Divine Encounter
Alear couldn't help but let his curiosity get the better of him, wandering off by himself from the camp that Vander had set up for their group as they made their way through Firene. He didn't want to bother any of his guardians with his selfish desire, so he decided not to let any of them know of his plan.
Could anyone really blame him? He had been asleep for a thousand years and had forgotten his memories, so now was his chance to try and make new ones. There was no way he'd miss the opportunity to take a quiet stroll through such a beautiful verdant meadow.
That was until he was jumped by a Corrupted.
"What the!? They must've retreated from our previous skirmish." Alear thought to himself as the armor-clad monster swung at him with their lance.
Luckily, he was able to dodge their attack in time. Thinking on his feet, Alear pulled out his sword: Liberation, and got into a defensive stance. He was able to hold off the Corrupted for a bit, but it was clear that getting the jump on him had given his opponent the upper hand in battle.
"Vander, Clanne, Framme… Anyone!?" Alear called out, hoping that his guardians heeded his call. He looked down at his hand, regretting having unequipped Marth before going on his stroll.
Alas, it seemed as if he had wandered too far from the camp for any of his companions to be able to hear his call for help.
The Corrupted was able to get in a critical hit on him, leaving the Dragon Child open for another attack.
"Fire." a woman quietly commanded as she watched Alear's confrontation from behind a nearby tree.
Alear was caught off guard when suddenly the Corrupted he was struggling against was hit by a small fireball. It quickly succumbed to the flames, turning to ash before their body could even hit the ground.
It took him a few seconds to register what had happened. It clearly hadn't been one of his guardians that casted the spell, meaning that there was someone else nearby. Alear quickly looked at the direction from where the fireball had come from, ready to thank his savior. There he saw a woman dressed in white stepping out from behind a nearby tree.
Suddenly Alear found himself somewhere else. Instead of the verdant meadow outside a village, he was now in an empty field surrounded by mountains with Liberation in hand. The woman was also nowhere to be seen either, in her place he found a white dragon flying in front of him.
Was he supposed to be fighting the white dragon? Maybe it was because he too was a dragon, but he didn't feel intimidated. Just what was his connection to the white dragon? They didn't feel like a foe, would that mean that they were an ally?
Before he could process what was going on, Alear found himself back in the verdant meadow with the woman.
"What was that just now? Was that some sort of dream? A vision? Could it have been a forgotten memory?" Alear questioned as the woman approached him.
"You weren't harmed, were you?" the woman asked as she inspected Alear.
"I'm fine thanks to you." Alear answered as he got a good look at the woman.
She wore an elegant white dress with red and blue highlights, they looked as if they were wings wrapped around her body. Along with a matching head accessory and a black tiara wrapped around the top of her head. It all gave her the image of an angel, or perhaps some sort of other divine power. The only pieces of clothing that clashed against her angelic imagery were the broken golden chains she wore above her bare feet, along with a black collar wrapped around her neck. He couldn't help but notice that her hair was similar to his own, being made up of multiple colors too. Although instead of red and blue, her hair was gray, black, and violet.
"Thank goodness, that's good to hear." the woman replied as she smiled at Alear.
Alear felt his heartbeat begin to race as he and the woman looked at each other. Much like her dress, he could only describe the woman as divine. Strangely, something felt off to him. He felt a connection with her. Their violet eyes, their warm smile, their multicolored hair, it all felt familiar to him. As if they were somehow already acquainted.
That couldn't be the case however, for he had been asleep for a thousand years.
"If you don't mind my asking, what are you doing here? Not that I don't appreciate you saving me, but your clothes don't look like what usual clothes worn by the citizens here. Are you from another kingdom?" Alear questioned.
"I'm just passing through. Well… looking for someone, really." the woman answered, choosing to look away from Alear.
"You were looking for someone?" Alear asked. He thought that perhaps if she gave him more information then he could help her look for them.
"Yes. An old friend of mine." the woman explained. "I… I had heard that they were around these parts."
"Allow me to help you then. It's the least I can do." Alear replied.
"I appreciate the offer, but that won't be necessary." the woman responded.
"Oh? Do you already know where they are?" Alear questioned.
"Yes. I just saw them very recently in fact." the woman revealed before she began to walk past Alear, seemingly content with ending their conversation there.
"Wait! We didn't even exchange names!" Alear pointed out as he reached out his hand and grabbed one of the woman's wrists.
As the woman turned around, Alear got another good look at her face. Her expression had seemingly changed subtly. She still wore a smile, but it looked more hollow now. As if the sight of him was enough to make her tear up.
"Alear… I…" the woman hesitantly responded.
"Wait… how do you know my name…?" Alear asked.
He was sure that this was his first encounter with this woman, so how did she know that his name was Alear?
"Divine one, there you are!"
"Yeah, we were so worried once we saw Marth's Emblem Ring in your tent."
"I would advise you to not part from the camp alone again."
"Huh? Oh, it's the others!" Alear commented as he turned around to see who the three people calling out to him were.
It was none other than his three guardians: Clanne, Framme, and Vander.
"I apologize for not letting any of you know, you all seemed pretty busy and thought that my wanting to go on a quick stroll wasn't important enough to interrupt what you each were doing. And It would've if it hadn't been for a Corrupted attacking me." Alear explained to his guardians.
"Wait seriously!? I thought that we had already routed all of them in the area earlier during that skirmish?" Clanne replied.
"We must've missed one then." Framme concluded.
"Still, let this serve as a lesson to be cautious of your surroundings. Even when off the battlefield." Vander informed the others.
"Understood. Thankfully, I was saved just in time." Alear replied, ready to introduce the others to the woman.
"Huh, by who?" Framme questioned.
"By her, of course-" Alear tried to explain, unsure how Framme didn't see the woman he was still grabbing onto. Except when he turned around, she wasn't there anymore. Almost as if she had vanished the second he had turned around.
"Who are you talking about?" Clanne questioned, unsure of who Alear was referring to.
"I could've sworn that there was someone here just a moment ago." Alear explained.
"You must've hit your head while fighting the Corrupted that attacked you, Divine One." Framme concluded.
"Let's return to the camp, maybe some rest is what you need right now." Vander advised as he began to march back to their camp, followed by Clanne and Framme.
"Was that encounter all in my head? Wait, could it have been a vision like that white dragon I saw? Are both connected to my lost memories? Still, I do hope to see that woman again." Alear thought to himself as he stared at the tree the woman had been standing behind earlier before following his guardians back to their camp.
"It was nice seeing you again, Alear. It's been too long. I'm sorry I couldn't properly reintroduce myself to you, but it's for the best this way." Veyle said to herself as she watched Alear speak with his most recent set of guardians while they trekked back to their camp from behind the tree she had been using to hide from him earlier.
Author's Note
I knew after watching the first trailer that I wanted Alear to s-support the still unnamed dragon woman. Come the second trailer, I couldn't help myself and got to writing.
A lot of this is just my own speculation, so expect this to be far from accurate. Still, it was fun to write and try to figure these two out before Fire Emblem Engage comes out.
I'd like to thank Serenes Forest for providing a detailed collection of all of the currently available material for Fire Emblem Engage, it served as a great reference when writing this.
I hope you all enjoyed what I wrote, this is my first time writing Fire Emblem related.