Fire Emblem: Before Awakening

The City

Anna
1 year later...

"Mommy, where are we going?"

"You'll see, love."

I huffed and crossed my arms. Why won't she just tell me things! I wanna know what we're doing! "But it's my birthday! Please tell me what we're doing!"

Mommy laughed. "Fine then. Remember how fond you are of harvest festivals?"

That grabbed my attention. "Yes...?"

"Well, we're going to one in Ylisstol!"

My heart leaped in joy. "Really?! We're going to the big city?!" I threw my arms around her leg. "Thankyouthankyouthankyou!"

"Easy, now! Save your energy for the festival!" Mommy giggled, taking my hand. "This is your eighth birthday, Little Bird. I thought I would make it special."

I happily skipped along the path. "I can't wait!" I exclaimed. "How long until we get there?"

"Another hour. Be patient, my love."

...

My patience paid off.

Ylisstol was beautiful! There were fall decorations everywhere you looked, fresh crops and goods, and there were so many people! I don't think I've ever seen so many people in my life!

"Wooooooow!!!" I stared in awe at the city.

"I take it you like it?" Mommy chuckled.

I nodded vigorously. "Uh huh!"

"What do you want to do first?"

"Everything!"

Mommy placed a hand on my shoulder. "Well, we'll get to that eventually." I went to take off, but she quickly grabbed my right hand. "Remember to keep your glove on at all times, Anna. No matter what."

"O-ok..." I was a little disappointed. Mommy always made me wear a glove to cover up my birthmark. She won't tell me why! Like everything else! I really don't like the glove. It's itchy. The only time I was allowed to take it off was when we were alone.

"Come on, now. Let's see what the festival has to offer!" Mommy exclaimed.

I swallowed my complaints and nodded. "Alright! Let's go!"

...

Harvest festivals always had a special place in my heart. I don't know what it was that made them so appealing to me. Maybe it's the food, atmosphere, games, or decorations. Maybe it was all of them combined!

This was the best birthday surprise ever! Mommy and I met a ton of interesting people, played some games, and ate a ton of food. I never wanted the day to end!

As Mommy was talking to one of the vendors, something caught my eye. A little yellow butterfly fluttered about, making me smile. I slowly reached out my hand to it, but it darted away. I giggled and began to chase it.

I lost track of time chasing the butterfly, but I was having so much fun! Eventually, I lost track of it. I crossed my arms and huffed. "Oh, well. I better go back to Mommy."

As I turned around, I was met with an unfamiliar area. My heartbeat began to quicken. Oh, no... I ran too far... I'm lost...

*****

Sorry that this chapter was really short, and for the frequent time skips. I've decided that I'm going to make things go by a bit more quickly. I think that by doing that, I'll be able to finish this sooner. The one-year-anniversary of Before Awakening is coming up - the beginning of August, I believe - and I would like to end it around that time as well. I predict that It'll happen maybe mid to late September, seeing as that I have like, 10 more years of their lives to cover in a span of 12 weeks. I may even start posting two chapters at a time since they'll be a bit shorter. Trust me when I say that I am not going to turn this into a huge mess of plot. Truth be told, this inspired me to be way more organized with my works. I am a full-time student who is constantly bombarded with work, have at least two works going on at once - and that's not even including my occasional prompts or Anna Explains Mythology, extracurricular and events, and a lot of personal things going on that CONSTANTLY impact my life and writing time. I will admit it, I put way too much on my plate. But, I like the challenge. I have come up with a new strategy that I am very fond of. And, with school being out in a couple weeks, I'll have a lot more time to write. In fact, I am actually working on my next project, which is one of the reasons I want Before Awakening to come to a close before fall. I am really excited to share it with you guys! I promise that things will be ok, I will work this out. I am growing as an author and learning from my mistakes and successes. So please, bear with me through my journey. Your support means everything to me and it is what keeps me going. Thank you so much for reading and look forward to reading more. <3