As our small group prepares to head out ahead of the main unit of villagers, I get ready to say goodbye to the people I'll be apart from for the next few weeks. In addition to Murata and his family, I make sure to bid Ayane and Taka, as well as Kenji and his group, farewell and safe travels. Our goodbyes are not particularly sentimental or long. In fact, the dominant theme expressed is that this is not truly goodbye, but rather a promise to meet again—safe and sound in Izumite territory.

Their optimism is encouraging.

Meanwhile, Yukimura and Reina are also preparing to leave, to fly to the other side of the continent and round up the other three royal siblings. Reina's goodbyes are short and businesslike, with the expected deference to the royals. Yukimura treats them with the same courtesy as well. But after bowing to them and wishing them well, he regards me and Camilla with his standard suspicious glare.

"Princess Camilla of Nohr, and Harrison… Harrison of Earth," he acknowledges us with a slight nod. "You two are proving to be full of surprises."

I don't say anything, but Camilla responds with a smile. "Surprises keep life interesting, don't they?"

"That may be," Yukimura replies. "But I sincerely hope, for your sakes, that neither of you are planning any surprises of the malicious kind. Otherwise, I trust Lord Takumi and Lady Sakura's retainers will stop you in your tracks."

"Duly noted," Camilla simply says.

"There's nothing to worry about," I reply.

To my surprise, Azura speaks up. "Well, there's Lord Toyoshima to worry about, certainly," she says. "But right now, he is our enemy. We cannot let his madness continue."

"Indeed," Yukimura says. "And with that, we must bid our farewell now. Time is of the essence. Safe travels, everyone. May the Dawn Dragon protect you."

And with that, we begin our travels. While the main group has a slightly more direct route to Izumo, we're going to travel south and then head east. Mozu leads the way. It's her first time outside of Moyasu province, the home of Hoiyoto, Shibetsu, Ft. Ishikabe, and the eponymous mountain that fed our gunpowder war machine—if you could call it a war machine, anyway. Nevertheless, she is an excellent guide to the wilderness, as Saito said she would be. She only rarely glances at the map to check if we're going in the right direction, and expertly leads us from where one path fades to where the next picks up. Of course, I have no idea if she is actually leading us in the right direction, but her confidence doesn't seem unfounded.

We continue traveling, until the sun begins to set and it's time to make camp. Mozu once again sets to work. While the rest of our group sets up our tents and bedrolls, she quickly gets a small fire going. Just as fast as she started the fire, she almost disappears to hunt for our dinner. She returns with a rabbit and some small birds.

"Do you want any help with that?" I ask.

"Naw," Mozu replies, grinning as she takes a seat and begins skinning and cleaning the carcasses. "Thank ya for offerin', but you city slickers would just slow me down, is all." She's probably right. I don't think any of us have had to hunt for our own dinners before. Certainly not the royals. Not Hana or Subaki, scions of esteemed clans of noble warriors and servants to the crown. Beruka probably got by through illegal means, and… well, maybe Selena, I guess.

Anyway, it's a little strange to see this side of Mozu, confident and capable. In the game, she came off as a shy, nervous girl—her village had been destroyed, her family killed, and she was completely out of her element tagging along with a bunch of royal soldiers. Granted, that last bit is pretty close to how it actually turned out. But she's not the sole survivor of a Faceless attack. Instead, she's been a lead fighter at the second battle at Hoiyoto and the battle at Ft. Ishikabe. Rather than being brought to rock bottom and having to build her confidence up, she's only growing stronger and more successful.

I don't know what exactly led the Faceless to not attack her village, but I can't shake the feeling I had something to do with it. Maybe I'm just being self-centered. And even if I'm not, maybe that kind of serious hardship and adversity is what builds someone up to truly become stronger. Maybe the sense of security Mozu now has is a false one. But despite myself, I can't deny that I'm happy to see her the way she is.

While she finishes up prepping the meat, Hana and Sakura start cooking rice from our pre-packed rations. As the night settles in, we roast the meat over an open fire, and have our dinner. The rabbit is a little gamey, but not entirely unpleasant. I guess I'd better get used to this stuff while we're on the road to Izumo. Along with the rice, we do have some salt-cured meat, but supplementing it with foraging could prove invaluable.

"Alright, everyone," I begin, as everyone's finishing their dinner. "We should get to bed soon. We're going to want to make the most of tomorrow's daylight as we can. And every day's, I guess. But the faster we get to Izumo, the faster we can be safe."

"Let's divide up shifts to take watch," Hana says.

Before I can say anything, Takumi speaks up. "I'm not letting those Nohrians take watch while we all sleep," he says. "And not you either, Harrison. I don't trust any of the four of you."

Of course, he can't just shut up and agree, ever. "Lord Takumi, with all due respect," I reply, "You're going to need to get over it. We're in this together now. You agreed to come with us, remember? You even sounded proud of it when you bragged to Yukimura about how traveling with Lady Camilla wouldn't be a problem."

Takumi groans.

"I can certainly understand why Prince Takumi feels the way he does," Camilla, of all people, joins in. "Of course, I hope to change his mind, but after all he's been through, his request makes sense."

"It's not a request," Takumi says. "It's a demand. I will not allow you Nohrians to run around unchecked and unaccounted for!"

"And that's just fine, dear," Camilla says. "Here is what I propose. There are six people here that you trust, and four who you do not. So why don't we have teams of two take watch, each with a Nohrian and a Hoshidan?" Camilla looks at Azura, then me. "Of course, I don't mean to imply that Azura is Hoshidan, or that Harrison here is Nohrian, but I think you take my meaning."

"Hmph." Takumi folds his arms. "I guess that works. Only on one condition, though—Harrison and Sakura shouldn't be allowed to take watch together."

Sakura sighs. "I-if that's what you want, T-takumi…"

I shrug. "Fine by me."

"Excellent," Camilla says. "Now, then, the teams. Selena, dear, why don't you take watch with Subaki? You two seem to have been getting along rather well, if I do say so myself."

Selena groans, but doesn't actually try to dissuade Camilla. Subaki just shrugs.

"And Beruka, you can partner up with Hana over there."

Hana shrugs as well. Beruka doesn't react, only maintaining her blank, emotionless expression.

"If it's agreeable to Princess Sakura," Camilla continues, "I would like to take watch with her myself." She smiles warmly at Sakura.

"M-me?" Sakura asks in reply. "I…"

Before she can continue, Takumi interjects. "It's not agreeable to me," he says brusquely. "You'll have to pick someone else to bother all night long. I'd rather even do it myself than subject Sakura to have to deal with you."

For all the venom of his words, Camilla takes it in stride. "Does that mean you're volunteering?" she asks, then laughs. "No, I wouldn't subject you to such torture. You two can rest your little heads easy tonight—I will take watch with Mozu, and Azura with Harrison. If everyone's all right with it, of course."

Takumi glares at me, then Azura. "Why are we letting her make decisions again?"

"We're not letting her make decisions," I reply. "She's making suggestions. We as a group are deciding on our course of actions. But I haven't heard any substantive objections to her ideas, so I don't see any reason why we shouldn't go through with them."

Takumi groans.

I sigh. "Listen, I've been meaning to say this, in case I didn't make it clear in our conversations at the strategy meetings," I begin. "Lady Camilla, Selena, and Beruka are not our prisoners. They're not even our guests. They're our partners. There are ten of us here. And yeah, Mozu is your subject, and yeah, Hana and Subaki have sworn fealty to Lady Sakura, and same with Selena and Beruka and Lady Camilla. That all might be true. But we've all got to work together as equals now. Our number-one priority has to be getting to Izumo safely. I've said this before and I'll say it again—Toyoshima is going to be hunting us down and trying to kill us, so let's not do his job for him."

Takumi shakes his head. "You've let your wins these past few weeks go to your head too much," he says.

The conversation dies down pretty soon after, as Selena and Subaki prepare to take watch first. I head to my tent and put my head on the bedroll. My head aches; my mind is abuzz with worry. I'm still in disbelief that we pulled off the mission at Ft. Ishikabe. And even despite that, we march forth with a smaller group, to an ever-uncertain future. Some part of me thinks that we're simply daring Toyoshima, or Garon or Anankos just to smite us.

Even though my mind is running a mile a minute with anxiety, my body is exhausted. It isn't long before my eyelids grow heavy and I fall into a dreamless sleep.

"Time to wake up, darling," a warm voice says. I jolt awake and look towards the tent's entrance. Camilla is looking in. That's right, Azura and I were meant to relieve her and Mozu and take the final watch shift.

She laughs softly. "It's your turn to take watch. I just went to rouse Azura," she explains.

"Alright," I reply, getting up and grabbing Polaris. "No problems, I guess?" I ask as I exit the tent.

Camilla shakes her head. "It's been a rather uneventful evening, for better or for worse. Mozu isn't quite as fun to tease as dear Princess Sakura or Prince Takumi. "

I sigh. "I know you enjoy that, but don't go out of your way to antagonize him," I plead. "He doesn't want to be here, and certainly not with me or you. I feel like he's one comment away from snapping and tearing my throat out."

"I'll take that under advisement," Camilla replies. "Though might I ask why you are so afraid of him?"

"Are you serious?" I ask. "Isn't it obvious?"

"Well, I suppose he's made his hostility towards you quite clear," she admits. "But he isn't much more than an angry boy with a bow. All bark and no bite, as it were."

"Maybe you're right," I say. "I don't know. I don't want to find out. Especially since pushing him too far means you or I will get hurt. I mean, it's okay if I get hurt, but I can't let you get hurt. I can't let him hurt you."

"But that's just it," she says. "You don't need to repeat your little speech about how we are friends. I understand it, and I appreciate it. But I worry that you don't understand just who and just what you are declaring to be your friend so firmly."

"I… think I see what this is about," I say hesitantly. I have no idea if what I'm saying is right. "You think I should be more afraid of you than of Lord Takumi."

"To put it bluntly, perhaps," she replies. "Or, rather, I wonder why you do not feel that way."

I sigh. "Everything I would tell you, about how I think of you as a friend, and how I believe you can make the right decisions, I've already told you. My position on it isn't going to change. And if you think there's something I don't know about you that would change it—if you want to try to give me a reason to be afraid of you, I'm all ears, I guess. But I bet it's not as bad as you think it is."

Camilla's expression abruptly darkens, and she frowns. I worry I've said something wrong. "You ought not to accuse me of being weak," she says.

"It's not about being weak," I reply. "It's a matter of trust." Camilla opens her mouth to speak, but I cut her off. "Look, Camilla. It's late. I should get to taking up watch with Azura, and you should get to sleep. We've had a long day today, and we'll have a long day ahead of us tomorrow. We will, and I mean we will find a time to talk about this more later. Okay?"

"I wouldn't want such an obligation to unnecessarily burden you," she says.

"It's not a burden. Not if it's for my friend."

Camilla just nods, and makes her way back to her tent. I take a deep breath and go to catch up with Azura.

Azura regards me with only a slight smile and a nod as I sit down next to her. We just sit there for a few moments, side by side, looking out into the darkness. Listening for anything that might be coming.

My mind races. Why was that conversation so intense? What was Camilla getting at, really? Was she trying to intimidate me? Or was she asking for help, for support? Was it even right to postpone the conversation that this is all building towards, whatever it will entail?

"It's good to see you. I haven't had the chance to talk to you alone since the rescue," Azura eventually says, mercifully saving me from the rabbit-hole of overthinking, if only temporarily.

"Yeah, I guess that's true, come to think of it," I reply.

"You seem to be holding up well." Her voice is stiff, strained, even.

I sigh. "By all rights, I should be."

"But you're not?"

I shake my head.

"What is troubling you?" Azura asks, tilting her head.

"Nothing you don't already know," I say.

"That may be, but sometimes talking about it with another person helps," she says.

I give her a curious look. "That's odd, coming from you. You're never one to talk about your problems."

Azura seems unfazed by my jab. "True. For most of my life, to avoid befalling the same fate as my mother, I have sought to avoid burdening others with my struggles. But obviously, we have had those sorts of conversations, and I have seen what you have done for Sakura and Camilla," she says. "I know I may still seem reclusive. But if there is anything I can do to help you the same way you try to help us, then talk away."

"That's very kind of you," I say. Azura is right, she still is rather reclusive, but I guess I really have changed the way she thinks about these things if I've managed to show her that talking about a problem can help. That's the sort of thing that Corrin would do, right? Only Corrin could really tear down those walls like that. And Azura hasn't been spending all that time with Corrin—she's been roughing it out here in the middle of nowhere.

I consider Azura's offer. I don't know if I want to be talking about these sorts of problems anymore. It's easier to pretend they don't exist. But Azura could help provide some perspective. She's the only one besides me who really understands the gravity of everything that's at stake. I steel my nerves and take a deep breath.

"There's a saying from Earth that describes what this feels like. What we're doing feels like," I begin. "It's called 'navigating a minefield.' A land mine is a weapon, a terrible weapon from Earth. And, for the record, one that we should never make. Think of a metal capsule filled with black powder that triggers and explodes when someone steps on it. That's a landmine. And if you laid a bunch of those in a field, that's a minefield."

"So I presume if one were to 'navigate a minefield', it would be a rather precarious situation," Azura says. "One wrong step and you'd be dead."

"Yeah," I say. "I'm pretty sure you get what I mean. There are just so many ways all of this could go horribly wrong. I mean, even putting aside Garon and you-know-who—we're still on the run from Toyoshima. And who knows if Izumo will be safe when we get there?"

"A valid concern," Azura says. "But I think you realize that Izumo is the safest place for us at this point. There is no better option."

"I understand, but even putting all that aside, we've still got Camilla and Takumi at each other's throats," I reply, remembering her words to me earlier. "I thought he was just the problem. I hoped that maybe he'd be grateful to me for saving him. But I don't know if he'll kill me or Camilla first. And now Camilla herself is acting strange, too."

"Camilla is acting strange? What do you mean?"

"She was asking me about why I'm so worried about Takumi all the time. It seemed to me like she was implying that he wasn't worth trying to please. That she's the one to fear, not him."

Azura puts her hand on her chin. "I see," she says. "She is trying to intimidate you, to keep a hold on you. Perhaps she still thinks that if we do reunite with Corrin, that she can walk away with her completely unscathed."

"Well, we both know we won't let that happen," I reply. "I mean, I guess that makes sense, but it still seems weird. I thought we had an understanding about working together, you know? I thought we were getting through to her."

"She has manipulated us before," Azura points out. "I wouldn't be so confident."

I sigh again. "Yeah, maybe you're right," I mutter. "I don't know. I don't want that to be true. I want to believe we really can get through to her. And I want to believe there's something more here. It almost seems to me that she's trying to convince herself that she's more powerful than Takumi." I'm not sure if that makes any sense, but it seems like something that could be true. I know Camilla's got a host of internal issues, so that could play a role in it all.

"I'm not sure I follow," Azura says. "For one thing, it's clear that Camilla is more powerful than Takumi. He is a skilled warrior with his bow, but one-on-one and especially without Fujin Yumi, she would win handily. And as for her behavior tonight, Camilla trying to intimidate you is a logical progression from her asserting herself earlier when we were deciding how to take watch. I can't see any more to it than that."

"Maybe you're right," I say again, and shake my head.

"Forgive me. I do not mean to demean your optimism," she says gently. "It may not seem like it, but I admire it. Without it, we would not be here, and we would not even have the hope of achieving our goal of saving this world. Just… please understand that sometimes pragmatism must temper those dreams. That is how we will navigate the minefield."

I don't have the energy to argue with Azura, or play this delicate verbal fencing that might qualify for arguing in some jurisdictions. I mumble some vague assent and get back to focusing on the watch, letting my thoughts take over once again.

I'm not satisfied with Azura's assessment of the situation. This could all be a very long con by Camilla, I guess. But it just seems too… weird for it to be. Camilla's had a lot of upheavals in her life lately. She's decided to check out from her job of being princess and presumably playing a role in the war effort to hang out here on a plan to maybe get her back to Corrin. In service of that plan, she's given me her most prized possession from Corrin, and not to mention, she's risked her life several times. And while I don't have the gall to think this matters nearly as much as everything else, I declared her to be my friend, which probably caught her off-guard, at least.

Ultimately, Camilla's confused, and maybe even a little scared. And I'm sure that is an unfamiliar emotion for her. Maybe that outburst, for lack of a better word, is a reaction against it. Maybe it's a reaction against what I told her the other day. But it doesn't matter what it is. I've got to reach Camilla somehow. And I've got to do it before we meet up with Corrin, because that's the best shot I have at getting her on our side for good.

The next week or so of traveling passes by in a similar fashion. Nothing particularly eventful happens, but unfortunately, it's rather short on opportunities for me and Camilla to have a heart-to-heart. We keep moving south by day, and camping at night, keeping watch in pairs as Camilla suggested. Mozu's hunting and gathering supplements our relatively plain preserved rations. The warm and sunny weather, and the long daylight, help us make plenty of progress each day.

On what I believe is the eighth day of travel, Mozu, as always, points out where we are on the map. But when I notice how far we've managed to travel, it gets me thinking. I decide to pose the question to the group as we travel.

"So have we actually crossed into West Hoshidan territory yet?" I ask. "Should we start to be on the lookout?"

Takumi turns to me and scoffs. "You haven't been on the lookout this entire time? And those idiots thought to trust you to lead them, huh? Give me a break."

"You get what I mean," I reply, sighing. "Of course I've been on the lookout the entire time. What I mean is should we reasonably expect an encounter with the enemy?"

"Well, yes," he says, confidently. "We're firmly in rebel territory now, for sure."

"What makes you so certain?" I ask.

Takumi glares.

"I don't mean to offend," I continue. "I'm just curious. After all, as far as I can tell, there aren't any formal boundaries drawn up, and if there were, they'd be out of date by tomorrow. And we haven't encountered anyone so far, despite making a lot of progress, so it just got me thinking. That's all."

"Hmph," Takumi says. "You foreigners don't have a clue about Hoshidan geography, it seems. Otherwise it'd be obvious."

"Consider me curious as well, Prince Takumi," Camilla pipes up, smiling. "Being foreigners, Harrison and I must seem quite ignorant of your homeland. But what may seem obvious to you will likely be new to us."

"Hah!" Takumi laughs. "I see what this is about. As if I'm going to give up vital strategic information to a Nohrian princess!"

I groan and look at Camilla. She just shakes her head and smiles again, as if she's resigned to him being the way he is. Well, at least she's learned fast.

"If I may, my lords 'n' ladies, I reckon I've got an idea of why Prince Takumi's so sure about it," Mozu says. I hadn't expected her to speak up like this, and it only piques my curiosity further. "But I s'pose I shouldn't say nothin' if Prince Takumi doesn't want."

"Just go ahead and say it, whatever you think it is," he says. "Chances are it isn't right, anyway."

"It's about the crops," Mozu begins. "The weather, the soil, it's all best over here for growing lots and lots of rice. If ya wanted to feed an army, you'd have to take control of this area."

Takumi just groans. Mozu grins.

"Is she right?" I ask.

"As much as I hate to admit it? Yes," Takumi says. "Central Hoshido produces most of our rice, so a lot of the early fighting was over this region. I'm sure that Toyoshima used that to launch his attack on the capital."

"But something doesn't add up there," I counter. "Hoiyoto and Shibetsu were farming villages, too. And Toyoshima still attacked them."

"Well, I don't know too much about strategy, but I know we grow plenty of other crops other'n rice," Mozu says proudly.

"Yeah, it's not like all the food is grown here," Takumi says. I can tell he's trying to one-up everything I have to say. "Just where the staples are grown in the greatest quantity for export to the rest of the country. Maybe Toyoshima thought that the more northern villages would be undefended, easy pickings. Or maybe he thought they'd be strategically valuable for other reasons. But the fact of the matter is, there's no way Toyoshima's gotten close to winning the war without taking these rice fields."

I nod. "I think I understand," I say. "Thanks for the geography lesson, you two."

"You're welcome," Mozu says. "Always happy to talk about farmin'."

Takumi just glares at me.

"I mean it," I protest. "I don't get this kinda stuff from anywhere else."

Come to think of it, Takumi is surprisingly pleasant when the conversation is not limited to how much he hates me. And it's interesting to hear from Mozu, too, who fills in the gaps of Takumi's textbook knowledge with her own personal experience of growing up in one of those farming villages.

It never fails to surprise me just how distinctly regional Hoshido is both in geography and people, despite having—or appearing to have, before the civil war, anyway—a distinct national identity. It begins to make sense why the lords from the southwestern coast and western plains wouldn't want people from the northeastern hills and mountains to tell them what to do. Not that that justifies what they've done in the slightest.

Our planned stop along the way here is the city of Mizuhara, from which the province gets its name. It's a market town, especially for those very same goods that give the region its prominence. As we get closer to the city we work out our plan. Because having Nohrian wyverns—two, no less—would be very suspicious, Beruka is going to fly Morningstar and Atropine and camp out with them in the wilderness outside the city, then rejoin us the next day once we've hit the road.

Of course, Takumi has to have his say in things. "We can't leave any of the Nohrians unsupervised," he says bluntly. "We can't let her try to fly away and get help. Someone's gotta be watching the Nohrians at all times."

I shrug. "So, do you volunteer?"

"Why do you always ask me that?" Takumi fires back.

"Because you can't just say things like this all the time and always expect other people to do them for you," I reply, keeping my tone calm.

"Well, the fact of the matter is, I'm not going to leave Sakura and Azura to fend for themselves. Not a chance," he declares. "Hana? Subaki? Will one of you do the honors?"

They both respond practically at the same time. I can't make out exactly what they said, but it's clear that neither wants to leave Sakura's side.

Sakura smiles. "It m-means a lot to me that I have such dedicated retainers," she says. "But I have a feeling Takumi won't budge on this. And there's no need to worry. We'll be fine in the town, after all."

After a moment of deliberation, Subaki gives in. "If Lady Sakura insists on it, I will accompany Beruka to ensure she does not engage in any foul play," he says. "Hana, I trust in your ability to protect Lady Sakura should the need arise."

"It's about time," Hana replies with a self-satisfied smirk.

With that settled, it's time to focus on those of us who are stopping in the city overnight. We decide to take on the temporary guise of Nestran and Hoshidan merchants trying to work out a deal in light of the ongoing wars. Nestra is, of course, far less worrisome for the average Hoshidan than Nohr, and Camilla assures us that she knows enough about the country from her visits to the Opera House in Cyrkensia to make passable conversation. Hana, Mozu, Selena, and myself will pose as the traders' hired armed escorts. And since the royals' clothes stand out among the general population, they decide to pose as traders of fine clothing—advertising the merchandise by wearing it. Perhaps a bit showy, but not implausible. And just to be safe, we come up with aliases for the royals, who might otherwise be recognized.

Being a regional trading center, the city of Mizuhara is almost certainly walled and guarded by a city watch. This makes entry a bit tricky. Indeed, as we approach the city along the main road, the wooden palisade comes into view first. It's about ten feet tall, and the tops of the planks are sharpened, making climbing a risky proposition. The northern gate, small and similar in construction to the wall, is manned by several guards with yumi and spears, but they don't look like they're particularly organized. As we get closer, I can tell that their weapons are simple bronze and iron, and their armor is equally basic. None of it is particularly well-kept, either—at least not to the standards I learned from Taka and Hana, both of whom are obsessed with weapon maintenance. If we were here to fight, this would be a pushover, especially if we had Beruka and Subaki and the two wyverns with us. But we're not here to fight—we're here to relax for a night, get some supplies, and go on our way. That will require a defter hand.

"Halt!" one of the guards cries out, then heads outside the gate to meet us. We do as he commands. I get a pit in my stomach as I think back to our attempted infiltration of Ft. Ishikabe. Is attempted the right word? I mean, we ultimately succeeded without losing anyone, but I think it's obvious just how much worse that could have gone.

"Identify yourselves," the guard instructs as approaches. He glares at Camilla, then me and her retainers. "Are you Nohrians?" he asks.

"Nohrians?" Camilla asks with mock offense. "No, no, no. We're from Nestra," she says.

With a practiced finesse, Camilla strides up to greet him with a flirtatious smile. She introduces herself with her alias. "I'm Cassandra," she says. "Cassandra Damocles. My partner Alexandra over here —" she gestures to Azura "—and I are traders of fine clothing out of Cyrkensia."

The guard looks taken aback. He nods, and promptly bows. "A pleasure to meet you, Ms. Damocles," he says. Camilla returns the bow. "May I ask who your companions are, and what your business in Mizuhara is?" His brow furrows. "Or in Hoshido in general, might I add?"

"Well," Camilla begins, "these two over here are Taro and Emi Tanaka." She gestures to Takumi and Sakura, who nod. "They've been our suppliers for the past few years. Turns out the Nestran upper crust just can't get enough of imported Hoshidan silk. But business has slowed to a crawl thanks to this war," she says. "So Alexandra and I decided to meet with our associates the Tanakas to figure out alternative strategies."

"I see," the guard replies. "And the others?" He gestures at the rest of us.

"Our hired escorts, of course," Camilla replies. "It's a dangerous time to be traveling around Hoshido."

"That it is," the guard says. "Very well, Ms. Damocles. Ordinarily I would be wary about letting foreigners within the city walls, but you are traveling with Hoshidans. We will allow you and your companions entry. Enjoy your stay in Mizuhara."

Wait, really? It was that easy? We were ready to bribe the guard for this. But it seems like none of that was even necessary. Apparently for this guy, unlike Takumi, just hanging out with Hoshidans is enough of a vote of confidence.

The guard shouts some orders to his fellows, who open the gate, and we are ushered inside. While the guards are heading back to their posts, I give Camilla a thumbs-up. She responds with a smile and a nod.

Mizuhara is indeed a bustling trading town. All along the main road through the city, shops line the streets - everything from tailors to blacksmiths to grocers. Some enterprising individuals patrol the streets with carts, hawking their wares to the clientele directly. Sakura's attention is caught by one cart selling sweets. "I'm sorry!" she says as she skips over to the cart and practically throws a few coins at the guy in exchange for some dango. She smiles happily as she devours them.

After a little looking around and asking around, we find out that there are a handful of inns to service travelers through Mizuhara. The oldest and most prestigious is the aptly-named Mizuhara Inn, which has nobility and samurai as its clientele almost exclusively. There are a few much lower-end inns that provide little more than beds and simple, plain meals. After some quick discussion, we settle on the Ando Inn, a happy medium between the two. We don't want to cause any controversy or draw undue attention by trying to stay in the Mizuhara Inn, but we are supposed to be somewhat well-off merchants, who probably wouldn't abide staying in the cheapest accomodations.

The Ando Inn is located on a side-street branching off of the main market square of Mizuhara. The entrance is a decoratively-roofed foyer. Inside, two young men instruct us to remove our shoes, then invite us to enter. Azura works her way towards the front of our group.

"Welcome to the Ando Inn!" a middle-aged woman greets us with a warm smile and a bow. She's wearing a blue kimono, and her graying hair is pulled back neatly into a bun. "Staying for the night?"

"Yes," Azura replies, and bows back. I guess she's speaking for the rest of us at this point. We all bow to the woman—presumably the owner—in turn.

"Wonderful!" she says. "Come, come on inside." She hurriedly waves us inside the inn. Our shoes having been put away by the two younger men, we all do as she instructs. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Yuki Ando, seventh-generation proprietor of the Ando Inn."

"It is a pleasure, Ms. Ando," Azura says. "My name is Alexandra."

"The pleasure is all mine, Miss Alexandra," Ms. Ando replies warmly. She looks at the rest of us. "And I look forward to meeting the rest of you as well. But I get the sense that you want to work out the details of your stay first, yes?"

Azura blinks, then nods.

"Our rooms are each appointed with two futons, which are certainly large enough to be shared if you are looking to save money," Ms. Ando explains. "How many rooms would you like?"

Azura looks back at our group. I do a few quick mental calculations. Since Beruka and Subaki are out, there are eight of us. We could, in theory, get by just by going for two rooms, but it's worth nothing that Takumi and I are the only guys. Aside from Sakura staying with her brother, and maybe Azura being okay with it, I'm not sure the women would want to stay with us. I mean, we have all been traveling together, and maybe that's my silly Earth norms clouding my judgement.

But let's just say that Takumi and I are going to share a room, a prospect I'm not sure I'm ready for. That leaves the six women—three per room. I'm sure Sakura and Hana will want to stay together, as will Camilla and Selena. Azura can stay with whichever of her sisters she prefers to, and poor Mozu will go wherever's left.

"Three rooms, please," she says. Azura must've arrived at the same conclusion. Ms. Ando takes us upstairs to our rooms, allowing us to put down our things.

I'm not sure what a traditional Japanese, or Hoshidan, inn would look like, but I imagine this would be it. Large windows with sliding panes let in the mid-afternoon sun. The hallways are elegantly decorated with perfectly-placed woodcuts of nature scenes. Even the floors are flawlessly polished wood. If this place is so nice, what does the Mizuhara Inn look like?

When we get upstairs, we divide up the rooms as I had thought. Azura will stay with Sakura and Hana, and Mozu with Camilla and Selena. That leaves Takumi and I to our own room. I stop short in front of it, gesturing him to enter first.

"After you," I say.

Takumi just grunts instead of replying.

The accomodations in the room are simple. There is a small, low table, two large, fluffy-looking futons and plenty of tatami mats on the floor. In one corner is a small alcove. Inside rests a decorative vase with a few vividly colored flowers—a delicate touch of brightness to the room. As I put down my things, Takumi slides the door shut.

"Let's get a few things straight here," he says.

I take a deep breath. "I don't want any trouble," I reply.

"Neither do I," he says. "So just…"

"I'm not gonna do anything!" I protest. "I don't know what you think I'm gonna do. But look, we're just going to relax and enjoy one night of real food and sleeping in a real bed. I think that's something we can agree on."

Takumi nods cautiously. "You're learning," he says.

"Learning what?"

"To respect me," he replies.

I sigh. "If that helps you sleep at night," I mutter under my breath. Takumi either doesn't hear me or doesn't care—probably the latter—as he puts away some of his things. Still, his words can't help but make me think of what Camilla was saying on that first night. About her and Takumi, and how she didn't think I should be "afraid" of him. I'm not afraid of him, I'm just exhausted of him. But whatever was bothering Camilla—if there really was something to that weird conversation—is as yet unsolved.

We head downstairs and make small talk with Ms. Ando. She wants to know all of our names. The royals give her their aliases, while Selena, Hana, Mozu and I use our real names. She's very interested in the fake cover-story about us being clothing merchants, and she's particularly curious about what it's like in Nestra. She's lived in this city her whole life, she explains, being groomed to take over the inn from her parents. Luckily, Camilla's able to give her enough details about Nestra to keep her satisfied. Ms. Ando's eyes widen with an almost childlike wonder at Camilla's descriptions of the opera house at Cyrkensia, the massive number and variety of ships in its harbor, and the lavish parties of the elite, where politicking and profiteering flow just as freely as wine.

The good thing is Ms. Ando has no way of verifying if these stories are real. The truth is, neither do I. Azura's words echo in my mind once more. Camilla is a very good liar, no doubt about it. But I don't doubt her words are coming from a real place—not in her Cyrkensia stories, and not in her conversations with me, either.

As the sun begins to set, Ms. Ando announces that it is dinnertime, and we take our places in the main dining room, kneeling on tatami mats beside a long, low wooden table. I find myself next to Azura and Camilla—all the "Nestrans" sitting on one side—and across from Sakura. We each sit down in front of a tray, and each tray is filled with a multitude of small plates and bowls lined up alongside a pair of chopsticks. Next to each tray is a small ceramic cup of piping-hot tea as well.

Ms. Ando welcomes us and begins pointing out each dish, going a bit too fast and with a bit too much Hoshidan (Japanese?) for me to easily understand. There's salted, grilled fish, a slew of vegetables prepared in a variety of ways, including simmering and steaming, and a few more I don't quite catch. A large bowl of Mizuhara-grown rice is included on every tray, as is a bowl of miso soup.

When she's finished with her explanation, Ms. Ando abruptly stops, and sighs. "I apologize," she says. "We usually have a greater variety of food to serve. The war has caused some shortages recently—meat is especially hard to come by. I am hopeful that despite this, you will still find this meal worthy of the esteemed reputation of our inn. I know I would not serve guests anything less than the best Mizuhara has to offer, even if these are trying times." Ms. Ando smiles, though it's somewhat sad, and bows. "If you need anything else, do not hesitate to ask."

"Itadakimasu," Sakura says sheepishly. I know enough to know that's what you say before you eat.

"Itadakimasu," the rest of the Hoshidan crew and Azura repeat, almost like a reflex. Camilla, Selena and I are a moment behind them.

Everyone digs in, and I turn to look at my tray before me. It's a little overwhelming, to be honest—I had grown used to the less-formal meals of the villagers. Even back in Hikarikawa and Castle Shirasagi—which feels like a distant memory now—I mostly ate with the retainers and other soldiers who had less concern for these things. But my aptitude with chopsticks has gotten better, at least.

Following the lead of those on the Hoshidan side of the room, I start on my own food. With some of it, like the miso soup, the fish, and the rice, I know exactly what I'm getting into. And with some of the more refined vegetables with their fancy ways of cooking, I'm a little less sure, but it's still good. Some things are very mild, and others explode with salty, savory, even vinegary flavor. I remember learning that eating all of your portion is considered polite in Hoshido, so even as I'm not entirely sure what I'm eating, I make it a point to finish the tray.

We eat quickly, and with very little talking. I'm not sure how much of that is due to the proper etiquette for doing so, how much comes from us we're avoiding talking to give away our cover, and how much comes from the fact that this food is delicious and we haven't had anything like it in a long time, if ever.

Ms. Ando and the inn workers clear away the trays. "Gochisosama," the Hoshidans in the group say as their place settings are cleared. I do my best to repeat the utterance when Ms. Ando clears away my tray. She simply smiles and nods. Even if I butchered the word, at least the intent came across.

With dinner concluded, our group breaks up as everyone heads back to their rooms. Of course, this means I've got to deal with Takumi.

"I'd like to go to sleep early," he explains once we're back in the room. "We do have to get up early and go tomorrow."

"That's true," I reply. "I'm not particularly tired, so I'll head downstairs and leave you alone."

Takumi glares at me as I head towards the door. I look over my shoulder. Neither of us say anything, and I leave.

Maybe he's learning, too.

As I head downstairs, grateful to avoid what could have been a nasty confrontation with Takumi, I realize that it might very well be rude to loiter in the "lobby", or the closest thing to a lobby, of an inn like this. I'm surprised to find Camilla and Ms. Ando by a table, apparently sharing a drink. They turn to look at me as I approach.

"Good evening," Ms. Ando says. "Harrison, was it? Do you need any assistance?"

"Yes," I reply. "Uh, yes, as in, I'm Harrison. No, I don't need any assistance—Mr. Tanaka just wanted to turn in early, so I thought I'd give him some space. I see you've made fast friends with Ms. Cassandra." Good thing I remembered those names.

"Indeed we have," Camilla says. "Come, join us. I haven't had the chance to catch up with you for some time now, hm?"

Well, I think to myself, you've been waiting for a chance to get to talk to Camilla alone, haven't you? To get to the bottom or whatever ridiculous thing you tell yourself in the hopes you can get her on your side? There's a golden opportunity staring you right in the face.

Ms. Ando laughs. "That's a cue for me to leave if I've ever heard one," she says. She gets up, taking her own cup with her. "Excuse me for a moment. I shall return with a cup for you shortly."

I take my place across from Camilla at the table, and Camilla sips her drink.

"Sake?" I ask.

She nods.

I take a deep breath. I don't know how to broach the subject. It's heavy, and it's seemed as though Camilla has been wanting to bring up these serious subjects herself. Maybe the alcohol itself will be all the push I need.

"Remember what happened last time we had some of this?"

"Ah, I remember it well," Camilla says. "You hugged me and declared me to be your friend."

At what might be the worst possible time, Ms. Ando comes up from behind me and places an empty cup on the table. I'm sure she heard that, and I'm sure I'm turning bright red like Sakura does. I do my best to remain calm as Ms. Ando pours my drink from a large white ceramic jug, then tops up Camilla's. She departs as wordlessly as she entered.

Camilla laughs, and I just shake my head and sigh.

"Yeah. That is what I did," I reply, and take a sip of my drink. "But then, just a day or two later, we had that conversation after you took watch. When you told me I should be more afraid of you than Lord—I mean, Mr. Tanaka."

"Oh, you're being silly, Harrison," she says, dismissing my objections with a wave of the hand. "I was just tired, and not in my right mind then. Don't worry about it too much, dear."

"You're not getting out of this that easily," I say. "There's something that's on your mind. There's something that's bothering you. You're struggling with the idea of being a good person, with doing the right thing, with being—or having—a friend. And I meant what I said, I want you to be happy. So maybe, if we could just talk about whatever's on your mind… maybe we could figure out a way that it might not bother you so much."

I can hear Camilla take a deep breath. When she speaks, her voice drops in volume, but skyrockets in intensity. I haven't seen her this severe since I told her about the truth of this world being a video game on Earth. "The truth—the real, unabridged truth—will shatter those views of me," she says. "Do you really want to know it? Why I will never be a 'good person', why I can never do 'the right thing', and why you need to fear me, rather than be my friend?"

I nod.

She just closes her eyes—just the one I can see, I guess—and holds up her cup, and kicks back about half of it in one go. She opens her eye again. "I've killed so, so many people, Harrison. And I don't even regret, or care about most of them. There are only two lives I've taken that have stuck with me for so long. One of their stories I'm not even ready to tell you tonight. So we'll start with the other, the one that's only slightly more palatable. This is your last chance to back down and continue living out your innocent fantasies that I am someone you can be friends with."

"Bring it on."

Camilla shakes her head and laughs, but it's a sad, resigned, almost pained laugh. "Have you ever wondered about where malig knights get their mounts from?"

My jaw drops when I realize what Camilla is saying. I mentally strap myself in. This is what I signed up for. I've got to see this through.

I'm going to reach Camilla, even if the minefield to get there just got a whole lot more dangerous.

A/N: Happy new year, everyone! I know this chapter was a little dull, and I struggled with mustering up the motivation to write it, but I knew I had to get it done before 2020. I even told myself I couldn't finish 3H or write stuff for my potential SI until I finished this chapter. The roughest finals season in memory didn't help matters, either. As usual I have to thank my beta reader ThreeDollarBratwurst for his help, and if you haven't read Birth and Re-Death at this point, that may be grounds for being committed to an insane asylum in at least 4 states, so get that fixed if you don't want to get 5150'd.

Join our discord server at: discord . gg / A27Ngyj ! I've also been hanging out at Narwhal Lord's fanfiction server which you can find at discord . gg / 9XG3U7a - a somewhat different vibe, with a somewhat different crowd, but if you like fanfic and especially FE fanfic, you'll fit right in.

Your out of context TDB quote for this chapter is: "I feel like the natural inclination is to equate her to like, low-fi study beats or something."

I know I didn't respond to a couple of PMs, they got swept under the rug with school stuff and I totally forgot about them until signing back into FFN to publish this chapter. So I will get around to responding to those soon. Sorry about that. And now, some review responses.

Guest - It's definitely a fair criticism that the Awakening trio should have gotten more screentime, both in canon Fates and my fic. Though I will say there's already an overabundance of main characters to deal with, so moving another 3 up to that tier would just make things even messier. That's part of the reason why I've kept their involvement limited so far.

Boy Knight - I see you're on Team Sakura. Let's see if those feelings change when we get into Camilla's redemption arc proper, hehe.

JunkerSB - Certainly a valid point about the guns, but I'm trying to tone that aspect of the story right now. The guns are there, they're useful, but now that the royals are all back in the picture, we've got to reframe it in the larger context of how it all fits into the fucked-up Fates world.

InahoK - Thank you so much for the detailed review! Where do you stand on the shipping question now? Especially with the zigzagging Camilla keeps doing?

Vivienne001 - I really liked your chapter-by-chapter reviews, and I hope you keep them up. I'm especially glad that you picked up on the idea that saving Mikoto may have not been the ultimately best choice in terms of consequences.