Author's Notes: The idea for this fic came to mind after I first played through the scene is Mantiac and Yuri causes Cumore's death. The way Flynn acted there and my initial reaction to that is what prompted this.

Devotion

This had not been his original intent. Things had gotten out of hand so quickly, and perhaps he had been wrong for the things he had done. That being said, they were things that he had done for the betterment of the Empire.

For nearly ten years, Flynn had been the Commandant, the head of the Imperial Knights, a shining example of heroics and justice. He had worked hard to fix the system he had always viewed as broken, and, from within, he had managed to change things and better the world. He had helped make peace between the Empire and the Guilds. He saw all the work he had done finally paying off.

The truth was, though, that many of the things he had been given credit for were not his own deeds, but those of his oldest and dearest friend, Yuri. He had saved the world from not one threat, but three. He had defeated the former Commandant Alexei, defeated the great war hero Duke Pantarei, and destroyed the Adephagos that had threatened to devour their world. Flynn had begged Yuri to take credit for his own actions, the good and the bad, but Yuri easily took credit for the bad, and left the good to Flynn. He had been responsible for the murder of two people as well. He had cut down the unarmed Magistrate Ragou, who would have otherwise escaped punishment for the near genocide of his own people, and Alexander Cumore, a former captain of the Imperial Knights who was doing much the same had also died at Yuri's hands. These were things that had never left Yuri's mind and that he had never regretted. And that was what started the problem.

It had been an offhand comment one day over dinner about some trouble happening with another magistrate, who was believed to be trafficking humans for horrifying deeds that that were more terrible than most could imagine. The Knights were having trouble gathering the evidence and it was causing Flynn a great deal of distress that he couldn't do anything. The next morning, Yuri was gone and Flynn had been informed of the mysterious murder of the magistrate.

When Yuri had returned from Dahngrest a few weeks later, Flynn had confronted him, but Yuri hadn't given him any indication of what had happened or why and had only offered to let Flynn arrest him. However, there was no evidence. He had been forced to let Yuri leave.

When things calmed down and the murder had been forgotten, Yuri returned. He and Flynn had another meal together, the murder far from Flynn's mind, when Flynn had mentioned another problematic person in passing. Someone accused of illegal research on human test subjects. The next morning, Yuri was gone again and so was the life of the person

Flynn had mentioned.

Again, this was troubling, but there had been no evidence against Yuri.

A third time had proved to not be surprising to him in the least, and that was when things had started to get out of hand. The thoughts had begun to seep in that maybe Yuri's method was the one that had been right all along. Maybe Flynn's sense of law and justice had been skewed all along, and Yuri had been the only one who was able to see how things really should have worked.

After that, he had begun mentioned people causing trouble, knowing what would happen to them. If this was what had to be done to better the Empire and better the world, then it would be done.

The meal they shared this time was no different than the others. It was simple compared to many of the meals prepared by the castle chef, but it was what they preferred. It reminded them both of the days when they were young and innocent. Those days seemed so long ago.

"How have things been in Dahngrest?"

Yuri shrugged. "Guild's doing well since we were accepted as one of the five Union guilds. We've got so many members now I can't remember all of their names. It's kinda nice though because I don't have to work so hard."

"Sounds great. How are the others doing?" This was really the banter they went through every time, but it was what they had come to expect.

"Karol and Nan are getting married. Judy's off doing her own things with Ba'ul most of the time. Sometimes Rita and Estelle come by in between research trips, but not often."

He wanted to bring up Repede, but it was not a good idea. The lives of dogs were short, and Yuri had not been quite the same since his partner had passed. Repede had had a long, good life filled with adventures the likes of which most dogs never dream of, but that had not made his passing any easier on Yuri. In fact, everything they had been through probably made it harder.

"How is Ioder?" Yuri didn't really care much for the emperor, but pretended anyway.

"He's doing well. He's working hard also to make this world a better place."

The dark haired man nodded, staring down at his half-eaten food.

"Is everything alright?"

"No, it's not, Flynn." He looked up, his dark eyes sad and angry, underlined by heavy bags that a man of thirty-two should not have had. There was something bearing on him so much that Yuri was nearly crumbling beneath its weight.

"What's the matter?"

Yuri pulled his sword out, letting the back of the blade come to rest on his shoulder. The Second Star was a sword like no other, curved, beautiful, and deadly. He wondered how many had met their end on that blade. He stared at Flynn, face stone cold and serious.

"Yuri..."

"You used me, Flynn." He shook his head as if in disbelief.

"W-what?"

"Don't play dumb."

"I don't-"

"I can't believe it took me so long to realize that I've been nothing but a tool for you. All those people I killed I did because you made me believe that they were a threat to our dream." He stood, the blade sliding down easily to point at Flynn.

"Yuri..."

"I put you up on a pedestal. I believed that you were perfect, beyond corruption. But I was stupid. No man, not even you, is beyond corruption. You are no better than Alexei. You bloodied your hands through me." He hadn't seen those eyes water in many years, and the bitter truth in that voice burned him. "I believed in our dream and you used me for it. I gave everything for you. This wasn't justice, Flynn. This was murder. And it makes you no longer fit."

"Let me explain-"

"No. You don't need to explain."

Flynn looked for the words he wanted to try to explain, even though he knew that Yuri wasn't listening. He was already set in his ways.

"I warned you once, Flynn. A long time ago, not long after I killed Cumore. I told you that if you ever became like this, I would end you, myself. I have every intention of keeping my word. You have fallen as those before you have, and you drug yourself into darkness."

He remained stalwart even as Flynn was completely lost for words. It was true. Once upon a time, Flynn had believed that he could change the world through justice and righteousness. He knew now that he had been delusional. That wasn't the way the world worked, and somehow, Yuri had been the one of the two of them who understood. At the same time, Yuri had tried so hard to maintain Flynn's innocence, but in the end Flynn had become tarnished, too.

"I'll give you a choice."

"What?"

"Because you're my friend."

Those words stung so much.

"You can step down as Commandant and leave the Knights or I will not hesitate in cutting you down. Live or die, Flynn. That's more of a choice than I gave the people I've cut down for you."

He took a deep breath. Yuri was right, and it had taken him this long to realize it. What he had done was inexcusable.

"I... I will resign first thing in the morning."

Yuri continued to stare down the length of sword, watching him for a long moment before he spoke again. "I'm holding you to this." He sheathed the sword and moved to the window, which was his usual form of exit.

"Yuri, I..."

"I put everything I had into believing in you, Flynn. And you let me down."

Before he could say anything else, Yuri was gone, no doubt down the wall and into the royal gardens and back into the city.

Flynn did not sleep that night. All of the cold, hard truths of Yuri's accusation rang painfully in his ears. He had been right about everything. This was not what he had intended. Somewhere along the line, he had strayed from the path he believed in and stepped onto the path that Alexei had started down, the one that would throw the whole world into chaos. He was so disappointed in himself.

Civilian clothes felt so strange compared to his blue and white uniform. He packed up the few personal belongings he had into a wooden crate and left everything else as it had been when he took up the position of Commandant ten years before. He was going to keep his word to Yuri. The resignation letter sat on his desk, ready to be delivered to Ioder. He didn't want to take it himself. He no longer deserved to be in the presence of the emperor.

He left his quarters quietly. It was still very early in the morning and no one paid him much mind. He had been the Commandant and did as he pleased.

Zaphias was cold, even colder than the normal winter made it. There was not a single trace of warmth in his body, and he wrapped his coat around himself to try and drive off the chill. It was pointless.

He found himself in the Lower Quarter before too long. It was still early and luckily no one that knew or respected him was around. He didn't really want to deal with them. He paused at the steps up to Yuri's room above the Comet. He wanted so much to apologize for the inexcusable things he had done. An apology would never have been enough, but Yuri deserved at least that much.

Flynn took the steps slowly, one at a time, and paused once more in front of the door. He had been through that door so many times, in joy and sorrow, anger and love, but now it was different. He had once looked down on Yuri for being a murderer, but he was the murderer now. His hands were just as bloodied, but it was worse. He had used the one person he trusted the most to commit such acts. He really had been no better than Alexei, who had used Flynn himself and countless others toward his own means.

He took a deep breath, trying to calm down. Just an apology, and then he would leave as promised.

He knocked on the door. There was no reply. He knocked once more, but there was still nothing. Finally, he grabbed the knob and opened the door.

Yuri's room, small and warm, filled with memories of happy times and hardships, friendships and trust was empty. There was nothing left, only barren spots in the floor and against the walls where furniture and treasured items had once been. It was completely empty. Even the window that was always open through rain or shine, winter through summer was closed. Tears threatened to overwhelm him and he trembled harder than he ever remembered. He had never felt so awful, so empty and hollow and sad. He crumpled, tears taking hold, everything else he knew was drowned out as he realized it.

And Flynn knew he was gone.