"Where exactly are we going, Ryoma?" 'Not big brother, not family, just the High Prince.' "Can I at least know that much?" At least he has given me Yato back… my crafted sword remains locked, however.

"Our little sister, Sakura, is at Fort Jinya, tending to the wounded."

'Our little sister. Gods, this man is so dense.' I roll my eyes, "Then what? We're having a tea party?"

Keaton snickers and Hadronix giggles, "I like your mate, she has sass." I hear the archer whisper to Keaton. "Not so much without the first 's' though." Raven reddens and whisper-yells, 'Sis!'

Yet none of this seems to bother the man, 'He probably didn't even hear it' , "We are going to bring her and her retainer with us to form a counterattack. Then we need to find our brother, Takumi."

I groan, "I will be looking forward to meet up with the archer who tried to murder me! Honestly, Ryoma, he sent one of his retainers after me with a Wyrmslayer , is that not proof enough he wants me dead ?"

He shakes his head, "His retainers don't have Wyrmslayers, none of us do."

"Gods, I can't… forget it, just put on the leash and collar already." He doesn't reply, but he is worried.

"I swear boy, if you don't stop analyzing my equipment, I am going to prevent you from going invisible for the rest of your life!" Hadronix turns and yells at the air… to which Saizo appears. 'How did she know?'

"He is just keeping watch over everyone." Ryoma informs her.

"Everyone? Or just me? You are aware he has been stalking just me since I got back."

"Saizo?"

The Ninja moves up to Ryoma, "She has foreign devices, it would be foolish to not keep them under close observation."

I overhear Keaton whispering what Saizo said to Hadronix. "Her things are unique, Saizo. But Monk and her both assisted in bringing my sister back, respect her privacy." I roll my eyes again, 'And now his thickness is working to my benefit.'

"Of course, Lord Ryoma." He vanishes again.

I move away from him and go over to Raven, Keaton, and Hadronix. "I almost forgot, Monk said you had a… Spirit Eagle?"

She proudly smiles, "That's right."

"Could I see it?"

The smile fades, 'Oh dear' , "Him, he is a male."

I sheepishly smile, "Sorry, it's just…"

"I understand, though it doesn't make it any less vexing." She goes into a pocket and pulls out a thick leather glove bigger than her pocket and places it on her left arm. Then she does two sharp whistles that don't even last a second each. A mist in the shape of an eagle lands on her gloved arm, and the form slowly reveals a light-green eagle that I can see right through. "He is Ruinad." She pulls some seeds from the other pocket and hands them to the Spirit Eagle, who eagerly starts eating them.

"He is certainly… unique." I nod.

"Unique is close, one-of-a-kind is the right term." She explains, "Found him during one of my battles on the highest mountain on the western side." She tilts her head back and nudges her armor a bit to reveal a nasty green-blue burn across her collarbone, "I got burned with spirit energy taming him, but I say he is worth it."

"You say all of your p-pets are worth it." Raven adds. "Even the one that injected m-molten venom into your body."

"Hey, Bethy is my best… non-sneaking land one, that is. Because you are my favorite scouting pet!" She coos at the bird. "Oh yes you are!"

"You nearly d-died." She chokes out.

"But I didn't. So that means my survival chance, if it happens again, has climbed up by 3.493%." She pauses, "Not that I am going to try that again."

I raise my eyebrow, "You nearly died?"

"Yasei, I can't count the amount times I was told that I should have been dead… or disabled." She shrugs, "Eventually hea…"

"So, Y-Yasei, care to t-tell us about your family in Nohr?" Raven interrupts, nervously shaking. Hadronix nudges her arm forward and Ruinad takes flight, then she put the glove back.

"I would love to… let me start with the ball of sunshine known as Elise…" I smile.

"Wow, they s-sound great." Raven comments after nearly two hours of descriptions and fond memories.

"Except for the part where only Elise seems to accept Keaton." Hadronix says.

Then Raven mock-punches her, "Don't d-dampen the mood, Sis!"

"Speaking of… are you sure you can pull this fake-death thing off?" I ask.

"I am nearly certainly positive. 97.52% chance, in fact." She smirks, "Nothing is 100% certain. The Cover I used could have malfunctioned and…"

"Sis! P-Please!" The poor woman looks horrified. "Stop talking about th-things like dying so casually."

"Then how do you normally put up with her?" I am curious, considering how different they are. "None of my siblings are that… different from me."

They look at each other, "We aren't sisters by blood." Hadronix informs me.

"I happened to be traveling and she saved me, and while I was recovering, I accidently called her 'Sis', and it sort of just… stuck." She giggles, "It's strange I know, to be calling each other Sis after only knowing each other for not even a day."

"No, I get it." I reply. "I got the same treatment," I raise my voice some, "when I was being confined in Hoshido!" 'Completely immature, but I don't care.' Keaton snickers and Hadronix giggles, and then I feel the hurt off of Ryoma. Raven gives me a sorrowful look, "I'm not mad at you, Monk. You were the best thing here, before Keaton returned, obviously."

The Hunter scoffs, "And what about me? I'm the one who busted my furry ass to get him here."

"...Furry?" 'Huh?' "Oh, um, thank you very much for that."

"You are very much welcome." She smiles.

"Gods… men, to arms!" I hear Ryoma shout. I look past him and into the distance… the building, which I assume is Fort Jinya, is burning. "MOVE!"

For a second I consider running in the opposite direction… then I heard Saizo repeat the High Prince's command, "Let's go."

"Yea, yea." I sprint towards the Fort, while the others follow. Nohrians are swarming the area, and I can see that the main building is barred off, not that the Nohrian army cares, since they have taken to slamming the outside with all manners of spells and attacks… the walls are ever so slowly weakening. 'Gods, they intend on bringing the building down on top of them!' Even that is a bit on the extreme side.

"For Hoshido!" Ryoma yells, which draws the attention of several dozen troops. He draws his Divine weapon and slices into the air, a shockwave forms and ends the lives of five soldiers at once. 'That is insane.' Gods, I knew he was holding back from the spar we had… but having that much?! 'But… Camilla can pull off something similar.'

Raven backs away, "I-..." She pales and tears start to form.

"Sis, here." Hadronix pulls out a device, it looks like a flat panel with a single button in the middle, "You know how to use it." She shakily takes the device and runs. "And don't you dare follow her, boy." Again, she calls out Saizo, who attempts to go to Raven. "If you break that stealth field, I will feed you to Bethy." She snarls, "Sis gets terrified of large fights."

"Hmph." He vanishes next to us.

"Ignorant prick." She mutters and pulls out her bow, "I'll head to the top of the wall and pick them off. If there is anyone you don't want killed, just say so and I'll know."

"How?"

She shakes her head, "I'll explain later." We charge in.

Keaton shifts and immediately takes out three units in one slam. Wait, 'his fur is red and black now.' Is it the Beastrune? I choose to shift as well, the dragon has been craving some release, I roar out a challenge and impale two with my horns, before sending another flying with a swing of my tail. I feel blades pitifully attempt to pierce my scales, then I stomp the ground and unleash a stream of water, I am unsure of how many drop from that one stream. 'Kill, Ravage.'

I spot a mage that is channeling a powerful spell, before an arrow lodges itself into his heart, another arrow quickly follows and pierces a softer point in a Knight's armor, the man staggers before Ruinad swoops in and shreds his neck. 'Blood, rend.'

"Respect your elders, boy." I hear a young girl say, the lady has a Dark Mage's attire on, but with an additional robe on top of that, she looks like the robe is consuming her.'Kind of like Phoenix, but lacking the strange eyes.' A veil covers the lower half of her face. She casts a single spell and several Hoshidans scream before dropping. She turns towards me, long black hair bouncing as she moves, "And there is the traitor." She comments. "King Garon has placed quite the bounty on your head." 'Wait… traitor?! King Garon? Bounty?' A dark tome floats above her hand, "Ruin."

A pitch-black void forms under my feet and I force my draconic form to move, unfortunately I am lacking some speed in this, and my body is so much larger, so I am hit hard, the spell feels like it is ripping into my insides. "Gods…" I cry out in pain as I stumble to the ground, I try to rise, but it feels like my body is being pushed back down.

Keaton howls and charges her, but he is knocked back by a rather young looking man riding a horse. His black plate armor shining, his horse equipped with the same type of protection, "I will defend you, Nyx." He stops as he looks right at me, "Even from you, Yasei." A look of sorrow comes and goes.

My body refuses to cooperate, whatever magic that girl wields is potent. Keaton has gotten back up and charges, the cavalier readies his sword, but Keaton just slaps him away while also nearly trampling his horse. The Wolfskin brings his fist down onto Nyx, who narrowly avoids his attack before sending out another blast of dark magic, causing my mate to stagger back and howl in pain. I slowly manage to get back up, my entire body screaming its protest. The man on the horse charges to attack Keaton again, and makes a small cut before backing away again. I prepare a stream of water, 'Gods, my body is burning…' , the stream fizzles out before I could even push it out.

"Stay down, girl." Nyx blasts me with a quick spell, but it feels like it hurts just as hard. "And now you." She casts another spell at Keaton and it lands true, forcing him back several inches. Kagero appears from the shadows and lands several strikes on Nyx before fading out, Saizo follows up less than a second later. "Childish fools. Ruin." The circle is much larger than the last one, both Ninjas gasp in pain as no less than a dozen Hoshidan and Nohrian soldiers drop dead. 'She didn't ever care about them…'

I see a shockwave carve through more soldiers, and Ryoma charges in, "For Hoshido!" He slashes at Nyx, who simply dodges it… and I see her eyes glow red for the briefest of moment, and for some reason, it sends out the same dread that Phoenix's 'shatter' and 'break' spells do.

"Kneel before me." Ryoma lets out a grunt as she slams him with a spell, "And die… Ruin." The field forms once more.

"My liege!" Kagero dashes in and shoves the man out of the way, before the spell goes off and she screams in agony.

"You only delay the inevitable, child." She prepares another one, but the tome falls… no, it is pinned down by an arrow. Yet it doesn't seem to bother her as she pulls out another dark-purple tome. "Nosferatu." Kagero lets out a small whimper, before dying on the spot. I force my body up once more, my legs tremble, but I keep pushing. "I told you…" She is interrupted by Saizo, who lands several cuts on her before fading.

"Die, now!" Ryoma's katana comes in at a blinding speed, before slicing the Dark Mage's tome-wielding arm off.

She gasps, but otherwise seems unconcerned about her missing limb. "You will not stop me." Her eyes flash red once more, "I refuse to fall." I manage to shoot off a stream of water, but she forms a barrier and it stops it. 'She's so…' How is she so strong? Ryoma charges once more, she raises her one arm and smirks…

Before a beam of purple-white energy drops from above and burns her, I hear a vicious bark, but I don't even sense the source. She grunts as Ryoma lands a savage strike across her chest. How is she still standing? 'Why can't I move yet? What did she do?!'

"Ru…" She is stopped mid-word as a small round whole just forms through her chest where her heart is. Yet she still smiles, "Too late… it's already done." She finally drops dead.

I wearily turn my head and see Keaton still engaged with that man, but the Wolfskin seems exhausted. "Keaton!" I cry out, it's not like I can do anything else, 'She's dead, so whatever she casted is supposed to fade… so why can't I get up?!' The man's horse dies with a crunch as Keaton lands a particularly brutal punch on its neck. My mate was about to land another strike, but the man manages to slice into his Beast Killer wound, he staggers back and shifts back. 'Gods, no!' He drops unconscious.

The man takes a breath, before narrowly dodging a sword strike from Ryoma, "Him, that man with black armor." I feel crazy for saying that, 'How could she ever pick that up?' The man deflects another blow before landing one on the High Prince. He was about to follow up, but an arrow lodges itself right below his collarbone, I catch a strange scent coming from the arrow and the man falls unconscious.

The fighting slowly starts to die down after the man falls, he must have been their commander. Sure enough, within a few minutes, the Nohrians are routed, and that man is the only one from the opposing side that is alive. 'Gods, that was so…'

The Fort's main building look dangerously close to forming a large crack. I hear Ryoma ordering the occupants to leave the building. Hadronix walks up beside me and pulls the arrow out of the man, "Sedative." She says, "Don't worry, he won't bleed out." She pulls out a sort of needle with a vial attached to it. She then sticks the needle into the same wound and… pulls? A green fluid enters the vial. "He'll wake up soon."

"Keaton…?" I ask, and I see him limping. "Keaton!" My body is burning, and I shift back from pure pain.

"B-big si-sister?" I turn my head to see Sakura, shaking intensely. "Gods, you… you are back!" She smiles, then runs up to me and gives me a hug, "You're b-back… you're back…" She keeps repeating while tears falls onto my armor. I gasp out of pain, "S-sorry." She pulls out a staff and starts to heal me, 'Gods, it feels so much more potent than any staff Elise used on me.'

"Uh… yea." I hesitantly respond.

"Girl, back off." Keaton somehow has managed to find the energy to both wake up and actually move, "Now."

Sakura moves away slightly, "Sh-She's…"

He lets out a heavy breath, "My mate, move." Sakura squeaks before moving away.

"S-sister?" She look like she is about to cry again.

"Lady Sakura?" A short light-brown hair woman goes to her, "What did you do to her this time?!" She sends me a glare.

I was about to respond, but a quick rumble from Keaton silences me, 'Calm, obey.' He then looks at the woman, "For your good, I suggest you keep to yourself."

"And for your good, I suggest you stay silent."

"Stop!" Ryoma steps in, "We're family, and we aren't going to let wartime stress start breaking us apart."

Keaton scoffs, "D-don't fight… pl-please." Raven has returned, looking as shaken as before.

"I have never seen such a heartwarming family reunion." Hadronix driely comments. "Now all you need to do is start…"

"I didn't even want to be here in the first place!" I yell.

"Yet here you are…" The katana wielder says.

"Blame your 'High Prince' for that, girl." I snarl.

"Enough!" Ryoma yells, "Let's get you all some rest, then we can talk."

'Rest, that sounds nice.' I nod and shakily get up, 'I still feel so weak.' I nearly fall over, but Raven catches me.

"I-I got you…" She smiles as she walks over to a small, detached section of the Fort's main building. She guides me in and gently assists me onto a cot, "You'll recover." She nods as that green-mist covers her hands and my body heals. "But you do need rest."

"I know…" I close my eyes and let myself drift to sleep… but still, 'What did Nyx mean by she did it?'