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To think, just a week prior I had been a proud Hoshidan ready and willing to defend the country and people to my last breath. Now I reside in a filthy Nohrian dungeon. I got captured in Fort Dragonfall through the fact of superior strategy, man power, and willpower. Some thing I had thought impossible for the other side of the war. I was following orders and yet, I'm the traitor, I'm the bad guy. You question just once if what you are fighting for is truly just, and you get sent to the outskirts and are made out to be the bad guy. Queen Mikoto's death shook everyone, myself included. After all, I was a commander who served by her side for years. But the princes, their anger, their uncontrollable hate for the other side after the actions of Nohr, they scared me. And I wondered to myself. I wondered if we were in the right here after all. We sank to the enemy's level when we took their child. So what makes Hoshido, the glorious country it is, in some moments any better than Nohr. They were suffering for years and thought Conquest was the only answer, and that desperate times called for desperate measures. We heard and even saw their troubles, but we did nothing. The only thought that can come to my head is "Why?"
I started to drift into sleep, when a short tapping on the bars was sounded. I looked up and couldn't make out their face. I could only see a short figure with long hair that looked like fresh baked bread. The door was unlocked and the figure stepped in, the rusty dooIr swinging shut behind it. I could make out its face, and could determine that it was female. In fact I had seen this person before. This was one of the people at the storming of Fort Dragonfall. Elise if I remember correctly. She was wearing the same royal outfit that she was wearing during the siege and in her hair were big pink bows. She couldn't have been more than thirteen or fourteen. In her hand was not a weapon but a small tray with a miniature tea set with four different cups. One had what looked like sandwiches and weights along with spears and trees, one had what looked like various acts of heroism, one that had violins and the Nohrian royal crest, and the final one was a plain green teacup with white edges. For the first three, I noticed that the designs looked hand painted. She sat down across from my cell horrid smelling cot and addressed me.
"Hi there."
I raised my eyebrow at such a normal greeting. I must remain defensive though. This might be a special form of interrogation. "Hello."
"My names Elise, the Princess of Nohr," She began as I had a mental celebration at remembering who she was, "and I'd like to talk to you."
I knew it. Interrogation. But something about this girl made me less on guard, having to infact remind myself to stay on guard. "About...?"
"The Fort obviously and about you. Would you like some tea?" She said this as she poured tea into the green and white teacup. It's sweet scent filled the room we were in, which usually smelled like moss. I cautiously reached my hand out for the green cup, making sure to watch her movements carefully in case of any chance of poison. No such luck.
"So... why don't you tell me about yourself and what you were doing?"
There was something so calm and open about her, like I wanted to simply let everything out. So despite my further, and probably better, judgment, I did.
"Well it all started a week ago..."
"We all were shaken by Queen Mikoto's death and that worry only deepened after Corrin chose your side. The Royals, mainly the Princes were furious. They were dead set on getting back at Nohr. And I was with them. But I started to think, 'Am I really doing the right thing?' Because Hoshido isn't innocent in the war. We took one of your princesses away. That's hardly innocent. So I brought my concerns to a good friend of mine, another general named Kumagera, and I told him about my thoughts. Turns out that I picked the worst possible time. Because he was looking to find me to do a terrible thing. Execute Azura. The one we had stolen. I thought it was too much, but he said that it was the only way to be sure that there were no spies within the Royal Family. I thought 'Isn't this too much?' He said no, that because she was Nohrian at birth, she couldn't be trusted. I refused at first, but he threatened to reveal me to the Princes as an enemy spy. So I did, under the request that I did it away from Hoshido, in secret, and with only the trustworthy people. I wanted to keep my honor intact. He agreed. Then you lot found me in Fort Dragonfall only 2 hours since we got there, We were to have the execution at sundown but my Men wanted to speed it up. When you attacked, you slaughtered all my men. But you spared me and kept me in this cell. I'll never understand."
"There was a reason, you know." She took a sip of tea, as did I. It tasted slightly too sweet, but add a bit of mint and I'd like it more. "But it's a secret!"
I almost laughed, "Is this some game?"
"Nope!" She had a big smile on her face, a knowing smile, the "I know Something You Don't Know" smile. "But I'll tell you."
"Really?"
"Yep! The secret is," she leaned in close, "Is that despite popular Hoshidan belief, we aren't monsters. We saw you weren't fighting with your all so we came and helped you."
I took a double take on what she said. She asked me a good, hard question. "What do you want?"
I had to think a second before answering. "I guess to help Hoshido as a country, and rid the world of evil, Just not in the current Hoshido way."
Elise tapped her chin for a moment, and said to me, "Y'know, you're sounding a lot like Corrin. Wanting to help and doing it right. That's what he's doing here though. Helping Nohr by doing what's best, and Doing it right by showing mercy, compassion and kindness. You could help me and him make the whole world a better place the right way. Besides." She paused and scooped the tray off the ground, the other three mugs teetering dangerously. "I could always have another guest to my tea parties."
With that she left the room and the door didn't close behind her. I took one look at my Mug and made up my mind. I quickly got up, and followed her out. She had gained my trust and proven to me that the world isn't black and white. That there is evil inside good. But there will always be people to root it out. And those people gained a new companion. Haitaka