Nina

"Nina?" a guard called out. "Nina! Your grandfather Garon wishes for you to be present for dinner!"

Nina silently nodded. She had been hiding for a few hours at this point, hidden deep within a tree overlooking the training grounds, watching the guards. In her imagination, the third in line to the Kingdom of Nohr, Siegbert, was not simply asking for help with his fighting stance from her friend Soleil's father, Laslow. Instead, something more scandalous had begun to pique her thoughts. How come Soleil got such a hunk of a dad when mine's just bland! She screamed in her head.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the rustling of the leaves as another person had joined her in the tree. Nina turned to her side and noticed that Percy had joined her in her vantage point.

"Whatcha doin' there, Nina?" Percy asked, cheerfully as ever.

Percy had a certain happy-go-lucky nature to him always. He had short, ruffled pale blue hair, wrapped around his blue-and-red hero mask. The mask had eye slits to show his wide, bubbly green eyes as well as showing his always smiling mouth. He wore a blue, red, and black shirt with steel armguards with steel boots as well, revealing his lower thighs and knees between his shorts and his boots.

"N-none of your business!" Nina shouted, feeling a blush coming on.

Percy smiled. "Your granddad was looking for you, so I thought I'd come over and tell you that!"

"How did you find me?"

"I dunno, I just...did, I guess." Percy shrugged, still smiling. He always seemed to have some of the best luck, so much so that it almost scared Nina.

"Did you find Nina?" the voice of the same guard from earlier called.

"Yep!" Percy happily exclaimed. "Now let's get you down from this tree, Nina."

"You can't make me."

Percy smiled. "Come here, Ace!" he called to no one in particular.

Nina felt a tug on her back as she began to barrel down towards the cobbled road below. Before she made impact with the ground, however, she began to almost hover above it, held in place by Percy's wyvern, Ace. Ace dropped Nina after hovering for a few seconds, causing her to land flat on her face. Almost instantaneously, she got up and was about to bolt when she felt a hard tug on her arm. She instinctively threw her open fist at her captor, before it was caught.

"Are 'ya having fun there, Nina?" Soleil joked. She let go of her grip, letting Nina fall back to the ground.

Soleil was an odd mix of femininity and masculinity. She was surprisingly strong for looking as small as she did (though she was slightly taller than Nina, her features were seldom defined), and she had a warm, reassuring face with big, brown eyes that could light up at a moment's notice. She had small ears poking up from just under her cornflower-blue hair that reached down to just below the small of her back. She wore a beige-coloured, ruffled shirt with a black vest with golden studding in it on top. At her hip was a simple iron sword that she almost always seemed to be carrying around with her.

"Why are you here too, Soleil?" Nina asked harshly.

Soleil sheepishly grinned. "My dad was being ordered around by Lord Xander about finding you, so he eventually sent me out too. Now I'm here!"

Nina slowly got up and brushed herself off, admitting defeat. "Where do they want me?"

"Right down in Castle Krakenburg," Percy cheerfully replied.

Nina began making her way down the street towards Castle Krakenburg, preparing to make a bolt for it, but she could still feel Soleil's eyes training in on her.

"I'm a grown woman, Soleil," Nina eventually shouted, annoyed.

"I know," Soleil said calmly. Then with a sudden shift in her tone, she brazenly added, "I can't let a cute girl such as yourself get out of my sights that easily."

Nina sighed in a mix of disgust, horror, and plain-out confusion. Soleil, much like her father, was always trying to be a full-blown womanizer, which lead Nina to imagine that her father acted similarly towards men as Soleil towards women.

After some time, Nina finally managed to make it all the way into the grand Castle Krackenburg. It was a well-protected fortress, surrounded by an artificial mountain of marble bricks. It almost seemed to transition into night as she entered the castle complex, as the mountain dome was high enough to block out the sun throughout the majority of the day, though at times the area would be lit. She was travelling on one of the many walkways that spanned over a seemingly endless expanse, where falling may have spelled certain death. Nina noticed that despite how late in the day it was getting, there were still guards training at some of the training grounds that were at the ends of more of the walkways.

"Hey Nina," Soleil said, still walking with Nina, "if someone were to fall down one of these, then how do they get back up?"

"I'm not sure," Nina said, still focusing her eyes on the castle ahead. "I think they just hit the ground and die."

"But what if someone like you were to fall? A royal, I mean. King Garon has to save his own kin, right?"

Nina fell silent, and subconsciously slowed her pace. Her mother had told her about it, how when she was young, Garon had many mistresses, and they fought amongst each other in order to prove that they were the best of the mistresses. Those fights weren't merely wars of wits, but real wars. The different mistresses would have their children fight one another, and only the strongest survived. Only Xander was a child of Garon's wife, while the rest of Nina's aunt Elise and Uncle Leo, as well as her own mother, were children of concubines.

"D-did I touch on something I wasn't supposed to?" Soleil asked, worry dripping from her voice.

"It's fine," Nina shot back dismissively. She sped on her way to make it to the castle as quick as possible, leaving Soleil behind.

"...so it is imperative that you keep good behavior with the king of Izumo," King Garon was saying as Nina walked in. Several of the people in attendance at the court shot quick glances at her before hastily turning their attention back to the imposing king.

Garon was a very intimidating man. While he was not as tall as his son Xander, Garon still towered over many of the lesser people in court. He wore thick, night-black armour, with a black fur cape with a white fur collar around his neck, as well as a black jagged crown. His face was ominous, always frowning, with deep wrinkles to mark his age. Despite the wrinkles, many of the other features on his face were marked with a same intensity that many of Nina's friends and acquaintances, despite him being well into his seventies whilst Nina was only eighteen. He had white hair that reached from his crown to the edge of his collar and down to his neck, simply pulled back, and a white beard that reached across his jaw just below his mouth and reached down to around his sternum when he sat, though the beard had a pointed strip of black jutting from his chin.

"Why does Izana wish to meet with us?" a voice asked, unfamiliar to Nina.

"I do not know," Garon responded, "but what I do know is that we will need to gain his trust before we can use his castle as a foothold into Hoshido. The Hoshidans must perish, and Izumo will be the first to fall."

Several voices began to cheer, but Nina noticed several of the attendees solemnly look down, silently disagreeing with their King's notion, though not openly rejecting it on fear of death.

"My King," the serpent-like voice of Iago, Garon's right hand advisor eventually spoke. "I do not think that you personally should trouble yourself with meeting with this buffoonish King Izana. Send out Prince Xander to meet with him."

"I shall send all of my children, with their families. You as well, Corrin."

"Very well," Leo's voice rose.

"Now then, prepare yourselves to leave for Izumo. Now leave my presence."

As Nina began to walk away, the cheerful voice of her cousin Sophie shouted up.

"Heya Nina!" she said ecstatically. "Didja get all of that? I know you came in late but-"

"Yes," Nina interrupted. "I know we're heading to Izumo, for some parley with King Izana. No one knows why, but Garon wants us to go."

"I know! It's so exciting!" Sophie said once more.

Sophie gave out a smile that seemed to brighten the oftentimes dark Castle Krackenburg. She had her hair arranged in a bob, in a silver-white colour. She had big, eager eyes in a slate-grey shade, with a certain fire behind them. She wore a set of dark grey armour, much lighter than that of King Garon's, and it was well-suited for having to ride her horse, whom she was rarely without when not being forced to stay with the royal family. She was the daughter of Corrin, who was not blood-related to Nina or any of the rest of the royal family, but was adopted many, many years ago by Garon after being abandoned in the streets by her Hoshidan family.

"Except for the fact that Granddad seemed very eager to get the entirety of the royal family out of Nohr and without him with," Nina observed.

Sophie had a cross look to her face for a moment, before quickly smiling and responding with, "Maybe he's finally getting old? Maybe Uncle Xander will be King Xander soon!"

Nina hushed Sophie down. Sophie looked puzzled for several seconds before eventually realizing what she did and giving an embarrassed look. It was taboo to say anything about the prospect of King Garon dying. There had been many Nohrian nobles that had made jokes about that, only to either mysteriously vanish or be outright executed. While Sophie remained blissfully unaware of the torture that Nina's mother had gone through however many years prior, Nina herself knew that Garon was willing to let his own family die in order to keep face.

"Alright, Sophie," Nina began shortly after leaving the expanse of Castle Krackenburg, "Go get Avel, and remember to pack your stuff before we leave. And especially remember, don't question anything about this trip." Sophie cheerfully nodded and began to sprint off, leaving Nina behind, only to sigh and wonder what the purpose behind this trip, as well as Garon's abstaining, was.

The royals had arrived in Izumo, all exhausted from the weeks-long trip. Nina herself had been sleeping almost the entire journey, which was mostly taken by sea, yet she still was tired as well. The parents had all been off the ship for some time, presumably to let the royal children rest some time longer, but now they were all awake and waiting on the deck for instructions to where they were staying. Nina was the last one to reach the deck, and began to scan the area, still rubbing sleep out of her eyes. Sophie was already mounted onto Avel, her horse, and looked ready and raring to go towards wherever it was that they were staying at or even straight into or through Izumo Castle. Forrest stood next to her, marvelling in the scenery of the city, as well as in some of the odd fashions of the Izumite people. On Forrest's horse rested Velouria, her red hood covering the top of her head as well as the non-human ears. Kana stood next, his eyes filled with wonder at the new location. To end off the line was Siegbert, glaring intently at Nina, likely for her tardiness.

"Does anyone know when we're getting off this ship?" Nina asked, yawning.

"Maybe sooner if someone hadn't overslept," Siegbert said, sarcasm dripping from his voice.

Siegbert was ideal for a king; tall, strong, kind, and knowing what's best for the good of everyone, and he was fitting for being the third in line for the throne of Nohr. He had blond hair, arrange unkempt, but in a way that seemed clean, reaching just below his jaw behind his head. He had stern, burgundy-tinted eyes, as well as a aquiline nose, a stern, perpetually-frowning mouth, and shockingly small ears that were untouched by his hair. Like many Nohrians, he too wore black armour, with a magenta scarf and cape wrapped around his neck and let to flow. On his left arm, there was a larger pauldron covering his shoulder with an ornate golden eagle design. He was surprisingly tall, standing almost an entire head taller than Nina, who was by no means small, and seemed to still be growing.

"Velouria's still sleeping, though…" Nina responded snarkily.

"And she stole my horse!" Forrest whined.

Forrest was effeminate for a man, so much so that many people upon first seeing him assume that he is a woman. He had long, braided black hair, covered by a floppy pink hat with a tan trimming and a ruby plastered in the middle of it. His features were very feminine, with long eyelashes and a small nose and mouth and ears. He wore a frilly pink shirt with beige trousers, as well as brown leather boots and gloves.

"Yeah...sorry about that," Velouria muttered, mostly asleep.

Out of the entirety of the odd characters that ran within the royal family, Velouria seemed to be the most normal, despite her being only half-human. She had a blank, expressionless face, with sleepy red eyes and long, fur-coated ears from her also being half-wolfskin. She wore a red, hooded cape covering over her light grey blouse and trousers. Her hair stuck out from underneath her hood, mostly a whitish-grey, though with a single stripe of tan right above her right eye. The tips of her hair rested gently on the front of her shoulders, unfettered by any movement she would have. In her left hand, though hidden underneath her cowl, Nina knew that she was holding onto the stone that would permit her transformation into her wolfskin form.

"You're fine, Velouria!" Forrest responded apologetically.

Velouria promptly fell back asleep after acknowledging Forrest's apology. Almost immediately afterwards, a masked Izumite boarded the ship.

"You folks the royal family of Nohr?" the Izumite asked slightly flambouyantly.

"That we are!" Kana shouted.

Kana was the youngest out of everyone in the royal family by an entire five years younger than his sister, Sophie. He was distinctly shorter than any of the rest of the family, with the closest being Velouria who still stood nearly a head above Kana. He had hair in a slate grey colour, spiked up wildly all around his head, with a few strands draping over his ears on either side. He had wide, determined grey eyes and a consistently confident look on his face. He wore grey-and-black armour, with a large blue scarf covering over his neck. Nina knew that Kana had his own stone that allowed him to transfer into his dragon form hidden within that scarf somewhere.

"Then I'll show you straight to the castle," the Izumite continued, slightly more energetically from Kana's outburst.

The royals followed the Izumite, Velouria still mostly asleep. As they passed through the castle town, Nina noted all the happy faces of the Izumite people. Izumo itself was independent of either Nohr or Hoshido, and always remained neutral. This must be what it feels like to have a good king, good land, and no threat of war, Nina thought to herself, remembering all the solemn faces of the Nohrian citizens. At several points in their trek to Izumo castle, peddlers came and went, trying to sell cheap antiques or expensive 'tourist commodities' to the royal family, seemingly knowing that they were the Nohrian royals.

They arrived at the castle and were greeted by a second, much larger Izumite. "Lord Izana is currently convening with the Nohrian royal family," he said, his voice deeper and more menacing than that of the first one Izumite. "You are the children of the Nohrian royal family, I assume?"

"Yes, that we are," Siegbert said, taking charge of the royal clan.

"Very well," the Izumite responded. "I shall show you to your quarters while you are our guests here in our fine principality."

The guard led the royal family to a grand banquet hall, with several servants bustling about, attempting to clean dishes and prepare for lunch.

"Your family quarters are on the room to the left," the Izumite continued. "I do hope you enjoy your stay."

Sophie and Kana began to nearly sprint to the quarters assigned to them by the Izumite, with Forrest timidly following suit. Nina and Siegbert looked at each other with slight disappointment in their family, before waking Velouria up and heading to the room themselves. The room was absurdly extravagant, with ornate silver lighting and white cloth draped everywhere. There were eight beds, all easily large enough to hold three people, all with white sheets and blankets covering. Sophie was on one of them, rolling around and revelling in how soft the beds were. Nina began to turn to look at Velouria, but then noticed that Velouria was already out sleeping on one of the beds.

"Nina," Siegbert said after a while. Siegbert seemed to talk to Nina more so than any of the other cousins, save for Velouria when she was awake.

"Yeah?" Nina said, slightly stunned by his still stoic-demeanor.

"The Izumite mentioned specifically to go to the room on the left. Obviously that means there's a room on the right, probably the same as this one. That means there's probably someone else in the room on the right, but who?"
Nina paused to think about that, but before she could give an answer, a skinny man dressed in all white and with a mask on barged into the room.

"Lunch is now prepared for the Royal Family of Nohr!" he shouted, his voice vastly deeper than his appearance would suggest.

The siblings all got up and began making their way to the hall, but Siegbert again stopped Nina. "That's another thing," Siegbert continued. "They keep specifying 'of Nohr'."
"Does that mean that Hoshido is also here?" Nina suggested.

Siegbert shrugged and made his way to the banquet hall, where some of their worst fears were met. On the opposite side of the table, another five people, all around their age, stood.

"W-who are you?" the tall boy with pale lavender hair asked, shouting.

"I could ask the same of you!" Siegbert said, his voice wavering.

"Hey! We asked first!" the much smaller boy with a small ponytail retorted.

"Well we're asking you now!" Forrest snapped back.

"Can we please not be so loud?" a young-looking girl with pink hair sleepily said. "I do so wish to have a nice, calm lunch."

"Same," Velouria agreed in the same sleepy manner.

"We never asked you, Wolfskin," a creepy girl with crimson hair hissed.

A fire came to Velouria's eyes, intent on murder.

"Please, please," the third boy said. "Let us all accept Izumo's hospitality. First, introductions. I am Shigure."

Shigure seemed different from the rest of this other group. He was tall, like the first boy, but seemed very refined. He had sky-blue hair, spiked all around, wild and unkempt. His armour was white, with blue trimmings all around. He had a calm face, and seemed to have an air of elegance to him, flanked by warm, golden eyes. Nina noticed her heart run aflutter.

"I am Siegbert, Crown Prince to the Crown Prince of Nohr," Siegbert continued with a certain pride to him.

"Fine. The name's Shiro, son of King Ryoma of Hoshido!" the lavender-haired one spoke.

"Forrest, at your service," Forrest quietly said.

"My little cousin here's Kiragi," Shiro said, patting the ponytailed one on the head. "Our sleepy gal here is Mitama, and the last one here is Rhajat."

"My little cousin here is Velouria, this here's Kana, Sophie," Siegbert continued, each cousin identifying themselves.

"My name's Nina!" Nina interrupted.

Shiro gave an odd look at Nina, and shrugged. He then sat down, with his entire family following suit. Siegbert then motioned to his own cousins to sit down as well.

"Why do you think Izana invited both families at the same time?" Siegbert whispered to Nina as he sat down.

Nina ignored him, still staring directly at Shigure and delving deep into her world of fantasies.