AUTHOR'S NOTES: I apologize for the slow pace this story has taken over the course of this month. NaNoWriMo is kicking my butt, and the release of Pokemon Sun & Moon did not help it in the slightest. Still, I plan to update at least once a week through the month of November, and then hopefully resume my twice a week posting as soon as possible once December hits. It's also worth noting that I went back and added "classes" to each character bio, which explain a character's general combat behaviour. With that, here's the new chapter. Sorry again about the wait.
Happy Reading!

CHAPTER 41: Much-Welcomed Guests

Sing with me a song of Chaos and Strife…

The next morning Corrin and his army woke up feeling much better than they did the day before. It was unclear how time functioned here versus out in the real world, but Corrin wanted to find out. Before he could leave the perimeter, however, he was stopped by Zenzi.

"Lord Corrin!" she called out, "where are you going?"

"I want to poke my head into the real world," he began, "I want to see how time passes in here compared to out there."

"Why not ask Lady Kamui?" she inquired.

"Do you think she knows either?" Corrin tilted his head.

"She seems to know how this Astral Castle works," Zenzi pointed out, "I mean, that building wasn't there last night." she motioned towards a small building that appeared to be a Nohrian armory. Corrin looked at the place before realizing that Zenzi had a point.

"Let's find Kamui then," He concurred, and the two set off across the grounds to search for her.

Incidentally, Kamui had tested Corrin's theory earlier that morning, but came to no solid conclusions. It seemed time seemed to sort of stop at some points and then flow normally at others. That was not what ended up being on the little princess' mind that morning, however. Instead, her focus was on an unexpected guest.

"You!" she woman brandished a spear in self-defense. Kamui pulled out a massive axe but took a defensive stance to indicate that while she did not intend hostilities, that she was not afraid to defend herself, "Wait… I know you. You're that cute fashionista girl Camilla really took a liking to."

"Where's Lord Corrin?" Oboro demanded, "I've been looking for him everywhere!"

Kamui noticed that she looked worse for wear as if she had gotten into several altercations on her way out to the border. "He's safe." she replied, "and I'm not going on some homicidal rampage anymore, so let's put our weapons away."

"Can you really blame me for being a bit paranoid after what happened on the battlefield?" Kamui noticed Oboro's eyes were bloodshot, and there was a manic look to her visage even as she tried taking deep breaths to calm down.

"Easy there, girl," Kamui cautiously approached Oboro, "let me help you get somewhere safer than the border. Corrin's there and you can talk to him about it."

Oboro hissed as Kamui took her arm, though it was clear by the way she was carrying herself that she was hardly in any condition to really fight back and that her reaction had more been in defense rather than aggression. Unsurprisingly, she was awestruck at the astral castle just as much as anyone else was upon seeing it for the first time.

"Welcome to New Kamui," Kamui smirked, "I'm sure you've got tons of questions, but if there's anything I can do to ease your pain, let me know. My retainer Felicia is here and she's a spectacular healer who has been instructed to help anyone I bring onto these grounds. If you need me, I'll just be taking a dip in this spring."

"Ohh…" Oboro heaved a heavy sigh, "a warm bath right now would be absolutely heavenly."

"That can be arranged." Kamui promised, and no more than 6½ minutes later, both of them were soaking in a soothing hotspring. Oboro had even let her hair down, which Kamui only realized then and there was something she had never seen Oboro do before.

"So what happened?" Kamui asked after giving her new friend a moment to collect herself.

"You seem awfully talkative," Oboro raised an eyebrow before leaning back, "what happened to shy, antisocial Kamui?"

"My sister seemed very fond of you," Kamui replied, "and so I admit I want to know who you are."

"Don't get all suspicious with me, Nohrian," Oboro's left eye twitched, "especially not right now. Today's been one of those days and I am in a MOOD."

"I take it things have gotten worse out there instead of better, eh?"

"Hoshido is in chaos," Oboro began, "and it's not even Nohr's doing unless they're the ones behind all of this mind-controlling nonsense. Lord Takumi ran south, Lord Ryoma went east, Lady Hinoka disappeared entirely, and poor little Lady Sakura is on the run."

"How did you escape all of that?" Kamui tilted her head.

"I don't know!" Oboro shook her head, "I kind of just willed it out of me. Trust me, I'm not that foul rat Zola or whoever his "Exalted Master" is or whatever. Thinking about it and everything that happened there still makes me seethe..."

Kamui actually flinched as Oboro's face contorted into a demonic gaze that almost literally heated the water a few degrees. "Oboro?" she managed to snap the girl out of her trancelike behaviour for a moment.

"Huh? What?" She snapped her head towards Kamui.

"You were doing that thing again." Kamui reached over to take Oboro's hand, "I understand you don't trust me for being Nohrian, but I trust you. My sister Camilla trusted you, and she's known for having pretty good judgment—at least to me."

"I'm sorry that I can't trust so swiftly," Oboro sighed. "It's complicated."

"No, I know that," Kamui shook her head, "and I don't expect you to. Normally I'm really slow to trust people too. With all of this new nonsense going on though, it's probably for the best if we not only tell you what's going on, but also reassure you that we're all on the same side for the same reason and same efforts. Corrin could tell it better than I could."

"Yeah, but even if he does, I don't exactly want to share a bath with him." Oboro quipped.

"You won't have to!" Kamui laughed, "Although remind me and I'll see if I can convince the others to let me upgrade this to a full-on hot spring."

Oboro tilted her head as she glanced at Kamui, and the dragon corrected herself.

"Aye; priorities, priorities." she shook her head, "I'll tell Corrin what's happening. You just stay put and relax some more. You look exhausted."

Oboro had a mixed reaction to Kamui's words, and while she actually attempted to rise to her feet to protest, she realized only then how tired her limbs were, so she sighed and resigned to her fate for the time being as Kamui went to find her brother.

Corrin nearly jumped right out of his skin when the door if his study flew off its hinges, Kamui's left foot still in the air from where she had kicked it.

"Really, sister?" he scowled, "really!? Why the hell did you kick my door in?"

"Theatrics," Kamui confessed, "I didn't know it would fly off the hinges like that. Remind me and I'll get that fixed for you. That's not why I'm here though."

"Don't worry about it; I can fix it myself." Corrin shrugged, "but if kicking my door in is not your reason for showing up, what is?"

"Your buddy Oboro showed up just now; and we had a little chat." Kamui began, "she looks like she's seen a lot more shit than you or I have."

"Is she alright though?" Corrin expressed his concern.

"Nothing a little bath and some healing can't fix," Kamui indicated, before smirking deviously. "In fact, I told her you were going to come find her."

"Lead on then," Corrin rose to his feet, "there's a lot she is probably not aware of."

To Kamui's slight disappointment, Corrin did not walk in on Oboro as she bathed, but instead met her right as she was walking out of the bathhouse and doing her hair up.

"Oh, Lord Corrin!" she exclaimed as she did her hair, "your sister told me I should find you."

"Aye," Corrin nodded, "there's a lot to discuss."

Corrin gave Oboro the rundown of what had transpired in her absence, explaining Valla in a very roundabout way to avoid the curse. Fortunately for him, Oboro understood what he was getting at, and vowed to help."

"Really, I'm more surprised that this wasn't actually Nohr's doing." she commented, "but I guess if Kamui was taken control of too, I guess it makes sense that whoever did this is working for a third party."

"That was my thought as well," Corrin nodded, "but it begs a question for you—has anyone back home said anything about "The Exalted One"?"

"Yes, actually!" Oboro exclaimed, "How did you know about her?"

"Kamui mentioned it a few times while she was under that same control." Corrin explained, "I'm not a betting man, but I'd be willing to put a considerable amount of coin on saying that this "Exalted One" had a hand in possessing the royals on both sides except Sakura."

"Lady Sakura was en route to Fort Jinya last I checked," Oboro pointed out, "and she knows more about where Lord Takumi and the others disappeared to. We need to find her and rescue her as soon as possible."

"If anything, I'm more worried about those who fight her," a mellow voice spoke up from behind them. Corrin jumped and Oboro glared, revealing the culprit as Azura.

"Sakura is much more powerful than she likes to let others on about." she continued, "I think we all saw that truth on the border battlefield."

"We need to get moving though," Corrin warned, "even if Sakura is that powerful, I'd rather not force her hand. We need to move on Fort Jinya, and we're heinously outnumbered.

There was a loud bang on the door and the sound of a woman cursing loudly.

"Seriously, sister?" he rolled his eyes as he heard the sound of a lock click, and then the door flew open again as Kamui appeared in the doorway.

"So we've got one more on our side now," she announced, "Boys and girls, I want you to meet my publisher—Anna!"

A red-haired woman clad in a cape and carrying a bow stepped out from behind them.

"Anna here," she beamed, "and I love money. I can't exactly run a profitable business with two countries that are destroyed, so when I heard about the war effort, I decided to pitch in. Besides, I've got some of the best suppliers for weapons and gear. I'm sure I can help organize a few discounts and other promotions in no time flat!"

"At this point, anyone willing to help us should be invited to do so," Corrin suggested.

"Well, you've got me with my axes and magic, and Felicia's also pretty good with a sword, not just a knife. Jakob's a professional knife-fighter, and Gunter's a reliable knight. You're good with swords and staves, brother and you know... we're both freaking dragons."

"And we've got Oboro's spear, Azura's songs, and of course Roku and Zenzi's swordsmanship. So our goal, Kamui, is basically to try and find Sakura and take Fort Jinya with as few casualties as possible. Hoshido is under the same spell that you and Nohr are, and so we are going to face resistance. Just know that I'm not trying to spare people out of my dislike for violence, but because this is something that they are not in control of."

"No, I totally get you this time, brother." Kamui pointed out, "I'll see if we can get Lilith to take us as close as we can. We'll strike from New Kamui, and try to minimize casualties. That's the whole point of this war, is it not?"

"Aye," Corrin sighed, glancing out towards the magnificent castle grounds of New Kamui, contemplating what they were about to do. "That it is."

"Welp, get ready then, brother," Kamui turned and left the castle to find her retainers, "because ready or not… we attack the fort at dawn."

CHARACTERS RECRUITED:

Oboro: A Hoshidan spear master who serves Takumi. Her family ran a tailor shop until her parents were killed by Nohrians, causing her to develop an extreme prejudice against them. She acknowledges this fault and will often attempt to try and correct it, but still often struggles to. Despite this, she still loves fashion, and it does not take much to convince her to design outfits for anyone of any origin. The one with the most terrifying glare. Born on 28 November (Age 19)
Classes: Spear Master/Oni Chieftain

Anna: A merchant who travels the world. Her many identical sisters do the same thing and then some. She is charismatic and curious, but completely obsessed with wealth. There are numerous theories as to where all the Annas come from, but attempts to discover further information are usually just met with Anna smirking before walking away. Has more side jobs than anyone in the army. Born on 10 June (Age 22)
Classes: Merchant/Adventurer