"Alright everyone, this meeting is now in session. Anna, the floor is yours to start with."
Anna nodded "It has been ten days since we've journeyed our way through Hel. So far, we've avoided major conflicts and kept the enemy off our trail."
"Indeed. Finally, we are closing in on Hel's keep" Alfonse nodded.
"On this very edge of the darkness... that is where my mother resides." Eir then froze herself in place.
"Princess Eir, is there something amiss?" I asked
"Yes. You must be careful Kiran… Death is already here. My mother is coming."
"Well… shit. Meeting adjourned everyone! Get your weapons ready and await my orders!" I shouted.
Hel appeared only barely in time for us to get our weapons and battle formations ready. She in all of her purple glowing deathliness looked at most of us with extreme disinterest and boredom. It was clear that she had every reason to see us mortals as nothing but mere flies to swat with her scythe. However, she looked upon Alfonse and me with great disdain.
"Hmph…"
"So you have finally decided to show yourself" Al said while tightly gripping onto the grip of his sword.
Hel didn't even bother to answer him.
"If we defeat you here in the realm of the dead, will you die? Or is there more to the puzzle? That is what we will find soon enough!" He pointed Folkvanger at her.
"I'll be right behind you, Prince Alfonse. Our bonds shall prove to her what we are made of!" I cried out as part of our battle cry.
Commander Anna then shouted out orders to the rest of our group. Everyone scrambled into position. My main focus was on Alfonse. I was worried that he would try and do something rash because of me. I was worried that now that we are "together" together, he would lose sight of our goal. I loved him and I loved that he was always willing to go out of his way to protect me. However, I feared that he would take it to the extreme and get himself killed. Even though he loved me back, I was not worth the life of a crown prince. I was just a pathetic girl that just happened to be summoned here. No amount of my abilities could possibly solve the political turmoil that would follow his death. In the grand scheme of things, I was just a few notches away from being disposable. No… I can't afford to think like that.
I took a deep breath. I was honestly scared shitless but I needed to focus on giving Alfonse my full support. That meant I needed to ignore the inner voice telling me that I was a shitty tactician and a horrible person. A murderer. It was do or die in the most literal way possible so I told myself that I need to keep myself together until the end of the battle.
I surveyed the battlefield. There were only a few troops that we needed to worry about. That spoke volumes about Hel. It meant that she was extremely confident in her ability to take us all down. She could probably take us down with very little effort. Or at least, that is what my tactician's eye seemed to be telling me. When we first met, one of the things that made Alfonse trust in my ability as a tactician even though I literally had no practical experience was that I was somehow able to gauge a Hero's strengths and weaknesses from just a glance. I think it might be another side effect of my weapon's power, but I guess I can't look a gift horse in the mouth right now.
Anyway, I could tell from a glance that we were ill equipped to fight her at our current strength. However, a tactical retreat was unlikely to do us any good, which meant that we are being forced to fight her if we wanted to even survive this encounter. I quickly ran multiple scenarios through my head as I gave Alfonse my orders. I then surmised that we only needed to get her to retreat. The next thing I had to figure out was how to get her to do that. Brute force will only get us so far. We could easily rip through her forces, but Hel herself is a giant unavoidable obstacle.
My hand subconsciously grabbed Breidablik's grip. Something about it felt right. Like… I was scratching an itch that had been bothering me for a whole day after being unable to scratch it for so long. Perhaps… I could use Breidablik to get her to back off? She hates me for even using it anyway so why not use it to my advantage?
I took Breidablik out and pointed it at her. It had become like second nature to me, though part of that was due to my father's teachings. There would be times where he would stay home for awhile before going back to the battlefield and he would teach me how to use a handgun properly. There are times where I wished I had my gun with me, if only if so I could defend myself more properly. This was one of them.
"Kiran what are you doing? You will get hurt if you summon now!"
"I'm not sure what I am doing! I just have a gut feeling about this."
"Just stay behind me! Hel is making her move"
"Ok I trust you. I just need to figure something out!"
"Whatever it is, do it quickly!"
Every fiber of my being wanted to open fire upon Hel. I couldn't shoot more orbs in the middle of battle since the pain of the backlash would be too great, but in the end I ended up pulling the trigger before I had the chance to think it through. Nothing happened at first… my instincts went into overdrive as I immediately pointed Briedablik in a different direction away from all of the combatants involved. It was one thing that my father drilled into me… a misfire is dangerous with a real gun but I had no idea what a misfire would entail when it came to Breidablik.
In a flash, a huge ass beam of light fired out of Breidablik, sending me flying backwards from the recoil. I fell flat on my ass further adding to the pain I was already receiving from the magical exhaustion. I think I got actual skid marks on my ass cheeks from this, dragons damn it.
"This is not a development that I have expected to see so soon… I think I will watch you suffer from afar, Summoner" Hel said before warping herself away.
"What did you do Kiran? What in the name of Askr just happened?" Al asked me in bewilderment as the reinforcements dropped in.
"Frick, I don't know! I thought you would know about it since you know more about the legends than I do. All I know is that after I had pulled the trigger, it misfired. In my world, when a gun fails to fire, it puts everyone at risk. As a safety precaution, I fired it away from everyone because I didn't know what would happen when Breidablik fails to summon a hero. It's never done this before!" I said in a panic.
"Whatever it was, it scared her off. I want you to call for Mercedes to get yourself healed, I'll take care of the rest of the stragglers."
"But… I don't need a healer. I need to make sure that you-"
"Kiran! You need a healer. Don't argue with me on this! I won't die here, I promise"
"It is reckless of you to make promises like that!"
Alfonse then shoved his blade through another undead soldier. "Just like it's reckless of someone who is mostly unarmed to neglect her health and safety. Go now! I'll be fine on my own"
"Fine! Just know that if you do anything stupid, you will suffer my wrath… or something like that!"
Alfonse chuckled at my frankly horrible attempts to threaten him. "I wouldn't dream of it, Kiran."
I nodded and ran as best as I could towards Mercedes who was healing Anna about forty yards away. Eir flew over to me and offered to let me fly with her and I agreed. I thanked her profusely, the magical exhaustion slowly addling my thought processes. Eir looked at me with increasing alarm, urging Lyfja to fly even faster. It wasn't too long before we reached our destination.
"By the goddess, Kiran you look paler than a ghost! Here let me help you!" Mercedes said.
"I certainly feel like a ghost right now. I feel like I've gotten the world's worst migraine and a punch to the gut simultaneously." I said while I felt my pain slowly melt away after Mercedes used her staff on me.
I "You really need to be more careful, Kiran. That curse you have is really taking a toll on you. I know that we can't take it easy right now, but you really need to limit your summoning to emergencies only."
"Of course… it's just that something was telling me to pull the trigger. It was just so… easy. It took me back to when my dad would take me to the shooting range. The only way I could describe it is… instinct?"
"Could it be that weapon you're using? You have said that it has 'talked' to you before right?"
"Yes… I think you might be right. I just hope that listening to it will not get me into trouble in the future."
"Kiran! Hate to interrupt your conversation, but we need one of your plans!" Anna said after appearing out of seemingly nowhere. Noatún was very useful for getting Anna around, but it still would've made me jump if she warped right behind me. At least it was just Anna and not Coldsteel the Hedgeheg. I am sure I would have actually died of a brain aneurysm instantaneously if that actually happened.
"Alright. Anna can I get you and Eir to support Al? He's by himself right now and that's… not that good. I will go over to support Sharena, Ranulf and Chrom."
"Good idea. I think you should take Mercedes with you. They are very worn down and could use some healing to tide them over" Anna then warped her way over to where Alfonse was and Eir followed suit. That left me alone with just Mercedes. While Mercedes was armed with a staff, it wouldn't be extremely effective. With the proper setup I could make her become a legitimate threat, but for now we were only armed with a gravity staff.
"We should regroup quickly, Mercedes. We don't want to get into the crossfires without weapons and backup."
Mercedes nodded in agreement. We ran as quickly as we could, given that I was still recovering from the misfire. We barely managed to get to the in time for Ranulf to approach us, battered and bruised from the long fight. Poor Mercedes had her work cut out for her. She quickly went to work on healing his wounds while I made my way towards Sharena.
"Hey Sharena! I want to support you! Think you need a bit of my tactics?"
"Of course! I'm always happy when you are around. I'm just surprised that you actually left my brother's side at all." Sharena winked as she shoved Fensalir through the abdomen of yet another soldier of Hel.
It was almost as if we were just hanging out with each other and not fighting Hel and her gang of dead bois. Sharena always had a way of making light of things even if everything else appeared to be bleak. It was a quality that boosted everyone's morale, including my own. It can be jarring to see a normally upbeat Sharena skewering enemies like a shish kabob. I knew that Sharena was more than capable in a fight, since I've seen her fight in countless battles but it just seemed odd somehow when paired with her cheerful personality.
"Long story short, I shot a big friggin beam of light out of Breidablik and Al sent me away to get healed up. I figured that you might want me to swing on by and help out so I came here."
"Oh... ok now it makes sense! Alfonse is such a worrywart. I would've been worried too but Al can been bit overzealous at times. He goes out of his way to protect you every time you step onto the battlefield. Did you know that whenever a Hero offered to protect you in his place, he would turn them down immediately? He has been doing that since the kidnapping!" Sharena grinned.
"T-that's not important right now! Sh-Sharena I need you to focus on the task at hand! We are nearly finished!" I sputtered out.
I felt embarrassed that Sharena would even bring this up in the middle of a battle, but I must admit that I sort of liked the idea that Alfonse had been doing that for me a lot longer than I had originally thought. It made me feel a little warm on the inside. Only God knows what I would do to keep him safe… the extent that I have already gone to make sure that he continues to draw breath. It scares me. I had killed King Gustav by proxy… All for Alfonse. I could always say that I did it for the Order and the wellbeing of the Kingdom but I had made it clear to His Highness on several occasions that my loyalties were with Alfonse and Sharena and The Order of Heroes. For me to claim the opposite of that would be a bold faced lie on my part.
How am I supposed to explain to the both of them about my decision to help Gustav end his own life in exchange for his son's? I mean of course I had tried finding other ways but in the end… it wasn't enough. I wasn't enough. I was fooling myself if I told myself otherwise. I'm just some girl that was summoned by a dusty old relic to fight in a war that I technically had no business being in. I was just so… tired.
When the battle ended, Sharena pulled me into a hug. She really is more observant than I gave her credit for. "Something is bothering you Kiran. You can tell me anything... you know that right?"
"I… I am just so tired, Sharena. I'm just barely holding myself together and the only reason I am fighting in this godforsaken place is because I'm hopelessly in love with your brother and losing him… I just don't know what I would do. I've already done so much to keep both of you safe as I can. I fear that one day when you find out the actual extent of that… you wouldn't like me anymore. I wouldn't like me either."
"You need to stop talking about yourself like that. If anything, I should be thanking you for everything you've done for us starting with the fact that you got my brother to look at something that's not a dusty old book. Honestly, I was beginning to worry about him. Girls have approached him before and he never even realized they were flirting with him! I thought he was going to become king and then wither and die away without a wife! You know where that leaves me? That would make me next in line. Bleck! I hate politics and all that junk. You were and still are the best thing that has happened to the Order just for that alone."
"Sharena... let's go find Al. We need to regroup with him soon."
Sharena laughed "You two really are joined at the hip…. You've only been with me for a good half hour and you are already itching to get your mitts on him."
"That's not what I was trying to do, Sharena!" I pouted
"I'm just teasing, Kiran! It's my way of trying to cheer you up!"
"Hey Sharena…"
"Yes?"
"Thanks for sticking with me these past two years. It means a lot to me."
"It's no big deal! Whatever you did that's got you all up in a tizzy, just know that I will always be cheering you on. I know Father could be a real sourpuss at times so if it's something to do with him, dont worry about it."
"H-how did you know that-?"
"That Father is part of the reason you have been harder on yourself? Easy. Remember back when we fought him earlier? He mentioned a few things that seemed kinda bizarre. Something about a promise? I'm sure that whatever he asked you to do was difficult for the both of you."
"He sure had a funny way of showing it to me when I was working for him, then. He played me like a fiddle the whole way through all while making impossible demands of me. Well, at least they shouldn't have been possible. If there was another way to keep him alive and save Alfonse… then I would've done it. At any rate, he found out about my feelings towards Al pretty quickly and used it against me the day before he died. The only reason I agreed to do it in the end, was because it was the only way I could save Al"
"...Kiran. Are you saying that… Father forced you to help him…?" Sharena's eyes widened.
"'Force' is not quite the right word, but I will neither confirm nor deny what you are asking me. I wasn't supposed to tell you or your brother about any of it, but it's unfair to you to keep it under wraps like that."
"And it was unfair of him to use your feelings for Alfonse to get you to do something like that. It was not your fault. I just… I know why he did it, but he went too far. If you ever need help talking to Alfonse about it, I will one hundred percent back you up."
"I really don't deserve it but… thank you… for everything."
"It's not a problem! With everything that you have done, and with everything you are doing, it's the very least that I can do for you. Besides, if all goes well, we'll be sisters soon and sisters support each other!"
"Well… if you are so adamant on me marrying your brother, then I suppose I will think about considering it more seriously. I just don't like rushing into big decisions like that so soon."
The sound of footsteps cut our conversation short. I directed my attention to where the sounds were coming from and it was Al. He had a few cuts and bruises, but he appeared to be fine otherwise.
"Kiran! Thank the dragon of Askr... you're ok!" Alfonse ran over to me
"Yes I am perfectly fine now, thanks to Mercedes, Eir and especially Sherena. By the way, I hope you didn't go too overboard. Did Eir get to you on time?"
"Yes. Your foresight got me out of a real bind. You really do think of everything. However… Hel has eluded us again. We need to come up with a plan to intercept her again."
"That won't be necessary."
Everyone looked on in horror when they realised that Hel joined in on our little conversation. Her voice was enough to send shivers down my spine. Only God knew how much I feared and despised this woman. The only silver lining to be had in this situation was that we didn't have to chase her across Helheim. I reveled in the thought of finding her weakness and killing her. The thought of revenge nearly consumed me. I was going to make her feel every bit of the trauma and suffering that I have endured throughout this whole war.
She then began to cast her curse on Alfonse again. Alfonse's face contorted in pain in ways that I had previously thought was impossible. No…! If she completes her curse then there would be no way to save him this time!
"Aghh!" Al winced.
"A curse in the name of Hel, ruler of the dead." Hel said stoically
"So this… this is it…" he gasped
"Your father traded his life to extend yours. What idiocy."
Idiocy? That bitch! It's like she is trying to torture me even further. How dare she mock Gustav's sacrifice! If Gustav was an idiot like Hel claimed him to be then it would also make me an idiot. I balled up my fists and clenched my teeth in anger.
"It changes nothing, princeling. You will die yet."
"I suppose it must be as you say, Hel. Come on, then! Curse me" Alfonse taunted.
"Prince Alfonse! I beg you to consider what you are saying" I cried out
"I have, Summoner. I have already made my decision." Alfonse smirked at both Hel and I
"After nine days, as your father did, you too will die. Why do you smile, boy? Has fear driven you into madness?"
"Don't you understand Hel? You ought to know… it is your curse, after all. After nine days, I will certainly perish, but if the curse truly lasts nine days… that it is a period of time in which you cannot kill me." Alfonse smiled as if he knew he had won this exchange.
Hel looked at him with great displeasure … in fact I think she even scowled at him. If I wasn't pissed at both Hel and Al… then perhaps this would've made me feel weirdly turned on. Mostly because in the back of my mind the idea of Al putting a literal death god in her place makes me feel... almost weirdly possessive over him. I didn't know how to feel about that honestly.
Al then continued his little mini speech "I have already infiltrated your realm. I will learn how to defeat you. That knowledge lurks here, somewhere… and I won't need to seek you out once I find it. In nine days, you will appear before me once more. So lay your curse on me, ruler of the dead. I will gladly accept it, because it will mean your death in nine days time."
Seriously, I'm genuinely cheesed off at Al. He's playing way too fast and loose with his own life. The life I've sacrificed so much to protect. When this is over I'm going to plant my palm into his face at speeds, the likes of which, will have never been before seen by mortal eyes. I don't care if that makes me a hypocrite, I will make my message clear. He's getting way too cocky for his own good.
"What insolence! Do you not fear me? Do you not fear my curse? Do you not fear death? Very well then. I will rectify that. I withhold my curse. That will be too easy for you. Instead, I will carve the terror of death into your very bones. Then, and only then, will I reap your soul. I will start with the Summoner and then your sister… I will make you suffer." Hel then disappeared with the blink of an eye.
"Oh… she's gone now."
"Good. Because I will make sure you will suffer before Hel even lays a finger on you!" I said angrily.
"Huh? Kiran?"
"You heard me! You think you can play fast and loose with your life like that and then you think you can get away with it?" I then planted my fist right on the side of his face.
"By the divine dragons! Was that really necessary? Ow!"
"Kiran! You are supposed to slap him not punch him!" Sharena said while snickering at the sight of her own brother being sucker punched.
"Sharena! Don't encourage her!" Alfonse said grouchily while rubbing his cheek.
"Nope. Not listening. I agree with Kiran on this one"
"Sorry… I should've held back a bit there. Just… what were you thinking, doing that?" I asked while trying to hide my embarrassment. I could feel myself blushing.
"You would've done the same Kiran. I asked myself what you would do in my situation and it worked. I've seen how you've tricked people before, you know."
"God damnit Al, doing stupid and crazy stunts to win fights is my job! Just because I do it, doesn't mean you should copy me. That's downright insane!"
Al laughed "Perhaps you are right. By the way, you have a solid right hook. It's actually kind of impressive. Has anyone told you this before?"
"Er… um… they might've… a long time ago" I said while not looking straight at him. I would occasionally sneak a glance or two at him and I felt ashamed that I let my feelings get the better of me.
Mercedes and the rest of the Heroes just stood there, watching in disbelief of our entire exchange… all except for Chrom. He merely just put his hand on his shoulder, giving him a pitying look that said "I feel your pain." Afterwards, Mercedes jumped in and used her staff to heal his newly formed bruise. Ranulf just continued to watch in amusement.
"So um.. don't do it again ok? I love you and I won't stand aside if you risk yourself like that again." I said while hugging him
"I can't promise that if you are in danger, but I will keep that arm of yours in mind."
"I will admit that you did do a good job… with getting Hel to revoke the curse, I mean. If I wasn't upset at the moment, I might've given you a kiss instead."
"R-really? Um.. would you consider…?"
"I might reconsider next time… if you don't recklessly put yourself in danger next time" I smirked. I really wanted to kiss him right then and there but I just couldn't resist teasing him and making him squirm a little. Just a smidge.
Anna chuckled at this. "Sorry Alfonse, but it looks like you've been whipped. She got you good!"
Alfonse ignored Anna's little joke "O-of course… I will reconsider my actions next time, Kiran"
"Good. That is what I like to hear, Al. Anyways, we must press onwards! We got generals to defeat, information to gather and a death goddess to kill! And I am going to savor ever last minute her death. We'll make her regret ever setting foot in Askr!"
"Yes… I do like the sound of that. I'm with you until the end, Kiran."
"Save that for the wedding vows, Alfonse." Sharena snickered.
"T-that's not necessary Sharena! I… er… that is to say…" He struggled and stuttered.
"Don't worry Al, I feel the same way. We are in this thing together, you and me."
"Thanks." Al said finally relaxing.
"It's no problem... Especially when you are being so cute." I teased.
Just like that, it was as if PrinceAlfonse.exe had stopped working and windows was trying to find a solution. I feel like I may have been enjoying his reactions too much. His face was as red as a tomato and he was just frozen in place like a statue.
"Hey Anna, is it possible for me to buy some popcorn off of you? This is the best entertainment I've had since the last spring festival." Sharena said jokingly.
"I'll let you have a bag of it for free this time around. I have a feeling that I will be able to recoup the money for the popcorn later." Anna grinned as she somehow manages to pull a bag of unpopped popcorn out of one of her pockets and heated it up with a fire tome.
Al's brain finally managed to process what I had said to him and now he is trying to organize his mind well enough to make a comeback. It took him about five minutes before finally deciding on something to say.
"Well… if I am cute, then you are pretty! That would make us pretty cute."
I snorted, trying to hold back my laughter. It was the cheesiest thing to have ever come out of his mouth... ever. It was in that moment that I was kind of glad I was summoned in Askr. I wouldn't have been able to hear those exact words exit the lips of someone as serious as Al. It was super cute.
"Y-yeah. I guess that would make us pretty cute."
Sherena and Ana both simultaneously choked on the popcorn they were eating. Sharena looked at her brother and then at me in shock. I just shrugged at them. Al had won this round.
"Did… that… really just come out of my brother's mouth?" Sharena asked incredulously.
"Yup and it was the cheesiest and cutest thing he has said so far. It's moments like this one that really make all the fighting that we are doing worth everything and more."
"That is something that everyone here can agree on, myself included." Anna said.
"Then let's move forward so that we can make more moments like these happen in the future! Who's with me?" I shouted.
The rest of the group cheered enthusiastically as we headed even deeper into the Realm of the Dead. It's still strange to me that I have become a leader of some sort to this ragtag group of heroes but I intend on coming out of Hel alive and I will make damn sure that my friends will be there with me.
A/N:I think I have a problem. Everytime I try to write more serious chapters, it always goes back to Alfonse and Kiran fluff. Thank god I have my boyfriend giving me feedback otherwise it wouldve esculated waaay too quickly. Im trying to go for more of a slow burn effect. Also this was probably one of the chapters I was definately excited to write since I started writing this book 3 arc.
Also my next few chapters will probably will end up doing the jojo naming thing where the chapters are named after songs. Ive done it with a few other chapters previously but i feel like this is just a convenient way to make intresting names for chapters.