Act 0 Chapter 2
Abandonment (Alm)

The small boy rummaged through his grandfather's house, alongside three other young children. They had been searching around Ram Village's woods for the entire week. Sir Mycen and young Celica took off a few nights ago, without explanation or reason. The green-haired boy named Alm vehemently turned over parchment on Sir Mycen's desk, desperate for any clues.

"Found anything yet?" Tobin called. The slimmer but taller male was pulling open drawer after drawer. He pulled out wooden carvings with delicacy.

"No…" Alm shook his head in annoyance. "Where could have grandpapa gone…?"

"Gods, the village watch have already searched the entire forest." Gray, a slightly more mischievous boy complained. "And they finished the day before yesterday! I say the old man's on a secret vacation."

Alm scratched his green hair and sat down on a stool. When he woke up and first found Sir Mycen had disappeared, he assumed the worst. The night watch said they saw nothing, but the smell of alcohol on their breaths ruled out any certainty.

The boy had cried that entire morning, wondering if the Zofian army had taken them away. Faye and Tobin tried their best to comfort him – even joining his makeshift search party. Gray on the other hand was entirely convinced.

"I mean… he would leave behind a letter right?" He sighed. "Grandpapa's a very careful man. I miss training with him already. And Celica…"

Upon hearing the girl's name, another person called out.

"I'm sure they'll be back soon Alm! And don't worry! Sir Mycen goes too hard on you in swordplay anyways!" The voice belonged to Faye, the light brunette of the gang. She was in Alm's room, making a complete mess of the place.

"Faye? What are you doing in my bedroom?" Alm shouted back.

A moment of silence.

"Looking for clues, silly!" She replied.

"Huh."

As if I hadn't searched there yet, ugh. Alm thought in exasperation. Their home was slightly bigger than the average house in the village. Grandpapa took his fortunes from service and purchased the entire lot. Cobwebs were beginning to multiply on the high roof. None of the children's arms could reach them.

"Told ya." Gray shrugged. "I don't blame Sir Mycen. I mean, after being stuck in Ram Ranch for so long, anyone would want out."

"Hey, that's not the point." Tobin retorted. "What about Celica? It's strange she-"

Faye exclaimed again. "Hey guys! I think I found something! Come here!"

"She actually found something in my room?" Alm's eyes widened.

The three boys left the living room and ran into a small bedroom through a hallway. Faye was sitting on the boy's bed, proudly holding a letter in her hands. There was a red vellum seal on top of it, indicating it was written by a Zofian commander.

"Wow, you haven't been looking very well, Alm." Tobin complained.

"Wait. The letter's been open." The green-haired boy pointed.

Indeed the seal was broken, leaving an open side. Faye looked into the slit and stuffed a tiny hand into it. She felt around, and pulled out a big deal of nothing. The letter was completely empty, to everybody's disappointment.

"What a tease." Gray scoffed. "Maybe he got a letter from someone else, but threw his trash in your room."

Alm lowered his heads. "Y-yeah, that's one way of looking at it. We already searched Celica's room, so there's nowhere left to go…"

He smacked his fist into the wall, not expecting the sharp pain afterwards. Days of searching in the forest with the villagers amounted to absolutely nothing. His friends also had their spirits crushed. Life was not the same without Celica.

"Hey!" A young boy yelled outside. "You guys!"

Through the large window the four children saw their last friend in a well-fitted tunic run over. His eyes bore a horrified expression in his face. Gray left the room, unlocking the door to let the blond villager in. Alm and Tobin gathered next to him.

Tobin cleared his throat. "Kliff! What's up pal?"

"S-Slayde is here!" The boy panted. "He's brought an entire patrol of soldiers over!"

"What?" Alm exclaimed. "That dastard found his place here after all!"

"I bet he has something to do with Sir Mycen and Celica's disappearance." Tobin declared. "If we can convince the rest of the village, we can gang up on them!"

"Yeah, sounds good!" Gray commented. "Let's go!"

Worried what the foul Zofian guard will do, Tobin, Gray, and Kliff were the first to run out of the house. Alm put his face into his hands, hoping no more fighting would happen. His eyes followed from his hands to the right side of the room.

"Um, Faye?" He blinked.

"Yeah, Alm?"

"…I think it's time to get off my bed."

"Oh you're right! Let's go together, Alm!"

The girl hesitated before jumping off his bed, and the two ran towards the door. The villagers outside were already gathering around the Zofian visitors. The boy took a deep breath before joining his friends' side. In the middle of the patrol, Sir Slayde gazed at the young boy curiously.

[…]

"Scoundrel!" Alm spat. "Get out of this village!"

"Oh." Slayde said. The man looked genuinely surprised by the threat. "I'm sorry, child. Did I do something to wrong you?"

"Don't play dumb Slayde!" Gray gritted his teeth. "You tried to kill us!"

The cavaliers behind Slayde looked at their captain in confusion. Vigorous chattering infected the men and women of Ram Village. Alm regretted not pulling out his practice sword from the house before. Sir Mycen would have struck already.

"Those are… stinging accusations." Slayde replied. "I'm sure there's been a grave misunderstanding here."

"He was in the forest a few days ago!" Gray replied. "He started to f-."

"Oh, quiet young one." One of the older ladies interrupted. "This gentlemanly fellow has been nothing but kind to us this morning. Where are your manners?"

The children looked at each other in panic. Sir Mycen advised them to not tell anybody about the fight they had with the Zofian knight. There was no need to scare the entire village then. Now that grandpapa was gone…

"We're telling the truth!" Tobin whined. "He attacked us! Sir Mycen saved the entire Ram Village from that guy! He threatened to take off Faye's head!"

"Oh now I know you're joking." A farmer narrowed his eyes. "You kids sure have a livid imagination."

"Please forgive them." Slayde said. "When I was a lad their ages, I would tell all sorts of crazy escapades with my friends. While my forces are stationed here, I'll make sure this village stays safe."

The villagers began clapping for the brave words of the captain. Faye, upon being cruelly reminded of the daunting threat, broke out into tears and clutched onto Alm's chest. The green-haired boy stared back at Slayde with contempt.

"I know you folk don't have much, but we're in a fraught situation." The Zofian continued. "If there is any food you can spare…"

"Certainly, Sir Slayde!" A cartwright bellowed. "We will hold a feast in our countrymen's honor!"

Alm and company watched in horror as the strangers won over the hearts of Ram Village. The folks were already upset that Mycen and Celica were missing. Any good news felt like Mila extending a branch of peace towards them.

"Those vile royals are going to wine and dine at my hometown?" Gray shook his fist at the visitors. "Not on my watch!"

"Wait, Gray." Kliff whispered. "The grown-ups don't believe our story. If we trouble them anymore, we might get punished by our parents."

"He's right." Alm said. "We need to lay low for now. I feel like he's the key to finding out where grandpapa and Celica are!"

Defeated, the five young'uns retreated from the crowd, back to Mycen's large house. They each grabbed a chair and sat around the table, waiting for the celebration to end outside. A part of Alm wanted to grab his sword and ambush the Zofian commander, when he had the chance. The other part told him to be patient.

"Um, sorry guys." Tobin snuffled. "I think the way I spoke was a bit too dramatic, and, well, I-"

Gray slumped his head onto the cedar table.

"Shut up, Tobin."

The cavaliers, in spite of serving Zofian royalty, ate with the villagers with civil manners. Alm's belief that everyone serving under King Lima would be arrogant, was completely shattered by their behavior. Even Slayde was acting almost tolerable. The old guard was making quaint jokes with the night watch. The boy admitted his scheming act was quite convincing.

The five village children were spying behind a bush. The celebration of potatoes, bread, and dried meat. The Zofian guard was helping the farmers of Ram clean up after themselves. Slayde himself stood at the side, watching everyone else clean.

"Hey these strangers are pretty nice." Gray noted. "Why did such a prick have to lead them? What a waste."

"Hey guys!" Faye whispered. She pulled back from the bush and rubbed her hands together. "He's looking straight at us. I don't think we were hiding very well…"

"Keep quiet." Kliff said. "Unless you want a death sentence."

Slayde looked around again, and when everyone was finished he walked towards the bush. The children freaked out and hid behind Alm, not because he was a leader figure, but because he was the slowest one to back up.

"Snap!" Tobin said. "We're done for!"

The Zofian captain brushed aside the leaves and stared at the boys and girl. He was much taller up-close.

"Hello again, whelps." Slayde said.

"Eek!" Kliff shrunk backwards. He was at the back of the bunch.

The Zofian coughed. "I'm afraid we got off on the wrong foot. I am here to apologize for what transpired days ago."

Alm looked around the bush. He noticed that everybody was packing up and about to go home. The terrifying stranger's promises and apologies meant nothing if no adults were around to listen. The boy stomped his foot down defiantly.

"You clearly tried to attack us, and tried to kidnap Celica!" he retorted. "I suppose you know where she is, you sick brigand!"

"No idea where she is." Slayde shrugged.

"And Sir Mycen?"

The Zofian's eyes gleamed at the mention of grandpapa. Tobin and Gray swallowed loudly before they finally stopped clinging onto Alm. The experienced captain took a moment of uncomfortable silence before replying.

"I do not know where Sir Mycen is either." He said. "Think about it this way, children. Why would I come to Ram Village, if I knew they weren't here?"

"That makes sense." Gray frowned. "But that means you're looking too! You're going to kill them once you find them!"

"We can talk about that another time." Slayde raised an eyebrow. "I already searched the entire village, and it looks like you twerps don't have any clues. We will leave without causing any trouble for your line of hovels."

Are we really going to let someone who wants to kidnap Celica and kill Grandpapa walk free? Alm thought. The fact pained him but there was nothing he could do. None of the grown-ups would listen to them, not without Sir Mycen present. Five kids could barely take on a single armed lancer.

"We'll definitely find them before you!" Alm challenged. "When Sir Mycen comes back, he will beat back all of you rotten knights!"

"Doubt it, but a young lad can dream." Slayde yawned. "I suppose you don't accept the apology then."

"Not if our lives depended on it!" The boy replied.

Kliff shuffled his sandals. "Um, sure. What he said."

"Interesting. But think about this for a second." The captain brought up. "You said you did not know where Mycen is, right? That means he left without heads-up."

"Yes." Alm answered cautiously.

Slayde suddenly straightened his back. The mere motion caused everyone to jump back a few steps. Faye was no longer crying. Rather, she was staring at the older man with the same intensity the boys were. Slayde looked as if he was performing several calculations in his mind.

"Alright, then consider his reasoning." The captain provoked. "Why would he leave with Celica all of a sudden without telling anyone? I am not the most pious man in Valentia, but even I can tell when someone's pulling strings."

Alm looked back at his friend Gray, who gave puzzled looks. They decided to listen.

"Not even waiting to say goodbye. I mean, it would be fine if he expected to return, but that's obviously not the case." Slayde continued. "He's probably realized how much of a pitiful dump he lived in, and took little Celica to a better place! Too bad a horse can only carry two people."

"Now you're not making sense." Tobin said. "Mycen loves this village! He's played with us since we were little, and taught us the art of the sword."

"He loves the village?" The captain stroked his thin beard. "Or, did he pretend to love the village, to make Celica happier? She's by far the more important one."

"I highly doubt that." Kliff replied.

The green-haired boy closed his eyes and ran through every possibility. Slayde brought a perspective they have never considered before. As much as he hated to admit it, there was a small possibility the wretched man was correct.

"Celica and I are not related by blood." Alm grunted. "Sir Mycen is my grandfather, and he is also Celica's ward."

"Yeah. What kind of grandfather would value a foster child over his own kin?" Gray smirked, as if the reasoning was obvious to him.

"The kind who also never told Alm why he left the village." Slayde replied in an equally matter-of-fact manner.

The green-haired boy touched his left arm. There was no way he was going to show Slayde the brand on his left hand. The man stunk of foulness and deception. There is no reason for him to help me figure out my past at all! He thought.

"I don't think grandpapa is hiding any secrets from me." Alm said. "He's been with me my entire life, and I trusted him at every turn."

"Um, you're not going to kill us for disagreeing, right?" Tobin ventured out with an irrelevant question. Gray and Kliff gave him a look of incredibility.

"Then I guess we're done here." Slayde said. "You don't know where they are, and neither do I. S'pose its bedtime for you lot anyways. Go on now."

A cloud rolled over the moon, making Ram Village fall into its shadow. Nighttime came quicker than usual. Alm turned back to his friends and nodded. Their parents, except for one of them, would come out and look for them anyways.

"We're not done yet Slayde." The boy grunted. "When Sir Mycen comes back, we're going to kick your ass once and for all."

"When he comes back." The captain repeated in a mocking fashion. "Face it kid. He's abandoned you for another cause. Old man's not coming back anytime soon."

While discarding Alm's threat, the man returned to the small inn, located near the center of Ram Village. The children agreed to retire for the night. Alm returned home alone. He spent the whole night tossing and turning in bed.

[…]

In the morning, the Zofian cavaliers thanks their hosts and left. Some of them even left silver marks behind, but the kids thought it was another tactic of Slayde to win over their hearts. The kids met up in the place where Mycen used to teach them how to fight with a sword. They did not have much to say to each other.

"What do we do now?" Kliff asked. "We're fresh out of ideas."

"Nothing." Gray said. "We already searched everywhere. All we can do is to wait for Mycen to return. Can't believe I'm saying this, but I actually miss training."

"True…" Alm managed to say.

Slayde's words had an effect on him last night. The green-haired boy did not want to believe he had been abandoned. However, sleeping in the same old house, alone, without anyone at his side, changed his perspective on the issue.

"What am I going to do?" The boy exasperated. "I'm all alone. The night watch won't pay my household since Mycen went missing. If grandpapa doesn't return in a few weeks, I would be left without money or food."

"That's terrible." Faye said. "I hope that doesn't happen."

Alm silently thanked the girl but knew that kind words was not enough. He had been relying on generous donations from Gray's and Kliff's family but that would not last forever. Faye tried to teach him how to cook, with limit success.

"Uh, I actually have a suggestion." Tobin piped up. "A serious one, this time."

The others rolled his eyes at the slim boy whose chronic nervousness was in full bloom yesterday. Alm looked up hopingly. Anything would help at this point, he thought.

"As you know, my family has younger siblings." Tobin said. "We're making ends meet right now, but we can use some extra space."

"You want to use our property?" His friend asked precariously.

"Yeah, in turn our family helps take care of you. Food. Necessities. Everything" The boy offered. "Normally, Mother would talk to you, but she said you would be more enthusiastic if I was the one who asked."

Everyone looked at Alm who considered the offer. Tobin let out an open arm of welcome. If the offer lasted until Sir Mycen returned, it might just work. The green-haired boy's rumbling stomach made the choice for him.

"I guess since I'm the only one, your little brothers and sisters can use the spare rooms." Alm decided. "Only until grandpapa returns."

"Great!" Tobin said. "Er, welcome to the family!"

And just like that, Alm bartered his way into a new family. Tobin's family was a resilient one. How resilient? Enough to tolerate the slim boy as the eldest sibling of the house. As far as Mycen's grandson was concerned, the arrangement would last at most a fortnight.

"Yeah." He repeated solemnly. "Welcome to the family."

"That's odd." Kliff commented. "Under this deal's logic, wouldn't Tobin's mother want Sir Mycen and Celica to stay away from Ram Village as long as possible?"

"Odd? Don't you mean lucky?" Faye sniffed. "If only I had younger siblings I could probably live in Alm's place as well."

"Hey, let's train some more, by ourselves!" Gray cut in. "Sir Mycen will get mad at us if we grew soft in his absence!"

"Mhm, good idea!"

With the issue of food and money settled, the children continued playing and being children as usual. Alm's mind was eased somewhat. He met up with the grown-ups and finalized the home-sharing agreement. Tobin's sibling seemed equally excited to be staying over at a new home. The mother of the household gave Alm a big hug, whispering that everything will be alright.

It did not feel like how Mycen comforted him, but it sufficed. Alm returned home that evening wondering when his grandpapa and cousin would return.

And again the day after.

And again the day after.

And again…

Sir Mycen never did return.

What seemed at first a temporary deal, ended up lasting for the rest of Alm's childhood. Without anything to remember her by, any memories of Celica fled the boy's mind like a flock of geese. In a matter of time he forgot everything about the little girl, and wanted to forget everything related to grandpapa.

Yet Alm's journey was only just beginning.

End of Act 0

A/N: Thanks for reading!

Sorry for the grammatical mistakes in the first chapter. My word processor completely broke down on me. Thankfully, it's back and running! We are officially done with Act 0!

Now hold on a second. If you're looking for a really cool Fire Emblem Echoes novelization, I highly recommend you check out my friend Cormag Ravenstaff's newest fic: Façade. It adheres more to the original timeline, but with several interesting changes along the way.

Alm dies in his childhood, leading Sir Mycen to start training "another" hero. Conflicts between ideals and identity ensue. I can't say much more so I recommend you take a look for yourselves! We're just starting our adventures. If you want a nice double dose of Echoes adventures, check out both our stories!

Reviews on how to improve are always welcome. If you like what you read, follow / favorite for updates.