Worthy

~ Chapter One: The Legend ~

I was dreaming. You know those dreams where they're semi-realistic and you can actually tell when you're dreaming? Well I was having one of those. And no, before you ask, it wasn't lucid dreaming because even when I'm aware that I'm asleep I still can't control my dreams. (Unfortunately) I paused in my dream when I felt my environment in the waking world change. I was felt as if I were being squeezed inside a tube, and the temperature change to be much colder as if a strong wind was pushing against me like I was flying through the air.

My eyes fly open, and all of a sudden I'm stumbling to the ground. A ground which happened to be outside. In broad daylight. On a stone floor patterned in some formation of Celtic knots. I hissed softly as I brought my stinging hands up from the ground to inspect them, and see that there are scrapes from my landing.

"Oooh, you're here?! Then the ritual actually worked?" said a girl's voice from close by.

Ritual? I'm not a demon! Though to be fair I might look like one when I'm woken up unexpectedly. Like now. And I know I look grumpy and tired even when it's not unexpected, or early. That's what I've been told, anyhow.

"Ahem! Oh Great Hero from another world! Thou hast come so far to fulfill our legend!

Great Hero? Oh boy has she ever got the wrong person. This is all one very huge mistake on her part. I'm just an out of shape university student who's barely scraping by because of severe depression and anxiety. I'm not a warrior. Though from a very young age I've always wished I was one, which turned into a hero complex that I'm still trying to disabuse myself of. I always wanted to be the knight and not the princess, so in my escapist daydreams I always wanted something like this to happen to me. But the truth is, I'm not cut out for it. It's just not realistic. I can't be expected to save anyone else if I can't even save myself. ...No matter how much I wish it was otherwise.

"For our kingdom now stands on the very brink of ruin, and thou... And thou..." she faltered in her previous enthusiasm.

I looked up. So she's finally starting to realize it huh? I'm not who she was looking for.

"Hold on. Are you really our Great Hero? You don't look like the thee and thou type."

You don't say?

"That's because I'm not," I respond dryly. "Anyway, where is this, and how did I get here? I know you mentioned a ritual, so is there any chance that you could do one to send me back? I'd really appreciate-

"What's that?" she interrupted me with a panicked expression. "You want to know where you are and how you got here?" the red haired girl continued pasting a strained smile on her face.

She's completely ignoring my last question! And on a completely unrelated note, her speech pattern just changed.

"Fair enough. You're in-"

"Found you!" a man's voice boomed out from behind me. I started.

"Drat! How did one of those Emblians get here already? Stand back! I'll take care of him somehow!" she said to me, but her gaze was now focused on a axe wielder that seemingly came out of nowhere. You'd have thought that either of us would have heard approaching footsteps on the stone floor, but apparently not.

After gazing between the two soldiers I quickly scrambled behind the girl and cursed my defenselessness. Here was someone around half a decade younger than me who was going to fight for both of our lives, and there was nothing I could do to help.

She didn't sound particularly confident about it either. 'Somehow'. Geez, that's reassuring.

I quickly scanned our surroundings. To my left was a stone pillar-statue near the edge of a cliff in the same Celtic knot-fashion as the floor, only with the design of a tree, and a hole in the center of it. Don't tell me that's where I came out of, no wonder I felt like I was being squeezed. Nothing on the ground to use as a makeshift weapon, and nothing besides the pillar-thing to hide behind for cover so I'm not a hindrance. To my right was a Roman? Greek styled temple? Gah, those styles look similar and I am by no means an art history buff even though I took art in high school and could tell you what Renaissance, Baroque, Gothic, Impressionist, and Rococo art styles look like - anyway off topic!

With a wordless battle cry the girl charged forward and brought up her own axe - didn't notice that before - in a wide arc towards the lone soldier, and he blocked it with his own. After a brief stalemate she disengaged, and jumped back, but nearly just as swiftly he followed with his own swing, going for her side but she dodged and swung her axe up behind his unguarded flank.

Her axe met its mark, buried in the back of his neck, snapping spinal cord from brain. An instant death.

I stared at the scene horrified. I just saw someone die. I just saw someone killed right in front of me. This wasn't a movie or a period drama. It was real. I've just witnessed a murder.

After wiping the blade of her axe on the corpse, because that's what it was now - oh god, oh god, that person was alive just a minute ago - she refastened it through a loop on her belt and turned to me with a bright smile.

What.

"I'm sorry you had to see that!" she said cheerily.

I can't believe this. Even though I know she's just putting up a front to try and reassure me, I can't believe it. How could you even pretend to be unaffected by something like this? She just killed someone! This is doing the exact opposite of what she intended.

At my silent stare she continued seemingly unbothered. "My name's Anna! I'm the commander of the Order of Heroes."

Wait, wait, wait, wait. Back the fuck up. Commander?!

"We believe that the Heroes should live free. Our enemies, however, enslave them - the fiends. This realm has gateways to the worlds where Heroes come from. Have you heard of the World of Awakening?"

Maybe, that sounds vaguely familiar.

"How about the World of Birthright? Or the World of Conquest? There are so many more!"

Now hold on just a minute! Is she talking about Hoshido and Nohr? Am I in Fire Emblem?! Am I really in some new world or game in the Fire Emblem series?! I figured out almost immediately that I wasn't dreaming - you can't feel pain in dreams. But this can't be real, can it?

"The Emblian Empire invades those worlds and binds their Heroes to service. We fight for their freedom! That soldier was from the Emblian Empire, which will soon invade our neighbouring kingdom, Askr. I was desperate for help. I performed a summoning ceremony. And you just appeared out of nowhere. But lucky us! We're going to have to act fast if we want to save our kingdom!"

Alright, I've heard enough. Pinching the bridge of my nose I held up my hand to signal her to stop. "Okay, before you go any further I'm going to have to ask you to stop right there. You're going to have to clear up some things for me. So. You summoned me here from Earth - that's my world, by the way, to Askr. A whole other planet or dimension away from mine. To fight in a war between Askr and Embla to prevent the invasion of Askr and liberate other worlds from their control? All because you think I'm some legendary Great Hero? I think I've got the gist of it but you've got that last point wrong."

"I'm not a hero, in any sense of the word. I haven't fought a day in my life, as I'm sure you can already tell. I saw your doubt." I pinched a fair-sized roll of fat on my stomach to emphasize my point. "I can't do hand to hand combat. My two years of karate with only a yellow belt hardly counts, because it wouldn't do anything to even the least trained solider especially if they had a weapon. Or a thoroughly trained soldier without a weapon. And I can only maybe do archery, but it's been years since I've done either. And the latter only on stationary foam targets with a practice bow at summer camp. It goes without saying that I have done no great deeds. So I'm sorry to tell you, but you've got the wrong person. There are so many other people that are actually qualified that you could summon to be your hero. Like Jackie Chan, Dwayne Johnson, Ming-Na Wen, or heck, even John Cena. But not me."

I continued desperately. "It has to be a mistake. It's not that I don't want to help. But I'm just not cut out for this." I waved at the body. "I nearly emptied my guts when I saw that. I'm not used to war like you are. All I've ever known is peace. And as I've said before, I can't even do martial arts like the people I mentioned. You deserve to get the help that you so desperately need. Really." I forced back the frustrated tears threatening to spill over. "I know you ignored this question before but I know have your attention for sure now. You have to hear me out. You said that you used a ritual to summon me here, right?" I took a deep breath. "So can you please send me back?"

Though most of her face was inscrutable, the look in her crimson eyes was grim, all facades of cheerfulness faded long ago. "I'm sorry. But I can't send you back."

I inhaled sharply. "That's not possible. You summoned me here, that means you can send me back. Cause and effect. For every action there's an opposite reaction. It's a law of the universe. It's irrefutable. Fact." I paused to take deep breaths and calm down a little. Be reasonable. Have room for a little flexibility. "Okay. I'm sorry. But I know there has to be a way for me to return home. So can you clarify what you meant for me, please? Is it that you can't send me back at the moment because you don't know how to? Or do you not have the required materials on you? In which case I'm willing to go with you to find what we need. Or is it that...certain conditions need to be met? But if that's how it is, then we've got no choice but to meet those requirements. So which is it?"

Anna sighed. "I only came prepared to try to summon, not to return so I didn't bother to research on how to actually do that. I've got a feeling that it's the latter but I'm not one hundred percent certain. I'm sorry," she apologized again, looking crestfallen. "I didn't think I'd actually manage to summon this time, much less make such a grievous error. But if you come with me to the castle I'm sure we can work it out in no time!" her expression suddenly brightened again at that last statement.

I thought so. She doesn't seem to be lying either. "All right, lead the way then."

"Great, follow me!" she exclaimed and started off ahead of me.

I tried to ignore the body as we passed it, but I found myself glancing at it out of the corner of my eye. I don't know the whole story of this war yet, so I don't know what everyone is fighting for. Which means that I have to reserve my judgments for the moment. So for now, he was only a man who got caught up in something bigger than himself, and then died for it. A man, I'm sure, with at least one person waiting for him to return home.

So I mourned that soldier's death with that thought in mind.

"I should probably explain further," I give a hum of assent and she continues. "first thing's first. I summoned you here using the Divine Breidablik. That's the name of this relic I've brought. It fires something out of it, according to legend, but Breidablik doesn't look like any bow I've ever seen." she says as she holds it aloft.

But that's a gun! What is a gun doing in a fantasy setting?

"The legend also calls it 'the true key,' which, if raised high, will summon the Great Hero who can fire it."

"That's it?" I asked in confusion. "If all you had to do was raise it high…I don't see how you could have made a mistake. But why me? And why did it work only now?" I muttered to myself. I guess that's something neither of us will ever find the answer to. "Anyway, the Bredablik is definitely not a bow. In my world the kind of weapon it is, is called a 'gun' and they're the standard weapon people use nowadays."

Anna tilted her head in confusion. "But I thought you said that it's peaceful where you come from, Earth, wasn't it?"

"Ah, I guess I should clarify. Earth is the planet I come from, but on it there are seven different continents and many different countries. The one I come from is called 'Canada' and while it's true that it's peaceful there – one of the most peaceful countries in the world I imagine – but that doesn't mean it's peaceful everywhere." I frowned. "In fact, there are still a lot of wars going on, even in this day and age. Lots of suppression and inequality. So you see, even though I come from a country at peace, the world I come from is far from being all sunshine and roses." I finish darkly, thinking of Rwanda, Iraq and Iran, Russia and Ukraine, North Korea, and even of the rising Neo-Nazi mentality taking place south of the boarder which is encouraged by the yahoo now sitting in the White House. It is not looking good down there. For any of us.

"Anyway, not that I know how the mind of a Divine Weapon works, but why would it choose me? I know I'm close to beating that question to death but anyone can fire a gun, therefore anyone from my world could use Breidablik. It's not like it takes any huge amount of skill or years of training to be able to handle one."

Anna looks back at me from over her shoulder with a thoughtful expression. "That may be so, but I don't think any Divine Weapons choose their wielders by chance. There has to be something it likes about you to pick you over anyone else – some sort of quality you have that it thinks makes a good Hero. More specifically, the hero we need."

"Well, let's hope you're right because I honestly don't know what could differentiate me from anyone else. There are a lot of good people to choose from." It's not like my life has been in danger before either, not even I know for sure how I'd react in such a situation. So It definitely can't.

Ah well, keep walking and you'll get where you need to be eventually.

"Well, I think I am right!" she exclaims turning around to face me with her hands on her hips. "I raised the Breidablik, and now you're here! So it's all yours now. Hopefully you can figure out how to-

"Anna! Behind you!" I shout, pointing to the direction we were just headed in. Tell me again why we were going TOWARDS where the danger came from?

Oh yeah, the castle.

"THERE SHE IS! GET HER!" yells an Axe Fighter.

Of course! I shouldn't have let my guard down yet. I should have known there would be more on the way, it only makes sense. Well, that ends here.

"Drat. More of those Emblian Soldiers. I can't defeat them all by myself, and you're not equipped to help me. You run while I hold them off." she says while sliding Breidablik out of another loop on her belt, before plopping it in my hands.

That's not the proper way to carry that thing around, you need a holster for that. And does she ever swear properly?

"Take Breidablik and get out of here!"

"But I don't even know where to go! And who do I ask for once I get th-

A white light flashed before our eyes.

"What's that?! That bright light, coming from…"

"Breidablik," I finished.

Another flash and I held it aloft, spreading my legs slightly apart, right hand gripping the handle, my left keeping it steady underneath from potential recoil. Pointing the barrel towards our enemies I clicked the safety off with my thumb before pulling the trigger. A gray-white light shot out from the tip and from it…came a person?!

I don't know what I was expecting, but it definitely wasn't that.

"I am Virion, the finest archer of the fairest of realms. Delighted to be of service!" said a man with dark green-blue hair and a high class English accent.

"Of the fairest of realms" well that's specific. Before I could introduce myself and tell him the situation Anna interrupted me.

"How'd you do that? You summoned a Hero! You just picked up Breidablik and you're already able to use it!"

I glanced at her irritated. "How should I know? I just took a chance firing it, and was lucky that this thing was already loaded! With what though is a mystery, but they can't have been ordinary bullets."

She interrupted me again. Wow this girl is kinda rude! I already have a shitty self esteem because people don't listen to me already.

"There's no time to chat now. This Virion and I need to get to fighting."

I turned to smile at him apologetically. "Sorry about that. I'm sure you're confused as to how you got here, but I'll explain everything as best I can later. Right now we could really use your help though, since we're out numbered. Though it's nice to meet you regardless, Virion."

Virion put a hand over his heart and gave me a quick bow. "Of course, fair maiden, I shall do my utmost to assist you. I look forward to our chat later." He said, then took a place beside Anna, right in front of me.

Who is this guy? He looked completely unphased! Not to mention polite. I'm not a fair anything right now since I'm still in my pyjamas and have bedhead, no doubt. I am so lucky that I didn't decide to just wear a t-shirt to bed last night.

As I was thanking my lucky stars that I wasn't as unpresentable as I could have been Anna had taken out the opposing archer, and Virion had shot the opposing axe fighter.

Oh great, more killing. I thought faintly. Better get used to it. Now there's something I never thought I'd think.

"We won! And it's all thanks to you." Anna cheered.

"Not really!" I called. "The two of you did all the hard work."

"That's not true! None of us in the Order of Heroes can actually summon these Heroes. Ha! Never doubted for a second that you were the Great Hero! You're the one who will save our kingdom!"

"That is a lie." I said, though it wasn't anywhere near loud enough for her to hear my comment from where she was.

"Our order is small, Summoner, but welcome to our ranks. Please help us find more Heroes to assist us. Now that you're here, I just know that we'll win our fight against the Empire!"

Wow, I have a title now but you haven't even bothered to ask for my name? Gee thanks Anna.

Shaking my head, I jog forward a little bit to fall into step with Virion and Anna continues to lead the way to the castle.

"So, you summoned me here, milady?" asks Virion.

"It seems so," I replied in a bit of a sing-song tone. "Anyway, it wasn't me on my own that summoned you, but this Divine Weapon Breidablik that did it." I tell him, lifting the gun to eye-level and patting it's side a bit. "I just happen to be the person that can use it. And as you can probably tell, I'm new to all this so it'll take some getting used to."

The archer smile genially at me. "Well we shall be learning together, shall we not? It will also take some time for me to adjust to these new surroundings. It is in these times of turmoil where one could truly use a friend to rely on. You have my support." He finished with a wink.

This guy. Bless him for trying to make me feel better.

"Thank you Virion, I'm glad I can count on you as a friend. It really is a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"Oh!" Anna called before scurrying back to our location. "I also found these on the ground after the fight. Are these the 'bull-its' you were talking about earlier?" she asked as she held out a handful of colourful marbles.

"These don't even look close to being bullets, but I don't think it'll do any harm to keep those on us just in case they can be used." I said and cupped my hands so she could dump them into mine, then I put them in my pockets. Yep, lucky me that I also decided to wear pyjama pants with pockets this time.

"Alright, let's go!" the redhead declared as she grabbed our hands to pull us forward.

Well. This is going to be an adventure.

A/N: Well hello there everyone! So, I'm having a grand ol' time playing FE: Heroes. I've noticed that there's not a heck of a lot of fanfics for it yet, so I decided to write one myself!

Chapters will vary in length, updates will be sporadic, no it won't just be Fates characters that feature even though that's all I have tagged and what I'm most familiar with. Blah blah blah.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the first chapter, and comment if there's anything you want to see! Character interactions and scenarios or "Supports" between SI Summoner and a character or between characters from different series, ships, characters you want to see in general, and I will see what I can do! That's pretty much what this fic will be running on between certain game chapters and once we get to the end of chapter nine "Heroes Invade", until the updates where more chapters are added.

Basically, this is going to be an extremely self-indulgent fic where I get to interact with my favourite Fire Emblem characters, ship, and where YOU can send in suggestions for cross-series ships and interactions! (Unless it clashes with mine, but since I've only played Fates (Birthright and Conquest), and only know the bare bones to the plot of Awakening, that's a lot of leeway.)

Planned Ships:

- HenryxOlivia

That's literally it. Everything else is open season so far.

Planned "Supports"

- Summoner & Inigo/Laslow

- Summoner & Niles

- Summoner & Takumi

- Summoner & Olivia

- Summoner & Henry

- Summoner & Virion

- Summoner & Matthew

- Summoner & Raigh

- Summoner & Anna

- Summoner & Sharena/Sharon (I don't understand why they bothered to change her name in the English localization, Sharon is a perfectly legit English-language name.)

- Summoner & Alfonse (I always want to spell it Alphonse dammit! So call me out if I spell his name the wrong way lol.)

- Summoner & Masked Man/Zacharias (You can't convince me it's not him, especially after the "Blazing Shadows" Paralogue. If it doesn't end up being him there better be a damn good explanation lol. But I'm working under the assumption that they're the same person.)

- Summoner & Tharja

- Summoner & Felicia

- Summoner & Tiki

- Summoner & Peri

And that's it so far. More to come, obviously.