Duel X: Lives in the Dark

'Guess I should've figured,' Isabell thought as her eyes slowly opened, taking in the ceiling of her new acquired studio apartment, lying naked in bed as her blanket was the only thing that was giving her any cover. She didn't have to struggle to remember the finer details of what had happened…most of them.

She'd heard stories from her girlfriends of these one-night stand hookups; many of them included trying to remember the events through the following morning's hangover and one of them never managed to figure that much out. Via comparison she had no hangover to speak of (though the alcohol still weighed on her stomach) and the only events of the night that were blurry happened immediately after she'd started to drink too much. She vaguely remembered someone making moves on her, but a glare from her date had shut that down immediately. She expected him to guide her drunkenly back to her room and then… proceed, but instead they had immediately cast a spell that had sobered her up in an instant. She had to wonder if he was just letting her down gently.

Then again, he hadn't hesitated at all when she invited him back to her room.

Passionate kissing, a rustling of clothes that were then discarded, a quick contraception spell cast by said date (normally both parties would each use their own, but eh), and what had followed left her where she was now; naked in bed and thoroughly satisfied… she'd at least wished he'd stuck around a little longer.

"Damn, what time is it?" Isabelle said, only to herself.

"8:15; almost done with breakfast."

And at Ragna's voice, she became suddenly aware of the smell of bacon. Finally turning her gaze from her ceiling to the small kitchen of her studio apartment, her eyes landed on the Grim Reaper from last night. He was already fully dressed and was also wearing a white apron (no idea where he'd gotten that) as he used a frying pan to prepare some bacon along with his own personally made omelets. There was also a pot of coffee brewing for later.

"Morning," she said with a sigh. "Last night was… I mean, WOW."

"Had a pretty good time with it myself," Ragna answered, though he kept his eyes focused on his cooking.

"You better have with how hard you were going," Isabelle sighed. "I just hope I can recover enough to make it into work."

"You will; made sure of it."

"Ha. So you're saying if I didn't have work to worry about, you'd have put me out of commission for a week?" she asked him slyly.

"Try a month."

Isabelle was about to laugh at Ragna's bravado… before realizing that his tone was just as serious as before and he still hadn't taken his eyes off his work. "You… you're serious?" she asked before her head plopped back on the pillow, just imagining it. "Damn… fuck me."

"Already did plenty of that last night." Now Ragna was just being snarky.

"…What if I wanted to be taken out for a year?" she couldn't help but ask.

"How good's your healing factor?"

"Healing what?"

"Then it would kill you," he answered seriously before shutting off the stovetop, plating up, and bringing both meals over to Isabelle's beside. "Here's yours," Ragna said as he handed her one of the plates while taking a seat on the side of the bed with his own.

"Thanks, I- Wait, where'd you get the food? I didn't have a chance to get groceries before we went out last night," she asked.

"Eh, been up for a couple of hours so I did a shopping run for you. Shouldn't have to make another trip for another week or so. Place didn't have too much in terms of selection, ended up just getting the basics but at the very least you'll be covered."

"Oh… Okay." She hadn't expected her first ever fling to be so generous. Truth was she'd have had to stretch her savings a bit for food (even with the extra money she'd gotten last night thanks to Ragna's actions on the plane). Taking a bite of the omelet, she found that it had bell peppers, onion, three different types of cheese, chicken and a whole other slew of flavors. "You never told me you cooked. And you never told me you were a master chef."

"You never asked," Ragna answered with a shrug. "Coffee's coming, but you'll have to give it a minute."

"…I guess asking that you stick around is out of the question." The stewardess turned waitress already knew the answer, but she needed to know for certain.

"I really can't; I've got promises to keep and I can't miss out on this tournament. Money to make and that kind of crap." It wasn't like he could let her in on the darker aspects he suspected were going on behind the scenes. "I won't make any promises of making my way back here any time soon either; Mercenary work keeps me moving all over the place."

"Right, you've already told me as much," she sighed. Glancing off the corner of her room, she saw a TV that was ancient, probably one of the first magical things made since the electricity outage in the last century. It still worked; she'd tried it before they'd gone out last night and there had been several old VHS movies in her closet. "…You think you've got time for a movie before you take off?"

"Yeah, I think I can manage that," Ragna promised before a beep sounded off in the kitchen. "That'll be the coffee. Cream and sugar?"

"Just the former; I don't like sweets; might be why a bitter guy like you stood a chance," she teased.

"Heh, guilty as charged."

Later -The Port-

"You were cutting it pretty close, getting here less than ten minutes before takeoff," Leo scolded, though he was more exasperated than angry.

"But I wasn't late," Ragna retorted. "And you never told me that you were going to be waiting for me. So why are you here? Did something come up?"

"It's actually a lack of action that's telling here; the Post War Administration Bureau hasn't made any public statements regarding the tournament; neither endorsing the tournament's purposes nor condemning its barbarism. And I just confirmed without a shadow of a doubt that they know. For whatever reason, they seem more focused on the recent capture of some Johnny individual. Apparently he's the leader of the Jellyfish Pirates." Ragna had no comment. "I don't understand it either."

"So a lack of action on their side… something's up." He shook his head. "I'll gather what info I can on the inside, but I'll be radio silent for the most part. You'll be fine on your own?"

"Please, any lion worth his mane can handle himself; you're the one going into the proverbial den."

"Well, I'm certainly rested enough for it," Ragna answered without bravado.

"…Anything I should know about?"

"I don't kiss and tell, so no… not that you really wanted to know in the first place."

"Fair enough, just don't do anything that would get you a lecture from…" Leo paused. "Actually, that was another discovery I had. Apparently Kliff's in the tournament. I don't know where he's situated, but keep an eye out for him."

"And make sure he's all right. Remove him from the tournament if I can."

"It would mean a lot to the rest of the Holy Order," Leo answered.

"Right; I see him I'll do just that."

Aboard the Ship

"Better treatment than what I got from Vernon… not like I'm going to thank them though."

Unlike yesterday's trip, this airship was now plenty spacious with several decks for its travelers to walk through. The Reaper himself was off in one of the side areas, exposed to the outdoor air but pressurized thanks to an invisible barrier. He was leaning against the guardrail, resting as the ship brought them closer to the next round in Alaska. It was certainly more crowded than he'd figured it would've been, showing that they'd gathered challengers from several different rounds of the competition. Out here though, he could take the time to himself as he looked over the landscapes below him… most of it ruined after the century long war.

He didn't bother hiding his small scowl as one of the side doors opened beside him. He then caught sight of a stewardess coming out with a prepared selection of alcoholic drinks on the tray she was holding. She was cute too; he could admit to that much readily as she offered the tray in front of him.

"I didn't order anything."

"You didn't have to, sir; compliments from the organizers of the tournament." Ragna gave a mild shrug as he took the bottle of brandy and gave it a long swig. "Pardon my asking, but you wouldn't happen to be a bounty hunter, would you?"

"Mercenary. My work's a little more varied than just hunting down criminals," he explained. "But I'm still looking for work and I'll take what I can get. Why? One of the assholes inside giving you trouble?"

"Not exactly, but we did have someone handing these out and asked that I do the same," she said before bringing out a bounty poster. It was for a woman, one with an absurd amount of long hair and indeed had very sizable price on her head. A kill on site bounty too. "Apparently there's high suspicion that this Millia Rage is part of this tournament and that she's on this exact vessel. A few people inside are looking for her already, so if you wanted an easy payday I'd recommend starting your own search."

"Seriously?" Ragna asked before giving a sudden groan. "This is the best that the Assassin's Guild can do?"

"The A-?"

"Don't even try to play dumb, you could barely play the part. And this is no bounty poster from any guild; anyone who can see past the numbers could tell in two seconds." That seemed to shut the false stewardess up and force her to consider her next move. "Not to mention, I don't like being stalked."

Throwing the bottle with great force, the object was broken in midair as it neared the shadows that should've been too small to hide anyone. The sudden pool cue that emerged had shattered the glass as it got close, revealing a dark-skinned man with white hair covering his eyes. His hair also had a blue assassin's guild symbol tattooed on it.

"…You're good," they said in a low voice. "How long?"

"You followed me out here two minutes after I got on board. I was just waiting for you to make your move." He glanced down at the liquid. "You didn't poison these for some reason."

"What's the point of that? Dead bodies can't search anything. More importantly for a merc like you, the bounty is still valid and we'd pay in full."

"This doesn't have anything to do with tournament coordinators, does it? Internal affair after the rest of your group had got itself caught," Ragna guessed.

"You appear well informed of our history."

"A certain acquaintance of mine has a weird taste in pastime stories," the Reaper answered vaguely. "Get lost, I don't feel like dealing with you creeps now anyways. And as you can tell, your girl isn't here."

"…Let's go," the mystery man eventually decided.

"Sir? Are you certain that's wise? He's seen your face." The assassin disguised as a stewardess looked like she'd be going for the dagger Ragna noticed her hiding in her sleeve at an instant if provoked. "We should-"

"Fighting him now would only serve to frighten our target and draw attention to ourselves. Besides, this man's been smarter than most by showing us clearly how little he truly cares. We'll continue our search; pray you put on a better performance the next group you encounter."

"She won't have to. Plenty of idiots aboard this ship," Ragna muttered. 'Present company included.'

The two didn't leave so much as 'disappear' and again, Ragna couldn't give any less of a damn. There were a few contestants that passed through his section in the half hour that followed, almost certainly looking for an easy payday with the bounty. They'd soon moved onto the next section and eventually Ragna was left to himself.

"…Probably should be the last of them," he sighed. "You can come out now." Silence. "If I'd wanted to turn you in, I could've done so at any time; I just wanna talk." Continued silence. "You want to catch hypothermia? That can't be comfortable."

From under the railing flipped the blonde Millia Rage with a scowl on her face aimed at the Reaper. She appeared cold, which was understandable given her hiding spot left her exposed to the elements. If Ragna still had his brandy he might've offered her a drink, but for now settle for a casting a small fire chant in his palm to serve as a makeshift campfire.

"Why didn't you turn me in?" she demanded readily, not getting any closer to Ragna but enjoying the close proximity to the fire.

"Because the guy already pissed me off from all his stalking. And the less I get mixed up with Assassin Guild remnants, the better." He shrugged. "Plenty of criminals are already here trying to take refuge from the law, guess it would only make sense that you'd try to do the same thing."

"You act like you know me."

"Only secondhand tellings from a certain dandy someone." She knew who he was implying immediately. "If I were you, I'd get out of this tournament and take your chances. You've already got people in here looking for you."

"The man you saw there isn't even in the tournament and he certainly isn't my main problem; it's Zato-One, the former leader of the assassin's guild."

"Zato? I heard that piece of work was put in a dimensional prison," Ragna considered.

"He was, meaning someone had to let him out," she considered darkly. "No doubt he's trying to kill me now."

"And the asshole that just left with the novice?"

"I don't know the woman personally, but that man likely wants me dead so he can end Zato's obsession and reinstate him as the head of whatever remains of the Assassin's guild." She looked deep into Ragna's eyes, trying to figure his next move. "Will that information suffice or are you going to raise the alarm anyways?"

"Like I said; I don't want their money. All the same, you need out of the tournament. Not sure if you buy into that whole wish bullshit, but it's not going to keep you safe."

"What about you? Are you hoping to hire yourself out as my bodyguard? I don't have much to pay you with."

"You sound like more trouble than you're worth anyways," he sighed. "No, I'm not going to be working for you, officially anyways. But we've still got a lot of flight left and you'll need to keep yourself hidden. The good thing about a Reaper like me is I cast long shadows which make perfect hiding spots for your kind. Once we land though, you're on your own."

"And all you want is that I leave the tournament?"

"Again, it'd just be better if you did. There's more going on there than they're letting on; I'm just trying to put an end to it before it starts."

"…And all the bounties that you could collect on?"

"Eh, even saving the world has its fees," he answered with a smirk before holding out his hand, a move that had Millia on the defensive, even while he held it out. "Call me Ragna, Ragna the Bloodedge. Might as well get on a first name basis."

"…Millia Rage, though you already knew that," she returned, though she didn't shake his hand. "This… isn't some bizarre attempt at flirting, is it?"

"Why, does it seem that way?" He sounded concerned when he asked. "Trying not to get in too deep with my trysts and become a manwhore."

'Such a strange one,' she thought, but kept the observation to herself.

Later

Much like Ragna had wanted, nothing else of interest happened during the rest of their flight to the large port town formerly known as Anchorage. Millia had silently slipped away as soon as they'd landed and with no sign of the pool cue wielding assassin or his assistant, Ragna could only hope that they'd gone in the opposite direction of Millia. Not that it mattered too much… though he still couldn't help but feel it strange that he'd been helping out more and more total strangers since the Crusades had ended. With no war to worry about, be it against the NOL or Gears, he could now settle into a life that left him more comfortable in doing so… or might've if this new threat hadn't reared its ugly face.

'Maybe I'm just taking that damn promise more seriously than I first thought,' he also had to considered before looking around the other contestants he'd be dealing with.

There was still a decent number that had made it through the last round. Aside from his own in Seattle, other previous venues had been situated in the Hawaiian Islands and even the Aztec ruins. No one here that he recognized, and out of the hardened mercs, bounty hunters, and criminals there was only one person that stood out to him as being trouble in this round.

A woman with dirty hair, so dirty in fact he suspected that it might be pink instead of the faded brown he was seeing. She was dressed in a tattered white kimono with sandals. She carried a katana at her side, the sheath would remain affixed to her left side since she couldn't carry it in her right arm… reason being she didn't have a right arm… or a left eye for that matter. Her damaged body aside, she was fully set on Ragna like she had some personal intent on killing him.

'Funny. Haven't had to deal with that kind of look for a while… then again, those looks didn't last long either before some idiot wanted to try and go for my bounty,' he recounted. Though they didn't seem as skilled as the woman before him, he then started to notice that he was going to facing off against some of the former members of the Holy Order. No one that he'd directly served with, but members all the same…

…He'd make a point to make sure they weren't among the casualties today.

'Still, that woman over there looks like the only one that could give me trouble and she's GOING to be gunning for me…' Taking his chance, Ragna headed over to her. She only seemed to tense further as he approached, an action which was soon shared by the surrounding participants. "Save it for the tournament, I just want a word."

"I've got nothing to say to you, bastard!" she shouted, her hand staying locked against her katana's grip.

"Bastard? I've never met you before now, where do you come off calling me that?"

"What makes you think you deserve anything less! I know who you serve! Your coat tells me everything that I-!"

"Hold up, that's what this is about?" Ragna insisted before glancing around at the gazes that were focused on him. "It's not like-"

"What makes you think I'd ever care what it's like!" she shouted. "The only reason I don't cut you where you stand is because I need you for answers, answers on your master!"

"Not my master; I'm not even working with them." 'Not consciously anyways.' It didn't look like this woman was going to ever believe him, but he still wanted to make the effort. "Look, you and I are the best fighters here and I don't want any of the Holy Order members dying. You let me do my thing on the rest of the crowd until we fight and you'll get your answers afterwards."

"Why the hell would I ever trust you?" she hissed, her unscared eye glaring at him in pure hatred (though completely misdirected).

"You don't have anything to lose either way; you win and I'll be at your mercy. I win and there's at least a chance that I'm telling you the truth." Glancing around, Ragna got just a bit closer so he could whisper. "There's not much I know about That Man, but I'll tell you everything I can. Nothing will be off the table."

"…Tch, don't worry. You'll feel like talking plenty when I have my sword at your throat," she promised as she stormed off just to get some distance from the Reaper before the time came to run him through. "Try not to die out there… Grim Reaper, Ragna the Bloodedge."

'She's done her work if she even knows my name.' Ragan was almost impressed… almost. "Don't get caught before you get your answers… Baiken." She didn't seem to react. Anyone knew that she had a sizable capture bounty on her head since they needed her returned to the Japanese colonies. If anything, that might've just put more attention on her when the fighting really started. 'Still… her target's…'

Flashback -The Crusades-

"Come and get it!" Ragna called after giving the stew pot one final stir.

The Grim Reaper hadn't even been put on cooking duty that night, but since it was one of the select few things in any world that could properly relax him, he'd actually taken the chance to volunteer for the last week. There wasn't a large variety of ingredients to work with and their amounts and quality left a lot to be desired, but Ragna loved a good challenge when he cooked and this was far from the first time he'd be working with such restrictions. Everyone in the Holy Order certainly appreciated the Reaper cooking if the already forming line was any indication.

"Looks like you've got another incoming hit on your hands," his partner Julia said to him she brought her bowl forward and served herself with a ladle. "Might want to be careful though; you keep this up and Kliff might have to take you off the front lines and make you our full-time chef."

"Please, you say that like we can afford to keep any manpower off of the battlefield," Ragna reminded. "Least of all the guy with the most confirmed kills."

"I thought you and Sol-"

"He doesn't count his kills unless he feels like challenging my number," the Reaper reminded as several of the other member of the order started serving themselves. While Kliff was waiting in line (politely declining the other knights' offers to let their commander cut ahead) Ky was taking the chance to practice further with the Thunder Seal sword. "He hasn't been doing it much lately, gotta wonder why."

"Not our problem," one of the Holy Knights mentioned. "Can't imagine what the hell that guy's going to do once this damn Crusades over, probably going to go insane without a battle to fight in."

"Maybe because you guys are calling him the God of War for some damn reason?" Ragna bit back.

"His name had to come from somewhere; just like how you eventually got the title of Grim Reaper."

'Yeah, but unlike him I was actually TRYING for it.'

"Still, it doesn't hurt to have a plan for when the fighting has finally ended," said Vernon, a new acquaintance of Ragna's. "You ever think of going into the restaurant business? You'd probably make a killing out there."

"You just want me to cater for your events after your political career gets started," Ragna accused.

"Again, you'd make a killing. And a ringing endorsement." At least he wasn't denying it.

"I'd agree with Vernon; having the proper future to fight for can make all of the difference in the moment," Kliff noted. "Of course, such thoughts are rarer even as we seem to be making headway in the war. The only consistent plan for most is hunting down That Man."

"What man?"

"The Gear Maker; the individual responsible for the creation of Justice, the start of the Crusades, and a man who can only be described as the Devil himself." Either he'd taken too keen of an interest in the subject, or Ky had decided to join them for dinner after his training. "Though he would have had to been alive a hundred years ago at the start of the Crusades, many suspect that he's still alive and out there somewhere… though there's no proof as of late."

'If the guy's responsible for all of this, they might be hated even more than I was,' Ragna considered. "So why the name That Man? You'd think that Gear Maker would make more sense out of the two."

"And that's what most of humanity called him for the longest time, but then Sol showed up out of nowhere and joined up," Julia explained. "He was pretty insistent on the name, but eventually it caught on with the rest of us and soon everyone started calling them that. In a weird way, it even makes sense. Gear Maker only narrows their crimes down to making the gears while That Man leaves it ambiguous to what they could really be behind... and it's probably more than we'll ever know."

"I guess when you put it that way it makes a bit of sense at least," Ragna acknowledged as he thought it over. "Still, doesn't that technically mean that Justice is more of a symptom than a disease? What the hell would we do if That Man just got bored one day and decided to make a second one?"

The terrified stillness at the camp told Ragna everything. As of yet the Reaper had yet to personally see the Command Gear itself, but he'd heard plenty of horror stories. Even Ky and Kliff, the only two who could even think of standing before Justice, seemed to pale a touch at just the idea.

"J-Just some dumb ramblings; they're probably one in a million anyways. If they could make a second Justice, they'd no doubt have already mass produced the damn thing." Truthfully, he was talking out of his ass to some degree, but he had to try and salvage the situation. Ladling up a bowl of his own stew, he started walking off. "Brilliant wording there, genius."

He wasn't eating in solitude because of what he'd just said, but he'd have to do this at some point that night and doing his errand now would give him more time to let his words (hopefully) defuse. He was heading further out of camp now than usual and he didn't care much for the idea. Sol wasn't even training at the moment or doing anything else to take advantage of their roomy solitude. He was just sitting against a massive slab of concrete with the Junkyard Dog impaled in the ground beside him. He didn't even bother turning to scowl at Ragna.

"Still no smokes?"

"You know I haven't been able to restock in a month now."

"Ah, no wonder you're grumpy," Ragna said with a shrug before offering him the bowl. "Maybe now you'll be able to taste the flavors at least."

"Never asked you to bring me dinner," the gear hunter grumbled.

"Never has you turning it down either, just take the damn bowl." Now Sol was glaring, but he at least took the bowl and even had a small bite instead of stubbornly waiting until Ragna had left. "So?"

"Not bad." It was a version of a compliment, even if it wasn't a very elaborate one.

"Pain in the ass," Ragna grumbled, though he still didn't leave his former partner. "Everyone back at camp was talking about That Man." Just about anyone would've missed it, but Ragna's reflexes allowed him to the brief flash of anger from Sol. "...Anything you want to say on that?"

"Why would I?" Sol asked silently.

"...You're even more mysterious than I am man and that's saying a lot. I look at you and... I dunno, I can't help but worry that there's something else going on with you; something big."

"Congrats, you've just proven you have the same IQ as anyone else in the order. Keep this up and I might even consider you triple digits."

"You know what I'm trying to say." Sol only rolled his eyes. "Gear head."

"...How long?"

"Recent. You've done a hell of a job to mask your magic and soul, but after refining my more magical perceptions for so long I can tell when even the faintest amount of Gear energy is leaking through. I also know that's not what you're worried about hiding."

"Fine then; you're right and wrong. It's not the big thing I'm worried about hiding, but if Ky ever gets wind of it..." His voice trailed off. "You've seen the real him."

"I have." Ragna's own short answer. "So?"

"...Worry about Justice for right now, we have enough problems without dragging that up."

"Then I'll have to stick around until I get my answers out of you then; spiting people by staying alive is something I can actually do pretty damn well," Ragna cockily told him. "Guess I should be heading back to camp before all my own damn cooking is gone. Make sure you drop your dishes off in the mess tent, don't be lazy and toss 'em away or burn it."

"Hey." It didn't sound like Sol was dismissive anymore or about to offer the Reaper a retort; this sounded like he was about to be serious. Ragna did his part and stayed behind to hear him out. "When I say worry about Justice... I mean it."

"...Right. And I also know exactly what you mean by that." It wasn't like he'd been trying to keep it a secret from Sol. In fact, he wouldn't be surprised if other members of the Holy Order knew by this point.

"...There's a Gear Factory nearby, one that they're trying to keep hidden. Might be getting ready for a sneak attack."

"Right. I was going to bring it everyone's attention tomorrow morning after I stood guard; the unit's been through much to try and tackle it without some proper rest."

"They don't need to know about it," Sol instructed. "Meet me back here after dark; we're handling this thing ourselves."

"I'll be back then."

Present Day

Ragna gave a lengthy sigh as he stared down the last member of this round; Baiken, just like he'd planned. While none of them were members of the Holy Order, this round hadn't been without casualties. He knew that if things went too well for him then they'd try to kick him out of the tournament, and it would be that much harder to get any solid leads. What he was able to control was who they'd take; real pieces of work who were already on death's row and caused immeasurable suffering with their actions... just like he'd been at one point.

'There's no point thinking about that lifetime now,' he told himself. The tournament proctors had put the match on a brief pause to collect the bodies and through the entire intermission, Baiken hadn't ceased her glaring at him. 'If that's what she's giving me, I gotta wonder how she'd be looking at her actual target... probably the same way I'd be if I'd ever actually found Terumi… Dammit, what'd I just say?'

"That will suffice," the official said once their work was finally done. Now that that ring was clear, Baiken was slowly approaching the Reaper and trying to gauge his next move.

"...Thanks." Ragna knew the words of appreciation wouldn't mean anything to his opponent, but he still needed to say them.

"Don't think for an instant that I did it for you or that I expect you to follow through; I just needed everyone out of my way before I got my sword to your throat."

"I know, but even still they're alive thanks to what you did," Ragna said as he unslung his sword from behind his back. "Let's make this quick."

Baiken has already unsheathed her own blade, so when he got into stance indicating that he was preparing to finish this duel in one slash, she responded in kind. Thanks to his earlier fight with Leo, Ragna knew that if they got too engaged in the fight that the overseers would try to make it so at least one more final fatality took place. This meant finishing his fight quickly and unlike last time he could barely count on seeing Baiken surrender. The air was still all around them as both waited for the other to show even the slightest bit of give in their swords.

Then... it was already over. The briefest of flashes later and both fighters were on opposing sides, a small cut going down from Ragna's forehead to the bridge of his nose that as already healing itself... and Baiken, kneeling on one knee as her katana clattered to the ground between them. No physical damage on her, but very obviously defeated.

"...You have two hours until your next flight takes off. Same vehicle that you arrived on at the same airfield. All the rounds from here will be against single fighters, so be prepared to face down the best the tournament has to offer." The official was clearly displeased at the display, but they had no choice but to let Ragna through. "As for the woman-"

"You said I can take my bounty back, so that's exactly what I'm going to do," Ragna said as he grabbed Baiken's sword before taking his own and placing it at the woman's neck. 'Please play along.' He could only plead with his eyes and hope that she picked up on it. She had to, there was no way she'd have accepted defeat without swearing otherwise. "I'll be back in time... first there's a reward to be gotten."

Later –Ruined Building-

He figured that returning her sword should've at least been enough to keep her from glaring at him constantly... before realizing that at this point he was only being naïvely hopeful. She hadn't done anything other than glare at him after he'd brought her to this secluded section to talk, but he knew she wouldn't let him get out of answering her questions... better to get it over with.

"I want to start by getting any misconceptions out of the way first, devil's in the details and all." More silence and glaring. "Right, so you said that you can tell that I've got That Man's energy in my coat. You're not wrong about that, but what exactly do you think I am?"

"Obviously one of their servants, or at the very least you're associated with them," she answered to break her silence. "Tell me where he is."

"I have no idea where he is or how the hell to find him; I've only met him twice." He knew she thought he was lying, but there was nothing he could do to dissuade her except to keep talking. "The first time was immediately after I joined the Holy Order. There's no one else there that saw him, so you'll only have me for answers. Back then, I didn't even have any idea who I was talking to."

"How could you not?" she scowled.

"Because I didn't even know about That Man at that point. For the moment I was just trying not to die in the hellhole that was the Crusades." It was truth enough. "Back then, I could already tell that he was interested in me. And that he needed me for something; one of two monsters that this world needs. Those were his exact words. Apparently the other is supposed to be this thing called the Guilty Gear. I don't know what exactly it's supposed to be, but I have a feeling it wasn't Justice."

"Like that monster could ever feel guilty over anything." Ragna only nodded slowly in agreement. "And your Soul Eater based powers explain the monster comment… Don't think that I'm trusting what you have to say, for now I'm just hearing you out."

"Right. Anyways, I didn't see him again until after the Crusades had ended and by then it was clear as day who I was dealing with. Meeting him that time, I got this coat as some sort of reward for playing my part. Something which I told to screw off about, but he seemed insistent that I take it."

"And you did? Even if I don't trust you, that even more idiotic than I expected from you."

"Pretty damn rude for someone asking for answers."

"Pretty damn ballsy for someone who doesn't want to be stabbed."

"Damn madwoman… It was exactly like the coat I thought I thought I lost before I joined the Holy Order. It was something of a memento for me. In fact, I think he might've just repaired the original that I thought I lost. He wasn't alone when I saw them then either, they were accompanied by as strange man in a green cloak and a metal mask. They didn't say anything while we talked. I didn't get a name either."

"Metal mask... and a green cloak," Baiken repeated, committing it to memory. "Anything else you want to say before I start asking questions?"

"Again, I have no idea where they are."

"Fine, be that way." At least she wasn't going for her sword. "First off, this tournament-"

"Isn't put on by That Man," Ragna interrupted.

"Then you know what's really going on?" A reserved nod. "Answers. Now."

"...Fine, but you can't tell anyone else," he told her with a solid glare. She didn't cease her own scowl, but didn't say otherwise. "...They're trying to revive Justice."

"What!?" she screamed; her eye filled with actual terror before turning to a dark rage. "Are they suicidal!?"

"One of the top people behind this hunt is likely Testament; someone who I've personally fought in the Crusades and someone that they haven't caught yet. Bastard can use Blood Magic; that's what the tournament is for and why they want the casualties afterwards." Baiken seemed to be stunned to silence as she thought over that revelation. "And that's why I'm in the tournament."

"And you're not stopping it!? You can't be serious!"

"If word of this got out then there would be panic, panic that they'd likely use to revive Justice anyways." Ragna was doing everything he could to keep her calm. "So you're trusting me now?"

"You're hardly able to make that sort of shit up!" she shouted at him. "So now what, you're trying to follow the leads to the source!?"

"Yeah, that's about right."

"And you're telling me because...?"

"I promised you answers, didn't I?"

"Be serious!"

"You... I know that sort of look in your eye; the whole look of wanting revenge." He shook his head. "Call us kindred spirits. Of course for me, my chance of revenge is gone."

"So you gave up." Biting as always.

"Sure, let's call it that." Strangely, she didn't demand him to elaborate.

"There's one last thing that I need to ask. Do you know the God of War?"

"Personally served with him in the Crusades, but again I have no idea where he is." Ragna then created a small red magic call sigil in front of him, but there was no reaction. "We made this secret frequency to stay in touch, but it hasn't gone off a single time since we split up after the fighting ended. And he wouldn't have left any traces to show where he is now, he's too good for that."

"And you know-?"

"That he's a Gear. But I had bigger things to worry about and we couldn't have taken out Justice back then without him or those powers."

"I'm still going after him once I'm done with you."

"Do whatever the hell you want, you're his problem then... or he's yours. Either way I'm out of it," Ragna sighed. "So now what?"

"I hardly trust you after all of that; and that was a really shitty decision you gave me by telling me about the tournament's true goal but saying that I couldn't stop it... I can't let you go."

"I mean... I can bring you with me, but you're not going to like how we're going to have to do to make that happen."

"Just tell me already. If you can get me past the tournament staff, then that's all I'll need."

"Better; I can make it so that Bounty Hunters won't be going after you either. You got any paper by chance?" As it turned out, Baiken did carry a couple of sheets on her, either for practicing her blade work or occasionally creating paper cranes. Casting a spell, Ragna caused the paper to suddenly be full of writing and contain a false wax seal on the bottom. It wouldn't get them past any government buildings, but like the false bounty paper from early that day it would fool the average onlooker. "There we go, remember that you asked for this."

"Ask for what dammit?" Baiken swore as she roughly snatched the paper back from his grasp. "Wait, this form… IS THIS A GOD DAMN MARRIAGE LICENSE!? BASTARD! IS THIS JUST A GAME TO YOU!?"

"Hey easy," Ragna said as he raised his arms defensively while Baiken went for her katana. "Right now this is the only thing that will keep you out of the colonies to continue your search and it might just be able to get you past the Tournament security if we play it right. There's been a rumor going around that some old Holy Order member found love with a Japanese woman and that he used his prestige from the war to get her out of the colony on special leave. Right now, that's our best bet."

Baiken growl was pretty intense, and it was clear to Ragna that her mind was raging as she had to decide if she was going to cut him down right now or not. "And once the tournament's over?"

"Soon as you want to, you can rip that thing up. But now you'll no longer need to keep hiding out when you use this thing, meaning you can get some supplies, take a shower, the works." Baiken didn't sheath her katana, in fact now she was putting the point right at her throat.

"Let me make this clear; the minute you try anything funny, I'll cut off more than just your arm or eye," she promised, somehow keeping her statement both hauntingly vague and explicitly clear.

"You don't gotta worry; already had all the fun I needed last night." Baiken rolled his eye and he couldn't help, but smirk. "Now dear…"

"Piss off!"

"Charming. How are we going to get you past the guards that already saw us fighting?"

"…Lucky for us, I'm able to come up with a plan."

Author's Note

So a lot happened this chapter. Let me say that I'm not 'confirming' Baiken with that whole false marriage idea, this is just more here to be played for laughs… or maybe to see if people like their dynamic enough. Either way, we'll just have to see how things go from here. More Ragna and Sol's past during the Crusades to be revealed in the upcoming chapters as well.

Also, I'm referring to Testament as male here (though mostly keeping it neutral)

Anyways, here's the review responses.

Wlyman2009: Little more than a date here mate.

KnightSpark: Thanks for sticking around.

Briemoore20: Sure feels like it.

ZCWriter-344: Never forgot, just had other stuff to worry about.

Omegamorph: The add Ragna and I'll play Strive, that's my deal.

Reclusive Dork: A chance, but we'll have to see if things pan out differently by then.

ScruffinMcguffin: Thanks, glad to be back.

Giggukarda Guy: Fun ideas all around. Certainly there to consider.

JustAFool: Yeah, Missing Link and see where thing go from there.

Exiled Soul Nomad: Yeah, bad times are abound in this guy's life.

Timeking zi-o: Sorry, but I'm probably not going to do RagnaxDizzy for… reasons. Good reasons, but reasons.

Winnythekaise: Aw, thanks a bunch.

Rick12: To be revealed later.

JoshL1294: Are you feeling it now, Mr. L?

Dragon lord Syed 101: Here's said update.

Shinryu60210012: Not… sold on a harem idea. Let's just see how this goes for now.

See you all next chapter! Ciao!