Alternate Universe where Ronan dies during the events of Monster Train 301 and manages to retrieve Harpe's soul. Now Harpe is the one who must save Ronan from the Underworld.

Warnings: Ronan x Harpe Shounen-Ai / Ronan x Elesis hints / OCs.

- Not Proof-Read -

- Sorry some parts might feel incomplete... I wanted to write more stuff but I didn't have any ideas. If I have more ideas I'll update this. -

- This can be considered a sequel of "A Mirror and Pride".


The Grand Chase are aboard the Monster Train 301, looking for the soul of Ronan's childhood friend, servant and mentor, Harpe Noir, who was killed by Ashtaroth during their previous engagement. Harpe was killed when he protected his master from Ashtaroth's attack; And the group was in the brink of losing when Kassias Grandiel appeared to aid them, and opened a portal to the Monster Train 301, so that Ronan and his group could (hopefully) retrieve Harpe's soul; and here they are now.

After crossing the cars, they have just reached the locomotive and defeated Casey Bones, and the Death Furnace 301, and due to their defeat, the train began shaking and probably derailing.

"Ack!" Arme cried. "It's dangerous! I think the train's derailing!"

"Harpe! Harpe, where are you? Please, answer me!" Ronan called, ignoring everyone else. "Don't leave me alone, Harpe, please..." he muttered in a inaudible tone.

"At this rate, the entire train's going to topple over! We must get off this train!" Elesis said, guiding the other members.

Dio tried reaching out for Ronan. "Hurry human, take my hand!"

Ronan stared at Dio's hand for a few seconds, and then looked back at the passenger car. "I... I..."

"Ronan!" Jin called.

Dio frowned, he was losing his patience. "HURRY!"

Ronan clenched his fists. "I..." he started. "I'm sorry!" He apologized as he pushed Dio and Jin off the locomotive, as they were the only two left, and rushed back to the passenger cars in hopes of finding Harpe.

Everything went black after that.


Elesis was the first one to wake up. They were back at the place they were battling Ashtaroth before traveling to the Monster Train 301, but it seemed that Ashtaroth and Kassias took their battle to elsewhere. The red-headed swordswoman looked around, it seemed everyone was there. "Uff..." Elesis sighed. "That was intense, but it seems everyone is alright... Huh?" She suddenly noticed something moving, and drew out her sword. "Who's there! Show yourself!"

The figure stood up, somewhat dizzy, his cloak soaked in blood. It took a while for Elesis to figure out who it was, but soon she recognized it as Harpe. Wait...Harpe? The albino coughed.

"What? Weren't you supposed to be DEAD?" Elesis asked, in a somewhat rude tone.

"Huh?" Harpe looked at her. "I guess so... Wait, where... What happened?" "We just disembarked the Monster Train 301..." Elesis said, raising a eyebrow.

"Monster Train what? huh?" Harpe was obviously confused of what she meant, but soon remembered about Ronan, and started looking for him."W-Where is the young master?" He started panicking; he wouldn't forgive himself if something happened to Ronan, whom Harpe has protected ever since they were children. "Miss Elesis! Where is the young master?!"

"That... I don't know. Dio and Jin were with him..." Elesis replied, now feeling curious about what happened to the indigo knight.

Dio slowly got up. "That stupid, stubborn human... Didn't get off that train."

"W-What?!" Harpe got worried. If Ronan didn't get off the train in time, his soul was probably sent to the Underworld, and no living human ever reached that place...

Elesis clenched her fists. She was specially fond of the Spell Knight, and if he was dead, it was Harpe's fault. "Why, you...!" She pointed her blade at Harpe's neck.

"M-Miss Elesis!? What are you doing!?"

"What I should have done the instant I saw your stupid face! You're not taking him from me!" Elesis snarled.

"I don't understand what you mean!" Harpe closed his eyes tightly, afraid that the Ruby Knight could kill him at any moment.

"Cut it out, Elesis! He's our friend!" Lire intervened. "We're not getting anywhere, nor Ronan will come back if you start acting recklessly! Besides, what would Ronan say if you hurt Harpe?"

"But..." Elesis pouted and drew back her sword. "Fine..."

Harpe sighed in relief, Elesis was really scary there. Lire smiled gently at Harpe and held his hands. "I am very sorry, my dear, but Ronan stayed behind in order to retrieve your soul; I saw when he pushed Dio and Jin out of the locomotive... And it seems he was successful in saving you, but as for himself..."

Harpe bit his lip. "He can't be dead! The young master simply can't... be dead..."

Lire hugged him. "I'm sorry..."

"Hades..." A voice said. It was Rufus Wilde, Lass Isolet's half-brother, and a bounty hunter from the Underworld.

"Huh?" Lire and Harpe were surprised.

"The train takes pure souls to the Underworld... If Ronan died inside the train, he was probably taken there." Rufus said.

"But the train was falling apart!" Lire said with a concerned tone in her voice.

The haros smirked. "Not to worry... That train endured so much more. But, if the souls were to escape... I don't know what would happen to them. Hunted, maybe?"

Harpe started fearing the worst. By now all the members were awake and were listening to Rufus, but were unsure of what to do. Harpe gulped and took a step forward. "Then let's go to the Underworld and bring Ronan back!"

Rufus was shocked to hear these words. "Are you out of your mind, moron!? It was risky to embark the train, now you want to go to the UNDERWORLD!?"

"Like heck I'm going there!" Dio growled.

Harpe looked down. "But Ronan saved me... Maybe countless times." And then looked back at Rufus with a determined face. "The least I can do is return his kindness, and save him...!"

"Harpe, dear, that's..." Lire said with a saddened tone in her voice.

"Sure, I am scared. I think everyone here is scared, but... Aren't you guys his friends?" "Not really." Dio said, crossing his arms, not being sincere. No one dared to speak a word after that.

Harpe looked at Elesis. "Miss Elesis?"

Elesis clenched her fists and started thinking. Damn, Ronan was the opposite of her, but she felt strangely fond of that stupid, dorky smiling face the indigo haired knight would make. "Let's do this." She muttered, and was probably gonna regret it later.

Harpe somehow felt at ease. "Thank you..."

Lire sighed and touched Harpe's shoulder, causing him to look at her. "...Well, a couple of swordsmen won't do the trick alone, right? May my bow and arrows be of any help?" She winked cutely at him.

"Miss Lire...!"

Arme took a step forward. "And I bet you'll need my firebolts and meteor spell to aid you too!" And the young violet mage giggled.

"Well, I'm gonna regret it later if Mister Right's not around to make dinner." Lass smirked.

"Ronan will always be one of us! We can't leave him behind." Ryan smiled.

Amy crossed her arms, pouted and looked away in a stubborn way. "Ronan is the only bearable guy of our group. He still has some faults, of course, but I guess we can work on that once he comes back."

"Where Amy goes, I'll be going too! Besides, Ronan is a cool guy!" Jin smiled.

And soon the rest of the group agreed to help as well. Harpe couldn't fully hide all that happiness he was feeling at that moment. "Everyone...! Thank you! I am sure Lord Ronan appreciates your help as well."


After days of traveling, they reached the doors to the Underworld thanks to Rufus' guidance. Harpe gulped. "So... My Lord Ronan is somewhere across those doors, right?"

"Yep." Rufus nodded.

"Let's get in at once!" Elesis said petulantly.

Rufus sighed. "It's not that easy... Only haros and souls are allowed to enter."

"Why, you...!" Elesis was ready to charge at Rufus. "You brought us here for nothing!?"

"The guards will not let you mortals enter." Rufus replied bitterly. "Only if you use force."

"Then let's barge in!" Elesis exclaimed, kicking the door. ...And suddenly they were surrounded by guards.

"Elesis!" The Grand Chase members said in unison. Elesis pouted. "It was an accident! Geez."

The haros commander walked to Rufus. "Rufus Wilde... You know mortals are disallowed of entering the Underworld. Why did you bring them? Get out of here at once if you don't want to fight."

Rufus smirked. "Too bad... But there's something there we need back." And he quickly fired his eyeteeth pistols at the Commander, who evaded the attack. Soon the Grand Chase were battling the guards.

It was an intense fight, the guards seemed to be so much stronger than the Grand Chase, and it seemed they were just losing their time if they kept that up. Nimbly, Rufus grabbed Harpe and pulled him to the door. "Wah!?" Harpe gasped. "What the hell are you doing!?"

"Shut up!" Rufus demanded. "All their attention are focused in the battle, so you should be fine if you sneak in. Go get that stupid friends of yours and get back quickly so we can end this as soon as possible." And he silently opened the door for Harpe. Harpe stared at Rufus, nodded, and rushed inside in search of Ronan. Rufus quickly returned to the battle.


Harpe found himself in a demon village. There were a lot of haros, but also "humans". Not living humans, but precisely their souls who are waiting for the day they may be reborn. The haros people didn't seem to mind Harpe's presence, as they assumed he was just another soul. Harpe started looking around for Ronan, and with no luck, he started asking the residents. Eventually he was told about a "pretty glittering indigo soul, that also glimmered with a somewhat darker tone" that was sealed in a near temple. The person who told Harpe about said soul, also seemed to be slightly confused, as pure souls are not supposed to be sealed, and evil souls are not supposed to be brought to that part of the Underworld. Harpe then started looking for that temple, with no luck.

"Young Master... where are you?" Harpe thought to himself as the kept on walking. He was eventually starting to feel unmotivated for some reason, but even so continued walking, even if the destination he was seeking vanished from his mind. And, somehow, he started feeling nostalgic...

"Young Master... Where are you?" A young Harpe called. He was playing hide-and-seek with his lord on Erudon mansion's garden, and it was his turn to find Ronan. "You can't find me, Harpe!" Harpe could hear Ronan's laughing voice coming from somewhere, followed by small steps as Ronan ran away to find a place to hide. The young Erudon just kept running around aimlessly until he found a particular place he considered the perfect hiding place. "Teehee... Harpe will never find me here." Ronan whispered to himself.

Harpe started looking around, with no luck, and eventually he started searching in a slower pace. Ronan was very good at hide-and-seek, after all. However, around one hour had passed and Harpe hadn't found his young master, and both him and Ronan started growing afraid. "Where is my lord Ronan..." Harpe asked to himself. "I've looked on all of his favorite hiding places but he's nowhere to be found... Did something happen to him?" Harpe looked at the mansion. "Maybe I should ask Lord Cyrus or the butlers for help..." But before he could say anything, Evie Blanchet, a young maid, not so older than Harpe, jumped out of the brushes and hugged Harpe.

"Harpe!" Evie called sweetly. "Ellie doesn't want to play prince and princess with me! So can you play with me and be my prince?"

Harpe smiled awkwardly. "I'm sorry Evie, but," he tried pushing Evie away. "I am currently looking for Lord Ronan, we were playing hide-and-seek but I fear that he may be lost. So maybe another-"

Evie interrupted him. "Enough with Lord Ronan! He'll find the way home! Play with me!"

"I'm sorry but I can't, Evie! Please let go of me!"

Meanwhile Ronan was curled like a ball in a corner, in the verge of crying. "Where is Harpe... He should've found me by now..." The young Erudon muttered. "Harpe... Don't leave me alone, please..." And finally, started to cry.

Harpe, who was still trying to get free of Evie's grasp, suddenly heard Ronan crying, even though it was faintly. The albino gasped all of sudden. "Lord Ronan!" He called, and Evie let go of him, surprised. "Don't leave me alone...!" Harpe heard his voice again, and started running in direction of the voice. "Lord Ronan... I'm coming to save you! Just wait a little bit longer!"

And after following the steps of his younger self from the flashback, Harpe had arrived at the temple the haros had mentioned, and found him; The young Erudon, shaking in fear, all curled up. "I found you, Young Master." Young Harpe's and present Harpe's voices said together. The small child looked up at his mentor, and smiled with tears on his eyes. Eventually the younger version of Ronan faded, and his present version was there instead, his eyes swollen up from crying.

"Harpe?" Ronan asked carefully, afraid that he might be dreaming. "It's that really you?"

"Yes, I am here, my Lord." Harpe knelt down in front of his master. "I am here to take you back home."

Ronan stared at some moments, and then tackled Harpe to the ground. Harpe managed to stay in a sitting position as Ronan sat on his lap, clinging to him the closer as possible. "I was afraid Harpe.. I was afraid I wasn't able to save you. I didn't want to lose you or hurt you, but I guess I made you worried. I'm very sorry."

Harpe blinked several times, feeling flustered by his lord's words. He blushed and patted Ronan's back. "It's not a problem..." Harpe didn't know what to say, honestly. "Shall we go home now?" He offered.

Ronan smiled and nodded. "Sure." They both stood up."But I need to do something first." Before Harpe could even reply, Ronan grabbed him by the arm and gave him a quick peck on the lips, making the albino flush so hard that perhaps his face became redder than his eyes. Harpe started stuttering something, but it was incomprehensible. The indigo haired knight smirked at his best friend's awkwardness. "Okay, now we're ready to go."

As they were walking back, Harpe started thinking of why Ronan's soul was sealed at first place. Ronan was pure of heart, and everything he did was to the well being of everyone of Kanavan, and of his group. Was it because of everything Kaze'aze him do? The albino didn't know. But he was retrieving Ronan, and that was everything that mattered.


Harpe and Ronan returned to the doors of the Underworld, just to be scolded by Rufus, who was annoyed they took so long. The group defeated all the guards, but they all decided to leave soon before more guards came to stop them. After a long journey, the Grand Chase returned to Serdin, and had a feast.

Lire couldn't help but stare at Ronan and Harpe. Ronan seemed to be feeling so more radiant now that Harpe was around, and he seemed a totally different person. Ronan was always so serious, as if he thought about naught but defeating evil forces and bringing glory to Kanavan, or all that other stuff he would always talk about. Now it seemed everything was alright for now as long Harpe was there. The elven couldn't help but think that Harpe was Ronan's magical charm, and it would be nice to have him around to cheer up Ronan. Sure, he was a member of Existor, but it didn't hurt to ask. "Hey, Harpe, dear?" Lire called.

"Yes?" Harpe replied.

"Have you ever thought in joining Grand Chase?" She suggested.

Ronan was specially amused by that idea, some members seemed to like it as well, but others, such as Elesis, were annoyed by that sudden invitation.

Harpe blinked a several times. "Joining Grand Chase? Oh no. I couldn't possibly..."

"Please, Harpe!" Ronan held his best friend's hands. "If you join us you won't have to leave again! It'll be fun to have you in our group..."

"Oh, Young Master, I can't-"

"Please..." Ronan looked at him with those charming indigo eyes. How can Harpe possibly say 'no' to these charming eyes?

The albino sighed. "I'll think about it."

"Nice!" Ronan smiled, although feeling anxious. What if Harpe refused? "It will be real nice to have you around us Harpe, so I hope you join us.

"I hope he doesn't join us..." Elesis muttered, but Lire poked her arm with her elbow. "Ow!"

"Don't mind Elesis, Harpe. She's actually pretty shy around new people."

Harpe tried smiling at Lire, but was obviously feeling intimidated by the redhead. It seemed she could kill him at any moment. "Thanks..."

The group continued chatting, and finished dining. Everyone went to sleep right after, because that battle was pretty tiring. Harpe was alone thinking in the room that was now his. Everything happened so fast: he was killed, revived, and then his young master was killed, but he managed to bring him back. Surprisingly, that was not the confusing part for Harpe. His true concern was that time, back in the Underworld, when Ronan kissed him. The albino was not sure of what were his feelings for his young master anymore. Were they devotion, or perhaps romantic affection? That moment completely changed the way he looked at his young master. What Ronan did was out of gratitude, or something else? For how long has he felt those kind of feelings? It was so confusing.

But he may be able live up without understanding them for now. Because, remembering that tender moment with his younger master warmed up his heart.

Maybe joining Grand Chase isn't a bad idea after all.


Well, I hope you like it. xD Ronan's soul being sealed it's a reference he made a contract with the Demon of Pride (aka Vanity). His soul is pretty stable, and is divided in two halves, one is the "good side" that is Ronan, and the other is the "evil side" that is Pride, Ronan's evil alter ego that appeared after the contract. I didn't feel like adding Pride anywhere here because I don't think he'd have any major role, but he still exists. That's why his soul was sealed, but I didn't know how to explain inside the story; I hope you understand. xD