The coarse ground below her was the first thing that came to her. Next was the darkness that blanketed her sight. Then the sounds of a hollow ringing that echoed into her ears. And there was the smell of rainwater that stung her nostrils.
'Where am I?' Corrin attempted to speak but the question only came out as a thought.
She stood up, her feet grazing the prickled ground. Corrin looked down in pain, only to notice what she was wearing. A white dress with an aqua blue sash that was wrapped around her waist and attached to a clip on her shoulder. She wore a long white glove on her right, a white legging on her left, and a silk headpiece.
'Weird… I don't remember sleeping in this." Corrin stretched out her arms and inspected her clothing further. 'Or… in a cave, for that matter."
The princess slowly moved forward. The lack of light prevented her from knowing where she was going. Luckily her lack of footwear came in handy, as she felt the ground become smooth. A path, Corrin figured.
Following it was her only viable option, perhaps she could find any source of light on the way. Corrin didn't think any further and slowly treaded this path. Each footstep was carefully placed, making sure not to step on any further rough terrain.
She raised her head, discovering a purple flicker of light on the wall before her. Corrin ran for it. Each step she took was heavier than the last. And each one seemed to drain her. As she got closer, Corrin felt her body grow weaker.
"Oof!" Corrin felt herself collide with someone. Not enough to knock her off her feet but enough to hurt her. "Ow… Hey, are you alright?"
The princess flinched in surprise at the fact that she could talk once again. However her attention was directed to the person she could not see.
They were silent, the only thing that could be heard from them was, "We can't escape..."
"Huh?" Corrin backpedaled at the voice of a young girl, stern and solemn. She suddenly felt two slender arms wrap around her, the girl began to tremble as she held onto Corrin. "W-What are you…?"
"He'll destroy everything…"
"He?" Corrin gently pushed the girl off of her and looked her in the eyes. From what she could make out; she was young, probably a teenager. "Who are you talking about? What's going on?!"
"P-Please…"
The quaking of the earth nearly knocked her off balance. The girl held onto her tighter as a purple spark lighted their vision. Corrin raised her head to see the dark flicker from before, its ember spread like a wildfire. Its flames enveloped a part of the wall, burning away the haze of black.
The stone began to lean forward as the fire seared away the darkness. Tremors rumbled the ground below them. Corrin could hear the roof above them begin to crumble as dust covered her vision.
With a loud crack, what was on the wall emerged into vision. It was a large stone face that hovered before them. Corrin slowly began to walk backwards, holding onto the girl who refused to separate from her. The edges of the face's mouth before to splinter and crack, its jaw slowly stretched as a bellow emerged from it. Corrin attempted to run but found no control over her body.
"Please…" The girl softly said as she turned her head towards the princess. Corrin was finally able to see the girl clung to her.
Dark gray hair that was tied into a ponytail, snow white skin, a dark blue coat with honey gold accents, and ruby red eyes. Corrin froze in shock seeing the girl's appearance. She looked like‒
The roar of a beast knocked her out of her thoughts. Corrin felt her skin prickle as shadows casted over the two of them. Her breath began to increase as her skin began to sear with an ice cold touch. She turned her head, discovering the stone beast about to devour the two of them as time slowed down.
Corrin looked at the girl, who looked sad rather than terrified. With one last movement of her lips before darkness enveloped the both of them. She uttered…
"Please don't die… Please…"
April 18th, 1506 AD
"WAUGH!" Corrin shot up from her bed, her breaths hefty and her skin was ice cold.
"Oops, I guess we overdid it…" Flora bowed her head in apology as did her sister. "Forgive us Lady Corrin, but it's time to get ready."
"W-What?" Corrin looked around the room, finding her maids looming over her bedside with Jakob and Gunter near the door to her bedroom. Right, then that means that the whole ordeal was just a dream… A very realistic one but it was just a dream.
"You have sparring practice with your brother, remember?" Gunter spoke up, pointing to the window.
Corrin leered outside, scowling at the pink sunlight outside her home. With a sigh, she pushed aside her sheets and smoothed out the wrinkles in her nightgown. The princess gave a hefty yawn as she rubbed her eyes, "Alright… Mm, I'm honestly kinda glad you two woke me up. I was having such a strange nightmare…"
"What was it, milady?" Felicia asked, tilting her head ever so slightly to the side as she walked beside her.
Corrin gnawed on her lip before answering, "I was in this cave of sorts and then there was this girl who kept clinging onto me… And then… It's just too nonsensical to describe."
"I suppose that's a given for dreams," Jakob surmised, stepping into the room with a bow of his head. "Now milady, Lord Xander is waiting for you… I have prepared your armor for you and fixed up the dents after your last bout with your brother."
"Ugh… Don't remind me." Corrin rubbed her left shoulder after that last strike from Xander. It wasn't in physical pain, just the memory from that blow caused her to ache.
With a vigorous leap, Corrin jumped out of bed and walked with her retainers to get fitted for her spar with Xander on the roof. Though that dream would still latch onto her mind as she walked. It felt so real, and yet it couldn't be…
Who was that girl and that monster that appeared in front of them?
Corrin was tossed aside by Xander's swing, her back sliding across the floor as her iron sword fell beside her. She raised her head to see Xander standing tall a few feet away from her. A figure of willpower and steel, a symbol of Nohr. Corrin stared at him slightly while grunting from her aching bruises.
"It seems that our dear sister has a bit of a drowsy spell on her." Corrin turned to see Leo spectating at the base of the arena. Her younger brother smugly gazed upon the fight, dressed as if he were at a social gathering rather than a duel. Leo laughed once again, "You aren't going to best anything by sleeping all day!"
Corrin let out a quiet growl and leered at her brother for his taunts. Weakly raised herself with large huffs in between. Her eyes caught Xander, who stared at her with steeled eyes.
"Do you give up so quickly?" Xander asked coldly, "I had expected more from you. A true Nohrian barters on strength, they never give in to their enemy!"
The princess caught a lump in her throat at those words, "X-Xander, I‒"
"We go through such rigorous training to be able to defend our country and ourselves." Xander paused, taking a breath before speaking in a calm voice. "Father has kept track of your progress, if you give up now and accept defeat then you may never leave this fortress. Ever."
"What?!" Corrin immediately shot to her feet, picking up her sword on the way up. "Xander, that can't be true! One simple loss is not enough to lock me up here!"
"To surrender yourself to your enemy is proof enough to know how you would fare on the battlefield." Xander twirled his blade and smirked as he saw Corrin's eyes sharpen and her stance readied. "But I see you are quite motivated, so let that fire be the turning point to best me. To win this, you must force me to kneel to you."
Corrin swallowed slightly as Xander raised his blade, "Alright… Just need you to kneel."
The princess charged forward, aiming for Xander's legs. She swung with the passion of a shakened child, she did not wish to seriously harm her elder brother. Xander blocked her attack and struck her in the face with a swift jab with his elbow. Corrin recoiled from the strike as she held onto her bruised cheek.
"You swing with hesitation." Xander chided, "Strike me with the intent of killing me!"
"Xander, that's‒!"
"This may be a sparring match, but this is also a test of your will." Xander interjected before she could speak further, "Show me you have the strength to harm me!"
Corrin gritted her teeth and raised her blade. She didn't need to kill him, she just needed to get him on his knees.
With a quick dash, Corrin leveled her blade as she was to plunge it into Xander's chest. She saw how her brother readied his blade, most likely scoffing at what seemed to be a head-on rush. Her brother sidestepped out of the way, Corrin hopped behind him. Catching him off guard, she made her move. She kicked him in the back of his right knee. Then struck his left with the pommel of her sword.
She raised her blade, making a clean scrape against his armor that left a shallow cut into the metal. It wasn't enough to carve into it but it was enough to force Xander to lean forward. Corrin pushed Xander down by his right shoulder, creating a low enough platform for her to leap onto his shoulders and push him down with a quick stomp.
Corrin flipped off of her brother and twirled around, pointing the tip of her sword to his forehead.
"I… Ha… Win!" Corrin quietly cheered as she held onto her chest. Xander simply chuckled as he raised himself without much problem.
"So you did, It may have not been a fair victory but a victory is still a victory." Her brother walked off his bruises without a hint of ache. Making Corrin question if he let her win…
"I doubt Gunter would teach you such a sly way of victory," Leo walked up to the two of them with a smirk, "Sister, I'm surprised you would make such a play. Perhaps he has rubbed off on you."
Corrin awkwardly rubbed the back of her neck, "I… I guess I mirrored a bit of August's style from our sparring matches. Gods, I can't seem to count how many times he's pulled a similar move on me." The princess raised her sword as she reflected on their previous matches. "I'm surprised how many matches I've won against his dirty tactics."
Xander smiled at this, "Then it is true, you are getting stronger every day. Must be a natural talent of yours to be able to pull off such stunts." Corrin blushed at his approval, hiding her face behind her left hand. "Perhaps one day, you may even be the greatest warrior in Nohr."
"Oh, come on now!" Corrin awkwardly laughed, "You're just teasing me now."
Xander shook his head, "I don't joke about such manners. Corrin, you have the potential to help bring light to our kingdom."
Leo scoffed at such flowery words, "Typical praise, swordplay isn't the only showcase of strength."
"Leo, he didn't mean it like that…" Corrin's words caused Leo to scoff once again.
"Let's not bring competition into this." Xander said calmly, "Leo, you have no reason to prove yourself. You've shown your prowess in your crafts, you as well can help bring hope to Nohr just as much as Corrin."
"Hm," Leo folded his arms, "Well just keep in mind that waving around pointy metal sticks isn't the only path to power."
Corrin nodded as she looked to her younger brother. And as she stared at him, she noticed something wrong with the coat he wore. With a quick cough into her fist, she got his attention. "I… I've noticed something wrong, Leo."
"With what? Is it so important that you need to derail this conversation?"
"Maybe? It's just that your coat is inside out." Leo jolted in surprise at his sister's words. Looking down at his coat he found its color to be more diluted and its fabric fuzzy.
"G-Gah!"
"Yes, I wondered when you would notice that…" Xander chuckled as Leo scrambled to take it off and fix his mistake.
"Ugh… I must have looked like a fool!" Leo growled as he slipped his coat back on, leaving the collar popped. "Why didn't you tell me?!"
"Haha, sorry, Leo." Xander his laughter behind his hand, "But that sort of thing is what makes you so lovable."
"Absolutely…" Another voice arrived onto the scene. Turning their heads to it, they found their sister Camilla alongside their youngest sister Elise. They two walked side-by-side as they arrived at the arena.
Camilla laughed as she walked to her younger brother. "I suppose it's just one of your little quirks that make you so adorable. Like that little headband of yours."
Leo blushed, flinching at the mention of the word 'cute'. "This isn't meant to look cute! It's supposed to keep my hair in place!"
Corrin snickered at Leo's embarrassment. "It does make you look rather feminine."
"It does not!"
Elise, wanting to have fun as well, decided to join on this little ribbing. "Maybe I should call you Big Sister Leo, huh?"
"S-STOP INSULTING ME!"
"Alright, he's had enough of your taunts." Xander stopped Leo's torment but he could be seen having a smile of his own.
The eldest sibling's demeanor became more serious as he stepped closer to his family. "I'm glad you're all here, because I have some news from Father."
Camilla blinked in surprise, "Well now, don't keep us in suspense. Tell us what you need to say."
Xander nodded before facing Corrin. The princess hugged her sword close to her body, waiting in anticipation. Completely unaware of what Xander was going to reveal. Her brother said the words she's been waiting to hear for almost her entire life.
"Father has given me orders to take you back to the Castle. It's time to leave the fortress, Little Princess."
"Milady? Are you okay?" Flora asked as she noticed Corrin doze off as she stared into her shelf of books.
"Y-Yeah…" Corrin dipped her head into a nod before picking out novels to bring, "It's just… I can't believe this day is actually coming true! Gods, how much do you think the carriage can hold? A lot? Maybe I should travel light, I don't want the horses to carry too much… How much can a horse carry? How many horses are‒"
"Milady, I don't think you really need to worry about that." Flora laughed, kneeling beside Corrin to help pack up her books. They picked out stories of romance, adventure, actually fun stuff to read. So one book on the shelf caused them to double-take.
"The History of Eastern Philosophy?" Flora read out the title with a bit of a laugh, "I'm guessing that this isn't one of yours, huh?"
"Don't know how this got in here," Corrin took the large book into her hands, raising a brow at how one could even read such a thing. "I wonder where August is… He was supposed to come back home a few days ago. Gods, what happens if he shows up to an empty fortress?"
August was called to Notre Sagesse to meet with his mentor, the rainbow sage. For what reason, he didn't clarify. He claimed it was to be an easy trip, probably taking him a week to get back. But since they were to leave for Krakenburg the next morning…
"Lady Corrin," Another voice arose from behind them. The stable girl, Lilith, placed down the box she packed. "Perhaps I should alert the guards when he does arrive."
Corrin nodded at the idea, signaling for her to do as she proposed. "Good idea. Oh, and make sure that they know to tell him to pack his own stuff when he gets here!"
The princess equalized the weight of the stack that reached her head, her arms shaking as she attempted to walk with it. Luckily Flora spared her from this burden‒ taking the book from the top and lessening the load. The two walked side-by-side to where the travel crate was. Jakob and Felicia were currently folding Corrin's clothes into individual boxes.
"Ah, Lady Corrin!" Jakob greeted her as she placed her books into the chest. "I've taken the time to organize your clothes by fabric, it should help unpacking when we do arrive." The butler eyed Felicia, who folded at a quick yet sloppy speed and placed each attire without much concern for the unloading. "I'll… repack the ones she's done when we arrive."
"Thank you, Jakob." Corrin nodded, not really caring much either way but still appreciated the extra effort.
The princess went to place the packed boxes of clothes into the crate, each one felt heavier after the other. Perhaps it was still too unbelievable to accept, she was really leaving the fortress. Though what would happen next was still too unclear and the possible future for her muddled with her focus.
Perhaps tensions arose with Hoshido and she was to serve as a figurehead for the army much like Xander? Or she was to take the role as an official representing Nohr in its expansion efforts? Or maybe, Gods help her if this happens, she was to be married off to some noble for Nohr's political gain. Ugh… Damn August for putting that in her head!
And… speaking of August. She wished he was here. He may have left the fortress before her, but she wanted everyone to be here when the news came. It was probably one of the best days of her life and not everyone was here.
But not only that… She wanted to tell him about her strange dream. And tell him about that girl, who looked so similar to him. And that monster, that seemed to spark something in her. It was hard to describe but… while the thought of coming face-to-face with such a monster terrified her, it also filled her chest with an odd warmth.
Corrin shook her head at those thoughts. Mentally chastising herself for losing focus over some strange dream. Right now, she had to prepare her things for her leave tomorrow.