Chapter Five: Tactician

I woke to three faces, looking at me with curiosity.

"Ah, you're awake!" one of the males said. His face was youthful, and his hair a blue-silver. He wore mercenary garb – a light leathery armour with a plated shoulder guard. A sword hung at his waist, and he moved with practiced grace.

He helped me to my feet, my mouth murmuring my thanks even as my brain buzzed.

"So, you are the fabled other-worldly individual our mutual benefactor sent to our aid?" the male asked. He wore mustard coloured robes – a thin material which did little to cover his muscled chest. At his side hung an inconspicuous yellow book, thick and leather bound.

I barely registered his words, too absorbed in my brain, so I only briefly caught the group's female snapping at me.

"Uh, hello?!" she bristled, her striking red hair tied in long twin ponytails, one of which brushed at her own sheathed sword. She too wore mercenary garb, though the female style. "Are you even paying attention here?!"

I flinched at her curtness, and nodded my head quickly, "Sorry, sorry! Y-yes, I'm Derek."

"Well met, Derek," the first male smiled, his face warm and genuine. "My name is Laslow. I understand you are to be our new tactician."

"You'd better pay more attention on the battlefield than to your conversations, or to your fashion sense!" the woman sniffed haughtily. She must have been in her teens, perhaps seventeen or so?"

"Come, Sev- I mean, Selena," the other male began, correcting himself when Selena shot him a glare, "I am sure that our new ally on this quest shall not guide us false! And Derek, please, you must excuse my friend's frostiness. She has long been a faithful friend of I, Owa-"

"Odin!" Selena put in crossly, "The least you could do is remember your own name, if not ours!"

Odin faltered, then raised his hand heroically, "Indeed! It was but a jape! Another cunning deception by the mighty Odin Dark!"

I smiled at them, "I... I do know your names. Ana- er... I was told."

Laslow nodded at me in acknowledgement of what I had been about to say. "Do you have much experience in the way of tactics? We once knew a brilliant tactical mind, you see, and I'd be eager to see how you stack up."

I shook my head, to Selena's disappointment, written plain on her face.

I assessed the three again. It was odd, seeing these game characters in reality. They looked like expert cosplayers, role playing and never dropping the act for one second. I had a sudden urge to take a picture of them, like I was always tempted to do at comic conventions.

I didn't have the courage to go ask though, so the camera in my pocket usually went forgotten. And here, even if I had the confidence...

I idly reached into the pocket of my borrowed trousers – some tattered spares one of the Vallite survivors had given me, along with a threadbare tunic, torn at the bottom to act more like a t-shirt than a dress. There was something in this pocket, so I pulled it out.

It was a small rectangle with the texture of tin. It was mostly flat, with only about a millimetre in depth. What interested me most, though, was a pair of symbols. As I looked at them, words seemed to float into view, beneath each symbol.

The first symbol, a white circle on the black device, had the word "Vitals", whilst the other, a square, rested above the word "Map".

"What is this?" I asked, showing the device to the trio.

They looked at my palm curiously, then shared a look of confusion amongst themselves. Selena was the first to answer, looking at me with a glare.

"It's a hand!" she snapped. "So what? Was that some kind of test?"

I blinked at her, then pointed at the device. "No, this! What is this?"

Laslow shook his head, his smile still cordial but small now, "I'm afraid we don't understand. All we can see is truly your palm."

I peered at the device. They couldn't see it?

Curious, I tapped the "Vitals" button, and a picture of Odin appeared. "Owain Lowell," the text read. "Born Ylisstol, 2612 AC."

There was more information too – stats like would have been seen in Fire Emblem Fates, information about his weapon (and a Vulnerary he was carrying), and even his relationships with other people.

"Wow," I marvelled at it, oblivious to the looks the three were giving me.

A hand pushed at me, soft and female. The screen's display changed suddenly, showing the red headed female now – "Severa Lear. Born Ylisstol, 2612 AC."

It was she that had pushed me, though I had to remind myself that she was in disguise as "Selena".

She was glaring at me, annoyed at having to get my attention, "What are you even doing?" she was asking, turning her anger at my hand, extended as though I were holding something, but something only I could see.

"My tactics," I told her, the answer coming easily to my mind. Because it was. This was the power Anankos had given me; something only I could see, an easy way of displaying the godlike omniscience granted to the player of a Fire Emblem game.

I recalled one of the conversations from Fire Emblem Awakening. It had been only my second Fire Emblem game, and even from the Prologue mission displayed in the demo version of the game, I had realised I had found a new favourite series.

Two of the main characters had been talking – the noble Lord of the game, and the recently recruited army tactician.

"It's strange," the tactician had said. "Here on the battlefield, I can... Well, I can "see" things."

"See things?" the Prince had repeated, worried, "Like what?"

"The enemy's strength, their weaponry, the flow of battle..."

That must have been what this was. A tactician's sight in the palm of my hand.

"It's alright," I smiled at the trio. "I just found my tactical gift."

"Excellent," commented Laslow, very obviously deciding to ignore my odd behaviour. "In that case, let's be off. We have a lost Princess to find."

"Princess Corrin..." I murmured. I looked at the device, tapping on the Map icon now.

The Map showed all of Nohr, the dark country where the plants were so scarce, the fields of the realm seemed black with evil. The land was split in two by a great, gaping chasm, vertically extending from shore to shore, the water seeming to fall in and flow out the other side. To the east of the great valley were the verdant lands of Hoshido, scattered pink in places where beautiful Sakura forests stood. A small white dot stood near the south of the canyon – our location.

"I... I have a plan," I told the three. "Princess Corrin is meant to be in Nohr right now, living with her adopted family. I doubt the King will have let her know they aren't blood related though. Still, we will need her families' help. Both of her families."

"Both?" Laslow asked curiously. "She has another family?"

I nodded, "She was raised in Hoshido until being stolen by the Nohrians, remember?"

The three should have been told this by Anankos, if my memory of the Hidden Truths DLC was correct.

To my relief, Owain, going here by the alias Odin, nodded. "Indeed! So what would you suggest we do, mighty tactician? Are we to divide ourselves thin, two of our noble band recruiting the services of Princess Corrin's family by birthright in Hoshido, whilst our others seek to conquer her Nohrian relations?"

I took a moment to parse through his words, then shook my head. "Not exactly. You three need to go to Nohr and become friends with Princess Corrin's siblings. Watch over her and keep her safe, and be ready to get the Nohrians to join our cause."

"Us three?" Selena repeated angrily, "What's that supposed to mean?! You're going to Hoshido alone?"

"Hoshido should be easier to convince," I told her. "The Hoshidans will want their missing sister back, and they are led by Queen Mikoto, a gentle person. Plus, she knows about the greater goal already."

Laslow's eyebrows raised, "She does? How do you know? How can you be sure?"

I frowned. I couldn't exactly tell them that I had experienced this entire story as a game. They wouldn't even know what a 3DS was...

"I was told," I finally said. It was technically the truth, though the dragon slayers would likely assume that it was Anankos who had told me.

They seemed to accept my half-truth, and Selena huffed.

"Come on then! We need to get to Nohr as soon as possible to get this all over with!"

Laslow smiled at me, as Selena stomped off. "She means that she looks forward to seeing you again. As do I, for hopefully next time we meet, we will be much closer to saving this world."

I smiled back at him. His voice was confident and reassuring, and his smiles were so contagious it was hard not to feel hopeful that he was correct.

He left too, leaving Odin looking at me oddly.

"W-what?" I asked him, unsure.

Odin seemed to have dropped his over dramatic act as he scrutinised me. "You're like Laslow, in some ways. You both hide your insecurities behind smiles to reassure others. But..." he paused, "You're not as convincing."

I blinked at him, letting my mask drop. "I-is it that obvious?"

"No," Odin confessed. "If I wasn't used to facades from my friends, I could be convinced. To anybody else..." he shrugged. "A word of advice: Laslow spends his spare time dancing, mainly so he doesn't have to remember his past. Selena has shopping, and I have... My own passions. I don't know what you're interested in, but everyone needs a way to escape."

I watched him leave, thinking on what he had said. He was right. I needed a way to escape. But what...?

Gaming was out, since there was no chance of finding a 3DS here. Reading was something of an option. I had always enjoyed it, but while I had always been a speedy reader, I had discovered in Valla that now I almost consumed books. I barely had to touch a book to know how it ended.

I wasn't physically fit, and whenever I tried to create something, be it a picture, a story or a song, I would soon look on it the next day with contempt, finding all the flaws that had eluded me when I had left it feeling satisfied. That had been one of the main reasons I had quit university. A lack of satisfaction in my work led to a lack of word being produced, and...

Perhaps Odin was right. I did need something to keep myself occupied.

...

Author's Note:

I'm going through editing chapters, and some of the Author's Notes are no longer relevant. I'll leave the relevant parts here:

Apologies for the brevity of these beginning chapters. I assure you, they do get longer, though I always worry about writing too long a chapter, which might discourage readers. Also, longer chapters take longer to write, and I'm definitely not a fast writer. I started this story in 2017 and still haven't gotten close to finishing it.

In addition, a big thanks to everybody that has been reading this story so far! And a special thanks to those who went the extra mile of reviewing. It really does mean a lot, whatever your feedback be. Also, thanks to my friends who helped to beta read this story!