Izuku held his breath as the portal pulsed, hoping for someone that could help the man to come through. But other than Recovery Girl, who could heal wounds like that so quickly? A foreign Hero, like the others? He didn't know a King Lambert, or Edelgard or Grima… if Grima was even a Hero, if any of them were heroes. Except for Edelgard, they had each killed someone… including him…
Izuku's eyes traveled across the clearing, all the death that had happened since he had picked up the Breidablik less than half an hour ago, and part of him wanted to just… put the gun down and walk away, despite the fact that he had never felt so… complete…
Focusing on the portal, Izuku watched as… a black horse stepped out?
"What?" He croaked. A horse? Why was it a horse-
"Oh," a high pitched voice from behind the horse said, "It's you. I suppose I should have guessed that."
From behind the horse stepped a young girl with ash blond hair in a bowl cut that spread out into a spiky mess up to her mid-back, a white and red cape between it and a black dress with golden accents, one hand on a long staff and the other one a green and black book. Tired, sad red eyes stared at him from the doll-like face, before scanning the clearing and growing wide as she took in the carnage around them.
"Do, uh, do I know you?" Izuku said.
"Xander! Hurry through, we're safe!"
Before Izuku could say anything, the portal, that hadn't faded, pulsed again, and then out of it rushed a singed blond man with lighter red eyes, black armor under a purple tabard, a burning, purple half cape and a sword glowing with a sort of… anti-light, if that made any sense. It both glowed and drank in light at the same time.
"Well, if this isn't out of the fire and into the frying pan," the man said, undoing the clasps on his cape so it could drop to the ground and he could begin to stomp on it heavily.
"You mean out of the frying pan and into the fire?" Izuku asked.
"In normal circumstances," the man said, "You'd be quite right, Izuku… have you gotten shorter? And what are you wearing?"
"Have we… met before?" Izuku said, shifting and wincing as his arm decided to remind him that it had a stab wound in it.
"Ah," the girl said, leaning over Grima's last victim who, well, frankly looked like they had seen a god. Their mouth opened and closed like a fish and they struggled to right themselves despite the bleeding gashes in their torso and the fact that their left arm was hanging on by a nauseating string of sinew.
"Prin- Prin-"
"Hmm?" The man said, turning to her, "What is it?"
"We aren't in Nifl."
"Really, where are we, then? Commander Anna, could you please lower your axe? I know this isn't the best situation but please, we just came from a fight and I have no desire to enter a new one."
Izuku glanced back to see Anna holding her white and gold axe in front of her carefully, watching them like hawks.
"We're bound by a contract now anyways," the girl said, "Xander, draw Siegfried. I need it."
"What-" Xander stopped talking even as his hand went for the sword impaled in the ground, eyes staring at the man on the ground and growing hard, "You want to amputate?"
"I need to," the girl said, "I don't think the best healer in the world could save the arm. I definitely can't."
"If- if you say so, Princess Veronica," the man laying there said, coughing up some blood speckled phlegm, "Just- just do it quickly."
Princess? She was a princess?
"Very well then," Xander said, drawing the sword and walking over so he was towering over Veronica and the man on the ground, "this will hurt, probably."
"Can't- can't hurt worse than it already does-" the man laughed through the pain, "Just- just make it quick - ah, Lord Xand- AHHH!"
"I'm sorry," Xander said, standing back up to his full height and flicking the blood off Siegfried, "but you did say make it quick. Veronica?"
Veronica waved the staff she was holding over the man, green light raining down from it and into the wounds. Before Izuku's eyes the wounds sealed shut across his body, leaving nothing but a set of gnarled scars and a closed stump.
"Anyways, you were saying about us not being in Nifl?" Xander said, sounding completely unphased about the healing.
— X Xander X—
Xander palmed Siegfried, looking around the clearing. This wasn't… it wasn't what the Order of Heroes did. There were, of course, deaths among the troops of Embla during their confrontations, it would be foolishly idealistic to think otherwise but this… this was a…
Massacre, slaughter, butchery. Word after word flowed into Xander's head, each less flattering than the last for what he was seeing. And not just seeing, the overwhelming acrid smell of blood burned in his nose. He couldn't… this wasn't the sort of thing Prince Alfonse, Princess Sharena or Izuku would condone, so what happened here?
"Think of two rivers going parallel to each other, but one is going faster than the other," Veronica said, "now imagine there was a way to swim backwards and diagonally between the two. That, is what we just did, between Midgards."
"So if I understand the analogy," Xander said, examining the members of the Order of Heroes. Lady Edelgard, watching them with a furrowed brow, Lord Dimitri was… laying on the ground, apparently dead to the world, and-
Wait a moment, where were Lady Lyndis and Sakura? And who was the white haired woman standing half concealed by trees?
"You traveled backwards through time?" Edelgard asked.
"Not quite," Veronica answered, "there was obviously something that happened to cause our worlds to branch. But chances are good that whatever it was is minor enough that the difference is mostly academic."
"Hmm," Xander nodded, turning to Izuku, "did you understand that?"
"I…think so?" Izuku said, rubbing his forehead and staring at Breidablik with wide eyes, "this… uh… opens portals to other dimensions?"
"Yes," Veronica nodded, "You must be new to this?"
"It's been less than an hour," Izuku said, staring down at the relic, "Wait. How do I get home? How do any of us get home?"
The second he said that, an oppressive, awkward silence dropped. Everyone looked between each other, then at Breidablik.
"I'm, uh, I'm sure there's some way?" Commander Anna said, a nervous laugh in her voice. Xander decided now was not the moment to point out he had never seen Izuku send someone home. Edelgard gave a pained groan, slapping her hand across her face.
"We're stuck here, aren't we?" She said.
"Sorry?" Izuku squeaked as she gave him a look that could have withered flesh.
"Just… do everyone a favor and don't use the damn thing until we know more about how it works," Edelgard ordered, and Izuku lowered the gun.
"Sorry?" He repeated.
"Considering the odds weren't exactly in Veronica and I's favor before you summoned us," Xander said seriously, "I don't think I have any right to be angry at you."
"I would have surrendered to Surtr before I let you die," Veronica said, walking towards Izuku, "let me see that injury."
"With all respect, Princess," Xander said seriously, "that does not make me feel better."
"Mhh," Veronica grunted, swinging her staff over Izuku's arm and healing it.
"But, we're stuck here," Izuku moaned, planting the hand not holding Breidablik over his face, "Oh, man, Mom's gonna be so worried."
"That's what you're worried about?" The white haired woman snarked, a hiss in her voice that caused Izuku to recoil like he had been struck.
"Let him," Xander said, planting a hand on the younger man's shoulder, "Family is important."
"We'll figure something out," Anna said with as much confidence as she could, "This is my fault after all. Anyways, let's find Alfonse and Sharena and head back to the base, we'll start with that."
— X Sharena X—
Sharena dove under the Fire spell that flew towards her, trusting Alfonse to do the same. Judging by the crash of metal, instead he deflected it with his buckler. That worked too!
Laying on the ground, Sharena was forced to roll out of the way of the downwards axe swing from an Embla soldier, getting grass stains on her uniform, probably. She really didn't get how Alfonse managed to keep from staining his. They were white and gold, for Askr's sake, they were practically begging to be stained!
Flexing her core under the scale armor she wore, Sharena surged up and forwards. Her spear, Fensalir, flashed in the sunlight and punched through the armor of the soldier like a knife through paper. The gold and white metal flashed in the sun as Sharena pulled the spear out and twirled it to get rid of the extra blood.
"We don't need to do this," she said, kicking up her shield and catching it with her off hand to deflect a sword strike, "There's no point-!"
"Shut up," the woman snarled, pushing against the shield with all her strength, "Just, shut up and die, Princess of Askr-"
"I-" Sharena frowned, "I really don't want this war. Do you?"
"We should have won last time," the woman snarled, drawing back her sword and swinging it so Sharena had to tilt her head backwards to keep from losing her nose. Sharena sighed sadly and dropped her shield on the woman's toes, before she could go further, a familiar white and gold axe came flying from the treeline and lodged in the woman's back. Sharena pushed the woman off her shield, staring down at her with another sad sigh.
That stupid brat got into their heads, made them think peace was impossible between Askr and Embla. Sharena turned in time to see Alfonse run his sword through the last Embla soldier with a tight expression on his face.
"Don't let your guard down so easily, Sharena," Anna said, walking over to her axe and pulling it from the dead Emblian, "if they managed to sneak this many people this close to Askr, you can't tell where more will come from."
"Right," Sharena nodded, pulling her face into a serious expression and looking around, "There are people behind you, Commander!"
"You really weren't paying attention, were you?" Anna teased, before growing more serious, "it worked."
"What-?" Sharena started, only to be cut off by Alfonse and aim a pout over his shoulder.
"The Breidablik?" He asked, "It summoned a Hero?"
"I- I'm not sure if Hero is the right word for him, if I'm honest," she said, glancing back at the people in the trees, "He'll be one eventually I'm sure, but he's a bit unsure of himself now. But the Breidablik summoned him, yes, and more than that. The Breidablik allows him to summon other Heroes and forge contracts with them!"
Alfonse's face went flat at the same time Sharena's split into a wide smile. Her eyes jumped to the people in the shadows and she began to practically vibrate in place. Heroes, here! Heroes!
"Do you all want to come out now?" Anna called over her shoulder, and after a second a plain boy with black-green hair stepped out of the shadows staring at her and Alfonse with wide eyes, passing the Breidablik between his hands.
— X Izuku X—
Izuku swallowed, trying his best not to stare back at the two staring at him. One was a relatively tall teen with blue hair and eyes, while the other was a shorter, though still taller than Izuku, pretty girl with blond hair with a braid in her hair and the rest in a low ponytail with green eyes. Both were wearing white tunics under golden chest armor shaped like scales, and a cape with a white outside and a blue inside.
"Well," the blue haired teen said, "He's not from around here, that's for certain."
Izuku winced, touching the Aldera gakuran he was wearing and ducking his head as a blush split his face. He was a long, long way from home, and his mom…
She was gonna be so worried. Who knew how long he was gonna be gone for and- and-
Tears began to pour from Izuku's eyes.
"Oh, Askr," the boy said hurriedly, "I didn't mean it that way-"
"I'm," Izuku sniffled, "I'm really far from home."
…
"Commander," the girl said, "We have a way to get him home if he doesn't want to help us, right?"
"I wish I could say we did," Anna said, "but unless you can open a portal there…"
"It will take practice," the boy said, "but if he wants to return home, we'll make sure he gets there."
"Thank you," Izuku said quietly, trying, and failing, to control his tears.
"Would you be willing to help us in the meantime?" The girl said, "We need Heroes to help us, and, well, the Breidablik picked you and lets you summon more!"
Izuku's eyes returned to Breidablik, eyes and fingers drinking in the smooth stone, the points where it met the golden filigree. He swallowed spit, hand clenching around the grip that felt like it had been carved specifically for him.
"...I'm not sure I'm the hero you're hoping for," Izuku finally said, voice quavering, "I'm- I'm just a Quirkless kid…"
"You're not all that younger than us," the blonde girl said. What was this place, that that sounded like a complete argument said with conviction? That because he wasn't much younger than a girl who couldn't be over sixteen, he could totally be a hero? "And quirk less? You have green hair and a strange uniform and a bright yellow knapsack and were summoned by the Breidablik! You're plenty quirky!"
"Those aren't-" Izuku started, before staring at her in confusion. How was a backpack a Quirk? Was she pulling his leg? She seemed too nice for that, "No, I don't have a… I don't have any power."
"You mean like Magic?" The girl said, smiling, and cheerfully oblivious to the startled look Izuku sent her way. Magic!? "don't worry about that! I could never get into those stuffy books or anything either."
"Magi- No, I mean I don't have a superpower!"
The girl stared at him blankly by then, clearly incapable of comprehending what he had said. It wasn't odd, Quirkless people were a dying breed, there were expectations they would go extinct within the next two generations, but it still stu-
"What's a superpower?*
"L-like, Strength, or fire breath, or-"
"That sounds like magic to me," the girl said with a shrug, "but yeah, I don't have anything like that, so don't worry about it!"
"If we're counting magic as a "Quirk"," Edelgard said, Lambert draped over one shoulder, where she had spent the walk giving him concerned looks. Now, however, her lavender eyed gaze was firmly on Izuku, "Then I suppose it doesn't get quirkier than summoning heroes and binding them through contracts."
Izuku blushed, ducking his head, "That's the Breidablik, not me!"
"The only person who can use the Breidablik is you," said Veronica, stepping from the treeline… and promptly being covered by Xander's bulk as both the boy and girl tensed, "Though you certainly had self worth issues enough for me to attempt to exploit in my world. Hello, Princess Sharena, Prince Alfonse."
— X Edelgard X —
Edelgard feigned the confrontation with one hand on her ax, the other carrying the unconscious frame King Lambert with ease despite her stepfather having a foot in height ovet her. At the same time, she really focused on her young… Summoner? Contractor? Kidnapper? Charge?
Though annoyingly, whatever he was, he was taller than Edelgard already. Damn Agarthan experimentation, couldn't even let her have a normal [I]height[/I]. When she got the opportunity-
Casting that thought from her head, she could enjoy thoughts of bloody vengeance against Thales later, when a fight didn't very well look like it was to start. Instead she looked Izuku up and down, frowning to herself.
The way he shrank from the limelight, the way he had said the word "Quirkless" like he expected them to immediately turn on him, the way he apologized back when they realized they had been trapped, like he expected Edelgard to attempt to strike him down on the spot… it all reminded Edelgard of Bernadetta.
Count Varley's treatment of his daughter was an open secret in the Imperial Palace of Enbarr, and something Edelgard was certain as certain that her father would put a stop to if he could. But that was the crux of so many problems with the Empire, that her father had been reduced to a puppet by the Insurrection of the Seven. It let the six, plus that bastard Thales masquerading as her now deceased uncle Volkhard, run roughshod over society as they pleased. Some, like Duke Gerth, Count Waldemar von Hevring, and Count Leopold von Bergliez, at least processed as if the world hadn't changed in the wake of the Insurrection, acting competently at their job. When the time for her ascension came, they would likely be allowed to hold onto their positions. But Varley and Duke Ludwig von Aegir would be put under house arrest utterly [I]butchering[/I] their responsibilities since the Insurrection. As for Marquis Vestra… she didn't know, she didn't personally hold anything against him, he had performed his duties as Minister of the Imperial Household well, even if he had been willingly blind to the atrocities committed under the Palace, but she didn't think Hubert, blessed, loyal to the fault Hubert, would let him survive.
Meritocracy, at any cost. That was the future for Fódlan she had resolved to strive for.
If she could get back after she was done assisting her, evidently, abused summoner. If she couldn't… well, then she supposed she would find something to do with her life before the strain of having two Crests inevitably killed her.
Maybe she'd try her hand at being a baker? The people in stories like this always seemed to consider that, for some damn reason. More likely, she'd end up a mercenary or resistance fighter or something of the sort.
Focusing back on the brewing fight, as it couldn't have been more than ten seconds, Edelgard dropped Lambert and stepped in front of the wide eyed Izuku, ax at the ready.
—