Unlocking Your True Potential (Fjorm TF)

Anna surveyed the battlefield, resting her weight on her axe and wiping the sweat from her brow. It had been another hard-fought battle against heroes that the Emblian Empire had taken under their control, but the Order of Heroes had managed to come out on top, not only freeing the heroes from Embla’s control and driving them from the world, but with zero casualties as well.

She let out a sigh of relief, and allowed a small smile to grace her face. “Another job well done,” she said to herself, watching as the heroes they’d brought with them readied themselves to return to Askr.

A sudden shout from the battlefield caught her off guard. “Commander! Behind you!” Anna recognised the voice, and saw the white-robed figure rushing towards her. It was Kiran, the summoner of the Order of Heroes.

Heeding Kiran’s advice, Anna quickly spun around and raised her axe, ready to fight, luckily managing to deflect a dagger with the axe’s head. Apparently, there was still one last Emblian soldier that remained, a thief. Before she could dispatch him, he quickly disappeared back into the trees. Anna groaned, rubbing her temple with her free hand. That soldier was going to cause her a great deal of trouble. She couldn’t just leave him be; letting an Emblian soldier run free was basically an invitation for them to take over this world again. She’d have to send someone to scout out the area and dispatch him.

“Well, at least they’ve learned not to announce their attacks,” Anna mumbled, remembering when she first met the Order of Heroes’ summoner.

Speaking of the summoner, he’d finally managed to run over to her. “Commander, are you alright?” he asked, a bit out of breath. Kiran mainly filled the role of the summoner back at their base, and a tactician out in the field, not exactly being the most athletic member of the Order. He’d never even seen real combat before Anna had summoned him to Askr.

“I’m fine, Summoner,” Anna replied, staying somewhat professional by using Kiran’s proper title. “It’s a good thing you warned me when you did.”

“If only I’d been a little quicker,” he said, sounding a little dejected. “Then, maybe…”

“Don’t worry about it. What’s done is done. You head back to Askr with the others. I’ll take a small team of heroes with me and try and root out that thief.”

“O-Okay.” Kiran nodded, slowly turning around and heading back to the gate.

Anna could tell Kiran wasn’t happy, but that was a situation for her to deal with once this thief had been handled. Turning to the retreating heroes, Anna called out, “Hey! Cordelia! I need your help with something.”

~~~~~~

“Ughhhhh…” Anna groaned loudly as she stored her axe away in the castle’s armoury. She was right to think the thief would be a source of trouble, but she underestimated just how much trouble he’d be. She’d spent what felt like hours tracking him down, even with the help of a few fliers searching from the skies. It was moments like this that made her question her decision to be the commander of the Order of Heroes. It made her sick of Embla’s constant attempts to take over worlds, but she knew it wouldn’t be long before reports would start to crop up about another Emblian invasion.

“Um, Commander?” For the second time today, Anna heard a familiar voice calling out to her. She turned around to see Kiran standing in the doorway of the armoury. “Can I talk to you about something?” he asked, meekly approaching.

“If this is about earlier, don’t worry about it. You still alerted me early enough for me to block the thief’s attack. It doesn’t matter that he managed to escape then.”

“N-No, it’s not just that. I just… I feel useless.”

Anna crossed her arms, raising an eyebrow. “You’re far from useless, Summoner. We probably wouldn’t have been able to resist Embla for as long as we have without you.”

“It’s not that. I know I can summon heroes, and that’s good an all, but on the battlefield, I’m useless. I can’t fight. All I can do is summon other people to fight for me. When I saw that soldier on the battlefield today, I couldn’t do anything to stop him myself. All I could do was call out to you and hope you’d notice in time.”

“You’re also our tactician. You might not be fighting, but you’re still a vital part of our team.”

“And who handled tactics before me?”

“Oh, um… I did.”

Kiran let out a sigh. “See? Even my role as a tactician is just something you gave me to make me feel useful. You could have died today, and I couldn’t do anything to protect you. Using Breidablik is all I’m good for.”

Anna didn’t have a good response. While Kiran was somewhat of a natural when it came to tactics, she couldn’t deny that she could still fulfil the role herself. She’d seen Kiran trying out different weapons around the castle at times, and she could tell it wasn’t working out. Even under the watchful eye of some of the best heroes from across the worlds, Kiran simply lacked the strength and dexterity for most weapons, and despite watching many partake in combat, he struggled to replicate it himself. While he still helped out with tactics and duties around the castle, summoning other heroes was really the only thing that couldn’t be delegated to someone else.

Of course, she couldn’t just outright agree with him. That would only further lower his morale, and she needed his mind focused on his duties. A distracted tactician was a recipe for disaster. But what could she really do? If all the heroes in their barracks couldn’t teach Kiran combat, what hope would she have of doing it? She couldn’t. At least, not through normal means.

“You truly want to learn how to fight?” Anna asked, taking a much more serious tone than she normally did.

“Well, yes, but…” Kiran started, clearly about to follow up about how useless he’d been with every weapon he’d tried.

“Then there may be a way. It’s only a legend, but the legend about you turned out to be true, so it’s worth a shot.”

Even with Kiran’s hood obscuring his face, Anna could tell he was stunned. “R-Really? What’s the legend?”

Anna paced back and forth, recalling the legend she’d been told. “If Breidablik is raised high, it can summon the Great Hero who can fire it, but if taken to the highest point in Zenith, it can unlock the Great Hero’s true potential.”

“And? Where’s the “highest point”?” Kiran was clearly eager to, in his eyes, be of use to the Order of Heroes. Anna couldn’t help but laugh at how excited he’d seemed.

“I’ll take you there tomorrow. Get some rest for now, it’s been a long day.”

Kiran nodded. “R-Right. Thank you, Commander.”

“Anytime.”

With that Kiran left the armoury, returning to his own quarters. Anna was pleased to see his mood had improved so much, but she couldn’t help but worry about how much his mood would drop if the legend turned out to be false, or if his “true potential” wasn’t what he was expecting. Regardless, they had to try. But first, there was a little business to take care of. Anna left the armoury herself, and headed off in a different direction.

She was looking for the person that might as well have been her second in command; Alfonse, prince of Askr. Thankfully, he turned out to be exactly where she expected him to be at this time of night; in his quarters. As an added bonus, his sister, Sharena, was there with him, saving Anna the trouble of having to hunt her down as well. The door to the room was already open, but Anna knocked on the doorframe regardless.

“Alfonse, Sharena, can I talk to you for a moment?” Anna asked, leaning against the doorframe.

“Of course, Commander,” Alfonse replied, standing up from his desk.

“What do you need?” Sharena asked, using a much more informal tone than her brother, still sitting on the edge of his bed.

“Kiran and I will be heading out tomorrow. I need you two to take care of things while we’re gone.”

“Huh? Where are you going?” Sharena inquired, butting in before Alfonse could respond.

“Niflheim. Legend tells that atop its peak, we can unlock Kiran’s true potential.”

“Are you sure it’s wise for the two of you to go alone?” Alfonse asked, clearly treating the situation with the maturity it merited, unlike his sister.

“Yeah. Let us come along too. If it’s something so important, I don’t want to miss out.”

Alfonse held his head in his hand. “That’s not what I meant…”

“I need someone in charge in case Embla attacks again,” Anna explained, pacing around the entrance of Alfonse’s room. “We don’t yet know where they’ll strike next. For all we know, they could invade Askr again and attempt to destroy the summoning ruins, cutting off Kiran’s power. You two know Zenith better than any of the heroes we’ve recruited, so I’d feel safer in the knowledge that the two of you were here defending the place if anything went wrong.”

“But if both you and Kiran are gone, what will we do for tactics?” Alfonse inquired. Sharena, on the other hand, remained silent, still a little miffed that she was being excluded from the expedition.

“Have you seen our barracks? We’ve plenty of strategists and tacticians from other worlds among our ranks. I’m sure you’ll manage.”

“Right. We’ll do our best to hold things down until you return, Commander.”

Anna nodded, before turning to the other woman in the room. “Sharena?”

Sharena didn’t say anything for a moment, before letting out and exaggerated sigh. “Alright. I’ll stay here with Alfonse and guard the castle.”

“Thank you both. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a hike to prepare for.”

~~~~~~

“Jeez, you weren’t kidding when you said this was the highest point in Zenith,” Kiran huffed out, panting heavily. A hike up a mountain wasn’t exactly his idea of a fun, early-morning activity, but he was willing to bear it for what he’d find at the peak.

“Niflheim is the tallest mountain in all of Zenith, but it’s still rather small compared to some of the mountains I’ve seen in other worlds.” Anna explained, eyes ahead of her as she searched for a safe path to ascend. “Good thing too, otherwise we’d never make it to the peak before sundown.” The pair had reached the base of the mountain pretty early in the morning, and now they were about three quarters of the way up around noon. Anna had thought ahead and packed some food for the two of them, and was carrying it herself, seeing as Kiran was having enough trouble getting up without having to carry anything. “Do you need a break?”

Despite the fact that his legs ached, his lungs burned, and his robe was drenched with sweat, Kiran shook his head. “No. I-I can keep going.” He was determined to make it to the peak, no matter what.

Anna frowned, but nodded and pressed forward regardless. She was worried about how hard Kiran was pushing himself, considering the possibility of him tumbling down the mountain after collapsing from exhaustion was very real, but she supposed he knew his own limits better than she did. Taking her eyes away from where she placed her feet for a moment, she peered up at the mountain’s peak. Although she’d climbed Niflheim before, she’d never actually been to the very top before. It was often shrouded in mist, but as close to the top as they were, she could see it clearly. It was almost as if it knew they were coming, and had cleared the way for them.

Anna shook her head, redirecting her attention to the path in front of her. The mountain knew they were coming? That was just silly. Even if the legend was true, the idea of a living mountain seemed ridiculous to her. She checked behind her to make sure Kiran was still following. He was, although his pace was slowing. She considered forcing him to take a break, but with how close they were to the summit, she knew he’d want to press on. She let out a sigh, knowing it’d be difficult to reason with him after how determined he’d been the whole way up. She turned around again, only to find something cold and wet touch her nose.

“…Snow?” Although the skies had been clear but a moment ago, a cloud had suddenly gathered just above the peak, and snow was starting to fall from it. “…Strange.” Such a freak weather pattern could hardly be considered a coincidence. Something was definitely going on.

“Something wrong, Commander?” Kiran asked, noticing that she’d stopped now that he’d caught up.

“Oh, um, no. It’s nothing,” Anna replied, trying to get her mind off the sudden snow. “Not much further now.” The drop in temperature seemed to have reenergised Kiran, because he seemed to be keeping up with her now, rather than trailing behind out of breath. Of course, it could also be how close they were to the top that was spurring him onwards. Regardless of the reason, with Anna guiding the way, the two soon reached the peak.

At the peak, there was a small clearing, which held a slightly raised platform at its centre, just large enough for someone to stand comfortably on. No birds chirped, no insects buzzed, no wind blew. It was silent, save for the sound of Kiran and Anna’s breathing.

“Is… this it?” Kiran asked, not entirely sure what they were supposed to do now.

Anna approached the platform in the centre of the clearing. There were two indents in the platform, looking almost like a shoeprint that had been smudged out a bit. “I think you’re supposed to stand on this,” she said, gesturing for Kiran to come over to her.

Kiran hummed in agreement, and slowly stepped up onto the platform, placing his feet in the correct position. Anna was slightly worried it might be a trap, but any thought of that sort was gone from Kiran’s mind. He’d made it here, and he was going to claim what was apparently his. He felt the platform lower slightly below his weight, and a rumbling sound began to echo out from the opposite side of the clearing. Kiran and Anna watched on in silence as a stone slab began to rise out of the ground, covered in similar patterns to the stone in Askr’s summoning ruins that Kiran used to summon heroes from other worlds. In the place where Askr’s ruins would have a hole, there was a blue sphere with a snowflake pattern glistening inside it.

“Is that a summoning stone?” Kiran wondered aloud. He was about to step off the platform to investigate, but the moment he lifted his foot up, the slab began to descend again. He quickly corrected his position, and the slab followed his example.

Seeing as Kiran couldn’t leave the platform, Anna approached the slab to investigate for him. “Hm, it does sort of look like a summoning stone, although I’ve never seen one like this before.” She attempted to remove the stone from the slab, but it stayed stuck. “I guess it won’t be coming with us then.”

“So, I’m just supposed to summon from it?” Kiran was now somewhat disappointed. It seemed that after that big climb up here, his “true potential” was just summoning another hero.

“Well, maybe you can “summon” your potential, or something?” Anna said reassuringly. “You are standing where the summoned hero would usually appear, after all. We’ve come all this way, so we might as well give it a go.” She stepped back towards the edge of the peak, so as not to get in the way of the summoning ritual.

Kiran sighed, before mumbling, “Here goes nothing.” He pulled out Breidablik and pointed it at the stone in the slab, before pulling the trigger. As usual, multicoloured lights erupted from Breidablik’s barrel, and flew into the stone. Dust and snow that had gathered at the base of the slab suddenly zoomed off in a puff, as if blown away by an unseen wind. The patterns on the slab glowed a bright blue, as did the platform Kiran was standing on, before a pillar of light engulfed him.

Kiran’s mind was assaulted with a million sensations all at once, but the one that stood out first and foremost was that he felt cold. Colder than he’d ever felt in his life, and yet, it was not an uncomfortable cold. In fact, it felt rather pleasant, and put his mind at ease, calming any worries that might be troubling him, and numbing his perception of what was going on. With his mind no longer focused on what was happening to him, the mysterious forces at play got to work.

His clothes suddenly tore themselves off of him, the scraps flying around him in the pillar of light, not that Kiran was aware enough to notice. He could vaguely feel flecks of cold as snowflakes hit his naked body, smoothing out his skin and leaving it hairless, although it was nothing compared to the cold that still assaulted his mind. His bones crunched together as his limbs shrunk and his spine contracted. His muscles became stronger, but stayed compact, leaving his body slim.

His feet shrunk down and slimmed, his toes lengthening a little. Any excess fat in his calves moved upwards to his thighs, leaving his legs looking rather shapely. His rear plumped up a little match his new thighs, and his hips pushed outwards. Not by much, but enough to be noticeable. An immense pressure built in his groin, forcing his genitals back into his body, as the feminine equivalent began to form inside of him.

Even if Kiran hadn’t been lulled into complacency, there wouldn’t have been much he could do to combat how quickly the changes were occurring. Continuing up his body, his waist suddenly caved in on itself, and his shoulders crunched closer together. Any fat left over on his torso shifted up towards his chest, where they formed a small pair of breasts. His arms slimmed similarly to his legs, and his hands shrunk a little.

If Kiran could have seen himself right now, he probably would have thought he looked rather silly, with his head stuck atop what was now an undeniably female body. However, that would not be the case for long. His throat slimmed down as his Adam’s apple sunk back into his throat, raising the pitch of his voice. His jawline softened as his face took on a rounder shape. His nose shrunk and slimmed down, looking petite in the middle of his face, while his lips plumped up a little. Two bright blue orbs shone above them, his eyes having grown larger and his eyelashes longer and darker. A pale blonde colour spread throughout his hair, turning a light blue colour as it reached the tips, and it began to grow out into a short, yet feminine style.

His transformation apparently complete, the scraps of fabric that had once been Kiran’s clothing began to once again descend upon his naked form, shifting and changing as they stitched themselves back together. His torso was cloaked in a light blue dress, with loose white sleeves coming down to his wrists, and a rather short skirt, barely even reaching mid-thigh level. A pair of white boots covered his feet, climbing all the way up over his knees, with golden patterns extending up his thighs, and white feathers flaring out from his calves. Over his dress, a collar appeared to cover his neck, a cape split in three trailing out from its back, and a pair of large, gold pauldrons with pale blue gems embedded into them appeared on his shoulders, more white feathers pooling out from underneath them.

A pair of red and gold bracers formed on his forearms, knocking Breidablik out of his hand. Before the divine relic could hit the ground, though, it was caught by whatever mysterious force was causing this, and it was hooked onto a belt that had just formed around his waist. A tiara resembling half a snowflake rested atop his head, and a pair of earrings, sporting the same gems as were in his pauldrons, pierced through his ears. Finally, a large spear with a head seemingly made of ice appeared out of nowhere, taking Breidablik’s place in his right hand.

Despite how intense and thorough the changes had been, it had all occurred in less than a minute, and just as swiftly as it had appeared, the pillar of light that had surrounded Kiran vanished. Anna was understandably confused, having seen her comrade engulfed in light, and a stranger taking his place when it faded. She kept her guard up, just in case this stranger proved to be hostile, and waited for her to make a move.

“FOUND YOU!” A loud, female voice echoed around the mountaintop. Turning to see the source of the voice, Anna found a wyvern heading towards them, its rider cloaked in black armour and wielding a sword.

“Why now of all times?” Anna grumbled, axe at the ready to strike down this intruder. She knew her axe would put her at a disadvantage against this sword-wielding rider, but there was little else she could do.

At least, that’s what she thought. Before the wyvern could even get close enough for Anna to strike, she saw a shadow pass over her, and something flip over her head. She looked up to find the stranger, spear in hand, leaping towards the rider. Her aim was true, and her lance pierced the rider the moment her feet collided with the wyvern’s neck. Not wasting even a second, the stranger pushed off of the beast, flipping back onto the mountain as the rider fell from her mount, the wyvern flying after her.

Kiran stood in silence, stunned by what had just happened. It was if his body had simply moved on its own. There was no way he would have been able to do that himself. No to mention he’d suddenly obtained a spear from who-knows-where. It was all rather exciting, although a little scary at the same time, considering he’d just leapt off a cliff by no accord of his own in order to save Anna from an approaching soldier.

“Who are you, and where’s Kiran?” a voice behind Kiran spoke. He recognised the voice, of course, as he’d spent the whole day alongside the person it belonged to. He turned around to find Anna with a stern expression on her face, axe pointed directly at his chest. Kiran was understandably confused. Why was Anna threatening him? Why was she asking where he was?

“Commander…” he started, speaking softly.

“What did you do to him!?” Her eyes flashed with anger. Kiran had never seen her like this. She had gotten rather stern during their campaign against Embla, but never like this.

“Commander Anna, it’s me, Ki-” Kiran practically shouted, wanting Anna to stop being mad at him. He cut himself off halfway through his name, however, as he suddenly realised that his voice no longer sounded like his own. “Wha?” he mumbled as he looked down at himself, seeing the new outfit he’d been clothed in, and the decidedly female body that sat beneath. His spear clattered on the ground as it fell from his hand. “What happened to me?” he cried out, stricken with fear.

“…I’ll ask again, who are you?” Anna’s words were the same, but her tone had completely changed, from one of anger to one of concern. She had lowered her guard, aware that something was wrong, but not something that would pose a threat to her.

“C-Commander, I… I am Kiran,” he managed to get out, practically on the verge of tears.

Anna was a fairly good judge of character, and although she had no reason to believe that this girl was telling the truth, besides the divine relic hanging from her belt, she felt she could trust her, or rather, him, seeing as the girl claimed she was really Kiran, summoner of the Order of Heroes. “So then, the stone… changed you?” she asked, hoping to clarify the situation.

“I-I think so.”

Anna hummed in acknowledgement, thinking over the events that had just occurred, and the legend that had led the two of them here in the first place. “Well, considering what you just did to our attacker, I guess the legend delivered what it promised, although not exactly how we expected.” She continued to peer down the mountain at where the rider had fallen, not entirely sure how to handle the situation.

Kiran seemed to notice where she was looking, and asked, “Is something wrong?”

“Something about that soldier bothers me. They were clearly wearing Embla’s colours, but I don’t recall ever having seen wyvern riders amongst Embla’s forces before.” Anna paused for a moment, before turning to face Kiran again. “Sorry. It must seem like a silly thing to worry about after what you just went through.”

“N-No, it’s fine.” Every little thing felt different to Kiran. It was hard to even call this body his own, given how unfamiliar everything about it seemed to him. And yet, despite all that, he seemed to be calming down. With every snowflake that fell upon him from the clouds above, he could feel his worries ease just a little. It was as if his new body was one with the cold.

“Are you okay to head down the mountain, or do you need a bit more time to get used to this first?” Anna asked. She was clearly still shaken up by the events, both Kiran’s transformation and the sudden attack, but she was still doing her best to take into account how Kiran felt about all this.

“I think I’ll be fine.” Reluctant as he was to leave this isolated patch of snow atop the mountain, he knew it was for the best to head back and rejoin the Order of Heroes with his newfound lance skills.

“Alright. Let’s go then. We’ll have to be quick if we want to make it home before sundown.”

~~~~~~

Heading back down the mountain had proved to be quicker than climbing up it, but the two comrades still found themselves feeling the chill of night by the time they arrived back at the castle. Kiran’s unfamiliarity with his new body had slowed them down a bit, but the further they walked, the more confident his stride became. This was through no will of his own, however. His body just seemed to know what to do, even though he didn’t. He could tell he was walking differently than how he used to, probably to account for his new centre of gravity, but it just seemed to be what his body did naturally.

As the two approached the castle, they noticed a pair of figures dressed in white, waiting at the gates. Naturally, it was the royal siblings, Alfonse and Sharena. Kiran’s heart began to race. How was he going to explain this to them? How would they react? His mind fogged with worry again, but before long, he and Anna were close enough that the siblings noticed them, and began to head over towards them.

“Commander Anna, glad to see you return safely,” Alfonse greeted once they were within speaking distance, before adding, “Who is this newcomer with you?”

“Yeah, and where’s Kiran?” Sharena asked, noticing the absence of a certain hooded individual.

“Well…” Anna started, glancing over at Kiran nervously. After a heavy sigh, she admitted, gesturing to the woman beside her, “This is Kiran.” Alfonse and Sharena were naturally taken aback by this. The group stayed silent for a moment. Alfonse raised an eyebrow, as if asking for someone to come out and say it was just a joke.

Sharena, however, was the first to speak up. “Wow, I never realised you were so pretty under that hood.” Kiran’s cheeks flushed red from embarrassment. He hadn’t actually had a chance to see his new face yet, so he couldn’t verify her claims, but regardless, being called pretty was not something that was on his to-do list. Although, the statement did make him acutely aware of the fact that his friends in Askr had never seen him without the hood he’d appeared here wearing, so they’d never really gotten a good look at his face. “We are totally gonna be besties,” Sharena proclaimed, wrapping an arm around Kiran’s shoulder, which caused him to freeze up completely.

“Sharena! Behave yourself,” Anna said sternly, knowing the truth behind Kiran’s change in appearance. Although she didn’t get a chance to explain the situation yet, Sharena obeyed and let go of Kiran, pouting as she stared down at her feet.

“My apologies, but… all this time, I had assumed you were a man because of your voice,” Alfonse stated, clearly still unaware of what had happened.

“That’s… because I was,” Kiran explained, still not entirely used to hearing his new voice. “The ritual that was supposed to unlock my true potential turned me into what you see before you.”

The group was silent once again, before Alfonse and Sharena said in tandem, “…Oh.” No one knew what to say besides that.

Anna was the one to break the silence this time. “Well, we should head back inside. It’s been a long day,” she said, repeating the same words she’d said the night before, back when this whole adventure had started. The group seemed to agree with that notion, and turned to head back towards the castle again.

They did not make it inside the castle, however, as a loud noise akin to an explosion suddenly erupted from behind them. Turning to face the source of the noise, they found that the forest that Anna and Kiran had just exited had suddenly erupted into flame. They could scarcely say anything but confused mumbles, but one of the group was more afraid than the rest. Something about those flames struck fear into Kiran like nothing he’d ever known. He knew that whatever it was, it was dangerous, but he felt the need to head in there and stop it, before it could harm his friends. So, without so much as acknowledging what the others were saying about what just happened, Kiran ran off towards the forest.

“Kiran!” Anna shouted, but Kiran refused to slow his pace. Having no other choice, she ran after him herself. Alfonse and Sharena glanced at each other for a moment, before following as well.

Spear in hand, Kiran hacked and slashed through any fallen trees as he swiftly made his way through the forest. His heart raced, and his breath caught in his throat. He didn’t know the cause of the flames, but he had a feeling that somehow, his body knew. The flames grew ever hotter as he pressed on getting deeper and deeper into the forest, until he found a clearing that had formed from the trees burning away. It was there that Kiran saw him.

There was a man cloaked in black and red armour, wielding a large axe. Hearing Kiran’s approach, the man slowly turned to face him. Seeing his face, Kiran felt he looked more like a demon than a man. Something about him made Kiran’s entire body quiver with fear.

A scowl appeared on the man’s face, as he bellowed, “Well, if it isn’t the princess of Nifl. And here I thought I’d dealt with you long ago.” For a moment, Kiran was confused, but as the man continued to speak, certain ideas and memories began to appear in his mind, as if they’d always been there but had only now made themselves known. “Dying once wasn’t enough? Wanted to come back for more?”

A word reached Kiran’s lips, although he knew not where it came. “Surtr…”

Before either could say any more, Anna’s voice echoed throughout the clearing. “Kiran!” she called out as she finally caught up, followed by Alfonse and Sharena soon after. Kiran did not turn to face them, however. His eyes were still locked on the demonic man in front of him.

“So, these are the Askran whelps Veronica has told me of? Pathetic. You are mere playthings compared to my might,” Surtr said, evaluating the newcomers.

“Who are you?” Alfonse demanded, drawing his sword. “Are you the cause of these flames?”

Surtr completely ignored him, instead speaking directly to Kiran instead. “If you are so eager to die again, then you can die along with the rest of the Askran Kingdom, just as Nifl did.” With that, Surtr lifted his axe and swung it, sending a wave of flames heading towards Kiran and his friends. As with the rider, Kiran’s body practically acted of its own accord, spinning his spear around before performing his own slash, somehow forming a wave of ice which collided with the fire, stopping it in its tracks. After the ensuing cloud of steam cleared, Surtr was nowhere to be seen.

After a moment of silence, Anna placed a hand on Kiran’s shoulder, and asked, “Kiran, who was that man? He spoke as if he knew you.”

Kiran took a deep breath, before answering, his mind filling in the blanks as he went. “That was Surtr, king of Múspell, and it wasn’t me that he knew. It was Fjorm.”

“…Fjorm?”

“The woman I’ve become, her name was Fjorm, second princess of Nifl, a kingdom that no longer exists thanks to Surtr.”

“Can you tell us anything else about him?” Alfonse asked, clearly worried about this new threat to his kingdom.

“…Only that we would stand no chance if we were to go after him in our current state. We should head back to the castle now and try to figure out how best to proceed.”

“Sounds like a good idea,” Anna agreed. “We shouldn’t be standing around in the middle of a forest fire, anyway.”

The four of them began to exit the forest, Kiran trailing at the back, lost in thought. Through all this, he’d gained what he wanted, to be useful on the battlefield, but at what cost? First his body had been morphed into a form unfamiliar to him, and now knowledge was simply appearing in his head. Would he still be the same person after all this was said and done? And yet, despite the worrying thoughts and uncomfortable feelings, Kiran felt like he’d made the right choice. He was no longer a burden to the Order of Heroes, and may well be their key to defeating Surtr.

“Are you alright?” Anna asked, having dropped back to speak with Kiran.

“Yeah, it’s just… a bit overwhelming. First my body was transformed and does things of its own accord, and now I’m starting to remember things I shouldn’t know in the first place.”

“It’s okay if it’s too much for you to handle at the moment. The rest of us can-“

“No. I can’t back down now. Not just for me, or for Askr, but for Fjorm too. I may not have known her, but I carry her legacy now, and I will not fail her. Surtr must be stopped, to protect Askr, and avenge Nifl.”

“Well okay then. Just know that if you ever need us, we’ll be there for you.”

“Thank you, Commander.”

“Anytime, Summoner.”