Keris stood over the three of them, Omna sitting on a bench only a few feet away. The icy cold wind blew past them, freezing them. But they were unfazed; they were all too used to the cold weather.
"You all did exceptionally well over the past few months. I've seen some great improvement in both controlling Resonances and wielding Shards; all of you."
It had been months since Corrin's birthday, and what he had learned. The realization that Corrin was part of a bloodline that was practically built to withstand the force of the shard was incredible. Corrin hadn't seen Oknata'litheralus, whom Corrin decided to start calling 'Oknata' for ease of his own mental conversations, since his birthday nearly three months ago.
"You all have learned something valuable from your time here, and I wish you all luck on the battlefield."
Keris gives a quick and polite bow to them all, and they return the gesture with grace. Keris walks to the side and allows Omna to take the stage in front of them. They noticed as he walked that he was holding a cane, though it was clear that he hardly needed it.
"It is a great pleasure to see you all here today. I've noticed great improvement in all of you over these months, especially in Corrin."
Corrin puffed himself up with pride.
"Lukas, I've noticed more control over your Resonance, and Tutsoi, you've been getting better at utilizing the Shard of Realms. But, as you all know, Nevarii is still out there."
Corrin could hear Tutsoi's breath falter for a moment; his hatred for Nevarii boiling.
"He's been hiding in the city on the lake for quite some time now. We are unsure of what he may be planning. You three are to go alongside the Information Division to infiltrate the city, find Nevarii, and question him. I will repeat this, you will question him. You are not aiming to kill him. We must know what his motives are and why he wants Corrin and Lukas dead."
Corrin had never told any of them his conversation with Oknata, but he would rather not have to explain his connection to him.
"Is this all clear?"
They all nod in unison.
Later that day, they found themselves on the edge of the city. At the gates were a few soldiers. They looked tired and cold. Keris walked up to them.
"Hey, Falcia, Clyde, Janis, how are you all?"
The three soldiers turned and looked at Keris. Two of them were girls, one branding a darker streak in her right bang in her hair. The other was a man who was larger than the others. One of them, the girl without the dark streak, walked forward.
"Keris! How are you?"
Her hair was bright yellow, and her scar was clear. Her eyes matched her hair, which was messed up by the wind, and indeed quite strange. Most Anees had blue eyes, not yellow eyes. She gave Keris a great big hug.
"How's that school of yours?"
"Doing better than ever, Falcia!"
Corrin recognized the girl as Falcia. The other two, Clyde and Janis, quickly joined in on the quick reunion.
"I'm sure you've heard the news of Lukas, am I correct?"
Falcia and another went forward to Lukas.
"Oh, of course, I never could have imagined Lukas attacking Tutsoi like that. I knew there must have been something underneath."
Lukas looked at Falcia.
"Hey, Falcia."
Falcia gave him a stern look, and Lukas sighed.
"Aunt Falcia."
Falcia laughed a bit and scuffed up Lukas's hair.
"That's better!"
She looked over to Corrin and Tutsoi.
"Hey, Corrin, right? You came from the Holy Realm?"
Corrin nodded, a bit taken aback.
"That's right."
"Sweet, you're lucky to have grown up there. Or, unlucky, I've heard some horrible folk come from there."
Falcia shoots a glance at Tutsoi.
"Hey, Tutsoi. How are you holding up?"
Tutsoi's face was as cold and unchanging as ever.
"I'm fine, Falcia."
Falcia took the hint and backed off.
"It's good to see you all, and I'm happy to be working together!"
Keris turned to the three of them again.
"For Corrin to know, Falcia is my sister, and she's the captain of the Information Division. So, you'll all have to be taking orders from her from now on."
Keris turns to Falcia and whispers something in her ear. Corrin couldn't hear what it was, but, as whispering tends to be, it seemed very secretive.
Corrin looked at the other members of the Information Division. They looked about how Corrin had expected.
As they stood there, suddenly somebody came running from behind and flew into Corrin's back. Corrin was forced a few steps forward and turned to see who it was.
Mary, the cute Anees girl from before, was standing there, holding a bunch of bags.
"I'm so sorry, Corrin! O-Omna told me to get these for you all."
She blushed a bit from the embarrassment and bowed politely. She handed the bags out, which numbered six for each of them. However, she also held one more bag.
Before Keris walked away, Mary tugged on his shirt, stopping him. She whispered something to him. Keris shook his head, but Mary seemed to insist on whatever it was she was telling him. He sighed, and Mary looked excited. She ran over to them and put on the bag.
"I'm going with you all!"
Falcia stared at Mary for a second, looking at her up and down, clearly unimpressed.
"You want to go out there?"
She pointed outside the gate.
"Omna gave me his blessing for me to leave. I could warm us with my heat, I'll be good, I promise!"
Falcia brought her hand to her face in frustration.
"Fine, but don't fall behind. It should only take a day or two to get to the city, but half of the journey will be in the beasts' territory."
With that, they were off. Keris waved them goodbye as the gate closed behind them.
The snow was thick, and it severely slowed them down.
Corrin gripped his katana by his side, made from Black Steel. He was anxious, but not afraid like he was when he left to get to the castle with the Hidden Vanguard. He felt optimistic, despite the circumstances. This time, he would not let his friends die.
The wind soon became too much for them to see properly.
"Here, take these!"
Falcia pulled from the bag the goggles that she had handed to each of them. When Corrin put them on, he found it much easier to keep his eyes open. Before, the icy wind had been stinging them.
Clyde had been leading their journey with Falcia right next to her, his gloved hands held a compass. He was their navigator. But suddenly his momentum stopped, and he stood there silently.
Falcia walked up to him.
"Clyde, what's the problem?"
Clyde brought the compass to her and showed her the problem.
"The magnetism inside is flipping out, like the magnetic field is all messed up."
The compass then points directly to their right, and Falcia turns to the right. Suddenly, chains fly from the right and towards them. Corrin watches one of them fly towards him from the fog, and he can't react quickly enough.
Without even thinking, he watches Lukas hit the chain away with his sword, saving Corrin. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about Clyde.
The chain sticks into his chest, a blade through the other side. He shuffled back a few feet before the chain was yanked away, and he flew forward, the blade still stuck through his chest.
"Clyde! No!"
They all pull their weapons out, huddling around each other. Falcia grits her teeth as Clyde falls into the fog, disappearing.
"Stay near each other, get ready!"
Suddenly, their weapons began to fly out of their hands towards where Clyde had been flung. All, aside from Corrin and Lukas, were the only ones with Black Steel weapons. Falcia quickly grabs a dagger from her side to replace her lost weapon.
"Whoever this is, they must be able to magnetise objects! Be on your guard and hold your weapons firmly!"
Tutsoi grabs a dagger from his own hip, and so do the others. Mary simply huddles as close to them as possible.
Falcia lifts her left hand into the air.
"Everybody down!"
They all plummeted to the ground quickly. Mary had to be pulled; she didn't realize what she had said fast enough.
Suddenly, lightning explodes upwards from Flacia's palm, illuminating the area and bathing it in a yellow light. All of them instinctively cover their ears from the loud sound like thunder, and look into the distance. Corrin spots two figures standing.
"Over there!"
They're faces illuminate in the light, one of them clearly Mostiis: Nevarii. The other is somebody Corrin didn't recognize. His face was covered by a hood and was much smaller than Nevarii's.
Another man soon stood up, separate from the others, and Corrin recognized him as Clyde. The smaller man ripped the chained sword out of Clyde and he fell over, dead.
The lightning that came from Falcia stopped, and she rested for a moment. Tutsoi's face was red in anger, and Corrin could feel the heat of Tutsoi's rage boil through the cold snow.