Chapter XXXI: The Trials Ahead
"Idiots, I'm surrounded by idiots!" a toadish-faced man in crimson red robes shouted at a group of soldiers that were doing their best to stand at attention and not wince at the verbal assault being given so close to their ears. "I gave you one job, ONE JOB! I told you not to let the rebellion burn our ships and where are they now!? Fiery husks in the harbor, useless to us!"
"But sir..." one brave (if not foolish) soldier protested. "Our placement as guards were only along the main paths to the shipping yards and there was no way we could have stopped a barrage of flaming arrows on our ships. By the time any of us realized what they were doing, it was already too late!"
"Bah! The Conqueror doesn't give you a place in his army to make excuses! He does so to get him results! And to think you would imply that this is my fault!" Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a group of the townspeople, quivering fearfully at the invading army. He gave a sadistic smile. "Dolts, make yourselves useful and round up the forgotten wretches up this town and put them into camps."
"Sir!" one of the soldiers shouted in protest as the color drained from the faces of the commoners. "You can't just-!"
"Are YOU, a common soldier, telling ME, the Head Imperial Tactician, what I can and cannot do!?" the toad man vented with rage. "You soldiers are responsible for this mess in the first place with your bumbling mistakes! In exchange, the people will be forced to make ships until their minds and bodies break! Now... ROUND THE TOWNSPEOPLE!"
"Belay Excellus's order," a calm but powerful voice spoke.
"WHO DARES-!" the man now known as Excellus was about to demand before he felt his body grow cold. The soldiers he'd been scolding immediately dropped to a knee and the townspeople surrounding them quickly fell to prostrate positions. "Your excellency! I-I didn't know you were planning on arriving here!"
"These ships were crucial in our effects to cross the seas," he spoke calmly from atop his horse. Walhart the Conqueror was a massive man in large and horned crimson armor that was almost too deep to look at. His horse was just as large and powerful, a fitting mount for someone of his stature many people thought. "It seems I should have trusted this assignment to more capable hand than your own."
"My lord please!" Excellus begged. "I am not the one at fault for this tragic loss! The men you gave me... They were clearly defective! They couldn't even-!"
"SILENCE!" the Conqueror shouted, his very voice booming through the city. "It was your assignment and as such the blame for this lies squarely on your tactics! Don't try to absolve yourself from blame using trick even a wet-nursing infant could see through!"
Excellus knew well enough to stay quiet now.
"As for the townspeople, a search will be conducted, any townspeople found with ties to or seen defending those with ties to this rebellion will be brought before me personally." Face to face with an angry Walhart? Most people would beg for a more pleasant trip to the guillotine. "As far as our fleet is concerned, we are still in need of ships and you seem like the lot that can provide. As such, we will be offering jobs for those willing to work the shipyards and amass a fleet for our conquest."
'Jobs!? Has he gone mad!?' Excellus raged within his mind. 'He's conquered these people he has every right to force them into slavery, yet he continues to refuse to do so!'
"I've spoken my bidding!" the Conqueror sounded off.
"AND WE SHALL FOLLOW!" the troops shouted as one before they ushered the townspeople off so they could begin the search. This left my Walhart alone with his tactician.
"M-My lord...?" Excellus began with caution.
"Tread lightly, you don't have good standing with me at the moment," he warned with a snarl.
"I... I understand, but why would you bother offering these people jobs? We've taken them over, taken control of their lands, their homes, their very lives. Why would we not put them in camps to-?"
"And you call yourself a tactician," Walhart sighed to himself. "Excellus, tell me. What does it matter what the people think of us?"
"It doesn't so long as we are feared," the toady explained.
"Is that so? Then I suppose this resistance is formed out of the few hundred that don't fear the Conqueror?" Excellus wisely didn't respond. "No, I would say that aside from those unfeeling abominations, only a handful of individuals on this continent don't fear me, including the men within my own ranks. Of course the resistance would fear me... they simply allow their resentment to outweigh that fear."
"Oh... And this has to do with giving these townspeople jobs because...?"
"Why give the sheep more reason to rise against the wolves? Those who defy them will only be met with death, if they are met with a fate as bad or even worse than their demise, then what reason would they give under my rule rather than take up the sword?"
"C-Could you not effortlessly crush the vermin under your heel?"
"I could... but if I'm to create my desired world, then there is no place for the bondage of men in my kingdom. I will not have my people as slaves to their masters, their hierarchy, their religion, or even their own baseless desires... That is my vision for the perfect world." Walhart then turned his horse away from the toady. "Until you are notified otherwise you will be overseeing the construction of these new ships."
"What?! But that's a demeaning task, fit far better for someone of less talent, like that bumbling oaf that can only ever talk about his beard!" Excellus exclaimed. "Should I not be on the front lines, directing your troops?"
"That's entirely dependent on your performance," Walhart told him as he began trotting away on his horse. "If you can't protect a simple harbor of ships from attack, what right do you have to lead my armies? Prove to me that you can manage this much, then I may reconsider."
'Prove myself he says,' Excellus thought to himself with a snarl. 'Oh, I'll be proving myself soon enough... and once I'm back at your side it'll be that much easier to blast your idiotic head into meaty bits...'
-YlisseCastleGuest Room-
Ragna the Bloodedge let out a low groan as he slowly opened his eyes and raised his head from his bed in one of the castle's guest bedrooms. Bright sunlight was already peeking out from behind the window's curtains, indicating that Ragna had already slept in longer than he usually did. Wasn't that surprising considering that for the past few months he'd barely gotten any sleep at night and he'd already been sleeping out in the wilderness... and less than comfortable armor. Now that he had a decent change of clothes and a good bed to sleep in, Ragna had passed out like a log.
Getting out of his bed, Ragna was wearing a few pieces of commoner's clothing given to him by Chrom and the others. The Black Knight's armor and lay off to the side in pieces now that he wasn't wearing it. Exiting the guest room he'd staying in overnight, he saw a few butlers and maids out walking to their daily chores, each stopping to stare at him for a moment before forcing themselves to their jobs.
"What's their problem?" Ragna muttered aloud before glancing down to his exposed BlazBlue. "Right... been a while since I've had to keep this thing under lock and key..."
"Finally up?" Turning behind him, Ragna saw Chrom looking at him with his arms crossed and a smirk on the young prince's face. "I'm having some food brought to my office for breakfast. Care to join me? Robin will be there too."
"Why not?" Ragna said with a shrug as the two made their way off. "So... how's Emm doing after yesterday?"
"I don't think she's going to remain Exalt if that's what you're asking," Chrom admitted with a small sigh. "She already gave her word to the people to step down and even with the cheer you managed to cause yesterday she still stands by what she said... looks like I'm going to have to take over the throne myself..."
"You or Lissa..." Ragna suggested. The two friends just gave each other a blank stare for a moment before the two of them burst out laughing. "Could you imagine?"
"Yeah, she'd probably have some sort of weekly prank quota for the people or something," Chrom had to agree. "All the same she's actually been working hard; I've heard from Maribelle that she's even been practicing some spellcraft to help us in battle."
"Really? Who's been teaching her?"
"Aversa actually," Chrom told his best friend. "The three of them have been working hard on practicing low level spells for a while now... you should go talk to them, they'll probably want some time with you now that you're finally back."
"Yeah, yeah, I'll check in with them some time," Ragna agreed as Chrom opened the door to his office revealing Robin inside as she applied some jam to her bread. "Heh, thought you'd wait for us?"
"And let this food go warm? Not a chance," Robin told him Chrom closed the door to the office and the two took their seats. "So... Chrom let me know that he told you about the proposal." With the glare the tactician was sending at the prince, it was obvious that she'd wanted them both to tell him.
"In my defense, I wasn't sure if Ragna was really coming back, I wanted to give him as much reason to stay as I could," Chrom admitted. "Speaking of which, we're planning on telling everyone about this in a ball that will be held in a few days. It's supposed to be just a post war celebration, but we'll announce my proposal at the end so..."
"Got it, I can keep a secret," Ragna assured his best friend as he started filling his plate with food. "Speaking of which, I'm not sure if Tiki told you, but we might have some trouble down the line..."
"Walhart the Conqueror, we've heard," Chrom agreed sadly. "We'll prepare for him, but for now we should try to keep this information between us... I don't want everyone to be worried with the thought of another war looming over their heads.
"So now I've got another secret to keep, good grief," Ragna sighed before biting into his bread. "What do you need me to do to help?"
"I don't have anything specific for you right now," Robin admitted. "For now, everyone just keeps up with their training and occasionally goes on patrol... I guess if you ever find the need to help anyone out, feel free..."
"Might work for the best actually," Chrom admitted. "Ragna seems to have a special talent for helping the Shepherds improve just by spending a bit of time with each of them, this could be just what we need to prepare them for the future war."
"Yeah, I guess that could work..." Ragna admitted. "Alright then, I'll check in with everyone as I go. Been meaning to talk to a couple of 'em one on one anyways."
"Good, because I doubt you'd want to be stuck here doing paperwork with Chrom or I," Robin admitted and the three of them gave a short chuckle. "That reminds me, we have something that I think you'll be happy to see."
"Something I'll be happy to... wait, you managed to get my coat and sword back?" Ragna asked, which was only met with an affirmative nod. "Damn, that's a relief to know you guys picked you up. If I'd know you had those I might've..."
"Might've what? Come back sooner?" Chrom accused as Ragna turned away guiltily. "Oh I see... You came back to US because you had no choice, what you REALLY wanted was your coat and sword!"
"I-It's not like that! I swear!" Ragna promised. Chrom and Robin's glares were proof enough that the two didn't believe him, the two then gave him a small smirk and the Reaper realized he'd been played again. "Damn, same as always eh?"
"Same as always..." Robin told him before she and her fiancé shared a laugh at Robin's expense. The Reaper rolled his eyes, but he couldn't hide the small smirk on his face; it was good to be back.
Later
"I gotta say, I wasn't expecting this kind of quality; this thing's looking as good as it's ever been," Ragna commended as he headed out of his changing room.
He was back in his traditional coat, completed with its regular accessories and the black hakama he wore under it. Considering the condition he'd been in when the Risen had attacked him, he'd doubted that his clothes would ever be returned to their original form, but whoever had done their work on them had certainly known what they were doing. His favored sword, the Aramasa, was set on his back in its usual position. All in all it felt like it was a final step to coming home. This left...
"Right, still need to get my damned hair shortened," he reminded himself as he took one of the long locks of silver hair in his hand and looked closely at it. "Meh, what the hell? Might as well leave it be for now."
"Hey, you."
"Whoa!" Ragna exclaimed as he quickly turned behind him. Standing not far from him was a young lady that looked vaguely familiar. She had dark hair and a strange mystical outfit, almost seeming to remind him of something straight out of ancient Egypt. She seemed to be sticking close to the shadows he was casting in the sunlight and was gripping her dark tome close to her chest. "You're... sorry, do I know you?"
"We haven't met, but I doubt you'd bother remembering if we had," she told, not seeming to have much care at the passe demeanor she showed. "Call me Tharja if you want, doesn't really matter; I doubt we'll be speaking much at all after this."
"All right..." Ragna began as he crossed his arms. "So... what exactly are you talking to me for in the first place if this is so pointless?"
"...What's your relationship with Robin?" she demanded, her complexion seeming to hide itself under darkness cast by her hair.
"A pretty straightforward one honestly; I'm sort of her older brother since I was the one that found her after she lost her memories. Used to be a tactician for a while, but Robin took over for me soon after I met her... That all you were looking for? I explained all of this to you and the rest of the Shepherd's yesterday, even told ya about some of my past."
"So long as you swear to me that you have nothing to hide," the dark mage told him. "Or... would you being her older sibling prove as an... obstacle to me?"
"An obstacle? What the hell are you going on about?" Ragna demanded.
"Robin and I share a... connection..." Tharja told him. "I doubt that she's even aware of it, but I'll make sure she is... as long people like you don't get in my way." 'Then again, I did feel that connection when- NO! Don't think about that! You're supposed to be with her!'
"You're starting to scare me a little, and that's been hard to accomplish as of late," the Grim Reaper admitted. "Look, don't really have a problem if you have this... connection with my sis, but I don't want you doing anything drastic. Understand?"
"What? You're standing in the way of my destiny? How boring," Tharja said, not even bothering to make eye contact with him.
"...I don't know what your problem is, but if I catch you causing trouble you're out, no exceptions," Ragna asserted bringing his arm up and pointing in Tharja's face.
"Like I'd let something like you get in my way," she told him as she swatted the hand away. "You can't understand the first part of a Dark Mage's-"
Tharja immediately grew silent as a deadly chill enveloped her entire body. She'd felt the odd sensation start to grow as she'd smacked away the stranger's mysterious right arm, but now it felt like she was drowning in... well his darkness. All her life she'd felt we acquitted with feelings and sensations of darkness, but this was something that she'd never experienced before. It felt like the shadows were drowning her; she couldn't breath and the void seemed to hit her in chaotic, endless waves. An inhuman growl was heard at the eye of the storm, something that actually managed to frighten her.
"...ey! Hey! What's with you!?" Ragna demanded with worry as he looked down at the woman before him. It took Tharja a long moment to realize what had happened to her. Now she was kneeling on the ground in front of Ragna, shaking uncontrollably. Her legs felt like they'd lost all strength and most of her body was coated in thick beads of sweat. Reaching down, Ragna offered her his other hand. "You going to be alright?"
"I... I'll be fine..." Tharja told him as she forced herself to rise without his offered assistance, her complexion impossible to read. "...You won't be having any trouble from me... you can be assured of that much."
"Really? That was sort of quick," Ragna noted. "What just happened to get you to-?" Without bothering to answer him Tharja turned and ran off... though Ragna could easily notice she was merely standing behind a corner, probably hiding from him. "...Seriously, what is it with her? Ah well, I'll give her some time and then apologize for... whatever I just did to her."
As Ragna turned to walk off, Tharja peaked her head from behind her corner and spied on the Reaper as he made his way off, now starting to take notes of... a few of his certain attributes. 'He's hiding a very special darkness... and he doesn't seem to look THAT much different than Robin.' She then gave a small cackle to herself. 'Maybe I DID get that odd feeling from him after all... We could share a connection; doesn't hurt that he's probably extremely fit if he could travel for so long in that armor, and he's probably at least somewhat smart if he was Chrom's tactician... maybe I'll have to keep close eye on him... a VERY close eye on him.'
"Heh, heh, heh."
Ragna hadn't heard Tharja's dark laugh, but with his spine now tingling like crazy, he made a mental note to mind his distance from her from here on out.
Author's Notes
Now I know that you're probably all thinking 'What the hell Storm? Last chapter was a decent length and on time, but this one's a full day late and only 3,000 words?' Well to you all I say... this is me writing while I was on vacation with the family. Seriously, I barely had any time to write this much out; I did the best I could. This could've been an RWBY short, but I decided I'd give the lot of you something since this story did win the poll.
All the same though, I gotta thank you guys for the feedback on that last chapter. That was a pretty important chapter to me; I'd been planning it out in advance for months and to see that the entire community loved it was a great feeling, so thank you.
While I have you here, a few notes for upcoming chapters.
First, as stated earlier I'm going to be giving Ragna a small harem. I've decided on six girls and while I don't want to give too much in specific detail, I will say that I'm thinking of doing the first four or five during the time gap while saving the last one for sometime down the line (for those of you who still want a chance at Cherche or Say'ri.)
Second, A LOT of character interactions these next few chapters. C and B ranks will be about the same length that they've usually been, but A ranks might take up a larger portion of the chapter and S ranks might have entire chapters dedicated to them... just a heads up.
Anyways, lots to do next chapter, will hope to make it long (I've got Labor day to work on it) and I'll see you guys around. Here's the Omake.
A Rivalry of Red and Black
Ragna grunted as he blocked a downwards slash, feeling the full force of Kagura's attack and the titanic weight of his massive blade as he struggled to keep his footing. The Mutsuki heir then flipped over his weapon using its handle and delivered a kick at Ragna's head. The Reaper leaped back in order to dodge the attack and was forced to guard against the powerful slash sending him skidding back along the ground. He didn't have much time to recover as Kagura sailed forward while thrusting his blade. Ragna managed to deflect the attack and the two brought their swords down and entered another blade lock.
"What's the matter? You're shaking," Kagura taunted as he stepped forward trying to keep the Reaper on the defensive. "Can't screw up now can you? You've got your fan club watching after all."
'Fan club?' Ragna thought as he allowed himself a quick glance to the side. A small group of the Shepherds were watching him, several of them being the lady warriors of the group. Also watching the duel was a larger gathering of townspeople, Kagura of course being interested in the young maidens of the group. Rolling his eyes, the Reaper focused on the fight as Kagura finally broke the blade lock.
The Black Gale again flipped over and brought his titanic blade down, using his longer blade to stay at a range where he thought his opponent wouldn't be able to counter. Ragna wasn't having any of that and charged lightning magic into his blade, lengthening his attack and managing to deflect Kagura's own. He then sent out a wind edge and left Kagura scrambling back to avoid it.
"CARNAGE SCISSORS!" he shouted as he rushed forward, knocking his opponent off balance with a massive swipe before sending him reeling back with an explosion of darkness. Ragna then channeled an Arcfire spell into his arm before slamming into Kagura's blade one final time. The Black Gale finally lost his grip on his sword and the weapon sail through the air before clattering to the floor. Kagura grimaced as Ragna brought his blade up, keeping it at his throat.
Kagura sighed before nodding as he admitted his own defeat. As Ragna brought his sword down Kagura headed over to retrieve his from where it had landed. Picking up his large blade, he couldn't help but notice the Reaper heading over his way, apparently not even turning to address the crowd that had gathered to watch the two of them.
"Don't tell me you're here to rub it in," Kagura muttered.
"Me? Nah, that's more of your thing," Ragna responded as something of a cocky smirk formed on his face. Kagura chuckled as he left was little room to argue. "So what does this make?"
"So far this is your third win... against our 18 ties," Kagura told him with a sigh. "Man, I just can't catch a break with you can I? Now that you've got time to actually train yourself it feels like I've hit a wall."
"Eh, you're improving at least. Almost had me there," Ragna told him with a smirk.
"Maybe, but you're really making me work for this win," Kagura told him before groaning. "Can't remember the last time I had to train like hell just for one match and even then I think I over-prepared and knocked my opponent out in the first hit. So... aren't you going to head over to your fan-club?"
"Nah, like I said I'm not a glory hog. I like to stay out of the spotlight, maybe grab a tankard or two to show there's no hard feelings?"
"You're asking me out for a drink?" Kagura asked with some surprise. "Me? The guy who looked you in your own private cell on two separate occasions. You'd rather grab a drink with me than spend some time with one of your fan girls."
"So what? You coming or not?"
"...I so don't get you," Kagura groaned. "Ah why not? A couple drinks sound pretty good right now if you're buying." Giving his rival an affirmative nod, Ragna headed off with the Black Gale to find a tavern. "You know, if you hate being the guy in the spotlight that much, you could always throw a match or two?"
"After you already locked me up twice? In your dreams," Ragna told him with a cocky smirk.
"Fair enough," Kagura admitted with his own laugh.
Support Rank B Obtained with Kagura Mutsuki
Until Next Time People! Ciao!