This can't be happening.

Why…Why is it in his hands…

Frantic, Corrin took a step back and felt a thundering chill crawl up her spine. Her pupils trembled from the site of the tall towering man in the cloak, his right-hand wielding the twisted demonic sword. Despite the hood shielding his face, she could make through the wicked grin plastered on his face.

Mocking her.

Letting her know that she had lost.

Why is the Ganglari in his hands?

T-There's no way…I had put that cursed weapon away in my room, I even locked it in the closet.

The hooded man made his way through the crowd, splitting them like the sea. The townspeople gasped and stepped back at the sight of the Ganglari. A mother nearly yelped as she pulled away her child who was curiously reaching for the lingering purple hue floating around the blade.

Ryoma ran up and stood before his family, knees bent and sheathing the Raijinto. "How dare you disrupt my little sister's return. Put down your weapon and leave this place." His deep voice booming and echoing off the buildings surrounding the square. There was a quiet lull as the stranger simply stood there, making the air stagnant and chilling.

"NO!" Corrin broke the silence as she helplessly watched the hooded man pay no mind to the Crown Prince and thrust the Ganglari into the stoned floor, rocks and pebbles flying in all directions. A sinister glowing violet sphere slowly engulfed the sword. Corrin's ruby eyes immediately darted to her frightened mother. Mikoto was cautiously stepping back, one hand covering her agape mouth. Her eyes were bouncing from the Ganglari, to the townspeople, to Corrin.

"Corrin…run…quickly!" She urged her.

Corrin's throat ran dry as she struggled to get any words off her tongue, her mouth silently opening and closing. Her mind was dogging from one thought to another a mile a second.

What do I do?

I don't have a weapon to attack him…

There's no time for everyone to run away…

Mother.

I can't have history repeat itself, not like this!

I…I can't –!

The blast from the Ganglari self-destructing and the screams pounded painfully on Corrin's ear drums as she darted to her mother, wrapping her arms around her and shielding her. Corrin winced as her body rolled against the cobbled path as she met the floor from tackling her mother. The impact of the blast behind her threw her across like a rag doll. But the pain from her burns and ripped skin was nothing compared to what she felt the first time around, she would never take the latter.

"Gods…I left the Fujin Yumi back in the palace…" Takumi cursed to himself, his hands instinctively reaching for his bare back where the arrows usually rested.

"Sakura! Go check to see if Mother and Corrin are alright!" Ryoma commanded, as his grip tightened on the sheath of the sword, fueled from his bubbling anger and adrenaline rushing through his veins.

"Y-Y-Yes!" Sakura cried out, her voice cracking and trembling. Her legs trembled and felt as if the lost all of their strength. "I…I can't move…" She whispered to herself as she used her staff as a cane to help her up, her fingertips tremored as she tightly griped the shaft. She released a yelp as she nearly fell over.

"I got Sakura, Ryoma!" Hinoka said, rushing over and helping the youngest up to her feet.

"You there!" He shouted as his eyes cut daggers into the mysterious man. When the man continued to remain silent, Ryoma charged, his battle cry quaking everyone to their bones. The Raijinto cut through the man like paper, Ryoma gasping as it dawned upon him that his world nearly came crashing down by an illusion.

The kingdom of Nohr didn't even have the honor to send in an actual soldier but instead used one of their many tricks up their sleeves, toying with Hoshido.

How like them.

Corrin felt her body aching from all over, every inch of her skin of crying for attention, bloodied and dirtied from the gravel thrown about. She winced as she tried to lift her body off of her mother and thanked the Gods when she saw Mikoto's chest heaving up and down, they were small pockets of breathes, but regardless, she was breathing.

She was alive, even if it was by a thin strand.

Hot tears welled up in Corrin's eyes as she quickly changed positions and rested her mother's head on her lap.

"Mother…mother…" She whimpered in disbelief. She gasped as tears fell onto her mother's pale face and hastily wiped them off her warm cheek.

I…I did it. I changed history. Mother is…

"Mother!" Hinoka cried out, still aiding Sakura. "Sister, how is she?"

"She's alive!" Corrin nearly burst into tears. Saying it out loud made her heart sing.

Alive…she's alive.

"Hinoka, please help me get to mother as soon as possible! T-There's not much time, her wounds could be gravely deep!" Sakura pleaded.

Hinoka nodded and used her body as support to carry her sister through the gravel and destruction. Hinoka felt her body grow a chilling cold, bodies and pieces of buildings were scattered around. The sound of a child's shrill cry could be echoes from the courtyard.

"Takumi!" Hinoka began.

"I'm already on it!" He said as he rushed towards the confused and injured little boy. The young boy was bleeding from her forehead, a thick line of blood slowly making its way down to his chin.

"Mommy! Where's my mommy!" He wailed. "Prince Takumi, where…where is my mommy?" He pleaded.

Takumi hastily scooped him up and allowed him to cry into his shirt. He placed a gentle hand on the back of the child's head and cooed reassuring words.

"Don't worry. It'll be alright. We're here. We're going to catch him and find your mommy."

But even Takumi couldn't bring himself to believe all of his own words. There was so much life and jubilee just moments ago and now tumult and chaos had drowned all of that out.

How could it have gone this wrong?

His eyes scanned the devastation before him before they landed on a remnant of the Ganglari.

The indigo handle of the blade was no longer covered by the glow and was now an empty vessel, once holding a devastating amount of magic.

Didn't Corrin wield that back in the throne room? She was acting somewhat persistent back in the throne room.

It can't be that…she had something to do with this?

That…

"Haru! Prince Takumi, have you seen my boy Haru?" A young woman cried as she made her way over piles of rubble.

The little boy's eyes opened wide at the familiar sound. "Mommy!"

"Haru!" She gasped, extending her arms wide as she hurried towards the two.

Takumi handed the boy back into his mother's arms with a hard face. It was hard to be grateful for the heartfelt reunion when his blood was boiling at the sight of Corrin holding his mother.


Mikoto's eyes slowly began to open, a blurry vision of Corrin and Sakura's sobbing faces came into her sight.

"C…Corrin? Sakura?" She struggled to get out. "What happened? The ceremony?"

"Mother, please save your energy. We were attacked but we're all okay. We're all safe." Sakura said through sobs.

"Attacked? By who?"

"We…We don't know yet, but we'll figure it out soon." Hinoka said. "But I wouldn't doubt if it was a plan from those Nohrian scum…" She mumbled the rest under her breathe, knowing how much her mother would chastise her for jumping to conclusions.

Corrin looked at Hinoka with a tight frown, it felt like her heart were in knots. She already knew who was behind it but knew it wouldn't be wise to fire up any emotions, especially after all of this. Mikoto felt the darkness around her become heavy and she shut her eyes.

All of the Hoshidan children held their breath in silence but released a gracious sigh of relief when they saw her softly breathing.

"Yes…we'll find out who did this to you, Mother." Corrin agreed weakly and moved stray strands of hair away from her pallid face.

"No need, Sister." Takumi said as he walked towards the circle of family in the heart of the square. Corrin could literally feel the animosity brewing from him and already knew what was coming. "After all, you already know who's to blame? Right, Princess of Nohr?"

"Takumi, what on earth are you going on about?" Hinoka demanded, her emotions in a whirl.

All eyes followed the handle of the Ganglari that Takumi threw on the ground.

"Doesn't this look familiar, Sister? Is this not the weapon you were wielding?" His voice was deep with rage.

Corrin stared at it in disbelief. He wasn't wrong though, so many countless lives were lost because of her, because she was used as the mule for the dark weapon.

"Y-Yes. The Ganglari… it was—" She struggled to swallow the lump in her throat.

"Just as I suspected, this is the work of the Nohrians. This is something along their war tactics. Let me guess, the sword you carried, the Ganglari, was it a gift from King Garon?" Ryoma mused, deep creases forming on his forehead as he pondered, trying his absolute hardest to hide how shaken he was by everything.

She nodded. "I'm…I'm so sorry I couldn't do anything to stop this."

"Your apology means NOTHING." Takumi spat. "Don't even try to play the victim. You knew all along of this plan, didn't you! You were trying so hard to keep the sword within castle walls, is that why you wanted to go to your room first?"

His finger pointed to the devastation behind him. "This, all of this, is your fault. Mother got hurt, along with countless others who got tangled in your evil plan. It wouldn't have happened if you hadn't shown up on our door step. Nohrian scum like you don't belong here!"

"Takumi! What are you saying to your own sister?" Hinoka demanded, but Corrin could tell by her contorted expression that even she was questioning her sister's loyalty.

"This…Nohrian scum…isn't my sister."

"NO!" Corrin cried. "Honestly. I had no idea that this would happen. The sword itself was emoting such a negative sensation, I…I just had a bad feeling about it, so I wanted to leave it behind! I would never want to do anything to hurt you!" Again…

"You haven't even been within our borders for a day, and you already ruined the harmony we struggled so hard to maintain despite your kingdom'sheinous attempts."

"No way….Big Sister…" Sakura whispered, hiding behind Ryoma, even he looked torn and lost.

"Takumi…I…No, this isn't…" What I want. I wanted to save us. I swear.

It felt like someone was pushing their hand into her chest and mockingly squeezing her heart.

The heavy air burned her lungs. And for the first time in a long time, she wanted to stop everything and hide. Even when she was battling against her father, every cell in her body wanted to keep fighting, to not give up. This chilling foreign sensation of fear was so overwhelming, she didn't know how to make of it.

She knew that simply knowing the future doesn't make the road any less arduous. She knew the weight of changing the future is beyond crippling, but helplessly witnessing the same devastation again left an even deeper painful wound.

I swear on my life, Takumi.

I was trying…

Her erratic breathing hitched as everything went blinding white.

Almost immediately, darkness shrouded her vision and all she could hear was an ear-piercing shrill echoing and bouncing off the chilling, lonely, yet familiar blackness.

I never wanted this to happen, not again.


You are the ocean's gray waves

Destined to seek

Life beyond the shore

Just out of reach

Yet the waters ever change…

"A…Azura…?"

Her own voice didn't even sound like it, like it was being drowned out and distorted, and it terrified her.

Her heart froze at the sight before her.

Azura's pallid face was bloodied and a large scaly claw was pinning her neck and body to the ground. Tears were welling in her eyes as her hand gently lifted to touch the claw. Corrin's claw.

Warmth and comfort permeated through the cold darkness surrounding Corrin.

"Kill me if you want, but…do it as yourself."

A…AZURA!


"You can't possibly be taking her side, Brother!"

"You saw what happened. All of the illusions went immediately for Corrin over us, Hoshidan royalty. There must be some truth behind her words. She could've very easily overpowered us in that divine form but she didn't."

"You're absolutely absurd if you think I'm going to let this slide! She is the cause of all of this, the deaths of our people and devastation of our land, HER!"

"Takumi, do not let rage rule over your life and judgement. We must leave some room for Corrin to explain her side."

"I refuse to believe someone like her can truly be one of us. I can't…I refuse."

Those voices…they sound so familiar, like…

"Ryoma…Takumi?" Corrin began to lift her body cold ground and winced from the pain in her rib. "Wh…What happened?"

She saw the myriad of emotions before her. She saw the concerned eyes of Sakura, gripping her staff, hesitating to pour more magic on her wounds. Hinoka was leaning on a piece of rubble, placing a gentle hand on Corrin's warm forehead, a wistful smile gracing her lips. Ryoma had a stern expression over his underlying relief that she had finally awoken. Azura's eyes looked glassy, as if she had been crying. But she didn't get a good look at his expression as he hastily turned away once she awoke.

But in that split second his expression was contorted with pain and confusion.

He was hurt and lost, beyond words.

She looked beyond him and was immediately reminded of the nightmare she had just endured.

"Thank goodness," Azura said, breaking the silence. "You've come back."

"Yes…I'm…I'm sorry. I lost control of myself because of…" Corrin began.

"Please, don't worry about it. It was the blood of the ancient dragon that runs in your veins. But you're special, Corrin. You can actually take the form of a dragon." Ryoma explained, returning his divine weapon to his side.

"Yes, I've heard stories about this but this is my first time seeing it in real life…"

Corrin leaned on Hinoka to stand up and was face to face with the devastation before her. "Enough about me…the entire town it's…"

Destroyed.

Because of me.

Ryoma nodded sorrowfully. "Corrin, your father, King Garon, must've planted that weapon on you as a trap." He gently placed a hand on her shoulder. "All of this is not your fault but instead the Kingdom of Nohr's. You were fooled into being a mule for your father. He masterminded everything, knowing full well you would be captured and brought before the queen…"

Takumi, still facing away from his siblings, had his eyes glued to the ground as he bit the inside of his tongue, trying his absolute best from lashing out.

But he knew better than to speak out against the Crown Prince. His deliberations and conclusions would always come second to that of the Crown Prince, it was a lesson he had come to learn time and time again.

Regardless of what anyone else said, Takumi knew that Corrin was not what she said she was.

He had long strayed from the wishful thinking that she would one day return unscathed. He knew the reality of the situation.

Corrin had grown up in a Nohr, a completely separate world from his, without ever knowing the Dawn Dragon's blood that flowed within her, without ever knowing her roots and where she belonged. But she knew who was there to raise and nurture her into the young woman she was today- she would never choose Hoshido over Nohr.

At this point, it is impossible for her to fathom and believe that blood is thicker than water, not when she lived within the dark kingdom's walls for so many years.

Even if she did, dark magic littered the Kingdom of Nohr. She could've been brainwashed by their Nohrian magic to be used as a puppet and could strike against him and his siblings at any moment.

And he was going to prove it to his family and protect them from her, even if it meant potentially losing everything.


You have no idea how excited I am to reach when Corrin branches off into Birthright path...it's really hard to stay motivated when I have to follow the beginning of the game. Of course I tried my best to stray here and there from the game dialogue!

But thank you for reading!