Chapter One
A day like any other; wake up, go to school, then to work, and finally come home late at night. That's how my day should have gone, in any case. Everything went according to plan right up until the part where I walked home; on my walk back home, I experienced the unpleasantness of being hit by a truck. To be honest, it was not as horrible as I had expected; there was a terrible searing pain over my entire body for but a moment before I lost consciousness, resulting in my inability to feel anything.
I suppose I should introduce myself before I go any further. My name is Samuel but most people call me Sam for short. I'm eighteen years of age and well on my way to nineteen. I would tell you what I looked like, except that my old appearance is no longer relevant. You'll understand later.
After I was deprived of my consciousness, I found myself in complete and utter darkness. I couldn't move and I couldn't speak, and quite frankly, it was hard to tell if I even had a body at that point. Before long, a voice spoke.
"Such a tragic death…at such a young age too. Perhaps…I can help you…give you another chance at life…and perhaps…you'll end up helping me at some point. There is a catch however…you cannot return to your world…your body has ceased functioning. I shall send you elsewhere…with a new body."
My thoughts at the time were a scrambled mess of confusion. I had no idea who this voice belonged to, I couldn't quite comprehend what the voice was talking about, and for the life of me I could not decide whether the voice belonged to a male or a female entity. But that's all in the past now; currently, I am still waiting in the void of never ending darkness.
I waited for quite some time for the invisible entity to make good on its word. Just when I was about to shrug the whole thing off as a divine prank, a light appeared in the distance. It was small at first, but as it approached me it became larger and larger. I could see enough of the light now to tell that it was shimmering, as if I was looking into a pool of crystal clear water on a bright summer's day. I prepared myself for the moment when it would collide with me and I would feel the cool splash of water…but it never came. The shimmering light stopped immediately in front of me and showed no signs of coming any closer. As I watched, what seemed to be shimmering water was torn right down the middle like a piece of paper, complete with the very same tearing sound. It fell away below me without a sound, slowly falling beyond my field of vision and into the indefinite shadows.
Puzzled and confused, I looked around in an attempt to find any explanation for what had just occurred, and to my surprise, something else was happening! Small streaks of dull yellow light snaked through the void and collected at a single point; tying their ends to one another and creating a hoop that merely sat there, turning itself in circles.
A new voice spoke.
"Through there lies your new home. Take the plunge, Samuel."
I hesitated; this was a new entity with unknown intentions. I wasn't sure I should so willingly trust this voice, but then again, how could I trust the first voice?
Sensing my hesitation, it tried to reassure me.
"I am your ally, Samuel. Even if you believe nothing else, believe that."
Finally coming to the decision that I had no other options and nothing better to do with my afterlife, I moved through the loop. 'Moved' may not be the proper word for what I did, as I did not have a physical form from what I could tell; I more or less willed myself toward my destination and it began to get closer to me. As the hoop passed around me, the voice spoke two last words before I was enveloped in a light that was decidedly not present in the dark void.
"Have faith."
When I came to, I was in a room that was completely unfamiliar to me. A stone roof and walls loomed over me as I laid flat on my back. Moving my fingers I could feel plush carpet beneath me and turning my head I could see it was dull red in color. I sat up, rubbing the back of my head in an attempt to alleviate the throbbing pain in my head. Before I could make any headway into figuring out where I was, the sound of a door opening caught my attention. I looked over to see a young man, likely in his late teens, stood at the door, his gaze locked on me.
"Who, if I might ask, are you?" He asked as he slowly stepped into the room and closed the door behind him.
"I-I, um…" I struggled to come up with a proper explanation as I rose to my feet. "My name is Samuel, and to save you the trouble of asking, I don't know how I got here."
He nodded his head skeptically. "Right. But you know, Samuel, people don't typically show up in a prince's room at random." He spoke calmly but his body was tensed as if he was waiting for me to pounce and attack.
"A-A prince? You're a prince?" I asked in surprise. "I apologize, your highness! I…wait…a prince of what country?"
He narrowed his eyes ever so slightly. "The kingdom of Nohr, as if you weren't aware. Am I also to believe that you're not a spy from Hoshido?"
"Look, I'm gonna be honest with you, I've never heard of either of those countries. So if this is some sick joke that's being pulled over on me, you can drop the act now."
He looked me over for a moment. "At the very least, you don't have the bearing or the manner of dress befitting of a Hoshidan spy. Where do you come from?"
"The United States of America…but I don't suppose that means anything to you, does it?"
"I'm afraid not; this is the first I've heard of such a place." The young man stared at me intently, obviously mulling something over in his mind. "As strange as it sounds considering our circumstances, I'd like to keep you around."
"What? Why? I mean, not that I particularly care, but what reason could you possibly have for keeping me around?" I asked, my complete confusion apparent.
"Not only am I curious about where you come from, but I'm sure that fath- I mean, King Garon would be more than happy if we could strike a deal with your home country and make a joint effort to defeat Hoshido!"
He paced back and forth, talking more to himself than to me. I considered asking him who King Garon was just to be clear, but I figured it was safe to assume that this Garon was the current king of Nohr.
I let him ramble on for a while longer while I looked around the room once again. There really wasn't much else that was noteworthy; just a bed with velvet covers and a small tea table. What really caught my attention though was a full length mirror hanging on the nearby wall; my first look in the mirror caused me to jump back in surprise. The man in the mirror was wearing my clothes, but he looked nothing like me; he was tall, thin, and pale. His eyes a soothing silver color, and his hair a dark shade of purple. Whenever I moved, he moved the same way…it was…unnerving to say the least. I looked down at my hands, remembering what the first voice had said about giving me a new body. I guess I didn't know what I had been expecting, but I didn't think I'd be given such a major makeover.
"Samuel!" The young man's call pulled me out of my thoughts. "Follow me; I'll take you to meet Xander and see what he thinks."
"Oh, um, alright. But…who's Xander?"
"Xander is my older brother and the crown prince of Nohr." He stated matter-of-factly as he opened the door. "Now come quickly. I hope he hasn't already left the castle."
I followed him out the door and into a grand hallway lit by torches mounted on the walls. The farther we walked and the more of this castle I saw, the more it seemed like we were in some kind of medieval fortress. Although by this point, something like that didn't seem all too farfetched.
After a fair bit of walking through halls and taking more turns than I could keep track of, someone could be seen at the end of our current hallway.
"Xander!" The prince yelled, picking up his pace at the sight of the man. As we got close to the man, he spoke.
"Ah, hello, Corrin. Is there something I can help you with? And who is this with you?" Xander spared me a quick glance.
Corrin? Is that the prince's name?
"His name is Samuel, and from what he tells says, he comes from a kingdom outside of Nohr." Corrin explained.
"So he comes from Hoshido then?" Xander tightly gripped the handle of the sword hanging at his waist.
"No, he comes from a kingdom called…um…"
"The United States of America, or just America for short." I finished for Corrin.
Xander's grip on his weapon didn't loosen. "I've never heard of such a place. He's obviously lying to you, little brother."
Corrin looked over at me, considering his brother's words carefully. I could see the look in his eyes; he was leaning towards agreeing with his brother. Now, given the fact that I showed up in a royal's room without invitation, if they had no use for me then I'd most likely end up with a rope around my neck.
"Xan- um, I mean, Prince Xander. Please, give me a chance to explain myself." I pleaded.
"If you're going to explain, then do it. Now." He was scowling and his sword had inched ever so slightly out of its sheath.
I swallowed nervously. "W-well, as Corrin said, I come from a country separate from Nohr and Hoshido. As I understand, Nohr is at war with Hoshido currently, and my country would be more than willing to offer our assistance in ending this war quickly. So, if you could help me get back to my home then I'll be able to arrange for you to meet with the leader of my home country." I waited for his response as he weighed my words.
"Where does your kingdom lie?" he asked simply.
"That's the only problem, I uh…I don't know where it is in relation to Nohr…but I'm sure if we do a little research we can figure it out." I gave a smile to try and reassure them, but it probably ended up doing the opposite.
"Corrin. Can I speak with you privately?" Xander's voice was level and controlled, making it tough to tell what he was thinking.
The two of them walked a small distance away and Xander instantly started whisper yelling at Corrin, causing Corrin to argue back in the same whisper yelling way. I couldn't tell what they were arguing about from this far away, but since they were arguing then surely one of them was on my side…right?
When they came back, Xander didn't look completely happy about whatever agreement they'd come to.
"Samuel, was it? Here's the deal: Our father, King Garon, would more than likely execute you on the spot if he knew your…peculiar circumstances. Corrin and I have come to the decision that we would do well to keep an eye on you for more than a couple reasons. So to make sure you're not killed, you'll serve as one of Corrin's butlers. You shall accompany and protect him wherever he goes, but everything you do will be under the watchful eye of Corrin's retainer, Gunter." Xander took a deep breath after his explanation. "Any questions?"
I opened my mouth to ask a question, but after seeing the look on Xander's face I thought better of it. I closed my mouth and shook my head. "No questions right now."
"Good." I was given one last glare from Xander before he walked off down one of the many large hallways.
"Well, I guess we should get you a uniform. And maybe I should have Jakob teach you some of the finer points of proper butler etiquette." Corrin said.
"Lead on then, my liege." I said with a sigh.
I don't usually fancy myself as someone who complains, but being thrown head first into a brand new world that I know nothing of and finding my only option is to become a butler for a prince I've just met isn't a situation I would have asked for.
I could only hope that my luck would turn around soon.
A/N: SO! I've been playing a lot of Fire Emblem Fates: Conquest lately and I couldn't resist the urge to write this fanfiction. So here you go. I hope you guys enjoyed this first chapter and will continue to read as I update.
Please give me some feedback, either through reviews or PMs. Feedback really helps me to keep going on a story. Also, feel free to leave suggestions for characters or things that you'd like to see in this story.
Thanks for Reading! Farvel!