As soon as Valimar set foot on the Pantagruel's deck, soldiers of Lamarre's provincial army came in to surround the Divine Knight and attach chains to its limbs. Crow considered it a complete waste of time since Valimar could easily break off on Rean's command, and if that wasn't enough he could just use spatial translocation or the spirit path to leave. The real security in case of any trouble was Ordine keeping an eye on his brother.
But in an airship full of jaegers and monsters from Ouroboros, the provincials needed to feel like they were doing something important otherwise their egoes would get bruised and they would start causing problems.
Although quietly seething in anger, Rean was surprisingly cooperative as he left Valimar's cockpit and surrendered his weapons, following Crow through the airship's facilities. He deserved a little credit, as pissed off as he was, with the Pantagruel still close to Ymir and surrounded by all manner of dangerous individuals he couldn't risk doing anything stupid. Same reason why he stopped their fight on the ground.
The meeting with Duke Cayenne started well, or at least as well as it was possible under the circumstances. The duke went through all the proper pleasantries, had some tea served and all that jazz, one could almost make it seem like a casual conversation, that was if not for Crow and Duvalie standing next to the duke as his bodyguards with Rufus off the the side to witness the whole ordeal.
The duke didn't beat around the bush too much and soon came in with the reason why Rean had been brought there. "I want you, Rean, pilot of the Ashen Knight, to join the Noble Alliance."
Rean himself expressed little reaction, probably already having figured out it was something along those lines. Cayenne seemed to think his offer was just too clever and was incredibly delighted in delineating his reasoning, despite the clearly uninterested expression in Rean's face.
"Now you might be thinking, why would I make this offer when I already have the Azure Chevalier under my command," he extended a hand towards Crow, making the white haired one cringe at being called that pompous alias that was given to him. "Well, he simply can't be everywhere at once and that makes the Imperial forces believe they still stand a chance. That with enough planning and precise strikes they can slowly bleed us dry with guerrilla tactics," Cayenne let out a grating, mocking laughter. "Not that we won't still crush them eventually but it will take time. And there lies the issue, young Rean, time is something the population of Erebonia cannot afford.
"How long will this war last? How many casualties will amount by the time it's over, civilians especially? Not only that, but life has stopped for our country, our economy is tumbling downwards, unemployment and inflation growing, I'm sure I don't have to explain to you that a country at war with itself brings no benefits to anyone."
Cayenne paused for a moment, letting the words settle before continuing, as if he had been imparting some great knowledge on Rean. "Now I know what might want to say, 'This is your fault to begin with' and yes, I'll admit, we do have some portion of blame for the current situation our country faces. But this temporary state of affairs is a small price to pay considering the future Erebonia was heading towards under Osborne's rule. He was striking at the very core of our country, our traditions, our entire social structure…"
Your power, your entitlements, your money, Crow thought to himself.
"And it would never be enough. Rufus here uncovered early plans of the Imperial government to seize assets from noble houses as part of a program under the guise of a so-called 'wealth redistribution program' that was obviously just a front to line the pockets of the ol' Blood and Iron Chancellor."
What a performance, the duke really had to think very little of Rean if he thought he would buy that obvious lie, a piece of propaganda that was ready to be deployed as soon as the Imperial Army was defeated.
"Initially it would be restricted only to the Four Great Houses to make it easy for the general populace to swallow, what do they care if the richest people in the Empire lose some mira, right? But it wouldn't stop there, you know that, and soon Osborne would come for the smaller families, then the commoners as well."
"A slippery slope," said Rean apathetically.
"Exactly! Haha, you understand where I'm getting at!"
It seemed the duke had done a great job at convincing himself of the reasons for the war instead of Rean, who only spoke to be seen as receptive.
"But with your help, with two Divine Knights at our disposal, we can put an end to the Imperial Army's rebellion much quicker and end this useless conflict that is only bringing harm to us Erebonians," he said on his luxury airship, dressed in the finest clothes and sipping on expensive tea made by his personal maid. "The sooner this is all over, the sooner life can go back to normal and we can put this all behind us. I'm sure you're just itching to get back to normalcy, right, Rean? Back to regular teenage worries like school and girls and parties, you can only live your youth once and you're being prohibited from that.
"And just imagine it, the Azure and Ashen Knights fighting side by side, the heroes who put a swift end to the war, ended Osborne's tyranny and reinstated the nobility back on the top. You'll be incredibly popular, nobody will be able to say no to you, girls at your feet at the snap of your fingers."
So far Duke Cayenne had gone according to script, trying to paint his side as reasonable, trying to appeal to Rean with promises of ending the war and stopping the suffering faster, then stroked his ego a bit, painting him as a future hero. Maybe if Rean was naive he would have gone with it but Crow already knew the answer, anyone who knew the guy even a little knew what he would say. He had advised the duke that this was a waste of time but when someone with an ego like Cayenne's got something in his head there was no way to convince him otherwise.
But if even there was a chance Rean could accept the offer, minimal as it was, Cayenne smashed it to bits when he said something that hadn't been discussed previously.
"Of course, I am not expecting you to join us just out of the goodness of your heart and promises being popular, you're smarter than that and it would be unfair considering what we might ask you to do. I hear you are actually adopted, is that right? You are not sure of your actual origins, meaning you are, for all intents and purposes, a commoner."
Rean's body tensed at the words, fingers digging into the armchair. Duvalie noticed it immediately and exchanged a look with Crow, asking if she should be worried about the kid trying anything stupid, but Crow signaled she should keep still for the moment.
"I am sure it must have been rough for you, feeling alienated from the rest of the Schwarzer family, knowing you could never ascend from your lower status. I know Baron Schwarzer had some nasty rumors thrown at him, dreadful stuff really. Why a baron would choose to take in a child of unknown origin is curious, sure, but not the scandal some made it out to be."
Cayenne shrugged with an unconcerned smile, thinking himself so magnanimous for not judging Rean's parents for adopting him, not realizing how condescending he was being.
"Well, here is your opportunity, my boy. I give you my word that if you accept our proposal, when the war is over you will be bestowed the title of baron, just like your adoptive father, and be given your own piece of land. Have you heard of the Capua Barony and the town of Leeves? The Capua family used to own a piece of land to the west of the capital before losing it all on less than prudent economic dealings, then the Imperial Government seized it all. It's yours, provided you accept our offer. Why, I believe you could even have a new family name, be your own man and start your own lineage, no longer under the shadow of your adoptive family!
"This is your chance of being a real noble, Rean. So, what do you say?"
Rufus shook his head while Crow visibly facepalmed and Duvalie kept her usual composure. Out of all the things Duke Cayenne could've offered to Rean, he had got straight into the heart of his personal issues about his family in the most insulting way possible.
Meanwhile, Rean was visibly reining in his worst impulses, with the deep, slow breaths of someone who was trying to control his temperament. Fortunately for everyone involved, Rean didn't do anything stupid. He even managed to suppress the killing intent in his voice. "I… I will think about it, your lordship."
"Ah yes, of course, you need to think it over. It's a big decision after all," Cayenne seemed satisfied and got up from his chair, making his way out of the room. "While you do that, you will be our guest over here. You're free to stretch your legs and get to know this marvel of engineering that is our flagship, within reason of course. Duvalie here will escort you to your room. Crow, Rufus, accompany me, we have matters to discuss."
The meeting seemed to be over as the duke crossed the threshold out of the room, but then he turned back to Rean, this time showing a glimpse of the real duke of the Lamarre Province. "Do think well about your decision, after all, the future of Erebonia, including that of Ymir, rests in your hands."
Rean was guided to his quarters without incidents, unless you consider him slamming the door on Duvalie's face without saying anything an incident, which nobody did except for the woman herself ranting about how rude he was, and there he stayed quietly for the next couple of hours.
Around 2 o' clock, Crow knocked on the door, announcing it was lunch time, and let himself in, pushing a food cart containing a plate covered by a lid and a jar of water and glasses. Rean had been next to the window, most likely gazing at the skies while planning his escape, and was surprised at Crow's arrival, a surprise that quickly turned into a stern look.
"Hey, so, brought you some grub."
The white haired young man placed the cart next to the coffee table and removed the lid on top of it, revealing a serving of five sandwiches. Seeing as Rean made no reaction and just glared at him, Crow put the plate down at the table and made himself comfortable, sitting down on one of the sofas and grabbing one of the sandwiches for himself and eating it.
It took until Crow ate half of his meal for Rean to finally give in and sit down on the sofa opposite to Crow and grab one for himself. He ate it quickly and quietly, avoiding making eye contact with Crow, but did seem to be enjoying his food.
"This whole thing with the offer and all that, it was Cayenne's idea," Crow said. "Nobody thought it would work and after that last bit about, you know, giving you a title, I don't think you're his biggest fan at the moment."
No reply from Rean, he just silently chewed on his food and didn't turn to look at Crow.
"Pretty good, huh? These are fish burgers, made them myself."
"It's fine."
Okay so he said something, progress.
…
Then nothing. Why Crow thought he could break the ice with him with some kind of casual conversation about fish burgers was beyond him. Rean was clearly stewing in anger and no beating around the bush would make what would follow easier.
"I was born in Jurai," Crow finally said and it got the attention from Rean, if the stop mid chew was any indication.
"I was raised by my grandfather. His son, my dad, tried to be a hero and stop a bar fight, got stabbed for it and died, and my mom bounced because she didn't want to raise a kid alone, even if grandpa was there to help. So, since I was like 2 years old it has been just me and my old man, Donovan Armbrust, the last mayor of the former city-state of Jurai."
With that last bit of detail if Crow didn't have Rean's attention before, he certainly had it now.
"Grandpa taught me everything I know about life as well as gambling and card games and how to use an orbal gun. As you can see, he was a perfect role model, heh…" Crow said wistfully, trailing off for a moment. "He used to own a fishing company before getting into politics. As a businessman he was shrewd as hell and we lived as comfortably as it was possible considering the economic situation in Jurai. Then he decided to run for city council and won, after that he went for mayor and won by a landslide, people just really liked him, and how couldn't they? He was the rare kind of politician who actually gave a damn.
"He never said it explicitly but I think he went into politics to fix Jurai, he loved that city and wanted to make it a better place to live. And he did make Jurai better, he had tons of allies and friends both in politics and from his merchant days, he knew how to play the game well and he played it honestly. No shady dealings, no favors, no bribes. Whenever some adversary tried to entrap him, try to compromise him, he would just turn the tables on them, he was smart as hell."
It had been a while since Crow had talked about his grandfather to anyone, a while since he even thought too deeply about him to avoid the bittersweet pain of it all, but he found it was actually quite refreshing.
"Slow and steady, Jurai was getting back on track under his rule. Sure, things would never get back to what they were before the North Ambria disaster crippled our trade back in '78, but things were looking up. The biggest boost to the city came when the Erebonian government offered to connect Jurai to the Empire's railway network."
By this point in the story, even though Rean was feigning indifference he was clearly paying attention, enraptured even, and Crow took a pause to eat the remaining of his burger and give him a moment to process everything.
"It was too good to be true, Jurai would have direct access to trade with the landlocked portion of Erebonia and we could even reach Crossbell and Calvard. There was no way we could reject it and although grandpa was cautious about it, he couldn't defy the city council. So the deal was approved, the railway was built and the city enjoyed an influx of Erebonian capital.
"Things were fine for like six months, a lot of external investment, mostly Erebonian, came in, people got rich, and then that is when he struck. The railway that connected Jurai and Erebonia was destroyed in a so-called terrorist attack and we were once again isolated from the rest of the continent.
"The Juraian government said Erebonia should fix the railway since it was theirs. The Erebonian government said Jurai didn't provide proper security and allowed the attack to happen, we were called sloppy and greedy, and not only did the Imperial government have the audacity to say we were abusing the good will of Erebonia in demanding they fix the railway, but they raised suspicions on us harboring the terrorists that destroyed the bridge since we couldn't apprehend the culprits.
"But you already figured out who the ones really responsible were, didn't you?" Crow bitterly said.
Rean's face twisted into a grimace and he let out a heavy sigh. Crow could see that his former classmate was putting the pieces together already.
"The killing blow came three years later from the one and only Chancellor Osborne himself: an offer to forgo our independence and accept having Jurai turned into an special economic zone. If Jurai accepted it, Erebonia would fix the railway and handle its security, we'd enjoy tax breaks that would enrich us even more and the economy would continue to grow, all we had to do was subject ourselves to Erebonian rule and law. If we rejected it, then all Erebonian capital would leave Jurai and leave us in an even worse situation.
"When grandpa saw it for what it was, it was too late. He had expected a lot of trickery from that deal but not this, and he was caught completely off guard. It was a shrewd move, Erebonia first made Jurai feel the taste of prosperity once again, made us dependent on Erebonian mira, then took it all away.
"Grandpa adamantly opposed the offer, refusing to give in to Osborne's demands but after three years of economic downturn the populace was restless. City council, banks, merchants, unions, everyone was pressuring him to accept the deal, even those who had figured out it had all been Erebonia's doing, they didn't care, they just wanted things to get better again. And what is some pride in exchange for more mira, right!?" Crow shouted. He hadn't meant to, this wasn't about him unloading his hate on Rean, but it was hard to maintain his composure as he recalled it all.
"I can't say I really blame everyone for feeling that way. The regular people with bills to pay and mouths to feed didn't care, they couldn't afford to care if we had been played or not, they had to survive. And the elites who would be fine either way were more than glad to use the citizens' needs to put pressure on my grandfather. Besides, who could we turn to, who could we denounce Erebonia and Osborne to? Calvard? Arteria? Jurai had been trapped, positioned perfectly to be taken over and there was nothing anyone could do about it.
"Grandpa never accepted the deal and in the end city council impeached him with overwhelming support from the citizenry, then the council accepted the offer. The city-state of Jurai was no more, long live the Jurai SEZ. Grandpa received a fat pension for 'services rendered' to stop him from causing any trouble but the point was never the money, the power or holding the office, it was about Jurai standing on its own legs, it was about owing nothing to anybody else and not bowing down. Our pride as a people.
"Osborne had thoroughly beaten him to the point where the once jovial Donovan Armbrust was a husk of his former self. He slipped into a deep depression, days passed where he wouldn't leave his bed, he barely ate, barely talked to anyone, and after a couple of months he just… gave up. He passed away on his bed without a sound. And I watched it all, every single minute of it."
Rean's expression darkened. With the image of his bed ridden father so fresh on his mind, it was easy for him to understand Crow, and the hardened glare he had held thus far slipped into sadness.
"After grandpa was buried I packed up, got all the money I could and made my way to Erebonia, all fire and rage. I was 13 at the time. I didn't have any plans beyond putting a bullet on Osborne, not sure how I would do it, probably would have died trying to storm Valflame Palace with an orbal pistol if I hadn't met Vita. She took me in, told me about Ordine, introduced me to Cayenne and I guess you know how the rest goes."
And there it was, the answer Rean undoubtedly had been looking for since that day in Trista, the answer Crow owed him more than anything. A lull settled between the two for a while, Cayenne's offer and the food on the table forgotten.
Rean shifted and fidgeted in place, tapping his fingers on the couch, and more than once opened his mouth as if to say something just to stop himself. His expression shifted in a dozen different ways and Crow let him have his time to figure out what he wanted to say, even if was just to tell him to fuck off.
"Well, I guess that makes you justified then," Rean said with harsh sarcasm.
Or something close enough to that. Crow shook his head. "I'm not trying to justify my actions, I didn't tell you all this hoping you'd say it's all okay or to feel sorry for me, and you know that. I just felt like you just deserved to know, to understand why all of this happened."
"People are dying, you know?" Rean said after a minute. "Fathers and mothers and children, military and civilians caught in the crossfire. People who have nothing to do with you or the chancellor. What happens if every single one of their loved ones gets in their heads to take revenge? What happens then, Crow? When does it end?"
A question he asked himself over and over again throughout the years of preparations. But the hate had been too intense, the injustice too deep, and the answer that he always gave himself was that why should he give up on revenge, why did he have to be the one to be the better man? How was that fair? Now, with his revenge concluded and his rage gone, all that remained was the truth of his selfishness.
"Three years, you said. You've met with Vita five years ago and you've had Ordine for three years. Why couldn't you just, I dunno, step on the chancellor or something? You obviously don't care about the nobility or Cayenne, why ally yourself with them just to kill Osborne? Why drag the rest of the country into your revenge?"
"A giant robot shows up out of nowhere and kills the chancellor, what do you think that happens? Chaos, unrestrained chaos much worse than this war. The nobles had already been planning a coup for a while before Vita approached them, but it would have been a free for all, provinces against provinces against the Imperial Army, it would've been a blood bath. She was the one who managed to unify them using me and Ordine as the selling point.
"Things are bad but could've been much worse. I made a mess, I know that, and now I'm cleaning it up. Because of me and Ordine, this war will last only a couple of months tops."
"How generous of you."
"If I could have made it so only Osborne died I'd have done it," that snark was starting to tick Crow off. He knew he didn't have the right to be angry at Rean or anybody else for hating him, but it still got under his skin. Mostly because he knew Rean was right. "Do you think it's easy to kill the most powerful man in the continent? It's not like I didn't know there'd be collateral damage, I'm not stupid, but when you want to take down a big enough target-"
"My father got shot."
The words stopped in Crow's throat and the air in the room was dense enough it could be cut with a knife. There was nothing Crow could say in retort to that, an apology was the last thing Rean wanted to hear. Crow hadn't been aware of the attack on Ymir until Vita told him after the fact but considering his role in the war, he might as well have pulled the trigger himself. Had he even been explaining his reasons to Rean or was it all just him trying to convince himself?
"Why Thors? Why do all of that?"
Crow sighed, they were finally getting to the heart of the matter it seemed.
"The intelligence division had their eyes on me, Vita, the ILF and the nobles. Not sure how much they knew but I'd guess they had nothing on Ordine or the panzer soldats. Me getting into Thors was to mess with them basically, keep them guessing and dedicate resources to spy on me slacking off on school instead of the others until the right time arrived."
"Millium…"
"Yep, that was pretty shocking to be honest, didn't expect them to be that direct. But that meant she wasn't chasing down Scarlet or Gideon or Vulcan or any other operatives or spying on the leaders of the Four Great Houses. A lot that we did was just diversion, Heimdallr, Roer, Garrelia Fortress, all so the Noble Alliance could have some breathing room. I also was there to keep an eye out for Valimar."
"What does Vita want with the Divine Knights, she orchestrated this whole thing just for them, didn't she? What's her plan?"
"That… Is a question you better ask her," Crow said somewhat reluctantly and earned an annoyed click of the tongue from Rean.
So it was over, this miserable conversation he knew would make him feel like shit was done, right?
"So all this time you were at school, it was all fake, huh?"
Nope. The worst part was about to begin.
"That talk of friends, girls and getting into trouble, growing up and having a normal school life, it was all bullshit. From day one you already knew how things would turn out, didn't you?" The downcast look from Crow was the answer he could muster. "You knew about Valimar, that I was an Awakener and we'd fight. So why… Why get close to me, why make me think we were friends?"
Hurt. There was no other word to describe it. Beyond the anger was the feeling of betrayal from someone Rean respected and looked up to and Crow didn't know where to even begin.
"Why even talk to me at all!? What did you get out of pretending we were friends and helping me out? You just lied straight to my face for months!"
"I…"
"And not just me, what about Towa and Angelica and George? What about the rest of my class? We all trusted you!" Rean shouted and got up from his seat and Crow flinched, all the frustration he felt bursting forth in clenched fists and a rush of blood to his face. "We trusted you! We had your back and thought you had ours! But all the while we didn't know a single real thing about you!"
"Look, Rean, I-"
"You were just tricking us. Was it all a game for you to pretend to be someone else? Were you just killing time seeing how much you could fake your way into other people's lives while you waited your chance to kill Osborne?"
"It wasn't-"
"You must be really proud of yourself if that's the case, huh? Everyone fell hook, line and sinker for your act. You just fooled everyone, nobody was none the wiser to that mask of yours, you-"
"I gotta say it's fucking rich to hear you of all people being on my ass for pretending to be another person!" When Crow realized it, the words had already left his mouth. He thought he could handle whatever Rean had to say to him, he knew he deserved it and that he had no right to get angry himself. But he snapped anyway and immediately regretted it when he saw Rean's shocked stare, which quickly dissolved into shame and embarrassment.
Rean dropped back on the couch, a hand running across his face as he looked away from his former friend. Crow's mouth moved as he tried to formulate an apology but Rean didn't allow him to say anything.
"I guess it was funny, huh?" The raven haired one said with dark sarcasm. "Whenever you got back to your base I bet you had all kinds of stories to tell your terrorist buddies about the loser kid from school trying to fit in, trying to be cool, imitating you. I bet it was a real riot, wasn't it?"
"Rean, I-"
"Fuck off, Crow."
And so he did. Crow left the food cart and just made his way to the door and Rean didn't spare a single glance at him.
Crow closed the door to Rean's room with a frustrated sigh, pitching the bridge of his nose. "Damnit…" He muttered to himself. It wasn't all fake.
"What happened? Did you two break up?" Said McBurn from the other side of the corridor, leaning against the wall with a sardonic grin on his face.
"Piss off, McBurn."
The Enforcer laughed as he watched the terrorist leader stomp his way out.
It was the middle of the night and both Azure and Ashen Knights stood still on the Pantagruel's deck, with the latter chained up to the airship. The soldiers who had up until then been pointlessly keeping watch of Valimar had been called back inside, finally giving the Deus Excellion the opportunity to speak.
"Greetings, Valimar. How is it hanging?" Ordine said, eyes lighting up.
Similarly, Valimar lit up as well and stared at his brother with a slight inclination of his head to the side. "Hanging?"
"It means how are you doing. Crow has taught me modern speech patterns and slang."
"I see."
"Sorry for not saying anything earlier, Crow says the soldiers think it's creepy when I speak by myself. So, how are things with your Awakener?"
"Difficult. The Awakener doesn't realize the full extent of his role and our connection."
"Tough," Ordine replied, crossing his arms as if in thought. "Crow had an easier time getting used to it but then things are easier when you're not immediately jumping from battle to battle."
"Indeed."
"Hmm, your speech is still a little stiff. I guess your neural matrix is still reforming itself."
"Yes, it has been a slow process due to the lack of complete synchronicity with my current Awakener. I was able to recall my previous one however, the Erebonian Emperor, Dreichels."
"Ah the Lionheart. I wish I had been there, must've been one hell of a war. What else do you remember from back then?"
"Very little. Some of our other brothers were there but I don't recall who. Considering you knew of Dreichels Reise Arnor I imagine you are aware of the previous Rivalry."
"Yeah, Vita briefed me and Crow on some of it. Not that I can tell you anything, boss' orders, which are Vita's orders actually, you know how it is"
"Indeed. How do you believe this Rivalry will go?"
"What, scared because we won twice already?" Ordine laughed and puffed out his chest but when Valimar demonstrated no reaction the Azure Knight deflated. "Apologies, Crow's demeanor can be difficult to contain at times. Answering your question, I fear that between us, Crow and I have the higher probability of winning."
"That does seem to be the most likely outcome. I must try to connect with my Awakener as well, too much rests solely on his shoulders."
"Worth a try. Anyway, we should retire for now, it was nice catching up to you, brother."
"Agreed. May the best of us emerge victorious."