Alright folks, now I really don't have much to say as of right now so I'm just going to start the chapter of Gamer of Fate for you all.
[[]]
The rest of the trip to Shirasagi was rather quiet, no bandits or anything, and it wasn't even noon by the time we reached the castle, heck at Corrin's request I told her the story of Mad King Ashnard.
Corrin was obviously very nervous at the moment, after all in her mind she was at the heart of enemy territory.
Once we stepped inside we were met by the rather intimidating red armored figure of Ryoma, his arms crossed and his sword, Raijinto sheathed at his side. Kaze almost immediately kneeled in front of Ryoma.
"Welcome back, Kaze. Good work." Ryoma said, a small smile on his lips.
"Thank you, Lord Ryoma." Kaze said, not looking up from his kneel.
"Did... Did you just say Lord Ryoma?" Corrin asked, now terrified.
"Yes, this is the high prince of Hoshido, Lord Ryoma." Rinkah said, causing Corrin to start shaking.
"You'll be fine Corrin." I said rubbing her back, "These people aren't like Nohr, you won't be executed I promise."
"I hope you're right." Corrin said looking up at Ryoma.
I swear I could see Ryoma send a slight glare at me, not that I blame him, she is his sister after all and he's not an ass like her other Hoshidan brother Takumi.
Just a mule headed idiot.
It was then I saw the regal figure of Mikoto walk over, her face turning from one of calmness to one of pure relief and joy.
"I cannot believe it is really you…" Mikoto said, she looked to be on the verge of crying.
"I'm sorry, do we know each other?" Corrin asked, confused obviously.
"Oh, I've missed you so much! Come here, Corrin, my sweet child!" Mikoto cried out as she rushed toward Corrin and pulled her into a hug, and despite Corrin turning as stiff as a board it's still a heartwarming scene.
"Your sweet child?! What are you talking about? That's not possible…" Corrin said in a panic.
"Corrin." I called out, causing her to turn her head so at least one of her eyes was facing me, "When Queen Almedha saw her true son for the first time her exact words were 'When her own true son stands before her, no mother could fail to know.' You may not be a son, but you are still a child she recognizes as her own."
Corrin blinked before nodding and, slowly, lifted her arms to return her mothers hug. I swear Mikoto's grip tightened on her.
"Wise words." Kaze said as he stood next to me.
"They're true." I said, "I'm certain my mother would recognize me, even though we've never met since my birth."
"Would you mind explaining who you are and what you're talking about?" Ryoma said as he stood in front of me.
"Can it wait until after my heart is done melting at this scene?" I asked.
Ryoma nodded, this is a moment he wouldn't want to ruin after all.
"Oh, my poor Corrin, it's a sad story." Mikoto said as she released Corrin from the hug, "When you were very young, you were abducted by forces from Nohr. I am your mother, Mikoto. All this time, I didn't know if I'd ever see you again!"
"But... King Garon said he was my father... None of this makes sense." Corrin said shaking her head.
"It must be quite a shock, but I assure you that she speaks the truth. I am your elder brother, Ryoma." Ryoma said walking over to Corrin and placing a hand on her shoulder.
"No, no, no… Xander is my older brother! Leo, Elise, and Camilla are my siblings…" Corrin said shaking her head even harder before stopping and grabbing it.
"Are those the Nohrian royals? They're not your real family." Ryoma said sternly, "I still remember the day you were taken. In those days, there was tension between Hoshido and Nohr, but no full-blown war. Not until King Garon lured King Sumeragi, our father, to Cheve under false pretenses. He said it was for a peace conference. Ha! His real plan was to murder our father in cold blood. And to make matters even worse…he kidnapped you."
"Ryoma I think you and I have two different definitions of family." I muttered quietly, quiet enough he didn't hear me.
"This... That just isn't possible... is it?" Corrin asked stepping back a bit.
"You really don't remember any of this? Not even a single memory?" Ryoma asked.
"No. Honestly, I have only the vaguest memories from my early childhood…" Corrin explained, this time closing her eyes and holding her head instead of shaking it, "There are times when I can sense something beneath the surface… A blurry image. Like a stone at the bottom of a lake, shimmering and ethereal. But that's it, nothing of substance."
"Well, I can't imagine the Nohrian royals would share much of the past with you. I know this is a lot to take in." Ryoma said as Corrin backed up into me.
"Oof." I grunted taking a step back, getting the attention of Ryoma and Queen Mikoto.
"And who might you be?" Ryoma asked, "A Nohrian prisoner?"
"No sir." I said lying down my Naginata and shield, " My name is Irwin, I'm a traveler from the far off continent of Tellius, and a citizen of the Kingdom of Crimea."
"I've never heard of those places." Ryoma said, "How can I be sure you are not just a lying Nohrian?"
"His tales..." Corrin said, "The stories he says are from the History of Tellius are far too detailed to be made up, especially the one about the mad king of the Knigdom of Daein."
At the mention of Mad King both Kaze and Rinkah grimaced.
"It ain't a pretty one, no one sane would be able to make up someone as messed up as that guy." Rinkah said.
"Irwin here also assisted us in fighting off a group of bandits on the way here." Kaze said, normally that wouldn't mean too much to anyone, but to the Hoshidan that meant a damn good bit.
Seeing as Queen Mikoto has erected a magical barrier around Hoshido that caused any Nohrian that would enter the Kingdom to lose the will to fight. And because I had the will to fight a group of assinine bandits that proves I'm not Nohrian.
"I see." Ryoma said, "And what is your relation to my sister?"
"Ryoma is this really the time for such a question?" Mikoto asked, "From what I can tell Irwin is simply a friend of Corrin's, or her retainer."
"Well, Garon offered to make me her retainer, however I declined, I wished to simply travel some more." I said before shaking my head, "But it appears that whatever fate Corrin has in store for her I am a part of it, otherwise I don't think we would have met once again so soon."
Mikoto smile seemed to shift, but I couldn't tell if it was in a good or bad way, and that's when a Hoshidan Samurai rushed in.
"Lord Ryoma! I have an urgent message. We're under attack from the north!" The Samurai said.
Ryoma, and by extensions Mikoto's, face was struck with worry, "No! Hinoka and Sakura are in that area right now!" Ryoma said worried.
"Yes, milord. I've been told that they're working to help evacuate the villagers." The Samurai said.
"Very well. We'll need to provide support. I'll leave immediately." Ryoma said, then he turned to Corrin, "Corrin, will you come with me? I want you to see the truth with your own eyes."
"Of course." Corrin said, "Irwin can you come along as well?"
"If you're going I may as well go too." I said picking up my shield and Naginata, "After all if those two are friends of Lord Ryoma it would be best to assist them as soon as possible."
"They are my sisters." Ryoma said.
"All the more reason to get moving then." I said.
[]
We very quickly arrived at a frozen area of the northern part of Hoshido, I don't know the exact location but it's cold and there is snow.
"What are those things?" Corrin asked upon seeing the hulking, green, helmet masked creature known as the Faceless.
"I'll explain later but for now we must get to Hinoka and Sakura." Ryoma said drawing Raijinto.
"We get it, explanation's like this we can afford to hear after the battle, anything we should know though?" I asked.
"Just be careful." Kaze said pulling out his Brass Shuriken.
"There are a lot of those things though." I muttered.
Rinkah then looked over to her right, "Hm? That village… Not everyone has evacuated yet. We should warn them to stay out of harm's way!" Rinkah called out.
Corrin nodded, "Rinkah could you go warn them?"
"No problem." Rinkah said hefting her club and running toward the village.
I looked around the field of snow and grimaced, "Those mountains of snow are going to end up slowing our progress." I said, then I looked at Corrin, "There wouldn't happen to be any Dragon Veins around here would there Corrin?"
Corrin looked around the field as she drew Ganglari, "I can sense a few around here, maybe they can do something about the hills of snow."
"Then let's get to moving, Hinoka and Sakura are only two people." I said running shield first ahead in to the first Faceless.
[Faceless Lvl 3]
[HP: 20/20, STR: 6, DEF:6]
[Weapon: Shackled Fist- MT 8]
I quickly stabbed the Faceless in the back with my Naginata, dealing 9 Damage to the creature.
The Faceless turned to me in anger before lifting it's fist to try and crush me.
I quickly raised my shield to block the punch and then struck back with a Slash, dealing another 9 damage, then followed up with a stab to end the creature.
[+26 EXP]
[Level up!]
[+1 HP]
[+1 MAG]
[+1 SKL]
[+1 SPD]
[+1 LCK]
[+1 DEF]
[+1 RES]
My eye twitched, 'Plus one to everything BUT Strength, beautiful.' I thought, 'What the heck am I even gonna use magic for anyway? Oh right Bolt Lance'
Corrin ran up to me soon after that, "Irwin, are you alright?" Corrin asked.
"I'm fine." I said, "Nothing too- WHOA!"
I pulled Corrin back as another Faceless tried to smash her.
[Faceless Lvl 3]
[HP: 19/19, STR: 6, DEF:7]
[Weapon: Shackled Fist- MT 8]
I decided that now that Corrin was next to me now might be a good idea to check her stats.
[Corrin Level 4]
[Nohr Princess]
[Boon: Res]
[Bane: Spd]
[HP: 21/21]
[STR: 9]
[MAG: 5]
[SKL: 8]
[SPD: 8]
[LCK: 7]
[DEF: 8]
[RES: 6]
[Weapon: Ganglari- MT: 7]
I did a few quick calculations in my head, I knew the base stats of that build of Corrin and did after doing a quick number crunch I chuckled internally, 'Her bane is Spd and yet she got a speed increase for each of her 'level ups' and she got the same for her Resistance.'
Nonetheless Corrin made a leaping slash at the Faceless, dealing 9 Damage to it, I quickly switched out for my Iron Lance (MT: 7) and lunged in to deal 9 Damage as well.
The Faceless made another swing at us, I pushed Corrin out of the way of the attack but didn't raise my shield in time and got hit and got the wind knocked out of me.
[Irwin Lvl 5]
[HP: 23/23, STR: 9, DEF: 10]
[Weapon: Iron Lance- MT: 7]
[-4 HP]
'That didn't hurt too bad.' I thought as Corrin jumped in to finish it off.
[+10 EXP]
"Thanks." I said.
"No are you hurt?" Corrin asked, "I saw you take that punch."
"It's not too bad Corrin, I'll live." I said, looking around I noticed the only person that was in sight was Rinkah, the others were likely on the other side of a snow drift.
"Alright, we need to keep going though." Corrin said looking at the snow hill.
"Hang on, I want to try something." I said, closing my eyes and taking a breath.
"Irwin?" Corrin asked confused.
Ignoring her I focused my mind on the nearby Dragon Vein, and I soon felt a warmth building up, opening my eyes I saw a flash as a golden light burst out from the ground at my feet and created a blaze that melted a snow drift, revealing Ryoma and Kaze taking down a pair of Faceless simultaneously.
"Good job Corrin!" Kaze shouted.
"Shh." I said quietly, "I'll explain later."
Corrin looked at me in bewilderment, but nodded nonetheless.
Still there was a reason for that little stunt, I can confirm that anyone with Dragon Blood of any kind can use Dragon Vein's... It also means I'm a Goldoan Dragon of some kind on my Laguz side.
[A new Skill is available for unlocking]
[Ire- Discover your exact Laguz heritage]
I gave a slight shudder of delight, Ire was a skill of the Goldoan Dragons that dealt three times damage when activated, like a regular critical hit, except I can still get a Critical hit if I'm lucky enough.
A Third and fourth Faceless, both level 4, attacked us, and both went down, netting me a total of 52 EXP, and getting Corrin a 'Level up', I'll have to check her stats later.
After that we reached Hinoka and Sakura.
"Hey, are you all right? We're here to help." Corrin said.
"Yeah, we're fine. Who are you? I thought I knew most of my brother's troops. Anyway, I appreciate the help, but it's really not necessary. It takes more than a few dozen 800-pound monsters to bring me down!" Hinoka said, then she looked at me from atop her pegasus, "And I'm pretty sure there aren't any Nohrian's in his troop... then again you shouldn't even have the will to lift your weapon."
"For Yune's sake I'm Crimean!" I shouted to the heavens.
"Well, I'm glad you're feeling confident. Just know that we've got your back." Corrin said.
"Hey, wait a second!" Hinoka called out after she got a better look at Corrin.
"Hmm?" Corrin hummed as she was about to turn around.
"I didn't mean to be dismissive. Thank you for coming all the way out here. I owe you one…so take this. You can use it in a pinch to heal your wounds. Now really, don't worry about me. I'm at my best in situations like this!" Hinoka called out before chucking a Concoction to Corrin, who caught it easily.
"Thank you. I'll use this wisely." Corrin said pocketing it.
"Hey, you never did tell me your name's." Hinoka said.
"Oh sorry, I'm Corrin, it's nice to meet you." Corrin introduced before running back into the fight.
"And my name is Irwin, pleasure to assist you." I said bowing.
"Corrin? Corrin!? This can't be a coincidence." Hikona said.
"Behind you!" Sakura shouted.
I quickly turned around with my shield raised, which was a good thing because a Faceless's fist glanced off it.
[Faceless Lvl 6]
[HP: 22/22, STR: 8, DEF:8]
[Weapon: Shackled Fist- MT 8]
"Trying to blindside me!?" I shouted holding my lance to my side, "I'll show you."
A golden flash lit up my weapon, a critical hit.
[Critical Hit activated]
"Let me show you Crimean Strength!" I shouted as I spun my lance over my head, along with my body for one slash, which spun into a second slash that had me facing the Faceless once again and knocking the creature on it's back, dealing 24 damage, more than enough to kill the creature.
[+120 EXP]
[Level up!]
[+1 HP]
[+1 STR]
[+1 SPD]
[+1 LCK]
[+1 RES]
'Damn good stuff right there.' I thought.
Looking around I had noticed Corrin had reached Lvl 6 as well and that there were no other Faceless.
We all regrouped after that, Hinoka, Ryoma, and Sakura all gathering close as a family.
"Thank you so much for coming to our aid. Those monsters would have caused more damage if you hadn't come. I have to ask, though… Who are you?" Sakura asked, she must not have heard Corrin from when we met up a moment ago.
"Oh, my name is-" Corrin started, only to be cut off as Hinoka stepped forward.
"Her name is Corrin." Hinoka said, a hard tone in her voice.
"Er, yes. Nice to meet you properly." Corrin said getting uncomfortable with how close Hinoka was to her.
"Hinoka? Are you OK?" Sakura asked confused.
Hinoka put her hands on Corrin's shoulders, tears starting to form in her eyes.
"Finally…after all these years… I…I've missed you so much." Hinoka said before she planted her face in Corrin's chest and began to flat out cry, tears streaming down her face, "S-Sorry..." Hinoka sniffed.
"Oh! Um…" Corrin said not too sure how to react.
"Hinoka was so attached to you when you were little, Corrin." Ryoma explained, "When you were taken from us, she cried for months. One day she stopped crying and pick up the naginata. And I will say…if you ever find yourself facing business end of her weapon…you will soon be filled with major regrets about your life decisions. She vowed to bring you back to us someday… And now here you are."
"Corrin you've got a more than interesting family." I said with a chuckle.
It took a few minutes, but Hinoka finally managed to pull herself off of Corrin and died her tears.
"I'm sorry, Corrin. I'm not usually this emotional. But I'm just so happy to have you back. Take that, Nohrian scumbags! We win, you lose!" Hinoka said then she glanced to me.
"Hey I'm not from Nohr, plus I'm a good friend to Corrin." I said with a shrug.
"Wait... is this really Corrin?" Sakura asked.
"Yes. I know it's big news. I'll fill you in on the whole story later. For now we should return to the castle before Nohr deploys more monsters. Everyone, let's head home!" Ryoma declared.
"What are those things, anyway?" Corrin asked
"They're known as the Faceless. Creature with no will of their own. Created by Nohrian mages." Ryoma said.
"What ever happened to respecting the dead?" I groaned shaking my head.
"I call 'em dead meat. But they're the only thing Nohr can throw at us right now. Our mother, Queen Mikoto, put up a magical barrier around our kingdom. Regular enemy soldiers find themselves without the will to fight upon crossing it. So long as Mother is able to keep the barrier up, Nohr can't invade Hoshido." Hinoka said, "It really only affect's Nohrians so I'm inclined to believe this guy when he says he isn't Nohrian."
"Thank you!" I shouted to the heavens.
"That's why Nohr sends those…things. They have no souls-no will of their own, that's why they are able to penetrate the barrier and terrorize our borders." Ryoma said.
"But…the Nohrians wouldn't send monsters to terrorize innocent people…" Corrin said quietly.
Hinkoa was about to speak, but I interuppted her.
"Perhaps not the Nohrians you know Corrin." I said, "But Garon is reminding me more and more of Daein's Mad King Ashnard the more I hear."
Hinoka, Ryoma, and Sakura all turned to me, "I'm gonna need to know what you're talking about before I reply to that." Hinoka said.
"I'll tell you all as we walk." I said.
"Hey Irwin." Rinkah said as she walked up to me.
"Yeah?" I asked.
"Here, I don't need it and you might as well keep it as a little souvenir for your travels to Hoshido." Rinkah said shoving something into my hands.
"Thanks Rinks." I said looking at what she put into my hands, a Goddess Icon, a Luck boosting item.
"Quit calling me that!" Rinkah shouted as the snow around he began to steam and melt.
"We should really get going now." Ryoma said walking off, Hinoka, Sakura, Kaze, and Rinakh following.
Corrin stayed behind and looked at me, "Thanks for sticking up for Xander, Camilla, Leo, and Elise." Corrin said.
"No problem, they all seem nice enough, I'd rather not someone slander the name of someone nice." I said, 'I'll do that myself.'
"Corrin, Irwin, hurry up!" Hinoka shouted, "I want to know what you've told Corrin story wise!"
[[]]
Alright folks I've finished this at long last.
Fun fact: For Irwin's 6th Level I had to re-roll the stats because he got no stat boosts out of it.
