A/N: Here's a bit of warning, this chapter is going to go into some pretty dark and twisted stuff here, the kind of stuff that I won't be making jokes about. You have been warned.

Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem Fates or any of its characters

Azura sighed in relief as she finally managed to dump Corrin onto the bed in her room. Normally, she would've half-carried, half-stumbled Corrin to his treehouse, but the instant their feet touched the bottom of the stairs leading to Corrin's study in the tower, his head lolled against hers, and his breath became slow, deep, and heavy: a surefire sign of knowing he fell asleep.

Knowing that it was pretty much impossible to lug somebody who was asleep up a ladder, Azura decided to haul him to her quarters. She knew that having an unmarried man and an unmarried woman sleeping in the same room together was frowned upon, but with how her eyelids were already starting to droop, she couldn't bring herself to care.

What she didn't know was how heavy Corrin could be, especially when he was unconscious. She had to loop her arms underneath his and hold him across the chest in order for her to drag him along. Thus began a nearly half an hour-long trek to her room as she tried to figure out how to roll his body up the set of stairs leading to her room.

She desperately wished Corrin would wake up, but apparently, being half-dragon meant you needed more sleep than usual when compared to a normal human being, so Azura didn't even bother trying to wake him up. He always was a deep sleeper, anyways.

Plus, even if she would never admit it, she kind of liked seeing Corrin's face when he was sleeping, when it was free of the customary worry lines and frowns during the war. It was a sight she rarely got to see, not just because of the fact that having the two of them together in bed would be the talk of the castle for weeks, but because of time constraints created by the war.

So when Azura finally plopped Corrin onto her bedsheets, it was all worth it. She flopped herself onto the bed next to him. She spent a few moments wondering if she should change, considering how she was still wearing the same clothes she wore on her trek into Valla.

After a wrestling with herself for a few moments, she decided to. She always was one to be finicky about her own personal neatness. She reluctantly swung her legs off the edge of the bed and opened her wardrobe. She carefully stripped her white dress off, hanging it neatly on one of her hangers, leaving only the sarashi wrapped her chest and white briefs on her body.

As she carefully unwrapped the sarashi around her midriff and chest, she prayed that Corrin wouldn't wake up and see her in such a state. That was, of course, what happened.

Right as she dropped her smallclothes to the floor, she heard her bed creak, and she instantly snatched a random dress out of her wardrobe and covered herself with it. Poorly.

Her quarters was only a single room consisting of only a bed, her wardrobe, and a small nightstand next to her bed, which meant there was nowhere for her to hide as Corrin groggily sat up, hand rubbing his head as he turned to look at Azura.

"Wuzz going on?" he mumbled sleepily.

"U-uh, nothing!" Azura said, trying to adjust the small piece of cloth in front of her naked body to cover more of it. "J-just go back to sleep, Corrin. It's all fine, I promise!"

Corrin blinked slowly, before shrugging. "Okay," he mumbled as he flopped back onto the bed, his hands scrabbling for the edge of the blanket. "Juss gimme a moment…shirt…shirt annoying."

Azura watched breathlessly as Corrin tugged off his skin-tight armor and tossed his tunic over his shoulder, onto the floor. Thankfully, while he stripped off the armor on his legs, he left his pants on, so that his only his chest was bare. Satisfied, he flopped back onto the bed, whereupon he promptly fell back asleep.

Azura let a small smile break out on her face as she watched him. "Of course you would fall back sleep," she whispered fondly, so as to not wake him again.

She quickly finished changing into her sleeping clothes, a lowcut, purple dress reaching to just above her hips. She paused, rubbing a finger over a black ink spot.

It was the same dress she wore when she was talking with Corrin when they were camped out in the fort. Corrin had spilled a bottle of ink in his exhaustion, and she offered to clean it up for him.

Gods, could that have been just barely a week ago?

Azura sighed as she crawled in next to Corrin, shifting so that her head rested on his chest, over his heart. She wrapped her arms around his neck as she carefully wedged her leg between his.

"Why is it you're always this adorable when you're sleeping?" she whispered. Normally, she wasn't one to be so…brazen, she guess she could say, but with the love of her life lying sleeping underneath her, and soothed by the knowledge that they could finally rest together, in peace, she guessed anyone in a similar situation would also feel pretty brazen. She gently ran a finger over his jawline, his skin smooth and devoid of even the smallest of stubbles.

Guess half-dragons don't need to shave, apparently.

She settled in again and closed her eyes, allowing the soothing drone of his heartbeat to lull her to sleep. As she fell victim to her waking dreams, she swore she felt Corrin's arms tighten affectionally around her.

But maybe that was just another figment of her imagination.

The rest of the week is spent organizing parties to send into Valla to find the slaves. Most of the groups return after two to three days, along with several dozen slaves, anywhere from between thirty to a couple hundred.

At the end of the week, Lilith informed Corrin and Azura that all of the surviving slaves have been located and safely deposited in the astral plane. Like the first group Azura's party found, most of the slaves reported that Anankos had apparently sent what remained of his servants to seek them out and kill them. Thankfully, the search parties they sent out managed to save most of the slaves.

They then spent another two days taking a census of the rescued Vallites and settling them in. The number of surviving Vallites numbers roughly around 1500, barely large enough to be considered a town in either Hoshido or Nohr, but what they lack in numbers, they make up for in patience and gratitude.

But despite the Vallites' optimistic attitude, all are in desperate need for food, proper clothing, shelter, and medical care. It is only because of the magic flowing through the astral planes that Corrin, Azura, and the rest of the royal siblings were able to procure enough supplies for them, and even then, by the end of it, Lilith drooped her head in exhaustion.

"I didn't know it was possible to 'use up' all of the magic in the astral plane, but apparently, that's possible," she said quietly as she curled her tail around herself in preparation of another nap.

Corrin had frowned then, Laslow's, Odin's, and Selena's words on how she was his sister coming back to him, but he never said anything.

Then came the goodbyes.

It was the first time Corrin had ever attended a "funeral" of sorts, and it was definitely something he didn't want to experience again anytime soon. There were too many shrouds—too many fallen friends and allies—for Corrin to count.

He was expected to make a speech to commemorate the fallen, along with Ryoma and Xander, and he had accepted the task without hesitation, and now he was standing on the raised dais in front of the castle's main hall with his brothers, lips sealed shut as Ryoma and Xander monotonously read off the names of those who gave their lives in service of Valla.

Corrin wanted to be the one to read the names, feeling as to how everyone who died did so for his cause, but Ryoma and Xander both disagreed, stating that since they were either Hoshidan or Nohrian, it was only fitting that their respective crown princes honored them. Corrin couldn't find an argument to stand against that point, so in the end, he accepted Ryoma and Xander's decision, but only if Corrin was to be the one responsible for reading the names of those who died in his personal guard, and the two royals had agreed.

At the time, he was grateful for how the debate had turned out. Now, as he stood on the dais, facing the silent crowd and listening to Xander finishing his list, the consequences of his refusing to choose a side in what felt like an eternity ago came crashing down upon him.

Xander cleared his throat, and gestured to Corrin. "And now, the one responsible for linking all of us here together today, the future King-Regent of Valla, Prince of Hoshido and Nohr, he who possesses the blood of dragons, and my own brother. Please stand for Lord Corrin Aurelius and Minamoto."

Corrin forced down the lump in his throat as he walked up to where Xander stood. The Nohrian prince took a moment to set a hand on Corrin's shoulder before walking away to stand where the rest of the royals were.

Corrin took a moment to tug nervously at the collar of his tunic. He wasn't afraid of speaking in front of large crowds—far from it. It was just that the context of the whole situation was what set him on edge.

He glanced behind himself to see everyone, including Takumi, nodding or smiling supportively. His eyes lingered on a certain blue-haired songstress, who smiled faintly back at him and nodded supportively. It was then that Corrin spoke, loud and clear.

"For us, the storm has passed. The war between Hoshido and Nohr is over, if not officially yet. Valla has been liberated from Anankos' claws, and we have saved all of those who have suffered at his hands."

Corrin glanced at the motley group of Vallites staring back at him. Many of them were starting to regain the lost mass they lost during their imprisonment, but it wasn't their presence that Corrin knew was important.

These were his future people, the vanguards of a new peace ushered by his actions. They weren't here to honor the dead, though that was certainly a part of it. Rather, they were here to judge their future ruler, to see if he was the man Azura made him out to be, albeit in her own shy way.

At the forefront of the group was a pale old man. Corrin remembered that his name was something starting with an O and that the he used to serve as Azura's father's retainer. He hadn't personally talked or met with the man yet, but judging by concerned expression on his face and how his arms were crossed, Corrin knew that in order to win over the hearts of the Vallites, he had to win over that old man's heart.

Corrin cleared his throat. "All of us here today have made countless sacrifices, sacrifices the likes of which no other person in this world have experienced. But let us never forget the names of those who journeyed into the howling dark and did not return. For their decision required courage beyond measure, sacrifice, and unshakeable conviction that their fight—our fight—was elsewhere. This decision required an unimaginable amount of trust on a prince who, until very recently, no one knew about. I was that prince. Had it not been for the faith and support that all of you had shown me, I doubt any of us would be here today. And so I would like to take this time to commemorate those who went above and beyond the line of the duty. Everyone mentioned previously can all be considered heroes and legends in their own right, but these next few names are the names of the ones who stood by me, from the very beginning to the very end. Their loss pains me beyond measure, as many of them were close enough to be my friends—and to many of you, a comrade. A leader. An ally. A reliable source of backup or safety."

But to me, all of them were members of my elite guard, the ones who chose to fight for peace between our nations from the very beginning. Most of them, I had barely met, and we joined forces simply because it was the most optimal choice at our time of meeting. Others joined us simply because they heard of the cause we were striving towards, and felt that it was necessary to lay their lives down for it. And because of those choices, we shall remember them…"

By the end of it all, his voice was threatening to break, so he silently took up the torch and set ablaze to the shrouds covering his friends' bodies. Ryoma and Xander did the same, except for the respective dead from their own respective kingdoms.

Kaden's shroud was bright orange and adorned with a red pattern reminiscent of the patterns on his fur when he transformed into his alter self. Hana stood silently nearby, not bothering to hide the tears flowing down her face as she rested a hand on her belly. Only two nights ago, had she discovered the news, but without Kaden...was it really that good?

Subaki's was twisted in shades red and white, emblazoned with a logo of swords and lances—Selena's and Caeldori's final gift to their husband and father. The two red-haired women were both unusually quiet that day, and right fully so. As the shroud went up in flames, Selena silently took out a ring attached to a chain from under her tunic and thumbed it absentmindedly.

Shura was a simply black covering with forest-green trimmings. Instead of a design, a scroll—the one containing his plans to rebuild his country—was tied onto where his hands were clasped over his chest by a blue and white tie. The contents were already copied down by Xander's neatest handwriting and Ryoma had already promised to broach the subject of returning the land to its proper owners after leaving the astral plane.

Scarlet was, as expected, a marron red adorned with all manners of jewelry, shiny stones, and other "shiny" objects. Her body was never recovered in Valla, with Ryoma stating it was better for her to remain undisturbed, yet Corrin and Hinoka insisted on her "attendance." Thus, a replica of her favorite spear wrapped in the middle of the shroud.

All those and more, they burned, turning them from cloth to smoke. As Corrin coughed and waved away the smoke from his mouth, he glimpsed Azura watching him, and he knew he had to finish. And so he did.

The whole time, the three hundred or so survivors watched silently, callously, their faces betraying not a jot of emotion as they watched Ryoma, Xander, and Corrin send their friends, brothers, fathers, and allies up into the heavens. It was only when the three royals finished the ceremony and turned to face them, that their faces broke.

Men simultaneously wrapped each other in rough hugs as they said words of encouragement and support to each other. Corrin's siblings each gave each other hugs, but said little as they watched the remains of the once-proud Hoshidan and Nohrian armies interact with each other.

The whole thing was very touching, yet as Corrin watched, he felt increasingly hollow inside, but when he felt Azura's cool hands wrap themselves around his arm, he let himself fall into her embrace and allowed himself to be dragged away by her towards the castle's main hall.

Azura pulled him against her, pinning herself against a stone pillar, and Corrin obliges. She reaches for him, and he's already reaching for her. Their hands find each other grasping and bold.

As they leaned into each other for a kiss, a shadow overfell them. Azura, alarmed, pushed him away. Corrin stumbled backward…right into Leo.

"Gah!" he yelped, jumping away from the blonde and subsequently crashing into Azura, crushing her against the pillar.

She made a small yelp of discomfort as she pushed Corrin away, like a pinball, and thus ensued an awkward moment of Leo and Azura pushing Corrin between themselves, desperate not to be the one catching the half-dragon.

Finally, Corrin managed to find his balance. He smoothened out his cape and adjusted his armor straps as he looked at Leo.

"W-what do you need, Leo?" he asked.

"Where do you two think you were heading off to?" Leo snapped, tugging uncomfortably at his shirt collar. It was only then that Corrin noticed how it was inside-out, but considering the circumstances, decided to remain silent.

"We just had a funeral for the fallen, and by the I turn around, I see you two gone!" Leo continued. "Again, what were you thinking?"

"It was my fault," Azura said immediately, shifting so that it was she who stood in front of Corrin.

"Azura!"

"I saw Corrin was feeling…down, so I decided to comfort him," Azura continued, staring straight into Leo's eyes. "Am I not allowed to do such a thing?"

Leo fidgeted uncomfortably. He remembered a time where Corrin told him how he had walked into Azura bathing and the burning glare she gave him for a week. Evidently, she felt the same way about Leo scolding Corrin after a funeral as she did for people walking in on her naked.

Even though Corrin described the look with words, even the description caused a shudder to run down Leo's spine. But now that he was actually experiencing it…

"Is there anything you need?" Corrin said meekly, peeking out from behind Azura's long blue hair.

"J-just to tell you that Gunter escaped," Leo said, trying to compose himself.

Corrin's eyebrows could've jumped off his face. "He what?" he asked.

"Dungeon cell empty. Gunter gone," Leo repeated, now back up to his usual snarkiness once Azura turned her burning gaze off. As she turned towards Corrin, Leo allowed himself to relax for a split-second.

Whew—another second of that and she would've drilled a hole straight through my head.

"Where is he?" Corrin asked, stepping in front of Azura.

"I just told you—the guards don't know where he is," Leo said. "The cell bars are undamaged, there's no sign of tunneling or magic being used. It's like he just vanished. In fact, the only sign he was ever there in the first place was the fact that the bread from the food tray was eaten."

"People don't just vanish, Leo," Corrin said crossly. "Besides, there's no way for him to leave the astral plane without Lilith or me knowing, which means he's still inside the castle."

Leo opened his mouth to reply until a couple of guards ran up to them. "Sire!" one of them called. "We've found the prisoner!"

"Where?" Corrin demanded, stepping out from behind the pillar. "Where is he? Is he hurt?"

The guard's face twisted in confusion. "Er—I can't say if he's hurt or not, but a couple others guards saw him sneaking into your study, but weren't able to stop him before he barricaded himself in it."

"He's in my study?" Corrin asked. "Like, the one in your tower?"

The guards nodded fervently. "We were just about to get equipment to break down the door." Upon noticing the pained expression on Corrin's face, the guard added, "He's locked himself in your study, you see. There's no way in or out—unless he intends to jump."

Corrin's eyes widened as a realization came to him. "That's what he might be intending to do," he said in a hushed whisper before shaking his head, the persona of a collected leader replacing the shocked one he wore right now.

"You two, come with me," he ordered to the guards. "Leo, I want you to find at least four other men and have them bring the necessary equipment for storming my study within five minutes. Azura—"

"I'll come with you," she said, already understanding what he was planning to do. "If Anankos is still influencing him somehow, maybe I can use my song to—"

"Out of the question," Corrin interrupted. "I don't want you to take that risk. I just want you by me…in case something goes wrong."

Azura frowned, clearly unhappy with Corrin's orders, but nodded her head.

Leo cleared his throat. "Uh, should we, you know, set some mattresses or beds outside, under your study's balcony in case things goes south?"

Corrin stared at him with a peculiar expression. "W-what? No!" he said. "As soon as you find those men, send them up to the door to my study and head outside and prepare to cast a spell in case he does jump. I don't plan on him doing so, but better safe than sorry."

Leo nodded. "What of Flora and Felicia? And Jakob?"

Corrin hesitated, foot mid-step as he paused. "…keep them away from Gunter," he finally said. "Gunter was…like a father to them, almost as much as he was one to me. I'm sure they'll hate him for betraying me and…I fear bringing them near Gunter may be the thing to push him over the edge."

"Seriously?" Leo deadpanned. "'Over the edge?'"

"That was unintended and you know it!" Corrin said as he, Azura, and the two guards vanished around the corner. "You know what you have to do, Leo, so go do it!"

Meanwhile, inside the study, Gunter paced back and forth, gnarled hands clutching blindly at his hair.

Seven steps forward. About-face. Seven steps forward. About-face. Seven steps forward. About-face.

Why was he still alive? He should've died long ago! First when Garon killed his family and village, second when Hans—damn that man! —hurled him off The Bottomless Canyon. Third when Anankos tried to take over his body, fourth when Corrin freed him from that damnable wyrm's service, and a fifth time when Anankos died!

So why isn't he dead yet?

A sharp rap at the door interrupted his thoughts, and Gunter's hands automatically shot towards his waist for the dagger he always carried before remembering his status as a prisoner. Hell, save for the pitiful scraps of cloth they gave him for clothes, he was completely naked.

Maybe this was just a mistake, he thought to himself. Maybe I should've just awaited my judgement like a common criminal—but no! I have to spare Corrin the pain of—

Another sharp rap knocked on the door, this time with more force behind it.

"Open up, prisoner!" a man ordered, his voice muffled by the wood. "You have approximately thirty seconds to comply before we break down this door ourselves!"

"Try it!" Gunter replied, palming a letter-opener from Corrin's desk. It was a poor weapon and no replacement for his trust lance or dagger. "If I'm going down, I'm promising you I'll take at least one of you with me!"

But I won't, because you all now serve Corrin, and there's no way I could ever hurt him—

"Erin!" another voice said, its owner sounding much younger and youthful than the burley, seared tone of the other guard. Gunter paused mid-step, a foot still in the air as a chill ran down his spine, realizing who the owner of that voice was.

"Gunter, it's me, Corrin!" Corrin (obviously) said. "What's wrong? How did you get escape from your cell?"

"Stay away from me, milord!" Gunter shouted. "You'd only hurt yourself if you try to help me!"

On the other side of the door, Corrin and Azura shared a pained look.

"Gunter, calm down!" Corrin replied. "I'm not here to hurt you! I just want to—"

"I know you're not here to hurt me," Gunter said, bracing a shoulder against the wooden door. "I'm just afraid of me hurting you."

Corrin sighed. "I know," he said tiredly. "Is it because of your betrayal back in Valla?"

Gunter snorted. "What else could it be?" he asked. "The mere fact that you let me live at all afterwards was a sign of weakness. You should've executed me right then and there in that throne room!"

"I spared you, not because of weakness, but because I want to know!" Corrin said, sounding slightly more frustrated now. "I wanted to know why you betrayed us! Was it because of something in the past? Or was it because some other reason?"

"All of my actions are in the past," Gunter said bitterly. "Do you remember what I told you about my relationship with Garon?"

A pause.

"…No. I don't believe you ever did."

Gunter sighed as he leaned against the door, sliding down it until he was sitting, ignoring the aches in his joints and knees. "It was long ago, back when I used to serve as Garon's retainer."

"I remember," said Corrin's voice. "You said he offered you dragon's blood, but you refused, right?"

"Aye. That I did," Gunter agreed. "But what I didn't tell you at the time was his reaction to it."

"What happened?"

Gunter buried his face in his hands as the memories from that night overcame him. "He was greatly offended," he muttered.

"What? I didn't catch that last part. This door's sort of in the way, so if you could just open—"

"I won't allow that!" Gunter suddenly shouted, springing to his feet. "What I've done, and what I'm doing right now…is shameful. I won't let you see me like this!"

Corrin backed away from the door and rose his hands placatingly, even though he knew Gunter could not see him. Azura and the six other men beside him gave him concerned looks.

"Milord," one of them asked, "should we—"

"No," Corrin said, interrupting the man with a wave of his hand. "He's…stressed. Forcing him to cooperate may do us more harm than good right now. Just…just let me deal with him."

"By your command, sire."

Azura clasped Corrin's forearm. "Corrin," she hissed. "You have to solve this peacefully. If this is your first act as King-Regent—"

"Future King-Regent," he hissed back. "We haven't married yet, you know. Plus, the kingdom's not…exactly, you know, a kingdom yet. It's more like a small town."

"You know what I mean!" Azura said, fighting to ignore the blush the butterflies in her stomach at the mere thought of Corrin and marriage in the same sentence. "This is your christening act as the future King-Regent of Valla! If you butcher this, my people will never accept you as their—"

"I know," Corrin said, sighing and hiding his face in the palm of his hand. "I know what this means to me—to you, but trust me, it'll work out."

Turning back to the door, Corrin said in his most soothing tone, "Okay, I won't open the door, nor am I going to force you to do anything. All I want is for you to tell me what happened after you refused Garon's offer."

Gunter slowly sank down to the floor. "He killed them," he said simply.

"Killed who?"

"My wife," he said simply. "My son. My whole village. Burned, pillaged, and desecrated."

A single tear dropped to the tiled floor.

"And for what?" Gunter continued bitterly. "For refusing his offer? Bah. At the time, I thought so, but after serving you, after watching the desolate look on your face when your siblings left you in the Northern Fortress under my care, that was when I understood."

"…understand what?" Corrin asked in a hushed tone.

On the other side, Azura clapped her hands over her mouth as she looked wide-eyed at Corrin. Several of the other guards turned theirs heads away in discomfort, and more than one clenched their fist in anger.

"Damn Nohrians," one said.

"Killing our people and invading our land out of desperation, I can understand, but killing an entire village because your servant refused to take your gift? Disgusting," another uttered.

"Never did understand how royal minds worked," a third said before being silenced by a look from Corrin and Azura. "…sorry…"

"…what did you understand?" Corrin asked again.

"I…I understood that…I will never understand how the minds of royals worked," Gunter said bitterly. "One moment you're all high and mighty, acting as if you're concerned for the wellbeing of us commoners, and the next, you stoop down to our level and burn us for no other reason than to satisfy your own personal whims. To you all, we're simply weeds—little more than pawns in your grand old scheme."

"Is…is that what you all think of me?" Corrin asked the guards. To his concern, only one or two of them shook their heads.

"I mean, King Garon never really treated us as kindly as you did when we were under your service, milord," one of them said. "But then again, when we were serving under him, at least we knew what we were fighting towards."

"Aye," another said. "I'll stand by ya 'till the end, lor' Corrin, bu' 'til I know of a place where I can raise my lil' girl in your kingdom, Ima'fraid ma' allegiance belongs ta Lor' Xander."

"But you don't hate me the same way Gunter hates royals, right?" Corrin pressed.

"A'course nah'!" the second guard said. "I've seen ya in action, both on 'n off tha' battlefiel', 'n I gotta say, if I could magically change ma side t'be yours from th' get-go, I would've. Nah' alotta people like ya' t'be willin' to lay down their life for 'one they've never met before."

"Same here," a third guard said. "We've heard about how torn you were when we arrived in Valla, and any leader who cares about the mental wellness of their men will have my support at least."

"Well, that's heartening," Corrin muttered. "Thank you."

"Of course, milord."

Gunter was still talking. "After Garon killed my family, I vowed to have my revenge on Nohr and on Garon. When he assigned me to act as your retainer, at first, I thought I should murder you, the same way he murdered my child!"

Corrin shuddered.

"But then…something changed." Gunter's tone softened. "I…when I saw you for the first time, I didn't see something that could help further my goals. I didn't see a way to strike back at Garon. Rather…I saw…you."

"Me?"

"At first, I only thought to raise you to further my own goals, befriending you for the sole purpose to use against the man who took everything from me, but as you grew up…that changed. I saw you less and less of a living tool, and more and more of…my son. The son that my child would've grown up to be."

"…Gunter?"

The older man wiped away a tear. "I'm not done with my story yet, boy. I don't know when it happened, or how it happened, but one day…I just forgot."

"Forgot what?"

"My desire for vengeance," Gunter answered. "Gone were the nights I stayed up past dawn dreaming of ways to kill Garon. Gone were loathing glares I gave you whenever you did something that even remotely reminded me of my child. I…I just started…I thought I could put my past behind me."

Gunter shook his bitterly and pounded his fist into the floor, ignoring the screams of protest his now-bruised hand screamed at him. "I was a fool."

"How…how were you a fool?" Corrin asked, a little hesitatingly.

Gunter chuckled humorlessly. "You know what happened. Garon allowed you out of the Northern Fortress for your first 'mission.' Hans threw me down The Bottomless Canyon, and you nearly as well, had it not been for Lilith. At first, I thought I was dead; there was no way anybody could've fallen into The Bottomless Canyon and live…yet there I was. Still alive and as broken and bitter as before. And that was when he found me."

Distaste crept into Corrin's tone as he said, "Anankos."

Gunter nodded. "Anankos," he agreed.

He could still feel the presence of Anankos, cold, dark, damp, and scaly, like an old wet snake against his mind. And that voice! That low whisper uttering empty promises of vengeance and fulfilled promises. The memory disgusts him and he venomously spits onto the floor.

"Did…did you just—"

"While Anankos can possess and puppeteer the dead in whatever way he wished, he had no such control of the living," Gunter said. "He could control the living as well as he could the dead—at least, without their permission. And he wanted you to give him that permission."

"Their permission?"

"The permission for him to reach into your hearts and see your greatest desires, your deepest secrets," Gunter said. "He always promised to give so much in return for so little, and always promised that he would deliver them…You could say no, and he would leave for a short time, but like a plague, he would always be back, and most at the time whenever you were reminded of your powerlessness."

Gunter leaned forward and clutched his head in his hands. "He was always there!" he hissed. "But once you let him in…that was it! He would grab and twist your will, until that one desire became your every waking moment! It would fester and become an obsession, nay, an addiction, which he would then use to bring you even closer to him! Yes, he was the one who was controlling me in Valla, but had I refused—had I hung on even just a tiny bit longer—he would've never been able to possess me. Thus, I am the one at fault here. Wholly and completely."

Suddenly angry, Gunter rose up and pounded the door with all his strength. Corrin and others on the other side of the door stumbled backwards in shock and surprise as Gunter continued to pound on the wood.

"You don't understand!" he shouted. "I killed Scarlet! I betrayed you!"

"I know—" Corrin started, but was interrupted as Gunter pounded the door again, even louder than before.

"I'm better off dead than alive!" Gunter screamed. "Just because you allowed me to live because of your own freewill, because of your compassion, because you forgave me, it does not make it alright! Corrin, you have to learn that just because you say everything's fine, and that people act fine, it doesn't mean everything is fine! I swore to serve you, yet I betrayed you. And not just you, but also Flora, Felicia, Jakob, Lilith, and Azura! I am an oathbreaker, a treater, and an attempted regicide! These are things you cannot forgive and expect others to think the same!"

"I know but I don't care!" Corrin shouted back, his composure breaking for once. "I don't care that—"

"You should!" Gunter said. "Just because you forgave me doesn't mean I can forgive myself!"

Silence.

"I killed Scarlet, and I nearly killed both you and Azura!" Gunter continued. "How am I supposed to keep on living after that, knowing I almost killed my adoptive son because I got too caught up in the moment of exacting my revenge on the man who took my first son away from me?"

Corrin was silent for a long time, and Gunter thought that the future king had walked away until he heard him say to the guards, "Do it."

That was all the warning he got before the door suddenly exploded inward, showering the room with splinters. Gunter automatically shielded his eyes and face with one hand as he stabbed downward with the letter opener.

To his surprise, he met resistance, and blood coated his hand and arm as he forced his eyes open. To his horror, he saw the end of the letter opener sticking through the back of Corrin's hand, the end coated in blood. He must've either tried to wrestle the blade out of Gunter's hand, but badly misjudged the distance, or else he simply allowed it to happen. Judging by the stone-faced expression on Corrin's face, Gunter guessed it was the latter.

Gunter released the knife and scrabbled away as the patches of blood on his exposed skin began to sting and burn—Corrin's blood.

"Lord Corrin—"

"Gunter, you are to be taken in for…questioning and psychological evaluations," Corrin said, his voice devoid of the pain that should've been caused by the metal sticking out of his hand and full of authority. "If you do not come peacefully with us, we'll have you come by force."

Gunter's face curled in distaste, anger, and hatred, but all directed towards himself.

"I…I cannot," he said.

Corrin's brow furrowed in frustration. "Why?" he shouted. "Why can't you just forgive yourself and come with me? I know you'll never be able to serve as a retainer again because of your actions, and that you betrayed us because a nearly decade-long grudge, but that's okay! I'm alive, Azura's still alive, and we're all fine and dandy! We can—"

"You are not fine and dandy," Gunter growled. He gestured towards Corrin's bloody hand. "I just stabbed you through the hand with a knife! And you still want me around?"

Suddenly, the words he just said and the action he just did sank in. He stumbled backwards until his heels met Corrin's mahogany desk, and he clutched at his head with his hands, ignoring the stinging sensation.

Oh gods," he whispered. "I stabbed you. I stabbed you!"

Corrin rose his hands in a placating gesture as he slowly walked towards Gunter. "Don't worry, I've already called for a healer. She'll be here within seconds, which means there's no permanent harm to your actions. You just…overreacted that's all."

"Overreacted?" Gunter repeated, eye twitching.

"Listen, Gunter," Corrin continued, ignoring Gunter's interruption. "I know you feel incredibly guilty about this whole thing, but please—trust me. I—"

"I cannot," Gunter said curtly as he backed away towards the balcony window. "You know why I can't. Just…please, Lord Corrin. Grant me the release I seek."

"Gunter…"

"Hey hey hey, watch out!" one of the guards shouted.

"He's making a run for it! He's going to jump!"

In one fluid motion, Gunter turned around and wrested the door open, causing a wind to blow in and scatter the paperwork everywhere. Corrin slapped a map out of his face as he squinted into the light. To his alarm, he could see the silhouette of Gunter climbing up onto the railing.

"Gunter!" he shouted. "Don't do anything rash!"

Gunter instead simply turned around and gave a salute in Corrin's direction. "It was an honor serving underneath you, milord. I only wish I could've lived up to your standards, the same way you've lived onto mine."

"Gunter!"

Gunter's foot gave way to empty air, and then he fell…

And fell…

And fell.

A/N: I promise I'm okay guys, I promise! Also, if there's any problems with how I portrayed the Corrin x Azura fluff moments, please let me know!