Chapter 3: Confessions of a Stable Girl

"Lilith calm down for five seconds!"

"I told you there's no time. We have to get out of here!"

"You're being hysterical!"

Lilith didn't respond and instead proceeded to continue to drag her liege through the knee high, emerald grass. Ever since Corrin had woken up to find Lilith crying over him and his sword gone, he had been dying to find out just what was going on. Where were they? How did they get here? Just what were they running from? When did his stable girl get this pushy?

Corrin looked around as they ran, his eyes practically devouring any and all details pertaining to his surroundings. Once again he noticed the large islands floating in the sky as well as the decaying ruins scattered across the horizon. It looked as though it were out of a fairy tale. It was completely alien. The laws of physics seemed to apply at intermittent intervals, almost as though there was an external force or being orchestrating the world. Corrin almost expected to see waterfalls going up instead of down. Even the plants were an oddity. The trees were all petrified and leafless save for small green buds of the snake like vines that crawled up the branches. Similarly the vines could be seen hanging from the bottom of the islands scattered across the sky. The grass was constantly moving as well, even though the wind had been dead since their arrival. Besides the plant life, there was nothing else; not a single animal prowled the underbrush nor did any birds sing among the heavens.

Alright. I think I've had quite enough of this. There's too many questions, too many unknowns. As much as I want to trust Lilith, she's acting… odd. Not, 'I have no idea where I am odd,' no this is 'terror odd.' It's almost like she knows what's after us. Almost like she's been here before… The prince thought, his eyes narrowing. Something else didn't make sense either. Where did Lilith even come from? She wasn't with me at the Bottomless Canyon, was she? The last thing I remember before waking up here was Hans' betrayal and my eye feeling like it was on fire. Nothing adds up- I need answers. Finally he pulled his arm free of his servant's grip. The effect was immediate; Lilith turned on him with a desperation that shocked the prince.

"Corrin!? What are you doing? Do you want to die?!"

Corrin sighed, and as calmly as he could manage implored his frustrated servant, "Lilith, I told you. I need to know what's going on."

"What part of 'we have no time', don't you understand?"

"See, that's the problem! I don't understand. Now, considering that A, we are not being chased as far as I can tell, and B, there is a plethora of hiding places here, I think we can manage a quick conversation."

"We are being chased. The fact that they haven't found us yet is all the more reason to keep moving!"

"And you know this how?"

"Ugh!" Lilith said, stamping her foot in frustration. "If it will get you to quiet down, then by all means let's go! But milord, you have to promise that after I'm done you will stop wasting time."

"Fine by me."

"Alright, then. There's a ruin over there, milord. We should be able to hide there. Now, if you would… Lets. Go."

The two teenagers sprinted for the ruin, Lilith glancing at the sky behind them as they did. Soon they reached the crumbling structure. At one time it might have been a tower, but time had ravaged it to the point that now there was nothing left but the foundation and a portion of the first floor wall. The remaining bricks of the ground floor walls were positioned to block view from the path they had been running on until now. Needless to say, the tower was not what Corrin would have called 'defensively viable', but it would serve their purposes.

Lilith looked around at the surrounding grey stones, seemingly not very satisfied. Eventually however, after pacing for a bit and muttering to herself, she seemed to accept it and sat down with her back to the wall. Obviously still quite nervous, she got right to the point none the less. "Alright, Lord Corrin, what do you want to know? Again, I need to remind you, we are pressed for time."

Corrin smirked in spite of himself, crossing his arms over his chest as he tried to keep his temper in check. "You know, Lilith that is actually the perfect place to start! Just what is chasing us?"

"Not the worst place to start, I suppose. We're being chased by the beings that call this world home."

"That tells me nothing, Lilith."

"You're… right. It might be best to start as to where we are instead. Now that might come as a shock but we are in a parallel world."

"A what?" Corrin asked confused.

"Umm, think of it like this; every book you read has its own world right? Well it's kind of like we traveled from one book, Nohr, to another book, here. They're connected in that they are both books, but separate in that they have their own settings and rules."

Corrin nodded. "I suppose that makes sense. But does that mean we're trapped here? How do we get back to our world? And for that matter, how did we even get here?"

"We got here by falling down the Bottomless Canyon, or have you already forgotten what happened there?"

Corrin looked away from his servant and glanced up at the blue skies above. "How could I forget? But you're telling me that we fell here from the Canyon?"

"That's right."

Corrin sighed in exasperation before turning back to the blue and red haired girl. "Fine, I suppose I'll have to believe you for now. Anyways, if this is another world-"

"You're taking this rather well." Lilith interrupted, noticeably confused." I have to admit I thought you'd take a lot more convincing."

"Besides the fact that we are literally surrounded by proof? I mean those islands are flying, Lilith. That's not exactly normal by any Nohrian standards. Also, I'm not sure why, but I have to admit it just feels like it makes sense."

"Alright. Well, good. That saves us time, I suppose. Anyways, I'm not sure how we can leave here myself. See, we weren't actually supposed to come here."

"I kind of figured. I'd rather I didn't fall down that canyon either."

"No, not that. I mean that I tried to stop us from going here after you fell." Lilith explained. "After you fell, I jumped in after you."

"Lilith!" Corrin responded, suddenly concerned. "I'm touched, seriously I am. And I promise when we get back to the Northern Fortress you'll get employee of the century, but just what exactly did you think that you could do?"

"Umm, Corrin… remember that bird you saved all those years ago?"

"The weird red and blue one? Yes, I remember, its wing was broken. It was kind of cute though."

Lilith blushed. "I umm, Corrin… That bird? That was me."

"… What?"

"Yes Corrin, that bird wasn't actually a bird." Lilith replied, sighing. "It was a young dragon."

Corrin glanced one more at his servant. She was fiddling with her hands, clearly uncomfortable and for some reason she absolutely refused to meet his gaze. It wasn't the body language of someone lying, it was more akin to that of a naughty child caught mid prank. "So let me make sure I'm getting all this right. Not only did I get sent into a parallel world by falling down a canyon, but my stable girl is actually a dragon that I helped care for as a child."

"Yes milord. I'm afraid that sounds about right."

"Wonderful." Corrin said, sitting down exasperated. "Just wonderful. Any idea when you were planning on telling me that you were actually a dragon?"

"I was kind of hoping to avoid that particular conversation."

"I thought that might be the case. Now as much I would love to continue to talk about how my servant is a lizard, I think we should probably get back on topic."

"Right, I was actually getting to that. Part of my being a dragon-"

"By the way, if you're a dragon, why do you look like a teenage girl?"

"LATER milord. Anyways, as I was saying, part of my being a dragon is that I can travel between worlds."

Corrin sat down next to Lilith, trying to wrap his head around what was going on. "Alright. In that case why are we trapped here? Couldn't you just bring us back to Nohr?"

"That's what I tried to do in the canyon. But when I tried to teleport us… Something happened."

"Something happened?"

"Ya, there was an explosion of light and I was blasted against the side of the canyon."

"Well that certainly doesn't sound like it was supposed to happen."

"Jokes milord?"

"Sorry, I'm just having a little trouble with this. So for some reason you couldn't teleport me across words? But then how did we get to this world? Did that light not affect the canyon portal?"

Lilith put her head in her hands. "I don't know, okay! It doesn't make any sense. The process for crossing worlds should be the same! I must've just been too weak. This is all my fault."

"Lilith…" Corrin put a hand on her shoulder. She was clearly blaming herself for what had happened. It was odd. He never had seen her like this before. Even when she had been sad back at the Northern Fortress, Lilith had always tried to keep it hidden from him. For her to let him see her in a state like this… "I promise we'll figure this out. But first we need to get out of here. Speaking of which, you never did mention just what this place was called."

"Lord Corrin… Th-thank you, milord. You're right. I suppose some questions can wait until later." Lilith got up, wiping away a stray tear as she did. Wiping the dust off of her white apron, she put on a brave face and turned back to her master. "By the way, I'm afraid I can't tell you what this place is called."

"I'm almost afraid to ask…"

"This world is cursed. If you mention it outside of this place you disappear into a shower of bubbles. There is no cure, no way to prevent it. You name this world back in our home and you die. No exceptions."

Corrin met Lilith's gaze with a glare of disdain. "That is completely idiotic."

Lilith sighed. "Be that as it may, it's still the truth. And this way we don't have to worry about you saying it in your sleep. Please, milord try to understand. This world has its own rules, and just like the flying islands you have seen with your own eyes this curse is real."

"I suppose that makes sense." Corrin grumbled. He picked himself up and began to stretch. "So do you have any ideas for getting out of here?"

Lilith looked up to the sky with a contemplative look. "There might be a way… Since falling into the canyon worked, I think we might need a way back like that."

"Lilith, I really don't won't to go jumping off random cliffs."

"No milord, that's not what I meant." Lilith replied, rolling her eyes. "I mean that we need a natural portal between worlds as opposed to a man-made portal like my power. Something like the canyon. And I think I might just have a way."

"Really? Alright then, it sounds like we have a plan of action." Corrin smiled. For the first time since they had arrived it sounded like they had a way out. Even if it might not have be the best chance, they would be able to make it. He could feel it. "What are we going to do?"

"Jump in a lake."

Corrin deadpanned at her in disbelief before rolling his eyes and smiling. "Of course. That would be the solution. Well I guess we should get moving."

"Wait, before that… I need to talk to you about the people who live in this world." Lilith looked very uncomfortable. Corrin's instincts told him he wasn't going to like whatever he was about to hear.

Lilith took a deep breath before continuing, her expression somber. "Long ago this world was one of life. That is… That is no longer the case."

"Lilith, what are you saying?"

"I'm saying that this world is dead. No matter what you see, no matter who you see. Please remember that everyone in this world exists to serve this world's god and nothing else."

"This world's god." Corrin repeated in a distracted fashion. Something about the way Lilith had said that was off. There was an awe to the words, but there was also regret. He was still missing information. Just what did Lilith know? And what was that about the dead? Surely that was just a figure of speech describing the lack of wildlife.

Lilith's voice brought him back to reality. "Alright, milord. We'll need to get moving, please follow me."

As Lilith got up and dusted off her apron, Corrin thought over the information he had just become privy to. It was certainly a lot to take in. Parallel worlds, a really convenient curse, his stable girl being a dragon, the list went on and on. Some of it still didn't make sense though. Of course the main problem was that explosion of light Lilith had spoken of. Why couldn't she teleport him out of this world like she thought she could. That wasn't the only problem though. How did Lilith know so much about this world? Corrin assumed it had something to do with her dragon heritage, but he knew better than to ask. She would tell him when it mattered.

"So, Lord Corrin, we will have to be careful to remain hidden. Remember what I said about the people of this world."

"Right, watch out for zombies and ignore everything they say. Have I mentioned how little sense that makes?"

Lilith winced. "That's… one way to put it. Just trust me when I tell you that we need to be careful."

"Oh don't tell me, is there another curse or something? Oh wait, let me guess- that god you mentioned will rise up and smite us where we stand!"

Lilith started to walk away in the direction they originally been running.

"Seriously? You have got to be kidding me." Corrin grumbled as he followed after his red and blue haired stable girl.

Several hours later Corrin and Lilith stopped for a break next to one of the petrified trees. The two sat down next to it on a couple of rocks that might have been part of a castle or fortress at some point in the distant past. Looking around Corrin remarked on just how lucky they had been so far.

The trip had been strangely uneventful. A few times, Corrin could have sworn that he saw what appeared to be Pegasus knights flying in the distance but nothing had ever come of it. Besides that, there had been an eerie lack of life. If what Lilith had said about the inhabitants was true that would certainly explain the absence. In reality all they had seen was more of the same in regards to the landscape.

As they had traveled, Lilith had explained that the different bodies of water in this world lead to different corresponding lakes and ponds back in their world. For this world, the water acted as a primal tether between this world and their home. What that said about the connection between the two worlds was up to interpretation, but Corrin had an inkling that there was something more to it than that. Whatever that might be wasn't important right now; what was important was that these portals could get the duo back to Nohr. Thankfully, Lilith knew of one that would lead directly back to the Northern Fortress. Unfortunately, that pond was quite a distance away. Of course they could have just jumped in any random puddle and hoped for the best, but that might be bad for their health.

"How much longer until we reach the pond?"

Lilith stopped looking at the horizon and turned back to Corrin. "Probably around six more hours if we keep up our current pace."

"That doesn't sound too bad." Corrin replied, nodding. "By the way, where are we going to spend the night?"

"The night? Oh don't worry about that, Lord Corrin. The sun rarely sets here."

"Huh, why is that?"

"The ruler of this world doesn't let it. The darkness only serves to help enable rebel activity."

Corrin was about to ask just what she meant by that when he heard something to his right. Signaling for Lilith to be quiet, Corrin slowly got up and moved towards where he had heard the sound. Lilith followed close behind, making sure not to cause any excess noise that might give away their position. The two eventually came upon a clearing filled with what appeared to be people. There were two groups, one of approximately twenty people holding weapons, and two kneeling on the ground surrounded by the prior. As Corrin stared he noticed something odd, the first group seemed to be surrounded by a sort of light purple haze, very similar in nature to that of the Ganglari. That wasn't the only thing similar though, as Corrin recognized the two people in the middle of the group. They were the ninja and oni savage he had fought in Windmire.

"Lilith, what the heck is going on here?" Corrin whispered. "Those two were killed by Iago back in the capitol. How are they here now?" And what is that other group anyway? It looks like a patchwork of both Nohrian and Hoshidan troops."

"I don't know Corrin, but we need to leave now." Lilith responded haggardly. She was clearly distressed by what she saw and Corrin could make a guess as to why. "Wait, Corrin you can see them? How is that-"

"Wait, Lilith, something's happening."

As the two had been talking one of the figures from the first group had split away and walked up to the two captives. From what he could he see, it appeared to be a woman with shoulder length, pale blue hair. She was wearing a black cape with blue and gold markings along with an ebon headdress with an accompanying black feather. If he had been forced to describe the outfit he would have called it regal. In fact it was quite similar to the garb worn by the Nohrian royal family. Upon reaching the two prisoners she seemed to taunt them before gesturing to the rest of her troops. As she turned Corrin could see that her eyes were a striking gold.

"Corrin, it's too late for them. Let's go."

"Isn't there anything we can do? You said you were a dragon! Can't you breathe fire or something?"

"The most I can do is small blasts of magic from my hands and minor healing! That won't help us fight twenty soldiers!"

"Lilith… If it was Iago who sent them here instead of killing them then it's my fault that they're here. I can't just leave them again!

"Corrin, you can't- Oh no."

Corrin looked in the direction she was staring in time to see the blue haired woman place a hand on the white haired oni savage. As she did a purple light began to emanate from the point of contact, starting at the blue haired woman's hand and spreading across the prisoner's body until she was completely covered. Upon completion the light began to grow in intensity, eventually becoming a variant star on the field. In a couple seconds after the process had begun it was over, leaving the body of the unfortunate white haired woman kneeling and limp.

Corrin clenched his fist. "They killed her. Why! She was defenseless. Why the heck would they… what the?!"

Mid rant the woman who, a second ago, Corrin would have sworn was dead lurched forward. As she did, the same purple aura surrounding her captors began to emit from her body as well. She then stumbled to her feet in the same manor one would expect from a marionette. The blue haired woman put a hand on her shoulders and snapped her fingers. One of her servants came forward and handed their newly formed servant a club and then the two took their places by her side.

Corrin could barely keep his emotions in check. There was an abstract horror to this situation the likes of which he had never imagined. "Lilith if we don't do something they're going to do the same thing to that ninja!"

"Corrin we can't save him!"

"I have to try!" Corrin spat. Running out of his hiding place and towards the blue haired woman. As he went he reached for his sword- only to find that Ganglari was gone. DAMN I forgot that I dropped it when I fell into the Bottomless Canyon. Well, I suppose there's only one thing to do…

Corrin balled his right hand into a fist as the woman finally noticed his presence and turned to face him. Upon seeing him, a flicker of surprise went through her eyes as Corrin hurled his punch directly at her face- only for it to bounce off an invisible shield that had appeared out of the air, reflecting the blow back at the surprised prince and knocking him toward the surprised green haired ninja.

Glaring up at his foes, Corrin's eyes narrowed. She can reflect physical attacks?! I've never seen anything like that before. We are in big trouble…

"Oh my, do we have another volunteer for the great Anankos's army?" The blue haired woman gloated. "Wait, you're that prince from Nohr! This is wonderful! We've been looking all over for you." She took a step forward along with the rest of her men and the white haired woman. "If you could just wait a moment, we'll be all done with this ninja and we can properly offer you our… hospitality."

"I'm afraid you have me at a disadvantage. You know who I am, but I have no idea who you are."

"Does it really matter, child? You won't be needing such information where you're going."

"On the contrary," Corrin replied, smirking. "I'd hate to leave you with a blank tombstone."

The woman chuckled to herself and raised her right hand, clearly about to give the order to attack the prince. "Such arrogance. We'll be sure to fix that. For the moment, please relax little prince. I promise this will be over quickly."

Her gloating was interrupted as Lilith emerged from the brush behind the enemy, launching a blast of blue light at the soldiers closest to her. As they were launched backwards she sprinted through the gap, taking her place next to Corrin and the green haired ninja. "Milord, are you alright?"

"A little banged up but still breathing. Thanks for the help, Lilith."

The woman standing in front of him raised an eyebrow. "Lilith? Oh my goodness… You've returned to us at last. And once more you betray your master, how pathetic. After so much time I'd have sworn you'd have learned your place"

"Arete, a pity I have to look at you again. Still licking Anankos's boots I presume?"

"Some of us know our roles in this world, traitor." Arete responded, her smile growing. "Though I have the oddest feeling that you and your white haired prince will understand what that means soon enough…"

Lilith looked down at her allies and helped Corrin to his feet. "Lord Corrin, please tell me you had a plan before jumping into the mess."

"Well, not going to lie, most of them involved me having the sword which I dropped back at the Bottomless Canyon."

Corrin might have hit her for the look that appeared on Lilith's face. "… So you have nothing?"

Corrin looked around, trying desperately to come up with something, anything. Things didn't look good. Even if he did manage to disarm one or two of the enemy soldiers, even if the ninja and Lilith both got weapons and helped him, their odds were just not realistic. Their only hope would be to somehow escape. But how would they get out? There were too many. Corrin looked behind him and noticed something that had escaped him before. The soldiers behind him were standing at the edge of what looked like a cliff. It was probably the edge of the island they had been on this whole time. If he could find a way to knock them off… Wait. There was it.

"Lilith. When I give the signal, I need you to do what you tried to do back at the Bottomless Canyon."

Realization dawned in eyes. "Corrin, last time I tried that I was-"

"Don't worry about that, I'll make sure to carry you if anything goes wrong."

"I don't suppose we have much of a choice." Lilith shrugged and then smiled at her boss. "I trust you Lord Corrin, just tell me when."

"I'm honored to hear you say that Lilith… Umm, ninja person. I know you have no reason to trust me but-"

The green haired ninja raised a hand to cut him off while getting to his feet. "We can save that conversation for later. For now let's just concentrate on getting out of here."

"Glad to hear it, now if you and Lilith will stand in front of me, there we go."

"Are you quite done? All insubordination must be wiped out, and my lord is not a patient god." Arete leered at them.

"Funny, I've never been that patient either." Corrin shrugged before smiling at his would-be captor. "Could never find the appeal in sitting around twiddling my thumbs. Might as well get this over with, eh, Arete was it? Well I suppose you were right about one thing… you're name doesn't matter- Lilith now!"

As he shouted the order Lilith reached back and placed her hand on Corrin's chest, attempting to bring the two of them into the Astral Realms. As she did, once more the point of contact erupted with a golden light, the force of which blasted away everything in the surrounding area. The ninja and Lilith were launched forward while all of the enemy troops were thrown around like leaves in the wind. The majority of them were hurled off of the cliff behind them, falling for what could be eternity. When Corrin's eyes had finally recovered from the blast he quickly found where his two allies had landed and sprinted towards an unconscious Lilith.

As he ran, he saw the green haired ninja drag himself to his feet and look around, identifying them and beginning to follow after them.

Upon reaching the blue and red haired stable girl, Corrin quickly checked to make sure she was still breathing. Upon realizing that she was indeed still alive, the second prince of Nohr allowed himself a small sigh of relief.

"Nohrian Prince, we need to go now!"

Looking up Corrin realized that the ninja was right. The remaining enemy soldiers had gotten to their feet and were fast approaching, weapons in hand. Arete looked particularly murderous, a tome already in her hand with a spell soon to follow.

"Couldn't agree more." Corrin replied, throwing an unconscious Lilith onto his shoulders and beginning to run away from the enemy soldiers, the green ninja at his side. "Not trying tell you what to do, given our past and all I wouldn't dream of it, but if you happen to have any ninja smoke bombs or the like now would be the time to use them!"

Nodding, the Hoshidan reached under his shirt and grabbed three small, black capsules. Motioning for Corrin to follow him, the man threw them at his feet summoning a black cloud.

Immediately, Arete summoned a spell to blow away the smoke, but whereas before there wouldn't have been enough time for the ninja to break the encirclement and escape before the smoke was dispersed, this time their targets had already broken through. By the time the Arete could see once again, her targets had disappeared.

The group ran, slowly putting distance between themselves and their pursuers. They had immediately made for the more wooded area so that the skeletal trees could provide some cover. After about an hour of dogged pursuit their enemies had appeared to give up on them. Taking advantage of the brief respite, the three had hidden in an out of the way cave.

Laying Lilith down on the cave floor, Corrin slumped down against the wall and let out a sigh of relief. "That was close. But it seems that we finally lost them."

The ninja nodded. "Yes. It would appear so. Will she be alright?"

"I think so. She's a lot tougher than she looks. A lot more stubborn too. By the way, I don't think we've been properly introduced. I'm Corrin, second prince of Nohr."

"Prince Corrin, you say?" The ninja looked away, clearly thinking about something before turning back. "I am Kaze, ninja to the Hoshidan royal family. It is an honor to meet you second prince of Nohr."

"It's a pleasure Kaze. And please, just call me Corrin."

Kaze smiled. "Of course. You have my gratitude, Corrin. You didn't have to give yourself away to rescue me."

"That's not true. The way I see it, I'm kind of the reason you're here."

"That's… not wrong." The ninja replied as an uneasy silence filled the cave.

"Speaking of which," Corrin started, breaking the silence. "I'm sorry I couldn't save your friend."

"You mean Rinkah? I appreciate your concern but now's not the time to deal with that."

"I agree, but-"

Kaze held up a hand. "Please, Corrin. There will be a time to grieve for my fallen companions. But that time will come once we reach safety."

"Ever the professional, huh?"

"If there ever was time, I would think now would be it." Kaze replied, chuckling.

More silence, but less awkward this time than before. Eventually the ninja broke it. "I don't blame you, you know."

Corrin looked at him in surprise. Out of the things that he could have said, he was not expecting that. "Not that I'm not thankful for that but I have to ask; why not?"

"Back at Windmire, you refused to kill us, even after your father ordered you to. It takes a certain strength to do the right thing. Also, you came back. I'm alive now because of you after all."

Corrin nodded and looked back to Lilith who had begun to stir. "We're not out of this yet. We still have to get back to our world."

"Our world? I know this place is… odd, but what do you mean by 'our world'?"

Corrin quickly explained to Kaze what Lilith had described to him before. He took it reasonably well, remaining silent and patiently waiting for Corrin to finish before confirming their plan.

"So now we just need to find the right lake to get back home?"

"That's the plan."

"That was the old plan. We might need a new one." Lilith said, finally awake and pushing herself onto her elbows, grunting in pain as she did so.

"Lilith! Thank goodness you're awake. Take it easy; how do you feel?"

"I'm fine milord. Did I miss much?"

"We've lost them for now. We were just discussing our next plan of attack."

Lilith nodded and began to look around the cave they were currently in. After nodding once again and appearing to recognize where they were she replied. "About that… We have a slight problem with our plan."

Corrin groaned. "I really don't want to ask but, what is it?"

Lilith shrugged and began to talk slowly. "The fact of the matter is that the ninja…"

"Kaze."

"The ninja Kaze can't use the portal we were planning on using. It only works for very specific people, and he just isn't one of them. There's no way we could get him through it."

"Damn." Corrin muttered, getting to his feet and beginning to pace. "Well that certainly complicates things."

"Prince Corrin, please leave me-"

"No. Not going to happen."

"But Corrin, if you and Lilith can escape-"

"As I said, we are NOT leaving you." Corrin barked before turning back to Lilith. "Hypothetically it would be best for us to get out of here as soon as possible, right?"

"Well, yes milord. But what do you mean?"

"I'm saying I'd rather take my chances with a random lake portal than wait for that blue haired harpy to come back with reinforcements."

Kaze nodded. "I agree. But that still doesn't solve the problem at hand."

"Lilith, I'm the only one you can't teleport right?"

Lilith nodded. "Yes, or at least I think so. Ahh, I get it. You want me to get Kaze out while you take the lake portal, right?"

"Exactly. All we have to do is get to the closest body of water. From there Lilith will open the portal in the lake before taking Kaze back to our world through the Astral Realms. I'll meet both of you on the other side."

"It makes sense," the ninja admitted, "but how will we meet up on the other side? Can Lilith sense where you are?"

"Hmm… If I partially go through the portal myself, when I teleport us back into our world I should appear where the portal exits. In theory it could work."

"Then we have our plan. Lilith, you wouldn't happen to know where the nearest lake is, would you?"

"As a matter of fact, if this is the cave I think it is, there's one about a twenty minutes' walk from here."

The prince smiled. "Then let's head out. I've had enough of this dump for a lifetime."

"So this is it right?"

The group was standing in front of what appeared to be a shallow pond. There were pale reeds poking up from the edges. Like the grass they were blowing in the nonexistent wind. The pond itself was odd as instead of a sandy bottom there was cobblestone. In fact it appeared that the pond had once been a bath or a reservoir of some sort.

"That's right milord. Now, if you'll just give me a moment."

Lilith walked into the water and began to pray. As she did Corrin considered their journey so far. They had managed to elude their would-be captors on the way to the pond. That being said, Corrin could make out multiple Pegasus knights in the distance, no doubt looking for them. But that wouldn't matter in five minutes.

"Alright, we're all set. The portal is open."

Looking back at his servant, Corrin noticed that she was now half as tall as usual. At first he thought that she was kneeling before making out a faint sapphire glow from the water. She was already partially through the portal per their plan.

"Alright milord, you go through first and Kaze and I will follow you shortly."

"Right." Corrin replied, smiling. "See you guys on the other side!"

As the sun set a lone woman stood at the edge of a long dock. As she stared out over a small pond with her blue hair blowing lightly in the wind, she brought her clasped hands to her chest and began to sing to herself.

You are the ocean's gray waves, destined to seek

Life beyond the shore just out of reach

Yet the waters ever- What the?!

As she had been singing, the water in front of her had violently erupted and a figure had been thrown out of the water and onto the dock in front of her. Startled she had tripped over her dress and fallen backwards onto the dock. Still surprised by the sudden appearance of the intruder, her first reaction was to call for the royal guard or to run away from whatever it was. After a few terrifying seconds, she heard coughing come from it. Pushing herself onto her knees, the princess continued to watch until, sensing that it wasn't a threat, moved towards the figure, curious to see what it was. Upon closer examination the thing was revealed to be a man with white hair and pointed ears. He was wearing grey armor with navy blue clothing underneath and seemed to lack shoes for some reason.

He must've come from Valla! But, he doesn't look like one of Anankos's slaves… Who is this?

Concerned, the princess leaned forward towards the man. "Excuse me, but are you alright?"

Ow my head hurts. Corrin thought as he tried to put himself back together. The trip through the portal had been a little rougher than he had anticipated. The landing had also been unexpected; not to mention unwanted. As he coughed up a few mouthfuls of water he could hear what sounded like a woman's voice from in front of him. Mustering his strength and finally looking up, Corrin found himself face to face with a beautiful woman with pale blue hair and striking golden eyes.

CRAP! Arete! She must have taken another portal to head us off! Corrin thought, his chest clenching up in terror.

Desperate, Corrin did the only thing he could think of and curled his right hand into a fist.

Holding onto Lilith, Kaze looked around in amazement as the two of them traveled through the Astral Realms. It was surreal. In fact it was almost like they were floating through the night sky. Small spirals littered the horizon and Lilith had made a point to tell him that each of those was independent universes. In the distance a huge mass of spirals and stars were suspended in a sea of red energy that seemed to ebb and flow based on a will of its own. Kaze had never seen anything quite like it and doubted he ever would again.

"Alright Kaze, we're about to enter back into your world. Please prepare to hold your breath!"

"Understood Lady Lilith."

"L-lady Lilith? That's not necessary Kaze. I'm- I'm just a servant after all…"

"Umm, Miss Lilith, is that not our stop up ahead?"

"What? Oh right, hold on and take a deep breath!"

The two exited the interdimensional realm and found themselves two meters under water. Seeing light from above, the two began to swim towards the surface, their tired bodies pushing against the weight of the water and their clothes.

Bursting out of the water, the two gasped for air before looking around for their white haired friend. Kaze turned around and saw two figures on what looked like a long dock.

Wait, I recognize this place. This is the pond near the Hoshidan palace, which would make the figure on the dock the Lady- Is that Corrin? What is he- Oh no.

As Kaze shouted towards the panicked prince that the woman in front of him was in fact not Arete, he realized that his warning was a millisecond too late and watched helplessly as Corrin's fist connected with the princess's face.

Author's Note-

We are officially in Hoshido! I hope you all have been enjoying the show so far, I know I have enjoyed writing it! This one turned out a little longer than I had originally intended but I wanted to make sure that the conversation between Lilith and Corrin ran its course as naturally as possible.

Demons Anarchy of Pride- I hope the trip to Valla was satsifying! We WILL be going back eventually but not for a while I'd say...

vampireharry the 2- Thanks! I hope this one satisfied as well!

Next Time- Corrin discovers the nation of Hoshido as well as just what punching a princess entails.