Chapter 31: Our Burdened Hearts
Author's notes: hello everyone, here is a new chapter! And on time! Thanks all of you for your support and your appreciation for this story. It makes me so happy. Let's answers you all!
Ariel Juarez: It IS alive! And it will stay that way!
njgrolund: It's be back, and it will be back again.
Imperial warlord: Yeah, I know I let it aside for too long. Won't be the case anymore though.
Johnny Rain: Glad you like it, here is the new chapter!
soberan: Valla it is. Lora isn't undead anymore though, since she took in the very source of life of Lordran within.
JackerInSight: I know the feeling when a story just dies, but I'm not going to let it happen to this one. Thanks for your support.
Guest: Things are indeed changing quite a bit from now on! And your wait for that chapter is over, I hope you'll like it!
TheHolyBlade: They are back together! And have a good, long moment in this chapter.
pt1oef: As always, thanks you for your beta-reading. Corrin does need to do better, but it's not always obvious how to proceed.
Grimmideals: Glad my english is good! It's one of the goals of that fic to improve. Yes, I do try to avoid phrasings or expression too "modern" in general here. The "Resolution" do aims to be better than canon for sure. Am I writing out of spite for the wasted potential of Fates? Partly yes.
SirTypesaLot: Oooh, you have no idea what I have in store for the Awakening children (and they don't either, hehehe). Sorry for the long wait. There are indeed a lot of possibilities to be covered, and I hope to surprise on that front.
Kazuka746: Thanks for the compliment! Sadly, Lora can't do what you suggest. It's not a question of power, she lacks the fine control and theorical knowledge necessary to accomplish that feat. And when I say lack, I mean she doesn't have the scholarly disposition to study to the point she can cast such a spell.
And that's everyone. I hope you'll like the chapter, and stay tuned for what's next! As always, please leave a review if you liked it, or if there is something you want to criticise. I read them all, they motivated me, and I always answer them.
Happy reading!
Lora POV
Stargazing both above and under the horizon was a novel experience, even with everything Lora has seen in Lordran. Between feeding the campfire and watching over Corrin's sleep, the queen found herself contemplating the sky more than she perhaps ever did. Clear lamps of light dotting the dark, flickering far and away between the floating parcels of land. Try as she might Lora could not find the moon, the silver disk was fully hidden or wholly absent from this place. Either would be plausible given the strangeness of this unknown land. Ordinarily, she would have already started to explore this place. But in the current circumstances... Lora glanced aside the campfire, watching the immobile form of Corrin buried under a makeshift blanket made of many robes and capes. Her little princess was as slow to wake up as usual, coiling herself further in the warm clothes Lora cobbled from her diverse possessions. Still, the length of that sleep raised questions. Certainly the extent of Corrin's usage of the Dragon Vein combined with the wounds she received could serve as an explanation… but Lora wasn't entirely convinced. During the evening Azura's pendant lit up for some time on Corrin's neck, the rejuvenating effect perceivable quite clearly, but still not enough to complete the resting process. What had led her to be so exhausted? A familiar groan reached the Queen's ears. A long winded yawn from under the blankets, the complaint of a comfortable little princess who never learned to get out of bed. Before long another yawn escaped the blankets and Corrin sat up in a daze.
"Mother?…"
A pang of pain twisted within Lora as she heard Corrin whisper the word, but the queen showed none of it and simply asked:
"How are you feeling?"
The little princess looked around with confused glances, rubbing her hazy eyes and furtively touching the pendant she carried. Not the sword, noted Lora, only the pendant. Was it not as important as the decoration and unique shape seemed to indicate? Was it out of her mind at the moment? Or perhaps Corrin was uniquely aware of its presence… maybe there was a link of some sort between those two.
"… I'm starving."
Hunger. Without animals around and little in the way of edible plants around, or at least as far as she went to not leave Corrin alone, food would quickly become a problem. Not for Lora, or at least not for quite some time with the Fire sustaining her, but now that she looked closer the princess did look starved. The problem was that she had nothing on herself physically. Within the Fire… food hadn't been a priority in Lordran for obvious reasons and Lora wasn't sure she had anything left. Mentally rummaging, she tried to find something to appease Corrin's hunger, at least for the moment. The green blossoms from Faron did stop hunger for a time, but it wouldn't solve the problem of the princess' body weakening. Ah, she still had some mossfruits, and with that… that would do. A small puff of flame later, and she presented Corrin the equivalent of a large bowl of mossfruits as well as a barrel mug.
"Do not eat so quickly." Admonished Lora as her little princess all but started to devour the small berries.
"Shorry…" Sheepishly said Corrin, her mouth still half-full.
"Drink this." Lora opened the wooden barrel and a strong, musky scent escaped immediately. "Be careful. It is very strong."
Corrin's ears peaked as she smelled the alcohol, such an expressive and familiar gesture that the pang in Lora's chest returned. She watched Corrin sniff the drink curiously, sip a little bit…
"Urgh! W-what is—oooggh!" … and choke loudly as the Siegbrau assaulted her tongue with a pugnacious and spicy flavour. Lora smiled at the display, remembering the good natured laughter of her onion friend when she had a similar reaction.
"Inhale the scent, then drink again. Finish it all." Her little princess made a face but obeyed, chewing on mossfruits in between. "It will give you enough strength for tomorrow, until we find another source of food."
Silence came back to the camp as Corrin finished eating and drinking her fill, her pale cheeks heating up in reaction to the Siegbrau. A silence very different from those back in Nohr. Even in the barren lands, life thrived in one way or another. Moles, birds, insects, there was always a sound or another in the background. Their absence was almost deafening. Usually Lora would interpret it as the presence of a mighty predator lying in wait, but she couldn't sense anything of the sort around.
"How are your wounds?"
"They don't hurt." The girl checked her body where the armor was damaged and found no trace of hurt. "Did you heal me?"
"I did." What a relief. Lora had feared deeper damages despite the miracle she used when the princess didn't wake up. Yet despite her words, Corrin still looked worried. "What is on your mind?"
"… Am I your prisoner?"
"… Look above. And below." Said Lora after a moment of silence.
The long ears perked up slightly before Corrin complied and looked above. Her eyes widened, and she slowly lowered the last of the mossfruits she was about to eat. She took in the chaotic and incomprehensible landscape, faintly visible even in the dead of the night, and even more as Corrin looked downward, seeing the stars gleaming fairly beneath.
"Where are we?"
"I don't know. We may not be in the same world at all." Better be blunt and aware than letting Corrin endanger herself in ignorance. "You are no prisoner. Even if you were, the circumstances would render it moot."
"I don't know why, but this place feels familiar." Whispered Corrin, lost in her vision of the night sky. "Like a dream, or a memory I barely remembers."
"Then maybe we won't be lost for too long."
Lora chose to stay grounded, despite the potential implications. But even as she considered simply sending her little princess back to sleep, the queen found herself gnawed by her own curiosity, by something growing and beating within her chest, a tightening in her throat. Resting would be for the best in this unknown place, for the both of them. Who knows what kind of dangers they would face in the morrow. Ideally, they should simply let things … but…
"Corrin. I want to… talk. Just talk." There is so much I want to ask you. "If you have the strength to spare, of course." Please.
The princess finally took her eyes off the sky, looking back with brief surprise. "… It's okay. I'd like to talk too."
Lora sat by the campfire, containing the words knocking each others in her mouth, focusing on what was most important to say first.
"Why do you have Azura's pendant?" Never had the queen seen the daughter of Arete part with it, she knew how precious the heirloom was.
"Azura is fine, don't worry. She gave it to me." Reassured Corrin, holding the jewel up. "She misses you, you know."
Lora stared at the pendant, memories of the moment she discovered Azura's disappearance surfacing painfully. "… Is that so."
"It's true. When we met at the castle, Azura asked about you, and she was happy to hear you were well. She still carries the ring you offered her too."
The sun princess ring… a tight knot within her breast loosened with the words of Corrin. Azura still carried the ring. She was safe. She was doing fine. It's been… it's been so long. Was the princess' singing as good as Queen Arete's now? Did she inherit her figure, or went on to mature into her own? Was Azura still training? Now, if Corrin had been here, did it mean…
"Was Azura back at the Hoshidan camp?"
Corrin's voice and ears dropped at the question. "She chose to stay behind at Castle Shirasagi. I couldn't convince her otherwise, and… she was right. If we had been together, I wouldn't have reached the battlefield in time."
Hoshido didn't send Corrin to the battlefield. Corrin ran away from Hoshido by herself. This realization threw away the queen's previous guesses, leaving more questions in their place. Everything surrounding her little princess seemed to have gotten a lot more complicated.
"What happened in Hoshido?" Asked Lora, trying to keep her tone neutral.
"I'll tell you, if you tell me first why you have decided to invade Hoshido."
Lora raised an eyebrow, but Corrin didn't back down under her gaze. How quickly did the little princess grow so confidant, so ready to challenge her here or on the battlefield? The queen could remember her so clearly, young and shy. The childish stubbornness of youth was gone, leaving a naive, yet inflexible determination. Why was it so bitter? So… sweet?
"It was a happenstance."
"A… happenstance?" Repeated Corrin incredulously.
"Our plan was to conquer the ninja country of Mokushu, in the south from Hoshido. Had you come back from your mission, you would have been given a commanding position during your royal introduction." Lora traced with her finger a rough shape on the ground, a poor man's map. "As to not alert them of our plans we deployed the main army near the Bottomless Canyon, so their spies would think we were mounting intimidating manoeuvers against Hoshido. Under the command of Leo, a smaller force took way by sea and with the help of reinforcements detached from the main army, was supposed to start its conquest."
"I had no idea… I don't think anyone in Hoshido has any idea of that." Whispered Corrin. "But you really weren't going to attack Hoshido?"
"The Barrier would have prevented us." Reminded Lora, lighting a small flame on her finger and burning a small frontier on the makeshift map. "Despite this, numerous scouting parties we sent toward the Bottomless Canyon were slaughtered by Hoshidans. We thought it to be part of their usual provocations, until we received a missive from one of our informants in Hoshido, telling us the Barrier had fallen."
"…" The crackling of burning wood echoed behind Lora's explanations. The princess stayed silent, a concerned frown on her face.
"We figured the Hoshidan failed to maintain it, however it was made. They attacked first to scare us into going away, knowing they wouldn't be able to face us on the battlefield if we discovered the Barrier was gone." She traced lines, directions of her troops. "I contacted Garon with sorcery, and we arranged a new plan. We would conquer Hoshido before it could prepare further, end the war once and for all. Leo would receive less troops from the main army, but I gave him authorization to act as he saw fit, be it sticking to the original plan or leaving Mokushu aside to flank Hoshido from the south. The rest, you already know."
Corrin looked in the fire, deep in thought. "If I hadn't come… but instead Queen Mikoto had sent you a message… a proposal to parlay. Would you have accepted?"
"Before the Barrier fell? Most likely. Xander thought of using Mokushu's expansionist ambitions, once we conquered it, to present ourselves as having helped them to avoid a war on their south." Admitted Lora. She added another branch to the fire and carefully balanced the pile to prevent it from collapsing. "But things have changed. I see little use in such attempt at diplomacy now. Unless, it was your aim? To slow my army enough to make us reconsider our conquest? Make us and Queen Mikoto sit at the table of negotiation?"
"…No, it wasn't. I-I mean, I hoped I could persuade you. I didn't expect Mikoto to, to disagree."
"It does make sense, to my knowledge she has always advocated for peace." Nodded Lora thoughtfully. "Though she must have been against risking yourself for the sake of stalling the conflict. I suppose that is why you had to leave in a hurry, leaving Azura behind…" The queen shook her head. "Had you come sooner, or had such a missive reached us before the Barrier fell, we would have accepted. I would have accepted. But now I fear our meeting with Queen Mikoto will only happen on the battlefield or to discuss her surrender. That is simply how it is."
"… I… I believe you." Corrin's mournful voice echoed in the dark, under indifferent stars. "Will you believe me too? Even if what I say sounds far-fetched?"
Lora stared at her little princess. Noticed her hands clasped tight, her tensed shoulders, her hesitant tone. Doubt. Understandable. Expected, really. Yet… It hurt more than she thought it would to be doubted.
"Yes."
"Well…" Silence settled for a few minutes. Corrin shifted left and right, looking into the fire, holding the pendant tightly between her fingers. "It all went wrong at the Bottomless Canyon."
A good point to start. Her search parties never uncovered what happened there and approaching the Hoshidan for answer have been considered an unwise move.
"The more I approached, the more I felt something was wrong. The fort had no sentries, no patrols, nothing near the bridge. I crossed it under the flag of truce despite Gunter's warnings, that it might be an ambush." Corrin looked up, a fleeting hope in her eyes. "Is he…?"
"He never came back." Said Lora, foreseeing what happened to the loyal old knight. Her little princess looked down dejectedly before continuing.
"The gates were smashed open. We found the Hoshidan inside. All dead, their body piled up in the court. There was blood everywhere, and they were all mangled. Gods, the stench, the way it clung to my feet when I walked…" Despite looking like she would throw up, Corrin kept going. "It was fresh, all too fresh, I realized those who did it must have been close still. And then arrows rained upon my men from the fort walls."
The worst possible scenario. An ambush within the fort itself. Hoshido would have had no way to know. It was likely someone from Nohr. But who could have set up such a trap? Corrin's mission was not well-known, even in the castle. Only a handful were aware of her exact destination. Those accompanying her had been handpicked carefully, none of them would have betrayed. Who in the castle could have reported it?
"The mages died in the first volley. The rest made a shield wall, but we couldn't see the archers despite the arrows coming all around us. We tried to leave the fort, and that's when we saw them. Well, not really see, but…"
"Invisible enemies?"
"It's like they are invisible, but the closer you are, the more you can see some sort of weird purple glow around their body. And they didn't make any noise, even they were hurt. Hitting them," Corrin made a small chopping gesture. "briefly made them fully visible but when we killed one, it just… vanished. Into mist or foam, I'm not sure. It really felt like I was facing ghosts."
Lora frowned as Corrin described the strange attackers. An entire force of invisible soldiers? Slowly, she started to count among those who would have the resources and ability to create such an ambush. Nothing short of the richest and most influential nobles, if they were informed long in advance. And even then…
"How many of them were there?"
"I don't know. Hundreds? They kept appearing all around us as we killed more of them. When I lost Horizon…" Corrin inspired deeply, hardly containing herself. "When I had to keep going on foot, they were everywhere. By the time we reached the bridge, only Gunter and… I think Curtis? Yes, it was Curtis, who were left with me. But then the bridge was cut by enemies that had appeared on the other side. It distracted me, and Curtis had to take a killing blow in my stead."
The cold and calculated list vanished in Lora's mind, replaced by the eeriness of the unknown. No one. No one in Nohr could have prepared such a trap. No mage, no cabal of mages would have had the power to call upon an army such as this. Had Corrin faced Faceless, she could have suspected the entirety of the royal mage cabal to have united for something like this. And even then, they would have had to be on site, continuously summoning their flesh golems. Iago… no, for all his boasted magical might, the royal sorcerer did not have such power. And even then, as much as the queen held the snivelling worm in contempt, she had to admit he has proved himself unfailingly loyal to the throne.
"I tried to use the Dragon Vein to create a makeshift bridge while Gunter held them back, but… someone…" Lora picked up the strange uncertainty in Corrin's voice, the first since she had started to tell her story. "… someone stabbed me in the back. The last thing I remember before losing consciousness is falling down the Bottomless Canyon."
The cold breeze of the night replaced the princess' voice, a shivering current waving around the fire. They were all gone, each of the brave and loyal men and women she sent with Corrin. Lora held no hope, never really had once the search party found nothing. Hearing they died upholding their duty was all the comfort she could get, even if it would not replace them. As for their killers… Invisible soldiers of no army, appearing from nowhere to kill without a sound or a trace, spirits disappearing in their demise. It was familiar. Too familiar, and at the same time too different. The closest she could think of were the sentinels guarding the entrance of the Ringed City. They too had been specters, appearing and disappearing at command… but they had been an army, bound by oath and the power of the very gods through the Giant Adjudicators. Where did this army come from, then? Why did it ambush Corrin?... Or perhaps… was ambushing Corrin really all they did?
"I do not reproach your judgement. No one could have surmised the situation you found yourself in." Corrin flinched at Lora's declaration, a mixture of relief and guilt inscribed on her visage. "That you survived at all is proof your men did not die in vain. Cherish this thought." The princess nodded. The guilt still present, but eased by comfort. "Though, I find myself curious. How did you get out of the Canyon?"
"I don't know." Admitted Corrin. "I was found by Kaze near the cliff, apparently a bit further than the cut bridge. The ninja you had me fight at the court." Clarified the princess. "He came back to infiltrate Nohr again and found the slaughter at the fort, then me."
"And he brought you back to Hoshido." Nodded Lora. She was glad Corrin's mercy had not gone unrewarded.
"He did, straight to Castle Shirasagi. I was unconscious the whole time due to my wounds. The one in the back, and a spear got me there too." Her left shoulder. It was subtle but Corrin moved this arm less dextrously than before, and the grimace when she held it high up was telling. "But I think I did fall in the Canyon, because he didn't find your swords…. I'm sorry."
"I have many weapons." The dancer's swords… they might have not been her best or most used weapons, but it was frustrating to think they were lost somewhere in that abyssal chasm instead of being in her little princess' hands. "That you are safe is much more important."
At least she was still wearing the dancer's armor, which certainly helped save her life.
"If you say so… after all that, I woke up in Castle Shirasagi. With my memories lost, I didn't recognize any of my Hoshidan siblings or Mikoto… those days were awkward, and I didn't know what to think. That's when I met Azura." Corrin fidgeted with the pendant again, a smile appearing on her lips. "Mikoto treated her like one of her daughters, even if the rest of the castle was still suspicious. I didn't feel like I was a stranger in someone else's place with Azura. I could talk to her about anything, and we could relate our experiences. Even when I felt it was all too much, she was here to support me… why didn't anyone tell me about her, back in Nohr?"
"It was a wound I didn't wish to inflict on you too. And neither did Xander, Camilla or Leo." Simply said Lora. "I am relieved to hear she is doing fine, and that you found each other. I feared… I feared many things. But it appears Queen Mikoto's kindness is as true as I heard."
"Yeah…" Corrin sneezed quietly and moved closer to the fire. "In the end, I decided to try something. Do you know about the Throne of Truth?" Lora nodded. The artifact was more than famous, even in Nohr. "I decided to sneak and sit upon it in the night. I… I remembered everything, everything, and I saw so many other things. Visions, some that slipped away immediately, other I can't forget even if I tried… my Hoshidan siblings were worried, but everything started to become better afterward. We were a family again. Mother prepared to present me to the people of the Hoshidan capital, to appease the rumors multiplying around my presence."
Lora squeezed her fingers together. She tried to ignore the tinge of envy filling her heart at the thought of the ceremony she had prepared for Corrin, once she came back from her mission. A moment she anticipated for so long. That never happened.
"But when we reached the central plazza… when I was about to start my speech…" The princess shivered, doubtlessly because of the cold. "Someone showed up from the crowd with a horrible sword in his hand… there was an explosion. It killed so many people. The blade broke, its fragments flew in my direction… and Mother jumped before me, she screamed in pain, and there was so much blood… she asked me if I was unharmed, and then… she died in my arms."
"Queen Mikoto… is dead?" Whispered Lora, stunned.
"I thought you knew…"
"Garon doesn't know. I didn't know, I don't think anyone in Nohr knows." Something this important should have reached their spies, even as far in the countryside as they were. Why didn't she hear about this? "Wait. You spoke as if she was alive just before. Why?"
"I'm sorry. I had to make sure. I had to ask as if she was still alive. I'm sorry to have deceived you. I thought you knew she was the one who created and kept the Barrier intact." Explained Corrin with a shaky voice. "Everyone else in Hoshido think you're responsible. You or anyone else from Nohr. They all think you did it, with your army ready to invade when the Barrier would disappear."
"The Barrier was her power?" Repeated Lora, now re-examining how she was seeing, no, how she saw the Hoshidan Queen. How powerful had Mikoto been? If she had used such ability on the battlefield. No, perhaps it was something unsuited to war. Even then, she truly had been a saint to never seek to use that strength for war… "You said everyone else. Not you. Why?"
"Because right after… they appeared. The same invisible soldiers, from the Canyon. They started to appear all over the plaza, led by that masked man. And when I… when I killed him, when he faded away, the rest of the invisible soldiers did too."
Queen Mikoto, the one maintaining the Barrier, dying at the very moment Nohr's army was coming close to the Bottomless Canyon. Right when her scouting parties were murdered by uncatchable foes, prompting them to approach closer and probe Hoshido in a show of force…. The timing was getting far too precise to be a coincidence. There was another force at work here. Something they didn't know about. But who? Why? And how?
"That's also when I… I transformed for the first time." Corrin held her hand higher, and under Lora's gaze it started to elongate into a reptilian limb, scaled and clawed, before returning to normal. "I didn't control anything. I just felt so angry, so horrible… Azura used her song to calm me, and I…" Corrin was trembling. "I almost killed her. It hurt too much, I was so lost, I just wanted it all to stop, to be silent… She brought me back, and Takumi calmed me down."
A faint memory came back to Lora, how Garon explained some across history showed more pronounced traits of the dragons they shared blood with. But as much as she tried, she couldn't remember him speaking about anyone accomplishing a true transformation. And unlike the worshipper at the Archdragon's Peak, it wasn't a borrowed power destined to a failed ascension: Corrin's Soul held more than mere humanity.
"At first, I always lost control. It's only when Azura was near and singing that I didn't succumb to my instincts. She then realized the true factor is her pendant. That's why she gave it to me, so I could fly away to the battlefield." Antler-like horns grew upon her head, silvery wings detached from her back and closed upon Corrin as if to warm her. "It's, it feels so… natural. Like I was always supposed to be like that. Everything is just, more, when I'm in this form. It feels right."
Without thinking, Lora came closer, drawn by the pulse of the princess' soul, by the purity of its hue. Sitting closer to Corrin, drawing a finger upon the smooth bone-like edge of the wing.
"Garon always said you had fangs beneath your kindness. I did not expect it to be so literal." Her little princess blushed in embarrassment, her wings retracting. "Finish your story. There is much left unsaid."
Corrin nodded, her mood darkening again. "Because of that, I was declared a living figure of worship. The priests wanted me to become an icon, and Azura, because she could calm me, was to be my oracle. Everyone was preparing for war, while I was getting confined in a new gilded cage. I knew… I hoped this was a mistake. That it wasn't you who killed Mother. Only Azura listened, and even her had good arguments to the contrary. And then… I started to dream. Of the visions I had on the Throne of Truth. One always came back: a battlefield upon a dried river. I saw the armies of Nohr and Hoshido clash. I saw Xander and Ryoma strike at each other until they killed each other… I needed to do something. Anything to prevent this from happening." Insisted Corrin.
So this is what led her to the battlefield, understood Lora. A vision of the future… was it something from the Throne of Hoshido, or an innate ability? Who knew. Even if she personally hated prophecies, the gods of this world were far from the gods of Lordran. The Archduke of Izumo's entire claim to legitimacy remained with such a power. One day, Corrin may very well be able to conjure those visions at will.
"While I was prepared by the priests to be a living idol, I spent days scrounging the castle library for something that could refer to those invisible soldiers. I didn't find anything that made sense, only dusty ramblings about waters." The horns grew a centimeter bigger, before retracting as well. "That's when the chief priest called me, and gave me this sword. Or should I say the sword chose me." The weapon suddenly took flight before landing in Corrin's hands like an obedient bird of prey. "It was hidden in the dragon statue overlooking the capital. They call it the Yato."
The name instantly resonated in Lora's mind. She had read about this sword, mentioned in the same passages as the other legendary weapons of this land. Just as Nohr possessed the Siegfried and the Brynhildr while Hoshido held the Raijinto and the Fujin Yumi, the Yato was supposedly lost somewhere in the past centuries. A weapon destined to end in the hand of a warrior, to end a great war.
"I think it's what finally made me realize I should do something before it was too late. I knew I couldn't do anything if I was imprisoned in the castle, parroting speeches calling for war and hate. I had to leave. Azura gave me her pendant, so I could fly all the way. I flew with little rest and food for days, and arrived barely a moment before your army launched its assault…"
Leaving no time for Corrin to attempt a parlay. No wonder she was starved and exhausted. Had they been less quick, just a little more cautious… would have this all been avoided? Lora pondered the question, gazing at the dancing flames. No. Not likely. Given what Corrin said, Hoshido thought them responsible for the assassination of their Queen. Just like Garon killed their King all these years ago. Their rage would not be quenched, not this time. Not with the most fervent advocator of peace dead, not anymore. Just like, Lora realized, just like Garon and her, all of Nohr, thought Hoshido was only using the peace as a pretext. As an excuse to whittle them down slowly, launching repeated raids from behind the Barrier until their collapse, for years. And now, with the Barrier gone, they could finally counter attack and end it all. Everything lined up perfectly… just as if it had been planned by someone… yet…
"What will happen now?" Asked Corrin, looking expectantly.
"Even if we find a way back, the war has already started." Said Lora, taken out of her musings. "You may have tremendously slowed down Xander's army, but all it means is that our hopes of a quick victory have been dashed away. Now it will be drawn out conflict, with more death on each sides."
"We have to stop this." Argued Corrin. "There is something else trying to make Nohr and Hoshido destroy each other, we can't let that happen!"
"… I believe you, little princess. I do believe you." Lora exhaled slowly, wishing her heart could be still. "But this invisible menace cannot be confronted by a Nohr at war with Hoshido."
"Azura is helping. That's why she stayed behind, to try to sway the people. Not everyone want this war. There are who will understand. There must be."
"What if it not enough?" Pressed Lora. "Peace cannot be made from one side alone. If we retreat only to be pursued, we would betray those who died believing in peace. Many already died, by your hand. Are you ready to kill even more?"
"I know… I just hope we'll be able to go back quickly. This conflict can't go on." Corrin looked into the fire, then the sword in her hand. It was as if she weighted it, as if the princess was gauging how heavy it would grow. "Please, Mother…"
"Why do you still call me that?" Lora snapped, the words she had wanted to say turning to ash on her tongue as those took their place.
Everything she had bottled up, all the emotions she had suppressed, it all came back in a flooding turmoil. All her efforts to distract herself, all she focused her mind on, it all vanished before this single word. Her little princess looked up. And Lora looked down, incapable of holding her gaze. Afraid, ashamed, saddened, bearing down on her chest, twisting and tightening in her soul, she looked into the fire.
"You told me you regained your memories." Finally said Lora after a moment of silence.
"Yes." Quietly said Corrin. "I remember my life in Hoshido. I remember the journey to Cyrkensia. I remember King Sumeragi and King Garon arguing loudly. I remember the arrows piercing the first, and the fatal blow dealt by the latter. I remember it all."
"Then why?" Her voice strained, snapped under its own weight. "We lied to you! We took you away from your real family! I took away the life you should have had with your real mother! You should be angry! You should hate me for what I did to you! I… I never called you my daughter even once! Why do you still call me your mother!? I don't… I have never…"
Deserved you. Deserved a child. The ugly words refused to come out, her strangling throat preventing them to pass. Yet, Lora thought them all the same. That once again, once again, once again, all she was stealing what was most precious to someone else.
"When I told Mikoto I sill wanted to connect with a Nohrian friend… she asked me something similar. I told her the same thing I will tell you." Corrin's voice pierced through the uncomfortable atmosphere, clear and strong. "When I sat on the throne, I saw the truth in my memories. All the truth." As if pulled by an invisible string, Lora looked up. Looked her little princess in the eyes. Those earnest, gentle eyes. "I know you loved me. You and King Garon. You loved me like I truly was your child. I know Xander, Camilla, Leo and Elise loved me as their sibling. I still love them, from the bottom of my heart. And I still love you too."
Lora's teeth gritted, so hard she thought they would shatter. Her hands clasped together, the metal groaning under pressure. The Fire colored her flesh with embers, as if she could burn away everything tearing her apart.
"I never called you daughter…" So weak. Her voice was so weak.
"Because you didn't want to say that lie, isn't it?" And Corrin… smiled. She smiled at her, despite everything. "I don't mind. Because my heart still calls you Mother."
The last of Lora's resistance crumbled. She took Corrin in her embrace, and cried. Cried in the arms of her daughter, with the shamelessness of isolation. In this place where there was nothing but them, where not even the moon could spy. World apart from titles and positions, stripped of the armor of facade and doubt.
"When I recognized you… when you stood your ground… I was afraid. So afraid you would hate me. Afraid I would have to kill you." It had been close. Too close. Even now, the damaged armor proved how very little less holding back could have… "I… I am so happy… so happy you still live. So happy you don't hate me."
It was as if an enormous weight had left Lora's shoulders, as if it all went away in the tears she wiped from her cheeks. How long she carried it, how far it had sunk… how strange it was, to feel it going away. When they separated from the embrace, Lora found her vision changed. Or perhaps, she finally accepted to see what was here all along. Corrin was her daughter. And she would not let her alone or unsupported, no matter her decisions.
"You really have grown." She noted once again, but this time, it was with pride unfiltered.
Corrin blushed, her ears bouncing cutely up and down.
"There is something else… something Azura told me before I left. I need you to hear it." Confided the princess with a hushed tone, as if the ground had ears. When Lora nodded, attentive, she pursued. "In reality… I'm not King Sumeragi's child either. I'm Mikoto's daughter, yes, but she already had me when we arrived in Hoshido. Just like Azura's mother when she came in Nohr around the same time."
A coincidence… no. More and more Lora was starting to understand there were little coincidence going around, but the pieces of a gigantic puzzle. Not unlike the gods' machinations she slowly uncovered during her travels in Lordran.
"Her was a queen not from marrying King Garon, but from her lineage, having inherited the blood of a First Dragon, as well as a pendant containing the dragon's power. Together with a song, they were supposed to appease that dragon's savagery. I, uh, was always easily fascinated by her song." Given Corrin's flustered tone, there was something more than mere fascination at play. "But when she calmed me after my first transformation, she realized I had the same blood as her. Mikoto must have known something, but before we could ask…"
"She was killed. I see…"
That would also explain why Corrin felt such an equal attachment to both royal families. They were the same in her eyes, having given her the same thing, having the same degree of relation to her in a sense. Queen Arete… she confided in her daughter, privately, before passing away. Was it the secret she kept all this time? And what was the exact relation she had with Queen Mikoto? By extension… how close were the two daughters of these queens?
"And this place… I think I'm the one who brought us here." Lora fixed her with eyes shrunk in surprise. "I told you it feels familiar, right? My oldest memory is my mother and me entering a lake, all clothed, and then swimming back to the surface… but I would swear, the more I try to remember it, that we didn't came out, in the same place. Maybe… maybe that's where Azura and I come from. Maybe that's why that kingdom isn't on any map."
"Are you certain?" Asked Lora carefully, to which her daughter nodded.
"And… Mikoto knew about the invisible soldiers" That piece of revelation further increased Lora's bewilderment. "But when I spoke about it, she panicked. She wanted me to never approach the Bottomless Canyon again. She knew what they were, it was incredibly important, but she told me she just couldn't share it. That I should never talk about it to anyone. And I don't know why. But I feel… that the answers might be here. In this strange place."
Lora exhaled slowly, taking in everything they shared. Things… were much more complicated than she would have ever imagined. Nothing turned out like she either feared or hoped. But in the air of confidence, in the privacy of their solitude, she found the strength to take a decision. To accomplish something she should have done a long time ago.
"Corrin… listen well. There is something I must tell you too." Now it was Corrin's turn to be attentive. "Garon and I went to Izumo, once. And here, we received a prophecy; White scale, listen to the song. A legacy must not be just lies... The hatchling will follow the Flame. When Heaven and Earth meet above the Below."
It was as if the words gained a weight of their own, here. Far more impactful than she ever perceived. Thoughts seemed to race in the princess' head as she frowned, picking up the meanings the prophecy could have.
"I am now persuaded it concerns you. My little hatchling, with her wings now unfurled." Ignoring the embarrassment of her daughter, Lora continued. "If by any chance it is my flame you must follow… you must know the truth of that Flame. The truth I only told Garon."
It was deep into the night, by now. They should have gone to sleep already. Only Lora's inhuman endurance and the Siegbrau Corrin drank kept them awake by now. But she refused to keep pushing away any longer. Corrin deserved to know. Her daughter deserved to know.
"Just like you, I was not born to this world. I came to life in the kingdom of Lothric, founded upon the lands of antique Lordran…"