Sorry for the wait. My muses decided that they really wanted to work on Crimson Feathers… which isn't a good thing. At all. Anywho, I don't have much else to say, so I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh 5Ds or Fire Emblem Awakening (well, I have a copy of the game, but you know what I mean). I own my OCs, though, and the name of Xylia. Enjoy, but a fair warning? There's a bit of violence in this chapter. Actually, I think that'll be the case in a lot of chapters from here on out…

Chapter 2

'What are these things? Zombies?' I think, pulling the sword out of the sheath. I then hold it in front of me defensively; the creatures have advanced to only a few meters away.

The archer surrounded in the violet glow moans something that sounds like, "Attack!" and shoots an arrow right at Lissa. She ducks, and the arrow misses.

Frederick, now on an armored horse that I have no idea where it came from, takes a lance and stabs it through the nearest creature. It moans twice, and then turns into purple smoke.

"Thunder!" Xylia shouts. Strange symbols appear around her for a split second, and then a bolt of lightning strikes another of the Risen. It turns into purple smoke without a sound.

'I can't just stand here and do nothing,' I think. 'Okay… so what do I do?' A short jolt of pain flies through my head, and I can faintly remember fighting off a lot more than a crowd of these Risen… When, where, and who was with me lie hidden.

I dart forward, holding the sword only with my right hand. It suddenly doesn't feel heavy at all. With a shout, I attempt to stab one of the Risen holding an axe. I don't know what I was expecting, but my attack only cuts the creatures arm. It turns its head to stare at me and swings its axe.

Something snaps in my head. I have no idea why, but I'm suddenly lunging forward, dodging the swing, and stabbing the Risen in the chest. It consequentially turns to purple smoke.

"No… no way! I did it!" I exclaim breathlessly. But my moment of joy quickly turns back to fear, because there are a lot more of these things trying to kill us. Three of the sword-bearing ones decide to gang up on me, swings coming from three different directions. There's no way I can block them all or dodge them, unless…

Somehow, I find the strength to jump up. High enough to dodge the first two attacks, but the third cuts open my right shoulder as I flip in the air. Pain blossoms, and a steady flow of blood comes out of the gash. 'I need Lissa's help, but there's no way to get over to her,' I think with disdain.

Frederick steps in, skewering two of the three Risen like things on a shishkabob. They instantly turn to purple smoke. I grunt a word of thanks, switch my sword into my left hand, and swing as hard as I can. My sword clashes with that of the Risen with a loud CLANG! The other sword actually breaks in two and I swing again, neatly decapitating the creature that had tried to kill me.

Now I realize that Lissa was actually on the horse with Frederick, and she slides off of it. "Just a moment, Amaryllis!' she shouts. "Heal!"

The glow from her staff occurs again, and my shoulder stops bleeding—in fact, the gash seals up completely—and no longer hurts. I offer a half grin at the same time an arrow flies mere centimeters from my face. I turn in the direction it came from.

Xylia and two of the Risen are fighting. She's trying to take out the archer with her Thunder spell, but the last of the Risen carrying axes is putting up one heck of a fight. More of the Risen surround my friend, and something in my head clicks again.

I'm no longer in the field, fighting a crowd of Risen. Instead, I'm running down a street, cutting down more of them as I go. I don't know what I'm doing… No wait! My goal, it's just a few feet in front of me! There's a circle of Risen attacking what seems to be a shimmering silver dragon with blue eyes and purple gems set along his torso.

"LEAVE MY BROTHER ALONE!" someone shouts. Wait a moment… that's my voice!

There's a slight timeskip, and now I feel myself standing, trying to catch my breath. "You okay?" I ask my companion.

"Yeah, thanks," the young man replies. I can't quite see his face, but I can tell that he is no longer in dragon form…

"Anything for my little brother," my voice replies.

I blink, and the scene vanishes. Was that a memory? And if so… I have a brother? Maybe if I can find him, I can unlock all the secrets of my memories. I blink a second time and realize that I'm now in the circle of Risen, well, more like a square of them now. The archer and three of the swordsmen are left, and that's it.

'What happened to them all?' I think. Shortly followed by, 'Did I fight while not even paying attention?' I shrug it off; the last four need to be taken care of—ah! Make that the last three, since Xylia finally managed to fell the archer with a Thunder.

Frederick joins back in, neatly stabbing one of them without any type of resistance. I duck in and manage to stab another in the chest, and Xylia wraps up with a sword of her own, slicing clean through the final Risen's head. They all turn to purple smoke, and the dark-haired woman declares, "That seems to be the last of them. Is everyone alright?"

"I am alright milady," Frederick replies. "As is Lissa."

"Uh-huh!" Lissa confirms with a grin. "One of them almost had me, but thanks to Frederick, it obviously didn't happen."

"I'm good," I reply, rolling the shoulder that had been injured in the fight but that Lissa healed. "Lissa healed my injury. So… what were those things anyways?"

"Ah… we've given them the name 'Risen', as they all look like a crude attempt at bringing the dead back to life," Xylia replies. "They appeared two nights ago, through what almost looked like a giant eye that appeared in the sky. Ever since then, they've been wrecking havoc and killing people. Many innocent people…"

"Which is why it's our job to help any villages that get attacked," a new voice says. "But that isn't supposed to be the case right now. What happened here, and who is the new girl?"

I turn to face the person who spoke. It's a man with dark blue hair and eyes that are the same color. He has on a black shirt that lacks a right-arm sleeve, dark grey gloves, and black pants that are tucked into his armor-plated boots. A white belt around his waist with a sheath attached to it is connected one that crosses over his chest. There is a piece of silver armor over his left shoulder, and a white cape is underneath it.

Other that his hair color, the most notable feature is a mark on his upper left arm, slightly darker than his skin. It looks like a teardrop in the center of a spiked horseshoe.

"I'm, uh, Amaryllis," I say. "You are?"

"Chrom," the man replies. "Now, about what happened…?"

"Risen attack," Xylia replies. "Don't worry, we're all fine. I was just filling in Amaryllis with what's been going on here. She's lost her memory as well. Only, nothing seems to be coming back. I just gave her the name Amaryllis, because you know how Sully likes to nickname people."

Chrom chuckles. "Yes. I wonder how Virion can stand that."

I look between Chrom and Xylia. "Uhm… who are Sully and Virion?"

"Some of the other Shepherds," the blue-haired man replies.

"Yes, I was just about to bring Amaryllis back to meet them," Xylia says.

"We're supposed to be on our way to Regena Ferox, so introductions will have to be short," Chrom says. "Camp is this way."

To be continued…

That's it for now. Next chapter, Amaryllis meets the other Shepherds, and witnesses a skirmish at the border… only a very familiar face is on the opposite side. Interested now? Good.

Thanks to Ulrich362 for reviewing chapter one!

Please, don't be worried about leaving a review! I'm glad to hear whatever you have to say about my stories, whether it's good or bad. Bye for now!