Severa

Severa strode down the fancy halls of the Ylissean castle. She hated this. Every year since the war ended, all of the soldiers gathered in the capital. Two years ago it made more sense, as Anankia had been found and everyone had been eager to reunite with her. Now it was just pomp and fancy talk. Sure it made sense for people like Chrom and Virion, but she was just a mercenary living out in the highlands of Valm.

Out of the corner of her eye, Severa spied a figure wearing a white cloak. Turning to the hallway where she saw them, she called out. "Anankia is that you?". Walking down the corridor and turning into the parallel hallway, she chased after the person, the golden sewed hem of her dress brushing against her leg. As much as she cared for looking like a lady, she'd take pants over dresses and skirts any day.

Oofh. Jumping away on her still battle trained reflexes, she saw a confused Owain standing there. "What are you doing you big oaf?"

"As the hero of light I am, I was following the white cloaked intruder of this fine castle. I simply wish to inquire him of his purpose my fair lady," he replied with his usual flair.

"Owain, look you can drop the act. I'm chasing after them too," she said, her body dropping out of a fighting stance.

"Well then, let us apprehend the intruder together." Owain stuck out his hand in the direction they had run off to "For justice."

The duo headed down the hallway, seeing no sign of the white cloaked figure. Passing by closed doors and turning a few corners, they eventually found themselves back in the main ballroom.

"Great! thanks to that studded tongue of yours, we've lost them!" Severa whispered as she scanned the ballroom, finding no sign of the mysterious figure. Several hallways lead to the ballroom and they could've headed down any one of them.

"We simply need to ask these fine people if they had seen the intruder. A chance to speak with our old comrades again after we haven't seen most in a year shouldn't be passed up." Owain suggested.

"Yeah..yeah, whatever," Severa said, making a bored waving motion with her hand,"just don't spend all your time talking," Without bothering to notice where Owain went off to, she headed toward the snack table at the far end of the room, dodging the couples dancing with her quick feet.

Just as she was nearing the end of the table, she felt a light brush on her shoulder. Whipping around she was confronted with Inigo twirling a rose in his fingers. Behind him were three fancy noble girls. They probably got in due to their noble fathers claiming that they had a part in the war effort.

"Why hello there," Inigo said, one of his eyebrows rising.

"Put a cap on it, pretty boy," Severa shot back. "I'm looking for a strange person in a white cloak who passed through it. Just tell me what you saw and you can get back to them." She shot the women behind her friend a look.

"Oh, a guy in a white cloak. Yeah, think I saw him going out that hallway over there," he said, pointing to the hallway to their left with a flick of his wrist.

"Good, thanks," Severa said, starting to walk away. From behind her, she heard Inigo say,"See you, later ladies, I have some business to attend to".

Inigo skipped up to Severa as she was looking for Owain. "Pretty boy, I told you, I don't need your help. You can get back to those ladies, no need to make sacrifices for me."

"Naw, those frillies were getting kinda boring. Besides, I need some excitement to help me get away from court life,"

"Argh, fine. You can't be much more irritating than Owain." As they were walking, Owain caught up with them.

"Sadly, I was unable to procure any information about the entirety of our mark." he said.

"Oh, shut up. We aren't assassins. Anyway, Inigo saw him leave. He's got to tag along, though."

The trio walked through the hallway. Luckily the path never branched, but there were many twists and turns.

Soon they came out to the castle walls. The moonlight shone off the stone. It could almost be romantic if Severa wasn't with the two most annoying people she knew.

As they walked, they saw the lone white figure standing just outside the castle. How he got out there was a mystery, as this was on the other side of the castle as the gates. The moonlight shone off their cloak, making them like a beacon.

"So, how we're gonna get down there?" Inigo asked.

"I think I know a way." Severa replied. During the war, she, like many of the other children had been raised in this very castle. Even though many parts were different, she believed the passageway she and Lucina had used to drive their caretakers crazy was part of the castle's original design. She kicked at a couple of stones, trying to find the right on. She didn't care if it damaged her fancy shoes, this was more important. She found the stone that was raised slightly above the others, almost unnoticeable to the naked eye and stepped down on it.

Behind her, she heard a slow screech. Turning around, she saw the black gaping darkness of the secret passageway. She walked toward it and started making her way down the latter.

She looked up,"Come on guys. We can get out there in time if we use this way." She continued down the latter, the smell of dust filling her nose. As Owain and Inigo entered the passageway, they blocked the light. Feeling for rungs, the trio made it down.

As Severa jumped down to the ground, she felt along the wall for a break in the stone. Feeling, she found a torch in a holder and a sulfur streaked brick to light it against. Swiping the torch, she illuminated the small bare room they had entered. Both of her companion's fancy clothing were covered in dust. The look of shock on their face made her smile. As Lucina and Severa were exploring the castle, Inigo was being trained in fancy royal stuff per Virion's request and Owain was generally causing trouble.

"Stop standing 'round like numb skulls. We can't let them get away this time." Severa snapped.

Nodding quickly, Owain and Inigo followed Severa down the short tunnel. At the end, Severa snuffed the torch out on the wall and started climbing up the latter at the end.

After pushing away a stone on the other side of the wall, the trio found themselves confronted with the mysterious figure.

Hearing Severa's approached, they whipped around. "Please, save my kingdom!" he said. You could clearly hear the insanity and desperation in his voice.

"Woah, woah, woah," Severa said, slowly approaching the man as if he was a skittish horse. "What in Naga's name are you talking about?"

"My name is Anankos." He said, his voice calming down. "And you are Severa, Inigo, and Owain, I presume?"

"How do you know our names?" Owain asked.

"I know many things. You are three of the people who helped defeat the Fell Dragon Grima," he replied, keeping his head down as the wind ruffled through his cloak.

"Okay...okay. So what kingdom needs saving?" Inigo inquired.

The man reached into his cloak, pulling out a folded piece of parchment. "If you trust me, follow this map and meet with me on the night of the next full moon," he said, stretching out his arm.

"Err, okay," Severa said, grabbing the piece of parchment. As she began to unfold it, Owain's gasp caused her to look up.

The man who stood there was gone, completely gone. All that was left were some white petals, floating away on the wind.

"What the hell," Inigo said, squinting his eyes as if he wasn't sure what he had just witnessed.

"Okay, now we need some answers," Severa said as she finished unfolding the parchment. It was a map of Valm. However, none of the kingdoms were marked. The only landmarks were one at a point in the north of the continent, approximately the location of the Chon'sin capital. It was a swirling green circle with a castle with pointed roofs under it. Neat calligraphy spelt out the words "Chon'sin: Geosphere".

Below that was a complex tree, a blue circle at its base. The words "Voice's Tree: Starsphere" were under it. An arrow pointed to the tree with a message in blue ink by it. "MEET ME HERE. MILA TREE, I THINK". The words were written in wild printing, a stark contrast from the neat handwriting of the original cartographer.

"As heroes of justice, we must solve this mystery. We will set out to the Mila Tree to save this man's kingdom." Owain, proclaimed as he read over Severa's shoulder.

Severa shot him a look. "What my friend he is trying to say," Inigo said," is that we should probably meet this guy. I mean, who doesn't love a good mystery. Besides, he could actually have a kingdom that needs saving."

"Okay fine. We'll visit Inigo in Rossane and set off to the Mila Tree on time." Severa replied, folding the map back up. "I don't know what I'm getting myself into, but it better not spiral out of control,"

As Severa and her friends walked back to the castle, they were unaware of just how much this would spiral out of control. They would crush their parent's hearts, and the heart's of their spouses. After spending years in a strange land, they would finally lose hope and start living life to the fullest. They would remarry and have kids. Still bound by some ill-born sense of duty to their old land, they would attempt to return. They would draw in three more poor souls and drop them in a strange land, just as they were.

Many people's hearts will be broken. But it was all necessary. The well-being of several people mean nothing if it is what must be done to save the world, not once, but twice. Anankos would be killed and society would flourish. Even when it collapsed and the legacy of Valla was lost to the winds of time another dragon would rise. This time, three lost souls would help save the world, and set the path for three more to be born, three other who would also save the world.

Sacrifices must be made.

….

Even if it breaks their heart, their soul, their love, their hope.

A/N: Whelp, now I'm done with that feels fest. This was quite a journey, but I have finally finished my first fic. Thank you to all the people who read this story. I don't have any ideas for anymore FE fics, but I will me becoming out with a similar feels fest for one of my favorite TV shows soon….