Better late than never? I'm sorry this chapter took almost a whole month to finish.

For a 3.7 thousand word chapter, this took longer than I expected. I was unhappy with the chapter's end results five times over the past week, so I kept rewriting the middle and ending over and over again. I won't say I'm a thousand percent satisfied, but I am content that I couldn't do anything more for this chapter. Honestly, the other works I'm alternating between are slightly difficult to inspire, but this one has a through-line that helps me work through the story at a steady pace, until you hit the exposition-heavy chapters.

Hope you guys enjoy it.

As the light around the party began to wane, Corrin and Sinon recognized the astral plane they arrived in. The castle that Corrin had dubbed "Fort Dragonia" was in the same Chevois style they remembered when they first arrived. The other five who came with them were surprised by what they saw.

Felicia jolted her head around. "What just happened?! And, um, where are we?"

Jakob was amused by what transpired. "This is quite the spectacle. Might I inquire how this is possible?"

Aiko looked at Lilith. "I don't think she's ever done this before."

Sinon smirked at her. "Actually, she has."

Yuuki gasped. "What?! She's done this already?!"

Lilith giggled slightly. "I'm so sorry for surprising you all! Please, allow me to explain…"

Needless to say, the explanation took a little while, but everyone was up to speed by the end of it.

Felicia was slightly exhausted from imagining their tasks. "My word, you three have been quite the busy bees."

Jakob tapped his chin. "To think that this 'Astral Plane' we are in is connected indirectly to our own world…"

"Lord Corrin," Lilith addressed. "I know the choice you just made was a difficult one. From here on out, you and your allies will continue down your chosen path. I promise to do everything in my power to help you on your journey. As such, please feel free to use this Astral Plane to rest or prepare for battle."

Corrin nodded. "Thank you, Lilith. Your kindness and support are always appreciated."

"Aww, you're welcome!" Lilith beamed. "Oh, by the way, this place is filled with Dragon Veins. Long story short: you can use them to customize your castle as you see fit."

Corrin smiled. "How about that? Seems like this place has everything we could need."

Sinon tapped her chin. "Well, we've got living quarters, Lilith's shrine, and a mess hall erected at the moment, but I feel as though we're missing something."

Corrin looked around in confusion. "What did you have in mind?"

Sinon held out a hand in response. "Hold on, I'll get it."

Sinon placed her right hand in the air, sending a golden mist flowing from her hand into the air. The mist flew towards the Southeast Corner and began transforming the landscape. Four targets, similar to ones found in the archery match between her and Takumi, and stations that held bows, arrows, shurikens, throwing knives, and even some fletching tools, were erected from the ground. This action surprised everyone else present, except for Lilith.

Felicia gasped in shock. "What in the world was that?!"

Jakob muttered under his breath. "In all my time as a royal butler, I never would've thought that this would be something that Sinon would be able to do."

Corrin raised an eyebrow at her. "Have you always been able to do this?"

Sinon shook her head. "No, but I think that was my last time doing so."

Sinon fell to one knee as Aiko and Yuuki rushed towards her. Her forehead wasn't burning up, but she could barely stand. As the twins helped her to her feet, Yuuki asked something that surprised the others.

Yuuki placed Sinon's arm over her shoulder. "Did your Dragon's Blood stay active all this time?"

Sinon gave a weak nod. "Yeah, but only because I never used it. It's been dormant the whole time."

Corrin raised an eyebrow. "Could we get some clarification about this? We really need to know what this is all about."

Sinon panted from the strain of her expended energy. "Maybe someday later, but we can't speak of this here."

Azura had the sneaky suspicion she knew what she meant. "Why not?"

Yuuki answered in turn. "We can't tell you that here either."

Jakob frowned at them. "Is there anything you can tell us?"

Aiko shook her head. "In time, we will tell you. We don't know when, but we can fill you in when the time comes."

Corrin thought about it briefly, then sighed in response. "I trust you, but I hope you understand that I still want to know what you're talking about."

Felicia bore a saddened expression. "In the meantime, we can't stay here forever, can we?"

Corrin shook his head. "No, unfortunately not. The Astral Plane has a lot for us to work with, but I can't justify not doing anything while Hoshido and Nohr are at each other's throats."

Jakob scratched his chin. "Well, I don't know of any places we could go."

Azura brought up her answer. "I may have an option, but it will require a leap of faith from you all."

Yuuki frowned at Azura. "Do you mean that in the literal sense?"

Azura shook her head. "I'd prefer it if I show you later."

Jakob smiled at that. "I guess that settles it. Felicia, Aiko, would you two care to help me cook up something in the dining hall?"

The following morning, Azura had gathered everyone at the Bottomless Canyon with the intent to reveal a brief hiding place for them to use. While Azura knew what she planned to do, no one else could quite figure out what she was up to. Sinon had her eyes on the Nohrian side of the canyon in case anyone was on watch.

Corrin looked around. "This is where we lost Gunter, right? Azura, why are we at the Bottomless Canyon?"

Jakob voiced his opinion. "If you mean to hide out in the fortresses here, I doubt that would be efficient enough."

Azura shook her head. "Not quite. We'll need to jump into the canyon."

Yuuki and Aiko both shouted in shock. "WHAT?!"

Sinon shook her head. "I thought I'd heard of everything, but this takes the cake."

Felicia was concerned for their safety. "If we jump into the canyon, we'll all die. We may need to keep a low profile, but I don't think that death counts as a good hiding place!"

Azura shook her head. "Don't worry. You won't die if you jump. You have to trust me on this."

Corrin looked into Azura's eyes. "Azura. Is there something you need to tell us?"

Azura nodded. "I do, but I can only tell you once we jump."

Corrin smiled at her. "Then I trust you."

Sinon raised her eyebrow. "Are you sure about this, Prince Corrin?"

Corrin looked over to the canyon itself. "There's only one way to find out."

Azura stepped towards the bridge ahead of them. "I'll jump first and wait for you below."

Sinon shrugged. "If you're headed in, I suppose I'm tasked with following you."

Aiko and Yuuki looked at each other. "We were supposed to protect him," they agreed.

Jakob held his head with his hands. "I guess I'll take up the rear."

Corrin followed Azura to the center of the wooden bridge. "I'll follow you in, Azura. I've got your back."

Azura stepped out to the railing, looking back at Corrin over her shoulder. In a graceful move, she leaned forward, letting go of the restraining rope, falling into the canyon as she did so. Corrin rushed towards the rope, watching her fall into the abyss. Corrin quickly flipped over the railing with Sinon, Aiko, and Yuuki following close behind him. He felt the wind whip by him as he fell faster and faster, narrowly missing the sides of the cliff, diving deeper and deeper into the never ending canyon. Before long, his vision when dark.

When Corrin was able to see, he was astounded by what he saw. Lush green landscapes were all around him, with the stray stone ruin dotting the landscape in several places. The sky was a bright blue color, with white clouds gently floating by. Corrin was offput, mostly, by the broken masses of the ground and the sideways-oriented land masses surrounding the ground he was on.

He stood up, holding his head to keep from spinning around in disorientation. "Ugh, where am I? That was one heck of a jump, but I don't think anything is broken."

Azura extended a hand out to him. "Thank goodness. I said you'd be alright, didn't I?"

He could hear Sinon behind him. "Is everyone here? All body parts intact?"

Yuuki gave a thumbs up as he turned to see the others. "All five limbs intact!"

Aiko nodded, opting to slowly stand up. "I'm still alive."

Felicia held her gut as she regained her balance. "My stomach is a little upset, but I'll be fine."

Jakob dusted himself off. "I'll keep my eye on Felicia."

Corrin smiled as everyone answered roll call. "So, Azura? Where are we, exactly? This place is unlike anything I've seen before."

Sinon chuckled. "We're in Valla, an invisible kingdom of sorts hidden from the main continent."

Azura frowned at her. "How do you know where we are? To my knowledge, I'm the only survivor from this kingdom who still lives."

Sinon smiled sheepishly. "I should explain our position. For now, we'll need to find a place to hide."

Azura nodded. "Right. Questions will wait. Follow me."

It didn't take long for Azura to lead them into a cave that hid them from the outside atmosphere. Free from prying eyes that were of unknown origin, Azura began her explanation of the Vallite Kingdom itself.

"We should be safe here," she began. "As I was going to explain, this kingdom is ruled by the Silent Dragon Anankos, who has taken this land for himself. His reign turned the citizens into undead warriors and ransacked the land."

Corrin was shocked to hear this. "He destroyed this kingdom all on his own?! For no reason at all?"

Azura nodded. "Yes, but he won't stop there. His plan is the eradication of humanity. He's set his sights on destroying Hoshido and Nohr in turn, using Garon's body as a vessel to instigate this war from the inside."

Jakob scratched his chin. "That would explain Garon's sudden urge to devastate Hoshido and his more brutal actions towards all who question him."

Sinon raised an eyebrow. "What makes you say that?"

Jakob held out his hand in an explanatory gesture. "From what I've read, in his early years prior to King Sumeragi's massacre, he was a kind and noble ruler, not too different from the Crown Prince Xander."

Corrin thought about it. "Is there anyway we can talk with him? Anything we can do to save the kingdom?"

Sinon nodded. "I wouldn't do that, Corrin. His soul was splintered from his body long ago, left to wander the world on its own."

Azura gave her a confused look. "What do you mean by that?"

Sinon sighed. "Perhaps I should explain where we stand."

Corrin crossed his arms. "We?"

Yuuki stepped up. "I guess you can tell that we're not from either Hoshido or Nohr. Now, I can say the rest. I am from a nation far away from here, one that you won't find on any map for hundreds of years."

Jakob could guess where she was going with this. "You mean, you're from the future?"

Sinon nodded. "In a sense. Yuuki, Aiko, Selena, Odin, Laslow and I are from this future nation."

Corrin raised his eyebrow. "So, why are you all here in this time?"

Sinon continued. "The short of it is we were called to help a traveler who called himself 'Anankos' when he arrived in our time. He asked for us to help him and it turns out that he was the dragon's discarded soul in human form. He offered us Dragon's Blood in order to help, but out of us three, only I accepted the gift, which was barely enough to last a full year."

Azura thought about it for a moment. "That would make more sense when paired with what I've learned."

aiko had something else on the mind. "So, how is Garon being manipulated, exactly? Mindcontrol?"

Azura shook her head. "I assumed it was a literal soul fusion, but that might be a little too complicated."

Yuuki smirked. "Besides, what would that make him? Garankos? Anaron? Garanonkos?"

Aiko chimed in. "I like Garanonkos."

Sinon sighed. "I'm getting the feeling like we're making a joke someone else made."

Azura shook her head. "Regardless, we're silenced by the curse Anankos placed over this land. If you speak about this land while not within it, you will slowly vanish into thin air." Azura looked down at her pendant with a saddened look on her face. "It's what happened to my mother, Arete, the former queen of Valla."

Felicia didn't let that go unnoticed. "Wait, the former queen of Valla? Not Nohr? Wouldn't that make you…"

Azura looked up at her. "A Vallite princess, yes. The former king that Anankos killed was my father."

Corrin was shocked by this. "No! And you were forced to flee?"

Sinon filled in the rest of the question. "And you couldn't speak because of the curse until now?"

Azura nodded. "I had to keep it bottled up inside, no matter how much it hurt. Even if I wanted to talk, I couldn't. Until today."

Corrin noticed a single tear rolling down Azura's face. "Azura…"

Azura looked directly at him. "I'm sorry to say this, but you have to stay silent about this. No matter how much it will hurt, you can't say anything to anyone. You need to prepare yourself for that."

Corrin nodded. "I understand. It'll be painful, but I'll stay quiet."

Suddenly, Sinon drew Galesbane, aiming a fire arrow down the corridor they entered from. "We've got company. Vallite soldiers are on the way."

Corrin readied Yato. "We've got to keep moving. Get ready to fight, everyone. If they get close, knock them back or take them down."

Yuuki and Aiko took up the rear, each with both of their swords drawn. "Just keep moving, Corrin. We'll cover you."

After weaving throughout the dark passages within the cave, the party came upon an underground room with five Vallite axe wielders. As the party approached, a lance speared one axe wielder through the chest, spun around and impaled another. In a swift maneuver, the steed upon which the lancer was riding kicked two of the remaining three into the ground. The mounted lancer bashed the fifth one as he dismounted, revealing that he was Gunter, Corrin's lost retainer.

Corrin thought he was hallucinating. "What in the world? Is that…"

Gunter instantly noticed the party behind him. "Lord Corrin!"

Corrin's face lit up in surprise. "Gunter! Is that really you?! And you're alive?!"

Gunter smiled in return. "I am. I lost consciousness as I fell, and when I awoke, I was here. I have no idea how I survived such a fall... But I swear on my blade I'm no ghost. My arms and legs are as sturdy as ever."

Sinon fired off an arrow as she backed towards them. "It's good to see you in one piece, Gunter. I'm glad we found you."

Gunter nodded. "Likewise, Sinon. I would love to celebrate our reunion, but it appears we don't have time for that... These foes are truly challenging. I'll help you all fend them off!"

Corrin raised his eyebrow at the knight. "Up until here, our route has been mostly clear. How many did you have to fight?"

Gunter shook his head. "I've lost count at this point. I've been fighting against these abominations since I arrived here."

"You've been fighting these things for two weeks?" Yuuki gasped.

Gunter nodded. "I've had a chance to rest every once in awhile, but otherwise I've been fighting the whole time."

Sinon kept her eye on the corridor ahead. "You guys fill him in. I'll keep an eye out."

Felicia smiled upon hearing Gunter's voice. "Gunter? What are you doing down here?"

Gunter returned the gesture. "Felicia! Thank goodness you've been keeping out of trouble. Why are you all here, exactly?"

Azura stepped forward. "I brought them here."

Gunter frowned at her. "I don't believe we've met."

Azura nodded. "My name is Azura. If I said I was the kidnapped princess, would you know who I am?"

Gunter's eyes widened. "I remember you. I was your protector." He quickly took a low bow. "I apologize for not being able to protect you from your Hoshidan kidnappers."

Azura rested her hand on his shoulder. "Don't be so hard on yourself. It doesn't matter at this point. What matters now is getting you caught up to speed."

Aiko stepped forward. "Gunter, we're in the kingdom of Valla, a land that is hidden from the outside world by a curse, one that makes those who speak of this land dissolve into the air."

Gunter shook his head. "That makes no sense."

Yuuki shrugged. "That's the way it is. There's a dragon ruling over this land, plotting to destroy both Hoshido and Nohr in this war that has broken out."

Gunter frowned. "So we can't speak of this kingdom, but as long as this dragon is alive, no lands may know peace?"

Corrin nodded. "Absolutely. Also, I've… managed to make enemies of both Hoshido and Nohr by not choosing a side in the war. In the end, expect a fight anytime we meet them in the future."

Gunter closed his eyes. "I feel like I'm in a dream. Hans barely left a scratch, but things I couldn't imagine have been revealed, and it's all a little unsettling."

Corrin remembered something else. "Gunter, I remember Hans saying he was following Garon's orders by killing you. Would you know why?"

Gunter nodded. "It's quite simple. Garon despises me. After showing valor in battle, I was taken to see him. He offered me something that most would kill for: a chance to take in Dragon's Blood. Doing so would require absolute fealty to King Garon, meaning I would have to leave behind my wife and child to join him. I refused politely, pleading that he understand, but he only became angered, wrathful, enraged. I'll never forget his resentment."

Corrin saw a single tear falling down Gunter's face. "I didn't know…"

A thunderous voice echoed throughout the cavern. "Leave now or be slain."

A violet mist swirled into the form of a mage on horseback. "You should not be here," the voice reiterated.

Sinon lowered her bow. "I'm afraid we'll have to take her advice. We won't be able to run and fight forever."

Azura nodded. "Everyone, let's retreat to the other world!"

Corrin sighed. "You heard her. It's go time."

Back at the Bottomless Canyon, everyone had finally exited the land of Valla without suffering many injuries. Both Jakob and Felicia were tending to Gunter's wounds as well as his horse's. Sinon had her eyes on the far side of the canyon, afraid that someone could strike from there. Corrin had his thoughts on the woman in Valla.

"We barely made it out of there alive. Who was that woman?"

Azura didn't answer him, but she closed her eyes in response. "When dawn becomes dusk, when dusk turns to dawn, there at the clash, will the fated door spawn."

Aiko felt slightly concerned. "Something tells me that's not just a poem she came up with."

Azura opened her eyes. "It's a prophetic phrase my mother told me all those years ago. She also told me that when the skies above the two kingdoms switch sides, the pass in the Bottomless Canyon opens or closes."

Corrin thought about it. "When dusk turns to dawn? That at least gives us a time limit. If the pass is open now…"

Azura nodded. "It should be safe to assume that it will close when the skies switch colors."

Gunter saw what she meant. "Every few decades, the skies above Nohr and Hoshido change. If I recall, the next time that happens should be a few months from now."

Azura nodded. "That would appear to be the sign that the pass is opened or closed. Once it does close, there won't be any passing from Hoshido and Nohr through to the other side. We don't have much time."

Corrin frowned. "If only we could get Xander and Ryoma on our side, we may have a fighting chance. We'll need both kingdoms' support."

Aiko shook her head. "How do we get their help? We can't tell them the truth about anything!"

Corrin shook his head. "We'll just have to find another way. It's the only thing that could help us win this war without causing entire collapse to either kingdom. Now that I know that we have a common enemy, I think that we can save both kingdoms. All I can do is believe in myself and try to persuade those we meet."

"Sounds like a solid plan," Sinon replied. "As a team lead by you, I don't think there isn't anything we won't be able to pull off."

Azura smiled. "I felt so powerless alone, but now I believe this can work. Do you know who to begin with?"

Gunter stood up. "Why don't we start with Hoshido? From what I've heard, they may be more open than your Nohrian siblings."

Jakob frowned. "Do we have any idea where we could look for support?"

Aiko crossed her arms in thought. "I guess a nearby village would work, but there should be a few outposts along the way. I remember there's a specific defense post within travel distance called Fort Jinya."

Corrin nodded. "Then let's head for Fort Jinya."

Sinon: You're late.

N-Sight: I'm sorry? I had writer's block paired with two weeks of not being fully satisfied. I was finally finished just moments before uploading today.

Sinon: As long as there aren't any problems.

N-Sight: Well, good luck next time. You're doing a lot of fighting.

Sinon: At Fort Jinya?

N-Sight: Not quite.

Sinon: I'll be ready either way.