Awakening in Akihabara
Prologue
"I swear to god, I will KILL Naga!" Severa screamed as she threw yet another pebble into the river. Her clothes were in tatters with several cuts that began to bleed, her armour had scorch marks from the magic of the grimleal, and on top of this, she was wet. Way to go Naga, transporting the second generation of the Shepherds into a river of all places. Severa herself wouldn't mind if Naga took them to a pegasus stable instead. Sure, the place stank of pegasus dung and it served as a reminder of her mother's achievements, but at least she had the benefit of being dry.
"I-I'm sure Naga didn't mean to-" Noire piped up as she fiddled with the blades of grass, only to be cut off by a dangerous glare from Cordelia's daughter.
"Severa that's enough." Kjelle cut in before things got ugly. She had abandoned her armour ever since they arrived. As soon as the group were transported to a river, she began to sink from the heavy weight. "As angry as we are at the goddess, we need to keep a level head to figure out the situation."
"What situation is there?" She countered, brushing one soaked twintail to her back. "We went back in time to prevent the end of the world. If anything, we should be joining Lucina and the others!"
"We both know that isn't an option." Kjelle replied with a stern tone, gesturing to a passed out Yarne and Nah. As soon as the two of them got out of the river, they immediately collapsed, leaving their friends in a state of panic. As a result, Lucina and a handful of the second generation went off to look for help. Severa, along with Kjelle, Noire, Laurent, and Brady were left behind to watch over the manakete and taguel.
"Brady can't even heal them!" Severa groaned before laying down on her back.
"I can!" Brady shouted in debate, holding his healing stave over the passed out duo. "Something isn't letting me use my healing stave is all!"
"My magic is out of commision as well." Laurent added, holding a soaked tme with the ink blurred out. "I cannot feel any traces of anima left in this elfire tome." Severa rolled her eyes until a new voice cut in their conversation.
"That would be simple, really." A familiar manakete spoke up. Severa sat up and widened her eyes in shock. Standing in front of them with Lucina's gang behind her was none other the voice of Naga. Tiki walked up to the group with a bag in her hand with the words 'UNIQLO' in red and white. That was when she realized that Tiki and those who went with Lucina, the princess included were all wearing strange clothes. She also noticed Owain had a shirt with a drawing of a man in a blue suit holding a circular shield with the colors of red, white, and blue. Normally she would let out a teasing comment but was too confused and exhausted to do so.
To break the silence and tension in the air, Tiki walked up to Severa and handed her the bag.
"Get changed. I'll explain everything after."
"...Huh?"
Severa looked at her reflection in the public toilet mirror. As soon as Tiki told them to change, she began scrambling through the bag to find clothes she wouldn't mind wearing. She was left dumbfounded by the choices available. She never saw a skirt that short before, a shirt without sleeves, and the colors were ridiculously bright. They all reminded her of Lucina's closet when Severa was convinced into having a sleepover with the princess, nearly puking at the sight of her clothing choices.
"Whoever made that dress with Emmeryn's heads should never be allowed to work with clothes again…" She thought to herself, noting that her hair had dried up considerably after using the hand dryer that was stuck to the wall. A machine that could emit hot air. Even someone with a closed mind like her couldn't help but feel amazed. Heck, Laurent was probably conducting research on said device and talking with his scientific jargon.
Severa took one last look at her attire and tried to remember what the names were. Blue jean shorts, white tank top, and a thin hot pink zipper jacket. Feeling satisfied with her attire, she put her beat up boots back on her feet and left the toilet with her old clothes and armour in the bin.
"Took you long enough." Kjelle said to her. She rolled her eyes and went to the group that sat in front of Tiki, the latter seated on a park bench with her eyes closed in serious thought. She let out a small cough to alert others of her presence and sat down as Tiki opened her eyes.
"Now that everyone is here, I can start briefing you about our situation. As we all know, our attempt to slay Grima has failed. We fled to Mount Prism while the rest of the Shepherds retreated to Ylisse."
Memories of Grima rising from the darkness, fighting the grimleal, and the Shepherds in a scramble after Naga warped them off of Grima's back rushed through their heads. They were losing and they couldn't make a path for Chrom and Lucina to attack with the Exalted Falchions.
"Why did we go back?" Cynthia asked Tiki. "I...I wanted to help my mother and everyone defeat Grima."
"My father…" Lucina looked at the ground and refused to look up. "He wanted us to go back in time and try again."
The group looked at Lucina while Owain gasped in shock.
"But that doesn't mean I know where we are." She quickly added, shaking her head to ignore ay doubts in her head.
"You did well to follow your father's wishes." Tiki comforted Lucina with a pat on her shoulder before turning her attention back to the entire. "Before I answer your questions, I will say this first. We are currently in the future, in a country called Japan. Japan is a part of Asia, one of the seven continents in this world.
We are here because that is what Chrom asked of Naga. To transport all of you to a peaceful world and forget your troubles back in Ylisse. When we visited Mount Prism to perform the awakening ritual, Chrom asked my mother to send you to a peaceful world should our attempt at defeating Grima fails.
Now that I have the basics out of the way, what questions do you have for me?"
They spent the entire night asking questions, and Tiki patiently answered each one with full attention. It was the least she could do, for they can never go back to Ylisse.
"This is ridiculous!" Severa began ranting to Gerome with a sour expression. The duo were walking down a lonely street with a hand-written flyer in their hand. "First, we end up in another world, we're in charge of getting an apartment for the entire group, and we can't even use some of the money for ourselves?!"
"I think your priorities are a bit mixed up." The former wyvern rider said bluntly, holding a lizard in his two hands. The lizard bit Gerome's index finger but he kept his expression neutral. "Are you hungry Minervykins?" He began talking to the lizard in a more passionate tone, resulting in Severa making a grossed out face.
"Not only did Minervykins-Minerva turn into a lizard, but Yarne, Nah, and Tiki lost their features that made them...them!" She thought to herself, remembering the screams of the entire group when Tiki brushed her hair to reveal her human ears.
"Now we have to rent a stupid apartment. If Naga was so kind to prepare money, identities, and clothes, she could at least provide a mansion!" She began waving her arms in the air, ignoring a faint 'shut up' a few houses away.
The two continued walking in silence until they finally reached well aged building. It was a double floor wooden building, with six doors implying there was room for six tenants. In Severa and Gerome's case, the entire group. Without considering the time of day, she banged on the door of the landlord.
"Anyone here? We want to buy the last apartment!" She continued to bang the door until she heard a click. The door slided open to reveal a tall teenager with black hair and a slim figure. He wore a white t-shirt and striped boxers which made Severa try very hard to not look down. His eyes struggled to remain open but with Gerome staring at him with their mask was enough to keep him awake for the next 24 hours.
"Can I help you?" He asked in a groggy voice, rubbing one eye to make sure he was seeing correctly.
"Yes. We're here to buy the last apartment so you can at least stay awake while we make the arrangements." She said with no shame while Gerome nodded.
"..." He stared at Severa and Gerome with a dumbstruck look, wondering why they wanted to buy an apartment late at night, and why Gerome was wearing a mask and holding a lizard. "Come in please." He said weakly. "Can I have your names though?"
"Severa, and that's Gerome. Don't forget it." She said before walking inside his house with her boots on. She could have sworn he said 'I doubt I could' but she chose to brush it aside.
"Itsuki Aoi..." He failed to tell them to take off their shoes.
Renting the apartment was surprisingly easy for the two of them. Thought to be fair, Itsuki probably wanted to go back to sleep so one he received the first payment on behalf of his parents', the key to the apartment was theirs. Severa held a smirk on her face while she dangled the keys in front of the others as they eventually arrived with air mattresses and a pump.
"That was like taking candy from a baby."
"Except you and I had to pay the baby."
Severa clicked her tongue in response and opened the door to the apartment. The duo was met with a barren space with dust and cobwebs, along with a pack of tissue the old occupants left behind on the small kitchen counter.
"..." The children stared at the apartment, hoping what they were seeing was an illusion.
"This place is a dump!" Severa broke the silence with a furious tone.
"Now now, we just moved in. With a bit of cleaning and setting up, it will be liveable." Tiki pointed out and ushered tasks to every individual to either clean the apartment, set up the mattresses, or run to the nearest convenience store and buy food and water.
Severa volunteered for the third task, not wanting to be part of the cleaning process for the apartment. Inigo was then assigned to accompany her to assist with the supply run. She wanted to stab herself for every pass Inigo made towards the cashier at the store who blushed furiously at his flirtatious speech. With a whack from a can of milk tea for Tiki, Inigo shut up and the two made their way back to the apartment with Severa walking furiously while Inigo was left behind to carry the supplies.
It took ridiculously long for Inigo to make his way back, but it was done when Owain was chosen by Severa to go fetch him. Once the duo had returned, the group settled down on the mattresses and helped themselves to whatever bread the convenience store had and small bottles of water.
"Finally we can go to sleep." Severa groaned as she laid down on the air mattress, dissatisfied with the comfort provided and wished she had a nice feather pillow. "Tomorrow will be a nice day to relax…"
"Get some sleep now everyone." Tiki spoke up before blowing out a lone candle they bought. "I have to register you all for school applications, identity cards, along with getting running water and electricity for the apartment. We'll have to wake up early."
"Or not." Severa mumbled under her breath and let the bliss of sleep take her unconscious.
(A/N) And thus begins my new project, Awakening in Akihabara. I hope that you were able to enjoy the prologue, and feel free to leave any constructive criticism as to how I can improve this story in any aspects. The next installment is a work in progress so expect that soon. See you next chapter!