Hey gang! Sorry about the odd writing style in the last chapter. I just…I had no better way to write it. I had been struggling for so long with that whole thing and I've no clue why. I might go back and rewrite it but I just want to get back into the groove of typing so thank you for bearing with me. Also thank you for the welcome back, it has been too long. Anyway, back to the plot!

Song of the Chapter: (real tempted to put Kung Fu Fighting buuuut no)

Movement by Hozier

Warning: Violence, Violence, and yeah, violent stuff

Chapter Twenty-Three: Blades in the Dark

[Ascalon Izumo- Four Days Later]

Rain was always something nice, like a calming gift sent down to help the world when it was in need, had gone to long without it. Sitting on the porch on the guest room he was staying in Ascalon watched as the small drops of water fell, colliding and splashing with anything it could. Feeling oddly out of it, like he had for the past four days, he gazed out and took in the soothing sight. In the back of his head, much to his annoyance, his thoughts quietly replayed all he had been through in that one day, the skeletons, Zola, healing the Archduke. Watching his hands almost vanish from existence. Panicking about disappearing just as Arete had. So many images fluttered and danced, just like the remains of his family.

That had also been the fist time singing had affected him so terribly and, as he thought more about it, he couldn't help but shiver and wrap his arms around himself. Grumpy that this was getting to him he growled softly and muttered an almost silent, "Stop it. You're fine. Things are alright.". He couldn't ignore the small shock he felt whenever he looked at his hands though, grateful they were even still there. That he was still there. Lon knew, whether he liked it or not, he was having a small break down…well maybe a medium one. Clearly it wasn't a big one he just, he never got those. With all he'd been through it was frustrating that this was what was frying his nerves. He had literally been struck by lightning and possibly died and came back from that but noooooooo. Him singing was the straw that broke the dragons back.

More irritated than a cat getting an undeserved bath the internally struggling Draco Knight continued to sit and watch the rain, wishing yet again that his lavender-haired princess was here. There were gentle knocks at his door but he simply ignored them, knowing that he wasn't exactly in a talking mood as the slurs and insults from the dead were sitting quiet terribly with him, like hungry leeches that would not let go no matter how much he burned them. After a minute or so the person left, like everyone else had for the past few days, and so he returned to his own thoughts. If Camilla had been there, she would have waltzed into the room, permission or not, and set him straight…like she always did. Except she wasn't and no one on the team here was bold enough to enter his lair without being allowed, although at this point he was glad for it. He needed to be alone.

The rest of this day passed slowly and uneventfully, Ascalon passing the time by napping out on the cold and isolated porch, trying so desperately to tell himself that it had all been an illusion, that that wasn't how the dead viewed him. He also spent a good portion of it looking at his own reflection and telling himself he was fine and needed to pull himself together. He did all he could to drag his grouchy butt from this low he had slumped into, including bribing himself and saying he could retire and spend the rest of his life chilling and reading once this blasted pointless war was over. Of course, saying the war was pointless sent him into a rant against himself and by the time he finished he at least had enough energy to go be around people and maybe eat more than broth without feeling sick.

Checking himself in the mirror he flinched and cleaned up, pushing the hair from his face and begrudgingly putting his eyepatch back on. True he could see fantastically out of that eye but, the scar was awful and too much light tended to make it sting terribly. So, like his emotions, he covered up and fixed his hair as well as put on fresh clothes, and then did something that right now was exhausting: interacting with people.

Out in the dinning room everyone sat and spoke to one another, discussing where they would leave for next, asking one another how they were. Elina and Kaden were practically glued to each other as she showed him how to make a tea that would improve the quality of his fur and hair. Reina was chatting with Felicia and Corrin, who was doing everything he could to focus and not zone out, while Gunter added in a few comments to that conversation. Izana was obviously being the best host he could be and engaging with everyone in conversation while maintaining his perfect appearance, asking Hayato all about the Wind Tribe and what cool things he could do. Luckily for Ascalon, Azura was sitting a little away from the others with an open seat next to her which he silently snuck over to.

Scaring the daylights out of him Azura simply slid a full bowl of rice over to him and gently patted his knee. Confused as to how she had known he had shown up he grumbled and huffed before quietly picking at the food given to him. After a few minutes the ex-princess turned so she could look at him, which he did not appreciate in the slightest and showed with a small glare. Lightly giggling she poured her brother some tea and proceeded to tuck his long hair behind his ears, softly scolding him for hiding his face from everyone. This earned her a scowl and then him setting his food down to do the same as she perpetually let one thick strand of hair fall just between her eyes.

"Scolding me for how I look yet here you are looking like you just woke up and let it be for weeks. Didn't anyone teach you to be less hypocritical?" He muttered as he fussed with her near untamable locks.

"Not really and I learned everything from the best. How are you feeling? You've been holed up for days and wouldn't let anyone near you, not even Corrin and I." She smirked, expression softening as she caught his own face frowning.

"I…I'm okay. I'll be fine by tomorrow. There was a lot that went down and seeing that happen to me…it scared me. I didn't want to do what she did. I didn't want to leave."

"Why did you sing anyway? You do know that our song has power and a price."

"…they told me to…the resounding one. And now that I'm trying to get a hold of them all I receive is silence. I'm glad I saved Izana, but I would have liked an explanation as to why they wanted me to. You know, something."

"Yes, that would have been nice. We've all been worried and while I was able to hide the aftermath of what that song does, the team is suspicious. Gunter seems less off though so maybe they had you sing to take care of two birds with one stone?"

"Possibly…how is everyone anyway? Besides worried."

Huffing and rolling her eyes Azura turned to look at the rest of the group, quietly saying, "Spirits are high and they are all more ready than ever to go and handle everything. We also received news from the circus, who have been traveling around above ground again, that Garon might be on the move soon, which could be good for us. We could catch him with less defenses and…well…"

"Take care of him whether it's peacefully or not. Then from there we would only have to worry about Iago and the Silent One, as well as fixing home." Ascalon finished for her, knowing that the idea of that battle unnerved her some. Resting a hand on her shoulder he gave a small smile and added, "We can do this, and we will. Besides, we've already defied the odds and changed the course of time. All we have to do now is make our own destiny."

Nodding at that she gave a soft smile as well and then returned to drinking her tea while he worked on his rice, sipping his own drink as well. It was thirty minutes before Corrin spotted the Draco Knight quietly chowing down, silently gracing everyone with his presence. Excited to see him out the young prince snuck over and sat next to him, hair being ruffled before he could manage to get out a hello or some other greeting. Annoyed he looked to the older man and found him smirking while drinking his tea, further frustrating him but obviously playing. So, grateful his brother was out and doing better, he sighed and shoved him gently, asking him how he had been and catching him up on all that had been going on. Simple nods and grunts were the responses he got, as he expected, and every so often there were small replies with words. Ascalon could hide from many that there was something wrong but, thankfully, Cori knew him too well and had seen him go through rough patches before, how he handled them.

Once he got the confirmation that Ascalon would be okay to travel again by tomorrow morning he gave his brother a thumbs up and said he could make a distraction so he could sneak back to his room if he didn't feel like being social anymore. That earned him a bright toothy grin and the man's gratitude, as well as a gentle "Thanks" before he snuck off back to his room. The rest of the night passed without cause or care, being peaceful and just what everyone needed to prepare for their trip Mokushu. When said morning rolled around everyone gathered together, all of them glad to see the Draco Knight was back to being himself, and after bidding Izana farewell they started their trek to the port near Mokushu, hoping their travels would be safe and possibly less strenuous.

[Xander, Kaze, Saizo, Kagero- Near Mokushu]

The group had traveled far and, during it all, Xander was eternally grateful for all of the excursions he had done with his siblings, namely Ascalon. True he was in good shape however, hiking through mountains is taxing no matter who you are unless you have been doing it for quite some time. Xan, who had always gone out to do exactly that with his blue-haired brother fairly often, was having close to no trouble and handled the strenuous climb well. Kagero was keeping pace with him, only struggling some as this was not her norm, smiling at the prince and gently tucking a stray lock of hair behind his ear. Behind them the two brothers kept watch idly talking of random things, including Saizo's aversion to sweets yet again.

Huffing the red-haired twin rolled his eye and sighed heavily, wondering why, all of the sudden, Kaze was so fascinated with candy and other sickly-sweet items. Maybe he had met a nice lady or man? Maybe he was just slowly losing himself to addiction? Who knew? All the ninja knew was that he did not care for the foods being mentioned and proceeded to try and switch the subject to something he was more familiar with, like their mission to find and protect Ryoma. However, it was as he began to speak of the Hoshidan prince that Kagero silently halted the group, crouching low and looking down at the area before them. Swiftly Xander copied her, as well as the brothers.

Down below laid the forest near Mokushu. From it came a dark plume of smoke, one that was followed by a mighty roar and gold flames rocketing skyward. Together the group watched through the thicket of trees and bamboo as a dangerous fight continued onward, unaware of them. It was with sickening realization that the fire was recognized almost instantly as George's, as no other creature or mage could emit something of the same caliber and likeness.

"They're down there…fighting?" Saizo questioned, baffled that there was such chaos in an area they had believed was neutral, even an ally.

"We need to help them. I know we're going after Ryoma but, we cannot leave them to whatever this may be. Also, it is on our way. We do need to chart a ship and this is the path to the port town." Kaze told the others after a moment, pushing gently for them to go and join the fray.

Kagero gave the brothers a look, still unsure, and then turned to gaze at Xander who was watching the field below intensely, eyes desperately searching for any sign that the group was alright. Silently she scolded herself for being weak and, giving her precious prince a pat on the shoulder, she proceeded to stealthily move forwards with her barbed shuriken out and ready. Holding back their smiles Kaze and Saizo trailed after her, showing Xander to do as they did. If they did this well, they could definitely turn the tides of this dispute, as they were trying to do with the world and the new war. They just needed to play their cards right.

[Corrin and Company- Mokushu Forest]

Corrin rolled to the side, cursing as he almost fell into a pit trap yet again. At the last moment a hand reached out and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, yanking back hard and pulling him to safety. Thanking Reina, who was behind him deflecting another blade thrown from the darkness, he tried to even think of a way to get out of this situation. It started so suddenly and came from left field. Yet here they were, fighting a group of ninjas that, from what everyone else knew, they were loyal to Hoshido. The man leading this open betrayal to the throne seemed to have some ulterior motive and from the few words exchanged between him and Ascalon, was also gunning for the throne. From the way it sounded Iago had managed to get here and make an offer for power to their leader, promising things that should not come to pass. Now, as they tried to recover from the surprise attack, there was no time to fully worry about the dang mage. He'd have to wait until there was no risk of being impaled.

As it was, everyone in the small group had been scattered through the battle field that was the forest. Georgie was distraught as he could not fly and kept stepping and sliding into spikes while trying to make his way over to Lon. The Draco Knight had been the first one singled out in the group, cut off quickly from the others as the enemies' leader had stated the blue-haired man was wanted alive, as well as his beast. From there the rest was simple and all too swiftly Corrin saw as his friends were split like a glass bowl, scattering as the shards would. Elina had slowly been gathering people back together, using her teleportation to gather the weaker team members like Azura and Felicia and drop them off with Kaden who was in his beast for, doing his best to protect them. Gunter was by his horse, guiding his mount to a safe area whilst deflecting oncoming attacks as best as he could.

This was all frustrating to the young prince and, as he and Reina ducked behind a thick tree to evade an onslaught of blades that were flung from the shadows, he growled in irritation and closed his eyes trying to think of some way to end this. Nothing came to mind except to charge through everyone and trample the leader. That would not be easy alone though. It was when the Kinshi Knight asked him if he was alright though that an idea, probably an awful one, came to mind.

Red eyes snapping open Corrin grabbed Reina by the shoulders and breathlessly stated, "Reina, I need you to ride me over to their leader!"

Dumbstruck by the bold and wild statement the trained fighter paused, dark hair falling across part of her face, before she could manage to utter, "What exactly are you asking?"

"Look, if we stop their leader then maybe the rest will surrender. Ascalon probably could if he wasn't busy protecting George and well, I can turn into a dragon that won't have trouble navigating the terrain, unlike your bird and Gunter's horse. I can get over there, but I need someone to give me cover. Do you see were I'm going with this?"

"…I believe I do. It's just like a horse or giant bird so…it should be no problem. Will my armor hurt you?"

"I don't think so buuuut it also doesn't matter at the moment. If it does Felicia can heal me later. We need to save the others though. Kaden and Elina can't keep their guard up for much longer." He told her, giving a reassuring smile at the end.

Still in disbelief at what she was about to do, Reina sighed and, shaking her head, told the young man, "If I hurt you, you let me know. I'll patch you up later."

Corrin nodded and, in the brief break between attacks, used the stone Azura had given him to shift into his draconic form, alerting several of the enemies and aweing the knight for a moment. Reina brought herself back and, after telling her mount to take to the skies until it was safe, climbed onto the dragon's back. Holstering her naginata she readied her bow and arrows, giving Corrin a small spur to start running before the flying blades came back. It was still jarring as they sped forward, leaping over one of the spiked pits and skirting around foes that the Kinshi Knight proceeded to shoot at, doing what she could to stay in place and also hit her mark.

While they raced onwards through the hoard of veiled enemies, Reina's trained eyes caught the small flickers of movement coming from the darkness, watching as some of her foes were silently taken down by outside forces. Leaning forward she whispered to Corrin that they might be receiving help from unknown people, earning only a single grunt before picking up the pace and rushing to the spot of the forest that was now on fire. Golden flames clawed and devoured the trees in this area, smoke filling the air and making seeing and breathing a chore. Pulling up a scarf to wrap about her mouth she watched as the ninjas fled from the intense heat and sting, letting them be and choosing to focus on the Draco Knight struggling at the center of this mess.

Ascalon, with his breathing mask on, was positioned around Georgie who had several nets tangled on him and one foot trapped in a spiked pit. Neither one looked great and as Lon cut through the ropes with his hunting knife, he did what he could to block the shuriken being thrown his direction. The dangerous environment helped some as a few enemies had left however, the leader was not going lose this fight. Lurching closer and closer the leader, a man by the name Kotaro withdrew a deadly shuriken, ready to throw it at the troublesome Draco Knight.

Reina caught sight of this and, asking Corrin to keep steady, raised her bow and aimed, calming herself and taking a deep breath. As she released it, just before they leapt over the final spike pit, she let the arrow fly, watching through the haze as it pierced the fiend's hand and caused him to shout in anger and pain. Kotaro dropped his weapon, alarmed to find an arrow in its place, and had only a second to roll aside before this odd beast trampled into his path with an archer atop them. There they trotted in an antsy pace, intimidating and beautiful in the bright glow of the fire and falling embers. A moment later, as a particular burst of light flashed, did the ninja leader recognize and soon dread who was before him, as he knew those violet eyes and dark hair as well as the familiar scar on her face.

"Kotaro, you filth. You were an ally to Hoshido, to peace! Now you are breaking this? For what?" Reina demanded, angered greatly by this treachery.

"For the throne. Mokushu will rise when Hoshido falls, and you and your weak friends can't stop us! We will succeed! I will rise and become a true king, as I've always been meant to be!" He shouted to her, grinning and removing the projectile from his hand. Lifting the arrow up for her to see he added, while snapping it, "No beast or bow will stand in my way."

Reina, glancing to the side and watching for a moment as familiar and friendly ninjas crept from the darkness to aid the others, turned her full attention to Kotaro, seeing his sanity slipping away as he declared his outrageous plan. Corrin continued to pace and, while the Kinshi Knight swapped weapons, she quietly told the prince that they needed to keep him busy while the others were saved and helped. Snuffing he came to a halt, starring down the traitor, and began digging at the ground with anticipation, ready to protect his loved ones and friends. Naginata at the ready Reina sweetly smiled and whispered go, ready this time as they charged and leapt at the twisted man.

[Xander, Kagero, Kaze, Saizo- Burning Mokushu Forest]

They had made it just in time, finding the small group in trouble and struggling to handle the treacherous terrain that was set to harm most everyone. Splitting from each other the four swiftly slunk through the dark, taking out enemies quietly and dragging their unconscious bodies to the side. It was as they were finishing off most of them that the four watched separately as Corrin, in dragon form, sped through the smoky woods with Reina on his back shooting down whomever came close to them or made to attack the pair. To say they were surprised was an understatement however, as they all knew there were bigger issues to be dealt with, they carried on, giving the charging pair cover.

Not too much later they found the two blocking the enemy leader from Ascalon and George, the two furthest from everyone and in the most danger, making an imposing and terrifying wall to protect the Draco Knight. Xander, who was the most familiar with the dragon in trouble, signaled to the other four that he would take care of the two in the flames while they helped the rest get out before the entire forest was on fire. From there he crept down the slight decline and through the abandoned battle field, avoiding the already set off traps and trying his best to not cough from the smoke and avoid falling embers.

Xander got Ascalon's attention after quietly calling to him, surprising the blue-haired man but earning a grateful smile. Coughing some the Draco Knight pointed to the few ropes left and then continued to work on them, ignoring his own injuries as George was his priority. Together the pair swiftly went to work, making quick work of the remainders of the nets and then helping the large indigo dragon carefully climb out of the pit. Before the older prince could even ask what was going on the younger man fell into a coughing fit and simply signed for them to get out of the flames first. Xan paused, glancing up at Reina and Corrin for a moment, nodding after a moment and guiding the pair through the dangerous and trap riddled forest. Behind them the sounds of combat carried on as did the growing flames that hungrily consumed all that was near them.

[Corrin and Reina- Flaming Forest]

Skidding mid turn Reina huffed as she and Corrin just dodged another swing from Kotaro, avoiding the small poison covered blades he threw after every strike. The traitor was losing and, from the looks of it, everyone had been evacuated out of the burning part including Ascalon and George. All that was left now was to stop this man, whether it was knocking him out or killing him, although Reina preferred the latter. It was only when she caught sight of something important that she realized it was not her place, but another's, to kill this man. On him was the smallest item that had previously belonged to the parent of two close friends of hers and, with a new anger coursing through her Reina gritted her teeth and lowered herself in her seat, Naginata ready. Violet eyes pierced through the smoke as she growled for Corrin to charge once more, rage almost blinding her but steadying her hand. She knew what to do. Where to hit. What needed to be done so that some might find peace.

Shaking his head Corrin felt the tension and precision, the cold calculated fury, and feeling Reina's weight fit perfectly with him charged once more, going faster than he had before. Kotaro, caught off guard by the sudden calm and cold scrabbled back at the terrifying pair, attempting to dodge them and their war path aimed right at him. Nothing could save him though as the duo descended on him and, hitting with pinpoint precision, he felt the icy sting of the Naginata as it pierced through the armor that he had put the stolen seal of his dead enemy on, how it tore through his flesh and dug into his body. Shouting loudly in agony he felt that final hit drain the rest of his strength and waited for the end, expecting this goddess of death to end him. That was not to be though as she used the weapon to lift him up by his wound and, looked him dead in the eyes.

"You will answer for your past crimes, and you will do so to the survivors you left behind." Was all he heard from her before she urged the magnificent beast to carry them out of the deadly golden flames and smoke.

Outside the danger zone the others recovered, patching one another up and trying to find some way to extinguish the roaring fires that were engulfing the trees. Azura eventually used her song, utilizing the water that came with those powers to put out the dangerous flames. It was as things calmed and smokes continued to swirl up into the air that the last two emerged, beaten enemy in tow and impaled on a blade. Tiredly they trotted over towards the twin brothers and deposited the traitor at their feet, tapping the stolen seal with the bloodied tip of the naginata before leaving to go rest.

Distantly, after turning back into his normal self, and exhausted Corrin watched as Saizo and Kaze, mainly Saizo, confronted Kotaro, earning the truth about their fathers' death from him and at last avenging him as the red-haired brother ended the villain. Once dead, and with the seal back to the brothers, the tired group all retreated back into the astral plain when Lilith came out and offered the rest to them, claiming she had finished renovating and fixing things enough for people to live there. Grateful for the chance to sleep in an actual bed Corrin tiredly rose to his feet, wincing as his back spasmed and cried in pain from the battle, and gave the small dragon a thumbs up. Nodding one she circled around the entire group and transported them, taking them to the now clean and peaceful area away from everything.

Once back inside what would quickly become their home on the go, Reina let her mount find a nice spot to rest under the cherry blossom trees, turning her attention to the sore prince who was failing at hiding how exhausted he was. Quietly she asked Lilith where Corrin's quarters were, thanking her upon getting the answer and then proceeding to go over to the young man and help him limp to his place. Cori hardly noticed this and, as the sounds of the small dragon explaining to everyone what this place was faded into the distance, he let himself fall into a lull and be whisked away by the gentle yet fierce Kinshi Knight. Soon they had ascended the stairs to his new room and opened the door, finding a simple yet comfortable area with items from both kingdoms inside, so he could keep both homes with him.

Reina, exhausted as well, helped the young man over to his bed and assisted him with taking off his armor, tsking whenever she found new bruises and burns. Over all he could be in a lot worse shape however, his back did host the majority of his injuries and, after giving him a quiet, 'hmph' to let him know she had indeed been right, she went onwards to begin patching him up and cleaning anything that might become infected. She didn't notice how slowly he became more and more tense and awkward, or how he kept his face turned away as he laid on his stomach.

Minutes passed before Corrin gathered the courage to speak without stuttering, saying, "Thank you Reina. You didn't need to do all of this, but I appreciate it."

"Actually, you agreed to let me. I don't know if you recall me saying in the woods that if I hurt your back, I was taking care of you. Also, everyone was going to be busy fixing themselves or taking the grand tour, which we can do later. Right now, your health is more important." She said smartly with a hint of sarcasm and sass.

"Ha, you know I actually don't remember that. Everything happened fairly quickly and it's all a little blurred."

"Oh really? You don't recall you asking me to ride you then?"

Choking on his own breath he was about to respond when he heard her laughing, clearly teasing the young man. Groaning from pain and embarrassment he shoved his face back into the pillows and grumbled, "Ha ha. Sooooooooo funny. If my memory serves me right you were the flustered one. It's almost like you thought I meant something else."

Leaning down to look him in the eye she responded with, "I have stuff that can sting real bad. Don't make me use it on you to flush out the bacteria."

Corrin huffed and let her continue to work on him, wincing only some as she cleaned out the few burns he had. After she was done with him and tied the bandages that wrapped around his back and torso, he sat up stiffly and took the medical supplies into his own hands. After taking in how beat up she was he set aside any feeling he had and with confidence said, "Alright, it's your turn now. Let me help you with your armor."

Reina paused for a hot second, impressed with how calm and focused he was, as well as with how caring he was, and slowly nodded, letting him help her. It was odd for someone to take care of her, as she was normally not open to it. He had earned her respect though and…he was very different from most everyone. So, feeling odd and vulnerable, she let the prince take off her burnt and cut up armor and whatever else was needed to attend to her own wounds, keeping calm as he touched her scarred back and shoulders, hoping her old scars didn't bother him.

To her relief none of them seemed to disgust or bother him as he never halted when his fingers passed over any of them, grazing past like there was nothing wrong. No, he simply hummed to himself and carefully worked on her, as she had him, speaking every once in a while, to let her know when he would do something that might sting or aggravate one of the injuries. Reina eventually relaxed some and fell into a cautious but welcome lull, enjoying this odd treat of being cared for, slowly becoming drowsy from this new experience and feeling her muscles stop tensing up. Neither one of them would realize that two hours had passed by the time they were done, nor that they were both exhausted and fell asleep quickly after that, both having exciting dreams about the fight and how good of a team they made.

Woooooo, character development and plot! Reuniting the peeps! Beds! Idk, hope you all enjoyed. Until next time!