I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes as I woke up to Alfonse hugging me tightly in his sleep. He never was an early riser. At least, not naturally. I smiled while still shaking off the drowsiness that I was still feeling. The nightmares seemed to go away when we cuddle together in our sleep. It made me feel warm and protected enough to sleep uninterrupted by whatever fucked up shit my brain usually likes to cook up while we are in Helheim.

I knew that I had work to do, but I didn't want to move from the warmth he provided. I wanted to stay in his arms forever and forget all of my problems. I wanted to press my body up against his more so that he would never let me go.

I carefully shifted my body to face his and I think my heart melted. He looked so peaceful in his sleep. If I wanted to, I could have kissed him on the lips. They looked soft and inviting. In the end, I decided that watching him sleep was enough for me. I was afraid that if I did kiss him then and there, that I would wake him up. I didn't want that to happen. He needed the extra sleep as much as I did.

An hour passed by, and during that time, he had pulled me in close to him in his sleep. It was as if he were afraid that I was going to fade away from existence if he didn't hold on to me. At one point, his entire body wrapped itself around my own. I could barely move for fear of waking him up. Escape was not an option.

A loud grumble echoed through the room. "Right, sustenance." I thought before I ran my fingers through his deep blue hair. It was time to wake him up. His eyes slowly fluttered open and he let out a deep sigh.

"Not now, Kiran. Five more minutes…"

"Alright but I'm leaving for breakfast."

"No. Don't…"

"But I am hungry!" I protested.

"Stay with me…"

My stomach gurgled once more. I kissed Alfonse on the forehead and wrestled my way out of bed. Al grumbled and sat up on the bed. I chuckled after noticing that he had a case of extreme bed hair.

"I wish we could've stayed like that forever." He sighed.

"Well it wouldn't bode well for everyone if the summoner died of starvation of all things. Besides, I bet that you're hungry too"

"Well I do feel a bit peckish…"

"Then let's eat together. I know it won't be much, but food is food."

"I will throw a feast to celebrate our victory when we go back home. One with the best foods that Askr has to offer." Alfonse mused.

"I'm surprised that you would throw a feast yourself. Not that I would complain or anything, it's just that Sharena is usually the one to be throwing parties."

"I know. I know how much it'll mean to you. This war has been particularly rough on everyone but I've seen the faces you make when you eat those dried food rations."

"Well quite frankly, they taste horrendous. It's like I'm eating sand or something."

"I have no comment on that."

"That just means that you do have a comment, but you're too nice to actually say it"

"Do I really need to say it?"

"You can be honest with me. I can take it."

"A bag of flour is not a food ration."

"Hey, if it worked for Lukas and the Deliverance, then I'll live just fine."

"Please just eat the regular food Kiran. You need proper food. At least ask Anna to make bread for you instead."

"No. She'd just charge me money for that."

Alfonse sighed and shook his head at me. He looked at me dead straight into my eyes and paused for what seemed like an eternity.

"What am I going to do with you?"

"Everything, if the universe permits it" I joked.

"Th-That sounds… wonderful" he gulped nervously. He looked away for a moment, and muttered something under his breath.

"Oh… right. I suppose that does sound a little suggestive. My apologies."

"I did mean what I said, my love. By the gods, I really do hope that we do everything together."

I fervently kissed him in response and pulled him into my embrace. He returned my kiss with an equal amount of enthusiasm. He quickly melted into my touch, as if he were putty in my hands. I mindlessly ran my fingers through his soft hair as my tongue cautiously prodded his lips, seeking entrance. He obliged, and I happily worked my magic on him.

Our tongues intertwined and I could feel my heart beat slightly faster. Alfonse let out a low groan as we savored each other's touch. After a while, we eventually had to separate from the kiss to breathe.

"K-Kiran I think that we should stop for now."

"Am I going too fast for you?"

"N-no that's not… I know that I want this, but we've got work to do. We are still in Hel a-and more importantly… Breakfast will be over soon. I'm worried that you aren't getting any proper food"

I had a gut feeling that something was off. However, I decided that I would bring it up at a later time. As much as I didn't want to admit it, Alfonse was right on both points. It was then that my stomach loudly announced that it was hungry once more.

Alfonse nervously chuckled "Even your stomach agrees with me. Go on ahead without me. I have a few things I need to take care of first. I'll join you later to make sure you're eating properly."

"Are you sure? I can wait a little longer and I might be able to help you."

He shook his head. "N-no you should focus on yourself for now. You're going to need all of your strength for the summoning session today"

"Alright, if it would ease your worries, then I will head down to the mess hall and find something to eat. In exchange, I would like one more kiss. For good luck" I teased.

"R-right… that does sound fair enough. I w-wouldn't mind giving you another kiss…" He leaned in and gave me a soft peck on the lips.

"I love you, Alfonse. I really do. I will talk to you later."

"I'll be there as soon as I can. I love you too."

I quickly put my hair up in my usual ponytail and left for the mess hall. It made me happy knowing that Alfonse cares about my wellbeing. Well, of course, any good friend and lover would worry about the wellbeing of the people they care about. I just liked the attention that he was giving me. While I had resolved to reduce the stress that I had been causing him as of late, I couldn't help but wonder… how could I get him to hug me more? To kiss me more? To hear him tell me that he loved me?

I wanted more of it, but I felt as though maybe I was going too fast. I was worried that Al would try to hide his discomfort from me for my benefit. Of course, I wasn't going to force him to do anything he wasn't ready for, but I was confident that I would be able to get him to open up to me even more. I felt like I could tackle the whole world so long as he was at my side.

Even so, I could not shake the feeling that I was being watched. I scanned the area as I walked through the corridor to make sure I wasn't being followed. I decided that it was best to make haste and join the others for breakfast.

"Kiran! You're just in time! Ranulf made you breakfast!" Anna cheered.

"I didn't know that he could cook"

"I'm not much of a cook, but it's probably miles better than that bag of flour you were eating a few days ago. Neither beorc nor laguz survive on a bag of flour alone. Now eat up or your breakfast is going to get cold."

"Yessir. Right away sir!"

Ranulf looked at me as if he thought I was acting strangely. He gave me some fried eggs and bacon. It smelled so good and I had honestly forgotten what real food had tasted like. I ended up scarfing it all down in under three minutes.

"I'm not going to even ask how you managed to get fresh eggs and bacon, but that really felt good. I could go for some more, but I don't want to eat all of our food in one fell swoop."

"Trust me, you won't eat everything. I'm sure that Prince Alfonse has already told you this, but you need to rely on us more. I'm always available, you know? I willingly agreed to your contract because I have a feeling that I am going to witness you do something truly amazing."

"I guess I will do everything I can to meet your expectations."

"It's not about meeting my expectations, Kiran. I just want to help a friend."

"Oh… right. Gods, I just feel so awkward asking for help sometimes."

Ranulf shook his head. "You beorc are really strange. If you need help, then you need help. Simple as that."

"People are complicated. That's just how the cookie crumbles."

"You are strange for a beorc."

"Well you aren't wrong. Being able to pull powerful heroes from different worlds is not a skill most of us would possess" I lightly chuckled.

"That's not exactly what I was referring to, but that's true. You're the only one I've met that can do that."

"Then what are you referring to?"

"Your weird sayings, the way you command your troops, the way you seem to self sabotage yourself and put others above yourself… that is is just to name few of the odd quirks you have"

"Oh… right. I suppose that I need to work on that more."

"And your friends will be here at every step of the way. And if you need to, you can call on me to help you out. I can turn into a big cat if you need a bit of extra muscle."

"Purrrfect."

"Oh dear Asura, why?"

"I couldn't help but drop in a bad pun. It was too good to pass up."

"That pun was cat-astrophic, Kiran. Do better next time." Ranulf snickered.

Anna visibly flinched at our a-paw-ling exchange of paw-ful cat related puns. Sharena, who had been watching our exchange the entire time, snickered at Anna's reaction.

"Well at least you are well enough to crack terrible jokes" she shrugged.

"At your service as always, Boss." I said while giving her a mock curtsey.

"I'm docking your pay." Anna said with a deadpan

"...You make an excellent point."

"I thought so. I'll be looking forward to our little shindig later by the way"

"What shindig?"

"Cynthia invited all of us girls to hangout together. She also mentioned that Alfonse has ordered you to go so…" Anna winked.

"I still think this is a bad idea… we could get ambushed."

"It is a bit strange to be doing this while we're in Hel, but we'll all be together and we'll be armed. If we get ambushed, we'll be ready."

"I still cant believe that he's making me…" I mumbled.

"I can. Up until yesterday, I have never seen him as upset as he was since the day Veronica kidnapped you."

"Sharena said something similar about him volunteering to be my personal bodyguard whenever he was able to. At the time, he was still pulling his cold and aloof act. Back then, I thought that he only kept me around because I was a precious war asset. I'm just glad that it was not true"

"He was definitely worried about you. I don't think he ever thought of you as just a tool for war, not even when you two weren't getting along as well as you do now."

"I second that one! My brother was just being stubborn and stuff back then, but he obviously warmed up to you eventually."

"I'm glad that you could join us, Sharena." "Of course I would join you! You had us all worried you know?"

"Yeah... Alfonse kinda ordered Cynthia to keep watch over me. It's kinda embarrassing…"

"I'm going to have to agree with Alfonse on this one. You've been tossed around, beaten, almost strangled to death, and yesterday you woke up after breaking half of your bones. Also… Cynthia mentioned a sleepover party and I want first dibs on doing your hair."

"I don't think that-"

"Too bad I'm doing it anyways! You always wear your hair in a boring ponytail. With pretty hair like yours, it should be a fashion crime!"

"I don't normally have a lot of time to do anything complicated with my hair. A ponytail is quick, easy, and it keeps my hair out of my face"

"You sounded just like my brother. All practical and with no thought into the aesthetics of things!"

"I'll have you know that before I came here, I actually was really good with makeup. The looks I usually do are a bit extreme looking though. I actually used to do my hair a lot too."

"That's actually very surprising… you never seemed to be the type to care all that much about your looks" Anna said.

"It's just that I was just starting university and I was up to my eyeballs in homework and essay papers that I had to make the decision to cut down on the time I spent on doing my morning makeup and hair routine. I used to dye my hair platinum blonde but I couldn't afford to spend time maintaining it, so I grew it out and slowly trimmed it out. That's why the ends of my hair are still blonde. I just never got around to trimming the last of the hair dye out."

"Wait… you mean that your hair doesn't naturally have blonde tips?" Sharena looked at me all wide eyed.

"No one is naturally born brunette with blonde tips where I'm from. Most people are brown, blonde, black or red unless they dye their hair. I used to think that Al dyed his hair until I saw your dad. Blue isn't a color that screams 'natural hair' color to me"

"Now that you mention it… Kiran your homeworld is very different from everyone else's. At least that's what these two told me before." Ranulf said pointing at the princess and the commander.

"Yeah, that's pretty much the gist of it."

"Are there laguz in your world?"

"The short answer is no. The long answer is that we have several legends of dragons and people who shape-shift into wolves and other creatures, but they are nothing more but legends."

"I still can't wrap my mind around the fact that magic doesn't exist in your world either. Magic is super convenient sometimes, so I find it hard to imagine life without it." Sharena chirped.

"We do have tools and stuff that kinda circumvent the need for it. Too bad we don't have a technological version of the warp spell. That would've been pretty great, not going to lie. I bet someone would've made it so it would be capable of warping people to the otherside of the world. It would be much more convenient than airplanes for sure"

"Airplanes?" Ranulf asked

"They are vehicles that can fly across the sky. The humans of my world use to travel across the world. It's actually one of the fastest ways to travel long distances, but the rides can generally be unfun to deal with because the other passengers aren't always the most polite or there's a baby screaming it's head off. Can you imagine sitting in a seat for long periods of time while some unruly kid from a seat behind you decided it would be funny if he kicked the back of your seat nonstop?"

"Yeesh that sounds like tourture" Anna commented

"Because it honestly is sometimes." I chuckled.

Alfonse then entered the room and walked over to us to join in on our group conversation. I smiled at him warmly and invited him to stand next to me with a simple gesture.

"My apologies for being so late. I'm glad that you arrived here safely."

"It's no problem at, Al. You got yourself all sorted out, right?"

Alfonse looked at me awkwardly. His face flushed red and he looked a bit embarrassed. "Y-yes, of course. I just needed a bit of time to wash up and fix my hair, that's all"

"Well… you do clean up rather nicely. Though I thought you looked cute when you had your hair all messed up." I teased.

"A-anyway… What was everyone talking about before I got here?"

"Airplanes, Al. People in my world can use them to fly across the world."

"Oh! So you were talking about your homeworld then?"

"Yeah. They were asking me questions about it and I answered them."

"Oh… I see." He mumbled.

"Al… you can ask me anything about my world whenever you want."

"Oh... of course. It's just that… I wish that you would talk to me about it more often."

"If that's all that you want then I will happily talk about anything you want. I know that knowing so little about my past can be a bit disconcerting, especially since we are dating now."

"Dating?" Alfonse looked at me confused.

"Yeah. You know, when two people love each other very much and they do romantic stuff together but they aren't married yet. You know… dating?"

"Oh, so that's what the kids are calling it these days…"

I snorted trying to hold back my laughter. He sometimes sounds like a middle-aged man baffled by the slang his kids use.

"Al… I'm not a kid. In fact I'm a year and a half older than you!" I chuckled

"Well then it must be another term from your world. I call it a courtship."

"Courting sounds super stiff and formal to me, so it's not a term I usually use to describe a romantic relationship"

"O-oh. I've always thought of it as just something where you're pursuing a relationship together with the intent on possibly getting married." He blushed

"Oh and is that what you intend on doing?" I teased.

"K-kiran! Th-that's…"

"I'm just teasing, Al. You don't have to have an answer for that right now."

"Well… I don't have an answer for that just yet. This is just so new to me. I do know that the thought of you leaving me is terrifying. More than that… I find myself constantly thinking about you and worrying about you. How could I not, when you're so smart, kind and beautiful?"

"Smooth moves there, Alfonse. She's totally speechless!" Sharena said with approval. Ranulf gave Al a thumbs up while giving the both of us a toothy grin.

"W-wow… you really do think that I'm all of that?" My face was beginning to feel like it was heating up.

"Yes, I do. If I may, I'd be as bold as to suggest that you should show me your face more often. I know that you do it as a way to protect yourself from our enemies but… it's a selfish wish of mine."

"Well… I guess it couldn't hurt. I know that I eventually won't be able to hide my face forever." I then lowered my hood down to reveal my face to everyone in the room.

"Come to think of it, I've rarely seen you without that hood covering your face. What's that all about?" Asked Ranulf.

"Well I have a few reasons but… if no one knows what I actually look like, then most people would only be able to identify me as the summoner if I'm wearing the summoner's clothes. It makes it easier for me to go out to the capital wearing nothing but my civilian clothes. I'm less likely to be targeted if no one can pick me out from the crowd"

"Ahh… now that makes a bit of sense. So why do you say that you wouldn't be able to hide your face for much longer if it's so important that you maintain your anonymity?"

"Well in theory, if I were to continue courting Alfonse and eventually marry him… I don't think having a faceless queen would be something that would endear the Askran people to me. It would be difficult to do my job if the people couldn't trust me."

"You've already thought that far???" Anna asked.

"Well, I'm not a tactician for nothing." I shrugged awkwardly.

Alfonse let out a slight chuckle. "Now that, I believe. It makes me very happy that the woman that I fell in love with is already making considerations for the people of Askr."

Alfonse then pulled me in close and wrapped one of his arms around my waist. I was shocked at how bold he was being. I had thought that he was the kind of person to want to keep the PDAs down to a minimum. My body just sort of froze in place. I don't know why I did, but the best way I could describe the feeling was that it felt as though my entire brain blue screened itself. It wasn't too bad though.

"Kiran? Is something wrong?" Al pulled me into a full embrace as if it would somehow get me to snap out of it.

"I think you left her speechless." Sharena teased.

"Kiran… I didn't hurt you, did I?"

"N-no. I really liked it. I was just surprised" I finally managed to say.

"Oh, thank the gods." He let out a sigh of relief.

"Alfonse…"

"Yes, my love?"

"You haven't eaten yet. I already ate, so we should hurry up so we can do the summoning like we planned. I'm not saying that I don't want to continue chatting with you and everyone else, but we still have a job to do."

"R-right. Will you sit with me while I eat? I just… would like to be with you as much as I can today. I apologize if I'm being too clingy today but-"

"It's no problem, Al. I would love to sit with you. You said it yourself, this is all new to you and objectively, we picked a horrendous time to enter a romantic relationship. Though, I really want to kick myself in the rear end for waiting for as long as I did to tell you how I really felt about you. I had the biggest crush on you for two years, and I could've told you at anypoint between then and now."

"And why didn't you?" He asked wryly.

"Well there were a few attempts, but most of the time I was telling myself that it wouldn't work out for one reason or another. At first it was 'He's the prince and I'm the tactician. It would be unprofessional of me to attempt to pursue a relationship with him.' After that it was 'He probably only sees me as a friend'. I spent so much time trying to sus out whether or not you actually felt the same way that when you fell to Hel's curse… I thought that if I had told you then, you would've spent your last living days in agony. I had stupidly thought it was best that you remained blissfully ignorant of the feelings I had. I think I did a terrible job of hiding it towards the end, though." I laughed nervously.

"I'm glad that you stopped hiding it. Because… I was starting to finally realize that I had feelings for you. Well… it would be more accurate to say that I finally understood what I had been feeling for a while. I'm not sure when I started to fall for you, but when you started visiting me while I was under Hel's curse, that was when it finally clicked for me. I was never more terrified in my life. I had truly thought that I had realized far too late and that I would never see you again after I die." Alfonse took a bite of an apple while trying to hide the fact that he was obviously feeling embarrassed.

"Did you know that I did try to tell you once at the Day of Devotion festival?"

"Wait… so all of that gibberish that you were saying… that was you making an attempt to confess your feelings to me?"

"Y-yes" I admitted sheepishly.

Alfonse started to laugh at our past selves' awkward shenanigans. "I wish I was more observant back then."

"You laugh but when you brought me to see Tharja and Henry, I had to explain to them that I had a crush on you and that I was trying to ask you out on a date, but couldn't because I was too much of a nervous wreck. Tharja followed me around for several days offering to hex you into liking me."

"Er… sorry about that. I was just concerned about you and… I was a fool for not realizing it."

"Damn right. You owe me a date big time. You can't worm your way out of it either. It doesn't have to be fancy or anything."

"Why would I not want to take you out somewhere nice?"

"Then I'll be looking forward to it"

Alfonse took a few more bites out of his apple. He would sometimes stop eating and look at me. He seemed content. I gently took his free hand and held it in one of my own.

"H-hey Kiran…"

"Yes?"

"C-can we walk together to the chapel like this?"

"Oh is that where we are doing the summoning?"

"Y-yes. Breidablik is a divine weapon, so it would make sense if we did it in a spot dedicated to the dragon god Askr."

"Yeah that does make sense. I'm just surprised that the royal family even bothered to put in a whole chapel inside a fort."

"It's a cultural and religious thing for Askrans. The royal knights and soldiers tend to turn to Askr for guidance and protection during times of war, so more often than not, we find the need to build rooms where the knights can dedicate their time to Him. We have one in the Order's castle too." Al beamed at me, happy to teach me more about Askran culture.

"Oh I never noticed it. I'm not particularly religious, so I never needed to look for it"

"Well, when we go home for real, I'll show you the one in the main castle too. It's the largest one, but it's mainly used for major ceremonies."

"Like what kind of ceremonies? I know you said they were important but…"

"W-well, it's mainly used for royal weddings and when a birth in the royal family occurs. It's also used to bless the harvest during the harvest season, to pray for the welfare of the kingdom at the end of the year. That's just to name a few things."

"Yeah I guess it does make sense. I'm glad that you are telling me more about the culture of Askr. I think I'm slowly getting a hang of it but I do still worry that I'll accidentally say or do something that people see as a cultural taboo. Three years is not a very long time to fully understand everything about a particular culture. I've learned some things by osmosis but I really hope that I won't cause some sort diplomatic or political scandal because of a cultural misunderstanding"

"Of course, it would be my pleasure to continue to teach you things along the way. I'd like to teach you everything I know. You are one of the few who could listen to me talk about the things I learn about from the library and not get bored."

"It's just that everything is so different in Zenith. It's like reexperiencing the world for the first time. I can't help but find everything interesting sometimes. Well, and it also helps that you have a soothing reading voice when we read together. I like your voice in general, though. I think it's attractive."

"You always seem to find something about me that's attractive to you. I could take up something like knitting and you'll find a way to praise me. I'm not complaining, though. I think it's cute and it makes me feel warm on the inside"

"I'm only telling you the truth, Al. I think that you are really amazing."

"Thank you. I think that you are even more amazing, my love."

"I-It's not really a competition, you know. Are you almost done with your food or are you just going to continue to flirt with me?"

"Flirting sounds good." Al said smugly.

"W-we need to leave."

"That's fine, because I can continue to flirt with you on the way there."

"Y-you're incorrigible." I muttered

"I'm only giving you a taste of your own medicine. I am starting to see why you enjoy teasing me now."

"Fair enough… but we should really get going now. Our enemies aren't going to wait for us to jump on each other's bones and pop out a kid before deciding to attack us. We must prepare for the next fight soon."

"I know, Kiran. As much as I would like to 'jump your bones' as you call it, we won't be trying for kids anytime soon. There's just too much at stake right now for us to be doing that sort of thing"

"But you admit that you want to. You're a lot bolder than I give you credit for." It was my turn again to be smug.

Alfonse's entire face lit up red in embarrassment. He opened his mouth to protest, but could not find the strength to do so. I took this as an opportunity to coax him into leaving the dining hall with me.

"Which way are we supposed to be going? I have no idea where everything is here"

"Down the hallway, second to the right."

"Thank you, my love."

"Kiran, would it be alright if we held hands?"

I gently took his hand into my own without a single second thought. I smirked at him "Oh, you mean like this?"

"Y-yes. Exactly like that."

"Good. Lead the way my prince."

"Of course. It's this way."

Alfonse then led me down the hallway, and through a door. There, I was greeted by an altar. I was made of wood, but it had delicate carved details in it that were very pleasing to look at. The windows were stained glass but everything else in the chapel was simple. My guess is that they had to strike a balance between costs and aesthetics. Anything more opulent wouldn't make sense for a chapel inside of a small fortress, but you would still want to give the people entering it a sense of being surrounded by a divine presence of some sort.

It would've been absolutely beautiful if it weren't for the fact everything was covered in a thick layer of dust from years of disuse. A few of the pews were crumbled away into large chunks. It was yet another grim reminder of where we really were. A reminder that this wasn't our Askr.

"I bet our Fort Gungnir's chapel looks even more beautiful than this. To see it all in disrepair… I just…"

"I know. It's a portent of what's to come if we fail. Everything that we cherish, gone within the blink of an eye. It's enough to send a slight chill down my spine."

"Then let's see to it that we do not fail. To protect the things that matter the most."

"That somehow reminds me of something. Where is Mercedes? I told her where we're going to be before I went to the Mess Hall to check on you."

"Woaaahh!" Mercedes came into the chapel sprinting and tripped on herself.

"Speak of the Devil, and he shall appear. Are you ok, Marshmallow?" I asked as I pulled her up from the ground

"I'm quite alright now that you've helped me" Mercedes giggled. "I'm sorry. I got lost on my way here and-"

"It's fine, we were just worried. Though… what happened to that hair bow you usually wear? I mean there's nothing wrong with letting your hair down once in a while, but usually have your hair up so…" I asked awkwardly.

"Oh heavens! I completely forgot to do my hair today."

"It's no problem, it happens to the best of us at times. I think I should also mention that you forgot to put on one of your stockings."

"Oh I'm just so scatterbrained!" Mercedes sighed.

"Hey, you don't need to worry about that too much right now. It's probably my fault for working you to the ground. Have you been getting proper sleep lately?"

"I'm ok. It's true that the past few days have been exhausting, but healing the injured in service to the Goddess is what I was born to do. I just don't think that I would be happy if I wasn't able to answer Her call."

"I kind of understand, I guess. I sometimes feel like I was born to Askr's summoner. It wasn't what I originally thought I would be doing but… I cannot deny that I feel a sense of connection as a summoner. It could just be that I'm just feeling an innate connection to Breidablik, but I would like to think that I was meant to help Askr."

"You mean like destiny?" Alfonse asked.

"Not quite exactly. I could do anything I wanted if I put my mind to it. Nothing is going to prevent me from learning how to paint a landscape and make a living off of it. It's more like… I have a high affinity for what I'm doing right now. To me, the word "destiny" suggests that nothing we do will matter, because we don't actually have free will."

"And we know that is not the case, because the Heroes from the World of Awakening were able to change fate." Alfonse nodded.

"I agree, I believe that the Goddess gave us free will when she created Fódlan. The divine works in mysterious ways."

"That, they do. It is my belief that Askr answered our prayers when we summoned Kiran when we did. We wouldn't have survived for much longer if she hadn't appeared."

"Normally I wouldn't have pegged you as a religious man, but with the whole gate opening power thing coming from Askr himself, it makes sense I guess."

"I'm not all too religious, but I do pay my respects to Him. He gave the first king part of his power and I inherited that power. It is only fair that I thank Askr for what he has done for our people."

"Where do you think he comes into the picture where my summoning powers are concerned? It's fine if you don't have a real answer, I just don't really know a whole lot about the religion or anything."

"Well… Askr's domain is light and gateways. I was thinking that perhaps Briedablik, being a divine weapon, opens small gateways in order to summon Heroes. If that were the case, then it would be drawing upon Askr's power at least partially. However the fact that it only seems to summon when you are holding it… maybe it's drawing on some of your own power as well. I'm only speculating, of course. There are not many surviving records that show how it actually works."

"I'm under the impression that Breidablik has all the power and I'm just simply a vehicle for it's usage. I know that I just said that I feel like I'm born to do this, but I come from a world without magic. How could I have the kind of power that could power up a divine weapon? The more I think about it, the less I feel like I understand it."

"The curse Hel placed on you earlier also leads me to believe that you are at least linked to Breidablik on a deeper level. I've been wondering if it draws on your inherent magic ability despite being from a world where magic is non-existent."

"I dunno about it being inherent. I can do a thunder spell, but I have little control on where it lands or it's potency. It's disappointingly weak and it's honestly a miracle I can even use a thunder tome to begin with."

"I myself prefer swords, but I've studied enough magic to know that you are learning it at a surprising rate once you factor in the unique circumstances and challenges that you face." Al complemented.

"I'm quite curious… how good are you with a stave, Kiran?" Mercedes asked.

"Well I'm not very good at it either. Most of the time I can't get it to work properly. When I do manage to get it to work, it's oddly much more potent than normal."

"Now that is very strange. In Fódlan, there are crests that amplify the effects of healing magic, but I don't think that you have one. It's very strange, but crests are not my area of study. I tend to focus more on the healing aspect of faith magic. It's difficult for me to say what might be causing your issues with me seeing it for myself. I'd be happy to help, if you want me to!"

"I would love that, Mercedes. It's really frustrating for me because I've studied the magical theories and stuff but when it comes to actually being able to perform, it just fizzles. So if there's any way you can help me with that, I would be very happy."

"It's a deal, then. I will do my best to give helpful pointers after I give you a makeover. Sharena said that she was going to do your hair and it just happens that I have an eyeshadow pallet with me."

"So I guess I'm going to get prettied up whether I want it or not?"

Mercedes nodded, a grin slowly beginning to show itself on her delicate looking face.

"Alright, fine. I guess it wouldn't be the worst thing that's happened to me this week. I might as well see if I can summon my makeup from my apartment. I have sensitive skin, so the foundation I use is one of the few that doesn't cause me to break out."

"You can do that???" Both Mercedes and Alfonse asked in unison, surprised that I could summon things besides Heroes with Briedablik.

"Yeah. It's a little finicky, but I got it to work a few times back at the order. It's not as random as summoning heroes but I can't fully control what I summon all the time."

"Now I'm even more excited to see you summon new Heroes!" Mercedes's face lit up, clearly ready to see me demonstrate my abilities to her.

"As am I. Just remember to not overdo it. We don't know what will happen if you try to do several summonings at once."

"Of course. My first goal is to get a second healer. Any hero would be helpful, though."

I began to load orbs into Breidablik with care. I could almost swear that I heard it whisper to me. It made me feel oddly itchy. It felt like I needed to crack open my own skull, so I could scratch my brain to relieve myself of the irritation. An image of four heroes flashed through my mind, a slight breeze licking at my ears as my mind interpreted the vague images as heros from the World of Shadows.

I knew that there was only one way to relieve the itch in my brain, and so I pulled the trigger and I felt a familiar breeze. A curtain of light filled the room, nearly blinding me and presumably the others in the process. When it all settled down, a green haired archer stood before us.

"Woah… Where am I? I was just about to fight with Prince Marth and…" he sniffed the air and his face scrunched up.

"...Why does it smell like decaying bodies in here?"

"That would be because we are in the realm of the dead. Trust me, I don't like the smell either. My name is Kiran and I am the summoner for the Order of Heroes. We are summoning Heroes such as yourself to fight back the army of the undead. We hope to free the Kingdom of Askr from the clutches of Hel, the goddess of death."

"And I am Gordin, an archer in the service of the Altean Knights. I would be happy to help you, too."

"Just like that?" I asked, surprised that this young boy had no hesitation in his heart. Especially since I told him that we are fighting a death goddess and all that jazz.

"Yup. I heard a voice pleading to me for help and I couldn't just ignore someone like that. As soon as I decided that I wanted to help, I ended up here."

"Ok understood. Wait behind me for now."

Gordin nodded at me as I began to massage my temples. The whiplash was already settling in. Mercedes quickly took notice of that and began to use healing magic on me. I gave her a quick nod of approval before going to summon another hero.

I pulled the trigger again and in a flash, another hero appeared. She was dressed in an elegant set of cleric's robes and had short light blue hair that was adorned with a cleric's veil.

"Oh thank goodness. We have another healer! Maybe now Mercedes won't be as exhausted now that she can have someone help her."

"I heard a voice calling out to me for aid. Mother Mila must have sent me here to aid you, so I will do everything I can to assist you using her teachings"

We both introduced ourselves to each other, and Alfonse filled her in on the rest. I learned that her name was Silque and that she was on a journey to give Alm, the leader of the Deliverance, a precious item. Mercedes looked rather relieved to have a fellow healer that was going to help her on the battlefield.

"Al, do you think we should summon more?"

Alfonse raised an eyebrow at me "I'm surprised that you are actually asking me."

"What do you mean, Al?'

"It's just that you normally would have continued to summon Heroes until you passed out. I am just simply happy that you are asking me for help."

"Thanks. Anyway, what do you think? We got our second healer, do you think we should summon another hero?"

"Loathe as I am to admit it, we need every bit of health we can get. If you feel that you are up to the task, then I say that we should keep going," Alfonse sighed.

It was obvious to everyone else in the room that Al really didn't want to continue to watch me voluntarily harming myself for this. However, we both knew that the more heroes we summon, the better chances we have of coming out of this hellhole alive.

"Alright then, I'll continue summoning. Silque, I'd appreciate it if you could assist Mercedes in healing me between summoning sessions. The curse Hel placed on me hurts me whenever I try to summon anyone." I explained to Silque, since she was only just newly summoned.

"It would be my pleasure, Summoner."

I nodded with approval and pulled the trigger once more. When the light settled, a pink haired dancer wearing a ribbon in her hair appeared.

"Woah! That was weird! I'm Phina, by the way. I'm a dancer from Warren and- Oh dear Naga, why is your nose bleeding? Someone! Get this person some healing!"

"Kiran, that's enough summoning for now" Al said authoritatively.

I wiped the bottom of my nose with the back of my hand and realized that I really was suffering from a severe nosebleed. My was drenched in blood and I was beginning to feel dizzy.

Silque rushed over to me to heal me while Mercedes offered me her handkerchief to clean myself with.

Alfonse gave Phina the basic rundown of what's going on and thanked her for showing up. I was just relieved that I was able to summon both a healer and a dancer. After I finished cleaning myself up, I guiltily handed Mercedes's handkerchief back to her. It was completely soaked in blood and it was such a nice looking handkerchief before I dyed it red with my own blood.

"Don't worry, I can easily get the stains out later. You just need to focus on getting ready for the party."

"It's still a real shame… it smelled like lavender. I wouldn't have thought of perfuming my own. Not that I have my own right now anyways."

"I'm glad that you've noticed. I like to put a lavender scent on my handkerchiefs in case someone needs to borrow it."

"Your attention to detail is quite incredible, Mercedes."

"Why thank you, Kiran."

"Hey Kiran! Prince Alfonse said that all the girls are having a party tonight, can I come?" Phina was bouncing around with excitement. It was quite contagious.

"Of course. A party with a dancer performing will really liven things up and strategically, it will bring morale up. Everyone wins."

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Gotta go, I have gotta prepare for this! You wont regret it!" Phina hugged me with a vice grip and left shortly after. It had felt like I was being smothered so I was just happy she only did it for a split second.

"Mercedes would you please escort the other heroes to the dining hall and introduce them to Princess Sharena?"

"I'll do it right away."

"Get some rest after you are done Mercedes. You deserve it."

"Thank you. I will do just that."

"Kiran, how are you feeling right now?" Alfonse asked.

"A little lightheaded but Mercedes and Silque fixed me up pretty good. I demand a sacrifice now. The dragon gods have spoken."

"Huh?" Alfonse looked confused.

"You heard me. I demand that you sacrifice your body to me~"

"Kiran! Th-that's…"

"I'm just kidding. I just want a hug."

"Oh thank Askr. I can do that."

Alfonse gave me a warm and comforting hug. It made me feel like everything will be fine in the end. Most importantly, I felt ready to face our enemies. So long as we are at each other's sides Alfonse and I could accomplish anything.

A/N:

Finally! I finished this chapter. Also, fun fact, I usually write everything in Google Docs and just copy pasta the document into the document thingy. Apparently, when I tried to do that with this chapter, it didn't paste the full chapter so I had to copy paste into word and then download it into a pdf file just so I can upload this. This chapter is about 7,000 words long so maybe the document input thing doesn't like massive documents like this one unless it's uploaded as pdf??? I wish this site would allow you to link to you Google account and upload from Google docs, but oh well.

This chapter took a lot longer for me to write than I had anticipated, especially since this chapter is a bit on the fluffy filler side of things. I do have plans though so this chapter isn't completely filler either... I think.

I'm also excited for Book 5's plot as well and I already have ideas for how Kiran will interact with the Niđavallir crew and stuff. Unfortunately, I'm still writing this arc at a snail's pace. Book 3 was pretty good though so I can't complain.