Hello all! I started playing Tales of Vesperia a while ago, but only recently it got me completely addicted, mainly thanks to the wonderful storyline and likable characters... like Yuri and Raven... cried like a baby through the whole fight and about ten minutes after that when he turned out to be Schwann... as pathetic as it may seem ;)
Baction, Droite, Gauche and Yeager ofc too made me think of what the hell happened during the Great War and what was going on with Casey being so important to both Schwann and Yager, so I made this little fic, re-written and now based on information I have collected through sidequests and the Tales wikia...(I was surprised to find out Raven's original name was Atomais and really not Schwann... o.O)
I thought about it very hard and it occured to me that during the Great War nobody cared much what was really going on and that even some Entelexia were fighting alongside humans and that Raven actually started caring about it after the battle at Mt. Temza where Casey died and so I gave him reason for it :)
Please enjoy my first fic that doesn't involve smut and the usual stuff I write about and excuse the mistakes, I'm not a native speaker... Yeah, and Italics for memories, just so you know :)
Also, I don't own any of the characters, Namco Bandai does and they made one hell of a good job with them! :)
She was almost done when he entered the room. They both turned to him and he melted into the smile she gave him from her place behind his friend, trying to make a work of his hair. It looked kind of ... different, though not at all as bad as he'd imagine.
"Here you are, I was about to send out a search party!" she said. "Sit down, I'll be right there." and with that she concentrated on the finishing touches of her rigours work.
He took the time to watch her slender hands and long graceful fingers winding through his friend's long magenta strands, taking great care to weave them into a perfect braid. She was very skillful and beautiful as well. Her body -though clad in armor- lithe and agile, curved just enough on the right places. Slender neck, face round and full with a pair of cute dimples on her cheeks, big honest eyes the color of forget-me-not blue that gleamed like justice and short silky auburn hair with a single unruly strand falling over her forehead. Completely caught in the moment, he remembered the day they met for the first time - he, complete dissapointment to his noble father, joined the Knights to prove himself; and she, barely of age to hold a sword back then, looked more like a boy than any of them. He never found out why she had joined the Imperial Knights at such a young age, she never wanted to talk about it, saying that there was no denying the need for soldiers in times of war like these and so he didn't force the issue, yet it still intrigued him.
But that was years ago and as time went by, he learned to live with this small unraveled mystery of her past and look only at her maturing into a woman he had grown attatched to perhaps more than he would have liked, though the day he realized it, it was already too late. As it was with his best friend.
"Oi, Atomais! What are you spaced out about?" the sound of his last name brought him back like a cold shower and he started, his sea-blue eyes meeting those of its owner. She was frowning.
Immediately a smirk tugged at the corners of his mouth as he switched into his casual mode and leaned into the chair, shrugging. "Oh, well, just rememberin' the old days, y'know." he said quite truthfully, though avoiding the question entirely, to which her brows knitted together even more, eyes narrowed before she moved to work with his own quite a bit grown black mane.
"If you say so." she said and tugged a lot more that was necessary.
"Ouch!" the reaction was immediate and he instinctively pulled away only to be pulled right back with a force one wouldn't expect from such fragile-looking creature. "Why did you want me to grow it when you're tryin' to rip it off?" he shot a glance towards his friend standing now by the window, but did not recieve any sympathy, quite the opposite in fact.
"Because you're being stupid again, talking like street thug from the Lower Quarter. It's not befitting of your status! You're a member of the Imperial Knights, at least try to behave like one!" angry vein appeared on her temple when he shoved his little finger into his ear, not paying the slightest attention and yanked so hard, quite a bit of the hair she was holding unwillingly and very painfully parted with his scalp, which made him howl in pain.
"And don't look at him, he won't help you." ignoring it all, she again buried her fingers in his raven locks, usually loose and falling over his face and tried to gather it up once more.
He tried to reach up to massage the now surely bald place on his head, but she shoved his hand off. "Yeah, kinda hard to notice." he grimaced at the magenta-haired knight and he grinned back, playing somehow dreamily with the tip of his newly-made braid.
A few more tugs accompanied by a lot of complaining and smacking over the head were all it took for her to finally feel satisfied with her work. "Here you go. What do you think?" and she turned him to face a mirror on the opposite wall.
He looked into it critically to see his black hair tied in a pony-tail, few fuzzy strands falling willy-nilly over hir forehead and ears.
"It's a pineapple." the youngest of the knights was the first to speak, leaning against the window-sill, covering the fits of laughter that danced in his magenta eyes threatening to overpower him. It cost him a reproachful look from both of his friends, though he couldn't care less right now, enjoying the sight a lot more that he ought to.
"More like birdsnest." the unfortunate victim of the girl's obsession with men with long hair uttered, black eyebrows almost forming a line over his eyes.
"Well then, it goes marvelously together with the nickname we made up for you, no?" she stepped from behind him proudly, arms crossed at her full chest.
He looked at her with a mixture of exhasperation and admiration. "The one you made up, you mean. And only 'cause you know I hate those little fledglings."
She completely ignored him again, looking at the clock on the bedside table. "I've got to dash now, boys. Be good and see you tomorrow night at the ceremony." she smiled warmly at them both in turn, grabbing her sword. "Both of you, CaptainAtomais." she winked at the raven-haired knight and was gone.
Just like brothers, the two men heaved a deep sigh and shook their heads...
o*O*o
As was to be expected the whole evening was marked with dancing, noble chit-chat, formal speeches and much much boredom. It almost seemed like there was no fighting, like soldiers and people weren't loosing their lives every day, like the Epire wasn't about to loose the entire war. Here, it was peaceful and tranquil, though the illusion was fragile and in Atomais' opinion it would do less harm to just stop pretending and face the reality as it was.
The Imperial Knights suffered heavy losses and the frontiers around the globe were being pushed back all too close to the human cities than one would like. Especially here in Desier. No matter how many monsters they killed so far, more stood up to take their place and the reality of this situation could not be denied however hard the new Commandant Alexei tried with his little promotion parties for the new Captains of the Knights to replace those that had lost their lives in the line of duty - and that was no small number. One would say his endeavours added to the feeling of dread creeping into all the people's hearts rather than eased it.
And then there was tomorrow's battle at Mt. Temza. There was an abandoned Krytian city and apparently quite a few very valuable Blastia cores the Empire apparently had no intention of leaving for the monsters to destroy. But why were they so determined to claim that place no matter how many lives would be lost that way was beyond Atomais' understanding, though it wasn't like it was his place to care about such things. He went where they sent him and did what he was ordered and that was it. Or wasn't it?
"Flipping Captains around left and right... This is getting ridiculous." once again with his hair loose to fall over his face like a sleek black curtain covering one sea-blue eye, Atomais shook his head vigorously to get rid of such thoughts as he was making his way through the chattering crowd to the other side of the hall and as his eyes skimmed the faces, he realized most of them must be as green as fresh spring grass. Some he even remembered from the days he trained new recruits. Hell he could almost number among them.
Thinking about it, he somehow endured all those grumpy-looking old officers looking at him as if he were something recently dead stuck under their heel, or congratulating him to his promotion though there was no cincerety about it, quite unable to decide which was better and finally managed to get to where one of his companion'swas standing, dressed in a ceremonial uniform of the Imperial Knights much like his own, sipping wine and looking as smug as always.
There was no denying the man felt at home here. They were both of noble birth, but how the hell could he handle these ridiculous gatherings so well while Atomais wished nothing more than to close the door of his room behind him and finally enjoy some piece and quiet?
The magenta-haired knight looked up from his drink and smiled a little as he saw his friend approaching.
"You look happy." Atomais couldn't help himself as he stood beside him, overlooking the pompous ignorants all around dancing and smiling, it made him nauseous.
"You don't." sounded the noble's simple answer, eyes -matching the color of his hair- boring into his friend's. He never talked much, but when he did it was worth it.
The raven-haired Captain snorted. "Oh no, I'm plenty happy! See?" his voice tinted with sarkasm as he said it, quite annoyed as those purple eyes gleamed with jeers. And then he saw the little thing his friend was rolling in his fingers. "Hey, what's that?"
The young captain jerked almost imperceptibly, but did not try to hide it. It was a small pouch with golden ribbon and he showed it to his friend with a slight rosy tint in his cheeks that had nothing to do with the alcohol. "I wanted to ask Casey tonight, but..." he sighed as he took out a little diamond ring. "I think I will wait untill after the battle. She's under enough stress now as it is."
Atomais could feel his heart sink deep into the pit of his stomach and for a moment he felt like he would never feel anything ever again. He knew the man had it bad for their female companion, but he would never expect him to propose. Though it was probably all Atomais' own fault for keeping silent about his own feelings the whole time. He deserved this slap in the face.
In a blink of an eye, before anyone could see the shadow pass over his face like a cloud over the sun a smirk formed on his handsome face again, as always when he tried to supressed his own emotions, disguising them. "You think she'll wanna wait for you for that long?" he winked at the look of confusion on the noble's face. "Go for it, or I'll take her instead." his smile was genuine, he knew, but deep inside he felt lost and helpless and wanted to scream, for he loved Casey dearly, but so did he love his best friend and he could not for the life of him bring himself to do anything that would jeopardise their friendship. Even if it cost him his heart.
That was the first time he actually saw the knight smile. Not just that arrogant smirk or tug of lips he always did, but a simple sincere smile and it surprised him and scared the hell out of him and he blinked and watched his friend pocket the ring and dissapear into the crowd, long braid of magenta hair flying behind him.
As he watched, Atomais could feel the tears stinging in his eyes and became aware of his heart hammering in his chest as if it wanted to burst out and he felt like someone had ripped a part of his very soul out and left him hollow and bare. He wanted to run. Wanted to scream. Wanted to die. His world has ended, his whole body was aching from the strain of handling his sword and bow and he was covered in rags that could hardly be called uniform any longer and blood was dripping from his numerous wounds and sticking to his hair together with dirt, but he ignored it all. The only thing he could focus on right now was the lithe body in his arms and the crimson life force gushing from the deep tear in her armor. She tried to protect him, though it should have been the other way around. She used her own body to shield him...
Heavy-lidded gaze rose to meet his eyes, breath hitched in her throat. She smiled and there was blood prickling from the corner of her mouth. "I'm glad... you're safe." she managed, outstretching her hand to touch his blood-soaked hair. "Raven..." and the next moment she became limp and no more ragged breathing came out of her slightly opened lips and her eyes, though looking at the sky, could see no more.
He clutched her to his chest heaving with sobs he could not -and would not- stop. "Casey... no... hell no! Casey! Wake up!" he murmured over and over again, shaking his friend's motionless body and before long he couldn't even see it plainly through the tears that were pouring out of his eyes and down his cheeks mixing with the blood covering his face.
He looked around wildly for even a single clue as to what to do only to see nothing but death, destruction, blood-soaked ground of the once glorious Krytian city and monsters crushing and tearing his fellow soldiers apart with their paws, beaks and jaws. And Casey's fiance was nowhere to be found. What could have happened to him? Died as well perhaps... and then Atomais saw it. The monster that had attacked him and killed Casey. And fury and anger rose up within him at the sight of it like fire, threatening to burn him from the inside and it took a form of a monster wispering in his mind of death, revenge, justice and love. And he couldn't ignore it even if he wanted to.
Slowly, carefuly he laid her body on the ground and propped himself up with his sword still glittering in the sunlight despite the dried blood covering the blade. His body protested against every movement he made, but the bloodlust that awakened within him to take the place of the part of him that died along with Casey was keeping the pain and exhaustion at bay. He made a few tentative steps, unseen by the monster now battling some poor recruit who didn't last a minute and as he watched the boy's useless struggle, the rage grew stronger and with his dying shriek cut in the middle still echoing in his ears, Atomais raised his bow and called forth the power of his bodhi Blastia to summon an arrow that cut through the monster's chest as it turned to him with frightening precision and even when it was lying on the ground, dying a slow and painful death, he took his sword and cut through all four of its legs, then the spine too so that it would hurt even more without killing the monster immediately and finally he walked to its head, standing there like an angel of death, sword over his shoulder, face the mask of stone, eyes burning with lust for revenge.
"Let me guess, I killed your friends, right?" he backed away, shocked when the monster spoke and it looked pleased with the impression it made on him. "What, you though we were all dumb animals unable of anything more than growling and killing? Is that what they told you?" it scoffed. "How predictible, you humans."
Atomais looked at it for long moments, surprised, though the moster in his chest still raged. He wavered. And then many things happened at once. There was a roar of the deepest agony and sound of running footsteps and then fresh streak of blood spattered his already soaked and torn armor.
"I left her with you so that she would be safe! HOW could you let her DIE?" it was his friend. He looked even worse than Atomais himself - hair sticking to his face, the neat braid Casey had made for him again messed up entirely, eyes wild and haunted with the bloodshed he witnessed today and the death of the one he held most dear.
The moster was already dead as Atomais looked at it to avoid the man's fierce gaze. Silent, he watched blood pooling around its head ran through with Yeager's sword.
Outraged, the magenta-haired knight gripped his friend's collar and shook him violently. "HOW? Answer me!"
He wasn't able to. They just stood there staring at each other for what felt like hours, chests heaving from exhaustion and grief, tears prickling in their eyes and hollow feeling in their gut. Then there was a bang and considerable pain shot through the raven-haired knight's neck and cheek as his friend's armored fist connected with his jaw so that he stumbled backwards, feeling a few teeth loosening.
"She protected me...I'm sorry." he mumbled finally, looking up into that red and bloody face of his friend now contorted with anger, sorrow and helplessness. "I'm so sorry."
"Not sorry enough if you stand over her killer without doing anything!" the young knight shouted, fist raising to deliver another blow.
Atomais probably would be able to avoid it easily if he wanted to, but that wasn't the case now. He felt he deserved it. Nothing mattered anymore. The glamour of battle raging around them, the pain he was feeling already, his comrades dead or dying as far as an eye could see... nothing. He closed his eyes, prepared to face the blow that was sure to be the worst yet, for he felt he deserved it.
But it never came. Instead, there was a surprised gasp and a choking sound and when he opened his eyes to see what was going on, his soul's been ripped apart yet again, falling into the deepest abyss together with his comrade's body ran through with a claw now protruding from his chest.
"Tch!" he spat before he dropped to the ground in a pool of blood.
"Noooo!" Atomais' own voice came out of his mouth as if somebody else shouted and he was only half-aware of raising his sword to stand against another monster, standing over the body of his best friend. And barely a split second later he felt something alien invade his own body and the warmth and ferric taste of his own blood filling his mouth. And when he looked down he saw the very same claw that had killed Yaeger buried deep within his chest where his heart was beating with life moments ago.
With a grunt of pain and shock even, his eyes rose to meet the monster's shining black ones and it grinned at him, twisting its claw within his body before pulling it out and letting him slide right next to his comrade, life rushing out of him at an alarming rate. And there was nothing he could do about it, only give in to the welcoming warmth of death's embrace...
...And the next thing he knew, he became aware of small discomfort of his muscles aching terribly, his eyes cracked open and it took tremendous effort to keep them from closing again. Everything was blurry at first, though -as he blinked a few times- his vision cleared up and he was looking at a dark, unfamiliar ceiling, crossed with numerous bound-up cords and wires. Odd thumping and droning sounds echoed in the dim-lit room.
He moved to sit up to explore this plase further and regretted it the moment he did so, for every single cell in his body felt like it was on fire, muscles or bones unable to obey the signals from the brain.Slowly, he decided to turn his head instead as far as it would go and found out that he was not only overcome by exhaustion but also restrained by a strange blastia connected to his torso, head and limbs. He frowned, wrying to remember how he's get here and barely few seconds of focus caused the terrible reality of all that had happened to dawn on him, images rushing through his mind and his hand shot to his chest to feel the skin, connecting with cold metal instead. With a single swift movement Atomais ripped the white robe covering his body off and looked down as much as his lying possitin allowed him. What the...?
Eyes dilated with shock, he touched the blastia now shining mildly where his heart should have been and his brain finally kicked in as he realized its power, still supported by the other, bigger onewas the only thing keeping him alive and remembered what it was like to die on that battlefield.
"You are awake. How fortunate." the familiar deep, velvety voice came from where the raven-haired archer could not see, but he needn't have bothered to even look, for a heartbeat later Alexei's face came into view, the Commandant smiling at him in such a way it felt like goosebumps on his skin. "Oh, please, there's no need to thank me. I shall content with your promise of servise." the silver-haired man leaned in, examining closely the blastia replacing his experiment's heart. "It's only fitting, don't you think?" hot breath against his ear, cruel crimson eyes boring into sea-blue ones and soft pad of thumb trailing idly along full lower lip, still pale from the loss of blood. "I gave you a new life and demand that life in return. You're a different man now, don't waste this opportunity." hand carressed his cheek, fingers winded into raven locks. "I would hate to have to take that blastia back, otherwise." Alexei straightened up again."Think about it, Schwann Oltorain."
Looking into those cold, calculating eyes and listening to that voice his mind associate with a spider weaving webs around its unsuspecting victim, Schwann wanted to wake up from this nightmare, though he knew it was impossible. He should be dead. He wished to be dead, though he were too much of a coward to simply stand up to Alexei and be done with it. He's been brought up in environment that demanded debts to be repaid and life to be led with honor, yet now he wanted nothing more than to take a lungs full of air and scream...
... And wake up.
It was dark and at first he couldn't see a thing, but soon his eyes finally adapted enough to make out an outline of Dahngrest Inn bedroom. Murmures, quiet humming and tossing on the bed suggested the others were still fast asleep, undisturbed by yet another of his nightmare and probably the worst one yet. Trying to get the images out of his head, Raven shoved his legs over the edge of his bed, overlooking his companions. Karol was snoring loudly, spread eagle on his back. Judith just turned to her side, slender hands resting on the soft pillow under her head. Rita once again kept murmuring incantations in her sleep so he could only hope she's not going to blow something up like the last time. Princess Estellise clicked her tongue, thus drawing Raven's attention from the genius mage, mumbling something incoherent and the last bed...
Raven looked closer. Rapede? And sure enough the dog was occupying almost the whole bed and there was no sign of Yuri or the Dein Nomos usually propped up against the night table.
He chuckled, last remnants of his dream finally fading away, breath calming down and heart... no, the blastia in his chest shining a little less as the blood and adrenaline stopped pumping madly in his veins. Yet still he could feel the tears lingering in the corners of his sea-blue eyes.
Wiping them off, he got up as quietly as he could, throwing his purple coat over his shoulders and with the last look at his sleeping companions he stepped out of the room, closing the door carefully behind him and on to take a little walk, for even if he wouldn't admit it, right now the very though of falling asleep again anytime soon scared the hell out of him.
And so, without having even the slightest idea where he was going, Raven let his feet take him all the way to the Guild City southern bridge, now deserted in the middle of a night, except the few guild members patrolling the streets and a lone figure silhouetted against the silvery glow of a full moon, looking up to where the barrier blastia was shining brightly against the stellar sky protecting Dahngrest from monsters wandering just outside the city walls.
Inclining his head a little, small mirth playing with his still handsome features, Raven lazily approached the man leaning onto the stone railing and he slightly turned his head, acknowledging his companion's presence as if he knew he was there the whole time.
"What's up, old man? Can't sleep outside a prison cell?" Yuri Lowell's deep and a little hoarse voice reverberated in the late-night silence and it sounded maybe a little more troubled than Raven would expect.
His eyes narrowed slightly as he scrutinized the black-haired youth, attempting to read from the man's stance and expression, though coming up with nothing at all.
"Somethin' like that. The whole savin' the world stuff's too much fer me I guess." he said finally with the usual easy-going tone tinting his words, fingers entwining at the back of his head as if he wanted to stretch. "Mind ol' Raven joinin' ya fer a bit, kid?"
"Suit yourself." Yuri said only, his eyes following the older man as he leaned against the railing next to him, also looking up, before turning back to the sky.
There was silence between them for long minutes when both seemed lost in their own inner worlds and it was Yuri again who broke it. "Are you really just gonna go with that, old man?"
"With what?" Raven did not move a single muscle, though the smile on his face seemed to have changed slightly, as if he was forcing it now.
"Alexei. Yeager and those two set out to avenge him. Abandoning your brigade." from the sudden change in the former Captain's eyes Yuri knew he hit the bull's eye. "I mean, Alexei saved your life. And Leblanc and his sidekicks are depending on you still-"
"They're depending on Schwann, not me." Raven snapped so steeply it made Yuri raise an eyebrow and hide a small victorious smile.
He wasn't trying to be cruel or anything, it just didn't seem right to leave things the way they were and maybe with this, Raven will finally be able to let it go. It didn't take a genius to see the shadows of his past slowly devouring him, though he did a pretty good job hiding it behind that perverted personality he put up for the outside world. Yuri knew all too well what it was about and since it was already too late for him to change, he wanted to try and break at least the wall his friend erected around him, whether to protect himself from others or others from him the youth didn't know.
When he spoke again, Raven's voice was measured and calm once more, though lacking the usual accent. "The poor bloke is buried beneath Baction. I have nothing to do with him and as for Alexei..." there was a pause and Yuri couldn't help feeling a little curious. "He may have given him another chance to live and recieved that life in return, but he also made him into the monster he was." there was a pause. "And still is in a way." Raven's hand reached to his heart, fingers touching the warm blastia now replacing it. "To be completely honest, I believe he did die those ten years ago at Mt. Temza and since then it was just about finding the peace of death taken from him by Alexei's little experiment and paying back his debt to him. And now he finally found it, just as Yeager did. Thanks to you, there's only Raven now, the Don's right-hand man who wants to go on living the way you taught him to."
The silence that followed this little confession was no longer uncomfortable, quite the opposite and the words were hanging over them untill Yuri folded his arms on his chest, dark eyes searching for sea-blue ones. "But whether you want or not, Schwann left some things still unfinished here. You gonna ignore them like you're ignoring all about him? Didn't know you were that heartless, old man."
Raven, reading between the lines caught up quickly and what would once hurt him badly now served just as a joke. He put on a wounded face and scratched the back of his neck.
"Hey, what did ol' Raven do ta deserve such cruelty!" he let out dramatically. "Sayin' I'm heartless just 'cause I don't have a heart!" sly grin set firmly on his lips, sea-blue eyes locked with their black-blue counterparts and Yuri had but a moment's warning to prepare himself for Raven's next words, which he spectacularly failed to do.
"Although it'd be fun goin' around pokin' my nose in other people's business, like your best pal Flynn's! Imagine the discoveries with ya two spendin' those long nights together, talkin' I'm sure." the devious smile widening, Raven couldn't help not to emphasize the word and thus had a hard time supressing laughter as he watched Yuri's eyes grow wide with shock and his cheeks burn brightly, though he averted his gaze perhaps in hope the darkness will made it impossible to spot. How very wrong he was!
"Of course we're talking! Stop putting other people in the same bag with you, old man!" he blurted out, apparently quite lost for words by Raven's knowledge of his relationship with Flynn. Maybe the other's knew as well? He didn't even want to think about it. "Besides all he does is yelling at me for one thing or another..." he took the Dein Nomos resting against the bridge railing and started walking back towards the Inn. "Anyway, I'm going to bed. Good night."
"Sleep tight while ya still can, we'll run into Flynn soon again fer sure!" Raven called after him, now openly laughing when Yuri stopped for a fraction of a second, gripping Dein Nomos' handle more tightly before thinking better of it and dissapearing into the night.
"Ah, beauty of youth, how I envy 'em!" he sighed, alone now once again and looked at the sky where the star Brave Vesperia was winking at him as if inviting him to come and rest.
And as he watched it glittering within the indigo depths untill the first golden rays of the new day reached over the horizon and caressed his face, Raven made up his mind. When they get back to Zaphias and if there's time, perhaps he will meet with Leblanc and settle Schwann's debts once and for all. Though only if there's time.
Just couldn't resist the little hint about Yuri and Flynn... anyone with good eyesight must see there's a thing going on between them will all the "Let's talk" and "Not here, I'll be waiting over there" and stuff :D
Ofc reviews are always welcome if you wish to say something! Even criticism! :)