If Fate Wills It So

by Vanna Valentine

Corrin and Kamui are twins with a strained relationship. One meek and gentle—the other stoic and confident. In spite of this, they are closer than any pair of people could ever be. The cruel hand of fate rips them apart and they are forced into a conflict in which they struggle to prove their ideals just. How will they fare in this game of love and war?

20. Embrace The Dark

The moment the doors to the Izumo Palace dining hall shut behind the Nohrian royals, Xander let out a heavy sigh of relief and massaged his neck. None of his siblings said a word, instead standing in silence. Xander looked at each of them one by one. When no one so much as flinched, he decided to break the silence himself.

"Well, that did not go quite as expected. It is regrettable that—"

Nobody saw Camilla move or Xander fall, but the very next moment, the prince was on the floor with his fingers gently touching the red handprint on his face and his younger sister standing over him with a scowl painted on her face. Elise gasped and covered her mouth while Leo and Kamui simply winced.

"What the hell is the matter with you?" she spat, briefly lowering herself to grab him roughly by the collar and pulling him to his feet. "How could you possibly go along with a plan that would end in our siblings being murdered, Xander? Have you no love for them?"

"Of course I do," Xander said with his teeth grit. "It was a lapse in judgement; I would never even think about doing anything like that now."

"Tell me, what were you planning on doing if it all went according to plan, hm? Would you console Leo, Elise and I as we wept despite knowing full well that you were to blame for their deaths? Would you keep us in the dark until the day you met your end? You would just lie to us like it was nothing?"

"Never! I don't know! I didn't think that far ahead!" Xander jerked himself away from Camilla and backed up several paces, panting. "I was a fool, I admit it! But the Xander of that time and the man I am now are not the same. Believe me, sister, I've changed."

Camilla clenched her fists as her face burned with fury. "Why now? Why wait until it was brought up—and in front of strangers no less! Surely you didn't think you could get away with keeping it a secret forever!"

"Please, Sister, just drop it!" Xander demanded as he stomped his foot on the ground. "What is shouting at me going to achieve?! I said I was sorry, and look, nothing came of it either way! Both Kamui and Corrin are still alive and well."

Camilla's expression twisted in disgust. " Nothing came of it? " she repeated. "Queen Mikoto is dead, as is the woman who was to succeed her, and Corrin is all but lost to us. By assassinating Hoshido's ruler, all we've done is fan the flames of war. How could you not see what you're responsible for, Xander?"

The prince's hands trembled as his eyes went dark and his shoulders began to slack. His mouth hung open for several moments as he prepared to give a response, but he stopped when he witnessed his little sister place her hand on Camilla's shoulder and shake her head. At that moment, Xander could not take his eyes off of her. She had grown up so much over the years. No longer was she the short-tempered ball of repressed emotions that he had known. Now, she was a strong and intelligent young woman who was only a single rank away from having an entire army at her beck and call. Iago would never allow that to happen, though. Hans was too useful to him.

"Camilla. Please." Kamui squeezed the woman's shoulder and gazed at her with pleading eyes. "There's no need to antagonize him. He's clearly regretful of what he's done, so we shouldn't shout at him. What's done is done. We have to move on."

Camilla appeared to be pained by her sister's words, but she knew that she could never be upset with her. Biting her tongue, she slowly nodded and unclenched her fists.

"Fine then. Xander, we'll talk later. For the time being, we should—"

The hairs on the backs of everyone's necks stiffened as the doors behind them were suddenly kicked open, swinging fast and nearly being knocked off their hinges. "I changed my mind!" Lilith said, peeking out from behind the large blade of Bölverk—the axe that Camilla had inherited from her late father. Tucked under her arms were the various weapons wielded by the siblings, with Brynhildr being held in her hand.

"Lilith?" Leo thinned his eyes in confusion. "You…changed your mind? That's swell and all, but why are you holding our weapons? Doesn't that seem a bit dangerous?"

"I'm fine. For safety's sake, take these. Here." Lilith shoved the divine tome into Leo's hands before allowing Xander, Kamui, and Camilla to each take their weapons, then handing Elise's staff to her. It was a long pole made of a gold-like material with a shape that resembled a crescent moon around the red orb that housed the staff's magical capabilities. "Hey, you guys didn't bring any of your kids or spouses with you, didn't you? I'm sure they must all be missing you a great deal. Let's get going! Now."

"Well, frankly I'm sure that Velouria is doing just fine being alone with her father. She is a daddy's girl, you know," Camilla said.

"Is she, now? That's strange; a girl her age shouldn't be that attached to her dad. All the more reason to leave now so that she can get to know her mother even more! Let's go!" Lilith beckoned for the siblings to follow her as she began to speedwalk down the hallway. Kamui noted her fast-paced speech and the way in which she walked as if she were in a hurry, exchanging concerned looks with Elise before they all speedwalked after her.

It was not until they were within their carriage and well on their way back to Nohr that anyone opted to question Lilith. Kamui took note of her nervously tapping her fingers on her knee and frowned.

"Lilith, are you well?" she asked, leaning in. "You've looked anxious ever since you said you'd ride back with us. Is there something on your mind?"

"No," Lilith answered hastily before pursing her lips and putting her digits to rest. Immediately, she began tapping her foot instead. "Nothing on my mind. I'm fine."

"You don't seem fine." Elise pouted and crossed her arms. "Really, what's up? You can tell us anything, you know."

The Astral Dragon shook her head and closed her eyes before deeply inhaling through her nose and holding the breath. "You're worrying too much. Just…relax. We'll be home in Nohr soon and then we can all rest. That being said, it isn't as if things regarding the war are going to slow down anytime soon…" Lilith bit her bottom lip and gripped the fabric of her dress. "I don't expect Iago to give you much time to idle. Knowing him, he'll want to up the intensity of the war as much as possible the instant he's able to. Do you think that—"

"You're trying to change the subject," Leo noted with a raise of an eyebrow. "Did…did Corrin say something to you to make you want to travel back with us? Is that what's gotten you so worked up?"

Sweat began to bead down Lilith's face, which she quickly wiped away with her sleeve. A deep frown remained etched on her face as she turned her head and peeled away the curtains of the carriage slightly to peer out the window, eyeing the bumpy dirt road they were driving across. It was only a matter of time before the Hoshidans came for them. She had previously been holding out hope that Corrin would turn around and allow his Nohrian siblings to return home safely, but now was having second thoughts. Wouldn't it be best to warn them?

"I…I didn't want to tell you, but—"

Lilith nearly bit her tongue as the caravan suddenly rose up, leaving its occupants temporarily airborne before it slammed back onto the ground. It was as if they had run over a sturdy stone embedded in the road, but there was no way they could have been risen that high by just a rock. Everyone exchanged concerned and silent looks with one another before the caravan was violently shaken from the outside. Elise screamed in terror and grabbed onto Camilla's arm, who held her close and reached for her axe.

"Driver! What's happening?" Xander called through the small window behind him. There was no response to be heard. Instead, the shaking ceased and the caravan began to gradually come to a stop, the wheels rotating slower and slower until they eventually ceased entirely.

All was silent for several moments, the only sounds being the chirping and chatter of the woodland animals that inhabited the forest they were traveling through. When she felt the mayhem had ended, Kamui opened her mouth to speak, only to witness the silver blade of a lance pierce the caravan roof and tear right through it before disappearing.

Lilith grimaced as she watched the black, sharp, scaled fingers of a Hoshidan prince shoot through the opening left by the lance before ripping a hole in the roof as if it were paper. Kamui's eyes widened in horror when she processed the image of her twin kneeling above her in a form she had never seen before. The sharp and angular horns he bore in his dragon state now sprouted from his head and his wings were fully extended, his arms having undergone an almost complete transformation and a thick tail sprouting from his backside. He glared down at her with his crimson eyes burning with rage. Those same eyes that she herself possessed.

When she saw the blade of Corrin's Yato, Kamui wasted no time jumping into combat. She transformed one of her arms before reaching out and extending it, seemingly creating draconian muscle from nowhere as she wrapped her hand around Corrin's neck and forced him away from the caravan roof.

"Go!" she said as she retracted her arm. She focused all of her strength into her fist and slammed it into the wall of the caravan, blowing it far away from the vehicle and creating an easy exit for her and her siblings. They all poured out of the caravan immediately with their weapons in hand and began to run opposite the direction they had been driving. They came to a skidding stop at once as they realized exactly what they were up against.

Three in the air and on pegasi—Hinoka, Subaki, and a young woman with long strawberry pink hair who resembled the aforementioned man. On either side of them were two large canine beasts that blocked their escape paths left and right. One had a golden coat while the other was stark white with nine red-tipped tails that were swaying as if it were eager to pounce. Directly ahead of them were Takumi, Oboro, and a short boy with hair the same shade as Oboro's who Kamui could only assume was their child. Oboro appeared differently than when she last crossed paths with the siblings, now with much shorter hair and a black eyepatch over her right eye. Behind them were Ryoma—who bore a stern look on his face as he tightly gripped the Raijinto—and a muscular young man with short blonde hair and a long naginata in his hands.

Xander was about to call for his siblings to flee the other way before two ninja appeared behind them in a puff of smoke. He knew one was Kagero—the woman Corrin had married—and from the way the younger girl looked…well, it could only be one of his daughters. Xander was surprised that he would permit a little girl with glasses to fight, though he was also shocked that he'd resort to an ambush of all things as well.

Leo grit his teeth as Corrin descended from the air after having been tossed so far by Kamui. The young man gently touched down and immediately began walking towards those whom he had once called siblings, a scowl on his face.

"You're outnumbered fifteen to six. Surrender at once and we'll spare your lives." Corrin spoke coldly and without a hint of hesitation all while his expression remained unchanging.. Leo shook his head.

"I count thirteen. Surely you couldn't miss something like that, Brother," Leo retorted.

Corrin blinked once—slowly—before raising his hand. From deeper within the trees emerged a dragon similar in appearance to Corrin's own dragon form, only smaller and more slender. Sitting atop of the dragon was Princess Sakura herself, her body trembling as she gripped a healing staff.

Out of the corner of her eye, Kamui noticed blood pooling from under the caravan she had just been in along with a single hand that twitched every few moments. They had killed the driver, no doubt. She bared her teeth at her brother and shook her head.

"Is this what you're stooping to? Killing innocents? Ambushing us directly after what was supposed to be a meeting of peace? Is this the man you've become, Corrin?!"

"Don't bother taking the moral high ground. I don't want to hear it from you of all people, traitor." Corrin took a step closer before raising his sword arm and pointing the Yato towards them all. "I'll repeat myself. Surrender now or meet your end. This war has gone on for far too long."

Kamui bit her tongue and whipped her head around. "Ryoma, surely you can't approve of this as king of your country! You'd allow the same tactic that took the life of our father to claim our lives as well?"

With dark eyes, Ryoma's gaze seemed to bore right through Kamui's very being. "You…your country has taken from me my mother. My father. My wife. Your lives…your lives mean nothing to me anymore. I do wish it hadn't had to come to this."

Kamui took a closer look at the boy by the king's side and her eyes widened in horror. The blonde hair, the freckles, those same brown eyes…this had to be the child of the woman whose decapitation she had witnessed five years ago. Ryoma's son. She felt bile rising in her throat and surely would have vomited right then and there if it had not been for her sister addressing her in a hushed tone.

"Kamui, we may not be able to do this. Without Hela, I'm not sure how much use I am in a fight in which we're outnumbered."

"Corrin…you wouldn't kill us, would you?" Elise whimpered in fear.

Corrin's expression did not waver for even a moment.

"What do we do?" Leo whispered as he began to take on a look of genuine uncertainty. "We can't surrender, but I'm also not sure that we can take all of them. We certainly don't have the numbers to fight them all while simultaneously protecting Elise."

Kamui's throat went dry while she reached for the handle of the Grim Yato. Leo was right. Neither of them knew magic advanced enough to get them out of this situation. Elise was too vulnerable. The Hoshidans had the numbers advantage as well as control of the air. Even if Kamui went into her dragon form, she would surely be overwhelmed in no time.

Camilla gasped and turned Kamui's attention to Lilith, who let out a deep breath and in doing so produced a small blast of purple flames from her mouth. Fire of the same color seemed to momentarily consume her before dying down and revealing that her hair had been let down and that she now donned ebony black armor, wearing every piece save for a helmet or gauntlets.

"I'll explain later," she whispered to the others before looking to Kamui with fierce eyes. "Kamui. You're the leader. What are we doing?"

The princess' heart pounded in her chest. Logistically speaking, they should have surrendered. It was the only way to completely avoid the possibility of harm coming to her siblings or worse. And yet, her instincts only told her one thing.

"RUN!"

Two arrows came flying at the group the instant they began to flee, but Lilith grabbed at the air and stopped both with a dark aura that ensnared them. Takumi's ethereal arrow disspitated while his son's exploded into splinters, leaving both of them shocked.

"Dad, what was that?!" the child inquired as he docked another arrow.

"Doesn't matter!" Oboro answered in Takumi's stead as she began running to pursue the Nohrians.

Xander focused only on sprinting, which meant that he was caught off guard when the girl with Corrin's red eyes and his mother's dark hair appeared before him in the blink of an eye. His throat would have been cut had he not leaned back at the last second. Kotomi did not let up even after her first failed attack, slashing repeatedly at him with her sharp dagger. Xander raised his foot and kicked her in the chest to knock her back before aiming Siegfried and firing a beam of purple energy right through her, causing her to stumble back and clutch at her stomach. Her mother did not take kindly to this, appearing slightly above Xander and delivering a swift kick to his jaw with her powerful legs. Kamui lunged to intervene, but was stopped by Corrin crashing down from the air directly in front of her.

"You brought this on yourself. Don't forget it."

Before she even got a chance to process what he had just said, Corrin raised his sword arm and prepared to attack. Kamui extended her hand and immediately unleashed a blazing inferno of fire that would have set the forest ablaze had she not aimed at a high angle. To her surprise, when the flames dissipated, Corrin was completely unharmed. He had briefly protected his face by transforming his head into the same head he had in his dragon form before returning it to its previous state and burying his blade in his sister's shoulder.

Kamui screamed in agony as he withdrew the weapon from her body and prepared to strike again, only to be entangled in thick roots that erupted from the dirt and pulled him to the ground. Leo smiled for just a moment before turning to beckon Elise to work her magic on Kamui, though he was met with the gruesome sight of the powerful jaws of a fully realized Nine-Tails Kitsune clamping down on his baby sister's arm.

Elise delivered the loudest scream she had ever given in her life as the Kitsune's fangs sank into her flesh and threatened to break bone. Luckily, the bite did not last long, as Camilla swiftly sank her ax in the Kitsune's stomach and caused it to release Elise, being tossed to the side with a canine whimper. In a flash of light, the beast had turned into a youthful looking young blonde girl with a lock of red in her hair just like Camilla's own daughter had. She lay on the ground as blood spilled from her mouth and stained the dirt, Kaden instantly making his way to her side and barking at both Kara and Sakura.

Kamui was going to warn them about the trio of pegasus-riders diving at them from the air, but was knocked to the ground when Corrin slammed his tail into the side of her head, apparently having made quick work of freeing himself from the roots. Her vision was fuzzy, but she managed to catch Corrin's Yato with her scale-clad hand and headbutt him in the chin. Blood now pooled in his mouth, but the prince was not about to let that single hit take him out. He tightly balled his fist and delivered a powerful punch to Kamui's stomach, one that sent her flying back and slamming against a tree. She coughed up blood before wiping her mouth and struggling to stand. At this point, she desperately wished that she were wearing armor.

Corrin rapidly approached her, flying low to the ground, but was stopped midair by Lilith capturing him with her unique purple aura. She stood with both arms outstretched and her teeth clenched, sweat heavily running down her forehead as she immobilized both Corrin as well as the trio of pegasus-riders. Once Camilla, Leo, and Elise were far enough away from them, Lilith closed her fist and forced the fliers into the ground, releasing them from her grasp before focusing all of her attention on Corrin and using her full force to slam him against a nearby boulder. Once he was released, Lilith took a moment to catch her breath and hunched over. She was about to stand up straight when a naginata's blade pierced right through her armor and emerged from her stomach, the silver dripping with dark blood. She drew in a sharp breath and her eyes went wide with shock and horror as Shiro raised her in the air before tossing her aside, leaving her to stare at the ground as it became soaked with her own blood. Shiro, the boy whom she had visited dozens of times as he grew up, had just stabbed her as if it were nothing.

"Lilith!" Kamui began to sprint towards her old friend just to be stopped by a bolt of lightning descending from the sky and striking the space before her. Looking ahead, she glared at Ryoma with his regalia aimed skyward. She wasn't about to let him stop her. Sprinting right past Oboro, Lilith, and Shiro, she drew her sword and slammed it against the blade of the Raijinto. Ryoma retaliated by redirecting the strike and delivering a slash of his own. Kamui ducked under it and delivered a swift uppercut to Ryoma's jaw, then grabbing his neck, raising him in the air, and slamming him into the ground. "Stay down," she advised through grit teeth before turning her attention back to Lilith.

She would have been at her side in no time at all had it not been for a tall, well-built woman wielding a lance blocking her path. Her mount had been taken out by Lilith's attack, so she now had to fight on foot. Kamui bared her teeth and engulfed her hands in flames.

"Listen. I don't know you, and you don't know me. Leave me be and neither of us will have to get hurt."

"Tch." The woman twirled her lance before aiming it at Kamui. "My name is Matoi. You are my aunt, and yet, I feel no sense of kinship to you. I'll give you one last chance to surrender before—"

Kamui didn't have time for this. She punched forward and launched a fireball at Matoi's feet that crashed into the dirt. It exploded, sending smoke and dirt floating through the air. No normal human could have seen through it, but luckily for Kamui, she was no ordinary human. She took several long strides forward before grabbing the lance from the woman's hands, snapping it in two with ease and slamming the blunt end into her attacker's temple. Matoi's eyes rolled back into her skull before her body went limp and she crumpled to the ground.

The princess wasted no time in arriving at Lilith's side, skidding on knees across the dirt and placing her hand on the woman's cold steel armor. "Hey hey hey, stay with me, alright? We're going to make it out of this."

Lilith grit her teeth in pain before quickly shoving Kamui off of her. Kamui was momentarily confused as to why she would do such a thing before she witnessed Lilith catch the blade of Shiro's naginata in her hand. The sharp metal undoubtedly cut deep through her palm, but the dragon endured the pain and forced the blunt end back into the young man's nose. He immediately took his hands off of his weapon to hold his broken nose and allowed Lilith to shoot up to her feet and deliver a single right hook to his jaw, luckily for both of the women knocking him out.

"This is my fault…" Lilith confessed, coughing violently and spewing blood across the ground. "If I had just warned you all the second I found out, then—"

"That doesn't matter right now! Come on!" Kamui took Lilith's hand and began to hurriedly walk her over to the tree which Leo and Elise had resided themselves too. Leo was locked in a ranged battle with Takmui and his son, casting spell after spell in an attempt to defend his little sister, who was working her own magic healing the ghastly bite wound her arm had sustained. When Leo noticed the pair approaching, he gave a small smile and utilized Brynhildr to erect thick roots and vines that wove together to create a dense wall to provide temporary cover.

"Here," Kamui said as she gently set Lilith down before Lilith. The young princess temporarily ceased healing her own arm and turned her attention to Lilith, holding the orb of her staff near the dragon's wound as it began to glow with a bright intensity. Meanwhile, Kamui checked on her older siblings and saw that they were beginning to be overwhelmed.

Xander was impressively holding his own against Oboro, Kagero, and Kotomi, though the quicker ninjas were still frequently landing slashes against his limbs and slowly wearing him down. Nearby, Camilla handled Hinoka, Subaki, and Kaden fairly well, but had numerous bites running along her calves and thighs as well as a few slash wounds that tore up her dress. Kamui cursed under her breath as she saw Sakura finish healing the little Kitsune girl and bound off on Kara towards Corrin, beginning to heal him in no time thanks to the dragon's impeccable speed.

Kamui looked to her brother with despair-filled eyes. "We can't keep this up. We just can't."

"We can," Leo responded without hesitation, biting his lip and staring at his tome intensely. "If…if we can kill either Ryoma or Corrin—"

"No." Kamui shook her head and winced as pain pulsed from the wound in her shoulder. "We won't. We can't."

"Then what?" Elise asked desperately, the gash in Lilith's abdomen slowly mending itself. "K-Kamui, they're trying to kill us here. If we can't kill them and we can't run, then how the hell are we going to make it through this?"

Though her head was pounding, Kamui knew she had to think fast. Her acute ears picked up the footsteps of Takumi and his son rapidly approaching. Xander and Camilla couldn't defend themselves forever. She had to make a move immediately.

"Lilith, how many of them do you think you could immobilize?"

"I don't…have a limit," Lilith groaned as her eyes closed. "Heavier things are harder, and the more things I do it to, the more it takes out of me."

"Do you think you could potentially do all of them? It wouldn't have to be for long. Only for a few seconds."

She nodded slowly.

"Elise, are you done? Please tell me you're done."

"Almost," Nohr's youngest princess answered as she focused her magic. Finally, the light faded from her staff, signalling the healing process was complete. "There. It's an internal wound, so—"

"I know." Kamui took her little sister's face into her hands and planted a loving kiss on her forehead before touching it to her own and closing her eyes. "I love you so much. All of you. Please never forget that."

The corner of Leo's mouth twitched as he thinned his eyes. "Kamui, what are you—"

Before he could finish, Kamui scooped Lilith up in her arms and rose to her feet before sprouting her wings, leaning forward and giving a single powerful flap. She may have been able to soar through the air like her brother, but she could certainly give herself a boost when she needed it. She zoomed past everyone on the battlefield until she was a decent ways away from where Corrin was being healed, then planted her heels firmly into the ground and skidded to a stop. She set Lilith down on her feet and called out.

"Now!"

As much as it strained her body and made her head pound, Lilith extended both of her arms and encased every Hoshidan present in a purple aura that rendered them completely immobile. Their eyes were wide in shock as they suddenly found themselves without control of their body, several of them being held in poses that would have been impossible to sustain on their own.

"Lilith? Kamui?" Xander asked as he panted, using the moment of relief to press his hand against a stab wound in his shoulder. "What are you—"

"RUN!" Kamui shouted. She beckoned for all of her siblings to make their way towards herself and Lilith and they wasted no time in doing so, the elder siblings limping as fast as they could towards them while Leo raced towards them with Elise in tow. Xander glanced back as he passed them in no time with a concerned expression, Camilla doing the same. When Leo reached them, he stretched his free arm out and began carrying Lilith over his shoulder. This sudden movement caused the dragon's concentration to break and blood to trickle from her nose as she was rendered unconscious, but that was of no concern to the commander. This was exactly what Kamui wanted.

Kamui turned around to watch her siblings flee and gave them one last hopeful smile as tears filled her eyes. She then screamed in pain as one of Kiragi's arrows sank into her thigh and caused her to fall forward on one knee, gritting her teeth. She was beaten. Bruised. Bloodied. But she would not give up, not here.

"Don't let them get away!" Corrin called as he rose to his feet, clutching at his head. "This isn't finished!"

Hinoka nodded as she, Subaki, Kaden, and Selkie all began to give chase, but Kamui knew she could not let that happen. She had of course anticipated that her siblings would be pursued, but she refused to let them suffer the same fate she would.

Just as they had done on that fateful day that Mikoto met her end, Kamui's scarlet eyes began to emanate a red steam-like aura as she let out a guttural scream and slammed her hands into the ground. The entirety of the earth around them began to shake before a multitude of colossal dense spikes of ice burst forth from the ground and blocked anyone from advancing. The several meter tall structures extended far into the forest on either side of them and blocked off any path of advancement. The spikes were so abundant in numbers and of such a great height that going through them was impossible and flying over would have been a difficult task.

Once the barricade was fully formed, Kamui collapsed onto the dirt. The only things she were able to see were the boots of her adversaries. Dark spots danced across her vision as her eyes began to close by themselves. She heard Elise crying out her name, her voice growing more and more distant as the seconds ticked by. And finally, when he knelt down to look her in the eye, she saw the face of the man she had once known as her brother.

Until all was black.

---

Silas usually was not a man who cared much for what he wore, but this day was a special occasion. Well, truthfully the event in which he was celebrating would not be for another three days, but he knew how busy his wife's schedule could get. The man stared at himself in the mirror as he frowned and ran his thumb over his chin.

"Should I shave?" he asked his daughter as she adjusted his silver bowtie. "I feel like I should shave. I should shave, shouldn't I?"

Sophie smirked and stifled a chuckle. "Dad, I've seen what you look like without any sort of facial hair. It's like if someone took Kana and made him taller and more buff. You've got a babyface that's only hidden by your stubble."

"I do not!" Silas retorted with a smile. "Bah, what do you know about male attractiveness anyway?"

Sophie rolled her eyes before releasing her father's bowtie and cocking her hips. "Oh please, Dad. You don't know what I do in my spare time. Anyway, you're looking dapper! I'm sure Mom'll be home soon, so you'd better head outside to surprise her." She gave him a wide smile before patting his shoulders to imbue him with confidence. "Good luck! Don't do anything that would make her want to divorce you!"

Silas snickered before nodding at his daughter and stepping out of his bedroom's bathroom. "Noted!" he called before exiting the room, making his way through the castle with a spring in his step. Finding himself a little too excited, he subtly picked up his pace of walking. He greeted a few of the castle attendants—Jakob included—on the way before stepping out of the front door of Castle Krakenburg. He looked up at one of the crater's rings and congratulated himself on his impeccable timing. Making its way steadily down the spiraling path towards the castle entrance was a small carriage, though…it was not certainly not the same one that he saw the Nohrian royal siblings off on two days prior. It was far smaller, a different color, and had a different design entirely. Silas figured they must have swapped carriages for some reason before shrugging and putting his smile back on.

"Yo."

The knight looked behind him and gave a small wave to the father-daughter pair of Keaton and Velouria. He never found himself getting along all that well with the latter, but him and Keaton had become good friends over the years. After all, their wives were sisters.

"Here to greet Camilla, I take it?"

Keaton nodded with his hands in his pockets. "Right you are. And you must be here to…say hi to Kamui? You're dressed pretty good."

"Yeah, our anniversary is coming up, so I figured I'd surprise her with dinner when she got back. It's kind of hard to come up with a nice dinner for a princess, though. She's used to the fancy stuff."

"Meanwhile, I've been living the good life for three years now and I'm still not used to it. It's weird coming from a place like I did and then suddenly being a prince. People treat you completely different than they would have." The Wolfskin sighed and shrugged his shoulders. "Says a lot about society, huh? But hey, I'm not complaining."

"Trust me, having your every whim tended to by nurses and maids isn't all it's made out to be. You should be happy you grew up the way you did," Velouria responded. "Fittingly, Siegbert and Forrest's moms both came from less-than-fortunate circumstances, too. What about you, Silas? Are you going to be the one to break the streak?"

"Hey, you can't break a streak if you did the thing before the rest. I was the first one to marry one of the blue bloods, you know," Silas said smugly. "But if you must know, I've always been a noble. Started training for knighthood when I was pretty young, though, and now I'm a prince. Sometimes my old soldier buddies will call me 'your highness' and it rubs me the wrong way…"

Keaton smirked as the carriage came to a stop on the stone path of the entrance. "Here they are. C'mon."

The three of them began to walk further down the path with smiles on their faces before those smiles were erased upon laying eyes on the state of their family. The clothes they had left in had been discarded and they now donned attire one would expect to see on a commoner, the beige shades and cheap material contrasting heavily with their regal faces. On top of this, various parts of their body were wrapped in bandages, the most apparent area being Xander's entire abdomen, the wrap peeking out from under his tunic's collar. Lilith was the most concerning of all, her signature braid being undone as she lay unconscious in Xander's arms.

"Hey…hey!" Keaton jogged up to the quartet with wide eyes and immediately laid hands on his wife, Velouria and Silas following close behind. "Gods, what the hell happened?"

"We were attacked," Camilla answered with a deep frown and despair in her voice. Her shoulders slacked and she was putting most of her weight on her right leg, making her lean slightly. "After…after the dinner, on our way back, Corrin, he…"

"We just barely made it to a town near the border. The townspeople there dressed us and helped us recover some, but we'll need further healing to recover from these wounds." Leo winced as he took a step forward and the pain in his ankle flared up. "Lilith here did so much that she fell unconscious and hasn't woken up yet. We're not sure when she'll—"

"Where's Kamui?" Silas asked as his eyes darted around the area. He marched forward and peeked into the carriage only to find the sibling's weapons and nothing more. He whipped his head around and stared at them all in fear. "Where is she?"

Nohr's youngest princess bit her lip in an attempt to stop her tears from coming forth. "We were surrounded. It was only because of her that we were even able to escape. She…she sacrificed herself for us all."

"No…" Silas found his knees growing weak and a lump rising in his throat.

"She isn't dead," Camilla quickly informed him. "She isn't. She can't be. All she did was stay behind while the rest of us fled, that's all."

"We don't know that," Xander corrected with dark eyes. "You saw the way Corrin and his soldiers fought. Each and every last one of them fully intended on killing us. It's a miracle that we're still even standing."

"No, Corrin wouldn't let that happen!" Elise shouted in retaliation, balling her fists. "He…he still loves us. He wouldn't do that!"

"Open your eyes, Elise! Would the Corrin we knew ever attack those he knew were practically defenseless? Would he ever lay a finger on the people he grew up with? No! Our Corrin is GONE!"

"We have to go get her," Silas interrupted with an angered determination on his face. "Kamui wouldn't let herself just die like that. She's alive; I know it. We can't let her be in Hoshido's clutches for any longer than she has to."

Velouria frowned. "How? You see the condition they're in, we can't just—"

"They're not the only ones who can fight, you know! To hell with legendary weapons; I'll get my wife back myself if I have to!"

Leo raised a hand. "Silas, I need you to relax. We…Gods, we can't let Iago know about this. He'll just use it as an excuse to stage a full-fledged attack on whatever city he damn well pleases…I'll come up with something." The man looked Silas in the eyes intensely. "Listen. My siblings and I aren't going to be in fighting condition for at least a few days. I hold no qualms in you going off to get Kamui back yourself, but you have to be smart about this. Only take a small group. Make up a cover story for where you're going. Let as few people know as possible and for the Gods' sake, be covert. If word gets out that one of our Princess'—the second in command of the entire army, no less—is missing, there'll be chaos. Understand?"

Nodding in affirmation, the knight turned around and stormed right back on into the castle. While he was still concerned about the well being of his brothers and sisters-in-law, he had no time to waste. Already he had begun to create a list in his head about how he would go about rescuing his princess, and with whom.

If anyone dared to touch a hair on her head, Silas swore to himself that he would have theirs.

---

She awoke in darkness, stone cold and alone.

The first thing that Kamui noticed was that she was hurting. Not only did her head throb the moment she raised it, but her shoulder, leg, and midsection all ached. She felt as if she had been trampled by horses and left to die on the side of the road.

The princess looked down and found that her tattered dress had been replaced with a long beige one that was falling apart. It was made of a cheap material that scratched at her skin, but what was even worse was the cold metal collar around her neck. The collar was attached to a chain in the wall and prevented her from advancing too close to the bars of the cell. When she realized how short the chain was, she immediately wrapped her hand around it and tugged with all of her might. She fully expected to be able to rip it from the stone with her draconian strength, but to her surprise, it did not budge even a bit.

Suddenly, her right ear twitched and she gasped. She could hear a conversation in the torch-lit hallway growing near. Kamui recognized the voices immediately and scowled.

"I do not approve of this."

"It doesn't matter if you approve or not. What's done is done."

"We're supposed to be better than this, Corrin! How could you? You know this isn't what Mikoto would have wanted, nor Sumeragi."

"I don't, actually. I never knew them well enough to come to any sort of conclusion as to how they'd feel about this. Regardless, it seems to me like you almost don't want this war to end. Is that it?"

"Of course I do, but—"

"Then you shouldn't have a problem. This is the fastest way to put an end to it. No one else will have to die."

Save for the sound of footsteps and Kamui's breathing, it was silent for several moments until the other person spoke again.

"I want us to succeed, but not like this. Never like this."

The voices were clear and distinct by this point and soon made themselves known as they stepped in front of Kamui's cell and stopped. Azura gasped and covered her mouth at the sight of the beaten woman before her, horrified. Corrin did not react at all. He simply stared down at her with a face of pity.

"Azura," Kamui coughed with a small smile. "It's been a while. It's good to see you again."

"Gods…" Azura whispered as she lowered her hands. She bit her trembling lip before turning right back around and storming off. Kamui couldn't blame her. She thought that she looked terrible, after all.

"I see you're awake," Corrin said, blinking. "It doesn't matter. You might as well go back to sleep. It's not as if you being conscious will change anything."

Kamui adjusted herself on the cold stone floor so that she was sitting with her legs crossed. She would have leaned forward, but the collar prevented her from doing so too much. Instead, she simply stared at the man before her with a frown.

"If you could only see yourself in the mirror now. You wouldn't even recognize yourself. Tell me, Corrin, is the kind of leader you truly want to be? One that resorts to the same underhanded tactics your enemies once used? Pity. I expected better from you."

"You'd be wise not to talk down to me, Princess, given the position you're in. I won't hesitate to move your execution date forward if you try me."

Kamui's breath faltered for a moment upon hearing that word. Execution. She'd always told herself that Corrin would never want to kill her, but apparently she had been wrong. She scoffed and shook her head.

"Execution. Correct me if I'm wrong, but Hoshido hasn't had an execution in nearly a century, have they? The government outlawed it because they deemed it barbaric. Why the sudden change?"

"We can make an exception for traitors. One word from Ryoma was all it took. He is the king, after all."

"That's it, huh?" Kamui took hold of the chain and tugged on it gently. "So what's stopping me from melting this with fire or transforming into a dragon and breaking myself out of here?"

Corrin donned an almost smug smile. "Did you know that our dragon abilities function essentially the same as the Kitsune and Wolfskin do? I had Orochi charm this entire level of the castle with an anti-magic and transformation ward. The only exceptions are she and myself. Orochi is the woman whose arms are covered in burn scars from the Cheve attack, by the way. Just so you know."

Kamui made a mental note. Of course she was in the castle dungeon—she was a Nohrian princess, for the Gods' sake. It was only natural that she would be held in the place with the highest security in the country.

"Is that supposed to make me feel guilty? People know what they sign up for when they enlist in a war."

"Then what about the innocents, hm?" Corrin asked as he took a step closer to the cell, his expression growing darker by the second. "Notre Sagesse, those who resided in the Cheve rebellion camp, the people of the countless villages Nohr has razed over the years. What have you to say for them?"

"I don't have to answer for actions that were not my own. And what about you, Mr. Assassin Prince ? What about the people whose lives you take without a second thought?"

"Idiot," Corrin spat. "What I do is carry out justice in the stead of a system that never will. The people I kill are scum."

"Scum who probably had families and friends that had nothing to do with their crimes and loved them outside of that." Kamui rubbed at her shoulder and winced in pain. It seemed like she had only been given the bare minimum in terms of healing. "Children left fatherless, wives left as widows, all because their precious prince decided that their loved ones' lives shouldn't be allowed to go on. Who are you to decide what is and what isn't right?"

Corrin bared his teeth and tightly gripped one of the cell bars, glaring at the woman in front of him. "What do you know of what's right?! You abandoned your family to support a corrupt king that tried to have you killed that same damn day! You claim that you don't care about morality and are only concerned about your family, but what about me? What about Ryoma? What about Sakura, Takumi, Hinoka, and Azura? What about us?"

Kamui let out a shaky breath. "I've told you before, they're not my family—"

"THAT'S A LIE AND YOU KNOW IT!" Corrin shouted as he slammed his fist into the bars and made Kamui jump, her heart racing in her chest. "All they ever wanted was their brother and sister back—the twins that were STOLEN from them—but no, you had to go and screw everything up! This war would have been over years ago if it weren't for you, but you were too much of a coward to raise your blade on people that lied to you for your entire life! On the man that would have thrown you to the dogs without so much as a second thought if it meant saving his own hide! You can try and justify what you did all you want, Kamui, but I can see it in your eyes. You regret what you did. If you could return to that day, you would walk away by my side and fight against Nohr with me. I know it. If not…then your heart has been corrupted past the point of no return."

Every word he spoke made Kamui's blood boil. He didn't know the truth. He didn't know how much Garon truly did love them, or how Iago was the mastermind behind this all, or of the mission that Laslow and his friends had been sent from another world to carry out. He didn't know anything. He was an ignorant child that couldn't see the truth and that would be his downfall. Though, she could not help but ponder the truth of his words. Would she have chosen Hoshido if she could go back? Was she willing to abandon those she loved in the name of doing what was "right"? She couldn't find it in herself to answer "never", but when she thought about Silas, and Kana, and Sophie, and Peri and Laslow and Mozu and all of the companions she had made over the years, she told herself that she would absolutely not give up the life she had built just to appease another's idea of what good was.

"I miss you, you know?" the princess said as she closed her eyes. Corrin drew in a sharp breath. "We'd argue all the time, sure, but…you were my precious little brother. I loved you. I love you."

"Kamui."

"Do you remember the day you told me you were attracted to men? You came to me in tears only for me to simply tell you what it was. You were terrified. And then we embraced. Tell me you remember that."

"Stop it."

"Or the day when Silas was banned from the fortress. You were frightened by how loud I could yell at the guards, but truth be told, I was yelling out of fear myself. I didn't want our best friend to be killed. You recall that when he and the guard left, I almost burst into tears and hugged you, don't you?"

"That's enough, Kamui."

"Remember that day when Elise scraped her knee running up to you and we—"

"ENOUGH!" Corrin's hands were suddenly covered in scales and expanded in size as he put his hands between the bars as if he were apart to pry them apart, but he stopped himself before he could. The Hoshidan prince took a deep breath before reverting his hands back to normal and putting them at his side. "...You took one of my best friends from me, you know that? I know it was you. Azama didn't tell me at first because he knew how I'd react, but he did eventually…you don't even know her name. I could describe to you exactly what she looked like and you wouldn't even remember. To you, she was just another enemy that you cut down without a second thought. Setsuna…"

Kamui felt her heart sinking and she opened her eyes to look at her brother, only to find tears welling in his. She was suddenly overcome with guilt and felt her body begin to tremble.

"Corrin…I truly am sorry. If I had known, I wouldn't have…"

"Wouldn't have what? Wouldn't have killed her? I'm not special, Kamui. Everyone you've killed was just a soldier fighting for what they knew was right. They all had people who loved them and were waiting for them to come home…you're a monster, you know that?" Corrin shook his head and turned around, beginning to walk away with his face shrouded in darkness. "Oboro is right. You're all monsters."

And with that, he was gone.

---

When Kamui's ears picked up the sound of footsteps approaching in the middle of the night, she figured that it was just a guard who had been late in collecting her dinner tray. As such, she remained laying on the cold stone slab that jutted out of the wall and was supposed to act as a bed. It was when she did not hear the sound of the tray scraping across the floor that she became curious as she cautiously turned her head and opened her eyes, only to draw in a sharp breath at who she saw standing before her.

She sat up and instantly pressed her back into the wall, her heart starting to pound in her chest. On the other side of the steel bars stood Takumi and Hinoka. Hinoka held a naginata in hand while the limb of the Fujin Yumi hung from Takumi's fingers. Kamui's instincts screamed for her to rip the chain around her neck from the wall and lunge at the two, tearing them apart before they could do her any harm. She knew that it would be a futile effort, though, so she resigned herself to keeping her eyes trained on their weapons.

"You're here to kill me, aren't you?" she said in a breath, her fingers tightly gripping the edge of her bed. "I don't think Corrin or Ryoma would approve."

Neither of the siblings responded or even changed the look on their faces. Instead, Hinoka simply sighed and closed her eyes.

"I've waited five long years to get a chance to talk to you directly, and now that I have the chance, I don't even know where to begin," she muttered. The princess bit down on her lip before raising her head to look Kamui in the eyes. "Why?"

Kamui blinked, her guard lowering a little. "I…don't understand."

"Why?" Hinoka repeated angrily. "Why would you abandon your family like you did?"

Nohr's princess sighed and slid slightly down the wall before shaking her head. "This again. I've explained plenty of times to Corrin that—"

"I'm. Not. Corrin."

Hinoka reached behind her back and produced a large silver key that she swiftly pushed into the cage lock and turned with a sigh. Leaving it in, she gently pushed the cell door open while Takumi remained standing where he was. She loosely held her naginata and approached her younger sister with a frown. Hinoka propped the weapon up against the wall before sitting down on the stone floor and looking directly at Kamui. She could sense her still lingering fear, but she didn't care.

"I spent the majority of my life training harder than anyone else ever has just so I could get you back. From ages six to twenty-three, all I did was train. I didn't have time for making friends, developing hobbies, or even bonding with our other siblings that much because I was always so busy. Even more so when I became captain of the pegasus knights. So when you and Corrin showed up that day…you can imagine how ecstatic I was. But, I was also disappointed." The princess put her feet up and hugged her knees, leaning forward. "Over a decade and a half of preparing to bring you home, and it wasn't even me who did so. It felt like…like I had wasted my life. Rescuing you was all I had ever cared about. But…I could look past that, because in the end, my precious baby brother and sister were back, and that was all that mattered. And then you let Corrin walk away without you." Hinoka squeezed her knees tighter as her eyes drooped. "The two people in the world who I had dedicated my entire life to were separated. I had to fight against one of them in a pointless war. Do you know how that made me feel, Kamui? That my precious baby sister didn't want to be with me? With any of us? I've never understood why things had to be this way, so be honest with me. I don't want to hear the same things you've told Corrin. How could you leave us?"

Kamui found her lip quivering as she stared into Hinoka's eyes. Even in the darkness, she could see that they were only a few shades lighter than her own. In addition to that, the shape was practically identical. It seemed they had both inherited that from Mikoto.

She found herself speaking without thinking. "I…I was scared," she let out. "I didn't want to abandon the people I had spent my entire life around and who I loved so much. Xander…his touch was just so comforting, and when I saw Corrin walk away without even as hesitating, it made me angry. He was just going to leave Xander and Camilla and Elise and Leo and Jakob and Felicia and everyone else behind without even a second thought. So, I was scared of leaving the only family I'd ever known, and I was angry at Corrin for seemingly not even caring. That's why I lashed out at him like I did. I've never been the best at controlling my temper."

"I know. You were the same when you were a baby." The ghost of a smile showed up on Hinoka's face before fading away. "I guess I understand that. I don't know what I'd do if I were in your situation. I…I don't hate you, Kamui, but you represent what I failed to do. I couldn't make our family whole again and I couldn't keep it together either. We lost Mother…then we lost you…" Tears welled in Hinoka's eyes, but she blinked them away promptly. "All I've ever wanted was our family to be together again. Me, you, Corrin, Ryoma, Takumi, Mother and Father. Sakura never even got to know you. But you made that impossible. You orchestrated attacks that lead to the pointless deaths of hundreds. If it hadn't been for you, Shiro would have gotten to grow up with his mother. I can't forgive that."

Kamui's expression was consumed by guilt as Hinoka bit down on her lip hard and stood, lazily taking hold of her naginata and standing with her back facing her little sister. "I…I'm sorry that I can't make these last few days pleasant for you. We don't like to give special treatment to warmongers, regardless of blood relation. Good night."

Biting her tongue and tightly clenching her fist, Hinoka kept her head down as she speedwalked out of the cell and immediately turned down the hall, not bothering to stick around for whatever it was that Takumi had to say. The aforementioned brother watched her take off down the corridor before turning his attention back to their prisoner and taking a few steps into the cell, this time sitting down on the floor nowhere near Kamui.

"Takumi…I—"

"I don't care," Takumi interrupted with an apathetic expression and a shake of his head. "Whatever you have to say, it means nothing to me. I only came here with Hinoka to say my peace, and then I'm gone. I just didn't want you to die without knowing why it is that I hate you so much, so just shut up and listen." The prince let out a heavy breath before continuing. "Imagine you're me. You've been taught for your entire life that a particular country is bad and have good reason to believe though. They killed your father for no good reason using underhanded tactics, after all. On top of that, you've always been told about the older brother and sister you never knew that were taken by that very same country. Always told about how perfect they were and about how you should be more like them. Then one day, they miraculously show up again and everyone trusts them without so much as a second thought. They've been raised to hate you and your people, support a king who allows his country to remain in ruin, and have no reason to suddenly change sides. But just for a moment, you think 'maybe this will work out'. 'Maybe I'm being too harsh on them'. And then your mother is killed because of them."

Kamui averted her eyes, only to be brought right back by a stern "look at me". Takumi continued without missing a beat.

"To make matters even worse, one of them goes right back to the people that brainwashed her into believing they actually cared for her, ripping the family apart even further…even when you weren't around, you don't know how much anguish you caused us. Mother would spend the day locked in her room each year when the anniversary of your abduction came around. It was the same deal on your birthday. We weren't allowed to go in your room, we had to be accompanied by someone at all times whenever we left the castle, and our rooms were constantly guarded by samurai while we slept. I never knew you, and yet, you affected my life so much. And now, because of you, someone I have known since I was a child is gone…tell me, who am I talking about?"

Kamui's head was hung low and her shoulders slack, her throat dry and her heart pounding. "Ryoma's…Ryoma's wife."

"No," Takumi responded sternly. "What was her name? You know it, don't you?"

Kamui made herself small. "I…I don't. I'm sorry."

"You don't know her name. Your brother's wife and the woman who was supposed to be the queen of Hoshido, and you don't know her name. She was the leader of the rebellion that you led an attack against. She was decapitated and made an example of by one of your men. And you're telling me that in the past five years, you never even bothered to learn her name…it was Scarlet."

Takumi briefly ground his teeth and rose to his feet, glaring down at his elder sister. "You're pathetic, you know that? You know that what you're doing is wrong and yet you don't even seem to regret any of it. You didn't even surrender when you knew that there was no way you could beat us, putting the lives of all your brothers and sisters at risk. You're a fool—you and all your stupid Nohrian siblings."

"Don't drag them into this!" Kamui spat, her blood beginning to boil. "If you have problems with me then that's one thing, but they have nothing to do with it!"

"Nothing to do with it? They're the whole reason you made the mistake of supporting Nohr in the first place, and look where that brought you! Right to death's door!" Takumi squeezed his regalia's limb in his hand and turned his back to her. "Don't worry though. I know Nohr. They won't give up even when you're dead. They'll keep fighting and fighting until there's no one left, so you'll be seeing them in the afterlife soon after you're gone."

"No!"

"Xander, Elise, Camilla, and Leo! All of them, dead! I'll even kill that damn traitor Lilith if I have to!"

Suddenly, the princess released an almost deafening scream and lunged from her bed, her hands outstretched towards the young prince. Her movement was cut abruptly short by the chain attached to the collar she wore quickly growing taut and violently stopping her. She fell to the ground, but recovered immediately and began to pull at it with every ounce of strength in her being. Her teeth were clenched and veins bulged in both her arms as well as on her forehead, her vibrant red eyes burning with anger. She wanted to rip the chain from the wall and strangle the boy before her with it. She wanted to burst right through the bars that held her and escape into the night, making her way back to Nohr before the sun rose.

But she couldn't.

As the second ticked by, Kamui's tugging grew less and less intense until eventually she had completely given up, collapsing to the floor on her hands and knees while her body shook. She felt powerless. Not only could she not use magic, but even her draconian strength—which was a part of her very being—had been taken from her. Hopeless, she began to weep and weakly beat her fists into the ground.

Takumi looked down on her with a pitiful expression. "You disgust me. The next time we see each other will be the last, with your head in a noose. Things could have been different, you know. But you dug your own grave, Kamui. Now lay in it."

Takumi slammed the cell gate behind him and locked it before leaving Kamui's field of vision. A part of her wanted to call out to him, but she did not know what for. There would be no point. Instead, she simply got right back on her stone bed and closed her eyes, attempting to drift off to sleep through her tears.

---

Truthfully, Kamui just wanted to sleep until her execution date arrived.

She was sick of being accosted by individuals she had no desire to listen to, but most of all she was sick of being confined to that godsforsaken cell. The gray color of the room combined with the distance from her loved ones made her feel incredibly melancholic. Most of all, however, she was bored . All day long she would just sit in her cell waiting for her next bland meal to arrive, then she would eat before sitting some more. At one point she had tried exercising, but she found that difficult to do with the collar and chain around her neck.

The Nohrian princess had been spending her time mostly thinking of home. Of Camilla's tender hugs, Leo's smug yet charming smirks, Elise's jubilant laughter, Xander's comforting pats on the head, Silas' lighthearted teasing, Peri's delectable confections, and so much more. She was relieved that she had left Kana and Sophie back home since their lives would have been at risk had they come along for the Izumo trip.

Suddenly clenching her jaw harder, Kamui bit clean through her thumbnail and glared at the wall. Days later, she still found it hard to parse that Corrin would actually try to kill her and the rest of his siblings. The Corrin she knew would never even so much as lay a finger on any of them, and yet the man she had fought seemed to possess every intent to put an end to her life. Part of her was angry that he had the audacity to do such a thing, but the other part was concerned. Could it be possible that her precious twin brother was forever lost to her? While it may have been the case that they did not always get along swimmingly, she did truly love him. How could she not? He had been by her side for her entire life up until he decided to abandon Nohr.

Kamui groaned and rubbed at her aching neck before her ear started to twitch. Footsteps were approaching. She counted…three sets. Sighing, she turned to face the cell gates and prepared to meet some of her Hoshidan siblings, but instead she was met with three unfamiliar faces.

The first to appear was a slim yet muscular young man with short, dark gray hair and intense brown eyes. He had a small white stick coming out of his mouth, and from the way he rolled it around, Kamui presumed it was the end of a lollipop. He wore garbs befitting a traditional Hoshidan ninja.

Next to him was a curvaceous young woman who wore a semi-translucent black bodysuit not dissimilar from the one Kamui wore herself. In addition to this, she donned dark garments that covered her body as well as a multitude of jewelry, including an oriental looking hair accessory. Despite her clothing, her expression was rather glum and her posture slouched slightly. From her tanned skin, red eyes, and white hair, Kamui instantly gathered that she was Rinkah's daughter.

Kamui drew in a sharp breath upon seeing the final nervous looking girl. She was fairly short and wore a nice looking silk dress, but what stood out most to Kamui was her aqua-blue hair and golden eyes. There was no doubt that this was Azura's child. Kamui's niece.

"I'm really not sure we should be doing this, you guys!" the smallest girl said before her eyes met Kamui's. She gasped and covered her mouth, beginning to stomp her feet in a panic. "Oh no, she's looking right at us!"

The gloomy one rolled her eyes and gestured to the only boy present. "Relax, Midori. Asugi, hurry up and do your thing."

"Alright, alright. Cool it, Sunshine. I'm on it." The boy named Asugi produced two tiny metal rods, one ending sharply while the other ended in a hook. Kneeling down slightly so that he could see into the lock on Kamui's cell, he closed one eye and gently inserted the straight rod before following with the hooked one and getting to work.

Kamui thinned her eyes at the three; what in the world were they doing? "What…what are you doing? Who are you? Why are you here?"

Rinkah's daughter looked Kamui in her eyes and immediately her deadpan expression broke, her eyes widening. This was the first good look she got of the princess and she was visibly pleased with what she saw. Her cheeks flushed red and a sinister smile crept up her face.

"You're very pretty. Considering you're covered in dirt and wearing that , I'd just love to see what you look like all dressed up. Hopefully you don't die before then."

"What? Answer my question."

"We're giving you a little break, what's it look like?" Asugi smirked as the lock came undone and he casually pushed open the cell door, him and Rinkha's daughter stepping in without hesitation. He turned his head around and beckoned for the younger looking girl to join them. "C'mon, Doc. She won't bite. "

The small girl hesitantly stepped into the cell, holding her arms close to her body and keeping her eyes locked on Kamui the entire time. "You'd better not try anything, okay? We're all armed!"

"Relax, Midori. Something tells me she's not the type to hurt a bunch of kids."

"Rhajat, you can't be sure of that! She's the bad guy, you know!"

The girl named Rhajat rolled her eyes and stepped closer to Kamui, making the woman lean further back against the wall. "You don't actually believe everything your dad tells you, right? Things are rarely simple enough to put people neatly into 'good guy' and 'bad guy' categories. We're the villains of her story, after all."

"I won't ask again," Kamui put firmly as she bared her sharp teeth. "What do you think you're doing?"

That sent a shudder down Rhajat's spine. The girl bit her bottom lip and smiled even wider.

"My my, those teeth. So alluring…you must get them from your dragon blood. You really are Corrin's twin." Rhajat slowly raised her hands and framed Kamui's face, prompting the woman to growl at her. She didn't want to attack, but this girl was trying her patience. Rhajat was only inches away from cupping Kamui's cheeks before Asugi cleared his throat and crossed his arms.

"Rhajat, do you think you could turn it down a notch? It'd be bad if she clawed your throat out right here and now." Asugi rubbed his neck before sighing and locking eyes with Kamui. "Hey, we're going to take you somewhere, alright? We're not supposed to be doing this, so try not to be loud when we're walking. Rhajat, her collar."

"With pleasure." Rhajat smirked before folding all but her index and pinkie fingers in, holding her hand up as the digits became encased a dark magical aura. She touched the tips to the metal around Kamui's neck and instantly it came unlatched, falling to the floor with a metallic clang.

Kamui drew in a sharp breath and touched her fingers to her sore neck in surprise. "Th-thank you, but…how are you using magic? Isn't this place—"

"Oh please, my magical prowess is far more advanced than Orochi's. That's what happens when you spend eighteen years practically alone in a pocket dimension. It was easy to break through the anti-magic ward and allow myself to do whatever I want. Are you impressed?" Rhajat asked, batting her eyes. Ignoring the question, Kamui rose to her feet and stretched her arms before looking at the other two.

"Might I ask why you're all doing this? Your parents hate me, you know. Rhajat, was it? It was your mother that discovered my brother and I in Nohr. I would imagine that she resents me for leaving like I did."

"M-my dad, too!" Midori added enthusiastically, though the nervous expression remained. Kamui raised an eyebrow and looked down at the girl.

"Your dad? Azura…married Kaze?"

Asugi snapped his fingers to gain Kamui's attention before turning around and beginning to walk. "Walk and talk, gals. We're screwed if a guard on patrol catches you out of your cell, so let's make this fast."

While she was not thrilled about having to take orders from someone who was very clearly several years younger than her, Kamui nevertheless obliged and followed him out of the cell and down the hall along with Rhajat and Midori. She was put off by the fact that she found it difficult to get a good read on any of the three. Midori was obviously going along with this plan trepidatiously, but still there was a sort of spunk to the energy she exuded. Rhajat on the other hand seemed to be very interested in Kamui herself, though her melancholic vibe combined with her sly smile sent mixed signals. Asugi very much seemed like a "cool" type of person, but his apparent lack of interest in Kamui made it hard for her to discern his intentions.

"To answer your question," Rhajat began, tapping Kamui on the shoulder from behind. "Just because our parents hate you doesn't mean that we do. It's not like I care much for the beliefs my mother and father hold, anyway. What reason would we have to hate you? We don't know you."

Kamui bit her lip as Asugi ceased his walking and began to feel around the brick wall, searching for something. "I…I'm your enemy."

"You're Hoshido's enemy, and we aren't Hoshido. We're us." Asugi smirked as his hand brushed against a brick that protruded ever so slightly from the wall. When he pushed it in, the ground rumbled slightly and that section of brick was drawn back before sliding into the rest of the wall, revealing a long and dark hallway. It didn't phase Kamui at all—Castle Krakenburg had several hidden passages of its own.

It only took about a minute for the quartet to make their way fully through the tunnel before emerging into a moderately sized room filled with individuals that Kamui recognized immediately. She reflexively reached for a blade that was not there before freezing. She then whipped her head around with the intent to flee, but Rhajat blocked her path, her smile still there. The princess turned around once again as her breathing began to increase.

The room would have been rather cozy if it weren't for the enemies surrounding Kamui. Numerous weapons as well as torches that cast the room in an orange glow lined the walls. An expensive looking carpet covered the floor and in the center was a large rectangular table with a map of the castle laid out atop it. Kamui assumed that this was a room that would have been used in the case of an invasion of the castle.

Leaning against the table with his arms crossed was Shiro, who stared at Kamui with a hardened expression. On either side of him were Kiragi and Matoi, both of whom stood like perfectly trained soldiers with their eyes locked on the Nohrian princess. Standing in the back of the room were two far less intimidating girls, a Kitsune and a tired looking girl with star shaped pupils barely visible through her half closed eyes and hair the same color as a particular maid that Kamui was all too familiar with. Lastly and most surprisingly was the girl with chocolate brown hair and scarlet red eyes beneath pink glasses—Corrin's own daughter, Kotomi.

"Special delivery. One Nohrian princess/commander," Asugi said as he nonchalantly walked over to one of the chairs and sat down. "Where's my payment?"

"Thank you, Asugi. Here you are." Kotomi reached under the table and produced a small sack that she slid over to the ninja, who eagerly took hold of it and dumped its contents out on the table surface. They were various types of wrapped candies that made Asugi grin at the sight of them. Kamui assumed he had a sweet tooth like Elise, but was more concerned with just what she was doing here.

"What do you want with me? S-surely you're not going to try and kill me right here and now. That wouldn't—"

Shiro raised his hand and interrupted her with a sigh. "Relax. We're just here to talk."

As Shiro pushed himself off of the table and Rhajat ushered Kamui further into the room, the pair of girls in the back of the room stepped forward. The kitsune's eyes were filled with curiosity while the girl with the peculiar pupils seemed more annoyed than anything.

"Back on the road to Nohr, you fought with a couple of us. You guys did a number on us, you know." Shiro lightly chuckled as he ran his finger across the white bandage on the bridge of his nose.

"I got chopped in the tummy!" the kitsune added with a surprising giggle. "That's never happened to me before! It hurt a bunch, but I'm all better now!"

Kamui glared at them all. "You all severely injured the people I love. You," she pointed a finger at the kitsune, who blinked unassumingly, "you sunk your teeth into my little sister like she was food. And Shiro, the way you stabbed Lilith like it was nothing…"

Shiro grimaced and rubbed at the back of his neck. "Yeah, maybe that was overkill. Honestly, I had a hunch that she'd be more resistant to that kind of stuff since she's a dragon and all, but I guess I was wrong. Hey, it all worked out in the end anyway though, didn't it?" He put on a hopeful smile that slowly began to fade as the seconds passed by. "She…she is alive, right?"

"I wouldn't know. I've been locked alone in a cell for the past few days, so I haven't exactly had time to check in on her."

"That's not really our fault, is it?" the star girl asked with a yawn. "I mean, from what I've been told, you're the one who opted to sacrifice yourself so that your brothers and sisters could get away. A noble act, but a foolish one nonetheless."

"Mitama." Kotomi gave the girl a stern look and she shrugged in response. With a sigh, Kamui's niece looked her in the eyes before speaking. "I sincerely apologize for that, Princess. Selkie and I didn't want to go through with the plan, but it didn't seem like my father was going to take no for an answer. As for why you're here—"

"You were SUPER cool back when we fought!" The kitsune Selkie exclaimed gleefully. "The way you came up with that plan on the spot, the way it went off without a hitch, and wow, your magic was SO powerful! I'd never seen anyone use magic on such a massive scale before! But most importantly, we were impressed by the way you gave yourself up so that your siblings could escape. Right, Matoi?"

Subaki and Sakura's daughter reluctantly nodded her head, keeping her hands straight at her side. "While I may have been unconscious and as such unable to witness your siblings escaping, the fact that you managed to nearly prevail against numbers far greater than yours garners you some of my respect. I am a knight of Hoshido, so while I do not entirely approve of my companion's goals, I do understand the reasoning behind it and as such will not tell anyone about it."

"As for what goal that might be…" Kotomi bit her lip and shuffled in place, holding her hands behind her back. "Ah…well, we're planning on freeing you from capture on the morning of your execution date."

The Hoshidans stared at Kamui anticipating some sort of reaction, so they were all put off when her expression did not change. Instead, she only blinked and kept her attention on Kotomi.

"Why? You do know that this is treason, yes? If you're found out, I don't think you'll all be punished severely regardless of who your parents are. And if you truly do wish to free me, why not do it now? Why risk it by waiting until the morning of my execution?"

Shiro could tell that Kamui was suspicious. "It's treason, sure, but…look, I know I participated in it and all, but the way you were defeated…it isn't right. It's got to violate some sort of rule of war. My grandpa was killed in a similar way by your country, so to do what is essentially the same thing to you doesn't sit well with me. That's why I got all of my friends in on it. It'd be hard to pull off a break-out by myself."

"Then where's my brother's other daughter? He has two. Only one is present. I presume you didn't tell her about this plan. Why?"

"Um," Kotomi tentatively raised a finger to draw in Kamui's attention, her eyes darting back and forth between her aunt and the floor. "Kara is…she's too much of a daddy's girl. If we got her in on this, she would have gone straight to my dad. We had to leave her out."

"You don't seem to trust us. That's understandable, I suppose. You'd really ought to give us the benefit of the doubt, though. We're trying to break you out of here," Mitama said with an unimpressed look. She yawned shortly after, not bothering to cover her mouth.

"Of course I don't trust you—you're a bunch of strangers, and most of you have harmed my siblings only because you were told to. Who's to say this isn't a set up so that I don't try and escape on my own?"

Shiro let out an annoyed groan and thinned his eyes at the princess. "So, what's your plan then? You don't seem like the type to just accept your fate. You're obviously going to try and escape if you don't accept our help, so what? Do you expect to be able to overpower the guards? Are you going to fight your way out? The shackles you'll be in are enchanted with the same ward this whole dungeon is, so you can't use magic or your dragon abilities. You don't even have a weapon."

Kamui bit her lip and balled her fists, aiming her eyes at the carpet. "I'd figure it out. I'm more capable than you think."

"I'm sure you are, but we're offering you help here. If you try and do this on your own then people will get hurt. You don't want that, do you?" the young man ran his fingers through his hair and sighed before approaching Kamui further. "Look, I get that you're wary. I'd be the same way in your situation. Just…trust us, alright? We're not the enemy here. We're just a bunch of people who want to do the right thing." He extended his hand and offered a small smile. "So come on, Auntie. Let us help you."

Immediately, Kamui recoiled back and lightly bumped into Rhajat, who gave a pleasure filled giggle in response. The princess grimaced. The same man who had impaled her precious Lilith with a naginata and the same man whose mother's murder she had failed to prevent had the audacity to refer to her as his aunt. She did not even consider Ryoma her brother . Her head spun at the notion of a familial connection with this person, but she bit down on her tongue and forced her eyes to meet his.

"Fine," she replied with her hands firmly at her side. "Just tell me what the exact plan is and I'll comply."

Kotomi put a hand over her heart with a sigh of relief. "Thank you. Truthfully, we were worried that you would say no. It puts my mind at ease knowing that we'll be able to pull the plan off. Um." The young girl pulled out a chair and sat down before pulling out another one. "You should sit down. This may take a while."

---

"Azura, we've been over this."

As Corrin marched through the Shirasagi halls with a thick stack of documents in hand, he appeared to be much less vibrant than he usually was. His normally smooth hair was somewhat disheveled, his shoulders slacked, dark bags hung under his eyes and an even darker shadow seemed to loom over him. His empty hand was balled in a frustrated fist and every step he took was heavy, his walking speed accelerated in order to escape his pursuer.

"Yes, but you haven't listened to me. You just give me the same excuses over and over again! Why must you brush me off every time? Can't we just discuss this together?"

"There's nothing to discuss. I'm high commander and I have the approval of the king; the decision is final. Your feelings about it don't matter."

Azura pursed her lips as she continued to speedwalk behind her close friend. "Corrin, I've practically been your advisor since the day I met you. How could you make such an important decision without so much as telling me about it?"

"Because I knew how you'd react and I didn't want to hear it. Evidently you care more about supporting my sister than you do about supporting our country, so there would be no point in consulting you."

"What? What in the world makes you say that? All I've done is help you!"

"Right, which is why you sent your own son to enemy territory and put his life at risk just to 'level the playing field'. That's how you put it, right? Gods, it's like you don't even care about ending the war!"

Azura scowled before grabbing onto Corrin's arm and pulling him back, turning him around and jabbing her finger into his chest. "Well, excuse me for not wanting someone important to me to know the truth!"

" Important to you ? You knew each other for barely two days!" Corrin shouted back angrily. "What is it really? Don't tell me you're still attached to the country you spent the first few years of your life in. I lived in Nohr far longer than you did and even I've forsaken that wretched place."

"No! I just don't want you two to kill each other! You know the legend of the Twin Yato; you two are supposed to work together and bring salvation to—"

"I don't give a damn about the stupid prophecy!" Corrin dropped the papers he was holding and put his hands on Azura's arms to squeeze them, leaning in and glaring into her eyes. "All that matters is bringing the people who murdered my mother to justice! All that matters is putting an end to this war so that more people don't have to die! Why can't you see that?!"

Azura tried to keep her head steady as Corrin shook her while he shouted. When he stopped, she simply stared into his eyes with contempt and her lips pressed together. She inhaled deeply through her nose before speaking firmly.

"Let go of me, Corrin."

But he did not. Instead, his eyes seemed to grow darker by the second as he tightened his grip on Azura's arms and grit his teeth. Azura tried to maintain a hardened expression but faltered, wincing in pain and squeezing her fists to stop herself from crying out. Corrin would have continued had it not been for the tiny voice that called out behind him.

"Papa?"

Corrin drew in a sharp breath and immediately released Azura before turning around and laying eyes on his youngest daughter, looking up at him with confused eyes. "Kara," he began, forcing a smile. "What are you doing up so late? You were supposed to be in bed an hour ago."

"I couldn't sleep, so Mama told me to go walk around and tire myself out." Kara eyed the papers on the floor with a frown. "What's going on? You seem angry."

"Oh, I'm sorry about that. It's a special tomorrow, so I wanted to have you spend the night in the castle with your mother and sister." The prince bit down on his tongue while he eyed Azura rubbing her reddened arms. "I'm not angry. I just…Papa's under a lot of stress right now, so he dropped a bunch of important papers. Your Auntie Azura is helping collect them. Isn't that right?"

Azura remained silent, standing still for a few moments before nodding. Kara seemed to think nothing of it as the smile returned to her face.

"Okay! When you're done, can you come sing me to sleep like you used to? I think that would help!"

"Of course, sweetheart." Corrin ruffled his daughter's hair and elicited a giggle from her. "I'll be up in a moment, so run along now. I promise."

Kara nodded excitedly before turning right back around and running towards the stairs with her arms stretched out, a beaming grin on her face the entire time. Corrin's smile slowly faded. He let out a sigh and knelt down to begin collecting the documents he had dropped, but unfortunately for him, Azura was not finished.

"Corrin, I want you to think about who we're up against here. Tell me, what will killing Kamui truly achieve?"

"Gods, you're still on about this? I told you already, with their leader gone, the Nohrian army will be in shambles and the war will be ours. It isn't complicated."

"No." Azura shook her head before stepping forward and kneeling down behind Corrin, placing her hand on his back. "Think this through. Kamui isn't even the highest ranking member of Nohr's army—Hans is—And do you truly believe that a man like Iago would falter over the death of someone he doesn't care about? Corrin, be honest with me. Please. You don't think that Kamui's death will shorten the war at all, do you?" The princess frowned with sad eyes as she slowly withdrew her hand from Corrin's body. "…You only seek retribution."

Corrin paused his paper collecting and let his hand rest on the carpet for a few moments, his breathing faint. Finally, he closed his eyes and responded.

"Is that so wrong?"

"Corrin…" Azura rose to her feet with wide eyes and held her hands close to her chest as she took a step back. "No…"

"You didn't grow up with her nor were you present at the dinner in Izumo; you don't know her like I do. You don't know what she's like. The other day, she didn't show a shred of remorse for all the things she's done. Notre Sagesse, Cheve, Scarlet, she's behind it all." Corrin snatched up the final sheet of paper and stood straight, keeping his back facing Azura as she clenched his jaw. "She blindly defends the same people who caused the death of our parents because they're family. She doesn't care about doing what's right at all, she said it herself! Her hands are stained in blood, Azura, and there's no way to cleanse them. There's no convincing her. The only thing to do is to eliminate her completely."

Azura shook her head in disbelief. "You can't possibly believe that. The Corrin I know would never give up on his sister of all people. You love her—don't you remember that?"

"That was before she turned her back on her people." Corrin's nails dug into his palm and threatened to draw blood, his voice catching in his throat. "That was before she took Setsuna from us. To allow her to keep on living…it would be spitting on the legacy of all the people we've lost."

"They wouldn't want this. I know Mikoto, and her heart would break if she ever were to see her children fighting like this. Scarlet would never execute any of her prisoners. She hated the very idea of it. And Setsuna—"

"Don't start talking like you knew her better than I did!" Corrin spat. "I'm done with this. You'd best watch what you say tomorrow morning lest you end up in the gallows right after my sister for treason. You may have grown up here, but you're still Nohrian. Don't forget it."

Before Azura could even respond, Corrin continued to make his way down the hall and did not look back. The songstress appeared to be devastated, her shoulders slacking and a deep frown on her face. She raised her hand to the pendant around her neck and squeezed it as she watched Corrin disappear further down the hall. This wasn't like him at all. She was ignorant as to what was said at the Izumo dinner, but surely it couldn't have affected him this much. She briefly cursed herself for blowing off the dinner in order to attend to her own personal matters. If she had been there, then maybe he wouldn't be acting this way now. She certainly would not have allowed him to stage an ambush in the first place, someone she had probed her own siblings about over the last few days only to fail in receiving a satisfactory answer as to why they went along with it. Frustrated, Azura let out a deep sigh before turning around and beginning the walk back to her room.

"I'm not giving up on you, Corrin. I won't let you lose your way."

---

A/N: This is probably my favorite chapter so far, mainly because it's sort of the start of an arc for Corrin that I'm very proud of and the combat scene was so fun to write ^~^. Things, of course, aren't looking so hot for either of the twins, so let's see how events play out next chapter, shall we? See ya then~!