As planned, Keaton, Jakob, and I take the right side. It leads us up a set of stairs and into a room with five Hoshidans, two with axes, two with scrolls, and one with a staff. "Jakob, try and snipe the healer out. Keaton, we'll go for the axe wielders first, keep an eye out for spirits from the scroll-users." We move out, I unsheathe Yato and engage the right side, Keaton takes the left, and Jakob bides his time. I deflect the first strike with ease, bash him in the chest with my pommel, then ran him through while he stumbles backwards. 'Blood, kill!'
I move to engage the spirit caller next, nimbly dodging an ethereal tiger. A dagger speeds by me and I hear the healer fall to the floor. "Weak." One slash left robed man with a huge open wound and an organ threatening to leave its owner. The other axe man yells as his body slams into the second scroll user with a crunch, within a second both bodies give in to a slam from Keaton's beast fist. I glance over at my mate with a satisfied smirk, a lust in my eyes. 'Not now . ' I motion towards the stairs and we move to the next room.
A single archer, one axe and sword, a man with hair that looks like he has been recently shocked with electricity, wearing this creepy smile. My hair stands on end, "Ninja." I call out. "Jakob, archer. Keaton and me, sword and axe. Keep your wits for the Ninja." I glance over at the man, he has the heavy scent of… Hinoka, was it? He is without weapons, "Spare him if you can."
Keaton and I charge together, I focus on the axe while he gets the sword. I sidestep an arrow, only to get the stinging pain of a shuriken follow up. I deflect the first axe strike, and another shuriken slices into my armor, I hear Keaton grunt from the same, "Ninja's following up." I hear the archer drop. I growl as the axe wielder lands a strike on the same spot the Ninja has been aiming for. I form my maw on my left hand and snap his midsection, effortlessly snapping his body in half. 'Rend, feast.' A loud crunch sounds the demise of the swordsman, stray drops of blood flying through the air. I dodge the next shuriken and Jakob lands a dagger in the Ninja's thigh. I shoot an energy sphere and let the maw fade, the sphere makes contact and drops the Ninja.
"Oh dear…" The man says as calmly as he would observe a rainfall, "You wouldn't want to fight an armless man, would you?"
"Stand down and I won't." I snarl.
He calmly walks over to the exit stairs, "No can do, I am to guard the stairs." Then, of all possible things he could have done… he sits on the exit. "Go on now."
Something is not right here, no one could be that calm. Keaton does not share the same sentiment and he charges the man, intending on knocking him out. A fist that is held back hits the man… and Keaton howls in pain, the man is left unharmed. "Coward!" He roars.
"I said I was armless… not defenseless." He shrugs as he pulls out some tarot cards, "Would you like for me to read you a fortune?"
A dagger soars and lands on his arm, I am about to call Jakob out, but only the man grunts in pain. "A barrier for melee, then." I comment.
"Hm… I thought I fixed that issue." He is still somehow completely calm with this situation. "Well, I am afraid that is all the tricks I have up my sleeve." He scurries through the exit.
I sigh, "Next room." We move through the stairs and I barely catch a glimpse of that man as he moves through the next set. Two archers, two ninjas, one naginata, katana, Pegasus rider, and a mace. I am about to curse the situation when I hear another set of feet.
"...Mjolnir." An archer drops, his body scorched with electricity.
"Phoenix!" Good, the fight is evened out now. I can see her group has a dark blue haired woman in tow, her arms tied. Somewhat like that man, she seems completely oblivious of the peril they are in, preferring to slowly gaze around the room.
The ground shakes as Effie charges towards the center of it all, "Bring it on! This is barely even a warmup!"" She challenges them. A third dagger is launched by Jakob, he should be on his last one now, a quick glance shows that he is wielding Flora's dagger again. The dagger imbeds itself into the Pegasus's right hind leg, it whines in pain. Arthur moves in next, and the hero deflects a mace strike with such force that it flies out of his opponent's hand… and onto the retainer's foot. He yelps in pain and places more force into his axe strike than he probably intends… the maceless man drops and Arthur hops backwards. 'Well, the results were achieved, regardless of how strangely it was done . '
Jakob moves in front of me and counters a dagger sent my way, then an arrow lodges itself into his right shoulder. The ground trembles as Effie lands a brutal strike at the bladesman, another down. I dodge out of instinct and a set of shurikens slice through the air I was just in, I form my lance and impale him sideways, through one arm and out his body. The Pegasus rider lands a blow on Effie's armor, all it causes is a minor stagger, and the Knight opts to throw her lance with such force that it sends the second archer flying and stuck into the wall.
"Mjolnir!" The pegasus is instantly fried and falls to the ground. 'Gods, I thought Pegasi were supposed to be more resistant to spells, yet Phoenix ripped through it all the same… how powerful is she?'
"For Justice!" Arthur ends the woman that was riding the pegasus.
"Last room ahead…" Phoenix breathes, "One pegasus rider, three healers… one ninja." Her breath is ragged. "Good to go?"
"Phoenix, you look pale." Elise comments, "You might want to stay back here."
She glances at the glove on her right hand, she looks like she wants to remove it, but then she shakes her head, "Using… too much magic. I'll just pull out my sword instead." She places the tome in one of the robe's many pockets and unsheathes the sword on the right side of her hip, it looks as masterfully crafted as my gifted one.
I nod, "Let's finish this." We move up the stairs and sure enough from the scent earlier, Hinoka is mounted on her Pegasus, a mournful expression on her face.
"...Sister…" She greets, then glances over to our captive, "Setsuna…" There is a tone of disapproval in her voice.
"Sorry Lady Hinoka, the robed lady here shattered my bow into like, a thousand pieces with a spell." Well, that explains why Phoenix is so tired.
The princess sighs and turns her attention back to me, "Corrin, please, we just want you to come back…" She holds back tears, "We just want our family to be whole again."
I shake my head, "My name is Yasei… and I belong in Nohr.."
She closes her eyes for a moment, "I refuse to kill you, sister." The sorrow is gone and is replaced with a fiery determination as red as her hair, "But I won't let these Nohrians keep you from your birth home any longer!" She spins her lance, "I will bring you back… just like I swore that I would all those years ago!"
Arthur gasps in pain and kneels as the Ninja scores a deep cut in his chest, Phoenix responds in kind by running him through with her sword. The hero steps back and lets Elise tend to him.
"Correction, Maids, not just healers." The Tactician says.
Except that man with the creepy smile. "Don't engage in melee with that man. He has a counter-barrier on him."
"Azama… I thought you said you fixed that." She shakes her head, "Stick with me. We're going in." The two charge in, while the two maids stood a few feet back, daggers at the ready.
Azama stands in front of the princess, warding off anyone from engaging from melee combat with her, while the reach she has with her lance give her enough leeway to actually land strikes. Each of the maids launch a dagger, Elise's horse is struck and Phoenix takes the other, her already ragged breathing is now labored. "I-... need to... fall back…" She says as she backs up behind Elise.
Effie moves to guard Elise… gods, she didn't retrieve her lance. "Don't have as much training with swords… but, I'm going to have to borrow your sword, Phoenix." The Tactician lazily hands her sword to Effie and she takes it. The Knight gives is a few test swings before assuming a defensive stance. "You shall not harm my charge as long as I stand!" She declares.
Hinoka moves to strike Jakob first and easily lands a blow with her superior reach. Azama is grinning like a mad fool while standing in between Hinoka and him, he has another staff in hand. Another pair of daggers sail, one on Jakob's arm and another that Keaton dodges. "Take those maids out!" Keaton and I charge, I go for the right and he gets left. Hinoka stays on Jakob, to move out would be putting Azama at risk, since I know Jakob would gladly throw his last dagger away if it means getting him out of the way. I dodge the maid's third dagger, last one. I swing and she nimbly backs up and lands a strike on my chest. I follow up with a lance thrust and get enough to pierce, but not enough to kill. I hear the other maid slam into the wall and Keaton shakes the ground, causing my maid to stumble, I run her through with Yato.
That just leaves Hinoka and Azama. My butler has taken a few hits now, Effie is by his side and Elise sits on her horse about a foot or two behind her retainer, Arthur is back up and standing on the other side of Effie. I come in from behind and slash at the Pegasus's left hind leg with enough force to cause it to throw its rider off balance, but not off. The princess carves a sweeping strike, landing a strike on Jakob and Effie, but I deflect it. I focus on the beast, another strike and it almost stops flying in place all together. Then Azama heals it and it is back to square one. 'Gods . '
Hinoka lashes out with her lance again and strikes Jakob, slicing a large enough gash to where even a heal from Elise would not be able to keep him awake. "Gods… my apologies, Lady Yasei." His wound is healed, but I can just hear the exhaustion in his voice. Keaton charges in and Hinoka manages to rear her pegasus in a loop, causing the Wolfskin to land another strike on Azama's barrier, a grunt follow, then the Hoshidan princess scores another hit on her return trip.
'Gods, this woman is no joke.' Effie slashes at the Pegasus while I take another chance on the beast's other side, Hinoka chooses to deflect mine and her pegasus neighs from Effie's strike. Two well-aimed strikes from the Sky Knight's lance causes a portion of the armored Knight's armor to become detached and fall to the ground. Effie is now without her sword-wielding arm's armor. Keaton lands a blow on her Pegasus and I form my maw to launch an energy ball at Azama, it is enough to stagger, 'I am going to have to end up killing him just so we win.' Her pegasus is healed again.
"...damn it!" Phoenix quietly swears. I dare to steal a glance at her, gods she looks so pale right now, a shroud of dark magic forms and dissipates around her right hand, and again. Hinoka lands a glancing blow on me and I am forced backwards. She deflects another strike from Keaton and follows up on Effie, the latter now looking pretty out of it. The Knight's wounds are healed, but magic does not restore her stamina. Effie steps back and stays on the defensive in front of Elise, she is breathing heavily.
Gods, it's down to two-on-one, I prepare another energy ball for Azama, hopefully more than enough to kill. We are not going to get anywhere with him still up and I am not going to risk failing to knock him out. The ball is shot and Hinoka bats it away, then lands a strike on both Keaton and me. "Please, sister, just lay down your arms." The red-haired princess finally speaks. "I just want you to return to Hoshido." Her pegasus is struck by the Wolfskin, then healed, the staff Azama is using looks like its on its last leg. I can sense Keaton's exhaustion, and another slash from her lance sends him backwards. "Corrin..."
"...break." A dark shroud of magic envelopes Hinoka's pegasus and the beast just collapses in on itself, like every bone in its body just ceased to exist. Gods , it just looks so wrong, the winged mount falls to the ground and dies on the spot, its body folding in over like it is a towel rather than a well-trained and loved beast. Then Phoenix is out cold. I resist the urge to vomit, 'This is so wrong,' I keep mentally repeating.
Hinoka is clearly fighting back tears but still refuses to give in. She proves herself capable of fighting without her mount as she deflects another blow from Keaton, his speed and power down significantly since the start, he now has an open wound on his chest and he shifts back. 'No ! ' She has to have received this power from the Rainbow Sage, there is no way she could be pushing us back this far.
Keaton falls back, almost succumbing to his injuries when the princess lands another sweeping strike on him, Elise rears her mount and manages to keep him up before returning to her previous spot. "Sis?" My little sister is clearly nervous. "My staff is nearly out of magic."
"Corrin is my sister!" Hinoka lashes out at Effie, who barely manages to stop one with her shield, before the Knight hits a glancing blow on the Hoshidan. I take a moment to shift, having completed in just enough time to avoid another of the mountless Sky Knight's strike.
"You're forcing my hand, Hinoka." I prepare a water blast and stomp the ground, the shake enough to stagger both and I pierce Azama's body with the stream, he falls as quickly as Hinoka's pegasus. I rear my horns to strike at her, yet she dodges and her spear barely even scratches my scales. I am going to give in to exhaustion before wounds in this form.
"Mjolnir!" Hinoka is struck by a bolt of lightning, alive but weakened, wait I thought Phoenix was down? 'No, wait, Phoenix's voice isn't high-pitched.' I steal another glance and see that Elise has picked up the Tactician's tome. I follow up with a strike from my horns, another blow and the princess is staggering, but still awake. The air crackles and the Hoshidan hops backwards to avoid another bolt.
"Elise! Don't push yourself!" Gods, doesn't Phoenix have a lower-level tome on her? There is no way Elise can make one or maybe two more casts with her inexperience, especially with such a high-end tome.
"Stop fighting! Please!" The Troubadour pleads, tears falling from her eyes now.
"Not until Corrin is back home!" Hinoka counters, her breathing slightly ragged but still very able to fight. "I will fulfill my promise!" With that statement all but screamed out, she lashes out at Elise, blood flies out as a huge gash is formed… on Arthur's chest. 'No.'
"Seems my… luck ran out." The hero falls to the ground, ceasing to breathe before then. Elise cries out and the sound of it hurts as much as losing the clumsy man. 'Revenge, kill… NO! Hinoka has to live!'
"Nohr is my home." I say while fighting back a sudden surge of fury, "Just stand down, I don't want to kill you." 'Die… no! Murder… resist! Maim… she needs to live!'
"You had no problem killing all the others, why hesitate with me? Setsuna!" The archer is in the corner.
"Sorry, Lady Hinoka, but unless I get a bow and some arrows… I am more likely to get in the way… that and my arms are still tied."
"Because I still consider you all family. I want all of us together!" 'But you are making this so hard to do.' Effie is breathing heavily, weakened enough to where just keeping her guard up is going to cost her. 'Kill, rend, maim… no! Focus!' I stagger backwards and Hinoka reaches out.
"...die." An axe flies through the air and Hinoka side-steps it, another person enters the fight, her face expressionless and in near full black leather armor, matching headband with light-blue hair and riding a Wyvern. "By Lady Camilla's orders." 'Camilla?'
"I don't want her dead!" I nearly yell.
"We follow Lady Camilla's orders." She repeats, 'We?'
"Back off of my charge's sister!" Another woman enters, a frown on her face and long red pigtails. She is wielding a sword and a small buckler, then charges at Hinoka, pushing the Hoshidan back before landing a strike. I feel sick, my sister is going to die and I cannot do anything about it! I fall back to Elise's spot.
"...Elise?" I shift back and try to hide behind her horse. 'I… can't. If I were Dragon, then seeing this wouldn't be an issue… but I came into this fight thinking as a Human, a method of fighting I have neglected, and now I feel weak. This was a mistake, Arthur would have been alive if it wasn't for that stupid call… No, not stupid, I just wanted her alive!' The Dragon falls silent as Human starts to take control of my thought process. 'I messed up so bad…'
My little sister repositions her horse in an attempt to obscure my line of sight more, with Effie covering any leftover spots, "I'm sorry sis, but they are her retainers, not mine."
I can still hear Hinoka being pushed back, I can smell the blood that is beginning to pour from her, and I can sense the newly developed fear coming off of her. 'It wasn't supposed to go like this!' The battle ends as I hear my sister's body drop. I refuse to look.
"Target eliminated." The Wyvern Rider says. 'Target!?'
I want to argue the point, that Hinoka is… was my sister and not just some name on a list. Yet I cannot, my will went down with her body. I don't even want to bother trying to find this 'Rainbow Sage' now. "Hey sis, I'll check over our people, all right?" Elise offers and I just nod with a muffled 'yea'.
The two retainers approach me. "Lady Yasei?" It is the blue-haired one. I acknowledge their presence with a quick glance… and catching Hinoka's body on the far side, I feel sick. "We're to keep you protected until further notice."
"Lady Yasei." The other greets, but is lacking in any genuine happiness, "My name is Selena and she is Beruka. We are Lady Camilla's retainers."
"Yea, I get it. Alright?" I lash out, "Look, keep me protected all you want, but keep it at a distance. I didn't want her dead! But now she is and I'm down one sister." The two hesitate, but are otherwise unaffected by my outburst.
"Very well, Lady Yasei." Beruka says.
Selena does not immediately respond with the other retainer, instead looking at Phoenix, no, staring her down. Remorse? I cannot tell the scent immediately but it is something sorrowful, "Right, we'll give you some space." She returns her gaze, frown lacking the intensity from earlier.
"Gods… Lady Yasei, my most sincere apo…" Jakob starts.
"Don't." I cut him off, "Correction, I don't want anyone near me right now." Elise fidgets on the spot, "No, wait, except you, Elise, and Keaton." I amend my statement. 'Gods, I feel so off right now.'
"As you command."
I walk off towards the door that Hinoka… was guarding, her body not even several feet away from it. 'Gods . ' I rip my gaze from her and open the door, an elderly man lies on a bed near the far corner of this dimly lit room. 'Dead . ' I move closer and notice not even a single injury, he must of died in his sleep. And if I had to take a guess on who this man is… "All of this, for him to already be dead." I force back tears and just leave the room.
"Lady Yasei…" 'Not now,' it is Beruka again, "What about that other woman?"
"Oh, now you are asking for my judgement?!" I throw my hands in the air, "Might as well just off her! Since I'm pretty sure that is what Camilla would want!" The woman nods and I walk towards Elise, who is now using Azama's staff, and is off of her horse. Anger resonates through my body, 'Why would big sister do such a thing?'
"My staff ran out of magic…" She answers my unasked question. "This is about as bad is it could have gone." 'Nearly' , "Your Mate Keaton will recover quickly enough… Phoenix, though. She looks so drained , she is still breathing, thankfully." Her voice catches, "Arthur…"
"A different subject." I request, "So… you can use tomes?"
She has a small smile, "I kind of… guessed my way through that. Lucky first shot, yea? It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. It is actually kind of like healing, but with more… aggression?" She pauses, "I'm sorry we couldn't… you know, her."
I shake my head, "I don't want to think about that right now."
"What about the Rainbow Sage? Did you…?"
"Dead, passed in his sleep, it looks like. Another mission half-completed. Maybe having a Royal dead will be enough to tide Father over." I am on the verge of crying. I hold on to Elise and let my tears fall. My little sister tenses before returning the hug, Camilla would know what to say, but I have a sinking feeling in my gut that I don't want to hear whatever she has to say. Her orders got my blood-sister killed. "Elise… if Keaton isn't well enough by tonight, would it be too much to ask for you to… share my bed tonight?"
"Sure thing, sis!" She is lacking some of the cheerfulness a statement like that would bring, but she is genuinely excited for it.
I break the hug with her and make my way towards my unconscious mate. "Sorry I couldn't keep my promise… I'll be sure to make it up to you later, mate." I leave the room and head towards a random bedroom, before tossing myself on it.
I barely register a set of arms wrapping around me before I fell asleep.