"Kiran, I am glad the both of you caught up with us." Alfonse beamed
"And I am glad that you are still not dead, which means you are following my orders for you." I said with a wink.
"I think you guys should tone down the flirting just a smidge. It's cute and all, but we are still in Hel you know?" Anna groaned.
"I'll have you know that Kiran instigates most of that…" Al mumbled.
"Oh yeah sure, blame me. It's not my fault that you're so goddamn charming and se- Er...actually yeah you're right. Point taken."
Sharena snickered.
"Either way, we need to keep going. We've got a bit of a ways to go and the enemy could show up any minute now. After everything that's happened lately, we need to be on high alert"
"Knock on wood. I just hope you didn't just jinx us somehow" I sighed.
"What does that even mean?" Anna looked at me with confusion.
"What?"
"Knock on wood." She clarified
"It's just a thing that some people back home do. Supposedly, knocking on wood twice or merely stating your intent to do so is supposed to ward off bad luck. Gramma did it all the time."
"Then perhaps I should try it." Alfonse mused.
"You don't have to do that, Al. It's just a superstition."
"We need all the luck we can get. It couldn't hurt to try. Besides, practising some of the customs you've mentioned over the years helps me understand you better. I hope that one day it will prepare me for the day we finally get to visit your homeworld."
"That's very sweet of you, Al. However, as much as I appreciate the gesture, Anna is right. We should get back to the task at hand. We've become too distracted"
"O-oh... of course. We need to focus on getting ourselves to Fort Gungnir alive. After that we leave for the library. I pray that we will find some of the answers I'm looking for." He looked deflated as if someone had pissed in his bowl of cheerios.
"Hey, please don't look so sad. You know that I'm just trying to look out for you. Once we achieve everything we need to rise victorious against Hel, we'll be free to court each other however we please. We could plan for your coronation, take each out on dates, anything you want I will follow."
"Somehow, just hearing that from you is such a huge relief for me. I don't plan on ascending the throne after we go back home. I dont think I'm up to the task just yet. Mother is still fit to rule so I will leave it to her for a bit."
"While I did promise your father that I will see you become king, he never did specify that it had to be right after the war ends. I will support your decision, assuming that you're not just dumping your responsibilities onto your mother without asking her first."
"Of course I wouldn't do that to her. Not when she would have to deal with the aftermath of Father's death. I plan on assisting her to relieve some of the pressure off of her."
"I fully support your decision. I personally think you're more than ready to rule, but I would not pressure you into doing something you don't feel ready for. We've come this far already, I think I can afford to wait a little longer to fulfill your father's wishes for you."
We continued to chat vigorously about our hopes for the future as we made our journey to the fort. The future is the only thing keeping us going right now. The idea that we'll one day send Hel packing so I can start the next chapter of my life in earnest. Alfonse seemed genuinely happy to talk about the future. Our future.
Unfortunately, that came to a grinding halt when Thrasir showed up right as we were about to reach our destination. It was always one of those two coming in to rain on my parade. I didn't care that they were just trying to revive their world. I was just so tired and exhausted from the journey that I felt emotionally numb about her reappearance.
There was also the issue of me still needing to recuperate from my last encounter with Líf. I was healed but that didn't mean that I was ready for another round of fighting.
"Not again…" I groaned.
"You are persistent but so is death. Sooner or later, all of you will perish."
"Unfortunately for you, it will be the latter. We won't be falling today" I hissed.
"Such empty words, coming from a mortal. It's best that you die here and now!" Thrasir's tome began to float mid-air as she activated it.
"Chrom, Alfonse, I want to you two face her head on. Eir, I want you to wear her down with your daggers. The rest of us will be dealing with any potential stragglers lurking around here. There's no doubt in my mind that she will have troops on standby."
"Simple and to the point. That's actually quite refreshing considering the schemes you've been pulling lately" Ranulf commented.
"Without my 'schemes', we all would've been dead by now. At least… that's what I keep telling myself anyways."
Alfonse nodded. "Short, simple and to the point is the best course of action here. As always, I will trust your judgment on this."
"You guys heard him. Now lets move out!"
Everyone nodded and got into their designated positions fairly quickly. Which was good because unlike Líf who was fettered by the past, Thrasir did not play around.
She went straight for the throat and bombarded me with blasts of her magic. It was only down to dumb luck that I managed to survive the onslaught at all. I definitely didn't come out unscathed either as I had several cuts that dotted my entire body. It was enough to soak my white summoner's cloak with splotches of crimson red all over it.
I called Mercedes over to my side for healing. She patched me up fairly quickly after which, I thanked her profusely. I directed Ranulf at a few enemies that seemed to pop out seemingly from thin air. He seemed to be quite enthusiastic about the fight, so it suited me just fine.
Eir had been throwing pot shots at Thrasir just as planned. Thrasir dodged a few of Eir's daggers using her slight speed advantage she had over Eir.
Chrom and Alfonse attacked Thrasir while she was distracted. Thrasir dodged and shot another spell at them. Everything felt like it was going smoothly. It was almost suspicious.
"Kiran come with me! We need your support!" It was Anna. She must've warped herself to me when I wasn't looking.
"Did something happen?"
"Well we took care of most of the troops but there's a Hero amongst their ranks. She's not too difficult to handle in a straight fight but she's… dedicated to her performance. She's scattering flower petals across the battlefield as we speak" Anna looked like she was very exhausted.
"Er… um and how does that even… actually never mind. Just take me to her and I'll try to sort it out. Perhaps I can try to reason with her and we could form a contract with her."
"We would still have to fight her, Kiran." Anna said dully.
"Do you have any better ideas then, Commander?" I huffed
"I think your plan will work, but it'll need a few adjustments. You try to talk her down and then I will defeat her myself. We'll need to defeat her to dissolve her contact with Hel before we can negotiate a contract with her."
"Ok, fair enough. Alright, take me with you, Anna. Do your warping thingy on me."
"Grab onto Nóatun, Kiran. We haven't got any time left to spare" she offered me part of her weapon's handle.
I grabbed it and suddenly everything looked as though it was melting and fading away. It was enough to make me feel like emptying the contents of my stomach from last night's dried up war rations. I cursed to myself and asked "Why does everything from this world seem to hate my guts?"
When we arrived, everything seemed to shift and bubble back into place. It felt like I was on some sort of drug trip. Honestly, I would've preferred a drug trip to being stuck in the middle of a fight in Hel, but I suppose beggars can't be choosers.
"Da da daaa dum! Great Hero Cynthia here! Prepare to meet my heroic math! Err… I mean wrath!"
I immediately facepalmed. So it was gonna be one of those fights. Before I knew it, I was being drowned in a flurry of sakura blossoms. This was definitely not how I thought I would meet my Maker, but apparently that's how the cookie was going to crumble. No amount of drugs could solve the amount of second hand embarrassment I had felt for the self proclaimed Hero.
"Cynthia, I don't know what Thrasir told you-"
"Líf and Thrasir told me that you are a bunch of murderous bandits that killed a bunch of people in their world! That makes you evil doers!" Cynthia pointed at me. Or more accurately she was pointing at the large pile of flower petals that was engulfing me at the moment.
"And you actually believed that? That's ridiculous!" I screamed as I clawed my way out of the seemingly never ending stream of petals. I briefly wondered if this was basically like the Hanahaki disease you see in fanfictions but in reverse and minus the unrequited love bit.
"Eeeyup! Chaaarrrrrgggge!" Cynthia announced as she charged straight for me.
"Anna do something! I'm kinda struggling to get out of this pile of flowers right now!" I screeched.
"I've got you covered, Kiran!" Anna said managing to deflect Cynthia's lance.
Ranulf tackled Cynthia's pegasus after Anna had successfully prevented Cynthia from turning me into a shish kabob.The result was Cynthia tumbling down off of her pegasus like life sized ragdoll.
Ranulf shifted back into his more human like form and shrugged at us. He was hoping to toy with our opponent for a little bit longer, it seemed. It was odd seeing him like this at times, considering that he was a good dude and all. I mentally filed it away in my mind for the moment.
"Heeeeeyyy! That's not fair! You brought a taguel into the fight, cheater!" Cynthia said as she used her lance to help herself back up. I sighed. It seems that she still wants to fight us.
"What's not fair is that you attacked when we did nothing wrong! We're the ones being attacked and killed! The Kingdom of Askr is suffering because of them!" I said exasperated.
"Nuh-uh! I'm not listening until you can prove it!"
"Why should the burden of proof fall on me when you are the one making the accusations? Where is the evidence for Líf and Thrasir's claims, huh?" I'm at a boiling point but I had to remind myself to stay as calm as possible.
"Huh? This place is Askr right? Lif used to be king here and then one day you killed everyone. The proof is right here in front of us! The dead kingdom!" Cynthia declared
"That doesn't prove anything. That only tells us the current state that this world is in. Think about this critically, Cynthia. How can a small squad such the one I'm commanding ever hope to commit such a large scale decimation of a whole kingdom?"
"Pretty easily, if your squad is as strong as the Shepherds! We took down an entire empire with just a few people. What do you think about that?" Cynthia grinned, still sure that she was right.
Well… actually she was right about the Shepherds. If I recall correctly, the Order of Heroes archives on the World of Awakening did mention the Shepherds defeating Walhart on the continent of Valm. While the Shepherds were larger than our current group… it wasn't a lot.
"Wait a minute! Anna I'm going to need you to bring Chrom here." Anna then nodded and left without a trace.
"Ranulf, I want you to swap places with Chrom!" I ordered.
"I like your plan already, Summoner. I have a feeling that this will get interesting." With that, he shifted into his more cat like form and sped on past me towards the general direction of where Thrasir would be.
"Mercedes, I want you to use your staff on Cynthia! Don't let her get back on her pegasus!" I smirked. Mercedes' gravity staff was perfect for situations like this.
"A-Alright, Kiran I trust you."
"Oohhhhh ohhh! What about me, Sis?"
I could feel myself blush as Sharena referred to herself as my sister. I don't know why, but it made me feel happy. I suppose… even if by some cruel twist of fate, Al and I don't end up marrying each other, she would still be like the little sister that I never had. I… I could get used to this feeling.
"You get to be my personal bodyguard. The only other person who gets this honor is Al so…" I smirked at her mischievously.
"Yes! I'll be better at it than he is!"
"Just don't let your brother hear that."
"Alfonse will learn to deal with it. It's not as if I'm going to steal you away from him or anything. He'll have plenty of opportunities to play bodyguard anyway." She smirked.
"In any case, I know I can count on you"
Sharena gave me a thumbs up. She seemed very proud of herself and I couldn't help but feel the same way. Mercedes pulled out her staff and used it against Cynthia, who was regaining her strength. With the gravity staff, she would have a hard time standing let alone get back up on her pegasus. Her loyal steed was still nursing the wounds it had previously received from Ranulf.
"Hey no fair!" Cynthia protested.
"I'm sorry. This is war unfortunately. There's no doubt in my mind that you really are a good person and a great hero, but I value my life and the lives of my friends. To protect what is dear to me, I will do anything I can to protect them. That includes restraining those who threaten us. It's nothing personal, I hope you understand. We… just want to free you of the contract that Líf and Thrasir forged with you."
"Kiran… Aren't we supposed to be more diplomatic than this?" Sharena questioned.
"I know. It's just… I don't have a lot of options here at the moment. It's... complicated. I cannot falter in my purpose here. There's too much at stake for me to take chances. I just wish it doesn't have to be this way. Chrom… please hurry!" I whispered the last sentence to myself.
Chrom arrived promptly afterwards. I thanked the divine dragon Askr for Chrom's swift arrival. I wasn't especially fond of the dragon god, but he was the kingdom's patron deity, so it felt appropriate.
"Kiran, Anna said you needed my help. What's going on?"
"This Hero says she's one of the Shepherds. I was hoping you could help diffuse this… interesting situation I'm finding myself in. Do you recognize her?"
Chrom nodded "She is my daughter."
It took me a while to process the information since the other Chrom was married to female Robin. Summoning heroes from different timelines can easily become confusing very quickly.
"Oh. I see… um… I suppose I will release her now. It would be cruel for me to keep her restrained for much longer. Mercedes, you can stop now." I sighed
Cynthia got up back on her feet, using her lance to help regain balance and to put her weight on it. The crash really took a toll on her.
"Daddy? Is that really you?"
"Take it easy, Cynthia. That was quite the fight you must've been through. Your mom would be proud."
"Am I still your Pega Pony Princess?" She asked softly.
"Er… Yes, of course you are." Chrom said awkwardly.
I snorted in an attempt to stifle my laughter. I couldn't help it. I kept on imagining an older Chrom calling her by that nickname. It was kinda cute if you put it in the context of Chrom taking care of a five year old Cynthia, but it just didn't seem like something Chrom would do. I guess having kids really does change you after a while.
"What's so funny? We're still in the middle of a battle you know!" Chrom was practically lecturing me in an attempt to hide his embarrassment.
"Right. I suppose we should make this quick. Cynthia, if you are willing, I would like to extend an invitation for you to join the Order of Heroes. We are currently fighting for Askr's past, present and future. We are fighting Death herself and I-"
"Done!" Cynthia took my hand and shook it.
"Huh? Are you sure? You were so certain earlier that we were bandits that I thought it would've taken bit longer for you to agree to help us"
"Yep! You have my dad and that's all the proof I need! Daddy would never side with a group of bandits! You can count on me!"
I felt the strange yet familiar feeling of a warm buzzing sensation surrounding me. The contract had been made.
"Welcome to the Order of Heroes, Princess Cynthia."
"Yup! I'm sorry about what happened earlier…"
"It's no problem for me, really. I might not be much in a fight, but I would like to believe that I am tough enough to survive anything you can dish out." I said with an air of confidence.
"Should we go and provide support to the others now? They are still fighting Thrasir aren't they?" Mercedes asked.
"I was getting to that, but you're right as always Mercedes." I nodded in agreement.
"Thank you, Kiran. You're very sweet. It was no trouble at all." Mercedes blushed, enjoying the praise I was showering on her.
"Well you guys know what to do next, right? Let's all give her a taste of our full strength!" I rallied out to all of the Heroes standing before me.
I rushed over to Al's side, quick as the wind. Even he was surprised at my speedy arrival. I just couldn't help but worry about him even if he is more than capable of fighting Thrasir. I ordered Mercedes to heal any injuries that needed to be treated. While none of them were badly wounded, it was best that we took care of them anyway.
Thrasir did not look pleased to see me in particular. Her eyes studied me as if she was analyzing my every move.
"Why are you here, Summoner?"
"What is that supposed to even mean?"
"Oh, nothing. Just wondering how Líf can't even manage to kill you. You're so weak, it's pitiful."
"Lalalalala! I'm not listening!" I responded childishly. I really wasn't in the mood to deal with this crap.
"So you don't even deny it. You should've stayed in that castle you know. You don't do any of the fighting. Look at you holding a knife. Very intimidating. I am sure you'll be able defend your darling prince with that. I'm sure that you trained so hard" Thrasir insulted me once more as she prepared to sling a spell at me.
"Chrom, I need you to flank Thrasir. Ranulf you attack from the left!" I shouted out, trying to keep myself busy. I knew what she was trying to do and I wasn't stupid enough to fall for it.
"You say you will protect Prince Alfonse but how can you when you can't even use that knife properly? Face it Summoner, the only you're good at is making him do everything for you. Must be nice to have a prince wait on you hand and foot everyday"
No… that's not true… Al protects me because he wants to. I… no… I can't let her get the better of me. So what if I am weak? I'm still the tactician here. I must keep a clear focus.
"Kiran, please stay focused! Don't let her get to you" Alfonse said protectively.
"I won't. She's only trying to hit the low hanging fruit anyway so who cares? She can say all she wants about me." I said while grinding my teeth
Thrasir smirked as she shot a spell at me. Alfonse immediately went in to deflect it with his shield. He has saved me countless times while I…
"This is exactly what I am talking about. The prince is a guard dog protecting his owner. Like an attention starved puppy." She continued to taunt me.
"That's enough!" Those two words slipped through my mouth before I had time to think.
"Kiran, don't pay attention to what she is saying. She can say anything she wants but we've got to focus!"
"To hell with that!" I screamed.
The rational side of me agreed with Alfonse. The rational side of me tried to stop myself from falling for Thrasir's obvious trap. The rest of me wanted to bust a cap in Thrasir's glowing red ass. Too bad I didn't have my glock with me.
"Kiran don't do this!"
Unfortunately for Alfonse, I was already seeing red and rage made everything go in one ear and out the other. That wench just basically called my prince a bitch! How dare she insult him like that?
Before I knew it my mind went absolutely blank and my body just launched itself at her. I really am an idiot for letting this get to me. Alfonse tried to hold me back but out of sheer stubbornness and willpower, I managed to break out of the firm hold he had on me.
"You can insult me all you want because I dont give a flying fuck! I already know I'm useless in fight, but dont you dare bring Alfonse into this you fucking worthless piece of trash!" I yelled at her.
"I can and I will do just that, dear Summoner. You can play being 'The Great Hero' all you want, but in the end all you can do is hide behind the prince. He hasn't even denied that he likes being the knight in shining armor for the useless damsel in distress."
"Princess Eir, can you remove Kiran from the situation? She's going to get herself hurt if we don't do something" Al panicked.
"Screw that noise!" I said as I threw my dagger at the offending sorceress.
She simply stepped to the side and my dagger missed its intended target. Eir's pegasus descended close where I was standing. I was too busy frothing at the mouth to notice Eir approaching me and grabbing by the arms. Eir was silent as death. Actually she was more silent than death. Hel and her loudmouthed brat for a general both seemed to like the sounds of their voices.
"Kiran, it's time to go! You need to get to safety!" Eir pleaded. Were I in my right mind at that moment, that sad look on her face would've made me comply. However, I was blinded by hatred and frustration.
"No. I won't wait around in the back with Mercedes. My place is here supporting the Heros and giving out orders. I can't just-"
"You need to let go, Kiran. You're not thinking clearly. Please let me take you to safety!" Eir cried.
"I can't! That wench needs to be wiped out from existence. I can't do that from the sidelines!" I snapped.
Thrasir slung another spell at me. I wasn't going to be able to move on time. I braced myself for impact but it never came. Eir shielded and took the brunt of the hit.
"Gods damn it all! Eir! Are you alright?"
"I-I'm alive, but I'm no longer in shape to continue fighting," Eir breathed heavily.
"Damn it all! I really am a fucking idiot! Mercedes! We need healing STAT!"
Mercedes rushed over as quickly as she could and worked her healing magic on Eir's wounds. I eyed Lyfjaberg for a brief moment. Would I be able to use them for myself? My own dagger was still on the ground over by where Thrasir was and it would be too dangerous for me to try to take it back without help.
"If you must fight, then you should have someone with you. Take these. I wish to be of use to you." Eir said weakly.
I took both of her daggers and quickly hugged her before I faced the battlefield once more.
"Cynthia! I could use a hand here! We're about to do something that's either super heroic or something completely foolish. That's if you'll allow me to hitch a ride on your pegasus, of course"
"Awesome! I can see why you are the leader here, Kiran."
"That's not… you know what? Nevermind. I am the tactician of this army, so it would only be natural that I help command the Heroes."
"Stop being so silly Kiran. Come on! Get on my pegasus. Andromeda wont hurt you one bit" Cynthia said cheerfully referring to her pegasus.
Without hesitation, I hopped onto Andromeda's back. With Lyfjaberg in both my hands I stared Thrasir down, deaf to Alfonse's desperate cries for me to retreat. I couldn't do as I was told. My body still felt like it was on autopilot. I could still feel the adrenaline pumping through my veins, clouding my mind and my judgment.
There were only three things I knew were certain. First off, I was still ready to cut a bitch. Two, I was being stupid for playing into this trap in the first place. Three… Alfonse wasn't going to let me on the battlefield anymore after this.
I told Cynthia exactly what I had in mind for this assault on Thrasir. She grinned at me and told me that it was an entrance befitting of the most daring of Heroes and that she was totally all in on this. We ascended high into the air. Once we ascended high enough we dove downwards straight towards Thrasir. I threw one of the daggers that I had borrowed straight at her. When she dodged I had Cynthia pin her down with her lance. I then jumped off Andromeda and landed right on top of Thrasir. I think I may have heard a few of my bones crack on impact, but I barely felt a thing. All that mattered in that moment was that I had a dagger renting against Thrasir's throat.
"Of course. Interesting maneuver." Thrasir muttered.
"I might be useless… but I'll be damned if you speak of my Alfonse like that again, mark my fucking words."
"I will give you this, just this once. That mind of yours is your only redeeming quality. Goodbye for now, Summoner" Thrasir used a warp spell and disappeared from under me.
I fell over due to the lack of Thrasir's body being under me. I screamed like a banshee as the pain had finally settled in. It definitely wasn't my proudest moment and I was sure everyone thought I was deranged and unhinged. I definitely didn't feel anything like myself then. Several people rushed over to my side, asking me if I was ok. I knew that I wasn't ok and it was obvious to everyone around me. I smiled at them weakly before collapsing onto ground and blacking out.
A/N:Sorry for not getting this out sooner. I had a tough time writing this one since FEH doesn't really expand on Thrasir's character very much and writing fight scenes are still not my strong suit. With that said I think I'm improving.I will likely be updating The Modern Shorts soonish, so do look forward to that.Also, I have another announcement. I now have an Ao3 account under the same pen name I'm using here. I haven't uploaded anything but I do have some specific plans for it in mind. I'll be cross posting a new fic on here and Ao3. Plot bunnies happened and this fic just so happened to be a good place to start. Ao3 will probably also be the place where i put a separate companion piece to this fic. However, there is a reason that it will be on Ao3 and not here. It will contain... more explicit material. Luckily for anyone disinterested in reading that sort of thing won't need to read it to understand what will be happening here. It definitely be canon but it'll separate from this one. I'm not fully committed to it yet and I am not at the point in this fic where it happens so it'll be a while before I even start writing that. Anyway thanks for sticking with me this far. I never imagined that I would get any attention from this at all, but I am glad I stuck to it for this long. More importantly, I will see this through to the end.P.S if you watch Mangs on YouTube you might find a fire emblem meme that I have hidden near the end. If you find it, you get an internet cookie.