Author's Note: Ha ha! Got this one out on time (hopefully. I'm actually on a plane on September 30th as of the time I'm writing this note and have no service. Happy last day of September 2016). I run on a once every 14 days update schedule. So this ended up pretty long. Believe it or not, I was actually struggling to make it reach the 8,000 mark, even when I got to the 7,000. You see, I was aiming to split the chapter at a part you'll see later, so I was trying to get there. Well I ended up adding in a story element I hadn't originally considered because I was listening to this one song, and added in 5 sentences at the beginning and 3 or 4 here and there, and it ended up at just over 9,000 words.

Also wow! 100 favorites and 160 follows! Thank you all for reading, but I don't like long intro notes, so I'll cut it off here. Enjoy.


"Haaaah. Haaah. Haaaaaaaa-" Hana panted, running past Corrin's tree house.

"C-Come on Hana. If… if you can't finish 30 laps, then there's no w-way you can pro… protect Lady Sakura. Nothing… less than… perfection… will do. Although, I guess it's acceptable… if y-you aren't perfect…" Subaki got out through clenched teeth, jogging ahead of his fellow retainer.

"St-stop arguing, you… two… It's f-fine.. r… rea-…. -eally," Sakura breathed, a few meters in front of the two, jogging so slow she probably could have fast-walked faster than she was going. Though physically ahead, she was technically a few laps behind the two, but pushing through it the best she could.

Her retainers quieted at the princess's words, and then both sped up to catch up with their charge. Then they started in a compliment competition, Subaki trying to get in fancy, long winded praises to best Hana's short but loud ones. Sakura giggled slightly at their antics, but being so tired it came out as more of a stifled cough, driving her retainers to shower her with cries of concern instead. In the end, Subaki and Hana just ended up more out of breath than the princess. It was both funny and sad, if you asked Robin.

During the battle against the wind tribe, Robin really hadn't been joking when considering putting the members of Corrin's army to the track. It wouldn't hurt any of them, and while some needed it more than others, all of them could work on stamina.

Gunter was going at a fine pace not too far away, a stern expression on his face and without armor, and Jakob was rushing trying to get ahead of him, cursing under his breath. Corrin on the other hand was trying and failing to keep up with either of them. Just ahead of her was Kaze, giving her quiet words of motivation, sweating but not profusely. Azura was on the other end of the castle, still behind the others, but on the same lap as Sakura and thus technically ahead of her fellow princess. Hayato… Robin wasn't sure what lap he was on, but the boy was certainly doing his best. Though with his jaw and nose clamped so tightly, Robin wasn't sure how well Hayato could be breathing. Hopefully enough that he wouldn't pass out.

Robin had taken off his coat, and was currently on lap 29, first place belonging to him. He wasn't kidding about making the group run. They really needed it. And he hadn't actually said they needed to run 30 laps. He just said that they should attempt to complete them as fast as possible. A couple times Azura, Sakura, Hayato, Corrin, and Kaze by extension had decided to walk part of a lap to catch their breaths, and that was fine with Robin. Hana, though, had decided to sprint the first few laps, leaving her lagging afterward. Subaki hadn't at the beginning, but once Hana gained considerable distance on him he went even faster to catch up. Now the two of them were gripping their sides, obviously pained with cramps, but going strong. Gunter had just set out at a reasonable pace he never faltered from, slower than the others, but still putting him close to Sakura's retainers. Jakob in his little runs would sprint ahead of the older servant for a moment, lag behind for a few more, sprint ahead, and so on, keeping around the same pace if you averaged it out but slightly less efficient. And though Gunter was doing best in terms of not panting, it was obvious the old man was going to collapse the moment he finished. He had endurance, and Robin had to give it to him, but he wasn't sure the knight would be able to keep running until the end.

At this point Robin had reached the last stretch of his final lap, when he realized he had no idea where Rinkah was. Looking toward the finish line, he realized she was gripping the wall, exhausted, but with a triumphant look on her face.

"Wait a minute…"

When he reached the end, Rinkah looked up, and smiled at him. "Nice to see you, number two."

"... Oh come on! This is so unfair," Robin whined, plopping down on the ground as Rinkah attempted to straighten up.

"What isn't fair? Me being in better shape than you? You being an overconfident puny kid who can't even keep up with the newcomer? Huh? Huh?!" Rinkah's jabs hurt Robin's pride, and he pouted hard and long.

He had held back for crying out loud! He could have run a little faster, he just didn't want to demotivate everyone by crushing them. Yep. That was totally it. It wasn't like he wasn't as good as Rinkah. The girl may have had a six pack, but he… He… was not in terrible shape. His six pack hadn't yet come in, but maybe he just didn't have it in his blood. Rinkah probably came from a long line of body builders, while he had come from Validar who was practically a stretched out twig. So she probably just got better results from the same effort. Because he didn't lose based on ability. No way. No way at all.

Robin sighed and fell back, staring at the clouds above. He had woken everyone up for their run at dawn, and it was probably around 8 A.M. by this point. They had had a small breakfast, and had taken some time to wake up (more than he wanted. They were an army, and they have to get used to quickly rising and prepping in case of an ambush or if they were ever in a hurry) before finally starting. As much as Robin enjoyed sleeping in, he also loved the sight of the world in the morning. There were some flowers here and there on the castle grounds, and grass all over. When he had gotten up, they were all covered with dew, and the air just smelled of nature. By noon, that smell and just pure, calming feeling was gone. So he didn't mind losing a few hours if it meant experiencing that. Some of the others did, but too bad for them.

As he turned to his side, white covered his vision. Reaching up, he brushed his hair back, causing it to stay out of the way momentarily before resuming its earlier position. Before the fight with Grima, the Shepherds had been so focused on preparing and he so stressed out that his personal upkeep and subsequently haircuts ended up extremely low on his list of priorities. Chrom even ended up delivering Robin's meals a few times as the tactician sat cooped up in his tent planning. He was trying to fight a dragon commonly referred to as a dark god, that even Naga could not defeat without their aid; to think of some way to not get everyone killed, despite the fact that the enemy could conjure up endless amounts of the undead; to come up with some way he could convince Chrom not to use Falchion to deal the final blow, but to leave it to Robin. Even before the blue haired prince had realized it, Robin had come to understand just what Naga was implying about Grima's defeat. And he knew there was no way Chrom would just let him go through with it.

Robin kept telling himself to stop reminiscing, but it was really hard. He missed the Shepherds. He missed his best friend. He missed...

"Robin? It's time to wake up. Come on, wakey wakey," Azura whispered, gently shaking the man awake.

She was leaning over him, her blue locks draping over the tactician. She was breathing heavily and sweating, and blocking out the rest of his vision.

"Hmm?" He hummed groggily, propping himself up with one hand and looking around. Sakura was still running, with Hana and Subaki beside her, but no one else other than Azura was in sight.

"Are you feeling okay? I'm sorry for waking you, but I figured you would be upset with yourself if you slept all day, so I thought I'd get you up. I just finished my run, and Sakura is on her final lap. Corrin insisted on Jakob teaching her to cook, so she's in the kitchen with him making some lunch. Or would it be breakfast? It's a bit too early to be lunch. Anyway, Hayato is also inside waiting for them to finish, Kaze and Rinkah are washing up since we're all soaked after running for so long, and Gunter is getting together the supplies. I think that's all. Do you want to know anything else?" Azura responded, taking a seat on the ground next to Robin, chest moving up and down as she took in a breath.

She had an empty glass that had probably once contained water beside her, and Robin could see a few more sitting in the steps to her side. Jakob had likely filled and moved them there when he finished his jog. At Corrin's request, though, or chances are he wouldn't have so much as raised a finger. Sometimes Robin wanted to flick the man for being so two faced. It was his thing, though, and Robin tried not to give in to those kinds of urges.

Azura always had such a serene look about her. As she sat, her long hair pooled around her, swaying slightly in the breeze. She turned her head away from Robin, once more going to stare off into the distance, and Robin didn't know if he should envy her or feel bad. She always seemed so calm. It could have been because she was a generally collected person, who was good at dealing with whatever came her way, but… it was probably because of the whole deal with Valla. The hope in her eyes when Fuga mentioned the Yato's supposed ability to defeat the gods was such a drastic turn from Azura's normal expression that it had even made Robin feel positive. That was probably the only time he had ever seen her genuinely smile, if he was being honest.

Sakura finished, as evidenced by cheers from Hana and Subaki, and the girl staggered over to the water. Both Robin and Azura gave her small greetings which she responded to with a wave as she gulped down the water on the steps, while Hana and Subaki bickered about who was more motivational. Once she was finished, Hana promptly dragged Sakura away toward the hot spring that had appeared overnight for a "super duper nice relaxing soak," and Subaki glided off to go tend to his pegasus.

Now alone with Azura, Robin took the chance to speak up.

"Azura, if you don't mind me asking - actually, even if you do mind, because it's central to our cause that I know - what does your singing do to you? And don't try to shrug it off. You're completely wiped after reinvigorating a few people, and I know it isn't just simple exhaustion or a result of being out of breath from having to sing without breathing back in."

Azura was shocked by his words, looking at him for a short moment before turning away. "It.. It is nothing. You may not think it is just a result of me being out of shape, but it really is. You saw me today. I was in second to last place, only ahead of Sakura because I'm taller and have longer legs. Don't worry about me. I'm fine. I just… I just need to improve. That's all it is. Really…" The girl trailed off, sending her words out into the distance and not toward Robin. That way she wouldn't have to face his eyes. She probably figured that if he couldn't see her face he couldn't be certain of whether or not she was lying. And technically, she was right. But that didn't stop Robin from continuing his questions.

"Azura, this isn't just for my sake. It's for the sake of all of us. It's for the sake of Corrin. Me knowing what's wrong is for you. It isn't something small, no matter how hard you may try to make it appear so. So please, at least give me a hint."

Azura swallowed hard, and finally turned to look Robin in the eyes. "I can't give you the full explanation because of our location, but I will tell you that which I am able. When I sing, it takes something out of me. Traditional magic users like mages and diviners typically use tomes or scrolls to channel their magic, right? Well, When I sing, I don't. Sometimes I use my pendant, when I sing in battle, sometimes I don't and it's just a plain harmless song. But when I do, I must pay.

"I don't use magic, and I've only witnessed short battles, so I can't say for sure, but from what I understand mages must pay a price as well. Their spells alter their environment, so they may pay in mana, which is also gathered from the environment and channeled through themselves. They will eventually grow tired from constant channeling, and though they still have tomes or other catalysts which they can utilize, reach a point at which they can no longer cast. They reach a point that they have run out of the personal mana required to manipulate that of the environment to their own accord.

"But when I sing, I do not do anything to the world around me. I do not suddenly cause fire, or a tiger spirit formed from magic to appear. I do something to the people I aid. I reinvigorate them. I add to their life force, giving their own spirit the power to continue on despite any intense exertion and pressures they have pushed through already. And for that… I have to pay with my own. Magic is about using your inner mana to manipulate the mana of the air. My singing is about using my own life force to grant life and energy to those I aid. A single instance really shouldn't tire me out so much, but it's been so long since I was required to that the toll from the last few days finally stacked up and got to me.

"I am truly sorry for my silence, but I ask that you do not repeat what you have just heard to anyone else in this army. Plan accordingly and come up with excuses if you must, but I do not wish to add to their troubles. Please. I will do anything you request, just… don't tell them. Especially not Corrin. She's trying so hard, and I don't want to burden her any further."

Azura had dropped her eyes once again, and was staring at the ground, gripping the grass so tightly some of it was being uprooted by her fingers. She really was tense. So, Robin placed his hands on her own, pushing down her fingers so she would relax a bit. At the contact, Azura smiled, and Robin looked directly at her, no intentional, but a likely hard, expression on his face.

"Azura. Trust me, I will hold your words. But I do ask that you tell me things a little earlier, and that you be careful. You're important, loved, and not only a great asset to this army but a wonderful person who I'm honored to have met. Take care of yourself, okay? I'll try to work our strategies so you aren't constantly singing, but if abstaining from doing so for too long makes the repercussions worse, then I won't completely eliminate it. Does that sound okay?" By the end of his words, Robin was giving his companion a weak smile, which Azura responded to with one of her own.

"I will. But on one condition," she said.

"What?" Robin asked, blinking. He moved out of his sideways half-lying-down position into a cross-legged one

Azura then moved out of her position, much the same as his original, into one with her legs beneath her. Something that required some ankle flexibility that Robin wasn't sure he had.

"Get some more sleep. It wouldn't do for you to drift into the realm of unconsciousness as soon as you stop fighting people in a battle."

"H-hey, it was just once! And there's no way I would do that in battle. It won't happen again. I won't allow it!" Robin scoffed, standing up to defend himself.

Of course, standing quickly from a cross-legged position wasn't exactly easy, and Robin tripped as his legs got tangled up in themselves. Azura began to giggle, and Robin grumbled as he picked up his coat from the ground next to him. Speaking of which…

"Who put my coat over me while I was sleeping?"

"I did. You fell asleep while I was still running, but you were close enough to the path and your coat close enough to you that I decided it wouldn't be too much trouble to cover you with it. After all, a sleeping person needs a blanket, do they not? I do know some people prefer to sleep with their capes, and cloaks are close enough are they not? I once read the chronicle of a young ranger who declared that as long as they had their cape, they could sleep just about anywhere. I remember reading it with Takumi and Sakura back in the capital, when I first moved in. Takumi has never trusted me, but in that instance we were all cooped up in one of the side rooms avoiding some terrible royal party, and decided to read a book together. Afterward, we tied up a few blankets to serve as capes for the three of us, and snuck out the back to play with them. It was nighttime by the time someone came out to collect us, and though Sakura and I went back in, Takumi was having so much fun he didn't want to. Eventually Queen Mikoto herself came out to bring him in, but he still didn't want to go back to his room. To get him to come join us, she asked him if he was sure he wanted to stay outside, and not go back in where he could sleep in a nice comfy bed. His response, which was said in the cutest and most stubborn voice that a child his age could make, was 'as long as I've got my cape, I can sleep just about anywhere! I don't need a big bed! I'll stay out here for the night!' right out of the book we had been reading together.

"Queen Mikoto gave a sweet smile and let him stay outside. All the same, he came in anyway. The moon was empty that night, and the outside of the castle went dark as the townspeople and other members of the castle went to bed and blew out their candles, turning off all the lights in the area. Mikoto must have placed ninja and other guards all around Takumi's playplace, but he ran in a short hour later, scared as can be. Mikoto just gave a quiet laugh as she pressed Takumi further into her dress, and invited him to stay with her for the night. He refused at first, but when Mikoto said that she was a bit scared of the dark night and thought he could protect her from it, he immediately changed his mind and went with her.

"I was watching from behind the corner, and thought I hadn't been seen, but as the two moved to leave, Queen Mikoto turned to me and winked, well aware of my presence. I rushed to bed after, the other members of the Hoshidan family asleep and no one else willing to listen to me. The next day Takumi was back to cursing my existence, but he was a little closer to Mikoto than before. Though I never met her, from what I understand Takumi was close to his mother before she died, and didn't take too kindly to the new woman taking her place. By the time she died, however, Takumi respected her more than I could ever dream of him even acknowledging me. He must have been crushed by her passing… I hope he doesn't blame Corrin too much, since she was the one whose blade led to the Queen's death…"

Azura's story was long but sweet, and Robin wasn't sure how to respond.

He didn't get the chance to even if he did have something, though, because Corrin's voice could be heard calling from the direction of the mess hall.

"Aaaazuraaaa! Aaaazura! Where are y- oh there you are! C'mon, let's go to the hot spring and wash up before we eat. It'll feel super nice, I'm sure!" the excitable girl beamed, pulling Azura to her feet. The position the blue haired girl was in was much easier to rise from than the one Robin had been in, and he found himself considering practicing sitting that way in private so he wouldn't embarrass himself again.

"Hey Corrin! Do you guys have a shower or any sort of facilities someone could use to clean up other than the hot springs?" he questioned, standing with the two.

Corrin blinked, before giving her response. "You know, I have no idea. Why don't you ask Lilith? She knows the full layout of this place. And if there isn't one, she can probably just make one. Anyway, I'll see you in the mess hall!"

With that, Corrin ran off, dragging the poor Azura whose legs clearly had yet to recover from the run behind her. Corrin had already changed out of her armor into a bathing suit, and paused slightly to shove one into Azura's free hand. She also had a towel wrapped around her waist, which didn't seem like the best decision. If she had yet to go the the hot springs, and there was no other place to clean off, then she was probably still sweaty, and would just be getting her towel dirty. And if the hot spring was the only place to clean up, did that mean Kaze and Rinkah were in there together? The one time Robin had walked into while there was a girl in the there really he had been chased out. Clearly Kazemi was some sort of ladies' man. Robin would let them be, however, and got up to go in the other direction.

"I think I'll skip on visiting Lilith. She still doesn't like me. Maybe I'll dive in the jade pool so I don't feel so sticky. I could even get some good ore out of it, so I don't see why not," Robin said to himself, walking over to the pool. He stripped down to just his underclothes and gloves, checked to make sure no one was in sight, and hopped in.

He found two pieces of jade in the waters, and threw them to the side of the pool when he got up for air. He quickly rubbed at his skin to get off all the dried sweat that probably made him reek, and then popped out of the pool as fast as he could. It was freezing, and he didn't want to catch a cold from not wanting to wait for the hot springs. Gathering up his stuff and attempting not to press it against his wet body, he sprinted to his room, where he would change into some nice, dry clothing, and be able to put his nice warm coat once again.

The walk to Izumo was relatively silent, with no traveling companies around this time to transport the group, and thus no new characters to talk to. The silence was wonderful if you asked Robin. But, it wasn't about what he liked at the moment. He needed to start building the relationships of the members of Corrin's army. So, when they were roughly 3 or 4 kilometers away from their destination, Robin started to grab people by the shoulders. Starting with Hana, he moved her over to Azura. Next was Subaki, pushed toward Corrin, and then Rinkah, set to Kaze's side. Finally, he put Hayato and Sakura next to each other, leaving himself with Jakob. The Jakob-trust-o-meter would be filled if it was the last thing he did. Gunter could be alone, for all he cared. The old man was at the back, anyway, and needed to be undistracted to properly guard them from surprise back attacks.

"So. Jakob-" Robin began, before being cut off.

"I don't care whatever it is you have to say. I should be at Lady Corrin's side right now, not yours," the butler snapped, side eyeing his partner and sending a glance to Corrin.

"Well, regardless of whether or not you care about what I have to say, I'm going to talk about some stuff. Feel free to respond. If you don't, then at least you'll be a little more familiar with my voice."

Robin then rambled on about the various things he had learned about Canta, with Jakob occasionally commenting on something he recognized or had heard differently of. As they got closer, Jakob opened up more and more, making Robin smile. The butler still wasn't very happy, but by the time Izumo was in sight they were having an actual two-sided conversation.

Bird songs layered over each other the closer Corrin's army got to Izumo, and by the time they could see the castle it sounded like there were at least a hundred different songs going at once. By description, it was terrible. But to be there was something else. Though every song was sung at a different pitch, tempo, melody, and time than all the others, somehow they came together to make the most beautiful symphony. Combined with a nearby waterfall, and the gentle winds that made the leaves of nearby trees shake ever so slightly, practically vibrating in the breeze, the end of their journey was one filled with music. It was serene.

Ylisse was a very beautiful land and Arit just as wonderful, but nowhere had Robin heard such a lovely expression of nature. When approaching Naga's temple, one of the things Robin had noticed was how silent it was. Like everything was respecting the Goddess within, not making a sound as to keep from interrupting her should Naga open her mouth to speak. Sure, it was beautiful. That was undeniable. But the later of wonder added on by the symphony of sounds leading up to Izumo was something else.

Small streams and ponds dotted the group's path, making them frequently have to go around in a way that took up more time than would have to go directly across. In some cases it was absolutely necessary, and crossing was not possible (or at least not possible without getting soaked to a point no one really felt like being), but in others it was just a choice. The Hoshidans had a great respect for nature according to Sakura and Kaze, and even they would go around the water rather than disturb it in any sort of damaging way. So, the group wasn't exactly in a rush, as they had to have been pretty far ahead of any pursuers they might have had, and those pursuers would take the long route too.

No one really minded going around either. Hayato grumbled about it as if to disapprove of their childish admiration of plain old water, but whenever Robin turned his head he could see the sparkle in the boy's eyes, being one from a desert where the current waters were foreign. Tharja and Henry had always had slight (or extreme in the case of the latter, because everything he did was all out) looks of amazement when going out toward watery lands. At the Mila Tree, Tharja had just about dropped her tome seeing the giant plant and all the water gently lapping at its roots. Henry, surprisingly enough, had been 100% serious. He stood completely still, staring at the canopy above, and said nothing for half a minute or so, before finally uttering a surprising phrase. "Sometimes, I wish I had been born Ylissan. Then I could have had something like this. Maybe Naga's blessing could even revive Plegia, if we haven't sinned so much she's completely given up on us." He then continued on, jovial like always, dodging any questions people had for him about what he meant by his statement, or whether he was serious or not. Why someone would ask if Henry had been serious about that statement Robin had no clue, because Henry had been so deep in that moment that Robin could almost feel a sense of longing emanating from the guy.

"Woah…" Hana gasped, tilting her head up to set her gaze on the giant building that had finally entered their sight.

"So that's the central palace of Izumo… it's even more amazing than I imagined. Just standing here makes me feel calm," echoed Corrin, equally awed.

"It is impressive, isn't it. That feeling of calm isn't something isolated to you either. It's probably part of the reason Izumo had stayed neutral so long. Anyone coming here just loses the will to fight. In a way, that is. Some people are so corrupt that even Izumo can't bring peace to their souls," Azura said, eyes locked on to the palace above.

"Where did you hear about the palace, Corrin? Is it so famous to even be known in Nohr?" Robin asked.

"Not really. Azura mentioned it earlier, so I've spent the whole trek imagining what it would be like. It's way beyond anything I came up with. Though maybe that's just me, the girl who spent the entire span of her memory trapped in a fortress, speaking. Maybe Jakob would have a different response?"

The butler gave a negative affirmation, and the group continued on to the palace. Eventually damp ground and soft dirt pathways turned into a route of stone, and Robin's feet clicked as they hit the solid surface. He quite liked the noise, if he was being honest, and stepped heel-toe, heel-toe very firmly until Gunter's glare made him stop. It was interesting, someone other than Jakob sending a piercing gaze at a member of the group. Robin stopped though, not wanting to make anyone hate him, and kept walking. It wasn't as if Gunter was much better either, his horse clopping as it was. Still, until they reached the village before the palace, only the sounds of Gunter's horse and the quiet pattering of cloth and bare feet could be heard.

Corrin and Azura seemed much happier on the stone, as though a few pebbles were on the path, it was much smoother than the ground the group had traveled on prior. With no shoes, Azura and Corrin both occasionally jolted as they stepped on some sharp rock stuck in the ground or some muddy section. Now Jakob stood in front of the two, kicking any loose pieces of gravel away. Why the two girls wore no shoes, especially when they went on battlegrounds, was far beyond Robin. But if one of them had to be healed because they sliced their toe on some sharp thing in the ground or burnt their foot walking on hot rocks, he would personally buy them at least 3 pairs of shoes and 7 pairs of socks each.

Before the palace the group would be passing through a small town, so the tactician planned on subtly guiding them to some shoe store inside and nudging the princesses in, mentioning how much he loved the warm fuzzy feeling of socks and the slight hugging compression of shoes on his feet. Maybe that would convince them. But would it be too obvious? Probably not. Well, probably not for Corrin. Azura might catch on, but with some clever maneuvering Robin could keep her suspicions away. Hopefully.

At the entrance to the town Robin noticed a small crowd of people, and led Corrin's group in their approach.

"Ah, ah, ah! Of course we can silly girl! Why don't we just mosey on over to- Oh, now who are you guys? I haven't seen you around before!" one of the men in the middle said, spreading his arms and sauntering toward them.

The crowd around him was made up of seven or eight villagers, plus a few armed men who looked none too happy about the commotion. All of the villagers looked up at the speaker with admiration. The young woman who he had spoken to looked about ready to faint from the attention, shaking in awe of being granted the man's words. Or something like that.

His robes swishing from side to side, the man reached the group and clasped his hands together.

"Now wait a diddly-darn minute! I haven't seen you around these parts before! So, who are you?" he asked, leaning in on Corrin's face.

"M-me? Well, my name's Corrin, and these are my friends. Right now we're looking for a place to stay while-" Corrin was cut off as the man took a step back and raised one hand to his mouth, the sleeve dropping down.

"Oh that's super cool! I've heard about you, ya know. You're such a celebrity nowadays! Man, who would'da thought I was going to meet a famous person, and I didn't even have to leave my own kingdom for it. Is this my lucky day!" giggled the strange man. He kept stressing random words in an over the top fashion, and it was starting to get on Robin's nerves. "Oh! I should introduce myself to you shouldn't I? Well then. I am the great Archduke Izana, descendant of the gods, heir of their divine bloodline, and keeper of the prophecies. And a bunch of other things, but those are super boring so I won't bother to tell you. Except for one! And it's the super most important of all! I, wouldn't you know it, am the winner of the best hair award five times running. Or was it six… Let's go with six, that sounds better. And of course you can stay, Corry! Kick back, relax, and enjoy your time in great ol' Izumo!"

"Oh, uh, thanks for the… warm welcome." Corrin said, backing away slightly.

Izana grabbed her hands and shook them fiercely up and down while nodding, stalling her. He then tried to strike up a conversation with Kaze, who looked as uncomfortable as Robin felt. The ninja was polite though, and answered every question the archduke asked of him. Some of the townspeople had begun to wander back into their houses, though the one Izana had spoken to and two others who looked related to her remained. The guards seemed slightly disturbed by their charge's actions, and edged closer to Corrin's group.

"Is this really how a royal is supposed to act? He's so… odd. Impolite. Folksy. I mean, you and Azura are really nice and all, but the archduke is so…" Hayato whispered toward Sakura, unsure of what he was witnessing.

Sakura shook her head fiercely and shrugged when she was done, equally astounded by Izana's overly familiar behavior.

It didn't go in accordance with what Robin knew of Hoshido, so he was equally confused by the man who had so readily introduced himself. Fuga, though initially hostile, was cautious when dealing with Corrin's army, even when he became a little more friendly following his defeat. From Azura and Sakura's descriptions, the Queen and higher classes of Hoshido also tended to be more reserved and polite, even with actual family. And Corrin plus her servants had described Nohr as the home of "keeping it to yourself," so Izana really was an oddity.

"The Seal of Whatchamacallit?" exclaimed the man himself, frowning and tilting his head excessively far to the side yet again.

"..." Kaze squinted at the archduke in suspicion before correcting him. "The Seal of Flames. We were told you would know something about it."

"Seal of Flames huh? Mmmm, nope! Not ringing a bell. It sounds so out of style and boring though. Like I said, me and boring things don't go together one teensy bit. So let's just skip it and go on to the feast! The food here is amazing, so you gotta come inside and try it!" Izana continued, taking Corrin by the hand and turning to run to the palace. Jakob stopped him though, gripping the archduke and digging the sharp points of his armored gloves into the man's hands to make him release Corrin.

"Look, you. Don't just drag Lady Corrin off without her permission. And stop dodging her questions. You must know something, and I will not follow until you give us a clear answer. Stop changing topic. It is imperative to both our and your causes that we receive information on the existence of the Seal, so tell us, now." Jakob's grip tightened, and a small line of blood could be seen trailing down the archduke's pale hand.

A small commotion was heard, as the guards aimed their weapons at the group. Their grips seemed awkward though, as if they had never wielded the weapons they held before. The three villagers tensed. Obviously they had not expected a fight to come to their peaceful country, especially not when their ruler, the face of peace itself, came out to visit. Robin gestures to Kaze and Gunter to ready their weapons, knowing the two most experienced fighters would get his message. Only the ninja did, however, because Gunter was staring straight at Izana, not giving any attention to anything else in sight. Hayato saw Kaze move and raised his scroll, Rinkah continuing to bounce her club on her shoulder as she had been the entire time. Subaki moved Sakura behind his pegasus, and Hana moved to guard her other side.

"H-hey! I already told you that I don't know anything about the F- the Seal of Flames! Now unhand me you lowly butler!" Izana ripped his arm away, practically growling.

Gunter used the distraction to charge forward, pinning the archduke to the wall of the nearest house, the knight's lance catching the other's billowing sleeve.

"Shut up and reveal yourself, you coward. I know it's you, Zola. What are you doing in Izumo, and what have you done with the real archduke!?" the great knight roared, thrusting his weapon deeper into some poor villager's home.

The figure of the man previously known as Izana flickered at Gunter's words, melting away to reveal a smaller man with tight clothes which could thus not be trapped by the knight's lance without hitting some part of the imposter himself. With greasy blond hair, greying skin, a hunched back, long and curling fingernails, and large under eye bags, the man looked downright unhealthy. He was also very skittish. Free from Gunter's weapon, the man ran away behind his guards, who were also flickering and revealed to be Nohrian soldiers. He whispered something to one, and the soldier sprinted away, alerting a few other "guards" locating throughout the town who had also resumed their presumably regular Nohrian appearances. That began a chain of runners, and everyone with Corrin got into battle stances.

In front of Gunter, high on his horse, the man looked puny. He was also trembling, ducking behind a tall soldier supporting him. Gunter pulled his lance from the wall, and the man yelped, running his wrinkled hands together. The shaking man looked disgusting in his skin hugging bodysuit, complete with a cutout that displayed his nonexistent abs but protruding ribs, and jester-style hat that was covered in filth, especially where the definitely-not-white-anymore ball hung at the end. One of the soldiers pushed him forward, and the jester finally spoke as himself.

"Now now, then, Gunter. We're both servants of King Garon, aren't we? So let's just put down that pointy stick, and stop ruining my fun. And was my disguise really that bad? I thought it was perfect! Some of my own appearance must have shown through for you to know it was me… How unfortunate." Zola gave a coy smile, but dug his own nails into his skin, adding another line of blood to the one Jakob had caused.

"Nohr only has two mages that can pull off such wide scale illusions as you did: you, and Iago. Iago would never do such dangerous, involved, low work. He's more a man of the shadows. So, you were the only option."

Gunter moved to stab the mage, but he yelped again and pushed one of his soldiers forward, who took the end of Gunter's spear into his armor. It wasn't deep enough to pierce the man's skin, but the armor would no doubt need repairs the next chance the man got to do so.

"Pardon the interruption, but shouldn't we maybe be figuring out where the archduke and all his guards are? Whether they're slaughtered, or merely prisoners? I don't know this man, but he doesn't seem all that cold blooded, just easily manipulated, so I doubt he murdered them all. They're probably hidden somewhere, and I bet it would be a lot easier to get their location out of him than to waste time running around the entire palace and possibly nearby countryside," added Robin. The tactician put his hand on Gunter's right arm, and the old man pulled his lance back, causing the soldier stuck on it to stumble as the weapon was removed.

"Ahaha! Right you are! About the archduke and his little buddies being alive that is. But don't you dare call me easily manipulated. I'm no warm hearted fool. And speaking of warm, do you know what's warm? Fire is! Do you know what isn't? Ice! So, troops, let's burn out little friends here down! After all, both ice and fire burn if they're cold or hot enough!"

The man then threw a crystal on the ground, shattering it and revealing pre-drawn magic circles on the ground. As he disappeared, giant mounds of ice sprouted from the ground, taking his place. A frost and snow spread over the area, drowning out the screams of villagers both outside and inside their houses, trapped either in the cold mountains themselves, or inside their houses where they couldn't escape whatever Zola had planned. Corrin, Jakob, Robin, and Gunter had shot back from where they were, and stood with the rest of their group, trapped at the entrance to the town.

"Damnit!" Robin cursed, punching the ice in front of him. Then he cursed again, because though he was wearing gloves, throwing his fist at the solid wall of ice still really hurt. But instead of the wall remaining up as if to mock him (as most solid objects did when punched), the ice crumbled away, revealing… more ice. It was still a good revelation though, because it proved that the ice wasn't completely impossible to get past.

Corrin's army voiced their own curses and subsequent cries of astonishment at the quick turn of events, and Robin took a step back to regroup. Once again, he would have to try and think of some valid reason to get Gunter away from the battlefield. Last time he had a good explanation of "if he fights, there's a good chance he'll be seriously injured or die via falling into the desert sands from great heights." This time, though, the man's strength would be a great asset to the group, since he could probably break the ice with less trouble than the others. Still.

"Gunter, you go back through the last town, and check to see if there are any guards there. I don't want innocent villagers dying because we were too focused on moving forward," commanded Robin.

"Of course," the knight replied, kicking his horse and moving it away from the massive wall of ice.

The rest of the crew stood around, waiting for Robin's next direction.

"All of your weapons have unlimited uses, right?" he questioned, gently knocking the ice in front of him and feeling it crumble under the force of his touch.

"Except the festals and staffs, but otherwise yeah. Why wouldn't they?" Corrin was the one to answer, as she joined him in poking the giant cold mass that blocked their path, squealing when the cold material got on her hand.

"No reason. I just thought that maybe someone had a special weapon, and sometimes those wear out. I'm glad to hear you don't though. That helps us out a little." That was one of the nice things about Canta. He didn't have to worry about someone's weapon breaking mid battle and leaving them unarmed. Although thanks to Cordelia's frequent checks of the convoy and each person's stock that hardly ever happened even on Arit.

Robin wound up and kicked the ice, slamming his boot into the semi-solid mass around him. The ice went away, but not before sliding down in an avalanche and partially burying both him and Corrin. Robin's clothes were pretty thick, and his cloak had been reinforced as to be waterproof, so though he was slightly chilled he was fine. Corrin on the other hand was wearing no shoes and had a body covered in metal, so she started swimming in the slush to get out, stuttering as her teeth chattered. Robin almost laughed at her, but the girl's movement caused the ice around him to shift and flood into his boots, so he joined her in her escape and kept his silence not wanting to be a hypocrite. The crushed ice disappeared after a few seconds, dissolving into the air.

While Azura stood by with a smile and trying not to giggle and Sakura's retainers looked displeased with the situation, Sakura and Jakob held a conversation about staffs and staves, and festals or festal. Since there were no staves in Hoshido, Sakura was asking the only Nohrian healer which term was the right plural, given Robin and Corrin used two different ones. Jakob answered that both were right, and followed with the festal versus festal question.

Robin didn't really care, so he looked over to where Hayato was standing, a horrified yet amazed look on his face. The boy was from the desert, so he had likely never seen snow or ice in that proportion before. Because of it, he'd be amazed by the new stuff. On the other hand, he was likely used to warm temperatures and the idea of having to walk through such cold slush was very unappealing.

"So, how are we going to go around this?" Azura finished her giggling, and took up her regular blank expression.

"Well technically we're going to be going through it, not around it." A frown from the songstress made Robin continue. "But first things first. We need to get an idea of just what kind of coverage we're dealing with, and if there are any pockets of troops around. Subaki, can you do a quick fly around? Come back immediately if you spot any archers, but try to stay high up so you don't have to worry about it."

The pegasus knight nodded and pet his mount's main, rising up and gliding over the frozen town. Somehow, just somehow, Subaki's eerie perfection passed onto the pegasus too. And it was seriously creeping Robin out. Not only did the guy always have a lazy, bright white smile on his face and hair that always looked windswept yet not messy, but so did his pegasus. And it was really hard to make a braided mane both pretty and windswept. Maybe he promised his firstborn to some dark god of perfection or something. There was no way that was just natural. Cordelia was so much better.

No one aimed at Subaki while he was flying, so by Robin's guess Zola either had no archers in his crew, or wasn't aiming to kill them. Since he didn't attack when he had the chance earlier, it was likely he was only there to stall them. Robin would play along though. Hopefully that would teach Zola, and by extension Garon, a lesson. Corrin and her troops were not to be messed with. They would systematically defeat every single troop in their path. After all, the town had to have multiple streets leading to the palace, so for efficiency's sake Robin could just lead everyone in one direction. But efficiency wasn't the point. Making everyone realize Corrin truly believed in what she was doing was.

When Subaki touched down, he was clearly upset. By his report, the entire town was frozen over. It wasn't just the ones nearest Robin who had been trapped in their homes by the ice. Subaki could hardly see the roofs of some places because of how far the cover went, and all the villagers had been stuck in their houses There wasn't a single foot of open space until the area Zola stood in with his troops, which Subaki hadn't gotten very close to in fear of getting hit by the mage.

What angered Robin was not that Zola had put up such an effective delaying agent to stop them - it was that he had involved so many innocent people who hadn't done a damn thing to deserve it. They were bowing to the man while he held his illusion up, and did nothing to stop him once he revealed himself. Their immobility may have been out of shock, but they still did nothing to incur the jester's wrath. And worst of all… Subaki's report went beyond people being trapped in their houses. He said that all over the town, you could see blurry limbs from where they were stuck in the frozen sea. Some were long and lanky, belonging to grown men and women, but some were short and covered in baby fat, obviously belonging to a child. Others were twisted and wrinkled, the arms and legs of an elder. Most horrifying of all, every once in a while, he could see the screaming face of a person trapped underneath, morphed into an expression of fear and completely unmoving. And those were just the ones he could see, for the ice was too thick in some places to see down more than a few inches.

That meant Robin would have to change his plans.

There were also some places with only a thin cover of ice and snow, that seemed hollow inside. Within were the distorted shapes of humans, dark blobs that held things silver and shiny. Zola's troops, in all likelihood, standing in wait for Corrin's approach. Dispersed throughout the village, they'd be hard to account for. And Robin needed to go as fast as possible, which required sending out several teams in as many directions as he could. Because of it, as great as using Subaki to find the troops so Robin could coordinate attacks would be, it just wasn't an option.

"So that's how he's going to play it, huh?" mumbled Robin, face dark.

He addressed the group again, this time in a much more serious tone. "I don't know whether or not you've heard of this thing I call Frostbite, or another called Hypothermia, but basically it's when one stays in the cold too long and gets hurt from it. If it isn't treated right away, then it can lead to a need for amputation, or even death. Someone can get either even if they're wearing heavy gear in a snowy place. These villagers are encased in ice, and are dressed in thin and short clothes for a hot day. Hitting the ice will break it off. So, I need everyone to grab something solid, and go as fast as possible. Otherwise, we will be wading through not only a large amount of Zola's troops, but a sea of dead bodies.

"Hayato, your scroll use will be of great use to us in the coming future, but for now borrow one of Rinkah's clubs and get smacking. Sakura, same to you. Even if you don't think you'll be any help, or you're worried your arms are weak, it doesn't matter. Take one of Hana's katana. Kaze, as great as shuriken are, they won't be of any help in smashing ice. Do you know how to hold a naginata? Good. Borrow one from Subaki. Jakob… Corrin, you still have that armorslayer, don't you? Give it to your butler. You, Rinkah, Subaki, and Hana are fine with your weapons. We have vulneraries to heal ourselves, so keep whacking until someone is aiming at your heads. Vulneraries won't help anyone in this mass in front of us right now.

"Does everyone understand what I'm saying?" Robin concluded his grim orders, and everyone nodded.

"But first… leave me a bit space right over there," Robin said, motioning to an area to their left. "Stay out of my way. I'm going to be blowing it up, and I don't want to hit anyone unnecessary in the process."

As much as Robin was trying to hold back and as much as he was trying to avoid suspicions about his skill… there were lives on the line now. Lives he wasn't willing to throw away.

"But what about the people inside the ice? If you just blow it up then they'll be hit too! What if they get hurt? And if we wait so long to hit back, it'll be harder to pull our punches. I'm not sure I can avoid slicing someone's throat or slashing someone's chest if they jump me." Hana voiced, voice quieting as she looked away at the end of her words.

"Those are risks we'll have to take." Robin decreed.

"But I thought you said we could avoid-" Corrin's outburst was interrupted by Robin's voice, this time leaving no room for argument.

"I said we could try to avoid killing anyone. That we could attempt to finish this war with no deaths on our hands. But wasn't that broken yesterday? On the endless staircase when we felled the tribalist? Maybe it wasn't intentional. But it's already impossible to complete this war without anyone losing their life. You don't have to go around hacking down everyone in sight, but I don't want to find out that any innocent people died or were permanently injured because you spent spent an extra two minutes fighting murderers. Because they are. These people knew what was going to happen; that Zola was going to freeze the town. They knew people would likely- that people are going to die in the process. And I can promise you these aren't the first deaths they've been responsible for. So go ahead and be as careful as possible. Just realize that any dallying on your part could mean someone else will never get the chance to again."

With that, Robin faced the ice he had pointed to and began to charge his lightning tome, preparing to push it to its limits to cast a spell side enough to blast away a good chunk of the frozen mass in front of him.


Author's Note: So you may wonder why I chose 30 laps. It's because I came up with a random number. But when doing some math, I decided it was reasonable. Checking my My Castle, I decided that if you ran along the castle walls and around the top stairs but went into the bottom portion, you'd have to cross 142 units of space. Now each space is about the size of a character, but there's a lot of variance in character size and it isn't exact, so I decided to use 6 feet as the height of 1. 142×6ft=852ft. Then I put in the 30 laps, and 852ft×=25,560ft. I then put that in the Google feet to miles converter, and got 4.8 something miles. Since the characters wouldn't always be exactly on the walls and would go a little bit extra on curves, that's basically 5 miles traveled.

Now, even if you go really, really slowly 5 miles is a work out and for people who don't regularly exercise like Sakura, she'd have to walk some of it. And as for, say, Hana, if she's going fast then 5 miles will also be a challenge, and she's obviously going to push herself to the limit and go as quickly as possible.

As for the music I was listening to at the end, and quite frankly still am, it's the into to the second Tokyo Babylon OVA. The soundtrack is unreleased so it has no name, but it's pretty good. I won't spoil exactly what goes on (well anything that happens after the first like 3 minutes), but basically both episodes involve someone getting murdered. They're also mysteries, so you get this mysterious murder music going, inspiring me to write everything after Subaki flies over the frozen town. I had originally cut the chapter there, but… Oh man. The chapters 9,500 words now. 500 words of AN is too long, so I'm done. Thanks for reading.

Oh, and very last note. You know how I said this would be like 200,000 words long? Well since I'm on this track of splitting chapters into 2 8,000 word segments, that might turn into like 360,000 words. Hopefully I will stay interested and have ideas for that long. Originally published October 1, 2016.

Word count pre revision, no AN: 9,538

Eruran out.