Corrin-Chapter Five-Gheb and Flow-Dragon's Gate Keep

My map updated in the middle of the day. The new information was invaluable to me; Magnus had slain the Grimleal leader, Chalard, severing the head of that serpent organization. That left the Plegian Army for him to deal with.

He had also defeated a mercenary by the name of Binks, severing the allegiance between the large mercenary forces the Grado Kingdom was using to fuel its first invasions of Hoshido.

Robert had defeated my sister, Camilla, and recruited her and her retainers, defeating the Nohrian forces sent after him. This was great news; I could trust him to keep Camilla safe, and it meant one less battle if Nohr did call war against Hoshido. Then, after outlasting an evil plot by Camilla in her desperation to save me, he managed to kill his revived retainer brought back by Anankos to kill Mother.

Chester had yet to engage with an enemy again, but as long as he didn't reach Mother before I returned, I didn't mind.

Grado had begun invading my homeland, and Ryoma was defending the homefront. Yukimura had been given authority to run the capital, and Mother, who has supposedly taken leave, was sitting out of the action for now.

In happier news, I had found and saved a couple of travelers that were wandering the world. First was Kaden, a spirited kitsune from his village south of Hoshido. We saved him from a group of poachers, and he said he'd stick with us to return the favor, no matter what.

The other traveler we managed to keep alive was an interesting fellow, a young priest named Brady who tried to battle a group of thugs himself. He said he was looking for his ma, and we realized he was probably one of the people from the future that Robert had brought up. I'd have to keep him safe, and we enjoyed having an experienced healer around for Sakura to learn from.

We had reached the area just outside the Dragon's Gate. We had been warned of the mightiest monster to rule the keep; a fat, monstrous ogre of a man named Gheb. If we could slay him, Tana and Zonta would go home and be safe, and Grado would be unable to gather more reinforcements.

So we hoped. Grado had been controlling these creepy monsters and using them against Xander. I hoped he'd be alright, but I had no way of knowing, and I had a mission to do.

Kaze and Saizo were sneaking in from the side to unlock the doors in the complex and wipe out the guards inside that were patrolling. The rest of us would charge the main gates and distract the large force to destroy them in a clean fight.

Grado's soldiers were surprisingly weak compared to us, thankfully. Still, it was their sheer numbers that concerned me. Nearly fifty soldiers in this keep, and that was a low estimate.

Someone asked, "Hey, boss." I turned to see Brady walking over, his hands behind his back wielding his staff, his blue hair moving from side to side as he placed his weight on his feet, "Sakura's done with her trainin'. She's a faster learner 'an I was."

"Thank you, Brady," I replied, somewhat distant, "I'm sorry if I endanger you in this mission. I'd rather not, but..."

"It's fine, I'm used to it," he laughed, "Livin' on a prayer is how it goes."

I nodded, "Unfortunately... I just wish there was a better way."

Brady shrugged as he stood beside me, "When we win, we will. We can't get down just because the bets are against us!"

"You're... right," I smiled, feeling the passion in his words, "You're going to hang back and protect Sakura, right?"

"Yes, ma'am," Brady jokingly saluted, "She reminds me of a step-sister of mine. It's a challenge, but..."

I thought back to my Nohrian sisters, Elise and Camilla. They had never been blood related, and that had been a shock to my system. And when I was exiled, they wanted to beg Garon to leave me to stay. Luckily, I talked them down.

Elise was now with a man trying to kill my mom, and Camilla was likely trying to regain Robert's trust. And then Leo was fighting Plegians, and Xander was running the home front...

"You alright?" Brady knocked me from my stupor with a hand on my shoulder, "You started starin' off into nothin'."

I nearly yelped in surprise, "Oh, sorry. I was just thinking of my own siblings... I've been distracted long enough. It's about time we head out."

And with that small bit of conversation and introspection, we eventually snuck up to the pathway to the Keep.

The way it was designed, it had many entrances, most of which were covered by singular guards. Gheb and his men would feast every night and enjoy the company of enslaved village maidens, and it was our turn to stop them.

The top floor had a throne room where Gheb entertained his high profile guests. The second floor had a treasury, some kitchens, and hallways. The treasury was heavily guarded, but the rest of the place was mostly abandoned.

The first floor was where the gate was located, and it was the most guarded location in the building. Kaze and Saizo had reported back that many of the door's locks were sabotaged, and countless guards had been dealt with and stuffed inside suits of armour and other hiding places. They had retrieved sets of Grado's armor for all of us. Zonta would lead us in, we'd blend in, and then strike from the inside.

Luke had returned and told us he'd clear the outside after he attacked. I asked why he was helping me, but he said we could talk after the battle. I felt a lump in my throat, as if something was amiss here. Still, it was time to complete our mission.

"Halt! Who goes there!?" A guard with a distinguished mustache stopped us, "Whom are you?"

Zonta smirked, sauntering closer to the guard, "We're back from fightin' the princess. I have a report for Gheb. These men are the survivors."

The guard sighed, "Name's Deek. Gheb predicted you'd all have been killed. Some stranger has been making short work of our patrols; you're lucky to be alive."

"Is it a man? A man named Luke?"

"Ah, you know him, then? He kills all of the guards but one and tells them to cry his name to us. They come back a total mess," Deek shook his head, "Put the fear of mortals in most of us. Lot of the men talk about leavin' now. Joining one of them other countries."

Zonta scratched his cheek, "No matter. The girl and her men escaped us; killed Murray. That man nearly killed Tirado himself."

Deek's eyes widened, "The general's aide? Damn merc. That Tiger Eye shouldn't a left us to die like this! I need another beer."

Deek wandered off, and the front gate was opened up for us. We all stepped inside and found Kaze and Saizo dressed up as members of Grado, Kaze giving a sly smirk while Saizo grimaced as usual.

As we all gathered inside, Zonta announced, "I'm going down to the prison. The rest of you do whatever you want."

"Zonta, we're supposed to stick together!" Hana reprimanded him, "The plan is-"

"Screw the plan. My family is here! I'll do what I want to save them!" He barked back, "Don't disobey me, idiot!"

And like that, Zonta stormed off downstairs.

Kaze shook his head in disbelief, "Let's leave him to do what he wants. How do we divide up the teams now?"

I spoke aloud my instructions, "Kaze and Saizo, break into the treasury. Take everything that isn't nailed down. Hana, Hayato, and Kaden will cover you. Zonta will take the downstairs area himself. Subaki, Tana, Brady, and Orochi will take the gate and seal it. Azura, Sakura, and I will handle the throne room."

Basement Prison...

Zonta walked past the three drunken guards on duty, thinking to himself whether it was worth it to deal with them now or later. Reluctantly, he killed the three of them with a dagger and entered the room with the cages.

Inside, he found his family. His little sister, his mother, his father... They had been flayed open, and their killer was laughing, his fat belly jiggling as he let loose nightmare inducing gleeful giggles.

Zonta drew his blade, "Gheb, you bastard!"

Gheb turned to Zonta, his fat face swaying as he spoke, "You're alive, Zonta? How surprising. I expected that you had died."

"You son of a bitch! They were to be let go if I died!" Zonta screamed in agony, "I'll gut you, you fat bastard!"

Gheb chortled, "Ohohoho, it wasn't 'cuz of you. I was interrogatin' your younger sister, and she had the nerve to hit me back. Well, I'm not into rough play, so I sort of broke her neck. And then your parents wouldn't stop their damn cryin'... Sorry about that."

Zonta closed his eyes and charged at Gheb with billowing hatred, promising to feed this man his own guts.

Lowering himself to the floor, Zonta charged, his sword at his side. Much like a katana, but just a few inches thicker, he dragged it across the floor, sending sparks in every direction. He lunged, and swung upwards with a wail of rage.

Gheb revealed his choice of weapon, a killer ax, and blocked the attack with a smirk, "Nice try, kid. I'm not that slow."

Second Floor...

"Why are we wasting time robbing the place?" Saizo complained, slitting the throat of the guard he knocked out.

Kaze answered in his lightened tone, "According to Miss Corrin, we need any supplies we can acquire. Master Seals, money, bullions, weapons."

"Hey guys, look what I found!" Kaden ran up excitedly carrying a magazine better left unseen in public areas.

Saizo's face turned redder than ever before, "What even is this about!?"

Kaden dropped it from his mouth into his hand and opened it up, "Seems like some kind of way to examine kitsune bodies. Nice tails, though. I wasn't shocked, though. That guard, Deek, he hit on me. Found this on his corpse."

"Why'd you kill him?" Hayato whined, "He was nice to us!"

"It was an accident. He was allergic to nuts," Kaze stared blankly at Kaden who just shrugged, eating some from a bag, "Cashews. These are delicious."

Hana sighed, "My team is a bunch of dumbasses."

"No more than usual," Saizo agreed, shaking his head in disappointment.

Kaze used this distracting moment to slowly slide the magazine into his pocket and walked over to the door to the treasury and unlocked it.

Inside, a sleeping guard opened his eyes just in time to see that he had gotten in the way. Kaze stabbed him in the chest at close range with his bladed gauntlet and tossed him aside. Ninjas used it for secret murder handshakes. Or so I believed; the truth, as I later found out, was that Saizo had made it for him as a child and Kaze couldn't bear to leave it.

First floor...

Brady watched the doorway and then turned back to the room filled with corpses, "Well... We won."

Subaki wiped the blood off of his face and tried to fix his hair, "And at what cost?"

Tana pushed the girly man aside and headed towards the Gate, She looked for some kind of identifying marks or instructions, "Is there a manual somewhere...?"

Orochi decided that enough was enough and headed upstairs to make sure Corrin and company were safe. As she walked out, Brady asked, "Going up? Me, too."

Orochi turned back, "Tana's got the portal. If anyone tries to hurt you, we'll come running. Subaki, stay with her."

"I had no intention of leaving, Orochi," Subaki whined, "I'm a disaster."

"Yeah..." Brady agreed readily, earning him a glare, "What?"

Throne Room...

With my half-sister Sakura and my cousin Azura at my side, we charged up to the top floor only to be confronted with an empty room. One maid was overlooking everything, and when she noticed us, she ran in terror.

"What? He's not here? Kaze said they spotted him in the building. Where did he go, then?" I spoke aloud to myself, "Let's descend to the other floors."

"Right," Azura nodded, and we turned to the doorway.

Orochi greeted us, Brady at her side, "The first floor is secure. Subaki is guarding Tana while she disables the portal."

The four of us headed to the treasury and when we opened the door, all we saw was Kaze flipping through a magazine looking hungry, an annoyed Saizo and Hana bonding in the corner calling their allies idiots, and a single fluffy tail peeking up from the overturned chests of gold in the center of the room.

"Guys... You left me outside!" Hayato shouted from behind us, his cheeks puffed up in anger.

Saizo cursed to himself, "Damn. My bad."

Hana laughed at his displeasure, "See, told you you get distracted."

"At least I can pay attention beyond the pretty boy kitsune," Saizo barked back, angrily glaring at her.

Kaden peeked up from the pile of golf, two shiny gold coins blocking both of his eyes, "I'm a good boy, I am!"

With ten of us now, we descended to the first floor and found Tana overlooking the portal with a smug smirk on her face, "Finally. I have it set to the realm of my home. Target; the capital of Frelia. I can go home now."

I walked up to her, "So that's everyone... Except Zonta. Did any of you guys find the boss?"

A loud scream came from below. Ripping Tyrfing out from its sheath, I barreled to the nearest stairwell and jumped over the side, landing on a guard and crushing him to the floor. His three friends tried to attack me, but I moved between them, gutting them each in turn.

Running ahead and fighting through another fourth guard who begged for me to hit him and call him names, I left his corpse and rounded the corner to find Gheb with his axe firmly planted in Zonta's back.

"Zonta!" I couldn't control myself. I felt rage building in me. How could he do that!? You bastard!

Gheb laughed at me from afar, "The princess! I'm sorry about your friend here..." Gheb spat onto Zonta's body, "He's all used up. Want me to interrogate you next? You're pretty enough."

My vision turned red, my eyes dyed that sinister colour. I fell to my knees, dropping Tyrfing. I couldn't contain the pain, the emotions I felt. It was like a typhoon tearing through me, ripping me apart inside. And then I...

I finally came to a few moments after. The bars on the cages were in ruins, strewn about around me. Gheb had been completely charred from head to toe, and he had been bisected by giant claws. I didn't know whether to puke from the sight of his body or the smell of his corpse.

I walked over and slowly approached Zonta, running over to his side when I noticed his chest still moving faintly, "Zonta! Zonta, hold on! We'll get you a healer right... Oh my god!"

The left half of Zonta's face had been badly burnt, and he looked up at me with his one good eye, a smirk forming on his face, "You signed my hair, didn't you? I can feel that."

"Zonta... No... Did I...?"

"You're a damn Manakete. Fucked that guy up... He... he killed my family, and instead of being smart, I attacked him... This is my fate," Zonta coughed up blood, "Fitting end for a blood merc like me."

I grabbed his face and forced him to look at me, "Zonta, no! You didn't... No one deserved this! I wanted you to overcome this!"

Zonta smiled, blood leaking from his mouth as he struggled to speak, "...You always make me smile... against my will. Cheer up... Princess. I'll... watch over you now." He held his hand out, and I gripped it, crying into his chest as he passed away with his final words, "My... angel."

...

I buried Zonta myself; the others never grew as attached to him as I did, and Tana helped me bury him since she felt it was her responsibility to honor him now.

Not long after, Tana said goodbyes to each of us and hugged us close as she powered up the gate and went through it. Our orders were explicit; I took a stone that powered it and pocketed it, and without a power source, it shut down. No matter what Grado of Plegia or Valm tried, their allies were cut off; permanently this time.

Our first major campaign had succeeded; we had killed the evil commander Gheb and suffered minimal casualties. Zonta's death weighed on me, but we had managed to turn the course of the war, or so we were hoping. We were already heading eastwards to the capital to cut off Chester's attempted attack. I would stop him if it killed me; even with two of my teammates gone after this moment.

I was alone in my room when I heard a gentle knock on the door, "Yes?"

The door opened, and Orochi and Sakura stepped inside, "We came to see you."

"Whatever for?"

Sakura ran up to me, a cheery smile on her face, "We wanted to try the new springs you built!"

I realized they meant to use the hot springs we'd just built, "Can't you enjoy it without me?" I tried to smile, but I couldn't force myself to do it.

"I wanted to be with my sisters... I invited Azura too..." she frowned, giving me a sad, depressed look as she turned to leave, slowly inching to the doorway.

Long story short, the four of us all entered the hot springs, covering ourselves in towels and leaving them on the side of the pool area. The water was warm and soothing and the tension in my muscles faded away as I laid up against the rock beneath me that smoothed out under my backside.

Azura sat across from me, her back against the rock. Her skin was perfectly white, a beautiful shade that begged me to touch her and feel how soft it is. Orochi was seated next to her, whispering to herself as she made patterns in the water.

Sakura clung to me cheerfully, excitedly talking, "Yay! Want me to wash your back now!?"

I blushed when she so brazenly asked that, "If you're certain... I can't reach it."

Sakura stood up behind me, grabbed a scrub brush, and began working over my back, "Yes, Onee-chan! I won't fail!"

"Sakura..." I thought to myself about her recent clingier behaviour, "You're not worried about something, are you? Ever since I told you about Elise, you've been acting strangely."

She stopped, "I am not," she pouted at me, moving my hair to scrub the upper part of my back, "I just want to do my part in this army, okay? Hinoka's an excellent fighter, and Takumi is the best archer our family's ever seen. Ryoma can be scary sometimes, but he's the nicest guy when it comes to his family."

Orochi concurred, "Yes, the Lobster Lord is indeed kinder in person."

"And then you're like... this super hero. My super sister who can turn into a dragon! Azura can sing and dance and battle, and all I can do is heal..." Sakura sighed, "And hit Azama."

"Who?" I asked, confused now.

Azura tensed up, "It's better you don't meet him."

Seeing the serious look on her face, I nodded, "I'll take your word for it, then. Hehe."

"You don't laugh often," Sakura sat next to me, the fog from the hot water obscuring her small frame, "I want us to have a lot of happy times... I hope that's not too much to ask."

I hugged Sakura close to me, patting her head softly as she laid up against my warm body, "I will. We'll go enjoy camping and ghost stories and hikes and flower gardening and anything you want, okay?"

Azura's eyes gleamed in the distance, "Did someone say horror?"

Sakura yelped in fear, "Stop her, Corrin! She's going to scare me again!"

"I have a story about some delicious chocolate desserts. Chocolate to die for, even. Straight from southern Hoshido," She grinned evilly.

And now I need therapy.

After she was done telling her story, the three of them left early. I stayed for a bit longer, and soon lulled to sleep.

I was awoken with a start when someone made noise, but it took me a few seconds to rise from my groggy state enough to see who it was. Somebody who wasn't supposed to be here was standing atop the edge of the springs, dressed in full armor, "Hello there, dear. Luke. Came to visit."

"You don't need to announce your presence here, you know," I decided to give him attitude today.

Luke smirked back at me, "And you are fine the way you are."

Only when I looked down did I realize how naked I was, and I screamed and covered my chest as I bounced up and threw the nearest thing I could grab; a basket we would put dirty clothes in.

He tried to grab it, but it flew beyond his reach and cracked him in the nose. He fell back, grabbing his face, "My face! Come on, that's just rude!"

"Don't care!" I threw another, hitting him in the groin.

As he began howling about how critical hits were gnarly, I headed back to my room to get dressed. I found him clutching his own groin as he limped to the courtyard, still teary-eyed.

I was embarrassed to think this was representative of the heroic gentlemen I'd once met, "What are you after this time, Luke? More riddles to leave me with? I'm not amused with your attitude."

Luke sighed, "Look, I had some information for ya. Partly, I wanted to tell you this. That crystal in the corner can take you to the castles of the other three, and to mine."

"That's not it, is it? You have news on Grado," I presumed, considering I had heard more rumours of him unleashing his wrath on several camps Grado had set up in Hoshido to the southeast.

"Can we discuss this privately?" I nodded, and we headed to my room.

He closed the door behind us, and I asked, "I don't know why you're helping me, but I won't say no to your aide."

"A man named Riev, one of the Six Generals, the Blood Beryl they call him, is launching the first major offensive on Hoshido. He'll distract while his aide Novala targets undefended villagers for ritual sacrifice," Luke hands me a map detailing their movements, "Take him out on your way back, slow the infection. He's got monsters with him, though; be careful."

I placed the new map onto the desk I used for planning our operations and relaxed. Even though he wasn't really Robert, I couldn't keep myself from feeling safer around him, "Is that all?"

Luke winced as he leaned up against the door to my room, "Other than the aching pain, I think so. I do not have unlimited access; I can only attack the fringe camps while I'm alone," he sighed, "I'm growing in power from the battles, but it's not enough. Novala is a key figure, though. Take him out, and they're one step closer to extinction."

"So you don't know all of their plans," I conceded, "That's understandable. Still, your information hasn't let me down yet. If there's anything I could do for you..."

"No worries," Luke opened the door with his foot and started leaving again, "One day, you will return the favor."

I wanted to ask him for clarification, but I knew he would just speak in riddles again. As he left, I laid down on my bed, looking up at the ceiling. Thinking of Zonta, the man I'd let die, the man I let go alone, I moved over onto my pillow and began to cry softly into it.