Earning Their Trust
Day 0
"Brother, please! I have no other-"
"That's enough, Kamui. You will stay in Hoshido and that is final."
Robin and Chrom watched silently as the Princess that spoke up so valiantly a few hours before now silenced by her brother. The whole situation was very strange to the two Ylisseans, but they had a gist as to her relationship between Nohr and Hoshido. After convincing the Nohrians for their help, the Shepherds had returned to face the Hoshidan side.
"Ryoma, I cannot stand idly while Xander and the other-"
"Enough! I care not for Xander, and even less for their others. What I do care is for you, Kamui. You will stay here, and you will stay safe. I will not let any harm come to any more of my family, you especially! Losing you once was enough, Kamui!" Corrin faltered but stayed determined, not letting Ryoma's heartfelt words affect her.
"It's... Corrin."
Ryoma glared at her but softened at her innocence, still seething nonetheless.
"What?"
"The name I grew up with, was raised with, was Corrin. Princess Corrin Anya of Nohr, to those who cared, and they did! I ate most of my birthday cakes with 'Corrin' on the frosting! I prefer you call me by the name I have been known as. The name said by those who raised me!"
"That is the name your kidnappers-"
"Though... Byakuya Kamui, Princess of Hoshido, is a title I now bear with pride as well. I'm sorry... but I cannot willingly abandon my adopted family, nor can I abandon you. Can you not see my plight?"
"You... You still care for the Nohrians... after all this?"
"I do, Brother. They were here for me when no one else was. But now I'm here for you. You have to trust me."
Ryoma sighed and looked at his siblings, noting how Sakura smiled, Takumi glared, and Hinoka appeared lost in her own thoughts.
"I will not stop you then, my dear sister," Ryoma began, "But I cannot follow. Stay safe-"
"I'll go with her!" Sakura yelped bravely, running over to Corrin's side and clutching onto her cape. Corrin smiled widely and wrapped one arm around her sister's small frame and kept the other stretched for Ryoma's hand.
"Hoshidan blood will not fall in vain again," Corrin promised. Ryoma looked at Hinoka and Takumi, the latter still shaking his head in disbelief.
"It will not fall at all," Ryoma decided. "Do what you will, but leave my country's lives out of it. Sakura, come back here."
Chrom and Robin winced at the sudden loss of momentum and Corrin and Robin's eyes met for a brief instant. That split-second transmitted the plea that Robin could read just from the Princess' body language: Do something!
"Then you will fall to the same mistakes Ylisse did, years before," Robin warned, gently shifting the Nightmare tome in his satchel for comfort. "You can fortify your walls, train your men, but by the time the Fell Dragon reaches these borders, it will be too late. He would have consumed too much to be stopped by a single nation." Ryoma scowled and shook his head proudly.
"Hoshido does not deal in death and war. We do not seek the glory that Nohr craves. Let those driven by unique purpose find it on the battlefield. We have already found ours in peace."
Chrom shook his head and dragged Robin closer to the Hoshidans, causing alarm among Saizo and Kagero, who drew their blades for an instant before being pacified by their liege.
"This isn't war, Lord Ryoma. This is survival. Whether you like the Nohrians is out of our preference at the moment. We need soldiers. Good soldiers, strong soldiers. Soldiers that I know Hoshido has raised. Soldiers that I know, and you know as well, would gladly offer their blades for their countrymen."
"And what would a foreign prince know of service?" Ryoma hissed, unwavering.
"My daughter," Chrom stated, his voice wavering in hesitation but still coherent enough to form the words he wanted to say. "Watched as the kingdom that raised her, the family that protected her, was obliterated in an instant. She scrounged off scraps and hope, and starved in both daily. Only until aid from the Divine brought her to the present, to warn her father of defeat to come, did she get to have a proper night's rest."
"The Nohrians may have believed such a compelling tragedy, but not I."
Chrom sighed and looked at Robin, who nodded slowly. "It has to be done."
"Sorry about this," Robin apologized, opening his tome and through magic and mind, portrayed the hell he captured in Lucina's memories, projecting Ryoma, Takumi, and the rest of the immediate vicinity with the gripping landscape.
"Noisiv ruo semoceb eramthgin ruoy, Anicul!"
Ryoma found himself running, boots clattering against gravel as the texture of dirt and ash sucked any moisture in his mouth away and turned his gasps into dry, hollow wheezes.
"Wh-Where are we?" But there was no we. Ryoma found himself alone, minus the young man in front of him who was heaving over and puking paltry fluids. Recollecting himself, Ryoma cleared his throat but the blue-clad youth stopped him.
"S-stop... You'll attract more R-risen... Shh..." The man turned, blue mask covering his otherwise feminine features and his slight build had more than a few signs of exhaustion. Slumped shoulders, tussled hair, and not to mention blood splotches in numerous areas.
"Who are you?" Ryoma whispered. The boy looked at him strangely, as if his eyes could be seen. But Ryoma could see the confusion nonetheless.
"Did you hit your head? It's me, Lucina! Are you okay? That village was pretty rough, did you get hurt?" Ryoma checked himself over, but didn't say anything.
"Ryoma... Are you okay?" Lucina knelt by Ryoma, checking his backside for wounds before turning back to his front. "You look fine, it is just fatigue."
"What is happening?" The samurai whispered harshly. Lucina cupped his mouth and looked around, before letting go slowly and scowling at the man.
"Are you insane! We just got out of a mess and you're yelling loud enough to get back into it! Come on, we are almost there." With that, Lucina took off again and collected her thoughts and her breath as she nimbly and silently navigated the terrain.
"Where?" Ryoma hissed out, following the spry swordsman.
"You forgot everything..." Lucina wondered aloud, before slowing the pace. "We're going to the portal. We thought we lost you earlier, but Nah kept it open long enough for us to recover you and bring you back. Hinoka, Takumi, Kamui, and Sakura have already made it through right after the Shepherds. Inigo and Owain are staying behind with Nah, but the others like I said before are safe. It's just you and me now."
"Wait, the others? Why are my siblings-"
"I would explain, but we have to go!"
Ryoma spiraled backwards and fell to his knees, clutching the dirt with one hand while he massaged his temples with the other.
"So, the child of the Dawn Dragon offers himself on my table," A booming voice echoed, deep but still human. At least... Something among that. "How intriguing."
Ryoma turned his head, blinking rapidly as dust settled and he saw Lucina's limp body impaled by dark javelins, one going clean through her gut, another through her right thigh, and the final one skewering her hip. The slight and pained breathing from her signified she was alive, if barely.
"You think I would let the only one who could stop me escape? You flatter yourself. I commanded armies and outmaneuvered generals as a mere human. You would think a fraction of that ability would correlate now that I'm a god!" he laughed, revealing his cloaked and wispy form from the shadows, disappearing and reappearing in various places, but his presence was most certainly surrounding.
"Wh-Who are you?!" Ryoma called out, before realizing a javelin was stuck through his own chest, a crimson cascade already staining his armor.
"Dawn Dragon's child, must you speak? Many are welcome to my table, but they usually offer bodies as sustenance. Words are unasked for and unwelcome. If you are so curious, I am the Fell Dragon. Grima. I wiped out an entirely bloodline that ended with the pitiful spawn of this cretin," He beckoned at Lucina somewhat, "And soon the race of man shall be cleansed by my doing. A glorious thing, no?"
"Like hell I'd let you do that!"
Another voice? Before Ryoma could turn his head, a flurry of arrows streamed by, striking Grima's true body and pinging harmlessly off his cloak.
"S-Sev!" Lucina called to her, but the redheaded knight smiled as a blonde and blue headed pair of boys picked up the Princess, dragging her through the portal and running back to Severa.
"We already got Lucina out of there, c'mon!"
That's... Prince Leo's retainer? And Princess Camilla's! And the third one... Prince Xander's retainer...
"You two go," Severa replied slowly, drawing her sword. "We can't have him follow Luci through the portal-"
"But-"
"We don't have time! Go!" Owain stayed longer than Inigo, eyes pleading, but nodded grimly.
"I'll find you, okay?" Owain promised, and Severa giggled before watching him go through the portal, collapsing itself as it claimed its last vessel.
"Just you and me, devil," Severa said boldly, before being enveloped by darkness. Cowering back, Severa was helpless as she was consumed by the abyss. Laughter and a scream punctuated the blurry sky, and all was quiet.
Grima walked out of the cloud, hands floating about casually. The smoke lifted and Severa was nowhere to be seen... aside from a puddle of blood.
"No, no... She had it all wrong, that girl..." Grima explained to Ryoma, before darkness filled his vision as well.
"I am the only thing left."
Ryoma started, rubbing his eyes and making sure he was on Hoshidan soil before he looked around. His siblings had seen the same thing, he realized, judging by their reactions to their surroundings.
"Explain yourself, tactician. What did you mean to do, showing us this wretched wasteland? What am I to make of these premonitions you have shown me?"
"I did not show you a future, Lord Ryoma. I showed you the past. I showed you the present. Sure, you can stay your ground, but that only makes Grima's job easier. Fight with us, fight with your sister... And we'll beat him. I promise you that."
"But why Hoshido?"
"Why Nohr? Why Ylisse?" Chrom asked. "There is no reason to madness. There is only us to stop it. So will you follow? Or will you question the explainable?"
Judging by Corrin's faint grin, the Ylisseans had their answer.
Day 1
As Ryoma walked through the portal and reappeared inside the Ylissean throne room, the first thing he saw was the young man, who was apparently a woman, standing by the side. Once everything is order, he made it his mission to speak with her.
"Princess Lucina," Ryoma hoped, causing the swordsman to turn to him, look him over, and nod, blank reaction.
"What is it?" Ryoma shook off her less than warm attitude, but he continued on, bowing in respect.
"I... I've seen the world you came from, thanks to Master Robin. I'll have you know that I'll offer my blade and my life to prevent that to happen again. My countrymen will gladly do the same." Lucina blinked a couple times and shrugged, nodding in slight approval.
"And for that I am glad, sir. But why tell me this? I don't mean to be harsh, but actions speak louder than words. The fact that you and your countrymen are among us gives me hope, but why tell me specifically?" Ryoma flinched but still remained strong.
"I... You were the one we saw in that nightmare. You were the one who helped me in Old Ylisse, after Grima..."
"So... you saw what is at stake? Then you know what it is we must do, then."
"Of course, but-"
"I am sorry for being rude, but I must return to my training. Now if you'll excuse me, I shall be with my father. Fare thee well, Prince Ryoma." With that, Lucina walked off, meaning to get away from any other conversation by heading to the training grounds. This left Ryoma a bit off-balance, but he quickly recovered when he sensed his sister standing behind him.
"She had a sense of kindness in the memory I saw," he reminded them both, staring sadly at the departed Lucina.
"I don't think anyone could be kind after living through that future," Corrin whispered, standing next to Ryoma as the armies mingled among themselves. She held onto Ryoma's arm gingerly, as if he was wounded. He laughed, wrapping his arm around Corrin's neck and causing both to smile lightly.
"It's not the future, my sister. Not ever. Hoshido will make sure of that, and so shall I."
