On the shore of a small lake stood a girl in white, looking out over the water. She began to sing, her voice like an angel's.
You are the ocean's gray waves, destined to seek life beyond the shore, just out of reach.
As she sang, she stepped into the water, going further down before slipping under the surface, the water guiding her along.
Yet the waters ever change, flowing like time. The path is yours to climb.
Under the water were ruins, invisible to the naked eye from above the surface. The girl floated down as light enveloped her, and then...

Far away, in a fortress in another kingdom, a different girl lay in bed as a dream played on in her head.

A young man in Nohrian armor stood with his horse at the top of a cliff. He put his hand out, and the Nohrian forces below him charged forward. On the opposite side of the valley were the Hoshidan forces, who also charged.

Another young man, most likely close in age to the man on the cliff, charged forward, separate from the soldiers around him. He wielded a katana, its edge glowing with a blue light. The Hoshidan fought his way through the Nohrian soldiers with ease, eventually stopping as he stepped forward to address the man on the cliff.
"Nohrian general! You face the high prince of Hoshido, Haji! I challenge you to single combat!"

"I will accept your challenge, 'high prince'," the man said. "But I'm no general. I am crown prince Nicholas of Nohr!" He urged his horse forward as he drew his own sword, and the horse lept off the cliff, landing safely on the ground and charging toward Haji. As the two approached each other, they each let out a battle cry as their swords clashed, but then...

The dreaming girl looked around, seeing that she was in a field. To her left was a girl on a pegasus, her long hair tied back in a ponytail. "Come on, Lauren!" she said. "We've got work to do!" Though Lauren had never met this girl before, she somehow knew her name was Kaori. How, exactly, didn't matter at the moment. A soldier charged forward, attacking Lauren with an axe. Lauren dodged and attacked in retaliation. The soldier lunged forward, but Kaori blocked him and attacked with her lance. "Lauren, what's the matter with you? You seem distracted," Kaori said. "If you're worried, don't be. All your siblings are here with you. The Nohrians don't stand a chance!" Siblings...? But her siblings were in Nohr, right? Never mind that, it was a dream. Nothing in it was real, except for the four she recognized as Hoshidan royalty. Prince Haji, the oldest, Princess Kaori, second oldest. Prince Ryuunosuke, or Ryuu for short, was the second youngest, and finally, there was Princess Rina. How... did she know their names? She hadn't met them before, yet... somehow she knew they were royalty.

Ah, right. They were sort of in the middle of a battle, weren't they?
Lauren charged toward one of the Nohrians, their swords clashing until Lauren defeated him. Meanwhile, a little off into the distance, her... 'brother', Haji, and her real brother, Nick, were fighting, their swords clashing. "I demand to know why you Nohrian dogs are invading Hoshido!" Haji said, glaring at Nick as they fought. "Was that cowardly attack on my people your doing as well, princeling?" Nick glared back, though he had a glint of humor in his eyes. Of course, he didn't exactly like to fight, but if it was to protect his kingdom and people, then so be it. "I have nothing to say to you," Nick said. "Surrender now. If you refuse... you die here." No, Nick wouldn't truly kill Haji. If at all possible, he'd like for his enemies to have a chance at living. Well, it depended on what you did, Lauren supposed.

Further off in the distance, Lauren could just barely see her other true siblings: Ollie, the second oldest after Nick, Carlos, the second youngest, and Ethan, the youngest. The bridge in front of them was broken, and despite the distance between them, she could hear the words they were saying. "Oh, no!" Ethan said. "The bridge collapsed! How can we help our brother now?" Ollie smiled. "Not to worry, Ethan. This royal blood in our veins is still good for something!" "Have you spotted a Dragon Vein, Ollie?" Carlos asked. "You know me too well, dear little brother!" Ollie giggled as they directed their wyvern to the river. Using the Dragon Vein they had found, they summoned a fireball and rid the riverbed of its water. "Yay, it worked!" Ethan exclaimed. "The river dried up!" "I would never let you down, darling. Now, everyone follow me," Ollie said. "Ethan, you're not ready for the front lines," Carlos said. "Stay back. Ollie and I will take care of the Hoshidans."

Next to her, the Hoshidans looked on in shock and slight worry. "The Nohrian army used a Dragon Vein to dry up the river!" Kaori exclaimed. "But I thought only royals held that power..." "Yeah, which means there must be some real big shots over there," Ryuu said. He smirked, reaching for his bow. "Suits me just fine. I've always wanted to use a Nohrian royal for target practice!" Though in her dream she was on Hoshido's side, Lauren was bothered by this. Nohrians weren't bad at all! At least, her siblings and retainers weren't. Kathlyn, Gunter, Dia, and Jakob were all kind to her. Her father and his retainers, however, were... questionable. She was hardly allowed outside of the fortress, and even then it was only for a short amount of time. Kaori's voice snapped her out of her internal rant. "Stay focused, Lauren. The Nohrians brought their heavy hitters this time." By the river, Ollie and Carlos charged forward with Ethan trailing behind them to assist them with any damage taken. Other Hoshidans and Nohrians fought as reinforcements from Nohr approached, led by one of her father's retainers, Hans. "Listen up, cannon fodder!" he shouted to the troops. "We have a direct order from King Garon! He says kill 'em all!"

Kaori tightened her grip around her lance, glaring across the valley at the Nohrian troops. "Dammit, their reinforcements have arrived! I'll go scout out how many there are. Ryuu, Rina, stay with Lauren." Ryuu nodded. "Understood." Rina also nodded, seeming a bit nervous at the idea of Kaori going off to scout by herself. "Yes, good idea."

Kaori flew off, though her path was blocked by a few Nohrian soldiers. "Hang in there, Lauren," Ryuu said. "The Nohrian royals are no pushovers... We'll have to work together to beat them. As the eldest, I guess you're in charge. Tell me what to do and I'll do it." Lauren nodded. "The best course of action would be to take down some of the lesser soldiers and deal with the others after," she said. Rina stepped forward, looking for something to do. "Are you hurt, Lauren?" she asked. "Here, let me heal your wounds." She lifted her staff up a little, and Lauren could feel her wounds healing as if they never existed. More reinforcements arrived, this time from Hoshido. A man she recognized as Yukimura stepped forward to address the troops. "Comrades! Do not let them cross this line. We must defend Hoshido!" The Hoshidan soldiers let out a battle cry as they charged forward. To Lauren's right, a Nohrian approached, though she might not have noticed until it was too late had Rina not warned her.
"It's an ambush! Rina, stay back. You aren't equipped to fight," Ryuu said, aiming his bow at the soldier. Kaori glanced over and gave them a curt nod. "Ryuu! Lauren! I'm counting on you two!" "Be careful, Lauren!" Rina said, backing away but still staying close enough to heal any wounds. Lauren gave her a little smile before sneaking behind the Nohrian and attacking while he was distracted by Ryuu. She lunged forward, though she wasn't able to get a direct hit and instead hit the soldier's shield. The soldier fought back with his lance, grazing her arm and breaking off tiny bits of her armor. Thank heavens it was just a dream. While the Nohrian wasn't paying attention, Ryuu summoned an arrow to his bow and fired it at the soldier, finishing him off before he could attack Lauren again.
Kaori flew back over, a smile on her face. "Lauren, Ryuu, good work fighting off tha ambush." Rina looked at the two of them in awe. "You were amazing, Lauren." "That went well. Probably because SOMEONE gave you good advice," Ryuu said, elbowing Lauren. After an awkward silence, he stared at her, looking a little disappointed. "...And you're welcome, by the way." Lauren simply rolled her eyes, though she was smiling. "No time to talk!" Kaori said, rushing them over to Haji. "Let's see how Haji's doing."

"Haji, are you alright?" Kaori asked as they approached. Haji turned at the sound of his sister's voice and nodded. "I'll be fine. I'm glad to see you're all safe." He looked in the direction the Nohrians had come from. "Enemy reinforcements are headed this way. I want you to get rid of them. Lauren, I'm counting on you to keep Kaori and the others safe."

Nick was still nearby, and his eyes widened when he saw Lauren. "Lauren! Thank heavens we found you, and that you're alive and well. Quickly, come join us! Your family has come to take you home where you belong." "Quiet, Nohrian filth!" Haji said, stepping in front of Lauren. "Lauren is my sister and a princess of Hoshido!" Nick gritted his teeth, glaring at Haji. "On the contrary, Lauren is MY sister and a princess of Nohr!" As if things couldn't get any worse, Ollie, Carlos, and Ethan approached. Great, one big family meeting!
"Lauren! I was so worried about you. Don't ever wander away from me again!" Ollie said, pouting slightly. "I'm glad you're okay, Lauren. You must have the devil's own luck!" Carlos said, a smug look on his face almost identical to the one Ryuu had earlier. "Yay!" Ethan cheered. "We got our sister back!" Kaori stood next to Haji. "Nohrian scum! First you kidnap her, now you lie to her?! Lauren is MY sister, not yours!" Ollie stared at Kaori with a cold look in their eyes. "You are mistaken. Lauren is my sweet little sister. You may not have him." Haji turned to Lauren. "Don't be fooled by their words. You belong with your true family in Hoshido!" Nick stepped forward, attempting to win her over. "We have loved you and raised you since you were a child. Come home, little princess. We can live as a family once more!" "Come home to Hoshido, Lauren!" Haji said. "No, Lauren! Nohr is your home!" Nick looked at Lauren with pleading eyes. Lauren looked from Nick to Haji, from Nohr to Hoshido...

Before she could answer, she heard a girl's voice. "Wake up!"

And just like that, her dream was over.

Prologue ~ END

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Oh boy that was long. Uhhhh so like explanation for the Hoshidans' names, I just like went off the first letter of the person's real name if I knew it then just looked for an "alternative" Japanese name for it. So like, John = Jun. Also like, if y'all don't want me using ur real name lemme know and I'll change it. In hindsight I probably should've asked this before I wrote this buuut I really wanted to work on it and not have it die like all my other books so yeah. Uhh, I'll probably have chapter one up tomorrow maybe hopefully. Also from now on depending on how long the chapter is I may split it. So like, if it goes over 5000 words then I'll split it into however many I have to.