To the guest who left that review last chapter: You rock.
Nina
"Nina…Nina…" A sing-song voice whispered. "C'mon Nina, it's time to wake up. Niiiinaaaa!" Ugh, couldn't she just stay asleep? Her body ached all over, and she felt so comfortable. Just five more minutes. Or ten. Or a hundred…yeah, a hundred sounded like a good place to start.
A searing pain on her cheek silenced Nina's thoughts of sleep and forced her to open her eyes. "What the hell did you do that—" She stopped, looking above her. Blue eyes looked right back, belonging to a face that looked remarkably similar to her own. No, wait, it was her own. "…For…" She finished.
A smile formed on the face that looked like Nina's, even though Nina knew that she wasn't smiling. "A good slap to the face does the trick with you, eh? Good to know." Fully awake, now, Nina sprung up, the girl above her stepping back to allow her the space to get on her feet.
They were in a forest of dead trees, and if the gray sky and equally gray ground were any indication, it was likely nearby the Bottomless Canyon. The sky and ground, however, weren't the only things that were matching. The girl in front of Nina had not just her face, but her hair and clothes, every stitch in the fabric down perfectly. "Woah, calm down there." The girl held up her hands. "See? I've got no weapons. Don't you trust yourself?"
"This isn't real." Nina slapped her own cheek, feeling the sting of the girl's own slap return. The pain was definitely real, but then again, she felt everything in her dreams from before. "This is another one of those dreams I was having before I grabbed that bow."
"I have a name, you know." The girl sounded almost offended. "You know it, so you've got no excuse not to use it. Though, Skadi doesn't exactly fit the new look I've got. Maybe a new name's in order? That's what I did for my last wielder." By this point, she was talking more to herself than Nina.
"Definitely one of the dreams." Was all Nina could mutter out, too struck by disbelief to properly handle the situation. The girl stopped talking to herself and turned her gaze back to Nina, her eyes narrowing.
"This isn't one of those dreams. You proved your worth. Putting you through more of that would just be overkill." She took slow, deliberate steps towards Nina, who backed up cautiously. When Nina's back hit a tree, she looked behind herself, startled. Turning back, the girl's face was inches away from hers. "Don't worry. I don't bite." The faux reassurances did nothing to quell Nina's growing fear, and she had a feeling that that was exactly the point.
"What happened to the big, booming voice that was in my head?" Nina asked, feeling her discomfort grow by the second as the girl refused to back away a single inch. "You're certainly not acting or sounding very much like it." There was no sign of anyone else being nearby, which meant Nina and this girl were all alone, a fact which made her skin crawl.
In response to Nina's confusion, the girl gave a cocky grin, one that Nina found infuriating to look at. Gods, did she really look this damn smug? "That was the old me. I change to suit my wielder, and boy was my last wielder a real stick in the mud. Being trapped with a personality like that really makes the next few thousand years or so unbearably dull. I like this one much better. I feel strong, confident, smart…" Stepping back, the girl finally gave Nina some elbow room. "Though how much of that feeling is actually backed up, I'll have to see. Maybe you're just unbearably egotistical."
The sting of the insult hit Nina hard, and her blood was practically boiling as a result. "Shut up!" The outburst helped her realize that she needed to calm down, and so she took a few deep breaths as the girl just watched her silently with what looked like curiosity on her face. "Besides, I don't see that bow anywhere around here." She reached to her back, noticing her own bow was gone as well. She must've lost it at some point in the ruins.
"What do you mean? It's right there." Giving a puzzled look, the girl pointed towards Nina's hand, which was at her side. Looking down, Nina stifled a gasp as she saw that cragged bow sitting in her hands, purple flames gently crackling around it and her hand. Her first reaction was to throw it, and it slid across the dirt. "Would it kill you to show a little more respect? I get it, you're in charge, but I'm also a pretty powerful and really old weapon. The least you can do is not treat me like I'm poisonous to the touch."
"It was on fire!" Nina retorted, checking her hand for burns, only to find none. "Or…I thought it was." She looked at the bow and saw that yes, it was still burning, but the grass surrounding it had yet to actually burn in tandem. It was as if the flames were dancing around each blade of grass, never quite touching.
"You don't want me to hurt the grass, so I won't hurt the grass. In the same way, I doubt you want me to hurt yourself, so the flames aren't gonna burn you." The girl explained, lackadaisically waltzing over to the bow, picking it up, and tossing it back at Nina, who caught it and reexamined the weapon, taking note that she was telling the truth; it didn't burn her. "The reason why those flames lit you up like a match when you first picked it up was because I had to look at you from head to toe, inside and out in order to change myself."
"Wait, the person who approached me when I was about to black out…" Nina began to speak, trailing off as she saw the girl nod.
"Yup, that was me. I took your hand to make sure we didn't wind up anywhere crazy once that Deeprealm collapsed." The girl began to explain. Nina opened her mouth, but the girl continued before she could say anything. "Yes, that was a Deeprealm we were in. Yes, I'm the one responsible for collapsing it. I didn't exactly need it to harbor me anymore, now did I? No, I can't just make new ones whenever I like, that's way more difficult. Does that answer all your questions and concerns?"
"All but two." Nina put her hands on her hips. "First of all, are you saying it was dangerous for the Deeprealm to collapse? What could have happened if you hadn't protected me?"
"You might've wound up fine if you were transported out like everyone else. Then again, you might've wound up with your leg stuck inside of a tree, squeezed to mush." The tone was far too casual for the subject matter. "I can't guarantee that the others who were down there didn't get that same treatment. There sure were a lot of them, so I'd be willing to bet at least one of them—"
"Alright, alright, I get it! I swear if one of my friends is hurt because of that…" Nina didn't have any kind of credible threat; after all, she was dealing with something very powerful and far beyond what she could comprehend. She had the feeling it was simplifying everything it said so that she could understand, and it created the sensation of being talked down to, something which irritated her to no end. "Whatever. Second question. What are you, exactly?"
"Me?" The girl gave the same smile Nina would give when trying to con someone out of a precious belonging, feigning innocence and kindness. "I'm a Divine Weapon. You're my wielder. We're inseparable now, like two peas in a pod!" The innocence began to give way to a more sinister tone. "Which means I know everything about you. All your thoughts, feelings, habits…your rather recent crush on a certain effeminate prince…"
Nina's face lit up bright red as she felt her cheeks flush with heat, embarrassment welling up in her chest. Just as she was about to speak, she heard something with had been missing since she had woken up; the sound of nearby footsteps. She grabbed the girl and shoved her into a nearby bush, landing right on top of her. The girl opened her mouth, but Nina promptly covered it, silencing any potential speech. The footsteps were drawing closer.
Selena
"Gah!" Selena winced as Jakob's grip on her arm slipped for the briefest second, causing her shoulder to once again flare up with pain. "Shit! Damnit, shit, son of a—" She tried to stop herself, knowing that being too loud could attract potentially unwanted attention. Quieting her voice, she spoke again. "Can we stop somewhere? I need to rest." Nodding, Jakob guided her toward a fallen tree, sitting her down and letting her catch her breath.
"Don't take too long, Selena." Jakob peered around, checking to make sure they weren't followed. Selena did the same, and due to her exhausted state, missed a strange rustling in a nearby bush. "The sooner we get back to the fort, the sooner I can use a staff to heal that wound. The bandages I had on hand aren't exactly going to fix it up very efficiently."
"I know that, dumbass." Each word Selena spat was laced with venom, despite her best efforts to not take her pain out on her fellow retainer. "That stupid Hoshidan and his stupid magic bow! He broke my favorite pauldron! I wasn't actually gonna hurt his sister, I was just being all intimidating…"
"If you weren't wearing your pauldron, it would've been very likely that the force of his shot would've taken your whole arm clean off. You should consider yourself lucky." Jakob looked up toward the sky, his eyes narrowing. "That light earlier…what in blazes was it?" It had saved the both of them by distracting Corrin, Takumi, and that ninja, but Selena couldn't shake the feeling in her gut that it seemed familiar to her.
"Beats me. Does it even matter right now?" She stood up, not wanting to linger longer than she needed to. "We've got more pressing issues. Siegbert, Velouria, and possibly even Soleil have questions that need answering, we still haven't seen Odin and Laslow, and we have to report to Prince Leo that the prisoners escaped. That's what we need to focus on, not some crazy light." She took a step and stumbled slightly, catching herself before she fell. She cursed, loathing how her injured shoulder was throwing off her balance. "Can you give me a hand here?"
"Of course." Jakob wrapped his arm back around Selena, allowing her to lean against him as the two continued on. For such a jerk, he was surprisingly reliable in situations like this. Maybe he was more of a softie than let on. Then again, maybe he just didn't want a scolding from Prince Leo for letting his sister's retainer die.
The amount of foliage in this part of the canyon was surprising, considering how dead and lifeless the rest of the area seemed to be. If she wasn't having issues standing up straight, Selena might've found it beautiful, but at the moment, it was only another nuisance in the way of proper movement and navigation.
That is, until the foliage nearby burst into flames, sending the two of them down to the ground due to their unstable footing and surprise. Thankfully for Selena, she landed on her uninjured shoulder, but it sent ripples of force that made her shoulder light up with pain like a signal fire. Jakob sprung back up to his feet, bending over and grabbing Selena to help her back up. Shouting could be heard nearby, with voices that sounded vaguely familiar. The two looked at eachother, nodding in unspoken agreement that it was worth the risk to check it out.
"Restrain her, now!" A voice shouted from nearby, one that could only be Prince Leo. Jakob brushed branches out of the way, accidentally slapping Selena's face with some of them in the process, though she bit her tongue. "Tighten those bonds, make sure she has no chance of escaping."
Stepping out of the trees and into a clearing, the two of them saw Prince Leo watching a few Nohrian soldiers tying up what looked like some of Corrin's people. Selena recognized the archer with an eyepatch, the young girl, and the blue-haired one who claimed she was Princess Azura. The spell tome laying face-down on the ground next to the young girl told Selena that she was likely the cause for the firestorm that erupted in the foliage. "Lord Leo." Jakob said, announcing his presence. Leo turned to look at them, quickly noticing Selena's wounded shoulder and ordering a cleric to tend to her. The cleric rushed over and replaced Jakob as Selena's support, using her staff to begin tending to her wounds. Relief filled Selena's shoulder almost instantly, and while she was still in great pain, it was wonderful to feel it finally begin to diminish.
"Hey, uh, Lord Leo?" Selena said as she noticed one of the soldiers tying Azura's bonds particularly tight. "Maybe you shouldn't be treating her so rough." The look Leo shot her was enough to nearly scare even her into quiet, but she had a feeling it would be better to explain. "I saw her before, and she claimed she was Azura. Like, the princess. Your sister."
It was hard to read Leo's expression. There was definitely curiosity there, but Selena couldn't figure out anything beyond that. He turned to look at Azura, who was staring right back at him with her own unreadable expression. "Is this true?" He asked, his voice low. Instead of answering, Azura pointed to her chest, making an "x" motion over it.
"She's damaged her voice, apparently." The young girl clarified with a tone that oozed contempt towards the prince. "You should be healing her, not tying her up like a common criminal." She and the man with the eyepatch looked over at Leo, waiting to see how he'd respond.
"Selena." Leo looked right at her. "How's your shoulder?" The intent of his question was clear. If she was going to survive without any more treatment for the time being, he could divert his cleric's attention to Azura. She felt like she could get by, so she told him so. In response, he ordered the cleric to get to work on Azura.
It was then that Selena spotted Siegbert and Velouria, whispering to eachother with solemn expressions, nearby the group. Selena headed to Prince Leo, lowering her voice to a hushed tone only he could hear. "There's something fishy about those two, if you don't mind me being frank. Jakob and I were talking, and we found out they've got two completely different stories about their past life. Siegbert says they were wanderers, but Velouria says they were soldiers. One of them is lying."
"They wouldn't be the only people serving the Royal Family with pasts shrouded in mystery." Leo reminded. "Unless you, Odin and Laslow would like to explain your own blank past?"
"There's a difference here. They knew about three people who work with Corrin. Three people who might as well not have even existed before we were made aware of them. I can't see how three talented criminals would have absolutely no criminal records. Even Corrin had one she had gained before her status as a princess was made known." Selena's gaze narrowed to match Leo's. "There's something else. I was with Soleil, a mercenary who was hired by Siegbert's personal request. She was drunk, and mentioned something about how Siegbert was worried she'd 'let something slip.' I think they know more about those three members of Corrin's group than they're letting on." The two of them glanced back at Siegbert and Velouria, who had stopped chatting, and were instead looking right back. The eye contact was brief, but it gave Selena the feeling that they might've been talking about her and Leo too.
Corrin
How on earth was Takumi this heavy? Corrin had both his arms slung over her shoulders, allowing her to lug his unconscious body through the wastes of the Bottomless Canyon, but his sheer weight slowed her down considerably. Was it just his clothes, or was he really that heavy of a guy? She wished Kana had stuck around instead of vanishing like he always did, because she really could've used the help in carrying her dumb brother.
There that word was again. Brother. It came to her so easily now, rolling off her tongue effortlessly. Not only that, but when he attacked those Nohrians, he had called her his sister with a similar ease. Having a family, a mother, brothers and a sister, it was a foreign concept to her. She had Uncle Shura, and Niles, and Rinkah, and they weren't related to her, but they were her family in a way. Having people in her life who were actually related to her by blood was…well, she couldn't quite explain what it felt like.
After some more time of walking with no friendly faces in sight, Corrin decided to rest, setting the still sleeping Takumi against the base of a tree. Hearing her stomach growl softly, she began to look for any possible food, despite knowing her chances of finding fruit or animals in a dead place like this to be rather minimal. She spotted a denser area of forest in the distance, but getting there would mean picking Takumi back up and hoisting him another couple dozen miles.
She debated the idea of climbing one of the trees to scout the area. The lack of leaves on any of the trees meant anything that she could see could likely see her, and the trees themselves looked ready to snap and fall at any moment. It was remarkable how quickly Corrin had already grown to hate this place with every fiber of her being.
Well, the trip to scrounge for food turned out to be a bust. She knew that she couldn't stay out looking for long, leaving the unconscious Takumi alone and vulnerable. Why did he have to go and pass out on her? It was really a jerk thing—
The thought running through Corrin's head stopped as she felt a shuriken gently press against her neck, an arm wrapping around her stomach. "Any sudden movements and you're dead." A man's voice whispered into her ear. A quick analysis of her options told her that any attempts to try to escape would take too long for her to achieve before having her throat cut open.
"Listen, I'm really not in the mood to fight any more than I already have today." Speaking was rather tense considering the blade against her throat, but Corrin knew the power of a good negotiation. "I've got a…friend, waiting for me. He's unconscious, and I don't wanna leave him alone." She didn't want to reveal her and Takumi's status as royalty until she knew whether or not the person holding her was someone who wouldn't take advantage of the fact. "We've got supplies we can trade for our freedom." A lie, but one that could get him to lead her to a more favorable situation.
The man took a few moments to decide how to respond. "Doc!" He called out. "I found someone!" Corrin's eyes darted around to look for who he was calling for. A young girl with green hair stepped out from behind a tree with a bow in her hand, an arrow notched but not drawn back.
"I can see that, Asugi." She strapped the bow to her back, stowing the arrow in a quiver hanging from her large backpack. "You couldn't have handled it on your own? We still haven't gotten that lady into a state where she isn't on death's door. Mitama can only handle so much without my help."
"Mitama?" Now there was a familiar name. "You mean the girl with pink hair, right? You two are her friends?" Corrin's question drew a more alert gaze from the young girl. "You're the people with Takumi, then. He's the friend of mine I was talking about. I'm his sister, Corrin."
The young girl looked to the man holding Corrin. She nodded, and he let Corrin go. "Nice to finally meet you, Corrin. My name's Midori." Turning around, Corrin faced the man, who was a surprisingly handsome ninja. "That's Asugi. We're not sure how much Takumi's told you about us."
"Oh, he's said a lot." Corrin answered. "That's not what's important right now. What matters is that he's unconscious, and you guys should be taking care of him so that I can look for my friends." Neither Asugi nor Midori spoke in response, instead looking at her with expressions of concern. "What? What is it?"
Mitama sat on the ground with a staff in hand, hunched over a familiar face. At first, Corrin was overjoyed to see Rinkah alive and safe. When she noticed the girl was missing an arm, she realized that "safe" might not have been the correct word to use. "Rinkah!" She shouted, rushing over to her friend and getting on her knees, leaning over so she was staring right down at her face. Rinkah was breathing and conscious, slowly opening her eyes.
"C-Corrin…?" She breathed out with considerable effort, grimacing and wincing. "Corrin, I—" She tried to sit up, using her remaining arm as support, but Mitama swiftly and gently pushed her back down. In response, Rinkah let out a low, guttural growl that made Mitama back away for a brief second.
"Rinkah, don't." Corrin spoke firmly, making sure her friend didn't try anything else. "Mitama's a healer, she's here to help. You do whatever she says, alright?" The response from Rinkah was merely a passive grunt and a turn of the head. "Sorry about that, Mitama. If she acts up again, let me know." After taking note of the tourniquet around Rinkah's shoulder that looked almost identical to the cloth Mozu would wear, Corrin got up and walked over to Midori and Asugi, who had been watching. "What the hell happened to her?" Corrin quietly asked.
Asugi was the one to answer, crossing his arms. "Beats me. We found her shambling through the forest, just about ready to black out. Mitama says the situation's bad, though. Her wound's had very little treatment since it was inflicted, and it's likely been infected. Midori's used some of her medicinal herbs, but she's gonna need much more than any of Mitama's staves can give her. She needs something more powerful for that wound."
A sigh escaped Corrin's lips as she ran her hands through her hair, her mind working overtime on all the thoughts and questions that were running through it at the time. Niles, Azura, everybody else, they were still missing. However, Corrin knew that as long as nobody else had suffered an injury as serious as Rinkah's, they'd almost certainly be fine. At least, she hoped they'd be. She needed to prioritize keeping her alive. She looked out at what little piece of the horizon was visible through the trees, trying to think. When she saw something familiar in said horizon, an idea finally formed.
"Takumi's south of here, a few miles at most." Corrin told the two of them. "I'm gonna take Rinkah off your hands, so you guys can keep my dumb brother safe." She remembered what Takumi had told her, about their plans to destroy Nohr. "Listen. I don't agree with what you're doing. I think you're doing the wrong thing, but it is for the right reasons. I get that you're on some righteous path or whatever, but…think it over, even if you think the time for that has passed. I used to think I would never accept Takumi as my brother, but the big idiot grew on me." She gave a warm smile to Midori, who puzzlingly returned it with a defensive glare. It seemed she wasn't a fan of Corrin's advice.
"Where are you gonna take Rinkah?" Asugi asked inquisitively. "I'm not even sure where exactly near the Bottomless Canyon we are anymore; not after what happened down there." Corrin raised an eyebrow. "I'm sure one of your friends was probably down there too. They can tell you about it."
"I see." Corrin gazed back towards the horizon, letting a recent memory play out in her mind. "Once Rinkah's stable enough to walk, we'll get out of your hair." She hoped she'd run into a few of the others on the way, and not just because she'd need help with Rinkah. She wanted to know they were safe. On the horizon, a volcano loomed, billowing smoke that rose into the cloudy skies above.
"She was the daughter of the chieftain of the Flame Tribe, a neutral country that resides in a no man's land between Nohr and Hoshido, nearby a volcano."
Corrin didn't have the luxury of worrying about what would happen, not with Rinkah injured as severely as she was. Thoughts about how Rinkah would react to their destination, or how she'd be able to carry on with Corrin with only one harm, or if she'd even carry on at all, were pushed to the side. Keeping her friend safe was the only thing she needed to worry about.
Nina
"Where are you going?" The girl asked, walking behind Nina in a leisurely fashion. She was definitely an annoyance, but since she was the consciousness of the Divine Weapon Nina now found herself stuck with, she couldn't exactly get rid of her. Besides, the plethora of useful information she had to give Nina, such as the knowledge of how to summon and dismiss the bow at will (Apparently it was all in the flick of the wrist) made her worth keeping around, albeit at arm's length.
"You heard those two Nohrians. I can't think of any other Hoshidan with a magic bow besides Prince Takumi. The redhead mentioned a sister, and I'm willing to bet that sister is Corrin. That means she's out here somewhere, and I need to find her." Nina glanced back for a brief second. "What should I call you, by the way? You mentioned you didn't want to be called Skadi."
"Hm…" The girl put a thumb on her chin. "I'm not sure. I definitely need a name, though none come to mind right now. Perhaps you could help me out? Two heads are better than one, especially when they're the same head."
Nina gave it some thought. "Well, what was the name you used to go by? The one you used for your last wielder?"
"Devar." She answered. "I went by the name Devar. Though it's a man's name, so I'm not sure how much good it'll do me with a form like this…"
"Vara." As soon as the name was in her head, Nina spoke it out loud. She felt her cheeks flush red, worried that the name was too dumb to accept. After all, it was the first idea she had, and she never did have very good first ideas.
"Vara…hmm…" The girl muttered. "Vara…Vara Vara Vara…" She repeated it over and over, as if she was testing the way it rolled off her tongue, the way it sounded, the way it felt to say. "I like that name. I think I'll stick with it until I can think of a better one." Nina was secretly thankful that she seemed to enjoy the name. "Anyways, in case you were wondering, I don't know what happened to Corrin, unfortunately." Vara spoke with faux regret. "I only could keep tabs on those who were in my Deeprealm, and Corrin wasn't one of them."
"Yes, well that's too bad—" Nina stopped talking and moving, realizing the implications of what the girl had just said. "Wait, does that mean that you do know what happened to the people who were there with me?" She spun around to face Vara.
"Up until the moment the Deeprealm collapsed, yeah." She idly played with one of her braids. "There were a lot of people down there. More than a few were people you knew." She started listing off the names. Midori, Soleil, Siegbert, and many more. She knew about Siegbert, Velouria, and Soleil, but she had no idea that Midori had traveled with Mitama and Asugi. Knowing that Midori was still around, with her crazy ideas about destroying Nohr, was worrying.
Nina asked the first question that popped into her mind. "Is Forrest okay?" The regret was almost instant, making her go crazy from embarrassment. A mocking laugh coming from Vara certainly didn't help. "Whatever! I'm just worried!"
Vara's laughter died down. "Don't worry, Forrest was fine." She paused, her smile fading. "Mozu was fine too, even if she had to carry Rinkah near the end."
"Carry Rinkah?" Nina noticed the faded smile, the more serious voice. "Why would she have to carry her? Did something happen?"
"That girl, Peri, the one who was wielding my sibling Ganglari, happened." Vara walked to one of the numerous dead trees and leaned against it, crossing her arms. "Rinkah beat her senseless, but a good beating isn't gonna stop someone with a Divine Weapon, especially one that can regenerate flesh and blood. So, Peri chopped her arm clean off. I don't know if she's alive now, but she was losing a lot of blood."
Nina's heart sank. "Oh, gods…I hope she's alright. Who was carrying me while I was unconscious? Was it Ophelia?"
"No, it wasn't Ophelia. She stayed behind to fend off Peri so you all could escape." Vara looked down at the barren ground. "Like I said, a good beating wasn't going to be enough to stop her." The gravity of Vara's tone spoke volumes, and suddenly Nina felt very scared and very small.
"Vara…? What happened to her?" Silence. "Tell me what happened to her." Nina's voice matched how small she felt. Vara looked up at her.
"I think you already know, Nina."