A Summoner's Journey

Voting Gauntlet: Wyvern Riders vs Pegasus Knights

Voting Gauntlet Day 1:

Simply put, Voting Gauntlets were boring. The battles in the arena were fun and all, but it didn't seem all that thrilling to me unless one of my favourite characters in Fire Emblem was in the gauntlet. Sadly, that didn't happen for this gauntlet. The gauntlet was Wyvern Riders vs Pegasus Knights, with Camilla, Cherche, Beruka and Minerva representing the wyvern riders and Subaki, Hinoka, Palla and Cordelia being the pegasus knights. Saria mentioned that you get bonus points if you deploy your unit in the same army you're in, so I decided to bring along Minerva for the six day gauntlet. I signed on to Team Minerva and checked into our hotel room.

Waiting for the gauntlet to actually start, I sat down on my bed and opened a book that I grabbed from the library before heading out here.

"So Minerva…" I glanced over to the wyvern rider sitting on a chair next to a table in the corner. She was fidgeting with her armor and looked uncomfortable with her wyvern being taken cared of by the stable owners "You alright?"

"I suppose I am" Minerva let out a breath and relaxed herself "If you asking why I'm tense is because me and Michalis had another fight before we left Askr"

I raised an eyebrow "What happened?"

"Nothing. We were just arguing about how to properly handle an axe technique" Minerva touched the handle of her Hauteclere that was lying on the table "It got out of hand and we started hurling insults at each other. Seliph had to break us up and he nearly got his head split by Michalis"

"Ouch. Does Maria know about this?" I noted that Minerva and Michalis only seemed calm together when Maria was between them "I mean, I know that she's aware of your sibling… rivalry, but you should know that Maria only wants you two to make up"

"I know she does" Minerva sighed, resting her elbow on the table "Maria's an angel, able to calm the heart of even someone like Michalis. However, it's hard to convince her that it's a hopeless cause"

"Hopeless? You mean…"

"Yes. Me and Michalis are set on not making up. We're too different, envisioning Macedon's future in vastly different ways" Minerva drummed her fingers on the table "Maria is the bridge between us to interact lightly, but without her, we're as hostile to each other as enemies on a

battlefield"

"That's… awful" I remembered Seliph supporting Julia when she made it into Askr. Seliph told me that Julia is a shy girl and didn't take to new routines very well, so he humbly asked me to not shoulder her with too much work. I granted his wish instantly, seeing how much Seliph worked so hard to support his half sister in crisis, both at Askr and on the battlefield. Siblings should exchange hugs and kisses, not blows.

"Me and Michalis chose our paths to follow. Both paths are filled with thorns and brambles, but the shining light at the end is Maria's happiness" Minerva wrapped her hand around the Hauteclere and lifted it up "Anyway, that's enough for now. The gauntlet should be starting now"

"Right. We should head to the stables to grab your wyvern" I nodded, setting down my book. I left the stateroom with Minerva and headed to the stables.

We were up against Team Palla for the first round. The enemy team on the other side of the arena was a Takumi, Barst and Spring Xander. On my side was a Est and Cecilia. Not exactly great companions.

"What skills did you inherit into your Cecilia?" I asked the girl who summoned her.

The girl held up her hand with five fingers stretched out "Reposition, Moonbow, Triangle Adept, Bowbreaker and Hone Cavalry"

I stared at her, impressed. This Cecilia could absolutely rend the enemy team to shreds besides Barst.

"Oh… wow. That's really good" I stared at Cecilia in awe "Okay, just quickly take out Takumi and Spring Xander, but ignore Barst. Minerva can handle him"

"What about Est?" the girl pointed at the boy beside me to the right, his Est ready to go into combat.

"Uhm…" I had no idea how Est could contribute to the fight. Est wasn't very good in the first place.

The girl smiled thinly "Bait?"

I smiled back deviously "Bait"

"Hey you!" I called to the Est guy "What skills do you have inherited onto her?"

"Inherited skills? What's that?" the guy asked and I blanched. This guy didn't even know skill inheritance existed yet. I brought up his Est's stat screen quickly and found out that she only had a Heavy Spear, Shove, Defiant Resistance 2 and Seal Speed 1. His Est was barely built at all.

"Okay. I'd like you to have Est head to the front lines and act as bait for the enemy team. Once they catch up, retreat and let Minerva and Cecilia handle the rest" I said.

"And why should I listen to you?" the boy glared "You're not the boss of me!"

I facepalmed, both mentally and physically "Look, I'm just trying to come up with a strategy that will end with our victory. Cooperate or strike on your own. Your choice"

I left the boy alone before the match begun. Takumi rushed first, intent on striking down Minerva with his arrow. Before the arrow from his Fujin Yumi could reach Minerva however, a wall of green ravens burst from the ground and blocked the shot.

"Keep your distance or perish!" Cecilia shouted and a flood of ravens shot from her Gronnraven+ towards Takumi. The ravens swarmed Takumi and forced him back, bleeding cuts all over his body. Takumi managed another shot to the mage knight, but Cecilia simply raised her tome and blocked the hit.

"You poor fool…" while Takumi was distracted by Cecilia, Minerva rocketed forward with her wyvern and cut Takumi in half by the waist with her Hauteclere. Spring Xander stabbed his Carrot Lance+ downwards onto Minerva, but she deflected it with her axe. Barst landed two hits with his Brave Axe, but due to the weapon's weak nature, it didn't do too much to Minerva. Before Minerva could retaliate at Barst, Est suddenly swooped in and attacked Spring Xander. Xander deflected the blow with his lance and reared back, his Carrot Lance+ transforming into a spear of pure fire.

"A spring in my step!" Xander spun his flaming lance around as fire wreathed over his body. He galloped forward and brutally stabbed Est in the chest with Ignis, incinerating her to ash. The recoil of Ignis however gave Minerva the chance to swoop in and take down Xander. One strike to the chest was all that she needed. Meanwhile, Cecilia took down Barst with hit & run tactics, casting Gronnraven+ before galloping away on her horse. With the battle over, I deposited 10 battle flags into the box and left the arena.

The rest of the day was as usual. Rest, eat, battle and talk with Minerva or Saria. Like I said at the beginning, Voting Gauntlets were boring.

Voting Gauntlet Day 2:

"What were you planning to do once the war was over in your world?" I asked Minerva as we headed towards the arena to do a battle.

"Hand the throne of Macedon to Marth and work in a monastery owned by two of my companions, Julian and Lena. Maria wants to work there too" Minerva said "To put it bluntly, I'm not fit to sit on the throne. Michalis rules much better than I"

I looked at her dumbfounded. Minerva seemed to be a woman with an air of authority and had a strong commanding presence. She would make a great leader, at least better than some of the presidents in my world. The United States was seriously screwed.

"I'm sure you could handle it" I said reassuringly, but Minerva shook her head.

"I already know that I can't handle ruling a country" the wyvern rider replied "After the War of Shadows, I ascended the throne of Macedon and exiled all the oppressive generals as well as the army's soldiers"

"Why did you do that?" I asked, intrigued.

"I wanted to make Macedon a peaceful place and having everyone as an equal citizen would ensure that" Minerva slumped "But that didn't work. Soldiers and generals lost jobs when I broke mup the Macedonian army and began to sink into poverty. The exiled generals and soldiers organized a coup and caught me off guard"

"What happened next?"

"I was captured in my own castle and humiliated for my pathetic rule in front of my own countrymen" Minerva covered her face with her hand to try and stop the tears "My Whitewings escaped and managed to meet up with Prince Marth's army outside of Macedon. They fought hard to liberate Macedon and they succeeded"

"I see" I could tell that Minerva's self esteem was very low and she didn't think very highly of herself. I wanted to ask more, but we've reached the arena already. We went in and did a battle, with a Lon'qu and Reinhardt as our allies. Our foes were a Palla, Female Robin and Gordin. I let Minerva handle Robinne, but Gordin caught her from behind and shot the wyvern rider down. Fortunately, Reinhardt quickly paid him back with a double strike of Dire Thunder. Lon'qu easily struck down Palla, evading her Ruby Sword with ease and slashing her apart with his Killing Edge. After the fight, I deposited 10 flags and headed back to my hotel room, where Minerva should of respawned.

"You see, before Marth's army could defeat the leader of the Macedon rebels, Rucke, Michalis came to the castle and rescued me" Minerva continued

"Michalis?! I thought… didn't you kill him during the War of Shadows?" I asked, flabbergasted.

"Yes, I did" Minerva shook her head "But Maria sneaked out of camp after the battle and healed Michalis's broken body in a Macedon chapel. Seeing his youngest sister tending to him must of… rekindled a sort of fire in him"

"So that's why he rescued you from the rebels" I said "He wanted to make up with his siblings after Maria healed him"

"No, it wasn't just for that" Minerva replied "After the War of Shadows, clerics began mysteriously disappearing all across Archanea. It wasn't until Maria disappeared from my sight entirely"

"So Michalis was trying to save Maria because she healed him back to life before" I continued "But why did he rescue you?"

"He told me that trouble was brewing on the horizon and the Shadow Dragon Medeus may return" Minerva said "Michalis dropped me off in Khadein desert, which was where Marth escaped after being pursued by Archanea's elite warriors"

"And after that, you joined Marth's army to defeat Archanea" I rolled my hand forward "But what happened to Michalis and Maria?"

"I found Michalis horribly injured in a village in the Wyvern's Dale" the wyvern rider explained "He told me that he battled the sorcerer Gharnef over the tome Starlight. Michalis was my hero. The being I always strived to be. If Gharnef could kill Michalis, then what chance did I, did anyone have against him?"

"Did… did Michalis die?"

"No, he didn't. As I laid, crying uselessly over his body, he stirred and said that it was a long time since he last saw me cry" Minerva sniffed, then steadied herself "He said that he couldn't leave me alone with that "pathetic excuse of an army". A healer managed to get to him and heal his injuries. Michalis then joined us"

"So that's why" I finally understood. Michalis was the paragon of what Minerva wanted to be. Based on her words, Minerva thought of Michalis as a stronger warrior, a better ruler and a better commander on the battlefield. Minerva had a sickening case of middle-child syndrome, where she tries all she can to escape her brother's shadow and due to that, she can't accept praise.

"What did Michalis do after you defeated Medeus?" I asked.

"I don't know. He didn't return to Macedon to take the throne. The last time I saw him, he said "I have no right to speak to Maria nor afflict myself with Macedon after all my actions. Farewell Minerva"" Minerva sighed "Michalis just disappeared and I miss him"

"You miss him, yet you can't reconcile with him even now" I said, putting a hand on Minerva's shoulder "I'm sorry. Everything must be so hard on you"

"Even then, I can't waver" Minerva replied, lightly pushing my hand off her shoulder "Though I am unfit to do it, I have to remain strong for Maria's sake. And I dearly hope that me, Michalis and Maria can become family again"

"With time, it'll happen" I nodded, earning me a small smile from the wyvern rider "Looks like another half hour passed. We should head back to the arena"

"Right and Lucian…" Minerva's smile grew slightly wider "Thank you"

Voting Gauntlet Day 3:

The first round of the gauntlet was finished, with Minerva easily trumping over Palla in score. As for the other battles, Subaki defeated Beruka, Cordelia won over Cherche and Camilla absolutely destroyed Hinoka, beating the Hoshidan by 5 billion.

"Either there are a lot of Camilla fans or the fans are extremely devoted" Saria said next to me as I gazed up the scoreboard.

"Wouldn't you know? You are in Team Camilla after all" I replied.

"I guess I should. I saw several of my teammates dropping in 100 or 200 flags in our battles against Hinoka" Saria shrugged "I also never saw the same person twice as my teammate, so maybe there's a lot of people in Team Camilla too"

"The battle isn't going to be easy for whoever fights her" I said "Who are you up against next?"

"Team Cordelia. I think she has just as many members as Team Camilla" Saria observed "Well, I have to get to a gauntlet battle. See you around Lucian!"

Saria went into the arena, waving goodbye to me while her Camilla flashed me a wink, then followed her master in. Minerva joined beside me in the lobby shortly after with her wyvern.

"So we're up against Team Subaki next" I said, my eyes darting to the small group of summoners in Team Subaki "I don't recall Subaki being very popular, so this fight shouldn't be too hard to win"

"Nevertheless, we should be vigilant" Minerva advised "Team Subaki could pull a Camilla on us"

"I think Team Subaki has a tenth of Camilla's fanbase" I laughed "Shouldn't be too tough. Come on, the battle's starting"

Fighting alongside us were a Jeorge and Lyn, while our foes from Team Subaki was a Beruka, Hector and Saizo. I sent Minerva to take on Beruka and Saizo, while Lyn made her way to Hector. Jeorge stood behind and assisted Minerva. Minerva slammed into Beruka, locking axes with the wyvern rider. Saizo threw his Smoke Dagger at Minerva and covered the battlefield in a thick smoke, allowing Beruka to come in and slam her Killer Axe onto Minerva's chest. Minerva swung her Hauteclere in a wide arc and caught Beruka in the shoulder, pushing her back. An arrow from Jeorge's Parthia finished off the enemy wyvern rider.

"Saizo the Fifth strikes!" a crescent moon blazed in the air and Saizo threw his Smoke Dagger, gleaming with the defense-piercing Luna. Somehow though, Minerva swung her axe upwards, sending the dagger flying in the sky. The wyvern rider rocketed forward and threw her axe in the air, catching it by the handle.

"I will end this swiftly!" Minerva slammed her Hauteclere onto Saizo, slicing him in half with the power of Moonbow. Lyn was dueling with Hector, but Hector's axe suddenly flared up in flames.

"Gutsy, aren't you?" Hector slashed his Armads in a wide arc, knocking Lyn to ground, then slammed his Bonfire-powered axe into the swordswomen's chest, taking her out in a single hit. Jeorge shot an arrow at Hector, but Hector retaliated with Distant Counter, nearly taking Jeorge's head off with his axe. Minerva caught Hector off guard and swung her Hauteclere onto his chest, breaking parts of his chestplate and knocking him back. Hector retaliated with a swing over his head, but Minerva evaded it and attacked again before retreating. Unlike with Lyn, Hector didn't retaliate twice with his Armads.

"Was it some sort of skill that killed Lyn…?" I checked Hector's stat screen and tapped on the Armads. The legendary weapon had the Quick Riposte 2 skill built into it. Fortunately, Lyn and Minerva's attacks broke Hector's Quick Riposte, allowing Minerva to easily use her hit-and-run technique. Jeorge kept firing at Hector from a distance, but Hector's Distant Counter made it hard for Jeorge to continue his offense. Luckily, Hector retaliating with Distant Counter opened up his guard for Minerva to sky-slam him with Moonbow, taking the Ostian general down. I threw 100 flags into the box, then left the arena.

Voting Gauntlet Day 5:

Nothing interesting happened yesterday. Minerva easily defeated Subaki while Camilla annihilated Cordelia. Now it was the final battle between the princess of Nohr and the princess of Macedon.

"Well, this doesn't look good…" I muttered as I stared at the scoreboard, noticing that Camilla destroyed Cordelia by eight billion points. If things continue as the do, Camilla would put Minerva into the ground.

"Well, well, looks like we finally against each other" Saria said beside me as her Camilla fixed up Saria's hair.

"Yep and looking at the past battles with Camilla, she's going to dominate this match" I sighed.

"Don't feel too bad Lucian. Camilla's… she's a popular character" Saria glanced at her companion next to her, busy braiding Saria's black hair "For two reasons"

"Two reasons as in…" I eyes went wide when I realized it "Oh"

Saria giggled "I think a lot of guys are… seduced by her looks. That explains why so many boys are on Team Camilla"

"Honestly, I don't see how" I muttered under my breath, so Camilla wouldn't hear "Her clothes are revealing to the point of being near… slutty. How does she fight with so much skin showing?"

"Heck if I know" Saria shook her head "Case in point, the reason that Camilla has such a large fanbase is her appearance alone. Combat performance? To hell with it"

"So inevitably, Minerva's going to lose to a pair of tits" I grumbled and Saria blushed "Just great"

"Just keep the mindset that you're here for the rewards and you'll be fine" Saria affectionately patted me on the head "I'm going to go in and do a battle. See you later!"

Not too long later, I went into the arena as well. The members of Team Camilla were easy to defeat, but their sheer numbers allowed them to dominate the battle, no matter how many flags I chucked down the box. I threw in everything that I've gained and yet still, the members of Team Camilla could battle more times than Team Minerva could, meaning that they constantly had the score advantage. After dinner, I slumped down in my bed, my mind muddled by the constant fighting.

"I'm just doing this for the rewards. Not because I want Minerva to feel good for once…" I murmured before falling into a deep slumber.

Voting Gauntlet Day 6:

At last, the final day was upon us and Team Minerva's fate was sealed. Currently, Team Camilla was beating Team Minerva by at least 14 billion right now. There was absolutely nothing Team Minerva could do to win. All the members now just fought to attain a higher score and reap in more feathers. I figured I had to fix Minerva's self esteem issues later and just fought for the rewards. Finally at midnight, the gauntlet was over and Camilla was crowded as the winner of the Pegasus Knights vs Wyvern Riders Voting Gauntlet. I promised to write to Saria once I got back to Askr and I told her I was slightly disappointed that I wasn't able to fight her in the arena.

"Well, perhaps next time we could" Saria shrugged "But let's keep the fighting lighthearted. At least between us"

"What, you think of me as vicious when I'm out there commanding?" I joked and Saria laughed.

"I wouldn't think so" Saria smiled brightly "Anyway, be sure to write me sooner or later. We won't know when the next gauntlet is coming"

"Yeah, I'll make sure" I nodded "See you next time Saria"

"Goodbye Lucian" the summoner waved and went into the dimensional tunnel with Camilla, sending her back to her Askr. It was time I took my leave too. I could only hope that trouble didn't brew among my heroes again. The feud between Minerva and Michalis could only be the start of grudges between heroes.

And so, the Pegasus Knights vs Wyvern Riders Voting Gauntlet is finished. I might start using the voting gauntlet chapters to develop Lucian's bond with his heroes and also learn more about them. Also, the "start of grudges between heroes" is foreshadowing for when the World of Holy War banner comes and Arvis is summoned into Askr. But that's sadly a while from now, so I only ask you guys to be patient. Next up is Zephiel's Grand Hero Battle. Until next time fellow summoners!