In response to the visitor reviewer: I too can not wait until Wrath can actually walk out in the open but that will come when it comes, I hope when it does you'll enjoy it.

In response to the reviewer pup: I would personally like to apologize to you, yes I am 'back' but its just been an never ending work week for me trying to adjust to new stuff. I haven't even had a chance to play on my PC, PS4, or Xbox in weeks. I hope that now I've finally got that balance where I can devote enough time to this fanfic, which WILL be finished by the end of this year. Anyway, Wrath is in a delicate situation and will have to play it smart but don't worry, there will be plenty of jam packed war chapters that will tickle that fancy of yours. As for Lust I am happy you like her, trying to make it known that there are many different perspectives and everything isn't always black and white.

Wrath looked around the war room and picked out Stonewell, Hector, and surprisingly Earl Edward who was currently speaking at the Captain who looked to be ignoring the noble in favor of preparing another cigar.

"Captain, I demand you inform us of what your strategy is. Most of our troops outside of the castle have been captured as well as several our subjects and the capitol is completely occupied by the enemy! We need to act! We can't just sit here and wait for the enemy to rush the gates and slaughter us!"

The man's voice shrieked every so often that brought out a spark of irritation from Hector while Stonewell looked blissfully unaware of the Earl behind him. He finished preparing his cigar before placing it in his mouth and producing a match from inside of his uniform's breast pocket and lighting the end of it. He took a few puffs of it before he turned around in his wheelchair and blew the smoke at the noble causing the latter to wrinkle his nose in disgust.

"I thought I told all of the council members should hide out in the bunker until the situation was handled. I didn't expect to see anyone, least of all you Lord Edward. Did you happen to experience a surge of patriotic loyalty toward the crown and decide to take up a more active position?"

The Captain's tone was conversational and lacked the sarcasm that should've accompanied his words. The Earl still recoiled as if it was there all the same, both of them knew that the old man in the wheelchair was jesting. What he really wanted to know is what the noble was doing here despite being somewhere that was safe.

"Don't try to change the subject! We are in an extremely dangerous position right now and we must do something quickly before the situation worsens." The old man took another puff out of his cigar before his eyes slid over to the young man as he approached. Stonewell noticed certainty that lied in the depths of the runt's blue eyes and could tell that something was off. He narrowed his eyes as he stared for an extra moment before his eyes marginally widened as something occurred to him before returning to their original size.

He turned back to the Earl and gave the noble a coy smile before clapping his hands together. "I hear you and completely agree with you my Lord. In fact, I plan on sending Edward here to go out and access the situation so that we may have an accurate idea of what we're up against." Upon hearing the young man's name, the noble turned around to see an eerily calm Edward staring at him. His eyes lacked the subtle worry and paranoia that left trace amounts in his blue eyes but now they were without doubt, completely calm despite the situation.

Such a look somewhat unnerved the older man, yet he stood his ground and turned back to the Captain. "You can't seriously think he'll be able to go back out there and bring back useful information with the entire village being occupied?"

The old man chuckled as the young man walked to his side. "I do think so, after all, he has quite a record. He was able to rescue the Queen from bandits on his own and he was able to successfully subdue two men who were more than a match for our guards. There's also his military record before he came to Arendelle, with his skill set I'm sure he'll be fine, don't you agree?"

The way Stonewell said that last sentence suggested he was hinting at something. The Earl opened his mouth to comment but then he shut it when he thought better of it. He stared at the young man who had a passive look on his face then grumbled before excusing himself leaving Hector, Stonewell, and Wrath alone in the war room.

The predator stared after the noble for a moment then turned to the Captain who interlaced his fingers and fixed a pensive stare at the young man. "So, I would like to hear your opinion on the situation Wrath, you were out there and saw what we were up against, how do you think we should proceed?"

Hector looked up from the map of Arendelle with an intrigued expression. He had seen what Wrath really looked like in person and had read all the reports that Grace had collected from their guest Mr. Sobel, so he knew that Edward was only half of the mind that made up Wrath. The other half, the one that supposedly was more demon than anything else; he hadn't had a chance to speak with him himself.

Wrath walked over to the table and pointed at the town square as he recounted what he'd seen on the way to the castle. He explained that the square was being held by Weselton troops that separated the civilians from the guards. He also pointed out that four soldiers were each guarding a group of hostages, he believed these particular soldiers weren't from Weselton as they attacked him in tandem with Greed. Had the Weselton soldiers seen the abilities that Greed possessed it, they likely would've turned on him as they would come to see him as an emissary of the devil.

Moving his finger from the square to other districts of the village, he noted the squad movements of Southern Isle troops that searched buildings looking for any pockets of resistance. These movements were being hindered by two-man assault teams from Blackdust that would booby trap the bodies for the enemy. When he contacted them, they said that Ahimoth's location was unclear, and their job was only to cause chaos among the enemy ranks. While that didn't definitively mean he was captured, it would be quite the task to locate him if his own troops didn't know where he was.

Stonewell and Hector absorbed the information wordlessly as they both peered over the map and evaluated the situation. Greed said he would order a cease fire to likely get Her Majesty to surrender herself. While they were essentially boxed in by the troops right outside the bridge, the enemy could focus on routing Blackdust's hit and run teams. There was also Princess Anna and Prince Kristoff to consider, according to Wrath, neither were seen at the town square. If they were lucky, the married couple could still be outside of Arendelle and possibly seen the civilians that were escorted out of Arendelle before the square was captured.

Unfortunately, though, there were the cannons on the surrounding ridgeway to consider, clearly if they were able to fire on the harbor, they needed to be manned. The ridgeway was outside the walls and if they were manned with a sizable force then the fleeing citizens may be in danger. There was also the matter of enemy ships being on the other side of the ice wall in the harbor. While it may have greatly slowed down troop deployment and eliminated their use of the ships' cannons, they would eventually find a way around it if they searched hard enough.

The enemy had them in an exceedingly difficult position, Greed likely knew that such a display of power from the Queen would drain her. When he and Stonewell spoke on the bridge, they both knew that the Avaricious Sin had the upper hand. He had them cornered and knew that their leader would cave if given the right push, so he gathered the means to do so. The Captain's earlier bluff no doubt but the Sin on his toes as it looked like everything that was said was true.

While he moved across the rooftops to the castle, he noted how many soldiers were around as well as how many were grouped together. The numbers weren't very insurmountable, in fact, he could've wiped them all out easily if they stayed divided as they were. Currently, they didn't have the manpower to hold both the hostages and storm the castle, which made sense to try and force a surrender.

There was no doubt in Wrath's mind that Greed didn't care about the lives of the hostages but remembered that the Sin was dealing with a fanatical kingdom as well as a King who hadn't shown himself at all. Hans had to be in Arendelle somewhere, for Elsa to sign over her kingdom, he had to physically sign the document himself. The alliance defense agreement would come into effect if Hans did not have the kingdom under his control and declared it an internal affair.

Despite his namesake, Greed wasn't impulsive enough to lose sight of his goals. Wrath felt the blatant hate and rage that the Sin felt when he was forced to retreat as the Weselton troops hit the shore. He knew he couldn't risk being discovered for what he is by his allies or the invasion would fall apart. He had to play General until he got what he wanted. As such, he couldn't force his way into the castle with what he had so decided to play on Elsa's emotional bond with her people.

"At the bridge, he looked quite pissed, did you get anything useful from him?"

Wrath was brought out of his thoughts by Stonewell's question. "Nothing you didn't already know. He says by the end of the night he'll have my life. He also said that he hates you and if it wasn't for Weselton's fanaticism, he would've ended this a long time ago."

The predator expected the old man's face to become slightly dismayed about the useless information but to the contrary, his eyes became even more thoughtful. He looked like something just occurred to him and he was mapping it out in his head. When he finished, he turned back to Wrath with an unreadable expression.

"I want you to go back to the town square and confirm the situation. What you do and how you do it is completely up to you."

"What do you want me to be looking for?"

"Anything that can tip the scales in our favor."

Wrath nodded and as he was started walking toward the door, Stonewell's voice reached his ears.

"Her Majesty is going to surrender, there's no denying that. If the enemy has the hostages then the Queen will sacrifice herself for them without a second thought. Arendelle will be taken over by a King who had his own brother killed and his home attacked to seize the throne. Princess Anna will likely be hunted down and forced to either be his Queen or be killed herself while Bjorgman will most certainly be killed."

The predator wanted to tune out the Captain's words, but he couldn't, he had thought those same thoughts not even ten minutes ago.

"Objectively speaking, Her Majesty is worth more than a thousand people. She's a Queen, the Snow Queen, no less. Able to freeze an entire kingdom by accident and cause an eternal winter. Able to create an army of snow creatures to do her bidding if she so chooses. She also is quite brilliant, in the short time she has taken the throne, she has improved Arendelle more than previous rulers have done in their entire reign. Arendelle would take a significant blow if she was ever taken or killed. Both of which are certainties since she could never stand by while even one of her subjects were threatened."

The Captain spoke in a conversational tone like none of what he said mattered to him in the slightest. Wrath only looked down at his feet before taking a deep breath and voiced the question that lingered in the air.

"…Are you telling me to resolve this situation myself by any means?"

Stonewell took another puff out of his cigar before he answered. "I've only asked you to confirm the situation, what you do after that is completely up to you. If you truly feel that you have a way to end this with losses that are acceptable to you then by all means, do what you feel you have to do."

He finished the cigar and crushed the stub in his hand before letting out a very tired sigh. "Just be aware of the consequences that could follow from your actions. Just because it makes sense logically, doesn't make it right. Whatever you choose, at the end of the day you'll have to look at yourself and ask, 'who are you?'"

Wrath said nothing as he left the room and closed the door behind him. Hector remained silent throughout the exchange before crossing the room to stand before the old man then leaned down while putting his hands on the arm rests of the chair and leveling a heavy glare at the Captain.

"Did you just encourage someone who has killed innocent people in the past to do so again?"

Stonewell met the glare head on with the same tired expression. "I simply told him to do what he felt he needed to do."

Hector snarled and barely restrained himself from punching the old man in the face. "Those are innocent people being held hostage, I would've thought you of all people would know that. I understand we're in a dire situation and know what will happen the minute Her Majesty wakes up but if Wrath does what you just suggested and kills every single enemy soldier dooming the hostages, Her Majesty will court martial you in a heartbeat. You will have ordered the slaughtered of innocent people, regardless of the situation, that is wrong."

Walter eyes broke the contact with Hector's and looked at his interlaced fingers. Yesterday, he would've beaten down anyone who even remotely thought of what Bowman accused him of suggesting. However today, Stonewell knew what was coming. All his life seemed to prepare him for what would happen today, there were things he didn't want to do but things he had to do to get the future he wanted. He thought about his daughter more today than he ever did before.

With a sigh, moved Hector's hands off his chair and settled into a never seen, professional and respectful posture. "Hector Bowman, should I die today, it is my wish that you take over as Captain of the Arendelle Royal Guard. In my office, there is a will underneath the desktop. I would like you to personally deliver it to the Queen when all of this is over."

The noble's face went into shock when he heard the words that came from the old man's lips. He never would've thought he'd ever hear them, in the past, hearing those words would've brought him great joy and inflated his ego, but hearing them now made a weight fall in the pit of his stomach.

"Stonewell, why are you talking like this? What are you planning?"

"Take care of her, that's all I ask from you."

With that, Stonewell left the room and as he closed the door, he looked to his left to see Mr. Jorgen standing there with both hands on his cane. "Have you finally decided?"

The Captain sighed once more. "Yes, make the preparations."

"We'll need that imitation."

"I just sent the runt out for a little errand; it'll be some time before he gets back."

Mr. Jorgen scowled and raised his cane before pointing the end at Stonewell's heart. "Remember what he is, your attachment to that imitation will only make things harder."

The old man pushed the cane away with the back of his hand before interlacing his fingers. "Perhaps, all the same though, for this to work we need his soul. As of right now, its quite weak since he hasn't been killing and absorbing the soul echoes of his victims. Taking his soul now would make me nowhere near strong enough to do what you need me to do. It would be smarter if we let him do what he does best."

Mr. Jorgen narrowed his eyes but said nothing and walked away. As his footsteps got further and further away, Stonewell let his passive façade drop. Now that he was alone, he could reflect on what just transpired. He just sent Edward out into Arendelle with suggestive orders, settled who would replace him after he was done, and agreed to Mr. Jorgen's offer. He could feel the headache beginning to form in his head.

With everything going on, he tried to remain steadfast and be the one that had a plan. While he did have a plan, it could go quite a few ways, some of them resulting an exceptionally large loss of life. He remembered what he promised Elsa when she came into his office after her coronation, he promised he would protect Arendelle in her absence. She was absent and so was Anna. It was time he stepped up instead of standing by like he did during the coronation.

Rolling himself to the east wing of the castle, he ignored the guards and opened the door to find the person he was looking for. Garret Sobel looked up from the desk in his room with a surprised expression at the old man's entrance.

"Long time no see Sobel; we need to talk."

Wrath was already hopping from rooftop to rooftop toward the town square. While he was keeping an eye out for anything, his mind was preoccupied by what Stonewell said before he left. The Captain may not have said it but his words more than suggested that he was telling the Sin that he had the go ahead to deal with this himself.

Going on a rampage and killing the enemy himself while sacrificing the hostages.

The predator did not think Stonewell would ever be ok with something like that. When he found out what Wrath had done in Blackdust, he had half of mind to kill the predator right then. What had changed his mind from then to now? As far as he thought back, the Captain hadn't really been any different, except maybe tired occasionally. He was an old man that was very active and had a hard life so it helped maintain his body, but he was still human, his body was getting too old.

It made sense logically to sacrifice the few if it meant saving the Queen and the kingdom. Wrath knew that and so did Stonewell, maybe the old man could not see a way out and decided to with the only plan that kept his monarch safe. The predator continued to make other justifications about what he needed to do until he got to the town square. It was still cordoned off by Weselton troops and had the same group of hostages from earlier. He could still pick out Lina among the children went through a couple of scenarios in his head that involved saving her.

The first one that came to mind was just rushing down and just scooping her up. It would likely result in the two of them being chased, Wrath was certain he could get away from any normal soldier, but Greed was a different story. While he did not see the Avaricious Sin down there, he knew he'd be nearby somewhere. He didn't want Lina stuck in between a battle with the two of them.

There were roughly thirty soldiers he could see from his vantage point and all of them were a few feet away from one another with some in groups. He could probably wipe them all out in a few moments but one of them would get a shot off that would alert surrounding squads that weren't in the square. Wrath continued to come up with plan after plan but shot them all down because all of them inevitably doomed the hostages. He was so deep in thought that he didn't realize that the world around him had completely stopped once again until that copy of himself from earlier sat down next to him.

The copy sat on the lip of the roof and was completely exposed to the soldiers below had the world not been frozen. He surveyed the square before turning to Wrath with an annoyed expression. "What are you waiting for? The enemy is right there; jump down, kill them, then move on. Greed doesn't seem to be in the immediate vicinity right now. If you assume your true form, you should be able to kill them and get away before he gets here."

The predator kept his eyes on the square and continued to try and think of a plan, completely ignoring the copy next to him. That didn't seem to sit well as the copy huffed before standing up and walking over the edge of the roof then dropped down to the town square. He took long strides that quickly made up the distance until he was standing next to Lina then turned toward the building Wrath was hiding on.

"Is she why you're hesitating? What a complete and utter waste of time and effort. You've already accepted that Elsa's life is worth more than the lives of these people. Don't let those foolish human emotions cloud your judgement. This little girl has no tactical value, whether she lives, or dies doesn't effect the outcome of this war in any way. You know this! These hostages were taken because Greed is smart enough to know that you and Elsa could single handedly bring an end to this conflict. He came at you with twenty soldiers and during that entire time, he never engaged you because he knew in a straight one on one fight, you'd tear him to pieces. Elsa as well, she could wave her hand and freeze every single enemy soldier in Arendelle if she would just grow up."

The copy without any hesitation swiped a clawed hand and slit the throat of a doctor who was in the same group of hostages. Wrath's knee jerk reaction was to demand he stop but the copy had already moved on to another hostage. An older girl, probably fourteen years old fell prey to his merciless hand. Shock and outrage colored the predator's face as he stood up on the roof when the copy moved on to another hostage.

"Enough!"

The copy didn't react to the command, but Wrath could tell he was heard because the copy killed three more hostages, likely out of spite. The predator was on the ground the next instant and closed the distance between them in three hard steps. The copy was about to kill another hostage when Wrath caught his arm mid swing. The predator had eyes full of rage for the face that was identical to his that stared back at him with an almost bored expression.

"You're getting upset over this? You've spent the entire trip here coming to terms that these people were going to die. What does it matter if you or the enemy does it, they'll still die? At least with you, it'll be quick, might even be painless."

The predator tightened his grip on the copy's arm before he threw it away and putting himself between the copy and the rest of the hostages. His body was coiled ready to strike if the copy decided to make any sudden moves. The aforementioned soulless being didn't seem worried in the slightest, in fact he just tilted his head in slight wonder.

"This isn't anything new, you've done this before, multiple times. Why does this bother you so much now?"

Wrath wondered that same question a few times since he's come to stay in Arendelle. It was true, he had killed a great many people in his long life of his. The numerous amounts of weapons in his courtyard attested to how many he's slain in the past. Back then, he didn't have a mind to even contemplate if what he was doing was right or wrong, he just followed his instincts.

What other direction did one need besides their instincts?

Talib had said that multiple times about him whenever anyone ever questioned why he didn't have a mind. He couldn't begin to comprehend the question but now, he could. Deep down, no matter what anyone said, his killer instincts were what made him what he was. Even in peaceful hamlet like Arendelle, his instincts were still as strong as ever. Those bandits he killed when he first got here were little more than an afterthought for him. Him killing them didn't matter in the slightest compared to what their deaths could mean for his anonymous status in Arendelle.

It only got personal when Envy and those two bandits had touched Elsa. Edward felt so much remorse for killing them in front of the blonde, but Wrath felt the opposite in that moment. Rationally, he knew what happened was a horrifying sight, one he was surprised Elsa could tolerate. He should feel remorse for doing such a thing in front of her, Edward represented that perfectly and tried to distance himself from her but failed. When that logical feeling of remorse was gone, the undeniable hunger for more took its place.

The predator wanted to rip apart every bandit in that cave, leaving them in too many pieces that identifying them would be next to impossible. He was dismayed when Edward ran but let it go since Elsa was the priority.

Yet when they were cut off by Envy, Wrath felt elation that he might have another chance to sate his desire to kill. The battle with Envy was quite pathetic in his opinion, he saw every move the Jealous Sin made and could think of three different ways to counter them only for Edward to blunder his way through the battle. When Envy decided to assume his true form, Wrath was ready to respond with his own, but Edward had retreated to come up with a plan.

The predator could see the logic in Edward's actions, everything the young man did was the right thing to do for the situation at hand. Wrath just had the itch to let loose with his natural beast like disposition. That predatory instinct to hunt and kill whatever prey he decided to set his eyes on. It was an engrained trait from his time as a conscious less hunter that he doubted would ever completely fade away. Such a trait would usually be used to describe a monster, which he didn't used to care being called as such.

Yet after meeting Elsa who more than once challenged all of his views on life and got him to consider things he never would have before, Wrath realized that he was different from who he was in the past. Back then, he probably would've agreed with the copy that they would all die anyway and it didn't matter if he was the one to do it or not. Talib would agree, it was the logical thing to do, sacrifice the less valuable assets to protect the more valuable one.

The alchemist drilled that lesson into his children, tried to get them to avoid letting their emotions cloud their judgement. After peering into the avenger's life and feeling what he felt, Wrath generally preferred logic compared to emotions. He tried taking control from Edward because he logically knew that the young man would eventually get them both killed. At first it was because it was only logical for him to return to Talib since they would eventually be found and there was no stopping the alchemist.

However after meeting Elsa who was a logical thinker as well yet always included emotions into her decisions he found himself slightly curious. In the back of his mind, he always knew that she was a threat and it would be smart if he killed her but couldn't bring himself to do so. Even when she dared him to do so, telling him that he'd have no better chance than to kill her when he was in her arms and Edward was fast asleep, he couldn't do it.

It was then that he actually felt guilty for all of the things he's done in life.

He shouldn't have, Talib pointed him in a direction and he killed. The alchemist acted logically at all times unless something caused him to slip up. By that way of thinking, every kill that he ordered was something that needed to be done for whatever the alchemist had planned. Despite knowing that, the guilt persisted.

He at first blamed Elsa for eliciting such a reaction from him, but over time he realized it wasn't her who caused him to feel such a way. Edward had a very guilty conscious over the things he's done, he put a high value on loyalty and the friendship he had with Rahim's comrades. Wrath murdering them with his body was a major blow to his psyche and turned him a mostly remorseful person. Wrath didn't feel an ounce of that, it was only until Edward was completely out and Elsa made him realize that there was more to him than he thought did the guilt come.

It probably would've come much earlier had he actually allowed himself to be more than just the weapon he was made to be. Now, after all that has happened, Wrath couldn't reduce people to be just numbers anymore. He had gotten to know a great many of them in his time here and was willing to fight for each one of them. His earlier thoughts were him trying to think like a weapon, but he wasn't one anymore.

"Because I'm not a monster"

The copy frowned.

"Is that so?"

Wrath blinked and the copy disappeared from view. The predator expected to be back on the rooftop with the world actually moving forward instead of being stuck in this frozen plane but he was still there. A thud behind him made him turn around to see the copy standing next to the hostages, the claws on his right hand were steadily dripping with blood.

The Furious Sin growled and was about to tackle the copy but froze when his eyes briefly scanned over Cameron's miniature ice replica covered in blood. Wrath forgot about the copy and immediately rushed to Lina's slumped form that was on the ground.

"No, no, no…Lina!"

He gathered her in his arms and shook her to wake her up, his rational thoughts took a back seat to the panic that came over him. He chose not to pay attention to all the blood that was staining his clothes and turned her over so that he could look at her face. Her eyes were open yet vacant, the endless joy and energy that dwelled within despite being bounded by a weak body was gone.

The predator placed a hand on her cheek and lightly tapped it, hoping against hope that her face would flinch at the prodding. She didn't stir, just vacantly stared at him with the same eyes he's seen from everyone who had the misfortune of meeting him. Wrath's body started to shake as an unfamiliar feeling started to originate from his eyes. Crippling sadness wracked his body as it continued to shake even more as the feeling in his eyes got stronger and stronger until he felt something come down his cheek.

He thought the guilt he finally felt for killing all those people in his life was bad, he thought those Rahims cutting into him relentlessly was hell, but this feeling…

Was so much worse.

Physical pain was nothing to him anymore. He had been killed multiple times in a wide array of ways. Every bone and organ in his body had at one time or another has been damaged in some way or form. The pain that came from the guilt or fear was new to him as well, it made it hard to focus on anything else and he had to endure it until it went away.

This pain was on a whole other level.

It made him forget how to breathe, sapped all of his strength, drowned out every thought in his head except the very thing that was causing such a feeling. He thought he could endure anything but this was too much, he wanted it to stop.

"I think both Garret and Rahim would beg to differ, that feeling is hard to get over."

All at once, Wrath's body stopped shaking.

His breathing evened out, all of his strength returned, and his mind changed its focus from the little girl in his arms, to the bastard who dared to speak. Wrath now could understand why Rahim was so hellbent on avenging his mother, if he felt half of what the predator just did then he was more than justified. Garret as well, Luna was his wife, the woman he learned to love and let in and she gave him two children to love.

The earlier crippling sadness he felt was replaced with an all consuming hunger for the copy's death that easily pushed out the sadness of Lina's death.

He whirled around, already in his nine foot, red scaled, claw and fangs bared body, then launched himself at the copy ready to tear him apart. He covered the distance between the two in a blink of an eye and just as his claws were about to grab his target, he was back on the rooftop again overlooking the town square. The soldiers below were mulling about guarding their prisoners.

The predator looked back at the hostages and was relieved to see them all alive, especially Lina who was tightly holding on to her sculpture. Seeing her alive robbed him of that murderous rage he felt just seconds before but there were still vestiges of it remaining. He should've remembered that all of that was in his mind but seeing them die at his hand pushed the limits of his control.

There was no point in him going into his soul and seeking out the copy. He had tried many times before with so success. The only things in that courtyard were him and his weapons. He considered the idea that maybe the copy dwelled under the reflective surface with the hoard of Rahims but doubted it.

The copy, while callous, didn't exhibit the desire to cause hellish pain for the predator like the other Rahims did. It only showed up to tell him something or get him to do something. He thought that maybe it could be helpful but now, he knew that the copy wanted him to be the Wrath he used to be and not the Wrath he is today. It would be nice if he could somehow rid of himself of the intruder but somehow doubted it would be simple

Shaking his head, he pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind, he had more important things to think about. He now knows he could not act in a way that would sacrifice the hostages. The best thing he could do now was scour the city and note the location of any other hostages before returning to the castle.

As he was about to get moving, he spotted some movement on a rooftop ahead of him. Remaining hidden under the lip of the roof he was on, he focused his eyes on the two figures that were moving and upon recognizing them, he chuckled. Back then, Rahim never question how someone as large as Ahimoth could move so quickly across the rooftops but Wrath seeing him now, made him chuckle at the sight.

The Prince cleared the gaps between roofs like he was riding a horse that was hopping over a fence. There was grace when leaped and he did so without any hesitation. The large man turned around and gestured for the person behind him to keep up which happened to be Cameron who was apprehensive about jumping between buildings.

Wrath was sure Edward would be happy to see them both alright, yet he noticed they were heading toward the town square. While he was sure Ahimoth would be cautious, he didn't want to take the chance of them being spotted. The predator quickly circled around until he landed on the next roof the two of them were jumping onto. Seeing the young man appearing out of seemingly nowhere caused Klein to raise his rifle while the Prince quickly took a fighting stance.

"It's just me." Wrath had his hands raised in a surrendering gesture that caused the two men to sigh and lower their guard. Klein's face broke out into a relieved grin while Ahimoth looked a little conflicted.

"Ed, you're ok! I heard that you were caught up in the harbor ambush and thought that you might be in trouble. When they asked for volunteers to go scout out the harbor, I spoke up hoping I could find you,"

The predator turned to the young guard and remembered the last time he and Edward were together. It was under bad circumstances since Edward had lost it when he saw Garret. Cameron tried to stop him but ended up being thrown off and injured. Taking a quick once over, the young guard looked perfectly fine minus the few scratches here and there. Wrath was sure Edward would feel guilty over what happened and would want to apologize. The predator likely would've switched with him right now but the young man for some reason was absent from both his mind and his soul. Calling his name a few times didn't help so Wrath was stuck in his current setting.

"I was, but I managed to escape, thank you for the concern. Also…I would like to apologize for what happened the last time you and I saw each other, I wasn't thinking very clearly, and you got hurt because of it."

The apology was awkward, yet Klein found it sincere as he perked up. "Don't worry about it, we all lose it every once in a while. I'm sure Lina has forgiven you as well, she just needed some time. Speaking of, have you seen her? The hospitals were all evacuated before the enemy could make landfall but her's was pretty close to the castle so it would be one of the last ones evacuated."

Upon hearing the little girl's name, Wrath's facial expression seemed hesitant. He knew exactly where Lina was, the problem was telling the young guard would likely result in him going out and doing something he would regret. Still, it was better for him to tell him now rather than him go out looking for her on her own.

"I know where Lina is but before I tell you, I need you to remain calm." The hesitant way he said that caused the young guard's face to fall as he started to imagine all the worst-case scenarios that would require a request like that. Ahimoth remained silent as he stared at his old comrade's face that showed never before seen expressions and feelings.

"She's alive, however her group was too late in evacuating and was captured and is being held in the town square." Klein's eyes went down to his feet as he said nothing for a full minute, the entire time his hands were shaking. Wrath watched him and knew what was coming. The young guard took one step in his attempt to sprint to the town square when a body intercepted him and a firm grip on his shoulders held him still.

"Ed, move, I need to get her right now!" Wrath kept him firmly in his grasp as he tried to struggle his way out and get going. The young guard's eyes were desperate and completely consumed with fear, not unlike all the victims that Wrath had over the years. They were the eyes of a scared animal doing the first thing that came to mind without any thought to what comes after which usually led to them dying.

The predator wouldn't let either Kleins become prey.

"You need to calm down. The enemy has declared a ceasefire and will allow safe passage for negotiations. The hostages will be safe until later tonight if the talks do not go well. We still have time to figure something out." The young guard looked at the certain eyes of the young man and felt a little of his panic subside but there was still a significant amount left.

"B-b-but what if something happens and she- "

"Cameron."

Wrath leaned in close and gave the young guard's shoulders a comforting squeeze. "I promise you, no matter what happens, Lina will be fine. Even if I must go through every single soldier down there and physically grab her myself, she will be fine. However, there are other people besides her down there, I could only grab Lina and get away leaving the rest in harms way. That's why we need to think carefully about our next move. But I swear to you, you will be with your little sister when this is all over."

The young guard's fear was still strong yet the absolute certainty in his instructor's eyes washed away the panic. Klein knew Edward was in a different league than most people. He could accomplish things that others couldn't, hearing him make such a promise to rescue Lina made Cameron have hope. He had complete faith in Edward and knew he wouldn't make such a promise if he couldn't fulfill it.

Him saying that he could get only Lina out of there while endangering the other hostages made the young guard have even more faith in him. He was admitting that there was a limit to what he could do and didn't want to leave the others behind. He also said that they had time to come up with a plan that could save everyone. Klein wasn't sure how they could do it, but Edward's promise was enough for him to give it a try.

The young guard's body relaxed before he opened his arms and wrapped them around the surprised predator. Still not accustomed to being hugged, Wrath went still until he heard Cameron's voice in his shoulder. "Ed…thanks."

The predator's eyes lowered, and he reluctantly hugged the young guard back. Completely aware of Ahimoth's eyes on him.

Wow I freaking suck. Its been a month and no updates. Honestly I've been busy like I started school, I'm taking martial art classes, trying to learn guitar, and got a new job at work so I am SWAMPED. Also developed a tiny pet peeve where I can't stand a blinking cursor and how it lags a tiny bit when a type versus a cursor that slides as the words are coming out so now I'm using Mircosoft word.

ANYWAY, I hope you enjoyed this long awaited chapter, so many things are happening and honestly, I'm kind of glad I haven't been making weekly updates because I have so many new ideas that I just fell in love with. Hope you all are still staying tuned and looking forward to the next few chapters.

Please PM me or review if you wish to contact me and I will respond as soon as possible, I hope you all have a nice day and I will TRY and knock out a new chapter a lot sooner now that I'm SOMEWHAT adjusted to my hectic new schedule.