Lady in Waiting

By psychored1911

Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem Awakening or Fire Emblem Fates

Chapter 15: There's Something About Blue Hair pt. 2

Many years ago.

"...M-Mother?"

Mikoto, a bouquet of flowers in hand, stopped and turned around, finding Azura and Sakura, hand in hand, standing behind her.

It was a calm night, with only the lonely full moon above gracing the mother and daughters in the courtyard as the petals of the cherry blossom trees

"What are you two doing out this late?" Mikoto asked, concerned.

"Sakura had a nightmare," Azura explained as Sakura clung to her, tears forming in the latter's eyes. "We were looking for you, so you could read us a lullaby."

Mikoto smiled softly, kneeling down and petting her youngest daughter atop her head, "Of course, dear, but first, there is something I must do. Would you like to come with me?"

The sisters wordlessly nodded and followed their mother.

But the courtyard was not their destination, nor was it within Shirasagi's walls. No, it was atop a hill, looking out towards the city, where a solitary tree stood, with a stone statue carved in the form of an aquatic dragon on a pedestal marking its importance.

"...It's a grave." Azura gasped with wide eyes.

Mikoto nodded softly as she laid the bouquet at the foot of the statue. "Unfortunately, there was no body to bury. The owner of this grave has been lost to time."

"T-The person was lost?" Sakura reached over and tugged at her mother's skirt in an attempt to comfort her, "Don't worry, mother. They'll find their way home. I know it."

Sakura, bless her heart, was far too young to understand the notions of life and death.

Azura was, for better or worse, old enough to understand her mother's deeper implications. "Who was this for?"

Mikoto slowly sat upon the ground, and her daughters followed suit. "What if I told you, before Kamui was taken, before any of you, I had another daughter…?"

Sakura, oblivious at her young age, tilted her head in confusion. "Does that mean we have another sister…?"

"...I suppose you could say that." Mikoto said as she looked at the ground, "Her name was Lilith… she would probably be a little older than Ryoma right about now."

"...What happened to her?" Azura asked hesitantly, fearing the worst.

"She… she's gone…" Mikoto's voice cracked, "She was lost when our previous home fell. I begged Sumeragi, your father, to find her for me, but he came back empty handed. I've always regretted not being able to find her…"

Sakura, still oblivious to her mother's implications, scampered over and hugged her, smiling at her, "Don't worry, mother. She will come back. I just know it."

Mikoto smiled and returned her daughter's hug. "I hope so, Sakura. I miss her so much."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

If the tension in the air wasn't thick enough as is, Lilith's sudden declaration made the air damn near suffocating.

With that statement, the other three women realized what Azura realized minutes ago. She resembled Corrin, but she looked so much more like Mikoto than he did.

Sakura gulped, her gaze locked at the maid as fear clutched her soul. "...Y-You're Lilith…? M-Mother spoke a lot about you." Sakura gulped down her fear and tried to reason with her mother's firstborn, "S-She'll be so glad you and K-Kamui-"

"His name is CORRIN!" Lilith roared, and Sakura shrunk in her seat, clinging onto Hana for dear life. "The name Kamui died when Mikoto abandoned him! Just like what she did with me!"

"...Mikoto never abandoned her son." Azura said hesitantly, covering for her little sister. "...And if you come with us, I'm sure we can clear up any misunderstanding you and Mikoto have-"

"Please. She left me to fend for myself for years while she made a new life for herself over in Hoshido." Lilith spat venomously. "And once Corrin didn't fit into that perfect new life of hers, she discarded him and brought you in, isn't that right, Azura?"

"N-No, you're wrong!" Azura cried, "She loved him; she would never discard him! Nor would she discard you either!"

"That's what I thought too, But unfortunately for you, I was there, waiting for her to return, to come get me. A little girl starved, nearly went mad, and tasted dreadful despair just because I had the audacity to believe that Mikoto ever loved me." For once, Lilith's wicked visage softened, and she smiled genuinely, likely in reminiscence. "There he was, a proud prince of Nohr with her scent. I recognized him the moment I laid eyes on him. How easy it would have been to just… snap his tiny, little neck and be done with it…"

Azura and Sakura trembled. It horrified them that the thought of Lilith killing her own kin even crossed her mind.

"But that boy, my goodness, that boy… He really is hard to hate. To him, I was the mother who didn't die, like Katarina, the mother who didn't abandon him, like her ."

She slowly walked behind Sakura and Azura, shoving the two retainers aside before they could firmly get in her way, and wrapped her arms around their necks. "Go about your business, and leave."

She promptly unwrapped her arms from the two princesses, shoved the two retainers aside a second time while they were trying to stand up again, and promptly returned to her original position.

It was so deliberate yet so bewildering that Azura could only utter a weak: "What?"

"You heard me," Lilith smirked. "You were here in Windmire for your own business, correct? Honestly, I couldn't care less. I know you weren't here for him. At least, not at first. You probably came here for some clandestine mission to disrupt Nohr's war machine at the throat, with Corrin as a tertiary concern at best, if he was ever a concern at all. Since you were set to leave at the closing hours of the Dusk Festival, it should've been a simple in and out. But now you found him, and that complicates things considerably. Now you have to dodge the rest of the Nohrian bloodline and somehow convince Corrin to betray all that he has ever known and loved to bring him to a mother that never loved him. I wouldn't wish upon my worst enemy to be tasked with such a fool's errand… or perhaps I do. I would so relish the look upon Mikoto's face upon learning that her callously discarded son is so impossibly out of reach that the only hope of truly seeing him again is if he storms Shirasagi with the Nohrian legions at his back and burns all it to the ground."

The declarations shuddered the Hoshidans to the core. The firstborn of their mother had casually relished in the horrific imagery of Hoshido's destruction as though she were chatting about meaningless gossip.

"Is… Is that really what you want?" Azura hesitantly asked. "Do you really seek our destruction that badly?"

"Oh, Lady Azura, please don't think of me as such a heartless fiend." Lilith sarcastically cried. "My love for Corrin surpasses whatever hate I hold for Mikoto. I have nothing but his happiness at heart."

The Hoshidans looked at each other cautiously. This conversation has taken a bizarre turn.

Lilith leaned forward, her draconic visage mocking them as her smile seemingly became more genuine, "The only reason I haven't outed you as spies for Hoshido is because you clearly seek a relationship with him. Not out of any ill intent, but of genuine love for him. I'll give Mikoto that much; the apples she did raise turned out to be more decent than the tree that bore it."

She chuckled, and while the Hoshidans boiled at their queen being so callously mocked, they knew there was nothing they could do to her without outing themselves.

"And for that, I propose a deal.

"A deal?"

"Go about your business. Kill Garon, Xander, or whatever you were planning to do in Windmire. You'll have my silence. And in exchange, Lord Corrin will have your friendship."

The other four looked at this maid as if she's gone mad.

"You'll let us continue, if we stay his friends?" Azura asked incredulously.

"W-Why would you do such a thing?" Sakura inquired worriedly.

"As I have stated before, I seek Corrin's happiness above all else. So if word breaks out that, *gasp*, some dirty Hoshidans managed to get close enough to Corrin that they were already whispering sweet nothings into his ear, they'd lock him back behind the walls of his fiefdom, never to be seen again. And that just won't do. Lord Corrin seeks to expand his horizons, go to new places, and meet new people, so trapping him in his home would just devastate him. But with you…" She then pointed at Azura, with a satisfied smirk, "You… for some reason, your mere presence makes him happy. He clearly enjoys your company, however which way your relationship with him is. I do not want to take that away from him. So I implore you, continue to be his friend, his lover, or even his mistress. I don't care, so long as you make him happy, your dirty little secret will be safe with me."

Lilith's eyes then glowed crimson one last time, the aura that seemed to be emanating from her overwhelming the Hoshidans, to the point that Sakura instinctively clung to Hana in terror.

"However, if I get one hint, one whisper, of anyone taking him to that woman …" Lilith's smile cascaded into a demonic grin. " I will show you no mercy."

Lilith then extended her hand, offering it in a mocking mimicry of the kindhearted gesture their mother always offered them time and time again. "Do we have a deal?"

Azura stood up and turned to the others. Sakura was terrified, clinging onto Hana as the latter nervously kept her guard up. Nagi just snarled, hissing with her teeth grit, her eyes locked onto the eyes of the maid much like how a carnivore would stand its ground against an apex predator.

Cornered and out of any and all immediate options, Azura gulped down her defeat, stood up, and walked over to the maid, outstretching her hand with a finality that weighed down on her very soul. "Deal…"

"Hey Mar- whoa?!"

"Get down!"

Flora pulled Felicia down as a Nohrian sentry flew overhead and crashed into the ground behind them. Whipping their heads behind them to see the poor soldier behind them, they then returned to the knight in question surrounded by a dozen armed soldiers, all sprawled across the ground, all of them sporting various injuries. And she wasn't just soldiers; there were several horses and even a wyvern standing idly around the courtyard, either with their riders hanging on by their feet on the stirrups or missing their riders entirely.

As for Marth herself, she gave her sword a twirl before sheathing her blade.

"Oh, greetings, Felicia, Flora." Marth said with a gentle smile, walking over to the two maids, literally walking over the fallen soldiers as they groaned in agony.

"...Marth, we've been friends for a while now, and I swear, I really do value our friendship, but…" Felicia began, hesitantly looking over at her victims, "How is it that every other time I've come to talk to you, you've just finished beating people up."

Marth shrugged, "It's not my fault that I get challenged to fights all the time."

Flora glanced at the soldiers with a hint of disgust. "...All of these soldiers challenged you?"

"Yes. They challenged me after hearing I was one of the newest royal knights." Marth explained with a mild pout, "I was hoping to get them to leave peacefully, but they insisted."

Ah, yes. She's heard about this from Selena and the others. Supposedly, the rank and file get jealous whenever someone 'jumps the line' and lands a position as a royal retainer, rather than earn it through years of hard work and valor.

Apparently it isn't common knowledge that retainers are hand-picked by the Royal Family personally and are typically found outside the regular soldier career path. Or that their combat ability and training is clearly a cut above the rest. Or that the pay isn't that much higher than a regular commander's.

"So, what brings you here?" Marth asked, "Do you want me to train you-"

"Absolutely not." Flora cut her off. She had seen how easily Marth thrashed the others back at the Northern Fortress; she did not want to have any part of that. "We were actually hoping to take you off Lady Elise's hands."

"How come?"

"Because we're your friends and we wanted to hang out with you, that's why." Felicia locked her arm in Marth's right, with Flora doing the same with her left. "Come on, we already have permission."

"One moment, please." Marth unhooked her arms from the twins and stared at the defeated soldiers neutrally. "Your teamwork was sloppy and your technique was sloppier. Get yourselves healed up and keep training. I will be back in a week to gauge any progress. Do I make myself clear?"

There were a chord of groans from the defeated soldiers, plus one guard just sobbing in pain. Marth simply nodded, taking their non-verbal complaints as affirmation instead.

"Good, you're dismissed." Satisfied, Marth returned her attention to the twins. "Lead the way."

"Excuse me, miss, I'd like to purchase this."

"Really? That thing?" The merchant shrugged as the blue haired girl handed her money. "Well if you say so…"

Catria and Kagero walked out of the toy store, with the latter eyeing the former's… purchase… warily. It was a stuffed toy… but it had the body of an octopus, bat wings, and the head of a lion. "Are you really sure you want that?"

Catria shrugged, "Well, yeah. Why wouldn't I?"

"I know I'm not one to talk, considering my own personal tastes," Kagero began, "I have questions onto whom the recipient of… that will be-"

"Did you hear about the fire?"

"Yeah, I heard that the whole district had to be put into lockdown for a few days."

"I heard a Dread Fighter caused it."

"What? The Hoshidans? I hope Prince Xander can-"

Kagero froze and whipped her head towards the two gossipers walking past the duo. "A Dread Fighter? Here?"

"Huh?" Catria pocketed her purchase and tilted her head in confusion, "What the heck's a Dread Fighter?"

"My brother in law is a soldier. He said he found a body that was dead before the fire got to it, cut right up on his throat!"

"A Dread Fighter would do something so heinous!"

"Only a Dread Fighter would be skilled enough to do all of that by themselves!"

Kagero was not one for gossip, but this shook her to her core.

"...We have to get back. Now." Kagero raced back, leaving a dumbfounded Catria in the dust.

"Hold on! Wait for me- w-whaaa?!" Catria ran behind her, unfortunately tripping and slamming face-first onto the ground as she tried to keep pace with the ninja.

"I'm sorry that took so… long…"

Corrin felt like he missed something. As soon as he walked back in, he noticed his guests seemed rattled by something, their eyes locked onto Lilith. As for his head maid herself…

"Lilith," Corrin approached her worriedly, noticing her bloodshot eyes and the dried tear stains on her cheeks, "Are you okay? You look like you were crying."

"I'm fine milord." Lilith said reassuringly, "I just wish your mother, Queen Katerina, was here to see how you've grown into a splendid man."

He grimaced. "Please tell me you're not saying that because I have female guests."

Aqua suddenly stood from her seat. "Well, it's been fun, Corrin, but I think my sister and I should leave."

"Huh? You're leaving?" Corrin was taken aback.

"W-We are?" Sara asked, just as puzzled.

"Yes, we are." Aqua asserted with a bow. "I apologize, but we have some business to attend to. We must do this again sometime, Corrin. I would definitely love to discuss more on the two kingdoms at a later date. Want to see each other-"

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUGH!"

A loud, irritated, and exhausted groan echoed through the air as Elise stomped through into the dining room, rubbing her head, flanked by Effie and Arthur.

"I don't want to see another piece of paper for the rest of the month!" Elise sobbed, before immediately straightening up at the sight of company. "W-Who're you?!"

"Corrin." Lilith deadpanned. "I think you forgot what you were supposed to do today."

"Thank you, Lilith." Corrin narrowed his eyes. "Aqua, Sara, this is the youngest princess of Nohr, my younger sister, Elise. Elise, this is my friend Aqua and her little sister Sara. The two are countesses from Nestra-"

"Seriously?!" Elise whipped her head towards her elder brother in shock, "You've been in Windmire for barely a week and somehow you already have a pair of sisters on your arms?!"

"What?" Corrin asked flatly.

"Cassita, Gunter, and Father were right about you; you are an enemy of women! You manwhore! Womanizer! Flirty McFlirtface!" Elise accused, venting her frustrations of the day out on Corrin in the only way she could.

Corrin's face turned tomato-red in embarrassment. "H-Hey!"

"You promised you were going to come help me today and this is what you were doing!" Elise complained. "I was waiting for you to help me!"

"They seem close…" Sakura sadly whispered to Hana and Nagi, clearly envious of the closeness that Kamui shared with her Nohrian counterpart.

"...I am so happy I'm a single child." Hana deadpanned.

"Same." Nagi sighed.

"AND YOU!"

Elise turned to Sara, who flinched as the former stomped over to her and her retainers, causing the Hoshidan princess to flinch.

"C-Can I help you?" Sara nervously asked as Elise got all up in her face.

"I like you."

"H-Huh?!"

Elise took Sara's hands in hers, "Nice to meetcha! I am Elise, the second princess of Nohr. You're Sara, right?"

"Y-Yes…"

"No need to be so nervous! C'mere!" Elise suddenly pulled her into a hug, "C'mon, you're a friend of mine now, kid! Hold your head up with pride!"

"I-I'm actually seventeen…" Sara reluctantly admitted.

"..." Elise paused, staring right at Sara in shock, before her lips curled into a grin. "And I'm eighteen! And here I thought I was the only one! Woohoo! Short adults, assemble!"

She cheered, pumping her fists, and Sara found herself drawn up with the hype and pumping her fists in unison.

Aqua could only giggle at the sight of the two younger girls enjoying each other's company. Or at least, the sight of Elise enjoying Sakura's company, even if Sakura was less than thrilled. "She seems like you made a new friend already."

Elise turned back to the older girl, tilting her head. "Have we met before?"

"I don't believe so." Azura lied, smiling sadly.

Sakura knew the truth. While Elise was probably too small to remember, Azura helped take care of the younger children while their mothers were… indisposed, so to speak. While most of the younger children were probably gone, she probably remembered taking care of them all, Elise included, with the scant fondness she had for Nohr and its inhabitants.

They were told they all died however. She didn't even know if any of them survived, or why they died at all, but the death of children is always a tragedy, Nohrian or Hoshidan. Elise surviving was a surprise, even to her.

"Ohh?"

Elise, oblivious to all of this, shrugged and brought the older girl in for a hug too, startling her. "No need to be shy! Any friend of Corrin's is a friend of mine!"

"Didn't you say you were about to leave?"

The excitement was cut by her mother's firstborn, Lilith, who curiously tilted her head and gazed at her and Aqua, bringing another shiver down her spine.

"...Yes. We were." Aqua reluctantly broke away from Elise's hug and curtseyed, "Thank you for being such gracious hosts. We should really do this again sometime."

Swift as a raging river, Aqua had taken Sara by the hand and promptly left with their retainers in tow, despite Corrin's cries of protest.

Once they were outside of the mansion grounds, Aqua let out a sigh of relief, "Okay, that could have gone better. We have to plan around this now."

"I wasn't expecting that maid of all people to be another daughter of the queen…" Hana trembled. "This job is getting more and more complicated."

"I wasn't expecting her to be a manakete…" Nagi grumbled, cracking her knuckles. "And if she's a manakete, no wonder I thought Kamui was so-"

"Mana-what?"

"W-What are we supposed to do about Kamui now?" Sara- Sakura asked worriedly. "If Lilith won't let us take them home, then what are we supposed to do?"

Azura threw up her hands, clearly frustrated at the recent turn of events, "I don't know. Maybe we have to tie her down with rope-"

"She will kill us for even trying. Well, she'd kill you guys, at least." Nagi commented dismissively. "Something like that would really set a manakete off."

"What the hell's a mana-"

"Hey!"

The Hoshidans turned to find Princess Elise scampering after them.

"Oh, Princess." Azura- Aqua gasped in surprise, "Is there anything we can do to help you?"

Elise grinned, bringing both her and Sara in closer, whispering just close enough for them to hear, "You know, if you wanna date my brother, you have my blessing. Heck, if you want, we can arrange a date between you two budding lovebirds and I can hang out with her all day."

To emphasize her point, she then pulled Sara into a hug, eliciting a gasp out of the pink-haired girl, nuzzling her cheek against her.

"...I'm not exactly fond of the idea of selling my own sister for a date." Aqua deadpanned.

"I don't mind, it sounds like a lot of fun." Sara giggled.

Aqua blinked, staring at her incredulously, "...Really?"

"Yes. It's not every day one has the chance to befriend a princess." Sara said, taking Elise by the hand.

In truth, she was very, very nervous about what she was planning on doing. The thought of a Hoshidan princess mingling with her Nohrian counterpart in the heart of Windmire terrified her to the core. But she had to be brave. Azura was doing everything in their power not only to ensure Hoshido's safety, but also to bring Kamui, and now Lilith, home. So she had to do her part. Seeing her long-lost brother again brought her hope, and now meeting her long-lost sister, one she always presumed was gone, brought her determination.

She was still terrified about what she could do, but knew she was given the best opportunity to do so.

With her heart filled with determination, Sakura- Sara clenched her eyes shut, flushed her face red and bowed to the Nohrian girl in front of her. "T-Thank you for letting me join you! I-I hope you don't mind me!"

"-don't know what will happen once we finish our contracts with Corrin." Flora sighed as she stared up at the eternal night sky, "We've been doing this for so long that I scarcely remember anything outside of being his maid. And as the firstborn, I'm probably going to be summoned back to Freesia and inherit my birthright, but I don't know where to start."

"Same," Felicia agreed with a nod, "Maybe I'll just stay in Nohr as Corrin's personal maid; the thought of having to act more like a noblewoman after living most of my life as a maid just… bugs me."

"...I don't believe I am an authority on finding a definitive purpose after completing a lifelong goal." Marth admitted awkwardly, still reeling from how much the two sisters have confided in her. Not that she wasn't paying attention, she was, it's just that her past experiences would not be the best example for two young women finding their place in the world.

A dead husband, a terribly broken family, and a marginally recovering alcohol problem aren't exactly life goals that she would like to impart on them.

Flora gave her a look with a slight smirk, "Regardless of whether or not you have any input, I will admit that talking it out with someone does seem therapeutic."

"Yeah, I kinda feel a bit better after venting it out." Flora commented with a refreshed sigh, "You're a good listener."

"So I've been told." Marth stated, "I've also been told that whatever you resolve to do, just make sure you live your life to the fullest, without any regrets, and try not to hurt those who love you."

"Sounds like words to live by." Flora mused. "Who told you that?"

"...Someone very important to me." Marth smiled sadly, a hint of redness in her cheeks.

Felicia stretched her arms, "Well, whoever it was, they're way wiser than either of us."

The three women kept walking, and Marth found herself asking:

"How come there were more patrols than earlier?" She found her eyes trailing on all the armed soldiers around, some who were making a deliberate point to avoid her gaze.

Flora and Felicia stopped in her tracks and stared at her with bewildered blue eyes.

"You were at the barracks, way longer than either of us, with Lady Elise right in the office," Flora summarized, staring at the knight as if she was an idiot, "and you're choosing to ask that now ?"

Marth shrinked back and raised her hands as the twins' incredulous stares began to overwhelm her. "I… I was told to just be there, and then Elise kicked me out of the room when she thought I couldn't help with the paperwork; it never really came up, so…"

The elder twin facepalmed, "Well it's gonna be weird if we walk back and ask now, now won't it?"

Marth uncomfortably started twiddling her fingers, avoiding their gazes. "I suppose…"

Flora sighed, "Well, from what I heard from Laslow, when that fop wasn't trying to flirt with me, apparently there are rumors going round that last week's fire was an act of arson, by one of Hoshido's dread fighters."

"A Dread Fighter?" Marth inquired. "What are those?"

"They're like the big bad guys in a lot of Nohr's epic novels." Felicia explained, "They're elite Hoshidan soldiers that can level entire battlefields by themselves if they wanted to. They always confront the main hero and every clash with them is a major triumph."

"So they're fictional?"

"No, they're up there with jar spirits and treasure chest monsters." Flora sarcastically claimed. "We tell stories about them, but they are very much real. Supposedly. They haven't been seen in battlefields since the death of Hoshido's previous king Sumeragi. It's presumed they're all dead."

"What are they like?"

"They are like what happens when you have the speed of a ninja, the valor of a samurai and the skill of a war master." Felicia explained.

"...I don't know what any of those things are." Marth stated honestly. "But from how you are describing them, they seem to be all formidable opponents. Hopefully fiction is only an exaggeration of the truth."

"Well, if someone came to a fight in a mask like that, I'd be terrified too." Flora mumbled.

"A mask?" Marth inquired. "What kind of mask?"

"I think it's supposed to be a kitsune mask…" Felicia replied.

"Kitsune… White and red? Looks like a fox?"

"Yeah, why? Do you know anything else?"

"No. I don't." Marth stated uncertainly.

Saying their last meeting could have gone better was an understatement. Azura and Sakura reported that not only was Corrin alive, but Mikoto's long lost daughter was too. Unfortunately for them, she's hostile, and on to their plans, more than willing to have them arrested and killed if they do anything she doesn't like, leaving them dumbfounded on how to handle her.

And the alleged Dread Fighter is certainly not helping.

A Dread Fighter. Of all things, it had to be a Dread Fighter. Loyal soldiers that answer to Queen Mikoto directly. Last she heard, all of them should be dead, but even if there were any in active duty, Queen Mikoto would've told her before she went to Hoshido, right?

…Right?

No, no… she was overthinking things. Mother would've told her. This Dread Fighter had to be an imposter. A criminal using their reputation to bolster their own.

"S-So, what do we do now?" Sakura asked hesitantly.

With a heavy heart, and with all eyes on her, Azura closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. "We've come too far to do anything else but keep going. We'll have to report to mother about Lilith and the Dread Fighter once she gets the tome and Subaki returns, in the meantime, we have to keep going. There's far too much at stake for us to falter now. We continue."

"But how?" Saizo asked, "I doubt the Queen will permit us to eliminate her firstborn, nor would Prince Kamui appreciate it if we put his most loyal subordinate down."

"...Then we just have to bring her over to our side." Azura stated, "Queen Mikoto never abandoned her, we need to let her know that. If we can't… get Corrin out of Nohr first, and then try to extract her afterwards." It wasn't the best or well thought out plan, but it was at least something. "Everyone, you're dismissed for now. Get some rest, we'll talk again in the morning."

With the debriefing concluded, the Hoshidan Strike Force went their separate ways for the night. Azura herself went over to the rooftop, with Catria and Nagi following right behind her. Part of her thought was to bring a bottle of wine after the events that occurred, but she decided against it, seeing that she still needed to think about her next move. She was stuck, and for any aspiring tactician such as herself, she did not like being stuck.

"Well… that happened…" Catria grumbled.

"This is a mess…" Nagi agreed.

"There must be something we can do…" Azura scratched her head in frustration.

But what could she do? The Dread Fighter is a rumor for all they know, but Lilith and her allegiances were an actual problem. How could she turn Lilith to their side? The usual acts of trickery and politicking won't work on her, and any slight misstep on their part would end with her and her conspirators on the chopping block, or worse. She sighed. Things were so much simpler when this was just a search and destroy mission. Now she has to deal with a significantly higher risk of getting caught by the Royal Family, Mikoto's volatile firstborn, and a very charming prince raised by the wrong kingdom.

That last one was probably the only positive aspect of this whole experience, but now she has to figure out how to bring him back to Hoshido, right under the noses of the Nohrian Royal Family, all in the span of a few weeks at most before people start asking questions .

If only there was something she could go on.

If only she had some piece of information to change the tides in their favor.

If only-

"I think I'm in love with Corrin."

"Eh?"

All the tension in the air evaporated as Azura whipped her head back towards her two retainers.

It wasn't Catria who said that…

Despite her inner thoughts concerning the prince, it certainly wasn't Azura ...

So the only person who could have said that was…

"I beg your pardon?" Azura asked bewilderedly as she and Catria stared at the shorter woman.

"I thought I'd break the silence." Nagi shrugged. "That, and I thought I'd get some stuff off my chest."

Azura rose to her feet and walked over to Nagi incredulously, "Nagi, you've barely talked to him. How could you declare that so easily?"

Nagi shrugged again, "I mean, if you don't plan on marrying him, I don't mind taking one for the team and taking him for myself. Or becoming a mistress, whichever comes first."

It took Azura much longer than she would've liked to admit to process the sheer audacity in Nagi's statement. Not that she was considering any detail of her proposal.

She wasn't.

Really.

Catria stared at Nagi as though she grew a second head, "What is going on right now?"

"What can I do to make him shirtless all the time?" Nagi mused, slack jawed and vacant in the eyes. "Do you think if I pretend to get injured in front of him, he'll rip his shirt off to tourniquet the wound?"

"Nagi, are you feeling alright?" Azura asked worriedly.

"I have known you my entire life, you have never acted like this!" Catria added.

"I want to lick melted chocolate off of his abs…" Nagi loudly mumbled, drool running down her mouth.

"Wasn't he wearing a shirt the entire time?" Catria whispered to Azura.

"He was…" Azura nodded dumbly, now thoroughly imagining him pouring melted chocolate on his defined abs that she speculated was underneath the tight dress shirt he wore.

"I want him to crush my face with his thi-"

*SMACK*

Catria slapped her right across the face before grabbing her shoulders, shaking her violently, and whispered into her ear something that, had Azura not been such a trained musician, would've been unable to hear:

"You're sounding like a female Inigo!"

She had no idea who or what an Inigo is, but it jarred Nagi enough to snap her out of her bizarre, lust-filled trance, blinking herself out of a daze. "H-Huh? What?"

"Nagi," Azura approached her, "What. The hell. Was that?"

Nagi rubbed her eyes, her cheeks red with embarrassment. "S-Sorry about that! I don't know what came over me!"

"You sounded less like yourself and more like one of the co-writers of that silly book Catria gave me!" Azura admonished.

"Ouch." Nagi winced, "alright, I think I have a theory about Corrin and Lilith, and it explains why they have an effect over me. It's not just that he's mind bogglingly attractive and charming."

Azura folded her arms, her patience running just a tad thin, "Oh, I have to hear this."

"Corrin and Lilith are manaketes."

Azura raised a brow, "You've said that before, and you really haven't explained yourself back then."

Catria reacted a bit differently, recoiling in shock, "Wait, really? How can you be sure?"

"I saw it in Lilith's eyes." Nagi pointed at her own eyes. "They turned into dragon eyes, just like mine. Heck, she might be from a powerful tribe too; mine never turned red like hers did. Though, I think her eyes might naturally be red, since Corrin's eyes are the same color; maybe she's actively holding back her power while Corrin is unwittingly letting it out?"

"Are you going to explain or-"

"Then again, I didn't think Corrin was one at first, but he definitely had an effect over me, so that has to count for something." Nagi explained, cupping her chin. "That and Lady Tiki said male manaketes supposedly awaken to their powers much later than their female counterparts. Though, considering her little outburst, I'm like half certain she might not even have a dragonstone to keep her power in check."

"I didn't even think there was a thing as male manaketes." Catria uttered.

"Oh, they were definitely a thing back in Lady Tiki's time, it's just that she never saw one her age before." Nagi noted, "It's only second-hand knowledge she learned from this elder manakete she knew as a child."

"Can either of you stop for a moment and tell me what a manakete is?" Azura tried to insert herself back into the conversation, but her two retainers clearly weren't listening.

Catria tilted her head. "You don't have any in this country?"

"Nagi, Catria, I have studied many subjects. Art, history, music, the list goes on." Azura stated, "I can say, without a doubt, that the term 'manakete' never appeared in any text I've ever read, but the way you're describing them is making me very nervous."

"Manakete. You know? A race that can transform into dragons." Catria then pointed at the shorter girl beside her, "And Nagi happens to be one, herself."

Azura looked at the two of them in disbelief. This claim was even more bizarre than Nagi wanting to lick chocolate off of Corrin's abs.

"You can tell by the ears. They tend to be pointy, just like mine." Nagi gestured at her distinctively triangular ears. "Corrin had them, and I'm willing to bet that Lilith has them under that bonnet of hers."

"You seem to be skipping over a tiny, important detail;" Azura noted, trying to wrap her head around all this new information at once. "Did you say transform into a dragon ?"

"Yeah… What about it?" Nagi answered nonchalantly.

"Scales? Wings? Breath fire?"

"Well, not always fire, but yes, that tends to describe what dragons are. Have you not heard of those too? They tend to be like wyverns, but awesomer." Nagi said, puffing her chest out with pride.

"Yes, but the dragons only exist in legend as gods. Sure, the royal lines of Hoshido and Nohr claim to have the blood of dragons in their veins, but it's not exactly the same as someone claiming to transform into one." Azura noted.

"We're friends, right?"

"Of course."

"Close friends, right? You'd mourn if I died."

"Not a doubt in my mind. I didn't think I'd ever have friends like you."

"Then I have no reservations whatsoever in showing you this." Nagi opened up a pouch with a large, colorful gemstone inside. Giving it a flourishing toss into the air, she caught it before promptly hopping onto the guardrail, balancing on it perfectly with one foot.

"Nagi, what are you doing?!" Azura asked cautiously, not even noticing Catria's relative nonchalance with their mutual friend's stunt.

With an audacious grin, Nagi then folded her arms across her chest, and promptly leaned backward, letting gravity claim her as she plummeted towards the ground below.

"NAGI!"

Azura let out a shriek as she sprinted to the edge of the roof and cried out her retainer's name.

A flash of light blinded her for a moment before she suddenly found herself on her back. Once her vision slowly returned to her, her eyes were graced with a majestic, red dragon, with bright green wings, and the same eyes as the friend she thought she knew about. Her wingbeat blowing a strong gale on everything around her.

"Lady Azura, people are asleep! Be mindful when you yell in the middle of the night!"

In another flash of light, Nagi landed back on her feet, in her human form, on the roof; the only traces of the dragon remaining were the bright green wings that sprouted from Nagi's back, which retracted and disappeared behind her cape.

"H-How?" Azura uttered out in shock.

Nagi smiled and crouched down, outstretching her hand towards her friend and lord. "Believe me now?"

"You two are hiding something."

"Huh?"

Lucina stared at the two other women in the room with tired, frustrated eyes.

Cynthia gulped as she exchanged glances with Nah, who happened to be sitting on top of the chest by the foot of the bed, while she herself was sitting by her sofa.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Cynthia denied.

"Me neither…" Nah added. "We were just chatting, that's all."

Lucina crossed her arms and tilted her head, unconvinced. "Where? Now."

"I don't-"

"Ten, nine…"

"What-"

"Eight, seven-"

"Is the countdown really-"

"Six, five-"

"Okay, fine!" Cynthia hung her head low in defeat and pointed to her left. "Over there."

Undeterred, Lucina quickly walked to the nearby closet. Opening it, she crouched down and found…

A little girl with the same blue hair as hers and crimson red eyes desperately trying to hide behind some clothing, despite peeking her head out from behind a worn out cloak. Unfortunately for her, Lucina wasn't buying it.

"And what do you think you're doing?"

"Uhh…" The little girl looked down before looking back up at Lucina with wide eyes and a bright, cheeky smile, proudly declaring: "I'm being cute?"

"Well that's one thing you're doing." Lucina smiled, tousled the little girl's hair, and scooped her up in her arms. "Say goodnight."

"Goodnight…" The little girl yawned as she waved to the two other women who waved back.

"Sorry, kid! I tried!" Cynthia yelled back to no avail.

Bidding her sister and friend farewell, she gently rocked the child in her arms as she walked to her bedroom.

"Shouldn't you be asleep at this time?" Lucina inquired, raising her up to meet the child at eye level.

The little girl pouted, "I just wanted to read more…"

Lucina rolled her eyes and sighed. "You sound just like your father…"

"Isn't that a good thing?" The girl pouted even harder.

"Not that aspect of him, unfortunately…" Lucina tousled the girl's hair, "I remember so many times where I had to drag him back to bed, else he would spend entire nights in his books and spend the next days afterwards bedridden with exhaustion."

"Sounds fun!" The child chirped.

Lucina shook her head, "How's this? We put you in bed, and I give you one more bedtime story? How does that sound?"

"Ooh! Yes, please!" The child's eyes lit up, and she snuggled up to her. "I love you, Mommy!"

"I love you too, Morgan." Lucina kissed her forehead, as they opened the door and walked into the little girl's bedroom.

"Urgh... Why did I have to wake up...?"

Lucina mumbled as she rose from bed. What she wouldn't give to make her dream just a moment longer…

She looked at her hands and then gripped them tightly before rubbing her face.

It was there, in the corner of her room, haunting her. It took a lot of effort to make her actually walk over to it and drag it back to her bed.

Lucina pulled her shield out from her pack, staring at its butterfly design with a sad reminiscence. She saw all the dents, scratches and scorch marks that marred its surface, remembering all the times she should have perished without it. This was one of the few remaining mementos of Robin she had left. Not the most important, but one of the few she brought with her on her journey.

Though only moments have passed, she felt like she was staring at it for hours before she steeled her resolve and picked it back up.

With a deep breath, Lucina affixed the shield to her arm and stared at herself in the mirror. It's been a long time since she felt like… her…

She still hads her problems, she knew this. She didn't get magically "cured" of her afflictions. Her heart still felt shattered. There was still a raging melancholy surging deep inside her. But still, this felt like a step in the right direction.

Before her was not the sad drunkard drowning her miseries away. Before her was the Last Exalt of Ylisse, the proud Great Lord that defied all odds.

With her eyes filled with color once again, she placed her hand to her chest.

"I promise… one day… I'll make things right…"

A/N: I would like to thoroughly thank SK for helping me come up with that stupid dialogue with Nagi; I couldn't stop laughing when writing what can only be accurately described as pure, unadulterated thirst. We had to cut some of them out because then I'd have to change the rating of this fic. It's not the only edit we put in there either. Earlier drafts had Lilith as more of a mood swinger who went from calm and controlled one second to screaming in fury the next. It made her seem even more intimidating, but also much more unstable and harder to sympathize with. I think what we got for her worked out.

…

I bet you weren't expecting her at the end… :) How long I waited to add her!

Thanks so much for reading, and please review!