I woke up with a throbbing headache resulting from the sudden influx of memories. Who knew regaining the memories of my previous life would be this painful? My vision was blurry as I attempted to get up from the bed which simply resulted in me slipping falling off the bed and faceplanting on the floor. I stood up, rubbing my face as I now endured two different types of pain. I opened my eyes and saw a mirror hanging on the far wall and I began briskly walking my way to it. I stood in front of it thereby confirming my fears. I have been isekai'ed. The face that stared back at me from the mirror wasn't my own. Or at least it hadn't been mine until 10 years ago when I was born into this world.
I was just a regular person living in a bustling 21st century city before that. Orphaned, grew up in foster care, afflicted with crippling social anxiety that left me without friends for the entire 25 years I lived. Who would go on to work at a tech company in a regular desk job It was a soul-crushing, grieving job and the only solace I got was from video games which I played in my free time. Once I went online, I was able to detach from my mundane existence in real life and live far more exciting ones through the characters I played. That and trolling little children in competitive multiplayer games never got old. It practically sustained me like I was an energy vampire feeding on the suffering of those crotch goblins. Muahahahaha...
Now where was I? Ah. Video games were the only thing that brought me joy and there was a particular franchise that I held close to my heart. Final Fantasy. It was a jrpg with compelling storylines, memorable and well-written characters, awesome weapons, and abilities you name it. I had played every single game in the franchise.... except for the MMOs and type 0 and Final Fantasy Tactics and the mobile ones. Ok, so I played most of the games in the franchise.
Now you might be wondering, how is my favorite videogame franchise relevant to my current predicament. Well, for one thing, it's relevant to how I died in my previous life. I had heard the announcement about the release of the new Final Fantasy game and had painstakingly saved enough to buy the PS5 and a physical copy of the game all the while avoiding reviews, reactions, and even trailers to prevent any spoilers. Excessive I know but keep in mind that I was obsessed with these games. Well, I made the mistake of going to buy them both on Black Friday and I got trampled to death by an army of grandmas......... Yeah, I think I'd have preferred the truck instead.
And the other reason why it is relevant is because I was 100% sure that I was in one of the worlds portrayed in one of the games. The world I am currently in is called Valasthea. It's a name unfamiliar to me yet the presence of certain things all but confirmed my hypothesis. The existence of Chocobos and Moogles, the summons which are called Eikons in this world, and finally, the Mothercrystals. Based on the fact I died trying to get the new one I can deduce that I was in Final Fantasy 16 as the trope goes which was bad considering I knew next to nothing about it. Well, that's inaccurate. I knew everything I learned in my current life.
I was born Alistair Rosfield the third son of Duke Elwin Rosfield and Duchess Annabella Rosfield. I had two older brothers, Clive and my twin Joshua. Joshua was the heir to the duchy despite Clive being older. This was because Joshua was the Dominant of the Eikon of fire, Pheonix. Dominants are those who can host Eikons, creatures of unbelievable strength and magic in their bodies, and tap into their powers. In the Duchy of Rosaria it is the Dominant of the Pheonix who would inherit the throne regardless of their age or predigree. Not that Clive minded being passed up as heir. He was more than content with being Joshuas First Shield which was the title given to the best warrior in Rosaria, entrusted with the duty of personally guarding the Dominant of Fire. They are also given a small part of Pheonix's powers that allow him to use magic despite not being a bearer. As a result, Clive was one of the best swordsmen in the entire duchy despite bearly being 15.
Then there was Jill who is like a sister to us. She was from the Northern Tribes who used to have several conflicts with Rosaria before my father managed to pacify them. Jill, who was the daughter of the tribe's chief was then put under the Rosfield's care as Ward per the agreement with the tribe.
All in all, our family was almost a harmonious one. The key word being almost. Enter my mother, Annabella, the grand champion of Valastheas resting bitch face tournament. This woman woke up one day and decided to out-Cersei, Cersei Lannister from Game of Thrones. If one were to tell me that she was the Dominant of Karens, I would wholeheartedly believe you.
My parents's personalities went together like fire and septic waste. My father was a just ruler who treated all his children and the people equally. My mother can bearly even bear to breathe the same air as the commoners and treats both me and Clive like dirt simply because we weren't born with the avatar of KFC. She also has a hate boner against the Bearers even more so than other people. Thankfully, my father never put up with her bullshit aside from remaining married to her. How he remained faithful to my mother throughout their marriage was a mystery to me.
As I examined my new face, now adorned with small cuts and burns, I heard the door open. I turned to see a familiar face enter. It was a blonde-haired woman who wore quite modest quality clothes despite her status as a noble. Lady Hanna. She was Rodney's wife and the one who practically raised me, Clive, and Jill. She took one look at me and dropped a pail of water she was carrying and before I knew it she was embracing me in a hug.
As the memories of the previous night came flooding back I found myself hugging her back and sobbing. It was at that moment that I realized that no matter who I was in my last life, I was now Alistair Rosfield.
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It took a while before Lady Hanna managed to calm me down enough to explain what had been happening. When I was brought to Eastpool from the Phoenix Gate, I had a severe fever and had been in a coma for over a week. And a lot of things had happened in those few days. My mother had left the capital Rosalith along with the nobles and guardsmen who supported her. She was last seen heading into the Empire's territories leaving no doubt that she was involved in what happened at the Phoenix Gate. Thankfully, Rodney had suspected it as well and had kept my survival a secret from most of the nobles. So as far as the world at large knows, my father and my siblings all lost their lives on that night.
Rodney had tearfully told me how he and several soldiers witnessed the Ifrit stabbing its hand through the Pheonix making them believe that Joshua didn't survive the night. Clive, however, was unaccounted for, the consensus was that he too had died on that night his body buried under the ruins much like most of the Shields.
While I outwardly grieved, I held hope that perhaps they had survived. Joshua was the Dominant of the Phoenix, a creature who symbolizes rebirth. And I wasn't going to be convinced of Clive's death unless I saw a body. However, I kept my thoughts to myself. They weren't enough to justify having to actively search for them and I didn't want to get everyone's hopes up should the worst have come to pass. Myself included
Not to mention, we had bigger problems. Rosaria's military has been more or less crippled as most of Shields and a sizable number of soldiers were lost at Pheonix Gate. And from those that were left, many had switched allegiances and left for the Empire with my mother. It was only a matter of time before the Iron Kingdom attacked us. And perhaps that's what my mother was counting on. Letting the Ironbor.... uhm Iron Kingdom attack us and conveniently kill the nobles who'd support my father or oppose her before arriving with Empire's forces to 'save' the day. Making her look like a saint and cementing her position as the Duchess in the eyes of the people.
Unfortunately for her, neither I nor the surviving Shields were going to take it lying down. Rodney took command of the survivors and began amassing more troops, mostly common villagers who were willing to risk their lives to protect their homes. He had even called for retired Shields to train the recruits.
And he wasn't the only one who was having a busy week. My Uncle from my father's side Byron along with nobles loyal to my father were calling in favours, securing weapons, crystals, medicines, ships, and even troops in the form of mercenaries. They had even secured support from other nations, namely Dalmekia and Kanver.
We were still a shadow of our former military might but now we might stand a chance.
I stared out the window as I saw the people working tirelessly to load supplies onto the carriages. Behind me were a knapsack with supplies and a change of clothes for my trip back to Rosalith. All of Rosaria's remaining leaders were going to reconvene there to make the final touches to their plans. That meant I, as the 'sole' survivor of my father's children had to attend as well under the assumption that I would be sent away to Kanver once all the bureaucracy was over with. Yeah, I had no intention of running but it was better to let them think that I would go with their plan to stop any potential arguments..... and most importantly, not risk Lady Hanna's anger. If she even had an inkling of suspicion that I was going to fight, she would same-day ship me off to the other side of the continent before anyone could say Moogle. She was right to worry of course. After all, I was only only 10. And I didn't have exceptional skills with a sword like Clive or an Eikon inside me like Joshua. But what I did have was a very special set of skills. The memories weren't the only things I got while I was comatose.
I picked up an object from the table. It was one of the most precious commodities in Valisthea. A shard of crystal from the Mothercrystals. It allowed regular people to channel aether and cast magics. The shard currently in my hands was small barely the size of my palm, best used to light a candle.
Draw
I called upon my newfound power and saw small blue orbs leaving the crystal before flowing into me and I kept on drawing its power until the crystal lost its color and turned to dust.
A Ding sound followed and a translucent screen opened in front of my eyes.
Recieved 10x Fire
Recieved 7x Aero
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