(A/N): Welcome back. Here's the next chapter.

"Another job well done. Thank you for your help once again Azul. We don't know how we would get by without you."

The mercenary smiled softly, flashing a grin that was bound to swoon many a lass's heart. It seemed to work on the tavern maid as her gaze and heart seemed aflutter, her hands unable to find respite in the air. In the past, he would not have hesitated at the chance to steal her heart. Had he been his old self, this would be the opportunity of a lifetime as he used to call it.

But that life was in the past.

"What could we do to repay you, Azul?" The maid asked, earnest. "We are heavy in your debt. You deserve so much more than we can offer you… But…"

He merely shook his head at the maid's advances and motioned with his gloved hand for her to stop. "All we did was do what was asked of us. We require nothing more."

"But Azul—"

He rested his bare finger on the tavern maid's slender lips. The name used to irk him to no end but now, it no longer sounded foreign to his weathered ears. He spoke in his honeyed voice.

"You'd do anything to repay us?"

The maid nodded with vigor.

"Anything, you say?"

"Yes, yes?" The maid asked, beckoning for the man's answer as she clasped her hands together.

Perhaps he could use this to his advantage.

"If you insist…"

The autumn breeze whipped at Azul's cheek, blowing past what little protection his hooded cloak offered him. Winter was quickly approaching, the wind's touch told him as much. No longer did the breeze feel like a soft kiss, rather it was growing to be a foul sting, the kind that erases all previous warm feelings one may have held for it. Azul's long silver hair danced with it still, riding along its current to the melody of the whittling trees and the mourning of crows.

It was the season of death after all.

With the crunch of a dead branch beneath his boot, Azul realized all had gone quiet. The bony branches stopped their ghastly promenade. The birds halted their songs of passing. It was as if the world had decided to hold its breath and never part its lips again.

Azul knew the feeling well.

With the sound of snapped branches still fresh in his ear, Azul was able to instantly identify an identical sound that came from elsewhere besides the underside of his boot. It was definitely close. Whatever it was must have realized the noise it had caused. Azul heard no further sounds or movements. The slightest shift in posture would have drawn his attention. There was nothing,

Yet.

In a sudden, swift motion, one that not even the world's most skilled dancers would be capable of, Azul rushed to the wooden stakes he had driven into the ground before.

The two inconspicuous pikes hid within the cluster of dead sticks and branches that littered the forest floor. The untrained eye would have missed them without a second glance. But this wasn't Azul's first time resorting to such tactics.

Quickly brandishing a knife, he cut the thick cord he had left hogtied onto the stake. With the rope no longer there to hold the weight that was previously attached, the cord whipped along the forest floor, kicking up leaves as it flew by until it reached its target.

A small noose tightly bound around the ankle of a red-headed mercenary.

… perhaps it was still too early to call her that.

A gale of curses bellowed across the hollow woods, scaring away what little remained of the choir of birds. Their flapping of wings was the remnant of their song. And with that, it seemed the world had begun to breathe once more, granting sound its much needed reprieve.

Quickly retreating the knife as soon as he had brandished it, Azul walked on over to his successful catch. He was getting rather good at this. With a bemused grin, he scoffed at the girl's dangerous expression as if it were the funniest joke in the world.

Azul knew that she could have reached for the dagger she always had left fastened around her boot and slashed him with it. She was indeed that close. But she must have learned her lesson from the last time. The badge of honor in question had now finally begun to fade, a fine clean cut that had once streaked across her pretty little face, from the crown of her head to tip of her chin.

Would she ever forgive him for that?

"So, what does this make it, darling?" He quipped cheerfully. "Your fourth attempt on my life? Or perhaps the fifth? I'm losing count."

"… —vnth…" she muttered beneath her breath.

"What?" Azul said mockingly, "You're going to have to speak louder than that to get my attention."

"Seventh." She barked in a stern voice that betrayed her delicate visage. Azul was rather amused at her unwillingness to accept her current situation. It rather warmed his heart.

The girl reminded him of her…

"Really now?" He announced. He wasn't done with his teasing yet. "I swear the last two times in Eindholm you were simply trying to woo me. You should've said so. I know a fantastic place for te—"

"Azul, are you alright?!"

From the thicket beyond the woods, several armed individuals emerged, their outfits matching Azul's. The voice belonged to the leader of the merry bunch, a girl who had only just reached her prime in maidenhood. Her youthful face was a stark difference in comparison to savage-looking bow she armed herself with. Her gaze was worried until it found the cheery mercenary resting next to his assailant.

"I thought you were in danger when those crows erupted from nearby." The leading girl said, several strands of her blonde hair swaying from side to side in front of her eyes. "But here we find you flirting with the one girl that tried to kill you. Multiple times."

Azul grinned. "Hey now, it was only playful banter. I'm not going to go back on my word."

The blonde girl gave off an exasperated sigh as she motioned the other members of their group to start their usual cleanup. "It's not like I'm telling you because it benefits me. What would Miss Luna think if she saw her husband forgetting about her like some bar maid?"

The name still stung his ears and stabbed at his lead-laden heart, the pain lingering. Perhaps it would never heal.

But he couldn't show them that.

"You're right." Azul nodded, apologetically. "I should've been more mindful. Sorry, Relia."

"Hey." The girl, Relia, snapped, flicking the young man on the forehead. "Save the apologies for when you see Lady Luna again. If you're really sorry, then help us. You're the Masquerade's leader. Act like it."

He chuckled, amused at the retainer's familiar attitude. "Right away."

He turned back to his prisoner. "Well, I apologize but I'm afraid we'll have to put our little chat on hold."

"I don't ever want to talk to you." The red-headed girl growled, her temper as fiery as her mane. "Not after what you did to sully my family's—"

Azul swore that he heard Relia mutter "not this again" beneath her bated breath as she resumed cleaning with her comrades. He sighed. If the Masquerade were a legitimate acting troupe, not even the kindest critic in the world would have let the red-headed girl's repeated performance slide. Even Azul's own mother, who was a soft-spoken maiden, bless her heart, may have lambasted the poor lass.

Luckily for her, Azul was a man of second chances.

And this was no ordinary theatre troupe.

The campfire's blaze flickered as the eve of the morrow approached. Most of the troupe had retired to their sleeping quarters, which consisted of rather shoddy looking tents and leather roofed shelters, with rough hide patches for beds. Life was already hard as mercenary, let alone an entire group of them. Work was a volatile creature; one day they would be flooded with assignments but on another they'd be left to fend for themselves with nothing but the clothes on their backs and swords by their sides.

As the captain, it was Azul's responsibility to make sure the Masquerade made it through whatever was thrown at them. In fact, he wanted them to stop surviving and start living for once. But funds, and generous patrons, were scarce, especially during wartime.

Mercenaries carried a bloodied reputation, no matter how just they claimed their intentions were. Vagabonds, they would be called, that drifted looking for wetwork; soldiers without a cause except for the melody of a few coins; cutthroats that would side with no man but with the allure of gold.

People would be wary and a paranoid of such armed groups wandering the lands, who wouldn't be? It took months for the locals to even warm up to them in the first place.

After all, what self-respecting Askrian citizen would hire Emblian deserters?

"Can't sleep?"

Azul looked over his shoulder and saw his golden-haired lieutenant sit down next to him, kicking up a small cloud of dust by her boots. He simply nodded, returning his gaze and attention to the dissatisfied fire. Her mood was sour and about to become more so.

"The mission today." Relia started. "Did you keep up our end of the bargain?"

Azul nodded.

"Then where is the payment that they owed us?"

"Didn't take it."

"You what?!"

"Hush!" Azul motioned with his index finger. "You'll wake up everyone!"

"Hush yourself!" Relia shot back. "You know we needed that payment to acquire more supplies for the upcoming winter! What are we going to do without it?"

"Then what would you have me do?" Azul retorted. "Take the last savings of a down on their luck family? Leave them out in the streets in the wintertime to freeze to death while we gorge ourselves with the luxuries they gave us at the cost of their own lives?"

"Then would you rather have the Masquerade starve and die instead?" Relia snapped. "As your lieutenant, I think its my duty to remind you that your obligation should lie with your soldiers, not the whims of the people we receive contracts from."

"And it's my duty as the leader of the Masquerade to guide my men and women." Azul proclaimed. "And I will not guide them down the path that causes suffering to those who are innocent. We do not live as mercenaries to serve ourselves. We serve the people we have wronged. We serve to atone for our crimes and all the blood we have shed upon the people."

"The Masquerade is going to suffer for this, you know."

"And I will suffer alongside them. I will not resort to cowardly methods to save our skins at the cost of others. We will get through this. I promise."

Relia sighed. "There's that look again. I know there's no arguing with that face."

Azul laughed. "What? Have you gotten used to it?"

"No. Far from it." She said, rubbing her eyes. "Lady Luna taught me as much."

"I wish she taught you some more tact." Azul mused.

"And I wished she taught you to stop being so thick-headed and stubborn."

He chuckled. "Sorry, Relia. But I think it's too late for me."

"For once I agree with you."

Azul rolled his eyes. "Well, all's not lost."

Relia raised her eyebrow.

"Our client's village is having a festival all throughout tonight. She has invited us to attend as guests of honor."

Relia sighed. "You know the Masquerade shouldn't be parading around in open moonlight around these parts. Emblian forces may get wind of us. And besides, everyone besides Olliel detests social gatherings as such. We aren't the most sociable group around."

"Then you and I will attend." Azul said. "It would be most discourteous to turn down such an attractive offer and it will help with some public image polishing. We'll need it ever since that big skirmish down by the Askrian camp. We need to let the people know we are on their side. What do you say?"

"… will there be drinks?"

"It's a damn festival." Azul barked. "You will be able to drink to your heart's content."

"Good." Relia said, a shallow smile breaching her face. "I'm going to need one after tonight… and after dealing with that girl."

"How is she?"

"A regal pain in the arse." Relia said, reaching for the silver flask that sat next to the stump Azul sat upon. He was no alcohol enthusiast, the drink burned his throat, but Relia downed it like it were nothing but mere water. The girl was full of surprises.

"Such coarse language is unbecoming of a lady of your ilk," Azul quipped, clicking his tongue.

"Then how 'bout you take care of the new recruits yourself then?" Relia shot back in between her swigs. "And besides, I gave up that courtly nonsense ever since I decided to run away with you, Lady Luna, and Sir Eudes."

"Touché." Azul chuckled. Contrary to Relia's demure appearance, she was quite the hellraiser back in Embla. "Queen Bee," she was called, her aim sharp but her tongue even sharper. She learned from the best after all. It was a wonder how she ever even came to respect Azul in the first place.

"Little Miss Noble is a handful, even worse than Olliel was." Relia remarked, setting aside the emptied flask on a patch of dried weeds "You must have done something real awful to her oh, so noble family if she is this adamant in claiming your life."

Azul laughed. It wasn't the first time he had this conversation. It sure as hell wouldn't be his last either. "She's a tough lass, I'll give her that. But she isn't a killer. She has the fire in her eyes but not in her body."

"Easy for you to say." Relia retorted. "She looks like she wants nothing more than to grind us all to a pulp."

"And how did you handle that?"

"Well, she's fast asleep now."

Azul sighed. "New recruits aren't animals, you know. You've got to let them warm up to the idea of joining us."

"Sounds just like hound training to me." Relia mused, leaning back on the log she sat against. Then she sat back up. "But I just don't get it."

"Hmm?" Azul asked, taken aback by his lieutenant's strange words. "What do you mean?"

"If it were up to me, I would have put whoever threatened my life into the ground without a second thought…" She began. "But you, you haven't even considered that as an option. Why?"

Azul shrugged his shoulders. "I'm a man of second chances."

Relia stared at him with demurred gaze.

"What?"

"Or is it because it was another pretty face you could pick up and attach to your personal little army here?"

"Wha—" He was dumbfounded. "You know, for a retainer, you have an incredibly lousy impression of me."

Relia played with a golden lock of her hair. "For the record, I was never your retainer. I was Lady Luna's. You never even had one to begin with."

"R-right." Azul muttered. It was true. Relia was Luna's retainer when they were back in Embla. It was a small courtesy offered by the Emblian army for the heroes that had come to Zenith. He was too busy off exploring and had not heard the formal announcement. In the end, Luna chose her personal retainer and Eudes, as eccentric as he was, took up a "dark apprentice" to follow in his footsteps, as he used to say. Thinking back on the past, he sighed reflexively.

"S-sorry." Relia apologized genuinely. "I didn't mean to remind you of—"

Azul shook his head. "It's fine. I'm over it now."

An uncomfortable silence fell between the two, a silence that was rarely heard between the duo in the face of their constant back-and-forth bickering. It was such a foreign feeling, Relia had begun to squirm slightly in her seat.

She had to break the silence.

"Do you ever regret it?"

"What's this all of a sudden?" Azul asked.

"I—I… Do you…" Relia fumbled to find the right words. It was not like her to be at a loss of what to say. Lady Luna had taught her that a true lady would not let the trifling of emotions get the better of her in the search of finding the right thing to say.

But perhaps she wasn't the perfect student her master had painted her to be.

"What I meant was do you ever regret leaving?" Relia finally managed to get the words out. She never breeched upon the matter with Azul. In spite of being his right hand, there some things she knew she should never touch on during a conversation. Perhaps the alcohol clouded her judgment, or maybe even the mood had directed her words this way. In fact, she almost regretted saying anything on the matter at all once the words left her lips. She readied herself for the verbal thunderstorm that was her way. She braced herself like Lady Luna had taught her.

Except it was for naught.

Azul simply sat there, quietly contemplating on her question.

"No."

"But if you hadn't then maybe Lady Luna and Sir Eudes might be—"

"That's enough."

Relia took that as her cue to shut up.

Azul, surprisingly, began to speak again.

"If I falter now, their deeds will all be in vain. All we have sacrificed to make it this far, to start pining for the past would be spitting on all they have done for us. As the Masquerade's leader, what kind of leader would I be if I started having second thoughts in front of all my family? If it were any of them, Luna or Eudes, they would be saying the same in my boots."

Relia had nothing to say in response.

"They're still out there, somewhere. No way in hell are they dead, I'm sure of it." Azul said quietly, as if he were convincing himself, but Relia knew that the mercenary didn't need any more convincing on his own end.

"How can you be so sure?"

"We've saved three worlds." Azul said, matter-of-factly. "It's going to take a lot more than some sort of tempest or storm to kill us."

Relia smiled softly. "I'll take your word for it then. That one day we will see them again."

"It's a promise. It isn't worth much, but I'll bet my name on it."

"You were called as a hero to Zenith." Relia said. "You give yourself far less credit than you're due for."

He laughed. "Some hero I turned out to be."

"The word's lost its meaning a long time ago." Relia replied. "But if someone goes out of their way to save as much lost people as he can in this hellhole, I can safely call that person a hero in my book."

Azul smiled as he ruffled her golden hair with his hand. "Thanks."

"Don't misunderstand." She snapped cheekily. "You just seemed extra out of it today, so I thought I would just cheer you up a bit. That's all."

"Sure, sure. Whatever you say."

"You're the boss… So, we'll take that noble girl in… Just as long as it doesn't come back to bite me in the arse later."

"Lang—aw, to hell with it." Azul sighed in defeat. Still, a smile remained on his face.

"Then let's get going boss." Relia announced, standing up and stretching her back. "The night's still young and the town and its drinks await us."

Azul laughed. "Alright, alright, I'm coming. And stop calling me boss, it makes me feel old."

"Then what do you want me to call you?" Relia said, stopping in her tracks. "You never liked it when I called you Azul."

He thought quietly for a moment. Scratching his silver hair, he merely laughed, leaving his lieutenant dumbfounded. He smiled once more.

Perhaps it was okay now.

After all, he had already fulfilled the promise to that world long ago.

"You may call me Inigo."

A/N: I've been gone for some time, I know. It is getting harder and harder to work on this project of mine. I wish I could dedicate as much as I could before but life's demanding my attention elsewhere most of the time. So, again, I apologize for putting this off for so long. I wish I could say that updates will be coming as scheduled but I have no guarantees anymore.

Sorry if that disappoints you.

But, I hope this makes up for my lack of updates. I appreciate all readers.

Thanks for reading.

Cheers.