Fire Emblem: Before Awakening

Going to Waste

Chrom

"Chrom? Are you awake?" I felt Emm nudge my head.

I pulled the blanket over my head in an attempt to escape her. "Go away, Emm."

"Chrom, Mother wants to see you." She tore away the blanket and dragged me out of bed.

I struggled out of her grasp and glared. "Emm! I'm not a little kid! Don't do that!" I demanded.

Emm smiled and knelt down. "You'll always be a little kid to me!" She kissed my forehead. "And you're only three! You can't even explore the castle without an escort!"

I crossed my arms. "Shut up! I'm a big boy!" I pouted. "Emm...do I really have to leave with Father...?"

Emm's eyes clouded and she pulled me into a hug. "He's going to have to get through me if he wants to take my precious brother away," she whispered. "We have a couple years to figure things out, bud. I promise I'll find a way to get you out of this."

I hugged her neck and wiped away my tears. "Thank you..." We stayed like this for a little while. "What did Mommy want?"

"Oh! That!" She stood up and laid out some clothes for me. "She has something she wants to give you."

I nodded. "Ok! How's Baby doing?"

Emm smiled. "You'll have to see for yourself."

...

"Mama?" I tugged at her light green dress.

"Ah, Chrom." She enveloped me in a hug. "Good morning, sweetie."

"Good morning, Mama." I poked her belly. "Good morning, Baby!"

Mama giggled and sat down on the couch with me. "Are you excited to be an older brother, Chrom?"

I nodded vigorously. That only made Mama laugh even more.

"I have a present for you."

I looked up at her. "You do?"

"Uh huh!" Mama took out a small brown pouch and gave it to me.

I opened it and was even more confused when I saw it. "Mama? Is this a ring?"

"Yes, it's your signet ring," she said. "When your older, you're going to give this to the person you want to spend the rest of your life with."

I tilted my head in confusion. "What does that mean?"

Mama smiled. "It means that you're going to fall in love with someone and you're going to want to marry them! When you decide that you're ready to propose to them, you're going to give them this ring. We had it forged when you were born, but I could never find the right time to give it to you."

I pulled it out of the pouch to look at it. It was a small golden band with the Brand engraved on it. I frowned. "I'm sick and tired of this mark... Why would I want to give this to someone? This mark only causes people pain."

"Don't say that." Mama placed her hand on mine. "This will not cause anyone pain. You are going to learn to love your mark, someday. I promise. And when you give this ring to your future love, they are going to feel joy, not pain."

I clenched my fists and put the ring back in the pouch. "I'm never going to get married!"

"What, why?!"

"Because Father says that he's going to choose my wife and I have no say in it! I won't ever get the chance to fall in love!"

"Chrom, that won't happen. I won't let him," Mama reassured me.

"I don't care! I'm never getting married! Never!" I buried my face in my hands. "This ring is gonna go to waste! I'm never giving it to anyone! I won't get married!"

Mama didn't speak for a little bit. Then, she put a warm hand on my back. "...If that's what you wish, Chrom, then very well..."

As Mama was comforting me, a maid burst into the room. She was clutching a piece of paper and bawling her eyes out.

"Mina, is everything alright?" Mama rushed over to her.

"King... King Matthias...he..." Mina couldn't even finish her sentence, she held out the paper to Mama.

Mama read the contents and her eyes went wide. "What?! Matthias is conscripting every single able man?! Is he insane?!"

"What?! Father is sending out more people to fight?!" I hopped off the couch and rushed over to Mama.

"My husband...my poor husband..." Mina collapsed in Mama's arms and cried.

Mama hugged and consoled the maid. "Mina, I'm so sorry," she muttered. "I promise that I'll do everything I can to make sure this doesn't happen."

Mina looked up at her. "How?! King Matthias is off fighting! There is no way to contact him!" She continued to sob.

Mama looked defeated. She looked like she didn't know what to do. I hugged Mina's leg. "Mama's gonna figure this out! She always does!" I told her.

Mina looked down at me and smiled. "Thank you, little lord," she sniffled. "Queen Lucia, if you can't find a way to keep my husband away from the war, then please, make sure he stays alive!"

"...Of course, Mina," Mama promised. "I will send everyone out with as many supplies as I can."

"Naga bless you, Milady..." Mina wiped away her tears.

"It's the least I can do..." Mama looked down at me. "Chrom, I need you to inform Emmeryn about this." She handed me the paper. "Can you do this for me?"

I nodded, determination burning within me. "I won't let you down!"

"That's my boy..." she smiled. "Now, we don't have any time to waste!"

"Right!" I dashed out of the room, the paper clutched in my fist.

Why would Father do this...? Are we losing the war? ...Why do I even care? I just want this to be over. I want all the suffering to end! I can't just sit by and let this happen! I have to do something!

_______________

Haha, Chrom is always so oblivious! No matter what world or series he's in XD. I'm so sorry for not updating this very often, I'm going to try my best to fix that. So, I decided that this will be updated every Tuesday. So the schedule goes like this: High School Years Sunday, Before Awakening Tuesday, and Anna Explains Mythology Thursday. I have a new series called Anna Explains Mythology, by the way. I explain mythology XD. It would really mean a lot to me if you would check it out! Thank you so much for reading and look forward to reading more!

Currently listening to: Firefly: Lindsey Sterling