In the week that followed, Cornelius took Lucina's advice to heart, and did what he could to get to know his Hoshidoan siblings better. This was difficult as Azura was still in the camp and both Cornelius and Xander agreed that he couldn't afford to blow his cover now. Luckily, the prince was able to find an open time when Azura left the camp to be alone; it was here he trained with his siblings.

The more he got to know his Hoshidoan siblings, the more intrigued he became. The youngest was Sakura, who was rather timid, but caring like Elise. Next up was Takumi, one of the best archers in the entire camp. He was a bit stoic most of the time, but he was gentle, almost like Leo. Cornelius had already met Hinoka and had seen her fierce warrior spirit, but he now discovered a protective big sister side to her. Then, there was Ryoma, the leader figure of the group who was equally heroic and kind. Cornelius actually found himself enjoying their company despite them being from a different kindgom.

None of this, however, compared to his quickly blossoming relationship with Corrin, his full-blooded sister. They trained with each other more than anyone else, and Corrin also decided to show him how to tap into his inner dragon heritage, either forming body parts into more draconic forms or just straight up turning into a full-blown dragon (though Corrin decided they should wait on that one until Cornelius was more accustomed to his powers).

Cornelius simply stared at her in near disbelief when she first mentioned this to him as the pair stood in a field near the camp. "You're being serious."

Corrin nodded. "I know it seems crazy, but it's true. Here, watch this."

Corrin stood up and walked to an open spot before jumping into the air and throwing an arm towards the ground. However, to Cornelius's surprise, her arm suddenly morphed into a giant spike that stabbed the ground as she landed. Corrin retracted the blade, but Cornelius could still see and armored but clawed hand for a few moments before it returned to normal.

"You're telling me I can do that too!?" he gasped.

"Most likely." Corrin replied, chuckling at her brother's shocked expression, "Ok, your turn. For me, it can happen when I channel my emotions, so maybe it'll be the same for you."

"o-okay..." Cornelius replied as he stood up, facing a simple rock in the middle of the field. He reached out a hand and made several punching motions while trying to focus any emotion he felt in that moment. No luck: he was only punching air for almost a minute.

"I don't think emotions are gonna cut it." Cornelius finally said. Corrin stood there in thought for a few moments before walking up to him.

"Let's try this." she said. Before Cornelius could ask what she meant by that, Corrin stomped right on his foot. The resulting surge of pain cause Cornelius to reel back, however, as she shouted, a burst of flame shot out of his mouth, striking the ground and leaving a burnt patch of grass. Cornelius briefly forgot the pain as both he and Corrin stared at the burnt area in surprise.

"Did that just come out of me?!" the prince finally said.

"Um, yeah" Corrin replied, "Not at all what I was expecting, but I guess it's a start."

She then looked back to her brother and gasped. "I guess...that is too."

Cornelius looked at her, confused. "What?"

She pointed to somewhere behind him, and he followed her gaze to see a draconic, armored tail protruding from his rear. Even more surprising was that Cornelius realized he could move it just like he could any of his other limbs.

Both siblings were utterly speechless for several moments. Suddenly, the prince cracked a smirk, then started to chuckle. That chuckle soon turned into a hearty laugh as he wiggled his tail with an almost child-like excitement. Corrin chuckled along, but it was a tad more uncomfortable.

"You're...taking this remarkably well for your first time." she said. She couldn't deny his draconic abilities were starting to reveal themselves, but they were far different from her own.

"Not what I was expecting, but I guess I can't judge." she finally said with a smirk, "Looks like we're off to a good start."

Suddenly, the two were alerted by a sudden rustling of the bushes and whipped around to see a younger looking girl with green hair and pointy ears watching them. She yelped as they turned to face her, but she didn't run, though seeming very shy nonetheless.

Cornelius breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh thank the gods, I thought you were someone else."

"I-I'm sorry if I scared you." the girl replied in a strange accent, "I just heard someone talking here and went to see who it was."

"Well, that's fine, I guess." Corrin replied, "Hm, have we met yet? I don't remember seeing you around camp."

The girl shook her head. "No, I just recently got here with another. My name is Tiki."

"I'm Corrin. This is my brother, Cornelius." Corrin said with a wave. Cornelius waved as well, only to look confused as Tiki noticed his tail, which he then tried to hide.

"I-I can explain!" he stuttered. Much to his surprise, Tiki started to laugh.

"No need to explain" Tiki said, "It's so nice to meet another dragon here."

"Wait, WHAT?!" Cornelius demanded, "You too?!"

Tiki nodded as she brought out a glowing white stone, "Of course. This stone allows me to show my dragon form. I won't use it here; got to save my energy for later."

"Do we have one of those too?" Cornelius asked Corrin.

Corrin nodded and brought out a stone of her own. "I assume you do too."

Cornelius was confused for a moment, until he remembered his necklace. Hidden under his armor was a necklace that he wore on his neck for most of his life that had a pendant with a white gemstone that seemed similar to Corrin and Tiki's. Remembering the necklace, he briefly brought it out to show them.

"Wonderful!" Tiki excitedly said.

"Yeah" Cornelius agreed, "But I'm actually rather new to this. Corrin's been training me."

"That's alright!" Tiki told him, "There's a first time for everything! Just imagine, three dragons on the battlefield. We'll be unstoppable!"

"First we gotta whip this guy into shape then." Corrin replied, gesturing to her brother, "He's having a good start, so this shouldn't take too long."

Tiki seemed all too excited to help train him in his draconic powers.

First, Cornelius attempted to retract his tail. It took a while, but with some advice from Corrin and Tiki, his tail eventually disappeared in a flash of light.

Cornelius breathed a sigh of relief. "Glad that's gone. It would have been real awkward if I walked through camp with a tail...'draggin' behind me. Eh?"

Tiki giggled at the joke while Corrin only shook her head in mild amusement. "That was good. Just try not to make it a habit."

Cornelius smirked at this sister. "No promises."

Just then, a horn echoed out from camp, catching the trio's attention.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Cornelius asked.

Corrin replied. "Usually that would mean another hero has arrived. Tiki?"

Tiki seemed excited. "Well, I was one of the two remaining, but I think that horn is for the one I came here with. I may have gotten here ahead of him."

"Oh? Who?" Cornelius asked as Tiki began making her way back to camp. The girl turned back to face them with a smile.

"Why, the Hero-King, Marth, of course!" she exclaimed, "Come on! We must go and meet him!"

Cornelius seemed to have no idea of who this Marth was, though Corrin seemed much less confused as the two made their way back.

"You know this guy?" he asked her.

"It's...complicated." Corrin admitted. "I'll explain later."

With that, the two followed Tiki back to the war camp, where a group of heroes had already gathered to greet the coming Marth.

Let me know what you think so far!