Disclaimer: I don't own Fire Emblem, and the rest of the legal stuff I should write I'm not sure of.

A strange dream… I don't know what is really going on. It's just me, and a man I am sure is my best friend. His name is Chrom, and I am Charles. I cannot recall any of our past together, nor our individual pasts, but that is information I know. The man in front of us is obviously evil, his name is Validar. Yet I do not remember what evil deeds he has committed, but he is our enemy and he must be killed.

We strike in unison, covering each other and blocking the sorcerer's magical strikes. Together, we bring him down.

"DAMN YOU BOTH!"

As he falls, I see him trying to land a last blow on Chrom, my friend. I use my body as a shield, and fall to the floor. He then approaches me and, with a face of relief, he says: "That's the end of him. Thanks to you, we carried the day."

My head starts hurting, my vision going red, and Chrom, worried, asks me what's wrong.

Yet, his expression changes, showing pain.

"This-this is not your fault…" As he takes some steps back, there is a dagger of lighting on his chest, and then I see my hand. It is brimming with remnants of thunder magic, used in close range.

"P-promise me…you'll…escape this place…promise me…"

He then collapses on the ground, and I can hear Validar's laughter echoing, as darkness surrounds me. Chrom? CHROM!

As the dream fades away, my memory of it becomes cloudy, the sorcerer's name lost in my thoughts. My name is Charles, and apart from the dream, any knowledge other than my skills and battle tactics is non-existent.

"Chrom, we have to do something" The feminine, high pitched voice starts to bring my consciousness

"And what do you suppose we do?" That voice…I feel like I've heard it already.

"I-I don't know!"

As I wake up, I see two humans crouching above me. Chrom? The man with the blue hair is certainly him, yet I do not recognize the blond, childlike woman.

"I see that you're awake now." He is definitively Chrom

"Hey there" The girl smiles. She does look a little cute like that.

"There are better places to take a nap than on the grass, you know. Give me your hand." As I do so, I notice that in my hand, there is a purple mark. Three pairs on eyes disposed on a baseless triangle. It looks quite sinister.

"Where am I… Chrom?" My head does still hurt a little as I try to remember

An armored, serious knight approaches me: "Be careful, sir. This man must be a Plegian spy."

"Plegia? Where are we anyways?" I seem to have forgotten any geographical notion of this place. Damnit memory, good selective deletion you've done.

"Sire, this must be a facade. Let me dispose of him."

"No, wait. He may have lost his memory." Chrom then looks at me, and says: "Do you at least remember your name?"

"Yes, my name is Charles." The knight seems to be particularly distrusting of me. Yet, being a tactician, I would not disapprove myself of such an action.

"We are in the halidom of Ylisse. Well, Charles, what were you doing in a bed of grass?"

"I do not remember anything from before waking up, except some knowledge of my own capabilities. But, this grass isn't that bad for taking a nap if I fell asleep on it I suppose." I keep the vague memories of the dream a secret.

"Hah! Chrom, we might have found someone interesting to talk to." The girl's comment comes, and as the knight is about to respond, she says: "Oops! I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Lissa, Chrom being my older brother, and this knight here is Sir Frederick the Serious."

"I like Frederick the Wary better." Well, it seems that at least these three aren't the average person. "Still, sir, I think this forgetting everything-"

"It's called amnesia, I think." Lissa interrupted the knight, who faked a cough, and continued

"-is a big pile of pegasus dung. This one must be quite the talented spy, to fake such a confused stare."

"But Frederick, what if he is saying the truth? We'll be taking him to town and sort out what's going on."

Well, given the situation, I couldn't ask for a better deal. Chrom does seem to be quite the compassive and comprehensive man. I'm lucky he was the one to find me.

"In any case, we are the Shepherds, serving under the Exalt Emmeryn."

"So you tend sheep in full armor? Guess wolves gotta have some really sharp teeth around here."

"Yes. Anyways, Charles, that name of yours sounds pretty foreign to me. Well, we can discuss it later, so-"

"Chrom! The town is on fire!

Then we hear screams coming from the nearby. Chrom then decides to give orders to the other two.

"Shepherds, let's go help the villagers!"

"Chrom, what about Charles?" At least they haven't forgotten about me, Frederick being the one wondering about what to do with me.

"If he's not catching fire, we can worry about him later."

I decide to intervene, stating: "I can help. I know my way around with sword and tome!"

"Good, then come with us."

As we start rushing to the town, Frederick starts ranting: "Sir, this man is armed, which could lead us to his true inten-"

"Later, Frederick. I won't refuse a helping hand when it's the commoners that are endangered."

We interrupt our movement as we reach the main plaza. The nearby buildings are set ablaze, as the bandits roam around the place. The bandit leader seems to be stationed at the town hall's entrance, wielding an axe. He then yells: "Get to it, lads! Grab anything shiny, and put the rest to the torch! We got an example to set for these Ylisseans! I'll keep this buttercup for myself!" From behind him, a tied woman is screaming for help. That guy is so dead; I'll make sure of it.

We then approach the bandits. Lissa stays behind us at all times, while we engage in combat with the bandits.

"Frederick, handle that axeman, while we dispatch these other two! Lissa, stay near so you can heal any wounds we get!"

Whereas Frederick has no problem impaling the bandit he is facing with his lance, both me and Chrom obtain minor injuries as we dispatch our foes. Lissa then approaches us and heals our wounds with her staff.

"Sir, mages!" As we see, both are already creating fireballs to launch at us. I open my tome, and a couple bolts of lightning dispel the fires. The enemy magi seem to be surprised, and Chrom and I take advantage and stab their hearts before they can realize what just happened.

However, as we turn around, we see that Frederick is cornered by two axemen and a couple myrmidons. The knight is managing to parry their blows, but he is unable to launch an attack himself. The myrmidons are the first to notice that the magi are dead and head for us. As me and Chrom dispatch them, Frederick handles the other two bandits with ease.

In this moment, I start thinking about the group's situation. Frederick is clearly much more experienced in combat than either me or Chrom, but he seems to be nearing his full potential as a combatant, which we may, instead, surpass with ease.

"Lissa, heal Frederick! Chrom and I will handle their leader!" As I shout these orders, Chrom and I approach the leader.

"Drop your weapons, else this wench's head will be the one to drop!" Chrom curses as the bandit starts raising his axe, but I react faster. A bolt of lightning breaks the ropes and the villager runs away. The bandit laughs, and continues: "So you got tricks under your sleeve, huh? Come sheepy sheepy, you face the mighty Garrick!"

His arrogance is his end. His axe slashes are slow and predictable, and after the first two, Chrom slashes at him in the chest. He tries to counter, but he is too slow, as I am already behind him.

"Checkmate!"

Garrick sees the sword protruding from his chest, and he yells as his life ends.

"Well, that's the end of it." Chrom seems far more relaxed, as we have already helped the villagers put out the fires, and I pronounce these words with relief.

"It's quite good fortune that we arrived just in time! But, Charles, tactics, swords and sorcery? Wow! Is there anything you aren't good at?" Lisa seems cheerful as always, yet her constant state of excitement has started to annoy me. Just a little, as she seems to be a genuinely good person.

"You aren't exactly helpless indeed." Chrom seems to be a little suspicious of me by saying these words. Yet, it's natural.

"Perhaps now could you explain how you arrived here?" Frederick asks

"I understand your suspicion of me; after all, it's the logical course of action. Yet I am telling you the truth, and I've shared with you all that I know." The vague memories of the dream stay secret though, as they are almost gone with the fight. The only thing that remains in my head is that Chrom was in it.

"You fought to save Ylisseans, and that's enough, and that's what my heart says." Frederick seems to be about to talk but Chrom continues: "Frederick, before you say anything, consider the benefits. With brigands and bad neighbors, we could certainly use someone with Charles's talents. Besides, I believe him."

"Thanks, Chrom." Phew

"So, Charles, will you join us?"

"Of course." Well, this has been a pretty good day. Dispatched a few bandits, and got hired as a tactician and soldier of a small group.

The village mayor offers us a feast in our honor, but Frederick politely refuses, as we have to head back to Ylisstol, Ylisse's capital and where the Exalt resides.

"Wait, we're not staying? Frederick, sometimes I hate you."

"You had told me you'd get used to this. Sleeping in a bed of twigs, hunting our meal, and others."

"Yes, but not when we get offered free food!"

"Frederick is quite the stern lieutenant."

"Stern is just one way to put it" Lisa still seems a little angry. Well I can do without one feast. My stomach does seem pissed off at the knight, though.

"Sir, we might need to discuss more serious matters. These bandits spoke with a Plegian accent."

I try to add something to the conversation, saying: "So I'd assume that Plegia is this bad neighbor you spoke of earlier, Chrom?"

"Yes, they are constantly sending soldiers disguised as bandits, trying to spark a war between the two countries."

"Well, shall we get going? I'd rather have us covering as much distance as possible today."

"Come on Charles, Ylisstol isn't so far away." I smile, as I follow the group.

Author's Note: Welcome to the Prologue to my FE:A fanfic, it's a retelling of the main story, with some small twists. It's still shorter than some people would expect, but *puts on sunglasses* DEAL WITH IT. Well, going on another topic, as I'd like not to disclose much of the story that I've planned, I need reviews guys. I cannot judge how good was the ending of Gerome Finds Out as no reviews were written for it, and reviews, in any case, are a morality boon to me continuing this fanfic, and the more reviews I get, the faster the next chapters will come out. I have to deal with university, playing videogames, reading, and others so please try to be comprehensive that a constant amount of reviews will lead me to reserving more daily/weekly time to continuing the story. I will also get to work on a cover image, expect something in 3-4 weeks. The series will stay T for now, until some more "mature" content is introduced. I will do my best to include all the main story's characters, yet the bonus paralogue characters may or may not be introduced, and they may appear in a different situation. Cherche AND Gaius may both appear earlier than in the game. Expect the thief blackmailing as many people as he can, or doing favors, for sweets. Yay, sweets!

Update: Just saw the new reviews for Gerome Finds Out. Here you will find ANGRY CHERCHE MODE scenes. Run, tactician, run!