Title: Something Went Wrong

Pairing: Corrin/Jakob

Rating: T (mild violence)

Disclaimer: I own absolutely no part of the Fire Emblem franchise, including FE Fates. This story is written purely for fun and is derived from the enjoyment I got from playing the games.

Author's Note: Thanks for making it this far! I know updates have been sparse. Some weekends I can breeze through chapters with no problems whatsoever! Some others…I lose my inspiration and things go by a little more slowly. Or I swamped with work.

Still, thank you all for your amazing sweetness and patience! I've got stories with other pairings on the way, so I'll keep you guys posted on those too.

-START-

"…wyer? Dwyer?"

The young man furrowed his brows and screwed his eyes shut against the darkness. His body felt lifeless but filled with aches at the same time. A pounding sensation made all five of his senses feel jumbled and nauseatingly powerful at the same time.

Although his mind and body felt drained of energy, he was conscious enough to recognize the voice calling his name. A few seconds later, the frantic voice called to him again.

"Dwyer! Big brother, please wake up!"

This time, the man focused every shred of energy in his body on just opening his eyes. At first, blinding what light confused his vision. After a few seconds of searing brightness, a blurry face started to materialize. The mysterious visage was vague at first, but as the seconds dragged on, he could make out dark eyes and ashy eyebrows knitted together in what looked to be intense sadness.

His theory was confirmed when he felt a few droplets of water drip onto his clammy cheeks. It seemed the individual above him was crying. With a sigh, Dwyer formed a tiny smile and shut his eyes again.

"Ah, hello Kana."

Kana.

That was right. The last thing he remembered was fighting by Kana's side on the battlefield. It had been nighttime during their brawl, but the brightness that can almost blinded him moment ago seemed to indicate that at least a few hours had passed and that the sun had risen.

He and his brother had been fighting a hoard…and then everything seemed to go black.

Suddenly, a memory of fighting waves of Faceless played in his mind. Recollections and sensations from the battle came rushing back all at once, and he instantly remembered seeing his brother in transform into a dragon and slaying what must have been dozens of the burly monsters.

The sudden realization of their ordeal made Dwyer snap upright, despite his disorientation, and open his eyes to see unfamiliar terrain around them.

They'd been ambushed. The troubadour could recall that much. As he scanned the land around them, he realized with a grimace that they might have stumbled into a Deeprealm portal during their confrontation. No wonder so many Faceless had been able to spawn so suddenly.

Before Dwyer could curse their own rotten luck and begin to think about their possible dimensional whereabouts, two arms went around his shoulders and squeezed him hard enough to almost crack his ribs. The small attacker was none other than his little brother.

"Dwyer!" Kana sobbed, crying shamelessly against his brother's shoulder. "You're awake!"

The man pulled the small boy closer to his arms, reciprocating Kana's relief by returning his sibling's embrace with all the power his weak arms could manage.

"Kana!" Dwyer replied, his voice full of emotion that Kana had never heard from his usually apathetic brother before. Dwyer gently pushed Kana off of him and ran his hands over the boy's shoulders and cheeks to examine his sibling for any wounds. His nimble hands examined the boy's arm and legs for any obvious breaks or gashes. "Kana, are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?"

"No, I'm fine," Kana sniffled while managing a weak nod. "Just some…little scratches. They didn't hurt me much."

The statement came as a major relief to Dwyer.

"Thank the gods…" he said with a heavy sigh of respite. His brother's dragon form was truly something to be admired. They'd just beat an entire army of Faceless and the little boy appeared to have survived the affair with only a few minor injuries. It was a miracle Kana hadn't actually broken his ribs with the incredible dragon strength the boy seemed to have.

Dwyer's thoughts were interrupted by whimpers coming from Kana. The boy was still crying even after seeing that his older brother was okay. With a confused stare, the troubadour asked his little brother, "Kana, why are you crying? I'm fine. You don't need to cry anymore."

Kana's words came out as sobs. "I…couldn't heal you."

Dwyer lifted a crescent brow in confusion.

"I'm…I'm not a healer," Kana said, eyes downcast as he tried desperately to wipe away his tears. "So I couldn't help you! I was so scared. I dragged you here, but you weren't waking up…and…and…."

Kana was running out of breath from talking so fast.

"Easy, easy…" Dwyer said soothingly, running a gloved hand through Kana's wild locks. "Shush. I'm awake and I'm fine, see?"

A few more sniffles later, Kana tried again to wipe his tears with the navy bandanna that usually adorned his neck in a kerchief fashion that almost mimicked their father's. Not wanting Kana to soil the garment, Dwyer brandished a kerchief for the boy to use instead. After a few more consoling words and few more snivels on Kana's part, the boy seemed to finally be cried out enough to speak comprehensively again.

"Feel better?" Dwyer asked.

"Yeah…" the boy said, giving Dwyer a toothy grin to reassure him. "I feel better."

"Good."

Kana stood up and helped Dwyer to his feet. The older man was still a little stiff, but was grateful to move around a bit and kick out the cobwebs a bit. He felt like he'd been out cold for a while. "Ugh. I feel more exhausted than usual. What the hell happened?"

Kana was able to validate Dwyer's theory that the two had gotten swept into a Deeprealm during the chaos of the ambush. According to the boy, they must have fought for hours. Eventually, exhaustion mingled dangerously with Dwyer's wounds and he collapsed. Thankfully, only a few Faceless remained for Kana to obliterate with his dragon form. After all the enemies had been routed, the portal had closed. All Kana could think to do was haul Dwyer to safety and hope that his brother would eventually wake up. The young boy refused to leave him behind, even to search for possible escape.

While Dwyer was thankful for his brother's quick thinking, it didn't provide a solution to the pressing problem at hand.

"So…how do we get out of here?" Kana asked with a worried frown.

"I don't know," Dwyer sighed.

"Well, mom and dad came to visit us in our Deeprealms sometimes, right?" Kana asked. One of his cheeks was puffed out rather comically while he mused. "How did they come and go?"

"The same way we got here, I suppose," the troubadour said with a shrug. "I must admit, I'm not sure."

Kana didn't seem deterred by the vagueness of their situation and kept thinking aloud. "Well, there has to be a way! Maybe if we go back to the spot where we originally were, the portal will reappear?"

"That seems like our best option," Dwyer admitted. It wasn't a great lead, but it was better than nothing. "Good thinking, Kana. Let's go."

"Okay!"

Kana grabbed Dwyer's hand and pulled the man along merrily. It seemed like he remembered the original spot where the stumbled into the new dimension. "I remember where to go! Come on, I'll take you!"

The boy seemed to have a spring in his step despite the lack of a guarantee that their idea would come to fruition. Dwyer had to admit he was a little envious of his brother's persistent optimism. It was a good thing at least one of them had a positive outcome on the uncertain events to come.

As the brothers made their way back across the planes of the new dimension, there wasn't a sign of a portal for miles. It fact, neither of them had seen a single lifeform. There were no people, no animals and no monsters. It was certainly unsettling to Dwyer, but he didn't dare to vocalize his apprehension. The last thing he wanted was to dampen Kana's spirits.

Finally, it was Kana who enunciated the oddness of the situation. "Um, Dwyer, doesn't this Deeprealm seem a little….bare to you?"

"Yeah," Dwyer admitted, looking around. This Deeprealm was definitely more barren than his had been, which had included a fully functioning town surrounded by thick woods. The land around them looked more akin to barren countryside. There weren't any landmarks or discernable markers for them to rely on for direction aside from a few rolling hills. Dwyer had to wonder how his little brother seemed to remember where the portal had been so easily.

"Hm…" Kana mused.

"What's wrong?"

"I dunno…" Kana said. "I know I said it's bare here, but…it's kind of familiar."

"Familiar?" Dwyer droned questionably. "How so?"

The little boy hummed in thought and continued to swing his head in every direction while they walked. He was looking over every inch of terrain that was visible to them. Finally, Kana stopped in his tracks and inhaled sharply in realization.

When Dwyer saw Kana stop, he followed his brother's gaze to see a small house tucked against a sloping hillside. To the troubadour, it looked like an ordinary cottage.

It wasn't until Kana spoke up that he realized the reason behind his brother's behavior.

"That was my house," Kana said slowly. He lifted a hand and pointed to the quaint cottage and said again in a hopeful voice, "That was my house!"

The older man blinked stupidly and looked at Kana with wide eyes. Even his usually slumped posture had perked up a little bit.

"You can't mean…" Dwyer asked voice also hopeful as Kana swung around and jumped for joy in his brother's arms.

"Big brother, this was my Deeprealm!" Kana exclaimed jubilantly. "We can get home!"

-END-

One more chapter!

Thank you guys so much for reading. I'll be back with an update soon!