1AN: Thanks to Akaidra ZX for being the first to favorite this story. This story is three years in the making and is not going to stay completely true to the FE timeline/universe. THIS IS AN AU for those of you who read this remember: Fanfiction=Not owned by author, only OCs. Thank you, enjoy.
Chapter One: Invisible Ties
POV: Isaac [Tactician]
(Ylisse: (Road to Southtown)-
(Southwest Route)
As I stare down the lance pointed in front of my nose, I notice Ishmael snickering as he remains 'trapped' under me, both of us knocked onto the ground and held at spear point by the wariest of warriors, the most rigorous of retainers: Fredrick the Wary.
"Who are you!?" He yells, I grimace at the blade, only inches from skewering me.
"Can you let us up first?" My twin asks, groaning under the weight of his armor, me, and all of our stuff.
"Fredrick! Stand down!" A familiar blue-haired royal commands, though I see he has his sword ready in case we are a threat.
"Yes, Milord Chrom."
After a brief minute of awkward attempts to get up while trying not to be killed...
"So, I'm Ishmael and this," He gestures to me. "Is my humble servACK!" I quickly elbow him, right in between the ribs. "Sorry, my brother, Isaac, he's a strategic genius by the way. Me? Well, I heal and hurt on the battlefield."
"That doesn't explain your following us or your almost Pleigian-style robes." Freddy says, you guessed it, cautiously.
I am quick to keep my errant brother from getting us killed. "Well, we fell out of a hole in the sky, found out we were in a world that's supposed to be fictional, and followed the road to civilization."
"What do you mean by a fictional world?" The short, blond, younger sister of Prince Chrom. Her clerical robes also signifying her status as Princess of Ylisse.
"Well, Princess Lissa, where we come from Archnea and all the other continents of this world are fictional and magic doesn't exist." As I say this, Chrom pulls out his sword: Falchion, the tooth of Naga, and Fredrick hefts his lance at both of us.
"Who are you and where are you from?" Lissa asks.
"We're technically Outrealmers." Ishmael states.
"Lies!" Fredrick shouts and simultaneously his lance and my odd blade transforms, Skygge-Lysre: the Darklighter, now a blade split vertically between holy light and disturbing darkness, clash.
Wait, Darklighter? Where'd that come from?
My blade glows as I yell out instinctively: "You won't break me!"
POV: Ishmael [Medica]
(Ylisse): (Road to Southtown)-
(Southwest Route)
While my idiot genius of a brother friggin' BLOCKS Fred-bear's FRIGGIN LUNA!, a wild Chrom runs at me, Falchion poised to strike my head, and I simply draw my black blade, Cerberus, and parry his blow.
"Prince-y, ya better listen to us, we're not your enemies!" He backs and preps a guarded stance, but he lowers it as he sees me sheathe Cerberus. "I'm not gonna fight you, keep coming but all I'll do is block ya."
"Chrom! They aren't lying! Look!" Lissa yells over the noise of Isaac and Freddy Fuzz's little 'duel' over there.
As we turn to look at the whole mess, I notice a glowing mark on the inside of Isaac's left hand: emerald green lines forming a tree-like figure in the palm of his hand, an eye-like circle in the center, an arrow going downward through the middle of his mark, and four, smaller circles marking the bottom of the chilling symbol; a word whispers in my mind, a name I vaguely recognize: Anankos. I quickly look at my hands and the mark in the center of my right palm, glowing an eerie sickly-green as opposed to my brother's emerald mark. Isaac prepares to block another over-powered blow when a light, serene melody carries in the wind. I then begin to feel immense pain as the unheard lyrics echo in my mind: ~You are the ocean's gray waves... destined to seek life beyond the shore... just out of reach...~
It soon fades in the wind and everyone stops their conflict, looking around them, searching for the source of the beautiful, if painful, song. Fredrick's facial expression softens as he puts his lance away and coughs.
"My apologies, I lost control of my actions for a moment, any hostilities I've displayed were unacceptable for one of my calling."
Isaac sheathes his now dual-colored blade, then he clasps Fredrick's shoulder, much to Chrom's chagrin. "Understandable, we came off as a little crazy when we tried to tell our tale. How about we explain ourselves better on the way to town?" As he starts regaling our new travel buddies with tales of towering spires of metal and pocket libraries, I drift away, feeling drawn towards the field ahead.
"That can wait, brother. I feel like we should go over there. Come on!" I yell and rush off to the warm feeling ahead; I hear Lissa and the others yell for me as I sprint ahead.
After gaining some ground, I stop to catch my breath only to notice two cloaked people haphazardly laying on the ground. Both wearing black cloaks, purple lines trailing in strange designs on them and gold clasps in the front. A jagged sword, resembling a lightning bolt, rests attached to the belt of the larger figure, a crimson tome on his lap, and a dark purple tome rests in his grip. The smaller figure, a woman with the same white hair as her companion, clutches a bluish blade similar to a feather and a pair of tomes in her arms: one holy white, the other electric gold. I approach them and kneel down, shaking their shoulders. Soon, I realize that they are twins, a man and woman my own age, examining closer gives me a startling revelation: they are the default avatars of Fire Emblem: Awakening.
The woman wakes first, her eyes opening slowly as she gives a cute little cats yawn.
…Wait. Why did that train of thought just go through my mind? Oh, she's awake. Play it cool.
"Ya know, there's better places to sleep than on bare ground. Right?" Real smooth, Ace, real smooth. Why do I care, again? "Here give me your hand, I'll steady you until we can wake your brother." Please let that be her brother, rather overprotective blood sibling than romantic interest. Wait, stay away thoughts, I don't even know her!
"*Yawn*" Aww. Wait. What? "When did you get here, Ishmael?" How does she know my name?
"I thought you were behind me in the corridor." I give her a confused, blank, stare. "Hey, how'd we end up in this field?" She then looks to her male companion, who is getting up himself, I check to see she is steady and then help him up. He mutters thanks and begins to check over himself mumbling a string of words as he straightens his clothing. "Hawk, how'd we end up here?"
Now known as Hawk and still straightening out his cloak, he starts murmuring another string of words. His twin, still unnamed, quirks a brow and smirks, mockingly. I'm staring at this interaction seeing exactly why I was being drawn to them, a near reflection of how I and my brother treat each other, albeit differing. Hmm. Does that make me narcissistic for being attracted to the person filling my role in this similar scenario? Nah, I'm overthinking this. My mind is too filled with Mom's Psyche coursework to not overthink things right now: like my nonchalant attitude to appearing in another world. I turn back to the scene, the twins still trying to figure out their circumstances.
"I can't understand you right now bro, speak up."
"I said why don't you ask Ishmael? He seemed pretty well-informed in our visions." What? "I also said that we shouldn't be able to remember anything but somehow, we relived the lives of our future selves without losing our own memories. Against all odds, sis, we remember everything: our past, the fallen future, and the present. And in all of it I'm still single, at least until after Grima which I didn't get that far before being woken up." Wow. Chronologic visions? And incomplete ones? Must. Research…rebooting…error… "Naga damn it." Okay, I need to stop talking to Sam. Hawk's face brightens and his attitude takes a one-eighty suddenly. Looking in the direction he's pointing I can see why. "Oh, Robin look it's Lissa and everybody. Hey guys!"
"*Pant. Pant. Pant* Ishmael wait up!" Isaac frantically rushes up the hill, the trio of Shepherds following closely behind him. Isaac, ever the trooper, sprits the distance faster than someone his build should be able to. He quickly comes to a stop upon seeing the duo of siblings conversing with me.
"Isaac don't run so fast!" Lissa whines. After she and the rest of the group, arrive, Fredrick looks at the two new arrivals.
"Who are you? Why are Pleigians walking casually in Ylissian territory?" Chrom also notices their attire, ensues to notice their weapons; he slowly lowers his hand near his rapier, not daring to keep his dominant hand close to Falchion, as to keep a wary, yet welcoming, appearance.
Hawk answers swiftly afterward, keeping his hands in a passive gesture as he puts his tomes into his satchel. "Simply put: we're escaping the Grimleal and attempting to warn the local villages of raids before we go to Ylisstol. We've been trying to prevent an apocalypse, ya know, Grima returning, Risen decimating humanity, Pleigia getting revenge for the previous Ylissian kings crusades."
Chrom's hand drops at the same time as Isaac's jaw, bet he didn't expect them to have their memories, eh?
"Chrom! The Town!" Lissa yells out, and Chrom pulls out his rapier, beginning to run towards the town, Lissa trailing him.
"Milord! What of those four!?" Fredrick asks as he mounts his steed and charges the town with the others.
"Unless they're on fire too, they can wait!"
After a few moments of awkward silence, Hawk and Robin look at us expectantly. Except it's not us, just me. Isaac can be seen running after the trio of Shepherds.
"What?!"
"Well? You three coming?" Isaac yells from halfway down the hill, looking back at Hawk, Robin, and myself, all of us surprised that he got there so quickly we all nod and follow suit.
POV: Robin [Tactician]
(Ylisse): (Southtown)
I pull out my Aura tome and my sonic-sword, stuffing my Thoron tome in my bag for later as I run alongside Ishmael to the flaming village known as Southtown.
"Hey, I didn't properly introduce myself!"
He looks at me while hefting his Iron lance. "We'll save it for later, Feather-head. Gotta save a village!" My chest has a warm feeling inside, knowing he took much longer to make that nickname in my time. Probably because he didn't want to seem like he was mocking an amnesiac for being 'light-headed' and it coming off as him making fun of their mind instead of complimenting their hair; he thinks of little things like that, it may seem strange but it's how he is.
I dodge under a blast of Fire, retaliating with rings of light blasting many foes only to burn and blind them for Fredrick or wipe them out when they are weakened. These must be the ones Fredrick and Chrom faced when things went differently; now that we have experience and foreknowledge, Hawk and I split the team evenly, making our way towards that adorable little pup and her perv-y brother. I grab a pebble of the ground and toss it to Ishmael, knowing he'll figure it out.
"Catch!" Wordlessly, he snatches it from the air and throws it in the face of the brigand's leader. The leader dodges, only to be splashed in the face by Isaac's Aqua spell and, promptly killed by Chrom. Our group pauses to catch a breath and heal our wounds; then we go towards the duo of wolf-like beings finishing up their fight, only to hear two words before a flashing light fills everyone's vision.
"NO! NICKNAMES!"
Meanwhile, during battle…
POV: Zack [Dark-Beast]
(Ylisse): (Inside Southtown)
Dodging an ax is harder than is looks, especially when you aren't used to a new form.
"Jus' die 'lready s'upid mutt!" The brigand shouts as he swings his ax haphazardly; I simply respond by willing some of the shadow-winds flowing around my body at him. "Augh!"
A strange feeling of overabundant energy comes over me as I yell out telepathically: "YOUR PAIN! MY PLEASURE!" Pure chaos ensues, blades of light-absorbing darkness slice through the air and the gang of brigands surrounding me collapse, most now corpses, and I hear a shout.
"Brother! Look out!" I move towards the voice and narrowly avoid a large tomahawk that would have bisected me.
"Thanks, Cream!" I hear a huff of indignation, and see a blast of light just out of the corner of my eye.
"NO! NICKNAMES!" The small group of brigands surrounding us are thrown to the ground and the area becomes silent, their bodies still. I look at my sheepish little wolf-sis and simply give her the best dead-pan expression a wolf can give.
"We speak of this to no one."
"Agreed."
"HEY GUYS! NICE JOB KILLING THOSE BRIGANDS!" A female yells out obnoxiously. We startle but stop charging our magic upon seeing Isaac and Ishmael standing with a group of people in front of us.
POV: Echo [Light-Beast]
(Ylisse): (Southtown Church)- (Front)
The. Horror. Everyone saw my tantrum: THE Chrom, along with Lissa, Fredrick, the two default tacticians…wait what? I quickly transform back, seeing as they had finished off everyone else while we were fighting.
"Umm. How much d- "
Ishmael interrupts.
"Did we see?" I nod. Chrom looks at us, looking at our tails and wolf-ears baffled. Fredrick seems…wary but, that is his natural state. Lissa seems excited: by both the concept of someone turning into an animal and by a female her age being in the group. The 'Female Robin' looks at me with…is that nostalgia? 'Male Robin' looks exasperated by the entire situation, as if he's seen it a thousand times. Likewise, so are the twins looking amused, irritated, and relieved all at once.
"Everything." I blanch. "You did good." What? No mocking? Okay? "Just don't hold back so much, I only saw you actually put in effort after being egged on by Zach." Criticism? Welp. That's normal for me.
Fredrick speaks up after Zach finishes introducing us.
"Milord, how should we go about this? These…" He frowns in the direction of both pairs of twins, turns his head to glare at Zach, and the smiles softly at me. "Travelers could be assassins or the like sent here to kill you."
Ishmael and the woman, Robin, step back, as Isaac and 'Hawk' give each other a quick wordless conversation. They then pointedly stare at my brother as he tries to speak up, silencing him. Isaac then steps forward, a diplomatic air about him I've only seen when he gets serious.
"We understand the skepticism, Sir Fredrick. In your position as retainer of the Prince and Princess of the realm I'd stab first and ask questions later too. We'll accept any judgement you pass, Lord Chrom, as you are one of the highest authorities of Ylisse."
"Thank you, Isaac, for being understanding of the situation. I am still trying to wrap my mind around the fact that there are Outrealmers in front of me." He smiles and then looks at Fredrick. "I think we can trust them. We could use people with their talents in the Shepherds, couldn't we Fredrick?"
"Milord, while their talents are helpful and they do seem friendly, remember your great, great, uncle who was betrayed by a friendly face." He looks at us sternly, yet kind in judgement. It's as if he's saying: 'Sorry but it is not personal, my charges before trust.'; I respect that, my big bro's the same with guys who try to date me.
"They fought for the lives of Ylisse's people: my heart says that's enough and I agree with it." He looks at us all, meeting our eyes with each coming word.
"So how about it? Will each of you join the Shepherds?
We may be a motley crew, but we are also family." He smiles waiting for an answer. I run up and high-five Lissa, my brother trailing after me. "Yes for us, I guess." He states firmly.
Soon after, 'Hawk' and Robin walk up calmly and bow in unison to the noble siblings. "We'd be honored."
Finally, Isaac and Ishmael walk up.
"Where do I sign up? If signing up gives you a horse and Fredrick-ness, I'm definitely in." Ishmael jokes.
Fredrick looks at him, demurely. "I'll have you kn- "
"Relax it's just a bit of humor." Isaac cuts in. "We'd be glad to join." As we begin to help clean the town and heal the villagers, I let my thoughts drift. Will Risen fall out of the sky? Will everyone be safe? How
everybody else is doin'?
POV: ? [?/?]
(Ylisse)- (Ylisstol Streets)
I begin to slink around the corner, hoping these 'heroes' won't catch me…not happening.
"Hey buddy, we just want to talk!" The short-haired muscleman calls.
"Yeah, right. That's what the knights said too." I subtlety slide one of the hidden shuriken out of its pouch, this particular one a smoke-bomb. Much to my displeasure, Whiskers, the tall, dark woman of the group runs faster than my reaction time, disarming me. "What!?"
"Be still, man-spawn." She holds me in place, her 'friends' walk up and block the exits. "Check his bag." Muscleman walks up and pulls out my current mark, a small dark-purple talisman that I'd snagged off the old lady standing to the left, her hand clasped around a ornate silver lance. It's not like she's broke or anything, right?
"Thank you, Dylan." Muscles nods and she then looks at Whiskers. "You as well, Panne." She then looks at me.
"Child, my name is Talian. You are going to work for me for a bit, you'll get your sweets, money, and revenge; I'll get a good thieving ninja, one of the greatest in his clan from what I can tell." I pale in shock at her statement and look at her companions: Whiskers, rolling her Beast-stone in her hand, Brawn, the muscleman himself, is grinning and pumping his fists not even looking at his weapons, Talian, a woman I can respect, is smiling benevolently at me surprisingly, Bard, the pale man with pointed ears and wearing a tan cloak, is just skimming through his tome, and finally there's Arc, her black-and-white hair giving her Kohgan ancestry her Outlaw's gear giving me a sense of familiarity, especially her Yumi that she carries.
"Alright, so what now?" I say as Whiskers lets go of me. "Well, what's your name?" Arc asks nonchalantly twirling a dagger.
"Gaius." Brawn seems to grin wider at this. Curious.
"Your real name Idiot." She says pointedly, Brawn looks confused at this.
"Asugi Saizo, I'm from Hoshido." Brawn promptly faints.