Fire Emblem Fates: The Reimagining (Chapter 23: B)

A half an hour later, they hadn’t found Xander or Leo yet.  They were beginning to get worried, wondering if they knew or if they were still on King Garon’s side of the conflict.  After all, Elise HAD said that Xander told her that Garon’s cruelty would pass in time.  Would they stand with these horrible acts that King Garon were committing just because they shared blood?  They knew that, for better or worse, they would find out.

No one spoke as they followed Elise through the dark and lonely halls.  Corrin kept her eyes open and looking for anyone in the shadows.  Not long later, she noticed a figure in a nearby hallway.  Immediately she gripped the Yato’s hilt, prompting the others to take notice of the figure as well.  Before anyone could do anything, however, he brought out a tome and blasted them.  Everyone but Corrin fell back to the ground.  The figure rushed out of the shadows, and Corrin could see that it was Leo!  He headed right towards her and blasted her back into a room behind her, one that she had neglected to notice when she saw him.  The door shut and she could see a barrier spell placed over it.

“CORRIN!”

“LEO!  STOP THIS!”

“Sorry, Elise, but this must be done.”

“GET BACK HERE!”

Corrin heard the voices shouting at Leo as she stood up.  Checking the door, she tried to get it to budge.  She didn’t know much about spells, but this was obviously a very strong barrier spell.

“Corrin.”

A voice behind her sent more chills up her spine than when Flora and Felicia used to wake her up in the morning.  She turned around and saw Xander on the other side of the room with Seigfreid drawn.  He clearly meant to fight her.  In response to seeing him like that, Corrin drew the Yato and assumed a defensive stance.

“It doesn’t have to be this way, Xander.”

He shook his head.

“We both know that it does, Corrin.  You and the other Hoshidans are invading, we are defending.  I am the Crown Prince, you are a traitor.  We were meant to fight from the moment you left us.”

A cackle echoed in the hall, causing Corrin to flinch, and the sorcerer from before appeared in the room.

“Ah, Prince Xander, I’m so sorry that it had to come to this, but I’m sure you won’t let her win this fight.”

There was no remorse in his voice.  Instead it was a mocking tone.  Xander’s grip on Seigfreid tightened, but he was focused on Corrin.  The sorcerer laughed again, and nodded, leaving the two of them alone again.  Once Corrin shook of the shock of the moment, she noticed that Xander was advancing on her.  She quickly brought up her sword and blocked him, but he still was stronger than her, so she pushed away and somersaulted towards the side of the room, where there were some chairs and a desk.  She leaped up onto the desk and thrust her sword down to block the sword strike that was coming for her legs.  She delivered a few blows on his shoulder and arm, but they were minor.  She still didn’t really want to hurt him.

Leaping over his head and doing a roll when she hit the ground, Corrin tried to get some distance between them again.  He was physically stronger than her, so she was just trying to stall until the others could find a way to get to her.  The plan wasn’t working at the moment, however.  Xander closed the distance between them and forced her to connect their swords again.  He had her all figured out, and Corrin had to try and make a new strategy, but that was incredibly difficult on the fly.

A few minutes later, Leo warped into the room and just watched the fight, and not long after that, the Hoshidan Royals came back to the door and were banging on it.  All of those distractions combined with trying to fight Xander was overwhelming for her.  With a strong push, Xander knocked the Yato out of her hand and caused her to fall to the floor.  Her sword slid across the floor towards Leo, just as her Hoshidan family came crashing in.

“Xander!  Stop this!”

Xander ignored Elise’s cry and kept his eyes on Corrin.  He pointed his blade at her with a stern look on his face, then sheathed it.

“If you can’t defeat me, how do you think that you’ll be able to defeat Father?

Everyone stared at him with shock, especially Corrin.  Just two minutes prior he was fighting her, acting as if he was trying to kill her.  What did he mean?  Leo walked over after she was on her feet again.  Corrin was still keeping an eye on them, but Leo stepped forward and handed the Yato back.  The two Nohrian brothers took a look at Elise’s confused face, and knew that she was going to demand an explanation.

“Did you really think that you could sneak out of the castle and go to Hoshido without us figuring out what you were doing, Elise?”

She immediately blushed and looked down.  Leo smirked and nodded at Xander, who turned back to Corrin.

“I’m sure that Elise told you what happened with Father.”

Corrin nodded and he continued.

“As Crown Prince of Nohr, I cannot do anything about him myself.  It would just be seen as a grab for power.  You have to be the one to stop this.”

He paused for a minute to collect himself.

“Try to make it out of this alive.  I don’t know what I would do if I knew that I didn’t train you well enough.  I may have been in denial before, with you knowing who you were, but that doesn’t change everything that we went through together.”

She nodded once again, not sure exactly how to respond.  The thought of Xander telling her to do this was almost unthinkable, but then again, he always did keep the best interests of the people in mind.  Everything was confusing, yet it made sense.  As she gazed at them, she knew that there was one more thing that needed done before the battle with Garon.

“Please.  I need you to find Camilla.  I told her to get somewhere safe, and I think you three should stay there as well.”

The two brothers agreed, and turned to Elise, who was looking at Corrin with a worried look on her face.

“Wait.  Corrin, I’m not coming with you?”

Corrin came over and kneeled down to her level.

“It would get too dangerous.  I don’t want to risk it.”

When Elise saw that Corrin wasn’t going to bend and let her come along, she jumped into her arms and gave her one last hug.  This would be the last time they embraced like this for a long time, so Corrin didn’t push her away.  Leo wasn’t as emotional, as per usual.

“Come on, Elise.  She should be smart enough to not let herself get killed.”

He walked over and placed his hand on her shoulder, hinting that they should go.  Reluctantly, she let her go and started walking away with Leo.  Before he left the room, he turned back and looked at Corrin.

“You’d better not die here.”

He walked out the door, but Xander paused a minute, looking at them all, then left in silence.  Alone with her real family, Corrin’s thoughts turned to the future.  What would happen after this?  If they truly weren’t able to save Garon, as they were told, then Xander would have to become king.  That was possibly the best, worst-case scenario, but she couldn’t be sure.  Azura walked up to her and placed her hand on her shoulder in a silent gesture of encouragement.  They were so close.  They couldn’t stop.  It was almost over.