Happenstance (Fire Emblem Fates)

Lull

Takumi opened his eyes and found himself seated in one of the living room chairs. How had he gotten here? After pushing past the haze of waking up, he realized that Anankos had been stepping in for him today. Right; he had been extremely tired and all but shoved Anankos into control of his body. Maybe he would apologize for that later.

"Takumi?" came a gentle voice from across the room, "is that you?"

Azura was here? Takumi gathered his bearings and fully took in his surroundings. He was in the living room and Azura sat in a seat across from him. On the sofa was... Ryoma? Gods, he didn't look good. Had something happened?

He finally found his voice. "Azura... what's going on?" He felt terribly out of the loop, and equally as disoriented. Nothing seemed right after spending gods know how long in his head. "What happened to Ryoma-niisan?"

The girl locked her fingers together in her lap and brought her gaze to the man in question. "Ryoma was attacked by the same person that took Brynhildr from Leo," she explained delicately. Takumi was sure to be mad about not being able to do anything and - not to mention - declare vengeance on whoever hurt his brother. "He still has Raijinto, but I found him unconscious and brought him back here. Anankos helped me treat his wounds."

Well, that explained why the air reeked with the smell of chemicals. Azura must have had to instruct Anankos on how to treat all of those wounds because Takumi sure as hell didn't have any idea how to do any of that medical stuff. He usually left that to his mom; she was a nurse, after all.

Takumi eyed the Raijinto and brought his fingers to his chin in thought. "That must mean the thief is on the hunt again."

It had been four years since the thief had stolen Brynhildr. For the immediate months after that, everyone had been on guard for subsequent attacks... but they never came. It still didn't make sense. Why had the thief waited four years before attempting to steal another one of the divine weapons? If anything, that was delaying whatever goal the thief had in mind.

Azura seemed to have picked up on his train of thought. "Maybe there's a reason why they've waited so long to try again? It's been four years since their last attack."

"Hm," Takumi hummed. "Maybe it was just to lay low and get their plan in order before stealing another?" He seemed to reconsider the thought with a dismissive shake of his head. "No, that doesn't make sense. They would have done that before going after Brynhildr."

So why would they wait this long to try again? The question hung silently in the air between them.

He sighed. "It doesn't matter now," he resolved, "what matters is that they're on the hunt again and that we don't know where the remaining divine weapons are-"

"Actually," Azura interrupted, "your mother told us where the Yato was." She withheld the hint that Mikoto gave about Takumi and the whereabouts of the Fujin Yumi. They should worry about the Yato first, especially when they knew its exact location.

Takumi ignored the "us"; he knew Azura must have been referring to herself and Anankos. That would take some getting used to. "So?" he prodded, a hint of anxiety growing in his chest at the prospect of them wasting time. "Where is it?"

He hoped that the thief didn't know the Yato's whereabouts. The sooner he and Azura could retrieve the sword, the less stress he would have. Who knew how many divine weapons the thief had at this point? Maybe there wasn't a four year period between the stealing of the weapons.

"She said that she buried the Yato in her old backyard, at the house she lived in before moving in with your family," Azura ran her fingers over her pendant absently, ocean blue glimmering beneath her skin. "I think you should call Kamui before you go, though."