"Mozu! Are you alright? What happened?"
"Oh, Ananias! I haven't the foggiest idea! Someone or something just came in and razed the fields!"
Ananias looked her over. "Are you alright? Are you hurt in any way?"
Mozu shook her head. "No, I'm alright." Her face fell. "Can't say the same for the crops though."
"Yeah." Ananias took a moment to survey the damage. "Man, whoever did this really ransacked the place." He turned to Mozu. "So, how much did they steal?"
"That's just it. As far as I can tell, whoever did this didn't steal a single thing!"
Ananias' eyes widened in surprise. "Wait, what? You mean someone just came into our fields and just settled on obliterating all of our crops? They didn't even steal some for themselves?"
"Looks like."
"But... that makes no sense." Ananias held his chin. "Could this have been the Faceless' doing?"
Mozu shook her head. "No, it couldn't have. If even one Faceless had breached the perimeter, then we would've heard about it. And besides, look at this pumpkin." She knelt down and pointed at the damage. "If a Faceless had done it, then it would've squashed the entire thing, but that's not what happened. No. Judging by the damage, I'd say that someone stomped their foot right through it, and then moved on to the next one, and the next one, and well...," she frowned, "you get the idea."
Ananias gave Mozu a bewildered look. "Wait, so you're confident that this was the work of a human?"
Mozu nodded. "I'm sure of it. No animal or Faceless would've trampled over our crops and left damage quite like this."
"Hmm, if it really was a human and they really didn't steal any of our crops for themselves, then do you think that this could just be an act of hatred?"
"W-what?" a shocked Mozu cried. "Like... vandalism?"
Ananias nodded. "Yeah. That would explain why the culprits didn't take any of our crops for themselves. They didn't care about that. They just wanted to make us suffer."
"O-over what, though?"
Ananias shook his head. "Beats me. In war, it could honestly be over anything. We'll just have to find the culprits and ask them ourselves."
"Yeah, I guess you're right." Mozu bowed her head. "Still, it's a pretty big shock. Finding out that someone out there hates you so much that they're so much more focused on hurting you than actually helping themselves."
"Yeah, well, it's a big world. There's just bound to be people like that out there."
"And... what about in here?"
Ananias raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Hmm?"
"W-well," Mozu averted her eyes as she played with her fingers, "maybe the reason why no one spotted any intruders was because no one was technically trespassing, you know? Maybe the culprits were... some of our own?"
Ananias held his chin. "Huh. Well, I guess that's a possibility. Still doesn't explain the intent though. I mean, sure, not everything is exactly peachy keen around here, but still..."
"Do... do you think it might have something to do with me?"
Ananias' eyes widened in surprise. "Huh? What makes you say that?"
"W-well, I'm the one who planted and tended to these crops, so if someone were to have a problem with me, then destroying all these crops would be a good way to get to me, wouldn't it?"
"Mozu," Ananias solemnly whispered, "do you have an idea of who might've done this?"
Mozu shook her head. "W-well, no, but... I'm just an ordinary villager! I've got no business being here with the likes of you! And yet, here I am." She bowed her head. "I don't deserve to be here. And I can imagine that there may be others who may feel the exact same way, so -"
"So you think that they'd just destroy all of these crops, just to hurt you?"
"W-well, yeah."
"Even though destroying these crops would affect them, just as much as it would affect you or anybody else?"
"W-well..."
Ananias sighed. "Look, maybe you're right. Maybe this was just a bunch of our own guys trying to bully you and drive you out, but even if it was, so what? These crops were meant for everybody here, not just you. By destroying these crops, they've not only hurt you, they've hurt everyone in this entire army. That would make them traitors, or at the very least make them guilty of treason. And even if they aren't, that doesn't make what they did here right."
"Y-yeah. I guess you've got a point. I'm sorry, Ananias. I guess I'm just letting my own feeling of inadequacy get the better of me."
"Yeah, well, hey, if it makes you feel any better, I've got those moments too. We all do. So the next time you feel like you don't quite match up, just remember that you're not alone, alright? It'll make you feel less lonely that way."
Mozu smiled. "Yeah, I will. Thank you, Ananias."
Ananias smiled. "Don't mention it. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to go report this. We're going to need all of the help we can get to find the ones behind this."
Mozu stared in awe as he ran off. "Wow. That Ananias sure is something, isn't he? He's got such a good head on his shoulders, and he's always ready to help someone out when they're in a jam. He's just so selfless... unlike me. Oh, Mozu, what were you thinking, making this problem all about you? You should've been trying to solve the problem, not mope about it! You've got to be more like Ananias! You've got to stop thinking about yourself and just start thinking about how you can help instead! Yeah, that's it! I'll just aim to be more like Ananias from here on out!"
Author's Note #1: After Mozu's supports, I'll finally be able to get to the Warriors supports. The results will be revealed and locked in then.
Author's Note #2: The Fire Emblem Warriors poll is up on my profile. Vote for which five characters you want for Ananias to support with from that game the most and, in the end, ten characters will be selected for Ananias to support with, so make your voices heard. Happy voting!
Author's Note #3: I've been asked about Three Houses supports a lot, and recently I was asked about potential Heroes supports, so I might as well address future plans for the story after I've completed the Warriors supports. Basically, I plan to do ten short stories/chapters with Ananias as the focus after the Warriors supports as a way to send off the character and this particular story, since this story has been around for quite a while now. These short stories can range from actual backstory stuff to just plain fun, but I will definitely only limit myself to ten, regardless of what types of stories they end up being. As many have asked for Three Houses and Heroes, I will definitely devote one chapter/story to each, but obviously they won't be full on supports with specific characters like the rest of this story has been. That means that'll leave eight stories left for me to do with this character besides those two, which will then officially close the book on his (and this) story. I hope that that works for all of you.
Author's Note #4: I do plan on making "The Lost Children" stories/supports with Lumaria, Tan'bay, Zephyra, Tenk, and Lana (as Lana is the only child character of the OC characters). While getting through all of one character's supports took a lot of time, the saving grace would be that the other characters wouldn't have as much justification to cross over into other games (the only reason why I did it with Ananias was that he was part of the Anna family and that Inigo, Severa, and Owain crossed over and became retainers to the Nohrian royals, with Elise being the odd one out), so they would just support with characters from their game and then it'll just end there. Tan'bay, Tenk, Zephyra, and Lumaria would support with the Awakening kids, their parents, and the avatar, while Lana would support with the Nohrian kids, her parents, the avatar, and a few exceptions from Hoshido (as per how the games did it). I don't plan on making new supports for the characters and Ananias. I'll just re-edit the supports Ananias already had with them and use those.
