
“Eye, little princess!” Someone called out, their deep voice almost completely lost in the howling wind like the rest of the noise. Darting her head over to where the noise was coming from she squinted her eyes trying to discern who or what it might have been.
“Ah!” She yelped seeing a massive shadowy figure approaching her, making her hold her sword in a defensive stance. It had the rough shape of a bear on its hind legs as it grew closer and closer. ‘What the heck is a bear doing on board the ship?!?’ she thought panicking. The princess had no desire to become bear chow as much as she did not want to become of those Risen things. “Get back, bear, get back! I'm warning you!” She spat out, not thinking about the fact that the bear had just called out to her in a language she understood.
“I would suggest ye not be pointing yer blade at me. Least I be tempted to gobble ye up” Captain Koda said with booming laughter, his features finally coming into focus as he reached over and flicked the flat of her blade with his hand to the side. Lucina's panic quickly subsided as she realized who had been talking to her. Though unlike before, a giant grey jacket clung tightly around his body. ‘As if the captain needed more to keep him warm…he looks like a huge polar bear now’ she thought, chuckling to herself. “As ye can see yer assistance is much needed at the moment.” He said, his smile now gone. “These dastards just showed up out of the blue, much like this ere storm!” He said, his head looking to the side as a shadow rushed up the captain. Koda immediately growled as he reached out, not even bothering to wait to see the glowing red eyes of the Risen, and backhanded the corpse with the force of a cannon being shot point blank. It was like watching an angry bear slap a misbehaving child with overwhelming force. Immediately the monster went flying off the railing. “I was hoping with the death of that infernal dragon, all these monsters would be no more”.
“That makes two of us Captain!” Lucina attempted to yell over the sounds of the blizzard, the princess’s blue hair whipping in the air obscuring her vision even more.. “So what's the plan?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” He asked, barking a laugh as his smile returned for a moment, “Get these stowaways off me ship and continue our adventure!” He said, reaching over and slapping Lucian on the back making her lurch forward. “Might be a hefty refund in it for ye if ye can make these scallywags walk the plank in a short amount of time. I gotta steer the ship and make sure she doesn’t end up kissing an iceberg!” He informed her before turning and instantly vanishing in the white winter storm raging around them.
“Got it.” She said to herself before rushing in the opposite direction. Though she couldn’t exactly see the enemy, she figured that by following the sounds of battle she would be able to save the crew and rid themselves of the Risen. Though how many there were on the ship was yet to be seen. There had been at least a couple of dozen different coffins in the lower decks. But that didn’t mean they were all being controlled by those horrid bugs. So rushing forward she ran across the wooden deck until she saw the silhouette of people fighting.
“Excuse me!” She said, running behind the closest figure, grabbing their head and turning them around to get a closer look. What she didn't expect was for the head to turn around completely revealing an ominous pair of glowing red eyes inches from her face. The quick motion had caused the jaw of the Risen to dislocate, permeating the smell of rotting flesh as it attempted to bite her face off. “Risen!” She yelped, pushing the monster back and thrusting her sword through the monster's back as the head of an axe buried itself in the creature's neck.
“Back to the pits of Hel with ye!” yelled the axe wielding crewman as Risen let out a light growl as the red glow dimmed from its eyes. “We was wondering if ye were still alive princess, we were making bets!” laughed another crewman attempting to push back the undead with a mop. “Thank the gods you are here princess! We were not sure how much longer we would have lasted. No matter what we do, they just keep coming!” grunted a sailor kneeling before her bleeding from his chest. “Shove them overboard so they can’t get to any other bodies!” She boomed with authority to the crew members, quickly shoving the corpse over the railing to the water below.
“Yes ma'am!” responded the crew rallied by her words. She didn’t have time to explain how there were bugs that were controlling the corpses and that's what they needed to get rid of them. Being in the midst of battle surrounded by a magical blizzard didn’t seem like the right time to share the information. Hopefully, they weren’t going to have to toss too many people off the side of the ship. Those poor souls deserved a proper burial with their loved ones and not having to be controlled by demonic bugs. But as the sound of swords clashing reverberated through the wind like a ghostly echo, it was clear that her job wasn’t done yet.
Darting off in the direction of the nearest skirmish the princess prepared herself for another battle. But thankfully this round wasn’t going to be filled with a bunch of guesswork, since the closer she got to one of the figures fighting took a step back and let out a gut-wrenching ROOOOOAR. With her target in sight Lucina jumped into the air and swung down her sword cutting open the monster’s spine and making it stumble forwards.
“Quick, toss it overboard!” She ordered, pointing to the crew member she had just saved. The man looked at her with wide-eyed shock but quickly nodded in agreement as he began to hoist the body over his head. Thankfully, the man was able to throw the monster overboard before it had begun to flail wildly in the air. “Good.” she said, giving the man a reassuring thumbs-up as something flew in front of her, cutting her bangs. The cut had been so sharp that her cut hair blew away with the arctic winds mere seconds later. “Ah!” The member of royalty squeaked as she dropped low to the floor trying to dodge another attack. The cold wet wood instantly stung her hands as she crawled back, looking frantically for whoever it was that shot the arrow. But with the storm still raging on she was surrounded by endless white snow. Completely exposed out in the open, the only thing that Lucina could do was to brace for another attack. Getting on one knee she readied herself to spring into action. Tuning her warrior sense she was quick to react when she saw another arrow fly out of the white void in front of her.
“Gotcha!” She cheered, rolling out of the way of the arrow. Shoving off the ground she dashed towards her attacker. Lugging her sword forwards as soon as she saw those two familiar red eyes. However, to her dismay her blade did not hit its mark as the eyes suddenly flew away.
“Grah!” The Risen bellowed from above the blue-haired princess.Its figure nothing but a black silhouette with a bow poised to strike. An arrow now flying directly at Lucina point blank.
“Ah, no!” She cried out, pulling the Falchion back in a defensive posture. Trying to turn the blade to its flat side in an attempt to parry the shot from hitting her vitals. But as she felt a sharp pain pierce into her shoulder she knew that it wasn’t enough. “Gaah!” She spat out and whimpered as she looked at her left arm, a small wooden shaft sticking out of it. That dam corpse had gotten a good hit on her sword arm.
“GREEEE!” The creature screeched triumphantly as it jumped down from its vantage point. Instantly pulling out another arrow from its quiver aiming at her head. “Lucky shot” Lucina muttered, frowning as she took her sword in her right hand and wincing as her left arm moved as she stood up. She would need to see a healer sooner rather than later before the wound left some sort of lasting injury. Thankfully the arrow had managed to miss her major arteries. Bleeding out right now would have for sure sealed her fate. But she doubted the monster in front of her would have let her take a five-minute break to see if someone on the ship could patch her up.
“Princess!” The gruff voice of the captain called out. His booming voice barely audible over the howling wind of the blizzard. “Brace yourself, we’re at the fangs!” He announced, making Lucina break eye contact from her attacker for a moment to witness the silhouettes of giant jagged ice rocks peeking out of the ocean. She didn’t think the Fangs part of the Glacier Fangs meant anything until she saw them with her own eyes. Seeing the princess distracted, the Risen saw its opportunity to strike. But as the ship veered to the side barely avoiding an icicle spike, the princess squeaked out as her feet started to slide back on the slippery deck. Causing the Risen to also lose its balance missing its shot completely. The violent shaking of the ships as it steered clear of the rocks centimeters from impact was throwing Lucina and her opponent around as they held onto whatever they could. Combined with the strong winds that were making her arrow lodge in her arm churn around the wound, Lucina could only grit her teeth as she began trying to focus on the battle.
“I can’t fight like this!” She yelled back to the captain, though if she heard him he didn’t say anything, as she focused back on the enemy in front of her. With the monster so close, despite the blinding snow, she would see that the monster was dressed in blue clothing and wearing an armored chest plate. The symbol of Ylissel was engraved on the armor meaning that not only had this man once fought for her kingdom but that they had also been a general or high ranking officer. Which would explain why it was able to jump around effortlessly and almost hit her twice with pinpoint accuracy. It seemed that those demonic bugs were also keen on using the skills of their undead victims. But she wasn’t going to let any of them stop her, she had worked too hard and sacrificed too much to die here at the hands of what remained of Grima’s troops.
“AH!” Lucina yelled at the monster defiance, running forward and slashing her sword at the monster. Maybe it was the honed body that the monster was controlling or the fact she was using her non-dominant hand to attack, but the monster sidestepped her movement with ease. Countering her attack, the monster swung its fist at the girl, hitting her in the jaw and sending her sliding across the deck towards the railing.
“Nonononono!” She cried, trying to dig her fingernails into the wooden planks to stop herself from going overboard. Causing her hands to scrape the brittle wood to tear and prick her skin with thousands of splinters. Thankfully as she felt her feet hang off the ship the captain veered the ship in the opposite direction, stopping her slide. She quickly got back on her feet, shaking her head as she watched the monster walk up with another shot at the ready.
“Ok, now I’m mad.” She hissed, rushing up to the monster. But as it released its bowstring the teen dropped down into a slide. The slippery ground helped her gain momentum and deliver a powerful kick at the monster. Causing it to crash to the ground hard as she used her Falchion to stop her descent. As she attempted to stand up the pain in her arm throbbed, making her pause and wince involuntarily. Foolishly allowing her enemy much needed time to attempt to recover their footing. “No, you don’t!” She said, pushing herself up despite the pain rushing towards the beast. Pressing her weight on top of the reanimated soldier, trying to keep it pinned down, she raised her Falchion into the sky. The bronze colored blade and her body bursting into a red flame as she stabbed the Falchion into the Risen with shattering force. This was an ability known as Ingis, something that her mother had taught her at an early age as a means of dealing with heavily armored foes. “Leave this realm and its people alone!” She hissed in the ear of the monster as its body turned to cinders.
“Cheah…” The monster let out one final high-pitched demonic cry as the light from its eyes died down. Reaching down, she grabbed the now lifeless corpse of the soldier, tossing its body over the railing. She stood there, leaning over edge until she made certain to hear the splash come from the ocean. Sighing in relief, she hoped that there were no more Risen onboard and would never have to see them again.
“Good job, little princess!” A deep gruff voice said. Lucina flinched as she turned towards the sound, seeing an enormous shadow rapidly approaching her with its arms stretched. “Eeek!” was all Lucina could muster as Captain Koda embraced her in a twirling hug. “Save me and my crew ya did! You have my deepest gratitude!” He said laughing and patting her on the back. To the rest of the surviving crew that began gathering around them, the moment would have been quite wholesome. Had it not looked to them as though a bear was waltzing around with a blue haired twig. Lucina was brought from her daze grunting in pain as the movement made the arrow in her arm jiggle around.. “Oh whoops... Sorry about that lass, let me give you a hand there.” He said putting her down. Wrapping his hands around the arrow made it seem as though a giant was trying to pull out a toothpick-sized splinter. Lucina intently watched in surprise as the captain's face was filled with parental worry focusing on her wound. ‘I need to pull out this bugger in one go…be rude of me to cause more harm to me ships savior,’ Captain Koda thought as he fixed his gaze on the wound. “Keep the ship steady!” He yelled out towards the quarterdeck. But no sooner had he spoken when a loud BAM echoed through the air as the ship collided with something. Causing Captain Koda to jolt backwards and a Thunk sound as the arrow was pulled out.
‘Huh, that came out really easy’ was the only thing Lucina could think before the ship violently jerked. Her eyes widened in horror as she was flung backwards over the railing. Flailing helplessly as the ship's deck grew further away, her body came to a sudden stop as she crashed into the ocean below. Instantly wrapped around in arctic cold water, her body began to go into shock as she tried to resurface. Blinded by the salty cold water, Lucina could only see as the light from above grew darker as she sank further down. Attempting to swim exhausted and with a wounded arm rapidly began to drain any hope she had left. Her vision began to fade as her lungs ached for air and her body cramped up from the cold. Every fiber of her being begged for air and felt as though she was being crushed. Her vision soon faded into nothingness as she was enveloped by the darkness of the abyss.
Drifting further into the nothingness, her mind couldn't stop racing as her life flashed before her. The thoughts of never being able to see her family again made her heart ache as she began to regret her choices. Those that loved her would never find out what happened to her. Why had she been afraid to stay with them after the war? Why had she been so stupid running away thinking there was no place for her in their lives? Would they have missed as much as she missed them? But as she felt her heartbeat slow down, her thoughts were drowned out by the sounds of her heart dying. ‘At least it wasn’t Grima who got me in the end’, were her last thoughts as a golden light shined filling her sight. This was it–the other side.
***
“Just make sure we keep the area secured!” A white stallion commanded, dressed in golden armor covering his torso and a golden helm on his head. “Right away sir!” responded another dark grey stallion wearing light grey armor. Though unlike the white stallion, its body looked as if it were made of millions of tiny crystals. Making its skin glitter and reflect the light of the lamp that lit up the large stent they stood in. “Princess Twilight will be here to investigate as soon as she can. But in the meantime I want this situation under control! I want to be notified right away if anything else comes in or out of that…thing!” He ordered, raising his hoof and pointing at the entrance of the tent. “Make sure the guards stationed outside are changed every hour. We don't want nopony to freeze out there, but we need to keep it under constant surveillance”
“Yes, Prince Shining Armor!” The other pony said, saluting the white pony before turning to leave the tent. Looking down at the magical map laying at the table in front of him, the prince began to contemplate. The map before him was largely bare except for a small portion of it that represented his kingdom, the Crystal Empire. A drawing of the Kingdom he and his wife ruled was in one corner, represented by a glowing red heart, but the rest of the map was just mountains and unexplored wilderness, besides a red X marking their current position away from the kingdom.. It was a beautiful kingdom except that it was surrounded by endless magical winter storms. Making travel and exploration nay impossible all throughout the seasons. The only reason the kingdom had been protected from the cursed winter was thanks to a magical gem called the Crystal Heart. A magical artifact powered by the love and hope of its combined citizens.
Casting a magical anti-freezing protection spell over himself, Shining Armor prepared as he began to make his way outside. His long unicorn horn casting a dark blue hue as he focused to maintain the spell. Any being that didn't possess any sort of protective magic would not survive for long in this wilderness. The prince and his elite unicorn squad of soldiers under his command had ventured out onto the frozen tundra to investigate a glowing golden light that had appeared on the horizon. It had come out of nowhere shortly after a strong earthquake had violently shaken the land to its core. Traveling outside of the boundaries of the kingdom's protective spell, the prince and his entourage had found the source of the comotion. A glowing light emanating from a glacier that was spewing out artic salt water and waves of untamed magic. It seems that such raw magical power was causing the storm to become more severe by the minute. Dealing with such a chaotic unknown, Shining Armor had ordered everypony to stay away from the light. Without knowing what that thing was capable of, all they could do was to keep an eye on it while they waited for reinforcements.
Despite the strong protective spell that was cast over the encampment, there was still a foot of hard icy snow on the ground that crushed beneath his hooves with every step. Its powerful veil-like magic just barely sheltered the whole place from being bombarded by the snow. Unable to keep them safe from the cold however, each unicorn guard had to maintain their own heating spell to keep them from freezing their cutie marks off. Looking over the camp, Shining Armor could see how the dozens of fires they had lit trying to keep warm reflected off the giant veil. Casting a light blue hue around the whole area making it seem as though they were underwater.
“Your majesty!” a purple crystal pony called out as he ran towards him. “You are needed sir! Something…er–someponies came through out of the light.” He said, making the prince’s eyes go wide before he ran past the soldier in the direction of the magical anomaly.
All the guards had begun to crowd by the edge of the barrier trying to gawk at the spectacle. Magical power had begun to explode outwards from the light bringing with it torrents of salty water and steam that froze mere seconds later. The water was being shot out with such force that it began creating pires of spikes of ice around the light. “Out of my way, let me see what’s going on!” Shining Armor ordered with a booming voice, as he pushed his way through the soldiers that were too mesmerized to even notice him. Making it to the past crowd, the prince immediately froze as he saw a shadowy figure being propelled out of the magical geyser and landing on the icy snow with a sickening SPLAT–.
It was a mare with light blue skin and royal blue mane that seemed to glimmer in the storm. She was dressed in a strange dark blue tunic with white cuffs, a golden tiara in her hair, and a dark blue cape that hung around her. The prince soon regained his senses when the soaked mare began coughing and wheezing, struggling for air. “Medic!” he yelled as he rushed to her side powering through the blizzard. Reaching the pony, Shining Armor began expanding his own protective barrier shielding around the dying mare sheltering them from the elements. “Quick, get her to the Crystal Empire infirmary and out of these soaking clothes.” He ordered two green crystal ponies wearing medical satchels that came galloping up to them. With their help, they began to carry her back to the camp in a magical stretcher while the prince focused his magic shielding them. “Keep someone by her side at all times and notify Cadence or myself right away when she wakes up… if she wakes up.” He said with a worried look on his face. “Yes, your majesty!” Both of the medical unicorns responded in unison. Being back in the safety of the camp, the soldiers began to make way for the medical team to pass. “Sargent! Did anything else come out of that thing? I was told ponies and that was just one.” Shining Armor said looking at an ebony crystal unicorn. “Three other ponies with glowing red eyes were shot out of the geyser, sir! But they ran off into the mountains before we could stop them. One of them seemed to be gripping some sort of sword, sir. I sensed some sort of magic coming from it…powerful magic I’ve never encountered before.” Sergeant Crescent Moon explained making Shining Armor frown with concern.
“Sergeant, take a squad with you and accompany the medical team back to the castle. Make sure to report everything that's happened here to Princess Cadence,” He said, pointing back in the direction of the castle. “I want the whole kingdom to be on high alert. Something is definitely going on and we can't afford to take any chances. I want that mare to be under constant surveillance since she could be tied to all of this. We are going to need some answers from her if she survives.” He said getting a salute from the sergeant. “Right away sir!” Sergeant Crescent Moon responded as he rushed off towards the medical tent. Looking back at the light emanating from the ever-growing magical geyser, Shining Armor couldn't help but feel a sense of dread wash over him. “What in Celestia's name have we stumbled across…”
Author's Note
I know this technically a repost... but this is so widely different and better than what I had done before hand. Thanks to Xowatle for looking this over, editing, and helping with the chapter. Can't wait to see what we do together here forward.
Now I'll be honest it might be a minute until the next part as these two were more of a test to see how this would do. But it has been fun to write and combining my two favorite fandoms is just to good not to do. So expect to see more of this... eventually
