There existed a particular wing of Castle Krakenburg that was loathed amongst its royal children.

The rightmost wing of the castle was devoted entirely to diplomatic affairs, which naturally included matters regarding warfare. Xander had spent much of his days as a young adult and burgeoning soldier stuck listening to his father drone on and on about international affairs in the castle's designated conference room, located at the peak of the rightmost spire. He had been joined by Camilla eventually, and a few years back, Kamui. Now, however, Kamui was alone.

Her hands trembled as she stood before the shut double doors of the conference room. The last couple of days had brought forth her recovery from her time in Hoshidan captivity, but now that she was healthy again, she was immediately thrust back into work. She always dreaded coming into this room even if she was joined by her older siblings. It wasn't anything to do with the room itself, but rather the people who always inhabited it.

The young woman took a deep breath before placing one hand firmly on each door and pushing them in, stepping forth confidently into the room occupied mostly by a single large rectangular table fit with a dozen desks around its perimeter. At the head of the table sat the snake that had called her here, his legs crossed and his head resting on the surface formed by his interlocking fingers. All while she was growing up, Kamui hated that stupid golden mask that sat on his face and obscured his right eye. She always felt as if he were somehow mocking her behind that mask. However, now that his full visage was always visible and the ebony black crown of Nohr's king sat atop his head, she found herself praying for the mask to make its return.

"You've come. How lovely," Iago droned, a smile creeping along his face. To his right sat Hans, his arms crossed and with a glare fixed on Kamui. The rest of the seats were filled with other members of Nohr's war council, from its Archmage to its Minister of Morale, a role which Kamui felt should have been renamed to "Minister of Propaganda".

"You summoned me. I'm obligated to." Kamui closed the doors behind her before stepping forward and sitting down in the only empty chair, the one directly across from the king at the other end of the table. "What was it that you wished to speak to me about?"

Iago set his hands on the wood and sat up straight. "Come now, don't play the fool. What, did you expect me to not receive the news when all of Hoshido was talking about it in the days leading up to your scheduled execution? Do you take me for an imbecile?"

Kamui wanted to tell it to him straight, but he continued before she could open her mouth. "You were captured en route back from a meeting in Izumo that I was not informed of, then rescued by a small group of your soldiers—one of whom was seized and promptly executed—in an operation that I also was not informed of. Tell me, Kamui, what am I to this country?"

This time, Iago expected an answer. Kamui gripped the hem of her blouse and bit her tongue.

"…Its king, sir."

"Yes, and what are you?"

"A princess as well as second in command to the imperial army."

"Right, which means you rank below me in two aspects. So then, tell me, why was I kept in the dark about all of this until the other day? Why did I have to learn about it via an advisor and not with my own ears?"

Kamui closed her eyes. She couldn't lose her cool, no. Not with Iago. She always had to tread lightly with him lest her punishment be swift and harsh.

"We…I didn't deem it necessary," she explained as she pressed her lips together. "I figured that a minor meeting in a foreign nation wouldn't be of any concern to you. It was a family matter, after all. As for the rescue—"

" Family matter? " the snake repeated with venom in his voice. "Certainly you've realized by now that in your position, there is no such thing as a purely family matter . Everything you do regarding those Hoshidans reflect back on Nohr, and as a result, on me. Had you informed me of this meeting to begin with, you wouldn't have gotten captured and your soldier would still be alive. She was Camilla's retainer, yes? A valuable asset lost due to your own stupidity. What say you to that?"

"I didn't expect them to attack us," Kamui retorted, becoming slightly defensive. "Izumo is a peaceful country and warfare is outlawed there; to attack us on the way back would be to go against everything that Hoshido's culture and traditions regarding war—"

"You expected the enemy to play by the rules? How amateur." Iago sneered and leaned his head against his fist. "You realize these people want to kill you, yes? What you discussed during the dinner itself I don't care to know, but you were a fool to attend without additional forces."

Kamui opened her eyes and leaned forward over the table as her face began to redden. "The letter instructed us to come alone—"

"And you obeyed? What kind of strategist are you?"

"STOP INTERRUPTING ME!"

At that moment, she wished she could turn back the hands of time just a few moments so that she could find it within herself to hold her tongue. She knew immediately that she had made a grave mistake that would not go unpunished.

Hans slammed his fist into the table and screamed. "You'd best watch your tongue lest you lose it, girl! How dare you raise your voice at the king?!"

To Kamui's surprise, Iago stopped him from continuing with a simple raise of his hand and a smirk. "Peace, Hans. Kamui, Kamui, Kamui. You should know better than to shout at me. With a word, I could have you and your siblings thrown in prison or worse."

The princess felt the blood drain from her face as she leaned back in her chair, her heart pounding in her chest and her hands clamming up. "I—I'm sorry, your majesty. I forgot my place."

"Oh, don't apologize." Iago set her hands on the table and leaned in with a smile which sent a chill down Kamui's back. "I like that side of you, Kamui. The feisty, hot-blooded princess…I must admit, I've grown rather bored of your passive subserviency over the years. It's a bad look for you. You, my dear, are a feral dragon that cannot be tamed. Don't let me hold you back."

Kamui felt her eye twitch; surely he was not being serious. For years she had received constant reminders from the man himself to not defy him in any way, and now that she had, he was praising her? What kind of game was he playing here?

"Um…I'm not quite sure what to say, sir."

"You don't have to say a thing, darling." Iago smirked and crossed his legs as he straightened his back. "Now, back to the matter at hand. I was initially going to administer consequences for your failure to adhere to basic courtesy, however, I'm feeling generous today. I'll let you off with a warning just this once."

Murmurs began to sound from the various other men at the table. Evidently they were not expecting such a display of mercy from a man like Iago, and neither was Kamui herself. Iago was a far crueler man than her father had been in his later years, so why was he acting like this out of nowhere? Something had to have been amiss. Nevertheless, Kamui did not wish to test her luck once again, and so she simply nodded at the man.

"Thank you, sir. I appreciate this."

"As you should." The king waved his hand lazily. "You're dismissed. We have other business to attend to that you are not required to be here for."

Kamui began to stand at once, locking eyes with Hans as she bowed to Iago and pushed her chair in. She knew how much the maniac wanted to wring her neck, but she also knew that she was untouchable. Iago may have been evil, but he would never allow such a blatant assault on a princess to take place without reason. She felt a smug sense of satisfaction and threw a condescending smirk towards Hans, making his scowl deepen even further.

"A good day to all of you," she said before the council began to talk amongst themselves about something or other and she turned her back on them, stepping forward and exiting through the double doors. She felt a sense of relief wash over her. She had been expecting a long reprimanding and harsh punishment, but instead all she received was a brief scolding and a slap on the wrist. It was a miracle, really, and she found herself putting her hand over her heart as the doors shut behind her.

"You weren't in there as long as I expected you to be."

Kamui yelped and immediately reached for her sword, but quickly stopped herself when she saw just who it was. "Shigure!" she said in a hushed yell. "What are you doing here?! You're supposed to be staying out of sight!"

The young man's usual soft smile was nowhere to be found; he did not seem to be in an upbeat mood. "Needed to find you. Camilla told us you'd been summoned to the council room. I volunteered to retrieve you."

"Needed to find me? What, do you need something?"

Shigure grimaced, his eyes growing dark. "Not really, no. It's just…Lilith was checking out the area around our base in the Astral Plane just in case. She figured that now that she's an official enemy of Hoshido and Corrin knows where we're located in that dimension apparently, he may try and pull something. She ah…she found something at the base of your treehouse. A box of some sort. We don't know what it is or where it came from, and we didn't want to do anything while you weren't there."

Kamui made up her face in confusion. A box? In the Astral Plane? She was rather puzzled, but rather than question Shigure directly outside the room in which the king sat, she thought it best to see it for herself.

"I'm not quite sure I'm following you, but alright, let's see what this is all about." She turned her body so that she was facing the end of the hall before tracing a circle in the air with her hands and opening the doorway to the Astral Plane. She recalled a time when doing such a thing often took several attempts, but now, it came naturally to her. "After you."

Shigure nodded and ducked through the hole in reality, Kamui following closely behind him and closing the portal when she stepped foot on the lush green grass of the Astral Plane. Unlike the stuffy atmosphere that most of Castle Krakenburg possessed, the air of the Astral Plane was fresh and revitalized Kamui's energy, despite the reason she had been called there in the first place. This place always served as a sort of sanctuary for her, after all.

She and Shigure had entered the dimension not far from her treehouse. In fact, she could make out the shapes of several of her siblings close by. She smiled, though Shigure kept an uneasy frown as they began to make their way towards the group.

Those present were Camilla, Leo, Elise, Lilith, and Selena. The girls all glanced back at the approaching pair to greet them while the young mage's eyes stayed fixed on the wooden box lying in the grass. It was rectangular in shape and measured about five feet in length, the material having been seemingly unpolished lumber. It was as if someone had taken it directly from a large tree and haphazardly fashioned it into a makeshift container.

"Good afternoon, everyone," Kamui greeted, stopping only a few feet before the mysterious box. "How long has this been here?"

"I found it around a half hour ago, but it's damp with dew. It's presumably been here since last night at the latest," Lilith answered. Her recovery had come several days before Kamui was up on her feet again, unsurprisingly. While Kamui had taken a blade to the shoulder, used up every bit of magical energy she held within her all at once, and gone malnourished for several days, Lilith had only taken a naginata through the stomach and knocked herself out by using her own powers. It was nothing to scoff at, of course, but thanks to the efforts of Elise as well as Jakob combined with her natural draconic resilience, she was back to normal in practically no time. Physically, at least. Her usual chipper demeanor had diminished thanks to having to directly fight against someone she loved as much as Corrin, but she refused to let it show too much.

Selena crossed her arms and stared at the box with skeptical eyes. "Suspicious…where do you think it came from…? It couldn't very well have just appeared here."

"You know where it came from," Leo said under his breath. "And I have an inkling as to what it could contain…be wary when approaching it."

"Who's doing it?" Camilla asked with her fist to her mouth in concern. "If it's some sort of explosive, then maybe Leo could cast a spell to protect us all?"

Leo shook his head. "No need. I…I'll open it." He balled his fists and took a step forward before Elise worriedly took his arm.

"Wait, are we sure it's safe? If Corrin would ambush us when we weren't ready, then don't you think he'd set up something to hurt us all, too? Maybe Camilla is right; it could be an explosive."

"It's just a box, Elise. Don't worry. I don't sense anything arcane from it, and I know that you three don't, either," he said as he looked to each of his sisters. "Look, the only way we're going to find out what's in it is if we open it, and there's no point in wasting any time. It's best if we just get it over with."

Pouting, Elise reluctantly released her brother's arm and allowed him to continue to step towards the object in question. He knelt down to inspect it, noticing that there were a pair of hinges on one side that connected the lid to the box itself.

Kamui shuddered. "It…it reminds me of a coffin."

"Because it is one," Lilith muttered, quietly enough so that no one could hear. She looked to Kamui with vulnerable eyes and slowly took the princess' hand into her own, squeezing it as Leo got his fingertips underneath the lid and glanced back at everyone.

The prince returned his attention to the object before him and took a deep breath. Steeling his nerves, he grit his teeth and with a grunt threw open the covering of the coffin, unveiling exactly what was within.

Never before had anyone heard Camilla scream so loudly.

"I'll kill him myself if I have to."

Despite the gentle hand tenderly stroking Camilla's back and her own pained expression, Selena's voice possessed a venomous edge to it. The older princess sat against the thick trunk of Kamui's treehouse with her knees against her chest and her face held within her hands, her remaining retainer on one side and her little sisters on the other. Lilith, Leo, and Shigure had made their way over to the cottage in which Beruka had once resided, having resigned themselves to burial duty. They had asked if Camilla wished to accompany them, but she was sobbing too much to give a proper response.

The princess had calmed down quite a bit by this point. She slowly lowered her hands from her face and revealed her damp and reddened face as well as her bloodshot eyes. Camilla rubbed at her bright red nose before staring at the grass.

"It's as if…I have to go through it all over again," Camilla explained in a whimper. "I thought that I had processed everything, but seeing her body up close like that…" Her voice broke on the final syllable and she had to choke back oncoming sobs, making her youngest sister pull her into a hug from the side.

"We're here for you, Big Sis. Anything you have to say, you can tell us." Elise offered comforting words to her sibling and squeezed her even tighter, resting her head on Camilla's shoulder. The people around her were impressed at her growth over the years, having gone from a childish little girl to an empathetic and mature young woman.

Kamui's gaze remained fixed on her own hands resting in her lap. Each of the women possessed a different expression on their faces—Selena rage, Camilla sorrow, Elise compassion, and Kamui sheer despair. Her eyes seemed to have darkened and the color had left her face.

"Gods, what the hell is the matter with him?!" Selena shouted, slamming her fist into the dirt. "What kind of person does this kind of thing?! And to his own sister! Why would he even do this?"

"Because he thinks we deserve it," Kamui mumbled, her lips barely moving. "He wants to hurt us and he knows how to do it. It's an attempt to kill morale."

Selena's face twisted in confusion. "Deserve it? For what?! What have we done to him?"

"Everything. His parents are dead, as is his best friend, and his brother's wife. He's out for revenge."

The lack of emotion in Kamui's voice sent goosebumps crawling across Elise's skin, but her attention was more focused on Selena's speech than her sister's tone. "That…that isn't on us. Those things just happen in war."

"No," Kamui corrected. "I killed his friend with my own hands. Mother…she died because she accepted us. It was Corrin's sword that caused the explosion, and Father gave it to him. We supported Garon. Ryoma's wife died during the Cheve siege. I led that attack. We all fought in it. Their blood is on our hands."

"That isn't an excuse to drop a dead body on us like that, especially of one of our friends."

Elise turned her attention to Kamui with a frown. "Hey, are you okay? You don't sound so good. I know that it's to be expected, but…you're worrying me."

"None of this would have happened if I'd just gone with Corrin back at the border. It's my fault," Kamui asserted, completely ignoring her little sister's question.

"What? No! Then…then you wouldn't be with us," Elise began. "You never would have reconnected with Silas or had Kana and Sophie, you never would have become friends with Peri and Laslow, and…well, you wouldn't be the person you are today. You'd be an entirely different Kamui."

Kamui blinked. "And all those people would still be alive."

Biting her tongue, Elise's heart began to beat slightly faster. Kamui had always been like this—prone to bouts of depression at the smallest trigger, but this was a particularly bad instance. Elise had never taken issue with playing counselor for any one of her siblings, though these were different circumstances. Even after Kamui was recovered from her imprisonment, the siblings had barely spoken a word to Xander. Elise now had to comfort both of her sisters over different feelings, which would certainly be a difficult task.

"You don't know that. For all anyone knows, if you had sided with Ryoma and the rest, then maybe everyone you know now would be dead. I know it hurt Corrin to leave us all like he did, and…well, surely you could never do that, right? Isn't that why you stayed in the first place?"

Kamui's eyes seemed to darken. "But the war would have ended years ago. All I did was balance the scales and prolong the fighting. A countless number of people have died because of me. If—"

Suddenly, Selena let out a loud grown and pulled at her pigtails, gritting her teeth. " If if if, it's always ' if' with you! What part of 'you can't change the past' don't you understand? Gods, stop moping around over a split-second decision you made years ago and just get over it!"

With a knit brow, Camilla looked up at her retainer, who had suddenly risen to her feet and balled her fists. "Selena…"

"Look, if you made a mistake, then it is way, way too late to be all regretful now. You made your choice, things happened the way they did, and now all there is to do is live with it. If you want to throw away everything we've all worked for and toss yourself into a Hoshidan guillotine then that's one thing, but don't you dare think for a second that we're just going to let you do it. Beruka gave her LIFE so that you could go on fighting, so don't go feeling sorry for yourself now!"

Elise pursed her lips. "Selena, I don't think that this is really the best way to—"

"I don't care! I'm absolutely sick of her thinking that she's the only one with weight on her shoulders—that she's the only one who's lost something here! What, you don't think I WANT this war to be over as soon as possible? Hell, I'm probably the one who wants that the most! I'm just not so naive as to think that one decision would have made a huge difference." Selena knelt down to Kamui's eye level and jabbed her finger into the woman's forehead. "You want to know what probably would have gone down if you hadn't been around after the Shirasagi attack? Silas would have stayed a member of the Nohrian Knights and likely died under their half-assed command. Mozu would have had to become a beggar in Windmire, and we all know how the people there treat outsiders. Iago would have had full reign to control your dad however he wanted and would've razed village after village mindlessly, not caring who died in the process. Not to mention giving Hans even more control over the army. Xander, Elise, Leo and Camilla all would have been puppeted around however they saw fit, and it wouldn't surprise me if they wouldn't have made it to today."

A twinge of pain appeared on Kamui's face as she half-closed her eyes in a grimace. "But…"

"No! No buts! Look, you're supposed to be our leader, yeah? Well, what do you expect the rest of us to do if the person we're meant to follow is constantly crying over spilled milk instead of giving us direction?" Selena sighed and closed her eyes, massaging her temples. "Listen, Kamui. I'm not trying to berate you here. Believe me, I understand the feeling of regret over a major decision, but it's insulting to every last one of us when you say stuff like you wish you would have chosen them over us. Not only that, but…it hurts. It makes it seem like you wish you never would have met any of us or had abandoned your brothers and sisters to fight without you. They already lost one twin. How do you think they'd feel if they lost another?"

As Camilla rubbed her damp eyes, the color began to return to Kamui's own as she slowly raised her head. Selena continued.

"I know that I'm rambling here, and I'm sorry, but damn it, it pisses me off seeing you like this all the time! You're surrounded by people that love you and all you can do is lament over the past! What happened happened, and as much as it sucks, there's no going back to change that in this world. Every moment you spend living in regret is a moment that people are out there fighting—fighting and dying. You made a vow to win this war and get that bastard Iago on the throne so that this can finally be over with. So get off of your ass and fight."

For a while, Kamui appeared to be absolutely dumbfounded by Selena's sudden rant. Sweat rolled down Elise's face as she anticipated her sister's response. To the girl's surprise, instead of more tears or a red-faced rage, she was met with an exasperated heavy exhale.

"You're right," the princess said as she planted her feet firmly on the ground and rose to her feet. "In the past, I would hide my emotions from everyone. Lately, I've worn them on my sleeve a little too much. Peri always tells me, but I never listen…" She sighed and balled her fists as she shook her head. "It's OK to feel depressed or sad or anything else, but I can't let it control me. I've got a responsibility to fulfill, and damn it, I'm going to work towards making the reality I want come to fruition."

Kamui slapped her own cheeks with her hands several times before hopping and giving a hearty "whoo!". "I will defeat Hoshido! Then, I'll handle Iago and Hans, too! And after that…I'll bring Corrin back to us." She grit her teeth and held her fist over her heart. "I'll make us a family again. All of us. Ryoma, Sakura, Takumi and Hinoka. I'll finally be their sister in the familial sense of the word…" Finally, she looked to the blue sky overhead and shouted to the heavens. "I'll do everything in my power to bring both kingdoms back into prosperity when this gods-forsaken war is over and done with, I swear! I am Princess Commander Kamui of Nohr, damn it, and nothing is going to stop me from turning my dream into reality!"

A wide smile twitched onto Camilla's face as she too stood up with Elise, extending her arms towards her beloved little princess. "My my, your confidence is infectious. I must say, I'm feeling rather revitalized as well. You'll have to forgive me for my earlier state—it was rather uncharacteristic of me."

"Don't apologize for being sad, Big Sis! Come on, didn't you just hear what Kamui said?" Elise asked with a giggle. Shortly after, the quartet was joined by the three who had gone off earlier. Shigure dusted the dirt from his hands as he approached.

"Well, I don't know what happened, but you all certainly seem to be in higher spirits. I'm glad."

Leo nodded in affirmation. "I always hate seeing you all in low spirits, so this is a welcome development. I can only imagine that Elise offered some words of healing?"

"Selena, actually," Camilla corrected, prompting her retainer's face to take on a deep red hue. "It wasn't even her tender side this time, but rather her icy one. Surprising, isn't it?"

"H-hey! You don't have to tell them all that!"

Lilith lightly cleared her throat before raising her hand. "Um…she's buried right behind her old cottage. I made a headstone for her, in case anyone wants to visit." The dragon awkwardly pressed her lips together and kicked at the dirt. "Should we return to the castle now? I'm not sure if anyone has anything they have to do today, so we could just stay here for a little bit."

"I have work to do," Kamui told her as she brought forth a portal back to the material plane. "I want all of you to help me start with this, okay? Come with me."

One by one the group funneled through the golden doorway, Kamui being the last one remaining. With a satisfied smile, she let out a soft breath and put her hand over her heart before stepping forward and closing the door behind her. Meanwhile, her brother watched with a deep scowl.

"Pathetic," Corrin spat as he stood perched on a thick branch high up in the tree that held Kamui's own cottage. He donned his usual armor, though the abdominal piece had been exchanged for white bandages wrapped around his body. He winced as he rose to his feet and spread his wings, the pain in his back flaring up.

He had gone through all of that trouble…from retrieving that girl's corpse from Shirasagi's morgue to crafting the container, not to mention lugging it to where it would be easily spotted. All that just for his efforts to amount to nothing. It made his blood boil seeing Kamui go on and on about defeating him and reuniting their "family". What did she know of righteousness? What did she know about justice ? He wanted to swoop down and shove the Noble Yato right through her skull, though he had little confidence that he would be able to escape given their numbers and his current state. Even if they were all unarmed, Camilla—like Kamui—had long since surpassed the need for tomes in her usage of magic. All it would take was one snap of her fingers and Corrin would go up in flames.

While Kamui's speech enraged him to no end, what seemed to eat away at his mind was what Selena had said. Corrin barely knew who she was, truthfully. He harkened back to the battle at Cheve where they had crossed blades briefly, but aside from that, all he knew was that she was Camilla's remaining retainer. Despite this, the things she said made the man want to wring her neck. She knew nothing of what could have been. Surely if Kamui had sided with him to begin with, the scales would have been tipped in Hoshido's favor and the war would have ended in no time. Only then could they have been a family once again…right?

Corrin pushed the thought out of his mind—that didn't matter right now. She was right about one thing: What was done was done, and there was no changing the past. The Assassin Prince manifested his own portal slightly below him before stepping off of the branch and falling through it, his shoes making contact with wood shortly after. As he closed the portal, he soon noticed that he was not alone.

He whipped his head around only to find none other than his younger brother leaning against the wall of his bedroom, his arms crossed and an inquisitive look on his face. "Was wondering when you'd get back."

"What are you doing here?" Corrin asked sharply as he took a step forward. "I don't like it when people are in my room without my knowledge. It's invasive."

"How was I supposed to know that? Kara didn't tell me anything of the sort," Takumi said, rolling his eyes. "Look, I wanted to talk to you about something in private and we only ever see each other in the castle. I figured showing up to your house was my best bet to get a one-on-one conversation. Sit."

While he was annoyed that he was being given orders in his own home, Corrin was not in the mood to argue with someone as stubborn as Takumi. As such, he reluctantly sat down on the edge of his bed while his brother pulled up a nearby chair and made himself comfortable, crossing his arms once more.

"What were you doing in the Astral Plane?" the young prince inquired.

"That isn't what you're here for; get to the point."

Takumi shrugged. "Fair. Look, I wanted to ask you if you were doing okay. Like, mentally," he began. Though he could see the anger already on Corrin's face, he continued. "I know things have been heavy for you recently. Setsuna dying, Kamui rejecting the peace treaty proposal, Kamui escaping…I've been talking with Ryoma and our sisters, and don't tell them I told you this, but we're all kind of worried about you."

"Tch. You? Worried about me? That's new. Since when have you ever cared about me?"

With a frown, Takumi adjusted himself in his seat. "Look, I know I was a bit dense when I was younger, but that was a long time ago. Just because I'm harsh on you doesn't mean that I don't care about you. You're my brother—of course I do." He held up his hands and smiled. "See? I'm even relaxed now. All I want from you is an honest answer."

"Fine then. To answer your question, I'm perfectly fine." Corrin abruptly stood up and began to remove his armor, starting with the bracers. "What, do you think that because I'm not some pushover weakling anymore that there must be something wrong with me?"

"Cool it with the accusations; I'm not here to argue with you. It's just…look, we think that recently, you've gotten a lot colder towards everyone around you. You're not as bright or friendly. I liked that about you, you know? Between you, me, and Ryoma, you were the 'good boy'."

"If by that you mean the failure, then you'd be correct. That Corrin is dead." The prince unstrapped his greaves and kicked them off before moving onto his cuirass. "It baffles me why you'd all become concerned for me only after I start making efforts towards what I want. Don't you want to end this war, too? And last I checked, each of you went along with my ambush proposal without complaint. What, are you having second thoughts? Think I'm being too aggressive? I'm just doing what a leader should and making the decisions that have to be made!"

"Corrin," Takumi said firmly, leaning in and narrowing his eyes. "Relax. Of course I want to win the war—we all do—we're just worried about you. It's one thing for someone to change over the course of months or even weeks, but…you just snapped. Right after the Nohrians left back in Izumo, it's like something in you changed."

"Of course it did!" Corrin barked back as he roughly pulled his cuirass from his body. "Do you have any idea what it feels like to offer your hand to someone you loved, that you believed in, only to have them spit in your face like you were nothing?! Every last one of those wretched villains would rather keep to their twisted sense of bonds than keep innocent people from dying! I suppose pillaging and razing is all fine as long as you're doing it together! For five fucking years I kept telling myself that maybe things would work out—that maybe we could all come together in the future on look back on all this as just a silly mistake, but no. I am a fool no longer…they have to pay. They have to pay with their lives."

All was silent. When Takumi's eyes began to widen, Corrin's own thinned. "What?" he demanded.

His brother slowly raised his finger in shock, pointing directly towards Corrin himself. "Your body…"

Corrin bit down on the inside of his cheek. He had a feeling he knew what Takumi was pointing out. Gritting his teeth, he held out his scale-clad arm and looked down. Sure enough, it along with the rest of his body was covered in a deep purple mist-like energy. He squeezed his fist shut before returning it to his side.

"It's nothing," he breathed, though he knew he was lying. "Forget about it."

"Forget about it? Absolutely not! What is that?!" Takumi shot up to his feet and quickly closed the distance between him and his brother, grabbing Corrin's arm and holding it up. Not long after making contact, he drew in a sharp breath and pulled his arm away, flashing the pain from his hand. It seemed as if the energy had harmed him. "This is the same…it's the same as when you all found me back in Mokushu. There's something wrong with you."

"There's nothing wrong with me," Corrin rejected, abruptly pulling his arm back and scowling at the shorter man.

Takumi began to tap his foot rapidly on the floor and scratched at his head in thought. "What did you do to fix me…right. Right!" He took a step back as well as a deep breath before beginning. " You are the ocean's gray waves—"

"It doesn't work like that!" The Assassin Prince shoved his little brother backwards, making him stumble and nearly fall on his back. "You don't know what you're doing, so stop trying! You're making a fool of yourself!"

"I'm only trying to help!" Takumi shouted back, balling his fists. "You're the one that sang for me, so you have to know how it works! Tell me! Tell me how to fix you!

" YOU CAN'T! "

Corrin's booming voice seemed to shake the room itself, the sheer force that emanated from his very being in that moment sending Takumi falling down to the floor and causing the furniture around the room to rumble, including a framed photograph of Kagero and Corrin that fell from the wall and landed with a shatter. He panted as he gazed down on the fallen form of the man who had once resented him, but now he only seemed…afraid.

The young man knew that in his heart, Takumi was right. If he had either Azura or Shigure's pendant and were to channel the song's power through the jewel, Corrin would be healed at least temporarily, but what Takumi didn't know was what doing so would take from him. Corrin had felt as if he were going to die back when he used the song on Takumi all those years ago and he would never wish that on his little brother. Regardless, he didn't need to be healed in the first place. He was perfectly fine.

Takumi stared up at the man with horror on his face, shaking his head as he pushed himself to his feet. "I'm going to get Azura."

"Tch. Do what you will," Corrin said as he turned his back on him. "Maybe you can join her in her endeavor to help me. What more could another betrayal do? I've already suffered so many."

After a moment of silence, Takumi found tears welling in his eyes that he quickly blinked away. Corrin may not have been looking, but he refused to let the gods lay their eyes upon his pain. Instead, he silently stepped towards the door and tightly gripped the handle, forcing himself not to give a final look to his brother before leaving him by himself.

When she saw Takumi's foot move past the door frame, Kara quickly flattened herself against the wall, careful not to make a noise. Her eyes remained trained on her uncle as he grit his teeth and pressed onwards towards the home's front door. Kara allowed herself to relax once he disappeared down the hallway and placed her small hand on her chest with a relieved sigh. She had a feeling that her father wouldn't be leaving his study so soon after what had just happened.

The little girl grimaced, for she had been eavesdropping on the entire conversation, having been made curious by her uncle's sudden appearance at her house despite Corrin's absence. As much as she loathed to admit it, Takumi was right. Her Father had been acting different these past few weeks. She wasn't entirely sure why, but up until this point, she hadn't questioned it. It was her father, after all. Prince Corrin of Hoshido, the revered Assassin Prince and commander of the great Hoshidan Army. Not to mention, her Papa. There couldn't possibly be anything wrong with him…right?

Kara sighed as her back slid against the wall. She knew what everyone thought of her, but she wasn't as naive as people made her out to be. Even she could tell when something was wrong, especially when it came to her family. She truly did wish to help her father, but if his brother and apparently Azura had tried without success, then what good could she possibly do? Gods, she hated feeling helpless.

This sucked. This entire situation simply sucked . Lilith had betrayed them in favor of helping the bad guys, they came so close to victory only to have it slip from their grasp, and now Corrin was refusing to let his loved ones help him through all of it. At this point, Kara doubted that even Kagero could do anything. Corrin had truly closed himself off to the world.

The young dragon racked her mind for what to do, but only found her head hurting after a while. Any idea her brain could muster up was immediately shot down by a sudden realization as to why it wouldn't work. Gods, she felt so stupid.

"Fine then…" she whispered to herself, standing up straight with a look of determination on her face. "If he won't let anyone help him directly, then…I'll just have to do my best to make sure we win this thing!"

Kara grinned as she began bounding off towards her bedroom on the second floor, the place in which her favorite sword was. It was useless trying to defy her father, so why not simply comply with his desires instead? Surely if Hoshido were to be victorious, then he would return to his normal self in no time at all and Kara would have her Papa back. Of course, she had already planned on winning the war no problem because that was what a good guy would do, but now that her Papa's happiness was on the line? All bets were off. There was no ifs, ands, or buts about it—they absolutely had to beat the bad guys. For Papa.

She retrieved her sword and promptly made her way to her bedroom window, sliding the glass to the side as well as the mesh screen and placing a foot on the frame before pushing her body completely into it. Kara grunted as her eyes glinted for a moment and two small wings sprouted from her back—she was never as good as her Papa when it came to harnessing her draconic abilities while maintaining a human form. It was fine, though, since the nearest training ground was merely a hop, skip, and a jump away from her quaint little house on a hill.

"Don't worry, Papa! I'll make sure that we crush those stupid bad guys, and then, you can be happy again!" Kara said to herself with a confident grin. Then, she pushed off of the home's exterior wall with her wings spread straight, gliding through the air towards her progress as a fighter and as a daughter with her sword in hand.

A/N: Hey, a chapter with no scene breaks at all. Of course, that means that it has to be a shorter one :p for those of you hoping that things will pick up in terms of speed soon, fear not, for that'll come with the next chapter. On that note, I hope you enjoyed, leave a review with your thoughts, and have a good one!