Corrin Reacts to Harems, Part 2!

A/N: Welcome, one and all, to Corrin Reacts! Jeez, so much speculation and so much pity for Leo; not that I wouldn't pity him. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to have Hinoka glomping me too, but good god would I be running if the whole noble population of Nohr was after me. Anyway, now that the madness has begun, let's see how Corrin and co. pull themselves out of this one, eh? Enough rambling, let's get on with the disaster!

DISCLAIMER: Fire Emblem belongs to Intelligent Systems, otherwise we would have more default Butlers (gib butler Silas nao)

All mentioned franchises and characters belong to their respective owners.

"Brother! Help!" Leo cried as he smacked away Jakob's hand, the butler forgetting his composure in his amorous fugue. Corrin yanked his brother towards him, as Flora immediately stepped in and swept the first wave of admirers back with a burst of icy wind, looking back towards her liege and nodding.

"Do you have him, Corrin?"
"Got him," the prince replied, placing himself between the crowd and his younger brother as he surveyed the crowd. He spied Azama being carried by several of the afflicted partygoers and being slowly marched towards them as a battering ram. Setsuna was still hanging off a torch, but she seemed to be sleeping and completely oblivious to the chaos going on around her. Meanwhile, Hinoka was pouting.

'If Ryoma was here, I'd be going to hell for this,' Corrin mused quietly to himself as he filed away the mental image of his tough-as-nails badass older sister pulling off the facial expression of a spoiled child.

"No fair, Corrin!" The princess cried indingantly. "I had Leo first! Give him back!"

"Corrin, you're the one who knows more about this kind of thing, help me!" Leo pleaded desperately, as the prince looked around, searching for an escape route. Flora slowly stepped back, her resolve faltering in the face of such overwhelming force.

"Corrin, I don't think we can fight so many people at once," the maid pointed out. "And I don't want to hurt Jakob much, either."

'Dammit, she's right,' Corrin conceded. 'If we stay and fight, we'll be overwhelmed. As much as I'd love to lock Hinoka and Leo in a room and let nature take its course, I'd prefer my older sister not to be spiked with love potion while they're going at it. No, we need to figure out who did it and why. But first….'

"Flora!" The prince yelled over at her, pointing at the door. "Let's get out of here!"

She immediately understood what he intended. "Got it!"

The prince grabbed Flora and Leo by the arms and shoved himself backwards, pushing the doors open with his shoulder. Almost immediately, Corrin released the maid from his arms, and Flora immediately whipped up a flash of ice, freezing the doors shut with an expanding web of ice as she slid backwards, skidding to a halt next to the prince. The door creaked with the weight of the partygoers and the web of ice cracked slightly, but held their weight. The maid closed her eyes, satisfied with her work.

"That should hold them off, Corrin."

Corrin nodded at Flora, sighing in relief. "Nice job with the doors. How long do you think we have?"
"Five minutes, before either their sheer weight breaks the ice or the ice melts," the maid estimated. "We should leave before either happens."
"Well, I think we s-should find who did that!" Leo sputtered out, attempting to regain his composure. "Who….why would anyone even do that?"

"The most likely candidates right now are Niles, Camilla and Azura," Corrin concluded, already walking off down the corridor; Flora and Leo quickly followed suit, neither wishing to remain behind when the door broke down. "Niles did make sure you couldn't hide, Camilla would love for nothing more than her little brother to, as Niles would put it, get laid, and Azura never did tell me where she was going off to….."

Flora seemed disappointed as she briskly walked with the other two, sighing. "I was looking forward to asking Jakob to the Festival…."
"Well, at least it's not you, right?" Corrin pointed out reassuringly. "As soon as he's not attempting to ravish my little brother, you can take another stab at it."

"I suppose," Flora nodded, looking down sadly for a moment before shaking her head, recovering her composure. "…this isn't the time for that. What's our next course of action?"
"We'll look for Niles first," the prince concluded. "If we find him, he might know what's up."

Leo dusted himself off, nodding. "And what if it isn't him?"
"Then we find our dear beloved sister Camilla then. She's next most likely. If not, then gods help us, because I have no clue where Azura's supposed to be right now."

"Why don't we just go look for Lord Xander?" Flora suggested helpfully. Leo shook his head.

"He's not here tonight. He never really was one for parties himself….." the prince thought to himself. "And yet he saw fit to let Camilla drag me into one."

"Ugh! Weak! Get off of me!"

The three of them stopped suddenly, before a plump duchess in an unfitting dress was thrown across the corridor in front of them, a goblet of spiked wine splattering onto the floor as she murmured for her dear Leo to protect her. Corrin looked to the side to see-

"Oh. Hey. See you guys came for the party too, huh?" Scarlet waved at them, grinning, her Chevois armor glittering with various decorations she'd decided to put on herself, and a white flower taking pride of place on her chestplate.

Leo blinked for a moment, uncomprehending. "Scarlet? What are you doing here? I thought you were in Cheve."

"I got bored," the wyvern rider shrugged casually, dusting off her gauntlets. "Y'know, training people all day to be badasses like me kinda tired me out. I wanted a break for a bit. Heard you guys were holding a party up here, so I wanted in. Free wine and food can't hurt, right?"

Flora held up a finger, looking at her closely. "Wait. Miss Scarlet, you had none of the wine, right?"
"Didn't get a chance to," she replied, looking a little disappointed at that. "I heard the Hoshidans were around, so I decided to go look for Ryoma- y'know, to catch up on old times, maybe get the guy to join me for drinks for once."
"Drinks?" Leo tilted his head, seeming dumbfounded by Scarlet's brazenness. "You're asking the King of Hoshido out for drinks?"

The wyvern knight seemed unbothered. "What? Can't a girl want to hang out with her completely oblivious friend for drinks? It's not like we didn't kick ass together during the war. Anyway, I was just on my way back from looking for Ryoma outside when some crazy lady tackled me and told me I couldn't have lover boy all for myself," Scarlet pointed over at Leo, before looking back to the older prince. "Why do you ask?"

Corrin breathed another sigh of relief. "Good. The wine's spiked. Someone put love potion in one of them and now my older sister and one of my best friends is trying to molest Leo."

Scarlet snorted amusedly as she walked over to join the group. "Well, I always thought Hinoka was a closet pervert and I'd be lying if I didn't expect someone to pull something like this. Well then, what're you guys going to do now?"

"We were going to attempt to find Niles," Flora explained. "We think he might've had something to do with this love potion."

"Ah, explains why he's a no-show," Scarlet concluded, nodding in agreement. "Knowing him, he'd never miss out a chance to laugh at lover boy's suffering. Mind if I tag along?"

Corrin smiled, shaking his head. "Well, we're in a castle full of Leo-obsessed nobles. I think the more the merrier seems like the rule of thumb right now."

"Sweet," Scarlet nodded, rubbing her hands together. "Let's get going then!"

Near Niles' room….

"Niles?" Leo rapped lightly on the door to his retainer's room. Corrin and Flora stood guard nearby, looking around for any sign that the partygoers had broken free, while Scarlet stood next to the younger prince, waiting for the door to open.

"He in there?" The wyvern rider inquired, only for the door to swing open at Leo's touch. The prince blinked.

"…he left the door open?" Leo muttered under his breath as he pushed the door in. Scarlet followed closely, watching his back.

Flora sighed as she stood next to her liege, pushing one of her ponytails out of her way. "Corrin, while we have a moment of silence…." She turned away. The prince looked at her curiously.

"Huh? What is it, Flora?"

"…..it's nothing, really," the maid downplayed what she was about to ask, playing with an azure ponytail before untwisting it from her finger. "I meant to ask you something."

"Go on," Corrin replied.

"…why do you want Jakob and I to be together?" The maid inquired curiously. "Not that I'm ungrateful for your help, but…..why do you want to help me so much?"

"Well, Flora," the prince sighed, closing his eyes and speaking as if the answer was obvious. "You're one of my best friends. We've known each other since we were kids. Of course I want to make you happy."

"I know, but why not just…..do what happened today and spike Jakob's drink with love potions? Wouldn't that be faster for you?"
"I want it to be love, not some temporary lust," Corrin replied dismissively, scoffing at the thought. "I could go spike his drinks with love potion, or I could try to hook you up so he sees you for the person you are. Which is to say, a pretty awesome person."

The maid blushed slightly at that, chuckling. "Corrin, you're too kind. But…..I still don't understand why you go to so much trouble on my behalf. I always notice that you go to too much trouble for other people. It may hurt you some-"
"No," Corrin bluntly replied. "Never too much trouble. Never you. No matter how many times you say you're not worth it, I'm not going to accept that answer. You're my friend, Flora. That's why I would go to so much trouble. It's the only answer I need. Not that I can't have a little fun while I'm at it…." He chuckled to himself, keeping the secret that he had been behind pairing up Benny and Beruka and that most of his matchmaking was done through tactical pranking.

Flora blinked, before sighing, closing her eyes and smiling. "I should've known to expect that answer from you. I'll do my very best to help you with courting Azura. It seems only right."

The prince returned the smile. "Thanks. I appreciate that. But, I do have a question."

"Oh? What is it?" The maid inquired.

"What if…..this was all a ruse for me to get close to you?" Corrin replied teasingly, causing Flora to giggle and cup her hands to her mouth, blushing.
"C-Corrin! Don't say such things! What if other people hear you? They'll think we're lovers!" Her expression suddenly changed to be more mischievous, as she decided to retaliate. "What if I say yes to you? What then?"

The prince raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Flora, dear, are you flirting with me? My, the tables have turned. What have you done with the real, innocent Flora?"

The maid broke out into full laughter, shaking her head. Corrin smirked.

"Gotcha."

"I'm s-sorry, I just….." Flora took a moment to continue laughing. "….I haven't laughed so much in a while."

"Of course. You look nice when you laugh, you know?" Corrin casually commented. "It's a good look on you."

Flora was about to reply to that, before-

"GAH!" Leo cried suddenly, prompting the pair to look towards Niles' room. They immediately ran inside, before-

"Niles! Why are you….n-naked?!" The younger prince cried.
Scarlet was pulling on someone wrapped around Leo's waist and failing to wrench them off. "Gods! He's like a limpet!"

"Lord Leo, you've grown a little, haven't you?" Niles teased, wrapped around Leo's waist with naught but a towel wrapped around his waist to preserve his modesty. "My, my. That your tome, or are you just happy to see me?"

Flora looked irritated. "So Niles drank his own potion. Corrin, should I-"
"Wait, wait," the prince shook his head. "No, he's not under the effects of the potion."

Scarlet stared at him, confused. "How do you know?"
"Ah," Niles sighed, desisting and extricating himself from Leo disappointedly as he looked over at the prince. "You ruined the fun. Just as it was about to get exciting as well…."

Corrin closed his eyes, shaking his head. "I didn't. That was a bluff."
Leo grumbled, closing his eyes. "Niles, that wasn't funny."

"Aww. Don't you want the adoring praise of your lusty, nubile admirers? Especially Hinoka. Ooh, I would be-"
"Niles, not the time," Leo calmly reproached him, and the thief closed his eyes, nodding.

"Okay. I understand."

Corrin folded his arms. "Alright, Niles, give it up. Did you spike the wine?"
"The wine? Oh, you mean…..ah," the thief nodded, smiling slyly. "…..no, I didn't touch it, and if I did, rest assured it'd be a lot funnier."

Scarlet scoffed. "Likely story. Where were you, then?"

"It seems our dear friend Nyx decided to pay us all a visit tonight," Niles explained, sighing. "Sadly, she wasn't one for a party, although she seemed to be wanting to look for someone. I ran into her and we talked for a while. She wanted to hex my mouth shut, which by the way, sounds very-"
His liege shot him a glare. "Niles."
"Anyway," the thief cleared his throat. "We parted ways just as everyone else broke out and some people left the hall."
Leo nodded slowly. "That would explain the woman who accosted Scarlet earlier. Do you know where-"

Suddenly, a loud crack, followed by a thud, sounded off elsewhere in the castle. Flora looked to Corrin immediately.

"They broke the door down. They'll be looking for Leo soon."
"Nyx, huh?" The prince thought carefully. "She can probably figure out a spell to dispel the love potion, knowing her skills. Alright. Thanks, Niles. You know where she went?"
"She took off towards the latrines to, and I quote, 'void herself of my dirty mouth'," the thief replied, remembering carefully. "She's probably holed herself up there to protect herself from the potion-crazed party."

Leo nodded. "Thanks. Niles, are you coming with us?"
"As much as I'd like to, I believe Nyx will probably curse me into a much less fun form than this," Niles replied, shaking his head. "Sorry, milord. You're on your own for now."

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?" The younger prince inquired exasperatedly, causing the thief to break out into a mischievous smirk.

"Immensely."

Scarlet shuddered. "Gods, can you not? Anyway, we should probably go find Nyx before they get to her or us. Much as I'd love a fight, I'd rather not beat up anyone I know."

"Sounds like a plan!" Corrin nodded in agreement. "Let's go, quickly."

Corrin and the group made their way across the palace, looking around them as they passed to ensure that the roving crowd of love potion-dosed partygoers didn't see them. They could hear the sound of their feet thundering across the halls, the low, rumbling noise of chattering echoing through the corridors of Castle Krakenburg.

"This feels like one of those horror stories," Scarlet commented amusedly. "You know, the ones where they have some weird killer guy with an axe stalking people through a haunted house?"
Leo shuddered at the thought. "Please, I don't need to imagine Hinoka doing that."

"Oh, right, because she already is!" The wyvern rider answered, smiling brightly. Leo simply groaned in response.

Flora stuck close to Corrin, her eyes darting around for any signs of movement. "What do we do once we get to Nyx?"
"Well, knowing her, she'll probably agree to help us. I doubt she has the patience to tolerate everyone here being half mad. In fact, I'm surprised she hasn't already."

"And I think that would explain why," Scarlet spoke up, gesturing towards the corridor leading to the latrines. Leo blanched in horror.

"Oh gods."

The corridor was blocked by a mass of amorous partygoers, slowly creeping towards the latrine doors, chanting Leo's name ecstatically. Corrin stepped back slowly, his hand instinctively reaching for his Dragonstone before realising he'd left it at home.

"Okay….." He muttered, stepping back. "Let's just back away slowly….."

A shadow swooped from the ceiling, rapidly diving towards them suddenly. Flora was the first to notice. Her eyes widened as she pushed Leo to the ground, before being picked up from behind by their new assailant with a loud yelp.

"Brother dear," Camilla uttered lustfully, the smell of wine around her making it clear she'd been affected by the love potion and had a fair bit of alcohol to go with it, too. "I know such a thing is forbidden, but you and I must show love for one another, no?"

Leo pulled himself to his feet, shaking his head as he watched Flora flail in the grasp of his older sister. "Even Camilla?! Who else drank this wine?"

"Forget that!" Scarlet snapped, running towards the escaping Camilla. "We need to get Flora back!"

Corrin set off after her. "Right! Leo, come on! They know we're here now!"

As if on cue, the shuffling crowd of partygoers began picking up in speed, running towards them with their searching hands outstretched.

The younger prince swallowed firmly and ran behind his older brother.

…..

Corrin caught up to Scarlet, who was just behind Camilla's wyvern. The wyvern rider roared, before latching onto the undead wyvern's tail, grunting with the effort.

"HEY!" Scarlet yelled loudly, hanging on tight as she vainly tried to get the princess' attention. "You have the wrong guy!"
Flora squirmed in Camilla's tight hug. "Lady Camilla, I assure you, I am not Lord Leo! Please, let go!"

"Noooonsenseeee, you are my dear brother!" Camilla giggled, hiccupping as she planted a wine-smelling kiss on the maid's forehead. "You're so cute!"

Leo cringed behind Corrin, running behind him. "Please tell me she's not really like that!"
"Contrary to what they write about you guys in the Outrealms, probably not!" The prince shot back.

The younger man stared at him in confusion. "Wait, what?! What was that about the Outrealms?"

"Never you mind!"

Flora closed her eyes to concentrate. "Lady Camilla, you leave me no choice!"

Cold air swirling around the maid, Flora prepared to use her powers to escape the situation before-

"He's all mine!"

Hinoka suddenly tackled Camilla off of the wyvern, causing the Nohrian princess to lose her grasp on Flora, who squealed as she clung onto the wyvern's neck for dear life. Both women flew off the wyvern, tussling with each other before the maid lost her grasp.

"Ah!"

"I got you!" Corrin dove underneath the maid, arms outstretched to catch her. His draconic strength showed itself as he managed to catch her without straining himself. Carefully lowering his arms, the prince allowed her to dismount on foot, dusting herself off.

"Thank you," the maid gratefully replied, as Scarlet landed next to them, looking around concernedly.

"Uh, guys? We're a bit trapped."

Leo and the wyvern rider backed up into Flora and Corrin as the crowd that was chasing them slowly closed in around them, reaching out to grasp at their target.

"Leoooooo…."
"Love us!"
"Don't ever leave us again!"

"I don't suppose you have any bright ideas?" Scarlet remarked as she backed away from a crazed Jakob.

Corrin looked around worriedly, searching for a way out.

'Come on, come on, give me something, give me something!'

Suddenly, a loud crack sounded between Corrin and Leo, and a plume of opaque smoke flew up and obscured everyone's sight. The loud murmuring of bewildered people could be heard all around them, as confusion and chaos reigned.

Flora coughed and covered her mouth, shutting her eyes and attempting to blow the smoke away with her ice powers, as a cold wind and ice crystals began to part the smoke. Before she could, however, someone grabbed her hand, yanking her forward.

"Ah?" The maid looked around, before-

"Relax, Flora. I've got you and Corrin."

Kana was beside her, Flora's hand in hers, pulling the prince along, who in turn was pulling Leo and Scarlet along out of the smoke. The young woman pulled them out of the way and moved them around a corner, out of sight.

Corrin breathed rapidly, sighing in relief as he peered around the corner, staring at the admirers popping out of the cloud of smoke. "Kana?! Where were you this whole time?"
"I was busy preparing an escape route," Kana explained curtly as she gestured towards a side corridor. "I was accosted by a victim of the love potion while I was in the latrines. Given the situation, there were several possibilities of escape. None of them apart from acquiring Nyx's assistance were viable without causing injury to a vast majority of the partygoers."
"And the smoke bomb? Where'd you get that?"
"I fashioned it from materials in the latrines," the young woman explained casually. The prince looked aside for a moment.

"Makes sense. So you didn't spike the wine?"
"I couldn't have. I was in the antechamber of your home the whole time before the party," Kana replied calmly.

Scarlet sighed. "Seems rather convenient you managed to come out with a smoke bomb and an escape plan, but considering you saved all our butts back there, I'll give you a pass."

Leo nodded slowly. "Alright. So we just need to get to Nyx and she can fix all of this, right?"

"No," Nyx bluntly replied, a hand on her hip as she stared down at the group. "I can't fix this problem for you."

The group stood in the latrines with the door barricaded by several crates and (empty) chamberpots and any bric-a-brac they could find. Outside, the sound of shuffling feet could be heard, as the crowd searched desperately for their targets. Scarlet was standing guard by the door and Corrin was standing by the window, looking outside as if he was waiting for something. Flora was catching a breather near the chamberpots, leaning against the wall, as the younger prince and Kana talked with the dark mage, who was drawing some sort of magical circle on the floor with one hand on a stick drawing said circle.

Leo stared at her in confusion. "What? You can't fix this?"

"Not without knowing what these people were dosed with," Nyx reiterated, huffing. "You young people should really have thought to figure out what they took before coming to me."
"You're a master of countercurses," Kana explained. "We assumed you knew one for this."

The dark mage stared at her as if she'd told her that two plus two was five. "That is an asinine assumption to make, that you can just magic away a problem with a random spell. It's not how it works."

"Can you actually do something about the problem, then?" Leo inquired hopefully. Nyx tapped her chin as she looked towards the mirrors in the room carefully, sighing.

"Well….I suppose there is a way to fix them," the dark mage concluded. "I could put a sleeping spell on the castle and put them to sleep until the potion's effects run their course. However, the spell would be so powerful that even I would be barely able to keep it from affecting me. You would all end up asleep too as a result."
"Could you put it on some sort of timer?" Kana suggested quietly.

The dark mage muttered something to herself for a moment, mulling the idea over. "I could do it, easy. Just find me a way out, child, and let us get on with it."

Flora tapped Corrin on the shoulder, prompting him to look over at her. "Yes?"
"Corrin, what are you doing?"
"I'm calling in a favour or two," the prince explained, holding up a quill and a parchment in his hand and pointing to a pigeon flying away with a scroll in their feet. "If we're going to get out of this without my little brother being literally drowned by adoration by his crazy fangirls and fanboys, we're going to need some help from the outside."

"Are you calling Silas in?"

"Something bigger."

Scarlet sighed, crossing her arms. "This party blows. I was looking forward to free food and drink and getting to catch up with Ryoma and now I'm locked in the latrines."

"Least you're not being chased by your friends and your sister who want to rip all your clothes off and do something unspeakable to you," Leo pointed out. "You only had the Duchess of Southern Nestria tackle you and got dragged along by an undead wyvern."

"Wyvern scales play hell on your skin."

"Why are you here, anyway?" The younger of the princes inquired to Nyx, who gave him a sharp glare.

"Can't an old woman show up and have some fun for herself?" The dark mage huffed. "Honestly."

Scarlet rolled her eyes. "Please. You're probably not that old even when you don't look like a flower girl with too much chalk."

"W-who're you calling a child?" Nyx remarked irritably, her eyelid twitching. "I'll turn you into a frog, you freckled brat!"

"Freckled brat?!" Scarlet glared at her. "You're one to talk! I ought to-"

"Ladies!" Corrin stepped between both of them, pushing them aside from each other. "We're kinda trapped in a latrine. If you could save murdering each other until we're out of here, that would be great."

Suddenly, the door shook, and a pot stacked on top of the barricade clattered onto the floor, smashing apart. Kana tensed, shuddering.

"They're here."

Nyx sighed, taking out a stick and a jar of powder before spraying the powder onto the floor and drawing a circle. "Alright, everyone get ready. I'm going to draw that sleeping spell now!"
For a moment, all was silent, as everyone stood there, waiting for Nyx to prepare her spell.

Then, everyone was alarmed as the door and barricade flew apart, a blast of dark magic soaring through the door and flying over Nyx's head. The dark mage almost instinctively retaliated with a countercurse of her own, before realising she was still standing among innocents and friends. Instead, she dove aside, grabbing Scarlet's hand. "Get down, child!"

Under any other circumstance, the wyvern rider would've protested. Instead, she was content with following Nyx's orders, covering her head with her hands and using a nearby pot as a barricade. Corrin pushed Flora aside, taking a blast of dark magic on by throwing a tray of soap at it, causing both magic and tray to vanish, while Kana yanked Leo aside behind the column opposite.

"Dear Leo," Jakob cried, leading the crowd as a dark magic-wielding nobleman followed him from behind, being the source of the burst of magic. "Where are you? I merely wish to express my overflowing love for you!"

Corrin cringed. "Gods, please tell me that's not how he makes pillow talk, otherwise I'd feel for you Flora."

"That's not how I'd like to be confessed to like that either….." The maid admitted, hiding behind the column with him. "Do you have a plan to get out of here?"

"Just you wait," Corrin reassured her. "They'll be here any minute now."

Kana looked over at him confusedly. "Who'll be here any minute now?"

A loud, deep roar sounded from the depths of the palace, stopping everyone dead for a few moments, before the rampage continued. Scarlet stared at Corrin strangely.

"What the hell?! Did you get an army of bears?!" The wyvern rider snapped. The prince merely smirked.

"Well, who needs an army of bears…." He started smugly.

Leo was about to reply before he noticed a large, black mass swatting noblewomen and noblemen alike out of their way, cleaving a path through the group.

"Is that a Faceless?" Flora inquired dumbfoundedly. Corrin simply waited as the mass approached them.

Then, everyone understood as the mass drew close enough to be recognised.

Corrin took this opportunity to finish what he was saying. "…when you have a Benny?"

Benny roared as he shoved Jakob roughly out of the way, his large muscular frame shrugging off dark magic and the blows of even Camilla alike. Behind him, a swathe of unconscious victims of the love potion lay as testament to the sheer power of the knight who had rampaged through their midst.

"Corrin, I got your letter," he breathed out, resting himself for a moment as he clambered to a stop. "We didn't know you were in deep."

Leo's eyes widened. "We? Wait a second-"
"Nyx!" Corrin yelled as he pulled Scarlet and Flora towards the outside wall. "Finish that spell!"

"Spell? Oh, right!" The dark mage nodded, pulling herself to her feet and grabbing the stick she had been using to draw her sleeping hex, finishing it off with a few strokes. "Alright! How are we supposed to escape?"
"Like this!" Benny declared, before picking up Kana and Nyx like a pair of pillows and bundling them underneath each arm. With a roar, the knight charged the wall Corrin was standing next to, cracking a hole in the wall and sending the three of them plummeting towards the ground below.

Kana's composure broke as she started screaming. "BENNY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

"Don't worry!" The knight reassured her in as soft a voice as he could muster "We're safe! Hold on!"

He flipped around pushing Nyx and Kana above him and hugging them tightly to his body.

"In position!"

Benny landed with a grunt on the back of Beruka's wyvern, taking the brunt of the impact for himself and protecting the two women in his arms. Kana and Nyx rolled out of his arms, managing to find footholds on the back of the dragon, as the knight righted himself from his position.

The assassin looked over at her partner, pulling the reins of her wyvern up to compensate for the immensely increased weight. "Did you get the targets?"

"They're our friends, not targets," Benny replied, sighing as he wrapped his arms around Beruka's waist for safety. "We talked about this. No assassination talk."
"Sorry," she replied slightly guiltily with a faint dusting of red on her cheeks. "It is a habit of mine. I'm trying my best….dear. Did I say 'dear' right?"

Benny smiled, his hug around her tightening slightly. "Of course."

Scarlet looked down at their escaping allies, before staring at Corrin appreciatively. "Oh. Oh. You're good. Mind if I give us another ride?"

"The more the merrier!" The prince declared, looking behind them as the partygoers began recovering from the rampage Benny had wrought upon them.

Scarlet grinned cheerfully. "Alright! Here we go!" Pressing two fingers into her mouth, she whistled loudly, waiting for a few moments before jumping out of the hole, landing on her own wyvern that had flown up at the sound of her whistle.

"Climb on!" She roared as she flew up level to the hole, letting the others still stuck in the palace mount her wyvern.

"Ladies first," Corrin offered, gesturing for Flora to climb on. The maid nodded gratefully, climbing on as fast as possible. Leo stood by, waiting.

"Well?"
"Ladies first, Leo," the prince reminded him, grinning. Leo rolled his eyes.

"Very funny, brother."

"Just get on before Jakob yanks you back in."

The younger prince shook his head, climbing onto Scarlet's wyvern, followed by the older brother.

"Alright!" Scarlet announced. "Let's go!"

Nyx turned back, mounted on Beruka's wyvern, to face the castle. "Stay still, children. I'll end this!"

She closed her eyes, before blasting a bolt of magic with pinpoint accuracy at the circle of hexing she'd created.

The people inside the castle were asleep in moments, hitting the floor instantly. Camilla's arm was around Hinoka, the Nohrian princess hugging her Hoshidan counterpart tightly in her sleep, while Jakob was curled up on the ground, sleeping like a baby.

Corrin was the first to dismount as the two wyverns landed, just beyond the borders of Windmire. Benny sighed as he clambered off Beruka's wyvern, his relief palpable. "We survived. Never doing that again."

"I promise, Benny, I am never making you do that again," Corrin reassured him with a pat on the wrist. "I just needed someone to help break us out."

"It was the least we could do," Beruka replied calmly. "We owe you for what you did for us. It's….what friends do. Is that what they say?"

Benny nodded quietly to confirm it. The assassin's eyes lit up like a praised child's, before she adjusted the headband on her head to hide her palpable happiness at getting an idiom right.

Leo exhaled deeply. "….well, thank the gods that night's over."

Scarlet looked disappointed. "Kinda was looking forward for a nice party….but I have to hand it to ya, that escape was pretty hardcore. Even if the execution was a little weak."
"Always the critic," the prince rolled his eyes jokingly.

Scarlet replied by sticking her tongue out at him. "Ryoma's still cooler than you."

"He's Ryoma."

"Exactly."

Flora dusted herself off. "Well….even if that didn't succeed in the initial aim…..that was, dare I say it, a little fun."

"Speak for yourself," Leo groaned, closing his eyes and taking a seat on the ground. "I just want to go sleep and forget today ever happened."

"Oh. Hello."

Everyone looked up to see Azura and Lilith, the former in her black veiled dress and the latter in a modest white gown, approaching them casually. Corrin raised an eyebrow.

"Azura, you're….well-dressed," he remarked, looking at the songstress. Azura tilted her head slightly.

"Corrin, I assumed you were at the ball Camilla organised," she explained. "I wanted Lilith here to get out more, so I went out to Hoshido to buy her a nice dress."
"Y-yeah," Lilith nodded to corroborate her story. "Azura wanted m-me to go out some more. She didn't like me being cooped up in the palace s-so much…."

The songstress looked them up and down. "You all look like you were dragged through a warzone. What happened?"

"It's a….." Corrin looked around, shaking his head. "….long story."

Nyx chimed in. "You know, we never did find out who was responsible for all that…."

….

Minutes ago, elsewhere in Windmire….

"Huh," Hayato blinked as he watched the crystal ball in Orochi's hands, seeing the chaos occurring in Castle Krakenburg. The diviner smirked mischievously.

"And now you know just who is the superior potionmaster," Orochi declared proudly. Hayato shuddered.

"…..you didn't need to take it that far."
"Of course I did," Orochi scoffed. "You never would've believed me if I hadn't. And besides, wasn't that entertaining? I know I was entertained."
"Miss Nyx is going to be angry about this…." The younger of the two looked away, frowning. The diviner grinned.

"What, scared of making her angry? I didn't know you were into older women."
"I-it's not like that!" Hayato snapped. Orochi giggled.

"Ooh. Touchy, touchy. Corrin was right about you, you're easy," she remarked by wagging her finger, before sighing. "Well…it's best Corrin never finds out I did all this. He might…..not approve that I put him through that."

END

A/N: Well, well. Anyway, that's done now. Next chapter; Corrin Reacts to The Mechanist's Secret Power, all thanks to our regular reviewer robotortoise! Woo!

Anyway, so, I hope you enjoyed that, leave your ideas, comments, criticisms, reviews, suggestion and thoughts, and I hope you have a GREAT day! Until next time!