Despite the newfound optimism flooding through Corrin, there was no way he could protect himself against the Queen and Vesterii. Especially not in a kitchen such as the one they were in.
As the Queen was dodging his last attack, he purposely fell to the ground and pushed off of it towards the hole on the way back into the throne room. His scar seared. Going back into the throne room, he could see, again, his friends.
But there was something different about them that Corrin could not explain.
Corrin didn't have time to think; however, the Queen's blade was flying upward near his chin. He was still moving backwards, his legs hadn't even touched the floor yet. He tried to lift his leg to kick, but his body barely moved.
His eyes began to waver. He couldn't understand what was happening. The Queen's blade inched closer. Then he saw it: the Queen's face. Not where they were now, but in his mind.
He was asleep, and he had a massive headache. He shook his head violently, and he woke up flying backward. The Queen had already attacked. His left cheek had a brand-new cut running up it, directly over Corrin's scar.
He tried to move, but he couldn't. He flopped and fell onto the ground roughly.
"What… the hell…?"
Corrin's body was weakening. His scar felt like it was growing as the pain reached outwards around Corrin's face.
Corrin stood up shakily. Smoke was billowing out of Corrin's scar alongside light that outshone the paned windows.
"Oh, what happened? Got a cut on your scar, Corrin?"
The Queen walked forward.
"What the hell did you do?"
Corrin looked up, surprised he was able to form coherent words amid the pain. The Queen flicked the blood off her sword.
"Resonance, Corrin. I can enter into somebody's mind and speak with them, putting them in a dream state."
Corrin's heart began to beat faster.
"How do you think I contacted Vesterii during your journey?"
Corrin gripped his sword.
"I even used it on your friends before they died."
The Queen pulled her head back while smiling.
"But you… You resisted it. You fought back. Because you knew something they didn't."
She takes a deep, chuckling breath.
"Yet… you didn't know how you knew. Which I find very interesting. It gives me lots of very important information."
Vesterii makes his way out of the kitchen at this moment, walking toward Corrin.
"I have my suspicions, your highness. But I believe the truth is clear as daylight. He doesn't even know what the shard does."
Corrin gripped the shard through his clothing. They were right. He had been carrying this shard alongside him all this time, yet he had no idea how it worked. Or worse, what it even did. The mysterious man from before had told him only to connect with it.
He had told him it was a vessel of sorts for easier access to the Anees energy hiding away in the atmosphere.
But if the Queen wanted it so badly, there had to be something else to it. Corrin gritted his teeth. If it meant he would have to die, then so be it.
"I will never let you have the shard! I don't care if my life ends- you will never have the satisfaction of holding the shard!"
Suddenly, the wall behind him, which led to the outside, began to explode open. Boulders flew through the wall and crashed into the bodies lying on the ground. The sun was visible on the morning horizon, and it baked the world in a brilliant orange hue.
Even the dust was a burnt orange. When the boulder fell, Corrin knew this was his opportunity. The boulders had fallen in a few places, but the most important was directly between Corrin and the Queen. The dust exploded upward.
Corrin jumped up to the boulder, surprised by his jump height.
"Light Katana…"
Corrin's entire body burst with a golden light.
"...Twirling Serpent!"
Corrin dashed forward and twisted his body in a barrel roll. Corrin flew towards the Queen. It looked like Corrin could actually finish the fight here and now.
But the Queen was prepared. She blocked the attack with purpose. Corrin wasn't going to stop there, however.
"Light Katana…"
Corrin's body again erupted in a golden light.
"...Mirage!"
Corrin brings forth a flurry of attacks, each one stronger and faster than the last. He pushes forwards as this happens, and they go flying across the throne room. Corrin moves his body so fast, that slight afterimages appear.
Corrin can hardly even keep up with his own movements. But the Queen dodged every single attack he threw. So, Corrin decided to change it up. He flew down and spun, kicking the Queen's legs and toppling her over.
"Light Katana…"
Corrin aimed his blade up as the Queen fell down to the right.
"...Upward Wind!"
Corrin's blade exploded upward. He watched the air around them change direction, flying up with his swing.
Still, the Queen managed to dodge it. She could not, however, dodge the air that burst up. Her body flew upward.
But that's when Corrin realized he hadn't been paying attention to Vesterii; he felt Vesterii's axe close in on the right side of his neck. He felt it as it cut through his skin.
"Light Scimitar… Power!!"
"Light Katana… Power!!"
Merri and Edwin's blades exploded upward in a brilliant flash. Vesterii's arms flew along with them. Alongside his arms were his axes, now gone from beside Corrin.
Corrin turned. Merri still had a sword through her chest. Blood poured from her mouth, nose, and eyes, yet she still fought. The thought brought tears to his eyes, but also gave him determination.
Edwin looked the healthiest. He seemed to have gone unconscious, but he was doing fine. Corrin was still happy to see they were alive. But Corrin was ready to end Vesterii's life.
"Light Katana…"
His body again became golden. His sword even more so.
"...Power!!!"
His sword slammed into Vesterii's neck. Time slowed as the blade inched through Vesterii's neck. Vesterii's head flew off.
The Queen landed on the ground closer to her throne, which was a few dozen feet away. She looked at Merri.
"You should be dead!"
Merri smiled as blood poured from her face.
"I may have punctured a lung, but the sword stuck in my chest plugs any way oxygen could have leaked out of my body. It gives me just enough oxygen to keep myself conscious for a few more minutes."
Merri coughed a bit of blood. She kept her breathing slow and deep, prolonging her consciousness for a few minutes.
Corrin wipes away his tears. He turns to the Queen and grits his teeth. Edwin and Merri both ready themselves.
Corrin knows that they can defeat the Queen, even with only the three of them. The Queen just stands there. Suddenly Corrin's eyes begin to waver. He quickly snaps out of it, knowing what's happening. He's already fallen closer to the ground than where he was standing.
But Merri, nor Edwin know what's happening. Corrin wakes himself up just in time to see the Queen bring her sword down on them. He aims for her legs.
"Light Katana…"
His sword, yet again, bursts with golden power.
"...Power!!"
Corrin's sword explodes forward, a golden streak lining where it had been, the Queen dodged backwards. But something about this attack is different.
Suddenly, the pain in Corrin's face grows more than he can handle. He screams out. His body seemed to be bathed in golden light. But amid the pain, Corrin could make out a silhouette. A golden silhouette.
It was of a woman Corrin did not recognize. She held a katana, just as Corrin had. She was in the exact same position as Corrin, though slightly ahead and to the right.
She had her hair tied into a ponytail like Merri, though she wore light plate armor. On it was a symbol of a circular gemstone. Corrin took in her figure. The Queen rushed forward.
The silhouette jumped up and brought itself into a jabbing position; ready to shoot the sword forwards like it was a rapier.
Corrin wasn't sure why, but he felt an intense desire to follow this woman's movements. So he did. When he did, the Queen seemed surprised and dodged to the left.
The silhouette threw its sword from down to up with nothing but its right arm. Corrin noted the supreme lack of power in the attack. Nonetheless, he followed and attacked the same way. The Queen blocked the attack.
The silhouette revealed its real plan: she turned her body upside down and kicked upward with her left foot backward with all her might; towards the queen's face. Corrin turned and did the same. The Queen was hit and flew back, blood splattering everywhere.
Around this time, Edwin and Merri began to wake up. The silhouette stood there and waited for the Queen's next move. The pain in Corrin's scar seemed to die down, but the silhouette stayed there.
Whoever or whatever this thing was, it seemed to know exactly what it was doing. Corrin felt a new power surge through him.