A/N: How… Supportive. Yasei/Lilith... oh yes, Lilith is available to get Supports!
Consort: War has begun, so the next step is… Supports? Sure, why not! You should always get the Supports before the next battle for them Stat boosts! ...and stronger bonds.
I felt like the tactical plan was pretty solid… even though I'm not great at Strategy games. Also, that was Takumi's first appearance, too. Indeed, and most of it can be attributed to Yasei knowing who she wants to side with before the battle even started! Honestly, how long would two armies wait for someone to make a choice? I did hold back on the standard 'Fire Emblem' flare for extravagant moves… but, I can say this: There will be at least 1 'fancy' Critical Hit per battle, preferably 2, but never more than 2.
Ah, Lilith… you aren't just floating in a temple and eating all of the food. Yes, it'll be wonderful to have her as an actual combatant and person that the people within the army can bond with.
Antex: Oh yes. Jakob and Felicia are here, instead of one staying back and being summoned in over halfway through the war. Felicia is a klutz, but… what's this? Yasei actually prefers that Felicia does her hair?!
Oof, yeah… poor Camilla, she's going to be out for a week or so, and while her battle-injury is similar to Reina… at least Reina's happened before the war started. Having a Royal out for at least a week is going to be a huge blow to Nohr's progress and morale… doubly so when I stressed how much stronger a Royal is to the average soldier. Lathna is absolutely bursting with energy, isn't she? Lilith… again, no longer floating in the temple and hogging some of the food. Supports? Coming right up.
Nah, she's just recovering from her fall from before the war… right?
Yasei did take the time to consider the question beforehand, as well as do some research and… ah, the Hoshidan Family Bloodline research… don't forget those characters, mmk?
Prt: Flayn…? (Googles) Ohhh right, her. Er, I've only played Three Houses once, the Edelgard route, Crimson Flower? I can't really speak much for it, or Flayn. I can vaguely recall her hosting a… fishing tournament?
Yeah… especially considering the lack of Shifters in Three Houses! *grumbles immaturely* Where's my romanceable Dragon? Lupine? Vulpine?
The world fades to white after I stepped on the portal, and it re-figures into the shape and design I saw last time. Seemingly endless green fields. Lilith stands about five steps from me, in her Human form, she stares at me with neutral eyes. "So, Lady Corrin, what did you wish to speak of?"
"Sister." I frown, already feeling a bit agitated at her continued insistence for…
"I am." She confirms, "Yasei, my half-sister, daughter of Queen Mikoto."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"I did, thirty-five times… Princess Camilla ordered me to cease trying to 'fill your head with false memories'." She plainly replies.
"No, you did not. I would've remembered." I shake my head, "So, what's the real reason?!"
"Your mind has been muddled, sister. Very few believe those who speak of Valla." She informs me. "Whatever has been holding your mind seems to have released."
"...Father said he was trying to reach out to me." I take a moment, wait a minute…
"While I had to constantly reach out to Father for him to talk to me…" She mutters.
"But he told me he spoke to you often!" I exclaim.
"He did, huh? I'm sure he did!" She shouts back. "That must explain the endless Silence he got his title after!" Oh, oh dear…
'Father?' I reach out mentally, before saying to my half-sister, "Lilith?"
"I got to hold a telepathic conversation probably three times since leaving Valla." She admits with a grimace.
"I didn't get that many… and most of them didn't even last a few sentences." I try to calmly respond.
"Try a few words." She grits her teeth, and... wait a minute.
"Hold on! This is supposed to be a wonderful reunion where I finally get to refer to you as my sister! Why are we arguing?!"
"Because Father only ever paid any real attention to you! It was always 'My Yasei' this, 'My Yasei' that! You weren't even with him for a year, yet I essentially was forgotten the week I hatched from my egg!"
"And how does yelling at me help that?!" I, uh… yell back.
"The whole time I was acting your servant, I failed to see why Father would prefer you. I retained my memories after leaving Valla. My mother is the most powerful of all the Astral Dragons. I was able to walk within an hour of my birth, I could talk and cast spells within the first day. I could fully defend myself from a bandit in the first week. I could conjure and move entire lakes before the end of my first month, and yet… he still focused on you. He praised you when you learned to crawl. I didn't get any of that!" Her voice is cracking at points, yet… she doesn't cry, despite her body trembling.
"Sister…" Oh, it sounds like there have been a lot more problems than I assumed. Hrm. "What was your mother like? Is your dragon form based off of hers?"
She sniffles, but still, no tears. "Mother is the most beautiful of Astral Dragons… she told me Father described her as a 'constellation that was plucked straight from the nighttime sky'... and then they mated."
I frown, "Sister! That was sounding like a start of a beautiful moonlit date, followed by a romantic stroll through the forests, or maybe he took her to the ocean and held her hands, and..."
"She was in heat." Lilith casually shrugs off. "It's not like Father needed to display his power or exert dominance, he's one of the First Dragons, after all. Sister, they're pure-blooded Dragons, Dragons don't court."
"And my mother?"
"I wouldn't know, I lived with Mother. I got to step into the castle once, maybe twice." Oh dear, her anger is returning. "Doesn't matter, the Astral Plains are much more lovely than any castle humans can build."
Stay on her good side, I can root out the issues and try to mend them over time, instead of pulling off the entire bandage at once… because it seems like there are way too many problems to do at once. "And this is the Astral Plain?" I ask, gesturing around us.
"This is one of them, yes. My mother's, actually, but she lets me use this area for my own." The area around us is, aside from the grass, very barren.
Nohr is almost more lively than this place. "Really? I would expect more… things here?"
She tilts her head. "I have a den to the South of here, there's an ocean slightly past that. A forest to the West, an animal hunting ground to the North of that. I also have a small mineral deposit to the East, but I've been unable to keep it enriched. This is just the entry area, I keep it cleared for the day that I do grow powerful enough to bring more than a few people at a time."
"Can you show me where you stay here?" I ask.
"Of course!" She smiles, "Alright, straight South of here…" She brings out her Dragonstone and shapeshifts into that smaller dragon form, with her Waterstone clutched in her front paws. "I'll race you… it's literally a straight line from here."
I pull out my Dragonstone, to which she… raises an eyeridge? She must be surprised that I was able to make one! "You're on!" I shapeshift into my much larger Dragon form. "Alright, three, two, one… go!" On that, we… er. I charge ahead, and Lilith flies. Despite the far superior muscles and speed allowed by my Dragon form, Lilith proves that she's no slouch, and not only does she end up out-moving me, but she does so by a huge margin. "Y-You're using… Vallite Magic!" I notice small spots of water dropping off of her.
She then turns her head, gives me the most wry smirk her Dragon form can do, and… [Like a tidal wave!] I can hear a… rumbling behind me, and I don't need to look to know. I can smell it. Water. Lots of it. It's also coming in faster than I can run. Even with an extra thousand or so pounds on me, the tidal wave lifts me off the ground and I'm sent forward fast.
Still not as fast as Lilith, though. "L-Lilith! Sister!" I call out, a bit frightened, and as I look ahead, I can see a vast ocean. I can hear her laugh. This is the single most cruel 'Shove you into the water' moment ever. Indeed, once I'm no more than a few feet from the ocean, Lilith disperses the tidal wave, and I'm sent falling into the ocean water.
Thankfully, my dragon form is apparently outright amphibious, so breathing ocean water isn't a problem. It isn't as salty as I thought it would be. Anyway, I swim up and scan for Lilith…
She isn't on land.
I look around and… my breath catches.
With the ocean water, Lilith… within a single minute, has formed a 'dragon' that is about… half the size of Father. Still, that means the size is at least hundred of me, even in Dragon form. Lilith stares me down… "This is the power I command, sister… what can you do?" Oh, oh dear… I can hear that.
Wait. She isn't angry. She is… prideful. She wasn't speaking with anger earlier, her pride was hurt, which did lead to anger, but… ah, I see. I think. I doubt it's the entire issue, but now I know that sister is filled with pride.
And as the caring older sister, I'm not going to hurt her pride. "That is impressive, sister. You've done very well, I'm afraid I have only recently learned Vallite magic." I gently reply, as I shift back.
"Exactly, that's… huh?" She pauses, and the water 'Dragon' loses its bonds, and it splashes back into the water. She floats down to me. "Cast something."
"Do I really…"
"Are you able to?" She persists.
I… slowly raise up my hand, and cast my most powerful non-combat Vallite magic spell that also didn't cause me an extreme drop in water. [Ripple.] And thus, like an awkward gaseous expulsion at the dinner table… I cause some ripples to form in the ocean.
Lilith remains silent, for a minute. Then two. Then she starts laughing, she reverts to her human form as she does so, falls into the water, and continues to laugh, she laughs so hard that her face turns red and she sinks a bit, but it's clear she can breathe water, regardless, as she re-surfaces without choking up water. "A… a… a c-c-child c-could… d-do more than… th-that!" She points a finger at me. She leans back into the water and submerges again…
Her legs have been replaced with her dragon form's 'fin'. Huh.
Am I embarrassed? Totally, but… seeing her laugh and de-stress like that is absolutely worth it. Lilith surfaces once more, and I… hug her. "I love you, sister." I strongly inform her.
She startles, caught in the middle of a giggle and a gasp from the hug. It takes a minute, but she does return the hug. "I'm sorry I yelled at you, sister. It wasn't right."
"Shh, it's alright. Big sister is here for you."
"Big sister…" She trembles a bit in the hug, but we hold it.
We return via portal after spending about another hour in her Astral Realm.
A/N: Ah, it seems there's a lot more to go on for Lilith, huh? She has quite the change in backstory, but that's not quite all… seems like there will be issues to talk about, over time, and some other kinda-subtle connections.
Alright, see y'all for the next Support! I'd like to get through a few before returning to the main plot.