It had been six months since the defeat of the Goddess, Ashera. Peace returned to Tellius in all sorts of ways. Crimea more or less recovered completely from the Mad King's War with Queen Elincia leading the country towards a golden age. Daein's ways changed greatly due to Queen Micaiah, who people often herald as the greatest ruler of the country. Gallia, too, was at peace. The racism against the laguz, while still existent in some places, diminished greatly. The bond between Beoric and Laguz grew stronger due to Queen Elincia's efforts, but it is hard to remove the hate from an entire race from everyone. Skirmir served as the king of Gallia shortly after Ashera's defeat, and his hot headedness did cool down just a tad. Lastly, the supreme country of Begnion. As Empress Sanaki promised, the land taken from the Herons was given back without delay, and she also made sure to elect a few prime ministers, those who she was sure she could trust. In all, the land of Tellius experienced a blissful period of peace. However, that peace would not last for very long….

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The story begins at a small village, just within Crimea's borders. From the inn, Mia the Trueblade stepped out, giving a large yawn. It was pretty early in the morning, but she had to get going because she planned to drop by Greil's retreat and see how the others were doing. "Thanks for the stay, but I have to get going now!" Mia nodded, running out of the small village after.

"She forgot to pay…" The inn keeper sighed heavily.

"To be fair, she saved us from those bandits last night…" A visitor replied.

Mia was in a hurry, if that wasn't clear by the dust she was leaving behind in her sprint. She came to a large clearing, now looking back and forth. "Oh, fudge…" She groaned, scratching her head while looking around. "I always get lost here…gosh darnit…" The Trueblade sighed, taking the time to get her bearings straight. "Okay, let's see…"

"Excuse me…" A calm, male voice said, causing Mia to turn around.

"Nani?" Mia turned, raising a brow at the sudden voice. She placed her hands on her hips, eying the stranger before her. Nothing special, minus the fact the strange wore a hood, covering his face. "Can I help you…?"

"Yes…" The male nodded slowly. "I heard you're the wandering swordswoman, Mia, yes? Former member of the Greil Mercenaries?"

"Huh…" Mia blinked a few times. "I didn't know I was getting a reputation out there…" She then rubbed the back of her head in a slightly sheepish manner. "Hehe…why do you ask, stranger?"

"You may call me Waiston…" The male replied, drawing two blades from his back. Mia was no stranger to swords, yet the two blades held by this Waiston character were strangely crafted. The blades were finely sharpened and gave off an odd aura. "And I came to look for you because I heard you're one of the best Trueblades around.

"Well aren't those some finely sharpened blades you have there…" Mia said while examining the blades in Waiston's hand. She then gave a smile, pulling out her own sword of choice, the Tempest Blade. "Very well, I accept your challenge! But one thing! You better not go easy on me just because I'm a woman!"

"These are the Holy Swords…Oh, don't worry…" Waiston said while readying himself. "I have no intention of holding anything back…"

"Excellent!" Mia gave a grin. "Now, prepare yourself!" With that, Mia was off like the wind. Her exceptionally high speed showed as she closed the distance between herself and Waiston within mere seconds. Once close, she swung the blade towards the male, only to find that her strike was blocked with a simple action, Waiston raising his arms to block the swing. "He's quick…Normally that works…" Mia thought to herself before back flipping a few feet before charging in once again. "Ha! Ha! Ha!" Mia exclaimed, now aiming multiple flashes towards her opponent, not giving an inch.

"Impressive swordsmanship…" Waiston commented while waving a single sword around, using that to parry Mia's strikes away. He held his ground quite well, much to Mia's surprise. "You've more than your weapons on you, correct?"

"Eh…?" Mia grunted before jumping back once again. Was he toying with her, or was he really that much better than a sword than she was? "Try this on for size!" Mia exclaimed, spinning the blade around in her hand before slashing it forward, aiming a hit of critical proportions towards her new opponent, unleashing a powerful blade of wind towards the stationary swordsman.

"Oh, impressive power…" Waiston commented to himself before bringing up both swords, using that to block the incoming wind slash. The power was so impressive that he actually slid back a few inches before slashing it away. "Ha…! Not bad, that one almost landed."

Mia glared towards Waiston, she couldn't help but feel he was taking it easy on her, despite the fact she was in a losing situation with her lack of offensive momentum. "I'm not about to let you make a fool of me!" Mia exclaimed, twirling her blade around a few times. "Let's see how you deal against the five strikes!" Astra time, as she so called it. In a flash, she appeared before Waiston, now swinging her blade for five consecutive strikes, not leaving any opening for a counter attack. Though one was not needed, as Wasiton swayed his body left and right, avoiding each and every slash sent by Mia, but he did jump back to avoid the final slash, sliding across the ground after. "Impossible…" Mia stared at her opponent with widened eyes. She'd yet to lay a hit on him and she was throwing everything she had at him and more. "No, you mustn't even think of giving up, Mia! What would Boss do in this situation…" She paused for a moment before it hit it her. "Aha…!" She dashed once again, bringing her sword up high, preparing a downward strike. Once close she swung down, but it was a miss, of course.

"Are you sure you're as good as they say…?" Waiston asked with obvious skepticism.

"Sometimes it's the worst moves that can end up helping you…" Mia replied as her blade hit the ground. Her purple hair covered her eyes, but there was an obvious smirk on her face. "For example…"

Waiston's eyes widened immediately. Mia's "miss" was intentional, leaving him with his guard down. Before he could react, Mia slashed up, finally landing a hit. "GAH…" Waiston grunted, sliding back to avoid any other potential hits.

"Ha!" Mia grinned quite proudly. She wasn't out of this battle yet. "How did that feel?"

Waiston reached to his now open wound, wincing slightly at the pain. But, he didn't frown, he grinned. "That was the first time in years that someone managed to land a hit on me…you are quite the impressive swordswoman…But do not forget…now, it is my turn."

"Urk…" Mia gulped silently. She wasn't afraid, but she came to a realization. She spent so much effort attempting to land a hit on her opponent, and throughout her entire assault, she only managed to land one slash. She didn't realize it until now, but she was also panting somewhat due to fatigue from the nonstop assault. She found her share of experienced swordsman in her travels, but nothing such as the male before her.

"One more thing…" Waiston said while sliding into a stance. "My real name isn't Waiston. It's Eigrior."

"I'm not backing down…whoever you are…" Mia replied, sliding into her own defensive stance to fend off against the soon to come response.

"Very good…you'll make a nice addition…" Short and sweet, Eigrior said with a grin. In a flash, he was gone. He appeared just before Mia, swinging once of his Holy Swords towards the Trueblade. With haste, Mia brought up her blade to block the strike, but there was so much power behind it she staggered backwards nearly dropping her sword in the process. "Keheh…" Eigrior grinned, continuing his assault. His next slash was aimed towards Mia's sword hand, sending the sword flying from Mia's hand.

"Gah…" Mia yelped, jumping back as far as she could, now looking over to her sword which was a few feet away from her. She then put her hands up; she couldn't beat this man's speed.

"Impressive, Mia…" Eigrior said with a sadistic grin. "It's a shame your talents had to go wasted like this…"

Mia glared towards the male, inching slowly her blade. "…."

"Oh, no…I'm not letting you go away so easily…" Eigrior grinned, a bright aura surrounding his body as he whispered in a sadistic tone. "I'm going to make you screaaaaam~" With that, he appeared before Mia within a flash, swinging his blades in an X formation. He was so fast it looked as though he went through her, now standing behind her.

Mia's eyes widened before her body fell limp, hitting the ground with her eyes completely white.

"Ufufufu…" Eigrior grinned widely at his accomplishment. "Step one, complete…"