My first experience with Fire Emblem was like most Americans, through Smash Brothers. Never did play the GBA or Wii games though as I didn't even know what kind of games they were since nobody I knew mentioned that. I knew Awakening was popular but wasn't sure if strategy games were for me, but Heroes was a phone game so I picked it up since strategy from a mobile game didn't sound like it would be too hard. Slowly I tried traditional FE games like Awakening and the recent Echoes.

Now with someone who has that kind of history with the franchise, imagine my surprise when I find myself in one of these crazy worlds. Figures it would be in the one with the self-insert angle too! Well, at least I have something extra with my phone having real-time map and enemy and ally info. It's been saving me and my fellows in the Order of heroes.

I continue to walk with Commander Anna, the first person I met here and Virion, the first hero I summoned with a divine relic that's definitely modeled after a handgun. Anna told me that to reach the prince we would have to further into the bay area, where various waterways will cross between us.

As we marched over there I couldn't help but wonder about the situation the game. In fact..."Anna, can I ask you something?" Since she looks at me and nods I continue, "Why aren't you with other Order of Heroes now? Anna answers, "Well with our order as small as it is, I knew that we would need the Hero of prophecy to summon more to our aid. I took on the mission of finding Breidablik to summon and assigned the royals to watch for any obvious signs of invasion to prevent the kingdom from being defenseless." Thinking about it that, it makes a bit more sense I guess.

We finally get to an area with some landmasses separated by a few lakes and rivers. Luckily the rivers have bridges over them so that we could walk to the other islands. As we approached the shore, I saw someone who looked to be dressed in a uniform very similar to Anna's and around her age range. I wonder if that's...

"Commander Anna! You're all right! Wait, who is this with you? Could it be...?" I hear the person call out to us just before I get a clear view. Anna responds, "It is, Prince Alfonse! The legend is true. I raised Breidablik, and then Johnny appeared! Our Great Hero is here... and can use the divine weapon too! As for what Breidablik shoots? It's truly wonderful. It fires Heroes right out of it!"

As Anna goes on to inform him about what happened to us, I take the opportunity to get a good look at yet another main character of the game. Alfonse, the current prince of Askr, he's an older looking teenage boy, well more like a young man honestly. As expected his outfit is designed in a similar fashion to Anna's but white pants that ended into golden pointed shoes and a red shoulder belt, likely for his sword's scabbard if I remember the art for the game correctly.

And as expected he has blue hair like many Fire Emblem characters are known for, especially the Lords. In real life, I would know it was hair dye but I have the sneaking suspicion that in this world people have anime hair colors for no real reason. Then again, he also has blonde highlights and those generally aren't inheritable so who does know. Honestly trying to figure out his hair is so distracting, I don't even have time to comment on the circlet like thing behind his ears.

With Anna's report done, the prince responds, "Unbelievable. So you're our Great Hero, come to us from another world, Johnny. I am Alfonse, Prince of Askr and member of the Order of Heroes. A pleasure to meet you."

This is the first time I ever met royalty face to face and video game character or not, I'm nervous. Like really flustered I might do something foolish and the serious look from Alfonse here isn't exactly making me feel better. I figure being respectful is the proper thing and I take a bow in front of him as I say, "L-Likewise, your majesty". All I hear is a small girlish giggle, probably Anna, and Virion showing me up by doing and sounding better. Aw crap.

I look up and to my surprise, Alfonse has a small smile as he says, "No need to trouble yourselves with such formalities. We are all comrades in battle after all." Then he returns to his neutral expression as he states,
"I'm sorry to ask this of you so soon after we've met, but I have need of your help. Our order is devoted to fighting the Emblian Empire, which invades worlds where Heroes are from. One of these is the World of Mystery. I have dire news. The empire has newly taken over that world. We need to make our way to the World of Mystery to free it! And, Commander Anna, there's one more thing. I spotted someone odd with the soldiers near here. A strange man. Not an imperial soldier. Nor a Hero from the World of Mystery now under their control."

A curious brow rose from Anna,
"A strange man, you say? Did he seem allied with the Emblian Empire?" The royal took on a serious look, "I don't know. I've never seen him before. He wears a mask and keeps his face a secret even from them. But now, we must rush into battle. Soldiers approach!"

With that Alfonse draws a sword from his scabbard which looks to be a well-made iron sword. Our side, the Order of Heroes, were on the larger landmass that was connected to the other two by three bridges. To the north was an island with a lance fighter at level one and the island to the east had two fighters, one armed with an axe but another wielding a sword. The landmass they are on is connected to ours by two bridges on opposite ends with each one near said ends. Clearly, someone placed them to box us in.

Just before we march, Alfonse tells me, "It is time for you to lead us into battle. Keep the weapon triangle in mind, Johnny."

Alfonse was talking about one of the signature mechanics that the Fire Emblem Series was known for. Basically, the Weapon Triangle dictates that Swords beat Axes, Axes beat Lances, and Lances beat Swords. Sure you can still defeat the weapon you are weak against if you're higher in level and stats but a disadvantage is a disadvantage.

"Very well", I say towards Alfonse, doing my best to sound like I'm a dignified individual. He only makes a slight nod so I guess he took the bait.

I step ahead of everyone and discreetly take my smartphone to use the omnipresent powers it bestows. Using the game's logic, this map is meant to get the player used to the weapon triangle so they put different weapons in different areas.

With that knowledge, I tell Anna to advance north with Virion close behind to intercept the Lance fighter. She gets a few good swings on the lance user and defends her self pretty well from his thrusts, only getting grazed in the sides twice. Virion, however, aims a good arrow that pierces right into the weak points of the Emblian's armor, causing him to finally collapse.

Before Virion can load another arrow, the sword fighter to his right figures he takes the opportunity and charges forward. Luckily, Alfonse follows my recent orders perfectly and duels with the with the swordsman.
The prince's stats aren't the fastest but his defenses and attack power allow him to take an impressive blow against his shield from the foe and finish him off with an armor piercing counterattack to the gut.

Despite the guy dropping to his knees then face first in a growing pool of blood, Alfonse simply does a small flick of the blade to get off some excess blood. Seeing stuff like this in person stirs up the urge that I have to empty my stomach but I hold my belly to keep it all in. I was lucky enough to avoid most of Anna's handiwork early and Virion's shots tend to not be in the most gruesome vital areas. But despite doing my best to back off, I still have to be within a certain range to give commands in case things change up so...

Trying to get my mind off it, I direct Alfonse to the last axe fighter coming from the south. I guess it's not surprising that a trained warrior like him wouldn't have any problem with stuff like this. Virion who is already towards that direction lines up his bow to take a shot at the upcoming axe wielder. The enemy anticipates to a degree and attempts to dodge the hit, only succeeding in the arrow hitting the shoulder instead of a vital area. The guy tries to go through the pain, I'll give him that but Alfonse basically got this. The prince's iron blade glows a blue glow as he raises it toward to sky and slams it overhead at the weakened fighter's body. Interestingly, after the blow some residual blue glow surrounded Alfonse and after it dissipated, I noticed a good amount of his scrapes and light wounds were gone. My phone said that Alfonse's special was Daylight, a skill that heals for 30% of the damage dealt. Was that blue glow the healing effect just now?

With the end of the battle, I move from the sidelines towards the heroes who take a breather to cool down from the fight. It's interesting to see everyone's post-battle rituals: Virion takes off his gloves to dust them off, Anna stretches her arms and shoulders to limber up while Alfonse just closes his eyes and breathes deeply.

At a distance, I can make out a person riding on a horse. He is someone with silver hair but of a darker complexion. As an aside, can I just say it's nice to see someone in this world with a brown skin tone instead of fair? I should probably also mention that his overall outfit was more in line with the Emblians but hints of Askr, I think. This man is decked out with a crazy winged collar, black top, greaves, and boots but a white cape and bottoms, all etched with those golden lines both kingdoms just love so gosh darn much. The lining of his collar, cape, and his gloves also seem to have a violet color scheme to them but what stands out to everyone else is the golden and black domino mask he wears.

As usual, Anna takes the initiative, " Who are you, stranger? Alfonse, this must be the masked man you saw!" The prince follows up by asking the mystery man, "You! Tell us-are you a soldier in the Emblian Empire? If so, then you stand on the side of evil. The empire shouldn't be entering the worlds of Heroes-let alone conquering them!"

The man of mystery simply smiled before saying,"Oh, really? And I suppose you want us to close the gateways too? Hmpf. In your dreams." Clearly, this rubbed Alfonse the wrong way as he said, "How dare you! Where are you going? Get back here and answer for yourself! Damn fellow. He's gone."

Remind me not to get on his bad side. I take a look behind to the still there corpses of the guys Alfonse hacked up. Oh yeah, I guess that's another reason not to.

Anna looks to me and I move my attention towards her. "Those gateways he mentioned, Johnny... They connect our world to all those where Heroes live. The royalty of the Askran Kingdom, like Alfonse, have the ability to open these gateways."

"And the royalty of the Emblian Empire are able to close the gateways", Alfonse states as he picks up where Anna left off. "Long ago, our two families worked in harmony to open and close these ways to other worlds. But then Embla began using its power for evil, leaving all of the gates open. The empire began invading those worlds. We cannot slam the gates shut. Only they can."

Talk about a design flaw waiting to happen. Still, it makes for a somewhat compelling conflict, I just wish I watching it instead participating. Though I give Fire Emblem royalty credit, at least they have exclusive bloodline powers so their rule makes some kind of sense, not like royals in my world who get power cause other people say they do.

Anna reassures the both of us, "We can fight them, however. That's why we Askrans formed the Order of Heroes-to stop the Emblians. Now, let's hurry to the World of Mystery. She gets closer to the prince and puts her hand on his shoulder. "Alfonse... your sister has been on a scouting mission. I fear that she may be in danger."

AN: Cliffhanger! I mean you know unless you played the game. Let me tell you I spent some hours researching fight scenes and how to write them and I'm still not sure if I did it right. I definitely need some improvement in that area so feel free to let me know. I also know going through the plot might be old news for some so I'm really trying to inject as much of the OC's personality without making him seem annoying or incompetent. For now, I think giving him breaks where he can speak his mind is going well. But once he thinks the coast is clear, he will be speaking his mind more directly. Man, I can't wait until we get to the first summoning though. Until then, my favorite of the Askr Trio is coming up next! Stay tuned!