Fire Emblem Heroes; Short Stories

The Light Died-Part 3

"What..." Alfonse thought as he regained consciousness, "What happened?"

Pulling his sluggish body off of the ground and into a sitting position, he looked around the balcony where he found himself, trying to remember what he had been doing right before everything went black.

Oh, gods. Kiran.

He had been safeguarding Kiran during that skirmish with Loki's army.

Suddenly worried and very full of energy, Alfonse jumped to his feet and began looking for his summoner.

"Kiran! Where are you? Kiran! Answer me, if you can!"

"Now now, darling, calm down. Your precious summoner can't hear you, not from here." The voice was one Alfonse knew well; one he wished he never had to hear again.

"Loki."

He turned and saw the trickster sitting on the railing that lined the terrace, looking out on an utterly silent world.

She turned to him and smiled a snake's smile.

"Hello, dear."

"No games, Loki. Where is this?" Alfonse said, looking around a completely colorless world, "It's not Askr. What's going on?"

"Perceptive, as ever. You're right; this isn't the Askr you know. It's simply..." She paused, pretending to search for the right word, "A dream. A wonderful dream or a horrible nightmare, I know not. That's up to you. I'm just here to keep you company."

"A dream? How do I wake up?" Alfonse asked.

"Silly boy, thinking I have all the answers. I'm part of the dream, a figment of your imagination. I'm not really here. I'm out there, fighting the Order of Heroes. Besides," She said, shrugging. "I'm sure you'll wake up on your own eventually. If you sit still and be patient, I'll be merciful."

"Merciful? To who? Me? Or..."

Alfonse's eyes widened. "Loki, let me wake up, now. This is a distraction, isn't it? If I'm unconscious, there's no one around to protect Kiran. They're defenseless out there, and you're in the middle of attacking us. Gods, this was a ploy from the start."

"I know you hold no love for me, but don't you listen to a word I say? IF you wait patiently, I'll be merciful. Demanding to be woken up doesn't seem very patient to me."

With a frustrated sigh, Alfonse said, "Fine. How long do I have to be patient?"

"Long enough for me to decide if I want to be merciful or not. Now, why don't we have a little chat?"

***

"What..." Alfonse thought as he regained consciousness, "What happened?"

Pulling his sluggish body off of the ground and into a sitting position, he looked around the small room where he found himself, trying to remember what he had been doing right before everything went black.

Oh, gods. Kiran.

He had been safeguarding Kiran during that skirmish with Loki's army.

Wait...had he been? Alfonse felt like there had been something else that happened between then and now, but the only thing he could remember was an utterly silent world and someone telling him they'd have mercy.

"Mercy...? On...who?"

Putting the issue of his foggy memory aside, Alfonse focused on the main problem: Finding Kiran.

Where was the last place he had seen the summoner? On...the balcony.

Where was he in relation to the balcony? Carefully peeking out of the doorway, Alfonse saw that he was in a tower, far above where the balcony had been.

"How did I get up here? Did I walk?" And then, a far more worrisome thought, "Were we ambushed? Was I dragged up here? Where would they have taken Kiran?! No, wait. I'm not tied up. No soldier, no matter how green, would ambush someone and not restrain them. And I still have my sword."

Still pondering the mystery of how he and Kiran got separated, Alfonse made his way down, towards the balcony, and, hopefully, his uninjured summoner.

Reaching the landing, Alfonse turned around theside of a pillar and immediately felt his entire world collapse in on itself.