The sound of rushing water could be heard even before Corrin, Akira, Richter, and Bayonetta reached the back entrance of the Returner's Hideout. The hidden exit was in Bayonetta's room which was actually a small ledge that was right above a raging river outside that ran through the Sabil Mountain Range. Below the cliff was a wooden raft that was tied to a post in case of emergencies such as this.

"Oh gods..." Corrin trailed off.

"This raft will take us to Narshe!" Richter exclaimed, preparing to leap onto the raft from above. "Here we go!"

The brunette then jumped off the ledge and smoothly landed onto the raft. Akira and Bayonetta soon followed before Corrin realized it was her turn to jump next. Taking a deep breath and putting on a strong smile for everyone, she gracefully took a leap of faith onto the raft. When she landed, she nearly tipped over and screamed as the raft shook slightly from the impact. Luckily for her, both Akira and Richter grabbed her arms to keep her steady so she wouldn't fall in to the river.

The silverette breathed a sigh of relief and smiled at them, "Thanks guys!"

Bayonetta kneeled down and quickly untied a small knot that kept the raft tied to the post on the right side of the river. She stepped back as the strong current pushed the raft along the Lete River.

Corrin sighed happily and sat down on the raft as the warm river wind blew into her face and caused her long hair and cape to go flying behind her. For some reason, she suddenly felt at ease for the first time ever since this all began in Narshe. She couldn't imagine why she felt this way, maybe it was because she knew that she would see that Esper again.

Corrin's heart skipped a beat and she felt her face flush over. She didn't even remember that Esper, and yet a strange feeling of familiarity had washed over her and calmed her nerves.

Until Akira decided to ruin the moment by startling her that she nearly fell off the raft and into the water. The ruby eyed girl turned around and smiled weakly at him.

"Hi Akira."

"What are you up to?" The male ravenette asked slyly, crossing his arms over his chest. Corrin blinked and lowered her hand back into her lap.

"What exactly can one do on a raft as small as this?" She counter- questioned, which made Akira smirk a little to hide the fact that Corrin totally stumped him.

"Definitely not like the other girls I know..." He muttered under his breath.

"Did you say something, bro?" Richter asked from the side of the raft, using his hand to shade his eyes from the late-noon sun like a visor.

"Uh, no," Akira began until a loud splash in the water silenced him.

Everyone looked ahead and Corrin nearly screamed when she saw something approaching them a short distance away. It was a purple, slimy thing that had 8 tentacles.

"What in blazes is THAT?" Bayonetta cried and instinctively pulled out her guns.

"What? WHAT IS IT?" Corrin squealed and leapt to her feet, almost knocking Akira over behind her as she readied herself in a defensive stance. It seemed that training in the Empire must've made it come to her naturally.

All of a sudden the purple thing rammed into the raft, the force of the blow knocked it back against the current and somehow managed to simultaneously slam and pin the raft into some slippery rocks with its huge body. At a closer view, the party could clearly see that whatever it was turned out to be some overgrown, purple octopus with bright yellow eyes and the ugliest set of crooked teeth one ever did see.

"Uwee hee hee... Game over! Don't tease the octopus, kids!" It cackled in a very annoying, high-pitched voice similar to an insane woman's that only both Akira and Corrin knew too well.

"Game over?" Richter asked, scratching his head.

"Kids!?" Akira cried, deeply offended. He looked like he had half a mind to tear that thing to pieces for the kids remark.

The octopus licked its jagged teeth, "What a delicious morsel! Let me get my bib! My name is Ultros, by the way! And you had better not forget it not that it will do you any good in my stomach!"

Ultros let out another peal of laughter, his wretched breath hitting the silver haired female and the others full-force.

"We must work together to get this thing out of our way!" Bayonetta cried. "If we do not hurry to Narshe, we'll live to regret it soon!"

"Who said anything about you living?!" Ultros exclaimed while snapping his tentacles at the raft like a whip. It struck Bayonetta and knocked her down, continuing to coil around her leg as Ultros reeled her towards his gaping maw like a fish on a fishing line.

"Bayonetta!" Corrin cried and hurriedly cast a spell before Ultros could eat the black haired woman. "FIRE!"

Flames emerged from one of her hands and encircled the tentacle that held Bayonetta captive, making a soft sizzling noise as it fried the octopus's tentacle. He let out a shriek of horror as he instantly let her go and pulled back further into the water. Richter managed to take Bayonetta by the shoulders and safely pulled her towards the back of the raft, the short haired woman being shaken up by both Ultros' sudden attack and Corrin's amazing magic.

"Stand back!" Akira exclaimed, whipping out his auto crossbow and held it up so that the crosshairs of the bow lined up with his eye. Then he aimed at Ultros, his finger hovered over the trigger. "This will take him out for good!"

"Ha! I'll make you into Seafood Soup!" The octopus growled, still nursing his burnt tentacle in the cool waters of the river. However, that didn't stop him from preparing to spit an ink ball out at the entire team to blind them.

"Take this, slime ball," The male ravenette smirked before pulling the trigger, which caused a rain of metal arrows to shoot out and strike Ultros in all directions.

Ultros let out a loud cry and sank back into the river before their very eyes with a huge splash that sprayed the entire raft. Corrin coughed up the water that had got into her mouth and narrowed her red eyes, the looked around and asked worriedly if the others were ok.

"I guess we thrashed it," Richter said, helping Bayonetta to her feet now.

"Don't bet on it," Akira smirked. "It's probably just hiding from us!"

Corrin suddenly felt something cold and slimy on her leg that was pulling her down into the river. She frantically tried to pull back, without much luck.

"Ewww! Something's stuck to my leg!"

"Corrin, over here!"

Akira quickly scooped her up in his arms and forcefully pulled away from whatever was wrapped around her leg. She let out a deep breath and sighed then brought a hand to her chest as if to slow her rapidly beating heart.

"It's alright now, love," Bayonetta assured her.

Richter cracked his knuckles, "Watch out! I'm going to hit it with a Blitz!"

Akira shook his head, "No, Richter! I don't think that's-"

"Don't distract me, Aki!"

Richter gave a sly smile to everyone as he hopped off the raft and gracefully dove into the river. Corrin gasped, her face painted with fear while Akira merely sighed.

"He's always been a tad zealous..."

"RICHTER...!" Corrin yelled, bringing her hands to her face. What had just happened here?

"Don't worry about him!" Bayonetta exclaimed, making both of the troubled youths turn to her.

"Are you sure he's ok, Bayonetta?" Akira asked suspiciously, he could've sworn he saw her grin and wink at him while folding her arms.

"You should know better than any of us! Any moment he'll flop right onto the raft!"

As if on cue Richter was suddenly blasted out of the water at high speed and soared right over the raft, past where Ultros had been positioned and landed right back in the river.

"What the...?!" Richter yelped.

Amusement twinkled in Bayonetta's gray eyes as she shook her head and tried not to laugh.

"Seems a little too perky... Ha!" Akira chuckled while the silverette was horrified as she looked between both Bayonetta and Richter.

Was Richter really ok or were they losing their minds?

"RICHTER!" Corrin cried as she pushed past them to the edge of the raft. Richter waved from the river that was rapidly pulling him away in a completely different direction instead. The King of Figaro stepped beside Corrin and cupped his face in his hands.

"Richter! Take care of yourself!"

Soon, the brunette had completely disappeared from sight. The remaining party members turned to each other before Bayonetta spoke.

"We should continue on. First, we have to find a way to push off of these rocks. Once we start moving again, we must use this staff to push us in the proper direction of Narshe. If we take the path that Richter's on, we'll surely be lost!"

"Alright, Bayonetta," Akira agreed before looking at Corrin.

A sigh escaped the sliverette's lips before she quickly realized who she was fretting over. Richter was a tough man who could take care of himself so there was no need to fret if anything happened to him. Besides, their main concern right now was getting to Narshe which wasn't that far away from where they were.

Narshe's biting cold winds were chilly to the bone as the group pressed on to the city's gates. They had abandoned their raft at the end of the Lete River and hiked up to the mountains that Narshe was nestled in. It was getting dark soon and it started to snow so the trio would have to wait until the next day to head into town.

"We'll go right to Shulk's house," Bayonetta said as they approached the guards at the gate.

Corrin blinked at her, "You know Shulk? That's the man that told Eight about me, right?"

"Indeed!" She exclaimed gleefully.

Akira shared a laugh with the women but the laughter stopped as they tried to get through the gates, only to have spears pointed at their faces.

"Hey!" Corrin yelped, her eyes widening as she took a step back.

"Hey yourself, lady!" One guard snapped as he slightly lowered his spear. "Didn't you just bust in here a few days ago wearing Magitek Armor?"

"Wait a second!" Bayonetta cried but the guard who had lowered his spear poked at her, making her jump back before it could do any damage except for a small graze on her abdomen.

"Get out of here!" The other guard warned. "If you don't..."

"Hold on," Akira said calmly as Corrin struggled to assist Bayonetta. "I'm King Akira Kurusu of Figaro..."

"Liar!" The second guard barked, taking his turn and bonked Akira over the head.

He stumbled backwards and nearly fell on top of Bayonetta and a flustered Corrin. The two guards snootily retreated further back in the town and the red eyed female could hear them calling for reinforcements.

"Let's just go," Corrin said quickly as she pulled the male ravenette up.

She wasn't quite sure where they could hide until she then remembered the path that Eight had taken out of Narshe and decided to try her luck with that. Corrin took off running down the snowy path with Bayonetta and Akira desperately trying to keep up with her. Once they were safely around the corner of a high stone wall and the rocky Narshe mines Corrin stopped to catch her breath.

"Oh, my, my," Bayonetta huffed and dusted herself off.

Akira frowned, "That kind of attitude is deadly! They won't even listen!"

"It's all my fault..." The silverette moaned, folding her hands in her lap. "Anyway, are you two ok?"

"We're okay, darling, just a little sore is all," Bayonetta tapped her abdomen.

Akira agreed with her while Corrin sighed then whispered something. Akira was curious about what she was doing before he and Bayonetta were surrounded by a green glittering light that was Corrin's Cure spell. It healed up any bruises or wounds that the two sustained.

Thank you, Corrin!" He exclaimed. "I feel good as new!"

"Such extraordinary power..." Bayonetta said softly. "However, now is not the time for the discussion of thank you's and what-not. Somehow, we must get into Narshe!"

Akira rested his chin between his thumb and index finger while Corrin looked about their surroundings. All she could see was cold rocks and snow. They couldn't even see the city lights due to how far away they were until Corrin remembered Eight's words. Her face lit up as if a lightbulb went off over her head, she made a noise which startled her companions as they turned around.

"What is it?" Akira asked.

"When Eight first helped me, he fiddled with something right around here," Corrin explained, getting a both nod and a confused look from Akira and Bayonetta respectively.

"Knowing him, there's probably some secret switch in this rock wall..." He trailed off.

The male ravenette walked up to the rocky wall and felt around until he grabbed a certain part that was slightly loose than the rest of the wall. Akira pressed the loose rock and a hidden door slid open revealing the secret entrance to the mines.

"Now we can get to Shulk's house from here!"

"Good job, you two," Bayonetta smiled. "Let us proceed."

The three entered the mines with Corrin taking the lead, her hazy memories provided a faint map to navigate. The trip was uneventful, it seemed like there was not a soul alive in the mines now. The only sounds beside their footsteps were the sounds of dripping water from the ceiling and Bayonetta's haggard breathing.

Concerned, Corrin turned around to face her, "Are you alright?"

"Of course, Corrin, please lead on," The short haired female replied. "I promise to rest once we arrive at Shulk's alright, love?"

The silverette nodded and smiled when she suddenly felt Bayonetta grab her shoulder and stop her from proceeding on.

"Ahhh, what?" Corrin cried which made Akira stop as well.

"Look ahead, darling," Bayonetta pointed a finger in front of her.

Corrin turned and saw that they were about to enter a new section of the mines. Right ahead of them was a silvery shimmering light that blocked their way through the door to the next area. It suddenly leaped in place and began to fly away through the columns in the next room.

"Goodness..." Akira blinked.

"What's that?" Corrin asked.

"I think it's a security checkpoint," the black haired male explained. "I'm sure the soldiers of Narshe know this light's pattern. If we follow the light exactly, we'll probably be okay. If we make a mistake, the light'll surround us. To proceed safely we must "tag" the glimmering light."

Bayonetta offered and stepped ahead of Corrin, "I'll lead. Now everyone, follow me closely! We won't be in the clear until we pass through this room!"

Carefully, she stepped ahead of Akira and Corrin before looking around. The security light's weakness was that it actually left behind a slight trail of glittering dust that would remain in the air for at least a few moments before disappearing from view. Bayonetta, having trained and focused eyes, managed to spot this trail in the dim lighting and gestured for the others to follow behind her. After an excruciating silent ten minutes or so, the female ravenette finally reached a new doorway all the way across the columned room and threw it open. The three emerged into the next area and let out a collective sigh of relief.

Corrin ran ahead and glanced at the hole that she previously fell through, "Oh, I definitely remember this place! This is the room where I fell through that hole and that means that Shulk's home is right down this pathway. Let's hurry!"

As if they were renewed with a burst of energy, the trio ran down the rocky mine path to an opening that led them outside in the fresh chilly air. After crossing over the same wooden bridge that Corrin had used in her escape from Narshe her first time here, Bayonetta pushed ahead and barged through Shulk's back door much to the poor man's surprise. Shulk was sitting down at a desk writing a letter until he turned his head upward, only to gasp and leap up in surprise when he saw the face of his old friend Bayonetta but she wasn't alone.

"Bayonetta!" Shulk cried, running over to them. "King Akira! And... Corrin!"

Corrin bowed quickly and shut the door behind them, eliminating the chill they had let in the warm house.

"Shulk!" Bayonetta exclaimed. "What's happening here in Narshe?"

"The town's neutral," the blonde sighed a little. "I've tried to get the people to side with the Returners, but... Anyway, why on Earth have you come here?"

"First, how are your people doing?" Akira asked.

"They all went... slightly berserk when the Esper was discovered."

"We believe this young woman is our only hope of reaching out to that Esper," Bayonetta explained and placed her hands on Corrin's shoulders while Shulk nodded in agreement.

"My people are dying to know what this Esper looks like. Perhaps Corrin can help restore some order to our town...?"

Corrin nodded too. She would do just about anything, maybe then the people of Narshe would see that she was not the monster she was made out to be as it would certainly remove a lot of complications. Akira took a step forward, his hand on his chin.

"That Esper is either going to save us..." He trailed off and looked straight to Shulk. "Or dig us an early grave..."