A.N: When you get bored waiting for Nintendo to announce the remake of Genealogy of the Holy War...fine, I'll do it myself. It's time to give one of the more beloved games in the Fire Emblem Franchise the Echoes treatment. Shadows of Valentia was awesome, so here's hoping this one turns out great. Enjoy, I've got the first four chapters ready to close out the entire prologue of Genealogy. Let's see the kind of reception this gets.

Prologue, Part 1: Invasion

At the heart of the continent of Jugdral lies Grannvale, a kingdom founded by Saint Heim of the Twelve Crusaders. Supporting the royal family, the heirs of Heim, are six noble houses, each also descended from a Crusader of old. The six states, while still subservient to the royal family, each occupy vast swaths of Grannvale's land and maintain mighty militaries of their own.

Because of King Azmur's advanced age, the day-to-day governance of Grannvale is entrusted to his son, the highly respected Prince Kurth. Kurth has two trusted advisors in his rule: Lord Byron of House Chalphy, and Lord Ring of House Yngvi. Grannvale's chancellor, Lord Reptor of Friege, has long objected to the threat to his influence posed by Kurth and his advisors, and has allied himself with the avaricious Lord Lombard of House Dozel to form a faction opposed to Kurth's rule over Grannvale.

The young duke of House Velthomer, Lord Arvis, leads the Royal Guard in the king's care and so has little time for the circus of politics. Only Father Claud of House Edda, could foresee the oncoming storm. Into the midst of this tense situation, comes dire news from Jugdral's east. Darna, a town in the Yied Desert with deep ties to Grannvale, is now besieged by savage warriors from Isaach. Reports of a brutal massacre abound. The news is met by the people of Grannvale with furious cries for retribution, and before long the kingdom declares war on Isaach.

Prince Kurth leads Grannvale's charge on his father's behalf, commanding the military might of the kingdom's six houses. At Kurth's side as always is none other than Lord Byron, a highly decorated hero of peerless valor in his own right. Grannvale has poured its entire military might into the Isaach campaign, and precious few soldiers remain behind. With its neighbors - Agustria to the west and Verdane to the south - bound in alliance with Grannvale, none dared to dream they could ever be threatened.

It was not long at all, however, before the people's confidence was shattered. As if from nowhere, a vast horde from Verdane led by Prince Munnir crosses the Grannvale border and lays siege to Yngvi Castle. In Lord Ring's absence, his daughter, Lady Edain, is Jungby's only guardian.

Lord Byron has entrusted the defense of Grannvale in his absence to his son, Sigurd, who remains at Chalphy Castle with a mere handful of soldiers. A friend of Edain since childhood, Sigurd is horrified to hear of the Yngvi siege, and even with so few soldiers, is determined to protect Edain and his fatherland from the savage Verdanite hordes.

The year is 757, Grann calendar. And thus the threshold of fate is cast open. Nobody could have known then that this simple disturbance was but the first of countless calamities to come...

In the Kingdom of Grannvale, six duchy states made up the proud and mighty fatherland. Edda, a holy ground of priests and bishops who worship the great Saint and Crusader Bragi. Dozel, land of hotblooded axe-wielders, founded by the Axeman Crusader, Nal. Friege, land of lightning, founded by the Mage Knight Crusader, Thrud. Velthomer, a dukedom with the family crest known as the Fire Emblem, founded by the Goddess of Fire and Crusader Fjalar. Chalphy, land of brave knights, founded by the Knight of Light and Crusader Baldr. And finally, Yngvi, land of Master Archers, founded by the peerless Sniper and Crusader, Ullr. And now, one of those dukedoms was under a ruthless assault.

Castle Yngvi was under siege and under threat of imminent destruction from the forces of Munnir, crown prince of Verdane. The castle was famed for its beauty and the kind rulers who resided inside, but now it was a scene of pure chaos. From her balcony atop, the beautiful Lady Edain, daughter of Lord Ring of Jungby, could only watch in horror as the last line of defense fell to Munnir's forces.

Edain was a beautiful blonde woman, clothed in the garbs of a priestess. In fact, her beauty was famous across all of Jugdral. Bards everywhere sang about how she was the spitting image of her ancestor Ullr, and how her beauty made Ullr's womanly charms from the past come forth (even though Ullr was reputed to be a rough, almost tomboyish archer). Truth be told, Edain cared very little for such comparisons. Perhaps in another life she would have become a warrior like Ullr, having trained as a knight at a young age. However, when she was compared to Ullr as far as looks, all she could think about was a certain twin sister who had been taken from her family by pirates. The looks of her twin sister, if she was alive today, were far more important to Edain.

And now, those beautiful features were haunted by terror and worry for herself and for her people. Mostly for her people. All is lost. She thought sadly.

At that moment, a green haired knight entered, his bow out and ready for battle. "Milady, the castle is completely surrounded! We've failed you... We couldn't do anything to save you from them…" The Archer Knight trailed off.

Edain heaved a sad sigh. "It's alright, Midir." She promised. "Every one of you did the best you could do. Please, you needn't worry about me. You must ensure that as many of you survive this as possible."

Midir shook his head vehemently. "No, milady. We might not stand a chance, but every last one of us will give our lives to protect you, right to the very end."

Edain looked at Midir in shock. She almost said something to try and dissuade him, only to see the look in his eyes. That was the look of a man who had resolved himself. Her knees felt weak. She could not refuse him. Not when she knew how dedicated he truly was to her wellbeing. "Thank you, Midir." She choked out before lowering her head. "I'm so sorry."

Midir shook his head. "Think nothing of it, Lady Edain." He promised. "All of this...is for your sake. I give my body and soul freely for you. We all do."

As Midir and Edain prepared for what may very well be their last stand, elsewhere in the lands of Grannvale, a lone blue haired nobleman heard the news of Jungby from inside his own castle: Castle Chalphy.

Sigurd of Chalphy had already resolved himself. He was already making his way to his horse, just outside the castle. He was currently being flanked by the remaining knights in his service. "Munnir's army already has Yngvi surrounded. Edain is in grave danger! Naoise, I'm going to help her. I'm leaving Chalphy in your hands." Sigurd told his subordinates.

Naoise, a blonde knight in red armor, immediately balked at the idea. "Hold, milord. Surely you don't intend to go alone?" He demanded.

Sigurd nodded, shocking his soldiers. "Nearly all of our forces are already on the march to Isaach with Father. There's hardly anybody left to call upon. They may be barbarians, but Verdane's army is still huge. I can't risk your lives by forcing you to face them."

The knights all looked at each other and sighed. This was Lord Sigurd in a nutshell. A man who rushed in to try and do things on his own, no matter what. However, they had other ideas, being knights in service to House Chalphy who had long gotten used to Sigurd's behavior.

Naoise gave his master a hard gaze. "Perish the thought, milord! I was born a knight, and I will gladly risk dying a knight's death in your name. To allow our lord to die alone in battle would be an unspeakable disgrace. We shall be by your side, every step of the way. Alec, I trust you're of the same mind?"

The man Naoise was referring to was a knight with a strange white headdress clad in green armor. He was giving his best friend a grin at that statement. "Yeah, of course! But there's more than just Yngvi at stake." Alec's expression grew worrisome. "We've got to stop by the nearby villages too. Those thugs will try to beat us to them, and they'll loot, massacre, and burn them all down if they do. We've gotta get there first, and lend the locals a hand in locking the villages down and fortifying their defenses."

At that moment, a light-blue haired woman clad in gold armor spoke up. "Alec is right, Lord Sigurd. Many of the local villages will undoubtedly be caught in the crossfire of Prince Munnir's actions. With your permission, we should have a detachment stop at the nearby villages."

"You have no need to ask, Nessa." Sigurd promised. "We mustn't neglect our knightly duties to the people, especially not at a time like this. Good point, both of you."

At that moment, a burly but handsome-looking man with brown hair, clad in silver armor walked up to Sigurd with a proud smile on his face. "Actually, that was all Oifey's idea. That kid's every bit the tactician I told you he'd be, Sig. Give him a few years and he'll be a match for Grandpa Sesar!"

Sigurd nodded. "So you say, Aengus. Oifey, are you still here? Come out now!"

The man who had spoken earlier sighed. "Oifey, there's no need to hide yourself, kiddo. Show yourself to your cousin."

At that moment, a little boy with brown hair stepped into view. He bowed respectfully to both men. "My apologies for hiding, sire, brother. Still, if you would allow it, I'd like to join you in battle. I can't just sit back while you risk your lives."

Sigurd stiffened at this. Oifey was young, very young. Getting him involved in a war like this left a bad taste in his mouth. "I don't know... You're still so young." Sigurd pointed out before addressing Oifey's brother. "Aengus, do you believe your younger brother is ready?"

Oifey spoke up before Aengus could. "I'm already fourteen, sire. I may not be battle-ready just yet, but there's still so much I can do to support you. Please, allow me to accompany you. I swear I won't let you down." He insisted

Aengus laughed. "The pair on you, little brother." He joked, making Oifey turn red at his brother's usual crudeness.

Sigurd sighed, having long grown used to his older cousin's behavior. "Fair enough, Oifey. You have already spent two years training as my squire. Real battlefield experience would be fantastic for your training, but you're definitely not up to actual combat duty right now. How about you ride with me as my advisor instead? You stay close to your brother and me. Do you understand?"

Oifey gave a big smile at this. "Y-yes! Thank you, sire! Thank you!"

Naoise then spoke up. "Milord, what of the defense of Chalphy itself in our absence? Leaving the castle unattended is risky. Should the enemy slip past us, an unguarded castle will fall easily and spell us a swift end."

Alec grinned. "Naoise, my old friend. I'd say there's only one man who we can depend upon for that. Eh, Arden? What say you?"

A big man named Arden, clad in giant, heavy silver armor, frowned at Alec. "Hold on a moment! Why me, Alec?"

Alec gave Arden a friendly smile. "Tough as a brick wall! Strong as an ox! Slow as a turtle! Face it, Arden, you were born for guard duty! Haha!"

Arden frowned. "Strong and tough is good, I like that. But I'm begging you, Alec, don't call me slow!" He pleaded.

Sigurd then spoke up. "He has a point, Arden. Would you? You're the most apt at guard duty." He reminded the big man. "I wouldn't ask you to do this if I didn't have the utmost faith in your abilities as a guardsman."

Arden sighed. "Fine, I'll do it, because you asked me, Lord Sigurd." He said before pleading. "But you have to bring me with you at least once! I don't want to be left out of the action."

Nessa gave Arden a reassuring smile, slapping him on the shoulder. "Aww, don't worry big guy." She spoke up. "To be honest, I'm not sure this is going to be something as simple as driving away Prince Munnir's forces from Jungby. You'll have plenty of chances to fight later."

"So damn pessimistic, Nessa!" Alec exclaimed. "What, you don't think Lord Sigurd can bring us victory?"

Nessa frowned, marching up to Alec. "Call it a bad hunch on my part!" She shot back. "It's not that I don't have any faith in Lord Sigurd, I just happen to have a bit more faith in how greedy and persistent men like Prince Munnir tend to be. Maybe if you spent a little less time flirting your worries away, you'd have my mindset."

"And end up like you? Doomed to be a spinster? No thanks, Nessa." Alec teased.

"Enough you two! Don't argue in front of Lord Sigurd like this." Naoise yelled.

Sigurd sighed at the behaviors of his remaining knights. Oifey then spoke up. "Actually, Lord Sigurd, as long as we have Arden follow closely behind us, bringing up the rear, he could still be of great use to us, picking up stragglers rather than just remaining here in Chalphy."

"Are you sure, Oifey?" Sigurd asked.

"Very, sir. Arden is one of the best armored knights we have, certainly, but that's all the more reason to take him with us. As long as the volunteers set up a decent defense in this castle, not a single barbarian should be able to breach Castle Chalphy."

Arden's expression brightened at this. "You're the best Oifey!"

"If you say so, Oifey." Sigurd nodded. "Now come, we must get moving. We have to help Edain and we certainly cannot allow those Verdane savages to ravage Grannvalle any further."

Sigurd then turned to Aengus. "Aengus, I can trust you to lend me your strength, right dear cousin?"

Aengus grinned. "You shouldn't have to ask, Sigurd." He responded. "You, Quan and Eldigan may be as close as brothers, but you and I are family by blood."

"No way in hell am I going to ignore blood when they're off doing something crazy."

Sigurd laughed. "I'm just wondering if I'm going to take you away from your latest courtship, that's all." He teased.

"Perish the thought!" Aengus laughed. "You and I both know that I don't do courting anymore."

Sigurd sighed. "Well, can't argue with that." He muttered.

And with that, Sigurd and his men rode off. However, back in Yngvi, it became clear that they may already be too late. Midir was putting up as best a fight as he could inside the throne room. Using the throne as cover, he downed Verdane soldier after Verdane soldier with a single shot each from his iron bow. A long line of Verdane corpses were piled up in front of the throne.

Damn, he thought in sheer frustration, if I could just get to my horse, I could ride from this place with Lady Edain behind me.

My bow is still intact, and I have plenty of arrows, but I worry about the bow's durability. If it suddenly broke… Midir trailed off at the thought.

At that moment, a booming voice rang out through the throne room. A burly man with dark hair, carrying a hand axe, stepped in. "You seriously haven't seized this puny castle yet?" He exclaimed in shock before shaking his head. "Useless, all of you. Outta my way! I'll do it myself!"

Midir gasped, recognizing the man. "So that's Prince Munnir." He muttered.

Munnir grinned, seeing Midir. "Ke he he he," he chuckled before calling Midir out, "You! Not bad for being here all on your own, but I've had enough of your struggling!"

Munnir tossed the hand axe into the air once to gauge its weight before throwing it right through the throne, driving it right into the chest of Midir. Midir yelled in pain as he was knocked backwards, his armor was shattered from the blow. Through the throne...through my armor. Damn, I'd be dead if it weren't for my armor...and yet I can feel my ribs shattered…

"Urgh…" Midir groaned in pain. "Milady, I...forgive me…"

Edain suddenly appeared from her own hiding spot. "Ah! Midir, hand on…" She trailed off, instinctively running to her guard to try and heal him."

Munnir, however, grabbed her before she could do so. "Well, well, looks like we have quite the gem here, and it's Yngvi's heiress to boot! You're coming home with me, dearie." He then yelled to a brutish looking thug wielding an axe that had just entered the throne room, flanked by more soldiers. "Listen up, DiMaggio. I'm heading back. You and Gerrard are in charge."

DiMaggio of the Verdane forces frowned slightly at being left behind. "Er, yes, sir…"

Munnir noticed DiMaggio's trepidation and immediately went to reassure him. "Hah, relax! Won't be long, and I'll be bringing Cimbaeth's lot along for the fun. When I do, all Grannvale's our oyster. Even Belhalla ought to be easy pickings, what with nobody around to stop us! The kingdom's all ours, boys!"

Now that was music to the ears of DiMaggio and his men. "Leave it to us, sir!" The Verdane soldiers let out a cheer as Munnir led the struggling Edain through the halls and outside the castle.

He glared at Edain as they neared his horse. "Oi you! Quit dawdling, we don't have all day you know! Or perhaps you want a repeat of what I did to that weakling with the bow!"

Edain wanted to snap at Munnir, tell him that he was wrong and Midir was not weak. However, she fell silent. She knew that talking back without any strength of her own to back up her rage would accomplish nothing. So, she relaxed in Munnir's grip.

"Now that's more like it!" Munnir exclaimed, tossing Edain onto his horse before riding west.

When they reached a bridge, Edain saw a particular fortress. Fortress Evans. They were already at the border. At that moment, Munnir started barking out orders. "Cut the bridge once I'm across! I'll have none of those Grannvale worms crossing over here!"

"Yes sir!"

Munnir then turned his attention to another brutish looking individual. "Oi, Gerrard. I'm going back to Marpha for now. You're in charge of the border. Stay sharp, we clear?"

Gerrard nodded. "Yes, sir." He said obediently before noticing the woman with Munnir. "But, er, your lordship...who's that there dame you have?

Munnir grinned. "The spoils of war, m'boy! She's coming back to Marpha to marry me. Whaddya think? A real keeper, eh?"

Gerrard gazed lustfully at Edain. "I'll say! Just looking at her is makin' my mouth water."

Munnir glowered at Gerrard while Edain shuddered at his behavior. "Back off! This one's mine. You'll have your pick of all Grannvale once we're done here. Keep it in under control for just a bit longer, yeah?"

Gerrard mumbled out a few apologies while Edain grimaced in disgust. "What animals...Gods above, I implore you, bestow upon these men a hint of human decency…" She mumbled out her prayer.

Munnir turned his glare to Edain. "Oi, what're you mumbling about now? We're outta here."

With that, Munnir dragged Edain beyond the border into the nation of Verdane, taking Edain to an uncertain fate. Meanwhile, DiMaggio was quick to bark out orders to the advance force. "Get to work, boys!" He yelled. "Our next stop's Chalphy. Don't forget to milk the villages for all they're worth!"

Back in Chalphy, Sigurd and his followers rode out of House Chalphy's home castle. four knights and a squire on horseback were charging out to fight the Verdane Army. Meanwhile, Arden trudged out, slowly following after the riders. He could not help but look longingly after the horses and their riders. He did not mind being left on cleanup duty. Especially with it being a specific order from Sigurd.

However, Arden had joined House Chalphy as a knight not just to serve his liege, but to make a name for himself on the front lines. Much like several warriors in the continent of Jugdral that lacked the blood of one of the 12 Crusaders, Arden was a commoner. However, he was also a patriot. And in Chalphy, it was easy to be a patriot when your lieges were House Chalphy. The Chalphys were true men and women of the people. Sigurd embodied this the most. He cared deeply for the people of Chalphy territory and Jugdral in general.

Arden then felt something clang against one of his shoulder pads. He turned to see a grinning Aengus. "Don't you worry, big guy. With how much Sigurd wants to get to Castle Yngvi, there will be plenty of Verdanites for you to clean up. You'll get your chance to prove yourself."

"You're not going to ride, Lord Aengus?" Arden was surprised.

"Horses and I have never gotten along." Aengus admitted, hefting his steel blade onto his shoulder. "So, I trained extensively to at least keep up enough with horses."

Arden was not surprised to hear that. Aengus of Chalphy was known for being an irresponsible rogue who often drank many nights away in neighboring villages and would then wake up with one or two women in his bed. His roguish behavior was so bad, that there were actually rumors that his father actually had Oifey for the sole purpose of having a more responsible heir, on the off-chance Sigurd died. Of course, then Oifey and Aengus' parents died and both ended up being looked after by Byron. Aengus' behavior persisted even after being taken in by his uncle.

However, Aengus was also an extremely skilled fighter that even Sigurd recognized. As far as Arden knew, Aengus was one of three men in Jugdral who could consistently beat Sigurd in a fight, the others being his two dear friends Quan and Eldigan. So if Aengus said he could handle himself without a horse, Arden believed he could.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to head to the nearest village." Aengus declared to Arden before running north.

Arden heard something plop onto the ground. He looked down and his eyes widened. He saw an empty bottle of wine that Aengus had carelessly tossed aside. He drank that whole thing before going off to fight, didn't he? Arden knew the answer.

Castle Chalphy was well-aware of Aengus' mannerisms by now. Arden then remembered he was bringing up the rear for Sigurd and the other knights. "Er, right!" He exclaimed to no one in particular. "Wait up, Lord Sigurd!"

Meanwhile, Sigurd rode ahead at breakneck speed. He was so hellbent on saving Edain that the shouts from his fellow knights to stay in formation did not reach him. Edain! Edain! Hang on, Edain! I'm coming to save you! Sigurd promised as a small group of Verdane soldiers came into view.

What they said upon seeing him did not even register with Sigurd. He just grit his teeth, drew his steel sword and began swinging madly, cutting one Verdane barbarian down with each swing. He had no time for these guys. He had to save Edain. Edain, his dear friend.

They met fifteen years ago. His father, Byron, had invited Lord Ring of Yngvi for a meeting to discuss an infrastructure plan they were going to present to King Azmur and Prince Kurth and Lord Ring had brought along his daughter, who was apparently around Sigurd's age. Sigurd was seven and his younger sister was a mere toddler at the time…

"Sigurd, I want you to meet Edain. This is Lord Ring's eldest daughter." Byron had said to him. "And Edain, this is Sigurd. You two are around the same age, so I hope you two can become good friends."

Back then, the thing about Edain that really stuck out to Sigurd was how quiet she seemed. Quiet and distant. At the time, Sigurd did not think the two of them could end up as friends like Byron and Ring were hoping.

However, Sigurd was nothing if not persistent…

"I want to be a knight, like my father." Sigurd had said to Edain, trying to break the ice. "What about you? Yngvi has always produced great archers, right, like your ancestor? Do you want to be an Arch Knight?"

That was the moment Edain started speaking. "...I used to want to be a knight. But I'm training in healing magic as a cleric now."

"Why's that?"

"...My twin sister was taken by pirates two years ago. I'm sure she's still alive, but when I find her...she'll need someone who can heal her. That should be me. I'm her sister after all."

"But you need strength if you're going to save her from pirates." Sometimes, Sigurd wished he had not been so blunt that day.

"What would you have me do?"

"Well, if you really think healing is your path, then you should go for it. But have someone who can fight with you the day you go and rescue your sister, okay?" Sigurd remembered his eyes lighting up. "Hey, I know! You let me know when you figure out where your sister is and I'll help you rescue her!"

"You'd help me save her?"

"Of course, a knight's duty is to save others and protect the peace. That's what Father tells me. And besides, House Chalphy and House Yngvi have always been close."

"...It's Sigurd, right?"

"Yep, that's my name."

"...Umm, let's not talk about my sister right now. She was taken two years ago, but it's still hard for us to talk about sometimes. Let's talk about something else."

"Okay, like what?"

"Tell me a bit more about yourself, Sigurd. Are there any games you like to play when you're not training?"

Sigurd's eyes were cold and focused as he decapitated another Verdane barbarian. Edain, I will save you! He vowed. Just hang on!

As Sigurd cut through Verdane barbarians and rode his way to Yngvi castle, Alec, Naoise and Nessa desperately tried to catch up with their liege. "Damn it, we're going to lose sight of Lord Sigurd at this rate!" Nessa grit her teeth in frustration.

"I suppose as long as Lord Aengus is dealing with the village next to Castle Chalphy, going straight for Castle Yngvi is fine." Alec added.

Naoise remained silent. There was no sense in complaining about Sigurd's behavior. They had all come to understand how much of a one-track-mind Sigurd had when it came to right and wrong. If there was a problem, his solution was to beat it up. However, while this attitude did worry his father on occasion, Sigurd's strong sense of justice endeared him strongly to his knights. This trio of red, green and gold knights were no exception.

This trio of knights were childhood friends who grew up together in a village east of Chalphy. Alec was a skirt-chaser even back then and Nessa and Naoise were often left in the wake of his destruction to clean up. However, an incident led to Alec being nearly kicked out of his own village. He was thankfully saved when the captain of the Gruenen Ritter, Chalphy's elite knights, happened to be in town and was recruiting for new squires. Alec jumped at the chance to avoid punishment while Naoise, having dreamt of knighthood since he was a boy, volunteered as well. What the two best friends did not expect, however, was Nessa to volunteer as well.

"Someone has to keep track of you two." That was her reasoning back then. And with that, the three went to Castle Chalphy, went through their training and were soon knighted as knights of Chalphy.

During that time, these three, like every other knight, were taken by Sigurd's charisma, kindness and leadership. Flaws aside, he was a man worth fighting for in their eyes. And while Naoise certainly recognized Sigurd's more difficult qualities and how it was usually useless to talk him out of things, he was still a knight sworn to protect his lord. He could not let his lord ride out this far ahead like this.

Then, much to Naoise's surprise, another horse rode ahead of him. He heard the sound of reins snapping, and with that, a 14 year old on horseback sped past them all. "The kid?!" Alec was shocked.

"Oifey!" Nessa yelled in worry. He could not defend himself.

Naoise frowned and then nodded. If anyone could get through to Sigurd, it would be a member of his family.

Indeed, as soon as Oifey knew he was within earshot, he called out to Sigurd. "Lord Sigurd! Please, you must slow down!"

Sigurd looked over his shoulder at the worried Oifey. "You can't ask me to slow down, Oifey!" Sigurd exclaimed. "Edain is going through gods' know what! I can't slow down!"

"I understand how you feel, Lord Sigurd, but remember what you said earlier! We are knights defending the people! What good are we if you die from fighting as recklessly as this?" Oifey asked.

Sigurd's eyes widened. "Please, Lord Sigurd, I want to save her as much as you do. But I also want to protect the people of Grannvalle too. Lady Edain would want you to stay alive and protect others first and foremost!"

"So please, stay in formation so that I may direct you and the other knights as best I can! Even you are no good to us dead, Sir!"

Sigurd tightly gripped the reins of his horse. Taking a deep breath, he quickly turned around and rode back to Oifey. "You're right," he said, "I'm sorry, Oifey. And thank you, I really needed to hear that. I guess I got a little riled up after Aengus promised me he'd take the village just north of the castle."

"I understand how you feel, Sir." Oifey promised. "So, let's stay calm and save her together."

Sigurd nodded. "I know," he said, "thank you again, little cousin."

Oifey blushed in comparison. "I hope I wasn't speaking out of turn, Sir." He muttered.

Sigurd smiled and rode up closer to Oifey, tussling his hair. "Oifey," he said, "an advisor has every right to criticize his leader when he's acting like a damn fool."

"Lord Sigurd…" Oifey began.

"Oi! It's Sigurd of Chalphy! Let's get him!" A group of Verdanites suddenly charged into view, iron axes at the ready.

Sigurd raised his steel sword in defense of himself and Oifey. However, he did not expect three voices to yell out as three familiar knights charged into view.

"CHARGE!" Naoise let out a raw scream of passion as he slashed right through a barbarian.

"Damn it! There were Chalphy knights left over?"

"Damn straight! Now just try to keep up!" Alec exclaimed, impaling another barbarian on his iron sword.

"Begone!" Nessa yelled, doing the same to a third barbarian with her iron lance.

The three Chalphy knights quickly made work of the group of Verdanites before turning their attention to Sigurd and Oifey. "I'm sorry for worrying you all."

"Think nothing of it, Milord, we know why you're acting like this." Naoise nodded.

"Lady Edain is your friend, of course you're worried." Nessa added.

"Not only is she your friend, but she's a real pretty friend." Alec grinned, getting a slap upside the head from Nessa in response.

"We want to save Lady Edain and protect the Fatherland as much as you, Lord Sigurd." Naoise promised.

"I know," Sigurd nodded, "we'll do it together."

"We've wasted enough time, we'll keep riding for as long as we can. We'll reach Yngvi castle before the day is through!"

With that, five individuals on horseback began to ride towards Castle Yngvi once more. This time, in a far more organized fashion.

Meanwhile, Aengus let out a hearty laugh as he sheathed his steel blade. "Well, that was a fun little warm up."

A village man ran up to Aengus, carrying a bag. "Oh, thank the gods! We're saved! We can't thank you enough! Here - the whole village did their bit to raise some money for you. It's not much, but we hope it helps out there. Be sure to lend the other villagers a hand, too. I bet they'll be happy to help you right back."

The man then handed the bag to Aengus. Aengus grinned, knowing it was a bag of gold. "Many thanks. Honestly, I'd almost refuse it, but something tells me we're going to be at this for a while. This kind of project will need a lot of funding."

Aengus casually walked past the mountain of corpses of Verdanites that he had cut down. "Yeah, if the villagers are all willing to pay up like this, then all the more reason to help. Armies march on their money just as much as they do their stomachs after all."

"And I guess Sigurd wouldn't forgive me if I spent this money on booze…"

With that, Aengus marched off much like his fellow knights elsewhere in Grannvale. Little did every single party know, this would be the first step into a much grander conflict that would shape the entirety of Jugdral...

A.N: First things first, let's get the big changes out of the way. In giving this the Echoes treatment, new characters are also here to flesh the story out a bit more. Hence the creation of Nessa, who follows the third 'gold cavalier' character we've seen a couple times (Lowen, Franz). Also, Sigurd's cousin, Aengus, who's basically what would happen if Qrow Branwen got Isekai'd into the Fire Emblem world. If that's the case, poor Qrow, cuz he got Isekai'd into the darkest Fire Emblem world possible. Well, bad luck is just par for the course at this point.

And hey, I'll gladly acknowledge, I'm using a bit of the in-game script here. I mean, I am giving the Echoes treatment to it, yeah. And thankfully, since a lot of the early Fire Emblem games were more exposition-based, it will probably be 30% in-game script, 70% my stuff. I'm basically retelling Genealogy my way, so no reason not to build off what's already there.

Also, one little thing I'll be doing at the end of these chapters, I welcome you now to Nicholas' Unit Review! Where I talk about the strengths and weaknesses and overall pros of a Fire Emblem unit. And as someone who's gone through a couple play-throughs of Genealogy, I think I'm qualified to offer my two cents on how to make this sometimes brutally hard game a bit less brutal.

First things first, we couldn't start with anyone else. It's your boy, Sigurd.

Strengths: Where to even begin here? I mean, this is arguably the strongest Lord character in the entire series, gameplay-wise. He's a pre-promoted unit with great bases and great growth rates. He has the Pursuit Skill to double enemies he is faster then, which is many units, especially in the early game. He also provides a leadership bonus to any unit within 3 spaces, improving hit rates and dodge rates, which can be very helpful, seeing as the series hasn't worked out the hit rate system just yet. And with the two incredible weapons he gets, one in the early-game and one late in his story, he is capable of single-handedly conquering entire levels on his own if used properly. The best use of Sigurd's strength is going after the tough enemies and seeing if you can set up kills for other units. That said, you also can't ignore leveling up Sigurd. He is the main character at this point after all.

Weaknesses: Three major weaknesses here. First, Sigurd's stats actually cap out very early thanks to some of his bases, so there's always a chance level ups might end up empty. Two, he has a very low Resistance rate, making him very vulnerable to mages. I guess you could say putting him up against a mage is like putting him on the hot seat. And three, he falls off hard at the halfway point. Like, really hard. So hard it's almost like he's not even in the game anymore.

Overall: This is still a fantastic unit and a must-use, just be smart in how you use him. You don't want to negatively impact your other units. You'll likely end up maxing him out or getting very close, especially in the later chapters.

I'll see you all in part 2 of the prologue.