A Summoner's Journey

Voting Gauntlet: Princes vs Princesses

Voting Gauntlet Day 3 (Night):

Last night might of been one of the best nights in my life. I found Saria at the general store as she promised and we immediately hit it off. Robin politely interrupted us and told me that he'll be in the hotel room waiting for me. Saria's Sully said she'll head back to the hotel as well to leave us to chat. Once they left, me and Saria found a table outside the buffet and continued talking. We decided to start on where we lived in the real world and how old we were. Coincidentally, we lived in the same town and went to the same school when we were in elementary school. We were also the same age, although Saria was slightly older than me by three months. We then moved on to our personal hobbies.

"I like reading fantasy and history books in my spare time" I said, producing a small handbook titled "The War of the Stones" and laying it on the table "It helps me come up with ideas for my own stories"

"Oh, you write your own stories?"

"Yeah, I do. I've been writing a personal journal of sorts called "A Summoner's Journey""

"Wow, that's cool! May I see it?" Saria asked.

"Sorry, I left it back in Askr before I came here" I apologized "Maybe I can ask one of my mages to duplicate it with magic and send it to you?"

"If you could, that'd be great!" Saria clasped her hands together excitingly "Maybe in return, I can send one of my heroes to you with a drawing?"

"You're an artist?"

"Yeah, I am. I've always loved making art" Saria smiled fondly "In my spare time, I created portraits of all the heroes I had in my barracks. All of them loved it"

"Well, I'm excited to see it then" I smiled, then reached into my coat pocket to hand Saria a pad of paper with a pen "Maybe do a sketch on this paper?"

"What do you want me to draw?" Saria asked as she accepted the pen from my hand.

"Anything you want to. I'm not commissioning you to do anything" I put my hands behind my head as Saria nodded and began to draw. I closed my eyes to enjoy the calm serenity of the night and then I heard Saria's voice.

"Can you hold still for a second Lucian? I need to see your eyes"

I opened my eyes and glanced down at the paper Saria was drawing on. Looking it from upside down, it looks eerily similar to me. I began to get up to check, but Saria ordered me to sit down and I complied. Saria was excitable, gentle and creative, but she could be stern and commanding if she wanted to. She's a near perfect commander.

"Okay, I'm done now" Saria tore off the piece of paper from the pad and handed it to me. It was a beautiful portrait of me, with my jet black hair and grey glasses covering brown eyes. Well, without colour, it was just black hair and black eyes, but it still looked great nevertheless. Even better since it was only a sketch.

"Dang, you're good" I complimented, placing the portrait in my coat pocket next to my heart "I may specialize in writing, but I've done art before and I never saw anything this good from a sketch!"

"Flattery will get you nowhere" Saria smiled, although she was blushing slightly "You should see what I can do with my colours and other tools"

She handed back my paper pad and pen "Besides, I'm sure you're just as good with your writing. Writing IS an art form after all"

"I'd show you it, but I don't have it with me sadly" I said "And I can only write so much with such little paper"

"True" Saria nodded, then glanced around town "How do you think Ephraim is doing against Chrom?"

"Score wise? Probably the most tense match yet" I glanced at the scoreboard not too far from the restaurant front patio "They've been going at each other for the entire day, with no clear winner"

"Yeah, it's really intense. What about the other match?"

"Oh that? Eirika's getting steamrolled" I replied as I took a look at the scoreboard again "She's currently being beaten by Lucina by 2 billion. It doesn't look good for Eirika"

"So whoever wins between Ephraim vs Chrom will have to face Lucina?"

"If Eirika somehow pulls off a miracle, then yes. I heard she has many fans, so facing her in a popularity contest is going to be tough"

"Not a big deal if we lose though" Saria shrugged "The feathers from the last battle between Leo and Ephraim got sent back to Askr. It's a large amount"

"Oh really? How much?" I asked, intrigued.

"About 2000 feathers" Saria put her hand on her chin thoughtfully "Depends how well you score compared to your allies"

"I see" I'll have to check how much I got when I go back to Askr.

Saria glanced at the bright moon in the sky, then wavered.

"I have to go now" she said "It's nearly midnight"

"You can tell that without a clock?" I asked, surprised.

"Yeah, it's easy to tell when you can see the moon" Saria smirked at me "I want to be up early to hit the gauntlet and also to grab breakfast early. The line at the buffet is inhumanly long at the normal time"

I shuddered. Me and Robin had to wait an hour to grab our food for breakfast one day because we overslept. I mentally noted to try and get up early, if I wasn't too tired.

"Anyways, I'll see you tomorrow Lucian?" Saria asked, jolting me out of my thoughts.

"Yeah, see you later" I got up from my chair "Goodnight"

"Goodnight Lucian" Saria came over and gave me a kiss on the cheek "Thank you for saving me back at the buffet"

"It was mostly Robin though" I protested, although my cheek felt warm "I didn't do much to help you"

"Well, you helped me by talking just now. I think I made a new friend" Saria smiled "So just take the kiss alright? I thought you boys liked it"

"I… I…" I couldn't even reply as Saria laughed and walked back towards the hotel. Once I got over myself, I made my way back too.

Voting Gauntlet Day 4:

The next day followed the usual routine. I got up early just as Saria recommended and headed to the buffet before Robin did for breakfast. We then headed to the arena to do a battle and ended up being paired with a Sanaki and Fae. Our enemies from Team Chrom consisted of a Jaffar, Camilla and Roy.

"You there" Robin pointed to the girl with the Sanaki "Send Sanaki towards the right side where Camilla is. Your magic should be able to defeat her in one hit"

As Sanaki left, Robin commanded the boy with the Fae to head to the center and draw enemy fire.

"Watch out for Roy though. He has a skill called Triangle Adept, which makes his attacks stronger against opponents he's strong against" Robin warned before Fae went off. Robin decided to stay behind Fae to take down Jaffar and Roy if they went for her. Instead, Camilla rushed towards Fae, her Brave Axe in hand, but Sanaki was prepared for it. She opened her red tome and chanted, a blazing bonfire burning atop the pages.

"Cymbeline!" a huge fiery meteor formed in the air and rocketed towards Camilla, landing just in front of Fae. It scorched Camilla to ash before she could reach the manakete. However, she wasn't fast enough to dodge a Deathly Dagger coming from Jaffar and the first one struck, hitting Sanaki in the chest and inflicting more damage via Poison Strike. While Sanaki was stunned, Jaffar threw another dagger, this one impaling Sanaki's stomach. The empress of Begnion collapsed like a tree and faded away. Luckily, since Sanaki took care of Camilla, Robin was free to run in and take down Roy and Jaffar, as they were both weak to his Blarraven+.

"I won't lose! I won't!" Roy slashed his Binding Blade onto Robin's arm, but Robin blocked it with his tome, the legendary blade somehow bouncing off of it. A Deathly Dagger came from Robin's side and struck his waist, but he held on despite the Poison Strike damage and sent a swarm of ravens going Jaffar's way. The ravens stopped Jaffar from doing a follow up attack and allowed Robin to focus on Roy. Meanwhile, Fae transformed into a mighty chicken dragon and took a deep breath. When the ravens flew away from Jaffar, Fae blasted a giant bolt of eye-searing light on the assassin, incinerating him on the spot. Robin parried Roy's Binding Blade with his Blarraven, then stepped back. A bright orange glow emitted from the tactician's body and he thrust out his hand.

"Bonfire!" Robin shouted as he unleashed a forceful stream of ravens from his palm. The ravens were coated in fire and slammed into Roy, taking down the swordsman in one go. After a word of "good game", I deposited 100 flags into the box. I had a feeling that Chrom vs Ephraim was going to be the most fierce match yet.

After the battle, me and Robin went on our usual routine. Eat lunch and then wait half an hour until the next fight. Robin bought up nearly every book in the general store to read and I was glad they were cheap because we were slowly running out of money. At night after dinner, I found Saria by the quest fountain, just staring into the empty space above us that was another dimension.

"Hey" I said before approaching her. Saria didn't even respond.

"Hey, Saria" I snapped my fingers in front of her face and she woke out of her trance, surprised to see me here.

"Oh, good evening Lucian. How are you?"

"I'm fine. What are you doing here by the quest fountain?" I asked, sitting next to her.

"Oh nothing much. Just looking into the sky" Saria gazed into the space above "It really looks different from a regular sky, with this town being in the center of all the Askr dimensions"

"Yeah, it looks beautiful" I joined her in watching the sky "Do… do you like being in Askr? Or are you homesick?"

"Is that even a question? I love Askr" Saria laughed a little "But I guess you're right. I DO miss my house and friends back at home, but I've met so much more here in Askr"

"Like who?"

"Two of my best friends I've made in Askr are Sully and Corrin. Both of them are such great women. Sully's headstrong, bold and determined to prove that women can be as strong as men, while Corrin's a pacifistic princess that wishes to resolve all conflicts without bloodshed"

"Is Corrin able to fight though? I've heard a lot of stories of similar people, but they ended up being forced to fight. Like Prince Marth from the Arachnea saga" I mentioned.

"Oh yes, she can fight!" Saria nodded "She's different from her twin brother, Corrin. Instead of wielding the legendary Yato blade, Corrinne can use a dragonstone to transform into a dragon!"

"Oh, so she's a Manakete?"

"Yes! When she attacks, she expels this huge cloud of darkness onto our enemies" Saria exclaimed excitedly "The darkness blinds our foes and limits their movement, which allows the rest of my team to finish them off"

"That's interesting. I might consider using someone like that later on my team" I smiled "Well, as for me, I'd say my closest heroes are Robin and Jeorge. Robin was my first 5 star hero and Jeorge's a cool guy to be around. I like archery, so I usually stay around him and watch him shoot. Occasionally I try out a bow as well"

"That sounds fun. I might try it when I go back to Askr" Saria gazed into the sky, then nodded "I have to go now. Good talk we had"

"Yeah it was" I got up as well "Goodnight Saria"

"See you Lucian"

As I headed back to the hotel, I took a look at the scoreboard. Ephraim and Chrom's score were extremely close, but Ephraim held the lead by a couple hundred million. He might be the one to advance to the final round. Meanwhile, Lucina absolutely annihilated Eirika, beating her out by 2 billion. There was no way Eirika could make a comeback before the final round started tomorrow. It didn't matter for me though.

I was only here for the rewards.

Voting Gauntlet Day 5:

When I arose from my bed, I immediately went out to my balcony and try to spot the scoreboard in the distance. I squinted and saw that Ephraim was battling Lucina. However, Lucina dominated the match, already having several hundred thousand score over Ephraim. Were this many people fans of Lucina? I decided to ignore it and head out for breakfast first. Robin was still sleeping, another history book lying on his chest. "The Laguz-Beorc War" seemed to have fall asleep atop my tactician. While I was eating, Robin joined me soon after and we went to the arena.

"Well, that wraps up this battle" I said as I deposited 200 flags into the box. I figured that since it was the final battle, I may as well drop everything. Anna warned me beforehand that flags gained are only able to be used in the current gauntlet. The enemy team sulked back into the hallways that they came from, followed by their companion heroes. I noticed a Lucina, Fae and a Spring Xander among the enemy summoners.

"I could guess why they didn't act too angry at their loss" I heard Saria's voice behind me as she threw in 50 flags "Lucina's almost certain to win this battle unless Ephraim pulls off a miracle. Her supporters are just fighting for the feather rewards"

"True" I bit my lip, contemplating whether or not to do the same. Ephraim had no chance of winning against Lucina, so I may as well dump everything and get the highest score I could get

After the fight was done, me and Robin left the arena and ended up back in town. I joined Saria and Sully at lunch and so did Robin. Me and Saria talked about more general stuff, like how did she thinks of this town and Askr, who taught her drawing ex settera. After a while, Sully excused herself to go to the washroom and dragged Robin with her for some reason. I ignored it and continued my conversation with Saria.

"I hope I'm not the only person to notice this" Sully said with a light smile.

"What? Notice what?" Robin asked, genuinely confused.

"Gods, you're dense" Sully sighed "Master Saria and Lucian… they're in love"

"Well, Lucian has mentioned having love issues before. It's glad to hear he found his match" Robin remarked, glancing at us.

"He better be careful though" Sully cracked her knuckles "If he even lays a finger on Saria without her consent, he's going to meet my lance near his face"

"I'll be there to protect him then" Robin smiled lightly at the threat "Rest assured though, Lucian is a good person with a calm personality. I doubt he'll do intimate… gestures until they've confirmed their love for each other"

"Good then. It allows me to focus more on training" Sully replied "I'm Master Saria's bodyguard and a bodyguard has to train to protect better, right?"

"Of course" Robin fiddled with the edge of his coat "I think we've stayed out long enough. Both of them will get suspicious"

"I don't think Master Saria would think I took this long to get out of the bathroom" Sully agreed "Then let's go chump"

"Chump? Since when was I-"

"Nickname for most people. Don't take it seriously"

Voting Gauntlet Day 6:

The final day of the Princes vs Princesses Voting Gauntlet was nigh. Ephraim was losing horribly to Lucina, the Ylissean princess overtaking the prince of Renais by several billion. There wasn't any way for Ephraim to make a comeback, so I threw in all my flags at once when I won a battle. I wasn't sure how high I was on the army rankings, but I guess I would know once I came back to Askr for the Hero Feathers. Me and Robin went on our usual routine and at night, I met with Saria again at the front entrance of the buffet.

"The gauntlet is almost finished" Saria remarked, staring at the arena in the center of town "Lucina's guaranteed to win"

"How is she so popular anyways? I mean… she isn't an obvious fanservice character like Camilla" I commented.

"Maybe they like her for her character arc and usefulness in battle?" Saria inferred "As far as I know, Lucina's the strongest wielder of the Falchion. Prince Chrom is the slow, heavy hitter and Prince Marth is the all rounder. Princess Lucina seems to be the quickest"

"Considering she follows in her father's footsteps, I'm surprised" I said "How about her striking power?"

"Nearly as powerful as Chrom himself" Saria replied "She's a terror on the battlefield. I faced her and if Sully didn't have a Sapphire Lance and Swordbreaker skills, Lucina would of easily slain her"

"Too bad I wasn't able to summon her on the Legendary Heroes postcard" I mused "Robin is great and all, but Lucina would of been a stronger fighter than Marth, if you're telling the truth"

"Yeah, Lucina's incredibly strong, both in popularity and on the battlefield" Saria said "I suppose Ephraim doesn't hold up in the popularity part"

"Sadly no" I looked at the ground "He isn't a female, therefore he's not popular"

Saria laughed at that "It's almost too true"

We sat in silence for a moment, then I reached into my coat pocket and revealed the paper pad and pen I always had

"Here, write down your full name" I said, handing her the paper pad "I want to register you on my friend's list once I get back to Askr"

"Well, you'll have to do the same for me" Saria ripped out another slip of paper and handed it to me "Full name please"

"You finish first. You have the pen"

Saria wrote her name in an elegant fashion, just as if she was drawing, then handed the pen to me. I wrote down my name rather messily. Handwriting wasn't my strong suit. I handed the paper back to Saria and she passed hers. She then held it up to close to her face to read it.

"Lucian Volvos"

I held up my slip the same way.

"Saria Williamsun"

Silence for a few seconds, then Saria broke the ice.

"So we know our full names now" she said slowly.

"Yeah, we do" I didn't know how to react. We just ran out of things to say. Luckily, a loud bell rung in the arena and everyone's heads turned. The bell ringing signified that the battle was over and the victor has been announced. Everyone left to the arena, even leaving behind their meals. I went with the crowd as well, with Saria following me to hear the victor. No surprise, Lucian won, dominating Ephraim by 11 billion points.

"Congratulations to Team Lucina for winning the Princes vs Princesses Voting Gauntlet!" an official-looking man declared in the arena lobby "To all who participated, you'll find a large quantity of Hero Feathers in your mailboxes tomorrow when you go back to Askr. For Team Lucina, they get an extra 500 feathers for their victory"

Cheers erupted from most of the people in the crowd, either that they won or simply congratulating the members of Team Lucina.

"And now, an announcement" the official raised his hand, making everyone go silent "The dimensional tunnels will be reopened tomorrow morning to take you back to Askr. Make sure not to forget anything in your hotel staterooms or else they'll be lost forever. The portal here will close itself once you reenter Askr, so double check that you didn't lose anything!"

Everyone nodded in understanding.

"And that's all" the official said "Enjoy the night in celebration of Team Lucina's win!"

Cheers erupted again and everyone left the arena lobby, a few staying to chat with friends. I went back to the stateroom with Robin to pack my things.

The next morning, I was ready to leave. I had everything I brought to this gauntlet back in my coat pockets or my carry-on bag. The bag was an extra actually, since Robin bought so many books from the general store that it was impossible to carry all of them. I met with Saria before I left and told her to keep in touch, before hopping into the dimensional tunnel back to Askr with Robin.

Finally, the first Voting Gauntlet was finished.

And the Princes vs Princesses Voting Gauntlet is done! Next up coming is the Navarre GHB along with the introduction to Skill Inheritance, perhaps the biggest change Heroes has ever gotten. As always, thank you for the reviews, favorites and follows. Until next time summoners!