Hello, everyone! I'm back at it with more angst! This was mainly inspired by listening to A Dark Fall as, to me, it's one of the most poignant map themes in Conquest. Truth be told, I have an extra save file in Conquest that's before the start of Chapter 24. Anyway, I hope that you enjoy reading this fic! ^_^

Hinoka stood adamantly at the entrance of Castle Shirasagi as her retainers Setsuna and Azama were by her side while a good portion of the Hoshidan army were scattered around the castle gardens. Earlier in the day, the eldest princess of Hoshido had heard conflicting reports that Fort Jinya and the Great Wall of Suzanoh were conquered by the Nohrian royal army. The news had brought grief and doubt to Hinoka because Sakura and Takumi were guarding those places, and to know that they were in the hands of the Nohrian army or even worse did not help her calm down one bit.

She wondered as to what could bring her adoptive brother Corrin to do such a thing. Corrin was leading the main forces of Nohr's army, those responsible for her younger siblings' defeats. Truth be told, Hinoka had a bit of doubt that Corrin and his companions would be able to penetrate Hoshido's forces, but recent events had debunked that case.

Nevertheless, brother or not, Hinoka would not nor ever allow Corrin to step foot into the castle. He has proven that he tended to finish Nohr's campaign despite the thought of facing her and the rest of their family.

"Oh, it seems that your little brother has brought some of his friends over for supper." Azama noted humorously, interrupting Hinoka's thoughts in the process.

"Huh?" Hinoka blurted out confusedly as she saw from a distance Corrin and a faction of Nohr's forces.

From what Hinoka could denote, she saw Corrin, Kaze, Azura, his maid Felicia, a village girl named Mozu who wielded a bow, his Nohrian siblings and their top retainers whose names were Selena, Laslow, and Odin. She took account that the latter was wearing an attire that was similar to her kingdom's swordmasters. However, she didn't like that the eldest princess of Nohr was too close to Corrin's side.

Corrin's betrayal was bad enough, but to know that Kaze and Azura were fighting at his side had tore Hinoka, especially when Azura made her official statement to the warrior princess on joining his cause at the Sevenfold Sanctuary. She wasn't aware of Kaze's defection until his twin brother Saizo had brought it up after their failed mission of recapturing Corrin.

"What should we do, Lady Hinoka?" Setsuna asked as she brandished her bow.

"Simple, we do not allow any of them to make it inside the castle. Otherwise I'd be a disappointment as a princess to Hoshido." Hinoka answered, but she still felt doubtful about it.

"You can count on us, Lady Hinoka." Azama assured happily.

"We're not going anywhere." Setsuna quipped.

"Thanks, guys. I can always count on you two. Whatever happens, I'm proud to fight with the two of you at my side. You're not dying on my watch!" Hinoka praised as she gripped tightly on her naginata.

"Of course!" Azama and Setsuna said in unison as they separated themselves from Hinoka, running off to the battlefield.

"I've spent my whole life looking for you," Hinoka whispered as she gazed at Corrin, her tone becoming harsher, "finally, I found you."

In Hinoka's opinion, it wasn't right for her to be standing idly by as her army was doing all of the effort to subdue the Nohrian army from advancing, but she had to be their last line of defense should the worse come to occur. Soon, Nohr would concede to Hoshido, never to meddle in their affairs again. If only that was simple in Hinoka's mind, a meager pipe dream.

"Eldritch Smackdown!"

Hinoka's attention had went to a scene of the Nohrian Prince Leo's retainer performing a move with his sword that inflicted a grave wound onto one of her soldiers. Then, another of her men had charged at the retainer, but that soldier had met the same fate as the other.

Screams of pain had filled the air, and they weren't mainly originating from Nohr's army. Prince Xander wielded the mighty Siegfried as he rode on his horse, attacking anyone who stood in his way. Prince Leo and Princess Elise used their tomes to unleash their magic at Hoshido's onmyoji forces. Kaze was flanking at some of the Hoshidan soldiers, creating a distraction in order for Nohr to advance. The village girl in Nohr's army was dispatching incoming kinshi and falcon knights, their bloodcurdling cries of pain ringing Hinoka's ears.

The warrior princess had tried to stop them by slowing their process with a dragon vein, but they were able to counter her plan. From the looks of it, she was already failing.

"For Nohr!"

Hinoka's ears perked up at the sound of Corrin's battle cry as she witnessed him attacking an oni chieftain without hesitation, and by using the sacred Yato that, in her thoughts, was only to be used by someone with a pure heart. Was fate being cruel to her?

A few of her men had made an attempt at stopping Corrin's advancement, but despite landing a few hits, it wasn't enough to halt him as they all fell down to his sword.

"No." Hinoka muttered as her eyes widened at the horror of the scene, her stomach churning.

She wanted to help her men and retainers as much as she could, but she was honor bound to guard Castle Shirasagi from being invaded by Nohr.

However, much to Hinoka's relief, a wave of kinshi and falcon knights glided to the battlefield, each of them ready to give their lives for the sake of Hoshido.

"You have been naughty!" Camilla had shouted in anger as she mounted onto her wyvern, soaring off to the sky as she started her assault on the Hoshidan reinforcements.

Camilla had managed to evade the arrows that were shot by the kinshi knights as she brandished her signature axe. She attacked incoming kinshi knights, which caused them to lose their hold, falling down in the process. Mozu took care of the falcon knights while Camilla handled the rest.

Despite the presence of more Hoshidan forces, it still wasn't enough. They were being mowed down one by one.

Setsuna locked on to Camilla's wyvern, making an aim at one of its wings. As she was about to fire her shot, she was attacked by Camilla's retainer, but she was able to dodge the attack.

"Oh no you don't!" Selena yelled out as she took on a fighting stance, her stare set on Setsuna.

"I promised that I wouldn't disappoint Lady Hinoka." Setsuna had affirmed as she changed her target to Selena.

Arrows were shot at Camilla's retainer, but she was very agile to miss most of the shots, despite some of them grazing her outfit. Selena lashed her sword at Setsuna, causing the latter to change tactics due to her weapon disadvantage.

"Setsuna!" Azama yelled as he aimed his Hexing Rod at Selena, hoping to incapacitate her. However, Kaze had managed sneak up behind him in the nick of time, knocking him down to the point of unconsciousness instead of killing the great monk.

Setsuna looked behind as she saw Azama on the ground, her demeanor changing to that of concern. "Azama! Are you-" her voice got caught as she noticed a sharp pain coming from her abdomen. She saw that a sword had impaled through her.

"Always keep your eyes on your opponent!" Selena had advised as she removed her sword from the sniper, causing the latter to go on her knees as she clutched onto her abdomen.

Selena then made way to assist her comrades in the battlefield while Elise took a mental note to tend to Setsuna's wound afterwards.

Hinoka couldn't believe it, her trusted retainers and good friends were defeated before her very eyes. Hot tears formed in her eyes as she tried to stay strong. To her, the Nohrians had an insatiable battle appetite, not giving a care as to how much damage they were causing, but from the looks of it, they weren't even enjoying the battle to begin with.

The last wave of Hoshidan reinforcements were decimated by the efforts of Xander and his retainer Laslow who had rallied the spirits of his comrades to continue on in the fight. Hinoka didn't bother to notice that Elise and Felicia were tending to the wounded Hoshidan soldiers as her anger was directed at the other Nohrians for causing her distress. Now, she truly was Hoshido's last line of defense. The fate of Castle Shirasagi depended on her.

"Hinoka."

Consumed by her anger, Hinoka didn't notice that Corrin was staring at her from a distance, with Camilla by his side. Despite him being responsible for Hoshido's woes, Hinoka wanted to give Corrin one last shot. She would have wanted to demand the fate of Takumi and Sakura beforehand, but she decided to opt out of that.

"Corrin, how does it feel to be back at your true home?" Hinoka demanded as the grip on her naginata had softened.

Camilla simply nodded her head in disappointment, knowing full well that her husband wouldn't be swayed by the Hoshidan princess' words.

"Hinoka, I'm sorry but I must seize the Hoshidan throne. Step aside or I'll strike you down with no hesitation." Corrin had warned as he pointed the Yato at Hinoka's direction, his expression being calm and collected.

"How can you say that?!" Hinoka lashed out in shock, her mouth quivering afterwards. "D-do you really feel nothing for this place? For any of us?!"

Corrin looked at his Hoshidan sibling somberly, but he knew that it had to be done in order to expose King Garon's true identity. Sometimes, the reward would outweigh the repercussions. So, he refused to reply to her questions.

"I always imagined welcoming you home, seeing you running up those steps," Hinoka said, turning her vision towards the entrance of Castle Shirasagi, "I longed to watch you grow up… to call you brother and hold you tight."

Hinoka began to cry at the thought of her dreams being all for naught. The years of training long and hard in order to one day return Corrin home since his kidnapping had truly been a lost cause, after all. She wondered if in some other world, Corrin would be fighting for Hoshido, and at her side.

"That was my dream. But now," Hinoka returned her gaze back at Corrin, "that dream is dead. Isn't it, Corrin?"

"Hinoka…" Corrin simply whispered as he stared at the ground in shame, knowing just how much pain he had caused to Hinoka, their family, and the rest of Hoshido. He noticed that she whistled for her pegasus to join her side.

Hinoka mounted onto her steed as she held her naginata with one hand while the other had took hold on the reins, her stare reverting back to that of anger. "Psh, I'm just wasting my time. My dream is simply a fairy tale to never come true. The enemy commander is right in front of me. There's only one thing to do. Once I'm through with you, you will never threaten this kingdom again!"

Corrin only nodded his head in acknowledgement as he prepared himself for whatever Hinoka had in store, his gaze becoming serious. "I'm sorry that it had to be this way. But know that I have no intention of backing away!"

The rest of the Nohrian faction stayed away from getting involved in Corrin and Hinoka's fight, but they made sure to be on the lookout for the possibility of Hoshidan reinforcements. As much as Camilla had wanted to put Hinoka in her place, it was Corrin's personal battle.

Hinoka remembered the time when she and Corrin would play at the castle gardens when they were children, often crafting flower crowns for each other, or when they would play hide-and-go-seek with Ryoma and Takumi inside the castle. The late Queen Mikoto would also read bedtime stories to her, Corrin, and the rest of her siblings. Even Corrin's reunion was a moment that Hinoka would always cherished, and she had yearned for that feeling to last longer.

'Could things have gone different between us?' Hinoka wondered as Corrin made the first move. She shrugged those thoughts off as she put her focus on him.

To Hinoka, it seemed as though the whims of Fate wasn't so generous to her.