Hello to you internets! I welcome you to the table of contents for the FanFiction, "Walter Dornez of the Fire Emblem"! Anyway, this really only exists to help you keep track of what chapter is what, as well as when it was released. Meh, it's kind of a pointless addition, but I might as well.

(Edit - May 15, 2018: I have added the word count for each of the chapters—sans the ever changing Table of Contents)

(Edit - June 28, 2019: Started updating the first few chapters so that they meet my current standards.)

(Edit - February 25, 2020: "Table of Contents" has been combined with chapter 1. Additionally, the story will be continuing HERE, not on a sequel fic.)

If you've just found this fanfic, I welcome you! I hope you enjoy the story!

Contents

The Introduction Arc

-Chapter 1… The Angel of Death Rides Again (August 15, 2015 - Updated May 7, 2020) - 6,156 words

-Chapter 2… The Risen (August 23, 2015 - Updated May 7, 2020) - 6,309 words

-Chapter 3… Shepherds (September 9, 2015 - Updated May 7, 2020) - 8,174 words

-Chapter 4… Angel of Death (September 28, 2015 - Updated June 28, 2019) - 5,061 words

-Chapter 5… Guardian (October 30, 2015 - Updated June 28, 2019) - 5,762 words

-Chapter 6… Walter's Roster: Volume 1 (November 1, 2015) - 2,482 words

-Chapter 7… Walter and the Shepherds (December 24, 2016) - 6,431 words

-Chapter 8… Twin Falchions (Updated June 30, 2019 - December 26, 2016) - 8,213 words

-Chapter 9… IMPORTANT UPDATE, NOT DEAD (October 14, 2017) - 2,135 words

The War Against Plegia Arc

-Chapter 10… From Sickle to Sword (October 16, 2017) - 7,634 words

-Chapter 11… The Exalt and the Mad King (November 13, 2017) - 5,743 words

-Chapter 12… Loss of Humanity (December 25, 2017) - 7,940 words

-Chapter 13… Loss of Humanity (Part II) (January 1, 2018) - 9,556 words

-Chapter 14... Leisure Time (February 10, 2018) - 7,263 words

-Chapter 15... Walter's Roster: Volume 2 (March 8, 2018) - 4,828 words

-Chapter 16... Incursion (March 23, 2018) - 8,672 words

-Chapter 17... Moving Forward (April 30, 2018) - 6,062 words

-Chapter 18... Bonds (May 5, 2018) - 8,360 words

-Chapter 19... To Defy Fate (May 11, 2018) - 7,346 words

-Chapter 20... The Fall (July 26, 2018) - 9,457 words

The Gangrel Arc

-Chapter 21... Recovery (February 2, 2019) - 5,633 words

-Chapter 22... Tales of a Distant Future (March 22, 2019) - 8,225 words

-Chapter 23... Infiltration (June 14, 2019) - 9,306 words

-Chapter 24... An Angel Clipped of Wings (June 21, 2019) - 8,181 words

-Chapter 25... Not Alone (June 28, 2019) - 13,041 words

-Chapter 26... Gaining a Foothold (July 6, 2019) - 8,606 words

-Chapter 27... The Calm Before the Storm (October 4, 2019) - 14,085 words

-Chapter 28... Unrequited Feelings (October 11, 2019)- 9,209 words

-Chapter 29... On the Eve of Battle (February 4, 2020) - 15,203 Words

-Chapter 30... Death (February 8, 2020) - 11,157 words

-Chapter 31... Rebirth (February 10, 2020) - 10,518 words

-Chapter 32... Walter C. Dornez (February 12, 2020) - 10,473 words

-Chapter 33... Onward Towards a New Dawn (February 15, 2020) - 16,481 words

The Monster of Ylisse Arc

-Chapter 34... Fragile Peace

-Chapter 35... A Past Better Left Forgotten

-Chapter 36... Encounter

-Chapter 37... Accusations

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DISCLAIMER: HELLSING IS OWNED BY KOUTA HIRANO. I DO NOT ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS.

FIRE EMBLEM IS OWNED BY NINTENDO. I DON'T OWN IT'S CHARACTERS EITHER.

ITALICS=THOUGHTS

BOLD ITALICS=NARRATOR

(NOTE: IF YOU DON'T LIKE THIS STORY THEN DON'T READ IT.)

Walter C. Dornez, the Angel of Death, let out a heavy sigh as the flames of his damnation began to lick at his body. He quietly pondered the events that led him to this very moment: sitting in a burning Zeppelin, waiting for either the blazing inferno or his degenerating body to kill him. Honestly, the butler didn't give a damn which killed him first. As far as he was concerned, a traitor like him deserved nothing short of an agonizing death.

This is what I deserve… Walter let out a dejected laugh. I gave up my entire life for the sake of a childish grudge. In hindsight, I wonder how I ever thought betraying Hellsing was a good idea. Integra, I wonder if you'll ever forgive me, a nostalgic smile played its way onto the butler's face at the thought of his beloved master.

Integra Hellsing…

He didn't think much of that little bundle known as Integra at the time of her birth. Honestly, at first he found the infant to be a detestable waste of space. However, as time passed, and the child grew up, Walter began to grow fond of her. It wasn't slow or gradual, it just happened that one day the butler saw something in Integra that he never saw in her father.

He remembered telling himself that he couldn't allow himself to grow attached to Integra, but it was already too late. The damage was done, the Angel of Death had allowed a child to bore into his heart and clip him of his wings. Gone were his selfish desires, replaced by the need to protect the girl. When the time came to initiate the release of Alucard from his slumber, he had become unsure of whether or not he was really making the world better by destroying Alucard.

Still—despite all his reservations—Walter still went rogue; he still turned. He was either going to kill Alucard or die trying. There was guilt over what he was doing, but it seemed there wasn't enough of it to stop him. All this because he held a foolish grudge for little over fifty years.

"WALTER!"

The butler perked up ever so slightly at the sound of his name being called. He knew the voice of his master.

Integra? Walter closed his eyes, slumping over dejectedly. I don't deserve sympathy, perhaps I don't even deserve forgiveness; least of all from you. The airship began to violently shake and collapse. An I-beam fell fell just inches away from the butler.

Forget me and move on with your life, Integra... a smile played it's way onto the butler's face as he felt that his end was nigh. He took one last puff of his cigarette before fully accepting his fate.

"We had a good run, Master Integra..."

Slowly, he felt all the energy in his body drain, his vision distorting and the world around him fade as he began to smolder and burn. The last thing he heard as his hearing diminished was the cacophony of the zeppelin collapsing and exploding. Oddly enough, it seemed like he was hearing the explosion from the outside, as if he had somehow escaped.

Either way, he had no time to ponder the phenomena, as darkness took hold of him: the butler finally slipping out of consciousness.

This was seemingly the end of Walter C. Dornez...

...the end of the Hellsing family's butler...

...and the end of the Angel of Death.

However...

...it seemed fate had other plans for the Walter Dornez.

The first thing Walter felt as he began to regain consciousness was the feeling of a warm summer breeze brushing past him. Next was the feeling of lying down in grass.

Where am I? Walter struggled to even open his eyes, let alone move his own body.

"Chrom, we have to do something," the voice of a young woman graced his ears.

Who's Chrom? he wondered.

"What do you propose we do?" the butler heard someone respond to the young woman's question. Forcing his eyes open, Walter blinked a few times; his vision was blurry and out of focus. Still, he manged to make out the faint outlines of two figures standing over him.

"I- I dunno..." the young woman spoke up once more.

Slowly, his vision began to return to him until he could eventually see once more. Blinking, Walter found himself staring up at a young pair, both looking down on him in concern. The young woman, who was no older than eighteen, noticed that he had regained conscious and shot him a kind smile.

"H- Hello," the girl greeted sheepishly. The young man next to her spoke up next.

"You know there are better places to take a nap then on the ground," the man stuck his hand out. "Here, give me your hand."

Though he was hesitant, Walter reached up and grasped the offered hand. The man hoisted the butler up with relative ease; Walter taking a second or two to gain his footing.

(Play song ~ Id (Serenity) [Fire Emblem: Awakening OST])

"Easy there, I got you," the man gently grabbed the butler by the shoulders and helped steady him. When Walter finally gained his footing, the man let go.

"You alright?" he asked.

Taking in the man's appearance, Walter noted his messy midnight-blue hair. His clothing was rather medieval in nature—upper-class from the looks of it.

Probably a noble of some kind, Walter thought as he dusted himself off. To his genuine surprise, the butler noticed that instead of the all black outfit he had been wearing before, he was in his regular attire: purple waistcoat, gray slacks, white dress shirt, and silky black tie around his neck. Upon further examination, to his great relief, he was his aged self once more; he was a vampire no more.

"I think so..." Walter replied honestly, relieved to be human again. "Thank you Chrom," he said, almost bowing on instinct.

"Ah, you know who I am?" the man apparently known as Chrom raised an eyebrow. Walter shook his head/

"Not at all," Walter glanced over to the blonde girl, who was standing over by a heavily armored knight with mud-brown hair and a stern expression.

"I heard that young lady refer to you as Chrom, so I deduced it was your name," he replied sincerely.

"That's quite the deduction," Chrom crossed his arms. "Seeing as we're getting acquainted, why don't you tell me your name, stranger?"

The aged butler gave it a thought for a moment. He was briefly unsure as to whether he could trust the strangers. Still, after a moment of pondering, he decided it would only be courteous to introduce himself.

Besides, if they wanted to kill me, they probably would've made an attempt to do so while I was unconscious.

"My name is Walter Dornez," he answered. "If you don't mind me asking, where am I?" Walter took in his surroundings. He was in a large grassy plain with nary a single tree or rock within miles. How he ended up in the field after being blown up was... perplexing.

"How do you not know where you are?" the armored man finally spoke up. "It's one thing to not know who milord is, but to also have no knowledge of where you are is rather far fetched."

"Well, I don't recall how I got here," Walter placed a hand on his chin. "I don't even know where here is, let alone where it is in relation to my home."

Chrom crossed his arms in thought before beckoning towards the knight.

"I'm fairly certain we can clear this up at the nearest town. For now, Mr. Dornez is to be treated as a guest, Frederick," he told the knight, now identified as Frederick. The knight scoffed.

"I am duty bound to follow your very orders, however I do implore you to think twice before trusting this stranger. It would be quite unfortunate if he were to turn out to be a brigand, milord," Frederick narrowed his eyes at the aged butler, earning him a look of incredulity from Walter. Chrom seemed disinterested with the mud-haired knight's concern, however.

"If you're so worried, than why don't you keep a close eye on him as we head to Southtown?" the midnight-haired man suggested as turned to the butler. "Why don't you come with us? I'll try my best fill you in as we walk."

Walter shrugged as he began to follow. Walking on the dirt path, he took note of the landscape. It all looked unfamiliar to him. Everything just seemed so foreign, and it made Walter feel like he wasn't even on Earth anymore. He felt hopelessly lost, and he wanted answers.

"So, can you tell me where exactly I am?" he inquired.

"Of course," Chrom moved to walk beside the butler. "You're in the country of Ylisse, Mr. Dornez."

"Ylisse?" Walter muttered under his breath. He felt a sense of familiarity with the name. Hearing the name made his head hurt, but only for a second. The pain went as quickly as it had come.

"So, can you tell me a bit more about this country? What is the system of government? Is it a monarchy of sorts? If so, who is the ruler?"

"That is a fair bit of information you're asking for," Frederick raised an eyebrow.

"Frederick, I don't recall asking questions being made illegal," Chrom stepped in. "Now let me handle this, alright?"

Frederick let out a sigh before moving towards the unarmed blonde.

"Excuse him, if you haven't noticed, he's not exactly the relaxed sort. Frederick's stern and to the point; not exactly one to trust strangers, as you can see," Chrom smiled sheepishly. "Anyway, allow me to explain. Ylisse's ruler is called the Exalt. The Exalt rules over all of Ylisse as a whole, but below the Exalt is the various dukes and duchesses. Those who are related to the Exalt, whether by blood or marriage, are part of the royal family. The current Exalt is Lady Emmeryn," Chrom finished.

"So does that answer all your questions?"

Walter thought for a moment.

"Well, I know your name is Chrom, and the armored man with the stern disposition is Frederick," the butler gestured to each. "So who is the blonde miss?" the butler pointed towards said blonde.

"Oh, the delicate one over there is my little sister, Lissa," Chrom introduced. a cheeky grin formed on the midnight haired man's face as the blonde glared at him.

"I am NOT delicate!" Lissa pouted. "Ignore my brother, please. He can be really thick in the head at times."

Walter nodded and gave the girl a warm smile.

"I'll make sure to keep that in mind, young miss," he chuckled. Lissa's face lit up.

"Hah, you're lucky that us Shepherds found you before a band of brigands did. That would've been a rude awakening."

"Shepherds?" Walter raised a brow, noting the fancy looking sword at Chrom.s hip. "You look rather over equipped for shepherds."

"It's more dangerous a job than you think it is," Chrom said jokingly. "Just ask Frederick the wary."

"''Tis a title that I happily accept," Frederick let out a chuckle. "At least one of us has be cautious, otherwise we'd be dead."

Walter let out a guilty sigh. He wasn't exactly deserving of any trust, and especially not deserving of such hospitality. He'd betrayed the closest thing to a family he had. His death would've been his atonement for that sin, but it seemed that God had other plans for him.

"Chrom!" Lissa shouted, catching everyone's attention. "The town!"

(Replace Song ~ "Gods, have the Risen spread this far?" [Fire Emblem: Awakening OST])

The group turned their attention to see plumes of smoke rising into the sky. In the distance, they could see the town was the smoke's source. Although it was a fair distance away, they could clearly see that several buildings had been set ablaze.

"Damn..." Chrom cursed under his breath. "No doubt that brigands are responsible for this," the man unsheathed the sword at his hip. The blade caught Walter's eye, as it was a finely crafted weapon that seemed more special than a normal blade. It seemed to glimmer in the sunlight, like a diamond, and reeked with holy energy.

"Frederick! Lissa! To arms!" Chrom commanded.

"What about him?" Frederick gestured over to the Walter.

"Unless he's on fire as well, he can wait!" Chrom began to dash towards the town, with Lissa and Frederick following behind him, leaving Walter behind.

"Well, that was quite rude," Walter sighed as he watched them disappear into the town. He stood there and watched the plumes of smoke rise, not moving an inch from that very spot. As he watched the fires begin to spread, he felt the tug to intervene. They weren't really his people, so why should he bother? He didn't really need to get involved…

...but he couldn't resist the urge to help. After all, he was no monster, right?

Walter reached into his pockets and noticed that they weren't empty. Pulling out the objects from his pocket, he was surprised to see the black fingerless gloves he used to wield his wires. His gaze switched from the town to the gloves, and then back again. He let out a sigh as he slipped the gloves onto his hands.

"Here I go again…" Walter pulled the gloves on, causing the leather to squeak. "It seems that retirement eludes me once more..."

(Song ends here)

Chrom let out a grunt as he clashed blades with one of the brigands. He pushed forward and cut the criminal down swiftly. Frederick was faring well against the brigands, mowing them down on horseback. Lissa stood behind Chrom, a healing staff in hand.

"Grab anything of worth, and torch the rest!" the leader of the rogues stood across a bridge from the trio. He had a young maiden in his captivity, his arms restraining her.

"We gots to set an example for these Ylissean types," the leader cackled as he held the maiden in his arms. "Ain't that right lass?" a disgusting grin forming on his face.

"S-stay away from me!" the maiden cried, but to no avail. "Please! Someone! Help!"

Hearing her distress, Chrom and Frederick made a beeline for the brigand leader. Unfortunately, a group of brigands cut them off. Frederick was thrown from atop his horse and forced to continue fighting on foot. As the two were steadily being swarmed by the criminals, they were slowly being pushed further away from the trapped woman.

"Ignore the goons for now!" Chrom shouted. "We need to save the woman first!"

"There's too many, milord!" Frederick deflected several strikes from the brigands. "We can't break through!"

"Damn!" Chrom grit his teeth in frustration as he continued to fight to break through the criminals.

He couldn't handle them all at once, and he was losing stamina fast. As all hope seemed lost, something caught Chrom's eye. It was thin—so thin that it was nigh invisible.

Wire? Chrom thought as his attention was caught by the strange object.

Suddenly, he thin strand Chrom had spotted suddenly flared to life, moving across the line of brigands. A foreboding screeching emit from these mysterious wires as they moved through the crowd of brigands before the wires stopped, disappearing completely. Chrom, Frederick, and Lissa watched as many of the brigands suddenly became eerily still. To the shock of the trio, the criminal scum crumbled and fell, cut into a pile of viscera.

"Oh dear, look at the mess I made…"

The trio looked up to see Walter standing on top of a building. He was smiling, his smile being a wide and large. The aged man further shocked the trio when he acrobatically leapt off the building and landed gracefully on the ground below.

"Although…" Walter began to slowly walk towards the crowd of remaining brigands. "You lot seem to have made an even bigger mess than I. Burning down an entire town; I'm afraid I'm going to have to kill you."

The criminals weren't at all intimidated and confidently walked up to the old butler.

"We ain't afraid of you, old man," one of them laughed as he raised his weapon. "An old geezer like you belongs in one place, and that's the ground."

Walter simply smiled as he dusted himself off.

"You're going to put me in the ground?" he raised an eyebrow. "How on earth are you going to do that without an arm?"

Confused, the brigand looked at where his arm should've been. To his horror, his hand had been reduced to a bloody stump. He screamed in agony as he clutched the handless arm.

"What are you doing, attack him!" he yelled at his comrades. The brigands complied and charged Walter. Shockingly, they found that they had hit thin air.

"Oh, was that the fastest you could move?"

The group turned to see Walter had somehow ended up behind them. Chrom, Lissa, and Frederick were just as surprised as the brigands were.

"How did he get behind them so quickly?" Chrom's eyes were wide open in shock.

"The speed that would require..." Frederick murmured in great disbelief at the feat he had just witnessed.

"So, are you going to stand there like blithering idiots, or are you going to attack?" Walter taunted. "Or perhaps you're all so stupid that you haven't yet registered that I've moved..."

The brigands charged the butler in blind fury. They slashed and stabbed at him, but no attack hit their mark. The butler ducked and dodged all of them with ease, moving like a leaf in the wind.

"What are youse idiots doin'?!" the leader of brigands shouted, tightening his hold on his maiden hostage. "He's just an old man! He doesn't even 'ave a damn weapon! He can't hurt youse!"

"Really? You think I can't hurt them?" Walter leapt away from his foes. "I beg to differ..."

The butler raised a hand to reveal several strands of—what seemed to be—glowing luminescent wires; all emanating from the base of his gloved fingers.

"This is my weapon…" a devilish smile formed on the elderly man's face as countless wires were revealed to be at the base of the brigands' feet.

With a single tug of his hand, the wires sprang to life, cutting gashes into his enemies. With the brigands incapacitated, all that was left was the their leader.

"Woo! Go Walter! Show them who's boss!" Lissa cheered the butler on as she watched him confront the leader.

"His methods are a bit violent, but it's not unwarranted," Chrom's smirked. "I'm impressed, but let's see how he handles the leader…"

Walter continued to approach the leader, his wires orbiting him slowly. An amused grin formed on his face as he watched the man cower in fear.

"As you can see, I am very much armed," Walter was grinning from ear-to-ear. "If I were you, I would pick a god to pray to. If you're lucky, one of them will grant you some mercy. Granted, I'm certain you're going to hell, either way..."

"Stay back!" the coward brought his axe to his captive maiden's throat. "Take one more step and the girl gets it!"

"Is that so?" the aged butler chuckled. "I do love an ultimatum, but I have a question: how're you still holding your axe?"

The brigand stared at Walter, wondering what exactly he was talking about. That's when he felt something tugging at the arm he held is axe in. Looking down, his eyes widened when he saw that his hand was tangled in countless wires. With a single tug, Walter tore the brigand's arm clean off. The villain howled in agony as he released his grip on the hostage and clutched the bloody stump that was once his arm.

"How disappointing..." Walter walked over to the brigand and took him down to the ground with ease. "In all my years, I don't think I've EVER fought anyone as pathetic as you. Let's put you out of your misery..."

With one swipe of his hand, his wires beheaded the brigand; the criminal crumpling to the ground, dead.

"That's the end of that..." Walter muttered as he dusted himself off.

Suddenly, the butler was taken off guard when a pair of arms that suddenly grabbed him and held him in a warm embrace. The maiden that he had saved earlier was practically crying into his chest.

"Thank you so much, kind sir! I feared that I was doomed!" the maiden cried. Walter accepted the hug, albeit looking very uncomfortable as he did.

"You're... er... very much welcome..." he awkwardly patted the woman's back.

When the embrace ended, the aged butler told her to find someplace safe to stay while the he tried to do something to douse the fires.

"That was quite the impressive show you put on."

Walter turned to see Chrom, who had a pleased look on his face. Frederick and Lissa trailed behind the midnight-haired swordsman.

"You said it, Chrom!" Lissa was practically hopping up and down with enthusiasm. " Like holy moly, you were incredible Walter! Like, that weapon of yours is soooooo cool!"

"Hah, I'm inclined to agree," Chrom pat the butler on the back. "You're definitely not some helpless victim, that's for sure."

While Chrom and Lissa seemed enamored by Walter's performance, Frederick still seemed quite apprehensive.

"Yes, you've proven yourself to be quite capable in battle, but are you capable of telling us how and why you came to be here the same day brigands attack this town?" Frederick's grip on his lance tightened, as if he was poised to strike the aged butler down at a moment's notice.

"Frederick," Chrom addressed the knight sternly. "He saved Ylissean lives, is that not enough for you?"

"It's alright, sir," Walter spoke up before Frederick could reply himself. "I understand the skepticism from your knight. I'm a stranger from heaven knows where, with abilities that may be a tad bit frightening. If I were in Frederick's position, I too would be skeptical," the butler sighed.

"Please, let me explain myself so that I may gain some of your trust."

Chrom turned to Frederick, who nodded at the request. The midnight-haired warrior turned back to Walter and gestured him to go on.

"Well, I was born somewhere far from here. I don't think it's anywhere close to Ylisse, and I have doubts that I'll ever be able to return there. I don't know how I arrived in that field where you found me—I'm quite honestly stumped. All I know is that I was on Death's door before I got here. When I closed my eyes, I fully expected not to wake up…." Walter sighed. "Yet here I am, unscathed like nothing ever happened to me. I honestly don't know what happened to me."

Frederick seemed to scrutinize him for a moment or two. When he found that the butler didn't seem to be lying, he stepped back with a sigh. Chrom patted the knight on the back as he approached the butler again.

"That's good enough for me; you've got my vote of confidence," he smiled. "Although, I am curious about one thing..." Chrom's eyes wandered down to Walter's gloved hands.

"What kind of weapon is that? I've never seen anything quite like it," he asked. Walter hummed with enthusiasm as he swiped his hands, summoning his wires.

"No surprise there, I'm the only person to have trained to use these as a weapon," his wires orbited around him hypnotically. "Razor sharp when need be, faster then the eye can perceive; I could halve a building if I summoned up the energy to do so," Walter declared proudly.

"Of course, I'm not as spry as I used to be, so don't expect to ever see me do that."

Lissa and Chrom stared at the wires in awe as he explained.

"Wow... that is so cool..." Lissa muttered.

"I shudder to think what occupation would require such a lethal weapon..." Chrom watched the wires carefully. Walter hummed as he slowly retracted the wires back into his gloves.

"That would be a butler."

"You're a butler?" Frederick raised an eyebrow,

"That would be correct!" Walter grinned. "I've been a butler all my life; trained as a child and have remained so since then."

"Hah, that's a surprise!" Chrom patted Walter on the back. "Why don't you tell us more about yourself later? You've got my curiosity piqued."

"I'd be happy to," Walter chuckled.

"Um guys?" Lissa scratched the back of her head. "I think we should help douse the flames on the houses."

The group nodded in unison as they began to gather as much water as possible.

After several hours or so, all of the fires were put out. Thankfully, much of the damage was easily repairable, and there weren't any casualties.

The quartet of heroes stood atop one of the many bridges, and gazed at the town.

"Such a shame these villagers had to suffer through such an attack," Walter sighed. "It was lucky we arrived here when we did, otherwise I have no doubt this town wouldn't be here right now."

"Yeah..." Lissa said halfheartedly. "That would've been horrible if we didn't get here when we did. All these people would probably be gone..."

Chrom nodded in agreement.

"There was something odd, though..." he raised a hand to his chin. "The brigands that Walter killed were far too skilled to be average bandits."

"I noticed it as well, milord," Frederick crossed his arms. "I'd wager good coin that they were of Plegian origin..."

"Plegian?" Walter lifted an eyebrow. "If I may ask, what is a 'Plegian'?"

"Plegians are native to Plegia, Ylisse's westerly neighbor," Chrom answered. "They send small bands of thieves into our territory, hoping to instigate war."

"What's worse is they send the brigands to attack small towns like this one..." Lissa said sadly. "The people always end up taking the brunt end of Plegia's grudge."

Walter felt a pang of sympathy for these people. They seemed to be in the middle of a conflict, at least the start of one. It was unfortunate, but usually it's the common folk that bare much of the trouble when it comes to war. He truly did not envy them.

"That is why they have us: Shepherds to protect the proverbial sheep," Frederick declared proudly. "We should not let anger get the better of us, lest we wish it to cloud our judgment."

"Right! We can't protect the people if we can't think straight!" Lissa smiled as her cheerful demeanor returned.

"You guys just got me thinking." Chrom approached Walter. "We were completely out matched back there, but Walter made those Plegian brigands look like nothing. In my book, anyone willing to take up arms and protect the people is worth trusting."

"Agreed," Lissa winked at Walter, causing him to smile sheepishly. "Without him we would've been beaten badly."

"As much as I hate to admit my failure to protect you two..." Frederick sighed. "...I agree that we would've fallen were it not for him."

"I guess you'll agree with me when I say that Walter would make a fine addition to the Shepherds?" Chrom crossed his arms "So how about it? Will you join the Shepherds, Walter?"

The aged butler thought about it for a moment.

Am I really getting a second chance; a new beginning? he asked himself. Am I really worthy of it? Do I truly deserve this? The butler looked around him; the ravaged buildings, the townsfolk he helped save.

Even if I haven't done anything to deserve of this, I must make the most out of it, Walter concluded. With any luck, I'll be able to atone for my sins...

"I'd be honored to join you, lot," he finally replied, Lissa cheering Walter on as he accepted.

"Welcome to the Shepherds, Walter," Chrom shook his hand with pleasure.

"Milord!" a villager interrupted as he ran towards the quartet. "You must stay the night! The whole town wishes to celebrate with a feast in your honor!"

Frederick stepped forward.

"A most generous offer, sir, and no doubt your hospitality would be grand, but we must hurry back to Ylisstol. The Exalt is expecting us."

Walter laughed in amusement as Lissa ran up to the poor villager and began to order food as if at a restaurant.

"Did you not hear the second part of what Frederick said?" Walter chuckled. "We're leaving, Lissa."

"I want dark meat, medium well, and no salt in the soup..." the sudden registration of Frederick and Walter's words hit Lissa like a sledgehammer. "Wait, what?! We're not staying?!" she cried in objection.

"It's nearly dark, Frederick!"

It was true, the sun was nearing the horizon.

"When night falls we'll merely camp out," the knight responded simply. "We'll set up a few tents and hunt for food ourselves." He began to make his way towards the town entrance.

"I hate you sometimes, Frederick." Lissa slowly dragged herself behind Frederick. Chrom chuckled.

"Somethings never change," he shook his head as he followed behind.

Walter watched the trio leaving, quietly pondering how he had ended up in such a strange new world. It was refreshing to say the least. This was it, a new beginning. No Hellsing, no Iscariot, and no Millenium; truly a dream come true. While he wasn't certain of what may come in the future, he was determined to make it worthwhile.

This was the start of a new adventure, one that Walter was determined to make a good one...

Writer's notes

Chapter one, remastered and perfected! I went back and tidied everything up. It's now more readable, and not as... well... weird. I got rid of some dialogue, and replaced it with more coherent writing. I've been wanting to go back and redo this chapter for a long while, and I've finally done it!

In light of this, how about I do a special "behind the keyboard" on this chapter; the beginning of this fanfic?

Behind the keyboard

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I named him "Walter" - the first time I played "Fire Emblem: Awakening" I was in the middle of my Hellsing high. I was an edgy teenager, that was into the blood and gore of the OVA and anime. At the time, I was so into the series that—during my first playthrough of Fire Emblem: Awakening—I named the "Avatar" Walter. I did this because he was my favorite character in Hellsing, and still is in all honesty.

The thing is, I couldn't help but read all the dialogue in Walter's voice because of it. As such, I always imagined it as actual Hellsing Walter in the game—such a big nerd I am. One thing led to another, and now here we are!

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Written on the Fly - The original version of this chapter was written in about two hours in the middle of the night. I "procured" a laptop from my sister, and used it to write. I kind of did it because I felt like it, and because I just wanted to imagine what it would be like if Walter was actually in the game. What resulted was something that I—at the time—thought was decent enough to post here. Needless to say, releasing a chapter after only spending two hours on it was... foolish to say the least... at the very least I've managed to rectify the mistakes I made, and create something to truly be proud of!

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Why start with Old Walter? - I may have written this on the fly, but I had already made plans for the future. I started with old Walter, because he's the most underpowered of the Walter's. I didn't want Dark Walter to be running around, slashing through buildings. I didn't go with teen Walter, because... I just didn't...

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So begins the tale of Walter Dornez. How will he deal with his new surroundings? How did he get here in the first place? Why is he here anyway? The answers are out there to be found!

Walter Dornez, the Angel of Death, rides again!