Intro: Welcome to the world-famous guild, Fire Emblem. This is an alternate universe (AU) crossover between Fire Emblem games FE6, 7, 8, 9, and 10. Mostly, it focuses on characters from 7, 9, and 10, but there are others in there as well. I'm not normally a fan of AU stories, but I really liked this idea, and I thought it fit well. And NO, for the love of God, this is not a Fire Emblem High School story.

Summary: In the world of Akaneia, a small portion of the people are blessed with unique special abilities, called Mantles. These Mantle users often band together to form Guilds, where they take on job requests work as mercenaries, adventurers, and just about anything else. Fire Emblem is one such Guild. Run by the Guild Master Athos, Fire Emblem has become a well reputed guild, and a powerful force to recon with. This is the story of Fire Emblem and it's many interesting members, including its newest member, a young girl named Micaiah.

Chapter One

Silver-Haired Maiden

The creaking sound of wooden carts rolling down the main road was a telltale sign of morning in the small town of Taras. The Sacaen border town was known best as a gathering place for farmers, from the vast city of Bulgar in the east, down as far as, and even a bit past, the Crimean border to the west. Farmers brought their crops to Tarus and set up booths along the road out of their carts. This made for a somewhat unusual marketplace. The main road in town was especially wide for this simple purpose.

The main clientele for the Taras crop market consisted of the more nomadic tribes of Sacae. These tribes choose to continually roam the nation's great plains. Because of this, towns like Taras sprang up a places for the more settled farmers and other vendors to gather and for the nomadic tribes to stop and stock up on supplies. As such, it was normal for the town to often contain notably more people than its actual population.

As the various merchants, farmers, and hired hands set about preparing their carts-turned-stalls for the coming say, a small red songbird swooped down through the street, singing happily before coming to rest on the outstretched hand on young girl with silver colored hair.

"Good morning, Yune," the girl told the bird, smiling as her airborne friend replied by shaking her tail feathers.

Michaiah stretched in the cool morning air, causing Yune to take flight again, only to perch on the girls head instead. She adjusted her maroon skirted tunic and blue scarf before looking around. The fair maiden had only just emerged from one of the local inns, the Prancing Pony. Michaiah had no family, but the owner of the inn was a kindly woman who had given her a job and lodging some two years prior, when she had arrived in the town.

As Yune twittered happily from the girls head, Micaiah made her way down the street. She greeted, and was greeted by, a number of the usual merchants and townspeople. She was very well liked in Taras, mostly because of her highly kind and compassionate attitude. Micaiah greeted everyone warmly as she passed. She even took the occasional catcall from the young hired hands in good humor.

At first, the day passed as any other. Nomads from several tribes entered the village as the slowest merchants finished setting up their carts and displays. The usual hustle and bustle everyday life gave the town a warm and friendly atmosphere. Except that Micaiah couldn't shake the nagging feeling in the back of her mind, which told her that today would not be a good day.

It wasn't until three marks after noon that silver-haired maiden's premonition began to take physical shape. This came in the form of rows of horsemen who appeared on the nearby hilltop. While most of the nomadic Sacaen tribes made their livings honestly, and bout goods fairly, some preferred to rely on raiding villages and other tribes. This was one such group.

It didn't take long for the village to realize it's peril. People began to run indoors, locking and barricading doors. A groups of men who considered themselves the town's militia, went to gab weapons--mostly hunting bows. The nomads who had come into the village legitimately also rushed to their horses and weapons. It was considered a manner of honor for most tribes to defend friendly villages from raiders. Unfortunately, these tribes usually only sent small parties to town to make their purchases. As such, the village defenders found themselves notably outnumbered.

"Fly away, Yune," Micaiah instructed her feathered friend. The bird obediently took to the air. Making her way through the fleeing townspeople, Micaiah wound her way to the rear of the Taras defenses. She couldn't bring herself to run and hide, as most people would do. No, her sense of right and wrong demanded that she help protect the town. After all, she had a very unique power--she was a Mantle user.

Mantle users were the rare breed of people who awoke a special power within themselves. All people in Akaneia were blessed by a priest on their tenth birthday. The priest used a rare gem known as a Dragon Stone to enact the blessing. For most people, it was simply a formality and a ritual. However, for a very small part of the continent's population, contact with a Dragon Stone awoke a unique power in them, known as a Mantle. Mantle abilities were unique to each individual, but all of them were some kind of superhuman ability. People who could use a Mantle were usually called simply, Mantle users. And Micaiah was one such person.

As the bandit raiders began to clash with the Taras defenders, the silver haired girl raised her eyes to the heavens, taking in a deep breath. She lifted one hand skywards before turning her gaze back down at the oncoming enemy. Exhaling she began choosing targets.

One of the raiders was just raising his bow when golden tendrils of light suddenly shot down from the heavens, converging on him in a radiant blast, which left only a charred corpse. Even as the nearby bandits faltered in surprise at the strange occurrence, more tendrils of light descended upon another of their number, leaving another corpse. The marauders began to separate and try to make themselves difficult targets. However, Micaiah's bolts of Light rained accurately down upon them.

Several of the militia nearby quickly realized that the young girl must be the one calling down the blasts of light from the heavens. She heard several murmurs around her, but blocked them out, concentrating instead on her targets. After several more blasts, however, Micaiah lowered her hand, needing to rest a moment. Using a Matle power could quickly exhaust a person. In her brief respite, she realized that a number the nearby defenders had taken up positions around her in order to protect her, should the raiders come after the Mantle user.

"Just keep doing what you're doing, lass," one of the older militia men encouraged her. "We may be able to drive them off after all."

Micaiah manages a slight smile and nod as she caught her breath. She then returned to summoning her bolts of Light. Another bandits went down; and then another. However, as she went to eliminate her next target, her concentration was thrown off as the roof of a nearby building exploded into flames. Even as the Light user struggles to reorient herself, another building exploded. This time, it was a solid wall that was demolished.

Men around Micaiah swore. "The enemy has a Mantle user, too!" one of the exclaimed.

"Where?" Micaiah demanded. "If we can find him I can do something about it!"

Just then another building exploded. This time, Micaiah was able to catch a faint trail of fire just before it dissipated. The trail led back to a line of mounted enemy archers. However, none raiders she could see looked particularly special. They simple continued to shoot arrows at the Taras militia.

That was when a small burst of light caught her eye. One of the marauder's arrows had burst into flame as he drew it. He calmly fired to burning missile and, sure enough, it hit a building causing a large explosion.

The silver-haired Mantle user grinned grimly. "Got you." She raised her arm once again. However, just as she prepared to call down destruction from the sky, the enemy Mantle user somehow, even across the great distance, managed to lock on to her gaze. As such, he was able to nudge his horse out of the way just before the tendrils of light struck.

Micaiah swore. "Scatter!" she cried at the militia men near her. Making good on her own advice, she threw herself behind a nearby cart filled with vegetables. An instant later, another flaming arrow detonated against the building she had just been standing in front of. While she had managed to avoid the blast, but she was pelted with debris. Some of the men who had been with her had managed to get away in time. Some had not.

Even as the light mage began to collect her wits again, another exploding arrow hit the cart she was hiding behind, sending it up in a great ball of flame. Micaiah's eyes watered and she choked on the smoke. Acting mostly on instinct, she dashed out from the fire and smoke before throwing herself behind the large stone fountain that stood at the center of the village square. Seconds later, another arrow ravaged her previous hiding spot.

Micaiah lay flat on the ground behind the stone fountain. Judging by the next several explosions, she realized that the enemy Mantle user knew exactly where she was, but had trouble with the mixture of solid stone and flowing water that shielded her. Unfortunately, unable to see her opponent, Micaiah was similarly unable to strike back.

A ways from the mayhem at Taras, a party of four made their way walking down the old dirt road. At the head was a young lady clad in Sacaen tribeswoman gear. She had her long green hair pulled back in a single long ponytail. A curved sword was belted at her hip. Next to her, a somewhat shorter girl kept pace. She wore a white tunic and a blue breastplate. She held the shaft of a spear, which rested against her shoulder. A light purple ribbon hung from the tip of the spear, matching her hair.

On the other side of the first woman strode a muscular man a few years older than the rest. He had chin-length brown hair and a matching goatee. A large battleaxe was fastened through his belt loop. He smiled pleasantly. Next to him, the last member of this motley crew was a younger and of slighter build. He had green hair and wore a scarf around his neck which trailed down behind him. His green vest didn't quite come down to his waist, where he had a large dagger and several throwing knives fastened to his belt.

After several minutes of silence, the bearded man finally spoke up. "I believe we should be arriving in a village her shortly," he informed his companions. "We can stay there the night, now that we have some gold. Maybe we can even find some horses there. What say you, Lyndis?"

The green haired swordswoman cocked her head in thought for a moment. "Staying the night sounds good," she finally replied. "But I don't really want to spend money on horses. Think we might be able to hitch a ride on a wagon there, Nolan?"

"It's possible," the older man replied. "The town is a farmer's market. We may be able to get a ride as far as the Crimean border."

"Sounds good to me," Lyndis replied.

The group proceed in silence again for several more minutes. Finally, Nolan cupped a hand to his ear. "Does anyone lese hear that?" he asked.

"I was just about to ask the same thing," Lyndis replied.

"Want me to scout it out?" asked the green haired man.

"I don't think that'll be necessary, Sothe," said Lyndis as she and the others crested a hill. There, a ways off below them stood the burning town of Taras.

"Looks like a bandit raid," observed Nolan. "A rather vicious one, though."

"S-shouldn't we help the villagers?" the violet haired girl asked softly.

"Well, Florina, it's not an official job," Sothe commented.

"True," Nolan agreed. "Though I doubt those townsfolk had enough time to put in a request. That can take weeks."

"We may not get paid for helping," Lyndis observed. "But, at the same time, that's our bed and breakfast burning down there."

"A fair point," Sothe conceded.

"P-plus it'll look good for the guild," Florina added meekly.

Nolan grinned. "Don't worry, Florina. We're going to help. You know we're all really just a bunch of bleeding hearts here. Including you Sothe."

The green clad man gave a lopsided grin and a chuckle. "Person with the fewest kills buys drinks," he challenged.

Micaiah covered her head as dust and rock rained down on top of her. It was becoming clear that the village's fountain could not offer her protection from the explosive barrage much longer. The town's defenders were likewise pinned in the village square. The raiders held the town's perimeter and were raining arrows down on the cowering militia.

The silver haired girl scanned the surrounding area for a good place to move to. The best option she could find was a bakery that had been mostly blown away. The wall with the massive stone oven, however, still stool and looked reasonably sturdy. She waited until the next explosive arrow came, and, as soon as the explosion occurred, lurched to her feet and made a made dash for the bakery wall.

She never made it. Halfway there, it was as if an invisible wall come flying out of nowhere and hit her. She was thrown sideways hard. She tumbled and rolled, skidding across the ground a good seven yards before coming to a stop. Her body aching, she struggled to raise to her knees.

A group of the raiding tribesmen had entered the square, armed with swords as axes. At their head strutted a man with a curved blade propped up against his should. He gave a mirthless grin and raised his hand, open palm pointed at Micaiah. Once again, she was slammed by some unseen force--this time straight down into the ground. The impact knocked the breath out of her, causing her ears to ring and stars to swim past her eyes.

Just barely was Micaiah able to recognize a group of village militia me rushing to her aid, only to be thrown away by the same invisible force that had stuck her, and then to be riddled with arrows. The man with the curved sword marched up to the fallen girl before kicking her in the side to roll her over onto her back. Micaiah coughed weakly. She couldn't concentrate enough to use her Mantle to defend herself.

The marauder let out a low whistle. "Hmmm, she's a cutie. Shame it's too dangerous to keep you alive, missy." He grinned as he flourished his blade. "Bet'cha though we only had one Mantle user, eh?"

"That's no way to treat a lady." The bandit gave a surprised gasp as a green haired young man seemingly appeared out of nowhere behind him, arm wrapped around and holding a dagger to his neck. "Goodbye." The bandit only had time for a strangled grunt before his throat was slit. The boy let the body fall to the ground before turning a cool gaze on the other bandits.

The other raiders didn't even have time to regard there new enemy. The flickering image of a green haired woman flashed between them and, in an instant, they were all cut down. With another flicker, the woman appeared next to the young man, a katana held in her hand. "There's a lot of them, but they're pretty weak," she commented.

Micaiah struggled to a half sitting position. "Th-there's another . . . Mantle user with them . . ," she struggled to warn.

The boy with the dagger turned back to her, kneeling down next to her. "Don't worry," he said. "We have a friend dealing with him already." Reaching down he scooped her up into his arms. "First, let's get you somewhere safe." Micaiah actually blushed as she was lifted up.

Until the green haired woman called out, "Incoming arrows, Sothe."

Micaiah's face paled. Sure enough, the surrounding raiders had elected to deal with the newcomers with a hail of arrows. Strangely, the young man, Sothe seemed unconcerned. It soon became apparent why. Another gorl, this one with purple hair. Came running onto the scene. She hefted the spear she was holding high, pointing the tip into the sky. Suddenly, a flash of blinding light burst from the tip. This was accompanied by a loud boom and an invisible shockwave which sent dust, gravel, debris, and the incoming arrows all flying away.

"Nice one, Florina," the young swordswoman shouted to the girl with the spear.

Sothe called out, "Lyn! I'm gonna take this girl to a safe place. I'll be right back." The green haired woman nodded. A second later her image faded and she disappeared, bringing the fight to the enemy.

And then, quite suddenly, Micaiah and Sothe were standing a good four yards from where they had just been. And then again, and again. And suddenly they were in a side ally away from the battle. "Wha-what . . ?" Micaiah stuttered.

Sothe chuckled. "That's my Mantle," he informed her. "Short-range teleportation." He set her down, leaning her against the wall of a house. "Now wait here. This'll all be over pretty soon."

"Ah! Wait!" Micaiah cried. But Sothe was already gone.

Uriik was quite confused. Once the interlopers had killed Bacci, he had decided to simply end them all with one of his explosive Fire Arrows. However, once he drew his arrow he found himself unable to set it ablaze. His Mantle allowed him to set small objects on fire and cause them to explode, but for some reason, he just couldn't set this arrow on fire. It was the same size as his other arrows--not nearly big enough for his power not to work. Grunting, he threw the arrow to the ground and drew another.

"That won't work."

Uriik and the nomads with him spun around to find a bearded man with a battle axe standing behind them.

"The problem's not with your arrows," the stranger stated.

"Oh?" Uriik called back. Sure enough, the new arrow also would not light.

"Yup," the bearded man replied. "See, that's my Mantle. I can prevent other people from using there's. I call it Nihil."

Uriik drew his bow, pointing the arrow at the man. "I see. So if I kill you, I can use my power again."

"If you can," the man replied. And then, quite suddenly, he had moved. He closed the distance between them and pulled Uriik off his horse and holding him up by his throat. "Unfortunately for you," the axeman continued, cancelling others powers also serves to make me stronger. Just cancelling you has doubled my speed and strength. And, not to brag, but I'm pretty strong even without my Mantle."

True to Sothe's prediction, it hadn't taken the four of them very long at all to rout the raiders. Most of the raiding tribe had been killed. Those who lived were forced to leave everything they owned behind for the villagers. Nolan had actually spared the fire starter . . . But only after permanently crippling his hands so he could never use a bow, or any other weapon, ever again.

The village had suffered terribly in the attack. Many buildings had been leveled by the raider's two Mantle users. Even repulsed, it had been one of the most devastating raids in recent history. Micaiah sat silently before the ruble that was left of the Prancing Pony. Yune perched on her head, but also kept quiet. The Prancing Pony inn had been one of the many buildings destroyed in the battle. Sadly, the kindly innkeeper had been one of the people inside the building when it had collapsed. Now Micaiah was once again alone.

She sat there in silence for quite a while before she noticed the presence of someone behind her. She turned around to find the young man who had saved her earlier. After a moment of silence, he spoke. "I heard the details from the villagers. I'm sorry for your loss."

"Thank you."

Silence reigned for another moment before he spoke again. "I'm Sothe, by the way." He offered her his hand.

"Micaiah," she said, taking his hand and letting him help her to her feet. "And this is Yune," she added, pointing to the bird on her head.

"Hello," Sothe addressed the bird. Yune chirped and shook her tail feathers in greeting, causing Micaiah to grin slightly.

"Anyways, Micaiah," Sothe said, turning a bit more serious. "I have a proposition for you."

"I'm sorry, Sothe," she quickly replied. "But I'm too young to get married. Maybe in a few years." She wasn't sure why she had said it. She was just feeling unusually mischievous and bold right then. Maybe it was from the surreal feel of that days events.

Sothe was utterly flabbergasted. He stared at her, his mouth opening and closing several times with no sound coming out. After a brief moment he snapped out of it. Micaiah had trouble hiding a grin. "Damn," he said. "You're good."

This time Micaiah gave a real smile and chuckled slightly. Yune chirped again.

"Anyways," Sothe continued, now grinning slightly. "What I was going to say was that my companions and I wanted to know if you would be interested in joining us."

Micaiah blinked. "What do you mean?"

"Well, we're all from a Guild. We just happened on this village on our way back to Lycia after completing a job here in Sacae."

Micaiah cocked her head slightly. That explained a few things. Guilds were basically all purpose mercenary groups consisting of Mantle users. They were hired for a myriad of jobs, some noble, such as defending villages from bandits or serving as bodyguards, to more dubious jobs, such as theft or assassination. It all depended on the Guild what kind of missions they would accept.

"What Guild are you guys from?" Micaiah finally asked.

Sothe grinned widely. "We're from Fire Emblem."

Micaiah's eye's widened and her jaw dropped. Fire Emblem was one of the Seven Great Guilds, which operated across the entire continent. It was a relatively new Guild, compared to ones that had been around for centuries, but it had quickly earned fame and repute for being immensely talented. Within five years of it's founding Fire Emblem had risen to rival the then Six Great Guilds, and had soon been inducted as the seventh. Fire Emblem was also well known for there charitable acts. They were widely considered heroes.

And then it occurred to her. The green haired swordswoman had seemed vaguely familiar. Blade Lord Lyndis was one of the most famous Mantle users in the world. She was well known for her unrivaled strength and beauty. You could hardly walk into a weapons shop that didn't have a banner of her hanging somewhere (often in revealing outfits no swordswoman would actually wear). No wonder she had seemed familiar! She was the actual Lyndis!

Sothe chuckled. "I take it you've heard of us."

"Do you really want me to come with you?" Micaiah asked.

"If you want to," Sothe replied. "We're always looking for new talent, and there doesn't seem to be much left for you here. We manage to see enough of the battle to get a glimpse at your Mantle."

"You're sure I won't get in the way?"

Sothe laughed. "Definitely not."

Yune chirped happily and Micaiah smiled. "Alright, then," she agreed. "I'll go with you guys."

"Great. Come on inside and I'll introduce you to the others."