Rebellion the Second: Purpose and Powers

'I wonder what this Princess is like?' Hyde Kido thought to himself as the four newly acquainted were led down the halls by the blue haired woman in armor. 'Like Linne maybe? I could see her being mysterious like she was. If she's like Vatista then she'd have this air of mystery around her and won't talk much... As long as she isn't like Hilda I think I'll be alright. Can't believe I get kidnapped only AFTER I manage to defeat her, that's some cruel and twisted irony.'

Despite Hyde's reluctancy to join into a new fight while his own was left unfinished, he didn't mind the whole situation all that much. Sure he didn't know this world or its people, but here he was in a freaking castle with armored knights standing guard with swords and spears. He couldn't help it if he found the situation at least a little cool. He was so distracted in his thoughts, he didn't realize that the others had stopped and ended up walking into Ragna's back.

"Urk!" the blonde grunted as he fell on his rear. Ragna didn't appear to have even budged and reluctantly offered the youth his hand to help him up. "Sorry..."

"Just keep your eyes ahead of you," Ragna told him, though he didn't seem to sound too angry in Hyde's eyes. Taking his hand, Hyde felt himself get forcefully yanked to his feet.

His strange attitude aside, he couldn't help but see the man in red as the most enigmatic character here. Yu felt at least a little familiar because he wore a school uniform and Ruby claimed to have worn one before, but Ragna had made no such claims. He seemed to act lax, but Hyde had seen his type of posture before and it was clear that he knew his shit. Even his outfit and build was different and it wasn't helping that he appeared to be several years older than the rest of them.

'Maybe he's just a cosplayer,' Hyde thought to himself. 'Yeah, an over-dedicated one maybe... or he could have been a new addition to the Hollow Night that I missed.' Somehow, convincing himself didn't seem to work that well.

"Now the four of you are about to meet the princess," the armored woman said as she stood before heavy wooden doors. "So please try to act respectful in her presence; she's taking a large risk just by remaining here to greet you."

"Of course," Yu said, easily able to accept something as tiny as a etiquette request. Satisfied with the response, the woman opened the door and the five headed inside.

The room inside resembled that of a church; complete with stained glass paintings on the walls for decoration. Rows of pews sat empty as the surrounded a podium on the far wall with an altar on it. Upon the alter were four open books situated on the corners, all of them appearing old and worn. Standing in front of the altar was an elderly priest and a silver haired woman in a violet dress that Hyde assumed was the princess. She eyed the four seriously behind her thin framed glasses as they approached, not speaking until they reached the podium before her.

"Princess, I've brought all four of the summoned before you," their guide said as she bowed before the royalty.

'Summoned,' Hyde thought to himself as he looked at the kneeling knight. Realizing this was nobility he was standing before, he was about to kneel himself before Ragna stretched out his arm to stop him and send a slight glare. Again, this one didn't appear to be angry, but it instead sent a message that seemed to say 'she doesn't own you.' At the very least it looked like he was stopping Yu in much the same way, so at least Hyde didn't have to feel too awkward for his attempt.

"Thank you Lavell, that will be all," the princess said. Saluting, the blue haired knight named Lavell rose to her feet before leaving out the wooden doors and closing them behind her. "I'm... happy that you four have decided to hear me out without incident. It makes things easier for everyone involved."

"...That's totally aimed at me, isn't it?" Ragna asked with a sigh. Hyde and Ruby didn't seem to get what he was trying to say, though Yu seemed to understand with the face-palm he did.

"I-I didn't mean anything by that! I apologize!" the now flustered princess tried to defend, a clearly crimson blush on her face. The Reaper didn't look amused, only crossing his arms. "If... If we're to get started, I suppose we should at least know each others names. I am Princess Marie Eragog of the Royal Family. This besides me is Head Priest of Heavencliff Temple, Father Nester." The chief priest then gave a bow.

"Okay then... I'm Hyde Kido, but you can call me Hyde for short," the youth said, deciding he'd be the first of the four to make introductions.

"Yu Narukami, Third Year High School student," Yu said, including his school year.

"Ruby Rose, Huntress-In-Training," the only female member greeted.

"Ragna... the Bloodedge," Ragna introduced, finally using his title.

'Bloodedge?' Hyde thought to himself. 'Never thought I'd hear a nickname like that. Something tells me I don't want to know how he got it.' Shaking that thought out of his head he tried to get some answers. "So... Heavencliff... My geography sucks, but that's not in Ireland, is it?"

"We have never heard of such a land, and it would stand to reason that you wouldn't have heard of ours," Nester told the four, his elderly voice gentle yet hoarse. The prophecy has stated that the four shall arrive from a different world... though judging by your different appearances, it could mean that each of you could have come from a different world than your allies."

"I was under that impression as well," Yu admitted.

'Nothing gets by him, does it?' Hyde thought to himself. "So we're here for a reason, can you tell us what we're supposed to do?"

"In short they want us to save their damned kingdom," Ragna informed harshly. "Something about corrupt nobility and monsters if I'm remembering it right."

"Yes..." Marie told them sorrowfully. "In our royal council, all that matters is power and money while the lesser folk are left nearly undefended. Countless reports have come in from cities needing additional forces to add to their militia and not a single one has been responded to by my father. They turn a blind eye while our people suffer... though I can imagine some politicians doing far worse than simply abandoning their people. This age of darkness has existed since my grandfather's day... I wish to end it."

"And you can't do anything about it?" Ruby asked. Ragna shot her a skeptic look. "Hey, I'm just asking. She is the princess after all."

"While that's indeed true, if I had the power to resolve this without summoning the four I would have," the princess told them bitterly. "Also I may be a princess, but... I'm only the seventh child of the royal family."

"S-Seventh?" Hyde asked with surprise, which seemed to be shared with the other three. 'The king must be a busy man... That or this is why he isn't doing anything to help the others of his kingdom.' "So... we shouldn't exactly expect a hero's welcome from the king then, or from your six siblings."

"More than six actually," the princess told them with a slight blush on her face. "I am the seventh of... thirteen children to the crowned family."

"...Dammit man, pull out," Ragna muttered with some vulgarity, though no one in present company look in any hurry to reprimand him.

"Regardless yes, my father would not want your involvement, in fact he doesn't currently know of your existence. This shrine to which we've summoned you is one of the further places in the kingdom from our capital. I'm was merely brought to this temple to take part in a small ceremony to commemorate the end of our winter, but that was merely a cover so I could bring you all here."

"You've brought us here, does that mean that you can send us back?" Hyde asked. "I mean... I want to help how I can, but I need to handle things back in my home. There's a fight there that I need to get ready for and I only have about a month before it starts."

"I... just met up with some of my closest friends after being separated from them," Ruby input. "And I have my own fight to take care of..."

"I've got school coming up," Yu said, scratching the back of his head. "That and my friends would notice that I'm missing pretty quickly."

"...No comment," Ragna told them moodily, apparently not in a very reflective mood at the moment.

"While it is true that we would not be able to send any of you back to the realms that you hail from, the spells inner workings have made it so that you won't have to worry," Father Nester told them. "You three haven't been taken from your own world as much as you now have a presence within our own. All of your memories and many of your attributes have been taken and made form... meaning there's another person of exactly your qualities left in your homes."

"So in short... we're copies?" Hyde asked, somewhat confused with the whole ordeal. "And... there's really no way home?"

"At the very least that's what they're telling us; it all sounds a little too convenient," the Reaper grumbled, not feeling very trusting of the people before him.

"F-Father Nester is a priest of our Holy church!" Marie outburst at Ragna's attitude. "He's one of the greatest allies to my kingdom and one of the most kind-hearted men I've known!"

"Priests can lie just the same as anyone else, even princesses," Ragna shrugged while everyone seemed taken aback at his coldness. He then turned to the other three. "So what are you going to do?"

"You... you're asking us?" Hyde asked.

"Even though these people brought you here, they've got no control of what you chose to do," Ragna told the three of them leaving the priest and princess to grow visibly nervous. "The choice is on you, not them."

"...Even still I'm going to help," Hyde told him after a long moment of silence. "I mean, I can't exactly say that I'm happy to be here, but I can't just sit and do nothing. It's just not my style to stay back."

"I'm the same way," Yu agreed before smiling. "In fact, this almost feels like the adventures that I've had with my friends... I'm ready to do my part."

"Guess my team reunion was pretty short lived," Ruby said sadly before looking to Yu and Hyde with a bittersweet smile. "At least I'll have a new team to work with while the other me does her part back home."

"If the gods smile upon us, we can manage with this much," the princess said with a sigh of relief. "It may not be our prophecy of four other-worlders, but I'm sure that the three of you-"

"Four of us." Everyone turned in surprise to Ragna who had finally uncrossed his arms to speak. "Never said I wouldn't help, I just wanted to make sure you four were making your own decisions instead of going along with whatever I wanted."

"What if we didn't decide to help?" Hyde demanded.

"Then I would've gone on my own way, probably helped out indirectly where I could," he admitted with a chuckle before turning to the princess. "You've got your fourth, though I wouldn't call myself a hero."

"So long as you're willing to help us, that's all the heroism we need from you at the time being," the princess admitted before turning to the priest. "Are we ready to proceed then?"

"I believe we are," he told her as he gestured to the the alter. "Now if the four of you would come to the alter and lay your hands upon the grimoires, we can give you the power of the heroes."

"Power of the heroes?" Hyde repeated.

"It is a sacred process with to allow you to see the world in a different light than the normal masses of man," the priest told them all. "The more basic form of this practice is for registered mercenaries and travelers, but it's an expensive procedure and not nearly as effective. Should the tomes find you worthy, you shall inherit their powers and gain powers not seen by anyone else in this world."

"Meaning if they don't accept us, we're in trouble," Yu thought before heading up to the table and putting his hands on the Grimoire. "Let's hope this works then."

"Hey, if it gets me any awesome new powers, I'm all for it," Ruby said as she went up and put her hands on her own tome.

"Grimoire, eh?" Ragna thought aloud before putting his own hands on an open book and chuckling, much to the others skeptic glances. "Sorry; inside joke. I'm ready."

Hyde didn't say anything only walking up and putting his hands on his book and nodding to show that he was ready. Things were moving pretty quickly for the youth between waking up in an unfamiliar place and learning that there was no way that he could return to his home. All the same, the others appeared to be taking this as well as they could and were trying to roll with the punches... he knew that he'd have to do the same.

"If you're all prepared... then we can begin," the Priest said before beginning a chant. "Divine powers that be, if you in your strength and wisdom should find these four worthy, bless them with the gift of the heroes so that they might save us in our time of great need! Bless them so that they might save us from the coming storm and lead us to your salvation! We pray to you... bless them..."

'And I thought the speeches at my school were preachy,' Hyde thought to himself with a roll of his eyes. That was before he heard Ruby let out a small gasp. Looking at her feet, he saw that she was surrounded by a golden glowing circle. Quickly examining his own feet, he saw that he too was surrounded by a circle and his hands were stuck to the book before him. 'What the-!?' The light shone brighter and brighter, leaving Hyde to harshly wince as his entire body felt like it was on fire. 'Augh! Is this really the best way!?'

Enduring the blessing for a good minute more, the light slowly began to fade as did the painful feeling... along with all other feeling as Hyde's entire body grew numb. Losing his grip on the tome, Hyde fell backwards and blacked out before he even hit the floor. In the darkness of his mind however, something seemed to appear. It was a strange white rectangle with a bold yellow outline against the darkness. Inside of the rectangle was strange text that read:

Hero Registration Complete

Name: Hyde Kido

Class: EXS Adept

Lv: 1

Author's Note

Whelp that's another chapter done, and just in time before my March Hiatus. During this month, I have no planned updates for ANY of my stories, though I will go back and maybe make a few edits here or there. Just some basic grammar corrections and redoing possible story points for errors that I didn't know about since CentralFiction hadn't come out yet (yeah, some of these chapters are OOOOOOLD).

If I go back to do a short chapter for this or Grimm Reapers in Remnant, it'll be a surprise for everyone, myself included. I'll be up and running again on April 1st (not sure if I'll do something special for that though).

A little ironic though, I'm probably one of the biggest Ragna the Bloodedge writers on Fanfiction, but I'm not going to be putting out a story for his Birthday on March 3rd. Ah well, not a huge deal breaker. Maybe I'll do a one-shot if I'm up for it.

Here's the review responses...

Dread Grim Reaper: Thanks.

Wic W. Athor and Black Savior: Bloodedge of Fairy Tale is the story that they call him dad.

Medblare: Ragna isn't giving up that coat without a fight, not with after all he went through with it.

Wlyman2009: I believe Luna may have called him an old fart... No, she probably didn't; she's still alive after all.

EpicLinkSam: I've rectified that mistake and played that game myself... It's not bad.

Adv: Ruby's POV will be next.

Mugen7: Another long review, just what I like to see.

Lee: We need a medic over here.

Mystech Master: All of which are ideas to consider, but I may try to steer away from addressing the more obvious parallels if I can to keep things fresh.

And... Omake time.

This Has NEVER Happened Before

Hyde: "So now we've got text boxes coming up in order to give us new info about the world. Yeah, THIS is an original function if I've ever heard of one."

Yu: "Is it a problem though? I mean you've seen what Anime and Manga has become in recent years. It's a popular set up, so it almost makes sense to do it."

Hyde: "I come from a different world than you, remember? My Anime and Manga won't be exactly like what you have."

Yu: "Have you read Saber Art Online then?"

Hyde: "Who hasn't? I... okay, so there's one similarity. But I watched the anime instead of reading the manga and I had my fair share of problems with it."

Yu (sweat-drop): "That's what a lot of people back in my world had to say about it, though its still popular somehow... What about Log Skyline?"

Hyde: "Okay, you get two. But that's one that I haven't gotten into. I've heard great things about it."

Yu: "It's pretty good, won't say it's ground breaking though. How about CompleteSteel Geomancer? That's gotten a lot of love over the years."

Hyde (annoyed): "That parody name is a stretch and you know it! And that doesn't even have anything to do with Role Play Games!"

Yu: "But that's three similarities still. What can we learn from this?"

Hyde: "That manga is multi-universal and it can fit into wherever the writer decides to put it in?"

Yu: "Not... exactly, but sure. So what's the problem with the fantasy RPG setting?"

Hyde: "That it's been done before and its being done so many times even as we speak! With all of these new takes on it, it's going to be impossible to do anything new to the story without falling into old and overdone cliches."

Yu: "Just have some hope for the future, Persona has been done time and again and I don't see anyone saying that the games gone stale."

Hyde: "Though some intense fans-"

Yu (sighing): "Say that P3 is the only one that matter and P4 just refuses to die, I'm well aware."

Hyde: 'This must be a sore spot for Yu...' "Changing subjects... you hear that CompleteSteel Geomancer got a Live Action adaption?"

Yu: "I saw that, but I didn't watch it... I mean, you've heard about with happen with the Assault on Giant and Mortal Message adaptations? I'm a little worried to watch this one... let's wait for the reviews and hope it's good."

Hyde: "Hope against hope then... Hey, did you watch Anime That Has A Few Animation Problems, But Is Nowhere Near As Bad They Say It Is Because The Fans Treat Its Manga As A Work Of God Even Though It's Been Stuck in Hiatus for Years At A Time?"

Yu (momentarily confused): "You... you mean Berserk 2016/2017?"

Hyde (throwing shade): "Like I said."

Yes I've seen Berserk 2016 and 2017, yes I admit it has problems, and yes I'm still defending it. It's not nearly as bad as people say it is (in my opinion) and I can still get some enjoyment out of it.

And with that I'm off for a bit. Take care everyone!

Ciao!