"So our spy failed?"

"He was never ours to begin," a cold, female voice replied. "His convictions were strong, but his heart was weak."

"So he failed," the first voice, a deep, gravelly-sounding rumble, retorted.

The second voice spluttered in indignation for a few seconds. "W-well, yes, but at least now we know where they are."

"And where, exactly, are they?" a third voice entered. Like the second, this voice was female, but unlike the second, the third voice was warm and motherly.

The second voice hesitated for a second before responding, "They are currently in the Lost Forest, heading towards one of the tunnels underneath the castle."

"And right into another one of your traps, I presume?" the gruff voice asked.

"Correct."

"I do hope this one will work better for you this time, Arete. Lord Anankos was furious at your cowardice when they first entered Valla."

Arete shuffled nervously. "I did not plan for them to activate all of the dragon veins so quickly. I should've sent a majority of my forces to a few specific dragon veins rather than spread my forces out between all seven. By the time I knew what they were planning, there was nothing I could do."

"As it were, your failure to stop the half-blood and that…woman will not be tolerated again. Lord Anankos has promised a thousand years worth of pain for each of us should one of us fail him again. I would rather combine all three of our forces and overwhelm that half-breed's group at once." the first voice replied. "Mikoto, what are your thoughts?"

"Hm? Ah, forgive me. I mean no disrespect, but I believe your plan has several glaring flaws in it. We cannot afford to ignore the majority of Corrin's army. Despite their main role as a distraction, they are a dangerous one, and we can't let them overtake us. Also, their…tactician…is interesting indeed. I've never seen him move an army so large so fluidly. Perhaps you should take a page from his book, Arete"

"Yes, but that half-blood's group is more dangerous still," Arete replied, ignoring the insult. "Should they infiltrate the castle, there will be little to no opposition between them, and Lord Anankos."

"Nonsense," the first voice scoffed, his voice echoing around the tunnel they were standing in. "Their group is little more than a smattering of cowards who were too afraid to fight on the frontlines and women who have mistaken a spear for a common kitchen knife. They are no threat to us."

"Excuse me?" Arete snapped. "Need I remind you, Sumeragi, that it was a coward who brought you into Lord Anankos' servants in the first place?"

Before Sumeragi could utter a retort, a deep rumbling sound echoed through the tunnel as a massive talon reached out from the darkness ahead of them. Almost immediately, all three of the figures knelt to one knee bowed their heads respectfully

"Ah—forgive us, Lord Anankos. I—"

"YOU…WILL NOT LET THEM INTO…MY CASTLE," a voice rumbled. Unlike the previous voices, this voice was much, much deeper, and was frayed with the growls and raspiness of a dragon. The claw raised one talon deftly and pointed it towards Arete, who shivered as the ivory-tipped talon touched her brow.

"YOU WILL…LET THEM INTO THE TUNNELS, AND YOU—" The talon gestured towards the other woman, "WILL KILL THEM. HERE. IN MY CASTLE."

"Wh-what about me, milord?" Sumeragi asked. Arete and the other woman averted their eyes and hastily moved out of the way as three, blood-red eyes opened, bathing Sumeragi in a spotlight of blood-red light.

Sumeragi's jaw dropped as he stared at the fell orbs. Before he could react, he suddenly screamed in pain and clutched his arm as they elongated, the bones creaking, the muscles tearing. Then, just as quickly as it had distorted itself, Sumeragi's arm returned to its original appearance.

"HOW DARE YOU TALK TO ME?" the raspy voice roared. "ALL OF YOU…ARE VERMIN BENEATH MY FEET."

"P-please, milord! I meant no—" Sumeragi screamed again as his other arm underwent the same process: stretching out to the point when the skin was starting to tear and show muscle, only to snap back to its original appearance.

Sumeragi, still shaking with pain, remained silent this time as he bowed his head and retreated. A thunderous snort echoed throughout the chamber as the eyes closed, creating a clean snick sound which echoed around the chamber.

"YOU, HUMAN, WILL STOP THAT…MAN. HE STINKS OF ANOTHER DRAGON…OF ANOTHER WORLD. YOU…WILL STOP HIM."

All three of bowed low to the ground as they backed away and out of the tunnel, the massive golden gates closing them behind them. Sumeragi sighed in relief as he rested his hand against the wall.

"Well, at least it wasn't as bad as what he did to you, Arete," Sumeragi panted.

"You really must learn to keep your lips shut," Arete said coldly as she shuddered involuntarily and walked away.

"And…where are you going?" Sumeragi growled as he glared at her.

Arete barely paused to look over her shoulder as she replied scathingly, "Getting back into Lord Anankos's good books. You should consider doing the same."

Sumeragi scowled as he balled his fists. "Oh, you're a real piece of work, Arete. Pretending to be all efficient and mighty just because you've been in Anankos' service the longest."

Arete shot him a scathing glare over her shoulder before turning the corner and disappearing from sight. Mikoto, who had been lurking in the background the whole time, sighed and steered Sumeragi in the opposite direction.

"Perhaps you should actually starting to do your duty," she tutted.

Sumeragi scoffed as he brushed her off. "Hah! What duty? All Anankos has asked of me is to spend more time doing what I love! Waging battle against enemies of the throne, and crushing everyone beneath me!"

Mikoto sighed as she pushed forward and broke off into a different direction. Sumeragi frowned as he noticed her absence. "And where are you going now?"

"To make preparations for my own part," she replied.

Sumeragi narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "You're not thinking of making the same mistake Arete's servant did and trying to desert, are you? You know Lord Anankos will find you."

Though Mikoto remained expressionless, her breath hitched. "No, of course not. I am loyal to Lord Anankos, and only to him. I simply…needed to study up on Corrin's strategy and see what I can do to stop him. Hopefully, Arete will do her job well enough so that my part will be unneeded"

"But in case they do break through Arete's defenses, you're sure that you'll be able to kill that filthy half-blood, right?" Sumeragi asked.

Mikoto paused to throw a reproachful glance over at Sumeragi. "For your information, Sumeragi, Corrin is as much as your child as he is mine. Do try to show some respect. He has come a long way…to rejoin us."

"This forest does seem like it goes on forever, doesn't it, big sis?"

"Hm?"

Azura looked up from the ground in front of her and looked over at Elise, who had trotted up on her pony. "Pardon me, but what did you say?"

"I said that this is a really big forest," Elise repeated cheerfully. Despite the events earlier that day, namely Anthony transforming into a monster after a gory and gruesome scene, and Takumi nearly falling to his death not once, but twice, Elise still managed to somehow keep a cheerful smile on her face.

"Do you know how big it is, Azura?" Elise asked.

Azura shrugged. "I-I mean, I don't know the exact number of trees here in this forest, but I know it's pretty large."

"Do you remember anything about this place?" Elise continued to ask.

Azura shrugged again. "A little bit. Not much though. Just riding in my father's lap whenever he deigned to take me hunting. Holding my mother's hand whenever she took me on a stroll."

"Wow," Elise said, her eyes bright. "you sure had a lot of time with your mother, huh?"

Azura smiled faintly. "Well, no, not really. She was a queen, and as such, had queenly matters to attend to, but the few days she had time, we would always spend it together."

"Oh…" Elise's smile disappeared from her face as she took a sudden interest in her pony's mane. "I wish I had a mother as great as yours."

Azura's lips tightened. She had forgotten that, like her, Elise had grown up in Garon's court, and unlike Azura, never had a mother that truly cared for her.

"I mean, I did have a mother, but she never really cared about me that way, you know? Like she didn't hang out with me and read books with me or hold my hand. All she wanted to do was to use me to make Father like her more," Elise said bitterly.

Azura remained silent but awkwardly patted Elise's leg as they continued to walk silently.

"Anyways," Elise said casually, "is there anything else about your old life you remember?"

Azura raised and lowered her shoulders. "If I remember correctly, Valla used to have one of the richest and revered libraries in the world."

Elise' eyes widened in excitement. "Woah…did you spend a lot of time there too?"

Azura shook her head. "No. I've always wanted to read a book in one of Valla's Grand Royal Libraries, but unfortunately, most of them were destroyed, burned to the ground, buried, or forgotten about when Anankos at—"

Azura grunted as she ran headlong into Xander's back. "Oh! Xander! Sorry I didn't—"

Azura's voice died in her throat as she followed Xander's gaze to a virtual blockade of Vallite soldiers standing before them. And standing ahead of the wall of shields was…

"You," Corrin growled towards woman dressed in a cloak and whose face was concealed by a hood, as usual.

"Me," the mage replied coldly. Again, there just something about that mage's voice, the way how familiar it sounded to Azura.

"Welcome, each and every one of you," the mage said graciously. "I hope you have been enjoying your visit to Valla."

"Well, your attractions are slop, and your 'employees' are about as attracting as an unmasked Faceless," Corrin jeered. "How about you finally man up and fight us face-to-face, instead of running off whenever you run out of soldiers to throw at us?"

The woman may have sneered, it was hard to tell from underneath her hood. "I see your range of insults has improved, if only slightly. If it is a honest fight you wish, and not a strategic one, then I will grant you your wish. Be warned however, my master was very…displeased with my failure to prevent you from entering Valla. I have no wish to endure that same level of punishment again, so I'm afraid you'll need to try a little harder."

"Our fortitude and skills have doubled since the last time we've met, you cur," Gunter growled. "If anything, it is you, who will need to try harder."

"Well, zero times two is still zero, I'm afraid," the mage retorted. "And I've seen that your party looks most displeased with me. Has it something to do with that boy I sent you? What was his name again? Tony? Adrian?"

"It was 'Anthony', you monster," Corrin scowled. "And you're going to regret ever using and sacrificing a child like that."

The mage shrugged. "What of it? Not everyone makes it back from war. Especially the innocent. As for having a 'face-to-face- fight, I suppose it would be remiss of me to continue hiding my identity from you."

With that statement, the mage reached up and tore the cloak off her body, revealing a woman with short, choppy hair, and blue hair—the same shade of blue as Azura's. The woman donned a helmet pruned with a single, large feather as a set of pauldrons materialized on her shoulders, emblazoned in gold with the Silent Dragon of Valla symbol upon them.

Azura gasped. "Mother? B-but that's impossible! You died…"

The mage gave no indication that she had heard Azura as she clambered onto a skeletal horse that had appeared next to her.

"I am Arete. The seventh queen of Valla, and devoted servant to the great ruler of this land, the mighty Anankos," she proclaimed.

Azura shook her head in disbelief. "But…it can't be…"

Arete mockingly tilted her head towards Azura. "Are you really that surprised, my dear? Everyone who enters Valla is King Anankos' servant, willingly or not. I was unsuccessful in repelling you the first time, but this time, I shall not fail."

"You…were the mage we fought all those times," Azura said slowly, her voice shaking ever so slightly.

Xander kneaded his forehead. "What source of trickery is this? Do we have to fight Azura's mother to move on?" He turned towards Corrin and azura. "I know you said that Anankos could raise the dead and bend them to his will, but you never said anything about them still being alive!"

Corrin ignored Xander and glanced towards Azura, who continued to stare at the figure ahead of her. "Are you alright, Azura?" he asked. "I can't imagine how you must feel right now, but we have to push forward. We can't afford to let her slow us down."

Azura nodded, but continued ogling the mage. "I'm…alright," she said after a moments hesitation. "I know this…thing isn't my mother, no matter how much she looked like her. Without any memories of my mother's past, this thing is nothing but a puppet."

The mage threw back her head and laughed. "Hah! You must think me a fool if you hope to distract me with such petty talk. 'Mother.' What nonsense. I'm as alive as you are right now. The only difference between your 'mother' and I is that I have only one goal—to kill you all. Lord Anankos has decreed it so, and so I shall carry out his wishes!"

The mage conjured a ball of purple flames in her hand . "Everything I do, I do in name of the almighty Anankos!" she shouted before lobbing the fireball towards Corrin.

Gunter tackled Corrin, pushing him down, and the fireball soared over the heads and splashed against the tree. Corrin swore and swung Yato in a wide arc around him as he scrambled to his feet.

"Get her!" he yelled.

Without hesitation, Corrin, Silas, Ryoma, and Xander charged forward, brandishing their own weapons as they shouted ferocious warcries. The rest of the group soon followed them.

Time soon blurred for Azura. She was dimly aware of her slowly being pushed to the back: her naginta was more useful when she had room to pirouette and dance away. Once or twice, she caught a glimpse of Corrin running through a Vallite soldier's chest with a lance-like appendage sticking out of his arm. Another time, Azura thought she had saw Ryoma and Xander working together to cleave through a line of shield-bearing spearmen, cutting the men and shields in half as if it was as durable as paper.

After what seemed like an eternity of fighting, Azura found herself face-to-face with the woman who resembled her mother.

"Why is it looking at you gives me such a splitting headache?" the mage hissed as she circled around her. "Is this some sort of trick or weapon? What else could this pain be?"

Azura blinked in surprise as she dodged one of the mage's clumsy stabs. "But…could it be…?" she muttered to herself as she jabbed towards the mage.

The mage growled as a particularly heavy blow from Azura's naginta knocked her back a step. "No matter—I can't allow you to go any further. Killing you will undoubtedly make this pain go away. Prepare for the next world!"

"I…met another servant…just like you!" Azura panted. "He looked…and sounded…and acted just like the man he was based on. In the end, he was nothing more than a puppet! I knew that…should I meet another one like him, I would have no choice but to strike them down myself!"

The mage did not respond but unleashed a flurry of stabs towards Azura. Azura yelped in pain and tried to dance away as one of the mage's stabs found its mark on her upper right-thigh. The mage, sensing her advantage pressed forward.

Soon, it was not Azura who had the upper hand, but the mage. The mage had managed to get under Azura's guard, and was slowly forcing her back, step by step. As they fought, Azura slowly became aware of the ground beneath them growing slippery from the blood cascading out of her leg whenever she put her weight on it.

The second wound was also Azura's: a gash above one eyebrow after the mage accidently struck her head with the pommel of her short sword, tearing skin and hair. Of the two wounds, Azura found the second to be the most aggravating, mainly because blood kept dripping into her eye at the most inopportune times.

Then Azura managed to catch the mage on the shoulder, her naginta stabbing through the ornate pauldron and into flesh and bone. As far as Azura could tell, the wound did not seem to impair the mage's ability to fight by much, but it seemed to cause the mage a great deal of pain, as well as preventing her from lifting her arm up any higher than her chest.

Azura received a cut to her left calf, and then—when the mage was still in the middle of recovering from a failed attack—Azura moved around to the mage's weak side—the side where she had managed to stab her— and brought down her naginta as hard as she could upon the middle of the mage's left greave, tearing armor and breaking bone.

The mage howled in pain as she jumped back on one leg. Here, Azura felt the tide shift in her direction. As a result of her shoulder wound and broken leg, the mage was unable to defend herself properly, and fell back onto the ground when Azura delivered a particularly heaving blow to shattered the mage's short sword.

As the mage fell, Azura saw the mage's hand reaching into her robes, undoubtedly to pull out some sort of tome or weapon. Without hesitation, Azura completed her pirouette and stabbed the mage through the chest, pinning her to the ground.

The mage coughed, and a spray of blood soon coated the front of her armor. Azura stared, taken aback. She had not meant to kill off her mother—no, the puppet— so brutally, but she had been caught up in the moment. She flinched as Corrin placed a hand on her shoulder and steered her away, murmuring softly into her ear.

"A…Azura."

Azura's eyes widened as she turned around to see the mage, still pinned to the ground, reaching weakly towards her.

"Azura, come closer to me…please, Azura."

"D…did she just…?" the words died in her throat as she felt herself walking towards her.

Corrin tightened his grip on her arm. "Maybe we shouldn't? This could be another trap."

"Anankos has released me from my service. Soon…soon both my body and soul will disappear forever…Ah, my sweet Azura, I remembered you…finally…" the mage crooned.

"But…it might not be," Azura whispered to Corrin. "I have to do this."

Corrin pursed his lips but released her. Azura walked silently over to her mother's side and knelt down next to her. The mage reached up to stroke Azura's face. She pushed a strand of hair away from her eyes.

"Oh…you've grown so much…and into such a fine woman," her mother whispered.

A single tear fell onto the mage's chest as Azura shifted in order to hold her. "M-mother? Is this really you?"

Arete gave a tear-filled smile as she nodded. "Yes," she gasped.

Azura tried to blink her tears out of her eyes as she hugged her mother tightly, ignoring the blood staining the front of her dress. "Oh, mother!" she sobbed. "I've missed you so much!"

Tears likewise appeared in her mother's eyes as she hugged her back. "I've missed you too, my little bird. I'm…so sorry for leaving you. You've suffered alone for such a long time. Could you please forgive me? I never…I never wanted to leave you, but—"

Azura wiped her face with the back of her hand. "I-I know," she said. "I know you never wanted to leave me alone, and I forgive you, but you were wrong about my suffering alone. I was never alone. I've had the royal children from both Nohr and Hoshido to keep my company. And others have joined me to help me, too. People…people like Corrin…"

"Corrin?" Arete frowned. "His name does seem familiar…"

Behind Azura, Corrin shifted uneasily. Arete's eyes snapped up towards him and reached out towards him.

"You!" she spluttered.

Corrin, surprised, knelt down next to Azura and took Arete's outstretched hand. "Yes?" he said, his voice slightly quavering.

"Treat her well, please…For her sake, you must defeat Anankos. You have to protect her. Even if all else fails, and you lay dying on the ground, promise me…promise me that you'll protect and take care of her…"

Corrin nodded his head gravely. Arete let out a sigh of relief as relaxed as her eyes unfocused, blindly wandering the sky above her. "Good…" she breathed.

She turned her sights back on Azura, who was now crying silently. "I'm so happy to see you again, Azura…I…I just wish I had more time with you. I can…feel myself slipping away…so slowly."

Azura hugged her mother even tighter. "No, wait! I just got you back! Mother, you can't leave yet! Don't go!"

Arete managed to stroke Azura's cheek one last time before her fingers and hand turned clear. "Thank you so much for being my sweet little girl…I'm so happy I saw you one last time. I love…I love you so…so much."

With these final words, Arete's eyes rolled back into her head. She let out a sigh as the rest of her body turned clear and dissolved into water. Corrin stared blankly at the water seeping between his knees as Azura broke down into another fit of sobs.

Azura blindly reached towards Corrin and he automatically wrapped his arms around her as she sobbed into his shoulder. Gunter, Takumi, Silas, Leo, Sakura, Hinoka, Camilla, Xander, Ryoma, and a few others gathered around them. Those wearing helmets or other headgear removed them and respectfully stood silently as they each bowed their heads in respect for The Seventh Queen of Valla.