Two words perfectly characterized the throne room in the aftermath of the revelation that one of the Cardinal Heroes, one that was harshly mistreated by many in that very room, was something far greater than an average human: Complete Pandemonium.

Even over the cacophony of the various Lords and Ladies clamoring for the nearest doors and being met by the Queen's loyal guard, the Queen's voice nonetheless echoed across the room.

"SILENCE, THERE WILL BE ORDER DURING THESE PROCEEDINGS! THE SHIELD HERO IS NOT DANGEROUS TO ANY IN THIS ROOM!"

Even as the order was restored, Raphtalia shut her eyes and willed her brain to work.

A Dragon.

A DRAGON!

Her Master, the hero she looked up to, the man she loved, was a DRAGON!

She felt an overwhelming mix of emotions; shock, awe, unworthiness, and betrayal. It was all so much to take in at once. His tail coiled around her leg gave her comfort and she needed that more than she realized as she willed her mind to try to regain some glimmer of sense.

She would have broken into a teary mess but stopped at what felt like a warm hand on her face. She faintly got an image of a lovely human woman with snow-white hair and vibrant green eyes in her mind.

Then unexpectedly, she saw herself huddled in that cage at the slave trader's tent once again. She hadn't remembered them stopping in front of her but she would always remember first seeing those emerald eyes as they looked at her for the first time. She found them protective, caring, and most of all kind with abundant warmth.

She smiled softly at what was the first day of her new life. A life where she was free, where she had the strength to protect those she cared for, and where she never had to fear again. Slowly she remembered all Master Naofumi had done for her and others in this world that wasn't even his. When she thought of that, she remembered why she fell in love with him in the first place.

"Raphtalia."

She froze and swallowed mutely. That was her Master's voice but it was different now, there was an age and power that had her knees shaking and all he had done was say her name. Breathing in deeply she straightened herself up and readied to meet his gaze again, then paused. The comforting warmth of his tail around her leg was gone.

Before she could think more about it, he spoke again.

"Raphtalia."

Opening her eyes, she found a tuft of hair blocking her left eye but when her right found his eyes again, all her fears and anxieties dissipated like a bad taste in her mouth.

Slowly a massive talon came up to her face. Without so much as flinching Raphtalia blinked dumbly as, with a practiced air, Master Naofumi gently smoothed back the tuft of hair from her eye while softly stroking her cheek.

"Raphtalia, stand aside. I'll not harm them. You have my word."

Turning to look over her shoulder she gasped softly as she saw the royals cowering behind the docks. When had she moved to stand in front of them? A soft puff of warm air gently tapped her cheek.

Looking up into those green eyes, she found sincerity and haltingly stepped over to his right cheek, lightly running her hand across his scales. She stood there marveling at the power he radiated in this form. Idly running her hand over what looked like faded scars, Raphtalia noticed very fine-looking spines that almost imitated the quills of a porcupine monster. They ran the length of his spine and along his upper cheek. Their purpose was lost to her, as her mind still processed everything.

She looked back to the royals as her Master's glare returned in full.

"Take a good look fallen ones. Because the next time you see me as I truly am, you will learn a Dragons' memory is as long and as powerful as their fury. And Raphtalia will not save you again."

The King sputtered and found his voice as he gripped his dock and made to tell the Dragon off.

"How dare -"

She gasped as Naofumi's eyes slit to such a fine line they vanished and the soft hue of green became violently charged and electric at the King.

"How dare I?! HOW DARE I?!"

On the throne the Queen merely sighed into her fan, wondering what had happened to her love from so long ago. Softly she ran her left hand along her palm and the scar upon her flesh. Hopefully, Lord Naofumi would still honor the pact they had forged when they first met.

Provided his companion could control his justified rage.

"YOU STOLE ME FROM MY FAMILY, MY PEOPLE, MY WORLD! YOU PRESSED ME INTO SERVITUDE AS A HERO FOR YOUR OWN SO I MAY RETURN!

THEN YOU PROCEED TO VILIFY ME AND ROB ME OF MY HONOR! YET YOU HAVE THE GALL TO STAND THERE AND ACCUSE ME STILL?!"

His sharp claws curled into the ground, turning the polished stone underfoot into powder as his grip tightened.

"DO SO AGAIN AND I WILL SHOW YOU A WRATH SO VIOLENT, YOUR PETTY WAVES OF CALAMITY WILL PALE IN COMPARISON!"

Raphtalia petted back the standing spines she could reach, finding them to bend slightly like hair but harder. They raised and clanked loudly in response to extreme emotions as a type of display. If it were another time she'd have found it awing but for now she had to help her Master calm down. As much wrong as these two had done against him, he could not stoop to their level, she wouldn't lose him to that darkness.

Gradually she felt the spines in her reach lax and soon fall flat against his scales once again.

Naofumi was panting softly through his nose, puffs of steam gradually filling the room to the point the Queen asked a knight to open the windows and allow the cold air inside.

Easing back from the docks slightly, not willing to part from the petting he was receiving just yet, Naofumi continued.

"If I had not made a pact with your sovereign Queen, I would follow through with that vow right here and now."

Raphtalia stopped petting back the spines and softly stroked just under his right eye to get his attention.

"Master please, don't."

She flinched slightly as a thin pupil turned and fixed squarely on her.

"Would you?"

Raphtalia looked back, silently asking him to explain what he meant.

"If you were in my skin now Raphtalia, if you had my power now Raphtalia, would you still see fit to grant them mercy after everything?"

Slowly she nodded before she trusted her voice enough to work again.

"I would."

His eye squinted in slight confusion and curiosity.

"Why?"

She smiled and looked down at his cheek before looking back up into the sea of green.

"Because that is what you would do."

His eye closed, then he let out a long exhale.

"Fine."

He pulled his neck back further, stopping by the throne and its occupant.

"Your Majesty I plead for mercy on the behalf of the accused."

Raphtalia's eyes widened and her smile matched the light feeling she felt in her heart as she stepped back to their original place by the throne.

Draak had at last recovered and climbed up her back, settling on his perch across her shoulders.

"Big Sis, did you know Da was the next Dragon Emperor?!"

She chuckled slightly at the owlish red-orange eyes looking at her upside down, while his braid swung lightly back and forth. Reaching up, she scratched behind his right ear before she felt a presence on her left, turning she felt her mouth open slightly as she saw Master but he was different slightly.

His clothes and armor were still the same but he was now as tall as the Spear-Hero, his ears ended in points, he also seemed to have more muscle filling out his frame and what at a distance appeared as sideburns, were his scales along his cheeks.

As he walked up to them, she spied his tail trailing behind him.

When he reached out and patted Draak's dark-haired head, she caught sight of another difference; his black claws in place of his fingers as he gave the younger Dragon an affectionate scratch.

"No, she didn't Draak. I promised I would protect her when I found her. I felt it would be safer if no one knew. Especially Raphtalia."

Pouting cutely on his sister's head, Draak stuck his tongue out while the older Dragon growled sharply at him. He retracted his tongue but still kept his pout firmly on his face.

"That's dumb. Big Sis says that's how you lose a fight; by rushing in and not knowing what you're doing."

Smiling, Naofumi turned to Raphtalia and smiled brighter as she scratched the Dragon boy's chin in just the right place to hush him.

"She's right, which is why I promise, now, that there will be no secrets. I'll tell you everything once this finishes Raphtalia, I promise that too."

Raphtalia's heart was bursting with how light she felt at that moment as she looked at her Master and smiled.

A slow, gentle clapping sound echoed around the room from just behind the docks of the guilty.