The feast was as gorgeous as Izana hyped it up to be. He could see various Hoshidan meals scattered all over the three lengthy tables at the hall of the castle, but also quite a lot of Nohrian food, and meals from other countries that he had never tasted before. Corrin was currently experimenting with one of them, holding up a cream-covered potion of pork with the tip of his fork and slowly rotating it, in stunned contemplation. Next to him, Camilla was having less trouble picking her food, and seemed to mostly funnel random things into her plates.
Xander, ever the gracious one, took it upon himself to preserve the family lineage by coolly eating some Nohrian meals first and foremost, though etiquette demanded that he sometimes picked something more Hoshidan. Leo was somewhat less conservative, but that was perhaps because he had trained with magic during the day, and needed to replenish his strength. He could've done so without devouring enough tomatoes to feed an entire regiment, but who was Corrin to judge his brother, especially when he had himself gathered quite a lot of food?
"Zola wasn't lying about the tomatoes." Quietly noted the blond man, observing his feast with a look of unusual hunger in his eyes. Elise seemed confused by the more eccentric meals offered, and stuck to her guns by taking whatever she recognized and sticking to it. In entire contrast, Azura had mostly picked foreign food, including Hoshidan one, and was eating at a fast pace though she somehow managed to remain dignified and proper while doing so.
Everywhere else in the room, Nohrians were facing Hoshidans, staring at each other with a look of disdain at best, disgust at worst. Had it not been for Izumo's neutrality pact, packing several soldiers of the rival countries and giving each a fork and a knife would be begging for a somewhat creative massacre, but Izana managed to retain control of the situation. Whenever someone started a scene, he'd just yell even louder, and this would subtly remind the antagonistic parties of where they were. Corrin could only thank the gods that none of Hans's psychopathic recruits had been invited. Divine retribution or not, they would have attacked regardless of Izana's words, and would've perhaps done so just to spite him.
The retainers sat in front of the retainers, and the soldiers in front of the soldiers. Amongst the retainers, glares were fierce. That blue-haired woman had a vicious glare lodged on her face for instance. Niles, however, was quite unfazed by it and stared back without hesitation, with an annoying small smile on his face. There was little dialogue being done, though plenty of wonderful insults were being exchanged under the participant's breaths, with the exception of Effie (who was too busy eating), Arthur (who seemed honestly shocked whenever someone insulted him) and Laslow, who was ignoring Saizo's words of venom. Peri was obviously a danger here, since she could fly into a rage if insulted enough, but she seemed to be following Laslow's example.
And luck had it, she was facing a monk, who had his eyes closed and seemed quite eager to throw various destabilizing quips. Peri either didn't understand or didn't care though, and happily dug into her own food.
"Hey, Laslow, look, there's red stuff that come out if I stab the steak!"
"Yes, Peri, but don't stab too much or you'll spread it." He said, politely wiping it away with a handkerchief. "And you'd end up looking pretty improper in a big meeting. And that might make Lord Xander upset."
Saizo scowled disdainfully. "Hmph, are those really the retainers of the crown-prince? A madwoman and a servant who need to lead her around?"
"Madwoman? Hihihi! That's a complicated word, but it's funny! I'll use it in the future, thanks!"
"Hum… you've got a fascinating mind, little girl. You know, when we, in Hoshidan, think "Nohrian military", you're exactly what come to mind."
"That's very nice of you! I'm going to make myself even more remembered in the future when we eventually… fight you!" She turned around and raised a thumb at Laslow, who was in the middle of eating some ramen. Struggling to fully suck in his meal, he raised his thumb after some seconds of delay. Not that it bothered Peri.
Meanwhile, Selena was contemplating her meals, and carefully picked them. Unlike her neighbor, Beruka, she hadn't even really begun to eat and often took a while picking whatever food she found interesting enough. By the time she found herself with a satisfying ensemble, her co-worker had already finished eating some unique dish found in the south of Western Dreiz: The severed tentacles of an octopus, still somehow struggling against all odds. Trying to eat one was a complicated process for rather obvious reasons, but Beruka didn't mind them at all. She simply bite off small chunks and kept the tentacle steady using her arm, ignoring the vain slaps that it gave away at her.
Arthur was observing Beruka's battle against the severed limb with a confused look on his face, and looked down at the humble steak that he brought himself.
"Beruka, if I may take your time for one second, that is a rather… odd dish that you are consuming."
"Yes." She noted. "But the suctions cups are gone. There should be little danger if I eat it right."
"Ah, of course! It is rather well-thought…"
"If done improperly, they will stick to the inside of the throat. Choking on that food is rather common." She wiped her hands, having successfully defeated the arm. "It can be a hazard, but not as much as that." She pointed at a thankfully inert fish, untouched until now. Her opposing retainer, a tall man with long red hair and a feminine face, recoiled a little once he witnessed the fish.
"Huh? What could be more dangerous than a severed wriggling arm being lowered down your throat, my friend? And, huh, why exactly is dangerous food allowed here?" His blue eyes darted back and forth over his plate.
"It's Fugu. It is a toxic fish. There's a lethal amount of Tetrodoxin located in its inner organs." Beruka pointed at the creature. "Consumption of the poison result in a paralysis of the muscles, leading to an inability to breath, leading to asphyxiation. The victim will stay fully conscious through all of this." Shortly after saying this, she moved her cutlery to the fish, and Arthur visibly held back from tackling Beruka.
"My friend, surely you will not eat the fish after you just described the rather unfortunate fate that await those that consume it!"
"The cook, if he's good, will have taken care of that."
She dug into the fish and began to eat it, without a hint of fear or apprehension. Arthur looked at her in obvious worry and Beruka leaned back slightly after a few bites to stare at him.
"This fish is not dangerous if the cook isn't incompetent. Unfortunately, this one was, apologies" She said, before attempting to clutch her heart. Her emotionless façade and lack of physical reaction gave away her survival, but Arthur still seemed to genuinely believe that Beruka had just been poisoned, as attested by the manner in which the big man turned around to try to gesture to Elise. Confused by his waving, the young blonde replied by just politely waving away at him.
"Princess Elise, you-" Beruka tapped Arthur on the back and he turned around. "Oh, Beruka, you're still alive! Have you managed to absorb the poison, perhaps?"
"No. I was doing a… joke." She said. "I was pretending that my muscles were slowly being paralyzed, condemning me to keep my consciousness over the course of my horrible death at the hands of the poison. Was it funny?"
"Erm… Beruka, you are most certainly a skilled warrior, as demonstrated by your triumph over those two elites and performance against the retainers earlier in the day. And, as a hero of justice, I am obligated to be as gentle as possible with my answers. Thus, know that my subsequent phrases are said with as much respect and gentleness as my incredibly muscled body can muster. Beruka, your talent with weapons does not extend to humor!"
Beruka blinked a little. "Oh." She looked away. "Oh well."
"W-well, in fairness, it is your first joke, isn't it? My friend, one is never good at something the first time around! Should you train this skill, the entire world may indeed learn of the famous comedian Beruka! But allow me to ask, why would you make a joke? Forgive me for saying this, but I never exactly saw you as someone who would even dare to utter the smallest pun!"
"I am looking to… learn how interactions work. Interactions including jokes too, do they not?"
"Yeessss, but jokes, my friend, also tend to feature humorous interactions that end in a manner that amuse everyone! Your imminent death by poison, however, is not amusing! Well, perhaps if you had Niles as an audience…" He muttered. "But I'm pleasantly surprised to learn that you would like to learn how to interact, my friend. It would please me to help you with it!"
Beruka nodded quietly. She knew that it was useless to ask, since, after all, she'd become part of the king's shadows after the end of the war. Why would she still seek interaction when she'd need to give up on it anyway? That perplexed her somehow, but perhaps she just yearned to see how interactions went before she definitely crossed those.
"Then tell me of a good joke, please." She said, while eating the remaining part of the fish. Once you got rid of the poison, it tasted pretty poorly. Then again, Beruka would eat literal dirt if it could somewhat feed her, so taste wasn't a worthy metric in her eyes.
"Alright, then allow me to start with a classic! In a most sunny day in… Cyrkensia, a horse walks into a bar! The bartender says…?"
Beruka took a few seconds to figure out that she was being interrogated. "There is an horse in my bar." She said.
"N-no. Why the long face, asks the brave gentleman!" Beruka threw her head back a little with a look of confusion on her face.
"Ah, yes, the horse has a long face. Like someone who is upset has a long face. A pun. How funny." She chuckled, but it was somewhat less genuine than with Corrin, almost similar to the sound of wheezing. "I am having a good time."
"Y-yes… Well, I shall give you a book of jokes later on! And if we may, I would like a discussion with you later!"
"We shall discuss then." Said Beruka. Arthur smiled and began to eat his fish, while Beruka pondered. Jokes didn't seems to amuse her, but somehow, she was able to produce some genuine laughter while Corrin talked at times, why? Before such mystery could be investigated any further, Beruka heard some chocking sound and turned aside to stare at Arthur, who was clutching his heart and dramatically holding his hand up.
"My friend, quick, I appears to be consuming as fish roughly as deadly as the Fugu! Call upon a healer quickly least widows and orphans cry everywhere at the loss of a savior!"
"… Arthur." Beruka looked at the tuna in the plate. "This is not a toxic fish."
Somewhat further out, the royals were discussing amongst themselves, pointedly not looking at their counterparts. Takumi struggled not to glare at Leo or Corrin though, and Hinoka glanced at them more than once too. Sakura used a different tactic by looking at her plate timidly, and Ryoma tried to keep his siblings from looking at their rivals by talking to them whenever he could. Eventually, even he grew tired from that though, and the crown prince of Hoshido turned to dramatically point at his Nohrian counterpart.
"Xander of Nohr." He started. "I wish to… thank you, on behalf of my troops." He briefly glanced at his siblings and also the wider army inside. "You saved my siblings and denied yourself the opportunity to exploit Zola's treachery. Though I am aware that more pragmatic reasons must have guided your hands, I wish to thank you."
"I appreciate this, Ryoma of Hoshido. Take this as a token of our good intention. While trickery is viable in the battlefield, Nohr will not lower itself to unprovoked ambushes on neutral territory any longer." He said. "Our new Nohr will not make the mistakes of the old ones."
"Your new Nohr, heh." Takumi grinned a little. "You may have saved us but I don't believe that you guys are clean in all of this… However, I guess I can still get away with a thank-you." He said. "Even if your retainers roughed up ours."
"Yes, thank you…" Mumbled Sakura. Elise looked up at her.
"Don't worry, we're good guys! We're not going to just let meanies walk all over us again!" She sung. "Hey, what your name, by the way? I've seen you a few times but I never got to talk to you!"
Sakura's eyes widened, almost in terror, but she relented when she noticed Azura. Her behavior was somewhat similar to that of an animal treading in the territory of predators, and it somewhat saddened Corrin. He tried to look quietly at her, but didn't try to make it obvious to avoid freaking her out. Amusingly, his Hoshidan family was doing the exact same thing, though Takumi, especially, seemed to be ready to leap across the table to deliver a beatdown to whoever would try to intimidate his younger sister. And he didn't seem to be shy about picking a fight with Elise herself it it came to it.
"I'm, I'm, I'm Sakura…Erm, nice to meet you?" She said. "Oh, and, hm, hello Azura! You've… you haven't changed too much but I hope you're doing well."
"Oh, that? It's just hair dye! To better look like my big sister! It's a pain to apply, trust me!" Laughed Elise. She briefly tapped her elaborate haircut, and Sakura seemed genuinely interested in it for a moment.
"Thank you Sakura. I am doing… well." Azura looked down at her hand. "It's been a long time, and I'm sorry for that."
"Sorry only for that?" Said Takumi, unimpressed. "You've walked away from us, sister, and you would only offer this pithy excuse?"
Sakura's breath quickened a little and her eyes turned towards Corrin. At that point, she looked surprised. "Oh, big brother Kamui! You… oh, wait, you prefer Corrin, right?"
"It's fine. You can call me whatever name you like." He wondered if Sakura was considerate or if Ryoma told them to drop their naming habit. Whenever he was called Kamui, he knew that they did it out of habit or because they wanted to remind him or the identity that he betrayed when he turned his back on Nohr. Only Takumi, from the start, had decided to bestow him his Nohrian name, apparently to show that he didn't trust his brother.
If he were honest, Corrin would rather not be called Kamui, but he figured that telling them to stop wouldn't quite cut it. He figured that most of them wouldn't really accept to use the name that he preferred after all. Or at least, the name that he had carried for most of his life up to that point. When he tried to look for it, as hard as he could, he remembered, barely, being called that, but it was fuzzy and for rather obvious reasons, looking back on his childhood memories was painful for him.
"Alright, Corrin, you look… different." She sized him up a little and frowned. "It's like you're a bit older."
"Well, I better take care of those greying hair." He said, hoping that this would appease Sakura. This only caused some confusion amongst the listeners though, and only Elise laughed, after taking a few seconds to get what he meant. Sakura, by contrast, shot a confused look at the two siblings.
"No, your hair is blue like always, but you just seem more… tired."
"Corrin, if you feel tired, don't hesitate to say it." Said Azura. She meant well, but Corrin felt a little humiliated at that. Yes, he knew that it was very stupid of him to think that, and the songstress meant all the good in the world to him, but he didn't want to look cuddled, especially in front of his older siblings on the Hoshidan side. He wasn't petty enough to react to Azura's offer in anger though. So he just looked at her and almost eagerly bite into a sushi.
"Don't worry, I'm perfectly fine! It's just that the day was a bit… heavy." He said. It was a poor excuse, but he added another one by dipping the other sushi into some green matter ("wasabi", as it was called) and biting into it. It was a paste that could add some punch to meals, or so he heard, so he figured that eating a lot of it in one go could prove his eagerness. Corrin threw the meal in his mouth and bite down. Spicy as the paste was, all its furor was only comparable to a mild after-taste.
Takumi, having observed Corrin's silent triumph over wasabi, decided to copy him, but underestimated his own resistance to it and froze mid-smirk. After a few seconds, he painfully chewed on the food before swallowing it, and gestured at a nearby waiter to bring him water. He kept a straight face, but he waved his arm with all the desperation of a man, adrift at sea, who had just noticed a vessel in the distance. Hinoka laughed a little but then stopped and quietly fed him her own cup of water, though Camilla and Leo both noticed the archer's troubles and laughed a little at that. Ryoma shot him a sympathetic look but preserved to retain his own dignity by not trying to fumble an assist.
"… Hm. I believe you." Said Azura. She looked away and began to eat in her usual standoffish manner, but she glanced at Corrin every so and then.
"Is there a pro-" He realized that Azura's former siblings were sitting in front of her, and she was probably just as upset as he was by their presence. Unlike him, Azura had seemingly made quick peace with her "betrayal" of Hoshido, but he was quite sure that she still carried some form of guilt or resentment over it. It's just that, like Beruka, she carried herself in a manner that made it hard for anyone else but him to really know know what she was feeling.
He wondered if he should try to introduce her to Beruka at some points. The two women had some superficial similarities, starting with the hair and composed demeanor, but he was sure that they could find some common ground together. He hadn't dared to try it yet, and he'd probably find himself dealing with bigger worries very soon, but he could try to do it once the mess is settled, perhaps?
More importantly than even that, though, he had just frozen himself mid-question. "Huh, if you need to talk to me about anything though, I'm here for you."
"I know that you're here for me." She assured, flashing one of her rare smiles. "But don't worry, it's just a bit overwhelming for me to eat with so many people." Azura briefly looked at the entire room. "It's a bit… silly of me to be nervous when we're always so numerous, I know."
"Don't worry, Azura. I understand." Said Corrin, whispering a little to avoid being heard by Takumi. "If you ever need to, I could try to have an excuse to take my leave, and you could accompany me."
"Thanks, Corrin." Said Azura. She used her left hand to continue eating, but moved her right hand, below the table, to slowly grasp his hand. Rather confused by the gesture, Corrin didn't resist and let his friend grab his hand. She smiled at him again (and he eventually grinned back) and then went back to eating, while still holding his hand. Corrin didn't quite understand what she was doing, but it'd be rude to just let go of her hand, and she perhaps meant to be reassured, so he simply resumed what he was doing;
Sakura and Elise's interactions triggered the rest of their siblings to attempt talking between one another. Takumi was the only one who strictly refused to speak using more than barbs or sneaky insults though, so Hinoka was juggling between Leo and Camilla. Communication with the later was somewhat strained though. Her defeat at the hands of the princess way back in Notre Sagesse was still fresh in Hinoka's mind after all, and Corrin knew that his sister was just as prideful as Takumi, if not moreso.
"How can you tame… those wyverns in Nohr? They seem much fiercer and independent than our pegasi." Asked Hinoka, slowly, through her teeth. Camilla laughed a little.
"Well, we all get a wyvern that we end up bonding with. They're smarter than they look, and will recognize your worth. If you are harsh yet fair, well, congratulations for your wyvern! But if you are weak, indecisive or abusive, well.. the wyvern might decide to roll you off at a convenient height. But since retrieving the material is a mess after such fall, you'll rarely see indecisive people on top of wyverns! But pray tell, how do you ride those winged ponies? I've always wanted to do that as a child."
"T-the pegasi are proud flying stallions, not winged ponies!" Admonished a flustered Hinoka. "They are proud animals as well, but they're ready to give a good kick to a careless or abusive rider as well, like wyverns, I assume. It can take a while to tame them but they're loyal, and they will fight to the bitter end, just like us. They may lack a dragon's hide or claws… or even teeth, but they're just as dangerous as they are."
"Oh, well, if you ask me, they're still pretty cute!"
Hinoka sighed, and Leo took his turn. "Why would the five of you get so close to Izumo when you know that Nohr will soon be at your door?" He asked. Camilla sighed a little.
"One cannot so easily refuse the gods, prince of Nohr. And the five of us could fend off Nohrians if we ever encountered them." She said. "But you won't get me to say what we'll do tomorrow. After all, our war is still on-going."
"Calm down. I'm aware of that. I'm not the kind of person who'd try to get information out of you with a friendly pretense." He said. "I'm merely curious that you'd take this risk."
Meanwhile, Elise and Sakura were talking to one another fairly easily, and the red-haired girl seemed to actually get a bit less shy in her counterpart's presence, reacting to her jokes and even offering one of her own (though she stuttered at the punch line). It made sense for the two to interact easily, since they were younger than the others, but it still warmed Corrin's heart a little.
His families would never co-exist together. Unless they truly made peace, right here and now, they'd never accept one another out of pride or because of the sins done by their predecessors. But Sakura and Elise's interactions somewhat rekindled the hope in Corrin that in the future, maybe Nohr would find a way to make up for what it did, and maybe Hoshido would both accept it and decide to work with the dusk country to offer the continent a bright future.
Of course, the voice in the back of his head laughed harshly at his vision, and he knew that he was setting himself up for disappointment by counting on the kindness of the sadistic deity that threaded his fate, but he allowed himself to slip back into this more naïve mindset just for a while. It's only when Azura eventually let go that he decided to look up to notice that the Songstress was leaving. Izana watched over her, but he didn't seem to be curious.
"I'm sorry, Lord Izana, this is all a bit overwhelming to me. May I leave to take some fresh air?"
"Of course! Of course! It's pretty chaotic in there, is it not? But you should try to get back in time for the dessert! They're so divine, I caught myself talking to them a few times!" Azura smiled awkwardly in answer to his compliment, and walked out of the room. Corrin hesitated in following her but he figured that she probably needed some actual fresh air, and they could always talk about this later in the night.
Beside, if he left so soon, Camilla would get curious and leave, prompting Leo to leave out of worry, prompting Xander to leave to see what his family's doing, prompting Elise to leave because she was annoyed at being left behind. And with the retainers getting involved, too, it could result in Nohr's upper hierarchy walking out en masse from the collaborative meal.
Of course, that explanation didn't matter for him. He'd just tell Camilla and the others that he'd be back "soon". But he'd rather not cause the entire royal family and their retainers to move out just to talk to Azura.
"Is Azura okay?" Corrin's eyes focused on Sakura, who seemed rather worried.
"Y-yeah. You know Azura, huh? She's always the mysterious one." He answered, trying to sound confident when even he didn't exactly know what she was going to do.
The dinner went on for a little while, but the songstress didn't return yet. Both Elise and Sakura glanced at the cushion every now and then, aware that her absence was lasting longer than it should. And what could Corrin do to console them? He wasn't really aware of what the blue-haired woman was doing.
"Oh… you've bonded with Azura, too?" Asked Sakura to Elise, having noticed her fellow princess's confusion with the vanishing songstress as well. The blonde laughed a little in answer.
"Yeah! She's great, isn't she? But she's a bit mysterious too! I wonder where she is right now."
Corrin prepared to shrug and eat some sushi but then, he remembered a certain detail that the fake Izana said, earlier in the day, though Zola was certainly unaware of what was truly going on. There was a lake, close to the city. Tanuki, it was called. Was it where Azura was going? After all, she had been seen hanging out by a lake back in Nestra, and she seemed nervous for an earlier reason during the meal. Since she was carrying a odd spear back then, he could only assume that there was something in the lake to give her reason to worry.
Yes, it could just be defense against the Hoshidans, but Azura could easily use her usual naginata to fend those off. And, looking back, that weapon reminded him of that spear that was wielded by the mysterious knight that saved their lives in Cheve… Hm. He never gave that man much thoughts, owing to all his troubles with the war, but now Corrin was wondering if he and Azura weren't in a cooperation of some sort. Either way, with luck, his friend was in the lake, and if he wanted to try to gain some answers out of it, then he'd need to quickly move to reach her.
"I'm going to… take some fresh air. Lord Izana. I'll try to get back in time for the dessert."
"Oh, of course, go at it Corrin boy!" Answered Izana. He didn't seem surprised or displeased by the remark, and even subtly hurried Corrin along with an hand gesture, as if he knew what the Prince was about to do. Well, he likely did, since he could talk to the gods and all. Now, why he didn't bother to mention it… Well, that was a seer thing, no?
"Don't worry, I'll be back. Huh, see you everyone!" He said. "Even you, Takumi!" And with that dramatic pointing, the young man left the room. Camilla observed his prompt departure and pointed at Beruka, who calmly got up and began to walk to follow him.
"Just a small precaution!"
"Of course, milady! Of course! But don't worry about being late! It's more dessert for me, hehe!" He gestured at Beruka using his hand, but she failed to recognize the gesture. If anything, she was a bit insulted at first, before she realized that the wise man probably had a plan for her. Stepping off the room, the young woman put her hands behind her back and trailed behind Corrin. The young man seemed rather hurried, to the point where she needed to walk just a bit faster to keep up with him.
"Excuse me." He said, gesturing to a group of guards. "Could you please tell me where Lake Tanuki is?" The group of guards turned around in confusion. As a royal, Corrin would be well within his right to harshly demand them to speak up immediately, but the young man quickly came up with an excuse. "I heard that it's a good place to take midnight swims at and I'm in a swimming mood!" Beruka smacked herself in the face with her own hand, but luckily, the Izumians fell for it. "Hey, sure! It's up north! There's a little path in the palace that lead to the forest; Just take the beaten path until you're on it! But, huh, sir, not to look overbearing, because I'm not, but shouldn't you be at the dinner?"
"I'm… allergic to what's being served." He said.
"Ohhh, that's terrible! Well, better wash away those allergies with water!" Answered the Izumian, as if sincerely worried. Corrin smiled and gestured, and they walked past each other. Beruka moved to quickly rejoin the prince, looking up at him in confusion. "O-oh, Beruka! Huh…" Corrin's voice grew a bit deeper. "Fancy seeing you her-… No, nevermind." He sighed.
"Are you searching for the Songstress?" She just asked, ignoring his little episode. He looked thankful for that. "Let me assist you in that endeavor."
"W-well. I'm thankful for that, but it shouldn't be too dangerous, right? I've got my hands and my stone if I ever need to." He pointed down at his right pocket, and Beruka could indeed see the stone's glow from that spot. Otherwise though, he wasn't dressed with combat in mind, and his outfit was even a little impractical, featuring a high-collar that'd rival Leo's own and a scarf. By contrast, her own clothing, while a bit more fanciful than she wanted, had short sleeves and no collar, just in case she'd ever run into a fight.
"… Hm, perhaps, but I still want to contribute, if I return to Lady Camilla empty-handed, she'll get in a sour mood." Beruka waited until they were close to the path to continue her words, though most of the guards were seemingly gathered at the event. "And I… care about you." Admitted the young woman, looking at him and even biting her lips just a little. He blushed and scratched his cheek.
"I-I'm glad…" He said, not quite knowing how to respond. The forest outside was made out of bamboo and peaceful: Quite a sight, especially compared to Nohr's crooked vegetation. Corrin, perhaps wishing to get into a subject that wouldn't reduce him to a stuttering red mess, reached out to touch the bamboo. "It's peaceful." He said. "You know, after my return to Nohr. I was sent by Garon to the Ice Tribe and I had to pass by some woods. And, you know, the woods are so…"
"Forlorn. It is the name." She added. "Yes. I went through those quite a few times. They are especially deadly to foreigners. Plenty of unwary ninjas either accidentally get into these or, if somehow caught by the populace, are lowered into them." Corrin looked incredibly shocked at that.
"There's a few Facelesses in there too. I think that they escaped their creator's control? A-anyway. Those woods are crappy, and this forest is nice." He looked down at the green ground. "There no toxic swamp with some bodies in it and no colossal rampaging monsters out to get you. Even the forests are dangerous in Nohr, heh…"
"Yes." She replied. "But it form a line of defense, somewhat."
Some time passed, and they waded deeper into the forest. Corrin looked a bit apprehensive, obviously regretting his decision. He imagined Azura quietly going back to the dinner, having taken the fresh air in another wing of the castle, and being confused at Corrin's absence. Camilla would be embarrassed and the royal family would lack Corrin at a rather important event.
Well, it wasn't like they were doing much besides eating, anyway. A paltry reassurance for the draconic prince though, and he began to contemplate just turning around to quickly head back. Beruka noticed this, and decided to raise her hand to tap him on the shoulder.
"Are you thinking of walking back?" She asked.
"Y-yeah, a bit. I mean, we're close to the lake and there's no sign of Azura, right? Maybe she took a different path. Or we should've asked if some guards saw her on the way out, hum…"
Beruka glanced to the right as he talked, and contemplated his points. It was hard to see footprints on the road because of the darkness (though she imagined that Corrin would see those anyway) and it's true that they could somewhat see the lake. Perhaps they had been wrong? But they did see the mysterious woman by the lake at Nestra. Now, what could… A small noise interrupted the woman's thought, and she looked to the right. Something was moving in the bamboo forest, only a few meters away from them apparently. Corrin heard it too naturally, and turned around, holding out his left arm in a protective manner in front of her. The other hand, he held raised at the darkness, perhaps threatening to turn it into a claw.
Beruka could appreciate the gesture, but something about being treated as a damsel who needed to be protected rubbed her the wrong way. "It might have been a critter." She argued. "This forest must be teeming with life."
"Yeah, I know, but I'm a bit paranoid after everything." Corrin lowered his hand. "I'm going to go check. You do not have weapons on yourself, but I can defend myself if I need to. Don't worry."
Beruka nodded slowly and crouched a little, as if trying to observe better. Corrin looked at his teammate and slowly approached the wood, trying to use his enhanced senses to see if there really was something there, awaiting him. The ambiance was rather tense, even with the wildlife chirping away at the night. The background noise reassured him though, because it meant that whatever was happening wasn't disturbing it. With luck, perhaps Beruka's theory was right? Either way, he remained on the defensive, and slowly waded through the bushes to step into the forest.
Even with the light of the moon and the nearby lake, the ambiance was still rather creepy. Rows and rows of bamboos all aligned together, with those on the right eventually vanishing into the darkness. The good thing was that they were probably too thin for anyone to hide behind though. Still, he treated each bamboo as if a sword could come out from it. Eventually, he focused so much that the sound of the wildlife vanished from his mind, and he only focused on the sounds that he was currently making, meaning that he heard nothing apart from a slight creaking noise every so and then.
After a few seconds, something darted out of the shadow and Corrin leapt with more speed than an arrow, easily catching the intruder. The first thing he noticed is that the intruder was tiny, to the point where he had no problems holding it in the palms of his hands. The second thing is that it was furry, and even soft outright. The third thing is that it squealed once it got caught within his grasp, though he softened it when he noticed its true nature and even moved a finger to try to pet the squirrel in the head, chuckling lightly even as it bite into its fingers, though his skin was too thick for the squirrel's fearsome teeth to penetrate.
"Hey, look!" He walked with none of the seriousness that he displayed so far and held up the squirrel, though he was making sure not to do it in a way that would cause it further harm. "I've caught a ninja!"
Beruka immediately pointed at him, and Corrin heard the sound of something rapidly approaching him. Letting go of the squirrel, he wheeled around just in time to see that human footprints had been embedded in the soil, and whatever invisible being was making them was probably right in front of him going by those. Instinctively, he transformed part of his head, growing some armor and even antlers on it. Even against the might of a steel sword wielded by preternatural strength, the armor held out well. So well, in fact, that when the sword struck him in the head, it broke in two. The impact still sent the young man on his backside, but that was also due to his surprise. The young man fell, and Beruka was the next one to make her move, leaping above the Prince with two daggers in hands. She slammed into something, and then proceeded to ruthlessly stab that something until it expired, doing so fast enough to kill the target before it could get back up, though the effort of having to do so caused her to lean forward and sigh.
Her knives were covered in water, and she was now standing above a corpse. Going by the design of the armor, it belonged to a… Chevois combatant? Luckily, she had aimed for his exposed face. Her daggers, otherwise, would have failed to penetrate the thick hide offered by the armor.
Getting up, Beruka approached Corrin and helped him up to his feet. He looked down at the corpse, in shock, and they both proceeded to glance at one another.
"The… the invisible soldiers!" He yelled, coming up to the obvious conclusion. "What could they be doing here?" Corrin also glanced at the daggers, but he didn't care to interrogate her on them. They had some more pressing matters to attend to, after all. Like the fact that the invisible soldier likely wasn't alone, and more of them could be approaching at this very moment, surrounding the Nohrian duo and casting them in a pretty dangerous position.
"We should run back to the party." He said. "It could be a good occasion to show the Hoshidans and the others about those invisible soldiers, after all!"
"You'd barge into the hall and scream about unseen zombies at the bamboo forest, Corrin?" She answered. "They may not believe you. Come. I know who we could try to find. Use your enhanced senses to try and detect enemies coming at us. They are hard to kill but they do have a threshold. If you have to fight them, quickly destroy the head. This should stop them efficiently. Alternatively, destroy the legs, and allow me to finish them off."
"A-alright then. Let's find the knight and Azura." He said. "And I'll use your strategy, but please, stick close to me!"
"I will. Go!"
They began to run across the forest, towards the lake. It seemed that no soldiers were roaming the wood, or they were simply too slow or too far away from Corrin to deem them a worthy threat. The background noise of the forest life was gone by now, replaced by the sound of steel clashing and, eventually, an harmonious and familiar melody.
"You are the ocean's grey waves…"
"It's Azura! Azura's song! She…" Corrin barely managed to stop his course in time, and nearly crashed against two more soldiers. Their invisibility had faded thanks to some mysterious magic (caused, without a doubt, by the song), and while they flickered in and out of sight at time, it was still easy to identify them now. Two former soldiers of Nohr were staring back at them, lit up by a purple aura. After some brief surprise, Corrin decided to brush past them by running in a straight line, slamming into the two soldiers and sending both grown men flying several meters high into the sky. The fearsome undead soldiers, temporarily made mere ragdolls, crashed into the ground and didn't get back up. Going by the angles of their limbs, they wouldn't be getting up anytime soon, and had it not been for their own toughness, they would've outright died perhaps.
Beruka glanced at the dragon while he ran ahead, and the strength that he used to casually slap away those soldiers saw some use again when he effortlessly broke through a rather thick bamboo tree, leaping his way into a field that lead into the lake itself. His powerful hearing made it easy for him to discern the sound of both noises, though Azura had stopped singing for now, and was currently clashing with a large armored zombie. While he towered over her by about several feet, the undead was the loser of the current brawl, and Azura quickly pushed him back before spinning her naginata to lop his head off. Another soldier, unfazed by the fate of its commander, approached her from behind, intending to try and stab her in the back, but Corrin came in with a swift kick, tearing the soldier's leg in half almost casually. Beruka ran in and stabbed the being in the head, ensuring its immediate demise… Though to be sure, she repeated the motion about four more times.
"Thank you, Corrin." Said the songstress, who had already turned to face her opponent before he made his entrance. However, her little smile quickly made way for her usual poker-face. "But what are you doing here? You shouldn't…" She gasped when she saw Beruka. "Are more Nohrians here?"
"If there are, then it would be good news for us." The shadow of a man in rather impressive armor rejoined the trio before Corrin and Beruka could speak up. It was the knight from Cheve, still dressed in his familiar yet odd armor. In one hand, he held that mysterious spear that he wielded back then, but there was another similar spear, with the same fire, strapped to his back. "Milady, the… lake appears to be particularly deep within this lake. I fear that there will be a lot of them to deal with."
Corrin's eyes widened a little. The voice was deeper and muffled, to the point of almost sounding monstrous, but he almost recognized it, just as he recognized the way the knight pointed at him. "I assure you that it would be in your interest to stop gazing, my friend." He said, with authority in his voice. But the Prince still struggled to speak up, surprised as he was with the voice. So it fell to Beruka to explain.
"We're the only Nohrians here. What portal are you talking about? What are you doing, Azura?" She hissed. "No. Nevermind. We'll send those undead back first."
"Correct. Here, grab this." The knight reached into his back and pulled out a rather sizable axe. He tossed it at Beruka, who effortlessly caught it. "You came equipped, but those daggers won't do you much good given the numbers."
"Corrin, do you have Yato with you?" Said Azura, receiving the unusual lance from the knight. After realizing it on her own, the knight quickly loaned a steel sword to the young man, snapping him out of his funk.
"It may not be a sword of legend, but it will do its work just fine." He promised. He did it right on time, too, for a bunch of undeads began to reach the shores of the lake. Some of them moved decently quickly, others just shambled along and one, at least, switched between them, eerily going between bouts of agility before shambling along. Beruka twirled her axe, regretting that she didn't get herself her armor for the upcoming fight.
"What is the win condition?"
"We'll need to go underwater." Said the Knight. "And stab the portal with it. It will close it and whatever force empower those undead beings will be cut off."
"I see…" She'd ask where the portal lead to, but they had bigger problems to deal with. "I assume that you'll be taking care of that."
"I could do it." Promised Corrin. "I can get in underwater fast! We'll just need to cut down a few of these beings first to make our way!"
"Fine. Azura, Corrin, cut them down. We'll finish off the stragglers. Go for the head or legs but don't waste more than five seconds on them!"
Corrin smiled in spite of the circumstances and hurriedly leapt towards the mysterious beings, slamming into one with his shoulder. The shock hurled it at a fellow soldier, toppling them both. Carrying on with his momentum, the prince leapt across the air and slammed into them with his two feet, carving a small crater and swiftly ending their unlives. A third soldier, one of the faster ones, ran at him but he merely morphed his arm into a long black claw (though the process tore the fabric on his arm) and he stabbed the soldier in the chest with it, before extending his arm to slam the soldier into a tree.
Not yet done, Corrin swung his stretched draconic arm, cleanly cutting five more invaders to pieces with an elaborate horizontal swing. Transforming his arm back, he then made another bound and reached a soldier who was heading for the woods, cutting his head off with his steel sword. He then grabbed the headless body by the arm and swung it at two nearby hostiles, stunning them long enough to swiftly decapitate them as well with his sword. Not done with his unusual weapon, he threw the headless body at a larger group of undead, who actually caught it on time. However, his own subsequent charge proved too much, and once more, he felled them all in a single charge, partly transforming his head to do so.
Beruka watched, a bit stunned, and pondered on just how much he held back against normal opponents. She soon stopped gawking though, and instead got to work on finishing off the soldiers that were still twitching after either Corrin or Azura were done with them. She considered how they'd explain the presence of so many corpses on Izumo, but after about seven seconds, it appeared that the corpses broke down into… water. Well, it could be less or more, but there wasn't exactly time to act.
Azura and Corrin were doing most of the legwork. Corrin's draconic abilities and surprising ruthlessness allowed him to get a greater bodycount, but Azura moved with grace and speed, removing heads or severing legs with great efficiency. Beruka couldn't even see her move at times, and she couldn't help but feel a bit of envy over the songstress's martial prowess and raw power. It spoke of her performance that the heavily armored and armed knight was doing the cleanup for her, his horse sometimes trampling the foes that he couldn't reach with his long spear. A lot of zombies were dying, but yet she could always see more approaching whenever she looked at the lake. They weren't getting overwhelmed yet, but the grimace on Azura's face indicated that she didn't except so many of the zombies to show up.
"Why are so many of them coming out of the lake? This doesn't make sense!" She said, cutting down a soldier by slashing his chest and then quickly twirling her weapon to cut his head off as well. "There were far less of them last time."
"I'm as confused as you are. We're going to need to make the dive sooner or later." The knight said. "Lord Corrin, quick, grasp one of these spears! You're the strongest of us, so you could survive a dive!"
"Alright!" Corrin, who had probably slain about dozen of soldiers by now, held his hand out, as if being offered a weapon. The knight grabbed his own spear and tossed it into the air. The zombies, if they could move quickly, were either too stupid or too slow to try to intercept it, and Corrin prepared to grasp the weapon… only for a blur to explode out of the lake, throwing a ton of water and catching all the living warriors by surprise. With swiftness that not even the dragon prince could match, the blur caught the spear mid-air and landed on the ground easily, kicking a crater underneath.
The invaders stopped their advance, and the figure rose slowly. It was tall and covered by a long black coat with a hood. A simple disguise, but oddly effective. So effective in fact that it was impossible to tell who or even what was within it. The figure had black gloves and black shoes, but otherwise, the light of the moon appeared to be fended off by some void in his hood, preventing the figure's identity from being revealed. Azura and Corrin's eyes widened though.
The figure cackled and wagged a finger, before holding up the spear. Whatever unknown metal the spear was made out of easily fell prey to the being's supernatural strength, and it snapped in half. The fire didn't quite fade out though. Both those sights were shocking, at least.
"What kind of undead is that? None of them seemed to be able to grasp what they were doing." Muttered the knight.
"It's the hooded man." Spoke Azura, almost scared. "He's the one who…" Before she could finish her sentence, Corrin immediately attacked the figure with his sword, clashing with such violence that the subsequent shockwaves knocked over a few of the soldiers. Yelling in a strangely guttural manner, the young man swung his sword multiple times over with great speed and strength, sending out more shockwaves with each hit. His adversary, remaining composed in the face of such power, managed to effortlessly parry each strike, deploying at least a similar level of strength and speed in answer.
Corrin raised his sword high above his head and yelled some more before being cut off when the hooded figure swiftly kicked him in the stomach. The young man crossed quite a long distance and tumbled a few more meters backwards before he got up. A blow of that strength would've killed a man outright but he seemed to be angrier than anything at being struck.
"Corrin! Keep your calm!" Said Beruka. "You can't beat him if you flail like that!" He stared at her in answer, his pupils slit and his teeth sharper than before.
"He killed mom! I can't just keep my calm!" He snapped. In the background, the figure slowly made its way towards Azura, who held out her spear defensively and was soon joined by the knight in her endeavor. The being laughed a little and ran up, turning into a blur and slamming into the knight. Both the rider and the horse, both clad in armor and more than ready for a shock, went flying at the shock, and the elite invader attacked Azura with a whirlwind of attacks, immediately putting her on the defensive. Right when she looked like she was about to give out though, he stopped his assault and took two steps back (though given his speed, he may as well have moved kilometers away). Then, he held out his sword, a katana that had been snapped in half by the sheer pressure of his swings.
Not bothered at all by this, the man laughed a little and moved to the back a little to dodge a sudden charge from Corrin. He then spun the ruined katana in his hand and stabbed the jagged sword straight into the young prince's back. It easily tore through the fabric, but the katana failed to really pierce his skin even with the level of strength that its owner wielded. It was still a nasty shock though, and Corrin bended over in shock. As a result, the hooded entity raised its hand, seemingly preparing to use his fingers to impale Corrin.
"No!" With an uncharacteristic cry, Beruka moved into combat, and successfully interrupted the figure's attack by forcing it to grasp the axe instead. Then, he raised his other fist and clenched it, preparing to give his foe a devastating blow… that thankfully never came. The knight, having recovered, stabbed into his foe with a spear but the hooded being managed to block it at the last second with his fist. The knight pushed forward with all his might, but the common foe managed to easily hold his ground, and even moved to seemingly snap their weapons in half.
However, he didn't bank on Azura running it and foregoing her act as a fragile lady. With great speed, the blue-haired lady slammed her shoulder straight into the man, and since he was distracted by both Beruka and the knight, he was sent flying several feet away, even cutting a poor undead in half in his wake.
"T-thank you." Said Beruka, sighing heavily. However, she immediately focused on Corrin first and foremost, attempting to try to tend to Corrin. Seemingly superhuman toughness or not, having a sword slammed into his guts by some sort of nigh-unstoppable specter must've hurt. "Corrin, are you…"
"I'm fine." He said, recovering finally. He had the equivalent of a bruise on his stomach, almost to her surprise. "I'll handle that bastard!"
"Corrin." Said Beruka. "He's handling us all. We will need to work as a group to defeat him."
"The young lady is right." Spoke the knight. "Corrin, your anger is understandable but we cannot afford to engage the enemy without a strategy!"
Corrin looked at each and every single one of them and his hands quivered, forcing Beruka to grab them in an attempt to calm him down. It worked, slightly, and she sighed in relief… before the hooded man spoke up, walking back from his landing spot with ease, almost as if the impact of Azura's slam was more comparable to a light shove.
"Should've stabbed him with the spear." She bitterly thought, eyeing Azura.
"Ah, Corrin!" Said the figure, to everyone's surprise. "You are a grown man now! You were untainted by war earlier…" He held out his hand. "But I can see it in your movements. You're a killer now, my boy! You've taken lives, and you've seen sights that will torment you well into old age! Come! One like you should not be hiding behind the skirt of the women around him!" Whatever void masked his face dispelled itself a little, as if on cue, and silver moonlight revealed that the figure had a nasty grin. "Do you want them to die like your mother?"
Corrin let go of Beruka's hand and immediately ran into the figure, holding out his stone to intend to transform immediately. In his wrath though, his mind grew unfocused, and the figure was on him in the span of a second, slamming him in the face with his fist. The glowy stone that Corrin used to transform flew out of his hand and right into the figure's own as the young man painfully fell to the ground. He moved to get up in spite of the considerable shock that he received but, alas, the man just planted a foot on his torso and kept him steady.
"It pains me to do this." The figure continued. He had a deep voice, and a noticeably… accent to it. Hoshidan. "I would very much like to fight you at your full power. But there is mayhem to be done!"
The being snapped his fingers, and the undead reactivated all around the little group, shambling towards them. Beruka held out her axe, but there were far too many of them to handle, and with the hooded man being nearby, even Azura would be overwhelmed!
"Let a wailing chorus of soul announce his song to the world! Let the innocent land be the site of a slaughter like none other before! May future generations use blood and tears to describe what will happen tonight! And let his will be carved into the flesh of the innocent!" The madman raised his hands high above his head. "We are reborn!"
The undead shambled closer and closer…
…
A/N: A cliffhanger? Yes! Haha! Well, it's a prequel after all, but I figure I could still get away with one!
This is the part of the new content I was talking about. A brawl with Sumeragi and the zombie boys. It should be over by the next chapter. I hope you're enjoying it!
Love you guys, please leave reviews, I love them!
See ya!