Lady in Waiting

By psychored1911

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

Chapter 13: The Songstress pt. 2


"To be honest, I'm not too familiar with Windmire myself."

"A prince of Nohr unfamiliar with his place of birth?"

"I may have been born here, but I spent most of my life elsewhere."

"Well then, if that's the case, let us both explore what this great city has to offer."

Azura and Corrin walked through the bustling city arm in arm, far more intimately than otherwise planned. However, Azura was not uncomfortable with this arrangement at all. Rather, she seemed quite happy being in his arms, almost as if this was her rightful place.

'…Dear gods, that stupid courtship book sunk its fangs into me more than I thought. I'm starting to think like a lovestruck maiden…' She thought with a blush.


Corrin, meanwhile, seemed quite happy to be in her company on the outside-

'...Dear gods… what do I do now…? What do I do now?!'

-while being a complete mess on the inside.

While he had been taught the basics of courtships and etiquette back in the Northern Fortress, theory was far more different than practice. And in the trials of courtship and etiquette, he had absolutely zero experience. Heck, the most he knew about romance was from Flora's 'secret' stash of romance novels; the ones he always would 'borrow' and read while typically laughing at the flowery text with Felicia in their spare time. It's not like they gave him ideas with Felicia or anything, they just thought the over-the-top, obviously conflicted, and unbelievably horny inner monologues of the main characters were hilarious.

Whatever the hell he was doing now was much different than whatever was in those damned fantasies. Heck, he wasn't even thinking in some long-winded prose about the beautiful woman beside him, he was wondering what he was supposed to do next!

Whatever the hell he should do, he knew he should not follow that book Laslow gave him; he highly doubts smacking her butt would do anything more than give him a moment of pleasure, quickly followed by getting smacked in the face, and then never seeing her again.


A few minutes ago, oblivious to the inner turmoil of Azura below, Kaze stood in watch from the rooftops, his eyes wide with shock.

"It's… It's really him!"

That white hair, those red eyes. There's no doubt. It was Prince Kamui, the lost child of King Sumeragi and Queen Mikoto.

He could scarcely believe it. The lost prince of Hoshido, raised as a prince of the Kingdom of Nohr. After all these years of fruitless searching, they had finally found him. Princess Azura did it. And now that they knew who he was and where he was, they could finally bring him ho-

"Hey, you!"

Kaze whipped his head downward, as a knight with a cowlick pointing and glaring at him.

"Get down from there!" The knight ordered, "What do you think you're doing?!"

Kaze cursed as more eyes from the crowd turned towards him. He was careless, and now he was paying for it.

Knowing he couldn't use his typical ninja skills without outing himself to the knight, Kaze did the next best thing and ran.

"Hey! Get back here!"

Undeterred, the knight chased after him from ground level.


"...So, what's this place?"

As the two were walking down the street, Aqua and Corrin stopped in front of this prestigious-looking building, one where academic-looking types of all ages seemed to come and go as they pleased.

Corrin leaned back and read the plaque by the gate. "The Windmire Academy of Magic…" His eyes lit up. "Oh, I've heard of this place. My little brother and sister spent a year here to hone their abilities."

"An entire school dedicated to studying magic?" Aqua inquired.

"Yeah. Early in his reign, my father wanted to increase the rate of education in the kingdom, so he set this up and basically welcomed anyone who could use magic to attend. It's one of the many places in Nohr where you can see commoners and nobility as equals." Corrin explained.

"That's interesting." However, Aqua already knew all this from earlier. This location was a key target for their operation, and-

Wait, didn't she send people here earlier-

*SMACK*

"A-Aah?!"

An ass was smacked, and a girlish squeal rang through the air, but it wasn't her own.

No, it was his.

Passing the duo by was Nagi, garbed in a student's uniform, and further disguised with her hair down, a pair of fake glasses, and a bonnet that covered her ears, giving the second prince of Nohr a teasing, flirty wink before walking past the gates with just the slightest skip in her step.

Corrin could only blush at the sight of the disguised retainer, clearly not recognizing her from their brief meeting from earlier. "...City girls sure are something…"

Aqua, having obviously recognized her own retainer, made a mental note to definitely talk to her about this later. She then tugged at her date's sleeve with a pout, "EHEM!"

"I-I mean, uh…" Corrin suddenly found himself cornered. "...Want to get going?"

"Let's."


"Come on, Marth!"

Elise led Marth through the busy streets of Windmire while holding her hand, dragging her through the busy crowds.

"Oh, it's Princess Elise!"

"Who's that with her?"

"A new Royal Knight?"

"She's beautiful!"

"Damn…"

"What I'd give to be with a woman like her…"

The chatter surrounding the two was making Marth uncomfortable. However, none of it seemed malicious, for the most part, and Elise made a point to wave and greet any and all citizens who passed them by. Be it vendors, people on grocery runs, or children, Elise was friendly all the same. For a kingdom that's mostly engulfed in an eternal night, it was surprisingly lively.

Elise stopped at a stall with a vendor selling small bags of sweets. After a friendly exchange in which Elise introduced Marth as her newest knight, the princess dropped a few gold coins and bought them each a bag of sweets, with the princess offering the second bag over to Marth.

"You seem quite popular." Marth commented as the pair sat on a bench by the market center, opening her bag of sweets.

Elise proudly puffed up her chest in pride. "Uh-huh! I aim to be a princess of the people! One that everyone can rely upon!"

"You seem to be a bit too young to be relied upon, with all due respect." Marth commented, popping a chewy caramel into her mouth.

Elise let out a gasp, "How young do you think I am?"

"Uhh…" Marth blinked; she had the feeling she made a slip of the tongue. Giving her a once-over as Elise's eyes narrowed. The longer Marth hesitated, the more incredulous Elise felt. "Twel-?"

"Eighteen."

"Ohh…" Marth's mouth felt stuck, and not from the chewy sweet that seemingly lodged in her tooth.

Elise did not look eighteen. She looked only a bit more than half of that age from her height alone.

An awkward silence stood between them. Marth was doing her best not to look her in the eye. Despite her attempts, she could tell Elise was more than annoyed with her.

"Did… Did you think you were hanging around with a little kid the entire time?" Elise asked with a pout.

"If I said no, would that make this conversation any less awkward…?" Marth offered weakly.

"It wouldn't hurt to try."

"No," Marth lied.

"Well excuse me for not inheriting my father's towering physique!" Elise harrumphed, standing atop the bench with her hands on her hips.

"Actually, I had a question about that." Marth said, trying to divert the conversation in a different direction, "I heard that Lord Corrin is the second son of the late queen, correct?"

"Yes?"

"Then why does he not resemble Lord Xander?" Marth inquired, "In fact, I dare say that he resembles Lilith more than he resembles anyone in the Royal Family."

"Ehh, that's because those two practically grew up attached to the hip; she's practically his mother; his slightly-older-than-him mother." Elise waved her off dismissively as she plopped back down. "Lilith was with him before anyone else was, before even Felicia and Flora. Took care of him, raised him; I wouldn't be surprised if he picked up most of his mannerisms from her."

"...I see?" Marth looked down at her hands.

She wondered if Elise realized she was referring to Corrin and Lilith's similar features, namely their pointed ears. Which is another thing of note; she's only seen pointed ears in manaketes like Nah, Nah's mother Nowi, and Lady Tiki-

"I said get back here!"

A blur of green whizzed past the duo, shortly followed by a knight with a cowlick in hot pursuit, oblivious to the other knight and princess he passed by.

"...Wasn't that Silas?" Elise questioned.

"...Do you want me to follow them?" Marth asked, placing a hand on her sword.

Elise shook her head, "Nah. He can probably handle it on his own. He's probably just chasing after a pickpocket or something."


The twin maids, done with their duties for the day, hung up their aprons and went back to their quarters together, with Flora reading a book by the desk while Felicia laid on the bed.

"Say, Flora…"

"Hmm?" Flora looked up from her book and turned to her sister. "What is it, Felicia?"

"Are you… satisfied working for Corrin?"

"...What brought this on?" Flora asked, putting the book away.

Felicia sat up and turned to the side of the bed, "I dunno, it's just that we've been doing this for years, and, well, I haven't really stopped to ask if you were happy."

Flora paused, glancing at the books she brought with her for a split second, before answering, "Well, I will admit this wasn't how I thought my life would turn out back when we were kids, but I will say that I thought it could be much worse. Corrin has been quite a gracious host and lord to us… and I dare say a good friend."

Felicia beamed, "Yeah, most lords would've probably worked us to the bone or worse after you-"

Flora massaged her temples, "Please don't remind me of that. I don't even want to think about how many more years it will take to pay that off."

"I mean, Corrin did offer to just pay off the damages himself a few years ago." Felicia pointed out. "And he keeps bringing it up every so often that I'm sure the offer is genuine."

Flora shook her head, "I don't know if I can take advantage of his generosity like that. Father always says that we should take responsibility for our own actions."

"Yeah, but father never said that we couldn't accept help when we needed it." Felicia mentioned, pausing as she looked up at the ceiling. "...Is it weird that I feel more loyal to Corrin than I do to father and mother?"

Flora nearly fell out of her seat, "I beg your pardon?"

"N-Not that I don't love them or anything!" Felicia immediately backtracked, "It's just that I haven't seen them in years, and their letters have been less and less frequent, I just feel as though I'm starting to forget their faces, and have started seeing Gunter and Cassita as more of our parental figures. And Corrin as…"

Her voice trailed off, and Flora took the opportunity to readdress something Felicia said earlier, "Don't you see Freesia as home anymore?"

"Well, of course I do, but…" Felicia pursed her lips, conflicted, "It's been ten years since we've even been there, and we haven't seen our parents in that time. Everything will be different once we get back, and I'm not sure if going back… will ever be right for us." She laid back on her bed, "I mean, we finish up our contracts and go home. Then what? We've known everyone in the Fortress longer than we've known our parents by that point. Lilith, Gunter, Jakob, Corrin, they're my family too! I wouldn't know who I'd be without them!"

"And you don't think I wouldn't be heartbroken when we inevitably part ways?" Flora asked with a raised brow. "I love them too. I don't think I'd forgive myself if we left on poor terms."

This caught Felicia's attention, "Poor terms with whom?"

Flora bit her lip, "It's nothing."


"Come again."

The individual stood up and left Nyx's table, more certain of the path ahead. Hopefully they will find the individual they have lost.

As one lost soul left, another one came forward, and it was none other than the youngest princess of Nohr herself, followed shortly by a young knightess.

"Hiya!" Princess Elise waved as she sat down on the chair, "You can tell fortunes, right?"

"It is my trade, yes." Nyx said gently.

"Great!" Elise promptly took her knight by the hand and promptly dragged her to the chair, startling both of them. "Tell us her fortune, please."

"W-Wait, but I-" The knightess tried to argue.

"But nothing!" Elise insisted, turning back to the fortune teller with a smile, "Can you tell us her fortune?"

"Of course, with your consent of course." Nyx said, referring to the knight, "May I have your name, please?"

"...You may call me Marth." the knight said quietly, knowing her ward was not taking no for an answer.

"And my name is Nyx. It is nice to make your acquaintance." the fortune teller said as she outstretched her left hand, placing her right hand upon her crystal ball, "Please give me your hand, Marth."

Marth gave the fortune teller her hand as the crystal ball began to glow. With the magic flowing through her, Nyx began to see, and Marth's future soon became clear.

"...You should start carrying that shield again." Nyx finally said after a long bout of silence, "Your husband had that forged to save your life, not to collect dust in your pack to be left unused."

Marth immediately yanked her hand away and eyed Nyx suspiciously. "How do you know about that?"

"Because I literally just read your future. What do you think?" Nyx said with a snicker. "Aside from the shield, you should also know that there are others looking for you here, hoping to bring you home. They look like family."

"...I see." Marth started to look down at her hands, "Did you see who was seeking me?'

"I believe one of them wore her hair in pigtails… and seemed to be quite the klutz."

"That… sounds like my sister." Marth sighed, rising from her seat with more to think about. "Thank you, Nyx. You've given me a lot to think about."

"One last thing," Nyx took Marth's hand one more time. "They forgive you. For everything."

"...Who?" Marth hesitantly asked.

"You already know." Nyx said, giving the knight her best, genuine smile, "Try one more time, for them. After all this time, they haven't given up on you, so do not give up on yourself."

The two women paused, looking at each other without a word exchanged between them-

-only for tears to pour from Marth's eyes uncontrollably.

Elise concernedly tugged at her knight's sleeve. "Marth? Are you okay?"

"H-Huh?" Marth pressed her hands to her face, only now noticing the tears flowing down her cheeks, and promptly wiped them with her sleeve, "I'm fine, really." She then turned to the fortune teller, dug into her pockets, and placed a handful of gold coins onto the table, "Thank you. I needed that."

"It was my pleasure." Nyx giggled as she gladly took the payment for her services, "But you really should start carrying around that shield again. You will be needing it for the days ahead."


"Oh! I've been meaning to come here!"

Their next stop was a tavern in the Rustfall district, one that seemed pretty popular with the locals.

"A tavern?" Aqua questioned as Corrin took her in by the arm.

"Just trust me." Corrin said eagerly as the two walked in, catching the attention of practically every patron in the bar, eyeing them with suspicion.

The bar matron, on the other hand, could only smile as the prince approached, "Corrin! You're here!"

Corrin chuckled, "I did promise I'd visit, Cassita."

The bar matron, Cassita could only chuckle as she eyed Aqua, "And it seems you made some new friends already…" she then cupped her chin, "Say, do I know ya…?"

"...I'm pretty sure I would recognize a kindly face such as yours." Aqua replied nervously.

Truth be told, she did recognize Cassita, of course she would recognize her, the old nursemaid of the Nohrian Royal Family, one of the few people in the capital who was kind to her. And while she wanted to meet her again, she hoped it would have been under better circumstances, especially not during circumstances in which she could get recognized during an important operation.

"Hmmm…" Cassita cupped her chin, before shrugging and turning back to the prince, "And you! I thought you'd have either Lilith or one o' the twins on yer arm rather than this lass 'ere!"

Corrin obliviously cocked his head, "What do you mean by that?"

Oh, it seemed like she didn't recognize her, while part of her felt relieved, the other half felt… disappointed, if only a little. Perhaps none of them recognized her after all this time.

"Don't play coy with me!" Cassita barked, causing Corrin to recoil, "You barely been in town for less than a week and already you have a girl throwin' 'erself at ya when 'ere are three girls already sweet on ya!"

Throwing herself at him? Is that how she came off? Perhaps she was coming on a bit strongly, but she wouldn't say she was ready to bring him to her bedchambers.

Not yet, at least.

Corrin flushed, "Wait, what? That's impossible! They don't think of me like that!."

"Sure, they don't kiddo…" Cassita smirked as she turned to Aqua, "And as for you, if ya really wanna jump his bones, yer gonna hafta get to the end of the line. You ain't the first girl he's charmed, and I doubt y'all be the last."

Aqua's grin gradually grew as she quietly nodded, her amusement with Corrin's supposed effects on the fairer sex rising with each passing second.

"What?!" Corrin turned redder than Leo's diet, "I-"

"Corrin, lemme fill you in on a li'l secret." Cassita leaned on the counter and cut him off, "Yer father told me and Gunter that he wanted to marry you off first, before even Xander and Camilla, 'cause he knows yer unnatural charms wit' the ladies will get you in trouble if you ain't tied down."

"Unnatural charms with the ladies?" Corrin parroted incredulously, "That's ridiculous! Wouldn't I have noticed something like that?!"

Almost as if she was waiting on him to say that, Cassita quipped and gestured to his companion. "And how long have you known 'er?"

And at this point, Aqua finally decided to insert herself into the conversation with a wave and a mischievous smile. "Hi, I'm Countess Aqua of Nestra. I first met him last night. It's a pleasure to meet you."

With this little tidbit of information, Cassita slowly craned her head back to Corrin with the smuggest look the aging bar matron could muster, "And what say you, Corrin? Anything to retort?"

Finding himself suddenly cornered, by the two women surrounding him, Corrin slammed his head against the counter in defeat, "I… think I need a beer…"

"Sure thing, hon."

"Might need more than one~!" Aqua mused with a giggle, plopping down at the seat beside him.

Corrin groaned into the counter, "I know… Want one too?"


"...done so many things wrong… I was a danger to both them and myself… I couldn't bear it any longer…"

"And is that why you left?"

"...Yes. I didn't want to hurt them any longer."

Marth and Elise began to talk as soon as they left the fortune teller's table. It seemed that getting her fortune told was the catalyst that allowed Marth to open up a bit more about her past. Now, the princess sat upon a park bench with the knight using her lap as a makeshift pillow.

"Yeah, but you were in mourning." Elise told her.

"Mourning far longer than most, to the point it seemed to interfere with my judgment in all things." Marth bitterly mentioned, "I… I hardened my heart, I was harsher, I lashed out, I did what I thought would keep my family safe, but in hindsight, it was only so I could selfishly protect myself from further heartbreak…"

"Marth…"

"I… never managed to make amends with my husband before he passed." Marth admitted as tears poured down again.

"You had an argument with him?" Elise asked.

Marth's gaze turned vacant as she looked up at the eternal night sky. "...No. It was far worse."


"Don't make it harder!" Lucina begged as she kept the love of her life at swordpoint, "Don't resist, and your death will be swift and painless."

"..." Robin kept his hands up, a myriad of emotions flowing through his face at once.

"If you hold any love for Chrom, then let this be done…" Lucina said solemnly, readying her blade.

Robin just stopped cold. No tricks, no strategy, nothing. He just closed his eyes…

"Very well. My life is yours… It always has been."

and accepted Lucina's judgment.

Lucina closed her own eyes…

And lunged.

"HRAAAAGH!"

Minutes, seconds, the instant after she pierced Robin's chest with her sword, she wished she hadn't.

He didn't resist. He didn't even try to pull the sword out once it lodged itself within him. All he did was reach out to her, silently, as if HE was trying to comfort her in his final moments.

A wave of overwhelming regret flooded through Lucina as her grip on her sword went slack, releasing her hold on the tainted sacred blade as she desperately reached out to him, only for him to collapse onto the ground unceremoniously before she could embrace him.

"...R-Robin?!" She fell to her knees, choking on her own tears as all life began to slip out of Robin's eyes. "No, no… NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"


"I thought he was a traitor, that he was the one who betrayed my father, but… I was wrong." Marth stared at her hands, her tear-filled eyes wide as plates, "It was… he was afflicted with a horrible curse. He would never betray my father… and yet… my paranoia overcame all faith I had in him."

Elise cupped her hands over her mouth, horrified. "...And you… killed him? Right then and there?"

"...No." Marth began to tremble, "By some miracle, he managed to survive, but my father made a point never to leave me alone with him after that. That decision will always, always haunt me. After that,,, He didn't talk to me anymore… I know it was my fault, but… he must have hated me so much… Why…? Why did I do it?! It was my fault for being so paranoid I-!"

The knight began to break down as all her regrets began to come down on her at once. Elise immediately pulled her into a hug.

The poor knight made so many mistakes, so many regrets, that she did not know if she could forgive herself for her actions.

And yet, the knowledge that despite all of that, she was still forgiven for everything, not really sure if she could even believe it, it was too much for her heart to bear.


"So~?"

"So…?"

"Unnatural charms, eh?"

"Please don't…"

"Why the denial?"

"Because Cassita's only teasing me; I'm not some sort of incubus with enthralling power over women."

"And yet here I am, and it hasn't even been a full day since we first met~!"

Aqua gave him a comforting pat on the shoulder, finding a lot of amusement in his flustered state.

Corrin groaned, "I may be quick to befriend, but I don't have any real luck with women." he then turned to her, "What about you? Surely a woman with your looks and status would be constantly beating away suitors with a stick."

Aqua's smile quickly faded as she looked down at her mug. "...You could say men don't like me where I'm from."

Corrin's eyes widened as he sat up in disbelief, "You're kidding. You're among the most delightful people I've had the pleasure of speaking to."

"Well then, you're among the few who truly thought that." Aqua noted bitterly, stirring the mug absently, "Some said things, some implied things, but they never really bothered to get to know me, or even tried hiding their disgust."

"It's their loss." Corrin snorted.

"Thanks." She smiled. "My mother, bless her heart, tried to find me some suitors, but… it did not end well."

"What makes you say that?"

Aqua glanced into her mug before sipping the remaining contents."...Let's just say that he's in a better place now and leave it at that…"

"Oh…" Corrin gulped uncomfortably. "I'm… sorry…"

"Don't be. He was a lying, moronic, selfish cur." She rolled her eyes. "I try to tell him to take a hike, he interprets it literally as a means of earning my favor, apparently not understanding the difference between hiking and climbing up the side of a damned cliff, and it's suddenly my fault when they find his corpse at the bottom of a ravine with a broken neck and a handful of seagull eggs for good measure!"

"...seagull egg-"

"I don't know! He probably grabbed onto its nest as a handhold! Perhaps that's why he's rotting six feet under and not regaling his 'epic feat' into my unwilling ears every chance he got! Dear gods, it's like they think I'm always the cause of their problems just because I'm always there!"

It took Aqua a moment to realize she had been screaming her long-held frustrations right to Corrin's face.

"...I think you might need another drink." Corrin offered.

"...Yes please."

Corrin waved over to Cassita, and she poured them another round of ale, to which the couple clinked their mugs together and downed in a single sitting.

"...Thank you for confiding that in me…" Corrin said after a long, stagnant silence.

"Thank you for lending me your ear." Aqua sighed, allowing the ale's buzz to numb her senses ever so slightly, "I don't know why, but I feel comfortable confiding in you. It helps to have an unbiased ear for once; I dare not speak about such topics even with my sisters."

"You have sisters?"

"Hey, pay attention to me first before you try flirting with women you've never even met." Aqua pouted teasingly.

"Sorry," Corrin chuckled, "I enjoyed listening to you. Your stories are as beautiful as your voice."

"You should hear my singing." Aqua teased. "I dreamed of joining the Nestran theaters in my youth; I used to sing and dance all the time."

Corrin lit up, "Ooh! I'd love to hear-"

"I've finally caught you, you bastard!"

"Get your hands and your stupid haircut off me!"

The couple's moment was interrupted by a raucous ruckus outside.

Azura rolled her eyes, massaging her temples. "Oh, you have got to be kidding…"

Corrin blinked, "...I believe I recognize that voice."

"Me too…" Aqua sighed.

"Stupid?! My haircut is not stupid!"

"Please! You look like a graying rooster rather than a dashing knight in shining armor!"

"*GASP* You take that back, you knave!"

"How dare you use an antiquated insult that no one understands anymore on me, you dunderheaded rapscallion!"

As if things weren't awkward enough, the two left their spots on the counter, leaving whatever coins they owed to Cassita, and exited the tavern, finding a knight and a roguish figure wrestling outside the establishment, with the former trying very, very hard to detain the latter, who was doing everything in his power to squirm out of the former's grasp.

Aqua facepalmed, stifling a groan into her hands. "How much is the bail in this kingdom?"

"No need," Corrin sighed as he pulled on the knight's collar, "Silas, stop."

"Wha- but, milord!" the knight, Silas, protested, "This man was following you from the rooftops!"

"This man is my bodyguard," Azura explained, in an irritated tone. "who I told to be discreet."

Kaze, the bodyguard, spent a long, lingering look at Corrin, before clearing his throat, "I apologize, milady, but this dastard in a tin can assaulted me before I could explain myself!"

"YOU RAN AWAY!" Silas retorted.

The next thing the four knew, Cassita barged through the door, holding a ladle overhead menacingly, "Oi! Quit fighting! It's bad for business! Do I have to tell Marth about your antics so she'll knock some sense into ya?!"

The mention of this Marth fellow made Corrin and Silas freeze in place, the two Nohrians craning their necks around cautiously, as if the two suddenly found themselves in the lair of a predator rather than in the city streets.

"...She's not here, is she?" Corrin pleaded nervously.

"If she's in the city, I can guarantee you she'll be here in minutes the moment I shout for her." Cassita folded her arms, clearly enjoying the spike of panic in the two Nohrian boys. "Now go get these boys looked at by a healer and Corrin, escort this young lady home; it's getting late."

"Right. Thank you, Cassita." Corrin turned to the two men. "Silas, he's pardoned. Leave him be."

"...Yes, milord." Silas bowed, albeit without not shooting Kaze one last sour look to get it out of his system.

Kaze, for his part, took a step back, not even bothering to look Silas in the eye. He walked to Azura and whispered. "It's him."

Azura smiled and whispered back. "Good job."

"Now the both of you, take this." Corrin gave the two of them some coins. "Go find a healer and get yourselves patched up."

"Right."

"Thank you."

"And hold hands until you get there!" Azura chimed in, still mildly annoyed that the ninja, of all people, got caught.

"What?!"

"Lady A-"

"You heard her! Hold hands!" Corrin seconded cheerfully.

The two retainers shared disdainful looks with one another before they begrudgingly held hands, both gripping a bit too tightly for one another's comfort, before walking off.

As the two retainers walked away, Corrin sighed and scratched his head. "I'm sorry for this. Please, let me take you home."

"I would love that," Aqua giggled as she took Corrin's arm into her own.

Blushing, Corrin waved to his nursemaid, "Bye, Cassita, I'll come to visit again later."

"Fine then, Corrin." Cassita waved him off, "But before you go, may I have a word with the missus?"

An odd request, but she left Corrin's arm and walked over to the older woman who pulled her out of Corrin's line of sight, pressed her hand by her ear, and whispered: "It was good to see you again, Lady Azura."
Aqua- Azura's blood ran cold, "I… d-don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh, you don't have to be like that, Azura," Cassita said with a slight chuckle, "I remember all of the Nohrian children I had under my wing, even the quiet little one that always sang by herself."

Azura wanted to deny it. She wanted to pretend that this woman didn't know her at all, but the words failed to escape her lips.

And for what it was worth, Cassita understood anyway, "A Nestran countess, however; you've made quite a life for yourself after all these years. I hope you're happier with your new family than when you were at Windmire all those years ago."

"I-I…" Words started to form, but still, entire thoughts and ideas failed her in this moment of vulnerability.

"Just take it easy on Corrin, if you can." Cassita requested. "I know you two aren't related by blood, but it would break my heart if you somehow broke his."

With that, however, Azura seemed to recollect herself, and finally gave her former nursemaid an answer, "I do not want to hurt Corrin. I want to… make sure he's happy."

"My my, aren't those strong words for someone you've just met recently." Cassita mused. "He does have that way with people. Whatever the case, I wish you all the best Azura."

Azura embraced her former nursemaid, letting a few tears escape her eyes, "Thank you, Cassita. I hope to see you again soon."

"Of course, dear. Take care now."


"Ufufu… magnificent…"

The Faceless. Over seven feet tall and powerful. The epitome of Windmire's black magic research. These can turn the tides of the eternal war between Nohr and Hoshido.

With another one brought to life by her hands, she could do nothing but marvel in pride.

The Dark Mage Daniela, a commander of the Nohrian army, and one of the key researchers of the Faceless project, stood back and marveled at her powerful creations. With the amount of Faceless she and her cabal have been making, they will be able to finish their quota and overrun Hoshido's border within months-

*clatter*

"Hmm…?"

Daniela paused, and looked at the bucket that fell over at the other side of the room. "Is someone there?"

There was nobody else left at their manufacturing plant for the night, at least no one was supposed to. She was the last one here, and these Faceless weren't able to move without any orders, so-

*THUD*

Suddenly, the first row of Faceless collapsed face-first onto the floor, piercing wounds littering their backs as they began to dissolve into motes of black magic before disappearing entirely.

Alarmed, Daniela went for her arcfire tome and awakened all the nearby Faceless.

She was not alone.

A gust of wind blew throughout the facility, snuffing out all the torches and even the fireplace throughout the facility, bringing the room back into the darkness that engulfed all of Nohr.

Her heart racing in panic, Daniela ignited one of the nearby candles, bringing light back into the room-

"Come out and face me. You stand before a commander of the Nohrian army!"

Only for even more of the Faceless, some of which were dangerously close to where she was standing, to be slain as soon as she could see again, with them not even lifting a finger to attack.

"...Where are you…?" Daniela whispered, both in fear and anger, the two emotions bubbling to a fever pitch, forcing her to call out to the assailant in the room with her. "WHERE ARE YOU?!"

"Here." A demonic, otherworldly voice growled.

Daniela yelped in fright as a figure garbed in Hoshidan Dread Fighter armor stood behind her, hunched over, twitching, gripping a pair of unmatching swords in its hands: a noble red katana in its right, and a wicked, razor-sharp saber in its left.

"HOSHIDANS!"

The wind blew again, snuffing the light once again.

Daniela readied her tome, preparing to unleash a fireball at her assailant. It was all for naught, the dread fighter threw a shuriken severing her fingers, causing her to drop her only weapon.

"A-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!?"

With the sudden loss of her weapon, her digits, and a lot of her blood, Daniela's panic spiked, and instead of standing her ground as her position and heritage entailed, she bolted for the door, tripping and slamming over every single obstacle, until she fumbled onto the door and tackled it open.

Corpses.

Piles and piles of corpses.

Her loyal soldiers on sentry, her fellow research collaborators that supposedly left for the night, everyone who ever breathed life in the facility were left as bloody, dismembered corpses, all over the courtyard.

Some of the best and brightest Nohr had offered, were dead at her feet. The men she trained and recruited. Those who were loyal to her, and vowed to stand with her until the end. The ones she saw grow into noble and honorable soldiers.

The Dread Fighter killed them all.

Of course the Dread Fighter killed them all.

This… This monster killed them all.

She wanted to puke, but she did her best to hold it in. She had to live. SHE HAD TO LIVE.

*CRASH*

Daniela whipped her head behind her to find the workshop suddenly ablaze. Then several other fireballs flew through the window and ignited the other nearby facilities. How was the Dread Fighter doing this?! It wasn't holding onto any tomes-

And then it hit her…

The Dread Fighter took her tome to destroy her life's work!

An overwhelming flood of despair hit her.

*SLAM!*

The Dread Fighter kicked the door open, sauntering casually over to the Nohrian Commander as the building behind it began burning to the ground, with her only able to see a Hoshidan fox mask and glowing red eyes under its hood.

It must've killed all the Faceless too. And there was nary a scratch.

There were no exits she could run.

No weapon to fight with.

…She wasn't going to make it to the night's end, was she?

Knowing that her death was inevitable, Daniela took a deep breath and collected whatever resolve she had, if only she could die with the dignity as a proper Nohrian kni-

"Checkmate."

The Dread Fighter, flinging Daniela's arcfire tome into the air before catching it with a flourish, loosed a gigantic fireball at the Nohrian Commander, incinerating her as it exploded and engulfed everything in hellish flames.


A/N: If you're wondering why this chapter came out earlier than the others… I lost a bet. I have to finish this and the next chapter by the end of February. I have no idea if I will make it (probably not), but I am in my last semester for my degree, and so is my brother, and we will need every ounce of focus I can to finish it. Wish me luck.

Special thanks to SK for beta editing again!

(Hi, SK, the beta editor here. I know I'm majorly cheering both boys on from 1300 miles away, but I think they could definitely use some encouragement from the comments. Please give them your comments. It's how they feed and they are HUNGY (also, boys, dont kill me when you see this. Leave it in. LEAVE IT. Delete it, and expect a certain book to land on your doorstep and you know which one I mean))

I know exactly what book she's talking about, I'm gonna leave that there and not let that cursed book anywhere near me.

Thanks for reading, and please review!