Chapter 4: The Price to Pay

Disclaimer: I do not own Cardfight! Vanguard.

VANGUARD

(Aichi's P.O.V.)

SHIIIING!

My blade stopped short of Photon, the man eyeing it warily, a bead of sweat trailing down his face. I frowned down at him, letting the light of PSY Qualia in my eyes flare brightly. Photon seemed to sink even further into the ground, no doubt desperately wishing to get away from the blade.

"I have a proposition for you, Photon!" I yelled as another loud magical explosion occurred somewhere on the other side of the battlefield, threatening to drown out my voice.

Photon swallowed heavily as the noise dimmed again. "What do you mean?"

"I want you to call off your troops. Spare my men, and I'll spare your head."

There was silence between us. Photon had gone pale, shaking like a leaf. "How do I know you'll honour that? What happened to your policy of no mercy?" Photon inquired nervously, seemingly meeting my gaze behind his visor.

"I'm afraid you don't get to choose. Give out the order or die. It's your choice," I told him, thrusting my sword closer to his throat.

Seconds passed and, hesitantly, Photon nodded. I stepped back slightly, allowing him to sit up, but not to move any further. In a shaking voice, Photon yelled.

"Retreat!"

Within seconds, the word was echoed by the surrounding Link Joker troops before spreading throughout the entire opposing army. I backed away further as the enemy started to run in the direction from which they came. The distance between us allowed Photon to scramble to his feet and scamper away, disappearing to the crowd as a cheer went up from the victorious side.

I let my PSY Qualia slip, suddenly noticing the the energy, or lack thereof, that the power had sapped from me. Digging my sword into the ground, I used it to support myself as my eyes started to burn and my vision dimmed. Adrenaline gone, the wound on my side started to burn white hot, and I found myself losing the strength to keep myself up. I lost my grip on my sword and stumbled, only for a pair of hands to catch me by the shoulders.

"My Vanguard...?" I heard Stil's voice ask gently. He supported me until I managed to stand upright, albeit shakily. I opened my mouth to respond, but all that escaped was a hiss of pain as the burning in my eyes flared up and I saw my vision disappear entirely. "Come, my Vanguard. I'll escort you to a Healer."

I nodded silently, allowing Stil to lead me away.

Meanwhile...

(Ren's P.O.V.)

During the battle, I wasn't quite sure what I had seen. Shaking off my shock, I had continued to fight until the retreat of the enemy, but with the fight over, I could no longer contain my curiosity. I returned to the area in front of the rock, no longer seeing anyone even vaguely resembling my friend peering around the edge of the rock.

Taking a deep breath, I began to step forwards, straining my neck to have a look at what lay behind the large rock, its rugged pale brown surface now pockmarked from the effects of magical blasts. Rounding the corner, my suspicions were confirmed to be true. Kai sat up against the rock, hugging his knees to his chest, eyes wide and skin pale.

"I thought so..." I muttered to myself, my stomach lurching with concern for my friend who, from what I could see, didn't seem to be feeling very well, and for good reason.

Hearing my voice, Kai jumped, his eyes, once trained on something that was no doubt non-existent in the distance, darted around. Kai's startled mind was attempting to make sense of the situation as he located my voice, his gaze eventually falling on me.

Having laid eyes on someone familiar, Kai seemed to calm down slightly, his tense posture relaxing as he let out a sigh of relief. I made my way over to him and slumped against the rock, sliding to the ground, never taking my eyes off of him. I could have bombarded him with questions and questioned his sudden change of nature from the strong, independent personality that he once had to his current seemingly timid one, but I quickly found myself wondering if such a thing was appropriate. That, and, upon refection, I believe that, in that moment, I understood, even if I didn't know it then. He'd seen war for the first time. He'd seen death. We'd all been there. We'd all changed, some of us for the worse. Eventually, I could do nothing but let out a sigh, deciding to choose my questions wisely.

"So... How did you get here...?" I inquired hesitantly, not quite sure what to say to him.

"T-Takuto..." Kai muttered, gulping as if he was trying not to be sick.

"Takuto-kun?" I parroted, my eyes growing wide. "But, why?"

Kai's jaw seemed to lock up, he buried his face in his knees, and his body grew tense once more. I wondered exactly how much of the battle he had seen, and if Takuto-kun had anything to do with his current behaviour. However, I quickly decided that Kai's wellbeing came before anything else at that point.

I reached out to place what I hoped was a comforting hand on his shoulder, only to stop short as I sighted a bright crimson colour staining my hand. Quickly withdrawing my hand and wiping it off on my coat, I leaned forwards to get a better look at Kai's face.

"Come on, Kai. I should take you to Aichi-kun. He'll have a better idea of what to do with you." I grinned awkwardly, immediately noticing how Kai visibly perked up, glancing up at me from behind his legs.

"Aichi...? He's OK...?" Kai asked, his voice barely audible.

I blinked. "OK? We're all OK. Did you come here for him?"

"I... wanted to find all of you..."

He had hesitated. Strangely, I didn't feel hurt, despite his blatant lie. Nevertheless, with my hands wiped off, I stood and pulled Kai to his feet. There was a moment of silence, and Kai seemed to be reluctant to move.

"Don't worry. The fighting is over. Shall we go?" I suggested, placing my arm around Kai's shoulders. Without any form of confirmation, Kai relented and we made our way out towards the battlefield.

Meanwhile...

(Leon's P.O.V.)

A minor injury to my arm was all it was. A few minutes with Elaine and the Elf had me right as rain. I wasn't entirely sure what had happened out on the battlefield, what with the enemy retreating, but as with most things that went on on Cray, I had a suspicion that either Ren or Aichi had something to do with it. I sincerely hoped that it was Aichi's doing. Ren would have caused too much collateral damage doing something idiotic, and Aichi and I would be the ones to clean it up, no doubt.

My hopes were ever-so-slightly shaken as I looked up to see an un-Reversed Stil Vampir, of all units, leading Aichi towards the Healers, Aichi clutching his eyes with one hand and his waist with the other. I tried to hold back, thinking for a moment that the aged vampire may have been trying to do the right thing, but found myself unable to do so, rage and worry swirling together in the pit of my stomach until I could no longer take it anymore.

I quickly closed the distance between us and, supporting Aichi with my left arm, I roughly shoved Stil out of the way, breaking out in a cold sweat as I did so, my heart beating faster as the aged vampire regarded me with an expression of shock. Stil raised his hands as if to show that he meant no harm, and I heard Aichi gasp in shock, unable to figure out what had just happened to him. He tried to turn around, unable to remove his hand from its place in front of his eyes, almost as if the light would hurt him.

"Stil...?" he inquired quietly, obviously confused. I tried my best to ignore him.

"What do you think you're doing...?!" I hissed, holding Aichi closer as if I could possibly protect my friend and leader.

"I mean him no harm. I merely wish to find a Healer for him," Stil responded calmly, looking me in the eyes.

"Likely story," I found myself scoffing. Looking down, I scanned Aichi's body for any signs of injury other than his most obvious wound. My blood boiled. Two red puncture wounds on the side of his neck stuck out like a sore thumb. I turned Aichi around slightly and pulled down his collar for Stil to see. "This is your idea of helping?!"

"L-Leon...? Is that you...?" Aichi questioned weakly, but not without his usual confidence, having finally placed my voice. "H-he did that while he was Reversed, Leon... It's not his fault..."

"Really? Not his fault? Was he under the influence of Reverse the first time he did this to you, too?! Can you explain away his actions back then?!" I snapped, immediately regretting raising my voice towards an injured comrade.

"That was an accident!" Aichi snapped back, his face turning red with anger.

"Can you prove something like that?! Did you ever consider that he's been lying to you?! We can't trust-!"

"Leon!" Aichi bellowed, any sign of weakness leaving his voice as he forcefully removed his hand from his eyes and quickly cut me off before I could say any more. The anger and sorrow in his tone caused me to falter, and I found myself taking a step back in shock as his unseeing eyes seemed to search for me.

"Now, now. Let's not fight. You need a Healer," Stil reasoned, slowly stepping towards Aichi and placing a hand on his back. Aichi, upon feeling the hand, stiffened and then relaxed, his hand reaching for his eyes as he no doubt felt the light burning them.

Aichi didn't complain. Following Stil's guidance, the two slowly began to walk away, Stil directing Aichi around any potential hazards. I hesitantly followed behind, Aichi's voice still ringing in my ears, though not shaking my beliefs as it did so. I aimed what I hoped was a threatening glare at the back of Stil Vampir's head, but it seemed to amount to nothing. He neither noticed me, nor flinched. Still, within my mind, it was far better than doing nothing.

Meanwhile...

(Kai's P.O.V.)

It was a shock, but I had to shake it off as Ren led me through the crowds of people, his hand firmly clamped around my wrist, although not painfully so, preventing me from getting lost in the crowd that inadvertently jostled us about. It wasn't the time or the place for me to panic. Glancing around, I took in the units around me, none of whom seemed concerned with either Ren or myself.

"Um..." I began struggling to break the silence between the redhead and myself. Ren glanced back at me, his expression one of curiosity. "So... is every unit here?"

"Not every unit," Ren quickly responded with a sheepish grin. "Some Magallanica units need water to move or live, so they couldn't make it, and neither Kagerō nor Neo Nectar want anything to do with our army. That, and some units have been Reversed. We're doing all that we can with regards to them, but they obviously aren't here for the moment."

I frowned. "Wait... Kagerō isn't fighting? Why?"

Ren pondered the question for a moment before smiling sheepishly once again. "Well, with Neo Nectar, they just didn't want to get involved in a war and suffer losses, but it's a bit more complicated with Kagerō. I'll explain later. For now, we should find Leon-kun and Aichi-kun."

I nodded quietly, following him deeper into the crowd until we found ourselves approaching a large, somewhat circular area shielded by jagged rocks on all sides aside from an opening in the front. The units all seemed to be converging around it, and yet, now that we were drawing closer to the area, they began to part to allow us to pass, seemingly at the first sight of Ren. If any eyes were facing us, they were looking at him. As far as I could tell, I seemed to go unnoticed.

"Oi! Leon-kun!" Ren suddenly called, his grasp on my arm suddenly tightening, no doubt inadvertently as his face lit up with recognition. I winced as, for a mere moment, his grip became vice-like and I fought back against the urge to recoil in shock. Ren didn't seem to notice, but his grip quickly slackened and I was pulled forwards again, and I was left to wonder whether I'd really felt the strength that I thought I had.

Through the crowd, I spotted the blond leaning against a rock, watching the crowds of units with a scowl on his face. Purple eyes, no less piercing than usual, were fixed on Ren in an instant, but his gaze shifted very quickly, falling on me. His eyes widened in shock as we approached, but his frown quickly returned and he stood up straight. He marched towards us and we were forced to slow to a stop as the smaller boy quickly halted before us, eyes darting between the both of us as if he had no idea where to look first. Eventually, his gaze fell on Ren once more, and after a few moments of exasperated silence, Leon stood up as straight as he possibly could and opened his mouth to speak.

"Ren…! What is the meaning of this…?!" he hissed, trying to get as close to eye level with Ren as he possibly could.

"I didn't do anything!" Ren insisted, letting go of my wrist and crossing his arms defiantly. "I found him out there. He says that Takuto brought him."

Leon's jaw fell slack and his gaze turned to me once more. "Why? What could he do? He doesn't have PSY Qualia," he blurted, no doubt not meaning to offend me, but he was doing a pretty good job of unintentionally trying, and I found myself shooting him a glare which seemed to go unnoticed.

"That's what I'm hoping to find out when we get back to HQ. First and foremost, though, where's Aichi-kun?" Ren asked, an air of curiosity entering his tone as he craned his neck, trying to look over the tops of the heads of the units around him.

"I'm not sure what happened, but he used PSY Qualia a too much again and he's resting," Leon informed us, sounding slightly distracted as he turned his head to look behind himself. I presumed that Aichi must have been over there somewhere. "I trust it was him who got the Link Joker forces to retreat, not you."

"How'd you guess?" Ren asked, sounding equally as distracted as he tried to follow Ren's gaze. There was a pause and Leon seemed to process the information.

"Not enough collateral damage," he eventually responded, turning to face us again, scowl back in place.

"Hey!" Ren began before pausing, thinking carefully about his next words. Eventually, he simply pouted. "You didn't have to say it so bluntly…"

"Blaster Dark's words, not mine," Leon told him, crossing his arms with a smirk.

Ren shook his head. "Never mind. How is he? Not too damaged, I hope."

"No. He has a wound on his side and trouble seeing at the moment, but that'll pass. It's the price we have to pay for things like that," Leon noted, his frown deepening.

"Don't I know it," Ren responded with a sigh, reaching up to scratch the back of his head. "Any news from the Healers about when we can move back to HQ?"

"They've done most of the work by now, supposedly," Leon informed him, perking up a little. "We didn't suffer too many losses this time, according to Chris. Nobody's been Reversed, at least, and a few people were saved, including that guy Stil Vampir. No idea why he's still here."

Ren grunted in annoyance. "I still don't know about that guy…"

Finally plucking up the courage to speak, I decided that now was as good a time as any to start asking questions. "Why? What's wrong with him?"

"Huh. What isn't wrong with him?" Leon scoffed, rolling his eyes.

"Why keep him with you if he's doing bad things, then?" I frowned, confused that such a thing would be allowed to happen. "Doesn't that make him a liability?"

"We can't do a thing about it, Kai. It's Aichi-kun's decision, not ours, and Aichi-kun seems to think he's worth something," Ren began, his expression quickly becoming serious. "Just don't go near him, Kai. He's bad news. Trust me."

Needless to say, I was confused. Aichi liked him, but Ren and Leon didn't? What was all of this about Aichi having the last say, too? Was he in charge? What was he doing here? What were they all doing here? I opened my mouth to ask another question, but Leon immediately cut me off before I could utter so much as a syllable.

"No more questions. This isn't the time or the place. We'll explain when we get back HQ where it's safe. You might not be able to see them, but there's no telling if the Link Joker forces are still hanging around," Leon told me, his bold tone leaving no room for retorts. Eyes scanning the cliffs around us, he turned. "We shouldn't stay here any longer…" he muttered just loudly enough to be heard over the noise before raising his voice. "I'll tell the Healers that we're moving. Get the troops in order. We're going back to the base."

"Will do!" Ren called after him before turning to me and taking hold of my wrist again. "Come on. I'll show you how we get the troops in line," he told me with a grin.

I couldn't help but frown. Did I really want to know…?