Rebirth of Azure

by Storm VII

After the events of Central Fiction, Ragna finds himself in a bizarre new world that seems to have the chance of a fresh start for him. What is this realm he's been brought to? Is this just another possibility of the Azure? Why does he still remember his past life so vividly? What's the point of it all? The story of the Grim Reaper continues...

16. Matters of Perspective

Blue XVI: Matters of Perspective

"-And so his wife brings the literal hammer down and reminds him If it isn't broken, why fix it?"

"…That's disgusting," Ragna could only say as Yuuki cackled at her own joke. The joke had been made in terrible taste, it was every bit as vulgar as she'd promised and then some, it was too stupid to even be considered low hanging fruit… and damn it, Ragna thought it was absolutely hilarious. He pretended to be looking off to the side checking their flank so his traveling companion couldn't see him trying to hold in his laughter.

The two had been traveling for several hours at this point and neither of them felt the need to stop for a lunch break (they'd both had a light breakfast before leaving the guild) and they'd been moving at a steady pace, much steadier than when Ragna had been traveling with Silvana and had needed to match the young half elf's slower pace. They'd avoided Eric's ruined hometown (though it was doubtful that monsters or bandits would've taken residence there already) and were well on their way to reaching Fortune Step Inn by nightfall. Nothing had stood in their way on the journey so far, but what more surprising was that it wasn't utter agony traveling with Yuuki… yet.

It was in the beginning that Ragna had been the most worried. She hadn't gone 10 minutes before trying to start a conversation with him. At first he tried to just ignore her and tune out anything she said, but dammit if she wasn't persistent as all hell. Since it was clear that he wasn't going to be saying anything about his own past, she'd decided talking about herself. He'd let her do so, partially because he was trying to figure if there was anything he could look further into with what he'd learn. Sadly, there wasn't all that much he could tell just yet, just that she seemed to have a knack for pulling pranks and getting into (mostly) harmless mischief, even to the people hiring her services. Eventually she'd requested to tell a single joke for this stretch of their trip, this brought the two back to current events.

"You liked it," she told the Reaper slyly, catching on that he was trying to hide his own amusement.

"I'm trying not to gag," he lied.

"On your own laughter," she argued back with a just as sharp smirk. Ragna wisely elected to stay silent. Yuuki looked like she was about to push him further so that her pride could take a well-earned win, but instead her face turned almost serious as she sniffed the air. "Smoke… and I think that's Bailo Town on the horizon."

"Looks like it," Ragna agreed as the two got close enough to scope it out for themselves, but far enough so that they wouldn't immediately get spotted. The town wasn't destroyed by any means, but it was in even worse shape than when Ragna had arrived here last in the middle of an undead outbreak. Smoke emerged from inside the high city walls though it was quiet, likely the riots had ended by now and they were either putting out fires or starting repairs. "…Let's go around, this isn't worth getting involved with."

"Even if you caused it in the first place?" Terumi asked.

"What are you-?"

"Your little half-elf told me everything; how you were coerced to save the town, the necromancer down below, what you heard from her about the Strength church's past coup, and what you did to the statue." Right, Silvana actually trusted her which was becoming more of a problem for Ragna. "You must've known doing that was going to cause enough panic to start a riot at least."

"…What do you care? If you'd been there, you would've broken the statue first chance you had," he shot back. Yuuki didn't even try to deny it. "If you're so curious about this place, feel free and stop here. I'm going around."

"You're not getting rid of me that easily," she answered with an actually annoyed glare as the two made their way around the city, moving carefully to keeping their distance from any potential guardsmen (especially those who could recognize Ragna after his last visit). It took a little bit of doing, but eventually they made their way around Bailo town without being noticed and were back on the road proper. Yuuki even waited until she was clear they were out of earshot before continuing their conversation. "Want to pick up the pace? Might as well get some distance between us and that city."

"I don't say this lightly, but that's the best idea I've heard from you. It'll get us to the Inn quicker that way too," Ragna agreed, hoping that would mean less time for Terumi to ask her questions.

"…Alright, I'm so curious that I gotta ask. Why did you do all that back in Bailo town? Wrecking their statues and all that."

"You summarized it all earlier," Ragna reminded.

"That's just what the church of Stroloth had already done, and most of it was probably stuff from before you were born. Doesn't explain why you tried to avenge the Church of Fatalicee or that necromancer."

"…I wasn't really avenging them; I understood where she was coming from, but that's about all I felt towards it." Ragna would be upfront since Yuuki knew most of this in the first place… maybe he could even get some insight based on their reaction. "Leaving things standing with the church as they were though, especially with that statue in the front would've left a bad taste in my mouth. Someone had to answer for those crimes and it turned out to be them."

"And that's all?"

"They were trying to handle the matter themselves and most of the town was getting swept in the damned chaos because of their stupid pride. They had all of this coming and then some. Didn't even want to give me credit for saving the town once they'd found out that Nine had helped me." Ragna thought it over even further. "That doesn't mean I'm a damn judge, but you get where I'm coming from?"

"In a certain way, I guess I see it," Yuuki answered with a shrug. "…You're not a hero of justice type, are you?"

"Hell no." 'How could she ever consider THAT of all things?'

"Good, 'cause I've met a couple of those types on the road. Never really cared since most of them were of the Holier than Thou mentality. You though, I like."

'And I have to put up with that,' Ragna thought, the only reason he hadn't said it aloud was last night's promise to Celica. 'Still, not a whole lot I got outta that. What is it with her?'

"You're still trying to get a read on me, eh?" Ragna nearly fumbled in his step as Terumi called him out seemingly out of nowhere. "And here I thought you wanted nothing to do with me."

'Shit, I'm being obvious.' "…Mind your own business."

"You gonna do the same? 'Cause if you want to find anything else out about me, I demand a nice dinner first, make it candlelit as a plus." She noticed Ragna unable to contain a heavy grimace. "…At least you're not puking this time… buuuuuuut while I've already got you at this point, how about another joke?"

"Ugh… Proceed… but no pirates."

"Right, well this one actually takes place in an ancient church dedicated to a goddess of cheese…"

Later that Night

Much like the other three times he'd passed by this roadside stop, Fortune Step Inn appeared to be busy. Maybe it had something to do with the roadblock still in place around Bailo town or maybe it really had such a good location as a trading hub, but regardless there were plenty of wagons outside while sounds of music and merrymaking were heard from within. It admittedly felt a little strange that this was already the fourth time Ragna had been back to this place so soon, but with some many central roads going through this exact spot it at least made a little sense.

"…Should warn you before we head inside that I've worked up a pretty big tab here," Terumi informed.

"Good, then you can sleep outside."

"Right for the throat this guy!" she shouted but betrayed her outrage with a smile. "Eh, you couldn't afford it anyways. Besides, I don't need you to pay it off in the first place, I give these guys a lot of business and handle special jobs for them all the time. Good terms with them."

"Then why bring it up in the first place?"

"Because I'm trying to get a gauge on you too; take it as a compliment."

"I won't."

"I know," she informed, ending their exchange of verbal barbs as she literally kicked the door open. "I'M BAAAAAAACK!"

In addition to being a regular at this place, apparently Terumi was also a favorite because her callout got a rousing cheer from a couple of patrons while other just raised their mugs in welcoming the mint haired woman. Ragna had to wonder what was making this woman so popular here… maybe the excessive drinking had something to do with it?

"Ah, the headache returns," Heathson Stonejaw, the owner of the establishment, noted though Ragna noticed that even he had a small smirk on his face. Feeling a little alienated, the Reaper made his way through the doorway behind her. "And what's this?"

"Oh, nothing much. Just brought your Boar Killer back."

"For the love of-! Let that name die already!" Ragna shouted leaving everyone other patron in the building to let out a hearty laugh. "And how the hell do you know about that!?"

"Thank Grenda, she talked you up quite a bit last I was here," Terumi answered, leaving Grenda to give him scheming smile as she waved at the Reaper… now Ragna noticed how similar the expression was to his current antagonists. "Along with something about you courting her?"

"Taken out of context and not the truth in the slightest!" Ragna denied, only to result in more laughter as his expense. "Screw it, I'm going to sleep outside tonight."

"No you won't, 'cause if you try I'll charge you double the price of a room," Heathson cut in.

"What!? How the hell does that work!?"

"My establishment, I own the surrounding lands as my property, my rules," the old dwarf said with a chuckle. "Grenda, get the man a drink on the house. I'd say he deserves a freebie… just don't give him the expensive stuff."

"Gotcha pa, already got a drink in mind," she promised before she finished waiting her current tables and headed for the back for the special drink. With her out of the way, Ragna finally made his way to the front desk.

"Two rooms for the night; we're paying separate," he said, reaching for his money.

"Two rooms? When you were here with that hooded girl you only needed the one," Heathson answered.

"That's different; I was responsible for Silvana, I'm not responsible for Terumi in the slightest."

"According to Nine you might be responsible for keeping me in check."

"If that is the case, I've already given up."

"Smart boy."

"Either way, it's not really any of your business. You get more coin this way regardless," Ragna told him.

"Coin I'd love to take, but things are busy right now so I've only got a single room available." Ragna did his best not to scowl. "At least this one's got separate beds for both of you."

"Oh?" Terumi added inquisitively.

"I slept on the floor last time," Ragna said harshly, making things as absolutely clear as possible… even if he was actually lying here.

"…I wasn't going to say anything."

"You're lying."

"I am."

"Regardless, I'll take half payment from each of you; and I take it you'll want dinner and breakfast as well?" Both nodded. "Considering you're both likely going to be already drinking too, money will come to a sliver and four coppers from each of you, more if you want to start buying premium drinks."

'Still doing okay on money at least, but only because Emily and Eric insisted I take an actual share of our leftover traveling funds. I'm going to need to start worry about actual income soon, especially if the capital is going to end up being expensive.' Ragna's current concerns of coin aside, he tossed Heathson the expected money and Terumi did same.

"Ah, figured the lady would try to pay it off with entertainment and chaos like she usually does," Heathson observed yet again.

"Even I want a quiet night from time to time and I hear this one snores so I better get one while I can," Terumi said, of course adding a final slight against the Reaper.

Rolling his eyes, Ragna spotted an empty table off in a quieter corner of the tavern. He headed there hoping to get some time to himself while Terumi spent her time with the patrons who'd welcome her company, but of course she was following him and took a seat directly across. She said a couple of snarky greetings as she passed by the patrons, but nothing that stood out to the carefully listening Reaper. Not too long afterwards, Grenda returned with two drinks; Terumi which she called the usual (Ragna was almost afraid) and his own which she didn't say anything about and only waited for him to try.

'She wants my opinion on this? Alright,' Ragna considered before he took a small sip, analyzing it flavors and shrugging. "Not really an expert when it comes to alcohol, but that probably the best of any stuff I've tried."

"Glad you like it, my own personal stuff finally got properly aged," Grenda told him with a victorious smile. "Dad said it's not ready for the regular patrons, but maybe your glowing review will finally change his tune."

"That or he'll think the stuff is wasted on anyone else," Ragna suggested with a smirk which Grenda gave a hearty laugh at. "So we can order whatever we want as far as food and drink?"

"You get one meal tonight, one in the morning. And while you can technically order as many drinks of our non-premium drinks as you want, once my old man thinks you're starting to be a bother he can cut you off. But he's good at making sure you've hit the point and not cheating you out before that," she explained before looking at Ragna's mug. "And you're only getting one more of my special drinks specifically, so take your time and savor them."

"Will do, and whatever today's special was will work for food."

"Got it. And Terumi?"

"The usual."

"How could I have thought it'd be anything else?"

"Come on sweetie, you know me better than that," Yuuki flirted back. "Also, I go by Yuuki now."

"News to me, since when?"

"Since this guy requested it; apparently he likes that name better." She shrugged. "I'm humoring him."

"How unlike you. Be back soon with your food, but wave me over if you need refills."

"Will do," Ragna answered as Grenda walked off before taking another sip of his drink. 'Heh, Eric would probably love this stuff… too bad I won't be able to send any his way… wonder how the town's doing. All those guys and… Naoto now too. How the kid's doing okay.'

"You look homesick." Yuuki didn't sound snarky in her observation. "…You ever going to tell me about your hometown? You seem pretty dead set against wanting me to know anything about it."

'Well considering what you did to my last one,' Ragna thought irately, but in spite of the alcohol he managed to keep that tone inside his mind alone. "It's not worth getting into, besides you even have a reputation of never telling anyone at the guild where you come from. Sounds pretty hypocritical."

"…Fair enough, but I always could just ask around. There's gotta be someone here who knows you." Ragna didn't answer. "Yeesh, what's in there that you want to hide so bad?"

"There nothing, just don't need you asking about it," he answered bluntly. "Speaking of which, how long are you planning on sticking around?"

"Depends."

"On?"

"How insufferable I find you or how decent you end up being?"

"You're lecturing me on that?"

"You just called me a hypocrite; not much more of your opinion I can lose," Terumi answered with a cackle.

'You don't know the half of what I think of you… even when I'm trying for Celica,' Ragna thought furiously, but managed to keep his temper in check for the moment. "…Fine, you wanna talk? Let's talk."

"About?"

"Your call, but you already have a pretty good idea of what I don't want to discuss," Ragna countered.

"Alright then… how about the Holy Horizon? How was the first round?" she decided.

"Well before… a lot happened; it was fairly straight forward… kinda caught me off guard when I saw someone die in a match I guess."

"From what I can tell this actually a much tamer version all things considered. Up until the last three tournaments the first rounds used to be total blood baths," Terumi answered.

"Really? Even with nobility entering?"

"People of status were usually given special exceptions and were allowed to skip at least the first round, sometimes two if they were especially influential to the church," Terumi explained, something that Ragna had heard tell of before with Tsubaki. In fact, she'd been able to skip to the third round if she'd chosen to, so the Yayoi's probably had a considerable connection to the churches. "Actually, what do you know about the second round?"

"Not much, just that according to a noble I know we're supposed to partner up."

"Then considering what I've learned from the churches… What? I've done work for 'em before," she said in response to Ragna's bewildered complexion. "Anyways, I think I know what this challenge is going to be, and considering the prince and princess are involved in the tournament it has to be biggest event possible… if you're curious about that sort of thing."

'To think I'm getting info from Terumi of all people. WILLINGLY.' "Whatever you got would help out."

"Oh, so we can barter for my information then?"

"I'll lock you out of our room if you don't tell me."

"I can get another key from the owner."

"I'll destroy your bed before you get in, price be damned."

"Then I'll… you don't want to know how I was going to finish that."

"I don't. Talk."

"Damn, you're not a fun date," Yuuki sighed. "So the second challenge can usually be changed around, but if it's specifically a duo challenge along with what I said earlier, then you're headed for the labyrinth."

"And this labyrinth is?"

"Like its name suggests, a massive maze. It's found deep under the capital city but the area that you'd be heading for is the area known as the testing grounds. You head in, you travel through, you'll come across another duo, the winner gets to move on. This has a reputation for cutting the next selection down to a measly fourth. Of course, each time this comes up they usually add in additional twists."

"And the losers?"

"Usually don't end up dead if that's what you're getting at, lot more surrenders in this round than in the first. As for the third round-"

"Doesn't matter to me in the slightest; I'm just going through the second round because someone was counting on me here. Otherwise I'd drop out now." It was after the fact, but Ragna glanced around to make sure no one else heard. He was stuck with Terumi knowing this info, but… it wasn't exactly hidden to anyone that already knew him anyways.

"Bad idea, very bad idea," she told him. "The third round in a way might be even more important than the fourth and final round where the Paladin Lords are decided; it's a case where you need to appeal to the different churches. Basically this is in place to make sure you can garner support for your position. If you make the combat rounds but don't even try there? That'd cast a serious negative light on you. One which will only mean more trouble moving forward."

"But again, I don't want to be a Lord in the first place. Not my style and I don't work well in large groups. The only reason I joined in the first place was because this was a tournament and I wanted to see how strong I'd gotten."

"That's it? And now you're stuck in this mess… though from everything I know about you, it only makes sense," Terumi figured as she took a long swig from her drink and thought it over. "Maybe your best bet would be to find a way to lose out in the second round. Find a way so that you're not screwing out the partner that's counting on you… unless that's what you're going for?"

"It's not." Even if Ragna didn't agree with a lot of Kagura's mannerisms (woman based or otherwise) he at least knew he was a competent leader that put the true needs of the people ahead or his own or even the NOL as a whole. Kagura needed this role and Ragna wasn't going to get in the way of that. "I'll figure something out when I get more details then."

"But at least now you know what you have to do. See? I can be helpful if you give me a chance," Yuuki snickered at him. Ragna wasn't amused.

"What else do you have then?"

"Classic case of street smarts. When we get to the capital, you'll want my help."

"So you're planning on coming with me that far." Ragna barely hid his disappointment.

"You don't gotta worry about me and the tournament; I'm not so chaos crazy that I'm going to stir up trouble for that thing; that's YOUR problem." Ragna had a hard time arguing with that. "Trust me though, I can find jobs for us that wouldn't be posted on the usual guild boards. Some of them pay well too. Between my knowhow, your current reputation, and both of our skills we can really make some real money."

"I'll consider it, depends on what kind of jobs you've got on offer," Ragna answered fairly. "So, tell me more about this labyrinth that's under the capital."

"Can't say, I'm not allowed in there." Ragna was wondering if she really thought that would've stopped her. "Okay, I guess I've gotten a little further into that place that I was supposed to, but I couldn't get very far. They've got soldiers stationed all over the entry way leading down there and they all seem ordered to kill on sight. Hell, I'm pretty sure that knowledge of that Labyrinth even existing is a on a need-to-know basis. I only managed to find out by complete accident."

"You think this means the kingdom's hiding something down there?" Ragna asked, keeping his voice down as their conversation turned serious.

"Sure as hell looks that way. I don't like it, what could be down there that's so important that you need an entire capital city to cover up? That's got to be one ugly secret."

'A secret underneath a city? One buried so deep by the ruling government that it's been kept secret from the general public?' Ragna mulled that over, these circumstances sounding exceptionally familiar to him… and not even close to a good way. 'Wait… is there a Cauldron down there? Or whatever this world's version of one would be? What the hell would I even find on the other side? Would it connect to the Boundary and get me…?' Already countless questions were racing through Ragna mind, he put a stop to them before he could show how deep his concern was to Terumi. "That… that does sounds suspicious as all hell."

"Right? …Truth is don't even know if it's really even a labyrinth in the first place, just what it was called. The test grounds I told you about is just a small section supposedly on the outer part. How it works is a mystery in its own right."

"And you found out about this by?"

"You start talking about yourself, I'll start telling you some of my methods," Yuuki said to him with a sly smirk. Whether he was about to confirm or deny their deal (deny, hard deny) Grenda finally returned with their food which for Ragna was an entire roasted chicken, some vegetables as a side, and a loaf of bread. Yuuki meanwhile just had a bowl filled with already peeled hardboiled eggs. "Oh! I've been waiting for these!"

"I figured; you can tell a lot about your eggs somehow I make sure to set aside our best ones for you," Grenda informed. "Even hardboiled them the exact way you wanted us to this time."

Yuuki then got out of her seat, got right into Grenda's face (having to lean down slightly because of her dwarven height difference) and grabbed her hand. "Marry me already."

'A marriage proposal for her just takes a good basket of eggs? How am I not surprised?'

"Okay."

'She's accepting it!?'

"And for my dowery; all you have to do is pay off your tab," Grenda said with a bright smile.

"…Can't say I didn't try," Yuuki sighed in defeat. The sad mood didn't last long for her though as she tried one of her eggs (once again swallowing it whole) and let out a girlish giggle. "That's the stuff… want one?"

"…Why not?" Ragna answered, leaving Yuuki surprised as she fully expected him to turn her down moodily like he'd been doing. Handing him one of the eggs, Ragna didn't eat it immediately and instead turned to Grenda with a smirk on his face. "Got any mustard?"

"Offer rescinded! Give me my egg back!" It was the first time Ragna had gotten Yuuki to be the one to blow up like this and he couldn't help but chuckle as he tossed her confection back leaving her to catch it with her mouth and… swallowing it whole.

Ragna's own meal was well made and he enjoyed himself in the peaceful dinner that followed (he considered having eggs on hand to keep Yuuki quiet in emergencies) which was only helped by the alcohol he'd consumed. While he certainly wasn't getting full on drunk and was drinking the beer in greater amounts than humans did, the Reaper did realize the slight buzz he was feeling in the back of his mind. This didn't come up often since he never drank like this in the first place, but it was still a solid reminder that even if he was getting stronger his enhanced healing factor was gone.

"Should probably leave it there," he decided as he finished the last swig of a mug.

"The fact that you can still stand is pretty impressive; if this were a challenge you'd probably be able to drink a good few of the patrons under the table," Yuuki commended who'd only had a few drinks herself. "I mean, your face is barely flushed now even after all of that. Heathson's drinks aren't known for being tame."

"I wouldn't know; not very knowledge able when it comes to alcohol."

"Your head would know; you'd be feeling a hell of a lot worse right now," she informed.

"Guess I'll really know with how hard my hangover hits me tomorrow," Ragna figured before letting a yawn. "I'm calling it a night, so you better…" He wasn't able to finish as he noticed several of the patrons moving around the tables from the center of the Inn, moving all of them to the further edges and making room. "What the hell's going on now?"

"Sometimes when people have had a lot of good drinking, there are enough bards staying here, and Heathson can be convinced, people chip in and bay the local bards to play for a few dances," Terumi explained. "This didn't happen any of the times you were staying here?"

"Once was when the Inn was taken up by Royalty and their guards, but it never happened in either of my other times here," Ragna explained. "Pretty sure we at least had a couple of good bards here too. Maybe I just went to sleep too early?"

"That or you were such a downer you ruined the mood just by being here." Ragna's glare at her was scathing, but Yuuki didn't seem to care in the slightest. "Well, I guess the dance floor awaits!"

'She dances? Didn't think she was the type,' Ragna considered. "What happened to a quiet night?"

"I didn't expect you to be that boring. Being bored to sleep was preferable, being bored to death is bridge too far."

"Whatever."

While Ragna had fully intended to head up to his room and get some shut eye, he figured he might as well see what all of this dancing was about. Moving his table out of the floor's area as it was cleared, he stuck to the wall and casually crossed his arms. Before the band had even started playing Terumi already had a request to dance from someone who looked to be a merchant based on their above average clothing. She seemed to both laugh at the offer and give a snide remark or two, but in the end she did accept the offer. The song played was loud and fast paced, several patrons were singing the lyrics consisting of a lord trying to find a husband for his daughter, each of the potential suitors becoming more comedic and insane with each passing verse. The dance reminded Ragna of those he'd watched (and was sometimes forced into) during the harvest festival in his village.

Yuuki had laughed with her invitee the whole while, but by the next song she'd already changed partners twice. This had struck Ragna as trouble brewing at first because she'd gone and danced with a traveler who was obviously married… but by the end of his song she was already dancing with his wife while her previous partner watched on and clapped them along through their performance. In the three songs that Ragna had watched her through, his former antagonist had changed partners no less than ten times dancing with men and woman as well as young and old. Clearly most eyes were on her and she was a favored partner overall.

'This… this can't be the same as anything my Terumi would have done,' Ragna had to admit. 'But if I'm wrong, it's this whole reality that has to live with the consequences. They're too dangerous to not be certain of.'

"Can't say I'm surprised that you're not dancing; you have loner written all over you," Grenda said as she approached the wall bound Reaper before offering him the full tankard in her hand.

"I've had enough and I didn't order that," he informed.

"Make room for this then, it's the premium stuff; one of my old man's more expensive bottles. And it's compliments from her."

Following Grenda's gaze, Ragna's eyes landed on a merchant woman. She wore sharp glasses and hard her bright blonde hair cut short and styled into a bun in the back. Her clothes were probably the most expensive here, well suited for both traveling as well as showing status. She also had a killer figure, despite looking a bit older than him. Her own blue eyes noticed him sitting at one of the few remaining tables and she raised a cask to him. Ragna simply nodded before going for a sip, only to elbowed in the ribs by Grenda, spilling some of his drink.

"You mind? Knowing how much value your old man puts on these drinks, what you just made me spill was probably worth a whole silver."

"It's a business transaction ya idiot. She buys you a drink like that, it means she wants to talk. Don't know a lot of the woman, but I know money when I smell it. You should at least hear what she's got on offer for you."

"…I'm certain you're not the type to take no for an answer, just have to hope she's not nearly as hardheaded."

"Certainly hope not; I have a reputation to keep! Don't want my positioned to be dethroned so easily!"

Rolling his eyes, Ragna made his way around the dance circle until he reached his apparent admirer. She was pretending to watch the dance and tried to appear more interested in that for some reason, but Ragna could easily see her eyes occasionally flick his way. She was putting on airs and his patience had already been tried enough traveling with Terumi.

"You wanted a word?" Ragna asked this bluntly.

"Not at all, I just figured you could use another drink," she told him, acting like she hadn't hoped for this. "How is it?"

"Let me check," Ragna promised as he finally went for his first sip of (what was left after he'd been elbowed) his drink. It was stronger than any of the others he'd tried and even a novice like himself could speak to its quality… in truth though, he was actually a little fonder of Grenda's brew on a personal level. "It's good, very good."

"I know how to pick them. Please, have a seat. Unless you were hoping to dance of course, but standing aside the wall like you were…" He didn't allow her to finish the compliment as he took a chair for himself. "I thought so. Please call me Hestila, I'm the owner of several shipping and merchant outfits as well as a prominent member of this kingdom's merchant guild. One of the top five if I'm splitting hairs."

"Impressive," Ragna answered, trying not to sound too bored. 'Probably only top fifteen. At best she's top ten and trying to build herself up.' "Ragna. Just a simple traveler."

"Humility doesn't suit you; you came in here with Yuuki Terumi and caused quite the scene. Heathson himself recognized you by title. Your name carries more weight here than most of us, likely even mine."

'So she knows Terumi… well it seems like just about everyone here knows her, but it's sounding like she's worked with them on a more personal level.' Not going straight for answers now, he kept his questions in mind for later. "One of the few places where it does. Like I said, a simple traveler… but I'm handy enough in a fight."

"Oh, are you offering your services?"

"For the right price… and client." He made certain to add that last part.

"You can afford to be so choosy in your work?"

"I'm good enough to." It was worded as a boast, but Ragna said it with enough determination that Hestila only seemed more intrigued. "Unfortunately, we may be headed different directions. Where are you coming from?"

"East."

"And I'm heading that way tomorrow, so not this time," he explained, wondering how disinterested she'd be in him now… but if anything she seemed just as intrigued with the man. "…Was there some more immediate that you wanted?"

"…Heathson keeps a good inn, but it can get drafty at times. Especially with how close we're getting to winter."

"Yeah, but I don't get cold easily. Not really much of an… oh."

"It's nothing nefarious; I just want to keep as warm as possible before I set off in the rigid weather tomorrow. Also, yours is a face that I wouldn't mind waking up to."

'Damn this woman's forward… that's kinda hot honestly. I mean, I'd able to stay in a different room than Teru-' Ragna stopped the thought there; he couldn't do it if that was his big reason. "Well, that's-"

"OH NO YOU DON'T!" At Yuuki exclamation all the current music stopped along with the dancing it had been accompanying. Just like that, Ragna found all eyes on the trio. "I'M NOT LETTING YOU SINK YOUR FANGS INTO HIM!"

"I can speak for myself," Ragna insisted, trying not to be too bothered with all of the attention he was currently getting.

"Not in this instance; you have no idea the trouble you're in for," she snake woman insisted, even going so far as to get in between the two. Terumi offing themselves as a shield… that was a new one on Ragna.

"Why hello there Teru-"

"YUUKI." The anger Ragna noticed in the woman's insistence had him wondering what Hestila had done to get her legitimately angry.

"Indeed, how have you been since I fired you from your last job?"

"I flat out told you that the path was needlessly dangerous and you lost two of your guards on the way!" she shouted.

"They knew what they signed up for in advance; and that turned out to be one of my best pay days which earned a sizable bonus for the others. And it's not like you don't have your secrets on the job."

"Oh, like not telling you every single protective measure I've taken when we break for camp? Yeah, real villainous." The two women were glaring right up in each other's faces.

"…Am I moving in on your man?" Hestila asked snidely, playing that card.

"Hardly, guy can't think of so much as a date with me without gagging," Yuuki retorted.

"And here I thought he had good taste… looks like I was right on the money," she retorted with a laugh. "Like any man or woman would-"

"Alright, break it up. You're ruining the mood here worse than I am," Ragna sighed. "I'm going to bed."

"But your drink-" Hestila tried.

"Ruined its taste, plus I like Grenda's stuff better." The dwarven daughter tried not to look too smugly at her father (lies, she was eating the praise up) as Ragna left. Eventually the music began picking up once more, but by then he was already in bed.

Later -Ragna and Terumi's Room-

The thought of being in a room with Terumi still struck Ragna the wrong way even if it was only slightly preferable to taking Hestila up on her previous offer. This set up was helped by a minuscule amount by the tarp that divided the room in two and left Ragna and his previous antagonist sleeping on opposite sides of it. Even then, Ragna suspected he'd be in for a long night.

"…I'm not saying I was going to, but did you really have to cock block me like that?"

"The fact that you weren't outright refusing her meant that there's clearly something wrong with you," Yuuki retorted from her side. Weird, it was like she was upset with him. Not nearly to the same degree as she was with the merchant woman, but still clearly annoyed. "You're just in for trouble with that one."

"How? It seems like you've got a bad history together, but I don't know the first thing about-" Ragna stopped himself, they were still keeping secrets from each other for now and they already called each other out on hypocrisy. The two sat in silence for a long moment. "…I almost got married back home."

"No you didn't. You?"

"Didn't say I wanted to, just that it almost happened," Ragna insisted before sighing. "Back in my home village I was actually pretty popular; my looks set me apart, I was the smartest and strongest kid in by a mile, and I was always the best at the games we played. Also the oldest of my generation, so everyone was already looking up to me."

"And you'd leave all of that for the guild? Sounds like paradise. Or was this marriage what ended up getting you to leave?"

"No, that wasn't why. And having all of that in my village was pretty great, I'm not gonna lie. Good friends, all of the parents seemed to like me, and I only had a couple of people that pissed me off, but they weren't really much of a problem. Anyways, I was twelve when this would've happened."

"That young? You must've been a catch."

"I was already helping to work the fields at the time and it turned out that I was even good at that too. Our mayor's family has a son who was an annoying ass, but he's also got a daughter that's two years younger than me… She was the one that I was set to marry."

"Before we get into what happened, what'd you think of her before all that?" Yuuki asked curiously from the other side of the tarp.

"This sounds like I'm boasting, but yeah I could tell that she was interested in me like most of the girls back home were. I mean I guess she was cute, but we were both kids barely into double digits. I didn't spend too much time with her, partly because of her dick of a brother, partly because she's the very sheltered type, partially because she'd always had such a frail body."

"So it wasn't the person that you were averse to, just the act itself," Yuuki noted thoughtfully.

"You trying to make a point here?"

"Just putting one together, keep talking."

'I hope I'm not damning myself telling them about this.' "Anyways, I wasn't even the one approached about this it was… it was my caretaker who was."

"Caretaker? Meaning you were an orphan?"

"Yep, far back as I can remember." Ragna still hadn't found any clues about who his true mother was in this world, not that he'd been looking at all. "Still, they'd been approached behind my back and thought that I should marry."

"Meaning you'd get pressured into it; even if they're not your direct parent it's still a connection to be formed for some sort of power, either influence or coin."

"And most of the time you'd have been right, but the man raising me was a priest of Reslavia; guy had a firm belief in personal choices."

"You were really lucky then, that's just about the only way you'd have been able to get out of that. So they simply insisted that it was your choice and you managed to turn the mayor's family down."

"That's the long and short of it, yeah. First time my potential bride's brother and I had ever agreed on anything," Ragna thought back a bit smugly. Even if things between himself and Ruth had improved on his last visit, that didn't mean that the two were on good terms with one another. "Even now I'm not really sure what they were trying to do setting the two of us together. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that I was so well liked, or it he just thought I was a better successor than his own son. I dunno, but I don't think back on it much."

"And the girl, what did she have to say about all of this?"

"I don't think she was too upset."

"Or you might've been totally oblivious." Somehow, Ragna could tell Terumi was rolling her eyes on the other side of the tarp.

"I'm pretty sure I wasn't, and even if I was totally oblivious and she was devastated it wouldn't last for long. A couple of months later she would end up leaving our small village for some boarding school, though I'm not sure what town she's in right now."

"Was the call for her to be sent to boarding school before or after you turned her down? Either way it seems like a scummy move… unless she was so devastated that she needed the room from you and wanted to be sent away."

"It's not that last one; I actually saw her a couple of times past that and in spite of everything that happened we remained pretty decent friends," Ragna explained. "As for if it was for before or after… I dunno, I never made the point to ask so I really can't say. She just told me one day that it was what was going to happen and a week or so later I was seeing her off."

"She make any last promises to you before she headed away." She sounded too snide for Ragna's liking, but she was also right.

"Yeah, but it was a pretty basic one. Just that next time I saw her she'd have grown up so much I wouldn't be able to recognize her," he answered casually.

"Translation; I'll have become so much of woman that you'll get down on one knee to propose at just the sight of me. For such a popular guy, you have a really bad read on women."

"Shut it you," Ragna growled as Terumi gave a familiar cackle.

"What about the other girls? How'd they react to the whole marriage thing?"

"…Mixed," was Ragna's honest response. "Of course most of them were fans of mine so they were happy I wasn't settling down with anyone else yet, but then they realized that my reason for not wanting to marry was because I wanted to head for our guild in the north. Of course that wouldn't happen for a while given the state our fields were in, so I gotta wonder if maybe they were trying to get me to change my mind."

"Oh, for sure. They couldn't let a catch like you escape that easily, could they. I'm sure they're praying to Reslavia or whatever other of the divines they've got there that you'll return to your senses, go back to town just for them, and catch them ever so lovingly in those big strong arms of yours." Yuuki cackled at her own absurd idea… and Ragna admittedly had to fight to keep from chuckling. "Of course if that ever did happen or they'd stopped you from leaving in the first place, you'd have never made it to the guild and met the girl of your dreams."

"You trying to make me vomit again?"

"Wasn't talking about me…." Yuuki sounded oddly hurt about something, but it didn't sound like it had anything to do with Ragna's own feelings towards her. "…You want to know about Hestila then?"

"Just what to watch out for." Admittedly, Ragna was more curious how things had gotten so bad between the woman and Terumi. "How many times have you worked with each other?"

"Too many, but seven if you wanted specifics. The first two jobs weren't well paying, but at least there wasn't any drama to be had. Simple escort job for the first one and the second I didn't even have to deal with her directly, just take out a couple of beasts on her trade routes. My third through fifth jobs consisted of some form of sabotaging her rivals. Now I'm not saying I'm a saint since I ended up taking those very well paying jobs, but the last one of those I took I actually got close to getting caught… she made it painfully clear that if I ever was she'd not only leave me to dry but push as much of the blame on me as possible so long as it benefitted herself. Then that last one was supposed to be a simple escort job for one of her smaller shipments. I brought it up earlier during our pissing match. By that point I was already done with her, but I'd lost a lot of coin recently and needed a good job to put me back on my feet."

'How does she go through so much damn money so quickly? Must lead one hell of a partying lifestyle,' Ragna considered, though he didn't forget an obvious gap in the woman's recounting. "You skipped over the sixth job, the one that made you so sick of her in the first place."

"That stays my secret; after all our current exchange is only worth giving out that much. Don't act like you were telling me that last story out of the goodness of your heart or that you were actually opening up to me. I'm not the sentimental type and I'm certainly not stupid. You were telling me a safe story so I didn't know to much about you, just what you were willing to give up."

'Dammit. Can't pull a fast one on her at all.'

"All you need to know is that she holds the value of her own coins in place of the life of strangers. Don't count on fair treatment in her employment… even if she wanted you for something a little more personal. That said… thanks for the story… Raggy."

"That name better not stick."

"Too late."

Ragna didn't give a vocal response and eventually the light from Yuuki's lamp was finally put out. Ragna doused the light from his own lamp, but stayed as awake and attentive as ever. He couldn't afford to be wrong with this new Terumi so he was resigned to stay up all night if that's what it took to be certain.

…Unfortunately, someone else had other plans.

Ragna's Dream

He was back in his hometown, sitting on top of the church to watch the sun rise over the mountains like he had with Silvana. The Reaper let out a low growl as he turned to face the other hooded woman in his life that was giving him all of this grief, sitting with a glass filled with red wine as she looked through to the view she'd created within his subconscious.

"It's been so long. Now you've added another admirer to your growing cast and you have a new power to boot… not that you've been practicing it at all," Pandora said to him. She was electing to stand, keeping a perfect balance despite having yet another half full cup of wine in all of the times Ragna had seen her.

"Mind your own damn business, and stop stalking me." Boy, did that feel familiar as all hell to say. "What do you want?"

"Simply checking in with recent projects and old friends; I'd already said that I wanted you as my champion, didn't I?"

'Champion… dammit, how didn't I see it before?' "Are you one of the seven?"

"One of the…?" Ragna expected her to start laughing to mock him, but instead she shook her head. "I'm flattered, really I am. But no, I'm not one of the seven divine beings that's worshiped throughout your kingdom's churches. My power may still be world changing even as I am now, but I'm not in their league… not yet."

"…You're saying they exist though?" the Reaper asked with narrowed eyes.

"Indeed, and you don't seem as impressed with idea as I would've thought. Yes, all seven of those gods exist, but they're… not exactly what you'd expect."

"Enough being so damn mysterious, what the hell are you getting at?" the Reaper demanded.

"And spoil your surprise? I thought you'd have known me better than now, my dear." Now she gave a dignified laugh. "I suppose you'll just have to wait until you see them with your own two eyes… if you ever get to that point. Somehow though, if anyone can solve the mystery of the gods I have faith that you'd finally be the first to manage."

"Mystery of the gods? What the hell are you talking about? Does this have anything to do with the labyrinth?" he demanded.

"Perhaps it does, perhaps it doesn't. Who can really say? Oh wait, I can. And I'm not going to." Ragna wondered if finally letting his rage out would be better where Terumi or anyone else wouldn't be able to notice him. "…You don't trust this new woman though, do you?"

"I don't," he insisted.

"And you want to know more about the real her?" Pandora questioned.

"Like I can expect you to give me a straight answer after everything you just said," the Reaper huffed as he finally laid back on the dream created room.

"You can't, but just this once I'll tell you where you can find those answers," Pandora offered. "Here's what I'm offering; win the next round of this little tournament and find some way to separate yourself from that woman. Then when next you sleep I'll tell you where to start unlocking the real secrets of her past. Should give you something worth working towards."

"And just how the hell do you know where they are?"

"Because I know a great many things… and I've been keeping a special eye on this one in particular, from long before I met you."

'What?'

"She doesn't know it of course, but it's still just another project that I have. Who knows, maybe you'll find out even more about her when it's time… and maybe even something of yourself."

"…Aaaaaaand more cryptic bullshit, of course." Since he was already asleep in the presence of Terumi and there wasn't anything more he could try to keep his guard, Ragna closed his eyes to try and rest even when he was already within his own subconscious.

This man was still far from boring to Pandora, but he had started to get into a solid routine and self-grounding as of late, and she very well couldn't have that. She had one final trick in mind; one that she was curious as to how it'd change the ever stubborn Reaper.

"Open your eyes."

"Why bother?"

"Just do as I say. You're not going to want to miss this."

Grunting, Ragna did as he was instructed. His sight landed on… a great many things that couldn't have possibly just been in a sky above. Stars, planets, cosmic clouds, entire galaxies,…everything really. A black hole in its condensing destruction, utter void, violence, war, wrath, technology, learning, prosperity, nothing again, rebirth. The flow of information defied any norm of reality and so much more was thrown at Ragna all at once as he stared above, none of it given the slightest bit of context and each facet impossible to grasp for more than an instant.

"…What exactly am I looking at?" he asked. Pandora's head tilted to see Ragna's face directly. He wasn't growing crazy… he didn't even seem overwhelmed… in fact, he honestly almost looked a bit underwhelmed.

"It's.. in your own words, that is the Infinite." Pandora's words were almost dry in her throat as Ragna raised a quizzical eyebrow. "You… don't think it is?"

"Maybe it is, maybe it isn't," Ragna answered with a shrug as he continued to watch on. "I was just expecting for it to be Blue."

Author's Note

Be a video out today on my YouTube channel that'll be… fitting to what we all saw today. Hope you guys check it out. Also, I'll be taking a month long Haitus for May since I'll have a family reunion. That doesn't mean I won't be active… in fact this will make time for a TON of edits.

While that closing line does have some context given BlazBlue's history, it's also paying homage to Sir Terry Pratchett's Discworld. Just a fun little something more for myself, but I can also tie it into this story.

No, many of you will have noticed that I used Yuuki and Terumi interchangeably here and that is by design. Even at present Ragna his having a difficult time thinking of them as two different people even if he had insisted on calling her Yuuki… and I of course had to bring Raggy back. No real debate to be had on that one.

Anyways, let's get into some of those reviews.

Giggukarda Guy: Yeah, goofier Nine was a lot of fun to write since it's just that one thing you don't end up expecting. And this idea that you're talking about… is this for something else? And as far as the Mandalorian comparisons… I DID IT FIRST! (though seriously, this was just a lone wolf and cub style story which Mando is)

The Unplanner: It's possible, and Ragna's keeping ALL OF IT in mind to make sure he doesn't have another of his backstories to deal with.

Vanitas50: You are byfar my biggest and most adamant fan of this work. And thanks so much for the kind words wrapped in food metaphors.

Wlyman2009: A slow start, but let's hope so. Eddie Murphy voicing Terumi… would be interesting.

Kgtab: And here's a new one right after the fact.

ArmantusCumPinnae: Terumi is something of a family name in BlazBlue, and it's clear that some of the names are put in their English order like Tsubaki Yayoi.

ScruffinMcguffin: Don't worry, there will be some story points that will deal with the churches sphere of influence, but I'm going to do my best to take this in as interesting of an angel as I possibly can.

Dracoog101: Terumi isn't malicious yet… just out there.

NiceScourge: Death for him, entertainment for the rest of us.

Imaginations Broken: Hopefully this length left you a little more satisfied.

Guardian of the Azure: DIdn't have to wait long! Here you go!

Slayer: Just for you, WE DOING IT!

Until next time! Ciao!