Chapter 5: World Hopping
Man, it's been awhile since I sat down to write this. Looking back, I thought I'd be doing these things daily, but now, I'll be lucky if I sit down once a week to do this…
So, to make a long story short, I've been in to visit three new Worlds this week, liberating each one from Emblian control. They were the Worlds of Conquest, Binding, and Awakening, plus a revisit to Mystery, and oh my, were they something…
To start off with, I guess I should mention the Bartre has been coming to my door every morning, rousing me at the crack of dawn to go running, to get me into shape, he says, along with some boxing practice. Or what stands in for boxing for Bartre, which is punching his stomach. I think, after all our practise, punching my wall would be better for my fists.
But his efforts haven't been in vain. I feel healthier than I have ever been before! Which is good, as we've been running all over the place.
After our adventure to the summoning ruins, we received a report of Xander returning to his World with a contingent of soldiers. Fearing that they'd be gathering Heroes from the World of Conquest with Xander's pull, we headed out immediately, with my main team, as well as royal guards to guard the cart we took this time.
We were able to reach the gateway easily enough, in the plains to the east, and I was surprised to find twin gateways, facing each other. One was an obsidian colour, with golden lines across it's frame, and beside it was a white gate with red lines running across it. The same, but opposites. I wanted to ask Alfonse for some clarification, but he barged right through the gateway, ready for his rematch with Xander. Sharena followed suit, clearly excited.
"Come, Tazio, we've got a World to save!" Anna ordered, stepping through with my team. I sighed, waved at the two guards, hoping they'd be alright while we were gone, and followed after glancing at the white door. I felt like I saw another, grey and blue door in the faint distance, but it could have been nothing…
It didn't take long for us to find Xander. He had placed himself on an island separated from us by a thick river that scrawled across the land. On a larger stretch of land, his royal siblings readied themselves.
"So, you have come to battle us?" Xander called out, pointing to us with his sword as soon as we'd gathered. "This will be the second time you face my blade," he observed. He looked over to his siblings, nodding at their Camilla. "We are all bound by a contract with Princess Veronica. And yet…"
"Quite talking, let's fight, come on, round two!" I called out, interrupting the knight prince. I had no time for his prattle. I'm sure it wasn't important, anyway.
"Fine, if you wish to meet death so swiftly, come child!" Xander roared, poised for a fight.
"You're the only one with an appointment for death today!" I called back, felling good about my comeback, only to see the awkward looks from my comrades. Alfonse just shook his head, and Sharena tried to smile, unconvincingly.
"Fine, let's just get this done," I grizzled, blushing.
I send Nowi, with Alfonse for backup, to deal with Xander as he came from his island. Our Camilla settled across the river, looking at her original, blowing a kiss her other tossed her hair aside, gripping her brave axe.
Lyn, Anna and Sharena prepared themselves at the bridge to the south, where Leo, the second prince of Nohr, and their Elise, would have to come from.
It all happened at once. Xander roared across the bridge, faster this time, aiming for Alfonse. At the same time, Camilla soared across the river for our wyvern rider, teeth glinting.
Leo galloped over, his dark tome glowing sickly purple colours, with Elise preparing her staff behind him.
Nowi shot her breath attack to Xander, knocking his horse down. Alfonse sprung forward, smacking the legendary Siegfried away, disarming Xander. Our Camilla clashed blades with theirs, their lavender hair tossing together as their faces came close to colliding. Their wyverns flapped backwards and forwards, darting into one another time and time again, axes smashing, the cries of flying reptiles filling the sky.
Lyn ran to intercept Leo, with Sharena as backup. She was able to avoid the blasts of magical trees that formed under her, jumping and dashing away. Sharena sliced through the magic with her lance once Lyn had escaped.
Camilla, ours, had dove down into the river, using the same tactics we'd employed in the World of Mystery to splash a wave of water into enemy Camilla's face, tossing her away, defeated, her axe falling away.
Xander, meanwhile, rose to fight Alfonse in single combat. He snatched at Al's sword hand, twisting it away, disarming him. He then swiped a fist at the Askr prince's face, only for him to tilt back, kicking at Xander, freeing himself. Al charged in to headbutt the taller Xander, only to be headbutted himself, tossing the two fighters away. Nowi kept her eyes trained on Xander, but couldn't attack with the two princes so close.
Lyn had caught up to Leo, who was back peddling from the charging women, only to have his horse slashed at. He tumbled out of his stirrups as the horse bolted. He tried grabbing for his tome, Brynhildr apparently, only for Sharena to kick it away, her lance pointed at Leo. He grimaced, and sighed, defeated.
Lyn continued on, to capture the lone Elise, who, startled, ran around the attacking Lyn quicker than I'd expected, running up to Leo. Using her gravity attack, she held Sharena down, keeping her still, even as I called out for Anna to support her comrade. Leo and Elise fled as soon as the Prince had grabbed his tome and had climbed up behind his sister, just as Anna belted across the bridge to meet them. With dirt kicked up under it's hooves, the pony galloped away.
Xander and Alfonse struggled alone, but it seemed clear Xander was winning. He punched Alfonse up off his feet with an uppercut, sending the boy to the floor. Standing over him, Xander, panting, looked down at the young prince.
"Still not enough…"
Nowi attacked, blasting at Xander, tossing him aside for his lack of awareness. Preparing another attack, Nowi was instead kicked at by the flying Camilla, still axeless.
I had forgotten about the wyvern sibling, caught up in the other two battles, and hadn't enough time to call out to Nowi before she attacked.
The dazed Nowi could only watch with Alfonse as Camilla picked Xander up, riding up into the air, out of our reach.
"You have more talent than I thought!" the crown prince of Nohr admitted, looking down at Alfonse as he crawled to his feet, spitting out a glob of blood from his lips. "But now my family and I know what you can do. You will never survive the battles next to come. Against each of us, with our loyal retainers at our side!"
At that Camilla and Xander fled, heading for the west.
We quickly gathered, with Elise tending to the wounded, mostly Alfonse.
"We have to push ahead, and take Xander out properly," Anna said after checking on Al's condition.
"I agree. I think Xander will head for Castle Krakenburg," Alfonse said, feeling his swollen lip go down with his healing uniform.
"In the west, right?" I added, looking in the direction Xander and Camilla had gone.
"Indeed. Come, we have a lot of ground to cover," Al nodded, heading straight ahead, fire in his eyes.
It didn't take long for us to reach the border into Nohr. There, we met the Conquest Elise, with her retainers Effie and Arthur guarding the massive, daunting gateway into the darklands.
We made short work of the retainers and Elise, strolling through the otherwise deserted passageway. Elise shivered and quaked the whole way through, eyes wide after seeing Camilla ruthlessly slash down the other Elise. Her older sister came up to her, consoling her, reminding her that I'd never let anything bad happen to her, lest I want my head removed from my shoulders. Elise was only marginally comforted…
Nowi played with Elise then, playing a version of eye-spy as she rode behind the princess, perking her up, till we ran into a fog filled swamp. Using my vision, I was able to guide the party ahead easily enough, around the murky ponds and tripping mangrove roots.
It didn't take long till I heard a familiar voice ahead.
"Come on, Lord Leo, just try it, once? Please?"
"I am not saying something so ridiculous. We are fighting them, not entertaining them,"
"No, no, it'll strike them down with fear that'll paralyse them! We just have to do it confidently, and in synch. Otherwise, it'll all be for naught."
"If you need help, Lord Leo, I'm sure I could help with the movements…"
"No that's fine- not so close, Niles!"
"Leave the prince alone, Niles!"
"I should say the same to you, Odin…"
"Wait, I hear them coming… Shhh!"
We walked into view of the trio. Odin stood, head bowed, arms across his face like an 'x'. Leo looked across to use, in contempt, while Niles grinned in open contempt of Odin.
Odin whispered harshly. "Come on, we have to do it now!"
"Fools! You shall not pass us by!" Leo said, ignoring Odin.
Odin erupted into movement, bringing his hands to his side, scattering blue dust across himself. "Your end is nigh, foes of the anointed prince! Your legend ends here, at the hands of power undefined, unrestrained!"
"Odin, you can stop now…" Leo said under his breath.
He just got louder. "Our might, from another world, lost in time and memory, shall warp your very perceptions, and drown your mind in darkness the likes of light could never pierce! Bear witness to the combined might of; Brynhildr Battalion!" Odin held his hand out to us, cape between his fingers, grinning all the while, his eyes darting across to see if his comrades were following suit.
"I only work with him, I'll have you know. We aren't friends," Niles called out to us.
My troops were in position by the time they were all finished, allowing us to quickly push into the tangle of trees and mulch that separated us from the, erm, Brynhildr Battalion… I gotta give it to Odin, that's kinda catchy…
Alas, with Nowi taking control of the centre of the battlefield, it didn't take long before Leo and his retainers were vanishing into the choking mists.
"Not far to go now…" Alfonse called out as we pushed out into the darkened plains of Nohr, away from the swamps.
"So we're close to Krakenburg?" Sharena called out.
"Hey, we might see Corrin there!" Elise said excitedly to Camilla.
"Oh, I dearly hope so," she replied, rubbing a hand to her cheek.
"We still have to pass through a volcanic region, unfortunately," Anna called out, pointing to a smoke belching volcano in the distance.
"Oh, right… we have to pass through there…" Camilla sighed.
'There' turned out to be an unsteady passage through rivers of lava, guarded by the World's Camilla and her retainers; Beruka and Selena.
Our passage ahead was only through the stony paths over the lava, leaving no room to maneuver easily, so we could only intercept Camilla and her retainers on their terms. Luckily, our Camilla dealt with the fliers that flapped high over the steaming lava flow, her axe flashing in the murky light of the molten rock.
Punching through, we reached the Castle. It sat above a huge, gaping hole, connected to the surrounding walls by powerful, road wide chains and bridges, and yet, I didn't feel comfortable heading inside such a precarious structure. But inside we went, slaying the Emblian soldiers that guarded the entrance in seconds.
Inside it was cold and lifeless, with haunting paintings and statues decorating the walls. We eventually found the way to the throne room, where Xander awaited.
"How intriguing. You managed to battle your way to me," he said, looking out to Alfonse and myself. "Princess Veronica said the Order of Heroes had the advantage of a Legendary summoner. Clearly, that is true. Still, we'll put a stop to you," He looked to his retainers beside him, who nodded up at him.
"Laslow? Peri? Let's show them that we will not fall to their force!" He said, raising Siegfried.
"Come on, let's give them a force they can't overcome!" I cried out to spite him, raising Breidablik in turn.
Everyone entered the fray in the cramped, stone hallway. Peri, a girl with light-blue hair, frayed and wild over her face, charged at us, screaming at the top of her lungs, clear bloodlust in her eyes, her lance, covered in streaks of crimson, low. Camilla intercepted her, slicing her up before she could do the same to Elise.
Lyn assaulted an Emblian axe cavalier, hoping onto it's back to swat it away with two clean cuts. Xander, meanwhile, moved into a corner, out of the range of Nowi's breath attacks. Hugging the wall, the pink-haired Laslow by his side, they galloped between Anna and Sharena.
"Hello, lovelies," Laslow said with a wink before thrusting his sword arm at Anna, catching her axe, and tossing it aside. Xander pounced onto Anna in her defenceless state, only to be blocked by Sharena.
"Go!" she called to her commander, who leaped with a roll out of Laslow's next attack.
Nowi swatted her tail at Laslow, hurling him against a wall, where he vanished, grinning all the while, looking out at Sharena and Elise.
"Al, go!" I called, pointing at Xander. I could almost feel the heat coming off him, ready for his rematch.
"Don't hurt my sister!" Al howled as he tackled Xander off his horse, punching him in his pristine jaw as they tumbled.
"Like you didn't hurt mine!" Xander roared back, bashing Alfonse over the head with the flat of Siegfried, sending him sprawling.
Sharena ran to help her brother up, but I held her back with an arm.
"I think Al needs this win," I told her, never taking my eyes off the fight.
Xander stepped over to Alfonse in an instant, wasting no time, slashing at his head. Al was able to block the attack with his sword, only just. Al kicked at Xander's shin, tilting the prince over, letting Alfonse get to his feet.
Al scrambled up, retreating a space, as Xander, wincing, climbed atop his horse once more.
"Enough games, boy. You will be destroyed, for the glory of Nohr, and Emblia!" Xander cried, snapping his reigns, sending his horse galloping.
I could feel even more warmth coming off of Alfonse now. His blade glowed a sunlit yellow, and his stance was ready.
"I apologise…" he said as Xander bared down on him. He swung his sword in a great arc, light coming off of him as he cut down the prince of Nohr, sending him flying away.
"Sol…" Anna breathed beside me, looking on as Alfonse's wounds healed up, the light fading.
Panting, Alfonse walked over to the fallen lord, gasping on his back.
"You are beaten," Al huffed, pointing the tip of his blade down at Xander.
Xander looked up, grimacing in pain, before smiling lightly.
"You fought well," he coughed out. "I admit… defeat. This means that the contract that binds us is now broken. Those of my World are no longer compelled to fight you…" He looked up to me and Anna as we gathered behind Alfonse. "Or to invade the Askran Kingdom. But I," Xander said, struggling up, his legs shaking. "I choose to stay at the side of Princess Veronica,"
"But why? She's evil!" Sharena cried out at my side.
"Maybe, but… I see loneliness in her eyes. Not unlike the sibling I once saw locked away from the outside world. A sibling I care for greatly," Xander admitted. "So, the next time we meet, I will defeat you, for her."
Alfonse looked on as the prince faded away, scowling.
"Well, that's that! Mission accomplished!" I said, as soon as Xander had left, rubbing my hands together. "Good work everyone!" I said, putting a hand out to high-five Sharena.
"What's that?" She asked, innocently looking at my outstretched hand.
"Oh, you don't do high-fives… Put your hand up, like mine," I instructed, showing her how to high-five, her face lighting up as our hands met together, making a satisfying clapping sound.
Once healed, we all made the slow trek back to the gateway. We chatted away, but Alfonse was quieter than usual. I let him be, proud of how well he'd fought.
We returned to the castle without incident, heading straight for the meal table, realising how hungry we were. Anna told all of us to rest well that night, as there was a report of activity near the gateway of Binding.
And sure enough, the next day, we headed straight to the gateway in question. Entering, we were immediately greeted by a fiery-headed boy with large, caring eyes.
He was named Roy, and was leading his countries army at his sickly father's behalf, he informed us, gesturing to the Emblian cavaliers supporting him.
He apologised profusely before we entered the battle, ashamed that his contract forced him to fight other nobles. Yet still, he readied his blade for combat, charging right for us with his forces right behind.
He made short work of the cavaliers and archer supporting them, forcing Roy to flee. It was pretty simple, so I won't write down all we did in that battle. Just know, we won.
"Quick, we must defeat Roy if we wish to sever Emblia's control over this World!" Anna informed me, running after the boy. But he was quick, disappearing behind a mountain range before Camilla could take back to the air to follow.
"Do all Worlds have important individuals that will rally the other inhabitants?" I asked as we ran, trying to catch up to the willy boy.
"Some worlds have more than one! This one, in the past, had three Lords at once," Alfonse told me as we ran.
"Three at once? Why do I feel like that's an omen…?"
"Look, ahead!" Sharena cried out.
There, ahead of us, was a river, with twin bridges running across it. On the other side was Roy, talking to a woman atop a horse with green hair. He gestured at us, urgently.
I sighed, and got my team ready to assault the bridges. I was sort of tired of bridge crossings at that point.
Once we'd dealt with the two ladies Roy had beset on us, including his teacher, Cecilia, we tried to pick up his trail. But, it was already too late. He'd fled, slowing us with the river crossing.
"Damn!" Anna cursed.
"Ok, where would Roy go?" I asked, turning to Alfonse.
"All sorts of places…" He admitted, thinking.
Al finally figured out three places Roy might have fled to, with the first being the closest; a desert village with dragons hidden in it.
Heading there, we promptly found the desert village surrounded by his allies, but no Roy.
"Oh, look, new friends to play with!" a pudgy child said, coming towards us in the blustery sands.
"Wait, Fae, don't go near them!" A young girl in long purple robes with lavender hair called out, but it was too late.
Transforming as she giggled towards us, the child Fae turned into…
You know what, I'm still not sure she's a dragon. Sure, she has a breath attack, but she's got feathers running down her body instead of scales! Dragons have scales, much like dinosaurs do. Fight me.
In any case, Lyn, with a 'sorry', ran up to cut Fae down, sending yellow and blue feathers twirling across the sandy dunes.
Nowi and Elise cleaned up the dark mages that came out to attack the destroyers of Fae, which included Raigh, of all people. This Raigh yelled angrily at us for taking the little chicken-dragon away. I could only smile at how concerned Raigh seemed to be for the young girl. I knew he cared for others, deep down.
Next, passing out of the desert, Alfonse directed us towards a snowy country in the North of Elibe, the continent we were on. Alfonse explained that many mercenaries Roy fought with came from the snow-capped country, and he might have headed there for help against us.
Instead of Roy, we found Bartre flanked by his teenage daughter Fir, and a Pegasus knight named Shanna.
Separated by a huge mountain range, we divided and conquered, with Nowi, Alfonse and Anna taking on the north side, tackling Bartre and a random Emblian archer shivering in it's battle skirt, while Sharena, Lyn and Camilla assaulted the east corner where Fir and Shanna came down.
Alfonse and Anna dispatched the frantic Bartre, looking for his daughter amongst the confusion, while Nowi blasted away the frozen archer.
"Fir? Fir!" he tried to call out over the rushing snow before Anna slammed her axe's head into his gut, with Alfonse delivering the coup de grace with his sword to the neck.
Sharena met Shanna on the side of the mountain, running up it's sloped side to clash lance tips, while Lyn and Fir squared off.
"Hey, you look like a great person to meet! And you fight really well too," Shanna said brightly as she fought Sharena.
"I was thinking the exact same thing, you seem amazing! When Tazio summons you, we're going to be best friends, I swear!" Sharena said before plunging her lance up into Shanna's side, smiling all the while. Thankfully, Shanna smiled as she faded away as well.
Fir dodged Lyn's first attack, dancing away, her own curved sword glinting in the white snow, her boots crunching through it.
"Wow, you're good, miss!" she exclaimed, trading blows with Lyn.
"You aren't too bad yourself. With more training, you'll be as good as a swordswoman I once fought!" Lyn complemented the young girl.
"I hope so, I wanna do my mother proud!" Fir said, lunging at Lyn. Too much of a lunge, however, as Lyn dodged and hacked at her arm, and slid her sword right through Fir as she extended too far, over a short ledge.
"Egh, maybe we'll spar… another… time…" Fir managed to breath as she faded away on Lyn's Sol Katti.
We regrouped once our foes had faded away, meeting at the branch between the passages. Nowi shivered in the snow with her little outfit on, so I pulled my cloak off, throwing it over her shoulders. She pulled it around her closely, and smiled up at me, grateful.
"Alfonse, where's the last place Roy'd go?" I asked him, rubbing my shoulders against the chill as he pulled a map of Elibe out from his belt.
"Well, it's only a theory, but it's possible he's heading for Ostia, to meet up with Lilina," Alfonse said, poking at a central region, at a cave under a volcano.
"More lava?" Anna whined. "My family hates lava…"
"In any case, we should head there, if that's the last place you can think of," I said, gesturing at the map.
"We'd best get a move on. The longer we wait, the more chance he has to vanish," Alfonse commented, rolling the map up.
At that, we struck off, back down to the centre of Elibe, passing through the open, gentle plains of Sacae as we did. Lyn paused for a moment there, the wind catching her hair and hem of her tunic as she looked out, smiling.
"You ok Lyn?" I asked, standing by her side.
"Yes," she said, walking away after a moment. "Yes, I am alright. Just nostalgic, I suppose…"
We made our way to the volcano Alfonse indicated, heading down into the cave, following the glow of more lava in it's bowels. Coming out of a large, carved entrance, we arrived at a cavern, a large vein of the hot stuff bubbling in front of us. Across the way, through the vapor, I could just make out Roy with two other figures on the boiling red rocks.
He spotted us as well, calling his allies close. "My friends, Prince Alfonse and his group has arrived. We must do our best to defeat them! How odd, that we can be free of our contract if we fail to do so…"
"There he is!" I called out, pointing. "He's getting ready, so we must as well," I told my allies.
"How do you know he's preparing for battle?" Alfonse asked.
"Wait, can't you hear him?" I asked, looking back at Roy and the two girls beside him.
"Nope…" Sharena said, peering out to where I was looking.
"Lilina, you must unleash your fiercest flames!" Roy called to his red-clad friend beside him, readying his newer, regaler blade; the Binding Blade.
With that, Roy's allies dispersed, readying their weapons; Lilina, the girl in red, with her red-hot tome, and a girl in orange battle armour named Gwendolyn readied her lance, a wicked hook attached to the end.
Looking at the battlefield, I saw there was only one way to Roy and co.; a narrow path above the lava flow, unless I sent Camilla across first…
I sent Nowi in first instead, her dragon form blocking the way forward for Roy. But he lunged ahead, his sword crashing into Nowi's hide.
Doing absolutely nothing to the scaled dragon.
"Huh, I thought the Binding Blade was effective against dragons as well?" Alfonse mused, before shrugging.
Nowi absently scratched under her snout before arcing a stream of lightning onto Roy, blasting him backwards. Lilina came up then, trying to eradicate Nowi with hellfire summoned forth from her tome, but Nowi shot another stream across to her as well, obliterating her in an instant.
"I kinda thought things would be tougher, you know?" I admitted in dismay, absently kicking a pebble into the river of lava, looking at the diminishing battlefield participants.
"Should I deal with the big girl?" Camilla asked, turning to me beside the river.
"Knock yourself out," I said, waving her off, walking around Nowi. The battle was already over, in my mind.
I walked up to Roy, his weapon far away from him. To my side, Camilla broke apart the lance Gwendolyn with her Corrin's teeth as she hacked at the poor girl's defensively raised arms with her axe.
"I think we just won, Roy ol' boy," I said, squatting before the young leader. He couldn't have been more than 16 or 17, I realised.
"Yaa!" I saw Elise knock away the lone troubadour with her staff, sending it crying into the lava. Elise giggled to herself happily.
"You- You've more than proven that your power is superior to ours. Well done, Prince Alfonse," He said, nodding to the man behind my shoulder. "But I believe that I should give most of the credit to your talented tactician, Tazio!" Roy said, looking up at me, clearly in awe.
"Awww, shucks," I said, waving the boy down. "You'll make me go all red!"
He started to fade away, his power failing. "Now, farewell! May we all battle on the same side, one day," he said, solemnly holding his hand to his chest as he disappeared into nothingness.
I groaned as I stood up, stretching out my arms.
"Anyone for lunch?" I asked, walking back out of the cavern, expecting the others to follow.
Once more, we returned to the Askran castle, making it back before lunch this time, getting back to the gateway much faster this time. Nowi returned my cloak before we entered the volcano, but I felt like washing it, so I did so, heading straight down for the bathhouse.
Only to be interrupted by Sharena again.
"Tazio? Tazio!" she called out, running into the steamy room.
"Sharena?!" I called out, turning away from the entering Princess, grabbing at my towel around my waist.
"We've got another urgent mission, get changed and come on!" she ordered before leaving once more.
Quickly drying my cloak, I changed and raced back to the castle, passing the training grounds as I passed. I spotted Raigh and Nino practising magic, with Odin close by, eagerly awaiting a chance to shout his super-move.
I ran and leaped into the cart, clearing the lip in a single bound this time. I guess Bartre's workouts are helping…
Racing to the coast, we found a gateway just a bit further up from the port, sitting on a lone hill. I could just see the island leading to the World of Mystery out on the sea from the hill.
"This is the gateway to the World of Awakening," Anna informed me as we stepped through. "It was one of the first Worlds explored in Askr's glory days."
"Really?" I asked. "Because it was so close to the castle?"
"Possibly, we don't have many records of that time," Anna said with a wink.
"That just makes me more curious…" I muttered.
We arrived in an empty field, with long, golden grass swaying in the light breeze. I, unfortunately stumbled over as soon as we left the gate, landing on my backside as I did.
Sharena and Alfonse looked down at me, smiling at my fall.
"Come on, Tazio. It'll do you no good to lay there all day," Alfonse said, reaching a hand down to me.
"We've got a mission to do!" Sharena said, holding another hand out. I gripped both firmly, letting my friends pull me upright.
I don't know why, but I got the strangest sense of déjà vu from it all… oh well! A mystery for another day!
Anna lead the way, heading for a historic battlefield, where reports of a contracted Chrom had been spotted.
We entered a valley, with narrow cliff sides, forcing us to a single bridge leading to a pleasant, open field.
Once again, I had the strangest sense of déjà vu; like I'd been there before… more than once…
I wasn't able to articulate my strange sense, as there was a call from the middle of the field.
"You're the invaders from this so-called Order of Heroes?" In the middle of the field was Chrom, Frederick, and Lissa, staring angrily up at us.
"Invaders?" Sharena looked puzzled, pointing to herself.
"We've gotten word from the Emblian soldiers that you've come here to raze our realm."
"Wait, Prince Chrom, we are here to save your kingdom!" Alfonse tried in vain to call out to the brash royal.
He either didn't hear us, or didn't want to. "I'm warning you now; no one will bring harm to the Halidom of Ylisse. Not on my watch! Now you face my Shepheards. Lissa! Frederick! To battle!" he cried, raising his sleek, gold and silver sword high.
"Ahh, that's the future form of Falchion?" Alfonse mused beside me, nodding in approval.
"Geek out over it later!" I cried, setting my team up for battle.
I saw the mixed fighters in front of me, and again, the choke point leading to us. I figured it'd be good to set Lyn in front, able to take Frederick's axe reasonably well, seeing as he'd be reaching us first.
As the armoured knight charged towards the bridge, I got Lyn ready for the full attack, setting her low, prepared.
Frederick clopped onto the stone bridge, his axe held high.
"Prepare yourselves!" he called out, his horse rearing up. "Pick a god and pray!"
"Couldn't have said it better myself…" I murmured. "Camilla, now!"
Coming down from her perch on the valley hill, Camilla cannoned down into Frederick, knocking him and his squealing horse, kicking and writhing, into the water, the knight's heavy armour dragging him under the splashing water in an instant.
"No, Frederick!" Chrom cried, charging at us now, his sword ready.
"Get ready, Lyn," I told her, but she was.
Or so she thought.
The brash young prince charged at the noblewoman, swinging his blade down heavily, with intense ferocity. Lyn got out of the way, leaping to the stop railing of the bridge, and back, waiting for an opening. Chrom shattered a portion of the structure with his swings, cracking a whole section of the sturdy stonework into the water.
"Woah…" I breathed, seeing the raw power of Chrom with his Falchion. Ours was only a four-star, and didn't have access to his Falchion yet. I shudder to think how tough he'll become then, and how many training dummies we'll loose from then on.
Luckily, Lissa wasn't as much trouble. As Lyn kept Chrom preoccupied, Sharena and Anna dashed over to intercept Lissa, the Shepheard's healer.
"Are you sure about this?" Sharena asked as they stepped before the dainty princess. "She isn't that tough…"
"I'm not delicate!" Lissa cried out, running up and batting Sharena over the head with her staff, making her fall to the floor, rubbing it. Anna shoved the assaulting cleric out of the way before swinging her axe into the poor girl, ending her, tears streaming down her eyes.
"What, no, Lissa!"
Chrom stopped his wild attacks at the sound of Lissa's death cry, turning to find his little sister fading from existence. Turning to Lyn and Alfonse, who'd joined the melee, he looked furious, his lip curling in barely controlled anger.
"We will not admit defeat so easily…" He said, pointing the sword at the two fighters before turning on his heel, heading right for me! "The rest of the Shepherds will stop you!"
Nowi, in her dragon form, grabbed me and pulled me skyward as Chrom charged at us, powering into the valley. "Our bonds are strong! So, we will never submit to you, villains!" he swore, disappearing into the countryside.
I looked back at the disappearing Chrom. Patting her arm, I said, "Thanks for the save Nowi, I don't think he would have slowed down. You can put me down now Nowi…"
Nowi looked on at the fleeing man, Falchion still glinting in the light. She tightened her grip.
"Nowi? Nowi!" I said, swatting at her side as she began crushing my chest.
"Hmm? Oh, sorry, Tazio!" Nowi exclaimed, letting go of the handhold in the cliffside, falling back to the floor.
"We always let the important Heroes get away!" Sharena said, kicking at the ground once Elise had healed up the bump on her head.
"These things happen, Sharena," Anna said. "There's no point getting frustrated with what we can't change. Our duty now is to go and find Chrom, before Emblia gets any useful troops out of this World."
"Yeah, I guess…" Sharena said, moping.
"Yeah, I'm not a fan of this trend either… But, hey, we might meet some new Heroes you can befriend, right Sharena?" I said, trying to raise her and my spirits.
"Yeah… ok…" The poor girl was still sullen. I'm not sure why she was so unhappy, even now.
As we walked, following the narrow track Chrom had to have taken, I tried to explain to Nowi that when we come up against Chrom, with his Falchion, that she'd be strong enough to take a single blow.
"Chrom, while he looked strong, he isn't very fast," I explained to her. "I think you could let him in close, and defeat him before he can do anything about it. In fact, I'm sure you can do this!" I said, giving her the thumbs up as she looked down at me from my shoulders.
"Hmmmm… Ok, I trust you, Tazio…" The manakete said, not looking entirely convinced.
"Heads up, gate ahead!" Came a call from Elise at the front.
And sure enough, there was another stone gateway, well, more of a wall than a gate, unlike the one into Nohr. And this one had a dancer, Olivia, and the swordsman, Lon'qu, guarding it besides an armoured and bow soldier from Emblia.
I recognised the Heroes from my past summons, and the Heroes the Order had procured before I arrived. I knew that Olivia could user her dancing to revitalise her allies on the battlefield to move further and hit harder. And with Lon'qu before her, he could rip through our defences, if I wasn't careful.
I then looked at the other side of the gate, looking at the hulking lance soldier, backed up by an archer behind the wall.
"Alright…" I thought, weighing my options, looking up at Nowi. "Got a big job for you, lil sis,"
"Huh?" she cocked her head in confusion.
"Oh, I meant big sis, big sis!"
Before long, Nowi charged out into the battle, sitting herself between the front wall and a fence of trees beside the wall, blocking off the way forward for Lon'qu.
The serious mercenary charged at Nowi, headless of the danger he was putting himself in. Olivia tried to call him back, but the man ignored her.
As quick as a flash of lightning, Lon'qu slashed at Nowi's hide, his wicked blade slicing cleanly through the air.
But that was all it sliced, leaving the Hero defenceless otherwise. Nowi growled down at the man, incinerating him point blank with her lightning.
Olivia could only look away, covering her face as Lon'qu vanished.
"Lyn, Elise, push up!" I called, sending the duo up to deal with Olivia, before goading the archer to them.
With that, Camilla, with Anna for support, dealt with the lance holding armoured unit. With all these units out of the way, Sharena and Alfonse headed into the centre of the structure, dealing with all the remaining soldiers on watch.
"Wait, there he is!" Sharena called out once every soldier had fallen, pointing to the back of the outpost. Running to catch up, I saw the back of Chrom's tattered cape fluttering in the icy wind, heading into further wilderness.
"Wait, come back!" Alfonse tried to call out, his words caught by the wind.
But it was too late. He was long gone, the powerful man's stamina keeping him going where we couldn't, his sword always revitalising him.
"Ok, this is getting annoying… Next time we meet him, I'm sending you guys around to head him off," I said, pointing at Anna, Alfonse and Sharena.
We trudged on, passing through the snow and into a bleak mountain range. Seeing how narrow the passage was ahead, I let my guard down, our squad spreading out, chatting away as we travelled along amicably.
"Woah, how deep do you think the canyon is, Tazio?" Sharena asked, tugging on my cloak as we walked beside the precarious lip.
"Deep enough for it to hurt if we fell, I bet…" I said, gulping.
"Do you have canyons like this in your World?"
"Sure, plenty. I've even been to a few here and there, when the need for travel struck my father," I said, thinking back, smiling.
"You don't talk about your father a lot, do you?" Sharena asked, poking my shoulder.
"Err…" My mind wandered, away from the family getaways. "Not too much to talk about really…" I admitted. "You don't wanna hear about someone who's long dead anyway,"
"Long-?"
"For Lord Chrom!" someone cried out over the still air.
"Ahh, nuts…"
Above us, to the east, was a red-headed woman in sterling armour atop a white Pegasus, her lance across her back. Turning my head, I could just see more Emblian Pegasus riders coming in now, surrounding us.
"Quickly, gather around Tazio!" Alfonse ordered, backing up to me. "You need to enter your trance, while we deal with this ambush," he told me.
I nodded and quickly sat down, letting my vision fly up above the world, only to spy a spectrum of Emblian fliers, alongside the Hero Alfonse called Cordelia.
"Really wish we'd brought Virion…" I muttered to myself, before sending Camilla out to deal with Cordelia, Lyn and Elise up to the axe flier, Alfonse and Nowi towards a sword flier, and Anna and Sharena towards the lance flier, with me alone on the floor.
I was taking a huge gamble, hoping that my allies could, while paired up, deal with all our foes before they reached defenceless me.
My faith was rewarded, as Camilla, while her wyvern was slower than Cordelia's mount, was more ferocious, and ripped the poor brave-lance holder to shreds. Alfonse and Nowi worked in tandem to take the sword flier, with Nowi flipping the prince skyward with a toss of her powerful arms, my timing helping them crash into the startled flier, defeating it in a single blow. Nowi caught the prince again, clapping happily.
Lyn and Elise used their tried and true Gravity and critical attack combo, with the axe flier frozen in place as Lyn hopped up the steep mountain face. With a flash, she removed the axe head as she passed the flier. She blinked, surprised, as she looked at the bladeless staff in her hands before Lyn came crying down on top of her, slashing her to ribbons.
Anna waited patiently for the other flier in a little nook inside the mountain range. After watching her allies falling, the lance flier made a mad dash for me. Seeing an opportunity, Anna hopped onto the back of the Pegasus as it skimmed down the side of the mountain towards me, her axe digging into the fliers back.
"Hey, look everyone, I overclassed!" Anna said proudly, gripping at the reigns of the Pegasus above everyone's head.
Before it faded moments after its master, sending her tumbling to the floor. Seeing no one else close to her, I broke my vision, ran at the nearby mountain wall, kicking off it to meet Anna mid-fall, catching her in my arms. I'm really glad I kept a close eye on Lyn's acrobatics, otherwise I'm sure I'd be dead of worse right now.
"Oh, my Hero!" she cried as I landed roughly, my knees buckling awkwardly under the extra weight. I dumped the Commander to her feet unceremoniously, fearing I'd drop her otherwise, gasping.
"Wow, good catch, Tazio!" Sharena said, slapping me on the back.
"It's good to see you can get your hands dirty when the need arises," Camilla remarked, landing next to us, her Corrin chewing on the remains of Cordelia's lance.
"Just… Exercise caution, as well," Alfonse added, coming up to me. "We can heal, and if need be, return to the castle if we fall in battle. Our link to Breidablik when we joined the Order of Heroes will save us from death, but for you, however…"
"Gotcha, no more death-defying stunts…" I breathed, giving a thumbs up.
"I still appreciate what you did for me Tazio," Anna said with a smile, hefting her axe over her shoulder.
We made the rest of the way through the canyon without incident, reaching an abandoned village at the top of a hill, nestled in a crater.
"How's there a village here?" I asked, gesturing around at the crater. "They'd be flooded out in an instant!"
"Maybe they use the copious water to feed the crops in the valley below them?" Anna postulated, looking at the stone runways through the crumbling structures, looking almost like aqueducts.
Shrugging, we walked into the old village, spying figures jostling between the pillars there.
Before long, it was clear the Emblian soldiers were filling the village, poking at the empty homes or stomping on the dead gardens. Also there, was Donnel, and a woman with pigtailed, white hair.
And, for the strangest reason, I felt like I knew her…
I guess my déjà vu sense was going overboard on this trip…
We struck hard and fast, before the soldiers knew what was happening.
Camilla dived over a pile of sturdy, dusty bricks, her wyvern landing atop Donnel, a claw easily crushing the pot-helmet, and its inhabitant, like an egg, the boys cries for help quickly snuffed out. Camilla smiled cruelly.
Before the bow cavalier could get into position to take down the wyvern princess, Lyn kicked at the pillar in front of it, exploding brick fragments into the archer's face, stunning him, allowing Lyn to follow up with a slash across his chest, evaporating him.
The Askr trio ran down the middle of the village once Elise destroyed a pillar in their way. Anna collided into a troubadour at the back of the village while Sharena and Alfonse cornered the white-haired girl in dark robes.
Undeterred, the girl sent forth green wolves, not unlike Raighs, at the royals, their glowing jaws snapping at them.
Swiping through them, not unlike Xander did not too long ago, Alfonse charged for the girl. But, seeing the attack long before it arrived, the girl blocked the prince with a massive wolf head, again, not unlike Raigh, disappearing under the confusion of the magical attack's particles. I'm not sure how she did it. Despite the surprise attack, that girl was able to move around the battlefield reasonably well, anticipating my unit's movements.
"Follow her!" Alfonse cried out after being blown back by the wolf-tome attack. "She's Chrom's tactician!"
Gathering my team, we headed through the village as Anna and Sharena held back to help Alfonse onto his feet.
I tried to follow the tactician down the hill, even pulling myself onto Elise's pony (or is it a horse? I need to check…), charging down at breakneck pace. I worried we'd lose her as well, till I saw her pull into a series of pillared islands, joined by rickety wooden bridges, creating a web of passages across the high-rise earth mounds.
We passed through a series of bridges ourselves, following behind and to the right of the tactician, until we were on a rectangular islet, joined by two bridges in front of us.
With Chrom right in front of us, finally.
"You made it all this way?" He asked, outstretching his arms to us. "What a shame that people with your skills are fighting on the wrong side…"
"We're fighting to save you, you morons!" I called out. Chrom ignored me.
"But you'll get no further – not even with that talented tactician of yours; because we have our own… Robin!" The tactician looked up at Chrom, her eyes darting across the field, taking everything in.
"Lead us to victory! The Shepherds must get these villains to reverse their course!"
"Alright, Heroes, we've got these fools to save, and let's make it quick!" I called out, letting my gaze head above me.
Looking out, I saw twin cavaliers across the islands, holding gem weapons in their hands. Seeing their green and red armour, I realised it was Sully and Stahl we were up against.
Knowing that those weapons provided extra, magical benefits to the weapon triangle, I realised I was boxed in somewhat. And with Robin's magical attacks keeping frontal assaults a risky business, I opted for one choice.
"Nowi, you're going to have to be our wall here. Are you up for it?"
My big sister glanced at Chrom, his Falchion in hand, glowing in the setting sunlight.
"I… I guess I have no choice!" she said, looking up at me, fists clenched, resolute.
"That's my girl…"
I set my plan into action, sending Camilla flapping across to intercept Sully and her sapphire lance on the left path. Transforming, Nowi stomped into position, right in front of the bridge to Chrom's plateau, with Elise by her side, and Lyn behind her.
And I waited for Robin to make a counter move.
Sully clopped towards Camilla, cautiously, as across the way, Chrom stepped up to Nowi, Falchion glowing with a heavenly light.
I kept my eye on all the combatants, but the slow speed of everyone distracted me away from Robin, who charged and fired a gronnwolf attack right at Nowi, before I could warn the girl.
With Nowi weakened, the wolf's bitemarks covering her side, Chrom rushed in, his sword held high.
"Nowi!" I called out to her, as Chrom jumped, flipped, and ran his blade across Nowi's chest, her cry shrill and piercing.
Chrom landed, pleased with himself. He looked across the divide to Robin, giving her the thumbs up.
Ignoring the wounded, but very alive, very angry, Nowi.
Rising up to her full height, Nowi looked down at Chrom before blasting down onto him with a lightning attack, sending the prince of Ylisse sliding into the bridge supports, shattering the wood underneath him, his clothing smoking.
"Chrom!" Robin cried out, reaching out to him from across the gap, her plan falling apart, it seemed.
I pushed my advantage. "Nowi, please, get Lyn into position!"
Growling in pain, Nowi lifted her tail up for Lyn to grasp. Widening her stance, she twisted to the right, tossing Lyn across the gap, right at Robin's feet, making her gasp in surprise. Nowi, meanwhile, continued her tail swipe, crushing Chrom with it's might, making him cough in pain.
Stahl and Sully, leaderless, rushed my team. Elise used her gravity attack to slow Stahl down as Nowi retreated for healing. A seething Sully collided into Camilla, and even though she was at a disadvantage, I have to give her props, knocking Camilla back a little bit.
But that's as far as she went, as Camilla snapped the sapphire lance into slivers with a swing of her axe, and Sully into pieces right after that, Camilla's brave axe whistling through her opponent.
Lyn, however, was dancing with Robin on the small stretch of land they shared. Robin, despite being a magical foe, was a tough gal, dodging and weaving away from Lyn's attacks. But not fast enough, as the nicks and slashes began pilling up, Robin's health faded, till Lyn, leaping back, ran full tilt at the combat tactician, ending her.
Stahl came up to tend to Chrom, but he wasn't getting up just yet.
So, instead, he charged for Elise, the lone healer, his ruby sword at the ready.
"Leave my lil sister alone!"
Nowi roared again, her lightning glowing blue this time, washing over Stahl's ruby sword, and up his body, turning the man to ash. Or, she would have, had he not vanished beforehand.
Leaving Chrom, struggling to his feet now, his Falchion in his hand, glowing feebly.
"No!" he cried, defiant, swinging wide at us as we approached him. Alfonse and the rest had arrived as well, looking at the furious Chrom. "You can't defeat us! Ylisse must stand, Lucina must live!"
I cautiously crossed the bridge, Alfonse at my side, our weapons stowed, hands up, showing our peaceful intentions. "We aren't here for Ylisse's destruction, Lord Chrom. We're here to save you!" I said.
"You can't be, you killed my Shepherds, transformed my citizens!" the blue-haired man roared, struggling to stay upright.
"No, that was- Al, watch out!"
A black hooded figure crawled out of the canyon, a knife in their grasp, quickly lunging at Chrom.
Alfonse reacted at my command, tackling Chrom to the ground as I crashed into the assassin, sending it tumbling wordlessly back where it came from.
Alfonse pulled himself up, offering a hand to Chrom. He looked on, wide eyed, and back to the canyon.
"Oh!" he took Al's hand, lifting up off the dirt. "It seems that my eyes have suddenly opened- and we have misjudged you! You have my gravest apologies, Prince Alfonse," he said, bowing.
"Knew we'd get there in the end…" I muttered, still on the ground.
"All this time, we were operating under a deception. We had it upside down! The Order of Heroes came here to save us all from the Emblian Empire!" He chuckled, slapping his forehead, before realising he was moving to much, wincing. He sat back down on the floor, exhausted.
"I only hope you can forgive us. You have my deep gratitude for rescuing our realm…" Chrom sighed, starting to fade away.
"You're quite welcome, Prince Chrom," Alfonse said, kneeling before the fading warrior.
I stepped up, to help Al to his feet as soon as Chrom vanished. We walked back to everyone, Alfonse clearly pleased.
"Our mission has succeeded! We have saved the World of Awakening. And it was all thanks to you, Tazio, and your team, of course," he said, nodding to each Hero in turn.
"I can see with every success, your confidence growing. You give orders without hesitation, your tactics are becoming more refined, and the trust you have in us all is inspiring. We in the Order are truly fortunate to have you with us,"
"Aww, thanks, Al!" I said, patting him on the back, grinning, soaking up all the praise.
"Come, let's head for home. We all deserve a break," Alfonse suggested, marching back up the to the hilltop.
As we walked, Sharena came up to me, pondering something. "You know…" she finally said, finger to her lips. "There's something about their tactician that reminds me of you, Tazio. It's like… you have the same aura or something… Does that sound strange to you?" She looked at me with that cute smile of hers.
"A little. Almost sounds like you were more impressed by that Robin," I said, a playful grin forming.
"Oh, don't worry, Tazio! I'm still your number-one fan!" She said, raising a hand, seemingly for a high-five. I slapped her one, pleased she'd gotten the gesture.
Anna came up to us, in her pose. "It shouldn't surprise us that two people might seem alike, given how many worlds there are. There could be hundreds of people like Tazio, remade and renamed across countless worlds!"
Her words gave me pause, remembering some vague theories of alternate worlds. Was that Robin an alternate form of me? Are all of the 'me's' tacticians as well?
"Heck, there could be thousands of Tazio's, for all we know!" Anna exclaimed, rising her hands to emphasise the number.
"Now you're getting carried away, Commander…" Sharena said, cocking her head to the side.
"What, you wouldn't like a thousand of me to hang out with?" I asked.
"Nope, I'm good with the one we have for now!" she said, putting her hands on both my shoulders, patting me, making me smile like a doofus.
We made it back to the canyon passage, when we received urgent news. Kagero appeared stealthily before us, handing a scroll to Anna, who grabbed it, frowning. The ninja disappeared with a smoke bomb. I really need to try her out at some point…
"Oh no… Everyone, I've just gotten an urgent report… Embla is heading into the gateway that leads to the World of Mystery again!"
"The World of Mystery?" Alfonse asked, coming next to the Commander. She nodded. "Veronica must be hoping to regain Marth. Grrr, won't she ever stop trying to get the Hero-King in her clutches? And if not him, who might she be trying to get this time?"
"I don't know, but standing around talking about it won't help anyone, let's move!" Sharena urged, running down the track. I groaned, but followed her nevertheless.
We made it through the wall easily enough, with no opposition, but as we made the final stretch for the field we entered from, I noticed my Heroes tiring. Lyn was gasping as she moved, despite the easy terrain; Nowi was wobbling on her feet; Elise could barely keep her eyes open, and Camilla was frowning instead of her usual soft smile.
I moved up next to Anna, at the head of the group. "Do we have to head straight to the World of Mystery? Our Heroes are exhausted; beyond a stamina potion's help,"
Anna looked over her shoulder as Nowi decided to just then drop to her knees, eyes blank. I rushed over and picked her up, putting her over my shoulder, looking at Anna, pitifully.
"We'd just fail faster if we don't rest," Anna agreed, nodding. "It's unfortunate we can't reach the Gate today, but Marth and his allies will just have to wait…"
"Thank you," I said as Sharena got onto Elise's pony, letting the black and pink clad girl resting on her back.
Passing through the gateway, we found ourselves back on the field, in the middle of the night. Crickets chirped away around us, and the moon was hidden by a blanket of clouds.
"Follow me, we'll set up camp in a location not far from here," Anna instructed, waving us forward. The guards on the cart silently followed us, and I was glad nothing had happened to them during our adventures. We arrived at a ring of large rocks overlooking the ocean. Moving into the rocks, we found an abandoned campsite, with a firepit and stones that looked good enough to sit on. Pulling out the sleeping gear from the cart, we set up the mats, as Alfonse got the fire roaring, with some added ignition via Nowi's lightning breath.
It didn't take long for us all to be chattering away, with the two guards joining us with their rations, quietly observing.
Feeling like they were left out, I tried to talk to them.
"I feel like calling you two just the 'guards' to be a bit rude. May I ask your names?" I attempted, looking at them over the crackling fire.
"I am known as Ned," the first knight on my left said.
"And I am Wilbur," the second said in turn.
The fire screamed as a vein of sap opened in one of the larger hunks of wood. The hissing continued, till I felt like enough time had passed for it to be awkward.
"So… how long have you been knights?" I said, trying to be friendly.
"Three years," they both said, at the same time.
More silence followed. I leaned over to Alfonse.
"These two are real people, right, not like, homunculi, or something?"
"No, they're real, they're just being respectful around the other Heroes, so as to not disturb them. There have been incidents in the past of Royal Knights getting into brawls with Heroes, and faring badly."
"Ooh… Any way we can make them less… formal?" I said, looking at the two men. They still hadn't taken their helmets off…
"Knights?" Alfonse said loudly. They stood at attention, looking his way. "At ease. You are with friends," he commanded.
Immediately, the two knights relaxed, their shoulders sagging, faces opening up. One ripped his helmet off, letting orange, curly hair pop out. The other removed his helmet more slowly, revealing a well shorn head of what I assume was green hair.
"Staying at attention for so long was getting boring…" the orange headed knight, Wilbur exclaimed, stretching animatedly, shaking his hair around.
"It wasn't thrilling..." Ned added, sitting down, putting his helmet in his lap.
"Ahh, you do speak!" I exclaimed, smiling at the two new allies.
"Course we do! We're not dummies," Wilbur said, jogging on the spot, his legs reaching high into the air.
"No, I'm not," Ned added, looking into the fire.
"Oooh, are you going to run around?" Nowi said, perking up after a meal, hoping from stone to stone over to Wilbur as he did bending stretches.
"Not quite, I haven't hit my 10,000-step marker for the day, despite my jogs around the cart. Now would be a great time to finish them off!"
"10,000 steps?" I asked.
"It's a baseline, but I could do more if really wanted to. And you're welcome to join me, little one, but don't be disappointed if you get left in the dust!" Wilbur said, moving to the outside of the rock circle.
"Well, ok, maybe I'll talk to your friend then, I don't want to be super-tired for tomorrow…" Nowi said, shuffling over to the other knight.
Wilbur had set off, his arms swinging expertly. "Careful, he's a known womanizer! At last count, he's courted thirty-four women, with fifteen being maids, fourteen being other knights, alongside four passer-by women, and one little old lady he helped cross a street!"
Ned coughed into his fist. "The little old lady wasn't a conquest, merely someone I felt needed assistance from time to time, in her everyday life, as a knight is want to do," he explained coolly.
"So the three sets of bouquets and two cakes you brought her were to assist her?" Wilbur asked cheekily as he finished lap three of the ring.
"Must you count everything I do?!" Ned shouted. I say shouted, but he still sounded quite reserved. "I apologise for my outburst, m'ladies…" he said, bowing to the women around the campfire.
"None… taken, Sir Ned…" Anna said, suddenly nervous.
"You ok, Anna?" I asked, trying to be quiet.
"I didn't know it was Ned I'd gotten for guard duty…" she groaned.
"Oh yeah, you were conquest number eight for Ned, just after we'd finished our training!" Wilbur commented, whizzing past us, his pace so consistent.
"I do remember our time together fondly, to this day, Lady Anna," Ned added, giving a winning smile.
Anna groaned into her hands, rolling her eyes.
"In my world, we'd call him a player. Don't worry too much about him, Commander, I think we can keep him to himself, right Nowi?" I asked, giving her a wink.
"Oh, I gotcha!" she said grabbing for her Dragonstone. "Heheheeeeeeee!" she giggled maniacally.
"Ahh, your intentions are duly noted summoner…" Ned said, tapping his helmet rhythmically now.
Wilbur sprinted into the campfire area once more. "And don't worry, I'll keep him in check as well. On my watch, I've foiled sixty-seven of his conquests before they've started. It's what a cousin does!"
"Wait, I believed you were at sixty-six foiled attempts before-"
"Informing Nowi just now counts, because, let's be honest, you'd try to woo her as well," Wilbur said, hands on hips as he looked down at his companion.
"How many times have you vexed me today, Wilbur?" Ned sighed.
"Five vocal times, and upwards of twenty unmentioned other times!" the antagonizing knight added, smiling.
We all laughed, and I was glad we could meet our guards. I briefly wondered if keeping them for guard detail from now on might be prudent, hoping Wilbur could keep Ned at bay, as well as if Anna would allow it.
"Say, Tazio, you haven't told us a lot about your World," Sharena suddenly asked, looking over to me.
"Yes, I too am curious about the world you hail from," Lyn asked, leaning her head onto a hand.
"I know about his art form that was a mistake, known as anime!" Alfonse suggested quickly, turning his head side to side to see who listened to his slice of knowledge.
"Ahh, that's not really a big part of my world…" I rubbed the back of my neck, remembering my chat with Alfonse.
"Well, how about you tell us about what expensive things we could find in your world?" Anna suggested.
"Or how many flowers there are?" Elise suggested.
"Do you live simply, off the land, or in large towns or keeps?" Lyn asked.
"What is the royalty like from your World?" Camilla asked. "Do they often go to war?"
"How many dragons are there?" Nowi piped up.
"Are there Heroic figures in your World as well? Figures of legend?" Sharena asked.
"Please, recount all of the history of your World that you can!" Alfonse asked, mouth agape.
"Woah," I exclaimed, hands up. "I did not know you were all so interested in my World! Were you all holding onto those questions till now?" Everyone nodded at me.
"Well, ok, I'll try to answer as many questions as possible…"
I took a deep breathe, and looked at each Hero in turn.
"Car's are some of the more expensive items in our world. There are still plenty of flowers, last time I'd heard. Some live off the land, but I live in cities, with skyscrapers and pavement roads for the cars. We have a few royals left, but they don't do much. There are governments, like the Askr Council, except without a King, and a lot of other boring details I never bothered to learn. No dragons except in stories. There are ancient tales of lots of Heroes, but most people believe them to be fairy tales. A lot of people see sports stars and movie actors and singers as Heroes, I guess? And I wish I could show you a video on my World's history, Alfonse, but I can't access it from here."
I breathed out, satisfied.
"Any more questions?"
For the rest of the night, I was grilled by everyone, including the now curious and talkative Ned and Wilbur. They didn't believe a lot of what I explained, like the Internet, or airplanes, or spacetravel (Nowi and Sharena were excited by the concept, however), and some things, like cars and my style of cities were too much for them to understand.
Eventually, the fire settled down, and we made for our bed-mats. Ned and Wilbur were on watch duty all night, letting all of us rest peacefully. We were to head out straight away the next morning, at dawn.
I was just falling asleep, beside Alfonse, who was out like a light, when I heard some shuffling behind me. I turned over and saw someone slink out between some rocks.
Frowning, I snuck out as well, keeping my distance from the shadow. I briefly wondered if it was Kagero again, but I dismissed the ideas, as I could easily follow the figure.
It didn't go far, as it stopped at the top of a hill looking out onto the sea. The moon had appeared by now, shining upon silvery ripples of sea-water. The gentle break against the cliff-side was soothing.
I cautiously came up to the figure, and saw the neck-wing, and long, braided ponytail.
"Sharena?" I asked, quiet.
Sharena jumped at the sound of my voice, letting go of her legs, letting them fall from her chest. She quickly rubbed her face and turned to me.
"Tazio! You startled me," she said, smiling at me. I couldn't quite see her face; the moon wasn't that bright.
"What're you doing out here, by yourself?" I asked, coming over to stand beside her.
"Oh, just looking at the sea, is all. It's so pretty, don'tcha think?" she said, curling her legs up again.
"Yeah, but you could see the sea from the campsite…"
"Not like this, I couldn't," she patted the ground beside her. Shrugging, and looking back to see that the rocks were still within view, I sat down, sitting cross-legged.
We sat together, enjoying the washing waves for quite a while. I could understand why she liked this spot. I noticed that I could see the gate to Awakening from the hill as well.
"You've lost people you care about, haven't you, Tazio?" Sharena suddenly asked.
"Uhhh…" I was lost for words for a moment. "Yeah, I've lost a few here and there. Why… why do you ask?" I looked over to the princess, but she kept her gaze on the sea.
"How do you handle your feelings about the loss?" she asked instead.
"Sharena, I…?" I started to say, till I saw the tears well in her eyes. She wiped them away, clearly self-conscious.
I bit my lip, and decided to help the poor girl out.
"In my case, the losses I've had? I used them, to help remind me they're who I am today. They're examples of what not to do, and also show me how the world works. Is… that helpful?" I asked.
"Ahhh, yeah, yeah, I guess it does?" Sharena breathed after a moment. She then shook herself, and turned back to me, grinning like the Sharena I always knew. "Guess I'll have to be an even better friend to everyone!" she said, raising a hand for a high-five.
I gave her the responding hand, smiling as I did, but I still felt uneasy. We walked back to the camp shortly after, Sharena back to her exuberant self.
I feel like I've written enough for tonight. I'll explain how things ended in the World of Mystery, unless I'm called away to fight all day tomorrow, in which case, who knows when I'll be back here?
Soon, I hope. I feel like something's about to happen, and when I write this all down, it helps me clarify things; preparing myself for the future, I guess.
I hope I don't miss anything…