Out of pure boredom and in hopes of bringing everyone's spirits up, Izana cheerfully asked Chom about Ylisse.
"You obviously were informed on how Nohr worked, but we no nothing of Ylisse." Izana added. Oboro narrowed her eyes at the mention of their westernly neighbors, but Robin thought nothing of it.
"Hm, well there's not much to tell. It's made up of a bit of farmlands, with a mountain range on the eastern border. North of us is Ferox, and to the west is Plegia." The Exalt replied, smiling at the memories of his homeland. Any cheerful memories were during his teenage years since his childhood was filled with the war his father had raged on Plegia.
"Alright, but what is an 'Exalt'? You said that's what you were, but what does that title mean? And who's your king?" Hinata asked with a small smile. Unlike the others, his spirit hadn't broken, they had only been in there for a little over a day after all.
"Um, we don't have a king. The Exalt is our ruler, also known as my big brother Chrom!" Lissa replied, a little louder than a whisper.
The Hoshidians visibly flinched at the news they were in the presence of a royal family the entire time, not just some semi important person. Not the first time Chrom didn't appear royal. When Robin first met him she assumed he was some mercenary hobo!
"How intriguing!" Izana exclaimed, "Tell me, you seem to be good allies with the Khan, but are you as good as allies with Plegia?"
Robin flinched while Chrom stiffened. Plegia was a sore subject.
"No, not really. The two previous kings of Plegia have cause more problems than you can imagine." Chrom said, staring at the floor.
"Oh, how much trouble could two people cause?" Oboro questioned, snark clear in her voice.
"Two wars, that's how much trouble." Lucina said grimly, glaring at the retainer who flinched and shifted uncomfortably under the princess's sight.
"The first problematic king was Grengle, the mad king as we called him. When I was a child my father raged war on Plegia, it wasn't until his death that my older sister, Emmeryn was able to stop the war. Grengle still carried the grudge of that war. He would send briggins across the border and attack villages in hopes a relighting the war. One day he captured a duke's daughter, a member of the shepherds and claimed she attacked them. In order to save her life and protect the Fire Emblem, a sacred stone kept by the Ylissean house, Robin and I attacked the guards who were about to kill her… War was declared by morning." Chrom said gravely as he remembered the times leading up to the death of Emmeryn.
Robin saw how much it was wearing him down and took over, "After a few battles, assassins trying to kill Emmeryn, and Emmeryn insisting on remaining at Ylisse while the shepherds got more Ferox soldiers we received word while at Ferox that Ylisse had fallen and Emmeryn had been captured. We immediately set off to free her from Grengle, who planned to publicly execute her in a few days time. By the time we got there she was about to be forced to jump off a ledge when we attacked, in hopes of freeing her. We got so far… That was until Risen showed up and killed the pegasus knights tasked with freeing Emmeryn… After that and a few words of hope for peace… Emmeryn jumped. Due to my flawed planning the Exalt was killed."
"It wasn't your fault Robin…" Lissa said, her eyes misty with unfallen tears, "It was Grengle's fault!"
Robin nodded solemnly before suddenly her head shot up. She stared at the door before closing her eyes in attempt to hear better.
"What's-"
"Shhh!" Robin cut off the Hoshidian prince as she focused before her eyes flew open, "I hear Zola begging for his life…"
"What? Has that oaf Basilio finally arrived?" Flavia asked curtly, though her tone suggested hope.
"No, it's female voices speaking to him-" Robin was cut off at the sound of Zola letting out a scream of pain before a thunk as his body hit the floor. A male voice then spoke to the females, but the door muffled the voices so much Robin couldn't make out what he was saying, aside from the last bit about Prince Takumi being in there.
A few moments later the door swung open to reveal a girl with long white hair, being kept back by a black headband, a taller girl with long blue hair, and a shorter girl with short pinkish red hair in the doorway.
"Archduke Izana! Takumi!" The white haired girl said in shock before her gaze rested on the larger group, "Who are you?"
"That can wait for later kiddo," Flavia said sternly, "Can you please get these ropes off first, then we'll explain."
The white haired girl quickly nodded before drawing a yellow tinted sword and hurrying over to Izana while her blue haired friend hurried to Flavia with a lance of some kind drawn.
When the youngest jogged over to Takumi she gasped, "Oh Gods, brother, you're hurt!"
Takumi scoffed, "I'm fine Sakura, untie the others first, they've been tied up a lot longer than us."
Robin smiled at the prince's thoughtful words before the white haired girl hurried over to Morgan, cutting the bonds on his waist first, then his wrist. Morgan quickly Rubbed his wrist lightly in hopes of reducing the pain. Where the ropes were was badly chafed and dried blood was on his wrists and on the rope. When Sakura saw the damage on both him and Izana she knew they were in there for a while.
The young princess hurried over to the Archduke, healing his wounds with her staff while the white haired girl cut Lucina free and the blue haired girl worked on Chrom's bonds. Sakura then hurried over to Morgan, doing the same. Although the wounds weren't completely gone, the pain was, and Morgan left out a sigh of relief as his arms fell limp by his side.
Before long everyone was freed and the injuries from being bound for so long had been tended to. Izana had been rambling on about how he was starving to the white haired princess while Sakura checked Takumi over to make sure he didn't have any more wounds.
"Oh, by the way, my name is Corrin." The white haired girl said once the Archduke stopped rambling.
"And I am Azura," The blue haired girl added.
"I am Chrom, Exalt of Ylisse, a halidom located on a continent south from here. This is my tactician and wife, Robin, and our two children, Lucina and Morgan." Chrom said as Robin walked over to his side, happy to hold his hand once again.
"I'm Lissa, Chrom's little sister." Lissa said cheerfully. Her happy voice was music to Robin's ears, during their time in that dark room she had been one of the most depressed. Probably due to her fretting over Gaius.
"Before we get into conversation, have you freed the rest of our companions?" Lucina asked as if she could read Robin's mind.
Corrin shook her head, "No, sorry, we didn't know anyone was still locked up."
Lucina nodded, "I remember where Zola had said the cells were, aunt Lissa, Morgan, come on, let's go free our companions. Sorry in advance if Fredrick won't leave you alone father." With that Lucina jogged off with her brother and aunt while Chrom sighed loudly.
"Oh Takumi," Sakura said after checking over him, "I'm so glad you're safe!"
"What are you doing here Sakura, with Corrin and Azura?" Takumi asked his sister.
"Well… I decided I would fight alongside Corrin." Sakura said shyly.
"What? Sakura, you've turned against Hoshido as well? Ryoma is going to be devastated…" Takumi said sadly, disappointment clear in his voice.
"No, I h-haven't! Neither has Corrin! No one here has actually. None of us plan to fight against Hoshido. Corrin says there is something much worse than Nohr's aggression going on. She can't explain, but I trust her Takumi, p-please trust her too!" Sakura defended while Corrin stared in disbelief at the shy princess.
Takumi stayed silent, chewing on what his sister told him while Robin and Chrom tried to figure out what was going on at this point.
"Takumi…" Corrin said slowly, fearful of upsetting the prince further.
"Hmph…" Takumi sneered as he turned away from Corrin to avoid eye contact, "You'll have to excuse me if I don't find this flimsy explanation acceptable. Sakura may believe in your story- I don't."
"I see…" Corrin mumbled sadly under her breath, her eyes glazing over as she forced herself not to cry at her sibling's harsh words.
Suddenly Izana butted into the conversation with a loud sigh, "Nonononononono! Ahhh, this won't do! This won't do at all! You've got it all wrong Prince Takumi!" Robin forced herself not to giggle at the outburst and Takumi's retainers reaction to the Archduke shouting at their lord. Especially Oboro's; she looked like she was about to beat Izana senseless.
"What are you talking about?" Takumi questioned, narrowing his eyes at the slightly crazy appearing Archduke.
"I'm not going to go all into the little details, but basically- join Corrin. That's what the Gods are telling me! Just got some prophetic stuff from them!" Izana said, cheerful as ever. Izana had told Robin and Chrom about him being like a messenger for the Gods during their first few days of being captured, so it wasn't a huge surprise to them.
"Huh? Something Prophetic!? I can't believe important prophecies just… happen all of a sudden like that." Takumi said, still skeptical.
"Hey, who's the keeper of prophecies here, you or me? They come as they come. Would you really ignore directions sent down from the Gods?" Izana questioned the prince while Robin once again had to contain a little laughter.
"You know, you say that, but… How can I choose to side with someone who won't side with her homeland?" Takumi questioned, "Oh course I'm grateful she saved us, but… I just can't trust Corrin."
"Jeez, you're one tough nut to crack. What am I supposed to do?" Izana groaned while Robin had to cover her mouth and Chrom was forced to bite down on his tongue to keep from laughing. Flavia, however, let out a roar of laughter. That's Ferox after all, not huge fans of manners.
"I don't like breaking out the big bows," Izana continued as if Flavia wasn't there, "but if a little extra prophesizing is needed… Well Prince Takumi, that's just what you'll get!" With that Izana ran off towards the throne room and the group went scurrying after him. Dang, even after not moving for over a week this guy was fast.
By the time they got there Izana had grabbed a crystal ball off of a table next to the throne and had sat down in said throne, the crystal on his lap.
Izana cleared his throat, closing his eyes, "Everything is not yet seen… The truth is far and hidden low. The one upon the water's surface, he who knows all is the true foe…"
Everyone stared in silence at Izana until his eyes flew open and he let out a sigh, "Whew. There ya go. The Gods really want to speak with you, Prince Takumi. Princess Corrin is not your enemy."
"Then who is?" Takumi questioned, getting frustrated at this point, "What was Sakura saying a moment ago… That Corrin knows something about our supposed enemy?"
"Yes. I can't explain it all now, but what Archduke Izana says is true. We came to Izumo hoping to find a way to defeat our mysterious enemy." Corrin said calmly, glancing at Azura every so often.
The Archduke hurried off his throne before jogging over to Corrin, saying something about the 'Seal of Flames'. Robin and Chrom, however, weren't listening due to Frederick running over to them, talking a million miles an hour about how thin they looked, how their wrists were still chafed, and other things.
He ended up grabbing both of their wrists and dragging them off to the dining hall before they could complain.
"Ah, Frederick!" Robin complained before glancing back at the other group who were all giving them strange looks, "Ehh, we'll join you later- Frederick let go!"
With that, Frederick the wary drug the two royals off as they shouted at him the whole way.
Ack, so sorry about the late update. I'm trying to do daily updates but it's kinda hard. Sorry if the chapter is kinda rushed and mostly just dialogue, but I was brain dead and trying to hurry. I didn't even check for spelling mistakes so I apologize if there are many. I will try to update again but as mentioned, this is kinda hardish. And please, if you have any questions I will HAPPILY answer them :D