Chapter 5: Corrin's First Festival

"Here we are, daughter! My throne!"

A week had passed, and Corrin (Kamui, as everyone else kept calling her) was enjoying her stay in Castle Shirasagi. Ryoma reminded her a lot of Xander, but that was where the similarities ended. In his own words 'I'm much better looking, I bet.' Hinoka was really attached to her, while Sakura seemed as though she wanted to be close, but did not make the effort. Even Azura seemed happy to have her around.

The only one who was not receptive was her other little sibling, Takumi. But Corrin was sure he would come around. At that point, Corrin privately wondered what the odds were that she would have two families- both royalty, both consisting of an older brother, older sister, younger brother, and younger sister. Not to mention how both sets of brothers had legendary weapons.

Corrin pointed this out to Mikoto, and she said 'speaking of legendary, come look at my throne' and practically dragged Corrin by the arm all the way to the throne room. And that was how Corrin found herself in the throne room with Queen Mikoto.

"This is a magical throne! If you sit on it, it will purify you! No more pesky Nohrian brainwashing! Oh and if you're secretly not my daughter and are in disguise, it'll show me that too. But I trust you."

Corrin tilted her head. "Magical… throne? From where?"

Mikoto's eyes shot open. "Uhhh… Let's just say it's from back home."

"As in, here?"

The queen smiled. "No silly, I didn't live in Hoshido all my life! But I'm the queen now, and that's all that matters." She gestured to the throne. "Now please sit on this throne. Like I said, brainwashing. That might be keeping you from remembering us."

Corrin shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

Corrin walked up to the throne and was about to sit down. Mikoto bounced on her heels in anticipation. "Weeeell? Do you remember me yet?"

"I… haven't sat down yet."

"Lady Mikoto?" In walked an older man with glasses and bluish hair. He wore a dark blue uniform. "The ceremony will begin soon."

Mikoto snapped her fingers. "That's right! Thank you, Yukimura." Then Mikoto turned to Corrin. "Kamui, this is Yukimura. He's the strategist of our military. You know, the guy who tips the scales."

"I don't know why everyone says that phrase in particular…" Yukimura lamented. "But greetings, Lady Kamui," he said with a bow.

At that point, Ryoma led all his siblings and Azura into the room. This included Takumi. He had a long, silver ponytail and wore white and light-blue clothes. He groaned. "Aww, why's she here? What, you gonna let her be the new ruler instead of Ryoma?"

Hinoka shoved her elbow in Takumi's side. With a glare, she asked, "Can you not?!"

Corrin ignored her brother's biting question and turned back to Mikoto. "What's going on?"

"Oh, we're celebrating your return and I'll publicly announce that you came back!"

Corrin frowned. "Oh… I see. Look… Mother?" Still sounds weird. "I'm starting to think I really am your child, but I really don't know if I should stay here."

"Pssst! You shouldn't! … Just so you know!" Takumi stage-whispered. Corrin ignored him.

"I still have another family back ho- … Back in Nohr. This feels a little fast, especially since I still don't remember you."

Mikoto smiled anyway. "Well that's what the chair is for!" She waved her hand. "Oh, but you can sit in it later. Hinoka, Azura, Takumi and Sakura can guide you around town so you may be more familiar with it. I'll stay here and talk to Yukimura."

"MEOW!"

Mikoto's cat had found its way into this conversation. She picked it up and smiled. "Oh and I can't forget you, Fake Kamui!"

"MEOW!"

Corrin winced. "Er, you can just keep calling her Kamui. I'll stick to Corrin."

Shirasagi Castle Town's festival was in full swing, and everyone seemed to be having a good time. A guy in a flame-on-black kimono and with spiky blonde hair walked up to a food stall.

"I'm Guy Fujito and if your diner is freaky, I'll find it! You guys have been telling me I gotta try this roasted potato place in Shirasagi Town, Alm's Potatoes. So let's head on over and try a bite at Alm's! Where they do food their way!"

The old lady running the stall was confused. "… Who are you talking to, sir?"

"RIGHT HERE!" screamed Guy. The woman began to whimper.

Elsewhere, Sakura was shuffling her feet and trying to lead Corrin around.

"H-how are you liking the festival, Sister?"

Corrin smiled. "It's so cool! I've always wanted to go to a festival!"

Azura walked up to the sisters and gave them roasted potatoes. Sakura bowed as thanks, and Corrin nervously copied. Azura began to speak, even though she was chewing her potato. "There was," chew, "a weird person," chew, "at the stall," chew, "yelling," chew, "but I grabbed some," chew, "while he," chew, "wasn't looking," chew.

Bits of potato landed on Sakura. She was ignored by her elders, as Corrin looked around in amazement. "This place is so different from Nohr! It's bright and warm, there's more space, I eat food with sticks, and everyone's nice!"

"Hey, that was my potato you creep, give it back!" Takumi cried. Guy Fujito was eating Takumi's potato and talking with his mouth full.

"Naw here'sh how i'ssh done. Awwwm!" He swallowed. "Aah! Now that's a potato." He gave out a large, extended belch. "Welp, compliments to the chef! That really took me to Flavor Town!"

Corrin was eating her own potato, and had a thought. "Sakura!"

As her sister exclaimed her name, more potato bits hit Sakura.

"… Y-y-yes?"

"I just remembered," more potato debris was landing on Sakura, "there's a girl in Nohr close to your age. We got along well. Her name was E-"

"BOO! NO ONE CARES!" Takumi called. Hinoka walked up and smacked him behind the head. "Ow!"

"C'mon guys, Mother is about to make her announcement."

Everyone was standing around the statue in the town square, listening to Mikoto talking. Corrin stood behind her. One audience member had a wide hat, and there was a disgruntled man standing behind him.

"Move! I can't see the princess's face! I can't even tell if they're a princess or a prince at this angle!"

As Mikoto was talking, a strange man appeared in the audience. He wore a cloak, and much of his skin was not even visible. With one hand motion, he telekinetically pulled Ganglari from Corrin's sheath.

"Huh?!"

"Hm?" Mikoto seemed less concerned.

The audience member held Ganglari skyward, and an eye opened on the sword. He spoke with a very gravelly voice. "Yep. This is my sword now."

Without warning, he planted the sword in the ground and there was a massive explosion. Shards of the sword were flying everywhere. Mikoto's eyes shut, and she hugged Corrin tightly.

"Mik- Mother?!"

"Gaaaaah!"

Mikoto was shielding Corrin from the debris, and only too late did Corrin's mind finally process what was happening.

When things quieted down, Corrin opened her eyes to find that she was now fully supporting Mikoto's weight. The queen was gasping for air.

"… hey… kamui… or corrin… are you o-okay?" Corrin could not find any words, she only nodded. "oh… good… okay… i think i'm dying… sorry…"

Corrin could feel nothing.

"B-b-but we were… going to be a family…"

Ryoma marched right up to the mysterious figure, pulling out his electrical sword. "YOU FIEND!"

The samurai swung his blade, but the man teleported to another area of the town square. As that was happening, Kaze appeared in a puff of smoke and found Corrin and Mikoto.

"Ooh… I'll just… put her down somewhere for you," he said with a wince. Once Kaze removed Mikoto, Corrin fell to her knees.

"We were… she… I was her… but… and now…" Corrin's breathing became erratic, and she clutched her head in pain. "Not again… not again…"

"Lady Kamui? What-" Kaze was interrupted when Corrin released her head and screamed to the heavens.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

Kaze shielded his eyes as the wind intensified and the air became moist. But when he regained his vision, he saw that in Corrin's place stood a strange creature. A quadrupedal beast with scales matching Corrin's armor, and antlers atop its faceless head. Sakura slowly walked up to the scene.

"S-sister?"

"RAAAAAA!" the dragon that was once Corrin let out a mighty roar.

Corrin then stampeded away, searching for Mikoto's killer.

Corrin raged through the town, her new tail knocking over what remained of the festival and whichever poor soul happened to be in her way.

"I'm Guy Fujito and we're here in Flavor To- OOF!"

Corrin kept running through town, until some strange warriors appeared before her. They were seemingly invisible, unless seen at the right angle, and they were wreathed in bright purple flames. These invisible soldiers charged at Corrin, but she kept going and stomped on all of them. She began to stomp on them repeatedly, until she got tired and collapsed.

"Weeeell, he ain't my boy but the brother is heavy-"

Azura's familiar song resonated with Corrin, and the dragon stood back up. She roared, and then ran off. Azura walked out from behind a ruined stall and watched the dragon leave. "Hmm. I wonder if I should warn her of the Wyrmslayers. … Nah, she'll be fine."

"PLEASE MOVE, KAZE!" Sakura cried. She was furiously waving her festal in the air over Mikoto's corpse, but Kaze shook his head.

"Milady, I-"

"J-JUST LET ME TRY!"

"Oh dear…" Kaze inhaled through his teeth. Suddenly, Rinkah ran over to him.

"Things are heating up!"

Kaze turned over. "Rinkah, you're still here? Don't you have anything else to do? Oh never mind. Look, just watch Lady Sakura while I go support Lady Kamui, okay? Okay."

Kaze threw down a smoke bomb and vanished, forcing Sakura and Rinkah into coughing fits. When the smoke cleared, Hinoka and Takumi were approaching, themselves coughing. Then, Hinoka's heart sank when she finally saw Sakura futilely trying to heal their mother.

"Mother…"

Ryoma and the mysterious killer were having a swordfight. Their swords were locked. "You… killed her! …Who are… you?!"

"Oh. I see how it is. You don't even remember? What a brat," said the killer in his gravelly voice. Ryoma's eyes widened.

"Wait…"

A shuriken hit the stranger right in the face. "AAAH!" Ryoma seized the opportunity and hit him with a side slash. "GAAAAH!"

"You don't get to scream yet!" Ryoma prepared another attack. "You haven't suffered enough!"

Ryoma swung, but the opponent had recovered in time and dodged. Kaze appeared behind him to attack, but the man turned around and cut the ninja with his own sword.

"Aaah! I've… failed… again…" Kaze went limp and fell over. Ryoma shuddered.

"First Mother and all those innocent people, now Kaze…"

"Actually I'm still alive," the ninja corrected.

"Be quiet, Kaze! I'm avenging your memory!"

Kaze would roll his eyes if he could keep them open. Then suddenly, he heard a noise. "Oh, that was fast…"

Ryoma and the swordfighter looked and found that Corrin had made it to the scene of the battle. The samurai gasped. "What is that?!"

"It's… It's Kamui…" Kaze breathlessly stated.

"Oh gods, she's not stopping, is she? Better move." Ryoma quickly jumped out of the way, just in time for Corrin to pounce onto the killer, and slam her front feet onto her prey repeatedly.

"RAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

"Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow."

"Yeah," cheered the dragon's brother, "hit 'im once for me! And one to avenge Kaze too!"

Kaze moaned.

With a mighty roar, Corrin delivered the final blow on the killer, causing him to disintegrate. "What… a shame…"

Corrin was not finished rampaging though, and turned her attention to Ryoma. She growled. "URRRRRRRR!"

"Whoa! Easy, Kamui! I'm your 'amigo' as they say in Nohr!"

Azura finally caught up to everyone else, singing a song the whole time. "… 'Cause Uptown Funk gonna give it to ya/Saturday night and we in the spot/Don't believe me just wa-AAAH!" She got jumped by Corrin, and found herself on her back. The dragon's foot clamped around her throat and brought its open mouth dangerously close to Azura's. "Not… cool… Corrin…"

Not… cool… Corrin…

Cool… Corrin…

Corrin…

Corrin…

The dragon reeled back and let out an uncharacteristically weak roar, before shrinking in size. There was a bright flash of light, and suddenly the princess was back to normal, on her knees.

"My head…" She opened her eyes and saw Azura lying on the ground in pain. "Aaah! Azura, I'm so sorry!"

Azura weakly and silently gave a thumbs-up from her position on the ground. Corrin wiped her brow. "Phew! Good." Her eyes shot open. "OH GODS! I just remembered my father! And… my fake father- Oh gods!"

King Garon and a samurai much like Ryoma were in a city together, at night. Garon wore a wicked grin.

"YEEHAW!" Nothing happened. "…That means to shoot."

Before another word could be spoken, a spray of arrows soared through the air. Each of them hit the samurai. As the man stood there in pain, Garon waltzed up and pulled out a giant axe.

"Heh-heh-heh! Like slaughterin' a pig!"

"PAPA! NOOOOO!"

"AAAAAHHH!"

"HEH-HEH-HEH-HEH! HAPPY TRAILS, SUMERAGI!"

"Waaaaah! Papaaaaa!"

Garon turned around and scowled.

"Someone shut this brat up! … Aw, no matter."

He came closer.

"I'm yer daddy now! What's yer name?!"

"I WANT MAMA!"

"Aaah! Danged brat! Whatever, I'll think of a name for you later!"

Corrin was still in the ruined town square, as everyone else was gathering. Sakura was healing Azura, while Rinkah guided Corrin's other siblings over to Ryoma and Corrin.

"… And he ate corn that night and that's why he named me Corrin. It all came back to me!"

"Yeah, too little, too late," said Takumi, pouting.

Ryoma put a hand to his chin. "The Dawn Dragon's blood runs in our veins, while the Dusk Dragon's blood runs through the Nohrian royal family's veins. But you're the only one who can actually become a dragon…"

Azura weakly gave Corrin a glowing stone. "Here, take this Dragonstone. It'll let you turn back to normal if you turn into a dragon again."

"Wait, you just had that by coincidence?" asked Corrin. She still took the stone. "Wait, the festival! Nohr! We gotta-"

"We gotta get revenge!" Hinoka cried, punching her palm.

Corrin seemed lost. Revenge… No, I have to know why Fath- King Garon would do that to me. But… Mother is dead… But I have to know! But… what is there to know?!

Kaze sat up from his previous defeat. "Say, Lady Kamui. Didn't King Garon give you that sword himself? Right before we fought? You know, the one that exploded?"

Corrin's eyes widened. "… Oh gods he did. So it was his fault! ... Maybe."

Ryoma waved his hand. "Eh well at least you can know it wasn't your own fault, then."

"Uh, how do you know?" asked Takumi. "She shouldn't have come in the first place! Do any Hoshidans have exploding swords? No! But I bet Nohrians would come up with something like that! In their… exploding sword labs… I bet they have one!"

Takumi's rant was deteriorating, so he turned his attention to Corrin. "And you! You're not my sister, and you never were, Corrin!" He put extra emphasis on her name. "I already have two sisters, I don't need any more!"

Sakura sniffled. "Wh-why didn't you include m-me, Takumi?"

"Yeah, what gives?!" asked Hinoka.

"What?! No, you two are the sisters!" explained Takumi. "Azura doesn't count, she never counted!"

"Well. You're rude," Azura huffed.

Rinkah swung her fist excitedly. "Things are heating up!"

"You already used that one!" Kaze yelled.

Yukimura walked up to everyone and cleared his throat. "Ahem. If everyone is done bickering, I have an important message." The mechanist had everyone's full attention, and all went quiet. He began to sweat. "Uh, I… stage fright… No, Yukimura, focus!" He slapped himself. "Okay! So as it turns out, Lady Mikoto had a feeling this would happen. She felt that King Garon might do something like this. Or perhaps an even bigger threat."

Bigger threat? Is it… Is it possible there's something making Nohr do this? But, how could that even work? Corrin stood back up. "Was there anything else?"

Yukimura nodded. "Yes. That."

He pointed at the ruined statue from the town square. A golden sword was sticking out. Suddenly it glowed and ejected itself from the statue, flying straight into Corrin's right hand.

"Ta-daaaa!" Yukimura cheered. "You found the divine blade, Yato. Equip it to your B Button and hack at bushes to find money!"

"It was just in the statue?" asked Ryoma. "Huh. Takumi and I got our divine weapons in a less… odd way. Well whatever. Kamui, the Yato chose you. So you were meant to have it. These weapons don't make mistakes."

"First time for everything…" Takumi muttered, before Hinoka elbowed him again. "Aaah!"

Ryoma walked over and put a hand on Corrin's shoulder. "We're going to face the Nohrians, and we're going to get justice for what they did to our mother and these townspeople and Kaze."

Kaze angrily thumped his head on a ruined food stall. Repeatedly.

"Will you go with us, Sister?"

Corrin nodded. "All right… I will."

Kaze turned away from his aggravation. "Oh, just so you know- there are massive amounts of Nohrians gathering at our borders. So we should probably get on that."

Ryoma went off with Yukimura and Kaze, while Hinoka led Sakura and Takumi away. Rinkah just disappeared, leaving Azura alone with Corrin.

"I… don't know how to feel," confessed Corrin.

Azura shrugged. "Okay."

"I mean… I have the feeling I'll have to go up against my family from Nohr. I… really want to give Garon a piece of my mind, but… he's been my father. Except he killed my father… but revenge? Revenge sounds good, but it's still revenge…"

"Just do what you think is right. What could happen?"

Note to self: yell at Azura later.

Corrin found herself in a field much like the one from her dreams. Right before her were the two eldest brothers in her life, prepared for combat. Behind them were the Nohrian forces. Behind Corrin herself was the Hoshidan army.

"Corrin!" Xander called. "You're safe! Hurry, Little Princess! We'll keep you safe from any Hoshidans!"

"Whoa there, pal. Kamui is our princess," said Ryoma. "You and your evil king stole her from us!"

Corrin's anxiety deepened. "Xander… Nohr is invading Hoshido?!" I shouldn't have doubted Kaze, but still… seeing it for myself…

He nodded. "That's right. Father said their barrier had fallen, and that those, and I quote, 'danged hippies need to be dealt with' or something like that."

Ryoma glared. "The barrier fell because your country sabotaged a festival and killed our mother, the queen!"

Xander winced. "Ooh… He did not mention that part…" Corrin felt hope. Perhaps Xander would be sympathetic, and this could be resolved peacefully. "Well unfortunate as it is, orders are orders."

Corrin almost felt her heart literally break.

"Xander…" But then, a familiar dragon's roar echoed, and it caught everyone's attention. Camilla and her wyvern were leading another troop of soldiers, including Leo and even Elise.

"My poor, poor Corrin! I'm so glad you're safe! What trials these brutes must have put you through!"

"Oh. Corrin. Good to see you're safe."

"Yaaay! Hi, Corrin!"

Corrin slowly nodded. Sakura walked closer to her. "K-Kamui, how do they know you? A-are these your other siblings?"

"Some family they are! They let you get sent here and blow up our capital? If you really loved our mother, you'd cut them out of your life!" Takumi threatened.

"I bet they didn't even love you! Would they go searching for you if you went missing? I would! I have!" declared Hinoka. Sakura tilted her head.

"B-big sister, didn't they just come here to look for Kamui?"

"Be quiet, I'm making a point!"

Ryoma turned away from the Nohrians to face Corrin. "Don't listen to these Nohrians, Kamui. They're scum, and will say anything to sell you their lies!"

Xander scoffed. "At least we don't dress our commanders as crustaceans! We have a thing called 'dignity' in Nohr!" He then turned to Corrin. "Come home, Little Princess. We can end this war right now, right here-"

"RIGHT HERE!" said Guy Fujito from behind a bush.

"-and we can be a family again."

Corrin was petrified. "I… I…"

All eyes were on Corrin. She glanced around, seeing all of her siblings waiting for her answer.

Ryoma and Xander both seemed expectant. Hinoka and Elise might have broken into tears at the wrong word. Leo was simply waiting. Camilla tightened her grip on her dragon's reins. Sakura held her festal close. Out of all of them, however, Takumi seemed to be the only one as nervous as Corrin herself.

"I… I…" What do I do?! These people took me in, and even ignoring Takumi, they ignored the circumstances of my arrival and treated me as if I were their own! Except, I am their own, but I'd forgotten! I was meant to be with them! And now Garon has killed both my parents! I've seen it myself, he's a monster who stole my life!

"Well…" On the other hand, I can't just leave Xander and Camilla and the rest! Why would they follow someone so blatantly evil? I have to know the reason! And would Nohr really stop attacking if Hoshido put them down? Or would they resent Hoshido more? Do I even know if this is really Garon's fault?

Corrin cleared her throat. Can I get out of this? I love both my families too much! Maybe if I could run away and join a tournament… No, that probably wouldn't work. But maybe I could just not pick at all. Why's it all my responsibility anyway? They'd understand… right?

The princess looked again and saw that everyone's expressions remained as they were. Okay… I know what I have to do. I hope they can forgive me…

Corrin took a deep breath. "All right. I…"

See Corrin stand with her birth family, seek justice and support Hoshido? Read Birthright: Gray Whirlpool (Storm).

See Corrin stand with her adoptive family, seek truth and support Nohr? Read Conquest: Gray Whirlpool (Fire).

See Corrin refuse to leave either family, and create her own destiny? Read Revelation: Gray Whirlpool (Flow).

To be continued… one way or another.

Post-Script A/N:

There you have it.

I will be writing both the Birthright and Conquest paths as separate stories from this one. Both will be uploaded as separate fics tomorrow.

Will I be doing Revelation? Maybe, but right now the focus is on Birthright and Conquest. And like I said, they will be separate fanfics, which is why it might be easier for you if I were already on your author alert list. And just so you know, Birthright and Conquest will update on the same days, at the same pace. Meaning that they will start and end together.

In the meantime, let's talk about this chapter. Corrin's opening thoughts about having two very similar, very important families always hit a nerve with me. It's such a specific and improbable circumstance that I could never project myself onto Corrin. I'm one of the few fans who actually likes Corrin (all versions), but I could still never project myself onto them, outside of picking their marriage options. Not good for an avatar.

The biggest new character introduced in this chapter is Takumi. Kind of went for the obvious joke by playing up his hatred and skepticism to exaggerated levels. Though I'm wondering if I really exaggerated all that much. He's a jerk when you first meet him. He grows out of it, but still... And, not to pat myself on the back, I like that bit where he still calls Corrin by her Nohrian name, as if it were an insult.

Ever since watching Vinesauce, Guy Fieri has been a bit of a running joke between me and all my friends, so I gave him a Hoshidan counterpart. We may or may not see more of Guy Fujito, if I deem it appropriate. And Kaze "died" again, poor guy. We also get more anachronistic songs from Azura. She name-drops the second song, but if you know her first song, that's pretty cool of you.

It was a little tricky balancing drama and humor in this chapter. I was leaning toward wanting more humor. But as for Chapter 6 (aka Chapter 1 of the two new stories), that will be a little more on the dramatic side (but not without some jokes).

So, tomorrow, I will upload two new stories, the Birthright and Conquest paths.

DECEMBER 23 EDIT:

Now that the ending of Birthright and Conquest are near, I am adding a mention of the Revelation path I plan on doing. That will be toward the middle or end of next month.