A/N- And here we go again. You thought it was something new and creative, but it was this, another route of "The Road Not Trekked"! Seriously, I know you're all probably beyond sick of this, but I'd been thinking of Revelation storylines since I started writing "The Rising Dark". I always wanted to explore the untapped potential of Valla, and now, I'm doing that. I'm sorry. For those who've already been through this song and dance with the last two fics, you good, fam squad. For those who have just stumbled upon this series for the first time, I have to tell you that this is technically the third in a three part series. "The Road Not Trekked", "The Rising Dark" and "The Falling Light" should be read first, and in that order as there is a lot of characterization that happens in those parts that leaves certain characters a bit different than they are in their respective games. I won't force you to, but if you don't, you're pretty much starting the Harry Potter series at "Deathly Hallows" at this point. But don't worry- it's just going to be another goofy fic filled with silly jokes for kids. And to old readers and new, this begins not at end of chapter seven of "The Road Not Trekked" as the other two routes do, but rather, at the end of chapter five. Yup, even the prologue of Fates isn't safe in this route.
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"You'll never know how your face has haunted me; my very soul has to bleed this time. Another hole in the wall of my inner defenses leaving me breathless..."
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Ch.1- "Begin Again, Begin Again"
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It was as though every fiber of her being was being pulled inward from every direction. Nerr's eyes snapped open, though her body remained still. Still in the sense that she could not willfully move it. She trembled violently, shaking as she gasped for air. Everything was still white, still blinding. Little by little, the light seemed to slowly fade, allowing her to see her surroundings. A dim room with plaster walls, the faint light diffused through paper screens. Glancing to her right revealed darkness, there was nothing there but a void-
The princess shook her head, blinking hard. There was a ball, it's colors muted by the shadows. It didn't look like the balls she remembered Elise bringing her years ago. Hoshidan. It was Hoshidan in design, as was everything else in the room. She was in Hoshido. How could she be in Hoshido, she was... she was supposed to be... as she wracked her mind, trying to remember what in the hell led up to this, a flash of red in the corner drew her eyes. Pushing herself upright, despite her weak muscles protesting, Nerr stared at the corner. There was nothing there but a strange, carved creature. Some kind of frightening...thing... that should only belong in a child's nightmares. It did nothing. Just sat there, collecting dust. As she looked away, from her periphery she saw teeth lunge at her. Huge yellow teeth, implanted in infected red gums and connected to the creature's skull with slimy fibers of muscle and tendon that unraveled like thread.
She screamed, heart hammering against her chest as she tried to get to her feet, the blankets and pallet she lay on sodden with all manner of vile fluids. All around her, rust and decay crept up the walls, snaking out like blood vessels as everything pulsed and throbbed. She was in Hell. Choked with fear, her vision blurred from the tears stinging them, Nerr threw herself at the walls, looking for a way out. With a loud rip, she fell through one, landing hard in an empty hallway that looked... normal. Yet still Hoshidan. Breathing hard, she stared through the hole in the shoji door. The shadows seemed almost innocuous from out here. Something cold and rotting wrapped around her ankle. Shrieking, she leapt to her feet once more, shaking her leg until she broke free of the deathly grip, barely noticing how hard she hit the opposite wall. This was Hell. She had to escape.
On unsteady legs, the Nohrian princess began walking swiftly down the hall, before breaking into an outright run. People appeared from doorways she didn't notice, but anyone who got in her way was pushed aside. No matter how many corners she turned, everything looked the same. It was never ending. She ran faster. Her mind, blank with panic, didn't even notice the red figure step into her path until something hard collided with her, knocking her flat on her back and pinning her arm under her. The angle was uncomfortable enough, but as the added weight of... whatever it was, landed atop her, the bones in her forearm splintered, like a still new branch. The pain was barely noticeable through her haze of fear, and she continued struggling.
"Nerrida! Stop this madness at once!"
"Ryouma? What's going on?" Going still, Nerr tried to figure out what she was actually fighting against. A stern face, framed in spiky red armor, glowered down at her. Behind him stood a pale woman in white robes, her hands clasped together as she gazed down in concern. Red... there was red, red flowers, red holes cut into people as they bled over her, their insides falling out... Screaming louder than she had thought she was capable of, she renewed her struggles, pulling her uninjured arm free of the man's heavy-handed grip and driving the heel of her palm into his nose. There was a snap, and he recoiled, enough for her to push him off and scramble back to her feet, shoving past the woman. Dead. They were dead, she could see the afterimage of mangled flesh on them. She was in Hell. She had to get away. Stopping short, she backed up a few steps, taking note of the circular window. Wooden bars in geometric shapes served more as decoration than protection, proven by the fact that they splintered and broke after only two kicks. She could see the sky. Blue sky, blue... blue...
"Nerrida!" A hysterical shriek from behind her drew her attention back. The woman was standing at the end of the hall, her dark eyes wide in terror. "What are you doing?!" The man that had pinned her down quickly appeared beside her, his face dark with anger in stark contrast to the woman's fear, his lips and chin the same crimson as his armor as blood dripped from his nose.
"Sister, your bluff is not fooling anyone. Step away from the window." Window... There were mullioned windows in Nohr, that overlooked the abyss the castle was built into, an infinite chasm, and if she jumped in- Barely able to make heads or tails of her disjointed, red-stained thoughts, Nerr moved on instinct alone, stepping onto the curved sill and hurling her body through the window. For a moment, she could hear screaming, but just as quickly, it had been swallowed by the sound of the wind whistling past her ears as she she was buffeted and tumbled by her fall. She would hit the ground and explode into a thousand pieces, like a bowl.
As her heart hammered in fear, it served to dull the pain of her jaw dislocating and protruding beyond her skin. Her back felt as though the skin had been ripped off in sheets before her entire body was snapped back. Pain seared through her spine, almost enough to overshadow the fact that she was falling much slower now. A few feet from the ground, she felt her skin and bones respool back into her body, resulting in her falling in a heap onto the grass. The impact sent agony radiating through her awkwardly hanging arm, but she managed to stand any way. There were armed Hoshidans gathered around her, staring with their jaws slack. Not bothering to wait and see how they would react when they came back to their senses, Nerr took off in an unsteady dash. As she sped towards the trees her mind began catching up with her.
She was in Hoshido, brought here by the backstabbing Rinkah and Suzukaze after she'd shown them mercy. After she'd been sent to the Chasm and fought against Hoshidan soldiers, and... and... Stopping short, the princess attempted to catch her breath, a difficult feat when it felt as though her chest was being constricted. Hans betrayed them on her Father's orders and killed Gunther, she had no idea what had become of Jakob, and her brothers and sisters certainly thought she was dead as well. She was alone and trapped in enemy territory with no escape... No... not no escape. Breathing deeply, Nerr began running once more, the smell of water reaching her before she saw the massive blue lake. She'd run into Azura here the other day, a stolen Nohrian princess she had never heard of, who clearly had shrugged off any and all affection for her homeland.
She knew this lake, not from before, but... she knew it all the same. The water gently lapping at the sandy shore seemed to call to her. Taking a few steps forward, she watched the water cling to her ankles. Maybe if she went around the lake; after all, far, far in the distance, she could see a mountainous crag that wasn't covered in snow, clearly the side of the Infinite Chasm. Behind her, the sound of hurried footsteps and snapping twigs spurred her pulse with a fearful jolt, the likes of which she'd never felt before. If the Hoshidans got her, they'd bring her right back to that nightmarish prison. She would die before she let that happen. As quickly as she could, Nerr waded deeper into the lake, until the water was over her breasts and she could barely barely touch the bottom of the silt bottom.
"There she is!"
"She's in the lake!" Only horror lay behind her. She had never swam before, had never seen a body of water larger or deeper than her tub in the Citadel, but the princess inhaled deeply and ducked under the waves, tentatively opening her eyes once she was submerged. The water was clearer than she had anticipated. And... deeper. She could not see the bottom of the lake, even though she had just been touching it with her toes. The sun filtered through the water, illuminating a world of blue and green. In the void below her feet she could see the tops of gnarled, long dead trees. It was like floating atop a withered forest. Strings of bubbles floated around her as she fought to hold her breath.
The surface wasn't that far up, but a part of her was terrified that if she dared pop up, the Hoshidans would be right there waiting for her. Beyond the light coming from above, however, there seemed to be a light source shining from below her as well. Nerr slowly descended deeper into the water, as though she were falling, but with very little of the fear that accompanied a fall. The deeper she went, the more closely clustered were the trees, and the brighter the light shining through their branches. Tender buds seemed to dot some of them, while others were capped in verdant foliage. A cloud of bubbles escaped her mouth as her body lurched forward, as though a hook had grabbed her spine and was attempting to pull it out through the rest of her body. The visions of trees and even large pieces of stonework and other rubble blurred past her as she was drawn into the light, growing brighter and brighter, blinding her completely as she drew closer, until it finally-
-imploded upon itself, leaving only darkness. And a burning pain in her chest. She tried to inhale, but could only cough instead. Gagging and retching on the water that came up and splashed over her already drenched face, Nerr rolled over onto her side, coughing even harder. Her head was spinning. Everything hurt. Panting, she collapsed onto her back once more, slowly opening her eyes and squinting against the bright blue sky. Oh, how she longed for the silky, gentle darkness of Nohr. As her vision grew more accustomed to the vivid azure, the clouds seemed to ripple. She blinked, and reached up to rub her eyes. The ripples were spreading, not unlike the agitated surface of the lake. As she continued scanning this strange sky, the sight of little islands, some completely with worn down houses and other dilapidated ruins, dotted the misty expanse.
Moaning, both from the pain in her body as well as strange pressure building in her head, Nerr climbed to her feet, stumbled, and immediately collapsed once more, half supporting herself on a large something crafted from stone and covered in moss. The gentle lapping of water against the grassy lakeside sounded like an overwhelming crashing in her mind, but even that was as a faint hiss in the background compared to the legion of whispered voices ringing in her ears. A whine that drilled deep into her mind like a demonic mosquito. Above the tinnitus, she could make out one voice loud and clear, a voice that was familiar and yet not at the same time. Yurari yurureri... Pushing herself from the monument, or whatever it was, Nerr shambled a few more feet away from the lake, in some vain hope that the noise would stop when she was not so close to the only actual source of noise she could find.
Every step seemed to take the energy of a hundred, and she had barely gotten four feet away when her legs gave out one final time, causing her to land on her broken arm and sending a surge of agony through her body. Her vision flickered and dulled from the pain. The sound of footsteps and something sodden sloshing reached her ears, but the princess simply shut in her eyes in response, like a frightened child. That was exactly what she felt like now- weak, hurt, scared and alone... tears stung at her closed eyelids, but she refused to open them as the steps drew closer. Never in her life had she so desperately wished Gunther would appear, if for no reason other than to let her feel secure again for only a moment. Despite the fear choking both her breath and her mind, exhaustion got the better of her, consciousness slipping away, taking thought with it.
000
Completely unaware of falling asleep, but knowing she must have as she roused, the Norhian princess groaned quietly and opened her eyes. It took a moment for the blurry shapes hovering above her to come into focus.
"I think she's waking up..."
"Ah. N-nee-sama! Are y-you okay...?" A woman with long blue hair the color of the Hoshidan sky was situated beside a much younger girl with short, light pink hair. Nerr had no time to collect her thoughts as another person leaned into her field of vision, a boy, younger than her by the look of it, with white hair and a nasty sneer on his face and the entire right side of his head was gone. Not obstructed, just gone. There was no eye, no cheek, just the pinkish gray folds of macerated gristle that-
"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Shrieking at the nightmarish vision that flashed before her eyes, the young woman scrambled to get away, unable to get far as two bodies fell onto her.
"Gods dammit! Sakura! Get your festal!"
"Oh! R-right!" As Nerr continued struggling against the weight that pinned her down, a bright crimson seeped into the edges of her vision, much like it had done at the Infinite Chasm when she had confronted Hans. That made nothing better, only making the visions around her look that more terrifying. She did not have long to be afraid as an overwhelming exhaustion claimed her.
000
Their quarry now still, Azura and Takumi slowly picked themselves off of the princess they had been pinning, keeping a wary eye on her in case she bolted upright again. When there was no sign of movement, save the gentle rise and fall of her chest as she dozed, the Hoshidan royals relaxed. Well, at least Azura did. The prince glared down at his newfound sister.
"What the fuck is her problem!?"
"Takumi, language." The singer chided gently, glancing over at the youngest person in the room. Not even sparing his little sister a glance, Takumi directed the entirety of his ire at Azura.
"Shut up, Azura. I wouldn't be surprised if this had something to do with you." Completely unruffled by this accusation (only the latest in a long line of them), the songstress folded her hands in her lap, her golden gaze piercing the boy.
"What could I have to do with someone I've not even known a day?"
"How the hell should I know? You Nohrians are all in cahoots, plotting to ruin Hoshido..."
"B-but..." Sakura had been reluctant to join the fray, keeping her gaze firmly on the tatami floor. "N-Nerrida nee-sama is H-Hoshidan..." Takumi scoffed loudly.
"The hell she is. Fifteen years in Nohr? There's no Hoshidan left in her. She's the same savage monster as the rest of them, and I-" his tirade was cut short by the screen doors sliding open, revealing an older woman (though not by much, if her appearance was anything to go by), her long dark hair held away from her face in a high pony tail.
"I heard a commotion." The empress-dowager said quietly. "Has Nerrida woken?"
"She did," Azura said, her lips twisted slightly. "But she..."
"She freaked out!" Takumi quickly supplied, getting to his feet and approaching his mother, an imploring look in his eyes. "She went crazy the second she saw me, and Ryouma nii-san said the same thing happened with him and you. You can't trust her, Mother! She's one of them!" Dark eyes closed, her thin brows creasing. For a moment, the shadows of the dim room made her look much, much older than she normally would.
"Please leave us, Takumi." A look of hurt crossed the prince's face.
"Are you serious? Mother, she-"
"That is enough." The empress's voice grew stern as her yes opened, much harder than they normally would have been. "Your concerns have been noted, Takumi. Now please. Leave us." The disbelief he expressed quickly shifted to anger, and Takumi stormed from the room in a huff.
"Nii-sama!" Sakura jumped to her feet as well, fully intending to run after her brother before realizing her mother was standing there and shooting her an imploring look. Mikoto's gaze softened as she nodded.
"Please go after him, Sakura-chan. And please tell him that I did not mean to snap." The young princess nodded briskly, bowing past her mother and trotting after Takumi. Azura had half risen before the older woman stepped fully into the room and closed the door behind herself.
"Should I leave as well, Mikoto-sama?" Shaking her head silently, Mikoto moved to take Takumi's former place, lowering herself down with a bit more effort than someone of her age should have needed.
She stared at her sleeping daughter's face, peaceful and calm in her enchanted sleep. So unlike before. All she had seen there for the past two days had been anger, hatred, distrust... and most recently, fear. Having her child not believe she was who she said she was, having her call her an honorless liar and a whore, even watching her try time and time again to run back to her captors... all of that Mikoto could live with. But the terror, the unbridled terror in her daughter's eyes as she stared at- no, through- her earlier had been unbearable. Sakura had had to use a festal imbued with a Sleep spell to calm her of, presumably, the same frightened outburst that had led to Nerrida leaping from a window.
As long as she lived, Mikoto knew without the slightest doubt that she would never again feel the fear of watching her beloved child, for so long thought dead, seemingly plummet to her death. She had dashed to the window, staring alongside Ryouma with a morbid fixation as the girl's body tumbled through the air, and most likely landed in a crater, bloodied and broken. Yet, when they had made it to the training grounds of Shirasagi castle, where Nerrida had landed, there had been no body, no crater, no blood. The soldiers training there had rushed to them, half panicked, half disbelieving, saying the princess had definitely fallen there, but with no more velocity than falling off a standing pegasus, and had taken off towards the lake. Some of them claimed that they saw wings, others horns, that vanished in a flash of light. Ryouma quickly dismissed their imagined sightings, sending the soldiers after his wayward sister.
"Mikoto-sama..." The empress looked up, drawn from her trance. She smiled at the songstress.
"Please, Azura-chan; there's no need to stand on such ceremony with me, especially not when it's just the two of us. None of my children call me 'Mikoto-sama'; why do you think you're the exception to that rule?" Azura did not answer her question, turning her own gaze down to the body that separated them.
"When I was returning from the stables with Hinoka, I saw the soldiers heading towards the lake. Ryouma said they were looking for Nerrida, but they came back empty handed. Half an hour later, you came back with her." Mikoto smiled benignly.
"I suppose I have a better knack for where my children might hide than anxious soldiers." The songstress said nothing, but her expression spoke to disbelief of those words. The older woman's smiled dimmed a bit, her face evening into a regal mask.
"Azura, could I ask you to do something for me?"
"Of course."
"Please go to my chambers and bring me the blue stone in my chest. You know the one; I've shown it to you." Azura's eyes widened slightly, her mouth opening for but a second before she closed it and nodded. Getting to her feet, the princess slid the doors open just enough to slip out and closed them back. The sliver of light snuffed out once more, Mikoto sighed quietly, reaching out and stroking her daughter's forehead, smoothing back the still damp strands of hair clinging to her skin.
000
Nerr could hardly decide what was worse; her pounding head, her churning stomach, or the fact that her mouth tasted like bile. All three things at once were indicative of a hang over, a horrible ailment she'd only experienced once in her life, just last year in fact, when they'd been lucky enough to get a full cask of mead at the citadel. Having never experience the fermented honey, it was only a matter of time until she over indulged, not realizing that it wasn't meant to be drunk as liberally as wine or beer until she had finished off her fifth mug. How could she have been so stupid to do that again? Unless she had been goaded on by one of Leo's snide remarks, in which case she knew exactly how she could be that stupid. A hand rested on her shoulder, and the princess groaned hoarsely, trying to edge away from the touch whilst moving as little as possible. No one was going to wake her up for anything but training, and she didn't have any kind of capacity to be put through her paces today. Again, the hand touched her.
"Noooo..." She moaned, reaching down to pull her covers over her head. They weren't as heavy as they usually were, nor as thick. A soft, feminine voice laughed slightly, and she threw her arm over her eyes, not ready for Flora's mockery.
"It looks like you're awake now. Rise and shine, Nerr-tan." Groggy as she was, that voice, by way of it's unfamiliarity alone, roused Nerr completely, her gut clenching in sudden fear. The covers pulled back slightly, and she gripped them tighter, keeping them over her face to shield herself from whatever nightmarish sights awaited her this time. "Nerrida-"
"No. Get away from me, Hoshidan. I don't know what kind of curse you've put on me, but I won't fall for your trickery." The voice, much more mature than Flora's when she actually paid attention to it, sighed. It sounded weary.
"We've put no curse on you, dear child. A sleeping spell, yes, but only because you were thrashing so violently we were afraid you'd hurt yourself." Anger overtook the fear she felt, and the Nohrian princess sat up, yanking the covers away to glare at the Hoshidan woman.
"I was leaving! And you set your horde upon me to keep me from escaping! You didn't care about me getting hurt; you were worried I'd hurt your precious soldiers, so you hexed me to lock me up again! Try to twist what happened all you want; the truth won't bend to your forked tongue!" Mikoto shook as she listened to the hateful words spat by her daughter, any trace of fear in her gaze replaced with contempt, but Nerr did not back down from her rage. Keeping her face as stoic as ever, the empress inhaled deeply, seemingly to calm herself.
"No one 'locked you up'. We returned you to your room-"
"A comfortable prison is still a prison."
"This is your home!" Mikoto could not control the hysterical tone of her voice, and neither could her daughter.
"This is my hell, you wretched bitch! You took me from my family, my home- my real home- my life! Let me go or just kill me already!" Nerr breathed hard, winded by her fury. Home? How could this horrid, hateful place be her home?! Her vision shifted in and out of focus, the red in her periphery growing brighter as the rest of the colors lost their hue. Out of the corners of her eyes, it looked like thick veins snaked across the walls, pulsating sickeningly but disappearing when she tried to focus on them. Groaning, she doubled over, feeling as though someone was drilling into her skull. A cool, gentle hand touched her shoulder.
"Nerrida? What is it? Are you not feeling well?" Gritting her teeth, the princess slapped the woman's hands away.
"My name is not 'Nerrida'! Stop calling me that! Ungh... Oh gods... What have you done to me...?" Mikoto grabbed her again, trying to lay her back onto the blankets.
"We've done nothing, dearest. Lay back down, you need to rest."
"No, I need to leave! I need to go back home!" She lashed out at the older woman, striking her across the face. With a cry of mingled shock and pain, the empress brought her hand to her cheek, pulling her fingers away with a wince and staring at the tinge of blood staining her fingers. Nerr stared as well at the beads of crimson dotting the porcelain-like flesh. Like the blood staining the rotting planks of the bridge spanning the Chasm... She'd been so close to crossing it, and now... gods above, what could she hope to return to on the other side? Her siblings undoubtedly thought her dead. Her father the one who organized everything in the first place... Who knew if the Hoshidans had gotten to Jakob too, and deemed him not worth taking prisoner... Gunther, broken and bloody and mouldering at the bottom of the chasm... Tears stung her eyes, and the princess curled into a tight ball, biting her lip to stifle her sobs. Mikoto stared at the crying girl, at a loss for how to react.
"Nerrida..."
"No! Gods, leave me be, just let me die...!" Sighing, but seeing no other recourse, the older woman stood, ensuring she still held the azure rune in her hand, and quietly slipped from the room. Nerr found more comfort alone in the darkness than in the presence of Hoshidans, but the knowledge that they were everywhere, surrounding her, kept her ill at ease.
The sun had set, not into anything that resembled night, but at least a less bright afternoon. Miserable and worn to her core, the princess collapsed onto her side. It was possible the castle security would be more lax now that it was later, but she didn't have the strength to attempt another escape. Every second she spent staring at the strange room infuriated her, but the moment she closed her eyes, she was reminded of the darkness of the Chasm... If she had just stretched her hand out a little bit more... Gods, why didn't she just try a little harder...?
Nerr...
Gasping, she started, looking around frantically. Someone called her name... but she couldn't even distinguish from where the voice was coming from. Holding her breath just in case the mystery voice called out again, she waited and listened... but there was nothing but silence. Eying the room suspiciously, the princess slowly laid down onto the thin mat that seemed to serve as a bed. Before arriving in Hoshido, she'd had been out like a light the moment her head touched a pillow. Here and now, she dozed, but sleep did not come.
000
A pattern seemed to form in the castle of Shirasagi. Day in and day out, the newly reclaimed princess would make an attempt to escape, occasionally scaling down the sheer side of the castle, though more often than not, she would simply run like a bat out of Hell through the halls, towards the massive doors she had been led through that first day. Day in and day out, the guards stopped her, struggling to restrain her while she fought tooth and nail to break free from their clutches, breaking arms and ribs in the process. Once, she had reached for the Ganglari blade she'd forgotten still hung from her hip, swinging it scabbard and all at the head of one of the guards. She could hear his skull crunch under the blade before he hit the ground in a lifeless heap, but could hear nor see anything else as a hex drained her of her energy, leaving her falling into a dead faint as well. Every day, the odd Hoshidan clerics used their devil staves to knock her unconscious so they could drag her back to her cell. And every day, the effects of their spells faded quicker, as Prince Ryouma quickly realized. Nerr could feel him hovering over her, watching and judging. She waited until both her mind and body where fully awake before opening her eyes as quickly and widely as she could. His flinch may have been small, but it did not go unnoticed by her sharp eyes. For a long moment, both royals simply glared at one another in silence, the tension between them palpable. Ryouma spoke first, his deep voice even, but cold.
"Have you any idea what you've done? These cries for attention are shameful enough, but you severely wounded one of your own people! You-" She cut him off by sitting up, taking a moment wait for the room to stop spinning before climbing to her feet. "Nerrida, what do you think you're doing? I'm speaking to you- sit back down!"
"I don't take orders from Hoshidans." She spat, walking past the prince only to be halted in her tracks. Staring down incredulously, she noticed the high prince tightly clutching her bare ankle as he glared up at her.
"I don't know what those anyan savages have taught you, but you will not disrespect me in such a manner." Nerr stared at him for a moment. Pivoting, she caught him off guard and smashed her free heel into his mouth. With a muffled cry of pain, Ryouma let go of her, reaching up to cup his quickly swelling lips.
"If you ever grab me again, you'll lose that hand." Heading to the door before the prince could make another attempt to stop her, she grabbed the wooden frame roughly, her fingers punching through the thin paper screen as she wrenched it open, nearly running headlong into Mikoto. The empress held something wrapped in thick cloth, blinking in surprise as she stared at the girl.
"Oh. Nerrida. You're awake..." Glancing past her supposed daughter, the older woman's brows furrowed as she took note of Ryouma clambering to his feet, blood dripping between his fingers. "What happened to Ryouma?"
"The same thing that's going to happen to you if you don't move." Nerr could feel herself shaking with frustration as the pain in her head began to return. Being surrounded by Hoshidans on either side... she could just imagine Ryoma Sama grabbing her neck the way he grabbed her ankle and snapping it. Mikoto sighed quietly, her posture that of someone utterly worn out by the world. The princess knew that feeling... she almost felt sorry for the other woman. Almost.
"Before you attempt your daily escape, I'd like to ask you a question or two." At once, the younger girl grew defensive.
"If you want information, you'll have to torture it from me."
"No," Mikoto shook her head. "Not 'information'. Just... answers to simple questions. Ryouma-kun... would you leave us?" The man scowled deeply.
"I'm not certain that's wise, Mother. Nerrida may be small, but she's vicious. Like a foul-tempered badger." It was too late for flattery. Regardless, the empress nodded despite her impassive expression.
"I will keep that in mind." It was obvious the prince did not wish to leave, but Mikoto's voice left little room for refusal. As he slipped past her, her gaze softened. "You'd best go see Sakura; we don't want that handsome face all swollen, now do we?" Taking her son's place in the room, she knelt down on the pallet, looking expectantly at the princess. "Will you sit, Nerrida?"
"I will not." She replied shortly. "Ask your questions so that I may stop humoring you and leave."
"Will you never let this hostility rest?"
"Is this one of the 'one or two' questions you wish me to answer?" The older woman remained silent for a moment, before slowly unwrapping the cloth package she held. Nerr recognized the Ganglari's sheathe. The jewel set in it's guard gleamed dully as Mikoto unsheathed it.
"You attacked one of our guards with this. He's alive, but it's uncertain if he will ever wake." The princess crossed her arms over her chest, making an effort to appear as standoffish as possible.
"The fact that your tone suggests I should care is insulting. One of your minions clubbed me in the back of the head and offered only the most half-assed of apologies. I can reciprocate in kind." Dark brown eyes widened.
"What? Wh-when, when were you attacked?"
"Don't pretend you don't know. Ignorance is not a good look on a ruler. Ask your question, Hoshidan, or leave me be." Mikoto sighed, perhaps realizing her underhanded tricks would not work on a princess of Nohr.
"Where did you get this blade from?"
"My father." She answered quickly, a hint of pride tinging her voice instinctively before she remembered that was nothing to be proud of. The damnable thing had nearly killed her. But no one else needed to know that. The older woman ran her hand over the flat edge of the blade, tracing the rough stone surface, her lips set in a thin line.
"I see. I have one more question for you, then." Looking up, earthen eyes met crimson. They looked nothing alike. "Why, a few days ago, did you flee to the lake west of the castle?" That question threw Nerr for a loop. She herself did not know the answer to that question. In truth, she had no idea, other than the fact that she'd had a sudden urge to do so, an overwhelming feeling that said 'this is a good thing to do'.
"I thought I could lose your guard dogs by swimming across."
"...really?"
"Yes. Really." Both women stared at one another in silence for a long time, waiting to see who would crack first. Nerr knew it would not be her, and she was proven correct as the empress looked away. She carefully replaced the sword in it's scabbard and wrapped it back up.
"I see." Getting to her feet and gathering the sword back into her arms, Mikoto walked slowly, pausing as she reached the younger girl. With her brows furrowed slightly and lips pursed, she looked like she might cry, but her voice was steady and even. "I know you do not trust me. I know you think I am doing things just to hurt you. But that could not be further from the truth. All I do is for your sake, Nerrida. I'm your mother, whether you remember that fact or not. You can always speak to me about anything." Nerr stared deep into her eyes.
"...That's not my name."
000
Nerr waited until Mikoto had left, but did not follow suit, instead closing the flimsy screen once more and retreating to the far corner of the room. The more she thought about them, the more the empress' questions irked her. The fact that they made no sense on the surface... what did it matter where she'd gotten her sword? Wouldn't anyone just assume she'd gotten it from the royal armory? And the lake... Being made to dwell on it bothered her, but she could not change her train of thought. The vision of the lake reminded her of something perhaps from a dream, something... comforting? Maybe? A voice calling out to her... A chill ran up her spine, causing her to shiver and break out in goose flesh as she recalled hearing someone call her name in this very room. It was possible there was a hole in one of the walls, hidden in the shadows for someone to watch her. She wouldn't put anything past the Hoshidans.
Nerr's stomach growled loudly. It had been three... four days since she had been brought to the Hoshidan castle (gods above, how could it have only been four days?!). Food was left for her outside her door, but she never touched it, repulsed, upset, and suspicious of the strange looking meals. She hadn't eaten since leaving the mountain village in the snowy north, and even then it had been a reluctant mouthful of some sort of dried venison. She was not too concerned- she had gone days without eating before. Such was the way of life in the Northern Citadel, especially in the winter, but her hunger only reminded her that she could not survive in Hoshido. All things considered, she would not have been surprised if this was the Hoshidan's plan all along. She could envision them poisoning the food before the set it at her door, knowing she would assume it was poisoned, but covering all their bases just in case.
She could either starve to death slowly and painfully, or die a long, drawn out death from poisoning. Either way, that was one Nohrian dealt with in their book. She would not give them the satisfaction of knowing they had killed her. She could just picture that horrid Ryoma Sama smirking over her corpse, emaciated and withered or bloated and purple and frothing at the mouth, the same cruel pleasure in his eyes that had lit up Hans' face as he gloated at her over Gunther's death. Misery and rage roiled inside her, leaving her stomach churning as her eyes stung. Wrapping her arms around her knees, she rested her head on them, simply letting the tears drip from her lashes, dotting the worn out fabric of her tights. She felt so stupid now for all those times she thought she had been lonely in the citadel. How could she have ever presumed to know what loneliness felt like? Until now... Now, she really, truly was all alone.
She wished Xander were there with her, the only other guiding light in her life. He would know what to do- he wouldn't sit around, crying in the corner and feeling sorry for himself while the enemy plotted how to destroy him, and he wouldn't let her do so either. Leo would have already come up with an ingenious method of escape. Camilla would either seduce those those who stood in her way or else, cleaved a path through them. Elise... Well, Elise probably wouldn't be a sorry sack of self pity. She'd be upset, but then she would perk up and adamantly believe that her siblings would come for her if she couldn't get out on her own. And they would. Nerr knew that if Elise had been captured by the Hoshidans, she would go to war all by her lonesome to get her baby sister back, and had no doubt her other siblings would as well.
But they didn't know she was alive and imprisoned by the Hoshidans- how could they? Hans, that worthless swineshagger, must've told everyone that she and Gunther both- if not Jakob as well- had been murdered by the Hoshidans. Little by little, the thought of that pale, ugly pile of excrement made her loathing grow stronger, until anger and hatred had bled into her unhappiness, overtaking it completely. Balling her hands into tight fists, the princess closed her eyes, inhaling deeply. When she had a goal of some sort, she could move forward easier than she could when she simply drifted. Her last goal had been to be a soldier in the Nohrian army, to prove her worth in battle, to not be married to the pompous ass of her father's choosing. The mere thought of crawling back to Garon after what he had sent her into infuriated her now. No... her new goal was to find Hans... and obliterate him. Everything else could come later.
Feeling much calmer despite her anger, Nerr got to her feet. There was no point in going out the door- there were guards out there. She could hear them milling about. Even in the citadel, she didn't have armed guards. She wasn't allowed past the outer bailey, but there had never been anything actually stopping her from leaving- why, once she'd gotten it into her head to have a picnic with one of her imaginary friends while Jakob and Gunther were busy with their duties, and had just waltzed out, scaling the massive wall just as easily as she climbed over the bookshelves and suits of armor within the fortress. The nerve of that Hoshidan bitch, daring to claim this wasn't a prison... Well, it was a shoddy one, regardless.
Nerr walked over to the window, grabbing the geometric panes and pulling. It took several strong tugs, rocking back and forth and putting her weight into it, but the wooden beams splintered and eventually broke. Wooden windows... utterly pathetic. Perhaps, given how high up the castle was, the Hoshidans had simply not expected their prisoners to make escapes out the window, but that was their folly. Either Mikoto or Ryoma Sama had ordered her be stripped of her armor when they took the Ganglari, leaving her in naught but her tights and blouse (her hairpin remained firmly in place above her left ear though, thank the gods). As such, she had to be more careful than usual as she climbed out the window, trying to avoid the sharp, makeshift stakes jutting around her. She managed to weave between the splintered wood with only minor scraps and a tear in her sleeve, stepping out onto the curved partition outside her window. The green tiles were hot under her bare feet, baked by the near constant Hoshidan sun. The princess squinted, blinded by the light, her skin, pale even by Nohrian standard, burning easily. Raising a hand to try and shield her eyes, Nerr slowly made her way towards the edge.
This was the third time she had attempted her escape by scaling the outside of the castle. The first time... she could barely remember what happened. She only recalled bits and pieces of that day, hellish scenes straight from a fever dream. The second time she had dropped down from one roof to the one below it, climbing down the support beams in between floors. She would've gotten away with it, too, had the damnable guards not noticed her. This time, she would be calm and take her time. Reaching the edge of the roof, she got onto her hands and knees, grabbing hold of the curved edge and lowering herself off the edge slowly. Despite her hands being rough and calloused from years of swordplay, the hot tiles burned her palms almost worse than her feet. Lamenting her lack of gloves, Nerr swung to and fro, letting go when her swing had completed it's arc, sending her onto the next landing. The princess tucked her body into a ball as she rolled across the tiles, cooler as they were in the shade of the the upper partition. Standing, she took a moment to try and figure out exactly where she needed to go. Miles away, she could see the mountains that lead to the Infinite Chasm, tiny in their distance. Creeping along the exterior wall, she made her way westward before attempting to repeat the process of descending. Just as her toes reached the edge of the roof, a gust of wind knocked her slightly off balance.
"There you are!" Nerr screamed aloud, partially from the sudden appearance of the massive pegasus before her, the force of it's wings beating her back, and partially from the anger of seeing the red-headed Hoshidan princess.
"Get away from me, Hoshidan!" She tried to dodge to the side, but the pegasus rider quickly blocked her, her own crimson eyes narrowed in a mix of anger and frustration.
"You're not getting away that easily, Nerrida. Now, just get back inside. Don't be stupi- hey!" While the Hoshidan spoke, Nerr turned and began running, heading back in the direction she came from. Her toes caught on the overlapping tiles, tripping her, but she did not let those stumbles slow her down. Reaching the other side of the castle was no easy task, especially when she could hear the flapping of wings gaining on her, but she soon got to the edge of the curved roof.
She paused looking down, though not seeing much as everything blurred and distorted around her. There had to be a ledge, some kind of protrusion he could catch himself on- She gasped, back pedaling as her head throbbed, the searing pain like a pike jamming into her temples, enough to momentarily blind her. As she stumbled, something grabbed at her clothes. In a blind panic, she pulled away from whatever it was desperately, reminded of the vision she had awoken to days earlier. The ground under her heel dropped out from under her, and Nerr found herself falling. She grabbed for the ledge, catching it by her fingertips, but it was not enough. As her grip slipped, she hit the lower roof feet first. From the sudden impact to sharp agony radiating up from her ankles, the princess fell to her knees, barely noticing the sound of wings beating the air and a second set of feet hitting the tiles as well.
"Nerrida, are you- gods, I don't think your feet are supposed to do that. Give me your hand." Nerr looked up, scowling at the sight of Princess Hinoka's outstretched hand. She swatted it away.
"I'd rather jump to my death than willingly accompany you back to that prison, savage." The older woman's expression darkened, as her hand lowered ever so slightly.
"...those Nohrians did a number on you, didn't they...?" She closed her eyes, sighing with a weariness that seemed to come from her very soul. When they opened once more, the ruby eyes were filled with a look of resolution that seemed... disingenuous. Or perhaps that was simply a result of Nerr's vision wavering around the corners in her pain. "Well, whatever anyan devil magic they used on you, it's nothing that we can't overcome. But first, we gotta do something about those ankles."
"No! Get away from me, you she-beast!" The Norhian girl tried to fight her off, but given that she couldn't escape, she was soon captured. Despite her short stature and slim appearance, Hinoka was stronger than she looked, heaving the other girl up with relative ease. Nerr cried out as the slightest amount of weight was put on her shattered ankles.
"Sorry, sorry. Give me a second." The pegasus knight adjusted her grip and heaved her supposed sister over her shoulder, like a sack of flour. "You're going to have to sit in front of me. Don't try to jump."
"I'll rip your spine out, you godless heathen." Nerr seethed, venom dripping from her voice. Hinoka laughed coldly as she walked back over to the pegasus that was beating it's wings to remain aloft as it waited for it's rider.
"Is that what kind of indoctrination the Nohrians fed you? If anything, it's the other way around." The redhead said wryly as she deposited the other princess onto her steed, not seated upright, but draped across the beast. Quickly hopping into the saddle behind her, Hinoka was quick to grab the scruff of her blouse with one hand while the other directed the reins, guiding the pegasus towards the castle grounds, away from the mountains. Nerr watched as they disappeared from her periphery, too focused on the sense of dread washing over her to pay much attention to the lies the Hoshidan was spouting. "We're not the ones who had to make sacrifices to a demon god to be granted his blessing. Nohrians are all descended from murderers and cannibals, and they're no better than their savage ancestors. Everything they've ever told you have been lies, Nerrida." They touched down a few meters from a group of soldiers or guards running drills. "Did you hear me, Nerrida?" The Nohrian girl made no remark as the other woman alighted, turning to face her. "I know you heard me. The Norhians are- gah!" She was cut short from reiterating her point as a gob of spit hit her dead center in the face. Nerr glowered at her, loathing radiating from her.
"Don't feed me your lies, Hoshidan filth. It won't work on me."
"AUGH! They didn't just brainwash you, they made you completely insane!" As she backed away, wiping her face with her sleeve, several of the nearby soldiers, alerted by her cry of disgust, came running, weapons drawn.
"Hinoka-sama! What is it?" Looking up and breathing hard, winded by her anger, the Hoshidan princess pointed at Nerr.
"Take my sister back to her quarters. I have to go wash my face. And mind her feet." One soldier bowed lowly, before he and another lifted the teal-haired girl from the saddle with surprising gentleness, carrying her between them.
"Of course, Hinoka-sama. Come, Nerrida-sama."
"Augh, damn you all!"
000
For the first two floors of the castle, the only discomfort Nerr felt was that of her middle sagging between the soldiers who carried her by her arms and knees, jostling her slightly as they walked. Without warning, the man in front let go of her legs, causing them to hit the floor. Hard. She cried out at the unexpected pain, a high keen that was quickly silenced by the back of a hand. Her head jolted painfully to the side from the force of the slap.
"Shut your trap, Nohrian. No one has time for this bullshit." The man who had dropped her sneered coldly, his hand still raised. The other soldier sounded a bit confused behind her.
"What are we going to do with her?"
"Who cares? Leave her here. The little bitch will just try to escape again, so what's the point in dragging her all the way back to 'her' quarters?" The way he emphasized "her" made it clear he bought into the Hoshidans' story that she was their long-lost princess as little as she herself did. After a few seconds, Nerr felt the support holding her torso up pull away, dropping her rudely to the floor.
"I guess you have a point. We might as well-"
"What's all this commotion?" Both soldiers turned on their heels and bowed lowly as Mikoto peered around the corner of the hall.
"Mikoto-sama! We apologize for any inconvenience."
"That's not a- goodness! Nerrida?! What's happened?" Before she could get a word out, the heathen who'd slapped her spoke up.
"Nerrida-sama attempted to escape again, empress. She was injured. We were taking her back to her quarters, but she began struggling and I fear we lost our grip in the scuffle."
"You lying pus sack!" Despite her knowledge that Hoshidans twisted the truth, she could not help her outburst. Mikoto sighed wearily, bowing slightly as well. She held a bundle wrapped in cloth under her arm.
"I apologize for that. I understand that Nerrida is still reeling after her ordeal-"
"You're actually buying that hokum!? That bastard slapped me-" Paying the girl's enraged cries no mind, the older woman looked back to her soldiers.
"If it's not too much trouble, would you...?"
"Of course, Mikoto-sama." The dastard who'd struck her quickly went back to his place at Nerr's feet, once again picking her up along with his comrade as gently as possible under the watchful eye of their sovereign. "Now Nerrida-sama, no struggling." He mockingly chided. Gritting her teeth as the pressure behind her eyes grew, Nerr bent her knee, trapping his hand between her calf and thigh as she drew him back, lunging out of the other soldier's grip and onto his back. With her arms wrapped around his neck, it looked as though she was merely mimicking the piggy back rides Gunther and her older siblings used to give her, but as she dug her jagged, broken nails into the man's throat, she made it quite clear this was no childish gesture.
"I'll rip your throat out, Hoshidan. How's that for struggling?" She seethed in his ear. Quick footsteps padded beside her, and the princess looked down to see Mikoto's face, writ with concern, pull up alongside her. Before the queen could voice her concern, Nerr addressed her.
"The way they were carrying me was uncomfortable. This is better. I'd hate for them to accidentally drop me again." Her tone still seethed with irritation, lest she think something was strange. It appeared she didn't, as her face relaxed. Digging her knees into the soldier's side, she smirked behind his helmet where Mikoto couldn't see. "Giddy up, mule." With the empress beside him and a tight grip around his throat, he had no choice but to comply. The tinniest sense of pride and accomplishment surged within in as the small group made their way back into the depths of the castle, back to her prison. If nothing else, she maintained her pride... and there was so very little else... Another escape foiled, and this time by a gods forsaken sense of deja-vu.
She'd never been afraid of heights before, so why now? It mattered little. If the Hoshidans had any sense (it seemed that they fluctuated between intelligence and stupidity with frightening ease) they would leave her crippled. Even if she somehow made it out of the castle, she wouldn't make it very far with what felt like two shattered ankles. It took less time to reach her cell than it took to escape from it. The Hoshidan carrying her lowered her very slowly and deliberately, not daring to throw her down, either due to Mikoto's presence or else, the nails still tearing at his flesh. Both soldiers bowed to their empress as they left the room, and she slid the panel closed. Walking over to the broken window, she peered out towards the vast blue sky. A deep sigh, that seemed pulled from the depth of her soul, escaped her lips.
"...what if you had died, Nerrida? Did you think of that? What if your little stunt had left you with more than broken legs?" Nerr scowled at the back of the woman's head.
"I fail to see the downside to that. A better fate than being your prisoner." The older woman spun around to face her, her eyes hard.
"No, daughter. You were a prisoner in Nohr, locked away in tower in the mountains, hidden from the rest of the world by a cruel, evil man-"
"That was my home. I understand how you could be confused, so allow me to clarify- I wanted to be there. I don't want to be here." Mikoto continued staring her down, but Nerr's gaze would not waver- she had won staring contests against scarier men than this irritating waif of a woman. Finally, the empress looked away. She leaned against the wall beside the broken window, sliding down until sat on the floor. Her whole body seemed lifeless, slumped like a puppet with it's strings cut. It caught Nerr off guard. Her father would never allow himself to be seen in such a weak, vulnerable position, nor would Xander or Camilla. No Nohrian would.
"I just wanted us to be a family again... It didn't seem like too much to ask for..." The empress seemed to be speaking more to herself than Nerr, which was just as well. As long as she didn't move, the princess felt fine, but the slightest muscle spasm sent agony radiating up her legs. Shifting on the hard floor was a mistake, and Nerr hissed sharply through her clenched teeth. Mikoto looked up at her, almost as if she had forgotten she was there. "Oh... Gods, that's right. I'd completely forgotten you haven't been healed yet." Getting to her feet with a slight grunt, the empress flitted over to the screen, looking back over her shoulder as she slid it open. "You stay right there, Nerrida."
Nerr was tempted spit back a vicious retort, but bit her tongue. She didn't have the energy to pick petty fights with the Hoshidans. She stared at the broken window, a pathway to freedom, mocking her. She could've been at the lake by now if she hadn't hesitated. Groaning slightly, she buried her face in her hands. It hadn't been brought on by doubt or fear, but rather, some sort of waking night terror. Every day seemed to bring on some new form of nightmare even when she could swear she was awake. Gods above, was she losing her mind? Was this why the Hoshidans kept bringing her back, to ensure she would break under their watch? Once again, a painful pressure began building behind her eyes. Breathing hard, Nerr pulled her hands away, blinking in surprise as she noticed the bundle of cloth where the empress had been sitting. She had either left it behind, or else, just forgotten it. The last time she had brought something to Nerr's room, she'd asked unnerving questions regarding her sword. Biting her lip, the princess rolled onto her side, pulling herself towards the bundle with her hands, trying to keep her legs as still as possible. It took a few reaches, but she managed to grab the small package. Sitting back up, she looked over it.
It seemed to be plain white silk, but whatever was inside was hard and cool to the touch. Pulling the cloth back, Nerr found herself staring at a clear blue stone. It reminded her of the sapphires she had seen set in the necklaces of the duchesses at the fete, only paler and larger. Indeed, it was about the size of a pear, taking up the whole of her hand as she unwrapped it fully, discarding it's silk cover. Was this Hoshido's wealth? Did they just have massive gemstones lying around? Surely nothing in the Nohrian treasury was so large. As she turned the massive stone over in her hand, what had seemed like a shadow in it's center drew her attention. Squinting, Nerr held it up to the light. There was a horned skull within the gem, a tiny, blackened piece of bone about the size of her thumb. The sight of it turned her stomach for some reason, but she didn't have long to dwell on those thoughts as the screen slid open once more.
"I had to fetch another festal from the infirmary- my old one got worn out while I was healing Taku-" Mikoto trailed off as she noticed Nerr. Silently, she stepped back into the room, sliding the door closed behind her. The Nohrian girl watched her every step, torn between wanting to put the stone down and wanting to grip it tighter just in case she needed a weapon. Kneeling down before her, the older woman reached out, gently prodding one of her swollen ankles as she examined it. Holding the bare foot still with one hand, she waved the staff across it with the other. Nerr dropped the stone with a high pitched keen as her bones fused back together, her skin burning and itching from within. It only took seconds for the fractures to heal, but it seemed to go on for an eternity, the pain lingering even as the faint glow of healing magic died down.
"Do you know what that is, Nerrida?"
"The burning pain in my leg?" The princess gasped out, letting herself collapse onto the mat floor.
"The stone you were holding. Have you ever seen one like it before?" Glancing down at the stone beside her, Nerr frowned slightly.
"No. I can't say I have. Is this your way of showing off Hoshido's vast riches?"
"No." Mikoto reached out and took hold of the stone, turning it over in her hand for a moment. Her gaze seemed forlorn, almost longing as she ran her finger across one of it's facets. "This is something I think will help you."
"Help me what?" The empress paused, her grip on the stone tightening.
"Help you with your... outbursts. A few days ago, you jumped out of a window, and again today..."
"I'm not jumping out of windows for fun, lady; I'm trying to get away from you." Nerr seethed. The nerve of the Hoshidan, trying to make her sound like she was crazy... At least she didn't know about those visions... Mikoto looked up, her eyes hard.
"The way you're going about it is most distressing. I found you in the lake- what if you'd drowned?!"
"Unless your magic rock will help me swim, I don't see how it's going to help."
"It will... suppress... those destructive urges.." Nerr frowned at her odd wording. "Destructive urges"? Didn't Hinoka say that the whole of Hoshido was covered by a barrier that did just that? Or did that only apply to born and bred Nohrians? And besides, her "urges" could only be considered 'destructive' to herself. As she pondered this strange admission, growing more and more displeased with every new train of thought, the older woman continued speaking. "If you were to have a fit in the square, you'd terrify the townspeople-"
"Wait. What? What square, what are you talking about?" Mikoto looked up at her, seemingly confused by her confusion.
"Tomorrow we'll be holding a ceremony in the square in Shirasagi. To let your people know their princess has returned."
"WHAT?!" The Hoshidan woman flinched at the volume of her voice- most of the castle could probably hear her, but Nerr didn't even register that. "Ceremony? Square? Princess!? You'd better not mean me!"
"Of course I do, Nerrida. There have been rumors going around that King Garon's spies have infiltrated the castle, and the longer they go unchecked, the more fear will spread. It's obvious they're talking about you, so we will put those rumors to rest-"
"Put to rest, my ass! You're damn right they mean me! I may not be a spy, but I sure as hell am not your princess, and I won't let you put me on display for these savages so you can brag about this victory you've achieved!"
"Nerrida." Mikoto's voice was unusually sharp. "This is not about one-uping Nohr; your people deserve to know you have returned to us-"
"No! I haven't 'returned' anywhere; you kidnapped me and brought me here! These aren't my people! I'm Nohrian!" With every word she screamed, her throat felt more and more raw, she could feel the painful pressure building up in her skull once more. Nerr could practically feel her eyes bulging as her brain seemed to press against them, but she could not stop her anger and, deep seated though it may have been, fear. "Your lies won't work on me! If you want me up on display in your town square, it'll be as a corpse!"
"Nerrida, calm yourself!" Mikoto no longer sounded forceful, her inflection now tinged with panic. Her hands felt cool on Nerr's arms, even as she pulled away from the grip that sought to still her. "Take the stone; you need it." The stone... the stone that was supposed to "control" her urges... probably the same way those gods forsaken staves controlled her by leaving her unconscious for hours. Nerr slapped the empress's hand away from her, sending the azure rune flying to one of the corners of the room.
"No! Get your devil magic away from me!" Mikoto stared at her for a long time, before inhaling sharply and getting to her feet, gripping the wooden shaft of her healing rod so tightly it seemed as though it would break.
"I've tried being kind and patient, but it isn't working. If you're going to act like a petulant child, then I'm going to treat you like one. It pains me to leave you injured, but... if that is the only way to ensure you don't get yourself killed trying to escape again, then I have no other choice. I'll return to heal you when you've calmed down and come to your senses."
Turning on her heel, the older woman stalked away, looking very much like a petulant child herself. She paused, walking over to the stone that lay in the corner. Her posture slumped inwards as she retrieved it, making her seem small, defeated... but only for a moment. When she straightened, she looked regal once more, holding her head high as she walked out of the room. As the screen door closed, darkening the shadows ever so slightly, Nerr leaned back onto the floor, breathing hard. Her head was still pounding, her stomach churned something awful, and a wretched malaise seemed to settle over her. It was hard to tell what was worse- the fact that the Hoshidans were planning to do... something with her as the main event tomorrow, or the fact that she had no way of escaping her fate. While a phantom pain still lingered in her right ankle, the left remained massively swollen and discolored. She could barely move her leg, much less put weight on it. She was unarmed, defenseless, and at the mercy of her captors. The princess closed her eyes, her earlier outburst now taking it's toll and leaving her feeling weak and exhausted.
"Gods above, just kill me now... let it be over with. Strike me down rather than leave me to the mercy of these Hoshidans..." Their princess, Mikoto had said. How dare she? There was nothing, nothing, Hoshidan about Nerr. The silence stretched as time trickled by in slow dollops, and her half-hearted prayer remained unanswered.
000
Dusk fell over Hoshido, their ever-bright sky only turning violet and gold as the night grew apace. Nerr assumed the Hoshidans were eating dinner, as the screen slip open and another tray of food had been set before the door. She paid it no mind as always, pointedly ignoring the rumbling in her stomach as the scent of some kind of soup wafted over to her. She had dragged herself as close to the still-broken window as possible, and the fresh air diluted the scent at least a bit. At this point, the Nohrian girl was simply counting down the hours until tomorrow. She assumed Mikoto would leave her in the state she was in until the last possible moment, so it came as a surprise when the door slid open again. A person stepped inside this time, rather than place their goods and leave, but it wasn't the Hoshidan empress. Nerr frowned as the robed figure rudely kicked aside her tray, spilling soup onto the woven mats of the floor. She wasn't going to eat it, but it still offended her to see food wasted in such a way.
"I'm surprised you're still here. Shouldn't you be scaling down the side of the castle like the nasty little roach you are?"
"Believe me, if I physically could, I would." This new unwelcome visitor matched the ire of her stare. She... vaguely remembered seeing him once, but it was very blurry. This must have been the "Tak-oo-mee" Mikoto had mentioned on occasion. His white hair was a bit too long to belong to boy, but his voice definitely sounded masculine. He was perhaps the same age as Leo. The thought of her brother left a pang in her gut. The Hoshidan prince carried something- two somethings, a bundle tucked under his arm and a jar in his hand. Approaching, but still leaving a wide berth between them, he tossed the jar at her. Nerr caught it, reluctant to let some kind of Hoshidan murder powder explode over her. The topper within the clay vessel had come slightly askew, leaking it's contents over her hands, a familiar scent accompanying it.
"A vulneray? What's this for?"
"Your leg. That'll heal it good enough before Mother comes up here. Then you can take this thing and get the hell out." Lifting the bundle, Takumi tossed it onto the floor, where it landed with a metallic clank a bit too close to her broken ankle for comfort. Nerr stared at the roughly bound hilt of Ganglari for a moment before directing her attention back to the prince.
"Why are you helping me?"
"I'm not." He seethed, pure, unadulterated loathing radiating from him. "I'm helping me, and all of Hoshido. My family might be blind to your ways, Nohrian, but I'm not. If you want to go back to your hellhole with whatever intel you have, that's fine by me. You should have been executed the moment you were captured, but it seems that it'll take another massacre before Mother sees that the only good anyan is a dead anyan. It doesn't matter what Nohr throws at us; Hoshido will never fall." The tension between the pair was palpable as the seconds dragged on. The Nohrian girl raised the vulnerary.
"So this won't kill me?" Takumi scoffed.
"No. I don't want you to die in Hoshido- take your corpse and your vile ghost back to Nohr where they belong." She held it out to him, scowling.
"Then you drink it first. Just to make sure." He sputtered, his expression clearly insulted that she would even suggest such a thing. Gritting his teeth, the prince snatched the jar from her and put it to his lips, tilting it back. Nerr watched intently for any sign of it running down his chin or dripping onto the floor. It seemed he was drinking it, though it was possible he had just taken an antidote beforehand.
Still, as he handed the now lighter pot back to her, she couldn't find a reason to not drink it herself. It was was poison, then she was dead and that was the end of that. At least she had taken a chance and tried. Her throat and stomach rebelled at the thick, salty sweet concoction as heat coursed throughout her entire body, seeking out every injury, not just the most pressing. The burning agony in her ankle as it stitched itself together was not nearly as pronounced as it had been earlier, and while her body was grateful for the slight relief, Nerr knew full well that wasn't a good thing. Less pain meant it was not healed well, but hopeful it was healed enough for now. Biting her lip, she experimentally flexed her toes. When that didn't bring any searing pain with it, she attempted to bend her ankle. Although she could only move it a bit, and it still hurt, the pain was not blinding. It was probably no worse than a bad sprain at the moment. She could live with that. Takumi seemed satisfied as well.
"Now that you can walk, you can leave."
"Surely you know if I waltz through the front door, I'll just end up back here again."
"Then go out the window. You never seemed to mind before." He snapped. "I don't want you here anymore than you want to be here. The sooner you're gone, the sooner Mother can realize her daughter is dead and move on." Something other anger crept into his words towards the end, but Nerr didn't actually care what he was feeling. She smiled wryly.
"You know, of all the Hoshidans I've met, I probably hate you the least. You have my gratitude."
"If I ever see you again, I'll murder you myself, you Nohrian scum." With that last, acerbic threat, the prince stormed from the room, leaving Nerr in blessed silence. It seemed that perhaps the gods did come through every now and then. Grabbing Ganglari, she unsheathed the blade and took it to her tights, cutting both legs to the knees and each sleeve of cloth into two. Tying them together formed a makeshift tourniquet, which she tied tightly around her ankle. It was nowhere near as neat as what Jakob could've done, but when she hesitantly climbed to her feet, there was only minimal pain. She had no sword belt- it seemed the Hoshidans deemed she no longer needed it when she had no sword to carry- so there was naught she could do but awkwardly tuck the scabbard under her arm as she once again made her way to the window.
Stepping out with even more precision than before, the tiles in the shade were cool beneath her feet, which meant the ones closer to the sun were probably no more than lukewarm. With the sky darker and no massive sun overhead to blind her, Nerr could maneuver about with relative ease. Just realizing that the elements of nature were no longer turned against her made her heart feel lighter than it had in days. Creeping to the edge of the roof, she hooked Ganglari's hanger over her shoulder and lowered herself down. There were no training soldiers, no meddlesome flying princesses... Though it must have taken almost an hour, by the time Nerr shimmied across the rafters of the last roof, she was positively elated. Dropping down from ten or so feet hurt much less when she was prepared for the impact, tucking into a ball and rolling the way she had been trained to do. Climbing back to her feet, she looked around, smiling. The coast was clear. The guards must have been stationed at the front of the castle. All she had to do was follow the mountains in the distance and she would be be back in Nohr.
Laughing with the relief, the princess took off, resisting the urge to break into a run. She couldn't get away from this hellhole called Hoshido fast enough. She would go back to Nohr and then... and then... Although her pace remained steady, the smile she'd been wearing until that moment slowly slid from her face. And then... confront her father about what happened at the Chasm? What would he say? What could he say? That Hans was lying? That he had no idea Hoshidans would be at the border? And she would be expected to believe that... No. No, there was no time to worry about that now. She could cross that bridge when she got to it.
The sky grew no darker, but time had to be flowing. Nerr could feel herself getting more and more exhausted with every step she took. The open plain surrounding the castle had given way to woodland thick with undergrowth that seemed to get more claustrophobic the deeper she trekked, but the mountains she caught glimpses of through the canopy seemed no closer. Every so often, an inexplicable shiver ran up her spine, giving her pause and causing her to look around her surroundings. She could hear nothing but incessant buzzing and occasional squeaks and chirps overhead, natural sounds, but ones that still filled her with a sense of unease. Perhaps because such natural things were unnatural in the desolation she had grown up in. Nerr walked slower, wrapping her arms around herself as though she could fend off the chill that was most assuredly coming from within. From her periphery, the trees seemed to shift just enough to attract her attention, but when she looked at them head on, of course they were still. They were trees. Trees with branches and leaves, not any kind of tendrils that could move of their own accord as though they belonged to something sentient.
There was nothing there with her but insects and dozing animals. The Hoshidan army would've made themselves known. Any ninja would've already killed her. There was nothing there with her. Right? Right. She kept telling herself that, even as her pace increased once more. Nerr's right hand went for the hilt of her blade. She was just being silly and making herself paranoid... but it didn't hurt to be prepared. Just knowing she was armed again made her feel slightly better. Unsheathing the stone blade, she let it hang limply at her side as she continued her seemingly endless quest. Soon she would have to stop and rest, but not until she was certain she was well away from the Hoshidans.
The curved hilt quickly absorbed the heat from her hand, and with no gloves, the leather wrappings left her palm feeling itchy. Nerr moved to transfer it to her left hand, if only for a moment, but found her fingers stiff and unwilling to release from their death grip. Fear settled into the pit of her stomach like ice. No... no, it wasn't like at the Chasm. That was- that had been some sort of freak accident. She was just scared, that was all. She was making herself paranoid, and was too afraid to let go of the sword, and that in turn was making her even more paranoid. Laughing uneasily at her own foolishness, the princess began prying her fingers loose one by one.
"I must be losing my damn mind..." She chuckled. With only her forefinger and thumb still gripping the sword, she changed hands. Or tried to. With no effort, or even thought on her part, her fingers once again closed over the hilt, gripping it so tightly she could hear her knuckles cracking. It felt as if the tendons in her hand were going to snap. Whimpering, she tried once again to pry them loose, fighting with her own body for control.
Nerr.
"Huh?" Unwittingly turning, Nerr found herself staring down a void. No... not a void. She could see rocks within the darkness, massive crushing rocks to be battered against. She was at the Chasm- in the Chasm, falling to her death again, being dragged into the darkness. Crying out in terror, she flailed her limbs widely, trying to grab onto something, anything to slow her descent. They lashed against the rocks, which felt drier and rougher than before. It was as though her arm was being pulled via a rack, pulling her with it as she stumbled- stumbled? As though she were on solid ground?- backwards. Her back collided with something, the back of her skull smashing hard into it as her spine wrenched painfully. Head spinning, the princess veered to the side and collapsed. Even though it felt as though she was pushing against something half solid that gave under her touch, all she could see was the darkness of the Chasm, the deep red tint in the edges barely noticeable through the black. Her arm was still trying to free itself from the rest of her body, and pulling her skin along with it in long strips by the feel of it. The pain was like a pike being driven into her skull, splitting it in twain and taking all sense and sensation with it.
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A/N- Okay, that's one chapter down. You'll have to forgive the flow being utter shit- I took a break for a few months due to health reasons and completely forgot how to do a writing. Again, I cannot stress enough how this is directly related to "The Falling Light", as well as "The Rising Dark". I'm not expecting you to read both of those if you don't want to, but if you haven't and you're confused at any point, that's why. 99% of what you could be confused about will be in either of those two routes. Real action starts in the next chapter.