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Fire Emblem Heroes: House of Sues


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DISCLAIMER:  The experience portrayed in this fanfic is not intended to be representative of any particular player of Fire Emblem Heroes, and the character quirks of any Fire Emblem series character therein is not intended to be representative of any canonical depiction of said character.  Full-on adherence to canonical depictions has been set aside in favor of entertainment value.  Even if you personally disagree with any portrayal of said character quirks--and there is a fairly large chance that you may indeed personally disagree with at least one of these quirks--it is best to accept this difference of opinion and simply enjoy the fanfic on its own merits.  My material, by my own admission, has been known to be quite lame among those that have experienced it, and I make no guarantee that this fanfic will be a high-quality masterpiece; odds are it will come across as cheesy D-list material at best.  I hope you enjoy "House of Sues".

Contains suggestive themes and "inventive" allusions to foul language.  Parental discretion is advised.

If you wish to comment about this story, use the feedback thread.

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Chapter 1:  Meet the Sues

[A Summoner enters the summoning chamber]

[SUMMONER]  Selecting banner..."Colored Bows".

Quote

Focus character information for "Colored Bows":

  • Alm:  Rigelian Bow / Red bow, Infantry
  • Gerik:  Desert Ranger / Blue bow, Cavalry
  • Sue:  Doe of the Plains / Green bow, Cavalry

[SUMMONER]  Summon!

[Summoning circle appears; five green orbs appear]

[SUMMONER]  Select upper right!

[Summoning process; summons 5-star "Sue:  Doe of the Plains"]

[SUE #2]  I am Sue of the Kutolah tribe.  The blood of the Hero of the Plains, Dayan, runs in my veins.
(The reason why this particular Sue is stated to be "Sue #2" will be explained shortly.)

[SUMMONER]  Select again.  Lower left!

[Summoning process; summons 5-star "Sue:  Doe of the Plains"]

[SUE #3]  I am Sue of the Kutolah tribe.  The blood of--

[SUMMONER]  Yeah, blood of Dayan in my veins, I know, I  know!  Next!  Lower right!

[Summoning process; summons 5-star "Sue:  Doe of the Plains"]

[SUE #4]  I am Sue of the--

[SUMMONER]  Yeah, yeah, Kutolah, blood of Dayan, yada, yada, yada.  Next!  Upper left!

[Summoning process; summons 5-star "Sue:  Doe of the Plains"]

[SUE #5]  I am--

[SUMMONER]  Yeah, I know, Sue, Kutolah, blood of Dayan, not my first rodeo!  Final selection, topmost!

[Summoning process; summons 5-star "Sue:  Doe of the Plains"]

[SUE #6]  I--

[SUMMONER]  Yeah, I know, I've heard it plenty already!

[Summoning circle shows results:  All five positions show a five-star "Sue:  Doe of the Plains"]

[A short time later, in the Barracks]

[Sues #2-#6 walk onto the scene, into a room wherein Sue #1 is already seated.  Further in the background are a number of other characters, most notably eight different Lilinas (six normal-variation, two Valentine's-variation).]

[SUE #1]  What?  That summoner summoned five more of me?!  Just what are the odds?

[SUE #2]  Yeah, now that's six Dayans who are worried sick!  Six grandfathers forced into worry!  Six more people who are having to go through having a loved one plucked by that summoning ritual!

[SUE #3]  Not sure about the rest of you, but I'm not sure my Dayan would even survive the shock of finding out about my disappearance.

[SUE #4]  Eh, I'm sure your Dayan would be just fine.  Surely he can take care of himself, and if not, he's got his son Rath and daughter-in-law Lyn to help!

[Six of the Lilinas in the background sneer at Sue #4]

[SUE #2]  Wait, "his daughter-in-law Lyn"?  That's news to me!  Last I checked, Lyn had been the Marchioness of Ostia when she died!  

[LILINA #3]  Yeah, you tell her!

[LILINA #6]  For Mom!

[LILINAS #1, #3, #4, #6, & #V1]  Yeah, for Mom!
(For the record, these are five of the Lilinas who had sneered at Sue #4 upon mentioning Lyn.  Lilina #V2 also sneered at Sue #4, but did not chime in on this line.)

[SUE #2]  And Lyn surely never married Uncle Rath...

[SUE #4]  UNCLE Rath?  You take that back!  If my father, Rath, heard us calling him uncle, he'd go ballistic!

[SUE #1]  Hold it, everybody!  You [pointing to Sue #2] say that Rath's your uncle and Lyn married Hector?  While you [pointing to Sue #4] say that Rath's your father and Lyn's your mother?  I suspect we're not as similar as I thought we'd be.  I'm thinking that each one of us came from worlds where certain things played out differently.

[SUE #5]  How differently?

[SUE #1]  That, I'm not entirely sure right now.  From what I've read from our libraries here, summoning rituals have been known to tap into quite a many different realities, with quite a number of different combinations possibly taking place between them.  For all we know, the only thing we know for sure we all have in common is that we've got a grandfather named Dayan, and we know he's got a son named Rath.  Now, we know that in your [pointing to Sue #4] case as well as mine, Rath is our father, but our mothers are not the same.  But in your [pointing to Sue #2] case, you're the daughter of some other child of Dayan's and in turn Rath's your uncle, but you're also like me in a respect in that my world's Lyn was also the Marchioness of Ostia at the time of her death.

[SUE #2]  So you're suggesting that we're not identical?

[SUE #1]  Precisely!  We're all clearly as different as night and day.  Given my experience here, we're far from the only ones from being dissimilar from their counterparts.  I'm familiar with a number of different Roys and Lilinas, and not every Roy is a son of Ninian's nor every Lilina a daughter of Lyn's like from back where I came from.  And god forbid I even outright assume any given Lucina is the daughter of any given possibility!  [pointing to Lilina #V2]  I noticed you sneered at that Sue who stated Lyn was her mother, but I didn't see your mouth move with the other five.  May I ask, what's your mother's name?

[LILINA #V2]  Florina.  Lyn was a very good friend of my mother's, and in my case Lyn died in Pherae as its marchioness.

[SUE #1]  [pointing to Lilina #2]  And your mother's name?

[LILINA #2]  I don't know for sure, I never knew my mother.  I do know for sure that Lyn never married in my case, and I also know that I do not have any Ilian heritage.

[SUE #1]  Anyway, I don't think we should be trying to get at each other's throats.  There's six of us Sues here now, and we're going to need to get along if we hope to survive this journey in the long term.  We really should get to know each other for who we really are, no matter how similar and different we are from one another.

[SUE #6]  As proud nomads of Sacae, we really do need to stick together.  I'm sure my Uncle Rath and Aunt Lyn wouldn't appreciate it if we stayed at each other's throats.

[SUE #4]  ...Aunt Lyn?  As in, your world's Rath and Lyn also married, yet you're not their daughter?

[SUE #6]  Yep, I'm a daughter of Rath's brother, and Rath and Lyn's own daughter is my cousin.

[SUE #1]  Well, I see we have a lot to learn about one another.  Why don't we get situated somewhere, perhaps a room just for us, and I'll start off?

[SUE #3]  Good idea.

Edited by shiningpikablu252
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Chapter 2:  Balance and Skill

[About ten minutes later, in a smaller room where only the six Sues have gathered]

[SUE #1]  I grew up fairly modestly, somewhat normal among the Kutolah.  Well, apart from the fact that I was about four when my mom died.  Naturally, having seen my grandpa and dad in action, I saw myself wanting to learn horseback archery.

[SUE #3]  As did all of us, I know, I know.

[SUE #1]  Wasn't that easy learning how, though.  How many of the rest of you fell off the horse more than once?

[All other Sues raise their hands]

[SUE #1]  Yeah, riding didn't exactly come naturally.  Took me more than a month to actually keep my balance on my horse, and that was without a bow in my hand!

[SUE #5]  Unbalanced for that long?  I would have given up if I had been unbalanced for half that long!

[SUE #1]  How long was it for you?

[SUE #5]  About a week.

[SUES #2, #4, & #6]  Same.

[SUE #3]  About two weeks for me.

[SUE #1]  And actually working the bow!  Took me about two more weeks before I could keep my balance while wielding the bow!

[SUES #2, #3, & #5]  Same.

[SUE #4]  Really?  I was able to take to wielding the bow on the horse straight away!

[SUE #3]  Had you mastered it stationary first?

[SUE #4]  That took about a week.

[SUE #6]  And next you're going to say that you were a lousy shot on horseback at first, and that also took a lot of time to master as well?

[SUE #1]  Guilty as charged.  One instance when I was given seven arrows and asked to try to hit seven designated targets...let's see, Grandpa once, Dad once, my uncle once, my cousin once, Sin's horse twice, and I don't think they ever found the seventh arrow.  Sure didn't hit the broad side of the barn, that's for sure.

[SUE #2]  That bad, huh?

[SUE #1]  But I never gave up!  Took me three tries before I even nailed one target, and at least a week and a half before I was reliably getting four targets per run.  And it was about two months from there before I actually got a perfect run.

[SUE #5]  Wow.  I would have long since given up!

[SUE #1]  If only Dad were still around to see me now...It's been about three years since he died.  Illness got him in the end, it wasn't the effect of being nailed by any of my arrows.  At least as far as I know...

[SUE #2]  So, what's your high score in the Epona Challenge?

[SUE #6]  The Epona Challenge?

[SUE #2]  Basically a horseback archery course named after some legendary horse from another realm said to have taken a similar challenge along with her rider in said other realm.  Two targets at the ends, three more to one side, seven pots situated below the three side targets, one lap around the course, twenty arrows, score based on where on the targets the arrows land and also for smashing the pots.

[SUE #6]  Oh, guess the legend of that particular horse never made it to my realm, then.

[SUE #2]  Anyway, the course begins on the narrow south side going northward.  The three big targets to the side and the seven pots are to rider's right.  The rider passes those and approaches the northern end target, rides around it counterclockwise, then rides back down the south, with the three big targets to the side now to rider's left.  The southern target is ridden around clockwise, then it's back to the starting line to finish it all up!

[SUE #4]  I typically like shooting at the pots first for a quick 700, then trying to focus on the targets the rest of the way.  I also like to hit each of the targets at least once along the way.

[SUE #1]  Let's make it a bit simple, then.  Any of us who hasn't scored a perfect 2000 points, raise your hand now.

[only Sue #6 raises her hand]

[SUE #1]  [points to Sue #6]  Really?  What's your best score, then?

[SUE #6]  990.  Of course, I only ever used a Short Bow for the challenge...

[SUE #3]  Wow.  For me, I've gotten my perfects using mainly Longbows, but I've done it with an Iron Bow and a Silver Bow as well.  Got about 1200 with a Short Bow, though...

[SUE #1]  Hah!  First time I ever got a perfect 2000, it was with a Short Bow!  It's the Longbow that's rather tough for me, but even I've gotten a perfect 2000 with one with enough practice!

[SUE #2]  Never perfected with a Short Bow, but I have perfected with a Steel Bow.

[SUE #5]  Huh.  I've never perfected it with a Steel Bow, but I've done it with Short Bows and Longbows myself.

[SUE #1]  ...Anyway, apart from #6 who hasn't gotten a perfect, when we got our first perfect, which of us were the first girl to ever get a perfect score on the course?

[all except Sue #4 raises her hand]

[SUE #1]  You weren't the first girl in your world to successfully perfect the course?

[SUE #4]  No, a cousin of mine beat me to it.

[SUE #6]  Yeah, and even if I were to pull off a perfect for myself, I wouldn't be the first girl to do it in my world, either.  My own cousin--my Uncle Rath and Aunt Lyn's daughter--has already gotten a perfect score for herself.  Maybe that's got me too distraught to get me to try for myself?

[SUE #1]  Well, practice makes perfect--

[door opens, a Silas steps into the doorway]

[SILAS]  Quickly!  The Summoner's back in the summoning chamber!  Doing another circle of "Colored Bows"!

[SUE #1]  We're on it!  Guess that means my tale's spun.  Follow me, Sues!

[Meanwhile, in the summoning chamber]

Quote

Summoning circle status:
*Uppermost:  3-star Seliph:  Heir of Light
*Upper right:  5-star Alm:  Rigelian Bow
*Lower right:  Untouched green orb
*Lower left:  5-star Gerik:  Desert Ranger
*Upper left:  4-star Wrys:  Kindly Priest

[SUMMONER]  Select again.  Lower right.

[Summoning process; summons 5-star "Sue:  Doe of the Plains"]

[SUE #7]  I am Sue of the Kutolah tribe.  The blood of the Hero of the Plains, Dayan, runs in my veins.

[In the observation room]

[SUE #3]  Holy!  A seventh one of us?!

[SUE #1]  And I thought six of us was hectic!

[SUE #4]  Wonder just how good at that expert horseback archery course she is?

[SUE #6]  What insane luck!  What are the odds of getting six of us in focus all on the same banner at all?  Much less five of us all in one circle?  And the circle with the sixth one also throwing out two more focus units?

[SUE #2]  Now I'm really looking forward to just how similar and different all of us are, now that there's a seventh one of us to add even more to the pot!

[SUE #1]  Indeed.  You five go on back to the room, I'll meet up with our newest member and bring her back with me.

[SUE #5]  OK.  [Sues #2-#6 leave scene]

Edited by shiningpikablu252
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Chapter 3:  Talk of the Wind

[About 10 minutes later, back in the conversation room; Sue #3 is reading one of the books from one of the shelves]

[SUE #2]  Oh, please.  Like anybody would have taken the Mulagir out of its shrine in order for somebody to get a perfect 2000 points with it!

[SUE #3]  That story's source is sketchy, though.  I mean, "Lord"--yes, the writer did write that--"Hanon sets fastest perfect score on skill course with", emphasis the writer's, "HIS Mulagir, fresh from the Scouring".  The skill course didn't even exist during the Scouring!  It was opened as part of an 800th anniversary celebration of the founding of Sacae! Just who was this writer?

[SUE #5]  Some dieck from the Western Isles, maybe?

[SUE #3]  Wait, explain that insultive word you just used.

[SUE #5]  Coming back here from having seen that recent summoning session, one of the Raighs explained how he picked up that word.  Apparently a Mercenary from the Western Isles, at least how it went down in his world, got sick and tired of being called a name other than his given name, turning around and using it as an insulting term.

[SUE #3]  OK.  ...And that's not the only dubious story I've seen in this book I found on one of the summoner's shelves.  I've also seen one that contradicts what the Nifl royalty are telling us about who's older than whom!

[SUE #4]  Really?

[SUE #3]  Actual statements from Nifl royalty state that Gunnthrá is the eldest of the four, then Hríd, then Fjorm, and finally Ylgr.  One of the summoned Gunnthrás told me on the way back from the observation chamber that this world's Fjorm was right on the money when she made that statement.  That sketchy tome, however, claims that Hríd is the eldest sibling and that Gunnthrá is younger than him.  ...What kind of dieck would believe that garbage?

[SUE #6]  What's that tome called exactly?

[SUE #3]  Let's see..."The 100% True Untold Stories of the Fire Emblem, as endorsed by Han Seannity".

[SUE #2]  Figures.  One of the Canases warned me about him.  He's said to be, to put it very nicely, a massive dieck.  He works for an organization that purports themselves to be in the news business, and that organization uses a tagline stating "real news, real honest opinions", yet they're probably the one outlet back in the summoner's world that deals in fake news!

[SUE #5]  Oh, and I guess this "Han Seannity" is among the diecks endorsing claims that the Canases of our worlds died by continuity errors?  Since we all know the weather did him in...

[SUE #2]  Yes, this tome does indeed make that claim about Canas's death.  And this tome also makes claims that Gheb--he's someone one of the Ephraims told me about--is somebody who goes about forcing himself on every young lady he sees, and that there are whole legends told about him.

[all other Sues in the room shudder]

[SUE #2]  The Ephraim who told me about Gheb told me that Gheb's nothing like what this tome describes.  Just a fat and ugly guy without any notable qualities.  Rumored to be gay, but nothing solid to back that claim up...[door opens, Sues #1 and #7 walk in]

[SUE #1]  We're back!  ...More like I'm back, I was just showing #7 the ropes.

[SUE #6]  What?  You can't just go about calling us by arbitrary numbers!

[SUE #1]  Hey, I don't always want to go pointing to one of you whenever I'm trying to reference a certain one of us.  So I figured we might as well put numbers to each of us based on the order in which we were summoned among us.

[SUE #7]  And thus why she's #1 and I'm #7.  ...But then, who would be taking #2 through #6?

[SUE #1]  Good question.  We'll have to get the others to remember their summoning circle, and just what state it was in when they arrived.

[About two minutes later]

[SUE #1]  And that's settled.  Now, I believe it was time for #2 to spin a tale of her own?

[SUE #2]  My pleasure.  I'm sure we've all heard the voices of the wind while we've been out and about?

[all other Sues give thumbs-up]

[SUE #2]  I don't know about the rest of you, but I personally such wind talk makes me a more accurate shot.  Not only that, but I have often caught wind of foul weather approaching.

[SUE #4]  How foul?

[SUE #2]  Not only can I tell which direction the weather is going, but exactly how intense it'll be.  The louder the wind's voice, the worse the weather gets.

[SUE #6]  Wow.  My aptitude with the wind is basically limited to trying to factor in how to adjust my shots!  I don't think I could predict how the weather's going to go!

[SUE #2]  One time, I actually caught wind of an approaching tornado!  From what I've read from the Summoner's books, it was an EF5 classification, sure to decimate whatever it touched!  Ran back to where my party was situated and made them follow me out of the worst of the tornado's path.  We still had to hunker down and shelter ourselves from very heavy wind, but I managed to get my party out of the total destruction that ensued.  If I hadn't been able to tell what that tornado was doing, not only would my entire party likely have been completely wiped out, I'm not sure I'd even be here.

[SUE #3]  Hey, I may be bad at actually predicting the weather by the winds, but I've also managed to save lives making a daring rescue.  Only in my case, it was a fire in Bulgar, not a tornado in the field.  I saw the fire as it began and knew I wouldn't be able to put it out, so I warned everyone in the building to get out as quickly as they can.  Long story short, building was a total loss, but nobody died.

[SUE #5]  I may not be that great of a meteorologist, but I listen to the wind looking for animal life.  I can tell whether I should hunt it or get the hell away.  Or warn people along the path, if it gets bad enough.

[SUE #1]  Warn people of an animal?

[SUE #5]  Yeah, I've saved people from rampaging buffalo, rampaging wild horses, rampaging bulls, rampaging chickens--

[SUE #2]  Rampaging chickens?  How are chickens capable of a rampage?

[SUE #7]  I'd say a whole flock of them on the aggressive.  Relentlessly following whoever provoked a single member of that flock until they are taken down.

[SUE #2]  Oh, and I take it you've dealt with these "rampaging chickens"?

[SUE #7]  Yeah, I've had to protect a wedding party from them at one point!  On foot wearing decidedly not my usual attire, I ended up having to shoot down the flock.  And voila!  Impromptu catering!

[SUE #6]  Poor chickens!  And all those poor eggs that never got--

[SUE #7]  They were all roosters.  No unlaid eggs to speak of.

[SUE #4]  But still, a whole flock of chickens?

[SUE #1]  Interesting.  Sure, I've jumped into action to save lives, but I haven't had to deal with anything like rampaging chickens!  I did warn of a bursting dam, though, and got people out of the way of flooding.

[SUE #4]  ...I have to confess.  I talk up about hearing various voices from heaven and earth, but in reality, I'm a fraud.  It's my troubled past subconsciously triggering in my mind.  A past so troubled it muted my ability to tune in with nature.

[SUE #2]  Maybe you can elaborate more on that when it's your turn to spin a tale?

[SUE #4]  I'll consider it.  But a little preview on how troubled my past is--I actually warned a group of people about a poisoned water source I'd sighted on a ride, but that group were among those troubling my past.  They didn't believe me and ended up drinking the poisoned water.  Three people dead and seven more badly sickened because they put their pride in making me miserable ahead of their safety.

[SUE #6]  How troubling!

[SUE #1]  Anyway, show of hands.  How many of us believe the wind helps us in combat?

[all except Sue #4 raise their hands]

[SUE #1]  How many of us have actually saved lives by jumping into action?

[all except Sues #4 and #6 raise their hands]

[SUE #1]  How many of us besides #5 and #7 have had to deal with rampaging chickens?

[no hands raise]

[SUE #2]  I believe my tale is done.

[SUE #3]  Now it's my turn to tell a tale.  I hope you'll find it better than the junk I've seen on these shelves...

Edited by shiningpikablu252
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Chapter 4:  Beyond the Bow

[SUE #3]  Let me start by stating my family ties, since I don't think I brought mine up in the lobby after the bulk of us got summoned.  Like #2 and #6, I am not Rath's daughter.  But unlike #2 and #6, Dayan's on the other side of the family tree--in my case, Dayan is my mother's father.

[SUE #6]  So how well did you get along with Uncle Rath?

[SUE #3]  Sadly, I never knew him.  He died about twenty years before, around the border of Thria and Ostia.  He had arrived in the area to assist Lyn with a band of mercenaries in tow, but he was killed during that battle.  

[SUE #5]  Sounds like some kind of downfall timeline cliché...

[SUE #3]  Wait, there's more.  It was actually his second bout of rotten luck when trying to aid Lyn, as a year before that he had tried to aid Lyn in Araphen, but got badly injured in a battle there and couldn't accompany her to Caelin as a result.  As a result of Uncle Rath's untimely early death, I grew up without any first cousins, as Rath was my mother's only sibling and my father is an only child.

[grunts heard from outside window]

[SUE #7]  What's that grunting?

[SUE #4, looking outside]  Looks like three different Alms doing some training.  One of them's wielding a sword, one's wielding a colorless bow, and one of them appears to be the red bow-wielder that got summoned alongside #7.

[Meanwhile, in the courtyard on the opposite side of the window]

[ALM HP]  Let's work on our teamwork.  You two shoot, then I move in for the kill.  Ready?

[ALM SK]  Ready!

[ALM RB]  Ready as I'll ever be.

[ALM HP]  Good.  Ready, aim--

[Alm SK and Alm RB aim their bows at a training dummy]

[ALM HP]  Fire!

[Alm SK and Alm RB fire their bows at the training dummy; both arrows hit the training dummy]

[ALM HP]  Yaargh!  [rushes toward training dummy, swipes it with sword]

[ALM RB]  We did it!

[ALM SK]  Perfect teamwork!

[Back in the Sues' room]

[SUE #1]  Well, that was certainly an interesting show.  But we'd better get back to our normal business.  I believe #3 was trying to spin her story?

[SUE #3]  My pleasure.  I know we're all skilled at the bow, but for the tale I'd like to spin, I'd like to talk about just how skilled--or lack thereof--we are at other implements.

[SUE #2]  Like swords?

[SUE #4]  Lances?

[SUE #6]  Axes?

[SUE #7]  Tomes?

[SUE #5]  Kitchen knives?

[SUE #3]  Good one, #5, good one.  Never actually tried using one as a weapon, but coming back here from the observation chamber, I think I overheard one of the Felicias claiming she could knock take on Gharnef with one if she had to.

[SUE #1]  Sharp or dull?

[SUE #3]  I think I was out of range before she said, if she even said at all.  Anyway, I did at one point dig through my mother's old naginatas--

[SUE #2]  Oh, not that whole feminine cliché...

[SUE #3]  Hey!  Say that in front of one of the Subakis and you'll be knocked back five ways to Tuesday!  Anyway, apparently, in my world bow-adepts aren't that good with anything that could fall into the lance family.  My experience with my mother's naginata showed me that poking and swinging are two different things yet vastly different from being adept at their use.

[SUE #6]  Much like how one of the Olivias basically confessed that she couldn't really dance?  All she basically did was flail her arms, she said?  I heard that one on my way here for the first time.  Sounds to me like she's better at swordplay than the performing arts!

[SUE #3]  Yeah, I'm also much better at swordplay than the performing arts.  Can't dance for the life of me, I figured I had two left feet when I was around ten and trying out for a school talent competition.

[SUE #7]  Not to knock against clumsy dancers, but I'm not one of them myself.  Wouldn't say I'm a master at it, but I actually can move around on my own feet a bit.  Not perfectly, mind you, I still fall at times, but I always just get back up and go on.  Still like it better in the saddle, but I personally would want to try out dressage.  Unfortunately, the horses I've ridden have had at least three left hooves, and I think the one I've got in the stables here has four.

[SUE #4]  Three left hooves?  I'm surprised those horses still trot!

[SUE #7]  Not all of them, I'm afraid.  I've actually had two horses die on me trying out dressage routines.  Don't worry, they weren't the same horses I ride out for regular rides.

[SUE #3]  Anyway, in addition to my archery, I'm also trying to learn horseback swordplay.  I hear it's an advanced technique that many a Kutolah try to master.  Sure, it never got to the point where Hanon tried to borrow the Durandal or Eckesachs, but I'm sure she had some skill with the blade.  Grandpa's learned it, and I'm sure Uncle Rath would have eventually had he lived long enough.

[SUE #2]  Well, my Uncle Rath did live long enough, and he did indeed learn swordplay.

[SUES #1 & #4]  As did my father Rath.
[SUE #6, simultaneously]  As did my uncle Rath.

[SUE #3]  Kind of reassuring to know.  Never tried an axe myself, nor a staff.  I don't think either of them are all that commonly wielded among Sacaens as a whole.  And while I can certainly read, I don't think I'd be able to turn it into an attacking art like those mages do.

[SUE #6]  Yeah, I've heard there's some mage practitioners among the Djute, and they might know how to use staves as well, but neither of them are that common among the rest of Sacae.

[SUE #2]  Yeah, Guy may have been an oddball among the Kutolah, but I believe he and his love of on-foot swordplay would have fit right in among the Lorca just fine.  Even if he never did learn how to wield bows on foot...

[SUE #3]  And going back to #5's kitchen knives point, I may have never used one as a weapon, but I paid attention in cooking class, and I can cook for myself.

[SUE #1]  Don't we all have to know how to cook for ourselves?

[SUE #2]  Not those feminine clichés again!  ...Yeah, I can cook for myself, but I also know quite a few men, both in my world and here, that can also cook quite well for themselves.

[SUE #6]  And I certainly don't know how to cook for myself.  I've even burned water!

[SUE #5]  Yeowch!

[SUE #3]  Anyway, show of hands.  Of the rest of us, who's tried swords?

[all six other Sues raise their hands]

[SUE #3]  Lances?

[Sues #1, #4, and #7 raise their hands]

[SUE #3]  Axes?

[no hands raise]

[SUE #3]  Tomes?

[Sue #2 raises her hand]

[SUE #3]  Staves?

[no hands raise]

[SUE #3]  ...Weaponized kitchen knives?

[Sue #5 raises her hand]

[SUE #3]  Two left feet dancing?

[only Sue #7 doesn't raise her hand]

[SUE #3]  Cooking skills?

[only Sues #4 and #6 don't raise their hands]

[SUE #3]  I believe my tale is spun.  Should I get us some soft drinks?

[SUE #4]  Just so long as it's not one of the Felicias that brings it to us.  I'd rather have my drink in my glass than on my clothes, my server's clothes, or the floor!

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Chapter 5:  The Woes of a Skirt-Chasing Skirt

[Meanwhile, in a corridor just ouside the Sues' room]

[Two Tailtius walk along the corridor about to pass the Sues' room]

[TAILTIU #1]  Trust me, Hilda creeps me out!

[TAILTIU #2]  ...Who's Hilda?

[Back inside the Sues' room; Sue #4 stares into the corridor and witnesses the two Tailtius passing by the door]

[SUE #4]  [wolf whistle]

[Back in the corridor, the Taitius having passed by the door without having seen Sue #4]

[TAILTIU #2]  What was that?

[TAILTIU #1]  Just another guy giving me a wolf whistle.  He probably caught one look at my "assets" and was hooked!

[TAILTIU #2]  What, our racks?  Our modest chests?

[TAILTIU #1]  Hey, not every guy's after gigantic "assets"!  And seriously, just how does Camilla even stand upright?  Wouldn't her big knockers weigh her down and lean her over?

[TAILTIU #2]  Don't really know.  Not that I'd even want a chest like Camilla's--I'd be happy just to have my "assets" at a a healthy size!

[TAILTIU #1]  Yeah.  Are Camilla's "assets" even natural?

[TAILTIU #2]  Don't know.  Maybe I should avoid guys for awhile, too many of them have been eyeing my "assets" as of late...

[TAILTIU #1]  Speak for yourself, Ms. "I've Stared at Chrom's 'Package'"!

[Back in the Sues' room]

[SUE #2]  OK, #4, what was that all about?

[SUE #4]  Just saw a few cute girls passing by.  Thought I'd try to make myself known to them, maybe even try to get one of them to have a romantic night with me on the town?

[SUES #3 & #6]  Ick!

[SUE #4]  Ick what?

[SUE #3]  If I didn't know better, I'd think you were a skirt-chaser!

[SUE #4]  And what if I do find girls cute?

[SUE #6]  Yuck!  The whole idea of girls chasing skirts makes me sick!  That's certainly not normal!  And I'm sure at least my Grandpa Dayan and Uncle Rath also think the idea of guys romancing guys and girls romancing girls to be sickening!

[SUE #4]  Sickening?

[SUE #1]  Whoa, whoa, whoa, time out!  So it looks like we're not all into guys after all.  And here I was hoping we all had similar taste in guys, maybe look for a few hunks for some big group date.  But if #4's into skirts...

[SUE #7]  To each her own, I guess.  I've really got no problem with those girls who chase skirts, after all they didn't really choose to have that taste.

[SUES #2 & #5]  Agreed!

[SUE #7]  My own romantic tastes do lean toward the male persuasion, but I'd probably refuse #1's offer of chasing hunks.  The ones I know from my world are enough for me.

[SUE #6]  Same here.

[SUE #1]  Well, I personally think we were lucky those Tailtius didn't see us.  Let them think it was a guy who gave that wolf whistle.  How they roll is how they roll, how we roll is how we roll, and trust me, I've met the Soleils, and yes, they flirted with me.  I personally got creeped out by being hit on by another girl, but I've got no problem with how the Soleils roll being different from how I roll.

[SUE #4]  Anyway, it hasn't been easy for me back where I'm from.  Let's just say, there are quite a few people I've come across who aren't easily accepting of my sexuality.  My biggest ally was my mother, Lyn; she had accepted her best friend's sexuality--

[SUE #3]  Wait, in your world, Florina's androphobia led to her going skirt-chasing?

[SUE #4]  Yep, my world's Florina never had any reason to even try getting over her fear of men.  Anyway, my mother was accepting, but when she died, I didn't really have very many options to turn to.  My father, Rath, in my world found skirt-chasing women creepy, and the fact that I turned out to be one caused us to drift apart after my mother died.  Dayan was a bit more accepting, but I'm not sure whether or not he was thinking I was just going through a phase or not.  My aunt and my cousins--for the record, my aunt is Rath's sister, and her husband, my uncle, had died by then--also didn't want to have anything to do with me once I opened up about my sexuality.

[SUE #6]  Smart Dayan!

[SUE #4]  However, many of the people my age were far less friendly than my father was.  The kids I grew up with largely turned against me when I opened up about my sexuality.  The boys that didn't think they could straighten me out basically started picking on me, and the boy that had been picking on me our whole lives--that dieck's name's Hikori, by the way--turned his picking-on upward.

[SUE #7]  Yeowch!  How creepy!

[SUE #4]  It used to be simply verbal before I came out about my sexuality, but the first time he and I interacted after that, he grabbed my arm in an attempt to get me to stop what I was doing.  Of course that failed, I went and slapped him with my other arm.  He then kicked me in my "sweet spot" before he let go of my arm and got badly verbal with me, throwing out insults before storming away.

[SUE #5]  ...Wait, what do you mean by "sweet spot"?  I thought girls like us didn't have "sweet spots" on that part of our bodies!

[SUE #4]  Oh, we've got "sweet spots", all right.  Largely the same general purposes and everything.  They're positioned a bit lower on us than on guys, but I can assure you they hurt just as much on us than it does on guys.  And since Hikori has a sister, he certainly knew where a girl's "sweet spot" was.

[SUE #2]  Yeah, I myself have felt that sensation.  Only in my case, it was a horse that kicked me in my "sweet spot", not another person.

[SUES #1, #4, & #7]  Ouch!

[SUE #4]  Anyway, naturally it was harder for me to actually try to flirt with any of the girls around my neck of the woods.  Pretty much all of my friends among the girls turned on me when they realized the prospect that I might try hitting on them, and a majority of the girls nowadays are outright bullies toward me.

[SUE #1]  Wow, you've had it pretty hard!

[SUE #4]  Indeed.  I've only ever been on one date my entire life, and it was back when my mother was alive.  She took me to Ilia this one time, and I flirted with a cute red-headed pegasus knight there, her name was Wallisa.  ...At least she looked red-headed, I couldn't tell whether it was natural or a dye job--according to her mother, odds are she inherited her hair color from her father, but what color her father's hair was was unknown because he had been bald since first arriving in Ilia and remained bald the rest of his life.

[SUE #3]  Wait, an Ilian redhead?  Sounds like a dye-job to me!

[SUE #4]  Keep in mind, her father was not Ilian by birth.  Anyway, whether or not Wallisa actually was romantically inclined toward girls or just playfully trying to make friends with me I'll probably never know, but she at least sweet-talked me back.

[SUE #2]  What did you and Wallisa do that you remember so well?

[SUE #4]  Well, she let me ride her pegasus for a bit.  Tried shooting balloons while aboard, but I found it hard to aim at the balloons while trying to avoid the pegasus's wings.  I quickly knew pegasus-back archery was not for me, and I really don't know how those kinshi riders even manage to pull it off!

[SUE #6]  Yeah, I've never been aboard a pegasus myself, but even I would imagine it would be hard to wield a bow aboard one.  What if you were to hit your pegasus's wing with an arrow?  Could be disaster!

[SUE #4]  Anyway, after that brief episode with the balloons, Wallisa took back the reins but let me ride as a passenger.  We took a starlight flight through the cold air, flew to her secret hideaway where we basically whispered sweet nothings to each other for a good chunk of the night.  ...Of course, I don't believe in kissing on the first date, so we sadly didn't kiss...

[SUE #7]  Did you at least have dinner together?

[SUE #4]  Yeah, we did that to start the date.  I actually hated having to go back to Sacae after that experience, the Ilians were so nice to me and far more accepting of my sexuality than my own people were.  Sadly, my mother died not too long afterward, and with it any real chance I'd see Wallisa ever again.

[SUE #1]  All right, a little show of hands.  Of the rest of us apart from #4, who personally knows someone who's a guy chasing guys or a girl chasing girls?

[all hands raise]

[SUE #1]  Are said guys chasing guys or girls chasing girls more likely to be accepted or shamed?  Hands up if shamed.

[only Sues #3 and #6 raise their hands]

[SUE #1]  Wow.  That was...quite interesting, to be honest.  Of the rest of us apart from #4, who's ever been on a date with anyone, guy or girl?

[only Sues #1 and #3 don't raise their hands]

[SUE #1]  Anyone apart from #4 ever been outside Sacae apart from short jaunts into Bern?

[only Sue #6 raises her hand]

[SUE #4]  And that's it.  My tale is spun.

[SUE #3]  Anyway, I believe I was about to go get us some soft drinks before #4 spotted those Tailtius and went into spinning her tale from there.  One drink per person, mind you, and each of us is getting our own straw--I certainly don't want to be sipping out of the same glass as #4!

[SUE #6]  Amen!

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Chapter 6:  The Thrills and Teas of the Hunt

[About a minute later, in the drink bar]

[as Sue #3 walks in, we witness a Gerik (epithet "Desert Tiger", sword infantry) trying to open the spigot on a barrel of "Nurse Salt" with his sword]

[FELICIAS #1 & #2]  Welcome to the drink bar!

[FELICIA #1]  Anything you're particularly interested in?

[SUE #3]  Yeah, set me up seven glasses and seven straws.  As to what to fill them with--

[GERIK DT]  What the flux?!  [spigot on the "Nurse Salt" barrel breaks, drink starts flowing; Gerik DT pushes barrel so where the spigot was is now upright and no longer dumping drink onto floor]  If I only knew the name of that motherfluxing dieck who designed this fluxing spigot--

[FELICIA #2]  Oh, no!  We have to serve as much of this as we can quick before it goes flat!

[SUE #3]  Then you can start by filling the seven glasses I requested with some of that Nurse Salt.  ...That barrel a regular?

[FELICIA #1]  Yes, it's regular.

[SUE #3]  Good, consider that my order. [Felicia #1 starts filling seven glasses with Nurse Salt using a long hose, then places a straw in each once all seven are filled]

[FELICIA #2]  Want me to deliver it for you?

[SUE #3]  You're joking, right?  I'd rather carry it back myself!

[FELICIA #2]  But carrying trays of drinks is my job!  Just let me do it!

[SUE #3]  I've heard of your reputation as a clumsy maid.  I'm surprised it was that Gerik that broke that spigot and not one of you two!  I don't want to go about wasting these drinks, so I'm carrying them back myself and that's final!

[FELICIA #2]  Your loss.  [Sue #3 grabs tray and leaves the drink bar]

[FELICIA #1]  ...How did she figure out that I was the one that stopped up the spigot in the first place?!

[GERIK DT]  No idea.  No fluxing idea.  [A Gerik:  Desert Ranger enters room, carrying a fresh barrel of Nurse Salt]

[GERIK DR]  Where would you like this fresh barrel of Nurse Salt?  I've put in an order to Vaskerheim, more's on its way...

[About a minute later, back in the Sues' room]

[SUE #6]  So, there's this resource called TV Tropes in the summoner's world?  And it basically breaks down plots and character traits for peoples' amusement?

[SUE #2]  That's what this magazine says.  Says it can "ruin your life".  Of course, who'd want to break down our traits and read about us?

[SUE #5]  Yeah, who'd want to comb through everything about us, detail our various idiosyncrasies, then list them for the world to see?  I wouldn't want the world to know every single detail about me!

[SUE #2]  Amen!  [Sue #3 walks back into room carrying the tray]

[SUE #3]  Soft drinks are here!  And I had to talk up a good game to bring the tray back myself, otherwise a Felicia was going to be the one doing it!  ...Hope you all like regular Nurse Salt--not decaf, not diet, and certainly not decaf diet--because they had to clear a whole barrel of it after one of the sword-infantry Geriks broke its spigot trying to get it flowing.

[SUE #1]  That brute!  [all of the Sues each grab one soft drink glass and begin drinking the soft drinks]  ...Gotta wonder, would the blue bow-wielding Gerik that got summoned alongside #7 been a bit more careful?

[SUE #7]  If anything, I think he might have frozen over the spigot!

[SUE #4]  Uh, last I checked, "colored bows" don't mean "elemental bows", same with daggers.  I mean, Flora's got a red dagger, yet she's clearly more ice-inclined than your average run-of-the-mill Gerik!

[SUE #5]  You mind if I spin my tale while we drink?

[SUE #3]  Go right on ahead.

[SUE #5]  OK, since I didn't mention my family ties earlier, I'd better bring them up now.  In common with #1 and #4, my father is Rath.  But I'm more like #1 in this regard, as Lyn is not my mother--in my world's case, Lyn was Marchioness in Pherae when she died.

[SUE #1]  ...OK, now I'm creeped out over what might happen if the Lilina from my world and the Roy from your world were to cross paths and fall in love with one another.  The fact that they'd be practically half-siblings...ick!

[SUE #5]  I also have a bit in common with #3 in that I grew up without any first cousins.  In my world, Rath was an only child.  My mother had two brothers, but one of them died young, and the other turned out to be gay and wound up getting himself killed while trying to flirt with Guy.

[SUE #4]  Yikes!

[SUE #5]  Anyway, I'm sure we're all quite good at hunting, given how we're nomads that live off the land--

[SUE #3]  I don't know, I've been to some great restaurants in Bulgar--

[SUE #5]  That's beside the point!  Anyway, what kind of game have we been apt to hunt and eat?  I personally take to hunting birds, and I especially like the taste of a good pheasant.  Usually wash it down with a red tea.

[SUE #1]  Red tea?

[SUE #5]  Not to knock this Nurse Salt we're drinking, but I definitely like red tea better than pretty much anything else.

[SUE #7]  I for one have been more of a big ground-game hunter.  Able to share my contributions with a large number of people, that's for sure!  I've bagged a buffalo, but believe it or not it actually made a watery drop into my ear before I was able to get the kill!  I actually thought for a bit that it was going to be the end of me!

[SUE #1]  Watery drop?  As in we'd have to take medication to try to thicken it back up lest we go to the bathroom a lot?

[SUE #7]  Precisely.  But I haven't gone for buffalo all that often, and although I've been better with wild boar, I've found myself primarily drawn to deer.  And the tea I drink tends to be more along the lines of green as opposed to red.

[SUE #5]  Yeah, I certainly know how to hunt big ground game, I just like going for the birds better.  And it's not that I don't like green tea, I just prefer red better.

[SUE #2]  Well, I'm more of a hunter of small ground animals.  Yeah, I've eaten the rear end of a skunk and downed it with sasparailla, but I certainly didn't like the taste of that skunk!

[SUE #6]  Ew!  ...Wait, sasparilla?  Not beer?

[SUE #2]  Hey, we're all too young for stiff drinks!

[SUE #6]  Eesh!  Sorry I asked!

[SUE #2]  I've hunted down and eaten my fair share of rabbits, but I think the game I've liked best is chipmunk.  Chipmunk with gray tea really hits my palette!

[SUE #1]  ...Wait, what's a chipmunk?  Doesn't sound native to Sacae--maybe you accidentally wandered too close or even into Bern and met up with its wildlife?

[SUE #5]  Well, this "chipmunk" aside, I've hunted some small game for myself as well, probably not as much as birds.  Gray tea isn't bad per se, but red hits the spot better for me.

[SUE #2]  I'm sure we all are capable of all these talents, but we just prefer different facets a bit more.  I certainly have hunted bird and big ground game myself, and I've also drank red and green teas, but I personally like small ground game and gray tea best.

[SUE #7]  And I'm not that bad at small ground game or our winged friends, I just like to go for the big stuff more.  And gray and red teas aren't bad, I just like green a bit better.

[SUE #4]  I'm usually not quite that picky as to what I try to hunt for, or to what teas I drink.  Although I don't hate going for big ground game per se, my situation with my people means I'm usually more inclined to go for a bird or a smaller ground creature.  Not very many people in my world are interested in sharing with a girl who chases skirts, after all.  

[SUE #3]  Anyway, I'm actually quite mean with a rod and reel, and I actually tend to enjoy fishing more than hunting.  Not to knock hunting, but I'm far meaner with a pole.  Bass, tuna, catfish, I can reel 'em all in!

[SUE #1]  Really?  And your drink of choice?

[SUE #3]  Black tea.

[SUE #1]  Figures.  I really don't have all that much of preference for any type of hunting target, or color of tea for that matter.  Guess you could call me a jill-of-all-trades?!

[SUE #6]  Yeah, I tend to try to hunt some of the bigger game to share with others, but their taste repulses me.

[SUE #1]  Wait, why do you hunt down big game for others then?  What kind of game best suits your palette?

[SUE #6]  ...I'm a vegetarian.

[All other Sues gasp]

[SUE #4]  You're a what?!

[SUE #6]  A vegetarian.  Meat doesn't really suit my palette, I'm usually more drawn to whatever the plant life throws at me.  And although tea's not all that bad, I'm more inclined to wash it down with milk.

[SUE #4]  ...So you'd gladly drink a cow's byproduct, but not eat said cow?

[SUE #6]  Who said anything about cows?  But yes, I'll certainly drink an animal's milk, but not eat its meat.

[SUE #5]  Shocking.  I too do enjoy plant life, but not to the exclusion of meat!  And I may not be that good at fishing, but fish themselves are quite tasty for me.

[SUE #1]  So do you consider your tale spun?

[SUE #5]  Yes, my tale is spun.

[SUE #3]  And it looks like we've all finished our drinks.  I'll call one of the Jakobs and get the tray and glasses returned to the kitchen.  Let's just hope it's not a Felicia doing said dishes...

[SUE #6]  Agreed.

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Chapter 7:  The Death March

[A few minutes later, after the drink glasses have been cleared]

[SUE #6]  If you've got a queasy stomach, then you might not be able to stomach my tale of an experience in basically leading a death march.

[SUE #1]  Death march?

[SUE #6]  Yeah.  One day, my father caught wind of an invasion by Bern's forces--

[SUE #4]  Invasion by Bern's forces?  You must be joking!

[SUE #6]  Oh, so you're apparently from a world where Bern never tried to cross into the Sacaean border?

[SUE #4]  Well, this is the first time I've heard about any invasion of Sacae by forces from Bern.

[SUE #1]  Maybe we each were plucked from slightly different points in a timeline?  Like, say, maybe #4 got plucked from a point where any rumblings of a Bern attack hadn't yet happened, yet #6 came from a point where Bern most definitely had attacked?

[SUE #3]  So?

[SUE #1]  Remember what we heard in the hallway when #4 hit on those Tailtius?  One of them claimed someone named Hilda creeped her out, yet the other appeared to not know anybody of that name!  I believe that the one who said Hilda creeped her out was plucked from a point where she had met or otherwise learned about said Hilda, while the other was plucked from somewhere prior to that point.

[SUE #3]  ...You've been here longer than any of us.  You met anybody who might know who Hilda is?

[SUE #1]  Yeah, I've ran into an Ishtar during a tactics drill.  She told me that Hilda is her mother, who in turn had married a brother of Tailtiu's, which in turn would make Ishtar Tailtiu's niece.

[SUE #6]  Anyway, back to my story.  The invasion by Bern was only the beginning of the horrors that were to come.  The men of the Kutolah had formed some resistance force once Bern invaded, and I got tasked in escorting most of the women and children toward safety in Lycia.  I believe the rest of my family were the only ones to stay behind.

[SUE #2]  How does that become a death march?

[SUE #6]  The Djute had turned coat and sided with Bern.  They ambushed the Kutolah, and sent their main forces where I had brought the women and children.

[SUE #7]  Wait, the Djute turned coat?  First I heard of that.

[SUE #6]  Do you at least remember the resistance forces?

[SUE #7]  Yeah, I do remember that I was about to lead women and children on a march.  Rest of my family staying behind, but not the exact same people from your case.  However, next thing I remember after preparing to start the march, though, was arriving here.

[SUE #2]  So you got plucked right before you led a death march?

[SUE #7]  How would you know it would have been a death march in my world?  For all you know, the Djute may have never turned coat in my world!

[SUE #2]  Well, you appear to have gotten farther than I did.  I only got to the point where Dayan and I talked about me leading the women and children to safety, but I had yet to start preparing when I got summoned here.

[SUE #6]  Anyway, as I was saying, I was unable to help the women and children, and the Djute exterminated them.  Needless to say, I felt pretty much like Aunt Lyn did when her own tribe got exterminated.

[SUE #3]  Was Lyn's tribe the Lorca?  I don't remember myself...

[SUE #5]  Yeah, Lyn was indeed of the Lorca.

[SUE #6]  I eventually wandered alone until I reached Thria and entered Orun's protection.

[SUE #1]  And then?

[SUE #6]  ...That's when I got summoned here.

[SUE #1]  Figures.  I got as far as getting the women and children to what you make out to be the point where they got exterminated, but that's when I got summoned.  And keep in mind, I got summoned by an earlier banner, I'm sure I would have reached Thria by now.

[SUE #5]  Wait a minute, who's to say you would have reached Thria by this point in your world?  For all we know, time flows differently here.  For all we know, our worlds' time could be frozen while we're here, and we could get sent back to our world right at the place and time we initially got plucked from!  You could very well wind up returning to your world without losing any time!

[SUE #3]  And how would you know that?  We don't know for sure what happens on the flip side when the Summoner sends somebody home in exchange for Hero Feathers!

[SUE #2]  ...But if what #5 is saying about our timelines being frozen while we're here is true, then that means our grandfathers, fathers, and uncles wouldn't know we've been plucked!  And thus they're not really worrying about us!

[SUE #1]  The fact that each of us appear to have been plucked from our worlds at varying points along a base timeline reminds me of some research I did back long before the "Colored Bows" banner even began, from when I was the only one of us here.  From what I've been able to observe, it appears that our worlds have been vastly shaped by events about twenty years prior.  My father Rath has been dead only three years, yet #3's uncle Rath has been dead for twenty.

[SUE #2]  My uncle Rath's still alive, just so you know.

[SUE #1]  Anyway, given that events twenty years prior in our worlds, as well as in those of the various Roys and Lilinas I've met, have been proven to be highly variable, our worlds are thus highly variable as well.  Whereas more rigid backstories such as people drawn from what could be our world twenty years prior or are known to have been around then, or from Magvel, or from the War of Shadows in Archanea, aren't nearly as variable since there's a lack of attributable flexible events.

[SUE #6]  So you're saying?

[SUE #1]  Basically, if there's more than one core World over the same general area in different timeframes, the core World that takes place later may lead to worlds that have varied wildly through fluctuations that may have taken place in the core World that takes place earlier.  Our core World is the World of Binding, and it takes place later than the core World of Blazing, hence fluctuations from World of Blazing-based worlds may have great effects on World of Binding-based worlds such as ours.  In other words, the reason we're so different from one another is because of these core World of Blazing-based fluctuations impacting core World of Binding-based worlds.

[SUE #4]  Then explain the World of Holy War.

[SUE #1]  Wish I could, but I haven't done enough research on it.

[SUE #4]  Figures.

[SUE #6]  Anyway, since we all appear to have been plucked no later from when we got to Thria, I really wouldn't mind if that summoner went back to the chambers, fired up "Colored Bows" again, summoned #8, and she came from a point later on.  Would things go well or bad for her in Thria?  Maybe she could provide insight that would help us back in our own times?

[SUE #1]  Well, there's no guarantee that he'll go back to the chambers before that banner expires.  And even then, he could summon #8 by chance off-focus.  And who knows when we might even get a #8?

[SUE #6]  Good point.

[Meanwhile, in the corridor]

[A Lugh +6 walks into the corridor]

[LUGH +6]  Uncle Jaffar!  Hold on, Jaffar's my father!  No, he's not, Erk is!  Of course Jaffar's my father!  No, he's not, and Erk's not, we don't know who he is!  Stop it, we need to find Chad!  Oh, screw looking for Chad, he's not here!  Brother, where art thou?

[Back in the Sues' room]

[SUE #5]  That Lugh appeared to be plum-crazy!  Claiming Jaffar was both his father and uncle, also claiming Erk and someone unknown to be his father, both knowing and not knowing where some Chad was?

[SUE #1]  Yeah, that Lugh appears to be the result of some Merge Allies project.  Two copies of someone get merged together to provide boosts to their stats, but it's got some nasty side effects.

[SUE #6]  I'll say it's got some nasty side effects!  I think #5 and I may have run into at least one, maybe even two, of the Lughs that were involved on our way back from the observation chamber!  And they were unmerged and fine then!

[SUE #1]  Anyway, the ways each one of us is vastly different get mixed together into one individual, and they have a hard time controlling these traits.  And god forbid one try to look at their genetic profile, I'd imagine it'd be a huge mess, especially if there's different parentages involved!

[SUE #4]  [shudder]  I hate to think what might happen if that summoner tried it with us!  If I got merged with #6, I'd probably become some unholy abomination!  And it would get worse if #2 got merged into us on top of that!

[SUE #2]  And imagine if such an abomination got sent back home!  Would one of those worlds get that abomination and the others don't get them back at all?  I'm not sure some people would know how to deal with a loss like that!  Given the various degrees of loss we've gone through...

[SUE #7]  I know #6 hasn't stated that her tale's been fully spun yet, but do you mind if I start spinning my tale now?

[SUE #6]  Go ahead.  My tale was basically just about spun out anyway.

[SUE #7]  My pleasure.

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Chapter 8:  Loss and Love

[SUE #7]  ...Speaking of going through loss, even though I haven't gone through a death march like some of you have, I've still gone through my fair share of loss and love over time.  You might find this hard to believe, but...I never knew my parents.

[SUE #3]  What?  Never knew your parents?

[SUE #7]  Right.  ...Remember the guy who got hit on by one of #3's uncles?

[SUE #3]  Guy?

[SUE #7]  In my world, he's my father.  He was killed in a bandit attack before I was even born, and my mother, Rath's sister, died giving birth to me.  The only family I had growing up was my grandfather Dayan, my uncle Rath, and my slightly older cousin who was Rath's son.

[SUE #4]  ...Well, that rules out Lyn being your aunt, then, right?

[SUE #7]  Right, I certainly remember the day Lyn died in Ostia, and I was about six years old at the time.  Anyway, in my case, my uncle Rath was my mother's older brother, and he took me in after my mother died.  Basically raised me in much the same fashion he would have if I were his actual daughter, even though I knew the truth growing up.  ...I guess I know what #1, #4, and #5 knew what it was like growing up with Rath even though I lack common parentage with any of them.

[SUE #1]  ...Wow.  Even though we're obviously vastly different, we're also quite similar in some respects.

[SUE #7]  Yeah.  Anyway, about that boy #4 mentioned having picked on her a lot?

[SUE #4]  Oh, don't make me relive the mental scars that dieck Hikori put me through...

[SUE #7]  Well, the Hikori I grew up wasn't like #4's Hikori.  My Hikori was basically my best friend for the vast majority of my life.  And likewise his sister, Hikomi, was my cousin's best friend as well for the vast majority of his life as well.

[SUE #4]  Holy?!  Nobody I knew could even stand Hikomi!  They all thought she was a daughter of a dieck, and nobody wanted to associate with her!

[SUE #7]  Well, anyway, Uncle Rath died about two or so years back.  It was illness, by the way, not bandits.  Hikori was the first to start consoling me, and something quite interesting happened during that timeframe.

[SUE #2]  Do tell.

[SUE #7]  Well, I'm sure you never know when, where, or with whom you'll fall in love's grasp?  It happened to me while Hikori was consoling me while I was grieving over Uncle Rath's death, and the feelings were mutual--Hikori and I ended up falling in love with one another while he was consoling me during my grief.  One minute he was simply consoling me, the next we were having our first kiss!  Yeah, I'm sure you might find it funny that I had all of a sudden fallen in love with my best friend, but I see nothing wrong with that!

[SUE #5]  Wow.  I don't see anything wrong with that idea, but did the thought of--

[SUE #7]  Yes, we started dating and got even closer to one another than we had before.  A number of months after Uncle Rath died, Hikori asked me to marry him, and of course I accepted in absolute elatement!  Of course I'd jump at the chance to marry the best friend I'd ever had!  We got married about a year back, in perhaps the best double wedding Sacae had ever seen.  Seeing his grandchildren marrying their best friends put Dayan beyond tears, I don't think he had ever been happier!

[SUE #3]  ...So I take it your cousin and Hikomi also fell in love with one another?

[SUE #7]  Same time and fashion, even!  ...Oh, and one more thing about those rampaging chickens I brought up while #2 was spinning her tale.  The wedding party they attacked?

[SUE #6]  Yeah?

[SUE #7]  It was my wedding they attacked.  And the not-usual attire I was wearing?  I wound up taking up the bow while in my wedding gown!  Didn't even damage it!

[SUE #2]  The bow?

[SUE #4]  The gown?

[SUE #7]  Both, actually.

[SUE #1]  Wow.  You wound up being an action bride?!  I'd be happy simply being an action wife once I finally meet Mr. Right!  I'd gladly take an action-free wedding, just let me get back into the fray once it's finished!

[SUE #7]  Anyway, the joy didn't end there, in fact there was more forthcoming yet to come and grow.  For the good chunk of the last year, I was carrying around a most fragile bundle of joy.

[SUE #2]  You don't mean?

[SUE #7]  Exactly!  Anyway, about two months back I went through perhaps the most excruciating yet most joyous pain imaginable, bringing my son into the world.

[SUE #5]  Wow, motherhood already?

[SUE #7]  Yes, and my son's the joy of my life!  I'm sure he and his own cousin--my cousin's daughter, and since my cousin and I both married one of a pair of siblings, that would make her my full-on niece, not someone I'd treat just like my niece--will get along quite well as they grow up, hopefully with their whole families around them.  And with that, my tale is spun.

[SUE #1]  Wow.  Seven vastly different stories.  ...I think I know how much of this is going to go, but just to make sure, show of hands, anyone else besides #7 married?

[no hands raise]

[SUE #1]  Mother of a child?

[no hands raise]

[SUE #1]  Who among us are still virgins?

[Sues #1, #2, #3, and #5 raise their hands]

[SUE #4]  Kind of wish I could say I was, but remember when I stated that some of the boys in my world tried to straighten me out?  Yeah, some of them were that kind of forceful.

[all other Sues shudder]

[SUE #6]  And I had just solidified a complete relationship with a steady boyfriend by the time I was plucked.  Only once before then, though.

[SUE #1]  So much of us are similar, yet so much of us are vastly different.  I'm sure that, if we put aside our differences, we'll get along quite well.

[SUE #4]  So, who's up to get ready for battle?  We can build up two teams with all of us put together, and...

[SUE #6]  Well, if #4's on the team with only three of us, there'd better be a guy on that team.  Last thing I want is some cute girl who's not one of us distracting #4 when she should be focusing on fighting!

[SUE #2]  And if we're fighting an Allegiance Battle, let's just hope #4 doesn't have to be the one Pairing Up!  I'd rather take the Pair Up than risk #4 pairing up with a girl and trying to hit on her partner!

[SUE #1]  Heh, heh, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

[SUE #7]  Indeed, #1.  Indeed.

FIN

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