Deliverer of Birthright

by romeoraiden

This is my First Story. Two Nations. One is desperate and the other does not easily trust outsiders, and at the center, a sheltered Princess is force to make difficult choices for the good of all and in her quest for what's right many will expect much of her and others will stand with her and among the latter there is only one she truly trust to help her save her homes.

14. Chapter 14: Nuisance of Death

Chapter 14: Nuisance of Death

"DAMMIT! DAMMIT! DAMMIT!" Corrin lets loose her rage, cutting down with her immense strength the stone walls of Lilith's home in the Astral Plane, causing them to collapse and cannot bring herself to care. The depression of everything that went down in the Opera House is eating away at her, she lost Robin of all people along with Azura because she couldn't push hard enough to convince them not to go through with this, especially the actual Princess of Nohr since she was the one who wanted to see this through the most but in the end, she was just as in over her head as the rest, especially after seeing her mother again after almost fourteen years apart.

The rest of the group are being treated of their wounds, Lilith used the power of the Astral Plane's limitless Dragon Veins to create a healing ground to nurture their wounds, it was a deathly battle so injuries were unavoidable, though they were thankfully minor but still best not ignored, like Subaki's left cheek who's badly bruised because he was sucker punched by a Berserker, Saizo has a concussion from a bulky knight that hit him in the head with his shield that he did well to ignore until now, Setsuna received a poisonous arrow on her right shoulder, Hinoka has a gash on her left forearm she received from Peri, lucky that it wasn't too deep because of the armor she used to have there, and Rinkah has four broken ribs because of one of Queen Arete's retainer, Charlotte who Hinata made a joke about her finding a rival, which is actually true since Rinkah is itching to get even with the blonde bimbo. Reina seems to have the worst injuries due to fighting against King Garon, not that she seems to be actually bothered by the ugly cuts she received from the mighty Axe of the King, tough old knight, this lady. Queen Mikoto is lucky to have such a tank for a guardian.

"A-A-Azura…" Sakura sobbed in pure anguish over being forced to leave Azura and Robin behind while being held in a warm embrace by Hinoka who is just as torn up about losing Azura. Despite caring for the Songstress, Hinoka never really took the time to get to know Azura so focus on growing stronger to rescue Corrin, only now does she realize how sorely she regrets never truly acknowledging her third sister.

They were so close, the assault went perfectly and apart from the Royal Family and their most trusted soldiers, the Nohrians didn't stand a chance against them and their brand new 'Army of Light', they outmatched almost every blow they threw at them and more. They really didn't give Robin enough credit, he truly is a Master Tactician like Corrin claimed, arguably better than Yukimura and even their precious champion, Prince Xander was so close to defeat. All of it proved to be for nothing since Corrin lost control and would've gone completely feral and attacked them as well.

"THIS! IS! BULLSHIT!" Takumi roared in outrage as he throws Skadi to the floor. "We had them! We were so close! Why did we have to leave it like that!"

"Shut up, Takumi! You felt that ringing sound popping into our heads just like the rest of us and that rage we were feeling was not entirely our own!" Hinoka shouted at her brother. "You saw the state Corrin was going through, she even attacked Robin, out of everyone for interfering and her eyes turning black. If we had stayed our rampage might've spread across all Cyrkensia."

"She's right, even though it was different, the rage-filled sensation was similarly as abhorrent like when we were struck by Sloth's corruption." Kagero mumbled, remembering vividly when she was attacked by the Sin of Sloth and can almost compare it with what they just experienced.

"Sin Poisoning." Lilith explained. "The Seven have the power to infect all living beings with the Sin they are named after, just like how Sloth killed all those Mokushujins by making them so slothful that they lost all interest in living, Wrath can make people succumb to mindless, murderous rage to the point that they become feral beasts that are beyond madness with no sense of reasoning and morality. The Blight Dragon was just a small taste of things to come."

"But why was only until the last minute that we all began to be infected with this Sin Poisoning and are we still infected now?" Kaze uttered, full of fear for all of them over succumbing to this mindless rage.

"I can never claim to know what goes on through the minds of Evil. Gods are known for working in mysterious ways, and Devils aren't so different either." Lilith muttered. "And I'm sure you're all still infected but we should be safe here, the Astral Plane's divine characteristics should purge us of any corruption after a few days inside."

"That's great for us but what about her who looks like she's decided to reclass into a Berserker but doesn't know yet that she should be using an axe?" Hinata asked, pointing at Corrin, who continues with her tantrum, destroying more of the great wall but this last blow held too much force and at the same time she wasn't aiming well and it was her hands, while holding the Yato's grip that hit the wall instead, and the impact, while still broke the wall, it was done partially with her hands and it causes the bones to crack so hard that the others could hear it and witness as she painfully drops the sword.

"Lady Corrin, that's enough!" Kaze shouted in desperation as he pulls her away from the wall and struggles to keep the enraged dragon girl from going berserk any further, assisted by Lilith who creates another healing ground below them, one that also emits a sort of blissful sensation meant to dull aggression with the intent to force Corrin to calm down.

Lilith wanted to use this sooner but she first thought it was okay to let Corrin let her frustrations out, she did lose another of her friends from her life in the Northern Fortress and had a dark reunion with her foster family, ending with more animosity.

"Corrin please, you mustn't let loose too much of your power in this state, otherwise you'll hurt yourself more." Lilith pleaded with her, and for the most part, Corrin listens, getting on her knees and remains silent, but the anguish was too great, however, no tears came out this time.

"What's happening to her, her anger is greater than our infection?" Hinoka asked in turmoil.

"She can turn into a Dragon, a true Blessed Child of the Dragon Gods, and the Seven Deadly Sins must have a grudge over their imprisonment by them so it's no surprise why she is the most unfortunate among us and we all know it's not the first time she went crazy and attacked us." Saizo said.

"Was her first rampage because she's been infected the longest by Wrath?" Setsuna said sounding scared.

"Makes sense, the Sin Poisoning in her must've been slow to activate and was held off until Corrin gave in to her own anger naturally." Reina concluded.

"Dammit! I knew bringing her along was a stupid idea!" Takumi snapped.

"Even if we hadn't had brought her, Wrath would have probably still been in the Opera House and focus his evil on all of us either way." Oboro countered. "We could've probably killed all the Nohrian Royals."

"Would that had been such a bad thing?" Rinkah asked.

"Obviously that it would have." Hayato sneered. "Even if we had stopped the war through bloodshed like that, the rest of the Continent may not have responded well."

"He's right, Garon aside, Queen Arete and Prince Xander are much loved by the public and killing them would've encouraged all of Nohr to continue the fighting regardless of their losses, not to mention that Princess Camilla is still at larged with her own motivation to destroy us. And we'd end up facing a political crisis and lose the trust of the other nations, Nestra especially and give Mokushu a reason to declare war on us as well." Orochi stated. "This was never about killing them but capture them."

"Well, now we've hit the world's most terrifying blockade because now Nestra may end up rising against us unless our supporters among their Nobility do something about it and stall for more time." Azama added.

"So, now what do we do?" Hana asked feeling lost.

"We proceed with our true goal and find Lord Ryoma." Saizo declared.

"He's going to be enraged when he finds out about this epic failure." Kagero muttered.

"He would've been pissed if we had succeeded regardless." Takumi mumbled.

"Now, you should all rest first, time here flows differently, so there is no need to worry about wasting time, an hour in the real world is more than two days in here, after all." Lilith suggested.

"That's music to our ears, especially if we really are in danger of going feral ourselves." Kaze said gratefully.

"Now might be a good time for that hot spring." Hinata suggested to Takumi.

"Way too tempting to pass out on now, especially since we really need to calm down." Takumi sighed in frustration.

"Hot spring…?" Corrin muttered in response to that.

"Crap…" Kaze, Lilith, Hinoka, Saizo, Rinkah, and most surprisingly of all, Sakura uttered as they know there is going to be another outburst.

"Two of our own are now in enemy hands, and you want to build a hot spring!" Corrin uttered.

"Corrin, that was just Hinata lightening up the mood, no one wants to stay feeling down like we do now." Hinoka stepped up, pleading for her sister to stay calm.

"I am not in the mood to be 'lightened up'. What I want is to get out of here and get my friend back." Corrin growled.

"Not as we are now, Milady, we'd made a miscalculation with the Light Scroll as it lost all power sooner than we expected." Kaze objected. "We'd be going in shorthanded and the Nohrians have surely begun to call for support with their Warp Tomes."

"I DON'T CARE! Don't any of you understand! For all we know Robin could be dying right now! He needs me! Open the portal Lilith!"

"I… can't." Lilith declined.

"That wasn't a request!" Corrin snapped violently at the younger dragon.

"No! I mean I can't open any of them, they're gone!" Lilith uttered fearfully.

"What'd you mean?" Hinoka demanded frantically.

"Something went wrong, the marks I put in the Opera House have been removed by some outside force, we're at the moment trapped in here." Lilith explained.

"How?!" Takumi uttered. "Was it the Sin?"

"Possibly. the Seven are somehow able to use Dragon Veins despite having no sort of association with the Precursors, who knows what other dragonic magic they've acquired over their centuries of rampaging and corruption." Lilith said. "We can't make our way back to them."

"I… can't save… Robin…" Corrin mumbled in horror, about to lose it again.

"Would you calm down already, Corrin! You especially out of all of us should know how powerful and cunning Robin is, so I'm sure he'll be fine and there's no way Azura is in any danger so with luck she could convince them to show him mercy." Takumi said confidently.

"What do you care?! You never even liked Robin!" Corrin yelled at him. "NONE OF YOU DO! He was just some outsider you thought you could use. Just like the Chevians and just like me!"

Her harsh words make Sakura flinch and sob even more.

"Corrin, you know that's not true." Hinoka argued and pleaded with her sister to see reason.

"You're really stepping out of line here, Corrin!" Takumi growled.

"I told you not to go through with this crap! We told you that things were going to end badly regardless of victory! What did we even accomplish tonight aside from pissing off an already insane and angry old man with the greatest army in the world and break a neutral accord that could give us yet more enemies to point their blades at our backs!" Corrin yelled.

"Yeah, well that insane and angry old man has been pissing us off for more than just fourteen years so I think making a point was worth all that." Takumi scoffed.

"You self-absorbed fucking asshole!" Corrin's wrath only grows even more to the point that black miasma begins to manifest around her body, alarming the Hoshidans that she is about to break loose with her dragon powers.

"If Robin does end up dead by Nohrian hands, then it's more your fault than any of us!" Takumi snapped at her, finally having enough. Those last words, however, proved to be the last straw for Corrin as her rage intensifies so much that the sclera of her eyes become blacken again, giving her a more demonic outlook.

"C-Corrin…" Sakura weakly squeals, horrified by what's coming next.

"You… how… HOW… DARE-" Before Corrin could snap herself and assault her stepbrother, she is silenced by Lilith who cast a spell on her that forces her to fall into a deep sleep and falls into Kaze's arms.

"I'm so sorry Corrin." Lilith uttered regretfully.

"Holy Dawn, that Sinner really messed her up big time." Hinata muttered.

"Oh, Corrin." Hinoka sniffed as she gets on her knees and places both her hands on her sister's.

"Great, just great." Takumi sighed exasperatedly. "Lilith, how bad is her condition?"

"Very bad. Even though I knew that everything she was going through was consuming her with grief and anger, it never should've reached the point where she might actually be Degenerating naturally." Lilith griefs herself while wrapping her hands on her head, growing with shame for not realizing what her master was really going through.

"Degenerating? You mean the supernatural condition that causes dragons to lose all cohesion and succumb to their beastly urges unless they turn into spirits or are wielding Dragonstones?" Kaze asked alarmed.

"Yes, the corruption of the Sins is too strong, even for our Dragonstones to do anything about them, some say that the Seven are the ones responsible for driving the Precursors to madness and started the Precursor War."

"N-NO!" Sakura becomes horrified by this revelation, just as the rest.

"It… can't be." Hinoka mumbled just as horrified.

"Oh great, so all along we've been traveling and sleeping with a ticking timebomb!" Takumi grows more frustrated with the growing problem that is Corrin.

"No, I refuse to accept that Lady Corrin is in danger of going mad." Kaze insisted.

"We'll have to go with a long-term effect instead and keep Corrin in this slumber for as long as possible." Saizo declared.

"Great, so we're going to be here for a while, even still there is still the matter of returning to our world now that our exits are gone." Takumi said. "Lilith, you said that it was possible to travel to the other Deeprealms from here and each one has an exit that leads to our world. Is there one that will lead us straight to Cheve?"

"Yes, I know the one but getting there will be complicated, even more so to reach the exit and mark Cheve with the hostile environment as that Deeprealm, in particular, is filled to the brim with the foulest of dark magic; Necromancy." Lilith explained.

"Necromancy? You mean the ancient lost magic that can reanimate corpses to create undead monsters?" Orochi asked with dread.

"Yes, that Deeprealm, dubbed the Dead Zone is crawling with inhabitants of the dead, the worse of them all is the Necrodragons who sovereign it. It's pure chaos there, undoubtedly worse than a land infested with Grimm!" Lilith continued.

"T-The… the Undead?!" Sakura uttered terrified.

Necromancy is a tale of horror across Horus, such power to raise the dead is a serious taboo and there were a lot of conflicts in ancient times when Necromancers were around, and of the many things that Nohr and Hoshido have in common is that they view those who meddle with the dead as disgusting inhuman parasites that need to be hunted down and exterminated. There hasn't been anyone using the darkest arts in over three hundred years with both superpowers forging a pack that there will be no more Necromancers in Horus. When war broke out, everyone was quick to assume that Nohr would break the pack and somehow bring forth an undead army to fight Hoshido but they surprisingly didn't and instead settled for Grimm. Not sure which army would be worse in hindsight.

"Nothing is without complications I suppose, but we're gonna have to risk it once we get there." Kaze said.

"I rather not and just go at it alone, it's faster this way and 'easier' to travel unspotted." Lilith objected.

"What?! You just said that the Dead Zone was like Hell!" Hinoka objected.

"I've been to the Dead Zone before and I know what is arguably the 'safest' route to get by without dying." Lilith argued.

"Lilith if you die out there Corrin is going to go berserk and use us as target practice." Takumi pointed out.

"I'll be fine, me being a Dragon has a lot of perks in that place since Necrodragons have a code that has them prefer not to pick a fight with those of their kind, or rather anything with dragonic traits since they're technically not dragons anymore and I can't say the same for humans as they are notorious for despising your kind, mainly because you're of the living along with many more so it's better this way for all our sakes." Lilith insisted. "And if Lady Corrin asked where I've gone, lied to her and tell her I'm going somewhere safe."

"Right, cause that won't end in disaster if you come back with bruises, scars or a part missing from your body." Hana said sarcastically.

"You're just going to have a little more faith in me." Lilith shrugged. "And if all goes well than by the time we make it to Cheve it'll still be nighttime outside, not enough time for word of what happened to spread across all of Nestra without audio magic which the kingdom mostly lacks."

"But Nohr does, making it more imperative that we reach Lord Ryoma." Subaki declared as the Hoshidans begin to rest up after the previous battle.

"The Seven infect anyone they come into contact with the Sin they are named after." Oboro muttered and repeats what she just learn and feels dread about something and gives a concern glance to her master.

"Something wrong Oboro?" Hana asked, noticing the concern expression on her face that she's giving Takumi. "This is the first time I've ever seen you stare at Lord Takumi that way."

"It's nothing, I hope. It's just that I don't like our odds when we have to face the Sins again."

"Yeah, I think we all feel the same way."

"Oh, you guys came back." Mozu said as she walks over to the group while yawning. The farm girl did well staying alone this whole time but she was clearly worried and judging by her yawning she managed to get some sleep to pass the time. "So… how did everything go?"

"We can talk about it later, Mozu, right now we just want to rest ourselves." Hinoka brushed as most of them head towards the house Lilith created after she brought them here.

"Oh, come on, don't leave me in suspense." Mozu pleaded, a little frustrated that she just went ignored and the fact that Robin and Azura are not around and Corrin is being carried by Kaze leaves her more curious.

"I'll explain on the way, and you look like you could still use some sleep." Lilith said as she walks her back to the house.

"Well, I was woken up by some loud noises that sounded like walls breaking, and the walls over there are broken." Mozu replied as she notices the damage Corrin caused.

Things have been mostly silent in the Astral Plane as they spent the first day pretty much resting, focus solely on recovering, while Corrin remains under Lilith's sleeping spell and will be kept this way until they can safely wake her once the Astral Plane removes every single bit of Wrath's corruption within her soul and she will regularly transfer mana into her to sustain her body so she doesn't starve or dehydrate while she's asleep. It bothers most of them that they have to resort to this method, even Takumi has mix feelings about watching Corrin like this but there's really no choice since she's too dangerous to be left unpurged completely and none among them want to try and put up with her mental breakdowns.

The Hoshidans have slowly gotten used to their new base of operations as they originally felt a sense of discomfort being here for various reasons, the main one is this strong urge of homesickness over being in a completely different world, still so close to Hoshido but at the same time so very far away, a minor issue to be sure as they have already grown accustomed to this place and are enamored by it's power to create things through Dragon Veins as demonstrated by Lilith as she helps Takumi create the hot spring Hinata wanted, and suffice to say, it worked and it looks fantastic.

"Well I'll be damned, it works." Takumi smiled with satisfaction.

"HA! Thank you Sephiroth! Our very own hot spring!" Hinata cheered at the size of it.

"What are you talking about, we have our own hot spring in Shirasagi?" Takumi questioned.

"Technically it's your mother's and… everyone knows about her hot spring fetish and her bad habit of wanting it all to herself when she's using it." Hinata reminded.

"My mother does not… okay, you know what, yeah! She likes hot springs a little too much." Takumi admitted.

"Oh, we all have our fetishes." Reina smiled.

"No, we don't, and you don't have a fetish Reina, you have a problem." Orochi sneered at her partner, earning her a hit to her elbow.

"I wonder just how vast the possibility of weapons and items we can create in this place?" Hinoka wondered.

"The best way to know is to try it out for yourselves and see what can be done." Lilith advised.

"We should start by making an armory and reload our arsenal." Saizo suggested.

"I-If it's alright, I would like to try it out next." Sakura offered.

"The field is yours, whip us up an armory of steel." Hinoka said.

"I-I'll do my best." Sakura said determined with her retainers cheering her on. She raises both her arm and begins to channel the dragonic power of the Astral Plane through her dragon blood. She can definitely feel the same divinity that all Dragon Veins possess coursing through the entire plane so she doesn't have to think much on where to harness the great power and quickly begins the process and within a few seconds a hoshidan style armory is summoned before them, though it looks rather run down and old they can feel the power used to create it.

"You did it! Lady Sakura!" Hana cheered. Sakura herself is proud of her achievement.

"Looks rather run down." Hayato noted as they begin to examine the armory.

"Wow, there are enough weapons here to arm almost three companies." Oboro said.

"Still, these look primitive, brass, bronze, iron, nothing that's made of steel like Hinoka requested or any of the more unique versions." Rinkah said as she picks up a brass club on her right hand and an iron one in her left hand. As amaze as she is by the power of the Astral Plane, the weapons themselves don't pick her interest.

"B-But… I wanted steel weapons as Hinoka asked. Lilith said I just had to put my thoughts on to what I wanted and it would be made." Sakura said, feeling like she made a mistake.

"I also said that it takes experience in handling this power to build stronger tools. Weapons made of steel are creations meant for those with a fair amount of experience with Dragon Veins." Lilith corrected.

"Makes sense, Sakura hardly ever needed a reason to use Dragon Veins, it was usually me, Hinoka, Ryoma, mother or Azura who would be left to use them so she doesn't have much experience, or at all in using the regular ones back home." Takumi noted, which backfired real quick as Sakura instantly gets on her knees and back into a corner, feeling like a failure again, with Hana and Subaki hastily try to boost her confidence once again.

"I wasn't trying to offend you! I was just pointing out a fact!" Takumi quickly replied, also with haste to lift his sister's spirit. Something that's practically all of their job.

"Let's just try not to think too big, okay, we're completely new to this level of power so we should focus on building just one thing and small and not think too big for now." Hinoka suggested as she makes an example by summoning one weapon, which is the strongest naginata in Hoshido, a Waterwheel.

"Pretty." Setsuna said amazed by Hinoka's creation. The High Princess than summons another weapon that is the strongest Yumi in Hoshido, technically second to the Fujin Yumi, the Pursuer and lends both weapons to her Retainers.

"One at a time, huh." Takumi said as he creates his own Waterwheel as well as a Rapier and lends them to Oboro and Hinata respectively since Hinata lost the previous one Lilith made for him in the Opera House due to the hole in the pool Corrin caused.

"Oh, goody, I sorely miss my first one. This place sure is the perfect spot to acquire all sorts of new toys, and while I'm not too big on double-edge blades, I be lying if I wasn't envious of some of the weapons Nohr has." Hinata cheered.

"All is fair in love and war so we will take on every advantage we can get no matter how dirty we have to be." Takumi declared.

"Ah, so it's come to using the enemy's own weapon against them, has it." Hinata smirked.

"I Love the way you think, Hinata." Takumi replied smugly. This earned him surprised and shock gasps from most of the group, especially a horrified Oboro. "NOT LIKE THAT! DAWN!" He quickly replied again, embarrassed and outraged.

"Oh…"

"Pay up." Setsuna demanded to Azama.

"Not yet, I still have high hopes." He declined.

"Is that gay bet still going on?!" Takumi growled.

"Yeah…" Hinata admitted blushing while just as embarrassed.

"God damn propagandas! I keep telling you people I'm straight! Just because I don't think of courting a big breasted woman doesn't mean I'm homo. DAMMIT!" Takumi snapped enraged, walking out of the armory.

"He is so easy." Azama chuckled amused.

"Should we really rile each other up after establishing the existence of a demon literally made out of anger?" Kagero asked.

"Why not, weren't we all hate obsess with Nohr already." Azama shrugged.

"Shut up, Azama." Hinoka scoffed.

"Told you he was a bad apple." Mozu mused.

On the third day here things remain relatively the same with most of them either sparring with each other or just resting up, like Oboro volunteering to train Mozu, who's eager to do something during her time here and she seems to favor a naginata, while she is a complete rookie, she hits hard due to her unnatural superior strength that Oboro feels like she's blocking hits from a Brave Lance that Nohrians use instead of a simple Brass Naginata, so Mozu has been asked to take it easy with her hits. She's also very stubborn as she persists on training nonstop, something that Takumi, Hinoka, Oboro and the three Ninjas recognized as a lust for power fueled by grief, anger, and no doubt a need for revenge against all of the Blackhounds even though the ones responsible have already paid with their lives, once a brigand wrongs you, the resentment spreads to all brigands in general. For someone so young to already be feeling like this combined with the feeling of inadequacy surrounded by so many strong warriors, they can only feel bad for her. She especially seemed distraught over what happened to Robin and Azura, as well as the current status of Corrin, fortunately, though, Saizo of all people managed to keep the girl's spirit up and assure her that Azura is just fine, as well as Robin, for whatever reason.

---

"I just can't seem to fathom what went wrong." Lilith said as she is currently in the living room of the house she created for everyone to settle down, alongside the remaining magic users of the group and Hinoka while the Light Scroll lies down on the table at the center as they have been trying to figure out what went wrong with it and at first Lilith attempted to charge it up again by channeling mana from the Astral Plane now that the seal is gone but it never worked. "The power it's absorbed from the Fujin Yumi should've been enough to keep it fully sustain indefinitely."

"Maybe your knowledge on magic scrolls is a little off and are comparing it to a tome because the lore and physiology regarding both types of conduits have very specific differences that make it hard for any mage to be able to use both." Rinkah suggested.

"Yeah, that's probably it, I lived among Nohrian Mages practically my whole life and spellbooks are the most common of magic conduits apart from staves." Lilith shrugged.

"Okay, this simply calls for patience and planning is all. And let's look at the facts, it's a conduit that channels the rare and nearly forgotten Light Magic, so maybe our best bet is to put the scroll in the hands of someone who can use Light Magic." Orochi suggested.

"That would be pretty great except that there hasn't been a Light Mage in Horus for around a millennium, mainly because there aren't any light conduits around. At least on our side of the world." Hayato said.

"It can't be just the conduit that decides the kind of mage you are, right?" Hinoka questioned.

"Right you are Milady. Magic Power is divided into three main types that we all know to be Anima, Light and Darkness. Now, Anima is the easiest to channel because Practitioners simply must concentrate our efforts into calling out power from nature itself as Anima is all about the elements. Darkness is about allowing, well, the Darkness to enter your heart and mind and embrace it but at the same time create mental boundaries and have strong willpower to use dark magic while ensuring that your personality doesn't go insane from taking in more power than the body is originally capable of." Orochi explained. "And as for Light, the key to it is having faith."

"Faith? Newsflash but faith is something that Horus is filled to the brim with since the beginning of time, almost every single culture in the continent is held under some influence of the Churches that worship the Divine Dragon Clan." Rinkah reminded.

"That's true, so in theory, anyone among us can use Light Magic, so can those who worship the Dusk Dragon, ironically, however, funny enough faith does not necessarily have to involve Divinity, one must also have faith in oneself, their family, comrades, or homeland. Anything involving trust or commitment is dictated by faith itself and in order to truly master the Light, once faith must be unconditional and unshakable. The slightest amount of doubt could unbalance the spells and leave the caster vulnerable or useless. And sadly we humans don't have the best track record of being unconditional with anything, hence why Light Mages have always been a minority."

"Pleasure before duty, like my parents would always say." Rinkah replied.

"You're disgusting." Hayato mocked.

"But what about someone born into a long and old lineage of light." Hinoka suggested. "The blood of the Dawn Dragon flows through me regardless of how human I am and even though I've never taken an interest in magic I have the potential, and I'm officially a Falcon Knight, I just never touched a rod in my life."

"Well, Lord Sephiroth is the creator of Magic Scrolls so it's likely that his secret knowledge rest within the souls of all his human descendants so the Hoshidan Royals just might be what the scroll desires." Lilith said seeing the possibilities.

"I'll get Sakura." Hinoka declared as the young Priestess just might be what they truly need to get the Light Scroll back in action since she's the only one among the Royal Siblings who can actually use magic, not just in rods but in scrolls as well.

---

"Gods, this hits the spot every time." Hinata cheered as he takes a dip in the hot spring, alongside Takumi and Subaki.

"Truly, there is nothing more refreshing to make a body all soothed and relax than this." Subaki said.

"Nor more peaceful, 'cus really things have been too loud and over the top recently." Takumi added.

"Last time I checked that's how you like it, Milord." Hinata said.

"That's just my warrior spirit being too optimistic, but our nation was born under the belief that peace is sacred and must be everlasting while violence is no more than a sporting event and you both know how competitive I can be." Takumi explained.

"Us and everyone in the army, Milord." Subaki said with a light chuckle. "Anyhow, I noticed that you started using the Fujin Yumi again yesterday."

"Yeah, my girl got back in action, while Skadi is a fine substitute and I plan on using her again in the near future I like to stay faithful to my true partner." Takumi smiled. "Plus, Skadi does feel extremely possessive and demanding so I guess I dodged an arrow when I dismissed her yesterday."

"Women, Hell have no fury like their scorn." Hinata laughed.

"You would know more about that than the rest of us." Said a fourth voice in the hot spring that they did not notice come in and must've been here first and it's Saizo, lying down on a corner not far from them.

"Yo, Saizo, we didn't see you there." Hinata greeted, while none the wiser of the insult thrown at him. "Wow, no matter how many times I see it, I still can't believe that you and Kaze are twins."

"You and everyone else in my life, even my mother." Saizo shrugged.

"It's because of the mask, I'm sure." Subaki assured. "Has anyone ever seen Kaze wear a mask before?"

"He refuses to wear one; he gets too uncomfortable too quickly."

"I put on a ninja mask before, took it off the second I put it on cause they're so hard to breathe on. Gotta praise you lots for enduring those things for as long as you do." Takumi said. "Where is Kaze anyway, haven't seen him all day?"

"Where else, watching over Corrin, we've been keeping her locked up in a treehouse ever since Lilith forced her to sleep." Saizo explained. "Kagero should be with him watching her as well."

"She's still asleep, it's been three days." Hinata said concern.

"Lilith said her sleeping spell will wear off once the Sin Poisoning is out of her system, of which there seems to be a lot of it still inside her." Subaki said sadly.

"Well, at least her first rampage in Kurosaki makes a hell of a lot more sense." Takumi shrugged.

"Was it just because she was infected?" Subaki questioned.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, I don't mean to step out of line, Lord Takumi, but I don't think Wrath was necessary for Lady Corrin to go berserk like that. In truth, it was the fact that she had to make a very serious choice, which family will she stand with, and the way I heard it, Crown Prince Xander and his siblings were practically begging her to come back to them and not let their father's evil deeds come between them before they were forced to resort to violence to take her back." Subaki expressed.

"Yeah, that whole thing was just dark, really dark and ever since then I can't help but wonder what I would've done if I was in that position." Hinata said more sympathetic.

"Just what are you guys implying?" Takumi asked annoyed.

"What practically everyone in Hoshido is wondering concerning her if rather or not we can trust her to remain faithful to us through and through." Saizo spoke up next and more sternly. "King Garon and his vile supporters aside, his wife and children have never really displayed any sort of action that would make them appear as vile and sinister as we initially thought and Corrin was raised believing she was one of them so she had reason to have truly betrayed us that would've made her sympathetic. A little bit at least."

"I've noticed, but what does it matter now, she made the right decision so why dwell on it." Takumi said, wanting the subject to be dropped and he could easily demand them to be silent, he is their superior but these three don't deserve to be given the cold shoulder.

"We agree with you completely on that but the real question now is if she herself still believes that she did make the right choice." Subaki pointed out.

"No, I guess. If she didn't have second thoughts about standing with us before she certainly does now." Takumi said next with anger, anxiety and regret. "No thanks to me."

"Hey, now, let's not play the blame game, it never ends well." Hinata insisted.

"But there's no denying that I haven't been supportive at all ever since she came back, even after Ryoma's threat, I still wouldn't open up to her." Takumi hissed, letting his self-loathing out in the open, even though he is well known for keeping his emotions bottled up inside. "I be lying if I said I don't blame myself in a way. In truth, I wanted to trust her. However, throughout this whole journey, I only felt more betrayed, even after acknowledging that she wasn't really a traitor. I'm probably just weaker than I imagined. I wouldn't get close to her and trust her like Ryoma and the rest of you have tried to, her intentions were just so hard for me to grasps. She wants to forge a true peace between both our nations, but she has yet to understand how deep our scars run because of Nohr. I've been to that blasted country and I have seen for myself the state the people are in and I understand why they're doing this but at the same time it's so hard not to abhor them so much."

"No argument there, at least." Hinata replied.

"Still, if only I tried, maybe Corrin would've had more of a reason to stay with us besides being angry at Garon. But unlike the rest of the family, I never bothered to wait for her to return because I knew she wouldn't have come back the same, and in a way I was right, her good nature is being overshadowed by rage and despair that it's hard to grasps if she truly believes in what she's doing and not acting out of desperation and indecisiveness. All she's accomplished so far is drown herself further in a Sea of Despair with her Nohrian Family now too angry to see things from her perspective and are more tempted to leave her in this state. And now I have to ask myself that question. That night, if our fates were switched, and she had my life and I hers, would I had come to the same choice while still drowning in so much grief and heartache, or would I had instead remained with Nohr, after being more familiar with their good nature, if there really is any, than the darker side?"

"If that's how you feel Milord, then maybe it's time you cease this sibling bickering and start acting like a younger brother and give Corrin more of a reason to start acting as a big sister should." Subaki advised.

"It seems long overdue, doesn't it." The young Prince cannot disagree.

---

"Oh, how fine looking you are Mr. Carrot. I'm sure you'll be just perfect for a stew." Mozu said delighted while in the kitchen preparing to cook something dinner. While she is busy preparing to cook, Sakura walks pass the kitchen, wanting to head to the living room to see how Hinoka is doing. She's been more somber than ever after the failed attack in the Opera House, even though she knows that the Nohrians won't really hurt Azura, not being beside her anymore breaks her heart and she refuses to leave Corrin's side because of the state she's in and today Subaki and Hana finally managed to encourage her to get out there and start getting positive for everyone's sake, more importantly for herself. She stops walking once she sees Mozu.

'Huh? Is that…? Oh, it's Mozu.' Sakura mused to herself as she gets the sudden idea to go talk to her, however, after setting one foot on the kitchen, she immediately steps away, growing increasingly nervous as she always does when meeting new people. 'Oh… C'mon, Sakura… Stop being such a baby and go talk to her. Corrin and Azura are very fond of her, and even Takumi has taken a liking to Mozu so I should get to know her but… oh, Sephiroth, I had an easier time talking to Lilith, somehow.'

"Lady Sakura." Mozu called, finally noticing the young Princess in the kitchen entrance, and this causes Sakura to become startled and take more steps back until she hits the wall behind her. "H-hey now, calm down! It's just me Milady."

"A-ah… Right… I'm sorry for bothering you, Mozu. I-I'll leave now." Sakura said.

"Hey, hold on there, Milady." Mozu insisted, getting her to stop. "I'm actually planning on making some carrot stew for dinner. Did you want some when I'm finish?" Mozu offered.

"Carrot stew? I've… n-never tried it before, but… Hana told me once it's really good." Sakura said calming down and gazes at the carrots the Villager is carrying.

"I guess it' nothin' fancy enough for royals to eat." Mozu noted. "But trust me, you should have some. When you make it just right, it really hits the spot."

"Well… I-if it's not too much trouble, then sure." Sakura smiled, delighted and walks inside the kitchen. "I might be able to help too."

"Aw, no. I can't let you do that. You're a Princess, and this is the kind of stuff meant for peasants like farmers." Mozu insisted.

"Oh, you don't need to worry about too much, m-my mother and I never cared much for that sort of thing anyway and right now I'm more a Priestess bred to help combatants than a Princess, so I'm expected to get my hands dirty." Sakura brushed off. "B-Besides, if we're sharing this stew, it's only right that I contribute in making it, and you've been trying really hard to fit in with the rest of us lately so this is the least I can do."

Sakura's insistence leaves Mozu silent for a moment, contemplating before coming up with a decision. "Well, if you insist, and if you have trouble cooking I promise to help as best I can."

"Oh, y-yay. Let's get started right away." Sakura said sounding more upbeat.

"Sakura, you're there." Hinoka called as she walks into the kitchen.

"Oh, S-Sister, how are you?" Sakura greeted.

"Good, you?" Hinoka replied.

"I'm going to help Mozu make Carrot stew and maybe make dinner for everyone else." Sakura explained.

"Really, well, I am getting hungry." Hinoka said, feeling her stomach growl a little.

"Did you need something, Milady?" Mozu asked.

"Yes but it can wait, it is best to start preparing dinner for everyone." Hinoka said, brushing off the issue with the Light Scroll for now, the last thing she wants is to interrupt Sakura while she is trying to make new friends.

---

Corrin remains in her treehouse while still trapped in her magical slumber with only Kaze and Kagero there to watch over her for now. Of course, her sisters, as well as Lilith and Mozu, would come to see her regularly and even started to sleep in the treehouse and hope to be here when she wakes up but the majority of the time it's Kaze who sticks around the most as it is his duty.

"How long do you think she has left before she wakes up from this forced slumber?" Kagero asked.

"By Lady Lilith's estimate, hopefully for four or five more days." Kaze replied sadly as he rarely takes his sight off of the Princess.

"The way she is now, she kind of reminds me of this story my mother used to read me, about a Sleeping Beauty." Kagero said as she notes how peaceful Corrin looks right now.

"I read that Nestrian legend once before myself, though Sleeping Beauty's hardships could never compare to Milady's sorrows." Kaze said unintentionally soring the light mood Kagero's been trying to build.

"You're not doing anyone a favor by blaming yourself for all of this Kaze, deep down you know that none of this is your fault." Kagero tried to assure her fellow Ninja.

"It's hard not to feel this way when all the evidence proves the contrary." Kaze said sorrowfully. "I'm the reason The royal family has had to endure all this pain and the reason why Princess Corrin has been reduced to such a state, on the brink of becoming something horrifying."

"Even if you had taken what you saw seriously, do you really think it would've made a difference, based on everything I've read on the report and from what I've heard from Saizo and Lord Ryoma, the ambush was perfectly planned and calculated, there's no way we were prepared for an attack during that visit to the Opera House." Kagero tried to assure Kaze.

"I appreciate your words of aid as usual Kagero but alas the weight of my failures are not something that words can heal, and the fact that Queen Mikoto and Lord Ryoma forgave me so easily actually made me feel worse." Kaze muttered. "If I am to reclaim the honor I lost, I must dedicate my very being into securing Lady Corrin's survival from this whole ordeal, even if it means giving up my life."

"You mean the thing that every Ninja is expected to do for their respective lords." She asked rhetorically.

"Yes, well my new Mistress isn't so big on making sacrifices as she made plainly cleared to all of us on the meetings we've had." Kaze replied. "As much as I too share her beliefs for the sake of my brother and comrades, things may end the way the way it must for all ninjas."

"How unlike you, to sound so hopeless, you're usually the twin who maintains an optimistic outlook on things." Kagero said.

"Well, you know the old saying, War changes people, and though no one in my family is a stranger to carnage, despair and death things have changed more than I'm used to, even if just a little. All I can do is press forward for however long I can last. I already accepted that I won't outlive Saizo since I don't have the same resolve as him." Kaze admitted.

"I think I speak for everyone when I say that your brother would benefit from being more like you." Kagero countered.

"You two been arguing again, I thought Lord Ryoma kept a fine line between you both for the sake of the dynamic." Kaze asked.

"He did a fine job but his lines can only last so long, and while he is undoubtedly more loyal than I, Saizo can be so intolerable to all of us. He's so quick to anger, you swear he was a flame tribalist with how much of a hothead he is." Kagero said as she reminisces on past events, and apparently so has Kaze as he starts to chuckle lightly. "What?"

"Just reminiscing myself, I almost forgot that you two were an item for over a year, by all accounts, you should know him better than even me, and yet even after all this time you still look to me for advice on how to keep him in check." He kept chuckling.

"What can I say, we ninjas are complicated people, and even as we maintain a professional attitude as to not bothered Lord Ryoma's way of living the issues keep piling up. Ironically, I think it's going to take a cold assassin from Nohr to really keep him in check." Kagero joked.

"Now that you mentioned it, there is one Nohrian that almost always comes to mind when I worry where Saizo's behavior will lead him." Kaze laughed a little bit louder. "I tell ya, Lady Corrin has been struggling to come to terms that he and I are brothers, much less twins, and she would love to hear about your previous love life with him."

"Her, Orochi, Lady Mikoto and pretty much everyone in my life." Kagero sighed annoyingly. "I swear the only one who hasn't so much as butted in on my personal space is Lord Ryoma, and that's because he never found out about us."

"Goes to show how much he respects your personal life if he doesn't even notice you when you're out and about elsewhere." Kaze said.

"And that worries me if he one day desperately needs my help and I'm instead back home enjoying myself painting." Kagero replied.

"If danger draws near and hope is gone, all you have to do is swing Raijinto."

"Good point."

---

On the fifth day in the Astral Plane, Lilith finally decided to embark into the Dead Zone to mark the rest of them a short cut into Cheve, and she was meant with much protest from all of them, but the little dragon still went out anyway and Corrin has been fed enough mana to sustain her for three more days, the exact amount of time that she estimates is how long she will be gone for them. Just in case she doesn't come back, Lilith will first go to a safer Deeprealm that will take them back to Hoshido, right near the entrance of where the Kitsunes dwell for her to leave a mark for them to leave and return to their Queen any time they want.

"P-Please come back safe… ly Lilith. The last t-thing… I want i-is to lose another f-f… friend." Sakura begged the Astral Dragon as the two give each other a hug.

"I'll be fine, as far as traveling into the realm of the dead go, either way, an exit will have already been forged by the time I leave and if I don't make it, well… nothing left but to entrust my master's life in Hoshido's care because all semblance of her life in the fortress is pretty much gone now." Lilith said with a very sad smile as she assumes her Dragon form and departs into ultimate danger.

"And there she goes, brave little thing, and a fine example of what it means to be a retainer." Reina praised.

"Let's hope for Corrin's sake that helping us doesn't prove to be a mistake because I sure don't think I can handle seeing her so vulnerable for much longer." Hinoka said feeling dread while holding on to a more concern Sakura by her shoulders.

"Yeah…" Takumi replied weakly.

And coming on their eighth day, it's already noon and Lilith hasn't come back, and if she doesn't show up by the afternoon the group really is going to panic, especially if Corrin wakes up.

"Okay… let's give ourselves a ten minute break." Oboro instructed after sparring again with Mozu as the two stop to rest and have a drink of water each.

"So… do you think I'm improving?" Mozu asked nervously.

"Well, we only just started for a few days so it's too soon to make any improvement, though I'll admit you do have an aptitude of sorts and Lord Takumi and Princess Rinkah seem to think you have a special fighting spirit of sorts so I wouldn't be surprised if you're some sort of prodigy." Oboro examined. "But don't get ahead of yourself, I'm speaking from experience when I say that rushing improvement does horrors to your body. Took me seven years to reach where I am now. Youngest Spear Master in Hoshido's history they call me. Something to feel prideful about but I've recently learned I have a potential to use magic, so I'm aiming to be more of a Basara, way more useful for Lord Takumi."

"Seven years? You must've really worked hard to be so strong." Mozu said amazed.

"Like you, I have a reason to be strong as quickly as possible, and I'm still not satisfied but my true passion lies someplace else." Oboro remarked.

"What's that?"

"Fashion." Oboro smiled, showing spark in her eyes over the thought of fashioning kimonos for Hoshido.

"Your uniform is really pretty." Mozu noted at Oboro choice in style.

"Thank you, I made it myself. Before joining the Royal Guard I solely wanted to carry on my family business of running a kimono shop but… circumstances insisted I answer Hoshido's call to arms but that doesn't mean I should give up on my true calling, which is more of a hobby as of late." Oboro explained. "And currently I am looking for a new project of sorts, and I'm thinking you might be that project, Mozume. Let me figure out a nice outfit for you, you're always wearing such drab outfits, and I want to fix that!"

"Whaaat? B-but… I like these clothes." Mozu uttered, caught off guard.

"It can't hurt to try a few things on, right? I promise you'll look adorable!" The Spear Master insisted.

"Aw, a country girl like me. I doubt it." Mozu gets skeptical.

"Psh, it doesn't matter where you're from. Any girl can look good with the right outfit! Don't worry. I'll teach you how to carry the look once I decide on one."

"I just know I'd be the laughingstock of this little army if I put on fancy clothes. Those cute outfits and heavy makeup you like would look silly on me."

"That's ridiculous! You already look great in what you have on, Mozu."

"Flattery won't get you anywhere!"

"Mozu, come on… aren't we friends?"

"Well yeah but I don't… Lady Corrin." Mozu looked away from Oboro for a moment and notices Corrin, finally out of her treehouse and walks pass the two.

"Look who finally decided to crawl out of the tree. Hopefully, she's all better now." Oboro said more concern. "I'm sure she still doesn't want to talk to anyone but we better let the others know she's out."

"Right." Mozu agreed, as the two walk back into the house.

"Hey guys, Lady Corrin's finally out." Oboro called out to everyone inside.

"Finally!" Hinoka said as she gets up from the floor, completely forgetting the board game she was playing with Takumi as everyone focuses on what Oboro just informed.

"Seriously, I just left for five minutes to bring more water to the Treehouse." Kaze uttered upset that he wasn't there for when Corrin finally woke up.

"Where is she? How is she?" Hinoka asked desperately.

"Walking around the place and by the looks of it, she's still down about what happened and looks calm, really calm so I suppose her… 'Wrath' has subsided for now so Lilith's cure worked." Oboro explained based on what she noticed of the Princess.

"That's something, but we'll still have to talk to her, and an argument will probably occur so we'll have to make doubly sure to choose our words carefully." Kaze noted.

"So, no Takumi, or me. Easy enough." Azama replied, and not noticing the brief glare and scoff from Takumi.

"No matter what happens, what's important is sheltering her as much as we can and make her feel comfortable." Hinoka said about to march to help her sister, with Sakura beside her.

"With respect Milady but I would like to speak to her first." Kaze stepped up. "I do not mean to overstep on anything but I believe I have a better chance in keeping her at ease."

"Well… you do have a way with words when it comes to keeping the peace." Hinoka admitted as Kaze is quite the smooth talker, a feat which he surely never noticed considering how often he ignores the affectionate women that throw themselves at him.

"Thank you, for understanding, Milady." Kaze bowed.

"Hey, I didn't say you could go to her." Hinoka objected anyway as she is adamant on being the one to be there for Corrin the most.

"Whatever you guys do decide on, be sure to leave out Wrath for now, the last thing she surely needs is think that she might still have plenty of the first Sin that's caused us trouble still inside her, as that would surely set her off the WRONG way." Rinkah concluded.

"Was that a sex metaphor?" Azama asked.

"Considering what came out of Corrin's mouth I say probably."

"Gross." Subaki hissed.

"This is the worst case of anger management I've ever seen, and I don't know about you kids but I would love to go a few more weeks without any more surprises." Reina sighed.

"We would all like that very much, Reina. We aren't even in the frontline and already we're dealing with so much." Hinoka stated.

"Unfortunately, surprises are going to keep coming no matter what we do." Setsuna added, and at the nick of time, the Hoshidans meet another surprise, in the form of a banged up Lilith who enters the living room, covered in bruises, her clothing is almost ripped to shreds, her hair is a disaster and the look on her face is mortifying.

"Lilith!" Kaze gasped in shock as they gather around her as she drops to the ground and try to help her.

"Oh, sweet Fangs of Moro. That… that could've gone better." Lilith gasped while shaking uncontrollably.

"I-I'll heal you." Sakura said hastily as she and Azama begin using their healing magic on her.

"Lilith, what happened, you said that things would go down smoothly in that Deeprealm due to your dragon status?" Takumi demanded.

"I never said things would go smoothly, I just said things would be 'easier' by going alone." Lilith mumbled resting while lying on the floor. "But as it turns out the Necro Lords had a serious falling out and now the Dead Zone is going through a five hundred year long civil war with each other. I haven't been there in over five mortal years so a lot of time has passed in the Deeprealms. Turns out a war that involves six undead armies is really harmful, especially when they're so dumb that they keep forgetting who's on who's side and the friendly fires are unnaturally high and nobody appreciates the living getting involved. So… that last part was fun."

"For Sephiroth's sake, woman, if Corrin sees you like this she'll flip out." Takumi shouted.

"She'll be busy dealing with our uninvited guest to concern herself with my state." Lilith shrugged.

"Uninvited…? Wait… who or what followed you here?!"

Takumi gets his answer from a venomous and horrible growling sound coming from outside and the first to discover what it is, is Mozu as she's closest to the open window and what she gazes upon is a massive green dragon, however, there is something wrong with it. Its skin is rotted and decayed, the skin that is there is swamp green. Bones and muscle are showing all over its body, rotting bat-like wings on its arms that are currently folded and both its eyes are missing from the eye sockets.

"Ah… guys… I think there's a wild animal on the loose." Mozu uttered terrified and shaking at the sight of the horrible beast staring down at the house, more specifically Mozu. Takumi and Oboro rush to her side to see the horrible thing.

"It's a fucking Necrodragon!" Takumi gasped, horrified himself.

"One of the Nine Terrors of Hoshido…" Oboro uttered even more terrified.

"Yes… it's a Necrodragon." Lilith repeated.

"You let a Demigod of Death follow you here!" Saizo snapped at Lilith for this incompetence.

"Well I was low on power so I needed more time to jump my way back here so leaving open a fissure across dimension for others to cross over was unavoidable." Lilith muttered. "Don't worry too much, I can assure you that's the only one we have to contend with."

"That doesn't change the fact that we have a horrible monster like that one to deal with." Hayato snapped.

"Look on the bright side, at least I managed to get to mark Cheve." Lilith replied. "The thing is that the fissure let him to Earth but it recognized the magic of my Mark and knew how to turn it on himself and warp all the way here to get to me."

"That doesn't brighten things up at all." Sakura cried.

"Look, it may not be so bad to fight this thing, I mean it doesn't even have eyeballs so at least it can't see us." Hinata said trying to stay positive.

"Oh, it fucking sees us!" Hinoka snapped, knowing full well that the Necrodragon is staring right down at them, declaring them as its new pray. How long has it been since it last feasted on the flesh of the living, much less seen more than one? It will enjoy this very moment indeed.

"It's a corpse reanimated by the darkest magic, of course it doesn't need eyes to see." Orochi reminded.

"Everyone stay calm, it's a dragon, all we need are Wyrmslayers and Dragon Scrolls to slay it and it's also an unholy being so blessed weapons like Lady Azura's Holy Lance can also take it down, we're the ones with the advantage." Kaze interjected trying to keep everyone calm and see reason, and he's right, after all, because of all the Dragon Veins and it's just one of them.

"Right… we got this, this thing can't stand up to all of us together." Hinata declared, remaining the voice of optimism. Unfortunately for them, however, Lilith was wrong as it's not just one Necrodragon that followed her but three in total, as the remaining two show themselves to face the Hoshidans.

"Never mind… we don't got this and we're all going to die!"

---

Upon awakening from her forced slumber, Corrin wonders the Astral Plane without purpose, not contacting anyone and unsure if she's ready to talk after her previous outburst and falling out with her Hoshidan family and allies, eventually stopping in the same spot where she last spoke with them, the parts of the long wall she destroyed now fix, and remains there, still and quiet. Contemplating on her life's choices like she has done so every day.
She's doing the right thing. Right? Nohr has taken things too far. Right? They have no right to invade other lands. No right to take what's not theirs. No right to take so many lives. No right to kill her stepfather and start this war. No right to take her away from her home, raise her to believe she's one of them and play a role in said home's conquering. Right?

The answer is supposed to be as simple as breathing, and yet she finds herself unable to breathe whenever she searches for answers.

She wants to do what's best for Hoshido but she can't bring herself to fight Nohr like she thought she could. Sure she's spilled Nohrian blood, a lot of it in such a short time and despite her emotional turmoil she put all her effort into fighting off the enemy soldiers in the Opera House to hopefully apprehend Garon but it was all too much for her. It's not that she actually thought that she could end this war without bloodshed, she made no delusions about that, however, she herself didn't think that she had such a hard time raising her blade against them. Sure she went up against Silas rather well but that was different because she had every intention of letting him go but what happened in Cyrkensia went beyond that, attacking the people she once considered her family for so long, now her enemies and she took part in a plan to apprehend the man she once considered father, and admittedly still does, even after learning that poor Elise would also be there.

'The look in her eyes… Oh Gods, her eyes.' Corrin begins to tremble, covering her face with her hands. The betrayed look in Elise's face that she tried to ignore when they were forced to leave, it was like she hadn't fully grasped the situation of Corrin abandoning Nohr. Silas had a similar expression but not to that extent. And Xander and Leo, there was only pure rage from them. They understand, at least Xander does, why she would choose Hoshido but that doesn't mean they have to accept it. Hell, if the roles were reverse, she would've lashed out the same way.

'I don't know how much of this I can take; I can't lose Robin too; I've already lost so much.'

If only the rest of them had listened, even though they were actually about to win she knew that they were going to fail in the end but to think that they would fail in the worse way imaginable. Just what is she supposed to do?!

"What am I supposed to do?!" She meant to scream even louder but her will is so low that she can't even express herself the way she wants to.

Her emotional turmoil is put to a halt upon hearing the sounds of terrified screams of young girls, Sakura and Mozu, causing her to turn around to see a piece of debris from her treehouse come crashing down on her face, or could have if she had not reacted fast on time and slice in two with the Yato and next sees Mozu running for her life while carrying Sakura on her back from a horrifying monster chasing after them. Mozu is remarkably fast to be able to keep such a fair distance from the beast. And behind the Necrodragon is Hana, Subaki, Orochi and Setsuna chasing after it to save the two little girls, and since Subaki isn't on his Pegasus means there was no time to hitch a ride.

"Turn around and face me instead, you Bastard!" Hana yelled in outraged at the foul creature.

"How are you able to outrun that thing so easily?!" Sakura asked mortified while unable to avoid making eye contact, or lack thereof with the undead atrocity behind them who is not giving up on the chase.

"I! DON'T! KNOW!" Mozu cried hysterically, running much faster away from the Necrodragon.

And that is not the only Necrodragon as the rest of her allies are facing off against two more that are running amok and laying ruins to Lilith's home.

"But how… Lilith said only she could access this place." Corrin gasped over them being attacked even here. And the Necrodragon chasing the youngest members of the team seems about done playing cat and mouse as it prepares to release a breath attack of greenish flames to incinerate the two innocent girls.

"Why is it always something!" Corrin muttered as she rushes to save the two by channeling the power of the Astral Plane, just like Lilith taught her, perfectly creating a large wall of steel, blocking the Necrodragon from the two as it's greenish breath attack hits the wall instead and it did not take long for the wall to be removed as it disintegrates very quickly but it does by the girls time to escape and allow Corrin and the other four to surround the Necrodragon.

"Good to see you are at least looking well, Lady Corrin." Orochi greeted.

"What is this thing?" Corrin asked, pointing the Yato defiantly at the beast.

"A Necrodragon and a damn undead scourge of Necromancy." Hana explained.

"How did it get in here?!"

"Later, right now we have to deal with this one quickly and then stop the other two." Subaki insisted.

"Also, we need either holy or dragon slayer weapons to take it down." Setsuna explained a bit more serious than Corrin is used to.

"Argh, why didn't I stayed asleep." Corrin muttered as she calls forth astral power again and arms Setsuna, Subaki, Hana and Orochi with weapons that she knows are blessed, like a Blessed Bow, Blessed Lance, Spirit Kanata, and a Dragon Scroll for Orochi.

The Dragon focuses its attention on to Corrin and attacks her while infusing it's hand with green fire that Corrin is unable to avoid in time and blocks with Yato, which unfortunately does little as she is quickly consumed by the flames, causing her to shout out in pain, though strangely they are not burning her body but the heat is intense enough. Orochi makes the next move as she channels power from her scroll and summons a purplish spirit in the shape of an eastern dragon to attack the Necrodragon by wrapping itself around it like a snake to entrap it, and its magic begins to have an effect on its dragonic nature with the rotting skin beginning to burn it, making it roar in pain and releases Corrin from its assault.

The Necrodragon proceeds to attack Orochi to free itself, about to burn her with its flames but is stopped by Setsuna as she shoots a blessed arrow at its mouth, clashing with the necrotic fire, creating a chain reaction that made the fire explode, burning up the monster's head as it comes crashing down, injured but not out yet. The rest of them move in for the head, it tried to defend itself by moving it still free hands at them but Corrin and Hana were still able to cut them off with their blades, with Subaki jumping into its neck and stabs his newly acquired holy blade into it's neck and then proceeds to charge forward to the head while forming a large gash on its long neck, afterwards the Sky Knight makes a flawless backflip jump, landing near the top of its head and pierces through it, right for the brain, hopefully, finishing it off.

"Did that do it?" Corrin asked as everyone backs away from the monster and regroup, and the danger seemingly passed, Mozu and Sakura walk back to them.

"B-Big sister!" Sakura cried relief, running straight into Corrin and basically forces her into a tight hug, not that Corrin will deliver the same courtesy at the moment.

"We're alright for the most part but seriously, how did this thing get here?" Corrin demanded.

"No time, one down two to go and we best not leave the others hanging any longer." Hana replied but they're troubles are not over as the Necrodragon is still alive, well, undead with its wounds quickly regenerating and its severed hands reattach themselves back into the arms, getting back up and prepares to fire at them.

"SHIT!" Corrin cried as she pushes Sakura out of the way and stretches both her hands at him, quickly trapping the monster inside a large, metallic black cube, that already begins to disintegrate. "C'mon! This thing's already dead, so why does it bother to still move!"

"I know I hit the brain, and the lore confirmed that without it, the Undead can no longer walk among the living." Subaki uttered, startled.

"It must be because of all the dragonic-based mana of this world. It should understandably be able to absorb the energy to fuel itself and rapidly increase its healing capabilities." Orochi surmised. "Our best bet to stop them now is to fully consume them with an immense amount of Light Magic, as such we need the Scroll but it's buried under the house that these things destroyed."

"Then go get it while I hold this one off." Corrin instructed.

"But… but… Corrin…" Sakura began, wanting to protest against her order but there's no time as the Necrodragon escapes from its prison and goes for another attack but Corrin manages to lock it up again in another metallic cube while chopping off its left arm.

"GO NOW, SAKURA!" Corrin demanded louder, forcing the six of them to fall back while she stays behind to face the Necrodragon alone who breaks out again and reattaches its arm back into it.

"I guess this is the Dark Lord's way of punishing me for losing faith in Nohr." She uttered in distress.

---

"I've just had one bad day after another, I do not need the hands of Hel lashing out at me." Hinoka muttered while she and Takumi take shelter behind the debris of their current house with the hand of one of the Necrodragons trying to reach them.

"When is the Goddess of Death not hounding us?" Takumi asked rhetorically, while separated from his weapon.

"You especially should know better than to play smart with me." Hinoka protested while the Necrodragon's hand is getting closer to them and she responds by stabbing her Holy Lance into the back of the hand, making the beast growl in pain with the decayed skin begins to burn as it cannot stand the lance's blessed properties, forcing it to back away. "Now, come on! Light Magic is our greatest advantage against the Undead and the scroll has to be somewhere nearby."

"Can't we just make more holy weapons and bury these things underneath all of it?" Takumi suggested.

"Moron! Did you already forget what Lilith warned us about creating too many things in one day, and with all the effort we put into creating stuff over our curiosity for days our endurance has already left us unfit for battle combined with making progress in reusing the Light Scroll, we can't do much right now." Hinoka lectured.

"Hey, I'm just trying to remain optimistic like you and mother are always insisting when under a stressful situation." Takumi argued.

"The only time you're ever 'optimistic' is when you're exhausted, about to faint and forcing yourself to stay up so it's hard to appreciate your words when you're already half asleep!"

Their bickering is interrupted as Rinkah comes crashing through the wall debris they are hiding on and lands between the two.

"Are you two numbskulls seriously having this bickering bullshit now of all times!" She snapped at the two as she gets back up to face the Necrodragon she was previously facing, alongside Saizo, Kagero, and Hinata and Oboro while Kaze, Reina, Hayato and Azama hold off the other one that Hinoka and Takumi were previously hiding from upon cornering them and by the looks of it, they are having a harder time fighting these beasts than any Grimm they've ever faced before, proving why Necrodragons are viewed as actual demigods when it comes to bringing death and destruction.

Reina manages to get on top of the dragon she's facing and goes for the neck.

"Lady Hinoka!" The Kinshi Knight called out to Hinoka, requesting for her lance and the High Princess complies by throwing her weapon as hard as she can and remarkably far enough for Reina to catch and wastes no time in impaling the Holy Lance into the Necrodragon's neck, making it howl in agony, forcing it to lay down in possible defeat.

"Quick, aim for the head and destroy the brain! It's the only way to destroy it!" Kaze shouted.

"Yep!" Reina complied as she removes the lance from the neck and rushes to the already dead beast's head and finishes it off by going for the brain, the Necrodragon makes one final howl before it finally 'dies'.

"One down two to go." Hayato sighed.

"Wait, what happened to the one chasing Sakura and Mozu?" Takumi gasped in realization too late over the real dire situation.

"It won't work!" Orochi shouted as she and her group arrive at the scene. "These things are absorbing power from this world; we can't kill them with traditional means!"

"Hell, then I shouldn't be here." Reina muttered as she jumps off the Necrodragon at the nick of time as it gets up, only temporarily dazed by the blessed lance and said weapon remains stabbed on it.

"We are so screwed unless we get that scroll back." Hinoka cursed as their chances against these seemingly all-powerful creatures is dropping ever so slightly. "I take back every awful thing I said about the Grimm."

"I found it!" Lilith cried out as she comes out of the debris of the torn down house with the Light Scroll in hand as she forced herself inside to get it. At the same time, Corrin is seen flying, or rather thrown aside above her and harshly crashes down near Lilith's Tree Temple. "Corrin!"

"Well, she didn't last long alone!" Hana scoffed.

Corrin forces herself up her feet in time to rush away from the Necrodragon going after her as it crashes into the temple and causes most of it to crumble apart.

"MY TEMPLE!" Lilith cried in horror.

"Yep, Qliphoth really wants me dead…" Corrin mumbled trying to get away from the Necrodragon and she is not in a position to fight, with how much effort she put into keeping this thing detained combined with the fact that she just got back up from a long slumber and is ungodly hungry, she swears the Sin of Gluttony has shown up to torment her as well, she's not winning any fights any time soon.

The Necrodragon closes in with the others not able to reach her in time and as she forces herself back on her feet she fails to notice something drop from one of the pockets that were strangely added to her armor that is a familiar book that also opens by itself and from it a black hole of sorts comes out, which blows the Princess away, while the Necrodragon gets pulled into it as it begins to scream again in pain as parts of it begin to get ripped off it and sucked into the black hole until there is none of it left, and it's the same for the other Necrodragons as they are easily torn apart and before anyone knew it, the battle was already over, and the black hole vanishes into the book.

"What just happened?" Hinata asked so confused.

"I don't care and I am going to sleep." Takumi uttered, succumbing to exhaustion and lets himself fall to the ground.

"I'm getting fucked all over in all the wrong ways." Corrin lies down on the ground, her current pain overshadowed by the relief that it's all over. She then forces herself up again and turns her attention to the book that saved them and she's shocked to see that it's the same book that Quill had with him.

"It can't be." She uttered, walking to pick it up for a closer inspection and can confirm that it's the same one as Quill's. "Just what is going on with my life?"

Another day passes as they all quickly recover from the annoying inconvenience of the Necrodragons and Lilith reconstructs everything that was destroyed and spent most for the day and the day before trying to figure out what is up with the book that saved them.

"Well, I made a repeated thorough check but I can't seem to find any evidence that this thing is a magic tool, there isn't even a single word written here that is of the Magecraftian language." Lilith concluded. "It's just a regular book filled with poems."

"Really, then where did that black thing come from?" Hinoka asked.

"The only conclusion I can come up with is that the thing we saw was the magic tool that was inside this book and it ceased to be once it was used but even that doesn't explain where this thing came from as it did not originate from her or how that Singularity activated by itself, Magic Tools are incapable of turning on by themselves."

"Whatever it was it was not dangerous to us so we can only confirm that it was only lethal towards monsters like the undead." Takumi concluded.

"I'm not so sure we should brush this off as an isolated incident." Corrin said as she takes the book back into her hands.

"Well what can we do, there's nothing we can use that can explain where that thing came from and it wasn't exactly a threat to us." Hayato said.

"We can debate all we want about this another time but what I can say for certain that now is good at time as any to leave and meet up with Ryoma already because honestly as great as this place is, I'm starting to feel a little claustrophobic with all this waiting." Rinkah stated, with everyone contemplating for a moment.

"Well, there's nothing more to be done for now and the portal to Cheve is lined and ready." Lilith replied.

"Yeah, that's something we really need to talk about, Lilith. A Dead Zone? I thought you disliked Robin and yet you go and act like him!" Corrin lectured, really irritated by all the trouble she caused.

"I don't dislike Robin, it's just that he was very secretive and strange and you know how I feel about people like that." Lilith corrected.

"Yeah, and I also know how you feel about hypocrites, guess what you've just said." Corrin hissed, reminding her of her own secrets about being a dragon.

"Point taken…"

"What about you, Milady, are you sure you're ready to get out there again?" Kaze asked with obvious concerns for her wellbeing.

"I've… been better. But compared to how I was in the Opera House, I'll be just fine." Corrin replied, with genuine confidence but her eyes give enough indication that she's still shaken up about everything. "Regardless, I think I'm just going to sit the next battle we'll inevitably have out if I can help it."

"Good, because none of us are willing to put up with another of your episodes." Rinkah stated.

"That, and you don't have your Dragonstone anymore since… Robin confiscated it after your last outburst." Setsuna added hesitantly, something that needed to be said but still troubled her to cause Corrin's sadness to resurface. She still needs time to mourn but insists on holding it off until this all blows over, and considering their luck, it's going to be a LONG while before she is able to properly mourn.

"What kind of poems are in that book anyway?" Mozu asked, desperately trying to change the subject.

"The Shadow Comedy." Corrin replied.

"The poem allegedly made by the Dusk Dragon." Subaki said intrigued.

"Oh, I actually like that one." Orochi smiled and immediately remembers a quote from the Shadow Comedy. "To see a world in a grain of sand and Heaven in a wild flower, hold in Infinity in the palm of your hand and Eternity in an hour."

"He who desires, but acts not, breeds pestilence." Kagero said next, also familiar with the poem.

"Art can never exist without naked beauty displayed." Subaki added.

"Catchy. I can almost see why the Dusk Faithful have gathered such a large following with their entertainment value alone." Oboro said. "Almost."

Once everyone is ready to go Lilith opens the portal that will take them to the Dukedom Cheve. Finally they can reunite with Ryoma, and the first thing they see is a village, a few farmers walking by that have yet to notice them. This must be one of the villages that are a part of Cheve and from the looks of it, everything looks to be under control and not ravage by Nohr yet.

"So far so good, everything looks alright at least." Corrin said.

"Appearances can be deceiving so we need to be careful while searching for Lord Ryoma." Kaze said.

"He should be with the rebel forces but how are we supposed to find where they are while avoiding suspicions?" Hinoka wondered. "We ask around, we might end up talking to someone who will not want to stand against Nohr and play ignorance."

"We'll have to consort with commanders of one of the three official battalions, they made no attempt to hide their distaste for Nohr, and even though they dislike Scarlet we may be able to persuade them to show us where they are hiding." Kagero suggested.

"If they know where it is, considering that it's because of the rebels that Nohr will be sending Grimm here, I imagine that they can't just trust anyone with their location considering the number of people that will want to rat them out." Saizo pointed out.

"Fingers cross, then." Corrin said, hoping for the best.

"Quick! Don't let them get away!" A Knight from afar yelled.

And that hope just died. Why do they even bother planning things out if this keeps happening?

To their left, they see a platoon of Chevian Wyvern Knights chasing after another Wyvern Knight that's of Nohr, said Knight is a petite woman wearing black armor with indigo hair with a black headband and a purple bandana around her neck. Riding alongside her is another woman of the same age as her but taller, wearing a similar mercenary uniform like Laslow with very long hair as red as blood, wrap in pigtails that go beyond her waist and she is trying to shoot their assailants down with a Crescent Bow.

"You'll never take us alive you dirtbags!" The Redhead declared loudly as she fires an arrow at the main woman leading the charge against them. Though the blonde woman manages to avoid the arrow, the fellow knight behind her was not so lucky as he gets headshot before he could even react to the arrow. The sudden death of his rider, causes the Wyvern to cease its pursuit and ends up crashing into the other wyvern and knight behind it, causing all four to hit the ground hard. The redhead shoots another arrow at another knight who managed to dodge the hit but is unable to avoid a glowing red tomahawk thrown at him by the Nohrian Wyvern Knight who threw her axe roughly the same time that her partner shot the arrow and upon hitting the chest of the knight almost flawlessly, said tomahawk shines even brighter and before anyone could even react, the axe exploded, burning all the knights nearby, while the rest who were lucky enough are forced to stop as the impact knocks them to the ground.

"I recognize that Wyvern Knight, that's one of Camilla's Retainers!" Hinoka shouted recognizing the indigo girl as she saw her back in Kurosaki.

"Such high ranking members of Nohr wouldn't have come alone. Those who can follow them to see where they're going while the rest tend to the injured." Subaki suggested, in which they all agree, with him, Hinoka, Reina and Hayato chasing after the two.

"Hoshidans!" Selena snapped at the sight of Princess Hinoka among them chasing them now. "Oh, great! Like we don't have enough to deal with."

"We're almost there, just keep them busy." Beruka instructed.

"I'm all out of arrows!" Selena protested. "These people really are the worse."

Similar to Robin, a magic tome manifest into Selena's hand and to Hinoka's shock, it's the very same spellbook as his.

"Morgenstern!" Hinoka gasped.

"Bolganone!" Selena yelled as magma erupts from a fissure she creates, like Robin, also making a similar but weaker wall of lava to block the path of the hoshidans but briefly as the wall isn't as high either so they can fly over it and by the time they do so, they see the two retainers fly through what sounded like a wall of glass, shattering it, and for a brief moment they notice a red glowing barrier with a hole in it that closes up fast before vanishing altogether.

"See ya never!" Selena mocked as the two get away.

"Was that a barrier they just smashed through?" Subaki asked as the four stop in their tracks.

"Yeah, and it's a big one, though it didn't look like they were breaking into it but coming out of it." Hayato noted.

"I see, this must be the Great Wall." Reina said familiar with this barrier.

"Great Wall?" Hinoka repeated.

"I'll explain on the way, Milady, no point in chasing them now." Reina insisted as the four regroup with the rest of them, tending to the only seven knights who survived the explosion, among them is a blonde young woman in scarlet armor, who is THE Scarlet that is supposed to be with Ryoma.

"Thanks, you Hoshidans really saved our bacons." Scarlet said with gratitude.

"I take it your Scarlet?" Takumi asked the Wyvern Lord as she matches Ryoma's description.

"What gave it away, the scarlet armor?" She asked rhetorically but quickly decided to come clean. "Just messing with ya. Yes, I'm Scarlet, leader of the rebel forces of Cheve. And you must be Ryoma's siblings and retainers."

"You guessed it, we're here to assess the situation here and secure Ryoma's safety." Corrin explained.

"Well, you'll be pleased to know that your crown prince is just dandy, though for how long I can't say, now that those two got away with their meddling." Scarlet frown, thinking back to the two Nohrians who got away from her.

"What did they do, and are there more in Cheve?" Corrin asked.

"There are plenty of Nohrians outside our borders and hopefully none left inside for now." Scarlet informed and Hinoka and her team soon return.

"Everyone taken cared of?" Hinoka asked.

"These seven will be fine, what happened to those two?" Takumi asked.

"Got away and ran past a magic barrier, a pretty weak one if a Wyvern was able to penetrate it." Hinoka informed.

"That would be the Great Wall, a massive barrier erected by a rare and powerful Dragon Vein that lies in Cheve, originally designed to protect a kingdom that was established here in honor of the Stone Dragon; Archaean, God of Earth. And following his Degeneration and later Ascension as a spirit, said kingdom bit the dust and Cheve was then born from the ashes." Reina explained.

"Yep, Ryoma activated it as soon as he got here to protect us from the incoming Grimm lead by Princess Camilla. The barrier is so dense that not even those using Warp Magic can warp inside it without massive amounts of magical power made through the combinations of many Mages working together, which should be how those two got in." Scarlet explained.

"But why them and not Camilla, she could've deactivated the Dragon Vein herself and allow her forces to invade much quicker?" Hinoka questioned.

"Not sure but whatever those two did, they snuck past our defenses, including Ryoma and cast a powerful dark spell on the Dragon Vein itself, weakening it to the point where it is slowly deactivating, hence why they were able to smash through it." Scarlet continued.

"A spell that can manipulate the divine energy of Dragon Veins?" Takumi objected in disbelief.

"That's impossible." Lilith uttered, more in disbelief than any of them.

"Well, those two did the impossible, somehow."

"They probably did it with THAT tome the redhead possesses." Hinoka said.

"What tome?" Corrin asked.

"Corrin, I'm so sorry but… they have Robin's tome. I saw Morgenstern in that redhead's possession and she used it against us to get away. She even erected the same magma wall to block our path." Hinoka confessed, reluctant to tell her this but knew it be wrong to keep her in the dark and find out another way.

The reactions among the Hoshidans were of both shock and horror but none could compare with the look of despair of Corrin, over the mix signals of this news, the one that keeps popping up is the worst one.

"They have Robin's tome, the same one he summons from seemingly nowhere, with a whole bunch of spells." Hinata uttered. "If they have that then…"

"Crap… they really did get him." Oboro cursed.

"H-He's… he's gone." Sakura mumbled tearfully.

"But wait a minute, it's only been almost four hours and a half since the attack in the Opera House, how did they take his tome, learned that it has exactly what they needed to dispel a Dragon Vein and bring it here so fast?" Kagero asked.

"He lived with the Nohrian Royals so he must've told them or have seen his magic at work enough times to know what he's capable of." Kaze concluded.

"N-No… he… Robin never told anyone he was a mage; he didn't say why but he didn't want Lord Xander or the others to know what he is truly capable of." Lilith explained. "The only reason why I and Corrin know about it is because we caught him practicing his spells one night and he persuaded us to keep it a secret."

"But then… does that mean that it's a different Morgenstern?" Hana suggested.

"If Nohr had powerful tomes like that, we would've faced plenty of Dark Mages with similar tomes years ago." Takumi asserted. "They are capable of easily manufacturing a multitude of tomes and staves faster than any other nation apart from the most powerful types which take longer to pull off but it's totally possible. Though now that I think about it, tomes capable of housing multiple spells are supposed to be extremely rare and nearly extinct so it's likely that Nohr wouldn't have the materials necessary to make them if one or two are all they have currently. Just what is going on?"

None of them besides Corrin and Lilith knew Robin enough to really care for him, with the trust issues they have towards him, especially with the information Lilith provided them about his possible lack of a soul, however they acknowledged his power and loyalty to Corrin that benefitted Hoshido. He basically already earned his place, where it counts at least, as a member of the Royal Guard with the help he provided them thus far, which helped them come this far with all the difficulties set before them. It is a major blow for them if he was actually killed. It's already a major blow for Corrin, in her already weakened state, grows so numb with her legs they give up on her as she collapses on her knees.

"Corrin!" Hinoka gasped upon seeing her fall with everyone rushing to her side.

"C-Corrin!" Sakura called out to her while she's in front of her, but there is no response, made even worse as her eyes, that used to be a pretty as rubies have gone completely lifeless and utterly defeated.

---

Back in Cyrkensia, the resort city is in uproar over what had happened in their famed Opera House with mix reaction on who is to blame blowing like crazy, Hoshido or Nohr, there's going to be an even bigger disaster in no time and rather or not it will prove beneficial for the Nohrians remains uncertain thus far but one thing is clear, Nestra may no longer be safe for Hoshidans. With the state of things, the military forces that were placed in the city following the news that the Third Twilight War had begun begin to mobilize and tighten the security as much as possible and by the looks of it, it's likely that no one will be allowed to enter or leave until further notice, not that they can stop the Nohrian Royals.

Staring down from a window at the streets below and the slowly rising chaos, is Azura who managed to safely escape the Opera House, along with Robin, who is lying down in a couch resting and manage to stop his wound from bleeding completely by burning the wound, using his mana to forcefully turn it into a scar. A very unrealistic and unorthodox procedure that the Songstress couldn't bear to watch how it really works but it was a quick one and he's fine but barely.

"You sure it's safe for us to be here?" Azura questioned, uncertain if their current residence is safe.

"Yeah, this is where the famed singer Layla lives, based on what I've heard from the constant Nestrian propaganda and last time we checked, she isn't in Cyrkensia right now and won't be for a while, especially after what we did, so it's our little haven for now." Robin explained confidently, while Azura gets closer and lies down in a chair next to him.

"Now what do we do, there's no way we can get out of the city on our own with the state you are in?" Azura asked concern for themselves.

"I've got a few options that could work." Robin replied.

"But they all involved doing something dangerous." Azura can already guess.

"All but one and we just might have a chance at making it through this but we can't at this very moment so all we can do is rest and head out once we've rested decently enough." Robin surmised.

"Do we even have the luxury of resting? What if we were followed."

"We weren't, trust me." Robin reassured her.

"Well, last time I checked trust, like communication is a two-way street." Azura replied more harshly then she intended but with everything that just happened, she's in no mood to be nice.

"Of course, you were going to bring it up." Robin sighed exasperatedly, even though he was preoccupied fending off Laslow and Odin, it didn't mean he was oblivious to her shock when Laslow opened his mouth about him not having amnesia.

"There is so much bursting inside my head right now and on top of it all at this very moment is you and your dishonesty." Azura accused. "It's bad enough with whatever is happening to your soul."

"I wasn't being manipulative, deceptive or whatever else you think I am right now, and I didn't tell you or Corrin the truth because at the time no one would've believed me." Robin tried to defend himself.

"Why wouldn't we?"

"Because where I'm from places like Nohr and Hoshido are no more than fictional kingdoms of a long gone and undesirable era, I myself would've had a hard time believing I was here if I wasn't awake for most of the unwarranted trip into those plain fields." Robin said.

"None of that makes any sense." Azura countered confused, causing Robin to sigh in defeat.

"Okay, this is the part where I try to insists that you hold off your curiosity until we meet up with Corrin again and I find the right time to tell her and explain everything to everyone but… there's never going to be a 'right' time, is there?" He asked somewhat rhetorically.

"No."

"Fine, I'll tell you first but only half of it because I don't like to repeat myself and my life is largely uncomfortable to talk about." Robin gives up.

"What else could you possibly be hiding that would urge you to fake-"

"I'm from one of the places that Lilith refers to as an Outrealm." Robin confessed, earning him silence from Azura.

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"I'm going to need a glass of water first." She muttered.

---

Did the whole Necrodragon thing feel like one huge annoying subplot or filler? Yes? Good, because that was the whole point of it apart from introducing Necromancy into the story, so don't think about it too much and if you do, I'm glad I got your attention. Corrin and Takumi's dysfunctional relationship will come full circle soon enough while the dynamic with Robin and the Awakening Trio will remain on hold for now. I apologize if this disappoints some of you but keep in mind that this is Birthright and it's about as incomplete as Conquest and outrageously Revelations and I have more to cover and I am starting to overestimate my capabilities to leave no plot holes along the way because while I'm not as forgetful as canon Robin and Corrin, I do have a habit of forgetting things unless I put complete interest in them and not brush them off as subplot I will unavoidably make mistakes along the way. Either way, I hope you enjoyed this one as well and please leave me more reviews.