I will drink an entire coffee machine’s worth of coffee and knifefight pandemic brain in a Denny’s parking lot at 5am. But I finally regained the confidence to start editing the fics I was writing and start posting them again, so uh, go me?
This is set in a fanfic I’ve been working on a little bit at a time this year, although I realize now what I wrote kind of… ran away from the prompt.
Oops. Anyway.
Their swords clashed, a shriek of metal filling the air. Eyes met, no words spoken between them. Fingers curled around the hilts, talons gleaming under the light. Wings sprouted from their backs, teeth sharpened, as the stone amulets around their necks glowed a bright blue.
Yato and Falchion became locked together in a battle of equals. Corrin forced a weak smile, quickly leaping back and throwing Falchion out of Lucina’s hands, the blade landing in the sand. She pointed Yato towards Lucina, saying nothing.
The Dragonstones lost their glow, taking the draconic traits with them.
“That was impressive,” Lucina said, retrieving Falchion. “I’ll win next time.”
“Maybe,” Corrin smirked, “come on, let’s go.”
They walked out of the arena, the sun beginning to set above them, the mist outside the fort rolling across the fields. Most of the others had gone to sleep by then, but Lucina thought saw someone watching them from within the growing shadows. Perhaps she had imagined it.
The fort felt alien to Lucina, as did the nations of Hoshido, Nohr, and all their neighbors outside of the astral realm. She still couldn’t wrap her head around the fact that Hoshido and Nohr were real and not myth as she had been led to believe. And in a realm, a world, far from the one that Ylisse called home.
And she hadn’t realized then what had lurked within her blood. Naga’s Brand imbued Ylissean royalty with the kind of strength needed to wield Falchion. It hadn’t been anything like the blood pacts that the dragons of this world had made with humankind… but it had, it seemed, been enough to force her to change.
“Will you be alright tonight?” Corrin asked, noticing Lucina’s silence and the look on her face. “You look troubled.”
All things considered, they both had plenty of reasons to be troubled and just as many reasons to lose sleep over it. She didn’t want to burden Corrin with her problems.
And no matter how much she may hope it, she doubted that Corrin could help her get home.
“I’ll be fine,” she answered, “and besides, you should rest.”
Corrin didn’t look convinced, but she let it go. “If you’re sure…”
Lucina watched Corrin walk away, out of what sunlight was left until she disappeared entirely on her way to her quarters. Tomorrow, they’d journey to another land she had no familiarity with, to ask for aid in a war she shouldn’t have been part of.
She wondered what had happened in Ylisse since she was taken to this world. Still at peace, she hoped. Father and Mother must be wondering where I am…
She knew they would when she left after Grima’s defeat, but back then she at least knew she could return to them if she ever felt she could. Now she didn’t know if that would be possible again.
But will I be able to leave this world, if I could? Lucina realized she didn’t actually have an answer to that question.
A cold rain started to patter against the ground, masking the footsteps behind her as she walked.
“Lucina.”
They hadn’t spoken much, but she recognized Azura’s voice. She turned to meet her, standing under one of the trees, shielded from the rain. “Did you need something?”
Azura didn’t answer right away, but Lucina saw in her eyes that she was deep in thought, deciding what she could say and what she couldn’t. The strange princess had secrets.
“I want to know more about your world,” Azura answered, even as her eyes suggested she was actually after something else that she had no intention of telling Lucina. “If you have the time, of course.”
“What do you want to know?” Lucina asked, lightning flashing and thunder booming over the fortress. “…We should get inside.”
Out of the cold rain, Azura answered the question, “You said there were dragons back in your world. I would like to… know more about them.”
The real question, Azura still kept to herself. Lucina didn’t pry.
“They used to rule our world, so the stories go,” Lucina replied, not sure what she should say and what she should keep to herself. “There aren’t that many now. Well, that we know of.”
She only knew about at least four dragons, one fortunately dead, while two were probably still in Ylisse and the last one had no doubt returned to the great tree they had met her at. A tree that, according to legend, was the grave of two Divine Dragons.
“They… well, some of them might’ve been like this world’s, I suppose…” Lucina continued, watching Azura for any signs that she stumbled into what Azura actually wanted to know. “But I’ve never heard of one like Corrin.”
“And we’ve never seen one like you before,” Azura said, her voice still passive and revealing nothing. “But I suspect you and Corrin are more alike than you may think… Could you tell me about the dragon your people worship?”
“Naga has been around for centuries,” Lucina answered, “she gifted Falchion to the first Exalt, and her Brand has been in the Exalt’s bloodline ever since she first lended us her power.”
“I see,” Azura said, looking at Lucina as if she could read her mind. “But there’s more than just Naga, isn’t there?”
Lucina didn’t think herself a good liar, but it was her turn to keep secrets. “No… just Naga.”
If Azura didn’t believe her, she didn’t say so.
“I suppose we’ll see,” Azura finally said, walking down the hall and leaving Lucina alone.
Lucina’s thoughts wandered to Corrin. It hadn’t been a serious duel, but even then she had sensed something within Corrin. Some kind of greater power that Corrin herself had yet to realize.
Azura must know… but would she ever tell?
I plan to post other Fictober fics (from this year’s prompts and previous) under a “Vintage Fictober” banner since there isn’t enough time to post everything now.
If nothing else it’ll keep this blog alive, which is good.
Here Be Storm Dragons 