A/N: Hey guys, just gonna say, glad I was able to take the time to write this chapter! Looking forward to hearing the reviews, so get to reading!

Blood Ties

Yui and Mataras were back-to-back, presently being encircled by three enemy Grimleal pegasus riders, all of them armed with tomes. "That one would make an excellent sacrifice for Lord Grima…" one of them said as he eyed Yui.

Mataras' left eye twitched once. "You just signed your death warrant," he growled as he aimed his palm at the man.

"Get them!" another rider screamed at the others. But before they could unleash their magics, Yui and Mataras sped apart, becoming nothing but blurs at the edge of their enemy's vision. Then, Mataras suddenly appeared behind the one that had suggested sacrificing Yui, and snapped his neck with no discernible effort.

Yui took a slightly different approach, stopping at the side of one of the mages, and aiming her palm at his left hand, which held his tome. The man froze in place as she stared at him with flat gray eyes. "I suppose talking my way out of this isn't going to happen, is it?" he asked.

"No," she replied. White light burst from her palm and struck the tome, releasing an explosion of fire that incinerated the man and his steed. Yui escaped harm by zipping away at the last possible second, though the smell of burnt flesh and the fact that she had just taken a life made her feel sick to her stomach.

I have to do this, she told herself. If I don't more innocent people will suffer. Still, she had to blink away a tear before she turned around to see Mataras hacking his enemy's head off with his sword. The sight made her feel no better, so she turned away and held her hands over her stomach, trying her best not to be ill.

A moment later, she felt a warm, strong hand on her back, and a soothing sensation flowed into her, calming her stomach and nerves. She looked back at her brother with surprise as she asked, "You… You can heal?"

"Not very well," he admitted as he removed his hand. "But… I am the son Asuna as well as Kirito. I inherited some traits from them both, though I took more after my father, as we can all see."

"Wait, so can you use lightning?" Yui asked curiously.

"Again, not very well," Mataras shrugged. "I can use an arc spell if I have enough time to concentrate, but it's nowhere near the level of power that Mother could cast. My dark magic can suffice most of the time anyway."

"Well, actually…" Yui said as she looked down below at the battlefield. The Shepherds were holding the line, but the Grimleal were not giving up, either. "Can we try something?"

"What do you have in mind?" he asked her.

"Hold my hand," she said as she extended her own smaller hand to him. He hesitated, but complied after a brief moment. "Let's try combining our magic, and see what happens," she said.

Mataras frowned at that. "All of my past experiences say that divine and dark magic usually cancel each other out."

"True, but only when pitted against one another," Yui countered. "Come on, what do we have to lose?"

Mataras thought about it for a moment before he nodded his agreement. "All right," he said. "Let's give this a shot. What spells should we cast?"

"I'll use Jaisha," she replied. "What's your equivalent?"

"Goetia," he answered. Taking a deep breath to steel himself, he then began an incantation: "This is the world of man and dragon. Such desecrations must not be allowed…" He pointed his hand down at the biggest cluster of magicians.

"Hear us, for we are warriors of Naga. We now lay thee waste with our divine and darkened powers, and expel thy vast defilement…" Yui added. She too, extended her palm downwards in preparation of her attack.

In unison, they shouted, "White shadows, go forth and purge the wicked!" A beam of shadow that glowed with the brightness of a star shot forth and slammed into the ground, resulting in a massive explosion that swallowed and disintegrated a number of the dark mages. The survivors scattered, looking up to see the black demon and the holy maiden staring down at them, wisps of magic emanating from their bodies.

The Shepherds became emboldened by this, and they surged forward, taking advantage of the confused and frightened sorcerers' state of mind. The battle quickly fell to the favor of the Shepherds, and Mataras nodded with approval at the sight. "Well done," he said quietly.

It was Sachi that spotted the wandering woman. She landed a few yards away from her, just out of her line of sight. She didn't want to frighten her with the blue wings on her back, so she made sure that they were folded behind her back before she ran up to the woman, who heard her coming, and looked back with a frightened gasp.

"Wait!" Sachi said urgently. "Please, I won't hurt you!" To show that she meant no harm, she stopped chasing her and held out her hands to show that she was unarmed.

The woman hesitated, but she stopped trying to run. "Can't go back," she said haltingly. "I hurt… the people. The nice… people."

"What do you mean?" Sachi asked her softly.

"Bad men… come for me…" the blonde woman said, tears leaking from her eyes. "I… cause pain… I burden…" She hesitated, then shook her head in mild frustration, unable to find the right words to convey what she wanted to say.

"You think you hurt people around you because bad things happen to you?" Sachi guessed for her.

"Yes…" the woman said.

"I… I know how that feels," Sachi admitted. "Feeling like a burden to everyone around you, because you can't do anything but watch as they defend you… Being helpless."

"Helpless…" the other woman repeated. "No good… to anyone…"

"But I think that there are some people that want to meet you," Sachi explained. "People that will care for you. Men and women that take in people like us, and don't mind because they care about us."

"I can't…" the woman shook her head.

"They sent me to look for you, to help you," Sachi pleaded. "I feel like a burden to them most of the time, but if you come with me, at least I can do one thing right for them. And they will help you, they will. They want to help all the pain to go away."

"Pain…" the woman said as she rubbed her leg, seemingly without being aware that she was doing so. "I hurt…" A tear leaked out of her eye.

"Please, let us help you," Sachi begged. "You won't be a burden to the Shepherds."

"Shepherds…" the woman repeated. "Shepherds… I know… I…" She shook her head again, almost as if trying hard to remember something.

"You lost your memory, didn't you?" Sachi prodded softly.

"I… can't…" the green-eyed woman shook her head.

"I know some people that might be able to help get them back," Sachi said as she reached out her hand. "All you have to do is come with me. If you don't want to stay with us, we won't make you, I promise."

The lady looked at the offered hand for several long moments, unsure of what to do. But finally, she made her decision.

Robin slammed his opponent with Elthunder, and Chrom followed up by running the man through while he was down, twitching from the effects of the lightning. "That's the last one from this squad," the prince said heavily as he looked around.

"Not quite," a quiet voice said from behind him. The two men whirled around to see Sinon behind them, her bow aimed up at a tree with an arrow ready to fly. She squinted at her target, which Robin and Chrom could not see. She let the arrow soar, and there was the sound of an arrow piercing flesh, followed by a brief cry of pain and a man falling out of the branches.

"That was amazing," Robin said as he looked at Sinon, wide-eyed. "How did you know he was there?"

"I listened," Sinon shrugged. "I heard the branches moving, but there was no wind. I could only assume that someone was hiding in the tree. And since none of our allies would have any reason to try and take a vantage point in a tree, I felt it was safe to assume that he was an enemy."

"How could you hear something so subtle as branches moving during the din of battle?" Chrom asked.

"A lot of practice," Sinon answered. "When you're a sniper, you have to be aware of your surroundings, even while you track your target. That is, if you want to be a sniper that lives to see another day."

It seemed like she was about to say more, but right then, Gaius came running up. He was looking a little pale, but he seemed focused enough for the battle with a sucker in his mouth. "Hey, Blue," he said, his eyes a little wide. "You're gonna want to see this."

Kirito and Asuna wove, swept, and drove through the enemy ranks. Kirito's dual blades shredded through magic blasts that were thrown at him and his wife while her rapier darted out in rapid succession to skewer the spellcasters.

"Not very many swordsmen," he grumbled as he slashed through a fireball.

"You want more people to-" Asuna shook her head in midsentence before adding, "Of course you want more people to fight."

He flashed her a grin in response right before he ducked a lightning bolt and proceeded to cut the caster in half. "Sorry, honey," he said. "No offense to mages, but they're a little boring once you get up close."

"Do I need to show you how boring with a sword I am after this is over?" Asuna shot back.

"I said mages, not-"

"Father!" a familiar voice roared from above. Kirito and Asuna flinched at the volume before looking up to see Mataras and Yui diving down at top speed. Before they could register what was going on, Mataras had shouldered Kirito into the dirt. "AUGH!"

"Are you kidding me wi-" Kirito's voice caught in his throat as he rolled onto his back to see Mataras with a hole in his right arm, and traces of electricity arcing through his body, which was twitching rapidly. "Whoa, what?!"

"Watch… your blind spot… idiot," Mataras growled as he writhed on the ground.

"Brother!" Yui cried as she landed next to him and shot a blast of light at the mage who had wounded him. The man went down hard, and Asuna's rapier was quick to finish the job.

"You…" Kirito said with wide eyes as he looked down at the boy in black.

"I said… I would ensure your survival," Mataras snarled as he tried to stand. "Don't make it… so hard on me." He fell back in the dirt, defeated by the effort of trying to stand. Yui knelt beside him and began to examine his arm, her small hands moving gently across the wounded limb.

"Yui, can we heal him?" Asuna asked as she eyed the arm that had taken the blast. It was completely limp, indicating that Mataras had no control over it anymore.

"Not on our own," Yui shook her head. "The wound goes all the way through, and if he can't move it, there is certain to be damage to the tendons. We need Lady Lissa and maybe Miss Maribelle along with our own power to even have a chance at healing his arm to the way it used to be."

"Mataras, I-"

"Save it," Mataras growled at Kirito. "The battle is all but won, but someone should go and make sure that those thugs don't have reinforcements on the way."

"I'm not leaving you here," Kirito said sternly. "After what you did, you're crazy if you think I'm going away."

Mataras' scowl deepened as he said, "That wasn't a suggestion. Yui can take care of me just fine on her own. Besides, I still have a god arm for magic." He lifted his left arm, the uninjured one to demonstrate that he still had motor control over it. The limb was shaking badly from the effects of the lightning, but the look in Mataras' eyes indicated that he was still capable of channeling his power through it.

"Kirito, go and check with Chrom," Asuna said. "I'll stay here with Yui and Mataras."

Kirito hesitated, but he knew better than to argue with his wife. "All right," he finally conceded. "But as soon as things check out back at the village, I'm coming back with the healers." And he took to the sky, black wings shining as he flew away.

Asuna looked down at Mataras, who refused to meet her gaze, instead looking over at a tree line beyond the village. "Thank you," she said quietly.

He looked back at her for a moment with hard eyes before he nodded once and allowed his eyelids to close as he said, "You are welcome, Asuna."

"Asuna?" the young woman asked with a raised eyebrow. "Why not call me 'Mom?"

"You and Kirito are not my parents, not really," Mataras said while keeping eyes shut. "They died long ago, and dead they will remain to me."

"Uh huh…" Asuna said with a knowing smile. She had heard Mataras' shout of desperation in which he had called Kirito his father, so she knew better. "Well, regardless of whether or not you think of us as your parents, after what you sacrificed today, I know that I'd be proud to have a son like you."

The boy opened one eye at Asuna while arching the corresponding eyebrow. Then he closed his eye again as he grimaced against a wave of agony resonating from his arm.

"Do you want me to start working on it?" Yui asked him. "Maybe I can at least soothe the pain a little."

"No," Mataras grunted. "If it's not healed all at once, it might be impossible to restore the flesh to the way it was. I'll just have to endure this." He grunted a bit as a new wave of pain hit him. "But thank you."

"Chrom! Robin!" Kazuto said as he landed amongst the Shepherds, which were gathering around someone that he didn't recognize. "I need your help!"

"Not a good time," Lon'qu said as he put a hand on the Black Swordsman's shoulder to keep him from shouldering his way forward. "There's been… an interesting development that merits the prince and Robin's full attention."

"Look, Mataras is wounded pretty bad," Kazuto said with a frown. "I need our best healers, or he might lose his arm. Can't you get Lissa to help me?"

Lon'qu's eyes widened at the news that Mataras was down- he had witnessed the boy's skills when he had fought Kirito, and he found it hard to believe that someone could have brought him down in such a manner. Even so… "I can't take Lissa away from this situation," he said. "But I will inform Lady Maribelle of the emergency."

"According to Yui, we need at least four skilled healers to repair his arm," Kazuto shook his head. "Who else can help us?"

"We can," said Suguha as she walked up to her brother alongside Sayuri. "We heard the whole thing, Brother. We might not be as skilled as Lady Lissa, but we can try."

Kazuto only hesitated for a second before he nodded and said, "All right, someone get Maribelle, and grab the strongest staff you can handle. It's pretty bad."

"We're on it," Suguha said as she flew over to find Maribelle and get ahold of a staff that could help the process.

"What happened?" Sayuri asked softly.

"Mataras took a lightning spell meant for me," he explained quickly. "It went clear through his arm and now he's in rough shape."

"I'm surprised he saved you," Sayuri said with slightly widened eyes. "I thought he hated you, or at least resented you for some reason."

"Me too," Kazuto said softly. "Me too…" Then another thought struck him and he asked, "Hey, what's going on that I can't talk to Chrom or Robin?"

"Oh, well…" Sayuri said as she looked over her shoulder at the gathering of warriors. "The lady that I went to find… It turns out that she's Emmeryn, the sister that Lord Chrom and Lady Lissa lost in the war against Plegia."

"What, she's alive?!" Kazuto gaped. "How?! They told me she jumped off a cliff!"

"I don't know exactly, but she's lost most of her memory, and when she talks, she sounds like a small child," Sayuri said sadly. "Poor lady…"

"Well… Chrom and Lissa must be happy, right?" Kazuto asked. "Their sister is back with them."

"They seem to have mixed feelings about it," Sayuri shook her head negatively. "She's not the same as before. I mean, how would you feel if Leafa forgot you and everything about herself?"

"I guess that would be pretty hard," Kazuto realized aloud. Before he could say more, though Suguha returned with Maribelle in tow, and an armful of staves, enough for all five healers.

"Got what we need," she said as she spread her emerald Sylph wings. "Let's go help out Mataras, 'kay?"

"I still can't believe we're going to help that rapscallion after all the trouble he's caused," Maribelle sniffed. "If you ask me, this should be a lesson to him that all of one's negativity can have nasty repercussions."

"Maybe, but he's still a good fighter," Kazuto replied as he spread his own wings. "And like or not, he is Yui's brother. I don't want to see her in pain on his account." Then he took flight while Suguha wrapped her arms around Maribelle and took flight alongside Sayuri.

Lisbeth: Hey! What happened to our screen time?!

Mataras: All in due time.

Agil: Man, calm down, Liz, this chapter just wasn't meant for us. At least we got the whole gang back together!

Lisbeth: Yeah, except for Klein...

Mataras/Agil: Every part needs a pooper, that's why they invited you...

Lisbeth: Piss off!

Mataras: Hey Liz, I got a question for you.

Lisbeth: What?!

Mataras: Do you ever plan to take it from behind?

Lisbeth: Wha-?!

Mataras: I only ask because I think that stick up your ass would get in the way.

Agil: ...Gonna need a senzu bean for that one.

Mataras: Don't think we have those.