Chapter 71 – Understanding

~A few days earlier~

"Empress!"

Raphtalia was looking over the various charts and map laid on the table with Sadeena. The palace officials were going over which nobles were in charge of different regions, which ones swore loyalty her, and other domestic issues of state. The modified bioplant seeds Dante left helped with the food shortage the corrupt nobles had caused among the citizens, so it was only a matter of weeding them out. When she was called out, she looked over to the official who came into the room.

"What is it?" She asked.

"Forgive my intrusion, but you've received a message from Shieldfreeden. The people you were looking for have been found."

"What!?" She turned to face him fully. "Where are they?"

The official looked over the message. "Ruftmila, the disgraced emperor, was sighted in the capital just this morning. Spies were dispatched by the chancellor to keep watch until your arrival."

A single look from Raphtalia was all Sadeena needed. The older woman followed her to the door.

"E-Empress?" The official watched her pass.

"We'll be back." Raphtalia told him.

"Wait, Empress! We can send our warriors with you!" The official called out.

"We have our party with us." Raphtalia gave him a glance and listened to nothing else he said.

They made their way to where the others were at. "Shouldn't we tell little Dante about this, little Raphtalia?" Sadeena asked as they walked.

Raphtalia slowed for a moment before continuing her pace. "No. I want us to see them first."

"Hmm~. Are you sure?"

"We have two heroes, and there are five of us." Raphtalia reasoned. "Besides…Dante might not be in the mood to talk with them."

She wasn't too worried. Ruftmila had a weapon against heroes, but they wouldn't have time to use a Sakura Stone, if they even had one. It was highly unlikely they had any allies, since all the ones in Shieldfreeden surely went to the Wave and perished. Additionally, the information they uncovered in Q'ten Lo suggested Shildina and Ruftmila were to be little more than tools, meant to be discarded when their use was up.

It was only a short while later until the others were informed and they all teleported to Shieldfreeden's capital with Raphtalia's portal skill. A clerk at the senate got them the information and they set out to where their missing relatives were. JoJo pulled the cart, being given directions by one of the spies that returned.

Nearly half an hour later, they arrived at the outskirts of a medium-sized village. The spy directed them to a house near the edge that was abandoned. Or, at least it used to be.

Raphtalia spotted movement inside, coupled with Sadeena's echolocation ability. They planned to approach it more stealthily, but the movement became quick and erratic.

"Keep the villagers away." Raphtalia told the spies.

They quickly got to work, siting a notice the clerk gave the group for the arrest of criminals. Rifana quickly cast a few support spells on the five of them, just in case it turned violent quickly.

"We know who you are!" Raphtalia's voice boomed out. "Come out now or we will force you out!"

Weapons were drawn and transformations were undergone. Despite her desire to talk first, Raphtalia was more than willing to fight.

The door to the house slowly opened. Ruftmila peaked out, a hand holding the scabbard of his katana. His hair looked like it hadn't been brushed out in quite a while.

"We have no quarrel with you anymore!" The tanuki man called out. "Leave us be, or we will defend ourselves!"

"That isn't an option!" Raphtalia retorted, slowly approaching. The others inched forward as well, though there was still plenty of distance to the house.

"Leave!" Ruftmila yelled as he stepped out. His head swiveled around, watching as the party continued their approach.

"We're here for answers." Raphtalia sternly told him. "Surrender, and we'll spare your lives."

In response, Ruftmila drew his blade. "Liar!"

At this rate, it wouldn't be long until a fight broke out.

"Ruftmila…run…" A faint voice called out from inside.

"Shildina, quiet!" Ruftmila quickly called over his shoulder before returning his focus to his foes.

Sadeena stopped moving. "Where's my sister?" She asked.

Ruftmila turned his eyes to her. "You aren't taking her!"

Seeing his desperation, Raphtalia slowly moved her hammer. Ruftmila was quick to return his gaze to her, only to pause. Raphtalia changed back to her demi-human form and placed the Vassal Hammer on her back.

"Shildina can't fight, can she?" She ventured a guess.

"Shut up!" Ruftmila yelled, tears breaking out of his eyes.

Taking in a deep breath, Raphtalia spoke again. "She's injured, isn't she? From Dante's spell." She gestured to the ground in front of him. "Lay down your weapon and surrender. We'll treat her, but we need answers."

The katana in Ruftmila's hands shook. "H-How do I know this isn't a trick?" His voice shook.

"Because…we're family. And I want to know why my cousin tried to kill me, and sided with the people who killed my lover." Raphtalia said as calmly as she could.

Ruftmila shook more vigorously. He clenched his eyes shut, the tears refusing to stop.

Then, he fell to his knees. His katana clanged against the ground before he slid it to Raphtalia.

"Please…" His voice quavered as he lowered his head to the ground. "Please save Shildina. She's all I have left…"

~The present~

Dante listened to Raphtalia's recounting of events. The spells he used back then were laced with curses, evidently. He wasn't surprised, given that he developed a new curse right after. Despite surviving them, Shildina was heavily cursed in the attack. She needed treatment, and they didn't have the funds to do so. What little they had was taken when the shadows of Q'ten Lo approached them.

"It was probably a good idea you didn't call for me." Dante admitted. Personal reasons aside, he was on an island he couldn't teleport directly from.

Raphtalia gave him a nod. "You stopped me from becoming a monster. I thought I should continue that. And, I wanted to understand why they attacked." That was a pretty sensible reason in Dante's opinion. "I remember what you said about the North Ferret Forest. If we took too long, there was a chance we wouldn't get to them in time. Though, from how we found them, that wouldn't have been an issue."

By the time they found the pair, Shildina's burns had scarred over. Her curses didn't fester, but they were close. The holy water they could get their hands on wasn't nearly strong enough, and they weren't really in a position to get some of higher quality.

Despite how they fought during the Wave, Ruft and Shildina weren't that strong. Their stats were high for their levels and they had good equipment—at least, before Dante's spells ruined a good chunk of it. However, their levels were below 60. They didn't have the benefit of a Holy Hero to boost XP gains. Instead, the two of them relied on support spells and potions to give them an edge.

One such potion was the battle potion Dante had been selling. The Q'ten Lo shadows likely got a few from Zeltoble. The aftereffect didn't help Shildina's condition any. What's worse, she used Way of the Dragon Vein with the potion as the focus of the spell. Apparently, it made the effects even stronger, both positive and negative. Dante was glad he never asked Sadeena to try that.

Irritability, insomnia, hunger, addiction, and a few others were common symptoms. Combined with the fact that they were wanted, wounded, and had little to their names, their options were limited.

Once they were brought it, Raphtalia had slave seals applied to them. The palace healers got to treating Shildina, using the strongest holy water available. After that, the two of them had their levels reset. Though unlikely, there was a chance they could have broken free and tried something.

Incidentally, Keel, Rifana, and JoJo took turns watching over them, just in case anyone wanted to try something on either of them.

"So?" Dante looked to Raphtalia. "What did you learn?"

"The shadows told them I made a claim to the throne and wanted them to help kill us." Raphtalia said, looking at her cousin and Sadeena's sister. "In exchange, they'd be allowed to return to Q'ten Lo."

"All that, just to go back to a country that threw you out?" Dante asked as he looked down at the recovering Shildina.

The orca girl shrank under his gaze. "T-This is our home…" She quietly said.

"To murder your sister, Ruft's cousin, and the Shield Hero." Dante reiterated. "Attacking the people trying to save the world from the Waves, all in the hope to return to a place that would likely try to kill you anyway." He gritted his teeth. "My daughter is dead. Raphtalia's lover is dead. All because I got Sadeena pregnant."

"I didn't know that!" Shildina shouted before settling back down. "They didn't tell me that part. I just thought you were trying to take over Q'ten Lo while the Waves were happening."

Leave it to power-hungry idiots to fuck things up.

"And that changes anything?" Dante asked. "You went straight for Sadeena when you attacked us. How does her being pregnant change anything?"

Shildina scrunched up the bedsheets in her hands. "It just does…"

"It doesn't change what you did, what you tried to do." Dante said.

Shildina sat there a moment, a visible shudder going through her body. She pulled the covers from her bed off and slowly slid her legs over the edge. Her left leg was still heavily bandaged, though the curse should be nearly gone by now.

She stood from the bed and looked up at Dante. Her face was solemn, no hint of aggression or disdain. Slowly, she got to her knees. Once on the ground, she lowered head until it touched the floor.

"I can't apologize enough for what I helped do. I don't have anything to offer you except myself. If killing me soothes your anger, then please do so. But, please, I beg you to spare Ruftmila." She spoke gravely and with intent.

"Shildina, no!" Ruft yelled, jumping from the bed and quickly joining her on the ground. "It was my idea to go with them. I knew it was a bad idea, but I didn't care. More than anything, I wanted to help Shildina find…" His voice trailed off briefly. "Please, if you want to hurt someone, hurt me instead!"

Dante sighed as he looked to Sadeena. She wore a hopeful smile on her face. Dante understood her expression well enough. Raphtalia seemed to be of similar mind.

He knelt down in front of the pair. "I'm not going to hurt you." He said, causing the two of them to slowly look up at him. "They used you as tools to be thrown away. They are the ones truly at fault, not you. As for revenge, I already got it. I snapped the neck of the one who killed my daughter, and I killed the emperor who ordered the attack. Everyone else complicit has been dealt with." A quick glance at Raphtalia confirmed that with her nod. "I'm not over their deaths, nor do I think I ever really will be. I don't know if I can forgive you two, but I shouldn't take my anger out on you."

The fact that they had their bodies regressed back to children helped with that, Shildina looking to be about 10 while Ruft looked 8. He didn't want to hurt more kids, especially not ones that reminded him of one of his closest friends here. Certainly not someone who looked like she might be Sadeena's daughter. Plus, their actions a year ago made the invasion very easy.

Dante stood and turned back to Raphtalia and Sadeena. "What do you want to do with them?"

"We should take them to the village." Raphtalia said. "If they stay here, someone will eventually try to use or kill them."

Dante had to agree. Whether or not they swore loyalty, nobles and government officials likely cared for themselves above all else.

"I want little Shildina to stay a child." Sadeena added. "Even with the change in my mental state when my level was reset, I cherished every moment I had growing up normal."

That seemed like the compassionate thing to do for the two kids.

"No!" Shildina quickly disagreed. She stood up, but slowly took a step back when Dante looked at her. "I…I have to make amends somehow. If you are fighting the Waves, then let me help too! Then, if you still want me to be a child again…"

"I don't want Shildina to fight alone." Ruft added, standing as well. "Please, Shield Hero, let me stay with her. I owe her too much to stand back and do nothing."

"Ruftmila, no. I don't want you in harm's way." Shildina told him.

"You taught me how to fight. Let me help you." Ruft said back.

While they argued, Dante thought about it. If Sadeena and Raphtalia were okay with it, the two of them could add considerable fighting power to their group. Ruft should be able to get to the same level of strength as Raphtalia before she got the Hammer, given his physique. He had a year to train with Shildina, after all. As for the orca girl, she would be close to Sadeena's power.

"What do you two think?" Dante asked the kids' relatives as they continued their argument. "It's not what you wanted."

"Hm~." Sadeena hummed in thought. "If little Shildina really wants to make it up to you, I think we should let her."

Raphtalia nodded. "I feel the same about Ruftmila. And with what they went through already, I don't know if growing up like normal would be for the best."

While well intentioned, perhaps Sadeena's idea wasn't the best. After all, she had Raphtalia's parents to raise her. Shildina didn't have anyone like that. The closest was Sadeena, a sister who she spent most of her life hating. Dante couldn't even consider raising Shildina as his own at the moment. What she was a part of, even as a tool, left too big a mark on him.

"Do you trust them?" Dante asked. He noticed the arguing had stopped. "Aside from the slave seals, I mean."

Raphtalia looked over at the silent children. "As long as we treat Shildina well, Ruftmila shouldn't oppose us. He really cares about her."

The tanuki boy blushed and lowered his head. "She was nice to me when I was emperor. Nicer than anyone else."

"Ruftmila treated like a person and cared about me." Shildina spoke. "I'd give my life for him if I had to."

Dante didn't like the sound of that coming from a child, but he recalled something similar Sadeena once mentioned. Raphtalia's father often spoke to Sadeena about her work and treated her well. He saw a resemblance in these two.

"What about you, Sadeena?" Dante asked.

"Little Shildina and I really bonded the other day." She said with a smile.

"Oh? How so?"

"Our parents. Well, our birth parents." Sadeena said.

"Ah." There was certainly a lot to talk about there.

"I put the fear of god into them!" She grabbed hold of Dante's hand, raising it. "This god! The one that stomped around the port town!" She proudly said.

Dante softly chuckled. "You're plenty scary yourself, Sadeena."

"Oh, you~!" Sadeena waved her free hand at him before pointing over her back. "I even got my old harpoon from them."

Now that she brought it up, Dante could see it was different from the one she had before. He remembered there was something special about it, but he couldn't remember what. Certainly it was a great weapon if that's what she had with her now.

Something for later, I suppose.

"Ah, Empress." An official-looking demi-human peaked through the door.

"Minister." Raphtalia greeted him.

"I see you have your party assembled. Will you be leaving with your future consort shortly?" He asked.

"Consort?" Who…

"In a little while. Continue your work while I'm away." Raphtalia told him.

"Of course, Empress." He gave a light bow before retreating.

Dante watched the man walk off before he turned to Raphtalia. "Consort?"

She gave him a sheepish nod. "Sorry. One of the things the palace officials brought up was having a consort to help expand my rule here. They were very insistent on it and planned to start showing me suitors. I was hoping you wouldn't mind?" She said that last bit more as a question.

"How do you think we got messages intended for you, little Dante~?" Sadeena gave him a wink. "One more wife couldn't hurt, right~?"

Dante pinched the bridge of his nose. "When talks about marriage first came up, I thought there'd only be two, maybe three people who'd really want it. Not five or more. This is getting ridiculous."

It wasn't that what Sadeena said didn't make sense. Cal Mira likely had the same system set up to at least receive messages, even if they couldn't send any out. Even though it was quick, Q'ten Lo did just have a civil war, the second one in about a year. The Siltvelt soldiers could help keep order with the populace and any remaining upstart nobles in the short term, and Dante being Raphtalia's consort made them less of a foreign army or occupying force.

It was also poetic, the divine being of Q'ten Lo marrying the divine being of Siltvelt.

"Aren't you the one who proposed to little Malty?" Sadeena asked, earning a sideways glance from Dante.

"But there's plenty of women in Siltvelt who want to marry you, too." Keel added with a smirk, earning a similar look.

"Well…I'm at least okay sharing you with Raphtalia, Mister Dante." Rifana added.

JoJo raised his hand. "Mom's the only one I'm going to call mom!" He said with perfect logic.

Atla hugged Dante's side fiercely. "As long as those other women know their place, I don't care how many wives Mister Dante has."

Dante looked to the ceiling. "The Spirit Tortoise just woke up thanks to some idiot and I gained another fiancé. I've officially lost control of my life."

"Oh…right. That's happening right now." Keel said, turning his head down. "Raphtalia and Rifana mentioned their Wave timers had stopped."

It was what originally brought Dante back to Q'ten Lo, after all. He'd told them all before that the Guardian Beasts would temporarily stop the Waves while they collected souls.

"Okay, here's the plan. Once my skill is off cooldown, we'll head back toward Cal Mira so these two can regain their levels." Dante pointed to the two children. "They won't be fighting the Spirit Tortoise with us, but we have the time to spare. Itsuki is heading there to set up a portal location."

He also needed the time to work on his curses. The springs there would also work wonders for Shildina.

"Isn't there anything else I can do for you?" Shildina asked. "I don't want to wait to start making things right."

Dante shook his head. "The Spirit Tortoise is too strong. Until you regain your levels, there's nothing…" He realized something. He moved around the others and exited the room. The Vassal Axe was right where he left. Grabbing it, he came back in and knelt in front of Shildina.

"Look, but don't touch." He firmly told her as he unwrapped the weapon. "You have some special ability with old items, right? Can you sense anything from this?"

Shildina looked at the held axe. She seemed to recoil at it.

"There's…something wrong with it." She said fearfully. "Like it was twisted into this form. Is it…a spirit implement?"

"It is." Dante said. "I don't know why it's like this. Do you have any ideas, any other feelings from it?"

Shildina shook her head and stepped back. "I'd need to touch it, but…I can't. Not after last time."

"Last time?" Dante asked.

She lowered her head. "Before we were exiled, there was this broken haft. When I tried to store the power of it into a card for later, something took over my body. I…I killed Makina without even realizing it."

That explained their banishment. What Shildina mentioned was likely a broken piece of a weapon used by a former Heavenly Empress. She was the one to kill Makina with Shildina's body in the novels…probably. Dante couldn't remember the details, let alone the old empress's name.

"Hm." Dante hummed in thought. "You are level one and under a strong slave seal. Even if it grants you power, I should be more than able to pull the Axe away from you. But, your injuries…"

"Little Shildina still needs a little time to completely heal." Sadeena chimed in.

"I'm fine!" Shildina retorted. "I…Alright…I can do this. Stand back, Ruftmila."

The tanuki boy was about to argue, but a look from Shildina squashed that. Slowly, Shildina brought up her hand. She inched her way forward, coming closer to the cursed axe. Her fingers reached out and the tips touched the Axe's haft.

"Hm." Shildina closed her eyes. "I feel…something. I'm not sure…"

Her head slumped down.

"Little Shildina?" Sadeena reached for her, but Dante waved her back.

"There's something strange with her life force." Atla said, standing next to Dante.

Even without her saying so, Dante could tell something was off. His Life Sense picked up something in Shildina, but he couldn't tell exactly what. It was almost like there were two people standing where Shildina was.

Then, he fell forward. The Axe was pulled back by Shildina's quick movement, but his grip held. When he looked up, he saw her standing back, the haft of the Axe held tightly in her hand.

Atla quickly pulled Dante up as Sadeena pulled out her harpoon.

"Shildina?" Dante asked, keeping one hand on the Axe while raising his shield.

She opened her eyes, staring at him with burning red orbs.

"You IDIOT!" Shildina yelled. Her voice was contorted, another voice overlapping with hers. "Do you know how badly you screwed everything up!?"

Everyone else in the room got their weapons ready. There wasn't enough room for a full fight, let alone for Raphtalia and Sadeena to transform. The older orca woman gave Dante a look, but he shook his head. She held Shildina's slave seal, but they didn't need to use it. Not just yet.

"Who are you?" Dante asked.

"I can't believe you!" She went on, the voice added to Shildina's sounding like a woman's. "Thanks to you, two of my champions are dead! You've set my plans back by centuries, if not indefinitely!"

"You didn't answer my question." Dante kept his shield raised and a hand on the Axe. "What are you even talking about?"

"Iaoth and Mordigan!" She screeched.

"Iaoth…" Dante's eyes widened. "You sent that angel woman to kill me. You're one of the people behind the Waves!"

He didn't know who Mordigan was, but Iaoth did mention another person would come to kill him. He thought it would that cowboy Duke Chance again, but it seemed to be someone else.

"It didn't have to be this way." The possessed Shildina said through gritted teeth. "That damn spirit…"

Dante was getting annoyed. He was getting barely any information out of this person. "Explain properly, damn it!"

Shildina practically snarled at him. "You were supposed to be my champion, but the damn Shield Spirit stole you from me!"

Dante's eyes widened. "You…"

Before he could say anything else, Shildina staggered. She lightly shook her head.

"No, no, damn it…" She muttered. "I can't maintain…the Guardian Beast has already acquired so many souls." When she looked him in the eye again, the red in them was fading. "Dante MacRory! If you want answers, you will kill the Spirit Tortoise and the ones who control it!"

Shildina let go of the Axe and fell to the side. In a flash, Sadeena was beside her. She kept her sister from hitting the ground, holding her in her arms. Shildina murmured, her hand against her head.

Dante stood still. He couldn't understand what just happened, what that woman meant.

No, that wasn't true. He did understand.

He was never meant to be the Shield Hero. He wasn't a protector. Not really. Not to those outside his family. Not the way the Shield Spirit likely wanted its wielder to be. There were those he went out of his way for, like Rifana and Raphtalia in the beginning. But, he knew that was only because he knew their names.

There were others Dante helped, sure. He helped save the people in Reichnott's territory, but that was a problem he caused. He helped protect people from the Waves, but that was his job. He bought many children from Beloukas and his uncle, but Dante had the money to spare. That was something he decided to do based on his own ethics, not at all for the greater good any such nonsense.

Dante wasn't a protector. He was a destroyer. And suddenly, it made so much sense why he felt so comfortable holding this axe.

Author's Notes:

Mysteries! Mysteries finally being touched on!

A bit of a shorter chapter, I admit, but it felt right to end it here. Part of knowing you're in a story book in the place of the main character is also realizing you probably shouldn't be there in the first place. And now, Dante has better evidence to back that up.

Things are going to get worse before they get better, and then get worse again, and then possibly better.

Just want to give a quick shout out to a fic I recently finished. "Not Your Kind of People" by Quatermass on FF. It's a crossover between Shield Hero and Harry Potter. I don't normally go for too many crossovers where Naofumi is replaced by another character—at least not ones tagged with 'replacement' and Raphtalia as a couple—but this one was pretty good. My first impression of the summary was so-so, but don't let it put you off. And don't worry about needing extensive Harry Potter knowledge. I finished watching the movies maybe 5-ish years ago (can't remember if I re-watched any of the older ones first) and read none of the books and I was still able to understand at least 80% of the Potterverse lore. Should be a fun read.