Corrin has a nightmare. Leo grapples with their encounter in Izumo.


It was long past midnight when Corrin shot upright with a scream dying on her lips. Her body trembled as she glanced around her quarters the mantra of it's not real it's not real racing through her head. It had felt real. She could still feel the cold wind on her back, the unholy aura in the air, Leo.

Shaking her head, she stood and made her way across the room to the window. With two fingers, she pushed aside the curtains and stared through the opening. The courtyard was a dead space. The usual hum of active life was gone and a hollow silence hung in its place. She turned from the window and the curtain swung back into place with a soft rustling. She stood there, wrapped her arms around herself, stared ahead but didn't focus. Even as a child, she had never been afraid of the dark; it was lonely like her. But now…

"I hope you like the dark. I'm about to drown you in it!"

She shivered but the chill passed. Her breathing evened and she no longer felt dizzy with fright, but her chest hurt. She didn't even realize she had been crying until the wet dripped off her chin and onto the bare skin of her arm. Swiping at her eyes with the back of her hand, she moved to the door, threw it open. She took the steps slowly, one at a time, careful not trip and then she was outside.

The night air was soft and her hair swayed in the gentle breeze. The weather was always temperate here, never too hot or too cold, always just right. She walked around the treehouse she affectionately called home and began to move through camp. Dozens of tents spanned the grounds and even more huts dotted the landscape. From where she stood, the fortress seemed endless, stretching forever into the horizon. She knew before the end of the month, there'd be more huts built for more families that arrived. From the moment she had led an attack on Fort Jinya and convinced Sakura and her retainers to join her, waves of refugees, Hoshidian and Nohrian, began pouring into the fort. With the threat of war ever present, they flocked to the idea of peace and quickly surpassed the capacity of the fort. Of course, this had led to quite the confrontation with Lilith as keeping strangers out was part of her job.

"Lilith, when you first brought me here you said this place was safe," Corrin explained, "You said no one could get here unless you showed them how."

"What is this about, Lady Corrin?" Lilith questioned. She spoke slowly but her voice was strong and her eyes stayed wide. Corrin's eyes narrowed.

"There are hundreds of people in the courtyard and I want to know how they got here!" Corrin demanded. Lilith's tail twitched and she began, "Lady Corrin, you must understand that-"

"Either you lied to me or you brought them here yourself!" Corrin interrupted, "Which is it Lilith?"

Lilith hung her head and responded lowly, "I brought them here."

"I-wait, what?" Corrin blurted. The reprimand she had been mentally preparing dropped off her tongue and was replaced by shock. It felt like betrayal.

"I brought them here," Lilith repeated, eyes focused on the ground. Thoughts racing, Corrin finally managed to spit out, "But why?"

"You are an inspiration, Lady Corrin," she explained, "They're following in your footsteps. They want peace like you do."

"How do you know that?" Corrin demanded, "They could be spies, sent by Garon to wipe us all out in the dead of night."

"The Astral Dragons told me," Lilith stated. It wasn't a good enough explanation, but Corrin knew she'd receive no other from the little dragon so she kept her mouth shut.

"These people need security and a cause. They have that here," Lilith announced, face softening, "And you need them."

"And why exactly do I need them?" Corrin responded, eyes narrowing. Lilith laughed.

"You can't fight a war without an army Lady Corrin."

Anything they had need of was found in ample supply in the land surrounding the fortress and the refuges were more than willing to help, but it had not been easy. Establishing a livable space for an army was an arduous process and there was no end in sight. Every day, new refuges arrived and they wouldn't stop coming until the war was over. But there were advantages. The displaced villagers turned the everyday minutia of the fort into a well oiled machine. They ensured that the army was well fed, equipped, and clothed. The army ranks swelled with young soldiers, eager to fight for a cause of justice and peace. Though inexperienced and quickly trained, their vigor and dedication to their cause, and to her, proved to be ferocious on the battlefield. When Zola's lackeys had outnumbered them two to one in Izumo earlier that day, they'd emerged victorious and suffered few causalities. It was unbelievable.

The thought of Izumo made her eyes sting and her chest heavy. "I no longer think of you as my sister," he'd said and that was fair. She'd never been his sister. But it hurt all the same.

Of them all, Leo had been the one she'd most considered a kindred spirit. Years of trust and love were shattered in a single instant by the denial of a word that should never have been used to link them in the first place. It left her with a bitter taste in her mouth.

Corrin walked until she came to the gates and kept walking still. She walked into the forest and didn't stop until she reached the lake. It was just as beautiful as the first time she saw it.

They had spent the past hour tramping through the forest, documenting any resource they located. It was exhausting, but it needed to be done if they were going to survive. It may have been a magical fortress in a magical land, but, so far, nothing they needed had magically appeared. So they scouted.

Tired of staring at tree after tree, Corrin insisted they follow a nearby creek to its source. Annoyed, Jakob dismissed her and so she followed the creek alone. When she crested the hill to stand before the lake, she was glad she was alone.

In reality, it was more of a glorified pond than a lake but to her it might as well have been the ocean. It was a murky sort of blue with a scattering of water lilies and cattails. A heron stood by the edge, hunting for lunch. A warm breeze blew through her hair and when she inhaled it tasted like the sun. Standing on the hill, staring across the water at the beautiful scenery, she wept. This is what freedom is she thought to herself this is freedom.

Now, she sat on the sandy bank with a sigh. Wrapping her arms around her legs, she rested her chin on her knees and stared out at the calm water. There were ripples and, in the distance, a lone bullfrog called out into the night. Though her dream had not left her, she felt at peace.

She didn't know how long she sat there before someone came through the woods behind her. At the sound of their footsteps, she shot to her feet and spun around shouting, "Who's there?"

"Calm down," came the gruff reply, "It's just me."

As her brother stepped into the light, she breathed a sigh of relief and released her grip on the dragonstone around her neck.

"Can't sleep?" she asked as he approached. In the starlight, his hair was just as colorless as hers and his skin even paler. His entire body glistened with sweat.

"No," Takumi replied, crossing his arms. She turned back towards the lake saying, "Me either."

"How did you know I was here?"

"Saw you leaving, followed you here."

"Oh" was all she said. She sat back down on the bank and motioned for him to join her. Without protest, he joined, crossing one leg under the other.

Did you have a nightmare? she wanted to ask but didn't; the moment was too fragile. They sat in silence, both staring out at the lake, listening to the running water and the wind through the trees.

"There was a lake like this in Shirasagi," Takumi told her, "Did you ever-?"

She shook her head and he responded, "I'll take you there after this is all over."

"I'd like that."

They stayed until the stars went away and the sun began to peak over the horizon.


February 17

I had the dream again tonight. The one that I don't know I'm having until I wake up. Is a dream really a dream if you don't know it's a dream? If, even after you wake up, it still feels real even though you know there's no way it could be?

This is the fifth time that I can remember having it. I always wake up in a cold sweat with my own name ringing in my ears so loud. Then the silence falls so sudden that I swear I must have gone deaf. I bet if my name were Beth it'd be a lot less foreboding. Less syllables, less emphasis.

I wish I could remember. If I remembered then maybe it wouldn't be so damn frightening. It's not so much the dream itself but the feeling after I wake up. The silence, the dread that settles in goose flesh across my entire body when I realize where I am, that I'm not wherever I was in the dream. There's always some part of me that says 'you don't belong here.' I wish I could say it was a ridiculous notion.

All I want is to return there. I know if I go to the place in my dream, things will heal. Because right now, I feel broken but I don't know what has done the breaking. It's always been a part of me but it's become so much more prominent. It invades my every thought.

After I'd woken, I walked around the fortress. The cold stone felt good under my feet and I began to relax. There is something incredibly calming about being the only one awake in the dead of night. No one to tell you what to do or say-

"Ah, I was wondering where you were hiding Leo."

The voice made him jump and Leo slammed the book shut. Remembering himself, he relaxed his guilty posture and asked, "How is Father?"

Xander sighed behind him and Leo knew that his eyebrows were pinched together. Camilla often said their older brother's royal portrait should be redone because he had been painted without the customary worry lines between his brows. Someone might get the wrong idea," she'd remarked, "they might think he knows how to relax."

"Father is," he paused, thinking of the proper words, "occupied with the war. We barely spoke."

Leo clenched his fist. That roughly translated to Father is continuing to act strangely and pray to the ceiling dragon but there's nothing to be done about it. He thought of what Corrin had said in Izumo, "I learned that Garon… He's being manipulated by someone" but did not share this with his brother. When reporting to his father earlier that morning, he hadn't mentioned that he'd encountered Corrin. Or that he had even gone to Izumo.

"Mokushu has agreed to an alliance," he'd announced, "They've begun rallying their forces against Hoshido."

Garon shifted on his throne but said nothing. Iago spoke for him, saying, "Well, done Lord Leo. This is good news. Especially after hearing about poor Zola."

"The illusionist?"

"Hmm, yes, seems he met in unfortunate fate in Izumo," Iago cooed, "Too bad you were all the way Mokushu right?"

"Quite," Leo replied, his tone smooth. His face remained stoic even though his stomach turned at the hanging implication. Garon shifted again and appeared bored. He hadn't spoken so much as a word since Leo had returned from Mokushu that morning. He'd allowed Iago to do all the talking for him. Before Izumo, Leo wouldn't have questioned his father's silence, but now?

Why won't father speak? Does he think I'll be able to tell something's amiss?he thought, staring at his father. Corrin's eager face appeared in his mind, bright and hopeful, begging him to join her. He buried the thought, She lied. That's what traitors do.

But he'd let her go all the same.

As Xander moved to sit down, Leo questioned, "Has there been any word from Camilla?"

The once overbearing Camilla had become a recluse. Since that fateful day on the outskirts of Hoshido months ago, she avoided all her siblings and spoke only in monotone. She hadn't been at Castle Krakenburg in at least a month. She'd taken to throwing herself into the thick of battle whenever possible. Though she was wildly successful and had yet to fail a mission, the reports detailed her as reckless and sloppy. If not for Beruka and Selena, she would be dead. Before he'd left for Mokushu, Odin had shared a letter with him from Selena: Lady Camilla is getting worse. She refuses to listen to us and keeps throwing herself into danger every chance she gets. She wants to die before King Garon sends her after Corrin.

Xander's voice drew Leo out of his thoughts, "She's made contact with the Ice Tribe but, beyond that, nothing."

"Good," Leo responded, leaning backwards in his chair as relief washed over him. Before a silence could fall, Xander gestured to the closed book.

"What are you reading?"

"Oh," Leo began, hands unfolding to rest on the cover, "this details the geography of Hoshido."

Xander's mouth tightened but, if he sensed Leo's lie, he didn't press the subject. Leo thumbed the spine, wondered if the loose binding was Corrin's doing or damage done from his own poor care. He'd already read it several times over, finding comfort in the words. He'd found it the day Corrin had died, hidden among her many unworn shoes. Of course, she hadn't actually died, but they hadn't known.

"The boards," he'd said, "they must have broken. She must have-"

He couldn't bring himself to finish the thought. Elise began to sob. It was a broken, shrill sobbing that resonated in the clear air. Leo cringed, clenched his fists. His face grew hot but he did not cry. Xander walked up beside him, stopped, bent down, picked something up. Behind them, Camilla spoke comforting words to Elise but her voice was watery and thin. Soon, Elise's sobs broke and she began to hiccup. After a moment of staring at Xander's clenched fist, Leo asked, "What is it, brother?"

Without warning, Xander spun on his heel and shoved past Leo. His broad shoulder slammed into Leo and threw him backwards. Leo stumbled and stared after him, mouth gaping. He turned to Camilla for explanation as the crown prince stormed off but found none. Her cheeks glistened with tears and she held Elise tight in her arms. His throat threatened to close so he turned away, looked out over the chasm instead. He could not fault his brother for behaving irrationally. Despite what he wanted everyone to think, Xander was still human. And Corrin was dead.

"You have the devil's own luck," he'd said to her before she left but that luck had run out. She was somewhere at the bottom of that canyon and they'd never find her body. He poked at the ground with his foot, holding back tears. His foot turned over a strip of black and he picked it up. Holding it between two fingers, he recognized the scrap of fabric, realized Xander must have dropped it, understood why. Corrin had tied her hair back with it every day. She'd pull her wild curls high on her head and wrap the ribbon tight around them. He couldn't recall how many times he'd pulled it from her hair, sending colorless strands spilling across her face; her angry shout as she ran after him, screaming at him to give it back.

It crumpled inside his fist.

The ribbon had been passed from sibling to sibling until ending with Elise. She now wore it around her wrist long after Corrin had turned traitor. They all handled the betrayal differently. Xander devoted himself to Nohr even more than before, never so much as mentioned Corrin. Camilla stopped speaking, grieved alone. Leo took notes from both but he couldn't be as selfish as Camilla or as heartless as Xander. He had tried, but Izumo had changed everything, shaken his faith in himself. Only Elise had chosen to act like it hadn't happened. She was still Elise, a little sadder, but still a bundle of energy and joy. Her belief in Corrin remained steadfast, openly hoping for the day Corrin returned to them. None of them had the heart to tell her to take it off, to tell her that Corrin was never coming back to them.

Corrin, he thought, glancing down at the book. He burned when he thought of her and it hurt. She'd abandoned them, didn't deserve his thoughts."I no longer think of you as my sister," he'd told her, but that was only partially true. She wasn't his sister now, and he supposed she never had been, but they'd shared something deeper than that. He couldn't pretend it had vanished the moment she turned traitor. It would always be there to stay his hand and to give his pause. He closed his eyes.

He stood in the courtyard, right hand outstretched, left holding the ancient tome close to his body. He closed his eyes, inhaled. Exhaled, recited the words, flexed his fingers. Twisted roots exploded from beneath the concrete. They eviscerated the stone statue across from him before retracting back into the ground. For a moment, all he could hear was the pounding blood in his ears and the magic crackling across his fingertips. He still hadn't gotten used to the raw power of it yet. Then she shrieked, "That was amazing!"

She sprinted to where the ground was cracked and stared down at it breathing, "Wow."

He walked up beside her, slightly lightheaded from the demonstration. It wasn't the first time he'd successfully used Brynhildr, but it was the first time he'd shown anyone besides his father. His nerves had nearly got the best of him.

As he drew close, she threw her arms around him and squeezed tight. At thirteen, he was still shorter than she. It would only be a matter of months before he would stand taller, something she would never forgive him for. He hugged her just as tightly. When she finally let him go she announced, "I'm so proud of you Leo."

He smiled but said nothing, not wanting to ruin the moment with unnecessary words. As they walked inside, she turned to him and asked, "So when do I get a cool weapon?"

"When you actually succeed at something," he teased, but his eyes darted away. He knew she'd never get a weapon akin to Brynhildr; father would never allow it. She stuck her tongue out at him and challenged, "Just you wait. I'll get a weapon so cool all the other weapons will bow down before it."

He laughed along with her. Just as the doors to the courtyard were slamming shut behind them, the massive front doors were swinging open. Jakob came stumbling through, straining under the weight of several cases of luggage and mumbling curses under his breath. Laslow followed behind him with Peri close by. Leo hadn't even realized she'd left his side until he watched her launch herself at the Crown Prince. Xander caught her effortlessly and spun her around. They both laughed and Leo's good mood plummeted. With Xander here, Corrin wouldn't be anywhere else but glued to his side.

Dejectedly, he looked at down Brynhildr. Even with a magical tome of unfathomable power, he was no match for Xander. He would never be strong enough or impressive enough or charming enough or-

"Leo!" she shouted. He looked up, eyes widened as she came barreling towards him, dragging Xander behind her by his brothers acknowledged each other as they often did, with a nod, and Corrin exclaimed, "You've got to show Xander, Leo!"

"W-what?" Leo stammered eyes wide. She laughed and shouted, "Brynhildr! Show him what you can do with Brynhildr!

She turned to Xander and announced, "I think he's got you and Siegfried beat, honestly."

"I would not be surprised," Xander said, smiling at Leo. Leo's face began to redden at the unprecedented praise from his older brother and he turned away before they could see. Corrin took his hand in her own and squeezed.

"C'mon," she teased with a sly grin, "Don't tell me you're nervous!"

Feigning offense, he took his hand back and narrowed his eyes at her. Throwing open the doors to the courtyard, he quipped over his shoulder, "Prepare to be amazed!"

Leo stared at his hands, his whole body cold. Did it even matter anymore? All the time they'd spent together? The laughs they'd shared? The years of secrets and books and pain and friendship?

"Something troubling you, brother?"

His stern eyes seemed to bore through Leo's skull, see through him.

"Could you kill Corrin if it came to it?" Leo asked. His voice was calm, metered despite the question. His brother scowled.

"Where did that question come from?"

"What does it matter where it came from?" Leo spat, "Could you?"

"Did something happen in Mokushu?"

"Could you kill her, Xander?"

Xander didn't respond. Sitting there, arms crossed, Xander didn't look like Xander. Shadows cast sharp angles across his regal face, twisting it into something darker. In that light, he looked like their father.

"If necessary," was all Xander said. Leo frowned, tone dangerous, inquired, "And if it weren't?"

Xander sighed in frustration and leaned back against the chair. His grim expression melt away and, instantly, he looked younger, tired. Running a hand through his hair and then gesturing outward with the same hand, he asked, "Could you Leo?"

"Of course," he lied, sounding far too confident in his answer. Xander nodded, mouth tight and turned away, masking the pain in his eyes. And, in that moment, Leo's anger towards his brother vanished. Because Xander had been lying too, even if he didn't know it himself.


A/N A bit of a somber note to begin on, I know. Things will get worse before they better for Corrin but that's usually how it goes after making unpopular decisions.