Min the Noodle: YES! FINALLY! After telling y'all that I'd been writing all summer, I finally have something to show for it! After all that editing I put my poor friend PhoenixInfynity through, it was about time I got this stupid thing posted!

This is it. My Tactician Irene story. I took a chance and made an original character (and a female one at that), risking Mary-Sue flamers and major plot holes. Well, read it over and tell me what you think!

Special thanks to Link015, Lemurian-Girl, Oak, Lady Lyndis, MiSs JoVaNNa, R Amythest, and all of the anonymous reviewers for taking the time to look over my very first story, Priscilla's Gift, point out my mistakes to me, and leave a comment. You encourage me to keep writing. Thanks, everyone!

And now…. The disclaimer! I don't own Fire Emblem or the characters represented by this writing except for Felix and Irene Wu, who are figments of my imagination. But hey, we knew that.

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"Darn it, Felix! How long is this going to take?"

My older brother, Felix Wu, mechanical wiz and technical genius, poked his head out from under the machine and snorted in a very undignified way. "You've waited two years for this. You can wait another couple minutes."

Impatient, I rocked back and forth on the long-legged stool in the corner of Felix's workshop, also known as the Wu's family basement and garage. The old chair squeaked as I moved.

"Don't do that," came my brother's muffled voice from underneath the machine. "I don't want to be responsible for my little sister's fatal injuries."

"I'm fourteen, Felix. I know better than to fall off of a stool and crack my head open."

Felix grunted in reply. I sighed and fidgeted, toying with the end of one of my braids. Glancing to the right, I caught a glimpse of my reflection in the window of Felix's old, beaten-up pickup truck. Almond-shaped brown eyes stared back at me from a face too round to be called oval and too long to be called completely round. Slender, golden cheekbones were framed by a pair of twin braids of a dark, mahogany brown that dangled a bit beyond my shoulders. I turned my gaze back to the machine Felix was working on.

For a while, the only sounds were the clanking of metal on metal and the drip-drip of oil. I stared at the ceiling, cracked and shedding bits of paint like little snowflakes. The sketchpad in my lap was filled with doodles. We had been down here since seven in the morning, and it was nearing noon. I glared at Felix, fidgeting and chewing on the end of my pencil. The near-silence was becoming unbearable.

Without warning, my older brother let out a whoop and slid out from underneath his invention. I yelped and almost ate my pencil. "Done!" he crowed triumphantly, brushing his long, uncut bangs from his eyes with hands stained and smudged with black, sticky grease. His goggles had made red marks on either side of his nose. "Done and finished!"

"Really?" I leaned forward eagerly, and, as the stool began to teeter precariously, jumped down from my perch. "Is it really ready? Let's try it out!"

"Hold on, Irene," he cautioned. Opening the door of the machine, he shooed our household dog, test subject of Felix's many experiments, inside. The black Lab, named Miep after my mother's aunt, had time for one imploring look before the door slammed shut on her nose.

Plunging his hands hastily in a tub of disinfectant and wiping them on his jeans, Felix hurried over to his computer and plopped himself down on his gray swivel chair. His fingers raced over the keys, entering equations and codes so complicated that they made my head spin just watching him. The capsule-shaped machine shone with a soft, white light, emitting from within the chamber where Miep rested. His computer screen cleared, then went black. I gasped. "Miep!"

"It's okay, Irene! I've got it under control!"

Large block formations appeared on the screen and began to make their way down to the bottom corners. Cheap sound effects rang as the blocks clicked together. I frowned, not understanding. "Great. You got yourself a slipshod puzzle game and Miep's nowhere in sight."

Felix laughed and pointed to a little black figure in the lower right corner. "Look! It works!"

My eyes widened and I leaned closer. "Miep! It's Miep!"

"Yes! Miep is in the Tetris game!"

We watched the little figure skitter around, avoiding the blocks. "That's amazing," I said. "But what if Miep gets hurt or dies?"

"She won't. That's the beauty of it. No matter what she feels in the game- and she will feel things like fear, exhaustion, hunger, and pleasure- nothing will happen to her here in real life. In other words, if she gets squashed by one of these blocks, we won't find a pancaked Miep when we open that door." Felix hit a button and the screen faded out. The bright light shone again from the middle of the machine, then the door popped open and Miep stumbled out.

I watched the door of the chamber close, fascinated. "And it transports you-"

"To any movie, book, or story uploaded on my computer," Felix finished with a grin. "You wanna be the first to try it out? Other than Miep, I mean," he added, patting the dog's head affectionately.

"Can it do video games too?" I asked. A very interesting idea was forming in my head.

"You just saw Miep go through Tetris, didn't you?"

I was about to request my favorite video game, Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, when a thought occurred to me. If it was action I wanted, why not try out that strategy game everyone was talking about? What was it called again? Fire Emblem? Yes, that was it. If what my friends had said was true, I'd be seeing plenty of fighting.

"Y' got Fire Emblem on that computer of yours?"

Felix nodded and hit a couple of keys. The cover picture of Fire Emblem materialized onscreen, blown up to fill the poster-sized screen. "You bet." Leaning forward, he read, "'After centuries of peace, smoldering rivalries threaten to set the world aflame in a blaze of battle! The drums of war beat, noble houses plot treason, allies become enemies, and as Lycia stands poised for war, a shadowy figure manipulates empires for his own ends. Now, Lyn, Eliwood, and Hector must amass an army strong enough to fight back the forces that would destroy their homeland. Master battle tactics to douse the embers before they burn the world to ash.' Is this what you want?"

"Yeah," I said. My stomach tingled nervously. Here goes nothing, I thought.

Felix noticed my expression and raised an eyebrow. "Have you even played this game before, Irene?"

"Of course I have!" I retorted. Technically, it was true. I mean, I had played the game, but I'd never said how far I had gotten in it.

"Okay. Just be careful." He motioned towards the machine and the door slid open.
"Get in. I'll take care of everything else."

My palms felt clammy as I stepped through the doorway. I heard it slide shut behind me as I gazed at the small, white, and completely barren room I was in. My heart was pounding wildly; I could feel it thump as I stared at the wall, tapping my fingers over and over in my palms to stay calm. I'm really going to be in Fire Emblem, I thought. Wow! How often does a chance like this come around?

Felix's disembodied voice echoed around me from hidden speakers in the chamber walls. "Relax and take a deep breath." I did what he asked. "Good. Now, I'll keep in touch with you during this whole venture. You'll be able to hear me, but nobody else will. I can pull you out at any time, so don't feel trapped. You'll be tactician. Any questions?"

Tactician. At least I knew about that. "Nope."

"Good. Are you ready, Irene?" he asked.

I clenched my fists and closed my eyes. "Yes."

"All right. All systems go."

The world dissolved into white.

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And then I was in the middle of a mass of screaming people, all stampeding, running for their lives. Confused and panicked, I whirled around, trying to get my bearings. What was going on? I didn't remember this part being in the game! Where was I?

A man in peasants' clothes rushed past me, almost knocking me down. "Attacking! They're attacking!" he shouted, drawing an old, rusty scythe like the ones used to cut grass from his belt. "To arms, men! To arms!" A crowd of villagers trailed after him, armed with pitchforks and homemade weapons. I pressed against a wall to avoid being crushed by the fast-moving flow of people. Attacked? Who was attacking us?

A look past the village gates answered my question. A hoard of axmen came pouring in from the mountains, only a few hundred yards from the village, brandishing their weapons and howling war cries. An advancing cloud of dust and the thundering sound of hooves warned me of a wave of cavaliers sweeping towards us.

Forcing my way through the crowd, I reached the foot of a ladder leading up to the top of the village's barricade. I threw myself at the rungs and began to climb. As I peeked over the top of the wall, an arrow whizzed past, not an inch from my face. It caught me unprepared. I yelped and almost let go of the ladder. As it was, I lost my footing and tumbled down a couple of rungs before my scrabbling hands managed to grasp ahold of it again. There I hung, legs dangling, fifteen feet above a moving, writhing mass of humanity. I watched in horror as the gates were breached and the axmen poured in. People fell like firewood before the murderous, cleaving weapons. Where were Lyn's men? I wondered frantically. Who would save the village?

An axman looked up, blood dripping from his blade. He saw me, and a hideous smile broke out across his face. Hefting his weapon, he struck the ladder. It jerked violently and I lost my grip on one of the rungs. I grasped the remaining rung in a grip born of desperation, holding on with one hand. He swung again, and this last blow cleaved the ladder in half.

I let out a cry and plummeted downwards into a haystack, probably placed there to act as a cushion in case someone fell. As the bandit bent over me, I thrust my foot out hard. The thick-soled boot caught him square in the stomach. As the axman staggered back, clutching his stomach, I fought to untangle my legs from the confining tactician's robes I was wearing. Finally, I stumbled from the hay and dashed past the axman, tripping on debris and bodies. My throat tightened and I coughed as smoke from a burning wreck billowed overhead. The village was in flames. Bandits lugged sacks of stolen goods from houses, putting them to the torch as they left. Villagers lay scattered like broken dolls, dead on the ground. I stared, paralyzed, as the house directly in front of me collapsed into burning rubble.

A scream made me turn. A young woman clawed at a bandit, her back to the wall, fear in her eyes. The man laughed and knocked her down. As she struggled to rise, he raised his ax high for a killing blow.

I cast about for a weapon, any weapon. My eyes fell upon a broom handle, the head removed and burning on the ground. Snatching it up, I ran behind the bandit and rammed the end into his back. It entered about half a foot into his bare skin. Blood spurted from the wound in such measures that I must have struck an artery. Horrified, I let go and stepped back. The young woman scrambled to her feet and fled as the man keeled over, the broom handle protruding from his back like a spear.

Was he dead? Had I killed him?

There was no time to think of such things. A pair of bandits had spotted their fallen comrade and were headed my way. I turned and ran, but got no further than the first couple of steps. My foot got caught in a pile of rubble and I fell to my knees. Someone hit me hard at the base of my skull with the shaft of an ax. The last sound I heard before lapsing into unconsciousness was the sound of crackling flames.

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Min: I took the scenario from Chapter 14 of Eliwood's Story. Could you guess? As for the summary of Fire Emblem (the one on Felix's computer), that came from http/ Hopefully, I won't be hearing from some agent from gameexpress directly after posting this, demanding that I give them credit for the reference.

Chapter two of this will be coming out soon. Please let me know if you have any ideas. I'd appreciate your input!

Please leave me a review! And thanks, y'all!