A Reaper's Awakening

by Storm VII

After being thrown into the cauldron, Ragna the Bloodedge finds himself in Ylisse where he meets Chrom, Fredrick, and Lissa. What does fate have in store for the Grim Reaper? Why was he thrown into a conflict with Plegia, which he knows next to nothing about? Ragna x Harem

2. From Darkness

Chapter II: From Darkness

Ragna and Chrom's small group of made their ways through the forest, their destination of the capital was still a ways away. Night had started to fall over the countryside, but that hadn't been a problem for Ragna back in his home world so it wouldn't be a problem for him now. As the world's most wanted criminal on record he was already used to traveling under the cover of night, so even with only a single working eye he was able to make his way through the darkened forest with little issue.

"Huff… Huff… Ragna… slow down!" the Reaper heard Lissa call. He glanced behind him and to see that Chrom and Lissa were starting to fall behind while Frederick kept pace with them on his horse. He sighed as he slumped against a nearby tree to wait for them to catch up. It didn't take long for the group to do so, but the moment they had Lissa sagged to her knees and continued gasping for air.

"…Sorry about that," Ragna apologized, not used to pushing anyone that hard.

Chrom himself gave Ragna an awkward smile; though he was clearly in better shape than his sister, he was already covered in sweat. "I think we should stop for the night anyways; we don't want to get lost in the darkness."

"If that's what you guys want to do," Ragna agreed, deciding that rest would be the best thing for him after what he'd been through. "I'll go grab some firewood, anyone feel like coming with me?"

"I'll go with Fredrick and see if we can find some game to eat," Chrom responded. "Lissa, go help Ragna gather some firewood, alright?"

"…Okay," she agreed as she made her way to her feet, though it seemed to take quite a bit of her remaining stamina to do so.

Chrom and Fredrick went hunting for game one way while Ragna and Lissa started their search for firewood in the other. With all of his time living in the wilds, Ragna was more than experienced in setting up a camp (when he could) so he already knew what was needed of their group.

"I'll grab the larger logs, you see if you can find some kindling," he ordered.

"Hey, I'm capable of taking some of the large logs too!" Lissa declared right as she spotted a decently sized log and attempted to pick it up. It didn't budge. She huffed even further as she tried with all of her strength to lift the damn thing, but to no avail. "Stupid LOG!"

…In hindsight, it would've been best if she hadn't tried to vent her frustration by kicking it. Her face tensed as she made contact with the wood before holding her pained foot and seething in pain.

"You alright?" Ragna asked. If he was at all amused by the display before him, he didn't show it.

"Stop treating me like I'm fragile!" Lissa shouted whilst glaring at the Reaper.

"Looks like you're fine; got your energy back at least" he realized. "Nice work finding the log though. Looks like it's just what we needed" He lifted the object of Lissa's ire with his one good arm like it was nothing.

"Ugh!" Lissa vented as she proceeded to grab some smaller branches and twigs for kindling. "Let's go!" With that, the young maiden stomped off back to the campsite.

'Okay, what's her problem?' the Reaper thought to himself as he followed to fuming Lissa.

Frederick and Chrom hadn't returned to their selected site yet ,so Ragna started grabbing rocks to make a fire ring. Back home he had a barebones spark Ars that was perfect for starting fires, but with that option out with his current condition he had settle for the old fashioned way with two sticks. With the fire started, he turned his attention to Lissa who'd had her back turned to him the entire time.

'…Guess it's on me to address this.' "Everything alright? I didn't say anything to set you off, did I?"

Lissa looked back at Ragna and glared at him for a brief moment before calming herself and merely sighing with disappointment. "No… you didn't do anything. It's just… frustrating."

"That thing that happened with the log? Pretty sure it's getting the worst of it right now… if it makes your foot feel any better?" Ragna added that last part with a classic smug smirk that Lissa gave a brief smile too."

"It's that… but there's more to it than not picking the stupid thing up on my own. I see Chrom and Fredrick on the front lines all the time, giving it their all, but where am I? I'm at the back, healing them and trying not to hold them back. I just want to prove I can stand by myself if I need to; I don't need anyone to coddle me."

'Shit,' Ragna thought to himself. 'I'm really not good with this sort of stuff... but I can't just say nothing and let her fume.' "You know back where I'm from, I used to know a pretty damn good healer myself. Now, she couldn't do a damn thing in a fight without anyone backing her; she wouldn't hurt a fly because she couldn't hurt one. Always had to rely on me an people like me to fight for her."

"So, what I'm going through right now… though I'm pretty sure I could at least take down a fly," she insisted, giving herself that minuscule amount of credit. "So, what'd she do to change things?"

"Absolutely nothing."

"Huh? That's your big prep talk?" she demanded, becoming moody again.

"She didn't change a thing about her because she didn't need to change. Her healing powers, without them me and countless others would've been dead or worse. She also had this air about her, like just her acting the way she did was enough discourage any fighting. Always fairly level headed too." 'At least when we're not talking about her sense of direction.' "I needed someone like her, to the point where I couldn't really get by without her. And I'm guessing that Chrom and Fredrick feel the same way about you."

"I…I'm sure they could manage," Lissa answered. "I mean, I've only needed to patch them up in the middle of a fight a few times."

"And those few times can make all the difference," Ragna explained, certainly speaking from experience. "And what about after the fighting was done, making sure they were ready for your next battle?" Lissa didn't bother trying to argue with him. "You have your part to play on the team, so play it. Chrom's good at swinging a sword, Frederick can take a hit and give it back with his lance; you're good at making sure they're fit to do it. No one's coddling you, they're making sure you're able to do the job, just like what you're doing."

Lissa was surprised at Ragna's views; she'd seen him as more of a front line warrior and lone wolf, but it sounded like he had plenty of respect for healers. "I… I've never thought about it that way… I guess you're right; I just need to stick with what I've been doing all along, maybe try branching out later if I ever get the chance." She smiled. "You're a lot nicer than you look, thanks Ragna."

Ragna scoffed. "I've heard THAT way too many times before… but you're welcome."

Not long later, Frederick and Chrom returned with a freshly slain bear. Over the campfire dinner Lissa complained about how her food smelled like boots, Chrom tried to convince her that it was just meat, and Frederick tried not to have any claiming 'he had a big lunch.' Ragna gave a small smile as he watched the trio in their bickering, he could get used to this.

Later that Night

It had been a few hours when Chrom's voice woke Ragna from his short slumber. "It's just a strange feeling I'm getting. Go back to sleep."

"Now way, I'm going with you," Lissa's voice argued.

Chrom sighed. "Fine, but don't wake the others."

"Kinda late for that," Ragna said, making his way to his feet.

"Sorry if I woke you," Chrom said to his new friend. Ragna waved it off.

"I'm a light sleeper. Let's wake Frederick and check it this bad feeling of yours."

"It's… probably nothing," Chrom admitted with a slight cringe.

"And you want to risk it? I thought you Shepherds were more careful than that," Ragna retorted with a smirk. "Beside, most of my bad gut feelings tend to turn out right. Let's go."

Once Frederick had been awaken (not too difficult, the man was the type to always be ready) the group traveled the woods in relative darkness, searching for whatever was giving Chrom this strange feeling. After about an hour, Frederick was the one who finally decided to speak up.

"Milord, there's no sign of anything unusual no matter where we look, might it have been your imagination?"

"I guess that's all it was," Chrom admitted, sighing at his apparent paranoia. "Sorry about that everyone, let's get some rest. I can take the watch until-"

"Shut it." Ragna interrupted sternly. Frederick scowled at the man's behavior at first, but realized what he was getting at rather quickly. "…It's too quiet." Chrom and Lissa discovered that the Reaper was right; no birds chirping, no insects buzzing, absolutely nothing. "Wait…"

Out of nowhere, the very ground beneath them shook with tremendous force. The four struggled as they saw the trees started to quickly fall behind them and the ground itself practically split open.

"RUN!" Chrom shouted. The group needed no further motivation and took off. Behind them a wall of lava emerged from where the ground had opened, sending out massive fire balls that crashed into the treeline and sent the forest ablaze. Another shockwave then emitted and knock Lissa squarely off her feet.

Chrom was about to call out her name and order Frederick to carry her by horse, but it was Ragna who fearlessly sprinted back to her using his sword to cleave a fireball that would have roasted them both. Quickly placing it back on his belt, he hefted Lissa over his shoulder like a sack of flour and resumed running. When he caught up with Chrom and Fredrick, the two gave him the strangest looks he'd seen.

"Oh, GROW UP! I'm saving her life here!"

After a long moment more of panicked running, the vibrations ceased. Once he was sure the danger had passed for the moment, Ragna set Lissa back on her feet. She hastily thanked Ragna while her face was crimson, but he only gave a sigh of relief. 'Can't lose anyone else in a fire like that… or anywhere else if I can help it.'

"Milord!" Fredrick yelled, snapping Ragna out of his reflection. There was a massive concentration of magic in the air which formed a strange circle before something began dropping from it; dark corpse-like figures that held weapons. They charged at the group, not hesitating for a moment.

Chrom guarded against an axe wielder while Frederick skewered the fiend on his lance leaving the figure to dissolve into a dark mist after a lengthy death rattle. A lance wilder charged Ragna and Lissa, but the Reaper simply deflected the attack with the Aramasa before impaling it on his own blade. The creature gave its own death shriek from upon his blade, Ragna simply hefted his sword upwards and cleaved through its skull.

Even with a split head, the creature gave a pathetic groan as it dissolved into shadows… only the shadows didn't fade away like the had from Chrom and Frederick. They went straight into Ragna's right arm, the BlazBlue.

"What the-!?" the Reaper shouted as his arm gave a small but painful pulse. In that moment, he could feel it the arm and with a little effort he could move it again too. Hesitantly, he tried to open his right eye and showed the group his blood-red iris.

"You reacted to these monsters, how?" Frederick demanded from Ragna, his eyes narrowed. "Are you tied to these things somehow?"

"I doubt it. They're not wearing a style of amour I'm familiar with back home. If anything, they look like they're from here. No clue about my arm though." 'Are these things made out of Sethir? Or something comparable to it at least?' Ragna's thoughts were interrupted as more of the creatures made their way out of the trees. "You can ask me later, we got bigger problems. Take Chrom and go for the left flank; I'll take the right with Lissa. And stay away from the bushes."

Knowing he could hardly question him in the middle of a battle, Frederick reservedly nodded as he and Chrom proceeded to charge their side of the creatures. Chrom slashed one across the body before turning and impaling one behind him. Frederick was making himself useful by riding a protective circle around Chrom and preventing most of the monsters from getting through while impaling the occasional target when the chance presented itself.

Now that Ragna had both of his arms working he wasn't holding anything back. He combined his sword slashes with just as deadly unarmed strikes to maximize his kill count. He may have just gotten his arm back, but he was killing more of the threat than Fredrick and Chrom put together and each monster he slew poured more of their residual energy straight into his BlazBlue.

"Captain Chrom! We- THE HELL?!" a curt female voice yelled from horseback when she saw Ragna fighting of his hoard of risen by himself. Lissa was a good distance back, trying not to get caught in the carnage (scissors) he was causing.

"My, my. Seems you know quite the frightening individual my dear Sully," a flowery man's voice followed.

"First time seeing him, so I don't know jack! And can it with the 'dear' shit ruffles!"

Even in combat, Ragna had to let out a sigh then. 'Great, I found this world's Kagura.'

Within a few more minutes of combat, the entire hoard of had been wiped out with no damage taken by any of them. Lissa thankfully didn't take her lack of involvement too poorly, noting that she'd have been ready had anyone actually gotten hurt. Regardless, Chrom turned to the new horse rider.

"What are you doing here Sully? We're still a ways away from the capital."

"I was on patrol when I got followed by ruffles here. The idiot kept shouting crap about destiny, searching the ends of the earth, and never letting me get away," she answered, clearly still annoyed by the straggler.

'Yep, definitely Kagura,' Ragna thought. 'Except now, he's got a French accent.'

"Since he wasn't listening to me, I eventually decided to let my foot do the talkin'." Ragna chuckled in approval. "Shortly after that though, those things showed up and we were surrounded. Damn things would've killed us if we hadn't been saved by a boy in blue that came out of nowhere. 'Called himself Marth."

The name seemed to startled Chrom. "Marth, as in the Hero King of legend?"

"Yeah," Sully admitted. "I was surprised too, but he fought like nothing I've seen before… until I met this guy!" she gestured at Ragna. "What the hell did you have to do to fight like that?"

Ragna chuckled. "Simple, find the most powerful being in the world and become his apprentice for a while. Ragna by the way."

"Name's Sully, I'm a knight for the Shepherds," she answered, seeming to size the man up.

"And I," 'ruffles' began, "Am Virion. The archest of archers and the sharpest of sni-"

"We get it," Ragna groaned. "You can use a bow, no need to shower yourself in titles."

"As interesting as this has been," Frederick began before Virion could vocalize his outrafe. "I think it's high time we made our way back to the capital. The sun will be up soon."

Before leaving with the others though, Ragna looked back at a creature who'd been slain by Frederick, their shadows were still floating above the ground like mist. He made his way over to the spot and the energy was again absorbed into his right arm.

'This stuff ain't Seither, but my BlazBlue still draws off of it and can be powered by it. Either the two really are compatible or the Boundary messed me up more than I thought. I should kill more of those things if I come across them, I should also see if I can train myself to minimize the usage of Seither since that's all that can keep the right side of my body moving.' Ragna sighed as he made his way to catch up with the others. 'Looks like I've got my work cut out for me.'

Several Hours Later

"So this is the capital," Ragna stated as they walk through Ylisstol. Sully had left the group to care for her horse and Virion had all but vanished… likely following after her. "Looks like they haven't been affected by any of what we went through."

"Yes, I suppose we've that to be thankful for," Fredrick agreed as he surveyed the busy marketplace. "Which will most certainly give us plenty of time to question you now that we're here."

"You're still on about that? I thought my name got cleared when I helped you save South Town," Ragna asked in annoyance.

"That excused what oddities we've seen of you up that point, but the new appearance of these creatures and your apparent relation to them is another matter entirely. Besides, now we also know that your arm is far from normal," the knight noted, glancing directly at Ragna's BlazBlue.

"…Large group is headed this way; lotta them looked armored," the Reaper said weakly to change the subject. By some miracle it appeared to work as Frederick also turned his attention.

"Oh! The Exalt is here!" an elderly gentleman called out. In the center of the group was woman in long regal robes. She seemed benevolent in nature and gave the crowd a warm smile and a friendly wave, but what really surprised people was that when she was approached she'd actually stop to hear the words of her subjects and even responded.

'So even with all of the danger out there, the leader of this kingdom thinks it's safe or necessary to walk through the crowd, she gives them all a calm and soothing presence, and she'll actually talk with them. That couldn't be any more different from the Imperator back home… Saya.' He shook his head. 'No, all I did was finally put a stop to her. I might've been a hero if anyone had remembered me.'

"You seem especially interested in the Exalt," Lissa noticed, standing beside Ragna.

"She just seems to bring this calm feeling, just watching her makes feel at peace," he admitted.

Lissa nodded. "Yeah, I know what you mean." A thought crossed her mind and she grinned. "I can help you meet her if you want."

"You can?"

"Yeah," Lissa said as her grin only grew. "I'm sure my big sis would love to meet you."

Sadly, this didn't have the shocking impact on Ragna that she'd wanted. "Oh, so that makes you royalty, huh? 'Could've fooled me."

"Hey!" Lissa yelled slapping his arm. "Meanie…"

Chrom chuckled at the two and though Frederick remain stoic as always. "They're quite the pair aren't they? Especially with Lissa causing mischief as always."

"I won't deny it, though he could stand to learn some proper manners."

"Same could be said for her."

"We can both hear you," Ragna decided to remind him as Lissa scowled at the two from next to him.

"Oh, we're well aware," Chrom responded with another. "So, are you ready to meet the Exalt?" Ragna wondered what they were thinking bring him so close to their sovereign, but strangely not even Frederick seemed to object.

"Yeah, yeah," Ragna responded. "Lead on your highness."

Author's Note: I don't own BlazBlue or Fire Emblem.

Well, chapter 2 was more of a setup more than anything else. There haven't been any Support Convo's yet just so you all know. If one does come up I'll be sure to announce it.

As the war with Plegia begins, it seems like I've created another war; a shipping war. I know you all have an idea of who to pair Ragna with and I love the enthusiasm, but give the support conversations a chance, they could tide you over in the end.

Anyways, this chapter was off schedule, I just ended up doing it because I felt like it. Rate, review, and I'll see you next chapter.

Ciao!

Post Edit Notes

Short chapter, but I ended up changing a lot. There was certainly some extra stuff that I added for more flavor like Ragna's offhandedly telling Lissa about Celica for comparison. Overall, I hope you like the changes and I'll see you around after the reviews.

Zash101: Even as far back as chapter one, the shipping questions are already being asked.

Kazama the shell bullet: A lot to consider moving forward, most of which was addressed.

Bloodedge21: More pairings.

Gunlord500: Here it is! Hoping you stuck with it.

Bearitone: MORE pairings

TheOne WriterFromShef: Ironically enough, since writing this I finally learned that Bloodscythe is just the name of a move when he turns it scythe mode and the real name is the Aramasa.

Guest: MORE MORE pairings

Warrior of six blades: Hey, far back as this story. And BlazBlue got fixed pretty early on here compared to… other stories.

Guest (2): Already an update request.

Dread Grim Reaper: 2006… Hoo boy.

Kalaauai: Some ideas are in development already.

DejDem: Mistype, sorry.

Wanderer: MORE SHIPPING… AND ALL GIRL VOTE.

Guest42: Something… happened.

Ragna fighter fo: Yeah, kinda got established as a harem story after a while.

No name: Eh, that'll be for something else.

Guest42: Guess I did.

EternalCobra34: Yeah, just a reposting.

High Man Highway: Something from a later chapter.

Kira Yshikage: That's… a confession.

Wlyman2009: Um… well…

Gogosqeez: Yeah, but mostly I go by Dub.

MechaDragon99: …I have SOME good news.

Dread Grim Reaper: Context?

Guest: And more shipping.

Masterx01 and xxxDreamingflowerxxx: Valid criticisms, but my writings evolved since then.

Shirosaki Kizuro: Must be from a later chapter.

Medblare, Guest, fernandonoguera99: From a poll a long time ago.

Guest: Thank you!

Tezuka mereichi: Must mean you read quite a ways through.

Monkiepawn: I mean, that's how they do attacks in BlazBlue. Don't know what to tell you.

BloodedgetheReaper2113: Again, a later chapter.

Kancolle Haruna Chan: It was put to a vote I'm afraid.

MrKeyFox: I'd respond to this, but… it was already done by one of the comments.

Faightan gaims: Said comment.

Bloodedge 20: Looks like I'll be doing some fixing after all.

Until next time everyone! Ciao!