Welp, Smash Bros and Pokemon tried to stop me, but after a long fight I finally managed to rewrite all this enough times to come up with something passable. Enjoy, everyone!
Chapter 5: Getting Comfortable
I wake the next morning to sun creeping through the shutters and the sound of frantic yelling outside the window. I roll over in bed to look outside, and see a knight in green armor rushing towards the stables.
Heh. Guess Stahl just found out that everyone left without him.
…
Fuck. Guess I just found out that everyone left without me.
"Shit!" I sit up and snap the blankets off of me. "The sun was still setting when I went to bed! How the fuck did I sleep so long?" I haul myself out of bed, get to my feet-
And promptly collapse onto the stone floor. Oh right, my legs are fucked. Never did take the time to recover after all that marching, save for the bathhouse. Warm water may ease tension for a little while, but I pushed myself so fucking hard with all the walking that my muscles need to properly heal before I can really use my legs properly.
"Been a long fucking time since this has happened." I grimace, grabbing the bedside table and hauling myself back up. This time I'm able to stay standing by leaning on the table, and I look around the room helplessly.
The room used to host a multiple people, but since it was a soldier's barracks it didn't really hold enough room for multiple people's worth of personal effects. Judging from the scratches on the stone floor, I'd guess it used to have bunkbeds, enough for four people. Probably a trunk or something like that for each soldier. Now that it's been repurposed for one person, it's actually pretty roomy. There's a bed, a table, a chair, and a wardrobe. All are in decent condition too, meaning that I can make myself pretty comfortable here in my off time. Only the best for Chrom's personal soldiers.
Unfortunately the size of the room is working against me, since in my exhausted rush to sleep last night I left my clothes scattered all over. I'm back to standing around in my briefs, since I really didn't want to sleep in my jeans. This means that I need to hobble around for several long, painful minutes while I gather up my stuff and dress myself. Nothing like putting on socks while you can barely bend your legs.
My t-shirt, sweater, and coat are all still missing, so I get the deerskin vest back on and stagger out the door. I stare down the hall, towards the stairs at the far end.
"Now what?" I grumble. I have no idea what I'm rushing around for. I obviously can't go after the rest of the Shepherds right now, not while being unable to walk. Even if I got my hands on a horse, it would be torture to try to ride one with my legs like this, to say nothing of my allergies.
So I guess Regna Ferox isn't in my near future. I've got no way of following them.
That's upsetting for a number of reasons, but putting aside the irrelevant personal grief I have at being left out, it's mostly an issue due to the Lucina Problem. The Feroxi arena was my next chance to see the time traveller again, and without that I have no way to figure out what her issue with me is. Not that I don't have guesses. I reflect on things as I drag myself down the hall.
Lucina seems to think I can't be trusted. There's only two reasons I can think of for such a thing. The first is that she doesn't recognize me, and wants me gone because I'm a stranger. The second theory is that I did something in her timeline that made her shitfest of a life even worse somehow.
Unfortunately, my gut is telling me that the second option is more likely.
I have no doubt that I am a stranger to this world, but I'm a stranger who showed up two days before Lucina did. As far as I know the only time-traveller in Fire Emblem who arrives before Lucina is Laurent, Miriel's son, who showed up three years ago. So unless he stopped being completely irrelevant and somehow magicked me here, my existence in this world is somehow set now.
The timeline of Fire Emblem Awakening is split in two based on a single diverging point. That point is Lucina, who interferes in events as soon as she arrives to the present. Laurent arrives sooner, but again, he's irrelevant. If his presence affects things in any way, they can be likened to a sort of Time Boom effect, like in the Flashpoint Paradox. Lucina's actions are definitely the relevant factor here.
This means that as somebody who joined the Shepherds before Lucina joined up, I have to exist in both timelines. Which means that the only way for me to be a stranger to Lucina is if I die sometime in the very near future.
…Not entirely unlikely, honestly. But I'd prepare to believe that I live a long life as a Shepherd… and I guess betray everyone or something? Hmm. Moral quandaries abound.
Either way, if I've missed the diplomatic mission to Regna Ferox, I've also missed my best chance at getting answers.
Oh, shit. I've reached the stairs.
Okay, no big deal. I can do this. Just take them one at a time-
PAIN
Okay. We're not going to walk down the stairs. That way leads to madness. Instead I just sit my ass down at the top and scooch myself down each step on my hands. Less dignified, sure, but it's not like anybody is here to see me.
"Oh, good morning Ben!"
Fuck.
Somebody is here to see me.
Okay, shit, play it cool.
"Morning." I look behind me to see Sumia beaming down at me from the top of the stairs. "You're looking chipper."
"Well, it is a beautiful morning!" She nods happily. "Are you feeling better today?"
Ah, right. She got the full brunt of my anxiety attack last night. Poor kid. "Yeah, a shitload of sleep and I'm right as rain. Speaking of which, what time is it?"
"Hmm…" Sumia thinks on that for a moment. "I'd say… half past ten?"
Which means I slept for at least fifteen hours. Holy shit that's some kind of record. "Wow."
"You were serious when you said you needed sleep." Sumia nodded along. "I asked Frederick and he told me you weren't used to long marches, not to mention that incident with those monsters and the fire. I'm amazed you lasted through it all! I remember when I first started training I could barely handle running laps."
Gotta say, Sumia's growing on me quickly. She's got a whole lot of energy, much like Lissa, but hers is more earnest, compared to Lissa's feistiness. The girl is just pure as heck and it's endearing to see.
I grin as I start shuffling down the stairs again. "I may be the most out of shape guy in the Shepherds, but I can be pretty goddamn stubborn when I want to be. Not the first time I've had to compete with people in far better shape than me."
"We don't have to compete! Besides, I'd probably lose if we did." Sumia looks at the ground sheepishly. "I can never seem to run laps without tripping over my own feet."
"You haven't seen me run." I shrug. "I like to think my form's alright, but I've got a lot of weight to carry around." The sad truth of the matter. The days of my childhood, when I was the fastest runner in the neighbourhood, are far, far behind me. Those days gave way to years of depression fueled bingeing on junk food, with a healthy serving of 'never leaving the damn house'.
Speaking of which, when was the last time I ate? I think I scarfed down a loaf of bread on the way through Ylisstol. Wait, it was half a loaf, Lissa swiped the rest of it.
"So what's the meal situation around here?" I ask as I round the corner.
"Oh!" Sumia's footsteps race down to follow me. "We have a kitchen on the first floor, on the opposite side of the entrance. I think it was Stahl's turn to cook." She giggles as she passes me. "That's probably why nobody told him about their patrol. He's one of the better cooks in the Shepherds, so they often 'forget' to tell him when he should stop cooking."
"Is Stahl the guy with green armor I saw running around earlier?" I ask for appearances sake.
"Yup, that's him!" Sumia grins. "Chrom decided to take everyone in the Shepherds who can ride a horse and sweep the countryside for monsters. They should be back by tonight."
I can't help but sigh in relief. It would seem that game logic is not dictating the progression of time in this world. Regna Ferox remains a valid option. "Good. I'd hate to be left behind so soon after joining."
Sumia winces at that. Odd. "Yes, it's not pleasant to be left behind while everyone else is out fighting for the people of Ylisse. I only wish I could join them."
"You don't have horseback training?"
"My training was with Pegasus. The two are not nearly as similar as you might think."
"You don't have a Pegasus, then. You weren't able to serve with the one you trained with?" This is something I've always wondered about. Sumia trained with Cordelia, so how did she come to serve in the Shepherds without a mount?
Unfortunately, it seems answers will not be forthcoming. Sumia's gone pale at the question. Time to frantically backtrack. "Okay, I'm sensing some tension here, so how about we both just pretend I didn't ask anything? Sound good? Good! So how about that weather?"
Sumia gives a shaky smile. "I'm sorry, Ben. I don't mean to get so sensitive about such a simple question. I just…" She still seems to be trying to find a way to respond.
"Okay, seriously, stop. It's clear you're not comfortable with the topic." I fake a smile for her sake. "If you decide you want to tell me later, then that's great! But until that day comes, let's just talk about all the breakfast I'm about to need."
Her next smile is more genuine. "I guess it will be quite the breakfast if we're to talk about it for days to come."
"Girl, you have no idea." I grin as I reach the bottom of the stairs. "When I go long enough without eating I have been likened to a shark in a feeding frenzy. By myself, that is. The people who see me are usually too scared to comment." It's sad but true: I have left my roommates speechless at the sight of it.
"Well, we'd better get you fed before that happens!" She takes my arm and pulls me to my feet.
"Thanks. You're taking this in stride pretty well, you know."
"Frederick's fitness regimes can be very brutal. You're not the first person I've seen taking the slow way down the stairs."
I realize something very important as I walk into the dining hall. When Sumia mentioned bringing everyone who can ride a horse on the patrol, she meant everyone. There are no second seals in the real world, which means that a lot of characters don't seem to have an item restricting them from riding a horse. Several of the people I expected to still see here, like Lissa and Miriel, seem to have left on this patrol. I thought Chrom might just be special, but he's clearly not the only one who's already spent some time multiclassing.
As such, the only people left eating breakfast are myself, Sumia, Virion, and… Vaike. Joy. Wait… I feel like I'm forgetting…
"Oh!" I blink as a tall, very plain looking man seems to materialize next to me. "Sorry, didn't see you there!"
"Oh that's alright, it happens all the time." The man gives me a good-natured smile. "You must be the other new Shepherd. My name is Kellam." Wow. The dude disappears so well that without his armor he disappeared right from my memory for a second.
"I'm Ben. Nice to meet you."
"Good morning Kellam!" Sumia waves from my other side.
"Good morning Sumia. How are you today?"
"I'm doing quite well, thank you for asking!" Sumia beams. "I was just about to get some breakfast for Ben. His legs are worn out from the journey from Southtown."
"I can get it myself, there's no need to go out of your way." I start to protest, but Kellam shakes his head emphatically in response.
"Oh it's no trouble. I'll get you a plate in a jiff. Just make yourself comfortable!" Kellam rushes towards the kitchen before I can protest further. I'm about to follow him, but when I blink the man's disappeared. Dude's got a hell of a gift.
"Don't worry, Kellam is very dependable." Sumia smiles, before pausing. "Well at least I think he is? He seems to disappear a lot during battle, but I'm pretty sure that he's still there looking after us. We just don't always see him doing it."
"Yeah, he seems like he's pretty eager to be helpful." I grin as I walk over to where Virion is seated and gingerly lower myself onto the bench opposite him.
"Ben, my good friend! It is truly a marvelous thing to see you in better spirits today!" Virion smiles broadly as I get comfortable. "Ah, and the beautiful Lady Sumia graces us with her presence as well! Truly this is a most glorious morning!"
"Good morning, Virion." Sumia nods politely. "Was your room to your liking?"
"I slept quite soundly indeed!" Virion's honestly hilarious to watch. He seems to do everything with a flourish as he talks, whether it's dabbing at his mouth with a napkin, cutting his bacon, or raising a fork to his mouth. It's a struggle to keep my face straight as he flails around across the table.
A plate piled high with eggs, sausage, and bread suddenly appears in front of me, and I turn in surprise to see Kellam placing a much smaller portion in front of Sumia. "Thanks dude!"
"Glad to help." Kellam takes the empty seat next to Virion and digs into his own plate. "I know how tiring it can be changing your routine so suddenly. I used to be a farmer, so when I joined the Shepherds and started marching everywhere it was exhausting. I was working muscles I didn't know I had!"
"Makes sense." I nod. "Different professions use different muscles in different ways. Any big change would have an effect like that."
"Especially when you weren't using any muscles to begin with." Vaike scoffs from the next table.
I try my best to keep the grimace from my face, but it's clear from everyone's expression that I fail completely. Sumia and Kellam both seem completely taken aback at the attitude. Virion on the other hand looks mad, but in no way surprised.
"Detestable churl." He mutters, looking down at his plate as if weighing the pros and cons of sending his eggs flying into the back of Vaike's head.
"What was that?" Vaike turns around irritably.
"Oh? Is there a problem?" Virion looks up as if confused. "Did you fail to hear what I said, or were the words simply beyond your capacity?"
"Hey, I may not be the smartest guy around but I know an insult when I hear one!" Vaike blusters, getting to his feet. "Listen here fancy pants, you ain't been around nearly long enough for me to let you say whatever the hell you want about me!"
"Ah, but you are able to form an opinion on us so swiftly?" Virion scoffs. "I suppose such is the benefit of a diminutive mind; the information has less distance to travel."
"You trying to start somethin'?"
"My good man, if something has started then you have nobody to blame for it but yourself." Virion's stood as well by this point, and while his posture seems relaxed his expression is more vicious than I thought he was capable of. "Your continued and unwarranted verbal attack upon a man I owe my life to is something I cannot continue to tolerate."
I just live here…
Seriously, this is so FUCKING uncomfortable! I feel myself shrinking into my seat, and see Kellam doing the same across from me. I wonder which is worse, being the guy indirectly responsible for this argument or being one of the bystanders. I think back to high school for a moment, but it was so damn long ago and the drama was so fucking brutal that I've essentially wiped it from my memory. Not that I don't appreciate Virion sticking up for me, but as much as Vaike is pissing me off I really don't want to make a big deal out of this.
"I don't give a damn what you want to taller-ate!" Vaike's face twists as he stumbles on the word. "I don't know you, and I don't like you! And if you think I'm trusting my life to some stupid dandy, or his fat friend, then you can just-"
"Vaike."
Everything stops. And I mean everything.
Vaike's mouth snaps shut with an audible click. Virion looks like a deer caught in the headlights. I feel as though a fog lifts in my mind that I wasn't even aware existed. When did I get up? When did I pick up my chair? I'd ask why I picked it up, but the sound of my heartbeat pounding in my ears is enough to tell me I was seconds away from going full caveman on Vaike's ass.
If Sumia hadn't spoken up when she did I'd probably have tried to murder him. Hell, I still want to beat him into paste. But her tone of voice…
Let's just say that the temperature of the room dropped several degrees. Sumia may have addressed Vaike just now, but she did so in a tone of voice that promised pain to everyone involved. I don't turn back to look at her. I'm honestly too scared to. The way Virion and Vaike are going pale tells me that my instincts are dead on the fucking money with that one.
The chair hits the ground with a clatter, having slipped from my hands. Vaike jumps at the sound, having not even noticed me get up. That jump carries him into a bit of furious backpedalling that carries him right into his table, where he nearly falls over before catching himself with one hand.
He gulps audibly, staring past my shoulder to where Sumia is looming. There's a brief instant where Sumia feels like a giant towering behind me, despite my brain knowing she's at least half a foot shorter. I can only imagine how she looks to Vaike since I'm still too scared to turn around. The expression on his face when he finally speaks is what I would imagine a man heading to the gallows would wear. "Sumia?"
"Leave the room Vaike."
"Huh?"
"Leave. The. Room." Her voice has a weird lilt to it, and I almost chance a glance to see her expression before thinking better of it. "Chrom will be hearing about this when he returns."
"I just, he was, I mean-" He gulps again. "Okay." The rest of us watch in silence as he beats a hasty exit across the room. He spares a longing glance towards his breakfast at the door, but knows better than to go back for the plate. If the door swings shut a bit harder behind him than is polite, Sumia doesn't comment on it.
The slamming door seems to jar Virion enough that he regains his voice, and he turns towards the rest of us looking distraught. "My most sincere apologies, everyone. I don't know what came over me. Please believe that such vulgar displays are not a normal indulgence of mine!"
"I believe you." Sumia's voice sounds a bit less dangerous now, so I finally chance a look and see that she mostly just looks tired at this point. "You certainly don't seem the type. That said, I will have to tell Frederick and Chrom about this all the same." She turns her attention on me as well, and her expression saddens. "Including what you were about to do with that chair."
"I have no excuse." I sigh. "Just kinda lost it there. I didn't even realize what I was doing until you spoke up."
"I take full responsibility." Virion straightens and looks over at me. "I allowed my temper to get the better of me, and escalated the situation far beyond what was called for. Dear Sumia, if you would be so kind as to say as much to our esteemed leader?"
Sumia sighs and sits back down in her chair. "I'll tell him, of course. I don't blame either of you, not really. I've never seen Vaike act so malicious before. He can certainly lack tact at times, but that was just awful."
"If I were to guess, I would say that he is bitter about the scolding he received last night." Virion remarks as we all take our seats again. "He received no shortage of harsh words for his thoughtless comment last night, from Lissa and Maribelle first, then Chrom and Frederick afterwards."
"I had wondered what all the shouting was about." Kellam comments. "Still, it's weird that he would get so angry about that. He's usually pretty level headed when he's not fighting or training."
"Ugh." Sumia sighs and prods at her breakfast. "I already worry enough with Chrom out there fighting while I'm stuck here. Now I have to figure out what to tell him when he gets back."
Her lamenting brings to mind something about the argument just now that suddenly strikes me as odd. "So, I never asked, but are you another authority figure here? Vaike barely even put up a fight when you told him to leave."
"No, not particularly." Sumia blushes.
"Oh, you're just being modest." Kellam grins, and turns to Virion and I. "Sumia spends a lot more time here than the rest of us since she doesn't have a Pegasus right now, so she manages most of the affairs around the barracks. If Chrom is in charge in the field, then she's in charge here. It makes a lot of sense too, since she and Chrom are courting right now."
Okay, that adds up. I nod thoughtfully.
Wait.
What.
"What?" I blink and turn to Sumia in shock, who has buried her (very flushed) face in her hands. "You and Chrom are…?"
Sumia peeks out at me between her fingers and nods once. "For about a year now." She replies in a small voice.
This changes a few things! This changes a lot of things, actually! I can see the logic in a way, it really wouldn't make sense for all of these members to only just be starting to know each other. Most of them have years of history together.
Christ, it's just now starting to dawn on me just how out of place I really am here. It was already obvious enough that I didn't belong since I'm literally from another world, but the Shepherds here are not like those of the game. They aren't starting at level one like I am (figuratively speaking), they've been building bonds between them for a long time now, they've branched out in ways I didn't think they could until after the war with Plegia started!
And all of those ground-breaking revelations are suddenly being eclipsed by the possibilities that are racing through my head. The shipping possibilities. Dear god, if Chrom and Sumia are already together who knows what else has gone on! I need the juicy details and I need them immediately!
"Oh-ho! Best be careful now, everyone!" Virion crows and grins mischievously. "It would seem from the glint in his eye that our good friend Ben here is something of a gossip hound!"
I chuckle at that. "My luck with women is slim enough as to be non-existent, so I have a bad habit of living vicariously through my friends."
Sumia grins in spite of herself at that. "I should introduce you to my friend Cordelia, you'd get along splendidly."
What's that, Sumia? You want to introduce me to best girl? Yes please I'd love to!
"Fun as that sounds, the last thing I need is encouragement." I chuckle and reply honestly. "I already spend enough time fussing about relationships-" wait, don't talk about video games, don't talk about shipping, what's safe here, "in books." Nice save!
"Oh, do you read a lot?" Sumia perks up. Right, she's a big fan of literature.
"I'd say so. Lots of reading, comics, movies…" Oops. Dropping a whole lot of foreign concepts here.
"When you say comics, you refer to entertainers?" Virion looks over curiously. "Like a jester or a bard?"
Right, I suppose the word has that interpretation as well. "Actually, where I come from the word more often refers to a sort of picture book. One which markets itself more towards an older audience. They're usually focused on a more action-based story, but some countries write and draw romances or dramas as well." No need to throw the term manga around, it would only complicate things.
"That sounds fun!" Sumia smiles, "And movies?"
"They're like a stage play, but different." I pause as I think how best to explain it. "Essentially, you can make a movie using special equipment that lets you perform wherever you want. This means that you don't have as many restrictions on props and setting the stage. The actors give one really good performance, and then the equipment basically makes a copy of the performance. Once you have that copy, you can show it to people in any theater."
"So… if one were to perform a story that takes place in a forest, the movie shows them not only that performance, but also the forest itself?" Virion muses. "It sounds like an impressive sort of magic, but I believe you mentioned yesterday that your world is rather lacking in that regard?"
"Yup, no magic to speak of." I shrug. "They're essentially a series of pictures shown one after another. And… I'm actually not sure what they do to make the sound play." I frown as I think on it. Something about scratching the film in a certain way maybe? I think that's how VHS works at least.
Eh, I come from the future, it's probably all lasers by now.
"That's really neat, Ben." Kellam nods along. "I just have one question: what's Virion mean when he says you don't have magic in your world? What sort of place are you from?"
I can't help but grin at that. I get a feeling that before too long I'll be fed up with explaining this, but for now it's a weird sort of novelty.
The four of us split into two groups once breakfast is over, with Kellam showing Virion the archery range while Sumia leads me somewhere different. 'Lead' in this case being used in a sense altogether different to what Sumia would prefer.
"Are you sure you don't need my help?" She hovers uneasily a foot away from me as I limp down the hallway.
I roll my eyes in spite of myself. She's been asking this question for the better part of twenty minutes. "Sumia, I'm fine. I have been fine, and I will be fine." I look over to her and smile to show her I appreciate the offer. "You said yourself, we shouldn't make contact." All sorts of 'noble' ladies who are looking to start a scandal. Seeing the woman courting the Prince on the arm of another man would definitely do that, regardless of circumstances.
"Yes, but you're in such rough shape, I feel terrible for making you walk on your own!"
"Contrary to what Vaike might think, this isn't the first time I've pushed myself to this extent." I grin as I haul myself along with one hand on the wall. "I took a course once in my university that was intended for professional athletes. I may not have performed as well as many of those guys, but I didn't push myself any less than them."
It's honestly one of my only fond memories of university; taking that class and watching the basketball and football players look on in surprise as the fattest guy in the class pushed himself alongside them. They'd start to offer advice, then just trail off as I start jumping through tires and stuff and just nod along as I went. It wasn't that I was performing on their level or anything, but I was performing, and they didn't expect it of me. And in the end, I like to think I impressed them in that regard, not that I had the guts to ask them.
That's essentially what I'm aiming for right now. The others don't think much of me right now from a physical perspective, but I've proved people wrong before and I'll do the same here. Even if I've got to work harder to keep up this time.
"What do they teach at universities in your world?" Sumia asks curiously, drawing my attention back out of my own head. "The universities here are mostly for studying magic."
"Honestly, depending on where you go you could learn just about anything." I shrug. "Mathematics, art, science, literature, music, acting, philosophy, theology, history…"
"Oh!" Sumia nods. "I think a lot of those are side courses at the university. Miriel graduated from there, so you could ask her about it. Though… she'll probably ask you first." She trails off and looks away with a frown, then whispers to herself, "Maybe we shouldn't mention it."
"I'm from another world Sumia, she's bound to have questions for me whether she knows I went to university or not." I grin. Knowing what I know about Miriel, she'll announce more studies on me than the rest of the Shepherds put together. I'm a pretty damn big anomaly.
"I suppose that's true." Sumia sighs. "Well I suppose I'll have to make sure you have a buffer. She can be very… enthusiastic. And eccentric."
"I'm sure I'll be fine." I shrug as we round the corner and stop for a moment in surprise. "Whoa. That it?" I stare down the hall at the two massive doors that take up the entire end of the hall, complete with two armed guards standing at attention."
"Yup, this is one of the biggest collections of books in our world, so we have to take its security seriously." Sumia grins. "Come on, you'll love it!"
I grin back at her and hobble my way towards the door. The guards give me odd looks as I approach, but snap to attention when Sumia stands in front of them.
"Since you're with me it'll be okay for you to enter right now." Sumia tells me, while also prompting the guards to open the door for us. "Chrom forgot to talk to Her Grace the Exalt about giving you access though, so until we can find the time to solve that issue you'll need to have somebody with you."
"Fair enough. I'm good with just getting a feel for the place today." I shrug, pushing myself off the wall and past the guards. Feels like my legs are starting to heal a little, though I can't help but wish I had some painkillers. I'll have to take it easy once we get back to the barracks, no doubt Frederick will have lots of training planned for tomorrow.
"So, what do you think?" Sumia asks eagerly as I walk through the doors, snapping me out of my thoughts. Right, came all this way to see the royal library, I suppose I should actually look at the place…
Huh.
In a lot of ways, the world of Fire Emblem has been kinda underwhelming in a way. The world may be magical, but it's also centuries behind my own on a technological level. Everything they have, we have something more effective.
But this library blows anything I've ever seen out of the fucking water. I can tell at a single glance that this place has more books than both universities I've attended put together. Every wall in the massive room is covered with books, with shelves stretching almost to the ceiling. The far wall has massive windows that let the sunlight beam through, with dust particles making the very air of the room seem to glow. Shelves half as tall as the walls stretch up across the room, with a balcony floor resting on top of them that stretches along the left and right. In the middle, between the rows of shelves, rows of tables surrounded with plush armchairs are arranged for readers to sit at, and the center of the wall at the back, between the windows, has a massive fireplace with an ornate mantle.
Give it a coat of white paint and it would fit right into a certain Disney movie.
It's enough to make my jaw drop, earning a pleased smile from Sumia.
"I'll take that as a sign of approval!" She grins and walks over to a nearby shelf. "So, you never did tell me what sort of books you were looking to read?"
"History, magical theory, and especially anything on the Outrealm gate." I shrug my shoulders. "I'm looking for all the information I can get on it so I can figure out how to get home."
"Oh." Sumia looks back in surprise. "I'm… not very familiar with non-fiction. Unless it involves Pegasus care, that is." She takes the book she was planning to show me and slides it discreetly back onto the shelf. Some sort of fantasy or romance story, in all likelihood. I try to glance at the title of the book to see if I can find out from that.
"Wait." I blink in surprise. Did I really fail to think of this?
"Oh, did you want to look at this one after all?" Sumia blinks and pulls the book back out with a smile. "It's really a favorite of mine, so-"
"Shit!" I walk up and grab the book from her, causing her to step back in alarm.
"Well that's hardly fair, you haven't even opened it…" She starts to protest, but my frantic flipping through the book alerts her to the panic I'm feeling. "Ben, what's the matter?"
"I'm a goddamn idiot is what's the matter!" I snap, staring at the foreign characters on the page in the hopes that my brain may suddenly shift and come to understand them. "Frederick said earlier that the tags on my clothing were in a foreign language, but being the absolute moron that I fucking am I didn't dwell on it! I should have expected this!" I groan and hand the book back to Sumia with a sigh.
"Wait, so you're saying…" Sumia blinks and looks back at her book in surprise.
"Our worlds may have the same spoken language, but our written language is different." I lean against a wall with a sigh. "I suppose it makes sense in a way. It's lucky enough I can talk to you guys to begin with."
"Oh no!" Sumia looks back at her book in distress. "I don't even know where to start with a problem like this!"
"I wouldn't expect you to. I can't imagine it's a common issue." I sigh and run a hand through my hair. "Well, I'm sure I can learn in time, but for now I think we're out of luck."
"I'm so sorry Ben, I was sure this would cheer you up!" Sumia sighs forlornly, looking like she's about to start tearing up. Oh right, she's a crier, evasive maneuvers, damage control!
"Hey, it's cool!" I wave my hands in an attempt to placate her. "I appreciate the thought, really! And it's a pretty damn great library even if I can't read this language. I'm sure once I've had the time to learn your lettering it'll be my favorite place in the castle."
"You think so?" She looks up and hits me with the most potent puppy dog eyes I've ever seen.
"Sure!" I smile and look away before she can overwhelm me. "Give it a few weeks and I'll definitely be back. Plus this'll give us time to get me permission to come back myself. See, everything works out!"
"Alright then." Sumia gives me a watery smile, and leads the way back to the entrance. "In the meantime, I can come up with a list of books for you to read! You can catch up once you've learned how."
"Sounds great." I follow her back out, trying my best to ignore the guards. The bastards heard the whole conversation and are snickering at the dumbass who came to the library despite being unable to read. I want nothing more than to hit them in that moment. I quietly follow Sumia back to the barracks instead.
The rest of the day goes quickly. Since the library doesn't pan out Sumia takes Virion and I to the market instead. I use some of the coins I picked up off of the bandit two days ago to buy a journal, and a book for drawing. This world does have pencils, thank god, so I at least have something to do in my free time. My usual fare of YouTube videos and video games is obviously off the table.
The journal is something of an unusual purchase for me. But I know enough about how my own brain dysfunctions to know that I'm going to need some sort of outlet. If I get all the secrets I don't want people knowing out on paper, then I might be less likely to slip up in the future. I haven't blown it yet, but there's been a few close calls. Glad I made the call to come clean about coming from another world at least, because there's no way that secret would have kept for long.
Once I had all that, I let Sumia make a few practical recommendations, such as candles and a rug (so I don't have to walk on cold stone in the morning). Then I bought some clothing for myself after consulting with Virion. Given his penchant for fancy clothing he gave some surprisingly practical advice.
The end result was probably the biggest shopping spree I've ever been on. The coin pouch was all but spent when I was done. Ill-gotten gains given a proper purpose. Hopefully they pay well enough in the Shepherds though, because I don't feel inclined to rob corpses again in the near future. I can't imagine Chrom looks favorably on that sort of thing, even if it is practical.
Once Virion and I have everything we need we lug it back up the hill with the help of Kellam (who was apparently there the whole time) and settle in the common area to make ourselves busy until the rest of the Shepherds are back. Vaike seems to be avoiding the rest of us now, since I haven't seen him since breakfast. I feel like I should care, but I can't say I give a shit about him after almost breaking a chair on his head.
After a while Sumia and Virion leave to work on dinner, and Kellam… well I guess I lost him at some point, because he's nowhere to be seen. Probably sitting across from me. If I squint he'll probably just phase into view… oh shit there he is, reading. Huh.
Meanwhile I'm sitting back and drawing some characters from my DnD campaign. Lord only knows how long it'll be until I can go back and see my group again. Years of work on that homebrew, down the drain. I can only hope they'll be able to start again without me, it would suck if my disappearance ruined things for the rest of them.
There's a lot of things that are going to get screwed up by my disappearance. I've got two months until my shit gets tossed from my apartment. My family relies on me whenever somebody needs a ride or something moved… My friends are all… well, I hardly ever talk to anybody outside of the DnD group anymore. No girlfriend either.
I sigh, closing my book and setting it and the pencil on the table. "What does it say about me that my concern in going home lies more with my physical possessions than the people I knew?"
"… Maybe you should meet better people?" Kellam responds hesitantly, not sure if my question was directed at him. It wasn't, but I can't help but chuckle at his answer.
"Thanks for the vote of confidence Kellam, but I'm pretty sure I'm the worst person that I know."
"Oh…"
Kellam isn't sure what to say to that. I'm not sure either. Feeling bad for distracting him with my angsty bullshit, I grin up at him and shrug. "Don't mind me, buddy. I'm just moping."
"I see…" Kellam's face takes a thoughtful expression as he stares up at the ceiling. "I don't think it's a bad thing to worry about what's yours. And I don't think you're a bad person, either. Chrom wouldn't bring you here if he thought you couldn't be trusted."
A simple view, but one I can appreciate. "I guess I'll just have to prove Chrom right then, won't I?"
"Prove me right about what?"
I spin in surprise to see that Chrom has wandered into the room while we were talking. "Geez Chrom, thought you weren't due back for hours!"
"Well, that was the plan…" Chrom gives a tired shrug and smiles. "Frederick had other ideas though."
"What do you mean?"
"He was… very motivated today." Chrom winces. "Apparently he's been running through training plans for you, Robin, and Virion all day. He drove us hard so he could get us back and hash out the details." As he says this I notice the dirt smudged across his face and armor. No wonder he looks so out of it.
"Well, it's nice to know he's so enthusiastic, I guess."
Chrom winces again. Ominous. "Remember that feeling of gratitude. Once you've started training it may become easy to forget."
"Yikes." I grimace. "That bad, huh?"
"Whatever you're thinking, it's probably worse." Chrom sighs forlornly. "Frederick's Fanatical Fitness Hour is bad enough. What he has in mind for you is more like a Fanatical Fitness Day."
"I prefer 'Frederick's Daunting Day of Discipline' personally; the alliteration really is crucial." Frederick marches in looking flushed from a hard day of work and beaming with energy all the same. "It is good to see you, Ben. I have here for you a personalized training plan. We will have you in fighting shape in no time. It even comes with pictures, since I know your written language and mine is different."
"Wow." I blink at the schedule, with its pictures, color coordination, and blocks of unreadable text. "When did you find the time to put this together?"
"I made it while riding between destinations!" Frederick glows with pride.
"Damn, that is impressive work dude…" I have to give credit where credit is due, this guy made one hell of a presentation. It really is a shame. "Sucks that it won't work though."
"What?" Frederick's face becomes stern immediately. "I hope you aren't suggesting that you find this too rigorous. You told me you were looking forward to this."
"And I am. Seriously." I point to the large blocks of red on the schedule, marked with tiny horses. "But I can't deal with horses."
"Are horses a foreign entity where you come from?" Chrom asks curiously. "Because I assure you they're quite reliable, and a great boon to any battle."
"Oh I know that. We have horses back home, tons of them in fact." I am a proud resident of stampede country after all. "I've even ridden one in the past. Which is how I learned that I'm allergic to them."
Frederick's face falls at that. "You have allergies?"
"To cats, dogs, and horses." I sigh. "I know, it sucks. Love animals, but the furry ones make my eyes swell shut. I usually tough it out with dogs, because they're perfect and I love them. Horses though… I probably react worse to them than any other animal. It's bad enough that after riding one once I made a point of never going near one again."
"Ah, and here I thought the distance you kept from Sully and I during our march was the result of your fatigue. To think it was a medical concern…" Frederick looks shocked.
"It was a little of both, really." I shrug. "Anyways, putting me on a horse is just going to make me a bigger liability than I am already. We'll have to find something else to fill that time with. Reading lessons maybe? I don't intend to let this language barrier hold me back forever."
"He's got reading lessons marked down, Ben." Kellam pipes up helpfully from behind me. "That's the green blocks with the pictures of books."
"Oh, I thought that was magic, thanks Kellam." There's a sudden burst of sputtering coughs from Chrom, who seems to have only just noticed Kellam was here.
"The magic trials will begin once you're capable of reading a spellbook." Frederick sniffs, as he grabs my pencil off the table and starts scratching notes down on the red boxes.
"Oh, fucking duh. That makes sense." I frown. "So who's teaching me to read?"
"I'll be asking a boy named Ricken to assist with that." Chrom replies. "He's a sort of unofficial member of the group, since he's too young to join at the moment. Since he's always looking for a way to prove himself, I've decided to give him the job. He's sure to take to it with enthusiasm."
"Huh. Sounds good to me." Ricken's a smart kid. I'm sure I can trust him to do well.
"Frederick, I'm sorry to say, but you might need to change another part of the schedule as well." Kellam interjects tentatively.
Frederick blinks, looks up at Kellam, and gives the guy a calculating frown. "Kellam, if you see further issue with my efforts I would appreciate clarification."
Kellam shuffles uneasily. "Well, I noticed you had axe training listed for Ben with Vaike, but putting them together might now be a great idea…"
"Is this in regards to last night's incident?" Chrom looks over to me with concern. "If you have misgivings with him for his comments I don't blame you, but I can vouch for Vaike's character."
"Right…" I look over at Kellam awkwardly. "I'm sure he's a good guy if you say so, but the dude… kinda hates me."
"A lot." Kellam supplies. "He started an argument with Virion about it during breakfast."
"Sumia broke it up before things got out of hand, but everyone got… pretty heated." I finish lamely, not quite having the guts to tell him about the chair. "She said she'd tell you about it, but I guess she didn't get the chance yet."
"No, I haven't seen her yet. We just got in and happened to see you here." Chrom sighs, turning to Frederick. "We'd better hear this from her before settling on anything."
"She and Virion should be working on dinner, I think." I supply.
"She's alone with Virion?" Chrom gapes in barely disguised horror. "That philanderer?"
"I don't think you have anything to worry about." I chuckle at his expression, "She's already informed us about her relationship status, so I'm sure he'll behave. Aside from the usual idle flattery, that is."
"I… I'm still stopping them!" Chrom rushes out of the room with a swish of his cape, which causes my chuckles to evolve into full-blown laughter.
"Quite protective of his girlfriend, isn't he?" I grin. "Not that I blame him, she's a lovely girl."
"She is." Frederick sighs in fond exasperation as he starts to follow after Chrom. "He and I both long for the day when the rest of the court can finally see as much."
"Court? Like, royal court?"
"Indeed. I shall have a new schedule for you by the end of the day Ben." Frederick's tone tells me clearly that he won't be elaborating on the situation with Sumia, which is fair enough as far as I'm concerned.
Don't want to get involved with politics anyways. It's always just a bunch of assholes posturing while stomping what few good people are to be found into the dirt. Nothing good to be gained from it anymore. Politicians exist only for politicians. With the exception of Emmeryn, I don't expect Ylisse to be any different.
"It's too bad Frederick's schedule didn't work out." Kellam comments, pulling me out of my head once again. "He worked so hard on it."
"Yeah." I shrug. "Well that'll be a lesson for him, I guess. Don't put too much of your effort into the first draft. There's always room for improvement, and there's always a chance that improvement will be essential. Anyways." I grab my sketchbook and pencil, then head for the door. "I'm gonna go put all my stuff away before dinner's finished. See you later Kellam."
"If you do, I will be very impressed!" Kellam replies, earning a bark of laughter from me. The bio in the game wasn't lying, he really is proud of his little talent.
I take the steps to the rooms two at a time, marvelling at how much my legs have improved over the course of the day. The hallway is clear, so I take it at a jog, just to stretch my muscles a bit so they don't get too stiff.
This proves to be a mistake, since Vaike comes out of his room at the worst possible time and I crash right into him. To my annoyance, despite being taller and probably heavier than him he hardly budges, shifting his feet and letting his muscle weather the impact easily. In contrast I stumble backwards, barely catching myself from falling.
"Watch where you're going." He growls irritably at me, before stalking past me to dinner. "You already don't fit in, so don't start causing problems."
"Blow it out your ass, blondie." I snap back, having not regained much patience for him since breakfast.
"What did you say?" He whirls around furiously.
You heard me. You're a fucking idiot and I am already done with your bullshit. Chrom said he wanted me here, so I'm here. You don't matter enough to get a say on that, so quit your bitching and fucking deal with it.
"I said I'm sorry about that." I say. "Shouldn't have been running."
"That's not what you said." Vaike growls.
"Sure it is." I blink innocently. "Why, what did you think I said?"
"You think you're so clever?" Vaike looks me over and snorts. "The others can play nice all they want. I won't. Fat bastard like you, livin' easy your whole life, never havin' to worry? I ain't gonna pretend you have a place here. I heard what happened in Southtown. You and I both know you impressed Chrom on a fluke, and now you're just lookin' to take advantage of him so you can live comfortably."
I step back uneasily. It hurts to admit, but he's not entirely wrong here. Hell, he's mostly right! I definitely got lucky with those bandits, and I know compared to him I've had it easy. And while Vaike doesn't know it, I set myself up with those bandits knowing Chrom would be there to see it. I manipulated the situation to get myself in with the Shepherds. Took advantage of his good will.
"Yeah, that's what I thought." Vaike shakes his head and stalks away. "Don't go getting comfortable. This isn't the sort of place you think. This place is for the best soldiers in the kingdom. You won't last a week before the training gets to be too much, and you run for the hills."
I watch him leave in complete silence. I can't help but wonder if he's right. I'm not a soldier, I stock shelves at a Walmart. I don't have physical fitness to rely on, or exceptional cleverness. My strategic ability is alright, but I can already tell I'm no match for Robin. I am the weakest Shepherd. And if this were my home I wouldn't even think about doing any of this. The first day of push-ups I'd be out.
"I suppose it's too bad for me then. I have no choice but to succeed here." I sigh. That's what it boils down to in the end. My options are nonexistent. I either stay and find a way home, or try to make it on my own and get killed when the Plegian army rolls through.
Not much of a choice there, since I don't particularly want to die.
I guess I'll just have to stick with it for once, and rub Vaike's face in it afterwards.
And damned if the thought of seeing Vaike eat his words isn't a special kind of motivation.
Big thanks to everyone who's reviewed, favorited, or followed since last chapter. It's always appreciated.
Next chapter we'll get back into game stuff! Hope you look forward to it as much as I do!
