"You're kidding, right? This… this has to be some kind of joke."

The barest trace of a frown appeared on Mikoto's face as she coolly met his eyes. "Darling, this is hardly something that I would joke about."

"I… I know but…" Anankos searched for the right words but found they alluded him. Instead he opted to waved his hands in frustration. "but this!"

Like always, Mikoto's smile somehow managed to drag him back to reality. Putting a steadying hand on his she waited until the panic and trepidation had almost subsided before continuing. "Dear, I know this must come as quite the shock for you-"

"That's an understatement."

She bit her lip. "But regardless, it doesn't change the fact that it happened. So now we need to figure out what we're going to do."

"I- I…" The silent dragon was still fumbling over himself. For the longest time this scene would have been completely alien to her. A dragon god stressing out over fatherhood? The very notion was absurd! But it was this weakness, this humanity that was part of the charm that drew Mikoto to him and she couldn't help but smile.

"Oh come now, was my getting pregnant really that much of a surprise?" Mikoto teased lightly. "After all, we weren't exactly restrained in our affair. And besides, I'm sure the baby will be fine."

"I'm not worried about the baby Miki, I'm worried about you." Anankos said. "I've seen what the courts are like!"

"You haven't been to court in two thousand years."

"So? Its only gotten worse!" The dragon said darkly. "If they find out you've given birth to my child, they'll waste no time in trying to use you for their own benefit!"

"Let them try." Mikoto sneered. "You know as well as I that I wasn't born into that cesspool. If they try to mess with our child, I'll show them how we handled things out in slums. They'll bite off much more than they bargained for."

"And what about your adopted sister? How do you think she'll react if you start getting a baby belly?"

Mikoto waved the comment aside. "Arete's too busy with her own baby to worry about me." She smiled and stroked Anankos's light blue hair. "Maybe I'll just starting eating more. Everyone'll think I'm just getting fat."

Anankos tried to say something but it only came out as a vague grumble. The next few minutes were spent in serious, yet still oddly comfortable silence.

"No," The silent dragon said with a sigh. "We can't just endure the scandal."

"You have a plan?" Mikoto asked softly.

"I might," Anankos admitted. "But it involves the Outrealms."

"I'm not abandoning my child to grow up motherless." Mikoto rebutted sharply.

"And I wouldn't expect you to. I'm saying that we should move you into one. At least until your pregnancy is finished."

The Shrine Maiden looked at him, suspicion evident in her eyes. "Are you saying what I think you are?"

"Yes."

Mikoto chuckled dryly. "And you think my sister is less likely to notice an extra two years than a couple extra pounds?"

Anankos shrugged. "I doubt she'll notice, you're too beautiful for something as simple as time to mar." He stopped and thought about what exactly she had said. "Did you say two years?"

She smiled slyly. "You don't think I'm going to leave as soon as they're born do you?"

"No, of course not!" Anankos said, backpedaling. "I'm just happy that I'll have you all to myself for a while."

"Well not entirely yourself." Mikoto amended. She paused, as a thought crossed her mind. "Dear, have you ever delivered a baby before?"

"One more push! You're almost there!"

"AAARRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!" Mikoto screamed as she obeyed.

Anankos continued to hold his lover's hand. He hadn't left her side once during the entire process, terrified what could happen while he was gone. The four of them had been in this room for hours, but their ordeal was finally nearing its end. The final sign came as Anankos heard the faint sound of a crying baby.

"Anankos, if you would." The voice was regal and refined; a voice that was used to being obeyed.

He clumsily jumped to his feet, prompting the old man serving as an assistant to chuckle softly. Ignoring him, the emerald haired goddess passed the baby to his father.

"It's a boy." Anankos said, dumfounded in the face of overwhelming joy. "Miki, it's a boy!"

When her only response was another scream Anankos face paled.

"Calm yourself." Naga ordered, "There's nothing to worry about, she'd just having twins."

"Twins?" Anankos said breathlessly.

"Aye." The old man replied. "You're a lucky man, Anankos."

"Sage, I…" He looked down at his baby who was still crying. Not knowing what else to do, he bobbed his son up and down, trying to soothe his crying.

"And… we're done. She's a girl."

Looking up, Anankos watched as Naga wrapped his daughter in a blanket and gave her to her mother. Staring in jubilation, Mikoto stroked the child's cheek. She paused and looked at the goddess, a frown marring her face. "Is she…"

Naga smiled warmly. "They are both completely healthy."

Mikoto breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank the gods."

"You're welcome." Three different voices with various degrees of sarcasm answered her.

She rolled her eyes. Looking at her baby she made a face. "Your daddy and his friends are supper silly aren't they? Yes, they are! Yes, they are."

Anankos couldn't help but smile as he continued to bob his baby boy. "What should we name them Miki?"

"Hmm… Can we name the boy Corrin?"

"After your father?"

She nodded. "He would have been overjoyed to meet him. And it's a good name. Strong, yet caring."

Anankos smiled. "It's perfect. Welcome to your new home, Corrin."

"What about the girl? What do you think?"

"I was hoping we could call her Lilith." Anankos said softly. "It's a name from my tribe. It has a long, illustrious history." He paused for a moment. "It was my sister's name…"

She smiled her approval. "Lilith… Yes, I love it. Come here Lilith, say hi to your daddy."

After handing Corrin off to his mother, and spending a few wondrous moments with his children, Anankos walked over to the two other manaketes in the room. "Thank you for coming. I know you're both very busy."

"Not at all." The Sage replied, smiling. "Do you know how long it's been since a member of our tribe has been born, let alone two? I wouldn't miss this for the world. Besides, after the success of the peace conference in Cheve, everything has been pretty quiet in my neck of the woods."

Naga nodded in agreement. "My sentiments exactly. Since Grima's defeat I've little to do save spoil my own grandchildren, and they're not but babes themselves. Believe me, I'm more than happy to help."

"You are going to let me babysit, right?" The Sage asked, smiling. "After all, someone's got to teach them our history, and we all know you'll get it all mixed up."

"Perhaps when they get a little older." Anankos conceded. "For the time being, I don't think Miki's gonna to let them leave her sight."

"You're right about that." Mikoto cooed softly, her two newborns finally sleeping soundly in her arms.

6 and a half years later-

"Come on Lily! It's about to start!"

Corrin bounced up and down in excitement. "Come on! The parades already going by, Mom will out there any second!"

"I'm coming Corrin!" His sister pushed her way through the crowd, a roll of bread clasped in her right hand. Looking around nervously, she leaned in close and whispered. "Are you sure we should be here? Dad said to stay home."

"He just said that because he didn't know about the festival. If he knew Mom was going to be there he wouldn't have gone out to meet with the old man."

"But how'd you know about it?" Lilith asked softly, her eye still carrying the telltale nervousness of a child worried she'd get caught.

"Uh… that's not important."

"You've been sneaking out again, haven't you! Corrin, Dad told you to stop!"

"I've only gone out a few times! It's no big deal."

Lilith's face scrunched up and she took a bite of her snack, the falling crumbs getting caught on the rough, brown clothing she wore. "I'm telling!"

"You better not!" Corrin threatened, then his face lit up as he saw something behind his sister. "There she is! Lily over there, in front of the big, gold carriage!"

"What? Where? I can't see!" Lily moved desperately, trying to get a better view through the crowd of cheering citizens.

"Here, stand where I am." Corrin suggested, moving over slightly to make room. His view was now a bit obstructed by this heavy gentlemen standing to his right, but it was worth it to give his twin a look.

Lilith looked out across the sea of people to where their mother was walking. "Wow! She looks so pretty!"

Corrin grinned. "Duh, she's our Mom. She always looks pretty."

Lilith shook her head. "Not like that. I mean, look at that dress, it's so white and shiny!"

Corrin had to admit she was right. The golden trim complemented the pristine ivory of her gown. Her ebon hair was beautiful and straight, and even from this distance, he could tell that not a single strand was out of place. But it was not her regal and holy visage that struck the young manakete. "She looks so sad…"

"Huh?" Lilith's attention diverted from her snack for a moment, her cheeks puffed up as she thought about what her brother had said. "No she's not. She's just being serious."

"Why do you think that?"

"Dad said she's a priestess. Priestesses have to be serious. Everyone knows that."

"Oh you're right." Corrin admitted. He looked back out across the cheering crowds, watching the thousands of people cheering for the procession. "Lily, what's a priestess?"

His sister chewed on her bread thoughtfully. "I dunna know. Dad never told us. It has to be pretty important though, right?"

"Well, ya… Why else would she always be working?" Corrin blurted out before he could think better of it.

"Corrin that's not fair." Lilith replied, though her face betrayed her real thoughts. Their mother's absence was a tough subject for the both of them. Their father had impressed upon them how important it was that she remain in the palace, but they didn't really understand the reasoning all that well. They always enjoyed it when she came to visit, but those moments never lasted that long and more often than not, just left them depressed when she inevitably had to return.

Feeling terrible for darkening their trip, Corrin swooped down and lifted his twin sister onto his shoulders, smiling as she squealed in delight. Not for the first time he marveled at how light she was. For someone who was almost constantly eating, she never did seem to gain any weight.

"Corrin! I think I see the royal family!"

"Really?" He asked in excitement. "What do they look like? Are they as beautiful as Mom said? Like in the stories?"

"I don't know, they're so far away." The young silent dragon squinted as she tried to get a better look. "It looks like there's three of them… They all have blue hair, just like Mom said!"

"Ah, come on Lily, try harder! I can't see from down here. Also your feet keep kicking me in the face…"

A cry went out over the crowd. Soft at first, but it rapidly grew until was an overpowering crescendo. As people began to scramble and zigzag like a hive of threatened ants, Corrin felt a seed of worry begin to sprout inside him. "Lily, what's going on?"

"Umm… Corrin I think they're manaketes too."

"Huh? Why do you say that?"

Lilith patted him on the head, signaling that she wanted to get down. "Well, there was a burst of fire at the king's carriage. He must've turned into a dragon and breathed it all around his carriage!"

Despite his sister's hopeful visage, something about the situation rubbed Corrin the wrong way. The mood of the crowd was too… dark. And why was everyone running away? And for that matter, there sure were a lot of guards moving towards the disturbance. "Lily, I think we should go home. We need to get back before Dad does."

"Okay." She answered, patting him again impatiently.

Corrin let his sister down from his shoulders. "You have your dragonstone, right?"

"Uh huh. But Dad told us never to use them around people…"

"I know. I know." Corrin replied hastily, checking his own pocket to make sure he had his as well. "Just making sure."

The pair stuck to the back alleys as they made their journey back to the city outskirts. As they went, they continued to spy more and more guards in full body armor running in the direction of the parade. Each time this happened, the two young dragons would hide among the broken boxes and filth, leaving two pairs of eyes, one gold, one crimson, looking out in a mixture of worry and fear. There were even a few times Corrin could've sworn he heard the clang of metal bashing metal.

But eventually the soldiers would move on, and the two youngest members of the Silent dragon tribe could continue their journey home. Slowly but surely, they traveled through the secret passes and sewers that Corrin had made it his business to know through his various nocturnal expeditions to the city. By the time the sun had begun to set at the end of the afternoon, they were only a few streets away from the holes in the walls they had used to enter.

"Only a few more, Lily. We're almost there." Corrin said, breathing a sigh of relief. "Just a few more alleys and then-"

"Huh, Corrin?" Lilith asked in confusion. "What's wrong, why did you… stop…"

She trailed off as her eyes locked onto what had stopped Corrin dead in his tracks. About twenty feet away, leaning up against the wall of the alley, was a young girl about their age. She was hugging her knees to her chest and for all the world looked to be completely alone. But it wasn't her body language that drew their attention. No, it was the beautiful white gown that was covered in dirt and grime along with the slender golden tiara she wore on her long, sky-blue hair.

"Corrin…" Lilith leaned over and whispered into his ear, "I've seen her before, she was in the carriage with the king."

"I thought you said you couldn't see it that well?"

She glared at him. "I could see it well enough!"

"Ya, whatever." Corrin walked slowly up to the princess. "Um, hello. Are… are you okay?"

The girl stiffened and looked up at him in fear. Sensing her distress, Corrin backed away ever so slightly, raising his hands to show he didn't have any weapon. "It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you. My name is Corrin, and this is my sister Lilith. We-"

"If you're going to kill me, just get it over with." The girl whispered, her voice horse and fearful.

"K-kill you? N-no why would we do that? That's horrible?"

She looked up in surprise and Corrin saw that there were tears running down her face. "You're… not with the rebels?"

"I don't think we are." Corrin leaned over and whispered to his sister. "Lily, what're rebels?"

"I don't know. Something bad I think." Lilith answered, still looking at the princess in wonder.

"HEY ODRICK! WE FOUND THE PRINCESS OVER HERE!"

Corrin turned to see a squad of soldiers descending upon them. They all wore the signature azure, gold trimmed armor of the Vallite royal guard. In seconds they had cornered the three children. Staring up at the group, Corrin was horrified to see splotch's or red blemishing the light blue and gold of their armor and weapons.

One of the men, the only one without a helmet, stepped forward. He was middle aged by Corrin's reckoning. Or at least he thought so, as his father never got any older, Corrin's experience with age was more conceptual than practical. He had two, fierce green eyes and a vibrant orange beard that was beginning to show patches of grey. In his left hand was a rough, iron ax and in his left a shield.

"Princess Azura. I'm sorry it took us so long to find you." His voice was curt; what Corrin had come to associate with the guards. But there was also an edge of cruelty to it that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand straight up.

"A hollow gesture, an apology from a traitor. Wouldn't you agree Sir Odrick?" Though the words she spoke were strong and regal, the princess's voice was meek and uncertain. From the corner of his vision, Corrin thought he could see her hands trembling.

"Am I traitor for putting the realm before a single family?" Odrick answered, advancing towards them ever so slightly. "Valla has been in decline for over two hundred years. The fact that you're only now seeing revolt is merely a testament to generations of lies. Lies told by your family." He pointed his ax towards the princess and she flinched. A couple of men laughed at that. "But don't worry princess. As things stand now, you're worth much more alive than dead, at least until our patron decides what to do with you. Hmm? Do you have something you'd like to say before you die, urchin?"

As the man had been speaking, Corrin had stepped forward, putting himself between both the princess and his sister. And though he was trembling desperately, he did not break eye contact. "N-no milord. I'm just not much in the habit of speaking to men like you."

"Men like me? I'd expect not for such a runt. Probably never met a nobleman in your life, let alone spoken to one."

Corrin shook his head. "No milord, you misunderstand. Not a nobleman." He fumbled around in back pocket, hoping desperately that his sister would pick up on the action. He stared deep into those vicious green orbs. "An oath breaker."

He barely had time to blink before he was knocked aside by the flat of Odrick's ax. As he lay sprawled in the dirt, his head throbbing and his vision fuzzy, he could hear Odrick's voice. "Take the urchins and dump their bodies in the gutters. Make sure to teach that one some respect before you do so. I'll take the princess to the rendezvous."

"Lily," Corrin choked out. "Take the princess and run. I'll hold them off."

"W-what? Corrin, you can't, Dad told us never to-"

"On second thought, kill the boy and girl now." Odrick ordered. "It'll teach the princess to- What the hell!?"

Corrin's body began to vibrate as the power that was his birthright flowed through his veins, liberated from the restraint of the dragonstone. Scales and wicked horns grew and sprouted where none had been previously. Bat-like wings formed and powerful muscles flexed. In the span of a few seconds, the transformation was complete, and the revealed manakete was crouched close to the ground, its eyeless visage watching his enemies for any sign of further aggression.

The standoff lasted for all of thirty seconds before Odrick and a few of his bolder allies started laughing. Grinning he turned towards the speechless blue-haired girl. "Really now princess? Do you think us children? Like we would ever be so foolish to buy into such a pathetic illus- OOFF."

Odrick was cut off as Corrin rammed into him, his horns knocking aside the ax and shield before crashing into his gleaming armor with a hideous screech. Though he was still only a child, an infant by manakete standards, his draconic form was vastly stronger than any human's body. The single head but was enough to hurl Odrick down the alley and into four of his men, knocking them off their feet.

Hearing Lilith cry in alarm, Corrin turned just in time to see a sword streaking down towards his undefended back. Cringing in alarm, he was pleasantly surprised when the sword bounced harmlessly off of his armor-like scales. Smiling internally at the traitor's horrified reaction, Corrin swung his tail like a mace, dipping underneath his shield and catching him mid-torso.

He had just finishing congratulating himself on a job well done when three more guards threw their weapons aside in favor of tackling him. Corrin might have been stronger than a human, but three was just a little more than he could handle, especially for 6-year-old with such little combat training.

His salvation came in the form of his transformed twin grabbing two of them by the ankle and ripping them off of him. With only a single guard left Corrin was able to jump onto the wall and then body slam the unfortunate man into the dirt.

Scrambling back to his feet, he was just in time to see Lilith slam the two men she had grabbed together before hurling them into the rest of the soldiers. Motioning for her to fall back, Corrin dashed past both Lilith and the princess and swiped a claw at one of the soldiers Odrick had been knocked into. Once again, Corrin found himself staring down multiple enemies, but this time he knew that Lilith was watching his back. The geometry of the alley was working heavily in their favor; limiting how many guards could fight the dragons at once, while also giving added protection to the princess. That was, until the guards took the logical next step.

Three arrows pierced through Corrin's wings, two in his right and one in his left. Crying out in anguish, Corrin could barely focus on anything but the pain. From the screams coming behind him, Lilith had also been hit.

A gilded boot crashed violently into his face, but unlike with the arrow wounds, Corrin barely even felt the kick. "Damn, Odrick. You didn't mention nothing about any godforsaken dragons. I thought you said all the legends about the royals were nothing but old wives' tales."

"I did. They are." Odrick grumbled. "They're nothing more than some failed experiments done by the royals. Dragons. Damn man, they're barely the size of a pony! Legends say the first dragons were the size of the royal palace."

"I guess…" The first man didn't sound too certain. "Well, what do we do with them?"

"Bag them with the princess." Odrick commanded, striding past Corrin and towards Azura. "But let's clip their wings first. We don't want them flying off now do… we…"

A shadow had fallen over the alley even though the sun had only just begun to set. The newfound darkness was followed by a roar as loud as a thunderclap. In addition, gale force winds had begun to flow through the alley, blowing the garbage around in eddies and flurries of filth and grime. But it wasn't a consistent flow, instead moving like the beating of a heart. On and off the wind came, bid by the beating of the massive wings that blackened the sky above. Looking up, Corrin felt his heart sore.

Anankos had found his children.

Hovering up above the alley, the bowman already eliminated in fit of fury, the gigantic, castle sized dragon's crimson eyes narrowed in hate as it saw the arrows in his children's wings. Roaring in indignation, Anankos let loose a flashflood of draconic energy the same black and blue as the night sky. The wave of power eviscerated everything in the alley that wasn't between Corrin and Lilith to such an extent that even Corrin began to feel a tinge of fear in the face of his father acting so unhinged.

In an instant only Odrick, Corrin, Lilith, and the princess remained the rest being reduced to ash. As Odrick stared around in horror and disbelief, a glowing tree ripped through the alley floor and grabbed the guard, lifting him skyward as it grew. Eventually, Odrick was staring into the orb like face of the senior Silent dragon. "You attacked my children."

"I'm sorry! I didn't know, I- I- I promise I didn't mean to!" Any discipline or professionalism that had been ingrained in him had evaporated in the face of certain death.

"There are arrows in their wings. The wings of mere children. My children." The branches tightened on Odrick, prompting him to yelp. "Who would order an armored thug to attack children. Who are you working for?" Anankos's eyes glanced down to the alley and for the first time caught sight of the princess, still cowering against a wall. Widening in recognition the crimson orbs returned to the traitor. "You attacked the princess of Valla?! Was she your target, insect?"

"Yes." Odrick choked out. "We didn't know- about-" the branches tightened again, "your kids-"

Anankos grew visibly more relieved. "Then this is just another pathetic scheme from some stuffy noble." The tree brought Odrick ever closer to the dragon's eyes. "Which one?"

"Never met- face to face-"

"Oh? So you have nothing left to tell me then?" Odrick shook his head rapidly. "Well… In that case…" The tree that held Odrick began to glitter dangerously. "Embrace oblivion." Anankos said as he crushed Odrick with the tree.

"I'm sorry dad. We didn't mean to get into trouble." Corrin mumbled meekly.

Anankos sighed. "It's alright Corrin. I know how much you and Lily miss your mother."

"Does that mean you'll come with us next time?" Corrin asked hopefully.

Anankos winced. "No. I think we've made enough of a scene for the time being. Besides it'll be a couple weeks before you and your sister's wings are fully healed. Until that time, neither of you will be leaving the cave."

"Ahhhhhh, come on Dad! That's not fair." Corrin pouted. "I thought you said you weren't mad."

"No, I said I wasn't mad at you for transforming. That doesn't change the fact that you and your sister snuck out without telling me."

"It was Corrin's idea." Lilith's voice wafted down from the top bunk.

"That's not the point Lily and you know it." Anankos chided gently. "Besides there's plenty of fun to be had here. I promise you both that we'll have a wonderful time. I brought a new book back from my visit with the sage."

"Really?!" Corrin asked, sitting up in excitement. "What's it about? Is it a storybook? Does it have Ike in it? He's always been my favorite-"

"Now, now. There'll be time enough for that tomorrow. Right now, you both need to get to bed early so that your wings can heal on up."

"Okay."

"Yes, Dad."

Anankos kissed both his children on the cheek and blew out the candle, leaving only the soft glow of the luminescent plants as a nightlight. As he was about to close the door, to their room, he heard Corrin's last question.

"Dad, did the princess get home safely?"

Anankos stopped and smiled. "Yes. After you and your sister climbed onto my tail, both your mother and the Queen showed up with a battalion of the royal guard. They escorted the princess back home safely."

"And these were good guy guards, right?"

"The goodest."

"That's not a word." Lilith mumbled, half asleep.

Anankos chuckled. "That it isn't Lily. That it isn't. Good night Corrin. Good night Lily."

Disclaimer- This is a nonprofit, fan-based work. All characters and settings belong to their respective owners.