This has been stuck with me for a while. I originally wanted to post it on April 20th, but here I am. Weeks late. Ah well, just my writing. Have some FEH-shots.
Off-Focus Misery
"Fire Emblem isn't even real! Stop getting your head stuck in these games and focus on your studies!"
She sighed and glanced back down at her papers. She wished to be back when things had seemed so easy and straightforward.
"If you want to play something, play something good at least. Play Arsenal or something like that. Who has ever even heard of something as stupid as Fire Emblem?"
Another sigh. Sometimes it was hard to tell if it were all a dream. One day she was your average schoolgirl, the next she was in a world where everyone just seemed too… perfect. It was a feeling between dread and elation; the sorrow from leaving her family mixed with the joy of her inner fantasies coming true.
Even now, she was willing herself to wake up. "You have a science test tomorrow and your math exam is the day after! Study the formulas, not the ridiculous crap in front of you!"
Yet it was an undeniable fact that she was stuck here. In this foreign place known to it's residents as Askr.
The sun shone brightly overhead as Sharena raced through the halls of the castle. From what she had heard from Anna, the summoner was having some 'alone time', which meant that she was upset about something.
"Sharena, look out!"
The princess of Askr turned too late to see a jagged dagger being thrown her way. Yet someone tackled her to the ground, saving her from potential death.
"Sharena, you need to watch where you're running through! Didn't you see that Chrom and Gangrel were having another fight?"
"Sorry Alfonse. I guess I was a little distracted. By the way, have you seen the summoner lately?"
"She's in her room. Why?"
"I think the summoner is a little sad. I'm not sure why, but I'm going to find out."
Without waiting for Alfonse's reaction, she quickly got back to her feet and sped up her pace.
It wasn't long before she came across the familiar door. Unlike all the other rooms in the castle, it was painted silver rather than white and gold.
Carefully, she knocked three times upon it, waiting for an answer.
"Hello? Summoner, are you in there?"
"Yes… Come in, Shareena."
The door creaked open, and she watched as Shareena poked her head through the crack. "Is there something wrong? Why are you so down today?"
"It's… nothing."
"It's obviously something. C'mon, tell me!"
"I'm just trying to manage our budget here. Atk/Spd Ideal would be so good on Fallen Ike, but Mini Marth is coming…"
"That's what you're worried about?"
"Well, there's also Golden Week coming up, and that means Brave Ike is going to be coming back! Ugh, too many things to save for and too little time!"
"Why would you worry about that? Summoner, you do know that the new 'Childhood Encounter' banner goes up today right? Why not go use your free summon?"
Instantly she gasped and sat up. "Wait, what?! How could I forget!? I need the tiny heroes!"
Surprised by the sudden surge of energy, Shareena nearly fell as she was pushed out of the way. "Summoner, watch out for the daggers and arrows!"
"Daggers and what-?!"
It didn't take long before the summoner saw the mess that was being created.
"Gangrel, what are you doing out of the barracks?! Last time I checked, I only sent for Legendary Chrom!"
She didn't even wait for an explanation. She pulled out Briedablik and pointed it at the mad king, who disappeared in a flash of light, leaving only a book behind.
"Hmph. Fodder like he was supposed to be. Chrom, could you explain what happened?"
The crowned exalt replied with "Uh, I didn't know he was following me until the Young Lion yelled at me to watch my back. I was just trying to-"
The summoner rolled her eyes. "Dammit, I knew keeping him around was a bad idea. At least there's Glacies fodder… and maybe some Panic Ploy, but I already have two Luke manuals… Anyways, Chrom, can you go to the Training Tower? Dimitri and the Ikes are already there. I need you guys to get me that orb."
"Which Ikes?"
"Uh, the one that you were paired up with and the axe-wielder."
"Oh, alright. That won't be too hard."
As the archer ran off, she took a glance back at Sharena, who merely shrugged.
It wasn't long before they reached their destination. To the summoner's delight, a young boy and his friends were already there, waiting for them.
"Ah, Marth! You came!"
The child version of the Altean Prince ran up to them, smiling widely. It looked as if he were pleased to see them too.
"Erin! I brought Caeda, Ewan, Nils, Tiki, and Mist with me too!"
She couldn't stop the cheerful expression that her face formed when she saw all of the new friends he had made in Askr; happy children were definitely one of her weaknesses.
"Summoner, did you really ask for the children to come?" Sharena asked, somewhat confused.
"Of course I did! I can't summon little heroes without having little heroes! Plus, this version of Marth came from one of my first summons, remember? Right after Takumi, that is." Erin reasoned. "He's like my tiny spark of good luck around here!"
Of course, this made absolutely no sense, but this was Askr, where nothing made sense to her.
With renewed vigor, the summoner ran over to the stash of orbs, checking the amount they had.
"...Hmm… I want to have enough for when Merric comes, so I think I can waste fifty orbs here... Okay, let's hope for little Eirika to come!"
Pulling out Breidablik, she pointed the sacred relic at a red summoning stone.
"I'ma just snipe here, since I don't think we'll need Tana or L'Arachel… but then again we can never have too much fodder…" she muttered.
"That's what you said last time… and you ended up with everyone you didn't want on the banner, as well as a lot of Ogmas, Bartres, and Azamas" Alfonse said, walking over to join his sister. He had come to watch the summoning session as well.
"DON'T JINX ME!" She screeched in defiance.
There was a puff of smoke, followed by a flash of light.
Please be a five-star, please be a duo of little Eirika!
Then the backdrop changed to that of a starry night. The summoner instantly frowned and glared, recognizing the silhouette.
Yes, it was a four star special. A five-star sword user, to be exact.
"You again!"
It was a five-star Luke. One with no fodder other than Panic Ploy. And he had appeared for the third time while she was summoning for someone other than him. Not that she would EVER summon for him.
Another flash of light, and the only thing left of the cavalier was a book. Which she casually picked up and dropped into Alfonse's hands, along with the Gangrel manual she had made earlier.
"Bring these to the library, will you?" she asked, not waiting for an answer. "I would've rather summoned a four-star Hinata than him…"
She pulled out a couple more orbs, and made her offering. The five colored stones appeared, and none of them were red.
"Some luck this is…"
Sighing once more, she pointed it at a blue stone.
"I guess I could try going for Tana…"
Another flash of light. A four star, not Young Eirika as expected.
"Oh, the 'magic is everything' man. Whoops, Vantage 3 fodder."
Another Manual.
She wasn't sure how much longer she had been at it, but the growing pile of books around her was proof of her mental suffering.
"You're bound to get them soon!" Young Marth had said, trying to cheer her up.
Wearily, she pointed the relic at another red stone. "My pity rate is so high, this better be an Eirika."
And yes, it was an Eirika. Just… not the one she was looking for. It was a common, three star Eirika with nothing but Pivot as fodder.
Desperate to not lose her temper, she repeated the process on the other red stone.
A four star. Another non-baby Eirika.
And then she lost it.
"GOD DAMMIT RNG! YOU THINK THIS IS FUNNY?!" she yelled to no one in particular, waving her arms in a frenzied motion. Furiously, she threw more orbs at the altar, wasting more than she had originally planned.
Naturally, it didn't lead to good results.
There was another puff of smoke and another flash of light.
"Wait, it's somebody small! Is Eirika finally coming?!"
As the dust cleared, she could make out the silhouette of a certain young green-haired girl.
"My name's Nah. It's an odd name, but it's the one my mother gave me. Either way, I'll chew our enemies up and spit them back out! Oh, I should mention: I'm a manakete."
Ash facepalmed, before muttering the word "pitybreaker", and summoning once more.
"...Wait, that one is way too tall to be a child… Please don't be a five-star..."
For once, she wasn't able to recognize the hero she had summoned. That was, until he introduced himself.
"I am Hubert, heir to House Vestra and future minister to the emperor. Pleased to make your acquaintance."
"...I wish I could say the same…" she replied, giving him a dead-eyed look. "If I weren't so nice I would tell Edelgard to come beat you up… stupid pitybreaker… Ugh, welcome to Askr I guess..."
"Is this going to end up like that one time at the Winter Festival?" Y! Marth asked Alfonse, who thought for a moment before giving a grim nod.
-(flashback)-
"Never fear! I got us some more orbs!" the summoner yelled as she ran back to the altar.
"You got pitybroken by a Winter Nino, a Nina, a Leanne, a Selena and a Mikoto. Isn't that enough reason to stop?" Alfonse asked.
"Nope! I need a Winter Marth Duo! Seriously, just look at them!"
Alfonse said nothing as she began her summoning again. Thirty minutes later, he heard the summoner scream "Damn you Shamir! Wrong archer!"
Resisting the urge to facepalm, he walked up and snatched the Breidablik away from her. "I think that's enough. We need to save orbs for the Dark Burdens rerun, remember?"
"But the Marth!" she wailed hopelessly.
"Surely you can wait until next time. Maybe this is just not the right time…"
"They aren't coming back until next year! Plus, this is the only way of getting Elice here! I can't leave Marth without his big sis! And Merric too!"
"Somebody, stop her before she wastes the last of them!"
-(end flashback)-
Alfonse could remember the summoner spending the next five days locked up in her room, and a bunch of heroes trying to comfort her. Yet there was only so much that the Legendary Hero-King could do.
Luckily, this time it seemed that seeing the other children swarming and getting to know Nah had calmed her temper, even if just in the slightest.
She did, however, still seem salty about Hubert being summoned, cursing under her breath before reluctantly putting away the relic.
"You know what? I'm going to stop right there. Maybe I'll just wait for a Double Special Heroes banner…"
"Nice choice, summoner. At least you've learned from your mistake."
She rolled her eyes and looked back at the children, before quietly making her leave.
"Give her some time… you know, some time to cool off? She'll live, don't worry too much Alfonse," Sharena suggested, giving her brother a playful nudge.
The summoner prepared a cup of ginger tea, before taking a sip to calm her nerves. She knew she always got riled up whenever she summoned someone she didn't want, and thought it would be best to keep to herself in case such things happened.
The next day passed rather uneventfully, with her two closest heroes by her side, plus Sharena and Alfonse on the occasion. Anna had brought up the weekly spending report, and she was grateful to not have wasted as much as she thought she had.
Now in her room, she looked back up to the calendar. "April 26th… why do I have the feeling that something special is supposed to happen today?" she mumbled quietly, before going back to doing her calculations.
"Summoner!"
Upon hearing Sharena's voice and the rapid knocks, she mumbled "Ugh, what is it this time?".
"Some of the heroes just returned from the training tower!"
"Which ones…."
"The swordwielder group. And they've brought back some glowing strips of paper!"
"Glowing strips of paper?" That piqued her interest enough to open the door. "What do you mean?"
"I'm not sure, but I think the young one named Caeda asked me to bring you there! They're all waiting for you in the Main Hall!"
The summoner nodded before picking Briedablik off the desk and stashing it somewhere in her robes. "Okay, I'm ready. Lead the way!"
Within the next twenty minutes, she spotted the heroes that she had sent off.
"Hi Caeda! I heard that you've all retrieved something?"
"Yep! Ike's holding them!" she said excitedly. "He volunteered to help us bring them all back!"
"Which Ike…?"
"The purple one!"
Stifling a bit of nervous laughter, the summoner turned to the corrupted, alternate version of said mercenary.
"Ike?"
Without saying anything, he dropped the stack of golden papers into her open hand.
"Thanks, now all of you can take the rest of the day off! I won't be calling for any more battles today." she replied, before taking a closer look at the papers. "Wait, Sharena, these aren't just papers!"
"What do you mean by that?""
"These… These are summoning tickets! For the 'Choose Your Legends' Banners! Golden Week started today, how could I forget?!" the summoner squealed in excitement.
"Golden Week? That means that the other young children banner is getting a rerun, right? Didn't you want to go for Young Marth merges or something?"
"Exactly! And I need a Baby Merric too! And I need Brave Lucina and Brave Roy and Brave Ike and Brave Alm… and Brave Camilla as future Elice fodder… Though it would be nice to get Brave Eliwood, since he's Roy's dad… and Brave Hector and Brave Micaiah for merges… But I can't say no to Brave Dimitri either, and I need Brave Claude for that Rein fodder..."
"Uh, Summoner, that's well over half the units… I doubt we can get all that, since I thought that the child Merric was your main priority?" Alfonse contradicted.
"Stop ruining my happy thoughts, Alfonse!" she yelled in retaliation.
Sharena laughed at this. "Come on, come on! Those stones aren't gonna summon themselves!" she said cheerfully, dragging both her brother and the summoner by the arm, towards the ruins once more.
When they got there, the summoner noted how empty it seemed. It was just her, Alfonse, Sharena, Reginn and Peony.
"Well then, I'm a get started," she announced, before pulling out five orbs. "Time for me to dump a nice 150 here."
"Summoner, are you just going to try to get Merric?" Sharena asked, looking at the pictures of the focus units.
"...Nope. Baby Marth needs a merge too," she replied, before aiming at a red stone.
Fingers crossed, she looked eagerly through the resulting smoke…
"I'm Marth, Prince of Altea. I hope the two of us get along well together!"
"YES! A good IV Marth! And you didn't make me waste any orbs!"
The summoner broke into a fit of happy squeals, before merging the Y! Marths, seemingly pleased at the result.
"Okay, now I just need Merric!"
Alfonse struggled to stop himself from falling asleep. He was startled back awake when he heard the sound of a five-star being summoned. "Summoner…?"
He noticed that she didn't seem irked at all about this pitybreaker. How did he know it was a pitybreaker? Well, he was fairly sure Merric had green hair, not blonde.
"...Okay, uh, Dimitri, can you er… go tell your younger self that this summoning event is for Merric and not him?" the summoner seemed to have asked, dragging one of their best lance-wielders behind her.
The King of Faerghus looked to be moderately confused.
Alfonse couldn't help but remember all the other heroes which looked the same way once seeing 'themselves' here. Askr really was a mess, with five variants of Ike, four of Marth, three each of Roy, Alm, Lyn, and Celica, two each of Altina, Soren, Mist, Titania, and Takumi, and now three Dimitris.
Turning his attention back to the summons, he noticed that the summoner was still conversing with the summoned unit.
"Uh, I don't want to be rude but, do you mind telling me who he is?" Dimitri asked, giving a slight point to B! Dimitri.
The summoner shrugged. "It's you, but braver."
"I believe she meant to say that I'm merely you from a different timeline. You'll get accustomed to it eventually."
"...Does that mean there's another-"
"Yes."
"There's another one that's you, but more Legendary," the summoner said, pleased with her 'very helpful' information.
Alfonse rolled his eyes at her, before nodding to the lance cavalier. "Come, I'll show you to the barracks around here."
The summoner went back to her summoning, and a less than a minute later there was an audible groan.
"Byleth, I have you already! This isn't your banner! I wanted Archanea units, not the Three Houses ones!"
And then there was another manual, lying on the ground.
"This better be a Merric…"
Unfortunately, it wasn't a tome user.
"Osian? Who even are you? Whatever, don't answer, Mirror Stance 3 fodder..." she muttered angrily, trying to not look upset at the broken pity rate.
"Summoner, that's a hundred orbs. Maybe you could try again next time…." Alfonse suggested, gently nudging her arm away from the summoning stones.
"Not happening! Merric is going to come eventually! I know he will!"
The Askran Prince sighed, before turning to give Sharena 'a look'.
"Sharena, will we need to hold her down, again?"
"I hope not. Erin usually spends wisely and is great at saving now… Just trust her to make a good decision on her own, alright?"
Alfonse was about to disagree when he heard a victorious shout from the summoner.
"YES! I told you he would come! Alfonse, go find Marth! He needs to see this!"
After another hour of celebrations, the summoner had the fantastic idea of spending all twenty CYL tickets.
Four tickets later, she cheered at seeing one of the rare '4-star specials'.
And then instantly regretted it.
"LUKE! WHY?"
And now he was a book. She threw it carelessly on the ground, mentally groaning at the fact that he had been summoned 4 times; and just when it could've easily been the Knight Exalt Chrom instead.
"...At least it was a five-star?" Sharena said, giving the summoner a pat on the back. "It could've easily just been a three-star Azama?"
"...Even Pain+ hurts less than Luke now. I'll take it instead with joy."
They hadn't realized that they had been dozing off until they heard Anna's angry voice an hour later.
"What happened?! Why are we a hundred orbs below our budget?!"
Alfonse shook his sister awake, before muttering "I told you that we should've held her down… Some sort of 'good decision' it was to leave her to her summoning…"
"Well, it's not my fault that twenty tickets couldn't nab me a focus unit!" Erin yelled back, before picking up several books. "At least we have Roy now!"
"...Sigurd would've done the job just fine though."
"SIGURD ISN'T OUR BOY!"
"What is that even supposed to mean?! Didn't you say that you weren't going to waste any orbs on these though?" Anna scolded.
"Well, apparently the Luke curse stops me from getting Ike or Lucina. So I'll spend my orbs to take Roy."
"And if Risen King Chrom becomes summonable?"
"I'll have a plan for that."
"And if there's also Atk/Spd Unity on the next banner?"
"I told you, I'll have a plan for that! Just… not now. Lemme rejoice with my Roy," she mumbled, looking through a couple books. "He could end up as a better cavalry tank then Sigurd… I just need the right investments! We have so much spare fodder..."
Anna facepalmed. "I'll leave our orb management to you. I suggest you stick more to saving; we had over three hundred orbs at the beginning of this month, and now less than a hundred…"