A/N: I am SOO sorry for the long delay everyone! Work has been absolute murder lately! Please forgive ol' Steve-o!

Okay, looks like "crossing the Bridge is doing fairly well! I'm glad to see that so many people have at least given RaineXRegal a shot. Anyhoo…

With the anti-Sylvanites driven off, Regal and Raine can only celebrate for a short time before a familiar-sounding man not only destroys Raine's statue but also reveals the true identity of Myra, the little girl who stood up so bravely against the anti-Sylvanites. Now that it has been revealed that she is an angel, a "Spawn of Cruxis" as the mysterious man called her, what will the people of Luin who hate the angels of Cruxis do with her?

With that, it's time for "Respond to the Readers!"

Mooncannon - Glad you love the story partner! However, you must be patient with the "mushy stuff". Remember, this is still a professional relationship, but their affection for each other will grow in time. That being said, you can still expect a quasi-RaineXRegal scene soon.

Bane the Mad Demon Slayer – Yup, and Regal swears that he's seen him before. But where?

Rock Raider – Right you are. While Harley won't be a major character, he just might make an appearance somewhere in the story.

Rosa-Le-Fay – Glad you like little Myra. She's going to be a major character.

Soul-Taken – (prepares his usual line) You are too kind! Thank you! Seriously, as you said, I also believe that Regal deserves better than what he gets in most fanfics. Don't see many Regal pairings, let alone RegalXRaine.

Cozette Wilder – Heh… you'll see.

superspork97 – Good eye, and thanks.

Without further ado, on with the show!

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Chapter 4: The Tiniest Angel

"This is horrible!" yelled one of the half-elven men that was guarding the now destroyed statue of Raine. "The statue is gone and now we find out that Cruxis has been living among us!"

"What do we do?" asked one of the women.

Another man pushed his way through the crowd. "What else? We can't trust any angel of Cruxis! We have to get rid of her!"

Several whispers sounded throughout the crowd. A woman said, "But she's just a child."

The man turned to her, a disapproving look on his face. "Did Mithos not look like a child as well?"

More whispers. The woman had no way of replying to this statement. During the entire ordeal, little Myra could only hang her head in shame, too scared to do anything.

Regal took his eyes off the little angel long enough to look at his companion and say, "Raine, you have to do something. Surely they'll listen to you."

She nodded and kneeled down next to Myra. "Everyone, please listen to me!"

The arguing among the gathering of half-elves ceased when they heard their "messiah" speak. Raine cleared her throat and began again. "My fellow half-elves, let us not act so rashly. While it is true that she is an angel, it doesn't mean that she's bad."

Raine cupped her hands under the child's chin and slowly lifted her head. She smiled as the child's eyes met her own. "Have you ever seen the eyes of the wicked angels of Cruxis? The emptiness of them? I have, and I can tell you now that these are not eyes of Cruxis. No, these eyes are full of both kindness and sadness."

More whispers. Raine stood back up and turned to the half-elves. "This girl has done nothing wrong to us and she even tried to stand up to those men that were here earlier. If we hated her simply for the fact that she was an angel of Cruxis, wouldn't we, in essence, turn into the very people that loathe us so?"

Raine felt a tugging on her pant-leg and looked down to see Myra clinging onto her leg. She did not look up but instead buried her face in the cloth of Raine's pants. The tone was low, but Raine thought she could hear her say, "Thank you Lady Raine."

"She's right," said one of the men. "The last set of people that we need to be like is those terrible men that destroyed Lady Raine's statue."

One of the younger women nodded. "That's right. The little girl did try to help us after all. Besides, she's kinda cute."

Myra pulled away from the supposed safety of Raine's pant-leg and smiled at the woman that said this. Her wings flapped slowly as she tore away the rest of the ragged cloak she was wearing. She wore the same sort of clothes that any other little girl her age would wear: a sky-blue long-sleeved shirt and white skirt made up the majority of her outfit. A small, pink ribbon in her hair and brown sandals completed it. The shirt had straps in the back so that it could be put on in a fashion similar to that of a vest, thus making it easier to wear clothes on her torso despite the wings on her back.

One of the men kneeled down in front of her and said, "We're terribly sorry for what we did. Can you forgive us?"

Myra simply nodded her head. "O-okay. Thank you."

Raine smiled as she looked on. It was good to see that the half-elves had come so quickly to support the little angel.

Raine could feel Regal's presence as he stepped up next to her and looked on. "Well done Raine. This is certainly a good start for our journey to end racism. Perhaps this isn't as impossible as many would first think."

She nodded. "Yes. I hope you're right."

A man stepped forward and bowed his head in respect toward Raine. "Thank you for your help earlier Lady Raine. I'm truly sorry for what happened to your-"

Raine held up a hand, silencing him. "Don't say it. I don't care about the statue. I'm just glad that all of you are okay."

The half-elves clapped. "Thank you Lady Raine!" they yelled. "With the Messiah on our side, we can't possibly lose!"

Regal nudged her and grinned. Raine playfully nudged him back and recomposed herself. The half-elf standing before her asked, "What brings you to Luin anyway, Lady Raine?"

She shook her head. "Please, just Raine will do. As for why we are here, we had heard that there were anti-sylvanites here, so we came to put a stop to them."

"We?" asked the man.

She nodded and pointed to Regal. "This is Regal Bryant, a powerful master of martial arts and my-"

"Guardian," said Regal, interrupting her. "It is my duty to protect Raine on her journey.

"Whoa," said the man. "He sure looks strong, but why is he wearing those handcuffs?"

Sweat ran down Regal's face as he struggled to answer the question. "I… I…"

Raine turned around and placed a hand on Regal's massive shoulder. "It's simple really. He's so powerful that he doesn't need to use his hands to fight."

The two companions stared at each other for a moment before Raine turned back around. "In fact, I wasn't about to have Regal dirty himself for the sake of taking down a few small-time thugs like the men that were just here, so I took care of them myself."

Everyone present whistled, obviously impressed with what she had to say. "Wow!" said the half-elf. "He must be really powerful!"

Raine smiled and nodded. "Indeed he is. I don't know what I'd do without him."

"Raine…" said Regal, unable to say anything else.

"By the way," started the man, "Mr. Bryant mentioned something about a journey you were on. What is your journey, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Our journey?" asked Raine. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Our goal is to find a way to end worldwide racism."

The entire gasped and then went deathly quiet when they heard this. End worldwide racism? Was it really possible?

"That's not all," continued Raine. "This isn't just for the half-elves. This is for all of the races of the world who are suffering oppression from those who would seek to destroy them." She looked down and smiled again at Myra. "This even includes the angels of Cruxis."

Everyone cheered. The thought of a world where all races could live together in harmony was intoxicating to the half-elves. If their Messiah was successful in her quest, then never again would they have to look over their shoulder, wondering if some crazed human or elf was prepared to stab them in the back.

"Well then!" said the man. "If that's the case, then let me come as well!"

"Me too!" said another voice.

"And me!" yelled yet another.

Myra tugged at Raine's pants again. "I wanna go too!"

Raine waved her hands, the smile on her face widening. "Everyone, please settle down! I'd love to take all of you, but this is going to be a very dangerous journey. I don't want any more lives to be lost than already have been. Thank you very kindly though!"

All of the half-elves were disappointed but did their best to not show it. "We understand Lady Raine," said the man. "But will you at least stay within our humble settlement for the evening? We would be honored to have you as a guest!"

"You can stay with me Lady Raine!" yelled one of the women.

"No! Pick me!" yelled one of the men.

Myra tugged on Raine once again. "Please stay with me Lady Raine! I just live with my grandma."

"Where are your parents?" asked Regal.

Myra's smile faded and she looked down. "I-I dunno."

Regal leaned towards Raine and whispered, "Raine, do you suppose it's possible that we could've-"

She shook her head. "Don't say it Regal. I don't even want to consider that possibility." She turned back to Myra and said, "Alright then Myra. We accept your offer. Lead the way."

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"Grandma! I'm home!" yelled the little angel as she opened the front door and ran into the house, Raine and Regal following close behind her. Myra's house was very simplistic and slightly run-down, but looked fairly comfortable nonetheless. As they waited for Myra to reappear with her grandmother, the heroes took a seat on the couch.

A moment later, Myra reappeared with a human woman about fifty years old following behind her. "Look Grandma! I brought home Lady Raine!"

"Lady Raine?" asked the woman. "Isn't that that lovely looking girl that the half-elves made a statue for?"

Raine blushed when she heard this. Regal just grinned. "Yes, she is the one-and-only Raine Sage," said Regal in response to the woman's question.

She smiled and bowed her head. "I heard that the two of you saved my little Myra from harm today. Thank you so much. She's all that I have left in this world."

"I-it was nothing really," stuttered Raine. "We weren't about to let a group of ruffians hurt such an innocent child."

The woman laughed. "Still, thank you all the same." She looked down at Myra. "Myra honey, can you go set the table for dinner? It's almost ready."

"Yes Grandma!" said the angelic child as she ran off.

Raine sighed as she stood up. "I don't mean to pry or be so blunt, but it's fairly obvious that you are not Myra's grandmother."

"Raine!" said Regal.

The woman waved her hand. "It's alright, and you are correct. I, unfortunately, am not Myra's grandmother. That doesn't stop her from being the best thing that's ever happened to me."

"If I may ask, how did you come across her?" asked Raine.

The woman turned around and looked out of a window. "About a month ago, as Luin was being rebuilt, I had moved here from Izoold. One night, not long after I first arrived here, I heard a knock on my door. I looked to see who it was, and there stood a handsome-looking swordsman in a purple outfit with an unconscious angel in his arms. He said that he had found her near the Tower of Salvation. He asked me if I could care for the little girl. Not having anyone else in my life, I naturally accepted and off he went. I have no clue who he was."

"Man in a purple outfit?" said Raine quietly to Regal. "Could it have been Kratos?"

Regal nods. "I think so. It sounds like something he would do."

Raine lowered her head. "Kratos, just what were you up to while you were away from us?"

The woman turned back to her guests. "Why do you ask?"

"Just curious," replied Raine. "It's not everyday that you see a Cruxis angel living among the common folk."

The woman closed her eyes and smiled. "Whether she's of Cruxis or not matters not to me. What matters is that she has filled a void left long ago when my husband and daughter were killed by the Desians."

"I-I'm sorry ma'am," said Raine. "I didn't mean-"

"Okay everyone!" yelled Myra. "Dinner's ready!"

The woman shook her head. "Don't worry about it. I know you didn't mean anything bad by what you said. You wouldn't have helped Myra otherwise." She began to walk toward the kitchen. "C'mon young'ins. Time to get some good food in you."

Regal turned to his companion. "Something seems amiss here."

Raine nodded. "You're right, but it's probably not our business. If we absolutely have to, we can find out more about this later."

"But what about that man that destroyed your statue?" asked Regal. "He seemed to express a certain interest in Myra. Since he seems to be in league with the anti-sylvanites, Myra may be more important to our journey than we realize."

Raine sighed. "Perhaps. This is just too much to take in at once."

Regal nodded. "Agreed. Perhaps we can discuss what we know in detail after dinner."

Raine nodded back. "Alright. For now, let us take up our host's kind offer of dinner."

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A bit of a short chapter and not very action-packed, I know (wow, this sounds like the end-note of chapter 2). Nonetheless, I'm simply taking this chapter as an opportunity to explain just who Myra is. I hope everyone likes her, as she's about to become a very important character.

Now then, I know that I just apologized for the long delay in my initial A/N, but now I'll have to ask y'all to bear with me for another delay. Why? Once Chapter 22 of "Unconditional Love" is done, I want to put EVERYTHING on hold until I complete Chapter 23 of UL which is slated to be the big Sheloyd chapter I promised to the readers of UL. That being said, it may be up to a month before you see another chapter of "Crossing the Bridge". Please, please, forgive! CtB is still #2 on my priority list, so don't worry about something else taking over.

As always, thanks in advance for any and all reviews!