AUTHOR'S NOTES: And here we finally reach Valla for the first time. There's a lot more going on here than there was in the games, and not all of the inhabitants are Anakos' puppets just yet. It is also worth pointing out that just because the characters in-story suggest something does not mean that their premonitions are always right. They're human; they're just as susceptible to being wrong as anyone else (yes, even Corrin and Kamui). That said, here's the 37th installment of the story, and keep those reviews and feedback coming.
Happy Reading!

CHAPTER 37: The Unspeakable World

Sing with me a song of Demons and Myths…

It took about 15 minutes before Corrin even realized that he was still carrying Felicia on his shoulders, his hands firmly clutching her ankles. In fact, it was only after the small group stopped to catch their breath that he even gave it further thought other than slightly loosening his grip so he didn't cut off Felicia's circulation.

"So where exactly are we going?" he asked Azura as they caught their breaths.

"The Bottomless Canyon," Azura explained, "I think I know who Zola might have been working for, but I cannot explain it here."

"Whoa!" Felicia gawked, "why are we going there?"

"I… cannot explain at the moment," Azura sighed. "You will have to trust me."

"It would be wise to trust her, milord," Roku suggested, "I know where she is leading us."

"Then you have been there too, yes?" Azura turned to him.

"We have," Roku replied, "if it is the place I am thinking it is."

"And that would explain who Zola is working for!" Zenzi exclaimed.

"I… am very confused." Felicia looked down from her perch on Corrin's shoulders, feeling like the one member of the party who was being left out of a glorious secret. "Who's working for who, and where's this bottomless canyon place? Forgive me if I sound like a fool."

"It's… not your fault." Zenzi stuttered, "Azura is right though. We really cannot talk about it here."

"I will take your words for it," Corrin indicated, "although I do demand an explanation when we get 'there', wherever that is."

"And one shall be provided," Roku promised. "It will make sense when we get there."

"Oh, and I think I can walk now if you want," Felicia offered with a sheepish chuckle.

"Alright," Corrin chuckled as he helped her down. "Sorry for snatching you… although how do you run in those shoes?"

"You get used to it after a while," Felicia chuckled, "but I don't exactly go sliding around ice dressed like this. The last time I did I fell in, and… well, yeah." she trailed off.

"I suggest we get going," Azura warned, "the longer we wait, the more damage might be done between the others."

"I hope Sakura's okay…" Corrin mused, "That was some crazy magic and excellent use of a Dragon Vein, but is it enough?"

"The Hoshidans did not seem to be attacking one another and neither did the Nohrians," Roku pointed out, "so as long as they're kept from one another, I think they'll be fine."

"We hope so, at least." Zenzi added supportively.

"Let us hurry," Azura warned, "we are not far off…"

The Bottomless Canyon was as ominous as it had always been, with the eternal darkness and crackling lightning overhead making even the hostile regions of Nohr seem tame in comparison. Corrin couldn't help but wonder who had put up these rickety old bridges, and more importantly, how they were still intact after all this time. He knew little of this place, for unlike Kamui, he had not actually ever been here. Zenzi and Roku, however, both recognized the place.

"Here's a place I would be content with never seeing again," he grunted. "Lord Corrin, this is the place Azura spoke of, I am certain."

"This place is unmentionable?" Corrin tilted his head.

"No... " Azura began, "the place we need to get to is at the bottom of the canyon." she stepped towards the rope of the rickety bridge, and leaned over it. "You have to trust me."

"What!?" Felicia gawked, "H-Hold on just a minute! If we jump down there, we'll all die. I understand we're trying to keep a low profile here, but no matter how low the profile is, being dead doesn't seem like it'd be very helpful!"

She paused, glancing around, "but it seems you all know each other a lot more than me… so if you're all sure this will work."

"It will, Felicia," Azura smiled, "trust me. I will explain everything once we are there."

"Then we have little choice," Corrin declared, "let's jump."

"After me,: Azura instructed, "I'll go first, and the rest of you follow behind me."

"Got it," Corrin nodded, and waited for his cue. Azura gracefully leapt off the side of the bridge, and Corrin followed with a regular jump. Perhaps comically, Felicia tripped on her way to the edge, and tumbled in after them.

"Looks like we're going back there after all," Roku turned to Zenzi before he ran and jumped off, turning his jump into a dive as he followed. Zenzi didn't hesitate and sprung up into a rather elegant 180-backflip and spread her arms in a swan dive as she plunged after the others.

After a brief plunge through darkness, the party found themselves in a place both familiar and unfamiliar to some. Ruined buildings and desolate fields stretched out on all sides, as a myraid of floating islands interrupted the skies, with some even being sideways or upside-down.

"I hate this place," Zenzi mumbled.

"Where exactly is this place?" Corrin tilted his head, before glancing at Felicia, "and are you alright, Felicia?"

"A little dizzy, but nothing I can't… oof!" she tried standing up and fell right back on her back. "I'm just gonna lie here for a while, okay? Let me get my bearings straight."

"We don't seem to be in any hurry," Corrin pointed out, "although we should probably act sooner rather than later. For that matter, does anyone know where we are?"

"Aye." Roku grunted, "This is Valla."

"Valla?" Corrin looked at him curiously.

"We've been here before," Zenzi sighed, as if spilling a long-held secret. "We are not from here, but we passed through here on our way to Hoshido. This is where those soldiers shrouded in the purple flames come from."

"Indeed," Azura affirmed, "and it is responsible for the conflict between Hoshido and Nohr."

"Is this what you meant back at the plaza, Zenzi?" Corrin turned to his pink-haired retainer, "back when mother died… with Father, and Mother… and what Camilla said?"

"It is!" Zenzi exclaimed, "But we couldn't say it until we got here."

"I do want to know the reason for that, by the way." Corrin asserted.

"It is because of a wicked curse set upon this kingdom by its current ruler," Azura warned, "Those who speak of Valla outside of its bounds will dissolve into nothingness. It is the same curse that has forced me and your retainers to hold our tongues."

"I… apologize, Lord Corrin." Roku sighed, "We… would not have withheld this information from you if we were able to divulge it."

"It explains a lot," Corrin admitted, "but don't worry. I understand it clearly now. Has anyone died by that curse that you know of, Azura?"

"Yes, actually." Azura frowned, "My mother, Arete—the last queen of Valla."

"How!?" Corrin gawked, "and why?"

"I should back up," Azura explained, "but first we should move. We are not safe out here in the open, and even if we were not outnumbered, I sense formidable enemies lurking nearby."

"We're right behind you," Corrin nodded. "Felicia? How are you holding up?"

"Admittedly, m-most of this is going right over my head," the maid stammered, "but I think I get the gist of it. I'm armed and can protect myself, but if any of you need help I'm happy to try and provide it. I'm… uh, much better on the battlefield than I am in the kitchen."

Almost as if to prove her point, she kicked one of her feet back, flipping up a large dagger and catching it with a deftness that she certainly did not have when it came to carrying dishes. Roku and Zenzi drew their swords, and Azura clung to the naginata she had been carrying back at the Hoshidan plains. Corrin held the Dawn Yato closely, and with his free hand briefly clutched his Dragonstone. They were ready for a fight if one was to occur, but ideally hoped that Azura would lead them somewhere safer.

She took them to a dark slot canyon that admitted minimal light from the twilight skies, but it was silent here, with naught but the breeze whistling through the rocky crevices to bother them in terms of noise.

"As I was saying before," Azura continued once everyone had settled down, "the current ruler cursed this land, and reduced it to the ruinous state it lies in now. That ruler is the king Anankos, and like Valla, mentioning his name outside of his realm will lead to your death. He is the one that slays thousands and then curses their remains to fight for him. He laid waste to this land and slew the king of Valla, and aims to do the same to Hoshido and Nohr, it seems."

"B-but does he?" Zenzi raised an eyebrow. Her time in Hoshido had made her much bolder, although her stagefright wasn't completely absent. "Because if so, the whole approach he's taking doesn't seem very logical. We met a saner version of Anankos before we came to Shirasagi. If… if that part of him is separated from his dragon form, wouldn't the dragon just be there to ravage and destroy?"

"I have wondered that myself," Azura admitted, "It almost feels like there is someone else pulling strings—someone who knows exactly who to use and how to strike. I feel like if Anankos was using his pure might against Hoshido and Nohr the way he did against Valla, that nothing would stop him, if there was not something—or someone—in place preventing it."

"You're suggesting someone is controlling a god!?" Roku looked flabbergasted.

"Not controlling, no." Azura shook her head, "but someone taking advantage of it, definitely. These moves seem too calculated to be acts of random chance. Someone wants the royals of Nohr and Hoshido dead."

"Well, there was Zola back in Izumo…" Corrin pointed out.

"No way!" Felicia shook her head, "I know of him, and he's an underling if anything. That kind of sounds like King Garon though…"

"No," Azura shook her head, "I fear that Garon is merely a pawn in this operation as well. Perhaps he is even already dead. He has certainly not looked too great in recent years."

"That's… a good point." Felicia frowned, "but who then?"

"Perhaps we are not meant to know just yet," Azura sighed, "but I am curious to know whether the mastermind truly is Anankos or if it is someone else."

"We'll learn what happened," Corrin promised, "and whoever or whatever is trying to subvert us and Ferevs will be dealt with accordingly."

"So what do we do now?" Felicia asked the others, "I mean, are we just going to camp out here for a while until we need to go back?"

Before any of them could answer that, however, a voice from atop the canyon spoke.

"Whatever you do, you need to move—swiftly." the feminine voice warned, "They are coming for you even as we speak."

"Who are you?" Corrin demanded, drawing his sword. "Show yourself."

While he had anticipated a fight, the figure leapt up before landing with surprising grace in front of them, the dim light of some of the stones in the canyon illuminating some of the girl's features now that the sun had finished disappearing.

She was young, or so Corrin assumed based on her appearance, with brilliant green eyes that betrayed both a troublesome adolescent and a troublesome past hidden behind that mischief. Her outfit and tightly braided sky-blue hair was more reminiscent of an adventurer or treasure hunter from Nohr, however, which made her seem out of place.

"You can call me N—Chel," the girl replied, "or Marzichel if you wanna be formal, but…" she trailed off, both at realizing she was talking to a man, and from whom she saw behind him. She cleared her throat, staring a few feet to Corrin's left. "Anyways, we need to get out of here. There are already enemies surrounding this canyon."

No sooner did they look behind Chel than they realized that she was right. The similar glowing flames wreathed a slew of otherwise invisible soldiers, and like any and all Vallite warriors the group had crossed paths with, these looked as hostile as them—if not more so.

AFTERTHOUGHTS: Chel/Marzichel is in fact an alias rather than an OC. She'll likely end up revealing her real name to at least the audience in the near future, which might in turn give away a certain pairing, but don't hold your breath too soon. It's not like she's being terribly subtle about it anyways.
Thanks for reading!