April 20th, 1506 AD
"Do you think Father is angry with me?" Corrin asked Elise as she stared down to her hands, folded on top of her thighs as she kept herself onto a chair in the living quarters. "After my trial, he didn't speak another word with me."
Elise waved off such a question, "No, Father isn't mad. He doesn't really get mad, happy, or sad…"
"Why is that?" Her elder sister looked up at such a notion.
The youngest princess' brows furrowed and her lips curled downward, "Xander says that Father wishes to keep an image of a strong leader to inspire hope and to let the people know that we're still strong, so he sacrifices his emotions for that. I think that's why he's so distant with all of us. But… I think that just shows how much he wants to protect everyone!"
"I see…" Corrin's lips tightened at the thought. It made sense, but she didn't fully understand why their Father kept such a front.
Amidst this, Jakob stepped into the room. He looked between the two princesses and bowed his head, "Miladies, I've been sent to call for you by order of King Garon. He wishes to discuss matters of importance in the throne room."
"Thank you Jakob," Corrin nodded as she stood up from her chair alongside her sister. She turned to Elise and whispered as they followed the butler down the castle corridors, "What do you think father wants to talk to us about?"
"I dunno…" Elise brought a finger to her chin in thought, "But, it's probably work related…"
Corrin hummed in understanding as they walked down Krakenburg's overwhelmingly large halls. Being inside the castle had caused the young princess to feel miniscule, the faint colors of gray had added onto the desolate feeling of the place. She was happy to be here, of course, but… it certainly wasn't what she was expecting. The three eventually made it to the large ornate door to the throne room. Elise turned to Corrin as Jakob was about to open the door. The youngest of the royals reassured her sister, who was tight-lipped and skittish at the thought of meeting with Garon after yesterday.
"Come on, Father's waiting for us." She smiled, causing Corrin's lips to do the same. The princess turned to Jakob, who opened the door with a bow of his head.
The doors opened, revealing their father sitting upon the throne as he spoke to two other individuals. One was Iago, who hid a smile behind his curled hand as Garon finished speaking. The other was a bald burly man in berserker armor, his face creased into a sharp gaze as he nodded at the king. Though a faint smile could be seen on his face.
"Father? You called for me?" Corrin sheepishly asked as the three turned their attention to her.
Garon nodded, resting the side of his face on his fist. "Yes, after your battle with the Hoshidan prisoners‒ though not to my full expectations ‒I was impressed with your leadership and combat skills. You said that you were willing to aid Nohr in our endeavors, then I have a task for you to prove that your words were not empty."
Elise tilted her head at that, "A task? Isn't that a little too soon? She just got here, and we haven't even finished unpacking yet."
"Peace, daughter…" Garon waved off his child's question, "This mission is relatively simple, there's an abandoned Hoshidan fortress that is perched on the border between Nohr and Hoshido. If this fort is still active, then it's likely that Hoshido has plans to be aggressive in our conflict‒ Though I doubt that to be the case… I want you to investigate, and then return to report your findings."
"Of course," Corrin bowed her head, "Will I be joined by any troops?"
"Unfortunately, no… Most of the men here are stationed solely to defend Windmire, the ones that are flexible in their roles are sent on a different mission." His eyes glanced over to the berserker, who nodded once again. "So you will be joined by your retainers for this mission."
Jakob gave a wide smile as he bowed before the king, "And I will protect Lady Corrin with my life, be it any mongrel that stands before us!"
"...Yes, of course." Garon sighed before looking at his daughter, "If you truly do wish to do good for our kingdom, then prove that you can at least do this."
Corrin blinked at the very simple task that was given to her, inspecting some fort. While it wasn't unappreciated, it was still strange for her father to assign it to her. Especially since King Garon is not a man known for being merciful if Xander's stories were correct. Despite that, the princess nodded in agreement, "Very well, I'll show you that I'm willing to offer myself for Nohr." She hid her smirk behind her hands and whispered to herself, "Especially for something as simple as this…"
"The trek to the border will take a day," Garon informed as he stood up from his chair, "You are to leave in the morning and to return when the sun wanes. Prepare yourself by then."
With that last note, the king walked with the two threatening looking men at his side. Leaving Corrin pondering her circumstance. She was given a simple role to travel to this fort yet something about this felt… off. As if she were walking into danger by accepting this task, but… she really couldn't prove anything wrong about it.
Not only that, but her father had expectations of her to do this. For his approval, she had to do this.
April 21th, 1506 AD
The five royals stood in the castle's great hall, where they discussed the mission that Corrin was to embark on. The middle daughter was dressed in her armor and the Ganglari sword at her hip. In the stables near the entrance, her servants waited for her with horses.
"Darling, are you sure you're going to be ok out there? I don't like this…" Camilla curled a lock of her lavender hair around a finger in worry at the possibility of something going wrong.
The elven haired princess shrugged as she equipped the Ganglari, "It should be fine, it's only an abandoned fort. So I should be able to make it home for supper."
"It does seem quite odd…" Leo rubbed his chin in thought, "Hoshido suddenly abandoning a fort, especially one near the border. It seems too implausible to even‒"
"Hey, that's enough!" Elise interjected before Leo could continue his pondering, "Don't be so worried all the time, sheesh…"
The prince sighed, "I'm just… Something about this all feels off, especially knowing Iago had given father the idea."
The royals cringed at the thought of their father's tactician, causing Corrin to tilt her head. She looked to Xander, whose lips were still tightened into a frown.
"What's wrong with Mister Iago?" She innocently asked, causing her siblings to frown even more.
Xander spoke up, relaxing his expression into a stony face. "That man is a sly demon, I've seen him work outside of father's authority and manipulate him to get what he wants. The new churches are an example of that."
Corrin widened her eyes in surprise at Xander's disdain, "What churches? Do you mean the ones to Erobos?"
"No, it would seem that Iago has planted a different god into Nohr. He's converted Father to be open to having more than one form of church, this wouldn't be a problem if it didn't raise red flags." Xander furrowed his brow as he looked to his sister, "The Silent Dragon… A god without a true name. Something about it all seems off‒ Ever since the churches' construction, there's been brewing something malicious in Nohr. People have been fearful and silent and those who attend it have become almost… undead."
Amidst this conversation, a familiar voice rose. Iago called out to the five of them with a smirk on his face. Beside him was the same berserker from before, who clung onto a large ax at his side. The five tensed at their presence.
"Lady Corrin," Iago greeted with a bow, "I see you're prepared for your mission. I do hope the sword I've made for you will serve you well."
"What are you doing here?" Leo spat.
Iago raised his hand in peace, "I'm simply organizing my associate, Hans', mission. On orders of King Garon himself…"
"And what is this mission, you speak of?" Xander asked in an accusing tone.
"That's between me and power higher than you," The man known as Hans fired back, "So don't go questioning me, princeling."
The crown prince kept his face hardened, despite the growing hatred he held towards the berserker. As Hans walked to the door, he kept his sharp glare on the stoic Xander. Iago smirked at the scene that had played out, "Well, I believe that it's my time to leave as well. Farewell, princess… I do hope you meet our expectations."
As the mage left, Corrin dropped the fake smile she showed him. She shivered after witnessing him once more. The presence of that man gave her chills- Be it his appearance or sinister-like nature.
"Xander, who was that big guy with the scary face?" Elise asked as she tugged at her eldest brother's sleeve.
"Hans, a criminal that I had arrested a few years ago. A murderer and a scoundrel…" The prince rubbed his temple as his brows creased, "Father had him enlisted in his guard after the rehabilitation in prison‒ though I doubt that to be anything of the sort. Iago was the one who convinced him that such a monster would be of use to Nohr. So whatever mission he's sent on, it must involve the need of brute force."
"Sheesh, good thing I'm not heading off with him…" Corrin cringed at the thought of the beastly man. Whatever task that Garon sent him on, she only had awful things brewing in her head.
Once Corrin turned towards the door, she felt slender arms wrapping around her. Camilla kept her in a tight hug that halted her movements. The eldest princess turned to Xander as she held onto Corrin, "Maybe I should go along as well, to make sure Corrin is safe."
"Let's not impede her any further, Camilla." Xander gently broke his sister's apart. He looked to Camilla, "She's an adult now, she'll be fine."
"Yes, I will." Corrin reassured her elder sister, who gave a weak smile at her enthusiasm. "I'll be back as soon as you know it!"
With those final goodbyes, Corrin was off to venture to the Hoshidan border. The princess rode beside Jakob and Gunter for this mission. The two agreed to join her while her maids stayed at Castle Krakenburg alongside Lilith. As much as Corrin wanted all of her friends to join her in her first journey outside of the Northern Fortress, they had to press on without them at her side. She had to impress Garon, and she had to make sure that she would never go back into the cage.
The three of them made their way to the infamous Bottomless Canyon. A large fracture in the earth that split the Eastern and West half of Ragea into two. Its chasm ran deep into the ground, causing it to look like a deep pit to hell. They stopped at the rim of the canyon, where a wooden bridge was suspended over it.
"This is the Bottomless Canyon," Corrin sheepishly smiled as her eyes lingered at the darkness within the chasm. She looked at Gunter and Jakob, "I doubt that the name is true, r-right?"
"Lady Corrin, if you are afraid of heights, you can stay at the base of the bridge if you wish?" Jakob asked, causing Corrin to give an exaggerated shake of her head.
"No, no! I'm… fine." She swallowed her fears for a moment. Corrin mustered up a smile and stood up straight, "It wouldn't be right to let you two do all the hard work, y'know? It is my mission, afterall."
After that, Corrin began to put one foot over the other to traverse through the bridge. Once her feet pressed against the boards, she found it to be quite sturdy. She looked at Jakob and Gunter, who had no trouble with the surface. Gunter was able to somehow get his horse onto the platform… somehow. The princess turned back to the front, she saw several branching paths on cliffs and platforms that had led to the Hoshidan fort. She would have let out a sigh of relief, knowing that she was to be done here… If not for what she had seen.
From the fort, came several soldiers garbed in Hoshidan armor. They raised their curved blades as they gazed upon the three in the distance. A ninja stepped forward, calling out to the three.
"Nohrians! You have entered the borders of Hoshido! For that you must pay!" Corrin did a double take at the sudden threat.
The princess raised her hands, "Wait! We just came here because we thought this place was abandoned! I swear we didn't come here for a fight!"
"Tsch, you Nohrians will die here!" Her words were ignored, the soldiers readied their weapons.
Corrin gritted her teeth, her patience lost dealing with these Hoshidans. She turned to Jakob and Gunter, "Looks like we have to fight… Gunter, I need… Gunter?"
The elder man scrunched his face as he saw the soldiers, trying to get a cleaner look at them. He voiced his thoughts aloud, "Something's wrong here… Those soldiers are not using Hoshidan weapons, some of them aren't wearing the right armor."
Corrin looked back to the troops, confirming Gunter's observation. There were soldiers who had axes and straight swords like the ones found in Nohr. As for their attire, they had the garbs as seen on the pages of August's books. However they were lined with armor plating that also looked to have been Nohrian.
"Focus on that later, old man!" Jakob shouted as he readied his knife. "We have enemies before us!"
The two nodded at the butler's words. Gunter gripped his lance while Corrin readied her dark blade. They were outnumbered, so they had to be smart about this. Corrin closed her eyes to search for dragon veins, finding two at the island to the south. As archers began laying down fire, the three immediately rushed across the bridge. Corrin closed her eyes and hastily focused her mind to create a wall of stone that blocked the volley being sent their way.
The princess looked to Gunter and shouted, "Cut the bridge! Make sure they can get to us!"
The great knight complied, quickly rushing to slash away at the rope that held the path to them. The bridge snapped to the other side and planks of its surface fell into the canyon. This act should have allowed them to get some time to think about their situation. Corrin held her shoulder, where an arrow had hit her armor and dented into it. Leaving her in an uncomfortable state with her shoulder being restricted.
"Milady, do you need me to heal you?" Jakob asked, clenching his healing staff.
Corrin shook her head as she removed her hand from it, "No, we need to save that in case of a real emergency. But… How do we get out of this one? Why are these Hoshidans like this?"
"Yes… These Hoshidans." Gunter pondered to himself as his mind lingered on the soldiers' equipment. With a deep breath, he focused himself on the fight before them. "We're just going to have to make them surrender, if we take over the base then we should be able to have an advantage over them. But we'll have to be smart about it."
Corrin furrowed her brows in thought before nodding along to the plan, "Sounds good. There's one more dragon vein on this island, if we make a bridge then we'll have to power through the soldiers. But we need to fight our way across. Gunter, do you mind taking the front and Jakob can you try to lay covering fire with your knives?"
The two men nodded, causing a smile to form on Corrin's face. With that, they went as planned. Corrin created a stone platform from the dragon vein that shook the island that the Hoshidans were on. Gunter led the charge, rushing in on horseback with his lance. He was to scare the Hoshidans off, challenging them with great force on a path that they could fall to their deaths from.
Despite those odds, the soldiers rushed forward without a trace of fear. Samurai rushed in with their katanas as archers laid down covering fire. The three rushed in despite their odds, Gunter leading the charge with Corrin and Jakob following behind. The butler threw knives that struck the enemy with grace and skill as his liege fended off the samurai.
Corrin's opponent seemed more focused on parrying her attacks, making every possible attempt to rush for one of her comrades. Perhaps they didn't see her as a threat, Corrin presumed. Once their blades were pressed against each other, she was able to get a good look at him. He had the eastern features present in Hoshido, however one thing stood out. This man had gold eyes, neither present in Nohr or Hoshido.
In the midst of her observation, the samurai rushed for Gunter. While the elder knight was busy dealing with one of the archers, he was attacked by the soldier. With a quick wit, the old man tossed aside the soldier's weapon and quickly ran him through with his lance. Corrin watched in horror at the sight.
She saw the young man spit out his own blood and twitch as life left his body. Her tutor pulled out his lance with a straight face. Once his eyes turned to Corrin, he had caused her to flinch. The old man kept his tone gentle but his volume loud, "Lady Corrin, we'll have to retreat! There's too many here!"
Corrin steeled herself, keeping her mind at the real danger before them. She looked back to the Hoshidans, their archers aiming their bows at the threat. With a hard swallow, she nodded. The three rushed for the western half of the canyon as arrows were sent their way. Gunter kept himself in the back to protect Corrin and Jakob.
"Don't let them escape!" One of the Hoshidans shouted, "We have our orders to kill those two!"
As they ran, Corrin pondered what they meant‒ when there were obviously three of them. But before they could reach the end, they were stopped when pegasuses flew in and blocked their path. Sky knights raised their lances at them as Samurai rushed in to block off the other side.
"Damn it…" Corrin cursed, raising her Ganglari blade. "We're just gonna have to power through this again."
Gunter nodded, rushing in with lance in hand at a great speed. His charge caused the sky knights to elevate to avoid the attack, allowing Jakob and Corrin to head to the end of the bridge. But once they made it to the end, they were struck. Not by an arrow, but by a ball of fire. Jakob took the blow of this blast, sending the butler to the ground and knocking him out. Corrin and Gunter turned back to the Hoshidans, who were behind a mage clad in archer attire. In his hand was a tome‒ yet Hoshidan diviners used scrolls.
Corrin immediately rushed over to her unconscious butler while Gunter kept his lance aimed at the enemy before them. He announced in a cold tone, "I know you aren't Hoshidan, so enough of the act! Tell me, who sent you for us? King Garon? That scum, Iago?"
The mage sneered as he gripped onto his tome, "You won't need to take that knowledge to your grave, old man. For this will be your parting gift!"
With a hand wreathed in purple flame, the mage casted a spell that caused a thick mist to form before them. From this mist, shot out a large hand of gray mass. The beast swiped away the mist, revealing its hulking form. Before them stood a monster in chained attire with a holed mask covering its visage.
The monster raised its arms and charged for the elder knight. Gunter immediately equipped his ax to cut into the beast's neck. But once the axe dug into the stump, the monster simply swept away at the knight. It launched Gunter off the bridge, causing him to fall into the canyon.
"Gunter!" Corrin cried out as she held onto Jakob. Her grip onto his unresponsive body tightened, her teeth barred, and her vision grew red. The 'Hoshidans' moved past the large creature to stare at the princess.
"We've finished our mission here…" One of the samurai said to the mage, "But what about her? She's seen too much… Thanks to you."
The mage gave a tired sigh as he raised his tome, "Well, if it were to come to this… We would have to bring her body back to Nohr to rally her dear siblings."
Corrin stood up before anything further could happen, the Ganglari hung at her side as she instinctively raised her arm. She looked to the soldiers with unbridled fury. The soldiers pedaled back at the sight of her. They stood shocked at the change in her body. The princess' eyes became a burning red as her skin became scales. Her left arm began to morph into spirals that took the shape of a spear. From her head grew two large antlers and her teeth became sharp as knives. Corrin let out a distorted roar as she raised her arm and pounced.
Her spear-like appendage struck the faceless monster, slicing into its hide. Corrin's arm began to morph once again, forming a large jaw that opened up and fired a powerful blast of water that pierced through the monster's torso. Once the beast keeled over, she moved onto the rest of the flock. Her face twisted maliciously as the anger overtook her.
Before any further death could occur, the purple flame of Ganglari began to burn brighter. Corrin was able to regain a sense of herself as the sword began to pull her. Her grip tightened as the blade flew upwards and then darted into the canyon. The sudden shock of it brought Corrin back to reality, and her reality was that she was to meet her end at the bottom of the chasm. The princess closed her eyes and braced herself. The few moments she had left, Corrin was unable to process it all.
All she wanted… was to see more of what was outside her fortress.
"My kin, my gods, my blood…" A familiar voice began as she felt the viscous wind tear past her. Corrin opened her eyes to see Lilith falling in front of her, the stable girl clasped her hands into a prayer as her body began to glow. "Dragons grant me strength! Great Moro, I beseech you!"
Those were the last words Corrin heard before her vision was blinded with a blast of white. She began to fall dazed at the shock, last feeling the state of being lifted before she blacked out completely.