Corrin tried again to focus on putting one foot in front of the other as they walked out past the lake. Silas was looking out over the horizon, scanning it by shielding his eyes from the sun as his horse plodded along slowly. Corrin thought he heard him mutter "Sophie" under his breath. As they continued, however, he noticed that Kana kept glancing over at him. "What's the matter, Kana?" he asked, "You keep looking this way."

"I was just… looking at your sword. It's all… glowy," she said, raising her eyebrows, "Is it special, like Uncle Xander's?"

He laughed. "Ah, right, of course. Yes, Kana, my Shadow Yato is very special," he explained, "It has to do with the ancient dragons I told you about, but all you need to know is that there are two special weapons in Nohr and two in Hoshido, and the Yato is the one to unite them all. That's why we're going to try to straighten things out with Prince Takumi."

"So, did you always have it?" she asked.

"No, it chose me after the statue of Lady Mikoto, your grandmother, was destroyed. She had the sword embedded in the statue for some reason…" her father answered.

"It 'chose' you? Is it… alive?"

"Haha. I don't think so, but it did fly to me straight from the statue. It, like the other divine weapons, is filled with the blood of those ancient dragons, so it seems to be capable of all sorts of things beyond our comprehension, but I don't think it's ever shown itself to be sentient."

"So, there are five in all, huh? Uncle Xander has Siegfried, yours is called 'Yato…' What are the others?"

"Well, there's your Uncle Leo's tome, Brynhildr, King Ryoma of Hoshido wields a sword called Raijinto, and Prince Takumi himself owns a bow called the Fujin Yumi. The Yato in particular is very important, because it's empowered by the other weapons when their wielders trust the wielder of the Yato."

"You mean it's purple-y because you're close with Uncle Xander and Uncle Leo?"

"Exactly. And it's not just more interesting-looking, it's also stronger as a result."

"That's handy."

"Sure is. Now, Kana, if something should happen to me, you should know that either you or your brother would be the Yato's next wielder, since you both share my blood. Keep that in mind."

"Right…"

"And Kana? There's something else you should remember: I love you. I know you may still resent me deep down, and I don't blame you for it, all I want you to know is that no matter how you feel, I did what I did to protect you, because I love you too much to put you in harm's way. Same goes for your brother. I hope, in time, you'll be able to forgive me."

"Yeah," Kana replied quietly.

[*]

"Thank you, darling," the blue-haired man pecked the black-haired woman on the cheek. She smiled at him and disappeared back into the other room. "Well, what do you think?" he asked his guest.

The hooded figure across from him lifted his head from the table and stared at him as straight as he could without completely revealing his eyes. "It's… confusing," the man replied, "why perform all these rituals after you've courted a mate?"

Cadros laughed again, that same little musical laugh that was becoming all too familiar. "I suppose I consider her a little more than a 'mate,'" he replied, "I don't know where you're from that you speak like that, friend. She is… another part of me, you see? We understand each other very deeply because we've become so close. I've shared some of my essence with her as she has shared some of hers with me, and we're now both different people. That's why it's important to remind her how much she means to me."

"I… see," the man said, "Forgive me if I seem odd. The complexity of these connections is… surprising to me."

"Oh, don't feel uncomfortable," Cadros said, "It amused me, that's all. We all have a great much to learn about the rest of this world. It's exciting—isn't it?—the perpetual quest for greater knowledge? To continue learning is surely life's greatest pleasure. That's how I feel, anyway."

The man cracked his first smile. "I agree wholeheartedly," he said.

"At last!" Cadros exclaimed, "You seem to be in good spirits for once! So, it's intellectual stimulation that drives you, eh, friend? Well, that much I can certainly provide. What question guides your thoughts?"

"Oh, a great many," the man replied, "I suppose my greatest wish is to better understand the nature of humanity.

"Ha!" Cadros laughed, "That is a long and broad path, friend, and one that sits at the confluence of many other paths. Seeking to better understand humanity… that can be accomplished many ways: by study, through artistic expression, by conversation… the answer eventually comes to anyone who simply lives."

"Artistic expression?" his guest repeated, "What do you mean by that?"

"Oh, my," Cadros said, shaking his head in disbelief, "Do you know not of the arts? Come with me, right away."

The man rose from his seat and was dragged into another room of the house where he was made to look upon a wall featuring a rectangle of canvas with long swaths of color upon it. As he scanned the object, it seemed to resemble Cadros, being a human-like figure with the same pale-blue hair. "What… is this?" the man said, gazing at it perplexedly.

"It's a painting of my late father," Cadros explained, "to remind me of all the memories and love he gave me."

"But… this is only color rubbed onto a surface. It is not your father," his guest said.

"True enough," Cadros said, nodding, "but it is a manifestation of my feelings for him. This is what I mean by separating art from study, friend: on the surface, this image is little more than a shallow imitation of my father's essence, but because it was born from my own mind and molded by my own hands, it is a permanent fixture and true in its own right, though it is not reality itself."

The man continued to stare at the painting, transfixed, as Cadros spoke, and even several minutes afterward. When his concentration broke for a moment, he said, "You are a very interesting specimen, Cadros. I've never met a man such as yourself."

"You flatter me, friend."

"Would… would you be opposed to me coming here again?"

"Not at all! I'd be all too delighted to have you. Although… I'd like to make a condition for your next visit, if I may."

"What is that?"

"You'll give me something to call you. A proper name. I don't care if it's real or not, but I can't go on calling you 'friend' if I'm to truly understand your essence as a person."

"A perfectly reasonable request. Very well, Cadros… why don't you call me 'Patria?'"

"Splendid. I should like us to become all the better acquainted, Patria."

"As should I."

[*]

"Shigure, you all right?" he heard Shiro's voice as his body was shaken.

"I'm… fine," the young man stuttered, "What's happened?"

"Same thing that's been happening for the past couple of hours: Uncle Takumi barking orders, my dad resisting him, a bunch of commoners shouting outside, and Aunt Sakura crying," Shiro reported, frowning, "Uncle Takumi said something to you and you got all starry-eyed… I wasn't really sure what to do, so I've just been standing here and shaking you."

"W-Well, thank you," Shigure said, "but I'm quite awake now, so you can stop."

"Oh, right," the Hoshidan prince said, dropping his arms, "Er, anyway, Uncle Saizo's talking to Uncle Takumi now—I'm not exactly sure what about, but there's been a lot of shouting."

"Fear," Shigure murmured, "there's so much fear in the air. Can't you feel it, Shiro? Jolting through the air and along your bones like lightning…"

"Not exactly," Shiro said, cocking an eyebrow at his cousin, "but it doesn't take a diviner to tell that things are tense around here, not to mention messy."

"Where is Asugi?" asked Shigure.

"Hiding out. He never liked hearing his old man shout, and I think this whole thing has just made it worse for him," Shiro answered.

"What will we do?" Shigure asked, mostly of himself, "What can we do? Gods, what if Nohr declares war again? It could be a disaster for all of Hoshido!"

"It's bad news for sure," Shiro agreed.

"Isn't there something you can do, then?" Shigure demanded, "You're the crown prince, right? And your father is the king! There has to be some way you can fix this!"

"Calm down, all right!" Shiro yelled back, "I may be crown prince, but that doesn't mean I can just wave a magic wand and make everything better! My uncle—your uncle too—is the one who started this whole uproar. You think I can just march in there and tell him to knock it off?"

"I—"

"And listen to that crowd outside. Who knows what side they're on?"

Shigure leant his ear to listen, but when he did, he heard something surprising and frightening: "Everyone, get back! Nohrians are approaching the castle!"

"Oh gods!" Shigure shouted, "Already?! Shiro, we've got to get down there right away!"

Shiro didn't waste any time answering and was already halfway down the staircase before Shigure finished his thought. Takumi and Saizo, too, erupted from the king's chamber and marched their way out to the town square. Poking his head around a corner, Kiragi gingerly made his way down the stairs, following his father and his cousins. Guards led Ryoma out not far behind all of them.

When they reached the square, they found the Nohrian royal children standing on the opposite side of the statue of Queen Mikoto, blockaded by Hoshidan soldiers. Siegbert was at the front, with Kaze beside him, and Sophie and Forrest were on either side of him, Ophelia clutching her fists together behind them. Midori stood beside her. "Prince Takumi!" Siegbert shouted, "And good people of Hoshido! I've come to negotiate with you all! As crown prince of Nohr, I, Siegbert, desire the return of General Silas and Princess Kana, both of whom I believe were captured by soldiers under your command."

"You demand an awful lot," Takumi said, "but, regardless, I don't have them to give to you. If those two are gone, they're probably dead."

"Liar!" Sophie shouted, baring her teeth.

The crowd of Hoshidan peasants booed. "How dare you, sniveling little princess!" they shouted, "You brought this on yourselves! Don't disgrace Prince Takumi's good name!"

"If my good eye doesn't deceive me, it seems our guests have a wanted traitor in their midst, too," Saizo said, "Kaze, you finally decide to come out of hiding only to act as the Nohrians' lapdog again?"

"I did what I did for peace, Saizo," Kaze replied, "So do I do today. I didn't expect you to understand then, and I don't expect you to now, but I'll implore nonetheless: look at what has happened already. Look at the ravaged streets of Hoshido, its captured king, and its frothing populace. What madness is this? It's a coup, against your own lord, no less! Where is your sense of honor, brother?"

"It died, along with my brother," he replied, "Along with Princess Hinoka. Nohr cannot be trusted, and since I became a prince, I've begun to realize the weakness Lord Ryoma displayed. Lord Takumi has helped me to understand my feelings, and I've concluded that following him is the best way to protect Hoshido from the death of more brothers and sisters."

"This is insanity!" Kaze told him.

"This is reality!" Saizo answered, "It's us or them, Kaze! Hoshido and Nohr can never coexist—no Hoshidan is safe while a single Nohrian still draws breath! Step out of your deluded noble fantasies for a moment and you might understand that!"

"Is that why you captured unarmed children?" Siegbert asked.

"Mind your tongue, Nohrian scum!" Takumi barked at him, "We didn't capture either of the people you mentioned. Accusing us will get you nowhere."

"He's right, you know." Everyone in the square turned their heads to the new voice, and many pairs of eyes widened as Corrin, Kana, and Silas appeared, walking toward both groups. "Takumi, my brother," he said, "It's been too long."

"So," Takumi said with a crooked smile, "the Prince of Traitors makes his triumphant return. You spent all that time hiding, too, didn't you? What made you finally decide to rear your cowardly head?"

"I've come to ask for help. To make a plea of you," he said.

Takumi laughed. "Well, you certainly have some gall," he said, "go on, what is it you want from me?"

"I want you to stand down," Corrin said, "Nohr is not your enemy, Takumi, and you're putting everyone in jeopardy by making threats like this. I'm not asking you to forgive me, or any Nohrian, I'm just asking you to step down and let King Ryoma take his throne again. There's a bigger threat than you realize coming our way."

"And what is this threat?" the Hoshidan prince asked.

"I… can't say specifically. I need your trust, Takumi," Corrin replied.

"Trust? After your brother murdered my sister?" he scoffed, "You're far beyond the point of trust."

"You're right," said Corrin, "I don't deserve your trust, but your quarrel is with me, and no one else. All I'm asking is that you stop this fearmongering and listen to me for a bit. If you want to ignore me completely afterward, that's fine, but I'm asking you to leave the people of Nohr and Hoshido out of it."

"No deal," the prince said, "You don't seem to understand: you and Nohr are linked, forever and always. The blood of all those Hoshidans who died fighting Nohr drenches your shoulders, and no one else's more than you. If you had embraced your real family, you could have spared those people and all of Hoshido!"

"At the cost of just as many if not more innocent Nohrians," Corrin answered.

"You and I seem to have very different definitions of the word 'innocent,'" Takumi said, leering at him.

"I just don't understand, Takumi," Corrin admitted, "Why do you insist on more violence? When war has taken this much from everyone, why do you want to see more of it?"

"Hatred is a very powerful motivator," Takumi said, and smirked as he finished.

Corrin stared at him in silence for a moment, and then his expression shifted. "I see. So that's it," he said, "Takumi, I want you to understand something: I don't hate you. I never have. My family in Nohr have never hated you, either. No one in Nohr has. They don't even know who you are. What's more, Takumi, your family doesn't hate you."

"Sh-Shut up!" Takumi growled, "What are you going on about?! Of course you hate me! You fought against me! You killed my countrymen! You—"

"I hated having to fight you. I asked you to leave when you invaded Nohr. I fought only because I wanted to keep my countrymen safe. The people who raised me."

"None of this matters…"

"It does, Takumi. For as little as I know it's worth, I'm sorry. But, beyond that, look around: Ryoma's angry, Sakura's upset, Saizo is foaming at the mouth, and, if I'm not mistaken, the children of the Hoshidan royal family are fearful, too. I heard about everything that happened after the war, Takumi. About your marriage to Oboro, about you disappearance, about your son, Kiragi… I was glad to hear about all of that, Takumi. I thought you'd taken a different path. Now, to see all this… I'm not angry, Takumi, I'm just disappointed."

Takumi was breathing heavily, his eyes wide as long breaths fumed out of his nose. "Stop. Talking," he commanded, "Just stop! You're a murderer! You're a monster! And you need… to be… stopped!"

"Takumi," Corrin said loudly and clearly, "Look into my eyes." The Vallite prince began to walk toward his Hoshidan brother. "I don't want to fight," he said, "lower your weapon and let this be over. Be an agent of life."

Takumi stared at his brother, still breathing heavily, almost as if he were choking, but, in an instant, he drew his Fujin Yumi and aimed it. Corrin stopped in his tracks and was paralyzed by the sudden appearance of the weapon.

The Vallite prince grunted as a sharp force pierced his chest.

"That… will make you… stop," Takumi grunted.

"P-Papa!" Kana cried out.

"Takumi!" Ryoma shouted, throwing aside the guardsmen who had been restraining him, "What have you done?!" More soldiers stepped forward to seize the struggling samurai.

Corrin sank to his knees as Kana ripped away from Silas, who had tried to hold her back.

"Oh gods," Siegbert choked, "F-Forrest, your staff! Quickly, please!"

Forrest tried to run forward, but more Hoshidan soldiers obstructed him. "O-Out of the way!" the Nohrian prince commanded, "I have to tend to him!"

"Not… another… step," Takumi said in a low growl, "No one is helping him!"

"Siegbert, do something, please!" his cousin begged.

"P-Prince Takumi, be reasonable!" Siegbert said, "I-If you don't order them to move, I'll have to… I'll have to…"

"Papa!" Kana cried, shaking him vigorously, "Get up!"

"So, in the end, I failed to accomplish anything," Corrin said weakly, "I was cowardly… I waited too long, and now… you suffer. I'm sorry, Kana. Tell your mother… I'm sorry to her, too."

"Papa!" she insisted, "No! I finally got to be with you! You can't leave me now! I forgive you, do you hear me?! I forgive you and mama, papa! I do!"

The prince was silent, and his eyes grew dull.

"Papa…" his daughter continued to murmur. She fell onto her hands and knees and started to gasp and growl.

"What is…" Ryoma said, watching the display, "Again?"

Confirming Ryoma's suspicion, from the girl's small body, a snarling black-and-white dragon emerged. The beast growled into the air, echoing and making the nearby civilians plug their ears. The dragon raised its long claws and scratched furiously around Corrin's body, slicing open several onlookers who were standing too close. Hoshidan soldiers lined up to attack the dragon, but she stomped them flat, clawed at them, bucked her antlered head, flapped her sharp wings, and swung her mace-like tail to send them all bleeding to the ground.

"What the hell is going on?" a stunned Shiro sputtered out as the dragon Kana continued to fight off the Hoshidans who stabbed at her with naginata.

"The beginning of the end," Shigure decided, looking out at his sister. His face was stony.

"S-Siegbert, what should we do?" Forrest asked. Sophie and Ophelia were both looking at him with the same question in their eyes. Kaze was dragging Midori away.

"I… I don't know," said the Nohrian crown prince, "We have to help Prince Corrin, and Princess Kana, but…"

"Sophie!" They were all surprised as Silas rode over and grabbed her. "Honey, you have to get away from here!" he said.

"What about you?" she asked.

"I'll figure something out," he said.

"No!" Sophie said, crossing her arms, "You pulled that once and I was afraid you'd die! I'm not going to leave you again!"

"Sophie, you have to—"

He was cut off by Takumi raising his voice again, his breathing beginning to settle. "Citizens of Hoshido!" the prince announced, "What you have witnessed today is not an accident, nor is it a tragedy—it is a lesson! Watch as this Nohrian princess murders innocent Hoshidans after her father tried to coerce and assault me! And look at your king, who wanted to maintain an alliance with these people! Do you understand now?! Hoshido and Nohr can never be one! We were always meant to be separate! One of us cannot coexist with the other! Our only choice is to eliminate one or the other, and I refuse to bend to Nohr any longer!"

Shouts and cheers rang out from the crowd as more Hoshidans poured out to gang up on Kana. She cried desperately, swinging her body back and forth to try to get them to leave her alone.

Out of the crowd, Shigure also came forward. "Kana!" he called out to her, "If you can hear me, please listen to this!" When the dragon's head turned to him, Shigure began to sing: You are the ocean's gray waves…

As he sang, the dragon lay low to the ground and began to shrink, scales along its body winding around like ribbons until a small set of armor reformed around the more familiar figure of the Vallite princess Kana. "Take this," Shigure ordered, thrusting a clear blue gemstone into her hands, "My mother gave it to me. I was told by Uncle Ryoma to give it to my sister when I met her."

"You…" Kana said, coming out of her fog, "You're… you're Shigure. My big brother."

"That's right," he said.

"Shigure…" she murmured, "I couldn't… I couldn't think… look what they did to papa."

Shigure looked at Corrin's body and grimaced. "Yes, it's… awful," he said, "Kana, do you know of the threat he was speaking of?"

"The Yato," she said, regaining yet more consciousness, "The Yato is the key. There's someone bad looking to hurt us all, but I can't say his name or where he is. The Yato… has to receive the powers of the Hoshidan weapons."

"Yato," Shigure thought aloud, listening to her, "Uncle Ryoma said that was my father's sword. What all are you saying, Kana?"

Before she could answer, they both noticed that the Yato was slowly sliding along the ground. As they watched it and listened to the metal scrape, Kana was startled as the hilt of blade sprang up to meet her palm and she closed her fingers around it. "Papa told me about this," she said, "It… 'chose' me. But… how can I get the power of the Hoshidan weapons? Right now… I just want that man to die."

"What man?" Shigure asked, turning back to her, "You mean Prince Takumi? Kana, I don't—"

He was interrupted by Siegbert's voice, "Stay away from her, Hoshidan!"

"Excuse me?" Shigure said, taking a step back.

"Don't touch Kana!" Sophie shouted, "You and all your soldiers hurt her! You want to kill her!"

"That's not true!" Shigure protested, "I didn't do anything! She's my—"

"Shigure!" Silas came forward, "I thought I might see you here again. Listen, just step back and everything will be fine."

"Are you threatening a member of the Hoshidan royal family?" Takumi shouted at them, "Wrong audience for a trick like that, Nohrian scum."

"Yeah, back away from Shigure," Shiro demanded, running up to join them.

"Please," said Kiragi, also poking his head out, "I'd rather not have to fight you guys."

"Come on everyone," Silas said, "If we hurry, we can make it out of here before things get worse."

"But Silas!" Kana protested, "Shigure's not the enemy. I just want to—"

"Shiro, Kiragi, and… you," Takumi shouted down, "don't allow these Nohrians to escape! If they return to their home, they'll just be more bodies we'll have lay to rest. Moreover, we'll lose our element of surprise. Kill them, now."

"But dad, these people aren't…" Kiragi said, "I mean, they didn't really…"

"I didn't ask for your opinion," his father said, "Do as I ask, Kiragi."

Kiragi frowned and reluctantly brought up his bow. "I'm, uh, sorry about this, for what it's worth," he said.

"So am I," Forrest said, extending his arm. In a moment, Kiragi was knocked back by a burst of flame. "Everyone," he shouted, "we have to run!"

"Hey! Not so fast! That was my cousin you just burnt, you dastard!" Shiro yelled. As Forrest began to back up, he was tripped by Shiro's naginata. The Hoshidan prince twisted the weapon and cut the Nohrian prince's leg, prompting Siegbert to move forward and bat the naginata away with a swing of his sword.

Sophie joined in, catching Shiro off-guard and stabbing at him with a lance of her own, putting a sizeable gash in his arm. He doubled back to clutch the bleeding wound and Siegbert bore down on him, only to be interrupted by a shuriken embedding itself in his side. He winced as he tried to remove the implement, turning to see Asugi standing beside his fallen cousin. "Don't even think about it, Golden Boy," Asugi said.

"A-Away from my family, vile confectioner!" Ophelia stammered. Asugi jumped back as a bolt of lightning scorched the ground near his feet.

Kana and Shigure had locked eyes. "Kana…" Shigure said, "you mentioned receiving the power of the Hoshidan weapons, right? Given what's happened, I don't see anyone letting you do that. Give the Yato to me and I might be able to fix things."

"No," she replied.

"Wh-What? Why not?"

"The Yato chose me. It chose me after your uncle murdered my papa… our papa… if that's even really true. You act like it doesn't bother you at all!"

"I… don't have a lot of memories of our father. I'm sorry, still, I need you to listen to reason—"

"Well I do! I do now, anyway! He was trying so hard, and he loved mama so much, and that man just killed him! I'll… I'll never forgive him for this!"

"Kana, listen! Whatever this greater threat is requires the power of the Hoshidan weapons, right? Just give the Yato to me. Or you could stay here in secret, that's fine, too, but it needs to be in Hoshido."

"No. I'll find another way. I'll never cooperate with someone like that."

"It's not about cooperating—"

"I don't care! I've been a happy citizen of Nohr all my life, and now everyone in Hoshido wants us dead! I won't stay here or give them the Yato no matter what happens!"

"Kana… I don't want to come to blows."

"Me neither, but I'm not changing my mind."

"I suppose it's sometimes the elder sibling's job to knock some sense into the younger. Listen to your big brother, Kana."

"No way! If you're taking their side, then I don't want to be near you, either!"

"I'm not taking their side—"

"Then help me fight Prince Takumi!"

"It's… a little more complicated than that… I don't know the full story yet… Plus, it's not the other Hoshidans' fault, but Nohr will surely blame them when the news breaks."

"Forget it, then! I'm staying with my Nohrian family!"

"Well, I won't betray my cousins in Hoshido. If you won't listen to me, then…"

"Then…"

Shigure withdrew a sword from his belt. "Kana, I'm sorry," he said, "I won't kill you, but I have to make you listen."

Kana didn't answer. Instead, she growled and swung the Shadow Yato at her brother, causing his heels to dig in when he guarded. For a little girl, she produced a tremendous amount of force. She was unskilled, however, and Shigure could see it, so he released his guard to swing around and cut her side. She fell forward and landed on her hands, holding the cut. Blood shimmered on the tip of Shigure's sword. With another growl, Kana sprang back up and swung at her brother. This time, he was surprised by her sudden recovery and stumbled back after the hit, giving her an opening to follow up and thrust at him. He blunted the attack so that it cut his side, too, but missed his stomach. They both stood, panting at one another. Fresh blood covered the spot on the Shadow Yato that had been stained some twenty years earlier.

Suddenly, Kana was seized by her scarf and yanked up onto a saddle. She yelped, but was overpowered by Silas's voice shouting, "That's enough, Kana! I've cleared us a path. Everyone, retreat!"

The Nohrian children obeyed and funneled themselves through the opening in the crowd of Hoshidan civilians and soldiers, although they were spared pursuit this time. They hurried off as the crowd reformed, still shouting frenziedly.

Takumi turned with a grunt and returned to Castle Shirasagi, ordering his men to bring Ryoma back in with him. Saizo followed behind. The soldiers ignored Sakura for the time being, and so she hurriedly joined the children, who were bent over Kiragi, who was badly burnt and struggling to get up. Shiro balled his fist, Asugi tried to help his mother, and Shigure looked off into the distance, following his sister with his eyes as she rode up the trail. She was the one being irrational, wasn't she? And he was just doing his best to further his father's aims, wasn't he?

Shigure let out a long sigh. He had drawn blood from his sister. He felt that was but the first of a long series of difficult decisions that would await him.

[…]

Azura's heart raced when the door opened. There was a myriad of possibilities, of course, but her foolish mind jumped to the best of them immediately, and she chastised herself for it. She was brought out of her daydream when she heard Morgan's voice: "Hey, everybody. I'm back!"

"Would you mind keeping it down?" Jakob chided her, "Lady Azura is asleep. Lord Corrin left on urgent business and she's been worried sick ever since."

"Uh, oops," Morgan said, rubbing the back of her head through her long hair, "I managed to snag that stone, for what it's worth. I picked up some old texts that were lying around in the temple, too. Not sure I quite understood most of them, but I think they might be worth a look."

"You were ordered to pick up the stone, not pilfer everything in the building," Jakob said, "Though, what could I expect from someone who makes her living taking from others? Such a sad subsistence."

"You'd bother me a lot more if I cared what you thought," she replied, smiling at him.

"Arrogant girl," he muttered, storming off.

Morgan turned her head as she heard Azura's footsteps descending the stairs. "Hello, Morgan," she said, "Is it true? Did you get the stone?"

"Yep," she said, nodding, "Sorry if I woke you, but I have the little sucker right here." Azura watched her pull a sky-blue crystalline lump out of the burlap sack and offer it into her hands. Azura took it and stroked the material, as if to verify its authenticity. "I feel like there must be an easier way to go about getting dragonstones," Morgan said, "What makes this one so special?"

"If you look at this imperfection in the center," Azura said as she pointed to a black-and-purple dot in the lower middle of the stone, "you'll see that this stone contains the blood of Anankos. Reinforced by his powers, anyone with his blood will see their draconic abilities greatly enhanced by touching this stone."

"Ah, so it's to give Corrin an edge?" Morgan guessed.

"No, Corrin is strong enough with his Yato," Azura replied, "This will be for one of the children."

Morgan cracked a smile and folded her arms.

"Is something funny?" asked Azura.

"It always amuses me to see how big a deal blood becomes for people," she said, "There were people who really freaked out about lineage where I come from, too, and I read about whole wars that were fought over groups of people having different bloodlines. I guess it's funny to see it be the same here."

"Well, it's effects are very real," Azura said, "It's not an association we have for no reason."

"No, I get it," Morgan said, "It's just… Our blood isn't always our destiny."

Azura cocked an eyebrow at Morgan as she walked toward the kitchen.