Revelation Chapter 2: Tunnel Vision

For the rest of the day, Corrin and her group traveled to the Bottomless Canyon. No one took Lilith's offer to ride in the Astral Plane, because Jakob wanted to examine it first, to see if it was safe for his liege.

However, the entire group made it back to the canyon by nightfall.

"Just like I remember it," Corrin stated.

Azura nodded. "All right. Let's jump in."

"What?!" everyone else screeched.

Felicia was the first to speak. "Whoawhoawhoawhoa! Ms. Azura, I don't want to die yet!"

The songstress blinked. "…What are you talking abo- Oh… Yeah I guess I forgot to explain it." She cleared her throat. "No, we'll be fine. There's actually a… a… We're not going to die, I've done this before."

Jakob narrowed his eyes. "A likely story."

"Oh come on. You've trusted me this far, haven't you?" Azura asked Corrin. The princess's red eyes nervously moved between Azura, the canyon itself, and her servants.

"Um… Well… Mostly."

"Whatever, I'm going in. Follow me if you want to see the bigger picture." With that, Azura stepped over to the edge and took a leap. Corrin reflexively called after her, but nothing came of it.

"I… guess we'll go now…"

The butler gasped. "Lady Corrin, you can't be serious!"

Lilith flew up beside Corrin's face. "Yes milady, I really don't think you should go in there!"

"Look, if Azura says it's okay, then it's okay! I… I trust her!" Corrin defended. Jakob tried to comment on his liege's gullibility, but realized this would be a bad time. He merely sighed.

"Very well. We will come after you."

"W-wait what?" Felicia asked. "B-but-"

Lilith flew closer to Jakob. "I think it's a really bad idea!"

"Here we gooooooooo!"

Everyone looked over in time to find Corrin jumping off the cliff. As she fell, she narrowly dodged all the cliffs and rocks as the canyon got narrower. But as she neared the bottom, she found not darkness, but a bright light.

"…Okay…"

Corrin took in her surroundings. She found herself with Azura (as well as Jakob, then Felicia, then Lilith) in a strange land. It was a grassy plain with stone ruins, but the land itself went in strange angles. The skies were filled with more fog than actual clarity. She could feel mist everywhere. Wait, are those clouds made of sky? Or are those just holes in the fog? Where are we?!

"Wooow, where are we now?" Felicia asked with a sense of reverence.

Jakob looked less than impressed. "A pigsty."

"We're in a land called Valla," Azura explained. "It's an ancient kingdom and it's the reason Hoshido and Nohr are fighting."

"Oh! So that guy who attacked at the festival came from here then?" Corrin asked. The songstress was stunned.

"…Huh. Didn't think you'd connect the dots that fast. Maybe you're not that stupid."

"Hey!"

"But yes. Probably."

Lilith nervously watched her surroundings. "Uhh… we should find a safe place to hide! Uh… in case of… things."

"Good idea, there's a cave over there," Azura said, pointing to a tunnel entrance. Jakob glared.

"So we're going to hide in a dirty cave from an unknown threat? And what if they're in that cave instead of outside?"

Azura ignored him. "Can't hear you, going in the cave."

Felicia and Corrin were the next to follow Azura, and the maid frowned. "My life flashed before my eyes while I was falling, Lady Corrin. And there were so many mistakes!"

"Aww," Corrin patted Felicia's shoulder sympathetically.

As Jakob begrudgingly followed, Lilith kept close to him. "We should leave, Jakob. We should convince Lady Corrin and Felicia that this place is too dangerous."

"No argument there. But you know how stubborn our lady can be."

Jakob proceeded to follow the others, much to Lilith's chagrin.

Within the labyrinthine tunnels, Azura gave an impromptu tour for her four friends. "So like I said, we're in Valla. The king of Valla is Anankos."

"That dragon that Fa- King Garon likes to talk to?" Corrin asked.

"Yeah, unless there's another Anankos running around." She facetiously nodded. "And before you ask, yes, he is the reason for everything being the way it is. So blame him for everything."

#BlameAnankos

"So… You're telling me that an evil dragon is running a secret kingdom in between the two big kingdoms…" Corrin began, "full of invisible soldiers, and that's the cause of Hoshido and Nohr fighting each other?"

"Yeah. Anankos wants to destroy it all," Azura said. "You ever notice how King Garon behaves a little differently than he used to? I'm not going to say it's true, but I've been thinking that Anankos has something to do with that."

Corrin turned to Felicia. "Is that true? I only met Father twice."

The maid put a finger to her chin. "Well… I think he used to be more normal… I at least know that he didn't always sound like a cowboy…"

Hearing that, Corrin turned back to Azura. "So wait, if we defeat Anankos, we can stop this war?"

Azura blinked. "Defeat Anankos… You say it like it's just another task." She took a breath. "But yeah. That's what we gotta do. Unless you'd rather go back, pick a side and hope that Anankos loses too many important pawns in the war."

Corrin shook her head. "No. Maybe there could've been a time in my life where I'd have to be a necessary evil to get rid of the greater one. But not now. If this dragon thinks he can ruin so many lives for no good reason, then we'll just have to stop him!" Her head dropped, remembering a painful moment. "Back at the canyon, I had to kill someone for the first time. Gunter told me that, as a princess of Nohr, I'd have to do it sooner or later…"

Felicia gasped and leaned toward Jakob. "Lady Corrin killed someone?!"

"Are you seriously surprised? We're at war."

"No, but I meant to give her that list of battle cry suggestions from Lord Leo's retainer!"

"So the least I can do is make it count! I'm going after that dragon! We can tell everyone about this, and get them to work together!" Corrin declared. Azura saw the fire in those red eyes and actually found herself smirking. That lasted for only two seconds before she shook her head.

"Yeah well, that's gonna be pretty tough, because of the curse."

"The what?" Corrin asked.

Azura nodded. "Yep, the curse. See, you can't talk about Valla when you're not in Valla. Or else you disappear. You fade from existence."

"Oh poppycock!" Jakob derided. "That is the silliest excuse I've ever heard!"

"So that's where you draw the line?" the singer challenged. "After all you've heard?"

Wheels were turning in Corrin's mind. "So… what if we write about this place instead of just talking about it?"

"I dunno. I didn't want to risk it. Would you?"

"…Good point."

Jakob raised a hand. "What if we write about it in Valla, and take the writing back with us?"

"I dunno," Azura said with a shrug. "Now are we done with the questions?"

Corrin and Felicia winced, meanwhile Jakob pulled out a parchment and a quill, and prepared writing. The princess spoke again. "Well come on, Azura! We have to find a way to take out that dragon!"

"Okay as soon as you can find a way to get people to believe this ridiculous premise without dying, be my guest," Azura challenged. "I just brought all of you here and you still don't fully believe, do you?"

Jakob was too busy writing. Lilith kept trying not to look guilty. Felicia rubbed her wrist. Corrin, however, spoke the truth. "I guess you're right. It will be hard. But… I can't just not go through with it!"

Lilith quickly insinuated herself between Corrin and Azura. "Guys, be quiet!" she stage whispered. "There are enemies coming! We have to leave!"

Azura palmed her forehead. "Of course. Okay, let's see…"

"You go that way," Corrin pointed down one tunnel before finding another, "and I'll go that way!"

"You're seriously suggesting we split up?" the songstress asked.

"Oh it'll be fine, I remember a thing or two from Leo's strategy books. Besides, we won't be all alone." Corrin looked over at her servants. "Lilith, you can come with me. Jakob and Felicia, you guys go with Azura."

Azura looked over at the servants. "You get the little fish dragon, while I get the help?"

Jakob and Felicia both gave Azura incredulous stares.

"Kill… Nohrians…" a Vallite corpse soldier growled, ordering troops to chase Felicia and Jakob.

"No!" Felicia threw a dagger at the nearest soldier, then kicked his face with her heel. It was enough to snap its head back… until the soldier repositioned it with a sickening crunch. "Oh no, he has super healing!" The soldier hit her in the face with the hilt of his sword, knocking her over. "And now my nose is bleeding! I think!"

Jakob glared at the Vallite. "That's quite enough." He went over beside Felicia and jabbed the soldier with his own dagger. He then grabbed both the lodged daggers and wounded the soldier further before kicking him away himself. "That's one down…"

Azura cleared her throat and prepared a song. "If you're living in a bubble and you haven't got a care/Well you gonna be in trouble, 'cause we're gonna steal your air/'Cause what you've got is what we need and all we do is dirty deeds/WE'RE THE SPACEBALLS! Watch out!"

Jakob suddenly felt rejuvenated. "Oh… What's this strange feeling?"

"Go heal Felicia," Azura told him. "Hurry before the enemy-"

"Mission… retrieve… princess… alive…"

The princess in question turned around to find another shambling Vallite soldier coming at her from the other side. "Wait never mind, don't heal Felicia, fight this guy instead!"

"Wait, why did he call you a princess?" Felicia asked, holding a rag up to her nose. Jakob turned to her.

"Did you miss the part where Lady Corrin explained how Azura was a princess of Nohr, then treated as a princess in Hoshido?"

Azura nodded. "That's right. Well I guess Valla too, since my father was the deposed king and my mother, Arete, was his wife… Before she married Garon, that is."

Jakob snapped to her attention. "Wait, what?!"

"So you're one of these Vallite guys too?" Felicia asked. "How come you're not a zombie?"

That's racist.
+1 Sin

"Come on, we're not all zombies, only the ones who didn't escape Valla in time when everything went wrong." She nervously eyed her backside, still seeing the Vallite slowly approaching. "So is someone gonna take care of him or not?"

Corrin and Lilith explored one of the other tunnels, and the princess took this time to question her stable hand. "Lilith, you've been pretty jumpy ever since we got here. I mean… it's normal, because this place is really weird. But you seem especially creeped out."

"Uh… I don't know about that, m-milady! It's just… uh… I'm still recovering from the canyon!"

The princess stared at Lilith as they went. "Uh-huh…"

"Kamui… Kamui come closer…"

Corrin stopped dead in her tracks. "That voice…"

"Kamui… my baby…" Before Corrin and Lilith could react, bluish wisps converged in one spot in front of them. A familiar silhouette stood before the girls, holding its arms open. "Kamui…"

"M-mother?!"

Lilith tensed. "Corrin, be careful!"

"But… it's my ghost mom, Lilith!" Corrin told her. "I can't just ignore her!"

The silhouette of Mikoto stepped closer. "Kamui… I don't have much time to help you… I could foretell the future… I passed it to you in birth… I would have trained you… if we had more time… Focus, Kamui… I'll miss all of you…" Mikoto began to disappear, and Corrin ran closer.

"Mother, wait! Don't go!" But Corrin was too late, the phantom had vanished. She found herself having to fight back tears. "Oh... all right..."

The Astral Dragon flew closer down to her liege. "Wait, what's that she said about seeing the future? Lady Corrin, does that mean you're psychic?"

Corrin blinked. "…Huh… I guess it does." She rubbed her temples. "Now that I think of it… I have had a lot of dreams that came true…" A gasp. "Like that dream where I'd have to pick between my families! I didn't realize it, because the surprise of leaving the fortress took my mind off it, but that was a vision of the future!" She grimaced. "I woke up before I could make a choice, so I'm not sure what the dream me would've picked…"

"Wow! This could be incredibly useful!"

"Yeah… Sort of. I mean… sometimes I'm absolutely sure something will happen before it does. But sometimes I'm wrong too." She shrugged. "So I guess that means I can't see the future, only possible futures?"

"I wouldn't know. Wait, did you envision a safe path like this when you told us to split up?" Lilith asked.

She had no response. "Uhhh… sure…"

"Corrin? Is that you?"

Corrin and Lilith gasped at that voice. They both turned and saw a familiar knight walking closer. The grizzled war veteran himself- "Gunter!" Corrin ran up to him and hugged him immediately. "Gunter, you're alive! I can't believe it!" Her eyes opened. "…You are alive, right? You're not one of the zombies?"

"HA! Nah I'm not that weak," Gunter replied, patting Corrin on the back. "So Hans knocked you into the canyon too, eh?"

"Uh… not quite." Corrin took a deep breath. "Okay… So Gunter, after you fell down here, I almost fell into the canyon, but then Lilith saved me! Also she's a dragon now," Corrin pointed at her.

"Um… hi, Gunter."

The knight raised his eyebrow. "So that's what you were hiding…"

"And then I got kidnapped by Hoshidans, but it turns out I'm a princess from Hoshido! Queen Mikoto is- …was my mom!" She shut her eyes. "And then… and then… she… she died." Corrin shuddered to remember it, so Gunter patted Corrin on the back again. "My Hoshidan family was very angry with Nohr, and a war broke out. I refused to take a side, though."

"Wait what?"

Corrin looked up to face Gunter. "Well of course I can't turn my back on Nohr! But… I'm also Hoshidan! And I don't think Nohr should be conquering Hoshido! So I'm neutral!"

"Uh-huh…"

"So that's when Azura, she's the missing princess of Nohr, took me, Jakob and Felicia to the Bottomless Canyon. And Lilith showed up too."

Lilith nodded. "Hi again."

Gunter waved. "Oh… So that's how you ended up here? Um… why?"

Upon hearing the question, Corrin took a deep breath and separated from Gunter. "Well… Azura told us that there's this evil dragon that's controlling Valla- that's where we are- and making Nohr and Hoshido fight. And if we talk about Valla once we leave, we'll die."

"Our lady would like to vanquish the dragon by uniting the two armies," Lilith added.

Gunter stood still for a moment, digesting what Corrin and Lilith had just revealed.

"…Aw heck, I'm game. Can't let you and the others go unsupervised, now can I?" the Great Knight said with a smirk. Corrin copied his expression.

"That's great, Gunter! I'm so glad you're safe."

Azura and Jakob experienced mutual tedium as they continued their exploration. Felicia kept staring at the walls.

"I spy… something blue."

"My hair," Azura answered without missing a beat. "Again."

"Okay this time I'll stump you! I spy something… long-"

"Her hair," said Jakob. "And I'll assume your next guess is her hair too."

"Doggone it!" Felicia folded her arms. "I thought you wouldn't expect me to pick the same thing over and over, so that's why I did it!" The lone male in the group stopped walking and turned back to his colleague. "…What?!" His gaze bored right through Felicia's skull. "Stop looking at me like that!" Then she gasped. "Wait! I spy something else this time! It's Lady Corrin and Lilith! And… and Gunter!"

Jakob's head whipped back around in time to see their other friends at the end of a tunnel. "Well I'll be! LADY CORRIN!"

He bolted, leaving Felicia behind. "Whoa, wait for me Jakob!"

Jakob, Felicia and Azura all ran through the tunnel until they finally caught up to the others. "Lady Corrin! Lilith! Old Man!"

Corrin gasped. "Guys!"

"Still calling me an old man…" Gunter said, shaking his head. "Anyway, it's good to see you two again." His eyes then fell on Azura. "I guess you're Azura."

"I guess I am," she responded with a shrug. "Well, now that we're reunited, and we're still lost, I think-"

"Actually," Corrin interrupted, "Gunter knows a way out! We were looking for you so he could help us!"

Gunter nodded. "That's right, you see-"

"DIE!" a Vallite Berserker popped up. Gunter looked over.

"Hold that thought, ma'am. HYA!" He threw his lance, impaling the Vallite with no trouble. Smirking, he turned back to Azura. "Anyway, we're actually quite close to the exit. Everyone just follow me."

As everyone followed Gunter, the knight turned his head back to Corrin. "So Lady Corrin, what strategy have you devised in conquering this evil dragon Anankos?"

"Um… Getting everyone to help. Yeah…" She snapped her fingers. "Oh! I saw the ghost of my mom! She told me I can try to see the future if I focus! Like how I'd have all those prophetic dreams! Maybe that can help!"

"And I have this!" Jakob announced. Everyone looked over to find the butler triumphantly holding out a note. "I've written out our argument in case anyone needs proof."

The note read as such:

At the bottom of the Bottomless Canyon is the entrance to a ruined kingdom named Holla. The king of Holla is manipulating Nohr and Hoshido into fighting each other with spies.

"…Holla," Azura repeated. She quickly turned away and spoke under her breath. "Rats, I never thought of that…"

Gunter narrowed his eyes. "And we're sure it's the king of this place and not just King Garon? Because I'm down for a coup against Garon, just saying."

Lilith turned to him. "Gunter, why do you hate Garon so much anyway?"

"What's there not to hate?" Jakob posited before speaking to Gunter again. "Although your grudge seems to run rather deep…"

"Ugh…" Gunter took a deep breath. "I never wanted to tell this to any of you, but I guess you should learn… You see, King Garon hated me first."

Azura raised an eyebrow. "You're saying he started it?"

"I'm saying he offered me a chance to drink dragon blood, and then killed my family and burnt my village to the ground after I refused!"

Corrin and Felicia gasped. Even Jakob had to wince at the cruelty of King Garon. Lilith cowered behind a stoic Azura. Of all of them, Felicia broke the silence first. "Oh Gunter! I'm so sorry to hear that!" She nervously smiled. "Um… We all care about you at least! Does… that help?"

"Yeah Gunter," the half-dragon added, "we couldn't imagine our lives without you. I'm… so sorry you had to go through that though…"

Hearing that, Gunter genuinely smiled. "…Thank you. I admit, I've grown rather attached to you lot." He nodded. "I remember, I was sent to the fortress to discipline you, Lady Corrin. Garon gave me a whip and everything. But then I figured I'd just turn it into a ball instead."

Corrin blinked. "Wait, what?!"

"Huh?!" Felicia's jaw dropped.

"Criminy!" Jakob cringed.

Azura stared. "…Dude."

Suddenly, a large purple flame appeared behind Lilith. She gasped and flew to Azura's other side as everyone turned to face the newcomer. It was another Vallite soldier, this one with a large feather decorating her hair. Azura glanced at that feather. "Something looks familiar, here…"

"'Ello gov'nas! This here's Valla, it is! Now get on outta 'ere 'fore we gotta kill ya!" the silhouette shouted.

Azura blinked. "…Oh."

"W-we were just leaving!" Felicia said. "Uh, Gunter? The exit?"

Corrin's head ached. "AAH!"

…

Mist. Distorted land.

…

Gunter riding into an abyss.

…

Azura. "You can leave the way you came, just jump into the nearest canyon."

…

Rain falling on Corrin's head. She's with Azura and Gunter at the Bottomless Canyon.

…

"A canyon! We have to jump through a canyon!" Corrin realized.

"Again?!" Jakob screeched.

"Sounds good, LET'S GO!" Gunter yelled, leading the way.

"Ughh…" Corrin slowly woke up. She felt the rain falling on her again, but remained still until she heard the roar of thunder. "AAH, I'M AWAKE!"

She scanned her surroundings, registering that she, the four out of five servants with her, and Azura had all made it back to the Bottomless Canyon. Gunter was assisting Azura in standing, while Felicia comforted a jittery Lilith. Jakob, however, seemed focused on his pockets.

"Where is it… aha!" He pulled out the parchment. After a few seconds, he defiantly grinned. "Read it and weep, everyone!"

The group gathered around Jakob as he presented the parchment. And it read:

At the bottom of the Bottomless Canyon is the entrance to a ruined kingdom named Holla. The king of Holla is manipulating Nohr and Hoshido into fighting each other with spies.

"…You've got to be kidding me," Azura moaned. Then she looked back at the canyon. "Hmm… I can't believe we were able to escape from Holla!" Azura nervously shut her eyes, waiting for oblivion. But it never came. She opened one eye. "Um… We survived our trip to Holla." No curse. "Holla." Still no effect. She shrugged. "Well look at that."

Felicia pouted. "You know, they have some nerve getting mad at us for going down there! It's not like people fall into a canyon every day!"

"Well don't worry. It won't be long before the portal closes," Azura told the maid. "You know how the skies in Hoshido and Nohr sort of switch every so often?"

"…No," everyone else answered at once.

"Oh." Azura stood still. "…Well they do. It's when… Holla's king adjusts the portal. And he's probably not happy about finding us down there, so I bet he's gonna want to close that portal again soon. To keep us from meddling."

"What?!" Corrin exasperatedly ran fingers through her hair. "That dragon is cheating! He can't keep making up these rules!" She shook her head. "So how long do you think we have?"

"A month, give or take a few weeks." Surprising everyone, the answer came from Lilith. "I… might happen to know a thing or two about him…"

"You do?" Felicia asked. "Ooh! Ooh! What's his weakness?! Do we get a giant Wyrmslayer?!"

"Um… Listen. I… really can't say too much," the small dragon explained. "But… I'll tell you what I can. It will take him about a month to seal the portal again. And I doubt you'd be able to leave unless you broke his curse." She winced as best as her little body would allow. "So if you want to fight Anankos… you'd better win. And you don't have long to find your army."

Jakob rolled his eyes. "Perfect. This just gets more and more pleasant with each new rule introduced."

"Well… Xander's tough. And I haven't known him long, but so is Ryoma," Corrin assured. "And both my little brothers have sacred weapons of their own. And Camilla's supposed to be tough! And it'd be two entire armies! We can outnumber the dragon!"

Azura inhaled deeply. "Oh boy… Hold onto that optimism for the next month, Kam… Corrin. We're going to need it."

"What's our first move, then?" Gunter asked.

"Uhh… How about Hoshido? They seemed slightly less upset when I made that choice earlier." Corrin nodded firmly. "Yeah! Let's go get the Hoshidans first!" She then felt Azura's incredulous stare. "…What?"

"It's just… I kind of gave up on dealing with this whole problem. I was happy to just side with Hoshido and be done with it. But… you think you can actually solve this problem." She giggled. "It's a little inspiring."

"Aw, thanks-" Corrin's reply was interrupted by the sound of Jakob clearing his voice. Everyone looked over to find him powerwalking in Hoshido's direction. He clapped his hands expectantly.

"One month, people! Let's move! Come along now!"

To be continued.

Post-Script A/N:

So a lot of people hate this chapter in the game. And while I'm not fond of it, I don't necessarily loathe it either. However, writing this chapter was actually very tedious. Thankfully I have good friends who are also better writers and were able to help, haha! But I managed to make this chapter work. Thankfully I think the next chapter is better, so it should be smoother from here.

Anyway, this chapter introduces what I think will be a major plot point in the Revelation fic: Corrin's future vision. I wanted a way for Corrin to be aware of circumstances in the other paths, to expedite character interaction and things. But I also feel that it works as a representation of how most Revelation players are already aware of what happens in one or both of the other paths. In fact, it sort of makes sense with Corrin's prophetic dream from the beginning of the game, and the fact that her mother had visions of the future. I'm not gonna make this too big a part of the story, but a part nonetheless. Also it's a little hard to convey, but I see her visions as being similar to the flashbacks in Metal Gear Solid 4. This time, she was remembering the events of Conquest Gray Whirlpool Chapter 10 (or Chapter 15 in the game).

So Valla... a lot of the plot points about this place are rather silly in execution. I sort of went over it during my Conquest fic, but it'll play more of a role here, naturally. I don't intend for Gray Whirlpool to be one of those "let's fix all the flaws in canon" fics. First, because Fix Fics aren't funny. Second, and believe it or not, I'm actually kind of tired of Fix Fics. I want to write fics about Fire Emblem: Fates, not some hypothetical idealized version of Fates. It's in my nature to address flaws, but that's not my purpose. So the Valla curse is what it is. But I still think Jakob's workaround was funny.

And Lilith plays more of a role in this chapter than in canon. I'd like to say that will be a thing in this fic, but I went into Birthright and Conquest the same way and underutilized her in those fics, too. And with the expanded roster of Revelation... oh boy.

Next time, Corrin and the gang make their first move.