Chapter XX: Politics and Bloodedge

As it turned out, Ragna and his group of Shepherds didn't have any encounters getting to the capital when the blizzard finally cleared. Traveling there didn't take long as a result and now they were now resting on a hill about fifteen miles away from their destination.

Ragna was still worried about the events that might be about to unfold, but for now he decided he'd simply bear them in mind and keep training to get even stronger. Currently, while everyone else was resting before they travelled the last bit of their march, the Reaper was busy focusing on practicing his fire magic. Practicing with flames as well as providing some extra heat for comfort felt like a win-win for our Reaper.

Ragna was standing with his eyes closed in focus, his BlazBlue hand open with his palm facing upwards as a sphere of flames danced only a couple of inches above it. He'd read the passage on Elfire and was currently focusing on increasing the power while retaining its form. As the flames began to increase in power, the falling snowflakes around the Reaper began to melt resulting in a small area of rain instead of snow. As the power increased and the flames grew hotter, Ragna the area of rain continued to increase further and further, causing some of the snow on the ground to melt and the closer rain to evaporate.

'All right, the power's here, but according to Emm's tome I've got to keep the heat more contained if I want to cast Elfire,' Ragna thought to himself as he continued casting. 'I think I've just about got it…'

"Hey R-Ragna?" he heard Olivia ask timidly. He let maintained his concentration on the spell and safely extinguished the flames in his hand as he turned to the pink haired dancer. "Sorry to bother you, but I think we're going to have some trouble with Ricken."

"Trouble with Ricken?" Ragna questioned as he followed Olivia; he'd known that Ricken was more than committed to the Shepherd's cause, so he couldn't imagine him doing anything to hold them back. "What'd he do?"

"He, uh, worked a little too hard yesterday," Olivia said as they came to where they found Ricken leaning against a tree, fast asleep. "I was talking to him earlier about this book he'd been reading, and after he said I could take a look at it he said he was going to sit down and well..."

"Just a few more minutes…" the two heard Ricken say drowsily from where he was lying.

"So what caused this then?" Ragna decided to ask, remember that Ricken was normally filled with more energy than most.

"From what I remember, yesterday I saw him studying his spell tomes," Olivia said before giving a small giggle. "Something tells me he took the 'Ragna' approach to training."

"Friggen' great, Chrom tells everyone to make sure that I get sleep and now one of our mages is down for the count," Ragna groaned. "Promise me that you'll keep this a secret from him?"

"I think the rest of the Shepherds are going to know what happened, but I won't say anything if you don't want me to," she promised him. "But what are we going to do about Ricken?"

"Well…" Ragna began before gently picking Ricken up from behind that and having him rest on him in a piggy-back carry, though as he did it the young mage's hat fell off. "Dang, can you get that for me?"

Olivia nodded as she picked the large hat off from the ground. She considered carrying it herself since Ricken couldn't wear it, but a sudden whimsical thought entered her mind. Reaching up on the tips of her toes she gently put the mage hat on Ragna's head. The Reaper blinked a few times in confusion as Olivia assessed the Reaper's newest fashion statement.

"Doesn't seem to fit you," Olivia told him honestly.

"Says you, I think I could totally rock the style with some mage robes," Ragna told her with a cocky grin. "Let the rest of the Shepherd's know that we're heading out, I'll be taking care of Ricken."

"El...fire…" Ragna heard Ricken sleeptalk from behind him as Olivia walked off. The sudden burning sensation he felt, confirmed that the spell had been cast.

"Hot!" Ragna exclaimed from the unexpected heat, but still managed to keep a hold of Ricken. "Great, I spend the last fifteen minutes working with that spell and this kid can roast me with it in his sleep. Then again, I guess it's kind of odd that my arm can do magic in the first place, it's meant for doing Ars Magus, not this tome stuff."

Inspiration and Loyalty

"What happened to the little guy?" Ragna heard Vaike ask as the Shepherds began marching the final stretch of their journey to the capital.

"What's it look like? He fell asleep that's what," Ragna told him as he continued carry the young sleeping mage.

"And you got stuck with carrying him?" Vaike asked before laughing. "Nah, you volunteered, didn't you?"

"How do you figure?"

"Just seems like the kinda thing you'd do. I mean look at you, overworking yourself and acting like the big brother of the Shepherds. I'm dunno how you could keep going without dropping from exhaustion."

"Lots of willpower," Ragna told him. "Hard to live without it."

"Hey no one's got more willpower than the Vaike; with all my training I'm gettin' even better at fightin', soon I'll even be able to take on Chrom!"

"So wait, do you have a bone to pick with him?" Ragna asked as Ricken continued to snooze.

"Chrom? Nah, he's just sorta my rival. He's a damn good fighter, so that makes him someone great to spar with," Vaike said with a laugh. "I also really owe his sis, she's the one that convinced me to join the Shepherds in the first place when she actually saw us in the slums."

"So that's your story," Ragna muttered. "I hope she's alright…"

"Eh, well if she ain't then it's up to me and you to come to her rescue." Ragna could tell that Vaike spirits looked like they were a little down, but he was trying hard not to show it. "So try not to get left behind; The Vaike can only do so much himself."

"Heh, you wish," Ragna said with a smug grin, now realizing that Vaike's goofy style of egotism was actually a good way of putting people at ease and keeping their spirits up.

"Oh, and make sure Ricken doesn't fall over, not a good way for anyone to wake up and the poor kid probably needs his sleep."

"And you call me the big brother," Ragna joked with a chuckle. "Don't worry I've got him Teach."

Support Rank B Obtained with Vaike

Eventually Ricken did wake up and managed to walk the rest of the way to the capital. Now that they were inside the walls, Ragna could see several war refugees whose villages had been destroyed, all of them standing in lines at their small camps, trying to get food.

'Why in hell are there so many?' Ragna thought as he continued walking through the crowded streets. 'I can understand a few farming villages getting overwhelmed, but this looks like some of the bigger cities are getting destroyed.'

While he was traveling shoulder to shoulder with people in the crowded streets, he noticed one kid's hand quickly going for his money pouch which kept all of the money he'd made from Chrom. Stopping the child by quickly grabbing his hand, Ragna's got a quick glance of what an average kid in this situation was like; filthy, wearing little more than rags, shivering at the cold, and so hungry Ragna swore he could see his bones. The people around him muttered with ire as they went around the two, but the child didn't run it only stared at Ragna with desperate and fearful eyes.

"Don't try this crap with anyone else kid," Ragna grunted in annoyance as he let go of the kid's hand and tossed him the money pouch, which the young boy fumbled a bit before catching in surprise, "That's not just for you, got it?" The kid gave him a small smile before running off, bringing the sack of gold to a group of other raggedy looking kids, each of whom took a share of the gold before running off. 'This needs to stop.'

Flavia's Office

"The meeting of nobility is today; I trust that you're ready?" the ruling Kahn asked Chrom.

"I am, but I have a bad feeling I know what to expect," he answered sitting on the chair across from her. Robin stood to Chrom's left, Frederick to his right, and Lissa near the doorway. "Still no news from the south?"

"No, and we've sent messengers and scouts from the day you've arrived and brought us the news," Flavia said with a sigh before smirking confidently. "Can't say I'm a fan of your sister's pure non-violent ideals, but after what she's gone through, I'm going to love meeting her."

"I'd love nothing more than to arrange that gathering," Frederick assured. "Getting there may be difficult I'm afraid."

"We'll do all that we can, any support I can give in the court I will… but these nobles won't move. My men might be better trained and smarter because of their loyalty to me, but most of the armies of Regna Ferox are united under whatever lord they serve because of their loyalty to gold and alcohol."

"I hear that's a common way of purchasing loyalty lately," Robin noted. "I wish we-"

The tactician was interrupted as the door was suddenly slammed open sending Lissa sprawling to the floor. Everyone's favorite snow-hair annoyance walked through the doorway he'd just made open with his foot.

"I got some damn sleep, happy now?" Ragna demanded before noticing the princess that was lying on the ground. "Lissa? What are you doing on the floor?"

"You knocked me over!" she shouted at him as she stood. "Can't you at least knock on the door before entering a room?!"

"Sorry princess, I was hoping to do that to Chrom," Ragna said with a small chuckle and Lissa slowly began to giggle with a smile of forgiveness.

"She already pulls enough pranks without you giving her any ideas," Chrom told him, though he seemed slightly amused. "How was the trip?"

"Boring," Ragna told him, before realizing the still questioning look the prince was giving him. "Boring by anyone's standards Chrom, not just mine."

"I'm sure you've still got a tale or two of your own to brag about," Flavia commented. "But I heard that you'd wiped out the final army of Risen, almost completely alone. Is it true?"

"It is," Ragna assured. "There were about three hundred of them I think, and there seemed to be a lot of different types of them; some foot soldiers, some riders, and some mages."

"The original size of the force was a strong five hundred, and we've only managed to wear them down after our towns were ruined," Flavia said with sigh. "At least the threat is gone."

"Meaning it should be easy from here, right?" Ragna asked.

"Not necessarily," Chrom said sadly. "Flavia's going to need men to stay in Regna Ferox in order to defend against a Risen attack, men that we won't be able to use to defend Ylisse. But after the recent Risen attacks, most of the ruling nobles want to bring their armies to the capital and wait out the war. We need to be able to get the troops we need to protect our homeland, but keep enough in Regna Ferox."

"Politics, ugh," Ragna groaned. "Not my strong suit…"

"Don't worry, this isn't anything I think you can help with," Chrom told him. "Go explore around the capital if you want, buy something nice."

"Yeah, sure, I'll do that," Ragna grunted, before remembering he'd just given his gold away. 'Meh, not like I really wanted to buy anything anyways.' "Anything else I should know about?"

"As of right now, no," Flavia said before standing. "The meeting will start in an hour, be sure that you're ready."

The Knight's Decision

Leaving the Khan's office, Ragna headed down the hallway to return to the street of the capital, though he was unsure what he'd do once he was there.

"Ragna, a moment?" came Frederick's voice from behind. The Reaper turned to the Great Knight. "We need to talk."

"What'd I do this time?" he groaned, expecting some form of lecture.

"Plenty, but that's not what I'm here for; I need your help," Frederick said. "And for the record it wasn't easy to come to this decision."

"If you're coming to me face to face, I'll bet," Ragna acknowledge, figuring he'd hear the knight out. "What is it you need?"

"I need you to come with us to the council meeting."

"...Heh, not bad, you almost had me going there," Ragna said with a very small chuckle. "Maybe you can tell a joke after all."

"I wasn't joking," Frederick told him a slight glare. "I was dead serious."

"That's what I was afraid of…" the Reaper answered with a sigh. "Okay, why?"

"Make no mistake, I still think you could refine the way you act around others (myself especially), but this isn't a simple manner of talking things through. Even before Chrom steps into that meeting I already know their answer's going to be no. They want to be protected in the capital at all times, not make sure their farmers and other commoners are well defended or that we get our support."

"I figured as much too, what do you want me to do about it?"

"Be yourself I suppose," Frederick told him. "I hate to say it, but your aggression is just what we need this time. These people are afraid of you; they can't control you, Chrom himself seems to give you free reign, and they know that you're strong, especially if they've heard to rumors about you."

"You make me sound like some sort of berserk animal, some beast," Ragna muttered.

"Maybe that's what we need now. You can read a person fairly well, when you see injustice you act against it. I'm against fear tactics, but this is one of the few times I'll allow our ends to justify our means."

"Pretty sound logic," Ragna admitted, though he didn't like. "I'll go, but try to lay off me, alright?"

"I suppose I can, and maybe eventually I understand your… crude way of living."

"Meh, call it what you want. You help the Shepherds your style, I'll help 'em in mine."

"As long as we have the same end goal," Frederick acknowledged with a nod.

Support Rank B Obtained with Frederick

Ragna continued heading down the hallways of and began heading towards the front gate, hoping to get out of the stuffy atmosphere of nobility and hit the streets, frigid weather be damned.

"Well look who it is," Ragna heard a somewhat familiar voice saw behind him. Turning his head, he saw the smile face of Eliza Chamandure, a noble whom he'd danced with the last time he'd been here. "I wasn't expecting the two of us to see each other here, Ragna the Bloodedge."

"Turn away now and we won't have to," Ragna said curtly. He remembered the seductive nature of the woman in front of him and the task she'd given the Shepherds when he refused her advances.

"So hostile!" she exclaimed with a laugh. "Have I offended you?"

"If I say no, will you leave me alone?" Ragna asked.

"You wouldn't even give me the time of day, would you? I suppose if I was dying in a cold ditch, you'd simply pass me by. At least I managed to save quite a few lives bringing my townspeople to safety. I doubt that much can be said about the other nobles in this court."

"...Whatever," the Reaper grunted. It was a fairly low bar to clear.

"Oh, that attitude won't do, not with the proposition I'm going to make you; you need men to aid in your little rescue of Ylisse, but I doubt anyone here would give them to you. I can, and I'd only ask one thing in return."

"I'm not going to like this am I?"

"You just might, I want you to become my champion. You'd fight for me until your final breath, serving me and only me. However, I swear to Naga, Grima, and any other gods you'd believe in that I'd continue to support Ylisse with my troops. And as for you? You'd never have any worry about being poor again, you'd eat the finest meals, drink only the best wines and mead and live a life of ease unless you were called upon for duty. Would you accept?"

"...Pass, and I'm starting to get tired of your bullshit. You want to give us men? Fine, but don't think I'm going to become your damned manservant for it." Ragna turned and walked away from the noble woman, if she could even be called that.

"How does it feel?" she called after him. "How does it feel to be responsible for damning Ylisse to its grave and killing its Exalt?"

Trying not to let those words shake him, Ragna continued walking and hurried out into the courtyard. Hearing the thud as wooden swords hitting leather, he figured he'd taken a wrong turn and made his way into the training yard.

Two Warriors

As it had turned out, only one person was currently in the training yard and it was the regnant Kahn, Flavia. Ragna watched her for a moment as she continued to strike the training dummy, her form allowing her to follow each attack with no hesitation resulting in another rhythmic series of thuds.

"Like what you see?" she asked, apparently having realized that the Reaper was there.

"Didn't want to bother you," he defended, blushing slightly at the way she worded it.

"You wouldn't, it takes more than a simple conversation to distract me," Flavia said before performing five quick slashes, each of which struck with exact and crippling precision before turning to face him. "Did you want something?"

"Nah, I just took a wrong turn after I tried to get away from someone I'd really rather not deal with," he told her honestly. "But I gotta say I'm impressed; you spend all day running Regna Ferox and you still make time to train? That's some dedication."

"It's an equally important part of ruling, but one that's much easier for me," Flavia said before smirking. "It almost makes me wish that I could just have someone I trust to rule for me while I focus on defending my throne in combat."

"But you can't have the easy way, can you?" Ragna told her. "I won't distract you, guess I'll be going."

"Actually I could use your help," Flavia said to him. "It's been some time since I've faced anyone who'd actually give me a decent fight, do you think you could fill the role?"

"You're the Khan, can't you just order me to fight you?"

"Since when do you take orders from anyone?" Flavia said with a haughty laugh. "I doubt that I could force you for a duel, but I hear that patience is a virtue."

"And you're thinking you'll eventually wear me down huh?" Ragna groaned before he took of his sword and red coat and rested them beside the weapons rack before grabbing a practice sword. "Well whatever, might as well give you what you want."

"Which I have a tendency to get," Flavia said with a smirk as she readied her sword. "I don't care much for pre-battle etiquette, so let's skip to the part where we try to bludgeon each other with these oversized sticks."

"Now you're talkin' my language," Ragna accepted with a grin.

The sparring duel that took place was much harder than any previous that Ragna had participated in this world; not only was Flavia skilled, she was strong and her speed was weapon in itself, one that she used very efficiently.

Making sure he'd keep the fight fair, Ragna didn't use any magic, nor did he use and of his attacks involving the Azure Grimoire. That may have eliminated almost all of his techniques, but he still had his natural ability and was eventually able to disarm Flavia.

"Not bad," Flavia said, though it was clear that she was out of breath. Even Ragna himself was covered in sweat and had a more rapid heartbeat that usual for a fight. "No wonder the rest of the Shepherds put you in such high regard."

"And it's no wonder you're Khan," Ragna said in response, while he was out of breath himself. "If I was in Gangrel's shoes I wouldn't want to meet you on the battlefield."

"Hah! You flatter me with your honeyed words," Flavia said with a laugh. "Regardless, I suppose we can agree that there was merit to both of us in this fight. We'll have to make a routine of this then."

"Merit? Then what'd I get? All I did was keep you from coming back and demanding a fight and you're already going to do that!" Ragna demanded.

"Probably, but you at least had the chance to work off some of your earlier stress and anxiety," Flavia told him sounding sure of herself. Ragna reluctantly nodded, there was some truth to that. "Besides, you're the first person who's been able to disarm me besides Basilio since I don't know how long. Take some pride."

"You're just making me your personal sparring partner, aren't you?"

"Why Ragna, I'm offended. Of course I am," the Khan's smile seemed to only grow bigger. "And I have to say I'm quite pleased in my decision. You don't have any objection to this do you?"

"Woof."

"Ha! Make fun of this if you will, but there is one advantage to this; fewer people will think to talk down to you should you continue to spar with me… They'll think you've earned my favor."

"Haven't I though?" Ragna asked. He figured Flavia had always been friendly to him for a reason. Wasn't earning someone's favor just getting them to like you?

"You're certainly getting there, I'm quite looking forward to this rivalry, Ragna the Bloodedge."

Support Rank C Obtained with Flavia

The Meeting

The chamber wasn't anything special in Chrom's eyes, nothing that he hadn't already seen in Ylisse. He was currently sitting in one of the meeting room chairs and hoping that the meeting would just get started already. It was supposed to have started a half hour ago and even now barely half of Regna Ferox's nobility had bothered to show up. Chrom let out a sigh while Robin looked over her tactics book on his right.

"They're certainly taking their time," he said to Ragna, who sat left of him, leaning back in his chair with one leg wrapped over the other as he continued to read from his book on spell tomes. "This isn't a good sign."

"I'm here for a reason," Ragna said, not averting his eyes from his book which Lissa also tried to read as she sat to his left. "If they're not going to take you seriously, I'll make them listen."

"Just don't take things too far," Chrom asked Ragna. "These politicians might not be the best people in the world, but we still can't have a blood bath on our hands."

"...And I thought you understood me," Ragna said gruffly as he turned his book to the next page. "Just because someone pissed me off or got in my way doesn't mean I have to kill them. I don't know what you think about me, but I still hate the idea of cutting people's heads off."

"But you've never really seemed to have minded that much when we're slaying Risen, Plegians, or Bandits," Chrom informed. "I'm not criticizing you, but this is one of those topics that I hate to talk about, but I need to ask you about."

Ragna remained silent for a moment as he continued to mull over the book he was holding and the best way to answer Chrom. "Well it's hard to say really, I mean in a war it's kill or be killed, and I'll admit that I've come across more than a few people that definitely needed to be killed." 'Like Yuuki Terumi and Relius Clover…' "But I think a lot of it has to do with the guy holding the sword, can I stand the thought of killing the guy in front of me, what's it going to accomplish, is it worth it? If you can ask yourself and still manage to off 'em… well that's just who you are. There's a time and place, but I don't think I'll need to do anything drastic here, maybe punch a few of them in the right direction at most."

"I wouldn't entirely mind seeing that," Chrom admitted and the Grim Reaper and he laughed. "But I guess I should ask, how will I know who to spare and who to put to the sword?"

Ragna let out a deep breath as he thought to himself before remembering who he was talking to. Chrom might be a little hot-headed sure, but he couldn't say that he himself wasn't. The prince was also pretty fair when it came to treating people and was loyal to his cause, even if he might've taken his dedication to his sister and kingdom a bit too far at times. He was good man, he'd known very feel people of the caliber he had.

"If you're ever in that situation? You'll know," Ragna said smugly before the doors opened and the rest of the nobility entered the chamber. "Well look what the cat finally dragged in."

"Just don't act out too early," Chrom told him. "I'll try to say what I can myself."

"Whatever, but there's only so much crap I can take."

Once everyone had taken their place, the meeting had officially begun. Everyone there had come armed with a weapon, as was tradition at Regna Ferox. Chrom cleared his throat and stood make his address to the crowd.

"Nobility of Regna Ferox, I come before you today to ask for additional troops," he spoke in a confident voice. "King Gangrel of Plegia has openly declared war on my kingdom and has already massacred one of its uni-"

"He's presumptuous, isn't he?" one of the nobles interrupted and a few others tried to stifle laughter.

"I… I'm sorry?" Chrom tried to question.

"Oh, you definitely should be," Eliza said, shaking her head in a condescending manner. "After all, it's thanks to us that you that our poor, poor commoners are suffering so. Why, if it wasn't for the forces that we've had to send to your country, they might've had enough forces to protect them, not have to haul them all in our capital, for shame for shame."

"But they had nothing to do with that!" Basilio shouted from where he sat beside Lon'qu and Flavia. "Most of the men they took back with them were from the capital, not from your lands!"

"Yes, troops that we could have used to protect our own realm," came a slightly garbled voice from one of the nobles. Ragna felt that the slightly misshaped man speaking was slightly familiar, but he couldn't place his finger on it. "Do you even know of that state of the troops you've already been sent do you know how they fare?"

"They're defending the capital as far as I know…" Chrom admitted with a grimace.

"So you don't even know how the troops we'll already sent you fare," the man said with a cocky smile that Ragna recognized in spite of the harsh damage. The man speaking was none other than Tristan, the Count that he'd beaten in a duel last time he was here. "Well, hopefully they remain alive, but we won't send any soldiers on such a terrible investment."

"Investment!?" Chrom shouted. "My sister, our Exalt is in danger! She managed to end a war that would have ruined all of our lands and you think that leaving someone dedicated to peace should die!?"

"Well if she was such an able leader, why do you need our help? Why are we in this war in the first place?"

Chrom was about to shout a retort when the doors were flung open and an out of breath messenger ran inside. "P-Pr-Prince Chrom!" the messenger said with scarce breaths. "T-terrible news! Your sister! She's been taken by Gangrel!"

"What!?" Chrom shouted with fearful eyes. "Is she alive?"

"Yes my liege, but I'm afraid that the Mad King has taken her back to Plegia with his army and is already planning her execution."

"Emm…" Ragna heard Lissa saw beside her, seeing the princess on the verge of tears he put a comforting hand on her shoulder before she lost it.

"Now do you see?" Chrom demanded from the nobility with a scowl. "Now do you see why we need help? The mad king won't stop until all of Ylisse is destroyed! What will you say to that!?"

The nobles did remain silent for a moment. Chrom was beginning to think that he'd made his point, that was until noble Eliza stood. Her face seemed emotionless at first, but then evolved in a smile, a cruel and sadistic smile.

"Congratulations." Chrom and Lissa gaped at the words and Ragna and Frederick's scowls increased. "It looks like you've gotten what you wanted. All Hail the new Ylissean Exalt, All Hail King Chrom!" The rest of Regna Ferox's nobility laughed coldly. "I can only imagine the songs that they'll sing about you, King Chrom, King Chrom, ruler of Ylisse, sacrificed countless commoners, lost his own sister to-"

The sudden sound of a sword impaling wood stopped her taunting song cold. Slowly turning her head, she caught sight of the giant blade impaled her seat beside her, having missed her by a hair's breadth. Looking back up, she saw the Ragna as he appeared to have thrown it, his face looking fairly casual, but his eyes were filled with hatred.

"Missed…" he grunted, many people were about to speak out and their guards were going for their weapons, but then a dark, menacing aura appeared around him stopping everyone in their tracks. "Listen to the man or get the hell out of this room before I tear ya in half!"

"I'd do what he wants," Flavia said with a cocky smirk, that made the nobles feel like they were cornered by a wolf. "After all he killed a few hundred Risen in well under an hour, cutting through all of you wouldn't take half of one."

May I continue?" Chrom asked, allow himself a somewhat wry smile despite the intense situation as the politicians took their seats and the Prince again began to speak. "First, since the original three hundred Risen force has been dealt with have there been any further attacks?"

"A few," Raimi, Flavia's advisor, informed. "But the forces seem much small, containing only from ten to thirty Risen. The main reason we aren't able to defend against them is a lack of troops."

"Robin?" Chrom questioned to his tactician.

"If we leave now, we can take a smaller strike force and rescue Emmeryn. With her returned to us we can rally any remaining forces from Ylisse and strike at the capital."

"So most of our troops will remain here…" Count Tristan summarized, before shrugging casually. "Now… which force is going?"

"Mine," Flavia said as she stood. Immediately there was protesting, but Flavia shot all of their responses down. "I'm not about to sit idly by and dismiss our newest allies in their time of need! The rest of you paper pushers and wine drinkers should be happy if I fall in battle, it'll leave the seat open for your fat arses." The silence indicated that everyone agreed (though a couple coughed at the arse comment). "Good, now take your armies and get out of my capital."

"I refuse to leave!" Count Tristan shouted. "But this is the safest place there is! I won't leave the safety of the capital just for a few-!"

No one caught sight Ragna move as he lunged across the room, all they felt was blast of wind before they saw him standing in front of Tristan's seat, holding the Count in the air by his neck, though he wasn't choking him so much as he was holding him there to glare at directly.

"You want to keep your troops here? Fine, you can come with us and we'll just drop you off at your city on the way," Ragna threatened. "You can be just like the rest of the people out there, cold, hungry, defenseless, and with no one to protect you." Roughly throwing Tristan back in his chair Ragna headed back to his own seat, but not before stopping in front of Eliza Chamandure. "Move."

The woman fearfully obeyed the order before he roughly yanked his sword out of her seat. Clipping it back on his belt, the Grim Reaper made his way out of the council room.

"Apologies, my friend has a way with his theatrics," Chrom said, though his glare didn't make him seem sorry in the slightest. "Now… are there any objections?"

Plegian Castle Dungeons

Emmeryn sat in her dungeon cellar, contemplating the situation she was in. She didn't regret where she was, not at all. Her sacrifice had stopped the slaughter before it began. Though she could not shake the feeling of guilt from the death of the Pegasus riders, her personal surrender had ensured that no one else needed to die. Phila and the others were permitted to remain; only she was carried off per her demands.

The Exalt had not been tortured or hurt in any other way, she'd just been put into a dungeon deep under the castle and was brought feeble meals when it was time to eat. She knew that she was to be executed, Gangrel had laughed in her face about that much, but it mattered little to her now.

"What are you doing here?" Emmeryn heard a guard's voice say from outside. "No one sees the prisoner, especially not one of your kind." All of her guards were supposed to have been female soldiers, but this shift's guard was clearly disgusted with the idea of guarding Ylisse's ruler, so she'd given off the duty to one of her subordinates, which was a man. He hadn't tried anything with her, so she'd paid him little mind.

"Fool, I came here to see the Exalt and that is what I intend to do," a horridly raspy voice informed. "You needn't worry about myself harming her, the lady's execution will still be public."

"Like hell we trust the Grimleal, you probably couldn't wait until she was here so you could sacrifice her to Grima! Now get out of here before I-!"

"Before you what?" Even from where she sat, Emmeryn could feel the darkness pouring out of the man on the other side of the wall. "I doubt that any guard could stop me, so what would you do? Run off and tell your king? Oh, I think he'd be pleased to hear from you while he's celebrating his victory and be interrupted by a guard who left his post. Just PLEASED."

The guard seemed to mumble and stutter for a moment moving out of his way as the darkness faded. "Fine, just don't do anything."

Emmeryn saw the hooded man as he came inside the dungeon, he stood in front of her on the other side of the bars a moment as he stared at her… or seemed to stare, she could not see any of him, just his Plegian robes.

"...What a waste," he said finally, shaking his head. "Do you mind if I take a seat?" he asked with unusual courtesy. At Emmeryn's gesture the man pulled up a seat which he put in front of her a took a seat on. "Please call me Minos milady."

"And I am Emmeryn. I didn't think that anyone in the Grimleal would consider calling me milady, but thank you Minos." Emmeryn and most of the continent knew that the Grimleal hated Ylisse's royal family due to the legends of them defeating Grima in the days of the first Exalt.

"Not all of the Grimleal act as you might think," Minos continued. "I'd speculate that a small handful of them would admire your resolve and actions. Even my right-hand man has a begrudging form of respect for you and he was on the frontlines in your father's war."

"I see…" Emmeryn noted. "Though I doubt any of you will help me out of this predicament?"

Minos shook his head. "This is not any matter of character I'm afraid, it is a matter of duty. I came here to see the woman who your brother and his Reaper are fighting so hard to defend."

"Reaper…" Emmeryn repeated, before remembering the story Ragna had told her and the title he'd used, but he'd only ever used it in his world. "Do… do you come from another world yourself?"

"Another world?" Minos repeated himself, before mulling over the question. "I do not, but it seems I finally understand the sudden appearance of our great hinderance. Tell me, what do you call him?"

"I… I would not give away the names of my friends under such circumstances," Emm said defiantly, though she fully expected the man to become hostile.

"Have it your way then… I suppose I'll find out soon enough anyways," the hooded man said passively. "Though do you mind if I ask you something more… personal?"

"You are free to ask, but I may not be able to answer," Emmeryn promised.

"A fair point. Now, do you believe in Naga? Do you truly believe of her powers and miracles, or do you only force yourself to believe as the Exalt?"

She hadn't expected this question; to hear a Plegian ask her about her religion was unheard of, but she knew that she had an answer to the question.

"I do believe… because I truly know I witnessed a miracle," Emmeryn told him. "My mother had just passed and my younger sister was dying of the same sickness. I doubt either her or my brother remembered, but her state was so… terrible. I cried every night because the nursemaids would not let me near her, cried for her safety and health, but she only became sicker. Then one day I overheard the maids talking, they said that she wouldn't make it through the night… so I prayed. I prayed from dusk until dawn to Naga, begging her to spare my sister, knowing any moment I could hear the news of her death. I don't know how long I'd been praying, but at some point the next day I finally stopped praying to see her and…" Emmeryn smiled and a few happy tears fell from her eyes. "She was lying in her crib, sleeping peacefully for the first time in days. She recovered at an impossible rate, going back to the giggling sweet child that I still see today."

"Seeing such a thing might turn even the most cutthroat mercenary into a priest overnight," Minos admitted. "I'm surprised that you didn't spread this story with your people, this being my first time hearing it and I feel like I'm quite adept at finding the news."

"That story could have caused… problems with the people… divine favoritism towards the royal family would not have been viewed kindly in that time. There were rumors of course, but I would not claim that Naga had blessed my family when so many still suffered."

"And you worked so hard to end their suffering," Minos acknowledged. "Were I not so dedicated to the Grimleal's cause, I'd feel great regret in seeing you fall."

"May I ask that you answer the same question?" Emmeryn asked. "What makes you believe in Grima so?"

"Because humans are such fools; they see only with their eyes, but they betray themselves with what they see. Some can see a man bleeding in front of them, but they refuse to acknowledge they witnessed a single drop of blood. The Grimleal is not excluded from that category either, many know of the more heroic tales of Grima's defeat, but countless refuse to admit they exist. Perhaps I believe in Grima because I feel that I've abandoned my humanity… and have seen my lord with more than just my eyes."

However vague his words were, the darkness in his presentation was enough to chill Emmeryn to the bone. Minos then rose from his seat and pushed the chair back to where he had retrieved it. He turned to address the Exalt one last time.

"We will not see each other again, but I hope that your passing shall be a swift and painless one, you have clearly earned that much… your grace."

The Hierophant then left without another word while Emmeryn let out a deep breath of relief she didn't realize she'd been holding inside. Outside the dungeon, the guard sneered at Minos. "What the hell did you go and do that for?"

"Know thy enemy and thou shalt be victorious," he said ominously as he walked back to his chambers.

"Crazy fool, he couldn't have gotten anything from that," the guard muttered, before having a vile thought form in his mind. Why should that crazed man be the only one to have some time with that lady? It'd been a while since his last 'round' anyways and it's not like anyone would mind. She'd be pushed off soon anyways and she was a fairly decent looker. As his hand went for the door, it was inches away from when a knife of dark energy impaled itself in the wall, narrowly missing him.

"Don't even think of it," Minos's rasped voice called from down the hall as he gave off his dark aura. The shaken guard decided he'd mind his distance.

Regna Ferox

Ragna stayed outside in the training yards, swinging his sword as he trained himself. The Reaper had grabbed several training weights and had put them on his arms, legs, torso, and sword. This didn't slow him down much, but it helped him focus on the task at hand and see some improvement even if it was a minor one.

'After all of the crap I just went through I need some way to clear my head,' Ragna thought to himself as he continued swing his sword at blistering speeds. 'Damn politicians and their damn political bullshit! If this wasn't for the Shepherds, I'd have torched the room and left for the hills two minutes into that shit fest! What gives them the right to judge us like they know us? None! I swear to Naga Frederick, next time you ask me to do that and I'm on dinner duty, you'd better hope that Robin's bear eating lessons actually did something for you!'

A Past of Loss

"You still seem on edge," Ragna heard a curt voice behind him say. The Reaper instantly caught his sword and pointed it directly at the man behind him. "This almost seems familiar."

"I guess," Ragna admitted to Lon'qu as he brought the blade back, remember the first real time the two had talked. "Sorry, just kinda pissed after all the shit we went through."

"Still you stood your ground, but the forces that we'll be taking with us are… somewhat lacking. Are you sure it'll be enough?"

"Tactics aren't my thing anymore, remember? That's Robin's job. Either way, we'll have to make due. I'm not letting the little guys suffer just because we have a war to fight and some pathetic assholes are trying to run the show… Basilio and Flavia excluded of course."

"Hmph, true enough. But I felt like I should thank you none the less."

"Hey, I didn't exactly do it for you no offense," Ragna said before realizing. "But you do seem awfully invested in what happens to them. Something personal?"

"...I suppose this is a good of time to tell my story as any," Lon'qu sighed. "My origins could be considered humble at best… I was a child convinced between a lady of a pleasure house and father I would never know. I don't even remember my mother that well, she died of disease when I was very young."

"But that's not all all I'm guessing," Ragna said seriously.

"I wish it had been. Living as a parentless youth is hard. I can't remember all of the times I had to sleep with an empty stomach, absolutely chilled to the bone. Most people fell would fall into despair, in fact I think that I would have… if not for a young lady named Ke'ri."

Ragna remained silent; he had a fair idea he knew where this was going.

"She was special, always cheerful despite living the dirty life of a commoner. She was very beautiful, a sapphire in the rough. She could have easily gained the attention of several people; the mayor's eldest son, traveling merchant, I even saw a wealthy noble eyeing her… but for whatever reason she chose me."

Lon'qu grit his teeth at the difficulty of what he was about to tell. "The time I spent with her was some of my happiest and I might even say the two of us found love, but it was short lived. One day when I was down the stream with her, bandits were upon us. I may have had a sword, even back then, but there were too many, they were too fast…"

"You don't have to go into detail, I understand," Ragna told him truthfully.

"I know, you've had to suffer being powerless as well," Lon'qu acknowledged. "She died that day, but something seemed to posses me. I went into a blood driven frenzy and managed to kill the leader and scared away the remaining bandits. But I after facing her family, a family whose girl I'd taken from her… I just felt so broken. In the end I ran and developed my sword skills along the way to survive, eventually catching Basilio's eye."

"And here you are," Ragna said.

"And here I am, but every night, every single time I dream, I have to live through that day again. I've already seen one woman die because of me… I won't get close enough to see a second. And as a former child of the slums, I don't anyone to go through the hell that I did."

"I'd say that you can't blame yourself, but you don't seem the type that'd listen," Ragna sighed. "But if there's any way I can help you out, let me know."

"There is," Lon'qu said before heading over to the weapons rack and tossing a sword to Ragna, which the Reaper caught before placing his personal sword off to the side. When he returned his gaze, however, he saw that Lon'qu was holding a practice blade in each hand, a two-weapon style. "Whenever I grow stronger, whenever I get the feeling that I may be even a little more ready to save a life, I feel at ease."

"Wait a minute," Ragna began gruffly. "Was this your plan from the start? Try to coax me into sparring?"

"I honestly hadn't considered it," the swordsman admitted, before giving a wry smile. "But that's why I leave strategy to Robin."

"Point taken," Ragna said before giving a cocky smile. "All right, let's see what you've got!"

"Prepare yourself!" Lon'qu shouted as the two warriors began their spar.

Support Rank B Obtained with Lon'qu

Author's Note: I don't own anything except for this story.

Another tie in chapter, again sorry it took me so long. Now for the Bonus Omake.

The Hot Ones

"Almost there," Ragna thought aloud to himself as he ducked behind a stack of crates. The Reaper was trying to leave the Shepherds camp so that he could head into the forest to train himself the rest of the afternoon, but he still needed to fight his way through one obstacle, one person.

"Just got to get to the edge," Ragna said to himself as he started running before he felt the intense heat of hot flames come from behind him. "Shit…" Using his Ars Magus barrier, the Reaper blocked the attack with ease, without having to turn.

"Going somewhere?" a clearly annoyed voice asked from behind him.

"Yeah, leaving camp for a bit, what's it to you butt-floss?" Ragna spat before feeling the sharp pain of being punched in the back of the head. "For the love of god! Stop hitting me!"

"Then stop calling me that name you pervert!" Bullet shouted at him as Ragna finally turned to face her.

"Oh pervert, says the woman who constantly keeps her ass exposed! Butt out of my business already!" the Reaper shouted.

"As much as I'd like to I can't," the mercenary said as she crossed her arms. "Chrom put me in charge of keeping an eye on you and stopping you from pulling any reckless stunts so that's what I'm going to do."

"Dammit Chrom," Ragna groaned under his breath. "Well whatever, I'm just going to train anyways, what's so wrong about that?"

"Nothing I guess, but something tells me that you're going to cause a problem somehow," Bullet said with a sigh.

"...Why are you here anyways?" Ragna had to ask.

"What, you think I'm just dead weight?" the mercenary asked him with a glare.

"You know that's not what I meant; you're just willfully thinking I'm insulting you. What I am asking, is why you chose to fight for Ylisse when you got here. I mean you could've easily fought for Plegia and probably gotten an easier payday and even had the chance to eighty-six me."

"Tch, I don't want any of their blood money," Bullet said with a snarl before sighing. "And (as much as I hate to say it) you did say my life from Azrael."

"For the latter, you're welcome. For the former, this IS a war, I'm pretty sure all money's blood money here. C'mon what's your real reason for fighting on this side?"

"Two reasons; the first one is I can't stand Plegia's leader. He seems like just another maniac… but you seem to hold this Emmeryn woman in high regard."

"If you ever meet her you'll think the same, I guarantee it," Ragna told her. "And the other reason?"

"The Shepherds, they… they remind me of the former unit that I used to work with, the one that I was my family for the longest time. Everyone here's got their own story, they're chaotic, but most of all they're family."

"Sentimentality then?" Ragna summarized.

Bullet couldn't help but chuckle. "Sure, we'll go with that. All the same, I can't let anything happen that would endanger them."

"That so? Then let me go train," Ragna told her. "I might not have had a family of mercs like you did, but I've been fighting for new my family too. And now (as awkward as this is) I guess you're part of it as well."

"Alright fine," Bullet conceded with a nod before grabbing Ragna's collar and forcing his face close to hers as she glared straight into his eyes. "But the moment I hear about you causing trouble for them I'm taking it out on your hide, Reaper."

"Whatever," Ragna said before forcing Bullet's arm off and heading towards the edge of camp. Bullet headed a few steps back inside camp before hearing Ragna call from behind her. "And for the record I'd find a skirt if I were you! People aren't standing behind you to admire your shoulders!"

Realizing what he was saying, Bullet's face became a deep blush. "Y-You-!" But as she turned the Reaper had already vanished. The Merc grit her teeth. "He's got some nerve!"

Support Rank C Obtained with Bullet

Ah Bullet and Ragna, their time together is always short, but it's always either a completely humors situation, or an actually heart warming one. I dunno, these two always seemed to mesh pretty well to me.

All righty then, review responses.

Awakened Fan: We'll see what happens down the line with Olivia… and Ragna I guess.

Kalakuai: For Gaius, yes that was my intention. For Panne, with due time, I don't think a C rank is enough to reveal each other's pasts. 'Grim' is a reference to the Reaper's origins, kind of a son of a villain made into a hero sort of thing. Other BlazBlue characters may show up, but I'm pretty sure I'll be portraying them in their own world, sort of as a what's the world been doing without Ragna. Thanks for the review.

Animeandgamerlover2: To add depth to the characters mostly. That and it seemed fun to write for.

Mugen7: Yeah, I've decided to have a couple of the character's more of a growth than we saw in the game. I mean seeing them grow through marriage and support is fire, but I have idea's to expand that. Annas 4 Dayz! As for techniques, Ragna's going to be getting quite a few down the line. Good to hear from you.

Marconator360: Thanks, I try.

Adv: Kinda, we're getting there.

Guest: Whoops! Guess I'll fix that!

Thanks again everyone! Ciao!