Okay, this will be my first fan fiction EVER, so I welcome all criticism. However, if you don't like the pairing, I won't care. I'm trying to be as canon as possible here, but the main pairing will be IkexMia. No flames about the pairing, please. There might be other pairings in it as the story goes on, but I haven't decided yet, so put any other pairings you'd like in your reviews. The story will proceed as the game does (following actions I took), but with only important game script in here (such as character development, conversations before a battle, info conversations, supports…), but with my own little 'subchapter' inserts and cameo appearances. I'll take requests for non-Ike or Mia pairings, as well as cameo appearance requests…though they won't come out 'till later. A PM will tell you if your pairing/cameo character has been confirmed…though I warn you, the cameo characters will be severely limited, as I have my own ideas.

So, before the actual fic, this is going to start out before Chapter 7: Shades of Evil and happens at around the same time as Chapter 6: A Brief Diversion. Longer chapters will follow, most notably chapter 3 (Ch. 2 & 3 are finished, but still need a bit of editing).

Big thanks (and cookies) to Frog-Lizard. You girls (assuming Hyphen is a girl as well…sorry if that's wrong) are awesome XD.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything (T_T)…besides maybe most of Mia's past, as that's all made up (except the rival thing).

Very small updates as of 12:18 PM JST, 2/11/09.

'Now that's Devotion'

Prologue

Mia was screwed. Royally screwed. Not long after she had been contracted to the Crimean Army, the unit she had been assigned to (some backwater group on the Crimea-Gallian border) was ambushed by Daein scouts. Before they knew it, a whole blasted regiment came pouring down on them. Not a pretty sight. Outnumbered 5 to 1, the Crimeans fell quickly. The Daeins slew everyone, from the soldiers resisting to the innocent family that had seen the battle…if you could call it one. However, most if not all the mercenaries were spared, and were given a chance to serve under Daein's flag. Most accepted, but the few who refused were being carted off to prison, Mia included. With her hands tied behind her back, she could do nothing but silently curse the men who had ruthlessly killed and burned their way into her home country. She knew she had no way of escaping, she knew she would probably be forced to fight her own country or killed, but the one thing she really didn't know was why this group of Daein soldiers was leading her through Gallia. What she had heard from loose mouths was that they were pursuing a group of Crimean mercenaries, but the reason why was lost to the soldiers. The only thing going through her head after hearing that was hoping that this particular group would run into the Crimeans; she would have a chance to escape and maybe to assist the Crimeans. That is, until a glint of metal caught her eye in a nearby group of bushes…

50 meters away, three pairs of eyes watched the procession of soldiers.

"Boss, you sure about this? I mean, it's 20-odd against us three…"

"Gatrie, the boss alone can take more than a hundred of these guys. Maybe two hundred. Regiments."

"I know! I'm more worried if we can keep up with him. You've got it easy, Shinon…this armor is heeeavy!"

"Stop whining you-"

"Shinon. Gatrie. Isn't that girl's hands tied up?"

"Ooh…nice legs…"

"Shut up Gatrie. I swear, if I put a skirt on Rolf…"

"Both of you shut up. We're going in. Shinon, cover us from the rear. Free the girl first."

"Roger."

"Hey! Boss! Wait! HEY!! Oh goddess…*gulp*…here we go…"

"…What is that..?" Mia wondered aloud, still peering into the shrubbery.

"Hey!! What are you looking at?" Oh, snap! Did I say that out loud??

Mia tried to look away as fast as she could, but the soldier guarding her was already walking towards the bushes.

"You, mercenary! What were you looking at?!" The soldier yelled over his shoulder, glaring at Mia with a look that could kill.

If the glint she had seen was one of the mercenaries on the run, she didn't want to give them away. Biting her lip, Mia started running ideas through her head. As soon as they appeared they would be shot and cut down – nothing would work.

"Lieutenant! Permission to sweep the area."

"Granted. "

'Crap!' thought Mia, panicking. 'This isn't good…they'll have a whole regiment on them. Nobody could-'

Without warning, a large man with a huge ornate axe and an orange cape charged out into the clearing. Right behind him was another man in blue armor, probably an armor knight by how much protection he had, with a long Steel Lance. The axe-man immediately chopped the unlucky man probing through the bush in half, and ran straight at the remaining 19 or so Daein soldiers unfazed, hesitantly followed by the blue-armored one that kept screaming "Wait! Wait!".

"It's the mercenaries! Form up! Surround them!" yelled the soldier who appeared to be the leader.

"Wait! You can't possibly take them on! It's suicide!!" Mia yelled to the two men. Were they crazy? Suddenly she felt a pair of hands roughly grab her from behind.

"Grab the prisoners! Use them as shields!!" Recognizing the voice as the leader of the Daein troops, she shook him off, backflipped over him, landed, and performed a backwards somersault kick. Hearing her foot connect, the myrmidon rolled away and kicked another soldier where it hurt. Twisting around to face the mercenaries currently engaging the regiment, she hollered, "HEY!! Listen to me, you dumb..."

"Nothing's suicide to that man, girly. Now stop jerking around, unless you want to lose a finger or two."

Surprised, Mia whipped around to find a tall red-haired man holding a hunting knife.

"Who are you? Another Daien dog?!" She snapped.

"Do I look like one? It doesn't matter. Now, do you want to be freed or not? Your call, girly." Arrogant…

"…cut the rope already."

With her hands free, Mia turned around to see how the fight was going. She had expected the two men she deemed crazy to be lying on the ground in a bloody mess by now, but it was the complete opposite. The apparent mercenaries were demons! Whatever they were, they were inhumanly strong. In a matter of seconds, the whole group of Daeins had almost been completely decimated. A pile of 4 or so dead men lay near the blue-armored man and the axe-man had maybe 15 kills to himself. They now were looking around for more enemies in the vicinity. Mia could only stare in wonder. Pity neither of them wore white or used a sword…

…but when the axe-man started stretching his right arm, there was something odd about it…

"Boss! Trouble! Survivor over there, he's got a bugle!"

"Shinon!"

The red-head man (apparently called Shinon) pulled a bow from its latch on his back, and fired an arrow all in the blink of an eye, but it was too late. The retreating man blasted the horn right before the arrow ended his life.

"Damn!" the axe-man swore and spat at the ground. "Reinforcements will be here soon." He turned and faced Mia. "You. Take this dead guy's weapons and head south. You don't look like a Daein to me. Find a boy, about your age. He's a blue-haired squirt swinging a sword. Tell him Greil sent you. Follow that path," he pointed to a path leading to a bridge crossing a river. "Now go!"

"W-well, what about you?" Mia stammered. "You can't-"

"Last time you said that the fight was over less than a second later, girly. Now get going. Nothing less than the Great Flood can take that man down. You heard him, shoo! Find the little squirt!" Shinon barked.

Mia turned and ran the opposite direction the three men faced. After a few meters, she stopped, turned around and looked at the trio once more. Convincing herself that they would be fine, she shrugged and ran off to find this 'blue-haired sword-swinging squirt'.