Chapter Text
Deep within the bowels of Nohr's castle Krakenburg, the dread mage Iago pounded his desk in frustration. The king of Nohr, Garon, was counting on him. He was a genius! Yet despite his tenure as chief tactician of the kingdom, their great nation had been forced to endure years of "peace" with Hoshido. Many times had they tried and failed to invade Hoshido, every attempt failing at the first hurdle. Slouching into his chair, Iago sighed. It was all that blasted barrier's fault. In an all-out war, there was no doubt that Nohr would crush the soft Hoshidans. But the magical barrier foiled every effort at invasion. Rather than being a mere physical obstacle keeping them out, being within the radius of the magic had a strange effect. Any soldiers crossing the border into Hoshido were drained of their will to fight, without fail. Personel could be smuggled in and out of the country, yet no battle could be instigated.
The barrier was maintained by a single woman, the queen of Hoshido, yet it alone stopped every attempt at invasion at the first step. A confoundedly wretched strategy! Iago's fist thudded on the table. If only he had thought of it first! Their attempts to study and analyze the barrier yielded no useful results. But they knew it was Mikoto alone who kept the barrier in place. The simplest solution would be to take her out, but how? Even their best assassins found themselves unable to strike her down once across the border. Fortunately the barrier was limited to Hoshido, otherwise she could extend it over Nohr and reach even the capital Windmire.
Iago collected himself, rubbing his chin in thought. A limitation of the barrier? Perhaps that could be exploited. The Faceless were also immune. Creatures conjured with magic, they lacked free will, merely attacking anything in sight. A blessing and a curse, since they were equally likely to attack the mages summoning them as they were Hoshidans. Yet they were the only weapons they had, still functional across the border. The Faceless had seen some success, inflicting damage to Hoshidan villages near the border. But it wasn't enough. They needed a decisive way of weakening Hoshido, or at least a way to get rid of the barrier. She was the key. Mikoto had to be dealt with. But how?
The tactician remembered details of months-old trials in Faceless. With considerable effort, his mages had been able to conjure creatures capable of targeting select Hoshidan villagers. Rather useless at the time, but what if they were aimed at Mikoto? Iago found himself pounding the desk again. There's no way that would work. She was guarded by formidable warriors, a single faceless would never come close enough to kill her. If there was some way to isolate her from her guards, there was an outside chance of a faceless landing a single blow on the queen. But it wouldn't be enough to kill her.
Iago stopped himself. There was a semblance of a plan in his head, but he had to put it together. What if the queen could be taken out in a single attack? No faceless was that lethal, but perhaps she could be incapacitated somehow? He stood, walking over to the stores of confiscated Hoshidan charms and talismans with small measures of magical power. Reaching in, he picked up a yellow tag. Testing this item had revealed that it bestowed the effect of a spell on contact with its victim. Iago smirked. Perfect for the knuckles of a faceless. But what spell? Something to incapacitate the queen, or at least reduce the area of the magical barrier. And he had just the thing...
"... That's the plan." Iago finished explaining to his king, on one knee before Garon's throne.
"I see." Garon said, his constant frown not leaving his face. "Will this actually work?"
"I have no doubt, your majesty." Iago said. "Our experiments so far have had promising results."
"Your plans working..." Garon sneered. "That would be a first."
His comment hurt Iago's pride, but he would not dare show annoyance at his king.
"But I'll allow it." Garon decided. "Do as you will."
"Thank you, your majesty!" Iago got up and bowed. "I shall not fail you!"
"It matters not." Garon huffed. "If you fail, little of any value will be lost. Now leave me."
With a wave of his hand, Iago was dismissed. He headed down the steps and out the door, barely containing his excitement.
"Fool." Garon uttered, alone once more. "He won't succeed. But it would be good if he did, wouldn't it?" He looked upward, addressing the statue built into the ceiling. "You may even be reunited with her..."
Mere weeks later, Iago and some of his best men crossed the canyon, arriving at the Hoshidan border. Today was the best opportunity for his plan. Their spies had found out that the queen was visiting a village near the border. One close enough for the faceless to reach. With enough of them, they could reach the queen.
"Halt!" Iago commanded, reaching the barrier. It was invisible, but a sorcerer of his caliber could easily sense the wretched magic. "No further, you fools!"
"Yes sir!" The dark mages shouted.
"They're here!" One of the scouts yelled. "Between those buildings! The Hoshidan standard!"
"Then we begin at once." Iago motioned to the mages. "Summon the faceless!"
"Sir!" The mages started to gesture, preparing to summon forth the fell creatures.
"Now you." Iago turned to his most capable subordinate. "You will summon during the second wave, as we discussed. Are you ready?"
The mood was jubilant in the village. All of the villagers had come out on yet another day of perfect weather in Hoshido. They all lined up eagerly, keen to meet their beloved queen.
"These poor people." Mikoto sighed. "So close to the border, they have weathered many raids from Nohr..."
"My lady..." Her retainer, Orochi, was sympathetic to their plight, but something else was weighing on her mind, "That premonition you had..."
"Yes, it's very strange." Mikoto said. "It's so vague. I just get the sense of something happening, but it seems drowned out by something else. Perhaps something even further in the future..."
"Maybe we shouldn't be here." Orochi suggested. "It's dangerous being so close to the border."
"Do not worry." Mikoto reassured her. "Our finest warriors are here to protect us. And none finer than my dear Ryoma."
"You honor me, mother." Ryoma said with a smile. "Worry not. No harm shall befall you."
"Besides, look at the joyful faces of the villagers." Mikoto pointed out. "They have endured so much. The least I can do is visit them and give my support."
"I suppose you're right..." Orochi conceded.
"Mother!"
Mikoto turned to see the Hoshidan princess Hinoka, landing mere feet away. "Faceless! A lot of them, coming from the border!"
"Damn those Nohrians." Ryoma cursed. "Will they never leave these people alone?"
"They cannot be allowed to reach the village." Mikoto said. "The two of you, gather Takumi, Sakura and your retainers."
"At once!" Ryoma left first, followed by Hinoka.
"Orochi, I need your help." Mikoto turned to her trusted retainer. "Help me warn the villagers."
"Of course." Orochi followed her queen. She could not help but feel nervous. Most of the soldiers had been sent to engage the faceless. Mikoto did not have many guards. What if they were attacked when everyone else was away? Unlikely, Orochi reassured herself. They would need some intelligence to get past the soldiers...
"Ready!" The soldier signaled to Iago. The faceless that had taken some effort to summon was bound in chains, restrained so that the enchanted tag could be fixed to its fist.
"Wonderful." Iago grinned. "Release it with the next wave!"
As five more faceless were conjured into the world, the shackles were released. It hurried away, moving somewhat differently to the others. A strange instinct led the others to follow it, a breakaway rank of faceless heading straight for the village.
"Perfect!" Iago cheered. "If this works, Hoshido is ours!"
"Lady Mikoto!"
The queen turned to see Orochi hurrying towards her.
"That's the last of them! Everyone is in shelter now!" The retainer told Mikoto.
"Thank you, Orochi." Mikoto smiled.
"We should get inside too..." Orochi began, but stopped when she saw a group of faceless appear from behind a building. "Watch out!"
Mikoto turned and gasped at the sight of the creatures. She did not have time to wonder how they had made it past the others, instead looking for cover or a weapon. Orochi put herself between them and her queen, the diviner with her spells at the ready. There was an odd pause, the faceless not attacking on sight. One of them near the middle of the pack roared, and they surged forward.
Orochi was fast to attack, launching a spell as soon as they were in range. Conjuring forth the spectral form of a rat, the creature of light sped forward and collided with the front faceless. It collapsed to the ground with two of its brethren, caught in the radius of the Hoshidan magic. A fourth pushed past, swinging for the diviner. She stepped back, avoiding its attack, but another struck straight afterward from the side, sending the purple-haired woman crashing into a nearby wall.
The diviner grimaced, moving to get up, but the pair of beasts were near her. She winced as one raised a fist...
An arrow thudded into the side of the creature, the impact strong enough to fell the faceless. Orochi looked up to see that the queen was her savior, bow in hand. Though it had been long since her last fight, Mikoto was still a capable archer. The other faceless met the same fate. But the last one ran for the queen, faster than the others. Mikoto gasped at its speed, unable to attack in time. She raised her arms, bracing herself as its fist connected.
"Lady Mikoto!" Orochi launched a spell towards the faceless, but too late. Its blow connected with a brief flash of light, before Mikoto fell backwards. Orochi's spell hit, pushing the faceless away from her queen. She ran, desperate to get to her side...