DISCLAIMER: Fire Emblem is the property of Nintendo and Intelligent Systems. I only own the OC in this story.
SUMMARY: It is a dark time in Akaneia, as the tyrannical empire of Doluna makes its occupation known throughout the continent. It falls upon Marth - the prince of the fallen kingdom of Altea - and his men to reclaim their homeland and destroy the empire. It will not be an easy task, but I'll do everything in my power to lend a hand…
This story will (hopefully) cover both Books 1 and 2 of the Akaneian saga of Fire Emblem (That's FE1/3/11/12 for those wondering). I will likely stick to the plot of the original games, but some elements from the remakes may appear as well.
I'm doing this story because I have yet to see many novelizations of the Akaneian timeline, and that is a crying shame since I find that this timeline is pretty underrated among the fandom... but that's just me.
Alright, enough ranting. Let's get this story going already… =P
PROLOGUE
A Prince in Exile
Long ago… the continent of Akaneia suffered a hostile takeover by the Doluna Empire.
The king of manakete, Medeus, was the one who led the onslaught. Under his rule, despair and fear ran wild throughout the land. Even the Holy Kingdom of Akaneia was torn asunder from the Shadow Dragon's frightening power.
But then… when the hour of doom seemed imminent, a miracle occurred.
A young man hailing from the region of Altea would rise up and challenge the Shadow Dragon. His name… was Anri.
With the power of the divine sword, Falchion, he was ultimately successful in striking down Medeus and subsequently destroying the evil empire.
Soon, the Kingdom of Akaneia was restored, and several other countries would follow Altea's example by rebuilding in their own way.
Unfortunately, this peace only proved to be a temporary respite…
After a century's passing, Medeus would return. Thanks to the neighboring kingdoms of Grust and Medon, the Doluna Empire was restored from its ruins. To make things worse, Medeus would later join forces with a sinister sorcerer from Khadein named Gharnef, who shared the dragon king's vile ambition of world conquest.
Knowing that death and destruction were once again on the horizon, Cornelius – the current king of Altea, and descendant of the legendary hero – ventured off to defeat the Dragon of Darkness. With the holy sword of light in his possession, few doubted that he would succeed in his mission.
XXXXXXXXXX
*sigh*
"Mom… Dad… I hope you're alright out there."
Shaking my head, I turned away from the view outside my window. It had been 12 days since mom and dad were requested to accompany King Cornelius in his campaign against Doluna's forces. I was expecting to receive a letter notifying me of their current situation, but I had yet to receive any word from them. Obviously, this worried me greatly…
Oh, right… I should probably introduce myself.
My name is Christopher Derek Mordoff, but I prefer just being referred to as Chris. Right now, I'm only 13 years old, but I will be turning 14 in a couple of days. I live with my mother and father in a village not too far from the castle called Sera.
As for my family, my father works as a mercenary and he is usually hired by the king with defending the kingdom when the need arises. Meanwhile, my mother was a cleric in charge of healing the wounded in the military. My family and I were taken care of pretty well, considering that my grandfather, Malledus Woodson Mordoff, is a close friend of the king. As such, it was only natural that we would earn His Majesty's trust…
On occasion, I visited my grandfather at the castle, and helped out around there doing what meager chores there were to do. I never said much to the knights of the castle, but I was lucky enough to get to know the children of Altea's royal family, Prince Marth and Princess Elice. I was able to make quick friends with both of them, and our families couldn't have been any happier… heh. They weren't like most royalty I had heard about, so the fact that I was able to socialize with them was a welcome surprise.
Anyways, I spent my time watching over the house, and just looking out for any letters to arrive. But then the sound of hooves galloping filled the air.
I glanced outside my window to see what was going on…
From the gates, I witnessed knights clad in grey armor charge through the gates. Those that stayed behind to defend the village were cut down without mercy. Homes were destroyed, and many lives were being cut short out there… but that wasn't what shocked me.
No… what surprised me was that these knights were from Gra! But why are they doing this? Aren't they supposed to be our ally?
I was jarred from my thoughts as the sound of these knights smashing the front door open caught my attention. If I didn't get out of there soon, I was finished!
I took out a dagger, a gift from my father, from under my pillow. Hiding it in my sleeve, I quickly leaped out the window and hurried off to the now thoroughly smashed village gates. Using the bushes and ruined homes as cover, I quietly managed to slip outside the village without being detected by the soldiers that rode through.
Thank goodness Gra's soldiers are inept at catching stragglers…
"I have to tell grandpa… what happened. No time to waste…"
After catching my breath, I hustled on to Castle Altea, hopping over fallen soldiers and dodging weapons as I ran. The one thing driving me was the chance that my grandfather was still around. Unfortunately, the castle had also fallen under Gra's ambush, and by the time I was at the castle gates, I was accosted by an armored knight bearing Gra's crest…
"Ha! Another straggler? Well, His Majesty DID say not to let anyone inside! Time to die, you little twat!"
I froze up as he readied his lance. Is this how it was all going to end for me…?
"Get down now!"
Huh?
Turning quickly, I witnessed a red-haired knight with armor to match his hair color ride onto the scene. Despite looking in pretty bad shape from his injuries, he rose up a javelin and aimed for the knight. I quickly complied with his order and hit the dirt as the javelin sailed over me and nailed the knight right in the chest, felling him in seconds.
Once I got back up, I looked back to the cavalier…
"Thanks, sir. I thought he had me for a second."
"Think nothing of it-" He stopped when he saw who I was…
"You… you're Sir Malledus' grandson, aren't you?"
I hesitantly replied, "Er… yes I am, sir knight. I wanted to find my grandfather and tell him what happened to my village…"
"I see…" he answered, "If that's the case, ride with me. I can get you inside the castle faster."
Wasting no time, I nodded and got on his horse. We rode on into the castle as the knight called out to the prince…
"Prince Marth! Where are you? Sire, please answer me!"
A faint shouting was heard off to the west… so the knight rode in that direction. Once we reached the source of the noise, Prince Marth himself, I decided to get off the horse.
Marth addressed the knight, "Cain? Aren't you supposed to be in Gra? Why have you returned without-"
The prince stopped when he noticed the knight's open cuts…
Heck, I was amazed he was able to take me with him this whole time…
"Yow, those wounds!" Marth exclaimed.
The knight, Cain, ignored it however, "Thank goodness you still live, sire. I feared I'd be unable to deliver this messa… argh…"
Gee, those injuries look serious.
An elderly knight in purple armor spoke up, "Sire, we can't linger here any longer. Healing Cain's injuries will have to wait until we can get out of the castle."
Reluctantly, Marth nodded, and the paladin turned to address the red-armored knight, "Cain, I trust you can put off bleeding to death a little while longer…?"
Cain managed a weak grin, "Of course, Commander Jeigan… I aim to please…"
As we made our exit, Marth finally noticed my presence.
"Chris? What are you doing here?" he asked, surprise in his voice.
I turned back to the prince and answered, "Ah… it was Gra, Prince Marth. My village was destroyed and I hadn't received any word from my family out on the battlefield yet. It's only thanks to Cain that I was able to get inside."
"I see… so you were looking for Malledus to inform him of what happened. Is that correct?" he inquired as he put it all together.
I nodded, "That's right… but if Gra managed to take over, I hope grandpa made it out okay…"
The paladin, Jeigan, told me, "I'm sure Sir Malledus will be fine, Christopher. Now we must make haste!"
I nodded and hurried forth with the rest of the company, hoping to myself that my grandfather is still alive.
XXXXXXXXXX
Whew… that was a close one. It took a little work, but we were now a safe distance away from the castle. After having Cain's wounds treated, we decided to stop for a short while before continuing our getaway.
"Cain, you should rest. Your wounds must be serious." Marth told the knight, but he waved it off casually.
"What, these scratches? The only thing that's wounded is my pride, sire." His expression turned serious after he said those words…
"In any case, we need to talk, and it involves my reason for returning here…"
Everyone turned to the red-armored cavalier, awaiting what he had to say…
"Sire…" he began, "I… I am to deliver His Majesty's last words to you…"
All our eyes went wide at this. We couldn't believe what we had just heard. King Cornelius was beaten? It couldn't be!
"Last words… then that means…" Marth sputtered.
I was still in shock, unable to believe what he just said.
Cain continued, "My condolences too, sire. At the very least,the king died valiantly on the battlefield, but the traitors took the divine Falchion sword and spared none of our remaining men…"
My fear for my family's lives grew tenfold at Cain's briefing. If what he said was true, then…
No… I refuse to believe their gone. They've got to be out there still…
"So that means all of them are gone… father too…" Marth pondered aloud…
Cain spoke up once again, "His last words were as follows: 'Tell my son that the future of Altea and our continent is in his hands now. As the true heir to the Falchion, he must rise now where I have fallen and… follow his destiny.'"
I could see that this was a lot to take in for the prince. It took a while before he spoke again, "Father… I… I will try."
Whatever composure Cain had left, it fell apart soon after Marth finished…
"…Sire, I… this is unbearable! I failed to defend His Majesty, I fled like a coward and left my comrades to their fate… this indignity will plague me to no end! One day, I will repay them in kind. I swear by my honor as a knight, my brethren will be avenged!"
Marth nodded, "You speak for the both of us, Cain. Let us punish them together when the time comes. Gra, Doluna… all of them will pay for their transgressions!"
I could only nod as they said this. If Gra or Doluna had robbed me of my parents, then I wanted to make them suffer long and hard…
Then Jeigan called me over, "Christopher… do you intend to come with us? It's going to be dangerous…"
I nodded, "All I can do is hope that we can meet up with grandpa somehow. I can take care of myself if the situation calls for it."
And it looks like it WAS going to call for that. It turned out that Gra had some soldiers lying about to stop anyone from entering or leaving the castle…
Marth took notice of our surroundings, "Hm… Elice will have trouble trying to escape with all of these soldiers. We should capture that fort across the water and stop any reinforcements at its source."
"Sounds like a good plan, sire." I nodded, "Well, let's get moving!"
For the most part, we kept to the trees, opting more towards sneaking around Gra's flunkies rather than facing them head on. I did manage to surprise a few soldiers, felling them with sneak attacks from my dagger, but most of the heavy fighting was left to the knights…
Once we routed most of the enemies in the field, we were successful in capturing the fort…
"Good… the fort's ours now." I muttered. Then I heard approaching footsteps from the south…
Wait… that elderly man…
Grandpa!
"Grandpa, you're okay!" I rushed toward him and gave him a hug, thankful he was still alive…
"Christopher!" he smiled as he hugged back. Once we released one another, he spoke again…
"You gave me quite a scare, lad. I tried looking for you in the village, but it was already destroyed by the time I arrived…"
"Funny you say that, actually…" I replied, scratching my head, "I tried to find you in the castle, but it was under attack. I was hoping I could see you again if I joined up with the prince and his men…"
Grandpa nodded, and then a thought came to me. Grandpa was close to the king, so surely he must know all that went on in the campaign he led...
"You… haven't heard anything from mom and dad, have you?"
I wasn't sure, but I thought I saw him hesitate slightly before he answered, "No… I haven't, Christopher. Not yet, at least…"
"Well… if you say so." I replied.
Blast it, I would've thought he'd know something. I was always close to my parents, so I wasn't sure what I would do if Mom and Dad were gone.
As I continued mulling over my thoughts, Marth came up from behind me…
"Malledus! You made it!" he said, but then he noticed something was off…
"Wait a minute… where is my sister? Is she safe somewhere?"
At this, my grandfather shook his head…
"Princess Elice will not be coming with us. She's decided to stay at the castle to give us time to get away…"
As soon as Marth heard this, he tried to head back for her, but grandpa stopped him.
"Hold, sire! Where are you going?"
"Where do you think!" the prince snapped.
"Sire, stop this!" Malledus exclaimed, "Do you not see why the princess had to lie to you to ensure your getaway? It's because you're the future of Altea and the entire world!"
This stopped Marth in his tracks. It seems he's beginning to acknowledge just what his father intended for him…
"I… I'm our future…" he sputtered out. Grandpa tried to encourage him to continue…
"Prince Marth, you have to live on." he told him, "I know it hurts now, but we will be back. We'll take back the kingdom and we'll make her aggressors pay for their actions, but to do that you must live on. The fate of our kingdom and the whole world is in your hands now…"
"It looks like my life is no longer mine to hazard now…" Marth pondered aloud.
Malledus nodded, "The blood of the great hero Anri flows through your veins, sire. As the son of House Akaneia and sole heir to the Falchion, you're the only one left to stand against Medeus, emperor of Doluna. Were it my choice, I would've let you choose your own path in life… but it seems your path has chosen you now…"
Marth was left to his thoughts on this matter. I could only look on as he took all of this in…
Being chosen for an ordeal like this… it's tough to take on when one isn't ready. Of course, these current circumstances are certainly not helping anything.
XXXXXXXXXX
It had been about 3 days since we continued our escape from the fallen kingdom. Our rations were beginning to run dry by this point, and our weapons weren't in very good shape either. Malledus was going over a plan to make our escape to another kingdom far to the east, and all of us were listening…
"Sire? Sire, are you listening!"
Well, except for the prince. I couldn't blame him, though. With all he's gone through, I'd find it pretty hard to pay attention as well…
"Oh… sorry, Malledus…" he muttered.
"Sire, you must get a hold of yourself. You can grieve all you like, but our pursuers will not be moved. We must continue moving, and we can't waste any time!" Malledus told the prince.
"I… I'm sorry" Marth replied, "It's just that these thoughts are hard to ignore…"
"That is understandable, my prince, but we must follow this plan exactly." Malledus began to lay out our escape route…
"From here, we must move out of Altea and board a ship en route to the kingdom of Talys. The king there was a great friend to your father, and as such it was Princess Elice's wish that you find refuge in that kingdom if something were to happen…"
A pained look shot through Marth's eyes as he pondered this…
"The boat I sent for should be here by now," Malledus continued, "but we will need to cut through a nearby prison to reach it…"
"Shouldn't be too much of a problem." The green-armored cavalier, Abel, commented, "Let's move before we get caught!"
Once again, we snuck towards the prison, taking out all the guards at the entrance. I approached the door to open it, but…
"Mmph! Grr…"
… it wouldn't budge.
"Er… does anyone have a key?" I asked…
Fortunately, my grandpa came across one on the way here. Taking the key, I managed to unlock the door, and we went inside to find an archer waiting for us!
"Mrrph! Hrrmph!"
Well, actually he was gagged and tied up. Knowing who he was, I released him from his bonds and directed him to Marth.
"You alright, Gordin?" I asked.
"Yeah… thanks, Chris."
"It's a good thing you're unharmed." Marth put in, "But we can't afford to tarry here anymore. Stay somewhere safe and-"
"But I can still fight, sire!" Gordin interrupted, "I would be honored to fight at your side… but I will need a bow."
"Not a problem, Gordin." Another cavalier, I think was called Frey, told the archer. He reached into his bag and handed him an iron bow.
Suddenly, from not too far away, heavy rattling armor made enough noise to draw my attention westward. Wondering what all that noise was, I looked out the window of the prison, and my heart began to race in horror…
"Uh… grandpa? We've got trouble coming in from the west…" I gulped.
Malledus looked out another window and his eyes widened…
"No! Anri help us… Gra's main force has arrived, and they have the knights of Grust's Sable Order with them as well!" he exclaimed.
"Grust's Sable Order…" I muttered, "Only Medon's Dragoons are equal in terms of fighting power."
It was painfully obvious. In our current state, we stood no chance if we were to try and fight them or sneak past them…
"Then… is there no way to get past them?" Marth questioned fearfully.
"Well…" Malledus began, "There may be one way."
"And what's that?" I questioned.
"We'll need a decoy to stay behind as the enemy begins to catch up." He faced Marth, "Sire, you're the one being targeted. If one of your men were to stay behind disguised as you, then that should fool the enemy and give us enough time to get away."
"But Malledus," Marth questioned, "How will he find his way back to us?"
My grandfather shook his head solemnly…
"Sire, there is a high chance that he won't be coming back. As painful as it may be, there's no other way…"
From the looks of things, Marth was finding this a bitter pill to swallow…
"Allow me, sire." Frey spoke up. "I will give you all time to make your escape."
"But Frey! There must-" Marth would've continued his protests had the cavalier not interrupted him.
"Count this knight honored to die in the service of his prince." Frey spoke solemnly, "Live and grow strong… sire."
And with that, he rode away…
"Frey! No!" Marth tried to go after him, but was stopped by Malledus.
"I'm sorry, my prince. We need to keep going…"
"Keep going? But Frey will die if we leave him out there…!"
"If he will, then why would you be so selfish as to let his death amount to nothing? No… we must honor his life and his choice. We need to keep pressing onward…"
It took a few minutes for him to calm down, but Marth finally gave his answer, "Alright… I'll honor him. I will go…"
Now we made haste to the north, where an Altean armored knight was waiting for us.
"Over here, sire! Quickly!" the knight called to us.
"Draug? What are you doing out here?" Marth questioned.
The knight, Draug, answered, "Sir Malledus sent word to have a vessel prepared for our escape."
As we continued to discuss our escape route, I heard another voice call out from the ship…
"Draug, sir! The enemy has crossed the border from the west! They'll be upon us soon!"
I looked up to see that it was a female archer. Draug turned to address her…
"We'll be on at once!" he turned back to Marth, "Sire, this is Norne. She caught wind of our struggles and she wishes to fight for Altea."
"'Tis an honor, prince Marth, but by your leave, it'd be best to save all the curtsy-bobbin' for another time. Quickly, let's go now!" the archer, Norne, said quickly.
With no further delay, we boarded the ship and set sail, grateful that they gave up the chase…
XXXXXXXXXX
It was only a couple of hours since we got on the ship to reach the island kingdom of Talys…
Many sacrifices and losses had to be made to guarantee our safety. Marth's sister was forced to stay behind, his father was slain by Gra, and he was forced to say goodbye to one of his loyal subjects…
I didn't escape the flames of this war either. My home was utterly destroyed, and the whereabouts of my parents still eluded me as well…
Now I spent my time inside one of the holds of the ship. I just sat there, wondering what I was to do now…
Did I even have a future anymore…?
*KNOCK* *KNOCK*
"It's open…" I called out to whoever it was…
The door opened and Malledus, my grandfather, came into my cabin…
"Oh… hello grandpa." I muttered.
"Christopher… I have something I need to give you…" he told me. He reached into his pocket and gave me a letter…
"It was from your mother and father. One of the messengers who gave me this told me not to give this note to you until we could make it to a safe place…"
"What? But why…?" I asked.
"Because there was the chance that neither of us would survive Altea's fall…"
Well, I hated to admit that, but they had a point. If grandpa died, then I wouldn't have known about this letter. If I died, then the message wouldn't have any purpose then...
"Open the letter and read it…" he told me.
Anxiety taking hold, I hastily opened the letter and read what it had to say…
To our son, Christopher Derek Mordoff…
If you are reading this, then it means that we have fallen in battle helping our king. It pains us to know that we will not be alive to see you grow up into a fine, upstanding man, but such is the way of fate, and we cannot do anything to counter it…
Now listen carefully, son… before our time comes, we've heard that a sinister mage dragon was to come to Altea once it's been taken over. His brutality and hatred for humankind knows no limits, and we fear that we won't be able to survive combat with him. All we know about his kind is that magic will have no effect whatsoever against him…
Our last wish is that you travel with prince Marth and your grandfather Malledus on their journey. Just as we had served his majesty, we hope that you may find a way to serve his son in whatever way you can. Although these times are fraught with peril, we have faith in you… and we believe you will go on to do great things in life.
Take courage and never give up! We'll always watch over you… our son.
- Sebastian and Elizabeth Mordoff
I couldn't stop the tears from flowing from my eyes when I finished reading.
Mom… Dad… they were gone. I couldn't believe it…
"N-No… my parents…" I choked out, "Why…? Why did it have to come to this…?"
"Christopher…" I heard grandpa say to me…
"This isn't right…" I cried, "How could… why did… ah…"
It was all too much for me to bear. At that point, I briefly considered that this was what Marth must've felt when he had to escape from his own kingdom…
I lost my home… my parents… was I to lose my future as well?
It took several minutes before I could stifle my sobs… and once I had calmed myself (barely), I heard grandpa speak…
"Christopher… I know how hard this must be for you, but you have to be strong now. Your mother and father would not want you to give into despair like this. They want you to stay alive… so that you may have a better future ahead of you."
I heard what he told me… and I remembered what was written on the letter.
They were right. I need to live on… for them now.
"Thank you… grandfather." I muttered, tears still falling. He simply smiled and squeezed my shoulder in support.
As Malledus went to the exit, I called out to him…
"Grandpa!"
"Yes, Christopher?"
"Uhm… if it's not too much trouble, could you teach me what you know about war tactics…?"
Malledus pondered before answering…
"Alright, grandson. I will show you what you need to know, so that you too can guide prince Marth to victory in the coming struggles. I must warn you, however, that it won't be easy. You must be prepared for what I will teach you."
"Thanks…" I muttered in reply. He nodded and left the cabin.
I looked back outside as the now fallen kingdom of Altea disappeared off in the horizon. If I'm going to be traveling with the prince and his knights, I need to do something to make myself useful for him now. I must be prepared for the danger we will face in the future.
I made a vow from that day forth…
While I serve as a vassal to the prince, I will grow strong… strong enough to destroy that mage dragon that slew my mother and father. He will pay in blood for taking them from me…
And one day…
One day, we will be back…
One day, we'll take back our homeland, and we will destroy the Doluna Empire once again, just as Anri himself did 100 years ago…
END OF CHAPTER
And so concludes the prologue of this story… meager as it may be.
For those wondering, the last name Mordoff is actually a play on Malledus' Japanese name: Morodof. So now you know… =P
If you've got any reviews, suggestions, or any other commentary you want to add, don't hesitate to do so…
Until next time, farewell…