The Second Princess [indefinite hiatus.]

Twisted Fates | 14

I don't own Fire Emblem.

...

Rukia sent Laslow an exasperated look before she hit the back of his neck with her flat palm. "Why the hell didn't you tell him?" She growled at her fiance.

"I- It completely slipped from my mind!"

Odin furrowed his brow as the couple began bickering. "Am I...missing something?"

...

Diana had a sick feeling about what was going to happen next, and she didn't know why. She wasn't sure if it was about Corrin's overall mission all together, or her own personal mission to grab the diamond before her world got into peril.

They had quickly run all the way to the Bottomless Canyon, and were now standing right over it on top of the suspension bridge. Diana felt slightly nostalgic - this was where she had begun her journey in this world. Of course, no one knew that but Lilith.

The skies were changing rapidly. The colors of night and day were twisting together, clearly overlapped. Diana swallowed, and looked at Corrin.

"Well," Corrin said bluntly after a moment of silence, "now we jump off this bridge."

Blinking eyes went wide.

Takumi gaped. "I'm sorry, WHAT?"

The dragon princess sighed, turning back to look at her army. "We have to reach the bottom of the canyon to continue."

Diana had to hold back a snort from all of the shocked faces around her. She wasn't as surprised as everyone else considering that she already had known, but it was particularly amusing to see how mortified everyone was.

"Corrin," Takumi pressed, grabbing Corrin's arm, "it's called the Bottomless Canyon. By definition, we can't reach the bottom. You're asking us to kill ourselves!"

Voices of protest drifted through the crowd. Diana stayed meekly silent, although she kept an eye on her necklace.

Gunter sighed. Diana's eyes drifted toward him as he spoke. "Lady Corrin, you were prepared for them to doubt us, correct?"

At this, Diana raised an eyebrow. If she was being honest here, Gunter was definitely one of Corrin's closest confidants and all, but how did he know about Valla? She understood Azura knowing, but...

Unless...

Fear gripped into her stomach. Gunter's sole focus at the moment was Corrin, but Diana's focus was on him.

Could he be...

She thought over it for a second and sighed, trashing that theory to the back of her brain. Gunter had been nothing but kind to Corrin and Diana this whole time, and she couldn't see a reason why he would betray Corrin like that. She was sure that the spy had access to the diamond plentiful times around the army, and she didn't know how it would escape her line of sight or the necklace's sensor.

She almost hit herself in frustration. Anankos's ally was among the army, probably trying to find her real identity, but she couldn't even tell who it was. Was she really that much of a dunce? What kind of servant of Naga was she?

"Yes, Gunter," Corrin replied to Gunter simply, "I am prepared." The princess turned to look at the army, a relieved smile on her face. "I'm sorry I haven't been able to tell the whole truth up to now," she confessed, "I'm certain you'll be willing to jump once you know why I've been fighting."

Diana waited patiently for Corrin to reveal everything, before Azura darted forward, a frantic look on her face. "Corrin! Don't! What are you even saying?! You can't tell them everything here. If you do, the curse..."