Emmeryn had no idea what had driven her to charge onto the field of battle all she had thought about was the devastation she had seen in Corrin's wake, it would have bothered less if Corrin had at least killed some of her foes however Corrin had simply left the dying to bleed out rather than end their suffering, from what the exalt had seen and heard of Corrin this was out of character for her.

Emmeryn stood in the swirling chaos of combat staring into Corrin's eyes, the woman that stared back at her wasn't the same as the one she had met a few days ago there was a primal madness in her eyes however she almost seemed frozen in place her body was trembling like she was resisting some sort of influence.

"Corrin please tell me what's happening I can help" Emmeryn hadn't felt fear like this for quite some time and as much as she hated to admit it some small part of her enjoyed the primal way Corrin was looking at her.

"R-Run…" Corrin tried to say more but all that escaped her lips was a primal growl followed by a pained hiss, her eyes seemed to shift from their usual crimson to onyx as they did her body doubled over as though racked with pain whilst violet crystals swirled around her pushing her towards her draconic state.

As this happened Corrin stood in her head space bloodied and exhausted, across from her sat a figure cloaked in shadow in its hand sat the Shadow Yato in all its dark glory "So… you still believe that the path you walked was the correct one? All you had to do was stick to the path that led you to the white throne but no… you used that little gift of yours to start over and walk down a path of…ugh… unity that allowed Nohr and Hoshido to stand, we could have ruled and had everything we wanted…" The figure stood and lifted Corrin's head with its Yato "Why? Why would you do this?" The figure was trembling; Corrin couldn't tell if it was anger or sadness.

"Why are you here? I'm tired of ghosts…" Corrin struggled to keep her sub-consciousness intact; she had been having these episodes for some time and after she had revealed this to Lilith the astral dragon had explained that if her sub-conscious body was destroyed then she would cease to be, so all she had to do was endure a little longer.

"I'm not a ghost exactly" The shadow moved back to what it had taken to sitting on as it did a radiant creature appeared.

"No you're not your just a remnant of her abusing her powers, just as I am" The radiant figure spoke with a regal voice and had the Divine Yato next to it.

"I really am mad aren't I?" Corrin knew she was a broken woman but this showed the extent of her madness, it wasn't her father at this point it was her, she had the power to reset timelines and had done it twice, once she fought with Hoshido, once with Nohr before she unified them against Valla and her father, the lasting scars on her psyche had left her vulnerable and that had been her fathers in; Anankos had slipped through the cracks in her psyche and planted the seeds of madness, the lasting effects were this.

"Well if your mad then we're mad" The shadow leaned back and looked over the edge of her Yato.

"Yes we know how this goes; the monster, the hero and the saviour stand against the bigger monster when it rears its head however you…" The radiant figure gestured to Corrin "Yes you, had to try to combat the monster alone, you know none of us are strong enough to defeat it alone" The figure took up her Yato and looked towards the darkness that was forming.

While Corrin fought her inner demons the shepherds had formed up around her immobile body, even Emmeryn had taken up a fire tome and a healing stave to keep them in the fight, the defensive formation left their cavalry on foot to make up for the lack of infantry, Donnel was holding his own and causing the Plegians to think twice about approaching his flank, Fredrick was a terrifying force of nature as he always was however he was beginning to show wear and tear from the constant assault as he began to falter Sully dived in her lance finding the heart of the large Plegian axe wielder she smiled up at her mentor blood mixing with her red hair and armour "No dying on me yet Lt. you owe me a rematch." Fredrick looked down at her stunned before smiling.

"Of course, but you can't die either Sully" Fredrick's smile turned to a grimace as he shoved the now corpse of Sully's lance and took up a shield "Now face me if you dare" Sully stood behind him ready to assist should he need it but her head was spinning she couldn't tell if it was blood loss or something else.

On the opposite side there was a small gap between the encroaching Plegians and Lon'qu who had only sustained a few minor scratches from the wave of axe wielders, behind him stood Lissa and Maribelle who stood ready to assist the shepherds and watch Corrin, Lissa moved forward and placed her stave on Lon'qu's shoulder closing his wounds "Are you okay?"

"Never better, knowing you have my back is all the encouragement I need, I shall not falter in my duty to protect you princess" He spoke with his usual cool demeanour however as he spoke Lissa's heart raced.

Seeing that Lissa was well protected Maribelle looked to where Ricken was, he stood breathing heavily behind Stahl upon seeing this she lightly bopped his head with her parasol "Ricken you're not managing your magic very well, t'would be a rather terrible end to your heroic rescue if you fell before saving me" she smiled as he took a deep breath and attempted to compose himself.

"If we survive would you want to join me for tea?" Ricken did his best to stay composed as he asked the question but it was difficult with the enemy bearing down upon them, Maribelle was stunned as she watched Ricken fight alongside Stahl.

Robin threw a bolt of lightning towards Orton who rolled his wyvern low unfortunately into striking range of Chrom who with a disciplined strike took the beast down, as the wounded Wyvern crashed into the ground Orton rolled off and readied his hatchet whilst the two Ylissians stood ready to oppose the captain, before they clashed what appeared to a pair of bolas launched from some sort of trick arrow coiled around Orton's arms as he dropped the hatchet a blur of red slid under his legs taking him out "Wha-!" after he had hit the ground Anna bound his legs and grinned.

"That is how we Vallan's deal with high priority targets, just let Corrin talk to him once this is over and we will have a very valuable source of information and a skilled wyvern rider, to dragons one arrow" She smiled and slammed her foot onto Orton's face before he could comment.

"Okay quick question, what are those arrows and how easy are they to mass produce?" Robin looked towards the now unconscious Orton and then to the trick arrow that Anna recovered.

"They're a Vallan speciality, Corrin's own design; we had capture specialists but there were difficulties getting them close so between Anna ingenuity and Corrin having constant night terrors we developed these trick arrows one of many that made me a pretty penny and caused me to… well find my way to Corrin's side shall we say" Anna smiled coyly as she finished her explanation "Oh yeah and with the right funding" she winked at the two commanders "I can outfit the entire Ylissean spy force and army with these nifty little devices" her smile turned into that of a con woman selling her greatest deception.

"Okay we'll discuss this after we sort this mess out because our defensive ring is failing and Corrin is in danger" Robin began heading towards the surrounded shepherds followed by Chrom and Anna.

As the circle closed pushing the Shepherds closer towards the immobile Corrin they fought harder and harder, Sully had been pulled back and fixed up as best as Maribelle, Lissa and Emmeryn could in the heat of combat, Phila and the other Pegasus knights had tried to relive the Shepherds but a few well-placed archers deterred their attempts after the first few tries they had switched to javelins and had slowed the Plegians down but their support was limited by ammunition.

Meanwhile in Corrin's headspace she was losing the fight her madness was shapeless this time making the fight for her and her other forms difficult and one-sided "See if you'd stuck with the path that Nohr laid before you this wouldn't be happening!" her shadow form leapt away from a formless attack landing awkwardly on its injured leg.

"Or she could have remained in Hoshido where her true family supported her and healed her scars" Her radiant form barely evaded another attack before dropping to one knee clutching her side.

"How about you both shut up and focus on winning, the 'power' of Nohr was self-destructive and you know it and Hoshido may have healed my scars but they're a badge of pride and a reminder of the price I paid to win, I'm the saviour and I did not go through all of that pain and suffering to lose here and succumb to this damnable madness!" as Corrin spoke her Yato glowed taking on its Omega form "I am the master of my fate and you shall not take me fiend!"

The three Corrin's struck at the darkness which roared its fury at their resistance "You fools! Why do you resist! Can't you just die already!" it roared and lashed out again only to be driven back once more its fury was well known as the Corrin's drove it back into the recesses of her mind.

"So? Until next time right?" The radiant Corrin sighed as she clutched her side.

"Ha! Of Course, it was a great fight and as much as I hate to admit it we're wrong there's a reason you never reset again… you still have everyone…" Her shadow form leaned on her Yato and sighed.

"I even if you believe that I wouldn't have made the choice without either of you two." Corrin smiled and wrapped her arms around her other forms whose auras of shadow and light faded revealing the other two Corrin's, shadow Corrin had a scar across her face and a hard look in her eyes while divine Corrin was flawless her soft eyes told of the future she had one.

As the embrace broke Corrin awoke to find herself in the back of a cart she saw Chrom dozing holding her hand on her other side Robin dozed holding her other hand, sitting at the entrance to the cart was Anna her bow ready as she scanned the surrounding environment, Corrin had never felt safer… until she saw a very exhausted Emmeryn sitting in the last seat giving her a friendly look which seemingly held more than happiness "Lady Corrin I'd like a word if you're feeling up for it" Corrin suddenly felt like she was on the headsmen's block