Here's another story to tide over my loyal readers while I work on 'Turnabout Of The Night'... enjoy!
ON WITH THE SHOW!
The Merchant's Curse
A Fire Emblem Heroes Fan Fiction
by Derald Snyder
It had been a long, hard battle, but the invading kingdom of Muspell, along with it's sadistic leader Surtr, had finally been defeated once and for all. So tonight the warriors of the kingdom of Askr were resting and recuperating after such a hard-fought victory, including the Order of Heroes, consisting of legends summoned by the hooded man known as Kiran, who himself had come from another world entirely.
As for the summoner himself, he wished to take advantage of this opportunity, now that they had been granted a respite from war for the time being... Walking up the stairs to the commander's chamber, he gently rapped on the door, hoping she wasn't in the middle of changing her armor or clothes...
"Come in," Anna's voice responded. Kiran opening the door and slipping inside, closing it behind him. The red-haired commander was still clad in her battle armor, but her battle-axe and shield had been put away in their proper places. "Oh, hello Kiran. Is there something I can help you with? Are you feeling homesick, now that the war is over?"
"That's not it," the hooded man shook his head. "Actually, Commander, I wished to ask you a personal question, if you'd permit me..."
"Oh?" Anna seemed intrigued, sitting up straight and turning to look the summoner in the eye. "What about, exactly?"
"Well..." Kiran put a hand behind his head. "It's been well established that you are just one of many Annas throughout the worlds... but from what I've observed, all your, um, sisters seem to be money-grubbing merchants- no offense."
"None taken."
"...Well, my question is this- how come you're so different from all the other Annas I've met? Why are you the only one who chose the path of the warrior, instead of being a merchant like all the others?"
The commander blinked a few times at this, before lowering her gaze to the ground, lightly biting her lip. "Do you want the short answer, or the long answer?"
Kiran hesitated for a moment. "How about the short answer first?"
Anna nodded at this. "Okay, short answer: I became an army commander to defy the destiny that has been forced on me and all of my other sisters and family members."
(Forced?) the summoner thought to himself. (Nice way to bait the hook, Commander...) "...OK, I'll bite. What's the long answer?"
"...Part of me was hoping you wouldn't ask," Anna admitted. "But, very well. I suppose it all started with my mother, who was an Anna like I was, and like her mother before her as well. She was curious about the fact that there were so many of us, and almost all of them exactly the same in appearance and personality... so she asked some of the other Annas that visited from other worlds, and eventually found the answer. Sadly, it ended up driving her to insanity... to this day, she's wrapped in a straitjacket in the local madhouse, unless it got burned down by that madman Surtr."
Kiran winced at hearing this. "...Maybe I shouldn't have asked."
"No, no, it's alright," Anna shook her head with a sad smile. "I'll tell you what she found out- the truth about how we all came to be..."
"A long, long time ago, there was a red-headed merchant who wished to expand her business. But, there wasn't much opportunity for such expansion in the country where she currently lived... but then, one day, she heard rumors about an ancient artifact hidden away somewhere, which had the power to breach the barriers between worlds, in effect allowing inter-dimensional travel."
"But of course, said artifact was said to be heavily guarded by all manner of traps, in order to keep it from falling into the wrong hands... but for the merchant, it was just too great of an opportunity to pass up. After all, if she could expand her business to other worlds, not only would she be famous, she'd be rolling in the money."
"So after making all manner of preparations, she set off on her journey to find this world-traveling artifact... eventually, she found the dungeon where it was hidden. And thanks to her reflexes and quick wit, she managed to evade every death trap that stood in her path... Until finally, she reached the chamber where the artifact was held. But as she reached out and took it from its pedestal..."
("INFIDEL! THOU HAST TAKEN THE FORBIDDEN WORLD TRANSPORT ARTIFICE, FOR SELFISH PURPOSES! THOU SHALT BE CURSED UNTIL THE END OF TIME!")
("Ahhhh, WAIT! I'm not some evil emperor or wizard or anything! I'm but a humble merchant!")
("THOU CANNOT DECEIVE ME! I SEE THE GREED AND AVARICE THAT RESIDES IN THY HEART!")
("But, but! It's not about just turning a profit for myself! I make sure all the wares I sell are of the best quality! And if I expand my business into other worlds, it'll be a boon for their economies as well! That's not a completely selfish motive, is it?!")
("...SO BE IT. THEN THY CURSE SHALL FIT THY CRIME! THOU SHALL INDEED PEDDLE THY WARES ACROSS WORLDS, AND ALL THY CHILDREN AND THY DESCENDANTS SHALL BE AS THOU ARE! NOW BEGONE FROM THIS PLACE!")
"...At the time, she didn't really understand what the voice meant," Anna continued her tale. "The merchant did indeed travel between worlds, selling her wares to all who would buy, and became filthy rich as a result."
"And then, she met a handsome man, fell in love, married him and got pregnant. The merchant ended up giving birth to twins... but to her surprise, not only did they look just like her, they both insisted on being called Anna, despite their mother's attempts to name them something else... so they took over the business, and when the time came for them to have children, they looked exactly the same as well!"
"Now the nature of the merchant's curse was apparent... her children, and her children's children, and their children as well... all of them were indeed as she was, bearing her face, her name, and her personality, throughout the generations... all of them Anna, every single time, without fail..."
"W-wait a minute!" Kiran interrupted. "Y-you mean, the reason you're all the same... is because of an ancient curse?!"
"That's right," Anna nodded sadly. "Every one of us is cursed to be an exact copy of that original merchant from so long ago... 'we shall be as thou are'... the only way any of us could have a son is if we adopted one. Perhaps now you see why my mother was driven to insanity..."
"H..holy sh... sugar..." the summoner barely avoided cursing as the weight of the truth hit him. "So that's why you defied your destiny..."
"That's right. I knew there were some of us who were capable of fighting and defending ourselves, so I saw a way to 'bypass' the curse, so to speak. I trained myself in the way of the axe, and when I had come of age, I journeyed to the king's castle and volunteered myself for the army. The knights were apparently caught off guard by that, and brought me to King Gustav himself... It took quite a while to convince him that I wasn't there to sell something, but actually join his forces..." Anna chuckled a little. "I remember saying that I would accept whatever wages he would pay me... it actually caused me physical pain to hold my tongue and not try to haggle with him for a higher wage, so strong was my merchant's instinct... but that was what finally convinced him that I was serious."
"So I managed to work my way up the ranks and eventually become Commander of the entire outfit, though I admit my natural accounting and price haggling ability helped a fair bit with that..."
"Hasn't helped us with our current financial situation," Kiran deadpanned, pointing at a nearby treasure chest that was completely empty. "I've had to send Takumi and Virion into the woods to hunt wild animals just so we can eat..."
"Ah-hahahaha..." Anna put a hand behind her head as she blushed in embarrassment. "It's not my fault my sisters are such effective swindlers compared to yours truly..."
The summoner could only facepalm at this. If it wasn't for the fact that he got along so well with the prince and princess, he would have asked to be sent home a long time ago... (Well, at least now I understand why she never met a get-rich-quick scheme she didn't like... Maybe next time she gets one of those ideas in her head, I'll just cold-cock her with Breidablik before she gets the chance... And if Alphonse or Sharena protest, I'll just say I messed up while trying to summon...) It was the only way to protect what was left of their finances.
~*Fin*~
So what do you think of my take on the origin of all Annas? Let me know in your reviews!