"No!"
He tried to stop the bleeding, but magical wounds weren't so easily fixed. Already, the light was fading from his cerulean blue eyes and the captain's grip on his coat sleeve had begun to loosen.
"It's-" He coughed, a wet sound punctuated by a splatter of blood that misted his coat and harness. "-It's not your fault…"
"No no no-" He choked, casting a glance behind him in hopes to see a medic approaching, "don't die! Please!"
"Promise me…" The captain whispered, lifting his head from the white tiles of the floor. "You'll escape this place. Don't let it…"
His eyes widened as he trailed off with a breath.
This was always going to happen. We both knew it.
"What?!" He shot up from the side of the downed captain, eyes darting to and fro in an attempt to find the speaker.
You couldn't hide forever. You and I think too much alike.
"You and I are nothing alike!" He shouted desperately, cocking his pistol and allowing lightning to dance across his fingers and light the dark room. "I won't let you hurt anyone else! Do you hear me? It ends here!"
Oh?
The man froze in place as a loud thump of… something, against glass echoed through the room. His blood ran cold as a dark chuckle reverberated off of the unseen walls.
Slowly, he turned to face the noise, and was horrified at what he found.
"This is what you really are…?" He wondered.
A few feet away from him, a giant glass cylinder reflected his own calm face. Warnings and symbols had been slapped across the face of the tube in the form of stickers, but still he couldn't help but feel… drawn to it.
Suddenly, a shape slammed into the glass from within, exploding from the shadows.
Welcome home, Robin.
I
"Don't you just love the wilderness, Lissa?"
"Oh, yeah! Of course I do! What's not to love?! Besides the million bugs trying to eat me alive, and the walking, and the camping and-"
"-That's enough out of you." Chrom laughed as his younger sister fumed. "Besides, you wanted to be a field medic. If you can't camp, then you won't get far."
Lissa didn't seem to have a response for that; instead folding her arms and pouting. It was about as menacing as a growling puppy, except this was much less subjective, and even one with a phobia of small, pig-tailed girls would laugh at the image.
"South Town is actually just north of here." Their bodyguard, Frederick, commented with a raised brow. "Back in the Shepherds' prime, we would leave new recruits to find their way back to civilization."
"No. No we did not." Chrom hastily corrected, fiddling with the zipper of his single-sleeved coat. "And if we did, the return rate wa- would be extremely high, averaging over sixty percent in survivors."
"I heard a 'was'." Lissa said, sounding small.
"'Point is: hiking is a preferable alternative." The Captain concluded, sounding only slightly uneasy.
"And builds character!" Frederick added helpfully, adjusting the overly large backpack that was slung over his shoulder like it weighed nothing. However, both knew that couldn't be the case - as both Lissa's thick sleeping bag and the guardian's own were tied to the bottom and top of the bag. The bag that, by the way, was carrying most of their supplies. "One day, you'll be carrying a bag like this."
"I'll die!"
Both men laughed at this, but the royal's expression remained indignant and, frankly, horrified.
"Guys!"
"Relax, Lissa." Chrom reassured her, still chuckling. "We're only joking."
"Indeed." Frederick nodded. "Try as I may, I won't be around forever. Eventually, it will be Chrom carrying this bag!"
"I'll be-?! Now hold on just a-"
Now it was Lissa's turn to laugh as her older brother tripped over his own words, giving a stuttered cry of protest.
This wasn't their first venture into the wilderness. No; far from it in fact. It had become a monthly ritual, beginning when the captain was a mere six years old. And as much as she disliked the whole camping aspect of the quest, she still enjoyed spending time with the other two.
"It's such a perfect da-" She began to sing as she skipped, only to trip over a pebble and fall flat on her face.
She let out a moan as she picked her face out of the dirt path, and gave a cough as the dust cloud she had kicked up when she had fallen engulfed her.
"No one gonna help me up?" She inquired, rubbing her bruised cheek. "Okay. I didn't need a hand anyways."
But her words fell on deaf ears. She shot a confused look at first her brother, and second her guardian. Neither paid her any mind, and both had their eyes cast upward through the trees ahead.
"... Guys?" She said, feeling slightly worried. After receiving no response, she decided to stand beside the statue-like men and imitate their stare.
It quickly became real as she realized the subject of interest.
"Oh…"
Smoke.
Thick black smoke poured from over the treetops in droves, tinting the sky.
I
He was really not all that sure what was going on.
Who was he, you might ask? Well, to be honest, even he didn't know. Crouched down behind a table, his steaming cup of coffee - a special brew of imported rare Valmese beans, "Good for the mind, good for the body, good for the soul!" (As the paper cup proudly proclaimed) - still held tight in one gloved pale hand, he was absolutely unsure as to what in the seven hells was happening.
He grimaced as what he was fairly certain to be bullets screamed over his head, upsetting the snow white mess that sat on top of it. Why were there bullets flying over his head, threatening to cause bodily harm to him and his hair?
The lack of answers to these obscure questions was beginning to annoy him.
Casting a glance to his left, he was surprised to find a young woman in a vest and bowtie hiding next to him. Her eyes were wild, and she seemed to literally be shaking with fright.
"Oh-" He found his voice to be rather calm, as though bullets flying every which way was as common an occurrence in his life as bumping into someone was in another's. "My apologies. I didn't see you there… I don't think we've met. Are you alright?"
"I'm Anna." She replied evenly, sounding calmer than she appeared as she shakily brushed a lock of red hair aside. "I'm a waitress, for Naga's sake! Why can't trouble find one of my sisters instead?!"
"Fascinating." He hurried the conversation along as a man behind her, who had seemingly been attempting to sprint to safety, collapsed mid-run as his expensive-looking white shirt was shredded like cheese. Or perhaps looked like cheese? It mattered not. "You wouldn't happen to be able to tell me where I am, would you?"
She gave him a confused look. "Cafe Conqueror©, the Lord of Culinary Domination. Did you even read the sign…?"
He hesitated.
Was he literate? And if so, had he read the sign?
"Perhaps a bit less specific?" He tried again, fiddling with the gold tassel of his own expensive-looking jacket. "You know - a more general area?"
"SouthTown Resort, The Greatest-"
"Even more general, Anna!" He exclaimed urgently as bits of glass and food exploded from the table above in a rain of Croissant and China. "Wait, why's there a resort in a town?"
"The town was here first, but the location was beautiful!" She squealed, shielding herself from the delicious downpour. "I just work here!"
Giving a grunt of resignation, he turned away from her, instead facing the wall lined with abandoned tables and chairs. His eye for detail quickly took in the various awards on proud display, proudly bragging of quality service and friendly staff. He couldn't help but quirk a brow, however, as a stray shot tore the Safest Working Environment of 2087 Award straight off of it's hook, where it shattered on the tiled floor below in a spray of glass shards.
He was under the impression that it was ultimately for the best, all things considered.
As the gunfire halted for a brief moment, he allowed himself to peek around the corner of the mossy brick support that held up the table.
He frowned.
What was presumably once a large display window that overlooked a shimmering blue pool, complete with pool chairs and a bar, had now been reduced to an enormous and extremely unsafe entryway. The doorframe set into said ex-window was now lacking doors, sadly leaving it a mere frame. Remnants of both were scattered across the floor of the front of the cafe in a mosaic of glass and twisted metals.
He assumed that he must be very well off to afford dining in such a place. That, or he was a very fast runner and lacked a moral obligation to pay for his food.
He hoped it was the former.
Standing with a large boot braced on the window frame, a man clad in black and grey was jamming a magazine into a sleek looking rifle. He likely looked like a common schmuck under the helmet and balaclava combination that masked his face, as well as the shiny black goggles that concealed his eyes.
Suddenly, the man's head was angled towards his own, and a brief moment of recognition seemed to make the soldier's stance shift ever-so-slightly.
"He's here!" The schmuck shouted over his shoulder in a rough voice, tinged by a distinct accent. "Get the hell over here!"
Our expensive-coated protagonist barely had a second to contemplate whether or not the schmuck knew who he was before a burst of gunfire drove him back into cover, shielding his face as a series of stone chips pelted at his sleeve.
"I believe we've been made," He observed, swallowing heavily as his presumably brilliant mind raced for a solution to the problem that he was now faced with.
"We're so dead…" Anna mumbled to herself, ignoring him as she rocked back and forth. "Make a fortune… make a fortune… make a-"
"Hey." He snapped his fingers, forcing himself to remain calm. "If you want to live, then you are going to concentrate on something aside from our theoretically impending doom."
She shot him a glance. "You're the one with the tome. I'm just a-"
"-Tome?" He cut off the redhead, not caring to hear what she considered herself to be. "... As in a book? I don't see-"
He didn't get to finish as a barrage of gunfire shrieked overhead, thumping cracking and crashing into the various bits of nondescript scenery that was behind him.
"A T.O.M.E!" She repeated, ducking her head beneath her hands and likely preparing to die horribly. "Technical Operative's Mystical Enhancer!"
He tilted his head as she pointed to him.
Following the finger's path, he eventually found himself looking at the peculiar device strapped to his wrist.
Measuring at about a half a foot long, an almost bulky device of varying metals was held firmly in place over his forearm's sleeve by a series of leather straps.
How hadn't he noticed it before? And why was he still holding the paper cup of Valmese coffee? Did he truly like it that much?
More questions. Not what he asked for, but unfortunately what he received.
Reaching a finger hesitantly towards the dark glass screen that was set into the device, he almost jumped as it flickered to life at his touch.
"You do know magic, right?"
He did not appreciate the doubt in her tone, but supposed it was justified as more gunfire and callouts filled the cafe.
"Yeah. Sure." He tapped at the screen mechanically, almost as if he had done it a thousand times before.
"Why not?"
I
"I've got him pinned!"
"Don't kill him! We need that bastard ALIVE!"
"GO GO GO!"
The schmuck hurried towards the decorative stone table as bullets flew past him, chipping at the brickwork and likely scaring the living shit out of anyone hiding behind it. And if they had half a brain between them, they were right to be scared. Bullets hurt. As a schmuck, he would know. He gets shot at almost every day. Just part of the job.
He hoisted his rifle with one hand, pointing it unsteadily in the direction of the table while pointing the streamlined silver dart gun just where the silver-haired man had last poked his head out.
Only one person was supposed to be taken alive, and in a moment they would be passed out on the floor with a sleek dart protruding from their person.
At least; he thought that's how it worked. As a schmuck, he didn't have the liberty of knowing how his equipment worked...
As he rounded the corner though, he was met with a peculiar sight.
Clad in a black and purple jacket, his target was fearlessly glaring up at him from his position behind the table. Much to the schmuck's confusion, one half-gloved hand was firmly wrapped around a steaming hot cup of Valmese coffee, evidently a special brew of rare imported Valmese beans. The other; palm flat and fingers stretched out in a motion mimicking that of a spellcast.
However, as he raised the dart gun to shoot the man, he couldn't help but scoff. The snow-haired man couldn't know how to use magic, because…
His finger hesitated, resting on the trigger but not pulling it back as yellow bolts of lightning danced across the man's splayed fingers.
Much to his horror, he could not think of a single good reason as to why the lightning-handed man couldn't use magic. In fact, the only thing he could think of was how much the man looked like he knew magic.
Suddenly, it all clicked into place as a short jet of steam exploded from the vents of the TOME fixed to the man's arm and the ominous crackle of thunder became even louder.
The man, who the presumptuous schmuck had assumed to lack any defensive capabilities including magic, did in fact know how to use magic. Likely offensive magic, if the scary lightning was anything to go off of.
As his finger raced to pull the trigger faster than lightning strikes, he realized the counterintuitivity of the task.
Yes.
The coffee-wielding man did indeed know how to use magic.
"...Well how 'bout that." He managed to croak before he began to regret all of his choices up to this final point.
I
There was a quiet hiss followed by a series of clicks as the TOME shifted slightly, several plates sliding in various directions and exposing numerous ports that he assumed to be vents for exhaust to be expelled through. The sound of gunfire had seemingly temporarily halted as the schmuck flew backwards with a scream, his rifle going off and spraying bullets off to the right and out of sight as he slammed into one of the few chairs in the room still standing, toppling it and crashing into the vandalized display wall while the silver tranquilizer gun went skidding across the tile.
"... Interesting." He mused at last, flexing his left hand fingers as remnants of a spark danced through them. "But slightly exhausting."
"Slightly?!" Anna squeaked from behind him, eyes likely wide as saucers. "You sent him flying with a Thunder spell!"
"And that is unusual?"
"Very!"
He cocked his head to look at her, and frowned at what he saw. He wasn't sure what kind of person he was, but it seemed that he had an eye for detail. Something in her eyes…
"You don't trust me." He observed, causing her face to flush.
"N-No! It's just-... who are you?"
"Why has that become important?" He wondered, knowing exactly why. Something about his newfound skill set had made him… different. Dangerous, perhaps.
"I've had my suspicions since you walked through the door with your fancy device, and now you're using military-grade equipment, fighting off gunmen that want to capture you, and haven't even given your name?" He couldn't help but be impressed. It seemed that the waitress was more astute than she let on.
But she was asking the hard questions - the ones he hated not having answers to. Who was he? Who was he indeed.
"I-"
"Open fire!"
Suddenly, the cafe once again exploded into gunfire, so loud it was almost deafening. On instinct, he ducked his head lower and forced her to do the same with his free hand, just as another rain of bullets ripped through the stone table and caused several geometric chunks of mossy rock to break free and drop down onto the two.
"What the hell?!" Anna screamed into his ear as a block of mineral bounced off of his head.
"They're trying to make us panic!" He replied, struggling to be heard over the sound of rock shattering and bullets ricocheting. "Stay down!"
"I'm sure as hell not standing up!"
He supposed it went unsaid as to why this was a sound strategy. He didn't want to end up like expensive-looking shirt man, nor the plot of Sealed Shield Destiny: Concealed Honesty - that is to say; full of holes.
"We need to leave." He said, causing her to remove her head from her arms and roll her eyes at him.
"You sure know what you're doing."
"If they all come at once, they can wipe us out in one fell swoop. We must formulate a plan, or we die with our tails between our legs!"
"Can we go back to the part where we leave? I liked that one."
"As did I, but that's the reward for planning." He said idly, his mind already elsewhere. A small cafe, located on presumably the bottom floor of a fancy resort. Gunmen trying to shoot him with shiny metal darts were present, and they had guns that shot more than shiny silver darts.
No law enforcement would be present immediately, and if these schmucks were schmucks worth their salt they were likely aware that they couldn't keep shooting forever. Eventually some form of authority would arrive, and then it would be off to the bad people cage for them - assuming they didn't simply get shot on sight.
This meant that his goal wasn't to route the enemy - not this time.
He frowned. It was becoming increasingly likely that he had done this before.
"We have to fall back and wait for the police," He finally affirmed, satisfied to an extent with the plan. "Eventually they will be forced to retreat or engage a higher threat."
"But-" She let out another squeak as she was pelted with stone from the lead-ravaged table. "-how do we get out of this?!"
He was working on it.
Suddenly, the gleam of metal caught his eye, and for a moment he mistook it for silverware. After all, forks knives and spoons were scattered across the entirety of the establishment - launched here and there by the schmucks' shoddy aim.
However, for reasons he couldn't quite place his finger on, he turned his gaze on the object.
There, lying just beside the ruined stone slab of a table, a familiar silver weapon remained where it had fallen, gleaming a brilliant flame color as it reflected the flashes of muzzles.
Familiar…
He pursed his lips.
He had seen a weapon like it. But where?
Shaking out of his daze, his hand darted out with less grace than he would like, and soon he was holding the surprisingly hefty silver dart gun firmly between his hands.
Fascinated, he turned the weapon carefully in his hands, testing the grip with a flex of his fingers. It was familiar alright.
"A dart gun?" Anna said incredulously, eyeing the piece with less fascination and more disappointment. "Really? They have guns! Real guns! What are you going to do; dart them to death?"
"I could put them to sleep forever,"
"Now isn't the time for jokes." She said seriously, her eyes still filled with fear. "If you go out there with that, they will shoot you and you will die."
He stared at her for a second, before snorting.
"Just because I'm an amnesiac doesn't mean I'm stupid," He began to lean out of cover, pointing the silver pistol-shaped gun around the corner, but not exposing anything save for his wrist and an eye.
"Wait, you have amnesia?! Oh gods we're going to-"
Older model, exactly as I don't remember it. He mused satirically, flicking the small safety-like switch, before flipping the second safety off. Unlike before, it was now unlocked. He hadn't needed to check before to know it had been, but he knew what each switch did as he fingered the trigger.
Wait…
"Are you even listening to me?!" Anna still clamoured in his ear over the crack of weaponfire, clearly growing more and more agitated. "Typical! So typical! No one listens to the tutori-"
Am I even a good shot?
"-It was the same thing with that blue-haired-"
I hope so… if not, this will not be pleasant.
"-And then that annoying redhea-"
Now!
A sound even louder than the previously described rifles tore through the Conquerer Café, and he would have been smacked in the face by the kick if he hadn't anticipated it. The sound of wood splintering drowned out the echo, and he didn't hesitate as he steadied the gun before firing three more shots down to the front of the establishment.
There were shouts of surprise and screams of pain as a schmuck went down, toppling backwards as a spray of crimson decked his comrade.
Almost instantly the sounds of rifles stopped as men scrambled backwards, scampering over one another in an attempt to get to cover from the prey-turned-predator. Not letting up, he unleashed several more blasts as he climbed to his feet steadily, noting Anna following suite with a stunned look.
"Come on!" He ordered over the noise, backing away from the table he had been taking cover behind for a good five minutes now. Yes. He had decided that he was sick of that table. "Lead me to the back exit!"
"R-Right!" She stuttered, turning and gently placing a hand on his shoulder. "Please follow me in a calm and orderl-"
She's way too into her job. He sighed to himself, almost saying it aloud.
O
"Gunfire, definitely!" Chrom yelled over the pulsing roar of the propulsion systems. "I don't know what the hell is going on down there, but we're the closest government officials to the AO! Fortunately, I think we're more than prepared to deal with a few gunmen!"
"What about local law enforcement?" Sumia asked over the radio.
"We've lost contact with them! This town is more of a village than anything. There weren't many police officers here, and if I let the satirist in me guess I'd say there are even less now."
Frederick gave a grunt as he strapped his armor on over his vest, each buckle clicking quietly and heard only by the guardian. "Very well. Then I suppose you and I will be investigating alongside Sumia-"
"What about me?!" Lissa shouted over the loud noise. "I can help!"
"Negative!" Chrom shouted back, not hesitating as he pulled on his own vest. "I don't know what we're walking into, and I'd rather not explain to Emm why I dragged you into a firefight and got you shot!"
"All the more reason to bring a medic." She replied, reaching over and snatching his sword from where he had set it on the steel box of equipment. "You're not going without me!"
"You need a pilot, Captain." Sumia chimed in through the headset he had put on. "I can't fly from down here."
"We need to get down there now!" Lissa continued, pointing down the side of the large hill towards the small village set at the bottom of the slope. Chrom frowned at their ganging up on him. "If we don't hurry, someone could die!"
He cursed, before flipping the box back open and plunging a hand inside. Now was no time for indecision. After a moment, he drew a tan vest reinforced with green carbon plates from within and tossed it at her. The girl was forced to drop the sword to catch it, and grinned like a fool as she did it.
Hooked into the collar, her name was written in permanent marker on a white tag.
"Never can be too prepared." He grunted dejectedly in explanation as he hoisted a rifle out of the crate. "Just keep to the rear, and watch out for me and Frederick with your… healing stuff."
She rolled her eyes.
Meanwhile, Chrom slammed the glass and steel lid of the locker shut and watched as it slid back into the starboard of the PEGASUS, before jamming his magazine into the gun and leaning over to retrieve his sword. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Frederick placing his collapsed Lance in the holster on his thigh with one hand as he secured his rifle strap with the other.
Soon enough, the large metal aircraft took off once more as it's wings twisted and the ports glowed a stunning blue, before it rose into the no-longer-sunny sky with a final roar.
He grimaced as he flipped down his glasses, a blue grid lighting up for a second before various bits of information listed themselves in the corners of his vision.
Already, rain had begun to speckle the smooth glass and microtechnology.
It could only go down hill from here.
O
I've had this idea floating around for far too long. Since last year, actually. I'm not sure if anyone will even like it, as it's rather… different from an ordinary FE Fic.
I'll probably toy with this, so don't expect consistent updates. Just needed to vent this idea. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if this wasn't updated until I'm finished the other billion stories I've started. Or… at least the two.
Basically, Fire Emblem in a postmodern world. Not super futuristic, but more like Destiny and BO3. Also with swords. And magic.
Yeah. I did my best to incorporate the best of FE. I'm not sure how well I did though. If you want to see more, then drop a review I guess. I always seek self betterment.