Summary: A random little plot bunny that simply would not go away until I wrote it. Percy and company get sucked into the world of Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance. Yay?
A/N: Okay, so I have this penchant for really, really weird crossovers. This one probably won't last too long, but I'll have fun with it while it lasts! If enough people show interest (hint*review*hint) then I'll try to keep it alive.
By the way, do any of you Fire Emblem fans want to help me come up with classes and stats for Percy, Annabeth, Thalia and Nico? Percy is definitely a myrmidon (maybe a swordmaster?) who might eventually end up a sword-wielding Pegasus knight. Annabeth mainly uses a dagger, so she's a thief/rogue, but that seems really uninteresting, and she is a way better fighter than that. Maybe she could also be a mage of some kind? Thalia is harder – in the Titan's Curse, she has a spear, but as a Hunter of Artemis she would use a bow, and as a daughter of Zeus she would be great at Thunder magic. If no one can come up with a better idea, she'll probably end up a thunder mage. Nico is pretty obvious – he is a Dark Mage who can also use short swords/daggers, but I don't know about stats.
As for their powers (Percy breathing underwater, Annabeth's invisibility cap, Shadow-travel) you'll just have to wait and see. This is set a year after the Last Olympian, but as if The Lost Hero never happened, and five years before the start of Path of Radiance. Also, this isn't a romance fic, so pairings will be taking a backseat to the action. But, if you must know, the pairings are Percy/Annabeth, Elincia/Geoffrey (possibly Elincia/Ike) and Micaiah/Sothe (They will show up eventually). If you want to see a particular pairing, let me know and I'll see what I can do. I will indicate changes in POV with a dash.
Finally, I wish to apologize for the fact that my writing style is radically different – and far less amusing – than that of Rick Riordan, and for the possibility that Percy and the others will be slightly out of character. Please bear with the story despite this, unless you simply cannot stand it. Then stop, and don't bother to flame me. Any and all flames will be cheerfully ignored (constructive criticism is MORE than welcome, so long as it's helpful).
How's that for the longest A/N I've ever written?
Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem or Percy Jackson and the Olympians, or any of the characters therein. *sigh*
Chapter 1: I Am Thrown Into An Alternate Universe
-Percy
"Percy, do you see anything?" Annabeth sounded a bit stressed; personally, I didn't blame her.
"Not a thing," I responded tiredly. I thought about adding a string of ancient Greek swear words to that, but decided that it wouldn't help. We were wandering pointlessly through a thick, misty forest smack-dab in the middle of Ecuador. Why? Because the gods told us to. Supposedly, Athena had sensed some kind of time-space continuum disturbance at this spot. Well, I'm assuming that's what she sensed, because I really didn't understand a word that she said. Something about "alternate universe", "dire threat" and "video games", which I thought was kind of random, but whatever; I wasn't about to argue with the goddess of battle strategy.
Anyway, Apollo had given me (Percy Jackson), my girlfriend (Annabeth Chase), and two of my close friends (Nico di Angelo and Thalia Grace) a ride to Ecuador in his sun chariot. Usually, Thalia would be off hunting with Artemis, goddess of the moon, but she was visiting Camp Half-Blood when Athena's message arrived, and so she decided to tag along. It was pretty much the same deal with Nico, except he was usually hanging out with his dad in the Underworld.
As this wasn't really an official quest, we hadn't received a prophecy from Rachel, our Oracle back at camp, which could account for part of why Annabeth was being so irritable. The other part was our time limit; if we didn't find this disturbance thing and close it before sunset, we'd have to spend the night in the middle of the Ecuador rainforest, which was not on my top ten places I'd want to spend the night. The mist was just creepy, and Riptide couldn't hurt regular animals, so we'd be in a tight spot if a leopard suddenly decided we looked like lunch. Wait, do they even have leopards in Ecuador?
I was opening my mouth to ask Annabeth when I spotted a weird shimmer in the air a few feet ahead. "Annabeth, what's that?" Just so you know, what happened next was totally not my fault.
"Don't touch it!" What was she thinking? I may not be a son of Athena, but I know better than to touch the weird shimmery thing when we're out looking for a portal into an alternate universe. She grabbed my shirt and yanked me backwards, but I wasn't expecting it, so I tripped over a tree root and landed on top of her. She fell on top of Thalia, who then fell backwards and smacked Nico into a tree. All four of us went sprawling on the forest floor. I had a feeling that Dionysus was watching us from his TV and cracking up. Maybe Ares too. The shimmer flared suddenly, and I could've sworn I heard the sound of cloth ripping, like the portal was tearing a hole in the air.
I tried to get away from it, but the portal was literally sucking me towards it. Annabeth yelled, "Hold hands!" just seconds before we were all violently pulled into a glowing, pulsing portal about the size of a wide-screen TV. I grabbed Annabeth's hand, and after a moment of floating in the void, I felt the icy touch of Nico's hand. We spun in random circles, an out of control merry-go-round in an enormous void of pure light. The hint of green behind us faded out – the portal to Ecuador had closed entirely. I could feel bits of myself floating away into that void, and the rest of myself was changing, subtly but noticeably. The small of my back started burning suddenly, but I couldn't cry out. I felt the tug of air once more, and a portal reappeared in front of us. We flew through it and landed in a heap on the floor of an entirely foreign forest.
Every part of my body hurt – I felt like I had just been pounded to a pulp by a bunch of Laistrygonian giants with clubs. My mortal spot on the small of my back felt like it had been branded with red-hot iron. From the groans my companions were making, I guessed they were feeling the same way. I was having trouble breathing through the pain – it had been a year and half since I had last felt that kind of agony. Ever since my little swim in the River Styx just before my sixteenth birthday, I'd been practically invincible, except for my "mortal spot" on my back, which meant that even if someone had tried to run me through with a sword, I wouldn't have felt a thing.
After a few minutes, the pain started to fade, so I sat up and looked around. I didn't recognize any of the trees – then again, I'm no wildlife expert. I'd have to ask Thalia; she knew more than most about trees, having spent around five years as a pine tree. There was no sign of any kind of civilization – just trees, bushes and dirt. The air was incredibly fresh and clean; it reminded me of the time I had met Pan, god of the wild.
Beside me, Annabeth had already forced herself to her feet and was slightly green, as if she was dizzy from our extra dimensional field trip. She was leaning against a tree and rubbing the back of her neck. I did a double-take when I looked at her. Instead of jeans and her Camp Half-Blood T-shirt – which she had insisted on wearing to Ecuador – she was now wearing an outfit worthy of a Renaissance Faire. It was some kind of dress with two slits up her thighs with tights underneath and a belt with her dagger hanging from it. The dress itself was red with hints of purple and orange, but her tights were light gray. Not her us ual style at all, but I thought she looked great. Then I thought to look at what I was wearing. My shoes were boots that went halfway to my knees, and my pants were loose-fitting, tan cloth. My shirt was a dark shade of blue with black along the hem, and Riptide was in a sheath clipped to my belt. Self-inspection done, I turned back to Annabeth.
"Annabeth, where are we?"
-Annabeth
"…Huh?"
I sighed. I loved Percy to death – I had almost died for him once or twice –, but sometimes he was just hopeless. Absolutely hopeless. I decided to give him the mega-simplified version. "We are trapped in an alternate dimension based on a strategy game called Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance, or possibly its sequel, Radiant Dawn."
Thalia just blinked at me, a slightly dazed look in her eyes. I was guessing that was the only reason she hadn't already noticed that her typical black leather ensemble had been replaced by old-fashioned black breeches and tunic. She was standing awkwardly so she wouldn't have to put any weight on her right knee – apparently it hurt pretty bad. She normally didn't advertise the fact that she was in pain, serious or not. Nico was rubbing his shoulder and scowling at his outfit, which had changed into black robes that completely dwarfed his form. He still had his Stygian Iron short sword and his silver skull-shaped ring. Percy seemed to be in the worst condition of all of us; he still hadn't managed to even stand up. I had a terrible headache and burning pain on the back of my neck, but besides that and a residual ache in my joints, I was fine.
"So… How did we get here, exactly?"
I stifled another sigh. How to explain it… "Imagination is a very powerful thing, Percy, and sometimes it takes on a life of its own." Three pairs of confused demigod eyes stared at me. "Each story, video game, movie, etc. has a world all its own that usually remains completely separate from all other worlds. It does not end or begin with the story that spawned it; it is a complete world, though usually the story does play a key role in the history. Sometimes – very rarely – two worlds will crash into each other. Normally, they collide briefly, then separate. When the portals become large enough to threaten the balance – that is, a character could escape from one world to the other – the gods will sense it and send a specific demigod to close it. The gods sense specific intrusions; worlds formed from stories that they can relate to. Ares will sense war stories; Athena will sense strategy games, etc. The presence of a child of that particular god will generally close the portal. Understand?"
They still looked confused. I decided to ignore that. "I'll take that as a yes. We were sucked into the portal because Percy was the first person to touch it; his energy strengthened the portal instead of closing it. Any questions?"
"Only the obvious one," Thalia said. "How in the name of Olympus are we going to get back?"
I shrugged. "Our connection to our world is strong. Another portal should open soon."
Percy narrowed his eyes at me. "How soon?"
"Sometime within the ten years or so."
He groaned and put his face in his hands. Thalia suddenly gasped and said something along the lines of "What the Hades am I wearing?" Nico looked distracted, as if he was trying to remember something. "What did you say this game was called again?"
"Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance. The main continent is called Tellius, and it's a war strategy game with medieval weapons and magic." I'd never played the game, but Athena had told me that much when she told me to go close the portal.
His face brightened. "I remember! Bianca and I played that game while we were at the Lotus Hotel and Casino!"
Percy grabbed my hand and tried to stand. I put his arm around my shoulders and helped him up. Wincing faintly, he looked at Nico. "Really? What do you remember about it?"
Nico tried to think. "The main character was Ike. I'm pretty sure he had blue hair." Percy snickered. "I'm serious! The other main character, a Princess – I can't remember her name – had green hair. The whole game was about defeating the Mad King of another country. I remember there were two different races; humans and … I think they were called laguz. Or something like that. They were part animal, and they could transform and everything. They were really cool. But the humans hated them, and they hated the humans. So there was a ton of conflict there. That's really all I can remember."
Thalia rubbed her knee absently. "So, what are we going to do for the next decade or so? We barely know anything about this world, we have no idea where we are, and no way to survive for another week unless we find people who are willing to give us food."
Percy frowned at her. "First things first, Thalia. What's wrong with your knee?"
She scowled. "It's… it feels like it's burning."
I pressed my fingers against the back of my neck; the skin was still hot to the touch. Percy put his free hand on his back, and Nico rubbed his shoulder. "The back of my neck is too," I admitted.
Percy took his hand off his back and lifted my hair so he could see my neck. He gasped and swore in Greek. "What is it?" I demanded.
"It's this red mark. It looks like one of those Celtic Knot things, except it kind of makes the shape of an Alpha." An Alpha was the first letter of the Greek alphabet, and looked pretty much identical to the letter "A" in English.
"Let me see your knee, Thalia," I said. She obediently sat down and rolled her breeches up to her knee. Her mark was a dark green, three-inch long lightning bolt. Nico rolled up his shirtsleeve to reveal a pitch-black mark that circled his triceps like one of those ridiculous tribal tattoos. It was mostly just random designs and swirls, but I could pick out the Greek word for ghost hidden in the design.
Once the exclamations and curses died down, the three of us turned to Percy. Using a tree for support, he turned around and lifted up his shirt. His mark was burned into his "mortal spot" on his back. Was that chance? It was blue and simple; a trident surrounded by a few wavy lines, denoting waves.
We all were silent for a moment. "Okay," Nico said finally. "What the (insert ancient Greek swear word) is going on?"