It was a day like any other in the kingdom of Askr. There were many heroes from different worlds residing here, after they were brought to this place by a mysterious summoner. One of these heroes was the dark mage Tharja.
Right now the Plegian woman stared at a promotional poster for the next voting gauntlet, that Anna has pinned on a wall in the middle of the camp.
The heroes here must be really bored, if they have to amuse themselves with pointless competitions like that, she thought to herself.
There have been two gauntlets so far and now Tharja was supposed to participate in the third one, the Mage Gauntlet.
Undouptedly it was a fight to prove one's dedication to the arts of magic and Tharja had to admit that she enjoyed practicing magic a lot. But participating in some stupid tournament just because of that? She wasn't sure if she really wanted to do that. Though trying it out only once couldn't be that bad now, could it?
Tharja sighed. Well, it's not like she really had a choice. Anna would probably annoy her for so long until she would participate. And on the plus side there was the fact that she would get to face powerful mages from many different worlds. This would be a good lesson to learn more about other types of magic and become a more experienced sorcerer.
So with that Tharja decided that she would participate in the next gauntlet.
The first round of the Mage gauntlet was about to begin. The eight contestants were standing together chatting as they waited for Anna to announce who would be fighting who in the first round. Tharja could spot Robin talking to Henry.
Both of them were powerful mages and the other contestants didn't seem that weak either. But in her heart Tharja knew that Robin was the most powerful one. With his strategic talent no one should be able to beat him. Time seemed to be going faster while she was staring at him and soon Anna joined the participants and announced the order in which the heroes would be fighting each other in the first round of the gauntlet.
According to her Tharja's first opponent was a woman named Linde. She had brown hair and a pink outfit and seemed very confident. Anna led them to a battle arena where their fight was supposed to take place. Tharja prepared her tome for the battle and shot another look at her opponent.
"I will fight for the name of Miloah!" Linde exclaimed, seemingly to boost her own confidence.
Miloah… why did this name sound so familiar to Tharja. "Wait Miloah? You mean the Miloah from the legends?"
Linde made a surprised expression. "Uh… I think so. What legends are you referring to?"
"I'm talking about the legends that are known by every mage in my country. Since very early on I was taught the stories of the archsage Gotoh, who brought magic into our land, as well as his students Miloah and Gharnef. According to these legends Miloah wielded the a powerful tome named aura, but was defeated by Gharnef and his Imhullu-tome. If you ask me, this just proves that dark magic is the superior magic. If Miloah would have practiced dark magic he probably would have survived."
Linde's expression shifted from surprised to uncomfortable. "Miloah was my father."
Sudden silence overcame the battlefield. Well, that turned awkward fast. Tharja definitely had not expected this response.
"Oh uh… I'm sorry. I didn't knew that." She apologized slightly ashamed.
Linde sighed quietly. "It's okay. I know you didn't mean it like that. I'm just happy to know that my father is known as a powerful, wise sage even in… uhh… wherever it is that you're from."
Glad that the uncomfortable tension was already gone, Tharja continued the conversation. "Your father is said to have a great wisdom of a lot of different types of magic, being the best student under the archsage Gotoh. I would love to find out how much of that knowledge he passed on to you. How about we make this fight more interesting? If I win you have to teach me about the kinds of magic your father thought you and if you win I can show you a bit of my knowledge of dark magic. So, what do you say?"
Linde however, seemed not so sure about her offer. "I don't really want to get involved with dark magic. But I would like to share my knowledge of magic with my fellow mages, regardless of who wins the fight."
"Huh? But where's the fun it that?" Tharja was surprised that Linde was being so welcoming to her opponent, but as long as she would teach her about Miloah's magic Tharja didn't really care how she acted. "Whatever, do it your way. Now let's stop babbling around and start fighting already."
"Sure, I'm ready. And I won't lose." Linde exclaimed, having found her confidence again.
The battle wasn't easy, as Linde was quite skilled, but Tharja managed to turn out victorious. Linde had to find her posture after being beaten to the ground and walked up to Tharja to congratulate her for her win. "Wow Tharja, you really are powerful, I didn't even stand a chance."
"That is not true, I struggled to keep up with your aura-tome. You seem to have inherited at least some of the power of your father. He must have taught you well."
Linde looked like she was very happy about this comment, her expression beaming with a big smile.
"Oh thank you, that really means a lot to me. Say do you still want to learn about the magic of my father?"
"Yes, but not now. Robin's fight should start any minute now and I have to be there to root for him."
At the mentioning of the name Robin Linde got suddenly curious and shifted a little closer to Tharja.
"Robin? You mean the guy who will be fighting Merric next? Is he a friend of yours?"
Tharja nodded "Yes, he is a very good friend of mine." And hopefully he will be more than just a friend soon, she added in her head.
Linde smiled at the dark mage. "Well Merric is a friend of mine and I want to root for him too. Maybe we can watch the fight together as we cheer for our friends."
"Uh… sure. But prepare to be disappointed, because Robin is not just a talented mage, but also a master-strategist. Therefore, he is definitely going to win this fight."
"Oh I wouldn't be so sure about that. Merric studied at a magic-school in Khadein founded by Gotoh himself. And he was chosen by the tome excalibur, so he won't just go down so easily either."
"Heh, we will see about that." Tharja grinned at her new comrade. This Merric guy may be good, but against Robin he doesn't stand a chance, she thought to herself.
A/N: I started writing this story mainly to deal with all the salt and hatred that is being thrown around in the FE community when it comes to gauntlets. I wanted to share something a little bit more positive and seeing how I already wrote a story about Tharja, I thought I might as well do another one.
Although I kinda rushed writing this one, because I wanted to upload this story at a time where Tharja being in gauntlets is still relevant. I hope doesn't feel too rushed.
Anyway, for her first battle I ended it on a bit of a nicer note, with Tharja and Linde becoming friends (kind of). But this is still Tharja, so not every battle will end this friendly.
I hope you will enjoy this story.