Severa

She had grown used to the routine by now. Every now and then, a slit at the bottom of the door would open, and a few scraps of food would be pushed through. The slit would shut, she would eat, and at some indeterminate point in the future the slit would open again. It was the only thing keeping her from going a little mad.

Severa knew about the ways Nohrian prisons would torture those kept inside. Hell, she'd been on the other end more than a few times. For the squirmy ones, those who would rather their secrets spill than their guts, good old-fashioned beatings and threats did the trick just fine. But when someone like her came in, someone with a determined look that wouldn't get wiped off, more subtle tactics would be used. For one, no natural light would be permitted. It messed with the internal clock. Food would be given at irregular intervals, just in case any semblance of time was still in the prisoner's mind. As for portions, that was just as up in the air. Sometimes it was a proper meal – or at least, as proper as prison food gets – while other times it'd be barely enough to survive on.

Starvation is a funny thing. When one is starving, it's actually better to not eat anything. Putting food in one's belly gives their stomach some hope, and that reminds it that food is actually something it needs. So it grumbles and growls, aching like hell, all because a couple bites of chicken got dumped in it. But without food, that aching goes away. The stomach admits defeat and stops trying to get attention.

It was a shame that Severa couldn't help herself whenever food did come in. She was never one to refrain from indulgence. All she had was the knowledge that eventually food would come. And it was just barely enough for her to maintain her wits. Said wits made sure that when the door opened for the first time since she was forced inside, she could spit out a snide comment. "You look like shit, Camilla." The light coming in from the other room made Severa's eyes hurt. Still, she stared at the woman she had spent years serving.

"Elise almost tore my shoulder off," Camilla said in response.

"Looks like it's healing alright, though. Bright side."

"Leo is dead. I killed him."

"Ah."

"Elise lived, no thanks to me. She still has Brynhildr. It's only a matter of time till she gets to Windmire. And when she does, I imagine there'll be hell to pay."

"What makes you think that?" Severa asked. Camilla moved her injured shoulder a bit. "Ah, I see."

"They're all coming. Ryoma, Takumi, Elise, Xander, Corrin…just in time, as well. Whether they know it or not, the sun and moon are about to become one."

"I don't mean to be rude, but is there a reason why you're telling me all of this?" Severa's question was received with silence for a while.

When Camilla finally spoke up, she caught Severa off-guard, saying, "I suppose I'm used to it. I always did confide in you."

"Until you turned into a psycho, that is."

"I didn't 'turn into' anything, Severa. I just stopped pretending I could be something else. This is who I am."

"A psycho?"

"A visionary," Camilla corrected. "I know that the only way to end Nohr and Hoshido's conflict for good is with the Yato. The people of this world can't be trusted to govern themselves. At their core, humans are selfish and cruel. If you give someone freedom, they will use it to destroy."

"And yet you're somehow better than that? I never took you for an egomaniac."

"I am better, Selena. I bear the blood of the Dusk Dragon. I wield Bölverk."

"My name's Severa. And yeah, my mommy and daddy weren't exactly pushovers. But you don't see me going on about how great I am." Severa paused. "Okay, so maybe you do, but I don't hark on about my lineage and bullshit like that."

Camilla stepped closer. "Perhaps convincing you is a lost cause…" Then, she grabbed Severa by the collar, lifting her so only her toes were touching the ground. "Then I'll cut to the reason I'm here: Why did you betray me?"

"Bite me," Severa spat. She tried to force Camilla away, but she was still too weak from her time in captivity.

"I trusted you, Selena. I trusted you with my life! What would have happened if I was there? Would you have killed me!?" Camilla slammed Severa against the back wall of the cell. "Would you have killed me like you killed Beruka!?"

"Beruka isn't dead! She abandoned you because she saw you were just as much of a monster as I did! And my name's Severa!"

"Well then, Severa," Camilla said, wrapping her hands around Severa's throat and squeezing. "If I truly am such a monster, then I suppose I should have no qualms about wringing your neck!" Severa feebly tried to bat her arms away. "You whore! I trusted you, I cared about you! And then you and Beruka betray me!? What gives you the right, you miserable, rotten—"

A deafening roar shook the ground, getting Camilla to let go of Severa, who dropped to the floor, coughing. Small pieces of stone fell from the ceiling with dust accompanying them. Camilla looked around before turning and heading to the door. "You…" Severa wheezed with her hand on her aching neck. "You're a lunatic, Camilla…You're dangerous…"

Camilla looked over her shoulder and back at her retainer, giving an expression of…anger? Pity? Regret? Severa didn't have enough time to tell, as Camilla quickly turned her head back and slammed the door shut, leaving her in darkness once again. "What the hell…" Severa began, pausing to cough again. "What the hell is going on out there?"

Corrin

"Hit them again!" She shouted. The mages on the ship sent out another wave of fire attacks, bombarding a Nohrian fort. "Yargh, there be the shore! Land ho!" She had donned a pirate hat and put on an eyepatch.

Kiragi jumped up next to her in a similar getup. "Garr! Let these landlubbers get a taste of our ferocity!" The two of them continued to revel in bombast.

"Should we stop them? Ryoma asked Takumi. "They're standing at the edge of the ship."

"Go ahead," said Takumi. "I'm not about to ruin their fun." He glanced over at Beruka before realizing that she was in a similar getup. "Wait, you too!?"

Beruka stared ahead with a none-too-pleased expression. Kiragi had forced her to join along. "Yargh," she said with a flat voice.

"WOOHOO!" Corrin screamed while a green-haired ninja nearby peered through a spyglass.

"They're mobilizing!" the ninja shouted. "Get ready for retaliation!"

"Aww," Corrin moaned. "Alright, come on Kiragi." She retreated from the edge of the ship with the boy in tow. Just as the ninja predicted, enemy mages began a counteroffensive, firing their own spells at the approaching ships. Allied mages tried to fire at the approaching blasts to intercept them. Even as blasts made some of the ships tremor, they continued their advance towards Windmire's port.

By the time they docked, Corrin had gotten out of her pirate outfit. "Man," she said, stretching her arms, "I've always wanted to do that. Alright, everybody knows the plan, right?" Those around her nodded. "Remember, you're to make sure civilians don't get put in danger. If you have to choose between protecting them or taking down a target, choose the former. If I catch wind of anyone deciding to harm civvies, I'll execute you myself." Having delivered that threat with a scarily cheery voice, Corrin hopped off the ship and onto the dock.

Azura

The blasts did not go unnoticed by Azura. She walked through Krakenburg, trying to find out what was going on, only for a group of royal guards to approach her and demand she stay inside. "It's for your own safety, princess," one of them said. "There's been an attack at the docks. We're not sure just yet, but we believe it may be an invading force from the sea." An invasion? Who would be insane enough to attack Krakenburg head-on? And beyond that, who could even make it there without the border navy sinking them?

"I'm not staying," Azura decided, pushing a guard out of her way.

"But princess—"

"Enough," said Shigure, approaching Azura. "The princess can deny any order given to her unless it is decreed by the queen herself. And Camilla isn't here right now. Now step aside, all of you."

"I'm coming too!" Soleil shouted, running up to them. She and Shigure were ready for battle, and Azura knew she couldn't stop them anymore than the guards could stop her.

"Alright, if that is truly what you want," Azura said. "Come, we must help however we can!" Even though she still didn't know who was responsible for the attack, she had a sinking feeling in her gut that the one behind it could only be one person. "Corrin," she muttered under her breath, "what are you doing?"

Dwyer

The Nohrian forces had come sooner than expected. Already they had forcefully occupied the town, searching high and low for any signs of strange activity. It wasn't long before someone told them about the strange people staying there. And so Dwyer found himself healing Anna after she had taken an arrow to the arm, getting her ready to keep fighting. "I suppose I should've invested in the war economy, huh? Hired a few mercenaries?" she joked, wincing as the wound closed up. She flexed her arm a few times, making sure everything had healed properly.

"Too late to worry about that," Dwyer said, helping Anna back to her feet. "Now can you get to the bakery? Mitama went there to help some locals a few hours ago and I haven't seen her since." Anna nodded, hurrying off.

"Dwyer!" Jakob shouted, somewhere nearby. Dwyer spotted him nearby a building and ran over. "There's a group of soldiers in that building. They've been trying to break through a door. I think there are people behind it."

Dwyer nodded, gripping his staff. "I'll back you up," he said. Jakob nodded back before hurrying to the front of the building. He unleashed the daggers held between his fingers, each of them finding their target with ease. However, they weren't enough to take down all of the soldiers, who now had a new target to focus on.

With a wave of his stave, Dwyer sent a surge of reinvigorating energy through Jakob, who used it to send out a flurry of daggers, each one landing with pinpoint accuracy. A soldier managed to get close to Dwyer, who in response swung the end of his stave at the man, connecting with his chin. The soldier choked as he was forced to chomp down on his tongue thanks to the blow to the chin. He stumbled backwards and fell, groaning in pain.

"That's all of them," Jakob said, stepping inside and trying not to stand on any bodies as he headed to the back door. Dwyer stayed near the door, keeping an eye out in case more soldiers came.

"I don't hear anything, you think—" a voice from behind the back door began. Another hushed her.

Jakob knocked on the door. "You're safe now. We took care of the soldiers. You can come out."

"How do we know you aren't one of them?" someone shouted. There was a brief ruckus as multiple voices from behind the door started talking at once, seemingly arguing about something.

Then, the door opened. Dwyer looked back, only to stare, dumbfounded. There, right in front of Jakob, was Flora. "I thought I recognized that voice," she said. "It's alright, he's with Princess Hinoka's group." Despite saying this, her tone indicated that she didn't quite trust him.

"You shouldn't be so fast like that, Flora!" Felicia said worriedly, stepping out of the back room. "Especially not in a place like this." She looked down at the bodies, then up at Jakob. "As scary as ever, I see," she said with a nervous giggle.

Jakob was as dumbfounded as Dwyer, but not for the same reason. Rather, it was Flora's pregnant stomach that he was looking at. Flora shot him an annoyed glare. "Let's talk about this later, okay?" All the usually composed butler could do was nod, stepping back and letting the women step out of the room.

"Man," a woman with short blonde hair began, stepping out, "when Nohr sends soldiers, they send a ton of them." She was holding the hand of a meek girl in a dancer's outfit. "Where's Princess Hinoka?"

"Gone," Dwyer said, getting on his knees and looting a body, looking for something he could use in the fight. He found some herbs, presumably for healing, but that wasn't his specialty. "She and a bunch of the others left for Krakenburg. They're gonna try and take down Camilla so they can stop this siege. Here's hoping."

Taking a deep breath, Dwyer stood up and walked over to Flora. "Do I know you?" she asked. "You seem familiar." Better now than never, he supposed. Just in case he didn't make it.

"Hi mom," Dwyer said. "I'm your son from the future. And that jerk over there," he thumbed over to Jakob, "is my dad. I'm assuming that baby you're currently pregnant with is me. So how about you two talk about that ASAP?" This time it was Flora's turn to be too dumbstruck to speak. "All of you should head back to the Dragon's Gate. I'm gonna go check on Anna." With that, he left the building, none too keen on listening to the fallout of what he had just said. He'd leave his parents to sort that out themselves. They made it work in his timeline, so he'd have to assume they'd make it work now.

Siegbert

"Seems someone started the party before us!" Inigo shouted through clenched teeth as he shoved a soldier back before landing a blow to the neck. "Gonna be harder to get to Camilla with everyone already on high alert." He looked towards Siegbert. "Where's Lady Elise?"

"Fighting with Midori, I believe," Siegbert answered. "I'm not too sure; everything went to hell right after we got here. Who knows who's with who?" Only a few seconds later, a massive rumbling could be heard as a few blocks away a massive hole was torn through a building by a massive vine.

"There's that answered," Inigo quipped. "Damn, Soleil better not be in the middle of all this…"

"Go look for her," Siegbert said. Inigo looked at him with concern. "I can handle myself. Just worry about finding your daughter and keeping her safe." Besides, he'd feel better knowing that his cousin was safe. After a few seconds of indecision, Inigo nodded and headed off.

After what felt like an eternity of combat through the streets of Windmire, with civilians running left and right, only making identifying hostiles even harder, Siegbert watched Hoshidan soldiers get blasted out of the front doors of a church by an ethereal light. He ran up to them, helping them to their feet. "It's okay, I'm on your side," he assured them. "Go now. I've got this." He knew only one thing could give off that kind of light.

Siegbert cautiously stepped into the church, looking around at half-demolished pews and shattered stained glass. On the far side of the aisle, standing at the altar, was Peri. Purple mist was surrounding Ganglari while she ripped an arrow out of her shoulder, tossing it to the ground. Her sword arm had been fitted with a custom gauntlet that stretched to her shoulder, protecting every inch of her arm, clearly so nobody could try and chop it off, leading to a premature end to her fighting.

High above Peri was a circular stained-glass window, mostly demolished. The sun shone through, but Siegbert was quick to note that a small piece of it had gone dark. True to the warnings, the moon had risen in the daylit sky and had begun to become one with the sun. Peri had turned her attention to him. "I know you…you're the one who sent that bitch after me! The one who would tear me to shreds! Good thing she's not here anymore, huh? Just you and me!"

Siegbert tightened his grip on his blade. "Mother…" he whispered, knowing full well she couldn't hear it, and certainly wouldn't care if she could, "I will end your misery." The two charged at each other with ultimate resolve.

Nina

It's started, then.

"Seems that way," Vara said, perched on a rooftop and watching the battle rage through Windmire.

So? Shouldn't you be out there killing babies or something?

"Why would I do that?" Vara asked, annoyed. "Oh, you mean that I should be fighting. No, I don't really need to. The battle's nothing more than a formality. Once the Yato gets here, it won't matter who was winning already. So why bother participating? Nah, I think I'll just watch."

I hate you.

"Love you too, Nina." No matter what Nina said, she knew that in the end she was still the loser. She wasn't the one in control, after all. "Oh, seems that Peri's in the middle of fighting your friend Siegbert. Guess he's pretty pissed after what happened to his fiancé."

How many times do I have to tell you that they aren't my friends? There's…only one person I care about right now.

"Forrest. Man, you two are just adorable together. It breaks my heart to know that your love will never truly be."

Funny. I didn't know you had a heart. Nina planned on dropping another snarky comment, but her thoughts were interrupted by a startling realization. Wait. If Siegbert is here, then that means…oh gods, Forrest is somewhere around here.

"And?"

Oh, don't try to feign indifference. You already told me you care about him just as much as I do. This, Nina could work with. Finally, an advantage. But he doesn't have a Divine Weapon, does he? He's expendable.

"No. No, I am not going to protect him. No way in hell am I…" Vara clicked her tongue. "Damn it all, you're right. Fine, let's go find your precious boyfriend." She stood up and began running across the rooftops. Nina couldn't help but feel smug. The least she could do was try and keep Forrest safe, and it seemed that she had succeeded at that front.

Aww, see? You do care.

"Shut up!" Vara shouted with surprising fury. "I know I care, and it makes me feel sick!"

I had no idea that was such a sore spot. What, are you angry about sharing a crush? Nina kept pushing.

"Yeah, I am. Now shut up."

Man, sounds more like you're after my own heart than Forrest's. I know you said you developed a lot of my own traits, but this is just—

"You don't think I know that? I'm so much like you that it hurts. You don't think I'd kill to be someone else? Good job, you figured out that I'm miserable like this."

Oh don't you start moping to me about how hard your poor life is. You're a murderer, and worse yet, you're the kind of murderer who likes it.

"I already told you, I'm more you than me! The part of me that likes the killing? That's you."

Don't try and bullshit me! You've done that enough already.

"And what reason would I have to bullshit you now, huh? Not like it'll give me any advantage. But fine, do you wanna know the real truth? The big secret about me? I'm my own curse. I have more sentience than any other Divine Weapon. But guess what? Without a wielder, I can't do anything except think. I'm stuck in my own personal hell for long enough to drive any normal person insane. And then, when someone finally picks me up, I stop being myself. I become them. People like you take the simple act of living for granted. You don't realize how good it is to see, to feel, until it's taken away. And that's what I did."

For a while, neither of them spoke.

If you think I'm going to feel sorry for you after all that…

"I don't care how you feel. But if you could shut up for a little while, that'd be great."

Just…just save Forrest.

"It's not like I can do anything else."