Bright lights danced in the clear blue sky. They glowed brighter and drew closer until they coalesced into a giant mass that threatened to blind even the sun. The farmer had to stop flooding the rice paddies and watched the miracle that was happening in front of him. "What in blazes is that?" said the farmer as he shielded his eyes.
In a moment he saw something emerge from the light. It was a girl with her brown hair tied up in twin tails. She was armed to the teeth.
The girl saw him and her expression changed from steely determination, to shock and then to utter terror. "Get back!" she shouted.
The farmer ran away as the girl landed on the muddy paddy. She rolled until the momentum of her bad landing stopped. She picked herself up, using her sword as a crutch. "I'm covered in mud…" she muttered.
It wasn't that long after she landed that more people dropped out of the sky. No… they did not look like people to the farmer who was watching the scene from afar. They were pale and had glowing red eyes and they had an unbearable stench.
"Ugh! More Risen? These things are like weeds!" The girl exclaimed. She readied herself and attacked the first axe fighter that approached her.
She thrust her sword at the Risen's chest, pulled it out and her enemy dissipated in purple smoke. As swift as a gale, she ran towards the next enemy and hacked at its neck. An enemy managed to get close enough to graze her arm. The girl retaliated with a thrust to her enemy's gut, immediately turning it into vapor. The last fighter ran towards her and attacked her. She managed to dodge but that action wasn't enough to escape the axe's graze to her knee. She fell on the muddy ground, and the fighter raised his axe to deliver the final blow. The girl thrust her sword upwards, impaling the Risen through the chin and made it disappear forever.
She looked at the great lights in the sky and she hobbled towards it. "Come on!" she shouted. "Don't leave me alone here!" The lights flickered and danced and then it disappeared.
The girl looked like she saw the end of the world. She dropped her sword and then she fainted face first into the mud.
She catapulted awake and then she suddenly felt her body sore all over. It was all wrong! 'They followed me here. How come it was those dastards that followed me here?' She thought.
A gentle hand slowly pushed her down. "Hello darling, nice to see you're finally awake."
The girl turned her head to look at where the voice was coming from. A woman sat on the edge of the bed and she was smiling sweetly at her. "I'm Anouk and thank you for rescuing my husband Holland. You've been asleep for three days so you must be starving."
Her stomach growled right on cue.
"I knew it! Here, drink some water first," the woman said. She propped a pillow behind the girl's back and handed her a glass of water. The girl drank it like she hasn't had water in decades. "Good girl, but you better drink a little slowly. Can you tell me your name?"
"You. You're human!" it was wonderful to see another human being.
"Ah yes, I am," she shrugged. "And so are you. What is your name?"
The girl looked around her. She was in a tiny room and on a hard bed. Outside she could hear different kinds of birds and she could smell something nasty. Was it wet wool? No, they were pigs. A quick glance outside told her that she was on a farm. It was clearly not the place she was looking for. "Why do you want to know my name? I'm leaving."
The woman frowned, "that's fine by me. Except that you're in an island, you have no money for a ferry and you're still very weak. You might as well tell me your name as a courtesy for healing you."
The girl looked at the scars that were inflicted by the Risen. They have been reduced to welts and she realized that the least she could do was to tell Anouk her name. "I'm Severa," she answered.
"Severa, alright. Here, the only thing I can give you right now is gruel but you will have a better lunch once your body gets used to eating something, I promise you that."
Severa finished the gruel in one go. Anouk was right, she was starving. She hasn't had a decent meal since… forever… and the gruel she was given tasted delicious. She did not care about a better lunch, she could live on just gruel.
"When am I?" She asked her.
"What kind of question is that?" Anouk told her the date anyway.
Severa brightened up. "It worked!" she exclaimed. She was sent twenty years in the past, 'But I'm way too far from Ylisse,' she thought. "Anouk, did other people come after me?"
"You mean other than the ones that you fought? No. What were those things anyway?"
"We call them Risen. They're family, friends, ordinary people who died and came back to life and they're abominations. Ugh, it's complicated! I will tell you all about it later," she answered.
"My husband saw you fall from the sky. If you say that your story is complicated, I'll believe it. I'll believe anything."
Severa tilted her head, "Really?" she asked sardonically. "I traveled through time so I can be with the people I care for."
Anouk didn't bat an eye. Severa was a little shocked to see how easily Anouk accepted her explanation.
"I was with some friends… but, I don't see them anywhere. No one really came after me?"
"No one."
Tears rolled down her cheeks when she realized that she was all alone. With Risen following her after her leap through time, then it only meant one thing. The people who guarded the sanctuary door, Stahl and Lissa, died shortly after she jumped. Her friends might not have survived as she was followed by Risen. "Gawds!" She exclaimed. Her hands trembled as she covered her face, "they're dead… I'm all alone again… This can't keep happening…"
Anouk patted her back. "You poor thing! You must've gone through so much. Don't worry, you're not alone. If you need someone, I'm here."
The kindness that Anouk exhibited reminded her of the one she left behind to die. "S-Stahl…" she mumbled.
000
Severa did everything in her power to help Holland and Anouk with keeping the farm. In time the villagers got word of the new girl. The kindly couple who took her in told the villagers that she was Holland's long lost niece, and like Holland and Anouk, they readily accepted that explanation. "Are the people in this time really that naïve?" She asked Anouk.
"No, they just accept the easiest explanation and go on with their lives if it doesn't directly affect them."
'I wonder if my parents would do the same if they saw me,' she thought.
She didn't think that she would stay that long in one place, not when she was supposed to save the world. Two years have passed since she crash landed in Holland's farm. Some Risen occasionally pop up but Severa was ready to defend the village. When it's peaceful, she improved her cooking skills and picked up other domestic traits. It wasn't so bad doing chores but she knew that there was more to life than being a village lass.
But she just couldn't leave Holland and Anouk yet. Especially since they have a baby on the way and Holland didn't have enough money to raise a child. To repay them for their kindness and hospitality, Severa joined the mercenaries in the fortress nearby. Holland tagged along with her.
The mercenaries were all really a bunch of bullies.
"Gyahaha! What a haul! Those farmers may not have enough gold, but their food is the best. We could eat for free for the rest of our lives if we stay here," a berserker said.
Holland gripped his lance and stood beside Severa as they watched the rest of the mercenaries eat the rest of the season's harvest. Severa sneered at them.
"Roasted corn for everyone today, and tomorrow we'll have pig meat," the leader, a sage named Nelson, said. He sat down on a chair and admired a ring on his finger. He smirked and looked at Severa, letting the ring catch a glint of light in front of her.
"That toad. I can't leave this place until I get that ring," she told the farmer.
"But you're not strong enough to take it from him," answered Holland.
"You think I don't know that?" She folded her arms and glared at Nelson. She flipped him and then walked away. 'I can't watch that rat bastard anymore. I have to get some fresh air,' she thought.
The mercenary made her way outside the castle and paced back and forth. 'What to do? What to do? Gawds! That ring is the only thing I have left of my mother. What am I even thinking?! She's not important to me anymore. She left me for Chrom. I just need to get that ring because dad gave it to her.' She trembled in anger. 'Nelson has to pay. He has to die!'
"This can't go on, Elder! We barely have enough to get by as it is!" She heard a villager exclaim. Severa went a little closer to hear the conversation.
"Their leader is a former Valmese general! We'll be crushed if we resist..." the village elder answered. She knew those two people. They were Holland's neighbors, and they were nice to her like the rest of the villagers.
A group of people approached the elder. They were armed heavily and the elder visibly shuddered. Perhaps they were the reinforcements for Nelson's mercenaries.
Severa went a little closer to observe what will happen next. Things might go awry and there has been no bloodshed so far. She wanted to keep it that way but if push comes to shove, she will draw her sword and kill Nelson's mercenaries.
"What's that about Valm?" The man who was obviously the leader asked the Elder. He was clad in dark blue, like the color of his hair, and something about him reminded him of Lucina.
"Who are you?"
"My name is Chrom," the man in blue answered.
"The ruler of Ylisse?!"
Severa's jaw dropped. 'Chrom?!That guy is Lucina's dad? That guy is the one my mother fawned over?! She chose him over me?! Over my dad? Puh-leeasssee… he's not even cute.' She was used to seeing a thirty-something ruler with lines on his face and shorter hair. 'He's a midget!' She's just used to seeing the Shepherds towering over her.
The armed people were the Shepherds right in front of her. 'Then, my dad must be there!' She scanned the group for any signs of her father. She wasn't looking for a white-haired knight in light blue armor. She was looking for somebody who had her hair, her mouth and her grim expression.
There he was in his full battle regalia atop his destrier, looking stern, proud and ready to lay the smack down on anybody who badmouths Chrom. Severa compared her father's looks to that of Chrom's. 'My dad is definitely better looking. Gwads! Mom was so immature! My dad is clearly superior,' Severa smiled. This is what she was waiting for. She can finally set things right.
She had to stop herself from running towards them and hugging her father. He wouldn't recognize her. He wouldn't even know that he had a time traveling daughter. He might even kill her since she is with the mercenary band.
The villager tugged on the elder's sleeve. "Elder! He may be able to help us!"
"Um, I can hear you," said Chrom, "But tell me your problem, and I'll see what I can do."
"Oh, thank you, sir!"
Severa ran back inside to tell Holland of the news. Chrom's army might get them out of their predicament.
"Urgent news, sir!" A mercenary ran towards the leader. "Armed soldiers approach! Their leader claims to be Chrom of Ylisse!"
"Dammit!" Nelson banged his hand on the table. The rest of the mercenaries stopped eating and looked at the commotion. Severa just got back in time to see the situation brewing. "Why would he come here?"
The soldier shrugged.
"Well, if they insist on dogging me, I've got hounds of my own to welcome them with." He spotted Severa and flashed her, his ring.
"I'm not your dog, scum!" Severa exclaimed. She had no love for Nelson and the leader knew that.
"No, only a stray mutt that refuses to stop yapping. But you'll be a good dog and do as I say if you ever want—"
"Yes, yes, if I ever want to see it again. I'm well aware," she rolled her eyes.
"I trust you're equally aware of your position, Holland?" Nelson asked the farmer.
Holland sighed and pulled the pot on his head lower to cover his eyes.
"Loquacious as ever, I see," Nelson laughed. "You'll fight for me, or I'll have that lazy tongue pried from your head. Now then, Chrom may have the Fire Emblem in his possession... And if I claim that, I've practically claimed the throne. So go out there, kill anything that moves, and get me that Emblem!"
"Yeah!" The mercenaries shouted.
Severa scanned her memory for the events that happened in her past. The battle over the Fire Emblem shouldn't happen until much later. Lucina should still be a baby at this point. 'Gods! The events sped up when we messed with time. I have to do something. Remember what Stahl said….' Keep the Fire Emblem in the right hands'. Oh no, this is more than just about my ring now. This is about saving the world.'
She had to help the Shepherds in her own way. Making her way to the entrance, Severa slipped past some mercenaries who were busy with preparing and arming themselves. She went ahead and opened the eastern gates when she heard the unmistakable sound of flapping Pegasus wings near her.
She turned around and saw the rider "...Oh, gods. It's you." She said when she realized that she was talking to her mother, Cordelia.
"Have we met? If so, I'm afraid I've quite forgotten." The rider asked her. Severa looked at her long red hair that looked like it was perpetually windswept. Severa was irritated by the quizzical look in her eyes. 'Of course mom had to be very, very pretty.'
"Well, excuse me for being so forgettable!" She exclaimed.
Cordelia gripped her lance and aimed it at Severa. "Look, there's no time for this. If you're a friend, speak now. If not, then stay out of Chrom's way or I'll have to cut you down."
She couldn't believe the nerve of this woman! "Chrom, Chrom, Chrom! It's ALWAYS Chrom with you!" Severa stomped her foot on the ground.
"I'm sorry?"
"You should be! And I don't care about your stupid Chrom, so you can just drop it!" Severa softened a bit. It was unfair. She couldn't help but lash out at her mother every time she sees her. It's just so annoying that even in this timeline, she still only cared about Chrom. 'Of course she wouldn't recognize me. I haven't been born yet,' she thought.
An awkward silence passed between them. "I only want to talk to Holland," Severa said.
"Holland?"
"Yes, Holland! That sad sack over there," she pointed at the farmer who was walking towards his post. "Watch my back so I can get to him safely, and then I'll help your stupid army!"
"O...okay?"
"Oh, and Holland's not here of his own will, so don't you dare hurt him!" She shouted. Severa ran inside. Cordelia followed her with the rest of Chrom's army in her tail.
Disclaimer: I don't own Fire Emblem. Just a copy of the game, but rights and stuff go to Nintendo and IS.