Claude rubbed his head and looked across the table at three of his subordinates. He'd left behind any sort of permanent office some time ago; now he had a table covered in maps and reports in an open-air tent. "After reviewing what I know about the last battle, I've decided that Private Emery will be removed from combat duty until further notice." He was expecting the three pairs of eyes looking at him to go wide, though only two of them did. He would have sighed, but he had subordinates present.

"Bu-but- Sir, please reconsider." Nico stammered. "If I'm not out there, then- Then-" She stammered a bit more, but couldn't put together anything coherent.

"Commander, she did great out there." Jimmy interjected. "She did everything she was supposed to, she patched me up, she killed three enemies by herself-" Both of Jimmy's compatriots flinched, though he didn't seem to notice. "What's the problem?"

"The problem is that she got separated from her squad during mop-up. That nearly cost her her life, and a mistake like that puts the rest of your squad in greater danger as well."

"Sir,you have to let me stay! I can't let someone else die because they were out there in my place."

"I understand that you don't want your comrades in danger, but like I said: that's just what a mistake like this can do. I'll reassess putting you back on combat duty, later."

Nico opened her moth to protest again, but Rosetta put her hand on Nico's shoulder. "You aren't going to persuade him. And, frankly, I agree with him that this would be for the best."

Nico nodded her head in mute assent.

"That's all. Dismissed."

The three of them left without any further words. The sun had set some time ago. The night air was warm. Nico noticed the contrast again: it was a pleasant night, there were countless stars shining down, and they were making their way through a barely organized military camp, with a hint of Ragnite fuel and spent ammunition wafting through the air. They made their way back to their tents. Jimmy's was the closest, said a quick goodnight to the other two and retired for the night. Rosetta and Nico made their way on.

"Nico. What you said earlier…" Rosetta trailed off.

"What is it?"

"You think it would be better to put yourself in danger than to let others go in your place, don't you?"

"Oh, yes. I don't want anyone else to get hurt if I can help it."

"That's very brave of you." Nico winced. There was nothing brave about going into battle against people that couldn't hurt you. "But don't discount your own life, either." Rosetta turned to go into her own tent.

"Ten of Swords." Lily said, laying the card down.

"Nine of Swords." Said Thomas, laying down his own card.

Both of them looked expectantly at Nico, who simply stared blankly at her own hand.

"Uh, Nico-"

"Huh? Oh, right." She hastily laid down the Queen of Cups.

"You win the trick, and two of the worst cards in play. Congratulations." Lily said, a hint of amusement in her voice.

"Are you trying to shoot the moon?" Thomas asked.

"Sort of." Nico said, picking up the cards. "I'm trying to figure out how I can get back into combat." She started the next trick with the Six of Wands.

"Have you come up with anything yet?" Lily asked.

"Yeah. I think with the right wig, I could pass myself off as Neige." Nico said as Thomas played the Four of Swords.

"That's a great idea." Said Lily. "Except for the part where you don't sound like Neige, don't act like Neige, don't know how to use a sniper rifle, and you'd have to explain why there are two Neiges in the squad." She played the Five of Swords, and pushed the cards towards Nico. "You win again."

"Why do you want to go back on combat duty?" Thomas asked, playing the Two of Swords after Nico's Three of Cups. "Not getting shot at sounds like a good deal to me."

"No one else should be in danger because I messed up." Nico said.

"It's… unfortunate, but sometimes there's nothing you can do, Nico. Sometimes, even if you do everything you're supposed to, things just don't go the way you want." Lily played the Two of Wands, then pushed the pile to Nico.

Nico took up the cards again. She flipped through her hand, and then smiled. "You're right, Lily. And sometimes…" She turned her hand around to show each of the Sword cards "Even when things look bad, they work out just fine."

"So, you're the new assistant Lieutenant Wallace sent me?" The other woman asked. She gave her head a tilt to the side, and her brown pigtails swung in time.

"Yes, Ma'am. Just tell me what you need me to do!" Nico said, holding a clenched hand in front of her to emphasize the point.

"Well, I like your enthusiasm, but maybe we she introduce ourselves first? I'm Karen."

"Nico Emery, Ma'am."

"…Just Karen is fine. Besides, I think we're about the same age."

"They let you become a doctor that young? Really?"

"Well, I'm not a doctor, I'm a medic. Being willing to run into a combat zone is more important than training." Karen's face became quizzical. "Do you have any experience with medicine?"

"Yeah. Sister Magda used to be a doctor. She taught me- er, she taught me a few things." Living in a remote area meant there wasn't time to call for a doctor if something went wrong. All of them knew at least a little.

Nico surveyed the medical tent. There were multiple cots laid out, all empty at the moment. Several cabinets at one end held a variety of labeled bottles, presumably various medicines. And tucked in one corner were two bowls, one full of water.

"Oh, those." Karen noted, following Nico's gaze. "Those are Ragnarok's." Nico furrowed her brow. "Ragnarok. I've heard that word before. That was the name of… some pagan apocalypse, wasn't it?" Nico looked at Karen, puzzled. She didn't outright ask the question, but it was written on her face.

"We just thought it sounded cool. He's a nice dog, really." She was interrupted by barking. "Well, speak of the devil-" Nico gave her another confused look. "It's just a saying."

Ragnarok was not a particularly large dog. Nico could've mistaken him for a fox, with his short orange fur and pointed head. He wore a small hat, tilted to one side. Nico wasn't sure how they got him to keep it on. He watched Nico attentively.

"Go on, try petting him. He doesn't bite."

"So, how's the bite doing today?" Jimmy asked her.

"It's doing better. Just fine. Nothing to worry about!" Nico replied, with a smile that was too wide to be genuine. It wasn't as if she was lying, though. It was doing better. In fact, even though it had only happened yesterday, the injury was completely gone.

"Really?" Jimmy said, looking at the huge knot of white bandages that had enveloped most of Nico's arm below the elbow. "Because it looks like you've got a lot more there than yesterday."

"Oh, well, Karen just wants to be sure everything's fine. Plus, you have to be really careful about germs." And letting people know your body heals inhumanly fast. And sometimes glows in the process. "It should be fine to come off in a few days."

"Well, other than your canine troubles, how's work at the infirmary?"

"Well, it's been very… We've… I've done a lot of… um…" Other than getting bitten, she hadn't done much.

"Boring?" Nico stared. Jimmy's face was drawn into a scowl she'd seen before. This was Jimmy's other side; the serious, seasoned soldier.

"What?" Nico asked, more taken aback by his bluntness than confused.

"You're bored, aren't you?" Jimmy asked.

"Yeah." Nico said. "We've gone over what to do in emergencies, and that's about it." She shook her head. "But I shouldn't complain about that. It's good that nobody's been hurt. I don't like being bored, but I don't want to not be bored. If that makes any sense."

"It makes perfect sense." Jimmy replied. "Most of being in the army is being bored. The rest is wishing you were bored again."

It was about a week and a half later that something interesting happened, and Nico did indeed miss being bored.

The castle was beautiful, an august building of red stone. The white brick road leading up to it and the fountain plaza in front of it had probably once been beautiful, before multiple tanks had pulverized them. The Empire currently occupied the castle, and Squad E was battling to drive them out. Nico and Karen were behind the line, waiting. The low, twisting walls around the brick road obscured much of the fighting. The only way to understand what was going on was by listening to the shouts and gunfire or go by whatever was on the radio. And all that told Nico was that the cacophony had moved away from them slightly. There was plenty of shouting about turrets and a dangerous bridge. Claude made several broadcasts ordering the squad to maintain current their current positions. A stalemate, then.

Nico was distracted by a series of soft, dull thuds, It was a subtle sound, hard to hear over the din of the battle except that was far more steady than any of those sounds. Nico looked over to Karen. She was crouching, clutching the metal case holding their supplies. She was tensed and ready to start running at any time. As Nico watched, the case rose and fell, slightly but rhythmically, beating a quiet staccato as Karen's hands shook.

"Are you nervous?" Nico asked.

"…A little. I've never been called into an actual battle before. I shouldn't be worried, though. It's a war crime to shoot a medic." Karen smiled. The rhythm continued. "How are you doing?"

"I'm alright. I've lived through…" She wanted to say two battles, but the first could hardly be called that. "…I'll live."

"You've been through a lot at your age, huh?" Karen asked.

Nico frowned. "Why does everyone bring up my age?"

"Because you're younger than us." Karen said. "And you show it. And your outfit isn't helping." They hadn't had a medic's uniform in Nico's size. The one she was currently wearing hung off her, and the sleeves had to be rolled up because they were too long. "You seem like an odd fit."

Nico felt the stone handle pressing into her back. "I'm a better fit here than I seem."

Their conversation was cut short. The radio crackled, and a voice came through. "Uh, hello? Could I get a medic over here?" It was Lily, and despite what she was saying, she sounded vaguely amused. "I think Thomas got hit." The words reached out and crushed Nico's midsection, forcing her breath out in a startled gasp. "At least, I think he is. He's rolling on the ground screaming a whole lot."

Nico was off before the radio had gone quiet. Karen took after her with a confused yelp, and Ragnarok followed after that. She wound her way through the plaza, weaving between hastily erected barriers, vaulting over a wall of sandbags. It was a simple matter. She had a duty to carry out. The fact it concerned one of her friends simply made it worse.

Her foot whacked into something, and sent her sprawling. The stonework rushed up to her face, and pain erupted in her nose. She started to push herself up.

"Here." A voice said. Nico had to blink a few times before her vision cleared enough to see Karen, offering her her hand. Nico took it without hesitation. Her legs kicked around, meeting something oddly-shaped and bulky that was definitely not stone. "Nico, calm down and focus." Nico looked back to see what it was that her feet kept hitting.

It was an imperial soldier, deceased.

Now looking at what she was doing, she moved her feet carefully onto the stone and pushed herself up. She and Karen took off at a run again. That mistake could cost them.

They finally reached Lily and Thomas, not far from the bridge that led from the fountain plaza into the castle. Thomas was on the ground, clutching his hands to his eye. His voice rose above the noise of battle in a desperate, pitiful, and inarticulate scream. His body was thrashing wildly. Lily was standing over him, seemingly oblivious to Thomas' plight, but watching the bridge closely.

"Can you get him to hold still?" Karen asked. "I can't do much when he's like… that."

Nico nodded, and approached him slowly. "Thomas? Thomas, can you hear me?" she asked, her voice carrying a calculated calmness. He didn't seem to respond. She knelt next to him, reached out, and took one of his wrists gently in her hand. He did not respond well to the sudden contact, lashing out in her general direction while still keeping one hand to his head. Nico was fortunate that most of his

"Go away! Go away!" He yelled.

"Thomas, it's me, Nico. Please don't worry." She tried her best to project her voice, though it came out more like a half-yell. She started tracing a circle on his wrist with her thumb. "We're here to help. Just leave it to us."

That did get a response. The yelling, thrashing and kicking quelled. "Nico? Really?"

"Yes. Just leave it to us." Nico said, keeping her hand on his wrist. Karen walked to Thomas' other side and knelt. Ragnarok took a seat beside her.

"Please move your hand." Karen said clinically.

"Okay." Thomas said, still sounding shocked. He moved his hand, showing that half his face was covered in blood. Karen started by trying to wipe away the blood, but Thomas kept jerking away from her hand.

"Hey, Thomas, have you ever heard… uh… The Legend of… Ragnarok?" Nico asked. It was hardly the most creative idea, but he needed a distraction.

"N-no…"

"Well, once upon a time a time, the pagan god Odin decided that he wanted to know everything. So a talking Raven came and told him it would give him all the knowledge in the world if he let the Raven eat his eye. But after the Raven finished, he revealed that he made the whole thing up and flew away. So Odin got mad and ordered his pet goat to eat the Raven. But the goat was so hungry, he ended up eating the whole world. And that's how the Apocalypse will happen."

Thomas, his face clearer of blood, stared at Nico blankly.

"They don't teach you much about heathen legends at a convent, do they?" Lily asked.

"Oh, no. They taught me a lot about them. I just… didn't always pay attention." Nico replied sheepishly. "Usually, there was-"

"WHAT THE HELL?" Karen yelled. Thomas flinched. Nico fell backwards. Ragnarok whimpered. Even Lily seemed taken aback.

"What's wrong?" Nico asked.

"His face. Look at it." Karen responded. Nico pushed herself up and looked closely at Thomas' now-clean face. It looked perfectly fine, save for a long, shallow cut about his eyebrow.

"Oh. Oh! Good news, Thomas; its just a little cut. You're perfectly fine." Nico said, overjoyed.

"You called us out for this? We're on a battlefield. When you call us out here, you're putting our lives in danger. You can't do that do that because you got a little scrape!" Karin berated.

Lily cleared her throat, far louder than it had any right to be. "Thomas freaked out. I called you."

Karen, still angry, cut off a length of bandage and wrapped it around Thomas' head. "That will keep any further blood out of your eye. You're fine."

"So, um, why is everyone waiting around here?" Nico asked.

"I'll show you." Lily said. She picked up a piece of rubble about the size of the size of her fist. "You see the two walls around the bridge?" She cocked her hand and launched the piece as far as she could. It clattered down around the middle of the bridge. A second later there was the roar of gunfire, accompanied by the sound of numerous ricochets.

"We've got this side, but it's suicide to cross the bridge." Lily said. "I wonder if they'll end up trying to order us across anyways?"

"How many guns are up there?" Nico asked.

"Nico, we need to pull back." Karen said. "This isn't our job."

"About four, I think. But I think that's enough or kill anyone." Lily said without acknowledging Karin.

It was an easy issue to solve. All she had to do was draw the knife, walk out into the middle of the bridge, and take out the guns. Simple. She'd taken a barrage of gunfire before, and it hadn't been much more than an annoyance. And that was assuming whoever was operating the guns wouldn't simply flee when they saw a glowing girl on the bridge. It would all take about a minute.

It would also be a violation of international law. At the moment, she was a medic. She was here to keep her comrades alive. She was only allowed to draw a weapon in self-defense. And actually doing so would put her at seventeen.

And if she didn't, her friends might die in a futile attempt to do what she could take care of.

And if she did, the Empire could take it as an excuse to ignore the law and start shooting medics. How many people would die if that happened?

They didn't need Nico, the assistant medic. They needed Nico the… what was she, exactly? Nico the glowy-blue-shooty-person? She had heard legends about women tearing through armies covered in blue flames, hadn't she? Or had that been some novel she'd read?

"So, I hear you guys are having a little problem?" said a voice Nico had ever heard before. They turned to look at the newcomer. Her ribbed blue sweater, shoulder-length blonde hair, and skirt that looked like she had cut the bottom ninety percent of a regular skirt, were rather incongruous with the battlefield. The only signs she was there as a soldier were her fingerless gloves and the large mechanism strapped to her back.

She had a male companion in a more familiar military get-up, though the large armored plate extending from the waist, giving the appearance of wearing a tan apron, was unusual. He was rather unkempt-looking, with his green hair going in every possible direction and a few days' worth of stubble on his chin. The eyes behind his horn-rimmed glasses were watching attentively.

"We were just talking about that, actually. Bridge, Machine guns, meat grinder. I can show you if you want." Lily said, reaching for another chunk of brick.

"Uhh… That's okay. I think we can handle this." The blonde woman said. She turned around and bent her knees, planting the mechanism on the ground. She turned around and gave it a push, leaning it forward onto its a-frame legs. Finally, she gave it a shove to fully extend the arm. "Connor, what's the wind?"

The man- Connor, it seemed- consulted a gage of some kind he was carrying. "Eastbound, five miles per hour."

"Easy." The blonde woman said. She adjusted her machine slightly and then fed a metal shell into it. Something went off, sending out a loud boom and a blue flash. It traced a high arc through the air, reaching apogee far above any structure around, and crashed down around one of the machine guns. Several chunks of metal, and what appeared to be most of the gunner, were flung into the water below. "See? Aren't mortars wonderful?"

"Quite." Karen said, before gesturing to Nico that they needed to leave. Nico followed her without a word.

"By the way," Connor asked her as she walked by, "Aren't you that girl from the convent."

Nico sighed. "Yes, I am."

"Could I get an interview with you? Er, once the battle is over, I mean." He asked.

"Certainly." Nico said. Karen had been walking the whole time, so Nico took off after her at a run. Her eyes turned skywards, and she said a soft "Thank you."

Author's Note: I had some trouble figuring out what to do with some of the earlier chapters, and this was the best way I could think to do it. Rest assured, Nico will be back in the fight before too much longer. It's weird for me to think that this is already my longest fanfic ever, and that it's still nowhere near done.

Bonus Scene:

"Since the three of you already seem to get along well," Claude said to Nico, Lily, and Thomas, "The three of you will be bunking together for the moment. However, I will be changing the arrangements if there are any problems between you, or any violations of regulations. Are there any questions?"

"Why are you looking at me!?" Thomas asked.

Nico raised her hand "Um, which regulations are you talking about?"

"I don't think that will be a problem." Lily said, a hint of amusement in her voice. "Besides, Nico carries a knife around for things like that."

"W-wait, Nico, is that true?" Thomas asked, suddenly nervous.

"No, of course not!" Nico answered. "I don't have the knife for stabbing my friends!"

"You ARE carrying around a knife? Oh my God…"

"Somehow, I never thought being in the army would be quite like this." Claude said to himself.