Still Camilla waited. Was anything going to happen? Perhaps there was a way to activate the potion, much like the one she had taken much earlier...
Suddenly she felt a dreadful pain in her stomach, as if suffering the effects of poorly cooked meat. It intensified, feeling like her stomach was expanding. Grunting, she was forced to clutch at her abdomen.

Was that poison? The feeling spread through her body, every inch of her afflicted with an expanding feeling. Camilla looked up to see her perspective level with Corrin's ankles. She only partially registered her change in size, the rest of her bracing against the strange sensation. In seconds she shot up in size, the pain lessening as she got bigger. She recovered, her growth slowing. Standing back up at her full height, she looked to Corrin. He was just a bit bigger than she was.

"That's much better," Camilla smiled. Corrin's face turned bright red, and he clutched his hands to his eyes.
"C-Camilla! You're naked!" Corrin stuttered.
"Oh," was all Camilla said, looking down at the scrap of fabric that was once her dress. Her smile did not fade. Why should I care about my brother seeing me naked?
"T-take this!" Corrin stammered, pulling a dusty flag from the heap of junk in the corner of the room and throwing it towards her. Camilla picked it up off the floor, dusting it. It was adorned with a crest, perhaps that of the family. She fashioned it into a minidress of sorts, folding the cloth around her body like a towel.
"This will do for now," Camilla said. Having looked away, Corrin turned back around nervously, relaxing when he saw she was clothed.

"This is great!" Corrin exclaimed, his embarrassing ordeal over, "you're back to normal!"
"Yes," Camilla smiled at his beaming face. Such a sweet boy. But then she felt her perspective shift down ever so slightly.
Corrin seemed to notice, his smile quickly fading. "You're shrinking again!"
"Indeed," Camilla sighed, "it seems it only reversed the effects of the previous potion, rather than removing them. Not to worry. This will do, for now. We must find my darling retainers, while I'm still big."
"Right," Corrin nodded. Camilla turned and bent down for the discarded lance. Corrin quickly looked away, afraid she'd reveal too much. Unaware of her display, Camilla hurried out into the corridor, heading back the way they came.

"They likely weren't interested in Selena or Beruka," Camilla told Corrin, "they probably just threw them into a cell, or dungeon. The poor dears."
"So they're probably downstairs!" Corrin noted.
"Yes. You're such a clever boy," Camilla cooed. She was about to continue praising him, but felt herself getting slightly smaller again. She decided it was best to just leave it at that.
They turned the corner, to where the corridor widened, when Camilla stopped. Corrin almost ran into her, but he could see over her head. In front of them were three enemies. Camilla knew them all too well.
"They're here!" the ninja declared, leading his two friends to the fugitives.
"Aww, look, it's my darling pocket princess!" the fighter leered.
Camilla glared, a deep frown on her face. From just the aura she radiated, Corrin could tell she was livid beyond measure.
"But how did she get back to normal size?" the mercenary asked.
"Doesn't matter," the fighter said, his axe ready, "she's still mine! We can have more fun together!"
"Fun?" Camilla smiled, "is that what you'd call it?"
The ninja stepped back, unnerved by her tranquil fury. The fighter remained in place, seemingly too dense to notice the danger.
"Let's go, boys!" he roared, "time to claim what's mine!"

The three men surged forward. Camilla could barely contain herself, but waited for them to make the first move. Corrin intercepted the mercenary, their blades clashing. She was not used to fighting on foot, nor with lances, but a fraction of her strength was more than enough for these scum. This time, it was deeply personal. She stepped aside as the fighter tried to hit her with a vertical swing. She could have speared him in the gut and ended him there, but that would not be punishment enough for the vile man. She kneed him in the groin, before smacking him in the head with the blunt end of her lance. A shuriken span towards her, grazing her arm. Such a minor injury did not even slow her down. She closed the distance between them in an instant, thrusting her lance. Too slow to evade, the weapon impaled the ninja below his shoulder. Heaving her lance, she threw him across the room, his body tumbling behind his comrade. The mercenary's surprise gave Corrin an opening, allowing him to land a blow on his shoulder. She smiled, satisfied she had given her brother enough help. With a second attack, he triumphed.

Corrin darted over, seeing the fighter getting up, but he was stopped by Camilla's outstretched arm.
"No," she said bluntly, "these ones are mine."
Yelling, the fighter raised his axe over his head, charging forward. Flipping her lance round, Camilla thrust the blunt end into his abdomen, winding him and sending him to the floor. She slowly strut over as he struggled to get up. She impaled him in the arm, the man screaming in pain.
"Does it hurt?" she said, her tone deathly flat, "good. I'm just getting started..."
Corrin didn't want to watch what happened next, but he couldn't look away. What if she got careless, and gave one of them an opening? He had intended to spare the men, knowing nothing of what they had done, but it seems that was the crueler option. Despite their urgency, Camilla took her time.

The mercenary died first, the fighter last. Corrin wished he could forget the display. Camilla was so patient and kind normally, it was easy to forget her ruthless side. What he had just seen would likely haunt his nightmares for weeks...
Camilla sighed, flipping her hair before looking to Corrin. He noticed the lance had a slight bend in it, from the force of her torture. "shall we get going, then?" she smiled, picking up the fighter's axe. He won't be needing it anymore...
"Y-yeah..." Corrin stuttered. "Let's do that..."

"Sorry, dear," Camilla apologized while they ran, "You shouldn't have had to see that."
"It's fine, I guess," he replied, "just what did they do to deserve that?"
"It's better you don't know," Camilla said in a sing-song voice. Corrin knew better than to press further.
They headed downstairs. Now in unfamiliar territory, they were faces with two corridors.
"Let's go this way first," Camilla said, leading the way. She was likely guessing, but Corrin followed anyway.

They turned another corner, to see a lone figure blocking the path.
"Here you both are," rattled the voice of the old woman, "we haven't finished yet."
"I agree," Camilla said, her grip on her weapon tightening.
"Wait!" Corrin cried, "do we really need to do this?"
"Of course," Camilla answered, her fury barely masked, "have you forgotten what she did to you?"
"I could hear their screams," the woman said, "you are savage beyond measure, just like your dreadful father. Getting rid of you will not just be revenge. I will be doing the world a favor."
"It doesn't have to be this way!" Corrin pleaded, though he could sense he was losing this battle.
"I can tell you've seen little of the real world, boy," the woman said.
"You know nothing of him," Camilla said, putting herself between them, "there's two of us, and none of your guards are here to help you. No mercy from me. I hope you're ready to die."
"How wrong you are," The woman said, revealing a blue tome from within her garments. Camilla started to close the distance between them, determined to get the first strike. The woman raised her hand. Anticipating an attack, Camilla prepared to evade. No attack came. Instead everything slowed, a sudden huge resistance to her movement. Her hand glowed blue and Camilla felt an odd force holding her back.

"Camilla!" Corrin cried, reaching out for his sister.
What on earth is happening? The elderly woman snapped her fingers. Her form grew larger before the princess.

An illusion? But Camilla quickly noticed the corridor was bigger too. She didn't realize at first, the giddy feeling she usually felt absent this time. But everything else was how she remembered it, only much more intense. Her body was compressed by an invisible force, smaller and smaller. The axe became too heavy, thumping to the floor. Her garment crumpled to the floor around her as her size decreased. Unable to move, she could only watch as the floor got closer and closer. Below the woman's hips, then her knees, her shrinking was unrelenting. The flag engulfed her tinier body, cocooning round her as her form became lost. Dwindling further in size, even the woman's shoes dwarfed her. What once clothed her billowed over her head, masking her from the rest of the world.

The force vanished, sending Camilla flying forward into fabric. Panicking, her first instinct was to get out of the darkness. She scrambled out into the light, only to find a vast, unfamiliar plain that was the floor. She looked around, bewildered by the sudden change in scale.

Just how small am I? She couldn't even tell anymore. A huge gasp from Corrin resonated in the air. He could barely see the minuscule form of his sister.
"You...!" Corrin uttered, enraged by what she had done.
"Now there's just one of you," The woman taunted, her magic having rendered Camilla insignificant. "Further research on the potion allowed me to channel its effects through this tome and intensify them. Lay down your weapon, or you will share her fate."
"Don't do it, Corrin!" Camilla squealed, though she wasn't sure if she could even hear her anymore. Camilla shuddered in the cold air. Had her carelessness doomed them both? Shrunken down to such a tiny size, she was utterly helpless. She could only look to the colossus that was her brother, and wait for him to make his choice...