AUTHOR'S NOTES: To those who were asking about Owain/Inigo/Severa (Odin/Laslow/Selena) and their role in this story... take solace. Yes, they are still in, and yes, they will play a plentiful role in the story just like their Nohrian comrades. The prologue focuses more on Robin/Arozza, Olivia/Zenzi, and Lon'qu/Roku because I actually liked the "Hidden Truths" DLC story, and so if I wrote Owain, Inigo, and Severa's perspective of how they got to Nohr, I'd basically just be copying the script of those levels, and plagiarism is no fun. So... in the meantime, here's chapter 3 of 5 of the prologue before the real fun begins. Here we'll actually meet some of the actual Fates characters, and learn how Arozza integrates into the Kingdom of Nohr.
Happy Reading!
CHAPTER 3: A Twist of Fate
Sing with me a song of Soldiers and Chance...
The hostile and forbidding landscape of the Bottomless Canyon was not exactly an environment that was very welcoming or attractive, but Robin was undeterred. She led the little group across rickety bridges eastward and across the Hoshidan border. The canyon might have been behind them, but they were still trapped in a winding maze. After the long day they had just had, especially out in the foreboding and forbidding realm of Valla, the trio made camp at an abandoned outpost.
"I… I get the feeling it isn't even necessarily nighttime," Olivia expressed concern.
"It's not." Lon'qu sniffed the air, "A great evil lurks here."
The lightning cracked all around them, but the three of them managed to remain out of its way.
"So tell me, Arozza," Lon'qu turned to Robin, "After hearing that story of the five divine weapons, do we know where they are? Who wields them?"
"Anankos never told us," Robin admitted, "but I'd assume that they are in the hands of the royal family. They are the ones we need to make contact with. If we find them, we'll also find Corrin and Kamui."
"Did it ever occur to you that we're not likely to find them all in Hoshido?" Lon'qu frowned.
"I was thinking the same thing," Olivia piped up, "if we need to go to Hoshido and then Nohr, wouldn't some of them be here and some be back in Nohr?"
"I've given it much thought, Zenzi," Robin sighed, undoing her hair and letting the long white strands fall down her back, "we travelled from Ylisse to Valm and through every country in between in our journey to stop Grima. If we need to traverse this hostile continent from Hoshido to Nohr in order to fulfill Anankos' request, then so be it."
"You always have an answer," Olivia gave a sweet smile, "thanks for leading us, Rob—Arozza." she giggled sheepishly at her near-mistake.
"I want to know if Anankos is going to bring others from our world here as well," Arozza pointed out, "or will it be us from different timelines?" She knew that her son Morgan had gotten lost in time (not knowing that he found his mother and father in a different timeline, and so was in fact safe), and that her daughter Lucina had been among the many who had sacrificed their lives to achieve peace—a timeline independent of the forsaken one most of the other children had come back from—and not the one that they had come back to save.
"All this timeline nonsense gets me so confused!" Zenzi pouted, "apparently I'm dead in one, married with a kid in another, and with you two now."
"Your guess is as good as mine," Arozza quipped, "but I'm sure if we run into familiar faces, that we'll recognize them in one form or another. After we rest a bit, our goal will be to get into Hoshido and find Mikoto and her children. Perhaps we can become retainers."
"I do not wish to get too close to women if I can avoid it," Roku gave a blunt declaration, "You understand the reason, Arozza; and Zenzi, don't say a word."
Zenzi blushed and emitted a tiny giggle, but otherwise nodded and stayed silent.
"If she's as nice as Anankos talked her up as being," Arozza reassured him, "then I'm sure something can probably be arranged. We won't let anyone separate us though. Perhaps we can even rebuild some of our old group if Anankos sends friends!"
What she did not know was that Anankos was in fact seeking out more of Robin's old army: this time going after an archer, a cavalier, and a mercenary, but because of the differing flows of time, Roku, Zenzi, and Arozza would have to linger a long time in the Bottomless Canyon if they were to cross paths—especially because this 2nd group was being instructed to visit Nohr.
"Speaking of friends…" Zenzi stuttered again, "w-what happens if one of us d-does die?"
"Ideally we should try to have each other's backs," Arozza pointed out, "but if bad comes to worse, we carry on regardless."
"Good to know," Roku grunted, "because I feel we are being watched."
Roku's superstitions turned out to have minimal basis in reality—at least over the next several hours as the trio slept in the forbidding locale, but shortly after they woke up, it turned out that his premonition was actually correct. All three of them sensed hostile soldiers surrounding them, but could not see them unless they squinted, or if the unnatural purple flames that seemed to flicker around them flared up.
Arozza didn't even need to tell her comrades to draw their weapons. Roku raced in with his swords, his natural talent showing as he gracefully and swiftly began cutting the marauders down. Channelling her magical abilities into the magically-charged Levin Sword of hers, Arozza attacked enemies at a distance, but also sometimes closed in on them for heavier blows. Despite being a swordmaster like her comrades, Zenzi's weaponry had mainly switched to knives and shuriken instead of swords. Either way, still proved to be a valuable fighter, as her blinding speed and omnipresence seemed to distort the enemy long enough for her to lodge sharp pieces of metal into their necks or vitals with ease. While she lacked the music and the outfit to dance in, Zenzi still managed to throw a few graceful twirls into her movements that invigorated her two companions, but even with the vigor that the three of them fought against these unseen foes, there seemed to be too many; and worse, they seemed to be trying to split the party.
"They're trying to separate us!" Zenzi squealed, lodging a shuriken between the eyes of one of the invaders that had caught her by surprise, "S-stay together!"
Roku managed to reach Zenzi, and back to back they fended off enemies with swords and knives, gradually migrating towards Arozza. The problem with this was that they were now being pushed back, westward towards Nohr and away from Hoshido.
"Go! Go!" Arozza shouted, "I'll catch up to you!" She swung her Levin Sword again, cutting an electrical path through the invisible soldiers. Zenzi hesitated, swinging wildly at one of her would-be killers and eviscerating him, but Roku grabbed her hand and pulled her eastward. She squealed from surprise, but quickly regained her composure as the two of them carved a path towards the east. Once the enemies were dispatched, it was fairly smooth sailing all the way to the formal Hoshidan border.
Arozza was heavily distorted once she had fended off most of the invisible enemies, although she had been pushed so far west that she was pretty sure that she was nearing the borders of Nohr. Sensing more of the invisible soldiers east of her, she knew that she was in no condition to fight through all of that again, and so she just had to hope that Roku and Zenzi made safe passage to Hoshido. She would have to take her chances in Nohr where, due to her outfit, she would almost surely be captured.
The mind of a tactician was not so easily dampered by this fear. Instead, she would go without resistance, and prove her loyalty. If swordmasters were a Hoshidan thing, perhaps she could be one of the few that brought that fine art to Nohr.
Sure enough, it did not take long for her to be captured at the border by guards who were suspicious of her immediately because of her outfit.
"Hoshidan! You have trespassed onto Nohrian territory without authorization. Surrender and your life will be spared!"
Arozza knew that if she tried to tell them the truth—that she was not Hoshidan, and not even from anywhere around here, that they wouldn't buy it and would take her for a spy. She knew that at this point the best option was to cooperate.
"Very well;" she drew her swords. "I submit."
She surrendered without hesitation, dropping her weapons. As they led her away, she overheard them talking about how they should just murder 'The Hoshidan". A couple of them were suspicious of how easily she surrendered, especially since she looked a bit battered (which was explained by her battle with the invisible soldiers). It meant she was a fighter of some kind.
Little did they realize that they were dragging away the Queen of Ylisse—a title that meant nothing to the kingdoms of Hoshido and Nohr, which were far, far away (or likely in a different world entirely) in comparison. But she, much like Roku and Zenzi, were from a different time. Perhaps things had gone differently in their timeline had they stuck around. All three had been married in another era, and knew it. Here, they were some of only a few survivors.
Arozza was half-dragged to the nearest fortress, not sure what she was here for other than hearing something about a "Lady Camilla" being the one to determine her fate. Despite this, she was observant of her surroundings as much as she could be. These westward lands were definitely hostile, and not terribly different from the malevolence that had emanated from that "bottomless canyon". The fortress was dark and foreboding, and she wondered where she was being taken. Would she meet the King of Nohr here? If so, why was he all the way out here?
Instead, she found herself face-to-face with a short woman with a bob of sky blue hair bearing a striking resemblance to her friend Kjelle back home. Even her voice sounded similar, but Arozza was not about to ask or speak out of place. She did not know the customs of this place, and staying alive was more or less the only thing on her agenda right now.
"If the choice were up to me, you would have a knife sticking out of your throat by now," the woman retorted darkly, "Lucky for you, it is up to my liege instead."
The woman led Arozza into the next room, where she found herself face to face with a curvy, almost seductive-looking woman with flowing lavender curls and a cruelly elegant expression upon her visage. For the moment she was focused on this woman and not the red-haired woman to her left and behind her.
"The trespasser, Lady Camilla," the blue-haired assassin gave a respectful bow before stepping back aside. Arozza remained upright, her hands still bound.
"Thank you, Beruka darling… you know I can always count on you." Beruka… so either Kjelle had an alias or this was just a chance resemblance.
"It's rare to see a Hoshidan have the gall to cross the Bottomless Canyon, let alone into our borders," Camilla continued. Her voice was as sultry and sweet as her exterior. Arozza refused to break eye contact. "Especially not one with such a pretty face and beautiful hair…" she reached a gloved hand towards Arozza's white locks, running them through her fingers while leaning dangerously close to the swordmaster's face. She nodded to acknowledge that she had heard Camilla's remark.
"But, I'm afraid my father would not approve of me sparing you… so I'm afraid I'm just going to have to kill you."
Arozza actually looked startled at the sudden announcement and gasped. Her voice must have been familiar, because right as Camilla stood up to retrieve her axe, the red-haired girl stood up, and met eyes with Arozza.
A soundless gasp echoed between the two of them. Through freak coincidence, Robin and Severa had just been united again.