Outer Boundary of Knights of Seiros Maneuver Field XVII, 7th Morning of the Blue Sea Moon, Imperial Year 1180
"This should be far enough. Let's try here."
A duo of figures stepped down from a wagon, admiring the rapidly recovering nature around them. Not too far away was the monastery, and between the two points was a previously charred region of woodland. Claude's handiwork had done quite a number on this exercise field, and the next set of drills on this location was sure to be very far in the future.
Corrin branded her dragonstone, noting the absent sheen that was more norm than abnormality these days. Fódlan had made sure that the dragon shapeshifter was no more than the average human with slightly heightened senses. Okay, maybe not, considering Corrin was still physically stronger than nearly everyone at the monastery minus certain beasts like Edelgard and Dimitri.
The point was that she couldn't turn into her dragon form.
"Here goes," she said to no one, harnessing the power of her blood. Minus a few drops of water and a slightly blue glow, nothing happened. She exerted a little harder, but not much more than was already witnessed could be observed.
"As expected," Azura noted. "At least we have progress, maybe 20 miles away from the monastery?" Corrin nodded, shrugging with Azura's estimate.
"Give or take. We were on the road for about an hour and a half... yeah. Maybe shy of 20, but more than 15."
"And finally some results, far beyond what we saw in your room. This confirms my theory that the monastery has some sort of inhibiting effect on anything related to our...crests."
"Since when did you call it that?" Corrin asked.
"Since it was labeled as that," came Azura's flat response.
"Fair." A quick glance around, and another quick trial and... same result. "Ugh. This sucks. I want to throw trees or dig a really big hole, but that's kind of hard in this body."
"You're welcome to try with your hands. I'll hop back in the wagon and see you later-"
"Oh c'mon, don't be like that. Wait for me."
Both Anankos crest-bearers hopped back in their wagon, finding their seats. With a definite lack of fanfare, they made the slow trek home, and Corrin lazily held the reigns to the cart-horse while Azura whipped out a hairbrush.
"Really, here?" Corrin asked, kind of wishing she had one too.
"Here. Really," came Azura's inspired reply.
"Ugh..."
"..."
For a moment the only sounds to be heard were horseshoes on dirt, the creaking of wheels...
And Azura's lazy sighs.
"You're awfully gloomy when Claude's not around," Corrin decided after a measured pause.
"Shut up."
"This is the part where you banter back," Corrin goaded. Anything to make the ride home a little more enjoyable.
"I'm awfully gloomy when Claude's not around," Azura realized.
"...No one in Hoshido ever gave you the time of day, huh?" Corrin wondered. "Or is our Golden Deer a Golden-"
"It wasn't really that. To them I was always a war-trophy. A spoil of Nohr."
"Oh. I'm sorry, didn't mean to-"
"I mean, I'm not even Nohrian for gods' sake- um."
"..." Corrin gulped, saying nothing to Azura's slip.
"...Oops." Azura rolled her eyes, shaking her head.
"Should I ignore that?"
"...Please do."
"..."
"..."
"...So how about this weather, huh?" Corrin attempted, channeling her greatest Felicia energy.
"Cyrkensia. It's a border town in Nestra, near the border of Nohr," came Azura's reply.
"Not a bad lie, I'll believe it."
Screw Corrin and her sharp wit. It was a good lie, too.
"You better."
"..."
"...Corrin?"
"Yeah?" the Nohrian replied, shocked to hear her own name spoken so... sincerely, out of the blue. It kind of felt nice, hearing Azura say it so kindly.
"You know what, I might regret this, I might not." Corrin noticed as Azura steeled herself, as if she were going to lunge forward...
"...Don'tconfesstomewithoutsortingthingsoutwith-"
"Valla."
"...huh."
Very slowly, Azura opened her eyes, almost squealing in disbelief. She opened and closed her hands, and Corrin nearly shot up to the clouds from how high she jumped at the shock.
"I'm missing something. You're as if you just saw your hands for the first time."
"Val... la. Valla. Valllllllaaaaaa. Hehe. Haha! Ahem. Excuse me." Corrin gazed on as Azura leapt up, clearly excited beyond measure.
"I don't think I should."
"Valla. Wow. I'm not dreaming, am I?"
"Who knows."
"Valllllla. Haha,Malakas Astral Dragon Anankos. Hehehe!Valla!"
Astral Sea, Unknown Time and Date
"Achoo! Agh, didn't even know I could sneeze in this form," Lilith mused.
It sure was lonely without anyone from Corrin's nonexistent Anti-Hoshidan/Nohrian war army in Fort Corrin. Wasn't she supposed to round everyone up by now?
Outer Boundary of Knights of Seiros Maneuver Field XVII, 7th Noon of the Blue Sea Moon, Imperial Year 1180
"So whatever is dampening the power on my dragonstone is also preventing you from using your amulet, and also..."
"Preventing me from turning into bubbles like my mother did."
"...Odd. I mean, not that your mother is bubbles, but..."
"Don't sweat it. This. Is. Thrilling. Okay, I need you to make sure you don't repeat any of this verbally when we're not on monastery grounds... just in case. But I'm going to dump so much information on you it's going to feel like I'm insane."
"We're already well beyond that point." Corrin muttered, pulling out some note paper from her bag.
Nohr and Hoshido, two parts of one former whole. Light and Dark, Takumi, Leo...
This was a lot of information, and all of a sudden the two hour trek back to the monastery felt not nearly as long as it could have been.
"So Anankos' power, the same one afflicting King Garon, might also be the source of our crests?"
"I think so. Anyone that can utilize Dragon Veins can also theoretically bear Anankos' Crest. Except..."
"Laslow."
"Exactly. I have no idea how he ended up with one."
"Let's just ask him directly. We're safe from using that word in the monastery, right?"
"Valllllla. Yep."
Azura seemed uncharacteristically chipper right now, to the point that it led Corrin to actual unease.
"...Maybe we should bring Claude in too."
Azura's shoulders dropped a little, and Corrin feared she went a little too far.
"Corrin?"
"Yeah?" came a weak response.
"I... I can actually go back, thanks to this. We need to finish our business in Fódlan quickly, because this is the key to peace between Nohr and Hoshido. And, well, home."
Laslow's Room, 7th Afternoon of the Blue Sea Moon, Imperial Year 1180
"So not just you," Corrin wondered.
"You are correct. If I have this 'minor' crest of Anankos, then it is to be expected that Owain, who is Lucina's cousin, and Severa, who was, er, is Lucina's knight and best friend... uh... they would also have minor crests."
Laslow sat on his bed, quite enjoying this refreshing interrogation. He was very much trapped. By beautiful women nonetheless, still trapped.
"So he whisked you from fallen Ylisse, to Nohr?" Corrin asked.
"We did a few errands in between, mostly in Valentia and what I assume was Valla, and he changed our appearances to grant us anonymity. After all, I do bear the same Brand as Lucina, as well as her naturally dark blue hair. No Nohrian would have that."
"He granted you some of his power while he was still sane," Azura realized. "This had to be about... 2 or 3 years before the events at the border, right? My mother warned me of his ailing state. We had fled Gyges long before then. And so had Corrin with Mikoto."
"Also correct. By then, we had given up on going home. It was our duty to make sure that... his daughter... stayed safe."
"...Me?" Corrin realized. Not that she knew Sumeragi at all, but realizing that she wasn't even Hoshidan...
"...Yep. Cat's out of the bag now, but what's done is done. You're Anankos' heir. Not the only one, mind you, there was that girl that looked an awful lot like Lady Lilith."
"You're giving me just as much to unpack as Azura. How long have you held onto this information?" Corrin asked, feeling a bit... overwhelmed.
"To the grave, milady. Had I known about the curse binding Lady Azura's testimony, I fear that I could have told you as soon as we entered Fódlan."
"...Whoa."
"And there we go. Naga clearly was prescient on her roster for this field trip. It is by no small accident that I get to share news of my homeland right now. Not to mention the vast sum of knowledge Laslow's story contains, too," Azura continued, but paused when she saw Corrin's state. "Hey, you alright?"
"...I'm not even Hoshidan."
Azura sat down next to Corrin, rubbing her shoulder gently.
"...Neither am I."
"Likewise," Laslow added, but realizing he wasn't really relevant to this branch.
"...They call me sister," Corrin muttered. "I don't even know them. I'm a stranger. At least with the Nohrians, we were family. The Hoshidan family seems to think that I'm part of them, too."
"...Because you are. We are," Azura assured. "There's a sea at the end of this river, where Nohr and Hoshido unite in peace. Hold your head up and let's reach those waters."
"We aren't at full strength, and Owain isn't here," Laslow proclaimed, "But by Anankos' blood, you have Ylisse's support."
Corrin nodded, shaking off her momentary distress. She would meditate on this later. She owed Takumi a very deep apology. Azura sensed as much, and offered a hand in aid.
"Will you be fine?"
"Of course. I'm with you, Azura, Laslow."
Garreg Mach Library, 1st Day of the Great Tree Moon, 1196
"Who would've thought we'd find our way back. Hehe. A short chapter, just to get back into the groove. I missed this."
"Welcome back indeed, you two. The students have been eagerly hoping that this ambitious project had not fallen into... permanent hiatus. Many of them have graduated, not knowing how the White Dragons would change history."
"Nah, we'll never leave a story to hiatus. Even if we just technically did. Okay, maybe we've been busy, and stuff."
"Lots of 'and stuff.'"
"...But it would be a real shame not to finish this."
"Robin's been rotting in jail for like 4 years now, hasn't he?" Librarian Flayn chuckled. "However will the White Dragons get him out? I hope these 4 years have a plan to show for it."
Lady von Varley and Lord Gautier gulped.
"...We haven't really thought that far ahead yet."
