A/N: So, here's the thing!
It's supposed to be a retelling of Conquest, major plot elements and twists will remain, but I'll handle them differently. The story's main couple will be Ryoma/Corrin, but there will be a lot of Takumi&Corrin, not romantic, but very strong. You'll probably find hints of other ships I'm not going to mention because where is the fun on that?
I literally copy/pasted this Author's Note from the original place. I thought that it'd be fine if I let this go through FF. net as well...
Anyway!, here are some additional warnings: Graphic Depictions of Violence, Major Character Death, Discussion of Incest, Sexual Content, Stockholm Syndrome (not so simple though), and very Mature themes as the story progresses. Please don't read if you don't think that you can handle them! Thanks!
And I probably erased Lilith's existence for plot conveniences. Sorry about that.
"Fractal Scarring"
by PinkROmantic (originally posted on AOO3)
Chapter 1: Brother
CORRIN
It was tiring to spend most of the day in a prisoner cell, doing absolutely nothing but to sit still, sleep and exercise, but this was in no way worse than to the long marching where she was forced to sit on a horse for hours while her hands were tied. In the prison cell the ropes were taken away but not without the fair warning that she'd be cut down if she tried to fight against her captors. It didn't matter, she was too tired and injured to even try.
She was stripped of her armor and thoroughly searched from head to toe to confiscate any hidden weapons or items, her dragonstone included; she was left with her simple black blouse and given a pair of black pants to cover her lower half, as her nohrian outfit wasn't designed to cover her inner thighs; she appreciated their concern over her modesty.
They took over a small fortress hidden somewhere in Nestra's territory, apparently the hoshidan army was going to lend help to the rebellion in Cheve, a nohrian city close the border between Nestra and Nohr.
It's been over a week since she's been taken hostage by the hoshidan, more specifically, her brother Ryoma, and day after day she was tortured by the regrets of her decision. Ever since that day, nobody within the hoshidan army had spoken to her, the silent ninjas watching over her were probably advised to not interact with her unless necessary. She had tried asking about the war's progress many times, but to no avail. Seemingly they've made a conscious effort of isolating her from what was happening at the front lines, even the most vague rumors. Maybe she lost that privilege the moment she decided to take up her sword against her blood family. Maybe this was Ryoma's way to punish her.
Unarmed and restrained, she had no other choice but to cooperate with her captors and hope for the worst to never come.
Corrin, princess of Nohr and long-lost princess of Hoshido, sighed and laid down the hard bed in her cell and her body shuddered at the pain cursing through her stomach up to her chest and her shoulder.
It was almost time for the healer to check her up. The blisters across her stomach and up her right breast were itching and she couldn't do nothing about them. They said to her that she was lucky to survive one single struck of Raijinto, but she knew that its owner held back just to not make it lethal; Ryoma had no need for her to be dead. She could still feel the little jolts that prickled her sensitive skin over the area where the sacred lightning struck, she wished she had a mirror to look at herself at least, to see the tree-branching patterned scar burnt into her as a reminder of her treason.
The pain passed quicker this time, each day less painful than the last, but it still wore her down. Somewhere between her thoughts she let herself close her eyes and take a deep breath, snuff her angst away with some sleep.
At least Elise was saved. Corrin knew she didn't give up her freedom again just so her little sister could die, and if Ryoma had as much honor as she had believed him to have, Elise would be fine. But in war, nothing was ever fair. The youngest princess of Nohr had contracted a grave disease during their march towards Macarath, and hoshidan troops had taken over the area where they needed to pass in order to help to Elise before it was too late.
...
"If the sting of my blade is the only thing that can bring you back to your senses, so be it!"
"Ryoma! Don't do this!"
"I won't back down today, Sister. You're coming home. Now."
So many things flashed inside her head, the life of her little sister Elise pending from a thread and the only thing standing in their way was the red anger of prince Ryoma. He would attack Corrin without hesitation, and she raised her sacred sword Yato in anticipation to deflect the quick strike of Ryoma's Raijinto. Ryoma held his sword close and skyward, the attacking stance and his red horned chin armor gave him the likeness of a demon. She clearly underestimated his capacity to hurt her from afar.
The power imbued in the legendary katana of the hoshidan heir was the thunder, and it would rarely miss. Despite quickly raising her blade, Corrin fell to the ground as she felt her heart stop for a single moment, not understanding right away what was what hit her; she felt her chest burning and the air left her lungs all at once, a pain unlike anything she experienced before cursed through her nerves and made all her limbs quiver pathetically. It took her a moment to recover from the shock, however she couldn't help to stop her arms from shaking, gasping for air because of the overwhelming pang spread across her system.
The deadly determination in Ryoma's eyes was frightening, and there would be more like that one hit if she didn't lower her sword. At her back, her small group of soldiers and Azura were anxious. Camilla was probably way back looking out for Elise while she was still delicate… That was for the best.
Princess Corrin looked back at Princess Azura for one single moment, but she could not speak, she simply nodded slightly in response to Azura shaking her head with mortified eyes.
"… If I come with you, do you promise to let them through? Do you promise?" Ryoma just stared at her and nodded firmly, his expression unreadable.
"This is madness, Corrin! You can't accept that!"
"It's me or Elise. If we don't make it through, she will die. If only I surrender, I won't die" her voice was cracking, but she looked back at her wide-eyed army staring at her in disbelief. Azura in particular, she seemed particularly angry for someone who had a limited range for expressing emotions.
Even her enemies seemed perplexed by her words, Corrin herself couldn't believe she actually said them, as she felt her mind was completely detached of her mouth. She laid her heavy sword to the ground as the agile team of hoshidan ninjas surrounded her and roped her wrists tight enough to hurt. It didn't feel real, it was happening too fast and her mind was racing, screaming at her for being so weak, so stupid.
It wasn't late to fight back. It wasn't late to use the divine dragon inside her to break free. Yet…
Ryoma's eyes were still pinned on her, quietly telling her to not do it, to not force him to strike her again; he truly believed this was the only way to walk away from this without the need to sacrifice the life of the young Nohrian Princess.
"Azura, it's time to return home." Then and there, Corrin started and looked back at her friend as Ryoma called out… Corrin half-expected the songstress to come to him, but she simply stood there unyielding. Ryoma called again: "Azura."
"… I can't do it. I simply can't."
There was new tension in the air. "Don't be foolish. We're not going to abandon you to these nohrians. I know that my own people have wronged you, but I can make sure that you're welcomed again."
"I made up my mind, Ryoma. I'm sorry. Right now, I am needed here."
"You can't be serious." He was clearly angered by Azura, despite that, she remained calm.
"I am. Though it pains me to reject you, my brother, this is something that only I can do. I wish I could come with you and Corrin, but on my own volition I want to remain here. I wish I could explain, I really do."
"Are you sure about this? It's not too late to come back." This was the last try, Corrin crossed her fingers for Azura to not be struck by him in the same way as he was growing desperate with her words. "I know that you're not a traitor, Azura. Now is the time to prove the people wrong!"
"Let her be, Ryoma! You can't force her!" Corrin screamed enraged, before her brother could take his distress too far. Surprisingly, he yielded his menacing stance, as if Corrin's outburst snapped him back to cool-headedness.
"Very well. But be warned, Azura. Next time we meet in battle, you and I will be enemies."
"I should hope not."
Azura was so strong and hid her emotions too well, put Corrin to shame when she realized that she lost the will to fight.
"Tell Elise that I love her" she told Azura, another burden she was placing on her dear friend.
"You can't do this! It's too early to give up, Corrin!" someone yelled at the distance, perhaps one of her close friends. She heard the clash of swords and spears, the horses' rushing wildly to the enemy's frontlines, but her shoulders stiffened and she started to yell: "STOP!"
Mercenaries, fighters and knights halted their weapons, and Ryoma called his soldiers to a halt.
She had made her rules clear in the past, she made sure that everyone aligned to her moral beliefs, and made them play the war game in which bloodshed would not be tolerated by her. The hoshidan ninja that carried her towards Ryoma's side slowed down for a moment as she roared towards the army she was leaving behind.
"I promise I'll be fine! I know I won't be with you anymore, I know that you're free to resent me for this, but if my word ever meant anything to you at all, you will keep your word and fight not to kill, not today, not ever again! Nohr's days as this cruel unforgiving kingdom need to end now! This has always been in your hands, people!"
Her own words grew sour in her tongue, for a moment she could not bear to look back at Azura, who had observed her the whole time with such a sharp glare. The army behind her was a mixed bag of emotions that ranged between resignation, determination and anger. They gave her their loyalty and now she was abandoning them, she'd never know if her words would resonate with each one of them, time would only tell.
She was their leader no more, and as she was pulled into a horse of the hoshidan army, her stomach started to betray her and the pain almost made her black out. But she endured the nausea, they didn't deserve to see her as anything but a person who'd always hold her head high.
When they got far away from Macarath, she realized that she was among a sea of unfamiliar unfriendly faces. She was exhausted and sweating buckets, she could fall off the horse at any given time and it would catch her beneath its hooves…
Before passing out, however, she noticed that she was caught from her fall and for a few seconds she felt her body relax when she stared into the reassuring eyes of that prince dressed in red demon-like armor. There was great compassion in those small black eyes, yet all they caused to her was pain unlike anything she had felt today. She couldn't reconcile that these eyes full of kindness were also the wrathful ones that judged her just a few moments ago, and she resented this with the last force of her conscious thoughts.
...
Upon awakening, she felt her throat was dry and there was a wet coldness massaging over her chest and stomach, lightly waking the pain on her nerves. She must've fallen deeply asleep before the healer arrived, not applying ointment over the intricate scar with her blouse unbuttoned. She didn't struggle against the healer girl, she was only doing her job, but Corrin couldn't grow used to the sensation of that ointment on her naked skin and it made her feel restless upon first contact. Not to mention that this kind of intimate contact made her feel incredibly flustered.
Once it was done, the healer girl rearranged her blouse and abandoned the cell quietly; Corrin had noticed that they left her a new tray of food, far more complete than any of the previous ones since her arrival. It contained a jar of water, a piece of bread with cheese and an apple.
Her stomach demanded to be filled, and she complied to the noisy request, finishing the food faster than she would have liked to. They weren't starving her, every day they brought her water and bread on night and day, but today it was special; why was that?
The sound of a distant door opening echoed through the hall of the prison, she thought nothing of it, but seeing the guard outside her cell stiffen and quickly kneel towards the unseen visitor made Corrin realize right away.
"You are in presence of the High Prince of Hoshido" announced the guard, such formality felt unnecessary.
She merely sat still where she finished her food tray, she didn't know if she was in the mood to give him the proper salutation or if he'd even mind. She wanted to keep some of her pride intact right now, she didn't want to bow to him, not as her brother, not as the prince who captured her.
The prince always seemed to wear that bright red armor but not without the white jinbaori with golden embroidery with the emblem of the royal family, a beautifully balanced contrast. The first time that she ever saw him, she felt fear and awe at the same time, just a few moments before being told that Ryoma was his real brother, and every time she met him again, she'd find a new detail about his appearance that she didn't notice before.
"I see you haven't tried to escape after all this time, color me surprised" he said, his low voice was somewhere between amused and neutral. His posture was perfectly still with his hands resting on his katana's hilt while it stood on the ground, but from this angle the jail bars obstructed the view of his eyes.
"Since you took away my dragonstone, I wouldn't dare to transform and break loose at the risk of losing control and killing innocents."
"I believe you, yet as we speak, Nohr has done nothing but to claim the life and freedom of thousands of innocents." He stopped momentarily, Corrin could have sworn that his shoulders stiffened a little. "I've heard of the… unique nature of your own exploits since you were put in charge of your army, but can you say that you've truly made a difference? Did you truly think that fighting Hoshido would be possible without bloodshed, Sister?"
Whether he sounded condescending or genuinely curious, it was hard to tell. Ryoma was far too unreadable from Corrin's current perspective.
"I had to try regardless" she answered.
Ryoma sighed through his nose, he took one step closer to her cell, now his dark eyes met directly with hers; this forced her to look up to him, the desired effect to make her remember that she was currently beneath him in all possible aspects. She didn't like this at all, so she rebelled against this notion by getting back on her feet and straightened her back to meet his eyes without the need to look up.
She was almost as tall as Ryoma, if not by the ornamental horned mask that framed his face and his wild long hair, he wouldn't look bigger than her.
This silent competition ended when Ryoma opened his mouth to speak up.
"I wonder how you truly feel, Corrin. Have you ever stopped to think about what would have happened if you stayed with us? Have you ever thought of how would it have been if your heart didn't turn away from your true family's love? In account of all the things you did for them and feel for them, would you change your heart if you could? Would you have stopped before betraying us?"
The princess scowled at the obvious guilt-inducing questions, as if he already knew the right answers. There were no right answers for his questions, truly, and he had no right to assume the true nature of her emotions when he only wanted to force the change into her heart without considering her own insight and experiences.
She wished to have seen more of that Ryoma who caught her back when she was about to fall off the horse, but perhaps she misunderstood his show of compassion back then.
"Ryoma… If your definition of 'betrayal' is correct, then my heart had betrayed you from the moment I felt at home in Nohr with my brothers and sisters." Corrin noticed the slight change in the prince's frown and his stiffened mouth, she could perceive his pain and anger undisguised. "But please know this: any day I'd have loved to regain the family I was taken away from…"
"And you've lost your chance." His voice was louder this time, her heart shrunk a little.
"I know; but if there's a glint of kindness and mercy in you, Ryoma, you won't destroy the one that I still have."
She promised herself that she wouldn't cry in front of him ever since she was taken, but even now, it was hard to contain the cracks in her voice.
"… You are asking for the impossible. Anyone who willingly serves King Garon shall meet their end, by my own hand if that's what it takes."
Corrin clenched her fist as her face twisted in grief. "Then you'll have to end me too."
Then he said no more. He knew that she was right, and she did obey King Garon's orders and would have kept on doing it if she wasn't imprisoned here.
With the tension in the air, Ryoma walked himself out of the prison, and Corrin let out a shaky breath, feeling as if she could have chocked during her conversation with Ryoma. Her body was sweaty and her scar began to hurt as her mind revived their confrontation at Macarath, dreading the touch of that sword all over again.
What would he do after this? Was he really going to kill her brothers and sister while she was imprisoned? The fact that it wasn't such a far-fetched possibility made her hurt with impotence, cursing her stupid heart for its weakness.
...
TAKUMI
His wrist had gone pleasantly sore from use, during the past hours he had done nothing but to shoot arrows to all enemies across the city. It was liberating, the feeling of putting his skills to good use and seeing the fruit they'd bear, dozens had already fallen to the righteous power of his Fujin Yumi. This immense sense of accomplishment was seemingly just what he needed to ease his horrible migraine since his pathetic defeat at the Port Town of Dia, at hands of that treacherous nohrian princess.
Here in Cheve he wanted to find his redemption. He wanted so bad to win this battle and to do something meaningful for this war. He simply had to.
He really hoped that She would show up.
Scarlet was the name of the rebellion's leader. He had known from Ryoma that she was a chevois knight who started a resistance that defied King Garon's cruel reign. Despite Takumi's initial bias against nohrians, Scarlet was clearly a fierce and respectable warrior, inspiring admiration on him in the short time that he spent helping out with the resistance.
Outside of that, Ryoma was busy running a military campaign on Nestra and Takumi offered himself to replace his brother to help Scarlet and guide the hoshidan troops she was given to help with the resistance. Of course, Scarlet had expected to receive Ryoma's direct support at first, but as soon as she heard that Takumi was his little brother, she felt instantly reassured. It was a curious thing, he noted, how fond and trustful she was of Ryoma…
The euphoria of the battle soon died out, and while he wanted to bask in the glory of slaying nohrians, he soon found out how heavy his arms felt for every life he took with such ease. At first, he tried so hard to enjoy it, and to a point he did but after busting a man's head open with one powerful arrow shot, Takumi felt less and less contentment and started to feel the foulness of the scent of death all around him. There was a disturbing emptiness growing inside, and no matter how powerful his hatred and motivations, it didn't feel right to kill people this easily.
Enemy soldiers swarmed all over the city. He wasn't ready to stop fighting, his pride wouldn't let him, but when Scarlet showed up riding her wyvern, she extended her hand to him. "You need to fall back." He was one of the few left standing, and she was far too injured to fight. That's when Takumi knew he had no choice but to go with her.
The wyvern was bleeding on its side, apparently hit by an arrow, it could barely fly with two people on its back, Scarlet was clearly pained by pushing her winged companion too far. Takumi could hear the screams of soldiers and civilians from below, the streets were drenched in red and some houses were even set on fire, he felt sick. When did the Nohrian forces decide to attack the civilians? And to think that they were doing so well just a few hours ago. What changed? Where did they go wrong? How couldn't he realize this earlier?
As the wounded wyvern landed at the outskirts of Cheve, a few surviving rebels had come to her, telling her that they did their best to save as many civilians as they could, but they lost many of their people, and the nohrian forces were tearing apart the whole city.
Takumi raised his sacred bow once more, hearing the sounds of approaching soldiers at the distance. His bright Fujin Yumi materialized the arrows and so far didn't fail to him in this battle, but no matter how fast he could shoot one after another, he didn't stand a chance against a group this big. He needed to buy the rebels some time to escape.
"Your brother entrusted me with you, I'd never forgive myself if I let them have you. Run!" Scarlet exclaimed, fending herself with her wounds, the brigands slayed her poor wyvern swiftly and then they spotted the young hoshidan prince, they wore a bloodthirsty glare. Scarlet wouldn't let them come after him. She struck a couple of those men down with her axe, but in exchange received another cut on her arm. "RUN!"
That one last scream shook him and reluctantly, he ran away. He was hoarse and at the edge of tearing up, hearing the laughter of those men ganging up all at once against Scarlet. He could not bear to avert his face from the forest's path. He tried so hard to not think at all, just run and run. Run. Run.
The rebel base wasn't discovered yet, but all the remaining residents were ready to move out along the few civilians that were saved. Everyone was asking about Scarlet, others mourning her in advance… Takumi couldn't bring himself to speak to anyone.
By the next morning, most of them already left, but Takumi and a group of three of Scarlet's most loyal men decided to return to Cheve, perhaps in the scarce hopes of saving their Scarlet, if she hadn't been executed yet. He had followed them quietly, answering their questions with silent nods and grunts.
Cheve was ruined, streets were torn apart and corpses were piled up, just a few citizens and soldiers walked around the squares, filling the cold streets with ghastly whimpers and screams of madness. There was no hope left in this place.
And there she was, just in the middle of the town's main square, upon an improvised post of wood; Takumi felt his knees quiver and felt his throat swell with nausea, but he couldn't stop looking at her.
The grotesquely mutilated body that once was hers was left on display for everyone to see, Scarlet's head was placed at the pointy end of an iron pike. Just below her head's red trail there was a wide written sign that only inspired fear and despair.
INSURGENTS BE WARNED
She was meant to serve as an example. The people spared of the slaughter would not dare to ever rise again. Scarlet's men began crying and whispering words of guilt while cursing themselves for taking too long, but one had the courage to begin picking up her remains, shivering as he asked for the assistance of the rest. Takumi couldn't move a finger, didn't even blink until the tears began rolling down his cheeks, such a shameful display for a prince to do, but grief had deafened him to his own shriveling self-loathing.
The moment before the men took down her head, Takumi felt as if Scarlet's absent stare was directed to him for one second.
Scarlet was seeing him cry.
The headache only got worse after he helped the rebels take Scarlet away and gave her a proper funeral. He had no energy left to watch how they burned her remains, he almost vomited two times and his clothes were all stained in her blood. None of the rebels talked to him until it was time for them to return.
"We just can't stop here, we'll continue to fight Nohr with the hoshidan army. That's what Scarlet would have wanted us to do" said one of the men, Takumi only nodded, although he knew that it would depend on Ryoma's decision to let them in...
A couple of days later, he and the surviving hoshidan soldiers brought along the few chevois rebels left back at the secret base on Nestra; his brother's army was quietly settled there just as expected and they were welcomed with half-expectant faces and silent inspections, acknowledging through the reduced numbers of soldiers that they lost the battle.
His head was still muddled with the gruesome images of death he thought had grown accustomed to see in the past few months. He thought that the war would help him grow a thicker skin, but he didn't, even after Mother's death, even with all the lives that he had taken since the war started. With dread he realized his own frailty as he was still haunted by the image of Scarlet's dead eyes; Takumi didn't know if he was ready to give the grim news to his brother…
… What would he think of him now?
