Chapter: Prologue
Title: My name is Origeld
Rating: T
AN: This is the first story I will be writing, ONLY on my iPod.
Disclaimer: I do not own the Fire Emblem series, nor do I own the epic storyline to Awakening. All I own is just my character, whom might I add is kinda a part of Awakening, and my beat up iPod. Thanks Apple!
...
Lucina could do nothing as she watched her friend hold a charred body to his chest. Morgan let out another strangled cry, his hood up and covering his face and hair from Lucina. She in turn couldn't even look him in the face, not after what she did...
"...Why...?"
Lucina started at the sound of his voice, why did it sound so devoid of emotion, especially after what happened? She cleared her throat and answered back, "...Why what?"
Morgan's hands clenched the charred black body, a sickening crunch coming from it. His voice was now laced with fury, "Why did you need her!?" He bowed his head and stroked the head of the once beautiful girl. "Out of all the people left... Why did you need Aldis!?" Fresh tears spilled from his eyes, emotions running rampant through his mind.
Lucina let her eyes take in the surroundings, anything to keep herself from looking at her once dear friend. The battle field was something akin to the bowels of Hell itself. The ground was charred black from the fires that were still burning, bodies of Risen and friends lay haphazardly, as if they were nothing but rag dolls. A sword that was stabbed into the ground fell with a thud, sending ash into the air with a small 'puff'. The sky fared no better, it looked as if a painter poured a full red paint can on a canvas and spread it with oil stained hands. She grit her teeth, her surroundings a worse sight than her friend.
"I hate you..."
Lucina stood stock still, his words stabbing her worse than any others. "W-what? M-Mory..."
"Don't you dare call me that!" His head turned just enough for his hood to show a part of his face, his eyes blazing with absolute hate for her. "You took away my home... You took away my freedom... And now..." He took a shaky breath, "...and now you've single handedly taken away the last part of my family..."
Lucina's eyes watered, she cared for Morgan dearly, the last thing she ever wanted to do was hurt him. She shook slightly as she tried to hold back her tears. What could she say? I'm sorry? Is 'I'm sorry' even enough for everything?
She only bowed her head, ashamed to meet his furious gaze.
"Are you still coming along...?" She asked, referring to their mission that was planned by him earlier in the year. Was it insensitive to ask him? Yes it was. Was it imperative that he join? Even more so. They needed him, even if he despised Lucina, he must still care for their friends? "Laurent has already proven that it works." She eyed the mage's cap on the ground, it was in horrible condition.
He stayed silent, his eyes falling back to the corpse. He had no reason to live at this point. His family was wiped out and the woman he loved was dead to him. He lived in a world that literally was Hell. It would...
It would just be easier to go...
His morbid train of thought was interrupted and was even banished completely with Lucina's next words.
"You can see your family again."
...
She dashed through the halls of the temple, the thundering foot steps of the Grimleal echoing towards her and her companion. Their angry shouts spurring her to speed up.
Chrom called to her, signalling that they were getting close. She gripped her tome tightly to her chest, hoping that the powerful magic inside would hold for the coming battle.
The battle with him.
They burst into a large chamber, the door behind them sealing shut. Instead of feeling relieved that they wouldn't need to fight the Grimleal, she felt a rush of adrenaline, for the man they were here for was standing before an altar, a dark magic tome in his clawed hands. Around them was a dark void like barrier, barely able to see through. The slightly distorted figures of their army on the other side appeared at the same time as they did. She could vaguely hear their shouts of either encouragement or mortification. She reluctantly blocked their voices, needing to focus on her task.
Chrom gripped Falchion and let out a battle cry, she followed closely behind with her hands glowing from the magic. They quickly came upon him, Validar, who blocked both attacks with a magical barrier. He, let out a cry as he parried each of Chrom's blows, even blocking the magic bolts she sent towards him.
Chrom let out a pained cry as he was thrown into a wall, collapsing onto the ground and using Falchion as a crutch. Her eyes widened as she saw Validar start to charge a large mass of black magic, it sparked and hissed with evil intent. She took the chance when she noticed that Validar had put all of his attention on the form of Chrom, who was busy trying to stand back up.
She muttered an incantation, sending a powerful pulse of magic towards Validar, breaking his concentration and therefore destroying the mass of magic. He glared straight at her, his eyes telling her, 'I'll make sure to keep my eyes on you.'
Chrom climbed to his feet beside her, breathing hard. "This is it! Our final battle!" He turned his gaze to her and smiled reassuringly, "You're one of us, and no 'destiny' can change that." He turned his gaze back to Validar, who now stood awaiting them. "Now let's kill this dastard and be done with it!"
He flicked Falchion, getting ready to dash again. She nodded, and set to work on charging her magic. They began to run towards him, hearing the charge of their friends as the battle on the other side of the barrier waged on.
Validar cackled as she and Chrom ran faster, hoping to end this before anyone else could get hurt. "Why do you resist?" He continued to laugh, even as Chrom approached him, ready to strike. "Fools! Struggle all you want! You cannot unwrite what is already written!"
Chrom glared at the robes man, slashing him horizontally with a cry. He could feel the blade slash through what he hoped to be flesh, but was disappointed when it was mostly robe. He looked up to see a glowing hand in his face, full of the dark magic of Grima's Truth. The blast seemed to set ablaze his very soul, burning his core, tearing apart his mind.
The pain seemed to stop as a bright light flew past him and straight into Validar, earning a straggled groan of pain. She had stopped Validar before he could do any more damage to Chrom.
Before Validar could counter attack, Chrom stood and felt Falchion pulse with power. "Anything can change!" He screamed as he used the secret technique, Aether, and slashed Validar clean in half.
The pure power of Falchion and the lethal cut seemed to burn Validar, that the pure light energy of Falchion was setting his body on fire. He let out a silent scream as the dark magic tried to counter act the light magic, completely forgetting to heal his wounds. He collapsed onto the ground, the magic eating away at his body and destroying it.
Chrom breathed heavily, sheathing Falchion as he jogged over to her, a smile gracing his face.
"This isn't over..."
They both stopped and time seemed to slow down. Validar was getting back up, using what little energy he had to try a final attack. "...damn you ALL!" She reached to Chrom and pushed him out of the way taking the hit for him. It was worth it though. Anything to protect him.
She felt pain, yet she felt nothing. It was as if the darkness itself was trying to swallow her whole... But as quickly as it came, it ended. She was on the ground, "Are you alright!?" Chrom asked as he helped her sit up. Her head was spinning, it was hard to focus on anything, even the panicked shout on the other side of the barrier. Was that voice important? "That's the end of him..." Chrom continued, watching the remains of Validar fade away. "Thanks to you we carried the day. We can finally rest now, after so long..."
Her head throbbed, everything seemed to flash red. What's going on-? Why isn't Chrom freaking out? She felt an immense pain run through her head, feeling another being taking over, as if her mind was being violated in the worst way.
"What's wrong?" Her hand began to fill with magic, catching Chrom's attention. His eyes widened, "what are you doing!?"
He stopped moving, a breath caught in his throat. He staggered away, a magic made blade struck through his stomach. He gasped as he fell to his knees. Horrified, she looked down to see the magic still pulsing in her hand.
She... She...
He looked back up at her, his eyes neither hateful nor vengeful. "This is not your-" he gasped for air, suffering etched on his face. "...your fault." He smiled gently, "promise me... You'll escape from this place..."
She didn't move, her actions freezing her in place. "...please, go." He let out a final breath as he fell forward, his body now limp.
All she saw was her dear friend Chrom, dead on the floor, and hearing the laughter of Validar echoing in her mind.
...
She was bathed in darkness. She could see nothing, feel nothing... But she could hear. She could hear very softly, a chant. It was barely a whisper, more like a slight buzz to her.
She couldn't understand what was being said, only that it was constantly going on. She wanted to cover her ears to try and block the noise, but her hands and body refused to move.
She could only lie there, seeing nothing, feeling nothing, and hearing that buzz.
What seemed like an eternity, the buzz faded and turned into muffled voices. The darkness faded into a reddish hue, telling her she was lying on her back and that the sun was up. She could smell the scents of wild flowers and even feel the soft caress of grass and petals. If not for the voices, she would have stayed there, relishing the sounds of a single bird chirping in the distance.
She was roused from the depths of her mind when the voices became clearer. It was a relief to finally hear something else after... What exactly?
"Chrom we have to do something!"
"What do you propose we do?"
"...I-I don't know!" She slowly opened her eyes, the two figures crouched over her were indescribable due to the light of the sun above. The figure to her right let out a gasp, from surprise or relief she could not tell. She should have felt panicked about meeting a couple of strangers in gods knows where, but she had yearned for the human interaction.
But why did she want-
She mentally winced, her train of thought halted with a searing pain, blocking out whatever it was that had happened earlier. Was it important?
Before she could continue her inner monologue, a voice cut in, a man's voice. "I see you're a awake now." He said to her.
The figure to her right came to view as the light was blocked, it was, in her opinion, a pretty little blonde in pigtails. "Hey there." She giggled, acting friendly.
The man spoke again, "There are better places to take a nap than on the ground you know. Give me your hand."
She was offered his hand, which she took almost immediately. Her mind adjusted to the light and took in her surroundings. It was a large flower field with a bordering forest to the north. She could smell a faint trace of salt in the air, signifying the ocean was nearby. She stopped as she took in the young man before her.
He was familiar.
His royal blue hair was shining in the sun light, his dark blue eyes gleaming with amusement, most likely that she has grass in her hair. She took in his silver armor over his left arm and his bare right arm with a tattoo on the lateral side of his shoulder. He wore regal looking boots with trousers and short tunic. He had an easy going air about him that relaxed her slightly. "Are you all right?"
Beside the man was a girl, most likely a couple years younger than her, in wild looking blonde pig tails and silk bonnet. She wore a knee length buttercup yellow dress that cut to the hip on the sides, showing the metal wiring underneath. She was smiling at her, she practically reeked of innocence and mischief. Much to her annoyance however, was that she, the girl in the yellow dress, was taller than her, the girl who was STILL holding the blue haired mans hand.
She softly squeaked as she let go, her pale cheeks lighting up. She finally spoke, much to her surprise, only a couple of seconds had passed by. "I-I'm fine... Thank you, Chrom." She answered, biting her bottom lip. Who were these people? How did she get here? Where is here?
And why does she know this man's name?
His gaze seemed to harden slightly, as if he was going on the defensive. "Ah, then you know who I am?"
She reeled back ever so slightly, maybe he wasn't someone who could be trusted. She glanced behind him to see a very tall, heavily armored man, his gaze narrowed in her direction. She gulped slightly under his scrutiny and returned her gaze to Chrom's face. "I'm sorry, but... No, actually, I..." She bit her lip more, afraid that if she said the wrong thing, things could get ugly... "Your name, it just... Came to me... I think I heard that girl say it..."
He seemed to relax at her words, coming to the conclusion that she was not a threat. However, the man in the heavy blue armor continued to stare at her, making her want to bite her nails in anxiety. "...Hmm, how curious. Tell me, what's your name? What brings you here?"
She couldn't stand being questioned, questions put her on edge, make her mind suspicious, and cause her to make rash decisions. Had she always been like that? "My name is-" she stopped.
What was her name?
She thought for a moment, trying to remember anything she could go on. She drew a blank, which annoyed her. She definitely was a ray of sunshine... "It's... Umm... Hmm?"
Her eyes detected movement, she saw both men's hands inch towards the handles of their weapons. "You don't know your own name?"
She decided to just stick to the truth, what little she had, "I'm not sure if..." She stopped as the bird that had been chirping stopped. It brought another question up, "I'm sorry, but where am I, exactly?"
The girl to her right jumped slightly, coming to a realization. "Hey! I've heard of this! It's called amnesia!" She smiled to herself, seemingly content with her observation.
The heavily armored man scowled, "It's called a load of pegasus dung." He began to unsheathe a weapon, a lance. "We're to believe you remember milord's name, but not your own?"
She stepped back, her hands clenched and held against her chest, right over her heart, threatened by the blue behemoth. "B-but it's the truth!"
Chrom only had to take one look into her eyes to know that she was truly frightened. No amount of acting could produce emotions that real. He cut in with a raised hand, which stopped the heavily armored man. "...What if it IS true, Frederick? We can't just leave her here, alone and confused. What sort of Shepherds would we be then?"
The man, Frederick, fully sheathed his weapon and stood at full height with his hands behind his back. "Just the same, milord, I must emphasize caution." He eyed her, "'Twould not do to let a wolf into our flock."
Chrom stopped and thought. He nodded, "Right then- we'll take her back to town and sort this out there."
She jumped slightly, hands raised and waving. "Wait just one moment! Do I have a say in this!?" She really did not like being told what to do.
Chrom raised a hand, nonverbally telling her to stop, which she did. "Peace, friend, I promise we'll hear all you have to say back in town. Now come. South town is little more than a mile away." Chrom nodded to his two companions, who started walking down a path, had that always been there?
She reluctantly followed, what choice did she have? She heaved a sigh, not really wanting to think as she followed these people- they called themselves Shepherds?- whom she only met not only an hour ago.
As they walked, her eyes would dart to each member of the small group. The girl in the yellow dress was walking with a slight skip in her step, humming to herself as she clutched a staff in her hands. Chrom walked ahead, his cape- how long has he been wearing a cape?- billowing in the wind.
She turned her gaze to Frederick, riding a horse in heavy armor like his. How long has a horse been there? Why didn't she notice it?
Perhaps it is a good idea to stick with these people. If she didn't notice a freaking horse not two feet away from her, then what was stopping her from noticing bandits?
Had she always been this hopeless?
She stopped, the salt in the air was thickening, SouthTown was near. She took a deep breath, "What will you do with me?" The small party stopped and turned to her, questioning looks on their faces. "Am I to be your prisoner?"
Chrom broke into laughter, surprising her. Was he mad? "You'll be free to go once we establish you're no enemy of Ylisse."
She bit the inside of her cheek, her mind wondering what this 'Ylisse' was. "Is that where we are? Ylisse?"
Frederick answered, "You've never heard of the halidom?" She shook her head. He snorted, "Someone pay this actress. She plays quite the fool!" Her cheeks flamed in embarrassment, "The furrowed brow is especially convincing..."
Chrom pinched the bridge of his nose, "Frederick, please." He turned to her and calmly began, "This land is known as the Halidom of Ylisse. Our ruler, Emmeryn, is called the exalt. I suppose proper introductions are in order..." He smiled, "my name is Chrom- but then again, you already knew that." He motioned to the girl in the yellow dress, "the delicate one here is my little sister, Lissa."
The girl, Lissa, puffed her cheeks and stomped a foot, "I am NOT delicate!," with extra emphasis on the 'not.' She crossed her arms over her chest, letting out a 'humph!'. She smiled at her, "Ignore my brother, please. He can be a bit thick sometimes." Lissa giggled when she saw Chrom's face sour. Lissa ran to her and embraced her, "But you're lucky the Shepherds found you. Brigands would've been a rude awakening!"
She squirmed slightly in Lissa's embrace. She didn't like people she barely knew touching her. Wow, she was on a roll! Three ways to tell that she's annoyed. She wasn't sure that she was going to make friends anytime soon. But another thought came to her, "Shepherds? You tend sheep?" She glanced at their wardrobes, "...In full armor?"
Chrom chuckled, finding humor in her curiosity. "It's a dangerous job. Just ask Frederick the Wary here."
Frederick seemed to puff up in pride, "a title I shall wear with pride. Gods forbid one of us keeps an appropriate level of caution." He gazed back to her, "I have every wish to trust you, stranger, but my station mandates otherwise."
Funny way of showing it, she thought. But then again, she can see where he's coming from. He obviously cares for Chrom and Lissa, so it's only natural that he would be so wary of her, a person who doesn't know her own-
"I understand, sir. I would do no less myself. My name is Origeld." She stopped, her name just appeared out of nowhere. "...I just remembered that. How odd." She shrugged, "I suppose that's one mystery solved." She relaxed when the people around her grew less wary, now knowing her name.
Chrom rubbed his chin, "Origeld? Like the name of the older sister princess in the famous play?" He dropped his hand away from his chin. "...Ah, well. We can discuss it later. We're almost to town. Once we-"
Origeld sniffed the air, the unmistakable scent of burning reached her nose. At the same time, Lissa noticed the disturbance as well, but visually. "Chrom, look! The town!"
The small party all turned to the direction Lissa was looking. There were columns of smoke rising from SouthTown. Even from this distance, they could hear the screams of the townsfolk from whatever was disturbing them.
Chrom clenched his fists, "Damn it! The town is ablaze! Those blasted brigands, no doubt..." He turned, his eyes blazing, "Frederick, Lissa! Quickly!"
Lissa nodded and let go of Origeld. Frederick motioned towards her, "What about her?"
Chrom shook his head, already starting to run to the town, "Unless she's on fire as well, it can wait!"
Frederick picked up Lissa and placed her behind him, her arms wrapping around his torso for support. "Aptly put, milord."
Lissa squirmed, "Let's go already!"
Frederick snapped his reins, riding after Chrom into the battlefield.
Origeld reached for them, "But what about-" she stopped as they continued on. "Hmmm..." She stood in that spot, retreating into her mind. There's a village being attacked, and there are only three known people who are going inside to fight, and one of them isn't even a fighter. There was a chance that the people who had been so kind to her, as kind as strangers can be, might not come out of the battle alive. There could be hordes of enemies lying in wait to attack them.
If she stayed put, she'd save her own skin but probably doom Chrom, Lissa and Frederick. But if she went after them, there was a chance she could die with them. She didn't have any weapons, just her cloak and-
She finally noticed she was carrying a satchel, and inside was a magic tome. She opened the satchel and pulled out a brand new book. "Beginners Shock", was written on the front. How did she-?
She shook her head, not right now. She gripped the book and ran towards the battle field, hoping that maybe her fighting instincts would kick in.
...
Frederick pulled his horse to a stop, Lissa jumping off to the ground, clutching her staff. "Chrom!" Lissa cried as she saw the shape of the town square.
All around the town square, brigands were stealing gold from townspeople, cutting down anyone who tried to fight back, some even trying to drag off girls to alleyways. Some fires had been set and were burning with a quick intensity. Food stalls were over turned and a couple were splattered with fresh blood.
Chrom gripped his sword, he hated how some people could do such horrid things to others. "Alright! We're going to-"
He was interrupted by the sound of Origeld's voice, "Chrom!"
He turned to see her jog up to the three of them, she pulled a bronze sword out of the dead body of a brigand. Apparently these guys were weak enough to be taken down. "An all out assault from the front would be disastrous!" Her eyes quickly scanned over the scene, "there are only twenty of the brigands. Excluding Lissa, we could take them out easily." She glanced at Frederick, "Frederick is the fastest and most intimidating. He'll be the one to attack the brigands near the back with their leader. Seeing such a large and dangerous foe near the leader will draw them there, giving us their backs." Chrom, Lissa and even Frederick were amazed, she was planning out their attack?
How lucky they were to find a tactician!
She continued, "Chrom, I'm not sure how powerful you are, so you and I will sweep the enemy from here towards the chapel," she pointed towards the chapel, where the largest of the brigands was sitting, drinking ale and groping a young maiden. "Lissa, stay close behind us. You will heal us if the need arises."
Lissa nodded, thankful to have Origeld on their side.
"Alright, everyone knows what to do?" They nodded, Frederick didn't really trust her, but her plan seemed arrow proof. "Alright, lets go! If we wait any longer, more people will get hurt!" They sprang out from behind a building, catching the attention of the nearby brigands.
"'Ey! There are Sssshepherds!" One of the nearby brigands shouted, his accent emphasized the 's' sound, sounding like a snake. Chrom stiffened while Frederick gripped his lance, they knew that accent. "Get them!"
Chrom and Origeld dashed forward, Chrom doing a horizontal slash at an enemy's stomach and Origeld charging and shooting off a lightning bolt to finish him off. Lissa gasped and clapped, "You can do magic!?" She said excitedly.
Origeld could only nod before using her sword to block an overhead swing from a bandits sword. The bandit was pushed away with the force from Chrom's sword.
A small wave of bandits were charging at them as soon as they jumped off the platform and onto the town square ground. Origeld was charging another lightning strike when a large shadow and the grazing of hooves on her head passed over her and onto an overturned cart. Frederick and his horse had leaped over her, landed on the cart and quickly jumped over the wave of bandits, slashing a few with his lance for good measure.
As expected, the bandits stupidly tried to chase after the larger foe, exposing their backs to her and Chrom. Chrom smirked as he stabbed through one and Origeld fried another with a lightning shock. She hissed in pain after hearing the sharp whistle of wind as an arrow shot into her shoulder. She stepped back and almost fell over, but Lissa caught her and straightened her out.
Another arrow whisked by, almost hitting Lissa. Chrom quickly turned to see an archer on one of the overturned food stalls. He gripped his sword as he let out a cry as he slashed upwards, hitting and instantly killing the archer.
Lissa grabbed the arrow in Origeld's shoulder, apologizing quickly. "Sorry Ori! But you gotta get it out."
Origeld didn't refuse, who was she to doubt the words of a cleric? She nodded and almost immediately the arrow was pulled out in one swift motion, Lissa having made sure to not cause more damage to Origeld's shoulder.
Frederick was riding through the small horde of bandits, dispatching them left and right as they did almost no damage to him and his trusty steed. He set his sights on the now drunk leader of the bandits, his hands still fondling the girl. "Heeere sssheepy sssheepy sssheepy..." He rasped. Frederick was disgusted, how dare this low life put his hands on an Ylissian innocent!? He kicked his steed to make haste, readying his lance.
"Foul brigand! Thine unholy hands shall be burned by the fires of your afterlife!" He cried as he slashed at the leader, who had let the girl go as soon as Frederick was within grabbing distance. The brigand leader screamed as his arm was cut open, blood running out of the wound and onto the ground. He grit his teeth and grabbed his axe, ready to throw it straight at him.
"It's my turn now!" Chrom said as he slashed through the brigand, following up Frederick's attack with his own.
The leader fell forward, "Y-Y... Ylissssssian... Scum..." He let out a final breath as he collided with the ground.
Chrom and Frederick flicked their weapons, getting the blood off of them. As soon as they sheathed their weapons, villagers rejoiced at being saved from the bandits. Origeld and Lissa jogged to catch up to them, Chrom and Frederick being thanked by the maiden for being saved.
"I can't believe it worked!" Lissa cried, hugging Origeld, who was wincing as her wound was being hit. "Ori that was amazing! Sword skills, magic skills, even planning skills! What can't you do!?" She asked excitedly.
Origeld groaned, "I can't regenerate."
Lissa let her go, "I'msosorryI'msosorry!" She squeaked out as she set to work on healing Origeld, the white magic stitching up the wound and sealing it off, leaving a slight mark on the skin. Lissa deflated slightly, "I'm sorry Ori. I'm not that good with a staff yet..."
Origeld simply shook her head, "it's quite alright Lissa. But why are you calling me Ori?" The chatter from the villagers that surrounded the small party was getting louder, food was most likely being discussed.
Lissa giggled, "Cause saying, 'Origeld! Origeld! Origeld!' over and over again takes too much time. Plus Ori sounds much cuter of a name." She nodded to herself, pleased with the new nickname.
Origeld smiled to herself, perhaps it wouldn't take too long to get used to these people.
...
AN: This story will be following my second play through of Fire Emblem: Awakening. This time, I have Classic mode on. And I promised to myself that if someone falls in battle, they stay dead. No resetting. Unless Ori or Chrom die. Or someone else. He'll come into play later. Anyway, hope you enjoyed the prologue! Stay tuned for the next chapter!