Chapter Ten
"No! Xander!"
Corrin tries his hardest to stop the blood seeping through his fingers as he places pressure on his older brother's wound.
"Little prince," Xander mutters on last time, eyes rolling into the back of his head.
"Xander!" Corrin begs, screaming into the darkness. "No! S-stop this!"
"You have a job to do," a voice comes from the darkness. It's his boss. "Let him die."
"No!" Corrin sobs, but a force pulls his hands back and he watches his older brother bleed out. "No! Please, boss, you can stop this! Please, no!"
"You have a job to do." His boss reminds him, sounding cold.
"No more." Corrin begs. "No more, please. No more."
Corrin forces himself awake.
He sits in his bed, in his room, in his fort, in the Deeprealm. His boss never talks to him during the job, and the only messages appear via the roll of parchment on his desk. He takes comfort that it was only a nightmare. Xander is alive.
Xander hates him.
Corrin sighs and slips out of bed. Dressed in a plain t-shirt and pyjama pants, he makes his way to the common rooms.
The fireplace is roaring and Gunter is sitting in a chair by the fire, sipping tea. He looks faintly surprised, but nods in greeting. "Lord Corrin."
"Hello, Gunter," Corrin says softly. "Do you mind if I sit with you?"
Gunter shakes his head and stands to find a chair. Corrin waves him off and grabs one of the nearby chairs, dragging it over to the fireplace. There is silence for a few minutes.
"I am truly glad you are alive, Gunter," Corrin says, eyes not straying from the fire. "When you fell through the bridge, it terrified me. I never thought we would ever see you again…"
"Thank you, Lord Corrin," Gunter says, watching the young prince. "It means very much to hear you say that."
"Gunter," Corrin starts lowly. He meets the older man's eyes, "Hans claimed he was attacking under King Garon's orders."
Gunter nods, looking older under the fire light. "Remember when I told you the story of how I turned down the king's request to drink dragon's blood and become his retainer?"
Corrin's face hardens and he nods. "I remember… I am so sorry, Gunter."
Gunter shakes his head and returns his stare to the fire. "I miss them, my wife and child. If only I had agreed, they would both be…" Gunter closes his eyes. "While I regret that decision, I will never regret meeting you, Lord Corrin."
Corrin closes his eyes while Gunter sips his tea. "Thank you, Gunter. I am truly sorry."
Corrin doesn't see the rare, proud look on Gunter's face. The men face the fireplace, silent for the rest of the night.
;;;
"Hello, Felicia," Corrin says, catching the woman before she falls. "Do you need any help with those?"
Felicia pokes her head around the stack of groceries. "I appreciate the offer, milord. Would you mind taking the bag around my arm?"
Corrin helps her slide the bag off, and he follows her into the fort. They navigate the hallways, aiming for the kitchens. "Did you have a successful shopping trip?"
"Oh, yes!" Felicia exclaims excitedly. "I even found something I thought you might be interested in. I hope you don't mind me spending a little extra for it."
"Not at all," Corrin tells her with a chuckle. "I hope you didn't use your own spending money."
Felicia blushes and Corrin laughs louder. "I will pay you back," he tells her. "You should buy yourself something next time, Felicia."
"Of course, Lord Corrin," Felicia says with a smirk and a bit of sarcasm.
Corrin places his bag on the kitchen table, and Felicia goes through hers. She pulls out two old looking scrolls, and hands them over with a bright smile. "I hope you enjoy them, but don't spend too much time going over them."
Corrin nods his thanks. "I understand. Make sure you take a break as well, Felicia. Lilith said that morning will break in the other world just after three this afternoon. We'll have a long road ahead of us."
Felicia smiles and starts to put away the groceries. "I'll stop by and see her before we leave. Have a nice morning, milord."
Corrin nods and walks away, trying not to grip the scrolls tightly. Felicia always goes shopping in another Deeprealm their first morning of each route, and always brings him something. He reaches the records hall and sits down before it registers just what she gave him.
More importantly, what she didn't.
The Monument isn't there.
Corrin is glad he memorized the symbols and knows how to translate these scripts. He doesn't truly need the Monument anymore; it is only useful as a Rosetta Stone. There is still a moment of panic, because this has never happened before.
Corrin breathes in through his nose and out through his mouth until the panic stops. He is never there when Felicia gets the items, so he won't be able to go back. The best thing to do right now is to decipher these scrolls.
Corrin can't stop the lingering hesitation at the back of his mind. Why wouldn't Felicia have bought the Monument?
He stops worrying about that when he starts reading the first scroll.
Prophecy of Depths
A burdened heart
sinks into the ground
A veil falls away
without a sound
Not day nor night
wrong nor right
for truth and peace we fight
Corrin's lips thin, but he just sets the scroll aside. He will fight for peace, but only time will tell if he gets enough truth to fight for that as well.
The second scroll tells him that there is a part two. Corrin rubs a hand through his hair, knowing he will probably never find the second half.
Bloodline 1
The white princes and princesses are born of Sumeragi and Ikona
the black princes and princess are born of Garon
the first prince with Katerina
the first princess with a concubine
the second prince with yet another
the second princess with another still
This one has Corrin sitting back, mind whirling. It doesn't help him as he tries to piece together his strange placement in the Hoshido family. He doesn't remember anything before Garon took him to the castle, when he was five years old. Did Ikona die shortly before Mikoto married Sumeragi, or did they divorce? Sakura is a half a year older than Elise, but that still doesn't let it all add up.
What happened to make Sumeragi move on so quickly to Mikoto?
Corrin groans and goes to put the scrolls away. The missing Monument is bad enough; he doesn't need this to fry his brain further. Corrin is running on only a couple hours of sleep. He plans to retreat to his room for the few hours before they leave for the Hoshian Fort, Jinya.
He hopes the nightmares will stay away.
;;;
Azura treads lightly into the kitchen, not making any sound as she searches for Corrin. The blue haired woman looks around, frowning when she doesn't see him.
"Ah!" Felicia shrieks, dropping a sack of potatoes. She puts a hand over her heart and breathes hard as Azura stares her down. "Lady Azura, I'm sorry. You surprised me." The maid hurries to pick up the fallen vegetables.
"Felicia," Azura says breezily, standing in the doorway. "Would you happen to know where Corrin is?"
Felicia pauses so swiftly that Azura doesn't notice. The pink haired woman quickly turns her back and starts to put the potatoes away. "He was headed for the records hall last I saw him," Felicia says with a forced light tone. "Was there something I could assist you with, milady?"
Azura is silent, watching Felicia put away groceries. Every time they lock eyes, Felicia avoids her with a nervous chuckle.
"What is your relationship with Corrin?" Azura asks breezily. A flat expression is on her face.
Felicia blinks, eyes widening. She is truly surprised, and doesn't bother to hide it. "I am Lord Corrin's maid." Felicia goes red and smiles nervously. "I also owe him my life."
Azura frostily asks, "Anything else?"
Felicia blinks, eyes wide and looking very innocent. She truly has no idea what's going on. She shakes her head.
Azura's lips curl, like she is holding back a snarl. "Are you and Corrin close?"
It is like a lightbulb goes off as it all clicks together for Felicia. Her mouth drops at the implication, and the first thing to come to mind is blurted out, "Lord Corrin is gay."
Azura blanches back, as if physically struck. Her mouth gapes before she composes herself. "I see," Azura says, strained. "Well, I must be going now. Good day, Felicia."
"Good bye, Lady Azura," Felicia says politely. As the blue haired songstress runs off, the maid sighs. She wonders if Lady Azura will stop trying to cling to Corrin now. If the woman does stop, she wonders if it will make up for blurting his secret out like that. "Gosh, I never knew it was this hard to be a buffer. His siblings make it look so easy."
A/N: Thanks for reading!
Thank you, Guest, for your review! Really, thank you for reviewing. It's nice to hear what you thought about the chapter. Yah… I still don't know how in-game Corrin is the (implied) tactician of his army. I'm trying to make this one at least a little relatable, so I'm glad to hear it's working! Azura is a… special kind of unit (I played Conquest and her supports left a bad impression). Thank you so much for reviewing, and I hope you enjoyed the chapter!