Hello there! It has been a long time since I posted any writing on this website, so I figured I would offer something different.

This is the first chapter of a story that I am working with someone to publish on another online writing website. The other chapters will be posted when they are completed, or soon after. I thought I could share the work here, as well.

This story will not have many chapters in it, and each chapter will have a lot of content in it.

Any constructive criticism and feedback you can provide on this would be good to see. Please enjoy as well!

Eternally Bonded

Chapter 1: Lessons and Tests

Sunlight streams through a growing layer of clouds as wind lightly whips through the air. Trees bend their leaves and branches to the natural force, accepting it without confusion or resistance. The atmosphere can be judged by a simple mind as a beautiful day in the kingdom of Nohr. A more philosophical or academically-educated mind might attempt to divine a deeper meaning from the changing weather. But right now, the day is quite beautiful to them as well. Beautiful days are on the decline here, the weather being fickle and short-tempered at the best of times.

Farmers in the fields within the ringed walls of Windmire, soldiers in the famed Castle Krakenburg, merchants driving full carts between the walls for trade: everyone took a moment to appreciate the natural harmony. The world danced to its own tune on the stage of the universe, each piece seemingly in its place. Even the stone walls that separate the city's inhabitants seemed to embrace the harmony. Their defiance against the elements appeared to be a sign of power and strength rather than control and subjugation.

A new movement to the natural dance suddenly began in a small grassy space in a faraway space. It came from a distant, isolated fortress to the Northeast of Windmire. It is different, sharper, the beats not in a steady rhythm. Air was displaced with clashing notes, rises and falls echoed with a choir of grunts and heavy breaths. The observers of this new sound, standing by one of the fortress' walls, watch it play out without comment or interruption. The movement comes and goes as its makers, two armored women, duel with their instruments – sharpened rapiers with ornate golden handles – in the symphony of war.

The observers give varying reactions to the duel. A young girl in a blue-and-white maid's uniform clenched her hands together close to her chest with fear making her face paler than usual. An older, grey-haired man with a grisly face from years of warfare watched the back-and forth match play out. An older aquamarine-haired woman in a classic black-and-white maid's uniform replicated the soldier's silent observation and also kept an eye on her younger brown-haired sister maid to her side. That woman bobbed up and down on her feet in agitation. No one could tell if the younger sister maid's bobbing came from the fact two people she knows are fighting, or if she had something she forgot to do beforehand. The final observer, a silver-haired butler with a purple uniform and black overcoat, crossed his gloved arms over his chest and calmly waited for the match to end so he can perform his next task.

The younger combatant suddenly spun back and raised her sword straight before her chest. Her red eyes, the same shade as a late sunset on Nohr's horizon, were wide and alert. Her older opponent took a moment to flick some of her purple hair away from her immaculate face. The sunlight fell on the older woman's features as she slowly stepped to the left, circling around the younger duelist but not closing the gap. Her black breastplate and boots combined with a dark-purple skirt that showed the melding of power and beauty in one image. Her small purple eyes twinkled at her opponent as she moved slightly closer to them, keeping her image in the sun.

The younger duelist rolled her shoulders whilst keeping both boot-covered feet planted firmly on the ground. Her red eyes tried to gleam a motive behind her opponent's plans, her young mind racing through previous lessons in swordplay as fast as it could. Her silver armor weighed her down slightly as she kept her stance ready, her body not as used to the overlapping plates as her opponent. The blinding sunlight coming off her enemy's armor was another problem. She solved that issue by taking a step to her left, keeping at least a few paces of breathing room to herself.

The observers held their breath as the dance entered a new movement. The older woman stepped out of the sunlight and instantly changed to a different persona. She lunged forward and took the initiative with an overpowering thrust. The young woman braced for the blow and managed to direct it away from herself as metal shrieked against metal. She was not able to block, or even notice, the elder's armored foot before it slammed down on her covered toes with a firm "clunk".

A loud yelp reached the soldier's ears as the younger duelist's stance fell apart. She tried to shove her opponent back with a full-on charge, but it ended up smooshing her body against the other's muscular frame. The older woman, not upset with a woman's face in her cleavage, thrust her chest out and popped the intruder free. The black armor defied logic and stayed intact from this action. A deft twist of the wrist plucked the young woman's weapon out of her grasp and onto the grass.

A moment later, the younger woman felt a sharp point at her throat. A tiny stroke of the rapier's business end would slit her jugular and spell a slow, blood-filled death. She looked at her still-smiling rival, neither of them hearing the outcries and remarks of the watchers. They were alone in a swirling void of air, light and darkness. They have danced to the song of war, and the final movement had concluded.

The loser's face blushed as she turned away from the victor. She let out a reluctant, soft-voiced, "I yield." that everyone in the small patch heard.

"Hmph," The old general briefly huffed as the victorious woman's smile quickly morphed into a grin. "She should have put more strength into the charge. That would have tipped the scales in her favor."

"What did you expect, General?" the blue-haired maid replied with a brief scan of her trimmed nails for any traces of dirt. "Lady Corrin is still learning the arts of war. She is bound to mess up."

"Messing up is one thing, Flora. Messing up and then fixing it is another." The old commander blinked as he frowned, his face showing even more wrinkles than usual. "A noble of Nohr must know that difference before they can lead the kingdom."

"Oh, stop it with the pompous speeches!" The General turned to the younger maid at this remark. She glared at him and added, "Lady Corrin needs comfort, not more lessons. I'm sure of that!"

"You're a little late to the party then, Felicia," the butler commented as he stepped forward and pointed towards Lady Corrin's position. Everyone turned to the silver-haired woman and saw the young girl already by her side. Corrin does not get it in without her help. The older woman sheathed her blade with no additional aid, and also kept her smile as she watched the doting younger retainer aid her next-youngest sister in the Nohr family.

Corrin was unable to remove her blush, especially when she glanced at the conversing general, maids and butler. At this rate, they would talk about this for days. General Gunter would surely put this in his next lesson, and Flora would chastise his mistake in her usual perfect manner.

"If you wish for a bath, my Lady," the woman said without ever looking Corrin in the eye, "the hot spring can be prepared. It will need a few minutes, of course. You do look hurt. Did Lady Camilla injure you severely?"

Corrin shook her head. "No, Lilith, not too bad. My pride is more hurt than my body."

This did not remove Lilith's concerned expression. Corrin's bruises hurt a little less at Lilith's sympathy, an act that made the young girl more like a friend than a retainer. After thinking about it some more, Corrin reasoned a good bath would help soothe her body and mind. As General Gunter had once told her, "Anger is a fool's strength. Control your anger and you control how you fight." Her aching toes tell her she should have remembered that in the fight.

Corrin turned back to the maid before the moment grew too awkward. "I'll be at the spring soon, Lilith. I just have to take off this armor."

Lilith smiled at the statement. "Of course, my Lady. As you wish."

The young retainer bowed before she turned and quickly walked into the Northern Fortress's walls. Corrin directed her attention to unbuckling the metal plates of her armor from each other as she walked at a slower pace in the same direction. She didn't see the sultry glance her rival sent her way before she entered the castle proper. She wanted some time alone, preferably with hot water, to wash away the stress of failing another practice duel.

The sound of water splashing against rock sent a brief flutter through Corrin's chest. As Corrin felt there she felt every strand of her hair stick to her forehead as she mechanically took off any armor she failed to get at before now. All the pieces were carefully put to one side of the entryway. She felt happier than just a few minutes ago, both in anticipation of how good the bath was going to feel, and that she remembered how to place her armor so she can quickly put it on again if needed. She's learned that much from her lessons.

The hot spring's heat clung to her bare skin as she grabbed a pair of towels. One of them goes around her long hair as she wraps it in a tight bun. The other she kept nearby and placed by the water's edge. Her feet moved onto wooden planks, and then slowly slid beneath the water's surface. Corrin sighed in satisfaction at the temperature and, after a cursory scan for anyone nearby, moved the nearby towel a bit closer to her. She slid into the refreshing liquid until everything below her neck was enveloped. Her back pressed against a solid stone wall as she leaned back and let out a longer sigh of momentary bliss.

The spring's steam shrouded the few plants and decorative rocks in here from view. Corrin barely saw the spring's reinforced roof through the white haze. Several windows at the ceiling provided enough sunlight to see what one was doing, but barely little more. Corrin took note of all this, and then promptly discarded it in favor of reminding herself on what she had left on her agenda for today. She remembered a promise to Felicia about working together to clean the bedrooms. They could correct each other's clumsy mistakes, their combined efforts enough to match the butler Jakob's proper standards. Flora would probably still find some mistake, but that was the norm with the elder sister-maid. Hopefully Lilith would be able to—

Corrin's thought process is interrupted by two things happening almost at the same time. The first is a pair of hands covering her eyes before an unknown body slammed her into the water. At the same time, a melodious and familiar voice shouted, "Got you!" into Corrin's ears.

The towel keeping Corrin's hair dry slipped off as her head went under the surface. She surged up and automatically covered her chest with her hands as she blinked water out of her eyes. She quickly recognized the purple-haired woman standing before her. It was none other than her dear sister grinning at Corrin in her bare glory with her arms crossed and only a towel covering her hair.

Even without armor, Corrin couldn't help but marvel at how Camilla's body appeared to be made out of chiseled rock. Instinctively, Corrin attempted to hold her breath as her eye travelled down the 'valley' of Camilla's six-pack. Like the other times Corrin had gained the privilege to look upon Camilla's bare body, she felt as if Camilla was a living and breathing sculpture.

This did not go unnoticed by Camilla as she cheekily asked, "You see something you like?" Corrin shook her head and snapped out of whatever trance her elder sister had put her in. This was not the time for such admiring of a sibling's body.

"Camilla!" Corrin spluttered with a short cough as some water came back up from the wrong internal pipe. "W-what are you doing here?!"

"Ah, you thought I had left?" The eldest daughter of the Nohr family line chuckled with obvious amusement. "Silly Corrin, you should've known I wouldn't leave my sister when she's so upset. Family is the greatest importance to me!"

"I don't think it's appropriate for sisters to be in the hot spring together." Corrin's returned blush made her face nearly as red as a ripe tomato as she looked away from Camilla and picked up her soaked towel. When she looked back at Camilla she saw her sister's hurt expression.

"Gah, sorry," Corrin sighed as she tossed the towel onto the planks to keep it from getting any wetter. "You just startled me, that's all."

Camilla's smile returned as she moved further into the steamy mist. "Well, what kind of ambush is one where your enemy knows what's happening?" Corrin heard the flop of something soft landing on solid ground, followed by Camilla's body sliding into the water. "I wanted you to have your guard down, so you can learn your lesson easier."

Corrin turned away from the slowly-approaching fighter, not wanting to see anything indecent. She protested, "I already learned it. My toes are reminding me of my mistakes."

"Aww, do your toes need a rub?" Camilla darted through the water and grabbed Corrin's shoulders. The six-pack on her abdomen was easily visible, the muscles along her arms not concealed under bare skin. Camilla used these well-trained muscles to pull Corrin into a quick hug, but Corrin managed to slip out like a fish due to her sweat and steam-covered skin. Her blush spread down to her neck as Camilla playfully laughed. This prompted a smile to creep across Corrin's features, flashbacks of lost years giving her an estimate of how many times this same game has played out before.

Corrin wasn't sure this time should be any different. They may be older, but were they really any different now? She settled for an uncertain answer as she turned to look back at Camilla, who had given Corrin some personal space. Her hands cover anything indecent, but the rest of her body is clearly on display. She did not appear afraid of showing herself to interested eyes. Corrin did not consider herself one of those "interested" people, though.

"Why did you do that trick, anyway?" Corrin's eyes narrowed slightly, knowing Camilla understood just what kind of "trick" she was talking about. Camilla's smile dropped for the first time Corrin had seen today before she tilted her head slightly to the side.

"The battlefield is a crazy place, Corrin." Camilla's voice was now devoid of her usual playfulness as she warned Corrin, "People do crazy things when fighting for their lives. Everyone who fights in a war must learn that if they want to stay alive. Being distracted is a bad way to die."

Corrin completely agreed with this teaching. Gunter had hammered similar words into her body through repeated bruises with the pommel of his blade. But there was a difference between being distracted by someone you hate, and by someone you like…

"What you need to do is keep your senses active." Camilla did not appear to notice Corrin's tensing body as she slowly advanced to her sister's side. "Stay alert, whether against one opponent or a large army. Don't keep your focus on just one thing: you were able to parry my thrust well enough, but you didn't anticipate my follow-up maneuver. That broke your concentration and won me the duel."

"You're sounding like Gunter on a bad day." Despite Corrin's negative response, she didn't move away again. "I can't be calculating every possible move in a fight. My brain doesn't work that fast."

"I'm not asking for your brain to do that." Camilla lightly brushed her hand against Corrin's arm, to which Corrin did not back away from. "Don't take this as a failure. You got knocked down, but you can get back up again. Learn from this and be ready next time."

Corrin looked into her sister's eyes. The twin orbs showed a very clear set of emotions: honesty, care, and a touch of love. The important thing was the lack of any falsification or misinformation. That made Camilla's message more important for her to remember. She knew it was sage advice, but she also wouldn't be able to implement it immediately. How quickly did Camilla expect her to get better in life? Maybe it would be about the same time she would be finally able to leave this fortress and live with the rest of the family as a ruler of Nohr.

Corrin blinked a wave of tears out of her eyes before they spilled over. The image of a grey-faced and black-eyed man wearing the black cloak of some strange beast was harder to dispel. His withering look ignited a burning rage in Corrin's heart, even years after they had last seen each other. Once she was free of this prison of a fortress, the endless lessons and tutelage, the mindless readings and mantras—

A warm hand touched Corrin's neck, as if checking for an irregular pulse. Corrin's anger dissipated beneath that touch, the fire slowly snuffed out as common sense grew stronger than irrational anger. The younger sister stared at the water as the tiniest drop of humiliation in her gut for her dark thoughts disappeared.

"Okay," Corrin addressed her anxious subconscious and Camilla at the same time, "I get it". She then turned to Camilla and directly announced, "I'll remember that trick, for sure."

"Thank you, dear." Camilla got within reach of Corrin's hands as the steam grew a bit thicker around them. "Can you give Big Sis a hug before she goes?"

"W-what? Someone might see…" Corrin turned her head away again, her self-confidence not equal to Camilla's. An improper activity with a sibling would be another mark on the long list of mistakes!

"Let them see." Camilla put a finger to Corrin's chin and brought her head up ever so slightly. "We're sisters, and I want to comfort your hurt feelings. No one will hate you for accepting my care."

Camilla's smile proved infectious. Corrin fell under its temptations and did her best to echo it back. She then let out a quiet breath as Camilla finally closed the gap between them. The sisters wrapped their hands around the others back as their bodies pressed against each other. A blush formed on Corrin's cheeks as she felt their breasts do the same. Their eyes closed as their minds indulged in the current moment. Camilla allowed the more tender side of her psyche to manifest in sisterly love: Corrin allowed her suppressed sadness and rage against her father let her to indulge in pleasure.

Camilla soon tightened her grip on her sister's body, pulling her just a bit closer. Her lips parted to give a brief message.

"I love you, Corrin." Her voice was heavy, laden with emotion towards her self-appointed charge. "No matter how much you screw up, you'll always be my little sister. Our love will last forever. We are eternally bonded, after all."

Corrin returned the tight hug and breathed lightly on Camilla's back, watching a trail of sweat slowly wind its way down the attractive body of her elder sibling. "Thanks, Sis."

The two do not break their embrace for several minutes. This was a time for themselves, and no one else. Its ending was a sorry one for both sisters, though only one of them was visibly upset at what other tasks need finishing.

[4 YEARS LATER]

The battle hadn't gone in Corrin's favor. Then again, not much had since she realized her true birthright.

The Hoshidan princess raised a curved blade to block the wild slice of a Nohr fighter, following it up with a swift stab into the side of his mount. The horse shrieked and bucked, its rider falling heavily to the ground. Corrin did not look back to them, already moving against a new foe in the Nohr assembly. This one had a metal helmet covering his face, but his muscular body held a thick spear which he thrust in Corrin's direction. She leapt to one side and, with a few choice words, launched a ball of flame from her free hand. The projectile flew through the dank cavern air and slammed into the soldier's shoulder. He shrieked as his armor burst into flames, the man dropping and rolling on the ground to smother it out. Corrin saw two Hoshido ninjas clad in brown leather armor shiv him before he saved himself from the fire.

Corrin turned away and steeled her nerves while racing toward the next enemy. Death was a necessary price of war. An unfortunate price, but one that must be paid to gain victory. At least Corrin didn't have to do all the killing on her own here. Then again, if she would have noticed this force before their ambush happened, maybe things would be—

A battle cry came from around a corner, loud enough for Corrin to hear against the overall chaos of battle. Something came flying out beyond that corner and skidded along the stone floor. Corrin recognized the Hoshido house crest on its uniform, but the name of this armored fighter was lost to her at this point. It didn't look like they would get back up again, what with the huge gash through their chest and side.

Corrin slipped behind the corner just as a young girl with long brown hair tied in two pigtails and a pink-and-grey corset, dress and boots with white gloves raced to her side. The horse Corrin saw her riding on before the fight began was nowhere to be seen. Corrin did not have to guess very hard as to its new whereabouts. Her guess was confirmed by the redness of the girl's pink eyes, a sign that the atrocities of war were a new concept to her growing mind. Even so, the girl clutched her golden-yellow stave with a firm and practiced grip that fit the training of a troubadour.

"Corrin," she half-whispered with shuddering breaths, "are you hurt?"

Corrin smiled back. "Not yet, Elise. Did you think I was?"

"N-not really." Elise's hands shook as she looks back at the path she had run down. She could hear more fighting taking place in the near-darkness of the torch-filled space, sounds that caused a shiver to run down her spine. She did her best not show it as she turned back to Corrin. "I just felt you were in danger, so I came here.

Corrin opened her mouth to reply, but a brutal crunching noise from around the corner sealed her voice. The hairs on her neck rose up as they heard nothing but abrupt silence from where the fighting was happening. Elise's face turned a shade paler as the clip-clop of heeled boots came closer and closer. Corrin put a hand between Elise and the mysterious enemy, ready to fight for her sister.

The princess's stance broke when, of all people in the world, her older sister came around the bend. Corrin heard Elise's quick gasp as they took in Camilla's current appearance. The wyvern mount Elise said was with her before Corrin left was gone, and her body bore marks of a long and drawn out melee. Her armor was missing around one shoulder, her clean hair falling caked in dust and mud as it hung around her face. Her antique ax, which Corrin remembers as a "Brave Axe" from inside the armory, sported fresh blood along both of its metallic edges. A wild gleam made Camilla's narrowed eyes fearful to look at, the woman in the throes of a battle-lust against her enemies.

Camilla quickly spotted the two people near her. She faltered in her stance just like Corrin, her cravings clashing against the sight of her lost siblings. For a moment, Corrin saw the terror and confusion of a lost soul. Before Corrin could blink, that image was replaced with a smile too warm and loving to be normal in a fight.

"Corrin!" Camilla's voice wavered on the boundary between surprised elation and cursing accusation. "I knew you'd come back to your family!"

"Camilla…" Corrin kept her blade up between her and her sister and tried to phrase her words carefully. "I'm not coming back. I am ending this war!"

"Then you're on the wrong side. Nohr needs you, Corrin." Camilla tenderly placed her hands on her bosom. "I need you." She then opened her arms up in a copy of the hugs she had always shared with Corrin. "Please, my dear… Come back… Come back to me…"

Corrin's eyes flashed with determination as she didn't go to Camilla's waiting embrace. "I'm not joining Garon, no matter what!"

"That's right, Big Sister!" Elise spoke up before anyone could stop her, her voice stronger than her heart right now. Camilla turned to her and actually curled her lips at what she sees. A child like Elise would be the easiest to be manipulated to the wrong group, especially if another sibling was holding their hand. It hurts even more that Corrin, her darling Corrin, is the enemy here.

"Tch!" Camilla jerked her head away from Elise, a clear sign of contempt as she turned back to her true target. "You aren't yourself, dear. These barbarians are brainwashing you." Camilla held up her ax as her fingers curled around the handle. "I'll set you right after I kill them all!"

"You aren't getting near them!" Corrin desperately cried out to Camilla. "They are my true people! They are my brethren against the lying king!"

"Stop talking nonsense!" Camilla lunged forward with ax raised high, her muscles surging from the exertion. Corrin backpedaled out of range before the ax struck down and carved a gouge into the floor. The crack became visible once Camilla pulled her weapon out from the ground, its blades flashing once as torchlight reflected off the polished edges.

With a short, "Stay back, Elise!" Corrin angled her sword into a defensive stance. The youngest Nohr sister obeyed without question, darting back into the shadows even as a burst of light came from a nearby skirmish. The two elder sisters, fellow daughters in the Nohr family line, put all their focus on their opponent and the immediate space around themselves. They fell into a macabre performance that other fighters all through this space's winding passageways were repeating at the same time.

Camilla swept her ax through the air, both blades threatening decapitation or dismemberment with every assault. Corrin, having just a curved sword for defense, was forced to bob and weave out of the way. Camilla didn't give her room to strike back, spinning and twirling like a ballerina to compensate the momentum of her strikes. Her purple hair flapped around her face, barely affecting her vision. Corrin watched her land blow after blow against the air, her perseverance paying off once Camilla began to tire. Her swings became slower as Corrin moved in for a debilitating strike.

Unexpectedly, Camilla lurched up and blocked Corrin's sword with her ax's handle. Vibrations raced up both women's arms, Camilla's strength balancing out against Corrin's speed. Corrin darted back as the elder got to her feet with a rough, "Oof!". A second later, Corrin dashed by with a short shoulder-bash on her unarmored side. The Malig Knight fell to her knees, her concentration shattered by fresh pain on a weaker spot. Corrin twisted back for another blow, only to slip on a wet patch of stone and fall prone.

"Guh!" Corrin felt her foot twist sharply against the hard floor as she landed face-first. She instinctively rolled to one side and got to her feet just as Camilla fully recovered.

Camilla reached into a pocket of her armor and took a deep breath before Corrin charged forward again. The Malig Knight held a small tome in her hands. Camilla then let out a breath in a loud eldritch shout which rung in Corrin's ears.

Corrin's body instantly shivered as an unnatural cold passed over her. She slipped and slid along a newly-formed patch of ice, right into Camilla's line of sight. Camila let out a loud grunt as she raised her ax for a brutal strike. All sense of compassion or sisterhood was lost: Corrin only saw death in front of her.

Corrin's senses raced a mile a minute. Thinking fast, she dropped to the floor and leapt to safety with frantic slices. Her sword clanged against Camilla's armored boots with little effect, but that wasn't her main goal. In an impressive show of improvised fighting tactics, Corrin slides between her sister's legs. Before Camilla could register what just happened, Corrin tumbled onto her back. In a split-second decision, Corrin jabbed Camilla's lower back with all her remaining strength via the flat end of her sword.

"URK!" Camilla gasped as she felt some muscles twist in a very strange way. Her eyes bugged out as pain overrode all other emotions. Her ax slipped from her fingers and clattered to the ground. The magically-formed ice melted away a moment later. Camilla's body collapsed, thankfully away from any edged weapons.

Camilla tried to move, but her body failed to respond. It took the Malig Knight several confused seconds to realize her muscles weren't responding to her head. She had never been paralyzed like this. As her mind attempted to process this, the only thought she had was, "What dirty Hoshidan trick did Corrin do just now?!"

Her eyes widened at comparing her sister to one of the enemy. Corrin wasn't like those barbarians, even if she had joined them. Who cared if she was born there, she hadn't spent her life with those people! Corrin was her sister, her friend through years of her life. She was also Camilla's greatest source of affection and love, more so than her calculating mother had ever been. After all that, why would Corrin turn against her family? What evidence had there been to show Nohr wasn't a kind and loving place?

She then remembered the look on Corrin's face at that last strike. That fear those Hoshidan had when they saw what Camilla could do. With dawning horror Camila realized the consequence of her actions. Her words of comfort before the battle now sounded venomous and spiteful. The way she turned her head from Elise, like how Garon would to a squirming court official, made her feel sick. Worst of all, she had actually wanted to kill her sister, driven by carnage and the base desire to spill blood. That froze her insides more than any magical ice.

Desperate to fix things, Camilla attempted to grab her ax again. She stopped when Corrin stepped into her view. The traitor sibling placed a gray boot over Camilla's weapon, her own blade held in one hand. She was in control now, and she knew it.

This dance was over.

"Aaah…" Camilla sighed in defeat as truth started to tear her little world apart. "So, you're never coming back. And now I'll lose Elise as well as you."

Corrin vehemently shook her head. "No. You aren't losing anyone! We're going to persuade Xander and Garon to end this war!"

"We can be a family again, Sis!" Camilla's shocked face turned towards Elise as her youngest sister raced to Corrin's side. "It's what we all want!"

Elise's face was aglow with a happiness Camilla remembered from better days. Gentle warmth filled the downed knight's limbs with energy – not enough energy to leap up and kill something, but enough to make her legs move as she wanted again. She only got up to her knees before her vision spun wildly. Her head pounded as the sharp pain from before turned into a throbbing headache.

"A family…" Camilla's eyes glistened with tears as she involuntarily recalled all the times she had spent with everyone. Elise, Leo, Xander, and especially Corrin, all of them together and happy "Oh, how do I know this is true?"

"You may not be my sister by blood, but you are my sister by love." Corrin sheathed her blade and, in a gesture breaking several levels of common sense, offered a hand to her opponent. Elise and Camilla stared at the action with shock. Camilla questioned if this was a trick or slight-of-hand move to deal a final blow against a downed opponent. Surely Corrin would never, never fall to the dishonor of a Hoshidan thief?

Corrin continued to hold Camilla's hand as tightly as she could while she spoke a few quiet words. "I still love you, Camilla." Tears threatened to spill down Corrin's face as she leaned forward and lightly kissed Camilla's hand.

"Corrin…" Camilla felt tears fall down her cheeks, the warmth helping suppress the pain of the fresh bruises on her feet. She looked into the eyes of her sister, friend, and lover, and she took her words as truth. Against the iron blackness of Garon's will, Corrin's spirit shone like a tiny candle sputtering defiance into the void. It drew Camilla in, enticing her to add fuel to it and make it stronger.

Camilla's discomforts left her body with a deep sigh, her motives clear for the first time since Corrin had chosen to go to her home nation. "I still love you, too, darling Corrin. Now and forever."

Voices reached Corrin's ears as Camilla's body teetered back and forth. The older knight's eyelids fluttered and her vision went black. Corrin cries out as Camilla fell unconscious from her many wound. She did not know Camilla's heart was satisfied that her love, and her family, were both doing the right thing.

(LINE BREAK)

Corrin fell to her knees in front of Camilla's body. She flinched when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up at Elise as the younger sister said, "It's going to be okay, Sis…"

Corrin wasn't entirely sure if Elise truly believed those words. Corrin put her hand on Elise's arm and decided to ask for Elise's opinion on an important matter. "Elise… Do you think the people we love with can be 'Eternally Bonded'… even after all this?"

"I know they can," Elise assured her sister. "Camilla still loves you, and I still love you. I'm sure if we do our best, we can reach Xander and father. We can end this war. Then we can…"

Corrin sorrowfully shook her head in response to Elise's unfinished hope. "Things can never go back to the way they were, Elise…"

"I know…" Elise briefly closed her eyes and reopened them as she held onto Corrin's shoulder. "I know, but we can still be a family, can't we?"

"Yes… That's what I promised…" Corrin looked away from her sister and told her, "We can finish this war before it's too late for us all." Corrin then stood up as she said, "I know we can't finish this if I stay like this." Corrin looked to Camilla and asked Elise, "Will she be okay?"

"She'll be fine." Elise held up her staff. The hanging end glowed as she assured her sister, "I'll make sure of it." As the glow continued to shine, Camilla's wounds could be seen shrinking and reclosing. The light faded and Elise commented, "She'll definitely live."

"Thank you…" Corrin put her hand on Elise's shoulder. When Elise looked up at Corrin, she told Elise, "Thank you for helping me."

Elise circled her arms around Corrin's larger body and took her into a hug. "You don't need to thank me, Big Sis." Corrin found herself returning the hug before she knew it. When they finally broke apart, Elise looked her sister in the eyes.

Elise's smile carried over some of Camilla's infectious qualities as she said, "Let's end this."

"Yes, lets." Corrin and Elise started off together into the unknown, leaving Camilla's body behind to rest and recover. Neither Corrin nor Elise knew what would await them when they faced Xander, or what would transpire before this war ended. Corrin hoped that whatever put the "Eternal Bond" he shared with Camilla to the test would understand the lengths he would go to keep the ones she loved safe.

That's all for now. The next chapter will be posted eventually, and I will keep an eye here for feedback and criticism you can provide.

Draconos is taking off!