-Southern Plegia-

The Mad King of Plegia didn't like his life. That itself wasn't unique. Gangrel didn't like a lot of things and detested a great many things. His spectrum, in fact, started with things he didn't like on the end people usually put their most treasured memories and ended with himself. He really hated himself. And, to make matters worse, after he had failed to die properly on the Plegian battlefield, the Exalt had walked off without seeing if he was dead. Not that Gangrel hated the Exalt for that, because he couldn't blame him. He couldn't even bring himself to off himself either, so he was stuck wandering until a band of pirates kidnapped him.

They didn't recognize him. Gangrel didn't know whether that was bad or good for him, so he assumed it was bad. His life was like that recently. Like the fact that he was lowest on the totem pole of the pirates and stuck with latrine duty. Despite the fact that he could easily kill any of them and he was the only one who could use a Levin sword properly. Not that he cared to do any of that, of course, because Gangrel didn't feel like giving Fate the middle finger and try to get out of his punishment.

That was how he found himself stuck aboard the galley of the ship cleaning the results of a drinking binge when the rest of the pirates got ambushed. Gangrel heard the telltale signs of battle and considered charging into the fray. Judging from the sounds, his experienced ear quickly deduced that the pirates were not winning. Charging into the fray could get him killed – which was good – but Gangrel knew he wasn't lucky enough for that to happen. Instead, he figured that he could stay and wait out the battle.

No such luck.

The door was kicked open and a Chon'sin warrior stepped through. Gangrel sighed, knowing the inevitable and raised his hands. "Look, I have no weapons."

"Then that makes this easier." The Chon'sin blurred as she struck him with the butt of her blade.

-Ravena's Camp-

Gangrel woke up tied to a tree with a group of four staring at him. He recognized one as Virion, the archer of the Shepherds, who had his bow slung around his shoulders. A woman with pink hair, wearing war cleric's armor stood beside him with a double-bladed axe slung over her shoulder. The Chon'sin woman who had struck him was standing behind the fourth member.

It was the fourth member who interested him the most. A young woman, barely a teen, with raven-black hair. She wore the robes of a traditional Plegia tactician, complete with the symbols of the Eyes of Grima upon the sleeves. The robes looked a bit worn and large on her, as if second-hand. Her eyes were fierce and determined. The group's leader, then.

"And what would you want with a wretched creature like me?" Gangrel coughed.

"Your name is Gangrel, the Mad King of Plegia." The girl laughed at him. "Or, I suppose, the former King, but still quite Mad. And alive. You did quite a job dodging death, you know. There are many people alive who want you dead."

"Trust me, I know. I'm one of them, girl." Gangrel said.

"Hmm? So why haven't you…" The girl made a slicing motion across her neck. "Y'know."

"I'm a miserable, cowardly maggot."

"Well, that was never going to be helped." The girl said. She cocked her head. "So, kind of feel like I'm barking up the wrong tree here but… want some vengeance?"

"Depends on who's offering – Valm! Don't think I can't guess who you are and why you're here." Gangrel said. "I knew you'd come for me someday. I didn't throw away my Empire fighting Ylisse just so you could have it in my place. I shall tell you nothing, nothing whatsoever! Kill me, torture me, GO AHEAD! I DESERVE IT ALL AND WORSE!"

"My, my." Virion frowned. "If I didn't know better, I'd believe that the Mad King of Plegia is suffering from some sort of guilt complex. If I wasn't aware of your complete and utter psychopathy, I might even believe that Emmeryn's sacrifice affected you."

"Oh, just twist the knife deeper, why don't you!" Gangrel howled. "If you Shepherds had just given me that damned Fire Emblem, none of that would have happened! And now you're helping Valm? The whole point was to stop the juggernaut from Valm from conquering everything!"

"Go ahead." Ravena gestured.

A loud slap echoed. Gangrel's face snapped to one side, and the Mad King spat out a bloody tooth, while the Rosannean archer stared at him with furious eyes.

"You will never have the right to question someone else's choice. Not after what you've done. And never blame someone for the consequences of your actions." Virion said, quietly. "And there we have it. You believed that since you were going to stop Valm, everything you did was justified."

"I had noble intentions." Gangrel protested.

"That's no excuse." The girl was standing in front of him, staring at him too, with fierce and now terrible eyes. "That's never an excuse. I don't give a damn about your intentions. I care about your actions! If you don't understand that, why don't you repeat yourself again. Go on and say that you were blameless." A ball of dark energy appeared in the girl's hand. She pointed in at Gangrel. "Because if you do truly want to die – well, I'll happily oblige you. Scum like you don't deserve to live."

"Are there … alternatives?" Gangrel asked.

"Yeah, that's what I thought." The girl said. "You're so filled with regret that you want to die in penance, but you can't kill yourself. And if someone executes you for your sins, you're fine with that, but you don't want to die for something you haven't repented yet. And you especially don't want to die denying your sins. Well, fine. We've got an offer for you do that."

"Oh?" Gangrel smiled, but it was hollow. "What could you possibly have to offer me?"

"The new Plegian king, Validar. He's protecting one of the five Gems of the Fire Emblem. Sable, to be specific." The girl smirked. "Judging from your expressions, I assume you know and dislike Validar, and you didn't know he had the gem. We happen to be an elite strike team. It's not Valm, I promise, we just happen to have a few recruits from there."

"Ravena-" The Chon'sin warrior began. "You shouldn't take after your father like that."

"And what to you want with me?" Gangrel asked.

"Two things." The girl said. "The first thing we need your knowledge. We already have maps of the Plegian Castle – provided by our deep cover agent, but you'll know the secret passageways and traps and such. The second thing we need is you."

"Really? You've a purpose for this sorry mongrel."

"Our objective is twofold." The girl ignored him. "The first is to recover the Gem, and the second is to kill Validar. We have a formidable team. But we could always use more fodder. And your skills."

"An inside man?" Gangrel smiled. "No, you want a lockpick. I suppose a little birdy told you about my previous training as the leader of a band of thieves. But you do realize this a suicide mission, right?"

"Well, if it is, you'll die first. And isn't that what you want?"

"Well, when you put it like that…" Gangrel considered. A wide grin broke onto his face as the Mad King laughed for real, the first time since he died. "You have a deal, Ravena!"

-Plegia Castle-

"We're in." Gangrel said. Virion had shot a line up to the third floor, which the team had climbed up single file. Gangrel then picked the lock on the window, bringing them into a storeroom for the kitchen. "So, do you tell us the plan now?"

Ravena took out her map. "If our information about guard changes is accurate, then we have fifteen minutes until the change. Cherche, Say'ri, your job is going to be taking out the next shift pair. From there, we have seventeen minutes until you get close enough to Validar."

"To kill him?" Say'ri asked.

"Not exactly." Ravena said. "We're going to cause several distractions. When they happen – and you'll know it, trust me – you've got to get to his chambers and kill every guard who tries to enter, without him knowing. The smug dastard's got an antechamber, so just wait in it and keep killing guards. The password is going to be 'Chaos is upon us and the night draws short'. That'll be me entering."

As a safety, Ravena had arranged the password to actually be 'the scion of winged darkness enters'. The display was just in case Gangrel decided not to play nice with them.

"Why us?" Cherche asked.

"Honestly?" Ravena smirked. "It's 'cause you got the most cleavage to show. Well, more you than Say'ri. But you're still both women. We're not guard regulars, so just replacing them might raise flags. But, most of the guards are men, and they like pretty women. So you're going to distract them with your assets, and even if they noticed that you're not the regulars, they ain't gonna complain."

"You've been spending too much time with Aversa, young lady." Say'ri frowned. "Honestly, a girl your age shouldn't be thinking of things like that. And to weaponize it, no less. Can you please not take after the worse aspects of the people trying to teach you?"

"Yeah, yeah…" Ravena waved her hand. "Besides, even without that, you two are the logical choice. I'm too small, Gangrel's too noticeable, and Virion is… well…" Ravena trailed off as the four of them looked at him.

"Completely unsuitable." Say'ri said, shaking her head.

"I'd be embarrassed to have him as one of my guards." Gangrel added, sneering.

"Hee hee." Cherche chuckled. "It's cruel. But true."

"Really…" Virion looked crestfallen. "That's just horrible."

"And what are your plans?" Say'ri asked Ravena.

"Read this when you have the chance." Ravena passed her a note. "This contains two things, my plan, and my father's order. Should something go wrong, my father's orders are absolute."

"Understood." Say'ri stood up. "Cherche, how are your stealth skills?"

"I flew a wyvern for my entire life." Cherche blushed. "I'm afraid I might be a bit behind you on that."

"Understood." Say'ri sighed. "Well, let's try."

Ravena waited for the two to leave before she turned to the other two. "We've got twenty-seven minutes. We need to create as large of a distraction as possible. Virion, you're on flame duty. The dragon's skull seems like a good spot to rain fire arrows. It also shouldn't take you twenty-seven minutes for someone like you to get there, so see if you can set up some easily flammable targets beforehand."

"You have my word."

"And what of me, little tactician?"

Ravena frowned. "You know this better than I do. Is there anything you can do?"

"Actually, yes." Gangrel dredged up an old memory and cackled. "Assuming they haven't changed that particular emergency code. I can have it so that dark mages bombard everyone present with endless amounts of long-range dark magic."

"Will it hit us?" Ravena frowned.

"Can't guarantee it won't. In fact, I can almost guarantee that it will! But they'll be attacking haphazardly, and we might be able to avoid their fire lines entirely." Gangrel said. "How are we getting out, again?"

"That part of the plan isn't ready yet." Ravena said. "It's not worth attempting to plan when so many variables are present."

"So, in other words, this is a suicide mission?" Virion checked.

"Only if we die." Ravena said. "Now, we've got twenty-seven minutes."

"And what are you doing during that time?" Gangrel asked.

"Oh, you know…" Ravena gave a smile she hoped was worthy of Dant. "Causing mischief."

"Very well." Virion said. "It's time for our merry band of saboteurs to be off. Shall we?"

-Outside the Guard Room-

Two, through this door. The ones – Cherche frowned and made a series of gestures, indicating she wasn't familiar enough to keep up with Say'ri's hand motions. Say'ri gave no sign of impatience and quickly spelled out the word. Ah. Target. Right. Cherche's hands moved, spelling out a message back of her own. I apologize for my slowness.

No problem. I have back or right. You have front of left. Say'ri gestured. On three… two… one…

Say'ri twisted open the door and both women hurtled through the door. Say'ri went for the first soldier, striking him upon the throat with the hilt of her blade to cut off his ability to call for help. Cherche opted for a straightforward approach, jamming her gauntleted fist into her guard's mouth. Say'ri drew a small kunai and went for the kill, stabbing through the eye socket and keeping her other hand crushing the throat, aiming for a silent, bloodless kill.

A muted thud interrupted her. Say'ri looked over to see Cherche's guard unconscious. "Oops." Cherche smiled innocently. "Well, at least I didn't kill him…"

"Fie." Say'ri frowned as she realized something. "Yours is a woman and mine isn't."

"Yes…" Cherche trailed off.

"There are no spare uniforms in the guard room."

"Well, I'm sure there are other spare ones around." Cherche said. "Oh, but we don't have the time, do we? Well, they're around our size, so I'm sure they'll fit us."

"…" Say'ri sighed. "I'm wearing the man's uniform, aren't I?'

"Well…" Cherche trailed off as she examined the guards. The female's uniform, as per Plegia's very exacting standard, had significantly fewer clothing components than the man's. Mostly in the usual places, but also the designer (for some reason Cherche couldn't fathom) had decided to leave the upper inner thighs exposed. Her tailoring skills were good, but not good enough to radically alter the man's uniform to look like a women's within just a few minutes. That meant that whoever had the man's uniform would have to pretend to be a man. "…Yes. You may wish to start with your hair…"

Say'ri muttered something under her breath that sounded Chon'sin, but words that Cherche never heard before. "Fine." Say'ri's black locks weren't that long, but she drew her sword anyway. She drew her hair together and sliced it off, leaving her hair much shorter and a bit rough and jagged. "Will I have to do more than this?"

"I shouldn't think so." Cherche smiled. "If we changed fast, I might even be able to help adjust the uniform."

-Southern Wing-

"What are you doing with that?"

"Oh, don't worry about me." Virion gave (what he considered to be) a dazzling smile to the maid who had interrupted him while he was rolling a massive barrel of oil. "One of the chefs requested this."

"Are you supposed to be one of the new butlers? That looks terrible on you."

"…Yes." Virion sighed. He had appropriated a uniform, of course, but he made his own touchups so that it might look better. It seems that people had no respect for his sense of fashion.

"What is that? A bib?"

"It's a cravat." A little piece of Virion died. Again. "I'm, ah, trying out a new style for our new king."

"Wait." The maid frowned. "If you're taking the barrel that way… isn't it away from the kitchens?"

"Precisely." Virion said, giving a self-satisfied and smug grin. "The chef asked for oil earlier, because he'd thought he'd have to fry a great deal of fish, but it seems that one of the upcoming guests is allergic to it, so now he wants me to move it back to storage."

"But isn't storage that way?" The maid pointed in a different direction.

"Ah, but you see, I can't take it to the storage either." Virion said. "The space these barrels occupied was already allotted to new items arriving tomorrow, so I was instructed to move it to external storage."

"…You do know it's leaking, right?"

Indeed, the barrel was. Virion had spiked a hole in the barrel, letting a ragged trail of oil be absorbed into the carpet as he rolled it across the palace. This was actually the third such barrel, and he was running very close to the time he needed to get into position, when he got stopped by a maid.

"Oh, is it?" Virion blinked and pretended to look over the barrel for the first time. "Oh, dear! My word, how could that have possibly happened? I haven't the faintest clue. Well, I suppose one shouldn't cry over spilled milk – er, oil. I'll just keep pushing this along like nothing happened."

"You really think that's a good idea?"

"Well, I wasn't ordered not to." Virion pointed out. "And unless you're the head maid, you can't give me orders to the contrary. Safest course of action."

"We don't have a head maid." The maid blinked.

"Ah, yes, of course I meant head butler." Virion attempted a smooth recovery.

"You think that's going to work?" The maid raised an eyebrow. "No one would make a mistake like that. We've never had a head maid, and this place is far too sexist for one to even be considered. You're obviously a spy or saboteur, and do you really expect me to believe that you just made a mistake like that?"

"…In my defense." Virion said, sighing as his head dropped. "You bought my lies about the oil. All of them."

"So you aren't someone just infiltrating the guard, and you actually have a plan for the oil…" The maid trailed off as the wheels turned in her head. "Ohhhhhh. I get it now."

"It's kind of obvious." Virion said. "Not so much a spy, I'm mostly a saboteur."

"Yep." The maid nodded. "So… what now?"

"Well, you can expose me and scream." Virion said. "At which point I'll be forced to light the oil on fire and kill you. You can run, in which case I'll have to kill you. You can scream and run, in which case I'll kill you. Or, alternatively, you can help me spread the oil, and escape with me. And after that, well, as they say, the night is still young." Virion gave his best 'dashing' grin. "What do you say?"

"You really think that's going to work?"

"It's not my best pickup line, but why not?"

"Because I'm not stupid, for one. You've got money, or backers with money." The maid said. "It's going to take a lot more than your good looks to bribe me."

"Ah. Is that where we stand?" Virion asked. "You'd like payment for your services?"

"Preferably. They do say the world's second oldest profession bears a remarkable resemblance to the first." The maid tapped her foot. "So what's it going to be?"

Virion's dagger caught her in the throat and the maid dropped without a chance to scream. Virion sighed. "Even the maids here are evil. What's wrong with Plegia?"

-Dungeons / Basement-

The Plegian dropped with a spray of blood, joining the rest of his comrades. Ravena snorted, twirling her spear. "Little girl? Lost? Please." Ravena sketched a symbol in the air, one that Aversa had taught her in secret. She concentrated her power into it. The corpses rose as dark magic brought them to life. She couldn't control them, but an outbreak of Risen would serve fine as a distraction.

"Arise, foul servants of the undead. Feed upon my dark magic so that you make take a semblance of life. Bone, blood, and flesh of human may once again be sent forth. The only mind you may have is the instincts of the one you were created from, and the only soul you may have is the echo of the one that inhabited this body." Ravena chanted. "I have created you as a force of ruin and destruction, to embody the destruction of mankind. For this purpose, you were created. I cannot ask for your loyalty, nor can I demand it beyond this. Now, once again, rise."

Like marionettes on the strings of puppets, the grim creatures rose up as dark magic gas forced its way through the body, seeping out of Ravena's outstretched hands. The first one to get up looked at her and roared.

"No, you don't." Ravena snapped her fingers, conjuring a dark magic barrier. The monster could break through it, but it shielded her life energy, so the Risen would have no interest in her. Ravena checked her watch. "Five minutes. I suppose I could do another patrol."

"Interesting…"

Ravena inhaled and spun around, a ball of dark magic on her fingertips. "Who's there?" she demanded.

"Shouldn't that be my question?" A figure stepped out from the shadows, unhooding his lantern. "But I know the answer to it – or close enough, at any rate. As for who I am – well, I am the hierophant of the Grimleal."

"The religious leader?" Ravena said in shock.

"Now, you're thinking two things right now." The hierophant said. "The first is that I shouldn't be here, I should be at my church. The second is that you're wondering whether or not you could kill me. To answer both your questions, this is just an astral projection of myself, so I am in fact unkillable by you and at my church. I was just curious as to who was using Risen summoning magic deep within Plegian Castle."

Ravena's mind raced. If he sounded the alarm at his church, then reinforcements would be too late. But if his astral projection sounded the alarm here, Validar might escape. And that wouldn't be good. Stall for time.

"And now you've decided to stall me for time." The hierophant chuckled. "Don't act so surprised, little one. Judging from those robes and that magic, you're Aversa's apprentice, sent to get revenge on Validar. Well, I can't blame her, I suppose, and to tell you the truth, I never liked the man much anyways."

"…What?"

"I'm letting you kill him." The hierophant clarified. "He may have served his purpose, but honestly I want him dead as well. I prefer to play a far subtler game than he does, so I'll allow it this once. But I must warn you – do not use that particular brand of magic again. I'll think you're trying to impersonate me."

Father would know what to do. Ravena frowned. But it seems like the hierophant wants the king dead, so perhaps the best strategy is to simply to retreat – but I can't do that so simply, the plan's already in motion! I can't call it off, but if I continue-

"Worried about playing into my plans?" The hierophant asked. "Don't worry, little one. The Valm Battlemaster knows the repercussions for killing Plegia's king. He'll have taken my actions into account. It's one of the things I like about him. Regardless, there's absolutely no reason for you to back off now."

"You're out of my league, aren't you?" Ravena said. "You're reading me like an open book, and you've probably already deduced what we're here for."

"The King and the stone." The hierophant grinned. "To be honest, I didn't expect you for another year, though. Your Battlemaster moves faster than I anticipated. Though, I shall be honest - part of it may be my fault."

If Robin were here, he'd know what to do. Ravena sighed internally. He's a lot better with at dealing with unexpected elements – actually, that's not true. He's a lot better at implementing them. I'm pretty sure he'd have no idea how to get out of this situation either. Small comfort.

"You don't mind us having the stone?" Ravena said. "Wait, no, that's not it. You want us to have the stone. You want us to have it so bad you're willing to let us kill Validar to get it. That's what your game is!"

"Excellent!" The hierophant crowed. "Brilliant, indeed. But why would I want you to have the stone? Your deduction is flawless, but you can't give me a reason, can you?"

"Just because I can't figure it out doesn't mean it doesn't exist."

"No." The hierophant agreed. "In any event, I think I shall take my leave now. It's quite late at night, and I must get up early to lead my faithful zealots. I look forward to good news in the morning." And the hierophant promptly vanished.

Do I keep at this – yes, I do. Ravena thought. Honestly, this game is over my head, but Robin might be aware of it. And even if he isn't, there's no way having the stone while he doesn't would be bad. So, continue as planned. Ravena checked her watch. Which is now.

A colossal explosion blew in one of the doors near her. The Risen she had made turned to the door and started running out. Ravena inhaled and checked her weapons. A specially-forged naginata, coupled with her wind magic tomes, and her dark magic at nearly full. Hopefully, should be enough. But there are three of us. Ravena removed a container of pure water and drained it in a single swallow.

-Throne Room, Antechamber-

"The scion of winged darkness enters!" Ravena announced. "Come out, you two."

"As you command." Cherche came out smiling, holding a bloodstained axe. Say'ri followed, with a sword dyed the same shade of red. There was a not insignificant pile of bodies behind them. Ravena also noticed that the Chon'sin woman was wearing a man's uniform. She filed that away as blackmail for later. "What's the plan?"

"Yes, please tell us." Say'ri agreed. "I would like to be done with this."

"Keep watch on this entrance." Ravena said, throwing her cloak over her head. "When you hear me scream, 'Checkmate!', I'll need you to come in and help me kill Validar. It should be a quick fight, from what Aversa's told me. If you hear me scream 'This ends, here!', it means he hasn't told me what I want and you need to bust in and torture him. But that shouldn't happen because of how clever my plan is. "

"Understood."

Ravena walked through the doorway, and made her way through the antechamber, entering the sanctuary through it. By now, the fire had spread through several areas in the mansion and Risen were attacking all over. But it might as well have been a sunny day in spring for all the internal sanctuary cared. It was dimly lit, with purple flames in candles along the wall. The Plegia King, Validar was awake, reading a book of arcane lore. He looked up and frowned. "Who are you, and why are you here?"

"I am Ravena, an apprentice." Ravena bowed. "Forgive me for my impertinence, but I was the weakest of those called in, so they sent me to go deliver a message."

"A message?" Validar frowned. "Is this about the Risen? I sensed the aura earlier, but I assume that you lot should be able to take of it. If not…"

"Yes and no, milord." Ravena said. "There's also a fire as well. But that was obviously just a diversion. We believed it to be an assassination attempt, and we realized the truth too late."

"The truth?" Validar raised an eyebrow. "Out with it."

"Milord, forgive us!" Ravena cried out. "Please, we had no idea what was lost until we were taunted by the Mad King escaping! He's got the Black Gemstone!"

"WHAT!?" Validar shot up. "That man is alive? And he's got the Black Gemstone?"

"We apologize, milord! Please spare this humble messenger." Ravena winced. "But we confirmed it with our own eyes! We saw it missing ourselves! Can there be no doubt? It seemed that Gangrel knew exactly where it was, and lost no time informing us of the fact."

"Of course he would." Validar clenched his teeth. "Trust a madman to figure out what no sane man would. He's taken the Gemstone from atop the Dragon Skull?"

"Dragon's Skull! Of course, no Ylissean would ever venture to go there!" Ravena stood up, grinning. Her trick had worked. "You've placed the Gemstone in one of the six eyes of Grima, haven't you? Well, matter of elimination, then. Thank you, King Validar."

"Who are you?"

"I told you, Ravena, an apprentice. Unfortunately for you, I'm just not a Plegian one." Ravena shed her cloak, blasting out the candles in the room with a massive burst of wind magic, letting the darkness reign. "And this is CHECKMATE!"

A dark ball of energy appeared as Validar conjured it, casting an eerie purple light around him. "You'll never leave this room alive."

"Darkgift: Aversa's Night!" The young tactician conjured her own spell and fired it back. The two beams collided with each other, shooting through. Ravena took the dark sorcerer's blast, and then took his own energy as her beam collided in him. Ravena smiled as both casters prepared to fire magic again. "I'll win the battle of endurance. But I don't need to."

Because I'm just the distraction. Dark mages have innate defenses against physical attacks because of their constitution. But that won't stop an axe from cutting him in half. Once the lights went off and I gave the signal, my real plan will kick in.

"So overconfident!" Validar laughed. "But you can't defeat me here! It's not Fated to happen."

"Pretty words, but your corrupt ideology will not save you." Cherche came out of the darkness, swinging her axe. Validar raised in hands and used the raw magic to take the blow.

"You can't fight Fate!" Validar cackled. "Did you think hiding in the shadows would stop a dark mage from sensing you? I am not Fated to fall here, and therefore I cannot!"

You may have blocked Cherche's blow with a magic nexus. Ravena frowned. I know Father told me he could do that with lightning magic, but not even Aversa told me I could do it with dark magic. Unexpected. But ultimately futile.

"Unfortunately for you, King Validar-" Ravena started.

"-you are already dead." Say'ri appeared behind Validar. "We're in position. On your command, Ravena."

"Maneuver Eleven!" Ravena cried.

Validar spun around as Say'ri flashed past him, drawing her blade to slash a furrow through him. As she did so, Cherche, now freed from his magic nexus, twirled her axe and brought it horizontally in a savaged chop. Ravena raised her hand, summoning lightning and blasting the Plegian sorcerer-turned-King with a barrage of eletrical bolts form above him.

"Kenjutsu-style blademanship: Iaijutsu!"

"Rosanne-style axecraft: Savage Blow!"

"Archanean-style magecraft: Arcthunder!"

Two lines of red appeared across Validar's chest as a blade and axe slashed through him from two directions, then his body convulsed as it was struck by lightning bolts. The Plegian King dropped in a spray of blood as Say'ri twirled her blade and sheathed it. "Fie. So much for your Fate."

"Impossible…" Validar struggled to get up.

"Oh, come now." Ravena twirled her spear. "You should know this, Sorcerer. What goes around, comes around. You seek to start a war, and cause death. Now, why don't you feel the pain of death yourself? Cherche, take his head."

"Damn you!"

"Language!" Cherche's axe fell. The Plegian King stopped talking. "Now, for the stone."

"Right, the stone." Ravena sighed. How to put this… "Say'ri, you're the fastest. The stone is hidden in one of the eyes of the dragon. I'll need you to go and get it."

"What will you do?"

"I'll stay here with Cherche and keep causing mischief." Ravena said. "We'll buy you as long as we can, and then leave."

"And you will escape? With the elites of Plegia on your tail, in enemy territory, exhausted? They will have wyverns scouring the lands within the hour." Say'ri shook her head. "I know suicide when I hear it. I am the sword of Count Obsidian, and I would be a poor sword if I could not serve his daughter as well. I will stay with you."

"You will be serving me." Ravena said. "Follow my orders! Robin told us we need the Gemstone! If we leave it for another time, they'll hide it again. You have the highest chance of making it with the stone, so you need to go get it. We'll be fine, you just need to have faith in us."

"We will be fine, Lady Say'ri." Cherche smiled. "I shall not let the young mistress come to harm, so long as I am with her."

"I have no wish for the two of you to die either." Say'ri stated.

"We don't have time for this!" Ravena howled in frustration. "It's not like we've got a better option, so we'll just have to make do for the time being. But we've got to leave right now. We're probably not going to die, so just go already!"

"Agreed!" The three of them turned around as Gangrel walked into the room. "The three of you really must leave now. The elites are coming. If you are fast, you'll be able to run in time."

"Gangrel? I told you that we'd meet at the rendezvous." Ravena frowned. "How'd you even know we'd be here?"

"Please, my dear, I'm mad, not stupid. It's not hard to guess what your plan was, knowing what I did." Gangrel said. "And speaking of knowing, we both know that we'll be targeted once we get free and chased down. And you haven't even gotten the Gemstone yet, do you?" Ravena's refusal to answer gave him what he wanted. "So, tell me, how long? Ten minutes?"

"Probably more."

"You don't have ten minutes." Gangrel said, laughing. "And even though you don't seem to have a plan B, I've always got my plan A. You see, foreigners, I've never once entertained the thought of letting the rest of you get the claim for this assassination."

"Oh." Ravena's eyes grew wide as she realized what Gangrel had in mind. "But I couldn't ask you to do that from the outset!"

"Fortunately, little tactician, it's not something you'll need to ask me. And please don't lie to yourself – you knew I'd do it without prompting, that's why you recruited me." Gangrel replied. "You're going to leave me behind. Without a thorough investigation, they'll think I acted alone, giving you enough time. They'll discover me, laughing like a madman over Validar's body and won't think twice. Besides, we both know they'll be hell to pay if Valm is discovered. Best to keep things internal within Plegia, don't you agree?"

"Your arguments are all valid." Ravena made a snap choice, as she threw her Plegian robe back on. "Fine. You two, Say'ri, Cherche, you're my escort as we make out way to the stone's location. Our story is that we're a quick response team sent to ensure that vital information doesn't perish during this confusion. Your uniforms and my secondhand cloak should pass during this confusion in case some double-checks."

"Ravena!" Say'ri said. "We can't just-"

"Do you want a comrade to sacrifice himself in vain?" Ravena snapped. "No? Good! I'm not happy either, I would have liked to use Gangrel a lot more, but you need to know when to make sacrifices! And now is that time. The fact of the matter is that we're in the textbook definition of a rock and a hard place."

"Don't worry, Chon'sin Princess." Gangrel cackled. "I've no intention of selling you out. And you, Valm. I know you lied to me, but as long as Validar's vision doesn't come to pass, maybe I've had a hand in making the world not as bad as it could be. And that's really all I could ask for at this point. Well, tactician? Do I have your blessing?"

"Sell yourself for a high price, Mad King." Ravena said, looking at him. "That is all."

"Consider it done, tactician!" Gangrel bowed.

-Dragon's Skull-

"Good to see you three." Virion said as Ravena, Cherche, and Say'ri came running towards him. "What do we have to do?"

"No time to waste." Ravena said. "The gemstone is hidden within one of the Six Eyes of the skull. We've got to find it fast, and make out way out of here."

"Gangrel?"

"Not here." Ravena shook her head. "Not that it matters to you, but he decided to sacrifice himself to take the blame."

"You're right, it doesn't matter."

"Lookout!" The cry came from Cherche. Ravena spun around, only to catch a glimpse of a Pelgian barbarian charging at her with an axe.

Ravena went for her magic, summoning dark orbs of power. Suddenly, a dark shadow dropped behind him and slashed the man, felling him like a puppet. Ravena blinked, holding her hand back to the rest. "No way…"

"Heya, kiddo." Dant walked out of the shadows, spinning her knives. "Past your bedtime, ain't it?"

"Hey! I could've taken him." Ravena scowled. "And besides, he wasn't supposed to be here!"

"He was on guard and left his post for, shall we say, unsavory purposes." Dant nodded. "I know you had him, I just haven't stretched in a while. And you kind of stole my chance, starting without me."

"Well, I didn't know you were going to be here! You can't blame me for that."

"Robin wanted you to get field experience, so he just asked me to get here if I could and observe." Dant started cleaning her daggers. "Came as quick as I could. But you started without me, and managed to finish the job too. You're good, little one."

"Heehee. Thanks"

"Pardon me, do I know you?" Virion asked. "Who are you?"

"Nah, Ruffles." Dant shook her head. "Heard you work for Robin now. My name is – actually, that's classified. Anyway, Ravena, I need you to talk to me. Robin can't send much, so he told me to check in with you for the full details after your op. Something about a plan too dangerous to put on paper. What's going on?"

Ravena swallowed. "A lot. We need to find a safehouse if-"

"Already done." Dant said. "Let's move. It would be … awkward, if I was discovered here."

-?-

Validar found himself in a shadowy realm, with a pain across his check, and a splitting ache in his neck. Dying hurt even more the second time. Luckily his master was one who didn't let his death be the end of him. Validar looked around to see Grima, standing in his usual shadowy guise. But he was laughing. Hard.

"Again?" Grima laughed. "What was it this time, a group of Ylisse trainnee scouts, armed with perhaps the most pointy of sticks?"

"Lord Grima, forgive me!"

"Forgive you? Ha! Maybe it was a group made of nothing but Feroxi knights wielding snowballs? Or maybe it was just an unlucky roll of the dice? Fate already decided that you were going to win so she overslept, and you just died because she wasn't there?" Grima said, doubled over from the laughter. "Was it that?"

"Assassins." Validar frowned. "But I don't know who."

"You couldn't even learn that? Not that I need you, because I know very well who it is, but you disappoint me. I had a nice chat with one of them, even, and you couldn't even learn their names." Grima sighed. "You really are ineffectual, aren't you? Listen, you pasty sack of magic, I only keep you around because I'm interested in this little puppet show, but if you haven't it gotten into your thick skull that Fate isn't going to guarantee your survival this time around, I really have no use for you as a minion. The actors might all be the same, but this time the story has decided to go completely off-script. Not that I mind, especially now that the story is really just starting to get good. Mmmm."

"You call this good, Lord?"

"Of course." Grima licked his lips. "Have you seen what's happening in Valm right now? It's going to - no, wait. I almost spoiled the surprise."

"Isn't that bad?"

"Of course, you would think so. But myself? I can think of nothing more boring than a repeated story." Grima said. "Maybe I would have been content watching this farce a second time as an outsider, but since the story's already changed – well, why wouldn't I wish to change it more? After all, what's a puppet show without a master pulling the strings?"

"Are you sure that was wise?"

"My dear unimaginative and significantly unintelligent minion." Grima laughed. "True, that may be myself out there, but I possess all the knowledge he does and more besides. Besides, what's the point on my existence if I cannot prove I stand head and shoulders above the rest of you? I believe that I shall adjust the board a little."

"Of course, Master Grima."

"Ah, yes, one other thing." Grima snapped his fingers. Validar disappeared, dropping back into the inky blackness as Grima took his soul and bound it to a black ring on his finger. "I'm not going to resurrect you just yet. It's kind of cheap when actions don't have consequences. I'll need that blood of yours, so you can't die yet, but I'm going to let Robin go ahead with sending Plegia into chaos. I liked my move last round, but this round it's slightly different."

-Plegia, Throne Room-

The Mad King of Plegia didn't like his life. He could do without the arrows in his left arm, or the hole in his chest. The blood wasn't flowing out of it now like the waterfall that it had been when he first got it, but that just meant he didn't have a lot to lose yet. His head was also not in the best of shape, seeing as his sense of balance was trying the utmost to convince him that the floor was actually on a slant. Or maybe it was, Gangrel couldn't tell. But he was sure the situation was whichever one was worse for him. His life had kind been like that recently.

"Stand down, and we might have a chance to heal your wounds." One of the few dozen guards had spoken, his rank indicated that the man was a lieutenant. "You'll die if you keep this up."

"Surrender?" Gangrel laughed or tried to. It came out more of a faint rasp. "Sorry… but I'm the Mad King of Plegia! I'll never do something as simple as that! I'm the one true King of Plegia, and I won't let upstarts replace me!"

The lieutenant gave a quick gesture to his men, who all charged in at once. Gangrel raised his Levin sword above his head, channeling all the magic he could muster from his body into it, sending a rain of lightning bolts around him, striking all the soldiers. Some fell. But not enough.

A spear pierced through his chest from behind. Gangrel coughed, and tried to move to stab the offender, only for another spear to impale him from the front. He took a few more, he couldn't tell how much, and then fell to the ground.

"As the last will and testament of the Mad King of Plegia…" Gangrel coughed, as he felt the light leave him. He forced his anger, hatred, guilt, all the dark emotions he'd kept bottled up since his almost-death at the hands of the Ylissean prince to keep him alive. "I consign this world to eternal torment! Suffer at the hands of that peace-loving Ylissean Exalt, and forever deny your true nature as humanity. Live, all of you, in this torment of imprisoning your inner demons! Live, in this mad, crazy world of peace! Live! And forget the Mad King, and his kind!"

I've done some digging around the underground. Apparently, despite your belief to the contrary, there's still quite a few rebels unaccounted for. They've gone to the ground somewhere, and I don't know where. Last time I asked you, you said that the rebellion was finished, and nothing more would come from it. Fortunately for you, your Mistress of Secrets knows a lie when she hears it. I do hope you'll trust me with the real reason at some point. – Aversa.