Corrin woke up early that morning, not even realizing what day it was. He jumped out of bed and put on his thin, cold clothes. Keris usually woke him up, so this was somewhat unusual. The room was small, and he slept in a hammock above Lukas.
Lukas already seemed to be up. Corrin fixed his hair the best he could without seeing it and walked out of the room and down the hall. As he walked, he saw Lukas, Tutsoi, and Keris all enjoying a wonderfully made breakfast.
"Huh?"
They all, aside from Tutsoi, seemed to be laughing. Keris patted the stool beside him.
"Ah, Corrin, happy birthday! Come sit down!"
Corrin had completely forgotten it was his birthday. He smiled and sat down beside him and across the table from Tutsoi and Lukas.
"No training today, spend the day resting, Corrin."
Keris was a bright and wonderful person when not working them to the bone while training.
The breakfast was delicious. Corrin often didn't have such wonderfully cooked meals. Much of his life was spent as a peasant. Bread and vegetables were the majority of his diet before his village burned down.
Corrin could hardly believe he was seventeen now. If his village had never burned down, Corrin thought, then surely people would come and celebrate with him. He never got anything special as a gift. The gift was usually a slightly better meal, and maybe a pie made by Rosaline next door. Of course, everybody would pitch in with the ingredients. Pies were about the only thing they could have ever dreamed of making, and only a small one. Meaning they all only had small pieces.
Corrin remembered his fifteenth birthday. Rosaline had made a small pie for him and gave him a new jacket for formal occasions, which never really happened. The jacket itself was sewn by her over the past months.
Corrin never knew why Roseline was such a kind soul; perhaps it was that she knew his father from a young age. For the first time in a year and four months, Corrin thought of his father and smiled.
After breakfast, Corrin and Lukas both received gifts from Keris: brand new clothes. Corrin was the most excited, as these clothes seemed thicker than the ones he already had.
Corrin was extremely grateful to Keris for giving him this. When he was training with the Hidden Vanguard, nobody had given him anything, nor even wished him a happy birthday. Merri had learned a few days later and apologized, and Corrin thought the gesture was sweet.
Corrin tried on the clothes immediately. The pants were khakis like his own when he was a part of the Hidden Vanguard. They were baggier, though, and he tucked them into boots that had a cuff at the top folded downward. The boots themselves were dark leather with buckles.
He had a white-button up that was a little roughly made and a green overcoat that, while light, kept him warm enough. He had a belt that had a loop on the left side for his katana. It also came with dark colored leather gloves to keep his hands warm.
Corrin walked out wearing it, keeping the shard hidden under the garments, which he often did anyway.
"The council had those made. They tried their best to keep them close to your own clothes while integrating warmth."
They were a lot baggier than Corrin's usual clothes, but he was grateful nonetheless.
"They're wonderful, thank you very much."
Corrin wasn't sure how to thank him more, even though he wanted to. He was truly grateful for them.
Lukas soon emerged as well and wore clothing that was more akin to what the other Anees in Avitou seemed to wear.
The general idea was the same, however: Baggy pants that had a cinch, a long-sleeve shirt folded diagonally across the chest, a fur jacket over top of it, and gloves. It seemed to carry about as much warmth as Corrin's outfit did. He wore his own leather boots, but they were in a different style than Corrin's.
He thought the clothes looked nice on Lukas.
When the celebrations had ended, Corrin went outside and sat down in the training yard. He sat down and began to meditate on his connection with the shard. He found that when he wasn't training, he didn't know what to do.
So all he did was meditate. He sat there, trying his hardest to connect the same way he had connected while defending against Keris. Only a number of times had he been able to exert the power residing within the shard, and yet he would not lose heart.
His closed eyes created a black void filled with nothing but colors. Corrin could see the white snow's hue in his eyes, but then, for a moment, he saw nothing. It all became void to him.
Then, miraculously, the color began to return, yet it was not the snow's white hue. He saw a yellow color fade through his eyelids, and his scar began to burn. Corrin desperately wanted to open his eyes and make the pain stop, but he persevered.
Strangely, he found himself standing in a familiar place. He looked around for a moment, shocked. Around him were clear skies, water that covered the ground about an inch up, and, perhaps best of all in Corrin's eyes, a lovely temperature.
Corrin spun around, looking for the mysterious man who had once trained him. In the distance, he saw him. He had the same gray beard and bald head, as though nothing had changed in the months Corrin had not seen him.
He began to slowly walk towards Corrin, and Corrin ran towards him. In a few moments, they stood only a few feet from each other, taking each other in.
"You look different, Corrin. Older."
Corrin looked at himself, then up at the man.
"You look about the same."
"I figured."
Corrin had learned so much since the last time they spoke.
"What really is this place? Why is it that we can be here and nobody else?"
The man looked around for a moment.
"I've told you before, Corrin. This is a place where we can communicate, a place between dreams and sleep."
"Yes, I know that. But where are we really? Why is it that I keep finding you here?"
The man smiles, then it fades.
"Because we both share something invaluable."
Corrin grabs the shard around his neck.
"You have one, too?"
"Yes, I do."
Corrin looked around for a few seconds, trying to find what to say.
"Which one do you have?"
The man brings up four fingers.
"The Shard of Time is with you right now."
He takes down one finger.
"The Shard of Realms is lost in the Fali Realm."
He takes down another finger.
"The Shard of Power is lost in the Realm of Grief."
He takes down another finger.
"That leaves one left."
That only left the Shard of Time. Corrin almost chuckled and was in the presence of yet another Shard. But now, he was prepared for some questions. He wanted to go one at a time, so as not to overwhelm the man.
"Why did the queen want the shards so badly?"
"You're going to have to be more specific than 'the queen'."
Corrin got a bit angrier for a second before cooling off.
"Okay, why did the queen of the Shem want the shard of time so badly? Aside from power, what was her real motive?"
The man brings his hand to his chin.
"The Shem and the Mostiis have been allies since the War of the Gods a thousand years ago. Hidden within the Mostiis Desert, and quite the sensation a few hundred years ago, was a relic that has the capability to bring somebody back from the Realm of Grief. All it needed was a power source, and that power source needed to be a shard from the Cornimax."
Corrin nods his head.
"Why did people want it so badly?"
"Because, trapped in the Realm of Grief, is Katan. The god of the Shem. He alone could take on the remaining gods, Lumi and Fallis, easily. Katan promised a thousand years ago that he, alongside Mollou, the god of the Mostiis, would create a haven for the two races. Unfortunately, Mollou perished, and Katan has been trapped for the past thousand years."
Corrin was taking it all in, the relic, the gods, the Realm of Grief, all of it. Corrin knew that the Realm of Grief was actual hell; if one lived a horrible life, hurting people for selfish reasons, then their soul would be forced to reside within the Realm of Grief as a punishment for eternity. Katan must have been banished there.
"So, you're telling me that they wanted to bring back a god?"
The man nods his head. Corrin speaks up again.
"You mentioned Lumi and Fallis earlier…?"
"Yes, they're alive, and in hiding. After the War of the Gods, the mortals had an… uprising of sorts. They, as the only ones left and the weakest of the five gods, gave up. They left the mortals to their own accord."
Corrin nodded his head.
"A man named Nevarii attacked me a few weeks ago. He and his brothers, Vesterii and… Reidicii, I think, have been hunting me and… one other person down. Somebody who shares the same soul as me. They're part of the Mostiis Empire. But why are they hunting me and him down?"
The man didn't question Corrin at all; he only answered.
"It's possible that they know you and the person that shares your soul's significance in all of this. You and he are likely connected to this conflict in a way you don't even know about yet."
Corrin grits his teeth slightly, a little annoyed that he wouldn't give him a straight answer.
"Who are you? I mean, who are you really? How do you even have answers to all of my questions, and how do I know if they're correct?"
"I have lived for a very long time, and seen many things."
Corrin forgot that one of the abilities of the Shard of Life was to give the user their own life, to prolong their life to a greater height. He was sure that was why this man didn't seem to age, but his true age, Corrin thought, could not be guessed by Corrin. But he wasn't satisfied anyway.
"You didn't say who you were."
"I am a good friend. Somebody you can trust."
Corrin clenched his fist.
"But how do I really know I can!? What if you're working with the Mostiis or— Katan! I just can't know unless you give me proof!"
Corrin knew he was exaggerating because he didn't trust this man, but he needed an excuse to get a straight answer from him.
"My name is Oknata'litheralus Hisstion. I am your relative Corrin, a very old one at that. Our lineage is the oldest of the realms to date, and you are one of the last alive in the lineage itself. The Hisstion bloodline is one of the most powerful in the realms, Corrin."
Corrin began to shake; he didn't know what to say. Oknata'litheralus spoke up once more.
"The reason they want you dead is because they fear what you are capable of as a Hisstion."