Disclaimer: I claim no rights to the Etrian Odyssey series.
Story Notes: This takes place in the setting of Etrian Odyssey Untold but from the perspective of Classic Mode.
Chapter 1: Breaking Boundaries
Just outside of the town of Etria, two foreign explorers were presently lying on the grassy plains, unconscious yet soon to awaken. The duo consisted of a man and woman, the former being eighteen years old and the latter twenty. With a groan the man was the first to awaken from his unconscious state. He sat himself up and shook his head to catch his bearings. He was a wizard, as one would initially assume from his black and blue leather attire, but the locals of this foreign land would likely peg him as an Alchemist, albeit an unconventional one, given the spear on his back and his lack of a rune gauntlet.
There was a grey fedora with two raven feathers tucked into either side resting upon his head, which he was quick to remove to run a hand through his disheveled dark brown hair. He sighed as he stared at the grass beneath him. His eyes were of two different colors; the right was brown while the left was…notably strange. The iris was a deep blood red but the truly off-putting aspect of it was the runic pattern that appeared to be engraved around his pupil.
With his mind clearing up, the man found himself growing wide eyed just before he whips his head to either side in search of someone. Luckily, the person he was looking for was a short distance off to his right. He donned his fedora, rose to his feet, and quickly dashed over to the unconscious woman. Upon reaching her, the man kneels down and flips the woman's unconscious body over to check her pulse. To his relief she was stable; actually, she seemed to be sleeping rather peacefully.
His companion fancies herself as a mercenary, though the locals of Etria would easily label her as a Dark Hunter, given her…unique choice of attire. She wore a sleeveless, midriff-exposing crop top, boy shorts, and skin-tight, thigh-high leather boots; all of these articles were black in color. Her long hair, red in color, was fashioned into two drill-like twin tails on either side of her head. At her right hip currently rested a whip; she normally carried a saber but wanted to train with a new weapon for the sake of versatility.
His eyes narrowed at the sight, considering that, as far as his memory is concerned, the two were just surrounded by a pack of wolves before they lost consciousness. He gives the woman a light shake and calls out to her, "Lucy? Lucy, wake up."
In an effort to ignore the call that was disturbing her slumber, the woman known as Lucy turned herself over in some attempt to soften the sound of the man's voice. He called out to her again, this time shaking her with a bit more force; to this, the woman gave a reply, albeit in her sleep; "I'll be up in a minute, Cyrus; just five more minutes…honeykins…"
The man, whose name is indeed Cyrus, struggled to hold back his laughter upon hearing that. 'That's the first time anyone's called me something like that,' he thought to himself. He then sighed, feeling as if Lucy would stay asleep for an indefinite time if he let her have things her way. Cyrus then took his left hand and aimed it, as well as his sight, on a specific spot on the plains that wasn't too far away from Lucy and him.
With a snap of his fingers, a crack of thunder sounded and a small bolt of lightning struck the spot he was aiming for. However, Cyrus quickly noted that the bolt wasn't nearly as powerful as he intended it to be; he wasn't going for much power, mind, but he needed a sound loud enough to wake his companion. Despite this, Lucy seemed to stir and soon awakened thereafter. Her sparkling blue eyes met with Cyrus' and a blush formed on her face; a common sight, but one Cyrus still wasn't used to seeing.
"Are you alright, Milady? You appear to be feverish."
She scoffed at him and smiled before responding, "No, I'm quite fine." She sat herself up before Cyrus helped her to her feet. After taking a glance of the area around them, she asks, "Weren't we just surrounded by wolves?"
"Yeah, I remember summoning a pool of darkness beneath us with the intent of reappearing behind the pack to launch a counter offensive. Somehow, that pool of darkness teleported us somewhere completely different."
"Does that happen often?"
"That was the first time, I'm afraid."
"How about summoning another one?"
Cyrus nods to her and takes a few steps back. He holds his hands out before him, forming a triangle in between his two thumbs and his two index fingers. After focusing for a moment, he separates his hands and snaps the fingers of his left hand; nothing happens. Perplexed by this, Cyrus attempts the spell a few more times before ceasing his efforts. He stops to think for a minute before attempting other spells he has learned; for a reason he is unable to discern, he can only muster the most basic of his repertoire. Furthermore, he can only access fire, ice, and lightning.
After attempting a few more spells, the wizard sighs to himself and looks to his companion. She was giving him a look of concern, worried for his sudden and dramatic decrease in magic potential. "Despite this strange setback, we still have a predicament to contend with." He wanted to take Lucy's mind off of this subject and thought of a way to do so; seeing a town in the distance, he points to it and suggests, "Perhaps we can learn of our whereabouts in that town over there?" Seeing no reason to object, Lucy nods to him and the two set off for Etria.
Within the town two more individuals were roaming about amongst the abundance of explorers currently traversing the streets. They, too, found themselves in an environment unlike their own. Unlike Cyrus and Lucy, these two appeared to be even more out of place; they were both sixteen years old, which wasn't that unordinary for explorers traveling to Etria, but their outfits were not suited for battle, at least not in the eyes of the town's denizens.
The taller of the two, a young man with silver hair that reached down to his middle back and purple eyes that shimmered like sparks of electricity, currently wore a short-sleeved light purple shirt underneath a black vest, as well as a pair of dark purple jeans. Such attire made it difficult for other adventurers to discern his occupation, but upon seeing the katana at the boy's waist they immediately classify him as a Ronin.
The young woman standing next to him was wearing a dark blue sundress underneath some sort of dark purple cloak, almost black in appearance that was designed in such a way that it made her body appear as if it was comprised of flames. She possessed sparkling but timid blue eyes that she hid behind a pair of red, semi-rimmed glasses. Her raven-black hair was fashioned into two ponytails that ran parallel down to her middle back. Due to this cloak, as well as the strange crystalline bell that hanged from her black choker, other adventurers hail this young woman as a Hexer.
She looked around as she and her katana-wielding companion walked through the streets of Etria. It was a beautiful town filled to the brim with travelers going about their business. Its buildings were an interesting combination, with their designs being both rural and modern. Turning her attention to the young man to her left she speaks, "Nagato, do you have any idea where we ended up?"
The young man shrugs in response. "The last thing I can recall is a battle we were in. I was about to be hit by some sort of spell when I saw you and Cyrus-senpai running towards me. From the looks of things, you must have gotten to me first. Speaking of that, why did you charge in like that, Lily? You're not exactly built for taking damage."
"You were in trouble and I wanted to help; it wouldn't be right to let Cyrus jump in and take a bullet for you every time now would it?"
"I suppose not." A tinge of guilt suddenly welled up in Nagato as he heard Lily's comment. "I don't put him through that on purpose, you know."
"My, my, are you showing a sense of compassion? Do you actually care for someone?"
"Do not misunderstand me, Lily; I just don't want to be the one held accountable for Senpai's reckless actions…I don't care about him at all if that's what you're implying!"
"You're a terrible liar, you know that?"
"Shut up; look, let's just find some important people so we can figure out where we are, alright?"
Lily shrugs and lets out a short laugh at Nagato's expense before complying with his demands. After walking aimlessly for awhile, the two see a sight that is familiar for both of them, Cyrus. With a start, Lily calls out to him; happy to see that Cyrus responded, she and Nagato dash over to greet him. The man in question was rather surprised to see Nagato. He looks his younger friend up and down before saying, "Lord Nagato…when did you get taller than me? Furthermore, what are you wearing?"
Lucy noted Nagato's sudden change in apparel as well; "These don't match your usual Eastern garments; I've never seen anything like these clothes at all."
Nagato was quite confused by this encounter. "Alright…for starters, I've always been taller than you, Senpai; I'm the tallest one of our group, remember? Secondly, who is this beautiful woman standing before me and why have you not introduced me to her?"
"I could ask the same of you, Lord Nagato; the young lady at your side is quite cute."
Lily blushed at that but didn't reply. Nagato, however, had more to say, "And what's with this 'Lord' business? I'm not royalty."
"Did you hit your head or something? You…you're the current leader of the Yasujiro clan; you took over after your old man died in battle. Does none of this ring true?"
"My father is dead?!" Nagato sounded surprised, as was expected, but he also sounded somewhat pleased. That struck Cyrus as odd, considering how much the Nagato he knows respected his father. At somewhat of a loss, Cyrus steps up to Nagato, shows him his left eye, and inquires if the boy has ever seen it before. His reply: "What the Hell happened to your eye, bro?!"
Cyrus concludes, almost downtrodden, "Yeah, we definitely don't know each other. Judging from your choice of fashion, can we assume you two aren't from this town either?" The two promptly shake their heads at this question and explain that they, too, come from another world. Cyrus and Lucy expressed surprise at this, not because of the similar nature of their predicaments, but due to how Cyrus and Nagato resemble their respective counterparts.
Lucy quickly glances around the area and says, "Cyrus and I saw a rather large building around here when we first arrived; how about we check it out and see if we can learn anything?" The group didn't have any better options to consider so they nodded in approval and set out towards this building. People were flowing in and out of this building; some appeared to be seasoned adventurers while others had the look of novices. After exchanging one last glance with each other, the group of four nods and steps into the building as well.
Author's Notes: The two pairs are each from two separate pieces I'm working on, but since this isn't the place for original works, I will try to keep them relatively grounded to what's going on in Etria.