Chapter 5 – Outsiders

All good things had to come to an end. After spending some more time with Ryoma – even sharing a meal with him – he was eventually forced to send her back to her cell. But this time, he ensured that she and her companions had better futons and clothing, as well as better cleaning supplies much to their relief. He even had some books sent to them to spend the time. This along with the better food Sakura provided them with made their stay much more bearable.

They were still prisoners, but this change made the Nohrians thankful that Takumi was not the king. Then again, the archer would've killed them long ago.

She was thankful to not have to witness Xander's execution. Ryoma later told her that Sakura had been with Elise after the execution. At least she had someone to stand at her side while she mourned. Laslow took it heavily though, crying at his failure as a retainer, something he now had in common with his friends.

Corrin just felt… nothing. She should mourn the big brother that helped raise her, but how could she? Now that she was aware that not only did he keep the truth from her, but that the original affection he showed her was under orders? That might have changed over time, but to know that he too had seen her as a pawn against Hoshido…

She buried herself into reading, though Ryoma did invite her out a few times to talk in private, alongside Elise and Sakura. Azura remained in her cell, though she didn't dare ask why, lest she let go of those precious moments. Not surprisingly, Hinoka and Takumi were nowhere to be seen.

Maybe it was for the best.

It was a couple of days later that a conversation among her comrades caught her attention.

"–ushing further into Nohr, from what we gathered. With every territory rebelling and the army crushed, it would be best to surrender, but Garon will never do that," Arthur said, having regained his strength thanks to the food.

"I don't understand. They seem to be able to counter everything Nohr did," Flora said from her cell, not having said anything in forever. Corrin had the feeling she blamed her for their predicament, which wouldn't surprise her.

Laslow went to his door window and spoke through the bars. "Yukimura was a good tactician. And the Hoshidan Royals and their generals are not pushovers either."

"But we were pretty even in terms of skill and we had more manpower when using the Faceless," Severa said, though there was clear disdain in her voice for the use of the undead creatures. Corrin could understand that. Their creation was one of the things that painted Nohr in a negative light.

"They must have found some good tactician to help lead them," Odin mused out loud.

"It seems our cousin appreciates your work, little brother."

"Hey!"

A sigh accompanied a tired response, "Yours, too, sister."

Corrin could hear the trio's bodies tense as the owner of one of the voices walked into the dungeon. Her steps were calm and purposeful. Looking through the opening of her cell, something the rest of her comrades also did, she saw three people they had never seen before. They walked with purpose and frowns on their faces, each carrying themselves with poise and power.

At least, the Nohrians hadn't seen them before.

"L-Lucina?! Marc?! Morgan?!" the surviving retainers of her fallen siblings shouted as one.

"Owain. Inigo. Severa," the girl with the long, blue hair said, looking at each prisoner with a stony expression. The two younger persons flanking her wore similar outfits and looked quite alike. Twins, if Corrin had to guess. "It seems that our timing is impeccable, so we may explain your confusion."

"W-What are you doing here?" Odin asked, voice trembling in a mixture of surprise and fear.

The older girl's reply was of icy anger. "It should be obvious by now, dear cousin."

"Cousin?" Corrin heard herself asking. "Excuse me, but who are you and why are you calling them those names?"

The older girl turned to her with a raised eyebrow before her eyes widened in some sort of recognition. "Ah, Princess Kamui. Or is it Princess Corrin, now? Never mind. I suppose we haven't been introduced yet," she asked before leveling a glare to the red-haired retainer. "Selena, if you would be so kind to introduce us?"

The no-nonsense tone silenced any biting remark from the red-haired girl.

"Guys… Princess Corrin, Princess Azura. These are our friends. Princess Lucina Lowell, Prince Marc Lowell, and Princess Morgan Lowell of the Halidom of Ylisse," the mercenary explained, shocking those present. "The rulers of our home realm, and our true lieges."

Corrin looked at the trio with a new perspective and she could feel the power radiating from them. The sword strapped to the eldest girl exuded power that reminded her of the Yato. Despite their young age, they carried themselves with the poise of war veterans.

"And this is our cousin, Prince Owain Lowell, though he will be lucky if he keeps the title after this whole debacle. The other two are Inigo Sirot and Severa Albiot, friends and members of the Ylissean nobility and it's military," the elder princess said, before offering Corrin a polite smile. "I wish I could say it's a pleasure to meet you, but I fear the circumstances are not apt for such pleasantries."

"What are you doing here, Lucina?" the newly named Owain asked again.

Lucina's smile left her face as she turned to the dark mage. "You didn't think you could just take a deal from an otherworlder, travel to such realm, and Naga wouldn't see it fit to inform us?"

"You… what?" he said in a tone resembling that of a strangled man.

"Naga sensed an intruder similar to Grima enter our world," Marc started to explain. Corrin was burning with questions, but she held her tongue, feeling they would get answered. "How he recruited you and you came to this world! Supposedly to deal with another dragon and yet what do we find? You helping a mad king conquer another country!"

"Hey! It's not that simple!" Owain denied.

"Yeah, do you think we were happy assisting a conqueror?!" Severa said in righteous indignation. "But we couldn't stand idle after seeing how the commoners of Nohr live! People suffer from famine while Hoshido has plenty of food that they throw away! They could've shared it but didn't! It's not like Plegia that had plenty of land for crops and fishing villages!"

Marc didn't look convinced. "Maybe they would've been more willing had Nohr tried negotiating first instead of launching raids and attacks on the east? Their culture is one of conquest, like Walhart's. That's how they are. How many territories did they add to their empire through force?"

"Despite centuries of grudges, King Sumeragi was willing to discuss peace and start trade with Nohr," Lucina said, disappointment in her voice. "I read the treaty he offered. Nohrian ore for Hoshidan food at a very favorable rate. Even the potential of betrothals between the kingdoms. Yet, he was cut down and his child stolen."

"...Even so, we were asked for help and we offered it. We made a deal and kept our word," Owain said stubbornly.

"You mean how he promised you to fix our future?" Marc said, frowning at them.

The trio looked stunned at that. "H-How do you know about that?" Inigo asked, still shocked.

"As Lucina said, Naga felt an intruder and soon after you guys disappeared," Marc explained, crossing his arms and leaning against one of the Inigo's door. "She used her powers to reach the Outrealms and see what happened to you since your disappearance. The new entity had the power to block her sight while he was in our world but caused quite the ripple when you left. She learned many things…."

"Like how you were tricked with an empty promise," his twin finished with a frown. "Just like mother and Grima are separate beings, so is the dragon and the man that recruited you. You should know better than taking such offers."

"Tricked?" Inigo asked as his voice gained a sound of dread.

Morgan looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Did you actually believe a being that has the power to fix our future would need your help? Of three mortals, none of which carries the tools needed to perform the Awakening? Don't be arrogant. The defeat of Grima was the work of an entire army, not just you three."

"He said he needed people that had fought against dragons before," Inigo said, though now there was doubt in his voice.

"That is true. He needed the help, or more precisely the pawns, because he lacks the power to do so himself," the elder princess stated. "I'm not sure what his full plan is, but clearly he needed outsiders to do his bidding. I know he asked you to look for someon–"

"But he showed us! The restored pastures! The forests! The graves for our comrades!" Owain shouted in desperation.

Lucina closed her eyes and gave a pained sigh. "It was an illusion."

"W-What?"

"Not even Naga, who is at her full power, can do that. If it were that simple, Grima wouldn't have taken such a long time to just laid waste to our world. Dragons are powerful, but not as godlike as some people think. They have access to powerful magic, but things like restoring an entire world? No."

Marc grimaced and looked away. "You should be aware… our future no longer exists."

His friends recoiled at that statement. "What do you mean!? It's just another outrealm!"

"Not entirely correct. Time-traveling is messy. It's never without its consequences. Before leaving, Grima had killed everyone except us. For an outrealm to exist it needs to have certain things, or people, to continue existing. With everyone dead… reality simply saw no point in having a dead world and erased it," Morgan explained, pacing angrily.

"If we had succeeded on our own, we would've eventually died out without enough people and our world would've been erased anyways. We're all disowned by time, which is why we didn't create paradoxes with our younger selves," Marc said, looking at the ceiling with a frown.

Owain didn't back down, though. "And yet, you then knew Garon was being manipulated. That this war was started by someone else."

Corrin could barely register what she was hearing. Time-travel. Other Worlds. A dragon behind everything. Manipulating other to do his bidding.

"Are you saying… Garon and Nohr are being manipulated?"

Lucina looked at her, nodding, before turning to Owain. "Yes, but you overestimate since when he was being manipulated," the older girl said. "Maybe he wasn't a conqueror like his ancestors in his youth, but his militarization didn't happen overnight. He only increased the desires that were already there."

It was true. All the Nohrians knew their history. While the details of the Cheve Ambush were not fully known in Nohr, everyone knew that at that point Nohr was being extremely militant and aggressive.

"...Even so, we were asked for our help," Inigo insisted. "We would've helped regardless of the reward! We didn't even need one to begin with."

"It's one thing to help kill a mad dragon. That we understand and even approve," Lucina said, before scowling at them. "But it's another to help a conquering nation to subjugate another!"

Owain growled at his family. "We're going in circles! We already told you! It's more complicated than that!"

"Well, good thing everything worked out wonderfully, right?" Morgan said sarcastically, before leveling a seething glare at them. "Of course, you idiots had to leave the door to our world open!"

This confused the others. "What are you talking about?"

Lucina crossed her arms as she began her tale. "Once you left and Naga informed us of the incursion, things turned messy. We had a little… infestation."

"Another attack?" Lucina asked as her father entered the war room.

The Shepherds were discussing how to proceed with the mobilization of their army against these strange new enemies. There were those that thought Plegia was behind this, but Queen Aversa denied it. After she discovered the truth of her past and took control of Plegia, she had become very cooperative with Ylisse and Ferox. Not only that, but her kingdom was also under attack.

"We received word that Southtown has pushed back an attack from those hulking monsters. There is also word from the border that such creatures have been attacking Plegian and Feroxi troops," Chrom said as he read the report. "But the dukedoms of Themis, Talys and Pyrathi have been under heavy attacks, with some of their further towns razed to the ground."

"I've been studying the captured samples we got. The magic feels like that of the Risen, but… foreign," the tactician queen said, looking at her notes. "I don't know how to describe it. Certainly draconic in nature. The dead have been turned into those things."

"Another dragon like Grima?" Sumia asked, nervous at the implication and she wasn't the only one.

The queen grimaced at that but couldn't deny it. "It's the most likely scenario, but there shouldn't be any more dragons of such power in our world," Robin said, trailing off as she frowned in thought. "What about the troops we captured? The ones that are fully human? Did they say where they are from?"

"They claim to have been sent here to seize land in the name of a King Garon, from the Kingdom of Nohr," Stahl explained. "Vaike and I couldn't get anything more than that from them."

Cordelia looked at her husband incredulously. "Nohr? As in the mythical Dusk Kingdom?"

"Is it possible that they traveled from an Outrealm?" Ricken offered. "I mean, we traveled to other worlds, so it's not like others can't do the same."

"It's indeed possible," Robin said, rubbing her chin in thought. "We have time travelers amongst us so it's not farfetched that something or someone from an Outrealm to come into our world."

"Could this being be behind the disappearance of Inigo, Severa, and Owain?" Chrom asked, with crossed arms.

Lucina saw how everyone spared a glance to the parents of said teens, who look both grim and hopeful… Except for Henry, who was smiling like always.

"I am afraid so, Awakener."

A flash of light engulfed the room, and soon the Shepherds found themselves in the familiar Temple of Naga, located inside the Outrealm Gate.

"Naga! Do you know what's going on?" Chrom asked as they all bowed to the Divine Dragon.

The woman nodded to them, her voice echoing through their bodies. "Partially. But first, let me summon everyone to explain what I have found out."

A moment later, the rest of the Shepherds, including those in Ferox, Plegia, and Valm were summoned to Naga's Temple. After a short greeting, they all turned to the demi-goddess for an explanation.

"I brought you here, for there is much you need to know," Naga said to them. With a wave of her hand, an orb of light manifested before them as tendrils of light slowly surrounded the Shepherds. "Allow me to show you."

Flashes of the other worlds flooded the minds of the Shepherds. How the kids were recruited. The story of Hoshido and Nohr. How Nohr had killed the Hoshidan rulers and conquered other territories before falling to the dark influence of the Dragon Anankos. About the curse in place.

"Well… This is a cluster fuck," Robin said rubbing her temples as she felt a migraine coming.

"Those idiots!" Lissa shouted, shaking Henry in her fury. "When I get my hands on Owain...!"

"Oh Severa… Why?" Cordelia said, leaning against Stahl for comfort. "She should know better..."

"Inigo..." Olivia said with tears in her eyes, as her husband hugged her closely.

"I will beat some sense into that stupid son of mine," Lon'qu grounded out. "To make such decisions so rashly..."

"Calm down, everyone!" The Exalt ordered, calming doing his comrades. "So, our missing trio were manipulated and tricked. Unfortunately, that doesn't excuse them from continuing to help a kingdom like that. From what you showed us of this world, our best choice would be to ally with Hoshido," he said, earning a nod from Naga. He sighed. "Nohr is clearly already compromised and I personally can't side with a kingdom so similar to Walhart's."

The declaration earning grunts of agreement from those present, especially Say'ri, Virion, and Cherche.

"They seem to be similar to Chon'sin in culture, so I volunteer to be part of the first contact party," Say'ri said.

"That's a good idea. I will go with you, along with a proper entourage," Chrom said. He then turned to his wife, "Robin, could you handle the logistics for our mobilization?"

His wife just gave him a smirk. "Honey, please. Remember who you're talking to. Take Marc with you. You might need a tactician. Lucina and Morgan will stay with me so they can help me with the preparations and we don't put both Falchions at risk."

Chrom nodded. It was a solid plan. "Alright. Seems we got our work cut out for us."

"Making contact with the Hoshidans was a challenge," Lucina admitted. "We had to prove we were not from Nohr, but thankfully King Ryoma granted us an audience. Queen Say'ri was a great help thanks to their cultural similarities."

"Needless to say, Father and Mother are not pleased with you. Neither are your parents nor the rest of the Shepherds," Marc added with a disapproving frown in his face.

"That was pretty stupid on your part. What were you thinking!?" Morgan scolded, pointing at each other.

"Why are you so angry, Morgan?" Owain asked, and while Corrin was not familiar with the girl, she could tell her anger went deep. "I understand we made a mistake but–!"

"But that mistake almost costs my entire class their lives!"

Her cousin stuttered and paled just like his friends. "H-huh?"

Her twin moved to her side and put his hand soothingly in her shoulders. "Take a deep breath, sister."

Morgan did so, closing her eye to calm herself, if only for a moment. "I work as a teacher on Bern -a village an hour away from of Ylisstol. It's a small village so it's not heavily protected," she began to explain, and Corrin felt dread start building up in her gut. It sounded just so familiar.

Corrin swallowed and heard herself asking, "Did… any of them...?"

"No," the robed girl said, understanding what she meant. "It was sheer luck that that day Laurent and Kjelle went with me to bring some school supplies. Had we not been there..." Morgan trailed off for a moment, before shaking her head and regaining her fire. "Because of you guys, Naga can't close the portals so it's like we're fighting Risen again. What's worse is this time we were fighting against those Faceless things, the Invisible Soldiers, and even Nohrians under Garon's orders!"

Lucina sighed, massaging her forehead. "Going to Nohr, working under a tyrant king into conquering peaceful lands? You might as well have helped Gangrel and Walhart to conquer Ylisse!"

"I-It's not the same!"

"Is it not?!" Morgan exploded with anger. Clearly, she was the most temperamental of the siblings. "Aunt Emmeryn tried to negotiate with Gangrel and got killed for it, just like King Sumeragi fell to Garon at that so-called peace conference! Now Nohr is trying to 'civilize the savages' as they say, including us!"

"A country using dark magic to create undead soldier sounds quite a lot like the Grimleal using Risen, doesn't it?" Marc said, making the trio flinch.

The dungeon remained silent, no one daring to get in the middle of the dispute.

"So, what's going to happen to us?"

"You won't be killed if that's what you're wondering," Lucina said with her arms crossed, much to the relief of her friends. "Our parents negotiated for your lives. The Shepherds will assist Hoshido and their allies on taking down Nohr and the source of the Invisible Warriors." The princess then leveled a glare to them. "You're lucky. There were quite a lot of Hoshidans and even some of our allies asking for your heads. We don't want a war, not even for you guys, but you're lucky the Hoshidans are willing to spare you as long as you don't remain in this world."

"So that's why you guys were spared," Corrin said in realization, walking towards her windows, noticing everyone else did the same. "My siblings have hinted that you know more than you let on. This deal… Does it have to do with this real enemy everyone keeps talking about? And you knew!?"

She felt betrayed and wasn't that ironic.

"I'm sorry, Lady Corrin, but we literally can't talk much about it," Inigo offered, though it was a weak apology to her ears.

"Despite our harsh words, they can't talk about the topic," Lucina said, surprisingly "We have a small blessing from Naga to allow to divulge some information. This Dragon, whose name we can't pronounce due to a curse, is the one manipulating Hoshido and Nohr into war using the invisible soldiers. They were asked to kill him by the being that came into our world and left the door open. If that was his intention or not, we do not know."

"To discuss more, including his motivation, would trigger a curse he acted to protect his existence and kill those that spoke of it," Morgan explained to them. Corrin could understand the why no one had ever suspected a third party. If even speaking their name could kill you then gathering any information would be extremely difficult.

"Such a strong opponent could not be left alone, so of course we had to interfere," Lucina said, looking at all of them. "And the first step to prove our intentions were, with Prince Takumi's supervision, to capture you."

"WHAT?!"

"Why are we being sent away from the Fort Jynta? It's our only stronghold right now," Silas asked his friend as their party made their way through the Hoshidan forest.

"You how my fa– How King Garon has been lately," Corrin said, a tired and strained smile on her face. "Our losses are straining the army and we are on thin ice already. It's best not to question him or..." she trailed off, remembering the horrible incident with Sakura.

Silas grimaced and decided to change the topic. "So, what now? Where are we supposed to go?"

Corrin took out the letter they got earlier that day. They had received a message from a wyvern rider about a reassignment. "We are to take out the Tohoku outpost. It's supposed to be highly protected now as their troops have been moving south."

"I wish I could've stayed with Sakura," Elise said with a sad voice. "She looked so broken, but I didn't want to anger father..."

"It's for the best, Elise..." Corrin soothed. "I just hope this ends soon. There already has been too much bloodshed."

At her side, Kaze walked, his attention on his surroundings when something made the hairs on the back of his neck stand. "Wait... something is… GET DO–!" his warning was silenced as he was slammed against a tree by a blast of wind, shocking everyone into action.

"KAZE!" Corrin shouted as she took her dragonstone. "EVERYONE! WEAPONS OUT! Felicia, heal Kaze! Flora! Buy us some time with a wall of ice!"

The blue haired maid nodded and turned, ready to freeze their attackers when she felt her magic being drained. "Wha–?" Flora managed to say before her eyes rolled to the back of her head and she fell unconscious.

"Dark magic! It's draining our strength!" Nyx said, taking out her tome to counter the spell. "I will– agh!" she screamed as a kunai embedded itself in her hand, making her drop the tome.

Ninjas fell from the shadows, throwing paralytic smoke bombs and nets to capture her troops. The horses panicked, throwing Silas and Elise to the ground as they ran into the woods in fear. This made them vulnerable. Corrin could only watch as one by one her comrades were captured and knocked out. It took mere moments to do so.

Shocking herself out of her stupor, the princess gripped her dragonstone and was prepared to transform when a familiar arrow made of wind knocked it out of her hands with incredible accuracy. Gritting her teeth, she drew the simple sword she now used instead of the dull Yato. Her senses were on high alert, but that didn't help her when a miasma of dark magic engulfed her being. The princess gave a silent scream as she felt her energy being drained from her body. The sword fell from her grip, clattering to the ground as she sunk to her knees.

As darkness crept on the edge of her sight, Corrin's last clear sight was the glaring eyes of her younger Hoshidan brother.

"Good work everyone," Marc said, smiling widely at his team. Having Tharja and Henry drain their mages of their power with their hexes, while the Hoshidans used sleep darts on them made taking down most of the troops an easy task. "Especially you, Gerome."

"I have to admit, I'm surprised this worked," Takumi said, shaking hands with the young tactician. "It was fortunate that one of your comrades shares the looks of a Nohrian so closely. Otherwise, they wouldn't have fallen for such a trick."

"Just because Minerva is a wyvern and I wear black doesn't mean I'm Nohrian," the young man said, hiding his scowl with his mask. The wyvern growled making the Hoshidans tense but was soothed by her rider.

"I understand that now. My apologies, Sir Gerome, but please understand that this is a very strange situation," Takumi said with surprising respect, earning a nod from the wyvern rider.

Marc nodded, keeping the diplomacy between the two parties was a challenge, but he was up to the task. "It is quite a strange situation, but one that works to our advantage. The fact that only Nohr uses wyverns and they don't know about us gave them no reason to suspect Gerome of not being Nohrian."

"You were true to your word. I will inform Ryoma of this and formalize our alliance," His face then turned into a scowl. "Now, my troops and I will move the prisoners to the dungeons."

Morgan nodded. "We will accompany you to the meeting spot. It will be safer that way."

"Both parties parted ways before you woke up. After that, the Hoshidans were much more cooperative," Lucina continued to ignore the shocked Nohrians. "Marc helped plan Lord Takumi's assault on Fort Jynta, while Morgan led Princess Hinoka's troops while she battled Princess Camilla. Mother, father, and I were in other battlefields, thinning the Nohrian forces," she explained, further shocking the Nohrians with her explanation. "In fact, it was mother who planned the attack that captured Prince Xander and eliminated the bulk of the Nohrian army. Gerome and Cherche were key on spreading misinformation in the Nohrian ranks."

Corrin could only gape at them, feeling both rage and respect. Such a simple strategy that worked only because of an unforeseen wild card. Two wyvern riders spelled the doom of the Nohrian advance.

"Queen Robin… Of course. No wonder we felt into that. She planned everything. Herding us into the canyon. The time of the assault. The collapse on top of the bulk of our army," Inigo said, before giving a hollow laugh. "Gods, we were so afraid of Grima, and yet Robin's mind is the thing that scares me the most."

"Be careful how you speak of our mother, Inigo. You're already on thin ice," Marc nearly growled, while Morgan was oozing anger.

"In the end, it was for the best that we withered your army," Lucina explained, looking at the various cells. "Had you progressed and ended up killing either King Ryoma or Prince Takumi, we would not have the tools to defeat the true enemy. We need the five sacred weapons and their wielders to kill the dragon behind everything. We believe Falchion could do the job, but we are only sure if Yato is at full power."

"And yet, you allowed Prince Leo and Prince Xander to be executed. Isn't that hypocritical, Lucina?!" Owain shouted. Corrin understood that as his retainer, he had been close to Leo.

His cousin took it in stride, however. "Maybe, but luckily we have three persons with the blood of the Divine and Fell Dragons in our side that fit as decent replacements for the dusk weapons."

Corrin and her comrades didn't understand what she meant, but the Ylisseans did.

"...You," whispered Severa.

Lucina nodded and looking closer, Corrin saw something that shocked her.

Marc had Siegfried strapped to his hip, just like Morgan had Brynhildr on hers.

"You… You can wield the sacred weapons of Nohr!" the dragon princess exclaimed in shock, earning the shocked attention of her comrades.

"What–?!"

"How?!"

Nodding, Marc looked at her to explain, "Yes. As we said, we have a very special mix of dragon blessed bloodlines. Lucina can also wield Siegfried, but she already has her Exalted Falchion." He pointed at the golden sword that now she noticed had a blue glow on it.

"We have already performed the Awakening of this world with the help of Naga and now Princess Sakura has the Omega Yato on her side," Lucina said, shocking her friends. "We have been training her to wield it, though it seems Yato has been helping her as she has been improving at an astonishing rate. Even with her new puppet arm."

"The Rainbow Sage was supposed to be the one to unlock that power but was killed by Nohrian troops to prevent Hoshidans from gaining the power of his trials," Morgan explained, her tone sad. "We learned that he was one of First Dragons."

Corrin had heard of the Sage before, that his trials granted power. Xander had completed it, and so had Ryoma. It seems that Nohr wasn't willing to risk anyone else gaining that power.

Morgan's voice then took a more confident tone. "With both Exalted Falchion, Mystletainn, and the five Sacred Weapons of this land we should be able to easily handle the true enemy."

"The Dragon you mentioned… the one you can't talk about?" Corrin asked, trying to piece together this mess. "Even with all this information, you haven't mentioned anything about his name and location, other than he is a dragon."

Morgan looked at her, giving her a sad smile. A different expression than the angry glares she gave her friends. "I'm sorry. I know we've dropped a lot of information on you, but understand this. We can't talk about anything directly of this enemy. But they are the ones behind the Invisible Soldiers, bringing our friends to this world, sending troops into our kingdom, as well as manipulating Nohr. Or more precisely, pushing Nohr over the edge much earlier than it would've happened naturally."

Lucina nodded in agreement. "First, we will deal with Nohr," she said, making the prisoners cringe. "The Shepherds and the Alliance will assist the Hoshidan Army on their attack on the Nohrian Capital. We can't allow a nation such as that to keep a military that threatens other and conquers those it can."

"All of the Shepherds?" Inigo asked, with a trembling voice.

"Yes," the three siblings said with finality.

"Gods… Nohr doesn't stand a chance then..." Severa said with a weak laugh.

"Why? What is so special about these "Shepherds?" Jakob asked, frowning in disdain at the foreigners that threatened his homeland.

"The Shepherds started as a voluntary militia by the Then-Prince Chrom Lowell to protect the Halidom," Inigo explained, and despite his situation he had a tone of pride in his voice. "They eventually gained new members and became the tip of the spear of the Ylissean Alliance. All of them are war veterans and survivors of continental wars. They were key on preventing the fall of our world to mad cults, conquering kings, and even a mad Dragon."

"At this point, each of them could've give any of the Royal's a run for their money with their skills and strength. Especially the Exalt and his Queen," Severa explained. "We are... were part of that militia, alongside our parents."

That was not little praise to their skill. Each of the Royals were powerful on their own despite their age. Even Sakura and Elise were proficient in the areas of healing for their age. It also spoke of the might that will soon be falling on Windmire.

"Pretty words will get you nowhere, Inigo," Lucina said amused, though her face took on a thoughtful frown. "Though I'm surprised. You guys were much stronger than these before you left."

"A lot of our strength was sealed away by A– by the Dragon," the dancer said, biting his tongue. Corrin caught it though. It seems the Dragon's name started with A.

"And despite that, you still had the skill and strength to impress the rulers of these lands," Silas said. "If that's the power you have when sealed..." he trailed off, the implication clear.

The trio said nothing, and for a few moments, the dungeon was engulfed in silence.

"Then what's next?" Owain finally asked.

Lucina mere raised an eyebrow at him. "For now, you will remain here."

"What?! But–!"

"It was part of the agreement. This way the Hoshidan can ensure we don't just run away with you three. Consider it a time out."

Severa bristled at that comment. "We are not children, Lucina!"

"Them stop behaving like such!" the princess snapped back, shocking the trio into silence. Taking a calming breath, she continued, "Consider the situation that you're and us are in right now. The Hoshidans have enough justification to execute you so don't make matters worse!"

"Despite the large number of foolish decisions you made, you are still our friends," Marc added, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "But we can't let you out and possibly jeopardize our alliance with the Hoshidans. We are putting our lives on the line to fix your mess."

"We could work together!" Owain said, his voice desperate and hopeful. "Everyone here is a strong warrior! Now that Hoshido knows Nohr is being manipulated and with the Shepherds help we can end this! This could bridge the gap and bring peace to both countries."

"You can't be that naive, Owain," Lucina scolded. "Did you not remember what happened with Valm?"

"What do you mean?" Severa asked as Corrin could see the dark mage turn pale.

"For the love of..." Morgan muttered. "Remember. Not all the dynasts bent the knee to Queen Say'ri. Nor did many of the Houses loyal to Walhart. Even after he died, they kept fighting after the death of the Emperor. To prevent them from rising again, what were we forced to do, even if we loathed the idea?"

"...We extinguished their Houses," Owain said, shocking all those in the dungeon, especially those with ties to the nobility.

Lucina nodded. "The same thing we did the Grimleal Houses after the fight with Grima," the elder princess said, her voice tired. "We love peace, and try to keep to Aunt Emmeryn's ideals, but sometimes drastic measures are necessary. If they surrender, they will be spared, though their strength will be limited. If not, well… We will end this, one way or another. But we can't let Nohr remain strong, lest they seek revenge later against Hoshido or our lands. The dimensional tear might never close, so border control will be established by both Hoshido and Ylisse, as the main portal is in our territory. That's the burden of a ruler, Owain."

"Not that they have much strength left," Morgan said with a shrug. "Our intelligence says that a lot of the Lords and their heirs have fallen in battle, already destroying their houses. There are still those fanatically loyal to Garon, but they will be dealt with."

"And even if all these weren't the case, we can't let you join us. You don't have the trust of our troops, nor the Hoshidans. It would be foolish of them to trust Nohrians to fight at their side."

"Do you not trust us, cousin?" Owain asked with a heartbroken voice.

"We don't trust your judgment," clarified Lucina. "It will take time for our trust in you to be fully restored." She then leveled a harsh glare at the three. "But believe me, this discussion is far from over."

With that, the three blue-haired outsiders left the dungeons, leaving an oppressive silence behind.

"So..." Corrin finally said, her voice cold. "I think there is much you need to tell us. Let's start with this talk about the future."

She could hear the three foreign retainers gulping.

It had been weeks since the Hoshidans and their foreign allies departed for Nohr and she knew the end was near. Azura could feel it. Everything was coming into place. And yet she felt only the weight of her failure. Corrin was wrong. It wasn't her fault. The whole responsibility fell on Azura's shoulders. Her mother entrusted her with the secrets of Valla and duty of dealing with Anankos.

A duty she failed.

Why didn't she act before? She could have taken someone else to the Bottomless Canyon long before the war broke out in full. But she would've needed to convince more than just the Royal Family to step out of the safety of Queen Mikoto's barrier to get to the Bottomless Canyon. To them, she was an outsider. A Nohrian that could be leading them into a trap. No Hoshidan would be foolish enough to allow such a valuable prisoner so close to Nohrian territory. Despite how well the royal family treated her, it didn't change the fact that she was a prisoner.

A foolish failure of a prisoner.

Tears fell from her eyes. She was a coward. She couldn't face everyone once they defeated Anankos. She knew they would. She had faith that the Hoshidans and their allies would triumph where she failed. But Azura wouldn't be here for the aftermath.

"Va– I can't do it… I'm too much of a coward."

Days passed and every day she tried to muster the courage to just end it. She meditated and gathered herself. Every ounce of courage she had left was poured into one word. She was willing to die to stop Garon. To defeat Anankos and reclaim her kingdom. And yet she had so much trouble just facing the fact that she failed in it all.

She was a coward and failure and deserved a death befitting of such a person.

"Azura? Are you ok? You've been silent for a while."

Azura didn't reply to Corrin's question. Her fellow princess had grilled her for answers after she tripped in the conversation with the Ylisseans. They had fought and hadn't spoken since then. Part of her didn't want her last words to her to be those born of anger and frustrations, but they would've to do.

She just whispered one word. One that no one could hear.

"Valla."

She closed her eyes, waiting for the end to come.

Nothing happened.

"...Azura?"

She didn't answer her fellow princess, too shocked by equal parts defeat and elation.

The curse was broken.

Anankos was dead.

She couldn't help herself. She laughed. It was a beautiful, pained thing that rang through the walls of the dungeon, but what else could she do? Her curse had been lifted from her shoulders and yet none of her actions had contributed to the end. Her mother's death had been in vain.

"Azura? What happened?" Corrin asked with a worried tone.

"Oh, Corrin… there is so much I need to tell you… Let's start with the Kingdom of Valla and the Mad Dragon, King Anakos…"

AN: I think I ranted all I wanted in this chapter. People always write. "The trio return home after Conquest and are happily welcome." What? Did they omit the part in which they help a mad king conquer another nation? They were there to protect Corrin and defeat Anankos, not help Nohr massacre Hoshidans. Because that's what they were doing under Garon's orders. Corrin's and even Xander's good intentions meant nothing under Garon's rule.

Thanks to Xbro Kong, Shipping Rates Apply, and Temporal King for the help with this chapter.

Recommendation for good Post-Conquest fics I have read.

Heir by Cherry101 on AO3

Mankai by ThisIsNotAQuill on AO3

Across the Realmsby Axuqa on AO3