A Summoner's Journey
Prologue: World of Zenith
My name is Lucian. And I am falling down a bottomless hole. Okay, let's back up a bit. I remember going to high school today, doing three hour long school work at home, then playing Fire Emblem: Blazing Sword on my Gameboy until it was midnight. I actually managed to make it to Chapter 26, I believe. Anyways, I opened my window and let the cool summer breeze glide into my room. I climbed into bed and fell asleep. Next thing I knew, I woke up falling in a endless white hole.
"What the hell am I doing here?", I murmur to myself, rubbing my eyes, "I don't think I drunk THAT much last night…".
As I continued tumbling down the white hole (with absolutely no pain or friction at all), I eventually see light at the bottom of the hole.
"Well, let's hope that this dream ends soon…", I said, and I fell into the deep light, my vision going black and my consciousness fading away
"Hey! Hello? Are you awake?", a distant voice rang in front of me.
My vision was blurry and my head ached, but my sight was clear enough to see a red-haired figure in front of me.
"Are you alright? Can you wake up?", the figure continued to ask.
"Uughh…", I groan and sit up, my headache fading and my vision clearing to see a temple made of gray stone and an entire wall etched with glowing red, blue and green stones, all arranged in a circle pattern. The figure in front of me was female, with a gold and white uniform and a small axe on her back, as well as blazing red hair.
"Oh good, you're awake", the girl smiled, then cleared her throat, "Great hero from beyond! It is an honor to have you come so far to fill the role of your destiny!".
I look at the girl, dumbfounded. Me? A hero? That's ridiculous. The only thing I have ever saved was a slice of blueberry cheesecake in my fridge from the monster eater that is my friend, Marco.
"I'm sorry, but you seem to have the wrong person", I said, "But you look familiar. You look like a character from a game I play, Fire Emblem".
"Oh? Who is that interesting character?", the girl asked with a sly smile.
"Hmm, I think her name was Anna", I answered, "She appeared in almost every game in the Fire Emblem series, sporting trademark red hair and her index finger on her chin".
"Oh. Like this?", the girl put her right finger on her chin, giving me an intense feeling of deja vu.
"Yeah… looks just like that… wait!", I got to my feet and looked around the land, "This… this isn't a dream, right?!".
The girl giggled, "This is no dream, great hero. The game you describe in real. This is the world of Fire Emblem".
I pinched myself to make sure it was real. The rolling hills and glowing lights of the orbs nearby didn't fade. I would've squealed with joy and ran around with my hands waving, but Anna was watching, so I reigned my excitement.
"Wow, I'm…", I couldn't even find the words to express how happy I was, "This is awesome! But what Fire Emblem universe it this? Archanea? Jugdral? Perhaps even Ylisse?".
"This may come as a shocker, but it's all of them!", Anna exclaimed, "You see, this is the world of Zenith, a world where the royal family can access portals leading over to the various worlds of Fire Emblem, including the World of Awakening, the World of Blazing, the World of Conquest and the like".
I grinned with excitement and was about to reply when a man wielding an axe and clad in black armor appeared behind Anna.
"Anna, behind you!", I pointed to the man running towards us.
"Oh no, it's an enemy soldier of Embla!", Anna grabbed her Iron Axe off her back, "Stand back, I'll protect you! Err, what's your name?".
"Uhh, Lucian", I replied.
"Alright, I'll protect you Lucian!", Anna faced the Embla soldier, "Let's go!"
"Not to be mean, but I want to test your tactical prowess in this fight", Anna said.
"What? So this was a mistake?!", I cried, surprised.
"Yeah… I kinda just summoned you at random, hoping that you'll be a good tactician in the kingdom of Askr", Anna gave me a sly smile, "But let's put hope to the test! You said you played Fire Emblem before, right? I hope you know how to direct me!".
The Embla axe user came forward and slashed his Iron Axe towards Anna's face. "Get down and strike at his legs!", I commanded and Anna dodged the axe strike and swung at the soldier's legs. The fighter fell backwards and I cried, "While he's down, slam your weapon in his face!". Anna brought her Iron Axe down onto the soldier's head and the weapon split his skull open. The fighter was left in a bloody mess on the ground, with giant gashes on his legs and face.
"Good job! You sounded so confident!", Anna grinned, "But that was only part one. Part two is this…". Anna reached into her back pocket of her white and gold uniform and pulled out a white pistol-looking object.
"Hey… is that a gun?", I asked.
Anna looked at me, confused, "What's a gun?".
"Oh, uh… it's just something from my world. That thing in your hand is shaped like it", I explained, "But if it's not a gun, what is it?".
"This is the legendary relic Breidablik!", Anna declared dramatically.
"Bread-id-ba what?", I asked.
"BREED-DA-BLIK", Anna sounded out for me, "It's the tool I used to summon you".
"Uhh, so I'm supposed to shoot it in the air and expect another high school kid to come out?", I wondered.
"Only Askr commanders and royalty can do that", Anna said, "But a certain chosen one of another world can summon heroes out of the Breidablik, at least that's what the legend says".
"Well, may as well give it a shot…", I murmur as I accept the gun-thing from Anna. I looked around the relic, turning it upside down and sideways, "Where's the ammunition?".
"Oh, the ammo is these special orbs!", Anna again reached into her pockets and pulled out five luminous orbs, all of them glowing with multicoloured light. I took one from Anna and casually tossed it in the air, "How do you fit these in your pockets? They are like super size metal marbles!".
"Trust me, science and magic don't work well together", Anna smiled.
"Oh well", I fit the orbs into the slots on the Breidablik's sides, one at a time and after the fifth orb was placed below the barrel, the entire relic glowed with the same multicolored light, "So now what do I do?", I asked.
"Aim the Breidablik at one of the glowing orbs there", Anna pointed to the wall with the red and blue orbs, "Once you point to it with the relic, it should react and the five orbs will disappear. Shortly after, a hero will be summoned at random! Fun, right?".
"Well, it is like a gamble…", I mused, picking at the summoning gun with my fingers, "But what's life without risks? Let's do it!".
"Alright, you choose on what orb", Anna said.
I aimed the relic forward, then looked behind me, "What's the difference with the colours?".
"Red orbs will summon a hero with a sword or fire tome, blue will summon lances and thunder tomes, green will summon axe heroes or wind mages and gray orbs will summon bow, staff or dagger heroes", Anna explained.
"Quick and simple. Alright, let's try the gray stone…", I pointed the Breidablik at the glowing gray orb, on the bottom right of the circle of orbs. The Breidablik shook and the five orbs on the gun disappeared in a puff of smoke. The gray orb on the wall shined bright with white light and me and Anna covered our eyes as the light flared all around the ruins. When the light cleared, an archer with elegant teal hair appeared in the center of the temple.
"I am Virion, the finest archer of the fairest of realms! Delighted to be of service", the archer said.
Anna's jaw hit the floor, "So the legend is true…", then she cleared her throat, "Lucian, resident of another world, you are the chosen summoner of the Breidablik!".
I stared at the Breidablik in my hand. The barrel was smoking, but it looked fine for something that just shot out an egotistic archer.
"I can't believe this…", I murmured to myself, then I pinch myself again, to be 100% sure that I'm not dreaming. Before I could talk to Virion, a guy with dark blue hair and the same uniform as Anna came running towards the ruins from the right.
"Commander Anna! I'm glad you're alright!", the boy said.
"Alfonse! The legend has come true!", Anna exclaimed, "I raised Breidablik and Lucian appeared! He just used the Breidablik and he summoned Virion! He's the chosen summoner!".
"Anna, that's unbelievable!", Alfonse turned to me with a warm smile on his face, "So you're our great hero from another world? I'm Alfonse, prince of the Askr kingdom and a member of the Order of Heroes. I am pleased to make your acquaintance".
"Nice to meet you too, Alfonse", I held out my hand, "I'm Lucian".
Alfonse shook my hand, "I'm sorry to have to ask you after we just met, but hear me out. Our order is devoted to fighting the Emblian empire, which invades worlds where heroes come from. One of these, is the World of Mystery and I came here to inform Commander Anna that the Emblians have seized the World of Mystery!".
"We have to go free it!", Anna said, "Lead us there Alfonse. Sharena might be in trouble".
"Alright, let's go Lucian, Anna and Virion", the prince gestured with his hand and led us out of the ruins.
We arrived at a castle courtyard, with many light blue portals swirling, all of them leading to different worlds and different timelines.
"Wow…", I marveled, gazing around the area. This was just a simple empty courtyard, yet it had an incredible amount of elegance and work put into it. The floor was clean, solid marble and patches of grass nearby had various kinds of flowers blooming. With the portals nearby, the courtyard looked like a mix between a futuristic portal lab and a medieval palace garden. And somehow, the mixture still made the yard look beautiful.
"What grace! What incredible detail!", Virion was gawking just as much as I was, "This might be just as good as my home country, Rosanne. Perhaps even better and that's a hard thing for me to say!".
Alfonse gave Virion a faint smile, "I'm glad you like it Virion. Our architects spent decades on this castle, time that we had because Embla and Askr were aligned as one".
We walked to the castle gates and faced the swirling blue portal beside it.
"Here it is, the portal to the World of Mystery", Alfonse said.
"Are you sure this is safe?", I asked.
"We have done this many times before. I swear on my honor as a prince that it's safe", Alfonse assured.
"Well, alright. Whatever you say", I relaxed and jumped into the portal, with Alfonse, Anna and Virion following me in afterwards.
"Commander Anna! Alfonse! What took you so long to get to the World of Mystery?", a blond haired girl asked.
"Sorry Sharena, Anna kinda just fulfilled a legend", Alfonse replied.
"Hm? What do you mean - Oh", the blond girl fixed her emerald green eyes on me, "You're that great hero of legend?".
"Uhh, yeah. I got the Breidablik thing working", I said, showing her the white and gold gun.
The girl smiled brightly, "I knew it! Our group hoped against hope that you would come to save us!".
"Sharena, please calm yourself", Alfonse chided, "This is Lucian. As it turns out, our great hero is a talented tactician too. We're in good hands".
"Wow, that's amazing!", Sharena exclaimed, "You're just as great as I imagined! I'm going to be your number one fan!".
Alfonse coughed into his fist.
"Oh, sorry. My manners seem to have gone completely out the window. I'm Sharena", Sharena held out her hand, "Alfonse's darling little sister".
"Good to meet you Sharena", I said.
"Alright, let's get back on topic", Anna said, "Sharena, what's the situation here?".
The Askr princess frowned, "Simply put? Absolutely dreadful. The empire has taken control over some of the most powerful heroes in the World of Mystery. There's one that swoops through the skies, riding a wyvern and is clad in all red".
"That must be the princess of Macedon, Minerva", Alfonse said, "This battle will be tough. We need Virion to shoot down those fliers-". Alfonse was cut off by the sound of loud dragon wings flapping through the air.
"Begone outsiders!", the rider bellowed, "I am Minerva, the princess of Macedon. Now I'll warn you only once- return to your world. I am bound to serve the Embla Empire and their imperial princess, Veronica have given me an order: attack the kingdom near her empire".
Loud flapping rang through the field they were in and two pegasus riders stood by Minerva. One of them had long green hair and was dressed in a green pegasus knight tunic complete with black leggings. The other had short blue hair, with a white headband around her forehead. She was dressed in the same uniform as the green pegasus knight, except that it was blue. The knight also had high blue boots. Before the Askrians could react, a Cleric with short red hair came running up behind Minerva, with a Heal staff in her hand.
"I'm going to help you, sister!", the Cleric exclaimed.
"Maria, it'll be a short battle. You don't need to get involved", Minerva replied.
"But what if you're hurt?", Maria asked, "What if anyone on our side is hurt? You need me!".
Minerva sighed, but the green pegasus knight giggled beside her.
"Let her be", the knight smiled, "You know how stubborn Maria is when she wants to help".
"Princess Minerva, please hear me out", Alfonse said, "My name is Prince Alfonse of the Askr kingdom, the very place you're going to attack. I beg you, please lay down your weapons. I'd hate to battle noble heroes like you".
"Flattery will get you nowhere", Minerva replied coldly, "We must settle this with our blades".
"There IS one way to get us to not fight", the blue pegasus knight said, "Prove to us that you are stronger".
"So battle is our only option?", Alfonse asked.
"She has named her terms and we must abide to them", Anna said, "Everyone, to arms!".
And so the battle ensued. Anna and Virion broke down a cracked wall near a mountainside and now, Virion was sniping Maria and the pegasus knights behind cover, with Anna guarding him.
"Sharena and Alfonse! Take the right side and bait the green swordswoman and Minerva! After they go after you, defeat them!", I commanded.
"On it!", Sharena spun her Iron Lance and charged to the right flank, with Alfonse following her. Virion shot an arrow from his Iron Bow and took down Maria. The blue pegasus knight soared over the mountain and lunged at Virion with her Iron Lance, but Anna swung her axe at the knight's side and knocked her towards the hill. Virion nocked an arrow and shot down the blue knight. The green knight saw Sharena and flew towards her, but Minerva stopped her.
"Palla, don't go rushing towards the enemy to avenge Catria", the Dracoknight chided.
"But commander…", Palla began, but Minerva cut her off, "In this world, we seem to be immortal. You saw how Catria and Maria faded away instead of die, so to win a battle, we must not let out emotions overrule our judgement and try to think tactically to win the fight".
"Right. Sorry commander…", Palla said, gripping her Iron Sword.
"Let me engage the lance girl, you distract Prince Alfonse", and Minerva charged towards Sharena with her Iron Axe. Alfonse was about to intervene, but Palla crashed into the prince and slashed him by his waist. Alfonse growled and attacked back.
"Virion, Anna!", I called, "Alfonse and Sharena need help! Virion, stay behind the mountains and continue to snipe Minerva and the other flier. Anna, help support Sharena!".
"Alright!", Anna came out of the mountain pass and went to help Sharena, but Minerva knew how to turn the situation in her favor. She flew up the mountain and smashed downwards onto Virion, who was about to release an arrow at Palla. The archer fell and dissolved into golden sparkles.
"No! Virion!", I cried, then I gritted my teeth in anger, "Alfonse, stop attacking the sword flier and target Minerva! Anna, support Alfonse and Sharena, take care of the green pegasus knight!".
The trio immediately went into action and caught Minerva by surprise. As soon as Minerva flew back up the mountain, she was ambushed by Alfonse's sword and Anna's axe. Seconds later, she too dissolved into golden dust. Palla swung her blade over Sharena, but the Askr princess was fast. She darted out of the way and stabbed her lance into the pegasus knight's stomach. Palla toppled off her mount and faded like the others. The group walked back to the gateway when Minerva reappeared, this time with her axe strapped to her wyvern.
"Well done. You have proven yourself strong enough to break the contract that binds us", the Dracoknight congratulated, "And doing so allows us to roam free once more. I promise you that Macedon will not attack your kingdom. Farewell", and the Macedonian princess flew off into the vast blue sky.
"That completes our mission", Alfonse smiled, but his face was pained because of Palla's slash wound in his chest.
"You're such a great tactician, Lucian!", Sharena grinned brightly, "Even when Virion was defeated, you kept your cool and changed strategy! Where did you learn that?".
"I'll tell you later", I promised, "But what happened to Virion? Minerva landed on him pretty hard".
"Don't worry", Anna assured, "Heroes summoned by the Breidablik cannot be killed and heroes bound by contract cannot be felled either".
"So… where is he then?", I asked.
"Virion's probably waiting for us in the castle foyer", Anna inferred, "Let's hope he doesn't stoop around the castle too much…".
Suddenly, the blue portal behind them rippled and a knight dressed in white and gold came through.
"Commander Anna, Embla is advancing on Askr!", the knight reported.
Alfonse growled, "This was all a distraction. We have to get back there quickly!".
"Right, we're not going to lose our kingdom so easily. Let's get going!", and Sharena jumped through the portal. Alfonse followed after, then Anna and finally, me and the knight went through.
We popped out in the castle courtyard, where four Emblian troops waited for us.
"Scurry, scurry, little heroes. Steal for me… spread destruction. Kill all that stand in our way. This kingdom must fall. Once it's gone, nobody can oppose me. Every hero in the world… they'll be mine. Every last one", a girl's voice said.
I glanced over to where the voice was. I saw a small girl, wearing a black and gold robe, with wispy white hair and a blood red cape. She donned an oversized gold crowd. Seriously, that must be really hard on her head. No wonder the young girl was cranky enough to start attacking her neighbors.
"We won't allow it, Princess Veronica", Alfonse said sternly, "And I will not forget your violation of my kingdom!".
Veronica turned towards Alfonse, her empty red eyes eerily focusing on me. "Oh, it's you. And after all the trouble I went to arrange your playdate", Veronica turned to me, "Who are YOU stranger?".
I remain silent, smart enough to not answer to this person.
"Hmph, you won't even give me your name? How rude", the Embla princess smiled, "But I know who you are. You have the Breidablik, therefore you are this "legendary summoner" all the Askrians are babbling about. That makes you the first person to die. Oh, Xander!".
A horse-mounted knight wearing black plate mail armor and blond hair rode over to Veronica's side, "You wish this one slain, Princess? As you wish".
"Oh no, she has Xander, the most powerful hero from the World of Conquest!", Sharena cried.
"Don't worry Lucian, we'll protect you", Alfonse drew his sword and placed in over me protectively.
f"Get ready everyone. Let's show this rotten princess how the Order of Heroes fight!", Anna drew her Iron Axe and the battle begun.
"Xander, I leave this matter to you", Veronica said as she opened a purple portal beside her, "I'll have three Embla cavaliers and a troubadour assist you".
"You have my gratitude, princess", Xander bowed, "Now go along, there's no need to get involved with this".
Veronica walked through the swirling purple gateway and disappeared in white light. Without Virion, the battle was a bit harder, but generally still easy. Xander cut from above with his Iron Sword, but Sharena dodged and stabbed him in the gut. A Sword Cavalier rode towards Alfonse and swung his sword onto the prince. Alfonse glowed yellow and shouted:
"Above all, the mission!"
..and slammed his blade into the cavalier, healing Alfonse's wounds.
"This isn't anime Alfonse!", I yelled, "No need to yell out random but admittingly awesome quotes!".
Alfonse continued dueling with the cavalier until Anna jumped in from behind and took down the Embla soldier. Xander caught Sharena in the shoulder and the Askr princess fell backwards. While Sharena was getting up, the troubadour came over and healed Xander of his injuries given to him by Sharena.
"That's enough!", Alfonse jumped overheard and smashed his sword onto the troubadour, taking down the healer in one shot. An arrow flew from behind a wall and hit Anna in the leg. The axe fighter calmly went behind the wall and loud screaming echoed through the courtyard. Anna emerged, blood covering her face and armor. She held up a broken Iron Bow, the limbs of the bow speckled red.
"Yeaahhh… I expected that", I said and looked to where Xander was. Sharena was crawling away while Alfonse distracted Xander. The knight of Conquest was equal, perhaps better than Alfonse in sword skill and easily knocked down the Askr prince.
"Anna, go and help Alfonse and Sharena!", I commanded, "Hurry!".
But Xander wasted no time fulfilling his objective and I suddenly felt a painful jolt in my arm. I sprinted behind a column in the courtyard while Anna attacked Xander. I looked over to my right arm and the sight of blood nearly made me faint. My pajama sleeve was torn from Xander's sword and a huge gushing wound poured blood faster than a chocolate fountain could spew chocolate. Yeaahh… kinda embarrassing, wearing pajamas while leading ancient heroes to fight other heroes. I DID get summoned while I was sleeping though. Blame Anna. Anyways, Anna managed to get a lucky hit on Xander and knocked him away. Xander looked around at his troops, who all disappeared from being defeated.
"I'll retreat for now", he said, with a hint of sadness in his voice, "But don't think this is over", and the horseman galloped away, disappearing in purple portal in the distance. I came out of the column I was hiding behind and Alfonse breathed a sigh of relief, "Oh Lucian, thank goodness you're safe. The battle's won but this didn't resolve a thing. The empire will invade again soon".
"Stubborn girl, why can't we talk through this?", Sharena questioned, "These invasions are crazy. Honestly, that Veronica needs to grow up already. She's such a BRAT!".
"Sharena, don't let your emotion get the better of you - not on duty. I expect you to keep a more level head later on", Anna said sternly.
"Y-yes Commander Anna. I'm sorry", Sharena apologized.
"I apologize for bringing you into this war with us…", Alfonse said to me, "But I'm glad you're here. You are now an official member of the Order of Heroes!".
"You need something better than those pajamas you're wearing", Anna led me down a hallway in the Askran castle towards the laundry room. I felt hot blush on my face. I commanded three whole battles all in my nightclothes and the cut Xander made on my sleeve clearly shown that it's not good for protection. The laundry room in the castle was like a giant hot spring. Maids and butlers all around were washing clothes in the pool, then the water drains down to the filter and cycles back up through the fountain, giving an endless supply of fresh water for drinking and washing.
"Hmm…", Anna scanned the piles of clothing in the baskets around them. I looked around too, but I didn't know what to pick. "Ah, there we go", Anna went over to the top of the stone circle they were on and picked out three pieces of clothing out from the laundry basket: a white and gold robe with a hood, a plain white undershirt and a pair of white and gold boots matching the robe.
"It looks very… bright", I commented.
"I know right? That's how people know we're the good guys!", Anna tossed me the clothes and took me over to my private quarters in the castle.
"Get changed and meet me down in the castle lobby", Anna instructed, "I have some spare orbs in my room, so we're going back to the summoning ruins".
So I got changed and went down to the lobby, Breidablik in hand. Anna was waiting for me and in her hands was a wheelbarrow full of luminous orbs.
"How many are in here?", I asked, shocked.
"Twenty exactly. Enough for a full summon session, I'd wager", Anna grinned, slapping the wheelbarrow with her hand.
We went off alone to the summoning ruins and I loaded the Breidablik with the orbs Anna's supplied me with. I took aim at the first red orb blinding white light filled the ruins. When the light faded, I saw a man, clad in blue armor on a horse with fiery red hair. A Silver Sword was in his hand.
"Oh hey, it's Roy!", I exclaimed.
The man frowned, "Err, sorry, I'm not Roy. I'm his father, Eliwood".
"Ha ha, I was just making a joke. Nice to meet you Eliwood!", I shook Eliwood's hand and continued on.
I loaded four orbs into the Breidablik and aimed at the gray orb. Light flared around the room and another man appeared, this time dressed in ragged black clothing. He had messy white hair and chocolate brown skin, with an awesome eye patch and a Killer Bow in his hands.
"I'm Niles, from the kingdom of Nohr. Former outlaw, current disgrace. My arrows are yours", the man's voice was suave and almost sexy. I instantly knew I was going to like him.
"Nice to meet you Niles. You can wait with Eliwood over there", I said, pointing to the sword lord behind Anna. As Niles went away, I aimed at a blue orb this time. This time, a man appeared wearing yellow and black robes with his muscular chest exposed.
The man cried in a very dramatic voice, "I am Odin Dark! Mage of Nohr! Twilight traveller and infinite enigma!".
"Sounds impressive", I smiled. "Don't take him seriously", Niles said behind me, "He's all talk and drama. I worked with him before and I had to put up with this everyday".
"Hey Niles! How's it going, my old friend?!", Odin waved to the Outlaw, who spat in disgust and walked away.
"Wait Niles! Come back!", and Odin dashed out of the ruins. I looked at the last red orb hammered into the wall. I loaded my gun with four orbs and aimed at the glowing ruby orb. When the light faded, I saw a girl this time, dressed in a short red and white tunic riding a pegasus. Her long hair was dark blue and she had a massive Armorslayer in her right hand.
"I'm Princess Caeda of Talys. I'm also a pegasus knight, although a bit of an unconventional one", the girl said.
"Excellent. Nice to have a flier around here", I grinned at Caeda and told her to join Eliwood behind me. Anna gave me the last three orbs and focused on the gray orb on the bottom left. Light flared around the room and I saw a young girl, wearing an elegant white dress. The girl has short red hair and red eyes and she was holding a Mend staff.
"I'm Maria and I'm a real princess of Macedon. I'll do my best to help everyone, so keep me nearby!", Maria squealed.
"Aww, you're so cute!", I patted Maria's head and told her she can help anytime she likes. She looked at me with adoring eyes and went to join Eliwood and Caeda.
"That's all the orbs", Anna said, "Shall we head back?".
"Yeah, let's go", I said and then signaled to Caeda.
"Caeda, find Odin and Niles around here and tell them to go back to Askr Castle", I instructed.
"Of course, sir", and the pegasus knight flew off. I walked back to the castle with the new heroes in tow. "This life is going to be very enjoyable", I thought to myself.
To be continued...