Chapter XIII: Back to the Capital

"It's about damn time we made it back," Ragna muttered as he saw Ylisstol in the distance. "We barely got a chance to put our feet up after that mess in Regna Ferox, so I think we're due a damn day off."

"No arguments from me," Chrom agreed as the two walked alongside each other at the front. "So, has Elphelt found your other half yet?"

"For the love of-!" Ragna stopped himself for a moment. "Who do you consider god in this world?"

"Depends on who you ask. For me, it's Naga."

"Oh, then for the love of NAGA! I'm not trying for any of that now of all times! Got a damn army to lead and you think I'm going to start focus on skirt chasing!? Is that what you think I'm trying to do!?"

"Not at all," Chrom answer with a smug grin. "Maybe I do get where your coming from, Elphelt's has a… uniqueness, and I was just messing with you."

"…Damn it Chrom," Ragna grumbled as he held his head in shame. Even after all of this time he was still able to get played like a fool on occasion. He'd learned overtime, however, that the best way to get back at someone is to hold a secret trump card. "But what about the way you interact with women? Why don't we talk about that?"

"And what do you mean by that?" Chrom asked, his eyes narrow in a glare.

"Well, for example, I just spent some time talking with Robin after we left Donnel's village." The sudden nervousness on Chrom's face was priceless, the young prince was just making this too easy. "I distinctly remember her grumbling something about a blind, idiotic, and braindead prince when I brought you up. Care to explain?"

"We… just had a bit of a disagreement," Chrom defended.

"Really?" Ragna asked, his grin increasing. "And what, play tell, was this 'disagreement' about?"

"It was just a mild argument," Chrom quickly said, Ragna could tell the prince was lying. "I didn't even do anything wrong!"

"Nothing wrong!?" Robin exclaimed from behind Chrom. As the prince turned and saw her, he realized that she'd been standing behind him ever since he and Ragna got into this little spat. Ergo, she'd been listening the entire time. "Well, I distinctly remember you saying I wasn't anything like a woman! Not classy, pampered, or even pretty!"

"You know that's not what I meant," Chrom said trying to defend himself. "All I was saying is that I see you as less of a woman and more of a fellow Shepherd."

'I… am not responsible for this,' Ragna thought to himself in desperation before looking at Chrom. "Run."

"Why should I run? I was just clearing the-"

Robin then took her thunder tome out and her hands were already glowing with yellow electric energy.

"Running," Chrom said as he took off with an enraged Robin right behind him.

"Get back here you coward!" Robin shouted as Chrom did his best to avoid all of the lightning blasts she sent his way. Ragna might've tried to help Chrom out, especially since he'd gotten him into this situation, but it was Chrom's fault he said what he had.

Friends

"Shouldn't we put a stop ta that?" Donnel asked from beside Ragna. "The prince could get hurt like this."

"Chrom will be fine, he's survived much worse. Plus, I'm not about to get in the middle of that," he said gesturing to where Chrom was trying his absolute hardest to dodge the lightning bolts that Robin was sending his way.

"Dontcha feel that yer not showing enough respect? Chrom is the prince," Donnel decided to remind him.

"Doesn't really mean anything to me," Ragna told Donnel. "I respect him as a person and he's at least friend of mine, but titles mean absolutely nothing to me. If I treated Chrom as a good person because of his title, would it even mean anything?"

"Uh… I guess not?" Donnel said, realizing what Ragna was getting at.

"It works both ways, like with you and me," Ragna explained. "If I treated you like crap because you're a commoner instead of seeing you as a friend, what kind of person would I be?"

"We're friends?" Donnel asked, a little surprised.

'…Huh… am I actually making friends here? This quickly? Almost weird… but I guess it's not bad at least.' "Aren't we? I mean, I can understand if you're still pissed at me for being harsh with you before the fight yesterday, but we're helping each other out. I helped you get into the Shepherds, and you helped me out yesterday when you killed that bandit leader."

"I guess we are," Donnel said with a smile. "Glad to have ya as a friend Ragna!"

"Ditto," Ragna decided, finally relenting with himself. "And as your friend, I'm going to give you a piece of advice."

"What's that?" Donnel asked.

"Fredrick's going to be training you later," Ragna warned him. "He's a good man, but his training's going to seem like hell. I'd advise that you don't eat a full meal before you train with him. You'll lose it all before training ends."

Donnel gulped audibly. "Any other advice?"

"As tempting as it is, don't attempt to half-ass any parts of your training. He's doing this for your own good and the more effort you put into this, the stronger you'll be on the battlefield."

"And no matter what happens, nev'r give up, right?" Donnel asked Ragna.

"Right, cause you've already proven you're not a quitter," Ragna said with a grin.

"Woowee! I'll train so hard they'll have no choice but ta knight me!" Donnel said, the youth brimming with confidence.

Support Rank C obtained with Donnel

Later

A Difference of Opinion

Ragna was in his room at the Shepherd's barracks laying on his bed and reading a novel of all things. After all he'd been through, I'd been some time since he'd been able to enjoy something as basic as a story. The book was an old mystery novel about a series of robberies including stolen royal sigils and a noble who was attempting to solve the mystery in order to clear the name of his betrothed. Ragna knew if he focused the facts he could probably come up with an answer, but honestly he was just here to enjoy the ride and see where it was going.

At that moment, there was a loud knock at the door. Ragna sighed as closed the book; he'd just gotten to one of the more exciting parts and now was being interrupted for who knows what. Opening the door revealed Virion on the other side, hardly helping his attitude.

"The time is upon us my friend!" he said with a haughty attitude. "I, your caring and close friend Virion, shall show you the finer parts of life in Ylisse and show you the art of relaxation!"

SLAM! Click!

"N-Now Ragna, was it really necessary to close the door in my face? You even locked it."

"I'm already relaxing with a book, leave me alone." Ragna was about to walk back to his bed before Virion said something that made him pause.

"I've already talked to Chrom and he thinks spending some time out on town would be great for you. He even said that I have full authority to bring you with me if it came to that, especially since he's talked to you about having a break over a dozen times now."

"You're going to try to take me in by force?" Ragna asked with a laugh. "What, did you get a thousand hired mercenaries armed to the teeth and ready with a rope to drag me off? I hope for your sake you're not paying them until the job's done." Ragna laid down on the bed knowing that he'd won.

"I don't need to," Virion said with his own haughty tone. "You've already put Chrom in somewhat of a bad mood due to your little scuffle with Robin earlier. Do you really want to blow this off and put him in an even worse mood?"

"Like I care," Ragna said as he opened the book, trying to find where he'd left off.

"Well, after letting Chrom know and putting him an even worse mood I could tell him about you and Lissa in SouthTown," Virion threatened.

"What's there to say?"

"Nothing, but what's he going to see?"

"…This isn't a formal thing, right?" Ragna asked bitterly as he opened the door.

"Your normal coat should be sufficient enough, though it pales in comparison to my stylish clothing and charms," Virion said with a haughty smile.

"Whatever, let's go," Ragna said as he passed by Virion and proceeded to leave Shepherd's barracks with the archer in tow. "So, what exactly did you have planned?"

"I do know a location in the nobility district that you're sure to enjoy," Virion told him. "You and I will be able to chat, woo the fairer sex, and enjoy a few drinks as brothers in all but blood."

'Somehow I'd actually prefer Jin as a brother to this guy.' "You know, you could have just told me that we're going out to a bar from the start, I'd have gone along much simpler."

"Well… it's not exactly a bar, much better in fact. And it's high on the rise with Nobility across the continent. I've been to this type of establishment many times myself."

"You're scaring me," Ragna said as he began sweating. "But what the hell, lead the way."

Later

"Okay, where the hell are we?" Ragna demanded as he and Virion stood in a restaurant type building with lavish rugs, polished tables, and expensive chandeliers. That part wasn't what was worrying Ragna, what he was REALLY worried about was the fact that all of the people there had at least one girl on each arm and they seemed to be shamelessly flirting like crazy.

"My dear friend," Virion said to him. "This is what is known as a Hostess Bar. These fine establishments allow the men of nobility to enjoy a small drink, chat with the lady folk, and for once in their life ignore the hardships that come with being a noble. The perfect place to destress, wouldn't you think?"

"Not in the slightest, in fact I'd call it a headache," the Reaper groaned. "Look, can we try finding somewhere else to go?"

"My, my, and here I thought that you were fierce, but when faced with talking to women and enjoying a drink or two of alcohol you seem to crumple."

"One of these days Virion," Ragna threatened darkly. "One of these days…"

"Your impending threats aside, shall we proceed?"

"Damn it…"

Support Rank B Obtained with Virion

That evening

The two had just exited the hostess bar. Ragna had resolved not to have more than a few drinks and he'd stuck with that successfully. Virion had also managed to drink in moderation, but instead of slightly inebriated he looked at Ragna like he was fairly hurt.

"Look, if you've got a problem with something, just say it," Ragna demanded as Virion continued to give him that same expression.

"I'm just somewhat… surprised. I honestly brought you along because I thought that your rugged and standoffish appearance would make me seem even better in comparison, but it seems you've hogged all of the attention for yourself."

"Hey, I didn't hog anything," Ragna retorted. "If anything, I kept to myself."

"So you say… while your face has no less than six spots of lipstick on it," Virion said with a sigh.

"Really?" Ragna said as he proceeded to wipe his face with his jacket sleeve (same shade thankfully). "I thought I managed to get most of it off."

"You did," Virion explained emotionlessly.

"Look, as far as I'm concerned this never happened. If anyone asks, we'll just tell them that we hit up a tavern and had a few drinks. Alright?"

"Very well," Virion agreed, somewhat relieved that his reputation as the greatest of lady's men would not be undermined. "By the way, Lady Emmeryn wanted to speak with you after we were done with our little outing. She apparently wished to talk with you about something."

"Right, probably shouldn't keep her waiting. See you, Virion," Ragna said as he headed off for the palace. It didn't take him long to arrive since he'd already been in the nobility district. When he got to the front gate, he spoke to one of the castle guards. "The Exalt had wanted to talk to me about something."

"Right this way," the guard said as he led Ragna inside and took him to the familiar room that he'd had tea in earlier. "I'll let her grace know that you're here… but you may want to wash up before then."

'Wash up?' Ragna thought to himself. 'What the hell is he talking about?'

Tea with the Exalt II

Within a few minutes the Exalt entered the room with the same soft smile that she usually. "Hello Ragna."

"Emmeryn," Ragna said returning the smile with a smirk. "Good to see you again."

"It's good to see you as well, the tea will be here in a few minutes. But I was hoping that we could get our business taken care of early so we could talk more as friendly company."

"Sounds good, I take it Chrom already gave you the report?"

"He did," Emmeryn told him. "It seems that you've gotten quite a few new members on your travels. I'm glad to see that you've reached out to several people in such short a time."

"To be honest I didn't really have a say in most of them, but the more people we have to help us, the better. Even if it's more people that I gotta watch out for, it won't stop me from making sure they all make it through."

"I'll certainly hold you to that promise, but how did Robin seem to adjust to the job of assistant tactician?"

"She's… talented. Even though I had other things that I needed to accomplish in the heat of battle, she was able to take over without any problems. And when the two of us worked together we were unstoppable."

"That's good to hear, I'm glad that having assistant is working so well for you. How was Chrom able to fare?"

"In combat he was able to handle an entire unit of Risen by himself. His lady skills however…" Remembering the trouble Ragna had given him before they'd arrived back at the capital. "It needs work… a LOT of work."

"Very unlike you it seems," Emmeryn said, looking at the Reaper in way that Ragna never thought he'd see her give; a distasteful scorn.

"…I still have lipstick on my face, don't I?" Ragna asked. The Exalt rigidly nodded. "Damn it, and here I thought that I'd gotten all of it." Ragna tried to wipe off the stuff, but he then noticed that Emmeryn looked like she was expecting an explanation. "Virion forced me to go with him to a hostess club in the noble's district."

"And you enjoyed yourself there," Emmeryn summarized, her expression not disappearing.

"No… just thought they'd dismiss the whole strong but brooding type, but apparently they liked it more than anything," Ragna weakly defended. It was then that the tea arrived. The maid simply put the tea set on the table before leaving. "But enough about me, how have things been going on your end?"

"Poorly I'm afraid…" Emmeryn sighed. "Promise me you won't tell Chrom about this."

"Promise me you'll forget the fact that I came in here covered in lipstick and you've got a deal."

"Covered in what?" Emmeryn asked innocently.

"Won't tell a soul," Ragna assured. "Now, what's the problem?"

"Marriage."

"Oh?" Ragna began, genuinely interested but also fairly irritated already. "Who proposed? Some arrogant noble I'm guessing. Probably a pervert too."

"No, not like that. The council is pressing me to take a husband in order to continue the lineage of the crown."

Ragna took a long sip of his tea before putting the cup back on the saucer. "No matter where I go, what world I'm in, I constantly get pissed off by politics. How hard was the council pressing?"

"Currently, they're developing a list of suitors that I can start seeing and before I start deciding," Emmeryn informed. "Things could be worse, but I'm not going to be able to ignore their wishes forever."

"Let me guess, you haven't found anyone in the nobility that you're crazy about."

"It's worse than that, many of the nobles of our kingdom would actually want the war with Plegia. If I were to marry any of those men, I'd essential being giving the crown to a war monger."

"Sadly, I don't think we're going to be able to avoid this war," Ragna told the Exalt. "We've been lucky that we haven't been attacked yet, but it could get worse at any moment." Ragna looked at Emmeryn with newfound respect. "I get the feeling that the peacekeeper has the more important job as opposed to a war hero."

"I'd like to agree with that," Emmeryn told him. "But I'm going to need you to try and stay non-aggressive. We should be getting reinforcements the day after tomorrow and hopefully any escalations will die then."

"That's something to be grateful for, I suppose," Ragna said as he stood upwards. "Thanks for the tea, I'm going to get going."

"Stay safe, and Ragna?"

"Yes?"

"Stay out of the hostess bars."

"…Wasn't the deal that you'd forget that?"

"Forget what?"

"Funny…"

Support Rank B obtained with Emmeryn

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Author's Note: Just another support conversation chapter. Hope you enjoyed it. Ciao.