To everyone that left a review: Thank you for your reviews!
And I'd like to thank the people who read the first chapter.
I would have updated earlier, but exams are coming up and I've been bombarded with homework, so the next update will probably be around the 20-30th.
Also, please forgive any grammar/spelling errors, I am a bit exhausted from projects.
Now, I hope you enjoy the second chapter!
Disclaimer: I do not own Valkyria Chronicles.
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For about an hour, Ghirlandaio was very silent, with the only noises being made came from the movements of the soldiers as they tried to feel more comfortable in the grass, the occasional cough, and the sounds of guns being loaded. A couple of the soldiers were shaking, some looked fiercely determined, and others looked between the two.
Selvaria had been using this time to think deep on what Jaeger said to her. She understood what he meant, and mostly agreed with it, but her feelings for Maximilian had her chained to the spot, as though they were controlling her body. Eventually, she had managed to come to a decision.
I will stand and fight…for there still is a chance I will be able to defeat the Gallians without having to resort to the final flame.
A fierce determination boiled within her now as she looked at the horizon, seeing rows upon rows of Gallian soldiers approaching Ghirlandaio. She took out her set of binoculars one of the soldiers gave her an hour ago, and began spying on their army. She eventually stopped and fixed her gaze upon a certain group of soldiers. They were at the front of the Gallian army, and Selvaria recognized them.
"The Gallian soldiers that me and Maximilian fought back at Barious…the militia."
Selvaria remembered the battle at Barious. Maximilian gave her the lance and shield that were in the ruins, and that was when she annihilated nearly two squadrons worth of men east of that temple, then came to the west to help Maximilian and his tank, the Batomys. Despite her efforts, the militia destroyed the Batomys, although she held off the militia long enough for Maximilian to escape.
She continued gazing through her binoculars when she stopped again. The expression on her face quickly transitioned into bitter hatred. She was gazing at a certain person that had humiliated and beaten her at Naggiar plains. Gallia's Valkyria…Alicia Melchiott.
However, Selvaria was a bit relieved when she saw that Alicia wasn't carrying her lance and shield, which meant that there was some chance of victory. She put away her binoculars and turned on her wireless headset, and took a deep breath.
"Men! Listen well!" She said, her voice echoing throughout Ghirlandaio. "While watching the approaching Gallian army, I happened to see their Valkyria." The soldiers became agitated as they waited to hear whether Gallia's Valkyria was going to use her power or not. Selvaria took another deep breath, and in the most courageous voice she could muster, shouted "However! Their Valkyria appears to be fighting as a mortal woman now, for she is holding a rifle, and I cannot see her lance and shield anywhere nearby!" A loud sigh of relief could be heard all around Ghirlandaio as imperial soldiers knew that this battle wasn't hopeless.
Selvaria turned off her headset and looked back at the Gallian army, which had separated into two units. One of the units was small, and composed of the entire militia, along with a few soldiers of the central forces, and the other unit was massive, which was composed of the Central forces and the rest of Gallia's army. The smaller army began to move to Ghirlandaio, while the larger force set up camp.
In her mind, Selvaria knew that by the end of this battle, she would confront the other Valkyria. When that happened, Selvaria would fight her, and then kill her to cleanse the defeat at Naggiar that stained her name.
Meanwhile, the Lupus had arrived at Naggiar, where its hatch was opened, and Jaeger stepped down to the baron, blood stained soil, the ground lined with bullet holes, large holes and gunpowder residue. A couple other men got out of the tank, and lined up behind Jaeger. Jaeger gave them all a slight nod, then the soldiers rushed off in multiple directions. Jaeger stood there for a few moments before he got back in the tank. He looked over at his tank pilot and confidently said
"Come on. Lets get searching for it. She'll need it if she wants to defeat the Gallians."
The Lupus's engines roared, and the tank began moving along the eerie plains, a gloomy atmosphere hanging above them, as if to remember all the blood that was spilled here.
An hour or so passed, when he heard something on his headset. He turned the volume up a bit, and asked "What's the matter soldier? Have you found it?" Jaeger listened intently as he heard the soldier say "Yes, it's located near the base that those accursed Squad 7 members defeated two of our Dromedarius tanks sir." Jaeger smiled, and said "All right. Stay where you are. I'll make sure to reward you once we get it for your hard work." He heard the soldier hum with glee before the communication ended.
About 5 minutes later, he had arrived at his destination. He studied the area intently and spotted the soldier, so he began to walk over to him.
So this is where Gallia's Valkyria single-handedly annihilated an entire bas, as well as an entire battalion.
Once he got close enough, the soldier came up to him, holding two objects in his hands. Jaeger smiled as he took the objects into his hands. "You have done a very good job soldier. Now here's that reward I promised you." Jaeger put down one of the objects to search his pocket, and pulled out a small sack of money, and threw it to the soldier. The soldier looked inside and smiled, satisfied with the amount he had gotten. Jaeger picked up the object that he had placed on the ground, and commanded "All right, now tell the other troops to head back to Ghirlandaio."
After all, he had to give back the spear and shield he held in his hands to its rightful owner. She'd need them.
Back at Ghirlandaio, the Gallians had begun their attack. The all-too familiar 'Squad 7, move out!' could be heard as Welkin Gunther got into the Edelweiss and closed the hatch above him.
This is going to be a long battle. He thought as he turned on his wireless headset, and told Rosie to get the shocktroopers ready for the advance. He closed his eyes and remembered the battle plan Varrot had come up with.
"The track that the train bomb will be moving along heads straight north to Ghirlandaio, but the main road is heavily defended. Luckily, there is a triple fork in the road, so I'd advise you split the squad into 3 sections, so the enemy can't surround you as your members head to the first rail switch. From there, re-assemble the squad at the first rail switch, then split them into two teams to head west and east. The second rail switch is guarded by a minefield, so I suggest getting an engineer in there. Make your way around to the south wall of Ghirlandaio, then flip the final rail switch. Beware of mortars."
Just as Varrot suggested, Welkin split the squad into 3 parts. Rosie went along the left fork with a couple of men, Alicia went along the right fork with some men, which left Welkin to head up the center fork. Just as predicted, the center fork was guarded by a heavy tank. By the time Welkin noticed it, it had already aimed at the Edelweiss and fired a shot that blasted the side of the tank, dealing light damage. Welkin retaliated by shooting his own shell at the tank, but it missed its target by a few inches. The tank's small cannon used the situation to quickly fire another blast at the Edelweiss, narrowly missing the tank's radiator. The tank turned a bit so it could fire again, but before it got the chance to finish off the Edelweiss, Largo had managed to sneak around it in the grass and unloaded a lance into the heavy tank's radiator, blowing it to smithereens as shrapnel flew in all directions, one piece even impaled a nearby imperial soldier and killed him.
Largo got out of the grass and waved at the Edelweiss with a big grin on his face, shouting:
"Hey boss! You should be more careful! These are the elite troops of the Empire you know!"
Welkin knew Largo was giving him a tip, but somehow it felt like he was rubbing it in.
"I know Largo, I just never expected them to get a lot tougher though. Compared to previous soldiers, these imperials seem a lot more trained."
Largo nodded his head but then turned his head when he heard a loud siren go off.
"Mortars…damn it! We got to avoid them!"
Welkin spoke into his headset and alerted everyone about the mortars. Alicia's and Rosie's groups arrived within a minute, a couple men wounded. Alicia looked around and spotted the first rail switch, and walked over to it. There was a little handle on it that moved the rails. She pulled the lever and the rail tracks switched into their correct position.
The next rail switch was a lot more complicated. Surrounding it was two heavy tanks, multiple gatling guns, and a whole lot of mines scattered everywhere. Welkin thought for a minute, then an idea hit him.
"Fire a smoke round!" he shouted as the cannon fired one of Isara's smoke shells, which bursted into a massive smokescreen. The Edelweiss moved forward a bit, but not too much so it looked like it entered the smokescreen, but it actually didn't.
"Is the mortar ready?" The Lieutenant asked.
"Yes sir! Ready to fire at your command!" The soldier that was manning the mortar replied.
"All right then! Target the smokescreen! He's bound to be in there somewhere!" The Lieutenant declared, and the mortar fired off a massive shell that arched its way through the air and landed in the smokescreen, releasing a huge blast that blew away all the smoke.
Everything looked like it worked, but the Lieutenant noticed the Edelweiss was not in the explosion. That's when he realized that the mortar just hit the minefield and eradicated most, if not all the mines, as well as destroying the gatling gun that was set up at that base, and severely damaging the two tanks that were near the base, but got covered up in the smoke.
The Lieutenant couldn't help but just scream. "Damn that mother-******* tank tricking us!"
Welkin on the other hand, was quite pleased, and the two heavy tanks were destroyed by the Edelweiss and Largo, and the rail switch was activated. Following up with his quick victory, Welkin ordered all the troops to charge, and the next rail switch was flipped within minutes. Whatever remained of the imperials began retreating back into Ghirlandaio.
"All three rail switches have been flipped captain!" Welkin triumphantly said over his wireless headset. Varrot smiled, and quickly replied with
"Very good job Lieutenant Gunther. Now stand clear of the tracks, as the train will be arriving any minute now. When it destroys the south wall, go in and capture the citadel."
"Yes captain." Welkin replied as Squad 7 started moving out of the way of the tracks. A minute later, small rumbling could be felt in the ground as a small train loaded with a lot of different explosives came charging down the track. Moments later, the train collided with the south wall, causing the first bomb to go off. Following suit, every other bomb on the train exploded, creating a massive blast that blew the southern wall to bits, a thunderous roar echoing all around Ghirlandaio as chunks of rock and steel crumbled to the ground, creating a gaping hole where the south wall used to exist. The sun had mostly, the sky a bright orange in colour. Welkin had commented by saying the explosion looked like a giant large swarm of fireflys, though Alicia, Rosie and Largo questioned how they could look alike.
Inside of Ghrilandaio, Selvaria ducked to avoid multiple pieces of shrapnel and stone that would have impaled her. After the roar had stopped, she looked over the edge of her hiding spot to see the south wall had been completely eradicated, leaving nothing but a few chunks lying around and a ton of smoke. Moments later, she spotted the members of Squad 7 slowly coming in to the citadel, obviously on full alert so they aren't taken by surprise.
Among there members, Selvaria spotted Alicia, and intense anger began to well up inside her.
It's her fault I couldn't win Naggiar. Her fault that I've been forced into this situation, and her fault that I was ordered to use the final flame! Well, I'll make sure to repay her in kind!
Selvaria got up and stood in clear sight of Squad 7's members, but they hadn't noticed her yet. She turned on the mike function of her headset so that Squad 7 would be able to hear her voice.
"Proud warriors of Gallia! I must commend you, for you have breached Ghirlandaio's gates!" Selvaria said, her voice echoing throughout the smoking citadel. Alicia was the first person to spot her and shouted:
"Look up there! The Valkyria!"
The other members of Squad 7 looked up as well, different emotions revealing themselves on their faces, ranging from fear to anger. Selvaria stared at Alicia with hatred in her eyes, despising the very sight of her, for it always reminded her of her humiliating defeat.
"We meet again" She said in a soft voice, despite the urge she had to just fire Ruhm while the members of Squad 7 stared at her, not seeming to realize she was carrying a very lethal weapon in her hands. However, Selvaria had some honor to her Valkyrian heritage. When she was in Barious, one of the paragraphs that was written on the wall inside the spiral area room of the ruins said that whenever two Valkyur fought each other, whether it be training, a duel, a personal problem, etc, they would never resort to cowardly actions like attacking their opponent before they had the chance to retaliate. Selvaria's trust in how the Valkyur fought held her back from shooting Alicia, for she was also a Valkyur.
If I am going to defeat her, I will do it in a fair battle, not with cowardly tactics.
After her thought, she resumed speaking. "It appears as though fate is toying with us." She continued, her voice still as soft as ever, but faint traces of anger could be heard.
"You have already defeated me once as a Valkyria. Still, I have come to fight you again. It's a matter of pride. But this time, I will face you as a woman!" She finished, raising Ruhm and preparing it to fire against the foolish Squad that stood before her, pointing the barrel straight at Alicia.
"This will be our last time then. One of us is going to die here!" She shouted, sounding as brave as she possibly could, so that her men would be inspired as well. Adding on to that, she shouted "Now…we fight!" and she hopped down from part of the wall she was standing on to take cover.
Squad 7 got into their battle positions as Welkin shouted his usual trademark 'Squad 7, move out!' line he always said before every mission. Almost immediately afterward, Selvaria pulled Ruhm's trigger and a massive amount of bullets came hailing down on Squad 7's position. It's members either jumped behind the Edelweiss for cover or used the large hunk of rock and metal that was close by. Selvaria quickly pulled back to dodge Squad 7's counter attack, and loaded another magazine of ammo into Ruhm.
Multiple imperial soldiers had come out of hiding now, one of them being a heavy tank that was hiding behind a small building close to Squad 7's position. Welkin didn't notice it until the heavy tank opened fire and blasted the Edelweiss with a high-power tank shell, with the main tank activating it's mortar cannon and shooting a mortar out that caused a small explosion that sent all the members of Squad 7 that were hiding behind the large chunk of metal and rock nearby flying through the air. Selvaria seized the opportunity to fire down on the newly exposed enemies, the bullets bombarding the unfortunate members and severely wounding many of them. The heavy tank was about to fire another mortar shot to finish off the wounded people, but Jann, Audrey, and Largo had triple-teamed against the massive tank and destroyed it before it fired off another round.
Their luck would soon become bleak as multiple imperial shocktroopers came out of hiding and barraged the exposed lancers with a hailstorm of bullets, although the bullets narrowly missed their vital organs. The Edelweiss launched off a mortar round that blew the shocktroopers in all directions and killing them due to heavy impacts against walls.
The Valkyria's unbelievable…not only is she tough, but she's also incredibly intelligent when it comes to strategy. It's only been two minuets and she's managed to wound nearly half the squad.
Welkin snapped back to reality to see Selvaria planning to shoot at the wounded members of the squad. Welkin had already called for a medic, but he had to think of something, or Selvaria would mow down his squad with little effort. Welkin got an idea a moment later, and the Edelweiss fired a tank shell at Selvaria, who ducked in time to avoid it. The shell hit the wall behind and a slab of rock came crumbling down.
Selvaria rolled to the right in order to dodge the falling rock, but the Edelweiss had fired another shell at the wall behind her again, causing her to roll once again in order to avoid being crushed by the falling rock.
"Alicia! Bring some units with you and go up the right staircase while the enemy's distracted! Rosie, you head up the left staircase too!" Welkin shouted. He had to get up onto the higher walls of Ghirlandaio if he hoped to get his squad out in one piece. The medics arrived by now and were using the Shamrock as cover. A rumbling sound came to Welkin's left as the lift to his left turned on. The Edelweiss quickly drove over and got in, and soon emerged on the upper level.
"All right! We've gotten to the higher level! Now counter attack! Surround the enemy general!" Welkin shouted triumphantly, just before the Edelweiss was struck by a massive shell that could have only come from a tank destroyer.
Selvaria smirked. The tank destroyer was designed exactly as it sounded, and she knew the Edelweiss couldn't take another hit. She ordered the tank destroyer to fire again, but the destroyer blew up as she realized the tank's radiator had been hit in one of those 'dude, if you could make that shot again, I'd pay you a million dollars' scenarios by the Edelweiss. In a desperate act, she stealthily managed to get around Squad 7 and get behind the Edelweiss successfully. She raised Ruhm up and pointed right at its radiator.
They'll be forced to retreat if their commander dies. Farewell, annoying brat.
Just as her thought ended and she was going to pull the trigger, her luck ran out as the lift nearby had opened, revealing the Shamrock. Zaka noticed Selvaria standing behind the Edelweiss and activated the Shamrock's flamethrower, flames bursting out of the turret and flying straight at Selvaria.
Her luck changed for a moment as she noticed the flame's reflection in the Edelweiss's armor, and back-flipped to dodge the incoming flames. She was about to fire Ruhm again when she landed when a gunshot was heard and Selvaria felt a bullet enter her leg, massive pain spreading throughout her body as she fell over. Her vision faded a bit, and she dropped Ruhm from exhaustion.
I..have failed…the only option left…
She knew she had been beat, for it was requiring her entire strength just to stand up. Seeing their commander defeated, the rest of the imperials began to throw down their weapons and surrender.
The one who had gotten Selvaria in the leg was ironically Alicia, who rushed forward to pick up Ruhm and give it to Zaka for safety, leaving Selvaria defenseless. Selvaria stared at Alicia and Welkin with hatred in her eyes, wanting nothing more than to just kill them.
The Lupus roared as it fired multiple shells at nearby Gallian sentries that were stationed outside of the destroyed wall of Ghirlandaio, killing them all as their bodies were blown in different directions from the blasts. The Lupus roared into the silent citadel of Ghirlandaio, smoke rising from multiple locations from the intense fighting that took place.
Jaeger got out of the Lupus and parked it inside the darkness that had covered the entire lower level. He put on a Gallian soldier uniform he had stolen, and then walked up to a certain fat Gallian general and pretended to be one of his guards. Underneath Jaeger's armor was a certain ragnite lance and shield, which he was planning to give back to their rightful owner, assuming she was willing to go along with his plans.
Hopefully, she will turn over a new leaf once she hears my plan. If everything foes through, Gallia would be saved, Selvaria will live, and Fhirald will be ale to regain its sovereignty. Three birds with one stone.
His hope driving him, he followed Damon up to the higher levels, where Selvaria had been having a chat with Welkin and Alicia. By the time Jaeger got close enough to hear her, it sounded like the conversation was ending.
"Though I do have to admit, I am curious. Curious to see what cause your life will finally serve." Selvaria said as she glared at Alicia one last time, before Damon's lackeys pulled her away and to the main tower, where she was thrown into a cell.
Luckily for Jaeger, Damon pointed at him.
"You there! You are assigned to watch this war-witch until I'll see her in a few hours!" He said in that unbearably annoying voice of his, and handed Jaeger the keys to the cell.. Jaeger would have preferred to be deaf than have to listen to that fat, annoying ass general any more. Jaeger saluted Damon as best as he could, fighting back the urge to shoot the man where he stood, until Damon walked away up the flight of stairs, laughing in triumph at 'his' so-called victory.
Jaeger made sure that he was gone before turning around and opening up the cell and taking off the Gallian uniform and helmet he was wearing, and walking over to Selvaria, who was just sitting in a corner, unfazed from the surrounding cell, or the water that was leaking onto her shoulder from the ceiling.
"So Selvaria, now that you have lost, what are you going to do?" Jaeger asked. He was determined to convince her not to throw away her life, because Jaeger didn't want to have to see another brave person throw away their life meaninglessly, but because she also had a large potential if she lived. Her beauty could attract many men, and when she found that certain someone, the one that was truly meant for her, she would be able to raise a family. Not only that, but her Valkyrian powers would attract many armies and nations that were being oppressed by the Empire, one of them being Fhirald.
Selvaria made no movement, lost in her thoughts. Deep in her mind, she was still in confusion, trying to make up her mind, but the two sides of her continued to clash against each other, preventing her from making a decision.
Jaeger took out a small journal from his coat pocket and put it in front of Selvaria.
"I think you should read this. This isn't the first time Maximilian has done something like this." He said. This was his trump card. If this wouldn't convince her, nothing could.
Jaeger left the cell and closed it, putting on the Gallian uniform he was wearing earlier, and covering his face with a Gallian helmet. He picked up the Gallian rifle he was carrying earlier, and pretended to be guarding the cell, just in case anyone came by.
Selvaria stared at the book in front of her, and her curiosity got the better of her. She picked up the book and started reading it, astonished by how similar the woman in this book's situation was to what Selvaria's was at the moment.
This woman's name was Maria, who had lost her parents in the first Europan war. She had been planning to kill herself when Maximilian found her one day and took her in as one of his engineers. Her parents were known to be master technicians, and had helped contribute in the construction of the very first Tank Destroyer, as well as many other tank models the Empire used against the Federation with high success.
She proved to be as amazing as her parents, and her new inventions, such as weapons that fired poisonous rounds that would poison the enemy and kill them, if the bullets didn't do that first. She had also made the blueprints to the Eques, the massive train that would later be used at modern-day Fouzen against Squad 7. She had even developed the prototype to the Batomys, although the Empire would later create the Batomys that Maximilian drove at Barious.
Maximilian had always praised her for her accomplishments, which brought many victories against the Federation throughout small skirmishes. She had fallen in love with Maximilian, just like Selvaria had. One day, Maria completed her greatest invention, but it was only a prototype.
Flashback:
"My Lord Maximilian…I've created it! I did it!" Maria gleefully said, proud of her accomplishment.
The crown prince Maximilian turned around and smiled at her. "So, you completed the apparatus that artificially generates a Valkyur's power? Very well then. We shall test it out against the Federation in an upcoming battle."
Maria smiled, happy that Maximilian was pleased. About two days later, it was time for the battle, and the generator had been set up. Maximilian only brought 5000 men versus the Federation's 250,000 men. The Federation was going to do a full-scale invasion into the western area of the Empire, but Maximilian would stop them here.
Or more specifically, Maria would stop them. He turned on the generator, which shot pure blue energy into Maria's body, and she glowed just like a Valkyria. She raised the artificial lance and shot a huge energy blast out of its tip that blew down a whole squadron of Federation troops. Maximilian smiled at the sight, and spoke into Maria's ear.
"We have no time to waste here Maria. It would take too long to defeat them with just the normal Valkyrian powers, so let the fire of destruction rain down upon them. Use the artificial final flame that you can do."
End Flashback
Selvaria kept reading, and learned that Maria had initially refused, but Maximilian had placed a little amplifier on the apparatus that once activated, would force Maria to use the final flame, and he activated it once he was far enough away, causing Maria to unleash the destructive power and utterly annihilating the Federation's soldiers, and killing her as well. The page after contained a small report written by Maximilian that stated he had stolen the plans to the Valkyrian apparatus and was planning on making more of them.
Mixed emotions were filling Selvaria by this point, but they all soon turned to anger when she read the last line, which was about her.
Now that Selvaria's Valkyrian powers have become insufficient, I will command her to unleash the final flame. This will destroy the Gallian army and ensure my victory. What's truly amazing is how loyal she is too me, just like that wretch Maria was. Selvaria won't dare to disobey me, for she is too ignorant to see the truth that I have been playing her like a puppet on my strings.
Selvaria had made up her mind. She will destroy Maximilian for playing with her emotions like this. However, her feeling for Maximilian were still holding her back, and that's when she realized she needed to face them, to show them that she was going to live, and live the way she wanted, not on the end of some strings.
She focused and found her emotions for Maximilian, and lashed out at them, attacking them with all she had, trying to get them out of her head.
"You care for him and you know it…so fufill his orders and show him your love!" She heard her conscious say, trying it's last attempt to convince her otherwise.
"No. I will not. You may be right; I may still care for him, but now that I know the truth, you will not stop me anymore! Disappear from my mind forever!" She shouted back, lashing out at her feelings again. A scream could be heard in her head, and then all was silent. She couldn't hear her other self's words anymore. She was free. She got up and walked up to the cell bars.
"Jaeger…thank you. You…saved me from myself. You showed me Maximilian's true colors. Please let me out, for I have to repay Maximilian for playing with my emotions and manipulating me."
Jaeger smiled, slipping the key into the lock and opening the door.
"Then go get him Selvaria. Oh, and you may need these." With a satisfactory smile on his face, he pulled out the concealed Lance and Shield under his armor. Her lance and shield.
Taking them in her hands once again, she felt the Valkyur's power well up inside her as her body began to glow blue, and the lance and shield transformed right before Jaeger's eyes.
For the first time in a long time, Jaeger got to see Selvaria smile. They stood there for a second before Selvria broke the silence.
"If there's anything I can do to repay your kindness Jaeger, please tell me, and I will fufill it."
Jaeger smiled even wider and laughed, took off the Gallian suit and helmet he was wearing, and then began to walk up the stairs.
"We should go and join Gallia, for fighting with them will give us a better chance of seeing Maximilian again." Jaeger happily commented, for his dream was coming together right before him.
"Then maybe, you could come back to Fhirald with me. They could really use the help of a Valkyria to free themselves from the Empire's tyrannical rule."
Selvaria closed her eyes, and then laughed. "Very well then. Once Gallia is saved, then I shall help you reclaim Fhirald's sovereignty."
She raised her lance, which began to spin clockwise quickly, and a massive blue blast of energy tore through the wall, flooding Ghirlandaio's citadel with an azure shade. The two of them walked out of the hole Selvaria had created, and got inside the Lupus when they reached it after dodging a whole lot of surprised guards and sentries. They had to catch up to Squad 7, which had left about 2 hours ago.
Although all was not as it seemed, for little to her knowing, Selvaria hadn't managed to force her feelings for Maximilian completely out of her mind, as a bit of evil laughing could be heard in her head, but Selvaria was too happy and busy to hear it.
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Wow, that took me a while. The battle scene at Ghirlandaio was hard to write, but that's mostly because I haven't written many battle scenes.
As you'll notice throughout the story, Selvaria's feelings for Maximilian are going to turn into an 'alter ego' of sorts.
Oh, and don't worry, Damon isn't going to get off free. In fact, he's going to get…naw, I think I'll let you see I the next chapter.
I think I could have done a bit better on this chapter, but projects and studying have left me a bit exhausted.
Hopefully you enjoyed this chapter! Please R&R!