A/N: In case anyone missed it. The previous chapter had been replaced and updated. Chapter 7 is now a Corrin-only PoV.
On the other hand, this chapter is a Kamui-only PoV.
Kamui rubbed her arm, where Xander had gripped her with such a force that she could have sworn that the armor would have started denting. She didn't mean to! It's just, why would Elise help them?! They're the enemy! She acted out of anger, she knew she did. There's no other way she would have harmed her. But, anything she could have said was taken from her when she saw Elise crying, she was dazed. Then Xander tried to scold her!
Why can't this just be over with? Why can't this greater evil just roll over and die? So she doesn't have to put up with this anymore. She's so tired of having to see those walking corpses, ones she know she killed. She grits her teeth and slams a fist on her cot, causing the thing to shake. They're dead, they're dead, they're dead, they're dead! She chokes on a sob, it's not just that they're dead…
They're dead because of her. Why did she fall to Iago's magic? And… and if Leo is such a damn good mage, then why didn't he notice it?! Or Odin… Or Nyx? All of them are powerful mages, but they couldn't notice a little manipulation magic? They're dead because of their ineptitude. Hoshido is gone because they weren't as good as they should have been.
"Darling?" Camilla's smooth voice sounds out as she lets herself in. "Do you have a moment?" Despite the question, she didn't wait to pull her into a hug, before cooing meaningless caring words and stroking her hair.
It did nothing for her, so Kamui neither went deeper nor tried to leave her embrace. She just stood there and took it. "How much longer?" She finally asked. "Until we get to that castle?"
"Leo believes it to just be a day or two."
Too long, is what Kamui wanted to spit out. "Okay." Is what came out, instead.
"Darling?" Camilla asked, as Kamui felt an urge to cry overwhelm her.
"Why can't this be over with?" She asked through a near torrent of tears. "I'm so sick of seeing them every single godsdamn day!" Her fingers grip onto Camilla's body, trying to get a grasp on her own emotions… feelings she kept locked away. Camilla simply took it, even as her fingernails started clawing into the eldest Nohrian princess's body.
As long as it meant Kamui stayed content. "I'll make sure it ends as soon as possible, okay?" There was a dangerous glint in her eyes after saying that. "What do you want?" Camilla suddenly asked.
"Pardon my intrusion, Lady Camilla." That voice… Kaze? "Princess Elise has left the campsite." What?! "She's joined Corrin's side." She… left them?
Kamui gritted her teeth, "Don't bother." The commander speaks up, "If she's willing to be with them, then she's a traitor."
"Kamui!" Camilla chided her.
"Am I wrong?" The two break the embrace, with Kamui being on edge once more. "And why didn't you stop her!?" She realized a second too late that she just contradicted herself.
"...I asked her before she left the camp."
"And that's it?!" Kamui suddenly rounds her anger on him, however, he doesn't flinch.
"She assured me that is what she wants." He calmly replies, arms folded.
"You… that's so…" Kamui finds herself unable to finish her sentence.
"I'm not forcing Princess Elise to stay."
"Haven't I lost enough?" She shouts back as tears sting her eyes. A lengthy pause follows, as neither Kamui nor Kaze seem to be willing to take another step to the neverending dance. Push and pull, never too close, never too far.
"You act as if you're the only victim in the war." The Ninja finally spoke. "What of the lives that was taken in the battles? The families forever divided? The workers who died building the new castle? Those who stood in defiance, who were impaled to walls?" He takes a breath, "What of your family? What of my brother? Everything you lost is by your own hand."
Kamui stood there, dazed. She even stood there as Camilla drew her axe, "Leave." Her big sister stated.
"And how well are your relations with the Nohrian royalty?" He continues.
"Don't." Kamui says, stopping Camilla from attempting to sever the man in half. "Kaze, enough."
"'Enough' is what you told me during the war, when you swore that we no longer had to kill."
"Damn it, Kaze! You will listen to me!" She screams, "I am your Queen, I am your Commander, you are my retainer, and you are my husband!"
He closes his eyes for a moment, "Once upon a time, when I fell in love with a woman named Kamui, all of those were true." He opens them once more, and crosses his arms, "I no longer live in that time. I'm married to a husk that was once a beautiful woman, one I'd lay down my life for again and again. The one who I would turn the world over if it meant I could see her smile. But she's gone, and I'm left with you."
A *shing* echoes out and Kamui lashes out at him, but missing his neck with a self-defence dagger. "Silence." Camilla has her axe out and ready to go once more.
"I'd wake up every morning with that woman in my arms, how her gentle breathing brought peace to me. How her eyelids would slowly flutter open, and her eyes met mine." She… was like that, wasn't she?
"Mmm…" Kamui hummed as she buried herself further into Kaze's embrace.
"Did you sleep well?" Kaze asked, while moving one of his hands to stroke her hair.
"As long as you're with me."
"How she would smile when she knew the first thing she would see in the morning was me. How she would giggle when we shared our morning kiss. She would roll around in the covers, making excuses to just have a few more minutes in bed. She would even send Jakob on extended and unnecessary tasks so we would have just that more time together."
"Jakob!" Kamui called out, while trying, and failing, to stifle a giggle, "I need that really special tea! Take your time with it!" She turned to Kaze with a full smile, "Just a few more minutes!" The two quickly shared a kiss, her heart soared as they made contact.
"B-Be…" Kamui's eyes glistened as Kaze kept going, but unwilling to bring herself to be more forceful.
"She would take my hand and skip to the outside, her smile covering her face as we patrolled the army grounds. She would speak of the dreams she remembered."
"Have you ever had one of those dreams where things were right… but they weren't? It was kind of weird." Kamui explained as she and Kaze walked from their house to the Mess Hall. "I mean, things were going all fine and wonderful…"
"Until?" Kaze asked.
"...Elise started charging into battle with a greataxe." An awkward pause followed, before Kamui bursted out in laughter, clutching onto Kaze as the insane image refuses to leave her mind.
"She would visit each and every person in the army, asking if they needed help, even if it was just to lend an ear for a few moments. She freely gave out hugs, she wanted to spend time with everyone."
"Little sisterrrr!" Kamui sang as she tackled the smaller woman, instantly gripping her in a hug, "Watcha doin?"
"Making some flower necklaces." Elise giggled, even as she showed off one that was crooked.
"...Did I do that?" She frowned.
"Don't worry about it! I got allll of these flowers to work with! Hey, why don't you join me and make a few?"
Kamui giggled, "Spending time with Elise? How could I say no?"
"...But something happened to that woman. The visits became less frequent, the dreams turned into nightmares, the smiles turned into frowns, the affection turned into isolation, she would always awaken frightened, her eyes would dart around the room, her breathing would come fast, as if she'd been running all night long."
"G-Gods…" Kamui bolted up in the middle of the night, her heart was racing, but not from being so close to the man she loves. "Just a dream, just a dream." She spoke her mantra.
"My love?" Kaze asked, one arm draped around her, the other ready to throw a shuriken in a half-moment's notice. "Do you want to talk about it?" He asked after he was satisfied that there were no intruders.
"I-It's fine. Just a dream."
"K-Kaze…" Kamui's grip on the dagger failed her, as it clattered to the ground. She… she was like that, wasn't she? Like… how Corrin is now. Happy, open, caring.
"I kept asking myself, was there something I could have done more? Did I make some sort of mistake?" He continues, "I was too trusting, even as the order went out to kill, I trusted that things would still turn out well, that this woman would find her way again."
"Things have to change." Kamui looked back at the slowly shrinking city of Cheve… where a sea of corpses overflow. The rebel leader, Scarlet, is impaled on the wall of their headquarters. So much death. She turns back to the others. Xander, Leo, Camilla, Kaze, and Jakob. If… if Father won't be pleased with anything less than total extermination, then… "Orders are changing. We're no longer sparing anyone. No mercy. No survivors."
"But she never did. The woman I loved was now forever gone. The woman that everyone wanted to be around was no longer there. We were left with a husk, a hole. And now this woman had driven away the kindest soul to have ever lived." He takes one more, deep, breath, "This woman had driven away the one to have pledged his everything." With that, he takes the prized wedding ring off of his finger, "Goodbye, Kamui."
"And do you, Princess Kamui, take Kaze to be your husband?" The priest asked.
"I do." She replied, with her eyes glistening from tears of joy. She was finally getting to marry him! The priest barely managed to finish 'kiss the bride' before Kaze was already on her. She did… she said her vows, she's married to the one she loves, to the one she wants to spend her life with.
"N-no." She finds her voice after the man had seemingly teleported away, before the ring even hits the ground. "NO! G-Get back here! Kaze!" He's… he's gone. She darts out of the tent, and finds him nowhere. He's using those Ninja-taught skills to hide himself, "Kaze!" She yells, attracting the attention of literally everyone else. She looked across the camp, her eyes landing on none other than her little sister. The one who is now eating a bowl of stew with… them. Elise left her… Kaze left her. She storms back into the tent, both removing her ring and grabbing something that Kamui would have treasured forever. Before she left the tent again, she picked up the other ring. She tossed them both out, both things that were once so precious, now covered in grass and dirt. She hesitates before throwing the second.
It's a small box, with Elise's unmistakable flair on it, 'For Big Sister!' It read, 'Happy Birthday!'
"Yaaay!" Elise cheered as the presents were laid out before Kamui. "Ooo, ooo! Do this one first!" The youngest princess winks at Kamui as she gives her a small box.
She knew what is in it, it was the gift she received the day she returned to Nohr with Yato in hand. A miniature Dusk Dragon figurine, carved from enchanted wood. Shutting her eyes closed for a moment, she takes a breath, and then, with summoning all of her strength, she throws it as hard as she can, in the direction of the Hoshidans.
"I love it." Kamui declared as she gazed upon it. "Thank you so much!" She pulls Elise into a sudden hug, and they both start giggling.
The box bounces once, with enough force to cause it to pop open. The top and bottom separate, revealing the figurine within. The figurine itself bounces a few more times forward, as if it will make the rest of the way to Elise on its own. The purchaser of the gift looks at the figurine, and then to Kamui. Even from here, Kamui can tell she's crying. Corrin pulls her into a hug, and his entire family, excluding his child, glares at her.
"Traitor." Kamui spits onto the dirt, before going back into her tent. Camilla's still inside, and she looks at her with a grave concern. For a moment they just share eye contact, Kamui's dagger is still on the ground, while Camilla's axe is now by her side.
"Darling?" Camilla breaks the silence. "Do you need anything?"
"Solitude." She curtly replies.
Camilla closes her visible eye for a moment, before taking a breath, "If… if that is what makes you happy, then…" She starts walking out. "I love you, dear Kamui." She whispers as she leaves.
Kamui, she… used to love. Once upon a time, before the war took its toll on her, when she found joy in the simplest of things. Before she pulled Elise from the front lines, leaving her the only one untrained in weapons. Before the slaughter in Cheve, when she realized that to please Father, she had to kill. There was a time when she was as happy as Corrin is, when she made a vow to Kaze, a man she wanted to spend her life with… to have a child with.
Kamui stifled a sob as she all but leaps onto her cot, not even bothering with removing her armor. She hasn't even cleaned it recently, so that the small specks of blood are still on her gauntlet tips… Elise's blood. Elise is gone. Kaze is gone. How much longer until the others snap, too? Until she's alone? Maybe she's already alone.
The cot under her grows wet as she cries, another night alone. How much longer? She just wants this to end.
She just wants to leave this hell she put herself in.