A/N: Thank you for the alerts, favorites, and a review!

Thank you to my beta xXLiquidSugarXx.

~13~

Footsteps rang out on the steps as two voices drew closer.

"I don't remember about the damn light! I was a little preoccupied after being assaulted by a mad mercenary!" a man said, his voice hoarse and pitched high.

"Blasting an unarmed man with a fireball hardly counts as being assaulted!"

"You didn't see the size of him! I was certain he was going to break my neck for those damn blastia."

Yuri saw two people as he peered around the bookcase he had hidden behind. One was a voluptuous woman wearing revealing black mage robes, and the other was a thin man in a green cloak.

The woman approached the body and knelt down next to it. "You have to admit, this is going to look bad, Will."

"I thought you were on my side!"

"I am, but your claim of self-defense is flimsy, at best. I doubt Barbos or any of his ilk will believe it."

"Those morons should believe me, half of them are so stupid they can't even properly string words together. I'll tell them he threatened me and tried to make off with the blastia cores on his own."

"You said he offered you a lot of gald for them. Where is it? We're going to have to make sure it's far from here if we want your story to have any weight at all." The woman stood up and turned around to face Will, her hand resting at her hip.

Yuri took in a sharp breath when he remembered he was still holding the bag filled with gald in a tight grip. He set the bag gently down onto one of the shelves before slowly sneaking back towards the stairs.

"He was still holding it when I killed him. It should be right here."

Yuri heard the two begin to argue again as he and Repede slowly approached the stairs. He put his foot down on the first step and felt an eerie cold wash over him. It made every hair on his body stand up. Yuri recognized it as the after effects of a detection spell, something he'd often encountered while traveling with Clay.

He swore as he bolted up the stairs with Repede. A shout followed him, and the sound of casting filled the air. He ducked around the wall at the top of the stairs just in time to avoid a fireball, a scorch mark left behind him.

A lightning spell shot up the stairs, arcing from surface to surface until it hit Repede. Yuri cried out as Repede collapsed.

"Dammit." Yuri spun around and grabbed his sword.

The woman had made it up the stairs, and Yuri whacked her in the face with his sheathed weapon. As her limp body hit the ground, another fireball came barreling up the stairs. Yuri danced out of the way, and felt the blazing heat just brush past him.

Yuri sent a shockwave of energy down the stairs, and it knocked Will over as he was casting. He fell in heap at the bottom of the stairs, his neck bent at an odd angle. Yuri felt a lurch of regret at the sight of the dead man, but he didn't have time to dwell. Repede was still out, and Yuri had no idea if more mages were coming. He only had apple gels on hand, and they weren't enough to wake up Repede. He wrapped the chain he used to carry his sword around his belt before throwing Repede up onto his shoulders. He slipped out the alley door he'd come through and stepped into an empty alleyway. Stirrings of unrest rang out from the street.

Yuri ducked out of the alleyway and deftly weaved through many more until he had returned to the inn. He set Repede down on the ground and slipped inside. The inn was near empty at the late hour, and the innkeeper was dozing at the front desk. Yuri rushed up the stairs and towards his room. Karol was still asleep, spread out so that he was taking up the entirety of his bed. Yuri shifted through his bag and drew out a life bottle and a few gels. He snuck back to where he had left Repede, and breathed a sigh of relief as the life bottle woke up his injured friend.

Repede whined and rubbed his nose against Yuri's hand. Yuri fed him the gels and rested against the alley wall as Repede slowly got up.

"Sorry you got hit."

Repede barked and hit his nose against Yuri's arm. All was forgiven.

"We got some information, at least. Those mages said they were dealing with mercenaries who worked for Barbos. That means that the Blood Alliance has their hands stuck in this whole mess. I guess we don't know for sure if those blastia cores were stolen, but I doubt Ruin's Gate would be trading legitimate cores in the dead of night like this." Yuri ran a hand through his hair.

Yuri made no move to get up from the ground, and so Repede curled up next to him. He absentmindedly petted Repede as he stared at the red brick wall across from him. If this illegal blastia trade was tied to two Master Guilds, Yuri wondered if he was a bit in over his head. He would do what he had to, but he was only one man. He couldn't possibly face off against two behemoths.

From a practical standpoint, Raven was probably his best bet to figuring this out. The thought of meeting up with Raven sent his heart pounding. He noticed with some annoyance that most of his anger toward the man was gone. Yuri rested his head against the wall. What had Raven done, really? He had lied, but mostly by omission. He'd helped Yuri, and Karol, and he'd pushed Dilan off of a balcony when he thought Yuri wasn't going to do it. He'd let Yuri kill Ragou. He'd given Yuri the documents in Zaphias. So far, Raven hadn't done anything to mark him as anything but Yuri's ally.

I'll go meet him. Yuri thought as his stomach lurched. I'll hear what he has to say and work with him until this smuggling ring is destroyed.

And if he felt relieved and happy at the thought of seeing that old bastard again, well no one besides Yuri had to know.

~13~

"Yuri?"

A hand landed on Yuri's shoulder, and he cracked open his sleep ridden eyes to find Karol perched at his bedside. Karol crossed his arms over his chest, and his mouth was set into a sharp frown.

"I saw you come in last night."

Yuri groggily recalled slipping back into their room after staying out in the alley for most of the night. He hadn't wanted to leave Repede after he got hurt. He had been certain Karol was out like a light when he'd come back in.

"You tell me you think I can hold my own, and then you go off without me! Do you—"

"Karol," Yuri mumbled, his eyes still half closed.

"—think that I'd get in your way—"

"Karol."

"—or that I'd just mess everything up—"

"Karol!"

Yuri sat up, and Karol's rambling ground to a halt. At the stricken look on Karol's face, Yuri immediately regretted raising his voice.

"I left without you because I still don't want to get you involved. I did something illegal and dangerous last night, and Repede got hurt because of it. I don't want to put you in more danger than I already have." Yuri glanced at the clock on the wall and groaned. "It's six in the morning! Couldn't you have waited to yell at me?"

Karol turned to look at the clock and then looked back at Yuri, his mouth hanging open. "R-Repede got hurt?"

"He's fine. I gave him a life bottle and stayed with him half the night, but he's fine. It was my fault he got hit." Yuri ran a hand over his face. "There's no way I'm getting back to sleep now."

Karol uncrossed his arms and started wringing his hands instead. "I'm sorry, it's just—"

"It's fine, Karol, I get it," Yuri said as he got off of the bed. "You want me to take you seriously, but I don't want to be the person that gets you killed."

"I want to help you!" Karol's nervousness retreated, and he stomped one of his feet against the carpet. "I can't do that if you leave me behind all the time."

Yuri sighed. "Fine, I'll take you with me more often, but not every time. Like I said I'm not getting you killed. And you have to promise me that if things go wrong, you run like hell."

Karol's eyes rounded in surprise, and Yuri was reminded of when they first met. "But that's what I always do, and I-I need to stop."

"Not for this. For this I need you to stay alive and out of jail."

"O-okay." Karol fidgeted. "Are you sure Repede's fine?"

Yuri gave Karol a small smile. "Yeah."

"What did you do last night?" Karol asked.

Yuri thought about the mercenary with the gaping hole in his chest and the mage with the broken neck and found that he'd rather tell Karol anything else.

"There's something I need to tell you first," Yuri began. He half expected someone to barge into their room, but this time nothing interrupted him. "It's about Raven."

Karol's eyebrows drew together in worry. "W-what about him? Is he okay?"

Yuri waited a beat for an alarm to sound in the city, or a dragon to burst into their inn room, but all was quiet. "He's fine, as far as I know. While I went after the Captain running the city, I ran into the First Captain of the knights, Schwann. You ever hear of him?"

Karol's worry was replaced by confusion. "Not really. I don't know a lot about the empire. What does this have to do with Raven?"

"Turns out that the First Captain and Raven are the same person."

"W-what? But Raven is so—" Karol waved his hands in the air.

"Yeah, I know. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes. He's one hell of an actor."

"So, h-he was lying to us this whole time?" Karol asked quietly. Yuri could see the pain in his eyes, and felt a twinge of regret for telling him.

"Not about everything," Yuri found himself saying. "He told me he really was Raven, too. It's like he's living a double life. Spying for the Empire or the Guilds, or both." Yuri didn't know if he'd said that for Raven's sake or Karol's.

Karol nodded shakily. "Th-that sounds really dangerous. Yuri, have you told anyone else?"

Yuri was surprised Karol was more concerned with the apparent danger of Raven's lifestyle than any lies the man had told them. "No, and I'm not planning on it."

"That's good. If we tell anyone, it would be really, really bad." Karol started wringing his hands again.

Yuri reached forward and set a hand on Karol's shoulder. "For us or for Raven?"

"For all of us! But especially for me and you. I mean, the First Captain is really powerful, right? And Raven's in Altosk, and he got us this hotel." Karol looked around the room as if he expected something to jump out of the shadows at him.

"Karol." Yuri squeezed his shoulder, and Karol looked back up at Yuri. "If Raven was going to hurt either of us, he already would have done it. I agree that we shouldn't tell anyone, but he's not going to send assassins after us just over what happened in Heliord."

Karol nodded and stopped wringing his hands. "Do you think he actually l-liked us at all?" Karol bit his lip.

Yuri's throat was suddenly dry. "Yeah, I think he did, and I think he still does."

Karol gave Yuri a shaky smile. "Are we ever gonna see him again?"

Yuri let go of Karol's shoulder and looked at the window illuminated by the rising sun. "I'm meeting him in two days."

"Can I come with you? I-I think I want to talk to him."

"Sure, just let me talk to him first. I still don't know what he's going to do, Karol."

Karol looked down at their feet. "No one wonder you guys were so mad at each other."

"Yeah, tell me about it."

~13~

Karol kept Yuri busy for the next few days, showing him the sights around town. Though Yuri had been to Dahngrest before, Clay had never given them any time to sightsee. Yuri was unable to sneak off again, as Karol was watching him like a hawk. He had wanted to investigate the Blood Alliance. Their inn was a few blocks from a member's only tavern, but he didn't want to drag Karol along if things were going to go as poorly as they did with Ruin's Gate.

It was now the night that Raven had chosen, and Yuri, Karol, and Repede were walking through the city. Yuri had gotten directions from the innkeeper to find the bar. He was going to have Karol wait outside, though Karol wasn't very happy with that. He had begrudgingly agreed, but Yuri was going to have Repede keep an eye on him.

The sign for the bar was of a blazing purple and blue comet. Yuri found the gaudy sign and run down building to be so irrevocably Raven that he found himself smirking.

Inside, the bar was packed, and the air was so smoky that Yuri had to resist the urge to cough. No one noticed when Yuri walked in, and so he was able to observe from the doorway in peace. There were five tables on the far right of the inn where people were gambling with cards and dice. There was a man near the center of the room strumming on a guitar for the patrons' entertainment, and there were bar maids rushing back and forth with empty glasses and new bottles. Yuri did his best to try and spot a purple jacket in the chaos, and he caught sight of it in one of the back corners. Yuri pushed his way through the crowd, his heart already beating erratically. He gripped his free hand in a fist and steeled himself.

Raven was sitting at a small table with a bottle of scotch next to him. He was back to how he usually looked, no trace of Captain Schwann on him. He held his glass in a white-knuckled grip, and Yuri was concerned he might shatter it. His eyes were staring forward but were unfocused. He didn't even notice Yuri standing in front of the table.

It's now or never. Yuri pulled out an unoccupied chair and sat down.

"Ya didn't even ask."

"I didn't think I needed to at this point," Yuri said quietly.

Raven set the glass he'd been strangling down onto the table. "Guess not. You and me are in fer the long haul, huh?"

Yuri didn't say anything, and Raven finally raised his eyes to Yuri's face. "I thought ya were gonna tear me a new one, kid. What happened ta, 'You're such a bastard!'"

Yuri took one steadying breath before asking, "Why haven't you killed me yet?"

Raven's eyebrows rose. "Well, that wasn't the first thing I expected ya ta ask." He picked up the glass with an unsteady grip and took a drink. "I haven't killed ya because I like ya. It's the same damn reason why I didn't just let ya get yerself butchered in Heliord. Why I got Dilan ta throw that damn party in the first place." He set the glass back down on the table with a loud smack.

Yuri's mouth was dry. Raven was saying he 'liked' Yuri, but there was no way he'd risk so much for someone he just 'liked.' "I didn't ask you to do any of that, old man."

"No, ya didn't. I did it all because I wanted to." Raven stood up from the table. "Come on, kid. I have some explaining ta do, and I can't do it out in the open."

Yuri hesitated a moment before standing up, as well. Raven led him through the din to a set of stairs. They climbed up and out of the haze-filled tavern into a narrow hallway. Grungy, unmarked doors lined it, and Yuri could hear muffled noises of laughter and moans leaking out from behind them. Raven unlocked and opened one of the doors to reveal a skeevy room.

"Couldn't we have talked about this somewhere that wasn't a love hotel?" Yuri asked once the door was firmly closed.

The seriousness that had covered Raven like a shroud lifted for a moment to reveal a lopsided grin. "What's the problem? It's not like any a the people around us are gonna try eavesdroppin'."

A particularly loud moan rang out right when Raven finished speaking, and his grin grew larger until the crinkling around his eyes became pronounced.

Yuri forced himself to turn away from Raven, and focused instead on a large brown stain on the wall to his left. His stomach was churning, and he wondered if he should just leave while he was ahead. I can swear to never tell another soul the truth about him, and he can agree to never tell anyone I killed Ragou, and we can go our separate ways.

Yuri opened his mouth to tell Raven his decision, but was interrupted as he heard Raven step closer to him. "Ya tell the kid what happened?"

"Yeah, I did." Yuri glanced at Raven over his shoulder. "He told me he thought what you were doing was dangerous, and he's scared of what you might do to either of us."

Raven's mouth fell into a grim line. "I'm not hurtin' either of ya. Two skinny kids are the least a my problems. Shouldn't ya be worryin' about that assassin that attacked ya in Heliord instead a me?"

"I'm not skinny," Yuri grumbled. "What assassin are you talking about?"

"Don't play coy with me, kid. I saw the body and knew it was a member a Leviathan's Claw. After lookin' over the register a the prison ya were held in, I doubt any a the other prisoners would have such a high profile group after them." He shook his head. "I didn't mean for ya ta find out as much as ya did in Heliord, but I was plannin' on havin' this conversation with ya anyway."

Yuri turned to face Raven, his interest piqued. "You were going to tell me you were Schwann?"

Raven snorted. "No. Ya only found out because I fucked up. I was gonna warn ya against killing the people in power just 'cause ya don't like 'em. I know I just seem like a damn hypocrite after pushin' Dilan off that balcony, but if ya'd gone in and murdered him like ya did Ragou, ya woulda made even more enemies. I have protection, but yer just a loose cannon. Ya already got people sendin' assassins after ya fer what we did in Zaphias."

Yuri scowled. "That's not going to stop me, and I didn't kill Ragou because I didn't like him. I told you, I killed him to stop him from abusing his power and the people of Nor." Yuri stepped closer to Raven, any of his earlier unease forgotten in the face of his anger. "You threw Dilan off that balcony because he was going to murder that girl. You told me so yourself. You did exactly what I did, and what I'm going to continue to do regardless of what comes my way."

"Are ya sure ya know what yer gettin' inta?" Raven asked, before letting out a sigh. "Do ya have any idea how politics work?"

"Of course I do!" Yuri snarled.

"Then ya should know that no one stands alone, not if they wanna survive. They have allies. If ya go around offin' every bad guy ya see, yer gonna make a lotta dangerous enemies. I fucked up when I pushed Dilan. That man was a powerful ally for the Commandant and I just—" Raven cut off abruptly, and his eyes unfocused. "It was a risky move, and I'm lucky I made it out like an accident. You have no idea what's going on behind the scenes."

Yuri had been building up an angry rebuke, but at Raven's sudden distress and lack of accent, Yuri found himself holding it back. The older man looked genuinely afraid, and Yuri found it disquieting. Even when Yuri had been threatening to shout Raven's secret from the rooftops, he hadn't looked the least bit scared. Now his unfocused eyes were filmed over with terror.

"Raven." Yuri reached forward and put his free hand onto Raven shoulder.

The moment Yuri's hand touched Raven's shoulder, his eyes refocused, and he moved backwards out of Yuri's hold. The fear in his eyes was replaced by careful blankness.

"Sorry about that." Raven shook his head, and the blankness was replaced by a calm that Yuri could now tell was forced. "Do ya get it, now? Ya need ta be careful. Ya don't have anyone watchin' yer back, and just 'cause I'm not gonna kill ya doesn't mean that the countless other players in this game are gonna be so merciful."

"Like I said earlier, I'm not letting that stop me."

Raven closed his eyes.

"If I'm the only thing standing between the abusers and their victims, then I'll take on anything to try and fix things. I promise you that I can handle it." Yuri bridged the space between them. Even as his nervousness returned, he said, "You don't have to get so worked up over me, old man."

Raven opened his eyes and looked up into Yuri's. "It's kinda hard not to."

Yuri's heart was pounding, and he was hit with the desire to kiss the sorrowful expression off of Raven's face. Instead he said, "I'm not going to die. I want to help people, and I can't do that if I'm dead." Yuri took a measured step backwards before he did something foolish. "You don't have to worry about me."

Raven looked away. "There really is no stopping ya, is there?"

"No, there isn't."

"Well, don't say I didn't warn ya." Raven still refused to look at Yuri. "So, ya told the kid, but ya haven't told anyone else?"

Yuri crossed his arms over his chest. "Your secret's safe with me."

"I'm sorry ya had ta find out the way ya did. I didn't mean ta hurt ya." Raven rubbed the back of the neck. "I won't go runnin' my mouth about ya to anyone either."

"Good," Yuri replied. The intensity from a moment ago had faded, and Yuri was left feeling awkward. He uncrossed his arms shifted his weight as silence stretched.

Raven looked back at Yuri, now wearing a familiar grin that Yuri could recognize as fake. "As much as I'd like to spend the resta the night with you in this shady room, I still gotta figure out where all those stolen blastia are goin'. If yer interested in workin' with me ta find out, then meet me outside this bar tomorra night. Maybe after we're done diggin' around we can go back ta my place." He wiggled his eyebrows once, before turning around and heading for the door.

Yuri knew that every word Raven had just said had been forced and fake, and he knew that he absolutely couldn't let Raven leave with those as the last words between them.

"Wait."

Raven stopped, his hand resting on the doorknob.

Yuri was at a loss at what to actually say, so he said the first thing that came to mind. "Karol's waiting outside the bar. If you leave now, he'll want to talk to you. I think you should." Yuri paused. "He cares a lot about you."

"Does he now?" Raven asked as he peered over his shoulder at Yuri.

"Yeah," Yuri's throat was dry, and he knew that Raven wasn't asking about Karol. "He does."

Raven dropped his hand from the doorknob, and he smiled at Yuri. It wasn't anything like the mask he'd warn a moment ago, and it sent Yuri's heart racing.

"Never woulda guessed," Raven replied before looking away and opening the door.

Yuri opened his mouth to try and backtrack, but Raven was gone.