A/N: Hey guys! Guess what? I haven't abandoned this story- it just takes me longer to get around to it since my Slayer of Aincrad story is kinda taking priority, and- I could do with some prayers on this one- I'm out of work, which is really stressing me out... BUT! I keep my word- this story will go on until it is fully completed, and no less!

Also, this is more of a question to all of you, especially those that message me and leave reviews- am I a nice person, at least to you all? Cos I've been getting a lot of hate from some people IRL (and online, not mentioning any names), and I have to ask myself if I'm a mean-spirited person or not... In any case, I hope that some people can answer this question for me, it would help take a bit of a load off my mind...

Anyways, enough of my personal griping, on with story!

Taking the Capital, Part the Fourth

"Marth, we need to go," Morgan said as Sachi cradled a now-unconscious Yui. "I know you're worried about her, but the Shepherds need us in the palace with them. We've been delayed long enough as is it is."

"I can't just leave them like this," Marth argued back. "Yui is more than capable of fighting, but Lady Sachi is… er… no offense." He gave the short-haired girl an apologetic look as soon as the words left his mouth.

"None taken," Sachi said quietly. "But your sister is right. You two are some of the Shepherds' best, and they need you to help win the battle."

"Maybe not," Marth said as he moved to scoop Yui out of Sachi's arms, much to her surprise. "Sachi, fly my sister over to the palace as quickly as you can. I'll take care of Yui- you have my word as Robin and Lucina's son."

"But-"

"No more arguments, Morgan, just go!" Marth said sharply. "We don't have time to debate this anymore. Yes, they need us, but Yui needs us too. This is the only compromise I can think of right now. I'll see you soon, but for now, you need to go." He made a jerking motion with his head towards the palace with a meaningful glance at Sachi.

"O-Okay…" the timid girl said as she moved to grab Morgan from behind. "If you say so. C'mon, Morgan."

"You better be safe!" Morgan called down as Sachi began to take off.

"I will!" Marth called back up. "Kick that dastard Walhart's teeth in for me!" As soon as they were gone, he got to his feet with Yui in his arms and started walking back towards the base camp, where he knew Lady Maribelle would be waiting to tend to the wounds of those that had fallen on the battlefield. Although the girl was only a year or two younger than him, his training regime kept him strong enough to carry her with undue stress to his body, though saying it was easy for the young man wouldn't have been accurate.

Once he was done seeing to Yui's safety, he would rush back to the side of his sister.

"Yuuki, Aiko! Switch!" Kirito shouted as he and Asuna darted forward with their wings aiding their speed. The twin girls back flipped in unison to let their teammates by in order to give them a respite against a squadron of swordsmen.

"Ricken, with me!" Leafa ordered as she outstretched her hands. "Elwind!" A blade of wind shot from her palm less than a moment later.

"I'm right with you!" the young mage said as he flipped open a green tome. "Arcwind!" His horizontal tornado followed her wind blade with great accuracy and bowled over the enemies she had weakened with the wind magic. The two of them high-fived in victory, seeing their success.

Meanwhile, Sinon was perched in an alcove high above and was sniping archers that were coming in from every other passageway that led to the throne room. Silica and Pina were airborne and ramming into Pegasus units with reckless abandon.

The Shepherds were all fighting harder than they ever had before in their entire lives, some of them because they didn't want to be shown up by the fairies of Alfheim. Whatever the case, the group was making steady progress with Robin, Chrom, Flavia, and Basilio at the front of the charge.

Close by the two leaders of the Shepherds were their respective battle partners- Sumia in Chrom's case, and Lucina in Robin's. Together, no man could stand against them in battle and live to tell of it.

They hit a slight stumbling block when they were confronted by Excellus, Walhart's personal tactician. The six warriors faced off against the fat man, waiting for him to make the first move. Then, with a knowing smile on Robin's lips, the Shepherds allowed a third party to make the first move.

"Elwind!" Morgan cried as she dropped down from above, a tired-looking Sachi hovering near the ceiling on her blue wings. The wind blast buffeted her fall and forced Excellus to move out of the way as fast as his massive body could move. As she straightened up, she flashed the tactician a cocky grin as she said, "Rule nine of strategy according to my father: attack from the direction people are least likely to look."

"Bah!" Excellus spat. "This is what the mighty Shepherds send against me, the great Excellus?! A child?!"

"That child's got more brains between her ears at her age that you'll have in your whole life, you stinking tub of lard," Chrom shot back as he levelled Falchion at his enemy. "And I don't like it when people mock my family."

"Keep your cool, Grandpa, I got this guy," Morgan grinned as her body began to glow. "I'm more than ready to take him on." Her frame suddenly burst into a rosy hue of flames, yet not one of her clothes appeared to be burning.

"What sorcery is this?!" Excellus gasped, taking another involuntary step back.

"This is the secret technique of my father's family," Morgan replied, her voice and countenance now solemn. "Like Aether flows through the veins of my brother, so does the power of Ignis run through mine. None have seen it in combat and lived." She drew her Levin Sword and held it in a ready stance.

Robin's eyes were just as wide as his teammates'. He had no idea that he had possessed such a technique, much less taught it to any of his children in the future!

"Everyone, go," Morgan said as lightning began to dance across her blade. "Find Walhart and do what we came to do. This so-called tactician is about to learn what it means to think on your feet."

"Uh, Robin…?" Lucina said as she looked at the silver-haired man.

"She's got this," he nodded even as Sachi landed beside them. "But where the devil is Marth?" The group took off down a side passage, with Sachi struggling to keep up.

"Yui was overwhelmed by all the fighting," Sachi replied breathlessly. "Marth took her back to camp to keep her safe. I think he's planning to come back as soon as he can."

"I just hope he doesn't run into trouble," Sumia said.

"Dear, we're in a war zone," Chrom sighed. "And we're Shepherds. It's all but in our job description to go looking for trouble."

"Sachi!" Kirito called out as his group came up to join them. "Are you okay?"

"Hi, Kirito," Sachi said as she gave Asuna a cautious glance. When the other girl nodded, Sachi hugged Kirito with relief before the group started to move again. "Yui had to go back to the infirmary- the fighting got to be too much for her."

Kirito cursed in response. "I knew we should have kept her with us," he said.

"You know just as well as I do how stubborn she's gotten," Asuna sighed. "But I can't really say I'm surprised- she's our child."

"Yeah…" Kirito muttered, still angry with himself for letting his little girl be put in danger. "Wait, who went back with her?" Before Sachi could answer, Chrom interrupted them.

"Save it for later," he ordered. "We need to get to the throne room. Say'ri, how far is it?"

"Not far," the Chon'sin princess replied as the group took off down another massive hallway. Behind them, they could already hear Excellus screaming.

Morgan slapped aside his fireball with lightning from her sword and moved in closer. "People like you disgust me," she said as she unleashed a bolt of energy that left a smoking mark where Excellus had been less than a moment before.

"You mean people like your so-called Grandmaster?" Excellus sneered. "We're cut of the same cloth, he and I. We use people to further our own ends- that's how tactics work, my dear."

"No, they're not!" Lightning struck Excellus a glancing blow, burning his arm and causing him to leap away with a speed fueled by fear and pain. "My father always taught me to conserve every life, in every battle! You just use them as numbers, a means to an end!"

"That's all that people are, dearie," Excellus giggled as he retaliated with his own lightning spell, finally managing to drive Morgan back a bit. "Numbers on pieces of paper that make up an army. Those that are born below you will always serve beneath you- and just you see, one day you'll look back and realize just how many battles you could have won without your misguided morals hampering your progress!"

"Never," Morgan growled, her flames growing brighter and more intense. "I'll never regret using what my father taught me."

"Stupid lowborn insect," Excellus spat. "You really think I care about what your father taught you?! You're nothing but a child playing at an adult's game!"

"Wrong again!" Morgan thundered, the power in her voice betraying her youth. "This isn't a game, Excellus! And now you're gonna see that sometimes we insects have a nasty bite!" She darted forward with her mother's speed to strike into Excellus' center, the power of her father flowing out from her body into her magical sword, which in turn poured into the fat tactician. If the stab wound wasn't enough to finish the job, the Ignis-fueled lightning she unleashed definitely was.

She wrinkled her nose at the scent of burning flash as she pulled away and let the body slump to the floor unceremoniously. "Seems like the only thing he ever really excelled at was making people angry," she muttered to herself.

It was by no means a silent place in the throne room. But Kirito heard nothing going on around him. All of his attention was centered on the massive man in a suit of demonic-looking red armor. They had never seen one another before this day, yet both of them hated the other with every fiber in their being.

Walhart, the Conqueror of Valm, looked down at the boy standing at the steps to his throne with utter contempt. This was the mighty warrior that his men were afraid of? This was the famed Black Swordsman of the Shepherds, the one that could destroy armies with his twin blades? A mere boy?

Although Kirito and the others were largely unaware of, the stories of the winged warriors in the ranks of the Ylissean Shepherds had spread like wildfire throughout Valm. Their exploits had caused Walhart's forces to all but abandon their morale- for who could stand up to fighters blessed with divine- or demonic, some would say- powers?

But Walhart had no need for gods or any higher powers of any kind. There were men and there were dead men. Only two such existences lived under his rule, and he would not have some cheap sorcery destroy all that he had worked to instill in his people!

"You are the Black Swordsman?" Walhart rumbled as he stood from his throne.

Kirito settled into his stance and replied, "Yeah, I'm called that. And you're the bastard that killed my friend." His tone wasn't loud, but his ager carried very clearly to the Emperor.

Walhart's lips twitched upwards in amusement as he replied, "Ah, the red-winged fighter, yes? I remember him- and I don't remember many. You should feel honored that your comrade garnered my attention- so few have been able to fight me for as long as he."

"It'll be my honor to gut you!" Kirito shouted, his wings fanning out to their full width. "Come on, Conqueror!"

"Your friend promised me a good fight on your behalf, just before I killed him," Walhart declared as he leaped onto his horse, which was waiting patiently for him. He unlimbered his massive war axe and hefted it high over his head with seemingly little effort. "Do him justice, Black Swordsman!"

"I intend to!" Kirito bellowed as he shot forward on shining black wings. As he flew up to meet Walhart, he remembered Klein's cheerful grin when he had said, "They say that life is made by the challenges you face, so keep soldiering on, young man."

Weapons in hand, Kirito prepared to avenge his best friend.

Suguha: Seriously?! You leave people hanging for almost two months, and you leave with another cliffhanger?! Have you no mercy?

Mataras: I do, sometimes. I just like to keep people in a bit of suspense is all.

Sachi: You really gotta give these poor readers some closure...

Mataras: Don't worry about it- if it makes you all feel any better, the next chapter is the last of Taking the Capital.

Robin: Finally!

Mataras: And there will not be a cliffhanger.

Chrom: Finally!

Mataras: Are you all really that worked up about it?! Sheesh, I can't wait to hear what people think of the end of Dragon Soul.

Robin: Dragon what?

Mataras: That's the title of my second book in the Omega Chronicles.

Sachi: Let me guess... It'll end with a cliffhanger.

Mataras: Hehe, but of course! What else did you expect?

Asuna: Speaking of, when can your readers expect that to come out?

Mataras: Eh... Probably sometime in 2017... Not quite sure yet, but that's what it looks like for right now.

Suguha: I predict some hate mail for the long wait...

Mataras: Aye... Well, I think I'll get a move on before those come my way. Adios!