As she began to fully register her change in scenery, she became aware of two startling developments: the heavy exertion with which she was breathing, and the steady stream of tears flowing down her cheeks. Through blurry vision, she gazed at the seemingly endless expanse of water before her and allowed the emotions she normally kept at bay to come bursting forth.
Her regard for her brother had undoubtedly blossomed into that of ardent, unconditional love. She was certain of that much, at least—and it was why his ambivalence toward committing an act of blatant injustice had wounded her so deeply. She had expected better from him. But more than that, she had expected him to have faith in her, an unwavering belief that everything would be resolved peacefully so long as they were together. To think that I even entertained such a naive notion, she bitterly lamented. How could he pour all of his faith into one girl? He would have to be irrevocably in love.
Which he wasn't, she concluded with a forlorn sigh. How could he be? He had failed to stand by her side when it truly counted. Whatever signs she had previously picked up on were indicators of something else—a crush, maybe. But not love. She sank to her knees as she told herself this, partially longing for the crashing waves to sweep her away. In that moment, the vast ocean had never appeared so inviting.
She remained like that for quite some time, never taking her gaze off the sea. Before she knew it, the sun had set, and her surroundings were immersed in near total darkness, save for the brilliance of the full moon. Beautiful, she distantly thought. Who knew a full moon would complement the ocean so well?
As she marveled at the ethereal sight, a high-pitched voice startled her from her ruminations. "What are you doing here, ma'am?"
She jerked her head to the side and rested her gaze on a small boy who was standing just a few feet away. He couldn't have been older than 6 or 7 years old, she surmised. His eyes were wide as he regarded her, but they contained zero traces of apprehension or fear. His entire demeanor exuded innocent curiosity, and maybe a bit of concern too. He took a tiny step forward, having clearly made up his mind about engaging her in conversation.
Corrin desperately attempted to muster up a response, any response. "Oh… uh, I'm just thinking." She paused. "Do you like to think near the ocean?"
His response was immediate in a way that struck her as funny. "No. I only think when I have to. That's when my mom teaches me math."
Despite everything, Corrin found herself beginning to smile. "Oh, is that so?" Where was his mom, anyway? And why was she allowing her son to roam freely at night and strike up conversations with random strangers? "Does your mom know you're here?"
He shook his head, his eyes still wide. "No. She thinks I'm playing near the house." Before Corrin could say something about that, he quickly changed the subject in the characteristic mannerism of children. "You're… a real-life princess, right?"
Her smile faltered a little. "Yes… I am. And I traveled here with my Prince brother."
Corrin had thought it to be impossible, but his eyes grew even bigger. "Whoa… That's so cool! C-Can I ask you what your name is?"
"Hehe, of course. You can just call me Corrin."
"Corrin…" He slowly repeated her name as if it held all the power in the world. "Princess Corrin. That's what other people call you?"
"Sometimes," she replied. "It depends on the occasion. But you don't need to say the "Princess" part if you don't want to."
He shook his head much more rigorously this time. "No! I want to."
She laughed, genuinely tickled by the awestruck expression on his face. "If you insist. What's your name?"
"I'm Noah. When I grow up, I want to be just like you."
She cocked her head to the side. "Just like me? You want to become a prince?"
"Uh huh. I'll become the very first prince of Baugh and build a castle of my own. That way, my mom won't ever have to worry about food or money or anything else."
"I… see. Well, Noah, that's a very noble dream you have. If you work hard enough, maybe it'll—"
Something whizzed past Noah's head.
Corrin was on her feet in an instant, responding to the instincts she had honed through years and years of training. She immediately ran over to Noah and angled her body protectively in front of his, quickly scanning the surroundings in search of the threat. Although understandably confused, he didn't shirk away. "What's going on, Princess Corrin?" he inquired, peering up at her with a puzzled look.
"Stay behind me," she instructed in a low voice, tensing up her body for an inevitable attack. "There are some dangerous people nearby, but I can protect you if you listen to me."
Noah fell quiet, and that was when Corrin spotted them: a dark figure ducking behind a box of crates about 20 feet away. "I know where you are," she called out, hoping that she sounded more confident than she felt. "Show yourself! If you don't reveal yourself within the next five seconds, I'll assume you want to fight."
Much to her bafflement, from behind the crates ensued a fit of… laughter. Emotionless, hollow laughter. A few seconds later, the figure willingly revealed themselves—or himself, rather. Corrin experienced another bout of shock as she got a good look at his features and realized that he appeared to be just a couple of years older than herself. Judging from his choice of attire, however, he was no resident of this town. A sickening feeling began to fester in the pit of her stomach, exacerbated by the knowledge that this man had unremorsefully attempted to snuff out the life of a child.
"You've obviously got the wrong idea about us," he nonchalantly spoke, deftly twirling around an arrow in his hand. "Why wouldn't we want to fight? The glory of battle is what we live for."
Corrin froze. Us? We? "There's no 'glory' in what you just attempted to do," she said through gritted teeth.
He shrugged. "Maybe so. Doesn't change the fact that it gives us a thrill like no other." Apparently done with this conversation, he lifted his bow and strung the arrow, aiming directly at Corrin.
Forcing her muscles to move, she leapt to the side and tugged Noah alongside her just as the arrow was released. She knew she needed to make a crucial decision, and quickly: guard Noah from a distance, or take out the archer and leave him temporarily unprotected. Reminding herself that she was dealing with a long-range fighter, she opted for the latter. On the nearby port, she spotted an empty vendor's stall and ascertained it to be a safe hiding spot. Tightly clutching Noah's small hand in her own, she dashed over and ducked down behind it. He did the same.
"You must stay here until I come and get you," she told him. "Even if it takes a long time, you must make sure you are hidden. Can you do that for me?"
He looked like he was on the verge of crying; his entire body quivered in terror, and his gaze took on a haunted quality that seemed much too unsuitable for a child. "Y-You… you promise you'll come back?"
She gave what she hoped was a reassuring smile and gently rested her hand on the crown of his head. "I promise."
He nodded, although he still seemed reluctant to follow through. Corrin wanted nothing more in that moment than to remain there and comfort him, but she knew she needed to dispose of the threat as soon as possible. She took a deep breath and straightened her legs, mercifully dodging another expertly-shot arrow in the process. The archer had moved closer—not quite close enough to render Noah in any immediate danger, but too close all the same.
Corrin faced him head-on and broke into a sprint with the intent to quickly close the distance between the enemy and herself. It worked. Faced with the inevitability of close combat, the archer discarded his bow and produced a dagger from his belt. It gleamed menacingly in the moonlight, but Corrin didn't falter in her movements. She couldn't afford to succumb to fear, especially when the lives of others were at stake.
She swung her right fist toward his face, but he had anticipated this first move. That, and his superior height aided him in dodging what would have been a debilitating blow. He immediately retaliated by striking out a leg. His foot connected with her right side, which she had briefly left unguarded during her attempted attack. As pain shot through her torso, she clenched her jaw and skidded a few feet to the left—but remained on her feet through some grace of luck. The adrenaline in her veins allowed her to recover almost instantaneously, and she converted her arms into their dragon forms as he closed the distance for another assault. Dagger in hand, he swung once, twice—and missed, snarling when his attacks made contact with nothing but the empty air. Upon Corrin's transformation, her activated dragon senses had begun to temporarily improve her reaction time.
Her eyes were on his feet now, calculating their next movements. He made a few more attempts to injure her with the knife, but she was able to easily outmaneuver them all. After several seconds of trying and failing, his snowballing frustration had grown evident, and his subsequent motions took on a rougher edge as a result. She seized the opportunity to shoot out her arm lance toward the ground, hoping and praying that her efforts to analyze his fighting style had paid off.
Her lance pierced cleanly through his foot, effectively pinning him to the dirt underneath.
He emitted an ear-splitting shriek befitting one of the faceless and immediately dropped to his knees. He began haphazardly swiping at her lance—but as Corrin had anticipated, the point of his dagger scraped harmlessly off her hardened skin and failed to elicit any real damage. Despite this, he continued to mercilessly hack away, undoubtedly frenzied by the burning pain in his foot.
Until then, Corrin's other arm had been hanging by her side, and she knew what she now needed to do. Tapping into the inner energy reservoir she normally kept dormant, she allowed the familiar source of power to surge within her and directed its destination into her arm. As she lifted that arm and angled it toward her enemy, she could already see the transformation altering its conformation. Within a few seconds, her second arm lance had been reshaped into an enlarged dragon claw, within which a ball of electrical energy was rapidly building.
The archer suddenly jerked his head up, eyes going impossibly wide when he noticed Corrin's impending attack—and realized that she had conveniently rooted him in place. A strangled noise sounded from the back of his throat as he dropped the dagger and attempted—to no avail—to escape from her line of fire. Certain of victory, she allowed the concentrated energy in her arm to burst forth. Her attack hit her opponent squarely in the chest, producing immobilizing arcs of electricity that raced rapidly across his body. No one could physically stand to handle an ability of that caliber, she knew. As per her expectations, his eyes rolled back into his head as he slumped to the ground, unconscious.
Corrin wasted no time in retracting the arm that had been pinning down her enemy, grimacing at the blood coating its tip. After completely reverting back to her human form, she knelt down and rummaged through the satchel attached to the man's hip. Something, anything to hold him down, she desperately hoped. A moment later, she mercifully found an item that would suffice: a coil of rope. Grabbing the man by the collar, she dragged his limp body over to a nearby barrel and set to work on tying him up. Once satisfied, she stepped back and appraised her handiwork. His foot injury didn't seem to be life-threatening, and his breathing had been steady thus far. He would survive the ordeal, but he wouldn't be moving from this spot anytime soon.
As the adrenaline began to dissipate from her veins, she allowed her thoughts to wander. Who was this man, anyway? And why had he attempted the unthinkable? Stealing she could perhaps understand, but the murder of an innocent child? Absolutely horrific. Such unchecked cruelty reminded her distinctly of… well… Garon. The striking difference was that this man's loss of humanity could only be attributed to himself, not to some deranged monster in permanent possession of his body.
Suddenly repulsed by the sight of the man, Corrin turned around and made her way back to the stall where she had stashed Noah. She was just a few feet from her destination when her ears picked up on sounds that made her blood run ice-cold: multiple screams in the distance. It was at that moment that she knew she was dealing with a larger threat than just the archer alone. Jogging the rest of the way to the stall, she found Noah cowering underneath its frame. "Are you alright?" she asked, kneeling down so that she could visually assess him for injuries. "Are you hurt anywhere at all?"
Much to her relief, he shook his head. "N-No," he answered in a small voice. "Is… Is he gone?"
"Yes, he's gone," she replied, doing her best to appear calm and composed. "But there may be others like him. I have to make sure your friends and family are safe. Do you think you can stay here for just a bit longer?"
This time, tears did well up in his eyes, and they threatened to overflow as he gazed dolefully up at her. "Please don't leave me alone."
"I…" Whatever she had been about to say died off as she regarded him. Would he truly be safer here, with no one around to lend him a hand should unforeseen trouble arise? Or would it be more prudent to keep him by her side, even as she actively sought out danger?
I'll just have to defend him at all costs, she fiercely decided. That's all there is to it.
"All right, under one condition," she conceded, looking him directly in the eye. "You must never leave my side. Got it?"
His response was immediate. "Okay."
"Good." As she helped him to his feet, she found her gaze drifting toward the direction of the screams. A jolt ran through her body as she counted two—no, three separate plumes of smoke, their tendrils stretching ominously into the once-clear nighttime sky. Whatever their source, Corrin knew in her heart that it wasn't benign. She needed to take care of the problem before it could be blown out of proportion.
"Here, get on," she said, stooping down so that her back was in easy access. "We'll get there much more quickly if we run."
The request was easily agreeable to Noah, who climbed onto her back without another word. After hoisting him up and securing him in place, Corrin steeled herself and broke into a run. The warmth of Noah's small body on her back fueled her resolve as she mentally readied herself to be met with a potentially disastrous sight.
Even so, no number of gruesome imaginings could have truly prepared her for the debacle unfolding before her very eyes. Once she rounded the corner leading to the central square, nearly all vestiges of hope vanished from her mind. All around her, buildings were enveloped in scorching flames. Townspeople of all ages dashed past as they fled from their assailants, tears streaming down their distressed complexions. From what she could make out through the burgeoning smoke, Corrin identified at least 10 such assailants, all of whom were brandishing some sort of lethal weapon. They appeared to be garbed in the same outlandish clothing as her earlier enemy, which confirmed her suspicion that they belonged to the same brutalizing group.
Regardless of who these people were, though, the issue still remained: they were currently wreaking havoc on the town. Corrin lunged for the nearest one, who had come dangerously close to clubbing an elusive old man. Knowing fully well that her arms were occupied, she lifted a leg and transformed it into its lance counterpart before driving it forcefully into the assailant's thigh. Her victim bellowed in rage and dropped his club, clawing uselessly at his punctured leg. That was all the time Corrin needed. She quickly retracted her leg and immediately whacked him upside the head before he could make a move. The force of her blow was thankfully sufficient enough to render him unconscious, and he fell to the ground, freshly incapacitated.
Breathing heavily, she regained her bearings and attempted to locate her next target through bleary, smoke-filled eyes. Suddenly, she was reminded of the weight on her back. "Noah," she gasped out. "Make sure to keep your eyes closed, okay?"
"I'm already doing it," came his soft reply.
Corrin's shoulders sagged in relief. Perhaps he hadn't witnessed the way she had taken out her last enemy. If he had seen the way she unflinchingly stabbed through the man's thigh—
"Die!"
Corrin whirled around in a panic and narrowly evaded what would have resulted in a sword to the gut. She mentally cursed. In allowing herself to dwell on hypothetical situations, she had failed to pay attention to her more pressing surroundings. She couldn't afford to make the same mistake again—not when Noah's survival depended on hers.
Her new attacker was much nimbler than the last, quickly cornering her against the central fountain with a cold-hearted grin on his face. "You're quick, I'll give you that," he sneered, taking deliberately slow steps toward her as he spoke. "But you have nowhere left to run. Just because you gave me a hard time, I've decided I won't kill you right away. I'll drag out your death, and by the end you'll wish I had—"
Something slammed into the side of his head, knocking him out instantly.
It took a few seconds for Corrin to register what had just transpired. As she blinked out the smoke from her eyes, she peered down and noticed the glowing purple residue stuck to her assailant's head. Dark magic, she belatedly realized. Which means…
She jerked her eyes to the side and spotted her nearby brother, who had his hand partially elevated as a result of his recent spell.
A mixture of powerful emotions swelled within her, relief and gratitude foremost among them all. As she met his all-knowing gaze, time itself seemed to grind to a halt, and her reservations about their earlier dispute promptly fled from her mind. His intentions were abundantly clear: he, like Corrin, had shown up to save the townsfolk. Despite the bleakness of their current situation, she felt a smile manifest on her lips. His expression softened in response, and she immediately knew that they had reached a mutual understanding within those few seconds.
"Leo!" she called out as she jogged over to him. "How are you faring?"
He appeared to have sustained a few scrapes and bruises, but seemed to be no worse for the wear. His next response confirmed as such. "I'm fine, mercifully, but I'm more concerned about the safety of the residents." As if on cue, his gaze was drawn toward a pair of ruffians who had secured a young woman at knifepoint. Swiftly gliding his hand across the cover of his tome, he materialized a sphere of dark energy in his palm before sending it off toward his targets. The magical mass aptly split into two and connected with said ruffians, who quickly realized that they had been hit with no ordinary offensive spell. Upon contact, the dark magic promptly mutated into glowing tendrils and bound their limbs tightly to their bodies. Both victims cried out and writhed in frustration, but to no avail. The released woman wasted no time in escaping the immediate area.
Corrin openly gaped at the spectacle, completely amazed by Leo's level of skill. "Convenient," she managed to remark.
"It's useful for quick immobilization," he replied, a hint of a smirk on his lips.
Quick immobilization, Corrin thought. That's what we need to focus on! Angling her head back, she addressed her young companion. "I'll need to set you down now… Is that all right?"
As Leo regarded the two of them with curious eyes, Noah gave a nod of consent. "Yeah, it's okay."
Corrin carefully set down the boy, who had grown preoccupied with rubbing the smoke out of his eyes. After ushering him behind her, she cooly met her brother's gaze. "Okay. I'm ready to immobilize."
But before they could begin their onslaught, Leo insisted that they firstly pinpoint their remaining enemies' locations. Fortunately, he had just the thing to accomplish such a feat: a honing spell which was free to be customized as he so pleased. As he swept his hand across his tome once more, he verbalized his instructions. "Reveal to me the nearby locations of those in relentless pursuit," he muttered.
As soon as he issued the command, his gaze assumed a notable sharpness and began to flit from side to side. Because Corrin couldn't see any physical manifestations of the spell, she deduced that its power was working on Leo's mind. "How many are there?" she inquired, hoping fervently that they wouldn't have to contend with dozens of enemies.
"Seven," he reported. "Concentrated toward the north and northwest. Should be easy, so long as we're efficient."
Corrin wouldn't allow herself to entertain the possibility of failure. "Understood. Let's go."
Within a minute, they had occupied opposing positions around the zone that Leo had briefly specified. From her vantage point on a slight hill, Corrin could visually pinpoint nearly all seven of the ruffians, and she set to work. After stashing Noah safely behind her, she channeled her latent powers into one of her arms and reverted it back to its dragon claw form. Provided with no other alternative, she began firing at her targets with as many powerful energy projectiles as she could produce. Most of her attacks scattered harmlessly across the ground, but many did connect with her targets—and rendered them unconscious as a result. Leo was also able to contribute a great deal, and between the two of them, their enemies were wiped out in a matter of moments.
Corrin performed one last visual sweep of the area before sinking to the ground in relief—and exhaustion. "We did it," she murmured. "We really did it."
Leo reconvened with her shortly thereafter and seemed to notice just how draining the ordeal had been for her. "Here, I'll lend you my shoulder," he offered, lowering himself to one knee.
As tempting as the offer was, Corrin knew she would only prove to be a burden. "No, not yet," she declined. Seeing the worried look in his eyes, she hastily explained herself. "You need to help the residents put out the fires first. But I… I think I'm too exhausted to walk, let alone contribute to the effort. Noah here also needs to be reunited with his mother."
The aforementioned boy had been quiet thus far, but perked up at hearing his name. "You're… the prince, right?" he asked in a small voice.
Leo blinked as he diverted his attention to the child. "Yes," he slowly replied, his tone the slightest bit guarded. "That I am."
And just like that, Noah's expression transformed. Whatever fear he had displayed on his face completely disappeared, leaving only innocent wonder and amazement in its wake. "You use magic, too," he proudly stated. "And you're really good at it!"
Leo opened his mouth and closed it again, clearly at a loss for words. Corrin barely held back a smile; it wasn't often that she witnessed a young boy render her coolheaded brother speechless. "Yes," Leo repeated, still grasping for something suitable to say. "Well, dark magic, that is. I don't grapple with white magic."
"What's the difference?" Noah immediately inquired.
"'Differences', you must mean. They may both be magical fields, but the similarities end there. They require vastly different aptitudes, skill sets, even personalities—" He abruptly cut himself off, no doubt having realized that he had been dangerously close to launching on a rant. After rising into a standing position, he gestured toward the town. "I'll explain further as we find your mother." His gaze moved to meet Corrin's, and she felt her heart flutter in response. "I'll come back for you, Sister. Make sure to rest."
She nodded and watched as the two of them headed off. Once they had disappeared from sight, she let herself fall back against the grass and seriously consider the extent to which she had weakened herself during the ordeal. On top of physically exerting herself to her limit, she had fired off at least ten bursts of concentrated energy within an extremely short time span. Never before had she produced more than five within a single day. I really overdid it, she thought, lifting a shaky arm in contemplation. But then again… How would this town have fared if I hadn't pushed myself to the extent that I did?
No longer equipped with the willpower to resist the exhaustion, Corrin allowed her eyelids to droop closed. It felt like only an instant before a hand on her shoulder signaled someone's newfound presence.
Opening her eyes once more, she met the gentle gaze of her brother. "I trust everything went well?" she managed to ask.
He gave a small nod. "No issues. Noah is safely returned to his mother, the fires are extinguished, and the ruffians are all rounded up and secured. We've also confiscated their belongings."
"That's… wonderful." She didn't have much else to say about their stroke of serendipity. "Did you find out where they came from?"
"They're bandits, through and through. They don't hail from a particular place, although they're known to often wreak havoc a ways east from here. Now that they're contained, this region will hopefully see more peaceful days."
"Hopefully," she repeated, her eyes flitting to his hand on her shoulder. "I think you and I both deserve a good night of rest. Won't you help me up?"
"Certainly," he complied, snaking an arm underneath her body and helping her into a sitting position. He guided his arm down toward her waist, and she flinched as pain shot through her right side. "M-Maybe not there," she gasped out, surprised at just how tender that area was. "It's probably bruised from an attack I sustained."
He halted his movements right away. "Does your wound require immediate attention?"
"No, it can wait until we get back. For now… I can manage."
He followed through with no immediate action, undoubtedly assessing the validity of her claim. After a few seconds of contemplation, he sighed and opted to hoist her up via the shoulders. She draped an arm over his shoulder in an effort to secure herself. "We'll take a closer look as soon as we have the chance."