A Tragic Start Part 2

I open my eyes to find myself inside some sort of bedroom. It's small, and both the walls, floor, and sealing are all made of wood. The bed itself is small; as if designed for one person. Its sheets and blankets are made of thick fur, and I feel some strands of hay on the back of my neck that I bet came from the pillow my head rests upon.

My body feels numb and tired, and my mind dizzy. I turn my head to the right. There is a window viewing the village where this place presumably is, sd well as a bedstand. There is a bucket of water and two piles of towels, as well as some simple first aid supplies including bandages. Someone has been taking care of me. Not sensing any malice or dark presence, I breathe a sigh of relief.

I place my hand on my head; the chrome scale mail glistens in the sunlight as I do so. It must have activated on its own. I feel bandages around the top of my head. Putting two and two together, I realize that when I slipped off the pathway in the forest, I must have hit my head on a rock or something and that's how I blacked out. That would have definitely killed an average person, but I'm not one of them anymore.

Feeling depressed at the fact of not being human, I turn my attention to the window. It's some sort of countryside with all the grass and simple-looking buildings. Glancing at the sky, I can see the sun touching the end of the horizon. It's still the afternoon, but most likely near dusk.

A warm, delicious scent fills my nose from beneath the floorboards. My stomach growls in response. It feels as if I haven't eaten in days. Just how long was I out?

I try to get up, but I feel too sickly to move. Then, an idea pops into my mind.

"Lilith!" I call quietly. Almost immediately a ball of light-blue light flies from my chest and forms into Lilith, who flies to my bedside sitting on her crystal ball. I almost forget how adorable she is.

"You called, Lady Corrin?"

I just want to hug her forever-

Lilith suddenly gets scared "Lady Corrin! What is that look on your face?"

"Oh! Um, sorry," I clumsily respond.

She has an upset look on her dragon face before returning to her usual monotone demeanor "Anyways, how can I be of service to you?"

Now that I think about it, I have a lot of questions to ask her. As long as I'm quiet nobody should hear us, and this place doesn't seem hostile either. If it were, Jakob and Felicia would be by my side in shifts while being slightly injured. But first I should ask her about Father

"First off, Lilith, you don't have to refer to Azura or me as "Lady" anymore. We're sisters after all."

"So, you spoke with Father while you were unconscious."

"Yeah. Father saved me from falling under my dragon half's control. He then told me everything he could about the past, the first dragons, the fall of his kingdom, and all the way to his death. And then he faded away."

"I see," we both shed a tear at the thought.

"Then you can ask me for anything. I am here to serve you," the dragon says.

"But why? I mean, you're technically a princess of that kingdom or whatever. Why relegate yourself to that of a servant?"

"Because I wanted to. This is how I've decided to pay for my sins."

"What sins."

"Please promise me you won't hate me," she says with a concerned tone. I bet I know what she's about to say. It would be rude to say what she is probably going to say once I reply. I should affirm her and listen.

"I'm listening."

An awkward silence fills the room as Lilith's voice is paralyzed with fear. Eventually, I can't take it anymore and just say it "You're the one who landed the killing blow on Father, aren't you."

Tears flow down her adorable cheeks as she nods. I think this is the first time I've seen her cry.

"I was created to kill him. But after I was defeated, he didn't hate me. He purified me and opened my eyes to the light. I then decided I would pay for my sins by assisting you as a servant who would always be by your side. This is something I wanted to do."

"I understand. I promise not to tell you to stop being my servant."

"Thank you."

"On that note, how are Felicia and Jakob doing? They're still inside my cognitive plane right?"

"Yes. Both Felicia and Jakob are doing much better than before. They received serious injuries during the attack in Hoshido as they fended off over 100 foes together. They are both resting at the moment. I had to put a sleeping spell on Jakob to stop him because he would keep getting up to rush to your side and opening his wounds, despite being futile at the time."

"That sounds like Jakob. And I knew they were strong, but 100 of those foes? That's incredible! Wait, what did you say was futile?"

"Trying to leave the cognitive realm. It seems while in either your dragon form or Tenkai Anankos I am unable to leave your body nor contact your mind. I suspect that your inner dragon is to blame."

Flashbacks of what I did as Tenkai Anankos appear, but I shake them off. It's up to me to control my other half. Father lost his life to give me this chance to be freed of degeneration, and I won't let him down.

"That would make sense," I reply. "I'm just glad everyone is alright."

"I as well. I'll make sure to tell them you're ok since you've been asleep for little over a day now."

I did suffer a head wound that would usually have been fatal, adding to that mental battle and talk with Father, it makes sense that I've been out at least a day. I must have traveled pretty far though.

"Do you know where Azura and the others are by any chance?"

"I don't know about your families from Hoshido and Nohr. However, I picked up a few signals from your Dragonstone inside your staff Kirin. I felt her magic and the lullaby once yesterday and once again this morning. She is on her way, and she has some allies with her as well."

"Thank the gods. I bet she is with Silver Knight and possibly Kaze since Kirin only works in Silver Knight's presence and Kaze was assigned to Azura as a retainer and seemed like the Jakob-type to betray his nation for the one he serves."

Lilith giggles "In a way, I do see the similarities between them. However, I cannot confirm who is with her. I do know that the second signal was much closer to us than the first, so she is likely on her way to you."

"I'm happy she cared enough to come for me. I worry about her safety, but I know she is powerful, and both Kaze and Silver Knight are pretty strong too. Hold on, is the lullaby you and Father keep talking about Lost in Thoughts All Alone?"

I smell the food again, and my stomach growls embarrassingly loud.

"Yes. Now I have a bit of magic left before I must return inside to check on Jakob and Felicia. Most of your injuries have healed already so I'll just mend the rest so you can start moving again."

Lilith takes out her adorable little staff and casts a healing spell on me. I feel all my strength return to my body.

"Goodbye for now. Oh, and take this." Lilith hands me my headband. "I removed it during your flight with Hinoka in case worse came to worse, and you transformed again. I had to use my magic due to Hinoka's speed though."

Lilith disappears into me as a ball of light, and the headband is lying on my stomach. I should have asked her more questions than I did. Does she know more about Father, the enemy nation, the belt? I cast the thoughts aside, set the towel on my forehead aside, and grab the headband as I slowly sit up in the bed.

I notice a large mirror on my left. I remove the bandages around my head, and begin fastening the headband to my hair, I see how my scale mail is active, but there are no signs no other clothing. I quickly check my body without it on; naked. The transformation probably destroyed the armor and attire I received from Hoshido like what happened when I first transformed in Nohr. As I switch it back on, I notice a pair of leather clothes folded neatly on a bedstand on the left. They seem like plain clothes an ordinary villager would wear. Whoever has been taking care of me must have left them here.

I start putting on these leather clothes. Everything from the boots to the skirt fits well, except for the chest, which is a bit tight. I have to unbutton the top few buttons of my blouse underneath a bit, exposing a bit of my cleavage for it to fit. Not that I don't mind showing off, and it's nothing compared to the armor I wore in Nohr, but I would want to look a little nice because of their hospitality. Then again, if it DID fit me correctly, I would be more than a bit suspicious.

I walk to the door. The fantastic aroma nearly makes my mouth drool. When I grab the brass doorknob, I feel a bit of hesitation come over me. Closing my eyes, I open it and walk through.

I'm on a wooden platform that is open above the first floor of this house. I can see a fireplace with chairs, a kitchen, and a dining table set for four. There is an old woman in villager's clothes cooking the source of the aroma. But one of the people at the table seems like a foreigner. I get a bit worried when I see her dark mage garb. Despite wearing the profoundly revealing clothing dark mages tend to wear, with most of the body covered in the same material as stockings with solid garments saved for the more private areas and even the veil that covers her mouth, her figure is that of a child. With long dark hair that extends down her back, dark eyes and some magic-related tattoos, she sits there casually reading a book with a black cover: which is most likely hers. Then again, with dark magic, she could be decades old or more. I shouldn't judge, or I might get hexed.

"Ah! I see you're finally feelin' better!" the old woman calls out to me. I was so absorbed in thought I forgot she was there. "Why don't you come down here and take a seat, we'll be having dinner soon."

"Understood."

"No need to be so serious, I'm not gonna eat you," the old woman says followed by a chuckle.

"Okay," I reply. After shutting the door to the room behind me, I walk across the 2nd Floor, and down the stairs. The smell coming from the pot is drowning me in anticipation of pleasure. Noticing the top left chair has a bear fur coat on it, I assume it must belong to the fourth person who hasn't arrived yet. So, I decide to take a seat at my lower-right, pulling the chair in so I can talk properly with the old woman while she cooks, only to realize I'm right next to the dark mage.

I jump a bit in my sear out of fear.

"Aww, you don't need to be afraid of Nyx? She's a sweet little girl."

"Granny," the dark mage, Nyx, responds sternly with the voice of a young girl. "I thought I told you not to refer to me as such."

"My bad Nyx, I guess my memory ain't' what it used to be."

"Forgiven," Nyx returns to her book as if nothing happened. Despite her childlike appearance and voice, everything from her tone to her posture has an aura of maturity. Even if it uncomfortable seeing a child wear such skimpy clothing.

Not wanting to bother Nyx, I turn my attention back to the old lady.

"Um, excuse me, miss-"

"No need to be so formal with me. You can just call me Granny," she says while keeping her attention on both the food and me at the same time. This woman is skilled.

"Granny, thank you for taking care of me, and the clothes too."

"Oh, don't mention it, darling. Do they fit?"

"For the most part. It's a bit tight at the chest though."

"Well I'll be, you're quite busty or a woman of your age. Excuse me. As I was sayin', we don't get many travelers in these parts. Besides you were pretty bad shape when we found you yesterday. Still can't believe you're already up after an injury like that."

"How bad was it?"

"Let's see. Well, according to Mozu who found ya, she said you were covered in dirt and twigs, bruises all over your body, and a trail of blood coming from your head the lead to a sharp rock. We don't have those fancy staves the capital has in these parts so we patched you up the best we could. The fact you're even alive is a miracle."

So I was right after all.

"Wait, who's Mozu?"

"Her granddaughter," Nyx answers. "Granny, I will talk to her for you. Please keep your attention on the food. It is about to overcook."

"Oh! Sorry, my bad," Granny says while quickly and steadily removing the pot from the heat.

I turn to face Nyx. Her stare is sharp for eyes that look so young. She emanates an aura of mysteriousness and danger.

"Is there something wrong about my appearance, Kamui?"

"No, no, no! Whatever gave you that idea? Hold on, how do you know my name?"

Nyx removes a newspaper from her book and hands it to me. The front page has a search warrant for me from Hoshido. That was fast; the again Mother is probably worried. I regret not spending as much time with her as did.

"Pegusi dropped these off all over town this morning. Just before then, they searched each house. Let's say I persuaded them not to come in here."

"I see. Thank you, Nyx. Is there something you want to ask me?"

She pauses and stares at me for a bit. I catch her looking at my chest a few times before glancing away. Her poker face can't hide the fact she is probably jealous.

"What are you?"

"Excuse me?"

"It is as I said, what are you? Humans wouldn't survive a fall like that, especially not being able to get up the next day."

"Well, I am still feeling a little weak and light-headed."

She's not buying it. What should I do? I can't just tell everyone that I'm a white and silver dragon monster. But she won't leave me alone otherwise. Why can't she just ask why I ran away or something? What do I do?

I can't fight her stare. It's aggravating, but also have to look like her body in that outfit. I can tell she's older than she looks, but the skimpy dark mage outfit on that body is just gross.

Then, I had an idea.

I speak in a quieter tone "I don't know. But if you know who I am and why I ran away, you should know."

"So you are a manakete. I assumed the race died out. But you do not look like a monster, nor act like one. Forgive me, as I wanted to make sure you weren't a danger to this place. I've lived here for about a year now thanks to Granny's hospitality and have grown attached to this place. I'll have to keep my eye on you though."

"I understand. Please don't tell anyone."

"Alright."

We stare quietly at each other for what seems like hours.

"I can tell there is something on your mind. Say it."

Such a commanding tone. Well, she asked for it.

"Those clothes look terrible on you," I blurt out.

She looks angry and ready to cast a spell, but they say "offense is the best defense," right? "I can tell you're older or see yourself as an adult, and I respect that. But those revealing clothes only highlight the fact that you look and sound like a child."

I brace for an attack or at least an angry outburst. Granny does too. But instead, she relaxes in her seat.

"Nyx, she didn't mean what she said," Granny says.

"Do not worry Granny, she's different than the other ones," that sentence came out with spite. Based on that, and with Granny's reactions, I take it she really doesn't like it when people call her a child. She could be 1,000s of years old or something.

Nyx continues "All Kamui did was give me an honest opinion of the way I look and suggested improvement. There was no malice behind what she said. To answer your question Kamui: I tried finding clothes that would make me look older across my travels, but could not find any. When I decided to try and get one custom-made, I panicked and made an outfit so gods awful I trashed it and went back to these rags. It took me a lot of effort to obtain all that money as well."

"I can help with that."

"You can?"

"Yes. More specifically my butler Jakob. He is incredibly skilled in almost all areas of being a servant. When you picture a butler to the extreme, Jakob is around there. If I told him to make some custom clothes for a friend, there's no way he would say no. And they would be free of course."

"Did you just say that we're friends?"

"Why not?" Father's words about making friends echo through my head.

Nyx stays silent for a moment, then laughs, then looks me straight in the eye "You are a fascinating person. So, why not? I've never socialized enough to have a friend before, and those clothes are tempting."

"Awesome!"

"What is a friend anyway?"

"Um."

A young girl shouts from behind the door "Sorry Granny, my hands are full, and I'm coming in!

The door flies open, and an adolescent girl about Leo's age enters the room. She has tan skin, brown eyes, short brown hair with pigtails that drape just past her shoulders with two white flowers on her headband. Her outfit consists of brown leather boots, a brown tunic with a white robe, brown fur arm-guards, and a green cloak that reaches just past her thighs. She has an iron hunting pike on her back in a sling and is holding a huge box of what appears to be firewood. It looks heavy too, as she wobbles a bit as she enters with it in her arms.

"Ah, welcome back Mozu. Just in time; dinner is just about ready."

"One sec Granny. I just need to put this down, there!" Mozu places the heavy box down as Granny closes the door. Mozu exhales. She must be pretty strong to carry all that by herself.

"Oh, hey! You're finally awake!" it takes me a bit to realize Mozu is talking to me as she sits down in the seat on the top left after resting her pike on a rack by the door.

"Yeah. Thank you for saving me."

"No problem! It was bizarre. I was on my way back from hunting due to the rain when I heard crashing nearby. I ran to check it out, and I found ya bleedin' from your head. Still curious, I decided to check your pulse, and you were alive. I dropped the game I caught and hurried back to the village. By the way, are you the same girl in the papers?"

"Yes, she is."

"Nyx!"

"Now, now, settle down. We can all talk later unless you want the food to go cold," Granny says as she places the pot in the center of the table. Upon opening it, a fantastic aroma fills the room. All my attention focuses as she pours me a bowl of beef stew. From then till dusk we all ate together at the table. I had so many servings I must have eaten half the pot. But Granny didn't mind. Instead, she smiled and eagerly poured me the next helping.

"Aw, I'm stuffed," I say as I lean back in my chair.

"I've never had anyone enjoy ma' cooking that much before. It makes me really happy. I should make us smores for dessert!"

Smores? I've always wanted to try those!

"Granny, we're out of marshmallows."

"Aw, don't you worry. I'll go ask the neighbors if they have any?"

"Be careful."

"Don't you worry Mozu, you're Granny' a tough old girl. Why don't you talk with Nyx's new friend?"

Granny puts on her coat and leaves the house, shutting the door behind her. I watch her walk by the window. The lights of dusk still amaze me despite being used to them.

"So, wait. Nyx, you made a friend?"

"Don't act like friends are a foreign concept to me!" Nyx says looking the other way. Is she pouting?

"Sorry. It's just you never attempt to socialize and tend to either avoid or blast away other people with your magic."

"Hmph!"

Mozu turns to me "So you're that runaway princess in the papers today?"

"Yup. That's me. My name is Corrin."

"I thought you said your name was Kamui."

"I did Nyx. I went by two different names while I was in Hoshido and Nohr. I prefer Corrin, but either or is fine."

"I see," she says before returning to her book. I remember that all tomes have stories in them. And that the spells are deciphered from them. More powerful and complex tomes have even bigger and more complicated tales. I was only inept at magic cause I couldn't control my mana well. I wonder what her's is about.

"Then do ya' mind if I ask you somethin' about royalty, um Corrin?"

"Sure Mozu."

"What's it like, I mean, with all that money and luxury. The nice rooms, the clothes, the things you can get, being weighed on hand foot by servants, I've always wanted to know to live in this boring village my whole life."

"You're saying you don't like your village."

"Of course not! I love my village! It's just; I'm jealous of rich people like you."

"Then I'm sorry to tell you that I actually always wanted to come to a place like this my whole life."

"But why?"

"Because being a princess isn't all that fun. I can't speak for everyone who was in my shoes, but I have been sheltered my whole life. I had to learn how to behave a certain way rather than be myself. I was never allowed outside. Anything I could buy, I would quickly lose interest in. As if I could request things like that. Not to mention all that pressure, and politics I had to learn. Sometimes my servants would go too far, and I could never learn to do things like cook and clean. I barely had any free will, and my only access to the real world was through books I found in the castle library."

Mozu stays quiet. A few minutes pass, and I decide to talk to her again. I probably crushed her dream.

"Mozu I'm-"

"It's fine. It was just a dream, that's all. Besides, there's no way I'd trade freedom for fancy dresses!"

"That's a great attitude."

"Let's be friends, Princess. I feel like I learned a lot from you, and want to keep learning."

"Sure!"

We shake.

"As I thought," Nyx suddenly interrupts.

"Ah!" me and Mozu shout.

Nyx gives us a confused face.

"Geez Nyx, don't scare us like that," Mozu scolds.

"My apologies for scaring you. Now then, Kamui, or Corrin, it seems I was right about your aura."

"My... aura?"

"You seem to have the rare ability to attract others to you. Making friends with Mozu, Granny, and I all in one day is what proves my theory."

Father's words about me becoming a great leader echo through my head.

Suddenly mass screaming envelops the village.

"What's going on?" Mozu says as she and I look outside. The village is on fire. Townspeople are dying left and right by many Faceless. Where did they all come from?"

Then we heard a more familiar scream, one of an old lady.

"GRANNY!"

"Don't Mozu!"

"It's too dangerous!

I yell at the top of my lungs, but she grabs her pike and shoves me out of the way as she runs in her direction.

"What should we do Corrin?"

I clench my fist and grit my teeth. This is all too fast. This has to be someone's doing. I don't know if we can save the village at this point, or even Granny, but we can save Mozu. I won't abandon my friend.

"You're powerful right? What's a bunch of Faceless to you?"

"Dust."

"Great," I say as I activate my scale mail. Since I don't have my Dragonstone anymore, I can't willingly turn into my Full Dragon form. Even then the water breath might demolish the village instead of only putting out the fires. Nyx can take care of the Faceless. If we act quickly enough, we might be able to reduce the damage and death count. I need to make sure I don't become Tenkai Anankos again

Sensing a Dragon Vein outside the door, I stab my hand into the ground and pull out Ganglari.

"The plan is simple: go out and destroy as many Faceless as you can to reduce the damage and death as much as possible. While you take care of that, I'll rescue Mozu."

"I understand."

"Then let's go!"

We bolt out the door just as the flames catch the house we were in, but stop when we do. The sight is too unbelievable to behold. The entire village is dead. Faceless roam the streets of blood splatters and human corpses while the buildings are all on fire. It was so fast. How.

All of a sudden, I hear the distorted voice of a man to my right "Over here, daughter of Anankos."

Nyx and I turn to see a horrible sight.

Gathered around a podium are dozens of Faceless arranging corpses in piles. Granny's body lies to the side with blank eyes and a crushed neck. Atop the podium is a humanoid draconic-looking person. His body is crimson, scaly, and slim but his flat dark-purple armor boots, gauntlets, chest piece, shoulders, and even parts of his head all have golden mechanic parts jutting out like he's part machine. His head has the motif of a cobra and has a large cyclops eye atop red visor across his eyes, a mouthpiece, and one horn on the side of his head all of the same color. A burning red cobra head is embroidered on his chest. Steam exits through pipes on his body. His body is like a part-mechanical snake.

In one hand is this crossbow/bayonette with mechanical dials and switches jutting out. The other is Mozu, which he dangles in the air by her neck.

"Long time no see, daughter of Anankos. You may not recognize me since we only saw each other through your dream, so allow me to introduce myself: I am the witch doctor Forneus, as well as the one who created the Tenkai."

To be continued...