okay so Shigure as the reincarnation of the first king of Valla is nice and all, but what about if Azura was Cadros's second life? much better, if I say so myself.
Despite being cousins by blood, Azura thinks of Corrin as a step sibling, as 1.) In Rev she didn't seem to know that Mikoto was her blood-aunt. and 2.) They are siblings by law, and that's what Azura knows.
Azura is, frankly, fairly surprised she managed to convince Corrin and Felicia to jump down a chasm just on the basis of her word. Truly, their other options must have been slim if they chose to follow her down this particular path.
As shadowed as the stone passageways were, Azura felt achingly at home here, the blood in her veins straining towards the Veins of the First Dragons streaming below the earth. By contrast, Felicia seemed jumpy and nervous, openly unnerved by the rippling water-reflections on the cavern ceiling despite the lack of water. Corrin was rather hard to read, as he lacked eyes at the moment. Or human facial structure, as a matter of fact.
Nohr's best-kept reptilian secret loomed in the tunnels, his bulk blocking the shades' line of sight and his juvenile antlers sparking as they scraped against the stone ceiling. Felicia was barely able to send a few knives flying through the gaps in Corrin's defense, and it wasn't long before she resigned to channeling healing through her staff. Azura, however, found it instinctually and laughably easy to dart in and jab at the Vallite shades, moving in tandem with her stepbrother as if maneuvering around an aquatic predator with unpredictable movements was an everyday occurrence instead of an absurdity.
Azura plainly knew that feeling so comfortable around flashing scales and flailing wings and watery growls was decidedly not natural, even for her bloodline.
—
Azura had forgotten how mountainous and rocky the Nohrian territories were, since she was only there for a time as a child.
Her legs were reminding her quite loudly.
She's silently grateful when Camilla- who was in charge of their army as the royal with the most experience commanding her own troops- called for a halt in order to rest. The princess-general herself was actually on foot, since she had transferred the packs of the less fit members to Marzia's back. Corrin had smugly taken to marching in his dragon form, ostensibly because four legs and claws made mountain climbing easier; but Azura could tell he was simply far more comfortable in the form he was born to.
Corrin folded his legs beneath him and settled to the ground while Mozu, who had taken to him quite quickly, collapsed besides him, limbs akimbo. Azura followed her example in a far more graceful manner, tucking her legs beside her and removing her veil to wipe at the sweat gathered beneath her hair.
"I'm never gonna walk again." Mozu's voice emerged from beneath Corrin's wing, slightly muffled.
"Oh, I'm sure you'll walk again." The corner of Azura's mouth quirked minutely. "Though it will hurt tremendously when you do so."
Azura leaned into her stepbrother's armored flank, relishing the feeling of cool plates on her back, and taking slim amounts of amusement at Mozu's wordless groan of despair. The princess inhaled deeply, her lungs cooling and heart steadily slowing at the smell of sea-brine that accompanied silent dragons. She had gotten used to the odd reactions like this, figuring it was simply the First Blood passed down by her ancestors resonating with a distant descendant of the dragon who provided it.
Camilla's call to heave up and march onwards came far too soon, inconveniently while Azura was cooling her feet by stroking them up and down Corrin's lowered neck. He was purring, and Azura found it quite adorable. Still she heaved herself to her feet and helped Mozu to hers, the farmer's grumbling comically and echoed in watery tones by the dragon.
Their salvation came in the form of peaking spires cresting the mountaintop; strangely Hoshidan in territory that was Nohr-controlled for centuries. It also came with more climbing.
"Void-damned stairs…" Azura heard Selena mutter from somewhere. The sentiment was echoed between most of the other soldiers. However, they all girded themselves and proceeded up the void-damned stairs, the soldiers mounted on horses mournfully leaving their mounts behind for the climb.
It took a long number of hours and numerous fights with shades remarkably similar to the ones roaming the shattered Vallite lands, but the meager army reached their destination. The Rainbow Sage was old and stooped over, leaning on his staff. His slit pupils and sharp teeth belied that he was far, far older than Azura could have imagined.
The Sage acknowledged Corrin with a curt nod, only saying "Silent fledgeling." as a greeting.
The old man then turned to her, looking somewhat surprised. Azura supposed this must be quite a feat, considering how old he likely was.
The old manakete actually bowed to her, staff tapping a strange staccato to accompany his archaic bow.
"Welcome, First of Kings. I know what the others seek, but what brings you here, old friend?"
Azura wondered if dragons could go senile: she was neither a king nor an old friend of the creature before her, but the princess opted to humor him, in hopes of accomplishing what they wished.
"We come to your home in search of advice, and perhaps a blessing on the Yatogami."
"Hmm, yes, that is simple enough. Here, hatchling, let me see the blade."
Her stepbrother dutifully passed the sword to the Sage, who mutters some words over it that made tiny trees circle his feet and caused the noses of the humans to bleed. He then returned Yatogami to Corrin, leaning more weight onto his staff after he does.
"Ah, I apologize. I am not in she shape I was in my youth!" The Sage wheezed.
At Azura's concern, though shown only minutely on her face, the old dragon turned his attention to her. "I must rest now. But please, come visit when the crisis is passed. It has been to long since I have seen you, Your Majesty."
At that he returns to where his rooms must presumably be, not offering a word of clarification.
A worn sigh escaped Mozu. "Now we gotta go down the mountain…"
Azura allowed herself a chuckle at the farmer's plight, studiously ignoring the burgeoning unease and mercilessly crushing the faint familiarity into submission.
—
Anankos's mask was pelted with weapons, mundane and magical and divine. As he took a blow from Azura's lance to the crumbling stone teeth, he roared and moved to swat her aside, the princess just barely avoiding the sweep of his neck.
The dragon opened his stone-rimmed maw, red glows peeking from the darkness. All of them were focused on her, and Azura shivered.
"Y̡̡̡̖̞̳͔̣͔͎̘̼͔̝̋̉̏̈̿ͥ̎ͭ́ͪ̃͒̔̿͐ͅO͉̞͈̘̩̯̭̯̭̲͚̼͎̻̘͕͙͂͌́̄͌͐̂͋͜U!ͩ̾ͣ̀ͣ̌͆̉̈́̋̊̒̑ͥ́͏̩̲̪̳̯͔̱͓̤̺̰̺͍̱ YOU ̢̳̻̙̝̖́̎̋̅͂H̱̱͎̏̌̒AV̠̥̣̂ͦ̋͒̀ͅȆ̪̘̪̦̟̜̼̔̓ ̷ͩͨ̇ͯ̒̾B͔͓̔̀̅ͦ̽̈́̂E̟̳̫̘̖̹̓́͑ͬ̇̀T̵̐R͍͎̲͈ͤ̀́̌̚͘A̗̜̗Y̘ͦ̔͝E̗͒̓̽͗D̴̪̗̻̩̰͎̹͊̿͛̓̾ͯ ̻͎͚͙̮̞̽ͥ͋̓̽ͅMͨ͐̎ͧ̅͏Eͭ̆̽́̚." He rumbled, the pebbles on the ground beneath his mask shivering.
Azura, driven to lengths by battle-adrenaline, shouted back as Odin provided covering magical fire. "You betrayed me, by slaying my people, destroying our lands, and attempting to enslave my cousin!"
The mask reared back, though not under the continuing onslaught of attacks by the humans.
"First of the Pact, Eldest Scion of Blood, ̇͌I̗͉̜͕͉ͩ̅ͨ͌̈́̃ͫͅͅ ͈̮̯g̫̪͙̔̍ͨa̷͙͚̠̳̰̖͚ͮv̠ͬͪͫͩ̈́̅e͗͏͚͇̲͖ ̬̚͜y̡͔̱̤̰̟̋ͨ̆̅̔̄o͓͙̩̗̜̣̊͆̾ͭu̞̠͓͉͉̭ͭ̀̋̀ͤ̐͗̀ ̺ͩͪt̥͚͔̄ͬ̍͠h͈̬̲͈̹ͭ̉̉̏̚͘ͅe̩̞͚̟̳ͧͯ̃͗̀ ̻̭͔̙̳́l̺̮̙̑̉͗ͪ͒̂̽ā̙̻͓̝̍ͧ̒̄ṋd͓̙̠̻s̘̺̭̾̃ͬ͘ ͩ̈͐ȁ͖̮͚̈ͮ̒̈͐́̚nͯ̈̀ͬ͋d̹̪̄ ̷̗͇ͥͬ̅͑̆p̸̰̯̺̞͇ͨ̽̾o̭̦͕̹̪ͧ̏ͣ̑͐ͩ͌͡w̟͇̼̝̖̞̞͋e̷͉̝̻̊ͤ̍̿̃̅̅r̢̭̰̟̬̼̍̇ͅ ͂͐҉͉͍͈ỵ̭̻̦̻̂͑̅͌̊ͅo̵ͦ̓͒͐̐̿̊ùͮͦ͊ͤ͂ͅ ̢͚ͤ̽̈ͤ̐ṡ̵͕͉̗̮͎̍̒o͓̙̭͖ ̔̄̋͌̒͐̆t̢̩̩̝̉̐ͧr̨̞̫̗̼̗͗̓ȩ̩̟̰̥̠̖͇͐ͫ̑ͮ̒̿â̩̟̟̼̎̅͒̇ͪͭs̮̭̩̙̪̫͊̒͗͛͊ŭͭͪ̐̂r̳̘̹̦̩̬͖̍̾̾ͭ̍́e̟͕̱̲̖̟̿̉͋̾ͯͦ͢ͅ!̙̗̌̈́ͯ̋͌̑́" He growled at her, a strange mix of mournful and angered
Anankos then roared, rocky mouth reaching forward and grabbing for Azura. He was knocked off course with the clatter-crack of horns on stone, his thrust diverted by the dragon body-slamming into him.
"Ḇ̝͕͖̫̺͂͑̂̄̈́̄̑ͅE͍̯̗̞ͪ͐ͭ̋ͪ̄G͙͕̝̲̬̘ͪ͠Ȏ̞̙̫͔̩N͉͓͇͐ͮ̉̿̈́̚͢Ẻ̶͓̣̳͐͋ͥͬ̽,̬͙̜̦͔̳̰̈́̚̕ ̲̹̺̫͖̑ͮ͋̋̚͠H̩̫͖̪͋́͐̌͛ͧA̸̝̥̞͓̭̒̓̿ͪ̍͂ͫT̶̞̯͇͔͖̗ͪ̓ͫ̈̓̈Č̬̤̘ͬ͘H̨̗̞͈͍ͮ́̌̾͒̽L̪̬͉̟̲̰͊ͧȈ͙̀͂̈̚N̙̐ͫG̱͐͛͞!͌͗ ̈̉̐ͭͥD͕͉̣̲̽̇̚Ọ̙͎̤͇̭ͩ̈́̌͂͋͒ ̦̖͔͇̺̳̉̋͌ͤ̓̾ͧN̡̼͈̫̭͈̙ͫ̊͌͋͑͋O̷͇̜͉̩͚̖ͬT͚̿̆͡ ̳̲̱ͣ͊͂̾Ȉ̯̬̜̩̌ͨ̅̏N̓ͭ̇̅T͓͇̝͌̋̔͂ͤÉ̩̝̤̱̹ͧ́Rͧ̕F̯̗̩͈ͤE҉̝͕̲R̫ͭ͂ͬ̓͟E̒̐̓͛̈̾͏̯͎̣̻ ̵̟͙̂ͪ̍̓́Ī̪̹͓̟͉̥͔̀ͧN͓͉̖̥͍͙̐̍ ̪́ͪ͒ͪ̉͆ͩA͎̳͙̯̰̅̃ͮ͗̃̅͑ ̬͓̹̯͙̞̈́͞B̸͚̹̬̯̗͌̑A̪̝͍͈̖͙̫͆̓̌̾̕T̢͇͈̣̲̟̗̗̾͆T̰̗͖͕͙ͪ̀̑̄L͖̥͕͈̞͛͌́E͍͍͙̭͇͗̈́ͩͫ̋ͦ̂ ̝̻B͉͔̗͑͋̚E̯̼̺͆͐̂T̙̪̦͛̈̂͒ͨ̏̚Ẃ͐̋̑̂̆͏͖̖͎̰̩Ȅ̸̳̖͚̼̮͚͇ͬ͑ͤEͦ̑̓̔͏Ṇ̟̱̃͗̌̄̀ ̋͂ͦ͏̝̦͔͓͇Y̗͍̼͚ͯ̐̏ͦͫ͗́O̯̹̭̰͉̠̐U͎̠̹͚̟̯͔̒̈ͭ̎Ȑ̰̹ ̟̝̎̇ͭ̄ͅE͓͓͗́̿ͦ̽̃ͣL͏Ḍ̛͓̪͙͓̘ͥE̤̔Rͨͧ̇ͨ̀̈̔S̲̪̤ͣ͛̅̄̈ͤ̕." The dragon god roared, and opened his mouth wide-
Just in time to take a wind arrow to the eyes.
Takumi stood behind the front lines, shakily lowering his yumi, blood running down his nose and dribbling out of his ears from the strain of the First Dragon's shouts.
The battle was not yet over, however, and Anankos proved the tenacity of the dragons by erupting from the temple like a twisted moth from a cocoon.
Seeing Anankos rise from the temple in his true, huge form terrified Azura more than she could comprehend. This thing was millions of years old, a shatterer of continents, angered by the resistance of mortals.
His lodge-sized claws bracing on either side of the island of Gyges, Anankos swung his head down towards the platform where the humans (and one dragon) stood, sphere gyrating in his jaws and eyes darting in sickeningly opposite directions. Immediately, The crown princes charged to destabilize Anankos's grip on the island and the archers among their number covered the entrance. The fliers, headed by Camilla, cried out warnings when Anankos released the Dragon's Breath, his targets struck with crushingly high gravity and razored by water drops.
Many of the infantry, who followed them to Valla out of loyalty to their respective crowns, were struck, their inch-thick flattened corpses oozing blood and bone shards and crushed organs across the flagstones.
While Anankos was thoroughly distracted attempting to silence Azura and swipe away the pests poking at his toes, Corrin and flown up with Camilla, dropping out of the sky and driving his blazing Yatogami into the water god's skull.
There was no roar or flailing; Anankos simply lowered his body, massive skull thumping to the ground and wings drooping into the void below. He looked at Azura directly, red eyes clouded by both betrayal and the muddled look of the Insanity.
"Cadros…" He whispered. "Brother, Cadros, w̛̝̦̗̃̎̑ͮͦh̡̲̄̂ͭy̗̥̝̪̽…̸̼̺̻̜͕."
He dissolved into dew, leaving the army cheering and Azura with unplaced guilt sitting in her gut like a black stone., the source of which remaining unknown to the princess.
Later, hours later, in the camps as they rested and prepared to return and contact the Vallite Resistance with word of their success, Azura was flooded with images and emotions she had no recollection of.
A woman with with curly blonde hair (her wife, she knew, with a strange and claustrophobic swelling in her heart).
Children, all bearing the glacial hair marking Vallite royalty, leaning against spines the size of pillars, chatting with the presence to which the horns were attached.
Receiving the blood pact from Anankos, and the dragon teaching her to harness the power flowing beneath their feet.
Her newborn son, nestled against her flat, broad chest as she introduced him to the children's honorary uncle, though the dragon knew little of what the family title meant.
It felt like a spike to her skull, all the clashing and flowing images crashing against her and muddling her older (newer?) memories of Valla and the dragon it worshiped. When she finally felt lucid, Azura knew, before anything else, that she needed to pay the Rainbow Sage a visit, like she promised so long ago.
—
Queen Azura, ruler of the rebuilt Valla for ten years, strode with purpose towards the untouched ruins of the Gyges temple. She took no guards, only holding her young daughter. She insisted that they leave Gyges Temple as it was after the battle, both as a reminder for future generations and, more privately, as the only place known able to speak with Anankos's spirit. It was very limited, as the Silent Dragon's spirit only had ten years as opposed to the thousands the other First Dragons had to consolidate enough power to regularly interact with the physical world.
She still took the opportunity to pour some of her Song into the ruins to control the water dragon enough so he may at least hear them, and see them; she could at minimum see his faint outline when she called him to the temple. Perhaps, many years more into her lifetime, Azura would be able to hear Anankos speak back to her.
She had many things to converse with him about, knowing what she did now. She quite enjoyed her talks and reminiscing with the Rainbow Sage, now that she remembered more of him and her previous life.
Humming the Song and seeing the wavering shade in front of her, looking like a reflection in a lake, Azura smiled, and said,
"Hello, Anankos. You have a niece, now…"
tfw your brother-by-adoption's (though you had no idea what the fuck a 'sibling' was when you accepted the adoption) soul reincarnates into your niece.
Whoever Azura's spouse ends up being is up to you. Just not Corrin because eugh incest.
Also FUCK Corrin getting the Valla crown, makes no sense at all. They're the bastard child of a dragon and the second princess, for shit's sake. And long lived/immortal ruler work out, trust me. It's better that Azura claims her birthright.