Hello everyone. My alias, as you may have noticed, is RyanMk2.
I have decided, after a long time of hesitation, to start writing a fanfiction. So I'm grateful to all those who have inspired me (CrossVipeR 316, Drakensword Oz, The Fell Dragonite, Naryfiel Lillith, Phoenix Champion, amonhers) to finally put this down on paper. Thank you for your hard work.
I will continue by stressing the fact that this is my first fiction, and as such I expect a "lot" of criticism about it. But I hope that most of it will be positive, or at least constructive, to make this fanfic better.
So, let me leave the chit-chat aside for now and get to the main stuff.
Friendly reminder :
Ishtar is the best ! = Text from the System and Skills activation
"Ishtar is the best !" = Talking
'Ishtar is the best' = Thoughts
Ishtar is the best !* = Sound effects
Copyright disclaimer : I don't own anything in this fan fiction, except for the OCs. Everything else belongs to their respective creators, and they're the ones who deserve praise. Really, read some of their work. They're good.
With that out of the way, on to the main course, fine readers…
Chapter 0 : Transported to another world… It's all Truck-kun's fault.
"Well. This is certainely disconcerting…" That was the first thought that came to mind when I finally opened my eyes.
However, I couldn't feel any difference at all. Were my eyes already opened up till now ? Or rather, were they, ARE THEY, still closed ? I didn't know the answers to these questions. I didn't have any means of knowing for sure either, which was reason enough to panic.
One other thing was strikingly clear in my now conscious mind though ; I did not expect the afterlife to be so… empty ? Yes, that's the word. Empty.
As I was debating this "very philosophical question", I suddenly remembered a vague memory I had a long time ago when I was still alive. At my death, I was thinking that perhaps Eden waited for me at the end of the line, with a pair of beautiful angels guiding me towards the light.
"I am afraid you will have to postpone your project." Said a soft yet elegant voice, seemingly from nowhere and from everywhere at the same time.
While I was trying to convince myself that I was not both dead AND mad, a bright golden light suddenly appeared in front of me, forcing me to close my eyes against it. If I did have eyes to begin with.
"Welcome to the gate, young child of man." The voice continued, and it seemed like this time it was coming from the light.
'The gate ?'
When I finally managed to open my eyes and refocus back on what was in front of me, I was immediately taken aback by how beautiful this person was. Yellow hair as bright as the sun itself with soft, flawless white skin. Her long blue dress accentuated her slender figure even more, to an almost impossible degree. It was like the dress was perfectly tailored to her measurements.
"Huh ?" Was all my brain could say as I watched the godess-, I mean woman, standing calmly in front of me.
"I see you are at a loss for words. That is not completely unexpected. First of all, allow me to introduce myself." She curtsyied towards me, and I started feeling a strange sensation welling inside of me from watching that. It was like I was feeling sorry for making her do that. "I am Selena, interim guardian of the Gateway and its numerous gates."
"Gates, you say ?" I asked slowly, rubbing my chin thoughtfully.
"Indeed. To be more specific, think of these gates are doors. But instead of lleading m one room to the other, they will bring you to one world or another among the multiple words in existence. I believe that you may even be familiar with some of these worlds."
"Am I ?" I really tried to keep the skepticism out of my words. Or, at least to a minimum, unnoticeable level. But I guess she wasn't fooled by my attempt.
She simply smirked at me as a door appeared at her left. "Yes. The worlds of Radiance or Awakening, for example." Then another at her right.
'Radiance ? Awakening ?'
"I remember those words…" How couldn't I ? I've been a fan of those ever since I was a kid. I was a brief part of every single story.
"Thankfully, it seems you are somewhat familiar with what I am about to tell you. That will make things much easier for both of us." She began to walk off in no particular direction, as everything was still completely white and indistinguishable. The doors at her side disappeared as soon as she started walking.
I decided to follow her, rather than to stay there alone, but it was also because something told me she expected me to. And it was better than staying and doing nothing.
"Can you wait a moment, please ?" I asked hopefully as everything was becoming more and more confusing. I mean, sure, I did have a hunch about where this was going. But still…
She turned her head to look at me, her smile seeming more apologetic than before, before resuming her march.
"To get straight to the point, YOU have been chosen from a very long list of candidates to be the individual capable of changing things as they are now. The unknown variable. The "--"." The ends of her speech suddenly blurred itself, but before I could even think about asking her to repeat the last part of her statement, a sudden pain began to engulf my entire body, accompanied by a burning sensation in my chest.
"What's…going on !?" They were the only words I could utter before dropping to the floor, the pain too much for my poor legs to bear.
"As the hero chosen to represent us…" The woman spoke again, clearly unburdened by my current predicament. "You will be given a part of our powers to use in your new world. Think of it as a gift, as well as a tool you will definitely need to achieve your objective."
The pain I had just felt so vividly all over my body suddenly disappeared as if it had never been there. My hand was still clenching my stomach, massaging it to see if it was really over. But I suddenly had a nasty thought...
'Things… might be getting slightly out of hand if I'm not careful.'
Deep in thoughts, my attention was drawn to something as soon as I lifted myself from the floor and came face to face with a huge door. Selena was standing in front of a large black door, which seemed to be made of mahogany wood, and which had appeared out of nowhere.
"Wait ! Could you explain to me what exactly is going on here ?" To be honest, I already had an idea. It was probably the generic savior cliché. Some sort of divine intervention, sending me to another world to fight some great evil. Yada yada.
"Long story short..." She sighed, and I feared that what she might say next would be bad. "You are dead, and we are partly responsible for that. So, out of "kindness and compassion", we will reincarnate you in the world of your choice." That was it. Her words sounded bored, as if, just for that particular moment, she dropped all pretense and simply related the facts laid in front of her.
But it was nothing new to me. Yes, I already knew I was dead. What a huge revelation. But the part about their involvement was news to me, which was why it caught my attention. How and why would a god-like being cause my death ? Accidentally at that. Weren't they supposed to be "perfect" ? I doubted that Selena could give me any answer if I asked her directly, but there was something more pressing at that moment.
"We ?" I asked, the wording somewhat confusing to my recently deceased brain. Since she was the only one here at the moment, I naturally assumed that she was working alone. And I was curious, to be honest.
"That's not relevant at the moment. Let us move on to the next point." But the firm tone behind her statement was one that wouldn't accept any form of rebuttal. So I simply nodded my head in begrudged acceptance.
The woman stepped aside and extended her arm towards the door as a sign for me to continue. With no other choice, I slowly walked towards it and tried to grab its handle. However, as soon as my hand made contact with the door, a new voice rang out from nowhere and everywhere at once… similar to how Selena first made her appearance.
Brave warrior, choose the world you wish to be reborn in.
And with that, words began to appear before me, as if on air. It resembled those system windows that usually appear in video-games and some related mangas. On the list were the names of all the continents in the famous Fire Emblem game, from Archanea to Nohr and Hoshido.
"So this is just like the manga…?" I said aloud, remembering one of my favorite past-time from my life on earth.
My hand hovered slightly in front of Awakening and Fates, before finally resting on Genealogy… What ? I love this game. One of the first to be created and one that has yet to be surpassed. At least in my eyes.
You have selected "Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War".
The door then slowly opened itself, accompanied by a small creaking sound. As the door revealed its pitch-black interior, I was sucked in without a word. Before that I heard the lady, Selena if I remember correctly, say some words to me before I disappeared.
"Take care of yourself once you reach the other side. And remember that your choices will have an effect on the development of this world… Oh. And do not die a second time, will you ? It will be burdensome to bring you back again."
And with those parting words full of sentimentality, I once again felt my conscious drift away, as if slowly falling asleep.
I couldn't control myself… As I recovered my consciousness bit by bit, I bitterly realized that I was falling, as if I had been thrown from a plane in flight without any parachute. In the distance, I could see a rather large piece of land, which was becoming larger as I continued my descent.
Suddenly, a sharp and splitting pain in my head caused me to shift my focus from the ground to myself. Or rather, to something right in front of me.
'A tutorial ?'
A question appeared in front of me as the pain slowly subsided, in a window box. I was presented with two options, a yes and a no. Finally, my finger clicked on the no, causing the text to disappear.
If this was a Fire Emblem world, then my knowledge of its events will be sufficient. But more than that, I didn't want to think too much of this world as a "game". I mean, sure, it was one, back when I was still on earth. But right now, it will become my new reality. Using the system already felt like cheating anyway, so I didn't need a tutorial on top of that.
Please enter your identity in the spaces provided.
— First name
— Surname
— Class
After a few minutes of pressing and clicking the various buttons, I managed to fill in a sufficiently satisfactory identity… while still falling.
— First name : Ray
— Last name : Aster
— Class : Swordsman
"There, that should do it."
Once that was finished, I nodded proudly a few times and silently congratulated myself for a job well done.
You could have simply thought about the words for them to be entered automatically.
"…"
I stood there in silence for a few seconds, quietly looking at the system window as if I expected its content to somehow change under my watchful gaze. BUt no matter how much I waited, nothing happened.
'Something has been bothering me for a while now.'
"Doesn't this world obey the law of gravity anyway ? At this speed, I should have crashed a long time ago. But it seemed like the ground was still as far away as it was ten minutes ago… Oh, well." I pressed the -OK- button at the bottom of the text and the screen disappeared.
Your stats will be randomized based on various factors such as your nature, holy blood and class. You will also be given an extra stat point to use as you see fit. You cannot select which Crusader line you are from.
I nodded, placing my finger on my chin in thought. I still hoped not to be from the bloodline Naga. I didn't want to be asked too many questions about it, and I couldn't think about a good enough lie to cover it up.
"May I see my statistics now, please?"
Certainly.
{Randomization}
Seconds later, a new screen appeared right in front of me.
You can access the menu screen simply by saying the word or thinking about it.
Status
Items
Equipment
Socials
Skills
Quests
Encyclopaedia
I pressed the status icon lightly and the screen disappeared before reappearing, but this time it was different.
Status
Name : Ray Aster
Race : Human (Crusader)
Class: Swordsman
Level : 3 (00/100)
HP : 650/650
MP : 560/560
Strength : 10
Magic : 14
Agility : 12
Speed : 12
Charm : 8
Defense : 8
Resistance : 14
Luck : 7
Title : ???, ???, Wandering Mercenary, Otherworlder
Current Condition : Healthy
"Level 3 already ? The system is really generous." I said aloud, silently thanking my good faith. Perhaps I was off to a good start.
"But I wonder why ?" As I began to think about it, the voice of the system pulled me out of my head and into the world of the living.
Chosen one, you are now being sent to the land of genealogy. The place of your awakening has also been randomized. If you require further information, use the help icon on the menu screen. Good luck.
As my consciousness slowly faded away, I did a quick mental review of how I was going to handle some events leading up to the final battle with Arvis. Of course, If I could somehow prevent the Belhalla massacre then it'll be great.
'Wait, why am I losing consciousness again ?'
Well, anyway, Arvis. This is going to be so annoying later on…
'Ah, Whatever. What will be, will be.'
"Bring it on !"
{Preview}
Next time in Fire Emblem: The Holy War… A strange awakening…
Ray : Where did you say we were?
Dave : In Agustria. The fairest land in all of Jugdral!
Ray : 'That lie is sooo not going in the next chapter. '
{ Endpoint }
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…
…
My friend beside me : Well, you have to say something.
Me : Fine, fine. Stop nagging me already. Anyway…
Hello again. It's been a while.
I won't try to find myself any excuse. I simply underestimated the effort and determination required to make a story from scratch. Much less one with some pre-existing context. My friend wanted me to apologize, but I didn't think it'll go over well.
I finally came back to this. One of the reasons why I stopped actually was because I got stumped on chapter five. I really didn't know what to write for a whole three months, then I just gradually lost the will to do it anymore. Then my friend, yes him again, told me recently ; "Why don't you just skip it for now ? Obviously, my brain almost stopped thinking at his comment, then he added as explanation, "I mean, if you already know what to write next, then why not do that and then come back to chapter five some time later ?"
I have to admit, I didn't think about that. I was so focused on writing the story gradually, then frustrated because I couldn't complete one of them, that I almost gave up. But right now, I've got chapter six down and chapter seven halfway. I also think I'll be able to finish chapter 5 after that, so I hope you look forward to it.
He gave me his advice somewhere around the beginning of January, so I've been using this time to review and rewrite some parts of the previous chapters. Thus, the reason I posted this again. I thought it'll be better to start anew.
Again, I'm waiting for your reviews, advices, and comments. I'm also expecting some harsh words from returning reader, or so says my friend, so don't hesitate to go all out !
…
…
…
Was it good ?
My friend : Yeah, it was okay.
Me, groaning : You slave-driver.