"No," Corrin simply said.
"What?" the woman growled.
"Your magic won't work on me," Corrin stated, "I never drank the potion. You're bluffing."
"Why, you..." She snarled, her ruse revealed, "but I can still kill you both!"
"Really?" Corrin asked, "is that what Helen would want? For you to murder a stranger?"
From within the folded cloth, Camilla gasped.
Corrin must have seen her name from the portrait we found earlier!
On hearing her daughter's name, the woman hesitated. Emotion flickered on her wrinkled face, doubt setting in for the first time in her quest for revenge. She looked down to the tiny Camilla. Seeing her filled her heart with rage once more.
"It's all because of you!" she bellowed. Camilla winced, the giant's fury truly terrifying to the tiny woman. She raised a foot in the air, ready to stomp the miniaturized princess flat...
The woman's body crumpled forward, over the blunt end of the blade that had struck her abdomen. Thrust from the blade, she fell to the ground. Camilla hesitantly opened her eyes, surprised at the lack of an impact. She sighed with relief, the danger finally over.
"You did it, dear," Camilla squeaked.
"Yeah," Corrin crouched down, "I feel sorry for her. She's suffered so much already."
Camilla remained silent. She had not cared for her enemy's motivations, yet it was Corrin's empathy that had saved them. This experience had made her feel... Small.
My little brother has grown so much on his own, without me even noticing. Perhaps he truly doesn't need his little sister any more...
"I'm proud of you, Corrin," she smiled sadly. She wasn't sure if Corrin could see the expression on her tiny face, but he smiled back.
"Anyway, we need to get going," Corrin said.
"Yes," Camilla nodded. Corrin very carefully lifted Camilla between his finger and thumb, putting her on his palm. She was so small now, smaller even than one of his fingernails. Her previous garb now immense, Camilla had to use her arms to cover her dignity.
Hopefully I won't be this small for long...
Before moving on, Corrin quickly fashioned a knot from the flag, tying it round the old woman's wrists. Though he pitied her, she would have to answer for her crimes. Further down the corridor, there was a door outside. Deciding not to leave without Camilla's captured retainers, he headed back into the house.
After exploring for a bit longer, Corrin found a set of stairs.
"They're probably down there," Camilla said, huddling into his palm against the cold air.
Corrin carefully went down the stairs. Though the hallways were quiet, he was nervous about possible foes hiding in the darkness. The dim light did not reveal much of the dungeon, but it was obvious that the cells were empty.
"They're not here? Did they escape?" Corrin said, puzzled.
"Look, Corrin!" Camilla called up from his hand, "on your right!"
Corrin turned to see a container situated on top of a table. The walls were made of glass, a transparent enclosure of some sort. He could hear the faintest of noises, somewhere in the room...
Just out of the corner of his eye, he saw movement from inside the mysterious box. Leaning in, he saw the tiny forms of Selena and Beruka—smaller than mice! The shrunken retainers were jumping and waving their arms, desperate to get his attention.
"They're... so small..." Corrin gasped.
"My poor girls. They must have tried to escape by shrinking themselves," Camilla said sadly.
With his free hand, Corrin lifted the top off the box. He reached in, scooping up both of the tiny ladies in a single hand. Lifting his hand out, be brought it closer to his other hand and opened it, reuniting Camilla with her retainers.
"Selena! Beruka! You're all right!" Camilla smiled at her retainers.
"Lady Camilla! You're tiny!" Selena said, crouching down to look her liege in the eye. The two were roughly an inch tall, twice the size of the princess.
"Don't worry about that, dears," Camilla said, "right now, we need to escape. Corrin, if you don't mind?"
"O-of course!" Corrin stuttered, knocked out of his trance. He felt like he had been staring too hard at the tiny ladies. Keeping all three of them contained in a single hand, he ran for the exit.
Outside at last! But Corrin was lost. The dark alleyway led out onto a small street. Imposing buildings lined the road, piles of rags and rubbish littered around the path.
"What is this place…?" Corrin wondered aloud.
"The slums," Beruka squeaked from his hand. Corrin raised his palm closer to his face, listening to the tiny woman talk.
"You know where we are?" Corrin asked.
"Yes. Follow my directions."
How does she know this place? Not wanting to pry, Corrin followed her instructions...
"We're here," Corrin announced, emerging from the portal back to their castle hidden in another dimension.
"Wonderful," Camilla smiled. Corrin looked to the three tiny passengers on his hand.
Have they gotten smaller? It was getting harder for him to tell.
"Right, first we need to see Xander." Corrin said, heading for where he thought the crown prince might be...
An hour later, Corrin waited in his room for Leo. With him, the three shrunken ladies waited on the surface of his desk. Corrin was anxious for some news. The potion they found had worked before, growing Camilla back to full size for a time. Surely the others would find some more in the house?
On the wooden surface, Camilla chatted with her retainers, swapping stories about their escape attempts.
"I should have known you would escape, Lady Camilla!" Selena smiled. Camilla could tell she was a bit annoyed that she wasn't so successful in her own attempt to escape.
"Yes, as expected," Beruka agreed.
Camilla smiled. Unlike the others, she had the help of a certain someone. Not being able to think about them was beyond irritating. It almost annoyed her more than her reduction in size.
The door suddenly opened, Leo hurrying in.
"Leo!" Corrin quickly stood up, "did you find anything?"
Wasting no time, the young prince told them the news...
