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This is the feedback topic for Fire Emblem Fates: Double-Edged Destiny:http://serenesforest.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=57552. For those who did not go to this older topic right here:http://serenesforest.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=56049 and read bits and pieces of the story itself as it progressed and discuss it, this is the place to do that. For anyone who has not spoken with me before, I would like for you to know that I will take constructive criticism if that's what you want to write. You can tell me why you (dis)like something in the story and you may explain why you feel like that (you can choose not to though I would really like if you did), but I will not tolerate meaningless rants or irrational hatred at all. Everyone has preferences and we should respect them to maintain a healthy discussion and avoid clawing at each other's throats. That is all I would like to say for now other than I await your thoughts on this story.

Hey-oh everyone, this is Blue Sun on the air with you all. This next story series is something I’ve been working on for the past few months, and I’m proud to say that I’m finally ready to publish it. Bear in mind that with all adaptations that I make there will be some changes here and there to not make the story feel like a strict novelization, but I will not make the adaptation extremely unrecognizable from the source material. I have a major shout-out to all the people I've talked with here (especially Taka-kun and Luankachu) and my good friend Hank, all of whom provided welcomed feedback and walked with me get it to where it is now. The new discussion thread for this story is over here:http://serenesforest.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=57554. Other than that, thank you everybody who's supported me so much, and without further ado here’s the disclaimer for this story. The following is nonprofit fan-based fiction. Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light through Fire Emblem Fates are all owned by Nintendo Co., Ltd. Please support the official releases. WARNING: this fiction in its entirety contains material that is not suitable for work. If you are under the legal age of adulthood or if your location forbids the viewing of explicit media, then this is the part where you should be leaving. If none of that applies to you and you are all set to read, then I hope you enjoy this. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 0: When White and Dark Clash Pa​​rt 1 An unconscious figure was completely surrounded by pure darkness. Where were they? Maybe they were outside; where they laid felt soft and solid like earth, and blades of grass tickled their soles. Were they dead? It didn’t seem so; they felt winded but they didn’t feel out of the ordinary. “Hey…wake up…” a nearby voice said. It was soothing yet urgent, and it was very familiar. “Please, wake up…we need you out here…” What was happening? Whatever it was it sounded important judging the tone of the speaker’s voice. The figure’s eyes slowly opened and the first thing they saw was a worried young woman with bright hair staring down at them. Beside her was a teenaged boy and a very young girl who shared the woman’s expression. The figure’s memory was foggy but it all started to come back to them. Hoshido Side Theme – Map E2R “H-Hinoka?” the awakened figure spoke. “Are you okay Kamui?” the woman asked as she ran a hand through the figure’s head looking for anything abnormal. After several seconds passed she sighed in relief and managed to smile. “Thank the Divine Dragon above that you’re fine.” “This is Kamui we’re talking about sis,” the teenage boy said. “Nothing gets him down for long.” “I know that Takumi but I still can’t help fretting over him when he’s hurt.” “Afraid that you’ll lose him like our parents and our other sister? Like I’ve said he’s tough to take out. And besides, if he was ever in serious trouble I’d be dead before that happened. Look who’s still here.” “Um, Hinoka, Takumi?” the young girl spoke. “Shouldn’t we…” “Oh, of course Sakura,” Hinoka said getting back on track. “Now Kamui, this is probably going to scare you but we’re right out in the fields battling the Nohrian army.” “The Nohrian army?” Kamui asked. “Wait, you don’t mean that—” “Yes: we’re at war with our western neighbor, the Kingdom of Nohr. Prince Xander is leading the army and invading our home ,and we need you in good condition to help us drive them back. This will be your first…no, this will be your second real fight, and just like with the Faceless I have to ask you to not hold back against our enemies.” “I…Does that mean I have to—” “Yes,” Takumi said. “You’re going to have to kill some people here. It’s not going to be like how you’ve killed Faceless or how you went full-on oni on the Nohrians as a dragon before. You’re going to be killing living people.” “Oh, okay…I never thought we’d end up fighting a war so soon. I—wait a minute, where’s Suzukaze and Felicia?” “They’re recovering back home. They have orders to come straight here once they recover enough to fight.” “That’s good. We’ll need all the help we can get. By the way Hinoka, how does everything looking so far?” “We have the advantage in that this is our territory, and we’re all very familiar with it aside of yourself.” Hinoka answered. “On the other hand we’re not truly prepared for invasions; we’re a defense force trained to defend our kingdom from brigands within it. If left unchecked Nohr’s army will trample over us in every sense of the word.” “My Wind God Yumi can pick off some troops from a distance,” Takumi said, “but if they start getting up close and personal them I’m very much screwed.” “And Sakura is not ready for combat just yet.” Sakura didn’t like being reminded of that fact but she only gave a meek nod in response. “We’re not doing so well are we?” Kamui asked. “I’m not really sure myself. With all of that being said here’s a silver katana, a short sword, a flying dagger, and a mist-blade for you to use. Aqua gave us this ‘dragonstone’ for you before she left, but I’m not sure if you should be using it so soon.” “Hold on a second, if Prince Xander is here, then wouldn’t that also mean that…” Kamui trailed off, turning blue in the face after a scary thought came to him. “…Hinoka? On a scale of one to ten, how ready are we to take on revenant knights and dark knights?” “Together or separate—” “And a Nohrian princess who can transform into a dragon?” “……Together or separately?” “Together.” “……Two out of ten.” “Yikes. Well thanks for the heads up; now we know who to avoid out here.” “I’d say we have a fifty-fifty chance against them,” Takumi said. “Sure, they may be more experienced than us, but if we use our heads and put them together we might pull through. I have a strategy that might work: I’ll take on Princess Camilla since I have the perfect anti-flier weapon despite my disadvantages against her. Hinoka, you engage Prince Leo; you’re good at handling magical fighters like him and you always has a weapon triangle advantage regardless of what he chooses. Sounds good so far?” “Sounds reasonable enough,” Sakura said. “Sounds good to me,” Kamui said in agreement. “Sounds suicidal Takumi,” Hinoka retorted. “They’re said to be the elites of Nohr’s army second only to Prince Xander and King Garon themselves. And you still didn’t give us a guideline on how to deal with…Corrin…” “I was working on that,” Takumi said ignoring Hinoka’s tense tone. “She can turn into a dragon just like Kamui said, but we have no anti-dragon weapons aside of a Dragon God – Fifth Earthly Branch spell, and we don’t have any yin-yang masters who can wield one if we had one anyways. So my suggested course of action is to pelt her with our long-ranged units while she’s occupied with our close-ranged units. If she’s anything like Kamui she likely doesn’t have good control over her dragon form either.” Kamui shot Takumi an offended glare that was ignored as the Hoshidan archer pondered more possibilities. “If she decides not to transform then she can be easily dealt with by reverse clubs, shuriken, reverse yumi, and any naginata aside of reversed ones. She’s just as skilled as the other Nohrian royals and just as powerful when she’s not transformed, so we should either pair up good offense units with defensive or speedy support units, or we should have some very balanced units pair up and deal with her.” “…Wait Takumi, I think I have an idea,” Kamui said. “Why not have me go and deal with her? I’m worried about how the rest of the army would handle a dragon, let alone her. With me using my own dragonstone I can fight fire with fire.” Takumi looked at him as if he had said a dumb joke before he broke out laughing; after that he faced his elder brother with a deadpan stare. “That’s stupid Kamui. Don’t be stupid.” “I’m serious. If Corrin is going to turn into a dragon then why not match her strength for strength?” “Because I know that that’s a bad idea. You never fight fire with fire because that only creates more fire to deal with and a stagnation scenario where neither side is winning; we need to crush them, not make things even between us. And whoever invented that ‘fight fire with fire’ mentality should be shot, preferably with something on fire for irony.” “Come now Takumi, Kamui does have a point,” Hinoka said. “Dragons are far superior to us humans even if some members of our kind possess dragon blood in their veins. We can still overwhelm Corrin through strength of numbers like you suggested, but I’d rather have Kamui be the one to take her on rather than our other troops; he’s fought her before and other troops may attempt to kill her.” Takumi didn’t respond with an answer, opting to mumble to himself in annoyance. “Um, not to interrupt, but isn’t there someone else that we’re forgetting about?” Sakura suddenly asked. “I’ve heard that the royal family of Nohr has a fifth member.” “You mean Princess Elise?” Takumi answered. “I wouldn’t worry so much about her compared to her other siblings seeing how she’s the baby of the bunch like you, but she shouldn’t be overlooked. Elise’ll be able to reach Nohr’s wounded in ‘what am I even looking at’ speeds and her magic rivals Orochi’s, the best spellcaster we have. Even so, try not to attack her until the others are down or at least capture her to kill the Nohrian army’s morale, otherwise we’re likely to make it out disfigured and in pieces or get killed.” “We’re taking someone hostage? But, isn’t that dishonorable brother?” “All’s fair in love and war Sakura, even kidnapping and murder; well maybe not when it comes to love but you get the idea. It’s best that you learn this now rather than later or never; same thing goes for you Kamui.” Kamui gave a slow nod, not liking the fact that he may have to take another’s life. “Then it’s settled,” Hinoka said. “When we take on the royal family we know what to do. Oh, and…Takumi?” “Yes Hinoka?” “Try your absolute best to not kill Corrin. I understand that she’s spent quite some time in Nohr and that she’s our enemy right now, but—” “Spare me the lecture sis. I get the ‘she’s still family’ spiel and all that other jazz about trying to find her for so many years—plus Ryouma’s going to tan my hide raw if I do—but please, please do not tell me to take it easy on her, otherwise that’s really crossing a line given her actions as of late.” “Very well then, so long as you remember what I told you. But we’ve talked long enough; on to victory for Hoshido!” Hinoka and Takumi held their weapons skyward while Kamui and Sakura gave short nods. The sibling quartet marched off to catch up to Ryouma and help him drive the Nohrians out of their home. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------​- Nohr Side “Had a nice nap sleeping beauty?” a sarcastic voice came. “I told you that pushing yourself with your dragonstone is killer sis.” “Save the sass for later Leo and just help me up,” a feminine figure spoke. “Are you alright my dear Corrin?” an older female’s voice asked as she and Leo pulled their sister to her feet. “You were out for quite some time.” “Oh of course Camilla, I’m very much fine; nothing like waking up in the middle of nowhere which is working wonders for my psyche.” “I apologize for the inconvenience, but it is urgent that you attend this battle with us; this day is the day that new history between the kingdoms of Nohr and Hoshido shall be written.” “And it’s going to be written in blood, either our enemies’ or our own based on what we do here,” Leo added. “And I’d like to keep my own blood strictly inside of me thank you very much,” the youngest sister of the family said, “not that I really want anyone’s blood to be spilled to begin with but, ah, it can’t be helped by this point.” “Oh, hello there Elise, I didn’t see you th—” It was then that Corrin noticed something seemed off; she looked around for any sign of fighting and found that they all were quite removed from the battlefield. “Wait just a minute; didn’t you all just say that we’re fighting the Kingdom of Hoshido?” “We are,” Leo answered, “but Xander ordered us to hang back from the fighting until you were finished up with your trip to dreamland.” “So that means that Xander is already up ahead,” Corrin said ignoring Leo’s jest. “Yup!” Elise confirmed. “He said that he didn’t want you using your dragonstone again so soon but Leo convinced him that you’ll need it for the battle.” “It’s a good thing that we’ve been studying the Hoshidan army in preparation for this,” Leo said with a confident grin. “Prince Ryouma’s come to challenge Xander as expected, and it’s not just him either; Princess Hinoka, Prince Takumi, Princess Sakura, and even…Kamui…are all accounted for.” “Kamui?” Corrin asked gaining a hostile edge to her voice. “You mean that he’s here? Now?” “Yes, and I know that you’re still upset over what happened between you two but let’s try to keep a cool head here sis; cooler heads don’t make mistakes that they’ll immediately regret at the very least.” “…True…still, when I do see him again I will let him have it.” “Try not to kill him, alright?” “I am not promising anything but I will make an effort to try to restrain myself by however much is necessary. Anyways, what of the other royal siblings? How do we deal with them?” “I’m glad that you asked. First off, we’re not going up against Ryouma, period; if you wanted suicide you’re better off doing it yourself. Next there’s Princess Hinoka; she’s a pegasus warrior but we have little bow wielders in our army. She can handle magic fairly well, but pegasus warriors are physically frail, so Camilla will handle her being the strongest of us. A few well-placed swings from a physical axe will bring Hinoka to her knees. Then there’s Prince Takumi; the guy’s a huge threat against a lot of our troops and especially against—but needless to say—our flying units. The only thing that’s stopping him from cutting through our forces like a hot knife on butter is the same glaring weakness that all bow-wielders possess: they’re total pushovers up close, and he’s particularly terrible at handling magic attacks. That’s where I come in, using one of my magic swords or Brynhildr to shred him like the paper tiger he is. If he has a reverse yumi though, I’m very much screwed, so I’ll keep an eye out for that. After him is Princess Sakura; she’s the priestess of the group and thus should be of a higher priority than her older siblings because of her ability wield many different types of batons. Capture her to lower the Hoshidans’ morale but don’t harm her under any circumstances if you want to make it out of this battle in one piece. And of course, there’s Prince Kamui; he’s a katana wielder similar to you and can transform into a dragon, which is unsurprising since he’s your twin.” “Something I wish I had remembered,” Corrin said with a sour face. “But at least we know for sure by now.” “And knowing is half the battle. By the way, I managed to snag this for you to use against him.” Leo handed Corrin a large and jagged sword, causing her eyes to widen. “This is—” “A wyrmslayer. It’s very effective against dragon units and almost any experienced sword-wielder can use it, but it’s not so great when used against anything else. And I got you your dragonstone+, a brave sword, a levin sword, and Ragnarök for use against anything that isn’t Kamui.” “‘Anything that is not Kamui’ implies that they have no dragons in Hoshido aside of him.” “Correct.” “Well, at least we are off on the right foot. And…what about Hoshido’s hallowed treasures?” “All of them are accounted for, even the Holy Night Blade from the spies’ reports.” “…We are really getting off on the right foot today. All five hallowed treasures in one place…I can hardly contain my excitement.” “They say that whosoever gathers all five of them shall be nigh-unstoppable,” Camilla said. “Xander’s Siegfried and Leo’s Brynhildr are two of the five treasures.” “And I know for a fact that Ryouma wields the Thunder God Katana while Takumi wields the Wind God Yumi. I don’t know who would have the Holy Night Blade though.” “Ryouma currently has it but he’s not actually wielding it in battle.” Leo said. “I believe that he may be plotting to use it for something later or maybe it’s just for show.” “Whatever the case is, the Holy Night Blade will be ours to command,” Corrin added grinning confidently, “and the conquest of Hoshido will be child’s play once we finally have it in our grasp.” “I can’t help but agree with that one Corrin, and just wait when we unlock its true power.” “Well then, if the game is to procure these hallowed treasures…” Camilla said. “Then let’s play!” Elise finished. “On to victory for Nohr!” With their plan set the Nohrian quartet made their way toward the battlefield where their eldest brother waited for their return. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------​-​ Theme – Crisis E1 Ryouma clutched the Thunder God Katana in his hand so tight that one would have thought he saw it as a part of his own body. He took a small group of samurai, lancers, and pegasus warriors with him as he sprinted to where the Nohrian invaders were. Once he and his troops crossed a bridge across the river, they were all met with the sight of soldiers in formation as they awaited their orders. “Nothing like a good ol’-fashioned home invasion taken to its logical extreme,” Ryouma said in annoyance. “Well, brothers and sisters in-arms, the only way past is to cut through these soldiers. Any objections?” The only sound heard was a few murmurs from the soldiers across from them and the obligatory cricket chirping nearby. “My thoughts exactly.” “Lord Ryouma, look atop that hill!” one of his troops announced. “Is that mounted man in black armor the Kingdom of Nohr’s first prince, ‘Xander’?” “Where‽” His eyes were led by a samurai’s finger to a lone, conspicuous hill, and on that hill stood the very object of his ire: Xander. “Yeah, that has to be him; no one would ever make themselves that noticeable unless they wanted to be seen, and Xander must want me to see him.” Xander himself had already spotted the Hoshido prince before he made it across the bridge, regarding him with a calm and calculated gaze. “So this is the crown prince of Hoshido,” he said to himself. “He resembles his father so strongly and he even wields the Thunder God Katana just like him. No matter though; his heritage to the former king will not pull him through this battle.” A distant sound caught his ears and he turned to spot the source; it was his siblings all on their way to the site of war, with none looking worse for wear. He would’ve smiled at the sight had the atmosphere not been as tense as his father was during his off days. With everyone in the Nohrian army present he gave the signal for the soldiers to advance and attack; Ryouma saw this and with a mighty shout he charged forward, leading his entourage into the fray. Ryouma cut down the first soldier he came into contact with, sending a powerful shock through their body that left them a convulsing, sizzling heap. To avoid getting hit he quickly leapt into the air and footstool jumped off of a dozen of his enemies, distracting them while his troops rushed through them. Once he was touching down on ground once more he was greeted by several soldiers surrounding him; they didn’t last very long against him as he took them all out with a small number of wide-horizontal slashes, sending electricity everywhere he swung. Behind him were his troops who caught up with him, passing him by as they advanced ahead to engage the enemy; he stood to his feet and directed a fierce glare to the Nohrian army before him. “Behold, Nohrian troops,” Ryouma announced, “for I am the Kingdom of Hoshido’s first prince: Yamato Ryouma!” The Hoshido prince then directed his finger toward his Nohrian nemesis. “I challenge your commander to a one-on-one duel to end this bloody conflict between us once and for all!” “…Behold, Hoshido troops,” Xander spoke, “for I am the first and crown prince of the Kingdom of Nohr: Xander Plantagenet. If it is a duel you seek from me then it is a duel you shall receive, but I shall warn you; this hallowed sword of Nohr shall be the last thing you’ll ever lay eyes upon!” Emphasizing his point, Xander drew forth his weapon – Siegfried – and a dark miasma erupted around the blade, shrouding it in thick darkness. With a war cry of his own he and his horse leapt down from the hill and landed perfectly in attack mode, slicing through several Hoshido samurai in his path without skipping a beat. Seeing the sight of his enemy barreling toward him made the Hoshido prince sprint at full speed to meet his galloping opponent; both men lunged straight at each other with their weapons aimed at their nemesis, and when the weapons clashed with each other in a display of bright sparks, the war had truly begun.