The Doctor: Well, it seems I've finally built up the courage to upload this to this galent site. This here is my first fanfiction I wrote, which was about a year ago. I originally was going to wait until I finished it... but perhaps actually releasing it will actually motivate me to actually complete it.
Raven: ...Did you say actually three times in the same sentance?
Doc: Why... yes, yes I did.
Raven: ...moron.
Doc: Look, y'all can just leave if y'all gonna make fun of me and my meness.
Raven: ...
Ewan: I don't mind your meness.
Doc: Well, thank you, young one. I dunno why I decided to have "muses" appear as I commentate...
Raven: Because you thought it was cool.
Doc: ... *Anyway* Let's just get the obvious stuff out of the way: No, I don't own Fire Emblem, sorry, but I don't… This is just a tad of alternate universe, although that's really depending on opinion. This is based on the Nino/Erk paring, other parings featured later on include Roy/Lilina, Lleu/Sophia, Lugh/OC, Chad/Cath, Pricilla/OC, and Raven/OC...
Raven: Wait, what?
Doc: You heard me the first time. You're too much of a badass to just go off and be emo like that.
Raven: But I want to go off and be emo!
Doc: Do as you're told!
Ewan: hehehe!
Raven: Shut up, shrimp!
Doc: Behave! Both of you; don't make me come back there. Anyway, A Note on Names: I will be using specific versions of names, sometimes drawing from the direct translation, sometimes pulling from fan translation.
Lugh (pronounced Lew): Also known as Lou and sometimes Lew. Lugh is how the Celtic deity is spelt (Lugh of Fire Emblem is named after that).
Lleu (pronounced Lay): Also known as Ray or Rei. I use Lleu because that's how the Welsh version of Lugh is spelt and it sounds and looks more twinly to the name Lugh than Ray or Rei…
Nosferatu: In the backwater country that I grew up in, this is what Resire is called. Nosferatu is a more fitting name to me because the spell is vampirish (you steal your enemy's HP) and Nosferatu is the name of an old (1921 AD) German version of the movie Dracula… go figure...
Doc: This is rated T mostly for the commentary... I try to be clean, but you might see something nasty, so I'll just be safe rather than sorry. Well, that's that! Enough of my babble!
Ewan: Roll film!
Prologue
Klein, son of the count and countess of Reglay, Lord Pent and Lady Louise, and peerless sniper, returned from his evening target practice alone. It was always good to keep up his practice even with his skill. He put his bow over his shoulder as he walked back to the Lycian Alliance Army's camp. Several campfires lit his destination and he could see the shadowy figures of the army's members huddled around the campfires in the last remnants of twilight. His little sister, Clarine, was at the farthest campfire to the west, which was on Klein's left amongst the group of fires.
He sat down next to his little sister on her right, "Oh," she said quietly as he sat next to her quite unexpectedly, "You scared me, big brother."
Klein smiled cleverly, "Sorry, dear sister." he replied. He looked over to Rutgar on Clarine's left, "And how are you, Rutgar?"
"Alright, I suppose." replied the long brown haired Sacaean mysteriously. Klein smiled, Rutgar was probably there against his will, under the wing of Clarine. Clarine had dedicated herself to making Rutgar into a gentleman. Klein felt rather sorry for the chap, but figured he enjoyed Clarine's company just the same.
Klein turned to the rest of the patrons of that particular campfire. Aside from Clarine, Rutgar, and himself, there were only three others on the opposite side of the campfire. They three were only boys, perhaps twelve or thirteen. On the left of the log they'd been sharing was a green haired boy. He wore a yellow cloak over his green tunic and green knickers. He always seemed cheery and optimistic most of the time. The next boy over was a thief. He wore a brown cloak, grey baggy pants, and a blue tunic. He had sandy blond hair and a bit of a tough look on his face. The last boy on the right was the twin brother of the one on the left. He wore his dark robe that covered most of his body with its hood up. His arms were crossed and he seemed unhappy. All three were orphaned, Klein had heard. They were all very thin, as if they'd not gotten enough to eat. They were talking with each other, or actually the sandy blond haired boy and the green haired boy with the yellow cloak were talking and the dark robed boy was sulking.
"…Sure I remember my dad," said the green haired boy, Klein suddenly remembered his name was Lugh. "He was a mage, like my mom. His name was Erk. He would always put me and Lleu on his shoulders and walk around with us up on his shoulders and…"
"Wait a second," said Klein as he looked towards Lugh, "What did you say your dad's name was again?"
Lugh turned his blue eyes to Klein. "Erk, Erk of Reglay. Why do you ask?" asked Lugh with genuine curiosity.
"Because my father might've been your father's master." replied Klein. He got up and walked from his previous seat and sat on a log next to one Lugh, Chad, the sandy blond boy, and Lleu, Lugh's twin, had been sharing.
"Really?" asked Lugh, interest growing in his eyes.
"I think so," nodded Klein, "My father spoke of a young mage he took on as an apprentice before I was born. The lad's name was Erk and my father and mother treated him much like he was their own son."
"I might've been a different Erk," spoke the hooded figure of Lleu from beyond Lugh and Chad.
"I don't think so," said Klein, "Erk's a pretty uncommon name and besides, you said Erk of Reglay. My father is the Count of Reglay."
"It has to be our father," said Lugh, half to the cloaked ball of anti-socialism seated at the end of the log that was his twin and half to himself.
"Okay," said Lleu, "So what?"
"Well," replied Klein, "I'll send a letter to Reglay tomorrow and I'll ask about it. I'm sure my father would want to meet you."
Four months passed since that night in the Western Isles. Lleu had slowly become a little less anti-social and rude to people, to the nearly annoying delight of his twin. Lugh and Chad had befriended a mage named Hugh. Hugh had been humorously harassed by Lleu, but Lleu eventually warmed up to Hugh after a while. Chad had also befriended a fellow thief, a girl his age by the name of Cath…
Lugh emerged from the entrance of the Dragon Temple. It was nice to breathe the clear mountainous air of late spring after being in a musty old temple for a few days. He gazed out onto the grassy plain, the lake, and the mountains beyond, a battleground but a few days before. Most of the army was still emerging from the chamber, but Lugh spotted his twin a few dozen yards ahead, pensively looking out to the landscape.
Lugh walked up to his twin's side, "Hey." he said in greeting.
"Hey," said his brother. There was a short silence before Lleu said, "…We did it."
"Yes, yes we did," said Lugh, crossing his arms in accomplishment, a grin on his face.
"You were pretty awesome back there," remarked Lleu honestly as he looked onto his brother, "With Forblaze and all…"
"Oh," said Lugh with a bit of a smile, "Of course, when you cast Apocalypse on that dragon… that was so cool."
"Thank you for that." said Lleu, patting his brother on the back, "And for being here… I guess it's hard for me to admit, but I probably wouldn't have survived without you and Chad watching my back…"
"Yeah, I'm glad we found each other," remarked Lugh, "I think we're pretty much unstoppable together."
Lleu gave a very rare smile as he stared at the lake ahead, "Especially with Devine Weapons on our belt… Athos and Bramimond will roll over in their graves to find out their weapons were successfully wielded by a pair of 13 year old poor orphaned boys. It'd be really cool if they let us keep them."
Lugh laughed, "I really don't think Bern or Arcadia would let us '13 year old poor orphaned boys' keep their national treasures. Although, yes, it would be epic if we got to keep the most powerful anima and dark tomes known to exist."
Presently, Chad, Cath, and Hugh approached the twins, "Hey guys." said Chad happily.
The young sage and druid turned around to meet their friends, "Hey," they said, humorously at the same time.
There was a strangely awkward silence before Lugh asked, "So… what are you guys going to go now that it's over?"
"Well," said Hugh, "As for me, I'm going back to Etruria to start..."
"Me and Lugh are headed that way," said Chad, "To pick up the little ones."
"Don't forget me," said Lleu quietly.
"Wait a second," said Lugh, "You're coming too?"
"I guess…" said Lleu, but that was all Lugh needed.
"Yay! I'm so happy, Lleu!" Lugh squealed joyfully. He then spontaneously bear hugged his brother. He squeezed so hard, Lleu feared, that despite his very heavy druid's cloak his ribcage would break under the pressure. "Then you'll never ever leave ever, will you Lleu?" Lugh had a way of making a joyful moment that would make the heartiest men cry a tear of joy.
"Well… I… um…" said Lleu as he gasped for air, "You and I… we'll talk about that part… later." Lleu really wished his brother would stop crushing his skeleton, but he also really couldn't deny all the overwhelmingly brotherly love his brother had for him that he was trying to convey particularly now. "Can… Can I… breath now… please?"
"Oh, sorry," said Lugh, his smile changed to a frown at himself for being so careless. Lleu immediately doubled over and spent a minute to catch his breath as everyone chuckled.
"Where will you guys go after you've picked up the little ones?" asked Hugh.
"…I dunno," said Chad, "Araphen, I guess."
"Or perhaps somewhere else," said Klein as he walked up to the five.
"Lord Klein. Did you receive word from your father?" asked Lugh.
"Only just now, actually," replied Klein, "The messenger was trailing us for nearly 3 months. It was hard for him to catch up with us on the move all the time… Anyway," he pulled out the letter. It was on fine parchment, penned elegantly, and had the seal of House Reglay stamped at the bottom of the message and pressed in the broken wax seal, "My father, Lord Pent, invites you, Lugh, Lleu, and Chad, along with any of your friends that would like to come, to Reglay castle. He and my mother, Lady Louise, wish to meet you in person."
"Sure," said Lugh, "We'll go there after we've picked up the little ones, right guys?"
"…I guess," said Lleu, "If this Lord Pent guy invited me… besides, I don't think Lugh would take no for an answer from me, anyway."
Lugh grinned at his twin as Chad spoke up, "Sure, I'll go there."
"Mind if I come along?" asked Cath, who'd been quiet until that moment, "…I've heard some… interesting stuff about Lord Pent and I wanna see it for myself!"
"Sure," said Chad. He knew she really wanted to check and see if Lord Pent was corrupt or not and then maybe steal something from him, "I guess you're my friend, after all. Just don't call me 'Servant Number 1' the whole way."
"Hey, I already stopped doing that," retorted Cath, "Besides, we're partners now, we need to stick together!" Even though she kind of talked down to Chad, even if he was older and didn't deserve it, she was touched to hear that Chad had called her his friend…
"I never quite said we were 'partners' either… but… er, whatever" said Chad, rolling his eyes. Everyone laughed.
"How about you, Hugh?" asked Lugh, "You wanna join us?"
Hugh thought for a minute before saying, "Alright. Lord Pent is a great sage, so they say, he might teach me a few pointers and such. Why not?"
"Very good, I'm sure my father would be happy to have all of you." said Klein with a hospitable grin, "When you're ready, Clarine and I will be waiting at the inn at the village near the south edge of the lake."
They all nodded and Klein left for the village. Roy exited the temple with Idenn, formerly the demon dragon, in his arms. After talking with Merlinus, Roy dismissed the entire army. Lugh and Lleu convinced the other three to leave quickly, as both twins wanted to keep their divine weapons without having to turn them over to Merlinus. They arrived at the village to meet up with Klein, his sister Clarine, as well as Tate, and Rutgar, the later two being the former's guests. The group set out towards the direction the afternoon sun was setting, west towards Reglay.
The Doctor: Well, there's the prolouge; the first chapter will follow... very soon because I've already written it.
Ewan: Please review this.
Raven: Or I will hunt you down and gut you like a fish!
Doc: Raven, save that for when they give negative reviews.
Raven: Very well...
Doc: Don't let him discourage you, a review (a kind review, even if critical) is most warmly welcome. So get to it, please review it!
Raven: Man, that's corny as hell...