A/N: Hello everyone, welcome back to Unending Fates!

Well, not as much feedback as last time, but feedback still came and that makes me happy. Thanks so much to the seven people that reviewed!

…Sorry about the delay, I've had massive internet problems for the past two weeks, and I also spent a lot (read: all) of my free time playing Bravely Second: End Layer, which I finally beat for the first time yesterday. I still can't get over how awesome the final boss was…

But enough of that! You're not here to listen to me fangirl over a game, you're here to read my story.

Enjoy the next part of the ride!

Chapter 3 - Fierce Winds

Being somewhat more well-rested than the last time did nothing to make the trip up the Eternal Stairway any easier. Her legs were killing her, and she knew they were nowhere near the top yet. And was it just her, or was it hard to breathe in here…? She wanted out of this place, immediately. It wasn't just the physical pain; every second here reminded her of the Faceless that had attacked them… the Faceless that had killed Lilith…

"Gods, these stairs seem to go on forever…" Sky complained as she bent down, trying to relieve her legs somehow. "Can we rest for a moment?"

Azura, farther up the Stairway than any of them, turned around. "We've almost reached the halfway point, Sky. Do you think you can make it there?"

"I can try," Sky replied, standing back up.

"Wait a moment, Lady Sky," Kaze suddenly said, his eyes darting around the walls of the cavern. He seemed to be on edge, with a shuriken already in each hand. "I'm sensing an unusual presence… I think we're being followed."

Followed? Her gut fell. No one in their right mind would follow someone up the Eternal Stairway, they'd exhaust themselves before they'd have the chance to attack. And the last time she'd been here…

Her fears were confirmed: within the blink of an eye, their path forward was blocked by Faceless. Significantly fewer than the number that had blocked them last time, but still enough to cause trouble and… and…

(Lilith…!)

With a shout, Sky charged ahead without a second thought. Someone shouted her name in surprise, but she paid them no heed. She was not going to lose anyone else to these damned creatures. She would sooner die again than have to experience that pain again. And somewhere along the lines, the others joined her in fighting against these monsters. Yes… these weren't the same as before, and her allies were different. They wouldn't fall so easily…

She was about to bring down the Yato on a Faceless she'd knocked to the ground when she froze. On the ground before her was not a large, green-skinned monster with a mask instead of a face. It was a person—injured and unconscious—and judging by their garbs, a member of the Wind Tribe.

"E-Everyone, hold!" Sky shouted, lowering her sword. She looked around—the other Faceless… were also people of the Wind Tribe. There was some sort of sorcery going on here… was Zola nearby?! He could have easily done this to trick them into fighting, but for what reason? …No time to question that, these people they'd mistakenly attacked were dying, and she didn't want to make an enemy of the Wind Tribe. "These aren't Faceless—they're people! Jakob, Sakura, can you heal them?"

Her ever-faithful butler bowed before retrieving his Heal Staff, "Of course, milady."

"Y-Yes, I don't want them to d-die," Sakura said, holding up her Bloom Festal.

Though before either healer could get to work, ominous laughter began echoing off the walls of the cavern. Laughter that Sky recognized immediately before the Sorcerer appeared out of thin air. "Good day, Princess," Iago said with a satisfied grin. "Did you enjoy my magic trick?"

"Iago," she growled. "Why did you do this?!"

"Do what?" He stared back at her, wide-eyed to feign innocence. "I didn't do a thing, you're the ones who struck down these poor villagers."

…That wasn't entirely true. "You made them look like Faceless to us—of course you did something! Tell me, why? You couldn't possibly have anything to gain from this…"

The masked Sorcerer laughed. "Oh, your ignorance does tickle me. Don't you see? Now that you're with the Hoshidans, anything is fair game. This is just the beginning…" And with that, he disappeared in a small burst of light, his laughter once again echoing throughout the Eternal Stairway.

"Tch…" Sky lowered her sword; there was no way of knowing where he was now, she couldn't just chase him down. Much as she wanted to. "There's nothing we can do about it now. …The path ahead leads to the Wind Tribe's territory, does it not?"

"It does… This puts us in an unfortunate position, to say the least," Azura noted. "We're going to have a hard time explaining what happened." She paused for a moment, and stared at Sky like she had something else to say, but didn't actually say anything.

"Hm?"

But before she could ask what exactly was wrong, Sakura ran up to her, the Bloom Festal no longer in use. "Big Sister! We've finished h-healing the villagers. …U-um, is there some r-reason why you're crying?"

(Crying?) Sky raised a hand to her face, and felt wetness. Drawing back her hand and finding that it was a clear liquid, she realized that, yes, she was definitely crying. Lilith's death must have haunted her more than she thought. The very idea of losing someone else to a Faceless in this Eternal Stairway must have set her off. Sky shook her head while drying her eyes on her sleeve. "I don't think so, I didn't even realize I was crying until just now," she told her little sister. "I'm fine…"

"O-Okay, that's good to hear…"

Their welcome to the Wind Tribe went over about as well as Sky was expecting it to; several warriors sent out to avenge those that they'd attacked. When it was clear that they were not just a group of brigands—Sakura and Azura stepping forward had something to do with that—they were granted an audience with the chief of the tribe.

…If by "audience", one meant a fight. She really didn't want another fight so soon—the climb up the Stairway combined with her panic over the supposed Faceless had drained her significantly—but if it was the only way to proceed, she would fight. If only the battlefield wasn't so sandy… but she'd take this over the intense winds of her last fight here any day.

"Sakura, make sure you stay away from the fighting. Subaki, Orochi, Jakob, your movement isn't hindered by the terrain; work to clear a path for the rest of us. Everyone else, let's go!" That was a plan, right? A bit basic, maybe, but a plan nonetheless? …Leading them was going to be tough, it'd been Leo that had come up with many of their plans for battle in her previous life.

(I can't rely on him anymore, though. Not after that betrayal…)

"…Hm?" It felt like lightning was running across her fingers, and her body felt drawn to… something nearby. A Dragon Vein here? …There was indeed one, buried in the sand. She sent power to it, and in a burst of light the ground around her turned to normal stone rather than sand. (Well, that helps… I'll have to look for more Dragon Veins.)

But before she could do that, her eyes caught a blur of bright red nearby, away from the fighting but coming towards them. Someone on a pegasus… Wait, not just someone—Hinoka! What was her sister doing here? "Big Sister!" Sky shouted, waving at her.

The eldest princess of Hoshido steered her pegasus towards her. "Sky! What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same question. I thought you were supposed to be in the capital…?"

"And I thought you were supposed to be recovering at Fort Jinya," she responded.

"Yes, well…" Sky rubbed the back of her head. "A lot has happened. We received word that Ryoma and Takumi went missing near Izumo, and we're trying to track them down."

Hinoka visibly paled. "Oh, gods… they are not the sort of men that simply go missing…"

"I know… and we've run into our own problems along the way." She nodded towards the battle right behind them. "I'm certain that we'll be able to explain ourselves to the chief after this battle. Will you join us? We can use all the help we can get."

"Of course! …Although, you're only going to get a little help from these two…"

Sky hadn't even noticed the two that Hinoka had brought along with her; her retainers, Azama and Setsuna. Seeing them now was… immensely different than when they'd fought just outside of Castle Shirasagi. Where that time they were tough opponents, now Azama was unarmed and just sitting in the sand, next to the poor blue-haired archer that was sinking into quicksand.

"Are they usually…?"

"Yes, this is how they usually are." Hinoka sighed, then cupped her hands around her mouth. "Oi, Azama! Get off your butt and help Setsuna out of the quicksand!" she called.

She found several more Dragon Veins positioned around the battlefield, each one turning the sand into rocky ground. Though, considering everyone had already made it past each area, using it was pointless, and she quit looking after the third, instead focusing on the battle itself. Her allies had done a remarkably well job dispatching the Wind Tribe's warriors; most of them were either unconscious or already nursing their injuries. The only ones left now were Fuga and a few others.

"Chief Fuga!" Sky called across the sands. The Yato was ready in her hands. "I am Princess Sky of—Hoshido!" (Almost said Nohr…) "You will listen to me if I win, won't you?"

The tan-skinned chief of the Wind Tribe exchanged the weapon he was using for an Iron Naginata—oh, he was trying for weapon advantage then?—and grinned at her. "Yes, this test of strength will let me determine where the truth lies!"

"Heh. Then don't hold back!" Sky lept back, sheathing the Yato. She certainly wasn't going to hold back either, and retrieved her Dragonstone from the pouch hidden under her half-skirt. A moment later, her entire body transformed into her draconic form. She roared once, and charged.

But it would not be that easy. As though he'd been prepared for this, Fuga ducked under her claws and somehow rolled underneath her despite the weapons he carried—and drove his naginata into the underside of her shoulder. The same one that had just finally healed from the battle at Fort Jinya. Sky bit back a roar of pain, and swung her tail around. That caught the chief of the Wind Tribe by surprise at least, knocking him into the sand.

After that, she returned back to her human form—it was hard to attack without the ability to hold herself up, and she wasn't quite sure how to safely breathe fire yet—and let her injured arm fall limp to her side. Eyes fiery with determination, she held up the Yato in her left hand. It felt awkward—even though Gunter and Xander had forced her to alternate which hand she used during practice more often than not—but it would do. She would not lose here. "You won't stop me!" she cried out while Fuga was still getting off the ground.

He had time to block still—her attack was much weaker than normal, naturally—but was not prepared for the blade of her sword cutting clean through the pole of his naginata. That brought a genuine look of surprise to his face that lasted only a second; immediately after, he drew an Iron Katana to replace it.

Thus began a series of parried strikes and dodges that seemed to go on for ages—until Fuga, with a smile on his face, suddenly sheathed his blade. "That's enough, I yield."

"You—what?" Sky breathed heavily as her mind slowly wandered from the fight. Her clothes were almost soaked with sweat and blood now; she could feel it sticking like a second, uncomfortable skin. And her shoulder injury actually hurt now, a powerful stinging sensation that seemed to drive a thousand needles into her bone when she tried moving it. "I thought… I'd have to beat you first…?"

As a response, Fuga laughed. "Yes, that was my original intention… but I realized that even with your shoulder injury, I was certainly going to lose our duel. So tell me, princess that bears the sacred Yato blade, what is your explanation for the attack on my people?"

While Sakura tended to Sky's shoulder, she explained what had happened involving Iago in the Eternal Stairway. She profusely apologized for the villagers they'd injured; even more so for the ones she had fought, for the Faceless illusion had brought up a horrible memory of hers and she'd lost sight of herself in that moment.

And once she was done, the chief nodded. "I already knew that something had to be amiss. For what reason would Hoshidan royalty attack a stranger, and then allow her party to be captured by the stranger's tribe?"

"Y-You knew? Then why—"

"Your sword," Fuga interrupted her. "King Sumeragi and I were good friends many years ago. He told me of the Yato, and how it has the power to link the Seal of Flames. In the wrong hands, that could be enough power to end the world. I had to see for myself that you are indeed the right person to handle it."

(The Seal of Flames… the power that linked it to Brynhildr…) "I assure you, my main goal is to see the world at peace. Though right now…" Sky sighed, almost sadly. "My brothers have reportedly gone missing—we must get back to searching for them as soon as possible."

"Ah, I understand. I wish you the best of luck in finding them." He paused for a moment, scratching his chin. "Shame you can't stay to freshen up from our battle, though."

(I'd love that more than anything right now…) "It's quite alright. Thank you for the offer, but we must be on our way soon."

They left the Wind Tribe's territory not long after, and with no more problems. Only a short delay while Fuga requested that his adopted son, Hayato, joined Sky's party. She remembered just how powerful the red-headed boy could be despite his youthful appearance—he'd almost knocked her off the platforms where the battle had taken place when she was with Nohr multiple times with his magic—and gladly accepted his help.

It was not until they set up camp that Sky was able to relax. There was no place to take a bath, but at least she could change out of her bloodied armor—Jakob would no doubt have it fixed by the morning if she didn't explicitly tell him not to—instead, she wore a simple, black dress with a collar at the top, one of her favorite outfits to wear back at the Northern Fortress and that Jakob had somehow had the foresight to bring with him. Honestly, her butler went above and beyond his duties sometimes, and only for her happiness…

Sky shook her head, heading to the trees on the edge of their camp. She'd seen her younger sister take refuge in their shade earlier and was wondering if she was still there—she'd not had a good chance to actually talk with Sakura yet, and felt quite bad about it. Leaning against a tree that blossomed a pink the same color as her hair, the youngest Hoshidan princess sat folding a piece of paper in her hands. Next to her, fashioned out of paper that had various colorful designs on them, sat nearly a half-dozen birds.

Sky cleared her throat, startling her sister. The younger princess flinched back from the sound, and Sky heard the paper currently in her hands tear a little.

"Oh—I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you," she apologized immediately.

"I-It's fine, I was just…" Sakura held up a half-finished bird (if that's what it was supposed to become), noting that it had torn along the side with a small frown. "I… like to fold these wh-when I start worrying too much, it h-helps me keep my mind off things."

Sky sat down in the grass next to her, observing one of the birds with a crystalline-blue flower pattern on it. "Well you're certainly quite good at making these; I could never imagine that something like this could be made out of just paper."

"O-Oh, I'm not really good," Sakura said, shying away a little. "There's a-an entire art here in Hoshido called origami—there are so many d-different animals and flowers and other beautiful designs to make, but these c-cranes are the only thing I know how to fold."

"Origami, huh…?" There was nothing like this in Nohr… unless one counted making airplanes out of paper with Elise, just to watch them fly through the air when thrown. "It's a nice hobby to have picked up, I wish I knew how to make these…"

Sakura was silent for a moment, then retrieved another piece of unused paper from her very small stack, handing it to her. "I-I… um… I can teach you how, I th-think…"

Sky's face lit up like a child given candy. "You'd really do this for me?"

"W-We are sisters, I can't just say no… right?" Sakura smiled back at her for a moment, before retreating back into her shy shell. "B-But, um… the sun is just about to set. W-We should wait until we have more l-light to do this."

"As long as I get to spend time with you, that sounds like a good plan!" Sky agreed.

"O-Okay…"

~Sakura and Sky obtained support level C.~

Parting ways with Sakura, Sky wandered around camp again. Though this time, she was looking for someone else. She'd needed the time with her little sister to unwind some after the day, to refocus herself, and now she was determined to talk to Azura about that song of hers. She still couldn't get out of her head that she already knew a verse she'd never heard before…

And a single thought, buried in the deepest parts of her mind.

(Could Azura know something about why I've been given a second chance?)

A/N: And that's it for this chapter. Once again you see that fight scenes aren't really my forte…

Ah, but there's quite a good deal of foreshadowing in this chapter now, and no, I don't mean things that seem blatantly obvious. A lot of times my muses like to throw red herrings towards people when they try predicting my stories. So what is the truth, and what is a red herring…? You'll all have to wait and find out.

…By the way, I am absolutely sorry, fans of Corrin/Silas (or in this case, Sky/Silas). Since that was the pairing that was given the most votes, I did my best to consider it during the time when I couldn't actually work on this story because of the internet problems, particularly the significant parts that Sky's husband (and children) would have in the plot way down the road… and I simply couldn't exchange Jakob and Dwyer for Silas and Sophie. I tried, I really did—I went as far as to completely change around what I had planned for Jakob to something that would fit Silas, and it just didn't work as well to me despite also being a fan of Corrin/Silas (honestly the only Corrin pairing I've done so far that I didn't like was Corrin/Hayato because Hayato came off as a stuck-up jerk in most of his My Room quotes to me). So no Sky/Silas for this story. And the only other pairing that was suggested—Sky/Ryoma—is an impossibility; I should've said that I was not going to pair Sky with any of the royal family, not because of perceived incest (I've already done Corrin/Xander and Corrin/Ryoma in my game and quite liked both) but because of the way I've structured the plot. If anything, Takumi would be the one she'd be most likely to end up with, but I wholeheartedly ship Takumi/Oboro (or Takumi/Elise if this was Revelation, and even then Takumi/Oboro still wins out), so no.

…Man that was a long tangent about pairings. Sorry guys.

But, ah… I know just the thing to brighten the mood! My muses have settled on this story having different arcs, a total of seven (technically eight, but the "first" one was the, ah, offscreen Conquest run that happened before the start of chapter 1). The name of the current arc is "The Other Path". I'll share the names of the others way ahead of time to anyone that reviews this chapter (with an account that I can reply to, sorry guests) as a thank you gift.

Please, leave a review telling me what you thought!