User blog:GamerNerd i/Trial by Fire - Book II: World of Zenith

If you're new to my writings, start here. If you don't need the exposition, start here. If you just want to see all the stuff, then it's in my user page.

//Holy mother of God it's so frickin' long. I didn't even realize when I was making it in my doc. Sorry... I hope you like reading.

Gilded Prince
We went slowly at first, but eventually, my head cleared (relatively speaking) enough for me to walk alone. Anna was rather chatty as we went. I didn’t mind, I needed something else to occupy my mind than questions. Despite having a massive axe on her shoulder it was pretty relaxed and, dare I say, normal.

Eventually we reached what looked like a base camp. A young man with black hair dressed in similar colors to Anna hurried out to meet us. His sword could have been a part of his clothing.

“Commander Anna! You’re all right!” He exclaims. Then he turns to me in confusion. “Wait, who is this with you? Could it be…?” His voice drops off as he glances at Anna for confirmation of his suspicions.

“It is, Prince Alfonse!” Anna responds excitedly. “The legend is true. I raised Breidablik, and then Aidan appeared! Our Great Hero is here...and can use the divine weapon too! As for what Breidablik shoots? It’s truly wonderful. It fires Heroes right out of it!” Anna jabs her thumb at Virion behind her, who has somehow procured a mirror and is admiring himself in it. God, I really hate narcissists…

“Unbelievable,” Alfonse says, turning to me. “So you’re our Great Hero, come to us from another world, Aidan.” He offers his hand in greeting. “I am Alfonse, Prince of Askr and member of the Order of Heroes. A pleasure to meet you.”

I take his hand and shake it. “The pleasure is mine. But please, don’t call me a Great Hero. It’s not my kind of thing.”

Alfonse nods. “I’m sorry to ask this of you so soon after we’ve met, but I have need of your help. Our order is devoted to fighting the Emblian Empire, which invades worlds where Heroes are from. One of these is the World of Mystery.” Another familiar subtitle. What series have I seen that has Mystery as a subtitle? Mystery… Mystery… Mystery of the… I can’t remember! I’m so close!

“I have dire news. The empire has newly taken over that world. We need to make our way to the World of Mystery to free it! And, Commander Anna,” Alfonse turns to Anna, his face turning serious. “there’s one more thing. I spotted someone odd with the soldiers near here. A strange man. Not an imperial soldier. Nor a Hero from the World of Mystery now under their control.”

Anna tilts her head and places her finger on her chin again. “A strange man, you say? DId he seem allied with the Emblian Empire?”

Alfonse shakes his head. “I don’t know. I’ve never seen him before. He wears a mask and keeps his face secret from even them.” Alfonse turns and hefts his sword as a small squad of soldiers notices us. “But now, we must rush into battle. Soldiers approach!” Virion, Anna, and Alfonse all run toward the fray. Holding Breidablik, I run alongside them. “What can I do? I’m not able to fight or anything right now, and I don’t want to be a burden to you.”

“How’s your strategy?” Anna asks, deflecting an arrow. “We don’t have a tactician yet. The Order fights well, but we’re really disorganized in battle. As Commander, I should be doing that, but I also need to focus on the fight. Can you do that?”

“I… I’ll try,” I respond. I vaguely remember playing turn-based strategy games, but this is no game. I also played a little RTS, which is what this would be, but I didn’t like it. So… I wasn’t exactly hyped about my job.

I stopped at the very edge of the battlefield while the others ran on. Sweeping my gaze over the fighting, so much was going on at once. It didn’t look like Askr had any actual troops since Emblians just started destroying the camp. The troop of enemies was small; there were only three of them.

“Anna! Alfonse!” I called. “Keep Virion safe! Virion, just keep shooting and pick off the weaker soldiers!”

Anna went to engage a swordsman. Something told me that that wasn’t going to end well. “Anna, wait! Let Alfonse handle him!” I yell. She nods in understanding as the two switch targets. I was right... I think. Sword to sword and axe to axe; agility to agility and power to power.

Alfonse’s fighting style was quite different from Anna’s... Obviously, since they use different weapons, but fundamentally they approach battle in different ways. I noticed previously that Anna was incredibly fast but also fairly hardy. In fact, she often defeated an enemy while she was notably wounded. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, I guess. Alfonse, on the other hand, could take hits more willingly than Anna and dish them out much harder. However, he was very slow in comparison to Anna. His sword and shield were not exceptionally large, but they seemed to add considerable weight. Alfonse’s light clothing probably balanced it out. He too grew in strength while wounded, since his sword seemed to give him strength when he became weaker.

Eventually, the enemy squad was defeated. As I approached the victorious group, a masked man on a horse emerged from among the rubble of the camp. He stared in silence at us for a few seconds before I pointed Anna in his direction.

"Who are you, stranger?" She asks him firmly. Nudging Alfonse, she whispers, "Alfonse, this must be the masked man you saw!" Alfonse turns and looks the man straight in the face.

"You!" He says, brandishing his sword. "Tell us-are you a soldier in the Emblian Empire? If so, then you stand on the side of evil. The empire shouldn’t be entering the worlds of Heroes-let alone conquering them!"

"Whoa, dude, slow down!" I scold him quietly, pulling his arm to lower his sword. "We just met this guy, don't leap to conclusions so fast!" He brushes me off and gives me a trust me, I've got this look.

"Oh really?" He scoffs. "And I suppose you want us to close the gateways too? Hmpf." He turns his horse and starts walking away. "In your dreams," the man says over his shoulder.

"How dare you! Where are you going?" Alfonse demands. "Get back here and answer for yourself!" But the masked man is already out of sight. "Damn fellow. He’s gone." Anna turns to me. "Those gateways he mentioned, Aidan… They connect our world to all those where the Heroes live. The royalty of the Askran Kingdom, like Alfonse, have the ability to open these gateways."

"But if you're having these problems with the Emblians stealing Heroes," I surmise, "then that means..."

Alfonse nods. "The royalty of the Emblian Empire are able to close the gateways. Long ago, our two families worked in harmony to open and close these ways to other worlds." He shakes his head. "But then the Embla began using its power for evil, leaving all of the gates open. The empire began invading those worlds. We cannot slam the gates shut. Only they can."

"And so you two fight..." I say. Why is it always fighting first?

Anna nods too. “That’s why we Askrans formed the Order of Heroes-to stop the Emblians,” She turns to the prince. “Now, let’s hurry to the World of Mystery. Alfonse… your sister has been on a scouting mission. I fear she may be in danger.”

Show of Force
Alfonse and Anna lead me to a nearby portal. I can feel the power emanating from the stone through which the energy is channeled. It’s a reality-twisting force that feels familiar. Familiar... As if I myself had channeled it in some form in the past.

I stand in awe at the gateway, staring at the withered architecture and feeling the sustained pull of warped space-time.

“Alfonse...” I say, touching the stone. “Did you... Did you open this?”

“Not I,” He says, “but one of my many ancestors before me. This gateway to the World of Mystery was the first to be founded,” he shakes his head. “It was also the first to be invaded. I was not even conceived when that happened.”

It took me a second to process what exactly “conceived” meant in this context. Turns out it was the biological definition, which gave me a few disturbing images that I won’t bother to put here.

“You guys, come on!” Anna is already halfway through the gate, beckoning to us. “Alfonse’s sister is still on the other end.”

I follow through, close behind. The force is strongest as I walk through the gate, as is the sense of familiarity. I’ll need to ask Alfonse about this...

On the other end, the ecology of the world is rather similar to that of Askr. There’s a definite difference, but it’s very subtle. The foliage is a tinge of green darker, the rocks a shade browner, the sky a cloud clearer.

“Aidan, this way!” Anna calls, breaking my trance. “And hurry! I don’t know how long the scouts will be able to hold!”

As I run to catch up with the group, we pass by an abandoned mining site. I sweep my gaze over the abandoned tools. They’re all typical manual digging tools, shovels, picks, hammers. Dull and dusty from use. Nothing really special, except for one.

It’s stuck in the ground, unlike all the other tools that were just hastily dropped. The whole thing shines with a kind of polish. The handle and the blade are both bright teal blue, standing out among the grey material of the other shovels. Between those was a dark, deep brown length of wood, again notable among the dusty brown of the other digging implements. I had a strong urge to grab it.

I didn’t get the chance. Apparently I was staring again, and Anna called to me. “Aidan! Come on!” Reluctantly I followed suit, but it didn’t stop me from thinking about that shovel. Something told me I’d seen it before, like so many other things in this world.

Soon we reached a small clearing where a girl and several wounded soldiers were camped. Her clothing matches Anna and Alfonse’s common motif; white with gold highlights. Her lance, too, matches the similar white and gold weaponry equipped by the prince and the commander. She wears her golden hair in a braid, framing her emerald green eyes and the expression of worried relief on her face.

That last part... Haven’t I seen someone like that before? Rather, didn’t I know someone like that? The familiarity was there, and yet, like all my other memories....

My vision. That’s it! That girl I saw looked incredibly similar to this princess. Or... Could she have been the princess? No, that makes no sense; the other girl was holding a sword, and this one wields a lance. Unless people in this world are that proficient with weaponry, but something tells me that isn’t the case.

“Commander Anna! Brother!” She exclaims upon noticing us. I stand awkwardly as she embraces both Anna and Alfonse. “What has taken you so long to get to the World of Mystery?”

“Sorry, Sharena. We had to battle our way here,” Anna explains. Breaking from the embrace, Sharena then looks at me.

“Who's this with you?” She asks, before seeing Breidablik in my hand. “Oh my! You're holding the divine relic... and it's all aglow!”

I self-consciously glance down at the object in my hand. I forgot that I was still holding it, and apparently it’s still glowing. I should make a holster or something for this eventually...

“Are you...the Great Hero?” Sharena says in awe. “Our group has hoped beyond hope that you might come to save us!”

“Please, calm yourself, Sharena. This is Aidan,” Alfonse says. “As it turns out, the Great Hero is a talented tactician as well. We're already in good hands.”

“But...that's amazing. And, Great Hero, you're as great as I imagined. I'm going to be your number-one fan. Oh!” She stops abruptly in embarrassment. “My manners have gone right out the window. I'm Sharena, Alfonse's darling little sister,” she tells me as we shake hands. Glancing at Alfonse, I can see him roll his eyes.

“All right, all right...” Alfonse waves off his sister’s excitement. “Just tell us, what's the situation here?”

“Simply put?” Sharena frowns. “Absolutely dreadful.” She gestures to the many wounded soldiers in the nearby camp. “The entire empire has taken control of a Hero from the World of Mystery. She swoops through the skies, a fearsome figure, all in red.”

“A red flier from Mystery?” Alfonse muses, attempting to remember something. “It sounds like Princess Minerva. This battle will be tough. We should bring a Hero who's an archer, or perhaps...”

“Someone with a sword, like you?” I inquire. Alfonse seems a little put off by my interjection. He opens his mouth to respond but is interrupted by a scramble of allied soldiers and medics fleeing.

A shadow passes over our little squad: Virion, Anna, Alfonse, and Sharena, all encircled to protect me. In a short time, the shadow settles nearby, and a dragon drops out of the sky. Upon its back is—sure enough—a figure clad in all red. I noticed that even her mount is red. This Minerva certainly knows how to make a statement.

“Begone, outsiders!” She calls, brandishing her axe. “I am Minerva, Princess of Macedon. Now, I'll warn you once - return to your world. I am bound to serve the Emblian Empire, and the imperial princess, Veronica, has given me an order,” She’s covering it up, but I can see the reluctance in her eyes. “She has commanded that I attack a kingdom near her empire. I have no time for the likes of you.”

Alfonse steps out, driving his sword into the ground and putting his hands up. “Princess Minerva, please hear me out. My name is Prince Alfonse, of the very kingdom you plan to attack.” He suddenly seems a lot more regal. But maybe that just my bias thinking that good leaders try to maintain peace. “I beg you, put down your weapons. We of Askr have no desire to battle you noble Heroes.”

“I’m not really from Askr...” I mutter under my breath. Alfonse glares at me briefly. Minerva’s face hardens. The look in her eyes doesn’t. “I am under contract to obey Princess Veronica. There is only ONE way to release me.” She says, her eyes pleading. “Prove you are stronger.”

Alfonse grits his teeth and reaches for his sword. “Must we resolve this with a battle, Princess Minerva?”

I grab his arm gently. “She already said it, du- er, milord.” It would look really bad if I called him dude. Thankfully I caught myself. “We—I mean, I guess you guys, technically—need to fight her. Besides,” I add quietly, “something tells me that she won’t be fighting as hard as she normally would.” I was sure of it. If there’s one thing that’s honest about a person, it’s always their eyes. You’d need to be a really good liar to hide the look in your eyes without a mask or something.

“V... Very well,” Alfonse says, returning to the huddle. Minerva’s squad gathers behind her: Three other people who I can only assume are fellow Heroes. Two women ride pegasi, one wielding a sword, and the other a lance. There’s another, much younger, girl behind the three of them, holding a staff and wearing a white dress.

“Tell me, Aidan,” Alfonse says to me, “How do you know that?”

“Know what?” I ask. “Oh, the sword thing? Err.... The closest word I can think of is intuition, I guess. I know I say this a lot, but I’m not really sure myself.” It was true. I still have no idea how I knew the Weapon Triangle, as I’d soon learn. (Although it’s less of a triangle and more of a diagram for... other reasons.)

“Well, that, yes,” he responds. “But I meant, how did you predict the way she would fight?”

“Uh... Same thing?” I reply with uncertainty. “A person’s eyes never lie. It’s near impossible.”

Alfonse is silent for a second. “Anyway, what’s the plan? For reference, Palla wields the sword, and Catria the lance.”

The names help, although something told me that I should know them anyway. “They’re all fliers, except for that girl, who I assume is a healer.” I’m making this up on the fly (pun not intended), but hey, that’s RTS for you. I glance up at the girl in the white dress. “As much as it goes against my morals to attack children, the cleric needs to go. Unless you guys can take everyone out in one fell swoop, she’s going to be trouble. Once we do...” I glance up at Alfonse. “You mentioned fliers’ weakness to bows and also confirmed to me that your sword would work too, so I assume your weapons can match theirs.” The group nods. “Alright, so I want each of you three,” I say, referring to the Askrans, “to engage according to your matchup. Except for you, Anna. Virion, you’re our bowman. Just keep firing them off.”

“You want me to... eliminate... Maria?” She asks, stirring my memory of the girl’s name. I can tell that she’s not comfortable with the notion. Neither am I, but I guess that’s how it goes.

“Let’s go with disable. I don’t want any kills,” I respond. “Once you’re done, go engage Catria. Are we clear?” The group nods in unison. “Alrighty, scatter and engage!” Everyone rushes into the fight. Except me, which makes me feel useless. " I guess I’ll just stay here... ” I mutter.

The fliers stay in their places around Maria, deviating a little bit to engage the Askran infantry. The child is precious, I suppose. Considering that she looks really young and the healer, I’m not too surprised.

What does surprise me is the way in which they engaged the infantry. Despite being the most obvious threat, Virion was left alone. The fliers attacked those who they knew had the advantage over them. Even Catria turns a blind eye to Anna, sneaking up to knock out Maria with the flat of her axe, before going to engage her. Once everyone is locked in a duel, I rush to the unconscious Maria’s side.

I check to make sure that Anna didn’t accidentally kill her. Pulse: Check. Breathing: Check. Stirring while I’m checking: Check, that’s a good sign. If we’re going to be fighting a lot of children, I’m going to need something else to occupy my guilt...

Maria is younger than me, by maybe a year or so. Regardless of whether she’s a healer or not, no one this age should need to see battle, especially if all they’re wearing is a dress. I guess I can’t say anything, considering that all I’m wearing is still a t-shirt and jeans and I’m about the same age, but at least I’m slightly older and my choice of clothing allows me to run if I need to.

I step away as she stirs into consciousness.

“What...?” She mumbles, rubbing her head where Anna struck her. “What happened? My head hurts...” She reaches for her staff and sees me, her eyes widening in fear. “You... You’re the enemy tactician! G-Get away!”

“No, wait! I don’t want to hurt you!” I say, panicking as she grips her staff. “I just wanted to make sure you’re-“ A ring of magic surrounds and then collapses onto me from out of nowhere. “What? No-Argh!” The pain is sharp and brief, like a shot, except it’s all over rather than just in a spot. “Ow... I don’t even have a weapon, don’t-“ It hits again and I fall to my knees. I try to move toward her, reaching for the staff. She just back away in fear. “Please, I mean you no harm. Just-“ And I’m struck once more.

At this point, I don’t know what got into me. I’m really chill, at least from how I've been acting, but apparently I have some real anger issues deep down.

I start seeing red and grit my teeth. In a burst of rage, I leap at Maria with inhuman form and swipe the staff from her hands. She staggers back in shock, eyes wide. “Can you not???” I snarl, gripping the staff. My fingers dig into the staff’s wood. I didn’t realize it, but my nails were a lot longer than they should have been... '''“Yes, I’m the enemy tactician. I easily could have told them to kill you. But I didn’t! So don’t. Freaking. Attack. Me. I just wanted to make sure you were okay and you do this?”'''

And then I noticed how terrified she looks. Utter fear lies deep in her eyes. I The eyes don’t lie; I said it myself. I consider the way my eyes might look and I realize my mistake.

I feel the wrath drain from me and my vision return to normal. My grip on the staff loosens.

“I... Look,” I say apologetically. “I’m sorry for the way I acted just now. I don’t know what got into me.” I offer my hand to help Maria up. Reluctantly, she takes it. I hand the staff to her, but not before noticing some grooves where the tips of my fingers were...

“I’m sorry too,” she says timidly. “My sister always told me not to be too hasty, even in a fight. When I woke up to see you I got scared and... I’m sorry.”

I realize that the sound of dueling weapons has stopped. I look up to see that everyone is staring at the two of us. Well, more specifically, me.

“I’m, uh...” I say nervously. “I’ll just move back to the sidelines...” I rush back to where our huddle was. The sound of fighting doesn’t resume until after I’m far from Maria.

I get lost in thought. What happened to me back there? Clearly, something triggered an intense anger. But up until that point, I’d only felt weaker, not angrier. If I’m going to try to play the pacifist, I really need to keep that in check. Anger and diplomacy don’t mix well.

I got so deep that I don’t notice the fighting stop until Sharena’s shadow stands over me.

“Hey, why do you look so glum?” She asks. “We won! Minerva and the others are free!”

I get up without a word as Minerva approaches our group once more, this time on foot.

“Well done, Prince Alfonse,” she says, though obviously she’s complimenting all the fighters. “You have proved strong enough to break our contract with Veronica. And so, we are free once more. I give you my oath that we will not attack your kingdom.” She sounds grateful, but I can’t help but notice that her eyes are wary of me. “Farewell.” With that, she mounts her dragon once more, her younger sister holding on to her. The three fliers take off into the air.

Alfonse turns to me. “That completes this mission, Aidan.”

“You're such an excellent tactician,” Sharena says to me. “Why, I think I'm going to be very fond of you.” My face goes red, prompting a giggle from her.

A rogue approaches Anna and whispers in her ear. Her expression becomes deadly serious. “Everyone, listen up,” she says urgently. “I've just gotten a report that Emblian soldiers are advancing on our kingdom!”

“What?” Alfonse says, gripping the hilt of his sword. “Then all of this, here-?”

“It was just a distraction,” Sharena says. “We've left our kingdom open to attack.” I mean, obviously, but then again, maybe this is why their tactics aren’t that good...

I run my hand through my hair in exasperation. “So much for being an excellent tactician. This is the oldest trick in the book. Come on, we’ve gotta go! Anna, lead the others. I’ll follow soon. There’s something of... interest... that I need to grab.”

Anna nods and heads back to the camp to start all the troops on their way. I run back to the mineshaft I passed by on our way here.

Weapon of the Shovelrous
I slow down as I approach the abandoned mine. The path of hastily dropped tools leads me right to the special shovel, still stuck in the ground.

I felt once again the pull of this unique tool. I now knew that it did not belong in this world. It was an outsider, just as I am.

As I ran my hand over its polished brown stem, I felt an inscription on the wood. I knelt in front of the shovel to read:

''The lands are untamed and roamed by legendary adventurers. Of all heroes, none shone brighter than the masters of the ancient combat art of shovelry. Even now, its existence is a mere myth to most, as its use is highly exclusive. This was their weapon of choice: the Shovel Blade.''

Of course it’s a Shovel Blade. There aren’t many weaponized shovels in the world. I know I’m supposed to be the tactician, but I wouldn’t mind having something to defend myself with. After all, what use am I to the Order if I’m dead?

Removing the shovel was like pulling the sword from the stone. It was a struggle at first, but eventually I managed to take it out of the ground. As I gripped it on my own, I could feel years of experience flow into me. I take a few swings to test out its balance. Surprisingly, it’s no different than holding a ruler with an eraser taped on the end.

I stare in awe at the weapon in my hands. Such a widely-known weapon... Could I even wield it? And what kind of advantage would it give me? Technically it could be both a sword and a lance.

“Oh, s***,” I think in a panic. “I forgot about Askr! I’ve gotta get over there!” With Breidablik in one hand and the Shovel Blade in the other, I dash in the general direction of the portal. Please don’t be too late, please don’t be too late, please don’t be too late...

Great Hero vs Heroes
The kingdom is in chaos as I arrive. There are soldiers everywhere, fighting each other. I parry and blows thrown at me as I hurry to find Anna and the others.

The Askrans are surrounded. I cut down a few guys to join them. I get a few weird looks as I stride in holding a shovel in my hands.

Turns out that I’m just in time to hear the villain’s evil banter. I hear someone cackling as soldiers part to give way for a young girl. Her hair is silvery grey and her eyes are dark red. As a contrast to the Askrans, her clothing is black, with many bronze highlights. I look back and forth between Sharena and this girl. The patterns on the clothing are suspiciously similar. Perhaps a remnant of the time when the two were allies?

Despite her laugh, there is no joy in her eyes. Her expression, despite smiling, can still be described as sad. Either she’s trying to be stoic, or there’s some really messed up stuff in her mind.

“Scurry, scurry, little Heroes...” she cackles. “Steal for me. Spread destruction. Kill all those who stand in your way. This kingdom must fail. Once it's gone, no one will oppose me.” Her words border on insane. I’m going with the “messed up mind” explanation. I shouldn’t be too quick to judge, though. “Every Hero, in every world - they'll all be mine. Every last one.”

Alfonse looks Veronica straight in the face. “We won't allow it, Princess Veronica. And I will personally never forget this violation of my kingdom!” His sword is ready to strike, his shield already to defend.

“Oh, it's you,” she seems disappointed as she frowns at the Askrans. “And after I went through all that trouble to arrange your playdate.”

Veronica turns to me. I grip the Shovel Blade’s stem tighter in anticipation. “Now, who are YOU, stranger?” Her eye drifts to my other hand, holding Breidablik. “You have that silly relic. Then you must be the legendary summoner,” Veronica waves me off. “No matter. It simply means that you must be the first to die. Oh... Xander!” She calls.

I hear the thundering of a horse coming behind Veronica. In a short time, a regal man on a black horse draws up behind her. Xander’s color scheme is purple and black, extending even to his obsidian sword, which has a line of violet done the flat of the blade.

“You wish this one slain, Princess Veronica?” He says, eyeing me. “As you wish.”

“No!” Alfonse exclaims. “She has Xander, one of the most powerful Heroes from the World of Conquest!” I turn around to look at Alfonse. The connection between Xander and Conquest had stirred another vague memory. His home kingdom was... Hoshido? No, that was the other one. He’s on the other side... What was the name?

“Don't worry,” Sharena says. “We'll- Aidan, look out!” She says suddenly.

I turn back to see Xander rushing towards me. Stupid... I took my attention off Xander for a second to think. What was I expecting? There’s another dumb tactical mistake. I do the first thing I can think of: I jump. Not backward and out of the way, but towards and over him.

Xander’s swing misses just barely. As I go up, I thrust the shovel downwards right over Xander’s head. I put my full weight on its base and try to hold Breidablik and the stem at the same time to stabilize myself mid-jump.

I hear everyone exclaim some form of “What?” to varying degrees of shock but about the same amount of surprise.

I don’t know what the heck I was thinking, but it worked. I feel the blade strike Xander’s hunched back from swinging at me. I hear his grunt of pain and surprise as I rebound back into the air from off of him, higher than my original jump. I somehow stick the landing without injuring myself. As I turn around, everyone is staring at me. Not even just the Heroes, even the normal soldiers were frozen mid-duel.

I’d just performed my first Shovel Drop. A long and awkward silence followed.

“I...” Sharena stutters, breaking the silence. “I was going to say that we’d protect you, but I guess you don’t need it as much as we thought.”

Veronica remains speechless. She looks at Xander, then at me, then to the shovel, then back at me. Xander is glaring angrily.

“How... Unexpected,” Veronica finally says, barely audible. “I’ll need to... Reconsider... this at home.” She turns around and starts walking away, calling for full retreat over her shoulder.

“That foolish princess is retreating with her Heroes,” Anna mutters. Well, no s***, Sherlock. “Although this time I can’t blame her.” She glances at the Shovel.

Alfonse shakes his head as he watches the retreating Emblians. “The battle's won, but this didn't resolve a thing. The empire will invade again soon enough.”

“Stubborn girl,” Sharena says scornfully. “Why can't we just talk through this? These invasions are crazy.” Her tone slowly grows angrier. “Honestly, that Veronica needs to grow up already. Where's her sense of diplomacy? Such a BRAT!” she finally yells.

“Sharena, don't let your emotions get the best of you -“ Anna chastises, “not on duty.” Just when on duty? Personally, your emotions should always be in check. “I expect you to keep a level head if you're going to serve in this order. Hostility is their way, not ours.”

“Sure, sure...” Sharena mutters passive-aggressively. Anna glares at her. “I mean, of course, Commander Anna,” Sharena says, correcting herself.

“I'm sorry that you've been thrown into this brutal war with us, Aidan,” Alfonse says. “Oh, I don’t mind,” I say. “It’ll give me something to do. I can’t be looking to remember all the time. And besides,” I lift the Shovel Blade, “turns out that I might pick up a thing or two.”

Alfonse laughs—the first I’ve heard from him. “I’m sure you have a lot to learn still, but we with combat experience can help with that. I'm glad you're here - an official member of the Order of Heroes!”

“Anyway, come along, Aidan,” Anna says. “We’ll show you around the kingdom. Then we need to show you the castle, which is a whole other story!”