Author's note: Happy New Year, everyone! It's been a while. A while, a while. I had a bit of writer's block, which I'll explain at the end. This is the longest chapter I've ever written though, so yay for that? On a side note, Dancer Laslow never came home. None of the performance units did, actually. I'm still sad. On a different, happier side note, I got into my dream university! No more college apps to worry about! Woohoo! Once again thanks for sticking with me, and without further ado, enjoy.


Half an hour after she left the Opera House, Azura met up with Robin in the hotel he was staying at. He welcomed her brightly, but Azura didn't respond in kind. She was quiet, considering something Robin wasn't aware of.

"So, how did it go? Did you manage to talk Xander? Or even see him?" Robin asked, slightly worried at Azura's gloomy disposition.

"I didn't see Xander, but…" Azura reached into the bag at her side and handed Robin a letter. "He sent a messenger for me. The messenger handed me this, which is meant for you and Corrin. I haven't opened it yet, so I don't know of its contents."

Robin took the letter from her hand, turning it over to look at the thin, swooping letters that wrote out Corrin's name. His name was absent. "I can't contact Corrin while she's in the astral plane, but she should be back soon for the two of us to look this over." He took a breath. "Why say it's for me if my name is absent, by the way? Unless it was there earlier, but faded away in the glow of the city lights." Robin smirked, raising an eyebrow as a friendly gesture.

Azura frowned. "Don't joke around like that!" She gave Robin a slight glare, making him smile. His little joke had succeeded in getting rid of at least some of her bad mood. "I said it was for you because it probably is. Xander likely wrote this letter for the head of Corrin's army. Though he and our other enemies are likely aware of your existence, writing out 'Corrin and the mysterious white haired man who has been seen leading her troops' would be impractical. There's hardly the room for it on the envelope, either."

"I don't know, if he wrote in really small handwriting he could-"

"Robin."

"I'm just saying, if he wanted to be as accurate as possible he could-"

"Accuracy doesn't matter! Looks do!"

"Oh come on, he's a prince - royalty can't be showing incompetence!"

"Royalty also have an image of beauty to maintain. Writing that whole thing out would be ugly. Just 'Corrin' looks much better. Not to mention writing that whole long thing instead of 'Robin' shows greater incompetence and lack of knowledge than just omitting it."

"...You've got me there." Robin sighed, setting the letter down. "So, tell me - how was your stay in the Opera House? We have some time to kill until Corrin gets here."

"Well…"


By the time Corrin arrived, Azura had already finished her story. Robin had a feeling she was withholding some information, but he wasn't going to press. They hadn't forced him to give up every detail of his life. He wasn't going to force her to.

The reunion between Azura and Corrin was sweet, mostly due to enthusiasm on Corrin's part, so Robin stood by while they had their moment. It was short enough, so it only took a moment until Corrin was ready to open the letter. Robin read it aloud:

Dearest Sister,

It has been a while since we last spoke on those plains, one turning against the other. I still don't understand why you didn't chose to return with us, your family, despite how much we've given you over the years. I know what brought you to us may have been wrong, but I promise that Camilla, Leo, Elise, and I love you just as we do each other. You're our sister, and our love for you has not and will not fade. If you wish to change your mind and join us, I promise I will do everything within my power to make sure Father accepts. Please consider it.

As for your current traveling companions, I'm slightly confused. Princess Azura and Jakob I saw with you on the field. The Hoshidans are trying to convince you to join them, so their joining you makes sense as a form of coercion. Gunter's survival is questionable, but he was your servant, as was Felicia. I've seen how strong the love Camilla has for you is, and it is only right that her guard stays by her side.

But the white-haired man who has been with you since sometime soon after we parted? The one claiming himself to be a tactician, who has been in charge of your forces since day one? Why him? By his dress I can tell he is no Hoshidan. Yet his clothes match no Nohrian region either, despite their similarities to a few styles present here. Do you know where he is from, or who he follows? What reason did he have for joining you, and why did you accept him? If you could not accept your family, why accept a complete stranger?

I ask, dear sister, that you be wary of him. No one joins a cause without good reason, and I cannot see what he has to gain from joining you other than glory. Whether it is glory achieved through stealing credit for your accomplishments or glory achieved through assassinating you for whatever man he serves I do not know. I just ask that you watch him and protect yourself. From the success you have experienced his tactics must be of some high caliber, and a man like that is no fool. Whatever he's plotting may elude you. Though there is a chance he is doing this out of the good of his heart, it is unlikely, so be careful. You may not be at my side, but you are still my sister. I do not want to lose you entirely.

I've been speaking of grim things for quite a while, so it is time for me to move on. While I do value letters as a form of communication, I much prefer speaking in person. These past few days I've been caught up with business in a nearby town for a few days, which is why you're receiving my message in writing rather than spoken word.

Though I cannot say for certain exactly when I will arrive, I can say that I will leave this town by no later than the day of the performance. I wish to meet with you to talk more, so I would like to arrange a meeting at the large Moresian church located 20 minutes north of the Opera House. No services have been held in it for over two decades due to the religion's declining popularity, and no one goes inside either. The doors to the church have rusted shut, and it is impossible to get inside through them. Not to say entrance is impossible, though. Behind the church there is a small graveyard, including a few mausoleums. The one topped by a circle of wings is connected to the church by an underground passageway. Do not worry about disturbing the dead; no one was ever laid to rest there.

Go through the passage and enter the church by an hour after sunrise, and as long as I have arrived in town, I will meet you there. If I am not there and do not arrive within half an hour after you've entered the church, then please leave and return the next day. If I do not meet with you by the third day after the performance, then something has happened and I will not be coming. I hope that that is not the case, but given how chaotic things have been lately, it is possible.

There is more I wish to say to you, but I will save it for when we next meet. I love you, Little Princess. I hope to meet with you soon, and that you will come to reason.

Your brother,

Xander

Corrin, Robin, and Azura kept silent for a minute after Robin finished reading. He was the first one to speak up.

"I guess Xander doesn't trust me, then," he chuckled, nervousness showing through.

"That's not true!" Corrin tried telling him, grabbing Robin by the arms. "He's just worried for me. He was just… making it clear."

Robin nodded in an exaggerated motion. "Yes, he was making it clear that he doesn't trust me. Thank you for agreeing with me."

Corrin frowned. "That's not what I meant and you know it, Robin."

Robin shrugged, and Azura giggled softly. Both of her white haired companions sent the songstress a glare.

"What, it's funny!" she said, holding a hand over her mouth to hide her laughter. "You two are acting like such children. There's no use arguing over Xander's opinion of Robin. We won't be able to change it until we see him, so our first order of business should be figuring out how we will meet up. Do either of you have any non-childish ideas to start with?"

The two replied in the affirmative.

"Given the size of the passage, getting a large force in and out will be a problem. In addition, I doubt Xander will bring a large group, since he's probably contacting us in secret. We should get together a group of no more than five to enter the church, and keep a handful of other troops outside the mausoleum to serve as a guard, just in case," provided Robin.

"Exactly," Corrin said, adding onto Robin's note. "I think we should go with a group of three rather than five, though. Xander has two retainers, so he'll probably bring them and keep his other troops outside. If we want to match him, we should probably send three inside as well."

Robin and Azura nodded in agreement.

"I was thinking you two," Corrin explained. Robin made a face to show his wariness, making Corrin continued. "I know Xander might possibly by chance sort of not like you, but things aren't going to get better unless he meets you in person. And he likes me, so my presence should help keep things calm."

"What about me," Azura asked. "You expect Xander to bring his retainers, don't you? Surely they're strong warriors. And Xander's far stronger than anyone I've ever met, save possibly Ryoma. Wouldn't you rather bring a stronger fighter than I? Possibly Camilla? Not only is she strong, but Xander would at least hesitate to fight her, even if he didn't stop."

With her point made, Azura went quiet for Corrin to respond. The white haired princess took a second, making her point with a frown. "Well, I don't know. Xander is really… chivalrous. Or maybe a better word would be devoted. He is the loyal knight, not just a loyal knight. If it really came down to it, he would cut Camilla down. He wouldn't be happy about it, and he'd be stuck with guilt for a while, but he's never said no to anything Father has asked as far as I know. And he'd do anything to protect Nohr. I think having you there would be just about as good in terms of dissuading him from attacking us as having Camilla would."

"And if he really is as chivalrous as you say," said Robin, "then having Azura with us would be better. Hopefully he'll see the disparity in strength and decide attacking us is unfair and the wrong thing to do. And please don't take this the wrong way Azura, but you're nowhere near as strong physically as Camilla is. The difference between your strengths should help keep Xander's sword hand off Siegfried if all goes well. I don't think he's a man who gets pleasure from slaughtering people so far below him.

"Of course, I doubt he'd like to murder his sister either, but the power-sister thing probably evens you two out. And if Camilla was there she might distract Xander from his conversation with Corrin, which is the most important thing at the moment.

"So I second Corrin's choice. She needs to be there because she's the one Xander needs to talk to, I should be there because I need to get Xander's trust or expose myself to him or something, and you need to be there to keep Xander from attacking us and to help keep Corrin from freaking out. You've got a pretty calming presence, after all."

The songstress gave a slow nod, and Corrin smiled.

"Great!" Corrin shouted. "Now all we have to do is prepare for tomorrow. Should we go tell everyone the plan, then? So they can get ready for tomorrow morning?"

"Sound good to me," Robin said with a shrug.

"That would be fine," Azura added.

"Off we go, then!"


Once the sun had been in the sky for a little over 45 minutes, Corrin led her troops over to where the church was located. There was a small forested area nearby, where she sent most of the people who weren't going with her to stay until she returned. A few, like Camilla, her retainers, Kaze, and Saizo she had stand at the entrance to the mausoleum. The two brothers pointed out a few Nohrian soldiers hiding nearby, but Corrin had the ninjas stay where they were. Hopefully the Nohrinas would hold their positions rather than attack while she was inside. She wasn't absolutely certain they would, but she wanted to believe in Xander, so she left it up to chance. Robin wasn't the happiest about that, but as the technical leader of the group, it was her decision.

Burning candles attached to the walls lit up the passage from the mausoleum to the church. They were a bit eerie, and closer to their bodies than Robin would have liked, but a good enough light source. Xander or his retainers must have lit them on their way in. That, or someone else who heard of the plot and was aiming to kill them. Hopefully it was the former choice.

The walk to their destination didn't last long, and the three could soon see soft light hitting the dirt floor of the passageway. There was a ladder on the wall where the path stopped and the light filtered down. Robin put his hands on one of the rungs to begin climbing, but Azura stopped him.

"Let me," she whispered quietly enough the Nohrians wouldn't be able to hear them. "Xander doesn't like or know you, so seeing someone he doesn't have a relationship with, or has a bad relationship with, won't get us off to a great start."

"What if it's a trap?" Robin whispered back. "What if they attack the first person to stick up their nose?"

"Then I would much rather be me who is beheaded than either of you. Corrin is the leader of the army, and you're the main tactician. I don't want to die, but my death would have the least effect."

"But-" Corrin started to say something when Azura put a gloved hand over the other girl's mouth.

The songstress then began to climb the bars, Robin and Corrin waiting for her to call them up.

"Azura? Is that you?" Robin heard a voice, presumably Xander, say.

"Yes it is. It's a pleasure to see you again, Xander. It's been a while since we were together somewhere other than a battlefield. How are you?" Azura's soft voice responded.

"Just fine, thank you. I assume Corrin is waiting in the passage below, is she not? Pardon my changing the subject, but she is the person I came to see."

"Yes, of course. And she's where you say. I just came up first to make sure we were meeting who we thought we were, so I must apologize for the delay in seeing the one you wanted." Azura turned back down to where Robin and Corrin were. "You can come up now!" she called.

Corrin was the first one to get on the ladder and enter the main part of the church, Robin following once she had both feet on the church's wood floors. When he was about halfway out, the tactician heard a small gasp. All heads in the room turned toward the sound's origin, which was-

'Wait a minute…' Robin thought. 'Him too!?'

There, standing at Xander's side, was Inigo. His hair was grey and he was wearing a similar outfit to Severa when they met on the boat, but it was the same man Robin had come to know near the end of the wars with Valm and then Grima. Or at least, he looked like that man. Since Severa-turned-Selena was from 'The Future Past' timeline, this Inigo-turned-Laslow was probably from then as well. But either way, the man in front of Robin had to be an Inigo that had met him, no doubt. Selena had even mentioned Inigo was with her, going by the name Laslow, so it had to be him.

Inigo's reaction to seeing Robin drew the tactician back to the present, Inigo jerking back in shock. "W-wait a minute, you're-" He cut himself off, biting his lip. "Tell me, how is Selena doing? And I want either Azura or Corrin to respond."

All eyes turned to Robin, Xander raising an eyebrow but saying nothing. They then moved to Azura as she spoke up. "She's hidden somewhere outside the church with Princess Camilla and Beruka, If you're unsure of whether or not you can trust us, I think she would hear and respond if you yelled out loud enough for her."

Inigo took a moment to consider Azura's suggestion, based on the look he gave, but chose not to. "I see. Well then, it's not my place to be holding your attention. I apologize for the outburst, Lord Xander, Lady Corrin. I just wanted to make sure of something." The retainer didn't elaborate on what 'something' was.

Robin had an idea of what is was, though. Since Inigo (or Laslow, since if what Selena said was true then that was the man's new name) had come from the same timeline as Selena, that meant he came from a time in which 'Robin' had gone on a rampage and murdered everyone Laslow cared about. In which Robin was just Grima's puppet, and committed acts that you really couldn't forgive someone for. And since Robin now had red eyes, the only visual thing that distinguished him from Grima, he now seemed less Robin-like than the sane man Laslow had known. That spelled trouble. Selena must not have told Laslow and Owain- or Odin, was it? She must not have told them that there was a 'good' Robin walking around. So Robin going around red-eyed but friendly and for whatever reason not killing Selena would make no sense and confuse the hell out of Laslow. It would confuse the hell out of Robin, at least.

"And what is it you were making sure of?" Xander asked.

Laslow froze, biting his lip.

Robin took the chance to respond. "As you've probably figured out, I'm not from Nohr, and I'm definitely not from Hoshido. From what Selena's said, and what I assume Laslow has told you, neither are they. When I first met her, she recognized my coat as something from her homeland, and confronted me about it. Dragging me all the way down to the bottom of the ship wasn't what I was expecting but…

"Anyway, apparently I'm dressed in something from their homeland. Or from a place nearby that their families fought? If that's the way to put it? She didn't go into much detail about recognizing my coat or something. She just recognized me and kind of freaked out. I would too, if I was so far from my homeland I thought I would never meet a person from there again, and then suddenly saw someone from a rival country or faction or whatever it is. Unfortunately I don't really have memories of growing up in the country that my coat and stuff come from, so that wouldn't happen with me, but theoretically, it could." Xander didn't seem to be impressed at Robin's words.

"Er, so I'm guessing that's what's up with… Are you Laslow, or Odin? Selena mentioned she had two friends, but didn't give visual descriptions of you guys. Just names." Robin put a fake puzzled look up. Hopefully it was convincing enough.

Laslow immediately caught on to Robin's plan, responding: "Laslow, and yes, that's the gist of it. You're the only person other than Selena and Odin, who came here with me, that I've recognized as bearing something from my homeland. It's been a few years, so seeing something, especially something of a people that my own weren't on the best terms with, was shocking. It almost seemed like something out of a dream! For a second, I wondered if my waking and coming here this morning was all merely a trick made by my sleeping mind. And a terrible trick at that. Getting ready in the morning is tedious enough when you've so much armor and so many things to prepare; to have to do it twice would be a travesty!" Laslow laughed at the end, Robin giving a short laugh of his own.

"Oh man, it really would! Mornings are terrible. Who decided that the sight of the sun over the horizon was a good indicator of the time to wake up? Sleep is a precious thing, and no ball of light should have the authority to order me when to end it!" With a triumphant shake of his fist, Robin turned up his chin.

The ceiling of the church was beautiful. Stone carvings of angels and ghouls alike, resting on textured pillars complete with detailed vines and old oil lamps were present throughout the large opening. Stained glass was present at the top of the four exterior walls, as well as over the large space that separated the rows of cushioned pews from those without. Robin didn't recognize the scenes they depicted, but he could tell they carried the tale of some grand battle, and the birth of a hero.

There had obviously been a lot of work put into designing and constructing the church. If he had been a man to pray, he certainly would have loved to have attended services in a place as grand as the one he was in. Even as he was, someone who kept away from religion for the most part (the fanaticism of the Grimleal had lessened the appeal of religion as a whole, and the Church of Naga was not really up his alley either), he felt at peace within the place. If he ever returned to Nestra, he would definitely find his way back to the church at a time when he was alone, to just sit and think. Hopefully he'd have enough time before the end of the war and his return to Arit to do that.

"I'm glad to see you two are so cheerful this morning," Xander said, voice laden with an emotion Robin couldn't pinpoint, "but we have other concerns. We can either begin with what Corrin's goals are, or what yours are, sir tactician."

"My goals?"

"Yes. Your purpose. Why aid a woman from a country that is not yours fight a war that nears unwinnable? You do understand what could happen, do you not? The chances of you being speared on the battlefield or hanged in front of a crowd are much higher than the chance of you finishing this war still in control of your life. If the world still follows a path of logic, then your life will only be preserved by becoming a prisoner or fleeing. Neither of which I can see you wanting to do."

Robin nodded. "Well, it's a good thing this world isn't following a path of logic, then!" A bit clichéd, but it would work.

"What?" Xander asked in confusion.

"Right now the two major armies of the world are struggling to defeat a girl with fewer than 100 men. Fewer than a quarter of that, even! What sense exists in that?" the tactician explained.

Corrin elbowed him. "Pst, hey Robin," she whispered. "Arguing with my brother really isn't the way to make him like you. Now isn't the time. You can try to sound cool later."

Robin frowned. He wasn't trying to sound cool. But he agreed anyway, before continuing. "But I understand what you mean. I've been asked why I decided to join Corrin before, and I haven't changed my answer: she was the first person I saw, and I had nowhere else to go. I was in a foreign land and knew nothing about what was going on. To me, the most logical thing to do was to follow the one person who offered to help me. And when I learned she was at war, I stayed with her because, while I'm not familiar with much, I do know how to fight. I know strategy, and I can use a sword and a tome. Maybe I could become a bookkeeper or something, but following Corrin seemed like the right thing to do. I don't think any other army would take me in. And I've been happy as I am, which is why I'm here. Does that work?"

Xander stared Robin in the eye, his height making Robin feel like he was being looked down upon. Xander was pretty intimidating, if he was honest. Robin had figured as much based off what Corrin had told him of the prince, but it was still unnerving. If Xander was to be the next king of Nohr, then he'd have to work on lessening the air of intimidation he gave off so he wouldn't be as feared as Garon was.

"It's odd, but it will suffice. Maybe that strange quality of sudden loyalty is normal in the land you come from. Would you say it is, Laslow?" Xander turned to the retainer, his face losing some of the hardness it had as the prince looked Robin down.

"I mean, some people are like that, but it's not exactly normal. It's more something that fits in a certain group of people that existed in my homeland," Laslow explained.

"Like the group that you and Robin belonged to?"

"Well Robin and my-" Laslow's eyes widened and he slapped a hand up to cover his mouth. "Err, what I mean is that I suppose Robin could have belonged to, uh, well-"

A distant explosion cut Laslow off. Everyone in the church turned toward the doors, which was in the same direction as the sound.

"We'll continue this later," Xander said. "For now, I'm going to investigate what that was. Laslow, Peri, let's go."

The prince rushed past Corrin, Azura, and Robin, dropping down into the tunnel and running toward the entrance. Robin and the princesses followed.

When they got out, Robin could see a plume of smoke coming from somewhere a mile or so away. It was a light gray, and wasn't thick enough to cause huge problems for anyone stuck breathing it in, but covered a large area. It was in the opposite direction than the Opera House, toward the port if Robin's memory was correct. Had someone conveniently chosen to raid the ships and supplies coming in while Xander and Corrin were meeting? Or was it some plot by the Nohrians to throw Corrin and her army off? Robin didn't know.

He looked to where Xander had run to ask the prince, but Xander and his retainers had already mounted horses and taken off toward the base of the smoke. Given the Nohrians were mounted, while Corrin's forces were mostly foot soldiers, she and her army would be arriving considerably later than Xander's troops. That could put them in a bad situation. So, Robin called out the soldiers hidden within the trees and ordered them to follow him, Azura, and Corrin toward the source of the explosion, hoping they'd be able to catch up before anything terrible happened.

If things went really well, then the troops they hadn't brought would also move toward the explosion site and meet up with the force Robin and Corrin had with them at the moment, but Robin didn't have anyway to send a message to ask the other group to. He'd just have to hope they did the smart thing.


When Robin and the rest of Corrin's forces arrived at the site of the explosion, which was the port as Robin has assumed, it was to find Xander facing off with a man in red armor. Both had their swords drawn, though they were far enough they couldn't hit one another in direct combat.

Based off the armor and outfits the people behind the red-armored-man was wearing, he was Hoshidan. Had they discovered the Nohrians' presence and lured them out with an explosion? That seemed overly destructive and didn't match what Robin understood of their war policy. From what he had read, and from what Takumi and Reina had told him, the Hoshidans tried to avoid civilian casualties whenever possible. This explosion had occurred at a busy port, and Robin had seen more than a few corpses before arriving at the spot where Xander and the other man argued. It didn't match up.

"Stop trying to avoid the blame! My troops and I were over by the eastern forest when the explosion occurred. When we arrived here, you and your men were the only ones present! How could we have possibly caused the explosion when we weren't even here to carry it out?!" Xander yelled, glaring at the red-armored-man.

The man scoffed. "How? You Nohrians have used distant magic attacks on my people for centuries. I've seen your special tomes and crystals dedicated to long range magic - your distance from the explosion when it occurred means nothing. And this land is on the Nohrian side of the border. How do I know you don't have a mage hidden in civilian clothing somewhere nearby? You and your king don't give a single thought to ending an innocent person's life. I have no doubt you'd readily sacrifice the people here to further your goals."

Xander's eyes narrowed. "And tell me, what would those goals be? What do I accomplish by murdering my own people? There haven't been any rebellions or revolts here. The people are living peacefully, and contribute a great deal to the health of Nohr's economy. Particularly this port, since it's such a central shipping center. I can see no reason why we would want to damage such an area. What strange and unreasonable explanation has your deranged mind conjured up to explain why we would do so?"

"Insults?" The man scoffed. "Of course you Nohrian pigs would drop so low. But don't think you can distract me. Scarlet thought there was an informant hiding within her ranks. They must have told you of my presence here, didn't they? And since you couldn't find me despite your greatest efforts, you thought the best way to draw me and my men out was to destroy somewhere central enough that I'd see no matter where I was in town. Is that not the case?"

"'Is that not' - that's preposterous!" Xander shouted back. "You Hoshidans stick out like sore thumbs around here. Had I sent men out to find you, I would have had no trouble at all. And I'm not so insane as to kill the people who informed me. That's not how you earn loyalty."

The other man frowned. "Oh, loyalty? What loyalty? From what I hear, a whole legion of soldiers abandoned you after a fight at sea. And hasn't your sister left to join the enemy as well? You Nohrians can't hold yourselves together, you're just-"

Apparently, Sakura had had enough. She ran up from behind Robin, yelling to the red armored man. "Big brother, please! Stop it! Stop arguing! Stop fighting! Nothing's going to fix itself if you two are so caught up with screaming at each other. The Nohrians didn't do it! They were with us! Please!"

The man, now identified as Ryoma if he was Sakura's older brother, didn't continue his sentence. He merely stared at Sakura for a moment, shocked. Takumi walked up to her side, but said nothing.

Xander gave a cynical chuckle. "You berate me for being unable to control a single sister, yet you've lost two members of your family to Corrin's forces. I'm not sure who should be holding what over who in this situation."

Ryoma turned back to Xander to say something, but another explosion made the men turn north. The explosion was relatively small compared to the first, but still caused a cloud of smoke and dust to form.

Clearing his throat to draw the two crown princes' attention, Robin asked the two a question: "Your forces are all here, right? As in, all the troops under your commands are with us, in sight?"

"Yes," the two replied simultaneously, before glaring at each other.

"Then how was there just an explosion all the way over there?"

"He could be lying," Ryoma said. "It wouldn't be the first time a Nohrian tried to lure in a Hoshidan royal with lies to deliver them death."

A scoff from Xander. "I could say a similar thing for you. How do I know that your words are truthful, either? There's no reason for me to trust you, just as there's no reason for you to trust me."

Azura chose that moment to speak up. "Because it would benefit the two of you if you both were being honest. You're suspicious of each other as it is. Lying about any troops you may or may not have won't achieve a single thing. Only the truth will get you two anywhere."

"And what is that?" Xander asked. "If neither Hoshido nor Nohr are behind the attacks, then who is?"

Xander raised a good point. Nestra didn't have a standing military. Neither did any of the nearby nations, apart from the Wolfskin, who didn't use magic since they were taguel-like creatures.

So who were the people behind the explosion?

"They don't have an official name, but they're the invisible soldiers," Azura explained.

...Well that made sense, Robin supposed, but how had she figured that out? And how did they get to Nestra from that place anyway?

Ryoma raised an eyebrow. "Invisible soldiers? You're saying there's some mysterious third party out there made up of enemies we can't even see?"

Fourth, actually. Corrin and co. were the third.

"Yes!" Corrin exclaimed. "I know it sounds crazy, but they're out there, and their goal is to make Nohr and Hoshido turn on each other so you guys will be weakened by war, and then they'll have the chance to take over. That's why they made the explosion! You two started fighting once you saw it, just like the invisible soldiers planned. So it wasn't Nohr or Hoshido behind it, but someone who wants to cause trouble. And right now we need to focus on beating them and saving the town."

"..." Xander took in a deep breath, looking over to where Camilla was standing somewhere behind Corrin. Beruka and Selena were at her sides, both attempting to look as emotionless as possible. Beruka was a blank slate, and while Selena was somewhat more expressive, she was still relatively straight faced.

He then spoke. "How do you know these invisible soldiers exist? If they're invisible, wouldn't they be impossible to see? And how are we to fight these invisible soldiers? Fighting enemies whose chests and faces are open to attacks is hard enough for many. Fighting and defeating an enemy whose body you cannot see seems near impossible."

"They're not entirely invisible," Corrin responded. "They don't have completely solid bodies like you and me, but they have this watery outline that's filled with a sort of swirling purple-pink smoke that is usually thick enough you can figure out which limb is which. You can at least always see where they are, with that. And whenever they take a blow, they solidify into an almost completely opaque form."

"Wouldn't 'transparent' soldier be a more fitting designation, then? Or rather, 'translucent?'" Xander asked back.

Robin nodded. "I second that. Xander's right, there." Xander's face softened slightly, into a small smile. "They're not really invisible, so maybe we should re-"

"Do we have the time to waste speaking of this?" Ryoma asked, frustrated. "If there's a new force out there destroying the town and killing its citizens, then we need to go out there and stop it, not chat about what we should call it. I'll take the east side of town. I'll meet with you again once the soldiers have been taken care of. If they actually, exist, that is. Since Takumi and Sakura are with you, I'll believe your words for now. But if I reach the site of the explosions and discover that your words were false… I want to trust you, Corrin. We're siblings. But I won't allow my people to be hurt because of a lie. I'll continue this conversation later."

As Ryoma turned to address his men, Saizo and Kagero ran to his side. "My liege," Kagero said, "please wait for us."

Saizo bowed, then began to speak. "We've travelled with Corrin these past few weeks because we were in search of you, but now that we've found you we're ready to be at your side again. Please tell us what you need us to do, Lord Ryoma,"

"Of course," Ryoma replied. He then explained his plan to the troops he had with him and set off, leaving Corrin and Xander's forces at the port.

"We'll be taking our leave as well," Xander said, watching as Ryoma went on ahead. "The Hoshidans have taken the East side, and my forces will take the West. Can I trust you to make your way through the middle?"

"Of course, Xander. Leave it to us." Corrin gave a firm nod, prompting a nod from Sander in response before he and his troops charged off in the direction he'd indicated.

Camilla's soft laughter behind them caught Robin and Corrin's attention.

"To think," Camilla began, voice barely above a whisper, "he wouldn't even stop to say hello to his blood sister."

Corrin looked guilty.

Camilla walked up to her, putting a hand on Corrin's head. "Oh don't make that face, darling. Xander's always been so devoted when it comes to battles. He tends to shut everything unrelated to fighting out. Though it would have been nice to speak to him, I'm glad he's doing well enough to act as he always has. I was worried our departures or betrayals or whatever you would call them would change him for the worse. If they have, he's at least able to put on a show, and that's enough power for me."

Camilla laughed again and left to mount her wyvern.

"Like she said, don't worry about it Corrin," Robin said, ruffling Corrin's hair. "It's time to fight, so just focus on the battle and think about family stuff later, as hard as that may be. Got it?"

Corrin nodded. "Got it."

With that, the group set off, and the battle began.

Thanks to the help of Xander and Ryoma's forces, the battle went much smoother than the last ones Corrin's forces had engaged in. With the East and West taken care of, and the water that separated the walkways and parts of the port from one another, they didn't have to worry about any side attacks. Or, considerably fewer, at least.

Where the group ran into trouble was when they got a few minutes into the fighting. The first of the invisible soldiers they had fought had been mercenaries and mages, which while annoying and still dangerous, were not a considerable threat. Past those troops, however, came big trouble. There was practically a wall of armored units blocking Corrin's path. And where there weren't armors, there were literal walls. Corrin's army didn't have the supplies nor the time to scale them, so their only option was to defeat the enemies and keep going through. The problem was, they didn't have good forces to deal with the armors.

The best way to kill a general or a knight was to use magic or an armorslayer. At the moment, Robin, Hayato, and Orochi were the only offensive magic users they had, and Orochi was back in the astral plane with Hana, who'd woken had a high fever for the past two days and was too sick to be on her own.

That meant Robin, Hayato, and whoever had armor piercing weapons were their group's best bet.

"Hinata!" Robin yelled, grabbing the samurai's attention.

"What's up?" Hinata yelled back, running over.

"Did you grab the armorslayer off Hana before we left?"

"..." Hinata froze. "Oh yeah… I was supposed to do that, wasn't I. Whoops?"

Robin bit his lip in frustration.

"But don't worry about it!" Hinata assured him, "You've seen how strong I am. Armorslayer or regular katana, I can do major damage to those knights! No worries!"

Hinata left to cut down another mage, leaving Robin sighing.

'Damnit. I should've known better than that. I should've checked everyone's weapons before the battle. Or before we left, frankly, since I was occupied before battle and we wouldn't have had enough time.'

That meant sword armor-killers were out of the picture. Gunter had a hammer on him if Robin's memory served, which would be a big help. Not on Gunter though.

An axe fighter came up to Robin then, swinging for the tactician's head. Robin simply sighed, ducking to the side and kicking the man's feet from under him. He was holding his tome rather than his sword, which meant his legs were the longest weapon he had available at the moment.

Putting his tome back into his coat, Robin drew his sword, stabbing the invisible (or translucent, thank you Xander) soldier in the neck. He jerked the sword right, cutting through until the sword was no longer embedded in flesh. The man hadn't been beheaded, as Robin's stab had landed in the middle of his neck, but the wound wasn't pretty and it wouldn't take much more to separate head from torso.

With a few short flickers, the man faded away, his form taking on a completely opaque form right before it exploded into a thousand droplets of water, most of which evaporated a second later.

What an odd corpse.

"Robin!" Selena ran to his side, long hair fluttering in the wind behind her. "What should we do about the armors? What's your plan?"

Maybe he could get the hammer off Gunter. "We're going to split up into three groups, each with someone with an armor-killer at the front. Do you think you can find Beruka and get her to take the hammer from Gunter? There are three openings in the wall, each guarded by armors, and four armor-killers on us. One of the armors is a general, rather than just a knight, so I want her to fly overhead and get him from the back while one of us gets him from the front. Tell her something along those lines in case she needs to convince Gunter, will you?"

Selena blinked. "Honestly, sometimes I wonder what goes on in that head of yours. How you figure out things so fast. We've only been fighting for a couple minutes and you've thought that up, even though you've been concentrating on the battle as much as the rest of us. No wonder mother trusted you so much."

"That's-"

"Oh whatever, I'll go get Beruka. See you later Robin." Selena took her leave.

…That went surprisingly well. Especially considering he made that up as he said it. Looks like he wasn't a complete mess. Just sometimes.

As for there being a fourth armor-killer, Kagero had had a sting shuriken on her when she joined them. Though she'd left to join Ryoma, Robin was pretty sure she'd given it to Kaze at some point. And, looking over to where the ninja was dealing with a general, Robin was proven right.

Kaze held one shurkien in each hand, the metal giving off the teltale glow of their armor-killing property. They must have been enchanted in some way that let them do so much damage despite their small size, akin to the armorslayer swords of Nohr and Arit.

Kaze threw one at the knight before him, the shuriken piercing the soldier's breastplate. It must've made a notable wound as the knight stumbled momentarily. But they turned their lance forward and charged at Kaze anyway, who kept out of the way to dodge, throwing another shuriken. This one his the knight in the fabric of his armpit, left uncovered by armor as to allow for movement of the knight's arm.

The knight's grip on their lance faltered momentarily, the weapon's tip falling toward the ground.

Kaze took the opportunity to charge at the armor, swinging behind them and stabbing a shuriken into the top of their spine.

The knight crumpled to the ground, dissolving into water as the other invisible soldiers had. Three shuriken were left behind, which Kaze picked up and pocketed.

"Nice one," Robin called, approaching the ninja.

"Thank you, Robin, but it was no more than my duty," Kaze replied.

"Duty or not, it helps. And for a new duty, I'm going to need you to take on the general at the center wall. We only have four armor-killing weapons with us, and you've got one of them. Beruka should get here soon to be your backup. The plan is to have her attack him from behind as you take him from the front. Try to distract him by moving around if you can, but don't endanger yourself by getting to close to other enemies or baiting yourself so much that you're severely injured. Beruka has strong armor on, so she can take more blows than you can."

Kaze gave a quick bow. "I understand. What shall I do once we defeat the general?"

"Keep going north." Robin pointed in front of them, toward a tower up ahead. "The smoke seems to be coming from there, and I don't expect there to be more enemies much past that. If there are, then keep fighting. Just make sure you don't go anywhere you're not completely confident you can return from without long-term injuries. We want to save civilians here too, but we can save more in the long run the fewer casualties we have now."

"Of course. I'll try to meet back up with you as soon as possible."

Robin nodded, and Kaze ran toward where Beruka was flying, moving to get the wyvern rider's attention. Robin could see the hammer at her side.

'Next is Hayato.'

Thankfully, their portion of the battlefield wasn't too large, so it didn't take long for Robin's eyes to land on the boy. Between Robin and Hayato, however, were two creatures Robin had never seen before.

'Wh-what the…'

One of them resembled a large fox, dodging from side to side as it distracted a mercenary the other beast pummeled into a burst of water a moment later. And was the second one a beast. It was huge, standing on two legs but with arms reaching the floor, an open jaw full of long, pointed teeth, and claws he didn't want to meet with. Neither creature was flickering though, which meant they weren't part of the invisible army. So who and what were they?

The fox did a quick flip with the mercenary down, and suddenly transformed into a humanoid figure, standing on two feet. The larger beast was less showy in doing so, but they, too, transformed into something resembling a human.

Robin had yet to see any taguel in Archanaea. Maybe that's what those two were - this land's version of Panne and her brethren. Hopefully the situation was different, and there were more to the two's species than just them. Robin didn't want to learn of another massacre.

The two hadn't noticed Robin as far as he could tell, so the tactician began to approach them. As he got closer, he realized how hard they were breathing. The black and white one, who'd previously been the larger beast, was covered in the telltale burns of a thunder spell, while the fox one was bleeding profusely from a wound on his side.

Before Robin could reach the two, a volley of shuriken rained down on the two, catching them by surprise. The black and white one immediately transformed into his beast form, the shuriken hitting his fur but doing little to cut much deeper, while the fox was unable to transform before he had one shuriken in his side and another in the arm he used to protect his head.

The shuriken had been thrown by a trio of translucent ninja, standing on a half destroyed wall nearby.

While the fox ran for cover (or limped. Despite his transformation, the shuriken were still caught in his fur and body, meaning the creature did an odd hopping gallop to get away), the other beast charged at the ninja. Pulling back one of its huge arms, it punched one of the ninja off the crumbling wall and into another pile of rubble, ending the ninja's life. One of the other ninjas threw a shuriken at the beast's outstretched arm, which stuck.

The creature roared, throwing the same arm at the ninja that had just injured it. The ninja jumped off the wall to dodge.

Unfortunately for them, their dodge put them right in the range of Robin's sword. A second later, only one ninja was left.

Another second later and they two had been cut down by Robin, a splash of water on the ground being all that remained of their presence.

A flash of light or smoke or whatever it was arose at Robin's side, drawing his attention to the now human like creature at his side.

He was panting heavily, and his open shirt was ripped in several places. His ears seemed to be drooping slightly too, and combined with the way his hair was flattened to his face in several places due to water, sweat, and blood, they seemed exhausted. They also reminded him of a skunk. Same coloration.

The not-taguel's ears perked up. "Really?" he asked. "You think I look like a skunk?"

Oh no. Had he said that last part out loud?

"Uh, sorry if I offended you. I was just-"

"Hey, don't worry about it!" said man replied, straightening a little. "I love skunks! They're so dirty and messy, and they go everywhere. Not to mention they have such a nice coat. You've got a good eye, mister. What's your name? My name's Keaton. Oh, and I'm a wolfskin, in case you were wondering. You don't seem too familiar with my kind if the way you were sizing me up means anything."

"I'm Robin, and no, I wasn't. It's a pleasure to meet you. How did you end up fighting here? And here, I have an extra vulnerary. Take it." Robin took the potion out and handed it to the wolfskin, who downed it a moment later.

"Me and Kaden, the kitsune over there were in town because… we were visiting and not lost, when suddenly parts of the town began to break apart. Human towns are different than ours, but I know that's not normal, so we went to investigate. Then, those weird invisible guys started to attack us, and we've been fighting ever since. Speaking of we, where did Kaden go anyway? Kaden!"

Keaton sniffed the air a few times, stopping when he faced the direction of the rubble Robin had seen the fox run behind.

"Kaden, buddy!"

Keaton ran toward the pile, and Robin followed.

The fox was back in human form, leaning against the rubble and bleeding heavily. He saw the two and frowned. "Aw man," he said. "I look so not-good right now, and you're introducing me to someone new? I promise you I normally look much better than this. I'm not usually this dirty and bloody and… not beautiful. Really."

"That's not important," Robin said, turning his head to look around for someone with a staff. "Where's… Jakob!"

There, not too far away, was the butler, finishing off a foot soldier. As he put away his daggers, Robin shouted the butler's name, drawing his attention.

"Jakob!" Robin yelled again, causing the man to run over. "Your staff still has a couple uses on it, right? I need you to heal these two."

Jakob looked them over, raising an eyebrow. "A kitsune and a wolfskin? Why in the world would I do that? They're not even a part of our forces."

Robin's eyes narrowed. "Because they're two people who have been helping fight the invisible soldiers, both protecting the townspeople and making our job easier. Please Jakob. What do you think Corrin would do in this situation?"

Jakob's breath caught. "...Lady Corrin would help them. She has such a bleeding heart, at times. Fine, I will. Now go. If I'm not fighting, then someone has to pick up the slack."

"Thanks Jakob." Robin smiled.

Jakob sighed. "You're welcome. Now go."

"Kaden, Keaton, you stay here and get healed. We'll talk again after the battle. Bye for now."

"Sure thing," Keaton replied with a wave. Kaden just nodded, Jakob leaning over the kitsune and casting a mend spell.

With that, Robin went back to finding Hayato.

It took a minute to locate the boy again, who was with Rinkah, fighting a trip of cavaliers. One caught sight of Robin and urged his horse toward the tactician. They were fried a moment later.

Hayato and Rinkah made short work of the remaining two cavaliers, Rinkah's club countering their lances with ease and Hayato's horse spirit distracting them long enough for Rinkah to knock them off their mounts and onto the ground. One was trampled by his own horse, both horse and rider evaporating at the cavalier's death. The other exploded into water after being run through by a spirit twice.

"Ha! That's what you get!" Hayato yelled, Rinkah expressing a similar sentiment.

Rinkah's prideful smile was full of confidence. She'd certainly had her way with the soldiers. Hayato looked much more disturbed.

"Hey, Hayato, I need you for a second," Robin said. Hayato approached him, and Robin leaned in so the boy could hear without Rinkah or anyone else catching his words. "Don't worry about these soldiers. Based off what I've seen, they can't feel pain. I don't think they're alive, either. You saw how they turned into water at their deaths. So don't get caught up in guilt. You're protecting people. Not just ending lives for fun or anything. Remember that."

Hayato looked taken aback for a second. He recovered though.

"Pff!" Hayato laughed, putting his hands on his hips. "As if I would be bothered by his! This is nothing! I'm no child, I'm just as prepared for this as you are. Don't concern yourself with me!"

The boy laughed again, his laughter dying off a little when Robin just stared at him and smiled.

"Good to see you can keep up a good face. Now, I need you and Rinkah to go to the western opening in the wall, guarded by the tall knight and defeat him. He has a few companions behind him if I'm correct, and we need your magic to defeat them in the most efficient way possible. I'm heading for the eastern wall if you need me."

"You can consider it done. I'll be done before you even get to your post," Hayato replied.

"Good. Make sure you watch his back so he doesn't get surprise attacked, Rinkah," Robin added.

"You got it boss," she said, prompting an upset 'hey!' from Hayato.

With that, Robin left for the eastern opening in the wall. Across the waterway he could see the Hoshidan troops fighting the Vallite soldiers. Ryoma and his men were holding up well, especially since they had quite a few diviners in their group to deal with the armored soldiers that came their way. The Hoshidans were better off than Corrin's group in that, at the very least.

Either word had spread among Corrin's troops, or they were smart enough to group themselves, but her army was now mostly split up into three, gathered around the openings in the main wall. Corrin herself was with Kaze and Beruka, alongside Camilla and Selena. Sakura, Subaki, and Jakob went with Hayato, while Takumi and his retainers joined Azura at the eastern wall. The rest of Corrin's army was near the wall, but had yet to choose which opening they were headed for. Or rather, Robin couldn't tell which one they were headed for at the moment. It didn't really matter.

At the eastern wall, Takumi was doing a good job of hurting the knights blocking their way, the arrows from his Fujin Yumi dealing heavy damage to their armor. Even though most of the hits hadn't pierced the armor, the knights' armor were severely dented. Hinata was using the dents to his advantage, swinging at them in an attempt to cut through and get to his enemies' chests. Oboro was having more luck with her naginata, which was better suited to piercing than Hinata's katana, but things were going well for the most part. Mozu was paralleling Oboro, mimicking the retainer's movements as she wielded a naginata she was mostly unfamiliar with due to her past as a farmer. Felicia was in the back, using her staff to heal those who needed it.

If he was being honest, Robin probably didn't need to do much to help the group. They were taking care of themselves on their own. But then Hinata tripped, and almost got his head lopped off by one of the knight's lances.

The only reason he kept his head was that Mozu had thrust her naginata out above him, blocking the blow. But the force of the knight's attack caused the naginata to snap, as metal met wood.

The naginata tip swung down, catching Hinata on the uncovered shoulder.

"Ghah!" He cried, rolling out of the way.

"Hinata!" Takumi and Oboro cried at once, stopping their attacks.

Takumi was at a distance, so his distraction did little to put him in extra danger. But Oboro was engaged with a mage, who then cast a fire spell, causing Oboro's clothes to go up in flames. She too dropped to the ground rolling to extinguish the fire that surrounded her body.

"Naga damn it…" Robin cursed under his breath, a small twinge in his temple arising. And things were going so well.

Oboro's rolling wasn't doing much to stop the flames, especially when the mage began to cast another fire spell to hit her with, so Robin ran in.

The mage was distracted by her spell casting, and thus didn't notice when Robin approached her from behind, sword going through her abdomen. He pulled it out, quickly casting a thunder spell he'd been preparing on his run over and kicking her forward.

The woman burst into water, the droplets falling in the direction she'd been kicked. Which, as Robin had hoped, was toward where Oboro was rolling. Thankfully she'd been rolling toward them at that moment and not away, which meant the water landed on her body, putting out the flames for the most part.

She continued to roll for a second before realizing her new, non-fire status, and rose. Before she could open her mouth Robin ordered her over to Mozu.

The farmgirl had frozen when her naginata broke, unsure of what to do. Then the knight kept swinging, so she snapped the weapon in two where the knight had broken it, and was using it to fend off what blows she could. One of the pieces she threw off to the side somewhere, but the one that held the blade she was using to stop the knight's blade from hitting herself.

It was impressive to see, but also bad news. As soon as the knight stopped swinging from above and started going for straight, stabbing motions, Mozu would be out of luck. The piece of naginata she held was not much more than the blade and a few inches of wood, which meant she could only really grip it with one hand properly. The second she had on top of her first hand, which meant she couldn't parry the knight's attacks well.

Robin hoped Oboro would get to the farmgirl before she ended up looking like one of her friends back in the village, if what she had told him about their massacre was true.

"Takumi!" Robin yelled, grabbing the archer's attention. "Grab Hinata and get him out of there!"

The samurai had yet to run away, which meant he was still in range of the knight and his companions. Takumi realized it too, and went to Hinata, dragging his retainer away from the battle the best he could. He brought her to Felicia, who quickly set on healing Hinata's shoulder.

With another curse, Robin began to charge another spell, aiming for the space behind the knight Mozu was fighting.

Just as Oboro blocked the first stab the knight made toward Mozu, Robin cast his spell, lightning raining down on the knight.

The knight fell forward, almost hitting Mozu before his body broke up into water. More water exploded out behind him, evidence that Robin's attack had hit the few soldiers waiting behind the knight as well.

Azura had also made her way toward Mozu, pushing a naginata into the girl's hand.

"Take this," the songstress said, "and use it to protect yourself. It's only brass, but it's better than nothing. I am sorry I cannot provide you with something stronger."

Mozu shook her head and tried to give the weapon back. "But what about you Azura? You need to protect yourself too!"

Azura smiled. "Don't worry about me. My job is to stay in back and sing for our companions. Yours is to cut a way through to victory. I'll be fine. Are you?"

"Y-yes," Mozu stuttered.

"Good. Now take it, and if you're so worried about my safety then return it after the battle."

Mozu nodded and rose, shaking slightly.

"Oboro, how are you?" Robin asked.

The woman frowned. "Burns are always terrible. Makes me think of those Nohrian dastards. But I'll survive."

"Make sure you see Sakura after the battle so you don't take lasting damage." Felicia was busy with Hinata, and Oboro and Jakob didn't get along whatsoever.

"I don't wish to bother Lady Sakura, but if you insist." Oboro wasn't happy, but at least she complied. She looked back over to where Takumi, Hinata, and Felicia were. "Who's going to protect them while we go ahead?"

"You can. Takumi has his Fujin Yumi, but you should stick behind just in case."

"Sure thing. I'm coming, Lord Takumi!" Oboro cried, a slight limp visible as she made her way over.

The main reason he let her stay was that Robin was pretty sure very few if any enemies were going to come for them from the south, and he was heading on north. Those who came could be dealt with by Takumi. He didn't want Oboro to strain herself.

Turning around, Robin was met by Kaze.

"I saw all the lightning and heard Hinata's scream, so I came to see what was going on. We cleared the general, and those from the west wall joined those who came with me from the center to deal with the enemies ahead."

"Thanks for checking us out. Hinata was hit in the shoulder, and Oboro burnt, but we should be fine here."

"Burnt?"

"Yes, she was attacked by a mage. Why, what's-"

Kaze moved past Robin, kneeling by Oboro. "Here," he said, holding something out toward her.

"What is this?" She asked, looking at it.

"Burn salve. You should still be cared for by a healer later, but it will help prevent lasting damage."

"O-oh" Oboro said. "Thanks."

Kaze stood. "My pleasure."

He went to Robin, asking the tactician "Should we be on our way then?"

Robin gave a short nod, and the two headed forward.

It was nice seeing the two on good terms like that. The show was also a little sad, though. Kaze must've kept that burn salve on him in case Saizo pulled one of his crazy self-sacrifice fire moves again. And now that Saizo had left him, he didn't have anyone to use it on. Not that Saizo had been gone for long, or that he'd left because of Kaze. But being abandoned by a friend, not to mention a brother had to hurt. Hopefully Saizo would join back up with them soon. Maybe after the battle?

Up ahead, Reina was firing at a berserker while Corrin stood by, waiting for him to charge the kinshi knight. When he did, Reina flew upwards, dodging his blow, as Corrin swung at his back. She managed a long cut across his uncovered skin, but the berserker quickly turned, his heavy axe coming down at Corrin.

She put Yato up to stop the blow from hitting her, and was pushed back slightly. Selena came from behind a mound of rubble, striking the berserker once more. The berserker stumbled, and Corrin dealt the final blow.

The two said something to each other Robin couldn't quite hear, and went into the building the berserker had stood in front of, Jakob and Beruka following. By the time Robin got to the entrance, the rest of Corrin's troops had finished fighting, all the Vallite soldiers in sight dead. Or dissolved. Disappeared. Gone, one way or another.

When Robin walked inside the building, he found Corrin speaking to Ryoma and Xander. Beruka, Jakob, and Selena were waiting a few feet away, as were Laslow, the woman that was with him in the church, Saizo, and Kagero. The last four were behind their respective lords, rather than by the door as the first three were.

Xander had his arms crossed, away from his sword's hilt, while Ryoma was using his hands to gesture, speaking as Robin turned his attention to the conversation. "And where is it that you say these invisible soldiers come from?" the swordmaster asked.

"It's complicated," Corrin tried telling them, looking down. "I can't tell you exactly where because of what might happen.

Xander wasn't satisfied by Corrin's response. "And what is it that might happen, Little Princess? Unless you're unable to tell us that either."

Corrin paused, holding her breath.

"Is it alright if I butt in here?" Robin began, walking to Corrin's side. "You saw what happened to the soldiers when you killed them, right? How they burst into water, and faded away?"

Xander and Ryoma looked at one another, as if to make sure the other had seen the same thing.

"Well," Robin continued, "let's just say that's an effect of their homeland. Corrin and I aren't completely sure how the mechanics work, but we do know of the damage that can come from leaving that place, or speaking of the specifics. How specific those specifics have to be to replicate what happened to the soldiers we aren't sure, but we don't want to tempt it. Knowing a name wouldn't help you either. As far as we've seen, there's no records of the place. And given speaking of the place is so destructive, we doubt its history would be written here either."

"Then what would you have us call their homeland? The kingdom of these invisible soldiers?" Ryoma asked.

"How about the Invisible Kingdom?" Corrin proposed. "Not only is it home to invisible soldiers like you said, but we can't find it on maps, so it's geographically invisible too. That and we can't talk about it, so it's… invisible…. to our tongues?" Robin could see Corrin cringe a little at the end of her sentence, but it made sense to him. A reasonable line of logic.

Xander uncrossed his arms, putting them behind his back. "That works well enough for the moment. But that creates an important question: How is it that you learned of this Invisible Kingdom? If we cannot find it on a map, you have not seen any textual information on it, and specific word of its existence it cannot be spread by word of mouth, how is it that you became aware of its existence and its peoples' goals?"

"My mother."

Everyone turned to the building's entrance at the new voice, finding Azura standing in the doorway. She took a few steps forward.

"Xander, you remember my mother do you not?"

The prince said nothing.

"Tell me, did you recognize her accent? Or her style of dress, when not wearing traditional Nohrian garb? Did you recognize the stories she told you and I at night? The songs she sang to calm me or the other children when we were upset, or tunes she hummed when going about her day?

"Do you remember the terror in her eyes when she was asked to speak of the land she came from? Her silence when someone wished to hear of her birthplace; her refusal to speak a word of her former home? There was a reason for that.

"The Invisible Kingdom, where I was born… Mother was unable to tell me much about it, though she tried. I remember times where she began to break, slowly dissolving as she realized she'd crossed a line in her words. But she didn't want me to be left alone, so she stopped. Until finally, evidence of our homeland began to make itself known even in this land, where it shouldn't have appeared.

"My mother's final words were a desperate spill of information, trying to tell me everything she could about the Invisible Kingdom before she was taken away by the kingdom's curse, enacted by a ruler that neither she nor any other kingdom resident wanted in place. Not as he is now, anyway. You all have seen the kingdom's soldiers. Mindless beings who feel no pain and do nothing but fight until they've split up into the strange water that keeps their bodies moving despite their apparent lack of independent thought.

"My mother was worried that they would spread here as well, if their ruler made his way to this continent. And now that his soldiers have appeared and are fighting us, it's only a matter of time. Please, don't let my mother's death be in vain. Now is not the time to fight each other. We need to concentrate on the invisible soldiers instead, before Hoshido and Nohr end up in the same situation as the Invisible Kingdom."

'That would explain Azura's feelings on and knowledge of the matter,' Robin thought.

Corrin gave Azura a slight hug, pulling the woman to her side and putting her arm around Azura's waist.

"As touching as your story is, Azura… I need more evidence. I want to believe you, but I can't. Not yet. If I see more of these invisible soldiers, I'll consider what you've said in more depth. But for now, they seem like a tale looking for sympathy," Xander explained.

Azura clenched her fist. Selena and Laslow looked offended. They'd lost their parents as well, to a being others had doubted at first. Apparently in their timeline people had ignored several of the signs of Grima's return, from the time right before his resurrection to the several months after, before their own countries or towns had felt the effects. Hopefully Laslow would try to talk some sense into his liege later on.

Ryoma didn't look like he wanted to anything of the topic, so Xander changed the subject.

"What is it that Hoshido wants here, anyway? If you did not know of the invisible forces, and did not come to attack civilians? You didn't come here to make a path towards a Nohrian invasion, did you?" Xander's tone turned accusatory at the end of his words.

Ryoma's hand inched toward his sword. "I could say the same to you. Nestra is a neutral territory isn't it? What reason do you have to be here with a legion of soldiers?"

Xander's eyes narrowed. "In Nohr, it's common courtesy to answer a question you've been given before asking one of your own. But perhaps that tradition doesn't exist in Hoshido, so I'll be polite and respond to your inquiry.

"I came to Nestra to visit the Opera House here in Cyrkensia. I do it yearly, which you could find out by asking the Opera House officials or any number of locals here. And I have soldiers with me because I came directly from a negotiation session, where it's custom to bring a guard. As my intent upon coming here was to see the show, I did not want to miss it by travelling back in the opposite direction to have my men go home. Not to mention that it's customary to take at least a few troops wherever I go. You do the same, do you not?"

Robin looked over to Saizo and Kagero, the latter of which he could tell was holding back a smile (Saizo probably was too, but his mask blocked Robin's view). Because Ryoma didn't do the same. Or he at least didn't always do the same. He must have collected some of his troops at some point, for there to be so many with him.

Then again, there weren't that many. A number of the troops with him actually looked Nohrian. But they were standing behind a wyvern rider who kept looking to Ryoma, so perhaps he'd made an alliance. Speaking of the wyvern rider, where had she gone.

"That seems reasonable enough. I don't appreciate your accusation, though. I came to visit for the port. Hoshido sent a few ships in this direction that never returned. I was checking to make sure nothing seemed amiss."

...Checking without a guard, leaving everyone including your siblings and retainers in the dark? Sure, Ryoma. You go with that.

A flash of red fell down in front of them. "What does it matter?" the flash asked, standing in front of the group. It was the wyvern rider from earlier, wearing a wide smile. "He's leaving anyway, as are you, so is there any point in fighting? There've been enough civilian casualties anyway, and I don't want to see any more. Let's just drop it and go home."

Xander gave her a quizzical look. "And who might you be?"

"Just a girl curious as to what a Hoshidan was doing all the way on this side of the Bottomless Canyon. My name's Scarlet, if you're really that curious. Don't you have places to be, and people to oppress, Mister Prince?" There was venom in the girl's voice.

"I don't go around willingly mistreating or oppressing people. My goal is to help the residents of my kingdom, not hurt them."

Scarlet sent Xander a glare. "Are you sure about that? Because-"

Ryoma cut her off. "Scarlet! That's enough." Scarlet took a step back. "Now then, we'll be taking our leave. My soldiers are tired from the battle, as are yours no doubt, and I don't want to take on unnecessary casualties by getting into a pointless fight. We'll speak again, Prince Xander."

"That we will," Xander responded.

Ryoma turned to leave, motioning for Scarlet to follow him. Saizo and Kagero did as well.

"Wait!" Corrin cried, the four of them turning. "Saizo, Kagero… Are you two really going with him? Is this goodbye."

Saizo was the one to respond. "Of course. Ryoma is our liege. We joined you to speed our journey to catch up to him. Though I cannot speak for Kagero, I appreciated your help, but it is time to move on. I've long ago pledged my life to Lord Ryoma. It is only right that I hold myself to that pledge. Thank you for your assistance, but it is time for us to part. Maybe we'll be reunited under the same flag in the future."

"I feel the same way," Kagero said. "I was originally your mother's retainer, but she personally appointed me to Ryoma's guard, and it would damage her memory to disrespect her orders. If things progress well, there will be no need for us to interfere with your path. Just don't place yourself in front of us, or I'll be forced to choose between my former liege's two children. And since I have only formally pledged myself to one… Good luck, Lady Corrin. I hope you choose the right path."

"...Thank you," Corrin said quietly. "And to Ryoma, please at least say hello to Takumi and Sakura. They've missed you. You're their big brother, and it's hard being away from your siblings for so long. I'd know. I've been cut off from almost all of mine."

"I will. Goodbye then, Corrin, Azura."

"Goodbye."

Ryoma, Scarlet, Kagero, and Saizo left the building, leaving the Nohrians and Corrin's troops. Who, with the exception of Robin and sort of Azura now that he thought about it, were also Nohrian.

"What will you do now, Xander?" Robin asked.

"There's no convincing you to join me, is there Corrin?" The prince addressed his sister, rather than Robin.

"I'm afraid not, big brother."

"Then I'll be returning to Windmire. Father has gotten… I can't think of a proper word for it, but I don't wish to leave him alone longer than necessary, or I feel our people may suffer for it. Something has come over him, and I fear little can stop him. My presence may abate his violence or or temper, however, so I feel the need to at least try and help the situation.

"Ever since your departure, he's grown more and more distant. I thought that perhaps your return would bring him back, but I doubt he'd be happy with a traitor in the midst. Even if this traitor did so because she was trying to stop some unseen calamity. With what I've seen, he likely wouldn't accept you either. Stay clear of Nohr for your own sake, Little Princess. I've no wish to see your execution.

"..." Corrin stayed silent.

"I don't wish to aggravate him by speaking of this pointless, questionable battle, so consider yourself lucky and don't worry about news of our encounter reaching Father's ears. I'll tell him I met with a band of Hoshidans looking for a route into Nohr if he asks, but will make no mention of you nor the invisible troops. I doubt anyone would believe such a fanciful story, anyhow.

"So goodbye, Little Princess. Don't do anything rash as to provoke armed response." Xander's face turned blank, and he began to walk toward the door.

"One last thing," Azura said. "On the day the skies change above Hoshido and Nohr, come to the suspension bridge above the Bottomless Canyon. You said you wanted more evidence of the Invisible Kingdom, did you not? That's where you'll find it. I promise."

Xander's steps paused. He turned for a second, not fully showing them his face but remarking "That sounds like a wonderful place for a surprise attack," before leaving their view. His female retainer followed immediately, while Laslow whispered something to Selena. She whispered something back, and Laslow took his leave.

"Do you believe he'll come?" Robin asked Azura.

"I have to, if this world is to continue on."

"Don't you believe that's a little overdramatic?"

"You saw the state that place was in. I don't think I'm exaggerating in the slightest."

"..."

Commotion from outside the building drew Robin's attention, and he and the rest of Corrin's troops made their way outside to investigate.

"N-no, really, it's fine!" Sakura stuttered, shaking her head.

"No it's not!" Kaden insisted. "Your friend over there healed me when I was hurt, and protected me when those jerks with kitsune-killers came for me. I owe you guys one, so you have to let me come with you so I can pay you back!" Kaden motioned to Jakob, who looked in the other direction.

"Th-that's-"

"I second the motion," Keaton said. "If war's coming, then that means trouble's coming for me and the rest of the wolfskin. If you're fighting in the war and I can join you, that means less trouble will come for my people back at home. Plus, your friends helped me out, and I don't want to be in debt to someone during the war. Not to mention paying back debts is just the kind of thing you do. Come on, let us join you. We'll be big helps!"

Sakura kept stammering away, her banter with the two men making Robin smile.

"Who would've thought…" Azura murmured, looking at the the not-taguels with a dumbfounded expression.

"What's up?" Robin asked.

"Kitsune and Wolfskin are said to be polar opposites. I never thought I'd see the day they were not only keeping their claws away from each others' throats, but agreeing to something and trying to work together. The world really is going crazy…" Azura said in a whisper, still staring at the pair.

"Well, this form of a crazy world isn't too bad, if it means more people are getting along. Wouldn't you agree?" Robin asked.

Azura hummed. "I suppose so."

Keaton caught Robin's eye then, walking up to the tactician. "Come on, Robin. Don't you think we should join up with you? You saw how good we were in battle. Let us come with."

Robin looked to Corrin with hopeful eyes, and she shrugged. When his eyes met Azura's, she gave a slight nod. Sakura's head was still down when he looked to her, so he went back to the two new men.

"It looks like we will. Welcome to the team, you two."

"Pretty cool," Keaton said.

"Awesome!" Kaden cheered, doing a small fist pump.

Robin nodded in response, as Camilla walked up to his side.

"And our group grows even larger," she commented, smile on her face.

Robin crossed his arms. "That it does. Did Xander say anything to you?"

Camilla's smile, almost ever present on her face, faltered for half a second, before being replaced by something much more fake. "Oh, just a few things. About how I'd failed my mission and turned traitor. That he didn't expect two of his sisters to betray him, and that he hoped I'd see the light of day soon. Simple stuff, really."

"Camilla…"

"Oh, don't you worry. Like I said before, that's just Xander being Xander. It's good to know he's still the same despite what's going on. And, I probably deserve it anyway. I did abandon him. But it was for my sweet, darling little Corrin. So I'm happy. Just being by her side is good enough for me. And I know I'll get Xander back eventually. It just might take a little while."

Camilla laughed, and Robin frowned.

As he went to check on Hinata, he could've sworn he heard her whisper under her breath, "I just pray that we get him back before he's done something he can't forgive himself for."


Author's note: Okay, so do you guys really want battle scenes? Because the reason it's taken so long for this chapter to come out is that I didn't want to write the scene/couldn't come up with ideas. Dialogue and scenery and thoughts come easy to me, but battle scenes are really, really difficult to write. They're just not fun for me. If you want me to keep putting detailed battle scenes in, then I'll do my best, but are you guys okay with shorter scenes sometimes? I don't want to get caught in a 2-month long writer's block because I can't write a scene. Seriously. Everything before the last page break I had written on/before November 5th. The rest I wrote these past 3 days. I won't cut battle scenes out entirely, just shorten them a bit, to about this length. Leave a review with what your thoughts are, please!

EDIT (12 hours after posting): Thank you L2X for your review. My original plan was to integrate Keaton/Kaden introduction, but in the end (as in the original post) I went for putting it at the end, which I wasn't really satisfied with. Now I put some more stuff in the middle, which is hopefully better! It was about a thousand new words of content, so hopefully it works at least a little better.

Originally posted January 1, 2018. Word count: 12,857 not inluding author's notes. New, post edit word count: 13,869.

Eruran (I'm probably changing my name to Mariyekos soon!) out.